'Uuid'|'Title'|'Text'|'Site'|'SiteSection'|'Url'|'Timestamp' 'f5eca17322dcb9ed45da9a25f4e827d13f333d5c'|'Israel Secondary Fund raises $100 mln for second fund'|'TEL AVIV, April 3 Israel Secondary Fund (ISF) said on Monday it has raised $100 million for its second fund, ISF II, from Israeli and foreign institutions and family offices.Investors include Israeli investment houses Halman-Aldubi, Altshuler Shaham and IBI and Bank Hapoalim. The new fund has completed four investments.ISF is a secondary fund that acquires positions in Israeli funds and minority holdings in private companies from investors, founders and other shareholders, providing liquidity to the venture capital and private equity market.Over $30 billion have been invested in Israeli funds and tech firms in the last decade, ISF managing partner Dror Glass said."A large portion of today''s companies stay private for longer periods, and build significant business activity before going public or being acquired," he said. "Therefore, there is a growing need by entrepreneurs and investors for liquidity in the years preceding an exit." (Reporting by Tova Cohen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tech-israel-isf-idINL5N1HB2HP'|'2017-04-03T08:21:00.000+03:00' '16ef9e1e8c35c370d434b9799367a9e711ea2248'|'Ghana $2.2 bln debt sale boosts c.bank reserves by one-third'|'* Offshore buyers constitute more than 90 pct of accepted bids* Sale should help central bank ease pressure on cediBy Kwasi KpodoACCRA, April 3 Ghana has raised $2.2 billion from a sale of long-dated domestic bonds on Friday, boosting its central bank reserves by one-third, transaction leads and central bank sources said on Monday.Offshore buyers constituted 90 percent of accepted bids, according to Barclays Bank Ghana sources.The cedi fell to a record low of 4.7420 to the dollar last month but rallied to 4.2750 by noon (1200 GMT) on Monday, down 1.17 percent this year, according to Thomson Reuters data.The transaction should boost the fiscal position of the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was sworn in on Jan. 7, as it reviews a $918-million aid programme with the International Monetary Fund.The government aims to restore rapid growth in Ghana, a country that had one of the hottest economies in Africa driven by exports of gold, oil and cocoa. Growth slowed in 2014 due to a fiscal crisis and a slump in global commodities prices.Ghana sold 3.42 billion cedis ($790 million) of a 15-year debt and a fresh 7-year paper worth 1.45 billion cedis ($335 million) at 19.75 percent yield each..It also reopened existing 10-year and 5-year bonds of which it sold more than $1 billion in a book-building transaction led by Barclays Bank Ghana, the sources said."They successfully sold around $2.2 billion on a single day. It shows there''s investor goodwill and confidence in the Ghanaian economy," a lead source said.The government inherited undisclosed debt arrears of $1.6 billion and a 2016 budget deficit of 8.7 percent of gross domestic product on cash basis.In his first budget last month, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced plans to restore fiscal balance, create jobs and stimulate private sector growth."People believe that they can do what they said they would do," financial analyst Joseph Kumi told Reuters.Settlement for the bonds is slated for Monday and analysts say the dollar transfers from offshore buyers should boost central bank reserves, which stood at $6.45 billion or 3.7 months of imports at the end of February. (Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg and Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ghana-bond-idINL5N1HA0K5'|'2017-04-03T11:15:00.000+03:00' 'ddd49c9720cd319a3f65749ea96387c49e83c9c8'|'MOVES-State Street Global Advisors names head of U.K. institutional business'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 5:53am EDT MOVES-State Street Global Advisors names head of U.K. institutional business April 3 State Street Global Advisors, the asset management arm of State Street Corp, appointed Andrew Benton as head of its UK institutional business. Benton will be a senior managing director at SSGA and joins from Baring Asset Management, where he was head of sales, business development and international client services. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/receivingfirm-moves-andrew-benton-idUSL3N1HB348'|'2017-04-03T17:53:00.000+03:00' 'e42b659702bc224c8eb84730de083d9e417209d9'|'U.S. firm Cobalt threatens arbitration over Angolan oil assets'|'Commodities - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:05am EDT U.S. firm Cobalt threatens arbitration over Angolan oil assets By Libby George - LONDON LONDON U.S. oil firm Cobalt said it would seek arbitration if Angola''s state-run Sonangol failed to extend license deadlines on two deepwater blocks, a move the U.S. company said was needed to help it sell the assets. Cobalt said its efforts to find a buyer for its 40 percent stakes in Blocks 20 and 21 offshore Angola were "negatively impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the extension". Cobalt has been trying to sell the blocks for several years. A deal to sell the licenses to Sonangol in a $1.75 billion deal collapsed in 2016 because required approvals from the Angolan government did not come in time. "We may be unable to consummate the sale of our Angolan assets on favorable terms, or at all" without the extensions, Cobalt said in a filing with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission. Sonangol declined to comment on Cobalt''s statement. Cobalt said it still wanted to find buyer and expected Sonangol to extend deadlines for exploration and development targets by at least a year, plus the time to taken to resolve the dispute. Although Cobalt owns 40 percent of the blocks and Sonangol has 30 percent, the Angolan state company holds the rights to extend exploration deadlines for production sharing agreements. BP, which also has 30 percent in the consortium, declined to comment. "We hope to resolve things amicably with Sonangol," Cobalt said, saying it had submitted a notice of dispute to Sonangol on March 8 of its intention to pursue arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce and would "seek all available remedies at law or in equity" if needed. Cobalt also said it could seek protection under a bilateral investment treaty between Germany and Angola because its Angolan assets were indirectly held by a German subsidiary. Cobalt said it would "continue to fulfill its obligations" as operator on the blocks but did not plan any material investments in Angola until the issue was resolved. Anish Kapadia, managing director at investment bank Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., said other firms would be reluctant to develop the assets while any arbitration was underway. "In this current environment, it''s hard to see anyone taking that risk," Kapadia said. Iain Quirk, a UK arbitration consultant with the International Chamber of Commerce and barrister with Essex Court Chambers, said such disputes could take years but an arbitration request could be quickly be withdrawn if a deal was reach privately. (Additional reporting by Ron Bousso; Editing by Edmund Blair) Next In Commodities'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-angola-oil-cobalt-idUSKBN17513K'|'2017-04-03T19:01:00.000+03:00' 'dcd8811f9bb63b49f0439c770611b101a6855815'|'Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says'|' 2:36pm BST Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says FILE PHOTO: Flames emerge from flare stacks at the oil fields in Basra, Iraq, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo By Ahmed Rasheed - BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Iraq has assured OPEC it will fully comply with an agreement to cut oil supply in order to bolster crude prices, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said on Sunday in Baghdad. Iraq''s compliance stands now at 98 percent, the nation''s oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi told reporters, after addressing a conference in the Iraqi capital, also attended by Barkindo. Compliance with the deal agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC producers at the end of last year to cut supply is "encouraging," Barkindo told the forum. General compliance with supply cuts by the oil producers was 86 percent in January and 94 percent in February, he added. The market is already balancing, Barkindo said, adding stocks of crude were coming down. Luaibi said he was satisfied with the existing deal, but declined to say whether Iraq would support an extension, leaving it to an OPEC ministerial meeting planned in May. The current deal, he said, "contains many positive elements and achieved a lot of targets; work is ongoing to reach the reduction of 1.8" million barrels per day (bpd) agreed by OPEC and 11 other nations including Russia for their combined production in the first half of 2017. The accord has lifted crude to about $50 a barrel. But the price gain has also encouraged U.S. shale oil producers, which are not part of the pact, to boost output. While Iraq is committed to achieving 100 percent of its target reduction, it will proceed with projects to boost oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day before the end of the year, Luaibi said. OPEC''s second-largest producer, after Saudi Arabia, Iraq will proceed in parallel with exploration plans to increase its reserves by 15 billion barrels in 2018, to reach 178 billion barrels, he said. Among the plans to increase output capacity from existing fields is a sea water injection plan which is in process of being tendered, he added. Iraq''s oil production has averaged 4.464 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in March, a reduction of more than 300,000 bpd on levels before OPEC cuts were implemented from Jan. 1, state-oil marketer SOMO said on Thursday. Average crude exports were 3.756 million bpd in March, versus a record of more than 4 million bpd in November, according to SOMO. Most of Iraq''s crude is exported from southern ports, the region where it is produced. Exports from the south averaged 3.2 million bpd in March, Luaibi said. Barkindo described as "very constructive" meetings he had on Saturday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. Iraq''s natural gas output will triple to 1,700 million cubic feet per day (cfd) by 2018, as it implements projects to reduce flaring, Luaibi told the conference. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-oil-opec-idUKKBN17406J'|'2017-04-02T21:33:00.000+03:00' '131cdca2fe82d3fc0b4a08666c610799912ef1e4'|'Euronext signs up ICE to replace LSE derivatives clearing unit'|'Company News 41am EDT Euronext signs up ICE to replace LSE derivatives clearing unit LONDON, April 3 Pan-European bourse Euronext said it will use a Dutch unit of the Intercontinental Exchange to process its derivatives transactions after the purchase of its current clearing house collapsed. Clearing ensures a transaction is completed even if one side of the trade goes bust. A wider range of derivatives transactions will have to be cleared to improve market safety and transparency. Euronext, which operates exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels, currently uses LCH SA, the Paris-based clearing unit of the London Stock Exchange Group, which it wanted to buy for 510 million euros ($544 million). After the LSE''s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse was vetoed by European Union competition officials last week, the LSE cancelled the clearing unit sale. With Euronext''s contract with LCH expiring at the end of 2018, the bourse operator had to find an alternative quickly, and on Monday said it was signing a 10-year deal with ICE Clear Netherlands to clear its derivatives and commodities contracts from the second half of next year. Euronext will invest 10 million euros in ICE Clear, and said headline clearing fees would be cut by 15 percent. "Overall, this represents a long term, open access, sustainable and innovative euro zone based clearing proposition for Euronext and its customers," the Paris headquartered bourse said in a statement. Euronext had already begun offering customers the ability to clear their stock trades on EuroCCP, in which the exchange bought a 20 percent stake, as an alternative to LCH. Euronext accounts for about half of LCH''s French business. Shares in LSE were slightly down in early trading. ($1 = 0.9374 euros) (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Susan Thomas) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/euronext-clearing-interconti-exc-idUSL5N1HB1NC'|'2017-04-03T16:41:00.000+03:00' '6a3578648fe0d4a129a085d0b33dac85ca189d64'|'Panera Bread exploring possible sale: Bloomberg'|'Panera Bread Co ( PNRA.O ) is considering strategic options, including a possible sale, after receiving takeover interest, Bloomberg reported on Monday.The bakery cafe operator is working with advisers to study the options, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. bloom.bg/2oBLnnVThe company''s shares rose as much as 10.7 percent to a record high of $290 in midday trading.Panera Bread, which has a market value of about $6 billion, could not immediately be reached for comment.(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-panera-bread-m-a-idINKBN1751VB'|'2017-04-03T14:15:00.000+03:00' 'e2d30266a6c03f60b32b094f8d4beb0c27d06daf'|'Mylan says EpiPen manufacturing partner to expand device recall'|'Health News 06pm EDT Mylan says EpiPen manufacturing partner to expand device recall EpiPen auto-injection epinephrine pens manufactured by Mylan NV pharmaceutical company for use by severe allergy sufferers are seen in Washington, U.S. August 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo Generic drugmaker Mylan NV said on Friday that its manufacturing partner for EpiPen devices had expanded a recall of the life-saving allergy shot in the United States and other markets. The announcement comes a week after Mylan said it had recalled about 81,000 EpiPen devices in countries outside the United States following two reports of the company''s allergy treatment failing to work in emergencies. The recall is being initiated in the United States and will extend to Europe, Asia, North and South America, Mylan said. The recalled product was manufactured by Meridian Medical Technologies, a Pfizer Inc company, and distributed by Mylan between December 2015 and July 2016. Mylan, which is the focus of multiple federal investigations, has come under fire for staggering price increases on the emergency shot in the United States. Mylan has also been heavily criticized for classifying EpiPen as a generic rather than a branded product, which led to much smaller rebates from the company to state Medicaid programs. (Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Next In Health News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mylan-nl-recall-epipen-idUSKBN1722XB'|'2017-04-01T06:03:00.000+03:00' '76b70d938f9352aaf7b1b41abefff36c67b70036'|'China March factory activity expands but at slower pace - Caixin PMI'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 12:37pm BST China March factory activity expands but at slower pace - Caixin PMI Chinese national flags are flying near a steel factory in Wu''an, Hebei province, China, February 23, 2017. Picture taken February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter BEIJING Activity at China''s factories expanded for a ninth straight month in March but at a softer pace as new export orders slowed, a private survey showed, raising questions about whether a recent pickup in global demand is losing steam. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers'' index (PMI) fell to 51.2 in March, missing economist forecasts'' of 51.6 and down from February''s 51.7. While the index was still well above the 50.0 mark which separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis, the rates of growth in output, total new orders, input and output prices all slipped in March from the previous month. Growth in export orders slowed sharply, falling to a three-month low of 51.9 from 53.8 in February. The findings contrast with those of China''s official factory survey on Friday, which showed activity grew the fastest in nearly 5 years in March. It also showed orders improved from home and abroad. But the Caixin/Markit survey tends to focus more on small and mid-sized manufacturers, which may be benefitting less from a months-long construction boom than big industrials such as steel mills. A sub-index of the official survey had showed small companies were still struggling, though conditions were slowly improving. The private survey is also believed to be more reflective of export-oriented firms. CLOUDY EXPORT OUTLOOK While China and other North Asian exporters have seen a strong rebound in shipments in recent months both in value and volume terms, the outlook is being clouded by fears of growing U.S. trade protectionism under President Donald Trump. The Trump administration on Friday slammed China again on a range of trade issues from its chronic industrial overcapacity to forced technology transfers and long-standing bans on U.S. beef and electronic payment services. China''s manufacturing sector has been enjoying its best profits in years as a booming housing market and government infrastructure spending boosted construction. But economists worry that fresh curbs on the heated property market and tighter credit conditions, coupled wit uncertainties about global trade, may intensify pressure on the world''s second-economy later in the year. "Overall, the Chinese manufacturing economy continued to improve, but signs of a weakening have started to emerge ahead of the second quarter. Downward pressure may further increase," said Zhengsheng Zhong, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group. The survey showed manufacturers continued to shed staff, and at a slightly quicker pace than the previous month, but the employment outlook remained relatively positive as it was the second-weakest seen in just over two years. On the brighter side, the pace of inventory reduction quickened in March with stocks of purchases and stocks of finished goods both falling into contractionary territory. An industry survey on Friday showed that China''s steel inventory by March 31 was almost 30 percent higher than the same time last year, igniting worries that steelmakers would soon face large destocking pressures. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Nicholas Heath; Editing by Kim Coghill) Next In Business News Trump''s orders target trade abuses, import duty evasion WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda on Friday by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. SHANGHAI China''s economy remains "generally stable" but it is facing complexities that "cannot be underestimated", the country''s central bank said in a statement on Saturday following a quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-pmi-caixin-idUKKBN17333F'|'2017-04-01T10:57:00.000+03:00' '5f780006e47e097dc121b0e1e32e567cf3bf41d3'|'Fox, Bill O''Reilly settle claims with five women -New York Times'|'U.S. - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 7:25pm EDT Fox, Bill O''Reilly settle claims with five women: New York Times FILE PHOTO - Fox News Channel host Bill O''Reilly poses on the set of his show ''''The O''Reilly Factor'''' in New York March 17, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Fox News host Bill O''Reilly and his employer have made payouts totaling about $13 million to five women to settle claims of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior, the New York Times reported on Saturday. O''Reilly said in a statement that he has been unfairly targeted because of his public prominence. "In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline." O''Reilly, host of "The O''Reilly Factor," the network''s biggest star, added, "I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children." Fox News declined to comment. "While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O''Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility," Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the parent company of Fox News, said in a statement. "Mr. O''Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News." The report follows heightened scrutiny of the workplace climate at Fox News, the top-rated cable news network and unit of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. Founding Chairman Roger Ailes left the company last year after sexual harassment allegations. The five women who have received settlements either worked for O''Reilly or appeared as guests on his program, the New York Times reported. Two of the five settlements were previously known. The largest settlement was a payout of $9 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit former Fox News producer Andrea Mackris brought against O''Reilly in 2004, according to the New York Times. Two settlements were reached last year after Ailes'' departure, the newspaper said. Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue accused O''Reilly and Ailes of harassing her, but not sexually, and Juliet Huddy, a regular guest on O''Reilly''s show, accused O''Reilly of pursuing a sexual relationship with her and trying to hamper her career after she rejected his advances, the newspaper reported. Attorneys for Mackris, Dhue and Huddy did not respond immediately to calls seeking comment. Fox News last year agreed to pay $20 million to settle a harassment suit by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson on behalf of Ailes, who denied any wrongdoing. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Diane Craft) Next In U.S.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-twenty-firstfox-oreilly-idUSKBN1733W8'|'2017-04-02T07:17:00.000+03:00' '0374d9971c28b470c0fefeaf8fe94d254d368d49'|'Alstria aims to double property portfolio to six billion euros'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 1:10pm BST Alstria aims to double property portfolio to six billion euros FRANKFURT German real estate firm Alstria Office Reit ( AOXG.DE ) plans to double its portfolio to six billion euros (5 billion pounds), its chief financial officer Alexander Dexne said in the Saturday edition of Boersenzeitung (BoeZ), without giving a date. "It cannot be gauged how fast we can double the property portfolio," Dexne said, adding it had taken the M-Dax listed company nearly 10 years to arrive at the current size since it floated in 2007. Dexne said Alstria was always looking for acquisitions and currently had 250 million euros available in liquid assets. Its loan-to-value rate had been lowered to 40 percent over the past 12 months to a level that would be maintained for the medium term, he said. Alstria owns 108 buildings in places including Hamburg, the Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main regions, Stuttgart and Berlin. While it had not been able to tap opportunities in Munich, where prices had always been high, it viewed the city as attractive, as it does Berlin, Dexne said. Its portfolio in Frankfurt amounts to 500 million euros and could benefit if there is a move towards the city as financial institutions leave London over Britain''s exit from the European Union, he said. (Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by XXX) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alstria-portfolio-cfo-idUKKBN1733FP'|'2017-04-01T20:10:00.000+03:00' '50d667774ba19605063ffe1ea62ebc0038464348'|'German court rebuffs VW complaint over prosecutors'' searches'|'Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 9:37am BST German court rebuffs VW complaint over prosecutors'' searches A Volkswagen logo is pictured at the newly opened Volkswagen factory in Wrzesnia, Poland, September 9, 2016. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo MUNICH A German court has rebuffed Volkswagen''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) attempt to prevent prosecutors from using information seized during searches of the law firm which the carmaker had hired to investigate its emissions scandal. Volkswagen (VW) said last week it had filed a complaint with a Munich court to prevent prosecutors from retaining and assessing material confiscated during a March 15 raid on U.S. law firm Jones Day. VW, whose supervisory board had commissioned Jones Day in late 2015 to investigate the diesel emissions test-cheating scandal, has said it would use every legal step to counter the actions by Munich prosecutors. But a Munich local court has now decided that the raids by prosecutors on Jones Day as well as on VW and Audi, both of which were also searched separately on March 15, were legitimate, a court spokeswoman said on Monday. Munich prosecutors said the decision by the local court to reject VW''s complaint would also be checked by a Munich district court. "There is no change in our position," a spokesman at Wolfsburg-based VW said on Monday. "We adhere to our legal opinion." Jones Day had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Joern Poltz; additional reporting by Andreas Cremer; editing by Jason Neely) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-court-idUKKBN1750RF'|'2017-04-03T16:33:00.000+03:00' 'fab66c5ef774a2a27b7530d624583fd7aacb67d9'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 3'|'April 3 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Tesla Inc, the electric-car maker, on Sunday said it delivered more than 25,000 cars and sport utility vehicles in the first quarter, a rise of about 69 percent from the same period a year ago. The increase from the fourth quarter was smaller, however. In the final quarter of 2016, Tesla delivered 22,252 cars and sports utility vehicles. nyti.ms/2nQ8KM9- Facebook Inc is requiring that women and ethnic minorities account for at least 33 percent of law firm teams working on its matters. Numbers alone, however, are not enough, under a policy that went in effect on Saturday. Law firms must also show that they "actively identify and create clear and measurable leadership opportunities for women and minorities" when they represent the company in litigation and other legal matters. nyti.ms/2nME1yf- Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, President Trump''s daughter and son-in-law, will remain the beneficiaries of a sprawling real estate and investment business still worth as much as $740 million, despite their new government responsibilities, according to ethics filings released by the White House Friday night. nyti.ms/2nMEYGx(Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL3N1HB1W3'|'2017-04-03T02:14:00.000+03:00' '5ad1a4d37e8e84244c3bf830d97d7c9b6533bb8d'|'Burberry licences beauty business to Coty in new partnership deal'|' 34am BST Burberry licences beauty business to Coty in new partnership deal The logo of Burberry outlet store is seen in Paris, France, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau LONDON British luxury brand Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said on Monday it would transfer its beauty business to U.S. group Coty ( COTY.N ) in a deal that will bring in around $225 million(179.51 million pounds) plus ongoing royalty payments in a bid to revitalise the division. Burberry said it expected the agreement to be broadly neutral to adjusted profit before tax in the 2017/18 transition year and accretive the following year. "Working with a global partner of their scale and expertise will help drive the next phase of Burberry Beauty''s development and position this business for future growth," said Christopher Bailey, Burberry''s chief creative and chief executive officer. The exclusive licensing agreement will take effect from October 2017, subject to regulatory approvals. (Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-burberry-coty-partnership-idUKKBN1750VT'|'2017-04-03T17:34:00.000+03:00' '04c77b846f339f5d83fa170cbd5269bf609e2df1'|'British government cuts stake in Lloyds Bank to below 2 percent'|'Business 42am BST British government cuts stake in Lloyds Bank to below 2 percent FILE PHOTO: A man walks past a Lloyds Bank branch in central London, Britain February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett LONDON The British government has reduced its holding in Lloyds Banking Group PLC to less than 2 percent, putting the lender on track to be in full private ownership within weeks. The government has now recovered over 20 billion pounds of the 20.3 billion pounds ($25.5 billion) taxpayers injected into Lloyds during the financial crisis, the Treasury said in a statement. UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), which manages the government''s stake, resumed share sales in October, having halted them for almost a year due to market turbulence. its stake stands at 1.97 percent, down from 2.95 percent on March 15. The government spent more than 136.6 billion pounds rescuing some of Britain''s biggest high street lenders at the height of the financial crisis, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, but has so far only managed to recoup half of that money. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Rachel Armstrong) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lloyds-banking-sale-idUKKBN1750HP'|'2017-04-03T14:42:00.000+03:00' 'c0ab9af83749d03c25a13898de63ca2d31afa82a'|'Orascom extends deadline for Brazil''s Oi alternative plan a 3rd time'|'Deals 09pm EDT Orascom extends deadline for Brazil''s Oi alternative plan a third time SAO PAULO Orascom TMT Investments Sarl has voluntarily extended for a third time the deadline for Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA to consider an alternative in-court reorganization plan, according to a securities filing on Friday. Oi ( OIBR4.SA ) said in the filing the decision will allow management and shareholders to examine Orascom''s suggestions for the reorganization. Oi said Orascom voluntarily sent a letter to the company extending the deadline to May 1. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-otmt-idUSKBN1722XM'|'2017-04-01T06:08:00.000+03:00' 'c7dc728a1716b6e33d17d79f932aafa1f13aa14a'|'The ridiculous story of airline food and why so much ends up in landfill - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'You probably know about the waste problem in our oceans. But how about the one in our skies?Airline passengers generated 5.2m tonnes of waste in 2016, most of which went to landfill or incineration, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates. That’s the weight of about 2.6m cars. And it’s a figure set to double over the next 15 years.Toilet waste is included in that statistic. But so are miniature wine bottles, half-eaten lunch trays, unused toothbrushes and other hallmarks of air travel.Once a plane has landed, huge volumes of disposable items are thrown away, says Matt Rance, chief executive of MNH Sustainable Cabin Services, a company that advises airlines on waste reduction. “It’s almost like taking a tube, tipping it upside down, emptying it out and then saying ‘right, fill it up with new stuff again’.”Anti-insect paint and electric planes: can technology make aviation sustainable? Read more The airline industry has taken flak for its growing greenhouse gas emissions as passenger numbers rise. But could its massive waste footprint be solved without affecting the sector’s growth?Stemming the tide A Spanish project launched last autumn by a group of companies including Iberia Airlines and Ferrovial Services is taking up this challenge. The scheme aims to recover 80% of cabin waste coming into Madrid’s Barajas airport by mid-2020 through simple measures such as using trolleys designed for waste separation, says Juan Hermira, Iberia’s lead for the project. About 2,500 cabin crew members will be trained in the basics of waste separation as part of the push, he says.The programme, which aims to produce guidelines for use in other airports, is also exploring low-packaging meals and reusable cutlery, as well as data-led solutions: frequent flyer information, for example, could be used to anticipate business class passengers’ meal preferences, meaning fewer meals would need to be prepared to satisfy demand, says Hermira. It’s one of a handful of initiatives that suggest parts of the industry are waking up to waste. Last year, Gatwick opened an on-site waste-to-energy plant, reducing the need for lorries to transport waste elsewhere. The power produced currently goes back into the plant, but Gatwick hopes the facility will eventually help to heat the north terminal. Like Heathrow, it is also targeting a 70% recycling rate by 2020.America’s United Airlines has switched to compostable paper cups and last year began donating unused amenity kits to homeless and women’s shelters – it expects to divert more than 27 tonnes-worth by the end of the first year. Virgin, meanwhile, has set up a system for recycling all parts of its headsets, including ear sponges, which are used as flooring for equestrian centres.Despite actions like these, the mountains of airline waste continue to grow. So what more can be done?For Michael Gill, IATA’s head of environment, regulation is key. At the moment EU animal health legislation, drawn up as a reaction to diseases like foot and mouth, dictates that all catering waste arriving from outside EU borders be treated as high-risk and incinerated or buried in deep landfill. A coffee cup from the US, for example, will be treated as hazardous waste because it might have had milk in it. Donating uneaten food to charity is impossible.A more rational approach is needed, Gill says, one which identifies elements of cabin waste that actually pose a risk to health and takes into account the stringent hygiene standards airlines are already subject to. He points to a forthcoming IATA-commissioned report which concludes that dairy and honey in airline waste pose a negligible threat to animals. Better procedures on the ground would also help ease the classification problem, says Magda Golebiewska, group environment manager at TUI Airlines. East Midlands and Gatwick airports have started tagging rubbish bags with their origin but elsewhere it’s common practice for waste from inside and outside the EU to get thrown together and processed collectively as international catering waste, she says.Most important, however, is getting the cabin crew’s buy-in, says Golebiewska. This can be a challenge since the crew is already busy meeting on-board sales targets and looking after passengers, she says, but it is crucial: “How well the [waste] segregation is done really depends on how much effort they put into it.”Cutting costs Recycling robots: AI could reverse the UK''s decline Read more The environment is not the only concern on the minds of Golebiewska and others. Cabin waste costs the industry $500m (£400m) per year, according to IATA, a figure that it says is rising faster than waste volumes thanks to growing disposal costs.Bringing this down will require airlines to take a different approach to procurement, says Rance. If they can be persuaded to focus on a product’s full life cost, rather than unit price, then investing in more durable headsets or blankets and ditching disposables starts to make sense, he says.Designing cabin products with waste minimisation in mind can also help, he says. Qantas, for example, is combining its charity donation envelope with its headset package, cutting one polythene bag per passenger per flight. In Gill’s mind there is another, less tangible, gain to be made by airlines that can show they are tackling waste: a better reputation. The sight of unopened bottles of water or meal trays being thrown away as passengers exit the aircraft is, he says, a highly visible illustration of the industry’s environmental impact.Sign up to be a Guardian Sustainable Business member and get more stories like this direct to your inbox every week. You can also f ollow us on Twitter . Topics Guardian sustainable business Circular economy Recycling Energy Airline industry features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/01/airline-food-waste-landfill-incineration-airports-recycling-iberia-qantas-united-virgin'|'2017-04-01T16:00:00.000+03:00' '5eb72611173b51fe795f1583a763503f62458d7c'|'Letter to my younger self: be kinder to yourself. You are enough - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Dear Erin,I want to take this opportunity to reassure you about something I know you are painfully unaware of right now. You are enough. There are pros and cons to being a girl born in a Chinese family, and growing up you definitely felt the expectations of a patriarchal society weighing down on you. There is an unspoken but prevailing belief that girls who marry well do better in life than those who have a career. Your first love is art, and you go to art college. Your parents told you that you could achieve anything you wanted to, but the doubt niggling at the back of your mind always told you that those who mattered were the ones who became doctors, lawyers and fancy people who worked in banks. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Erin at 25, when she first started BerinMade. When, at 25, you start your own business BerinMade, a stationary design studio, many will see it as a hobby. Friends will assume that you can just pop out for a coffee at your leisure. They will reason that work must come easy and you are just doing it for fun. When they find out that your husband has chosen to work in the business that you founded, you will be faced with disbelief. Frustratingly, years down the line, even when you have an off-site warehouse, employees in two continents and a book deal, some will still express surprise that you have made a career out of this.In the early years, this will drive you. But you’ll find that living to prove your worth is exhausting. Your biggest challenge has been, and will always be, being true to yourself. The creative industry champions individuality, but is always moving on to the “next big thing”. One year it was gold pineapples, the next it was flamingos. The key is to focus on what you believe in. You’ll eventually learn your brand voice is stronger if you don’t answer to the trends, but present your own take on them.Your first season trading wholesale was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. You felt like you were dropped into a huge ocean, nervous you were going to drown. It was either sink or swim. Eventually the sales came through, and your dream national chain store made contact. When you first get their email, you must have re-read it a hundred times in disbelief. There was a realisation that perhaps you will be okay after all. The feeling didn’t last long. A month after they promised to order, they pulled the product from their selection with no reason at all. It was brutal. That night you sobbed into a pillow, while your husband watched with worry in his eyes. To you, it was not about the money, but watching your dream being snatched away. You took it so hard, because you thought your product (and therefore, you) were not good enough; you didn’t even see the fact that a buyer from a world-renowned store took notice of you. Does it ever get easier? I think so. The key is to keep getting up and trying again. Letter to my younger self: believe in your own quirky vision Read more At 30, you will sign your first book deal with your dream publisher to write a book about celebrating life’s best moments. The irony is not lost on you: it is a huge moment for celebration, but as you pause you will realise you still don’t feel like you’re enough. It shows in your frown lines, the way you bite your nails, and how you hate looking into the mirror sometimes. No achievement in your life is going to affirm something that you don’t already know inside.I wish you would be less harsh on yourself. Two weeks after you gave birth to your daughter Phoebe, you went right back to work. The exhaustion of caring for a newborn and working all hours of the day will really take you to the brink. You still didn’t know how to cut yourself some slack. Be patient with yourself. You are enough. It’s taken me a decade to realise that this is what I’ve been learning. Your achievements are nothing to you if you can’t enjoy the process. Live in the moments of rejection, don’t shove it under the carpet. These moments bring reflection and revelation that sharpen your focus, and put what really matters in life into perspective. You are and will always be a work-in-progress, just like everybody else. ErinErin Hung is the founder of BerinMade . Her book, Paper Parties, is out in May. Are you an entrepreneur who would like to write a letter to your younger self? Email us at smallbusinessnetwork@theguardian.com to take part in this series. Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Guardian Small Business Network Entrepreneurs '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/01/letter-to-my-younger-self-be-kinder-you-are-enough-erin-hung-berinmade'|'2017-04-01T17:00:00.000+03:00' 'f4f74dfcfde2cc7be9e654175daf254151224943'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 3'|' 42am EDT UPDATE given Imagination Tech notice that it will stop using its graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years'' time, dealing a major blow to the British company. * RECKITT BENCKISER: British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser is weighing strategic options for its food business, it said on Monday it, following its agreement to buy Mead Johnson . * CO-OP BANK: Britain''s Virgin Money is poised to make a bid for Co-operative Bank , the Times reported on Saturday. bit.ly/2nQyisU * RIO TINTO: The copper market is likely to see a small shortage as early as this year because of a lack of new supply and the removal of up to 800,000 tonnes over the past 18 months in response to modest prices, Rio Tinto''s copper and diamonds chief will say on Tuesday. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell has decided to withdraw from Kakinada gas project in India, Business Standard reported on Monday. * NATIONAL GRID: UK electricity system operator National Grid is pressing for a rule change that would allow it to own storage, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. * APAX: British private equity fund Apax Partners is close to finalizing a deal to buy Israel-based Syneron Medical , an aesthetic device company, for about $500 million, Israeli media reported on Sunday. * BRITAIN ECONOMY: British company finance chiefs are their most optimistic in 18 months, but their risk appetite has recovered far less from the battering it took in the run-up to and aftermath of last year''s vote to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Monday. * OIL: Oil futures dipped in early Asian trade on Monday on worries about global oversupply after a higher U.S. rig count pointed to rising U.S. shale production, while a stronger dollar also put pressure on crude. * The UK blue chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.6 percent lower at 7,322.92 points on Friday, weighed down by South Africa-exposed stocks after President Jacob Zuma sacked finance minister Pravin Gordhan, causing a slump in the rand. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Siju Varghese; Editing by Sunil Nair) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HB2AV'|'2017-04-03T14:42:00.000+03:00' '97191620f3d8a563442df894bb80f8b55bcaed45'|'Euronext signs up ICE to replace LSE derivatives clearing unit'|' 02am BST Euronext signs up ICE to replace LSE derivatives clearing unit Company stock price information are displayed on screens as they hang above the Paris stock exchange, operated by Euronext NV, in La Defense business district in Paris, France, December 14, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier LONDON Pan-European bourse Euronext ( ENX.PA ) said it will use a Dutch unit of the Intercontinental Exchange ( ICE.N ) to process its derivatives transactions after the purchase of its current clearing house collapsed. Clearing ensures a transaction is completed even if one side of the trade goes bust. A wider range of derivatives transactions will have to be cleared to improve market safety and transparency. Euronext, which operates exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels, currently uses LCH SA, the Paris-based clearing unit of the London Stock Exchange Group ( LSE.L ), which it wanted to buy for 510 million euros ($544 million). After the LSE''s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) was vetoed by European Union competition officials last week, the LSE cancelled the clearing unit sale. With Euronext''s contract with LCH expiring at the end of 2018, the bourse operator had to find an alternative quickly, and on Monday said it was signing a 10-year deal with ICE Clear Netherlands to clear its derivatives and commodities contracts from the second half of next year. Euronext will invest 10 million euros in ICE Clear, and said headline clearing fees would be cut by 15 percent. "Overall, this represents a long term, open access, sustainable and innovative euro zone based clearing proposition for Euronext and its customers," the Paris headquartered bourse said in a statement. Euronext had already begun offering customers the ability to clear their stock trades on EuroCCP, in which the exchange bought a 20 percent stake, as an alternative to LCH. Euronext accounts for about half of LCH''s French business. Shares in LSE were slightly down in early trading. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Susan Thomas) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-euronext-clearing-interconti-exc-idUKKBN1750SR'|'2017-04-03T17:02:00.000+03:00' '155979df0993810ba38324703251d264d862051f'|'Harker still backs two more Fed rate hikes this year'|' 8:13pm BST Harker still backs two more Fed rate hikes this year FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C., U.S. December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo PHILADELPHIA The Federal Reserve should plan to raise interest rates twice more this year so to avoid getting behind the curve but also to avoid rushing its tightening plans, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker repeated on Monday. "I still think that''s the right call," he said of the pace of rate hikes, which is in line with the median Fed forecasts, and which he called "gradual." "I don''t want to get behind the curve, but I don''t think we need to rush, either," he added in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania on digital money. The U.S. central bank raised rates a notch in March, its second such move in three months, in a nod to steady jobs growth and signs that inflation may be on the upswing. Harker is one of 10 voters on monetary policy this year, under a rotation. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. BP BP Plc has '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-fed-harker-idUKKBN1752A6'|'2017-04-04T03:13:00.000+03:00' 'e99e1644301e9f0d27388066164ba11adf0228b8'|'Euro zone factories struggled to meet soaring demand in March - PMI'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 1:39pm IST Euro zone factories struggled to meet soaring demand in March: PMI FILE PHOTO: Workers assemble an e-Golf electric car at the new production line of the Transparent Factory of German carmaker Volkswagen in Dresden, Germany March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo By Jonathan Cable - LONDON, April 3 LONDON, April 3 Factories across the euro zone struggled to keep up with demand last month despite increasing activity at the fastest rate in nearly six years, according to a survey that showed them again hiking prices. IHS Markit''s final manufacturing Purchasing Managers'' Index for the euro zone rose to 56.2 in March, the highest since April 2011, from February''s 55.4. It was in line with a flash estimate and far above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. An index measuring output, which feeds into a composite PMI due on Wednesday, rose to a near six-year high of 57.5 from 57.3. The flash estimate was 57.2. "Euro zone manufacturing is clearly enjoying a sweet spell as we move into spring, but it is also suffering growing pains in the form of supply delays and rising costs," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. "The survey is also signaling the highest incidence of supplier delivery delays for nearly six years, underscoring how suppliers are struggling to meet surging demand." A sub-index measuring delivery times fell to 41.9 from 43.9, its lowest reading since May 2011. New orders surged despite prices charged rising faster than in any month since June 2011. Signs of accelerating activity and price rises will be welcomed by policymakers at the European Central Bank who have for years failed to get inflation anywhere near their target. Inflation slowed in March by far more than economists polled by Reuters had expected, driven down mostly by a deceleration of energy price rises, official estimates showed on Friday. Prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 1.5 percent year-on-year, Eurostat estimated, down from a four-year high of 2.0 percent recorded in February. The Bank wants inflation of just under 2 percent. (Editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-economy-pmi-idINKBN1750PS'|'2017-04-03T16:07:00.000+03:00' '41ea86ef91d9b7f60c2e848f6c5f78f6f35f8559'|'Bank of England says rapid credit growth could hurt UK banks'|'Saving And Loans 9:50am BST Bank of England says rapid credit growth could hurt UK banks A bus passes the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay LONDON, April 4 Bank of England policymakers are concerned rapid growth in unsecured lending to British consumers could endanger banks if credit standards are slipping, the central bank said on Tuesday. British consumer borrowing grew at its fastest rate in a decade towards the end of last year, and although the pace has since slowed somewhat, last week the central bank said it planned to take a closer look at the risks involved. On Tuesday, the BoE set out more details of how its Financial Policy Committee reached that decision, and the types of risk involved. "Overall, the Committee judged that, relative to mortgage debt, consumer credit was less likely to pose a risk to broader macroeconomic stability through its effect on household spending. Instead, the recent rapid growth in consumer credit could principally represent a risk to lenders if accompanied by weaker lending standards," the BoE said. The BoE said that although mortgages accounted for a much bigger share of lending to British households, its regular ''stress tests'' of banks had shown consumer borrowing that went sour had the potential to impose bigger losses to lenders. The short-dated nature of most consumer lending meant that its credit quality had the potential to deteriorate more rapidly than mortgage lending. "If recent strong growth (in consumer credit) had been driven by weaker underwriting standards, this could reduce the resilience of lenders to shocks," the FPC said, adding that lending standards should be "monitored closely". Areas to be kept under review included the growing length of interest-free periods offered to customers switching from one credit card to another, the increased size of unsecured personal loans and a bigger fall in interest rates for unsecured lending than for mortgages, the BoE said. Last week the FPC said Britain-based banks should take steps to ensure they do not have to curb lending suddenly if the country leaves the European Union in a disorderly way. The FPC also set out details of separate ''stress tests'' for major banks later in the year. ((Reporting by David Milliken and Huw Jones)) Next In Saving And Loans News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-idUKKBN1760Q1'|'2017-04-04T16:50:00.000+03:00' '489b61e745181397761b49e7bfbf9d852e2e2f7c'|'Infrastructure overhaul may top $1 trillion, cut red tape - Trump'|'Economy News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 5:46pm BST Infrastructure overhaul may top $1 trillion, cut red tape: Trump left right Special Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Policy DJ Gribbin (L) holds up a chart showing the regulatory steps to build a highway as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 1/6 left right U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as he hosts a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 2/6 left right Special Assistant to the President for Infrastructure Policy DJ Gribbin (L) holds up a chart showing the regulatory steps to build a highway as U.S. President Donald Trump holds the mic during a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 3/6 left right Ivanka Trump smiles while speaking at a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building inWashington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 4/6 left right Ivanka Trump and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) attend a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building inWashington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 5/6 left right Ivanka Trump attends a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 6/6 By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to cut red tape to speed up approval of infrastructure projects and said his overhaul could top $1 trillion on roads, tunnels and bridges, one of his 2016 election campaign promises. Trump, a real estate businessman before he was elected, did not provide further details on the amount or where the money would come from when he spoke to a White House meeting of 50 chief executives and other business leaders. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said at the forum that the administration plans to release a legislative package in May. Investors have become more skeptical that the plan would win approval this year in Congress, which is controlled by Republicans who are traditionally wary of big spending. Trump said building a highway can require dozens of approvals and take 10 to 20 years, a process he vowed to speed up. Trump said he would not fund projects that cannot be started within 90 days. The administration wants to improve the electrical grid and water systems, rebuild airports, bridges, roads and potentially hospitals for military veterans and broadband. National Economic Council director Gary Cohn told executives that privatizing air traffic control, which the administration proposed in its budget outline in March, "is probably the single most exciting thing we can do.". Cohn, an investment banker with Goldman Sachs before he became Trump''s top economic adviser, said it could help speed flight times and reduce fuel use. Cohn said if cities "sell off" or privatize infrastructure assets, the administration could provide financial support. "We''re not on the cutting edge of this," Cohn said. "We''ve got to get a little more comfortable with public-private partnerships." Cohn touted an idea of electric car maker Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk to use tunnels to speed rail transit on the densely populated east coast and also to cut traffic congestion in Los Angeles. A Tesla spokesman declined comment. (Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Grant McCool) Next In Economy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-business-idUKKBN17627R'|'2017-04-05T00:46:00.000+03:00' '82b324e2ffeb4b2e7939633337fa1ef15fb8ada9'|'S&P cuts South Africa to junk as Zuma faces ANC backlash over Gordhan'|' 57pm BST S&P cuts South Africa to junk as Zuma faces ANC backlash over Gordhan FILE PHOTO: South Africa''s President Jacob Zuma reacts during the launch of a social housing project in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Rogan Ward/File Photo By James Macharia - JOHANNESBURG JOHANNESBURG S&P cut South Africa''s credit rating to junk status on Monday, saying the dismissal of its respected finance minister threatened a damaging policy shift, while President Jacob Zuma readied for a showdown with other ANC leaders over the sacking. In an unscheduled review that prompted a selloff in South African assets, the credit agency cited the impact of divisions in the ANC-led government that led to leadership changes including Pravin Gordhan''s removal on Zuma''s orders late on Thursday. "This has increased the likelihood that economic growth and fiscal outcomes could suffer," said S&P, which cut its rating by one notch to BB+ - its highest non-investment grade mark - and also assigned Africa''s most industrialised economy a negative outlook. Zuma''s dismissal of Gordhan, widely respected in financial circles, threatens to split the upper echelons of the ruling African National Congress down the middle. The move drew public criticism from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe and Treasurer-General Zweli Mkhize before Monday''s regular meetings of the party leadership. Zuma still had the support of Chairwoman Baleka Mbete and Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte, marking a straight split among the party''s "Top Six" leaders, sources said. Late on Tuesday the president also won the backing of the party''s influential women''s league, which accused S&P of holding the country to ransom. Party spokesman Zizi Kodwa said its National Working Committee would meet on Tuesday before a decision was taken on how to handle the Gordhan fallout. "The ANC must remain and it must emerge stronger than it was last week," Kodwa said. New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said earlier on Monday he had spoken to the ratings agencies, and informed them he would maintain Pretoria''s current fiscal stance. His appointment hit an already weak rand currency. The currency has fallen 11.5 percent since last Monday, when Zuma ordered Gordhan to return home "immediately" from an investor roadshow abroad, and it fell by more than 2 percent after the downgrade. Government bonds also sank. "We will assure them that although the political environment is a bit concerning, we should be clear that we have all agreed to the same policy direction," Gigaba''s spokesman, Mayihlome Tshwete said, referring to S&P. Gigaba, said on Monday he would pursue "tough and unpopular choices" to oversee a redistribution of wealth to the black majority, a stance echoing recent comments by Zuma. NO EASY ANSWERS Gigaba has so far given no details of how the transformation would be carried out. The Treasury he would brief the media on Tuesday. It is unlikely to be easy given a divided ANC and with the economy now expected to take a further hit. The opposition leader Mmusi Maimane, head of the Democratic Alliance, blamed Zuma for the downgrade, South Africa''s first since 2000. "Zuma has just ended the chances of South Africans to create and find work," Maimane said on his Twitter feed. "We should all downgrade him #ZumaMustGo." Maimane has called for a no-confidence vote against Zuma and a protest march on Friday in the commercial hub of Johannesburg. South Africa has been facing the risk of a downgrade to junk due to a weak economy - growth slowed to 0.3 percent in 2016 - and political upheavals. S&P''s move will almost certainly lead to a rise in government debt-servicing costs, which will mean less money for critical services such as housing, education and sanitation, which could incite even more protests over service delivery that have already rocked towns across the country. "The road to #JunkStatus recovery will be long & arduous. And it won''t be possible with current policy and politics in place," political analyst Daniel Silke said. "Today’s decision was hardly a surprise," John Ashbourne, Africa analyst at Capital Economics, said in a note. "The loss of the rating will bolster opponents of President Zuma, who will use it as evidence that his recent reshuffle is harming the country." Moody''s is expected to review its Baa2 rating, which is two notches above sub-investment grade, on Friday. Fitch, one notch above junk, is not bound by a timeline. Fitch said on Friday Zuma''s cabinet shake-up heightened political risk and signalled policy change, an outcome that risks the country''s credit rating. "This substantially raises the risk that Moody’s ... could similarly downgrade South Africa," Razia Khan, chief economist, Africa at Standard Chartered bank, said. (Additional reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by John Stonestreet) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-safrica-economy-idUKKBN17528M'|'2017-04-04T04:57:00.000+03:00' '6ddf67c97e34f7d184f58dd0a778764e0cf05155'|'BMW pulls advertising from Fox News'' "O''Reilly Factor"'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:05am EDT BMW pulls advertising from Fox News'' ''O''Reilly Factor'' FILE PHOTO - Fox News Channel host Bill O''Reilly poses on the set of his show ''''The O''Reilly Factor'''' in New York March 17, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo BMW of North America ( BMWG.DE ) has suspended its advertising on Fox News’ ( FOXA.O ) “The O’Reilly Factor” in response to a New York Times report that Fox and its star anchor Bill O’Reilly paid five women to settle claims that he sexually harassed them, a BMW spokesman confirmed to Reuters on Tuesday. “In light of the recent New York Times investigation, BMW of North America has suspended its advertising with “The O’Reilly Factor,” the BMW spokesman said in an emailed statement. A Fox News spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The New York Times reported over the weekend that Fox News and host Bill O’Reilly have paid out $13 million dollars to five women who had accused O’Reilly of harassment. O''Reilly, in a statement posted on his website on Saturday, said he had been unfairly targeted because of his prominence. The German automaker becomes the third advertiser to suspend its commercials on the 21st Century Fox 7 1 % 9% Sofia 632.8 633.9 -0.19 +7.9 0 9 % 1% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 5 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year E! E! s 5-year E! 6 E! 10-year E! 1 E! FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.28 0.31 0.34 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.19 0.22 0.32 0.18 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.76 1.78 1.805 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL5N1HB23K'|'2017-04-03T07:28:00.000+03:00' 'dd1650d4cf038786650f09a976efbffd12963829'|'HNA, Apollo Global among bidders vying for HSH Nordbank: sources'|'By Alexander Hübner Chinese conglomerate HNA Group and Apollo Global Management ( APO.N ) are looking to bid for German shipping finance provider HSH Nordbank [HSH.UL], according to two people familiar with the matter.HSH Nordbank said last month it had received more than 10 expressions of interest from potential buyers.Bloomberg earlier reported that HSH Nordbank had received bids from HNA and Apollo Global.HSH Nordbank, HNA and Apollo Global were not immediately available for comment.(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-hsh-nordbank-privatisation-idINKBN17502O'|'2017-04-02T23:16:00.000+03:00' 'f93202b121434bd3b94356712c7f88cb447f0ad7'|'TCI pushes Safran for independent committee to review Zodiac valuation'|'LONDON Activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management on Monday called on Safran ( SAF.PA ) to set up an ad-hoc independent directors'' committee to review the company''s valuation of Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ), according to a letter seen by Reuters.London-based TCI said in its letter to the board of Safran, which is planning a $9 billion takeover of Zodiac, that such a committee was required by French law and under the recommendations of the local regulator.The hedge fund firm said this committee should appoint a major international financial institution to perform an independent fairness opinion on Zodiac shares.(Reporting by Maiya Keidan; editing by Carolyn Cohn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-safran-zodiac-idINKBN1751LE'|'2017-04-03T12:23:00.000+03:00' 'da5201564ed669a8ebcca52e54d427ee78490921'|'Delta Air cuts forecast for key revenue metric'|'Company 28am EDT Delta Air cuts forecast for key revenue metric April 4 Delta Air Lines Inc on Tuesday lowered its forecast for a closely watched revenue metric, citing slower-than-expected improvement in average fares for flights booked at the last minute. The No. 2 U.S. airline said it expects passenger unit revenue - which compares sales to flight capacity - to fall about 0.5 percent in the first quarter ended March. ( bit.ly/2oVfqGu ) The airline had previously expected first-quarter passenger unit revenue to be about flat. Delta''s shares were down 1.1 percent at $45.80 in premarket trading. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/delta-air-outlook-idUSL3N1HC2HG'|'2017-04-04T21:28:00.000+03:00' 'f88a92e91e293647dd34227b6b6cb92cea47c346'|'PRESS DIGEST-Canada - April 4'|' 19am EDT PRESS DIGEST-Canada - April 4 April 4 The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** A judge has cleared the way for random testing of most Toronto Transit Commission employees, accepting evidence that "there is a demonstrated workplace drug and alcohol problem at the TTC which is currently hard to detect and verify." tgam.ca/2oE23LT ** Canada remains far from formally discussing an extradition treaty with China, the new ambassador to Beijing says. tgam.ca/2oE7xpG NATIONAL POST ** As Rogers Communications Inc prepares to welcome a new CEO in July, changes are afoot in the top echelons with two senior executives'' departures announced within two months. bit.ly/2oE1a5G ** Opposition members were just settling in for the fifth day of their filibuster when they discovered that the committee examining the Liberal government''s suggested changes to the standing orders had been suspended. bit.ly/2oE2l5b ** Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin Group Inc confirmed on Monday that it is currently in talks with WS Atkins PLC in a deal valued at roughly C$3.5 billion ($2.61 billion). bit.ly/2oE2BRH ($1 = C$1.34) (Compiled by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-canada-idUSL3N1HC1XZ'|'2017-04-04T18:19:00.000+03:00' '9b62bd2a11640ded056a34f6f61638b12ab0797b'|'Venezuela seeks financing to help fund nearly $3.0 bln debt payments -lawmaker'|' 26pm EDT Venezuela seeks financing to help fund nearly $3.0 billion debt payments: lawmaker left right A man walks past big samples of Venezuelan bank notes at the Central Bank headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello 1/2 left right People walk in front of an entrance of the Venezuela''s Central Bank in Caracas, Venezuela February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello 2/2 By Corina Pons and Eyanir Chinea - CARACAS CARACAS Venezuela''s central bank is negotiating about $500 million in financing with a New York-based investment fund by using PDVSA bonds as collateral to help meet almost $3 billion in debt payments coming due in April, a lawmaker said on Monday. The bank began talks with U.S. investment fund Fintech Advisory Inc three weeks ago to obtain some of the cash needed to pay external debt this month, opposition lawmaker Rafael Guzman, who sits on the congressional finance commission, told journalists. "These are desperate measures because (Venezuela) in April has to fulfill its obligations and apparently does not have the resources," said Guzman. "They intend to do an operation; we do not know if it is via repo or a direct leverage with PDVSA bonds.," said Guzman. Neither the central bank or Fintech Advisory responded to a request for comment. Separately, Venezuela is negotiating to receive financial support from Russian state oil company Rosneft to comply with the heavy commitments of cash-strapped state oil company PDVSA in April, traders and a government source told Reuters last week. Venezuela''s oil-dependent economy is suffering a brutal economic recession that has millions of people skipping meals amid steep inflation and low salaries. President Nicolas Maduro and government officials have reiterated in recent weeks that they will continue to comply with debt payments. "The government has always done everything possible to pay its debt, and I still see the president''s political will to pay," a source close to the government said on Monday. Lawmaker Guzman said that the central bank will negotiate to use about $1.5 billion in PDVSA bonds as collateral, which it has in its portfolio, to get the cash. Another option that Guzman said the government is evaluating is to offer dollar-denominated bonds to local banks in exchange for their foreign currency positions In early 2017, Venezuela was evaluating a repurchase agreement with investment bank Nomura [NMHLDC.UL], which also would have entailed offering PDVSA bonds as collateral in order to obtain liquidity, Reuters reported. Guzman said the operation with Nomura was suspended a few days ago, amid last week''s scandal in which the Supreme Court assumed the powers of the Congress, a decision later reversed. "Nomura understood and preferred not to get involved," Guzman said. Opposition lawmakers said the central bank cannot carry out that type of debt operation and the Ministry of Finance cannot carry out any issuance or loan without Congress'' authorization, a stance the government rejects. "Any central bank can do repo operations, debt operations, without requiring authorization from anyone, because it manages its investment portfolio as per the expectations of the market," said a source close to government. (Writing by Girish Gupta; editing by Diane Craft) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy-idUSKBN1752OO'|'2017-04-04T07:18:00.000+03:00' 'b4cc4155ccb9fb100530698f4e8b30dc2dadafd8'|'JGBs mostly higher, underpinned by solid demand at 10-year sale'|'TOKYO, April 4 Japanese government bonds mostly gained on Tuesday, bolstered by safe-haven buying as equities dipped and on decent results at an auction of 10-year JGBs.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell 1 basis point (bp) to 0.060 percent, while 10-year JGB futures ended up 0.18 point at 150.40."There was a moderate flight-to-quality move, and also a supportive JGB auction today," said Naomi Muguruma, senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.The Ministry of Finance offered 2.3 trillion yen ($20.83 billion) of 10-year JGBs with a 0.1 percent coupon. Some 57.3576 percent of the bids were accepted at the lowest price of 100.320.The sale drew bids of 3.96 times the amount offered, up from the previous sale''s bid-to-cover ratio of 3.74 times, indicating improved demand for the bonds. The tail between the average and lowest accepted prices narrowed slightly to 0.03, compared with that of last month''s offering at 0.04."The auction results were fair, as most peopled had expected. It seems that Japanese real-money investors have plenty of cash liquidity at hand, at the beginning of the fiscal year, and since U.S. Treasury yields have stopped rising and are gradually descending now," Muguruma said.Most people still expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to tighten, she added, but "it seems the U.S. Treasury market has already priced that in."Benchmark U.S. 10-year yields touched more than one-month lows on Monday.The two-year JGB yield fell 1 bp to minus 0.180 percent on Tuesday, moving away from the previous session''s high of minus 0.170 percent, which was its highest level since late December.Shorter maturities had come under pressure on Monday after the Bank of Japan announced on Friday that it would trim the amount of one- to three-year JGBs, and three- to five-year JGBs it buys in its operations this month, while leaving planned purchase amounts of longer-dated JGBs unchanged.The superlong zone gave up its slight gains late in the session on Tuesday, with the 20-year JGB yield flat at 0.635 percent, while the 30-year JGB yield added 1 bp to 0.855 percent.Against the backdrop of a solid JGB auction, the Nikkei stock average foundered, and ended down 0.9 percent. ($1 = 110.4000 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HC15R'|'2017-04-04T04:17:00.000+03:00' '19894a8e1626d7592ac29de7f155a70f16e1c110'|'BNP Paribas to buy online banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques'|'BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), France''s biggest bank by market capitalization, is to buy online retail banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques, as BNP Paribas steps up its investments in the digital banking sector.Financiere des Paiements Electroniques provides the payments accounts for Compte Nickel, an online French retail banking service co-founded by former SocGen ( SOGN.PA ) communications executive Hugues Le Bret.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies.French banks have steadily boosted their online and mobile-based operations to tackle low-cost internet competitors and a drop in the numbers of clients coming into branches, which have hurt profits and forced branch closures.(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bnp-deal-idUSKBN1760DO'|'2017-04-04T09:31:00.000+03:00' '3d7fdf27c6f69d702ca4b92c294fec97595b282d'|'BMO staff not in business to push products - CEO'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:03am EDT BMO staff not in business to push products - CEO TORONTO, April 4 Bank of Montreal''s chief executive said on Tuesday the bank has guidelines to prevent inappropriate sales behavior and expressed confidence in the bank''s staff. "I have confidence that they know we''re not in business to push products," said CEO William Downe in a speech at the bank''s annual shareholder meeting. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bmo-agm-idUSL2N1HC0US'|'2017-04-04T23:03:00.000+03:00' '74ba13b6ddbd1ab82601fa98e374eae51608427e'|'McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 10:02am EDT McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms A man carries branded McDonald''s purchases in London, Britain December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS French, German and Italian groups urged their national antitrust enforcers on Tuesday to look into alleged anti-competitive practices of McDonald''s ( MCD.N ), putting the U.S. fast-food chain at risk of multiple investigations in Europe. The three complaints share similar concerns about McDonald''s franchising terms and conditions, including prices set for products sold at franchises, saying consumers are charged more than at McDonald''s own stores as a result. With more than 80 percent of its outlets worldwide not company-owned, franchising is an important business model for the company. McDonald''s, the French, German and Italian competition authorities and the European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In its complaint to the French competition authority seen by Reuters, French consumer body Indecosa-CGT, which has 672,000 members, said McDonald''s France forces franchisees to charge higher prices than at its own stores. German law firm SKW Schwarz filed a similar complaint to the German cartel body on behalf of a group that it declined to name. The document seen by Reuters cited anti-competitive clauses such as the tying of franchising deals with lease agreements, restrictions on suppliers and excessive rent for premises. Italian consumer groups Codacons, Movimento Difesa del Cittadino and Cittadinanzattiva said on Tuesday they would withdraw a 2016 complaint to the European Commission because of the slow pace of procedure and take it to the Italian watchdog instead. The national competition agencies can impose fines up to 10 percent of a company''s global turnover for breaches of antitrust rules as well as ordering them to stop unfair practices. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Jane Merriman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-mcdonalds-complaints-idUSKBN1761NV'|'2017-04-04T21:54:00.000+03:00' '1b165f87259127f6022f1d7a2d7cce2fd99417fb'|'Takeover target Panmure confident on the year ahead'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 7:30am BST Takeover target Panmure confident on the year ahead Panmure Gordon ( PMR.L ), the British stockbroker that has agreed to a 15.5 million pounds Qatari-backed takeover by former Barclays'' ( BARC.L ) head Bob Diamond, said 2017 had started positively for it with first-quarter trading in line with expectations. Panmure swung to a profit of 1.1 million pounds ($1.4 million) for the year ended Dec. 31, in line with a January forecast that it would return to profitability. It reported a loss of 16.7 million pounds a year earlier. Last month, Diamond, who left Barclays in 2012 during the Libor interest rate-rigging scandal, made an offer for Panmure through his private equity firm Atlas Merchant Capital, alongside QInvest. "We are excited about the recent offer..., and the prospect of Atlas Merchant Capital joining our existing long-term supportive shareholder QInvest," Panmure Chief Executive Patric Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday. The company said it remained confident for the year ahead. It said it had executed 9 transactions over the first quarter and that its pipeline for commission and trading income was progressing well. ($1 = 0.8039 pounds) (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. LONDON British online fashion retailer Asos raised its guidance for full-year sales growth after it reported a better-than-expected 38 percent rise in its first half, driven by accelerating international demand. '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-panmure-gordon-results-idUKKBN1760G9'|'2017-04-04T14:30:00.000+03:00' '1fee3305c53bf34539710037e29a9a5ff10fa6ea'|'FTSE Russell to announce in July decision on adding Snap shares'|'By Heather Somerville and Ross Kerber - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Index fund provider FTSE Russell expects to announce in July whether it will include in its indexes shares of Snap Inc and other companies whose share structure denies investors voting rights.FTSE Russell, which is part of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, said on Monday that it will consult with stakeholders likely starting this month and conclude at the end of June. The results of the consultation will be announced in July.Snap, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat, shocked many investors with an initial public offering last month that included a first-of-its kind share structure that offered IPO investors no voting rights."FTSE Russell is aware of concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding the prospective index inclusion of securities with no voting rights such as the recent IPO by SNAP Inc," according to a statement from FTSE Russell on Monday.Clients of FTSE Russell include big fund managers such as BlackRock Inc and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. It offers popular indexes like Britain''s blue-chip FTSE 100 and the Russell 3000 index of U.S. companies.Although many investors expressed alarm at Snap''s unusual governance structure, the company''s IPO was still in such hot demand that it pulled off the biggest U.S. technology IPO since Facebook Inc in 2012, with a valuation of roughly $24 billion.(Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-snap-index-idINKBN17605I'|'2017-04-04T00:15:00.000+03:00' '445fa2a4c570fe94cab1bcf51024137d60c0eb5b'|'BRIEF-Brinker International announces CFO Tom Edwards'' resignation'|' 42pm EDT BRIEF-Brinker International announces CFO Tom Edwards'' resignation April 4 Brinker International Inc * Brinker International announces Chief Financial Officer resignation * Brinker International Inc - Resignation of Tom Edwards will be effective April 7, 2017 * Brinker International Inc - Chief Financial Officer Tom Edwards, is relocating to accept a role outside restaurant industry * Brinker International Inc - Joe Taylor who currently serves as VP investor relations,treasurer, to assume interim CFO role until successor is named * Brinker International Inc - Search for Edwards'' replacement is underway Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-brinker-international-announces-cf-idUSASB0B8KA'|'2017-04-05T04:42:00.000+03:00' '09800139d9d91fddc479e16be8d48e269039cfe1'|'Ireland to increase 2017 growth forecast, later years less certain'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 4:22pm BST Ireland to increase 2017 growth forecast, later years less certain A crane towers over a building site, in Dublin, Ireland February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne DUBLIN Ireland is set to increase its economic growth forecast for this year to between 4 and 4.25 percent but updated figures due next week will reflect increased uncertainties led by Brexit in later years, the head of the finance department said on Wednesday. Ireland''s economy was the best performing in the European Union for the third year in a row last year after gross domestic product grew by 5.2 percent, beating forecasts that were trimmed back following neighbouring Britain''s vote leave the EU. In its last update in October, the finance department saw GDP growing by 3.5 percent in 2017, but it said on Wednesday that it had yet to see a hit from Brexit and there was nothing to suggest that the economy had slowed in the first quarter. "Quarter three and quarter four (GDP) returns showed that the second half of 2016 was much stronger than had been assumed," Finance Department Secretary General Derek Moran told a parliamentary committee. "It would be reasonable to expect the figure next week to improve to between 4 and 4.25 percent for this year." The department''s last forecasts predicted that GDP growth would moderate to an average of 3 percent between 2018 and 2021. However, it has since estimated that a "hard Brexit" - in which Britain loses access to the EU''s single market - could knock around 3.5 percent off GDP within a decade. Moran said he anticipated therefore that "forecasts for the outer years will reflect increased levels of external uncertainty". He also said figures on Tuesday that showed that income tax receipts came in 3.9 percent behind target in the first quarter despite continued sharp falls in unemployment were "puzzling rather than worrying" and that the department was unlikely to change its tax revenue forecast for 2017 next week. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alison Williams) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-idUKKBN17720L'|'2017-04-05T23:22:00.000+03:00' '7ac3fafbe5fbe82730dc5a7460ad0fd36ba1d0d8'|'BlaBlaCar unveils Opel leasing deal in boost for ride-sharing'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 10:04am BST BlaBlaCar unveils Opel leasing deal in boost for ride-sharing Frederic Mazzella, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of French ride-sharing start-up BlaBlaCar, poses at the company''s headquarters in Paris, France, September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer BERLIN BlablaCar, Europe''s biggest ride-sharing startup, will offer its drivers lower-cost car deals in a partnership announced on Wednesday with Opel ( GM.N ) and Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ). Paris-based BlablaCar, which lets users offer rides for cash to share their own vehicle and mileage costs, said it will begin offering Opels to some of its French drivers through Societe Generale''s ALD leasing units on competitive zero-deposit terms. The service connects regular long-distance drivers with passengers through its ride-sharing phone app, allowing car owners to cover costs but not make a profit. That shields users from regulatory and tax obligations. BlaBlaCar, which has 9 million drivers and 40 million passengers in 22 countries, will start by offering the deals to its 28,000 most prolific users in France before deploying the programme more widely, Chief Executive Nicolas Brusson said in an interview. "The goal is to expand that geographically," Brusson said. "We can pioneer a new approach to car ownership based on usage." (Reporting by Eric Auchard, additional reporting by Laurence Frost in Paris and Edward Taylor in Frankfurt. Editing by Jane Merriman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autos-sharing-blablacar-idUKKBN1770YK'|'2017-04-05T17:04:00.000+03:00' '90acc7a0d6d3df79ca2bf48dfe84f1c3fe779455'|'Exclusive: U.S. blockchain company Wyre acquires Chinese payments platform'|'NEW YORK San Francisco startup Wyre Inc, a cross-border payments firm, has acquired a Beijing-based platform, Chief Executive Michael Dunworth told Reuters on Tuesday, in what he said was the first acquisition by a U.S. company of a Chinese blockchain business in the corporate payments space.Wyre''s purchase of Remitsy strengthens the U.S. firm''s push into the $500 billion U.S.-China business payments market.Dunworth declined to discuss terms of the cash and equity deal. Negotiations started in February, he said.When Remitsy is fully integrated, U.S.-China business payments will be processed in a few hours, Dunworth said in an interview. Currently, payments are completed within three to five business days using other payments processors, he said."We''re focused on payments that are fast as email going bank to bank, and to other payments platforms."Wyre and Remitsy are primarily focused on business payments between the United States and China. Both companies are enabled by blockchain, a ledger of transactions that first emerged as the software underpinning bitcoin and is maintained by a network of computers.Blockchain has become the most sought-after technology in the corporate and financial sector, with the world''s largest banks and companies in a mad dash to adopt it.Remitsy has partnerships with well-known vendors such as Alipay, launched in 2004 by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ) and its founder, Jack Ma. The acquisition allows Wyre to incorporate those partnerships into its own platform and thus bolster its U.S.-China business, Dunworth said."It''s the first time any Wyre customer will be able to provide pay-out in China via Alipay," he said. "Adding Alipay to our platform would be a huge benefit."Wyre''s payment volume in March 2016 was $50 million. With the acquisition, transactions processed would increase to $70 million-$75 million over the next few months, Dunworth said. Wyre currently has 1,000 customers.Remitsy''s co-founders will join the Wyre team and lead the company''s growth and local operations in China.Wyre raised $5.8 million in capital late last year. The funding round was led by Chinese venture firm Amphora Capital. Other investors include Chinese payments company Baofoo.com and 9fBank.Draper Associates and Digital Currency Group (DCG) are also investors in the company. Draper Associates was founded by billionaire investor Tim Draper, while DCG was founded by Barry Silbert, one of the first investors to bring bitcoin to the institutional investing market.(Editing by Megan Davies and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-remitsy-m-a-wyre-idUSKBN1762VR'|'2017-04-05T01:47:00.000+03:00' 'ef73c4e4b4c9a61eb5f80aece35cd871a378934c'|'EU clears ChemChina takeover of Syngenta with conditions'|'Deals 36am BST EU clears ChemChina takeover of Syngenta with conditions left right FILE PHOTO: Syngenta''s logo is seen at Syngenta Biotech Center in Beijing, China, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The company logo of China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, China February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo 2/2 By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS ChemChina [CNNCC.UL] won EU antitrust approval on Wednesday for its $43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta ( SYNN.S ), a crucial deal that could help China boost its domestic agricultural output. The deal, the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company, is one of several that is reshaping the international market for agricultural chemicals, seeds and fertilizers even as they trigger fears among farmers that the pipeline for new herbicides and pesticides might slow. Reuters reported on Feb. 2 that the deal would be cleared with conditions. The European Commission said the asset sales addressed its competition concerns. "It is important for European farmers and ultimately consumers that there will be effective competition in pesticide markets, also after ChemChina''s acquisition of Syngenta," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. Syngenta shares were trading up 1.5 percent after the EU''s antitrust clearance was announced. ChemChina will sell a large chunk of its subsidiary Adama''s pesticide, herbicides and insecticides business, its seed treatment products for cereals and sugar beet and a substantial part of its plant growth regulator business for cereals. Some of Syngenta''s pesticides will also be put on the block. World No. 1 pesticides maker Syngenta sells its products in more than 90 countries under such brand names as Acuron, Axial, Beacon and Callisto. It sells seeds such as cereals, corn, rice, soybeans and vegetables. U.S. antitrust authorities nodded the deal through on Tuesday on condition that ChemChina divest three products. The EU approval came a week after it cleared the $130 billion Dow Chemical ( DOW.N ) and DuPont ( DD.N ) merger in return for hefty asset sales including global research and development facilities. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) Next In Deals JAB Holding to buy bakery chain Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea, said on Wednesday it would buy U.S. bakery chain Panera Bread Co in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion, including debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-eu-idUKKBN17714T'|'2017-04-05T18:15:00.000+03:00' '268566c73e5aa982f261b5cc9a26e7dbdc9f262d'|'Actelion shareholders back R&D spinoff, keep J&J deal on track'|' 12:04pm BST Actelion shareholders back R&D spinoff, keep J&J deal on track The company''s logo is seen at the headquarters of Swiss biotech company Actelion in Allschwil, Switzerland January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH Shareholders in Swiss biotech group Actelion ( ATLN.S ) approved on Wednesday spinning off its drug discovery and early clinical pipeline into a new company, keeping Johnson & Johnson''s ( JNJ.N ) $30 billion (24.03 billion pounds) takeover on track to close in the second quarter. "After a very successful two decades, resulting in an unprecedented share price increase of more than 2,000 percent since our IPO, the next chapter for Actelion awaits," Chairman Jean-Pierre Garnier said after the annual meeting. "With the successful tender offer by Johnson & Johnson, regulatory approvals on track, and today''s approval by the shareholders to spin out Idorsia, the transaction is moving ahead at full steam." Johnson & Johnson last month declared its tender offer a success and reported it controlled 77.2 percent of Actelion''s voting rights after the main offer period. J&J intends to delist Actelion, while the new research and development company led by Actelion founder Jean-Paul Clozel will have a separate Swiss listing. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Brenn Hughes Neghaiwi) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-actelion-m-a-j-j-idUKKBN1771A8'|'2017-04-05T19:04:00.000+03:00' 'a1fd1eb9c5c84795af589b3436f2e2489db60f39'|'Is there a housing bubble or isn''t there? - Greg Jericho'|'I n the run-up to the May budget each year, the talk is often about tax cuts and welfare cuts, or general hubbub about the budget balance. This year a topic which is only of secondary importance to the budget balance is front and centre – housing affordability, and more crucially, whether or not Australia’s property market is in a bubble.The problem with talk of housing bubbles is that it very much brings to the fore the issue of Australia’s divergent economy. Sydney is not representative of the nation, but neither is Adelaide or Perth.Since the Reserve Bank of Australia began cutting rates in November 2011, the housing price boom has overwhelmingly been Sydney-centric.Reserve Bank head warns house price speculation is a risk to Australian economy Read more In December 2011, the median house price in Sydney was $533,000, only just ahead of Canberra’s $500,000, Melbourne’s $495,000, and not absurdly above the median price for houses in Perth of $480,000.But now the median house price in Sydney is just shy of $1m at $970,000, while the rest of the nation has been left in the dust.While the median house price in Melbourne and Canberra in that time has increased by what you would think is a pretty steep – 36% and 30% respectively – that is nothing compared with the 82% increase in Sydney:Now housing prices going up – or even booming – does not mean we are necessarily experiencing a bubble. A bubble occurs when the increase in price is at a rate that is unsustainable and is also out of whack with the reality of the situation.Now that is not easy to pick; if it was easy, we wouldn’t have them. But there are things we can look at with concern, and we know we should because the Reserve Bank is very much looking at them. The big one is debt.Housing prices and debt are joined at the hip. There aren’t many people out there paying cash for a house. So if housing prices are going up, a good space to watch is whether the level of debt in the economy appears to be at levels that are unsustainable and/or out of step with other aspects of the economy.And here we look to the the governor of the RBA, Philip Lowe, who, in a speech on Tuesday night , made it pretty clear there are warning signs. He told the audience that “the level of household debt in Australia is high and it is rising”.It sure is. The current level of household debt to disposable income is at a record 188.7%:Lowe noted that “over the past year the value of housing-related debt outstanding increased by 6.5%” and that because incomes have not risen by as much, there “has been a further rise in the ratio of household debt to income, from an already high level”.The final part is important.The rise in the level of household debt and housing debt over the past few years has been large, but not unprecedented:In the 1990s and early 2000s (before the global financial crisis), Australians gorged themselves on debt.When Australia exited the 1990s recession, our debt level was at 80% of disposable income. From there Australians would set off on a 15-year-run of increasing debt. By the time the GFC hit, the ratio was up to 171.1%.During the GFC and years that followed, we took a breather from our climb up the debt mountain. But once the RBA’s cuts to interest rates began to fully take hold, we set off again at a furious pace.But while the growth of debt over the past three years is not too out of step with what we saw in the 1990s, and much less than during the super housing boom in the very early 2000s, the key, as Lowe noted, is that debt is at “an already high level”.Increasing the level of debt in the economy is much different when it is just 80% of disposable income, than when it is 180%. The other major problem is that this increase is out of step with what is happening in the rest of the economy.Lowe noted that while Australians are generally coping well with their debt levels, “at the same time, though, slow growth in wages is making it harder for some households to pay down their debt”.In a line that rather goes to the heart of the problem, Lowe noted that “for many people, the high debt levels and low wage growth are a sobering combination”.And if we compare the increase in the ratio of debt with the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ measure of “national economic wellbeing” – real net national disposable income – the recent increase in debt certainly looks out of whack:So we have strong rises in housing debt due to house prices going up – especially in Sydney and to a lesser extent in Melbourne – at a time that wages and income growth is weak.That is not a combination that is sustainable, and it is a combination that is worrying given we have record levels of debt.If we were to try to calm everyone about debt, we could say that, yes, debt-to-income is rising, but so too are asset values. The ratio of debt-to-asset values is well down on the record highs of three years ago:Partly this is because the price of houses (assets) has been rising faster than the level of debt, and because, with low interest rates, people are able to pay off the debt quicker.And while it is good that asset prices are rising faster than we are accumulating debt, that ratio only works so long as the asset prices keep rising and interest rates stay low. It can get ugly quickly if house prices fall, or interest rates start going up.Sydney property prices rise almost 20% in past 12 months Read more Amid all this discussion has come focus on the supply of housing. Lowe mentioned this aspect, and the prime minister has been quick to echo his statement that “it is hard to escape the conclusion that we need to address the supply side if we are to avoid ever-rising housing costs relative to our incomes”.Within this debate has also been talk of population growth – especially that of migration. And yet migration figures are down from levels hit at the end of the mining boom, and even the recent peak of December 2012:And interestingly, there has also been in that time a supply boom – especially in apartments and flats:The boom in apartment construction came at a time when our migrant intake began to fall. So big has been the surge in apartment construction – especially in Melbourne and Brisbane – that the RBA is worried about an oversupply of such housing.And then there is the problem of bank-lending practices. Lowe told his audience he is worried that “too many loans are still made where the borrower has the skinniest of income buffers after interest payments”. He noted that “in some cases, lenders are assuming that people can live more frugally than in practice they can, leaving little buffer if things go wrong”.Right now, with record debt levels rising at a time when income growth is flat, apartment construction exploding while population growth is slowing, and all the while house prices in Sydney and Melbourne rising by nearly 20% in the past year , while banks are already starting to raise interest rates, it feels as though the market is at a point where it wouldn’t take much for things to go very wrong indeed.Topics Housing affordability Grogonomics Australian economy Business (Australia) Australian politics Reserve Bank of Australia Interest rates Australia comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2017/apr/06/is-there-a-housing-bubble-or-isnt-there'|'2017-04-05T23:00:00.000+03:00' '312cecb3029e1dea406ca830f4f3b9a184abd5ea'|'EU''s Tusk says Greece, lenders close to concluding bailout review'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 9:11am BST EU''s Tusk says Greece, lenders close to concluding bailout review European Council President Donald Tusk speaks during a joint news conference with Bulgaria''s President Rumen Radev in Sofia, Bulgaria April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov ATHENS Greece and its international lenders are close to concluding a long-stalled bailout review, EU Council President Donald Tusk said on Wednesday. "We are close to concluding this demanding procedure," said Tusk after meeting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens. "We have to be contained on optimism but I feel more optimistic." Talks between Greece, the European Union and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund have dragged on for months due to differences over Greece''s fiscal progress, labour and energy market reforms, rekindling worries of a new crisis in Europe. A new rift between Athens and the IMF over fiscal issues and labour reforms has dealt a blow to an initial accord, dashing hopes for a bailout review deal before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Friday. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and George Georgiopoulos) Next In Business News Korea''s KEPCO cautious as Britain hunts partner for crucial nuclear project - sources SEOUL As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-greece-tusk-idUKKBN1770SZ'|'2017-04-05T16:11:00.000+03:00' '1727aa38d3c806f97ab64e7180670382036b94ff'|'European shares under pressure as autos, banks fall; oil stocks recover'|'* STOXX 600 flat* Autos, banks under pressure* Oil stocks, miners recover* Rotork boosted by upgrade (Recasts, adds Quote: s and details, updates prices)By Kit ReesLONDON, April 4 The muted start to the second quarter continued on Tuesday as European shares struggled for direction in choppy trade on Tuesday, weighed by weakness in the autos sector though gains in oil-related stocks and miners provided some support.The pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat in percentage terms at 0902 GMT, while the resources-heavy FTSE 100 outperformed and was up 0.4 percent."Heading into Q2 there’s a lot on the table. There’s a lot of currency risk going on at the moment, which is causing a bit of market uncertainty, especially in the FTSE and the Euro STOXX 50,” said John Moore, trader at Berkeley Capital, referring to Europe''s blue chip index.Autos were the biggest sectoral losers, down 1.4 percent, with Schaeffler, Peugeot and BMW leading the sector lower.Figures for U.S. sales of new vehicles in March at major carmarkers came in below market expectations while investor worries over the outlook for diesel vehicles has cast a cloud over European auto stocks.Banking stocks were also under the cosh, falling 0.5 percent. Spain''s Banco Popular extended its slide from the previous session, taking losses over the past two sessions to more than 13 percent after the lender announced a restatement on Monday and said that its CEO is to step down.Oil stocks were among standout sectoral gainers, however, rising around 0.3 percent, rebounding from losses in the previous session. Likewise, basic resources stocks rose 0.3 percent.Broker action boosted individual names, with Rotork jumping 4.6 percent after JP Morgan raised the valve-control systems maker to "overweight" from "neutral"."We believe the group''s earnings power has increased and earnings can significantly exceed previous peaks," analysts at JP Morgan said in a note."Our analysis increases our confidence that end-market headwinds are easing, the group remains well positioned to benefit from the recovery and growth opportunities exist outside of just oil & gas capex."Belgium biotech firm Galapagos was another top riser, up 2.1 percent after launching three new phase two "proof-of-concept" studies.Stocks with South African exposure, such as Old Mutual and Investec, were also down, falling 2.5 percent and 1.8 respectively after S&P Global Ratings cut the country''s credit rating to sub-investment grade with a negative outlook, sending the rand lower. (Reporting by Kit Rees; editing by Mark Heinrich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idINL5N1HC1B1'|'2017-04-04T07:24:00.000+03:00' 'e5dd8eecfa85fdeac6b753c91b16aca5f5a4426e'|'BRIEF-BMC makes two strategic acquisitions'|' 05am EDT BRIEF-BMC makes two strategic acquisitions April 4 Bmc Stock Holdings Inc * BMC enhances its value-added offerings with two strategic acquisitions * BMC stock holdings - has acquired substantially all of assets, assumed certain liabilities of texas plywood & lumber company, code plus components, llc. * BMC stock holdings inc - "each of these transactions is in line with our strategy to pursue accretive acquisition opportunities" '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-bmc-makes-two-strategic-acquisitio-idUSFWN1HC08V'|'2017-04-04T19:05:00.000+03:00' 'a13de348721478d410b48b8a3b23391e1b4e870e'|'BNP Paribas to buy online banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:36am BST BNP Paribas to buy online banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques The logo of the BNP Paribas bank is seen in Paris, France, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), France''s biggest bank by market capitalization, is to buy online retail banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques, as BNP Paribas steps up its investments in the digital banking sector. Financiere des Paiements Electroniques provides the payments accounts for Compte Nickel, an online French retail banking service co-founded by former SocGen ( SOGN.PA ) communications executive Hugues Le Bret. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies. French banks have steadily boosted their online and mobile-based operations to tackle low-cost internet competitors and a drop in the numbers of clients coming into branches, which have hurt profits and forced branch closures. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Stephen Coates) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bnp-deal-idUKKBN1760E5'|'2017-04-04T13:36:00.000+03:00' '89c16ce2ac010ef0cf942d2bff068d139e9263e2'|'All euro business should be moved from London after Brexit - top EU lawmaker'|'Business 49am BST All euro business should be moved from London after Brexit - top EU lawmaker Manfred Weber, Chairman of the European People Party (EPP), take part in a summit of the party in St Julian''s, Malta, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi STRASBOURG All financial business denominated in euros should be moved from London to the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc, a top EU lawmaker said on Tuesday. "People expect that we do the euro business and all the business which is linked to the euro on European soil," Manfred Weber, who heads the conservative grouping, the largest in the European Parliament, told a news conference in Strasbourg. He declined to answer specific questions on whether this would involve the moving of clearing of euro-denominated, derivatives which is mostly conducted in London at the moment. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-clearing-derivatives-idUKKBN1760WQ'|'2017-04-04T17:49:00.000+03:00' '298fd04157b9c04c298b83a65266f087fdc3c5c6'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 3'|'ZURICH, April 3 The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening 0.11 percent higher at 8,669 points on Monday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer .The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks:GALENICA SANTEGalenica has priced the initial public offering of its Sante unit at between 37-39 Swiss francs per share at the top end of its range, implying a market capitalization of 1.85 billion Swiss francs ($1.85 billion) to 1.95 billion francs.For more clickCREDIT SUISSECredit Suisse took out adverts in British Sunday newspapers stressing a zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion, as the Swiss bank tries to limit any damage to its reputation from raids on three of its offices.Harris Associates, one of Credit Suisse''s biggest shareholders, plans to vote in favour of all the proposals from the Swiss bank''s board of directors at the annual general meeting on April 28, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag reported.The bank is also conducting an internal investigation over whether staff breached compliance rules after three of its offices were searched in tax evasion probes, the head of its International Wealth Management division said on Friday.For more news, clickCOMPANY STATEMENTS* UBS said Chairman Axel Weber and the other members of the board of directors will stand for re-election for a further one-year term.* Swisscom Chief Executive Urs Schaeppi told SonntagsZeitung the company will be doing a good job in the next few years in Switzerland if it keeps turnover and margins stable. Swisscom does see growth potential in Italy, Schaeppi said.* Sika will restrict the voting rights of the Swiss construction chemical maker''s founding family at 5 percent in votes at the upcoming annual general meeting on the re-election of independent board members and candidates for the board nominated by the family, SonntagsZeitung reported. The Burkard family, descendents of Sika''s founder, is at odds with the management of the company over a takeover battle involving France''s Saint-Gobain.* Rajiv Jain, the former star fund manager at Swiss private bank Vontobel, told Finanz und Wirtschaft he is looking to raise 3.5-4 billion Swiss francs in managed assets within 9 months for his new fund.* Arundel AG said on Friday it entered into an agreement with Vega Energy Partners Ltd in Houston, giving it an opportunity to invest in certain energy infrastructure assets and natural gas trading activities.* Energiedienst Holding said on Friday that Dominique D. Candrian was elected chairman of board of directors.* Highlight Event and Entertainment said it would increase its share capital up to a maximum of 63.4 million francs.* Baloise said it is beginning its share buyback programme and that it had purchased around 70 percent of PAX Anlage AG.* Evolva said it has entered a major collaboration agreement with Cargill for the production and commercialisation of EverSweet. This product is on track for a 2018 launch.* Roche said its Phase III Alur study supports the use of Alecensa for people with advanced ALK-positive lung cancer.* Schmolz & Bickenbach AG said it is offering 200 million euros ($213.56 million) of senior secured notes due 2022 to redeem outstanding portion of senior secured notes due 2019.* Novartis Ag said its drug combination Tafinlar and Mekinist won EU approval for BRAF v600-positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer.ECONOMYSwiss retail sales at 0715 GMTSwiss Manufacturing PMI at 0730 GMT($1 = 1.0006 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idINL5N1H85S9'|'2017-04-03T04:08:00.000+03:00' '58ee9bf75a4d4e8a05982287e02bab81d7da3492'|'TCI pushes Safran for independent committee to review Zodiac valuation'|' 23am EDT TCI pushes Safran for independent committee to review Zodiac valuation The logo of French aircraft seats and equipment manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace is seen during the company''s first half of the 2015/2016 fiscal year presentation in Paris, France, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier LONDON Activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management on Monday called on Safran ( SAF.PA ) to set up an ad-hoc independent directors'' committee to review the company''s valuation of Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ), according to a letter seen by Reuters. London-based TCI said in its letter to the board of Safran, which is planning a $9 billion takeover of Zodiac, that such a committee was required by French law and under the recommendations of the local regulator. The hedge fund firm said this committee should appoint a major international financial institution to perform an independent fairness opinion on Zodiac shares. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan; editing by Carolyn Cohn) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-safran-zodiac-idUSKBN1751LE'|'2017-04-03T22:23:00.000+03:00' 'ba766cbf8d88979fc1aed72ca08f1fcf2c4fcb6a'|'Puma signs sponsor deal with Borussia Monchengladbach'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 4:05pm BST Puma signs sponsor deal with Borussia Monchengladbach FILE PHOTO - The logo of German sports goods firm Puma is seen on a shoe after the company''s annual news conference in Herzogenaurach February 20, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo BERLIN Puma ( PUMG.DE ) has agreed a long-term deal to return to sponsoring erstwhile German soccer champions Borussia Monchengladbach as it seeks to rebuild its credentials as a sports brand. Puma said in a statement that it would start sponsoring Monchengladbach from July 1, 2018, taking over from Italian brand Kappa which has supplied the team since 2013. It previously was the team''s official supplier from 1976 to 1992. Puma could pay up to 100 million euros ($106.60 million) over 10 years for the deal, Germany''s Express newspaper reported in January. A spokeswoman declined to give financial details. After sales slid when its focus shifted to fashion, the German firm has been seeking to restore its reputation in performance sportswear by striking pricey sponsorship deals, most notably with English soccer side Arsenal from 2014. Puma last week also signed a long-term deal with French soccer team Olympique de Marseille from July 1, 2018. Puma also sponsors a number of other major sides including Germany''s Borussia Dortmund and English champions Leicester City. Puma expects currency-adjusted net sales to increase at a high single-digit percentage rate in 2017 after a rise of 10 percent in 2016, and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 170 million to 190 million euros, up from 128 million in 2016. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson, editing by Pritha Sarkar) Next In Business News Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. LONDON, April 3 - British manufacturing lost some of its momentum last month, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-puma-de-soccer-idUKKBN1751Q0'|'2017-04-03T23:05:00.000+03:00' 'c577199c01cdebfd10626339ccafd2db6278bc9c'|'Top-20 Akzo Nobel investor backs talks with PPG over revised bid'|'Company News 22pm EDT Top-20 Akzo Nobel investor backs talks with PPG over revised bid LONDON, April 3 A top-20 investor in Akzo Nobel said on Monday he wanted the firm to engage with U.S. rival PPG Industries over a revised bid raising pressure on the Dutch paint maker to begin talks. Chief Executive Ton Buechner has so far refused to do so, saying PPG has yet to address "key stakeholder issues" - a position he reiterated on Monday in the face of growing opposition from shareholders led by activist investor Elliott Advisors. The investor said while Buechner had "done a fantastic job since he took over", the revised cash-and-share offer of around 90 euros a share was "at a level where the company''s got to engage; it''s a decent offer", given he valued Akzo at around 75 euros a share as a standalone firm. Valuation, and not politics or the governance structure, should be the only thing that prevented a deal from taking place, he added, and it was up to Buechner to show how he intended to close the valuation gap. Akzo is due to detail its plan to boost shareholder value on Apr. 19, including a spin-off of its chemicals division. The investor said the move would be unlikely to deliver much in terms of value accretion to shareholders, although it depended on the price. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Pamela Barbaglia) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/akzo-nobel-ma-investor-idUSL5N1HB5N6'|'2017-04-04T01:22:00.000+03:00' 'f68911991e21e6ba14f97034e02f3e0295a539d3'|'Top Tesco shareholder Magellan says neutral on Booker deal, backs board'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:42am BST Top Tesco shareholder Magellan says neutral on Booker deal, backs board LONDON Top-10 Tesco ( TSCO.L ) shareholder Magellan Financial Group said on Monday it had some concerns about the firm''s 3.7 billion pound takeover of British wholesaler Booker ( BOK.L ), but was "strongly supportive" of the firm''s management. Co-founder Hamish Douglass said he was "neutral" about the deal as although the deal terms were fair, he had some concerns about the process of merging both firms, and had voiced his concerns to Tesco. "We are not concerned about the financial terms of the Booker transaction as we assess them to be fair after taking into account the synergies. Our reservations relate to the potential distractions and increased complexity of integrating the businesses," Douglass said in emailed comments. "We are neutral on the transaction but strongly supportive of Dave Lewis and the senior management team at Tesco... In our view Tesco shareholders have a simple decision - are they prepared to back Dave Lewis or not? Magellan is backing Dave Lewis." The support comes as fellow top Tesco shareholders Schroders and Artisan Partners both said last week that they did not support the deal, calling it expensive and a distraction from its turnaround plan, and asking for the firm to withdraw its offer. ($1 = 0.7983 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Maiya Keidan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesco-booker-magellan-idUKKBN1750NF'|'2017-04-03T15:42:00.000+03:00' '62a6d5099d2cad802e059bdc5d11ebdecd1145cd'|'Get ready for higher interest rates, says ECB''s Coeure'|'Business 9:08am BST Get ready for higher interest rates, says ECB''s Coeure Benoit Coeure, executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), speaks during a conference in Brussels, Belgium March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman PARIS Governments and other economic actors need to get ready for higher borrowing costs after years of record lows, ECB Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said on Monday. "It''s obvious that the financial sector, and other economic actors and especially governments must prepare (for higher interest rates)," Coeure told a finance conference in Paris. "I hope that euro zone governments know that interest rates will not stay at current levels," Coeure added. Coeure also said that negative interest rates that the ECB charges banks to deposit with it, had been effective in terms of monetary policy, but such rates should not stay in place too long due to the risk it could weaken those banks. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Yann Le Guernigou; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-coeure-idUKKBN1750PK'|'2017-04-03T16:08:00.000+03:00' '7973da5e1829807a819fb1ee66729c077974c1bb'|'Alaska officials report oil leak in beluga whale habitat'|'U.S. - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 8:04pm EDT Alaska officials report oil leak in beluga whale habitat By Devika Krishna Kumar Alaska officials reported an oil leak from an underwater pipeline late on Saturday that was within habitat designated as critical for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales. The leak originated from an eight-inch pipeline connecting two Hilcorp Energy production platforms in the Upper Cook Inlet. Hilcorp shut down both platforms following the leak and the pipeline is now operating at reduced pressure, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) said. Hilcorp estimated that fewer than 10 gallons of oil have been released, but ADEC has not confirmed that figure, spill prevention and response director Kristin Ryan said on Sunday. "We do not know if it''s still leaking," Ryan said. "The reduced pressure should minimize the amount being released from the leak and we have not seen sheening since that time, but we have not been able to confirm." Hilcorp did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The population of belugas that swim off the coast of Alaska''s largest city was listed as endangered in 2008 by the federal government and more than 3,000 square miles have been protected as critical habitat since 2011. The spill occurred in an area that is also home to other endangered mammals including the Steller sea lion and the humpback whale. The ADEC has not seen any impact to wildlife yet. Three overhead flights were conducted on Saturday with no animals seen where sheening had occurred or near the pipeline, Ryan said. The cause of the leak was unknown and being investigated, ADEC said. The line can hold 461 barrels of oil at full capacity. Hilcorp last week shut two Alaskan oil production platforms after reducing pressure on a leaking natural gas pipeline in Cook Inlet. [nL2N1H50Z5] The two incidents are unrelated, ADEC said. The Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement on Sunday it had sent Hilcorp a 60-day notice of its intent to sue for the gas leak, and is monitoring the oil leak to determine whether additional legal action is warranted. "We''re really worried about what this means for Cook Inlet belugas with the double whammy of an oil spill and gas leak in the same season," Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity said in an emailed statement. Hilcorp has hired a diving contactor to investigate the line and make repairs and it is anticipated that this work can be conducted late next week, ADEC said. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Next In U.S.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaska-oilspill-hilcorp-idUSKBN175001'|'2017-04-03T07:56:00.000+03:00' 'f12ef6135c3a476f8400e60b5ec228eb706c4559'|'AIG board ''actively engaged'' in search for new CEO -chairman'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 10:23pm BST AIG board ''actively engaged'' in search for new CEO -chairman People exit the AIG building in New York''s financial district March 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid American International Group Inc''s ( AIG.N ) board of directors is "actively engaged in the process of identifying the right individual to serve" as the insurance company''s chief executive, its chairman wrote in a letter to shareholders on Monday. AIG''s board and management "believe strongly that we are on the right strategic path" and expect to "gain the benefit" of actions the insurer took in 2016 with a "significantly improved risk profile and more efficient cost base," wrote Douglas Steenland, AIG''s non-executive chairman of the board, in a letter that accompanied the insurer''s 2016 annual report. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by David Gregorio) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. BERLIN Former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, reducing his links with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aig-annual-idUKKBN1752HY'|'2017-04-04T05:23:00.000+03:00' '965ac39cbbe19721e189b927a5baad17e44347a2'|'Allianz-led consortium wants 5 percent of Atlantia motorway unit: sources'|'FRANKFURT/MILAN A consortium led by a unit of Allianz ( ALVG.DE ) is looking to buy a third of the 15 percent stake Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) is selling in its Italian motorway business, two sources close to the matter said on Tuesday.Allianz Capital Partners, the German insurer''s infrastructure investment vehicle, would own around two-thirds of the consortium alongside another European investor, one of the sources said.The vehicle is ready to pay about 500 million euros ($533 million) to cover its part in the deal, the source said.Italian infrastructure group Atlantia is selling a minority stake in its Autostrade per l''Italia (ASPI) operations to help it fund overseas expansion.A second source said Atlantia was in talks to sell two other 5 percent stakes in ASPI to investors, with Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADIA considering an investment.Binding bids are expected by the end of this week, the sources said.Middle East and Chinese investors are in the picture, a third source said.Atlantia declined to comment while ADIA did not immediately reply to a request for a comment.(Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Stephen Jewkes, additional reporting by Francesca Landini)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-atlantia-m-a-allianz-idINKBN1762FS'|'2017-04-04T16:10:00.000+03:00' '64ed8a20d931fcdf9483db467bce252eaef1af38'|'BRIEF-AGI announces $75 mln principal amount of convertible unsecured subordinated debentures'|' 40pm EDT BRIEF-AGI announces $75 mln principal amount of convertible unsecured subordinated debentures April 4 AG Growth International Inc: * AGI announces $75 million public offering of convertible unsecured subordinated debentures * AG Growth International-to issue $75 million principal amount of convertible unsecured subordinated debentures at price of $1,000/debenture Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-agi-announces-75-mln-principal-amo-idUSASB0B8JU'|'2017-04-05T04:40:00.000+03:00' '9f2423d7f97895d41e6960a8996461aa216fb31b'|'BRIEF-Stephen Brown notifies intention to resign as chief financial officer of STAAR Surgical'|' 40pm EDT BRIEF-Stephen Brown notifies intention to resign as chief financial officer of STAAR Surgical April 4 STAAR Surgical Co - * Stephen Brown notified co of his intention to resign as vice president and chief financial officer * Says CFO Brown''s resignation will become effective on April 28, 2017 * Staar Surgical Co says appointed Deborah Andrews to serve as interim vice president and CFO of company Source text: [ bit.ly/2nBouPT ] '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-stephen-brown-notifies-intention-t-idUSFWN1HC0JR'|'2017-04-05T04:40:00.000+03:00' '04f44a554e3a33c8afc20911640aaf9be76d3415'|'UK economy probably slowing after strong end to 2016 - PMI'|' 2:51pm BST UK economy probably slowing after strong end to 2016: PMI By Andy Bruce - LONDON LONDON Britain''s economy has probably slowed from its strong growth of late last year and a cooling jobs market and hefty price increases will become increasingly apparent as Brexit gets underway, according to a survey The Markit/CIPS Services Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI), a closely watched gauge of Britain''s services industry, rose to a three-month high of 55.0 in March from 53.3 in February. That topped all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, whose median forecast was for a reading of 53.5, pushing sterling almost half a cent higher against the dollar. [GBP/] But there were some warning signals as Britain begins the two-year process of leaving the European Union. Services companies raised their selling prices at the fastest pace since 2008, a sign that inflation may rise more than the 3 percent expected by many forecasters this year. Businesses hired people at the slowest pace in seven months. Taken together, the PMIs for manufacturing, construction and services published this week suggest economic growth will slow to around 0.4 percent in the first quarter from 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, data firm IHS Markit said. Growth of 0.4 percent would be in line with the most recent Reuters poll of economists but slower than the 0.6 percent predicted by the Bank of England. "The PMI does not cover the retail sector, and hence may be overestimating growth somewhat given the concentrated hit in that area," JPMorgan economist Allan Monks said. But conditions outside Britain had clearly improved and there was uncertainty about how quickly consumers will respond to higher prices, he said in a note to clients. The BoE is widely expected to keep interest rates at their record low throughout this year and possibly until 2019 as it steers the British economy through the uncertainty linked to the exit from the EU. However, one rate-setter voted last month for a rate increase and others said they might follow suit soon if there were signs that economy was maintaining its momentum of 2016. Despite the stronger-than-expected headline growth figure in Wednesday''s PMI, the survey also suggested consumers were cutting back on luxuries. Hotels and restaurants, gyms and hairdressers ranked among the worst-performing services in the first three months of 2017. "Much of the disappointment in growth so far this year has been evident in consumer-oriented sectors, in part linked to spending and incomes being squeezed by higher prices," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. Official data on Wednesday showed modest improvement for one of Britain''s most persistent economic headaches, weak productivity. Output-per-hour grew at the fastest pace in more than a year in the final three months of 2016, but remained well below the average rate seen before the financial crisis. The figures did little to challenge expectations that 2017 will be a tough one for many Britons. Nearly half of British households plan to cut spending as worries about inflation escalate, according to a separate survey on Wednesday from pension provider Scottish Friendly and the think tank Social Market Foundation. Official data last week showed real household disposable income - a measure of spending power in the fourth quarter of 2016 - saw its biggest quarter-on-quarter decline in nearly three years. Industry figures for new car registrations bucked other signs of weakening consumer demand, with sales rising 8.4 percent last month. But the surge in part reflected customers bringing forward purchases to beat a tax rise, which may bode for a weak April, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. The all-sector PMI, covering manufacturing, construction and services, rose a full point to 54.7 in March. (Editing by William Schomberg, Larry King) A view of the London skyline shows the City of London financial district, seen from St Paul''s Cathedral in London, Britain February 25, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-pmi-idUKKBN17717Z'|'2017-04-05T21:39:00.000+03:00' '144876a56566b8770f67b0335ee7a02f14db5661'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 5'|'April 5 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The Times- British Prime Minister Theresa May has added some prime ministerial clout to the London Stock Exchange''s attempt to persuade Saudi Arabian Oil Co IPO-ARMO.SE mco to list its shares in the UK. bit.ly/2o7cWb1- PA Consulting Services, brought in by UK Trade and Investment in 2014 for a three-year contract, exploited poor decision-making by the government agency responsible for boosting overseas trade to increase profits and pass costs to the taxpayer, MPs have found. bit.ly/2o7dnCbThe Guardian- Britain''s North Sea oil and gas sector received 396 million pounds ($492.58 million), net of tax payments, from the government in 2016 compared with a contribution to the exchequer of £381m the previous year, according to analysis by energy specialist Carbon Brief. bit.ly/2o78KYT- The Bank of England has flagged up new concerns about the rapid growth in consumer borrowing as Britons rack up debt on credit cards, car purchase schemes and personal loans. bit.ly/2o7sbRdThe Telegraph- Telecom company Vodafone Plc is closing in on a multi-million pound deal to rename West Ham''s football ground. The company is in advanced talks with the owners of the former Olympic Stadium in East London with a six-year agreement possible this month, according to multiple sources. bit.ly/2o75ZXo- JPMorgan''s head Jamie Dimon has admitted he will not move many jobs out of Britain in the next two years as a result of Brexit, in a U-turn on his pre-referendum warning that a vote to leave the European Union could mean as many as 4,000 jobs moving across the Channel. bit.ly/2o7bEgnSky News- Crisis-hit Toshiba Corp is being forced to buy out a French firm''s stake in the venture behind a proposed new nuclear power station in Cumbria - throwing its future into further doubt. bit.ly/2o7c5qR- Ministers and regulators should act swiftly to curb soaring bosses'' pay in British boardrooms, a report from the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee of MPs has warned. bit.ly/2o7gqKNThe Independent- Food inflation in Britain hit 1 per cent year-on-year last month, the sharpest rise since February 2014 and marking the second month in a row of rising prices, according to the latest BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index. ind.pn/2o7ahxV- Around 100,000 jobs may now be at risk after a top EU lawmaker warned that financial business denominated in euros must move from the UK to the EU after Brexit. ind.pn/2o7c46t ($1 = 0.8039 pounds) (Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL2N1HD00A'|'2017-04-04T22:18:00.000+03:00' 'd01d38ef1d93dd003933ae8fbb57f758dffbec1b'|'Akzo could face investor revolt for blocking talks, PPG says'|' 45pm BST Akzo could face investor revolt for blocking talks, PPG says FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo By Toby Sterling - AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM Dutch paint maker AkzoNobel ( AKZO.AS ) could face a shareholder revolt if it continues to avoid a meeting with PPG Industries ( PPG.N ) to discuss a possible takeover by the U.S. company, PPG Chief Executive Michael McGarry told Reuters on Wednesday. McGarry said he had been approached by "virtually all" of Akzo''s 20 largest shareholders after PPG proposed a 24.5 billion euro (£20.9 billion) takeover deal. None of them were opposed to the idea, he said. "I think shareholders are dismayed at being placed last in all (Akzo''s) stakeholder conversations," he said in an interview. PPG said separately on Wednesday it was ready to address Akzo''s non-financial objections to its proposal. On Tuesday, Akzo repeated its opposition to a deal with the U.S. paints and coatings maker. It has said PPG''s proposal undervalues its business, would run into difficulty with competition regulators and be bad for employees.. Many Akzo shareholders have urged the company''s management to enter discussions. No major shareholder has come forward to oppose the idea. In its statement on Wednesday, PPG said it was ready to address many of Akzo''s concerns, including commitments to funding research and development, fair employment terms, equitable locations of divisional headquarters, and spending on community investment and sustainability targets. "They''re afraid if they sit down with us, we''re going to address their concerns and they''ll have no more legitimate" objections to the merger, McGarry said. In a response, Akzo repeated PPG''s proposals were "unacceptable." "Let''s not get caught up in other issues around the proposal such as engagement (with PPG)," the Dutch firm said. "We remain firmly focused on developing our exciting plans for the future of AkzoNobel to unlock significant value for shareholders and all stakeholders, which we will present on April 19." Akzo has said it prefers to sell its chemicals division, representing about a third of company sales and profits, and remain independent, rather than entering talks. Analysts say Akzo''s plan is unlikely to deliver as much value to shareholders as PPG''s proposed cash and share offer, worth 90 euros per share at current prices. "How are they going to look their own stakeholders and employees in the eyes and say ''we think this is best''?" McGarry said. "Someone is going to say: how would you know, because you''ve never sat down with PPG." Akzo shares closed up around 1.5 percent at 79.10 euros, suggesting some investors doubt PPG will ultimately succeed. Under Dutch stock exchange rules, PPG must submit a formal draft offer by June 1 or drop its pursuit for six months. PPG repeated on Wednesday it intended to make an offer, and McGarry would not rule out a bid that lacks the endorsement of Akzo''s boards. Few hostile takeovers of publicly traded Dutch companies have been successful. McGarry said another option for shareholders if they were still dissatisfied with Akzo management after the April 19 strategy announcement would be to summon an extraordinary general meeting. Such a meeting could discuss the removal of one or more managers or supervisory board members. However, Akzo''s supervisory board has the power to overrule any such decisions, a defence that dates from 1926 which in theory could prevent unwanted buyers from controlling the company even if they successfully take it over - though that defence has never been tested. (Reporting by Toby Sterling. Additional reporting by Greg Roumelitis and Arno Schuetze; Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idUKKBN1772A1'|'2017-04-06T00:45:00.000+03:00' '713c00b4a9f993005333d268e296aea496e5c071'|'Tesla delivers quarterly record of 25,000 vehicles in first quarter'|' 10:54pm BST Tesla delivers quarterly record of 25,000 vehicles in first quarter FILE PHOTO -- A Tesla car showroom is seen in west London, Britain, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo NEW YORK Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ), the U.S. luxury electric car maker, said on Sunday first-quarter vehicle deliveries jumped 69 percent from a year ago to a quarterly record of 25,000 vehicles, bouncing back from delays in the previous quarter. The company said of the total vehicles delivered, about 13,450 were Model S sedan and about 11,550 were Model X sports utility vehicle. Tesla has said it expects to deliver 47,000 to 50,000 Model S and Model X vehicles combined in the first half of 2017. In the fourth quarter, deliveries had fallen 9.4 percent due to short-term production hurdles from the transition to a new autopilot hardware. Tesla had said production challenges, which started at the end of October and lasted through early December, shifted vehicle production towards the end of the fourth quarter, resulting in delayed deliveries. Ultimately, about 2,750 vehicles were missed being counted as deliveries in the fourth quarter either due to last-minute delays in transport or because the customer was unable to physically take delivery. In addition to the first quarter deliveries, about 4,650 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the quarter and will be counted as deliveries in the second quarter, Tesla said in a statement on Sunday. Production in the first quarter also hit a quarterly record at 25,418 vehicles. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has taken big risks repeatedly since going public in 2010, but investors got spooked after he said in February the electric car company could get "close to the edge" as it burns cash ahead of its crucial Model 3 launch. China''s Tencent Holdings Ltd ( 0700.HK ) bought a 5 percent stake in Tesla last week for $1.78 billion, providing the company with a deep-pocketed ally as it prepares to launch its mass-market Model 3. The midsize, high-volume Model 3 sedan is due to go on sale later this year in the United States. Shares of Tesla closed up slightly at $278.30 on Friday on the Nasdaq and have soared more than 30 percent so far this year. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-deliveries-idUKKBN1740WX'|'2017-04-03T05:54:00.000+03:00' '1a811f0cc1378c9ab81be77be0419059b5283fe3'|'First State Stewart Asia says to pay for broker research itself'|' 5:15pm BST First State Stewart Asia says to pay for broker research itself LONDON First State Stewart Asia, the Asian equities arm of First State Investments, said it will no longer bill the costs of broker research and advisory services to clients, as it prepares for the launch of new regulations in Europe. Asset managers and brokers in the European Union are being forced to split up and price separately the services previously offered together with trade execution in a bundle that was then billed to the individual fund and its investors. The move to ''unbundle'' has already begun in Britain, but will apply across the EU from January 2018 under the impending Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). "First State Stewart Asia will compensate the providers of research by making separate payments directly from their own resources," it said in a statement on Monday. "This change reflects what we believe is in the best interests of the clients of First State Stewart Asia and will help to meet the requirements of the changing regulatory environment, in particular MiFID II." First State Stewart Asia is one of a small number of firms to confirm their intention to pay for research themselves, including Jupiter Fund Management ( JUP.L ) and M&G Investments, the funds arm of insurer Prudential ( PRU.L ). First State Investments is rolling out its approach on a team-by-team basis, and would alert clients to any changes ahead of the MiFID II deadline of Jan. 3, 2018, a spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Greg Mahlich) '' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. LONDON, April 3 - British manufacturing lost some of its momentum last month, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-first-stateasia-research-payment-idUKKBN1751VH'|'2017-04-04T00:15:00.000+03:00' '67c09aa7575ad99ae082cdf51caf381843f9149f'|'Canadian PM Trudeau: ''not pleased'' with Bombardier pay hikes'|'Company 45pm EDT Canadian PM Trudeau: ''not pleased'' with Bombardier pay hikes OTTAWA, April 3 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday he was "not pleased" with Bombardier''s plan to raise compensation for its senior executives, a move that caused a public furor that forced the company to back down. "We''re obviously not pleased with the decision that Bombardier made around its renumeration for its executives but we''re happy to see them make decisions that are fixing that for Quebecers'' and Canadians'' confidence," Trudeau said in Parliament. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Chris Reese) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-bombardier-compensation-idUSL2N1HB1D5'|'2017-04-04T02:45:00.000+03:00' 'a69b669fc8eb18a05e2773c86b72c60adeb6fe13'|'IMF approves $1 billion aid tranche for Ukraine: Ukraine president'|'KIEV The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved the payment of $1 billion of new aid to Ukraine, its President Petro Poroshenko said on his official Facebook page.The IMF is supporting Ukraine under a $17.5 billion bailout program. Kiev is expecting a total of four tranches of aid this year, in exchange for the government implementing reforms and tackling corruption.(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-imf-president-idINKBN1751WQ'|'2017-04-03T14:28:00.000+03:00' '050c21dfb5529211a7b04337555f00315664c75d'|'Pump maker Busch seeks to win support for its Pfeiffer bid: letter'|'DUESSELDORF, Germany German pump maker Busch is promising to hold off changes to rival Pfeiffer Vacuum''s ( PV.DE ) strategy and to safeguard jobs, as it seeks to drum up support for its latest takeover offer, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.Busch last week announced a new takeover offer for Pfeiffer, bidding 110 euros per share for the group, after a previous approach failed.Busch said in the business combination letter it sent to Pfeiffer management that it "has full confidence in the strategy communicated by the company''s management."Its takeover vehicle Pangea "commits to allowing the group to continue operating as an independent, stock-listed company", Busch said, adding the guarantees would be in place for two years.It also said it would respect existing labor agreements following any takeover and not push for job cuts.In return, it said it expected Pfeiffer''s management and supervisory boards to take a positive stance on the takeover offer.Pfeiffer has criticized Busch for still not offering a premium over the current share price. The new offer values it at around 1.1 billion euros ($1.17 billion), less than its market value of close to 1.2 billion.(Reporting by Anneli Palmen; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-pfeiffer-vacuum-m-a-busch-idINKBN1751E7'|'2017-04-03T11:03:00.000+03:00' '0f5479ef3e07658c1a529a7d576e05c09885c222'|'McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:32pm BST McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms left View of McDonald''s logo in Paris, France, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen 1/2 McDonalds at the Euro Industriepark in Munich, Germany January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Dalder 2/2 By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS French, German and Italian groups urged their national antitrust enforcers on Tuesday to look into alleged anti-competitive practices by McDonald''s ( MCD.N ), potentially putting the U.S. fast-food chain on course for multiple investigations in Europe. The three complaints share similar concerns about McDonald''s franchising terms and conditions, including prices set for products sold at franchises, saying consumers are charged more than at McDonald''s own stores as a result. With more than 80 percent of its outlets worldwide not company-owned, franchising is an important business model for the company. The French competition authority confirmed it had received a complaint but declined further comment. McDonald''s, the German and Italian antitrust authorities and the European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In its complaint to the French competition authority seen by Reuters, French consumer body Indecosa-CGT, which has 672,000 members, said McDonald''s France forced franchisees to charge higher prices than at its own stores. German law firm SKW Schwarz filed a similar complaint to the German cartel body on behalf of a group that it declined to name. The document seen by Reuters cited alleged anti-competitive clauses such as the tying of franchising deals with lease agreements, restrictions on suppliers and excessive rent for premises. Italian consumer groups Codacons, Movimento Difesa del Cittadino and Cittadinanzattiva said on Tuesday they would withdraw a 2016 complaint to the European Commission because of the slow pace of procedure and take it to the Italian watchdog instead. The national competition agencies can impose fines up to 10 percent of a company''s global turnover for breaches of antitrust rules as well as ordering them to stop unfair practices. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-mcdonalds-complaints-idUKKBN1761NC'|'2017-04-04T22:15:00.000+03:00' '58487bd397840e8879e816fc208c450ba701b541'|'South Africa must work harder to grow economy after S&P downgrade - finmin Gigaba'|' 57am EDT South Africa must work harder to grow economy after S&P downgrade - finmin Gigaba PRETORIA, April 4 South Africa''s new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Tuesday the credit rating downgrade by S&P meant the government had to pay even greater focus on growing the economy, and that he would address the issues raised by the rating agencies. Gigaba said South Africa''s rand denominated debt was still rated as investment grade and that the government''s fiscal policy remained unchanged despite the switch in finance ministers following the reshuffle last week. S&P cut the country''s credit rating to BB+ with a negative outlook from BBB- in an unscheduled review, saying the dismissal of respected Pravin Gordhan as finance minister raised the risk a damaging policy shift. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-finmin-idUSJ8N1GY028'|'2017-04-04T18:57:00.000+03:00' 'bd06e4cc092dd1c01037586b186b7631f7c16e90'|'Airbus to fit more seats into super-jumbo with slimmer staircase'|'Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:14am BST Airbus to fit more seats into super-jumbo with slimmer staircase The logo of Airbus is pictured at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe HAMBURG Airbus ( AIR.PA ) has developed a new, slimmer staircase for its A380 super jumbo to allow for more seats in its latest effort to improve sales of the world''s largest airliner. Reuters reported last month that Airbus was considering doing away with the front "grand staircase" to lower the double-decker''s operating costs and boost fuel efficiency. Airbus cabin marketing executive Ingo Wuggetzer said that introducing a slimmer stairway instead of the double staircase would generate enough space to add 20 extra seats. Meanwhile, changing the shape of the rounded stairway at the back to a square one would provide further space, for 14 more passengers plus two food trolleys. "There''s a lot more revenue generation potential," Wuggetzer said at the Aircraft Interiors fair in Hamburg on Tuesday. The changes are available as a retrofit to existing A380s or as options on new jets, Wuggetzer said, adding that Airbus had customers "interested and signed" for some of the elements. If other space-saving changes such as a new cabin crew rest compartment and a new seat layout are taken into consideration, airlines can add up to 80 more seats, Airbus said. Airbus recently shelved plans for a bolder upgrade of the A380, involving new engines, due to cost. It also announced plans to cut output to one a month due to poor sales. Also seeking to drive interest in the A380, Airbus last month teamed up with content platform Routehappy to provide airlines Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ), Emirates [EMIRA.UL], Cathay Pacific ( 0293.HK ) and Singapore Airlines ( SIAL.SI ) with content such as pictures and virtual tours for their websites that shows potential passengers the attributes of A380 and A350 aircraft. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by Alexander Smith) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-a-idUKKBN1760YR'|'2017-04-04T18:12:00.000+03:00' '3a097c04b00325b5a79e90b0637205117cf7417b'|'Oil stocks help European shares steady at 16-month highs'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 10:52am BST Oil stocks help European shares steady at 16-month highs Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote By Danilo Masoni - MILAN MILAN European shares edged up on Monday helped by stronger oil stocks, while the loss of major customer Apple hammered shares in British firm Imagination Tech, also weighing on other tech stocks in the region. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent by 0925 GMT, following gains last week and steadying at its highest level since early December 2015. Germany''s DAX .GDAXI added 0.3 percent and UK''s FTSE .FTSE was flat. The oil and gas sector index .SXEP rose as much as 0.7 percent to its highest level in nine weeks as investors turned more confident in a sector that has been the worst performer in Europe so far this year with a fall of 2.4 percent. "The sector appears to be bottoming, with risk/reward skewed higher near term," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note, citing expectations that producing countries may agree more output cuts and a pick of deal-making in the sector. The oil index pared some gains but remained in positive territory, up 0.5 percent, as oil futures moved higher. [O/R] In the sector, Italian oil services firm Saipem ( SPMI.MI ) led the gainers, up 1.3 percent, followed by OMV ( OMVV.VI ) and Lundin Petroleum ( LUPE.ST ), both up 1.3 percent. Europe''s basic resources .SXPP index also rose by 0.4percent, as copper prices inched higher. Banco Popular ( POP.MC ) fell 4.8 percent, leading losers on the STOXX and helping make the European banking index .SX7P, down 0.7 percent, the worst sectoral performer. Shares in Popular fell after the Spanish lender said an internal audit identified the need of adjustments to its accounts with most of the adjustments related to doubtful loans. "Another unhelpful development which does little to restore confidence in the balance sheet," Jefferies analysts said. Outside the STOXX index, London-listed Imagination Tech ( IMG.L ) slumped 60 percent after Apple ( AAPL.O ) said it would stop using its graphics technology in the iPhone and other products. Traders said the heavy losses in Imagination also weighed on German chipmaker Dialog Semiconductor ( DLGS.DE ), which counts Apple among its biggest customers. Dialog fell 3.7 percent. Broker Northern Trust says Apple''s decision to ditch Imagination is likely a one-off, and any weakness in Dialog and peer AMS ( AMS.S ) was a buying opportunity. (Editing by Stephen Powell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-idUKKBN1750XY'|'2017-04-03T17:52:00.000+03:00' '134017ec6d86817b5e599bb0feff4d8e89878130'|'UPDATE 1-South Africa''s ruling ANC headed for showdown after finance minister sacked'|'(Adds S&P downgrades, ANC meetings extended to Tuesday, opposition)JOHANNESBURG, April 3 Senior members of the ruling African National Congress met on Monday to discuss the political fallout from South African President Jacob Zuma''s controversial sacking of his finance minister and markets showed their displeasure at the move.The ratings agency Standard and Poor''s quickly weighed in with some downgrades and the rand fell about 2 percent at the start of trade.Zuma faces a confrontation with other leaders of the ruling ANC after he dismissed the internationally respected Pravin Gordhan at midnight on Thursday. The sacking threatens to split the upper echelons of the ANC down the middle.S&P downgraded South Africa''s sovereign debt to junk, to BB+ from BBB-, and said: "In our opinion, the executive changes initiated by President Zuma have put at risk fiscal and growth outcomes."The rand, after its two percent fall, later recovered to trade 0.5 percent weaker, as the market factored in the strong resistance to Zuma. Government bonds also weakened.The firing of Gordhan drew public criticism from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe and Treasurer-General Zweli Mkhize before Monday''s regular meetings of the party leadership.Analysts suggest those meetings could set up a showdown between Zuma and some of the party''s leaders. If so, Zuma still has the support of Chairwoman Baleka Mbete and Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte, marking a straight split among the party''s "Top Six" leaders, sources said.Spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the meeting of the "Top Six" was still taking place and the party''s National Working Committee would meet on Tuesday before a decision was taken on how to handle the fallout from the sacking of Gordhan."The ANC must remain and it must emerge stronger than it was last week," Kodwa said, but declined to give further details.An important signal will be whether the party calls for an early meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC). The committee is the only body that can remove the leader of the party, other than its party congress, which occurs only every five years.In November, Zuma defeated a no-confidence vote at a meeting of the executive committee, which was called after an anti-graft agency asked for an investigation of alleged influence-peddling by the wealthy Gupta family, whom Zuma has called his friends. Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing.Any such meeting by the NEC "is the much more important event for markets to focus on," Nomura analyst Peter Attard Montalto said.The opposition leader Mmusi Maimane, head of the Democratic Alliance, has called for a no-confidence vote against Zuma. On Monday, he urged South Africans "to join this Friday’s march for change" against Zuma in the commercial hub of Johannesburg.A handful of protesters from civil society groups gathered outside the Treasury in the capital Pretoria to criticise Zuma''s sacking of Gordhan.The new finance minister, Malusi Gigaba, said he would pursue "tough and unpopular choices" to help a flagging economy. (Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Stephen Powell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-idINL5N1HB47F'|'2017-04-03T14:31:00.000+03:00' 'ccb6148f883b809a1281d87d4e9a2244b302d908'|'Burberry licenses beauty business to Coty in new partnership deal'|'LONDON, April 3 British luxury brand Burberry said on Monday it would transfer its beauty business to U.S. group Coty in a deal that will bring in around $225 million plus ongoing royalty payments in a bid to revitalise the division.Burberry said it expected the agreement to be broadly neutral to adjusted profit before tax in the 2017/18 transition year and accretive the following year."Working with a global partner of their scale and expertise will help drive the next phase of Burberry Beauty''s development and position this business for future growth," said Christopher Bailey, Burberry''s chief creative and chief executive officer.The exclusive licensing agreement will take effect from October 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.($1 = 0.7999 pounds) (Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/burberry-coty-partnership-idUSFWN1HB0C2'|'2017-04-03T13:17:00.000+03:00' 'e5fc81716a105eccd5cdc464c436e0b82859c453'|'PRESS DIGEST- Canada - April 3'|' 50am EDT PRESS DIGEST- Canada - April 3 April 3 The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** Cenovus Energy Inc will delay its move into Brookfield Place east tower by a year due to a drop in oil prices and the consequent activity slowdown. tgam.ca/2n3xYbq ** Backed by a Federal Court of Canada order, the Canada Revenue Agency told Square Canada Inc it must hand over sales transaction data for all Canadian sellers who took in more than $20,000 annually in the calendar years between 2012 and 2015 or during Jan. 1-April 30, 2016. tgam.ca/2n3DhYq NATIONAL POST ** Major Canadian oil companies could face tens of millions of dollars in liabilities as a result of tiny Lexin Resources Ltd''s insolvency and its inability to clean up over 1,500 oil and gas wells in Alberta, which has doubled the number of orphan wells in the province. bit.ly/2n3D3jI ** Ontario NDP deputy leader Jagmeet Singh is building a national campaign team and appears poised to enter the federal party''s leadership race. bit.ly/2n3zrya ($1 = 1.3343 Canadian dollars) (Compiled by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-canada-idUSL3N1HB39J'|'2017-04-03T18:50:00.000+03:00' 'a1f24bfb1db165e6f6646e7685ec856cb205efd7'|'Grape Britain: UK merry on organic wine as sales hit nearly £6m - Environment - The Guardian'|'It is made from grapes grown without pesticides and chemicals, is kind to the environment and rarely triggers hangovers. Sales of organic wine are booming in the UK as part of the growing trend for “conscious consumerism”.According to the organic food and farming group the Soil Association , sales of organic beers, wines and spirits rose by 14.3% last year to reach nearly £6m, driven by strong demand for wines where consumers are increasingly seeking “natural” ingredients and reassurances about provenance. Still a relatively small share (2.2%) of the overall UK organic market, sales are now growing at double the rate of the market as a whole.“Organic wines are seeing something of a renaissance” said Finn Cottle of Soil Association Certification. “While the whole organic market is in general outperforming non-organic food and drink sales, organic still wine – red, white and rosé – is a runaway success story. English organic wine makers are seeing booming sales too – perhaps as people rediscover that link with their environment that organic exemplifies. Organic wines also taste better, perhaps due to less intensive production using fewer synthetic chemicals.”As well as the benefits of producing grapes without using pesticides, organic wine also contains less sulphur dioxide which can contribute towards hangovers.Supermarkets are increasing the stock on their shelves to meet consumer demand, while the switch to online shopping has helped boost the organic wine sector as people are more easily able to find what they are looking for. Vintage Roots is now one of the UK’s biggest online retailers of organic and biodynamic wine, while Ocado stocks more than 100 different organic wines and Daylesford , best-known for its organic vegetable boxes, has branched out into organic wine and spirits.The discount supermarket Aldi is set to launch its first collection of so-called “green” wines this week, offering eight wines with organic, carbon neutral or ‘no added sulphur’ credentials.Aldi expects the wines to appeal to the “Whole Foods generation”; millennial shoppers who are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of the produce that they are buying and consuming. Aldi’s four organic wines include a prosecco, two still whites and a red. They will also stock two certified carbon-neutral wines and two “no sulphur added” wines, and all bottles will be priced between £4.99 and £7.99.Of the growing band of English organic wine producers, Oxney Estate’s English Pinot Noir Rosé recently clinched the Waitrose trophy for the most outstanding still rosé wine at the English and Welsh wine of the year competition. A spokeswoman for Waitrose said: “Organic wine is a growing trend globally and we have seen sales increase by 16% in the last year”.Topics Organics Food & drink industry Wine Ethical and green living Retail industry Supermarkets news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/03/grape-britain-uk-merry-on-organic-wine-as-sales-hit-nearly-6m'|'2017-04-03T23:56:00.000+03:00' '014f7a74181044b0ce0443efe597641ad9dd4f58'|'UPDATE 1-New York passes emergency spending plan to avoid shutdown'|'Politics - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:23pm EDT New York passes emergency spending plan to avoid shutdown FILE PHOTO: Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York, speaks to members of the press at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S. January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith By James Odato - ALBANY, N.Y. ALBANY, N.Y. New York lawmakers on Monday passed an emergency spending plan authorizing Governor Andrew Cuomo to pay bills and keep the state government operating for the next two months. The state was supposed to have a budget at the start of its fiscal 2018 on Saturday, but the legislature and Cuomo failed to agree on a comprehensive plan as they debated broader policies. Monday''s stopgap, 1,700-page "extender budget" avoids a government shutdown through May 31, assuring that state agencies and contractors will provide services and roughly 200,000 state employees will get paid despite the impasse. The full budget has been delayed in part by debate over raising the age of adult criminal responsibility to 18, which would leave North Carolina as the only state to automatically prosecute and imprison 16- and 17-year-olds as adults regardless of the crime. "There are political and ideological differences between the Senate and Assembly. We must resolve these issues. A complete budget requires it," Cuomo, who supports lifting the age, said in a statement late on Sunday. Lawmakers and Cuomo have been divided over other issues, including a replacement for an expired program that gives tax breaks to affordable housing developers and extending a so-called millionaire''s tax on wealthy New Yorkers. Cuomo also laid some blame on uncertainty about Washington''s policies, including any revised effort to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, which could strip New York of at least $4.6 billion of Medicaid and other funding. "New York State is a target for hostile federal actions ranging from severe financial cutbacks to deprivation of legal and personal rights," said Cuomo, a Democrat who is widely touted as a possible 2020 presidential candidate. Assembly member Fred Thiele Jr., an Independent who caucuses with Democrats, was one of several lawmakers to criticize the inclusion of policy initiatives in the budget legislation, saying from the legislative floor during voting on the bill that "we are not the platform committee for Cuomo 2020." "They should not be forced down the throat of the legislature as part of the budget process," Thiele said during the session. "The national stage is watching," said Assemblymember Diana Richardson, a Democrat from Brooklyn, who voted against the extension. The budget extension authorizes $40 billion in state spending, including $10.3 billion in state appropriations, $12.4 billion aid to local governments and $17.3 billion in capital projects. Lawmakers want to get the budget done this week. Whenever it arrives, it will be by far the latest budget since Cuomo took office in 2011. The Republican-led Senate and Democrat-dominated Assembly endorsed the extension overwhelmingly, but many said they did so reluctantly to avoid a government shutdown. Some were sour on the length of the extension or that it allows for $8.9 billion in new debt over the next two months. The measure authorizes billions of dollars in bond financing for bridges and infrastructure projects. Cuomo and lawmakers are also close to a deal on plans to allow car-hailing services such as Lyft and Uber outside New York City, where they are already permitted, Assemblymember Kevin Cahill, a Democrat from Kingston who chairs the Assembly Insurance Committee, said in an interview on Monday after the voting session. (Reporting by James Odato in Albany; Additional reporting by Hilary Russ in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Richard Chang) Next In Politics'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-budget-idUSKBN1752OE'|'2017-04-04T07:15:00.000+03:00' '60037489e62ec8a39086c8540c6a115e3e0274f1'|'German ministry advisers see risks in ECB''s zero-interest policy'|' 42pm BST German ministry advisers see risks in ECB''s zero-interest policy European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski BERLIN Academic advisers to Germany''s economy ministry said the European Central Bank''s zero-interest rate policy posed grave risks to the financial system. In a report to be published Wednesday seen by Reuters, they also rejected calls for moves toward a cashless society, whose impact on illegal activity they concluded would be limited. "The monetary policy pursued by the European Central Bank since 2014 is not commensurate with the risks," the experts wrote. They said the policy was aimed exclusively at stimulating lending and economic growth by lowering interest rates, while disregarding the resulting burdens for the financial sector. "The financial system sees interest rates of zero or less than zero as very problematic for various reasons," the advisers said in their report. This policy - and the continuing growth of loans with too-low interest rates - have dampened profit margins in the sector and raised the risk that necessary reforms would not be carried out, it said. "The longer the ...policy ...continues, the greater are the risks for the financial sector," the report said. German officials have long been critical of the ECB''s ultra-low interest rates but broader pressure for a tightening of policy has grown in recent months with inflation in the euro zone rebounding. The report said that many financial institutions, including insurance companies, were having trouble generating any profits and covering their costs as a result of the ultra-low rates. The council also opposed the idea of a cashless society, calls for which have been triggered by the development of new payments methods, efforts to halt illegal activities related to cash, and concerns about the impact of cash on monetary policy. "The council views upper limits for cash payments very critically. There is a concern that such upper limits would mainly affect normal citizens and normal activities since shadow economies and criminals can easily evade surveillance or find alternate payment methods," the report said. "...It would ... have a limited impact" on illegal activity. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble last year suggested limiting cash transactions of more than 5,000 euros to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, but the proposal ran into opposition across Germany. ECB President Mario Draghi underscored the importance of cash as a form of payment during the rollout of a new 50 euro banknote. He said three-quarters of euro zone payments were made in cash, and it remained essential for the economy. The council of academic advisers provides guidance to the economy minister but its recommendations are not binding. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Jon Boyle and John Stonestreet) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-rates-germany-idUKKBN1762D2'|'2017-04-05T01:42:00.000+03:00' '733ba0b6a542882b90e1915e67149c3b48b97b2d'|'BRIEF-RealPage Inc amends credit agreement'|' 40pm EDT BRIEF-RealPage Inc amends credit agreement April 4 RealPage Inc * RealPage Inc - on April 3, 2017, co entered into fourth amendment to credit agreement - sec filing * RealPage Inc - amendment amends certain terms of RealPage Inc ''s credit agreement, dated as of september 30, 2014 * RealPage Inc -Amendment to provide for additional pricing tier for interest rates, fees if co''s consolidated net leverage ratio equals or exceeds 4.00 to 1.00 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-realpage-inc-amends-credit-agreeme-idUSFWN1HC0MB'|'2017-04-05T04:40:00.000+03:00' 'df32752f102a4589fd76be919244e97f2a54f54e'|'Poland''s Dino sets final IPO price for institutions at 34.5 zlotys/share'|'WARSAW, April 5 Polish retail chain Dino Polska has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at 34.5 zlotys per share for institutions and 33.5 zlotys for individual investors, the company said on Wednesday.This values the share offer in which private equity fund Enterprise Investors sells its 49 percent stake at 1.65 billion zlotys ($414.66 million), the highest seen on the Warsaw bourse in the past few years."The interest in our public offering was very large, which translated into setting the final price for shares for institutional investors at a level higher than the maximum price," Dino''s CEO was Quote: d as saying in a statement.The bookbuilding ended on Tuesday and sources told Reuters that Dino closed the books with the price for funds at 34.5 zlotys.The offer will include 48.04 million shares, or 49 percent of the firm''s share capital owned by Enterprise Investors. Of this, 5 percent will be offered to individual investors.The company''s founder, Tomasz Biernacki, will remain the majority shareholder with a 51 percent stake.Dino plans to debut on the Warsaw bourse this month.The company''s owns 628 stores located in small- and medium-sized towns in western Poland.($1 = 3.9792 zlotys) (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/poland-dino-ipo-pricing-idUSL5N1HD0HD'|'2017-04-05T09:33:00.000+03:00' 'ca845eb67c8b80648c1fae191ca54c2ffd666ae1'|'JPMorgan softens tone on Brexit jobs warning'|'Business News 48am EDT JPMorgan softens tone on Brexit jobs warning left right JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at an event at JP Morgan''s corporate centre in Bournemouth, southern Britain, June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo 1/2 left right A taxi driver holds a Union flag, as he celebrates following the result of the EU referendum, in central London, Britain June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville 2/2 LONDON The head of U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase ( JPM.N ) said on Tuesday the bank is not planning to move many jobs out of Britain in the next two years in a softening of tone on the likely impact from Brexit. Jamie Dimon had said in a previous speech to employees in Bournemouth last year that as many as 4,000 of the bank''s 16,000 jobs based in Britain may have to move. Even though his stance appears to have moderated Dimon said on Tuesday the bank is preparing for a so-called "hard Brexit" in which Britain loses access to EU''s single market, disrupting access to its main trading partner. "This does not entail moving many people in the next two years," he said in a letter to the US bank''s shareholders. Dimon also said the likelihood that the EU could break up has increased, which he warned could have a "devastating" economic and political impact. He said that he hoped that Britain''s decision to leave the EU would have force the bloc to focus on "fixing its issues," such as immigration, bureaucracy and rigid labor rules. "Our fear, however, is that it could instead result in political unrest that would force the EU to split apart," he said. "We will keep a close eye on the situation in Europe over the next several years." (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill, Editing by Lawrence White) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-jpmorgan-idUSKBN1770W7'|'2017-04-05T16:39:00.000+03:00' '05e76efbfb76aaaa3fb11b350a77ccf6f10ef6bd'|'BRIEF-Teck resources says Caisse de depot et placement tendered 1.6 million class A shares of co for conversion into same number of class B subordinate voting shares'|'United States 16am EDT BRIEF-Teck resources says Caisse de depot et placement tendered 1.6 million class A shares of co for conversion into same number of class B subordinate voting shares April 5 Teck Resources Ltd * Teck Resources - Caisse de depot et placement tendered 1.6 million class A shares of co for conversion into same number of class B subordinate voting shares Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-teck-resources-says-caisse-de-depo-idUSFWN1HD0B3'|'2017-04-05T21:16:00.000+03:00' '4dc971d5f03517e3cc08cbab1018b527de3141ba'|'GM''s German-made Buick highlights risks from trade policy'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:05pm BST GM''s German-made Buick highlights risks from trade policy General Motors Co unveiled a new Buick model called the TourX aimed at Volvo and Subaru''s wagons in the United States market in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Joe White By Joseph White - DETROIT DETROIT General Motors Co ( GM.N ) on Tuesday unveiled a German-made Buick crossover wagon it plans to sell in the United States, and in so doing highlighted the U.S. auto industry''s vulnerability to shifting trade politics. The Buick Regal TourX, scheduled to launch later this year in the United States, is aimed at imported all-wheel drive vehicles such as those offered by Subaru and Zhejiang Geely Holding''s [GEELY.UL] Volvo Cars. In a plan mapped out long before the Trump administration and Congress began talking about taxing imported goods, GM planned to build the TourX at a factory in Ruesselsheim, Germany, near Frankfurt. Asked how a potential "border tax" on imported goods could affect the TourX, GM product development chief Mark Reuss told reporters that such a levy might hurt, but added: "I don''t know what the border tax is. "How can you make a product plan based on something you don''t know?" he asked. Reuss said GM is making plans to deal with a border tax, which could affect not just the Regal TourX. GM imports a Buick sport utility vehicle called the Envision from China, and has electric vehicles it needs for the Chinese market that it currently builds only in the United States. China levies steep tariffs and taxes on imported vehicles. In a separate interview, the head of GM''s North American operations said he is encouraged that President Donald Trump and administration officials are listening as auto industry executives explain the complex, global supply chains behind their model lineups. "It''s too early to speculate, but we believe the new administration is more aligned with us than different," said Alan Batey, who runs GM''s North American auto business and the Chevrolet brand globally. There is "a very open and constant dialogue" with administration officials, he said. GM''s chief executive, Mary Barra, is a member of an advisory council to President Trump. The TourX was one of two new Buick models the brand unveiled at GM''s design centre in suburban Detroit. The other, the Regal Sportback, offered an unusual hatch opening designed to give a car that looks like a sporty coupe the functional utility of a sport utility vehicle. The hatch allows a driver to load cargo onto folded rear seats. Some engineering and production of the Regal and the TourX relied on GM''s Opel operations, which are on track to be sold to France''s Peugeot SA. Reuss said that sale does not necessarily mean the end of collaboration between Buick and the German Opel operations. "Opel is still doing some of our future models," he said. (Reporting by Joe White; Editing by Dan Grebler) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-gm-buick-idUKKBN1762X0'|'2017-04-05T06:05:00.000+03:00' 'dcdef4fd4a18adc60059b1d23060f1de8380af26'|'FTSE advances as oil firms, miners, DCC gain'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 10:43am BST FTSE advances as oil firms, miners, DCC gain FILE PHOTO: People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File photo By Kit Rees - LONDON LONDON British shares rose on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session as heavyweight mining shares and oil stocks rallied while DCC also gained after agreeing to buy a business in Hong Kong and Macau. The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent at 7,341.07 points by 0919 GMT, outperforming the broader European market thanks to its large proportion of resources-related stocks. Miners were the standout performers, with BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Anglo American all gaining between 1.7 percent to 2.4 percent as copper prices traded higher. BHP Billiton, the world''s biggest exporter of coal for making steel also saw support after declaring force majeure for coal deliveries from its mines in Australia''s Bowen Basin after a cyclone damaged railway lines. Disruption from Cyclone Debbie has spurred worries of tighter supply, sending coking coal futures higher. Oil stocks also lent support, with BP and Royal Dutch Shell both up around 1.3 percent as the price of oil rose close to a month high on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories. DCC was also among the biggest gainers, up 1.6 percent and trading close to record highs after agreeing to buy Royal Dutch Shell''s LPG business in Hong Kong and Macau for an enterprise value of $145 million. "It ... provides a good platform for further growth in the Asian LPG market as it pursues its strategy to be a global leader in its industry," analysts at UBS said in a note. The biggest faller was specialty chemicals company Croda which dropped 3.7 percent after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating to "underperform" from "neutral". "We believe Croda shares are trading at a premium to fair value given operational headwinds in 2017 and structural long-term pressure in Personal Care as the business lifecycle matures," analysts at Credit Suisse said in a note. Outside of the blue chips, shares in Allied Minds were set for their biggest one-day loss on record, plummeting 15.6 percent after the tech and life sciences-focused incubator cut funding for seven of its portfolio companies. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Alison Williams) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN17713I'|'2017-04-05T17:43:00.000+03:00' 'b7a0b0b41fd07c049459b2d8829cf1f5c4136fd3'|'Lloyds Banking Group to close 100 branches and cut over 325 jobs'|' 16pm BST Lloyds Banking Group to close 100 branches and cut over 325 jobs A sign is seen outside a branch of Lloyds Bank in central London February 3, 2014. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor LONDON Lloyds Banking Group ( LLOY.L ) plans to close a further 100 branches resulting in the loss of over 325 jobs, the bank said on Wednesday, as part of a strategy to reduce costs. Britain''s biggest mortgage lender said the branch cuts were part of 200 closures announced last July, and the move was in response to changing customer behaviour towards making more online transactions. The Lloyds group has more than 2,000 branches across the United Kingdom, and approximately 75,000 employees, according to its website. The trade union Unite condemned the closures, which it said would affect 54 Lloyds branches, 22 Halifax branches and 24 Bank of Scotland branches. "The continuous stream of branch closures announced by the UK''s retail bank branches appears to show no signs of ending," said Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer. Lloyds earlier this week announced it would reduce some branches to just two staff with tablet computers, in response to fewer customers visiting high street sites and increasingly banking online. The new smaller branches will not have counters, with customers paying in cash and cheques through self-service machines and talking to mortgage advisers through video links. This comes as Lloyds is poised to pass a significant milestone in its recovery from the financial crisis after the government sold more shares in the lender this week and the bank expected to return to private hands next month. A report by lawmakers last month warned Britain''s poor and vulnerable people were hardest hit by bank branch closures, echoing a report by Reuters last June that showed banks were disproportionately closing branches in the lowest-income areas while expanding in wealthier ones. (Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Lawrence White; Editing by Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lloyds-jobs-idUKKBN1771CL'|'2017-04-05T19:16:00.000+03:00' '697f1ef14786eb0e46cf77236d13d0fd172864c4'|'Credit Suisse says first-quarter trends in Asia Pacific similar to fourth-quarter'|'Business 26am BST Credit Suisse says first-quarter trends in Asia Pacific similar to fourth-quarter The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH Credit Suisse Group ( CSGN.S ) said on Wednesday trends in its Asia Pacific division in the first quarter had been broadly similar to those seen in the final quarter of 2016. "These trends reflect continued momentum in our Wealth Management & Connected business, but a subdued environment for our Markets business," the bank said in a statement presenting restated financial information for all quarters from 2014 to 2016 as well as for the full years 2012 and 2013 for its divisions Swiss Universal Bank and Asia Pacific. (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi) Next In Business News Oil rises to near one-month high on tightening of supplies SINGAPORE Oil climbed to a near one-month high on Wednesday on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories and on concerns about a supply outage at a field in the United Kingdom''s North Sea that feeds into an international benchmark price.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-asia-idUKKBN1770FG'|'2017-04-05T13:25:00.000+03:00' '306eccf867d374b280e618814a491fc1b1c903db'|'Nearly half of UK households plan spending cuts as prices spike - survey'|' 21am BST Nearly half of UK households plan spending cuts as prices spike - survey A shopper is reflected in a store window on Oxford Street in central London December 30, 2014. REUTERS/Neil Hall LONDON Nearly half of British households plan to cut spending as worries around inflation escalate, a survey showed on Wednesday, driving home the squeeze on consumers from rising energy prices and the pound''s post-Brexit vote plunge. Pension provider Scottish Friendly and the Social Market Foundation think tank said 46 percent of households plan to cut back on spending. More than half of this proportion cited the rising cost of living. A separate survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed annual food price inflation more than doubled last month to 1.0 percent, the sharpest increase in prices since February 2014. The surveys added to a raft of evidence that British consumers are feeling the strain of rising prices, exacerbated by the pound''s fall since June''s vote to leave the European Union. Inflation hurts the poorest in particular because rising prices for essentials like food and transport take up a bigger share of their disposable income. The Scottish Friendly survey showed 70 percent of British households were worried about the prospect of rising prices. "They are expecting a bumpy ride thanks to the twin headwinds of Article 50 uncertainty and rising inflation and those households are proactively taking steps to ensure they are prepared for any outcome," Scottish Friendly spokesman Calum Bennie said. Despite rising food prices, overall shop prices are still falling but at a reduced rate, according to the BRC data. Total shop prices declined 0.8 percent after falling 1.0 percent in February, marking the weakest deflation since December 2013. "Global food commodity costs have risen by 17 percent on average over last year''s figures, building substantial pressure in the food supply chain," said Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC. "The squeeze on household disposable incomes will tighten as the year progresses." Last week supermarket chain Asda said its gauge of disposable income showed the weakest growth since June 2014 during February, with the poorest households hit particularly hard. A European Commission survey that dates back to the 1980s showed the largest proportion of British food and beverage retailers on record expect to raise prices in the next three months. The Scottish Friendly survey polled 2,000 Britons between Feb. 17 and Feb. 25. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by Pritha Sarkar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-consumers-idUKKBN17632W'|'2017-04-05T07:21:00.000+03:00' 'cf10d0b678905d6988485b7109c97befc3330eda'|'Gurnet Point Capital nears deal to acquire drugmaker Innocoll: sources'|'By Carl O''Donnell U.S. investment firm Gurnet Point Capital is nearing a deal to acquire Ireland-based specialty drugmaker Innocoll Holdings Plc ( INNL.O ), people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.The deal would add the Innocoll''s suite of collagen-based medicines to Gurnet Point''s portfolio of life science businesses.Should the negotiations be completed successfully, a deal could be announced as early as this week, the people said.Gurnet''s offer includes a cash component and a performance-based payment that could greatly enhance the value of the deal if certain milestones are reached, the people added.The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Gurnet Point declined to comment. Innocoll did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Innocoll''s stock dropped by as much as 65 percent late last year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its application to market a drug called Xaracoll, which was to be used in treatment of post surgical pain.Since then, its stock has partly recovered. Innocoll has a market capitalization of around $50 million.In March, Innocoll said regulators had pointed to a path forward for Xaracoll that would require additional research and development and could result in a resubmission of its new drug application by the end of the year.Innocoll''s pharmaceutical portfolio aims to treat a variety of ailments, including post-surgical pain management, diabetic foot infections, and the prevention of surgical adhesions.Its products, some of which are currently marketed and some of which are still in development, rely on a collagen-based technology aimed at improving drug delivery and performance.Collagen is a protein that is found in skin and other connective tissues, and is frequently used in cosmetic surgery treatments.Gurnet Point Capital is backed by Waypoint Group, a family office headquartered in Geneva that invests on behalf of biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and his family.(Reporting by Carl O''Donnell in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-innocoll-m-a-gurnetpointcapital-idINKBN1762YO'|'2017-04-04T20:23:00.000+03:00' '2b3232f8c6ac76a2b2b421a57e1672ab7dbd7010'|'Housebuilder Galliford Try ends Bovis buyout attempt'|'Business News 21am BST Housebuilder Galliford Try ends Bovis buyout attempt LONDON British housebuilder Galliford Try ( GFRD.L ) said on Wednesday it would not make a formal bid for fellow builder Bovis ( BVS.L ), the second of two suitors to pull out of a potential buyout of the ailing firm. Bovis, whose CEO quit in January following a profit warning resulting from a failure to build enough homes on time, has been subject to takeover speculation since a major shareholder wrote to another builder suggesting a tie-up earlier this year. "It has... become clear to the Board of Galliford Try that it is not possible to secure the support of the Board of Bovis on terms that represent the best interests of Galliford Try shareholders," the firm said on Wednesday. Fellow builder Redrow ( RDW.L ) said last week it would not make a formal offer after its initial bid was rejected at too low. (Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Paul Sandle) Next In Business News Korea''s KEPCO cautious as Britain hunts partner for crucial nuclear project - sources SEOUL As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bovis-m-a-gallifordtry-idUKKBN1770JF'|'2017-04-05T14:21:00.000+03:00' 'c1a87270d10885b822fe48673b29568318bdd5c8'|'Short-dated JGBs firm on BOJ, long bonds dip ahead of auction'|'TOKYO, April 5 The price of short-dated Japanese government bonds rose on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan reduced purchase in those maturities less than expected, while those of longer maturities dipped ahead of an auction the following day.In its bond-buying operation on Wednesday, the BOJ offered to buy 280 billion yen ($2.53 billion) of one- to three-year JGBs, 20 billion yen less than previous such operations and the lowest level in almost three years.Many market players still expected a larger reduction as the central bank said it would buy 200 billion yen to 300 billion yen of one- to three-year tenors each time this month, making the middle point of that range, 250 billion yen, a consensus figure.In addition, the BOJ did not reduce buying in three- to five-year sector, maintaining its purchase at 380 billion yen, compared with the pre-announced target range of 300 billion yen-400 billion yen for this month.Those surprises helped to underpin short-term bonds, pushing down the two-year JGB yield 1.5 basis point to minus 0.200 percent.The five-year yield fell 1.0 basis point to minus 0.135 percent.On the other hand, longer-dated bond prices eased, boosting their yields, ahead of Thursday''s auction of long-dated bonds.The Ministry of Finance plans to sell 500 billion yen of existing 20- and 30- year JGB issues with 15 years or more left to maturity.The 20-year yield rose 1.0 basis point to 0.645 percent , while the 30-year yield gained 2.0 basis points to 0.875 percent.The 40-year yield rose 2.5 basis points to 1.090 percent , its highest level since February last year.The 10-year JGB yield rose 0.5 basis point to 0.065 percent .The 10-year JGB futures, price of which reflects cheapest to deliver seven-year bonds, rather than 10-year bonds, rose 0.05 point to 150.44.($1 = 110.61 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HD140'|'2017-04-05T02:51:00.000+03:00' 'be140142358356d15a5a4fbdac8e9730af608e5a'|'Krispy Kreme-owner JAB to buy bakery chain Panera Bread'|' 26pm BST Krispy Kreme-owner JAB to buy bakery chain Panera Bread A Panera restaurant logo is pictured on a building in North Miami, Florida March 19, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, said on Wednesday it would buy U.S. bakery chain Panera Bread Co ( PNRA.O ) for $7.16 billion (5.74 billion pounds), excluding debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire. Panera shares had risen about 4.6 percent from March 31 through Tuesday''s close of $274.00. The stock jumped nearly another 14 percent to $311.23 in premarket trading. JAB has offered $315 in cash per Panera share, representing a 20.3 percent premium to the stock''s closing price on March 31, the last trading day before media reports of a potential deal. The deal includes the assumption of about $340 million of net debt, JAB and Panera said in a joint statement. JAB''s acquisition of Panera is the biggest-ever U.S. restaurant deal, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. It will be the North American restaurant industry''s second-largest acquisition after Burger King''s $11.53 billion deal for Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons. JAB, the investment vehicle of Germany''s billionaire Reimann family, is run by Chief Executive Olivier Goudet, who is also the chairman of Anheuser-Busch InBev ( ABI.BR ). Like the world''s largest brewer, JAB has built up an empire of coffee and food chains through a series of acquisitions in recent years, including Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and K-cup coffee pod-maker Keurig Green Mountain Inc. JAB became the world''s largest pure-play coffee maker by volume in 2015, when it created Jacobs Douwe Egberts in Europe, a joint venture that combined its D.E. Master Blenders 1753 business with the coffee business of U.S.-based Mondelez International Inc ( MDLZ.O ). Panera has about 2,000 bakery cafes throughout the United States and its fresh offerings appeal to health-conscious consumers. The St. Louis-based company has reported better-than-expected earnings per share for the last six quarters. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Panera founder and Chief Executive Ron Shaich and entities affiliated to him have agreed to vote shares representing about 15.5 percent of the company''s voting power in favour of the deal. JAB also has controlling stakes in cosmetics company Coty Inc ( COTY.N ) and luxury goods maker Jimmy Choo ( CHOO.L ), among other companies. Panera is being advised by Morgan Stanley & Co LLC and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is providing legal counsel. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza and Martina D''Couto) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-panera-bread-m-a-jab-holdings-idUKKBN1771OZ'|'2017-04-05T21:26:00.000+03:00' '6b705c45d0b6b4a2f58b8c66c7bda73d7772a700'|'Toshiba''s Westinghouse fired chairman two days before bankruptcy filing'|'By Makiko Yamazaki - TOKYO TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co LLC fired its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear engineering unit of Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) filed for bankruptcy last week, as the Japanese firm tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions.Toshiba''s spokesman said Westinghouse chairman Danny Roderick was replaced by Mamoru Hatazawa, chief of Toshiba''s nuclear division, on March 27, two days before the Chapter 11 filing. Hatazawa''s role would be temporary, he added.Roderick, described by industry and company insiders as more salesman than engineer, was the driving force behind Toshiba''s nuclear ambitions.Toshiba said the executive change, only second at senior level reported since the Westinghouse crisis began to unfold in December, was intended to reassure clients in advance of the bankruptcy filing.It declined to say whether Roderick remained with Westinghouse.Calls to Roderick from Reuters seeking comment went straight to voicemail.Roderick joined Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse as chief executive from a joint venture of General Electric Co ( GE.N ) and Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ). He took up his role in September 2012, a year after Japan''s Fukushima disaster brought the global nuclear industry to its knees.In 2016, he took the helm of Toshiba''s entire energy business, as the group restructured following an accounting scandal in 2015.He was moved back to managing just Westinghouse when Shigenori Shiga, a former Westinghouse boss, resigned as Toshiba''s chairman earlier this year as the nuclear crisis grew.In an interview with Reuters in 2015, Roderick said he was "pretty confident" in achieving Westinghouse''s goal of winning orders to construct 64 nuclear reactors worldwide over the next 15 years. At the time, the industry was still struggling to recover from the impact of Fukushima.But billions of dollars of cost overruns at four reactors under construction in the U.S. southeast pushed Westinghouse into bankruptcy and resulted in a near-crippling net loss of $9 billion at Toshiba.At the heart of the meltdown was Westinghouse''s troubled purchase of a U.S. nuclear power plant construction company from Chicago Bridge & Iron Co NV ( CBI.N ) in late 2015, during Roderick''s tenure.Toshiba is investigating whether executives sought to influence accounting practices in connection with that deal.The Toshiba spokesman declined to comment on whether Roderick''s dismissal was related to the ongoing probe.Toshiba has twice been forced to delay its October-December earnings report, in part to continue that investigation.(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-westinghouse-idINKBN1770O6'|'2017-04-05T09:09:00.000+03:00' '1da91d6acbb66f1aa938e6c2e3222e19ab9cf362'|'U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit'|'Politics - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 7:27am EDT U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit FILE PHOTO: An attendant cleans the carpet next to U.S. and Chinese national flags before a news conference for the 6th round of U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo By Michael Martina and Diane Bartz - BEIJING/WASHINGTON BEIJING/WASHINGTON Although worried about the prospect of a trade war, American businesses operating in China nonetheless want President Donald Trump to wring some concessions on market access from China''s leader Xi Jingping when the two meet this week. Trump warned in a tweet last week the meetings at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday and Friday will be "very difficult" and "American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives." Trump has said he wants U.S. companies to stop investing in China and instead create jobs at home. He has also accused China of manipulating its currency to boost exports. Critics within U.S. industry have accused China of unfair government subsidies to its companies, and of flooding the U.S. market with cheap products from steel to solar panels, while restricting foreign investment over vast swathes of the world''s second-biggest economy. But they also worry Trump''s policies on China are not entirely clear, with his trade team still not in place, and may be subject to a ''grand bargain'' involving other issues such as North Korea. Trump is set to enter the meeting without several key advisors, including his pick for trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer who has yet to be confirmed by Congress. His nominee as ambassador to China, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, has also yet to be confirmed, while several posts in the U.S. State Department that formulate Asia policy remain unfilled. "With this in mind, it is hard to imagine that there will be much in the way of concrete accomplishments at this summit, or even that there has been any significant interagency discussion on strategy leading up to it," said Randal Phillips, Mintz Group''s Beijing-based managing partner for Asia and the former chief CIA representative in China. ''ACTIONS, NOT WORDS'' Some of the largest U.S. companies have contributed to the billions of dollars of foreign direct investment that have poured into China over the past two decades, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. They include tech companies like Apple, which makes much of its iPhone in China, automakers such as General Motors and Ford, heavy machinery firms like Caterpillar, retailers like Starbucks and makers of shaving foam and detergent, like Procter & Gamble. U.S. steel producers want Trump to press Xi on Chinese steel prices, according to a source who has been in discussions with the administration in advance of the summit. U.S. automakers complain about a disparity in tariffs: The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on auto imports, China''s is 25 percent. But the stakes are perhaps highest for American technology firms, who worry that China''s new cyber-security law, which takes effect in June, sets potentially discriminatory standards for multinationals. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a think-tank whose board includes representatives from Apple, IBM Google and other tech heavyweights, has urged the Trump administration to pressure China to "stop rigging markets". It warned that possible retaliation from Beijing was not a reason for inaction. Trump has staked out various positions on China as president in his tweets, phone calls and statements. In a phone call with Xi after taking office, Trump gave ground on one of Beijing''s most sensitive issues – the status of Taiwan - after earlier suggesting he might not stick to Washington''s long-held "one China" policy. Trump signed two executive orders on trade on Friday, one to improve import tariff collection and another to study the causes of the U.S. trade deficit. Trump said at the White House signing ceremony he and Xi were "going to get down to some serious business" and vowed that "the theft of American prosperity" by foreign countries would end. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said on Friday the U.S.-China trade imbalance was mostly the result of differences in the two countries'' economic structures and noted China had a trade deficit in services. China tops the list of countries who have trade surpluses with the United States, with a $347 billion surplus last year. TRADE WARS Some in the U.S. business community worry about tit-for-tat retaliation in trade disputes with China. Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, said the two presidents need to take "positive actions that would lead to a more durable relationship, not retaliatory actions that would lead to a trade war". The list of commercial issues between the two countries was so long, it would be impossible to make a major dent in them with one meeting, he said. China is the largest export market for U.S. soybean producers, accounting for 62 percent of U.S. soy exports in 2016 with a value of over $14 billion, leading some experts to suggest the sector could be particularly vulnerable to retaliation. Steve Censky, chief executive of the American Soybean Association, told Reuters he hopes Trump will take a "prudent" approach to the trade relationship and address any issues in a "workman-like manner", recognizing that both countries have a lot to lose if the relationship suffers. William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China met senior Trump administration officials in February, and said "it was clear they were very familiar with the issues facing American companies in China, perhaps more so than previous administrations". But several corporate lobbyists, representing a range of companies expressed concern Trump''s lack of attention to detail could prove counterproductive when it comes to the intricacies of the massive trade and investment relationship. "It''s not yet clear whether ... this is a White House that wants to fundamentally reset the terms of the relationship or tinker at the edges and declare a public relations win," said a China expert at a Washington business lobby who asked not to be named. (Reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Diane Bartz, David Shepardson and Joel Schectman in Washington; Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; and Mark Weinraub in Chicago; Editing by Bill Tarrant) Next In Politics Prior to his SEC nomination, Clayton communicated with SEC contractor WASHINGTON Before Wall Street attorney Jay Clayton was nominated to be head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he communicated with more than a half dozen of President Donald Trump''s transition representatives, including one whose company has a multi-million-dollar contract with the SEC, according to documents seen by Reuters. WASHINGTON The Texas Republican spearheading tax reform efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives will meet with Democrats to discuss policy ideas, as Republicans try to secure a victory for President Donald Trump after his healthcare bill''s failure. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-business-idUSKBN17616Y'|'2017-04-04T19:27:00.000+03:00' '49ddde453fa32be33ebaee62cd5027bc305bf5af'|'UK construction growth cools in March, adding to signs of slowdown - PMI'|'Property 9:49am BST UK construction growth cools in March, adding to signs of slowdown - PMI FILE PHOTO: A DLR train crosses a bridge in front of construction work in early morning mist in London''s Canary Wharf financial district, Britain March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Russell Boyce LONDON, April 4 - Growth in Britain''s construction industry slowed slightly in March, adding to signs that the economy has lost some of its strong momentum of late last year when it defied the shock of the Brexit vote, a survey showed on Tuesday. The Markit/CIPS Construction Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) dropped back to 52.2 from 52.5 in February. That was the joint slowest rate of growth since a recent pick-up for the sector began in September and was a touch weaker than the median forecast of 52.4 in a Reuters poll of economists. Markit''s PMI survey of Britain''s manufacturers, published on Monday, showed growth among factories also weakened in March. Britain''s economy outpaced all Group of Seven nations bar Germany in 2016, despite the decision by voters in June to leave the European Union. But it is widely expected to slow this year as rising inflation eats into consumer demand and businesses invest less. Tuesday''s survey showed growth in housebuilding slowed to a seven-month low, more than offsetting the best month so far in 2017 for civil engineering firms who were helped by infrastructure spending. Commercial construction also picked up. Inflation pressures, which have built since the Brexit vote because of the fall in sterling and higher oil prices, eased. New orders remained at their lowest level since October, in part reflecting concerns about costs among customers, Markit said. But expectations for future business, which hit a 13-month peak in January before falling back in February, rose. Tim Moore, senior economist at survey compiler IHS Markit, said the cooling housing market appeared to be acting as a drag on the sector. Construction accounts for around 6 percent of British economic output. Markit is due to publish its PMI for the far larger services sector on Wednesday. [ECONGB] - Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence. To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: www.markit.com/Contact-Us (Reporting by William Schomberg; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Next In Property News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1760OW'|'2017-04-04T16:49:00.000+03:00' '3d4463af005279c5a4270d2a860e0cbc0f9f936c'|'Technology firm Nanoco cuts full-year expectations'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 8:00am BST Technology firm Nanoco cuts full-year expectations British nanotechnology company Nanoco Group Plc cut its full-year expectations saying sales have not materialised in the second half. The company, which specialises in quantum dots -- semiconductor crystals 10,000 times finer than a human hair, said it is engaged with more near term commercial opportunities than at "any time" in its history. The company reported revenues of 0.68 million pounds($845,376.00) for the six months to Jan. 31 and a loss before tax of 6.4 million pounds. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. LONDON British online fashion retailer Asos raised its guidance for full-year sales growth after it reported a better-than-expected 38 percent rise in its first half, driven by accelerating international demand. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nanoco-group-outlook-idUKKBN1760HC'|'2017-04-04T15:00:00.000+03:00' '0cb1e4084dcc461da18ff0a218ccbd9c287a93d2'|'Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors cut China output amid diplomatic tensions - sources'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 2:31am BST Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors cut China output amid diplomatic tensions - sources left right FILE PHOTO: A man takes pictures of a Hyundai car during the 15th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in Shanghai April 21, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A worker cleans a KIA K5 during the media preview of the 10th China International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou November 22, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Visitors walk around the new Hyundai Tucson during Auto China 2016 auto show in Beijing, China, May 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo 3/3 SEOUL South Korea''s Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) have slashed vehicle production in China, people familiar with the matter told Reuters, amid diplomatic tensions and competition from local brands. China, the world''s biggest auto market, accounted for over a quarter of the pair''s 2016 overseas sales but their March sales there were hit by anti-Korean sentiment and competition from local automakers like Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd ( 0175.HK ). Kia Motors has cut production shifts at its China factories, two of the sources said. One of them said Hyundai also had eliminated a second shift from its three factories in Beijing starting mid-March. The sources declined to be identified because the matter was not public. The automakers declined to comment on Tuesday. Hyundai earlier said it had suspended output at its factory in Hebei from March 24 to April 4. It was unclear how the shift cut would affect employment there. Political tensions have soared since late February when South Korea''s Lotte Group agreed to provide land for a U.S. missile defence system in South Korea. The move angered Beijing, although Seoul says the system is a response to North Korea''s nuclear threat and is not intended to contain China. South Korean firms including Lotte Group have encountered difficulties in China such as boycott calls in state media, protests, suspension of operations and cyber crime. The South Korean automakers said on Monday that weaker sales in China had likely dragged down overseas sales in March, blaming poor "consumer sentiment towards Korean products". At Kia Motors, China sales likely more than halved in March from the year prior, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. But sources said the sales falls may have stemmed from competition from local rivals rather than the political fallout. The likes of Geely have gained market share with cheaper sport utility vehicles at the expense of Hyundai and Kia, which rely heavily on sedans. Hyundai Motor shares fell 1.9 percent and Kia Motors declined 0.7 percent in the wider market .KS11 , which was down 0.2 percent in morning trade on Tuesday. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Stephen Coates) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-autos-china-idUKKBN17603L'|'2017-04-04T09:31:00.000+03:00' 'e4de7bb3a3002dfbc0c82d09859febdb72bcf491'|'Spain''s Abengoa starts process to sell stake in U.S. unit - source'|'Deals - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 10:58am EDT Spain''s Abengoa starts process to sell stake in U.S. unit: source A tower belonging to the Abengoa solar plant is seen at the ''''Solucar'''' solar park in Sanlucar la Mayor, near the Andalusian capital of Seville, southern Spain March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo MADRID Spanish renewable energy and engineering company Abengoa ( ABG.MC ) has started the process of selling the 41 percent stake it still owns in U.S. utility assets operator Atlantica Yield ( ABY.O ), a source close to the company said on Tuesday. Abengoa, which announced the completion of a restructuring at the end of March, is being advised on the sale by Lazard, Santander, and Caixabank, the source said. "The idea is to sell the stake in a block to an institutional investor ... within three to six months, with the aim of closing if possible in summer," the source said. Lazard and Caixabank were not immediately available to comment. Santander declined to comment. The 41 percent stake would be worth about $900 million at current market prices. (Reporting by Jose Elias Rodriguez; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Julien Toyer, Greg Mahlich) Next In Deals Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral: sources TOKYO Toshiba Corp asked creditor banks for a new loan and offered as collateral a stake in its memory chip unit that is being split off, sources said, underlining the firm''s growing financial woes as it braces for a multi-billion dollar loss. Staples Inc , the largest U.S. office supplies retailer, is considering selling itself, and is in talks with private-equity bidders, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-atlantica-yield-m-a-idUSKBN1761TT'|'2017-04-04T22:55:00.000+03:00' 'd36d4f9e280b9aa5873bf6941a629253dc7922c5'|'Oil prices edge lower as rebound in Libyan production weighs'|' 54am IST Oil prices edge lower as rebound in Libyan production weighs An offshore oil platform is seen at the Bouri Oil Field off the coast of Libya August 3, 2015. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/Files By Jane Chung - SEOUL SEOUL Oil prices edged lower in early Asian trading on Tuesday as a rebound in Libyan production put pressure on the market, along with a rise in U.S. drilling rig capacity that signals potential for increased supply. International Brent crude futures were trading down 3 cents at $53.09 a barrel at 0141 GMT from the previous session. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices was down 1 cents to $50.23 a barrel. "Crude oil prices fell as increased drilling in the United States and a rebound in Libyan output weighed on investor sentiment," said ANZ bank in a note. Libya''s crude output increased on Monday after state-owned National Oil Corp (NOC) lifted force majeure on loadings of Sharara crude oil from the Zawiya terminal in the west of the country, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Meanwhile U.S. drillers added the most rigs in a quarter since the second quarter of 2011, data from energy services company Baker Hughes showed on Friday, extending a 10-month drilling recovery. Adding to Libya''s oil production recovery, Iran''s exports of crude oil and gas condensate hit a record 3.05 million barrels per day (bpd) by March 20, the end of the Iranian month of Esfand, according to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The oil market continues to await signs of a tightening market as concerns over OPEC production cut compliance, designed to erode a global crude oil glut, and high U.S. oil output linger. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and non-OPEC members including Russia, agreed late last year to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017. The market''s focus has now shifted whether the major oil producers will extend the cuts. (Reporting by Jane Chung; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-oil-idINKBN17605O'|'2017-04-04T10:24:00.000+03:00' 'fd76433f17e9f795e6b03aed20f436912734e4f9'|'GLOBAL MARKETS--No big bets ahead of Trump-Xi meeting; oil, metal prices firm'|' 09am EDT GLOBAL MARKETS--No big bets ahead of Trump-Xi meeting; oil, metal prices firm By Vikram Subhedar - LONDON, April 5 LONDON, April 5 Caution prevailed across major markets on Wednesday before a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this week, although metals and oil prices firmed on hope of better global demand. Market participants will also see the release of minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting in which the central bank decided to raise interest rates. Overnight, Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker abruptly left the U.S. central bank after admitting that a conversation he had with a Wall Street analyst in 2012 may have disclosed confidential information about Fed policy options . The dollar lost its grip on earlier gains as concerns over a North Korean missile test worsened sentiment ahead of the summit between the U.S. and Chinese leaders. Topping the agenda at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida will be whether he makes good on his threat to use U.S.-China trade ties to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea, which is working to develop missiles capable of hitting the United States. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a trade-weighted basket of six peers, was down on the day at 100.48, as slumping U.S. Treasury yields also gave investors little incentive to buy dollars. "The meetings are expected to be informal, unscripted discussions of how the two countries will address, but not immediately resolve, their differences," said strategists at Morgan Stanley in a note to clients. "Any commentary on how the US specifically wants to try to reduce the trade deficit with China will be watched by FX investors," the strategists wrote. European stocks were little changed on the day as the cautious start to the second quarter continued. Oil and mining-related stocks were outperformers, lured higher by firmer commodities prices. Oil climbed to a near one-month high on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories and on concern about a supply outage at a field in the United Kingdom''s North Sea that feeds into an international benchmark price. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were up 1 percent at $54.73 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures was also up 1 percent. London copper rallied as Chinese traders returned from a two-day break to buy up metals following brighter global manufacturing reports. Zinc and nickel tracked a rally in steel. Safe-haven gold steadied helped by sluggish moves in riskier assets. Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar; Editing by Stephen Powell) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUSL3N1HD26E'|'2017-04-05T17:09:00.000+03:00' '3c0fc03cae664c0a40851f40a2f583987b8de84e'|'Pepsi draws outrage for ad depicting Kendall Jenner at protest'|' 54am EDT Pepsi draws outrage for ad depicting Kendall Jenner at protest April 5 Pepsi''s new ad featuring Kendall Jenner prompted Twitter users to howl outrage on Wednesday, with civil-rights advocates saying it trivialized recent street unrest across the United States. The ad released late on Tuesday shows Jenner, a model and reality TV star, in a photo shoot, when she notices a protest march passing by her location. She joins the crowd as it nears a line of police officers. Jenner approaches one of the officers and hands him a can of Pepsi, prompting the officer to smile while marchers cheer and hug. The spot drew immediate criticism on Twitter, for belittling the street protests seen across the United States over the last few years following police killings of unarmed black men and teens. While the ad does not make clear what the protest is opposition to -- the only clues being peace signs and a background song with the lyrics "we are the movement, this generation" -- observers were quick to condemn it. "If I had carried Pepsi, I guess I never would have gotten arrested. Who knew?" activist DeRay McKesson, one of the best-known voices of the Black Lives Matter movement, said on Twitter. "Pepsi, this ad is trash." "The Kendall Jenner Pepsi fiasco is a perfect example of what happens when there''s no black people in the room when decisions are being made," added comedian and writer Trayvon Free. PepsiCo described the online and television ad it called "Jump In" as the start of a new campaign. "The ''Jump In'' Pepsi Moments film takes a more progressive approach to truly reflect today''s generation and what living for now looks like," Pepsi said in a statement posted online before the controversy flared. Pepsi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. The police in the ad were clad in black shirts and baseball caps, a contrast to the heavily armored presences seen at anti-police-violence protests in cities from Ferguson, Missouri, to Baltimore. Some online commentators called out the stark differences by posting an image taken by Reuters photographer Jonathan Bachman in Baton Rouge last year showing a black women in a dress standing passively as police armed in riot helmets and heavily padded suits took her into custody. (Reporting by Scott Malone, Editing by Franklin Paul) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/pepsico-ad-idUSL2N1HD0Q9'|'2017-04-05T22:54:00.000+03:00' '2c2ac024e9ff98fbddab2c4a33c4bc7c8d5ff5ce'|'EU Commission sees solution on Veneto banks rescue in coming weeks'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 5:37pm BST EU Commission sees solution on Veneto banks rescue in coming weeks BRUSSELS The European Commission sees a possible solution in the coming weeks on the bailout of two small Italian banks from the Veneto region, a spokesman said on Monday. Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have applied to receive state support using an exception to EU banking liquidation rules that would allow public money to be injected in the two lenders with a limited contribution from the banks'' creditors. The Commission said it was in "constructive talks" with the Italian authorities and the European Central Bank on the bailout request. "All players are sitting around a table with the objective of coming to a common solution that is efficient, sustainable and in the interest of financial stability," the spokesman said. "We are confident that a solution on this basis can be found in the coming weeks," he added. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, editing by Julia Fioretti) Next In Business News Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. LONDON, April 3 - British manufacturing lost some of its momentum last month, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-banks-eu-veneto-idUKKBN1751XB'|'2017-04-04T00:37:00.000+03:00' '411cda83ec814d5f3eb01e1465fd3d42a5a0960e'|'Ride-hailing firm Grab agrees to buy Indonesian payment startup Kudo'|'SINGAPORE Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab on Monday said it has agreed to buy Indonesian online payment startup Kudo, marking the first investment under a recently announced plan to commit $700 million to its largest market.Grab did not disclose the deal value. Reuters in February reported Grab''s plan to buy Kudo for over $100 million, citing a person close to the matter.Grab, the main Southeast Asian rival of Uber Technologies Inc, said the deal would come under the $700 million it has committed to invest in Indonesia over the next four years.Founded in 2014, Kudo helps consumers with no bank accounts and based in small towns and cities make online payments through its agents. Kudo in the statement said the acquisition created immediate synergies with its existing business.The two firms also plan to explore opportunities to increase the types of financial services that Kudo could offer, including insurance and consumer loans, said Grab.Upon closing the deal, the Kudo team and platform will be integrated with Grab''s online payment service GrabPay.In a separate statement, Grab said it has hired Jason Thompson, previously of U.S. electronic payments company Euronet Worldwide Inc, as head of GrabPay to be based in Singapore.(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kudo-m-a-grab-idINKBN1750BD'|'2017-04-03T02:20:00.000+03:00' '01e55e80a2e0119f2e6959d788624fafa37a188a'|'Guggenheim Investments attract broad fixed-income inflows in March'|'Money 21pm EDT Guggenheim Investments attract broad fixed-income inflows in March NEW YORK Guggenheim Investments, overseen by global chief investment officer Scott Minerd, had positive net flows of more than $1.5 billion into its fixed-income mutual funds and ETFs in March, the firm said on Monday. Investors were undeterred by the Federal Reserve''s rate hike last month: Guggenheim''s flagship Total Return Bond Fund, an intermediate-term fund that has outperformed 99 percent of its rivals over one, three, and five years, according to Morningstar, took in $491 million in March, the firm said. The $5.7 billion fund has experienced net inflows for 39 consecutive months, Guggenheim added. Meanwhile, the Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund, a $5 billion non-traditional bond fund that has also outperformed 99 percent of its rivals over five years, took in $345 million in March, the firm said. Guggenheim Floating Rate Strategies Fund, a $3.5 billion bank loan fund that has outperformed 97 percent of peers over five years, took in $170 million in March. Guggenheim Limited Duration Fund, a short-term bond fund, experienced its 40th consecutive month of net inflows since its December 2013 inception. It has outperformed 99 percent of funds in its Morningstar category over three years. Guggenheim said its BulletShares suite of defined maturity ETFs had $272 million in net flows in March, which helped the firm reach an all-time high with $34.6 billion in ETF assets under management. (Reporting By Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Andrew Hay) Next In Money'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-funds-guggenheim-idUSKBN175229'|'2017-04-04T01:15:00.000+03:00' '7f64fea5114fbf04da53330d596b020f9b1c28fe'|'Apple sparks row with pledge to drop Imagination Tech graphics'|'Business News - 28am BST Apple sparks row with pledge to drop Imagination Tech graphics FILE PHOTO: The Apple Inc. store is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo LONDON Apple has given Imagination Tech notice that it will stop using its graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years'' time, dealing a major blow to the British company. Imagination said Apple, its biggest customer, had not presented any evidence to substantiate its assertion that it will no longer require Imagination''s technology, without violating Imagination''s patents, intellectual property and confidential information. It said on Monday that Apple''s notification had triggered talks on alternative commercial arrangements for the current licence and royalty agreement. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imagntn-tchnlgs-apple-idUKKBN1750GC'|'2017-04-03T14:28:00.000+03:00' 'cd32bdf5fa7fda95318e6bac9c3aee0bbcf5094b'|'Caterpillar shuts plant in Aurora, Illinois, that employs 800'|'U.S. - Fri Mar 31, 2017 - 9:03pm EDT Caterpillar shuts plant in Aurora, Illinois, that employs 800 A Caterpillar corporate logo is pictured on a building in Peoria, Illinois, U.S. March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri By Gayathree Ganesan and Akankshita Mukhopadhyay Caterpillar Inc ( CAT.N ) said on Friday it will shut its Aurora, Illinois, plant, costing about 800 employees their jobs as the world''s largest construction and mining equipment maker shifts production to other U.S. facilities. Caterpillar was among companies that met with President Donald Trump in February to talk about job creation, at a time when about 2,300 U.S. workers at five major manufacturing companies stand to lose their jobs within the next two years as a result of offshoring. The company said it will transition its large wheel loaders and compactors to its plant in Decatur, Illinois, and medium wheel loaders to North Little Rock, Arkansas. "Out of about 800 production positions, about 500 positions would likely be added to Decatur and about 150 positions would be added in North Little Rock," Caterpillar spokeswoman Lisa Miller told Reuters. The company has already slashed its workforce by more than 16,000 to cope with a slumping economy and had said it would take another $500 million in restructuring costs in 2017. Caterpillar said, in January, that it was considering closing two major production facilities, including the one in Aurora, Illinois, where it makes large-wheel loaders and compactors. The plant closure is expected to be completed by the end of 2018, Caterpillar said in a statement. The company in January forecast 2017 profit sharply below analysts'' estimates, hurt by sluggish demand in the construction and energy industries. Caterpillar had about 95,400 full-time employees of whom 54,500 persons were located outside the United States as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing. (Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan and Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Next In U.S.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-caterpillar-restructuring-idUSKBN17332M'|'2017-04-01T09:03:00.000+03:00' '67dc7003b0fa3fc41c10101aef40d9c52245bd88'|'Germany criticises Trump orders on trade deficits, import duty evasion'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 12:50pm BST Germany criticises Trump orders on trade deficits, import duty evasion German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN U.S. President Donald Trump''s executive orders on trade deficits and import duty evasion are a sign that Washington plans to move away from free trade and international agreements, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said on Saturday. Trump instructed his administration on Friday to study the causes of U.S. trade deficits and clamp down on countries that abuse trade rules in two executive orders he said would open a new chapter for U.S. workers and businesses. Zypries said that while the executive orders were initially only reviews, "they show, however, that the U.S. obviously wants to move away from free trade and trade agreements." "We must seek constructive dialogue and explain that the reasons for the U.S. trade deficit are not just abroad," the minister said, adding that she would raise the issue in talks with U.S. counterparts during a trip to Washington in May. For years, the United States has been importing more goods from Germany than it exports to Europe''s biggest economy, due to the relatively strong competitiveness of German firms and the high demand among U.S. customers for ''Made in Germany'' goods. The resulting U.S. trade deficit with Germany has nearly doubled in the past 10 years from some 28.8 billion euros (24 billion pounds) in 2006 to 49 billion euros in 2016, according to data from Germany''s Federal Statistics Office. Trump''s trade adviser Peter Navarro has accused Germany of exploiting other countries through a "grossly undervalued" euro. This sparked a sharp response from German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said the European Central Bank is in charge of the euro and the central bank is a politically independent body. In a further sign of increased tensions between Germany and the United States, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged the European Union on Friday to consider filing a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the United States over its plan to impose duties on imports of steel plate from five EU member states. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Helen Popper) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-trade-germany-idUKKBN1733ET'|'2017-04-01T19:50:00.000+03:00' 'd9260943659ec61c32d4dfb9f646be5c88d3ccd6'|'Mexico says new EU trade deal is ''paramount'', eyes 2017 conclusion'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 10:12am BST Mexico says new EU trade deal is ''paramount'', eyes 2017 conclusion BRUSSELS A new free trade agreement with the European Union is of "paramount" importance for Mexico and both parties aim to conclude a deal this year, Mexico''s deputy economy minister has said. Mexico and the 28-nation bloc are holding a third round of negotiations this week to upgrade an existing accord dating from 2000 that principally just cut tariffs on industrial goods. "It''s paramount. Right now there''s no other issue, no other negotiation on top of the trade agenda for Mexico but this one," Juan Carlos Baker, deputy minister for foreign trade, told Reuters in Brussels late on Monday. The two parties agreed in 2015 to modernize their trade relations and held two rounds of talks last year. The election of U.S. President Donald Trump has reinforced Mexico''s need to reduce its reliance on the U.S. imports and exports. Trump has pledged to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Mexicans face the possibility of higher U.S. import duties. "The present circumstances I suppose only make it even more necessary," Baker said of an EU deal, adding he had not started any negotiations with the United States or Canada regarding NAFTA. With EU-U.S. trade talks frozen, the European Union has turned its focus to sealing deals with three other partners - Japan, Mercosur and Mexico. Brussels is particularly keen on scoring successes on the trade front to show it is moving on from Britain''s planned exit from the bloc and to prove it is a champion of free trade to counter Trump''s protectionist stance. Baker said there was reason for optimism that a deal could be struck this year. Most free trade agreements (FTA) take years, but the EU and Mexico already have an existing FTA since 2000, with a number of products already tariff-free. In addition, the typically sensitive issue of agriculture might be easier to resolve because both partners were seeking greater access, albeit for different products. "There''s no issue that''s off the table or looks an unsolvable challenge," Baker said. EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo were due to meet in May before a fourth round of negotiations in June. "Except for the summer break we will be meeting pretty much every five to six weeks," Baker said. A new deal would add trade in services and access to public tenders and significantly boost trade in agricultural products, such as Mexican beef, sugar and bananas and EU dairy products. The European Union is Mexico''s third largest trading partner after the United States and China. EU-Mexico trade in goods more than doubled from 2000 to 53 billion euros (45.82 billion pounds) in 2015. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Tom Heneghan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-mexico-trade-idUKKBN1760SW'|'2017-04-04T17:12:00.000+03:00' '050f710a5c04254d6d9cbdf44f8126b4ee7568c7'|'Uttar Pradesh waives farm loans, to shut some illegal abattoirs'|'Money News 44pm IST Uttar Pradesh waives farm loans, to shut some illegal abattoirs Yogi Adityanath, newly appointed Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, arrives to attend a meeting with government officials at Lok Bhavan in Lucknow, India March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar NEW DELHI India''s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, said on Tuesday it was waiving $5.6 billion of loans to help millions of farmers reeling from losses after unfavourable weather in the past few years hit their crops. Uttar Pradesh has also ordered the closure of 26 illegal slaughterhouses, state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said, after the first cabinet meeting chaired by newly appointed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The state government would consider applications for licences for slaughterhouses, Singh added. After its landslide victory in recent state elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed on March 18 Hindu hardliner Adityanath, who has been accused of inciting violence against India''s Muslim minority, as chief minister. Since then, abattoirs - mainly Muslim-run - have complained of repeated attacks by vigilante groups seeking to protect cows, which are considered holy in Hinduism. Most of the beef produced in India comes from buffalo. Last week, abattoirs called off a four-day strike after meeting Adityanath, who assured them unlicensed slaughterhouses would not be shut down or attacked. Owners complained they had to run a number of their slaughterhouses without licences because the previous government failed to renew their permits on time. In Uttar Pradesh, abattoirs need more than 25 government clearances to ply their trade. Demands by right-wing Hindu groups to stop the slaughter of cows threaten to stoke a fresh wave of communal tension, as Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India''s 1.3 billion people, dominate the meat trade. India is one of the largest exporters of buffalo meat, selling $4 billion worth in the 2015/16 fiscal year, with Uttar Pradesh the country''s biggest producer. India''s biggest buyers of the meat include Vietnam, Malaysia and Egypt. The farm loan waiver is expected to bring relief to 21.5 million indebted farmers, a big voting bloc in the state which is also India''s largest producer of wheat and sugar. Uttar Pradesh is mainly rural and lacks industries. The Uttar Pradesh government will issue bonds to fund the farm loan waiver, Singh said. The state government said it also planned to set up 5,000 centres to buy wheat directly from farmers. It will pay farmers 10 rupees per 100 kilograms, more than the guaranteed price promised by the federal government. ($1 = 64.96 rupees) (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj and Nidhi Verma; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/up-politics-farmer-loans-meat-idINKBN1761VT'|'2017-04-04T23:14:00.000+03:00' '890af99851638b9632220da2acd779ec2af8c065'|'Alan Howard raises over $700 million for his new fund - sources'|'LONDON/NEW YORK British hedge fund manager Alan Howard has raised more than $700 million (563 million pounds) from outside investors for a new fund that he will solely manage, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.One of the sources said the AH fund, which started trading on March 1, had raised an additional $2 billion from the main fund at Howard''s firm, Brevan Howard Asset Management.Hedge fund firms that launch new funds sometimes move money from existing funds as well as raising cash from investors externally.The AH Fund seeks a minimum $50 million investment from each investor, documents filed with U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. That is far bigger than the average hedge fund investment per investor of $1.9 million, according to data from global industry tracker Preqin.A spokesman for Brevan Howard declined to comment.Howard''s new fund, which is named after his initials, will charge a management fee of 0.75 percent and a performance fee of 30 percent.The product - which is still open to new investment - has been launched at a time when Brevan Howard, which manages $14.6 billion, has seen an asset decline of around $22 billion since 2012, from a combination of losses and client withdrawals.Howard founded Brevan Howard in 2002 along with four former colleagues from Credit Suisse and quickly gained assets based on savvy macroeconomic bets.Brevan Howard was granted an injunction on March 23 to prevent Reuters publishing a story about the firm, claiming the company''s right to confidentiality outweighed public interest.(Reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-brevan-howard-idUSKBN17612C'|'2017-04-05T14:02:00.000+03:00' '376a85c5bcd8217b060be1edd9ab3fcd761a9316'|'China''s Shandong in advanced talks to buy half Barrick''s Veladero mine: sources'|'TORONTO/VANCOUVER China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion, people familiar with the process told Reuters.Barrick is no longer in discussions with China''s Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd about the Veladero mine stake sale , which is one of the Canadian miner''s five core mines, the people said.Shandong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, but the company halted trading in its shares in Shanghai late on Wednesday pending an announcement. Barrick and Zijin declined to comment.(Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Denny Thomas and Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-veladero-shandong-idINKBN1771QH'|'2017-04-05T11:40:00.000+03:00' '71d454f658d472d27027de5a5a358d19fe5db2a2'|'Brazil''s BNDES to announce new rules for infrastructure finance guarantees'|'Company 23am EDT Brazil''s BNDES to announce new rules for infrastructure finance guarantees SAO PAULO, April 4 Brazil''s state development bank BNDES will announce next week new rules to allow sharing of guarantees for infrastructure financing among banks, Chief Executive Officer Maria Silvia Bastos Marques said on Tuesday. Speaking at an investment conference sponsored by Banco Bradesco BBI SA, Bastos said BNDES will discuss with the World Bank new mechanisms to strengthen guarantees and may also finance private banks to issue infrastructure bonds. The development bank is preparing to return to capital markets, she said. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-bndes-bastos-idUSE6N14J024'|'2017-04-04T22:23:00.000+03:00' '45ef3b8245c700bd7664d595f46e6d101ebb41fa'|'Warren Buffett adorns Cherry Coke cans in China'|' 11:22pm BST Warren Buffett adorns Cherry Coke cans in China FILE PHOTO - Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett drinks a can of Cherry Coke at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha May 1, 2010. REUTERS/Rick Wilking Coca-Cola Co is putting the likeness of Warren Buffett on Cherry Coke cans in China, hoping to benefit from its biggest shareholder''s popularity in the country. According to its website, Coca-Cola got permission from the billionaire investor to use his image on cans for a limited time, while supplies last. It launched Cherry Coke in China on March 10. Berkshire Hathaway Inc, which Buffett runs, is Coke''s largest investor, with a 9.3 percent stake worth roughly $17 billion (£13.63 billion). Buffett has many fans in China, which often sends a large contingent to watch him at Berkshire''s annual meetings in Omaha, Nebraska. Last year, Berkshire webcast its meeting for the first time, and provided simultaneous translation only in Mandarin. Buffett has often said he drinks five Cokes a day, and joked that he is "one quarter Coca-Cola" because the beverage accounts for 25 percent of his caloric intake. The 86-year-old told shareholders at Berkshire''s annual meeting last April that he had no evidence he would be more likely to live to 100 if he switched to "water and broccoli." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby) BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. BERLIN Former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, reducing his links with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-coca-cola-buffett-idUKKBN1752L1'|'2017-04-04T06:22:00.000+03:00' 'b6adc9b8a00e5343ebebd03d4f604c43e01c308f'|'UK tourism body calls for visa-free EU travel after Brexit'|' 7:01pm EDT UK tourism body calls for visa-free EU travel after Brexit LONDON, April 4 Britain should aim to secure visa-free travel between the UK and the European Union in upcoming negotiations to leave the bloc, an association of travel agents said on Tuesday, adding that a transitional deal could also help the sector. Britain formally began its divorce from the European Union last Wednesday, and airlines have demanded that their sector is prioritised in the forthcoming two years of negotiations to ensure there is no disruption to flights. The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) said the maintenance of visa-free travel between the EU and UK after Brexit was among its key priorities. Other goals for ABTA included the protection of Britons'' ability to travel freely to Europe and beyond and safeguards for consumer rights, as well as stability and growth opportunities for British businesses. "Travel and tourism is one of the UK''s largest industries and it is vital that the Government makes sure it can continue to thrive during and after the negotiations," said Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA. The trade body also said a transitional arrangement may be needed, to give consumers certainty given that some holidays are sold a year and a half in advance. Currently Britain is due to leave the European Union in March 2019, whether or not an agreement over the terms of its departure can be reached. Unlike trade arrangements, which will default to World Trade Organisation rules if no deal is reached, the aviation sector has "no international fall-back option," the ABTA report said. (Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by Pritha Sarkar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-travel-idUSL5N1HB4RE'|'2017-04-04T07:01:00.000+03:00' '6bd3f2ccf2c6a9e1aa36e5af82d428186f397c57'|'Under pressure, India''s Snapdeal woos staff with promises of profit'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 5:46am BST Under pressure, India''s Snapdeal woos staff with promises of profit By Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Seeking to calm employees rattled by reports of a cash crunch, the founders of Indian online retailer Snapdeal have gone directly to them with a string of townhall meetings in past weeks, according to sources, promising profit and brushing off takeover talk. The sources, familiar with the group, declined to be named as the meetings were not public. Like most e-commerce players in India, Snapdeal is burning cash to sustain discounts - and keep customers - in a cut-throat online market. But as the number three player, it also is under growing pressure from investors and its own employees to consider its bottom line, as well as market share. One of the sources said there had been at least five townhalls in recent weeks, with founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal delivering motivational speeches. "It was only profitability and profitability," one source said, describing answers to questions from employees whether the company was a takeover target. India''s booming online retail sector is led by homegrown player Flipkart - now followed by Amazon ( AMZN.O ), after the U.S. giant overtook Snapdeal''s sales volumes a year ago. Thanks to its deep pockets, Amazon has been an increasingly prominent investor in India, compensating for its mistakes in China, where it has been all but squeezed out by aggressive local rivals with a better grasp of demand. Snapdeal sought funding support in China, from Chinese funds and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ), already an investor, sources with knowledge of the matter said. It has so far come back empty handed. Snapdeal expects to turn profitable in two years and is eyeing a market listing around the same time. But the China setback, and a valuation that has dropped from a peak of $6.5 billion last year, has unsettled some staff. Two employees and three people familiar with Snapdeal''s internal discussions said there were concerns over the group''s direction, as well as over contradictory messages from investors - some seeking profit, others growth - and, increasingly, over potential senior-level departures or cuts. Headhunters like Sinosh Panicker, a partner at Hunt Partners, said some of his clients had witnessed a jump in applications from Snapdeal employees. Some employees cite concerns after the departure of 600 staff in February, laid off from Snapdeal, its logistics arm Vulcan Express and payments unit FreeCharge. Snapdeal declined to comment on staff exits or sentiment, but said its annual appraisals were currently underway, and staff would be offered incentives. In a letter to employees late last month, co-founder and chief executive Bahl said that Snapdeal, in which Japan''s SoftBank ( 9984.T ) is also an investor, was on the right path, despite differing views from some investors. "Investors in our industry need to understand that driving indiscriminate growth at any cost doesn''t create long-term value," Bahl wrote in the letter. A spokeswoman for SoftBank in India declined comment while other Snapdeal investors - Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital - did not respond to Reuters queries. Alibaba has not commented on Snapdeal. Snapdeal clocked up losses of 29.6 billion rupees(365.46 million pounds) in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016. Flipkart''s wholesale unit and its online marketplace made a combined loss of 28.5 billion rupees in the same period. (Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-snapdeal-management-idUKKBN1760B5'|'2017-04-04T12:46:00.000+03:00' '4f4f35db4fcde598138902a28b86a43f5fa7d1bb'|'Wider impact of legal change delays Oi intervention decree: source'|'BRASILIA The Brazilian government is taking longer to finalize a decree that would allow it to intervene in debt-ridden Oi SA ( OIBR4.SA ) because it could impact other sectors beyond domestic phone carriers, an official familiar with the matter said on Monday.Although the decree is aimed at phone and broadband service providers, the official said the legal change could also allow for intervention in other infrastructure sectors such as railways, highways and energy."A legal change cannot be done only for the telecommunications sector. It has to be more general," said the official, adding that the broader scope is requiring more careful analysis. The official asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly.The issue may explain why the decree has not yet been issued after Communications Minister Gilberto Kassab last week promised to finalize it in the following few days.(Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-decree-idINKBN1752QA'|'2017-04-03T22:00:00.000+03:00' 'c6d62e8f6289d79a70839b7e39782cc4c64a2ca4'|'REFILE-MOVES- Falk leaves KKR'|'Company 22am EDT REFILE-MOVES- Falk leaves KKR (Recasts headline) By Jonathan Schwarzberg NEW YORK, April 4 Erik Falk has left private equity firm KKR to pursue a new opportunity, sources said. Falk oversaw some of the private credit funds within KKR''s US$35bn credit business, which is run by Alan Burke on the private credit side and Nat Zilkha on the leveraged credit side, according to a source. His last day was April 3. Falk previously served as co-head of leveraged credit at KKR Asset Management. Falk was the co-portfolio manager of the KKR Lending Partners II LP fund, which closed in April 2015 after raising US$1.34bn, according to KKR''s website. The fund focused on priavetely-originated senior loans. Falk did not return a request for comment. (Reporting by Jonathan Schwarzberg; Editing By Jon Methven) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/kkr-moves-falk-idUSL2N1HC0M5'|'2017-04-04T21:22:00.000+03:00' '863a1a1443f1111ed81d6a1d964f0e171a9eea82'|'Delta Air cuts forecast for key revenue metric'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 9:53am EDT Delta Air cuts forecast for key revenue metric Passengers check in at a counter of Delta Air Lines in Mexico City, Mexico, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ginnette Riquelme/File Photo Delta Air Lines Inc ( DAL.N ) on Tuesday lowered its forecast for a closely watched revenue metric, citing slower-than-expected improvement in average fares for flights booked at the last minute. The No. 2 U.S. airline said it expects passenger unit revenue - which compares sales to flight capacity - to fall about 0.5 percent in the first quarter ended March. ( bit.ly/2oVfqGu ) The airline had previously expected first-quarter passenger unit revenue to be about flat. Delta''s shares were down 1.1 percent at $45.80 in premarket trading. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-delta-air-outlook-idUSKBN1761MY'|'2017-04-04T21:53:00.000+03:00' '533cff17a80107e24df10ee57c244e377b150e15'|'Former VW patriarch Piech to sell bulk of Porsche SE stake'|' 22am EDT Former VW patriarch Piech to sell bulk of Porsche SE stake Ferdinand Piech, former chairman of the supervisory board of German carmaker Volkswagen, arrives at the annual shareholders meeting in Hanover in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/Files BERLIN/FRANKFURT Former Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, paring his ties with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. Volkswagen''s (VW) ruling Porsche and Piech families have agreed to buy part of the 14.7 percent stake Piech holds in Porsche Automobil Holding SE ( PSHG_p.DE ), which in turn owns 52.2 percent of voting shares in VW, exercising their right of first refusal on Porsche SE shares, according to a Porsche SE statement published on Monday. It did not say exactly how much of the stake the families would buy. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Victoria Bryan) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-piech-idUSKBN1751KY'|'2017-04-03T22:22:00.000+03:00' '9af192790905296b8ec082af82c161648ff03d7d'|'US STOCKS-Wall St slips as investors struggle with policy uncertainty'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 3:31pm EDT US STOCKS-Wall St slips as investors struggle with policy uncertainty * New York, other states take on Trump over energy efficiency * Investors fret over govt ability to deliver on reforms * Most S&P sectors lower, some defensive sectors up * Earnings season, Trump-Xi meeting also in focus * Indexes down: Dow 0.14 pct, S&P 0.26 pct, Nasdaq 0.26 pct (Updates prices, adds commentary, changes byline) By Sinead Carew April 3 Wall Street fell on Monday as investor worries intensified about the Trump administration''s struggles to deliver on its pro-business policies a few weeks before the first-quarter earnings season. Stocks had risen to record highs on Trump''s promises to cut tax, ease regulations and spend heavily on infrastructure. The major indexes pared losses in the afternoon. They had tumbled earlier after some U.S. states accused President Donald Trump''s administration of illegally suspending energy efficiency standards. The challenge came barely two weeks after Republican''s had to pull healthcare reform bill due to a lack of support. Also on Monday, Democrats amassed enough support to block a confirmation vote for Trump''s Supreme Court nominee. "If there''s not one big reason (for the market decline), there''s many little reasons. Right now I think it''s a little reason day," said Brad McMillan, Chief Investment Officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass. "I''d expect it to trade in a fairly narrow range until something knocks it out of that range. Right now there''s not a lot of meaningful news." While investors still hope Trump can deliver on some of his agenda, they "are getting nervous and starting to discount some of the benefits they expected to see." "The opera is not over yet but maybe you can see the end of it from here," said McMillan. Weeks ahead of the start of first quarter earnings season investors would need a clear reason to buy, he added. The S&P 500 is trading at about 18 times earnings estimates for the next 12 months, above its long-term average of 15. Adding to nerves was news of a explosion in a St Petersburg train tunnel that killed ten people on Monday in what Russian authorities called a probable terrorist attack. Trump held out the possibility on Sunday of using trade as a lever to secure China''s cooperation against North Korea, in comments that appeared designed to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of his first meeting with Trump later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.53 points, or 0.14 percent, to 20,634.69, the S&P 500 lost 6.15 points, or 0.26 percent, to 2,356.57 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 15.47 points, or 0.26 percent, to 5,896.27. The CBOE Volatility index, known as Wall Street''s ''fear gauge'' was up 2.5 percent at 12.73 points, on track for its third straight session of gains. Eight out of 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, led by the materials index''s 0.8-percent drop. Two of three positive indexes were telecommunications and real estate - defensive sectors whose predictable but slow growth are often popular in times of uncertainty. Tesla shares gained as much as 6.9 percent to a record high after the electric car maker reported record first-quarter vehicle deliveries. But, other automakers fell after reporting March sales that came in below market expectations. GM dropped 3.7 percent, Fiat Chrysler sank 4.5 percent, while Ford was off 2.4 percent. NYSE declining issues outnumbered advancers 1.43-to-1; on Nasdaq, a 2.18-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 77 new highs and 26 new lows. (Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru, Rodrigo Campos in New York; Editing by Savio D''Souza and Nick Zieminski) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idUSL2N1HB1JB'|'2017-04-04T03:31:00.000+03:00' '19198a6fce2253d555b6537846191c3a6e21b4f1'|'Co-operative Group to write off the value of its stake in Co-op bank - Business'|'The Co-operative Group will reveal this week it has fallen back into the red for the first time since its tumultuous 2013 year, after writing off the value of its investment in the Co-operative Bank.The mutual is set to take a £140m hit as it slashes the value of its 20% stake in the bank to zero, amid ongoing uncertainty about its former financial arm’s future. The Co-op Bank, which is now controlled by US hedge funds after a 2013 rescue deal, put itself up for sale in February in a bid to raise more capital and give greater stability to its 4 million customers. Co-op Bank is up for sale – is it time to leave? Read more The Co-operative Group, which now focuses on its grocery chain, funeral homes and insurance services, was forced to relinquish the majority of its stake in the bank after it emerged it required £1.5bn in the wake of a disastrous takeover of the Britannia building society. The financial woes were compounded by revelations that the bank’s former chairman, Paul Flowers, took class A drugs . This led to thousands of customers leaving the scandal-hit firm.The mutual is currently considering a sale of its remaining stake as part of the current talks and it’s not clear if the bank’s brand will survive.The group has written down the value of its stake in Co-op bank twice in the past year, taking it to £140m in September , well below the £333m it pumped into the troubled operation nearly four years ago to keep it afloat.The latest writedown will mean the Co-operative Group will report a statutory loss for the year to the end of December 2016 on Thursday, its worst performance since reporting a £277m loss in 2013. In 2015 the group achieved a £23m profit down from a £124m a year before. But the underlying performance of the Co-op, excluding the bank, is going well, according to insiders. The group has modernised its stores and food ranges and benefited from a move towards shopping in small local grocery shops in recent years.While discount rival Aldi overtook the Co-op to become the UK’s fifth-largest grocer in February, the Co-op has increased sales ahead of most other rivals helping it maintain a 6% market share.However, in September, the Co-op revealed that pre-tax profits more than halved to £17m in the first six months of 2016 after restructuring costs and price cuts. The company insisted that its three-year turnaround plan was on track. Richard Pennycook, who stepped in as chief executive to lead a turnaround plan, left the business last month after handing over to Steve Murrells but remains on the payroll as an adviser. Sources said the writedown of the Co-op bank did not mean the bank was worthless, but was a mark of the uncertainty of its future. Co-op Bank faces struggle to find owner with ethics – and deep pockets Read more An update on the sale process is expected by mid-April, but could come as early as this week. It has been reported that the bank has plunged in value to as little as £45m .Late last month, the troubled bank said a number of “credible” potential buyers have expressed an interest .Virgin Money and CYBG, the owner of the Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank networks, are thought to be set to put forward bid proposals, but fears are growing that the Co-op bank will be broken up rather than sold as an entity.It has emerged that the Bank of England has placed Co-op bank under “intensive supervision” with contingency plans to ensure an “orderly failure” if a sale or an injection of fresh capital is not agreed.The 150-year old, ethically-minded bank failed a Bank stress test in 2014, and recently reported a £477m full-year loss . The Co-op bank’s huge pension liabilities are among the major obstacles to a sale.The mutual has 2 million members who are Co-op bank customers. When the bank put itself up for sale in February, the mutual said: “Our goal is to ensure the continued provision of the type of co-operative banking products our members want.”In February, the Co-operative Group’s chairman Allan Leighton said the group was open-minded about the future of the bank stake and did not rule out being part of a plan to inject more capital into the beleaguered lender.Topics Co-operative Group Banking Retail industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/retail/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/03/co-operative-group-to-write-off-the-value-of-its-stake-in-co-op-bank'|'2017-04-03T15:30:00.000+03:00' '14164633303b8ae5f39e94f5da87c45652cbbcce'|'Analysis: Trump declares end to ''war on coal,'' but utilities aren''t listening'|'Global Energy 36am IST Analysis: Trump declares end to ''war on coal,'' but utilities aren''t listening Trump (2nd R) arrives to speak at the 2017 North America’s Building Trades Unions National Legislative Conference in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts By Valerie Volcovici , Nichola Groom and Scott DiSavino - WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK When President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to sweep away Obama-era climate change regulations, he said it would end America''s "war on coal", usher in a new era of energy production and put miners back to work. But the biggest consumers of U.S. coal - power generating companies - remain unconvinced. Reuters surveyed 32 utilities with operations in the 26 states that sued former President Barack Obama''s administration to block its Clean Power Plan, the main target of Trump''s executive order. The bulk of them have no plans to alter their multi-billion dollar, years-long shift away from coal, suggesting demand for the fuel will keep falling despite Trump''s efforts. The utilities gave many reasons, mainly economic: Natural gas - coal’s top competitor - is cheap and abundant; solar and wind power costs are falling; state environmental laws remain in place; and Trump''s regulatory rollback may not survive legal challenges. Meanwhile, big investors aligned with the global push to fight climate change – such as the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund – have been pressuring U.S. utilities in which they own stakes to cut coal use. "I’m not going to build new coal plants in today’s environment," said Ben Fowke, CEO of Xcel Energy, which operates in eight states and uses coal for about 36 percent of its electricity production. "And if I’m not going to build new ones, eventually there won’t be any." Of the 32 utilities contacted by Reuters, 20 said Trump''s order would have no impact on their investment plans; five said they were reviewing the implications of the order; six gave no response. Just one said it would prolong the life of some of its older coal-fired power units. North Dakota''s Basin Electric Power Cooperative was the sole utility to identify an immediate positive impact of Trump''s order on the outlook for coal. "We’re in the situation where the executive order takes a lot of pressure off the decisions we had to make in the near term, such as whether to retrofit and retire older coal plants," said Dale Niezwaag, a spokesman for Basin Electric. "But Trump can be a one-termer, so the reprieve out there is short." Trump''s executive order triggered a review aimed at killing the Clean Power Plan. The Obama-era law would have required states, by 2030, to collectively cut carbon emissions from existing power plants by 30 percent from 2005 levels. It was designed as a primary strategy in U.S. efforts to fight global climate change. The U.S. coal industry, without increases in domestic demand, would need to rely on export markets for growth. Shipments of U.S. metallurgical coal, used in the production of steel, have recently shown up in China following a two-year hiatus - in part to offset banned shipments from North Korea and temporary delays from cyclone-hit Australian producers. RETIRING AND RETROFITTING Coal had been the primary fuel source for U.S. power plants for the last century, but its use has fallen more than a third since 2008 after advancements in drilling technology unlocked new reserves of natural gas. Hundreds of aging coal-fired power plants have been retired or retrofitted. Huge coal mining companies like Peabody Energy Corp and Arch Coal fell into bankruptcy, and production last year hit its lowest point since 1978. The slide appears likely to continue: U.S. power companies now expect to retire or convert more than 8,000 megawatts of coal-fired plants in 2017 after shutting almost 13,000 MW last year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration and Thomson Reuters data. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association, acknowledged Trump''s efforts would not return the coal industry to its "glory days," but offered some hope. "There may not be immediate plans for utilities to bring on more coal, but the future is always uncertain in this market," he said. Many of the companies in the Reuters survey said they had been focused on reducing carbon emissions for a decade or more and were hesitant to change direction based on shifting political winds in Washington D.C. "Utility planning typically takes place over much longer periods than presidential terms of office," Berkshire Hathaway Inc-owned Pacificorp spokesman Tom Gauntt said. Several utilities also cited falling costs for wind and solar power, which are now often as cheap as coal or natural gas, thanks in part to government subsidies for renewable energy. In the meantime, activist investors have increased pressure on U.S. utilities to shun coal. In the last year, Norway''s sovereign wealth fund, the world''s largest, has excluded more than a dozen U.S. power companies - including Xcel, American Electric Power Co Inc and NRG Energy Inc - from its investments because of their reliance on coal-fired power. Another eight companies, including Southern Co and NorthWestern Corp, are "under observation" by the fund. Wyoming-based coal miner Cloud Peak Energy said it doesn''t blame utilities for being lukewarm to Trump''s order. "For eight years, if you were a utility running coal, you got the hell kicked out of you," said Richard Reavey, a spokesman for the company. "Are you going to turn around tomorrow and say, ''Let''s buy lots of coal plants''? Pretty unlikely." (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Brian Thevenot) Next In Global Energy News Trump declares end to ''war on coal,'' but utilities aren''t listening WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK When President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to sweep away Obama-era climate change regulations, he said it would end America''s "war on coal", usher in a new era of energy production and put miners back to work.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-climate-power-idINKBN1770DA'|'2017-04-05T13:06:00.000+03:00' 'efb6a39e188c50459ce3561b1996c0e542c7d6bc'|'DCC names energy head Donal Murphy as successor to CEO'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:54am BST DCC names energy head Donal Murphy as successor to CEO DCC Plc ( DCC.L ) said Tommy Breen, its chief executive of nine years, will step down on July 14 and be succeeded by Donal Murphy, managing director of its energy division, in a move that reaffirms the support services firm''s focus to build up its largest unit. DCC, whose activities range from distributing oil to making Body Shop''s body butters and distributing Xbox to retailers Argo ( ARGOA.L ) and Amazon ( AMZN.O ), also announced plans to buy Royal Dutch Shell''s ( RDSa.L ) LPG business in Hong Kong and Macau for an enterprise value of HK$1.165 billion (116.58 million pounds). The company has been seeking opportunities to purchase distribution and market assets from oil majors as they slim down their portfolio to ride out an oil price slump, and in February agreed to buy the retail petrol station network of ExxonMobil''s ( XOM.N ) Norwegian unit. DCC, which has in the past bought assets from oil companies such as Chevron ( CVX.N ) and Total ( TOTF.PA ), said the Shell purchase was expected to complete before the end of its financial year on March 31 and would give it one of the leading LPG businesses in Hong Kong and the market leader in Macau. Following the completion of the deal, the business will continue to operate under the Shell brand in both Hong Kong and Macau, based on a long-term brand licence agreement, the Dublin-based company said in a statement. DCC forecast full-year operating profit and adjusted earnings per share in line with current market consensus. It had in November forecast profit ahead of market consensus, citing benefits from acquisitions and strong trading. For Shell, the sale will contribute to the Anglo-Dutch company''s effort to make disposals of $30 billion by around 2018, following the $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in February 2016. ($1 = 7.7700 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair) Next In Business News Korea''s KEPCO cautious as Britain hunts partner for crucial nuclear project - sources SEOUL As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-dcc-ceo-idUKKBN1770MS'|'2017-04-05T14:54:00.000+03:00' '70228d77aa74dde56c1a9cd334ce6962459dddd7'|'Inside one county''s big casino bet: economic boom or Atlantic City bust? - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'W hen Toya Mitchell first learned MGM Resorts International had won a contract to build a new casino down the street from her house in Prince George’s County, Maryland, she was cautiously optimistic. Mitchell, the owner of Lord & Mitchell, a small, women-run business specializing in customized promotional and printed materials, was excited about the possible jobs and business opportunities the casino could bring, not to mention the much-needed boost to the county’s economy.But she was also wary. Casino developers aren’t exactly known for their community spirit, and cities that have authorized casinos in the hope of reviving their economy in the past have not fared well. Atlantic City’s storied and troubled past is probably the best example of this – despite rigorous economic investment resulting in a strip of glitzy casinos and hotels, the local community suffered long and hard – high taxes, failing infrastructure the loss of tens of thousands of jobs – before it all came crumbling down .“The big unknown when any company of this size and scope enters our community is what the overall effect would be on our lifestyle,” Mitchell said.Mitchell is now one of MGM’s closest and longest serving community partners. She’s worked with the company on everything from branded sportswear to logoed umbrellas since MGM was first awarded the license to build a $1.4bn luxury casino resort on the banks of the Potomac River, a 10-minute drive from Washington DC , in December 2013.MGM National Harbor opened last December to much fanfare: swanky hotel suites, a handful of upscale bars and restaurants, a live-music indoor venue and an indoor shopping strip featuring brands like Sarah Jessica Parker’s SJP shoe shop.But the real success story is the company’s relationship with the local county.In 2014, MGM entered into what’s known as a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with Prince George’s County – a list of socioeconomic benefits that the company had to adhere to between 2014 and its grand opening. This included ensuring that at least 40% new hires were county residents; creating at least 3,800 new jobs; providing opportunities in construction and local businesses; and contributing at least $1m to local charities.While gaming licensees in Maryland are required to negotiate a CBA with the host county to mitigate future impacts a new resort would have on local infrastructure, MGM ended up exceeding most of the CBA’s requirements: more than 4,000 new jobs were created in the county; 48% of new hires at the time of opening were county residents; 27% of total labor hours to develop the resort were performed by Prince George’s County residents; and more than $1m was donated to charitable organizations in the local community.During construction, the project hired more than 6,000 men and women and awarded construction contracts to 167 Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), representing more than $323m in spending. In addition, nearly 80 county-based businesses were involved in the project, representing a spend of $214.3m.Outside of the CBA, the company also launched public infrastructure improvements, fixing local roads and initiating a new bus system to meet the expected demand for the casino, which cost in excess of $90m using a combination of MGM and National Harbor funds. MGM also commissioned local artists to provide much of the art inside the resort.According to the Prince George’s County local government office, MGM National Harbor is projected to bring in between $40-$50m in yearly revenue for the county.“With five other casinos in Maryland, we knew our residents were traveling north, so we knew our citizens would love a casino,” said David Iannucci, assistant deputy to the chief administrative officer for the county. “We wanted to capture some of that for ourselves rather than having them leave.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest At a celebration honoring the 1000th member of the construction workforce of Prince George’s County during construction of MGM National Harbor. Photograph: MGM At first glance, Prince George’s County doesn’t present itself as struggling. The county, in a jurisdiction of 900,000 predominantly African American residents, is in the top 4% of wealthy counties in the US . It’s home to the University of Maryland and the NASA Goddard Space Center. But the recession hit the county hard – according to Iannucci, the county had a much harder time recovering than surrounding counties. New housing construction rates in the county dropped off and high crime levels became a problem; in June 2011, unemployment rose to 7.9% , the highest the county had ever experienced in a 21-year period .But the county’s location – at the crossroads between “the DMV” (DC, Maryland and Virginia) – has made it desirable to investors and property developers.“It’s one of maybe four or five sites in the Washington region that’s located on a very disinvested waterfront location,” said Uwe Brandes, faculty director at Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies’ Urban & Regional Planning Program. “More and more, people are engaging our waterfront and rivers, and that’s exciting – there’s a new sense of civic space, destinations, people are coming together, new economies being created, new opportunities.”Unemployment in Prince George’s County is currently at 4.3%, slightly lower than the national average of 4.8% , and crime rates are steadily falling . “We’ve added 7,000 new jobs in last two years, not counting MGM,” Iannuci said. “We’ve also worked hard on schools and public safety.”What makes the partnership between MGM and Prince George’s County unique is that there was no public money involved outside of the normal permit applications required in any county project (which MGM covered in a permit application fee that was determined by the cost and size of the project).The county wasn’t responsible for granting MGM the casino license – that was done at the state level – so technically, MGM didn’t owe the county anything. Which leads one to question what, exactly, is in it for MGM.“When you’re talking about bringing gaming into an area, one of the things that makes us more appealing [as a developer] is that we are interested in giving back,” said Danielle White, the regional vice president of community engagement for MGM. “Exceeding the CBA wasn’t something that we were required to do – but we did it anyway because we wanted to be a good neighbor. When you think about it, this is what’s going to encourage people to want to work with us.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prince Georges County’s location – at the crossroads between “the DMV” (DC, Maryland and Virginia) – has made it desirable to investors and property developers. Photograph: MGM There’s another play here, too: MGM is interested in attracting millennials to lifelong careers at the company. “Young people now always look for socially minded organizations when thinking of the future,” White said.Despite the success of the CBA, Brandes cautioned it’s still too early to measure the long term benefit of MGM National Harbor on Prince George’s County. After construction, the CBA also covers operational issues after the resort is up and running, which means it’s impossible to determine how the casino will perform relative to its operational obligations until it has been open for at least a year.There’s also the issue of the social and health costs of legal gambling. Attracting economic investment is one thing, but what will the casino’s societal impact be if its clientele is made up mostly of retirees who come to gamble away their social security checks?One argument is that casinos hardly encourage nearby economic development because they are designed in such a way as to keep people inside and gambling for as long as possible . A 2014 report from the Institute for American Values quoted a same-year study that found people who live within 10 miles of a casino have twice the rate of pathological and problem gambling as those who do not .What is encouraging is that MGM says it has no plans to stop its community outreach now that the National Harbor casino is open. According to White, the company plans to issue several community grants in 2018 to Prince George’s County nonprofits aligned with public education, health and wellness or sustainability, as well as continue a volunteer program that allows MGM National Harbor employees to volunteer in community projects around the county. (MGM said the total figure for this is yet to be determined.)For Mitchell at least, MGM’s presence represents a big step forward for the future of the county. “There’s lots of excitement [about] extensive economic development, improvements to our infrastructure, and a booming spirit of entrepreneurship within the county,” she said.Topics Guardian sustainable business Values-led business Gambling Unemployment features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/05/mgm-casino-washington-business-gambling'|'2017-04-06T00:58:00.000+03:00' 'f69d7648e0aaeae32cef425267cfb7c8bc2d1423'|'India LNG demand to dip on phase out of subsidy for power sector'|'By Mark Tay - CHIBA, Japan CHIBA, Japan India''s liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand could ease as the government has scrapped subsidies on gas sales to power companies, the chief executive of the country''s biggest gas importer said on Wednesday at a gas conference in Japan.Natural gas accounts for about 6.5 percent of India''s overall energy needs, far lower than the global average. India plans to raise the share of gas in its energy mix to 15 percent over the next three years, but a major challenge to that goal is the price sensitivity of Indian consumers.India has for the last two fiscal years been giving discounts on the sale of imported LNG to revive more than 14 gigawatts of stranded power generation capacity that had been hit by domestic gas shortages.But a power ministry official confirmed that the LNG subsidy has not been extended beyond March 31, and Prabhat Singh, chief executive of Petronet LNG, said these gas-based projects cannot compete with plants using cheaper coal."If (the power subsidies in India) don''t happen, then definitely around a million to 2 million tonnes of LNG which was going there will be lost," Singh told reporters at Gastech in Japan.After the subsidies were first put in place, India''s annual LNG imports surged 15 percent to 16.08 million tonnes in 2015/16. Then for the first 11 months of the 2016/2017 fiscal year - the April-February period - India imported 17 million tonnes. Data for March is not yet available.(Reporting by Mark Tay; Addition reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan in NEW DELHI; Writing by Nidhi Verma in NEW DELHI; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-gastech-india-idINKBN1771BY'|'2017-04-05T09:13:00.000+03:00' 'eeb86ef4f25e5edc2c8c19aad599b3bb5ebb7d9e'|'China''s SAIC Motor posts higher profit; cautions 2017 sales growth to slow - Reuters'|'BEIJING China''s largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp Ltd posted a 7.4 percent jump in 2016 profits, slightly lower than it had expected, and cautioned sales growth will slow this year as the country rolls back a tax cut on small-engine cars.The Shanghai-based manufacturer, which makes cars in joint ventures with General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG in addition to own-brand vehicles, said its net profit totalled 32.0 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) last year.This was below SAIC''s preliminary prediction for a 7.5 percent rise in 2016 profit.SAIC''s revenue rose 12.8 percent to 756 billion yuan.Demand for cars in China, the world''s biggest auto market, got a shot in the arm in 2016 as people rushed to buy ahead of a planned expiry at year-end of lower taxes. The tax cut - on vehicles with engines of 1.6 litres or below - mainly helped the mass market, smaller car segment where Volkswagen excels.But sales are expected to come under pressure this year following an increase in the purchase tax on small-engine vehicles to 7.5 percent as of Jan. 1, from 5 percent in 2016. The tax will return to its normal level of 10 percent in 2018.SAIC said the rush to buy cars before the hike in taxes could mean lower sales in 2017."After the blowout in (2016) auto market sales, it will be difficult to avoid an ''overdraft''," SAIC said in an exchange filing. "Market growth is facing greater challenges."SAIC on Wednesday said its vehicle sales rose 3 percent in the first three months of 2017. For the full year, the automaker aims to sell 6.7 million vehicles, up only about 3.8 percent from 2016, when sales saw a 10 percent growth.China''s overall vehicle sales growth is expected to slow to 5 percent in 2017 from 13.7 percent last year, according to China''s automakers association.Amid a more challenging domestic market, SAIC plans to continue pursuing new markets outside and said it had formally agreed to buy an Indian factory from General Motors.GM had previously said it was moving forward with talks to sell its Halol plant in Gujarat to SAIC.SAIC did not provide any further details in its filing, while GM did not immediately respond to a request for comment.($1 = 6.8957 Chinese yuan renminbi)(Reporting by Jake Spring, additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/saic-motor-results-india-gm-idINKBN177138'|'2017-04-05T08:55:00.000+03:00' '6f76caf12e428fe84c272854d5761e1aaaa246a0'|'Oil stocks, miners push European shares higher'|' 29am EDT Oil stocks, miners push European shares higher LONDON, April 5 European shares gained slightly on Wednesday as higher oil prices and deals boosted energy stocks, with investors cheering improved synergies from an oil services takeover. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent by 0720 GMT. Oil & gas stocks were the second best sectoral gainers, up 1 percent, while basic resources gained 1.3 percent. Crude prices rose to a near one-month high on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories. Oil services groups Wood Group and Amec Foster Wheeler were the top European gainers, up 3 and 2.7 percent respectively, after Wood Group said it expected about 36 percent more cost savings from its deal to buy Amec for 2.2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion). British miner BHP Billiton was also a top gainer, up 2.9 percent after it became the fourth miner to declare force majeure on Australian coal mines disrupted by Cyclone Debbie, pushing up coking coal futures. Outdoor advertising company JCDecaux was among the biggest fallers, down 3.6 percent after JP Morgan cut its shares to ''neutral'' from ''overweight'', saying contract losses such as the Velib Paris bicycles contract, and a slow recovery to profitability for major contracts suggested limited earnings upside. Autos stocks were again the worst-performing sector, down 0.5 percent. Finnish utility Fortum and Swedish engineering company Skanska were top fallers after going ex-dividend. (Reporting by Helen Reid, editing by Kit Rees) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL5N1HD1B8'|'2017-04-05T15:29:00.000+03:00' '6e56072b14dc5aed7fc731d344b7efbac3914d52'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 5'|' 50am EDT UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 5 (Adds company news items, futures) April 5 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 5 points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.3 percent ahead of the cash market open. * JOHN WOOD-AMEC: Oil services company John Wood Group Plc said it expected about 36 percent more cost savings from its deal to buy Amec Foster Wheeler Plc for 2.2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) than it first estimated when announcing the deal in March. * GALLIFORD TRY-Bovis: British housebuilder Galliford Try said on Wednesday it would not make a formal bid for fellow builder Bovis, the second of two suitors to pull out of a potential buyout of the ailing firm. * GSK: GSK Plc is voluntarily recalling more than 593,000 Ventolin asthma inhalers from U.S. hospitals, pharmacies, retailers and wholesalers due to a defect that may cause them to deliver fewer doses of the medicine than indicated, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday. * TOTAL: French oil major Total has extended an option with British shale gas developer Egdon Resources to buy a stake in one of Egdon''s shale gas licences, the companies said on Tuesday. * BHP: BHP Billiton on Wednesday declared force majeure for all coal deliveries from its mines in Queensland''s Bowen Basin, after Cyclone Debbie damaged railway lines, disrupting delivery to ports. * BRITIAN IMMIGRATION: Britain''s decision to quit the European Union and reassert control over its borders does not mean the country will tighten immigration for the world''s best brains, junior business minister David Prior said on Tuesday. * The UK blue chip index ended up 0.5 percent on Tuesday, outperforming the more hesitant Europe-wide STOXX 600 index, helped by the energy and industrials sectors, while supermarket firms Sainsbury and Morrison fell on poor sales data. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HD1KQ'|'2017-04-05T14:50:00.000+03:00' '379137102ef2cb56bca447d85b800211f4442b80'|'Spain services PMI shows strong growth continued in March'|' 17am BST Spain services PMI shows strong growth continued in March Spain''s services continued to expand in March, according to a survey published on Wednesday, with activity growing at a similar rate to February''s 18-month highs and pointing to strong economic growth in the first quarter. Markit''s Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) of service companies stood at 57.4 in March, down slightly from 57.7 in February. That marked the index''s 41st straight month above the 50 line separating growth from contraction. "Given the historical relationship between the PMI data and gross domestic product, we are likely to see a pick-up in the rate of growth in first quarter from the 0.7 percent increase recorded at the end of 2016," said Andrew Harker, senior economist at Markit. The Bank of Spain said on Monday it expected quarterly growth of 0.8 percent in the first quarter (Full Story). Services provide around half of total economic activity in Spain. The Markit survey also noted that business expectations rose to 74.1 in March from 73.1 in February, reaching their highest level since December 2015. Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence. Next In Business News '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-spain-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1770OI'|'2017-04-05T15:17:00.000+03:00' '94d1d2eb1fb35955bc8b9a09313f7b24c43cc9bc'|'ChemChina, Syngenta win U.S. antitrust approval for deal'|'By Diane Bartz - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Switzerland''s Syngenta AG ( SYNN.S ) on condition that it divest three pesticides, the Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.To win approval for the $43 billion deal, the companies agreed to divest ChemChina''s generic production of the herbicide paraquat, the insecticide abamectin used for citrus and tree nuts and the fungicide chlorothalonil, used for peanut and potato crops.Syngenta had $13.4 billion in sales in the United States in 2015, according to a report the company put out last year.The deal was prompted by China''s desire to use Syngenta''s portfolio of top-tier chemicals and patent-protected seeds to improve domestic agricultural output. The country is the world''s largest agricultural market.The deal is one of several that is remaking the market for agricultural chemicals, seeds and fertilizers. The trend toward market consolidation has triggered fears among farmers that the pipeline for new herbicides and pesticides might slow.The other deals in the sector are a $130 billion proposed merger of Dow Chemical ( DOW.N ) and DuPont ( DD.N ) and Bayer''s BAYG.n.DE plan to merge with Monsanto ( MON.N ). On the fertilizer front, Potash Corp ( POT.TO ) has announced plans to merge with Agrium Inc. AGM.TO(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-china-natl-chem-idINKBN1762O7'|'2017-04-04T19:02:00.000+03:00' '01a846cca28bf44e63ee6639fa9ba725446bcf53'|'Acorda Therapeutics to cut 20 pct of workforce'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 6:04am EDT Acorda Therapeutics to cut 20 percent of workforce Acorda Therapeutics Inc ( ACOR.O ) will cut nearly 20 percent of its workforce as part of a cost reduction plan, the company said on Wednesday, less than a week after losing certain patents for its multiple sclerosis (MS) drug, Ampyra. The company, which had 597 employees as of Feb. 20, said the job cuts are expected to result in cost savings of more than $21 million annually. Acorda said the cost reductions would help the company focus on its two late-stage studies for Parkinson''s disease. A federal judge in Delaware on Friday struck down key patents held by Acorda related to Ampyra, opening the doors for generic versions of the drug by companies including Mylan Inc ( MYL.O ) and Roxane Laboratories Inc. Those companies had sought approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell a generic version of Ampyra. Acorda responded by suing them, seeking a court declaration that its patents on the drugs were valid. A total of ten companies have sought to sell generic versions of Ampyra. Acorda reached settlement agreements with seven of the generic companies, including Allergan plc ( AGN.N ) and Par Pharmaceuticals. Mylan, Roxane and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd ( TEVA.TA ) did not settle and challenged the validity of Acorda''s patents in court. Acorda said on Wednesday it would provide an updated 2017 earnings forecast during its first-quarter earnings call. (Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Next In Business News LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and face calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels that may force them to take more risks and start trading just like other commodity dealers.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-acorda-therapeut-restructuring-idUSKBN17715C'|'2017-04-05T18:00:00.000+03:00' 'c5a8f397f086dffcd0f2591a504d2ff9d4767a49'|'BRIEF-Homestreet Inc announces appointment of interim CFO'|' 19am EDT BRIEF-Homestreet Inc announces appointment of interim CFO April 5 Homestreet Inc * Homestreet Inc announces appointment of interim chief financial officer * Mark Ruh has been appointed by company''s board of directors to serve as interim chief financial officer * Homestreet Inc - Homestreet is conducting a nationwide search to find a permanent chief financial officer * Homestreet Inc says Ruh''s appointment as interim CFO will be effective April 24, 2017 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-homestreet-inc-announces-appointme-idUSASB0B8NT'|'2017-04-05T21:19:00.000+03:00' '671c100eeeb91e04aa9b671c9aae4bd56a56ba02'|'SoftBank preps Snapdeal for sale, looks to buy Kalaari, Nexus stakes: reports'|'Snapdeal''s three biggest investors - Japan''s SoftBank ( 9984.T ), Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners have moved closer to resolving an impasse, potentially clearing the way for a sale of the e-tailer to one of its rivals, Flipkart or Paytm, according to a Mint report, citing unnamed sources.The newspaper report said that at a board meeting of Jasper Infotech, the company behind Snapdeal, on Tuesday, SoftBank showed interest in buying a part of the stake owned by Kalaari and Nexus.Such a move would allow SoftBank, which owns more than a 30 percent stake in Snapdeal, to consolidate its ownership position and put it in the driver''s seat to negotiate any deal.The newspaper said Kalaari and Nexus are seeking a sum of $100 million each for their stakes. Snapdeal promoters Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal have also asked SoftBank for a $100 million payout to them and their management teams in order to clear the way for a sale.A spokeswoman for Snapdeal said no decision has been taken by the board on any matter thus far.Nexus declined to comment. And Kalaari and SoftBank did not respond to requests for comment.Separately the Economic Times citing a source reported that a sale of Snapdeal to Flipkart is more likely than a sale of the company to smaller e-commerce rival Paytm, as Flipkart''s valuation of Snapdeal was much better. ( bit.ly/2oAQlnY )A representative of Flipkart said that the company does not comment on market speculation.(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta and Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-snapdeal-m-a-idINKBN1770C4'|'2017-04-05T02:34:00.000+03:00' 'f8d59954633f9fc8075c08c166e7c7c828f91ba3'|'Alan Howard raises over $700 million for his new fund - sources'|'By Maiya Keidan and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/NEW YORK LONDON/NEW YORK British hedge fund manager Alan Howard has raised more than $700 million (563 million pounds) from outside investors for a new fund that he will solely manage, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.One of the sources said the AH fund, which started trading on March 1, had raised an additional $2 billion from the main fund at Howard''s firm, Brevan Howard Asset Management.Hedge fund firms that launch new funds sometimes move money from existing funds as well as raising cash from investors externally.The AH Fund seeks a minimum $50 million investment from each investor, documents filed with U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. That is far bigger than the average hedge fund investment per investor of $1.9 million, according to data from global industry tracker Preqin.A spokesman for Brevan Howard declined to comment.Howard''s new fund, which is named after his initials, will charge a management fee of 0.75 percent and a performance fee of 30 percent.The product - which is still open to new investment - has been launched at a time when Brevan Howard, which manages $14.6 billion, has seen an asset decline of around $22 billion since 2012, from a combination of losses and client withdrawals.Howard founded Brevan Howard in 2002 along with four former colleagues from Credit Suisse and quickly gained assets based on savvy macroeconomic bets.Brevan Howard was granted an injunction on March 23 to prevent Reuters publishing a story about the firm, claiming the company''s right to confidentiality outweighed public interest.(Reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-brevan-howard-idINKBN17612C'|'2017-04-05T08:02:00.000+03:00' '90c6a7abee086d84b13c0ba238fffc12fc02fb2e'|'Swiss making progress in 1MDB case despite Malaysia''s silence - top prosecutor'|' 3:50pm BST Swiss making progress in 1MDB case despite Malaysia''s silence - top prosecutor FILE PHOTO - A man walks past a 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) billboard at the funds flagship Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, in this March 1, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/File Photo By John Miller - BERN BERN Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber said on Wednesday that his money laundering investigation into Malaysian fund 1MDB was making progress despite Malaysian authorities'' refusal to cooperate. Combing through money laundering reports and bank documents with help from Singapore, Luxembourg and the United States was bearing fruit for his office, the OAG, he said. "It''s not hopeless, in fact it''s the opposite," Lauber said. "We''re still confident we can successfully conclude the process ... in particular the open cases against the two banks," he said at a news conference, referring to Swiss private banks BSI and Falcon which have already had to pay out in the case. 1MDB, once a pet project of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, is under investigation in at least six countries over billions of dollars of suspected misappropriations. Presenting his 2016 annual report, Lauber outlined OAG activities including its investigation of bribery linked to Brazil''s oil firm Petrobras, investigations into world soccer body FIFA personnel, and tracking terrorist financing. "This place (Switzerland) is not a safe harbour, not for terrorists, not for money launderers, not for international corruption," he said. "We don''t tolerate things like 1MDB, we don''t tolerate things like Petrobras, we don''t tolerate things like the whole FIFA soccer complex." In the Petrobras case, the OAG said it has confiscated $1.1 billion in assets linked to the Brazilian oil group, up from $800 million in 2015. More than 1,000 Swiss accounts have been examined, including from Brazil''s former speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, who was jailed last month. Investigations into Sepp Blatter, ex-president of FIFA, on corruption charges and into Franz Beckenbauer for his role in Germany''s bid for the 2006 World Cup were continuing, it said. Lauber said he was also in touch with Dutch authorities over an international investigation made public on Thursday into suspected tax evasion and money laundering via Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) accounts. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-swiss-justice-idUKKBN1771XG'|'2017-04-05T22:50:00.000+03:00' '90018da8735e942b5c45fae7fea6353fd5e75fa3'|'Syngenta says ChemChina takeover still set to close in second-quarter'|'ZURICH ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] $43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) is still set to close in the second quarter, the Swiss group said after the deal won EU and U.S. anti-trust approval on Wednesday.The last countries that still need to provide regulatory clearance are China, India and Mexico, a company spokesman said.(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-close-idUSKBN17717J'|'2017-04-05T14:36:00.000+03:00' 'b49292ab1754198465f57172d20285d296d10654'|'Panera Bread in advanced sale talks with JAB Holdings: source'|'By Lauren Hirsch Bakery chain Panera Bread Co ( PNRA.O ) is in advanced talks to sell to JAB Holdings as the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea builds out its coffee and breakfast empire, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.A sale to JAB, which also owns Keurig Green Mountain, would help the company compete against rivals such as Dunkin Brands Group Inc ( DNKN.O ).St. Louis-based Panera has reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings per share for the last six quarters. The stock has risen nearly 28 percent this year.Luxembourg-based JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family, declined to comment. Panera also declined to comment.Bloomberg first reported Panera was in advanced sale talks with JAB.(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-panera-bread-m-a-jab-holdings-idINKBN1762YK'|'2017-04-04T20:32:00.000+03:00' 'cb9f4978e212d940fff524d599c0f47e02456b96'|'DoubleLine''s Gundlach says no risk of U.S. junk bond ''meltdown'''|'By Jennifer Ablan - NEW YORK NEW YORK There is no risk of a high-yield junk bond "meltdown" because the risk of a recession is low, Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, said on a client webcast on Tuesday.Gundlach, who oversees more than $105 billion in assets at Los Angeles-based DoubleLine, also said he does not think financial markets will see 3 percent on the 10-year Treasury yield this year."With inflation falling in the months ahead, pressure for higher yields is reduced," Gundlach told Reuters after the webcast. "The bear case will need another narrative because CPI (the consumer price index) will be back below 2 (percent)."On the webcast, Gundlach said his outlook on inflation may be supportive of bonds as "the reflation narrative may be fading" and inflation globally has peaked.Gundlach, who is known on Wall Street as "the Bond King," said he still favors non-U.S. stocks over U.S. equities because of the huge run-up in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and S&P 500 .SPX indexes.In early March, Gundlach said on his previous webcast that he expected a minor yield high on Treasuries, and then a rally. The U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury note US10YT=RR currently trades around 2.36 percent, down from 2.60 percent in mid-March.(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-funds-doubleline-gundlach-idINKBN1762UA'|'2017-04-04T20:06:00.000+03:00' 'a586511dd383dd065631e6c3f6ea810ba6d0b727'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX futures indicate a lower start'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:47am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX futures indicate a lower start April 5 Futures pointed to a modestly lower start for Canadian stocks on Wednesday, a day after the main stock index hit their highest in nearly six weeks on gains in shares of mining and energy companies. June futures on the S&P TSX index were down 0.05 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET. Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.01 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.08 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were down 0.11 percent. No major Canadian economic releases are scheduled for the day. (Morning News Call newsletter here ; The Day Ahead newsletter here ) TOP STORIES Department store retailer Hudson''s Bay Co reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday, due in part to an impairment charge related to weak sales at Saks OFF 5TH and Gilt. Cenovus Energy said on Tuesday it priced a $2.9 billion offering of senior notes to fund the acquisition of assets in Western Canada from ConocoPhillips. ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Imperial Oil Ltd: Goldman Sachs cuts rating to "sell" from "neutral" Rogers Communications Inc: CIBC cuts rating to "neutral" from "outperform" Trek Mining Inc: National Bank Financial resumes coverage with "outperform" rating COMMODITIES AT 7:15 a.m. ET Gold futures: $1251.4; -0.29 percent US crude: $51.54; +1 percent Brent crude: $54.69; +0.96 percent LME 3-month copper: $5850.5; +1.23 percent U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON WEDNESDAY 0815 ADP national employment for Mar: Expected 187,000; Prior 298,000 0945 Markit Composite Final PMI for Mar: Prior 53.2 0945 Markit Services PMI Final for Mar: Prior 52.9 1000 ISM N-Manufacturing PMI for Mar: Expected 57.0; Prior 57.6 1000 ISM N-Manufacturing Business Activity for Mar: Expected 61.5; Prior 63.6 1000 ISM N-Manufacturing Employment Index for Mar: Prior 55.2 1000 ISM N-Manufacturing New Orders Index for Mar: Prior 61.2 1000 ISM N-Manufacturing Price Paid Index for Mar: Prior 57.7 FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES: TSX market report Canadian dollar and bonds report Reuters global stocks poll for Canada Canadian markets directory ($1= C$1.34) (Reporting by Nikhil Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL3N1HD2UQ'|'2017-04-05T19:47:00.000+03:00' '6b01a4ec8ca051efe192efa4ebcc48c673c083be'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Venezuela bonds tank; Mexico peso takes a breather'|'Company News 21pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Venezuela bonds tank; Mexico peso takes a breather (Recasts with Venezuela bonds, update prices) March 31 Venezuelan government bonds prices sank on Friday as tensions rose following the annulment of the country''s legislature by the country''s high court this week while the Mexican peso pulled back after a recent rally. The price on Venezuela''s benchmark $4 billion bond maturing in September 2027 with a 9.25 percent coupon bid down $3.42, driving its yield up by 1.5 percentage points to its highest since last August, at nearly 23 percent. The move by the country''s high court late Wednesday was met with international condemnation and street protests, and on Friday the fallout intensified when Venezuela''s attorney general broke ranks with President Nicolas Maduro and rebuked the judiciary for its move. Mexico''s peso weakened about 0.5 percent after the nation''s central bank slowed the pace of interest rate hikes, raising its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage-point to 6.50 percent, following four straight 50-basis-point hikes. The move followed a 10 percent increase in the value of the peso so far this year, which helped ease inflationary pressures. Bets that U.S. President Donald Trump will not impose big tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States lifted the currency from a slump last year - its steepest since 2008. Lower iron ore prices dragged on demand for Brazilian assets, with shares of miner Vale SA falling more than 1 percent. Losses were limited by rising shares of wood pulp and paper producers, such as Fibria Celulose SA and Klabin SA , on hopes that a rebound in pulp prices would continue in coming months. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2200 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 958.37 -1.14 11.14 MSCI LatAm 2,611.10 -1.78 11.55 Brazil Bovespa 64,984.07 -0.43 7.90 Mexico IPC 48,541.56 -0.66 6.35 Chile IPSA 4,783.42 -0.74 15.22 Chile IGPA 23,967.87 -0.64 15.60 Argentina MerVal 20,265.32 0.08 19.79 Colombia IGBC 10,150.68 -0.38 0.22 Venezuela IBC 43,876.70 0.6 38.39 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1296 0.40 3.40 Mexico peso 18.8200 -0.48 10.22 Chile peso 660.2 0.42 1.59 Colombia peso 2,873.98 -0.03 4.44 Peru sol 3.248 -0.03 5.11 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.3800 0.20 3.22 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.93 -0.25 5.59 (Reporting by Michael O''Boyle and Bruno Federowski; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-latam-idUSL2N1H828T'|'2017-04-01T06:21:00.000+03:00' '9f295270e64bf050ea05a093695b87d9d0524af9'|'GM''s German-made Buick highlights risks from trade policy'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:04pm EDT GM''s German-made Buick highlights risks from trade policy General Motors Co unveiled a new Buick model called the TourX aimed at Volvo and Subaru''s wagons in the United States market in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Joe White By Joseph White - DETROIT DETROIT General Motors Co ( GM.N ) on Tuesday unveiled a German-made Buick crossover wagon it plans to sell in the United States, and in so doing highlighted the U.S. auto industry''s vulnerability to shifting trade politics. The Buick Regal TourX, scheduled to launch later this year in the United States, is aimed at imported all-wheel drive vehicles such as those offered by Subaru and Zhejiang Geely Holding''s [GEELY.UL] Volvo Cars. In a plan mapped out long before the Trump administration and Congress began talking about taxing imported goods, GM planned to build the TourX at a factory in Ruesselsheim, Germany, near Frankfurt. Asked how a potential "border tax" on imported goods could affect the TourX, GM product development chief Mark Reuss told reporters that such a levy might hurt, but added: "I don''t know what the border tax is. "How can you make a product plan based on something you don''t know?" he asked. Reuss said GM is making plans to deal with a border tax, which could affect not just the Regal TourX. GM imports a Buick sport utility vehicle called the Envision from China, and has electric vehicles it needs for the Chinese market that it currently builds only in the United States. China levies steep tariffs and taxes on imported vehicles. In a separate interview, the head of GM''s North American operations said he is encouraged that President Donald Trump and administration officials are listening as auto industry executives explain the complex, global supply chains behind their model lineups. "It''s too early to speculate, but we believe the new administration is more aligned with us than different," said Alan Batey, who runs GM''s North American auto business and the Chevrolet brand globally. There is "a very open and constant dialogue" with administration officials, he said. GM''s chief executive, Mary Barra, is a member of an advisory council to President Trump. The TourX was one of two new Buick models the brand unveiled at GM''s design center in suburban Detroit. The other, the Regal Sportback, offered an unusual hatch opening designed to give a car that looks like a sporty coupe the functional utility of a sport utility vehicle. The hatch allows a driver to load cargo onto folded rear seats. Some engineering and production of the Regal and the TourX relied on GM''s Opel operations, which are on track to be sold to France''s Peugeot SA. Reuss said that sale does not necessarily mean the end of collaboration between Buick and the German Opel operations. "Opel is still doing some of our future models," he said. (Reporting by Joe White; Editing by Dan Grebler) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-buick-idUSKBN1762WP'|'2017-04-05T06:04:00.000+03:00' '85dde86c7738d8683dedd4121301fe84f3f27d34'|'Poland''s Dino sets final IPO price for institutions at 34.5 zlotys/share'|'WARSAW, April 5 Polish retail chain Dino Polska has priced its initial public offering (IPO) at 34.5 zlotys per share for institutions and 33.5 zlotys for individual investors, the company said on Wednesday.This values the share offer in which private equity fund Enterprise Investors sells its 49 percent stake at 1.65 billion zlotys ($414.66 million), the highest seen on the Warsaw bourse in the past few years."The interest in our public offering was very large, which translated into setting the final price for shares for institutional investors at a level higher than the maximum price," Dino''s CEO was Quote: d as saying in a statement.The bookbuilding ended on Tuesday and sources told Reuters that Dino closed the books with the price for funds at 34.5 zlotys.The offer will include 48.04 million shares, or 49 percent of the firm''s share capital owned by Enterprise Investors. Of this, 5 percent will be offered to individual investors.The company''s founder, Tomasz Biernacki, will remain the majority shareholder with a 51 percent stake.Dino plans to debut on the Warsaw bourse this month.The company''s owns 628 stores located in small- and medium-sized towns in western Poland.($1 = 3.9792 zlotys) (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/poland-dino-ipo-pricing-idINL5N1HD0HD'|'2017-04-05T03:33:00.000+03:00' '8546b211f50d99e9574d72a7d7dffb1e504b9443'|'BMW''s UK workers to begin strike over pensions on April 19'|' 24am BST BMW''s UK workers to begin strike over pensions on April 19 An employee works on a 2013 Mini at BMW''s plant in Oxford, southern England November 18, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett LONDON British workers at BMW will hold eight strikes over the next few weeks to oppose plans by the carmaker to close their final salary pensions, beginning with a walkout at the firm''s Mini plant and engine facility, Britain''s biggest union said. A total of 93 percent of employees who are members of the Unite union backed strike action last week and up to 3,500 workers at four sites could take part in the action which includes working to rule and a ban on overtime. Unite said on Wednesday the first strike would take place on April 19 at the German automaker''s Hams Hall engine facility near Birmingham, the Mini plant in Oxford and a site in Swindon which makes pressings and parts such as doors and bonnets for the compact car. In Britain, BMW builds over 210,000 Minis a year in central England, nearly 4,000 luxury Rolls-Royce models at Goodwood in the south and over 250,000 engines at Hams Hall. BMW, which plans to close two final salary pension schemes and move all staff to a less generous scheme which new starters have been part of since 2014, said it wants to act now to secure the long-term viability of its pensions but is prepared to talk further. "The company has put a number of options on the table to help employees transition to the proposed new pension arrangements and it remains open to negotiation," a spokeswoman said. (Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bmw-britain-idUKKBN17715R'|'2017-04-05T18:09:00.000+03:00' '2f2ab78952483d0cfaa168d975d6030d75af6ed3'|'Veneto Banca posts 1.5 billion euro loss, to issue more state-guaranteed debt'|' 36pm BST Veneto Banca posts 1.5 billion euro loss, to issue more state-guaranteed debt FILE PHOTO: The logo of Veneto Banca bank is seen in Venice, Italy, January 31 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/File Photo MILAN Italy''s Veneto Banca posted on Monday a 1.5 billion euro (1.28 billion pounds) loss for 2016 and said it had lost deposits in March hit by uncertainty over a state bailout it has requested together with fellow regional bank Popolare di Vicenza. To prop up its liquidity, Veneto Banca said it would ask the state to guarantee a new bond issue for up to 1.4 billion euros, after tapping the liquidity support scheme for 3.5 billion euros in February. Veneto Banca said it had written down doubtful loans for 1.3 billion euros last year following a recently concluded on-site audit by European Central Bank supervisors which forced it to class more loans as bad and raise coverage levels. It warned it could book more loan loss provisions this year as it applied the ECB''s guidelines on problematic loans. (Reporting by Valentina Za) Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. Tesla Inc''s MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-banks-veneto-banca-results-idUKKBN17523G'|'2017-04-04T01:36:00.000+03:00' 'c54c4d9f697f326432ffa658b68fd8767d17c4b6'|'FCA leads Canada auto sales in March, GM sales jump 27 pct'|'TORONTO, April 3 The Canadian arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , which makes the Jeep and Chrysler brands, led auto sales in Canada for the month of March, but General Motors Canada posted the biggest surge in monthly sales.FCA Canada sales were up marginally in March, with 26,531 cars and trucks sold during the month, compared with 26,469 a year ago.Ford Motor Co sold a total of 26,487 cars and trucks in Canada last month, up from 26,447, a rise of just 0.2 percent, as Ford car sales in Canada fell nearly 20 percent for the month.GM Canada reported double-digit sales growth, driven by truck sales. It sold 21,979 total vehicles in March, an increase of 27.2 percent from a year ago when it sold 17,273 cars and trucks.In the United States, March figures came in below market expectations, adding to concerns that the boom in U.S. auto sales may be waning. Shares of the three big automakers fell, with GM and FCA falling nearly 4 percent, while Ford was down 3 percent. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-autosales-idINL2N1HB16W'|'2017-04-03T15:59:00.000+03:00' '803e489abe1d400725bfe67014d64cd873416f78'|'FCC reverses Charter Communications ''overbuild'' requirement'|'Technology News 26am EDT FCC reverses Charter Communications ''overbuild'' requirement A Charter Communications company service van is pictured in Pasadena, California U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted to reverse a requirement imposed under the Obama administration that Charter Communications Inc extend broadband service to 1 million households that currently have service, a source briefed on the matter said. The decision was a win for a group representing smaller cable companies that petitioned to overturn the "overbuild" requirement. As a condition of approval for its acquisition of two cable companies, Charter in May 2016 agreed to extend high-speed internet access to two million customers within five years, with one million served by a broadband competitor. Under the revised FCC order expected to be made public Monday, Charter can opt to add all 2 million additional potential subscribers in places without existing service. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-charter-idUSKBN1751LQ'|'2017-04-03T22:26:00.000+03:00' '4845c46351437f2ab24a24cc68a4d8f564f3c2e2'|'Reckitt Benckiser reviewing options for food business'|'Deals - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:09am BST Reckitt Benckiser reviewing options for food business LONDON British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) is weighing strategic options for its food business, it said, as it seeks to pay down debt following its planned $16.6 billion purchase of Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ). A sale of the business could fetch more than 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion), British newspaper The Sunday Times reported. The company said on Monday that its food business, which includes French''s mustard and Frank’s Red Hot sauce, was non-core and that it would update the market when appropriate. The food business had 2016 sales of 411 million pounds, with like-for-like growth of 5 percent. Reckitt''s much bigger business units include health and home care products, from Strepsils throat lozenges to Air Wick air fresheners. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; editing by Susan Thomas) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-reckitt-benc-grp-food-idUKKBN1750L2'|'2017-04-03T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'fa41d386e596765bf0b062daf0d0e8b8a42d237a'|'German prosecutors expect rulings in VW scandal this year - report'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 12:25pm BST German prosecutors expect rulings in VW scandal this year - report The Volkswagen logo is seen at the company''s display during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Blinch - RTX2YD3J FRANKFURT German prosecutors expect the first rulings this year in legal cases resulting from the Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) emissions scandal, Automobilwoche magazine reported on Saturday. "We hope to conclude lawsuits ... this year," Klaus Ziehe, spokesman for the Braunschweig state prosecutors office in Lower Saxony state, where Volkswagen is headquartered, was quoted as saying by the magazine. Ziehe said there were four lawsuits with 47 persons indicted, although these included double entries. Only a handful of people had been targeted in the early stages after the diesel emissions test cheating scandal that has undermined the German car industry''s influence. And clearing up the scandal will drag on beyond this year, VW''s supervisory board head Hans Dieter Poetsch said in the Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS). "There will not be a real final stroke for some time to come," he was quoted as saying in extracts from the FAS story ahead of its publication on Sunday. Poetsch also told the paper that VW does not intend to publish a report of its own about the investigations alongside statements made by the U.S. authorities, as it would be "unjustifiably risky to add a report of our own right now." Volkswagen would also remain quiet on the internal investigations undertaken by U.S. law firm Jones Day it hired, a summary of whose findings was compiled in the form of a "Statement of facts" for the U.S. Department of Justice, as this had been pledged to the U.S. authorities, he said. Volkswagen filed a legal complaint with a Munich court on Wednesday, seeking to prevent Bavarian state prosecutors from using information seized during searches of Jones Day. (Reporting by Vera Eckert; editing by Alexander Smith) Next In Business News Brexit effects may reflect in business surveys LONDON In the week after Britain formally notified the European Union of its intention to quit the bloc, business surveys will give more idea of what -- if any -- impact Brexit is having on the British economy and how its EU peers compare. LONDON The City of London should emerge largely unscathed from Brexit even though thousands of banking and insurance jobs could move to the continent, the financial district''s policy chief said. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-emissions-prosecutors-idUKKBN1733E2'|'2017-04-01T19:25:00.000+03:00' 'bd8e1aa72f6f62cd0f6712c25954f416b4de70b1'|'Elbit Systems U.S. unit wins $50 million Navy contract'|'TEL AVIV Israeli defense electronics firm Elbit Systems ( ESLT.TA ) said on Sunday its U.S. subsidiary won a contract worth about $50 million from the U.S. Navy to provide the Helmet Display and Tracker System for the MH-60S fleet of helicopters.The work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and completed by June 2021. The contract is for an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity and an initial order of $14.2 million was received.(Reporting by Tova Cohen, Editing by Ari Rabinovitch)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-elbit-systems-contract-idINKBN174071'|'2017-04-02T06:17:00.000+03:00' 'cf7ac52b0c6163510d8e49421aaa7bde56dae750'|'Chevron pivots to Permian shale as mega-project era fades'|'Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:10am BST Chevron pivots to Permian shale as mega-project era fades left right FILE PHOTO - John Watson, Chevron''s chairman and CEO, speaks during an interview on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S. on March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - John Watson, CEO of the Chevron Corp., speaks during the 26th World Gas Conference in Paris, France, on June 2, 2015. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo 2/2 By Ernest Scheyder - HOUSTON HOUSTON Nearly a century after Chevron Corp amassed the No. 2 stake in America''s largest oilfield, Chief Executive John Watson is hitting the accelerator on developing the company''s vast Permian Basin holdings. In an interview, Watson made clear his desire to put the West Texas to New Mexico expanse in the ranks of Chevron''s biggest ventures. That is a stark change from just five years ago, when Chevron executives rarely mentioned the shale basin. But with low oil prices, the company is now spending more than it makes to cover its prized dividend and find new reserves. Now, those 2 million Permian acres have emerged as to way to help fund both goals. "Some of the best things we have in our portfolio are the shales," Watson said during an interview on the 48th floor of the company''s Houston office tower. "My employees in the Permian know I''m featuring it as something very important." Gone, for the next few years at least, are plans for any new multi-billion-dollar mega-projects, he said. To survive and grow, San Ramon, California-based Chevron is turning to acreage it has always controlled and that largely is free of royalties to landowners. "We''re just in a period now where markets are weak and everyone is focused on controlling costs," Watson said. Within a decade, Watson expects Chevron''s production in the Permian to grow eightfold to more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day. By the end of next year, nine drilling rigs will join the 11 that Chevron already has poking holes into Permian land. It is all part of Watson''s plan to methodically pump Chevron''s more than 9 billion barrels of Permian oil, most of it owned outright by the company. That gives Chevron a cost advantage over rival Permian producers as the region in the past year has become the epicenter for the U.S. shale resurgence. Chevron''s Permian portfolio, which was acquired in stages by predecessor companies, is worth at least $43 billion, Chevron believes, greater than the market value of Pioneer Natural Resources Co, Concho Resources and other Texas producers. Watson bristles at critics who say the company is moving too slowly in the Permian. "We''re growing our portfolio in the Permian as fast as anyone," said Watson, an economist by training who has worked at Chevron his entire career. "We''re focused on growing value and growing the dividend over time." Chevron is valued more highly by investors than rival Exxon Mobil Corp partly because of that dividend, which has risen annually for the past 29 years. Watson has called protecting the $1.08 quarterly payout his top priority. "We like inexpensive, recurring revenue streams" such as the Permian, said Oliver Pursche of wealth manager Bruderman Brothers LLC, which holds shares in the company. Chevron, which does not hedge oil production, is boosting spending in the Permian by 67 percent this year to $2.5 billion, an implicit bet that oil prices will rise and lift the company to a profitable year after an annual loss in 2016. That makes the Permian the second-largest area for spending this year for Chevron after the Tengiz project in Kazakhstan, which is not expect to come online until next decade. CARBON TAX WOULD ADD COST Watson said he is not worried about demand for oil hitting a ceiling for at least the next 20 years, despite the rising popularity of electric cars. Rising petroleum needs for air travel and petrochemical production should buffer any drop in demand from the automobile sector, he said. "There is no sign of peak demand right now," Watson said. Like Exxon, BP and other oil peers, Chevron supports the Paris climate accord, a 2015 agreement between nearly 200 nations that aims to limit the rise in global temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). "We have said that Paris is a first step, but we need to understand what that translates to in terms of policy," Watson said. Watson, however, has spoken out against a tax on carbon, something that Exxon supports. had considered a carbon tax as part of his proposed budget, but the White House on Tuesday said it was not under consideration. It could still be resurrected by Congress, where it has some support. "A carbon tax will have the effect of adding cost on the people who can least afford it," Watson said. "If you increase energy costs you are going to make it more difficult here for industrial activity." Watson said he is not opposed to renewable energy, just government financial support for it through subsidies and other means. He said he would be open to buying a Tesla or another electric vehicle. "I have no particular aversion" to electric cars, he said. "I''ll buy a car that meets all my needs, particularly around size and other characteristics." (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Leslie Adler) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-watson-idUKKBN1770I7'|'2017-04-05T14:08:00.000+03:00' 'c6b7e1c39f5a5a119c2b793f02cd72e7bb18142c'|'Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing'|'Business News 16am EDT Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing left right The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind a traffic light at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company, Danny Roderick speaks during a news conference at the Toshiba head office in Tokyo, November 27, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: The Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 site, being constructed by primary contactor Westinghouse, a business unit of Toshiba, near Waynesboro, Georgia, U.S. is seen in an aerial photo taken February 2017. Georgia Power/Handout 3/3 TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co replaced its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear construction unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) filed for bankruptcy last week, as it tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions. Toshiba''s spokesman said Westinghouse chairman Danny Roderick was replaced by Mamoru Hatazawa, chief of Toshiba''s nuclear division, on March 27. Hatazawa''s role would be temporary, until a new management comes in, he added. Roderick, the driving force behind Toshiba''s nuclear ambition, joined Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse as chief executive in September 2012 from a nuclear joint venture between General Electric ( GE.N ) and Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ). In an in 2015, Roderick said he was "pretty confident" in achieving Westinghouse''s goal of winning orders to construct 64 reactors worldwide over the next 15 years. But billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast pushed Westinghouse into bankruptcy and resulted in a net loss of $9 billion at Toshiba. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-westinghouse-idUSKBN1770O6'|'2017-04-05T15:09:00.000+03:00' '9451ee8182649c2a4911750526faf8c6e6300421'|'Thousands of Tesco jobs at risk under plan to axe some night shifts - Business'|'Tesco is axing night shifts in some of its biggest supermarkets in a fresh shakeup that puts 3,000 jobs at risk.The UK’s biggest retailer said the consultation process with night workers in the 69 impacted stores would begin this summer. As part of the changes, eight stores will stop trading round the clock, while other roles will be eliminated by plans to merge customer service counters with lottery and tobacco kiosks. Tesco expects the majority of staff affected to stay on, though night workers, who are paid more for working unsociable hours, could experience a drop in earnings if they do.Dave Lewis, the chief executive, who earned the nickname “drastic Dave” after cutting jobs when he worked at Unilever, has eliminated more than 10,000 jobs at Tesco since being parachuted in to lead a turnaround of the business in 2014. The latest changes are part of a cost-cutting drive designed to improve the efficiency of Tesco stores before its controversial £3.7bn takeover of Booker , the cash and carry company behind the Londis and Budgens convenience store chains. Tesco UK’s chief executive said the changes meant stores could be run more simply and were in keeping with its goal to improve customer service. “We appreciate these changes will impact the roles of some of our colleagues and we will work with them to ensure they are fully supported throughout this period,” Matt Davies said.Bricks-and-mortar retailers are having to rethink their business models in the face of aggressive online competitors as well as higher costs after this month’s hike in the national living wage from £7.20 to £7.50 and the recent business rate changes. This year Waitrose said 700 staff were impacted by the closure of six stores and it planned to streamline store management. Its sister chain John Lewis announced it was axing nearly 800 jobs in its customer restaurants and store administration.Lewis took the helm at Tesco after a string of profit warnings under his predecessor, Philip Clarke. But the discovery of accounting irregularities forced him to embark on an overhaul of the business, including the disposal of its South Korean chain Homeplus for £4bn. Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Drastic Dave’ Lewis, chief executive of Tesco. He earned the nickname after a similar cost-cutting exercise at Unilever. Photograph: Reuters Last week Tesco agreed to pay £235m to settle investigations by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Financial Conduct Authority into the accounting scandal. It will pay a £129m fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the SFO, though this deal requires court approval. The DPA relates to Tesco subsidiary Tesco Stores Ltd. The supermarket has also agreed to pay £85m in compensation to investors affected by the window when there was a false market for its shares.After the accounting scandal Lewis led a restructuring of the group, which is the UK’s biggest private sector employer. In his first year in charge he axed nearly 5,000 head office and UK store management jobs as well as more than 4,000 roles overseas and at the group’s banking division. A further 2,500 jobs were lost with the closure of 43 underperforming Tesco stores .The retailer has been reviewing its store operations for some time and last year carried out a similar exercise with 2,000 workers affected when it dropped the night shift in 46 stores, with 20 ceasing round-the-clock trading. In February, Tesco also axed a layer of management in its smallest Express stores. It involved 1,700 deputy managers being replaced with 3,300 lower-paid “shift leaders”. The closure of two distribution centres at the start of the year also led to the loss of about 500 jobs.Lewis is expected to face tough questions about the merits of the Booker deal when the company reports its annual results next week after two major shareholders revealed their opposition to the deal. Schroders and Artisan Partners, which between them own 9% of the company, have written separately to the Tesco chairman, John Allan, to ask him to pull out of the deal.Berstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said the broker’s poll of investors found support for the deal among Tesco and Booker shareholders was “high but not overwhelming”. “We estimate based on the survey that the deal today would be approved by 70% of votes cast,” he said. “If Schroders and Artisan want to block the deal, it will be hard but not unsurmountable. There are sufficient large holders that haven’t disclosed their view that could sway this estimate.”Topics Tesco Job losses Retail industry Supermarkets news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/tesco-jobs-risk-night-shifts'|'2017-04-06T01:55:00.000+03:00' 'df9cf32d5c541eba514f28f1fe700f250f15725a'|'VW''s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development'|' 30pm BST VW''s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development left right The logo of German car manufacturer Audi is seen at a building of a car dealer in Duebendorf, Switzerland November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of German carmaker Porsche is seen on a Porsche centre in Niederwangen, Switzerland, May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo 2/2 FRANKFURT Volkswagen Group''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) Audi and Porsche brands will join forces on vehicle development, the two upmarket brands said on Wednesday, to help the world''s largest carmaker save money in the wake of its costly emissions test cheating scandal. The pact comes as Volkswagen (VW) Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, who previously worked as Porsche''s CEO and Audi''s head of product management, finalizes a plan to step up development of autonomous cars, electric vehicles and digital services. Porsche and Audi said the focus was on jointly developing shared vehicle platforms, modules and components, in a deal that follows a period of intense in-house competition for development resources. Projects will be jointly headed by representatives from each brand. In the coming months, joint teams will prepare the specific areas of cooperation and define a roadmap to 2025, they said. Porsche, taken over by VW 2012, has emerged as a strong rival engineering center to Audi. Porsche''s MSB platform, used for its four-seater Panamera model, has been adopted for VW group''s next generation Bentley Continental model even though Audi had developed a similar offering. Since the group''s emissions test cheating on diesel engines was exposed in September 2015, Audi has lost two research and development chiefs and the head of its automotive electronics division, who did pioneering work in the area of autonomous driving and battery technology. Audi remains the group''s center of excellence for sport-utility vehicles, a lucrative and growing market, where it supplies platforms to Porsche and other brands such as Bentley. With self-driving vehicles likely to play a major future role in the industry, Audi also develops autonomous cars for the group. But a separate internal race has begun to become an engineering hub for electric vehicles, a field which includes research and development of battery cells, battery packs and electric motors. Porsche has developed the J1 electric cars platform, while Audi has also worked on its own electric car. Porsche has also taken over production of eight-cylinder gasoline engines for large sportscars for the VW group, even though Audi has its own engine factory in Hungary. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-porsche-development-idUKKBN17721S'|'2017-04-05T23:33:00.000+03:00' '2998d7232717d718f0ecd5da1f5ad4532f1e4de0'|'New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks-WSJ'|'Deals - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 1:44pm EDT New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks: WSJ New Jersey Resources Corp ( NJR.N ) is considering to combine with South Jersey Industries Inc ( SJI.N ) in a deal that would bring together two natural-gas utilities in New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Details of the talks couldn''t be learned and it is possible that there won''t be a deal, the Journal reported on Tuesday. ( on.wsj.com/2nG2OTt ) South Jersey Industries and New Jersey Resources were not immediately available for comments. Shares of South Jersey Industries rose as much as 5.54 percent to a record high of $37.31. The company has a market value of about $2.8 billion. New Jersey Resources'' stock rose as much as 6.3 percent to an all-time high of $41.60. The company is valued at about $3.4 billion. (Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south-jersey-ind-m-a-new-jersey-rsrce-idUSKBN1762DO'|'2017-04-05T01:41:00.000+03:00' '1c2f0f44f035fee736bd7aa9a97e8f7b62fbdf32'|'Motor racing-Williams upbeat for F1 future after revenue growth'|' 09am EDT Motor racing-Williams upbeat for F1 future after revenue growth By Alan Baldwin - LONDON, April 5 LONDON, April 5 Former world champions Williams expressed optimism for Formula One''s future under the sport''s new owners Liberty Media after the team reported a profit and increased revenues for 2016 on Wednesday. The British-based team, who last won a race in 2012, finished fifth last year after ending the previous two seasons in third place overall. Williams said group revenue had increased from 125.6 million pounds ($156.25 million) in 2015 to 167.4 million last year. The Formula One side accounted for 116.7 million, compared to a previous 101.5 million. Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved from a loss of 3.3 million in 2015 to a profit of 15.5 million. Income from the sport''s commercial rights holder is paid a year in arrears. "Our team continues to attract support from some of the world''s leading companies and brands, and we are very optimistic about the overall potential for the sport, under Liberty Media''s stewardship," commented chief executive Mike O''Driscoll. U.S.-based Liberty took control in January, replacing CVC Capital Partners as commercial rights holders and appointing Chase Carey to run the business instead of 86-year-old Briton Bernie Ecclestone. Formula One teams currently have individual deals with the commercial rights holder that expire in 2020. Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull receive tens of millions of dollars to reflect past success and their importance to the sport, money that is paid regardless of current performance. Williams also get a ''heritage bonus''. Liberty has said it wants to see a more level playing field, with a more competitive grid that would give smaller teams a chance. Williams have 18-year-old Canadian rookie Lance Stroll in their lineup this season along with Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa after Finland''s Valtteri Bottas moved to champions Mercedes. Bottas, who scored 85 points to Massa''s 53 last year, has replaced the now-retired 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg. ($1 = 0.8039 pounds) (Editing by John O''Brien) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/motor-f1-williams-idUSL3N1HD28O'|'2017-04-05T17:09:00.000+03:00' '03923f9260af40b85d1b09a9687a80ba9f6408eb'|'NBA All-Star Game will consider return to North Carolina after ''bathroom bill'' repeal - Apr. 5, 2017'|'North Carolina lawmakers reach deal to repeal ''bathroom bill'' The NBA will consider awarding a future All-Star Game to North Carolina now that the state has partially repealed the anti-LGBT law known as the bathroom bill. The league pulled the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte after the law was enacted. New Orleans hosted it instead. At the time, the NBA said it hoped to take the game back to Charlotte in 2019 "provided there is an appropriate resolution to this matter." The NBA board of governors will meet Thursday and consider whether the partial repeal is good enough, a source familiar with the matter told CNNMoney. An announcement is not expected. Los Angeles will host the 2018 game. Related: NCAA ends North Carolina ban after repeal of ''bathroom bill'' The North Carolina law required people to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate, not their gender identity, in government buildings and in public schools and universities. It also prevented local governments from passing nondiscrimination policies based on gender identity. North Carolina lawmakers voted in March to repeal the law and eliminated the bathroom stipulation. The replacement also allows cities to enact their own nondiscrimination ordinances beginning in 2020. LGBT rights groups are concerned that the repeal doesn''t go far enough to protect people. Since the so-called bathroom bill" was enacted, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has been vocal about changing the law. Related: Yelp is making it easier to find gender-neutral restrooms The NBA''s review of whether to return to North Carolina comes after the NCAA lifted its own boycott. The NCAA had pulled tournaments from the state but said Tuesday it would consider North Carolina for future championships. CNNMoney (New York) First published April 5, 2017: 12:56 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_companies.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/05/news/companies/nba-north-carolina-bathroom-bill/index.html'|'2017-04-05T20:56:00.000+03:00' 'a1fd102ad3dc5051e6e7452790f6cb196752813e'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 6:02am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 5 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Wednesday: ** British housebuilder Galliford Try pulled out of a 1.2 billion pound ($1.5 billion) attempt to buy rival Bovis after the two failed to agree on price, leaving Bovis to pursue a turnaround under a new chief executive. ** The battle for German drugmaker Stada is edging towards a close, with final offers from two private equity consortia expected on Friday evening, three people close to the matter said. ** Snapdeal''s three biggest investors – Japan''s SoftBank , Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners – have moved closer to resolving an impasse, potentially clearing the way for a sale of the Indian e-tailer to one of its rivals, Flipkart or Paytm, according to a Mint report. ** Daishi Bank Ltd and Hokuetsu Bank Ltd, two small Japanese lenders, said they had agreed to merge their operations, the latest consolidation in regional banks amid a decline in population. ** ExxonMobil said it is in talks to buy a refining-petrochemical complex in Singapore that could boost its fuel and chemical production in Asia. ** As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar. ** Qatar''s Masraf Al Rayan said that a committee had been formed to manage the merger of the bank with Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar. ** French advertising group Havas has signed a joint venture agreement with Guangdong Advertising Group as part of its moves to expand in the fast-growing Chinese market. ** BlablaCar, Europe''s biggest ride-sharing startup, will offer its drivers lower-cost car deals in a partnership announced with Opel and Societe Generale. ** German utility RWE said it was considering selling its majority holding in Hungary''s second-biggest power plant and its opencast mining activities, after two Hungarian papers said Germany''s RWE Power and EnBW could both sell their stakes. ** EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, will hold a news conference at noon, where she is expected to approve ChemChina''s bid for Syngenta and block a Croatian deal by Germany''s HeidelbergCement and Schwenk. ** China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Switzerland''s Syngenta AG on condition that it divest three products, the Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday. ** San Francisco startup Wyre Inc, a cross-border payments firm, has acquired a Beijing-based platform, Chief Executive Michael Dunworth told Reuters on Tuesday, in what he said was the first acquisition by a U.S. company of a Chinese blockchain business in the corporate payments space. ** JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea, is in advanced talks to acquire bakery chain Panera Bread Co as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HD2J1'|'2017-04-05T18:02:00.000+03:00' 'df614d36dd090a4aeaf3d4ded850057c78cccee9'|'South Korea''s Lotte Group aims to list Malaysian petrochemical unit in third quarter'|'KUALA LUMPUR South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group plans to list its Malaysian petrochemical unit in the third quarter, company filings show, in an initial public offering that sources say could raise as much as $1.5 billion.The listing could be one of the biggest IPOs in years in Malaysia, which has not seen any listing of $1 billion and above since the $1.5 billion IPO of Astro Malaysia Holdings ( ASTR.KL ) in 2012.In a filing on the Korea Exchange on Tuesday, the conglomerate''s unit, Lotte Chemical Corp ( 011170.KS ), said it plans to list subsidiary Lotte Chemical Titan Holding on the Bursa Malaysia stock exchange.Lotte Chemical said it plans to offer up to 740.48 million shares in its Malaysian unit, with an over-allotment option for up to 55.54 million shares.It listed the target IPO date as the third quarter of 2017 and said proceeds will be used to build a naphtha cracker in Indonesia and a polypropylene plant in Malaysia, as well as to expand its cracker facility in Malaysia.The IPO was originally planned for last year but was shelved following revelations of South Korea''s investigations into alleged fraud at Lotte Group.Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan are joint global coordinators on the deal, while CIMB Investment Bank, HSBC and Nomura are joint bookrunners.Lotte Chemical said the size and pricing of IPO is yet to be determined.Two sources familiar with the matter said the company is looking to raise $1-$1.5 billion in the IPO. The sources did not want to be identified as the talks are private.One source said the IPO prospectus will likely be listed on the Malaysian securities regulator''s website for review within days.Lotte Chemical Titan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.(Reporting by Liz Lee and A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-lotte-chemical-ipo-malaysia-idINKBN1770GJ'|'2017-04-05T03:44:00.000+03:00' 'e59da0d1cd0f65478e538ecfa6fbaffe2b0e3451'|'Samsung to ride soaring chip profits in first quarter, Galaxy S8 aura in 2017'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:14am BST Samsung to ride soaring chip profits in first quarter, Galaxy S8 aura in 2017 FILE PHOTO: A guest uses the Samsung Gear VR for the Samsung Galaxy S8 during the Samsung Unpacked event in New York City, U.S. March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD - SEARCH BUSINESS 3 APR FOR ALL IMAGES By Se Young Lee - SEOUL SEOUL Record earnings at Samsung Electronics Co Ltd''s chip division are set to propel the tech giant''s first-quarter profit to a three-and-a-half-year high, and the quarters ahead could be even better if its newest smartphone, Galaxy S8, is a success. A boom in memory chips spurred by demand from smartphones and servers has helped Samsung tide over the costly failure last year of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone and management turmoil. Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee is on trial for bribery and other charges linked to a corruption scandal that led to the ouster and arrest of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Shares of Samsung, Asia''s biggest company by market capitalisation and the world''s largest memory chip maker, are near record highs after gaining nearly 17 percent so far this year, on top of the 43 percent surge in 2016. (For graphic on Samsung earnings, click tmsnrt.rs/2hZ8d7R ) A Thomson Reuters survey of 18 analysts has on average estimated Samsung''s January-March operating profit to have risen 41 percent from a year earlier to 9.4 trillion won ($8.44 billion), driven by record chip division profit of 5.8 trillion won. That''s its highest profit since the best-ever 10.2 trillion won profit clocked in the third quarter of 2013. And as Samsung prepares to start selling its revamped Galaxy S8 from April 21, the average forecast from the same survey tips Samsung to report a record 11.9 trillion won profit in the second quarter. "Right now it''s about as good as it gets for Samsung," said Park Jung-hoon, fund manager at Samsung shareholder HDC Asset Management. Samsung will issue its earnings guidance early on Friday. Analysts expect tight supply conditions for memory chips to continue this year, particularly in NAND flash chips used for long-term data storage, keeping Samsung''s margins padded. That leaves the mobile division as the key earnings variable, they said. Samsung ceded the smartphone crown to arch-rival Apple Inc for the fourth quarter of 2016 after being forced to pull the fire-prone Note 7s from the market in October. The hope is the S8 will help Samsung regain its lead. The S8, sporting the largest screens to date among all of Samsung''s flagship phones as part of a design revamp, has been praised following the March 29 launch in New York. Some analysts and Samsung''s head of smartphone business expect the phone''s first-year sales to beat that of predecessor S7, setting a new record for the South Korean company. "We think the S8 series will definitely be a strong flagship for Samsung and help it gain back market share," Counterpoint analyst Tom Kang said. "The launch of the fully revamped iPhone 8 will also be threatening. But there is also pent up demand for Samsung devices rolling over from last year due to the disappearance of the Note 7," he said. "So those 2 factors will balance out." Samsung will only provide estimates for January-March revenue and operating profit on Friday and will disclose detailed results in late April. ($1 = 1,113.4000 won) (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-samsung-elec-results-preview-idUKKBN17632C'|'2017-04-05T07:14:00.000+03:00' 'fdb2f180a0efbf9304560b3ec4d63c90f20ed046'|'EMERGING MARKETS-S.Africa rand pressured, EM stocks hit 1-week high'|' 17am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-S.Africa rand pressured, EM stocks hit 1-week high By Claire Milhench - LONDON, April 5 LONDON, April 5 South Africa''s rand came under pressure on Wednesday, revisiting the sell-off triggered by political turmoil and a ratings downgrade, while currencies elsewhere broadly strengthened and emerging stocks rose to a one-week high. The rand lost 0.3 percent against the dollar in volatile trading, but was still off the three-month lows it hit on Tuesday in the wake of S&P Global Ratings cutting the country''s credit rating to ''junk''. The downgrade followed the sacking of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, which outraged opponents and business leaders and deepened a rift within the ruling ANC party. South Africa''s biggest trade union has called on President Jacob Zuma to quit. Inan Demir, senior emerging market economist at Nomura, said there was room for further weakness in South African assets, with Zuma''s position not as weak as had been perceived. "He is still in a strong position to stay in place and implement his policies ... and these policies are likely to lead to further credit downgrades and further weakness in the rand," he said. Other South African assets have steadied. The average yield spread of sovereign bonds over U.S. Treasuries on the JP Morgan EMBI Global Diversified index fell 4 basis points (bps) to 275 bps, after hitting a four-month high on Monday while five-year credit default swaps narrowed. The local benchmark government bond yield dropped to 8.94 percent, after touching 9.2 percent on Tuesday. A weaker dollar allowed other emerging currencies to make gains, with the Turkish lira firming 0.2 percent and the Russian rouble 0.3 percent. The latter was supported by oil prices rising to near a one-month high after an unplanned outage in the North Sea. However, China''s yuan slipped 0.2 percent against the dollar as investors awaited a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday. Trade and security are expected to feature prominently. The broader economic backdrop remained relatively benign, and MSCI''s benchmark emerging stocks index rose 0.4 percent to one-week highs, led by a strong performance in Asia that was echoed in emerging Europe. Taiwan stocks gained 1.4 percent lifted by an 8 percent surge in the shares of electronics company Hon Hai Precision, an Apple supplier, which posted a surprise 30 percent rise in net profit. Chinese mainland stocks rose 1.5 percent, boosted by government plans to build a new economic zone. In Europe, Russian dollar-denominated stocks were amongst the outperformers, up 1.2 percent to 1-1/2 month highs, whilst Budapest shares gained 0.5 percent. The zloty was flat against the euro ahead of Poland''s central bank meeting later in the day at which it is expected to keep rates unchanged at a record low 1.5 percent. Romanian policymakers are expected to hold interest rates at 1.75 percent. "Central banks in the case of Poland and Hungary are still in a good position to look through the acceleration in inflation, attributing it to non-core factors," said Demir. The Croatian kuna fell to an eight-week low ahead of Croatian legislation on big corporate failures, designed to prevent them from destabilising the wider economy and financial system. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 969.72 +4.55 +0.47 +12.46 Czech Rep 984.58 +3.55 +0.36 +6.83 Poland 2242.61 +3.31 +0.15 +15.13 Hungary 32148.93 +196.99 +0.62 +0.46 Romania 8197.51 +29.57 +0.36 +15.70 Greece 665.30 -1.14 -0.17 +3.37 Russia 1151.09 +15.11 +1.33 -0.11 South Africa 46010.98 +264.05 +0.58 +4.80 Turkey 88463.37 -149.17 -0.17 +13.21 China 3270.20 +47.68 +1.48 +5.37 India 29936.16 +25.94 +0.09 +12.43 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL5N1HD1C5'|'2017-04-05T17:17:00.000+03:00' 'ae4bd8f8d99080340a6ff8da34b5ebfb8eb45c40'|'Itaúsa buys stake in NTS gas pipeline for $292 mln'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:35pm EDT Itaúsa buys stake in NTS gas pipeline for $292 mln BRASILIA, April 4 Itaúsa Investimentos SA, a family-controlled company that is a major shareholder in Brazil''s No. 1 private-sector bank, said on Tuesday in a securities filing it bought a 7.65 percent stake in gas pipeline unit Nova Transportadora do Sudeste SA (NTS) for $292.3 million. State-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA sold a 90 percent stake of the NTS unit to a group of investors led by Canada''s Brookfield Asset Management Inc for $5.2 billion in September. (Reporting by Alonso Soto and Tatiana Bautzer) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nts-ma-itausa-inv-itau-idUSE6N14A051'|'2017-04-05T06:35:00.000+03:00' '90e1fa1f16ebff7384854dcd3be85599294783e6'|'Italy budget deficit widens in March, first-quarter deficit also higher'|'Business 32pm BST Italy budget deficit widens in March, first-quarter deficit also higher ROME Italy posted a state sector budget deficit of 22.9 billion euros (19.55 billion pounds) in March, an increase of around 2 billion euros (1.71 billion pounds) compared with the same month last year, the Treasury said on Monday. In the first quarter of the year, the deficit was running at 29.0 billion euros, around 2.65 billion higher than the deficit registered for the same period of 2016, it said in a statement. The state sector borrowing requirement (SSBR), a measure of the gap between central government spending and income, differs from the broader "general government" accounts, which the European Union Stability and Growth Pact refers to when assessing countries'' deficit performances. Italy aims to marginally trim its general government deficit this year to 2.3 percent of gross domestic product from 2.4 percent last year, remaining inside European Union''s 3 percent ceiling. However, the European Commission says Italy needs faster deficit reduction to bring down its huge public debt of around 133 percent of gross domestic product, the highest in the euro zone after Greece''s. In response to the Commission''s requests, Italy has promised to present around 3.4 billion euros of extra deficit cuts for this year before the end of April. (Reporting By Gavin Jones) Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. Tesla Inc''s MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-budget-ssbr-idUKKBN17523B'|'2017-04-04T01:32:00.000+03:00' '2c68b10dca187194bfa157d884a21df5b8cfb291'|'Splitsville: Should America break up Washington?'|'CONCERNS about regional inequality and frustration with elites are contributing to interest in an intriguing idea: reining in the economic and political power of Washington by dispersing government agencies more widely. Tyler Cowen muses on the subject here . Matthew Yglesias makes the case for such a policy here . Ross Douthat makes a somewhat different but related argument here . So: is this a good idea? It certainly isn''t a terrible idea, but the more you dig into the matter the less it looks like an out-and-out good one. (Some disclosure: I work in Washington now, and once, long ago I was a federal government employee at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.)It might be useful to begin with a little perspective. Funnily enough, Washington was a purpose-built capital, located outside the major cities of the day, partly in order to prevent a Philadelphia or New York from becoming dominant. America''s metropolitan geography remains multipolar in a way few other rich economies manage. Washington, for its part, is neither the largest, or the richest, or the fastest growing of America''s major metropolitan areas. The economy of the Washington metropolitan area accounts for a smaller share of American GDP than Ottawa''s share of Canadian GDP. What''s more, of the 1.8m or so civilian employees of the federal government, only about 15% are located in the Washington area. All that doesn''t mean that an even more dispersed distribution of federal government activity would not be a good thing. One important question to ask is what the intent of dispersion would be.One potential motivation is cost savings. Land in the Washington area is expensive, which means that salaries must be higher than those paid elsewhere in order to compensate employees for the local cost of living. Moving could reduce costs. There are some problems here, however. The expense of a place is in part down to the amenities the area provides: weather, cultural and consumption opportunities, employment opportunities for spouses, and so on. Cheaper cities (particularly those facing long-term economic decline) will often be lacking in these amenities. Some of the savings realised by moving an agency to Buffalo, for instance, would be given back through the salary premium needed to attract employees to Buffalo. Also, government agencies are staffed by real human beings, many of whom will have optimised their lives for being in Washington. Moving agencies would therefore require the government to either compensate the people being moved for the cost of uprooting them, or to suffer mass personnel losses.But perhaps economic development is the preferred motivation. One thing to note about government employment is that the vast majority of it consists of work that is boring but important. For much of the work done it is useful, though not absolutely critical, to be near other agencies and the political leaders who consume agency output. At the same time, the spillover effects of that sort of employment to outside, private industry are quite small. So, government agencies would provide some boost to a local economy, but the growth multiplier would probably not be especially large. That might not be a huge problem if such relocations were a part of a broad regional development strategy that included lots of other investments. One risk would be that relocation becomes the strategy, crowding out other, more effective development tools.The goal of relocation could be to "drain the swamp", so to speak. But most civil servants are not parking their yachts in Washington harbour or meeting with lobbyists. Most are apolitical professionals doing work that is not particularly flashy, and not particularly influenced by Washington culture. Another thing to consider is that there could be economies of scale in government oversight. Washington is home to a cluster of watchdog organisations which keep an eye on many government functions; The Washington Post is devoted to coverage of federal government agencies in a way other newspapers might struggle to match (particularly in towns where the dominant industry is not government). While it is not quite the same thing, there is some evidence that more isolated capital cities are more corrupt.But to take a step back: when people think of the private-sector excess in Washington associated with government largesse, most of what they''re talking about is the military-industrial complex. The company names on shiny buildings in Northern Virginia are mostly those of military equipment manufacturers. In the Metro, there are advertisements for companies that produce weapons. Since 2001, the region has boomed on the back of investment in security, intelligence, and cyber capabilities, much of which has gone to private contractors. Military spending—particularly the sort focused on technology and research—does often have large spillover effects. California''s economy would be a shadow of itself had it not been for government investments in aerospace in the south and in computing in the Bay Area.In other words, moving large portions of the bureaucracy wouldn''t really address the thing that contributes most to the problem. And, geographic concentration might not be what should concern us most about the shadow state of private military contractors. But one takeaway is that large-scale government investment in research does have spillover effects that can support local economic development. Of course, you don''t need to move anything to provide much more of that. The federal government should be spending more on basic research, and there is no reason it could not concentrate new spending in particular areas in an effort to boost local development.There is one small difficulty with that, which is that some concentration is needed for the strategy to work. A massive research centre in one city might spark the growth of an industry cluster. New grants scattered evenly across hundreds of cities and towns will not. But if there can only be a few winners, the political fight over which places should get the spoils could be impossibly nasty. In one sense, putting government agencies in Washington is a solution to a political problem; things go there because the politics of putting them elsewhere gets very messy very quickly.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2017/04/splitsville?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-03T23:31:00.000+03:00' '65e71e99de245ee5b57c1907bd7fc01774744110'|'UK''s Reckitt Benckiser weighing foods business sale: paper - Reuters'|'LONDON British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) is considering the sale of its foods business, which includes French''s, its top-selling U.S. mustard brand, to help fund its $16.6 billion takeover of baby food maker Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ), British newspaper The Sunday Times said.The maker of Durex condoms and Nurofen painkillers has told banks it plans to sell the foods division, as it no longer considers it core to a business increasingly focused on consumer health, the report said, citing senior sources.The foods arm, which had sales last year of 411 million pounds, could fetch more than 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion), according to the report.Reckitt, which on Friday said it had cut the pay of Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor after a safety scandal in South Korea, agreed to buy Mead Johnson in February.A spokeswoman for Reckitt declined to comment on the report.(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-reckitt-m-a-food-idINKBN1740MH'|'2017-04-02T13:47:00.000+03:00' '6d7fcf731b9be0dbc052a7025c3e655078d205e3'|'MOVES- Silverfleet Capital, State Street Global Advisors, Mashreq'|' 29am EDT MOVES- Silverfleet Capital, State Street Global Advisors, Mashreq April 3 The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Monday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com. SILVERFLEET CAPITAL The European private equity investor appointed Karl Eidem as co-head of the Nordic Region. STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORS The asset management arm of State Street Corp, appointed Andrew Benton as head of its UK institutional business. MASHREQ The head of corporate and investment banking at the Dubai''s third-biggest bank by assets is leaving to become chief executive of a rival bank, sources told Reuters. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/financial-moves-idUSL3N1HB39U'|'2017-04-03T18:29:00.000+03:00' '33b585ae9d9ae541897c13fc0ca2014eacc5d0a0'|'BP to cut about 5 mln pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News'|'Big Story 10 - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 3:04pm EDT BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay: Sky News File photo: Bob Dudley, CEO of BP gas company, speaks during an interview at the Argentina Business and Investment Forum 2016, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 14, 2016. REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds ($6.24 million) from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. Sky News said that Dudley''s maximum annual pay over the next three years will now be about 12.2 million pounds ($15.22 million) including his salary, an annual bonus of 3.3 million pounds and a long-term share incentive plan award worth up to 7.4 million pounds. The previous package was worth up to 17.4 million pounds including the matching share awards. The report said the company had decided to reduce Dudley''s maximum long-term incentive plan award from seven times his 1.48 million pounds basic salary to five times. ( bit.ly/2oC9WRK ) According to the report, Dudley''s annual bonus will remain constant at a maximum of 225 percent of his salary. The framework will also apply to other top BP directors between 2017 and 2019. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Next In Big Story 10'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-compensation-ceo-idUSKBN17529F'|'2017-04-04T02:56:00.000+03:00' '82b9d55c33dc3a2c288d4134326a14d61e42d15d'|'Merger of three Qatari banks to take six months: executive'|'DOHA The merger of Qatari banks Masraf Al Rayan MARK.QA, Barwa Bank [IPO-BABK.QA] and International Bank of Qatar will take six months to complete, Masraf Al Rayan''s chairman Hussain Ali al-Abdulla said on Sunday.In December Reuters reported that the trio had begun merger talks which, if successful, would create the Gulf state''s second-largest bank.Banks in the Gulf have previously been reluctant to link up but are facing challenging conditions due to the impact of lower oil prices on the region''s economies.The new bank, which would be run in compliance with Islamic banking principles, would have assets worth more than 160 billion riyals ($44 billion)."I think the merger will finish within six months. There will be a lot of synergy between the three banks," Abdulla told reporters at Masraf''s annual general meeting on Sunday.Masraf Al Rayan, an Islamic lender, has appointed KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers as merger advisers, along with law firm Allen & Overy as legal adviser, said Abdulla, adding that Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar had also chosen advisors.Masraf Al Rayan''s shareholders approved on Sunday the issuance of sukuk worth up to $2 billion to meet the bank''s liquidity needs.Masraf appointed banks in January to handle a debut sukuk issue of around $500 million, banking sources told Reuters that month, but Abdullah said on Sunday the timing of the issue had not been finalised..Asked whether the bank''s liquidity had been affected by low oil prices Abudullah said "liquidity now is better than in 2016" and that the U.S. Federal Reserve''s raising of interest rates last month would improve the profits of Qatari banks.(Writing by Tom Finn and Tom Arnold; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-qatar-m-a-banks-idUSKBN1740P4'|'2017-04-02T21:19:00.000+03:00' '697e18b59345eaad74a77f8df9e228af08f0e9c6'|'Citi says it''s time to buy Continental European stocks'|'Business News 21am BST Citi says it''s time to buy Continental European stocks A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, New York, U.S. May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files - MILAN Citi strategists have upgraded continental European stocks to overweight from neutral, a move that underscores growing investor confidence in the region as its economic outlook brightens and political worries ease. "Europe ex-UK fundamentals are improving, valuations look reasonable and interest rates are low. At the same time political risks are subsiding. That''s why we raise Continental European equities to Overweight," Robert Buckland and other strategists at the U.S. bank said in a quarterly equity update. The upgrade follows similar moves by other global investment houses earlier this year and comes less than three weeks before the first round of the French Presidential elections, a vote which could potentially unsettle global markers in case of a victory of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. [nL8N1G00VU] "A significant risk for global markets over the next quarter is the two stage French election where Marine Le Pen advocates EMU exit. However, she has not generated much momentum in the polls and Citi economists put her chances at only 20 percent," they wrote. They expect the pan-European STOXX 600 index to hit 410 points by the end of the year, an 8 percent upside from current levels. That compares to a 5 percent rise expected for global equities with the broader rally supported by the "first synchronized global increase in EPS since 2010". On Wednesday, a survey showed that euro zone businesses enjoyed their best quarter in six years at the start of 2017 and although growth was not quite as fast as a flash estimate, the upturn was broad-based. [nL5N1HD1JO] (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Editing by Vikram Subhedar) Next In Business News LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and face calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels that may force them to take more risks and start trading just like other commodity dealers.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks-citi-idUKKBN177163'|'2017-04-05T18:18:00.000+03:00' '211439429b4399137e2f84d0b9e8b0703c0a703f'|'ADM to close South Africa trading desk in further business shake up'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:46pm EDT ADM to close South Africa trading desk in further business shake up LONDON, April 5 Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM) plans to close its South African trading desk, the company said on Wednesday, in a further shake up as the Chicago-based agribusiness grapples with volatile global grain markets. ADM said in a statement it had informed staff it was "proposing discontinuing our South Africa merchandising operations, following the legally required employee consultation process". The company said this related to its global trade desk operations in Johannesburg, adding it would continue activities related to its Golden Peanut and Tree Nuts food business in South Africa. "We believe the changes we are making will lead to a strong and focused (global) operation that will yield improved results as we move through 2017," ADM said. Two sources familiar with the matter said separately the South Africa desk was winding down trading positions, which are expected to be wrapped up by mid July. ADM said on its website its South Africa unit originates and trades grain and oilseeds for the Sub-Saharan region and employed 25 people. In February, ADM reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $424 million, or 73 cents per share, down 41 percent on the same period a year earlier. A record-large U.S. corn and soybean harvest and brisk U.S. crop exports boosted results for its agricultural services segment. But those gains were blunted by more losses by its global trading desk, which has exited energy trading and shed key personnel in recent months. (Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Zandi Shabalala and Nigel Hunt; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/archerdaniels-safrica-office-idUSL5N1HD5ED'|'2017-04-06T00:46:00.000+03:00' 'b90451706223de2db1945cc711621f1667b24539'|'Walmex completes sale of clothing chain Suburbia to Liverpool'|'MEXICO CITY Wal-Mart Stores Inc''s ( WMT.N ) Mexican unit said on Tuesday it had completed the sale of its clothing chain Suburbia to department store and shopping mall operator El Puerto De Liverpool ( LIVEPOLC1.MX ) for 15.7 billion pesos ($834 million).The deal between the company known as Walmex and Liverpool was announced in August.(Writing by Dave Graham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-liverpool-idUSKBN1762RI'|'2017-04-05T01:09:00.000+03:00' '8c2b1c4378a0276a4c502684fc0b3f03e550a9de'|'BRIEF-XTL Biopharmaceuticals unveils expanded HCDR1 preclinical data for treatment of sjögren''s syndrome'|' 25am EDT BRIEF-XTL Biopharmaceuticals unveils expanded HCDR1 preclinical data for treatment of sjögren''s syndrome April 5 X T L Biopharmaceuticals Ltd * X T L Biopharmaceuticals Ltd - XTL Biopharmaceuticals unveils expanded HCDR1 preclinical data for treatment of sjögren''s syndrome * X T L Biopharma - additional data shows statistically significant effect in gene expression of 2 additional genes that have role in pathogenesis of sjögren''s syndrome Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-xtl-biopharmaceuticals-unveils-exp-idUSFWN1HD0JG'|'2017-04-05T21:25:00.000+03:00' '403fd3e6c102b3ac15f7bd43356bd1d1ea0a0e3f'|'Norwegian Air''s ticket sales to the U.S. ''surprisingly good'' -CEO'|'OSLO, April 5 Norwegian Air, Europe''s third-largest budget airline by passenger numbers, said bookings from Europe to the United States were surprisingly good and that the firm had yet to see a see negative impact from the U.S. administration attempts at imposing travel bans, its CEO told Reuters on Wednesday."Bookings to the U.S. are very good, surprisingly good," Bjoern Kjos said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference."We have not seen it (a negative impact of the ban attempts). That is probably because we do not fly (directly) from the countries affected." (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, writing by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/norwegianair-usa-idINL5N1HD1EG'|'2017-04-05T06:02:00.000+03:00' '926e55259755ca31c50a45c9c572d5f915114e7e'|'UPDATE 1-Naeem Holding starts $56 mln private placement for real estate fund'|'(Adds details)CAIRO, April 5 Egypt''s Naeem Holding on Wednesday started a private placement for a real estate fund worth 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($56 million), the company''s chief executive officer Yousef Al Far said at a news conference.The placement will take place over one month and will be followed by an initial public offering for the fund before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, due to start at the end of May.Al Far said the fund''s duration was three years and it was expected to make a profit of at least 26 percent a year.The minimum investment for the private placement is 10 million pounds and for the public offering 50,000 pounds.The firm also plans to launch another real estate fund before the end of the year, Al Far said.($1 = 17.9500 Egyptian pounds) (Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Jane Merriman and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/egypt-naeem-idINL5N1HD2YX'|'2017-04-05T09:27:00.000+03:00' '982c9ee568fb98cec90411b38addbb13f2bed433'|'Australia new vehicle sales edge higher in March-VFACTS'|'SYDNEY, April 5 Australian new vehicle sales bounced modestly in March as the timing of the Easter holidays resulted in more selling days compared to the same month last year.The Australian Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries'' VFACTS report out on Thursday showed 105,410 new vehicles were sold in March, up 0.9 percent on the same month last year.March this year had two more selling day than in 2016.For three months to March, sales were running 0.8 percent behind the same period last year.Sales of SUVs continued their domination with a rise of 7.9 percent on March last year, giving them 39.4 percent of the entire market. Sales of passenger vehicles dropped 10.7 percent, extending their long decline.Sales of light commercial vehicles jumped 11.3 percent, while sales in the heavy vehicle market rose 11.0 percent.Toyota Motor Corp retained first place on the sales ladder with 18.6 percent of the market. Mazda Motor Corp had another strong month taking 9.9 percent.Hyundai Motor took third spot with 8.3 percent, ahead of Mitsubishi on 7.3 percent. The Holden unit of General Motors took 6.8 percent and Ford held 6.5 percent. (Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/australia-economy-vehicleregistrations-idINL3N1HD0CQ'|'2017-04-05T00:04:00.000+03:00' 'd51e9f626378dec8ba00172d0792c8a4f2451277'|'BRIEF-Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate says on April 4, Patrick Dalton resigned as CEO'|' 36am EDT BRIEF-Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate says on April 4, Patrick Dalton resigned as CEO April 5 Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp : * Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp says on April 4, Patrick J. Dalton resigned as CEO of Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp - sec filing * Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp says Dalton resigned as a member of board of directors of company Source text ( bit.ly/2oBj6S3 '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-fifth-street-senior-floating-rate-idUSFWN1HD08R'|'2017-04-05T18:36:00.000+03:00' 'c92e4d1c895cd99a662372421eb6fcb1a8cb5e1f'|'Boko Haram video denies claims of starvation in northeast Nigeria forest'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:15am BST Boko Haram video denies claims of starvation in northeast Nigeria forest FILE PICTURE: A man purporting to be Boko Haram''s leader Abubakar Shekau speaks in this still frame taken from social media video courtesy of SITE Intel Group, released on August 10, 2016, in an unknown location. MANDATORY CREDIT Social Media courtesy of SITE INTEL GROUP/... REUTERS TV KADUNA, Nigeria The faction of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram led by Abubakar Shekau released a video on Tuesday denying that fighters are dying of hunger in its northeast Nigerian forest base. Nigeria''s military last week said it was "ransacking" territory it said it had recaptured from Boko Haram in the hunt for Shekau, who leads one of two main branches of the jihadist group. It also said he might be hiding in the Sambisa forest. Large parts of northeast Nigeria, particularly in Borno state, remain under threat from Boko Haram as suicide bombings and gun attacks have increased in the region since the end of the rainy season late last year. "There is no food that we lack in this forest of Sambisa. It is not true that we have run out of food supply and that we are being killed by hunger," said an unidentified man with a rifle, flanked by others carrying guns, in the five-minute video. Nigeria''s army said in December that it had pushed Boko Haram out of the Sambisa forest, a vast former colonial game reserve that was the group''s stronghold, in an operation to reclaim territory lost to the Islamist insurgency since 2009. Boko Haram split last year, with one faction led by Shekau operating from the forest and the other, allied to Islamic State and led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, based in the Lake Chad region. "We urge all members to be one hundred percent loyal to him [Shekau]," said the man in the video. "It is not true that you killed Shekau," he said, referring to previous claims by the Nigerian military that he had been fatally wounded. Shekau did not appear in the video, which was circulated on social media on Tuesday. Boko Haram has killed more than 15,000 people and forced more than two million to flee their homes during its insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state governed by a strict interpretation of sharia law in Africa''s most populous nation. (Reporting by Garba Muhammad; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Andrew Bolton) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nigeria-security-idUKKBN1760ZT'|'2017-04-04T18:15:00.000+03:00' '2f3e67274cd058a7f5a3ff17cb616f2fcc0b0d90'|'BRIEF-Centerpoint Energy submits proposal to enhance and build electric transmission facilities'|' 35pm EDT BRIEF-Centerpoint Energy submits proposal to enhance and build electric transmission facilities April 3 Centerpoint Energy Inc: * Centerpoint Energy submits proposal to enhance and build electric transmission facilities to serve the growing petrochemical industry along the Texas Gulf Coast * Centerpoint Energy- co expects to have proposed enhancements complete by summer 2019 and proposed new line is anticipated to be in service in 2021 '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-centerpoint-energy-submits-proposa-idUSFWN1HB0YP'|'2017-04-04T06:35:00.000+03:00' 'f7a5067fb58ba4f77e7a078410e781d8f0b21c89'|'Exclusive: Kate Spade seeks more time for talks after Coach bid - sources'|'By Greg Roumeliotis and Lauren Hirsch U.S. handbag and accessories maker Kate Spade & Co ( KATE.N ) will spend a few more weeks negotiating a potential sale of the company after receiving an offer last week from Coach Inc ( COH.N ), three people said on Monday on condition of anonymity.Michael Kors Holdings Ltd ( KORS.N ) also remains interested in Kate Spade, though it has not been pursuing an acquisition of the company as actively as rival fashion accessories maker Coach, the people said.Giving the sale process more time allows potential buyers to better assess Kate Spade''s first-quarter sales and negotiate a potential deal, the people added.Kate Spade shares ended trading on Monday down 1.85 percent at $22.80, giving it a market capitalization of around $2.9 billion. If Kate Spade manages to negotiate a sale of the company, a deal would very likely value it below that level, according to the people. It is also possible that negotiations end without a deal, the people cautioned.Michael Kors and Coach declined to comment, as did Kate Spade.Affordable luxury brands such as Michael Kors and Coach have suffered after they expanded their retail presence too quickly and sold too heavily in outlet stores, diluting the exclusivity that once caused shoppers to line up for the next hot handbag.These brands have been hurt as fewer shoppers in malls have led to fewer handbag sales, while a stronger dollar has made it difficult for them to maintain their popularity with tourists visiting the United States.Kate Spade would offer Coach or Michael Kors greater pricing power with department stores, as well a younger clientele.Coach has been seeking to diversify its business beyond handbags. It paid $574 million for designer footwear company Stuart Weitzman in 2015.Michael Kors, which sells apparel, handbags, watches and other accessories, said in its most recent earnings call it was "actively looking" at potential acquisitions and that it probably would not do small deals. The company has been focused on a turnaround by improving its outlets and stores.Kate Spade has been under pressure from a small New York-based hedge fund, Caerus Investors, whose stake in the company could not be determined. Caerus sent a letter to Kate Spade''s board in November, stating it was "increasingly frustrated" by the inability of the retailer''s management to achieve profit margins comparable with industry peers.Separately, investor Barry Rosenstein''s activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC has also revealed a small stake in the company.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-kate-spade-co-m-a-coach-idINKBN1752ER'|'2017-04-03T18:50:00.000+03:00' 'e6e99888f20229f3ca7c89ee5e30059c62271e17'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 4'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:16pm EDT PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 4 April 4 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines * Standard Chartered to double minimum wealth for private bank clients on.ft.com/2nUUF0k * Brexit fears lose UK ground in ranking of favoured tax regimes on.ft.com/2nUXyOy * Asset managers to seek injunction to block sale of Portugal’s Novo Banco on.ft.com/2nV6LGJ * May urged to assess impact of leaving EU without deal on.ft.com/2nV2T8J Overview - Standard Chartered will increase its threshold of investable client assets to $5 million from $2 million this year. The bank will concentrate on attracting families and people with at least $30 million in investable assets. - Britain kept its position as the second most competitive tax regime worldwide, a KPMG survey of large businesses showed. Multinational companies headquartered outside of the UK were particularly concerned about Brexit, and have ranked Britain as the fifth best tax regime in Europe, down from first place last year. - To block Lisbon''s agreed sale of Portuguese lender Novo Banco to Lone Star, BlackRock and other international asset managers are seeking an injunction. The fund managers, stepping up a legal battle over losses sustained in 2015, said that “the rules governing the sales process are discriminatory and breach Portuguese and EU law.” - Commons Brexit committee said British Prime Minister Theresa May''s assertion that “no deal is better than a bad deal” was “unsubstantiated” because the government had not assessed the implications of such an outcome since the referendum last year. The conclusions of the report were strongly contested by pro-Leave MPs on the committee who claimed the report was "too gloomy" and biased. (Compiled by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL3N1HC021'|'2017-04-04T08:16:00.000+03:00' '9f9636f7fa1196cc84d9d2040b8eb4add16e1671'|'South African markets fall sharply after S&P downgrade'|'Money News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:38pm IST South African markets fall sharply after S&P downgrade South African Rand coins are seen in this photo illustration taken September 9, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo JOHANNESBURG South Africa''s rand, bonds and banking shares tumbled sharply on Tuesday after S&P Global Ratings cut the country''s credit rating to junk in response to President Jacob Zuma''s move to sack its respected finance minister. Zuma''s cabinet reshuffle has triggered public criticism from within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and pressure is likely to mount on the president after the credit agency handed South Africa its first downgrade since 2000. New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is due to hold a news conference later in the day. Gigaba said on Monday he would pursue "tough and unpopular choices" to oversee a redistribution of wealth to the black majority, a stance echoing recent comments by Zuma. No details of the changes have been made public yet. The one-notch downgrade to BB+, S&P''s highest non-investment grade, will almost certainly force Africa''s most advanced economy to pay more to borrow its from international markets and possibly and may fall off global investors'' radar screens. "This sovereign downgrade will lead to a steep erosion of already poor levels of investor confidence," Cas Coovadia, head of the banking industry lobby group said. "Negative investor confidence will directly undermine an economy already struggling to achieve the levels of growth needed to meaningfully create jobs or lift our population out of poverty." Moody''s also said late on Monday that it was placing South Africa on review for downgrade, and that it would assess the likelihood of changes in key areas of financial and macro-economic policymaking following Zuma''s cabinet changes. The rand weakened as much as 1.9 percent before recovering to trade 1.2 percent lower at 13.8400 per dollar. The Johannesburg Securities Exchange''s banking index slumped as much as 4.2 percent, while the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 rose 16 basis points to 9.140 percent. (Reporting by Joe Brock and Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by James Macharia) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/safrica-markets-idINKBN1760YX'|'2017-04-04T18:08:00.000+03:00' '6a5748d148dabcbfd275803dd415be9c11390b05'|'Euro zone Feb retail sales rise as shoppers splurge on clothing'|'BRUSSELS Euro zone sales increased by more than expected in February as shoppers bought far more clothing than in January in a sign that consumers are still spending despite higher inflation.Retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro increased by 0.7 percent in February from January, the European Union''s statistics office Eurostat said on Tuesday, more than the average market expectation of a 0.5 percent rise.Year-on-year, the volume of retail sales grew 1.8 percent in January, higher than the 1.4 percent rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters.Eurostat also revised its figures for January, the month-on-month figure turning to a positive 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent and to 1.5 percent for the year-on-year figure, from a previous 1.2 percent.The figures, which are often subject to revision, may indicate an increased appetite for shopping in the euro zone, which had appeared to be dented by higher consumer prices, although euro zone inflation dipped to 1.5 percent in March from 2.0 percent in February.The increase in the retail sales in the month was mostly due to a 0.9 percent rise in purchases of non-food products, a wide category that includes clothing, electrical goods, pharmaceutical products and e-commerce.Sales of textiles, clothes and footwear were up 2.2 percent, while those of electronics and furniture sales declined by 0.3 percent.Sales of food, drinks and tobacco also gained 0.7 percent. Car fuel sales declined by 0.9 percent in the month.Monthly sales rose by most in Portugal, up 3.1 percent. Of the larger nations, Germany was the stand-out, with a 1.8 percent increase.(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-economy-salesfigures-idINKBN1760TP'|'2017-04-04T07:17:00.000+03:00' '01feac9f069b68213e2bb7e979bd2f18ad9d2738'|'Lockheed Martin wins $582 mln U.S. defense contract -Pentagon'|'EPA scientific integrity office reviewing Pruitt''s comments on carbon NEW YORK The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency''s scientific integrity watchdog is reviewing whether EPA chief Scott Pruitt violated the agency''s policies when he said in a television interview he does not believe carbon dioxide is driving global climate change, according to an email seen by Reuters on Friday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-pentagon-idUSKBN1722VO'|'2017-04-01T05:15:00.000+03:00' '773e8dc9a834937aef1582fdcea8e722050f5fff'|'RPT-The cost of cancer: new drugs show success at a steep price'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:00am EDT RPT-The cost of cancer: new drugs show success at a steep price (Repeats to additional customers with no changes to text) By Deena Beasley April 3 Newer cancer drugs that enlist the body''s immune system are improving the odds of survival, but competition between them is not reining in prices that can now top $250,000 a year. The drugs'' success for patients is the result of big bets in cancer therapy made by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Merck & Co Inc and Roche Holding AG, among others in big pharma. The industry''s pipeline of cancer drugs expanded by 63 percent between 2005 and 2015, according to the QuintilesIMS Institute, and a good number are reaching the market. The global market for cancer immunotherapies alone is expected to grow more than fourfold globally to $75.8 billion by 2022 from $16.9 billion in 2015, according to research firm GlobalData. For a graphic, click tmsnrt.rs/2omboI1 "For cancer drugs in general ... it is hard for us to drive down cost," said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts Holding Co, the nation''s largest manager of drug benefit plans for employers and insurers. "You don''t want to be in the position of being told to use the second best cancer drug for your child." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as President Donald Trump, have been grappling with how to restrain rising prescription drug costs. They have talked about solutions ranging from more price negotiation to faster approval of new drugs, often invoking increased competition between drugmakers. "Competition is key to lowering drug prices," Trump told pharmaceutical executives at an Oval Office meeting in January. But that is not happening with new drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that work by releasing a molecular brake, allowing the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells the same way it fights infections caused by bacteria or viruses. For cancers like melanoma, the treatments can mean long-term survival for around 20 percent of patients. Bristol''s Yervoy, first approved in 2011, targets a protein known as CTLA-4. Other immunotherapies, including Bristol''s Opdivo, Keytruda from Merck, Roche''s Tecentriq, and Pfizer Inc''s Bavencio, involve a different protein called PD-1. Other targets are being explored. Some new data will be presented this week in Washington at the American Association for Cancer Research''s annual meeting. Current checkpoint inhibitors each have a list price near $150,000 a year. A combination of Yervoy and Opdivo, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for advanced or inoperable melanoma, has a cost of $256,000 a year for patients who respond to the treatment. Similar immunotherapies are in development at companies like AstraZeneca Plc. Merck, which declined to comment on pricing plans, expects an FDA decision by May 10 on its combination of Keytruda and chemotherapy as an initial treatment for the most common form of lung cancer - by far the biggest market for cancer drugs. Pfizer said Bavencio, cleared by the FDA earlier this month to treat Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare type of skin cancer, has a price "comparable to other checkpoint inhibitors approved for different indications." The pharmaceutical industry holds that discussion of prescription drug prices has to take into account the major investment required for innovation and discovery of new lifesaving drugs. "UNRESTRAINED PRICING POWER" Scientific progress, and pricing power, are driving pharmaceutical companies to emphasize oncology research. "Most of the strategy on the part of pharmaceutical companies assumes unrestrained pricing power," said Dr. Peter Bach, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering''s Center for Health Policy Outcomes in New York. "We don''t see evidence that companies are pursuing cost-effective strategies." Health insurers have had success in demanding price concessions in some drug categories - like diabetes, where several companies sell similar products and insurers are able to negotiate price discounts or rebates in exchange for coverage. According to IMS, that tactic capped the overall rise in spending on diabetes medicines at 8 percent in 2015, compared with an increase of 30 percent in billed invoices. All of the invoice price growth for insulin was offset by price cuts, the institute said. But discounting is much less common for newer, innovative cancer drugs, mostly given by injection and approved for defined patient populations. Net price growth for branded oncology drugs averaged 4.8 percent in 2015, versus 6.4 percent for invoices, according to IMS. Express Scripts'' Miller and others said makers of new cancer medications enjoy pricing power due to coverage requirements, insurance plan structure and a lack of head-to-head comparison studies. "Cancer drugs don''t compete on price," said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and author of several studies of drug pricing. "Drug companies have market exclusivity and we require payers to cover cancer drugs - Medicare has six protected classes, including cancer." Medicare, the federal government''s healthcare plan for seniors and the disabled, covers most prescription drugs under its "Part D" pharmacy benefits. The plans are required to cover all drugs in six classes: cancer, HIV, antidepressants, antispychotics, seizure disorders like epilepsy, and immune system suppressants for people undergoing organ transplantation. Trump met recently with Representatives Elijah Cummings and Peter Welch, both Democrats, to discuss draft legislation allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices - but the bill preserves the six protected classes. In addition, drugs given by injection, including many cancer therapies, are covered under Medicare''s main medical benefit. Bristol disappointed investors when it did not pursue accelerated FDA review of the Opdivo/Yervoy combination for newly-diagnosed lung cancer - putting Merck ahead in the lucrative lung cancer market. "All of the immunotherapies have similar price points," said Miller at Express Scripts. "When you stack therapies, it means more expense for patients and (health) plan sponsors." (Editing by Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-healthcare-cancer-costs-idUSL2N1HB06W'|'2017-04-03T19:00:00.000+03:00' '7451cb44d345c30216a23fc39a64122250ea601c'|'TABLE- Top 20 selling vehicles in U.S. in March'|'April 3 The following are the 20 top-selling vehicles in the U.S. in March as reported by the automakers and ranked by total units. RANK VEHICLE Mar-17 Mar-16 PCT CHNG 1 Ford F-Series P/U 81,330 73,884 +10.1 2 Ram P/U 46,384 43,647 +6.3 3 Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 42,410 47,966 -11.6 4 Nissan Rogue 39,512 27,713 +42.6 5 Toyota Camry 35,648 36,991 -3.6 6 Honda CR-V 32,872 36,730 -10.5 7 Toyota Corolla 32,707 34,215 -4.4 8 Toyota RAV4 32,027 29,045 +10.3 9 Honda Civic 31,520 32,855 -4.1 10 Nissan Altima 28,511 34,856 -18.2 11 Ford Escape 28,113 28,521 -1.4 12 Honda Accord 26,824 30,523 -12.1 13 Hyundai Elantra 25,063 17,505 +43.2 14 Chevrolet Equinox 22,671 21,480 +5.5 15 Nissan Sentra 21,960 26,201 -16.2 16 Jeep Grand Cherokee 20,374 16,693 +22.1 17 Ford Explorer 20,232 21,605 -6.4 18 Ford Fusion 18,759 29,675 -36.8 19 Chevrolet Cruze 18,607 9,881 +88.3 20 GMC Sierra P/U 18,460 21,548 -14.3 Top 20 selling vehicles in U.S. through March. RANK VEHICLE YTD 2017 YTD 2016 PCT CHNG 1 Ford F-Series P/U 205,281 186,121 +10.3 2 Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 128,467 128,965 -0.4 3 Ram P/U 119,199 113,298 +5.2 4 Nissan Rogue 101,421 69,036 +46.9 5 Honda CR-V 94,057 71,188 +32.1 6 Toyota Camry 83,459 96,245 -13.3 7 Honda Civic 81,654 87,303 -6.5 8 Toyota Corolla 81,435 88,486 -8.0 9 Toyota RAV4 80,533 76,122 +5.8 10 Ford Escape 76,338 71,594 +6.6 11 Nissan Altima 73,985 85,332 -13.3 12 Honda Accord 69,815 77,073 -9.4 13 Chevrolet Equinox 62,709 59,879 +4.7 14 Jeep Grand Cherokee 56,600 47,658 +18.8 15 Ford Explorer 54,671 55,885 -2.2 16 Hyundai Elantra 54,202 39,363 +37.7 17 Chevrolet Cruze 53,923 37,241 +44.8 18 Nissan Sentra 51,414 62,944 -18.3 19 Ford Fusion 50,786 74,994 -32.3 20 GMC Sierra P/U 49,810 51,131 -2.6 (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autosalesusa-top-idINL3N1HB4KS'|'2017-04-03T16:40:00.000+03:00' '6cc3d0ac54da148f1bb036c6337623a42f1f3e22'|'Still weak Mexican peso prompts bets on tourism'|'Business 16am EDT Still weak Mexican peso prompts bets on tourism A picture illustration shows Mexican pesos and U.S. dollars banknotes in Mexico City July 6, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido By Dion Rabouin Mexican airports and tourism operators are fast becoming a hotspot for investors betting they will escape the trade-related worries that have squeezed some other assets there, with lingering weakness in the peso seen providing further upside. While the Mexican currency has gained some 17 percent against the dollar since the inauguration of Donald Trump as U.S. president in January, fund managers say the currency is still undervalued even as it moves below 19 pesos per dollar. That means that Mexico - long a reasonably priced destination for Americans - remains cheap, potentially further boosting a strong inflow of tourists. The number of international tourists in Mexico climbed 9 percent to 35 million in 2016, a year in which the dollar gained around 20 percent against the peso, according to Mexican Tourism Ministry figures. A January OECD report linked the growth to "sharp depreciation of the Mexican peso," which had "improved the price competitiveness of tourism exports in Mexico''s main source markets, particularly in the important U.S. market." Moody''s Investors Service said in a report late last year that it expected further growth in 2017, thanks to a reduction in fuel prices, a strong dollar and increased competition among airlines. A continued tourism upswing could benefit Grupo Posadas, a Mexican hotel operator, as well as Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. ( GAPB.MX ), a holding company that operates international airports in the Pacific and Central regions of Mexico and in Jamaica, both of whose bonds Aberdeen Asset Management''s emerging market debt fund owns. "For American tourists ... it''s cheaper for them to go on holiday now and we don''t think Trump''s policies are going to prevent the marginal person in the U.S. from going on holiday in Cancun," said Kathy Collins, Aberdeen''s emerging market debt investment manager. TOURISM SHINES Loomis Sayles'' emerging markets co-portfolio manager Eddy Sternberg is also betting on Grupo Posadas, part of the firm''s overweight position in Mexican corporate debt, noting that "with all the Mexican peso depreciation, tourism is doing fabulously." Grupo Posadas'' dollar-denominated bonds maturing in 2022 have seen their yields drop 111 basis points since the U.S. inauguration and their spread over comparable U.S. Treasuries compress 85 basis points during that time. Aberdeen''s Collins favored the tourism sector over others like industrial real estate that she believes could be more affected by Mexican and U.S. political developments. Similarly, Loomis Sayles'' Sternberg recently reduced his holdings of Mexican banks because of how exposed they were to Mexico''s domestic economy. Of course, foreign demand is not the only factor contributing to strength in Mexican travel and tourism. Aaron Visse, who co-manages asset management firm Salient''s Dividend Signal Strategy portfolios, which focus on emerging market infrastructure investments, said population growth and the emergence of a middle class in Mexico had encouraged him to buy stock in airports, including Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB CV ( ASURB.MX ) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico. Both companies were privatized in the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of a plan to put the airport industry, which operates based on long-term concessions handed out by the government, in the hands of private enterprise. ASR''s American depositary receipts have surged 150 percent over the past 5 years compared with 67 percent for the benchmark S&P 500 equity index .SPX . Meanwhile, Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico has more than quadrupled over the same period, far outpacing the 22 percent gain in Mexico''s benchmark IPC index .MXX during the same period. "These things have been really compelling long-term, total return stories and I think they’re really exciting assets in markets like Mexico and others where you’re going to continue to see population growth and more emergence of a middle class," Visse said. (Reporting by Dion Rabouin; Editing by Christian Plumb and Bernadette Baum) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-markets-travel-idUSKBN1751FE'|'2017-04-03T21:13:00.000+03:00' '1c64410193c4129e6209dbea3c3ba0cf5e86fcce'|'U.S. FCC reverses Charter Communications ''overbuild'' requirement'|'WASHINGTON, April 3 The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted to reverse a requirement imposed under the Obama administration that Charter Communications Inc extend broadband service to 1 million households that currently have service, a source briefed on the matter said. The decision was a win for a group representing smaller cable companies that petitioned to overturn the "overbuild" requirement. As a condition of approval for its acquisition of two cable companies, Charter in May 2016 agreed to extend high-speed internet access to two million customers within five years, with one million served by a broadband competitor. Under the revised FCC order expected to be made public Monday, Charter can opt to add all 2 million additional potential subscribers in places without existing service. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-charter-idINL2N1HB0NP'|'2017-04-03T12:21:00.000+03:00' '3cdbdc6ceaee907bcfa8540918a7738dd336ff73'|'Bristol-Myers immunotherapy combination extends survival in melanoma'|'Health News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:32am EDT Bristol-Myers immunotherapy combination extends survival in melanoma By Bill Berkrot Patients with advanced melanoma who received Bristol-Myers Squibb''s immunotherapies Opdivo and Yervoy had improved overall survival compared with those on Yervoy alone, with 64 percent on the combination therapy still alive after two years, according to data released on Monday. The combination therapy won approval to treat the deadliest form of skin cancer based on its ability to delay disease worsening, known as progression-free survival, with the condition that it ultimately helps patients live longer. Data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Washington for the first time demonstrated that overall survival benefit. Prior to the introduction of these new drugs that help the immune system fight cancer, including Keytruda from Merck & Co, advanced melanoma was a short-term death sentence. The new drugs do come at a hefty price. The combination regimen used in the study costs about $145,200, Bristol said. In the 945-patient late stage trial, median overall survival for Yervoy, known chemically as ipilimumab, was 20 months. Median overall survival had not yet been reached for the combination or for Opdivo (nivolumab) alone, with a minimum follow-up of 28 months. After two years, 59 percent of those who got Opdivo alone were still alive, while 64 percent of patients in the combination group were alive. "This level of survival rate at two years is really unprecedented," said Fouad Namouni, Bristol''s head of medical and oncology development. Put another way, the combination therapy reduced the risk of death 45 percent compared with Yervoy, the company said. No new safety issues turned up in the study, Bristol-Myers said. However, the rate of serious adverse side effects was 58 percent for the combination, 21 percent for Opdivo and 28 percent for Yervoy. "It is exciting to see that initial results suggest that the nivolumab plus ipilimumab combination provides favorable survival outcomes compared with ipilimumab alone," Dr. James Larkin, the study''s lead investigator, said in a statement. The higher rate of severe side effects should be considered when making treatment decisions, he added. Bristol-Myers is looking to regain its standing in the burgeoning immuno-oncology field. It ceded its perceived lead to Merck last year, when Opdivo proved no better than chemotherapy as an initial treatment for advanced lung cancer, by far the biggest oncology market. Merck''s Keytruda won approval as a first-line treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. (Reporting by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Next In Health News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bristol-myers-cancer-idUSKBN1751AY'|'2017-04-03T20:30:00.000+03:00' '4d804f0542426f7de7817edfcf6263eb4f9df161'|'The cost of cancer: new drugs show success at a steep price'|'Company 00am EDT The cost of cancer: new drugs show success at a steep price By Deena Beasley - April 3 April 3 Newer cancer drugs that enlist the body''s immune system are improving the odds of survival, but competition between them is not reining in prices that can now top $250,000 a year. The drugs'' success for patients is the result of big bets in cancer therapy made by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Merck & Co Inc and Roche Holding AG, among others in big pharma. The industry''s pipeline of cancer drugs expanded by 63 percent between 2005 and 2015, according to the QuintilesIMS Institute, and a good number are reaching the market. The global market for cancer immunotherapies alone is expected to grow more than fourfold globally to $75.8 billion by 2022 from $16.9 billion in 2015, according to research firm GlobalData. For a graphic, click tmsnrt.rs/2omboI1 "For cancer drugs in general ... it is hard for us to drive down cost," said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts Holding Co, the nation''s largest manager of drug benefit plans for employers and insurers. "You don''t want to be in the position of being told to use the second best cancer drug for your child." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as President Donald Trump, have been grappling with how to restrain rising prescription drug costs. They have talked about solutions ranging from more price negotiation to faster approval of new drugs, often invoking increased competition between drugmakers. "Competition is key to lowering drug prices," Trump told pharmaceutical executives at an Oval Office meeting in January. But that is not happening with new drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that work by releasing a molecular brake, allowing the immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells the same way it fights infections caused by bacteria or viruses. For cancers like melanoma, the treatments can mean long-term survival for around 20 percent of patients. Bristol''s Yervoy, first approved in 2011, targets a protein known as CTLA-4. Other immunotherapies, including Bristol''s Opdivo, Keytruda from Merck, Roche''s Tecentriq, and Pfizer Inc''s Bavencio, involve a different protein called PD-1. Other targets are being explored. Some new data will be presented this week in Washington at the American Association for Cancer Research''s annual meeting. Current checkpoint inhibitors each have a list price near $150,000 a year. A combination of Yervoy and Opdivo, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for advanced or inoperable melanoma, has a cost of $256,000 a year for patients who respond to the treatment. Similar immunotherapies are in development at companies like AstraZeneca Plc. Merck, which declined to comment on pricing plans, expects an FDA decision by May 10 on its combination of Keytruda and chemotherapy as an initial treatment for the most common form of lung cancer - by far the biggest market for cancer drugs. Pfizer said Bavencio, cleared by the FDA earlier this month to treat Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare type of skin cancer, has a price "comparable to other checkpoint inhibitors approved for different indications." The pharmaceutical industry holds that discussion of prescription drug prices has to take into account the major investment required for innovation and discovery of new lifesaving drugs. "UNRESTRAINED PRICING POWER" Scientific progress, and pricing power, are driving pharmaceutical companies to emphasize oncology research. "Most of the strategy on the part of pharmaceutical companies assumes unrestrained pricing power," said Dr. Peter Bach, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering''s Center for Health Policy Outcomes in New York. "We don''t see evidence that companies are pursuing cost-effective strategies." Health insurers have had success in demanding price concessions in some drug categories - like diabetes, where several companies sell similar products and insurers are able to negotiate price discounts or rebates in exchange for coverage. According to IMS, that tactic capped the overall rise in spending on diabetes medicines at 8 percent in 2015, compared with an increase of 30 percent in billed invoices. All of the invoice price growth for insulin was offset by price cuts, the institute said. But discounting is much less common for newer, innovative cancer drugs, mostly given by injection and approved for defined patient populations. Net price growth for branded oncology drugs averaged 4.8 percent in 2015, versus 6.4 percent for invoices, according to IMS. Express Scripts'' Miller and others said makers of new cancer medications enjoy pricing power due to coverage requirements, insurance plan structure and a lack of head-to-head comparison studies. "Cancer drugs don''t compete on price," said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, a researcher at Harvard Medical School and author of several studies of drug pricing. "Drug companies have market exclusivity and we require payers to cover cancer drugs - Medicare has six protected classes, including cancer." Medicare, the federal government''s healthcare plan for seniors and the disabled, covers most prescription drugs under its "Part D" pharmacy benefits. The plans are required to cover all drugs in six classes: cancer, HIV, antidepressants, antispychotics, seizure disorders like epilepsy, and immune system suppressants for people undergoing organ transplantation. Trump met recently with Representatives Elijah Cummings and Peter Welch, both Democrats, to discuss draft legislation allowing the government to negotiate Medicare drug prices - but the bill preserves the six protected classes. In addition, drugs given by injection, including many cancer therapies, are covered under Medicare''s main medical benefit. Bristol disappointed investors when it did not pursue accelerated FDA review of the Opdivo/Yervoy combination for newly-diagnosed lung cancer - putting Merck ahead in the lucrative lung cancer market. "All of the immunotherapies have similar price points," said Miller at Express Scripts. "When you stack therapies, it means more expense for patients and (health) plan sponsors." (Editing by Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-healthcare-cancer-costs-idUSL2N1GY0KT'|'2017-04-03T14:00:00.000+03:00' '0815de36cdccac3d10a6e56180ac227e46f194b3'|'Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design'|' 12pm EDT Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design FILE PHOTO: The Apple Inc. store is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo By Stephen Nellis - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc''s decision to stop licensing graphics chips from Imagination Technologies Group Plc is the clearest example yet of the iPhone maker''s determination to take greater control of the core technologies in its products - both to guard its hefty margins and to position it for future innovations, especially in so-called augmented reality. The strategy, analysts say, has already reduced Apple''s dependence on critical outside suppliers like ARM Holdings Plc, now owned by SoftBank Group Corp. Apple once relied heavily on ARM to design the main processor for the iPhone, but it now licenses only the basic ARM architecture and designs most of the chip itself. More recently, when Apple bought the headphone company Beats Electronics, part of a $3 billion deal in 2014, it ripped out the existing, off-the-shelf communications chips and replaced them with its own custom-designed W1 Bluetooth chip. "Apple clearly got rid of all the conventional suppliers and replaced about five chips with one," said Jim Morrison, vice president of TechInsights, a firm that examines the chips inside electronics devices. "Today we do much more in-house development of fundamental technologies than we used to," Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said at a February conference. "Think of the work we do on processors or sensors. We can push the envelope on innovation. We have better control over timing, over cost and over quality." Most vendors of consumer electronics products rely on outside suppliers for chip design and development, primarily because it is extremely expensive. That has created huge opportunities for companies like ARM, Qualcomm Inc and Nvidia Corp, which have developed core technologies for processing, communications and graphics that are used by scores of vendors. Now, though, Apple is so big that it can economically create its own designs, or license small pieces of others'' work and build on it. As with ARM and Qualcomm, the actual manufacturing of the chips is still contracted out to a semiconductor foundry, such as those run by Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. MOVE FAST, SAVE MONEY Bringing more of the design work in-house cuts complexity, people familiar with the processes say. Instead of managing one or more design teams and then a fabricator, Apple has only to manage the fabricator. It may also help the company move faster - and save money - as it focuses on new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Apple CEO Tim Cook has indicated that Apple plans to integrate augmented reality into its products, which makes 3-D sensors and graphics chips like Imagination''s especially important. Even before formally cutting off Imagination, Apple had given hints that it was preparing to design its own graphics processors. Specifically, it introduced a piece of its own code called Metal for app developers. App developers use Metal to make their apps talk to the graphics chip on the iPhone. By putting a piece of Apple-designed code between app developers and the phone''s chip, Apple has made it possible to swap out the chip without interrupting how the developers work. That could also make it easier to bridge the gap for developers between the graphics chips on Apple''s phones and its desktop computers, which currently require some separate coding. “By promoting Metal instead of relying on other existing standards, Apple is not only able to control what graphics chip functionality is exposed at its own pace, but also blur the line for developers between coding for desktop and mobile GPUs," said Pius Uzamere, the founder of a virtual reality startup called Ether. Taking control of the iPhone''s chips can also help Apple keep costs down, which is especially important as it gears up for a feature-laden new iPhone this fall. Timothy Arcuri of Cowen & Co said in a research note that he thinks the curved screens expected on the new phone could add as much as $50 in cost, for example. Shebly Seyrafi, an analyst at FBN Securities, estimates that the average price of an iPhone increased only 1 percent to $695 last quarter, while costs increased 8 percent to $420, resulting in an iPhone gross margin of 39.6 percent. That is down from the 44 percent average gross margin for iPhones in 2015, according to Seyrafi''s estimates. Apple spends only $75 million a year on licensing fees for Imagination''s chips. But licensing fees to chip designers, taken together, are a significant cost for the iPhone. Apple recently sued Qualcomm for $1 billion over licensing terms for its communications chips - which Apple would have trouble designing in-house because of patent issues. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Rigby) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-silicon-analysis-idUSKBN17631W'|'2017-04-05T07:12:00.000+03:00' '2aa0278398dfcface98361a579073c76609a8731'|'UPDATE 2-Brazil''s Renova to finalize project sale to AES on Monday -sources'|'Deals 6:42pm EDT Brazil''s Renova to finalize project sale to AES on Monday: sources SAO PAULO Brazil''s renewable power generation company Renova Energia SA ( RNEW11.SA ) will finalize the sale of wind farm Alto Sertão II to the Brazilian unit of AES Corp ( AES.N ) for about 700 million reais ($223 million) as early as Monday, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The project sale is a condition for Brookfield Asset Management Inc''s ( BAMa.TO ) plan to enter Renova''s controlling bloc in a deal valued at about 1 billion reais, said the people, who asked for anonymity because the matter remains private. Under terms of the deal, which could be announced in coming days, Canada''s Brookfield ( BAMa.TO ) would purchase the 15.7 percent stake that Light Energia SA has in Renova and then pump fresh cash into the company, said the people. Currently, Light forms part of a controlling bloc that owns about 64 percent of Renova. Renova units ( RNEW11.SA ), a blend of its common and preferred shares, jumped 10 percent on Friday, on top of a 15 percent surge the prior trading day. Shares of Light ( LIGT3.SA ) shed 1.3 percent, their fourth decline in five sessions. Renova did not have an immediate comment. Light''s press office referred any questions related to Renova to controlling shareholder Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA ( CMIG4.SA ). Brookfield declined to comment. AES Brasil said it continues to analyze the Alto Sertão II transaction, without elaborating further. Both deals, if successfully concluded, would help Renova overcome a severe cash crunch that has led to investment plan delays and cost cuts. Renova''s woes have worsened since a planned partnership with SunEdison Inc ( SUNEQ.PK ) collapsed weeks before the U.S. company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. By injecting capital, Brookfield would be giving Light a chance to exit the company while diluting the other two members of Renova''s controlling bloc, Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA ( CMIG4.SA ) and RR Participações SA. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-renova-energia-m-a-brookfield-asset-idUSKBN1722Z3'|'2017-04-01T06:39:00.000+03:00' '4cb7164cba06f87f7bcf86ebbe261056844b409d'|'Wall Street braces for rough ride as exchanges seek more speed bumps'|' Wall Street braces for rough ride as exchanges seek more speed bumps By John McCrank - NEW YORK, April 4 NEW YORK, April 4 U.S. stock exchanges that spent decades speeding up markets with cutting-edge technology are now rushing to slow them down. The New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Inc are all awaiting decisions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on whether they can delay trades through so-called "speed bumps" and new order types. The SEC is expected to approve or reject their proposals in the coming weeks. The about-face comes after advances in technology made it possible to complete trades almost at the speed of light, prompting concerns by some market participants that sophisticated high-frequency traders were eating the lunch of ordinary investors. Exchanges have profited from selling specialized services to high-frequency traders, which make up more than half of U.S. trading volume. But now they are looking at ways to attract a wider range of investors, at least to certain of their trading venues, or are making sure they are keeping up with each other. The SEC approved the market''s first speed bump last year, but rules around intentionally slowing down trades are vague and it is difficult to predict which, if any, of the proposals will pass. SEC staff are scrutinizing how each exchange justifies its plans, said a person familiar with the matter. "Whenever you have something that applies to one group and not others, it''s discriminatory in some sense," said the person, who asked for anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media. "The question is, can you justify the discrimination?" The proposals follow the launch of IEX Group, which burst onto the scene last August with the market''s inaugural speed bump and other features they said would level the playing field and protect small investors from high-speed trading chicanery. Other exchanges were some of IEX''s fiercest opponents and there is still a heated debate about whether the upstart is as altruistic as it was portrayed in Michael Lewis''s best-selling book "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." However, its new way of doing business ultimately forced rivals to rethink their own strategies. Exchanges'' reputations hinge on their ability to execute orders quickly and seamlessly for brokers, which are required to get customers the best market prices. Lewis''s book scandalized Wall Street with its claim that exchanges were rigging the market by allowing high-frequency traders to use their speed to effectively jump the queue of orders from ordinary investors, known in the industry as "latency arbitrage." Many on Wall Street dispute that such a thing exists. Nevertheless, high-frequency trading firms pay exchanges huge sums for near light-speed market access and data to drive their algorithms, and have become an increasingly large player in the stock market over the past decade. IEX ran counter to the trend by establishing an exchange that does not make speed the primary factor and does not sell things like access to microwave and laser data feeds that give ultra-fast traders an edge. The approach appealed to many customers, including several institutional investors, and the exchange now has 2 percent of the U.S. stock-trading market. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2mJMuor ) Most traditional exchanges initially opposed IEX''s speed-bump proposal, but have since had a change of heart, since it has become clear that some investors want to see such change. "The SEC, by approving IEX''s exchange application, has opened up the marketplace for the potential for innovation around market structure that really has not been available to us for the last almost 10 years," said Nasdaq Chief Executive Adena Friedman. UN-AMERICAN? In giving IEX the green light, the SEC said exchanges could pause trades for up to a millisecond, as long as the delays were not unfairly discriminatory or anti-competitive. The NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc , essentially wants to copy IEX''s speed bump, as well as an order type the startup pioneered. NYSE argues that while it previously said the model was bad for the market, some institutional investors prefer it and NYSE should be allowed to offer them the choice. NYSE, whose chairman once called IEX "un-American," also plans to rename its proposed speed-bump exchange NYSE American from NYSE MKT. NYSE''s main New York Stock Exchange market would remain unchanged. In contrast, the Chicago Stock Exchange put forward a speed-bump plan that some brokers can bypass if they meet strict requirements to provide quotes for others. In doing so, it hopes to create more liquidity. Rather than a speed bump, Nasdaq wants to introduce an "extended life" order type. It would apply only to orders generated by regular, mom-and-pop investors, who tend to be less informed and therefore coveted by professional traders. The orders would sit exposed for at least a second and then jump ahead of other investors to get filled. Wall Street lacks consensus on whether the proposed delays are a good idea. Some high-frequency trading firms have asked the SEC to deny the proposals, arguing that various time lags across 13 exchanges would make it difficult to know the true price of a stock at any given time. For its part, IEX has asked the SEC to reject NYSE''s proposal. In an interview, Chief Market Policy Officer John Ramsay characterized some rivals'' plans as disingenuous. "The speed bump is just one piece of our market design and it''s designed to work with all of the other pieces in tandem,” said John Ramsay, IEX''s Chief Market Policy Officer. Others support the new developments. "The only one this impacts is the guy whose business model is to rely on speed in somewhat, I would argue, a pernicious manner," Doug Cifu, CEO of trading firm Virtu Financial Inc , said in an interview. (Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Bill Rigby) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/exchanges-speedbumps-idUSL2N1HB170'|'2017-04-04T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'e6fc6e3d89611e7adfd4b34d23988528520d3ee1'|'Seadrill says shares to have little value after restructuring'|'OSLO, April 4 The current shareholders of Seadrill should expect to lose almost all value of their stock as the company prepares for potential bankruptcy proceedings to restructure debt and liabilities of $14 billion, the rig firm said on Tuesday.It also said that its banks and other lenders had agreed to extend ongoing restructuring talks by three months to July 31."We currently believe that a comprehensive restructuring plan will require a substantial impairment or conversion of our bonds, as well as impairment, losses or substantial dilution for other stakeholders," Seadrill said in a statement."As a result, the company currently expects that shareholders are likely to receive minimal recovery for their existing shares ... We expect the implementation of a comprehensive restructuring plan will likely involve schemes of arrangement or chapter 11 proceedings, and we are preparing accordingly," it added.Once the crown jewel in the empire of shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, Oslo-listed Seadrill''s shares have fallen 95 percent in the past three years as plunging crude prices and drastic spending cuts by oil companies hammered rig rates. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/seadrill-restructuring-idUSL5N1HC0K6'|'2017-04-04T09:49:00.000+03:00' '8f1c3bc2b058c40e42aa3eb444172f006b6ff854'|'Blackrock among those seeking to block Novo Banco-Lone Star deal'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 2:51am BST Blackrock among those seeking to block Novo Banco-Lone Star deal People pass by a Novo Banco branch in Lisbon, Portugal March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes Blackrock and other asset management institutions are seeking an injunction this week to block the sale of Portugal''s Novo Banco to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star. "The rules governing the sales process are discriminatory and breach Portuguese and EU law," the fund managers, which included Blackrock, said in an email statement. The names of other financial institutions were not mentioned. The Bank of Portugal in 2015 had transferred bonds from "good bank" Novo Banco to Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to boost Novo Banco''s balance sheet by 1.98 billion euros ($2.11 billion). Novo Banco was created from BES in August 2014 after a 4.9 billion euro rescue. The bond transfer had caused losses of about 1.5 billion for ordinary retail investors and pensioners and a group representing more than two-thirds of the transferred notes had begun legal proceedings against the Bank of Portugal, the statement said. Closure of the Novo Banco sale to Lone Star would impair the fund managers clients'' claim against Novo Banco and their clients’ ability to recoup losses, the statement said. Portugal on Friday had agreed to sell a 75 percent stake in state-rescued lender Novo Banco to Lone Star in exchange for a capital injection of 1 billion euros into the institution. (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-portugal-novobanco-injunction-idUKKBN17604W'|'2017-04-04T09:51:00.000+03:00' '3aed825e530e4053135e7dfe6232853a080aa700'|'Brazil judge kicks PricewaterhouseCoopers off Oi bankruptcy case'|'SAO PAULO The judge overseeing the in-court restructuring of Brazilian phone company Oi SA ( OIBR3.SA ) dropped PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) as court administrator on the case, the biggest bankruptcy filing in Brazilian history, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters on Friday.Judge Fernando Cesar Ferreira Viana said in his decision that he had lost trust in PWC after it asked for an extension and committed a "gross error" in compiling a list of Oi''s creditors. The judge appointed BDO Consultoria to replace PWC on the case, working in conjunction with law firm Arnoldo Wald.(Reporting by Ana Mano; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Daniel Flynn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-pricewaterhouse-idINKBN1722UM'|'2017-03-31T18:52:00.000+03:00' 'f3d775dfa6c17711fe586a869b0c569d3850e51d'|'Blackrock among those seeking to block Novo Banco-Lone Star deal'|'Blackrock and other asset management institutions are seeking an injunction this week to block the sale of Portugal''s Novo Banco to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star."The rules governing the sales process are discriminatory and breach Portuguese and EU law," the fund managers, which included Blackrock, said in an email statement.The names of other financial institutions were not mentioned.The Bank of Portugal in 2015 had transferred bonds from "good bank" Novo Banco to Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to boost Novo Banco''s balance sheet by 1.98 billion euros ($2.11 billion). Novo Banco was created from BES in August 2014 after a 4.9 billion euro rescue.The bond transfer had caused losses of about 1.5 billion for ordinary retail investors and pensioners and a group representing more than two-thirds of the transferred notes had begun legal proceedings against the Bank of Portugal, the statement said.Closure of the Novo Banco sale to Lone Star would impair the fund managers clients'' claim against Novo Banco and their clients’ ability to recoup losses, the statement said.Portugal on Friday had agreed to sell a 75 percent stake in state-rescued lender Novo Banco to Lone Star in exchange for a capital injection of 1 billion euros into the institution.(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-novobanco-injunction-idUSKBN17604P'|'2017-04-04T05:47:00.000+03:00' '92d2f91f335f27645628f8c7381b31c4ba8b7fec'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX little changed as resources gain, financials slip'|'Company 44am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX little changed as resources gain, financials slip TORONTO, March 10 Canada''s main stock index was little changed on Tuesday as gains in gold and oil prices helped boost the mining and energy sectors, offsetting a decline in the financial sector. At 9:40 am ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was up 9.62 points, or 0.06 percent, at 15,594.02. Of the index''s 10 main groups, six were in positive territory. (Reporting by John Tilak) Next In Company News CEE MARKETS-Fx ease, bonds firm on weaker data, crown steadies * Crown joins forint, zloty easing * Bond yields at multi-month lows after CPI, PMI, retail data * Inflation may soon enter retreat phase * Agrokor woes weigh on Croatian stocks ahead of parliament debate (Adds plunge of Croatian stocks, new prices) By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 4 Central European currencies eased and bonds extended gains on Tuesday after a batch of weaker-than-expected economic data. The zloty and the forint ease MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/markets-stocks-canada-idUSL2N1HC0PF'|'2017-04-04T21:44:00.000+03:00' '14b1be788c90ebe248b15a1e5108c264739d6173'|'BRIEF-SNC-Lavalin confirms approach to WS Atkins'|' 15am EDT BRIEF-SNC-Lavalin confirms approach to WS Atkins April 4 Snc-lavalin Group Inc - * SNC-Lavalin confirms approach to WS Atkins Source text for Eikon: QUANG TRI, Vietnam, April 4 "The big fish are all dead," complained 50 year-old Mai Xuan Hoa, picking small fish from a net as he tried to rebuild his livelihood a year after Vietnam''s worst environmental disaster. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-snc-lavalin-confirms-approach-to-w-idUSFWN1HC00U'|'2017-04-04T14:15:00.000+03:00' '357d499d7b4ce773b272ddfa41dc11df3b3fbedc'|'CEE MARKETS-Fx ease, bonds firm on weaker data, crown positions concern'|'* Crown joins forint, zloty easing, Czech central bank eyed * Bond yields at multi-month lows after CPI, PMI, retail data * Inflation may soon enter retreat phase, help to bonds-trader By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 4 Central European currencies eased and bonds extended gains on Tuesday after a batch of weaker-than-expected economic data and expectations that the Czech central bank (CNB) will get rid of its cap on the crown currency''s value soon. The crown, the zloty and the forint eased in tandem by about 0.1 percent against the euro. The crown traded at 27.095 at 0805 GMT. Its easing is unusual as it has traded near 27 for most of the past three-and-a-half years, after the CNB launched a cap at that level to fight deflation risks. Its commitment to keep the weak crown regime expired on Friday and now it can remove the cap any time. Speculation for a crown rise led to heavy crown buying in the past months, but fears that the currency has become overbought has lifted volatility in crown markets. "There is a nervous mood in the market. Nobody knows when the central bank will decide (on the end of the intervention regime)," one dealer said. "The central bank is still sitting around the 27.02 level. I don''t think they are buying at higher levels." Some foreign investors may have even sold Czech government bonds and reinvested their money in Budapest and Warsaw in the past weeks, traders have said. Czech bonds were mixed on Tuesday, while Polish and Hungarian papers extended their yields. Poland''s 10-year bond yield touched 4-month lows a shade below 3.4 percent. Expectations for a retreat in inflation in the region helped bonds, one trader said. Poland was the first in the region to publish March inflation data and the 2 percent annual figure published on Friday was below analysts'' 2.3 percent forecast. Monday''s Czech, Hungarian and Polish PMI manufacturing index figures for March showed steady economic growth, but were below expectations. Hungary''s statistics office said on Tuesday that the annual rise in retail sales slowed to 1.2 percent in February from 3.8 percent in January. "We do not change our economic growth forecast, but negative risks seem to strengthen," said Peter Virovacz, analyst of ING in Budapest about the data in a note. Central European stock markets were mostly range-bound. The stocks of Hungarian power distributor Elmu jumped more than 4 percent to 25,900 forints ($89.36) after its board proposed paying 1,500 forint/share dividend on 2016 earnings. 7 basis CEE SNAPS AT 1005 points t MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 27.09 27.06 -0.11 -0.32 50 60 % % Hungary 308.8 308.5 -0.10 0.01% forint 000 050 % Polish 4.247 4.245 -0.05 3.67% zloty 8 8 % Romanian 4.545 4.548 +0.0 -0.22 leu 0 3 7% % Croatian 7.426 7.428 +0.0 1.74% kuna 0 5 3% Serbian 123.6 123.7 +0.0 -0.24 dinar 500 300 6% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 983.3 985.2 -0.18 +6.7 8 0 % 0% Budapest 31898 31788 +0.3 -0.33 .46 .40 5% % Warsaw 2224. 2219. +0.2 +14. 65 88 1% 21% Bucharest 8152. 8155. -0.04 +15. 77 65 % 07% Ljubljana 771.9 775.4 -0.45 +7.5 1 1 % 7% Zagreb 2028. 2035. -0.34 +1.6 32 31 % 8% Belgrade <.BELEX15 726.0 730.0 -0.56 +1.2 > 0 7 % 0% Sofia 634.6 633.1 +0.2 +8.2 2 3 4% 2% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 3 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year 9 bps Poland 2-year E! E! s 5-year E! 8 E! s 10-year E! E! s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.28 0.31 0.34 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.25 0.35 0.18 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.77 1.77 1.81 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL5N1HC1LF'|'2017-04-04T07:29:00.000+03:00' '9dfb215a524d160911a9c3c1001b8c9d2dc18a16'|'BRIEF-KLX announces filing of extension for form 10-k'|' 06am EDT BRIEF-KLX announces filing of extension for form 10-k April 4 Klx Inc * KLX inc. Announces filing of extension for form 10-k * KLX inc -expects it will report that it had a material weakness in its internal controls * KLX inc says expects receivables associated with this single end of contract claim to be recognized as revenue during 2017 * KLX inc-expects will report quarterly adjustments to revenues, earnings, as well as adjustments to fy results as compared to march 7 news release '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-klx-announces-filing-of-extension-idUSFWN1HC062'|'2017-04-04T19:06:00.000+03:00' 'ff729c629ad0f49f0b90f7e4947968bccc00d81c'|'South Korea CJ says considering bid for L''Oreal''s The Body Shop'|'SEOUL South Korea''s CJ Corp said on Wednesday it is considering entering a bid for L''Oreal SA''s ( OREP.PA ) brand The Body Shop.CJ Corp, the holding company for food-to-entertainment conglomerate CJ Group, said in a regulatory filing nothing had been decided, including whether it would enter a bid or what unit might launch any potential bid.L''Oreal''s sale of British retailer The Body Shop has drawn interest from a series of private equity investors who are lining up indicative bids ahead of a mid-April deadline, sources told Reuters last month.(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Paul Tait)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-l-oreal-thebodyshop-m-a-cj-idINKBN17701Z'|'2017-04-04T22:46:00.000+03:00' '1dc85076839cbeeb51bcb0b5af66b04f6b24b042'|'BRIEF-Adaptimmune Therapeutics announces registered direct offering of ADS'|' 15am EDT BRIEF-Adaptimmune Therapeutics announces registered direct offering of ADS April 5 Adaptimmune Therapeutics Plc * Adaptimmune therapeutics plc announces registered direct offering of american depositary shares * Adaptimmune therapeutics - entered agreement with matrix capital management co lp to buy about us$42 million of its american depositary shares * Adaptimmune therapeutics-net proceeds of offering will be used to advance co''s wholly-owned pipeline of spear t-cell candidates through clinical trials Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-adaptimmune-therapeutics-announces-idUSASB0B8N2'|'2017-04-05T21:15:00.000+03:00' 'e9ea73abe633242fb58034c65f8bda82e42594b9'|'China central bank says to pursue crack down on illegal fund transfers'|'BEIJING China central bank will pursue a crack down on illegal fund transfers via underground banks and offshore companies, it said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.The People''s Bank of China (PBOC) issued the message in a working meeting last month aimed at strengthening financial sector rules.(Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-banking-capitalflow-idINKBN1770TW'|'2017-04-05T06:29:00.000+03:00' 'af87c03da4ca20416cd7c80899ca6ee041f63d70'|'VW''s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 11:30am EDT VW''s Audi and Porsche to join forces on vehicle development left right The logo of German car manufacturer Audi is seen at a building of a car dealer in Duebendorf, Switzerland November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of German carmaker Porsche is seen on a Porsche centre in Niederwangen, Switzerland, May 10, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo 2/2 FRANKFURT Volkswagen Group''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) Audi and Porsche brands will join forces on vehicle development, the two upmarket brands said on Wednesday, to help the world''s largest carmaker save money in the wake of its costly emissions test cheating scandal. The pact comes as Volkswagen (VW) Chief Executive Matthias Mueller, who previously worked as Porsche''s CEO and Audi''s head of product management, finalizes a plan to step up development of autonomous cars, electric vehicles and digital services. Porsche and Audi said the focus was on jointly developing shared vehicle platforms, modules and components, in a deal that follows a period of intense in-house competition for development resources. Projects will be jointly headed by representatives from each brand. In the coming months, joint teams will prepare the specific areas of cooperation and define a roadmap to 2025, they said. Porsche, taken over by VW 2012, has emerged as a strong rival engineering center to Audi. Porsche''s MSB platform, used for its four-seater Panamera model, has been adopted for VW group''s next generation Bentley Continental model even though Audi had developed a similar offering. Since the group''s emissions test cheating on diesel engines was exposed in September 2015, Audi has lost two research and development chiefs and the head of its automotive electronics division, who did pioneering work in the area of autonomous driving and battery technology. Audi remains the group''s center of excellence for sport-utility vehicles, a lucrative and growing market, where it supplies platforms to Porsche and other brands such as Bentley. With self-driving vehicles likely to play a major future role in the industry, Audi also develops autonomous cars for the group. But a separate internal race has begun to become an engineering hub for electric vehicles, a field which includes research and development of battery cells, battery packs and electric motors. Porsche has developed the J1 electric cars platform, while Audi has also worked on its own electric car. Porsche has also taken over production of eight-cylinder gasoline engines for large sportscars for the VW group, even though Audi has its own engine factory in Hungary. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-porsche-development-idUSKBN17721S'|'2017-04-05T23:30:00.000+03:00' '8de1a22ef6299cc57813d854ea5a5f049fd44d17'|'BRIEF-Command Security says on March 30 entered into eighth amendment to credit, security agreement, dated as of Feb. 12, 2009'|'United States 37am EDT BRIEF-Command Security says on March 30 entered into eighth amendment to credit, security agreement, dated as of Feb. 12, 2009 April 5 Command Security Corp: * Command Security Corp says on March 30 entered into eighth amendment to credit and security agreement, dated as of February 12, 2009 - sec filing * Command Security Corp says amendment increases maximum revolving line of credit amount from $20 million to $27.5 million * Command Security Corp says amendment extends maturity date from March 31, 2017 to March 31, 2020 Source text ( bit.ly/2oAWGA3 '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-command-security-says-on-march-idUSFWN1HD08O'|'2017-04-05T18:37:00.000+03:00' 'ce256362f93dae94ecc385e0c3af6e728a30af65'|'UPDATE 1-Prepaid card firm NetSpend settles U.S. FTC charges for $53 mln'|'Business News 08pm EDT Prepaid card firm NetSpend settles FTC charges for $53 million WASHINGTON NetSpend Corp, a unit of Total System Services Inc ( TSS.N ), has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the prepaid card company deceived people about access to funds deposited on NetSpend debit cards, the FTC said on Friday. The company has agreed to pay at least $53 million, consisting of $40 million on deposit in customer accounts and $13 million to the FTC, according to court documents. The FTC vote approving the stipulated final order was 2-1, with acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen dissenting, the agency said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by David Alexander) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-netspend-ftc-idUSKBN1722WG'|'2017-04-01T06:05:00.000+03:00' 'e51691cce8c51f32c766521387d2ba7b7848cf69'|'EU''s Vestager to announce two merger decisions at noon'|'Deals 38am EDT EU''s Vestager to announce two merger decisions at noon FILE PHOTO: European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager holds a news conference at the EU Commission''s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BRUSSELS EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager will hold a news conference at noon, where she is expected to approve ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] bid for Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) and block a Croatian deal by Germany''s HeidelbergCement ( HEIG.DE ) and Schwenk. Vestager will start her news conference at 1000 GMT, the European Commission said in a statement, without providing details. ChemChina will likely gain EU approval for the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company after agreeing to sell a couple of national product registrations in more than a dozen EU countries, sources told Reuters in February. A joint bid by German cement producers HeidelbergCement and Schwenk for Mexican company Cemex''s ( CMXCPO.MX ) Croatian business is expected to be rejected after the companies failed to convince regulators of the merits of the deal, other people told Reuters last month. The Commission''s deadline for the ChemChina deal is April 12 and April 18 for the HeidelbergCement bid. The EU competition enforcer typically announces decisions for complex cases ahead of schedule. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-m-a-idUSKBN1770UM'|'2017-04-05T16:33:00.000+03:00' 'e21a68b92bd1ad9c30bad8214beb2114b37dbd5a'|'EU''s Vestager to announce two merger decisions at noon'|'BRUSSELS EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager will hold a news conference at noon, where she is expected to approve ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] bid for Syngenta and block a Croatian deal by Germany''s HeidelbergCement and Schwenk.Vestager will start her news conference at 1000 GMT, the European Commission said in a statement, without providing details.ChemChina will likely gain EU approval for the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company after agreeing to sell a couple of national product registrations in more than a dozen EU countries, sources told Reuters in February.A joint bid by German cement producers HeidelbergCement and Schwenk for Mexican company Cemex''s Croatian business is expected to be rejected after the companies failed to convince regulators of the merits of the deal, other people told Reuters last month.The Commission''s deadline for the ChemChina deal is April 12 and April 18 for the HeidelbergCement bid. The EU competition enforcer typically announces decisions for complex cases ahead of schedule.(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-eu-m-a-idINKBN1770UM'|'2017-04-05T06:58:00.000+03:00' 'c195ddcc1d676cad472c834bb9c0548084dacfd0'|'Irish services growth slows for second month, PMI shows'|'Business 6:04am BST Irish services growth slows for second month, PMI shows A boy walks into a restaurant called the Border Cafe in the the border town of Muff, Ireland February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne DUBLIN, Growth in Ireland''s services sector slowed for the second month in a row in March, but confidence among businesses about future growth remained high, a survey showed on Wednesday. The Investec Services Purchasing Managers'' Index slipped to 59.1 in March from 60.6 in February and a touch further back from a nine-month high of 61.0 in January. Growth in Ireland''s services and manufacturing slowed after neighbouring Britain''s surprise decision last year to quit the European Union, and readings have been volatile since. The weaker figures in March were caused by a dip in the new business sub-index to 60.6 from 62.4 and came after a survey on Monday showed growth in Irish manufacturing slowed for a third month in a row as growth in new orders weakened. But services have not fallen below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction since June 2012, when Ireland was halfway through a three-year international bailout. The economy has since become the best performing in the EU. The survey''s authors said that despite the fluctuations there were signs of strong underlying confidence, with 13 times as many companies expecting to see growth in activity over the coming year as opposed to those who anticipate a decrease. Twenty-seven percent of panelists noted an increase in activity during March, compared with 10 percent that signalled a decrease. Some panelists mentioned that the UK had been a source of new business during March. "While dipping to a four-month low, the forward-looking expectations index shows that services firms remain very upbeat on the sector''s prospects," Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O''Sullivan said. "We would be inclined to ''look through'' the marginal decline in the rate of growth implied by this week''s PMIs and we anticipate stronger responses later in 2017." (Reporting by Conor Humphries, editing by Larry King) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1770D7'|'2017-04-05T13:04:00.000+03:00' '13b143b53a0aecc535df73cd24922df749bec6b5'|'Bombardier Executive Chairman Beaudoin to see fall in 2016 pay'|'March 31 Bombardier Inc Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin will see a cut in his 2016 compensation after he requested the board to reverse his pay to its 2015 level, the company said in a statement on Friday.Quebec''s Economy Minister Dominique Anglade had said on Thursday Bombardier should reflect on pay raises of up to 50 percent for its senior executives in light of a public backlash over its layoffs of thousands of employees.Beaudoin said he has asked the board to reset his compensation as the rise in pay had "become a distraction" from the company''s regular work.Total compensation for the Canadian plane and train maker''s top five executives and board chairman rose to $32.7 million in 2016, from $21.9 million a year earlier, according to a proxy circular published on Wednesday ahead of Bombardier''s May 11 annual meeting.In 2016, the company announced two rounds of layoffs totaling 14,500 people over two years at sites around the world. Bombardier has said it will still hire for certain programs.Bombardier will file a supplement to its 2017 management proxy circular next week to reflect the change to Beaudoin''s 2016 compensation, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-bombardier-compensation-chairman-idINL3N1H903Z'|'2017-04-01T00:41:00.000+03:00' '3d742e4ce17d816f4bf9eddfb7ba73f30b7e1b13'|'Burberry licenses beauty business to Coty in new drive to expand'|'Deals - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 11:01am BST Burberry licenses beauty business to Coty in new drive to expand The logo of Burberry outlet store is seen in Paris, France, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau LONDON British luxury brand Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said on Monday it would transfer its beauty business to U.S. group Coty ( COTY.N ) in a deal that will bring in around $225 million plus ongoing royalty payments and grow the division. Known for its British-made trenchcoats, Burberry''s fragrances include My Burberry and Mr Burberry and it has expanded into cosmetics in recent years to help introduce its brand to younger consumers. The company, which brought the perfume business in house in 2013 after licensing it to a third party, said it would retain creative control of the division while beauty products maker Coty would bring its global distribution network to the table. "Working with a global partner of their scale and expertise will help drive the next phase of Burberry Beauty''s development and position this business for future growth," said Christopher Bailey, Burberry''s chief creative and chief executive officer. Burberry, which features models Cara Delevingne and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in its campaigns, said it expected the agreement to be broadly neutral to adjusted profit before tax in the 2017/18 transition year and accretive the following year. The exclusive licensing agreement will take effect from October 2017, subject to regulatory approvals. (Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-burberry-coty-partnership-idUKKBN1750UZ'|'2017-04-03T17:57:00.000+03:00' '801db383d06075e44cb66c222ac3e5575ad30d0d'|'Stocks start second quarter on firm note, U.S. policy in focus as Trump-Xi talks loom'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 4:23am BST Stocks start second quarter on firm note, U.S. policy in focus as Trump-Xi talks loom A man looks at a stock quotation board outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Hideyuki Sano - TOKYO TOKYO Asian shares started the week modestly higher on Monday after a bumper quarter as investors look to the shape of U.S. trade and economic policies and how they could affect global growth. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent, while Japan''s Nikkei gained 0.4 percent after hitting a seven-week low on Friday. Ex-Japan Asia MSCI had gained 12.3 percent in the last quarter, its biggest quarterly gain in 6-1/2 years and almost double the 6.4 percent rise in MSCI''s broadest gauge of the world''s stock markets covering 46 markets. The rally was primarily underpinned by signs of a pickup in momentum in the global economy, led by China. South Korea''s trade data for March released over the weekend added to the evidence of improving global demand, with exports rising more than expected. While a private survey on China''s manufacturing on Saturday came in below market expectations it still showed a healthy expansion after a similar survey by the government on Friday pointed to strong growth in the sector. "The Chinese economy is likely to stay firm at least until the Communist party congress (later this year). The hi-tech sector is doing well, supporting Korean and Taiwanese shares," said Yukino Yamada, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. In Japan, the Bank of Japan''s tankan survey showed that business sentiment improved, albeit slightly less than expected. The main focus for markets this week centres on U.S. payroll figures on Friday and U.S. President Donald Trump''s first meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday. "If we get strong reading in U.S payrolls data, the markets will try to price in a rate hike in June," said Minori Uchida, chief currency strategist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. Markets are currently pricing in around a 58 percent chance of another rate rise in June, which would mark the second of three hikes expected this year. On the other hand, investors are on guard for the possibility the U.S. administration may adopt protectionist measures. In a tweet on Thursday, Trump said he expected the meeting with Xi "will be a very difficult one." On Friday, Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. And on Sunday, Trump held out the possibility of using trade as a lever to secure Chinese cooperation against North Korea. The executive orders came a week after Trump''s promise to replace Obamacare imploded in Congress, adding to concerns he may struggle to pass highly-anticipated tax cuts and infrastructure spending bills. "After his failure to push through his healthcare reforms, investors increasingly think that his tax reforms will take time. And given the China-U.S. summit, trade issues could come to the fore this week," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Mitsui Sumitomo Asset Management. Any hints that Washington may name some of its trade partners such as China, Japan and Germany, as currency manipulators could dent the dollar. The U.S. Treasury will release its next currency report on April 15. "The Trump administration is not necessarily seeking to reduce the trade deficit through a cheaper dollar. But it has strong intentions to do that and it could use a weaker dollar as a bargaining tool in trade negotiation," said Uchida of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. The dollar was slightly softer at 111.33 yen, but kept some distance from its four-month low of 110.11 touched a week ago. The euro ticked up 0.2 percent to $1.0673, rebounding from Friday''s two-week low of $1.0651 hit after data had shown inflation in the currency bloc had slowed by far more than expected in March. Oil prices stood near three-week highs on a growing sense that OPEC and nonmember Russia would extend their production cut, seeking to drive the market higher, though high U.S. rig count capped their advance. Brent crude futures hit a three-week high of $53.63 per barrel early on Monday and last stood at $53.43, down 0.2 percent from U.S. close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures was little changed at $50.56 a barrel. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Kim Coghill) Next In Business News UK''s Reckitt Benckiser weighing foods business sale-paper LONDON British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser is considering the sale of its foods business, which includes French''s, its top-selling U.S. mustard brand, to help fund its $16.6 billion (13 billion pound) takeover of baby food maker Mead Johnson, British newspaper The Sunday Times said. LONDON Credit Suisse has taken out adverts in British Sunday newspapers stressing a zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion, as the Swiss bank tries to limit any damage to its reputation from raids on three of its offices. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17501S'|'2017-04-03T11:23:00.000+03:00' 'e365f978c1d787b052c19ae19c0e7f2e511fcbc2'|'FCA leads Canada auto sales in March, GM sales jump 27 percent'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 2:01pm EDT FCA leads Canada auto sales in March, GM sales jump 27 percent A screen displays the ticker information for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV at the post where it''s traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TORONTO The Canadian arm of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCHA.MI ) ( FCAU.N ), which makes the Jeep and Chrysler brands, led auto sales in Canada for the month of March, but General Motors Canada ( GM.N ) posted the biggest surge in monthly sales. FCA Canada sales were up marginally in March, with 26,531 cars and trucks sold during the month, compared with 26,469 a year ago. Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) sold a total of 26,487 cars and trucks in Canada last month, up from 26,447, a rise of just 0.2 percent, as Ford car sales in Canada fell nearly 20 percent for the month. GM Canada reported double-digit sales growth, driven by truck sales. It sold 21,979 total vehicles in March, an increase of 27.2 percent from a year ago when it sold 17,273 cars and trucks. In the United States, March figures came in below market expectations, adding to concerns that the boom in U.S. auto sales may be waning. Shares of the three big automakers fell, with GM and FCA falling nearly 4 percent, while Ford was down 3 percent. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-autosales-idUSKBN17525C'|'2017-04-04T02:01:00.000+03:00' 'baf9b90687613ea8606083d6a4174904c0f7b324'|'Record deliveries power Tesla shares to all-time high'|'Technology 26pm BST Record deliveries power Tesla shares to all-time high A prototype of the Tesla Model 3 is on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo Tesla Inc''s ( TSLA.O ) Tesla''s stock climbed as much as 5.7 percent to $294.15, giving it a market capitalization of $47.92 billion - higher than Ford Motor''s ( F.N ) $46.27 billion value and just below General Motor''s ( GM.N ) value of $48 billion, at their Monday session highs. Tesla said on Sunday it delivered a record 25,418 vehicles in the quarter ended March, a 69 percent increase from last year and edging past Goldman Sachs'' forecast of 23,500 vehicles. "This beat shows that they are managing production better and that it bodes well for the Model 3 to be on time as well," said Ivan Feinseth, director of research at Tigress Financial Partners. Tesla delivered 76,230 vehicles last year, but production challenges kept the result well short of its 80,000- to 90,000-unit target. That and other setbacks had led investors and suppliers to predict that Model 3 volume production would be delayed until 2018. But Chief Executive Elon Musk reassured investors in February that the Model 3 was on track for volume production by September this year. The Model 3, a midsize mass-market sedan, had about 373,000 advance reservations as of April last year, and is expected to go on sale later this year in the United States. Tesla''s shares were up 5.2 percent at $292.77 in afternoon trading. Ford''s shares were off 2.6 percent, while GM''s stock was down over 4 percent following their monthly sales reports. "(Tesla has) had a pattern of missing their targets and the fact that they were able to meet the delivery target this quarter should be warmly received by investors," said CFRA analyst Efraim Levy. "It''s good news for Tesla, clearly." (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-stocks-idUKKBN17522H'|'2017-04-04T01:29:00.000+03:00' '5a687c2708116569eea4b0b50303c06947dc1b5b'|'BRIEF-Nokia says holds 90 pct of all Comptel shares, opens subsequent offer period'|' 37am EDT BRIEF-Nokia says holds 90 pct of all Comptel shares, opens subsequent offer period April 3 Nokia Corp * Says Nokia solutions and Networks completes offer with a holding exceeding 90 percent of all Comptel shares and votes and opens a subsequent offer period * Says in order to allow the remaining shareholders and holders of option rights the possibility to still accept the tender Offer, has decided to extend the offer period by a subsequent offer period (Helsinki Newsroom) UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 3 (Adds company news items, futures) April 3 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 6 points at 7,328 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 3 points ahead of the cash market open. * LLOYDS: The British government has reduced its holding in Lloyds Banking Group PLC to less than 2 percent, putting the lender on track to be in full private ownership within weeks. * IMAGINATION TECH: Apple has give MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-nokia-says-holds-90-pct-of-all-com-idUSFWN1HA0B1'|'2017-04-03T14:37:00.000+03:00' '2badb58522648c14d827b270b5c3e08d84cec134'|'UK watchdog proposes rules to help struggling credit card customers'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:08am BST UK watchdog proposes rules to help struggling credit card customers left right FILE PHOTO: MasterCard, VISA and Maestro credit cards are seen in this picture illustration taken June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev/Illustration 1/2 left right The logo of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seen at the agency''s headquarters in the Canary Wharf business district of London April 1, 2013. REUTERS/Chris Helgren 2/2 By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Credit card firms will have to do more to help struggling customers repay their debts, including the suspension of cards under proposals published by Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority on Monday. The proposals follow a review by the FCA into Britain''s credit card market where 3.3 million people are in persistent debt, meaning they have paid more in interest and charges than they have repaid of their borrowing. Credit card issuers typically do not step in because such customers are profitable, with costs to customers on average 2.5 pounds for every pound repaid. "We expect our proposals to reduce the number of customers in problem credit card debt, as well as putting customers in greater control of their borrowing," FCA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey said in a statement. Last week the Bank of England called for checks on standards in consumer credit, a sector that has been growing rapidly. Under the FCA''s proposals put out to public consultation, when a customer has been in persistent debt for a 18 months, issuers will have to prompt them to make faster repayments if they can afford to do so. If a customer remains in persistent debt for another 18 months, firms must propose a repayment plan. "Customers who do not respond, or who confirm that they can afford to repay faster but decline to do so, would have their ability to use the card suspended," the FCA said. If a customer cannot afford any of the options proposed to repay balances more quickly, firms could cut, waive or cancel any interest or charges, the FCA said. "It is expected that firms would normally suspend use of the customer’s card during this period." The watchdog estimates that by 2030, savings to customers would reach 3 billion to 13 billion pounds ($3.76 billion-$16.30 billion). Savings would peak in the first few years at between 310 million pounds and 1.3 billion pounds a year. Credit card issuers will also have to do more to identify struggling customers much earlier. The consultation also sets out measures the regulator and the industry have voluntarily agreed to give customers greater control over increases to their credit limits. All customers will be made aware of their right to decline offers of a credit limit increase. There are 30 million credit card customers in Britain, 60 percent of the adult population. ($1 = 0.7977 pounds) (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jason Neely) Next In Business News Imagination Tech shares plunge as Apple abandons British firm LONDON Apple has given Imagination Tech notice that it will stop using its graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years'' time, dealing a major blow to the British company, which could lose half of its revenue. LONDON The British government has reduced its holding in Lloyds Banking Group PLC to less than 2 percent, putting the lender on track to be in full private ownership within weeks. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-credit-regulations-idUKKBN1750KW'|'2017-04-03T15:08:00.000+03:00' '33e6ad90a9833e3b9e0e0075badec9d5833d8afe'|'JGBs mostly steady, short-end sags after BOJ tweaks operations'|'TOKYO, April 3 Japanese government bond prices were mostly steady on Monday following gains by U.S. Treasuries, although shorter-dated debt sagged with the Bank of Japan set to buy less of the maturities at its regular operations in April.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was flat at 1.065 percent and the 30-year yield dipped a basis point to 0.835 percent, supported by a regular debt-buying operation the BOJ conducted on Monday.The two-year yield in contrast rose 2 basis points to minus 0.175 percent, its highest since late December.As expected the central bank announced on Friday that it will trim the amount of one- to three-year and three- to five-year JGBs it buys in April, while leaving the purchase amounts of longer-dated JGBs unchanged.The BOJ''s massive bond-buying programme has reduced liquidity across maturities, leaving bond investors and dealers to often scramble for JGBs still available in the market. In an attempt to improve liquidity and reduce volatility, the BOJ has been tweaking its bond-buying.Treasuries advanced on Friday after a chorus of Federal Reserve officials questioned the need for a faster pace of interest rate increases given tame inflation and just modest growth in the U.S. economy. (Reporting by the Tokyo markets team; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HB1OW'|'2017-04-03T01:29:00.000+03:00' 'cd677007913c7fb35c807e2150051adbf0173969'|'Etihad Airways says bookings to U.S. healthy despite laptop ban'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:15am BST Etihad Airways says bookings to U.S. healthy despite laptop ban Etihad Airways headquarters is seen in Abu Dhabi March 3, 2014. REUTERS/ Stringer By Alexander Cornwell - DUBAI DUBAI Etihad Airways'' bookings to the United States are healthy despite last month''s introduction of a ban on most electronics from the cabins of passenger flights to the United States, the Abu Dhabi carrier said on Monday. On March 25, the U.S. banned electronic devices larger than a mobile phone from passenger cabins on direct flights to the U.S. from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, including the United Arab Emirates. "Bookings to U.S. destinations remain healthy and customer feedback to the initiatives taken by Etihad Airways to provide for their business and entertainment needs has been very positive," an Etihad spokesman said. Industry experts warned the ban - prompted by reports that militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets - could be damaging to fast-growing Gulf carriers by weakening demand among corporate flyers who use their travel time to complete work on laptops and other devices. Etihad said last week it would lend approved tablets and offer unlimited wifi to business and first-class passengers travelling on U.S.-bound flights. In March, fellow Gulf carrier Emirates said booking rates on U.S. flights fell 35 per cent after President Donald Trump''s first travel ban which like the electronics ban only applied to Muslim-majority countries. (Editing by Susan Thomas) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-airlines-electronics-etihad-idUKKBN1750LP'|'2017-04-03T15:15:00.000+03:00' 'f5de3f9bb73935351ce9c62b358891d83adb876b'|'BP to cut about 5 mln pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News'|'April 3 BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds ($6.24 million) from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter.Sky News said that Dudley''s maximum annual pay over the next three years will now be about 12.2 million pounds ($15.22 million) including his salary, an annual bonus of 3.3 million pounds and a long-term share incentive plan award worth up to 7.4 million pounds. The previous package was worth up to 17.4 million pounds including the matching share awards.The report said the company had decided to reduce Dudley''s maximum long-term incentive plan award from seven times his 1.48 million pounds basic salary to five times. ( bit.ly/2oC9WRK )According to the report, Dudley''s annual bonus will remain constant at a maximum of 225 percent of his salary. The framework will also apply to other top BP directors between 2017 and 2019. (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-compensation-ceo-idINL3N1HB4L0'|'2017-04-03T16:56:00.000+03:00' '49a71e80220bae93ed46ef65cd7e7e66f9505a49'|'Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing'|'Money News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:41pm IST Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing CEO of Westinghouse Electric Company, Danny Roderick speaks during a news conference at the Toshiba head office in Tokyo, November 27, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co replaced its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear construction unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp filed for bankruptcy last week, as it tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions. Toshiba''s spokesman said Westinghouse chairman Danny Roderick was replaced by Mamoru Hatazawa, chief of Toshiba''s nuclear division, on March 27. Hatazawa''s role would be temporary, until a new management comes in, he added. Roderick, the driving force behind Toshiba''s nuclear ambition, joined Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse as chief executive in September 2012 from a nuclear joint venture between General Electric and Hitachi Ltd. In an interview with Reuters in 2015, Roderick said he was "pretty confident" in achieving Westinghouse''s goal of winning orders to construct 64 reactors worldwide over the next 15 years. But billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast pushed Westinghouse into bankruptcy and resulted in a net loss of $9 billion at Toshiba. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-westinghouse-idINKBN1770NW'|'2017-04-05T15:11:00.000+03:00' '5434aa20d70dc8673ec4d307de384f8c8ae589e2'|'EU''s Dombrovskis - must avoid race to bottom to lure UK banks'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 4:00pm BST EU''s Dombrovskis: must avoid race to bottom to lure UK banks European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis addresses a news conference on the European Semester Winter Package in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BERLIN European Union officials have heard complaints from some members of the bloc about others lowering the requirements for "passporting" rights to sell financial services in the EU single market, the European Commission vice president said. As Britain prepares to leave the EU, some British financial firms - and foreign banks using London as a European base - are already working on plans to establish new operations on the continent to keep access to the European market. Valdis Dombrovskis told Reuters there could be no race to the bottom in setting the requirements to lure such firms. "Already we have heard certain accusations among countries in this regard," he told Reuters in a television interview in Berlin on Wednesday. "Clearly we need to ensure a level playing field across the EU." Many financial firms in Britain are looking at moving jobs to centers such as Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris and Luxembourg. But Britain''s financial sector is also drawing up proposals on how it could still serve EU clients after Brexit, even as firms begin establishing new operations on the continent to keep access to the European market. (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Joseph Nasr) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-banks-idUKKBN1771YP'|'2017-04-05T22:59:00.000+03:00' '0e73803ec433bef587d5884251aa699a42872460'|'Glencore the fifth coal miner to declare force majeure in cyclone-hit Australia'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 1:06pm BST Glencore the fifth coal miner to declare force majeure in cyclone-hit Australia FILE PHOTO: The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company''s headquarters in Baar, Switzerland, September 30, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo SYDNEY Global miner Glencore ( GLEN.L ) on Wednesday declared force majeure on coal shipments from the cyclone-hit Bowen Basin in Australia, after the storm damaged railway lines, disrupting delivery to ports. Glencore runs five coal mines in the region and it is the fifth miner to declare force majeure - a clause typically invoked after natural disasters - leaving rivals in the United States to cash in on a surge in prices as Chinese steelmakers scramble for supplies. A critical mountain pass on the railway connecting the world''s single biggest source of coking coal to ports has been hit by landslides and buckled tracks after Cyclone Debbie pounded the northeast state of Queensland, crippling efforts to get exports of coal flowing again. "Glencore has declared force majeure on its Queensland coal shipments impacted by flood damage to the State''s coal rail network," the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters. The line''s operator, Aurizon Holdings ( AZJ.AX ), said it would take around five weeks to repair the worst-hit parts of the network and alternative routes were being considered. Though with floodwaters from the deluge still travelling through river systems along many parts of the network, analysts are anticipating further delays and disruption to supply. BHP Billiton ( BLT.L ) ( BHP.AX ), the world''s biggest shipper of coking coal, declared force majeure earlier in the day. Queensland accounts for more than 50 percent of global seaborne coking coal supplies, with prices rising on fears that stockpiles held by steelmakers will start to run down. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Nick Macfie and David Evans) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-cyclone-coal-glencore-idUKKBN1771IL'|'2017-04-05T20:06:00.000+03:00' '84eb0049ecccc443c6fd9f6d7bca3d5e95e70319'|'Jailed for using Grindr: homosexuality in Egypt - Global Development Professionals Network'|'The last time Egyptian engineering student Shady Ragab tried to visit his friend Andrew Medhat in prison, he was turned away.“We begged them … we just wanted to wish him a happy Easter. They wouldn’t even give him the food we brought to him,” said Ragab, who is Muslim, but had long enjoyed celebrating Christian festivals with his friend. Shady isn’t even sure if Medhat was even informed of the visit. That was a year ago; Ragab hasn’t seen him since. He wells up in tears as he relates the story.Ragab and Medhat had met at university a few years earlier, building enough trust along with two other friends to open up and discuss their homosexuality together. But in March 2016 Medhat was sentenced to three years in prison for “public debauchery” and prostitution. Earlier that year, he had sent nude photographs of himself to another man on Grindr and had set up a time to meet in Tahrir Square. It was only when he was arrested on the way that he realised that his “date” was in fact an undercover policeman.Homosexuality is not illegal in Egypt . But in the late 1990s, the police stepped up the use of two old laws – a 1950 anti-prostitution law and a 1961 law against “debauchery” – to arrest and charge the practising LGBT community. The highest-profile action was a raid in Cairo in 2001 on the Queen Boat, a gay-friendly club on the Nile, where 52 men were arrested.Why LGBT hatred suddenly spiked in Indonesia Read more At the end of 2013, soon after the ousting of the democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi and as the military authors of the coup intensified their grip on power, LGBT campaigners noticed a new, powerful crackdown. The police – who operated hand-in-hand with the military – began a new round of arrests. And this time they were using new techniques. “The [police] are now more technologically advanced,” says Dalia Abdel Hameed, head of the gender programme at Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) , describing their use of apps like Grindr to gather photographic “evidence,” arrange meetings, and entrap men. Medhat’s arrest, detention and imprisonment is remarkably similar to EIPR’s description of a typical process.Once Medhat was under arrest, the police told his parents that he had taken money and that he had been arrested having sex in a flat, according to Ragab. Both claims allow the police to make a prostitution and debauchery case. He was detained in an underground cell in al-Qasr al Aini police station, five minutes’ walk from Tahrir Square. “The interrogation is the worst part,” says Abdel Hameed. According to Amr Abdel Rahman, a legal professor at the American University in Cairo and head of the civil liberties programme at EIPR, it is in the detention cells, with less surveillance than in prison itself, that the detainee is particularly vulnerable to both the cellmates and the interrogators. At worst, says Abdel Rahman, scientifically dubious anal examination is made on male detainees in order to produce evidence that they have engaged in homosexual activity – even when the supposed marks of this are often so fresh that it can only be the result of rape within detention.There are reasons to be cheerful ... LGBTI rights gains in unlikely countries - Peter Tatchell Read more Legal help and support becomes another cloudy issue. Legal expertise is available from LGBT groups. But the public stigma of the accusation often results in families making a knee-jerk decision to take the most conventional legal option a lawyer recommended by the police. Whether the family supports their child or not, associating with rights organisations can seem too much like a public statement. Abdel Rahman concurs. “If you present yourself in a respectable manner to the families as human rights lawyers, they say to themselves ‘now we are even making the case much harder for our kid’.”In Medhat’s case, his family chose to take the lawyer recommended by the police. But this legal representation often falls horribly short of what is necessary. EIPR has documented numerous cases in which the police-recommended lawyer, who in Medhat’s case took 2,000EGP (£90) just to look at the case, does not act in the defendant’s best interests. Medhat’s lawyer, contrary to the advice of a lawyer from an LGBT group, advised Medhat to plead guilty to prostitution. The lawyer did not even show up in court. Ragab believes there is a financial arrangement between the police and the lawyers they recommend.Medhat was found guilty, and began his sentence. Exact figures are hard to come by, but by 2016, the New York Times reported that there were at least 250 incarcerated LGBTQ people . EIPR estimate there may be at least double the number of cases that they manage to fully document in their work. Because the legal interpretation of terms like “debauchery” or “public indecency” is so broad, sentences are often maximised by judges who “stack” similarly-worded offences. This means that LGBTQ people have been sentenced to up to 8 years for a single arrest. The long-term effect is devastating. “I’ve seen perfectly healthy people go to prison for three years and how they looked coming out of it,” says Reem Shawky, a software specialist and photographer who does not experience a stable gender or sexuality, and who agreed to speak via email about LGBTQ issues. “Something happens that breaks them and they’re never the same again.”According to Abdel Rahman, the current crackdown is systemic and politicised, in relation to a more general attempt to create order and public legitimacy for the current Egyptian regime. In these circumstances, the LGBTQ community is an easy target. “In 2013 the regime was kind of unconsciously motivated by an attempt to regain order in the street and in the entire social fabric in the country,” states Abdel Rahman. “[That] means regaining every pillar of power relations in this society, be it in the family, be it in the street, or in the media.”Abdel Rahman notes that the controversial protest law of November 2013 , which limited the ability of Egyptians to engage in public protest, came at the same moment as the first LGBT case that EIPR documented. Egyptian millennials are far more likely to be accepting of an LGBTQ individual than their parents wereReem Shawky “I strongly doubt there was a coordination between these two movements,” he says. “But this kind of overlap tells you volumes about the mentality of the backlash … Now it is against the surge of all the [political] odds – the Islamists, ‘immoral’ elements in the streets, the radical left, the youth, the revolution … you name it.”But beneath the political advantages and the profiteering within the police system, which are fuelling the current backlash, what potential might there be for public attitudes to change?“Egyptian millennials are far more likely to be accepting of an LGBTQ individual than their parents were,” says Reem Shawky. “Besides, with the rise of issues like global same-sex marriage legalisation … many seem okay with alternative sexualities (although they silently still judge). I don’t know if there’s hope for people changing [now], but there’s hope for coming generations.”At EIPR, the fight is taken on several levels. Dalia Abdel Hameed says, “I’m not generally the optimistic kind of person, but surely, in my short activism life … I noticed a change. A huge one.” But she and her colleague Abdel Rahman understand that change will be slow. “Yes, [homosexuality] is considered immoral, but it’s not constant and it’s not the same as 10 years ago.”In the face of slow progress, Abdel Rahman’s focus is more strategic than idealistic. EIPR’s drive now is less towards directly attempting to legitimate LGBT rights , and more towards leveraging a shift in public attitudes towards privacy.It may seem that the counter-revolutionary backlash, in which the regime reasserted control over all parts of public life, is overwhelming. But one thing has changed. Abdel Rahman notices that Egyptians “detest the violation of people’s privacy ... And this is something that has significantly increased after [the revolution of] 25 January 2011. I mean the perception that there’s actually a space of private matters that shouldn’t be infringed upon by the government and by the media. This is very clear.”Regardless, Ragab, who is looking forward to moving in with his boyfriend, is impatient for change. “Everybody is fighting right now,” he says. “I am waiting for the day I can announce to the whole world that we are here. We are your friends, your brothers, your sisters, we are in your families. And I am sure that one day I will be doing this. I am not ashamed of my homosexuality, and I will never be.”Names have been changed to protect identities. Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Join the conversation with the hashtag #Dev2030 .'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/03/jailed-for-using-grindr-homosexuality-in-egypt'|'2017-04-03T03:00:00.000+03:00' 'c873cb8e9501b9a2d77529356b242bf21504dbbc'|'Ex-divs to take 11.8 points off FTSE 100 on April 6'|'Company 50am EDT Ex-divs to take 11.8 points off FTSE 100 on April 6 LONDON, April 3 The following FTSE 100 companies will go ex-dividend on Thursday, after which investors will no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. According to Reuters calculations at current market prices, the effect of the resulting adjustment to prices by market-makers would take 11.75 points off the index. COMPANY (RIC) DIVIDEND STOCK OPTION IMPACT (pence) Aviva 15.88 2.53 GKN 5.9 0.40 Hikma 18 0.10 Lloyds Banking Group 2.2 5.85 Next 45 0.25 Paddy Power Betfair 113 0.36 Pearson 34 1.10 Rentokil Initial 2.38 0.17 St James''s Place 20.67 0.42 Smiths Group 13.55 0.21 Wolseley 36.67 0.36 Among FTSE 250 companies going ex-dividend are: COMPANY (RIC) DIVIDEND (pence) BBA Aviation 9.12 (U.S. cents) Berendsen 22.5 Electra Private Equity Closed Fund 2612 F&C Commercial Property Trust LTD 0.5 Finsbury Growth & Income Trust 6.8 James Fisher and Sons 17.6 IMI 24.7 Ladbrokes Coral 2 Moneysupermarket.com Group 7.1 The Mercantile Investment Trust 15.25 Murray International Trust 16 RIT Capital Partners 16 Rotork 3.15 DS Smith 4.6 Sanne Group 6.4 Ultra Electronics Holdings 33.6 Virgin Money 3.5 Vesuvius 11.4 John Wood Group 22.5 (U.S. cents) (Reporting by Kit Rees; editing by Danilo Masoni) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-exdiv-idUSL5N1HB2PX'|'2017-04-03T20:50:00.000+03:00' 'efc1c35782d1d65fb9eb3ebb1a8d23298de4ab1f'|'REFILE-European shares nudge higher as oil and mining stocks recover'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:41am EDT REFILE-European shares nudge higher as oil and mining stocks recover (Adds dropped word in headline) LONDON, April 4 The muted start to the second quarter continued on Tuesday as European shares edged up, helped by gains in oil-related stocks and miners, though weakness in the autos sector weighed. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 pct while the resources-heavy FTSE 100 outperformed and was up 0.5 percent. Oil stocks and basic resource were the standout sectoral gainers, both rising around 0.5 percent, rebounding from losses in the previous session. Broker action boosted individual names, with Rotork jumping 5.6 percent after JP Morgan raised the valve-control systems maker to "overweight" from "neutral". Likewise Weir rose 2.3 percent after Citigroup began its coverage of the stock with a "buy" rating. Stocks with South African exposure, such as Investec and Old Mutual, were among the biggest fallers, down 3.2 percent and 2.7 respectively after S&P Global Ratings cut the country''s credit rating to sub-investment grade with a negative outlook, sending the rand lower. Autos were the biggest sectoral losers, down 1 percent with Daimler, Peugeot and Renault leading the sector lower. Figures for U.S. sales of new vehicles in March at major carmarkers came in below market expectations while investor worries over the outlook for diesel vehicles has cast a cloud over European auto stocks. (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Vikram Subhedar) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL5N1HC17U'|'2017-04-04T15:41:00.000+03:00' '079ac1da23dace238278ab8f5fdf6a2de4729b7a'|'UPDATE 1-Greece''s National Bank gets four bids for insurance unit -source'|'(Adds background)ATHENS, April 4 Four investors submitted binding bids to acquire a majority stake in Greek lender National Bank''s (NBG) insurance unit, a banking source close to the deal told Reuters on Tuesday.Greece''s second largest lender by assets is looking to sell its National Insurance subsidiary as part of a restructuring plan it has agreed with regulators to exit from non-banking operations."Four binding offers were submitted," the banker said without providing further details. "The aim is to sell at least a 75 percent stake in the unit."The bidders were Chinese conglomerate Fosun, Shanghai-based Gongbao and Wintime and John Calamos'' insurance start-up Exin Partners, the banker said.Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are advising NBG on the sale.Founded in 1891, National Insurance is the oldest insurer in Greece and is fully owned by NBG. It provides life and non-life insurance products.NBG, with units in Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Romania and Cyprus, plans more foreign asset sales as part of its restructuring.Last year it sold United Bulgarian Bank to Belgium''s KBC Group in a 610 million euro ($650 million) deal.In March, NBG sold its entire 99.8 percent stake in its South Africa Bank of Athens (SABA) subsidiary to AFGRI Holdings.In 2015, NBG clinched a deal to sell Turkish unit Finansbank to Qatar National Bank for 2.75 billion euros as part of moves to plug a capital shortfall identified by European Central Bank stress tests.NBG has also sold stakes held directly or indirectly in 11 funds to Deutsche Bank Private Equity and Goldman Sachs Asset Management for 288 million euros.($1 = 0.9386 euros) (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nbg-insurance-sale-idINL5N1HC10U'|'2017-04-04T06:04:00.000+03:00' '3d8d0a7d98f7ce71b945f7337c5690702a13ed44'|'German new car sales jump about 11 percent to 360,000 autos in March - source'|' 43am BST German new car sales jump about 11 percent to 360,000 autos in March - source People walk past a row of Volkswagen e-Golf cars during the company''s annual news conference in Berlin, Germany March 13, 2014. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz/File Photo BERLIN Sales of new passenger cars in Germany jumped about 11 percent in March, helped by two extra selling days, an industry source told Reuters on Tuesday. New passenger-car registrations in Europe''s largest auto market increased to around 360,000 vehicles last month, the source said, with first-quarter sales rising about 6 to 7 percent to around 845,000 vehicles. Official German car sales data is expected to be published by Germany''s VDA auto industry association later on Tuesday. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Maria Sheahan) BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. LONDON British grocery inflation jumped by 2.3 percent in the 12 weeks to March 26, with the price of staples including butter, fish, tea and skincare all rising, industry data showed on Tuesday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-autos-idUKKBN1760LQ'|'2017-04-04T15:43:00.000+03:00' '8580210f93b5d50cb28d2787c0a1ca83ddae94f2'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX edges up with help from gold, materials shares'|'Company 12pm EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX edges up with help from gold, materials shares OTTAWA, April 3 Canada''s main stock index ended modestly higher after a choppy session on Monday as gains in gold producers and other resource shares offset weakness in the energy sector and consumer-related stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 36.65 points, or 0.24 percent, at 15,584.40. (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Chris Reese) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-close-idUSL2N1HB1NT'|'2017-04-04T04:12:00.000+03:00' 'e7f0e97e313dc9cbd64fee54317c2634b2bac4da'|'South Africa''s ruling party headed for showdown after finance minister sacked'|'World 15am EDT South Africa''s ruling party headed for showdown after finance minister sacked South Africa''s President Jacob Zuma reacts during a rally following the launch of a social housing project in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, April 1, 2017. REUTERS/Rogan Ward JOHANNESBURG South Africa''s president faces a confrontation with senior members of the ruling African National Congress and the country''s currency has plunged after the country''s finance minister was sacked, a move that threatens to split the ANC. The rand fell about 2 percent to the dollar and government bonds weakened on Monday following President Jacob Zuma''s dismissal on Friday of the internationally respected Pravin Gordhan. The firing drew public criticism from Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe and Treasurer-General Zweli Mkhize before Monday''s regular meetings of the party leadership. Analysts suggest those meetings could set up a showdown between Zuma and some of the party''s leaders. If so, Zuma still has the support of Chairwoman Baleka Mbete and Deputy Secretary-General Jessie Duarte, marking a split down the middle among the party''s "Top Six" leaders, sources said. An important signal will be whether the party calls for an early meeting of its National Executive Committee (NEC). The committee is the only body that can remove the leader of the party, other than its party congress, which occurs only every five years. In November, Zuma defeated a no-confidence vote at a meeting of the executive committee, which was called after an anti-graft agency asked for an investigation of alleged influence-peddling by the wealthy Gupta family, whom Zuma has called his friends. Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing. Any such meeting by the NEC "is the much more important event for markets to focus on," Nomura analyst Peter Attard Montalto said. (Reporting by James Macharia, editing by Larry King) Next In World News Lithuania says Russia has ability to launch Baltic attack in 24 hours VILNIUS Russia has developed the capability to launch an attack on the Baltic states with as little as 24 hours'' notice, limiting NATO''s options to respond other than to have military forces already deployed in the region, Lithuania''s intelligence service said on Monday. ANKARA President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on Turkish voters in Europe to defy the "grandchildren of Nazism" and back a referendum this month on changing the constitution, comments likely to cause further ire in Europe. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics-idUSKBN17519A'|'2017-04-03T20:08:00.000+03:00' '99639995278683668fdb4cdf00acf6ad1345ef48'|'Wider impact of legal change delays Oi intervention decree: source'|'BRASILIA The Brazilian government is taking longer to finalize a decree that would allow it to intervene in debt-ridden Oi SA ( OIBR4.SA ) because it could impact other sectors beyond domestic phone carriers, an official familiar with the matter said on Monday.Although the decree is aimed at phone and broadband service providers, the official said the legal change could also allow for intervention in other infrastructure sectors such as railways, highways and energy."A legal change cannot be done only for the telecommunications sector. It has to be more general," said the official, adding that the broader scope is requiring more careful analysis. The official asked not to be named because he was not allowed to speak publicly.The issue may explain why the decree has not yet been issued after Communications Minister Gilberto Kassab last week promised to finalize it in the following few days.(Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-decree-idUSKBN1752QA'|'2017-04-04T04:00:00.000+03:00' 'd198fbfc856530bdf337633130998ae76907514e'|'FINMA probing ''a number of cases'' of possible Swiss market abuse'|' 50am BST FINMA probing ''a number of cases'' of possible Swiss market abuse The logo of Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA is seen outside their headquarters in Bern, Switzerland April 5, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich BERN Swiss financial watchdog FINMA is looking into "a number of cases" of possible market abuse in Switzerland including insider trading at several listed companies, Chief Executive Mark Branson said on Tuesday. "We are investigating cases of a practice known as ''spoofing'' in which large-scale fake orders are placed and withdrawn with the aim of achieving an unfair advantage," Branson said in remarks prepared for FINMA''s annual news conference. "We are also investigating several cases of front-running where an insider -- a bank employee, for example -- uses confidential information about an upcoming transaction to submit transactions for their own account." (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields) BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. LONDON British grocery inflation jumped by 2.3 percent in the 12 weeks to March 26, with the price of staples including butter, fish, tea and skincare all rising, industry data showed on Tuesday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-swiss-watchdog-insidertrading-idUKKBN1760M4'|'2017-04-04T15:50:00.000+03:00' 'ebbaed5b52c67c90e85cc96dde3f5919792e16b2'|'UK grocery inflation jumps 2.3 percent in 12 weeks to March 26'|' 8:27am BST UK grocery inflation jumps 2.3 percent in 12 weeks to March 26 FILE PHOTO: A woman shops at a Sainsbury''s store in London, Britain December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall LONDON British grocery inflation jumped by 2.3 percent in the 12 weeks to March 26, with the price of staples including butter, fish, tea and skincare all rising, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said the rise of 2.3 percent compared with a 1.4 percent increase recorded in the previous 12 weeks to Feb. 26 period. Kantar data also showed most of the big supermarkets struggling in the period, as Easter falls later this year and outside of 12-week time frame. Sales in Tesco, the market leader, were down 0.4 percent, Sainsbury''s fell by 0.7 percent, Asda dropped 1.8 percent and Morrisons edged 0.3 percent higher. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by David Clarke) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. LONDON British online fashion retailer Asos raised its guidance for full-year sales growth after it reported a better-than-expected 38 percent rise in its first half, driven by accelerating international demand. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-grocers-kantar-idUKKBN1760J6'|'2017-04-04T15:27:00.000+03:00' '9f63d0b4cd24be92f48fc02fe71462bec50de937'|'RPT-INSIGHT-Brazil''s black market pipeline: Gangs hijack Petrobras'' oil, fuel'|' RPT-INSIGHT-Brazil''s black market pipeline: Gangs hijack Petrobras'' oil, fuel (Repeats for additional clients with no changes to text) By Rodrigo Viga Gaier RIO DE JANEIRO, April 4 In September, police investigating a wave of killings in the northern Rio de Janeiro suburbs followed a tip to the isolated scrubland near the massive Duque de Caxias oil refinery. Police presumed the killings were linked to turf battles between criminal gangs in the run-up to municipal elections the following month. They found a different explanation buried beneath the grass: a system of tubes to siphon fuel from underground pipelines leading from the refinery, owned by state-run oil company Petrobras. Some of the killings, police said, were part of a power struggle between rival gangs earnings millions of dollars a year from stealing crude oil, diesel and gasoline and selling it on a thriving black market. The discovery highlighted a fast-growing criminal enterprise in Brazil''s oil heartland, between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. From just one recorded incident in 2014, the number of thefts and attempted thefts from Petrobras rose to 14 in 2015 - before jumping five-fold to 73 last year, the company told Reuters. The racket is part of a larger crime wave in Brazil, and especially Rio, amid the country''s worst recession on record. Investigators believe the oil and fuel thefts were masterminded by the city''s powerful militias - often made up of retired or off-duty cops - as they seek to move away from terror and violence to lower-profile crimes following a crackdown by authorities in recent years. The thieves'' methods range from hijacking tanker trucks to tapping the company''s more than 11,000 kilometers of pipelines - and processing stolen crude at their own secret refineries. "Not even Petrobras knows exactly how much is being stolen," said Giniton Lages, the Rio police chief who led the investigation at Duque de Caxias. "It''s a huge business, moving millions of reais." INSIDE JOB While oil theft - often with environmental damage from the accompanying spills - is commonplace in regions like the Niger Delta of Nigeria, it has not traditionally been a problem in Brazil. The thefts add to the steep challenges facing Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as the Rio-based firm is formally known. Amid weak oil prices, the company is scaling back under new CEO Pedro Parente and trying to emerge from a $100 million pile of debt. For the past three years, the state-run company has been hit by a sprawling investigation into corruption and political kickbacks in its dealings with construction firms. Police suspect corruption in the oil thefts as well. The taps and pipes near the Duque de Caxias refinery were so precisely engineered that investigators concluded the thieves must have had help from inside Petrobras. "They knew what type of fuel was inside each pipe and what was the ideal point to place a tap without the change of pressure in the tube raising the attention of the company''s security system," Lages said. Petrobras, whose production of about 2.8 million barrels a day makes it one of the world''s top 10 oil companies, said it was working with police to identify any employees or ex-employees that may have been involved in the crimes. "In 2016, there was a startling increase in theft from our pipelines," said Rodrigo Spagnolo, head of pipeline maintenance at Transpetro, Petrobras'' transport subsidiary. The company, however, said the robberies had no material impact on its earnings. Petrobras reported revenues of $81 billion last year. RUTHLESS GANGS The militias in Rio de Janeiro emerged to combat drug gangs in the city''s violent hillside favelas. But they evolved into criminal organizations preying on those impoverished communities, controlling everything from real estate and electricity to cable TV. Some of the leaders entered local politics. In the wake of high-profile killings at the end of the last decade - prompting a government crackdown - the militia have maintained a lower profile, said Ignacio Cano, a professor at the state university of Rio de Janeiro and a member of its Laboratory for the Analysis of Violence. "Stealing fuel was not typically a crime associated with militia, but they must see an opportunity for making millions," he said. "It''s unusual for them to operate outside the territory they control." Most oil and fuel thefts reported by Petrobras in 2016 took place on the populous Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro axis, which groups five of the company’s biggest refineries. In Rio de Janeiro, thefts tripled last year to 33. Five of the incidents caused oil spills, Petrobras said. Police arrested 13 people for the Duque de Caxias refinery scam, including two military police officers. A judge has issued warrants for 26 others. The gang, set up in June 2015, stole 14 million litres (3.6 million gallons) of fuel last year, worth an estimated 33 million reais ($11 million), prosecutors said. Police believe the Rio branch of the gang was headed by Caxias Denilson Silva Pessanha, a former city councillor in Duque de Caxias and the owner of illegal gasoline stations. Such service stations, operating without a license or a distribution contract with a fuel supplier, have become more common in Brazilian cities in recent years. Pessanha, a fugitive, is wanted for torture and attempted homicide. Reuters attempts to locate an attorney for him were not successful. Transpetro said it was investing in more security, but Rio de Janeiro police say the company remains an easy target. "The company''s security officials who we have spoken to admit there is little they can do," Lages said. "This involves armed gangs, and private security can do little about it because they are afraid." A SECRET REFINERY While Brazil''s high unemployment and deep recession could be driving the thefts, Lages said, another motivation is the low risk of capture and punishment. Convictions are unlikely to result in imprisonment because Brazil''s jails are chronically overcrowded. "You might get a bit of community service time, so this is profitable and not much trouble," Lages said. Police are trying to classify the robberies as environmental crimes, which can carry up to five years in prison in cases where the pollution threatens humans or animals. The 13 people arrested in the Duque de Caxias refinery thefts were charged with forming a criminal enterprise, which also carries stiffer penalties. The scale of the crime has surprised police. At the end of last year, they uncovered a secret refinery in Boituva, Sao Paulo state, one of the installations used to process stolen crude. Video images show a large complex, with four giant storage tanks surrounded by a complex mesh of pipes, and a vast forecourt filled with unmarked tanker trucks. "The gang was stealing oil from Petrobras'' pipelines in Rio de Janeiro, filling trucks and taking it to these secret refineries," said Sao Paulo police chief Emerson Martins. The fuel would then be sold to illegal service stations and to small-scale vendors in rural towns or city slums, police say. The criminals sometimes use water trucks to transport the stolen cargo without drawing suspicion. In reaction, Brazil''s Federal Highway Police have increased roadblocks on highways between Rio and Sao Paulo. "The militia has rushed headfirst into this business," said Jose Helio Macedo, a spokesman for the police agency. "We are trying to curb it." ($1 = 3.1732 reais) (Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn; Writing by Daniel Flynn and Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Brian Thevenot) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-petrobras-theft-idUSL2N1HC02I'|'2017-04-04T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'f41992e97ccba3a129842b6dc856fe7d4f6a4f93'|'Amazon acquires right to buy stake in fuel cell maker Plug Power'|'By Jeffrey Dastin Amazon.com Inc has acquired the right to buy up to 23 percent of hydrogen fuel cell maker Plug Power Inc, in a deal giving the retailer powerful batteries that promise to speed up work in its warehouses, Plug Power said on Wednesday.Latham, New York-based Plug Power was valued at $319 million as of Tuesday''s market close. Amazon must spend at least $600 million over the life of its contract with Plug Power for its warrants to fully vest.The world''s largest online retailer will equip forklifts at 11 warehouses this year with hydrogen fuel cells so they can lift more goods before running out of juice, as well as charge faster, Plug Power''s Chief Executive Andy Marsh said in an interview. Amazon will spend $70 million on the deal in 2017 and likely twice that next year, he said."Fulfillment centers are traditionally fairly low tech," said Marsh, explaining that labor as well as physical space could be freed up by moving away from batteries requiring lots of attention.While only a tiny fraction of forklifts globally are powered by hydrogen fuel, Wal-Mart Stores Inc already uses Plug Power''s technology in its warehouses and is a top customer, according to Marsh.The retailer is locked in a fight with Amazon for share of U.S. shoppers'' wallets.(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in San Francisco; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/amazon-com-plug-power-idINKBN1771BU'|'2017-04-05T09:10:00.000+03:00' 'a1b73cc6c8836601d06210ff93ba03cfd6515c04'|'BRIEF-Genuine Parts Company announces acquisition of leading custom cabling and automation solutions distributor'|' 20am EDT BRIEF-Genuine Parts Company announces acquisition of leading custom cabling and automation solutions distributor April 5 Genuine Parts Co * Genuine Parts Company announces acquisition of leading custom cabling and automation solutions distributor * Genuine Parts Co - Empire is expected to generate annual revenues of approximately $65 million * Genuine Parts Co - EIS, company''s electrical/electronic materials group, has acquired Empire Wire and Supply, effective April 1, 2017 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-genuine-parts-company-announces-ac-idUSASB0B8NS'|'2017-04-05T21:20:00.000+03:00' '8271d214a2c22bef5cfcfaa7e85bc1df7f7d45be'|'BRIEF-China CIC, Canada''s Brookfield acquire Petrobras pipeline unit'|'Company 16am EDT BRIEF-China CIC, Canada''s Brookfield acquire Petrobras pipeline unit BEIJING, April 5 China''s sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp said it has joined hands with Canada''s Brookfield Asset Management Inc in acquiring 90 percent of a natural gas pipeline unit from Brazil''s state oil firm Petrobras. * The investor group includes other institutional investor, and the pipeline unit is called Nova Transportadora do Sudeste S.A., CIC stated on its website on Wednesday * Reuters reported last September that Petrobras agreed to sell 90 percent of its natural gas pipeline unit to a group of investors for $5.2 billion (Reporting by Chen Aizhu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-petrobras-pipeline-acquisition-idUSL3N1HD190'|'2017-04-05T13:16:00.000+03:00' '5f693e926a19e70f442f1f8d78b81738ee510297'|'Wood Group estimates higher cost savings from Amec Foster deal'|'Deals - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:36am BST Wood Group estimates higher cost savings from Amec Foster deal Oil services company John Wood Group Plc ( WG.L ) said it expected about 36 percent more cost savings from its deal to buy Amec Foster Wheeler Plc ( AMFW.L ) for 2.2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion) than it first estimated when announcing the deal in March. Wood Group said it has been able to increase the expected level of pretax cost synergies from at least 110 million pounds to at least 150 million per annum by the end of the third year after the deal closes. Cost savings would come from operating, corporate and administration efficiencies, Wood Group said. Wood Group agreed to buy Amec Foster last month, seeking rewards from the fast-growing U.S. shale energy sector. Wood Group, a 35-year old company based in the Scottish city of Aberdeen, grew out of helping companies in the now declining North Sea oil basin. It said the deal would enable it to expand in areas best placed to benefit from an upturn in commodity prices, notably the U.S. onshore shale oil and gas sector. ($1 = 0.8039 pounds) (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-amec-foster-m-a-john-wood-idUKKBN1770KF'|'2017-04-05T14:34:00.000+03:00' 'a22090e04601a915afee4ee7e7c77abd31642c4c'|'Qatar''s Santander Brasil stake sale seen below suggested price: sources'|'By Paula Arend Laier and Guillermo Parra-Bernal - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Qatar Investment Authority''s planned sale of a 2.25 percent stake in Banco Santander Brasil SA on Wednesday is facing strong investor pushback to be priced below initial estimates, two people with knowledge of the deal said, reflecting the view that shares of Brazil''s No. 4 listed lender remain expensive.According to the people, who requested anonymity because the offering is in the works, the stake could be priced around 25 reais per Santander Brasil unit ( SANB11.SA ), well below the 27-real price tag initially suggested by the sovereign wealth fund.The fund, known as QIA, filed on March 28 to sell up to 80 million units, after an 18-month rally nearly doubled their value.Investors have been puzzled by the surge, which made Santander Brasil Latin America''s most expensive bank and led to recent increased short-selling bets against the stock.The units, a blend of Santander Brasil''s common and preferred shares, accelerated losses on news of the investor pushback and shed as much as 3.4 percent on Wednesday. The stock is down 13 percent since March 27, the day before the deal was announced.At 25 reais, QIA would place the about 24 million units of Santander Brasil being offered to investors in Brazil, one of the people said. The remaining amount is expected to be placed overseas, the person added.Santander Brasil, as well as underwriters Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse Group AG, did not have an immediate comment. QIA could not be reached for comment.If priced at 25 reais, the so-called restricted efforts offering would fetch up to 2.3 billion reais ($745 million) for QIA, provided the fund chooses to exercise an additional allotment of 12 million units.QIA intends to sell 40 percent of the 5.5 percent stake it holds in Santander Brasil, the local unit of Spain''s Banco Santander SA ( SAN.MC ). The fund entered Santander Brasil seven years ago, around the time the São Paulo-based lender became a public company in June 2009.The transaction, known as a public offering with restricted efforts, differs from standard equity offerings in that QIA does not have to request registration of the plan with securities industry watchdog CVM. Only qualified investors can participate, and the deal cannot be marketed through road shows or the media.(Additional reporting by Ana Mano in São Paulo; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bco-santander-br-offering-idINKBN1772MY'|'2017-04-05T17:42:00.000+03:00' '371e72d44e0a7f746b9a1c7520bcf98cfe706f8b'|'India wipes out debt worth $5 billion for 21 million small farmers'|'See two million knots turn into a carpet Millions of Indian farmers who borrowed from banks to finance their crops no longer have to pay their loans back. The country''s biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, has announced that it will forgive debts worth about $5.6 billion. More than 21 million small farmers who own less than 2 hectares (5 acres) of land will benefit from the relief. That includes 700,000 farmers whose loans were already listed as non-performing by their banks. The loan waiver was a key campaign promise by the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and aims to provide respite to farmers struggling to make ends meet. Related: India''s generous maternity leave may be bad for women Bad farm loans are a major problem in India, and the government frequently bails out the agricultural sector -- most notably in 2008, when it wrote off around $17 billion in debt for 40 million farmers across the country. But the latest package has come under fire from India''s central bank. An official at the Reserve Bank of India told local media last week that the government risked promoting a culture of "credit indiscipline." For now, however, millions of farmers can breathe a sigh of (debt) relief. CNNMoney (New Delhi) 12:19 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/05/news/economy/india-farmers-loan-debt-canceled/index.html'|'2017-04-05T20:33:00.000+03:00' 'a29700c1ed65173efdfdc9a409be8acb146dbd04'|'CarMax shares could drop 20 pct as charge-offs, risky loans rise -Barron''s'|'Company News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 3:50pm EDT CarMax shares could drop 20 pct as charge-offs, risky loans rise -Barron''s NEW YORK, April 2 Shares of CarMax Inc, the biggest U.S. used car dealer, are vulnerable to a 20 percent decline if investors are unnerved by falling used vehicle prices and weakening credit quality when it reports its results, Barron''s said on Sunday. The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2017 results on April 6. CarMax''s captive auto finance unit contributes about 40 percent of the company''s operating income and could come under pressure as defaults and delinquencies rise, the report said. Last year, the company rolled out an online financing initiative to help customers pre-qualify for a loan before a store visit, hoping to improve customer conversion rates. The economy is becoming less friendly to used-car buyers, personal bankruptcies have ticked up in recent months and interest rates are on the rise, meaning CarMax might find itself underreserved for loan losses, according to Barron''s. "CarMax seems sure to continue to grow sales by opening new stores but if the company encounters rude surprises in its loan portfolios, and falling vehicle prices pinch margins, investors could send the stock lower in its historical valuation range," the report said. CarMax shares closed down 1.4 percent at $59.22 per share on Friday and have fallen more than 8 percent so far this year. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/carmax-barrons-idUSL3N1HA0GB'|'2017-04-03T03:50:00.000+03:00' '95d1b6d96b235ca683b173a67be35c2602452bdd'|'Japan''s BTMU bank mulls fee hike for big clients amid negative interest rates'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 4:13pm BST Japan''s BTMU bank mulls fee hike for big clients amid negative interest rates left right Takashi Oyamada, President of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo, Japan, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 1/3 left right Takashi Oyamada, President of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo, Japan, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 2/3 left right Takashi Oyamada, President of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Tokyo, Japan, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 3/3 By Taiga Uranaka and Taro Fuse - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), a core unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) ( 8306.T ), is in talks with its big corporate customers on potential fee hikes, in a bid to pass on some of the costs of negative interest rates. Japanese banks, particularly smaller ones, have struggled to eke out profits from lending amid an ultra-low interest rate environment, exacerbated by the Bank of Japan''s aggressive negative interest rate policy. BTMU CEO Takashi Oyamada told Reuters the bank, one of the nation''s three megabanks, is reviewing the fee discounts offered to its biggest corporate customers. But discussions with clients have yet to yield "big results". "In Japan, charging fees is difficult to gain acceptance. It will take time," said Oyamada, who is also the new chairman of the Japanese Bankers Association. Banks have not transferred the costs of negative rates to retail customers, fearing a public backlash for charging fees on cash deposits. Instead, they are trying to offset diminishing returns from loans with fee businesses, such as selling mutual funds to retail customers and providing advisory services to corporate clients. But these businesses have yet to become a driver of profit. MUFG, Japan''s largest lender by assets, expects an 11 percent fall in net profit for the year ended in March, hit by its weak lending business. Following the BOJ''s surprise move last year, lenders cut their interest rates on ordinary deposits to barely above zero, 0.001 percent. Policymakers hoped their actions would spur spending and investment by lowering borrowing costs, but instead banks have seen a sharp increase in bank deposits. Outstanding deposits at Japan''s major banks rose 6 percent year-on-year during the October-December quarter, BOJ data showed, while loans edged up just 1.4 percent during the same period. "There are positives and negatives of the negative interest rate policy," Oyamada said. "The benefits of low interest rates have reached the corporate sector. At the same time, pensions and life insurances have been experiencing falling returns." (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Randy Fabi) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-banking-idUKKBN1740L2'|'2017-04-02T23:09:00.000+03:00' '573e9f2a0681cdec9b91cdd838c66f10b49772f4'|'Wall St Week Ahead-Beyond jobs, car sales to give insight on consumer health'|'Business News 23pm EDT Beyond jobs, car sales to give insight on consumer health Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Rodrigo Campos - NEW YORK NEW YORK Forget the jobs report. The most interesting bit of U.S. economic data next week is Monday''s auto sales release, which will offer a measure of the middle-class consumer and a sector of the stock market that has had a rough ride so far in 2017. Economists are looking for another solid month of sales north of 17 million new vehicles at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate for March but nothing like the 18.4 million hit in December, the highest since August 2005. The number would however point to a third consecutive decline on a 12-month rolling basis. With sales peaking and prices set to drop, the secondary effects are expected to be felt beyond car makers and dealers. Lease and used-vehicle prices are expected to fall sharply this year, according to Ally Financial, which cited its estimate earlier this month when it lowered its 2017 profit forecast. Morgan Stanley said in a Friday note used-car prices could tumble between 25 and 50 percent by 2021, with both new cars and off-lease supply hitting record highs this year. "There''s an avalanche of used cars ready to hit the market place," said Brad Lamensdorf, co-manager of the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear ETF. According to Lamensdorf, the need to move inventory has translated into reckless lending. "It''s not fraudulent, but people are up to their neck in debt," he said. "Default rates are going to be much more significant." The stock market is taking note. The S&P 1500 automotive retail index .SPCOMAUTR is down 6.5 percent year to date, with Advance Auto Parts ( AAP.N ), AutoNation ( AN.N ) and Sonic Automotive ( SAH.N ) down double digits in 2017. Carmax ( KMX.N ), which reports earnings on Thursday, is seen as a bellwether in the used-car industry. Its stock is down 8 percent so far this year. Another red flag from the sales floor: the average number of days a new vehicle sat before being retailed hit 70 in the first 19 days of March according to a note from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. That is the highest since July 2009. With the market tightening, industry insiders expect more price cuts. "The competitiveness of the industry continues to be evident in ever-rising incentive levels," said Deirdre Borrego, senior vice president of automotive data and analytics at J.D. Power in a note. "Incentives will reach a new high for the month of March." At the same time, competition to finance loans is likely to further increase credit risk for auto lenders, Moody''s Investors Service said this week. Ally Financial stock ( ALLY.N ) fell 9.6 percent in March. Even the challenge to General Motors ( GM.N ) this week from a hedge fund, aimed at boosting a lagging stock price, reflects the concern that the industry is hoarding cash without significant prospects for growth. NO RECESSION, BUT ... The market for autos, however important, is not as big a part of the U.S. economy as the housing market was when its collapse in 2008 triggered the sharpest recession since the Great Depression. However, and taking into account all the moving parts of the industry''s supply chain, a halt in the auto sector could strain an economy that is already eight years into a recovery cycle. And it would hurt blue-collar workers the most. If a jump in auto loan defaults materializes, there is also the risk that consumers will shut their wallets and hurt economic growth, two-thirds of which depends on consumer spending. "When you look at how consumers are spending there is a question mark if the less-than-prime buyer is suddenly having issues," said Ian Winer, head of equities at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "The spillover effect is: what other industries are also using rather aggressive financing in order to get revenue? Jewelry and mattresses jump out at me as two big examples." Tempur Sealy shares ( TPX.N ) have fallen 32 percent year to date. (Additional reporting by Nick Carey and Joe White; Editing by James Dalgleish) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-weekahead-idUSKBN1722XT'|'2017-04-01T06:19:00.000+03:00' '69dfafb35b9588dc96755a8da9ca6aa2e7e8a7f5'|'Exclusive: U.S. blockchain company Wyre acquires Chinese payments platform'|'By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss - NEW YORK NEW YORK San Francisco startup Wyre Inc, a cross-border payments firm, has acquired a Beijing-based platform, Chief Executive Michael Dunworth told Reuters on Tuesday, in what he said was the first acquisition by a U.S. company of a Chinese blockchain business in the corporate payments space.Wyre''s purchase of Remitsy strengthens the U.S. firm''s push into the $500 billion U.S.-China business payments market.Dunworth declined to discuss terms of the cash and equity deal. Negotiations started in February, he said.When Remitsy is fully integrated, U.S.-China business payments will be processed in a few hours, Dunworth said in an interview. Currently, payments are completed within three to five business days using other payments processors, he said."We''re focused on payments that are fast as email going bank to bank, and to other payments platforms."Wyre and Remitsy are primarily focused on business payments between the United States and China. Both companies are enabled by blockchain, a ledger of transactions that first emerged as the software underpinning bitcoin and is maintained by a network of computers.Blockchain has become the most sought-after technology in the corporate and financial sector, with the world''s largest banks and companies in a mad dash to adopt it.Remitsy has partnerships with well-known vendors such as Alipay, launched in 2004 by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ) and its founder, Jack Ma. The acquisition allows Wyre to incorporate those partnerships into its own platform and thus bolster its U.S.-China business, Dunworth said."It''s the first time any Wyre customer will be able to provide pay-out in China via Alipay," he said. "Adding Alipay to our platform would be a huge benefit."Wyre''s payment volume in March 2016 was $50 million. With the acquisition, transactions processed would increase to $70 million-$75 million over the next few months, Dunworth said. Wyre currently has 1,000 customers.Remitsy''s co-founders will join the Wyre team and lead the company''s growth and local operations in China.Wyre raised $5.8 million in capital late last year. The funding round was led by Chinese venture firm Amphora Capital. Other investors include Chinese payments company Baofoo.com and 9fBank.Draper Associates and Digital Currency Group (DCG) are also investors in the company. Draper Associates was founded by billionaire investor Tim Draper, while DCG was founded by Barry Silbert, one of the first investors to bring bitcoin to the institutional investing market.(Editing by Megan Davies and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-remitsy-m-a-wyre-idINKBN1762VR'|'2017-04-04T19:47:00.000+03:00' '145268dc79b32875a56804a990c5f7376c9c316d'|'PPG says ready to address Akzo Nobel objections to offer'|'Deals 02am EDT PPG says ready to address Akzo Nobel objections to offer FILE PHOTO: The sign of AkzoNobel is pictured at its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 6, 2014. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos/File Photo AMSTERDAM PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), the U.S. paints and coating makers that is trying to buy smaller Dutch peer Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ), said on Wednesday it was ready to address various non-financial objections Akzo had raised about PPG''s offer. On Tuesday, Akzo repeated its opposition to PPG''s 24.5 billion euro ($26.1 billion) offer, saying it would face antitrust difficulties and would be bad for employees.. A large number of Akzo shareholders have urged the management to enter discussions. In a statement on Wednesday, PPG said it would address Akzo''s concerns, including commitments to research and development, employment terms, location of divisional headquarters, community investment and sustainability targets. "We once again invite AkzoNobel to meet with us ... We are prepared to address all of AkzoNobel''s concerns in a collaborative and substantive manner," PPG Michael McGarry said in a statement. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Edmund Blair) Next In Deals JAB Holding to buy bakery chain Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea, said on Wednesday it would buy U.S. bakery chain Panera Bread Co in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion, including debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idUSKBN1771HK'|'2017-04-05T19:57:00.000+03:00' '8506f7dd69a66a4a6fe7d57c9effd9544639916e'|'Schneider Electric to sell DTN to Swiss group TBG in $900 million deal'|'PARIS French electrical components maker Schneider Electric ( SCHN.PA ) has agreed to sell agricultural information company Telvent DTN to private Swiss group TBG AG in a deal worth around $900 million based on enterprise value, Schneider said on Monday.Schneider Electric said it expected to close the transaction in the second quarter of this year, and would use the proceeds from the sale to finance a share buyback program worth around 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) over a two-year period.Telvent DTN last reported revenues of $213 million, but Schneider had decided that it was no longer a core part of its company following a strategic review of its businesses.(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-schneider-dtn-idINKBN1750IX'|'2017-04-03T04:50:00.000+03:00' '22f4966ce066a284afe58857a01d051d2564b069'|'Deutsche Bank buys stake in TrustBills'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 6:11pm BST Deutsche Bank buys stake in TrustBills FILE PHOTO - The headquarters of Germany''s Deutsche Bank are seen early evening in Frankfurt, Germany January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo FRANKFURT Germany''s Deutsche Bank AG ( DBKGn.DE ) has bought a 12.5 percent stake in auction platform TrustBills, the bank said on Monday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2015, Germany-based financial technology company TrustBills is an electronic marketplace for national and international trade receivables. (Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Business News Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple, its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. LONDON, April 3 - British manufacturing lost some of its momentum last month, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutschebank-trustbills-idUKKBN175212'|'2017-04-04T01:11:00.000+03:00' '595f66c166826ef4f81bae2ca9e9ef678c5bd4be'|'Infosys founder criticises pay hike for operations chief'|'Technology News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:07am BST Infosys founder Murthy criticizes COO''s pay hike Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Limited, speaks during a dialogue session at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong January 19, 2015. REUTERS/Bobby Yip MUMBAI/BENGALURU The dispute between the founders and the board of India''s second largest software services company Infosys Ltd over governance issues spilled into public view again as founder N.R. Narayana Murthy criticized a salary hike given to Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao. In a letter that was released to media, Murthy criticized the steep rise in Rao''s salary. "Giving nearly 60 percent to 70 percent increase in compensation for a top level person (even including performance-based variable pay) when the compensation for most of the employees in the company was increased by just 6 percent to 8 percent is, in my opinion, not proper. This is grossly unfair to the majority of the Infosys employees...," said Murthy in the letter. "The impact of such a decision will likely erode the trust and faith of the employees in the management and the board," added Murthy. Infosys declined to comment on Murthy''s letter when contacted by Reuters. According to a stock exchange filing by the company, only 24 percent of promoter shares voted on a resolution seeking a 35 percent rise in Rao''s compensation, and they all voted for the resolution. ( bit.ly/2nuHy2e ) The company had sought to reassure investors and analysts in February that it was not being distracted by the dispute with its founders over how the company was being managed. The company''s founders still own 12.75 percent of Infosys. Led by Murthy, they had earlier questioned the pay rise granted to chief executive Vishal Sikka and also the size of severance payouts given to others, including former finance head Rajiv Bansal. (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in BENGALURU and Sankalp Phartiyal in MUMBAI; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-infosys-murthy-criticism-idUKKBN1750AI'|'2017-04-03T22:54:00.000+03:00' 'b24d6fad8cba05ccb0a5eee3fd4f2750148ac5d1'|'Brazil''s Renova to finalize project sale to AES on Monday: sources'|'SAO PAULO Brazil''s renewable power generation company Renova Energia SA ( RNEW11.SA ) will finalize the sale of wind farm Alto Sertão II to the Brazilian unit of AES Corp ( AES.N ) for about 700 million reais ($223 million) as early as Monday, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.The project sale is a condition for Brookfield Asset Management Inc''s ( BAMa.TO ) plan to enter Renova''s controlling bloc in a deal valued at about 1 billion reais, said the people, who asked for anonymity because the matter remains private.Under terms of the deal, which could be announced in coming days, Canada''s Brookfield ( BAMa.TO ) would purchase the 15.7 percent stake that Light Energia SA has in Renova and then pump fresh cash into the company, said the people. Currently, Light forms part of a controlling bloc that owns about 64 percent of Renova.Renova units ( RNEW11.SA ), a blend of its common and preferred shares, jumped 10 percent on Friday, on top of a 15 percent surge the prior trading day. Shares of Light ( LIGT3.SA ) shed 1.3 percent, their fourth decline in five sessions.Renova did not have an immediate comment. Light''s press office referred any questions related to Renova to controlling shareholder Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA ( CMIG4.SA ).Brookfield declined to comment. AES Brasil said it continues to analyze the Alto Sertão II transaction, without elaborating further.Both deals, if successfully concluded, would help Renova overcome a severe cash crunch that has led to investment plan delays and cost cuts. Renova''s woes have worsened since a planned partnership with SunEdison Inc ( SUNEQ.PK ) collapsed weeks before the U.S. company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.By injecting capital, Brookfield would be giving Light a chance to exit the company while diluting the other two members of Renova''s controlling bloc, Cia Energética de Minas Gerais SA ( CMIG4.SA ) and RR Participações SA.(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-renova-energia-m-a-brookfield-asset-idINKBN1722Z3'|'2017-03-31T20:42:00.000+03:00' 'bd7666eb3547f64f1c9410373cd78e49827881f2'|'Brazil''s Vale says 260,000 tns iron ore on sunken ship was insured'|'Company 41pm EDT Brazil''s Vale says 260,000 tns iron ore on sunken ship was insured SAO PAULO, April 3 Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Monday that 260,000 tonnes of fine iron ore on a South Korean ship that sank in the South Atlantic had been insured. Vale said in an email that the cargo, which belonged to the Brazilian miner, was bound for China for storage and blending when the ship operated by South Korea''s Polaris Shipping, Stellar Daisy, sank off Uruguay''s coast. Vale said the cargo had been stowed in accordance with international norms. (Reporting by Roberto Samora; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-ship-idUSE6N1FG01R'|'2017-04-04T02:41:00.000+03:00' 'c7963f3b04618adab045544723d81b43055e5ce8'|'Reckitt Benckiser reviewing options for food business'|'LONDON British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) is weighing strategic options for its food business, it said, as it seeks to pay down debt following its planned $16.6 billion purchase of Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ).A sale of the business could fetch more than 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion), British newspaper The Sunday Times reported.The company said on Monday that its food business, which includes French''s mustard and Frank’s Red Hot sauce, was non-core and that it would update the market when appropriate.The food business had 2016 sales of 411 million pounds, with like-for-like growth of 5 percent.Reckitt''s much bigger business units include health and home care products, from Strepsils throat lozenges to Air Wick air fresheners.(Reporting by Martinne Geller; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-reckitt-benc-grp-food-idINKBN1750L2'|'2017-04-03T05:09:00.000+03:00' 'b7efea60ad11c1a0ee1baab3700cdb31db1ea1bb'|'Talk of Tokyo: LNG trio to test leverage in push to free-up purchases'|'Global Energy News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 12:14am BST Talk of Tokyo: LNG trio to test leverage in push to free-up purchases FILE PHOTO: A membrane-type liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is moored at a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo, Japan February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo By Mark Tay - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE The world''s gas industry is descending on Tokyo this week with something other than cherry blossoms on its mind: a trio of Asian LNG buyers testing their collective muscle in a push for more flexible long-term contracts for the fuel. Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS) ( 036460.KS ), Japan''s JERA and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) [SASACY.UL] - whose joint liquefied natural gas volumes account for a third of global LNG trade - are attempting to cement a shift in power from producers to importers amid a supply glut that is expected to persist into the early-2020s. Developing responses from LNG producers to the group''s alliance may also soon start to give clues as to who will win advantage as the fuel surplus puts pressure on suppliers to give buyers greater contractual freedom than they have had since the industry first began to ramp up in the 1970s. "Destination clauses will probably die soon under the pressure of buyers and the growing needs for flexibility," said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a research fellow at the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre (KAPSARC) in Saudi Arabia. No meetings between the three buyers and major producers such as Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ), Chevron ( CVX.N ) and Qatargas have yet been confirmed at the Gastech biannual industry gathering, but representatives of all are certain to be in attendance, and other delegates are sure to be watching to see what happens when their paths cross. North Asian LNG buyers - including those agreeing last month to explore joint purchases of supplies - have for decades relied on rigid long-term contracts that prevent cargo resales because the main priority was security of supply as energy demand soared amid double-digit economic growth. But a slowdown in Asian growth over the past few years, especially in top two buyers Japan and South Korea, and impending liberalisation of gas and power markets mean dominant utilities are now often stuck with surplus cargoes they cannot resell amid stagnant or shrinking demand at home. Last year for instance, global installed LNG capacity was over 300 million tonnes a year, while only about 268 million tonnes of LNG were traded, according to Thomson Reuters data. JERA and KOGAS have both indicated they aim to ink only future contracts that have more flexible terms, but it remains unclear if they or other Asian buyers plan to force existing contracts into arbitration. Many LNG producers have so far declined to comment on the rising threat from more aggressive buyers, although Australia''s Woodside Petroleum ( WPL.AX ) suggested last week that flexibility in long-term contracts would eventually lead to a more liquid market. (For graphics on the global LNG market, please see tmsnrt.rs/2ofFm2U and tmsnrt.rs/2mXdqgu. ) DISRUPTION Another disrupting force in the LNG market could be the emergence of importers like Pakistan that utilise floating storage and regasification units, who would also be small-scale buyers seeking shorter-term contracts. "There are more new types of players coming into the market so it''s no longer the long-term bilateral type of dedicated deals between utilities and exporters, but we''re seeing a more flexible and liquid market developing," Keisuke Sadamori, director of energy markets and security for the International Energy Agency, told Reuters. Asia, which accounts for about 70 percent of the world''s LNG demand, is poised as well to benefit from rising U.S. exports that are on track to make the United States the third-largest exporter of LNG next year. U.S. LNG is attractive to Asian buyers as cargoes have no destination restrictions that prevent them from being resold when domestic power demand is weak. "This growth (in spot and short-term contracts) is driven by several factors including ... the Japanese gas and power sector deregulations, (and the) uncertainty of LNG demand in Japan and Korea given potential nuclear power plant re-starts," said Marc Howson, LNG Senior Managing Editor at S&P Global Platts. The emergence of price-sensitive buyers in India and China is also driving the market towards more spot trade, Howson said. India does not rule out the possibility of joining the China, Japan and Korea grouping to jointly buy LNG to extract better deals, the country''s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said last month, adding that the market was gradually becoming more consumer-centric. (For graphics on top Asian LNG buyers form allliance click tmsnrt.rs/2mXdqgu ) (Reporting by Mark Tay, with additional reporting by Florence Tan in SINGAPORE, Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO and Jane Chung in SEOUL; Editing by Tom Hogue) Next In Global Energy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-gastech-preview-idUKKBN1740YW'|'2017-04-03T07:14:00.000+03:00' 'b29ea087eedec5fdf7970c0245299d7f41960921'|'Euronext signs up ICE to replace LSE derivatives clearing unit'|'LONDON, April 3 Pan-European bourse Euronext said it will use a Dutch unit of the Intercontinental Exchange to process its derivatives transactions after the purchase of its current clearing house collapsed.Clearing ensures a transaction is completed even if one side of the trade goes bust. A wider range of derivatives transactions will have to be cleared to improve market safety and transparency.Euronext, which operates exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels, currently uses LCH SA, the Paris-based clearing unit of the London Stock Exchange Group, which it wanted to buy for 510 million euros ($544 million).After the LSE''s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse was vetoed by European Union competition officials last week, the LSE cancelled the clearing unit sale.With Euronext''s contract with LCH expiring at the end of 2018, the bourse operator had to find an alternative quickly, and on Monday said it was signing a 10-year deal with ICE Clear Netherlands to clear its derivatives and commodities contracts from the second half of next year.Euronext will invest 10 million euros in ICE Clear, and said headline clearing fees would be cut by 15 percent."Overall, this represents a long term, open access, sustainable and innovative euro zone based clearing proposition for Euronext and its customers," the Paris headquartered bourse said in a statement.Euronext had already begun offering customers the ability to clear their stock trades on EuroCCP, in which the exchange bought a 20 percent stake, as an alternative to LCH.Euronext accounts for about half of LCH''s French business. Shares in LSE were slightly down in early trading. ($1 = 0.9374 euros) (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/euronext-clearing-interconti-exc-idINL5N1HB1NC'|'2017-04-03T06:41:00.000+03:00' 'fbe268b79921c081c8445bbaa370757d53766106'|'Stocks start week steady after strong quarter, U.S. policies in focus'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 8:54pm EDT Stocks start week steady after strong quarter, U.S. policies in focus A Chinese investor monitors share prices at a securities company in Shanghai November 12, 2003. REUTERS/Claro Cortes IV/File Photo By Hideyuki Sano - TOKYO TOKYO Asian shares started the week on a steady footing on Monday after a bumper quarter as investors look to the shape of U.S. trade and economic policies and how they could affect global growth. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was little changed in early trade while Japan''s Nikkei .N225 rose 0.1 percent. Ex-Japan Asia MSCI had gained 12.3 percent in the last quarter, its biggest quarterly gains in 6-1/2 years and almost double the 6.4 percent rise in MSCI''s broadest gauge of the world''s stock markets .MIWD PUS covering 46 markets. The rally was primarily underpinned by signs of a pickup in momentum in the global economy, led by China. South Korea''s trade data for March released over the weekend added to the evidence of an improving global demand outlook, with the country''s exports rising more than expected. While a private survey on China''s manufacturing on Saturday came in below market expectations it still showed a healthy expansion after a similar survey by the government on Friday pointed to strong growth in the sector. The main focus for markets this week centers on U.S. payrolls figures due on Friday. "If we get strong reading in U.S payrolls data, the markets will try to price in a rate hike in June," said Minori Uchida, chief currency strategist at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. On the other hand, investors are on guard against the possibility the U.S. administration may adopt protectionist measures. President Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda on Friday by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. The executive orders came a week after Trump''s promise to replace Obamacare imploded in Congress and a week before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, a summit that promises to be fraught with trade tensions. "After his failure to push through his healthcare reforms, investors increasingly think that his tax reforms will take time. And given the China-U.S. summit, trade issues could come to the fore this week," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Mitsui Sumitomo Asset Management. Any hints that Washington may name some of its trade partners such as China, Japan and Germany, as currency manipulator could dent the dollar. "The Trump administration is not necessarily seeking to reduce trade deficit through a cheaper dollar. But it has strong intentions to do that and it could use a weaker dollar as a bargaining tool in trade negotiation," said Uchida of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. In early trade, the dollar slipped 0.2 percent to 111.20 yen JPY= . Uchida said it could fall below its four-month low of 110.10 yen touched last Monday. The euro EUR= ticked up 0.2 percent to $1.0673, rebounding from Friday''s two-week low of $1.0651 hit after data had shown inflation in the currency bloc had slowed by far more than expected in March. Oil prices stood near three-week highs on a growing sense that OPEC and nonmember Russia would extend their production cut, seeking to drive the market higher. Brent crude futures LCOc1 hit a three-week high of $53.63 per barrel early on Monday and last stood at $53.43, down 0.2 percent from U.S. close. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN175025'|'2017-04-03T08:54:00.000+03:00' '69aaad43315e18f1248213c735c9a8b870900a61'|'Solid Asia factory growth caps a strong first quarter but outlook cloudy'|'Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:32am BST Solid Asia factory growth caps a strong first quarter but outlook cloudy FILE PHOTO: A worker installs rubber onto the windows of the doors along a production line at a truck factory of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd (JAC Motors) in Hefei, Anhui province May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Factories across much of Asia posted another month of solid growth in March, rounding off a strong quarter for the world''s manufacturers, even as exporters fear a rise in U.S. protectionism could snuff out a global trade recovery. China again led the way, with an official manufacturing index expanding at the fastest pace in nearly five years, while factory surveys on Monday showed encouraging growth as well in Japan, India and much of emerging Asia. Higher commodities prices have helped boost the value of exports, along with a global thirst for electronic gadgets, but many countries are reporting stronger sales volumes as well, even as the new Trump administration starts to flex its muscles on trade. “Asia''s economic backdrop remains solid with most countries remaining above the key threshold level of expansion, though U.S. trade protectionism fears is the biggest uncertainty for now,” said Aidan Yao, an economist at AXA Investment Managers in Hong Kong. In China, the official Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) on Friday rose to 51.8 in March from the previous month''s 51, thanks to a months-long construction boom which is helping to boost resources prices around the world. That was the strongest reading since April 2012, though a private survey focusing on smaller firms painted a slightly more cautious picture, raising questions about whether the export recovery can be sustained. Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics in Singapore, believes the strength in China won''t last, reckoning a flurry of measures to cool its overheated property market and central bank policy tightening will lead to a slowdown in investment and industrial activity in coming quarters. But the biggest risk for China may be brewing halfway across the world, with U.S. President Donald Trump due to hold his first meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping in Florida later this week. Trump foreshadowed the risk that those talks could be tense, tweeting on Thursday that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses. On Friday, Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. The failure of the new U.S. administration to push through healthcare reforms last month has also added to global worries that Trump will struggle to pass much-anticipated tax cuts and fiscal spending plans which could boost demand in the world''s largest economy. Delays to the reflationary plans could see U.S. orders and global investment moderate in coming months as businesses grow more cautious. AS GOOD AS IT GETS? While China has strong domestic demand to fall back on, at least for now, other export-reliant Asian economies are more vulnerable if Trump goes on a trade offensive. Japanese factory activity expanded at a solid clip of 52.4 in March, though at a slightly cooler pace than in the previous month as growth in new export orders and output slowed. Its modest economic recovery has been driven largely by a resurgence in exports, which are helping to offset stubbornly sluggish demand at home. In South Korea, where exports account for half of the economy and domestic demand is similarly weak, readings have been decidedly mixed. Factory activity shrank for an eighth straight month and at a faster pace than in February, prompting factory owners to cut jobs at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, a private survey showed. But official trade data at the weekend showed the country''s exports grew more than expected in March, albeit at a more modest pace than in February. Similar activity surveys later in the global day are expected to show robust factory activity in the United States and Europe. Bolstering expectations of increasing resilience in the global economy, data last week showed U.S. inflation rising at its fastest pace in five years despite some sluggishness in consumer spending. In Europe, preliminary PMI readings had indicated businesses across the euro zone ramped up activity at the fastest pace in almost six years in March to meet burgeoning demand that came despite sharper price rises. But Britain’s data may offer a slightly more mixed picture. (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Kim Coghill) Up Next Beyond jobs, car sales to give insight on consumer health NEW YORK Forget the jobs report. The most interesting bit of U.S. economic data next week is Monday''s auto sales release, which will offer a measure of the middle-class consumer and a sector of the stock market that has had a rough ride so far in 2017. NEW YORK Ford Motor Co is recalling about 52,600 F-250 pickup trucks sold in the United States and Canada because the vehicles could roll after the driver moves the automatic transmission lever into park position, the company said on Saturday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-economy-idUKKBN1750H4'|'2017-04-03T14:23:00.000+03:00' '0905e525f41e1d2bedbb149e1222a548bdbe5656'|'UPDATE 8-Leftist on verge of victory in Ecuador, conservative demands recount'|' 06am EDT UPDATE 8-Leftist on verge of victory in Ecuador, conservative demands recount (Adds details on protests, fresh quote, factbox link) By Alexandra Ulmer and Alexandra Valencia QUITO, April 2 Leftist government candidate Lenin Moreno claimed victory in Ecuador''s presidential vote on Sunday, bucking a shift to the right in South America, but the conservative challenger asked for a recount as some supporters took to the streets in protest. A Moreno win would come as a relief for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after Guillermo Lasso vowed to remove him from the Ecuadorean embassy in London if he won the runoff. It would also give a boost to a struggling leftist movement in South America, as right-leaning governments have come to power in Argentina, Brazil, and Peru recently as a commodities boom ended, economies flagged and corruption scandals grew. The region''s de facto leftist leader, President Nicolas Maduro of crisis-hit Venezuela, profusely tweeted his congratulations to Moreno. Lasso, a former banker, had promised to denounce the embattled Maduro, who foes say lurched the country toward dictatorship this week. Moreno, a paraplegic former vice-president, had secured 51.1 percent of the votes compared to Lasso''s 48.9 percent, with just over 95 percent of votes counted, according to the electoral council. It has not yet declared a winner. A bitter Lasso, who had earlier proclaimed himself victorious based on a top pollster''s exit poll, disputed the results that would extend a decade-long leftist rule in oil-rich Ecuador. "They''ve crossed a line," he told supporters amassed in a hotel in his coastal hometown of Guayaquil, asking for a recount and vowing to challenge the results. "We''re going to defend the will of the Ecuadorean people in the face of this fraud attempt." Lasso contrasted Sunday''s fast results with the first round of the election in February, when a final tally took days to come out and his supporters gathered in front of the electoral council to guard against what they said were fraud attempts. Hundreds of Lasso supporters again swarmed in front of the electoral council offices in the capital Quito and Guayaquil, waving yellow, blue and red Ecuadorean flags and chanting "No to fraud!" and "We don''t want to be Venezuela!" There were reports of isolated clashes, but protests lost intensity as the night went on and people went home. ''LENIN PRESIDENT!'' Moreno, who has been in a wheelchair since losing the use of his legs two decades ago after being shot during a robbery, would become one of the world''s rare presidents to use a wheelchair if he takes office on May 24. "Lenin," as he is commonly referred to by his supporters, celebrated in mountainous Quito on Sunday night. "We''re going to keep building the path, we''ve done a lot but there''s a lot more to do!" he told flag-waving supporters, flanked by running mate and current vice-president, Jorge Glas, and a beaming outgoing President Rafael Correa, before breaking into several songs including one about Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. A former U.N. envoy on disability, Moreno has a more conciliatory style than fiery Correa and has promised benefits for single mothers, the elderly, and disabled Ecuadoreans. He would face strong pressure to create jobs amid an economic downturn and crack down on graft amid corruption scandals at state-run oil company PetroEcuador and Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht. Lasso has criticized Moreno as ill-equipped on the economic front and warned his major social promises would hit already pressured coffers in the country dependent on exports of oil, bananas, and shrimp. Moreno''s supporters, in turn, have decried Lasso''s plans, warning that he would slash welfare benefits and govern for the rich across a nation that stretches from Andean plateaus to the Galapagos Islands. The ruling Country Alliance on Sunday said results were irreversible. "The revolution has triumphed again in Ecuador," tweeted Correa, who has said he will move to Belgium, where his wife is from, when he leaves office. "The right has lost, despite its millions and its media." (Additional reporting by Yury Garcia, Daniel Tapia, and Henry Romero in Guayaquil and Jose Llangari and Mariana Bazo in Quito; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Girish Gupta, Mary Milliken and Michael Perry) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ecuador-election-idUSL1N1HA02Z'|'2017-04-03T13:06:00.000+03:00' '1baab2ab61676c3557e89959a7309a70be4f8020'|'UPDATE 1-South Africa''s finmin Gigaba to take "tough, unpopular choices" to grow economy'|'Business 57am EDT South Africa''s finmin Gigaba to take ''tough, unpopular choices'' to grow economy South Africa''s new finance minister, Malusi Gigaba looks on after the swearing in of cabinet ministers following a reshuffle that replaced Pravin Gordhan as finance minister with Gigaba along with various other ministers and their deputies in Pretoria, South Africa, March... REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko PRETORIA South Africa''s new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Monday he would pursue "tough and unpopular choices" to oversee economic growth and a redistribution of wealth to the country''s black majority and help grow a flagging economy. Africa''s most industrialized economy faces the risk of being downgraded to junk status owing to weak growth and the political upheavals after it got a reprieve last year. The economy grew by 0.3 percent in 2016 versus 1.3 percent in the previous year. "As government, our focus is now very much on the radical transformation of our economy so that all who live in South Africa can benefit from the economy. Tough and unpopular choices will have to be made to ensure such a vision," Gigaba told a media briefing, without elaborating. In his maiden media briefing on Saturday, Gigaba also signaled he would oversee the redistribution of wealth to the black majority, in line with a populist line taken by President Jacob Zuma, who sacked former finance minister Pravin Gordhan. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been criticized by its supporters over inequality in a country where blacks make up about 80 percent of the population of 54 million, but ownership of land and companies remains mostly in the hands of whites, who account for about 8 percent of the population. Gigaba has said he will stick with fiscal plans set out in the February budget, including plans to seek up to $2 billion per year in foreign funding in the next three years. Previously home affairs minister, Gigaba said he was an "experienced politician" and well-educated, adding that nobody should doubt his ability to adapt to the new portfolio. Some analysts fear that budget discipline will falter despite a risk that the country''s credit rating will be downgraded to "junk" status. Moody''s is expected to issue its latest review on Friday. "The assurance we can give is ... we are not a bunch of wild gunmen running amok, gung-ho into Treasury, to do different things. We are going maintain the programs that are being implemented," Gigaba said. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-budget-finmin-idUSKBN1751DK'|'2017-04-03T20:53:00.000+03:00' '5419aa53c547bcd911f1339aee1cd2702f542705'|'MOVES-Mashreq''s Iossifidis to become CEO of Noor Bank - sources'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:00am EDT MOVES-Mashreq''s Iossifidis to become CEO of Noor Bank - sources (Adds Mashreq statement, detail, context) DUBAI, April 3 The head of corporate and investment banking at Dubai''s Mashreq is leaving to become chief executive of Noor Bank, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. Mashreq, Dubai''s third-biggest bank by assets, said John Iossifidis was leaving to pursue other opportunities, adding he had made a significant contribution to the bank''s growth in the UAE and internationally over the past eight years. It said Nabeel Waheed, currently Mashreq''s head of treasury and capital markets, would take over from him. Noor was not available for immediate comment. An Islamic bank, Noor was launched in 2008 and is 87.8 percent owned by the government of Dubai, members of the ruling family of Dubai and a select group of government of Dubai nominated shareholders, according to its website. Iossifidis, who has been at Mashreq since 2009, helped overhaul the structure of Mashreq''s wholesale bank to bring in more exposure to real estate, non-bank financial institutions, education, healthcare and multinational companies across the region. (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh and Tom Arnold; Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-mashreqbank-idUSL5N1HB2FX'|'2017-04-03T19:00:00.000+03:00' '0000a6fce94d35cbe40a8627bd579a9b829455b9'|'Essar Global exits BPO business Aegis with sale of ESM Holdings'|' 12am BST Essar Global exits BPO business Aegis with sale of ESM Holdings FILE PHOTO: Employees walk past an Essar Group logo outside their headquarters in Mumbai May 20, 2013. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash Essar Global Ltd said it would sell Aegis Ltd to Singapore-based private equity firm Capital Square Partners, marking its exit from the BPO business and helping to retire its debt. AGC Holdings Ltd (AGC) Mauritius, a portfolio company of Essar Global, will sell its entire stake for an undisclosed amount, in ESM Holdings Ltd Mauritius, the holding company of Aegis, Essar said on Monday. Essar entered the BPO business in 2004 with the acquisition of U.S.-based Aegis Communications Group. The deal is likely to close in the first quarter of FY17-18. (Reporting By Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-essarglobal-m-a-capitalsquare-idUKKBN1750TI'|'2017-04-03T17:12:00.000+03:00' '6387c6e7bc768a7afcd4e5c01c592ed6bcedf3fb'|'TABLE- Top 20 selling vehicles in U.S. in March'|'Company 40pm EDT TABLE- Top 20 selling vehicles in U.S. in March April 3 The following are the 20 top-selling vehicles in the U.S. in March as reported by the automakers and ranked by total units. RANK VEHICLE Mar-17 Mar-16 PCT CHNG 1 Ford F-Series P/U 81,330 73,884 +10.1 2 Ram P/U 46,384 43,647 +6.3 3 Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 42,410 47,966 -11.6 4 Nissan Rogue 39,512 27,713 +42.6 5 Toyota Camry 35,648 36,991 -3.6 6 Honda CR-V 32,872 36,730 -10.5 7 Toyota Corolla 32,707 34,215 -4.4 8 Toyota RAV4 32,027 29,045 +10.3 9 Honda Civic 31,520 32,855 -4.1 10 Nissan Altima 28,511 34,856 -18.2 11 Ford Escape 28,113 28,521 -1.4 12 Honda Accord 26,824 30,523 -12.1 13 Hyundai Elantra 25,063 17,505 +43.2 14 Chevrolet Equinox 22,671 21,480 +5.5 15 Nissan Sentra 21,960 26,201 -16.2 16 Jeep Grand Cherokee 20,374 16,693 +22.1 17 Ford Explorer 20,232 21,605 -6.4 18 Ford Fusion 18,759 29,675 -36.8 19 Chevrolet Cruze 18,607 9,881 +88.3 20 GMC Sierra P/U 18,460 21,548 -14.3 Top 20 selling vehicles in U.S. through March. RANK VEHICLE YTD 2017 YTD 2016 PCT CHNG 1 Ford F-Series P/U 205,281 186,121 +10.3 2 Chevy Silverado-C/K P/U 128,467 128,965 -0.4 3 Ram P/U 119,199 113,298 +5.2 4 Nissan Rogue 101,421 69,036 +46.9 5 Honda CR-V 94,057 71,188 +32.1 6 Toyota Camry 83,459 96,245 -13.3 7 Honda Civic 81,654 87,303 -6.5 8 Toyota Corolla 81,435 88,486 -8.0 9 Toyota RAV4 80,533 76,122 +5.8 10 Ford Escape 76,338 71,594 +6.6 11 Nissan Altima 73,985 85,332 -13.3 12 Honda Accord 69,815 77,073 -9.4 13 Chevrolet Equinox 62,709 59,879 +4.7 14 Jeep Grand Cherokee 56,600 47,658 +18.8 15 Ford Explorer 54,671 55,885 -2.2 16 Hyundai Elantra 54,202 39,363 +37.7 17 Chevrolet Cruze 53,923 37,241 +44.8 18 Nissan Sentra 51,414 62,944 -18.3 19 Ford Fusion 50,786 74,994 -32.3 20 GMC Sierra P/U 49,810 51,131 -2.6 (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/autosalesusa-top-idUSL3N1HB4KS'|'2017-04-04T02:40:00.000+03:00' '3f48ca2583460ef194e7357f6100ab5b8b7f8501'|'Apax to buy Israeli aesthetic device firm Syneron for $397 million'|' 37pm BST Apax to buy Israeli aesthetic device firm Syneron for $397 million A woman enters the offices of private equity firm APAX in London May 18, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Helgren TEL AVIV British private equity firm Apax Partners [APAX.UL] has agreed to buy Israel''s Syneron Medical Ltd ( ELOS.O ), a non-surgical aesthetic device company, for $11.00 per share in cash, or a total of $397 million (317.52 million pounds), the companies said on Monday. The share price represents a 15 percent premium to Syneron''s 90-day average closing price through March 31, and a 33 percent premium to its 90-day average closing price through Feb. 10, the last trading day prior to media speculation of a transaction. Syneron says its products have a range of applications, like body contouring, hair removal and wrinkle reduction. The products are sold under two brands, Syneron and Candela. "We have identified the medical aesthetics market as a highly attractive investment area given its long-term growth prospects," said Steven Dyson, co-head of healthcare at Apax. The agreement includes a "go-shop" period which ends on May 9. During this period, Syneron Candela, with the assistance of Barclays, will solicit, evaluate and potentially enter into negotiations with respect to alternative proposals from third parties. (Reporting by Tova Cohen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syneron-med-apax-idUKKBN175165'|'2017-04-03T19:37:00.000+03:00' '89af7eda1d867628253d5386426c387d7595a91a'|'Solid Asia factory growth caps a strong first quarter but outlook cloudy'|'Economic 12:18pm IST Solid Asia factory growth caps a strong first quarter but outlook cloudy FILE PHOTO: Labourers work at a garment factory in Hai Duong province, outside Hanoi, Vietnam December 28, 2016. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Factories across much of Asia posted another month of solid growth in March, rounding off a strong quarter for the world''s manufacturers, even as exporters fear a rise in U.S. protectionism could snuff out a global trade recovery. China again led the way, with an official manufacturing index expanding at the fastest pace in nearly five years, while factory surveys on Monday showed encouraging growth as well in Japan, India and much of emerging Asia. Higher commodities prices have helped boost the value of exports, along with a global thirst for electronic gadgets, but many countries are reporting stronger sales volumes as well, even as the new Trump administration starts to flex its muscles on trade. “Asia''s economic backdrop remains solid with most countries remaining above the key threshold level of expansion, though U.S. trade protectionism fears is the biggest uncertainty for now,” said Aidan Yao, an economist at AXA Investment Managers in Hong Kong. In China, the official Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) on Friday rose to 51.8 in March from the previous month''s 51.6, thanks to a months-long construction boom which is helping to boost resources prices around the world. That was the strongest reading since April 2012, though a private survey focusing on smaller firms painted a slightly more cautious picture, raising questions about whether the export recovery can be sustained. Julian Evans-Pritchard, an economist at Capital Economics in Singapore, believes the strength in China won''t last, reckoning a flurry of measures to cool its overheated property market and central bank policy tightening will lead to a slowdown in investment and industrial activity in coming quarters. But the biggest risk for China may be brewing halfway across the world, with U.S. President Donald Trump due to hold his first meeting with counterpart Xi Jinping in Florida later this week. Trump foreshadowed the risk that those talks could be tense, tweeting on Thursday that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses. On Friday, Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. The failure of the new U.S. administration to push through healthcare reforms last month has also added to global worries that Trump will struggle to pass much-anticipated tax cuts and fiscal spending plans which could boost demand in the world''s largest economy. Delays to the reflationary plans could see U.S. orders and global investment moderate in coming months as businesses grow more cautious. AS GOOD AS IT GETS? While China has strong domestic demand to fall back on, at least for now, other export-reliant Asian economies are more vulnerable if Trump goes on a trade offensive. Japanese factory activity expanded at a solid clip of 52.4 in March, though at a slightly cooler pace than in the previous month as growth in new export orders and output slowed. Its modest economic recovery has been driven largely by a resurgence in exports, which are helping to offset stubbornly sluggish demand at home. In South Korea, where exports account for half of the economy and domestic demand is similarly weak, readings have been decidedly mixed. Factory activity shrank for an eighth straight month and at a faster pace than in February, prompting factory owners to cut jobs at the fastest pace since the global financial crisis, a private survey showed. But official trade data at the weekend showed the country''s exports grew more than expected in March, albeit at a more modest pace than in February. On a more upbeat note, activity in India''s manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in five months as output and new orders accelerated. The fundings suggesting the world''s fastest growing major economy has largely recovered from Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s shock decision in November to ban high-value currency notes, which caused huge disruptions to the largely cash-based economy. Similar activity surveys later in the global day are expected to show solid factory growth in the United States and Europe. Bolstering expectations of increasing resilience in the global economy, data last week showed U.S. inflation rising at its fastest pace in five years despite some sluggishness in consumer spending. In Europe, preliminary PMI readings had indicated businesses across the euro zone ramped up activity at the fastest pace in almost six years in March as demand grew despite sharper price rises. (Reporting by Saikat Chatterjee; Editing by Kim Coghill) Next In Economic News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-economy-idINKBN1750G6'|'2017-04-03T14:26:00.000+03:00' '1ef21d0994dcfac37857cdc2e6d5a1baa38c4c6e'|'Wall St. opens flat; Trump-Xi talks in focus'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 9:35am EDT Wall St. opens flat; Trump-Xi talks in focus Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson U.S. stocks opened flat on Monday, the first trading day of the second quarter, with investors awaiting President Donald Trump''s first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI inched up 12.46 points, or 0.06 percent, at 20,675.68, the S&P 500 .SPX edged up 0.81 points, or 0.03 percent, at 2,363.53 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 7.79 points, or 0.13 percent, to 5,919.52. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17515X'|'2017-04-03T21:35:00.000+03:00' '62fe89b6486ae5dc77d260261153076c3aac531a'|'Bank of England warns banks about risky lending after borrowing surge'|' 2:26pm BST Bank of England warns banks about risky lending after borrowing surge Pedestrians walk past the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain, May 15, 2014. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo By David Milliken - LONDON LONDON A surge in consumer lending means British banks are at risk of incurring losses, the Bank of England said on Tuesday, warning that some might be letting credit standards slide as they compete to offer debt to households. Consumers ramped up their borrowing by more than 10 percent late last year, the fastest growth in a decade, which helped drive strong economic growth despite June''s vote to leave the European Union. Rates of saving fell to their lowest in more than 50 years. But the economic outlook is now darkening as households face rising living costs in the wake of sterling''s tumble against the dollar and the euro, and wage growth is expected to remain below its long-run average. Last week the BoE said it was taking a closer look at consumer borrowing, and on Tuesday it gave more details. "An easing in credit supply conditions appeared to have contributed to the growth in consumer credit, with intense competition in some segments of the market," the BoE said in a summary of the latest meeting of its Financial Policy Committee, which looks at financial stability risks. Credit card companies were offering longer interest-free periods to entice borrowers, while other lenders were offering larger unsecured loans and had cut the interest rates they charged by more than for less risky mortgage rates. The Financial Conduct Authority, a separate regulator, proposed on Monday that credit card companies should freeze lending to some of the 3.3 million Britons who paid more in interest and charges than they have repaid debt. The BoE is now also looking into the risks from Britain''s lending boom, and could take steps before the end of the year. But BoE Governor Mark Carney said in January it would be a "big call" for the central bank to rein in rapid growth in consumer lending. Peter Richardson, a banking analyst at Berenberg, welcomed the BoE''s latest focus on consumer credit. Many lenders and investors wrongly assumed that current low levels of loan defaults would persist, even when the economy weakened. "We think the growth and terms currently seen in consumer credit markets show strong signs of cyclical risk illusion," he said, adding he had recently cut his outlook on Lloyds Banking Group ( LLOY.L ), one of Britain''s biggest lenders, to ''sell''. Consumer borrowing accounts for less than 10 percent of banks'' stock of lending to British households and companies, while mortgage lending makes up about 70 percent. But the BoE said the relatively short-term nature of much consumer lending meant the average credit quality of a loan book could deteriorate much faster than was the case with mortgage lending. The BoE has said banks could face 18.5 billion pounds ($23 billion) of losses on consumer loans in the event of a sharp economic downturn, compared with 11.8 billion pounds for mortgages. Some Britons are already running into difficulty. StepChange, a debt charity, said last week that a record 600,000 people contacted it for help last year. ($1 = 0.8044 pounds) (Additional reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by William Schomberg and Catherine Evans) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-boe-idUKKBN1761JO'|'2017-04-04T21:23:00.000+03:00' 'dc3ca53aebbe280cd60b756b4cc21d1f05ea9b74'|'FTSE Russell to announce in July decision on adding Snap shares'|'Technology 10:15pm EDT FTSE Russell to announce in July decision on adding Snap shares Traders gather at the post where Snap Inc. is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Heather Somerville and Ross Kerber - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Index fund provider FTSE Russell expects to announce in July whether it will include in its indexes shares of Snap Inc and other companies whose share structure denies investors voting rights. FTSE Russell, which is part of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, said on Monday that it will consult with stakeholders likely starting this month and conclude at the end of June. The results of the consultation will be announced in July. Snap, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat, shocked many investors with an initial public offering last month that included a first-of-its kind share structure that offered IPO investors no voting rights. "FTSE Russell is aware of concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding the prospective index inclusion of securities with no voting rights such as the recent IPO by SNAP Inc," according to a statement from FTSE Russell on Monday. Clients of FTSE Russell include big fund managers such as BlackRock Inc and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. It offers popular indexes like Britain''s blue-chip FTSE 100 and the Russell 3000 index of U.S. companies. Although many investors expressed alarm at Snap''s unusual governance structure, the company''s IPO was still in such hot demand that it pulled off the biggest U.S. technology IPO since Facebook Inc in 2012, with a valuation of roughly $24 billion. (Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Next In Technology News Waymo targets second senior executive in Uber self-driving dispute SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet''s self-driving car unit Waymo initiated private legal proceedings against two former executives who launched a rival company acquired by Uber [UBER.UL], court records show, accusing them of trying to recruit Waymo employees to the new startup that aims to revolutionize the auto industry. LONDON Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched its business marketplace in Britain, selling products like office supplies, power tools, cleaning materials and lab equipment targeting an online sector worth $120.44 billion a year. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-snap-index-idUSKBN17605I'|'2017-04-04T10:06:00.000+03:00' '6bfa4f7509baf2871748bb1bd72737f5ea61b120'|'Orascom extends deadline for Brazil''s Oi alternative plan a third time'|'SAO PAULO Orascom TMT Investments Sarl has voluntarily extended for a third time the deadline for Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA to consider an alternative in-court reorganization plan, according to a securities filing on Friday.Oi ( OIBR4.SA ) said in the filing the decision will allow management and shareholders to examine Orascom''s suggestions for the reorganization. Oi said Orascom voluntarily sent a letter to the company extending the deadline to May 1.(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-otmt-idINKBN1722XM'|'2017-03-31T20:09:00.000+03:00' 'f0d95241ef401d79dfb43ccf0a0ddaaa57d9654b'|'China central bank says economy stable but complexities ''cannot be underestimated'''|'Business 3:45pm IST China central bank says economy stable but complexities ''cannot be underestimated'' FILE PHOTO: A staff member walks in front of the headquarters of the People''s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo SHANGHAI China''s economy remains "generally stable" but it is facing complexities that "cannot be underestimated", the country''s central bank said in a statement on Saturday following a quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee. The People''s Bank of China said in a statement posted on its website ( www.pbc.gov.cn ) that the world economy was still in a period of readjustment following the global financial crisis, and there were still many risks in global markets. It said it would continue to implement a sound and neutral monetary policy, and rely on a range of monetary policy tools to keep liquidity at a stable level. It added that it would continue to keep the yuan exchange rate at a reasonable and stable level. (Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Eric Meijer) Next In Business News Trump''s orders target trade abuses, import duty evasion WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda on Friday by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-china-centralbank-idINKBN1733B8'|'2017-04-01T18:07:00.000+03:00' 'c8bbd0e29f44421d91e5f8ee8baf6079981067f1'|'Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral - sources'|'Technology News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:54pm BST Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral: sources The logo of Toshiba is seen as shareholders arrive at Toshiba''s extraordinary shareholders meeting in Chiba, Japan March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Taiga Uranaka - TOKYO TOKYO Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) asked creditor banks for a new loan and offered as collateral a stake in its memory chip unit that is being split off, sources said, underlining the firm''s growing financial woes as it braces for a multi-billion dollar loss. The TVs-to-construction Japanese conglomerate expects to book a net loss of about $9 billion for the year ended March, due to a writedown related to cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse that recently went bankrupt. Toshiba has put up most or even all of its prized chip unit - the world''s No.2 producer of NAND chips - to cope with this financial maelstrom. On Tuesday, in a meeting with creditor banks, Toshiba asked for "a new lending facility", said sources with direct knowledge of the matter, who did not want to be named as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. It has previously requested creditors not to call in their loans. The company did not say how much it was looking for in new loans, most of the sources said. But one source said Toshiba may seek a new loan worth around 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion). A stake in the memory chip unit was offered as collateral both for a new loan and for existing loan commitments worth 680 billion yen provided by major lenders, sources said. Loan commitments are a promise to lend upon a borrower''s request. It again offered shares in group companies such as Toshiba Tec Corp ( 6588.T ) and real estate properties as collateral for existing loans, said the sources, adding the conglomerate had asked creditors to give their nod by April 14. A Toshiba spokesman confirmed the meeting, but declined to elaborate on the specifics of the discussion. The collateral offer is part of Toshiba''s efforts to secure the support of its lenders, some of whom have become growingly frustrated with the conglomerate''s financial troubles. Some smaller creditors have also balked at the collateral offer, as bigger lenders are seen receiving the most valuable chip unit shares, the sources said. Shares in Toshiba plunged for a second straight day after Reuters reported the troubled conglomerate would likely miss a third deadline to report its quarterly business results, which could force the firm to ask for a fresh extension or face a possible delisting from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Asked about Toshiba''s potential delay, Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said it was important for listed companies to have sufficient information disclosure and to ensure effective corporate governance. Toshiba shares ended down 9.4 percent on Tuesday, following a 5.5 percent drop the previous day. (Additional reporting by Makiko Yamazaki, Ami Miyazaki and Taro Fuse; Editing by Randy Fabi and Himani Sarkar) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-banks-idUKKBN17605M'|'2017-04-04T19:52:00.000+03:00' 'd94a67056c60515a1cb985ea7c5652e896605a51'|'McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms'|' 3:42pm BST McDonald''s faces complaints in Europe over franchise terms A man carries branded McDonald''s purchases in London, Britain December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS French, German and Italian groups urged their national antitrust enforcers on Tuesday to look into alleged anti-competitive practices by McDonald''s ( MCD.N ), potentially putting the U.S. fast-food chain on course for multiple investigations in Europe. The three complaints share similar concerns about McDonald''s franchising terms and conditions, including prices set for products sold at franchises, saying consumers are charged more than at McDonald''s own stores as a result. With more than 80 percent of its outlets worldwide not company-owned, franchising is an important business model for the company. The French competition authority confirmed it had received a complaint but declined further comment. McDonald''s, the German and Italian antitrust authorities and the European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In its complaint to the French competition authority seen by Reuters, French consumer body Indecosa-CGT, which has 672,000 members, said McDonald''s France forced franchisees to charge higher prices than at its own stores. German law firm SKW Schwarz filed a similar complaint to the German cartel body on behalf of a group that it declined to name. The document seen by Reuters cited alleged anti-competitive clauses such as the tying of franchising deals with lease agreements, restrictions on suppliers and excessive rent for premises. Italian consumer groups Codacons, Movimento Difesa del Cittadino and Cittadinanzattiva said on Tuesday they would withdraw a 2016 complaint to the European Commission because of the slow pace of procedure and take it to the Italian watchdog instead. The national competition agencies can impose fines up to 10 percent of a company''s global turnover for breaches of antitrust rules as well as ordering them to stop unfair practices. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-mcdonalds-complaints-idUKKBN1761NV'|'2017-04-04T22:32:00.000+03:00' '542174f9783a35549d1e41fec04487995814998e'|'India, Britain talk up post-Brexit trade prospects'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:41pm BST India, Britain talk up post-Brexit trade prospects left right Britain''s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond arrives in Downing Street, London March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay 1/2 left right Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley addresses a delegation while speaking on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) issues during the Vibrant Gujarat investor summit in Gandhinagar, India January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave 2/2 By Manoj Kumar - NEW DELHI NEW DELHI India and Britain on Tuesday talked up their prospects of developing a new trading relationship, as their finance ministers met in New Delhi to prepare for the United Kingdom''s exit from the European Union. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond flew in to New Delhi for talks with Indian counterpart Arun Jaitley, days after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the start of the Brexit process after last June''s referendum vote to quit the European Union. Hammond played down the risks of a so-called "hard Brexit", in which Britain would lose access to the markets of the bloc''s other 27 nations if the two sides cannot reach a consensus deal within a two-year deadline. "We have made the decision that we will not be part of the structure of the European Union, but we''ve also made very clear that we want to negotiate the maximum possible open trade relationship with the European Union," Hammond told a news conference after a joint economic and financial dialogue. "We hope to be able to negotiate a deep and special relationship with the European Union that will allow us to go on trading and investing in each other''s economy, but at the same time allow us to rebuild our relationships with our partners and allies around the world." HUGE ASPIRATION In India, the world''s fastest-growing large economy with a population of 1.3 billion, Britain has a massive market opportunity - but also a counterpart not known for favouring free trade. May met a cool reception on her first visit to India last November, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressing the importance not only of trade but also of freedom of movement for his country''s skilled workers. Still, Jaitley struck a positive note by saying, "The United Kingdom, post-Brexit, is looking at a different level of relationship with India. And there''s a huge aspiration in India itself also, to add to, and improve on, this relationship." No formal negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement would be possible until Britain has formally left the European Union, but Hammond said the two sides would have a "deep discussion" in the meantime. In a joint statement, the ministers highlighted a pact for each country to invest 120 million pounds ($149 million) in a joint fund under India''s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund to invest in energy and renewables. They also discussed efforts to make India''s rupee currency more freely tradeable on international markets, and promote ''masala'' bonds for Indian companies to borrow in their own currency from investors in the City of London. The National Highways Authority of India, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and the Indian Railway Finance Corporation all plan to issue masala bonds in the coming months, they added. (Writing by Douglas Busvine; Editing by Malini Menon Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-india-britain-idUKKBN17618X'|'2017-04-04T19:41:00.000+03:00' '8eaf6b0f4fde54c76c7ab1778a571409e4862592'|'Thai PM says ''don''t worry'' about U.S. trade policy yet'|'Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:47pm BST Thai PM says ''don''t worry'' about U.S. trade policy yet Thailand''s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha arrives at a weekly cabinet meeting at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom By Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Orathai Sriring - BANGKOK BANGKOK Thailand''s prime minister said on Tuesday he had told officials to prepare for changes in U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump, but it was too soon for the big exporter to worry. As in other Asian countries which run large trade surpluses with the United States, concern has spread in Thailand since Trump last week said he had ordered a study of the causes of U.S. trade deficits. "We should take it easy as there are no formal words about that yet," junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters. "I have asked deputy prime ministers and relevant agencies to look into it as we have to be prepared ... but don''t worry too much about that now." Thailand ran a surplus of about $18 billion in trade with the United States last year, the Thai commerce ministry says. That puts it 11th globally - well behind China''s $347 billion surplus or even nearby Vietnam''s $32 billion - but the United States is Thailand''s biggest export destination at a time the military government is struggling rekindle growth. At a meeting in Bangkok on Monday, a senior U.S. trade official set out the Trump administration''s trade agenda, the Office of the United States Trade Representative said. Topics of discussion included "barriers to U.S. exports to Thailand related to customs, agriculture, intellectual property, labor, financial services, and other issues," it said. Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry would meet businesses this week to discuss the potential impact of Trump administration policies, but it was sticking to its export growth target of 5 percent for now. Thailand''s top five export goods to the United States last year were computers and computer parts, rubber products, jewelry, radio and television receivers, and automobiles and parts. Exports, one of Thailand''s few drivers of growth, are just starting to recover. They rose slightly in 2016 after three years of contraction and were up 2.5 percent from a year earlier in the first two months of this year. The central bank last week raised its 2017 export forecast to 2.2 percent rise from no growth and upgraded its economic growth outlook to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent. Southeast Asia''s second-largest economy expanded 3.2 percent last year. (Reporting by Aukkarapon Niyomyat and Orathai Sriring; Editing by Matthew Tostevin Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-trade-usa-idUKKBN1761A6'|'2017-04-04T19:46:00.000+03:00' '1334f7d071e8b44e126b330f518daad8477eee6f'|'UPDATE 1-LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share'|' 12am EDT UPDATE 1-LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share * Large volume, long-term contracts now "more difficult" -Shell * JERA, Total sign deal with flexible volumes, spot prices * Woodside, Shell see big opportunity in small-scale LNG (Adds comment) By Osamu Tsukimori and Aaron Sheldrick CHIBA, Japan, April 5 Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and face calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels that may force them to take more risks and start trading just like other commodity dealers. That''s a big change for a market long dominated by large producers such as Royal Dutch Shell and BP who provide major importers with fixed volumes under multi-decade contracts linked to the price of oil. Under the protection of these lucrative locked-in deals, producers in Australia, Qatar, Russia and elsewhere went on an investment spree that left them with a huge supply overhang when demand in China and India developed more slowly than expected. That, together with rising fuel competition from coal and renewables, contributed to a more than 70 percent crash in spot Asian LNG prices LNG-AS to under $6 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), increasing the pressure to grant more flexible contracts and better pricing options. "The LNG market is changing rapidly, (and) the large volume long-term contracts that traditionally underpinned the development of the industry are today much more difficult to obtain," said Steve Hill, executive vice president of Shell Eastern Trading, during a gas conference in Japan on Wednesday. "LNG projects ... need to take more market risks," he said. In a sign of what might be ahead, Japan''s JERA - the biggest single importer of LNG - and France''s Total SA are set to strike its first deal soon with flexible volumes that are based on Asia LNG spot prices. JERA''s chief fuel transactions officer, Hiroki Sato, confirmed the imminent deal to Reuters on Wednesday in an interview at the Gastech conference. "There is no price war, but there is clearly competition under way to create a structure that answers the varying buyer needs," he said. Total did not respond to queries for comment on the deal. Another thing about to change is that trading specialists - who buy commodities from producers to sell on to importers at a profit and who have so far played a smaller role in LNG than they do in oil or coal - are jumping into the game. "People need to sit in the middle of the chain (to) provide the flexibility and meet the different customer needs," said Mike Utsler, chief operations officers for Australia''s Woodside Petroleum. Preparing to do just that, commodity merchant Trafigura this week launched a standard master sales and purchase agreement (MSPA) for LNG trade, something already well established in other commodities. "The industry is moving to a situation where you can''t just be a seller or a marketer or a trader," said Kerry Anne Shanks, head of gas and LNG Research in Asia at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. "You need to have middlemen positions." Shanks also noted as an example of changes in the industry how buyers such as JERA are starting to trade gas. UNLOCKING NEW MARKETS Woodside, which operates several large LNG export facilities and is developing more, said producers also had to create new markets amid oversupply. "There''s a big opportunity for much smaller scale demand ... Big, long-term contracts are not necessary in order to supply (such projects)," Utsler said. The thinking is similar at Shell. "We are trying to unlock new gas markets ... by initiating new small-scale LNG import terminals," Hill said. Smaller scale demand could come from new importers like Pakistan, which only started using LNG in the last two years, or from new sectors like transportation. Singapore''s Pavilion Energy this week signed a memorandum of understanding with Total to supply the French energy major with LNG used as a ship fuel. But LNG producers need to keep a watch on competition. Oil still dominates transportation, and cheap coal - seen by many as outdated due to high pollution levels - is still the biggest fuel source for electricity, especially in fast-growing Asia. Wind and solar energy are also becoming competitive. "Coal won''t completely disappear. It will continue to be a competitor and a provider of energy solutions, as will renewables," said David Knipe, head of international gas at BP''s integrated supply and trading unit. Still, the market should not expect producers and suppliers to subject themselves to market whims, competition and geopolitics on large-scale projects, said Elizabeth Spomer, executive vice president at Toronto-listed Veresen Inc and head of its Jordan Cove LNG project in Oregon. "Even the international oil companies that have the big balance sheets are not going to make final investment decisions without long-term take or pay contracts," she said, noting that such projects represent billions of dollars of "price risk". (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Aaron Sheldrick; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue) Next In Company News GLOBAL MARKETS--No big bets ahead of Trump-Xi meeting; oil, metal prices firm LONDON, April 5 Caution prevailed across major markets on Wednesday before a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this week, although metals and oil prices firmed on hope of better global demand.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-gastech-lng-idUSL3N1HD1RA'|'2017-04-05T17:12:00.000+03:00' '44a902930e5372b1113315482b16eab27fced722'|'Samsonite assumes direct control of Tumi products in China'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 6:39am BST Samsonite assumes direct control of Tumi products in China left right Samsonite luggage is displayed at a store in Hong Kong, China March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip 1/2 left right The logo of Tumi is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy March 4, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi 2/2 HONG KONG Samsonite International S.A. ( 1910.HK ) on Wednesday said it took direct control of the wholesale and retail distribution of Tumi products in Hong Kong, Macau and China from April 1, as the luggage maker targets the region''s "enormous potential". Samsonite in a statement said it had acquired certain assets including inventory and the rights to store leases from Hong Kong-based retail and brand management group Imaginex Holdings Ltd. It did not provide details. Imaginex was Tumi distributor in Hong Kong, Macau and China from 2005 until the end of its contract on March 31, Samsonite said. Samsonite completed its $1.8 billion (1.45 billion pounds) purchase of peer Tumi Holdings Inc in August, as the world''s biggest luggage firm expands in the luxury market. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-samsonite-intl-tumi-idUKKBN1770GB'|'2017-04-05T13:39:00.000+03:00' '4d47aba5b15e8c1ef50a3a86a876806da055a70f'|'Swiss now in touch with Dutch over Credit Suisse case - AG'|'Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 10:34am BST Swiss now in touch with Dutch over Credit Suisse case: AG A logo is pictured on a branch of the Credit Suisse bank in Bern, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse BERN Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber is in touch with Dutch authorities over an international investigation into suspected tax evasion and money laundering via accounts at Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ), he told a news conference on Wednesday, declining further comment. His office said last week it was disconcerted that the Dutch-led investigation based on an anonymous tip about thousands of suspect accounts had kept Swiss prosecutors out of the loop at first. Coordinated raids began on Thursday in the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, France and Australia, the Dutch office for financial crimes prosecution said on Friday. (Reporting by John Miller, Editing by Michael Shields) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-taxevasion-swiss-idUKKBN17712R'|'2017-04-05T17:25:00.000+03:00' '84202a4c1345e10bdb6111cc8ac563bf77b128fe'|'ECB''s Vasiliauskas says too early to discuss end of stimulus - WSJ'|' 3:04pm BST ECB''s Vasiliauskas says too early to discuss end of stimulus - WSJ Lithuania''s central bank governor Vitas Vasiliauskas speaks during the Euro Conference in Vilnius September 25, 2014. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins/File Photo FRANKFURT It is too early to discuss an exit from the European Central Bank''s stimulus programme, ECB rate setter Vitas Vasiliauskas told the Wall Street Journal. "It is too early to discuss an exit because still we have a lot of significant uncertainties," Vasiliauskas, who is also the head of Lithuania''s central bank, said in an interview published on Wednesday. "I think the recovery of inflation is still fragile. First of all, we have to end purchases and only then we can discuss other actions." (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Catherine Evans) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-lithuania-idUKKBN1771TD'|'2017-04-05T22:04:00.000+03:00' 'a3ca628f816794f50b4a9dc6285d6bbf9423e1d5'|'Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to formally notify EU of Sky bid - Business'|'Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is expected to formally notify the European competition regulator of its £11.7bn takeover offer for Sky later this week, after which the UK culture secretary will have to decide whether to launch an investigation into the extent of Murdoch’s control of UK media.From the point the European commission makes Fox’s bid notification public, Karen Bradley will have 10 working days to decide whether to issue a public interest intervention notice , or PIIN.Bradley will have to examine what concerns, if any, are raised by the deal and she will look at areas including the potential concentration of media power and whether there needs to be a test to determine whether Fox is committed to the required editorial standards, such as accuracy and impartial news coverage.Sky takeover deal – all you need to know Read moreFox’s deal to snap up the 61% of Sky it does not already own will give Murdoch control of Sky News and pay-TV operations in the UK, Germany, Austria and Italy.His ownership of UK news media also includes the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun as well as radio group TalkSport, which he controls through a separate company, News Corp.Given the level of opposition to Murdoch’s first bid for Sky in 2011, which was eventually abandoned because of the fallout from the phone-hacking scandal that was engulfing his UK newspapers, Bradley is expected to refer the deal to media regulator Ofcom.If asked, Ofcom will carry out a public interest test on the deal, reporting back within 40 days. If there are no concerns, Bradley must clear the bid.If Ofcom raises concerns, however, she must decide whether to accept an undertaking from Fox to address them. In 2011, Murdoch’s bid for Sky resulted in a deal to spin off Sky News to quell media plurality issues before the takeover was abandoned.Murdoch’s son James, now chief executive of Fox and chairman of Sky, has already said he does not believe any “meaningful concessions” will need to be made to authorities this time round.European regulators have up to 25 days to look at competition issues but are almost certain to clear the takeover as they previously gave the greenlight to the original bid late in 2010, as well as Sky’s 2014 £7bn deal to buy its sister operations in Germany and Italy.In a submission to Bradley on Tuesday, the Media Reform Coalition and online activist network Avaaz called for Murdoch’s Sky bid to be rejected on competition grounds alone.The campaigners published new reseach which they claimed showed that the overall market shares of both Murdoch-owned newspapers as well as Sky remain “materially unchanged” since 2011, when media regulator Ofcom raised concerns about the previous takeover bid.Justin Schlosberg, chair of the coalition, said the situation in terms of media competition was “definitely no better than last time and probably worse”.In support he cited the fact that the Sun’s audience reach had increased after the removal of the paywall for its digital content despite declining print circulation; the increased reach for Sky television services through digital services such as Youtube; and research from Cardiff university last year that the newspapers had a disproportionate impact on broadcasters.Cardiff University research on coverage of the 2015 general election “demonstrates the influence of national newspapers – and News UK titles in particular – over the issue agenda of broadcasters including the BBC”, it said.An Ofcom investigation found in 2012 that Sky remained a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcast licence, despite the phone-hacking affair that embroiled its then parent company. However, it published a scathing assessment of James Murdoch – then the chief executive of his father’s UK newspaper group and chairman of Sky – finding that his conduct repeatedly fell short of the standards expected.Ofcom has the right at any stage to launch a new investigation. However, the regulator has had a chance to air any concerns about James Murdoch and Sky since it was announced he was returning as chairman in January .In October, he had to rely on the support of Fox, Sky’s largest shareholder, to win approval for his return after more than 50% of independent shareholders voted against his reappointment .Ed Miliband asks Ofcom for inquiry into Rupert Murdoch Sky bid Read moreRupert Murdoch’s last bid brought together an unlikely alliance of media groups to oppose the deal including BT, the BBC, Channel 4 and the publishers of the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Guardian.So far, only a number of Fox and Sky’s pay-TV rivals have said that they intend to voice their opposition to the alleged dominance the deal will give Murdoch bidding for top-flight sport, movies and TV shows.Fox could make formal notification to the the European commission as soon as Thursday, which happens to coincide with James Murdoch speaking at the annual Enders Analysis media and telecoms conference in London, although it could slip into next week.Fox and Sky declined to comment.Topics Sky plc Sky plc (Media) Rupert Murdoch Television industry Media business news Share '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/media/mediabusiness'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/28/murdoch-sky-bid-uk-takeover-ofcom-21st-century-fox-eu'|'2017-03-01T14:39:00.000+02:00' '6e92213868bfab9ea314adf407f718983e5ebf29'|'Industrial heartland is in no fit state to pump up UK exports - Business'|'B rexit, according to its cheerleaders, offers British businesses the chance to expand trade beyond Europe to the rest of the world. Trade minister Liam Fox infamously said the easy option of shipping goods across the Channel had deterred businesses large and small from looking further afield. They had become fat and lazy , and now they would be forced to be more entrepreneurial.Setting aside the reasons why countries all over the world mostly export to their neighbours (it’s cheaper, and there are shared histories and cultures) and try to do so within free-trade blocs (profits are higher when tariffs are low and regulations are harmonised). let’s consider the question of how fat and lazy business has become. Is it ready to accept Fox’s challenge?One way of making an assessment is to examine the health of exporting hubs around the UK, and the readiness of employers and their workers for the task ahead.In just over a month, local elections in Britain will include votes for six directly elected mayors of combined local authorities, a new layer of local government. This has prompted the Office for National Statistics to pull together figures covering the new areas, from the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester combined authorities in the north to the west of England, and the odd couple of the Cambridge and Peterborough combined authority in the east.There will be six new authorities. Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield failed to make the cut. Sitting in the middle is the West Midlands combined authority , which from 4 May will have a £1.1bn budget to spend on improving local transport and skills.As an economy, the West Midlands should be revving its engines quietly in readiness for Brexit. But the ONS figures show the region has fundamental weaknesses that few would expect, especially when it lays claim to have the UK’s second city at its heart, with hi-tech manufacturing to rival the German Ruhr.One basic measure of economic readiness is the percentage of people in employment. The national average is 73.9%. Of all the combined authorities, the West Midlands has the lowest at 65.1%. It also comes at the bottom of the pile on the ONS measure of labour productivity, with output per hour lower than in Manchester, Liverpool and the rest.One explanation for the low productivity figures might be found in the education sector, where the West Midlands achieves another low. According to the ONS, it has more than three times the average share of population with no qualifications, and a relatively low proportion of residents with a degree-level qualification.The West Midlands, a centre for traditional engineering and manufacturing industries, also has the worst female employment rate of the six authorities. Whatever the reasons, the lack of female participation in the workforce has a significant knock-on effect on average household disposable incomes, which are also the lowest of the six combined authorities.The conclusion must be that none of these tests finds Britain’s industrial heartland in good shape and ready for the brave new world of Brexit.Champions of the region argue there are large pockets filled with hi-tech manufacturing, and that companies in the services sector can claim to be among the best in the country. Jaguar Land Rover and the aerospace firm Moog boast stellar productivity rates, while areas such as Sutton Coldfield are solidly wealthy and stuffed with highly paid graduates.It’s certainly true that the average figures for the region are dragged down by the districts of Sandwell and neighbouring Dudley, which have struggled for years with little private investment or government support. Wolverhampton up the road now has a respected university, but this investment in higher education has so far done little to affect youth unemployment in that city.Another factor depressing the region’s figures can probably be found in the number of skilled workers with productive jobs who would boost the ONS figures if only they lived inside the authority’s boundaries, rather than in leafy Warwickshire and Shropshire villages.But that says much about the failures of policymakers. It says that Birmingham , as the region’s driving force, wasted the Millennium money thrown at it by Gordon Brown in the 10 years before the financial crash in a way that Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool didn’t. Sadly, Birmingham’s leaders were unable to construct a living city with a public transport system that knitted the region together.And it shows that the mayor will need more money than is currently on offer, especially when another 10 years of austerity was the main course on Philip Hammond’s budget menu. Council chiefs spend most of their time firefighting to protect the most vulnerable citizens, not debating how to copy London’s cycleways. The combined authority’s £1.1bn budget is spread over 30 years. That will leave local businesses to play a bigger role – investing not just in their own plant and machinery, but also in the local infrastructure.Do they have the means at a time of extra costs from the apprenticeship levy, higher business rates and the uncertainty that comes with Brexit? It’s a tall order.Topics Economic growth (GDP) The Observer Economics Economic policy Economic recovery Manufacturing sector Birmingham comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/02/west-midlands-exports-employment-productivity-brexit'|'2017-04-02T15:00:00.000+03:00' '450244b5fbf045785ae0a56ec33d1c3315834878'|'Ford recalls F-250 pickups that could roll while in park'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 6:39pm BST Ford recalls F-250 pickups that could roll while in park The logo of Ford is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann NEW YORK Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) is recalling about 52,600 F-250 pickup trucks sold in the United States and Canada because the vehicles could roll after the driver moves the automatic transmission lever into park position, the company said on Saturday. The recall, the third announced by Ford this week, affects 2017 model year F-250 vehicles powered by 6.2-liter gasoline engines and built in its Louisville, Kentucky, truck plant, it said in a statement. Ford, the second-largest U.S. automaker, also said it was unaware of any injuries or accidents associated with the latest issue. The company said on Wednesday it was recalling 211,000 vehicles in North America to replace potentially faulty side door latches. Another recall involves 230,000 vehicles that present a fire risk in the engine compartment. Ford said it had reports of 29 fires related to that issue but no injuries. The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker had previously recalled nearly 4 million vehicles for door latch issues in six separate announcements since 2014, including 2.4 million vehicles recalled in late 2016. (Reporting by Frank McGurty; Editing by G Crosse and Bill Trott) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ford-motor-recall-idUKKBN1733QT'|'2017-04-02T01:39:00.000+03:00' '120f08797e5daf339fb915b778018ea252c4805b'|'Public owners of HSH Nordbank say pleased with first bidding round'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 3:49pm BST Public owners of HSH Nordbank say pleased with first bidding round The HSH Nordbank is pictured in downtown Hamburg, October 25, 2014. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer FRANKFURT Finance ministers of the German states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein said on Sunday they were pleased with the first bidding round in the privatisation of shipping finance provider HSH Nordbank [HSH.UL], of which they jointly own 85 percent. The bank, which was hit by risky assets turning sour in 2008 and a slump in global trade in ensuing years, has to be privatised under European state-aid rules by the end of February 2018. On Thursday, HSH''s chief executive Stefan Ermisch said that more than 10 expressions of interest had been received. The bidding period ended on Friday. "After a first sighting we can say - as we already said on expressions of interest - that we are very happy with the response," Hamburg finance senator Peter Tschentscher and Schleswig-Holstein finance minister Monika Heinold said in a joint statement on Sunday. "The states will now study the offers at hand very carefully and assess them according to the criteria laid down in the sale announcement and further instructions on the process." Spokesmen for the state of Hamburg and for HSH declined to give further details beyond the statement. (Reporting by Vera Eckert and Olaf Brenner, editing by Susan Fenton) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hsh-nordbank-privatisation-idUKKBN1740JE'|'2017-04-02T22:49:00.000+03:00' '525dfcc0e1d6239abeecfddab98e761f1e5340ca'|'Ireland says no sign of mechanical fault in fatal Sikorsky helicopter crash'|'DUBLIN, April 1 The black box from a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter that crashed in Ireland last month with four people on board has shown no signs of mechanical faults, the country''s Air Accident Investigation Unit said on Saturday.Two months before the crash, U.S.-based Sikorsky, part of Lockheed Martin, issued a service notice saying the tail rotor and bearing assemblies of the S-92 should be checked following an incident with the tail rotor during a landing on an oil rig off Scotland on Dec. 28."An initial analysis has been conducted of the data... No mechanical anomalies have been identified," the investigation unit said after an initial analysis of the aircraft''s black box.The S-92 helicopter crashed off the coast of Ireland on March 14 during an Irish Coast Guard rescue operation, killing two people with another two missing and presumed dead.European regulators last year grounded certain Super Puma helicopters made by rival Airbus after an accident in which the rotor head separated from the helicopter. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Helen Popper)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ireland-crash-sikorsky-idINL5N1H90J1'|'2017-04-01T15:45:00.000+03:00' '11c2407f0c32a3abd989fe68e3e6dab101ea3def'|'Peru prosecutors open graft probe into ex-leader Garcia -source'|'By Teresa Cespedes - LIMA, March 31 LIMA, March 31 Public prosecutors in Peru have opened a preliminary probe into the country''s former President Alan Garcia as part of a far-reaching inquiry into bribes that Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA has acknowledged distributing to win local contracts, a source in the attorney general''s office said Friday.Prosecutors are investigating whether Garcia was involved in potential graft in the awarding of a $400 million contract for a metro line in the capital Lima during his second term, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.Garcia''s representatives requests for comment but Garcia has previously denied any involvement in Odebrecht''s kickback schemes in Peru, saying he feels "ashamed" that corrupt officials might have been a part of his government."If the prosecutor deems it appropriate, I welcome any investigation and I will go to any summons to collaborate," Garcia said on Twitter after local daily El Comercio reported earlier on Friday that he was under investigation.In December, Odebrecht admitted publicly that it doled out hundreds of millions in bribes to unnamed authorities across Latin America, including $29 million to win contracts in Peru over a decade-long period spanning three presidencies.The former head of Odebrecht in Peru, Jorge Barata, is cooperating with prosecutors as a witness and the company has vowed to provide any relevant documents or statements.A special prosecutor in the justice ministry, Katherine Ampuero, had asked prosecutors in the attorney general''s office to include Garcia in its inquiry into Odebrecht''s bribes, saying evidence exists that could lead to a conviction.Garcia is a skilled orator and political heavyweight who has governed Peru twice, first in the 1980s as a protectionist and then as a free-market proponent from 2006-2011, when Odebrecht said it bribed a high-level government official in exchange for help winning a $400 million transportation contract.Garcia''s predecessor, Alejandro Toledo, is wanted in Peru for preventive jailing after prosecutors accused him of taking $20 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for help winning two lucrative highway contracts.Toledo has denied wrongdoing and refused to turn himself in, saying he has not been given due process. Peru wants the United States, where Toledo is believed to be in California, to arrest and extradite him.(Reporting by Teresa Cespdes, Writing by Mitra Taj; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/peru-corruption-idINL2N1H824P'|'2017-03-31T22:29:00.000+03:00' '61b78ab78ad5b7d70397db0a9c82caefc1bcb198'|'Cash-strapped Venezuela negotiating Russian help to pay PDVSA bonds -sources'|'Commodities 8:35pm EDT Cash-strapped Venezuela negotiating Russian help to pay PDVSA bonds: sources By Marianna Parraga and Corina Pons - HOUSTON/CARACAS HOUSTON/CARACAS Venezuela is negotiating financial help from Russian oil major Rosneft to complete nearly $3 billion in PDVSA debt payments coming due to bondholders next month, two market sources and a government source familiar with the talks told Reuters on Friday. Venezuela''s leftist government has grown increasingly close to Russia''s Vladimir Putin and Rosneft has become an important financier and oil player in the OPEC nation with the world''s biggest crude reserves. The negotiations are happening even as political chaos reins in Venezuela after its Supreme Court annulled the opposition-led National Assembly''s powers to approve oil joint ventures, sparking protests and international condemnation. Earlier this month, Reuters reported PDVSA had offered a stake in the Petropiar joint venture to Rosneft, as part of what two sources told Reuters was a wider package of financial help Venezuela was seeking from Russia. In recent days, financially-squeezed state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] has realized it needs help from its Russian counterpart to be able to meet its hefty April payments, the sources say. "PDVSA is counting on help from Russia for the bond payments," a Venezuelan government source said on Friday, asking to remain anonymous because he is not authorized to speak to media. It was not immediately clear whether Rosneft would agree to the deal or what the company might receive in return. Rosneft, the Venezuelan central bank and PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Venezuela faces payments of nearly $3 billion in April on bonds issued by PDVSA. Most of that is due around mid-month as PDVSA''s April 2017 5.25 percent note matures, requiring a combined interest and principal payment of $2.5 billion. A separate financial source said Venezuela was negotiating a $600 million loan that would allow it to have enough cash to pay bondholders next month, although he did not know with whom the talks were taking place. He added the central bank hoped to use bonds as collateral. Bonds crashed on Friday as political tensions escalated. President Nicolas Maduro''s government has pledged to keep paying bondholders, bashing default talk as a Wall Street plot to sabotage his Socialist administration.. But a grueling recession that has millions skipping meals and low oil prices have worsened PDVSA''s financial position in recent years. Caracas-based PDVSA has been particularly squeezed in the last weeks due to unexpected spending on emergency oil imports to stem a nationwide gasoline shortage, heightening the need for external help. "We think that up to 50 percent of financing needs could be covered by bilateral loans," Oxford Economics said in a note to clients, mentioning Russia and China, Venezuela''s top financier. (Additional reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; editing by Diane Craft) Next In Commodities'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-bonds-idUSKBN173326'|'2017-04-01T08:29:00.000+03:00' 'fc639b78ed502fe6048135de3291e275efb3103f'|'ABB buys Austrian automation company Bernecker + Rainer'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:07am BST ABB buys Austrian automation company Bernecker + Rainer A woman walks past the logo of Swiss power technology and automation group ABB ahead of a news conference to present the company''s full-year results in Zurich, Switzerland February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH ABB ( ABBN.S ) has bought Austrian group Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik, the Swiss engineering company said on Tuesday, beefing up its presence in the automation products used in the plastic, food and automotive industries. Zurich-based ABB said it was aiming to increase B+R''s annual sales from more than $600 million at present to more than $1 billion, and said the business would add to ABB''s operating earnings per share from the first year. The deal, which was for an undisclosed sum, is being funded from ABB''s own cash and is expected to be completed at mid-year. (Reporting by John Revill and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Michael Shields) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-abb-rainer-idUKKBN1760CB'|'2017-04-04T13:07:00.000+03:00' '3bcae4994e752e494277adc32cb983a35d042e8e'|'UK investor LGIM highlights governance issues at Sports Direct'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:13am BST UK investor LGIM highlights governance issues at Sports Direct A company logo is seen outside a Sports Direct store in Vienna, Austria, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger LONDON Sports Direct''s ( SPD.L ) appointment of a law firm with close links to the retailer for a governance review is an issue for shareholder Legal & General Investment Management, LGIM said in its annual report on corporate governance on Tuesday. LGIM, the fund arm of insurer Legal & General ( LGEN.L ) and one of the largest investors in British companies, said it had pushed for the review into Sports Direct''s labour practices after British members of parliament condemned the retailer''s "Victorian" working conditions, LGIM said in the report. Law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain published the review into Sports Direct''s governance in September 2016. "Concerns remain about the appointment of the company’s long-term law firm to carry out the review given its close links with the company," LGIM said in the governance report. It also said it would continue to watch the company. LGIM also said it had voted against the re-election of Sports Direct chairman Keith Hellawell in January 2017. Hellawell was re-elected after company founder Mike Ashley backed him. "We will continue to engage with the company and monitor the ongoing issues," LGIM said. LGFM is one of several investors arguing for higher corporate governance standards at British companies. It said in the annual report it had voted against at least one resolution at shareholder meetings of 23 percent of British companies in 2016, up from 18 percent in 2015. LGIM also said it was "currently engaged" with the board of GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK.L ) about its new pay policy, after opposing the drug company''s pay report in 2016 due to concerns over the size of executive bonuses. GSK is one of a large number of British companies seeking shareholder approval for new pay policies at their respective annual shareholder meetings over the coming months. Shareholders have already given the green light to some new company pay plans, but some have been forced to think again, including Imperial Brands ( IMB.L ), which withdrew its proposal after shareholder opposition. LGIM has previously called for companies to publish the pay ratio between the median employee and the chief executive. "The increasing pay gap is having an impact on society and that is why we are taking a stronger line on bonus awards and the need for companies to publish their pay ratio," LGIM director of corporate governance Sacha Sadan said. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Simon Jessop. Editing by Jane Merriman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-governance-legal-general-idUKKBN1752O1'|'2017-04-04T07:13:00.000+03:00' '276cb11d497953dcfed8bbae4650a2e4da70068e'|'New York''s top court rejects Facebook search warrant challenge'|'By Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK NEW YORK New York state''s highest court on Tuesday rejected Facebook Inc''s ( FB.O ) challenge to 381 search warrants to uncover suspected widespread Social Security disability fraud by its customers.By a 5-1 vote, the Court of Appeals said it lacked jurisdiction to hear Facebook''s appeal over warrants obtained by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.The decision is a defeat for Internet privacy advocates such as the New York Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as technology and social media companies including Apple ( AAPL.O ), Google ( GOOGL.O ), Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) and Twitter ( TWTR.N ) that supported Facebook''s appeal.Prosecutors had in July 2013 obtained the warrants ordering Facebook to turn over account information belonging to people suspected of criminal fraud.Sixty-two of the Facebook users were later indicted in the probe, out of 134 overall, court papers show.Among the targets were retired police officers and firefighters suspected of feigning illness after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.Facebook argued that the warrants were overbroad, and that Vance went too far by prohibiting the Menlo Park, California-based company from telling users that the warrants existed.It complied with the warrants after prosecutors threatened to hold it in criminal contempt, but continued the appeal.Writing for the appeals court, Judge Leslie Stein said it was up to targets of the warrants, not third parties such as Facebook, to challenge the warrants'' validity.While Facebook''s concern about overbroad warrants, and its effect on users'' privacy rights including under the U.S. Constitution, "may not be baseless," it was up to the state legislature to change the law, Stein wrote.Tuesday''s decision upheld a July 2015 ruling by an state appeals court in Manhattan. One judge recused himself.Judge Rowan Wilson dissented, saying the decision deprived Facebook of "any meaningful recourse" against the "en masse" data seizure, including from high school students who had the misfortune of knowing people suspected of disability fraud."Although seizing social media content to help curtain widespread disabilities fraud may seem to some a good bargain," Wilson wrote, "the concern of this case ... is not with crime waves, but with the protection of the individual against the power of the government."Facebook said it was disappointed by the decision and evaluating its legal options, but "encouraged to see the thorough dissent that supports Facebook''s position arguing for people''s online privacy."Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for Vance, said his office was pleased with the outcome.The case is In re: 381 Search Warrants Directed to Facebook Inc, New York State Court of Appeals, No. 16.(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/facebook-new-york-idINKBN1762NG'|'2017-04-04T18:05:00.000+03:00' '30f9dae667eb54be06f7eeee8f648805bdcae095'|'Youth arrested in sexual assault of Chicago teen seen on Facebook Live'|'April 1 Chicago authorities on Saturday said they had arrested a 14-year-old boy in connection with the sexual assault of a teenage girl by multiple young men that was seen on Facebook Live in March."Tonight, CPD (Chicago Police Department) arrested the first of several juvenile offenders in the Facebook sexual assault incident," the department''s chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Twitter, adding that a news conference would provide further details on Sunday.The mother of the victim of the March assault had approached police after an unrelated news conference and shown them images of her daughter being assaulted by five or six young men.The mother said the girl''s uncle had told her about a video on Facebook Live that showed the assault. The high school freshman had gone to the store and her mother became concerned when she did not return.The March incident was among several in recent months in Chicago in which the social media site has played a role in broadcasting apparent crimes.The shooting death in February on the city''s West Side of a 2-year-old boy was captured on Facebook Live by his aunt, who was also shot. In January, an attack by four people on a 19-year-old man with special needs was partially broadcast on the social media site. The four accused in the attack have pleaded not guilty. (Reporting by Chris Michaud in New York; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chicago-violence-facebook-idUSL2N1HA03C'|'2017-04-02T08:41:00.000+03:00' '1b6391867159c7ae8c951609eddf44f8febbf187'|'Japan business mood brightens as recovery broadens - Bank of Japan tankan'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 4:45am BST Japan business mood brightens as recovery broadens: BOJ tankan FILE PHOTO - A man works around a metal procession machine at a factory in Urayasu, east of Tokyo October 9, 2014. REUTERS/Issei Kato By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto - TOKYO TOKYO Japanese big manufacturers'' business confidence improved for a second straight quarter to hit a one-and-a-half year high in March, a closely watched central bank survey showed, a sign the benefits of an export-driven economic recovery were broadening. Service-sector sentiment improved for the first time in six quarters and firms remained upbeat on their capital expenditure plans, the Bank of Japan''s "tankan" survey showed, offering hope the economic recovery will gather momentum in coming months. While separate PMI data showed a slight slowdown in manufacturing activity in March, the upbeat tankan reinforces a dominant market view the central bank''s next policy move would be to reduce rather than expand monetary stimulus. "The tankan showed a balanced improvement in corporate sentiment at manufacturers and service-sector firms," said Yuichiro Nagai, an economist at Barclays Securities. "Overall, the results support the BOJ''s rosy view on the economy." The headline index measuring big manufacturers'' business sentiment rose to plus 12 in March from plus 10 three months ago, the tankan showed on Monday, falling short of market forecasts but marking the highest reading since December 2015. Service-sector sentiment also improved for the first time in six quarters to hit a one-year high, on brightening business prospects among retailers, hotels and restaurants. PRICE PRESSURE RISING Japan''s economy has shown signs of life in recent months, with exports and factory output benefiting from a recovery in global demand. Big companies expect conditions to worsen slightly in the coming three months, as risks to global trade such as Britain''s decision to leave the European Union and U.S. President Donald Trump''s protectionist statements cloud the outlook. Automakers saw business conditions deteriorating three months ahead, underscoring concerns over how Trump''s policies could affect global trade. Still, the survey found big firms plan to increase capital spending by 0.6 percent in the fiscal year ending in March 2018, compared with a median market forecast for a 0.1 percent drop. "There has been talk about the risks of protectionism, but so far Japanese companies are not taking any specific steps related to this," said Norio Miyagawa, senior economist at Mizuho Securities. "This tankan will reinforce expectations that the BOJ is on hold for the time being. We certainly don''t see the need to ease or tighten policy," he said. With inflation expected to accelerate later this year, a growing number of analysts now predict the BOJ''s next move would be to start scaling back its massive monetary stimulus. While inflation remains well below the BOJ''s 2 percent target, there were tentative signs a steady economic recovery could prompt companies to raise prices and wages. The tankan indices showed more companies felt prices of goods and services were rising, in line with increases in raw material costs. Firms surveyed in the tankan also saw the job market tightening the most since 1992, when Japan''s economy was booming from an asset-inflated bubble. Companies'' capacity usages continued to rise. An index measuring production capacity, which falls when more firms report capacity shortages, slid to levels last seen in 1992, suggesting they will ramp up capital spending ahead. BOJ officials have said they will maintain the bank''s massive stimulus until sustained rises in wages and strength in private consumption keep inflation stably above 2 percent. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Eric Meijer) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-tankan-idUKKBN1740ZK'|'2017-04-03T11:45:00.000+03:00' '50bcd8046ee3a49d24124db4d5e71a30050d2d2d'|'Public owners of HSH Nordbank say pleased with first bidding round'|'FRANKFURT, April 2 Finance ministers of the German states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein said on Sunday they were pleased with the first bidding round in the privatisation of shipping finance provider HSH Nordbank , of which they jointly own 85 percent.The bank, which was hit by risky assets turning sour in 2008 and a slump in global trade in ensuing years, has to be privatised under European state-aid rules by the end of February 2018.On Thursday, HSH''s chief executive Stefan Ermisch said that more than 10 expressions of interest had been received. The bidding period ended on Friday."After a first sighting we can say - as we already said on expressions of interest - that we are very happy with the response," Hamburg finance senator Peter Tschentscher and Schleswig-Holstein finance minister Monika Heinold said in a joint statement on Sunday."The states will now study the offers at hand very carefully and assess them according to the criteria laid down in the sale announcement and further instructions on the process."Spokesmen for the state of Hamburg and for HSH declined to give further details beyond the statement. (Reporting by Vera Eckert and Olaf Brenner, editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/hsh-nordbank-privatisation-idINL5N1HA0C0'|'2017-04-02T12:07:00.000+03:00' '948d4cc91afa209d5ec7dcbe4a991c2dde7ff271'|'Apax close to $500 million deal to buy Israel''s Syneron - reports'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 9:25am BST Apax close to $500 million deal to buy Israel''s Syneron - reports JERUSALEM British private equity fund Apax Partners [APAX.UL] is close to finalising a deal to buy Israel-based Syneron Medical ( ELOS.O ), an aesthetic device company, for about $500 million (£399 million), Israeli media reported on Sunday. One of the reports, carried by financial newspaper Calcalist, said the deal could close as early as this week and that Apax would pay a 37 percent premium. Syneron has a market capitalisation of $366 million. A spokesman for Apax in Israel would not comment on the report, and officials at Syneron were not reachable for comment. Syneron says its products have a range of applications, like body contouring, hair removal and wrinkle reduction. The products are sold under two brands, Syneron and Candela. The two companies were reported in February to have entered negotiations. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syneron-med-apax-idUKKBN174074'|'2017-04-02T16:25:00.000+03:00' '99743e1b4cab832161f7f56417eafe6e395a214f'|'Newly merged First Abu Dhabi Bank''s shares rise in debut trade - Reuters'|'ABU DHABI First Abu Dhabi Bank''s NBAD.AD shares rose on Sunday on the first day of trading after the completion of a merger of the emirate''s two largest banks.The merger of National Bank of Abu Dhabi and First Gulf Bank to create one of the largest banks in the Middle East and Africa was first announced in June last year.It will have shareholders'' equity of 98 billion dirhams ($26.7 billion) and a market capitalization of around 111 billion dirhams, Abdulhamid Saeed, group chief executive of the new bank said.Shares were up 1.0 percent in early afternoon trade."This is a transformational moment for Abu Dhabi, the region and beyond and is an extension of the legacy of both banks, which spans over a period of 50 years," Saeed said in a statement.The board of directors has decided on the direction of the bank and key priorities in line with the vision and growth ambitions of Abu Dhabi and the UAE, the statement said without elaborating."The start of trading on the shares of the new bank should reflect positively on the overall trading on the exchange during the coming period and should attract more investors, whether local or foreign, individuals or institutional,” Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange Chief Executive Rashed al Baloushi said.(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho and Hadeel Al Sayegh; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-nbad-fgb-merger-idINKBN1740B7'|'2017-04-02T08:17:00.000+03:00' 'e95483c313b0442c8d892f537db126557df11b3e'|'Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says'|'Global Energy News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 12:58pm BST Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo speaks with the media during his visit to Abuja, Nigeria Febuary 27, 2017. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde By Ahmed Rasheed - BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Iraq has assured OPEC it will fully comply with an agreement to cut oil supply in order to bolster crude prices, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said on Sunday in Baghdad. Iraq''s compliance stands now at 98 percent, the nation''s oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi told reporters, after addressing a conference in the Iraqi capital, also attended by Barkindo. Compliance with the deal agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC producers at the end of last year to cut supply is "encouraging," Barkindo told the forum. General compliance with supply cuts by the oil producers was 86 percent in January and 94 percent in February, he added. The market is already balancing, Barkindo said, adding stocks of crude were coming down. Luaibi said he was satisfied with the existing deal, but declined to say whether Iraq would support an extension, leaving it to an OPEC ministerial meeting planned in May. The current deal, he said, "contains many positive elements and achieved a lot of targets; work is ongoing to reach the reduction of 1.8" million barrels per day (bpd) agreed by OPEC and 11 other nations including Russia for their combined production in the first half of 2017. The accord has lifted crude to about $50 a barrel. But the price gain has also encouraged U.S. shale oil producers, which are not part of the pact, to boost output. While Iraq is committed to achieving 100 percent of its target reduction, it will proceed with projects to boost oil production capacity to 5 million barrels per day, Luaibi said. OPEC''s second-largest producer, after Saudi Arabia, Iraq will proceed in parallel with exploration plans to increase its reserves by 15 billion barrels in 2018, to reach 178 billion barrels, he said. Among the plans to increase output capacity from existing fields is a sea water injection plan which is in process of being tendered, he added. Iraq''s oil production has averaged 4.464 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in March, a reduction of more than 300,000 bpd on levels before OPEC cuts were implemented from Jan. 1, state-oil marketer SOMO said on Thursday. Average crude exports were 3.756 million bpd in March, versus a record of more than 4 million bpd in November, according to SOMO. Barkindo described as "very constructive" meetings he had on Saturday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Susan Thomas and Mark Potter) Next In Global Energy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-oil-opec-idUKKBN1740DW'|'2017-04-02T19:58:00.000+03:00' 'd6876dba1f09215a0a62b45f7258adef7287c8a5'|'Blackrock among those seeking to block Novo Banco-Lone Star deal'|'Blackrock and other asset management institutions are seeking an injunction this week to block the sale of Portugal''s Novo Banco to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star."The rules governing the sales process are discriminatory and breach Portuguese and EU law," the fund managers, which included Blackrock, said in an email statement.The names of other financial institutions were not mentioned.The Bank of Portugal in 2015 had transferred bonds from "good bank" Novo Banco to Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to boost Novo Banco''s balance sheet by 1.98 billion euros ($2.11 billion). Novo Banco was created from BES in August 2014 after a 4.9 billion euro rescue.The bond transfer had caused losses of about 1.5 billion for ordinary retail investors and pensioners and a group representing more than two-thirds of the transferred notes had begun legal proceedings against the Bank of Portugal, the statement said.Closure of the Novo Banco sale to Lone Star would impair the fund managers clients'' claim against Novo Banco and their clients’ ability to recoup losses, the statement said.Portugal on Friday had agreed to sell a 75 percent stake in state-rescued lender Novo Banco to Lone Star in exchange for a capital injection of 1 billion euros into the institution.(Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-portugal-novobanco-injunction-idINKBN17604P'|'2017-04-03T23:47:00.000+03:00' '212df385cc6d048b3867b3ef3013bbe63ac58c92'|'Alan Howard raises over $700 million for his new fund - sources'|' 40am BST Alan Howard raises over $700 million for his new fund - sources By Maiya Keidan and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/NEW YORK LONDON/NEW YORK British hedge fund manager Alan Howard has raised more than $700 million from outside investors for a new fund that he will solely manage, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. One of the sources said the AH fund, which started trading on March 1, had raised an additional $2 billion from the main fund at Howard''s firm, Brevan Howard Asset Management. Hedge fund firms that launch new funds sometimes move money from existing funds as well as raising cash from investors externally. The AH Fund seeks a minimum $50 million investment from each investor, documents filed with U.S. regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. That is far bigger than the average hedge fund investment per investor of $1.9 million, according to data from global industry tracker Preqin. A spokesman for Brevan Howard declined to comment. Howard''s new fund, which is named after his initials, will charge a management fee of 0.75 percent and a performance fee of 30 percent. The product - which is still open to new investment - has been launched at a time when Brevan Howard, which manages $14.6 billion, has seen an asset decline of around $22 billion since 2012, from a combination of losses and client withdrawals. Howard founded Brevan Howard in 2002 along with four former colleagues from Credit Suisse and quickly gained assets based on savvy macroeconomic bets. Brevan Howard was granted an injunction on March 23 to prevent Reuters publishing a story about the firm, claiming the company''s right to confidentiality outweighed public interest. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Pravin Char) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-brevan-howard-idUKKBN17612C'|'2017-04-04T18:40:00.000+03:00' '308d459a01ff48b057c63b4f6e057e5c220330c9'|'Brazil''s March beef exports down 6 pct - Trade Ministry'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 2:50pm EDT Brazil''s March beef exports down 6 pct - Trade Ministry BRASILIA, April 3 Brazilian fresh beef exports fell 6 percent in March from a year ago, according to Trade Ministry data, though a government official said the drop was not due to a scandal involving sanitation inspectors last month. Brazilian beef exports totaled $404 million in the period, the ministry said in a statement on Monday, adding that pork exports jumped 33 percent to $138 million and chicken exports rose 7 percent to $571 million. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-meat-exports-idUSL2N1HB1C1'|'2017-04-04T02:50:00.000+03:00' 'fd223733d668bf7e7973044e42a9b166ee117fd8'|'Property agents shut, buyers still hunt as China plans new economic zone'|' 43pm BST Property agents shut, buyers still hunt as China plans new economic zone By Jason Lee and Josephine Mason - XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING Real estate agents in Xiongxian county in China''s Hebei province shut up shop on Monday, hours after Beijing ordered a ban on property sales in a frantic effort to curb a sudden housing boom triggered by plans for a new special economic zone. News on Saturday of the government''s ambitious scheme to set up a special economic zone in Hebei province that would be modelled on the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone that helped kickstart China''s economic reforms in 1980 sent bargain-hunters flocking to the 100 square kilometre area. By Sunday, average apartment prices in the region had almost doubled, hotels were full and residents complained about traffic jams as out-of-towners from Beijing and beyond descended on the area 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the capital, the Global Times reported. Hong Kong-listed infrastructure, logistics and building materials shares soared on Monday as investors piled in, betting on a potential boom in business. Mainland markets were closed for a two-day public holiday. Worried about runaway prices, the government slapped an emergency ban on property sales in Xiongxian and Anxin counties, forcing real estate agents to shut and frustrating would-be investors. Officials took to the streets to blast warnings through loudspeakers against illegal speculating. In Xiongxian on Monday, the doors to the Anju property company were sealed by tape declaring "Shut by the government on April 2", while workers dismantled the brown and white store sign for the Qianju real estate company. Still, social media was abuzz about the astonishing price rally and investors'' appetite even before Beijing had laid out concrete details of the development plan. "Housing prices have jumped even before companies and people have committed (to the zone). Does any company dare to invest there after property prices soared?" posted one Weibo user using the name Roumando. The frenzy underscores Beijing''s challenge as it seeks to crack down on speculators, which have whipsawed prices of equities, commodities and property in recent years, and cool a red-hot real estate market. Prospective buyers appeared undeterred on Monday. A couple were in Anxin checking out property after driving from Tangshan, about 250 km east of the new zone. Even if they can''t buy in the new zone, they will extend their search to nearby areas, the wife said. Chen Bo, a 32-year-old from Xiongxian county who has been working in Beijing for eight years, said he was too excited to sleep on Saturday night given the magnitude of the project. "This is like pie falling from the sky," he was quoted as saying in local media. (Additional reporting by Judy Hua; Editing by Tony Munroe) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-property-idUKKBN17516W'|'2017-04-03T19:43:00.000+03:00' '06feeb7c4f38d76082f7063d45fbd761c459115b'|'Apax close to $500 mln deal to buy Syneron - reports'|'JERUSALEM, April 2 British private equity fund Apax Partners is close to finalizing a deal to buy Israel-based Syneron Medical, an aesthetic device company, for about $500 million, Israeli media reported on Sunday.One of the reports, carried by financial newspaper Calcalist, said the deal could close as early as this week and that Apax would pay a 37 percent premium. Syneron has a market capitalization of $366 million.A spokesman for Apax in Israel would not comment on the report, and officials at Syneron were not reachable for comment.Syneron says its products have a range of applications, like body contouring, hair removal and wrinkle reduction. The products are sold under two brands, Syneron and Candela.The two companies were reported in February to have entered negotiations. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/syneron-med-apax-idINL8N1HA072'|'2017-04-02T06:15:00.000+03:00' '1778761576b52766979ed5e9ebf1a731d5786239'|'New York office rents hit new highs on robust demand -Colliers'|' 27pm EDT New York office rents hit new highs on robust demand: Colliers Lower Manhattan including the financial district is pictured from the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo - NEW YORK The average rent being asked by landlords for office leases hit a record high in Manhattan in the first quarter as historically low unemployment fueled the jobs market and leasing activity was above average, brokerage Colliers International ( CIGI.TO ) said on Monday. Asking rents rose to $73.92 a square foot in the first quarter from $72.24 a square foot in the last quarter of 2016, the brokerage said. The asking rents for a revitalized downtown set new highs, as did the technology-rich sector of Midtown South. While asking rents also rose during the quarter in Midtown, the largest U.S. office sector by far, they were still 10.4 percent lower than a record $92.04 a square foot set in the third quarter of 2008. Leasing activity declined 4.6 percent from the first quarter of 2016, but was 27 percent above the 10-year average. "The New York market continues to show signs of strength and optimism," said Joseph Harbert, president of Colliers'' eastern region, adding that 2017 would be a strong year for office leasing, the largest of five commercial real estate segments. The others are hotels, industrial or warehousing, apartment buildings and retail. Demand by foreign investors for purchasing office buildings remained strong. Of 14 deals totaling $2.6 billion during the quarter, 73 percent were foreign buyers, Colliers said. The expected return on investment is low as both U.S. and foreign investors place a premium on New York real estate, the firm said. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for New York City fell to 4.8 percent in February from 5.6 percent a year ago, the New York state Labor Department said last week, citing preliminary data. (Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Peter Cooney) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-property-colliers-manhattanrents-idUSKBN1752OC'|'2017-04-04T07:18:00.000+03:00' '934517b421a329a4c68d09324cf2cadd656ab435'|'Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says'|'Economic News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 1:53pm IST Iraq has pledged to fully comply with oil cut deal, OPEC chief says OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo speaks with the media during his visit to Abuja, Nigeria Febuary 27, 2017. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/Files BAGHDAD Iraq has assured OPEC it will fully comply with an agreement to cut oil supply in order to bolster crude prices, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said on Sunday. Compliance with the deal agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC producers at the end of last year to cut supply is "encouraging", Barkindo told an energy conference in Baghdad. General compliance with supply cuts by the oil producers was 86 percent in January and 94 percent in February, he said. "The focus is now to rebalance the market," he added. OPEC ministers will meet in May to decide whether or not to extend the oil supply curbs beyond June. Barkindo described as "very constructive" meetings he had on Saturday with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. He saluted Iraq''s "flexibility" in the talks that helped bring about an agreement between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member oil producers. Iraq is OPEC''s second-largest producer, after Saudi Arabia. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Potter and Susan Thomas) Next In Economic News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/iraq-oil-opec-idINKBN174079'|'2017-04-02T16:23:00.000+03:00' '9350f9e5bbd5621c9b7311913a6367c5a2540214'|'Under pressure, Snapdeal woos staff with promises of profit'|'By Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Seeking to calm employees rattled by reports of a cash crunch, the founders of Indian online retailer Snapdeal have gone directly to them with a string of townhall meetings in past weeks, according to sources, promising profit and brushing off takeover talk.The sources, familiar with the group, declined to be named as the meetings were not public.Like most e-commerce players in India, Snapdeal is burning cash to sustain discounts - and keep customers - in a cut-throat online market. But as the number three player, it also is under growing pressure from investors and its own employees to consider its bottom line, as well as market share.One of the sources said there had been at least five townhalls in recent weeks, with founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal delivering motivational speeches."It was only profitability and profitability," one source said, describing answers to questions from employees whether the company was a takeover target.India''s booming online retail sector is led by homegrown player Flipkart - now followed by Amazon, after the U.S. giant overtook Snapdeal''s sales volumes a year ago.Thanks to its deep pockets, Amazon has been an increasingly prominent investor in India, compensating for its mistakes in China, where it has been all but squeezed out by aggressive local rivals with a better grasp of demand.Snapdeal sought funding support in China, from Chinese funds and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, already an investor, sources with knowledge of the matter said.It has so far come back empty handed.Snapdeal expects to turn profitable in two years and is eyeing a market listing around the same time.But the China setback, and a valuation that has dropped from a peak of $6.5 billion last year, has unsettled some staff.Two employees and three people familiar with Snapdeal''s internal discussions said there were concerns over the group''s direction, as well as over contradictory messages from investors - some seeking profit, others growth - and, increasingly, over potential senior-level departures or cuts.Headhunters like Sinosh Panicker, a partner at Hunt Partners, said some of his clients had witnessed a jump in applications from Snapdeal employees.Some employees cite concerns after the departure of 600 staff in February, laid off from Snapdeal, its logistics arm Vulcan Express and payments unit FreeCharge.Snapdeal declined to comment on staff exits or sentiment, but said its annual appraisals were currently underway, and staff would be offered incentives.In a letter to employees late last month, co-founder and chief executive Bahl said that Snapdeal, in which Japan''s SoftBank is also an investor, was on the right path, despite differing views from some investors."Investors in our industry need to understand that driving indiscriminate growth at any cost doesn''t create long-term value," Bahl wrote in the letter.A spokeswoman for SoftBank in India declined comment while other Snapdeal investors - Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital - did not respond to Reuters queries. Alibaba has not commented on Snapdeal.Snapdeal clocked up losses of 29.6 billion rupees ($456.5 million) in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016. Flipkart''s wholesale unit and its online marketplace made a combined loss of 28.5 billion rupees in the same period.(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Raju Gopalakrishnan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/snapdeal-management-idINKBN1760B7'|'2017-04-04T02:50:00.000+03:00' 'c2087a8cb29901137e7d1b7329747d1516b2e37f'|'Liberty Interactive to buy General Communication for $1.12 billion'|'Liberty Interactive Corp ( QVCA.O ) said on Tuesday it would buy Alaska-based telecoms firm General Communication Inc ( GNCMA.O ) for $1.12 billion.Liberty Interactive will pay $32.50 per General Communication share, representing a premium of 58.1 percent to the stock''s close on Monday.General Communication provides residential and business telecommunications services in Alaska.Liberty Interactive owns interests in companies that are primarily engaged in video and digital commerce industries.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-general-communication-m-a-liberty-int-idINKBN1761EW'|'2017-04-04T10:37:00.000+03:00' '71835927089a7b66c95db5e4f01946a096dac0d0'|'Danone wins antitrust approval to buy organic food maker WhiteWave'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 10:03pm BST Danone wins antitrust approval to buy organic food maker WhiteWave left right The logo of French food group Danone is seen during a news conference to present the company''s 2015 annual results in Paris, France, February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 1/2 left right Yoghurt by French foods group Danone is seen on shelves in a Casino supermarket in Nice, France, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard 2/2 WASHINGTON French food group Danone SA ( DANO.PA ) has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave Foods Co ( WWAV.N ), the Justice Department said on Monday. To win approval for the $10.4 billion (£8.34 billion) deal, Danone agreed to sell its U.S. organic yoghurt business Stonyfield Farms, the department said. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Sandra Maler) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. BERLIN Former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, reducing his links with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-whitewave-foods-m-a-danone-idUKKBN1752GR'|'2017-04-04T05:03:00.000+03:00' '96964016d6ae3b02c834b9e39231a79369b4c55c'|'Regulatory influence on Brexit moves limited - Irish central bank'|' 11pm BST Regulatory influence on Brexit moves limited: Irish central bank Governor Philip R. Lane looks on at the publication of the Central Bank of Ireland''s review of residential mortgage lending requirements in Dublin, Ireland November 23, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne DUBLIN The scope for one European Union center to undercut another through its interpretation of regulatory rules in a bid to win business after Brexit is limited, Ireland''s central bank governor said on Tuesday. Financial services firms based in London are beginning to outline their plans to move operations to different member states due to concerns that Britain''s vote to leave the EU will inhibit their ability to sell products in the bloc. Ireland''s government last month complained to the European Commission that rival centers were "offering a back door to the EU''s single market" by allowing regulatory arbitrage, a reference to undercutting rivals with lax rules. However Irish Central Bank Governor Philip Lane said that while there is a degree of variation across the system in the interpretation of rules, particularly in non-banking areas such as insurance, the ability of regulators to do so was narrow. "The scope for regulatory arbitrage is limited. It''s not zero, but it''s limited. By and large, all EU countries operate under the same framework," Lane told a parliamentary committee. "There are a lot of exchanges (among European regulators) about trying to come up with a common framework but it''s not going to be conclusive, in the sense that there is still room for risk assessment and there will be differences." Ireland is among a handful of EU members in contention to benefit from firms seeking new EU bases, but it has so far missed out on two high profile moves after U.S. insurer AIG ( AIG.N ) picked Luxembourg and insurance market Lloyd''s of London [SOLYD.UL] chose Brussels. Insurance sources said the greater flexibility shown by Brussels on capital, allowing Lloyd''s to use reinsurance to transfer a larger amount of capital needed for an EU subsidiary back to its London headquarters, made its pitch more attractive. Ireland''s central bank has told firms considering moving that they expect them to set up a substantive presence in Ireland. Lane reiterated that a number of factors, and not just regulation, would determine where firms opted to move and that it was too early to draw any conclusions on how Ireland would ultimately fare. "Let''s see as time moves on when there is a wider set of examples about the balance... We think across all sectors there is going to be a lot coming in terms of presence," Lane said. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Stephen Powell) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-ireland-idUKKBN1761IF'|'2017-04-04T21:09:00.000+03:00' '280165f0fa8c46b71a302798a2792d4df0ef6e81'|'Merger of three Qatari banks to take six months: executive'|'By Tom Finn - DOHA DOHA The merger of Qatari banks Masraf Al Rayan MARK.QA, Barwa Bank [IPO-BABK.QA] and International Bank of Qatar will take six months to complete, Masraf Al Rayan''s chairman Hussain Ali al-Abdulla said on Sunday.In December Reuters reported that the trio had begun merger talks which, if successful, would create the Gulf state''s second-largest bank.Banks in the Gulf have previously been reluctant to link up but are facing challenging conditions due to the impact of lower oil prices on the region''s economies.The new bank, which would be run in compliance with Islamic banking principles, would have assets worth more than 160 billion riyals ($44 billion)."I think the merger will finish within six months. There will be a lot of synergy between the three banks," Abdulla told reporters at Masraf''s annual general meeting on Sunday.Masraf Al Rayan, an Islamic lender, has appointed KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers as merger advisers, along with law firm Allen & Overy as legal adviser, said Abdulla, adding that Barwa Bank and International Bank of Qatar had also chosen advisors.Masraf Al Rayan''s shareholders approved on Sunday the issuance of sukuk worth up to $2 billion to meet the bank''s liquidity needs.Masraf appointed banks in January to handle a debut sukuk issue of around $500 million, banking sources told Reuters that month, but Abdullah said on Sunday the timing of the issue had not been finalised..Asked whether the bank''s liquidity had been affected by low oil prices Abudullah said "liquidity now is better than in 2016" and that the U.S. Federal Reserve''s raising of interest rates last month would improve the profits of Qatari banks.(Writing by Tom Finn and Tom Arnold; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-qatar-m-a-banks-idINKBN1740P4'|'2017-04-02T15:19:00.000+03:00' '11b1aa6db93b2a84403f35fed5ff8644f884a7fa'|'Brexit effects may reflect in business surveys'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 2:32am BST Brexit effects may reflect in business surveys FILE PHOTO: A traffic sign is seen in front of European and Union flags in London, Britain, March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo By Catherine Evans - LONDON LONDON In the week after Britain formally notified the European Union of its intention to quit the bloc, business surveys will give more idea of what -- if any -- impact Brexit is having on the British economy and how its EU peers compare. Last month''s purchasing managers'' index (PMI) reports suggested unexpectedly strong growth in Britain''s economy since June''s Brexit vote may be starting to flag as inflation picks up, partly as a result of the pound''s post-referendum plunge. Similar surveys have meanwhile suggested activity in the euro zone is picking up pace, with flash PMIs for the bloc as a whole, and its two biggest economies, Germany and France, hitting six-year highs in March. Index provider IHS Markit will release PMI surveys for British manufacturing, construction and services on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, with official data for manufacturing and construction output for February due to follow on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the PMI for the dominant services sector to tick up to 53.5 in March from February''s five-month low of 53.3. That reading suggested faltering consumer spending was starting to bite and pointed to first quarter economic growth of around 0.4 percent -- compared with 0.7 percent in late 2016. "UK PMIs for March, especially once combined with the February industrial production, construction and trade data should leave us with a very good feel for 1Q (first quarter) GDP by the end of the week," Morgan Stanley economists wrote. "Overall, we expect the data to point to some slowing in 1Q." Official data on Friday showed the services industry, which accounts for about two-thirds of Britain''s economy, contracted in January for the first time since March last year. Other recent data has also suggested consumers are becoming more cautious. British households'' declining spending power -- real disposable income suffered the steepest quarterly drop in three years in October-December -- led them to run down their savings to a record low in late 2016. Sterling''s fall since the Brexit vote has kept manufacturing activity near 2-1/2 years highs since the turn of the year, but recent surveys have suggested higher input prices are hitting new orders in the construction sector. The pound has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the dollar. Manufacturing accounts for around 10 percent of the British economy, with construction making up another 6 percent. Britain''s economy last year defied forecasts that it would slow sharply after the referendum decision to leave the EU, instead expanding faster than most of its developed world peers. PMIs for France and Germany are forecast to hold steady after last month''s sparkling performance, although economists at Commerzbank saw limited potential for further gains. "The PMIs ... are now at a level seldom surpassed since monetary union was established," they said in a note. "They only rose considerably higher in 2006 and in 1999/2000, during the New Economy boom. However, at that time the euro zone economy also expanded by more than 3 percent, which seems highly unlikely to happen now." How a quickening economy will play into France''s presidential election, the first round of which is on April 23 is unclear. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen champions economic nationalism to counter the forces of globalisation, while frontrunner Emmanuel Macron, a pro-EU centrist, promises gradual tax cuts and budget discipline. Conservative Francois Fillon wants to reduce the role of the state in the French economy. Friday''s non-farm payrolls report is the coming week''s standout U.S. data release, with a Reuters poll predicting the U.S. economy will have added 180,000 jobs in March. Thursday will see the release of minutes of the ECB''s March policy meeting and speeches by both ECB President Mario Draghi and Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann, who called again on Monday for a "less expansive" monetary policy. When overall inflation hit the ECB''s 2 percent target last month, conservative countries like Germany piled pressure on Draghi, calling for an end to the bank''s 2.3 trillion euro asset buying scheme. But a tumble in March to 1.5 percent from February''s four-year high may have vindicated Draghi''s cautious stance, which saw the ECB pledge on March 9 to keep the stimulus policy in place but signal a diminishing urgency for more action. (Editing by Richard Lough)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-weekahead-idUKKBN17229L'|'2017-04-01T09:32:00.000+03:00' '8e53e7c18f09247776f328013a93ff3d2245cb48'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 5'|'April 5 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 5 points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers. * GSK: GSK Plc is voluntarily recalling more than 593,000 Ventolin asthma inhalers from U.S. hospitals, pharmacies, retailers and wholesalers due to a defect that may cause them to deliver fewer doses of the medicine than indicated, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday. * TOTAL: French oil major Total has extended an option with British shale gas developer Egdon Resources to buy a stake in one of Egdon''s shale gas licences, the companies said on Tuesday. * BHP: BHP Billiton on Wednesday declared force majeure for all coal deliveries from its mines in Queensland''s Bowen Basin, after Cyclone Debbie damaged railway lines, disrupting delivery to ports. * BRITIAN IMMIGRATION: Britain''s decision to quit the European Union and reassert control over its borders does not mean the country will tighten immigration for the world''s best brains, junior business minister David Prior said on Tuesday. * The UK blue chip index ended up 0.5 percent on Tuesday, outperforming the more hesitant Europe-wide STOXX 600 index, helped by the energy and industrials sectors, while supermarket firms Sainsbury and Morrison fell on poor sales data. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: McCarthy & Stone Plc Half Year 2017 HSS hire Group Plc Full Year 2016 TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idINL3N1HD18P'|'2017-04-05T03:38:00.000+03:00' 'aa03f704df592765f4cd5f728928ca7efd86732d'|'France''s Havas to form joint venture with China''s Guangdong Advertising'|'Deals 06am EDT France''s Havas to form joint venture with China''s Guangdong Advertising Yannick Bollore, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Havas poses during an during the Cannes Lions Festival in Cannes, France, June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard PARIS French advertising group Havas ( HAVA.PA ) has signed a joint venture agreement with Guangdong Advertising Group as part of its moves to expand in the fast-growing Chinese market. Havas, which competes with bigger rivals such as WPP ( WPP.L ), Publicis ( PUBP.PA ) and Omnicom ( OMC.N ), said it would own 51 percent of the new Havas GIMC Advertising Company that will be created out of the joint venture deal. "This move represents a major step in the Havas Group''s expansion in China. The Chinese market is one of thefastest growing markets in the world and is now second in terms of ad spending which offers outstanding opportunities for brands," Havas Group chief executive Yannick Bollore said in a statement. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sarah White) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-havas-china-idUSKBN1770NH'|'2017-04-05T15:00:00.000+03:00' '84a3ed1d8d5c55b542c250365e4f76c2b9f47955'|'Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing'|' 22am BST Toshiba''s Westinghouse replaced chairman two days before bankruptcy filing FILE PHOTO: Danny Roderick speaks during a news conference at the Toshiba head office in Tokyo, November 27, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co replaced its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear construction unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) filed for bankruptcy last week, as it tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions. Toshiba''s spokesman said Westinghouse chairman Danny Roderick was replaced by Mamoru Hatazawa, chief of Toshiba''s nuclear division, on March 27. Hatazawa''s role would be temporary, until a new management comes in, he added. Roderick, the driving force behind Toshiba''s nuclear ambition, joined Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse as chief executive in September 2012 from a nuclear joint venture between General Electric ( GE.N ) and Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ). In an interview with Reuters in 2015, Roderick said he was "pretty confident" in achieving Westinghouse''s goal of winning orders to construct 64 reactors worldwide over the next 15 years. But billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast pushed Westinghouse into bankruptcy and resulted in a net loss of $9 billion at Toshiba. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-westinghouse-idUKKBN1770NV'|'2017-04-05T15:22:00.000+03:00' '0c63c5f7a4985fb82b8da0ecd304e59a045a19ca'|'Euro zone businesses started 2017 on a six-year high - PMI'|'Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 9:14am BST Euro zone businesses started 2017 on a six-year high: PMI A worker controls a tapping of a blast furnace at Europe''s largest steel factory of Germany''s industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG in Duisburg, Germany December 6, 2012. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender/File Photo By Jonathan Cable LONDON, April 5 - Euro zone businesses enjoyed their best quarter in six years at the start of 2017 as soaring demand allowed them to raise prices at the fastest rate since mid-2011, a survey suggested on Wednesday. Although growth was not as fast as earlier predicted, the upturn was broad-based, and survey compiler IHS Markit said the data pointed to first-quarter economic growth of 0.6 percent. A Reuters poll last month predicted 0.5 percent [ECILT/EU]. "The expansion recorded by the final PMI numbers was not quite the growth spurt indicated by the flash release, but still points to an impressive rate of economic growth," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. "This is a broad-based upturn among the euro zone''s largest members. The latest numbers round off the strongest quarter since the spring of 2011." The final Markit Composite Purchasing Managers'' Index, regarded as a good guide to growth, rose to a near-six year high of 56.4 in March from February''s 56.0. An earlier flash reading had suggested a sharper rise to 56.7. The output price sub-index jumped to a near six-year high of 53.1 from 52.2. That was lower than the flash 53.3 reading but will still be welcomed by the European Central Bank, which has been trying to stimulate inflation for years. Inflation in the 19-member currency union plunged to 1.5 percent in March, official data showed on Friday, apparently vindicating ECB President Mario Draghi''s cautious policy stance and proving the bloc may be years away from a sustained rise in consumer prices. The Bank would like inflation just below 2 percent. A PMI covering the bloc''s dominant services industry came in below a flash estimate of 56.5, registering 56.0. Still, that was above the 55.5 February final number and was the highest since May 2011. To meet growing demand - which accelerated at the fastest rate in almost six years in March - service firms ramped up hiring. The employment index was 54.4, up from 53.6 and marking the fastest rate since the end of 2007. "Most welcome for a region still suffering near-double digit unemployment is a rise in the survey''s employment index," Williamson said. - Detailed PMI data are only available under license from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a license. - To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: www.markit.com/Contact-Us (Editing by Larry King) LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), having shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and facing calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels are taking on more risk and learning to trade, just like any other commodities dealers. Oil rises to near one-month high on supply tightening SINGAPORE Oil climbed to a near one-month high on Wednesday on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories and on concerns about a supply outage at a field in the United Kingdom''s North Sea that feeds into an international benchmark price. China holds up Asia stocks; oil gains on North Sea outage HONG KONG Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, helped by a bounce in Chinese shares, though investors held off from making big bets before a highly-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping gets underway on Thursday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1770SN'|'2017-04-05T16:09:00.000+03:00' '31b0beafa375504bb471de921ac5b296b8c80cf6'|'KKR Real Estate Finance Trust files for IPO of up to $100 mln - SEC Filing'|'April 3 KKR & Co LP* KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc files for IPO of up to $100 million - SEC Filing* KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc says it intends to apply for listing of its common stock on nyse under the symbol "KREF"* KKR Real Estate Finance Trust - Upon completion of IPO, KKR will continue to control a majority of voting power of shares eligible to vote in election of co''s directors* KKR Real Estate Finance Trust - Wells Fargo Securities, Morgan Stanley among underwriters to IPO Source text: [ bit.ly/2nxEBhf ] '|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-kkr-real-estate-finance-trust-file-idINFWN1HB0W1'|'2017-04-03T19:59:00.000+03:00' 'c143a428af38c3d2f42d02ab5734ded12a1efc85'|'BRIEF-Sterling Construction says certain units enters into loan agreement with Wilmington Trust'|' 42pm EDT BRIEF-Sterling Construction says certain units enters into loan agreement with Wilmington Trust April 4 Sterling Construction Company Inc - * On April 3, 2017 co, certain units entered into a loan and security agreement with Wilmington trust - sec filing * Loan and security agreement providing for a term loan of $85 million and a maturity date of April 4, 2022-sec filing Source text : [ bit.ly/2n8ryI3 ] '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-sterling-construction-says-certain-idUSFWN1HC0JS'|'2017-04-05T04:42:00.000+03:00' '2cef10e71a794f54d67f8bb14d4cc228914a817c'|'Wound up: Swiss watchmakers try to keep pace'|'BASELWORLD, a giant watch fair that ended this week, usually runs like clockwork. Companies show off new products; buzz and higher sales follow. However, something seems to have jammed. Exports of Swiss watches sank by a tenth in 2016, the worst performance since the financial crisis. Swatch, the world’s biggest watch company, saw profits plunge by 47%. In February exports were 10% lower than they had been a year earlier.Swiss watchmakers have been around for long enough not to panic: Blancpain, owned by Swatch, dates back to 1735; Vacheron Constantin, owned by Richemont, a Swiss luxury conglomerate and Swatch’s closest rival, was founded 20 years later. In La Chaux-de-Fonds, a watch-manufacturing hub, workers toil much as they always have, at chin-high desks, using slim instruments to assemble springs, wheels, jewels and other tiny parts. But swings in demand have of late been particularly extreme. The period from around 2004 to 2012 saw high growth. Chinese shoppers accounted for about half of Swiss watch sales during that time, reckons Thomas Chauvet of Citi, a bank. Manufacturers introduced pricier products and raised the cost of existing ones. The financial crisis was a blip. Chinese demand for watches, as for handbags and fashion, has since waned. Nor has it helped that many companies were slow to adjust to a changing market, continuing to push products onto fragmented wholesalers around the world that had little power to resist big brands’ terms.The immediate question is whether this source of demand will recover. The fact that exports to mainland China have recently risen slightly may simply reflect the fact that fewer Chinese are buying watches in Europe, due to higher import duties and fears of terrorism. Sales in Hong Kong, the industry’s most important market, remain depressed.In the longer term, the worry in the industry concerns the young. Apple now claims to be the world’s second-largest watch brand, after Rolex. “Will they consider the watch as a possible status symbol or as an information-tool or as a design product?” asks Jean-Claude Biver, who runs the watch business at LVMH, a luxury-goods conglomerate. “Who knows?”Watchmakers are ill-suited to a generation with fickle tastes. They are often slow to recognise changes in demand; many firms are only now starting to track which models sell to which consumers, where. Even for watchmakers with better data, the meticulous nature of making and assembling components means they will find it hard to build a flexible supply chain.Firms’ responses to the challenges have varied. Swatch is mostly carrying on as usual. As for Richemont, last year it bought back older inventory from the stores it distributes to in order to clear shelf space for new models. As part of an organisational change, from March 31st onwards the bosses of individual watch brands will report directly to Richemont’s chairman, Johann Rupert, which the firm believes will make it nimbler.At LVMH, Mr Biver is also trying hard to hook millennials: about two-fifths of advertisements, he says, are directed at those who cannot yet afford his firm’s watches. Last year its TAG Heuer brand introduced a connected watch developed with Google and Intel, which sold well. Other brands seem set to follow its lead: in May Richemont’s Montblanc will start selling a smartwatch with a heart-rate sensor and a built-in microphone, among other features. But the smartwatch category itself is far from established. In trendsetting Silicon Valley and elsewhere, the status timepiece of choice is often a smartphone. "Wound up"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21719835-profits-biggest-manufacturer-swatch-nearly-halved-2016-swiss-watchmakers-try-keep?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-01T12:00:00.000+03:00' '0451de84c0e693434dc79609bd19ec1b5d65f55c'|'South Africa''s Bidcorp buys Spanish foodservice group'|'JOHANNESBURG, April 5 South Africa''s Bid Corporation (Bidcorp) has bought a 90 percent stake in Spanish foodservice group Guzman Gastronomia and Cuttings, it said on Wednesday without disclosing the value.Bidcorp, spun out of Bidvest last year in a $5 billion listing on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, said in February it could tap $1.2 billion for acquisitions to extend its push outside its home market.Guzman is a foodservice company supplying hotels, restaurants, industrial caterers and other institutions throughout Spain, Bidcorp said in a statement.The Spanish firm''s revenue is expected to be about 100 million euros ($106.67 million) this year, Bidcorp said, adding that the Spanish foodservice market had potential to grow as the economy picked up and the tourism industry expanded.The South African firm acquired its stake from Miura Private Equity and Guzman''s management, who retain a 10 percent interest.($1 = 0.9375 euros) (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/guzman-ma-bid-corporation-idINL5N1HD4LF'|'2017-04-05T12:44:00.000+03:00' 'dc10ede860fac83c0d16cab9031b3dcd451951a8'|'Qualcomm, NXP receive antitrust approval'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:32pm BST Qualcomm, NXP receive antitrust approval Qualcomm''s logo is seen during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm Inc( QCOM.O ) has received approval from U.S. antitrust regulators for its proposed $47 billion acquisition (37.77 billion pounds) of NXP Semiconductors NV ( NXPI.O ), Qualcomm said in a statement on Tuesday. The waiting period required for companies under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has expired, the company said. Additionally, Qualcomm said it is extending its cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of NXP. The tender offer is now scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m. EDT on May 2, 2017. Qualcom''s acquisition of NXP will be the biggest-ever in the semiconductor industry. The acquisition is also expected to help Qualcomm, which provides chips to Android smartphone makers and Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ), reduce its dependence on a cooling smartphone market (Reporting by Lauren Hirsch; Editing by Dan Grebler) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nxp-semicondtrs-qualcomm-regulatory-idUKKBN1762ZO'|'2017-04-05T06:32:00.000+03:00' 'ba2e8ba422d6cc4da1363302383a534eba716118'|'Spain''s Cox Energy in advanced talks to bring in South America partner'|'SANTIAGO Spanish renewable energy firm Cox Energy is in advanced talks to bring in a partner for its South American operations, the company told Reuters on Friday.The Madrid-based firm has assets on four continents and its operations in South America include a large, potentially lucrative contract with the Chilean government that it won in an auction last year."Cox Energy is in negotiations with a strategic partner to give an entry point into the entirety of the South American platform," said a Cox spokesman, after two industry sources said the company had been in conversations with outside firms."Of course, once these negotiations culminate, Cox will stay on said platform as a participating partner," said the spokesman, who asked not to be named, citing company policy.The partner would gain an equity stake in the South American assets should the deal go through, he added.Cox has multiple very early stage solar developments in Chile, which has experienced a solar boom in recent years, and is also looking at expansions in other countries nearby. Last year, it was among a cluster of European renewables companies that scooped up contracts to supply Chile''s public grid from 2021.Under the terms of that contract, known as a power purchase agreement (PPA), Cox will provide 250 megawatts of power on a 24-hour basis. It will inject energy into Chile''s public grid for $52.72 per megawatt-hour, a price that is above the most recent averages in Chile.The investment needed to fulfill the PPA will be around $300 million, the company has said. Its early-stage solar projects in Chile include the 60-MW Valleland solar park near the city of La Serena.The spokesman said Cox had begun discussing possible partnerships shortly after the August public auction, though talks were now exclusive.He declined to name the counterparty. However, one source with knowledge of the process said Cox had previously talked with industrial conglomerates and international investment funds.The biggest investment funds operating in Chilean renewables are British private equity fund Actis and Canada''s Brookfield Asset Management ( BAMa.TO ).While August''s auction was hailed as a massive victory for renewables, speculation has swirled that some of the winners would seek sales or partnerships with companies more experienced in large-scale infrastructure development.Consolidation in Chile''s dispersed renewable energy sector has also been heating up. In March alone, Brookfield and Actis announced major purchases, while Reuters revealed U.S. solar producer SunPower ( SPWR.O ) had put a large solar asset on the block.(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Marguerita Choy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-coxenergy-chile-idUSKBN1722RK'|'2017-03-31T23:42:00.000+03:00' 'c2c79e196cde3c9897e94b3ea9b95b4092cfc0c6'|'LPC-CVC’s CLH buy backed with €560m loan'|'By Claire Ruckin - LONDON, April 3 LONDON, April 3 A €560m loan will back the acquisition of a 25% stake in Spanish oil transportation and storage company CLH by CVC Capital Partners’ Strategic Opportunities Platform, banking sources said.CVC announced on Monday it was acquiring a 10% stake from Ardian as well as a 5% stake from each of Kutxabank, Abanca and clients of Alberta Investment Management Corp.Natixis was the sole arranger and underwriter of the acquisition financing, the announcement said.The €560m term loan will have a five-year maturity and is expected to pay an interest margin of 250bp over Euribor, the sources said.Some of the loan could be sold down to other banks and funds, with Spanish banks expected to take a share of the debt, the sources said.CVC was not immediately available to comment on the loan.CLH raised a €320m loan in February 2016, to back Borealis Infrastructure’s 24.15% acquisition of a stake in the company.That loan comprised of a €120m term loan A and a €200m term loan B, both maturing in 2021, provided by Abanca, Banco Santander, Export Development Canada and Natixis, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.CLH is CVC’s 15th major investment in Spain in the last 20 years. CLH is the fourth investment made from CVC’s Strategic Opportunities Platform, which was established in response to growing demand from large investors to be able to invest in long term, stable, high-quality businesses.CLH has over 4,000 kilometres of oil pipeline and a storage capacity of more than 8 million cubic metres in Spain, which is available to all oil operators that do business in the country. The Company also owns the largest oil pipeline network in the UK. (Editing by Alasdair Reilly)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/clh-loans-idINL5N1HB5BO'|'2017-04-03T14:16:00.000+03:00' '2a3940a06ab55b5bd87d447580cab0d8d4490c3b'|'Ukrainian central bank: IMF aid to strengthen financial stability'|'KIEV, April 3 Ukraine''s central bank said on Monday that a new $1 billion aid tranche from the International Monetary Fund will strengthen financial stability.The central bank also said that IMF experts had concluded that an economic blockade Kiev imposed on territory held by Russian-backed separatists would only have a moderate impact on economic growth and did not threaten Ukraine''s inflation target.(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-imf-cenbank-idINS8N1BX024'|'2017-04-03T15:23:00.000+03:00' 'c458ff0295cfaea1feca3517ee746443af791358'|'Macau gambling revenue rises 18 pct in March as high rollers return - Reuters'|'HONG KONG, April 1 Revenues from gambling in Macau rose 18 percent in March, beating expectations and posting an eighth consecutive monthly increase as wealthy gamblers took their chances in China''s only legal casino hub - the world''s biggest.Gambling revenue in the southern Chinese territory rose to 21.2 billion patacas ($2.6 billion), government data showed on Saturday. Analysts were expecting growth of between 12 percent and 16 percent.Macau''s gambling revenues have surged since second-half 2016 with the opening of new resorts helping to draw high rollers and more casual gamblers.Chinese President Xi Jinping''s campaign against shows of wealth by public officials in 2014 had dried up the stream of VIP spenders from the mainland.Analysts remain cautious on the sustainability of revenues from the VIP market but have called a bottom to a slump that has afflicted Macau for more than two years. Overseas visitors are an increasingly common sight in Macau which is trying to diversify an economic model that has depended on mainland high rollers for more than a decade.($1 = 7.9810 patacas) (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/macau-gambling-revenues-idINL3N1GE1RO'|'2017-04-01T04:46:00.000+03:00' '056456b59ec4b8c98293a66aa80f4b41fbff4c13'|'EXCLUSIVE: Embraer, Rockwell Collins eye shared remote sensing portfolio'|'Money News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:04pm IST EXCLUSIVE: Embraer, Rockwell Collins eye shared remote sensing portfolio Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer''s CEO Frederico Curado salutes workers next to an new Embraer E190-E2 during its unveil in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo By Brad Haynes - RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO U.S. aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins Inc and Brazil''s Embraer SA will assess each other''s remote sensing and border control technology for possible joint sales, a senior executive for the Brazilian planemaker told Reuters. Jackson Schneider, chief executive of Embraer''s defense division, said subsidiaries Bradar and Savis could eventually include Rockwell Collins products into their portfolios or have their technology included in the U.S. partner''s offerings. "Right now we''re not identifying specific programs (for sales)," Schneider said in an interview on the eve of the LAAD defense expo in Rio de Janeiro, which opens Tuesday. "They''re looking at our best products for their international portfolio and we''re going to do the same for theirs here in Brazil." Schneider did not provide an estimate for the value of the joint sales. Rockwell Collins could not be immediately reached for a comment outside business hours. International partnerships are common in the aerospace industry, especially on defense contracts where strategic relationships with governments are key. Embraer has partnered in recent years with Boeing Co to sell and support the KC-390 military cargo jet and with Israel''s Elbit Systems Ltd to study a potential joint venture to build drones. One outlet for the new Rockwell Collins partnership could be the Brazilian government''s SISFRON program, which is aimed at securing long stretches of the country''s remote 17,000 km (10,500 mile) border against arms and drug trafficking. Embraer''s subsidiaries have completed about 70 percent of the initial SISFRON contract, Schneider said, adding he was watching whether a federal spending freeze would hit the 450 million reais ($145 million) earmarked for the program in 2017. He declined to comment on the chances of a much-discussed second phase for the program. Joint sales with Rockwell Collins could open new markets to Embraer''s fledgling defense portfolio, which grew as Brazil''s military spending surged early this decade before the government delayed or scaled back several programs due to a deep recession. International sales are now crucial to extending the horizon of several defense programs, such as the KC-390 military transport aircraft under development for Brazil''s Air Force. Schneider said 20 international delegations at LAAD, Latin America''s biggest defense and security expo, expressed interest in visiting a prototype of the KC-390 at a nearby air base. "We''re working actively to close a foreign sale of the KC-390," Schneider said, declining to name the countries closest to such a deal or specify a timeline for negotiations. ($1 = 3.11 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-defense-embraer-idINKBN1761EG'|'2017-04-04T20:34:00.000+03:00' 'a2e80ed07b503a81b128751adaba7539a696d16a'|'U.S. retail mall vacancies flat in first quarter: Reis'|'U.S. retail mall vacancies were flat at 9.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the fourth quarter of 2016, as new construction fell to its lowest in six years, real estate research firm Reis Inc said in a report."... We remain cautious but do not want to overstate the problems in the retail industry," said Barbara Denham, senior economist at Reis.Expectations have lowered for the retail real estate industry due to the rapid rise in e-commerce and store closures. However the full impact of the closures has yet to be felt, Denham said.Construction activity fell by more than two-thirds in the quarter, with a paltry 796,000 square feet of new construction completed.Asking rent inched up 0.3 percent, while effective rent rose 0.4 percent, Reis said.Net absorption, which is measured in terms of available retail space sold in the market during a certain time period, more than halved to 1.25 million square feet.The national vacancy rate for neighborhood and community shopping centers was flat at 9.9 percent.(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-property-malls-idINKBN17608M'|'2017-04-04T01:31:00.000+03:00' '614eeaa78d1bb239bbfecb8e4106d7c748de681c'|'BRIEF-Crown Capital Partners announces renewal of normal course issuer bid'|' 43pm EDT BRIEF-Crown Capital Partners announces renewal of normal course issuer bid April 4 Crown Capital Partners Inc * Crown Capital Partners announces renewal of normal course issuer bid * Crown Capital Partners - Got approval from Toronto Stock Exchange to implement normal course issuer bid for 12-month period commencing April 10, 2017 * Crown Capital Partners Inc - Under terms of NCIB, Crown will have right to purchase up to 310,000 of its common shares Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-crown-capital-partners-announces-r-idUSFWN1HC0JY'|'2017-04-05T04:43:00.000+03:00' 'cc4a7465a1b763470bdd7b14378063c5d262b6c2'|'South Africa''s Treasury director-general says has not resigned'|'Company 15am EDT South Africa''s Treasury director-general says has not resigned PRETORIA, April 4 South Africa''s Director General of the Treasury Lungisa Fuzile said "I am still here" when he was asked on Tuesday whether he had resigned following the dismissal of the finance minister and his deputy in cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma. Fuzile was part of an investor roadshow abroad that was cut short on the orders of Zuma. The trip was led by former finance minister Pravin Gordhan but ended abruptly when Zuma ordered Gordhan to return home "immediately" without giving a reason. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia) Next In Company News Need cash? Azimo lets recipients sort out money transfer headaches BERLIN, April 4 UK-based online money transfer firm Azimo is turning the process of sending remittances on its head by allowing mobile phone and computer users to send cash to any mobile phone number via text message, leaving it up to the recipient to claim the money. * VMware Inc says financial details of transaction were not disclosed MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-fuzile-idUSJ8N1GY02M'|'2017-04-04T20:15:00.000+03:00' 'd8cd1dd1c0a7e2fb2ff34c3cfafeaae0061838a5'|'ECB''s Weidmann would welcome end of QE within a year - Zeit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 1:01pm BST ECB''s Weidmann would welcome end of QE within a year - Zeit German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann addresses a news conference at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach FRANKFURT The head of Germany''s central bank would be happy to see the European Central Bank''s bond-buying programme end within a year, he is quoted as saying by German weekly Die Zeit. "The time to keep the foot no longer on the metal, but to take it off slightly ... is approaching in my view," Jens Weidmann said in an interview due to be published on Thursday. In a preview of the article, the magazine said the Bundesbank president said he would be happy if bond purchases had ended one year from now. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Alison Williams) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-bonds-idUKKBN1771HV'|'2017-04-05T20:01:00.000+03:00' '392eddc9715c3a9408c9835f1a756245faccb739'|'LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:41am BST LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share A LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) tanker is seen behind a port in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo By Osamu Tsukimori - CHIBA, Japan CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), having shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and facing calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels are taking on more risk and learning to trade, just like any other commodities dealers. That''s a big change for a market long dominated by large producers such as Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) and BP ( BP.L ) which provide major importers with fixed volumes under multi-decade contracts linked to the price of oil LCOc1. Under the protection of these lucrative locked-in deals, producers in Australia, Qatar, Russia and elsewhere went on an investment spree that resulted in a huge supply overhang when demand in China and India developed more slowly than expected. That, together with rising fuel competition from coal and renewables, contributed to a more than 70 percent crash in spot Asian LNG prices LNG-AS to under $6 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), increasing the pressure to grant more flexible contracts and better pricing options. "The LNG market is changing rapidly, (and) the large volume long-term contracts that traditionally underpinned the development of the industry are today much more difficult to obtain," said Steve Hill, executive vice president of Shell Eastern Trading, during a gas conference in Japan on Wednesday. "LNG projects ... need to take more market risks," he said. In a sign of what might be ahead, Japan''s JERA - the biggest single importer of LNG - and France''s Total ( TOTF.PA ) have signed a deal with flexible volumes, based entirely on spot prices, according to sources close to the matter. Neither Total nor JERA responded to queries for comment. Another thing about to change is that trading specialists - who buy commodities from producers to sell on to importers at a profit and who have so far played a smaller role in LNG than they do in oil or coal - are jumping into the game. "People need to sit in the middle of the chain (to) provide the flexibility and meet the different customer needs," said Mike Utsler, chief operations officers for Australia''s Woodside Petroleum ( WPL.AX ). Preparing to do just that, commodity merchant Trafigura [TRAFG.UL] this week launched a standard master sales and purchase agreement (MSPA) for LNG trade, something already well established in other commodities. UNLOCKING NEW MARKETS Woodside, which operates several large LNG export facilities and is developing more, said producers also had to create new markets amid oversupply. "There''s a big opportunity for much smaller scale demand ... Big, long-term contracts are not necessary in order to supply (such projects)," Utsler said. The thinking is similar at Shell. "We are trying to unlock new gas markets ... by initiating new small-scale LNG import terminals," Hill said. Smaller scale demand could come from new importers like Pakistan, which only started using LNG in the last two years, or from new sectors like transportation. Singapore''s Pavilion Energy this week signed a memorandum of understanding with Total SA ( TOTF.PA ) to supply the French energy major with LNG used as a ship fuel. But LNG producers need to mind competition. Oil still dominates transportation, and cheap coal - seen by many as outdated due to high pollution levels - is still the biggest fuel source for electricity, especially in fast-growing Asia. Wind and solar energy are also becoming competitive. "Coal won''t completely disappear. It will continue to be a competitor and a provider of energy solutions, as will renewables," said David Knipe, head of international gas at BP''s integrated supply and trading unit. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Tom Hogue) Next In Business News Korea''s KEPCO cautious as Britain hunts partner for crucial nuclear project - sources SEOUL As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-gastech-lng-idUKKBN1770KV'|'2017-04-05T14:41:00.000+03:00' '0a72ac87a632e3573a51bab6c57116fd44bfe9d4'|'The car-loan boom isn’t the housing bubble. But there still might be a crash - Business'|'C ould it be 2005 and 2006 all over again? Industry figures last week showed that UK credit-card debt has soared while the savings rate has plunged to an all-time low . Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, data shows that late last year car loans were being taken out at a faster rate than any time in US history.Almost everyone in America leases a car or buys it using cheap credit. Except that they don’t take the opportunity to lower their outgoings and cut their monthly loan bills. Instead, they take the cheap credit and buy a bigger car. A much bigger car.This applies as much to those on low incomes as the wealthy. And the same trend can be seen in the UK.In 2008 it was the mortgage sector in the US that triggered the worst global financial crash since 1929. US house buyers on low incomes were sold homes by lenders using teaser rates that offered massive discounts for two or three years on standard fixed rates. Refinancing was easy as long as the base rate remained low.Once the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates, it become financially crippling to refinance a mortgage and arrears began to creep upwards.By 2006, millions of American families were in financial trouble and by 2008 hundreds of thousands were handing the keys of their homes back, leaving the banks with huge debts on their balance sheets.Today the US central bank is again raising interest rates, and the jump in credit costs is hitting the finances of low-income families, forcing them into arrears or to default on their loans.But the situation is very different to 2008 and even the years leading up to it. Car loans are an important component of the credit market, but are still dwarfed by home loans. As such, it is unlikely that dodgy car-loan books will see the big lenders getting themselves in such deep trouble.The lenders, and especially the big banks, have much bigger reserves, giving them deeper pockets when the times comes to cover their losses.The regulators are also alive to a problem they blatantly ignored ahead of the last crash.Last November, the New York Federal Reserve bank warned that arrears in the sub-prime car-loan sector were a “ significant concern ”. The Bank of England has also voiced concern about rising household debts levels and last week promised a review of banks’ lending standards.It is likely that the cause of the next crash will come from a dark corner of the financial services industry that regulators believe is insignificant until it whacks them on the nose. But, at least for now, they are not the complacent animals of yesteryear and will snap at the big financial firms to keep their practices in order.Another detail from 2008 that is absent in 2017 is the role of credit agencies, which ranked the worst sub-prime loans as triple-A in 2005 and 2006. These days the regulators have more realistic data to hand.There are also quirks in the official figures that give a false picture of consumers’ financial position. For instance, the official figures show a collapse in the savings rate is to a significant degree the result of pension funds switching funds out of risky assets and into safer ones following the Brexit vote.This depresses the incomes of pensioners’ funds and drags down the savings rate, but is a technical issue and doesn’t indicate that pensioners are on a spree, suddenly spending all their savings.Nonetheless, the regulators need to remain vigilant. Even low rates of default can ripple through the financial system. And should a crash be avoided in the UK, it could still happen in the US, where a Donald Trump inspired credit boom is predicted by many – with an accompanying hangover.An air war over Europe?Of all the warnings that pro-Brexit voters chose to ignore last June, the notion that planes might cease to link this island to the continent barely figured on the Project Fear register. Nine months on, with the pound depressed, food prices up, and article 50 triggered, it might be worth hesitating a little longer when Ryanair repeats that there is a “distinct possibility of no flights” for a period when Brexit happens.Of course, Europe’s biggest airline has form when it comes to courting publicity, and many of its chief executive’s wider views on politics come across as headline-hunting exercises. But the Irish airline has a finely tuned sense for aviation agreements, and an ear for blarney, through its disputes with the European commission and its navigation of local employment and taxation laws. So it is worth noting that it has not been impressed by the Department for Exiting the EU’s promises to prioritise airlines’ concerns.The clock is ticking on Britain’s two-year separation, but as Ryanair points out, its own flight schedules need to be fixed a year before that, effectively doubling the speed of Britain’s dash into turbulence. And many of Britain’s international flying rights do not exist outside the EU: there is no fallback agreement.The idea of grounded planes sounds preposterous to British ears; less so to continental airlines and governments, which might appreciate a new competitive advantage. More likely is that in 12 months’ time Britain will face either the further relocation of Ryanair routes – and some of easyJet’s – or have to accept Europe’s terms for associate membership of its common aviation area.However, with flights to Europe accounting for two-thirds of all UK air traffic, March 2019 could bring plane-free skies not seen since Eyjafjallajökull exhaled its ash in 2010. Such a scenario remains unlikely, because surely a deal will be reached. But the very possibility will make Remainers shake their heads in wonder. Britain has the largest aviation industry in Europe, and to preserve it, ministers must now beg and wheedle to reclaim its rights, which they have just signed away.A mission impossible for Paramount boss? Don’t envy Jim Gianopulos, the new head of Paramount Pictures . Running a Hollywood studio remains a glamorous job, but amid the premieres and parties the challenges are piling up.The US film industry is threatened by the rise of the Netflix-led streaming companies, by rampant piracy and by the popularity of alternative distractions, such as gaming and social media.Then there are obstacles specific to Paramount and its lowly competitor Sony. It is very difficult competing with big hitters like Disney – owner of the Star Wars and Marvel Comics franchises – and Warner Bros, the studio behind the Harry Potter universe, and both studio minnows also have struggling parent groups.Gianopulos has some decent properties at his disposal, including the Mission: Impossible series, but he has to take one decision for the greater cultural good. Please, Jim, let the latest Transformers film – due for release in June – be the last.Topics US economy Business leader Economics Credit crunch Financial crisis Ryanair Rating agencies comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/02/car-loan-boom-not-housing-bubble-still-could-be-crash-us-economy'|'2017-04-02T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'e7279de0d35e1d3d3da183fdfdf0e6fdcde7664b'|'EU Parliament backs tougher car approval rules after VW scandal'|' 49am BST EU Parliament backs tougher car approval rules after VW scandal FILE PHOTO: A Volkswagen logo is pictured at Volkswagen''s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo BRUSSELS The European Parliament on Tuesday endorsed tougher draft rules the approval of new cars aimed at tackling conflicts of interest between national regulators and their domestic manufacturers to avoid a repeat of the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal. In response to revelations that the German car maker used software to cheat U.S. diesel pollution controls - a scandal that spotlighted the EU''s lax vehicle regulations - the European Commission proposed an overhaul of rules on how vehicles are licensed and tested across the bloc. EU lawmakers voted 585 to 77 in favour of the draft bill, which would bolster EU oversight and allow Brussels to fine car makers up to 30,000 euros per vehicle. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Alissa de Carbonnel) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-emissions-eu-idUKKBN176130'|'2017-04-04T18:49:00.000+03:00' 'c60d7cbd5bcb1c9958eb663abee0182df3191cb6'|'Walmex completes sale of clothing chain Suburbia to Liverpool'|'MEXICO CITY Wal-Mart Stores Inc''s ( WMT.N ) Mexican unit said on Tuesday it had completed the sale of its clothing chain Suburbia to department store and shopping mall operator El Puerto De Liverpool ( LIVEPOLC1.MX ) for 15.7 billion pesos ($834 million).The deal between the company known as Walmex and Liverpool was announced in August.($1 = 18.8230 pesos)(Writing by Dave Graham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-liverpool-idINKBN1762RI'|'2017-04-04T18:56:00.000+03:00' 'b08cd128a06c6fda6e7d889d32146832220acbc4'|'Panera Bread in advanced sale talks with JAB Holdings: source'|'Deals - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:22pm EDT Panera Bread in advanced sale talks with JAB Holdings: source A Panera restaurant logo is pictured on a building in North Miami, Florida March 19, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri By Lauren Hirsch Bakery chain Panera Bread Co ( PNRA.O ) is in advanced talks to sell to JAB Holdings as the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea builds out its coffee and breakfast empire, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. A sale to JAB, which also owns Keurig Green Mountain, would help the company compete against rivals such as Dunkin Brands Group Inc ( DNKN.O ). St. Louis-based Panera has reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings per share for the last six quarters. The stock has risen nearly 28 percent this year. Luxembourg-based JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family, declined to comment. Panera also declined to comment. Bloomberg first reported Panera was in advanced sale talks with JAB. (Reporting by Lauren Hirsch; Editing by Andrew Hay) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-panera-bread-m-a-jab-holdings-idUSKBN1762YK'|'2017-04-05T06:22:00.000+03:00' 'aa6fec5d5c39da41a8365e4403f23f23e398b8b1'|'Beijing''s ''shock'' measures seize property market, other cities follow suit'|'Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:17am BST Beijing''s ''shock'' measures seize property market, other cities follow suit FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past a new office building in an area in Beijing, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo By Yawen Chen and Ryan Woo - BEIJING BEIJING Ji Wei, a recently married photographer in her 20s, fears her plans to sell her Beijing apartment and upgrade to one costing 6.15 million yuan ($891,000) will collapse because of new measures aimed at reining in a soaring property market. Beijing, home to about 22 million people, is on the frontline as China takes on speculators and tries to tame home prices. Chinese authorities fear surging prices are building up household debt, heightening banks'' credit risks, and fanning resentment as home affordability fades. Apartments in Beijing on average are still cheaper than homes in Tokyo or London, but prices hit their 2016 peak in December and have continued to shatter records this year. Second-hand homes in the capital averaged 63,082 yuan ($9,165) per square meter in March, according to Fang.com, a private provider of home price data - enough to value a modest 90 square meter (969 square feet) apartment at $824,850. "Prices have surged almost 50 percent for a two-bedroom apartment from when I first started looking in October," said Jiang Yuan, 33, who works for a big data company. A previous round of restrictions cut the number of re-sale market deals in Beijing by 37 percent in the three months to end-December, but failed to stop prices rising. In mid-March, the municipal government acted again - raising the minimum downpayment on a second home to 60 percent from 50 percent. On bigger homes, that minimum increases to 80 percent from 70 percent. They also suspended issuing individual mortgage loans of more than 25 years, effectively forcing borrowers to take on more expensive shorter loans. Buying a third property has already been banned. And the definition of a second-home buyer has been broadened to include anyone who has a record of taking out a previous mortgage anywhere in China. Beijing has also curbed individuals buying new commercial property, and closed a loophole in buyers faking divorce to take advantage of first-home downpayment rates. The number of new clients expressing interest to buy fell by nearly a third in the week following the latest curbs, and home viewings dropped 30.7 percent, according to data from Lianjia, Beijing''s dominant real estate broker. It may be too early to gauge the impact on prices, though. Fang.com data shows prices in Beijing''s re-sale market grew 1.07 percent in March, slower than February''s 3.3 percent increase. Official March home price data is due on April 18. "The market will freeze under the new measures," said Yi Xianrong, a professor at Qingdao University and former researcher at state think-tank the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Sales may drop 90 percent." "It was like an ambush," said Ji, the photographer. The prospective buyer for Ji''s flat has now withdrawn, leaving her to find another buyer quickly or risk defaulting on her contract for the bigger home, and losing over half a million yuan in the deposit. "I''m worried no one wants to buy my 50 square meter apartment anymore," she says. "I''m not the only one affected by the new policies. I''m just one link in a long chain. If one person scraps the contract, the whole chain is likely to break." Local property agents reckon home upgraders like Ji make up around 80 percent of buyers in Beijing this year. Some developers, too, are concerned about the impact on the market. "This round of tightening is unprecedentedly harsh, and I''m very, very pessimistic about the market," Sun Hongbin, chairman of Sunac China Holdings ( 1918.HK ) told financial magazine Caixin on March 28. "The risks are very high in our industry mainly because property prices are now limited by the government. If we buy land at current price levels, we will no doubt lose money." (To view a graphic on cooling China''s property market, click tmsnrt.rs/2edPKFA ) BEYOND BEIJING While Ji frets, other cities are copying Beijing. In just two weeks, at least 50 cities have emulated the capital, says Yan Yuejin, an analyst with E-House China R&D Institute, which tracks China''s housing policy. Those include smaller and less developed cities that had benefited from a speculator-driven boom, such as Zhuozhou and Langfang. Last week, the housing ministry said Beijing''s tightening experience deserved to be studied by the rest of the country, state media reported. Beijing''s housing bureau representative Xu Jianyun was reported as saying the authorities would unswervingly contain upward price pressure. While the measures are aimed at speculators, genuine buyers, too, are caught. Jiang, the big data worker, has an apartment in the eastern port city of Qingdao, and wants to buy his first home in Beijing, where he works. But the re-definition on second-home buyers means he faces paying at least a 60 percent downpayment instead of the 35 percent rate for first-home buyers in the capital. "My budget is up to 2.2 million yuan for the downpayment for a 2-bed flat," Jiang says, "But with the new requirement, I''d have to pay 3.5 million yuan as a downpayment for my ideal home." However, Cao Zhounan, CEO and chairman of property developer Greentown China Holdings Ltd ( 3900.HK ), while predicting nationwide sales volumes will drop, says the market "will increasingly cater to genuine buyers who will actually live in the homes they buy." The restrictions may, intentionally or not, also drive property investors to look beyond China''s capital. In a recent phone sales pitch, a telemarketer eagerly promoted projects in cities near Beijing, including earthquake-prone Tangshan, which has a poor record on pollution. "The tougher the stance that authorities take in tier-1 cities, the greater the share of activity that will be pushed into tier-2 and beyond," Westpac said in a March 20 note. That could take some heat off tier-1 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and shift investors'' capital to smaller cities where restrictions are less severe. On Monday, property agents in Xiongxian county in neighboring Hebei province shut up shop hours after Beijing ordered a ban on property sales in an effort to curb a sudden housing boom triggered by plans for a new special economic zone. Household mortgages, which accounted for 39 percent of China''s new loans last year, are not expected to pull back significantly. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said last month that home loans will keep growing relatively rapidly this year, suggesting some tolerance for household debt. These loans are not just about property transactions: they impact a long industrial supply chain, he said. The real estate sector accounted for 6.5 percent of China''s GDP growth last year, according to official data, but many say its overall contribution is much higher as the property market helps drive sectors from construction to banking and finance. (Additional reporting by Muyu Xu in BEIJING; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-property-analysis-idUKKBN17632J'|'2017-04-05T07:14:00.000+03:00' 'e8886d0c86205db8f150d856ff67067a1908f807'|'UPDATE 1-Peru finmin says flood damages merit wider fiscal gap - Reuters'|'(Adds details, comments on Grana y Montero)ASUNCION, April 1 Reconstruction efforts in Peru after severe flooding that killed more than 100 people warrant a wider fiscal deficit target, though the country is not planning to access debt markets to finance the deficit, the finance minister said on Saturday.Reconstruction efforts will cost about $3 billion over three years and begin in the second half of 2017, Minister Alfredo Thorne said in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital, where he was attending an Inter-American Development Bank governors'' meeting.The meetings were being held after protesters stormed and set fire to Paraguay''s Congress late on Friday following a secret vote in the Senate for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election.Thorne did not specify for which fiscal year Peru''s deficit target would be widened."We are going to present a project to Congress and within that we will propose an increase in the fiscal deficit that is consistent with our laws ... during a natural disaster we can temporarily increase the deficit," Thorne told journalists.He said Peru''s prime minister would present the bill in the coming days.Peru is also seeking more international aid to help hundreds of thousands of people cope with ongoing floods and mudslides, which have torn apart much of the Andean country''s infrastructure, the transportation minister said on Friday.Peru is launching a major rebuilding effort just as public works are slowing due to a corruption investigation involving Brazilian builder Odebrecht.Public prosecutors in Peru have not ruled out investigating the country''s biggest builder, Grana y Montero , or individuals linked to the company, as part of an investigation into its scandal-plagued Brazilian partner, a source in the attorney general''s office said this week.But Thorne on Saturday said Grana y Montero would not be impeded from participating in the country''s rebuilding efforts. (Reporting by Luc Cohen, writing by Caroline Stauffer; editing by John Stonestreet, G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/peru-economy-floods-idINL2N1H90BC'|'2017-04-01T12:23:00.000+03:00' 'dd583667ff4872741166a576c087ef1edd8701c0'|'Robbing Paula to pay Peter in the boardroom - Business'|'The 1969 book The Peter Principle is practically unique among management texts, in that it’s based on a good gag.The premise is that employees are promoted until they reach a job at which they prove incompetent – a line that’s funny because of its truth, be that for sales directors, banking bosses or foreign secretaries.Anyway, a chap called Tom Schuller has come up with a clever modern twist called The Paula Principle , which argues that most women get promoted to a level below their competence. Far from rising to a position their talents don’t deserve, they languish below what they could easily manage.Assuming that both principles are accurate, women should be paid more than men, as they will be comparatively better qualified for their roles – but we know from the data that the opposite is true.Which brings us to Thursday, when British businesses with more than 250 employees will have to start collating data on their gender pay gap – and then publish figures by April 2018.So the problem will be solved and the Peter Principle will be eradicated, then? Maybe not. As Josephine Van Lierop, an employment lawyer at Slater & Gordon, says: “We expect big-budget organisations to be hiring expert pay consultants to identify and manipulate the numbers.”More the cheater principle, then.Business booming in regulation game Gender pay-gap statistics are just one of the new requirements on businesses imposed from this week.As Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), puts it: “We enter a new tax year with a raft of changes adding to the upfront cost of doing business. While corporation tax is decreasing, companies are more concerned about the escalating burden of input costs, which hit firms before they even turn over a single pound.“Companies of all sizes will now see the introduction of the apprenticeship levy, immigration skills charge, a new national living wage, and pensions auto-enrolment. Such costs are likely to cause many firms to implement cost reduction measures, and weigh down on firms’ ability to invest, recruit and grow their business.“The government must do more to ease the upfront burden on businesses, and allow them to get on and invest, train their staff, and trade all over the world.”All of which is likely to represent the sentiments of many businesses – although not all. All the consultants about to make a killing, for example.Is Diamond a broker’s best friend again? It has been a while since the results of Panmure Gordon have caused much of a ripple in the City, but that was before we knew it was to be taken over by a consortium that includes former Barclays boss Bob Diamond .Once branded the “unacceptable face of banking” (Diamond, not Panmure) the American financier’s Atlas Merchant Capital is teaming up with QInvest, the Qatari investment bank, to acquire one of London’s oldest stockbroking firms. On Tuesday the firm is due to announce results.All of which should give us a bit more information on what the banker is getting into and will no doubt reignite the debate over whether Diamond has served enough time away from the City after resigning from Barclays in the face of political pressure following the Libor scandal.That was five years ago, and while a lot has remained constant (the 65-year-old’s reputation, plus his stubbornly dark locks) there has at least been some effort to soften Diamond’s hard image.Not least, there was a video posted on social media in December that showed the old banker burping his new grandson, Henry, which is sure to have appealed to City folk. The banker barely looked at the child and instead appeared to be fixated on a Chelsea match on the telly.Topics Corporate governance Observer business agenda Gender Executive pay and bonuses Women Bob Diamond comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/02/robbing-paula-pay-peter-boardroom-principle'|'2017-04-02T14:59:00.000+03:00' '6267300af3f8fc41ebf0977f41b0b44ba5986fb3'|'Itaúsa buys stake in NTS gas pipeline for $292 mln'|'BRASILIA, April 4 Itaúsa Investimentos SA, a family-controlled company that is a major shareholder in Brazil''s No. 1 private-sector bank, said on Tuesday in a securities filing it bought a 7.65 percent stake in gas pipeline unit Nova Transportadora do Sudeste SA (NTS) for $292.3 million.State-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA sold a 90 percent stake of the NTS unit to a group of investors led by Canada''s Brookfield Asset Management Inc for $5.2 billion in September. (Reporting by Alonso Soto and Tatiana Bautzer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nts-ma-itausa-inv-itau-idINE6N14A051'|'2017-04-04T20:35:00.000+03:00' 'b951e722ad12ec6b3567ddd692e525c5144465b9'|'Cash must stay, even in digital age, says German economy minister'|' 37pm BST Cash must stay, even in digital age, says German economy minister A machine counts and sorts out euro notes at the Belgian Central Bank in Brussels October 26, 2011. REUTERS/Thierry Roge BERLIN Cash is crucial, Germany''s economy minister said on Wednesday, defending the role of notes and coins in a debate in Europe about the merits of limiting cash payments to counter terrorism. The European Commission is weighing stricter rules on the use of cash to cut terrorists'' funding, and Germany''s finance ministry - led by conservative Wolfgang Schaeuble - has said Berlin could imagine talking about a ceiling of 5,000 euros (£4271.35). Such a prospect is unwelcome to many Germans, who are renowned for their love of cash. The Bundesbank, Germany''s central bank, said they carry an average of 103 euros on their person. "Cash must remain an important means of payment," Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries, a Social Democrat, said in a statement. "Even in the era of digitisation, it is valid," she added, echoing a similar message from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the launch of a new 50 euro note on Tuesday. Draghi said three-quarters of euro zone payments are made in cash, and that it remains essential for the economy despite the rise of digital payments. The Bundesbank has warned that an upper limit on cash payments could lead to a loss of faith in the euro as a currency. The ECB''s decision last year to phase out the 500-euro banknote irked some at Germany''s central bank, who feared people''s freedom to store their savings in cash was being curtailed. (Reporting by Paul Carrel; Editing by Stephen Powell) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-cash-idUKKBN1771EK'|'2017-04-05T19:37:00.000+03:00' '0d7bcb45f540c225f40b4a9357adc5b9e8d3a77f'|'UK aims for more transparency with foreign owners'' property register'|' aims for more transparency with foreign owners'' property register A DLR train crosses a bridge in front of construction work in early morning mist in London''s Canary Wharf financial district, Britain March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Russell Boyce LONDON Britain said it would seek to introduce the world''s first public register of the owners of foreign companies which own property in the country, in response to growing public unease that buyers are hiding behind obscure legal entities. London property especially has attracted foreign buyers in recent years thanks to its mix of top-end apartments, luxury penthouses and gleaming skyscrapers alongside corporations who use the city as global hub. "While the government welcomes legitimate foreign investment in the UK, overseas investors in the UK property market have also included criminals laundering the proceeds of crime," the business ministry said on Wednesday. The register would show the beneficial owners of real estate owned by foreign companies and other legal entities, it said. The vast majority of overseas companies that own property in London are registered in tax havens, according to a report by Transparency International UK and Thomson Reuters released late last year. The release of the "Panama Papers" last year also shone a light on firms and individuals who use complex structures to base themselves abroad, putting the issue of tax avoidance at the top of the global agenda. The government is asking overseas investors, property and transparency experts to submit evidence until May 15 as it assesses what impact the register might have on inward investment. Firms are already required to register with Britain''s corporate register, Companies House. (Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Stephen Addison) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-transparency-idUKKBN1771LK'|'2017-04-05T20:34:00.000+03:00' '9a022a3491f58391bc30ab5337de94beceaf7371'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 5'|'April 5 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- U.S. companies are poised to report their strongest quarterly earnings in years, another sign that the stock market rally could have further to run. on.wsj.com/2nVWZ5f- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker unexpectedly stepped down Tuesday after revealing his involvement in a 2012 leak of confidential information that sparked a criminal investigation, prompted outrage on Capitol Hill and deeply embarrassed the Fed. on.wsj.com/2nVX1Kp- The House Intelligence Committee wants Susan Rice, a top aide in the Obama administration, to testify in a probe of alleged Russian election interference, as the investigation widens to include allegations that Obama officials improperly used intelligence information involving President Donald Trump or his associates. on.wsj.com/2nW54Hd- Staples Inc is exploring a sale to possible private-equity bidders, the retailer''s latest move to revive its turnaround effort after a failed merger with rival Office Depot Inc and as competition stiffens with web retailers such as Amazon.com Inc on.wsj.com/2nVXPPH- McDonald''s Corp U.S. marketing chief Deborah Wahl will leave the company as part of another management shake-up aimed at reviving the burger chain''s fortunes. on.wsj.com/2nVXmgq- The Senate is barreling toward a bitter showdown over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, as Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has enough votes to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. on.wsj.com/2nW2LEh (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL3N1HD1B4'|'2017-04-05T09:34:00.000+03:00' '07a19ccd0d76719adb59a884b4391566aa4a657a'|'RBS''s Williams & Glyn management quit as EU probes alternative to sell-off'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:59pm BST RBS''s Williams & Glyn management quit as EU probes alternative to sell-off FILE PHOTO: A flag flies above the head office of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, September 11, 2014. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne/File Photo LONDON Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) announced on Wednesday that the team managing its Williams & Glyn division of branches are leaving after the bank abandoned its seven-year-old plan to sell it to meet regulatory obligations. Jim Brown, the chief executive of the Williams & Glyn division for the last two years, will step down next month, according to an internal memo sent to staff. Other senior managers at Williams & Glyn including its Chief Financial Officer Leigh Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer Chris Davis and Chief Risk Officer Rick Hunkin, are also leaving. Paul Fox, the managing director of retail and business banking at Williams & Glyn, will step up to head the remaining team, the memo said. The British government earlier this year asked the European Commission to free RBS from its obligation to create a challenger bank for small businesses, one of the conditions set by the EU for approving its state rescue in 2008, and instead proposed alternative measures to meet its obligations. "Jim Brown and the senior team that supported him were brought in to create a standalone challenger bank," RBS said in a statement. "As this is no longer happening, Jim and some members of the existing executive team will be leaving." European regulators originally ordered the sale of the unit to prevent RBS from having an unfair advantage after receiving the world''s biggest bank bailout at the height the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rbs-moves-idUKKBN1771H4'|'2017-04-05T19:59:00.000+03:00' '40e3491d9c4b8e78837b6a117266cbc3c7d4a24e'|'German minister, labour reps welcome PSA work contract assurances for Opel merger'|'Deals - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 1:06pm BST German minister, labor reps welcome PSA work contract assurances for Opel merger German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries meets Chairman of the Managing Board of French carmaker PSA Group Carlos Tavares in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN Germany''s economy minister said she had held constructive talks with PSA Chairman Carlos Tavares on Wednesday about the planned merger of the French group with Germany''s Opel and felt reassured that existing labor deals would remain. Germany has welcomed the merger, provided the Opel brand stays independent and the merged group respects existing labor agreements, protects Opel sites and gives job guarantees. "I particularly welcome the commitment by Mr Tavares to respect and continue all the collective agreements," said minister Brigitte Zypries in a statement. "The federal government and federal states will continue to lend their constructive support to the process of merging PSA and Opel/Vauxhall," she added. Tavares said he had reaffirmed PSA''s ambition to "build on the quality of relations with employee representatives as a key factor of success of the company". (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Martin) Next In Deals Toshiba''s Westinghouse fired chairman two days before bankruptcy filing TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co LLC fired its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear engineering unit of Toshiba Corp filed for bankruptcy last week, as the Japanese firm tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions. JAB Holding to buy bakery chain Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea, said on Wednesday it would buy U.S. bakery chain Panera Bread Co in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion, including debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire. SYDNEY Blackstone Group has put an A$3.5 billion ($2.65 billion) shopping mall portfolio in Australia up for sale, said a source familiar with the matter, in what could be one of the country''s largest ever real estate transactions. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-opel-m-a-psa-germany-idUKKBN1771IH'|'2017-04-05T20:02:00.000+03:00' '4a7f297447ea1fa83cea315b6566decf90b51d68'|'BUZZ-India''s Titan hits record high; sees top-line growth in high teens in coming year'|'** Shares of Titan Company Ltd jump as much as 5.8 pct to a record high** Company said on Tuesday consumer sentiment, demand scenario recovered by beginning of Q4 FY16-17** Gross margin of jewellery division likely to be good in current quarter** Optimistic of top-line growth in the high teens in coming year - Titan'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/buzz-indias-titan-hits-record-high-sees-idINL3N1HD11D'|'2017-04-05T02:14:00.000+03:00' 'cd2c799fbff75df5e2102880bf990f2fea765203'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 5'|'April 5 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- U.S. companies are poised to report their strongest quarterly earnings in years, another sign that the stock market rally could have further to run. on.wsj.com/2nVWZ5f- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker unexpectedly stepped down Tuesday after revealing his involvement in a 2012 leak of confidential information that sparked a criminal investigation, prompted outrage on Capitol Hill and deeply embarrassed the Fed. on.wsj.com/2nVX1Kp- The House Intelligence Committee wants Susan Rice, a top aide in the Obama administration, to testify in a probe of alleged Russian election interference, as the investigation widens to include allegations that Obama officials improperly used intelligence information involving President Donald Trump or his associates. on.wsj.com/2nW54Hd- Staples Inc is exploring a sale to possible private-equity bidders, the retailer''s latest move to revive its turnaround effort after a failed merger with rival Office Depot Inc and as competition stiffens with web retailers such as Amazon.com Inc on.wsj.com/2nVXPPH- McDonald''s Corp U.S. marketing chief Deborah Wahl will leave the company as part of another management shake-up aimed at reviving the burger chain''s fortunes. on.wsj.com/2nVXmgq- The Senate is barreling toward a bitter showdown over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, as Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has enough votes to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster on Supreme Court nominations. on.wsj.com/2nW2LEh (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idINL3N1HD1B4'|'2017-04-05T03:34:00.000+03:00' '4ed55305fe1864e4ce00329d17ae858308de3b94'|'France''s Havas to form joint venture with China''s Guangdong Advertising'|'PARIS French advertising group Havas ( HAVA.PA ) has signed a joint venture agreement with Guangdong Advertising Group as part of its moves to expand in the fast-growing Chinese market.Havas, which competes with bigger rivals such as WPP ( WPP.L ), Publicis ( PUBP.PA ) and Omnicom ( OMC.N ), said it would own 51 percent of the new Havas GIMC Advertising Company that will be created out of the joint venture deal."This move represents a major step in the Havas Group''s expansion in China. The Chinese market is one of thefastest growing markets in the world and is now second in terms of ad spending which offers outstanding opportunities for brands," Havas Group chief executive Yannick Bollore said in a statement.(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sarah White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-havas-china-idINKBN1770NH'|'2017-04-05T05:06:00.000+03:00' 'd5bc695f149c00127aaef432713cb358205ab8ca'|'Norwegian Air''s ticket sales to the U.S. ''surprisingly good'' -CEO'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 4:02am EDT Norwegian Air''s ticket sales to the U.S. ''surprisingly good'' -CEO OSLO, April 5 Norwegian Air, Europe''s third-largest budget airline by passenger numbers, said bookings from Europe to the United States were surprisingly good and that the firm had yet to see a see negative impact from the U.S. administration attempts at imposing travel bans, its CEO told Reuters on Wednesday. "Bookings to the U.S. are very good, surprisingly good," Bjoern Kjos said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference. "We have not seen it (a negative impact of the ban attempts). That is probably because we do not fly (directly) from the countries affected." (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, writing by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/norwegianair-usa-idUSL5N1HD1EG'|'2017-04-05T16:02:00.000+03:00' '9c7adeb978e85111711cc1646b5373f53cd1ac11'|'China''s Shandong in advanced talks to buy half Barrick''s Veladero mine: sources'|'TORONTO/VANCOUVER China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, in a deal that could fetch more than $1 billion, people familiar with the process told Reuters.Barrick is no longer in discussions with China''s Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd about the Veladero mine stake sale , which is one of the Canadian miner''s five core mines, the people said.Shandong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters, but the company halted trading in its shares in Shanghai late on Wednesday pending an announcement. Barrick and Zijin declined to comment.(Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Denny Thomas and Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-veladero-shandong-idUSKBN1771QH'|'2017-04-05T17:40:00.000+03:00' 'bbf39e4661cf597fb8e620f889f1760e6753906a'|'Ethical investment tide lifts ''greenwash'' concerns'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 2:08am BST Ethical investment tide lifts ''greenwash'' concerns Storm clouds can be seen above the Bayswater coal-powered thermal power station located near the central New South Wales town of Muswellbrook, Australia March 14, 2017. Picture taken March 14, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray By Cecile Lefort and Jonathan Barrett - SYDNEY SYDNEY Investors are ploughing ever more into ethical funds to back their views on issues such as global warming and gender equality, but such investments can be confusingly similar to standard funds, except for higher fees and ''green halo'' marketing. The $23 trillion "sustainable, responsible and impact" (SRI)investment sector has received a rush of money since the Paris climate agreement and, more recently, in protest against U.S. President Donald Trump''s plans to slash environmental regulations. Europe is the dominant region for such investments, with $12.04 trillion, followed by the United States, with $8.72 trillion, while Asia lags some way behind. U.S. investors have poured $1.8 billion into actively managed U.S. equity funds in the socially responsible category from November to January, according to Lipper data, while other funds saw a net outflow of $133 billion. Even in fossil-fuel-rich Australia and New Zealand, SRI investment rose from $148 billion to $516 billion between 2014 and 2016, and from $729 billion to $1.09 trillion in oil-rich Canada, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Review released on Monday. Gavin Goodhand, a portfolio manager at Sydney-based Altius Asset Management, said the company''s sustainable bond fund tripled shortly after the 2015 climate accord, where nearly 200 countries signed up to measures designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. "The Paris conference was the line in the sand for many of our retail customers, particularly the millennial generation, who want to do the right thing for the environment," said Goodhand. GREENWASH MARKETING Governments are also tapping the trend, selling green bonds to fund projects such as wind farms or low-carbon transport, with Poland, France and Nigeria making their debut this year. Some managers, however, are sceptical. "While environmental, social and governance factors should always factor into investment decisions, this is largely a marketing exercise," said Steve Goldman, a global portfolio manager at Sydney-based Kapstream Capital, which has A$10 billion ($7.6 billion) of fixed-income assets. Goldman said Kapstream did not have a responsible investment fund because its clients had not asked for it. The bond market does not have commonly agreed standards or criteria for what constitutes a green bond, and there is no guarantee the proceeds actually go to the low-carbon project as claimed. There are similar concerns over equity products. Stuart Palmer, head of ethics research at Australian Ethical Investment, said there was a danger that some marketing departments would "greenwash" their products to lure investors into funds that were little different to standard products. "The concern is, do they represent real change, or are they a marketing exercise?" said Palmer. FEE PREMIUM There are no agreed definitions on what is considered ethical, sustainable and socially responsible, but ethical investors are typically expected to cough up higher fees. For example, retail investors pay more than a third higher fees for the sustainability and ethical funds at Sydney-based BT Investment Management (BTIM) than for its standard share fund equivalent. The three funds hold six or seven of their top-weighted stocks in common, including major banks Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ( ANZ.AX ), Westpac Banking Corp ( WBC.AX ), National Australia Bank ( NAB.AX ) and miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ), according to December filings. A BT spokeswoman did not return requests for comment. For investors, it can be a minefield. "I find it difficult as a consumer to do the due diligence I would like to do because even the ethical funds are not always totally transparent about what they define as ethical," said retail investor Meraiah Foley, a Sydney academic. "One of the ethical funds I have invests very heavily in retail banks in Australia, and those banks themselves may be underwriting projects that the fund itself would not invest in." Individual stock picks can prove controversial. Australian fund manager Perennial Investment Partners had a long position in building company James Hardie in its socially responsive trust before the fund was sold in 2015, despite huge liabilities stemming from Hardie''s history of manufacturing asbestos products. Perennial and Hardie declined to comment. An early Australian adopter of SRI principles, the A$10 billion Local Government Super (LGS), holds a position in retailer Woolworths ( WOW.AX ), the country''s biggest slot machine operator, which would put it beyond the pale for investors who avoid stocks that profit from gambling. LGS head of sustainability Bill Hartnett said Woolworths met the manager''s SRI guidelines. "If Woolworths had more than 10 percent of their revenue in gambling, we would get rid of them. We are true to label, but it''s under 10 percent," said Hartnett. Woolworths did not immediately return a request for comment. There is also no standard practice on what to do when an existing fund stock breaches a manager''s policies. Some investment managers will sell, but others argue they can influence behaviour by retaining their shareholding. "We believe in engagement rather than divestment," said Sam Sicilia, chief financial officer at the A$22 billion pension fund Hostplus. "When you sell a share in a ''bad'' company, it''s a transfer of ownership and does nothing to the company that''s causing the issue, so divestment does not really work." Graphic on sustainable investment tmsnrt.rs/2nptKGY (Reporting by Cecile Lefort and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Additional reporting by David Randall in NEW YORK, and Simon Jessop and Nina Chestney in LONDON; Editing by Will Waterman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-investment-ethics-idUKKBN17400Y'|'2017-04-02T09:08:00.000+03:00' '5a04fdbf72825ef2658c8f53de28a11ebb2c7f49'|'UPDATE 1-Peru finmin says flood damages merit wider fiscal gap'|'Company News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 10:23am EDT UPDATE 1-Peru finmin says flood damages merit wider fiscal gap (Adds details, comments on Grana y Montero) ASUNCION, April 1 Reconstruction efforts in Peru after severe flooding that killed more than 100 people warrant a wider fiscal deficit target, though the country is not planning to access debt markets to finance the deficit, the finance minister said on Saturday. Reconstruction efforts will cost about $3 billion over three years and begin in the second half of 2017, Minister Alfredo Thorne said in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital, where he was attending an Inter-American Development Bank governors'' meeting. The meetings were being held after protesters stormed and set fire to Paraguay''s Congress late on Friday following a secret vote in the Senate for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election. Thorne did not specify for which fiscal year Peru''s deficit target would be widened. "We are going to present a project to Congress and within that we will propose an increase in the fiscal deficit that is consistent with our laws ... during a natural disaster we can temporarily increase the deficit," Thorne told journalists. He said Peru''s prime minister would present the bill in the coming days. Peru is also seeking more international aid to help hundreds of thousands of people cope with ongoing floods and mudslides, which have torn apart much of the Andean country''s infrastructure, the transportation minister said on Friday. Peru is launching a major rebuilding effort just as public works are slowing due to a corruption investigation involving Brazilian builder Odebrecht. Public prosecutors in Peru have not ruled out investigating the country''s biggest builder, Grana y Montero , or individuals linked to the company, as part of an investigation into its scandal-plagued Brazilian partner, a source in the attorney general''s office said this week. But Thorne on Saturday said Grana y Montero would not be impeded from participating in the country''s rebuilding efforts. (Reporting by Luc Cohen, writing by Caroline Stauffer; editing by John Stonestreet, G Crosse) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/peru-economy-floods-idUSL2N1H90BC'|'2017-04-01T22:23:00.000+03:00' '54263f752607bd9d70b4a0de8c96d3f4f38d3b0c'|'German prosecutors expect rulings in VW scandal this year: report'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 7:10am EDT German prosecutors expect rulings in VW scandal this year: report FILE PHOTO: A Volkswagen logo is pictured at Volkswagen''s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo FRANKFURT German prosecutors expect the first rulings this year in legal cases resulting from the Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) emissions scandal, Automobilwoche magazine reported on Saturday. "We hope to conclude lawsuits ... this year," Klaus Ziehe, spokesman for the Braunschweig state prosecutors office in Lower Saxony state, where Volkswagen is headquartered, was quoted as saying by the magazine. Ziehe said there were four lawsuits with 47 persons indicted, although these included double entries. Only a handful of people had been targeted in the early stages after the diesel emissions test cheating scandal that has undermined the German car industry''s influence. And clearing up the scandal will drag on beyond this year, VW''s supervisory board head Hans Dieter Poetsch said in the Sunday newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS). "There will not be a real final stroke for some time to come," he was quoted as saying in extracts from the FAS story ahead of its publication on Sunday. Poetsch also told the paper that VW does not intend to publish a report of its own about the investigations alongside statements made by the U.S. authorities, as it would be "unjustifiably risky to add a report of our own right now." Volkswagen would also remain quiet on the internal investigations undertaken by U.S. law firm Jones Day it hired, a summary of whose findings was compiled in the form of a "Statement of facts" for the U.S. Department of Justice, as this had been pledged to the U.S. authorities, he said. Volkswagen filed a legal complaint with a Munich court on Wednesday, seeking to prevent Bavarian state prosecutors from using information seized during searches of Jones Day. (Reporting by Vera Eckert; editing by Alexander Smith) Next In Business News Fed signals it could promptly start shedding bonds from portfolio this year NEW YORK The Federal Reserve could begin shrinking its $4.5-trillion balance sheet as soon as this year, earlier than most economists expect, New York Fed President William Dudley said on Friday in the central bank''s most definitive comments on the question that looms over financial markets. TOKYO Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and Google have joined bidding for Toshiba''s NAND flash memory unit, vying with others for the Japanese firm''s prized semiconductor operation, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Saturday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-prosecutors-idUSKBN1733CW'|'2017-04-01T19:10:00.000+03:00' '04cdbde80a2b7cc57ceb0054c076d0c6a5bd911b'|'CarMax shares could drop 20 percent as charge-offs, risky loans rise: Barron''s'|'NEW YORK Shares of CarMax Inc ( KMX.N ), the biggest U.S. used car dealer, are vulnerable to a 20 percent decline if investors are unnerved by falling used vehicle prices and weakening credit quality when it reports its results, Barron''s said on Sunday.The company is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2017 results on April 6.CarMax''s captive auto finance unit contributes about 40 percent of the company''s operating income and could come under pressure as defaults and delinquencies rise, the report said.Last year, the company rolled out an online financing initiative to help customers pre-qualify for a loan before a store visit, hoping to improve customer conversion rates.The economy is becoming less friendly to used-car buyers, personal bankruptcies have ticked up in recent months and interest rates are on the rise, meaning CarMax might find itself underreserved for loan losses, according to Barron''s."CarMax seems sure to continue to grow sales by opening new stores but if the company encounters rude surprises in its loan portfolios, and falling vehicle prices pinch margins, investors could send the stock lower in its historical valuation range," the report said.CarMax shares closed down 1.4 percent at $59.22 per share on Friday and have fallen more than 8 percent so far this year.(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-carmax-barrons-idINKBN1740VL'|'2017-04-02T18:39:00.000+03:00' '299e6c2184ec95d7fdd60a5789b99f08245d23bc'|'China launches new economic zone in Hebei to promote integration'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 12:35pm BST China launches new economic zone in Hebei to promote integration People walk along a village road on a polluted day after the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays on the outskirts of Langfang, Hebei province, China, February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee SHANGHAI China will establish a new special economic zone in the heavily polluted province of Hebei in order to promote integration with the neighbouring cities of Beijing and Tianjin, the government announced on Saturday. The Xiongan New Area will be of the same national significance as the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which helped kickstart China''s economic reforms in 1980, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a circular released by the Chinese cabinet. The zone is located around 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, close to the Hebei provincial capital of Shijiazhuang, and will house some of Beijing''s relocated "non-capital functions". It is currently 100 square kilometres in area but will eventually be expanded to 2,000 square kilometres. China is currently implementing a plan aimed at integrating the economies of Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin, a heavily polluted region known as Jing-Jin-Ji. The development of separate "fortress economies" in the region was blamed for widening income disparities and causing a "race to the bottom" when it came to environmental law enforcement. Beijing, home to 22 million people, is trying to curb population growth and relocate industries and other "non-capital functions" to Hebei in the coming years as part of its efforts to curb pollution and congestion. (Reporting by David Stanway Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-hebei-idUKKBN1733EM'|'2017-04-01T19:35:00.000+03:00' 'bc1078c18776e73335d5ec67591e15b5bb2f0143'|'Flogging the dead horse of neoliberalism isn''t going to improve the economy - Greg Jericho - Business'|'T his week brought fresh outrage from conservatives as the new secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, told the National Press Club “ neoliberalism has run its course ” and Paul Keating, seen by many as a neoliberal champion, agreed with her. But rather than provoke cries of communism and class warfare, for anyone who has been paying attention over the past decade, the correct response to McManus and Keating’s assertions should be “well, duh”.McManus’s speech, in which she not only rang the death knell for neoliberalism but reiterated the right for unions to resist unjust laws (pretty much a central tenant of unions ever since unions were first illegally formed in the 1800s) drew the expected shrieks from the right. The Australian’s editorial, for example, referred to it as “ class warfare ”, and Peter Dutton called her a “modern-day communist” .Neoliberalism ''has run its course'', says ACTU boss Sally McManus Read more It’s always class warfare when those representing the low paid worry about inequality. When the most powerful business executives in Australia come to parliament and demand their companies get a tax cut – as occurred on the same day as McManus’s speech – class warfare is never mentioned. That’s because neoliberals see company tax cuts as good for workers. A lower company tax, so the theory goes, leads to increased investment, which in turns increases productivity and leads to better pay for workers. It’s a nice theory, and one that works nicely so long as you ignore that over the past decade productivity has risen while real wages have barely grown . The great thing about neoliberalism (a bit of a dopey term, that really just means “small government-pro-market” policies), is that it always works so long as you ignore all the times it doesn’t. In the 1980s, neoliberal economic reforms did work well, if you ignore the 1987 stock market crash and the deepest post-second world war recession Australia has ever seen.The great period of moderation from the early 1990s onwards, where monetary policy took over the role of stimulating the economy from government spending, also worked well so long as you ignore rising inequality, declining levels of infrastructure, housing affordability , the global financial crisis , and the growth of radicalism which has seen racism and xenophobia come into major parties, and a situation where a senator of this country can actually lament in a mainstream newspaper that “many Jews want to suppress Holocaust denialism”.And the reality is we didn’t need to wait for the GFC to know there were problems with letting the market rule. In climate change , we have the biggest market failure in the history of economics. Australia''s housing affordability is much more complex than the headlines - Stephen Koukoulas Read more For pro-free marketers climate change is a nasty bur in their shoe. If you accept climate change could lead to rising sea levels, coastal inundation, dislocation of large masses of people, increased intensity of tropical storms and droughts, and grave risks to food and water supply, then you have to accept the market failed to account for such impacts and not only allowed, but ensured they would happen.Little wonder many free marketeer thinktanks and political parties have instead embraced lunatic theories about climate change being a conspiracy involving the UN, Nasa, every university in the world, China, all major meteorological bodies, the World Bank and the makers of tin foil hats. Delusion is preferable to admitting fault. The love of neoliberalism also sees in Australia an odd nostalgia for the 1980s – a time where under the Hawke government “reform” flourished. Much like the belief in the infallibility of the small government/pro-market policy, the conservative nostalgia for the 1980s, only makes sense if you ignore many things.Yes, when the Hawke government took power in 1983 it brought with it a smaller government outlook – where balancing the budget was crucial, and where lowering tariffs, privatising assets and letting the market operate was championed. But it was also a government that introduced the capital gains tax, the fringe benefit tax, the petroleum resources rent tax, Medicare and the Accord . Hawke-Keating reforms were a slow and difficult process Read more It was also a long time ago. We are now as close to the 1983 election of the Hawke government as people at that time were to the 1949 election of the Menzies government.Arguing Hawke and Keating’s approach to the economy is the path to follow is roughly as sensible as someone in the 1980s suggesting Ben Chifley’s policy to nationalise the banks was worth exploring. Policy moves forward and good policy should react to failures. And right now there is a lot of failure.From 1990 to 2007 the seven largest economies in the world grew on average by 2.3% each year; since 2010 (which leaves out the two horror GFC years of 2008 and 2009) that growth has averaged just 1.7%. In Australia over the same two periods the average growth level has gone from 3.3% to 2.6%. Things have flat-lined so greatly since the GFC that the Treasury now views Australia’s long-term average growth level as 2.75% rather than the previous level of 3%.Interest rate will fall to 1% and Australian dollar will drop sharply, economist warns Read more And remember this is at a period where interest rates and wages growth are at record lows and industrial disputes at near record lows. So when Paul Keating this week responded to McManus’ statement by saying that “since 2008 ... we have a comatose world economy held together by debt and central bank money,” he was stating the bleeding obvious. Such has been the record of the world economy over the past 10 years, that you would start to question Keating’s intelligence were he not to assert that “liberal economics has run into a dead end and has had no answer to the contemporary malaise”.It is a view even the IMF – the former arch champions of neoliberalism – are also arguing . Last year researchers for the IMF argued the benefits from austerity measures (the most beloved neoliberal measure) were “fairly difficult to establish” but that “the costs in terms of increased inequality are prominent”.That doesn’t mean we need to return to the 1970s, but neither does it mean we regard all the movements since the 1980s as positive – whether it be the push for ever lower company taxes, greater industrial relations flexibility, reduced government spending, falling real Newstart payments, failed work for the dole schemes, taxation policy that rewards property speculation, and lack of government intrusion to deal with climate change – either through a price on carbon or investments in renewable energy and the energy market. Sally McManus isn’t being radical when she argues that neoliberalism has run its course, she is merely responding to evidence.Topics Sally McManus Grogonomics Paul Keating Australian politics Australian economy Business (Australia) Coalition comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2017/apr/02/flogging-the-dead-horse-of-neoliberalism-isnt-going-to-improve-the-economy'|'2017-04-02T09:18:00.000+03:00' 'b78fb722540e5682a0d9295f0f2ed8dfabe651f4'|'Intesa postpones bid deadline for 2.5 bln euro bad loan sale - sources'|' 16am EDT Intesa postpones bid deadline for 2.5 bln euro bad loan sale - sources MILAN, April 4 Intesa Sanpaolo has pushed to April 6 the deadline to submit the binding offers for a 2.5 billion-euro bad loan portfolio it has put up for sale, three sources familiar with the matter said. The deadline was originally set for March 20 but was then postponed to Tuesday. One of the sources told Reuters the delay was due to technical and legal matters. The portfolio, dubbed "Beyond the clouds", is made up of corporate loans and backed by real estate assets for about 30 percent. (Reporting by Massimo Gaia and Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Francesca Landini) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/intesa-sp-bad-loans-bids-idUSI6N1H001Y'|'2017-04-04T18:16:00.000+03:00' 'a782de50838cd022fac38909bf5264c56442dee0'|'BNP Paribas to buy online banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques'|'BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), France''s biggest bank by market capitalization, is to buy online retail banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques, as BNP Paribas steps up its investments in the digital banking sector.Financiere des Paiements Electroniques provides the payments accounts for Compte Nickel, an online French retail banking service co-founded by former SocGen ( SOGN.PA ) communications executive Hugues Le Bret.The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed by the companies.French banks have steadily boosted their online and mobile-based operations to tackle low-cost internet competitors and a drop in the numbers of clients coming into branches, which have hurt profits and forced branch closures.(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bnp-deal-idINKBN1760DO'|'2017-04-04T03:31:00.000+03:00' 'eda302269bb737f23b92380b0818739f58b823d9'|'Airbus to fit more seats into super-jumbo with slimmer staircase'|'Aerospace & Defense - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:14am EDT Airbus to fit more seats into super-jumbo with slimmer staircase The logo of Airbus is pictured at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe HAMBURG Airbus ( AIR.PA ) has developed a new, slimmer staircase for its A380 super jumbo to allow for more seats in its latest effort to improve sales of the world''s largest airliner. Reuters reported last month that Airbus was considering doing away with the front "grand staircase" to lower the double-decker''s operating costs and boost fuel efficiency. Airbus cabin marketing executive Ingo Wuggetzer said that introducing a slimmer stairway instead of the double staircase would generate enough space to add 20 extra seats. Meanwhile, changing the shape of the rounded stairway at the back to a square one would provide further space, for 14 more passengers plus two food trolleys. "There''s a lot more revenue generation potential," Wuggetzer said at the Aircraft Interiors fair in Hamburg on Tuesday. The changes are available as a retrofit to existing A380s or as options on new jets, Wuggetzer said, adding that Airbus had customers "interested and signed" for some of the elements. If other space-saving changes such as a new cabin crew rest compartment and a new seat layout are taken into consideration, airlines can add up to 80 more seats, Airbus said. Airbus recently shelved plans for a bolder upgrade of the A380, involving new engines, due to cost. It also announced plans to cut output to one a month due to poor sales. Also seeking to drive interest in the A380, Airbus last month teamed up with content platform Routehappy to provide airlines Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ), Emirates [EMIRA.UL], Cathay Pacific ( 0293.HK ) and Singapore Airlines ( SIAL.SI ) with content such as pictures and virtual tours for their websites that shows potential passengers the attributes of A380 and A350 aircraft. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by Alexander Smith) Next In Aerospace & Defense Chinese wary about U.S. missile system because capabilities unknown: experts HONG KONG/BEIJING China is steadfastly opposed to the deployment of advanced U.S. anti-missile radars in South Korea because it does not know whether the defenses, intended for North Korean missiles, are capable of tracking and countering Beijing''s own nuclear program, experts say. MOSCOW Russia''s foreign ministry on Monday said Poland''s comments blaming Russian air traffic controllers for a 2010 plane crash that killed the then Polish president, were aimed at "settling political scores", the RIA Novosti agency reported. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-a-idUSKBN1760YR'|'2017-04-04T18:14:00.000+03:00' '21957ac7628935ab0cf8401c8d64f901907ba9cc'|'China central bank says economy stable but complexities ''cannot be underestimated'''|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 11:25am BST China central bank says economy stable but complexities ''cannot be underestimated'' A man uses his mobile phone while walking past the headquarters of the People''s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing, November 20, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo SHANGHAI China''s economy remains "generally stable" but it is facing complexities that "cannot be underestimated", the country''s central bank said in a statement on Saturday following a quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee. The People''s Bank of China said in a statement posted on its website ( www.pbc.gov.cn ) that the world economy was still in a period of readjustment following the global financial crisis, and there were still many risks in global markets. It said it would continue to implement a sound and neutral monetary policy, and rely on a range of monetary policy tools to keep liquidity at a stable level. It added that it would continue to keep the yuan exchange rate at a reasonable and stable level. (Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Eric Meijer) Next In Business News Brexit effects may reflect in business surveys LONDON In the week after Britain formally notified the European Union of its intention to quit the bloc, business surveys will give more idea of what -- if any -- impact Brexit is having on the British economy and how its EU peers compare. LONDON The City of London should emerge largely unscathed from Brexit even though thousands of banking and insurance jobs could move to the continent, the financial district''s policy chief said. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-centralbank-idUKKBN1733B4'|'2017-04-01T18:25:00.000+03:00' '142d9ab9b5ecd45a746914277493352a6762f48c'|'BRIEF-Frontier Group Holdings files for IPO of up to $100 mln'|'March 31 Frontier Group Holdings Inc:* Frontier Group Holdings Inc files for ipo of up to $100.0 million - sec filing* Frontier Group Holdings Inc - intends to apply common stock listed under the symbol “FRNT”* Frontier group holdings - Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Securities, Evercore Isi, J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill lynch are among the underwriters to IPO* Frontier group holdings- Barclays, Cowen and co, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs & Co, Raymond James, UBS Investment bank are also among underwriters to IPO* Frontier Group Holdings - proposed IPO price is an estimate solely for purpose of calculating sec registration fee Source text ( bit.ly/2nFjVFY )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-frontier-group-holdings-files-for-idINFWN1H80TX'|'2017-03-31T20:05:00.000+03:00' 'c67ee585bac555b0306722937c1fcc93446dbc19'|'Seadrill says shares to have little value after restructuring'|'OSLO, April 4 The current shareholders of Seadrill should expect to lose almost all value of their stock as the company prepares for potential bankruptcy proceedings to restructure debt and liabilities of $14 billion, the rig firm said on Tuesday.It also said that its banks and other lenders had agreed to extend ongoing restructuring talks by three months to July 31."We currently believe that a comprehensive restructuring plan will require a substantial impairment or conversion of our bonds, as well as impairment, losses or substantial dilution for other stakeholders," Seadrill said in a statement."As a result, the company currently expects that shareholders are likely to receive minimal recovery for their existing shares ... We expect the implementation of a comprehensive restructuring plan will likely involve schemes of arrangement or chapter 11 proceedings, and we are preparing accordingly," it added.Once the crown jewel in the empire of shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, Oslo-listed Seadrill''s shares have fallen 95 percent in the past three years as plunging crude prices and drastic spending cuts by oil companies hammered rig rates. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Ole Petter Skonnord; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/seadrill-restructuring-idINL5N1HC0K6'|'2017-04-04T03:49:00.000+03:00' '0ded4f235b35e36a9ace90da5ff294d2640c952c'|'Monsanto''s profit jumps 28.7 percent'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 8:09am EDT Monsanto''s profit jumps 28.7 percent FILE PHOTO: A Monsanto logo is pictured in the company headquarters in Morges, Switzerland, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto Co ( MON.N ), which is in the process of being bought by Germany''s Bayer AG ( BAYGn.DE ) for $66 billion, reported a 28.7 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong demand for soybean and corn seeds. Net profit attributable to Monsanto rose to $1.37 billion, or $3.09 per share, in the second quarter ended Feb. 28, from $1.06 billion, or $2.41 per share, a year earlier. Monsanto, best known for its Roundup herbicide and its genetically-engineered corn and soybean seeds, said net sales rose 12 percent to $5.07 billion. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-monsanto-results-idUSKBN1771IT'|'2017-04-05T20:09:00.000+03:00' 'bffc824578287f479a75e6b01cf3b886ab66dc2e'|'After Australian cyclone, coking coal spikes as China chases U.S. supplies'|'Global Energy 5:51am BST After Australian cyclone, coking coal spikes as China chases U.S. supplies A coal train leaves the Gladstone Power Station in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, July 17, 2013. Picture taken July 17, 2013. AAP/Dan Peled/via REUTERS By Henning Gloystein and Timothy Gardner - SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON SINGAPORE/WASHINGTON China, the world''s biggest coking coal importer, is scrambling to cover Australian supply disruptions after Cyclone Debbie knocked out mines and rails by turning to an unusual source: the United States. Debbie, which hit Australia''s Queensland state last week, caused the evacuation of several mines and damaged coal trains supplying export terminals, triggering two miners - Yancoal Australia ( YAL.AX ) and QCoal - to declare force majeure on its deliveries. With other miners like BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) and Glencore ( GLEN.L ) also affected by the storm''s fallout, more disruptions may follow. Force majeure is a commercial term that means a buyer or seller cannot fulfil their obligations because of outside forces. It is typically invoked after natural disasters or accidents. The outages caused Australian coking coal futures on the Singapore Exchange SCAFc1 on Monday to spike by over 43 percent to a last settlement of $225 per tonne, the highest since the beginning of the year. Australia is the world''s biggest coking coal exporter and is China''s largest supplier, leaving steel makers scrambling to find alternative supplies. Spot coking coal prices DJMcv1 on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, closed on Monday and Tuesday for a public holiday, jumped over 7 percent early on Wednesday to $197.8 per tonne, their highest level since December 2016. "The Chinese are fixing cargoes from the United States in order to replace the shortfall from Australia," one coal trader with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity as he was not cleared to talk about commercial deals. "More will make its way from the U.S. to China very soon," he said. George Dethlefsen, Corsa Coal Corp''s ( CSO.V ) chief executive, said his company has been overwhelmed with inquiries for cargoes over the past few days from customers in Asia. "Right now we, like everyone else, are trying to figure out what tonnes are available and what we can produce to fulfil potential new orders," he said. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows that China already has imported more than 500,000 tonnes of U.S. coking coal in 2017, with 427,000 tonnes shipped in just in February, ending a two-year stretch when no coking coal was shipped between the two countries. Chuck Bradford of Bradford Research said the February coal sold for nearly $190 per tonne. President Donald Trump has promised to revive the U.S. coal industry and issued an executive order last week to dismantle former President Barack Obama''s regulations on the sector. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association trade group, said it was not clear that the demand had any link to the administration''s push to axe regulations. STILL MORE NEEDED As China returns from its long weekend, it will require even more coal, as the Australian outages far outstrip what is immediately available from the United States. "The minimum impact over the coming weeks we would expect would be in the region of 14 million tonnes of coal (11.5 million metallurgical, and 2.5 million tonnes thermal)," said Rodrigo Echeverri, head of energy coal analysis at commodities trading house Noble Group ( NOBG.SI ), adding that the current estimate was for the outages to last around five weeks. Shipping data in Eikon shows that over 70 ships are waiting to load the marooned coal off the Queensland ports of Abbot Point, Mackay, Dalrymple Bay, and Hay Point. China has also turned to Russia for more coking coal, with imports already rising to over 400,000 tonnes in February from 275,000 tonnes in December. Mongolia and Indonesia are other potential sources of coking coal for China, three coal traders said. Anthracite coal shipments from North Korea to China, also used as coking coal, have dried up after Beijing ordered an import ban following missile tests of its isolated neighbour. Overall, traders said it was unlikely that all of China''s near-term demand could be met without Queensland supplies, likely requiring inventory drawdowns, which will push up prices. The supply squeeze has also affected the market for thermal coal, used in power generation, where benchmark Australian cargo prices from its Newcatle terminal GCLNWCPFBMc1 have soared over 11 percent this month to $90 a tonne, the highest since the beginning of the year. "The Pacific basin is showing signs of sudden tightness which is very likely based on the disruptions in Queensland," said Georgi Slavov, global head of energy, iron ore and shipping research at commodities brokerage Marex Spectron. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE and Timothy Gardner in WASHINGTON; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Richard Pullin) Next In Global Energy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-cyclone-coal-china-idUKKBN17706D'|'2017-04-05T12:51:00.000+03:00' '1bf5fd623a62a85c344e58a9432e3f8f0d7ae3ac'|'Alitalia cancels 60 percent of flights as workers go on strike'|' 05pm BST Alitalia cancels 60 percent of flights as workers go on strike By Antonio Denti - ROME ROME Alitalia canceled 60 percent of scheduled flights on Wednesday as employees staged a 24-hour strike to protest against the loss-making airline''s plan to cut 16 percent of its staff and reduce flight personnel''s salaries by a third. Italy''s flagship carrier, which is 49 percent owned by Etihad Airways, has made an annual profit only a few times in its 70-year history. It is in a race against time to win union support for its latest turnaround plan as it seeks to unlock financing and avoid having to ground planes. "We are on strike for the hundredth time because this crisis at Alitalia, all the crises, and the industrial plan ... are always against the workers," Paolo De Montis, a representative of the USB union, said outside Rome''s Fiumicino airport where hundreds of workers gathered. Alitalia CEO Cramer Ball has said the cuts were "painful but necessary". Despite several overhauls and cash injections over the years, Alitalia is losing at least half a million euros ($533,000) a day and could run out of cash in the coming weeks unless shareholders agree to pump in more money, sources say. Fiumicino''s main terminal was deserted as only a few passengers, who did not know about the strike, had turned up. The airline said it would be operating a normal schedule for six hours on Wednesday to mitigate the strike''s impact. "Workers need to get what they deserve but at the same time it''s really difficult when they interrupt travel, it really hurts the economy," said Greg Curtis, a passenger from Florida, the United States. Alitalia said last month it expects to return to profit by the end of 2019 through 1 billion euros of cost cuts over the next three years and a revamp of its business model for short and medium-haul flights. After buying into Alitalia in 2014, Etihad pledged to return the airline to profit by 2017, but the turnaround has faltered in the face of competition from low-cost airlines such as Ryanair ( RYA.L ) and high-speed rail services, while deadly attacks across Europe have dented demand for travel. (Reporting by Antonio Denti in Rome, writing by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Susan Fenton) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-alitalia-strike-idUKKBN1771N0'|'2017-04-05T20:56:00.000+03:00' 'c7723f2d2e7939d533241415abe5e6dd9710870e'|'Global air freight demand up 8.4 percent in February - IATA'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 10:35am BST Global air freight demand up 8.4 percent in February - IATA Demand for global air freight rose 8.4 percent in February, accelerating after a 6.9 percent rise in January and reflecting improving world trade, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday. Demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres, also grew faster than capacity, which shrank 0.4 percent. That meant load factors improved 3.5 percentage points to 43.5 percent and gave yields a boost, IATA said. Adjusted for the extra day from 2016''s leap year, demand in February rose 12 percent, the association added. Demand was also driven by increased shipments of semiconductor materials used in consumer electronics "February further added to the cautious optimism building in air cargo markets," IATA Director General Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement. "While there are signs of stronger world trade, concerns over the current protectionist rhetoric are still very real." (Reporting by Bartosz Dabrowski; Editing by Victoria Bryan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airlines-iata-freight-idUKKBN17712K'|'2017-04-05T17:35:00.000+03:00' '46ca79ddbe71d83b8d1a4ea85e16d441164297fb'|'Nikkei rises as yen takes breather; financials fall'|'* Fanuc contributes most to Nikkei gain* North Korea missile launch caps gains* U.S.-China meeting in focusBy Ayai TomisawaTOKYO, April 5 Japan''s Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday morning after the yen rally paused, but financial stocks slipped on falling U.S. yields, while North Korea''s launch of a ballistic missile hurt the overall market sentiment.Investors kept to the sidelines as focus turned to a crucial meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the week.The Nikkei rose 0.3 percent to 18,873.34 in mid-morning trade, after falling to a 10-week low the previous day."Investors are on the sidelines as they are cautious ahead of the U.S.-China meeting, Trump''s economic policies and U.S. jobs data," said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities."It may take a while for the Nikkei to trade above the 19,000-mark again and stay above that line."While gains were limited, index-heavyweight Fanuc Corp soared 3.2 percent, adding 28 points to the benchmark index.North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday from its east coast into the sea off the Peninsula, South Korea''s military said, ahead of a summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders who are set to discuss Pyongyang''s arms programme.Market participants said that overall impact from North Korea''s missile launch is limited to the market although it has made investors averse to risk.Automakers continued to slip as dismal March U.S. auto sales dragged on sentiment. Toyota Motor Corp dropped 1.2 percent and Honda Motor Co shed 1.9 percent.Banks and insurers, which seek higher yielding products, underperformed after benchmark U.S. Treasury yields touched their lowest in more than five weeks.Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group declined 1.3 percent, Mizuho Financial Group fell 0.9 percent and Dai-ichi Life Holdings tumbled 1.6 percent.The broader Topix was flat at 1,504.31 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 was flat at 13,468.21. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idINL3N1HD0P7'|'2017-04-05T01:04:00.000+03:00' 'cf12155808ab49712893ca521b0c2b09c9af6825'|'Snapdeal looking to raise $100 million from SoftBank, other investors'|'By Sankalp Phartiyal - MUMBAI MUMBAI Indian online retailer Snapdeal is looking to raise just over $100 million from existing shareholders including Japan''s SoftBank and new investors, its chief financial officer said.The company, which last year lost its second place in India''s fiercely competitive online retail market to Amazon.com Inc, aims to become profitable in two years but faces falling cash reserves.CFO Anup Vikal said Snapdeal has enough cash for this year, after sources told Reuters last month that the company was seeking investment to shore up its finances after unsuccessful talks with Chinese funds and existing investor Alibaba Group Holding Ltd."About a $100 million plus is what we need, until we start being independent," Vikal told Reuters in an interview late on Monday.Vikal said some of Snapdeal''s existing investors including SoftBank, its largest backer, were willing to participate in the fundraising.SoftBank declined to comment on the matter.India''s burgeoning online retail sector is led by home-grown player Flipkart.Industry sources say that Snapdeal''s loss of the No. 2 spot and its lack of profitability mean it will have to raise money at a much lower valuation than the $6.5 billion valuation it enjoyed a year ago after a fund raising led by Canada''s Ontario Teachers'' Pension Plan.Snapdeal last raised slightly over $200 million via two separate funding rounds in 2016.The company''s logistics unit Vulcan Express and e-commerce solutions provider Unicommerce will break even in the quarter to June, giving a fillip to its profitability plan, Vikal said.Snapdeal has cut costs by using automated systems to reduce labour costs, renegotiated vendor contracts and it plans to let go of excess floor space at its headquarters outside New Delhi, Vikal said.In February, the firm also laid off 600 employees and its founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal stopped drawing salaries.The measures and a steep reduction in fulfilment costs have helped the company reduce losses sharply, said Vikal.Vikal declined to comment on whether Snapdeal could be an acquisition target. Alibaba, according to a source, is in early talks with SoftBank about potentially merging Snapdeal with local rival Paytm.Speaking about digital payments arm FreeCharge, which sources say Snapdeal is looking to sell, Vikal said the company evaluates any "inbound interest" and some international players had shown interest in becoming partners in the business.(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Euan Rocha and Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/snapdeal-financing-copy-idINKBN177088'|'2017-04-05T01:05:00.000+03:00' 'add9c21c9ac9e4bc8e810d8249449d558a3d6a8c'|'Thyssenkrupp workers oppose restructuring until merger clarity'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 2:41pm BST Thyssenkrupp workers oppose restructuring until merger clarity FILE PHOTO - The logo of German steel-to-elevators group ThyssenKrupp AG is pictured during the company''s annual news conference in Essen, Germany, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo ESSEN, Germany Thyssenkrupp''s ( TKAG.DE ) works council chief said on Wednesday he would oppose any further restructuring of the German industrial group''s European steel business until there was clarity over a possible merger with Tata Steel Europe ( TISC.NS ). Thyssenkrupp''s chief executive has signalled there would be more restructuring, with or without a merger. Labour representatives expect to be informed about the latest plans at a meeting on Friday. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thyssenkrupp-m-a-tata-steel-idUKKBN1771QT'|'2017-04-05T21:41:00.000+03:00' '3e96603667aa04c4c369f96a1158e4937ed4cd17'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 5'|' 32am EDT Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 5 ZURICH, April 5 The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks on Wednesday: ACTELION Actelion and Johnson & Johnson said in a joint statement on Wednesday, ahead of Actelion''s annual general meeting, that they held 77.2 percent of the voting rights and share capital of Actelion at the end of the offer period. For more, click on SYNGENTA The China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, has won U.S. antitrust approval to buy Switzerland''s Syngenta on condition that it divest three products, the Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday. For more click on UBS Swiss financial body FINMA said on Tuesday it had discontinued its investigation into UBS in connection with Malaysia''s scandal-tainted 1MDB fund. For more, click on CREDIT SUISSE * Credit Suisse Group said on Wednesday trends in its Asia Pacific division in the first quarter had been broadly similar to those seen in the final quarter of 2016. * Credit Suisse Securities (USA), a unit of Credit Suisse, and a former investment adviser have agreed to pay about $8 million in fines to settle charges relating to improper investments, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said. For more, click on ROCHE Roche said it received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its CINtec Histology test that should help mprove consistency in the diagnosis of cervical pre-cancers. For more, click on GAM HOLDING The Swiss asset manager on Wednesday urged shareholders to reject proposals from activist hedge fund investor RBR amid pressure from the group to cut costs and change chief executive. For more, click on COMPANY STATEMENTS * Leclanche SA said it suffered an EBITDA loss of 27.5 million Swiss francs in 2016. * Vontobel Holding said advised client assets reached a record 157.8 billion Swiss francs at end-February following a good overall start to 2017. * Vaudoise Assurances Holding SA said Etienne Jornod will not stand for re-election to its board of directors at the AGM on May 8 and will not be replaced. * WISeKey International Holding said it signed a cooperation agreement with Argentina''s National Investment & Trade Promotion Agency to establish a Blockchain Center of Excellence in Buenos Aires. ECONOMY'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idUSL5N1HC4EL'|'2017-04-05T13:32:00.000+03:00' 'bc43d70a003808077e9e2e95b0c2b0a86c5dca8a'|'Oil prices fall as U.S. rig count stokes oversupply worries'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 5:50am BST Oil prices fall as U.S. rig count stokes oversupply worries A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo By Keith Wallis - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil futures dipped on Monday as a higher U.S. rig count indicated rising shale output and stoked worries about global oversupply, while a stronger dollar also pressured prices. International benchmark Brent futures slipped 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $53.38 a barrel by 0440 GMT. The March contract closed the previous session down 13 cents at $52.83 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 8 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $50.52 a barrel after settling 25 cents higher in the previous session. Both contracts posted their worst quarterly loss since late 2015 in the March quarter. U.S. futures fell nearly 6 percent from the previous quarter, while Brent lost 7 percent as rising inventory levels outpaced output cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC members. Crude prices staged a three-day rally last week amid expectations members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-members such as Russia would extend production cuts beyond June. But prices fell on Friday after energy services firm Baker Hughes said the U.S. rig count increased by 10 to 662 last week, making the first quarter the strongest for oil rig additions since mid-2011. "We could be getting close to the end of the rally. Today''s pause may be significant in terms of market direction - we''ll see what happens in Europe and the U.S. later today," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at Sydney''s CMC Markets. "We''ve had a pretty significant rally in the past week, driven by Libya''s production not doing as well due to disruptions, good utilization rates by U.S. refiners and talk of OPEC and non-OPEC members extending production cuts for another six months," Spooner said. "Now the market may have priced all those factors in and investors are waiting for additional indicators to give oil prices direction." That could come later on Monday when Europe and the U.S. release purchasing managers'' index (PMI) data. PMI data from China on Saturday showed the country''s factories expanded for a ninth straight month in March but at a softer pace as new export orders slowed. "The China PMI figures were pretty positive - they provide background support for oil prices," Spooner said. The U.S. dollar index rose against a basket of currencies on Monday. A strong dollar makes greenback-denominated commodities including oil more expensive for holders of other currencies. Iraq plans to increase its oil output capacity to 5 million barrels per day before the end of the year, but Baghdad has assured OPEC it will fully comply with the pact to cut oil supply, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi and OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo said on Sunday. (Reporting by Keith Wallis; Editing by Joseph Radford and Richard Pullin) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17501U'|'2017-04-03T12:48:00.000+03:00' 'aa0f9e50b70114156dddb03f08e95cf927d3767f'|'Toshiba shares tumble after sources say third earnings postponement likely'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 3:03am BST Toshiba shares tumble after sources say third earnings postponement likely The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind a traffic light at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato TOKYO Shares in Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) tumbled on Monday after sources told Reuters that the troubled Japanese conglomerate would likely miss a third deadline to report its quarterly business results. Toshiba shares plunged as much as 9.4 percent in early morning trade, before trimming the loss to about 4 percent, compared with a slight gain in the Nikkei index. A third postponement of the October-December earnings, currently due on April 11, looks necessary because Toshiba''s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC, has questions about results for the business year through March 2016, the sources said. A Toshiba spokesman said on Monday that the possible postponement was not something the company had announced and that it was preparing to make the earnings announcement by April 11. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Stephen Coates) Next In Business News British company finance chiefs more upbeat, still risk-averse - Deloitte LONDON British company finance chiefs are their most optimistic in 18 months, but their risk appetite has recovered far less from the battering it took in the run-up to and aftermath of last year''s vote to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Monday. DUBLIN, April 3 - Growth in Irish manufacturing slowed for the third month in a row in March on weak new orders as costinflation pushed prices up, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-idUKKBN17504J'|'2017-04-03T10:03:00.000+03:00' 'f3e216443f2267b5a5e85d1c5507bcaa34abc9a4'|'Drug spun off by AstraZeneca shows promise in hot flashes'|'Health 24am EDT Drug spun off by AstraZeneca shows promise in hot flashes A sign is seen at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, central England April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Darren Staples LONDON An experimental drug spun off by AstraZeneca last year to an unlisted U.S. biotech firm could cut menopausal hot flashes by nearly three-quarters, according to results from a small mid-stage clinical trial. The British drugmaker licensed rights to the medicine, which is given as a pill, to Millendo Therapeutics as part of its strategy to divest non-core drug development. Findings published on Monday in the Lancet medical journal suggest the arrangement is working well for Millendo, which is backed by venture capitalists. AstraZeneca also holds a stake in the company. The drug, known as MLE4901, works in a novel way by blocking a chemical called neurokinin B. Hot flashes or flushes, also known as vasomotor symptoms, have been a problematic field for drug research. Hormone replacement therapy can help some women but the therapy can increase the risk of breast cancer and blood clots. The new drug targets receptors in the brain and offers a different, non-hormonal approach. The Phase II study funded by Britain''s Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research, found 28 women who suffered seven or more hot flashes a day could cut episodes by up to 73 percent with MLE4901, as well as reducing their severity. Researchers now need to see if the drug, which is also being tested for polycystic ovary syndrome, is safe and effective over the long term in a larger group of patients. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by David Evans) Next In Health News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-astrazeneca-millendo-hot-flashes-idUSKBN1751RA'|'2017-04-03T23:15:00.000+03:00' 'c6ad25abf7ff4df6594f59ba11d1461aa5f8917e'|'IMF chief warns slowing productivity risks living standards drop'|'Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:31am BST IMF chief warns slowing productivity risks living standards drop left right Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, U.S., April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 1/3 left right Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, U.S., April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 2/3 left right Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde arrives to speak at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, U.S., April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 3/3 WASHINGTON Living standards around the world could fall unless governments invest more in research and education that can help revive weak productivity growth, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned on Monday. Lagarde said in a speech in Washington that the private sector alone will not be able to generate enough innovation to lift productivity to acceptable levels without government help. Her remarks were accompanied by release of an IMF study that found that the 2008-2009 financial crisis and deep recession played a bigger role in slowing productivity than previously thought, stifling global demand and investment. ( bit.ly/2nCMDqd ) "Another decade of weak productivity growth would seriously undermine the rise in global living standards," Lagarde told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute, a pro-business think tank in Washington. "Slower growth could also jeopardize the financial and social stability of some countries by making it more difficult to reduce excessive inequality and sustain private debt and public obligations," she added. Economists have long viewed productivity gains as essential for sustaining higher wages and living standards, but have struggled to explain a protracted slowdown in productivity growth since the early 2000s. Lagarde said the post-crisis recession has left a "permanent scar" on output per worker and total factor productivity, a broad measure of innovation that includes both labor and capital inputs. "We estimate that, if total factor productivity growth had followed its pre-crisis trend, overall GDP in advanced economies would be about 5 percent higher today," Lagarde said. "That would be the equivalent of adding another Japan — and more — to the global economy." She said that all governments should do more to unleash entrepreneurial energy, including cutting barriers to competition, investing in education and providing tax incentives for research and development. "One thing is clear: we need more innovation, not less. Market forces alone will not be able to deliver that boost, because innovation and invention are to some degree public goods." Lagarde said smartphone technologies have hugely benefited from large-scale state spending on developing the internet and global positioning satellite system, while defense spending often creates new technologies that have civilian uses. She cited IMF research last year showing that an increase of private research spending by 40 percent in advanced economies could increase their GDP by 5 percent in the long term. Lagarde said a critical improvement in education and worker retraining programs was needed to aid those displaced by the effects of technological change, trade and structural reforms. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-imf-productivity-idUKKBN1752OW'|'2017-04-04T07:26:00.000+03:00' '74f67bbe7c482401d5a9c64e8e2f47038349e867'|'Iran''s Aseman Airlines signs up to buy at least 30 Boeing jets'|' 41am BST Iran''s Aseman Airlines signs up to buy at least 30 Boeing jets Ground crew members escort a Boeing 737 MAX as it returns from a flight test at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo DUBAI/PARIS Iran''s Aseman Airlines has signed a tentative deal to buy at least 30 Boeing ( BA.N ) 737 MAX jets, in the first new business with the U.S. planemaker since U.S. President Donald Trump took office vowing to take a tougher stance towards Iran. Owned by Iran''s civil service pension foundation but managed as a private company, Aseman is Iran''s third-largest airline by active fleet size, according to the CAPA consultancy. Iran''s official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Tuesday that representatives of Aseman and Boeing had signed an agreement in Tehran covering as many as 60 jets, including options, after a year of negotiations. Boeing described the deal as a "memorandum of agreement," a type of transaction that falls short of a binding contract and is subject to government approvals. It covers concrete plans for Aseman to buy 30 aircraft with options for a further 30, it added. If completed, the main part of the deal for 30 jets would be worth $3.4 billion at list prices, though airlines typically win discounts of around 50 percent for large deals. Boeing has already agreed to sell 80 aircraft to flag carrier IranAir under a deal between Tehran and major powers that led last year to the lifting of most sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear technology development activities. Trump has said he opposes the nuclear sanctions pact, but has not explicitly stated a view on the aircraft deals reached under the accord, which the U.S. aerospace industry says would protect thousands of jobs. Washington last month imposed separate sanctions on 25 Iranian individuals and entities following a ballistic missile test. Iran retaliated with its own sanctions. In a statement on the latest deal, Boeing cited U.S. Department of Commerce data suggesting an "aerospace sale of this magnitude creates or sustains approximately 18,000 jobs in the United States". Deliveries to Aseman would start in 2022. Boeing must now apply for licences from the U.S. Treasury allowing it to proceed with the sale. "Boeing continues to follow the lead of the U.S. government with regards to working with Iran’s airlines and any and all contracts with Iran’s airlines are contingent upon U.S. government approval," it said. The latest deal comes as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani''s government seeks to highlight improvements resulting from the nuclear deal in the run-up to May presidential elections. So far IranAir has received three new Airbus jets under the deal. In December the European Union banned Aseman from flying to the EU due to safety concerns, highlighting gaps in the country''s ageing fleet following the decades of sanctions. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh in Dubai and Tim Hepher in Paris; Editing by Greg Mahlich) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-airlines-boeing-idUKKBN17612H'|'2017-04-04T18:41:00.000+03:00' 'bfd73729f52de83d29fcf0eea1ec515329648a36'|'EU clears ChemChina takeover of Syngenta with conditions'|'Deals - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 5:58am EDT EU clears ChemChina takeover of Syngenta with conditions left right FILE PHOTO: Syngenta''s logo is seen at Syngenta Biotech Center in Beijing, China, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The company logo of China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, China February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo 2/2 BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators approved on Wednesday ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] $43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) after the Chinese company agreed to sell assets to address competition concerns The deal, the largest foreign acquisition by a Chinese company, will help China boost its potential food output. Reuters reported on Feb. 2 that the deal would be cleared with conditions. The European Commission said the asset sales addressed competition concerns. "It is important for European farmers and ultimately consumers that there will be effective competition in pesticide markets, also after ChemChina''s acquisition of Syngenta," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-eu-idUSKBN17714T'|'2017-04-05T17:58:00.000+03:00' '36b3bc4d28fd9728da464d68287bc25ef816e0bc'|'German minister, labour reps welcome PSA work contract assurances for Opel merger'|'Deals 06am EDT German minister, labor reps welcome PSA work contract assurances for Opel merger German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries meets Chairman of the Managing Board of French carmaker PSA Group Carlos Tavares in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN Germany''s economy minister said she had held constructive talks with PSA Chairman Carlos Tavares on Wednesday about the planned merger of the French group with Germany''s Opel and felt reassured that existing labor deals would remain. Germany has welcomed the merger, provided the Opel brand stays independent and the merged group respects existing labor agreements, protects Opel sites and gives job guarantees. "I particularly welcome the commitment by Mr Tavares to respect and continue all the collective agreements," said minister Brigitte Zypries in a statement. "The federal government and federal states will continue to lend their constructive support to the process of merging PSA and Opel/Vauxhall," she added. Tavares said he had reaffirmed PSA''s ambition to "build on the quality of relations with employee representatives as a key factor of success of the company". (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Martin) Next In Deals Toshiba''s Westinghouse fired chairman two days before bankruptcy filing TOKYO Westinghouse Electric Co LLC fired its chairman two days before the U.S. nuclear engineering unit of Toshiba Corp filed for bankruptcy last week, as the Japanese firm tries to draw a line under the travails of a business that has cost it billions. JAB Holding to buy bakery chain Panera Bread in $7.5 billion deal JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Peet''s Coffee & Tea, said on Wednesday it would buy U.S. bakery chain Panera Bread Co in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion, including debt, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire. SYDNEY Blackstone Group has put an A$3.5 billion ($2.65 billion) shopping mall portfolio in Australia up for sale, said a source familiar with the matter, in what could be one of the country''s largest ever real estate transactions. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-opel-m-a-psa-germany-idUSKBN1771IH'|'2017-04-05T20:00:00.000+03:00' 'be9411d09a8e85e3dfb5fa31420683f613aedc5f'|'Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design'|'Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:07am BST Apple aims for more control, less cost as it accelerates in chip design FILE PHOTO: The Apple Inc. store is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo By Stephen Nellis - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Apple Inc''s decision to stop licensing graphics chips from Imagination Technologies Group Plc is the clearest example yet of the iPhone maker''s determination to take greater control of the core technologies in its products - both to guard its hefty margins and to position it for future innovations, especially in so-called augmented reality. The strategy, analysts say, has already reduced Apple''s dependence on critical outside suppliers like ARM Holdings Plc, now owned by SoftBank Group Corp. Apple once relied heavily on ARM to design the main processor for the iPhone, but it now licenses only the basic ARM architecture and designs most of the chip itself. More recently, when Apple bought the headphone company Beats Electronics, part of a $3 billion deal in 2014, it ripped out the existing, off-the-shelf communications chips and replaced them with its own custom-designed W1 Bluetooth chip. "Apple clearly got rid of all the conventional suppliers and replaced about five chips with one," said Jim Morrison, vice president of TechInsights, a firm that examines the chips inside electronics devices. "Today we do much more in-house development of fundamental technologies than we used to," Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said at a February conference. "Think of the work we do on processors or sensors. We can push the envelope on innovation. We have better control over timing, over cost and over quality." Most vendors of consumer electronics products rely on outside suppliers for chip design and development, primarily because it is extremely expensive. That has created huge opportunities for companies like ARM, Qualcomm Inc and Nvidia Corp, which have developed core technologies for processing, communications and graphics that are used by scores of vendors. Now, though, Apple is so big that it can economically create its own designs, or license small pieces of others'' work and build on it. As with ARM and Qualcomm, the actual manufacturing of the chips is still contracted out to a semiconductor foundry, such as those run by Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd. MOVE FAST, SAVE MONEY Bringing more of the design work in-house cuts complexity, people familiar with the processes say. Instead of managing one or more design teams and then a fabricator, Apple has only to manage the fabricator. It may also help the company move faster - and save money - as it focuses on new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. Apple CEO Tim Cook has indicated that Apple plans to integrate augmented reality into its products, which makes 3-D sensors and graphics chips like Imagination''s especially important. Even before formally cutting off Imagination, Apple had given hints that it was preparing to design its own graphics processors. Specifically, it introduced a piece of its own code called Metal for app developers. App developers use Metal to make their apps talk to the graphics chip on the iPhone. By putting a piece of Apple-designed code between app developers and the phone''s chip, Apple has made it possible to swap out the chip without interrupting how the developers work. That could also make it easier to bridge the gap for developers between the graphics chips on Apple''s phones and its desktop computers, which currently require some separate coding. “By promoting Metal instead of relying on other existing standards, Apple is not only able to control what graphics chip functionality is exposed at its own pace, but also blur the line for developers between coding for desktop and mobile GPUs," said Pius Uzamere, the founder of a virtual reality startup called Ether. Taking control of the iPhone''s chips can also help Apple keep costs down, which is especially important as it gears up for a feature-laden new iPhone this fall. Timothy Arcuri of Cowen & Co said in a research note that he thinks the curved screens expected on the new phone could add as much as $50 in cost, for example. Shebly Seyrafi, an analyst at FBN Securities, estimates that the average price of an iPhone increased only 1 percent to $695 last quarter, while costs increased 8 percent to $420, resulting in an iPhone gross margin of 39.6 percent. That is down from the 44 percent average gross margin for iPhones in 2015, according to Seyrafi''s estimates. Apple spends only $75 million a year on licensing fees for Imagination''s chips. But licensing fees to chip designers, taken together, are a significant cost for the iPhone. Apple recently sued Qualcomm for $1 billion over licensing terms for its communications chips - which Apple would have trouble designing in-house because of patent issues. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Rigby) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-apple-silicon-idUKKBN17631W'|'2017-04-05T07:07:00.000+03:00' 'b8b725eb0b0ed6a882ad398970ed3bbb82996b35'|'Boehringer eyes marked sales gain, boosted by animal health'|'Company News 35am EDT Boehringer eyes marked sales gain, boosted by animal health INGELHEIM, Germany, April 5 Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany''s second-largest drugmaker, said on Wednesday it was targeting a marked gain in 2017 revenues, boosted by new animal health businesses it acquired from Sanofi. Unlisted Boehringer on Jan. 1 wrapped up an asset swap that saw Boehringer take Sanofi''s $13.5 billion animal care subsidiary, making it Europe''s largest player in the industry. In return, Sanofi obtained the German company''s consumer health care business unit, valued at nearly $8 billion, plus a $5.5 billion cash payment from Boehringer. Boehringer, which invented mass production of baking powder in the 1890s and which collaborates on diabetes drugs with Eli Lilly, posted a 7.1 percent gain in sales to 15.9 billion euros ($17.0 billion) last year. Operating income jumped 27 percent to 2.9 billion euros, helped by an upfront payment of almost $600 million from U.S. drugmaker AbbVie for the marketing rights to a promising experimental psoriasis treatment. ($1 = 0.9368 euros) (Reporting by Patricia Weiss; Writing by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Maria Sheahan) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/boehringer-results-idUSF9N1GT00T'|'2017-04-05T16:35:00.000+03:00' '121d72c3d1d14330d10f544ed112eaf33a28024f'|'Taiwan to build 8 submarines under indigenous shipbuilding project'|'TAIPEI, April 5 Taiwan plans to build eight submarines to bolster its current fleet of four ageing foreign-built vessels, a senior Taiwanese navy official said on Wednesday."In our indigenous submarine project, we hope to be able to make eight submarines," Lee Tsung-hsiao, navy chief of staff, told lawmakers, confirming publicly for the first time the number of vessels being planned.Cheng Wen-lon, chairman of state-controlled shipbuilder CSBC Corp Taiwan, which has been contracted to build the submarines, also told lawmakers that the initial design will be fully completed by early 2018.Military and defence industry officials in Taiwan have said the first submarine is expected to go into operation within 10 years.Lee''s comments come ahead of the first meeting between leaders of the United States and China this week that Taipei has fretted could harm its interest.China regards democratic Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to take control of what it sees as a wayward province.The United States is obligated by U.S. law to help Taiwan defend itself, but its arms sales to Taiwan angers Beijing and has slowed down the pace of sales, defence experts said.Taiwan and the United States, its sole arms supplier, are currently engaged in fresh arms sales talks.Last month, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed that her administration would see through the indigenous submarine programme as she toured one of the navy''s four aging submarines, purchased from the United States and Netherlands at least 30 years ago.Taiwan has never built a submarine before and will need to rely on foreign technology support to make an advanced vessel, defence experts have said.Taiwan''s submarine project is in the middle of a four-year design contract phase budgeted at T$3 billion ($98.69 million)that began in 2016.($1 = 30.3980 Taiwan dollars)(Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/taiwan-defence-idINL3N1HD0W8'|'2017-04-05T02:33:00.000+03:00' 'a99df3acd5ea98635ebb09490a5e44a7e1a2325b'|'Final bids for German drugmaker Stada expected Friday: sources'|'FRANKFURT The battle for German drugmaker Stada ( STAGn.DE ) is edging towards a close, with final offers from two private equity consortia expected on Friday evening, three people close to the matter said.A tie-up of buyout firms Advent and Permira is bidding against Bain and Cinven. Both have so far made takeover offers at 58 euros per share, valuing the company at 4.7 billion euros including debt.Neither is expected to hike its offer dramatically, though a slight increase is likely, one of the sources said."(Stada''s chairman Karl-Ferdinand) Oetker needs a face-saving top-up, but the business case does not allow for much," another person close to one of the bidders said.Another source said that Stada''s executive and supervisory boards were unlikely to recommend that shareholders accept any offer that was not improved further, after the company last month lifted its targets and told suitors their bids were too low.Stada, which is expected to make a decision on the bids by the middle of next week, declined to comment on the timing of the deal, saying only that the sales process was progressing according to plan.The private equity groups declined to comment.(Reporting by Arno Schuetze, Alexander Hübner and Ludwig Burger; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-stada-m-a-idINKBN177125'|'2017-04-05T07:32:00.000+03:00' 'a3b24330c0d79a121f03a7209938bfe06204e651'|'"Innovative financing" sours dairy giant in China''s rural northeast'|' 7:00pm EDT "Innovative financing" sours dairy giant in China''s rural northeast * Stock dropped 85 pct in a single day last month * Company sold and leased back cows, sold financial products * Negotiating with creditors after missing bank payments * Hit by falling milk prices, rising feed costs * Company reports its finance executive as missing By Jake Spring ZHANGWU, China, April 4 The crisis at Huishan Dairy, one of China''s biggest dairy companies, is a stark reminder of what can lurk in the dark corners of corporate China, where rapid growth can go hand in hand with tangled finances and heavy debt. China Huishan Dairy Holdings Co Ltd embraced what its executives called "innovative financing", from the sale and leaseback of its cows, to selling wealth management products for rich investors - financial antics that seem incongruous with the dusty fields, tin-roofed sheds and plastic greenhouses of Zhangwu county in northeast China. Now it is battling swollen liabilities, a short-term debt squeeze and considerable unwanted attention. After a late 2016 short-selling attack, it saw an 85 percent drop in its shares in a single day last month, wiping $4 billion off its value and triggering a stock suspension. It has reported a key finance executive missing. Its misfortunes are a reminder that even as banks'' bad debt numbers stabilise, there remain many question marks over the quality of their balance sheets. Those exposed to Huishan include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, regional lenders, leasing companies and online loans firms. "When you move down to the local lenders in less developed provinces and counties, there could be hundreds and thousands of similar cases to Huishan, albeit at a smaller scale," said Shawlin Chaw, Control Risks analyst focused on Greater China. MISSED PAYMENTS In 2013, retail investors flocked to Huishan''s $1.3 billion Hong Kong listing, which was priced at the top of its forecast range. The provincial government was vocal in its support. "Next year, we can all go to work at Huishan Dairy!" Liaoning government slogans proclaimed, in reference to the promised creation of tens of thousands of local jobs. Now that Huishan has missed debt payments, that same government has brokered meetings between the dairy and its 23 creditor banks, including big names such as Bank of China Ltd , AgBank and Ping An Bank Co Ltd. Local officials declined to comment for this story. Falling milk prices and rising feed costs had caused problems for the region, local farmers said. "This year is the worst I''ve seen for the dairy cattle industry," said Shan Jiawu, a dairy farmer in Zhangwu, who has been in the business for over a decade. Around the county where Huishan has dozens of farms, guards at two of three operations visited by Reuters said the farms were functioning normally, though reporters were not allowed in. A third was shut. "All the company''s operational activities are being carried out in an orderly manner. I believe we will quickly solve the problems we are currently facing," said an official in Huishan''s publicity department. Huishan''s latest official statement, issued late on Friday, said it would need more time to verify its financial position. CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Huishan has been open about its creative finances. In November it pledged 40,000 dairy cows to a financial leasing firm for a 750 million yuan ($110 million) loan, the second such deal it attempted. It said it would repay in 10 instalments from May. Its accounts indicate it sold wealth management products. China''s banking regulator, CBRC, did not comment. Its top shareholder Champ Harvest, controlled by Huishan chairman Yang Kai, pledged nearly all the shares it owns to secure loans and margin financing. Huishan''s accounts paint a picture of accumulating short-term loans and a deteriorating current ratio that indicates its liabilities are larger than its assets. Last year, finance executive Ge Kun, in charge of treasury functions and cash, said the company, fresh from the cow leasing deal, would consider adopting "innovative tools in the future". She is now missing. Ge, who managed relationships with Huishan''s banks, was named a "model worker" by the provincial capital in 2012 and a year later was a representative for the district People''s Congress, according to Huishan''s IPO prospectus. But Huishan said she was suffering from work stress, would take a leave of absence and did not wish to be contacted. It has now filed a missing person report in Hong Kong. Reuters'' attempts to contact Ge, including a visit to a listed address for her in Shenyang, were unsuccessful. "If similar stories are anything to go by, it is likely that the stock will remain suspended, and the issue is unlikely to be resolved for a long time," said Robert Medd, forensic accountant at Bucephalus Research. For some in Zhangwu, such problems seem outlandishly remote. "As long as they have good products and we can sell like normal, that''s OK," said Bi Junkui, 45, a wholesaler of Huishan products in Zhangwu''s main town. "If the bosses lose so much money, it''s not my business." (Reporting by Jake Spring; Additional reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI, Umesh Desai and Elzio Barreto in HONG KONG, and by SHANGHAI and BEIJING newsrooms; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Will Waterman) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-huishan-idUSL3N1H629N'|'2017-04-04T07:00:00.000+03:00' '692ff7ec6eecb1df03cdc95834ee204fe9440d50'|'Vale megadeal puts Morgan Stanley, Bradesco at the top of Brazil M&A'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and Banco Bradesco BBI SA topped Brazil''s mergers and acquisitions rankings in the first quarter, buoyed by advisory roles in the $21 billion corporate reorganization of Vale SA ( VALE5.SA ), the world''s No.1 iron ore producer.New York-based Morgan Stanley and Bradesco BBI, the investment-banking arm of Brazil''s No. 3 listed lender Banco Bradesco SA ( BBDC4.SA ), surpassed rivals in last quarter''s rankings by almost 10 times in terms of announced M&A volumes, Thomson Reuters deals intelligence data showed on Tuesday.Both banks advised two of Vale''s main shareholders on the deal. Under the terms of the reorganization, Vale will become a company with no defined controlling shareholder within three years, a landmark step to help stifle state interference in the company.The deal represents a milestone in a country long hobbled by corporate governance scandals and reorganizations that hurt minority investors. It comes as Brazil''s government is selling dozens of power and sanitation utilities, as well as assets of state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ).Companies announced $27.121 billion worth of Brazil-related mergers from January to March, up six-fold from a year earlier, the data showed. Excluding Vale, the value of M&A deals reached $6.195 billion, less than half the amount seen in the same period four years ago, before the recession struck.The number of deals in the first quarter fell 35 percent to 108 from a year earlier, the data showed.Stricter legal and regulatory scrutiny has continued to put the brakes on M&A announcements this year, compounding the impact of the recession and political turmoil that has kept keeping buyers and sellers at odds over valuations.According to Alessandro Zema and Eduardo Miras, co-heads of Brazil investment banking for Morgan Stanley, M&A deals should accelerate this year, even if increased debt and equity capital markets activity posed some competition for the segment.Declining borrowing costs and a stable currency could spur Brazil''s recovery and the pace of takeovers through year-end, they said. More consolidation efforts could take place, as companies try to cut debt, improve their capital and tax structures, and become more efficient."It''s very hard for a strategic player or a financial sponsor to ignore Brazil because of the cycle," Zema said. "The country''s economy offers relevant opportunities for global players in almost every segment of activity."According to Alessandro Farkuh, Bradesco BBI''s head of M&A, more strategic players will seek to enter Brazil as President Michel Temer''s administration passes pension, labor market and tax reforms aimed at restoring confidence in the economy."Activity will grow in a more robust manner once the macroeconomic uncertainties dissipate and players feel the outlook has turned much more predictable," Farkuh said.A challenge for buyers and sellers alike remains a lengthening M&A execution cycle. Still, growing interest from multinational companies and buyout firms in potential targets "is leading to a more adequate pricing of assets," Bradesco BBI''s Farkuh said.Even as the list of delayed deals kept growing last quarter, advisory work remains intense, forcing banks to shuffle staff from areas with lighter workloads to handle more M&A and debt restructuring transactions.Morgan Stanley topped value rankings after working on four transactions worth $21.663 billion, followed by Bradesco BBI''s seven deals valued at $21.424 billion. Morgan Stanley last topped Brazil''s first-quarter M&A league tables in 2000.Itaú Unibanco Holding SA''s ( ITUB4.SA ) investment bank led the number of deal rankings after working on 10 transactions.Following is a table with Brazil M&A ranking for the first quarter. Numbers are expressed in U.S. dollars, unless specified.RANKING FINANCIAL ADVISORY VALUE OF NUMBER RANKINGFIRST-Q FIRM DEALS (Jan. OF DEALS FIRST-QUARTER 1-March 31) (Jan. UARTER2017 1-March 201631)1 Morgan Stanley & $21.663 bln 4 14Co2 Banco Bradesco BBI $21.424 bln 7 6SA3 Banco BTG Pactual $1.875 bln 4 1SA4 Citigroup Inc $1.656 bln 1 n.a.5 Goldman Sachs $1.656 bln 2 n.a.Group Inc6 Itaú BBA SA $919.4 mln 10 27 Credit Suisse $706.4 mln 1 14Group AG8 JPMorgan Chase & $608.4 mln 2 14Co9 Bank of America $517.9 mln 2 4Merrill Lynch10 PriceWaterhouseCoo $296.4 mln 2 14persSUBTOTAL WITH $26.123 bln 39 -FINANCIAL ADVISERINDUSTRY TOTAL $27.121 bln 108 -(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-m-a-outlook-idINKBN1760FR'|'2017-04-04T04:16:00.000+03:00' '7845a1471b8d9b9115d216640ea28061fd6ccc5a'|'Trump''s orders target trade abuses, import duty evasion'|'Money News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 6:00am IST Trump''s orders target trade abuses, import duty evasion left right U.S. President Donald Trump speaks between Vice President Mike Pence (L) and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt prior to signing an executive order on ''Energy Independence,'' eliminating Obama-era climate change regulations, during an event at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters in Washington, U.S., March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 1/5 left right FILE PHOTO: A plane is seen during take off in New Jersey behind the Statue of Liberty in New York''s Harbor as seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 2/5 left right FILE PHOTO: A man watches containers at the Yangshan deepwater port in Shanghai March 7, 2007. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo 3/5 left right FILE PHOTO: Shipping containers sit at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California in this aerial photo taken February 6, 2015. REUTERS/Bob Riha, Jr./File Photo 4/5 left right U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross holds a news conference at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer 5/5 By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump sought to push his crusade for fair trade and more manufacturing jobs back to the top of his agenda on Friday by ordering a study into the causes of U.S. trade deficits and a clampdown on import duty evasion. The executive orders came a week after Trump''s promise to replace Obamacare imploded in Congress and a week before he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, a summit that promises to be fraught with trade tensions. Trump said at a White House signing ceremony that he and Xi were "going to get down to some serious business" next week and vowed that "the theft of American prosperity" by foreign countries would end. One of the orders directed the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to conduct a 90-day review of the causes of massive U.S. trade deficits. It will study the effects of abuses such as the dumping of products below costs, unfair subsidies, "misaligned" currencies and "non-reciprocal" trade practices by other countries. "We''re going to investigate all trade abuses, and, based on those findings, we will take necessary and lawful action to end those many abuses," Trump said, adding that he wasn''t beholden to any businesses. Trump administration officials have said they plan tougher enforcement of U.S. trade remedy laws and will initiate more unilateral trade deals. In his 2016 White House bid, the New York businessman campaigned heavily against free-trade deals and accused China of draining jobs from U.S. factory towns with cheap exports. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang on Friday said the U.S.-China trade imbalance was mostly the result of differences in the two countries'' economic structures and noted that China had a trade deficit in services. "China does not deliberately seek a trade surplus. We also have no intention of carrying out competitive currency devaluation to stimulate exports." Zheng told a briefing about the Xi-Trump meeting. The study of trade abuses appeared aimed at justifying unilateral retaliatory trade actions by the United States, said Matt Gold, a former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative who is now an adjunct trade law professor at Fordham University in New York. "They probably think it will give them better political ammunition," Gold said. But he added that it would not likely reveal anything that is not already in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative''s annual list of trade barriers, which also was released on Friday. The report criticized China''s excess industrial capacity and requirements for technology transfers and cyber security, which it said are aimed displacing foreign products with domestic versions. The trade abuses study will focus on those countries that have chronic goods trade surpluses with the United States. China tops the list, with a $347 billion surplus last year, followed by Japan, with a $69 billion surplus, Germany at $65 billion, Mexico at $63 billion, Ireland at $36 billion and Vietnam at $32 billion. The study also will examine past trade deals that have failed to produce forecast benefits for the United States, as well as World Trade Organization rules that U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said do not treat countries equally, such as on taxation. The United States has long complained that WTO rules allow exports from other countries to be exempt from value-added taxes (VAT), but do not allow equivalent corporate income tax benefits for U.S. exporters. The Trump administration is considering a border tax that would be levied on imports and which would aim to put the United States on a similar tax basis for trade as countries that have VAT. The second trade order will fight nonpayment and under-collection of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties the United States slaps on many foreign goods. White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro said some $2.8 billion in such duties went uncollected between 2001 and the end of 2016 from companies in some 40 countries. Navarro said the order directs the Commerce and Homeland Security departments to close these gaps by imposing tougher bonding requirements to ensure duty collections and new legal requirements for assessing risks associated with importers. (Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Michael Perry, Lincoln Feast and Jonathan Oatis) Next In Money News India to cut Iranian oil purchases in row over gas field NEW DELHI Indian state refiners will cut oil imports from Iran in 2017/18 by a fifth, as New Delhi takes a more assertive stance over an impasse on a giant gas field that it wants awarded to an Indian consortium, sources familiar with the matter said.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-trade-idINKBN173322'|'2017-04-01T08:30:00.000+03:00' '8397ea6bcd05260c5f2fa5642e839d9218b8d8d5'|'Credit Suisse takes out UK newspaper ads after office raids in tax case'|'Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 12:10pm BST Credit Suisse takes out UK newspaper ads after office raids in tax case Credit Suisse logo is pictured on their office in Warsaw Poland, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel LONDON Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) has taken out adverts in British Sunday newspapers stressing a zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion, as the Swiss bank tries to limit any damage to its reputation from raids on three of its offices. Zurich-based Credit Suisse was pulled into an international tax evasion and money laundering investigation on Thursday when coordinated searches were carried out on its London, Paris and Amsterdam offices. The ads, which appeared in the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and Observer, stated they were a "response to recent reports about tax probes in various European countries". Among seven bullet points, Credit Suisse said it "wishes to conduct business with clients that have paid their taxes" and the bank would "continue to work closely with the local authorities in all matters and particularly in this new case". The raids reopened the thorny issue of tax evasion which has dogged Swiss banks for years as wealthy individuals around the world have used the country''s strict bank secrecy laws to hide cash from the tax man. Credit Suisse, Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, in 2014 pleaded guilty and was fined $2.6 billion by U.S. authorities over charges it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes. It has also settled tax dodging cases in Italy and Germany. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Writing by Joshua Franklin in Zurich; Editing by Mark Potter) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-taxevasion-britain-idUKKBN1740D4'|'2017-04-02T19:09:00.000+03:00' '31aad1a5bd4d25657e7d7cdab536f73bc10d9da0'|'Brazil judge kicks PricewaterhouseCoopers off Oi bankruptcy case'|'Deals 52pm EDT Brazil judge kicks PricewaterhouseCoopers off Oi bankruptcy case People walk in front of the headquarters of the Brazil''s largest fixed-line telecoms group Oi, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 22, 2016. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes - RTX2HN8N SAO PAULO The judge overseeing the in-court restructuring of Brazilian phone company Oi SA ( OIBR3.SA ) dropped PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) as court administrator on the case, the biggest bankruptcy filing in Brazilian history, according to a court document reviewed by Reuters on Friday. Judge Fernando Cesar Ferreira Viana said in his decision that he had lost trust in PWC after it asked for an extension and committed a "gross error" in compiling a list of Oi''s creditors. The judge appointed BDO Consultoria to replace PWC on the case, working in conjunction with law firm Arnoldo Wald. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-pricewaterhouse-idUSKBN1722UM'|'2017-04-01T04:48:00.000+03:00' 'a89727eff6e4b4cd78e01d9e36e5e11e0e818000'|'Cenovus C$3 billion offering has been fully subscribed: sources'|'TORONTO Cenovus Energy Inc''s ( CVE.TO ) C$3 billion ($2.25 billion) equity offering to partly fund its planned C$17.7 billion acquisition of some of ConocoPhillips Co''s ( COP.N ) Canadian assets has been fully subscribed, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.The sale of 187.5 million common shares at C$16 per share was fully allocated on Wednesday evening, soon after the deal was announced, the people said. The people declined to be named because the matter was not public.The equity sale is expected to close next week.Royal Bank of Canada ( RY.TO ) and JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), which are leading the share sale, requests for comment outside office hours on Friday. A Cenovus spokesman declined to comment.Cenovus shares tumbled to their biggest one-day percentage drop in history on Thursday as investors wondered if the company had made the right move in reaching the cash and stock deal to buy ConocoPhillips'' oil sands and natural gas assets. The stock was unchanged on Friday.(Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nia Williams in Calgary; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-conocophillips-cenovus-idINKBN17230J'|'2017-03-31T21:29:00.000+03:00' '8b7db1701ca4f62be26473cafaf744c5bd24fe73'|'Wall Street Week Ahead - Beyond jobs, car sales to give insight on consumer health'|'Business News - Sat Apr 1, 2017 - 3:53am IST Beyond jobs, car sales to give insight on consumer health Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Rodrigo Campos - NEW YORK NEW YORK Forget the jobs report. The most interesting bit of U.S. economic data next week is Monday''s auto sales release, which will offer a measure of the middle-class consumer and a sector of the stock market that has had a rough ride so far in 2017. Economists are looking for another solid month of sales north of 17 million new vehicles at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate for March but nothing like the 18.4 million hit in December, the highest since August 2005. The number would however point to a third consecutive decline on a 12-month rolling basis. With sales peaking and prices set to drop, the secondary effects are expected to be felt beyond car makers and dealers. Lease and used-vehicle prices are expected to fall sharply this year, according to Ally Financial, which cited its estimate earlier this month when it lowered its 2017 profit forecast. Morgan Stanley said in a Friday note used-car prices could tumble between 25 and 50 percent by 2021, with both new cars and off-lease supply hitting record highs this year. "There''s an avalanche of used cars ready to hit the market place," said Brad Lamensdorf, co-manager of the AdvisorShares Ranger Equity Bear ETF. According to Lamensdorf, the need to move inventory has translated into reckless lending. "It''s not fraudulent, but people are up to their neck in debt," he said. "Default rates are going to be much more significant." The stock market is taking note. The S&P 1500 automotive retail index .SPCOMAUTR is down 6.5 percent year to date, with Advance Auto Parts ( AAP.N ), AutoNation ( AN.N ) and Sonic Automotive ( SAH.N ) down double digits in 2017. Carmax ( KMX.N ), which reports earnings on Thursday, is seen as a bellwether in the used-car industry. Its stock is down 8 percent so far this year. Another red flag from the sales floor: the average number of days a new vehicle sat before being retailed hit 70 in the first 19 days of March according to a note from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. That is the highest since July 2009. With the market tightening, industry insiders expect more price cuts. "The competitiveness of the industry continues to be evident in ever-rising incentive levels," said Deirdre Borrego, senior vice president of automotive data and analytics at J.D. Power in a note. "Incentives will reach a new high for the month of March." At the same time, competition to finance loans is likely to further increase credit risk for auto lenders, Moody''s Investors Service said this week. Ally Financial stock ( ALLY.N ) fell 9.6 percent in March. Even the challenge to General Motors ( GM.N ) this week from a hedge fund, aimed at boosting a lagging stock price, reflects the concern that the industry is hoarding cash without significant prospects for growth. NO RECESSION, BUT ... The market for autos, however important, is not as big a part of the U.S. economy as the housing market was when its collapse in 2008 triggered the sharpest recession since the Great Depression. However, and taking into account all the moving parts of the industry''s supply chain, a halt in the auto sector could strain an economy that is already eight years into a recovery cycle. And it would hurt blue-collar workers the most. If a jump in auto loan defaults materializes, there is also the risk that consumers will shut their wallets and hurt economic growth, two-thirds of which depends on consumer spending. "When you look at how consumers are spending there is a question mark if the less-than-prime buyer is suddenly having issues," said Ian Winer, head of equities at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles. "The spillover effect is: what other industries are also using rather aggressive financing in order to get revenue? Jewelry and mattresses jump out at me as two big examples." Tempur Sealy shares ( TPX.N ) have fallen 32 percent year to date. (Additional reporting by Nick Carey and Joe White; Editing by James Dalgleish) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-weekahead-idINKBN1722XT'|'2017-04-01T06:22:00.000+03:00' '6e4169ac2112b67aa7c76f3e1a1729071e612b98'|'German minister, labor reps welcome PSA work contract assurances for Opel merger'|'BERLIN Germany''s economy minister said she had held constructive talks with PSA Chairman Carlos Tavares on Wednesday about the planned merger of the French group with Germany''s Opel and felt reassured that existing labor deals would remain.Germany has welcomed the merger, provided the Opel brand stays independent and the merged group respects existing labor agreements, protects Opel sites and gives job guarantees."I particularly welcome the commitment by Mr Tavares to respect and continue all the collective agreements," said minister Brigitte Zypries in a statement."The federal government and federal states will continue to lend their constructive support to the process of merging PSA and Opel/Vauxhall," she added.Tavares said he had reaffirmed PSA''s ambition to "build on the quality of relations with employee representatives as a key factor of success of the company".(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michelle Martin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-opel-m-a-psa-germany-idINKBN1771IH'|'2017-04-05T10:06:00.000+03:00' '2e49f8020b0a90ac56ae978f5e0a7b654332e907'|'Housebuilder Galliford Try ends Bovis buyout attempt'|'Deals 48am BST Housebuilder Galliford Try ends Bovis buyout attempt LONDON British housebuilder Galliford Try ( GFRD.L ) on Wednesday pulled out of an attempt to buy ailing rival Bovis ( BVS.L ), ending months of uncertainty surrounding the firm, which said it could thrive alone as it appointed a new chief executive. Bovis, whose CEO quit in January following a profit warning resulting from a failure to build enough homes on time, has been subject to takeover speculation since a major shareholder wrote to another builder suggesting a tie-up earlier this year. It rejected bids from Redrow ( RDW.L ) and Galliford Try ( GFRD.L ) last month but remained in talks with the latter. Both firms said on Wednesday they had failed to reach an agreement, ending any possible buyout. "The merger proposal... failed to reflect the underlying value of the Bovis business," Bovis said in a statement. "It believes that an independent strategy under the leadership of Greg Fitzgerald will deliver greater value for shareholders," it said. Fitzgerald, a former chief executive of Galliford Try where he spent 30 years of his career, will join Bovis on April 18 to continue the turnaround of the firm, which said its current sales and reservations were in line with expectations. A tie-up between Bovis and Galliford Try would have created Britain''s fifth largest housebuilder by volume and been the first major consolidation in the sector for nearly a decade. Galliford''s proposal had valued the entire issued equity of Bovis at 1.19 billion pounds ($1.45 billion), or 886 pence per share and envisaged an equity split of 52.25 percent for Galliford shareholders and 47.75 percent for Bovis shareholders. (Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Paul Sandle) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bovis-m-a-gallifordtry-idUKKBN1770M9'|'2017-04-05T14:48:00.000+03:00' '3c2f88f214cadef603eefefd732ea0009d11f864'|'Boeing forms venture group, invests in two tech startups'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 1:02pm EDT Boeing forms venture group, invests in two tech startups By Alwyn Scott - SEATTLE, April 5 SEATTLE, April 5 Boeing Co said on Wednesday it had launched a venture capital arm and invested in two startup companies in a bid to stay abreast of rapidly evolving aircraft designs and factory technology. The new division, known as HorizonX, invested in Upskill, a Washington, D.C.-based software company that uses Google Glass-type eye wear to help assembly workers complete complex tasks such as creating wiring bundles for Boeing jetliners. It also invested in Zunum Aero, a Seattle-area company that is working on electric-hybrid aircraft aimed at bringing down the cost of flying to regional airports. Zunum also received funding from JetBlue Technology Ventures, a unit of the New York-based JetBlue Airways Corp. Boeing declined to specify the investment amounts. "But this initiative represents a multi-year commitment by Boeing to spend tens of millions of dollars a year to advance innovation and to supplement our research and development efforts," spokesman Chaz Bickers said. "While the levels of investment generally are not material to Boeing''s financials, they generally will be to our target investments." Steve Nordlund, former vice president of strategy for Boeing''s defense, space and security business, will head HorizonX. Nordlund was involved in launching drone-maker Insitu Inc, which Boeing acquired in 2008. He also has worked in sales at IBM and was chief information officer at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by James Dalgleish) Next In Company News Mexico''s Telmex says fined 5.3 mln pesos for concession non-compliance MEXICO CITY, April 5 Mexican mogul Carlos Slim''s fixed-line telephone firm Telmex said on Wednesday it had been fined 5.3 million pesos ($283,016) by Mexico''s telecoms regulator for failing to comply with the terms of its concession relating to public TV. UPDATE 3-China''s Shandong in advanced talks to buy half of Barrick''s Veladero mine: sources TORONTO/VANCOUVER, April 5 China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, people familiar with the process told Reuters even as the Canadian miner grappled with a pipe rupture at the site. * RIOCAN REIT ANNOUNCES PUBLIC OFFERING OF $300 MILLION OF SERIES Z SENIOR UNSECURED DEBENTURES MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/boeing-venture-idUSL2N1HD15V'|'2017-04-06T01:02:00.000+03:00' 'fe9df9ad56bb40912af44c38c69e5c976ba072dc'|'Petrobras CEO says Exxon expressed ''strong interest'' in pre-salt oil'|'Commodities - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 5:21pm EDT Petrobras CEO says Exxon expressed ''strong interest'' in pre-salt oil left right Brazil''s state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente talks during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Nacho Doce 1/2 left right The logo of Exxon Mobil Corporation is shown on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, December 30, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo 2/2 SAO PAULO U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) expressed to Brazil''s state-controlled firm Petrobras ( PETR4.SA ) "strong interest" in the exploration of deep-water pre-salt oil fields off the Brazilian coast, Petrobras Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said on Tuesday. "Considering movements towards a strategic partnership, we have nothing concrete with Exxon, but they have certainly expressed strong interest in the Brazilian pre-salt exploration," Parente told reporters. (Reporting by Laís Martins; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira) Next In Commodities LNG sellers ready for more flexible contracts after years of pressure CHIBA, Japan Major producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) such as Woodside and Shell are softening up on years of resistance to granting buyers more flexible term contracts, potentially opening the door to a more actively traded market for the commodity.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-petrobras-exxon-mobil-idUSKBN1762TN'|'2017-04-05T05:21:00.000+03:00' 'db6b30eb58917fb7d5364ce39d9782905d0540c3'|'UPDATE 1-Mine strike leads Chile economy to eight-year-low'|'Company 04am EDT UPDATE 1-Mine strike leads Chile economy to eight-year-low (Recasts, adds detail, context, comments) SANTIAGO, April 5 Chile''s economic activity in February slid 1.3 percent from a year ago, the central bank said Wednesday, its worst performance since the 2009 financial crisis, largely due to a strike at a major copper mine. The IMACEC economic activity index - equivalent to some 90 percent of the economy - came in broadly in line with a Reuters forecast for a slide of 1.2 percent. The reading was dragged down by an around 17-percent fall in mining activity. Escondida, the BHP Billiton operated copper mine in northern Chile that is by far the world''s biggest, was halted the entire month due to a strike. Workers returned to their posts from March 25, but the company has warned that it will take some time for operations to get back to full capacity. Chile''s finance minister Rodrigo Valdes said Wednesday that, while he did not expect "amazing" growth in March from the likely continued impact of the strike, the effect was transitory and a gradual recovery should happen over coming months. February''s reading was also affected by calendar factors and devastating wildfires that hurt the country''s important forestry industry. Although one-off events, they have hit the world''s top copper exporter at a time when economic growth and investment were already struggling. The central bank has cut the benchmark interest rate twice this year as it seeks to stimulate the economy, and has indicated more easing may be on the cards. "With this reading and with what is expected in March, it''s almost a certainty that the central bank should deliver more monetary stimulus in the second quarter," said Scotiabank economist Benjamin Sierra. In comparison with January, economic activity decreased a seasonally adjusted 0.7 pct. (Reporting by Rosalba O''Brien and Antonio de la Jara Editing by W Simon and Nick Zieminski) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chile-economy-imacec-idUSL2N1HD0GX'|'2017-04-05T21:04:00.000+03:00' 'f4ff388674e20abdc2d6c444888c5dac1f548789'|'Beijing''s ''shock'' measures seize property market, other cities follow suit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:04am BST Beijing''s ''shock'' measures seize property market, other cities follow suit A general view shows a residential area of Pudong district in Shanghai, China April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song By Yawen Chen and Ryan Woo - BEIJING BEIJING Ji Wei, a recently married photographer in her 20s, fears her plans to sell her Beijing apartment and upgrade to one costing 6.15 million yuan (716,381 pounds) will collapse because of new measures aimed at reining in a soaring property market. Beijing, home to about 22 million people, is on the frontline as China takes on speculators and tries to tame home prices. Chinese authorities fear surging prices are building up household debt, heightening banks'' credit risks, and fanning resentment as home affordability fades. Apartments in Beijing on average are still cheaper than homes in Tokyo or London, but prices hit their 2016 peak in December and have continued to shatter records this year. Second-hand homes in the capital averaged 63,082 yuan (7,368 pounds) per square metre in March, according to Fang.com, a private provider of home price data - enough to value a modest 90 square metre (969 square feet) apartment at $824,850. "Prices have surged almost 50 percent for a two-bedroom apartment from when I first started looking in October," said Jiang Yuan, 33, who works for a big data company. A previous round of restrictions cut the number of re-sale market deals in Beijing by 37 percent in the three months to end-December, but failed to stop prices rising. In mid-March, the municipal government acted again - raising the minimum downpayment on a second home to 60 percent from 50 percent. On bigger homes, that minimum increases to 80 percent from 70 percent. They also suspended issuing individual mortgage loans of more than 25 years, effectively forcing borrowers to take on more expensive shorter loans. Buying a third property has already been banned. (For graphic on cooling China''s property market, click tmsnrt.rs/2edPKFA ) And the definition of a second-home buyer has been broadened to include anyone who has a record of taking out a previous mortgage anywhere in China. Beijing has also curbed individuals buying new commercial property, and closed a loophole in buyers faking divorce to take advantage of first-home downpayment rates. The number of new clients expressing interest to buy fell by nearly a third in the week following the latest curbs, and home viewings dropped 30.7 percent, according to data from Lianjia, Beijing''s dominant real estate broker. It may be too early to gauge the impact on prices, though. Fang.com data shows prices in Beijing''s re-sale market grew 1.07 percent in March, slower than February''s 3.3 percent increase. Official March home price data is due on April 18. "The market will freeze under the new measures," said Yi Xianrong, a professor at Qingdao University and former researcher at state think-tank the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Sales may drop 90 percent." "It was like an ambush," said Ji, the photographer. The prospective buyer for Ji''s flat has now withdrawn, leaving her to find another buyer quickly or risk defaulting on her contract for the bigger home, and losing over half a million yuan in the deposit. "I''m worried no one wants to buy my 50 square metre apartment anymore," she says. "I''m not the only one affected by the new policies. I''m just one link in a long chain. If one person scraps the contract, the whole chain is likely to break." Local property agents reckon home upgraders like Ji make up around 80 percent of buyers in Beijing this year. Some developers, too, are concerned about the impact on the market. "This round of tightening is unprecedentedly harsh, and I''m very, very pessimistic about the market," Sun Hongbin, chairman of Sunac China Holdings ( 1918.HK ) told financial magazine Caixin on March 28. "The risks are very high in our industry mainly because property prices are now limited by the government. If we buy land at current price levels, we will no doubt lose money." BEYOND BEIJING While Ji frets, other cities are copying Beijing. In just two weeks, at least 50 cities have emulated the capital, says Yan Yuejin, an analyst with E-House China R&D Institute, which tracks China''s housing policy. Those include smaller and less developed cities that had benefited from a speculator-driven boom, such as Zhuozhou and Langfang. Last week, the housing ministry said Beijing''s tightening experience deserved to be studied by the rest of the country, state media reported. Beijing''s housing bureau representative Xu Jianyun was reported as saying the authorities would unswervingly contain upward price pressure. While the measures are aimed at speculators, genuine buyers, too, are caught. Jiang, the big data worker, has an apartment in the eastern port city of Qingdao, and wants to buy his first home in Beijing, where he works. But the re-definition on second-home buyers means he faces paying at least a 60 percent downpayment instead of the 35 percent rate for first-home buyers in the capital. "My budget is up to 2.2 million yuan for the downpayment for a 2-bed flat," Jiang says, "But with the new requirement, I''d have to pay 3.5 million yuan as a downpayment for my ideal home." However, Cao Zhounan, CEO and chairman of property developer Greentown China Holdings Ltd ( 3900.HK ), while predicting nationwide sales volumes will drop, says the market "will increasingly cater to genuine buyers who will actually live in the homes they buy." The restrictions may, intentionally or not, also drive property investors to look beyond China''s capital. In a recent phone sales pitch, a telemarketer eagerly promoted projects in cities near Beijing, including earthquake-prone Tangshan, which has a poor record on pollution. "The tougher the stance that authorities take in tier-1 cities, the greater the share of activity that will be pushed into tier-2 and beyond," Westpac said in a March 20 note. That could take some heat off tier-1 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and shift investors'' capital to smaller cities where restrictions are less severe. On Monday, property agents in Xiongxian county in neighbouring Hebei province shut up shop hours after Beijing ordered a ban on property sales in an effort to curb a sudden housing boom triggered by plans for a new special economic zone. Household mortgages, which accounted for 39 percent of China''s new loans last year, are not expected to pull back significantly. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said last month that home loans will keep growing relatively rapidly this year, suggesting some tolerance for household debt. These loans are not just about property transactions: they impact a long industrial supply chain, he said. The real estate sector accounted for 6.5 percent of China''s GDP growth last year, according to official data, but many say its overall contribution is much higher as the property market helps drive sectors from construction to banking and finance. ($1 = 6.8955 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Additional reporting by Muyu Xu in BEIJING; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-property-analysis-idUKKBN17631I'|'2017-04-05T07:04:00.000+03:00' 'f3f2bedcd19418132d8a80a9ee27b677172eca4c'|'BOJ likely to cut inflation forecast this month: ex-BOJ official'|'By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO The Bank of Japan will likely cut its rosy inflation forecast as early as this month, as slow wage growth and soft private consumption prevent prices from accelerating much this fiscal year, a former senior central bank executive said.Any such downgrade of the BOJ''s 1.5 percent inflation target will make it difficult for the central bank to seek an early exit from its massive stimulus, said Kazuo Momma, a former BOJ official who oversaw its monetary policy and international affairs.But there are also few reasons to ease policy as keeping interest rates ultra-low for too long could hurt household sentiment by pushing down the rate of returns on their savings, said Momma, an executive economist at Mizuho Research Institute."The BOJ''s price forecasts are too optimistic, so there''s a very high chance they will be revised down. This may happen at its next quarterly forecast review in April," he said."It''s hard to raise interest rates when you''re cutting your inflation forecasts," Momma told Reuters on Wednesday.When stripping away the base effect of last year''s oil price falls, underlying trend inflation remains weak due to slow wage growth and sluggish household spending, he said.Momma, who retains close contact with incumbent Japanese policymakers, said it is thus a near-certainty the BOJ will miss its 2 percent inflation target during the next fiscal year ending in March 2019.He expects core consumer inflation to hover around 0.5 percent in the current fiscal year and accelerate only to around 1.0 percent the following year.Under the current forecasts made in January, the BOJ expects core consumer inflation to hit 1.5 percent this fiscal year and 1.7 percent in fiscal 2018.The BOJ will conduct a quarterly review of its economic and price forecasts at its next rate review on April 26-27.Japan''s economy has shown signs of life in recent months, with exports and factory output benefiting from a recovery in global demand.With inflation expected to accelerate later this year on a rebound in energy costs and rising import prices from a weak yen, a growing number of analysts now predict the BOJ''s next move would be to start scaling back its massive stimulus.BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said the central bank is nowhere near withdrawing stimulus with inflation still distant from its 2 percent target.Core consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February from a year earlier, marking the fastest annual pace in nearly two years.But a separate consumer price index that excludes the effect of volatile fresh food and energy costs rose just 0.1 percent in February, suggesting that weak consumption was preventing companies from raising prices of non-energy items.(Additional reporting by Sumio Ito; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idINKBN1770ZP'|'2017-04-05T07:13:00.000+03:00' 'ea109ae9fb22cec90a6a19b7a04187e5d7130a94'|'US STOCKS-Futures flat ahead of Fed minutes, Trump-Xi talks'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:43am EDT Futures flat ahead of Fed minutes, Trump-Xi talks Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday with investors on guard ahead of the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve''s latest meeting and talks between the U.S. and Chinese presidents later this week. * The meeting, starting Thursday, between Donald Trump and China''s Xi Jinping is likely to be tense, with trade and North Korea expected to dominate. Trump has said the meeting is likely to be a "very difficult one". * Also weighing on investors'' minds is Trump''s ability to deliver on tax reform and other pro-business promises after recent setbacks in pushing reforms through Congress. * Wall Street has rallied on Trump''s promises, with analysts saying the expectations of tax cuts have been priced in. The lofty market valuations will be in sharp focus with the first-quarter earnings season around the corner. * The Fed raised interest rates in March and indicated it would hike rates twice more this year. The minutes of that meeting are due at 2:00 p.m. ET (1800 GMT). * Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan is the only central bank official scheduled to speak on Wednesday. * Among the early movers on Wednesday were shares of Panera Bread ( PNRA.O ). The stock jumped nearly 13 percent to $308.86 after JAB Holdings said it would buy the bakery chain in a deal valued at $7.5 billion. * Data on tap includes the ADP National Employment report that is likely to show fewer jobs were added in the private sector in March than in February. The report, due at 8:15 a.m. ET, serves as a predecessor to Friday''s nonfarm payrolls report. * The ISM non-manufacturing index is expected to have slipped to 57 points in March from 57.6 the month earlier. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET. Futures snapshot at 6:57 a.m. ET: * Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 7 points, or 0.03 percent, with 15,505 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 1 point, or 0.04 percent, with 84,858 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 3 points, or 0.06 percent, on volume of 15,928 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN1771FG'|'2017-04-05T19:40:00.000+03:00' '3a5e21bfafd5e70bf71b44374fd92f56ff5b7ccf'|'Housebuilder Galliford Try ends Bovis buyout attempt'|'LONDON British housebuilder Galliford Try ( GFRD.L ) on Wednesday pulled out of an attempt to buy ailing rival Bovis ( BVS.L ), ending months of uncertainty surrounding the firm, which said it could thrive alone as it appointed a new chief executive.Bovis, whose CEO quit in January following a profit warning resulting from a failure to build enough homes on time, has been subject to takeover speculation since a major shareholder wrote to another builder suggesting a tie-up earlier this year.It rejected bids from Redrow ( RDW.L ) and Galliford Try ( GFRD.L ) last month but remained in talks with the latter.Both firms said on Wednesday they had failed to reach an agreement, ending any possible buyout."The merger proposal... failed to reflect the underlying value of the Bovis business," Bovis said in a statement."It believes that an independent strategy under the leadership of Greg Fitzgerald will deliver greater value for shareholders," it said.Fitzgerald, a former chief executive of Galliford Try where he spent 30 years of his career, will join Bovis on April 18 to continue the turnaround of the firm, which said its current sales and reservations were in line with expectations.A tie-up between Bovis and Galliford Try would have created Britain''s fifth largest housebuilder by volume and been the first major consolidation in the sector for nearly a decade.Galliford''s proposal had valued the entire issued equity of Bovis at 1.19 billion pounds ($1.45 billion), or 886 pence per share and envisaged an equity split of 52.25 percent for Galliford shareholders and 47.75 percent for Bovis shareholders.(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Paul Sandle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bovis-m-a-gallifordtry-idINKBN1770M9'|'2017-04-05T04:48:00.000+03:00' '15beb5352bd1f6b1793388df0620cca0f797c6c8'|'Preview - Singapore c.bank seen on hold as economy emerges from doldrums'|'Money News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 11:04am IST Preview - Singapore c.bank seen on hold as economy emerges from doldrums The logo of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is pictured at its building in Singapore in this February 21, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo By Masayuki Kitano - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Singapore''s central bank is widely expected to keep policy steady next week, with the economy seen on track to meet the official full-year forecast despite an expected contraction in the first quarter. Eighteen of 19 analysts in a Reuters survey predicted that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) would keep its exchange-rate based policy unchanged at its semiannual review due on April 13, at 8 a.m. (0000 GMT). The government''s advance estimate of first-quarter GDP, due at the same time, is expected to show that GDP shrank 1.9 percent from the previous three months on annualised basis, according to the median forecast in a Reuters survey. Economists say the likely contraction is due to the economy coming off a high peak in the fourth quarter, when GDP jumped 12.3 percent on-quarter, rather than signalling any sharp deterioration in economic activity. "I don''t think there''s a need for alarm," said Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy for OCBC Bank. "Whether all these green shoots that we''re seeing in manufacturing sustains into the second quarter, that''s the key question," Ling added. Market focus will also turn on any changes to the forward guidance introduced in October 2016, when the MAS said it "assesses that a neutral policy stance will be needed for an extended period to ensure medium-term price stability." Since inflation has edged higher and exports have picked up, analysts say a removal of that phrasing could stir market speculation of the MAS tightening policy in October. Still, very few see chances of tighter policy anytime soon, especially given some of the external risks to the outlook, including a rise in trade protectionism under U.S. President Donald Trump''s administration and any weakness in China - Singapore''s biggest trading partner. EXPORTS RECOVERY First quarter GDP probably grew 2.4 percent on a year-on-year basis, according to the median forecast. While that would be slower than the fourth quarter''s 2.9 percent expansion, the pace would still be at the higher end of the government''s full-year forecast of 1-3 percent for this year, and the 2016 full-year rate of 2.0 percent. With exports and manufacturing having picked up since late 2016, and inflation rising in line with official forecasts, most analysts expect the MAS to stand pat after having eased policy three times since January 2015, most recently in April 2016. The central bank manages monetary policy by letting the Singapore dollar rise or fall against the currencies of its main trading partners within an undisclosed trading band based on its nominal effective exchange rate (NEER). The MAS maintained a stance of zero percent appreciation of the Singapore dollar NEER''s policy band at its previous decision last October, leaving scope for the currency to weaken and provide a cushion to the economy in the event of a deteriorating outlook. "The Singapore dollar NEER still has about 2 percentage points within the policy band to adjust," said Edward Lee, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/singapore-economy-cenbank-idINKBN1790K3'|'2017-04-07T13:34:00.000+03:00' 'beb1f3fef4d5fa74d53872db0e183c84df80c3cd'|'Former VW patriarch Piech to sell bulk of Porsche SE stake'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 3:22pm BST Former VW patriarch Piech to sell bulk of Porsche SE stake Ferdinand Piech, former chairman of the supervisory board of German carmaker Volkswagen, arrives at the annual shareholders meeting in Hanover in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/Files BERLIN/FRANKFURT Former Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, paring his ties with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. Volkswagen''s (VW) ruling Porsche and Piech families have agreed to buy part of the 14.7 percent stake Piech holds in Porsche Automobil Holding SE ( PSHG_p.DE ), which in turn owns 52.2 percent of voting shares in VW, exercising their right of first refusal on Porsche SE shares, according to a Porsche SE statement published on Monday. It did not say exactly how much of the stake the families would buy. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Victoria Bryan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-piech-idUKKBN1751KY'|'2017-04-03T22:16:00.000+03:00' '0d12b722b098662f2a4372272b016a575521115e'|'UK watchdog proposes rules to help struggling credit card customers'|' 54am EDT UK watchdog proposes rules to help struggling credit card customers By Huw Jones - LONDON, April 3 LONDON, April 3 Credit card firms will have to do more to help struggling customers repay their debts, including the suspension of cards under proposals published by Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority on Monday. The proposals follow a review by the FCA into Britain''s credit card market where 3.3 million people are in persistent debt, meaning they have paid more in interest and charges than they have repaid of their borrowing. Credit card issuers typically do not step in because such customers are profitable, with costs to customers on average 2.5 pounds for every pound repaid. "We expect our proposals to reduce the number of customers in problem credit card debt, as well as putting customers in greater control of their borrowing," FCA Chief Executive Andrew Bailey said in a statement. Last week the Bank of England called for checks on standards in consumer credit, a sector that has been growing rapidly. Under the FCA''s proposals put out to public consultation, when a customer has been in persistent debt for a 18 months, issuers will have to prompt them to make faster repayments if they can afford to do so. If a customer remains in persistent debt for another 18 months, firms must propose a repayment plan. "Customers who do not respond, or who confirm that they can afford to repay faster but decline to do so, would have their ability to use the card suspended," the FCA said. If a customer cannot afford any of the options proposed to repay balances more quickly, firms could cut, waive or cancel any interest or charges, the FCA said. "It is expected that firms would normally suspend use of the customer’s card during this period." The watchdog estimates that by 2030, savings to customers would reach 3 billion to 13 billion pounds ($3.76 billion-$16.30 billion). Savings would peak in the first few years at between 310 million pounds and 1.3 billion pounds a year. Credit card issuers will also have to do more to identify struggling customers much earlier. The consultation also sets out measures the regulator and the industry have voluntarily agreed to give customers greater control over increases to their credit limits. All customers will be made aware of their right to decline offers of a credit limit increase. There are 30 million credit card customers in Britain, 60 percent of the adult population. ($1 = 0.7977 pounds) (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Jason Neely) UPDATE give * Signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement to acquire Gestra AG and associated businesses from Flowserve Corporation MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-credit-regulations-idUSL5N1HB0WH'|'2017-04-03T14:54:00.000+03:00' '844aa22f0f35fb8dee01ccbe0e441ef9de1afd88'|'Former VW patriarch Piech to sell bulk of Porsche SE stake'|'BERLIN/FRANKFURT Former Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, paring his ties with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule.Volkswagen''s (VW) ruling Porsche and Piech families have agreed to buy part of the 14.7 percent stake Piech holds in Porsche Automobil Holding SE ( PSHG_p.DE ), which in turn owns 52.2 percent of voting shares in VW, exercising their right of first refusal on Porsche SE shares, according to a Porsche SE statement published on Monday.It did not say exactly how much of the stake the families would buy.(Reporting by Andreas Cremer and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-piech-idINKBN1751KY'|'2017-04-03T12:22:00.000+03:00' '36beb2d03c1198701a2f2d663db450b56510627a'|'AIG morale could spook talent, curb turnaround plan: UBS report'|'Money - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 4:23pm EDT AIG morale could spook talent, curb turnaround plan: UBS report left right The ticker information for insurance company American International Group Inc., (AIG) is displayed on a screen above the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 4, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/2 left right The AIG logo is seen at its building in New York''s financial district March 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/2 By Suzanne Barlyn A morale crisis at American International Group Inc could prevent the U.S. insurance company from keeping and hiring the talent it needs to propel it through its financial turnaround, UBS said in an analysis on Monday. AIG ranked last through March 21 among 10 insurers rated by their own employees in categories ranging from career opportunities to business outlook, according to a UBS analysis of data from Glassdoor Inc, which runs a careers website and database of millions of company reviews. An AIG spokesman declined to comment. Last year, AIG ranked last in seven of 10 categories rated by Glassdoor users, including employees and agents. Factors also include compensation, senior management and cultural values. AIG, which announced on March 9 that its chief executive, Peter Hancock, would be stepping down, has ranked at or near the bottom of the group in all categories since 2012, wrote UBS analyst Brian Meredith in a report to UBS customers. The morale slump could threaten a two-year turnaround plan put in place at AIG after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn became AIG''s fourth-largest investor in 2015, Meredith said. AIG is midway through the plan, which involves divesting businesses, cutting costs and ultimately returning $25 billion to shareholders. A $5.6 billion addition to reserves to cover future claims led AIG to report an unexpectedly large fourth-quarter loss on Feb. 14, jolting investors and leading to Hancock’s planned departure. Hancock''s successor has not yet been announced, though several names have been cited by analysts and in media reports. The board has pledged to find a new CEO quickly. The data is an indication of AIG''s challenges in "retaining and hiring underwriting talent" in its commercial property and casualty businesses during the last several years, wrote Meredith. Dim views of AIG among employees and agents signal "the challenges that AIG continues to face in retaining and hiring talent it needs" to boost and maintain its commercial property and casualty insurance businesses, said Meredith. The UBS analysis involved about 6,300 reviews posted on Glassdoor that UBS identified as being from employees of large property and casualty insurers, including Travelers Cos Inc and The Hartford. More than 1,400 of the 6,300 reviews were from AIG employees. CNA Insurance has scored the highest ratings so far in 2017, while Travelers ranked the highest last year, according to UBS. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Next In Money'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-aig-morale-idUSKBN1752DM'|'2017-04-04T04:23:00.000+03:00' '3c4842b91d03376269572ed84e380d5287ccc0df'|'Workers at Greece''s PPC go to European court over stake claim'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 2:15pm BST Workers at Greece''s PPC go to European court over stake claim A view of the coal-fired power station of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) near the northern town of Ptolemaida, Greece, April 2, 2017. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis By Angeliki Koutantou - ATHENS ATHENS Workers at Greece''s main power utility, Public Power Corp (PPC) ( DEHr.AT ), will file an appeal to Europe''s top human rights court on Tuesday, aiming to block the sale of some company assets and seeking recognition they own a stake in the business. Part of the state-controlled PPC is due to be sold under Greece''s multi-billion euro bailout. But the GENOP-DEH union is opposed to the plan and said on Monday staff should have a greater say, claiming they have a stake in the company from social security contributions accumulated from 1966 to 1999. "We will file an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, seeking that our holdings in the company are recognised," said George Adamidis, head of the union representing 18,000 PPC workers. An earlier attempt to have their claim recognised was rejected by Greece''s Council of State, the country''s top administrative court. The state controls 51 percent of PPC, which commands about 90 percent of Greece''s retail power market and 60 percent of its wholesale market. Under an international bailout signed in 2015, Athens agreed to cut both shares to below 50 percent by 2020, mainly via power sales to alternative producers. But its lenders from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund say that plan has not been effective and they now want the country to also sell up to 40 percent of its coal-fired units. The issue has been an obstacle in talks to unlock new loans for the cash-strapped country. GENOP-DEH has accused the government of trying to hold a fire-sale of parts of PPC and has warned of labour action if Athens moves ahead with the plan. PPC operates 14 coal-fired units in Greece, accounting for about half of the company''s total production. Energy Minister George Stathakis told Athens News Agency on Sunday the government would safeguard jobs at PPC and support every effort to keep its assets under state control. Stathakis said lenders were pushing Greece to sell PPC assets after a European court ruled last year that PPC had abused its dominant position in the country''s coal market. Greece, PPC and its lenders will hold talks until autumn to specify which coal-fired units will be sold, he added. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-ppc-workers-idUKKBN1751F6'|'2017-04-03T21:15:00.000+03:00' '3b281f7e29f26a4b76c30d116027beed5bd038de'|'Venezuela money supply up 200 percent in year, fastest rise on record'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 12:56pm EDT Venezuela money supply up 200 percent in year, fastest rise on record A worker counts Venezuelan bolivar notes at a gas station of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Caracas, Venezuela March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello By Girish Gupta - CARACAS CARACAS Crisis-stricken Venezuela''s money supply has surged over 200 percent in a year, its fastest rise since records began in 1940, putting it on track for what is likely the world''s highest inflation. Soon after a month-long hiatus from publication, the central bank said late on Friday the total amount of local currency in circulation - known as M2 by economists - as of March 24 was 13.3 trillion bolivars, up 202.9 percent from a year earlier. In contrast, the United States'' money supply was up 6.4 percent in the same period. Venezuela is in a major economic crisis, with millions struggling with food shortages and inflation thought to be in triple digits - though no official data is available. The exponential rise in M2, the sum of cash, together with checking, savings and other deposits, means an exponential rise in the amount of currency circulating. Coupled with a decline in the output of goods and services, that has accelerated inflation. The central bank website shows five separate spreadsheets with money supply data going back to 1940. Back then, as now, Venezuela''s primary export was oil. While M2 may seem an obscure technical indicator, the figure was routinely published by newspapers in Venezuela, whose oil-dependent economy has been dogged by inflation in the past. Venezuela''s opposition-led National Assembly, which accuses the leftist government of destroying the OPEC country''s economy, says inflation reached 741 percent in the year to February. President Nicolas Maduro says right-wing businessmen are hoarding goods to sabotage his administration, an accusation the opposition rejects. The last year for which official inflation data is available from the central bank is 2015, when consumer prices rose 181 percent. (Editing by Alexandra Ulmer and Dan Grebler) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy-idUSKBN1751ZE'|'2017-04-04T00:56:00.000+03:00' '7fc543c70b82a3359dea3973be18f74929e5c4d1'|'EU mergers and takeovers (March April 3)'|' 29am EDT EU mergers and takeovers (March April 3) BRUSSELS, April 3 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS -- German synthetic rubber maker Lanxess AG to acquire U.S. specialty chemical company Chemtura (approved line March 31) NEW LISTINGS -- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12) -- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified) EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE APRIL 4 -- U.S. computer and printer maker Hewlett Packard to acquire South Korean group Samsung Electronics'' printer business (notified Feb. 28/deadline April 4) APRIL 7 -- Engie Group French banking group BPCE to acquire a 49.9 percent stake in renewable energy companies LCS 4 and LCS (notified March 3/deadline April 7/simplified) -- Twenty-First Century Fox to acquire the rest of European pay-TV company Sky it does not own (notified March 3/deadline April 7) APRIL 10 -- Danish container shipping company Maersk to acquire German peer Hamburg Sud (notified Feb. 20/deadline extended to April 10 from March 27 after commitments submitted) APRIL 12 -- U.S. aircraft component maker Rockwell Collins to acquire aircraft interior maker B/E Aerospace (notified March 8/deadline April 12) -- U.S. car part supplier Lear to acquire Grupo Antolin''s automotive seating business (notified March 8/deadline April 12/simplified) -- Dutch insurer NN Group to acquire Dutch rival Group Delta Lloyd (notified Feb. 22/deadline extended to April 12 from March 29 after the Dutch competition regulator asked to examine the deal) -- Chinese state-owned company China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) to acquire Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta (notified Sept. 23/deadline extended to April 12) APRIL 18 -- Megatrend European Holdings, which is part of property investment company TH Real Estate, and German insurer Allianz to jointly acquire Finnish company NRF which owns Helsinki-based Kamppi Shopping Centre (notified March 9/deadline April 18) -- German cement producers Heidelbergcement and Schwenk to jointly acquire Mexican peer Cemex''s Croatian unit (notified Sept. 5/deadline extended to April 18 from March 23) APRIL 19 -- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions) -- Private equity firm 3i, Dutch asset manager APG and Danish pension fund ATP to acquire a portfolio of European infrastructure companies from EISER (notified March 10/April 19/simplified) -- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions) APRIL 21 -- French utility Engie to acquire UK property developer Keepmoat Regeneration HOldings (notified March 14/deadline April 21/simplified) APRIL 24 -- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24) -- France''s Group Credit Mutuel and French bank BNP Paribas to set up a joint venture (notified March 15/deadline April 24) -- Bollore Energy, which is part of French group Bollore , and Total Marketing France, which is part of French energy company Total, to set up a joint venture (notified March 15/deadline April 24/simplified) APRIL 25 -- Private equity firm CVC to acquire Polish retailer Zabka Polska (notified March 16/deadline April 25/simplified) APRIL 26 -- Investment company Ardian to acquire majority of France''s Prosol, an operator of Grand Frais grocery stores (notified March 17/deadline April 26/simplified) -- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline April 26) -- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26) MAY 2 -- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (notified March 22/deadline May 2/simplified) MAY 4 -- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified) MAY 5 -- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5) -- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified) MAY 8 -- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified) MAY 10 -- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified) MAY 12 -- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17) GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idUSL5N1HB2KS'|'2017-04-03T18:29:00.000+03:00' '9ffee868dc6d9bac299012bb6dedcce1c254dde0'|'EU finance ministers to ponder Europe''s bad-loan problem'|'Business News - 57am BST EU finance ministers to ponder Europe''s bad-loan problem FILE PHOTO: European Union finance ministers attend a meeting in Brussels, Belgium February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir By Jan Strupczewski - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union finance ministers will try on Friday to find a way to deal with bad loans at European banks that drain their profits and capital and obstruct their financing of the economy. The 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn in Europe increased the non-performing loans (NPLs) of EU banks, which now amount to 1 trillion euros ($1.07 trillion), or 5.4 percent of all bank loans. The data come from a paper prepared for the ministers'' discussions on Friday and Saturday at informal talks to be held in Valletta by the Maltese presidency of the EU. The paper said it is difficult to compare levels of bad loans in banks elsewhere because no common definition exists, but they amounted to 1.7 percent of total loans in the United States and 1.6 percent in Japan in 2015. "The pace of working out the NPLs is still relatively slow, and if action continues at that level it will take quite a bit of time," one EU official said. Officials said banks could survive with a 5.4 percent bad loan ratio, but that the average masked huge differences between countries, ranging from 1 percent to 47 percent. "We expect recognition from the ministers that there is a European dimension to the problem and so it makes sense that we have a common strategy," the official said. The countries with the highest bad loan ratios were Greece, Cyprus and Portugal, followed by Italy, Slovenia and Ireland. Banks have made provisions for roughly half the bad-loan amount, officials said. "Given its magnitude, the NPL problem will not solve itself, even in the context of economic recovery," the Maltese presidency paper said. "Significant steps have already been taken in member states to tackle the NPL issue, including in the context of financial assistance program. More is needed, however, to bring the NPL ratio down to sustainable levels," it said. The paper suggested ministers should push for unifying the treatment of bad loans by bank supervisors across the EU, unify insolvency laws, develop secondary markets on which banks could trade bad loans and set up asset management companies for NPLs. Finally, ministers should consider restructuring in the banking system to help deal with high levels bad loans now and in make it more resilient to NPLs in the future. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop, Larry King) Next In Business News LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), having shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and facing calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels are taking on more risk and learning to trade, just like any other commodities dealers. Oil rises to near one-month high on supply tightening SINGAPORE Oil climbed to a near one-month high on Wednesday on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories and on concerns about a supply outage at a field in the United Kingdom''s North Sea that feeds into an international benchmark price. China holds up Asia stocks; oil gains on North Sea outage HONG KONG Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, helped by a bounce in Chinese shares, though investors held off from making big bets before a highly-anticipated summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping gets underway on Thursday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-europe-banks-npls-idUKKBN1770V8'|'2017-04-05T16:39:00.000+03:00' 'cfe22b4c369cc76614855d116f23623814ef6832'|'Mickelson a distraction in insider trading case -gambler''s lawyer'|'U.S. 43pm EDT Mickelson a distraction in insider trading case: gambler''s lawyer left right FILE PHOTO: Professional sports gambler William ''Billy'' Walters departs Federal Court after a hearing in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo 1/2 left right Apr 6, 2017; Augusta, GA, USA; Phil Mickelson hits his tee shot on the 2nd hole during the first round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports 2/2 By Brendan Pierson An attorney defending Las Vegas sports gambler William "Billy" Walters against insider trading charges told jurors on Wednesday that prosecutors introduced testimony about star golfer Phil Mickelson to cover up the weakness of their case. In a closing argument in Manhattan federal court, lawyer Barry Berke said prosecutors brought in evidence about the golfer because they did not have enough evidence against Walters himself, likening it to "putty" used to patch holes in a wall. Prosecutors say Walters made more than $40 million trading in Dean Foods Co stock based on insider information from former Dean Foods Chairman Tom Davis, and at one point passed a tip to Mickelson. The golfer agreed to pay back money he made trading Dean Foods stock but has not been accused of wrongdoing. Berke attacked the credibility of Davis, who testified that he passed inside information to Walters for years. Davis has pleaded guilty to insider trading charges and is cooperating with prosecutors. Prosecutors say that in return for insider tips, Davis received personal loans from Walters of more than $1 million. Berke told jurors that Davis made up an elaborate lie to get a sweetheart deal for himself, "reverse engineering" records of his phone calls with Walters and Walters'' trades to invent a pattern of insider trading. Davis said he told Walters in advance about earnings reports and about a 2012 spinoff of part of Dean Foods'' business. Berke spent much of his argument pointing out what he said were inconsistencies between Davis''s testimony and the timing of Walters'' phone calls and trades. He attacked Davis''s testimony that Walters gave him a special phone to talk about Dean Foods at a meeting at Dallas Love Field, an airfield in Dallas. Berke said flight records for Walters'' plane did not fit Davis''s account. "It doesn''t hold together like the truth," Berke said of Davis''s testimony. In a rebuttal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Goldman acknowledged that Davis, by his own admission, had lied repeatedly, not only while being investigated for insider trading but about stealing from a charity he ran and about marital infidelities. But Goldman said Davis''s testimony fit the record of phone calls and trades, despite some inconsistencies. "Tom Davis was asked to recall a years-long conspiracy," Goldman said. "He did his best to remember what he could." The case is U.S. v. Davis et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 16-cr-00338. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-insidertrading-walters-idUSKBN1782T6'|'2017-04-07T04:40:00.000+03:00' '934ce78c41569d42dec6eb3018ba4eff9c6f811a'|'In swan song, Fed''s top cop questions parts of sweeping bank law'|' 10:40pm BST In swan song, Fed''s top cop questions parts of sweeping bank law U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo delivers remarks at the Center for American Progress in Washington, U.S. July 12, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron By Jonathan Spicer and Patrick Rucker - PRINCETON, N.J./WASHINGTON PRINCETON, N.J./WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve''s top regulator, who steps down on Wednesday after a career defending tough restrictions on big banks, used his last speech as a U.S. central banker to concede on Tuesday that some of the rules adopted following the financial crisis have proven too complicated and should be adjusted. Daniel Tarullo, a Fed governor since the depths of the crisis in early 2009, said the existing so-called Volcker rule has proven unworkable and that annual "stress tests" of the top Wall Street banks may not need a qualitative review as they do now. The acknowledgements may surprise some politicians and bankers alike given Tarullo has long been seen as among the most hard-charging U.S. regulators and an ardent supporter of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial legislation now threatened by the Trump administration and a Republican-controlled Congress. "There are areas where I think the case for change has become fairly strong," he said in a speech at Princeton University. "As it has been drafted and implemented, the Volcker rule is too complicated." The rule, named after former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, is meant to prevent banks from using customer deposits to make speculative bets for the banks'' own accounts, called proprietary trading. Banks resisted the rule on grounds such trading is hard to define, while proponents say such trades worsened the crisis and drove unethical behaviour across Wall Street. Tarullo also said the yearly stress tests for banks that consider both their financial health and subjective concerns like management can be adjusted over time to drop the qualitative benchmarks. Tarullo, 64, is stepping down at an uncertain time for the central bank, which helped author the Wall Street rules meant to prevent any further financial shocks that rock the economy and require taxpayer-funded bailouts of banks, as in 2008 and 2009. While Tarullo has long represented the United States at international meetings meant to craft global standards, former President Barack Obama, who originally nominated him to the Fed, never officially offered him the still-unfilled job of vice chair for supervision. That omission has left an opening for President Donald Trump to name someone and quickly revamp Dodd-Frank, and it may have hastened Tarullo''s departure, which was announced in February. Tarullo''s swan song was somewhat overshadowed by the shock announcement earlier on Tuesday that Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, was abruptly resigning after admitting a conversation he had with a Wall Street analyst in 2012 may have disclosed confidential information about Fed policy options. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Princeton, New Jersey and Patrick Rucker in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-fed-tarullo-idUKKBN1762V7'|'2017-04-05T05:40:00.000+03:00' 'f4fbc896e971cc2726339db9e0fcbe63ef55d8e6'|'Actelion shareholders back R&D spinoff, keep J&J deal on track'|'ZURICH Shareholders in Swiss biotech group Actelion ( ATLN.S ) approved on Wednesday spinning off its drug discovery and early clinical pipeline into a new company, keeping Johnson & Johnson''s ( JNJ.N ) $30 billion takeover on track to close in the second quarter."After a very successful two decades, resulting in an unprecedented share price increase of more than 2,000 percent since our IPO, the next chapter for Actelion awaits," Chairman Jean-Pierre Garnier said after the annual meeting."With the successful tender offer by Johnson & Johnson, regulatory approvals on track, and today''s approval by the shareholders to spin out Idorsia, the transaction is moving ahead at full steam."Johnson & Johnson last month declared its tender offer a success and reported it controlled 77.2 percent of Actelion''s voting rights after the main offer period.J&J intends to delist Actelion, while the new research and development company led by Actelion founder Jean-Paul Clozel will have a separate Swiss listing. {nL5N1FG2X4](Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Brenn Hughes Neghaiwi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-actelion-m-a-j-j-idINKBN1771A6'|'2017-04-05T08:54:00.000+03:00' '22d23b86656bce10e9fd28dbb337e6a47bad6c4a'|'PPG says ready to address Akzo Nobel objections to offer'|'AMSTERDAM PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), the U.S. paints and coating makers that is trying to buy smaller Dutch peer Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ), said on Wednesday it was ready to address various non-financial objections Akzo had raised about PPG''s offer.On Tuesday, Akzo repeated its opposition to PPG''s 24.5 billion euro ($26.1 billion) offer, saying it would face antitrust difficulties and would be bad for employees.. A large number of Akzo shareholders have urged the management to enter discussions.In a statement on Wednesday, PPG said it would address Akzo''s concerns, including commitments to research and development, employment terms, location of divisional headquarters, community investment and sustainability targets."We once again invite AkzoNobel to meet with us ... We are prepared to address all of AkzoNobel''s concerns in a collaborative and substantive manner," PPG Michael McGarry said in a statement.(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idINKBN1771HK'|'2017-04-05T10:02:00.000+03:00' '321b93aeed2a3a7ffaa9c746254eae13dc1a2e18'|'MOVES-JP Morgan re-hires healthcare banker Colocci from Morgan Stanley'|'LONDON, April 5 JP Morgan said on Wednesday that Michele Colocci will rejoin the investment bank from rival Morgan Stanley to co-lead Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) industry coverage with Harry Hampson.He will also co-head healthcare investment banking globally along with Jeff Stute, an internal memo from the bank said.Colocci, who will start at JP Morgan in London in July, is leaving his role as global co-head of healthcare investment banking and chairman of EMEA mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/moves-jpmorgan-idINL5N1HD304'|'2017-04-05T09:28:00.000+03:00' '71512da6bd5d5d9cb4fcc3ba7508ea080981939f'|'EU, Greece urge deal on bailout review on Friday'|'ATHENS Greece and its lenders must reach a deal on a long-stalled bailout review at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Friday, the country''s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday, blaming creditors for unwarranted delays.Talks between Greece, the European Union and the Washington-based International Monetary Fund have dragged on for months due to differences over Greece''s fiscal progress, labour and energy market reforms, rekindling worries of a new crisis in Europe.A new rift between Athens and the IMF over fiscal issues and labour reforms has dealt a blow to an preliminary accord, dashing hopes for a bailout review deal before a regular Eurogroup meeting on April 7.Tsipras said Greece outperformed its fiscal targets last year and that lenders should stop causing unjustified delays in the review, which pose risks to the country''s economic recovery."The Greek economy is ready to leave the crisis behind it. But despite the impressive fiscal results, some of our creditors appear unrepentant", Tsipras told a news conference after meeting EU Council President Donald Tusk, who is visiting Athens."If there is no white smoke at the Eurogroup on Friday, I have already requested an EU leaders'' summit," he said.Tsipras said that Greece achieved a primary budget surplus - before debt payments - of more than 3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) last year versus a bailout target of 0.5 percent of GDP.Responding to criticism, Tusk said that the European Union stood by Greece''s side and was facilitating negotiations."The sacrifices of the Greek citizens have been immense. One thing must be clear - no one intends to punish Greece, our goal is only to help Greece," he said. "I have no doubt that there is no alternative to a positive breakthrough on Friday."(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-bailout-idINKBN1771CR'|'2017-04-05T09:17:00.000+03:00' 'f4cad00826edea96268a0adcb7106dda5d4eda19'|'Mexico''s Telmex says fined 5.3 mln pesos for concession non-compliance'|'Technology News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 12:57pm EDT Mexico''s Telmex says fined 5.3 million pesos for concession non-compliance A man crosses a pedestrian bridge next to the headquarters of internet and fixed-line phone company Telmex, commercial brand of America Movil, in Mexico City, Mexico, March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido MEXICO CITY Mexican mogul Carlos Slim''s fixed-line telephone firm Telmex said on Wednesday it had been fined 5.3 million pesos ($283,016) by Mexico''s telecoms regulator for failing to comply with the terms of its concession relating to public TV. Telmex said it was studying the Federal Telecommunications Institute''s (IFT) decision and would appeal. The company said the IFT''s decision was based on non-compliance of its concession, in relation to deals signed with Dish and its affiliates. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-telmex-idUSKBN1772AR'|'2017-04-06T00:54:00.000+03:00' 'ac8feb78346532d851cfa02d66a24a29c8fefe72'|'In tax evasion hunt, Australia finds scores of Swiss accounts still active'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 10:35am BST In tax evasion hunt, Australia finds scores of Swiss accounts still active SYDNEY Hundreds of secret Swiss bank accounts identified by Australian authorities as part of a global tax evasion and money laundering investigation are still in use, a top tax official said on Wednesday. Coordinated raids on scores of suspicious bank accounts began last week in Australia, the Netherlands, Britain, Germany and France, with at least two arrests so far. Australian regulators are making inquiries on a list of 1,000 individuals that was provided to them by their Dutch counterparts. Out of that, Australia has already identified more than 340 and is still making inquiries to expose the remainder. "This seems to be a more current list," Michael Cranston, Deputy Commissioner, Australian Tax Office told Reuters by phone. "Our understanding is some are active accounts. The information we''ve got suggests a lot of them would be active over the last year or two." Cranston declined to specify those being investigated, only saying that one Swiss bank was at the center of the investigation. Swiss bank Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) came out last week to reveal its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam were contacted by local authorities concerning client tax matters. In Australia, the surveillance is being carried out by the Serious Financial Crime Task Force (SFCT), of which the ATO is a part. "We''re actually making inquiries with those taxpayers. We''ll make the necessary adjustments and impose the necessary penalties," Cranston said. "If we find links to accountants as facilitators, they may be subject to criminal investigation. It all depends on what we find." (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Randy Fabi) Next In Business News LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and face calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels that may force them to take more risks and start trading just like other commodity dealers.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-australia-taxevasion-swiss-idUKKBN17712Y'|'2017-04-05T17:30:00.000+03:00' '1346838ce25ea675f66d6cfb6063a9817415f69b'|'Bank lobby warns of market ructions if Brexit talks stumble'|'Money News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 11:38am IST Bank lobby warns of market ructions if Brexit talks stumble LONDON Europe''s banking lobby warned on Wednesday of the dangers to wholesale banking and financial stability if negotiations over Britain''s exit from the European Union end in deadlock. "Financial stability and market efficiency must be safeguarded during the Brexit implementation process and thereafter," the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) Chief Executive Simon Lewis said in a statement. In a report released on Wednesday, AFME highlighted conflicting issues faced by the key actors in Brexit talks which it said could cause disruptions, including Britain wanting to secure the best possible access to the bloc, while not wishing to remain part of the single market. AFME is also concerned about the European Commission having responsibility for EU financial markets policy, while also being the EU''s chief Brexit negotiator, as well as Europe''s capitals competing to attract financial firms from London, while also wanting to limit any additional systemic risk. "With such a disparate set of actors and incentives, it will be a major challenge to implement Brexit in an orderly way in relation to wholesale banking," AFME said. There are also potential problems ahead for banks in London that want to continue operating from the British capital after Brexit under an EU system known as "equivalence", whereby the EU grants market access to non-EU firms that comply with rules that are as robust as those in the bloc. AFME said the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), would play a crucial role in advising the EU on whether a non-EU firm could be deemed to be equivalent. ESMA''s resources, however, will become more stretched once the UK''s budget contribution ends, meaning that obtaining equivalence for about 2,000 firms may not be fast enough to avoid market disruption, AFME added. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Alexander Smith) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-banks-idINKBN1770HZ'|'2017-04-05T14:08:00.000+03:00' 'd6eeb02ffbeefce4d209fe7b3cf9fd66380836ff'|'France''s Total extends British shale gas involvement'|'Global Energy 4:55pm BST France''s Total extends British shale gas involvement A logo for oil giant Total is seen at a petrol station in London February 12, 2008. REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo LONDON French oil major Total ( TOTF.PA ) has extended an option with British shale gas developer Egdon Resources ( EGRE.L ) to buy a stake in one of Egdon''s shale gas licences, the companies said on Tuesday. Egdon said in a statement Total had agreed on an option to farm in to its PEDL209 exploration licence in Lincolnshire by Dec. 31, 2018, which would earn it a 36 percent interest. Total''s previous option on the licence had lapsed. In exchange, Total has agreed to then pay Egdon''s expenses of an exploration programme worth up to 13.47 million pounds, including the drilling of a well. Large amounts of shale gas are estimated to be trapped in underground rocks and the British government says it wants to exploit them to help offset declining North Sea oil and gas output, create some 64,000 jobs and help economic growth. But so far only one shale gas well has been fracked and progress has been slow over the past years due to regulatory hurdles and public protests. Environmental groups are concerned that fracking could contaminate groundwater and that it is incompatible with fighting climate change. Total made its foray into Britain''s shale gas industry in early 2014 when it bought a 40 percent interest in two licences in the Gainsborough Trough area in northern England for up to $48 million from Dart Energy, now owned by IGas ( IGAS.L ). [ here ] In the United States, Total has been building a sizeable presence in the shale oil market, most recently buying assets from Chesapeake in September 2016. Its strategy differs from that of French energy peer Engie ( ENGIE.PA ), which last month sold its British shale gas interests to petrochemicals firm Ineos. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by David Evans) Next In Global Energy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-total-britain-shalegas-idUKKBN17620X'|'2017-04-04T23:55:00.000+03:00' '13b3c33649564f1882c6e7f5cf0a0219dfdd74f3'|'Toshiba to seek loan support from creditor banks Tuesday - sources'|'Business 30am BST Toshiba to seek loan support from creditor banks Tuesday - sources The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind a traffic signal at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) will A Toshiba spokeswoman confirmed the company will hold the meeting, but declined to disclose the agenda. Toshiba management has so far failed to gain creditors'' support for the request, which it also made last month. The collateral offer also includes shares in group companies such as Toshiba Tec Corp ( 6588.T ), sources told Reuters in March. Some smaller creditors have balked at the offer, as bigger lenders are seen receiving the most valuable chip unit shares as collateral, the sources have said. Shares in Toshiba plunged for the second consecutive day after Reuters reported the troubled Japanese conglomerate would likely miss a third deadline to report its quarterly business results. The shares dived more than 10 percent in Tuesday morning trade, following a 5.5 percent drop the previous day. A third postponement of the October-December earnings, currently due on April 11, looks necessary because Toshiba''s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC, has questions about results for the business year through March 2016, sources have told Reuters. Asked about Toshiba''s potential delay, Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko told reporters that it''s important for listed companies to have sufficient information disclosure and to ensure effective corporate governance. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Additional reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Ami Miyazaki; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Randy Fabi) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-banks-idUKKBN17605L'|'2017-04-04T10:30:00.000+03:00' '6df03a57e9d48d96c5bd97dacceab20390591db4'|'Federal Reserve inconsistent in monitoring big banks - auditors'|' 10:37pm BST Federal Reserve inconsistent in monitoring big banks - auditors left right Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen attends a news conference after chairing the second day of a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee to set interest rates in Washington June 17, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 1/2 left right A Federal Reserve police officer keeps watch while posted outside the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 2/2 By Pete Schroeder The Federal Reserve is inconsistent in the way it monitors big banks and that lack of consistency could make it difficult to identify emerging risks across banks, according to a study by auditors at the U.S. central bank released on Monday. Each of the 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks nationwide had different guidance for how they continuously monitored large financial institutions, the study from the Office of the Inspector General found. In fact, monitoring standards could vary from bank examiner to bank examiner within the same team, the study said, warning on how that could make it difficult to identify emerging risks. The report found that Fed examiners sometimes struggled with "voluminous documentation" connected with the monitoring, and struggled to review all the information in a timely fashion. While extensive data collection was necessary during the financial crisis that began in 2008, the study questioned whether the same volume is needed now that banks are on more solid footing. Examiners said they were reluctant to reduce requests for documents and meetings for fear of missing important information. Melissa Heist, the associate inspector general for audits and evaluations at the Fed, sent the report to the central bank''s Board of Governors. The inspector general also found that when documents were stored within the Fed, they were not efficiently organised, making it difficult for Fed examiners across the system to easily find and organise information across banks. The report suggested the Fed adopt a framework for managing monitoring documents and improve training and review of monitoring activities to ensure their effectiveness. Michael Gibson, director of supervision and regulation at the Fed Board of Governors, said in a March 21 letter to Mark Bialek, the Fed''s inspector general, that work was underway to address the specific recommendations. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Leslie Adler) BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. BERLIN Former Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech has agreed to sell a major part of his stake in the firm that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker, reducing his links with Volkswagen after more than two decades of undisputed rule. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-banks-fed-idUKKBN1752I2'|'2017-04-04T05:37:00.000+03:00' '83a0915a754fb514ce1a0ad5f0ff071c491970e9'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'Company 03am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 4 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Tuesday: ** U.S. handbag and accessories maker Kate Spade & Co will spend a few more weeks negotiating a potential sale of the company after receiving an offer last week from Coach Inc, three people said on Monday on condition of anonymity. ** BNP Paribas, France''s biggest bank by market capitalisation, is to buy online retail banking service Financiere des Paiements Electroniques, as BNP Paribas steps up its investments in the digital banking sector. ** ABB has bought Austrian group Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik, the Swiss engineering company said, helping it to challenge German rival Siemens in the industrial automation sector. ** Four investors submitted binding offers to acquire a majority stake in Greek lender National Bank''s (NBG) insurance unit National Insurance, a banking source close to the deal told Reuters. ** Morgan Stanley and Banco Bradesco BBI SA topped Brazil''s mergers and acquisitions rankings in the first quarter, buoyed by advisory roles in the $21 billion corporate reorganization of Vale SA, the world''s No.1 iron ore producer. ** Israeli flavour and fine ingredients company Frutarom Industries said it acquired French flavours company Rene Laurent for $21.3 million. ** Blackrock and other asset management institutions are seeking an injunction this week to block the sale of Portugal''s Novo Banco to U.S. private equity firm Lone Star. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HC1VF'|'2017-04-04T18:03:00.000+03:00' '4844c0845ca736c5e9b1bf05cf466d29a9de6d6d'|'Bombardier CEO requests board to defer half of planned 2016 exec pay amid backlash'|'NEW YORK, April 2 Bombardier Inc Chief Executive Alain Bellemare requested the board defer the payment of more than half of the total planned 2016 compensation for its six named executive officers until 2020, amid public outcry over pay rises.The Canadian plane and train maker said in statement on Sunday that the deferred compensation will only be payable if the company achieves performance goals that position it for long term success.The statement by the CEO comes two days after executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin requested the board reverse his pay to its 2015 level as the rise in pay had "become a distraction" from the company''s regular work.The company has faced a backlash over its executives'' pay rises, which come after Bombardier announced two rounds of layoffs in 2016 totalling 14,500 people over two years at sites around the world.Bombardier was forced to consider bankruptcy in 2015 after facing a cash crunch while developing two new planes. Since then, the Canadian government in February announced C$372.5 million ($283 million) in repayable loans for two of Bombardier''s jet programs.Total compensation for the company''s top five executives and board chairman rose to $32.7 million in 2016, up from $21.9 million a year earlier, according to a proxy circular published last week ahead of Bombardier''s May 11 annual meeting.Earlier on Sunday, a protest against the pay raises was held outside Bombardier''s downtown Montreal headquarters.The statement from Bellemare also comes after Quebec''s main opposition party planned to introduce a motion on Tuesday demanding Bombardier senior executives renounce their 2016 pay raises, according to a tweet by a party spokeswoman on Saturday. ( bit.ly/2nusZvH )Shareholders will be able to vote at Bombardier''s annual meeting on the company''s structure for awarding compensation, Bombardier spokesman Simon Letendre said via email. (Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-bombardier-compensation-idINL3N1HB15G'|'2017-04-02T23:38:00.000+03:00' '4e162c02987a33bfbbae4cd88d46a564d99b7598'|'Commodity trader Louis Dreyfus'' core profits fall for second year'|'Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:37am EDT Commodity trader Louis Dreyfus'' core profits fall for second year By Gus Trompiz - PARIS PARIS Louis Dreyfus'' [AKIRAU.UL] core earnings fell further last year as the global agricultural commodity trader again faced pressure from an abundant supply of crops. Large inventories, low prices and limited volatility have curbed margins in the past two years for companies such as Louis Dreyfus that buy, transport and process crops like wheat, soybeans and rice. The privately owned company said 2016 core operating profits for its business segments fell to $1.2 billion from $1.4 billion in 2015, marking a second successive annual drop. Net sales fell to $49.8 billion from $55.7 billion in 2015, while shipped volumes were stable at 81 million tonnes, Louis Dreyfus said in a statement on Monday. Net income, however, rose to $305 million from $211 million, supported by favorable tax effects. "Oversupply, market shocks, geopolitical dynamics and adverse weather conditions were some of the difficulties that the agribusiness industry had to face during 2016," said Chief Executive Officer Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena. "Market fundamentals are unlikely to be very different in 2017, so our agility in adapting to changing market conditions will remain critical," he said. Dreyfus is part of the so-called ''ABCD'' quartet of trading giants alongside Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM.N ), Bunge ( BG.N ) and Cargill [CARG.UL], that dominate global flows of agricultural commodities. Like its peers, Dreyfus has been reorganizing its activities and last year set out plans to seek partners to invest in its fertilizer, metals, juice and dairy businesses. Dreyfus has also reined in capital investments, which last year fell to $354 million from $420 million in 2015, to help weather tougher trading conditions. The group expected the effects of its restructuring to start showing through in its results from next year, Ramirez said. Rivals such as ADM and Cargill have also seen earnings from trading activities decline, although better performances at other units have helped boost their group profits in recent quarters. Louis Dreyfus is controlled by Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who also chairs the company''s board. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-louisdreyfus-results-idUSKBN1751BF'|'2017-04-03T20:33:00.000+03:00' '22883e1519e96442db2e10689969815ef59fa063'|'SNC-Lavalin offers to buy WS Atkins for $2.6 billion'|'Canadian engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc ( SNC.TO ) has offered to buy WS Atkins ( ATKW.L ) for about 2.1 billion pounds ($2.6 billion), the British engineering and consultancy firm said on Monday.Atkins said SNC planned to offer 2,080 pence per share in cash, 35 percent above Atkins'' closing share price on Friday."The board of Atkins has indicated to SNC-Lavalin that the possible offer would deliver value to Atkins shareholders at a level that the Board would be prepared to recommend, subject to reaching agreement on the other terms and conditions of the offer," Atkins said in a statement.The boards are discussing other terms and conditions of the possible offer which is conditional on diligence and financing, Atkins added.Atkins'' shares jumped to a new high of 2,004 pence following news of the proposal.In January, the stock rose sharply after media reports said the group had been approached by U.S. peer CH2M about a possible $4 billion merger.(Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-ws-atkins-m-a-snc-lavalin-idINKBN1751CK'|'2017-04-03T11:17:00.000+03:00' '349cdb42d38979de44ba3b4d82817f5586285191'|'Babcock selected as preferred bidder for Royal Navy support deal'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 8:32am BST Babcock selected as preferred bidder for Royal Navy support deal Britain''s Babcock International Group Plc ( BAB.L ) said it was selected as a preferred bidder for a deal worth about 360 million pounds to provide support services to Royal Navy warships over seven years. The engineering outsourcing firm will manage the technical configuration of systems for two classes of Royal Navy vessels, supply spares and provide in-service support, Babcock said. Britain''s outsourcing market, the second biggest in the world behind the United States, has been hit in recent months as clients in the private and public sectors delay new spending decisions. This has prompted profit warnings from Capita ( CPI.L ) and Mitie ( MTO.L ). However, Babcock said last month that it expects to benefit from U.S. President Donald Trump''s demand that NATO members spend more on defence. "Winning all four parts of the MSSP (Marine Systems Support Partner) contract is useful at a time of heightened debate around growth for outsourcing companies," Jefferies analysts wrote in a note. The analysts expect the contract to contribute one percent to organic growth and a similar amount to earnings per share. Babcock offers engineering and technology-related services to the defence, energy, emergency services, transport and education sectors. The announcement comes a week after Babcock shares tumbled following a deal with Britain''s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to end a contract to clean up 12 Magnox nuclear sites. ($1 = 0.7971 pounds) (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-babcock-intl-contract-idUKKBN1750MO'|'2017-04-03T15:32:00.000+03:00' 'fd73b8d19d6fef2b9d52f1f8e41fcfab61300205'|'Schneider Electric to sell DTN to Swiss group TBG in $900 million deal'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 7:57am BST Schneider Electric to sell DTN to Swiss group TBG in $900 million deal FILE PHOTO: Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 19, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich PARIS French electrical components maker Schneider Electric ( SCHN.PA ) has agreed to sell agricultural information company Telvent DTN to private Swiss group TBG AG in a deal worth around $900 million (718.05 million pounds) based on enterprise value, Schneider said on Monday. Schneider Electric said it expected to close the transaction in the second quarter of this year, and would use the proceeds from the sale to finance a share buyback program worth around 1 billion euros ($1.07 billion) over a two-year period. Telvent DTN last reported revenues of $213 million, but Schneider had decided that it was no longer a core part of its company following a strategic review of its businesses. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Adrian Croft) Next In Business News Imagination Tech shares plunge as Apple abandons British firm LONDON Apple has given Imagination Tech notice that it will stop using its graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years'' time, dealing a major blow to the British company, which could lose half of its revenue. LONDON Credit card firms will have to do more to help struggling customers repay their debts, including the suspension of cards under proposals published by Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-schneider-dtn-idUKKBN1750J8'|'2017-04-03T14:57:00.000+03:00' '5c21b494fab1466053f5d73ffcd857eeb02229c2'|'Galenica prices IPO at top of range, to shed all of its Sante stake'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 6:49am BST Galenica prices IPO at top of range, to shed all of its Sante stake ZURICH Galenica ( GALN.S ) priced its initial public offering of its Sante unit at between 37-39 Swiss francs per share at the top end of its range, implying a market capitalization of 1.85 billion Swiss francs (1.48 billion pounds) to 1.95 billion francs. The Swiss drugmaker will shed its entire stake of its pharmacy unit, rather than keeping 13.75 percent as once planned, as it raises proceeds to refinance a takeover in the United States, the company said on Monday. Galenica Sante''s free-float will be 97.5 percent. Galenica had previously given a price range of 31-39 francs. Galenica is splitting into a speciality drugs business, Vifor Pharma, which makes iron replacements as well as therapy for excessive potassium levels, and its Sante unit that runs hundreds of Amavita and Sun Store pharmacy outlets and a logistics business in Switzerland. (Reporting by John Miller) British company finance chiefs more upbeat, still risk-averse - Deloitte LONDON British company finance chiefs are their most optimistic in 18 months, but their risk appetite has recovered far less from the battering it took in the run-up to and aftermath of last year''s vote to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Monday. DUBLIN, April 3 - Growth in Irish manufacturing slowed for the third month in a row in March on weak new orders as costinflation pushed prices up, a survey showed on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-galenica-ipo-idUKKBN1750EN'|'2017-04-03T13:49:00.000+03:00' '5dd4ced2fa26fed7f44b30918cf707802ee24973'|'Asia Graphics-Asia-Pacific stocks post best March-qtr gain in 2-1/2 decades'|'April 3 Asia-Pacific stocks continued their rally in March after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled a gradual pace of monetary tightening at its March 14–15 meeting. Rising 2.85 pct in March, the MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 12.34 percent in the Jan–March quarter, its biggest first-quarter gain since March 1991. Indian stocks led gains in the region with a 17.42 percent rise in dollar terms for the March quarter. In March, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won elections in some key states, including Uttar Pradesh. Sri Lankan stocks were at the bottom of the list with a 4.03 percent fall. Asian markets performance: tmsnrt.rs/2o1qtAN Asian markets valuations: tmsnrt.rs/2nz9OSd Asian markets-Analyst revision scores: tmsnrt.rs/2nQNqGt (Reporting by Gaurav S Dogra and Patturaja Murugabooopathy; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-graphics-asia-pacific-stocks-post-b-idINL3N1HB2ZN'|'2017-04-03T07:25:00.000+03:00' '5d1d0885f2256f1e602f42fc5bc2309672d212d8'|'MOVES-Silverfleet Capital, State Street Global Advisors, Mashreq'|'April 3 The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Monday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com.SILVERFLEET CAPITALThe European private equity investor appointed Karl Eidem as co-head of the Nordic Region.STATE STREET GLOBAL ADVISORSThe asset management arm of State Street Corp appointed Andrew Benton as head of its UK institutional business.MASHREQDubai''s third-biggest bank by assets said Nabeel Waheed will take over from John Iossifidis as head of corporate and investment banking. Iossifidis is leaving to become chief executive of Noor Bank, sources told Reuters.UBS WEALTH MANAGEMENTThe UBS Group AG unit appointed Stephen Wilson as a director in its Leeds office. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/financial-moves-idINL3N1HB39U'|'2017-04-03T11:15:00.000+03:00' '67babfe04bf55af1ce6dca38e713414b1da6064d'|'FTSE edges higher as Burberry, oil stocks bounce; Imagination tumbles'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 11:14am BST FTSE edges higher as Burberry, oil stocks bounce; Imagination tumbles FILE PHOTO: A man walks through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo By Kit Rees - LONDON LONDON Britain''s top share index rose on Monday in choppy trade, beginning the second quarter on a positive note as gains among oil-related stocks and Burberry ( BRBY.L ) supported the FTSE 100 .FTSE index. The blue chip FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 0.1 percent at 7,328.28 points by 0954 GMT. Luxury firm Burberry ( BRBY.L ) was the top riser, jumping 1.7 percent after saying that it would transfer its beauty business to U.S. group Coty ( COTY.N ) in a deal that will bring in around $225 million plus ongoing royalty payments. "It’s maybe one of those signature deals which could raise expectations of a new way of doing business, a new extra source of revenue beyond the traditional model," Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said. A rally in oil stocks also lent support, with BP ( BP.L ) up 1.2 percent and Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) rising 0.5 percent as the price of crude oil prices edged higher. British banks were the biggest drag on the index, however, taking off around 4 points, with Barclays ( BARC.L ) and Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ), down 1 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, in line with a broader decline among continental lenders. ITV ( ITV.L ) was the biggest individual faller, dropping 2.6 percent and giving back a large part of the gains it made on Friday on the back of M&A speculation. Late on Friday, ITV jumped following a regulatory ownership filing that fuelled speculation of renewed Liberty Global ( LBTYA.O ) interest in the company. ITV''s shares pulled back on Monday after Liberum analysts said that it had spoken with the company and ITV had said that the move was not Liberty increasing their stake in ITV. Data showing that British manufacturing lost some of its momentum last month disappointed, as purchasing managers'' index (PMI) figures showed that manufacturing growth slowed in the first three months of this year. Retailer Next ( NXT.L ) was another sizeable faller, down 2 percent after Exane BNP Paribas cut its rating on the stock to "underperform" from "neutral". Outside of the blue chips, Imagination Technologies ( IMG.L ) plunged more than 60 percent, on track for its biggest one-day loss on record after its biggest customer Apple APPL.O said that it would stop using the British firm''s graphics technology in the iPhone and other products in up to two years'' time. "It’s the worst nightmare for Imagination. Apple accounts for about half its revenues – you simply cannot easily replace a customer of that scale in a hurry, hence the gigantic selloff in the stock," Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Stephen Powell) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN1750ZU'|'2017-04-03T18:14:00.000+03:00' '71cdfaefb744d61ba88583a618e479515a70036f'|'Credit Suisse takes out UK newspaper ads after office raids in tax case'|'Business News - Sun Apr 2, 2017 - 7:10am EDT Credit Suisse takes out UK newspaper ads after office raids in tax case Credit Suisse logo is pictured on their office in Warsaw Poland, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel LONDON Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) has taken out adverts in British Sunday newspapers stressing a zero-tolerance policy on tax evasion, as the Swiss bank tries to limit any damage to its reputation from raids on three of its offices. Zurich-based Credit Suisse was pulled into an international tax evasion and money laundering investigation on Thursday when coordinated searches were carried out on its London, Paris and Amsterdam offices. The ads, which appeared in the Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph and Observer, stated they were a "response to recent reports about tax probes in various European countries". Among seven bullet points, Credit Suisse said it "wishes to conduct business with clients that have paid their taxes" and the bank would "continue to work closely with the local authorities in all matters and particularly in this new case". The raids reopened the thorny issue of tax evasion which has dogged Swiss banks for years as wealthy individuals around the world have used the country''s strict bank secrecy laws to hide cash from the tax man. Credit Suisse, Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, in 2014 pleaded guilty and was fined $2.6 billion by U.S. authorities over charges it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes. It has also settled tax dodging cases in Italy and Germany. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Writing by Joshua Franklin in Zurich; Editing by Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-taxevasion-britain-idUSKBN1740D4'|'2017-04-02T19:10:00.000+03:00' 'e93390059d94b3ff0508503e024bca6271dfcce0'|'Texas Roadhouse to pay $12 mln to settle U.S. EEOC age bias lawsuit'|'U.S. 25pm EDT Texas Roadhouse to pay $12 million to settle U.S. EEOC age bias lawsuit By Jonathan Stempel Texas Roadhouse Inc agreed to pay $12 million to settle U.S. claims that the steakhouse chain refused to hire people age 40 and over to work as hosts, servers and bartenders. A consent decree resolving the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission''s lawsuit against the Louisville, Kentucky-based chain was filed on Friday with the U.S. District Court in Boston. It resolves claims that Texas Roadhouse violated federal laws against age discrimination by making it "standard operating procedure" to reject older applicants for customer-facing, "front-of-the-house" jobs. The EEOC said this included an emphasis at training meetings at its headquarters on hiring "young, fun, cute, and bubbly people" to promote Texas Roadhouse''s culture and image. Payouts will go to older job applicants who were wrongfully turned away between 2007 and 2014. Texas Roadhouse has more than 520 restaurants in 49 U.S. states and six foreign countries, according to its website. The company denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle the lawsuit, which began in September 2011. A nearly four-week trial ended last month with a hung jury, and a retrial had been scheduled for May 15. Texas Roadhouse did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The consent decree lasts for 3-1/2 years, requires increased recruitment and hiring of older applicants, the appointment of a diversity director and a monitor to oversee compliance with the decree, and better training. It was signed by Texas Roadhouse''s general counsel, and approved on Friday by U.S. District Judge Denise Casper. The case is EEOC v Texas Roadhouse Inc et al, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 11-11732. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Tom Brown) Next In U.S.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-road-discrimination-idUSKBN1722Y3'|'2017-04-01T06:20:00.000+03:00' 'fc73d5c9744eda33abffc7d5382b122031dff2f9'|'AIG morale could spook talent, curb turnaround plan - UBS report'|' 9:25pm BST AIG morale could spook talent, curb turnaround plan - UBS report The AIG logo is seen at its building in New York''s financial district March 19, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Suzanne Barlyn A morale crisis at American International Group Inc ( AIG.N ) could prevent the U.S. insurance company from keeping and hiring the talent it needs to propel it through its financial turnaround, UBS said in an analysis on Monday. AIG ranked last through March 21 among 10 insurers rated by their own employees in categories ranging from career opportunities to business outlook, according to a UBS analysis of data from Glassdoor Inc, which runs a careers website and database of millions of company reviews. An AIG spokesman declined to comment. Last year, AIG ranked last in seven of 10 categories rated by Glassdoor users, including employees and agents. Factors also include compensation, senior management and cultural values. AIG, which announced on March 9 that its chief executive, Peter Hancock, would be stepping down, has ranked at or near the bottom of the group in all categories since 2012, wrote UBS analyst Brian Meredith in a report to UBS customers. The morale slump could threaten a two-year turnaround plan put in place at AIG after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn became AIG''s fourth-largest investor in 2015, Meredith said. AIG is midway through the plan, which involves divesting businesses, cutting costs and ultimately returning $25 billion (£20.04 billion) to shareholders. A $5.6 billion addition to reserves to cover future claims led AIG to report an unexpectedly large fourth-quarter loss on Feb. 14, jolting investors and leading to Hancock’s planned departure. Hancock''s successor has not yet been announced, though several names have been cited by analysts and in media reports. The board has pledged to find a new CEO quickly. The data is an indication of AIG''s challenges in "retaining and hiring underwriting talent" in its commercial property and casualty businesses during the last several years, wrote Meredith. Dim views of AIG among employees and agents signal "the challenges that AIG continues to face in retaining and hiring talent it needs" to boost and maintain its commercial property and casualty insurance businesses, said Meredith. The UBS analysis involved about 6,300 reviews posted on Glassdoor that UBS identified as being from employees of large property and casualty insurers, including Travelers Cos Inc ( TRV.N ) and The Hartford. More than 1,400 of the 6,300 reviews were from AIG employees. CNA Insurance ( CNA.N ) has scored the highest ratings so far in 2017, while Travelers ranked the highest last year, according to UBS. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aig-morale-idUKKBN1752DR'|'2017-04-04T04:25:00.000+03:00' '1a967a2f2caf71f62467db44c36b47663574e9c0'|'Less noodles, beer and movies? Clouds on Chinese consumption horizon'|'Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 12:06am BST Less noodles, beer and movies? Clouds on Chinese consumption horizon A customer selects products at a supermarket in Shanghai, February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song By Donny Kwok and Adam Jourdan - HONG KONG/SHANGHAI HONG KONG/SHANGHAI Official numbers may suggest a rosier 2017 for China, but the bottom lines of the country''s top consumer firms - from brewers to noodle makers and cinema chains - paint a patchy picture of spending in the world''s second-largest economy. Tsingtao Brewery Co Ltd ( 600600.SS ), China''s number two brewer, posted its steepest drop in net profit in 20 years last week, blaming tough competition and weak demand. Noodle maker Tingyi ( 0322.HK ) saw profits drop by a third. China''s top cinema operator Wanda Cinema Line ( 002739.SZ ) saw 2016 profits rise 15.2 percent - down from growth of nearly 50 percent the year before, as broader box office sales stalled. IMAX China''s ( 1970.HK ) profit tumbled, too. "There''s still a tonne of room for growth, but these markets are much more competitive now and even bigger brands are starting to struggle," said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group. "Consumers are becoming more cagey about how they''re spending their money, (from) food to clothing and movies." Increased caution - and sophistication - will push companies to innovate, and to spend more to fend off competitors, if they are to survive, analysts said. After growing at the slowest pace in 26 years in 2016, official data have indicated a strong start to the economy this year, supported by bank lending, a government infrastructure spree and a much-needed resurgence in private investment. But China''s consumption trends have been less clear. Retail sales in December rose at their fastest pace in a year, thanks to cars and cosmetics, but they disappointed in the first two months of this year. Consumption contributed the bulk of China''s growth last year at nearly 65 percent, but income growth didn''t pick up, and a measure of China''s income inequality rose slightly last year. A private business survey last month showed growth in the services sector slowed to a four-month low as increasing competition made it harder for companies to pass higher input costs on to consumers. To be sure, the picture from recent earnings reports is not comprehensive nor uniform. But the drop in profits of some of China''s best-known names flags the uneven nature of the country''s gradual shift to a consumer-driven economy, and the challenge for both brands and Beijing, which needs to stoke domestic consumption and private investment to fuel growth. Of course there were bright spots. In areas like sports apparel, firms such as Li Ning Co Ltd ( 2331.HK ) and ANTA Sports ( 2020.HK ) predicted a boost as China looks to build its sports industry and consumers become increasingly health conscious. Li Ning''s profits rose sharply. But global uncertainties - from the impact of trade policies under new U.S. President Donald Trump to political uncertainty in Europe - are expected to cloud the year. "In 2017, great uncertainties in the economic outlook remain in view of the changes in political and economic policies in some key regions," China Resources Beer ( 0291.HK ) said. The brewer reported sluggish sales growth, but also its first annual profit in three years this month. Retailers also reported a mixed outlook, although a slowdown in e-commerce was creating opportunities elsewhere. White goods maker Qingdao Haier ( 600690.SS ), which posted annual net profit growth of 3.1 percent, said China was in a new normal of consumer growth - but expects sales to eventually accelerate with rising salaries and demand for high-tech homes. Others bore the cost of change: home appliance retailer GOME ( 0493.HK ) posted a 73 percent drop in full-year profit as it spent on a strategic shake-up. "Looking into 2017, it is expected that (the Chinese) and global economy will continue to face downward pressure, leading to sluggish market demand," said Chairman Li Dongsheng of television maker TCL Multimedia ( 1070.HK ). (Reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI and Donny Kwok in HONG KONG; Editing by Kim Coghill) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-consumer-idUKKBN1740YL'|'2017-04-03T07:02:00.000+03:00' 'be68a1dc5b6f54206c1d011d7c72515dd6c7ae03'|'Panera Bread exploring possible sale: Bloomberg'|' 15pm EDT Panera Bread exploring possible sale: Bloomberg left right The sign on the hood of a delivery truck for Panera Bread Co. is seen in Westminster, Colorado February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking 1/2 left right The sign on the hood of a delivery truck for Panera Bread Co. is seen in Westminster, Colorado February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking 2/2 Panera Bread Co ( PNRA.O ) is considering strategic options, including a possible sale, after receiving takeover interest, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The bakery cafe operator is working with advisers to study the options, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. bloom.bg/2oBLnnV The company''s shares rose as much as 10.7 percent to a record high of $290 in midday trading. Panera Bread, which has a market value of about $6 billion, could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Subrat Patnaik in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-panera-bread-m-a-idUSKBN1751VB'|'2017-04-04T00:15:00.000+03:00' '3e919cfc0319e8fe979e97a754b9e8c8a213d6d1'|'Mercedes joins forces with Bosch to develop self-driving taxis'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 10:17am BST Mercedes joins forces with Bosch to develop self-driving taxis A Mercedes sign is seen on the car before the Daimler annual shareholder meeting in Berlin, Germany, March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke FRANKFURT Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler ( DAIGn.DE ) and supplier Robert Bosch [ROBG.UL] are teaming up to develop self-driving cars in an alliance primarily aimed at accelerating the production of "robo-taxis". The pact between the world''s largest maker of premium cars and the world''s largest automotive supplier forms a powerful counterweight to new auto industry players like Uber and Didi which are working on self-driving cars with a business model geared toward clients who want to use rather than own cars. The alliance, which marks an end to Daimler''s efforts to develop an autonomous car largely on its own, comes as tech companies and auto makers like BMW ( BMWG.DE ) are forming rival strategic partnerships. Financial terms of the deal, announced on Tuesday, were not disclosed. Bosch, which was founded in 1886, the same year that Mercedes founder Carl Benz patented the motorcar, will develop software and algorithms needed for autonomous driving together with the Stuttgart-based carmaker. Teaming up with Bosch helps Mercedes throw more engineering resources at autonomous cars, allowing it to bring forward the date for having a production-ready system for autonomous cars by several years. The autonomous system will now be ready by the beginning of next decade, Daimler said, without disclosing when it had first envisaged the commercial launch of robo-taxis. "The prime objective of the project is to achieve the production-ready development of a driving system which will allow cars to drive fully autonomously in the city," Daimler said in a statement on Tuesday. The German carmaker has set its sights on the smartphone-based ride-hailing market which is currently dominated by China''s Didi, and United States based Uber and Lyft Inc. Last year, Goldman Sachs projected the market for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles would grow from about $3 billion in 2015 to $96 billion in 2025 and $290 billion (232.17 billion pounds) in 2035. "Within a specified area of town, customers will be able to order an automated shared car via their smartphone. The vehicle will then make its way autonomously to the user," Daimler said. "The idea behind it is that the vehicle should come to the driver rather than the other way round." (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Pravin Char) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-daimler-bosch-selfdriving-idUKKBN1760TJ'|'2017-04-04T17:17:00.000+03:00' '1ff4d0b93920825a975580b2887c54996acb7fd5'|'Need cash? Azimo lets recipients sort out money transfer headaches'|'Internet News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 1:23pm BST Need cash? Azimo lets recipients sort out money transfer headaches By Eric Auchard - BERLIN BERLIN UK-based online money transfer firm Azimo is turning the process of sending remittances on its head by allowing mobile phone and computer users to send cash to any mobile phone number via text message, leaving it up to the recipient to claim the money. The new feature, which was introduced on Tuesday, eliminates the need for senders to remember the account details or bank IBAN numbers in order to transfer money to recipients, a stumbling block that has complicated existing money transfers. Indian mobile ecommerce site Paytm also operates a similar feature. Paytm is owned by One97 Communications and has proved to be hugely popular since the country''s government demonitized all old 500 ($7.70) and 1000 rupee banknotes in November. Azimo, a UK-regulated firm, allows phone or computer users in 28 Eurozone countries to transfer money to around 190 countries. It is mainly used by immigrants to send money home to relatives in emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe, West Africa, South Asia, the Philippines and Latin America. Azimo’s ''request'' function brings recipients into the process for the first time and is made possible by the recent proliferation of smartphones in emerging markets, something not possible when the London-based company launched in 2012. "People on the receiving end in emerging markets now have smartphones, so they can be in charge. They can have more control in requesting the cash, receiving the cash," Michael Kent, the company''s co-founder and chief executive, told Reuters in a phone interview. "This is built for the way customers on both sides of a remittance work today." Azimo users can choose one of their phone contacts to send money. Recipients receive a text message with a link to download the Azimo app and claim the money. They can then link the app to a financial account or go to a local kiosk to claim their money. The company also is introducing the money request feature in the United States and Canada and will roll the service out across globally in the course of the year. Azimo says it has more than 1 million senders and receivers using its apps. It competes with other online remittance firms including WorldRemit and CurrencyFair, as well as kiosk-base money transfer giants such as Western Union and MoneyGram, which also now offer online money transfers services. The market has heated up in recent years as U.S. web-based payments player PayPal acquired remittance app Xoom and Ant Financial [ANTFIN.UL], an affiliate of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has sought to buy MoneyGram, but faces U.S. regulatory challenges over national security concerns. Azimo has raised around $47 million (38 million pounds) in venture funding over the past five years. Kent said the company was fully funded until at least 2018. ($1 = 64.9600 Indian rupees) (Reporting By Eric Auchard, editing by Pritha Sarkar) Next In Internet News Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral: sources TOKYO Toshiba Corp asked creditor banks for a new loan and offered as collateral a stake in its memory chip unit that is being split off, sources said, underlining the firm''s growing financial woes as it braces for a multi-billion dollar loss. WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is reversing a requirement imposed under the Obama administration that Charter Communications Inc extend broadband service to 1 million households already served by a competitor, under an order to be made public on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-payment-remittances-idUKKBN1761CX'|'2017-04-04T20:22:00.000+03:00' '1d4bd4d447a022204b84b1506432073f83119709'|'Chile copper industry urged to adopt sweeping changes'|' 39pm BST Chile copper industry urged to adopt sweeping changes FILE PHOTO: A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in central Sydney August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo By Barbara Lewis and Mitra Taj - SANTIAGO SANTIAGO Chile''s copper industry needs to adopt new technologies and improve labor and community relations to keep its global standing, a senior BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX )( BLT.L ) executive said on Tuesday. "If we don''t take a proactive approach, the copper industry in Chile will reduce its global position in the next 25 years in line with the diminishing quality of our assets," warned Danny Malchuk, president of operations at BHP''s Minerals Americas, in a speech to the CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago. Chile, which accounts for 30 percent of the world''s copper supply, is grappling with falling productivity because much of its best quality ore has already been mined. The topic is sufficiently a concern that President Michelle Bachelet ordered a national productivity commission to find ways to bolster the mining industry among other sectors. One option to shore up output could be to offer tax incentives or modify regulations to encourage miners to free up exploration contracts they do not use, Deputy Mining Minister Erich Schnake told the conference. Too often, he said, big mining companies hold onto and renew mining rights while they wait for market conditions to improve, blocking access to smaller companies from making findings. But executives have also pointed to a lack of clarity over recent government reforms, which include changes to tax and labor relations, as possible hurdles for increased investment in Chile. In a report issued in February, the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute''s global ranking of regions'' attractiveness for mining investment saw Chile tumble from fourth place in 2013 to position 39 in 2016, below its fast-rising neighbor Peru. "We don''t agree with this view that the investing environment (in Chile) has deteriorated remarkably, and that''s why we are so eager to keep investing in our current mines," Kazutaka Shiba, chief executive of Mitsui & Co Mineral Resources Latin America ( 5706.T ), told Reuters. "But I think this (ranking) shows some concern that clarity and transparency is not there," he added. Malchuk highlighted that the sector''s "massive challenges" include relations with unions, which have been emboldened by a new pro-labor law that hit the statute books this week. BHP is still smarting from a bruising battle with its union at Escondida, the world''s biggest copper mine in which it has a majority stake. A 43-day strike, which ended in late March, cost it dearly. Rio Tinto ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ), which also has a stake in Escondida, lamented the labor situation in Chile. "It''s perturbing to me to see that most of the renegotiation of labor agreements is done through strikes, and it doesn''t have to be that way," said Arnaud Soirat, chief executive of Rio''s Copper & Diamonds unit. Malchuk said Chile''s mining companies should also look to collaborate on technology and adopt more public-private partnerships to work on issues such as training and often thorny relations with local communities. Copper accounts for more than half of Chile''s exports. Its importance to the country was underscored on Monday when the central bank said the Escondida strike would knock an entire percentage point off gross domestic product growth in the first quarter. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis and Mitra Taj, Additional reporting and writing by Rosalba O''Brien Editing by W Simon) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-chile-copper-bhp-idUKKBN1762CW'|'2017-04-05T01:39:00.000+03:00' '8d7afd2c30ddcac8777ff9ebe4b736d5c4854e1c'|'ChemChina, Syngenta win U.S. antitrust approval for deal'|' 27pm BST ChemChina, Syngenta win U.S. antitrust approval for deal left right The company logo of China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, China February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 1/2 left right A Syngenta logo is pictured in their office in Singapore, February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo 2/2 WASHINGTON The China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, has won U.S. antitrust approval to merge with Switzerland''s Syngenta AG ( SYNN.S ) on condition that it divest three pesticides, the Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday. (Reporting by Diane Bartz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syngenta-ag-m-a-china-natl-chem-idUKKBN1762OQ'|'2017-04-05T04:27:00.000+03:00' 'a17e43bc6ce729e0372e6afb57100cfa3d951873'|'BRIEF-LCI Industries amends Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement with Prudential - SEC filing'|' 29am EDT BRIEF-LCI Industries amends Note Purchase and Private Shelf Agreement with Prudential - SEC filing April 4 LCI Industries: * on March 30, co, Prudential amended April 27, 2016 note purchase, private shelf agreement to extend facility expiration date to March 30, 2020 * Amendment increases principal amount available under shelf loan facility by excluding outstanding series a senior notes from $150 million limit Source text: ( bit.ly/2nFToYf ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-lci-industries-amends-note-purchas-idUSFWN1HC0C2'|'2017-04-04T23:29:00.000+03:00' '1dd17652d1f9e16815ba04e8c79a5bbf646c73f2'|'Dyal Capital buys minority stake in credit investor Sound Point'|'By Lawrence Delevingne - NEW YORK NEW YORK Dyal Capital Partners, the Neuberger Berman Group unit that takes minority stakes in hedge and private equity fund firms, has bought into credit investor Sound Point Capital LP, according to a person familiar with the situation.The person, who requested anonymity because the information is private, said the passive ownership stake was equal to about 15 percent, but the dollar amount was unavailable.News of the deal was reported earlier on Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal.Stephen Ketchum, a former media and telecom investment banker, founded Sound Point in 2009. The New York-based firm manages more than $11.5 billion in assets, including a debt- focused hedge fund and collateralized loan obligations. It will use the Dyal money to grow, according to the person, including an investment in the Sound Point CLO Fund.The $720 million Sound Point Credit Opportunities hedge fund has produced an average annual return of about 8.5 percent since inception in 2009 in its series B share class, according to fund performance information seen by Reuters.Dyal, based in New York and led by Michael Rees, already had stakes in 20 firms from three private equity-style funds totaling nearly $9 billion in assets, according to its website. They include hedge fund managers Halcyon Capital Management, Jana Partners and Graham Capital Management, and private equity operators Providence Equity, Starwood Capital Group and Vista Equity Partners.A spokesman for Dyal and Neuberger Berman declined to comment.(Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-soundpoint-idINKBN17625P'|'2017-04-04T14:27:00.000+03:00' 'ddd6c392c36f8935fd9f5b6af6a11fbabf3303fb'|'U.S. private sector adds 263,000 jobs in March: ADP'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 8:44am EDT U.S. private sector adds 263,000 jobs in March: ADP FILE PHOTO: People wait in line to attend TechFair LA, a technology job fair, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo U.S. private employers added 263,000 jobs in March, more than the number they hired in February and well above economists'' expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 187,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 110,000 to 225,000. Private payroll gains in the month earlier were revised down to 245,000 from the originally reported 298,000. The report is jointly developed with Moody''s Analytics. The ADP figures come ahead of the U.S. Labor Department''s more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which includes both public and private-sector employment. Economists polled by Reuters are looking for U.S. private payroll employment to have grown by 175,000 jobs in March, down from 227,000 the month before. Total non-farm employment is expected to have risen by 180,000. The unemployment rate is forecast to stay steady at the 4.7 percent recorded a month earlier. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-adp-idUSKBN1771LX'|'2017-04-05T20:44:00.000+03:00' '504c68c4a8d374943ef9abdf0af57c1bacb17a3b'|'K2M Group Holdings Inc & Lifehealthcare Group Ltd announce new distribution agreement'|'April 6 K2M Group Holdings Inc:* K2M Group Holdings Inc & Lifehealthcare Group Limited announce new distribution agreement for Australia & New Zealand* K2M Group Holdings Inc - co and lifehealthcare group announce that companies entered into new supply agreement for distribution of k2M''S innovative spinal technologies '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-k2m-group-holdings-inc-lifehealthc-idUSFWN1HF000'|'2017-04-07T04:09:00.000+03:00' '597f5d1be43e9417ed32105780e5980dc1751cb4'|'Las Vegas sports gambler Walters convicted of insider trading'|'U.S. - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:24pm EDT Las Vegas sports gambler Walters convicted of insider trading FILE PHOTO: Professional sports gambler William ''''Billy'''' Walters departs Federal Court after a hearing in Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S., July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo NEW YORK Famed Las Vegas sports gambler William "Billy" Walters was convicted on Friday of charges that he made more than $40 million through an insider trading scheme that prosecutors said involved a stock tip to star professional golfer Phil Mickelson. Walters, who built a fortune as one of the most successful sports bettors in the United States, was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan on all 10 counts he faced, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy. (Reporting By Nate Raymond and Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-insidertrading-walters-idUSKBN1792T7'|'2017-04-08T02:24:00.000+03:00' 'b89860f5e5a87189035faa0f6a3173311e9ff222'|'Germany''s Schaeuble wants EBA to move to Frankfurt - report'|' 5:38pm BST Germany''s Schaeuble wants EBA to move to Frankfurt - report German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants the European Banking Authority (EBA) to move to Frankfurt from London, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Friday, as Britain gears up The EBA, whose 159 London employees write and coordinate banking rules across the bloc, needs to be relocated after Britain voted to quit the EU because EU agencies are all based in member states. Frankfurt, Germany''s financial capital, already has many private banks, its main stock exchange, the German financial watchdog Bafin, the Bundesbank national bank and the European Central Bank. This amounts to "a unique selling point compared to other financial centres", the magazine cited a paper that Schaeuble has sent to his colleagues in the cabinet as saying. A spokeswoman for Schaeuble confirmed the paper existed and said a cabinet committee on Brexit would discuss it next Wednesday. But she declined to comment on any details. "Several attractive properties in a central location are available for immediate use in Frankfurt," said the paper, which also pointed to advantageous transport connections and a skilled workforce in Frankfurt. (Reporting by Michelle Martin and Gernot Heller; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-germany-idUKKBN1792IY'|'2017-04-08T00:38:00.000+03:00' '4a7c9ba243b219db53df3efc32d011296e1d173e'|'Mallinckrodt reaches $35 million settlement in U.S. drug probe'|'Health News 10am EDT Mallinckrodt reaches $35 million settlement in U.S. drug probe Mallinckrodt Plc, a manufacturer of the generic painkiller oxycodone, said on Monday it had reached a $35 million settlement to resolve U.S. probes into its monitoring and reporting of suspicious orders of controlled substances. The drug company said that the agreement in principle is subject to additional review and approval by the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and will not have a material effect on Mallinckrodt''s financial condition. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston) Next In Health News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mallinckrodt-settlement-idUSKBN1751JM'|'2017-04-03T22:07:00.000+03:00' '89fc7b6e6210c70382f152cf22bdf4e2a0479f2e'|'British company finance chiefs more upbeat, still risk-averse - Deloitte'|' 11am BST British company finance chiefs more upbeat, still risk-averse: Deloitte Canary Wharf is seen at sunrise from the Sky Garden of 20 Fenchurch Street, nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie building, in the financial district of the City of London, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh LONDON British company finance chiefs are their most optimistic in 18 months, but their risk appetite has recovered far less from the battering it took in the run-up to and aftermath of last year''s vote to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Monday. Britain''s economy enjoyed the second-fastest growth of any large advanced economy last year, but with consumer demand fading in the face of surging inflation, the Bank of England hopes business investment will keep growth going this year. Accountants Deloitte said the mood among chief financial officers who decide investment plans at some of Britain''s biggest companies was the most upbeat since June 2015. Some 31 percent of CFOs surveyed last month said they were more optimistic about the prospects for their company than three months earlier, up from 27 percent in December and just 3 percent immediately after the June 2016 referendum. "The UK corporate sector enters the negotiation phase of Brexit in far better spirits than seemed likely in the months after last year''s referendum vote," David Sproul, a senior partner at Deloitte, said. However, while business optimism is pretty much back to its level before the EU referendum started to weigh on corporate sentiment, risk appetite is far from having recovered. Some 26 percent of CFOs said they still expected to reduce capital spending because of Brexit and 30 percent plan to slow hiring - though this is down from an outright majority who planned to cut investment and jobs just after the referendum. Just 26 percent of CFOs think now is a good time to take a risk - up from 3 percent after the referendum, but far below the 51 percent who were prepared to add risk to their company''s balance sheet in June 2015. Last week Prime Minister Theresa May formally told the European Union that she wanted to start two years of exit talks. "Businesses will hope that the UK can secure the best possible deal on trade and market access, but must continue to plan for an exit in 2019, several years of trade negotiations, and a transitional phase to bridge the two," Sproul said. The Deloitte survey was conducted between March 8 and March 22 and was based on responses from 130 CFOs, including 25 of Britain''s 100 largest listed companies, and 53 mid-cap firms. Other participants included finance directors of large, privately held companies and British subsidiaries of foreign firms. (Reporting by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-cfo-idUKKBN1740YR'|'2017-04-03T07:08:00.000+03:00' '6276395bf8c99af6d2eefb3742f891388eaf74be'|'Burberry licenses beauty business to Coty in new partnership deal'|'LONDON British luxury brand Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said on Monday it would transfer its beauty business to U.S. group Coty ( COTY.N ) in a deal that will bring in around $225 million plus ongoing royalty payments in a bid to revitalize the division.Burberry said it expected the agreement to be broadly neutral to adjusted profit before tax in the 2017/18 transition year and accretive the following year."Working with a global partner of their scale and expertise will help drive the next phase of Burberry Beauty''s development and position this business for future growth," said Christopher Bailey, Burberry''s chief creative and chief executive officer.The exclusive licensing agreement will take effect from October 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.(Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-burberry-coty-partnership-idINKBN1750UZ'|'2017-04-03T07:24:00.000+03:00' '0b902f6927a63300be9aa8ca6e889abd23bdcab5'|'Hyundai flags weaker China sales after missile row; Kia''s March China sales halved - source'|'Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 11:36am BST Hyundai flags weaker China sales after missile row; Kia''s March China sales halved: source left right The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen at its dealership in Seoul, South Korea, December 15, 2016. Picture taken December 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of Kia Motor is seen during an unveiling ceremony for Kia Motor''s The New Soul in Seoul, South Korea, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File photo 2/2 By Hyunjoo Jin - SEOUL SEOUL South Korea''s Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) on Monday said "weaker sales in China" likely dragged down overseas sales in March, when a diplomatic row over a missile system led to a rise in anti-Korean sentiment. At Kia Motors, China sales likely halved from the year prior due to political tension and other reasons, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. Kia declined to comment. Hyundai and sister Kia posted declines in March overseas sales, without disclosing a country-by-country breakdown. China, the world''s biggest auto market, accounted for over a quarter of the pair''s 2016 overseas sales. China last month reiterated its opposition to a missile defense system that South Korea planned as a deterrent to nuclear-armed North Korea, saying the radar was capable of penetrating its territory. South Korean firms have since encountered difficulties in China, such as protests, suspension of operations and cyber crime. "The March sales results are gloomy. The market is getting tougher and tougher," said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and so declined to be identified. Hyundai Motor suspended production at one of its Chinese plants from March 24 to April 4, fuelling concern that tension over the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system may be hurting sales. But industry officials said Hyundai and Kia have deeper, longer-term challenges in the shape of local brands. The likes of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd ( 0175.HK ) have gained market share with affordable sport utility vehicles, at the expense of Hyundai and Kia which rely heavily on sedans. Kia has also been in a dispute with over 100 of its Chinese dealers, who said in January they might refuse to sell its cars unless they receive 2.5 billion yuan ($363.20 million) in compensation for losses incurred from unsold stock. In March, Kia''s overseas sales fell 13 percent to 190,601 vehicles. Last year, around 50,000 of its March sales were in China. Hyundai''s overseas sales fell 8 percent to 342,164 vehicles, the lowest for March since 2013, company data showed. Hyundai and Kia on Monday said "overseas performance last month seems to have been impacted by weaker sales in China." "We have seen a recent drop in dealership traffic in China as consumer sentiment toward Korean products overall is low and competitors are initiating special promotions targeting our customers," they said in a joint statement. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Christopher Cushing) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-autos-china-idUKKBN17511C'|'2017-04-03T18:34:00.000+03:00' '472f6f0c897cc21027b8bb5e814c25cad56c88e7'|'Irish manufacturing growth slows for third month in row - PMI'|'Business News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 6:18am BST Irish manufacturing growth slows for third month in row - PMI DUBLIN, April 3 - Growth in Irish manufacturing slowed for the third month in a row in March on weak new orders as costinflation pushed prices up, a survey showed on Monday. The Investec Manufacturing Purchasing Managers index slipped to 53.6 from 53.8 a month earlier and from a 20-month high of 55.7 in December. But it remained above the 50 mark separating growth from contraction for the 46th month in a row. Ireland, the EU''s fastest growing economy, is widely seen as the member state most at risk from Britain''s decision to leave the European Union. Output, new orders and purchasing activity all increased at weaker rates, while output prices hit their highest level in six years, the survey showed. But as Britain and the European Union kick off two years of Brexit talks, there were some signs of optimism, with 51 percent of panelists predicted a rise in output over the coming year. "Given the improving global economic backdrop, we think that this optimism is warranted," said Investec Ireland chief economist Philip O’Sullivan. - Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence. To subscribe to the full data, click on the link below: www.markit.com/Contact-Us (Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by John Stonestreet) Next In Business News British company finance chiefs more upbeat, still risk-averse - Deloitte LONDON British company finance chiefs are their most optimistic in 18 months, but their risk appetite has recovered far less from the battering it took in the run-up to and aftermath of last year''s vote to leave the European Union, a survey showed on Monday. UK''s Reckitt Benckiser weighing foods business sale-paper LONDON British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser is considering the sale of its foods business, which includes French''s, its top-selling U.S. mustard brand, to help fund its $16.6 billion (13 billion pound) takeover of baby food maker Mead Johnson, British newspaper The Sunday Times said. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1750CK'|'2017-04-03T13:18:00.000+03:00' 'e4ec98219d685282ee6cbd747a2e023348039974'|'National Grid forecasts low UK electricity demand this summer'|'Business 2:10pm BST National Grid forecasts low UK electricity demand this summer LONDON Britain''s National Grid ( NG.L ) expects low demand for electricity this summer and that there could be times when there is more generation than needed, the grid operator said on Thursday. Summer electricity demand from the grid has been falling over the past few years due in part to a rapid increase in the amount of solar power generation on people’s homes and factory roofs. In its summer outlook report, National Grid said peak transmission system demand for high summer (June-August) was forecast at 35.7 gigawatts (GW) and the summer minimum at 17.3 GW. "In order to balance the system, we will need to curtail flexible generation this summer. It may also be necessary to instruct inflexible generators to reduce their output during these periods of low demand," the report said. To prepare for the low demand National Grid, earlier this year secured 139 megawatts of "demand turn up" capacity through which firms are paid to either use electricity or produce less power during the summer months when output is high from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Under the scheme the companies will conduct some operations overnight or at midday when there is a lot of renewable generation, or cut their electricity output when demand is weak. As a part of the tender, companies were required to prove they need to carry out such operations and that the electricity would not be wasted. The scheme was also open to small scale power generators that can also reduce their output at short notice, such as combined heat and power units, which generate electricity as a by-product of heating. National Grid also forecast Britain''s total gas demand for summer at 34 billion cubic metres, down 5.6 percent on last year partly due to a reduction in demand from gas-fired power stations. Demand for gas storage is also expect to drop due to a prolonged outage at Britain''s largest gas storage site Rough, National Grid said. Gas is traditionally stored during the summer months to be used during winter when demand and prices are higher. Centrica ( CNA.L ) owned Rough, which accounts for around 70 percent of Britain''s storage capacity, will not be available for gas injection until at least July 1 because of tests on wells at the site. (Reporting By Susanna Twidale and Nina Chestney, editing by Jeremy Gaunt) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-national-grid-summer-outlook-idUKKBN1781NY'|'2017-04-06T21:10:00.000+03:00' 'f800c19b43fcf4414a05dbc9f0c1a0d87715bf45'|'RBI to focus on managing liquidity in new fiscal year'|'Money News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 3:39pm IST RBI to focus on managing liquidity in new fiscal year FILE PHOTO - People queue outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to exchange their old high denomination bank notes in New Delhi, India, December 30, 2016. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo MUMBAI The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will focus on draining excess liquidity from the system in the new fiscal year, Governor Urjit Patel said after the monetary policy meeting on Thursday. The RBI kept its repo rate unchanged at 6.25 percent for a third consecutive policy meeting on Thursday as it continues to guard against a potential flare-up in inflation and an uncertain global economic environment. "The objective is to more finely align the money market rates with the policy rate, bring down volatility and create conditions for improved transmission of monetary policy across the whole spectrum of interest rates," Patel said. (Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Writing by Abhirup Roy) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-economy-liquidity-idINKBN17813I'|'2017-04-06T18:03:00.000+03:00' '0ea9739c414aedacd700df400fcb91d77c49bce0'|'Old Mutual puts China insurance joint venture stake on block'|'Global Energy News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 9:47am BST Old Mutual puts China insurance joint venture stake on block FILE PHOTO: Workers clean windows outside the Cape Town headquarters of Anglo-South African financial services company Old Mutual, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo By Sumeet Chatterjee and Carolyn Cohn - HONG KONG/LONDON HONG KONG/LONDON Old Mutual ( OML.L ) has put up for sale its 50 percent stake in a Chinese insurance joint venture, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, as part of a revamp of the Anglo-South African financial group and amid a tough market for foreign insurers in China. Old Mutual, which is working with financial advisers on the stake sale plan, could sell its holding in the 13-year-old life insurance joint venture with Guodian Corp to one or more local firms, said the people. The move is part of a broader Old Mutual group restructuring exercise to exit non-core and smaller operations, they said, adding there is no certainty a deal would happen and the company could end the process if the bids don''t match its expectations. An Old Mutual spokesman declined to comment, while an email sent to Old Mutual-Guodian Life Insurance Co Ltd did not elicit an immediate response. Despite being the world''s second-largest insurance market, restrictive ownership limits, capped at 50 percent for foreign life insurers, and tough local competition have weighed on foreign firms'' operations and market share in China. Chinese firms, including China Life Insurance Co ( 2628.HK ), Ping An Insurance Group Co of China ( 2318.HK ) and a host of mid-sized insurers dominate the local market, with foreign joint ventures owning less than a 10 percent share. The restrictive ownership limit and the tough competition from local firms, many of them state-backed, have especially impacted the smaller foreign insurance joint ventures such as Old Mutual''s in China. In 2015, Old Mutual''s share of profit in the joint venture was 2 million pounds ($2.50 million), as per its annual report. The venture''s insurance business income in the fourth quarter of last year rose 12 percent to 118.4 million yuan ($17.16 million). Given the venture''s small size, it was not immediately possible to estimate the potential sale value of Old Mutual''s stake, the people said. They declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak about Old Mutual''s plan, which is not public yet. Guodian is one of China''s five major state-run power generation companies. Old Mutual is in the midst of breaking up its business in four parts by the end of next year. The firm aims to list or sell its emerging markets business and is sharpening focus on its sub-Saharan Africa business. The company sold a 25 percent stake in its Old Mutual Asset Management ( OMAM.N ) business last month to China''s HNA ( 0521.HK ) for $446 million, after selling its Italian wealth management business last year for $297 million. Besides China, Old Mutual''s Asia presence includes its life insurance joint venture in India with Kotak Mahindra Group. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in HONG KONG and Carolyn Cohn in LONDON; Additional reporting by Julie Zhu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) Next In Global Energy News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-old-mutual-china-insurance-idUKKBN1780TZ'|'2017-04-06T16:47:00.000+03:00' '5af2af30d9ffab3888eab76817b3dc3c2fb366a7'|'South Korea prosecution to question Lotte Group chief in graft probe'|'SEOUL South Korean prosecutors said on Thursday they have summoned Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin for questioning as a witness in an investigation of an influence-peddling scandal that led to the dismissal and arrest of former president Park Geun-hye.The prosecutor''s office said Shin had been summoned to appear at 9:30 a.m. local time (0030 GMT) on Friday but did not comment further.A Lotte Group spokesman said the company, South Korea''s fifth-largest conglomerate, or chaebol, would cooperate with the investigation fully and in good faith.Park was arrested on Friday after a court granted the prosecution''s request for her detention on charges including bribery. Her arrest came weeks after she became South Korea''s first democratically elected leader to be thrown out of office.She is accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, to pressure businesses such as Lotte to contribute to foundations that backed her policy initiatives. Prosecutors were questioning her again on Thursday, the second time this week.Park and Choi both deny any wrong-doing.Lotte has denied allegations that it made improper deals with Park, or those linked to her, for favours.(Reporting by Se Young Lee; additional reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Paul Tait)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southkorea-politics-lotte-group-idINKBN1780LL'|'2017-04-06T04:49:00.000+03:00' 'e76067cdb538081c0d1db5724d5202b861864f39'|'BRIEF-Terraform Global unit terminates revolving commitments under Credit & Guaranty agreement'|' 32pm EDT BRIEF-Terraform Global unit terminates revolving commitments under Credit & Guaranty agreement April 6 Terraform Global Inc: * Unit permanently reduced revolving commitments under Credit & Guaranty agreement to $0, terminated revolving commitments * Unit also entered into a fifth amendment to revolver facility - SEC filing * Company''s unit will no longer be required to deliver to administrative agent, lenders party to revolver its annual financial statements Source text - ( bit.ly/2oFVagm ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-terraform-global-unit-terminates-r-idUSL5N1HE6L0'|'2017-04-07T06:32:00.000+03:00' '75958eb8702f76c3df6c58a15a915545c6b8b839'|'LSE CEO taking part in Saudi Arabia visit by British PM May'|' 12pm BST LSE CEO taking part in Saudi Arabia visit by British PM May CEO of the London Stock Exchange Xavier Rolet speaks at the Qatar UK Business and Investment Forum in London, Britain March 27, 2017 REUTERS/Neil Hall LONDON/DUBAI London Stock Exchange CEO Xavier Rolet is due to meet Saudi officials in Riyadh as part of a visit by British Prime Minister Theresa May, a spokeswoman for the exchange said on Tuesday. The LSE and other top stock exchanges are pitching to win a slice of state oil company Saudi Aramco''s initial public offering, expected to be the world''s largest. Aramco is expected to list a small portion of its shares on the Saudi stock market, with the rest likely to go to one, two or possibly three of the world''s biggest exchanges. The IPO, expected in 2018, could be worth around $100 billion, Saudi officials have said. Rolet will attend a finance roundtable which Prime Minister May will host at the Saudi stock exchange on Tuesday, a spokesman for the prime minister office confirmed. May arrived in the Saudi capital on Tuesday, official Saudi state news agency, SPA reported. New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto are also seeking to win a slice of the offering and Saudi officials have been meeting with exchanges to decide where the shares should be traded. (Dasha Afanasieva and Kylie Maclellan in London ,Reem Shamseddine in DUBAI and Marwa Rashad in Riyadh; editing by Jason Neely) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aramco-ipo-lse-idUKKBN1761IN'|'2017-04-04T21:12:00.000+03:00' '5e5dedba98d6b18ccf745115626af37cae507031'|'China''s ZEPC in talks to buy stake in Brazil''s Belo Monte dam'|'SAO PAULO China''s Zhejiang Electric Power Construction Co Ltd ( 600023.SS ) (ZEPC) is in talks to buy a stake in Brazil''s massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, two sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.The 11,233-megawatt dam on a major tributary to the Amazon River is owned by a consortium including utilities Eletrobras ( ELET5.SA ), Neoenergia SA, Cemig ( CMIG4.SA ) and Light SA ( LIGT3.SA ), mining company Vale SA ( VALE5.SA ) and pension funds Petros [PETROS.UL]and Funcef [FUNCEF.UL]. Total investment in the plant is expected to reach 35 billion reais ($11 billion) by the time it is finished in 2019.($1 = 3.13 reais)(Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-power-belo-monte-idUSKBN1792QF'|'2017-04-07T21:52:00.000+03:00' '28538b9fa75e31950346554de10e1c5463874943'|'Revving up, a bit: Tesla increases deliveries of electric cars'|'ELON MUSK, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has had two bits of good news recently about his various bets on new technology. SpaceX, his privately-held launch company, last month became the first successfully to reuse a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. And this week Tesla, his electric-car manufacturer, at last hit its production targets.Some analysts doubted Tesla would meet its goals after a series of production difficulties. But the carmaker said first-quarter deliveries were just over 25,000 vehicles, a record for the firm and a 69% increase over the same period in 2016. Some 13,450 were its sleek Model S saloons and about 11,550 were the firm’s new SUV, the Model X. This puts Tesla on track to produce the 50,000 vehicles it has promised to make in the first half of this year. That is good progress. But Tesla is going to have to crank production up by an awful lot more to make the 500,000 cars a year which Mr Musk wants to see pouring off the production line by 2018, let alone the 1m intended for just two years later.Latest updates Donald Trump meets Xi Jinping Democracy in America 4 hours ago A global decline in smoking masks regional variations between the sexes Graphic detail 7 hours ago “Sesame Street” introduces its young viewers to autism Prospero 10 hours ago Podcast: What does John McCain think of Donald Trump’s leadership? International 10 hours ago Japan’s cherry blossoms are emerging increasingly early Graphic detail 12 hours ago Connecting flights hold the key to low-cost long-haul success Gulliver 14 hours ago See all updates To reach those volumes, Tesla is counting on its forthcoming Model 3. Priced at around $35,000, the new car will cost around half that of the other two models. Due to begin production later this year, the Model 3 is supposed to take Tesla into the mass market, where it will face stiff competition from plug-in vehicles produced by existing mass manufacturers, including GM, Nissan and BMW.Bringing any new car to market burns cash, and Tesla has been busy raising funds. On March 24th Tencent, a Chinese internet giant that owns WeChat, a popular messaging service, paid $1.8bn for a 5% stake in Tesla. Tencent could help accelerate Tesla’s drive into the vast Chinese market, where some 28m cars were sold last year. With Donald Trump trying to dismantle some environmental standards in America, China seems likelier to push green technologies. It is already the world’s biggest market for electric cars; some 700,000 plug-in cars are expected to be sold there this year. But to compete against low-cost local brands, Tesla urgently needs to start churning out its cheaper car.Many investors are betting that Tesla can become a mass producer. This has pushed up the value of the firm’s shares, which have increased by 38% since the start of 2017. On April 3rd Tesla’s market capitalisation exceeded $48bn, overtaking Ford (at $45bn). Ford may not be as technologically glamorous but it is well-versed in mass-producing cars, having made 6.7m last year. An awful lot will be riding on the Model 3. If Tesla fails to hit future targets then a cashflow crisis may loom. Investors, though, will have an exit: the company’s brand and whizzy technology are easily valuable enough to drive the firm into the arms of a bigger manufacturer that can hit its numbers. "Revving up, a bit"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720340-real-test-will-be-whether-it-can-churn-out-its-new-model-3?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '4c548a33f0157332389c92185801d36fdcdb57ca'|'Deutsche Bank''s 8 billion euro cash call marks end of era for cuts'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 4:58pm BST Deutsche Bank''s 8 billion euro cash call marks end of era for cuts FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of Germany''s Deutsche Bank are seen early evening in Frankfurt, Germany January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo By Arno Schuetze - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank''s ( DBKGn.DE ) chief executive said an era of cutbacks was over on Friday after completing an 8 billion euro (7 billion pound) capital increase to pay legal penalties, keep regulators happy and make fresh investments. "It is clear that we will not succeed by shrinking further," John Cryan said in a letter to staff after Deutsche Bank''s latest capital hike, which took its total capital raised over seven years to 30 billion euros, just below its market value. Cryan''s cash call was backed by top shareholders - a group of Qatari investors, U.S. fund Blackrock ( BLK.N ) and China''s HNA Group - whose stakes and influence over Germany''s biggest bank would otherwise have been diluted, one source said. "Our capital increase should eliminate any remaining doubt about Deutsche Bank''s stability. This is why it''s even more important to focus on a topic that has been in the background for quite some time: growth," the British CEO said. Deutsche Bank shares were down 1.8 percent at the bottom of a flat German blue-chip index .GDAXI by 1452 GMT. Deutsche Bank''s fourth capital hike since 2010, previously described by Cryan as a last resort, involved about 80 percent of shareholders buying new shares, while the rest sold their rights, sources told Reuters. Cryan, who has pledged to reward shareholders'' trust by seeing through a turnaround of Deutsche, acknowledged that recent feedback showed that while many investors and analysts in Europe were still sceptical about Germany''s biggest lender, U.S. investors were more positive. "They have seen first-hand how well banks are recovering in their home market and how profitable they can be. They expect us to turn the corner too," he said The high-margin U.S. market, which accounts for half of Deutsche Bank''s global investment banking revenues, will play an important role, he added, vowing to steer clear of business that could comes back to haunt it later in litigation costs. Deutsche Bank transformed itself into a major player on Wall Street over the past two decades, but extravagant bets and poor conduct has resulted in a litigation bill of 15 billion euros since 2009. Until now, Cryan has focused on damage limitation and cost-cutting since taking over first as co-CEO in 2015 and then becoming sole CEO last year. NEXT STEP The next big step in Deutsche''s reorganisation, announced last month, is a plan to list a minority stake of its asset management business, which includes its mainstay DWS retail asset management brand. While a listing is no longer needed to get capital in line with regulatory demands - its capital ratio will now rise to 14.1 percent compared with the ECB''s minimum requirement of 9.5 percent - it could help lift Deutsche''s valuation. European banks on average trade just below their book value and Deutsche trades at half of its book value, while listed asset managers such as Schroders ( SDR.L ), Henderson ( HGGH.L ) and Aberdeen ( ADN.L ) trade at more than twice book value. Although Deutsche Bank has vowed to carry out the initial public offering within two years, people close to the matter say that the listing, which could value the asset management business at up to 8 billion euros, may be launched this autumn. It will only pull off the expected listing of 10-20 percent of the asset management business if equity markets are buoyant and it is able to fetch an attractive price, the sources said. A listing would also give the asset management division a paper currency for potential acquisitions and shares which could be used to incentivise management. (Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-bank-capital-idUKKBN1791PA'|'2017-04-07T23:58:00.000+03:00' 'b5ae642fa5e40b01e2c56fd9eb35bb36e4dd7909'|'Samsung Electronics says first quarter operating profit likely rose 48 percent year on year'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 12:43am BST Samsung Electronics says first-quarter operating profit likely rose 48 percent year-on-year FILE PHOTO: Shareholders walk past the logo of Samsung Electronics before their general meeting at a company''s building in Seoul, South Korea, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ) estimated on Friday its first-quarter operating profit rose 48 percent from a year earlier, beating expectations as strong memory chip prices likely padded margins. Samsung, in a regulatory filing, said its January-March profit was likely 9.9 trillion won ($8.76 billion), compared with an average forecast of 9.4 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters survey of 18 analysts. Revenue likely rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier to 50 trillion won, Samsung said. The company did not elaborate on its performance and will disclose detailed earnings in late April. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-results-idUKKBN178319'|'2017-04-07T07:42:00.000+03:00' '2101d9498ee58338072da90c18ea00248c426c66'|'UK industrial output shrinks unexpectedly in Feb, adding to signs of slowdown'|' 2:08pm IST UK industrial output shrinks unexpectedly in Feb, adding to signs of slowdown A man walks past a car scrap yard in east London January 25, 2013. REUTERS/Paul Hackett/Files LONDON British industrial output fell unexpectedly in February and manufacturers struggled, according to official data on Friday that added to signs economic growth may have slowed as Britain prepares to leave the EU. Industrial output fell 0.7 percent in February, worse than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that pointed to a 0.2 percent increase and following a 0.3 percent decline in January. Separate figures showed Britain''s goods trade deficit unexpectedly hit a five-month high in February and January''s deficit was revised up too, the Office for National Statistics said. Another batch of figures showing a slump in construction output chimed with recent business surveys that suggested Britain''s economic performance probably peaked towards the end of last year. The latest ONS data suggested manufacturing was not making up for signs of a consumer spending slowdown as some economists had hoped following the pound''s post-Brexit vote drop. Output in manufacturing, which accounts for about 10 percent of Britain''s gross domestic product, unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent following a 1.0 percent fall in January, disappointing against forecasts for a 0.3 percent rise in the Reuters poll. British manufacturing had a mixed performance in 2016, with economic growth driven mostly by the much larger services sector and consumer spending. A closely-watched business survey on Monday showed British manufacturing lost some of its momentum in March, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures. Separate figures from the ONS showed Britain''s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world rose to 12.461 billion pounds, compared with an upwardly revised 11.971 billion pounds in January. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 10.9 billion pounds. The ONS said the trade deficit was pushed up by erratic factors like imports of gold and aircraft. The ONS also released figures for construction output in February, which slumped 1.7 percent on the month - the biggest drop in almost a year. The Reuters poll had pointed to stagnation on the month but output in February was dragged down by 2.6 percent drop in the housebuilding sector, the sharpest decline since mid-2015. On the year, construction output rose just 0.5 percent in February - the weakest reading since March 2016 and a far cry from forecasts for a 1.9 percent rise. (Reporting by Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-economy-idINKBN17916J'|'2017-04-07T16:38:00.000+03:00' 'eab1b630af12bc7ae36389093fc5d9cab768ec5e'|'Norway''s wealth fund had its third-best quarter in the first-quarter'|'Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 9:14am BST Norway''s wealth fund had its third-best quarter in the first-quarter OSLO Norway''s $915-billion (734.33 billion pounds) sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, earned 298 billion Norwegian crowns ($34.6 billion)from its investments in the first quarter as stock markets surged, it said on Friday. "Measured in Norwegian crowns, this was the third best quarter in the history of the fund, driven by strong returns on the equity investments. In the last month, the total return exceeded the total inflow of the fund," fund CEO Yngve Slyngstad said in a statement. The fund earned a return of 3.8 percent in the quarter, beating its benchmark index by 0.1 percentage point. In the fourth quarter the fund booked a return of 2.17 percent. The government withdrew 23 billion Norwegian crowns during the first quarter to pay for public expenses at a time of declining oil and gas revenues, after pulling out a total of 101 billion crowns during 2016. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-norway-swf-idUKKBN179139'|'2017-04-07T16:03:00.000+03:00' '57e85bc527c65cf921cda0876f6b782d550dc5d0'|'U.S. 37-day cash management bill high rate 0.720 pct'|'WASHINGTON, April 7 The U.S. Treasury Department said its auction of 37-day cash management bills brought these results: Term: 37-Day High Rate: 0.720 pct Investment Rate*: 0.731 pct Price: $99.926000 Allotted at High: 16.04 pct Total Tendered: $115,225,000 Total Accepted: $25,000,400 Issue Date: 04/11/2017 Maturity Date: 05/18/2017 CUSIP: 912796KZ1 *Equivalent coupon-issue yield'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-37-day-cash-management-bill-high-rate-idINZXN0DZL0E'|'2017-04-07T14:29:00.000+03:00' '41228ec572bc54334f51f6dfe22831a7ab75c610'|'Fox, Bill O''Reilly settle claims with five women -New York Times - Reuters'|'By Alex Dobuzinskis - April 1 April 1 Fox News host Bill O''Reilly and his employer have made payouts totaling about $13 million to five women to settle claims of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior, the New York Times reported on Saturday.O''Reilly said in a statement that he has been unfairly targeted because of his public prominence."In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline." O''Reilly, host of "The O''Reilly Factor," the network''s biggest star, added, "I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children."Fox News declined to comment."While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O''Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility," Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, the parent company of Fox News, said in a statement. "Mr. O''Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News."The report follows heightened scrutiny of the workplace climate at Fox News, the top-rated cable news network and unit of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. Founding Chairman Roger Ailes left the company last year after sexual harassment allegations.The five women who have received settlements either worked for O''Reilly or appeared as guests on his program, the New York Times reported. Two of the five settlements were previously known.The largest settlement was a payout of $9 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit former Fox News producer Andrea Mackris brought against O''Reilly in 2004, according to the New York Times.Two settlements were reached last year after Ailes'' departure, the newspaper said.Fox News anchor Laurie Dhue accused O''Reilly and Ailes of harassing her, but not sexually, and Juliet Huddy, a regular guest on O''Reilly''s show, accused O''Reilly of pursuing a sexual relationship with her and trying to hamper her career after she rejected his advances, the newspaper reported.Attorneys for Mackris, Dhue and Huddy did not respond immediately to calls seeking comment.Fox News last year agreed to pay $20 million to settle a harassment suit by former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson on behalf of Ailes, who denied any wrongdoing. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/twenty-firstfox-oreilly-idINL2N1H90F2'|'2017-04-01T21:17:00.000+03:00' 'db992fd9212234739693bb7fe7773c2f1fd6bcf1'|'BRIEF-Tandy Leather Factory announced an update to its reporting segments'|' 23am EDT BRIEF-Tandy Leather Factory announced an update to its reporting segments April 5 Tandy Leather Factory Inc * Announced an update to its reporting segments * Tandy Leather Factory - effective January 1, 2017, wholesale and retail have been combined into North America, while international remains same * Will report on new reporting basis starting with Q1 2017 results in May Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-tandy-leather-factory-announced-an-idUSFWN1HD0GR'|'2017-04-05T21:23:00.000+03:00' 'e0af609cb1a6654fa58e434074dad83880ef6fa0'|'GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil rises on Syria attack, dollar shrugs off jobs report'|'(Adds U.S. market open, dateline, byline; previous LONDON)* Jobs report surprises but viewed as weather related* Oil rises after U.S. attacks Syria air base* Europe stocks rise, Wall Street trades flatBy Herbert LashNEW YORK, April 7 Oil traded near a one-month high on Friday after the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base while the dollar rose as investors dismissed a weak U.S. jobs report as not enough to derail a strong economy or outlook for rising interest rates.The toughest U.S. action in Syria''s six-year-old civil war raised geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and initially hit assets such as equities and oil. Gold, a safe-haven asset, climbed to a five-month high and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields briefly slid to four-month lows.U.S. crude rose 51 cents to $52.21 a barrel and Brent was last up 39 cents to $55.28.Spot gold added 1.2 percent to $1,265.70 an ounce.Investors still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates twice more in 2017 as the unemployment rate in the jobs report declined to 4.5 percent from 4.7 percent in February."As long as we see the unemployment rate decline, we will see more rate hikes," said Cathy Barrera, chief economic adviser at ZipRecuiter in New York.News of the U.S. cruise missile strikes on the Syrian air base at first sent global stocks lower, but most losses were pared after U.S. officials described the attack as a one-off event that would not lead to wider escalation.Stock market indexes rebounded to close higher in Europe and traded flat on Wall Street where a dismal U.S. jobs reports gave investors a reason to pause.Nonfarm payrolls increased by 98,000 jobs last month, the fewest since last May, the Labor Department said. A major snow storm dubbed Stella in the Northeast during the week in March of the employment survey led to a step-down in hiring."Our thinking is that there is nothing wrong with the labor market, other than the timing of Stella," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York.U.S. corporate profits for the first quarter will be up 9 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier, and give the market a lift when earnings season begins next week, he said.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.06 points, or 0.01 percent, to 20,661.89. The S&P 500 lost 0.89 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,356.6 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.26 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,873.69.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.11 percent to close at a provisional 1,501.61, while MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.06 percent.The drop in the unemployment rate suggested the labor market was still tightening and does not change the outlook for bonds.U.S. 10- and seven-year yields briefly hit 2.269 percent and 2.072 percent, respectively, their lowest since Nov. 18, 2016. U.S. 30-year yields touched 2.939 percent, their lowest since mid-January."There was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the headline," said Mark Cabana, head of U.S. short rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idINL8N1HF4RS'|'2017-04-07T14:12:00.000+03:00' 'b33f7b20a14b0627033628030551b652e0856fb0'|'PRESS DIGEST-Canada - April 7'|' 38am EDT PRESS DIGEST-Canada - April 7 April 7 The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** The head of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce made his case to shareholders Thursday for the proposed $4.9 billion purchase of Chicago-based PrivateBancorp Inc, a week after hiking the offer price by 20 percent. tgam.ca/2og70N2 ** The CEO of Royal Bank of Canada is urging all three levels of government to work together to solve the challenge of the Toronto area''s sky-rocketing house prices, one day after federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau called a special meeting with city leaders to discuss the problem. tgam.ca/2og2T3z NATIONAL POST ** Canada''s banking regulator is prepared to move ahead with new rules to ensure the country''s bank''s have sufficient capital buffers for bad times — even if the mired international efforts of the Basel Committee remain stalled indefinitely. bit.ly/2og31jz ** Alberta and Saskatchewan are fighting over the shrinking number of energy head offices, but Crescent Point Energy Corp CEO Scott Saxberg thinks they should be more concerned about Canadian spending — and even head offices — migrating to the United States. bit.ly/2og4uWT (Compiled by Gaurika Juneja in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-canada-idUSL3N1HF3TN'|'2017-04-07T18:38:00.000+03:00' '1ed227a513396c8d425124617707773e5a22bbcb'|'BRIEF-BP says CEO Bob Dudley''s 2016 total remuneration at 11.6 mln pounds'|' 34am EDT BRIEF-BP says CEO Bob Dudley''s 2016 total remuneration at 11.6 mln pounds April 6 BP Plc: * Says CEO Bob Dudley’s 2016 total remuneration, including pension was $11.6 million versus $19.4 million in 2015 * The salary for the group chief executive Dudley will remain at $1.854 million for 2017 * Says CFO Brian Gilvary total remuneration for 2016 at 4.2 million pounds versus 5.1 million pounds in 2015 * From 2017, level of bonus paid for an ‘on-target’ score will be reduced by 25 pct. * From 2017, the proportion of annual bonus that must be deferred into shares will be increased from 33 pct to 50 pct. * Executive directors have voluntarily agreed the extension of vesting periods for certain legacy share awards as a transitional approach to the new policy * From 2017, deferred shares will no longer be matched with additional shares * From 2017, will operate only two incentive plans – a short-term annual bonus and a long-term performance share plan * From 2017, maximum ceo longer-term incentives will be reduced from seven times salary to a maximum of five times salary * Expected that Bob Dudley and Brian Gilvary will maintain a shareholding of at least 250 percent of salary for two years following retirement * Committee believes that the relative reserves replacement ratio measure does not fit with the group’s strategic focus on ‘value over volume'' * CEO Bob Dudley’s 2016 annual bonus was $2.5 million versus. $4.2 million in 2015 * Bob Dudley’s deferred bp share component of 2016 annual bonus was $848,000 * 2016 proved rrr for exploration, including impact of Abu Dhabi Onshore Oil Concession Renewal, was 96 pct for subsidiaries, equity-accounted entities (2015 33 pct) * 2016 proved rrr for exploration, with impact of Abu Dhabi Onshore Oil Concession Renewal, 101 pct for subsidiaries (2015 28 pct),61 pct for equity-accounted entities (2015 76 pct) Source text for Eikon: ( on.bp.com/2o62rEB (Bengaluru Newsroom: +91 80 6749 1136) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-bp-says-ceo-bob-dudleys-2016-total-idUSFWN1HE093'|'2017-04-06T18:34:00.000+03:00' 'd5eadc96f22e7dc720487b85b6ec0fdf34399428'|'Small business owners support Sturgeon''s plans for another referendum - Guardian Small Business Network'|'It’s been billed by critics as a vanity project for Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who wants independence from the rest of the UK whatever it takes. Theresa May has accused Sturgeon of “tunnel vision” and said her plans represented “the worst possible timing”. ''The landscape has changed'': Scottish voters on re-evaluating independence - Guardian readers and Matthew Holmes Read more But after the Scottish parliament voted in favour of holding a second independence referendum last week, it appears Scottish small business owners are also in favour of plans for another vote. Of the 145 entrepreneurs and self employed workers who responded to a Guardian request, 86% said they would support the move. The majority of those who responded had voted yes to independence in the 2014 referendum and said they would vote yes again. But 12% of remain voters said they would change their vote given the opportunity and now support independence. On the flip side, only 2% who had voted yes before would switch their vote to no. That number could be significant if representative. In the 2014 referendum, 45% voted for an independent Scotland and 55% voted to remain in the UK.Before the 2014 vote, Scottish businesses were predominantly on the side of remaining in the United Kingdom – of the 1,000 entrepreneurs surveyed by Ingenious Britain, 48% believed it would be a negative step for their firm. It’s a shift too in opinion from May 2016, when a Federation of Small Businesses survey among 440 business owners in Scotland found 57% did not want a second independence vote in the next five years. But the EU referendum result just a month later seems to have had an impact. A recent Opinium/Observer poll found that the majority (63%) of Scottish voters believe the Brexit vote has made the breakup of the United Kingdom more likely, against 16% who disagree. In every way, socially, politically and economically, we are stronger in EuropeCarl MacDougall Elizabeth Carnahan, founder of Gracefruit Ltd, voted no in 2014 because of the possibility of Scotland losing its EU membership, and would vote yes this time. She believes a good relationship with the EU is just as important to her business as one with the UK: “While we export a lot to the EU, we buy most of our components and raw materials from distributors within the UK (although most of these are imported from elsewhere). Leaving the single market would disrupt supply chains affecting many UK businesses, not just mine.” Carnahan has found that political uncertainty has affected her business already. “We’ve had contact from worried EU customers who depend on our products for their own small businesses. [And] due to the falling value of the pound, we have seen significant price increases on most everything we buy.”Corrado Mella, managing director of Scottish Broadband Telecom, voted in favour of independence in 2014 and would do so again in a second referendum. He believes the timing is important, but backs Sturgeon’s estimate of early 2019. “The referendum must be held before the UK drops out of the free trade agreement and as soon as the Brexit terms are agreed and confirmed. It’s clear that trading with Europe, with cheap and easy transit and transport, is advantageous for SMEs. The same cannot be said for other overseas destinations.”He does not believe that Scottish firms will have to choose between Europe and the UK if Sturgeon does get a mandate to remove Scotland from the union: “An independent Scotland, as an EU member, will trade with what’s left of the UK through the agreement reached by the two parties. [And] having a neighbouring Scotland in the EU provides a cheap and easy route to the EU markets [for the UK].”Julie Inglis, director of KubeNet in Glasgow, is not in favour of a second referendum. She voted remain the first time around and says: “My personal opinion is that leaving the EU is a mistake, however given where we are, it’s now time to focus on creating sustainable employment, increasing manufacturing, and buying from within, as opposed to buying cheap from overseas.”Spain drops plan to impose veto if Scotland tries to join EU Read more Brexit has already impacted her business: “The impact has been on procurement of hardware from some of the global vendors, [which] directly impacts our margins. Some of our customers have been hesitant in committing to investments, which has delayed projects slightly. [But] overall, the impact to our business so far is less than 10%.”Carl MacDougall, a self-employed writer voted no in 2014 because “the economic case [for independence] was weak, important questions were unseen or avoided and the case mostly depended on an emotional, chauvinistic appeal.”Now he would support independence: “In every way, socially, politically and economically, we are stronger in Europe. The special relationship with America mostly works one way. The pound is weak and looks vulnerable, unlike the euro. And the government case against Scottish independence – that it is divisive, playing politics with Britain’s future and likely to cause huge economic uncertainty – is equally applicable to Brexit.“The Europe we were told needed us more than we needed them is better prepared for our exit than we are. We have an opportunity to stand alone with no one but ourselves to blame, to rid ourselves of the Little Englander attitude that tells us they know best ... What’s wrong with that? I imagine there are a few south of the border who are envious.”Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Guardian Small Business Network Entrepreneurs Scottish independence Scottish politics Scotland '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/06/small-business-owners-support-sturgeons-second-independence-referendum-brexit'|'2017-04-06T22:14:00.000+03:00' '0eb2e64f16f31ecd4a3e7d1d44c62a6b0ea363f6'|'BRIEF-Bank Mutual Corp announces branch office sales and consolidations'|' 40pm EDT BRIEF-Bank Mutual Corp announces branch office sales and consolidations April 4 Bank Mutual Corp * Bank Mutual Corporation announces branch office sales and consolidations * Bank Mutual Corporation announced that it will consolidate two retail branch offices into other nearby locations * Bank Mutual Corp - After sales and consolidations, Bank Mutual will operate 57 banking locations in Wisconsin and one in Minnesota * Bank Mutual Corp - Entered into agreement to sell 5 retail branch offices, including $52.6 million in deposits, $13.2 million in loans associated with offices * Bank Mutual Corp - Pending sale consists of one office in Kenosha, two in Racine, and two in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and is expected to close in Q3 * Bank Mutual Corp - Terms of transaction were not announced * Bank Mutual - Anticipates branch office sales, consolidations will provide approximately $1.3 million in net benefit to pre-tax earnings on annualized basis Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-bank-mutual-corp-announces-branch-idUSFWN1HC0JX'|'2017-04-05T04:40:00.000+03:00' '16861895f34569829c3c6796ad35f87c3c5c25b1'|'Capital & Counties sells London exhibition centre assets for 296 million pounds'|' 6:24pm BST Capital & Counties sells London exhibition centre assets for 296 million pounds British property developer Capital & Counties ( CAPCC.L ) said on Friday it has sold its exhibition business for 296 million pounds to a group of German institutional investors. The business, Venues, comprises the Olympia London exhibition centre in west London and other property assets. Its majority owner is now German public pension schemes manager Bayerische Versorgungskammer, one of the institutional investors in the buying consortium. The value of the events business fell 1.3 percent to 293 million pounds in 2016, according to the company’s annual report. Capital & Counties, which owns large parts of the Covent Garden district in central London, said in late February that the residential market remained challenging following increases in stamp duty and Britain''s vote "This (deal) will position the company to concentrate effort and resources on our two central London estates at Covent Garden and Earls Court," the company said. The German consortium was advised by Deutsche Finance International and Yoo Capital. Capital & Counties was advised on the deal by Rothschild and CBRE. (Reporting By Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-capital-counties-londonolympia-m-a-idUKKBN1792O0'|'2017-04-08T01:24:00.000+03:00' '29760820fdbbb91819a261841068f23e8b7027c0'|'Germany''s Fresenius weighing bid for generic drugmaker Akorn: Bbg'|'German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA ( FREG.DE ) is weighing a bid for generic drugmaker Akorn Inc ( AKRX.O ), Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.The companies are in discussions, though no final decisions have been made, Bloomberg reported. bloom.bg/2oN9cMwAkorn''s shares rose as much as 21.5 percent to $30.64 in afternoon trading. The company has a market value of about $3.7 billion.Fresenius and Akorn were not immediately available for comments.(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akorn-m-a-fresenius-idINKBN1792UX'|'2017-04-07T16:47:00.000+03:00' '907f49549710f549f969d2f9f04ce9d4b1d13f78'|'Dijsselbloem says he will remain head of eurogroup until mandate ends'|' 29am BST Dijsselbloem says he will remain head of eurogroup until mandate ends Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem talks to the media as he arrives at European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir VALLETTA The head of the eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said on Friday he did not intend to resign before his mandate ends in January, his latest attempt to put down calls for him to quit. Dijsselbloem has been under fire since the end of March after he made comments in a German newspaper interview that were seen as derogatory to southern Europeans and that the Portuguese prime minister Antonio Costa called "xenophobic". On his arrival to an informal meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Malta, Dijsselbloem repeated he did not intend to quit. "I am available to finish my mandate," he told reporters. His term as chair of the eurogroup ends in January. He has held the post since 2013, helping to steer the currency union through its worst crisis since its creation. The criticism of his controversial remarks, which he said were not meant to offend anybody, followed a defeat of Dijsselbloem''s center-left party in the March general elections in the Netherlands, which may force him out from his post as Dutch finance minister. But talks to form a new coalition government in the Netherlands are likely to go on "for quite a while," Dijsselbloem said, hinting that a compromise may not come before January. Eurogroup chairs have always been finance or economics ministers, but no rules prevent incumbents from staying on if they lose their ministerial job. Dijsselbloem also said he would speak before the European Parliament''s plenary on April 27, a move to end lawmakers'' uproar after he declined to appear in the chamber of the Strasbourg-based legislature this week. Dijsselbloem often appears before the economic affairs committee of the European parliament but has so far repeatedly declined to speak before the whole chamber. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-eurogroup-dijsselbloem-idUKKBN1791CC'|'2017-04-07T17:27:00.000+03:00' 'befb6573c12b345c71d1f6318e3653461d1a4977'|'BRIEF-Aurinia announces development plans for Voclosporin in Europe and Japan'|' 25pm EDT BRIEF-Aurinia announces development plans for Voclosporin in Europe and Japan April 6 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc * Aurinia announces development plans for Voclosporin in Europe and Japan * Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc - on track to initiating global Aurora study this quarter * Aurinia-Confirmatory data that can be generated from aurora trial, aura-lv phase iib study should support regulatory submissions in US, Europe, Japan Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-aurinia-announces-development-plan-idUSFWN1HE0OP'|'2017-04-07T06:25:00.000+03:00' 'bd1a55f03faeecf3121836dbc0febd4ac4321bb2'|'Japan should push back on any U.S. attack on yen policy - Abe adviser'|' 14pm IST Japan should push back on any U.S. attack on yen policy - Abe adviser FILE PHOTO: The word ''''Yen'''' is pictured on a Japanese banknote on top of a U.S. dollar bill at Interbank Inc. Money exchange in Tokyo, Japan in this September 9, 2010 picture illustration. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo/Illustration By Kaori Kaneko and Sumio Ito - TOKYO TOKYO Japan should push back against any U.S. suggestion that it is suppressing the yen''s value for trade advantage, an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, in a bid to preempt criticism of Japan''s currency policy. Koichi Hamada, Cabinet adviser and emeritus professor of economics at Yale University, told Reuters in an interview that Tokyo should stress that Japan has a different currency policy from China. With President Donald Trump criticising the trade policies of Japan, China and other major economies, Tokyo fears that trade friction could return for the first time in years, harming Japan''s interests and its deep relations with Washington. A senior U.S. official told Reuters that the administration is shifting its attention from countries that "manipulate" their currencies to currencies that are "misaligned," even if the imbalance is unintentional. "What Japan should argue is that Japan and China have totally different stances towards currency manipulation," Hamada said on Thursday. "Japan has not intervened in the currency market under Abenomics, and Japan''s monetary policy is targeted strictly at domestic economic targets." (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Sumio Ito, Additional reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by William Mallard & Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-hamada-idINKBN1790YY'|'2017-04-07T15:44:00.000+03:00' '8ade1ed0d5e6a247174246a05cecfcb866d96f72'|'Exclusive: U.S. regulator removes top examiner for Wells Fargo - sources'|'By Patrick Rucker - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The most senior bank examiner for Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) has been removed by a U.S. regulator in the wake of the bank''s unauthorised accounts scandal, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the lead regulator for national banks, stripped the examiner, Bradley Linskens, of his supervisory powers within the last two weeks, said three sources, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.Linskens did not immediately respond to requests for comment. OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard declined to comment.Wells Fargo''s board is expected to release a report on Monday detailing what went wrong at the fourth-largest U.S. bank, according to sources familiar with the matter. The bank and its board both declined to comment.In September, Wells Fargo reached a $190 million settlement with the OCC and other regulators over its opening millions of accounts in customers'' names without their permission. At the time, the bank said as many as 2 million accounts were affected, but has since said the number might be larger.The report is the result of a seven-month investigation by Wells Fargo''s board of directors into how and why the sales abuses happened. Thousands of employees were dismissed over the matter, and several have publicly said they opened the fake accounts to hit aggressive sales targets set by managers.Wells Fargo now faces probes from other government agencies including the Department of Justice, which is investigating whether any laws were broken.Linskens was responsible for day-to-day supervision of Wells Fargo and managed a staff of more than 60 people, according to past notices from the OCC. He joined the OCC in 1993 and earliest oversight of Wells Fargo began in 2006.In 2016, Linskens was honoured with the title "senior national bank examiner" and received accolades in a news release from Comptroller Thomas Curry, who runs the OCC.In September, Curry ordered an internal review of how the OCC handled the Wells Fargo matter and whether the agency has "gaps in our supervision."That review is drawing to a close, said an OCC official.(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/wells-fargo-accounts-examiner-idINKBN1792XP'|'2017-04-07T17:28:00.000+03:00' '3ecb258645d4073c30f95a4fc7a2e951c753d66f'|'Japan and U.S. aren''t discussing Westinghouse situation - Seko'|'TOKYO, April 7 Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Friday it was not true that Japan and the United States were discussing the situation surrounding Toshiba Corp''s troubled U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co.A U.S. official said on Thursday the Trump administration and the Japanese government were in discussions to ensure that the bankruptcy of Westinghouse does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands.Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. (Reporting by Ami Miyazaki, writing by Kaori Kaneko, editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-japan-westinghouse-idINT9N1GU00B'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'c53f9f6e9a28645d020518c1dcaf0dde5422c2c7'|'BRIEF-Lifehealthcare and K2M announce new distribution agreement'|' 16pm EDT BRIEF-Lifehealthcare and K2M announce new distribution agreement April 7 Lifehealthcare Group : * Lifehealthcare and K2M announce new distribution agreement-lhc.ax * Lifehealthcare group -co & K2M group entered into a new supply agreement for distribution of k2m''s innovative spinal technologies '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-lifehealthcare-and-k2m-announce-ne-idUSFWN1HF003'|'2017-04-07T09:16:00.000+03:00' '17a5a70c4deef0e802ef035fdd6f1413368de0b9'|'J.P. Morgan to remove South Africa debt from its bond indexes'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 10:36am EDT J.P. Morgan to remove South Africa debt from its bond indexes NEW YORK, April 7 J.P. Morgan said on Friday South Africa will depart from its investment-grade emerging market bond indexes starting in late April, after Fitch downgraded the country''s debt ratings to junk status earlier Friday. Roughly $49 billion worth of South African bonds are benchmarked against its investment-grade only emerging market bond indexes and $10 billion of debt are linked to its global bond index-emerging market indexes, J.P. Morgan said in a statement. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-bonds-jpmorgan-idUSL1N1HF0LY'|'2017-04-07T22:36:00.000+03:00' '3ac391d8e600515d043108089fce4f9e6c392b51'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as financials slip, offsetting gold miner gains'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 11:21am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as financials slip, offsetting gold miner gains (Adds details on stocks and sectors throughout and updates prices) * TSX falls 29.41 points, or 0.19 percent, to 15,667.77 * Eight of the TSX''s 10 main groups decline TORONTO, April 7 Canada''s main stock index fell on Friday as the financials group lost ground, while gold mining shares climbed after escalating geopolitical tensions boosted gold prices. A disappointing U.S. jobs report added to investors'' nervousness following a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base. Financial shares fell 0.5 percent as Canada''s 10-year yield hit a four-month low at 1.505 percent. Higher bond yields would reduce the value of insurance companies'' liabilities and increase net interest margins of banks. Royal Bank of Canada fell 0.6 percent to C$97.23, while Manulife Financial Corp lost 0.9 percent to C$23.18. Bank of Montreal, Canada''s fourth-biggest lender, said its Chief Operating Officer Darryl White will step up to be chief executive in November, succeeding Bill Downe who will retire. BMO''s shares dipped 0.2 percent to C$99.76. At 10:57 a.m. ET (1457 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index fell 29.41 points, or 0.19 percent, to 15,667.77. Eight of the index''s 10 main groups were lower, with energy down 0.2 percent even as oil prices rose on concerns that the conflict in Syria could spread in the oil-rich region. U.S. crude prices were up 1.0 percent to $52.2 a barrel. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8 percent. Barrick Gold Corp rose 1.0 percent to C$26.12, while gold futures climbed 1.2 percent to $1,265.7 an ounce. Barrick''s near billion-dollar deal with Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd represents a rich premium for the Canadian miner, while making good on a long-promised plan to forge deep, long-lasting partnerships with China. Canadian employers added a greater-than-expected 19,400 jobs in March, Statistics Canada said in a report that suggested Canada''s economy has finally turned the corner. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL1N1HF0Q1'|'2017-04-07T23:21:00.000+03:00' 'e1e9dec66f4d0e1018ab79cfa3fbfd8f6098778e'|'Euro zone Feb retail sales rise as shoppers splurge on clothing'|'Business 32am BST Euro zone Feb retail sales rise as shoppers splurge on clothing A couple watches clogs displayed in a tourist shop at the port of Volendam near Amsterdam, Netherlands February 11, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BRUSSELS Euro zone sales increased by more than expected in February as shoppers bought far more clothing than in January in a sign that consumers are still spending despite higher inflation. Retail sales in the 19 countries sharing the euro increased by 0.7 percent in February from January, the European Union''s statistics office Eurostat said on Tuesday, more than the average market expectation of a 0.5 percent rise. Year-on-year, the volume of retail sales grew 1.8 percent in January, higher than the 1.4 percent rise forecast by economists polled by Reuters. Eurostat also revised its figures for January, the month-on-month figure turning to a positive 0.1 percent from -0.1 percent and to 1.5 percent for the year-on-year figure, from a previous 1.2 percent. The figures, which are often subject to revision, may indicate an increased appetite for shopping in the euro zone, which had appeared to be dented by higher consumer prices, although euro zone inflation dipped to 1.5 percent in March from 2.0 percent in February. The increase in the retail sales in the month was mostly due to a 0.9 percent rise in purchases of non-food products, a wide category that includes clothing, electrical goods, pharmaceutical products and e-commerce. Sales of textiles, clothes and footwear were up 2.2 percent, while those of electronics and furniture sales declined by 0.3 percent. Sales of food, drinks and tobacco also gained 0.7 percent. Car fuel sales declined by 0.9 percent in the month. Monthly sales rose by most in Portugal, up 3.1 percent. Of the larger nations, Germany was the stand-out, with a 1.8 percent increase. For further details of Eurostat data click on:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-economy-salesfigures-idUKKBN1760UQ'|'2017-04-04T17:32:00.000+03:00' 'c6b690af72b28d5c7ff57c9ccd82b3c64fa2201f'|'German billionaire readies sale of patch maker LTS - sources'|'FRANKFURT, April 6 German billionaire Dietmar Hopp is preparing to put medical skin patch maker LTS Lohmann on the block as he reshuffles his portfolio, three people close to the matter said.Hopp''s investment firm Dievini has started reaching out to potential buyers to gauge their interest in an acquisition, they said.Hopp, the co-founder of software group SAP, shared ownership of LTS with Switzerland''s Novartis and German investment firm BWK.But he bought out the fellow investors in a deal valuing the company at 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in 2014, after failing to find a third-party buyer for the business.Officials at Dievini were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 0.9384 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, Ludwig Burger and Carl O''Donnell; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lts-lohmann-sale-idUSL5N1HE1KV'|'2017-04-06T17:37:00.000+03:00' 'fe0910cbd03b37f866fc832bab39a8e3a38e3b7c'|'U.S. community bank PacWest to buy CU Bancorp in $705 million deal'|'Community bank PacWest Bancorp ( PACW.O ) said on Thursday it would buy fellow California-based lender CU Bancorp ( CUNB.O ) in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $705 million, as it seeks to strengthen its presence in southern California.PacWest offered 0.5308 of its shares and $12 in cash for each CU Bancorp share, which translates to an offer price of $39.45 per CU Bancorp share.CU Bancorp''s shares closed at $39.50 on Wednesday.The combined company will have 87 branches and about $25 billion in assets.CU Bancorp owns California United Bank, a private lender to small to medium sized businesses in southern California. PacWest Bancorp operates throughout California through its sole unit, Pacific Western Bank.The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter this year, the banks said.Keefe, Bruyette & Woods was financial adviser to CU Bancorp, while Sandler O''Neill + Partners LP advised PacWest.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cu-bncrp-m-a-pacwest-idINKBN17819Y'|'2017-04-06T09:34:00.000+03:00' '25e18845c747e669f7753eb1b9090db63c5f9dd5'|'RBI moves to cut system''s excess cash to help contain inflation'|'Asia - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:15pm IST RBI moves to cut system''s excess cash to help contain inflation left right The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel attends a news conference after the bi-monthly monetary policy review in Mumbai, India April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: People walk past the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) head office in Mumbai, India, November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File Photo 2/2 By Suvashree Choudhury and Rafael Nam - MUMBAI MUMBAI The Reserve Bank of India surprised markets on Thursday by raising a secondary rate while holding the key rate steady, a move to help mop up liquidity and signal its worries about a potential spike in inflation. As widely expected, the RBI kept the repo rate at 6.25 percent, where it''s been since October. But it raised the reverse repo rate - what banks get for deposits at the RBI - by 25 basis points to 6.00 percent. Narrowing the gap between those two rates reduces volatility in short-term money market rates which track the difference between them. Importantly, it also encourages banks to increase their deposits at the RBI, setting up the RBI to start withdrawing some of the big cash pile accumulated in the banking system since Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November banned circulation of big currency-notes. "With inflation set to accelerate further, we think that hikes to the repo rate will come onto the agenda much sooner than is generally anticipated," said Capital Economics. For sure, inflation is central to future monetary policy. "Although we expect the RBI to remain on hold for some time, if domestic food prices increase on weak monsoons and/or oil prices spike up, we would expect the RBI to hike the repo rate to manage inflationary expectations," Quantum Debt Fund told clients. MULTIPLE SURPRISES Although Thursday''s repo decision had been widely expected, the hike in the reverse repo marked a surprise, continuing a pattern of unexpected decisions at RBI meetings since Urjit Patel became governor in September. In February, the central bank unexpectedly held the key rate, instead of cutting, and changed its policy stance to "neutral" from "accommodative", reasserting its concerns about inflation. India''s benchmark 10-year bond yield spiked 12 basis points, its biggest single-day rise since Feb. 8 when the RBI changed its stance, after the RBI held rates and signalled the cash draining moves. Meanwhile the rupee strengthened to 64.52, its strongest level against the dollar in 20 months, from its 64.88 close after the RBI held rates, in line with other Asian central banks this month that have opted to do the same. India''s consumer inflation climbed to 3.65 percent in February from a year earlier, from its lowest levels in at least five years. INFLATION PROJECTIONS On Thursday, the RBI slightly raised its inflation projections for the year started in April, saying it expected the consumer price index to average 4.5 percent in the first half, from its previous forecast 4.0 to 4.5 percent, and then 5.0 percent in the second half, up from 4.5 to 5.0 percent. That would place inflation above the RBI''s 4 percent target. "The MPC remains committed to bringing headline inflation closer to 4.0 per cent on a durable basis and in a calibrated manner," the RBI said. The central bank is concerned that food prices could spike should India experience a below-average monsoon season this year. It is also monitoring core inflation, which has stubbornly stayed around 5 percent for several months. As part of tackling inflation, the RBI pledged steps to drain liquidity, given cash in the banking system has soared to around 4 trillion rupees ($61.59 billion), doubling from January. The RBI said it would consider measures such as additional treasury bill sales, outright open market operations bond sales, or a special facility that would allow the RBI to soak up the liquidity without collateral. The central bank said it is "committed to reverting system liquidity to a position closer to neutrality, consistent with the stance of monetary policy." (Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury and Rafael Nam; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-rbi-economy-rates-idINKBN1781SL'|'2017-04-06T20:58:00.000+03:00' 'a0a5b1be7e5e440a7f886bacf69b2393808ef6d3'|'EXCLUSIVE: Ortega shields Inditex stake to maintain family control'|' 35pm IST EXCLUSIVE: Ortega shields Inditex stake to maintain family control Amancio Ortega, chairman of Spanish global fashion group Inditex, laughs during a visit of Spain''s Princess Letizia and Crown Prince Felipe to his factory in Coruna, northern Spain December 2, 2008. REUTERS/Miguel Vidal/Files By Sonya Dowsett - MADRID MADRID Amancio Ortega, founder of the world''s biggest clothing retailer Inditex and Europe''s richest man, has put a majority stake in the firm that owns the Zara fashion chain into a holding company to ensure family control remains unassailable after he dies. Corporate filings in Spain''s Mercantile Registry show the reclusive 81-year-old put a 50.01 percent shareholding into Pontegadea Investments in December 2015, along with more than 6 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in prime commercial real estate. Ortega''s heirs will now inherit stakes in Pontegadea, which groups assets worth around 57 billion euros, rather than Inditex shares which potentially could be sold, muddying prospects for the company''s direction. "The absolute priority for Ortega is to guarantee the future of the company, to ensure a controlling stake in Inditex that will not be diluted," a source close to Pontegadea told Reuters when asked about the reasoning behind the structure. The move aims to preserve continuity in ownership and management, said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue. It also is likely to maintain the firm''s paternalistic presence in the northwestern region of Galicia, where Ortega lives. A former errand boy, Ortega built his empire in the mid-1970s from a Zara store in his hometown, the rainy fishing port of La Coruna, to a network of over 7,200 stores that employs tens of thousands globally. His success has had a huge knock-on effect on local businesses in Galicia, from Trison, which makes video displays for Zara stores, to Candido Hermida, a furniture maker which fits out Inditex stores worldwide. His charitable foundation, Fundacion Amancio Ortega, has invested millions in projects such as opening kindergartens in the region and training local schoolteachers. In setting up Pontegadea, Ortega aims to avoid the fate of businesses like chocolate maker Cadbury and fashion house Laura Ashley, whose founding families lost control of their empires as their shareholdings were diluted and they retreated from management. The family of Laura Ashley saw its stake in the firm progressively diluted after she died in 1985, and its connection with the company was cut entirely by 2001. Family representation on the board of Cadbury ended in 2000 when chairman Dominic Cadbury retired. U.S. food giant Kraft, now Mondelez, bought the company ten years later, closing a plant in the west of England shortly after the takeover despite protests from descendants of the founding family. Ortega also follows the example of other founders of successful corporate empires. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani set up a foundation last year to control the business empire he started in the 1970s. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of luxury watch maker Rolex, in 1944 placed all of his shares in the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which has owned and run the company since his death in 1960. "Depending on the terms of the trust, this should help alleviate any fears of shares being placed in the market on the event of his (Ortega''s) death," said Adam Cochrane, retail analyst at UBS. Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman said the move was a way of protecting the Inditex brands, which in addition to Zara include the upmarket Massimo Dutti label and teen fashion chain Bershka. "The most important asset that Inditex has are its brands and the biggest risk to branding is dilution," Hyman said. "It is hard to predict what is going to happen in the apparel industry, the most risky sector in retail. Protecting a majority stake reduces the chances of a takeover that could lead to cost cuts that end up damaging the brand." ALL IN THE FAMILY ... Ortega became a billionaire and Spain''s richest man at the age of 65, when Inditex was listed in 2001. He continues to live in La Coruna where he is often seen walking his dog. Funds from the listing were used at the time to set up Pontegadea, which is structured as a private limited company. A Pontegadea spokesman declined to comment for this article, and an Inditex spokesman said the company did not comment on any matter related to its shareholders. Corporate filings show that Ortega is Pontegadea''s chairman and his wife Flora Perez and close business partner Jose Arnau are vice-chairmen. Arnau, vice president of Inditex''s board of directors, is a former tax inspector and has been closely involved in the managing of Ortega''s personal wealth since 1997. He managed Inditex''s tax affairs from 1993 to 2001. Perez is Ortega''s second wife. He separated from his first wife Rosalia Mera, who died of a stroke in 2013, in the 1980s. Perez has a seat on Inditex''s board as the representative of Pontegadea''s 50.01 percent stake. Her brothers also hold key positions - Oscar Perez is director of flagship brand Zara while Jorge is the director of Massimo Dutti. Ortega has three children: his daughter with Perez, Marta, 33, who works at Zara, and two children from his first marriage, Sandra, 48, and Marcos, 46, neither of whom have pursued careers at Inditex. Sandra, the second-biggest Inditex shareholder with a 5.05 percent stake, works at a Galician charity focused on helping disabled people find work. Marcos was born with cerebral palsy and is severely disabled. ... EXCEPT FOR ONE Ortega split with Spanish tradition when he handed the roles of chief executive officer and chairman outside the family to Pablo Isla, 53, one of Spain''s elite squad of state lawyers, six years ago. Entrusting the day-to-day running of the company to Isla was widely seen as removing any uncertainty about succession plans. Poached from tobacco firm Aldatis in 2005, Isla has overseen a tripling of the company''s value during his tenure. Ortega still goes to work every day at the company''s headquarters in Arteixo, turning his hand to everything from fashion collections to shop floor design. He has made largely debt-free purchases of prime real estate around the world using the dividends from his total stake of just under 60 percent of Inditex, which have nearly doubled over the past five years to a record payout of 1.26 billion euros in the latest financial year ended January 2017, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. His property portfolio - roughly split equally between office and retail - include mining company Rio Tinto''s headquarters in London; Zara rival H&M''s flagship San Francisco store on Powell Street and a five-storey Primark store on Madrid''s Gran Via. Income at the real estate division that also sits under the Pontegadea holding company was 129 million euros in 2015, mostly from rental income, according to results available from that year. ($1 = 0.9260 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/inditex-legacy-idINKBN1781UK'|'2017-04-06T22:05:00.000+03:00' '202f26c9251d87e5451500193af5df23fbf68840'|'Greece asks investors to improve bids for Thessaloniki port sale'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 10:44am EDT Greece asks investors to improve bids for Thessaloniki port sale ATHENS, April 7 Greece''s privatisation agency (HRADF) asked on Friday for improved financial bids from shortlisted investors seeking to buy a majority stake in its second-largest port. Athens got last month three offers for the sale of a 67 percent stake in Thessaloniki Port, which is required as part of its international bailout. The investors are Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTS), Dubai-based P&O Steam Navigation Company (DP World) and German private equity firm Deutsche Invest Equity Partners which is bidding jointly with France''s Terminal Link SAS. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/greece-privatisations-port-idUSA8N1FZ024'|'2017-04-07T22:44:00.000+03:00' '20bf7d5f7222e9f144f89f8bb631c3fe1cae9a7e'|'TREASURIES-U.S. bond prices fall on Fed Dudley''s remarks'|'NEW YORK, April 7 U.S. Treasury debt prices turned lower on Friday, with yields hitting session highs, as traders perceived remarks by New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley on U.S. interest rate increases and balance sheet reduction as mildly hawkish.Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was down 5/32 in price for a yield of 2.362 percent, up 2 basis points from late on Thursday, while the two-year note was 2/32 lower in price, yielding 1.282 percent, up over 3 basis points from Thursday. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-dudley-idINL1N1HF13I'|'2017-04-07T15:25:00.000+03:00' 'bd7d503f5fe81f0897b5967c6e91051d7efcf853'|'Planemaker Airbus places $1.5 billion in U.S. dollar bonds'|'Business News - 17am BST Planemaker Airbus places $1.5 billion in U.S. dollar bonds The logo of Airbus is pictured at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe PARIS European planemaker Airbus ( AIR.PA ) on Thursday said that it had placed a total of $1.5 billion (1.2 billion pounds) in U.S. dollar bonds, as companies look to take advantage of low interest rates to raise funds from capital markets. Airbus said it had sold $750 million in U.S. dollar bonds with a 30-year maturity and a fixed coupon of 3.950 percent in a private placement, and had also placed a further $750 million in U.S. dollar bonds with a 10-year maturity and a fixed coupon of 3.150 percent. The company said it would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. In February, Airbus reported lower 2016 core earnings and unveiled a new 1.2 billion euros ($1.28 billion) charge for its A400M military aircraft programme. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sarah White) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-dollarbonds-idUKKBN1780NM'|'2017-04-06T15:17:00.000+03:00' '8f130d168bc6988cade0dfc8074d537ef5d4a1ec'|'BRIEF-MSC Industrial Direct Co Q2 earnings per share $0.93'|' 05am EDT BRIEF-MSC Industrial Direct Co Q2 earnings per share $0.93 April 6 MSC Industrial Direct Co Inc * MSC reports fiscal 2017 second quarter results * Sees q3 2017 earnings per share $1.05 to $1.09 * Q2 sales $703.8 million versus i/b/e/s view $696 million * Sees q3 2017 sales $734 million to $748 million * Q2 earnings per share $0.93 * Q2 earnings per share view $0.90 -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S * MSC Industrial Direct Co - at midpoint, average daily sales for q3 are expected to increase roughly 3.5 percent compared to last year''s q3 * Q3 revenue view $738.5 million -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S * Q3 earnings per share view $1.09 -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-msc-industrial-direct-co-q2-earnin-idUSASB0B8RZ'|'2017-04-06T19:05:00.000+03:00' '78c36b2ba109e9f654081b338ed7838337006cb9'|'Hurdles for hubs: Encouraging African entrepreneurship'|'“YOU are either part of the solution or part of the problem,” it says in painted letters on a wall. “Stay hungry, stay foolish,” says the wall opposite. An old rickshaw sits among beanbags and a vase of flowers rests on an ancient oil barrel in the corner. “We wanted the space to feel like Google,” says Eleni Gabre-Madhin, the founder of blueMoon, a new agribusiness incubator that opened in Addis Ababa in February, without a trace of irony.Incubators and their cousins, accelerators, provide hands-on training and mentoring, and often a physical space, to help early-stage business ideas develop. In Silicon Valley they find capital for startups and take a slice of equity in return for their services. Ms Gabre-Madhin says that blueMoon draws inspiration from Y Combinator, an American accelerator founded in 2005 whose investees include Dropbox and Airbnb. The new firm’s first cohort of startups will train at the office for four months, and it will give each a small cash injection in exchange for a 10% stake. 15 2 That is a rarity in Africa’s startup scene. A simpler and more common model is for “tech hubs” to provide office space, some networking events and fast broadband internet. A recent survey counted over 300 such facilities on the continent. One of the first hubs was iHub in Nairobi, launched in 2010, which has an incubation arm focused on mobile technology, called m:lab. But m:lab, like many of its kind, is not a real incubator: it was founded with grant support from the World Bank and takes fees from, but not equity in, the companies that it nurtures.Becoming a proper incubator has proved tricky. Hypercube Hub in Zimbabwe closed in 2015 after operating for less than two years, having failed to find a sustainable business model. A seed fund and incubator based in Nairobi called 88mph closed in 2015 after struggling along for four years; its Nigerian spin-off, 440.NG, was discontinued after the first cohort graduated—the return on capital to the founder was insufficient. Only one genuine incubator, Raizcorp in South Africa, is profitable without grant funding. Almost all are waiting for their first big payout.Many incubators lack experienced mentors to guide young businesses. In a country like Ethiopia, home to few internationally successful businesses, finding qualified staff is a headache. Even in more sophisticated Nigeria, mentors can be substandard. Some actively harm young startups by, for example, pushing them into raising capital too early.Just as entrepreneurs need decent mentors, incubators need good entrepreneurs if they are to make any money. In Africa, says Nicolas Friederici of Oxford University, incubators have disappointed because they are a supply-side solution: there are still too few promising startups in need of their services. Many of the best entrepreneurs have already left for other places.When Michael Oluwagbemi set up Wennovation Hub in Lagos in 2011, he found he had to teach wannabe entrepreneurs how to write applications and design websites before he could even launch the formal incubation programme. “The incubator in Africa is basically a finishing school and four months of it is not enough,” he says. Business "Hurdles for hubs"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720344-only-one-incubator-continent-profitable-without-grants-encouraging-african?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '98050a52ddea42299e5cd6b21894e32523bbcf96'|'LNG supply gap to open up if new projects not sanctioned -Chevron vice chairman'|'Company 45am EDT LNG supply gap to open up if new projects not sanctioned -Chevron vice chairman CHIBA, April 4 A supply gap is likely to open up in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry if new projects are not sanctioned, said Chevron Corp Vice Chairman Michael Wirth at a gas industry conference on Tuesday in Japan. "In the short term, LNG supply is coming online faster than demand is growing, but with continued demand growth in the next decade the market will rebalance," Wirth said. "So, while we expect ample supply in the next few years ... a supply gap could eventually confront us in the years to follow if we don''t eventually sanction new LNG projects," he said. (Reporting by Mark Tay; Editing By Tom Hogue) Next In Company News U.S. LNG exports will slow as domestic gas demand grows -ConocoPhillips CEO CHIBA, April 4 Exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States will slow as domestic gas demand there grows and available supply there is used up, said ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance at a gas industry conference on Tuesday in Chiba, Japan. U.S. retail mall vacancies flat in first quarter - Reis April 3 U.S. retail mall vacancies were flat at 9.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, compared with the fourth quarter of 2016, as new construction fell to its lowest in six years, real estate research firm Reis Inc said in a report. '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-gastech-chevron-idUSL3N1HC0W0'|'2017-04-04T12:45:00.000+03:00' '693e0941f5d1e2c01cbc6466743c9cc23a269a9a'|'BRIEF-CSG Systems International says combined Charter/Time Warner revenues was about 21 pct of co''s total revenue for yr ended Dec 31, 2016'|'United States 42am EDT BRIEF-CSG Systems International says combined Charter/Time Warner revenues was about 21 pct of co''s total revenue for yr ended Dec 31, 2016 April 4 CSG Systems International Inc: * Says currently generates material portion of its revenues from Charter Corporation, which acquired Time Warner Cable in May 2016 * In connection with acquisition, Time Warner master subscriber management agreement was assigned to Charter * Current agreement with Charter runs through December 31, 2019 * Combined Charter/Time Warner revenues represented about 21% of CSG''s total revenues for year ended December 31, 2016 * Time Warner agreement was scheduled to expire on March 31 - sec filing * On March 30, 2017, Time Warner agreement was amended to provide for a one-month extension through April 30, 2017 Source text: ( bit.ly/2nAtLag ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-csg-systems-international-says-com-idUSFWN1HC0C7'|'2017-04-04T23:42:00.000+03:00' 'b4fc55164e7d6051258b41b2e0c180127cdef077'|'FTSE Russell to announce in July decision on adding Snap shares'|'Technology 15am BST FTSE Russell to announce in July decision on adding Snap shares Traders gather at the post where Snap Inc. is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Heather Somerville and Ross Kerber - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Index fund provider FTSE Russell expects to announce in July whether it will include in its indexes shares of Snap Inc and other companies whose share structure denies investors voting rights. FTSE Russell, which is part of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc, said on Monday that it will consult with stakeholders likely starting this month and conclude at the end of June. The results of the consultation will be announced in July. Snap, the parent company of messaging app Snapchat, shocked many investors with an initial public offering last month that included a first-of-its kind share structure that offered IPO investors no voting rights. "FTSE Russell is aware of concerns raised by some stakeholders regarding the prospective index inclusion of securities with no voting rights such as the recent IPO by SNAP Inc," according to a statement from FTSE Russell on Monday. Clients of FTSE Russell include big fund managers such as BlackRock Inc and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. It offers popular indexes like Britain''s blue-chip FTSE 100 and the Russell 3000 index of U.S. companies. Although many investors expressed alarm at Snap''s unusual governance structure, the company''s IPO was still in such hot demand that it pulled off the biggest U.S. technology IPO since Facebook Inc in 2012, with a valuation of roughly $24 billion. (Reporting by Heather Somerville in San Francisco and Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Next In Technology News Waymo targets second senior executive in Uber self-driving dispute SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet''s self-driving car unit Waymo initiated private legal proceedings against two former executives who launched a rival company acquired by Uber [UBER.UL], court records show, accusing them of trying to recruit Waymo employees to the new startup that aims to revolutionize the auto industry. sources TOKYO Toshiba Corp will MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-snap-index-idUKKBN17605I'|'2017-04-04T10:14:00.000+03:00' '191b7c66a06d4f64cee66497336578414c023dec'|'Under pressure, Snapdeal woos staff with promises of profit'|'Special Events 6 - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 1:03pm IST Under pressure, Snapdeal woos staff with promises of profit left right An employee cleans a Snapdeal logo at its headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi 1/5 left right An employee is seen at the front desk of Snapdeal headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi 2/5 left right A private security gurad stands at a gate of Snapdeal headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi 3/5 left right Employees are seen at Snapdeal headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi 4/5 left right Employees work inside Snapdeal headquarters in Gurugram on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi 5/5 By Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Seeking to calm employees rattled by reports of a cash crunch, the founders of Indian online retailer Snapdeal have gone directly to them with a string of townhall meetings in past weeks, according to sources, promising profit and brushing off takeover talk. The sources, familiar with the group, declined to be named as the meetings were not public. Like most e-commerce players in India, Snapdeal is burning cash to sustain discounts - and keep customers - in a cut-throat online market. But as the number three player, it also is under growing pressure from investors and its own employees to consider its bottom line, as well as market share. One of the sources said there had been at least five townhalls in recent weeks, with founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal delivering motivational speeches. "It was only profitability and profitability," one source said, describing answers to questions from employees whether the company was a takeover target. India''s booming online retail sector is led by homegrown player Flipkart - now followed by Amazon, after the U.S. giant overtook Snapdeal''s sales volumes a year ago. Thanks to its deep pockets, Amazon has been an increasingly prominent investor in India, compensating for its mistakes in China, where it has been all but squeezed out by aggressive local rivals with a better grasp of demand. Snapdeal sought funding support in China, from Chinese funds and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, already an investor, sources with knowledge of the matter said. It has so far come back empty handed. Snapdeal expects to turn profitable in two years and is eyeing a market listing around the same time. But the China setback, and a valuation that has dropped from a peak of $6.5 billion last year, has unsettled some staff. Two employees and three people familiar with Snapdeal''s internal discussions said there were concerns over the group''s direction, as well as over contradictory messages from investors - some seeking profit, others growth - and, increasingly, over potential senior-level departures or cuts. Headhunters like Sinosh Panicker, a partner at Hunt Partners, said some of his clients had witnessed a jump in applications from Snapdeal employees. Some employees cite concerns after the departure of 600 staff in February, laid off from Snapdeal, its logistics arm Vulcan Express and payments unit FreeCharge. Snapdeal declined to comment on staff exits or sentiment, but said its annual appraisals were currently underway, and staff would be offered incentives. In a letter to employees late last month, co-founder and chief executive Bahl said that Snapdeal, in which Japan''s SoftBank is also an investor, was on the right path, despite differing views from some investors. "Investors in our industry need to understand that driving indiscriminate growth at any cost doesn''t create long-term value," Bahl wrote in the letter. A spokeswoman for SoftBank in India declined comment while other Snapdeal investors - Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital - did not respond to Reuters queries. Alibaba has not commented on Snapdeal. Snapdeal clocked up losses of 29.6 billion rupees ($456.5 million) in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016. Flipkart''s wholesale unit and its online marketplace made a combined loss of 28.5 billion rupees in the same period. (Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Raju Gopalakrishnan) Next In Special Events 6 Eleven killed in suspected suicide bombing on Russian metro train ST. PETERSBURG, Russia A blast in a St Petersburg train carriage on Monday that killed 11 people and wounded 45 was carried out by a suspected suicide bomber with ties to radical Islamists, Russia''s Interfax news agency cited a law enforcement source as saying.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/snapdeal-management-idINKBN1760LB'|'2017-04-04T13:08:00.000+03:00' 'daa03cf87fa837a23e36ea172869da472375e12d'|'Nedbank in good shape to deal with South Africa credit downgrade'|'JOHANNESBURG, April 4 South Africa''s No.4 bank by value Nedbank said on Tuesday it was in good shape and well-prepared to deal with the volatility and pressure of sovereign rating downgrades.S&P cut South Africa''s credit rating to junk status on Monday, saying the dismissal by Zuma of a respected finance minister heralded a damaging policy shift. (Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Joe Brock)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/safrica-economy-nedbank-grp-idINJ8N0VL016'|'2017-04-04T06:13:00.000+03:00' 'ebe67112349f3d7839a2370000dab79d56e4396c'|'Corkscrew thinking won the war. Here''s how to use it in business - Guardian Small Business Network'|'During the second world war Winston Churchill declared a need for corkscrew thinkers – people with the ability to break away from the traditional linear way of thinking.Without these individuals, Churchill believed that neither side would win the war because everyone was thinking in the same way: the enemy’s next move would always be predictable. Entrepreneurs are the perfect modern-day corkscrew thinkersWhat followed was the creation of a number of special divisions. Alan Turing headed up the group who cracked the enigma code. Another counter-intelligence team devised the famous Operation Mincemeat. And the Special Operations Executive controlled a number of covert resistance units that would have been activated if Germany had invaded Britain. The department was unofficially known as the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare or Churchill’s Secret Army. When Churchill talked about corkscrew thinkers, he was referring to individuals who possess creative problem-solving, initiative, leadership and emotional intelligence skills. Individuals who are able to look at problems in the world and see game-changing, innovative solutions. Jump forward 65 years and these skills have never been more desirable or in demand. But our education system, which was designed in response to an industrialised Britain, is one that requires and promotes standardisation. Many students today believe all you need to be successful is to reach an answer that has been predetermined as correct. In other words, everyone is taught to think the same way. Entrepreneurs are the perfect modern-day corkscrew thinkers. They’re people who aren’t afraid to take risks, step out of their comfort zones and challenge the status quo. They champion creativity and imagination. They have the courage to push traditional boundaries, and realise it’s worth investing the time to find the best solution – not the easiest.Churchill’s theory – that as soon as you starting thinking in the same way as everyone else, you lose your advantage – still rings true today. But how do you encourage and engage corkscrew thinking in your own business? Here are our tips:Secrets to business survival: ''always look at new ways to innovate'' Read more 1 Remove time frames from creativity Try to not apply strict time frames to creative processes. Allow more time than you think you’ll need. Often the first idea you think of won’t be the best and it’s worth investing the time to explore other available options. The danger of rushing creativity is that you are likely to reach the most obvious solution, which may get lost in the crowd – or worse, be worked on by your competitors too. Leave yourself room for brilliance. 2 Share ideas Business people are often wary of talking about their ideas for fear that someone might steal them. But most of the time, even if someone does really like your idea, they’re unlikely to have the time, resources or passion to pursue it. There is great value in explaining your idea to people who aren’t friends or family. Not only does it allow you to hone your pitch but their honest feedback may further evolve your idea. 3 Take risks Those who succeed are brave enough to take a leap of faith every now and again. That doesn’t mean being flippant with your decision making, but if you’ve been working hard and thinking smart, have faith in your business and yourself. If you don’t back yourself, how can you expect anyone else to do so?4 Embrace failure Failure is as much a part of the business path as success – and it’s likely you will experience more of the former before arriving at the latter. No matter how carefully you plan, there will always be scenarios you can’t control. When failure happens, use the experience to reflect on why it happened, what you can learn from it and what you would do differently next time. Don’t underestimate the long-term value of these lessons.5 Be a magpie Much in the same way that magpies collect shiny objects, look around at what inspires you and collect nuggets that might grow into interesting ideas. Accept that all inspiration is an evolution of a previous idea. By taking the time to think about and collect what you love, you are more likely to strike upon an idea that you are truly passionate about.Neil Finnie is the founder and CEO of Corkscrew Experienceships . Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Guardian Small Business Network The Disruptors Entrepreneurs blogposts Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/07/corkscrew-thinking-world-war-two-business-winston-churchill'|'2017-04-07T15:00:00.000+03:00' '809e2df351a5b857d963ff04538afc707baadabe'|'Atlanta storm halts thousands of Delta Air flights'|'U.S. 41pm EDT Atlanta storm halts thousands of Delta Air flights NEW YORK Delta Air Lines Inc said it had canceled nearly 3,000 flights this week after a severe storm hit its hometown of Atlanta, Georgia and apologized for its response to the "unprecedented" weather. On Friday alone, the No. 2 U.S. airline by passenger traffic canceled 493 flights by the afternoon, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, severely affecting routes in and out of its Atlanta hub. The storm ravaged much of the city on Wednesday, dumping several inches of rain and leaving behind damaged property and downed trees, according to local media reports. Delta Chief Operating Officer Gil West on Thursday apologized for the airline''s performance in the wake of the storm, saying that its "recovery has not been ideal." "When Delta doesn’t fly aircraft, not only do customers not get to their destination, but flight crews don’t get to where they are scheduled to be. When this happens, unfortunately, further delays and cancellations result," West said in a statement. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-delta-air-weather-idUSKBN1792YC'|'2017-04-08T03:36:00.000+03:00' 'f4872c36be49834d880e10870118a102162a099b'|'UPDATE 1-South Africa''s rand falls as Fitch also cuts to "junk"'|' 29pm EDT UPDATE 1-South Africa''s rand falls as Fitch also cuts to "junk" * Rand slips as Fitch joins S&P in downgrade to junk * Stocks down led by banking and resource shares (Updates figures, adds background, quotes) JOHANNESBURG, April 7 South Africa''s rand slipped on Friday after a second ratings agency, Fitch, downgraded the country''s credit status to "junk" on economic uncertainty after last week''s sacking of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Bank and resource stocks also succumbed to that pressure. By 1500 GMT the rand was down 0.3 percent at 13.7975 per dollar, less of a fall than expected as the greenback wavered following weak jobs data. The rand has fallen more than 11 percent since March 27, when President Jacob Zuma recalled Gordhan from an investor roadshow to Britain and the United States. "Either the market has fully priced-in the downgrades or it believes that this is good for the country and that it might eventually see President Zuma forced out of office," Nedbank senior economist Isaac Mashego said. Fitch on Friday followed S&P Global Ratings and downgraded South Africa to "junk", citing Gordhan''s dismissal as one reason. S&P had issued its downgrade on South Africa in an unscheduled review on Monday. Following the downgrades, J.P. Morgan said it would drop South Africa from its investment-grade emerging market bond indexes by late April. The ratings agency moves are likely to force international tracker funds, or funds prohibited from holding sub-investment grade securities, to sell South African assets. On the bourse, the benchmark Top-40 index fell 0.18 percent to 46,085 points while the All-Share index dipped 0.12 percent to 52,853 points. The mining index fell 0.58 percent on the back of weaker iron ore prices, while the banking index fell 0.39 percent after the Fitch downgrade. [nL3N1HF2V7} "The iron ore price is down quite a bit, so sentiment towards these resource shares is a little weaker," Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies said. Among the biggest fallers, ArcelorMittal fell 7.30 percent to 9.65 rand, Kumba Iron Ore dropped 4.19 percent to 214.65 and African Rainbow Minerals lowered 2.79 percent to 100.61. Losses were curbed by gains in gold miners'' shares, which benefited from bullion prices climbing to five-month highs. Goldfields rose 6.30 percent to 53.00 rand and AngloGold Ashanti climbed 3.84 percent to 170.81. In the fixed income market, bond prices were firmer on the day as high yields attracted some buying. Benchmark yields on bonds due in 2026 dropped 9 basis points to 8.93 percent. (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana and Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-markets-idUSL8N1HF4U8'|'2017-04-08T00:29:00.000+03:00' 'f38f39e3aed161fde9229c2aa39a3b4a0241cfad'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown extends gains after cap removed, less volatile than expected'|' 15am EDT CEE MARKETS-Crown extends gains after cap removed, less volatile than expected * Crown firms on second day after its cap got removed * Crown volatility smaller than expected, may rise again * Crown firming unlikely to trigger cen. bank action for now * Czech bond yields rise (Adds dealer comment on crown, consolidation of Croatian markets after weeks of a plunge) By Sandor Peto and Robert Muller BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 7 The Czech crown extended gains on Friday in the second session since the removal of a central bank (CNB) cap that had kept the currency weaker than 27 against the euro since late 2013. The move itself and a rise in volatility was not a surprise. The CNB''s commitment to maintain the cap ended last Friday since higher inflation no longer necessitated a weak crown, and the bank probably did not want to buy more euros to defend the cap after tripling its reserves since 2013. The surprise was that the crown''s swings remained moderate. It has seesawed between 27.252 and 26.556 against the euro, even though some analysts expected bigger moves beyond 26 and 28. After an early weakening, the crown firmed 0.4 percent to 26.561 by 0922 GMT in low turnover, while the zloty firmed 0.3 percent. One dealer said 26 could be a "magic level" as that would already be high enough gain for big crown holders to step in. Analysts said the crown could remain volatile as many investors want to take profits on the currency, but hope for further gains keeps buyers in play. "Whereas we would project volatile movements and no linear appreciation trend throughout Q2 and Q3, the overall trend until year-end should bring appreciation of CZK toward 26 against the euro," Raiffeisen analyst Wolfgang Ernst said in a note. The CNB has pledged to smooth volatility. Its reserves have swollen to 122.62 billion euros, keeping abundant gunpowder to prevent a crown fall, and it could also lift its record low interest rates if needed. The CNB''s tool to fight an excessive firming could be resuming crown selling. Market participants have said volatility may rise, but the bank is unlikely to step in unless the crown leaves the 25-28 or even 25-29 range. "We assume that the CNB will not react to exchange rate appreciation to EUR-CZK 25," Societe Generale analysts said in a note. "However, the CNB would probably react should EUR-CZK hit 28, as currency depreciation may jeopardise achieving the inflation target." Czech government bond yields continued to rise, trading at their highest levels for months or even years. Elsewhere, the kuna steadied at 7.45 per euro, off two-month lows, and Zagreb''s stock index rebounded from 7-month lows after Croatia''s parliament passed an emergency law on Thursday to protect the economy from big company failures. The financial woes of big food and retail group Agrokor have sent Croatian assets into a decline in the past weeks. (Additional reporting by Radu Marinas in Bucharest; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idUSL8N1HF27T'|'2017-04-07T21:15:00.000+03:00' '7b546a86ada84c5f5030197c7e423aca588decbf'|'EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm currencies inch up on weak U.S. jobs data'|' 08pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm currencies inch up on weak U.S. jobs data SAO PAULO, April 7 Latin American currencies inched up on Friday after unfavorable weather weighed on U.S. jobs growth in March, which fell short of forecasts for a solid result. jobs, after exceeding 200,000 in the two previous months. Economists said that a drop in temperatures and a storm in the Northeast accounted for most of the slowdown in hiring. The unemployment rate fell to a near 10-year low, suggesting strength in the labor market. Still, the report led some traders to roll back bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve could increase interest rates more quickly in the coming months, supporting demand for high-yielding emerging market currencies. The Brazilian real and the Mexican peso strengthened 0.6 percent. Gains were limited by geopolitical concerns after the United States fired cruise missiles at a Syrian air base from which U.S. President Donald Trump said a deadly chemical weapons attack had been launched. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1555 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 962.36 -0.1 11.72 MSCI LatAm 2661.59 0.85 12.75 Brazil Bovespa 64979.23 1.18 7.89 Mexico IPC 49289.25 0.56 7.99 Chile IPSA 4894.88 -0.06 17.91 Chile IGPA 24502.35 -0.01 18.17 Argentina MerVal 20903.20 0.43 23.56 Colombia IGBC 10202.76 0.17 0.74 Venezuela IBC 45814.20 0 44.50 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1254 0.62 3.96 Mexico peso 18.6410 0.56 11.28 Chile peso 655.5 0.15 2.32 Colombia peso 2857.1 -0.19 5.05 Peru sol 3.247 0.03 5.14 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.3575 0.21 3.37 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.72 0.95 7.00 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/latam-emergingmarkets-idUSL1N1HF0VR'|'2017-04-08T00:08:00.000+03:00' 'cd0bb65050aa6afb08925605cecc510a5d5a1c0b'|'Vivendi ends 15-year U.S. lawsuit over big merger, to pay $26.4 million'|'Deals 28pm BST Vivendi ends 15-year U.S. lawsuit over big merger, to pay $26.4 million The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau By Jonathan Stempel Vivendi SA ( VIV.PA ) said it agreed to pay $26.4 million to end nearly 15 years of U.S. litigation accusing the French media company of misleading shareholders about its finances in connection with a $46 billion three-way merger. Thursday''s accord resolved claims that Vivendi and officials including former Chief Executive Jean-Marie Messier made false or misleading statements that concealed liquidity problems after the 2000 combination of Vivendi, Seagram Co and Canal Plus. A preliminary settlement was filed with the federal court in Manhattan, and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer. It resolves claims by investors whose financial advisers bought Vivendi''s American depositary shares on their behalf from Oct. 30, 2000 to Aug. 14, 2002, according to court papers. The $26.4 million payment represents one-third of the maximum amount the investors might have won had litigation continued, the papers showed. Vivendi said that including the payment, it will have paid $78 million to resolve the entire litigation, in which investors at one time had hoped to recover $9.3 billion. A federal jury in Manhattan had in January 2010 found Vivendi liable for violating U.S. securities laws. But a U.S. Supreme Court decision five months later in an unrelated case ultimately scuttled most claims by Vivendi investors, including over ordinary shares listed in Paris. Vivendi said it will release a roughly 25 million euro ($26.6 million) reserve it had set aside for Thursday''s accord. The case is In re Vivendi Universal SA Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 02-05571. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-settlement-idUKKBN1782RQ'|'2017-04-07T04:23:00.000+03:00' '9102421b115dc39ac13ce88590cfb9535079d85a'|'BRIEF-Sito Mobile confirms receipt of two purported notices of director nominations'|' 57pm EDT BRIEF-Sito Mobile confirms receipt of two purported notices of director nominations April 7 Sito Mobile Ltd: * Sito Mobile confirms receipt of two purported notices of director nominations * Sito Mobile Ltd- Tar Holdings LLC has indicated that it is seeking to nominate three director candidates to sito''s board * Sito Mobile- Stephen D Baksa has indicated in his purported notice of nomination that he is seeking to nominate 5 director candidates to co''s board * Sito Mobile - intends to review nominations; unable to confirm that either of two purported notice of nominations in compliance with co''s bylaws '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-sito-mobile-confirms-receipt-of-tw-idUSFWN1HF0Z4'|'2017-04-08T06:57:00.000+03:00' '6ec7c7de4a04ca31cfc3ce2d6e6a0754ce15ed34'|'Germany''s Schaeuble sees IMF sticking with Greece programme'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 3:29am BST Germany''s Schaeuble sees IMF sticking with Greece programme German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble takes part in a eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expects the International Monetary Fund to remain on board with Greece''s bailout programme, he told a German newspaper in an interview published on Friday. Negotiations between Greece, the European Union and the IMF, which has yet to decide if it will participate in Greece''s current bailout, have dragged on for months, rekindling fears of a new financial crisis in the euro zone. "I expect that the IMF will stay on board," Schaeuble told the Rheinische Post. "The sum with which it participates is not so relevant, the key thing is that it does (participate)." "I expect that Greece will then in future not need a further rescue programme and from 2018, as planned, will have access to capital markets," Schaeuble said. "The issue of Greece will not play a role in the (German) federal election." Germany votes on Sept. 24 in a national election. Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a fourth term. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Toni Reinhold)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-germany-idUKKBN17909H'|'2017-04-07T10:29:00.000+03:00' 'd2f49730a4cdb0e57c96d43016af31922376c161'|'India''s oil imports from Iran top 500,000 bpd in 2016/17 - trade'|'Money News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 8:07pm IST India''s oil imports from Iran top 500,000 bpd in 2016/17 - trade Fuel pumps are seen at a Bharat Petroleum gas station in Mumbai January 12, 2015. Picture taken January 12, 2015. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/Files By Nidhi Verma - NEW DELHI NEW DELHI India''s Iran oil imports jumped to a record high in 2016/17 topping half-a-million barrels per day (bpd) as refiners boosted purchases after lifting of some Western sanctions against Tehran last year. India, Iran''s biggest oil buyer after China, was among a handful of countries that continued to deal with Tehran despite Western sanctions over its nuclear programme. Refiners shipped in about 541,000 bpd of Iranian oil in the fiscal year to March, a growth of about 115 percent over the previous year, ship tracking data obtained from sources and data compiled by Thomson Reuters Oil Research & Forecasts showed. Iran was India''s second biggest oil supplier - a position now belonging to Iraq - before economic sanctions aimed at Iran''s nuclear programme hampered its trade relations, forcing the South Asian nation to tap alternative suppliers. Purchases by Indian refiners, including Reliance Industries that resumed imports last year after a multi-year lay-off, helped Iran regain some of the lost market share. Imports from Iran could ease in this fiscal year as state-refiners have agreed to cut their annual imports deal with Iran by a fifth to put pressure on Tehran to award the Farzad B gas field to an Indian consortium. Iran, in turn has decided to cut the credit period on oil sales to 60 days from 90 days and cut freight discounts from 80 percent to 60 percent. India imported 18.7 percent less oil from Iran in March at about 526,000 bpd oil compared to the previous month, data showed. Volumes were however 4 percent higher than a year ago. Overall, India''s oil imports rose 4.7 percent in March from the previous month, and by about 4.9 percent from a year ago. In March Iraq emerged as the second biggest oil supplier to India, a position it ceded to Iran the previous month. Saudi Arabia continued to be the top oil supplier to India in March. In the first quarter of this year India''s oil imports from Iran surged by about 92 percent to 573,400 bpd as some OPEC producers had cut supplies, the data showed. Iran was exempted from an OPEC deal to reduce output by 1.2 million bpd starting Jan. 1, a victory for Tehran which argued it needs to regain the market share it lost during sanctions. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-iran-idINKBN17927Z'|'2017-04-07T22:37:00.000+03:00' '1b96ceb9e205731ed758be979e1861d048727630'|'SocGen, BNP woo funds eyeing India with tax saving gambit - sources'|' 5:44pm IST SocGen, BNP woo funds eyeing India with tax saving gambit - sources Rupee notes are seen in this picture illustration taken in Mumbai June 12, 2013. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo By Abhirup Roy and Rafael Nam - MUMBAI MUMBAI Societe Generale and BNP Paribas are wooing hedge funds to invest in India through France, noting a special treaty between the two countries that allows investors to avoid paying tax in one of the world''s hottest emerging markets. The banks point out to investors that routing investments through their Paris base, where they have existing structures in place, would cushion them against the impact of a sweeping revamp in Indian tax rules - the General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) - which came into effect this month, six people with knowledge of the banks'' communications told Reuters. Those people noted that investing in India via France, while legal, could prove controversial with Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government, which is targeting foreign investments that avoid Indian taxes by coming through countries with special tax treaties. Also, the two French banks are promoting investments into so-called participatory notes, or P-notes - products created by banks to track Indian shares, debt and derivatives - the people said. A government-appointed panel warned in 2015 that P-notes could lead to "misuse", including money laundering or the channelling into domestic markets of unaccounted wealth held by Indians abroad. In response to Reuters queries, Societe Generale said it is "fully committed to preventing tax fraud and evasion." "We comply with local regulations in countries where we operate. This includes SEBI''s regulation on the distribution of Indian P-Notes to eligible investors," it added, referring to the Securities and Exchange Board of India. A spokeswoman for BNP Paribas said: "We deny the assertion that we have promoted investment via France as a way to avoid CGT (capital gains tax)." "BNP Paribas complies with all ODI (offshore derivative instruments) regulations as issued by SEBI and the applicable tax rules including GAAR... Our global set-up to provide market access products has remained consistent in all countries where we operate, including in India, and has not changed in response to the recent amendments to Indian regulations." A spokesman for India''s finance ministry declined to comment. ADVISING CAUTION Amit Maheshwari, a senior tax consultant, said he had been approached by clients who were contacted by the two French banks, but had advised caution. "P-notes will definitely be a big concern because the government doesn''t want to promote them," he said, adding also that the government would likely be concerned if funds were steering investments via France. "The Indian government now wants their fair share of taxes, and this is something which will create ripples with the tax authorities," Maheshwari said, adding he expected New Delhi would push for a renegotiation of its tax treaty with France. The treaty was one of several India signed in the 1980s and 1990s when it sought to attract overseas capital. It has similar double taxation avoidance deals with countries such as The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. The banks say "there is no way the Indian government can challenge us under GAAR, so why don''t you use our route? You will not pay any tax," said another senior official at a tax and consulting firm who said he was approached by clients who received emails from BNP and Societe Generale. Reuters could not independently verify the content of the banks'' emails to potential clients. Other tax consultants, a hedge fund and a banker spoke to Reuters on the issue on condition they were not identified. FRANCE IN SPOTLIGHT Under Modi, India has begun amending tax treaties with other countries in an attempt to clamp down on what it sees as abuse of its domestic tax rules. It has already amended treaties with Singapore and Mauritius, which together account for around a third of foreign direct investment into India, including portfolio investments. Those agreements phase in higher CGT over two years, rising to the full 15 percent tax rate India imposes on short-term capital gains on shares and 30 percent on futures and options. Investments held longer than 12 months are not taxed. That makes France, ranked only ninth among the sources of foreign capital coming to India in April-December last year, a relatively attractive investment route - as investors would not have to pay any short-term CGT in India as long as the investment held is less than 10 percent of a company''s share capital. India is attracting foreign investment on hopes for an improving economy and more reforms. Its NSE share index is up more than 13 percent this year to a record high and the rupee currency is at a near-1-year high. Investing in India via France carries the risk that India could at any time seek to amend the tax treaty. And New Delhi has some leverage given France is keen to boost defence sales to India, such as its Rafale fighter jets. ($1 = 64.9600 rupees) (Additional reporting by Maiya Keidan in LONDON; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-tax-france-idINKBN1781GS'|'2017-04-06T20:14:00.000+03:00' '78d8c98f7d5ad11f4801483a8f489286b89c3187'|'UPDATE 1-Overheating housing markets may hamper economic growth -RBC CEO'|'(Adds further comments from McKay)TORONTO, April 6 Royal Bank of Canada''s Chief Executive Dave McKay warned on Thursday that overheating housing markets could inhibit Canada''s economic growth, and urged the federal and provincial governments to work together to address the issue.Toronto home sales and prices surged in March, an industry report showed on Wednesday, fueling fears of a real estate bubble in Canada''s largest city and raising expectations the province of Ontario will soon act to cool the market.British Columbia introduced a 15 percent tax on foreign buyers last year, and some economists have suggested that similar measures may be necessary in Ontario."Any single solution is unlikely to be successful on its own," McKay said at RBC''s annual meeting."A complex problem like this requires a multi-faceted solution, which addresses supply constraints and speculative forces and is mindful of the rate environment, which can be a moderating force."McKay said owning a home had become "a distant dream" for many Canadians, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, amid factors such as "long-time persistent supply and demand imbalances in the GTA and Vancouver, low interest rates, and speculative activity.""All of these factors are mixing to push prices up to unsustainable levels, stressing household balance sheets and locking many people out of the housing market," he said. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/rbc-agm-idINL2N1HE0PR'|'2017-04-06T12:05:00.000+03:00' 'cbf79684fc09921b9805c1b672fb3aec84dc3409'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX gets moderate lift from financials, energy firms'|' 55am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX gets moderate lift from financials, energy firms * TSX up 37.26 points, or 0.24 percent, to 15,680.25 * Six of the TSX''s 10 main groups gain TORONTO, April 6 Canada''s main stock index rose on Thursday, bolstered by a rise in energy and financial stocks, but a dip in resource shares offset some of the gains. The most influential movers on the index included Canada''s largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 0.6 percent to C$97.62, and Bank of Nova Scotia, which advanced 0.8 percent to C$78.74. Toronto-Dominion Bank was also a top mover, and was up 0.5 percent to C$66.6. The overall financials group, which makes up just over a third of the index''s weight, gained 0.3 percent. Energy companies were also higher, climbing 0.8 percent. TransCanada Corp, which won U.S. approval for the construction of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline last month, rose 0.9 percent to C$62.64. Suncor Energy was up 0.7 percent to C$41.73. At 10:44 a.m. ET (1444 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index added 37.26 points, or 0.24 percent, to 15,680.25. Of the index''s 10 main groups, six advanced. Offsetting gains was a 0.8-percent fall to C$25.80 by Barrick Gold Corp. The Canadian miner said on Thursday that China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd will pay $960 million for a 50 percent stake in Barrick''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina. Raging River Exploration dropped 5.5 percent to C$9.32 amid a report that it has hired an advisor to explore a possible sale. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.1 percent. In corporate earnings news, Corus Entertainment Inc reported a lower-than-expected profit, hurt by higher costs. Shares were down 1.0 percent to C$12.83. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 131 to 114, for a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the upside. The index was posting 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL2N1HE0XM'|'2017-04-06T22:55:00.000+03:00' 'f0c0717246a6335f3a73a0180f912ca4686b32b1'|'MOVES-MUFG Investor Services hires new executive director for relationship management'|' 6:07am EDT MOVES-MUFG Investor Services hires new executive director for relationship management April 6 MUFG Investor Services, the asset servicing arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, appointed Joe Latini as executive director for relationship management. Latini was formerly a director of U.S. sales at ENSO Financial Analytics. He spent the majority of his career at Morgan Stanley prior to his role at ENSO. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mufg-investor-services-moves-joe-latini-idUSL3N1HE3BL'|'2017-04-06T18:07:00.000+03:00' '3bdb52edd90bd11317c03acc2a4d809e88e39aec'|'ECB''s Draghi sees no need to deviate from stated policy path'|' 24am BST ECB''s Draghi sees no need to deviate from stated policy path Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) speaks during a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach FRANKFURT The head of the European Central Bank sees no need to deviate from the ECB''s stated policy path, which includes bond buying at least until the end of the year and record-low rates until well after that to stimulate inflation, he said on Thursday. "I do not see cause to deviate from the indications we have been consistently providing in the introductory statement to our press conferences," Mario Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt. "Before making any alterations to the components of our stance – interest rates, asset purchases and forward guidance – we still need to build sufficient confidence that inflation will indeed converge to our aim over a medium-term horizon, and will remain there even in less supportive monetary policy conditions," he added. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-policy-rates-idUKKBN1780OJ'|'2017-04-06T15:15:00.000+03:00' '352f3edb8f5f300430ffe2d1fb3bd6703a0f372a'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 7'|' 39am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 7 April 7 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 13 points lower on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. * BRITIAN/EU CLEARING: The European Commission will reflect carefully on the location of euro-denominated derivatives clearing, a business mostly done in London now and that will be outside the EU when Britain leaves the bloc, the EU executive''s vice president said on Thursday. * BANK/EU REGULATION: The European Central Bank has proposed that large branches of foreign banks in the European Union be subject to tighter regulation and capital requirements, a move that would increase U.S. and Asian lenders'' costs and also hit British banks after Brexit. * SOUTH AFRICA RAND RIGGING: Some of the banks South African regulators have alleged rigged the rand currency say the case against them lacks specific detail about anti-competitive conduct and its impact, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. * OIL: Oil prices surged more than 2 percent on Friday after the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil, jumped to $56.08 per barrel before easing to be up 1.6 percent at $55.75 per barrel at 0310 GMT. * The UK blue chip index was down 0.4 percent at 7,303.20 points at its close on Thursday, with financials the biggest drag, taking almost 11 points off the index. U.S. equities had dipped on Wednesday. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HF29C'|'2017-04-07T13:39:00.000+03:00' '383fca92d32ddba8035d60e9602a267f6907641f'|'UPDATE 1-Venezuela clinches $300 mln deal with New York -sources'|'Business News 37pm EDT Venezuela clinches $300 million deal with New York: sources A woman uses a machine to count Venezuelan bolivar notes at an office in Caracas, Venezuela March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello By Brian Ellsworth and Corina Pons - CARACAS CARACAS Venezuela''s central bank has reached a deal that will provide the country with at least $300 million from New York-based investment fund Fintech Advisory Inc to help offset a cash crunch, two market sources and a source close to the government told Reuters on Friday. The crisis-hit country has spent months negotiating with investment banks, offering bonds as a guarantee, as it seeks to boost liquidity ahead of steep debt payments that begin next week, Reuters reported in February. Venezuela''s oil-dependent economy is suffering a brutal recession that has millions of people skipping meals amid steep inflation and low salaries. Opposition lawmaker Rafael Guzman on Monday said the central bank was negotiating with Fintech, run by financier David Martinez, to obtain cash, using bonds issued by state oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] as guarantee. Martinez is known for reaping big profits from bets on distressed assets in countries including Argentina and his native Mexico. "The operation has been approved," said a source close to the government who had access to the deal''s details and asked to remain anonymous because he was not allowed to speak about it publicly. The central bank agreed to a repurchase deal, known as a "repo," using around $1.3 billion in bonds held by the institution, the source added. The central bank''s board has already approved the operation, according to two other sources in the finance sector. Neither the central bank or Fintech Advisory responded to a request for comment, but central bank foreign reserves jumped $300 million in the aftermath of the deal, the bank''s website showed late on Friday afternoon. As PDVSA bonds are trading for up to less than half their worth amid some market fears of a default down the road, the central bank decided to seek private financing deals instead of bond sales. "This is the most viable and legal option they could take at the moment," a Caracas-based trader said. (Additional reporting by Girish Gupta; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-economy-idUSKBN17935F'|'2017-04-08T05:32:00.000+03:00' '960176dc0f48558930e249ace9d0aa87b379e0ba'|'Former LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche launches new online lender'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 10:06am EDT Former LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche launches new online lender Renaud Laplanche speaks during an interview with CNBC on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, United States on December 11, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo NEW YORK Renaud Laplanche, who abruptly stepped down as CEO of LendingCLub Corp ( LC.N ) in May, has launched a new online lender called Upgrade, the company said on Thursday. San Francisco-based Upgrade has raised $60 million in equity and convertible notes from a large group of venture capital investors including Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, as well as large Chinese online lender CreditEase and Silicon Valley Bank, the startup said. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-online-lending-laplanche-idUSKBN1781UE'|'2017-04-06T22:06:00.000+03:00' 'f56715cf86c6572fdd2e24658876d415f75254bb'|'German billionaire readies sale of patch maker LTS - sources'|'FRANKFURT, April 6 German billionaire Dietmar Hopp is preparing to put medical skin patch maker LTS Lohmann on the block as he reshuffles his portfolio, three people close to the matter said.Hopp''s investment firm Dievini has started reaching out to potential buyers to gauge their interest in an acquisition, they said.Hopp, the co-founder of software group SAP, shared ownership of LTS with Switzerland''s Novartis and German investment firm BWK.But he bought out the fellow investors in a deal valuing the company at 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in 2014, after failing to find a third-party buyer for the business.Officials at Dievini were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 0.9384 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, Ludwig Burger and Carl O''Donnell; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lts-lohmann-sale-idINL5N1HE1KV'|'2017-04-06T11:37:00.000+03:00' 'b28f6a1129a7d44806246aa3ed67c5338a1a3bcf'|'Exxon Mobil markets mid-term Papua New Guinea LNG supplies'|'Commodities 35am EDT Exxon Mobil markets mid-term Papua New Guinea LNG supplies Logos of ExxonMobil are seen in its booth at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai CHIBA, Japan Exxon Mobil Corp is marketing 1.3 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of mid-term liquefied natural gas volumes from its $19 billion Papua New Guinea LNG (PNG LNG) plant, reflecting overproduction and an increase in gas reserves. The two-train plant with an original nameplate capacity of 6.9 million tonnes a year produced 7.9 million tonnes last year, making it possible to offer the excess for sale, Stephen McCusker, Vice President of PNG Marketing at ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd told Reuters at a gas conference in Japan. The move is also possible as ExxonMobil PNG, operator of the PNG LNG joint venture, said in February that a study showed that the likely technically recoverable natural gas from all PNG LNG fields is 11.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf), up a quarter from an earlier assessment of 9.2 tcf. "Originally we contracted for the base project 6.6 mtpa, and last year we produced close to 7.9 mtpa, so the 1.3 mtpa plus the additional recertification gives us an opportunity to approach the market with the mid-term contracts," McCusker told Reuters on Thursday at the Gastech conference in Chiba. PNG LNG''s main four long-term customers are top global LNG buyer JERA Co at 1.8 million tonnes a year, Osaka Gas at 1.5 million, Taiwan''s CPC with 1.2 million, and China''s Sinopec at 2 million tonnes a year. The PNG project sells the remainder as spot and short-term supplies to those four and other customers, Exxon Mobil said. The U.S. oil and gas major and its joint venture partners are also looking at some upcoming opportunities, McCusker said. "Other fields that we''ve already discovered within the project, and of course, the other projects that are occurring around us - obviously the Total project - so PNG LNG is looking at those opportunities," he said. Exxon Mobil and Total SA, vying to develop new gas fields in Papua New Guinea to tap into an expected market recovery in the next decade, are likely to face tougher terms than Exxon Mobil''s PNG LNG project. Prime Minister O''Neill has said the government had been generous when negotiating Exxon Mobil''s PNG LNG project in 2009, as it was looking to secure the country''s biggest foreign investment despite the global financial crisis. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-gastech-exxon-mobil-idUSKBN1790PZ'|'2017-04-07T14:29:00.000+03:00' '4a10118ee082d5333e5d4c6f598e7f24da585570'|'China''s ZEPC in talks to buy stake in Brazil''s Belo Monte dam'|'SAO PAULO China''s Zhejiang Electric Power Construction Co Ltd ( 600023.SS ) (ZEPC) is in talks to buy a stake in Brazil''s massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, two sources familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.The 11,233-megawatt dam on a major tributary to the Amazon River is owned by a consortium including utilities Eletrobras ( ELET5.SA ), Neoenergia SA, Cemig ( CMIG4.SA ) and Light SA ( LIGT3.SA ), mining company Vale SA ( VALE5.SA ) and pension funds Petros [PETROS.UL]and Funcef [FUNCEF.UL]. Total investment in the plant is expected to reach 35 billion reais ($11 billion) by the time it is finished in 2019.($1 = 3.13 reais)(Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-power-belo-monte-idINKBN1792QF'|'2017-04-07T15:52:00.000+03:00' '144cbddac1d73331522a451fbe857abd92b47644'|'Germany''s Fresenius weighing bid for generic drugmaker Akorn -Bbg'|'Deals 47pm EDT Germany''s Fresenius weighing bid for generic drugmaker Akorn: Bbg A Fresenius SE logo is pictured in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, Germany February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA ( FREG.DE ) is weighing a bid for generic drugmaker Akorn Inc ( AKRX.O ), Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies are in discussions, though no final decisions have been made, Bloomberg reported. bloom.bg/2oN9cMw Akorn''s shares rose as much as 21.5 percent to $30.64 in afternoon trading. The company has a market value of about $3.7 billion. Fresenius and Akorn were not immediately available for comments. (Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-akorn-m-a-fresenius-idUSKBN1792UX'|'2017-04-08T02:45:00.000+03:00' '87f89b2e40d957d257ca3ffe1f2d10f70ca76306'|'MOVES-Metro Bank hires new commercial banking director'|'April 7 UK-based Metro Bank Plc on Friday appointed Alec Viney as director, commercial banking.Viney, who previously worked at HSBC Holdings Plc, will be responsible for business customers in the south-east of England.He will report to Andy Veares, director, large commercial banking.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/metro-bank-moves-alec-viney-idINL3N1HF3NI'|'2017-04-07T08:02:00.000+03:00' 'dbc8988859352222aeef752be3763d479471857e'|'Two-thirds of EU travel websites mislead on prices - Commission'|'Technology 12am BST Two-thirds of EU travel websites mislead on prices: Commission BRUSSELS Two-thirds of travel booking websites provide misleading information on prices and so breached EU consumer protection rules, the European Commission said on Friday. In its survey of 352 online travel booking and comparison services, it found a third of the websites displayed initial prices which were not the final prices and in a fifth of the cases promotional offers were not really available, the Commission said. About one in four websites also misled consumers by saying there were only a limited amount of seats or rooms left at a certain price, when this often only applied to the website in question. The Commission did not name any of the companies surveyed in its screening of websites across the bloc in October 2016. The EU executive said national authorities would contact the websites that were in breach of EU consumer protection rules and could take legal action if the companies failed to improve. The Commission has coordinated similar "sweep" actions in the past, such as into airlines, online tickets and consumer credit, to ensure consumers are being protected. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-travel-websites-idUKKBN1791HO'|'2017-04-07T18:10:00.000+03:00' 'f1112ce80d627f99f24681c3386a455aab3a2765'|'BRIEF-Williams Companies says CEO Alan Armstrong''s 2016 total compensation was $10.2 million'|' 33am EDT BRIEF-Williams Companies says CEO Alan Armstrong''s 2016 total compensation was $10.2 million April 7 Williams Companies Inc: * CEO Alan Armstrong''s 2016 total compensation was $10.2 million versus $7 million in 2015 - SEC filing Source text: ( bit.ly/2nSnisy ) WASHINGTON, April 7 U.S. job growth slowed sharply in March amid continued layoffs in the retail sector, but a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent suggested labor market strength remained intact. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-williams-companies-says-ceo-alan-a-idUSFWN1HF0U0'|'2017-04-07T22:33:00.000+03:00' '084d21511e2126ef3bddd79e5b7463981c7a531e'|'On trial for bribery, Samsung boss lets lawyers do the talking'|' 42am EDT On trial for bribery, Samsung boss lets lawyers do the talking By Joyce Lee - SEOUL SEOUL The third-generation leader of South Korea''s top conglomerate was mostly silent at his first court appearance in what has been called the "trial of the century," as his lawyers labored to portray him as an innocent bystander in a graft scandal. Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old boss of Samsung Group [SAGR.UL], is on trial on charges including bribery and embezzlement in a scandal that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye. He could spend more than 20 years in jail if convicted on all charges, including one that he pledged 43 billion won in bribes to foundations backed by Park and her confidant, Choi Soon-sil. "The defendant, Jay Y. Lee, didn''t even know that the contribution was made, because that''s not part of his job," his lawyer, Song Wu-cheol, told the court. Lee had merely relayed the comments from one-on-one meetings with Park to his top lieutenant, Choi Gee-sung, he added. Choi, a former Samsung Group vice chairman considered a mentor to Jay Y. Lee, left the conglomerate on March 1 after it dismantled its corporate strategy office - a nerve center long considered an instrument for the founding Lee family''s management of the companies. Clad in white shirt and gray suit, Lee, himself the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ), was mostly expressionless. He nodded when one of his attorneys reiterated his previous denials of having paid bribes. Beyond confirming personal details such as his name and occupation, Lee remained silent when the judge asked if he had anything to say in response to the charges he faces. Lee''s lawyers said the Samsung boss made financial payments in response to requests by then-President Park and sought no favors in return. The leader of the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals business empire is the only founding family member among the country''s most powerful conglomerates, called chaebol, to be indicted in a graft scandal that led to Park becoming South Korea''s first democratically elected leader to be removed from office. Park herself was arrested last week on charges such as colluding with Choi to pressure businesses such as Samsung to contribute to foundations that backed her administration''s policy initiatives. But the special prosecution says Samsung''s Lee actively curried Park''s favor to cement his control of the family business empire. "We have secured enough evidence proving that defendant Lee Jae-yong made improper requests to the president," said Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor, referring to the Samsung leader by his Korean name. Lee sought Park''s help in maximizing his control of the Samsung companies at the lowest possible cost, he added. - For graphic on ''The Parks and the Chois'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2fhXSDf (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-samsung-group-idUSKBN17916T'|'2017-04-07T16:42:00.000+03:00' '78b70246a3a97121bf07f0aa4b5bd11da19a6a90'|'BP cuts CEO''s pay package by 40 percent after shareholder backlash'|'Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:04pm BST BP cuts CEO''s pay package by 40 percent after shareholder backlash FILE PHOTO: BP''s Chief Executive Bob Dudley speaks to the media after year-end results were announced at the energy company''s headquarters in London February 1, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo - RTX34C3B By Karolin Schaps - LONDON LONDON BP ( BP.L ) has cut Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s pay package by 40 percent to $11.6 million, the company said on Thursday, the latest British bluechip company to rein in executive pay after shareholder revolts. The nearly $8 million cut follows changes to the oil company''s pay policy, including a 25 percent reduction in bonuses for reaching certain targets. Dudley''s pay still remains well above that of bosses at BP''s European rivals. Shell''s ( RDSa.L ) Ben van Beurden was awarded an 8.263 million euro ($8.8 million) pay package for 2016, a 60 percent jump year on year, while Total''s ( TOTF.PA ) Patrick Pouyanne took home 3.8 million euros last year. Some 59 percent of shareholders last year opposed Dudley''s $19.4 million pay and benefits package which was up 20 percent despite the company reporting steep losses. Executive pay has come under scrutiny in Britain after a string of corporate scandals, such as the collapse of store chain BHS, which has prompted shareholders to become more active in rejecting bosses'' pay deals. Other large British companies, such as Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) and GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK.L ), have also cut executives'' pay after shareholders voiced concern about remuneration plans. (Additional reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jason Neely and Jane Merriman) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bp-salary-idUKKBN178186'|'2017-04-06T19:00:00.000+03:00' '9336f4a038f8d05193feb5b38fa738cd0176af77'|'UK grocery inflation jumps 2.3 percent in 12 weeks to March 26'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:14am EDT UK grocery inflation jumps 2.3 percent in 12 weeks to March 26 LONDON, April 4 British grocery inflation jumped by 2.3 percent in the 12 weeks to March 26, with the price of staples including butter, fish, tea and skincare all rising, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said the rise of 2.3 percent compared with a 1.4 percent increase recorded in the previous 12 weeks to Feb. 26 period. Kantar data also showed most of the big supermarkets struggling in the period, as Easter falls later this year and outside of 12-week timeframe. Sales in Tesco, the market leader, were down 0.4 percent, Sainsbury''s fell by 0.7 percent, Asda dropped 1.8 percent and Morrisons edged 0.3 percent higher. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by David Clarke) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-grocers-kantar-idUSL9N1FK026'|'2017-04-04T15:14:00.000+03:00' 'd048c5fada3dec358c2262f2b6b2472b8f461488'|'Buyout group SVP combines European packaging firms ahead of U.S. listing'|'FRANKFURT Private equity group SVPGlobal will combine its packaging firms Kloeckner Pentaplast and Linpac to increase their clout ahead of a planned stock market listing.SVP put UK-based Linpac up for sale last year, but after failing to find a buyer at its asking price has opted to merge it with Germany''s Kloeckner Pentaplast.Kloeckner Pentaplast said on Friday it would buy Linpac, creating a rigid and flexible film maker with combined annual revenue of more than $2 billion employing 6,300 people in 16 countries.Kloeckner filed for an initial public offering in December in the United States, where many of its peers - including Polyone ( POL.N ), Sealed Air ( SEE.N ), Berry ( BERY.N ), Bemis ( BMS.N ) and Ball ( BLL.N ) - are listed.The acquisition of Linpac is now expected to delay Kloeckner''s plans to list on the stock exchange before mid-year, people close to the matter said.Kloeckner Pentaplast last year posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $243 million, while Linpac earned 60 million euros ($64 million).At the current average earnings multiple of peers, the combined group would fetch a valuation of $2.8 billion.SVP acquired Kloeckner Pentaplast from private equity firm Blackstone following a lengthy restructuring. Blackstone had bought the company from Cinven in 2007, backed by 1.25 billion euros of leveraged loans.The buyout group took control of Linpac in late 2014 after buying up large chunks of debt related to a 2003 takeover of Linpac by private equity group Montagu for 860 million pounds ($1.1 billion), which had been backed by a 600 million pounds loan.Founded in 1965 as a unit of steel and machinery group Kloeckner-Werke, Kloeckner Pentaplast makes packaging for pharmaceutical, food and electronics goods, as well as pipe insulation and other plastics products.Linpac makes plastic boxes, trays and films for vegetables, meat, cake and frozen food.(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-linpac-m-a-kloecknr-pntplst-idUSKBN1791V1'|'2017-04-07T16:24:00.000+03:00' '1dc232635507ffb9704250f549bb01f45aca92f4'|'Reality check: U.S. manufacturing jobs at 1940s levels'|'The Rust Belt gave Trump his victory. Now these voters want jobs. There''s no denying that hiring in manufacturing has picked up since the election. Trump is already taking a victory lap that he''s bringing back the brawn jobs. The U.S. added and 26,000 factory jobs in February and 11,000 in March . Overall, job growth has been very strong in recent years, but most of the gains under President Obama came in the service sector -- tech, retail, business, health, etc. -- not in manufacturing. At a recent event with at White House with CEOs, he said U.S. manufacturers are giddy "like never before." He''s been preaching the mantra: " Buy American , and Hire American." Related: CNNMoney''s Trump jobs tracker But it''s worth remembering that employment in manufacturing is currently at around the same levels it was between 1941 and 1946. The glory days of manufacturing were the 1970s. Back then, over 19.5 million Americans earned their paycheck from factory work. It''s been a fairly steady decline ever since. Today only 12.4 million workers remain in the industry. Related: What American manufacturing looks like in the Trump era Manufacturing output is back, but the jobs aren''t The reality is some of the jobs once done by human hands are now done by robots . U.S. manufacturing output is at an all-time high, but manufacturing employment remains subdued. It''s bounced back somewhat since hitting a low of 11.5 million employees in 2009, but it''s not even back to pre-crisis job levels, let alone the glory days. "We certainly saw a sizable jump in manufacturing hiring last month," says economist Sam Bullard of Wells Fargo. "That said, I am not so sure we will be able to maintain this current pace over the course of the year." Still, the manufacturing industry is cheering on Trump. According to a recent survey by the National Association of Manufacturers, 93% of its 14,000 members have a positive outlook for U.S. manufacturing. It''s the highest level of optimism in 20 years. Related: Coal country''s message to Trump: We want jobs of the future Manufacturers like what they hear from the White House about tax reform and more infrastructure spending. "How much job growth occurs will depend significantly on how taxes might change," argues economist and forecaster Lynn Reaser of Point Loma university. But overall, only 8% of U.S. workers are employed in manufacturing today, a big drop from 22% in 1970. Even if hiring picks up somewhat, Trump will need other industries to blossom as well if he''s going to achieve his promise to be the " greatest jobs producer that God ever created ." CNNMoney (New York) 9:52 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/07/news/economy/us-manufacturing-jobs/index.html'|'2017-04-07T17:52:00.000+03:00' 'e2a08e40acb75fec80f58bcddb51d2c02a6667b2'|'Lloyds expects payouts to HBOS fraud victims to total £100m - Business'|'Lloyds Banking Group expects compensation payouts for victims of fraud at the hands of former HBOS staff to total around £100m. The lender said that it will pay compensation for “economic losses, distress and inconvenience” as part of a package of measures to assist victims.This includes providing interim payments on a case-by-case basis to help those in day-to-day financial difficulty as a result of the fraud, covering “reasonable” fees for professional advice to customers and writing off remaining business and personal debts owed to Lloyds and not pursuing repayment.HBOS manager and other City financiers jailed over £245m loans scam Read more Last month Lloyds recruited Professor Russel Griggs to spearhead an investigation into whether it should compensate customers who became victims of fraud at the hands of former HBOS staff in Reading.It comes after former HBOS manager Lynden Scourfield and others were jailed for carrying out a £245m loans scam and squandering the profits on sex parties and luxury holidays .The Financial Conduct Authority is also resuming its investigation into the episode after it was placed on hold in 2013 at the request of Thames Valley police.The watchdog said: “The FCA’s investigation is focusing on the extent and nature of the knowledge of these matters within HBOS and its communications with the Financial Services Authority after the initial discovery of the misconduct.”Lloyds said the £100m provision will be included in its first-quarter results later this month. The lender added that it has already “suffered losses and/or provided for at least £250m of credit losses” in relation to the affected cases at HBOS Reading in previous financial periods. Cash, cruises and sex parties: inside ex-HBOS manager''s £245m scam Read more Lloyds also announced that it will appoint a senior independent lawyer to consider whether the issues relating to HBOS Reading were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities at the time, following its acquisition of HBOS. The Lloyds chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osório, said: “As I have stated before, we would like to express our deep regret and apologies to any customers directly affected by the criminal behaviour of these individuals. “We are absolutely determined that victims of the crimes committed at HBOS Reading are fairly, swiftly and appropriately compensated. “We take responsibility for putting right the wrongs that were committed at HBOS Reading at the time. That is why today we are providing an additional package of measures to ensure that customers have all the help they need as we resolve their cases as quickly as possible.” Topics Lloyds Banking Group HBOS Banking Financial sector news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/07/lloyds-compensation-payouts-hbos-loans-scam'|'2017-04-07T17:16:00.000+03:00' 'd334ef7691c1910e5983a8ae8f1076b5f39deac5'|'Brexit raises spectre of dearer Guinness and Baileys - Business'|'Cans of Guinness could be an unexpected casualty of Brexit if a new customs border or tariffs are introduced between the Republic and Northern Ireland when the UK leaves the European Union, it has emerged.Guinness is one of Ireland’s most famous exports but Brexit will have a direct impact on its production as the black stuff crosses the Irish border twice before being shipped from Dublin to Britain and beyond. The stout is made at the St James’s Gate brewery in Dublin. The drink is then pumped into tankers, known as “silver bullets”, and driven 90 miles to east Belfast where it is canned and then sent back to Dublin Port for onward distribution.Guinness owner Diageo confirmed a Bloomberg report on Friday that it has estimated a so-called “hard border” could cause delays of between 30 minutes and an hour, costing an extra €100 (£85) for each lorry-load of Guinness.Each year the company makes 13,000 beer-related border crossings in Ireland and Guinness contingency plans estimate the delays could amount to €1.3m in additional costs a year.Diageo would either be forced to absorb that cost or pass on to the consumer by raising the cost of a pint. All Guinness consumed in Britain is produced in Dublin , since Diageo closed down the Park Royal operation in north-west London 12 years ago.Another drink brand owned by Diageo, Baileys liquer, is also of concern in Ireland as some of its ingredients cross the border with Northern Ireland three times before its onward journey to Britain.The majority of cream from dairy milk in Baileys is produced in the Republic but Diageo confirmed that some hails from farms in Northern Ireland. The finished product is then sent to Belfast for bottling before returning to Dublin for export. There is political backing for maintaining a relatively open border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, with Irish, British and European leaders supporting the unique status of Ireland in the Brexit process.However, the European Union has admitted there is no firm plan for how to achieve this, saying “flexible and imaginative solutions will be required” to square the legal circle, which requires the Republic to operate customs of what will become an external border between the UK and the EU when Britain leaves the union.Bank of England orders financial firms to draft Brexit contingency plans Read more All-island Irish businesses that have flourished since the disappearance of the border when the single market came into being in 1993 are now facing up to the cost of Brexit.The Northern Ireland director for Dairy UK told the Northern Ireland affairs committee earlier this year that farms will “go out of business” if barriers to trade on the island are introduced. Around 25% of Northern Irish milk goes south of the border to be processed with cheese from the Republic going north to be packaged and exported again through Dublin Port. If tariffs are introduced those journeys may no longer be viable with margins so tight in the food sector. The Freight Transport Association in Belfast says nearly all food exports in Northern Ireland will impacted because so much of the produce from the six counties is exported through Dublin Port to Holyhead, the gateway for Britain and beyond. It is favoured by fresh food producers across Northern Ireland because it offers the quickest route to food processors in Wales and the midlands or supermarket shelves in Manchester, Birmingham and London. “We have suppliers here who have meat which leaves here at 6.30pm and is in south east England at 6.30am the next day,” said Seamus Leheny, head of policy for Northern Ireland for the FTA.“Some of these suppliers are now having to consider whether they can continue withe meat processing here or whether they move it to the UK.”Kegs of draft Guinness being exported to the UK will also be impacted with customs expected to be reintroduced at Holyhead. Like all big name exporters, however, they are expected to continue with “trusted trader” status which will rule out random customs checks. Topics Food & drink industry Diageo EU referendum and Brexit European Union Europe Ireland Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/07/brexit-raises-spectre-dearer-guinness-baileys'|'2017-04-08T01:10:00.000+03:00' 'dce3f87a4bf6fe1fa8c1894bb966566229c371c0'|'Morgan Stanley shareholders propose policy against golden parachute for executives entering government service'|'Money - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 4:35pm EDT Morgan Stanley shareholders propose policy against golden parachute for executives entering government service FILE PHOTO: A view of the Morgan Stanley London headquarters at Canary Wharf financial centre in London, Britain June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Boyce/File Photo Morgan Stanley shareholders will again vote on a proposal that prohibits stock awards from vesting for bank executives who resign for government service. The board said in a proxy it is against the measure. Morgan Stanley and the board defeated the proposal last year. (Reporting by Olivia Oran) Investors look to global growth for earnings power NEW YORK America First may be a main policy of the White House and fuel to the stock market rally but U.S. investors are looking overseas for stronger earnings as S&P 500 companies are set to report their first quarter of double-digit profit gains since 2014. LPC: Qlik Technologies cuts borrowing costs with traditional banks NEW YORK Data analytics firm Qlik Technologies is in the market with a $1.07 billion loan refinancing that is expected to halve the interest margin on a highly leveraged loan that it raised from direct lenders less than a year ago to finance its $3 billion sale to private equity firm Thoma Bravo. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-morgan-stanley-proxy-idUSKBN179324'|'2017-04-08T04:35:00.000+03:00' '2e2334a5d5f714221b608e0fda4ffeda66ca3098'|'UK economy likely expanded 0.5 percent in first-quarter - NIESR'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:24pm BST UK economy likely expanded 0.5 percent in first-quarter - NIESR Workers walk to work during the morning rush hour in the financial district of Canary Wharf in London, Britain, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh LONDON Britain''s economy probably expanded 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2017, slowing from growth of 0.7 percent in the final three months of last year, the National Institute of Economic Social Research said on Friday. "A key component of this moderation has been relatively weak retail sales in the first two months of this year," said James Warren, research fellow at NIESR. "Consumption is expected to moderate further this year as increasing inflation erodes households'' purchasing power." Warren added that NIESR expects the Bank of England to "look through" a temporary spike in inflation by keeping monetary policy accommodative. Official data on Friday showed British industrial output fell unexpectedly in February and manufacturers struggled, adding to signs economic growth may have slowed as Britain prepares to leave the EU. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Stephen Addison)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-niesr-idUKKBN1791UT'|'2017-04-07T20:24:00.000+03:00' '871654290828a3e39e20001677fddeeb4271529c'|'Greece, lenders agree deal on reforms to unlock new funds'|'By Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio - VALLETTA VALLETTA Greece and its international lenders agreed on Friday on the key elements of reforms to unlock new funds and experts will now put finishing touches on the deal, the chairman of the euro zone finance ministers said.Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments since 2010. To get money, it has to pass regular reviews of reforms by experts sent by the lenders.The latest review has dragged on since the middle of last year because of differences over pension and income tax reforms that some lenders believe Greece must undertake to put its finances on a sustainable footing."Today we have an agreement on ... overarching elements of a policy package in terms of size, timing and sequencing of reforms," the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem told a news conference."On that basis, further work will continue in the coming days," he said. Experts will be sent to Athens to finalise the dealGreek 10-year bond yields fell 0.23 percent on the news.Greece will take steps to produce savings in its pensions system of 1 percent of GDP annually starting in 2019, an election year. Another 1 percent annually is to come from reform of the income tax system in 2020.The additional reforms are mainly to satisfy the International Monetary Fund and Germany, which have been sceptical that Greece would be able to reach previously agreed fiscal targets without them.To make the deal more palatable for Athens, the lenders agreed that if Greece exceeds its targets as a result of the additional measures, it can spend the excess cash on boosting the economy.The Greek target is a budget surplus before debt servicing of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018. It is then to be maintained at that level over the "medium term".There is no agreement yet on what exactly "medium term" means and the ministers did not discuss that on Friday.The longer Greece keeps such a high surplus, the less it is likely to need debt relief. The IMF strongly insists that easing Greece''s debt burden is necessary, while Germany - Greece''s biggest creditor - strongly opposes it.Germany wants the IMF to join the bailout, now shouldered by euro zone governments alone, mainly for credibility reasons.The Fund says that if it were to participate, it would have to be the last rescue package for Greece and that means substantial debt relief offered now."An agreement on policies will have to be followed by discussions with euro area countries to ensure satisfactory assurances on a credible strategy to restore debt sustainability, before a program is presented to the IMF Executive Board," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said.Euro zone ministers would return to the discussion on whether debt relief is necessary, Dijsselbloem said, after experts iron out the details of the reform deal in what is called a staff level agreement."Once the staff level agreement is reached the Eurogroup will come back to the issue of the medium term fiscal path and debt sustainability, to reach an overall political agreement," he said."The big blocks have now been sorted out and that should allow us to speed up," he said.Time is pressing because the uncertainty over whether Greece would be able to secure new loans weighs on business, consumer and investor sentiment, which dampens economic growth.(Additional reporting by Tom Koerkemeier,; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-idINKBN17923A'|'2017-04-07T11:46:00.000+03:00' '381bca5c36f2945f7ff499e959d52a7baec3fd62'|'Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 9:06pm EDT Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) plan to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea because of an engine defect that is likely to "hamper safe driving," the transport ministry said on Friday. The recall covers Hyundai''s Sonata, Grandeur sedans and Kia''s K5, K7 and Sportage models equipped with a 2-liter or 2.4-liter Theta 2 gasoline engine produced before August 2013. The ministry said metal debris in crankshafts could cause engine damage, leading to possible engine stalling. Hyundai will replace a defective engine with a new one after inspection. The recall will start on May 22. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-recall-idUSKBN17903Z'|'2017-04-07T09:06:00.000+03:00' '3a36474f1a053eb3d2a812fa7161a2f1909f5cca'|'Greece''s lenders to send experts to Athens to approve reforms, unlock funds'|'Business 15am BST Greece''s lenders to send experts to Athens to approve reforms, unlock funds A man looks down as a Greek national flag flutters atop one of the bastions of the 17th century fortress of Palamidi under an overcast sky at the southern port city of Nafplio, Greece, February 19. 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis By Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio - VALLETTA VALLETTA Greece''s international lenders are ready to send experts to Athens who will sign off on the country''s reforms, helping to unlock new lending, euro zone officials said. Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments since 2010, but to get money it has to pass regular reviews of its reforms by teams of experts sent by the lenders, called missions. The latest review has been dragging on since the middle of last year. Discouraged by the slow progress of talks, the missions have left Athens. "There will be an agreement today on the missions returning to Athens, there is significant progress reached on the package (of reforms)," one euro zone official with insight into the negotiations said. The chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, told reporters as he entered a meeting of the ministers in Valletta that he was optimistic and that there were "results" in the negotiations, but that he wanted to inform the ministers first. Once the experts go back to Greece, they will complete what is called a "staff level agreement" on reforms in exchange for loans. This is necessary for the ministers to give a political go-ahead to close the whole review and disburse loans. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on entering the talks that closing the whole review would hopefully be possible "within the next few weeks." The agreement is to include reforms of pensions, income tax, collective bargaining systems and energy market liberalisation. They are all supposed to produce a budget surplus before debt servicing of 3.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The bailout programme ends in mid-2018. Greece beat its primary surplus target in 2015 and 2016 and is likely to exceed it again this year. It needs a quick deal on new loan disbursements to pay debts due in July. But while institutions representing euro zone governments believe Greece will easily reach the 3.5 percent target in 2018, 2019 and 2020, the International Monetary Fund has been sceptical. Euro zone governments, led by Germany, want the IMF to join the bailout to exert more pressure on the Greeks to carry out the reforms. "It is true that the IMF was always a little bit too pessimistic in recent years, compared to reality," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters on entering the meeting of euro zone finance ministers. "The biggest stretch of the road is already behind us, but the experts are always very precise, so it could need some more days," he said. (Additional reporting by Tom Koerkemeier, editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-idUKKBN1791DW'|'2017-04-07T18:15:00.000+03:00' '1a3e3782a2de3a3a5e65bbf2afb211d7d369b93f'|'Galenica Sante raises $1.9 billion in Europe''s biggest IPO this year'|'By John Miller - ZURICH ZURICH Galenica Sante''s ( GALE.S ) shares rose more than 10 percent in their stock market debut on Friday, after the largest Swiss pharmacy retailer raised 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.9 billion) in Europe''s biggest flotation so far this year.The sale of the shares, offered at 39 francs per share, had been several times oversubscribed, the company said. Reuters reported on Wednesday the price had been set at the top end of the indicated range.Galenica Sante, a pharmacy and logistics business with 3 billion francs in annual sales, was created along with drugmaker Vifor Pharma ( VIFN.S ) by a split of healthcare group Galenica. Vifor shares eased 0.3 percent in early trade.Proceeds of the IPO, Europe''s biggest so far in 2017 and about double the value of Spanish car parts maker Gestamp ( GEST.MC ), will help cut debt from Vifor''s $1.53 billion acquisition of U.S.-based Relypsa in 2016.Galenica Sante, which owns or has ties to 500 Swiss pharmacy retailers, plans to pay between 75 and 80 million francs in dividends in 2018 and aims at annual payouts exceeding 65 percent of net profit thereafter, giving what analysts called an attractive yield."Investors should focus on the high dividend yield of about 4 percent, low forex exposure and stable earnings growth," wrote Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Maja Pataki in a note.HIGH PRICESThe investor appeal of Sante, whose flotation is Switzerland''s largest since Sunrise Communications'' ( SRCG.S ) in 2015, also benefits from some government protections for its store-front business model and high Swiss drug prices.Generic drugs in Switzerland cost 53 percent more and patent-protected drugs 14 percent more on average than elsewhere in Europe, according to Swiss insurance industry group santesuisse and drug industry group Interpharma.Margins on drugs at Swiss pharmacies are also higher than abroad, santesuisse added, saddling Swiss consumers with more than 450 million francs in extra costs annually and prompting consumer advocates to demand changes.Galenica Sante said such comparisons ignore Switzerland''s high-cost environment, where prices for rent and support services are higher than in Europe.Galenica Sante Chairman Joerg Kneubuehler has highlighted Sante''s sector-beating 4.5 percent operating profit margin.Kneubuehler plans to buy more Swiss pharmacies but none further afield. "We don''t want to water down our profitability with adventures abroad," he said last month.Switzerland''s prohibition on online sales of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines shields Galenica Sante''s retail outlets, operating under names including Amavita and Sun, against internet competition from rivals including zur Rose Group [ZUROS.UL].Should the Swiss eventually allow online OTC sales, Sante could quickly adapt, Kneubuehler has said.Citigroup, Credit Suisse and UBS were joint global coordinators and bookrunners to the issue. Deutsche Bank was also a joint bookrunner, with Baader Bank, Bank am Bellevue, Bank Vontobel and Zuercher Kantonalbank named as co-lead managers.($1 = 1.0040 Swiss francs)(Editing by Michael Shields/David Holmes/Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-galenica-sante-ipo-idINKBN1791JE'|'2017-04-07T09:14:00.000+03:00' 'f0a6e91cb5ba059ea81410458c99c5d6338e5b2e'|'Co-operative Bank says received several bids in sale process'|'Business 28am BST Co-operative Bank says received several bids in sale process FILE PHOTO: A sign hangs outside of a branch of The Co-operative Bank in London, Britain, February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/File Photo LONDON Britain''s Co-operative Bank ( 42RQ.L ) said on Friday it had received a number of non-binding offers that would go to a next phase of bidding. The bank, which put itself up for sale in February, said all the offers involved some form of liability management, as the bank mulls ways to reduce its debts and raise capital back to levels that would satisfy regulators. The bank said it was in parallel discussions with investors on other ways to build capital (Reporting by Esha Vaish and Lawrence White; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cooperative-bank-sale-idUKKBN1790OX'|'2017-04-07T14:28:00.000+03:00' '2e9fc4d1a903ada2f52e87c957e610836da6975a'|'Oil prices dip as oversupply concerns linger'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:23am BST Oil prices dip as oversupply concerns linger FILE PHOTO -- A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver/File Photo By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices dipped on Friday as ongoing concerns about oversupply outweighed an OPEC-led production cut and strong refinery activity. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $54.85 per barrel at 0109 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 1 cent at $51.69 a barrel. Traders said that despite a recent uptick in sentiment, which this week helped prices reach a one-month high, there was still concern that markets remained oversupplied, even with efforts led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut supplies to prop up prices. Oil trading data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that globally shipped crude volumes stood at 1.4 billion barrels in March (around 45.6 million bpd), up from 1.1 billion barrels in February, although on a daily basis the figure was similar to February''s 45.5 million bpd due to that month''s fewer days. Both figures, however, were higher than at any time during the second half of 2016, before the OPEC-led cuts were implemented, implying either poor compliance with the supply reductions, or plentiful alternative supplies. Despite this, there were factors supporting prices, especially strong demand from refineries, and a supply disruption in Canada. "Utilisation rates at refineries jumped 1.9 percent to 90.8 percent (in the U.S.), which should result in a drawdown in U.S. crude oil in coming weeks," ANZ bank said on Friday. "A disruption at a Canadian oil sands operation is also raising concerns of tightness in heavy Alberta oil. A fire at Syncrude Canada''s a 350,000 barrels per day plant could be offline for weeks," it added. The disruption stemmed from the shutdown of the Syncrude plant after a fire in March damaged the facility and forced the operator to bring forward planned maintenance. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17905L'|'2017-04-07T09:23:00.000+03:00' '473c83c35b7e8579bd614feec657aaec5397f806'|'MOVES-Cook and Spielman to head capital markets at BlackRock'|'Company News 21am EDT MOVES-Cook and Spielman to head capital markets at BlackRock April 7 (IFR) - Ed Cook and Ben Spielman have been named as co-heads of global capital markets at BlackRock following the transition of Matt Savino into the alternatives division. Savino had been co-head of GCM until Scott Greenberg''s recent retirement. Savino and Greenberg were co-heads of GCM. Spielman is based in the US and Cook is in London. Spielman’s background is in ECM, while Savino’s was debt so Kamya Somasundaram will relocate to the US from London. She runs credit in EMEA and the asset manager is looking to replace her with an external hire. (Reporting by Owen Wild)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-cook-and-spielman-to-head-capital-idUSL8N1HF3YK'|'2017-04-07T21:21:00.000+03:00' '4f071c20db91b61006b41a3156aa3a8aae9af755'|'Morning News Call - India, April 7'|' 11:09pm EDT Morning News Call - India, April 7 To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 10:00 am: Power Minister Piyush Goyal at an event in New Delhi. 10:00 am: Junior Shipping Minister ML Mandavia at an event in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Budget session of parliament continues in New Delhi. 5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai. GMF: LIVECHAT - TRUMP-XI MEETING AGENDA As the historic meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump is on in Florida, Arthur Kroeber, Founding Partner and Head of Research, Gavekal Research, assesses the preliminary outcomes from the meeting at 9:00 am. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • India central bank moves to cut system''s excess cash to help contain inflation India''s central bank surprised markets on Thursday by raising a secondary rate while holding the key rate steady, a move to help mop up liquidity and signal its worries about a potential spike in inflation. • India''s biggest tax reform nears fruition India''s marathon to overhaul its indirect taxes entered the last lap on Thursday after the upper house of parliament approved key legislations, paving the way for the rollout of a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) as early as July. • India services activity expands again in March, index reaches five-month high India''s services industry in March continued to recover from November''s shock big currency-note ban, with business activity expanding for a second month and at a faster pace, a private business survey showed on Thursday. • SocGen, BNP woo funds eyeing India with tax saving gambit -sources Societe Generale and BNP Paribas are wooing hedge funds to invest in India through France, noting a special treaty between the two countries that allows investors to avoid paying tax in one of the world''s hottest emerging markets. • India''s JSW Steel lines up $1 bln war chest for acquisitions, mines India''s biggest steelmaker JSW Steel said it could spend up to $1 billion on capacity expansion or acquisitions this fiscal year, and will bid for iron ore and coking coal mines in upcoming auctions to secure raw material supplies. • India''s Jindal Steel declares force majeure on Australian mine India''s Jindal Steel and Power suspended operations at its coking coal mine in Australia last month due to heavy rains caused by Cyclone Debbie, forcing it to declare force majeure, its chief executive said on Thursday. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump orders military strikes against Assad airbase in Syria U.S President Donald Trump said on Thursday he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America''s "national security interest" against Syrian Assad. • Trump, China''s Xi dine ahead of talks on security, trade U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down together to dine on pan-seared Dover sole and New York strip steak on Thursday, spending some social time before digging into thorny bilateral security and trade issues. • Philippines'' Duterte orders occupation of isles in disputed South China Sea Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday ordered troops to occupy uninhabited islands and shoals it claims in the disputed South China Sea, asserting Philippine sovereignty in an apparent change of tack likely to anger China. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,200.50, trading down 0.7 pct from its previous close. • The Indian rupee will likely open lower against the dollar, as risk appetite was rattled after the U.S. launched a missile strike on Syria following a deadly poison gas attack in the nation’s rebel-held area. • Indian government bonds will likely edge lower after the central bank said it will use a variety of instruments to absorb excess liquidity in the banking system. Overnight gains in crude oil prices, following American missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in response to Assad''s forces'' deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area, may also damp demand for notes. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.74 pct-6.80 pct band till the result of a weekly auction of government debt today. The bond closed at a two-week low of 101.38 rupees, yielding 6.77 pct, yesterday. GLOBAL MARKETS • Wall Street''s major indexes closed slightly higher on Thursday but finished well off session highs as investors were nervous about upcoming talks between China''s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. • Stocks slumped and safe haven bonds and the yen jumped in Asia after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria, potentially escalating the conflict and spooking investors globally. • The dollar skidded against the perceived safe-haven Japanese yen after the United States launched cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria in response to Syrian forces'' alleged use of chemical weapons on Thursday. • U.S. Treasury yields edged lower on Thursday amid uncertainty ahead of a key U.S. jobs report Friday and a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and also over the fate of Trump''s pro-growth agenda. • Oil prices soared by around $1 per barrel after the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. • Gold hit a near five-month peak, rising over one percent on safe-haven buying after the U.S. military launched cruise missile strikes against a Syrian air base controlled by Assad''s forces. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.95/64.98 April 6 $22.1 mln $22.17 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.06 Month-to-date $164 mln $1.5 bln Year-to-date $6.95 bln $6.97 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.6350 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nayyar Rasheed in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL3N1HF1RY'|'2017-04-07T11:09:00.000+03:00' '9ae5020171fcae230c0624266ae9f5845767d518'|'BRIEF-Total Energy Services Inc announces further take-up of Savanna common shares'|' 57pm EDT BRIEF-Total Energy Services Inc announces further take-up of Savanna common shares April 7 Total Energy Services Inc: * Total Energy Services Inc announces further take-up of savanna common shares and extension of period for tender of additional Savanna common shares under its offer * Total Energy Services Inc - 35.6 million common shares of savanna energy services were validly tendered (and not withdrawn) under its offer '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-total-energy-services-inc-announce-idUSFWN1HF0Z5'|'2017-04-08T06:57:00.000+03:00' 'a1a53ba7d1deeee1bd488c37e8cad50ba90464c8'|'Kuroda likely favourite for new Bank of Japan term, if willing'|' 14am BST Kuroda likely favourite for new Bank of Japan term, if willing : Governor of the Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda (C) arrives for the session ''The Global Economic Outlook'' in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos January 24, 2015. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo : Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during an upper house financial committee meeting of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo 2/2 By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda has emphatically missed his single most important performance indicator, and yet is looking a good bet for a second term - the first in more than half a century - if the 72-year-old can face the strain. There is still a year left in Kuroda''s current five-year stint, and the selection process won''t begin in earnest until the latter half of this year, but some of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe''s closest aides and senior financial officials say reappointment is a real possibility. Kuroda''s central policy has been a huge monetary stimulus programme to break the decades-long deflationary blight on Japan''s economy, but he remains well short of achieving his primary task of getting inflation up to 2 percent. There have, however, been no crises during a period of relentless external headwinds, and Abe has been reassured by the unflappable Kuroda''s steady hand on the tiller. "Kuroda is doing a very good job. I think Abe trusts him," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. Abe told parliament in January the next BOJ head should be someone who carries on the ultra-easy policy bias of Kuroda. In another parliament appearance in February, he praised Kuroda''s policies for boosting jobs and growth. With economic recovery gathering momentum, the priority for the government would be maintaining the status quo, says Izuru Kato, chief economist at Totan Research. "The administration is happy with how the BOJ''s huge bond buying is keeping government borrowing costs very low," he said. "Even if it''s not Kuroda, it will be someone who won''t head toward an exit from the current massive stimulus programme." Government officials say Abe does not fret too much about missing the inflation target, and values Kuroda for capping unwelcome spikes in the yen with aggressive monetary bursts. They also point to Kuroda''s respected overseas profile, built as Japan''s top currency diplomat and head of the Asian Development Bank. "It''s hard to think of anyone else who can do the job in such difficult times," a second government official said, a view echoed by two other sources familiar with Abe''s thinking. TOUGH JOB Though there is no bar to reappointment, the last BOJ governor to hold the job for more than five years was Masamichi Yamagiwa, who served for eight years to 1964. Those who know Kuroda say he is energetic and fit, but he has made no comment on his willingness to retain one of the country''s most punishing high-profile posts into his late seventies. "It''s an extremely tough job physically and mentally. I''m not sure whether anyone could do 10 years of it," said a former senior central bank official. Aside from the BOJ''s policy-setting meetings eight times a year, Kuroda chairs twice-weekly board meetings on non-monetary policy matters, and makes frequent long flights for international summits, such as meetings of G20 leaders or for the Bank for International Settlements. On top of that he appeared 51 times in parliament last year, as lawmakers can summon the governor to speak whenever it is in session. Kuroda''s daunting in-tray might also give him pause. After such a long period of heavy stimulus, analysts say the BOJ has few weapons left in its armoury, and its task of keeping bond yields down could become particularly challenging if U.S. interest rate hikes push up global rates. And the bank will eventually have to find a way to wind down a stimulus programme that for four years has been almost the only significant buyer of government bonds without triggering market chaos. "At some point, the next governor may have to consider how to make the current policy more sustainable," said Kazuo Momma, a former BOJ executive who oversaw monetary policy and is now an economist at private think-tank Mizuho Research Institute. But the government officials say the complexities also make Kuroda the best qualified candidate, while trimming the field of possible contenders. "Whoever becomes next governor would have some extremely tough business to deal with, so frankly no one wants to do it," said a third government official. Alternatives might include current deputy governor Hiroshi Nakaso - an expert on financial markets - or Masayoshi Amamiya, the top bureaucrat overseeing monetary policy. Some sources close to Abe say he could also opt for academics or his associates, such as Nobuchika Mori, head of Japan''s banking regulator, former aide Etsuro Honda or Columbia University professor Takatoshi Ito. "Given it''s a highly political appointment, the chance of a dark horse being chosen can''t be ruled out," said one government source. "But the stakes have become too high for someone with little experience of monetary policy to take the job," he said. "That makes Kuroda''s reappointment an attractive choice for Abe." (Additional reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto and Sumio Ito; Editing by Will Waterman) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-boj-kuroda-idUKKBN177315'|'2017-04-06T07:14:00.000+03:00' '49ad36be9d23043ec9db174c5fec186674876788'|'Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach'|'Deals - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:55pm BST Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach left right FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: An employee of PT Unilever Indonesia shows Pepsodent tooth paste at Foodmart Fresh supermarket in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo 2/2 By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Unilever ( ULVR.L ) ( UNc.AS ) promised a multi-billion euro program of shareholder rewards on Thursday after a corporate rethink sparked by a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ), aiming to prove it can generate lucrative returns as an independent company. Under a restructuring sparked by the rebuffed $143 billion offer by its U.S. rival, the maker of Dove soap and Knorr soup set out an accelerated cost-saving plan, the sale of its Flora to Stork spreads business where sales are declining, and a review of its dual-headed Anglo-Dutch structure. Unilever will also splash out 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) on a share buyback and raise its dividend 12 percent this year. Unilever, one of Europe''s biggest blue-chip stocks, called the Kraft episode a "trigger moment" to assess its business, as the global packaged goods industry faces slowing growth and greater competition. Some analysts had speculated it would split into two in a dramatic strategy reversal, but executives said the current strategy was working while needing to be speeded up. "We need to accelerate our plans to unlock further value faster, and this was brought home to us by the events of February," Chief Executive Paul Polman said. "There is no doubt that however ... opportunistic it (the Kraft approach) was, it did raise expectations," Polman said. "We are absolutely determined to use it as an opportunity to place Unilever on an even stronger footing." Unilever executives said their strategy of long-term steady growth had found support in talks they had held with investors including all of the group''s top 50 shareholders. STRONG POSITION GAM fund manager Ali Miremadi, who manages two worldwide equity funds that are 2.5 percent invested in Unilever shares, said the announcement was in line with expectations. "They''re not stretching here, and nor should they. They''re in a very strong position and this is hopefully a sign they''re going to be a bit leaner and more shareholder-focused," Miremadi said, adding Unilever should be able to deliver the premium Kraft was offering or more over the next four or five years. Unilever''s London-listed shares, which hit a record 4,088 pence in recent weeks ahead of Thursday''s announcement, were up 1.3 percent at 3,989p by 1036 GMT, outperforming the FTSE 100 .FTSE which was down 0.4 percent. The group said it would speed up a cost-savings plan, targeting a 20 percent underlying operating margin, before restructuring expenses, by 2020, up from 16.4 percent on the same basis in 2016. The company previously forecast 4 billion euros of savings from 2017 to 2019 and has raised that to 6 billion. That includes doubling the savings target within brand and marketing investments to 2 billion euros and increasing supply chain savings from 3 billion euros to 4 billion. About two thirds of these savings are to be reinvested in the business. It also sees 3.5 billion of restructuring costs over the three years. Pitkethly told Reuters that much of the margin improvement would come from the food business, which it plans to combine with the refreshment business, which includes Ben & Jerry''s ice cream and Lipton tea. SHARE BUYBACK Unilever also said it would take on more debt, at least in part to finance acquisitions, targeting net debt of two times core earnings or EBITDA. Its leverage ratio has been below one time for more than half of the past 20 years, Jefferies analysts have said. "Some had speculated Unilever could go to three times to free up even more cash, but it’s remaining fairly conservative," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital in London. "The move ought to deter speculative bids such as that of Kraft Heinz. Unilever was vulnerable to a takeover exactly because it’s been so free of debt." Polman also signaled the company might be interested in the food brands being sold by Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ), saying it would have to decide what position to take. The group will launch a share buyback this year of 5 billion euros having not had a buyback program in place since 2008. Pitkethly said Unilever would consider combining its dual-headed structure - in Britain and the Netherlands - into one, in order to make future large-scale transactions easier. It said a review on the matter would be finished by the end of the year and would not be impacted by Brexit. ”The recent review has shown us that it can add complexity to structural portfolio change,” Pitkethly said. Regarding the margarine and spreads business, one of its founding businesses, Pitkethly said it was already seeing a lot of interest, particularly from financial players such as private equity firms. The company stood by its 2017 sales target of growth of between 3 and 5 percent, supported by brand and marketing investment of about 30 billion euros over the period to 2020. It said its margin would grow by at least 80 basis points this year. (Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Holmes) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-review-idUKKBN1780TV'|'2017-04-06T20:34:00.000+03:00' '01c7b457c0ba7581d3b05ef92eccd1eb7229584a'|'UPDATE 1-German billionaire readies sale of skin patch maker LTS - sources'|'* Billionaire Hopp preparing sale of LTS Lohmann -sources* Investment firm approaching prospective buyers -sources* LTS was valued at 1.2 bln euros in 2014 deal (Adds details on LTS''s business, rivals, potential buyers, owners'' previous attempt to sell)By Arno Schuetze, Ludwig Burger and Carl O''DonnellFRANKFURT/NEW YORK, April 6 German billionaire Dietmar Hopp is preparing to sell medical skin patch maker LTS Lohmann as part of a shake-up of his investment portfolio, three people close to the matter said.Hopp''s investment firm Dievini has begun approaching potential buyers to gauge their interest in LTS which employs 1,300 staff and generates more than 300 million euros in annual sales from nicotine and other medical patches to treat conditions such as Parkinson''s and restless legs syndrome.The co-founder of software group SAP shared ownership of LTS with Switzerland''s Novartis and German investment firm BWK until 2014 when he bought them out in a deal valuing it at 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), after failing to find a third-party buyer for the business.Dievini was not immediately available for comment.LTS competes with groups such as Beiersdorf''s Tesa Labtec unit, U.S. conglomerate 3M, Luye Pharma Group and unlisted AMW GmbH, and Hopp is expected to try to whet these groups'' appetites, the sources said.In 2014, German chemicals group Evonik was in exclusive talks to buy LTS, but it pulled out at the eleventh hour after a disagreement on price.Hopp, one of Germany''s largest investors in biotech firms, is seen as unlikely to be able to rekindle interest from Evonik, which has in the meantime focused more on acquisitions in speciality chemicals.Private equity groups have started seeking advice from external legal and financial consultants on a possible bid for LTS Lohmann, people close to the matter said.In 2014, Wendel of France and Sweden''s Nordic Capital had bid for LTS. It was not clear whether one of these groups will come back with a new offer, the sources added.Hopp had at the time hoped to sell LTS Lohmann at a valuation of 15 times its expected earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about 90 million. LTS earnings figures for 2016 are not available. ($1 = 0.9384 euros) (Editing by Maria Sheahan and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lts-lohmann-sale-idINL5N1HE4BU'|'2017-04-06T12:22:00.000+03:00' 'cf044de39d7df0e1ef750689730b922ad28bf0b0'|'Greece, lenders achieved results, but no full deal Friday - Eurogroup head'|' 8:23am BST Greece, lenders achieved results, but no full deal on Friday: Eurogroup head Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem attends a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal VALLETTA Greece and its lenders have achieved results in talks on reforms necessary to unlock new loans but there will be no final deal on Friday, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. "We have achieved results," Dijsselbloem told reporters on entering a meeting of the ministers devoted to Greece, adding however that "there will be no total political deal today". Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments but to get money it has to pass regular reviews of reforms it agreed to in return for the financing. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-dijsselbloem-idUKKBN1790VX'|'2017-04-07T15:28:00.000+03:00' '188564a8d86cd8e1d94740826ef48c0152b36ed0'|'Telenor takes further step towards Veon exit'|'OSLO, April 7 Norway''s Telenor has sold a four-percent stake in Amsterdam-based mobile network operator Veon for $259 million as part of an ongoing campaign to cut all ownership ties to the firm formerly known as Vimpelcom.After years of conflict between Telenor and Veon''s biggest owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, Telenor decided in September 2015 to sell all shares in the firm.In the transaction lead by Citigroup and Morgan Stanley on Friday, Telenor sold 70 million Veon shares at a price of $3.75 each."This is another step in the process to sell our Veon shares," a Telenor spokesman told Reuters.Following the sale, Telenor owns 346.7 million Veon shares, equal to 19.7 percent, including shares tied to an exchangeable bond which commits Telenor to deliver Veon shares worth $1 billion when it falls due in 2019.Telenor''s remaining 346.8 million Veon shares are currently worth around $1.3 billion, and if the value drops below $1 billion when the bond expires it must pay the remaining amount in cash.Telenor now faces a 60-day lockup period but would be free to sell more Veon shares after that, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, editing by Terje Solsvik)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/veon-telenor-idINL5N1HF042'|'2017-04-07T06:58:00.000+03:00' '433c646f12e2d6842f8d0bcbec82d9d742ad2a96'|'RPT-INSIGHT-US South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival'|' 00am EDT RPT-INSIGHT-US South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival (Repeats for wider distribution) By Howard Schneider MOBILE, Ala., April 7 In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, this southern U.S. port city has attracted a new Airbus factory, seen its steel industry retool, and gained thousands of jobs building the Navy''s new combat vessel. Some 300 miles north in Huntsville, new businesses sprout in farm fields drawn by readily available land, low taxes, flexible labor rules and improving infrastructure. As President Trump faces pressure to deliver on his promise to revive manufacturing in the northern "rust belt" states that put him in the White House, his biggest challenge may not be Mexico or China, but the southern U.S. states that form the other pillar of his political base. States like Alabama have built a presence in the global supply chain in direct competition with the country''s Midwestern industrial heartland, and even if Trump coaxes jobs back to the United States they may well head south rather than north. Whether the "rust belt''s" expectations are met will be central to 2018 U.S. mid-term elections and likely frame the presidential race in 2020. The southern states are reliably Republican, but the party''s ability to repeat its success in Midwestern swing states, such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, may hinge on whether the Trump administration delivers on its economic promises. For a decade now, nine southern states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas - together have accounted for a larger share of the U.S. economy than nine northern states that defined America as the 20th century''s industrial superpower, according to a Reuters analysis of federal data. The analysis compared gross domestic product, population and other factors among northern and Midwestern states that played a key role in Trump''s victory or are typically considered part of the industrial heartland, with those in the south and along the Gulf Coast that have become an emerging destination for auto and other investment. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2nHSda5 ) Florida, a state whose population has boomed under an influx of retirees, many of them from the north, was excluded. FREE LAND AND DEGREES Economists and industrial site consultants say the reasons behind the trend have moved beyond lower wages and lower levels of unionization. Per capita income in the south has now almost caught up with that in the Midwest, and its skilled workforce continues to grow as college graduates move in. "Labor? Perceived advantages. Taxes? Some of these are fairly low (tax) states. Real estate? For big projects that are going to employ three, four, five thousand people, you can find free land - zero cost land," said Darin Buelow, an industrial site specialist with Deloitte Consulting. In the south, business executives and development officials interviewed by Reuters were less likely to call for new tariffs and trade deals than to worry about how any new regime may disrupt a system they have learned to work with. David Fernandes, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, said that of the roughly 700,000 engines the factory made last year, half went to Mexico and Canada. The facility also makes engines for cars assembled at a Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. "Anything that hinders the opportunity to provide product to a customer is what is concerning," he said. Plants in Kentucky and Indiana gave Toyota a U.S. foothold in the 1980s and 1990s, but in this century the Japanese carmaker turned to Alabama, Texas and Mississippi for expansion. Located on former cotton fields, the company''s Huntsville, Alabama, plant now employs more than 1,400 people and churns out about 3,000 engines a day. Gunmaker Remington Outdoor came to Huntsville lured by $110 million in tax and other concessions. Its factory here is expected to eventually employ 2,000, and it has already begun shifting employees from elsewhere, including 100 from the town in upstate New York where the company was founded two centuries ago. Jeremy Littlejohn moved his cloud computing start-up RISC Networks from Chicago to Asheville, NC, in 2012 for the less hectic pace, but has found the location a selling point as he grew from 6 to 33 employees. Many of those new workers came from out of state, contributing to North Carolina''s net annual influx of about 46,000 college degree holders. That migration of educated workers is the norm among the southern states. The rust belt by contrast saw a net outflow of more than 400,000 residents with college degrees between 2007 and 2014. The customers are heading south too. From 1990 to 2015, population in the nine southern and gulf states grew 43 percent, to more than 76 million, and passed that of the rust belt states in the late 1990s. Population in the rust belt grew 13 percent, to 63 million, over the same period. When the Minnesota-based Polaris Industries Inc. began planning a new facility for its line of outdoor vehicles, "there was no Minnesota play," said Eric Blackwell, director of operations at the company''s new factory outside Huntsville. The market for Polaris'' machines, popular for farm work, hunting and sport riding, was growing in the south. Open land was available, and Alabama had programs to help recruit and train a workforce expected to rise to 1,500. FROM LAGGARD TO A RISING TIDE Globalization hit both the north and the south hard. Between 2000 and 2010 each lost about a third of their manufacturing jobs. But employment rebounded faster and more broadly in the south. Between 2000 and 2015, combined private sector employment in nine southern and gulf coast states still grew 13.5 percent. In the nine northern states total private sector jobs as of 2015 remained 1.3 percent below their 2000 level, according to federal data. The transition dates back to the 1980s, when German and Japanese automakers began investing in what has become a sprawling, regional industry. Supplier networks followed, creating even stiffer competition in an industry already changing due to passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the growth of automaking in Mexico. New industries, such as aerospace, followed. Boeing opened a new factory in Charleston, South Carolina, while decades of federal spending on space and defense programs created a pool of engineers in Alabama. A surge in energy and locally important industries like wood products added to the employment gains. Judith Adams, vice president at the Alabama State Port Authority, speeds visitors through warehouses of wood fiber products, steel ingots and other goods ready to ship abroad. The port is spending $47 million to boost its capacity to 500,000 containers a year from 300,000. The longer-term the goal is to triple that to 1.5 million. "The vessel sizes are getting bigger. The market is getting bigger. The cargo is here," Adams said. When European aircraft maker Airbus scouted sites for its $600 million North American plant more than a decade ago it settled on a former Air Force base in Mobile. As it ramps up production, local officials say 20 suppliers have already arrived in Airbus'' wake, with firms like Ireland''s Maas Aviation looking to put 150 people to work painting planes. "We looked at transportation costs, labor costs, productivity, and it made sense," said Allan McArtor, chief executive of Airbus Group Inc. "We will be building single aisle airplanes (in Mobile) for a long, long time." (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Cleveland; Editing by David Chance and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-south-idUSL2N1HE1SS'|'2017-04-07T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'cd3ba188d89c1fc464af27480807eff74f0091cd'|'BMO Financial Group promotes COO White to CEO role'|' 11:00am EDT BMO Financial Group promotes COO White to CEO role By Matt Scuffham Bank of Montreal ( BMO.TO ), Canada''s fourth-biggest lender, said on Friday its Chief Operating Officer Darryl White will step up to be chief executive in November, succeeding Bill Downe who will retire. Downe, 65, has served a decade in the role since his appointment in March 2007. White has worked at the bank for more than 20 years, and was appointed chief operating officer last November. "This planned succession will provide continuity for our bank as we focus on the strategic priorities that have been set," Chairman Robert Prichard said in a statement. Downe, who has held his position for longer than any other chief executive of a major Canadian bank, will stay in his role until the end of October, with White taking the reins on Nov. 1, the start of BMO''s financial year. White has spent the majority of his career in investment banking roles and ran the bank''s capital markets business between 2014 and 2016. He has also played a key role developing the bank''s business in the United States, which is seen by analysts as a key driver of future growth. "His promotion breaks the trend of Canadian banks’ boards shying away from capital markets backgrounds for the corner office," said Barclays analyst John Aiken. "While we wait to hear how White plans on moving BMO forward, we do not anticipate any material changes in strategy in the near term." In a statement, Downe welcomed White''s appointment. "Darryl possesses a deep understanding of the financial industry. His command of the bank''s fundamental performance drivers and what constitutes opportunity for the organization is distinctive," he said. BMO performed strongly in the first quarter, with profit well exceeding market expectations. (This version of the story corrects paragraph 2 to say outgoing CEO''s age is 65, not 64) (Reporting by Matt Scuffham in Toronto Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bmo-ceo-idUSKBN1791V9'|'2017-04-07T23:00:00.000+03:00' '0808745ebcc3e65a236a646da8c00083c5264834'|'Galenica Sante raises $1.9 billion in Europe''s biggest IPO this year'|'ZURICH Galenica Sante''s ( GALE.S ) shares rose more than 10 percent in their stock market debut on Friday, after the largest Swiss pharmacy retailer raised 1.9 billion Swiss francs ($1.9 billion) in Europe''s biggest flotation so far this year.The sale of the shares, offered at 39 francs per share, had been several times oversubscribed, the company said. Reuters reported on Wednesday the price had been set at the top end of the indicated range.Galenica Sante, a pharmacy and logistics business with 3 billion francs in annual sales, was created along with drugmaker Vifor Pharma ( VIFN.S ) by a split of healthcare group Galenica. Vifor shares eased 0.3 percent in early trade.Proceeds of the IPO, Europe''s biggest so far in 2017 and about double the value of Spanish car parts maker Gestamp ( GEST.MC ), will help cut debt from Vifor''s $1.53 billion acquisition of U.S.-based Relypsa in 2016.Galenica Sante, which owns or has ties to 500 Swiss pharmacy retailers, plans to pay between 75 and 80 million francs in dividends in 2018 and aims at annual payouts exceeding 65 percent of net profit thereafter, giving what analysts called an attractive yield."Investors should focus on the high dividend yield of about 4 percent, low forex exposure and stable earnings growth," wrote Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Maja Pataki in a note.HIGH PRICESThe investor appeal of Sante, whose flotation is Switzerland''s largest since Sunrise Communications'' ( SRCG.S ) in 2015, also benefits from some government protections for its store-front business model and high Swiss drug prices.Generic drugs in Switzerland cost 53 percent more and patent-protected drugs 14 percent more on average than elsewhere in Europe, according to Swiss insurance industry group santesuisse and drug industry group Interpharma.Margins on drugs at Swiss pharmacies are also higher than abroad, santesuisse added, saddling Swiss consumers with more than 450 million francs in extra costs annually and prompting consumer advocates to demand changes.Galenica Sante said such comparisons ignore Switzerland''s high-cost environment, where prices for rent and support services are higher than in Europe.Galenica Sante Chairman Joerg Kneubuehler has highlighted Sante''s sector-beating 4.5 percent operating profit margin.Kneubuehler plans to buy more Swiss pharmacies but none further afield. "We don''t want to water down our profitability with adventures abroad," he said last month.Switzerland''s prohibition on online sales of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines shields Galenica Sante''s retail outlets, operating under names including Amavita and Sun, against internet competition from rivals including zur Rose Group [ZUROS.UL].Should the Swiss eventually allow online OTC sales, Sante could quickly adapt, Kneubuehler has said.Citigroup, Credit Suisse and UBS were joint global coordinators and bookrunners to the issue. Deutsche Bank was also a joint bookrunner, with Baader Bank, Bank am Bellevue, Bank Vontobel and Zuercher Kantonalbank named as co-lead managers.($1 = 1.0040 Swiss francs)(Editing by Michael Shields/David Holmes/Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-galenica-sante-ipo-idUSKBN1791JE'|'2017-04-07T15:14:00.000+03:00' '6c51eb2059e2ef0b74f3553874041085de37af9d'|'Malta wants EU to slow down drive against tax avoidance'|'Company News 36am EDT Malta wants EU to slow down drive against tax avoidance * EU presidency calls for slower corporate tax reform * Document says reforms under way could damage EU economy * Tax transparency could increase disputes - Malta * EU''s Moscovici insists that pace of reforms must be rapid By Francesco Guarascio and Jan Strupczewski VALLETTA, April 7 Malta''s presidency of the European Union said on Friday the bloc should slow down its drive against corporate tax avoidance because it might hurt Europe''s economy by increasing legal uncertainty. Following recent revelations, such as the Panama Papers, of tax evasion and reduction by big corporations and wealthy individuals, the European Commission has made several legislative proposals to close legal loopholes but some of the most ambitious plans have yet to be approved by EU states. In a paper to be discussed by EU finance ministers in Valletta on Friday and Saturday, Malta, which holds the rotating EU chair until July, said the proposed reforms would increase uncertainty, harming international investment and trade. Malta and other smaller EU states with low tax regimes have repeatedly showed caution in the push for reform, fearing multinationals headquartered in their territory may leave. The paper, seen by Reuters, said, "a certain amount of time is needed in order to properly formulate, assimilate and apply such legislation". It also argued that the EU should align the pace of its reforms to changes at international level to avoid losing competitiveness. Moves at global level are notoriously slow on tax matters. But the EU commissioner for tax policies, Pierre Moscovici, told Reuters that reforms should continue at a "rapid pace". "EU citizens can no longer accept that multinationals don''t pay taxes or pay less than they should," he said. The Commission is also trying to tackle tax avoidance by increasing tax transparency, which Malta said could lead to more tax disputes and increase legal uncertainty. Moscovici countered that. "Legal certainty will come from common rules across the EU to tackle frauds," he said, noting that "this should not be used as a political alibi to stop our reforms". In the paper, Malta also called for an "enhanced" use of regulated tax rulings, which allow large companies to settle their tax bills in advance, a practice used by several multinationals to obtain sweetheart concessions in EU countries. Among companies already sanctioned for such deals, the Commission has asked Apple to pay $14 billion to Ireland for tax skipped thanks to a generous deal with Dublin. Amazon.com and McDonald''s also face Commission investigation over taxes in Luxembourg, while Starbucks Corp has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) in back-taxes to the Dutch state. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-taxavoidance-malta-idUSL8N1HF3KC'|'2017-04-07T21:36:00.000+03:00' 'fd7bb5f936592923a388bf0700f68698a50fa7a2'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil court suspends Belo Monte dam operating license over sanitation'|' 11:50am EDT UPDATE 1-Brazil court suspends Belo Monte dam operating license over sanitation (Adds Norte Energia comment, context) SAO PAULO, April 7 A federal court in Brazil suspended the operating license of the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric dam on environmental grounds, according to a statement late on Thursday from federal prosecutors in the state of Pará. The dam''s operating consortium Norte Energia SA, led by state-controlled energy group Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA , or Eletrobras, must complete basic sanitation works in the city of Altamira before filling the dam''s reservoir, the prosecutors said. The sanitation work was a condition for Brazil environmental agency Ibama licensing the 11,233-megawatt Belo Monte dam, which has drawn controversy for its impact on the native communities along a tributary of the Amazon river. Norte Energia SA said it has yet to be informed of the court''s ruling. Budgeted at 30 billion reais ($9.6 billion), Belo Monte will be one of the largest hydropower plants in the world when construction is completed in 2019. Ten out of Belo Monte''s 24 turbines are already operating. ($1 = 3.1286 reais) (Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-energy-idUSL1N1HF0RC'|'2017-04-07T23:50:00.000+03:00' '7f2f3c1b4a01e4a82afb1611c578d297832a3cbb'|'UPDATE 1-Udacity self-driving taxi spin-off Voyage takes aim at Uber'|' 30pm EDT UPDATE 1-Udacity self-driving taxi spin-off Voyage takes aim at Uber (Adds details from Udacity statement) FRANKFURT, April 6 Silicon Valley online education start-up Udacity is spinning off a company that will develop self-driving taxis, taking aim at the likes of Uber Technologies Inc, the company said on Thursday. Udacity was co-founded by Sebastian Thrun, who was also the co-founder of the Google X research lab that led development of Google''s self-driving car. The new company, dubbed Voyage Auto, will not build its own cars but retrofit existing vehicles. "I''m starting a new thing with great friends called Voyage Auto," Chief Executive Oliver Cameron said on his LinkedIn page. "We’re deploying autonomous taxis to real users very, very soon." Cameron is a former VP engineering and product at Udacity. He said on his LinkedIn page that "Voyage is building an extremely cheap and safe autonomous taxi service". Voyage will operate independently from Udacity, which will hold an undisclosed stake in the company. Udacity is worth more than $1 billion. It is betting that its focus on vocational courses for professionals, as well as its work for global companies such as Google, will help it to stand out in the fast-growing online education industry. Udacity has an education program for developers of self-driving cars. It has been followed by more than 6,600 students worldwide, the company said in a statement. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Nvidia and Delphi are among the companies that have hired students from the program. The LinkedIn page of Voyage Auto showed it had 4 employees. Business Insider reported first about Voyage Auto. It said Voyage would not be using any of the technology built by Udacity''s students, citing Chief Marketing Officer Shernaz Daver. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uber-tech-voyage-idUSL5N1HE65O'|'2017-04-07T04:30:00.000+03:00' 'f22f0e630904cfa140269d0e46e5e9b54c7aafac'|'Airbus reports pickup in orders for current A320 amid delays'|'Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 6:53pm BST Airbus reports pickup in orders for current A320 amid delays The logo of Airbus is pictured at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe PARIS Airbus ( AIR.PA ) took 20 new jet orders in March to end the first quarter well behind rival Boeing ( BA.N ) as delays in deliveries of the A320neo shifted the spotlight back to an earlier model. The France-based company ended the quarter with 26 orders, but the net total for the year shrank to six after allowing for cancellations and conversions between different models. Boeing earlier posted 226 jetliner orders for the same quarter, though these were boosted by a batch of 11 orders for airframes for its P-8 military surveillance jet project. After cancellations, Boeing posted 198 net orders including the P-8s for Australia, Britain, India and the United States but most of the remaining orders were from airlines that have to be identified. Airbus took 18 orders for its popular A320 single-aisle jet, despite it nearing the end of its production as Airbus switches to the upgraded A320neo, whose deliveries have been delayed by problems at one engine supplier, Pratt & Whitney ( UTX.N ). The order tally for A320neo aircraft fell by 8 units in March: hardly enough to dent a backlog of over 3,500 orders but enough to highlight the unexpected extra availability of current-generation A320s as Airbus keeps assembly lines flowing. Chinese lessor CALC and U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines are among customers seizing the chance to pick up extra A320s powered by an earlier generation of engines at what some industry sources describe as "opportunistic" prices. For the second month in a row, Airbus delivered 12 A320neos in March to bring the total for the year to 26, but deliveries remain behind schedule due mainly to technical and production problems with engines from Pratt, one of two suppliers. Airbus aims to deliver about 200 A320neos this year. Airbus delivered 13 A350s and 3 A380s in the first quarter. It delivered a total of 136 jets compared with Boeing''s total of 169. Boeing overtook its European rival as the world''s largest jetliner producer in 2012 and analysts say it is expected to retain the title through the rest of the decade, while the prize for most orders is hotly contested each year. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-orders-idUKKBN1782FU'|'2017-04-07T01:53:00.000+03:00' '68e6910e9caa283241a057bdc542353268795696'|'A world of pain: Makers and distributors of opioid painkillers are under scrutiny'|'BETWEEN 1999 and 2014 sales of prescription opioid drugs almost quadrupled in America, an increase that came not simply in response to patient suffering but because more of the population are addicted to these powerful drugs. Such is the demand for them, Americans now consume four-fifths of the global supply.Growth on this scale has been profitable for some: OxyContin, a popular opioid made by Purdue Pharma, a drug company in Stamford, Connecticut, has made its manufacturer tens of billions of dollars (see chart). But more broadly it has spelled tragedy. Deaths from opioid use in America quadrupled over the same period. About 90 people die every day, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. 20 3 That dissonance between corporate success and private pain has become a matter of public interest. On March 28th Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Missouri, said that she would investigate the role that pharma firms played in creating the opioid crisis. Through a committee that oversees issues of homeland security and government affairs, she has written to five makers of prescription painkillers—Purdue Pharma, Depomed, Janssen/Johnson & Johnson, Insys Therapeutics and Mylan. She is demanding internal corporate documents stretching back over five years.Ms McCaskill wants to know exactly how firms marketed their drugs and what they knew about the risks of addiction and abuse. In particular, she wants to find out if companies used calculated sales-and-marketing strategies that involved encouraging doctors to prescribe opioids for a wider category of causes of pain than they would otherwise have done and downplaying the risk of addiction.This is not the first time such questions have been raised. In a case in 2007, the parent company of Purdue Pharma and three current and former executives there pleaded guilty to criminal charges that they misled regulators, doctors and patients about OxyContin’s risk of addiction and potential for abuse. Purdue promoted the drug, which is long-acting, as posing a lower risk of abuse and addiction than shorter-acting painkillers—such as Percocet and Vicodin. The firm admitted it had made statements about its drug that were “inconsistent” with approved prescribing information. In other words, the firm had incorrectly told doctors that OxyContin was less prone to abuse than other opioid medicines. The firm agreed to pay $600m and the three executives paid $34.5m in fines.Ms McCaskill’s inquiry is not the only one drug firms face. The Department of Justice (DoJ) has alleged that kickbacks were offered to encourage drug prescriptions and also that, as a result, health insurers were defrauded. In December the DoJ arrested former senior staff at Insys Therapeutics on charges that they led a conspiracy to bribe doctors to unnecessarily prescribe patients a pain medication based on fentanyl (an opioid that is up to 50 times as powerful as heroin), defrauding the insurers who had to cover the drug’s cost. The Drug Enforcement Administration has also taken action against firms for failing to control the “diversion” of prescription drugs to illicit uses. Earlier this year McKesson, a San Francisco-based pharma distributor, agreed to pay $150m for failing to report suspiciously large orders of drugs.Increasingly, too, counties and cities are filing lawsuits against manufacturers for their role in the opioid epidemic. There may be further legal action against the firms that distribute opioid medicines, acting as intermediaries between pharma firms and pharmacies. Some have been named in lawsuits.Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, says that pharma companies are not the only ones to blame for the opioid crisis. She points to well-meaning efforts to implement procedures to make sure that pain was not under-treated in hospitals. Direct-to-consumer advertising of opioids may also have encouraged overuse. Only America and New Zealand allow pharma firms to advertise drugs directly to patients.The scrutiny on the industry is nonetheless intensifying. The number of opioid prescriptions being given is no longer rising, and may be falling. The same cannot be said for drugs firms’ legal woes. Business "A world of pain"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720336-how-pharma-may-have-contributed-americas-opioid-crisis-makers-and-distributors-opioid?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '488fcc4145b570dcf86e3acb799c441deba0e0be'|'Sovereign fund to invest in new Saudi entertainment city - Reuters'|'RIYADH, April 8 Saudi Arabia announced plans on Saturday to build a 334 sq km "entertainment city" south of the capital Riyadh, to feature sports, cultural and recreational facilities including a safari and a Six Flags theme park.The kingdom''s Public Investment Fund will be the main investor in the project, which will break ground in 2018 and open in 2022, according to a statement by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman carried by state news agency SPA.Other local and international investors will also provide capital, the statement said, without elaborating on the size of the investment."This city will become, by God''s will, a prominent cultural landmark and an important centre for meeting the future generation''s recreational, cultural and social needs in the kingdom," said Prince Mohammed in a statement.U.S.-based Six Flags announced in June that it had begun talks with the Saudi government to build theme parks as part of Saudi Arabia''s Vision 2030 efforts to expand its entertainment sector and diversify the economy.Chief Executive Jim Reid-Anderson said later in the year that the company aimed to build three parks in Saudi Arabia, with each costing between $300 million and $500 million.The Vision 2030 reform programme contains plans to shed the kingdom''s austere reputation, wean the economy off oil and create jobs for young Saudis.But developing a leisure sector is fraught with difficulties in the Islamic kingdom, which adheres to a strict social code where women are required to wear loose-fitting robes, cinemas and alcohol are banned and public spaces are gender-segregated.(Reporting by Katie Paul; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/saudi-entertainment-six-flags-entmt-idINL8N1HG04I'|'2017-04-08T05:22:00.000+03:00' 'f3f595adcde12cc9bf3ec5b676d4500111dd2d36'|'Porsche-Piech clan to stay out of VW management - Porsche chairman'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 11:32am BST Porsche-Piech clan to stay out of VW management - Porsche chairman Wolfgang Porsche addresses a news conference at the company''s headquarters in Wolfburg, Germany October 7, 2015. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt FRANKFURT Members of the Porsche-Piech clan that controls Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) will no longer be eligible to serve as executives of the carmaker, Porsche Automobil Holding SE ( PSHG_p.DE ) Chairman Wolfgang Porsche told a German newspaper. "That no family member is active in the operating business must apply to Porsche SE and the whole Volkswagen group," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted him as saying in an interview published on Saturday. His comments come after Ferdinand Piech, a member of the clan sold the bulk of his stake in Porsche SE, which owns 52.2 percent of the voting shares in VW, to his younger brother Hans Michel Piech. Piech once had aspirations to lead carmaker Porsche, but his hopes were dashed in the 1970s because the clan did not want a family member at the helm. He went on to hold senior positions at Audi and Mercedes-Benz before rising to chief executive of VW, before it was controlled by the Porsche-Piech families, and eventually supervisory board chairman. Ferdinand Piech''s exit from VW marked an end to the influence of a towering figure in the auto industry who has had a rocky relationship with the company since he was ousted as chairman in 2015, months before the company was engulfed in the diesel emissions test cheating scandal. Hans Michel Piech told Frankfurter Allgemeine that the secret of Porsche''s success was that it brought in outsiders as managers rather than appointing family members. "As a supervisory board member you cannot easily tell a family member what to do. You can talk to a hired manager in a completely different manner," he said. He declined to tell Frankfurter Allgemeine how much he paid for his brother''s stake, which had a market value of about 1 billion euros (0.85 billion pounds). Asked who would fill Ferdinand Piech''s seat on VW''s supervisory board, he said: "I still have to think about who will get that position." Both Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piech are also members of VW''s supervisory board. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Holmes and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-piech-porsche-hldg-idUKKBN17A0BW'|'2017-04-08T18:32:00.000+03:00' '9e0f1587ef95a28c78be4ff9571183cb64b4ff50'|'The female factor: Bill O’Reilly faces allegations of sexual harassment'|'EVEN for Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, no strangers to controversy, the allegations against Bill O’Reilly present an extreme test. On April 1st the New York Times published an investigative report that described accusations of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behaviour from at least seven women against the presenter. He and the network, the paper said, have paid about $13m to five women since 2002 to settle cases where they alleged such behaviour. Mr O’Reilly denied the merits of the claims.The news came less than nine months after Roger Ailes, the network’s founding boss, stepped down following multiple sexual-harassment claims against him. This week around 50 advertisers left Mr O’Reilly’s programme, “The O’Reilly Factor”, among them several car brands, including Mercedes-Benz and Toyota’s Lexus, as well as GlaxoSmithKline, a drugs company. The National Organisation for Women has called for him to be fired. 20 3 All eyes are on Mr Murdoch, who has been running Fox News himself since he pushed out his friend, Mr Ailes. Mr O’Reilly has probably been just as valuable to him. Long the most-watched presenter in cable news, his audience has surged higher still since the election of Donald Trump. His show is averaging 4m viewers a night this year (see chart), helping make Fox News the most-watched cable channel in America. Mr Trump this week spoke out in Mr O’Reilly’s defence.An advertiser revolt will hurt, but on its own it is unlikely to make Mr O’Reilly’s ouster inevitable. Buyers place ads across multiple programmes on a network; many ads will shift to other Fox News shows. Nor is advertising the biggest source of Fox News revenue. SNL Kagan, a research firm, estimates that Fox News will collect more than $900m in advertising revenue this year, but close to double that—$1.7bn—from fees paid by cable and satellite providers to carry the channel to 89m homes. An initial statement from 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News, was supportive of Mr O’Reilly. The network recently renewed his contract. In a statement, Mr O’Reilly also stated that he is a vulnerable target of lawsuits seeking to harm him and Fox News.Yet the scandal is probing the limits of Mr O’Reilly’s worth. One executive with a big ad-buying agency in New York was at first sceptical of the impact of the scandal when there was no initial concern from clients, but noted a herd effect developing later to leave the programme (though not the network). Whether Mr Murdoch buckles under the pressure may also depend on his potential replacements for Mr O’Reilly. He has already replaced another departing star, Megyn Kelly (one of Mr Ailes’s accusers, and a target of Mr Trump), with Tucker Carlson, a conservative commentator who is doing very well.Any decision will involve Mr Murdoch’s sons—Lachlan, a co-executive chairman of the parent company with his father, and James, the CEO. They reportedly played a part in ousting Mr Ailes. But they have said nothing publicly this week and their views remain unclear. Much as the scandal is gauging the worth of Mr O’Reilly to Fox, it may also be a test of forces within the Murdoch family. Business "The $13m factor"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720335-around-50-big-advertisers-have-left-oreilly-factor-bill-oreilly-faces-allegations-sexual?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'eeeaa3fe0b4b9ac91d4e09bc18e4f2818440829d'|'BRIEF-International Paper''s CEO Mark Sutton''s 2016 total compensation $13.3 mln'|' 37am EDT BRIEF-International Paper''s CEO Mark Sutton''s 2016 total compensation $13.3 mln April 6 International Paper Co * International Paper Co- CEO Mark S. Sutton''s 2016 total compensation was $13.3 million versus $16.8 million - SEC filing * International Paper Co- CFO Carol L. Roberts''s 2016 total compensation was $4.9 million - SEC filing Source: ( bit.ly/2p4q2mG '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-international-papers-ceo-mark-sutt-idUSFWN1HE07I'|'2017-04-06T18:37:00.000+03:00' '9787463cca1caa787eb516c47f57959d8904b866'|'Henkel to keep looking for acquisitions: CEO'|'DUESSELDORF, Germany German consumer goods group Henkel ( HNKG_p.DE ) will keep looking for acquisitions to bolster its business, its new chief executive said on Thursday."We want to complement our portfolio and strengthen our position in attractive markets via targeted acquisitions," Hans Van Bylen told shareholders at the group''s annual general meeting.Henkel last month made a binding offer to buy Darex Packaging Technologies from GCP Applied Technologies ( GCP.N ) for $1.05 billion (0.84 billion pounds).(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-henkel-kgaa-strategy-idINKBN1780W3'|'2017-04-06T06:39:00.000+03:00' '3320f5a16d015b30ea64d2812a3860506744dba5'|'UPDATE 1-Japan''s Aso says dialogue with Pence not limited to trade and currencies'|'* Japan proposed dialogue with new Trump administration* Some questions remain about agenda* Japan trying to avoid trade friction with U.S. (Adds direct Quote: , details of dialogue)By Stanley WhiteTOKYO, April 7 Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday that the agenda for his meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence this month is not limited to trade and currencies.Aso said the meeting, known as the U.S.-Japan economic dialogue, will also discuss energy and infrastructure.Aso also said he does not expect the meeting to touch on Toshiba Corp, which is struggling due to large writedowns at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse.Pence will visit Japan April 18-19 for the meeting."From the beginning Japan has been talking about economic policy, energy, infrastructure investment, and the rules of trade," Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting."This is not something that is limited to trade and currencies."The dialogue will be a major test of U.S. President Donald Trump''s confrontational approach to trade. Senior administration officials have signalled they would press Japan to remove non-tariff trade barriers and buy more U.S. products.Trump''s administration is also focusing more on "currency misalignment," which could leave Japan vulnerable to complaints about the value of the yen and how that affects its exports.A weaker yen tends to boost Japan''s exports to the United States, which could form the basis of complaints from U.S. officials and companies.Japan, which proposed the dialogue, had hoped to keep contentious issues like autos and agriculture trade out of the talks by proposing an agenda focused on infrastructure investment and energy.When asked on Friday, Aso said he was still unsure if other cabinet officials would accompany Pence.U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is expected to join, a Japanese government source told Reuters last month. This suggests that the U.S. delegation will try to make trade a major component of the dialogue. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-aso-idINL3N1HF060'|'2017-04-06T23:02:00.000+03:00' 'f2fff6365e032946aaa3424791d9b39a6a6f6dc5'|'SEC charges Virginia men with Intel-Mobileye insider trading'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:24pm EDT SEC charges Virginia men with Intel-Mobileye insider trading The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission logo adorns an office door at the SEC headquarters in Washington, June 24, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst By Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK NEW YORK Two Virginia men have been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading in Mobileye NV ( MBLY.N ) before the maker of sensors and cameras for driverless vehicles agreed to a $15.3 billion takeover by Intel Corp ( INTC.O ). The SEC on Thursday said it won a court order freezing assets of Lawrence Cluff and Roger Shaoul, both of Richmond, after they generated more than $925,000 of gains on Mobileye shares and call options purchased in the month-and-a-half before the March 13 merger was announced. News of the transaction caused shares of Mobileye to rise 28.2 percent in one day. The SEC filed civil charges against Cluff and Shaoul nearly two weeks after charging two Israeli residents, Ariel Darvasi and Amir Waldman, with insider trading in Mobileye, and generating more than $4.9 million of gains. It was unclear whether Cluff and Shaoul have hired lawyers. Cluff did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shaoul could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters obtained a filed copy of the complaint, which was not immediately available in online court records. According to the SEC, Cluff''s and Shaoul''s "highly suspicious" trading occurred after the adult children of two Mobileye founders told Shaoul''s adult children, with whom they were friends, about Intel''s interest in Mobileye. The SEC also said both defendants, like Darvasi and Waldman, were connected to Mobileye through the academic community at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which developed Mobileye technology and where Shaoul, an Israeli citizen, had studied. According to the complaint, the suspicious trading occurred in two accounts held in Cluff''s name, including one that had been dormant for six years and one opened on Jan. 29, 2017, around the time formal merger talks began. The second account generated a return in six weeks of about 492 percent on the $188,000 that had been wired in during February, the SEC said. Neither Jerusalem-based Mobileye nor Santa Clara, California-based Intel was accused of wrongdoing. Mobileye and Intel did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case is SEC v Cluff et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-02460. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sec-insidertrading-mobileye-idUSKBN17830M'|'2017-04-07T07:24:00.000+03:00' '89cf1767bbdbaa73b7e1af73814fbe4caffac91d'|'BRIEF-Cogeco communications inc qtrly earnings per share $1.55'|' 30pm EDT BRIEF-Cogeco communications inc qtrly earnings per share $1.55 April 6 Cogeco Communications Inc * Cogeco Communications Inc qtrly revenue increased by $9.4 million, or 1.7%, to reach $560.9 million * Cogeco Communications Inc qtrly earnings per share $1.55 * Q2 earnings per share view c$1.42, revenue view c$554.9 million -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-cogeco-communications-inc-qtrly-ea-idUSFWN1HE0OX'|'2017-04-07T06:30:00.000+03:00' '1e369583380ed57cf231cfadaea5ed3822ba74ca'|'Greece asks investors to improve bids for Thessaloniki port sale'|'ATHENS, April 7 Greece''s privatisation agency (HRADF) asked on Friday for improved financial bids from shortlisted investors seeking to buy a majority stake in its second-largest port.Athens got last month three offers for the sale of a 67 percent stake in Thessaloniki Port, which is required as part of its international bailout.The investors are Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTS), Dubai-based P&O Steam Navigation Company (DP World) and German private equity firm Deutsche Invest Equity Partners which is bidding jointly with France''s Terminal Link SAS. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/greece-privatisations-port-idINA8N1FZ024'|'2017-04-07T12:44:00.000+03:00' '54dcdf0eaf5bdf9d3396b9dfcb707b3234baa34d'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 4'|'April 4 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The TimesApple Inc launched a hiring raid on Imagination Technologies Group Plc in the months before it shocked the City on Monday by announcing that it planned to cut ties with the chip designer. bit.ly/2nVcUm1The groceries code adjudicator has said that she believes Tesco Plc''s proposed 3.7 billion pound ($4.62 billion) takeover of Booker Group Plc could be "positive" for independent shopkeepers and suppliers.The GuardianThe head of the International Monetary Fund has issued a stark warning that living standards will fall around the world unless governments take urgent action to increase productivity by investing in education, cutting red tape and incentivising research and development. bit.ly/2nV2inkLloyds Banking Group Plc is to shrink the size of hundreds of its branches so they have only two staff with tablet computers helping customers. bit.ly/2nUZdDKThe TelegraphA potential bidding war could be in prospect after British engineering giant WS Atkins Plc received a 2.1 billion pound bid from Canadian rival SNC-Lavalin Group Inc just two months after it rebuffed overtures from with U.S. rival CH2M Hill. bit.ly/2nVensxAmazon.com Inc has launched a new service to help it enter the business-to-business supply market in UK. The company''s Amazon Business brand, which has already been launched in the United States and Germany, will offer companies a specially curated selection of products online ranging from office stationery supplies to industrial tools. bit.ly/2nV3KpGSky NewsBP Plc has agreed to slash millions of pounds from its chief executive''s maximum pay deal for the next three years in a bid to head off the threat of a fresh shareholder revolt. bit.ly/2nV1yhONew rules governing the credit card market could see customers having their cards suspended while they work to pay off persistent debt. The changes suggested by the Financial Conduct Authority call on firms to take a more proactive approach with struggling customers. bit.ly/2nUXMVKThe IndependentChemicals giant Ineos has been accused of exploiting Brexit to pressure ministers to get rid of environmental legislation. ind.pn/2nUYiTG($1 = 0.8010 pounds) (Compiled by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL3N1HC03J'|'2017-04-03T22:28:00.000+03:00' '621fc0ac58f2cbe84c0a4359a22887eeb83929a1'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso pares losses ahead of intervention'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 1:48pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso pares losses ahead of intervention By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 4 The Mexican peso pared losses on Tuesday after the country''s central bank announced it would intervene in the foreign exchange market in an effort to ease pressure on the currency. The Mexican central bank said it would sell up to $200 million worth of currency hedging instruments to roll over papers set to expire on Wednesday, just ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The bank had originally issued the instruments as a way to stem the peso''s slide following the U.S. election of Trump, who pledged to scrap trade agreements with Mexico. The peso has since rebounded as those concerns eased, with investors betting that he would not impose big tariffs on Mexican exports to the United States. Still, it remained the biggest decliner among Latin American currencies, weakening nearly 1 percent following a 10 percent increase so far this year. Most Latin American currencies slipped ahead of Trump''s meeting with Xi, which Trump has said "will be a very difficult one." He has held out the possibility of using trade as a lever to secure China''s cooperation against North Korea at the Thursday-Friday meeting. Argentina''s benchmark stock index rose 0.7 percent, touching a record high for the sixth straight trading day, after agency S&P raised the country''s sovereign rating by a notch to B from B-. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1715 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 963.58 -0.16 11.93 MSCI LatAm 2,661.99 0.17 13.54 Brazil Bovespa 65,469.14 0.4 8.70 Mexico IPC 49,165.72 0.71 7.72 Chile IPSA 4,801.89 0.22 15.67 Chile IGPA 24,051.51 0.16 16.00 Argentina MerVal 20,713.12 0.73 22.43 Colombia IGBC 10,155.24 -0.18 0.27 Venezuela IBC 45,739.70 3.99 44.27 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1180 -0.16 4.21 Mexico peso 18.8355 -0.87 10.13 Chile peso 660.4 -0.33 1.56 Colombia peso 2,867 -0.06 4.69 Peru sol 3.25 0.00 5.05 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.3550 0.28 3.39 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.88 0.69 5.92 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Diane Craft) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-latam-idUSL2N1HC1GA'|'2017-04-05T01:48:00.000+03:00' 'd8bc433297a13f5d96a5c824560a6c41b538d8da'|'Three-quarters of euro zone payments made in cash - ECB'|'Business 23am BST Three-quarters of euro zone payments made in cash - ECB FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi delivers a speech at the Economic Forum in Brussels, Belgium, June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo FRANKFURT Three-quarters of euro zone payments are made in cash, the President of the European Central Bank said on Tuesday, adding cash remained essential for the economy despite the rise of digital payment. Mario Draghi''s words could assuage some lingering concerns in Germany that the ECB aims to gradually reduce its reliance on cash in favour of other forms of payment. "Even in this digital age, cash remains essential in our economy," Draghi said in a statement on the issue of a new 50 euro banknote. "A soon-to-be-published survey on cash use, carried out on behalf of the ECB, shows that over three-quarters of all payments at points-of-sale in the euro area are made in cash. In terms of transaction values, that’s slightly more than half." The ECB''s decision last year to phase out the 500 euro banknote irked some at Germany''s central bank, who feared people''s freedom to store their savings in cash was being curtailed. The ECB said the move was due to concerns that the high-denomination banknote was used to finance crime and terrorism, although there is no official data about this. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Stephen Powell) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-payment-cash-idUKKBN1760U8'|'2017-04-04T17:23:00.000+03:00' '19e595c503c571cf6697f347d3c7c7c62552d373'|'Petrobras CEO sees debt falling below reduction target by end 2018'|'Company 21am EDT Petrobras CEO sees debt falling below reduction target by end 2018 SAO PAULO, April 4 Brazil''s state-controlled oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA could reduce debt below a projected target of 2.5 times Ebitda by the end of next year, Chief Executive Officer Pedro Parente said on Tuesday. According to Parente, that would be possible if the company maintains the current trend of debt reduction. Petrobras has a debt load of just under $100 billion, amongst the highest in the global oil industry. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Daniel Flynn) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/petrobras-ceo-debt-idUSE6N14J023'|'2017-04-04T21:21:00.000+03:00' 'e38cd9e25bb24f1ee23d18f6a698eafbf9ac36b8'|'U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit'|' 33pm BST U.S. business seeks action, not trade war, in Xi-Trump summit An attendant cleans the carpet next to U.S. and Chinese national flags before a news conference for the 6th round of U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. REUTERS/Jason Lee By Michael Martina and Diane Bartz - BEIJING/WASHINGTON BEIJING/WASHINGTON Although worried about the prospect of a trade war, American businesses operating in China nonetheless want President Donald Trump to wring some concessions on market access from China''s leader Xi Jingping when the two meet this week. Trump warned in a tweet last week the meetings at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday and Friday will be "very difficult" and "American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives." Trump has said he wants U.S. companies to stop investing in China and instead create jobs at home. He has also accused China of manipulating its currency to boost exports. Critics within U.S. industry have accused China of unfair government subsidies to its companies, and of flooding the U.S. market with cheap products from steel to solar panels, while restricting foreign investment over vast swathes of the world''s second-biggest economy. But they also worry Trump''s policies on China are not entirely clear, with his trade team still not in place, and may be subject to a ''grand bargain'' involving other issues such as North Korea. Trump is set to enter the meeting without several key advisors, including his pick for trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer who has yet to be confirmed by Congress. His nominee as ambassador to China, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, has also yet to be confirmed, while several posts in the U.S. State Department that formulate Asia policy remain unfilled. "With this in mind, it is hard to imagine that there will be much in the way of concrete accomplishments at this summit, or even that there has been any significant interagency discussion on strategy leading up to it," said Randal Phillips, Mintz Group''s Beijing-based managing partner for Asia and the former chief CIA representative in China. ''ACTIONS, NOT WORDS'' Some of the largest U.S. companies have contributed to the billions of dollars of foreign direct investment that have poured into China over the past two decades, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. They include tech companies like Apple, which makes much of its iPhone in China, automakers such as General Motors and Ford, heavy machinery firms like Caterpillar, retailers like Starbucks and makers of shaving foam and detergent, like Procter & Gamble. U.S. steel producers want Trump to press Xi on Chinese steel prices, according to a source who has been in discussions with the administration in advance of the summit. U.S. automakers complain about a disparity in tariffs: The United States has a 2.5 percent tariff on auto imports, China''s is 25 percent. But the stakes are perhaps highest for American technology firms, who worry that China''s new cyber-security law, which takes effect in June, sets potentially discriminatory standards for multinationals. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a think-tank whose board includes representatives from Apple, IBM Google and other tech heavyweights, has urged the Trump administration to pressure China to "stop rigging markets". It warned that possible retaliation from Beijing was not a reason for inaction. Trump has staked out various positions on China as president in his tweets, phone calls and statements. In a phone call with Xi after taking office, Trump gave ground on one of Beijing''s most sensitive issues – the status of Taiwan - after earlier suggesting he might not stick to Washington''s long-held "one China" policy. Trump signed two executive orders on trade on Friday, one to improve import tariff collection and another to study the causes of the U.S. trade deficit. Trump said at the White House signing ceremony he and Xi were "going to get down to some serious business" and vowed that "the theft of American prosperity" by foreign countries would end. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said on Friday the U.S.-China trade imbalance was mostly the result of differences in the two countries'' economic structures and noted China had a trade deficit in services. China tops the list of countries who have trade surpluses with the United States, with a $347 billion surplus last year. TRADE WARS Some in the U.S. business community worry about tit-for-tat retaliation in trade disputes with China. Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, said the two presidents need to take "positive actions that would lead to a more durable relationship, not retaliatory actions that would lead to a trade war". The list of commercial issues between the two countries was so long, it would be impossible to make a major dent in them with one meeting, he said. China is the largest export market for U.S. soybean producers, accounting for 62 percent of U.S. soy exports in 2016 with a value of over $14 billion, leading some experts to suggest the sector could be particularly vulnerable to retaliation. Steve Censky, chief executive of the American Soybean Association, told Reuters he hopes Trump will take a "prudent" approach to the trade relationship and address any issues in a "workman-like manner", recognizing that both countries have a lot to lose if the relationship suffers. William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China met senior Trump administration officials in February, and said "it was clear they were very familiar with the issues facing American companies in China, perhaps more so than previous administrations". But several corporate lobbyists, representing a range of companies expressed concern Trump''s lack of attention to detail could prove counterproductive when it comes to the intricacies of the massive trade and investment relationship. "It''s not yet clear whether ... this is a White House that wants to fundamentally reset the terms of the relationship or tinker at the edges and declare a public relations win," said a China expert at a Washington business lobby who asked not to be named. (Reporting by Michael Martina in Beijing; Diane Bartz, David Shepardson and Joel Schectman in Washington; Nichola Groom in Los Angeles; and Mark Weinraub in Chicago; Editing by Bill Tarrant) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-business-idUKKBN17616Y'|'2017-04-04T19:27:00.000+03:00' '6c8eda3e0228e8fd7249b09bc635d87208ffc388'|'North American deals drive global investment banking fees to 10-year high'|'By Dasha Afanasieva - LONDON LONDON Global investment banking fees reached a 10-year high in the first quarter of 2017 with more than half of the $24 billion in total takings coming from North America, Thomson Reuters data showed on Tuesday.The rebound in fees to pre-crisis highs will be good news for global advisors who complain they are being squeezed by regulatory requirements amid competition from boutique players.Wall Street banks took the top five places last quarter, led by JP Morgan ( JPM.N ) which earned $1.7 billion in fees, followed by Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) with $1.5 billion.Fees from equity issuance almost doubled although bonds were the biggest contributor to fees globally. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was the only sector not to improve on last year''s dismal first quarter, with fees falling 2.5 percent in the first three months of this year.Uncertainty surrounding Britain''s exit from the European Union, the election in the Netherlands and upcoming polls in France and Germany dampened European activity but fees still rose almost 20 percent last quarter.The biggest fee payer was U.S. telecoms operator Charter Communications ( CHTR.O ) which has been exploring a tie-up with Verizon ( VZ.N ) and has issued a series of bonds.Investment banking fees generated by financial sponsors and their portfolio companies increased by 50 percent on a year earlier to $2.7 billion for the first quarter of 2017.Fees paid by private equity giant Blackstone ( BX.N ) more than tripled to $230 million.(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-investment-banking-fees-q-idINKBN1761FC'|'2017-04-04T10:46:00.000+03:00' '9b4f3776d04222df4efd101c43446121dd321399'|'US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Futures extend losses after weak U.S. jobs data'|' 32am EDT US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Futures extend losses after weak U.S. jobs data April 7 U.S. stock index futures extended losses on Friday after a Labor Department report showed that 98,000 jobs were added in the public and private sector in March, far lower than economists'' estimate of 180,000. Futures snapshot at 8:31 a.m. EDT: * Dow e-minis were down 37 points, or 0.18 percent, with 54,924 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis were down 5 points, or 0.21 percent, with 315,679 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 8.75 points, or 0.16 percent, on volume of 59,910 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idUSL3N1HF4BB'|'2017-04-07T20:32:00.000+03:00' '4f6e386981fb7f2f5cfc3fc8889264894ec1296a'|'Vivendi ends 15-year U.S. lawsuit over big merger, to pay $26.4 million'|'By Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK NEW YORK Vivendi SA ( VIV.PA ) said it agreed to pay $26.4 million to end nearly 15 years of U.S. litigation accusing the French media company of misleading shareholders about its finances in connection with a $46 billion three-way merger.Thursday''s accord resolved claims that Vivendi and officials including former Chief Executive Jean-Marie Messier made false or misleading statements that concealed liquidity problems after the 2000 combination of Vivendi, Seagram Co and Canal Plus.A preliminary settlement was filed with the federal court in Manhattan, and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer.It resolves claims by investors whose financial advisers bought Vivendi''s American depositary shares on their behalf from Oct. 30, 2000 to Aug. 14, 2002, according to court papers.The $26.4 million payment represents one-third of the maximum amount the investors might have won had litigation continued, the papers showed.Vivendi said that including the payment, it will have paid $78 million to resolve the entire litigation, in which investors at one time had hoped to recover $9.3 billion.A federal jury in Manhattan had in January 2010 found Vivendi liable for violating U.S. securities laws.But a U.S. Supreme Court decision five months later in an unrelated case ultimately scuttled most claims by Vivendi investors, including over ordinary shares listed in Paris.Vivendi said it will release a roughly 25 million euro ($26.6 million) reserve it had set aside for Thursday''s accord.The case is In re Vivendi Universal SA Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 02-05571.(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-settlement-idINKBN1782RQ'|'2017-04-06T18:28:00.000+03:00' '39b495aedff3b1a780db6cc70606612152289f5b'|'Buyout group SVP combines European packaging firms ahead of U.S. listing'|'FRANKFURT Private equity group SVPGlobal will combine its packaging firms Kloeckner Pentaplast and Linpac to increase their clout ahead of a planned stock market listing.SVP put UK-based Linpac up for sale last year, but after failing to find a buyer at its asking price has opted to merge it with Germany''s Kloeckner Pentaplast.Kloeckner Pentaplast said on Friday it would buy Linpac, creating a rigid and flexible film maker with combined annual revenue of more than $2 billion employing 6,300 people in 16 countries.Kloeckner filed for an initial public offering in December in the United States, where many of its peers - including Polyone ( POL.N ), Sealed Air ( SEE.N ), Berry ( BERY.N ), Bemis ( BMS.N ) and Ball ( BLL.N ) - are listed.The acquisition of Linpac is now expected to delay Kloeckner''s plans to list on the stock exchange before mid-year, people close to the matter said.Kloeckner Pentaplast last year posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $243 million, while Linpac earned 60 million euros ($64 million).At the current average earnings multiple of peers, the combined group would fetch a valuation of $2.8 billion.SVP acquired Kloeckner Pentaplast from private equity firm Blackstone following a lengthy restructuring. Blackstone had bought the company from Cinven in 2007, backed by 1.25 billion euros of leveraged loans.The buyout group took control of Linpac in late 2014 after buying up large chunks of debt related to a 2003 takeover of Linpac by private equity group Montagu for 860 million pounds ($1.1 billion), which had been backed by a 600 million pounds loan.Founded in 1965 as a unit of steel and machinery group Kloeckner-Werke, Kloeckner Pentaplast makes packaging for pharmaceutical, food and electronics goods, as well as pipe insulation and other plastics products.Linpac makes plastic boxes, trays and films for vegetables, meat, cake and frozen food.(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-linpac-m-a-kloecknr-pntplst-idINKBN1791V1'|'2017-04-07T10:24:00.000+03:00' '913d522138433b01a7925462a4114cd9dfb9899f'|'Mexican peso''s win streak splits fund managers, strategists'|'Company News 24am EDT Mexican peso''s win streak splits fund managers, strategists By Dion Rabouin - NEW YORK, April 7 NEW YORK, April 7 Foreign exchange strategists expect the Mexican peso to retreat over the next six months, but many fund managers remain bullish, saying the currency is undervalued. Mexico''s currency was the world''s strongest in the weeks following the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump - whose anti-trade rhetoric initially hammered the peso - gaining more than 17 percent. Many investors are betting there is more to come from Mexico''s Trump rally, shrugging off forecasts by economists and foreign exchange analysts polled by Reuters that the peso could depreciate to 20 pesos per dollar by late September from its current level of 18.77. Kathleen Gaffney, co-director of diversified fixed income at Eaton Vance, is increasingly confident that Trump will not follow through on his protectionist campaign promises. She expects the peso to surge by double digits over the next two years. "Mexico benefits primarily from stronger global growth, and the market beginning to factor in that there will be less impact on U.S. trade with Mexico," Gaffney said. "Global trade is picking up and Mexico is really part of the global manufacturing network." The roughly $500 million Eaton Vance Multisector Income Fund has about 4.5 percent of its assets in Mexican bonds, with the position consisting mainly of 30-year peso-denominated Mexican government debt. Gaffney is not alone. All 15 portfolio managers interviewed by Reuters in recent days said they view the peso as undervalued, although just two said they have actually added to their positions in recent months. Jim Barrineau, portfolio manager and head of emerging markets debt for Schroders, said the peso "is still grossly undervalued" against the dollar even when taking into account the inflation differential between the two countries. He and other fund managers say Mexico''s independent central bank, strong financial institutions and the fact that its economy still looks set to grow this year despite recent struggles make Mexican assets attractive. They also cite the Trump administration''s recently more conciliatory tone toward the country amid struggles to enact other parts of its agenda, like health care and tax reform. Robert H. Neithart, a fixed-income portfolio manager at Capital Group who oversees approximately $79 billion of assets, said he has gradually increased his Mexican asset exposure based on the "combination of valuation and seemingly less-hostile trade talks" with the United States. But not all Mexican assets are fairly priced, cautions T. Rowe Price''s Verena Wachnitz, who manages $1.2 billion and oversees the firm''s Latin America equity fund. While the peso seems cheap, valuations for Mexican stocks are not. After the U.S. election, "what happened is that the currency sold off quickly and sharply but stock prices had only a modest negative reaction, and still looked expensive on average despite increased uncertainty," Wachnitz said. Similarly, Patricia Ribeiro, emerging markets equity portfolio manager at American Century Investments, with $1.5 billion under management, has been reducing her holdings of Mexican stocks over the past six months, citing lingering concern about U.S.-Mexico ties and the country''s domestic growth prospects. "Because we are seeing a deceleration in GDP, interest rates going up, inflation picking up, it''s harder to find stocks," she said. Still, hedge funds and other speculators have been betting the peso has more room to run. Long speculative contracts on the currency reached the highest level since September 2014 last week, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Some portfolio managers are banking on the peso''s relative cheapness as an opportunity to invest in Mexican hotel operators and Mexican airport holding companies. Others favor Mexican cement maker Cemex, as well as debt issued by auto parts suppliers like Nemak. Jamie Anderson, managing principal of Tierra Funds, said Mexico has been the prime contributor to the 21 percent gain in its XP Latin America Real Estate ETF this year. He believes the peso could gain "easily another 5 percent." "Underneath all of this is the Mexican consumer, and at the core this is a Mexican consumer growth story and that makes it a very attractive destination," Anderson said. "I had a hunch that the (recovery in) the Mexican peso was going to be fairly swift and unrelenting when it did kick into high gear. The question now is, how much further can it really go?" (Additional reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Christian Plumb and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-peso-investors-idUSL2N1H615Y'|'2017-04-07T22:24:00.000+03:00' 'a33d6bd99632afe4b7292ce293b3c77bf7a7d799'|'Exxon in talks to expand into Brazil - WSJ'|'Commodities 14pm EDT Exxon in talks to expand into Brazil: WSJ Logos of ExxonMobil are seen in its booth at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) is in talks to gain access to Brazil''s deep-water oil resources, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Exxon, the world''s largest publicly listed oil company, has held talks about a joint venture through which it would invest in projects with Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras ( PETR4.SA ), the Journal reported. The talks also included discussions about potentially buying stakes in offshore tracts that the Brazilian government plans to lease out this year, the report said. Exxon is also working with U.S. oil producer Hess Corp ( HES.N ) to expand into Brazil after the country revised its regulations last year to attract more foreign investment, the Journal reported. on.wsj.com/2nApuE0 Exxon and Petrobras declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while Hess was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Komal Khettry Sai Sachin Ravikumar) Next In Commodities Seeking higher revenues, Saudi sets out stall for light crude DUBAI Despite OPEC''s oil output curbs, Saudi Arabia has been offering its customers more light crudes while cutting heavy grades, a trend that could increase as the kingdom wants to maximize revenue and needs more heavy oil to power its own refineries. LONDON Hedge funds have continued liquidating their large bullish position in crude amid doubts about the pace and timing of any rebalancing in the oil market. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-brazil-idUSKBN1762AF'|'2017-04-05T01:05:00.000+03:00' 'a6612034ff6f3867c412351a9731cd34967e8c11'|'More signs of UK slowdown appear as Brexit gets under way'|' 2:45pm BST More signs of UK slowdown appear as Brexit gets under way FILE PHOTO: People walk through the the Canary Wharf financial district in London, Britain, February 3, 2012. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo By Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout - LONDON LONDON Signs that Britain''s economy is slowing as it prepares to leave the European Union hardened on Friday, as official data showed a surprise drop in industrial output and construction in February and a mixed performance for trade. Sterling slid to a one-week low against the dollar after industrial output dipped 0.7 percent in February, worse than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, which had pointed to a 0.2 percent increase. Output fell 0.3 percent in January. A surprisingly large goods trade deficit - albeit distorted by imports of high-value goods like gold and aircraft - and a slump in construction added to evidence that Britain''s economic growth rate peaked toward the end of last year. Britain''s National Institute of Economic and Social Research estimated that Friday''s data suggested growth in the first three months of 2017 would slow to 0.5 percent from a robust 0.7 percent in the last three months of 2016. There are already signs that rising inflation, caused in part by the pound''s post-Brexit vote tumble, is crimping spending by consumers, the main drivers of the economy, just as Prime Minister Theresa May begins Britain''s EU divorce talks. Underlining the caution among households, mortgage lender Halifax reported the weakest house price growth in nearly four years and a survey of recruiters showed staff were nervous about switching jobs ahead of Brexit. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, speaking at Thomson Reuters'' London office on Friday, said he would keep a close eye on whether consumer demand weakens in line with the central bank''s expectations. "Today''s deluge of UK economic data was fairly disappointing and adds to the evidence that the economy has lost some momentum during Q1," said Ruth Gregory, economist at Capital Economics. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics suggested manufacturing was not making up for a consumer spending slowdown as some economists had hoped following the pound''s drop. Output in manufacturing, a component of industrial output which accounts for about 10 percent of Britain''s gross domestic product, unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent following a 1.0 percent fall in January, disappointing against forecasts for a 0.3 percent rise in the Reuters poll. British manufacturing had a mixed performance in 2016, with economic growth driven mostly by the much larger services sector and consumer spending. A closely-watched business survey on Monday showed British manufacturing lost some of its momentum in March, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures. Separate figures from the ONS showed Britain''s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world rose to a five-month high of 12.461 billion pounds ($15.48 billion), compared with an upwardly revised 11.971 billion pounds in January. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 10.9 billion pounds. The ONS also released figures for construction output in February, which slumped 1.7 percent on the month - the biggest drop in almost a year. The Reuters poll had pointed to stagnation on the month but output in February was dragged down by a 2.6 percent drop in housebuilding, the sharpest decline since mid-2015. On the year, construction output rose just 0.5 percent in February - the weakest reading since March 2016 and a far cry from forecasts for a 1.9 percent rise. "February''s data shows that the construction sector has been one of the biggest losers from the Brexit vote," said Samuel Tombs, economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. (Editing by Andrew Roche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-idUKKBN17922W'|'2017-04-07T21:11:00.000+03:00' '849ac7d617e574500fe4aeaaf2d14cb4ead76e03'|'UPDATE 1-Las Vegas sports gambler Walters convicted of insider trading'|'(Adds details from court hearing, background, bylines)By Nate Raymond and Brendan PiersonNEW YORK, April 7 Famed Las Vegas sports gambler William "Billy" Walters was convicted on Friday of insider trading charges in a scheme that prosecutors said enabled him to make more than $40 million and involved a stock tip to star professional golfer Phil Mickelson.Jurors found Walters guilty on all 10 counts he faced, including securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy, following a three-week trial in federal court in Manhattan.Walters, 70, who built a fortune as one of the most successful sports bettors in the United States, expressed disbelief to reporters after hearing the six-man, six-woman jury read its verdict."To say I was surprised would be the understatement of my life," Walters said. "If I had made a bet I would have lost - I just did lose the biggest bet of my life. Frankly I''m in total shock."Barry Berke, Walters'' lawyer, said his client would appeal. Walters is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14.Walters was charged after a high-profile probe focused on what prosecutors called his long-running scheme to obtain confidential tips about Dean Foods Co from its chairman, Thomas Davis.Prosecutors said that from 2008 to 2014, Walters generated $32 million of profit and avoided $11 million of losses by trading on inside information about Dean Foods from Davis.Walters generated another $1 million from trading on a tip about Darden Restaurants Inc, operator of the Olive Garden restaurant chain, they said.Davis, who testified against Walters as part of a plea deal, told jurors he passed tips ahead of Dean Foods'' earnings reports and a 2012 spinoff of part of its business, using "burner" phones to relay the information.Prosecutors said Walters at one point recommended to Mickelson that the golfer, who at the time owed him a gambling debt, buy Dean Foods stock.Mickelson, who has won three Masters golf titles, was not accused of wrongdoing and did not testify at trial.In 2016, Mickelson reached an agreement to pay back $1.03 million that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said he made by trading in Dean Foods stock. (Reporting by Nate Raymond and Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-insidertrading-walters-idINL1N1HF1AN'|'2017-04-07T16:47:00.000+03:00' '0584bce97a006fd5a7e7136be655458b8eeea74f'|'GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil rises on Syria attack, dollar shrugs off jobs report'|' 12pm EDT GLOBAL MARKETS-Oil rises on Syria attack, dollar shrugs off jobs report (Adds U.S. market open, dateline, byline; previous LONDON) * Jobs report surprises but viewed as weather related * Oil rises after U.S. attacks Syria air base * Europe stocks rise, Wall Street trades flat By Herbert Lash NEW YORK, April 7 Oil traded near a one-month high on Friday after the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base while the dollar rose as investors dismissed a weak U.S. jobs report as not enough to derail a strong economy or outlook for rising interest rates. The toughest U.S. action in Syria''s six-year-old civil war raised geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and initially hit assets such as equities and oil. Gold, a safe-haven asset, climbed to a five-month high and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields briefly slid to four-month lows. U.S. crude rose 51 cents to $52.21 a barrel and Brent was last up 39 cents to $55.28. Spot gold added 1.2 percent to $1,265.70 an ounce. Investors still expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates twice more in 2017 as the unemployment rate in the jobs report declined to 4.5 percent from 4.7 percent in February. "As long as we see the unemployment rate decline, we will see more rate hikes," said Cathy Barrera, chief economic adviser at ZipRecuiter in New York. News of the U.S. cruise missile strikes on the Syrian air base at first sent global stocks lower, but most losses were pared after U.S. officials described the attack as a one-off event that would not lead to wider escalation. Stock market indexes rebounded to close higher in Europe and traded flat on Wall Street where a dismal U.S. jobs reports gave investors a reason to pause. jobs last month, the Labor Department said. A major snow storm dubbed Stella in the Northeast during the week in March of the employment survey led to a step-down in hiring. "Our thinking is that there is nothing wrong with the labor market, other than the timing of Stella," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors in New York. U.S. corporate profits for the first quarter will be up 9 percent to 10 percent from a year earlier, and give the market a lift when earnings season begins next week, he said. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.06 points, or 0.01 percent, to 20,661.89. The S&P 500 lost 0.89 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,356.6 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 5.26 points, or 0.09 percent, to 5,873.69. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.11 percent to close at a provisional 1,501.61, while MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.06 percent. The drop in the unemployment rate suggested the labor market was still tightening and does not change the outlook for bonds. U.S. 10- and seven-year yields briefly hit 2.269 percent and 2.072 percent, respectively, their lowest since Nov. 18, 2016. U.S. 30-year yields touched 2.939 percent, their lowest since mid-January. "There was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the headline," said Mark Cabana, head of U.S. short rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. (Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUSL8N1HF4RS'|'2017-04-08T00:12:00.000+03:00' '6a55909b27e7aa521c93733704022eb72ef3e4ae'|'MOVES-Liberty Specialty Markets hires new Europe global financial risks head'|' 6:07am EDT MOVES-Liberty Specialty Markets hires new Europe global financial risks head April 6 Liberty Specialty Markets, part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, appointed Alexandra Paton head of global financial risks (GFR), continental Europe. She will be based in both Paris and London and report to Peter Sprent, head of GFR at Liberty Specialty, and also to Olivier Muraire, who is director general for France and Southern Europe. Paton, who has worked at American International Group Inc and was most recently chief market officer at MGA, Equinox Global, succeeds Alex Egnell. Egnell was recently transferred to Liberty Specialty''s GFR operation in North America. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/liberty-specialty-markets-moves-alexandr-idUSL3N1HE39T'|'2017-04-06T18:07:00.000+03:00' '965a8b2596f7106c1bf1bb7fe8dbfb2df19173f5'|'Sunoco to sell 1,110 U.S. stores to 7-Eleven operator for $3.3 bln'|'By Taiga Uranaka and Vishaka George Sunoco LP said on Thursday it would sell 1,110 convenience stores to Japan''s Seven & i Holdings Co for $3.3 billion as the Texas-based company shifts its focus to its fuel supply business.Sunoco''s shares jumped as much as 24 percent to $29.50 on Thursday - their biggest intraday percentage rise in three years.As part of the deal, the U.S. company will also supply about 2.2 billion gallons of fuel annually for 15 years to a unit of the operator of 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.Sunoco, a publicly-traded partnership controlled by pipeline operator Energy Transfer Equity, operates about 1,350 retail fuelling sites and convenience stores under brands such as APlus and Stripes, the company''s website showed.The company said it planned to sell another 200 stores by the end of the fourth quarter and expand its distribution business, partly through acquisitions.Energy Transfer''s chief financial officer, Thomas Long, said there are no plans to dissolve the partnership.Energy Transfer wants Sunoco to remain a standalone business and continue on the M&A front to expand its business, Long said. "That is very much the directive."Sunoco said it expected to use the proceeds from the sale primarily to repay debt, which was about $4.51 billion as of December.7-ELEVEN''S U.S. PUSHSeven & i Holdings has been aggressively expanding in Japan and the United States, where it has been acquiring stores from local retailers.Its latest purchase comes as operators of traditional big-box retailers, including Seven & i, have been suffering weak sales as changing tastes and modest wage growth prompt shoppers to defect to cheaper speciality chains and online outlets."The U.S. convenience store market has growth momentum. We see opportunities there," Seven & i President Ryuichi Isaka said.Seven & i runs general merchandise, department and speciality stores, but the bulk of its operating profit comes from convenience stores.The deal would be the biggest by the Japanese company''s U.S. unit 7-Eleven Inc.Seven & i has about 19,400 7-Eleven stores in Japan and 8,700 in the United States and Canada, including those run by franchisees.7-Eleven Inc, known for its "Slurpee" frozen beverage, has said it aims to increase its number of stores to 10,000 over the three years through 2019.(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Additional reporting by Ritsuko Shimizu, Chris Gallagher and Gary McWilliams; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Martina D''Couto, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sunoco-lp-m-a-seven-i-hldgs-idINKBN1780WP'|'2017-04-06T15:14:00.000+03:00' '72b4c85f0630735f6dc3446803c39aeed40b1d2c'|'UPDATE 2-Nexen joins ConocoPhillips in cutting oil sands output -sources'|'(Adds Nexen cut, adds NEW YORK to dateline)By Nia Williams and Catherine NgaiCALGARY, Alberta/NEW YORK, April 6 Two oil sands producers in northern Alberta have cut production at their facilities due to a shortage of synthetic crude, market sources said on Thursday, helping send Canadian heavy crude prices surging higher.Synthetic supplies are scarce following a fire at the 350,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Syncrude plant in March that damaged the facility and forced the operator to bring forward maintenance and cut production for April to zero.As a result ConocoPhillips had to reduce output at its 140,000 bpd Surmont project, a joint venture with Total E&P Canada, by 40 percent, two market sources said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.The company mixes synthetic crude from Syncrude with tarry bitumen from its oil sands reservoir to create a heavy crude blend known as "synbit" that can flow through pipelines.CNOOC Ltd subsidiary Nexen Energy, which likewise uses synthetic crude to dilute its bitumen, also cut output from its Long Lake oil sands project, said one of the two sources, as well as a separate source. The size of the cut was not immediately clear.Long Lake usually produces around 40,000 bpd of undiluted bitumen, one source said.ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Michelle McCullagh, who earlier this week confirmed that the Syncrude outage affected Surmont output, declined to comment on the size of the production cut.Nexen Energy spokeswoman Brittney Price said her company does not publish production or maintenance operations for individual assets.Syncrude, a joint venture majority-owned by Suncor Energy Inc, is expected to return to operations the first week of May but will be running at reduced rates that month, trading sources said on Wednesday.The oil sands outages have boosted Canadian heavy crude prices, with the benchmark Western Canada Select blend for May delivery last trading close to a 22-month high of $9.60 a barrel below U.S. crude, according to Shorcan Energy brokers.On Wednesday WCS settled at $9.85 per barrel below U.S. crude. (Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-conocophillips-surmont-idINL2N1HE1CG'|'2017-04-06T17:21:00.000+03:00' 'f8e8143831f88f922a32e68daa05e6502215096e'|'ECB''s Draghi sees no need to deviate from stated policy path'|' 9:11am BST ECB''s Draghi sees no need to deviate from stated policy path Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) speaks during a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach FRANKFURT The head of the European Central Bank sees no need to deviate from the ECB''s stated policy path, which includes bond buying at least until the end of the year and record-low rates until well after that to stimulate inflation, he said on Thursday. "I do not see cause to deviate from the indications we have been consistently providing in the introductory statement to our press conferences," Mario Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt. "Before making any alterations to the components of our stance – interest rates, asset purchases and forward guidance – we still need to build sufficient confidence that inflation will indeed converge to our aim over a medium-term horizon, and will remain there even in less supportive monetary policy conditions," he added. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Hugh Lawson) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-rates-idUKKBN1780NH'|'2017-04-06T15:48:00.000+03:00' '37a2c98d7aafc5f52e357f34c3be249abb1a491a'|'BP to develop Indonesian retail fuel business with AKR Corporindo'|'JAKARTA Oil major BP has signed an agreement with Indonesian petroleum and chemicals logistics company AKR Corporindo for the joint development of a "differentiated" domestic fuel retail business, BP said in a statement.The joint venture will form a company, PT Aneka Petroindo Raya, which will operate as BP AKR Fuels Retail, and expects to open its first retail site in Indonesia in 2018, the statement said."We are delighted to be working with AKR to help meet Indonesia''s growing demand for fuels and provide superior convenience offers," BP downstream chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said.(Reporting by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-indonesia-akr-corporindo-idUSKBN1780LD'|'2017-04-06T10:47:00.000+03:00' '67b31ff74ca57e2d227772aa98460fd315f5d5c3'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|' 33am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 7 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1030 GMT on Friday: ** Britain''s Co-Operative Bank said it had received a number of non-binding offers that would go into a next phase of bidding, as the struggling lender seeks a takeover that would ward off the need for state intervention. ** Samsonite International said it would buy U.S.-based online travel bags retailer eBags Inc for $105 million cash, as the luggage maker accelerates growth of its e-commerce business in North America and worldwide. ** Singapore-based fund Effissimo, established by former colleagues of Japan''s most famous activist investor, Yoshiaki Murakami, raised its stake in Toshiba Corp to 9.84 percent, a regulatory filing showed. ** Amancio Ortega, founder of the world''s biggest clothing retailer Inditex and Europe''s richest man, has put a majority stake in the firm that owns the Zara fashion chain into a holding company to ensure family control remains unassailable after he dies. ** Norway''s Telenor has sold a 4 percent stake in Amsterdam-based mobile network operator Veon for $259 million as part of an ongoing campaign to cut all ownership ties to the firm formerly known as Vimpelcom. ** The Trump administration and Japan''s government are in talks to ensure that the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp''s Westinghouse Electric, which could lead to the eventual sale of its nuclear business, does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands, a U.S. official said on Thursday. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HF3RQ'|'2017-04-07T18:33:00.000+03:00' '0df7f5a8bbd7801bf48b8d2fa09fceaaf764b8b5'|'Malta wants EU to slow down drive against tax avoidance'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:59pm BST Malta wants EU to slow down drive against tax avoidance By Francesco Guarascio and Jan Strupczewski - VALLETTA VALLETTA Malta''s presidency of the European Union said on Friday the bloc should slow down its drive against corporate tax avoidance because it might hurt Europe''s economy by increasing legal uncertainty. Following recent revelations, such as the Panama Papers, of tax evasion and reduction by big corporations and wealthy individuals, the European Commission has made several legislative proposals to close legal loopholes but some of the most ambitious plans have yet to be approved by EU states. In a paper to be discussed by EU finance ministers in Valletta on Friday and Saturday, Malta, which holds the rotating EU chair until July, said the proposed reforms would increase uncertainty, harming international investment and trade. Malta and other smaller EU states with low tax regimes have repeatedly showed caution in the push for reform, fearing multinationals headquartered in their territory may leave. The paper, seen by Reuters, said, "a certain amount of time is needed in order to properly formulate, assimilate and apply such legislation". It also argued that the EU should align the pace of its reforms to changes at international level to avoid losing competitiveness. Moves at global level are notoriously slow on tax matters. But the EU commissioner for tax policies, Pierre Moscovici, told Reuters that reforms should continue at a "rapid pace". "EU citizens can no longer accept that multinationals don''t pay taxes or pay less than they should," he said. The Commission is also trying to tackle tax avoidance by increasing tax transparency, which Malta said could lead to more tax disputes and increase legal uncertainty. Moscovici countered that. "Legal certainty will come from common rules across the EU to tackle frauds," he said, noting that "this should not be used as a political alibi to stop our reforms". In the paper, Malta also called for an "enhanced" use of regulated tax rulings, which allow large companies to settle their tax bills in advance, a practice used by several multinationals to obtain sweetheart concessions in EU countries. Among companies already sanctioned for such deals, the Commission has asked Apple ( AAPL.O ) to pay $14 billion to Ireland for tax skipped thanks to a generous deal with Dublin. Amazon.com ( AMZN.O ) and McDonald''s ( MCD.N ) also face Commission investigation over taxes in Luxembourg, while Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ) has been ordered to pay up to 30 million euros ($33 million) in back-taxes to the Dutch state. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-taxavoidance-malta-idUKKBN17924H'|'2017-04-07T21:59:00.000+03:00' 'ab0b8f16f2f55a63d3721d8a2596e218be555e70'|'Adidas unveils new 3D printed shoe'|'Adidas unveils new 3D printed sneaker Adidas just debuted its newest shoe -- which has a 3D-printed sole. The German company said 5,000 of the "Futurecraft 4D" shoes will be available at retail stores in the fall and winter. It plans to start mass producing them next year and expects to have made more than 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018. The company would not disclose where the shoes will be manufactured. Adidas ( ADDDF ) partnered with Silicon Valley-based startup Carbon to create the shoe, which uses a new technology called digital light synthesis. 3D printed materials are often rigid or malleable and wouldn''t work well for a shoe. But with Carbon''s technology, the material is springy and able to bounce back almost instantaneously. The technology works by using UV lasers to project a pattern for a midsole liquid. The light turns the liquid into a solid and the result is a flexible, but durable, midsole. The technology could save time and money in the production process and will allow for greater customization. "We can produce ... up to 100 times faster than other 3D printing and additive manufacturing processes," an Adidas spokesperson told CNNTech. Related: Hey McFly! Nike unveils auto-lacing sneaker Eventually, Adidas plans to use the technology to customize shoes for individual consumers. "In the long run, we will be able to provide each athlete with bespoke performance products tailored to their individual physiological data and needs on demand," the spokesperson said. -- CNNMoney''s Ahiza Garcia contributed to this story. CNNMoney (New York) 51 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/07/technology/adidas-3d-printed-shoe/index.html'|'2017-04-07T23:54:00.000+03:00' 'd026291ba9bfc9ce33a2728fa7d07d84ce722579'|'Toshiba to seek loan support from creditor banks Tuesday: sources'|'TOKYO Toshiba Corp will meet creditor banks on Tuesday to ask them to accept as collateral shares in its soon-to-be-split-off memory chip unit and other businesses and not call in their loans, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.A Toshiba spokeswoman confirmed the company will hold the meeting, but declined to disclose the agenda.Toshiba management has so far failed to gain creditors'' support for the request, which it also made last month.The collateral offer also includes shares in group companies such as Toshiba Tec Corp, sources told Reuters in March. Some smaller creditors have balked at the offer, as bigger lenders are seen receiving the most valuable chip unit shares as collateral, the sources have said.(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-banks-idINKBN17605M'|'2017-04-04T00:17:00.000+03:00' 'a2628f7b8b7205c4bbe3930c22a2a6c8d06d562b'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 6'|' 38am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 6 April 6 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 67 points at 7,264 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell sold its stake in a New Zealand gas field while taking over the field''s operating company as part of a plan to possibly divest its holdings in the country later on, the company said Thursday. * TESCO: UK retailer Tesco Plc is cutting night shifts for shelf stackers in some of its supermarkets in a fresh shakeup that puts 3,000 jobs at risk, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. bit.ly/2oDltUd * ARAMCO-LSE IPO: British Prime Minister Theresa May and the chief of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) pitched investments in Britain to the head of Saudi Arabia''s sovereign wealth fund on Wednesday during a two-day visit to Riyadh. * OIL: Oil prices fell on Thursday as record U.S. crude inventories underscored that crude markets remain bloated, despite efforts led by OPEC to cut output and prop up prices. * EX-DIVS: Aviva, GKN, Hikma, Lloyds, Next , Paddy Power Betfair, Pearson, Rentokil Initial , St James''s Place, Smiths Group and Wolseley will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 11.75 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations * The UK blue chip FTSE 100 index ended up 0.1 percent at 7,331.68 points on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous session as heavyweight mining and oil stocks rallied, while support services firm DCC also gained after agreeing to buy a business in Hong Kong and Macau. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Electrocomponents Q4 2016 Gulf Keystone Full year 2016 TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Siju Varghese; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HE237'|'2017-04-06T13:38:00.000+03:00' '591deceedd63cba082d0a805857af76baa610d8d'|'Sterling set for first fall in four weeks, eyes on output data'|' 31pm IST Sterling set for first fall in four weeks, eyes on output data A pile of one pound coins is seen in a photo illustration shot June 17, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Illustration/File Photo By John Geddie - LONDON LONDON Sterling was set for its first week of falls in four on Friday as investors awaited data crucial to Britain''s growth outlook as it begins the process of leaving the European Union. In the first full week of trading since UK Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain''s divorce from the EU, the pound has slipped 0.7 percent against the dollar. It was down 0.1 percent on Friday at $1.2455. In the three previous weeks it had gained around 3 percent against a broadly weaker dollar, as investors weighed up whether the Bank of England might consider a rate rise to rein in inflation. Moves on Friday were muted before a raft of economic data due at 0830 GMT, including industrial production and construction readings. Economists polled by Reuters expect construction volumes to have grown 1.9 percent year-on-year in February, and industrial output to have risen 3.7 percent year-on-year in February. "These February data releases will be the last hard inputs into Q1 GDP before the preliminary estimate on 28 April," RBC''s global head of FX strategy, Elsa Lignos, said in a note. "Although January outturns disappointed, the handover from Q4 was strong, so even stable levels of activity in February and March versus January would see both IP and construction make positive contributions to Q1 GDP growth." (Editing by Andrew Roche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-sterling-idINKBN17911G'|'2017-04-07T16:01:00.000+03:00' '058567e3cd3256d030bd02161985f8ad3916c243'|'Chase for tastier tortillas starts with age-old ''Mexican gold'''|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:00am EDT Chase for tastier tortillas starts with age-old ''Mexican gold'' By David Alire Garcia - OTZOLOTEPEC, Mexico, April 7 OTZOLOTEPEC, Mexico, April 7 Under a scorching sun, Clemente Enriquez tips his wide-brimmed hat up as he proudly displays in an open palm the conico corn seeds he plants on his small plot in the rolling hills outside this village west of Mexico City. "These are very special," said Enriquez, a 78-year-old farmer with shaggy gray hair and bushy black eyebrows, speaking on the edge of a neighbor''s field. "I''ve been growing these for years. I like the size of the seed and the color, and the taste of the tortillas you can make with them." Lately, his enthusiasm seems to be catching on. A growing army of "heirloom corn" fans, from celebrity chef Rick Bayless to food giants like ConAgra to a group of dogged Mexican scientists, are aiming to unlock the ancient ingredient to bring tortillas with better flavor to the high-end foodie market while boosting sustainable local economies. Entrepreneurs see a huge profit to be made in higher-margin tortillas and chips sold at restaurants like Bayless'' Frontera Grill in Chicago and Enrique Olvera''s Cosme in New York, and mass marketed at higher-end retailers like Whole Foods Market Inc. It can also boost the incomes of the poor farmers in Mexico who have been cultivating traditional maize for millennia. Several of the nearly 60 native varieties, or landraces, of this heirloom corn often grow alongside corn''s ancestor teocintle, a skimpy stalk with a few meager kernels that Mexican farmers transformed in a dizzying series of improvements over some 8,000 years. Centuries later, their distant descendents see a bright future for the traditional grains if obstacles can be overcome. The first is whether Mexican scientists can hammer out a first-ever fair trade certification for traditional corn farmers, similar to certifications for organic coffee or chocolate. Once an accord is reached, which is expected later this year, organizers say a civic association or panel of experts will provide the voluntary certification. Another hurdle is the farmers themselves, many of whom are not fully versed about the value of their crops abroad, or even the specific variety of corn they tend. They also must ease their reliance on middle-men buyers known as coyotes who have long been their main sales channel and could be the losers if the crop''s value is enhanced. If successful, exports of Mexico''s gourmet maize could start to reverse a flood of cheap U.S. yellow corn imports that have pushed more than 1 million Mexican farmers off their fields since the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. "I live in GMO corn-country and it is the most tasteless corn in the world," Bayless told Reuters, referring to the sprawling fields planted with genetically modified corn around his hometown Chicago, Illinois, America''s second biggest corn-producing state. But the bolita variety of heirloom corn from Mexico''s southern Oaxaca state is different, he says. "It has taste. That''s the whole thing." MEXICAN GOLD The chef''s taste buds aren''t lying, the maize scientists behind the certification in Mexico say. Commodity benchmark "Yellow 2" corn, a grain used mostly for animal feed, has little in common with Mexican corns that come in a kaleidoscope of colors and in some cases can be traced back for centuries to a specific mountain valley, says Flavio Aragon, one of the scientists behind the certification. "The quality of Mexican corns is something else entirely," he said. Entrepreneurs putting big money on the line include Jorge Gaviria, chief executive of Los Angeles-based, privately-held Masienda, the first company to source the corn, whose ambition is to take on mass-produced tortillas with a tastier if pricier alternative. "What''s clearly in our sights is getting into the tortilla market in a really big way," he said. U.S. tortilla consumption is seen doubling to $30 billion by 2025, according to market research firm IndexBox. Conagra Brands Inc, the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Hunt''s ketchup, late last year bought Bayless'' Frontera Foods, part of an industry trend to promote higher-margin products and boost sales as consumers crave more natural foods. Around the same time, Bayless launched a line of premium tortilla chips using mostly bolita sold exclusively at Whole Foods. Conagra said in a statement that the chips are "performing well" but declined to provide sales data. The new landrace maize certification was expected to be ready late last year, but building consensus on the fine print has caused a delay. Organizers say the certification will provide farmers with a document that details the specific variety they grow, the traditional farming methods they use. It would also restrict sales to surplus supply to prevent farmers from selling what they would normally set aside for their families and animals, forcing them to turn to more processed foods in their own diets. Last season, Mexico produced around 24 million tonnes of corn, or about 4 percent of global output, and native corn surpluses are estimated at as much as 5 million tonnes annually. Masienda, which sells directly to hundreds of restaurants, began buying Mexican heirloom corn three years ago. This season, its purchases will probably reach 2,000 tonnes, up five-fold since 2014, said Gaviria. At the higher end, some heirloom varieties can already fetch around three times the price of conventional corns. That has farmers like 22-year-old Octavio Tejeda optimistic he can cash in on growing demand from around the world for tastier tortillas and most importantly preserve the strains. "We''re going to keep our traditions alive and rescue the varieties of corn that are important to us," said Tejeda, gazing out on a recently plowed field. "It''s our Mexican gold." (Editing by Christian Plumb and Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-corn-certification-idUSL2N1GQ1FS'|'2017-04-07T13:00:00.000+03:00' '3cc9f663a27a948397c2ef7787f50bc5d53d1074'|'Exclusive: U.S. regulator removes top examiner for Wells Fargo - sources'|'Money 30pm EDT Exclusive: U.S. regulator removes top examiner for Wells Fargo - sources A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith By Patrick Rucker - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The most senior bank examiner for Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) has been removed by a U.S. regulator in the wake of the bank''s unauthorized accounts scandal, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the lead regulator for national banks, stripped the examiner, Bradley Linskens, of his supervisory powers within the last two weeks, said three sources, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Linskens did not immediately respond to requests for comment. OCC spokesman Bryan Hubbard declined to comment. Wells Fargo''s board is expected to release a report on Monday detailing what went wrong at the fourth-largest U.S. bank, according to sources The bank and its board both declined to comment. In September, Wells Fargo reached a $190 million settlement with the OCC and other regulators over its opening millions of accounts in customers'' names without their permission. At the time, the bank said as many as 2 million accounts were affected, but has since said the number might be larger. The report is the result of a seven-month investigation by Wells Fargo''s board of directors into how and why the sales abuses happened. Thousands of employees were dismissed over the matter, and several have publicly said they opened the fake accounts to hit aggressive sales targets set by managers. Wells Fargo now faces probes from other government agencies including the Department of Justice, which is investigating whether any laws were broken. Linskens was responsible for day-to-day supervision of Wells Fargo and managed a staff of more than 60 people, according to past notices from the OCC. He joined the OCC in 1993 and earliest oversight of Wells Fargo began in 2006. In 2016, Linskens was honored with the title "senior national bank examiner" and received accolades in a news release from Comptroller Thomas Curry, who runs the OCC. In September, Curry ordered an internal review of how the OCC handled the Wells Fargo matter and whether the agency has "gaps in our supervision." That review is drawing to a close, said an OCC official. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-accounts-examiner-idUSKBN1792XG'|'2017-04-08T03:30:00.000+03:00' '1e0fd41b4bcb3dc29e60fb5926eddccdfd78a0c8'|'Kenya''s third biggest killer, cancer – in pictures - Global Development Professionals Network'|'Kenya''s third biggest killer, cancer – in pictures View more sharing options Share Close Cancer is the third highest cause of death in Kenya and often those who suffer from it cannot afford treatment. On World Health Day, Georgina Goodwin’s photography tells the stories of six patientsAll photographs by Georgina GoodwinFriday 7 April 2017 11.18 BST Mary, 54, lost her husband last year to cancer, which is the 3rd highest cause of morbidity in Kenya. Cancer causes 7% per cent of deaths per year, and breast cancer is the most common form. Mary lives in rural Kiambu outside Nairobi and is a member of a Women’s Cancer Support Group. She thanks God she has survived, even though she still suffers from lymphedema, swelling in her left arm caused by damage to the lymphatic system from radiation and chemotherapy. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Joseph Nyabira has just undergone two weeks of radiotherapy and is about to embark on six sessions of chemotherapy. Joseph lives in an area he calls ‘the slums’ of Kawangware, a sprawling settlement on the western side of Nairobi. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Sandra Odera, 26, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in July 2011. After undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy and relapsing, Odera and her family found treatment in India at the BLK Hospital in Kapoor with the help of insurance. Odera underwent an allogenic stem cell bone marrow transplant and her brother Ian donated 99%-matched stem cells. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Damaris, 42, sends a message to her daughter while she waits for radiotherapy at Faraja Cancer Centre in Nairobi. She worked as a waitress at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi during the 1990s and now sells clothes in her home town of Kiambu. Six months ago she developed a tumour in her breast. She received funding from the Faraja Cancer Trust for six chemotherapy sessions. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest After returning to Nairobi, Odera developed a rash and wounds on the mouth. She had graft versus host disease; her cells had not accepted her brother’s stem cells and were leaving her body open to infection. She developed mucocitis. Drugs from India began her healing, and one wound was so severe she needed surgery using a skin graft from her thigh. When she was finally discharged in April 2013, she had been lying in bed for so long that she could not walk. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Jacqui Gathumbi collapsed while she was seven months pregnant. She became distant and unaware of her surroundings, and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. In October 2013, she gave birth to her daughter, Angel, one month before her tumour was surgically removed. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest After the surgery, Gathumbi had 27 sessions of radiotherapy to kill the remaining 1% of the tumour in her brain. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Monica Buluma was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in 2010. After four years of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, difficulties in eating, and losing 15kg, she became a cancer survivor. The majority of Kenyans cannot afford this treatment, but a few receive financial support from the Faraja Cancer Support Trust, which helps cancer patients and their families by providing information, emotional and practical support, counselling, and complimentary therapies to cancer patients and their carers. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Odera smells red roses, on oxygen, while spending a sixth week in Kenyatta Hospital after collapsing with pneumonia. After being diagnosed with leukaemia in 2011 she became progressively weaker – at 26 she weighed just 34kg – made worse by the trauma of her body rejecting the 99% matched allogenic stem cell bone marrow transplant from her twin brother. She always maintained that her belief in God and her positive attitude kept her healing. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest In her back yard at home in Buruburu, Nairobi’s largest eastern suburb, Odera enjoys the sunshine, space and a moment alone. She passed away on her way to the hospital on 22 September 2016. Photograph: Georgina GoodwinFacebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Global development professionals network Global focus Global health Cancer Cancer research Kenya Africa'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2017/apr/07/kenyas-third-biggest-killer-cancer-in-pictures'|'2017-04-07T19:18:00.000+03:00' 'f74504233438d1cd2761ab27c4c8ae3a6863c371'|'Court ruling leaves Macquarie as preferred bidder for Green Investment Bank'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 8:31pm BST Court ruling leaves Macquarie as preferred bidder for Green Investment Bank The logo of Australia''s biggest investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd adorns a door to their Sydney office headquarters in Australia, October 28, 2016. REUTERS/FILE/David Gray By Dasha Afanasieva - LONDON LONDON Australian investment bank Macquarie ( MQG.AX ) looked set to acquire Britain''s Green Investment Bank (GIB) after a court rejected the claim of a rival bidder on Friday. The British government set up GIB, which backs green projects with public funds, in 2012 as a commercial venture to spur private sector investment in green projects. It has invested more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in projects such as offshore wind farms and waste management. The government decided to sell a majority stake in 2015, saying it would give the bank greater freedom to borrow, removing state aid restrictions, and allow it to attract more capital. Some British lawmakers have opposed a sale to Macquarie, worried that it could lead to job losses. Competing bidder Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL) said in a statement that it had lost a judicial review in the High Court on Friday, having argued against the government awarding the preferred bidder status to "another party", which bankers said was Macquarie. "Meanwhile the preferred bidder''s offer remains to be signed some six months later, though the government told the court that it was now in a position to sign a binding agreement with the preferred bidder," SDCL''s Chief Executive Jonathan Maxwell said in the statement. Macquarie, which says it has invested 8.5 billion pounds in renewable energy projects since 2010, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy welcomed the ruling but declined to comment further because of the commercial sensitivity of the process. "As we have said, any government decision on the sale of the Green Investment Bank will be driven by what best achieves our objectives, including continued investment in the green economy and a sale which is in the best interests of the taxpayer." ($1 = 0.8070 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-gib-court-idUKKBN1792XV'|'2017-04-08T03:31:00.000+03:00' 'f6891744a56bf2677e2cce7193263a65a5d068ad'|'Chile''s Codelco unit seeks value in copper impurities, arsenic'|' 40am EDT Chile''s Codelco unit seeks value in copper impurities, arsenic * Lower-quality ore means less copper, more arsenic * Ecometales seeks permit for process adapted to high arsenic * Seeking to commercially extract small metals By Barbara Lewis SANTIAGO, April 7 Ecometales, a unit of Chile''s state-run Codelco, is in talks with smelters in Europe and China to share its technology for stabilising arsenic while processing lower-quality copper ore, an executive said on Friday. Codelco was hit hard by the commodity price crash of 2015 and early 2016 and leading copper producer Chile as a whole must find creative solutions as its mature mining industry has used up much of the best ore. Turning the remainder into pure copper is expensive and challenging from an environmental and health perspective. Ecometales has a plant to process smelter residue dust in Calama, northern Chile, where ores have one of the highest concentrations worldwide of arsenic, a carcinogen. To stabilise the impurity, which increases as the amount of copper in ore declines, Ecometales has been using a method of arsenic and antimony abatement since 2012. It is now talking to smelters across the world as they seek to meet increasingly stringent regulatory standards. "We are working with one European smelter and are piloting our technology," Development and Business Manager Carlos Rebolledo Ibacache told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference on mining sustainability. He said he could not name the smelter because of a non-disclosure agreement. In addition, he said the company was in early discussions with smelters in China, Chile''s biggest customer. In Chile, there is a growing pile of complex copper concentrate, which is partially treated ore that contains 0.5 percent or more arsenic, that most smelters cannot process for safety reasons. Globally, the International Copper Study Group has estimated the extraction of arsenic associated with copper mining will rise to 162,000 tonnes by 2020 from 82,000 tonnes in 2013. Ecometales is seeking an environment permit for a technology known as autoclave, already used in the nickel and gold industry, for copper. It uses oxygen at high pressure and temperatures to treat concentrate, increasing the proportion of copper and removing arsenic while producing zero emissions. Ecometales hopes it will get its permit around the middle of this year. It will then need to find financing of around $300 million. Some extra cash could come from extracting minor metals dismissed as impurities in a nation that has focused on copper. Ecometales is seeking commercially viable ways to extract germanium, used in night-vision technology, bismuth, a fire retardant, antimony, used in alloys, lead and a small amount of silver. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chile-copper-ecometales-idUSL5N1HE5XP'|'2017-04-07T21:40:00.000+03:00' '470ba7749c70eae7861c17be709391cdd47c1cbd'|'Oil trader Gunvor sounded out rivals to sell itself: WSJ'|'Gunvor Group Ltd [GGL.UL], one of the world''s largest oil traders, has discussed a possible sale of the company with at least two competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.Any potential deal would further consolidate a sector already dominated by a handful of players such as Glencore ( GLEN.L ), Vitol, Mercuria and Trafigura.However, Gunvor Chief Executive Torbjorn Tornqvist said the company had no sale plans at this time, the Journal reported."I expect to remain a dominant shareholder in the group for the foreseeable future," Tornqvist told the Journal via email.Tornqvist is the majority owner of the closely held Swiss firm, which also trades coal, liquefied natural gas, biofuels, power and emissions.Tornqvist said last week 2017 would be focused on building up the commodities trader''s U.S. interests, and added that he expects to announce a buyer for Gunvor''s stake in a Rotterdam terminal by the end of June.Gunvor on Monday said net profit fell to $315 million in 2016, from a record $1.25 billion the year before that was boosted by asset sales.The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters.(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-gunvor-m-a-idINKBN1791TN'|'2017-04-07T10:13:00.000+03:00' 'fb4251798e105cd361e68233524e9b4a62202368'|'Singapore-based Effissimo ups stake in Toshiba to 9.84 percent'|'TOKYO Singapore-based fund Effissimo, established by former colleagues of Japan''s most famous activist investor, Yoshiaki Murakami, raised its stake in Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) to 9.84 percent, a regulatory filing made on Friday showed.The fund last month made a filing that showed it had become the troubled electronics conglomerate''s biggest shareholder with an 8.14 percent stake.(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-shareholders-idINKBN1790Q3'|'2017-04-07T04:37:00.000+03:00' 'ad3d78b6ce89d09fd5141511f2fad1041773202a'|'Weak crude oil stunts U.S. energy IPOs, boosts outlook for M'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:00am EDT Weak crude oil stunts U.S. energy IPOs, boosts outlook for M&A By Clara Denina and David French - LONDON/NEW YORK, April 7 LONDON/NEW YORK, April 7 The stream of U.S. energy companies going public at the start of 2017 has dried up on concerns over the future direction of oil prices, but private buyers seeking mergers and acquisitions are ready to take advantage of the volatility to secure cheap deals. Texas-based FTS International and Select Energy Services are among six U.S. energy companies that filed for listings in the first quarter but delayed, even after receiving the green light from local regulators, Thomson Reuters data showed. Four U.S. oil and gas companies went public in January, when more stable crude prices gave them confidence to tap into investor demand after a barren listings period that followed a slump in U.S. crude prices in late 2015. Share prices for that quartet tumbled 14 percent on average by March 31, according to Thomson Reuters data, as crude prices retreated to end the first quarter 6.5 percent lower, the biggest quarterly decline since late 2015. Two Canadian oilfield services firms, STEP Energy Services and Source Energy, pulled their March public offerings due to adverse market conditions, further undermining the case for energy IPOs. "There was talk of upwards of 20 IPOs getting ready to go at the start of the year, but now everyone is slowing down their processes as share prices have gone down as rapidly increasing production raised concerns about how fast and how far the recovery in oilfield activity would go,” said Brian Williams, managing director at Carl Marks Advisors. Most are in the oilfield services sector, with many looking to relist and raise fresh capital after going through bankruptcy proceedings during the last oil price downturn. With the sharp cost cutting by oil producers in the last 18 months continuing to hurt profits at service firms, companies that listed in 2017 often did so based on expected performance for coming years. Sliding crude prices in March undermined hopes for future growth. "The market was looking past current conditions to 2018 and 2019 projections with valuations of eight or nine times 2018 EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), on the assumption that if you wanted to get in ahead of the future upside, you''d have to pay now," said Williams. SWITCHING TRACK Bankers said that lower IPO valuations and lingering caution on oil prices would encourage energy companies to sell themselves to private buyers instead. Some are owned by distressed debt investors and hedge funds that bought them out of bankruptcy and could still secure a substantial profit even though valuations have declined in recent weeks. Such a switch in focus should not be too difficult. Many IPO processes have been run as dual-track, where concurrent attempts to list and sell the company are made by advisors. Private equity and similar investors seeking energy assets have adequate capital. "In the current market, when the IPO valuations start to come down, if buyers are still optimistic, the sale proceeds might be more attractive to sellers than what they would get in an IPO," said Jeffery Malonson, a capital markets partner at King & Spalding. He noted the owners would also secure the benefit of a full exit from their investment as opposed to a partial one through a listing. Companies could also use the delay in listing plans to bulk up their own operations using acquisitions, which will mean they have bigger and more valuable companies when they eventually go public. This is particularly true for oilfield services and equipment providers, which need to cut costs in the face of stalling cash flows and shrinking capex, bankers said. Improved scale was seen as one of the main drivers of Schlumberger NV''s agreement last month to form a $535 million joint venture with Weatherford International Plc to deliver oilfield products and services for unconventional resource plays in the United States and Canada. While some could fund deals with their own reserves, others will need to borrow cash. With banks likely reluctant to lend substantial sums to recently-restructured companies, private equity firms and other non-bank lenders could step in here as well. However, terms for borrowers would be more onerous than they would get at banks. (Additional reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York and Ron Bousso and Eddie Dunthorne in London; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/energy-ipo-ma-idUSL5N1H768F'|'2017-04-07T13:00:00.000+03:00' '8bb29b48db06a70e4d56056576284937f82bf243'|'Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine'|'Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:06am BST Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) plan to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea because of an engine defect that is likely to "hamper safe driving," the transport ministry said on Friday. The recall covers Hyundai''s Sonata, Grandeur sedans and Kia''s K5, K7 and Sportage models equipped with a 2-liter or 2.4-liter Theta 2 gasoline engine produced before August 2013. The ministry said metal debris in crankshafts could cause engine damage, leading to possible engine stalling. Hyundai will replace a defective engine with a new one after inspection. The recall will start on May 22. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-recall-idUKKBN17903Z'|'2017-04-07T09:02:00.000+03:00' '4e2e99efa2e44f947bc51d691dd77a94ae2bfa0d'|'Udacity self-driving taxi spinoff Voyage takes aim at Uber'|'Company News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 11:03am EDT Udacity self-driving taxi spinoff Voyage takes aim at Uber FRANKFURT, April 6 Silicon Valley online education start-up Udacity is spinning out its school for driverless car engineers to develop self-driving taxis, taking aim at the likes of Uber Technologies Inc, the company said on Thursday. Udacity was co-founded by Sebastian Thrun, who was also the co-founder of the Google X research lab that led development of Google''s self-driving car. The new company, dubbed Voyage Auto, will not build its own cars but it will retrofit existing vehicles. "I''m starting a new thing with great friends called Voyage Auto," Chief Executive Oliver Cameron said on his LinkedIn page. "We’re deploying autonomous taxis to real users very, very soon." Cameron is a former VP engineering & product at Udacity. He said on his LinkedIn page that "Voyage is building an extremely cheap and safe autonomous taxi service." Udacity is worth more than $1 billion. It is betting that its focus on vocational courses for professionals, as well as its work for global companies such as Google, will help it to stand out in the fast-growing online education industry. The LinkedIn page of Voyage Auto showed it had 4 employees. Business Insider reported first about Voyage Auto. It said Voyage would not be using any of the technology built by Udacity''s students, citing Chief Marketing Officer Shernaz Daver. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uber-tech-voyage-idUSL5N1HE4WV'|'2017-04-06T23:03:00.000+03:00' 'fa191cfcf4eb4a07ca4693a7e6f1ec36103c211c'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 7)'|' 20pm EDT EU mergers and takeovers (April 7) BRUSSELS, April 7 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process: APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS -- Twenty-First Century Fox to acquire the rest of European pay-TV company Sky it does not own (approved April 7) -- Dutch insurer NN Group to acquire Dutch rival Group Delta Lloyd (approved April 7) NEW LISTINGS FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINE APRIL 10 -- Danish container shipping company Maersk to acquire German peer Hamburg Sud (notified Feb. 20/deadline extended to April 10 from March 27 after commitments submitted) APRIL 12 -- U.S. aircraft component maker Rockwell Collins to acquire aircraft interior maker B/E Aerospace (notified March 8/deadline April 12) -- U.S. car part supplier Lear to acquire Grupo Antolin''s automotive seating business (notified March 8/deadline April 12/simplified) APRIL 19 -- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions) -- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions) APRIL 24 -- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24) -- Bollore Energy, which is part of French group Bollore , and Total Marketing France, which is part of French energy company Total, to set up a joint venture (notified March 15/deadline April 24/simplified) APRIL 25 -- Private equity firm CVC to acquire Polish retailer Zabka Polska (notified March 16/deadline April 25/simplified) APRIL 26 -- Investment company Ardian to acquire majority of France''s Prosol, an operator of Grand Frais grocery stores (notified March 17/deadline April 26/simplified) -- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline April 26) -- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26) MAY 2 -- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (notified March 22/deadline May 2/simplified) MAY 4 -- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified) MAY 5 -- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5) -- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified) MAY 8 -- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified) MAY 10 -- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified) MAY 12 -- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12) -- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12) -- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified) -- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17) May 15 -- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified) -- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified) -- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified) -- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified) MAY 16 -- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified) -- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified) GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESS DEADLINES: The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case. Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days. SIMPLIFIED: Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idUSL8N1HF59V'|'2017-04-08T00:20:00.000+03:00' '42d37b8168896c51892ee8783d9306ee8d485cad'|'Oil trader Gunvor sounded out rivals to sell itself - WSJ'|' 13pm BST Oil trader Gunvor sounded out rivals to sell itself: WSJ Gunvor Group Ltd [GGL.UL], one of the world''s largest oil traders, has discussed a possible sale of the company with at least two competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing matter. Any potential deal would further consolidate a sector already dominated by a handful of players such as Glencore ( GLEN.L ), Vitol, Mercuria and Trafigura. However, Gunvor Chief Executive Torbjorn Tornqvist said the company had no sale plans at this time, the Journal reported. "I expect to remain a dominant shareholder in the group for the foreseeable future," Tornqvist told the Journal via email. Tornqvist is the majority owner of the closely held Swiss firm, which also trades coal, liquefied natural gas, biofuels, power and emissions. Tornqvist said last week 2017 would be focused on building up the commodities trader''s U.S. interests, and added that he expects to announce a buyer for Gunvor''s stake in a Rotterdam terminal by the end of June. Gunvor on Monday said net profit fell to $315 million in 2016, from a record $1.25 billion the year before that was boosted by asset sales. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-gunvor-m-a-idUKKBN1791TN'|'2017-04-07T20:05:00.000+03:00' 'feb36c89e83de05a76c1f4540d7f137c89e87f39'|'Investors pull $12 bln from U.S. stock funds in latest week -Lipper'|'Money 48pm EDT Investors pull $12 billion from U.S. stock funds in latest week: Lipper NEW YORK Investors pulled $11.9 billion from U.S.-based stock funds during the latest week, according to Lipper data on Thursday, marking the largest withdrawals since December. Taxable bond funds in the United States attracted $4.3 billion in their 3rd straight week of inflows, the data showed. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-investment-mutualfunds-lipper-idUSKBN1782X7'|'2017-04-07T05:41:00.000+03:00' '5485054f8368282cb2eeaebd59b2d8f182c0f059'|'Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:02am BST Hyundai, Kia to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea due to faulty engine left right The logo of Hyundai Motor is seen during the 2017 Seoul Motor Show in Goyang, South Korea, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 1/2 left right The logo of Kia is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 2/2 SEOUL Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) plan to recall 171,348 vehicles in South Korea because of an engine defect that is likely to "hamper safe driving," the transport ministry said on Friday. The recall covers Hyundai''s Sonata, Grandeur sedans and Kia''s K5, K7 and Sportage models equipped with a 2-liter or 2.4-liter Theta 2 gasoline engine produced before August 2013. The ministry said metal debris in crankshafts could cause engine damage, leading to possible engine stalling. Hyundai will replace a defective engine with a new one after inspection. The recall will start on May 22. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hyundai-motor-recall-idUKKBN17903R'|'2017-04-07T09:02:00.000+03:00' 'ee779351dad89c86e3d9f9a69205eb133a582372'|'MOVES-Metro Bank, Silver Ridge Asset Management'|' 39am EDT MOVES-Metro Bank, Silver Ridge Asset Management April 7 The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Friday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com. METRO BANK PLC The UK-based bank appointed Alec Viney as director, commercial banking. SILVER RIDGE ASSET MANAGEMENT The London-based hedge fund named three new portfolio managers, a source close to the firm told Reuters. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/financial-moves-idUSL3N1HF3WS'|'2017-04-07T18:39:00.000+03:00' '0f7366aec7f18bb396c1334bcf7438ad3fcd786c'|'U.S. FCC chairman plans fast-track repeal of net neutrality -sources'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 10:43pm EDT U.S. FCC chairman plans fast-track repeal of net neutrality: sources Ajit Pai, Chairman of U.S Federal Communications Commission, delivers his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is moving quickly to replace the Obama administration''s landmark net neutrality rules and wants internet service providers to voluntarily agree to maintain an open internet, three sources briefed on the meeting said Thursday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, met on Tuesday with major telecommunications trade groups to discuss his preliminary plan to reverse the rules, the sources said. The FCC declined to comment but Pai previously said he is committed to ensuring an open internet but feels net neutrality was a mistake. The rules approved by the FCC under Democratic President Barack Obama in early 2015 prohibited broadband providers from giving or selling access to speedy internet, essentially a "fast lane", to certain internet services over others. As part of that change, the FCC reclassified internet service providers much like utilities. Pai wants to overturn that reclassification, but wants internet providers to voluntarily agree to not obstruct or slow consumer access to web content, two officials said late Tuesday. The officials briefed on the meeting said Pai suggested companies commit in writing to open internet principles and including them in their terms of service, which would make them binding. It is unclear if regulators could legally compel internet providers to adopt open internet principles without existing net neutrality rules. As part of that move, the Federal Trade Commission would assume oversight of ensuring compliance. Three sources said Pai plans to unveil his proposal to overturn the rules as early as late April and it could face an initial vote in May or June. Internet providers like AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Comcast Corp have argued net neutrality rules would make it harder to manage internet traffic and investment in additional capacity less likely. Websites worry that without the rules they might lose access to customers. AT&T and major trade groups sued the FCC in 2015 over the net neutrality rules. Democrats and privacy advocates say net neutrality is crucial to keeping the internet open. Pai in December predicted that net neutrality''s days were numbered. He told Reuters in February he believes "in a free and open internet and the only question is what regulatory framework best secures that." Pai and congressional Republicans have moved quickly to dismantle Obama-era telecommunications rules. Trump on Monday signed a repeal of Obama-era broadband privacy rules a victory for internet service providers and a blow to privacy advocates. Politico Pro reported some details of the meeting with trade groups on Thursday. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-idUSKBN1790AP'|'2017-04-07T10:35:00.000+03:00' '49fccd09e7b63165874a972fd7ce753814920ab5'|'GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks off lows, oil rallies after U.S. missile strike on Syria'|' 15am EDT GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks off lows, oil rallies after U.S. missile strike on Syria * Risky assets recover from earlier selloff in Asia hours * Oil near one-month high, dollar now up on the day * Mining sector weighs on European stocks * Risk-off sentiment over week sees big bond fund inflows * US NFP data expected to show slowing, but still solid growth By Vikram Subhedar LONDON, April 7 Oil prices held near one-month highs on Friday after the United States attacked a Syrian air base but stocks and the dollar recovered early falls when a U.S. official played down the risks of an escalation. The U.S. dollar recouped all of its losses against a basket of major currencies and was last trading little changed. S&P 500 futures were flat. European stocks fell 0.2 percent weighed down by weakness in mining stocks as investors locked in some profits following the sector''s stellar run this year. The United States fired dozens of cruise missiles at a Syrian air base from which it said a chemical weapons attack was launched this week, an escalation of the U.S. military role in Syria that swiftly drew sharp criticism from Russia. A U.S. defence official told Reuters the missile strike was a "one-off", helping to calm market nerves. "The U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base overnight caused a knee-jerk shift into safe havens, although the impact was moderate as it is being interpreted as a one-off proportionate response," said Ian Williams, a strategist at Peel Hunt in London. Oil prices hovered near one-month highs though prices pared some gains as there seemed no immediate threat to supplies. Brent crude futures which surged more than 2 percent after the U.S. attack were last up 1.5 percent at $55.72 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 1.6 percent. The strength in crude oil lifted shares on major oil and gas producers in European with BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total all up about 0.5 percent. Focus was also shifting to U.S. payrolls later in the day for further cues on the strength of the economy. Job growth likely slowed in March after unseasonably mild weather boosted hiring over the prior two months. Non-farm payrolls probably increased by 180,000 jobs last month, according to a Reuters survey of economists. Elsewhere, euro zone finance ministers are due to meet with a discussion on Greece''s progress in implementing reforms needed to unlock aid as part of the agenda. While risky-assets were off their lows on the day, demand for safe-haven assets such as gold remained intact. Investors had already been on edge with talks poised to begin between Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping over flashpoints such as North Korea and China''s huge trade surplus with the United States. Investment flows underscored the broadly "risk-off" tone in markets in recent sessions. The latest data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and fund tracking firm EPFR showed investors pumped $12.4 billion into bond funds over the past week while pulling $7.4 billion from the equities, the largest outflow in 40 weeks. Spot gold was up a percent while high-rated euro zone government bonds edged lower. The yield on Germany''s 10-year government bonds fell to a one-month low. Overnight, U.S. Treasury yields dropped to their lowest level in over four months at 2.29 percent "Safe-haven flows are always affected by political events, and when it affects countries where the U.S. and Russia are interested, then investors become even more nervous because of relations (between those two)," said DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz. "Especially now you also have talks between the U.S. and China on North Korea," he added. (Additional reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUSL8N1HF2KN'|'2017-04-07T19:15:00.000+03:00' '064702da6a713cd8c0adc2dad55ae3be840ce43a'|'North American deals drive global investment banking fees to 10-year high'|'Deals 46am EDT North American deals drive global investment banking fees to 10-year high By Dasha Afanasieva - LONDON LONDON Global investment banking fees reached a 10-year high in the first quarter of 2017 with more than half of the $24 billion in total takings coming from North America, Thomson Reuters data showed on Tuesday. The rebound in fees to pre-crisis highs will be good news for global advisors who complain they are being squeezed by regulatory requirements amid competition from boutique players. Wall Street banks took the top five places last quarter, led by JP Morgan ( JPM.N ) which earned $1.7 billion in fees, followed by Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) with $1.5 billion. Fees from equity issuance almost doubled although bonds were the biggest contributor to fees globally. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was the only sector not to improve on last year''s dismal first quarter, with fees falling 2.5 percent in the first three months of this year. Uncertainty surrounding Britain''s exit from the European Union, the election in the Netherlands and upcoming polls in France and Germany dampened European activity but fees still rose almost 20 percent last quarter. The biggest fee payer was U.S. telecoms operator Charter Communications ( CHTR.O ) which has been exploring a tie-up with Verizon ( VZ.N ) and has issued a series of bonds. Investment banking fees generated by financial sponsors and their portfolio companies increased by 50 percent on a year earlier to $2.7 billion for the first quarter of 2017. Fees paid by private equity giant Blackstone ( BX.N ) more than tripled to $230 million. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Susan Fenton) Next In Deals Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral: sources TOKYO Toshiba Corp asked creditor banks for a new loan and offered as collateral a stake in its memory chip unit that is being split off, sources said, underlining the firm''s growing financial woes as it braces for a multi-billion dollar loss. Liberty Interactive Corp said on Tuesday it would buy Alaska-based telecoms firm General Communication Inc for $1.12 billion. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-investment-banking-fees-q-idUSKBN1761FC'|'2017-04-04T20:39:00.000+03:00' 'a56917a4a52e429c60961405005cf3f52c853622'|'German February industry output surges in ''extraordinary'' first quarter'|'Business 26am BST German February industry output surges in ''extraordinary'' first quarter BERLIN German industrial output surged in February and the trade balance swelled as the engine room of Europe''s largest economy fired on all cylinders to satisfy robust foreign demand that is assuaging angst about rising protectionism. Industrial output rose by 2.2 percent on the month, matching January''s expansion rate in what the Economy Ministry said had been an "extraordinarily" robust first quarter in data released so far. A Reuters poll had pointed to a dip of 0.1 percent in February. Seasonally adjusted exports rose by 0.8 percent on the month, while imports fell by 1.6 percent, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Friday. A Reuters poll had pointed to exports and imports both dipping by 0.5 percent. The upshot of the rise in exports and fall in imports was an expansion in Germany''s trade surplus to 21.0 billion euros ($22.37 billion) in February from 18.9 billion euros in January. The robust readings are the latest in a batch of strong German economic readouts and will help conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel burnish her economic credentials ahead of a Sept. 24 federal election, when she will seek a fourth term. ($1 = 0.9388 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-idUKKBN1790PD'|'2017-04-07T14:26:00.000+03:00' 'b0d985e6496264e0a0e83d40fd16070600a7086a'|'Post-Brexit-vote surge for UK economy comes to an end - Business'|'Worries that the UK economy is losing steam as Brexit negotiations begin were underscored on Friday by news of a housing market slowdown, a drop in industrial output and the weakest performance in a year for the construction industry.Economists said there was growing evidence that the UK economy slipped down a gear as it entered the new year, following a strong finish to 2016 that had confounded the doomsayers predicting a post-Brexit-vote slump.Now, 10 months on from the vote to leave the EU, economic indicators point to strains on companies from higher costs as the pound’s slump makes imported materials and fuels more expensive. Consumers, the main driving force of UK economic growth, are also under pressure from rising inflation , with signs they are becoming less willing to spend in shops, restaurants and bars.The latest official figures for February painted a picture of economic growth easing after the robust 0.7% expansion in the final three months of 2016. The Office for National Statistics commented: “Today’s data show that overall UK economic activity was relatively subdued in February, following strong growth across the headline industries at the end of 2016.”The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said growth probably slipped to 0.5% in the first quarter, based on its its analysis of the latest official figures.“A key component of this moderation has been relatively weak retail sales in the first two months of this year. Consumption is expected to moderate further this year as increasing inflation erodes households’ purchasing power,” said James Warren, research fellow at the thinktank.As a result, the Bank of England was likely to ignore rising price pressures from the weak pound in favour of shoring up growth and so would be in no hurry to raise interest rates from their all-time low of 0.25% , he added.ONS (@ONS) Economic activity was relatively subdued in Feb, following strong growth across key industries at the end of 2016 https://t.co/quM5OtzuBO April 7, 2017 The ONS figures will disappoint those commentators who hoped a boost to exports from the weak pound would offset the slowdown in consumer spending this year as households grapple with the double whammy of rising prices and sluggish pay growth . The Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, said on Friday there were signs that strong consumer demand was “coming off slowly”. “That’s what we expect but we’ll monitor it and ensure that we chart the right path,” he added at an event in London.The pound is down about 17% against the dollar and 11% against the euro since the referendum, making UK goods and services significantly cheaper to overseas buyers. A pound was worth just under $1.24 on Friday as the downbeat economic figures prompted investors to downgrade their view of the UK’s prospects.There has been some evidence of a boost to exports from the weaker pound but the latest trade figures showed Britain’s deficit for goods and services trade widened in February as exports fell and imports rose.The deficit on goods alone widened to £12.5bn from £12bn in January and was significantly deeper than the £10.9bn forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The ONS cautioned, however, that the widening was mainly down to an increase in imports of erratic goods, a category that includes big items such as ships and aircraft and those with irregular trading patterns such as precious stones and gold.Its figures for industrial production showed output fell 0.7% in February as warmer weather knocked household energy demand. That drop defied economists’ forecasts of a 0.2% rise. Within the industrial sector, manufacturing output dipped 0.1%, also missing forecasts for a 0.3% rise. But Jack Coy at the Centre for Economics and Business Research consultancy said there was still a good chance manufacturing could help shore up the wider economy this year. “Boosted by increased competitiveness from the weaker pound, manufacturers are enjoying bright prospects and strong order books. Furthermore, the exchange rate effect is likely to be magnified by strong demand in key export markets,” he said.Figures for the construction sector showed output fell 1.7% in February on the back of weaker infrastructure work and housebuilding. It was the biggest drop for almost a year and worse than forecasts for output to hold steady. The ONS said monthly construction figures were prone to swings and it noted three-month on three-month figures showed output continued to rise.UK house prices slide for first time in almost two years, says Nationwide Read more There were also fresh signs of a housing market slowdown as Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, reported house prices were rising at their slowest annual pace for almost four years. They were up 3.8% in the three months to March compared with a year earlier. “It’s now incontrovertible that the housing market has slowed sharply this year, indicating that the monetary policy committee’s interest rate cut in August provided only a temporary stimulus to demand,” said Samuel Tombs at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.Topics Economics Economic growth (GDP) EU referendum and Brexit Housing market Construction industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/07/post-brexit-vote-surge-for-uk-economy-comes-to-an-end'|'2017-04-08T01:34:00.000+03:00' 'cdd803cfd3f2f201d25f4fa4f3f596586ed796c1'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 7'|'Company News 30am EDT UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 7 (Adds company news items, futures) April 7 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 13 points lower on Friday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures down 0.2 percent ahead of the cash market open. * CO-OP BANK: Britain''s Co-operative Bank said on Friday it had received a number of non-binding offers that would go to a next phase of bidding. * HUNTING: Oilfield services company Hunting Plc said its chief executive Dennis Proctor will retire later this year after a successor has been appointed. * BRITAIN/EU CLEARING: The European Commission will reflect carefully on the location of euro-denominated derivatives clearing, a business mostly done in London now and that will be outside the EU when Britain leaves the bloc, the EU executive''s vice president said on Thursday. * BANK/EU REGULATION: The European Central Bank has proposed that large branches of foreign banks in the European Union be subject to tighter regulation and capital requirements, a move that would increase U.S. and Asian lenders'' costs and also hit British banks after Brexit. * SOUTH AFRICA RAND RIGGING: Some of the banks South African regulators have alleged rigged the rand currency say the case against them lacks specific detail about anti-competitive conduct and its impact, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. * OIL: Oil prices surged more than 2 percent on Friday after the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil, jumped to $56.08 per barrel before easing to be up 1.6 percent at $55.75 per barrel at 0310 GMT. * The UK blue chip index was down 0.4 percent at 7,303.20 points at its close on Thursday, with financials the biggest drag, taking almost 11 points off the index. U.S. equities had dipped on Wednesday. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HF2KI'|'2017-04-07T14:30:00.000+03:00' 'd7a20758d51873f99897a04440f247f3bfada7b7'|'Norway''s giant wealth fund advocates transparency on taxes'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 3:09am EDT Norway''s giant wealth fund advocates transparency on taxes OSLO Norway''s $915 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, will ask corporations around the world to show more transparency regarding tax payments, it said on Friday. Norwegian lawmakers last year ordered the fund to become more involved in international efforts to combat tax havens. With stakes in about 9,000 companies globally, owning on average 1.3 percent of all listed equities, the Norwegian fund is among the world''s most influential investors. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Camilla Knudsen; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-norway-swf-tax-idUSKBN1790UA'|'2017-04-07T15:04:00.000+03:00' 'e53e87f80c5bb437da443d49ca565b24de33b9c9'|'UK industrial output shrinks unexpectedly in Feb, adding to signs of slowdown'|' 9:42am BST UK industrial output shrinks unexpectedly in Feb, adding to signs of slowdown A worker checks a TX4 at the end of the production line at the London Taxi Company in Coventry, central England, September 11, 2013. REUTERS/Darren Staples LONDON, April 7 British industrial output fell unexpectedly in February and manufacturers struggled, according to official data on Friday that added to signs economic growth may have slowed as Britain prepares to leave the EU. Industrial output fell 0.7 percent in February, worse than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that pointed to a 0.2 percent increase and following a 0.3 percent decline in January. Separate figures showed Britain''s goods trade deficit unexpectedly hit a five-month high in February and January''s deficit was revised up too, the Office for National Statistics said. Another batch of figures showing a slump in construction output chimed with recent business surveys that suggested Britain''s economic performance probably peaked towards the end of last year. The latest ONS data suggested manufacturing was not making up for signs of a consumer spending slowdown as some economists had hoped following the pound''s post-Brexit vote drop. Output in manufacturing, which accounts for about 10 percent of Britain''s gross domestic product, unexpectedly fell 0.1 percent following a 1.0 percent fall in January, disappointing against forecasts for a 0.3 percent rise in the Reuters poll. British manufacturing had a mixed performance in 2016, with economic growth driven mostly by the much larger services sector and consumer spending. A closely-watched business survey on Monday showed British manufacturing lost some of its momentum in March, as export orders grew more slowly and demand for consumer goods faltered against a backdrop of rising inflation pressures. Separate figures from the ONS showed Britain''s goods trade deficit with the rest of the world rose to 12.461 billion pounds, compared with an upwardly revised 11.971 billion pounds in January. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 10.9 billion pounds. The ONS said the trade deficit was pushed up by erratic factors like imports of gold and aircraft. The ONS also released figures for construction output in February, which slumped 1.7 percent on the month - the biggest drop in almost a year. The Reuters poll had pointed to stagnation on the month but output in February was dragged down by 2.6 percent drop in the housebuilding sector, the sharpest decline since mid-2015. On the year, construction output rose just 0.5 percent in February - the weakest reading since March 2016 and a far cry from forecasts for a 1.9 percent rise. (Reporting by Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-idUKKBN179167'|'2017-04-07T16:38:00.000+03:00' '62f02e48f32de47902189d53acc6a452f4d27db3'|'Biotest agrees to takeover by China''s Creat in 1.3 billion euro deal'|'FRANKFURT Germany''s Biotest ( BIOG_p.DE ) has agreed to be bought by Chinese investor Creat Group Corp in a cash deal valuing the blood plasma products maker at 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), including debt.Under the deal, which follows Creat''s purchase of Britain''s Bio Products Laboratory last year, shareholders will receive 28.50 euros per ordinary share in Biotest and 19 euros per preference share, the two companies said on Friday.That''s a 43 percent premium over the price at which the ordinary shares had traded before Creat''s plans to buy Biotest became known, and a slight discount to the price of preference shares, which carry no voting rights."This transaction would deliver immediate value for stakeholders and long term value for the company," Biotest Chief Executive Bernhard Ehmer said in a statement on Friday.Biotest''s share capital is split evenly between ordinary and preference shares, with the latter share class being completely in free-float ownership.OGEL, the investment vehicle of late company founder Hans Schleussner''s family that owns 50.6 percent of ordinary shares in Biotest, has agreed to tender its stake, the companies said.Creat announced last month that it had made an offer for Biotest, whose products are used to treat blood coagulation disorders, auto-immune diseases and immune deficiencies.Ehmer said at the time that Creat had not been the only potential bidder but the company chose to talk to the Chinese investor because its proposal was "thought through".Biotest''s management and supervisory board support the deal, which is conditional on at least 75 percent of ordinary shares being tendered to Creat.Credit Suisse is acting as financial advisor to Biotest, and Ashurst LLP is legal advisor. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Creat, and Kirkland & Ellis International LLP is providing legal advice.($1 = 0.9407 euros)(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-biotest-m-a-creat-idINKBN1791RC'|'2017-04-07T09:49:00.000+03:00' '8ff66baaa23fd5ebcc891e1dcd49b6e21d28f548'|'U.S. job growth slows sharply, unemployment rate falls to 4.5 percent'|'By Lucia Mutikani - WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, U.S. employers added the fewest number of workers in 10 months in March, but a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent pointed to a labor market that continues to tighten.Nonfarm payrolls increased by 98,000 jobs last month as the retail sector shed employment for a second straight month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the fewest since last May.The economy enjoyed job gains in excess of 200,000 in January and February as unusually warm temperatures pulled forward hiring in weather-sensitive sectors like construction, leisure and hospitality. In March, temperatures dropped and a storm lashed the Northeast.The unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2007.Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing 180,000 last month and the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.7 percent.The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. The labor market is expected to hit full employment this year, which coulddrive faster wage growth.The weak payrolls gain could raise concerns about the economy''s health especially given signs that gross domestic product slowed to around a 1.0 percent annualized growth pace in the first quarter after rising at a 2.1 percent rate in the fourth quarter.Average hourly earnings increased 5 cents or 0.2 percent in March, which lowered the year-on-year increase to 2.7 percent.Given rising inflation, the moderate job gains and gradual wage increases could still keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates again in June.The U.S. central bank lifted its overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in March and has forecast two more hikes this year. The Fed has said it would look at how to reduce its portfolio of bond holdings later this year.The labor force participation rate, or the share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, held at an 11-month high of 63 percent in March.Economists attribute some of the improvement in the participation rate to President Donald Trump''s electoral victory last November, which might have caused some unemployed Americans to believe their job prospects would improve. Trump has pledged to pursue pro-growth policies such as tax cuts and deregulation.Construction jobs increased 6,000 after robust gains in January and February. Manufacturing employment gained 11,000 jobs as rising oil prices fuel demand for machinery.Retail payrolls fell 29,700, declining for a second straight month. Retailers including J.C. Penney Co Inc and Macy''s Inc have announced thousands of layoffs as they shift toward online sales and scale back on brick-and-mortar operations.Government payrolls increased 9,000 despite a freeze on the hiring of civilian workers.(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-jobs-idINKBN1791WM'|'2017-04-07T10:40:00.000+03:00' '9740a3b7e8ea1f5d601653dc7fd677ecd4ce3420'|'Weak crude oil stunts U.S. energy IPOs, boosts outlook for M&A'|'By Clara Denina and David French - LONDON/NEW YORK LONDON/NEW YORK The stream of U.S. energy companies going public at the start of 2017 has dried up on concerns over the future direction of oil prices, but private buyers seeking mergers and acquisitions are ready to take advantage of the volatility to secure cheap deals.Texas-based FTS International and Select Energy Services are among six U.S. energy companies that filed for listings in the first quarter but delayed, even after receiving the green light from local regulators, Thomson Reuters data showed.Four U.S. oil and gas companies went public in January, when more stable crude prices gave them confidence to tap into investor demand after a barren listings period that followed a slump in U.S. crude CLc1 prices in late 2015.Share prices for that quartet tumbled 14 percent on average by March 31, according to Thomson Reuters data, as crude prices retreated to end the first quarter 6.5 percent lower, the biggest quarterly decline since late 2015.Two Canadian oilfield services firms, STEP Energy Services and Source Energy, pulled their March public offerings due to adverse market conditions, further undermining the case for energy IPOs."There was talk of upwards of 20 IPOs getting ready to go at the start of the year, but now everyone is slowing down their processes as share prices have gone down as rapidly increasing production raised concerns about how fast and how far the recovery in oilfield activity would go,” said Brian Williams, managing director at Carl Marks Advisors.Most are in the oilfield services sector, with many looking to relist and raise fresh capital after going through bankruptcy proceedings during the last oil price downturn.With the sharp cost cutting by oil producers in the last 18 months continuing to hurt profits at service firms, companies that listed in 2017 often did so based on expected performance for coming years. Sliding crude prices in March undermined hopes for future growth."The market was looking past current conditions to 2018 and 2019 projections with valuations of eight or nine times 2018 EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), on the assumption that if you wanted to get in ahead of the future upside, you''d have to pay now," said Williams.SWITCHING TRACKBankers said that lower IPO valuations and lingering caution on oil prices would encourage energy companies to sell themselves to private buyers instead.Some are owned by distressed debt investors and hedge funds that bought them out of bankruptcy and could still secure a substantial profit even though valuations have declined in recent weeks.Such a switch in focus should not be too difficult. Many IPO processes have been run as dual-track, where concurrent attempts to list and sell the company are made by advisors. Private equity and similar investors seeking energy assets have adequate capital."In the current market, when the IPO valuations start to come down, if buyers are still optimistic, the sale proceeds might be more attractive to sellers than what they would get in an IPO," said Jeffery Malonson, a capital markets partner at King & Spalding.He noted the owners would also secure the benefit of a full exit from their investment as opposed to a partial one through a listing.Companies could also use the delay in listing plans to bulk up their own operations using acquisitions, which will mean they have bigger and more valuable companies when they eventually go public.This is particularly true for oilfield services and equipment providers, which need to cut costs in the face of stalling cash flows and shrinking capex, bankers said.Improved scale was seen as one of the main drivers of Schlumberger NV''s ( SLB.N ) agreement last month to form a $535 million joint venture with Weatherford International Plc ( WFT.N ) to deliver oilfield products and services for unconventional resource plays in the United States and Canada.While some could fund deals with their own reserves, others will need to borrow cash. With banks likely reluctant to lend substantial sums to recently-restructured companies, private equity firms and other non-bank lenders could step in here as well. However, terms for borrowers would be more onerous than they would get at banks.(Additional reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York and Ron Bousso and Eddie Dunthorne in London; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-energy-ipo-m-a-idINKBN1790JE'|'2017-04-07T03:27:00.000+03:00' 'bd9b5e981107160b234b036686498991d5495a68'|'Italy''s service sector growth slows in March, PMI shows'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 8:48am BST Italy''s service sector growth slows in March, PMI shows A barman serves Kimbo espresso coffees at the Eataly motorway restaurant on highway in Modena, Central Italy, May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini ROME, Italy''s service sector grew more slowly in March than in February, when it expanded at its fastest pace in more than a year, a survey showed on Wednesday. The Markit/ADACI Business Activity Index for services companies fell to 52.9 from 54.1 the month before, staying above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction. In February, the index registered its highest reading since December 2015. The index was below the median forecast of 54.2 in a Reuters poll of 13 analysts. The sub-index for new work at businesses ranging from insurers to hairdressers declined to 54.3 from 55.2 in February. But Markit''s sister survey for manufacturing, released on Monday, rose at its fastest rate in six years in March. The composite PMI for services and manufacturing edged down to 54.2 from 54.8. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni''s government is forecasting economic growth of 1.0 percent in 2017, slightly above last year''s rate of 0.9 percent. Detailed PMI data are only available under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit for a licence. (Reporting by Steve Scherer, editing by Larry King) Next In Business News Korea''s KEPCO cautious as Britain hunts partner for crucial nuclear project - sources SEOUL As Britain steps up the hunt for a new partner for a stalled nuclear power project, South Korea''s KEPCO remains the most likely suitor, but two people with direct knowledge of the matter said the giant utility won''t be rushed to the altar.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-economy-pmi-idUKKBN1770QQ'|'2017-04-05T15:48:00.000+03:00' '93e1e6d6503fe6ebb6cf14f4c0a56334d278fbe6'|'Some investors confident as $3 bln Venezuela debt payment looms'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 4:00pm EDT Some investors confident as $3 bln Venezuela debt payment looms By Dion Rabouin , Claire Milhench and Karin Strohecker - NEW YORK/LONDON, April 4 NEW YORK/LONDON, April 4 Venezuela will likely stay current on its debt and make about $3 billion in payments next week, according to some investors and bondholders, voicing guarded optimism even amid worsening turmoil for the country. Venezuela bond bulls have come under pressure since the country''s Supreme Court stripped all powers from its Congress in a ruling last week, a power grab that drew widespread condemnation and sent its traded debt to nine-month lows, even sinking after the court reversed the move. So far, betting on Venezuelan bonds has tended to pay off for investors able to separate the government''s steady ability to honor payment deadlines from widespread concern about its stability and economic stewardship. "We still have a buy recommendation on the PDVSA April maturity and the longer sovereign bonds and PDVSA bonds, but we have to revisit that every day as the news comes out," said Stuart Culverhouse, head of research at Exotix Partners, a London-based investment firm for frontier and illiquid markets. Optimism about Petroleos de Venezuela SA, better known as PDVSA, coming up with the $2.55 billion in cash it owes on April 12 is not universal. Venezuela also needs to pay $437 million in interest due on its sovereign bonds. Credit default swaps, which investors buy as insurance against a bond defaulting, widened to 61.5 percent on Monday, indicating the highest risk level on the PDVSA bonds since December. In recent days, PDVSA has realized it needs help from its Russian counterpart to be able to meet its hefty April payments, sources told Reuters on Friday. Also adding to investors'' concern is the paucity of economic and other data coming out of the OPEC nation, which has the world''s biggest crude oil reserves. "Venezuela hasn’t published growth numbers since the third quarter of 2015 print – we’re driving blind here," said Alejo Czerwonko, an emerging market strategist at UBS Wealth Management. The price on Venezuela''s benchmark $4 billion bond maturing in September 2027 with a 9.25 percent coupon slid during last week''s political crisis and fell further this week. The bond''s yield, which moves in the opposite direction of price, has risen to nearly 24 percent, the highest since June 20. Still, the bonds'' lofty interest rates and Venezuela''s record of consistent debt payments, even in the face of crippling food shortages, lackluster oil prices and mass public unrest have kept investors coming back for more. "It''s a country that does offer very solid returns and has the potential to be a much higher rated country in the future," said Shamaila Khan, director of emerging markets fixed income at AllianceBernstein in New York, who recently returned from a trip to the country. Khan declined to say whether AllianceBernstein was planning to make any changes to its holdings of Venezuelan debt. Confidence in Venezuela meeting its debt obligations was driven, at least in part, by the reliance of President Nicolas Maduro on capital markets to keep his government in power, UBS''s Czerwonko said. “What is bad for the country is not that bad for the bondholders – the current regime is committed to servicing the external debt of Venezuela and PDVSA," said Shahzad Hasan, portfolio manager emerging markets fixed income at Allianz Global Investors. “If anything I was more worried about default in the previous two years than I am this year," he said. (Reporting by Dion Rabouin; Editing by Christian Plumb and Tom Brown) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-politics-bonds-idUSL2N1HB18K'|'2017-04-05T04:00:00.000+03:00' 'e7eec38affbba6f18374b8f82904592700cd132d'|'Lockheed CH-53K helicopter gets production go ahead from Pentagon'|'Politics - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 4:10pm EDT Lockheed CH-53K helicopter gets production go ahead from Pentagon Lockheed Martin Corp received Pentagon approval on Tuesday to begin production of CH-53K King Stallion helicopter for the U.S. marines, the Department of Defense said on Tuesday. The award includes 200 helicopters, each costing $87 million on average and $105 million including spare parts and certain service contracts, a Defense Department official had told Reuters last week. The $27 billion program also includes more than $6 billion in research and development costs. The new helicopter, developed by Lockheed''s Sikorsky helicopter business, can lift 36,000 pounds and would replace the CH-53E Super Stallion, which has operated as the backbone of field logistics for the U.S. Marines since the mid-1980s. (Reporting by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva) Next In Politics'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-helicopter-approval-idUSKBN1762O5'|'2017-04-05T03:50:00.000+03:00' '2f13bd634fa506a2123821ddc5aeffa48bff20e7'|'Exclusive: Embraer, Rockwell Collins eye shared remote sensing portfolio'|'By Brad Haynes - RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO U.S. aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins Inc ( COL.N ) and Brazil''s Embraer SA ( EMBR3.SA ) will assess each other''s remote sensing and border control technology for possible joint sales, a senior executive for the Brazilian planemaker told Reuters.Jackson Schneider, chief executive of Embraer''s defense division, said subsidiaries Bradar and Savis could eventually include Rockwell Collins products into their portfolios or have their technology included in the U.S. partner''s offerings."Right now we''re not identifying specific programs (for sales)," Schneider said in an interview on the eve of the LAAD defense expo in Rio de Janeiro, which opens Tuesday. "They''re looking at our best products for their international portfolio and we''re going to do the same for theirs here in Brazil."Schneider did not provide an estimate for the value of the joint sales. Rockwell Collins could not be immediately reached for a comment outside business hours.International partnerships are common in the aerospace industry, especially on defense contracts where strategic relationships with governments are key. Embraer has partnered in recent years with Boeing Co ( BA.N ) to sell and support the KC-390 military cargo jet and with Israel''s Elbit Systems Ltd ( ESLT.TA ) to study a potential joint venture to build drones.One outlet for the new Rockwell Collins partnership could be the Brazilian government''s SISFRON program, which is aimed at securing long stretches of the country''s remote 17,000 km (10,500 mile) border against arms and drug trafficking.Embraer''s subsidiaries have completed about 70 percent of the initial SISFRON contract, Schneider said, adding he was watching whether a federal spending freeze would hit the 450 million reais ($145 million) earmarked for the program in 2017.He declined to comment on the chances of a much-discussed second phase for the program.Joint sales with Rockwell Collins could open new markets to Embraer''s fledgling defense portfolio, which grew as Brazil''s military spending surged early this decade before the government delayed or scaled back several programs due to a deep recession.International sales are now crucial to extending the horizon of several defense programs, such as the KC-390 military transport aircraft under development for Brazil''s Air Force.Schneider said 20 international delegations at LAAD, Latin America''s biggest defense and security expo, expressed interest in visiting a prototype of the KC-390 at a nearby air base."We''re working actively to close a foreign sale of the KC-390," Schneider said, declining to name the countries closest to such a deal or specify a timeline for negotiations.(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-defense-embraer-idINKBN17614O'|'2017-04-04T15:22:00.000+03:00' '5a9d225dae67c1510b5f3535bac698d2e4b49a51'|'UPDATE 1-BMO Financial Group appoints Darryl White chief executive'|' 45am EDT UPDATE 1-BMO Financial Group appoints Darryl White chief executive (Adds comment by chairman, current chief executive) April 7 Bank of Montreal, Canada''s fourth-biggest lender, said on Friday its Chief Operating Officer Darryl White will step up to be chief executive in November, succeeding Bill Downe who will retire. Downe, 64, has served a decade in the role since his appointment in March 2007. White has worked at the bank for more than 20 years and was appointed chief operating officer last November. "This planned succession will provide continuity for our bank as we focus on the strategic priorities that have been set," Chairman Robert Prichard said in a statement. Downe will stay in his position until the end of October, with White taking over the reins on Nov. 1, the start of BMO''s financial year. In a statement, Downe welcomed White''s appointment. "Darryl possesses a deep understanding of the financial industry. His command of the bank''s fundamental performance drivers and what constitutes opportunity for the organization is distinctive," he said. BMO performed strongly in the first quarter, with profits well exceeding market expectations. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham in Toronto Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D''Couto and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bmo-ceo-idUSL3N1HF4A3'|'2017-04-07T20:45:00.000+03:00' 'ab3b109de0b81590f9b379076596980c64921f10'|'Competition authority to examine warranties for new homes - Business'|'The Competition and Markets Authority is examining payments between housebuilders and the providers of warranties for new homes as part of a review of NHBC, the largest warranty provider.The CMA announced last month it was reviewing undertakings made by NHBC, the standard-setting body for new-build properties in the UK and the main warranty provider. These 22-year-old undertakings were designed to improve competition in the warranty market. The review was announced amid concerns that NHBC is compromising its independence by paying millions of pounds to developers every year . However, the CMA said it was launching the review following a request from NHBC and that it would not consider the “wider issues” relating to the organisation.Nonetheless, the CMA has sent a substantial list of questions about warranties to leading figures in the sector as part of its investigation. The questions, which have been seen by the Guardian, include asking warranty providers whether they have loyalty or low-claim schemes that compensate builders with a low claim rate and how these payments are calculated.The Guardian revealed this year that NHBC is paying around £10m to £15m every year to housebuilders through what is effectively a profit-share agreement. Campaigners said these payments called into question NHBC’s independence from housebuilders . In response, NHBC said the payments were a “very small” proportion of its annual turnover and that it was common practice in the insurance industry to recognise good claims history.NHBC, which claims to have an 80% share of the new-build market, sets quality standards for new homes and provides 10-year warranties to buyers. The warranty is a form of insurance that is supposed to compensate the consumer or fix faults in the new property if there are problems within the first 10 years.However, there has been growing criticism of the quality of new homes in Britain and the lack of protection for consumers. Bovis, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, was forced to pay out £7m to compensate customers who bought poorly built new homes, while Clarion Housing Group, the country’s largest housing association, has agreed to buy back properties in a London development. A survey published by the House Builders Federation revealed that 98% of customers have reported snags or defects with their home since moving in a year ago, up from 93% last year.Philip Waller, a retired construction manager who runs the campaign website brand-newhomes.co.uk, said: “The NHBC ‘premium rebates’ to plc housebuilders and the minimum claim value [for new home buyers], which is currently £1,550, are two areas I believe that require examination and investigation. “I also feel that the historic claims data collected by the NHBC relating to specific individual housebuilders should be made publicly available enabling consumers to make a better-informed buying decision.”The undertakings made by NHBC were that it allowed housebuilders on its register to use other warranty providers and that it did not make changes to its rules that could hurt competition without approval from competition authorities. These are now being reviewed.The CMA declined to comment about the questions sent as part of the review.The NHBC said: “There have been significant changes in the new home structural warranty market over the last 20 years and NHBC’s view is that its undertakings are now obsolete. So, when approached by the CMA, we welcomed the opportunity to work with them and we asked for the undertakings to be reviewed and released. This reflects our commitment to maintaining an open and competitive market for new home structural warranties. “The CMA’s review will look at how the market for new home structural warranties currently operates to protect homebuyers in order to see if there has been a change in circumstances which would justify the removal or variation of the undertakings. The CMA has expressly stated that it will not be considering wider issues relating to NHBC as part of this review.” Topics Competition and Markets Authority Construction industry Housing market Real estate Regulators Insurance industry news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/07/competition-authority-to-examine-warranties-for-new-homes'|'2017-04-07T15:00:00.000+03:00' '3133b4a9b58e880f7164ed5f79af0961e5b46438'|'BRIEF-Arconic announces divestiture of its Fusina, Italy Rolling Mill'|' 26pm EDT BRIEF-Arconic announces divestiture of its Fusina, Italy Rolling Mill April 6 Arconic Inc * Arconic announces divestiture of its Fusina, Italy Rolling Mill * Arconic- expects to record restructuring-related charges representing loss on sale of about $60 million after tax, or $0.12 per diluted share * Arconic - charges primarily relate to non-cash impairment of net book value of business, injection of $10 million in cash into business prior to its sale * Arconic Inc - restructuring-related charges of $60 million to be recorded in statement of consolidated operations for q1 of 2017 * Arconic Inc - global rolled products'' has increased its adjusted ebitda margin by 890 basis points - from 3 percent in 2008 to 11.9 percent in 2016 * Arconic inc - announced divestiture of its Fusina, Italy rolling mill to Slim Aluminium Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-arconic-announces-divestiture-of-i-idUSASB0B8XF'|'2017-04-07T06:26:00.000+03:00' 'bf85880b090f6674c5e4d07f636339fd0e7f409b'|'GM China vehicle sales fall in Q1 as tax cut rolled back'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:50am EDT GM China vehicle sales fall in Q1 as tax cut rolled back BEIJING, April 7 U.S. automaker General Motors Co said on Friday its first quarter sales in China fell 5.2 percent compared to the same period a year ago due to a shift in the government''s tax policy and Lunar New Year fluctuations. The decline comes despite a 16 percent year-on-year increase in China sales in March. Demand for cars in China, the world''s largest auto market, got a shot in the arm in 2016 as people rushed to buy before the planned expiration of a tax cut on vehicles with engines of 1.6 litres or below. That year-end spike could depress auto sales in 2017, GM''s China joint venture partner SAIC Motor Corp said earlier this weak. The purchase tax on small-engine vehicles rose to 7.5 percent this year from 5 percent last year, after the government revised its outright expiry at the end of 2016. The tax will return to the normal level of 10 percent in 2018. A GM spokeswoman also cited the earlier Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which fluctuates between January and February each year, for the drop. Separately, Nissan Motor Co said on Friday its China sales rose 5.3 percent for the first quarter. That came a day after Toyota Motor Corp reported a 1.7 percent rise in China sales for the first three months of 2017, and a double-digit increase for Honda Motor Co. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/gm-china-idUSL3N1HF2KS'|'2017-04-07T14:50:00.000+03:00' 'e448ac9ba8d84337a6d0eeb1db7ab121500caf45'|'BRIEF-Air Lease announces activity update for Q1 of 2017'|' 06am EDT BRIEF-Air Lease announces activity update for Q1 of 2017 April 4 Air Lease Corp * Air Lease Corporation activity update for the first quarter of 2017 * Air Lease Corp - at end of q1 of 2017, alc''s fleet was comprised of 243 owned aircraft and 31 managed aircraft * Air Lease Corp says concluded sale of remaining 5 embraer aircraft to nordic aviation capital '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-air-lease-announces-activity-updat-idUSFWN1HC065'|'2017-04-04T19:06:00.000+03:00' '70468ac0d3bc0e28fe9c6314090ca4411bf700a6'|'BRIEF-Rupert Resources announces appointment of James Withall as Chief Executive Officer'|' 30am EDT BRIEF-Rupert Resources announces appointment of James Withall as Chief Executive Officer April 4 Rupert Resources Ltd: * Rupert resources announces appointment of James Withall as Chief Executive Officer * Withall will assume Chief Executive Officer role effective April 18, 2017 * Brian Hinchcliffe, current CEO, will move into role of Executive Chairman of co Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-rupert-resources-announces-appoint-idUSASB0B8I1'|'2017-04-04T23:30:00.000+03:00' 'b56a16e574c3ac6c60b360df7ffe614977e082da'|'Argentina asks court to fully suspend work at Veladero mine'|' 11:04am EDT Argentina asks court to fully suspend work at Veladero mine BUENOS AIRES, April 7 Argentina''s environmental ministry asked a federal court to totally suspend operations at Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero mine in San Juan province, according to a statement issued by the ministry on Friday. San Juan provincial government had already rejected a work plan from Barrick after a pipe carrying gold-bearing solution ruptured a leach pad at its Veladero mine last week. Operations at the mine have been partially suspended since then. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/barrick-gold-veladero-idUSE6N1A1029'|'2017-04-07T23:04:00.000+03:00' '513811e3065ef8ecdaee5fc369ef224d63a4dc0b'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil to waive 30 pct IPI tax on Colombian autos - source'|' 11:56am EDT UPDATE 1-Brazil to waive 30 pct IPI tax on Colombian autos - source (Adds quote, document seen by Reuters) BRASILIA, April 7 Brazil has agreed to allow imports of Colombian vehicles and car parts without a 30 percent industrial products tax (IPI) as part of a bilateral auto pact under negotiation during Mercosur trade talks with Pacific coast nations in Latin America, a Brazilian government source said on Friday. The source at the trade meeting in Buenos Aires said final details were still being worked out with Colombia, an increasingly important market for Brazilian auto exports. Non-Mercosur autos pay the IPI tax and another 35 percent import tax to be sold in Brazil. "We have agreed to give the Colombian auto industry the same preferential treatment given to the Argentine industry," the source said. "Their cars will not pay the IPI 30 percent tax." The agreement will help Brazilian exports to Colombia with reciprocal treatment that was still being worked out, he added. A section of a draft of a Mercosur-Colombia agreement prepared for signature on Friday afternoon and seen by Reuters said the Brazilian government will extend to Colombia the same treatment it gives to countries with which it has preferential auto trade agreements, such as Argentina and Mexico. The agreement with Colombia would begin on Jan. 1, 2018. Foreign affairs and trade ministers meeting in Buenos Aires on Friday discussed ways to bring the South American customs union formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay closer to the free-trading nations of the Pacific Alliance that includes Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-colombia-autos-idUSL1N1HF0RK'|'2017-04-07T23:56:00.000+03:00' 'ea8c12533f002cdd8883b5b170cdeeeb7e346e5c'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Twenty-First Century Fox, Biotest, Allied Minds, SVPGlobal, Gunvor Group)April 7 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Friday:** Britain''s Co-Operative Bank said it had received a number of non-binding offers that would go into a next phase of bidding, as the struggling lender seeks a takeover that would ward off the need for state intervention.** Samsonite International said it would buy U.S.-based online travel bags retailer eBags Inc for $105 million cash, as the luggage maker accelerates growth of its e-commerce business in North America and worldwide.** Singapore-based fund Effissimo, established by former colleagues of Japan''s most famous activist investor, Yoshiaki Murakami, raised its stake in Toshiba Corp to 9.84 percent, a regulatory filing showed.** Rupert Murdoch''s Twenty-First Century Fox is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its 11.7-billion-pound ($14.5 billion) takeover of European pay-TV group Sky, two people familiar with the matter said.** Germany''s Biotest has agreed to be bought by Chinese investor Creat Group Corp in a cash deal valuing the blood plasma products maker at 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), including debt.** Gunvor Group Ltd, one of the world''s largest oil traders, has discussed a possible sale of the company with at least two competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.** Amancio Ortega, founder of the world''s biggest clothing retailer Inditex and Europe''s richest man, has put a majority stake in the firm that owns the Zara fashion chain into a holding company to ensure family control remains unassailable after he dies.** Norway''s Telenor has sold a 4 percent stake in Amsterdam-based mobile network operator Veon for $259 million as part of an ongoing campaign to cut all ownership ties to the firm formerly known as Vimpelcom.** Top shareholder Invesco Perpetual trimmed its stake in UK''s Allied Minds, according to a regulatory filing issued, as shares of the tech and life-sciences incubator slid to all-time lows.** Private equity group SVPGlobal will combine its packaging firms Kloeckner Pentaplast and Linpac to increase their clout ahead of a planned stock market listing.** The Trump administration and Japan''s government are in talks to ensure that the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp''s Westinghouse Electric, which could lead to the eventual sale of its nuclear business, does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands, a U.S. official said on Thursday. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HF3RQ'|'2017-04-07T11:30:00.000+03:00' 'f2c3d1a6da2764cdd44090b72bc2947288c66431'|'Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach'|'Deals - Europe - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:55pm IST Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach left right FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: An employee of PT Unilever Indonesia shows Pepsodent tooth paste at Foodmart Fresh supermarket in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo 2/2 By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Unilever ( ULVR.L ) ( UNc.AS ) promised a multi-billion pound program of shareholder rewards on Thursday after a corporate rethink sparked by a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ), aiming to prove it can generate lucrative returns as an independent company. Under a restructuring sparked by the rebuffed $143 billion offer by its U.S. rival, the maker of Dove soap and Knorr soup set out an accelerated cost-saving plan, the sale of its Flora to Stork spreads business where sales are declining, and a review of its dual-headed Anglo-Dutch structure. As part of its strategy to improve investor rewards and justify its rejection of Kraft Heinz''s approach, Unilever will also splash out 5 billion euros (4.25 billion pounds) in a share buyback and will raise its dividend 12 percent this year. Unilever, one of Europe''s biggest blue-chip stocks, called the Kraft episode a "trigger moment" to assess its business, as the global packaged goods industry faces slowing growth and greater competition. In the weeks since the review was announced, some analysts had speculated that Unilever would split into two companies in a dramatic reversal of its strategy, but executives said this was not on the cards and repeated the rationale that there are benefits from having both businesses. "We are confident our model of long-term compounding growth is working," Chief Executive Paul Polman said. MARGIN IMPROVEMENT The group said it would speed up a cost-savings plan, targeting a 20 percent underlying operating margin, before restructuring, by 2020, up from 15.3 percent in 2016. Chief Financial Officer Graeme Pitkethly told Reuters that much of the margin improvement would come from the food business, which it now plans to combine with the refreshment business, which includes Ben & Jerry''s ice cream and Lipton tea. Unilever also said it would take on more debt, at least in part to finance acquisitions, targeting net debt of 2 times core earnings or EBITDA. Its leverage ratio has been below 1 time for more than half of the past 20 years, Jefferies analysts have said. It would launch a share buyback this year of 5 billion euros having not had a buyback program in place since 2008. Pitkethly said merger and acquisition activity should pick up as the company increases its appetite for leverage, but said the strategy regarding big deals was unchanged. He said Unilever would consider combining its dual-headed structure - in Britain and the Netherlands - into one, but said the choice of which might stand would not be impacted by Brexit. Regarding the shrinking margarine and spreads business, which is one of its founding businesses, Pitkethly said it was already seeing a lot of interest, particularly from financial players such as private equity firms. Unilever''s London-listed shares, which had risen to a record 4,088 pence in recent weeks ahead of the announcement, were flat at 3,933p by 0812 GMT. (Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Holmes) Next In Deals - Europe'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-review-idINKBN1780TV'|'2017-04-06T16:15:00.000+03:00' '697c90e36b2f7c17157cb7c3421233e43d45fd31'|'What’s Your Most Awkward Team-Building Experience?'|'“At a previous job, our boss would sometimes take us bowling. This time, though, he wanted to go paintballing. I’m not a good shot, and I wasn’t aiming for him, but my paintball went awry. The next thing I knew, he was on the floor. The game was stopped, the ambulance came, and people started talking about potential liver rupture and damage to his kidneys. He was OK—a preexisting condition had flared up. After the event, he told me it wasn’t my fault, but I felt horrible and left the company six weeks later.”Christina CombenContent manager, Day Translations Inc., Valencia, Spain“I was working for a health-care company that had its team-building event at a Native American casino in Southern California. The company hired an outside consultant to facilitate the event, and they were doing a great job until one of the facilitators, a white guy with blond hair and blue eyes, came onstage dressed like a Native American. Many servers working the event were Native American and were offended. Casino management stopped the event and kicked us out.”Pete AbillaFounder and chief executive officer, Find a Tutor Near Me, Salt Lake CityIllustrator: Ping Zhu for Bloomberg Businessweek “We took a group of 120 people, divided them into teams, and set them loose on a scavenger hunt around a theme park. Each team had a different-colored bandanna, and they were running around completing missions when a security guard misinterpreted one bandanna for a gang symbol. He made that team follow him to a side alley, where he could ask them questions about what they were doing. They were allowed to continue but had to take off the bandannas.”Sharon FisherCEO, Play With a Purpose, Orlando“We like to combine service elements into our team-building activities. In June 2015 my staff met at the Boston Harbor dock to board a boat to a nearby island to do some cleanup. While talking with a colleague, I stepped back and fell into the water, scraping my back on a post as I went down. I cut myself pretty badly, the water was freezing, and it was over my head. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and felt weighed down. The thought of drowning came to mind, and I panicked. Thankfully, my team sprang into action and pulled me up.”Janet KosloffCEO and co-founder, InCrowd Inc., Boston“At a previous company, I was participating in a manager-training meeting. We were divided into teams and tasked with hoisting each other through an imaginary window—basically, a rope stretched 3 feet off the ground—in an allotted time. One team had to lift an obese woman. Everyone in the room saw the struggle, and she ended up crying. Some people were kind to her, but most ignored the awkward situation and pretended it didn’t happen.”Seth OllertonContent marketing manager, DecisionWise, Provo, Utah'|'bloomberg.com'|'https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek'|'http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-05/what-s-your-most-awkward-team-building-experience'|'2017-04-05T20:00:00.000+03:00' 'c52d3f19f84df91d4c05eb2265db11fbad9f8f50'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 6'|'Company News 13pm EDT PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 6 April 6 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines * Steve Bannon removed from National Security Council role. on.ft.com/2oDqv32 * Trump signals tougher stance on Syria. on.ft.com/2oDuE79 * Pepsi withdraws Kendall Jenner ad after social media backlash. on.ft.com/2oDqmN1 Overview * U.S. President Donald Trump removed his chief strategist Steve Bannon from the National Security Council on Wednesday, reversing his controversial decision early this year to give a political adviser an unprecedented role in security discussions. * U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad''s government of going "beyond a red line" with a poison gas attack on civilians, but he declined to spell out how or whether his administration would respond. * PepsiCo pulled a commercial featuring model Kendall Jenner on Wednesday after the ad prompted outrage and ridicule from those who said it trivialized rights protests and public unrest in the United States. (Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL2N1HD29X'|'2017-04-06T07:13:00.000+03:00' 'fa1bf6d74ee9d8adbe09c9504337d553752471e9'|'Signs point away from Trump labelling China currency manipulator'|'Foreign Exchange Analysis 05am BST Signs point away from Trump labelling China currency manipulator U.S. 100 dollar banknotes and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration in Beijing, China, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Illustration/File Photo By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump looks unlikely to formally declare China a currency manipulator next week just days after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign exchange policy experts say, leaving a vocal Trump campaign pledge unmet, at least for now. The U.S. Treasury would have to radically change its definitions of currency manipulation in order to squeeze China into that label for its next report due April 14, said these experts, several of whom contributed to past Treasury analysis of foreign exchange practices. But over time, the Trump administration may consider changes to the Obama administration''s currency definitions as the Treasury gains staff. "It would be hard to come up with a credible standard that would catch China in the net," said David Dollar, a former U.S. Treasury economic liaison to China who is now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Trump pledged to label China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration, but so far has refrained. A trade and customs enforcement law enacted last year set out three criteria for identifying manipulation among major trading partners: a "material" global current account surplus, a "significant" bilateral trade surplus with the United States, and persistent one-way intervention in foreign exchange markets. The Treasury is required to demand special talks with any country meeting all three thresholds aimed at correcting an undervalued currency, with penalties such as exclusion from U.S. government procurement contracts available after a year. Under the current Obama-defined thresholds, China only meets one of these criteria, based on its $347 billion (£278.22 billion) goods trade surplus with the United States. Its central bank has for the past two years spent over $1 trillion to prop up the yuan''s value - not to push it down. China''s current account surplus, an indicator of its global trade balance, was 1.8 percent of GDP in 2016, well below the threshold for action. The U.S. Treasury says it is "premature" to comment on the outcome of its currency review and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said it will adhere to past practice in its assessment, suggesting that radical changes will not be made in this publication. "The conclusion among people like me from that seems to be that they''re moving away from naming China," said Matthew Goodman, former Treasury official who wrote currency reports during the Clinton administration and is now at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. But with the Trump administration pushing a trade agenda aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits, particularly those with China, experts said that they expect the Trump administration to consider changes aimed at deterring future manipulations. Treasury will be in a much better position to make such changes for its October currency report, said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar and China trade expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "I would be very surprised if a year from now the Obama criteria were still in place," Scissors said. The most logical option would be to lengthen the time period for reviewing currency market interventions from 12 months to several years, capturing more past interventions by China, according to the policy experts. One senior South Korean official told Reuters that doing this would likely lead to manipulator designations for South Korea, Taiwan and possibly other countries. Treasury also could reduce the current account surplus threshold below 3 percent of GDP to try to capture more potential offenders, but that would be at odds with longstanding views of the International Monetary Fund and G20 finance officials that 3 pct of GDP is about where surpluses start to become a concern. (Reporting by David Lawder; additional reporting by Christine Kim in Seoul; Editing by David Chance and Grant McCool) Next In Foreign Exchange Analysis Pound bears warned of sterling''s springtime shine LONDON Investors wary of the impact of Brexit have stacked up record-high bets against the pound, and some in the market warn a traditional April rise in the currency could be a painful spring surprise for anyone who has shorted it. Rand tumbles after S&P downgrades South Africa to "junk" JOHANNESBURG South Africa''s rand fell more than 2 percent on Monday to its weakest in almost three months after S&P Global Ratings cut the country''s credit score to sub-investment grade with a negative outlook after last week''s dismissal of the South African finance minister. TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Tuesday declined to comment on what the appropriate level for the yen is, saying foreign exchange policy is decided by the finance ministry. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-china-trade-idUKKBN1772Z2'|'2017-04-06T07:05:00.000+03:00' 'f76ea366e0197e6634ca1b5671fa31382b0beb20'|'UPDATE 3-Europe regulator says airlines'' tech ban may compromise safety'|'World News 05pm EDT Europe regulator says airlines'' tech ban may compromise safety By Victoria Bryan and Tim Hepher - BERLIN/PARIS BERLIN/PARIS Europe''s aviation regulator voiced concern on Wednesday over the risk of battery fires in the cargo holds of passenger planes after U.S. and British authorities banned certain electronics from passenger cabins despite U.S. assurances that its agency had been thoroughly briefed on the proper handling of electronics. The European Aviation Safety Agency, which is responsible for safe flying in 32 countries, said personal electronic devices (PED) carried a fire risk due to their lithium batteries and should preferably be carried inside passenger cabins so that any problems could be identified and dealt with. In regard to the European agency''s concerns, the U.S. Transportation Safety Administration said it had "coordinated closely with the FAA" (Federal Aviation Administration) on the logistics of the ban and that the agency had provided information to airlines regarding appropriate handling of electronics and lithium batteries. The European agency, however, warned in a bulletin: "When the carriage of PEDs in the cabin is not allowed, it leads to a significant increase of the number of PEDs in the cargo compartment. Certain precautions should therefore be observed to mitigate the risk of accidental fire in the cargo hold." Computers in checked baggage must be completely switched off and "well protected from accidental activation," it added. The Cologne, Germany-based agency issued its guidance two weeks after the United States and Britain banned gadgets larger than a smartphone from passenger cabins on flights from certain countries because of security concerns. The European safety recommendation is not mandatory, but is likely to rekindle a debate about the new rules, which some airline chiefs have criticized as inconsistent or ineffective. A group representing 38,000 European pilots said last week it was "seriously concerned" about the ban, on the grounds that it could create new safety risks. "With current airplane cargo hold fire suppression systems, it might prove to be impossible to extinguish a lithium battery fire in the cargo hold, especially when the batteries are stored together. Therefore, any event of this nature during flight would more than likely be catastrophic," the European Cockpit Association said. It is not the first time regulators have called for personal devices to be carried in the cabin, but possibly the first time such measures have clashed so directly with security considerations. In 2015, international regulators urged airlines to transport lithium-powered hoverboards in the cabin following reports of the popular devices catching fire. Several airlines went even further and banned them altogether, but travel experts say such a draconian ban on computers would carry little support from the industry or its lucrative business travelers. JUGGLING RISKS Security experts say the decision to place electronics into checked bags on U.S.-bound flights from eight Middle East or North African countries suggests Washington has intelligence that enough material can now be packed into a laptop, usually disguised as its battery, to cause catastrophic damage. Placing such objects in checked baggage would expose them to greater screening for explosives and reduce the chances that a hidden bomb could be deliberately placed next to the cabin wall. France has been studying whether and how to apply similar restrictions on cabin baggage, security sources say. Last year, a suspected suicide bomber tried to blow up a Somali jetliner as it was taking off from Mogadishu by placing a computer bomb near the window. He was sucked out of the jet without causing it to crash, but the incident focused attention on the threat of bombs hidden inside ordinary-looking gadgets. Reuters last month reported that the rules banning many items from passenger cabins on U.S.- and Britain-bound flights would, however, force a rethink on fire safety concerns now that they were being consigned to the hold. EASA''s warning highlights the struggle to juggle rules on safety with increasingly stringent security protections and the wider risk that rules to solve one problem can lead to another. The FAA says such "unintended effects" are one of the common themes it has identified in its database on lessons learned from past crashes. "The recent laptop ban on certain routes to the USA has brought into sharp relief exactly this challenge," said UK-based aviation consultant John Strickland. "Simply taking items powered by lithium batteries and stashing them in the hold is not an option unless done with sufficient attention to safety," he added. Safety regulators have focused for years on the growing headache caused by temperamental lithium-ion batteries. In 2015, the FAA told airlines not to let passengers pack extra lithium-ion batteries inside their checked baggage. Airlines had already been alerted to the risk of carrying large shipments of lithium batteries as cargo after a UPS Boeing 747 cargo jet crashed in 2010, killing both crew. But current FAA advice suggests it has fewer concerns than its European counterpart about the threat of fires from batteries already installed in individual passenger''s devices. (Writing by Tim Hepher, additional reporting by Alana Wise, David Shepardson; editing by Susan Fenton, G Crosse) Next In World News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-airlines-electronics-safety-idUSKBN1772CA'|'2017-04-06T07:00:00.000+03:00' '6263ed0ce604ab01674410766c9f779860255986'|'Asos raises full-year sales forecast after strong first half'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 7:25am BST Asos raises full-year sales forecast after strong first half FILE PHOTO: A model walks on an in-house catwalk at the ASOS headquarters in London April 1, 2014. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett LONDON British online fashion retailer Asos ( ASOS.L ) raised its guidance for full-year sales growth after it reported a better-than-expected 38 percent rise in its first half, driven by accelerating international demand. The company, which has more than 14 million active customers, said on Tuesday that full-year retail sales would rise by between 30 and 35 percent, up from its previous 25-30 percent guidance. It reported retail sales of 889.2 million pounds for the six months to end-February, beating consensus of 879 million pounds. Pretax profit rose 14 percent on 27.3 million pounds on total group revenue of 911.5 million pounds. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by Kate Holton) Next In Business News BP to cut about 5 million pounds from CEO''s maximum annual pay - Sky News BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to avoid a shareholder revolt, Sky News said on Monday, citing people briefed on the matter. SAN FRANCISCO Index fund provider FTSE Russell expects to announce in July whether it will include in its indexes shares of Snap Inc and other companies whose share structure denies investors voting rights. '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-asos-results-idUKKBN1760G0'|'2017-04-04T14:25:00.000+03:00' 'e745100bbdcb99ebfe2dbac807ee0086ee631a8b'|'Ex-Fox News chief Ailes'' sex scandal makes way to U.S. television'|'NEW YORK The story of the rise and fall of former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes is coming to U.S. television in what producers on Tuesday called a "provocative" limited series.Cable channel Showtime and Blumhouse Television said they will co-produce the series "Secure and Hold: The Last Days Of Roger Ailes," based on reporting by New York magazine journalist Gabriel Sherman on the Ailes sexual harassment scandal.Ailes, 76, resigned last year from the Twenty-First Century Fox unit after a sexual harassment lawsuit by former anchor Gretchen Carlson. He was hit on Monday by another lawsuit filed by a Democratic political consultant and Fox News contributor who said she was denied a permanent job after she rebuffed Ailes'' advances.The TV series will be co-written and executive produced by Tom McCarthy, the director of 2016 Oscar best picture winner "Spotlight" about sex abuse in the Catholic Church, Showtime and Blumhouse Television said in a statement.No casting or air date was announced for the series, which could take two years to reach TV screens.The announcement comes at difficult time for Fox News, whose best-known anchor Bill O''Reilly is also at the center of sexual harassment claims.BMW, Mercedez-Benz and Hyundai Motor Corp have all pulled their advertising from "The O''Reilly Factor" after the New York Times reported that Fox and O’Reilly paid five women to settle claims that he sexually harassed them.Fox News has declined to comment on the latest O''Reilly allegations and the suspension of some advertising on his show.(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-twenty-first-fox-television-idUSKBN17620L'|'2017-04-04T19:56:00.000+03:00' 'ce502dd4528c5814c6acae377e3082edad883de1'|'Wall Street braces for rough ride as exchanges seek more speed bumps'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 7:13am EDT Wall Street braces for rough ride as exchanges seek more speed bumps A specialist trader works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By John McCrank - NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stock exchanges that spent decades speeding up markets with cutting-edge technology are now rushing to slow them down. The New York Stock Exchange, Chicago Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Inc ( NDAQ.O ) are all awaiting decisions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on whether they can delay trades through so-called "speed bumps" and new order types. The SEC is expected to approve or reject their proposals in the coming weeks. The about-face comes after advances in technology made it possible to complete trades almost at the speed of light, prompting concerns by some market participants that sophisticated high-frequency traders were eating the lunch of ordinary investors. Exchanges have profited from selling specialized services to high-frequency traders, which make up more than half of U.S. trading volume. But now they are looking at ways to attract a wider range of investors, at least to certain of their trading venues, or are making sure they are keeping up with each other. The SEC approved the market''s first speed bump last year, but rules around intentionally slowing down trades are vague and it is difficult to predict which, if any, of the proposals will pass. SEC staff are scrutinizing how each exchange justifies its plans, said a person familiar with the matter. "Whenever you have something that applies to one group and not others, it''s discriminatory in some sense," said the person, who asked for anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media. "The question is, can you justify the discrimination?" The proposals follow the launch of IEX Group, which burst onto the scene last August with the market''s inaugural speed bump and other features they said would level the playing field and protect small investors from high-speed trading chicanery. Other exchanges were some of IEX''s fiercest opponents and there is still a heated debate about whether the upstart is as altruistic as it was portrayed in Michael Lewis''s best-selling book "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." However, its new way of doing business ultimately forced rivals to rethink their own strategies. Exchanges'' reputations hinge on their ability to execute orders quickly and seamlessly for brokers, which are required to get customers the best market prices. Lewis''s book scandalized Wall Street with its claim that exchanges were rigging the market by allowing high-frequency traders to use their speed to effectively jump the queue of orders from ordinary investors, known in the industry as "latency arbitrage." Many on Wall Street dispute that such a thing exists. Nevertheless, high-frequency trading firms pay exchanges huge sums for near light-speed market access and data to drive their algorithms, and have become an increasingly large player in the stock market over the past decade. IEX ran counter to the trend by establishing an exchange that does not make speed the primary factor and does not sell things like access to microwave and laser data feeds that give ultra-fast traders an edge. The approach appealed to many customers, including several institutional investors, and the exchange now has 2 percent of the U.S. stock-trading market. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2mJMuor ) Most traditional exchanges initially opposed IEX''s speed-bump proposal, but have since had a change of heart, since it has become clear that some investors want to see such change. "The SEC, by approving IEX''s exchange application, has opened up the marketplace for the potential for innovation around market structure that really has not been available to us for the last almost 10 years," said Nasdaq Chief Executive Adena Friedman. UN-AMERICAN? In giving IEX the green light, the SEC said exchanges could pause trades for up to a millisecond, as long as the delays were not unfairly discriminatory or anti-competitive. The NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc ( ICE.N ), essentially wants to copy IEX''s speed bump, as well as an order type the startup pioneered. NYSE argues that while it previously said the model was bad for the market, some institutional investors prefer it and NYSE should be allowed to offer them the choice. NYSE, whose chairman once called IEX "un-American," also plans to rename its proposed speed-bump exchange NYSE American from NYSE MKT. NYSE''s main New York Stock Exchange market would remain unchanged. In contrast, the Chicago Stock Exchange put forward a speed-bump plan that some brokers can bypass if they meet strict requirements to provide quotes for others. In doing so, it hopes to create more liquidity. Rather than a speed bump, Nasdaq wants to introduce an "extended life" order type. It would apply only to orders generated by regular, mom-and-pop investors, who tend to be less informed and therefore coveted by professional traders. The orders would sit exposed for at least a second and then jump ahead of other investors to get filled. Wall Street lacks consensus on whether the proposed delays are a good idea. Some high-frequency trading firms have asked the SEC to deny the proposals, arguing that various time lags across 13 exchanges would make it difficult to know the true price of a stock at any given time. For its part, IEX has asked the SEC to reject NYSE''s proposal. In an interview, Chief Market Policy Officer John Ramsay characterized some rivals'' plans as disingenuous. "The speed bump is just one piece of our market design and it''s designed to work with all of the other pieces in tandem,” said John Ramsay, IEX''s Chief Market Policy Officer. Others support the new developments. "The only one this impacts is the guy whose business model is to rely on speed in somewhat, I would argue, a pernicious manner," Doug Cifu, CEO of trading firm Virtu Financial Inc ( VIRT.O ), said in an interview. (Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Bill Rigby) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exchanges-speedbumps-idUSKBN17615R'|'2017-04-04T19:13:00.000+03:00' '291b76b2caab5e49e6e359e3da45f4e37f29b5d1'|'BRIEF-CVC Capital Partners to create a single fund, at roughly $18 bln, as early as May - Nikkei'|'April 4 Nikkei :* CVC Capital Partners will create a single fund, at roughly $18 billion, as early as May - Nikkei* CVC Capital Partners'' new fund will target Japanese, American, European businesses, with plans to invest over 100 billion yen a year in Japan - Nikkei Source text : ( s.nikkei.com/2nB4fSt )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-cvc-capital-partners-to-create-a-s-idINFWN1HC0J0'|'2017-04-04T16:41:00.000+03:00' 'b97ad411de2ba852e7861612c8def1a11bab25f5'|'Japan and U.S. aren''t discussing Westinghouse situation: Seko'|'Deals - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 9:17pm EDT Japan and U.S. aren''t discussing Westinghouse situation: Seko Japan''s Minister of Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko speaks at a news conference at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe''s official residence in Tokyo, Japan August 3, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo TOKYO Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Friday it was not true that Japan and the United States were discussing the situation surrounding Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) troubled U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co. A U.S. official said on Thursday the Trump administration and the Japanese government were in discussions to ensure that the bankruptcy of Westinghouse does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. (Reporting by Ami Miyazaki, writing by Kaori Kaneko, editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-japan-westinghouse-seko-idUSKBN17902P'|'2017-04-07T09:17:00.000+03:00' '1c4a4e6607454974c4d329f98f7ba20a51c5f4c5'|'U.S., Japan in talks to prevent China acquiring Westinghouse - U.S. official'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:47am BST U.S., Japan in talks to prevent China acquiring Westinghouse - U.S. official The Vogtle Unit 3 and 4 site, being constructed by primary contactor Westinghouse, a business unit of Toshiba, near Waynesboro, Georgia, U.S. is seen in an aerial photo taken February 2017. Georgia Power/Handout via REUTERS WASHINGTON The Trump administration and the Japanese government are in discussions to ensure that the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric Co does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands, a U.S. official said on Thursday. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. The bankruptcy is likely to lead to the eventual sale of Westinghouse''s nuclear business and Chinese interests have been seen as possible buyers, given the chance. "It''s is a real concern; they''ve wanted to get their hands on power grid and nuclear infrastructure for a long time," an official in the U.S. administration told Reuters as China''s President Xi Jinping arrived in the United States on Thursday for a first summit with President Donald Trump. "You go into a situation like the Toshiba situation where there''s financial chaos. There''s a chance that things can happen in a way that’s dangerous." Some nuclear technologies are dual use, meaning they can be used for civilian and military purposes. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said conversations were going on between the U.S. and Japanese governments "on ways to mitigate a potential sale." "There are ways that are being looked at, both formally and informally, to make sure there is no threat to critical infrastructure," the official said. An inter-agency body of the U.S. government known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and its Japanese equivalent review the national security implications of foreign investments in firms. South Korea''s State-controlled Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) ( 015760.KS ) has been considered the likeliest potential buyer for Westinghouse. Like Japan, South Korea is a security ally of the United States, while China is a fast-growing strategic rival. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-japan-westinghouse-idUKKBN17902Z'|'2017-04-07T08:47:00.000+03:00' '9d5e243c33d69519187cd236b24b0933d368454d'|'When it comes to water access we keep doing the same thing. And failing - Ajay Paul - Global Development Professionals Network - The Guardian'|'F or years we’ve been installing hand pumps all around the world, desperate to get clean water to people who don’t have it. In some ways, we have been successful; 1.6 billion people gained access for the first time between 2000 and 2015 [pdf]. But behind that statistic, the real picture looks like this: too many water and sanitation services in developing countries are still unreliable, sub-standard and need major repairs after three to five years.My confession: my way of working is part of the problem.I keep doing the same thing; I install a new pump or repair a broken one, and train the people that use it. I give them a formal name – “water-user committee” or something similar – and I expect them to manage the pump without any further support. Inevitably, the pump breaks down, but I keep repeating the same actions and hoping for a different outcome. To be fair to myself and others in the profession, it does work sometimes; maybe the committee was led by a particularly strong and dynamic personality. We then get to put the project in a glossy report and tout it as a success story, off the back of which more funds can be raised.Access to drinking water around the world – in five infographics Read more But most of the time the pump breaks down within a few years, by which time I’ll have moved on to another project in another country. Another NGO or another project manager will take over where I left off, and the cycle continues.Each time we repeat the cycle, we believe optimistically our response will work. We falsely attribute the breakdown of a pump to poor government policies, corrupt local officials or weak management by the water-user committee.So we put ourselves in opposition to the government, we ignore policies and we do not work with local government officials. We run our projects in parallel to theirs, and we do not link up to or support local government plans. When the project is finished, we hand over the management of the pump to the water-user committee and walk away. But we haven’t worked with the local government, so it has no incentive to support the local community when the pump breaks down. The NGO that installed it is seen as the one responsible.By designing and managing projects the way I do, I am doing my job. I have project-monitoring tools to see how many pumps we installed and repaired with the funds available. If I stay within budget and do what it says in the proposal to the donor, I’ve done my bit.I don’t need to report on what happens after my project ends, and I’m not accountable if or when the pump breaks down. Why would I want to report the breakdown of a pump to our donors? It could jeopardise future funding. It would also pose a question for which there is no clear answer: who is responsible for fixing the broken pump?My NGO is supported by Viva con Agua and we are lucky to be able to speak to them openly about our concerns. Together, we decided to get over the fear of reporting failure; only by knowing why pumps break down or give a sub-standard service will we be able to identify and address the real cause.Empty reservoirs, dry rivers, thirsty cities – and our water reserves are running out - Yasmin Siddiqi Read more We know that achieving SDG6 – clean water and sanitation for all by 2030 – will require monitoring, reporting and greater transparency about failures and success after projects are over. We have started to include funds for post-project monitoring in all our new projects that are funded by Viva. We also started a blog – Washaholics Anonymous – where you can report your failures and success stories about tackling the problem of sustainability. After all, the first step to finding a solution is admitting you have a problem.Ajay Paul is a thematic coordinator for the sustainable services initiative at Welthungerhilfe We want to hear from you Do you work to provide access to water and sanitation in the global south? We’d like to hear you stories of success and failure in implementing sustainable projects. Tell us using the form below.Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter, and have your say on issues around water in development using #H2Oideas .'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/07/clean-water-everyone-sdg-failure'|'2017-04-07T03:00:00.000+03:00' '809d3b7fa8f31e7c417740c77d263acdd816adad'|'Australia''s thermal coal miners look to plug coking supply gap'|'Commodities - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 4:53am EDT Australia''s thermal coal miners look to plug coking supply gap By James Regan - SYDNEY SYDNEY Australia''s thermal coal producers will look to plug the supply gap in the coking coal market after Cyclone Debbie disrupted supplies from Queensland by modifying their thermal supplies to meet steelmakers needs. Thermal, or steam, coal miners may try to take advantage of the large price gap between so-called semi-soft coking coal and steam coal, said industry sources on Friday. The semi-soft settlement price for first quarter term shipments stood at $130 a tonne versus a thermal price of just under $90.. Thermal coal can be sold as semi-soft coking coal, which can be used in steel making, after it is washed to reduce the ash content. The practice results in a lower yield and is typically only happens when the price spread is great enough to cover the loss of volume. "The price spread is definitely there, and do we expect to see switches to semi-soft? Absolutely," said the chief executive of a large coal mining company. "It''s inevitable that we''ll see more semi-soft coal hitting the market given where prices are headed." His company operates near Queensland''s Bowen Basin mines but was spared the impact of Cyclone Debbie, which flooded rail lines that disrupted hard coking coal exports from the state, which is Australia''s biggest producer of coking coal. Most of semi-soft these sales will come from Hunter Valley collieries located some 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) south of the cyclone''s impact zone in New South Wales, where lower-ash thermal coal is already mined in abundance, typically to supply Asian power generators, said the executive. Other producers, such as South 32 and Peabody Energy are already mining coking coal and are also positioned outside the cyclone zone in New South Wales. Those supplies could then be exported from the port of Newcastle, the world''s biggest export terminal for thermal coal, untouched by Debbie. Most steelmakers would blend the semi-soft coking coal with prime hard coking coal to achieve the required amount of coke. Coal is converted to coke in a furnace to remove the oxygen from iron ore to make steel. In the meantime, negotiations for second-quarter supplies between the major Australian coking coal miners, including BHP Billiton, Mitsubishi Corp and Anglo American and Asian steel mills have been postponed until a clearer assessment emerges of the damage to rail lines in the Bowen Basin, said Marian Hookham, coal analyst at consultancy IHS. Rail operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd on Friday said there was no change to the five-week repair schedule for the major Goonyella line that connects into the Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point Coal terminals. "It could be weeks before negotiations resume and until then anything goes as far as price until then. Just how much of a shift by those producers that can into the semi-soft market will depend on how quickly things return to normal," she said. Premium hard coking coal was priced at $285 per tonne under the first quarter contract, while spot sales are fetching about $240. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-cyclone-coal-miners-idUSKBN17918G'|'2017-04-07T16:47:00.000+03:00' 'f2f255dee3ebdc5a1b27468b862d955a974757bd'|'S&P futures down 0.5 pct, after U.S. strike in Syria'|'NEW YORK, April 6 U.S. equity index futures were lower on Thursday, after U.S President Donald Trump said he ordered a targeted military strike against an airfield in Syria from which a deadly chemical attack was launched this week.S&P 500 e-mini futures ESv1 were down 0.5 percent, indicating a lower open on Friday.(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-markets-stocks-idINL2N1HF042'|'2017-04-07T00:26:00.000+03:00' 'a521169fe74f26acfde03a8ee24afdb0b87e066c'|'Stock futures edge up day after Fed-sparked Wall St. reversal'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:48am EDT Stock futures edge up day after Fed-sparked Wall St. reversal A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures edged up on Thursday, a day after Wall Street saw its biggest reversal in 14 months following signals that the Federal Reserve could start unwinding its balance sheet this year. * Investors also shied away from making big bets ahead of a potentially tense two-day meeting, starting Thursday, between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. * Wall Street has traded in a narrow range since Monday. That ended on Wednesday when the markets rallied after strong private-sector jobs report. * But the indexes reversed after the minutes of the Fed''s latest meeting showed most policymakers thought the central bank should start trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet this year. * The Dow shed a gain of about 198 points to end near the session low, which was a drop of nearly 50 points. * The minutes also showed Fed officials "viewed equity prices as quite high relative to standard valuation measures," adding to jitters over lofty valuations as the first-quarter earnings season approaches. * Earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 10.1 percent. The index is trading at about 18 times forward earnings estimates, above its long-term average of 15. * U.S. stocks have risen on bets of fiscal stimulus, tax cuts and other pro-growth promises that Trump has made. However, recent setbacks in the new administration''s efforts to push through its plans have led to some investors to question its ability to make good on its vows. * On Wednesday, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said tax reforms would take longer to accomplish that the healthcare overhaul as the House, Senate and the White House were not on the same page over the policy. * On Thursday, investors will keep an eye on a report that is likely to show jobless claims slipped to 250,000 last week from 258,000 the week before. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT). * Among the premarket movers was Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD.O ), which dropped 2.3 percent to $13.85 after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage with a "sell" rating. * Retailer Costco ( COST.O ) was up nearly 2 percent at $170.25 after reporting March sales, while Bed Bath & Beyond ( BBBY.O ) was up 3.4 percent at $39.07 after reporting quarterly results. Futures snapshot at 7:01 a.m. ET: * Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 23 points, or 0.11 percent, with 30,811 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were up 2.5 points, or 0.11 percent, with 175,080 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were up 5.5 points, or 0.1 percent, on volume of 35,299 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN1781F6'|'2017-04-06T19:48:00.000+03:00' '091f8046b9fbbb3fd65c3e1397513248e6b61bf8'|'UPDATE 1-China FX reserves rise slightly in March, stay above $3 trln'|'* Reserves at end-March reach $3.009 trillion* The March increase was slightly less than forecast* Capital controls seem to be helping contain outflowsBEIJING, April 7 China''s foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March, though by a bit less than the market expected, as capital control measures and a pause in the dollar''s rally helped contain outflows.Reserves increased $3.96 billion during March to total $3.009 trillion.In January, reserves slipped below $3 trillion, but a month later, they moved back above that level, increasing $6.92 billion to reach $3.005 trillion in the first rise in eight months.Economists polled by Reuters had expected foreign exchange reserves in March to rise by $5 billion to $3.01 trillion in March.Capital Economics said the way reserves were broadly stable in March "suggests that the recent easing of capital outflows has allowed the People’s Bank of China to step back from FX intervention".The latest reserve data came out as Chinese President Xi Jinping is meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida.The March increase marks the first time reserves had increased two consecutive months since April 2016.The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the foreign exchange regulator, said last week that pressure from capital outflows eased somewhat in 2016 and there will be greater flexibility in the yuan''s exchange rate in 2017.The foreign exchange regulator also said that authorities will take measures to attract capital inflows this year.TIGHTER FLOW SCRUTINYIn February, China''s central bank sold the smallest amount of foreign exchange in nine months, supporting the government''s assertions that capital outflows were easing amid tighter scrutiny of cross-border flows.China has tightened rules on moving capital outside the country in recent months as it seeks to support the yuan currency and stem a slide in reserves.It burned through nearly $320 billion of reserves last year but the yuan still fell about 6.5 percent against the dollar, its biggest annual drop since 1994.In recent weeks, the yuan has been steady against the dollar. However, the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to have an impact on yuan''s value in the medium term.Gold reserves value fell to $73.74 billion at the end of March, from $74.376 billion at end-February, data published on the People''s Bank of China website also showed.Recent remarks by senior government officials seem to indicate that China is not firm in keeping its reserves above the $3 trillion mark, but prefers a gradual drop.Falls in China''s foreign exchange reserves are normal and not unfavourable and China will not overreact to a decline in the foreign exchange reserves, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on March 10.Fan Gang, an advisor to the People''s Bank of China, said late last month he believed the central bank would want a smooth transition to holding smaller foreign exchange reserves.China does not have a "bottom line" for either the yuan exchange rate against the dollar or foreign exchange reserves, a senior PBOC official told Reuters in March.Trump had said during the U.S. election campaign that he would declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office.The U.S. Treasury''s next currency report is due on April 14.But now foreign exchange policy experts say that the Trump administration looks unlikely to formally declare China a currency manipulator shortly after meeting Xi Jinping.(Reporting by Cheng Fang and Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-forex-reserves-idINL3N1HE2FN'|'2017-04-07T06:44:00.000+03:00' '5cfb87e699fe77b1d3a31b69fe18d5b30c5e6b82'|'After weak March sales, concerns rise over U.S. auto market outlook'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 5:53pm EDT After weak March sales, concerns rise over U.S. auto market outlook FILE PHOTO -- Automobiles are shown for sale at a car dealership in Carlsbad, California, U.S. May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By Nick Carey and Joseph White - DETROIT DETROIT Car dealers on Wednesday added to concerns about the state of the U.S. auto industry and how tough any downturn might be if its six-year recovery has ended. In a conference call with media and analysts, officials of the National Automobile Dealers Association said they expected sales of cars and light trucks in the United States to dip to 17.1 million vehicles this year, high by historical standards but below 2016''s record 17.55 million vehicles. The NADA call came just two days after disappointing industry figures for March that showed an annualized sales rate of around 16.6 million units. NADA chairman Mark Scarpelli, an Illinois car dealer, echoed concerns of some Wall Street analysts that values for used sedans were dropping as more vehicles were turned in when leases ended. "It''s a big number," Scarpelli said, referring to the numbers of leased cars headed to used car lots. "But it''s not an insurmountable number." Falling values for these used cars are a problem for car makers and their finance companies, not dealers, Scarpelli said, because auto retailers can return the cars to the banks or manufacturers. Wholesale car auction company Manheim predicts 3.6 million vehicles will come off lease in 2017 followed by 4.1 million in 2018. If historical patterns hold up, around 4.3 million cars will come off lease in 2019. "Off-lease returns still remain the wild card," said Pete DeLongchamps, vice president of manufacturer relations at auto retail chain Group 1 Automotive Inc ( GPI.N ). Investors are also watching rising interest rates, inventories of unsold vehicles and the generosity of profit-eroding discounts that automakers are offering to close deals. Those indicators are largely negative. According to Cox Automotive data, consumer discounts were up 14.6 percent on the year in March. In their sales forecasts in the last two months, automotive consultancy firms J.D. Power and LMC have said discounts hit levels not seen since the recession in 2009. Signs that the auto cycle is at its peak have weighed on the shares of Detroit automakers, casting a shadow over an industry central to President Donald Trump''s pledge to rebuild American manufacturing. General Motors Co ( GM.N ) shares are down 1.6 percent for the year, lagging broader market indexes, and Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) shares are down nearly 7 percent. Shares in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ( FCHA.MI ) ( FCAU.N ) are up nearly 11 percent, but the company''s market value is just $12.3 billion - about a quarter the value of electric car maker Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ). WIDE RANGE OF FORECASTS Forecasts for U.S. auto demand range widely, underscoring industry uncertainty. Ford stuck this week to a forecast that 2017 sales would rise to 17.7 million vehicles while the NADA and other forecasters expect them to hover around 17 million. Consultancy AlixPartners expects U.S. new vehicle sales to reach 17.5 million this year, but forecasts a drop to 16.6 million in 2018 and 15.2 million in 2019 before a slow recovery. Industry executives point to solid consumer confidence, low interest rates, rising transaction prices and an old car fleet on America''s roads, where the average vehicle is over 11 years old, as they give voice to guarded optimism. If the U.S. auto market downshifted to a 16 million vehicle annualized pace for more than 45 days, that would be a concern, said GM''s head of North American operations, Alan Batey. “I don’t think we are going to see it,” he said. Wall Street will be watching to see how quickly automakers respond to slow sales and rising inventories heading into the summer months. One way to cut stocks of unsold cars is to extend traditional summer assembly plant shutdowns. Mark Wakefield, head of AlixPartners'' automotive practice in the Americas region, said car production has already has come down, a sign that industry is showing more discipline than in past cycles. "The real test comes when an (automaker) defects in a large way and starts going for share and volume and dropping prices dramatically," Wakefield said. "What do the others do and how does the market manage itself?" (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Tom Brown) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-outlook-idUSKBN1772VN'|'2017-04-06T05:53:00.000+03:00' 'dbf094b4dee2af4b6a0dc272a40055619d79258d'|'UPDATE 1-CarMax profit beats as used-car sales rise'|' 8:02am EDT UPDATE 1-CarMax profit beats as used-car sales rise (Adds details) April 6 CarMax Inc, the No.1 U.S. used-car dealer, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by higher vehicle sales. The company''s shares were up 2.3 percent at $58.00 in premarket trading on Thursday. CarMax said its comparable unit sales growth at used-car stores open for at least a year rose 8.7 percent in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 28. Total used car sales rose 13.4 percent to 176,017 units in the quarter. However, average selling prices for used vehicles fell 1.6 percent to $19,435. Net earnings rose to $152.6 million, or 81 cents per share, in the quarter, from $141.0 million, or 71 cents per share, a year earlier. Net sales and operating revenue rose to $4.05 billion from $3.71 billion. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 79 cents per share and revenue of $3.93 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/carmax-results-idUSL3N1HE3UW'|'2017-04-06T20:02:00.000+03:00' '24dce300638865c714c4c3b76238854e4a6e4b65'|'Linde board still equally divided on Praxair merger: source'|'By Jens Hack - MUNICH, Germany MUNICH, Germany The labor and capital representatives on Linde''s ( LING.DE ) supervisory board remain committed to their opposing positions over a planned merger with Praxair ( PX.N ), a supervisory board source told Reuters after a board meeting on Thursday."No concessions were made," the source said.The German and U.S. industrial gases groups have agreed to pursue a merger of equals and are hammering out terms of a business combination agreement, but labor representatives are opposing the deal because it would dilute their influence.(Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Kathrin Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idINKBN1781R5'|'2017-04-06T11:37:00.000+03:00' 'ff9b822c5bee40912e5da01848e811e8649697ff'|'Indian bonds see biggest fall in two months; rupee gains on RBI'|'MUMBAI Indian bond yields on Thursday saw their biggest spike in two months, while the rupee hit a 20-month high against the dollar, after the central bank kept its policy rate on hold and said it was preparing to drain liquidity from the banking system.The Reserve Bank of India left the repo rate at 6.25 percent as widely expected, in line with other Asian central banks that have held rates this month.But the RBI raised the reverse repo rate - or what banks get for deposits at the RBI - by 25 basis points to 6.00 percent. The move should reduce volatility in money market rates which track the difference between those two rates, as well as encourage banks to park their funds with RBI.That could be a precursor to drain liquidity, with the RBI saying it could undertake measures including additional treasury bill sales, or outright bond sales via open market operations.Those steps would come at a time when cash in the banking system has soared to around 4 trillion rupees ($61.59 billion), after the government removed higher-value bank notes from circulation in November."The market was expecting a neutral to dovish stance but the policy was slightly hawkish," said Harish Agarwal, a fixed income trader with First Rand Bank. "The increase in the reverse repo rate and possibility of more open market operations are all together weighing on the market."The benchmark 10-year bond yield rose 12 basis points to 6.77 percent, its biggest single-day rise since the previous RBI policy on Feb. 8.The rupee strengthened to 64.50, its strongest level against the dollar in 20 months, from its close of 64.88/89 on Wednesday.Shares, however, ended flat.Since the RBI unexpectedly changed its policy stance to "neutral" from "accommodative" on Feb. 8, the 10-year bond yield has risen 34 bps.But the rupee has surged on expectations on India''s stance on interest rates, which is helping attract foreign investments at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve tightens policy.India has attracted a net $8.85 billion in foreign investments into debt and equities in March, the highest monthly amount since at least 2002.Some analysts even say the central bank could move to hike rates."Although we expect RBI to remain on hold for some time, there is an increased likelihood that the next rate move, whenever it materialises, will be a rate hike," said Arvind Chari, head of fixed income and alternatives at Quantum Advisors.(Reporting by Swati Bhat)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-markets-bonds-idINKBN1781LH'|'2017-04-06T10:52:00.000+03:00' '4862d95355ffe18744401e30c2a4ac50ec3bc77a'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil''s Embraer targets $1.5 bln in annual KC-390 exports'|'(Adds comments, context on civil version of aircraft)By Brad HaynesRIO DE JANEIRO, April 5 Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA sees $1.5 billion in annual exports as "a good target" for the KC-390 military cargo jet entering service next year, Jackson Schneider, head of the company''s defense unit, told journalists on Wednesday.Brazil''s Air Force has already ordered 28 of the aircraft for 7.2 billion reais ($2.33 billion), with two deliveries in 2018, three in 2019 and "the sky is the limit" for production in the following years, Schneider said.Embraer aims to book its first foreign KC-390 contract this year, Schneider said on Tuesday at the LAAD defense expo in Rio de Janeiro - the largest of its kind in Latin America.His comments reinforced Embraer''s intent to take a bite out of the global military transport segment long dominated by the workhorse Hercules C-130, made by U.S. aerospace firm Lockheed Martin Corp.Underscoring the direct rivalry, KC-390 program director Paulo Gastao Silva said Embraer was engaged in "promising conversations" about developing a civil version of the military aircraft. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin rolled out its first civil LM-100J variant of the Hercules.Embraer has previously forecast a market worth over $50 billion in the coming decades to replace more than 700 aging Hercules planes.($1 = 3.09 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and W Simon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/embraer-kc-idINL2N1HD0RH'|'2017-04-05T13:27:00.000+03:00' 'e30795f47c3d4b93ad1c01483e54b495382d105b'|'Britons becoming reluctant to move jobs as Brexit gets underway - REC'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 12:08am BST Britons becoming reluctant to move jobs as Brexit gets underway - REC left right FILE PHOTO - EU and Union flags fly above Parliament Square during a Unite for Europe march, in central London, Britain March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian walks past a City of London dragon boundary marker in London, Britain, September 23, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo 2/2 LONDON British workers are becoming more reticent about moving jobs as the process of leaving the European Union gets underway, exacerbating long-standing skill shortages, a survey of recruiters showed on Friday. Availability of temporary staff declined in March at the fastest rate since January 2016 and fell sharply for permanent staff too, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said. The REC survey, which dates back 20 years, is used by Bank of England policymakers as a gauge of the labour market. Britain''s economic prospects are tied closely to how businesses react to the country''s Brexit negotiations over the next two years. Hiring and wage decisions will be key to the outlook for consumer spending, the main driver of growth. "Economic uncertainty about future prospects is having a detrimental effect on employees'' willingness to risk a career move at this time, which seems to be driving down candidate availability," REC chief executive Kevin Green said. This chimed with other signs of unease among consumers, who are increasingly worried about their personal finances and the outlook for the economy, surveys have shown. Retail sales have slowed this year in the face of rising inflation, caused by rising energy prices and the pound''s post-Brexit vote drop. Staff shortages continued to push up growth in starting salaries although more slowly than in February, REC said. Information technology and medical staff were among the most in-demand. BoE policymaker Gertjan Vlieghe on Wednesday said slow wage growth in official data suggested the economy can continue to grow without pushing up inflation, despite the unemployment rate''s fall to its lowest level since 2005. The BoE is widely expected to keep interest rates at their record low throughout this year and possibly until 2019 as it steers the British economy through the uncertainty linked to the exit from the EU. However, one rate-setter - Kristin Forbes - voted last month for a rate hike and others said they might follow suit soon if there were signs of inflation picking up by more than expected or that economy was maintaining its momentum of 2016. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by William Schomberg)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-jobs-rec-idUKKBN178300'|'2017-04-07T07:08:00.000+03:00' 'c1c7fba13868cd8308ffbf6422d3a37b254cf0e6'|'WORLD NEWS SCHEDULE AT 0600 GMT/2 AM ET'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 2:01am EDT WORLD NEWS SCHEDULE AT 0600 GMT/2 AM ET Editor: Clarence Fernandez + 65 6870 3861 Picture Desk: Singapore + 65 6870 3775 Graphics queries: + 65 6870 3595 (All times GMT/ET) TOP STORIES Escalating U.S. role in Syria, Trump orders strikes on Assad airbase WASHINGTON/PALM BEACH - U.S. President Donald Trump says he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America''s "vital national security interest". (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA (WRAPUP 10, PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), by Phil Stewart and Steve Holland, 1,066 words) + See also: - MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-REACTION (PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), by Colin Packham, 389 words - MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-GOVERNOR (UPDATE 3), moved, 336 words - MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-OBSERVATORY (UPDATE 1), moved, 101 words - USA-TRUMP/HIGHLIGHTS (HIGHLIGHTS), moved, 338 words Under investigation, Trump ally steps down from House Russia probe WASHINGTON - Republican head of a congressional inquiry into alleged Russian meddling in 2016 U.S. presidential election says he will temporarily step aside from probe because he is under investigation for disclosing classified information. (USA-TRUMP/RUSSIA-NUNES (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Patricia Zengerle and Dustin Volz, 771 words) Trump, China''s Xi dine ahead of talks on security, trade PALM BEACH - U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sit down together to dine on pan-seared Dover sole and New York strip steak, spending some social time before digging into thorny bilateral security and trade issues. (USA-CHINA/ (UPDATE 6, PIX, TV), moved, by Steve Holland, 889 words) ASIA Wave of attacks across southern Thailand after new constitution signed BANGKOK - Muslim-majority southern Thailand is rocked by about 23 co-ordinated attacks, including bomb blasts, a security officer says, just hours after King Maha Vajiralongkorn signed a new constitution as a step towards ending military rule. (THAILAND-SOUTH/ATTACKS (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Patpicha Tanakasempipat, 434 words) Philippines to upgrade facilities, not occupy new areas in disputed sea - military MANILA - The Philippines will upgrade existing facilities on its inhabited islands and reefs in the South China Sea and not occupy new territories, adhering to a 2002 informal code in the disputed waters, defence and military officials say. (SOUTHCHINASEA-PHILIPPINES/ (PIX, GRAPHICS), moved, by Manuel Mogato, 436 words) AMERICAS Venezuelan opposition, security forces clash in anti-Maduro protests CARACAS - Venezuelan opposition protesters and security officers clash as country''s fragmented opposition gains new impetus against socialist government it blames for country''s social and economic collapse. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 5, PIX, TV), moved, by Alexandra Ulmer and Girish Gupta, 610 words) EUROPE Macron, Le Pen still lead French election race, left-wing maverick is wild card PARIS - French centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen still hold firm lead over pack in presidential election, polls show, though surge of support for veteran far-left campaigner throws wild card into race. (FRANCE-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 2, GRAPHIC), moved, by Leigh Thomas and Sarah White, 599 words) UNITED STATES Senate goes ''nuclear,'' ends Democrats'' blockade of Trump court pick WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans crush Democratic blockade of President Donald Trump''s U.S. Supreme Court nominee in fierce partisan brawl, approving rule change dubbed "nuclear option" to allow for conservative judge Neil Gorsuch''s confirmation by Friday. (USA-COURT/GORSUCH (UPDATE 12, PIX, TV), moved, by Lawrence Hurley and Andrew Chung, 997 words) Ex-U.S. Attorney Bharara takes aim at Trump with criticism and jokes Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara takes several shots at the administration of President Donald Trump, calling for "facts not falsehoods" as the basis for polticial discourse and a more welcoming stance towards immigrants in his first public speaking event since being fired one month ago. (USA-TRUMP/JUSTICE, moved, 396 words) Twitter refuses U.S. order to reveal user behind anti-Trump account SAN FRANCISCO - Twitter Inc files a federal lawsuit to block an order by the U.S. government demanding that it reveal who is behind an account opposed to President Donald Trump''s tough immigration policies. (TWITTER-LAWSUIT/ (UPDATE 6, PIX), moved, by David Ingram, 778 words) AFRICA Thousands expected to march in South Africa on Friday against Zuma JOHANNESBURG - Thousands of marchers are due to protest in major South African cities against President Jacob Zuma on Friday, demanding he quit after a cabinet reshuffle triggered the latest crisis of his presidency. (SAFRICA-POLITICS/ (PIX), by James Macharia, 630 words)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/world-news-schedule-at-0600-gmt-2-am-et-idUSL3N1HF2FV'|'2017-04-07T14:01:00.000+03:00' 'f2a54bfe97a73241ae88b91886673cb6dbf0d82f'|'BRIEF-GoPro prices $175 mln of 3.50 pct convertible senior notes due 2022'|' 43am EDT BRIEF-GoPro prices $175 mln of 3.50 pct convertible senior notes due 2022 April 7 GoPro Inc: * GoPro prices $175 million of 3.50% convertible senior notes due 2022 * Size of offering was increased from previously announced $150 million in aggregate principal amount Source text for Eikon: Morning News Call - India, April 7 To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_04072017.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 10:00 am: Power Minister Piyush Goyal at an event in New Delhi. 10:00 am: Junior Shipping Minister ML Mandavia at an event in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Budget session of parliament continues in Ne MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-gopro-prices-175-mln-of-350-pct-co-idUSASB0B8Y8'|'2017-04-07T12:43:00.000+03:00' 'ed8bdd845c9ef837a785ed43fa8a9c8373906079'|'Mexican bank Inbursa issues 10-yr bond for $750 mln'|'MEXICO CITY, April 6 Mexico''s Grupo Financiero Inbursa said on Thursday that its subsidiary, Banco Inbursa, had issued a 10-year bond on international markets for $750 million.Inbursa, which is controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, said the bond had a 4.375 percent annual coupon, adding that the money would be used to strengthen the bank''s funding structure. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mexican-bank-inbursa-issues-10-yr-bond-f-idINL2N1HF02E'|'2017-04-06T23:32:00.000+03:00' '29b153acea70d9a32e8f9e1f074036ecec3d35e6'|'A towering renovation project – in pictures - Money'|'A towering renovation project – in pictures View more sharing options Share Close This listed water tower needs a brave buyer in Norfolk to bathe it in glory, with planning permission to convert into a four-storey homeJill Papworth Friday 7 April 2017 07.00 BST Fancy a bit of a project? This decommissioned Grade II listed Victorian water tower in Dereham, Norfolk, is on the market for a guide price of £190,000. To be clear, it is the old brick building that is up for grabs, not the weird, white funnel thingy next door. That’s the new functioning water tower on separate land. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The old tower, one of only two surviving water towers of its type in Norfolk, comes with planning permission to convert it into a four-bedroom, four-storey dwelling that aims to combine the industrial feel and history with a very contemporary living space. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The planned conversion would retain the double-height entrance foyer and add a lift and a bedroom with en-suite on the ground floor. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Three further en-suite bedrooms would be on the first and second floors, while the third floor is to be the kitchen/living/dining room. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A sitting room with roof lights and a large plate glass window offering views to the south is planned for the fourth floor. This room would also display the massive support beams for the water tank that are an integral part of the history of the structure. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The front garden will also need a bit of work. Guide price: £190,000. Onthemarket.com , 01362 357963. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Money Surreal estate Water Property'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2017/apr/07/a-towering-renovation-project-water-pictures'|'2017-04-07T15:00:00.000+03:00' '39f04bf77b168fd240f10f372a1cae231792fd4e'|'Russia''s Surgutneftegaz says sticking to global oil output deal'|' 09am EDT Russia''s Surgutneftegaz says sticking to global oil output deal MOSCOW, April 7 Vladimir Bogdanov, the veteran head of Russia''s third largest oil producer Surgutneftegaz , told Reuters on Friday that his company was sticking to a global deal to cut oil output to support crude prices. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other oil producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut their combined output by almost 1.8 million bpd to reduce bloated global inventories and support prices. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said Russia would cut its oil output by 200,000 bpd by the end of the first quarter and by 300,000 bpd by the end of April. (Reporting by Olesya Astakhova; writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/russia-surgut-oil-idUSR4N16M02E'|'2017-04-07T19:09:00.000+03:00' '4d8d79affe13731a7db84722128c9a900a040780'|'Trump adviser from Wall St. backs U.S. bank breakup law'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 11:58pm BST Trump adviser from Wall Street backs U.S. bank breakup law Gary Cohn walks through the lobby at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 13, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly By Pete Schroeder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said he backed bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law that would revamp Wall Street banks by splitting their consumer-lending businesses from their investment arms. The National Economic Council director, also a former Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) president, expressed support to lawmakers for a banking system where firms would focus primarily on trading and underwriting securities or issuing loans. Big banks have strongly opposed such a move that would fundamentally overhaul their business. Reinstating the law, which was repealed in 1999, has not attracted significant attention in Congress, but advocates in the White House and both parties now argue it would provide critical safeguards to prevent another financial crisis. Critics of that approach say it lacks nuance and would not have prevented the last financial meltdown. The fact Cohn, widely viewed as one of Wall Street''s own, was willing to push that position spooked big banks'' representatives in Washington. The White House confirmed Cohn''s remarks in a private meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday. A spokesperson said he was "simply discussing the President''s previously stated position" in favor of a "21st century Glass-Steagall." Cohn''s remarks were first reported by Bloomberg. bloom.bg/2nZK5n1 The Trump administration has indicated support for a return to Glass-Steagall. The White House has stuck by the idea since it was included in the Republican Party platform during the presidential campaign, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed interest in a modernized version of the law. When asked on Thursday when large financial institutions should begin to worry about Glass-Steagall becoming a reality, one industry representative said, "Right now." However, any legislation establishing such a firewall faces long odds in the current Congress. The heads of the House and Senate banking committees have indicated support for alternative approaches, and efforts to move Glass-Steagall legislation in prior years have garnered little support. "A new Glass-Steagall would require legislation, and it simply isn’t a priority issue in Congress," wrote Ian Katz, a financial policy analyst for the research firm Capital Alpha Partners, in a note to clients. In the meeting which was arranged by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Cohn was asked by Senator Elizabeth Warren about Glass-Steagall. Cohn responded favorably, noting that the Republican Party platform supports the idea, according to sources familiar with the meeting. The meeting included lawmakers from both parties and their staff. Bringing back Glass Steagall would likely have a significant impact on banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ) and Citigroup ( C.N ) that have large highly intertwined commercial lending and investment banking operations, say analysts. It would impact Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) to a lesser degree although, they would likely have to revert to being standalone investment banks and shed their deposit funding. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder, Sarah N. Lynch and Olivia Oran; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-trump-idUKKBN1782CN'|'2017-04-07T06:54:00.000+03:00' 'd51385b892f1d694f70f427d1709c6486c39d5a7'|'Hurdles for hubs: Encouraging African entrepreneurship'|'“YOU are either part of the solution or part of the problem,” it says in painted letters on a wall. “Stay hungry, stay foolish,” says the wall opposite. An old rickshaw sits among beanbags and a vase of flowers rests on an ancient oil barrel in the corner. “We wanted the space to feel like Google,” says Eleni Gabre-Madhin, the founder of blueMoon, a new agribusiness incubator that opened in Addis Ababa in February, without a trace of irony.Incubators and their cousins, accelerators, provide hands-on training and mentoring, and often a physical space, to help early-stage business ideas develop. In Silicon Valley they find capital for startups and take a slice of equity in return for their services. Ms Gabre-Madhin says that blueMoon draws inspiration from Y Combinator, an American accelerator founded in 2005 whose investees include Dropbox and Airbnb. The new firm’s first cohort of startups will train at the office for four months, and it will give each a small cash injection in exchange for a 10% stake.Latest updates Donald Trump meets Xi Jinping Democracy in America 4 hours ago A global decline in smoking masks regional variations between the sexes Graphic detail 7 hours ago “Sesame Street” introduces its young viewers to autism Prospero 10 hours ago Podcast: What does John McCain think of Donald Trump’s leadership? International 10 hours ago Japan’s cherry blossoms are emerging increasingly early Graphic detail 12 hours ago Connecting flights hold the key to low-cost long-haul success Gulliver 14 hours ago See all updates That is a rarity in Africa’s startup scene. A simpler and more common model is for “tech hubs” to provide office space, some networking events and fast broadband internet. A recent survey counted over 300 such facilities on the continent. One of the first hubs was iHub in Nairobi, launched in 2010, which has an incubation arm focused on mobile technology, called m:lab. But m:lab, like many of its kind, is not a real incubator: it was founded with grant support from the World Bank and takes fees from, but not equity in, the companies that it nurtures.Becoming a proper incubator has proved tricky. Hypercube Hub in Zimbabwe closed in 2015 after operating for less than two years, having failed to find a sustainable business model. A seed fund and incubator based in Nairobi called 88mph closed in 2015 after struggling along for four years; its Nigerian spin-off, 440.NG, was discontinued after the first cohort graduated—the return on capital to the founder was insufficient. Only one genuine incubator, Raizcorp in South Africa, is profitable without grant funding. Almost all are waiting for their first big payout.Many incubators lack experienced mentors to guide young businesses. In a country like Ethiopia, home to few internationally successful businesses, finding qualified staff is a headache. Even in more sophisticated Nigeria, mentors can be substandard. Some actively harm young startups by, for example, pushing them into raising capital too early.Just as entrepreneurs need decent mentors, incubators need good entrepreneurs if they are to make any money. In Africa, says Nicolas Friederici of Oxford University, incubators have disappointed because they are a supply-side solution: there are still too few promising startups in need of their services. Many of the best entrepreneurs have already left for other places.When Michael Oluwagbemi set up Wennovation Hub in Lagos in 2011, he found he had to teach wannabe entrepreneurs how to write applications and design websites before he could even launch the formal incubation programme. “The incubator in Africa is basically a finishing school and four months of it is not enough,” he says. "Hurdles for hubs"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720344-only-one-incubator-continent-profitable-without-grants-encouraging-african?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'f3753b1c9b0b6bd20d49403439acf21a7023b6fa'|'Shell switches New Zealand holdings ahead of possible divestment'|'WELLINGTON Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) sold its stake in a New Zealand gas field while taking over the field''s operating company as part of a plan to possibly divest its holdings in the country later on, the company said Thursday.Shell has sold its 50 percent stake in the Kapuni Gas Field, New Zealand''s second-largest, for an undisclosed price and has increased its holding to 100 percent in the joint venture that operates the field, Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS), it said in a statement.The announcement was the first concrete action taken by Shell following its announcement in 2015 that it was reviewing its New Zealand business interests."This 100 per cent ownership of STOS will simplify Shell''s operational structure in preparation for any possible portfolio changes to the remaining assets," Rob Jager, Country Chair of Shell New Zealand, told Fairfax Media.Shell, which has operated in New Zealand for more than a century, said in December 2015 it was reviewing its business interests in the Pacific nation as the company seeks to streamline its global portfolio amid a slump in energy prices.(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-divestiture-idUSKBN17809R'|'2017-04-06T07:34:00.000+03:00' 'fcecb97b84a1dd4bc47509b029ca6ff35c745ad7'|'INVESTMENT FOCUS-Robotics ETF, anyone? Firms float trendy trackers in Europe'|' 43am EDT INVESTMENT FOCUS-Robotics ETF, anyone? Firms float trendy trackers in Europe * Niche funds track social, demographic themes * Retail investor share growing * Private banks dipping toes into thematic trackers * Institutional investors wait on sidelines By Helen Reid LONDON, April 7 Brisk growth in exchange-traded funds (ETF) in Europe is spurring providers to seek out a new generation of retail investors - by tapping into the lifestyles they espouse with niche products covering everything from fintech to robotics. Lured by the success of similar products in the United States, the world''s dominant ETF market, established players as well as smaller firms are upping their thematic offerings in Europe too, where equities look to be recovering after years of sluggish growth. BlackRock launched four such funds in September 2016, tracking stocks exposed to healthcare innovation, a global ageing population, robotics & automation, and digitisation. ETFs are products designed to track an index of stocks without human intervention, which keeps their costs low. Flows into European ETFs hit record highs in the first quarter. The most traded ETFs track global equity benchmarks like the S&P 500 or STOXX 600. Thematic ETFs track custom-made indexes of stocks linked to economic and societal trends. While large institutions are waiting for them to gain scale, the popularity of some is growing. Flows to robotics funds worldwide have surged to record highs this year, Bank of America Merrill-Lynch said in a weekly report on Friday. "Index providers are launching these products because they believe the retail market will evolve in Europe," said Andreas Zingg, head of ETF distribution at asset manager Vanguard. "You don''t have a lot of retail investors that buy ETFs at the moment, but this is going to change, in our opinion." TRENDY TRACKERS Assets under managements at European ETFs sit at about half a trillion dollars, a record, while the U.S. market is six times bigger, according to Thomson Reuters data. Widespread retail investment in equity markets, partly linked to compulsory corporate retirement plans that are heavily invested in stocks, has made the U.S. market ripe for niche products. Many track social trends and consumption habits, with providers banking on firing the imagination of armchair investors via the trends they encounter in their everyday lives. A Millennials ETF focuses on companies likely to benefit from the rising spending power and idiosyncratic tastes of that generation, and investors can even gain exposure to medical marijuana stocks through an ETF launched this week on the Toronto exchange. According to Goldman Sachs, 10 percent of the free float across U.S. stock markets is held by ETFs. In Europe, it is about 2.8 percent - leaving plenty of room for growth. Vanguard''s base case sees an expansion of the retail segment for ETFs from 24 percent in 2016 to 44 percent by 2021. Its scenario for faster expansion sees retail investors making up 65 percent of the European exchange-traded product market by then. Another route into millennials'' pockets being explored are investment apps, which are proliferating in Britain as interest in ETFs grows among younger investors. "We''re engaging with young people who typically are investing for the first time with us," said Ben Stanway, co-founder of the Moneybox app. It launched last August, advertising on London''s subway for investors to put their spare change into one of three ETFs tracking global equities, property stocks, or cash. The minimum investment is just one pound. Over half of its customers are aged 25-35, Stanway says. ''CHICKEN AND EGG'' A robotics and cyber-security tracker by ETF Securities was the first of its kind in Europe, picking shares exposed to growth in robotics, from large established companies such as Switzerland’s ABB to small-cap entrants. The possibility of mergers and acquisitions was a main driver in the choice of stocks, said ETF Securities’ fund manager Howie Li. "What we have seen in the last 12 to 18 months is investors breaking down how they construct their portfolios to allow for this type of investment," he said. Trailblazers in thematic ETFs include private banks, with high net worth investors keen to bet on long-term trends, according to Christopher Mellor, head of sales and strategy at Source ETF, which launched its Fintech ETF on March 10 , with just over $13 million under management so far. But to tempt larger institutional investors into theme-tracking, niche products need to get much bigger. BlackRock''s four trend tracking ETFs have so far collected $289 million in assets under management – just one thousandth of the total for iShares, its ETF arm in Europe. "Yes, there are these really interesting, funky ETFs out there, but the liquidity is horrible. They are tiny, and there''s so many," said Hani Redha, multi-asset manager at Pinebridge Investments, adding, however, that he was interested in themes like robotics, and would consider buying them once they gained scale. "It''s a chicken and egg situation," he said. (Reporting by Helen Reid, editing by Vikram Subhedar and John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-etf-retailinvestors-idUSL3N1HE4GJ'|'2017-04-07T21:43:00.000+03:00' '22c98d873967331d03163c0fa6356fbe062d92f5'|'U.S. job growth cools, unemployment rate falls to 4.5 percent'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 3:13pm BST U.S. job growth cools, unemployment rate falls to 4.5 percent People wait in line to enter the Nassau County Mega Job Fair at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, U.S. October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo By Lucia Mutikani - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. job growth slowed sharply in March amid continued layoffs in the retail sector, but a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent suggested the labour market was still tightening. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 98,000 jobs last month, the fewest since last May, Labor Department said on Friday. Job gains, which had exceeded 200,000 in January and February, were also held back by a slowdown in hiring at construction sites, factories and leisure and hospitality businesses, which had been boosted by unusually warm temperatures earlier in the year. In March, temperatures dropped and a storm lashed the Northeast, likely accounting for some of the stepback in hiring. The two-tenths of a percentage point drop in the unemployment rate from 4.7 percent in February took it to its lowest level since May 2007. "There probably was a large weather-related factor in there during the measurement week. If you look at the underlying data outside of this singular report and the way it''s measured, the data still suggests that job growth is pretty good," said Russell Price, senior economist at Ameriprise Financial Services in Troy, Michigan. The dollar was trading higher against a basket of currencies, while prices for U.S. Treasuries rose. U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower. The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs per month to keep up with growth in the working-age population. While the bigger establishment survey showed fewer jobs created last month, the smaller and more volatile survey of households showed employment increased 472,000. The labour market is expected to hit full employment this year. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing 180,000 last month and the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.7 percent. The weak payrolls gain could raise concerns about the economy''s health especially given signs that gross domestic product slowed to around a 1.0 percent annualised growth pace in the first quarter after rising at a 2.1 percent rate in the fourth quarter. MODERATE WAGE GAINS Average hourly earnings increased 5 cents or 0.2 percent in March after rising 0.3 percent in February. That lowered the year-on-year increase in wages to 2.7 percent. Given rising inflation, the moderate job gains and gradual wage increases could still keep the Federal Reserve on course to raise interest rates again in June. The U.S. central bank lifted its overnight interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in March and has forecast two more hikes this year. The Fed has said it would look at how to reduce its portfolio of bond holdings later this year. "I think for the Fed, it doesn''t change all that much in the near-term outlook. They were not going to go in May, and there are still going to be two more employment reports before the June meeting," said Mark Cabana, head of U.S. short rates strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York. The labour force participation rate, or the share of working-age Americans who are employed or at least looking for a job, held at an 11-month high of 63 percent in March. A broad measure of unemployment, that includes people who want to work but have given up searching and those working part-time because they cannot find full-time employment, fell to 8.9 percent, the lowest level since December 2007, from 9.2 percent in February. The employment-to-population ratio increased one-tenth of a percentage point to 60.1 percent, the highest since February 2009. Last month, construction jobs increased 6,000, the weakest since August, after robust gains in January and February. Manufacturing employment gained 11,000 jobs, slowing from the 26,000 positions created in February. Retail payrolls fell 29,700, declining for a second straight month. Retailers including J.C. Penney Co Inc ( JCP.N ) and Macy''s Inc ( M.N ) have announced thousands of layoffs as they shift toward online sales and scale back on brick-and-mortar operations. Government payrolls increased 9,000 despite a freeze on the hiring of civilian workers. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Additional reporting by Herb Lash and Sam Forgione in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-economy-idUKKBN17925U'|'2017-04-07T22:13:00.000+03:00' '8b9f546bc0971f1915295f6c4eb99af87ee201b1'|'Banco Santander says will prioritise risk control in U.S. in 2017'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 10:23am BST Banco Santander says will prioritize risk control in U.S. in 2017 A woman walks past a Banco Santander branch in downtown Rio de Janeiro August 19, 2014. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo SANTANDER, Spain Spain''s Banco Santander ( SAN.MC ) aims to address risk controls and better comply with regulations in the U.S. in 2017 in order to improve its profitability there, its chief executive said on Friday. Santander, the euro zone''s largest bank by market valuation, failed its U.S. stress test last year for the third time in a row despite its efforts to improve risk controls in the market, where it makes about 5 percent of its profits. "We have two priorities in 2017, improve risk control and management systems in order to advance our regulatory agenda," Chief Executive Jose Antonio Alvarez said during the bank''s annual shareholders meeting in the city of Santander. Alvarez said on Friday that the bank had made significant progress last year in complying with regulatory requirements. This year, Santander and other foreign lenders with total assets of between $50 billion and $250 billion are no longer subject to a public objection on qualitative grounds by Federal Reserve. (Reporting By Jesús Aguado; Editing by Angus Berwick)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-santander-shareholders-idUKKBN1791BJ'|'2017-04-07T17:17:00.000+03:00' 'cc2cce625943345fe2b748a144d5523d6ce29ff9'|'UK''s Hammond says government looking at range of Brexit outcomes'|'Business News 50pm IST UK''s Hammond says government looking at range of Brexit outcomes Britain''s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond arrives in Downing Street, London March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay LONDON Britain''s finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday that the government was looking at a range of potential outcomes for forthcoming Brexit talks, but declined to say if his department had conducted a detailed economic analysis. Earlier on Tuesday a parliamentary committee said the government should justify Prime Minister Theresa May''s view that "no deal is better than a bad deal" by offering an economic impact assessment. Pressed on whether the finance ministry had its own analysis, Hammond said it was looking at the different potential outcomes around Brexit "all the time". But he declined to say if this included an in-depth analysis. "When you go into a negotiating room, it really isn''t helpful to have outlined in detail the different potential outcome scenarios," he told Sky News during a trip to India. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-hammond-idINKBN1761W1'|'2017-04-04T23:09:00.000+03:00' 'c06d26d659331aba9f77957af1696a41641a90e4'|'BRIEF-RPM International Q3 earnings per share $0.09'|' 04am EDT BRIEF-RPM International Q3 earnings per share $0.09 April 6 RPM International Inc * Rpm reports fiscal 2017 third-quarter results * Q3 earnings per share $0.09 * Q3 earnings per share view $0.11 -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S * Sees FY 2017 earnings per share $1.54 to $1.64 * Q3 sales $1.0 billion versus I/B/E/S view $1.04 billion * RPM International Inc - impairment and restructuring charges reduced diluted eps by $0.05 per share in quarter * Full year as-adjusted eps guidance revised to $2.57 to $2.67 * RPM International Inc - in industrial segment, expect mid-single-digit sales growth during Q4 * RPM International Inc -during current quarter, negative trends in restore product line led to loss of market share and downward revision to long-term forecast * RPM International Inc - $220 million in revenue added via nine acquisitions this fiscal year, have RPM well positioned for solid performance in Q4 and into FY18 * Fy2017 earnings per share view $2.66 -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-rpm-international-q3-earnings-per-idUSASB0B8RY'|'2017-04-06T19:04:00.000+03:00' '2d53eef6e2ad8c99ab2cf68992ca255799fa2029'|'ECB sticks to policy plan despite German call for tightening'|'By Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT The European Central Bank will stick to its policy plan including bond buying and record-low rates for some time to come as it is not yet convinced the euro zone economy is back to rude health, three of its top policymakers said on Thursday.Comments from Mario Draghi, Peter Praet and Vitor Constancio suggested the ECB would not change its policy message this month despite mounting calls from Germany for it to wind down its stimulus. The remarks match a Reuters report last week.ECB President Draghi said he saw no need to deviate from the bank''s stated policy path, which includes bond buying at least until the end of the year and rock-bottom rates until well after that to stimulate inflation."I do not see cause to deviate from the indications we have been consistently providing," Draghi said at a conference in Frankfurt."Before making any alterations to the components of our stance – interest rates, asset purchases and forward guidance – we still need to build sufficient confidence that inflation will indeed converge to our aim," he said.Price growth in the euro zone has rebounded in recent months and was at 1.5 percent in March. The ECB targets inflation of almost 2 percent.This has fuelled market speculation the ECB might raise its deposit rate, which is -0.4 percent, meaning banks are charged on their excess deposits.This is especially painful for cash-rich countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, where central banks have already signalled their uneasiness.Speaking in Berlin on Thursday, Germany''s central bank president, Jens Weidmann, said it was legitimate to start discussing when and how the ECB would crimp stimulus, and the head of Germany''s banking lobby called for it to end soon.But ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio told a summit in Malta later in the day that it was too soon to declare victory in the bank''s efforts to lift inflation.And ECB chief economist Peter Praet said even introducing the notion of a rate hike would undo some of the economic stimulus brought by the ECB''s asset purchases."If investors start perceiving that the path of the policy rate is subject to upward uncertainty ... long-term interest rates will be pushed higher and asset purchases will become less effective," Praet said at the Frankfurt conference.Indeed, ECB rate setters discussed removing a reference to the possibility of further rate cuts from their policy message when they met in March, but they decided against it for fear of upsetting financial markets.The ECB is on course to buy 2.3 trillion euros ($2.5 trillion) worth of assets in a bid to boost lending by flooding the euro zone with cash.Lending to households and companies is still growing at a slower pace than before the financial crisis.(Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ecb-policy-rates-idINKBN1781TA'|'2017-04-06T11:54:00.000+03:00' '5fd314b53803aab158186ffc80c05089f5c6aa56'|'Allied Minds slump takes stock below IPO price'|' 27am BST Allied Minds slump takes stock below IPO price LONDON The deepening slump in shares of Allied Minds ( ALML.L ) took them below their listing price for the first time in nearly three years on Thursday and brought losses for the year to more than 60 percent. Allied Minds, a company that funds technology and healthcare start-ups, was one of the hottest initial public offerings (IPO) in the U.K. in 2014, having risen by nearly threefold in the year after listing. Over the past month, however, the stock, which has some high-profile shareholders on its roster including Neil Woodford''s Woodford Investment Management and Invesco Asset Management, has come under severe selling pressure. The stock suffered its worst single-day ever on Wednesday after it said it would pull the plug on seven units which made up about a quarter of its current portfolio. Woodford''s fund and his old firm, Invesco, own roughly half of Allied Minds, according to latest filing data. Neil Woodford defended his fund''s holding in an interview with the Daily Telegraph dismissing the recent weakness as "short-term noise" and adding that restructuring would instead create value for shareholders. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar, Editing by Alasdair Pal) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-alliedminds-idUKKBN1780ZY'|'2017-04-06T17:27:00.000+03:00' 'f3c8dada7702eb0b93569416dd85eccfc6b3608a'|'ABB buys Austrian group to boost industrial automation'|'ZURICH ABB ( ABBN.S ) has bought Austrian group Bernecker + Rainer Industrie-Elektronik, the Swiss engineering company said on Tuesday, helping it to challenge German rival Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) in the industrial automation sector.The biggest deal under Chief Executive Ulrich Spiesshofer''s four-year leadership is part of ABB''s strategy of expanding its product line-up beyond processing raw materials, where price swings have dented demand from oil and gas companies.ABB declined to reveal what it was paying for B+R, but a person familiar with the matter said it was close to $2 billion.B+R, which was founded by two friends in the basement of an Austrian bank in 1979, makes programmable controls for machines used by companies like Nestle ( NESN.S ), Procter & Gamble ( PG.N ), and Roche ( ROG.S ).The privately held company also makes components for machines used by automotive makers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen. Its products include industrial PCs and factory automation devices which are designed to increase productivity.The deal increases ABB''s sales in the industrial automation segment to around $15 billion and consolidates its position as number two in the $130 billion global industrial automation sector behind Siemens ( SIEGn.DE )."B+R is a gem in the world of machine and factory automation," Spiesshofer said in a statement."It will make us the only industrial automation provider offering customers the entire spectrum of technology and software solutions around measurement, control, actuation, robotics, digitalization and electrification.”The purchase will add to ABB''s industrial automation division, which has struggled in recent quarters.Sales for the division, which also competes with Emerson ( EMR.N ), Rockwell Automation ( ROK.N ), and Schneider ( SCHN.PA ), fell 9 percent in 2016, while new orders dropped 20 percent, largely due to falling demand from oil and gas customers.The B+R deal, ABB''s biggest acquisition since it bought U.S. low-voltage products maker Thomas & Betts for $3.9 billion in 2012, is a departure from Spiesshofer''s previous strategy which has focused on trimming costs and shedding fringe businesses.Zurich-based ABB said it was aiming to increase B+R''s annual sales from more than $600 million at present to more than $1 billion, and said the business would add to ABB''s operating earnings per share from the first year.The purchase is being funded from ABB''s own cash and is expected to be completed by mid-year.(Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-abb-rainer-idUSKBN1760DW'|'2017-04-04T09:34:00.000+03:00' '623eef90465577e21139486443b4e9ea58bbb2fb'|'Exxon in talks to expand into Brazil - WSJ - Reuters'|'Exxon Mobil Corp is in talks to gain access to Brazil''s deep-water oil resources, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.Exxon, the world''s largest publicly listed oil company, has held talks about a joint venture through which it would invest in projects with Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras, the Journal reported.The talks also included discussions about potentially buying stakes in offshore tracts that the Brazilian government plans to lease out this year, the report said.Exxon is also working with U.S. oil producer Hess Corp to expand into Brazil after the country revised its regulations last year to attract more foreign investment, the Journal reported. on.wsj.com/2nApuE0Exxon and Petrobras declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, while Hess was not immediately available for comment.(Reporting by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/exxon-mobil-brazil-idINKBN1762DI'|'2017-04-04T15:43:00.000+03:00' '7c3a0cb472b0ec67d9465f514ce91851259e6bce'|'New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks: WSJ'|'New Jersey Resources Corp ( NJR.N ) is considering to combine with South Jersey Industries Inc ( SJI.N ) in a deal that would bring together two natural-gas utilities in New Jersey, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.Details of the talks couldn''t be learned and it is possible that there won''t be a deal, the Journal reported on Tuesday. ( on.wsj.com/2nG2OTt )South Jersey Industries and New Jersey Resources were not immediately available for comments.Shares of South Jersey Industries rose as much as 5.54 percent to a record high of $37.31. The company has a market value of about $2.8 billion.New Jersey Resources'' stock rose as much as 6.3 percent to an all-time high of $41.60. The company is valued at about $3.4 billion.(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-south-jersey-ind-m-a-new-jersey-rsrce-idINKBN1762DO'|'2017-04-04T15:44:00.000+03:00' '60d134e31f8449060f3f93bd25512ec07a736048'|'Mexican bank Inbursa issues 10-yr bond for $750 mln'|'Company News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 9:32pm EDT Mexican bank Inbursa issues 10-yr bond for $750 mln MEXICO CITY, April 6 Mexico''s Grupo Financiero Inbursa said on Thursday that its subsidiary, Banco Inbursa, had issued a 10-year bond on international markets for $750 million. Inbursa, which is controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, said the bond had a 4.375 percent annual coupon, adding that the money would be used to strengthen the bank''s funding structure. (Reporting by Adriana Barrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mexican-bank-inbursa-issues-10-yr-bond-f-idUSL2N1HF02E'|'2017-04-07T09:32:00.000+03:00' 'edcc1dc035e7943e3610887e98d441fdb61e4f0b'|'Boeing reports drop in first-quarter plane deliveries'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:21pm EDT Boeing reports drop in first-quarter plane deliveries FILE PHOTO: An Boeing 777 aircraft lands at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, near Paris, October 27, 2015. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann/File Photo Boeing Co ( BA.N ) said on Thursday it delivered 169 jetliners in the first quarter, down from 176 in the same period a year earlier. The company said deliveries of the single-aisle 737 slipped to 113 in the quarter, from 121 a year earlier, as it readies a newer version of its most popular plane. Boeing said deliveries of its twin-aisle 777 jetliner fell to 21 from 23, while those of the 787 Dreamliner increased to 32 from 30. The company has said it expects to deliver between 760 and 765 commercial aircraft in 2017, more than the 748 in 2016. The world''s biggest planemaker said it booked net orders of 198 aircraft in the first quarter. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-deliveries-idUSKBN1782CP'|'2017-04-07T01:21:00.000+03:00' 'dbb53f309918231e1db179f61b6506000aa7b7ab'|'Former LendingClub CEO Renaud Laplanche launches new online lender'|'NEW YORK, April 6 Renaud Laplanche, who abruptly stepped down as CEO of LendingCLub Corp in May, has launched a new online lender called Upgrade, the company said on Thursday.San Francisco-based Upgrade has raised $60 million in equity and convertible notes from a large group of venture capital investors including Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, as well as large Chinese online lender CreditEase and Silicon Valley Bank, the startup said. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/online-lending-laplanche-idINL2N1HE0MV'|'2017-04-06T11:48:00.000+03:00' 'a1768bb2631c5de322b3aa8427da60668dbcdddd'|'China''s SAIC Motor posts higher profit; cautions 2017 sales growth to slow'|'Money 17pm IST China''s SAIC Motor posts higher profit; cautions 2017 sales growth to slow SAIC Motor Corp''s logos are pictured at its booth during the Auto China 2016 auto show in Beijing, China April 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/Files BEIJING China''s largest automaker SAIC Motor Corp Ltd posted a 7.4 percent jump in 2016 profits, slightly lower than it had expected, and cautioned sales growth will slow this year as the country rolls back a tax cut on small-engine cars. The Shanghai-based manufacturer, which makes cars in joint ventures with General Motors Co and Volkswagen AG in addition to own-brand vehicles, said its net profit totalled 32.0 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) last year. This was below SAIC''s preliminary prediction for a 7.5 percent rise in 2016 profit. SAIC''s revenue rose 12.8 percent to 756 billion yuan. Demand for cars in China, the world''s biggest auto market, got a shot in the arm in 2016 as people rushed to buy ahead of a planned expiry at year-end of lower taxes. The tax cut - on vehicles with engines of 1.6 litres or below - mainly helped the mass market, smaller car segment where Volkswagen excels. But sales are expected to come under pressure this year following an increase in the purchase tax on small-engine vehicles to 7.5 percent as of Jan. 1, from 5 percent in 2016. The tax will return to its normal level of 10 percent in 2018. SAIC said the rush to buy cars before the hike in taxes could mean lower sales in 2017. "After the blowout in (2016) auto market sales, it will be difficult to avoid an ''overdraft''," SAIC said in an exchange filing. "Market growth is facing greater challenges." SAIC on Wednesday said its vehicle sales rose 3 percent in the first three months of 2017. For the full year, the automaker aims to sell 6.7 million vehicles, up only about 3.8 percent from 2016, when sales saw a 10 percent growth. China''s overall vehicle sales growth is expected to slow to 5 percent in 2017 from 13.7 percent last year, according to China''s automakers association. Amid a more challenging domestic market, SAIC plans to continue pursuing new markets outside and said it had formally agreed to buy an Indian factory from General Motors. GM had previously said it was moving forward with talks to sell its Halol plant in India''s western state of Gujarat to SAIC. SAIC did not provide any further details in its filing. "We continue to progress towards the sale of the Halol plant, as we consolidate manufacturing at our Talegaon plant," GM told Reuters in an emailed statement, referring to a second India plant. ($1=6.8957 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Jake Spring Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Clarence Fernandez) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/saic-motor-results-idINKBN1780WH'|'2017-04-06T16:47:00.000+03:00' 'b9d85011684c1d2f438ff2fe37cbb421678db2a0'|'Czech central bank removes cap on crown currency strength'|' 47am BST Czech central bank removes cap on crown currency strength A sign of a currency exchange office hangs in front of the Czech National Bank in Prague November 14, 2013. REUTERS/David W Cerny PRAGUE The Czech central bank (CNB) ended its intervention regime keeping the crown on the weak side of 27 per euro on Thursday, allowing the currency to float to stronger levels. Investors have bet billions of euros that the crown will strengthen after the end of the currency cap which had been in place since November 2013 to help revive inflation. The bank reiterated it would be ready to step into the market if it needed to smooth currency swings. The bank said Governor Jiri Rusnok will hold a news conference to discuss the decision at 2.15 pm. (1315 BST). (Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Jason Hovet) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-czech-cenbank-idUKKBN17818V'|'2017-04-06T18:47:00.000+03:00' '8160756362fa5cdb5a7bf2d0dcfa71e4457211de'|'Credit Suisse scandal threatens Swiss efforts to clean up reputation'|'Business 5:18pm BST Credit Suisse scandal threatens Swiss efforts to clean up reputation The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH An anonymous tip to Dutch authorities on thousands of suspicious accounts at Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) could hardly have come at a worse time for Switzerland and its banks. The information that triggered raids in five countries raises new doubts about the effectiveness of Switzerland''s efforts to shed its decades-old reputation as one of the world''s major tax havens. "It''s a wake-up call not only for the banking community but also for authorities," said Mark Pieth, an anti-corruption expert and criminal law professor at the University of Basel. "Instead of really just being angry at others they should ask, have we really been zealous enough?" Switzerland is among the countries that signed up to a global data-sharing programme led by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, known as the Automatic Exchange of Information, which was designed to root out tax dodgers. Swiss banks, having paid more than $5 billion (4 billion pounds) to settle allegations of helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, have trumpeted their reformed ways, publicly encouraging clients to sign up to government programmes allowing them to declare untaxed assets. But last week''s raids of Credit Suisse''s offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam as part of a coordinated investigation in five countries show Switzerland still has a way to go to break with its past. It is a wake-up call for financial markets as well. "People really thought that, with the upcoming Automatic Exchange of Information and the cleanup of the European client portfolio completed, this stuff shouldn''t be an issue anymore," Andreas Venditti, banking analyst at Vontobel, said. "Now the market seems to be confused about what to think." Mark Branson, head of Swiss financial watchdog FINMA, said last week''s news was unwelcome at a time when Switzerland is presenting itself as a reformed financial centre whose selling point is stability and reliability rather than tax perks. "These headlines will not vanish overnight although the business model has fundamentally changed," said Branson, speaking to reporters on Tuesday. Another sign that Switzerland has to work harder to improve its reputation was the apparently deliberate efforts by Eurojust, the European Union judicial agency which helped coordinate last week''s raids, to keep Swiss prosecutors out of the loop on enforcement actions. Switzerland''s Office of the Attorney General on Friday demanded a written explanation for the snub. "PART OF DOING BUSINESS" In the new investigation, raids began on Thursday in the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, France and Australia, with visits also made at three of Credit Suisse''s offices. This followed a tip-off to Dutch prosecutors about 55,000 "suspect accounts". One of the big questions is how many of the accounts represent existing client relationships at Credit Suisse, Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, and how many are legacy accounts from when Swiss banking secrecy shielded customers'' money from tax authorities. Iqbal Khan, the head of Credit Suisse''s International Wealth Management division, said in an interview he did not know where the 55,000 figure referred to by the Dutch office for financial crimes prosecution had come from as the bank had fewer accounts than that for all of Europe. Khan, who is responsible for Credit Suisse''s private banking operations outside of Switzerland and Asia Pacific, said it was not certain if existing clients would be implicated. Branson said FINMA had been in contact with Credit Suisse about the raids but was not in a position to say what portion of the case related to old accounts. One thing that does seem certain is legal and regulatory issues are increasingly considered as a cost of investing in Swiss private banks. Moritz Baumann, bank analyst and client adviser at Swiss wealth manager Albin Kistler, said: "The fact is that legal issues are practically part of doing business as a bank." (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt. Editing by Jane Merriman) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-taxevasion-idUKKBN176243'|'2017-04-05T00:18:00.000+03:00' '28935745126013c4f26783b15a3b0097abf5645d'|'Stressed shoppers calm down by learning how to peel a potato - Business'|'In a dimly-lit room, a dozen twenty-somethings gather around a large table to relax, “reconnect” and learn. But this group is not learning a new language, setting up a book club or planning a business venture. They are attending a workshop – taking place in the basement of Selfridges , one of London’s swankiest department stores – to learn how to peel potatoes. For most people, peeling spuds is an everyday chore. But for some of those attending the workshop it is apparently close to a religious experience. “I’ve never peeled a potato before in my life” declares Antonio Pignone, as peel curls from the blade of his wooden-handled paring knife. “I’m from an Italian family so maybe that’s not that surprising. But now I am finally doing it I am really enjoying it. I’m finding it a very meditative experience.”Andy Stanford, a 26-year-old who works in social media, was employing a deft right-hand style. “I’ve just lost sense of all time”, he said. “I’ve really enjoyed it and forgotten about checking my emails – because I can’t.”The potato peeling workshop is part of a new programme which aims to help stressed-out consumers calm down and “reconnect” with themselves.The peeling is supervised by food anthropologists and hosts Suzy Webb and Bea Farrell. Participants have the choice of a old-fashioned paring knife, or a traditional metal potato or vegetable peeler. “Some people were clearly not used to using a knife so we have shown them how to use that safely” said Webb. “We have also shown how to peel carefully, without wasting too much of the potato. The key thing is to look carefully what you are doing. Once you have got the knack you can do it quite quickly.”Workshop attendees could select from three types of potato: standard Maris Pipers, new potatoes – which guests were helpfully informed could be lightly scrubbed rather than peeled – and an exotic French purple variety.Selfridges goes bigger on bags as £300m London revamp begins Read more For one attendee the event rekindled happy memories. Jessica Swan from Australia recalled how she and her brother used to have a competition to peel an entire potato without breaking the peel. “It reminded me of happy family times”, she laughed. “It all came flooding back to me.” The peel-in is part of a project - dubbed Our House - that Selfridges says explores the subject of home and what it means to people now, given problems like the millions of people displaced across the world, spiralling house prices and increased homelessness. And it’s not just about potatoes. The department store reckons that people can find solace and contentment from other basic activities and rituals, so there are other group activities planned, like lessons in how to grind spices by hand, tie herb bundles, and even make tea, using leaves rather than a teabag. .It all takes place in a semi-darkened “conceptual farmhouse” in the shop’s basement. Participants gain admission by ringing a cow bell, and have to remove their shoes and put away their mobile phones. Those feeling a tad tired can lie down and have a nap on a straw bed.Obviously, there are also a few things on sale, and not potato peelers. The project is a collaboration with a neighbouring Mayfair shop called The New Craftsmen, which stocks the work of independent designers in the luxury homewares and furnishings sector, like ceramicists, textile designersand furniture makers.So newly competent spud bashers can snap up an incense stick for £20, or a decorative wooden bowl for £1,000. “We are increasingly disconnected from crafts and making and doing things because the world is becoming more and more virtual” said Catherine Lock, founder of The New Craftsmen, who helped curate the ambient activities on offer. “At the same time goods being produced are homogenised and bland. We hope this project will show people that crafts are hands-on, visceral, sensory activities which are very satisfying and grounding.” Linda Hewson, creative director of Selfridges, said the potato-peeling workshop was all about getting pleasure out of simple tasks: “We are not expecting potato peeling to become a hobby. But the idea is to draw attention to those habitual tasks you would not normally notice or appreciate, and find a renewed value in them. It’s about a simple enjoyment and awareness of daily life – and taking the time appreciate it. ”Topics Retail industry London Food & drink news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/06/stressed-shoppers-calm-down-by-learning-how-to-peel-a-potato'|'2017-04-07T02:29:00.000+03:00' '75e8c37fb5b3ea86e78be00fec9200281b57951e'|'Hyatt heir Pritzker opens Democratic bid to unseat Illinois governor'|'Politics 47pm EDT Hyatt heir Pritzker opens Democratic bid to unseat Illinois governor By Dave McKinney - CHICAGO CHICAGO Billionaire investor J.B. Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt Hotels Corp fortune, formally entered a growing Democratic field for Illinois governor on Thursday, labeling Republican Bruce Rauner a "failure" as the state''s chief executive. Pritzker’s bid pits him against Chicago businessman Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, and three other Democratic candidates in the party''s March 20, 2018 primary. "Governor Bruce Rauner is a failure. He promised a turnaround and all we got was a runaround," Pritzker told supporters at a Chicago Park District gymnasium on the city''s crime-prone southside. Illinois, the country’s fifth-largest state, is immersed in one of the most politically turbulent eras in its 199-year history. Rauner has feuded with Democrats, who control the state legislature, over his insistence that a state budget be tied to a list of his policy demands that would weaken unions, impose legislative term limits, freeze property taxes and impose new rules on injured workers seeking compensation from their employers. With House Speaker Michael Madigan and fellow Democrats blocking that agenda, Illinois has been without a complete budget during Rauner''s first two years in office. The fiscal futility has left Illinois - the only state ever to go 22 months without a budget - with nearly $13 billion of unpaid bills as of Wednesday. "We''ve got to start by taxing the millionaires and billionaires first. We''re not going to middle-class families until we get people to pay their fair share," Pritzker told reporters after his announcement. Pritzker, the 52-year-old brother of former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, is positioned as the wealthiest candidate in the race so far, with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $3.4 billion. Rauner, a former private equity investor, does not appear on the Forbes list, but enters a re-election bid with plentiful resources of his own. Last November, the governor released his 2015 tax returns that showed he and his wife had more than $188 million in taxable income. A month later, he steered $50 million in personal funds into his campaign account, state records show. The state Republican Party attacked Pritzker on Thursday by linking him to the long-serving Democratic House speaker and insisting Pritzker favored a reinstatement of the state''s 5 percent individual income tax. In January 2015, the state income tax dropped to 3.75 percent after a temporary 2011 tax increase lapsed. (Reporting by Dave McKinney, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-illinois-politics-idUSKBN1782TG'|'2017-04-07T04:39:00.000+03:00' '47e1705f47bf86e923aa472e5f805a11023cd164'|'Wall Street dips at open on weak jobs data'|'Money News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 7:05pm IST Wall Street dips at open on weak jobs data A souvenir license plate is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Files Wall Street dipped at the open on Friday after a report showed U.S. employers added the fewest jobs in 10 months in March, rattling investors already nervous after U.S. missile strikes on Syria. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 24.7 points, or 0.12 percent, at 20,638.25, the S&P 500 was down 2.01 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,355.48 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 4.12 points, or 0.07 percent, at 5,874.83. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17922E'|'2017-04-07T21:35:00.000+03:00' '75f373e7f28c3eb3832aee1a5918b2d7689d1b9c'|'MGM to buy 81 pct of Epix for $1.03 bln'|'Deals - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 5:04pm EDT MGM to buy 81 percent of Epix for $1.03 billion MGM Holdings Inc said it would acquire the 81 percent of Epix it does not already own from two of its partners in the premium U.S. channel, Viacom Inc and Lionsgate Entertainment Corp, for about $1.03 billion. Viacom has a 50 percent stake in Epix, while Lionsgate holds 31.2 percent. The deal would give MGM, a privately held U.S. movie studio best known for its classic film library, control of Epix and would be a boon to its TV business, as it seeks to build a stronger platform to distribute its content. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-viacom-epix-sale-idUSKBN1772R4'|'2017-04-06T04:54:00.000+03:00' '3c3f0af437685b21751174d61100aaa4b97b7a31'|'Oil prices edge up after dent from U.S. inventories'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:09pm BST Oil prices edge up after dent from U.S. inventories FILE PHOTO: A man pumps petrol for his car at a petrol station in Hanoi, Vietnam December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo By Amanda Cooper - LONDON LONDON Oil prices rose on Thursday, on track for a fourth consecutive daily gain, after recovering from losses triggered by record high U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude futures were up by 20 cents on the day at $54.56 a barrel by 1100 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 13 cents at $51.28 a barrel. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an increase of 1.57 million barrels in crude inventories late on Wednesday, bringing total U.S. stocks to a record high of 535.5 million barrels. "Overnight crude inventory numbers pulled the rug out from under the feet of the oil rally," said Jeffrey Halley, senior analyst at futures brokerage OANDA. The record crude inventories came as U.S. oil production rose by 52,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.2 million bpd. "The U.S. crude oil production profile is a mirror image of where it was last year, when at the end of the second quarter, production was 600,000 bpd lower than at the start of the year and this year is going to be the opposite," said Olivier Jakob, at consultancy Petromatrix. "By the end of the second quarter, you could have U.S. production up by 1 million bpd." Because of the glut, U.S. crude exports have risen to a record 1.1 million bpd. Most cargoes are going to Asia, where traders say there are early signs of a tightening market due to efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output in an effort to prop up prices. "The global picture is more important (than just the U.S.) and stocks are being drawn," said Oystein Berentsen, managing director at trading company Strong Petroleum in Singapore. In the short-term, he said, a lot of oil was being sold out of storage around the world, adding to the imminent glut. But Berentsen warned that once a significant amount of crude had been sold out of inventories, "then you get the full effect (of tighter supplies)." (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; editing by Jason Neely and Susan Thomas) Next In Business News Euro to fall to near 15-year low if Le Pen wins French election: Reuters poll BENGALURU The euro is likely to fall about 5 percent to near 15-year lows and close to parity against the dollar in the immediate aftermath should Marine Le Pen win the French presidency in May, according to foreign exchange strategists polled by Reuters. Euro hits three-week low as Draghi cools tightening expectations LONDON The euro hit a three-week low on Thursday after the head of the European Central Bank said he saw no need to deviate from the ECB''s policy path, which includes record-low interest rates and bond-buying until at least the end of the year. Fed''s Williams sees start of balance sheet reduction at year-end FRANKFURT It would make sense for the Federal Reserve to begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet toward the end of this year in a multi-year process that will run parallel to interest rate increases, a Fed policymaker said on Thursday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17805M'|'2017-04-06T19:07:00.000+03:00' '598de8a2138e1c9f84d879a52ca8f2b02641f7f9'|'Developing Asia''s 2017 growth seen as weakest in 16 years - ADB'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:24am IST Developing Asia''s 2017 growth seen as weakest in 16 years: ADB Workers work at a construction site in front of Shanghai''s financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song MANILA Developing Asia is on track to post its slowest annual growth in 16 years this year as it adjusts to China''s rebalancing and possible spillovers from global policy uncertainty, the Asian Development Bank said. The Manila-based lender kept at 5.7 percent this year''s growth forecast for developing Asia, which groups 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. That would be the region''s weakest expansion since it grew 5.0 percent in 2001. Next year, developing Asia should again grow by 5.7 percent, the ADB said in its 2017 Asia Development Outlook report. "Developing Asia continues to drive the global economy even as the region adjusts to a more consumption-driven economy in China and looming global risks," said Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB''s chief economist. Sawada said the region faces "risks from uncertain policy direction in the advanced economies, including the pace of interest rate normalization in the United States". "While short-term risks seem manageable, regional policymakers should remain vigilant to respond to possible spillover through capital outflows and exchange rate movements," Sawada said. The Federal Reserve hiked U.S. rates a notch in mid-March, its second tightening in three months. Forecasts from Fed officials suggest a median of two more increases before year-end. China, which is rebalancing its economy to growth led by consumption rather than exports, is expected to grow 6.5 percent this year, the ADB said. That is better than its December forecast of 6.4 percent, but weaker than the 6.7 percent expansion in 2016. Growth in China is seen slowing further to 6.2 percent in 2018. The ADB reduced its 2017 growth forecast for India to 7.4 percent from 7.8 percent and it expects growth there to pick up to 7.6 percent in 2018. With nearly all economies in Southeast Asia showing an upward trend, the region should expand by a faster 4.8 percent this year and pick up to 5.0 percent next year, the ADB said. Economies in South Asia are projected to expand by 7.0 percent in 2017 and 7.2 percent in 2018. Strong consumer demand and rising global commodity prices could cause the inflation pace in developing Asia to quicken to 3.0 percent this year and to 3.2 percent in 2018, the ADB said. The report is available on ADB''s website: www.adb.org (Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Richard Borsuk) Next In Business News Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of the internet retailer''s stock annually to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-asia-economy-adb-idINKBN17805P'|'2017-04-06T09:32:00.000+03:00' '8f6620052fa5137e86959efb4c221bfdb6d456b8'|'BRIEF-Ford wants to hire 976 staff to build SUV in Romania'|' 43am EDT BRIEF-Ford wants to hire 976 staff to build SUV in Romania April 6 Ford Motor Co * Says will hire an additional 976 people to help production of its smaller sport utility vehicle EcoSport at its Romanian unit Automobile Craiova. * Says current staff at Automobile Craiova stands at 2,715. * Says production of EcoSport will start in the fall of 2017. * Says investment to build the vehicle is of up to 200 million euros ($213.00 million). * Says will continue to assess the possibility of building new products at its Craiova plant to make full use of existing output and technology while holding "productive talks" with the Romanian government over improving infrastructure and logistics. ($1 = 0.9390 euros) (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Radu Marinas) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ford-wants-to-hire-976-staff-to-bu-idUSL5N1HE1RH'|'2017-04-06T16:43:00.000+03:00' 'a3dd2af2dea5cc1da12e99336d2a84f061534972'|'EU raises import duties on Chinese steel, angering Beijing'|'By Philip Blenkinsop - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS The European Commission said on Thursday it had set ''anti-dumping'' duties on imports of hot-rolled flat steel products from China at a higher rate than those already in place, angering Beijing.The Commission, acting on behalf of the 28 EU countries, set final duties of between 18.1 and 35.9 percent for five years for producers including Bengang Steel Plates Co, Handan Iron & Steel Co and Hesteel Co.This compared with provisional rates imposed from October of 13.2 to 22.6 percent following a complaint lodged by European steel association Eurofer on behalf of EU producers ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp.China''s commerce ministry said it was highly concerned by the decision and urged the EU to "correct its mistake", adding it would take "necessary measures" to protect its companies.The EU has already imposed duties on a wide range of steel grades to counter what EU steel producers say is a flood of steel sold at a loss due to Chinese overcapacity.China, the world''s top producer and consumer of steel, said early last year it would shut as much as 150 million tonnes of annual production capacity over the next five years, although capacity actually rose in 2016.G20 governments recognised in September that steel overcapacity was a serious problem. China has said the problem is a global oneThe Commission said on Thursday that the measures should shield EU steel makers from the effects of Chinese dumping.The Commission also said that it had decided not to impose provisional duties on the same product from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine, although the investigation of imports from these countries would continue for another six months."The decision not to impose provisional measures for imports from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine does not prejudge the final outcome of that investigation," a Commission spokesman said.(Additional reporting by Lusha Zhang in Beijing; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek, Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eu-steel-china-idINKBN1780YZ'|'2017-04-06T07:19:00.000+03:00' '461e94da137334244c86986982ff99d82b437093'|'Co-operative Group writes off stake in struggling bank'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:22am BST Co-operative Group writes off stake in struggling bank LONDON Britain''s Co-operative Group ( 42TE.L ), the mutually-owned supermarkets to funeral services group, on Thursday wrote off the value of its stake in the struggling Co-operative Bank. Reporting its financial results for 2016, Co-operative Group said uncertainty about the value of the bank during its sale process made it prudent to value the group''s stake in the lender at nil. It is the third consecutive reporting period in which the group has written down the value of its 20 percent stake, which it last valued at 140 million pounds in September. The write-off meant the group recorded a pretax statutory loss for 2016. Its operating profit rose by 32 percent, on growth in its core businesses of supermarkets, funeralcare, and insurance. The Co-op Bank''s current sales process has drawn interest from multiple bidders after the ailing British lender put itself up for sale in February. Sources close to the process told Reuters that most bidders were interested in specific assets only as they saw little value in buying the whole group. Co-op Bank nearly collapsed in 2013 with a 1.5 billion pound hole in its capital after losses from problem real estate loans. Bondholders ultimately took control of the bank. (Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Next In Business News UK statistics agency tries to spot recessions sooner LONDON Britain''s statistics agency said on Thursday that it is taking steps to ensure it can see when the economy is heading into recession sooner than it has in the past, after being slow to spot when Britain last entered recession in 2008.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-co-operative-results-idUKKBN1780J2'|'2017-04-06T14:22:00.000+03:00' '3364f54bedd3a264ae3bc77856b0c38a1450d4b3'|'UPDATE 1-Linde board equally split on Praxair merger -source'|'* No concessions made at supervisory board meeting -source* Linde labour representatives fear loss of influence-source* Set for showdown at supervisory board meeting on May 3 (Adds details on merger agreement, procedure, shares)By Jens HackMUNICH, Germany, April 6 The labour and capital representatives on Linde''s supervisory board stuck to their opposing positions over a planned merger with Praxair at a meeting on Thursday, a supervisory board source told Reuters after the meeting."No concessions were made," the source said.The German and U.S. industrial gases groups have agreed to pursue a $65 billion all-share merger of equals and are hammering out terms of a business combination agreement.Linde labour representatives agreed to the deal in principle in December in exchange for German job guarantees but have come to oppose it because it would dilute their influence by putting the headquarters of the new holding company outside Germany.The boards of both companies will have to approve the eventual business combination agreement, making it likely that Linde''s supervisory board will vote on the issue on May 3, ahead of the company''s annual shareholder meeting on May 10."As it looks today, everything is pointing towards a showdown on May 3," the source said.As is the norm at German listed companies, Labour and capital are equally represented on Linde''s supervisory board. In the event of a stalemate, Chairman Wolfgang Reitzle would have a casting vote, and has said he is prepared to use it.Linde shares pared gains on the news and were trading 0.3 percent higher by 1346 GMT, outperforming a 0.2 percent-weaker German blue-chip index. (Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger, Kathrin Jones and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/linde-ma-praxair-idINL5N1HE4A2'|'2017-04-06T12:05:00.000+03:00' '247b52949ed36855d20b86e34a15ca45a4e6ce96'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX gets moderate lift from financials, energy firms'|'* TSX up 37.26 points, or 0.24 percent, to 15,680.25* Six of the TSX''s 10 main groups gainTORONTO, April 6 Canada''s main stock index rose on Thursday, bolstered by a rise in energy and financial stocks, but a dip in resource shares offset some of the gains.The most influential movers on the index included Canada''s largest bank, Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 0.6 percent to C$97.62, and Bank of Nova Scotia, which advanced 0.8 percent to C$78.74. Toronto-Dominion Bank was also a top mover, and was up 0.5 percent to C$66.6.The overall financials group, which makes up just over a third of the index''s weight, gained 0.3 percent.Energy companies were also higher, climbing 0.8 percent. TransCanada Corp, which won U.S. approval for the construction of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline last month, rose 0.9 percent to C$62.64. Suncor Energy was up 0.7 percent to C$41.73.At 10:44 a.m. ET (1444 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index added 37.26 points, or 0.24 percent, to 15,680.25. Of the index''s 10 main groups, six advanced.Offsetting gains was a 0.8-percent fall to C$25.80 by Barrick Gold Corp. The Canadian miner said on Thursday that China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd will pay $960 million for a 50 percent stake in Barrick''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina.Raging River Exploration dropped 5.5 percent to C$9.32 amid a report that it has hired an advisor to explore a possible sale.The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.1 percent.In corporate earnings news, Corus Entertainment Inc reported a lower-than-expected profit, hurt by higher costs. Shares were down 1.0 percent to C$12.83.Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 131 to 114, for a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the upside.The index was posting 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idINL2N1HE0XM'|'2017-04-06T12:55:00.000+03:00' '33011a41aef21510d4f77a609935a56338cbf011'|'Airbus, Boeing close in on Qantas'' ultra-long haul dream'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 6:05pm EDT Airbus, Boeing close in on Qantas'' ultra-long haul dream left right FILE PHOTO: Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, designed specifically for the Airbus A350 family of aircraft, are seen on the assembly line at the Rolls Royce factory in Derby, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Ellis/Pool/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of an Airbus A350-1000 is pictured on a scale model during its maiden flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, Southwestern France, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo 2/2 By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY Both Airbus ( AIR.PA ) and Boeing ( BA.N ) now offer aircraft that appear capable of flying non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London - the "Holy Grail" for Australian carrier Qantas Airways Ltd ( QAN.AX ). As long as oil prices don''t go much higher than around $70 per barrel, the 20-hour flight can be financially viable, and could be on schedules within five years, aviation experts say. Airbus has increased the range of its A350-900ULR to 9,700 nautical miles (17,960 kms) from the 8,700 nautical miles announced when it sold the plane to Singapore Airlines ( SIAL.SI ) in 2015 for delivery next year, a spokesman told Reuters. Including headwinds, the Sydney-London flight is equivalent to 9,600 nautical miles. "These aircraft, we think, are potentially real goers on these routes," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Reuters of the A350-900ULR and the bigger but less advanced Boeing 777-8. "You know from what they have done on other aircraft that Sydney-London and Melbourne-London has real possibility." For Qantas, a non-stop Sydney-London route that cuts three hours off the flight time would allow it to charge a premium and differentiate its product from the around two dozen other airlines plying the so-called Kangaroo route with stop-offs in Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong. The route accounts for only 13 percent of Qantas'' international capacity, but carries the prestige QF1 flight number and is important to its global brand. Qantas could charge around a 20 percent price premium for a non-stop Sydney-London flight as it would attract business and premium leisure travelers wanting to complete the trip as fast as possible, said Rico Merkert, a professor specializing in transport at the University of Sydney''s business school. "It''s something that can be presented as a unique selling point for Qantas," he said. FUELLING DOUBTS Qantas begins non-stop flights from Perth to London next year, using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. For this scheduled flight, the Dreamliner will have fewer seats than usual, will use the most advanced flight path modeling methods, and will reduce the weight in areas seemingly as minor as the dishes and forks. The Perth flight will take 17 hours - a far cry from the four days and seven stops it took when Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947. Qantas can offset the higher cost of carrying more fuel to complete the flight by saving on stopover costs, such as airport charges, ground handling, taxes, crew hotel rooms and lounge usage. "In terms of economics, much depends on fuel prices," said Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia. "If they stay at $50 a barrel or less, it should be possible to keep costs reasonable. But as fuel goes up, the disadvantages of flying a very heavy plane begin to make ultra-long haul problematic." He said the flight should remain economic at prices below around $70 a barrel, though Leeham Co analyst Bjorn Fehrm said the actual level could be far higher as one-stop rivals would also be squeezed by higher oil prices. Singapore Airlines ended its New York and Los Angeles flights using the four-engined A340-500 in 2013 when oil prices topped $107 a barrel. The carrier is now waiting for delivery of the far more fuel-efficient twin-engined A350-900ULR next year. HEADWINDS Qantas is pushing the planemakers hard on a stretch goal of completing the Sydney-London flight with 300 seats to give it the highest possible revenue and fleet flexibility. However, Fehrm said the aircraft would likely fall short of that goal if Qantas wanted to avoid a fuel stop on the westbound leg when headwinds are strongest. If such stopovers became frequent enough, Qantas would lose its ability to charge a premium on the route. Two aviation industry sources said the Airbus A350-900ULR would fit more than 250 passengers on the Sydney-London route, up from the 170 mainly business-class seats on Singapore Airlines'' configuration for flights to New York and Los Angeles. Boeing''s 777-8, due to enter service early in the next decade, could carry around 280 passengers on the westbound leg of the Sydney-London flight, the sources said. The sources declined to be named because the configuration details are not finalised. Airbus and Boeing declined to comment specifically on the seat count. "We think our airplane has the legs and the capability," said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing Senior Vice President Sales Asia-Pacific and India. "If the 787-9 can do Perth-London, we think that when the 777-8 comes out in the 2021 timeframe we will have a lot more improvement in technology." Airbus, Boeing and engine manufacturers are constantly investing to reduce fuel usage, extending a plane''s range and its ability to perform in hot conditions like the Middle East. That means the planemakers don''t have to invest specifically for any Qantas order, the size of which is still unclear. Pushing the seat count towards 300 would also give Qantas the flexibility to use these aircraft on other long routes, such as a mooted Sydney-New York flight, as it looks to replace six ageing 747-400ER planes and eventually its fleet of 12 A380s. BEST PRICING Qantas'' Joyce has raised publicly the possibility of ordering the 777-8 for ultra-long haul flights for the last two years, but the A350-900ULR has entered the equation more recently. "It has added competition, and we would be crazy if we didn''t do a competition at the right time," Joyce said. "That gets you the best pricing and ... the most capable aircraft." Qantas has yet to launch a formal tender process for the prestige order, as it waits for Boeing to finalize the specifications on the 777-8. But the first Sydney-London flights are possible around 2022, Joyce said. "The Kangaroo route is probably the most competitive on the globe," Joyce said. "(Flying non-stop) takes us off this superhighway of very competitive conditions of capacity which is priced, in many cases, under costs." (Click here for a graphic on ''The Kangaroo route'' here ) (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-qantas-orders-idUSKBN1772X3'|'2017-04-06T06:05:00.000+03:00' '830a0ebcf5c21c9a35cbfe9fdea4206645ad2a8a'|'China''s Shandong Gold in $960 million deal for half of Barrick''s Veladero mine'|'SHANGHAI China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd ( 600547.SS ) will pay $960 million for a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s ( ABX.TO )( ABX.N ) Veladero gold mine in Argentina, the Canadian miner said in a press release on Thursday.The deal, which confirms an earlier Reuters report about the talks, will also see the two firms look at jointly developing the nearby undeveloped Pascua-Lama gold and silver project which straddles the border of Argentina and Chile.Barrick added the two miners would also look at other additional investment opportunities on the El Indio Gold Belt."Shandong is an ideal partner to help us unlock the untapped mineral wealth of the El Indio Belt over the long-term, while working with us to generate more value from the Veladero mine today," Barrick Executive Chairman John Thornton said.Shandong Gold''s Chairman said in the release the miner was looking to "build a long-term relationship" with Barrick."We are excited to enter Argentina''s dynamic mining industry in partnership with Barrick at Veladero, while exploring other opportunities in one of the most prospective mineral districts in the world," he said.Reuters could not reach Shandong Gold for further comment.Shandong had taken the lead in talks with Barrick to take a stake in the mine after discussions with rival Chinese firm Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd ( 601899.SS ) fell through.(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Additional reporting by SHANGHAI newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-mine-shandong-gold-idINKBN1780KW'|'2017-04-06T04:45:00.000+03:00' '6ba3595451948ce0193798d93e4b14edd1ed93ab'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|' 08am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 6 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Thursday: ** Seven & i Holdings Co on said it would buy convenience stores and petrol stations from Texas-based Sunoco LP for about $3.3 billion, as the Japanese retailer closes in on its goal to reach 10,000 North American outlets. ** Unilever promised a multi-billion pound programme of shareholder rewards after a corporate rethink sparked by a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz, aiming to prove it can generate lucrative returns as an independent company. ** Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has reached a preliminary deal to buy a stake of between 45 percent and 49 percent in French rival STX France, Le Monde newspaper reported, citing sources with knowledge of the transaction. ** Old Mutual has put up for sale its 50 percent stake in a Chinese insurance joint venture, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, as part of a revamp of the Anglo-South African financial group and amid a tough market for foreign insurers in China. ** China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd will pay $960 million for a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, the Canadian miner said. ** French group Saint-Gobain has extended until the end of this year its contract to buy a controlling stake in Swiss construction chemicals maker Sika from Sika''s founding family and may prolong it again until the end of 2018, it said. ** Britain''s Co-operative Group, the mutually-owned supermarkets to funeral services group, wrote off the value of its stake in the struggling Co-operative Bank, citing uncertainty about the value of the bank during its sale process. ** The board of Bank Hapoalim, Israel''s largest lender, has instructed management to explore options for selling off its credit card unit Isracard, the bank said. ** German consumer goods group Henkel will keep looking for acquisitions to bolster its business, its new chief executive said. ** U.S. drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc is nearing a deal to acquire medical device maker Medtronic Plc''s medical supplies business for close to $6 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. ** MGM Holdings Inc said it would acquire the 81 percent of premium U.S. channel Epix it does not already own from two of its partners, Viacom Inc and Lionsgate Entertainment Corp, for about $1 billion. ** Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of the internet retailer''s stock annually to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year. (Compiled by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HE3DB'|'2017-04-06T18:08:00.000+03:00' 'f07ad663e92ceb0f38c275ee1fb937d91083e62b'|'Most Fed policymakers see change to balance sheet policy ''later this year'' - minutes'|' 10:04pm BST Most Fed policymakers see change to balance sheet policy ''later this year'': minutes FILE PHOTO - A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo By Lindsay Dunsmuir and Howard Schneider - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Most Federal Reserve policymakers think the central bank should take steps to begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year as long as the economic data holds up, minutes from their last meeting showed. The minutes released on Wednesday of the March 14-15 policy discussion, at which the Fed voted 9-1 to raise interest rates, also showed that the rate-setting committee had a broad discussion about whether to phase out or halt reinvestments all at once. "Provided that the economy continued to perform about as expected, most participants anticipated that gradual increases in the federal funds rate would continue and judged that a change to the Committee''s reinvestment policy would likely be appropriate later this year," the Fed said in the minutes. Treasury yields initially rose sharply after the release of the minutes but reversed course. The dollar briefly slipped while stocks on Wall Street fell. The Fed bought Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds on an unprecedented scale in the wake of the financial crisis to help keep interest rates low to spur hiring and growth. Fed policymakers have previously indicated that any plan to shrink its portfolio would let the bonds naturally roll off, by not reinvesting them when they mature, once its interest rate hikes were "well under way." "The December FOMC meeting is probably the most likely date to introduce this change," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto, following the publication of the minutes. The Fed''s lifted its benchmark interest rate in March to a target range of between 0.75 and 1 percent, its second hike in three months, and signaled it remained on track to lift rates twice more this year. In the minutes, almost all policymakers agreed that the timing of a change in balance sheet policy would depend on economic and financial conditions and generally preferred to taper or stop investments in both Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds. An approach that phased out reinvestments was seen as less likely to trigger financial market volatility while doing so all at once "was generally viewed as easier to communicate while allowing for somewhat swifter normalization of the size of the balance sheet." What they all agreed on was that shrinking the balance sheet should be gradual and predictable and nearly all said that any altering of the policy "should be communicated...well in advance of an actual change." UPSIDE RISKS TO ECONOMY New York Fed President William Dudley recently said that taking steps to normalize the balance sheet would tighten financial conditions and could affect the pace of rate rises. Prior to the minutes Wall Street banks expected no changes to the balance sheet policy until mid-2018, the latest poll by the New York Fed showed. Elsewhere in the minutes policymakers appeared to see upside risks to the economy while there was still disagreement on how close the Fed was to meeting its 2 percent inflation goal this year. In its March policy statement, the Fed said that its inflation target was "symmetric," indicating it could tolerate price rises temporarily overshooting its 2 percent target rate. Along with the minutes, the central bank for the first time also published a set of so-called "fan charts" to show the extent of uncertainty around their quarterly economic forecasts. Uncertainty around them was substantial, the Fed said. The Fed''s next policy meeting is scheduled for May 2-3 while investors currently expect another rate rise in June. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir and Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-minutes-idUKKBN1772G4'|'2017-04-06T03:34:00.000+03:00' '8603dfeb52008ecc119f0bb2bde100c5acf438cf'|'U.S. judge to name former FBI director to oversee Takata restitution funds'|'U.S. - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 4:18pm EDT U.S. judge to name former FBI director to oversee Takata restitution funds The logo of Takata Corp is seen on its display at a showroom for vehicles in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai WASHINGTON A federal judge in Detroit said on Thursday he plans to name former FBI director Robert Mueller to oversee nearly $1 billion in Takata Corp restitution funds as part of a U.S. Justice Department settlement. In January, Takata agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing and to pay $1 billion to resolve a federal investigation into its air bag inflators linked to at least 16 deaths worldwide. As part of the settlement, Takata agreed to establish two independently administered restitution funds: one for $850 million to compensate automakers for recalls, and a $125 million fund for individuals physically injured by Takata''s airbags who have not already reached a settlement. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-takata-settlement-idUSKBN1782R1'|'2017-04-07T04:18:00.000+03:00' '212c4115e3c749d59aa23a1c49f61a0edde80e04'|'Czech central bank scraps currency cap against euro'|'Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 6:27pm BST Buoyant Czech economy lets central bank scrap crown cap left right Central Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok attends a news conference in Prague, Czech Republic April 6, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny 1/3 left right Czech Crown coins and notes are seen in this picture illustration taken April 1, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny/Illustration 2/3 left right Czech Crown coins and notes are seen in this picture illustration taken April 1, 2017. REUTERS/David W Cerny/Illustration 3/3 By Robert Muller and Jason Hovet - PRAGUE PRAGUE The Czech central bank ditched its cap on the crown''s exchange rate on Thursday, letting the currency free after three years of stoking prices and growth with a policy that also attracted billions of euros in speculative capital inflows. The upper limit of 27 crowns to the euro -- in place since 2013 -- was the cornerstone of the central bank''s ultra-loose policy program designed to revive inflation. But the export-dependent Czech economy has grown now for three years, inflation has picked up above the bank''s target of 2 percent, and unemployment dropped to 3.4 percent in February -- the lowest in the European Union. "The domestic economy has for some time been causing a rise in costs and prices," Czech National Bank Governor Jiri Rusnok said. "Given the concurrent waning of anti-inflationary influences from abroad, it means that it is not necessary to maintain monetary conditions relaxed to the extent used to date." The decision came when the bank''s board met for a weekly non-rate setting meeting, its first scheduled opportunity to scrap the weak-crown policy since a promise to leave it in place until the end of March expired. The crown duly rose after the cap was lifted, but the gain of 1.7 percent to 26.575 to the euro was relatively muted -- a sharp contrast to the chaotic few minutes of trading that followed the Swiss National Bank'' unexpected removal of the franc''s cap against the euro in early 2015. That reflected groundwork the Czech bank had laid. It signaled last week at a regular policy meeting that the cap was near an end, told the market it would not allow big swings, and warned that large positions in the crown would limit its upside. Investors are betting the crown will return to a firming path. A Reuters analyst poll released on Thursday and conducted before the cap was lifted but expecting it to happen forecast the currency will gain 5 percent over the next year. BANK SAYS WILL TOLERATE CROWN MOVES Rusnok said the bank would allow a large degree of volatility in the currency''s exchange rate without intervening until it settled into a new trading range. "Our level of tolerance will be very, very broad in the beginning, because it is necessary to let the exchange rate find its new level," Rusnok said. The bank did, however, reiterate it would be ready to step into the market to smooth swings it deems excessive, without giving precise guidance. Markets are expecting volatility due to the massive positions built up by investors. Analysts have estimated speculative market positions could total anywhere from 25 billion to 60 billion euros -- which some traders and investors said may even lead to swings back to the weak side of the old cap. Yields rose on Czech short-term bonds as some holders closed positions in the papers that have been popular with foreign investors in recent months. Investors have been betting heavily on the exit, causing the central bank to buy an estimated 70 billion euros since 2013 to defend its cap, with more than half of that coming just in the past three months. But the market hit a lull this week after speculators expecting an earlier exit closed positions and weakened the crown somewhat. The spike in the central bank''s foreign currency reserves means the bank faces potential losses from the crown''s firming. INTEREST RATES TO FOLLOW Inflation hit 2.5 percent in February and the central bank sees it rising close to 3 percent later this year. It has forecast the economy to grow close to 3 percent this year and in 2018, after 2.3 percent growth last year. Where the crown settles will determine how quickly the central bank will need to follow up by raising interest rates, which stayed at 0.05 percent on Thursday. Rusnok said nothing was excluded but the next monetary policy meeting on May 4 could be too early to move. A stronger crown will make imports cheaper but puts a strain on exports by making Czech goods less competitive. Czech exports are equal to 70 percent of GDP, and 65 percent of them are aimed to the euro zone, especially Germany. Companies have however had ample warnings to get ready, and massive increase in hedging since the beginning of the year, reported by banks and firms contacted by Reuters, showed they heeded the call. "It is no problem for us, as an exporter we are hedged. So we are OK," Radek Strouhal, chief financial officer at truck maker Tatra, told Reuters. ($1 = 0.9391 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-czech-cenbank-idUKKBN1782DH'|'2017-04-07T00:29:00.000+03:00' '484191eed594e7f3a2f51d6b27ddc0f5a8262f03'|'Daily Mail appoints new chief financial officer'|' 8:11am BST Daily Mail appoints new chief financial officer Daily Mail & General Trust ( DMGOa.L ) (DMGT) said on Thursday it has appointed Tim Collier as group chief financial officer, filling the post vacated by Stephen Daintith, who left the group to join Rolls-Royce ( RR.L ). Collier, who joins from news and information company Thomson Reuters Corp ( TRI.N ) ( TRI.TO ), takes up the post on May 2, the publisher said. Collier held the post of CFO at Thomson Reuters'' Financial and Risk unit, the company said. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Mahlich) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-dmgt-cfo-idUKKBN1780N3'|'2017-04-06T15:11:00.000+03:00' '997c5ca87a857d40a2c5660ee42e6ab2b8b10069'|'French industrial output drops unexpectedly in February'|'Business 7:58am BST French industrial output drops unexpectedly in February Robots assemble Renault and Nissan automobiles on the production line at the Renault SA car factory in Flins, near Paris, France, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS French industrial output dropped unexpectedly in February from January on weak energy production due to unseasonably warm temperatures, figures from the INSEE official statistics agency showed on Friday. Industrial production fell 1.6 percent month on month, coming on the heals of a decline of 0.2 percent the previous month, revised slightly from -0.3 percent in a first estimate, INSEE said. A Reuters poll of 21 economists had an average forecast for an increase of 0.5 percent with estimates ranging from -0.9 to 1.4 percent. FRIP=ECI The following are the main figures given by INSEE (percentage changes). The year-on-year figures compare the last three months with same period a year earlier and three-month figures compare the last three months with preceding three months. For full details from INSEE: here (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Michel Rose)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-economy-output-idUKKBN1790SJ'|'2017-04-07T14:58:00.000+03:00' '1a4a39f9a114f56e3833b20d4bbfdd675e7a5ce4'|'Invesco Perpetual trims Allied Minds stake as shares hit all time low'|' 26pm BST Invesco Perpetual trims Allied Minds stake as shares hit all time low Top shareholder Invesco Perpetual trimmed its stake in UK''s Allied Minds ( ALML.L ), according to a regulatory filing issued on Friday, as shares of the tech and life-sciences incubator slid to all-time lows. Shares in Allied Minds, that invests in technology and healthcare startups, suffered its worst day on record earlier this week, after it said it would stop funding seven of its portfolio companies. Its shares have lost more than 60 percent this year with an accelerated selloff over the past month taking them below their 2014 listing price. Invesco, the second largest shareholder after Woodford Investment Management, disclosed on Friday it had sold 2.5 million shares, taking its stake down to 24.99 percent, according to regulatory filings. The fund group previously held 27 percent of the company, according to Reuters data. On Thursday, Singapore''s sovereign wealth fund GIC Private, the third largest holder of Allied Minds, disclosed its stake had risen by 2.7 million shares to 8.27 percent, according to filings. Allied Minds was one of the hottest UK initial public offerings (IPO) in the UK in 2014, rising threefold in the year after listing. On Friday Allied Minds shares traded down another 0.9 percent at 173p. (Reporting by Alasdair Pal, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-invesco-perpetual-alliedminds-idUKKBN1791UR'|'2017-04-07T20:26:00.000+03:00' 'cbecea4792dd311375ec0c9c9f93f58f2493ce49'|'Tax relief cut doesn’t add up for landlords, plus Bank warns over consumer credit - Money'|'Hello and welcome to this week’s Money Talks – a roundup of the week’s biggest stories and some things you may have missed.Money news Leasehold ‘nightmare’ will cost homebuyers billions, report warns Facebook Twitter Pinterest A block of flats under construction in London, where nine out of 10 new-build homes are now leasehold. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Bank of England sounds new alarm over consumer credit binge Few fathers can afford to take shared parental leave, say campaigners Mortgage tax relief cut doesn’t add up for buy-to-let landlords As demand rises, the reputation of new-build homes is crumbling Feature Will the new 12-sided £1 ever be worth a mint? Here’s how to coin it in Facebook Twitter Pinterest The new coin. Some cash rattling around in piggybanks can be worth a small fortune. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images In pictures Skyscraper homes Facebook Twitter Pinterest A flat for sale only a few blocks from Central Park, New York. Photograph: David Paler/Halstead In the spotlight Benefits paid out when a husband or wife dies are being slashed, meaning those who do suffer such heartache will miss out on tens of thousands of pounds, writes Donna Ferguson .Facebook Twitter Pinterest Helen Parker, pictured with her sons Elliot and Leon, lost her husband Philippe last year. If he had died 12 months later, she would have lost out on up to £74,000. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian Consumer Champions Network Rail’s knotweed policy is undermining my house sale Facebook Twitter Pinterest I have had two sales fall through because it would not provide details of how it planned to eradicate nearby weed. Photograph: Lynne Cameron/PA A touch too difficult to get a refund from Motorola Co-op airport lounge passes managed to escape us All we want is to record terrestrial TV, but costs are now Sky high The RAC has blown my chances of driving our super-reliable Toyota Money deals Planning a Easter getaway? Get great value holiday cover with Guardian travel insurance , provided by Voyager.You could save when you send money overseas with expert guidance and free online transfers from moneycorp, providers of Guardian international money transfers . Topics Money Money Talks Leasehold Maternity & paternity rights Tax Property Bereavement '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/06/tax-relief-cut-buy-to-let-landlords-bank-of-england-consumer-credit'|'2017-04-06T23:44:00.000+03:00' 'c943a43a0c8ddc00ceb80c99dd8485ddcb0ea28a'|'Italy will not lift 2017 GDP growth forecast - junior minister'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 11:41am BST Italy will not lift 2017 GDP growth forecast - junior minister CERNOBBIO, Italy The Italian government will confirm an economic growth forecast of 1 percent for 2017, in a multi-year fiscal plan due to be presented next week, junior Economy Minister Enrico Morando said on Saturday. Italy''s gross domestic product rose 0.9 percent in 2016, compared with 0.8 percent growth in 2015 and business confidence has improved steadily in recent months, with surveys of purchasing managers pointing to accelerating activity. This has raised expectations that the Treasury may lift Italy''s growth forecast for this year, which it said last year would be 1 percent, in its Economic and Financial Document. The fiscal plan will also include a commitment by the government to restart its privatisation plan, after it postponed the sales of several state-owned assets last year. Morando told reporters at the Ambrosetti workshop in Cernobbio that state fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) may play a role in the next phase of the privatisation programme and added oil major Eni ( ENI.MI ), utility Enel ( ENEI.MI ) and national post office Poste Italiane ( PST.MI ) would likely be involved in the plan. Italian newspapers have reported that the government could sell its stakes in Eni, Enel, Poste Italiane and other state-controlled companies to CDP as a way to raise funds to cut its huge public debt. (Reporting by Francesca Landini; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-gdp-forecast-idUKKBN17A0C1'|'2017-04-08T18:41:00.000+03:00' '3081dd646b3f633526128b71dee9f4d1ff3325c6'|'GAM CEO Friedman criticises activist investor''s proposals'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 12:57pm BST GAM CEO Friedman criticises activist investor''s proposals ZURICH Cost-cutting proposals from activist investor Rudolf Bohli could endanger Swiss asset manager GAM Holding''s ( GAMH.S ) future, Chief Executive Alexander Friedman said in an interview published on Saturday. Bohli is not interested in a sustainable turnaround of the business, Friedman told Swiss newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft. "Bohli with his hedge fund is only interested in a short term increase in the share price," said Friedman. "He is not interested in facts and a sustainable turnaround, he follows his own agenda." GAM''s management last week urged shareholders to reject proposals from Bohli''s hedge fund investor RBR Capital Investors amid pressure from the group to cut costs and change chief executive. RBR wants GAM, which is due to hold its annual general meeting on April 27, to cut 353 back office jobs to help lower costs by 100 million Swiss francs (80 million pounds) annually and to fire Friedman. GAM was already planning to save another 30 million francs by 2019, Friedman said, while the business is doing better this year in terms of performance fees and money inflows from customers. "Bohli''s 100 million francs is a figure plucked from the air," Friedman said. "The demand shows a lack of understanding, and the implementation would endanger the continued existence of the company." RBR Capital Investors was not available for immediate comment. (Reporting by John Revill; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-gam-holdg-shareholders-idUKKBN17A0DN'|'2017-04-08T19:57:00.000+03:00' '7d6ef2ca1a307ed45c7899059aa9809d223d14ae'|'Toyota says to recall 23,157 cars in India over Takata airbag issue'|'NEW DELHI Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) will recall 23,157 units of the Corolla Altis luxury sedan in India because of ongoing issues with airbags manufactured by Takata Corp ( 7312.T ), the company''s local unit said in a statement on Thursday.The recalled Corolla Altis sedans were manufactured between January 2010 and December 2012 in India, the Japanese car maker said.(Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Malini Menon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-toyota-recall-idINKBN17816L'|'2017-04-06T08:25:00.000+03:00' 'e2e33fd4892694ece9d2387b60a42c655d74cd8f'|'Europe admits G20 economies will miss extra growth target'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 3:15pm BST Europe admits G20 economies will miss extra growth target Family picture during the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, March 17, 2017. Front row (L-R) Governor of the Bank of France Francois Villeroy de Galhau, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, IMF Managing Director Christine... By Jan Strupczewski - VALLETTA VALLETTA European Union finance ministers admitted on Saturday that the world''s 20 biggest economies (G20) will miss their target of generating additional economic growth through reforms by 2018 and called for reflection on why they have failed. G20 economies agreed in 2014 to boost growth in their economies by at least an additional 2 percent over 5 years through reforms, adding more than $2 trillion (1.61 trillion pounds) to the global economy and creating millions of jobs. "It seems likely that we will not reach our 2-in-5 growth ambition by 2018," said a terms of reference document approved by EU finance ministers for the next G20 financial leaders meeting on April 20-21 in Washington. "We should reflect on the appropriate communication around our 2-in-5 objective and build a shared assessment and understanding of why we have not fully delivered," said the document, obtained by Reuters. "It is thus vital to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms and of investment in productive infrastructure," it said. EU delegations to G20 meeting in Washington will also reiterate that the G20 "should avoid all forms of protectionism, support the Paris agreement on climate change, the work on green finance, and the multilateral approach to taxation and to financial regulation," the document showed. The declaration, while standard in previous G20 meetings and communiques, has become problematic since Donald Trump became the president of the United States last year. At a meeting in March in the German town of Baden Baden, G20 finance ministers dropped a pledge to keep global trade free and open, yielding to an increasingly protectionist United States. Breaking a decade-long tradition of endorsing open trade, the G20 made only a token reference to trade in their communique in a clear defeat for host nation Germany, which fought the new U.S. government''s attempts to water down past commitments. G20 finance chiefs also removed from their statement a pledge to finance the fight against climate change, an anticipated outcome after Trump called global warming a "hoax". (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Ros Russell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-g20-growth-europe-idUKKBN17A0GC'|'2017-04-08T22:15:00.000+03:00' '06cc034a45cef4f70f185a28f2c7bf48cbb3a7c5'|'Oil prices jump after U.S. launches missile strike in Syria'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 3:41am BST Oil prices jump after U.S. launches missile strike in Syria FILE PHOTO: Crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the Cushing oil hub, appearing to run out of space to contain a historic supply glut that hammered prices, in Cushing, Oklahoma, March 24, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices soared by around $1 per barrel on Friday after the United States launched dozens of cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria. U.S President Donald Trump said he had ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched earlier this week, declaring he acted in America''s "national security interest" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. After tepid trading before the news, Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, jumped by around $1 per barrel, or almost 2 percent, to $55.78 per barrel by 0237 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 also climbed around $1 per barrel, or almost 2 percent, to $52.64 a barrel. It was the highest level for both benchmarks since early March. The strikes rattled global markets. While oil prices surged as traders priced in what has in the past been called a Middle East risk premium, and safe-haven products like gold jumped =XAU, stock markets and the U.S. dollar .DXY slumped. [MKTS/GLOB] U.S. officials said the military had fired dozens of cruise missiles against the airbase, controlled by Assad''s forces, in response to a poison gas attack on Tuesday in a rebel-held area. The Pentagon said it had informed Russia ahead of the strikes, and that it did not target sections of the base in Syria where Russian forces were believed to be present. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford and Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17905I'|'2017-04-07T10:16:00.000+03:00' '4cbc69506521d47b8fee0889f4cdeeb4c4508e4c'|'Asia stocks meander ahead of Trump-Xi talks, U.S. jobs data'|' 37am IST Asia stocks meander ahead of Trump-Xi talks, U.S. jobs data People walk past an electronic board showing stock prices outside a brokerage at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Nichola Saminather - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks drifted early on Friday after Wall Street and the dollar clocked tentative gains, with markets cautious over the talks between the U.S. and Chinese presidents and U.S. employment data later on Friday. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was flat, headed for a 0.2 percent weekly increase. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 added 0.8 percent early on Friday after touching a four-month low on Thursday. It''s set to post a 0.85 percent loss for the week. The MSCI World index .MIWO PUS is down 0.4 percent for the week. Overnight, Wall Street edged up between about 0.1 percent and 0.25 percent after data showed U.S. unemployment benefit claims recorded their biggest drop in nearly two years. The dollar added almost 0.1 percent to 110.90 yen JPY= early on Friday, extending Thursday''s 0.1 percent gain. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, was modestly higher at 100.72. Despite five straight sessions without losses, it is up less than 0.4 percent for the week, amid nervousness about U.S. non-farm payrolls data for March, due later in the session, with economists predicting job gains will be smaller than in February. Traders are also looking with trepidation to Friday''s meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday for some social time and dinner at Trump''s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. On Friday, they''re set to tackle thorny issues including trade and security. Markets'' main concern is that Trump and Xi may not see eye-to-eye on most things and that traders will infer this from their body language, said Thierry Albert Wizman, global interest rates and currencies strategist, at Macquarie Group in New York. "Rather than a lack of agreement, however, the greater risk is a lack of deep engagement," he said. The euro EUR=EBS was steady at $1.06435 in early trade on Friday, failing to recover any of Thursday''s 0.2 percent loss following comments by the European Central Bank head that he sees no need to deviate from the ECB''s stated policy path at least until the end of the year. Mario Draghi also said record-low rates could remain until well after that to stimulate inflation. The embattled South African rand ZAR= steadied ahead of a vote of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma on April 18. Three cabinet ministers removed by Zuma from their posts in a reshuffle last week quit as lawmakers of his African National Congress on Thursday. The rand has slumped about 11 percent versus the dollar from a March 27 high. It was down about 0.2 percent on Friday, after a 0.35 percent gain on Thursday. In commodities, oil prices were mixed, as analysts and investors remained cautious about record-high U.S. crude inventories. U.S. crude CLc1 was steady at $51.70 a barrel, retaining Thursday''s 1 percent gain, and is set to end the week 2.2 percent higher. Global benchmark Brent LCOc1 slipped 0.1 percent to $54.83, on track for a 3.8 percent weekly rise. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Additional reporting by Herbert Lash)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idINKBN179048'|'2017-04-07T09:07:00.000+03:00' 'c7a37c295acd417e98b56cf5b4f96021273d4a7a'|'S&P futures down 0.5 pct, after U.S. strike in Syria'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 10:32pm EDT S&P futures down 0.5 percent, after U.S. strike in Syria U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement about missile strikes on a Syrian airbase at his Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria NEW YORK U.S. equity index futures were lower on Thursday, after U.S President Donald Trump said he ordered a targeted military strike against an airfield in Syria from which a deadly chemical attack was launched this week. S&P 500 e-mini futures ESv1 were down 0.5 percent, indicating a lower open on Friday. (Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-markets-stocks-idUSKBN17909E'|'2017-04-07T10:26:00.000+03:00' '03c4d1686811d440330a8e3f58970de1587ecf10'|'EU regulators to approve Fox takeover of Sky: sources'|'BRUSSELS/LONDON Rupert Murdoch''s Twenty-First Century Fox ( FOXA.O ) is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its 11.7-billion-pound ($14.5 billion) takeover of European pay-TV group Sky ( SKYB.L ), two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.Fox already owns 39 percent of Sky. Murdoch and his family have long coveted full control of Sky, despite the damaging failure of a previous attempt in 2011 when their British newspaper business became embroiled in a phone-hacking scandal.The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal on Friday, declined to comment.(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Kate Holton in London; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sky-plc-m-a-fox-eu-idINKBN1791SH'|'2017-04-07T10:14:00.000+03:00' 'f3b7a1fd6056baf33cf0d01a2973314c94a3d0ea'|'Proxy adviser ISS urges votes against most of Wells Fargo board'|' 12:02pm EDT Proxy adviser ISS urges votes against most of Wells Fargo board By Ross Kerber - BOSTON, April 7 BOSTON, April 7 Influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services recommended investors vote to replace the majority of directors at Wells Fargo & Co in the wake of the bank''s phony-account scandal. ISS, in a report released on Friday by a spokesman, said votes against 12 of the bank''s 15 directors are warranted after board committees failed for years "to provide a timely and sufficient risk oversight process" that could have mitigated the problems. Wells Fargo reached a $185 million settlement with regulators in September after it emerged that branch employees opened as many as 2 million accounts without customers'' permission, to meet sales goals. Directors ISS recommended votes against included the San Francisco bank''s chairman, Stephen Sanger, although it suggested investors vote in support of Timothy Sloan, who took over as chief executive in October. The report sets the stage for a contentious April 25 annual meeting for the bank. On Tuesday, proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommended investors vote against six Wells Fargo directors. In a statement, Wells Fargo called ISS'' voting recommendations "extreme and unprecedented" and urged shareholders to make their own judgments about reforms the bank has taken. "The Board has already taken numerous actions and supported management''s steps to promote accountability, strengthen oversight, and hold to account those responsible for improper sales practices," Wells Fargo said in its statement. (Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/wells-fargo-directors-idUSL1N1HF0UE'|'2017-04-08T00:02:00.000+03:00' '85dd66ecd2c1c7f6374b3d72ecb8fe01c0e58a81'|'BRIEF-Talen Energy Supply LLC prices $400 million offering of senior notes'|' 30am EDT BRIEF-Talen Energy Supply LLC prices $400 million offering of senior notes April 7 Talen Energy Supply Llc * Talen Energy Supply LLC prices $400 million offering of senior notes * Talen Energy Supply LLC says notes will be issued at 97.000% of par value with a coupon of 9.500% and will mature on july 15, 2022 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-talen-energy-supply-llc-prices-idUSASB0B8ZX'|'2017-04-07T22:30:00.000+03:00' 'f802f87b1b50b1ee0542cb6ec9d30203ca727039'|'Italy - Factors to watch on April 5'|' 56am EDT Italy - Factors to watch on April 5 The following factors could affect Italian markets on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*). For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on . ECONOMY Markit releases March service Pmi data (0745 GMT). ISTAT releases monthly bulletin on the state of the economy in March (0800 GMT). Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan speaks before Chamber of Deputies Budget, Transport, Industry committees and Senate V, IX, X committees on list of candidates to renew appointments in public companies (1800 GMT). COMPANIES ITALY BANKS Struggling Italian regional lenders Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca confirmed on Tuesday the European Central Bank has estimated they have a combined capital shortfall of 6.4 billion euros ($6.8 billion) after stress tests by the regulator last year. In almost identical statements, the two banks said that the ECB had indicated they both qualified for a so-called precautionary recapitalisation by the state. (*) CATTOLICA ASSICURAZIONI Popolare di Vicenza said on Wednesday it has sold 6.02 percent of Cattolica Assicurazioni through an accelerated book building at 7.25 euros per share, for a total of 76.125 million euros. The lender now holds 9.05 percent of the insurer. (*) INTESA SANPAOLO The lender has sent out a teaser for a project to create a securitisation special purpose vehicle in which a portfolio of problematic loans worth 1.35 billion euros guaranteed by real estate assets would included, Il Sole 24 Ore said. (*) UNICREDIT It is likely that the Libyan Central Bank did not subscribe UniCredit''s capital increase and their stake in the lender may have shrunk to 0.7 percent, Il Sole 24 Ore said, citing S&P Market Intelligence data. (*) TELECOM ITALIA Deputy chairman Arnaud de Puyfontaine hinted at his possible appointment as chairman of the group in a meeting on Monday with Italian minority shareholder group Assogestioni, il Messaggero reported, citing sources. After rejecting Telecom Italia''s appeal against a tender launched by state-owned Infratel for ultrafast broadband rollout in so-called non-economically viable areas, the Lazio administrative court also rejected Fastweb''s appeal, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Italian antitrust authority said on Tuesday it was launching a probe into "aggressive telemarketing" practices by Telecom Italian and Vodafone. (*) POSTE ITALIANE The Kuwait Investment Authority has a 2.06 percent stake in Poste, Il Sole 24 Ore said, citing S&P Market Intelligence data. ATLANTIA A consortium led by a unit of Allianz is looking to buy a third of the 15 percent stake the Italian infrastructure group is selling in its Italian motorway business, two sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. AZIMUT The group said on Tuesday it sees a Q1 net profit of 57-67 million euros, revenues of 198-215 million euros. PARMALAT France''s Lactalis has not secured the 90 percent stake in Parmalat It needed to press ahead with plans to delist the Italian food company, a filing showed on Tuesday. ENI Eni said on Tuesday it had reinstated board member Karina Litvack as member of the major''s Controls and Risk Committee. The reinstatement follows a decision by Milan prosecutors to dismiss a case against her for allegations she had defamed the oil major, concluding there was no case to answer. (*) Morgan Stanley cut Eni to "underweight" saying recent outperformance driven by disposals are coming to an end and the focus has gone back to underlying free cash flow. FINCANTIERI CEO Giuseppe Bono speaks before Chamber of Deputies Industry Committee on 2016-2020 business plan implementation (1300 GMT). BANCA CARIGE The lender is due to provide answers to the European Central Bank by today, indicating measures to remedy flaws in its lending practices. IL SOLE 24 ORE The group said on Tuesday it plans to cut personnel costs by 30 percent by the end of Q2 2019. Board meeting on FY results. BFF ( IPO-BFARM.MI ) The banking group said on Wednesday it prices IPO at 4.70 euros per share, giving the group a market capitalisation of 800 million euros. BANCA MEDIOLANUM Ordinary shareholders'' meeting (0800 GMT). EXOR Board meeting on FY results. UBI BANCA Roadshow to celebrate 10 year anniversary (1530 GMT) in Bergamo. For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets: 20 biggest gainers (in percentage) 20 biggest losers (in percentage) FTSE IT allshare index'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/italy-factors-april-idUSL5N1HC398'|'2017-04-05T14:56:00.000+03:00' 'd39893e150f1c48ee186a8675dbe64a2cc5fee86'|'Exclusive: China''s Great Wall Motor eyes plant in Mexico states hit by Trump - sources'|'Money 42am IST Exclusive: China''s Great Wall Motor eyes plant in Mexico states hit by Trump - sources By Alexandra Alper and Norihiko Shirouzu - MEXICO CITY/BEIJING MEXICO CITY/BEIJING Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co Ltd is considering building an auto plant in two Mexican states hit by Trump''s drive to make American companies invest at home, sources said. Great Wall Motor, which describes itself as China''s largest SUV and pickup manufacturer, is interested in building a plant in Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico or the central state of San Luis Potosi, three people familiar with the matter said. Under pressure from Trump to keep jobs in the United States, Ford Motor Co in January canceled a $1.6 billion plant in San Luis Potosi, while heating and air conditioning firm Carrier in December scaled back plans to move production to Nuevo Leon. Great Wall Motor officials met with Mexico''s top railroad firms, Ferrocarril Mexicano (Ferromex), part of Grupo Mexico, as well as Kansas City Southern de Mexico, to evaluate the states'' connectivity, according to a source and two documents seen by Reuters. One of the sources said the company was in direct talks with Nuevo Leon''s government. Another source said the automaker was also eyeing a U.S.-based plant but gave no further detail on locations. A senior Great Wall Motor executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the choice between U.S. and Mexican locations would depend on trade issues involving the United States, Mexico and China. Great Wall Motor and Ferromex did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Kansas City Southern de Mexico confirmed Great Wall Motor officials met the company, but declined to provide further details. A pledge by the Chinese firm could bolster Mexico''s efforts to reduce dependence on U.S. trade and investment as Trump threatens to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and rails against U.S. firms moving jobs south. China, a low-cost manufacturing rival to Mexico, has traditionally invested little in Latin America''s second largest economy. But there are signs that could be changing. In February, China''s Anhui Jianghuai Automobile (JAC Motor) and distributor Chori Company unveiled plans with a firm part-owned by Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim to invest over $200 million in a car plant in the central state of Hidalgo. According to one of the sources, construction on the Great Wall Motor plant could get underway next year and cost about $500 million. It would produce some 250,000 autos a year for the American and Mexican markets and seek to use Chinese inputs, the person added. (Additional reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu and Jake Spring in Beijing and Anthony Esposito, Adriana Barrera, and Gabriel Stargardter in Mexico City; Editing by Himani Sarkar) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mexico-china-autos-idINKBN1770DM'|'2017-04-05T13:12:00.000+03:00' 'd0d863e64d724438f80994597d607cd444d4b78f'|'UPDATE 1-South African markets fall sharply after S&P downgrade'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:57am EDT UPDATE 1-South African markets fall sharply after S&P downgrade (Adds Gigaba''s planned briefing, market prices, details) JOHANNESBURG, April 4 South Africa''s rand, bonds and banking shares tumbled sharply on Tuesday after S&P Global Ratings cut the country''s credit rating to junk in response to President Jacob Zuma''s move to sack its respected finance minister. Zuma''s cabinet reshuffle has triggered public criticism from within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and pressure is likely to mount on the president after the credit agency handed South Africa its first downgrade since 2000. New Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is due to hold a news conference later in the day. Gigaba said on Monday he would pursue "tough and unpopular choices" to oversee a redistribution of wealth to the black majority, a stance echoing recent comments by Zuma. No details of the changes have been made public yet. The one-notch downgrade to BB+, S&P''s highest non-investment grade, will almost certainly force Africa''s most advanced economy to pay more to borrow its from international markets and possibly and may fall off global investors'' radar screens. "This sovereign downgrade will lead to a steep erosion of already poor levels of investor confidence," Cas Coovadia, head of the banking industry lobby group said. "Negative investor confidence will directly undermine an economy already struggling to achieve the levels of growth needed to meaningfully create jobs or lift our population out of poverty." Moody''s also said late on Monday that it was placing South Africa on review for downgrade, and that it would assess the likelihood of changes in key areas of financial and macro-economic policymaking following Zuma''s cabinet changes. The rand weakened as much as 1.9 percent before recovering to trade 1.2 percent lower at 13.8400 per dollar. The Johannesburg Securities Exchange''s banking index slumped as much as 4.2 percent, while the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 rose 16 basis points to 9.140 percent. (Reporting by Joe Brock and Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by James Macharia) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-markets-idUSL5N1HC15P'|'2017-04-04T15:57:00.000+03:00' '74aa80fbde1bc9362315a214c80083e68696b9ad'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil''s BNDES to share guarantees on bank infrastructure loans'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 1:44pm EDT UPDATE 1-Brazil''s BNDES to share guarantees on bank infrastructure loans (Recasts with co-guarantor role, adds quotes, background) By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 4 Brazil''s state development bank BNDES will assume a role in guaranteeing infrastructure loans by allowing other lenders access to collateral from borrowers, its chief executive said on Tuesday, in the bank''s latest move to boost private sector participation in such funding. Talks with public and private banks are at an advanced stage and an announcement could come as soon as next week, BNDES CEO Maria Silvia Bastos Marques told an investment conference sponsored by Banco Bradesco BBI. "We are trying to act in a way that is complementary to the private sector," she said. "For instance, if the consortium of private banks agrees to extend guarantees covering at least 40 percent of the project, we''ll agree to cross-sharing." She added that the state development bank and the World Bank are discussing a mechanism to reinforce guarantees on local notes issued to finance infrastructure projects. BNDES is also studying the possibility of acting as a direct guarantor, she said. Since she took the helm of BNDES 10 months ago, Bastos has sought to transform the state lender, which for years has incurred sharp losses on cheap loans to handpicked local groups, into a leaner, more efficient lender. Last week, the development bank said it would introduce a new benchmark lending rate pegged to yields on inflation-linked bonds. That would replace a previous rate set on a quarterly basis by Brazil''s top economic policy body. Bastos said the bank intends to eliminate the spread between the new rate and so-called NTN-B bond yields after a five-year transition, effectively making it equivalent to the government''s funding costs. During 13 years of left-wing Workers Party administrations that ended last year, BNDES handed out heavily subsidized credit at a steep cost to taxpayers, backed by repeated capital injections by Brazil''s National Treasury. Bastos said there was "no possibility" that the Treasury Department would step in once again. BNDES is eyeing a potential return to the market this year, she added. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Richard Chang) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-bndes-bastos-idUSL2N1HC0WI'|'2017-04-05T01:44:00.000+03:00' '25b96abcf85454479bd69e162458a517a5f3aacf'|'South Africa''s Cosatu says Zuma must step down after reshuffle, downgrade'|'World 10am EDT South Africa''s Cosatu says Zuma must step down after reshuffle, downgrade JOHANNESBURG South Africa''s largest trade union and ally to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Cosatu said on Tuesday that President Jacob Zuma must step down after his change of finance ministers triggered a credit rating downgrade to "junk". The trade union said it no longer believed in Zuma''s ability to lead the party and the country, and that it would call for the alliance with the ANC to restructured. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla and Joe Brock; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia) Next In World News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics-cosatu-idUSKBN1760Z9'|'2017-04-04T18:03:00.000+03:00' '4fa21c53b50cc6ad5a43f6f3570e46e10450e83b'|'FINMA says in contact with Credit Suisse after office raids'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 4:49am EDT FINMA says in contact with Credit Suisse after office raids BERN, April 4 Swiss financial watchdog FINMA has spoken to Credit Suisse about searches last week at the Swiss bank''s offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam, FINMA Chief Executive Mark Branson said on Tuesday. "We are in contact with the bank and will remain in contact," Branson said at FINMA''s annual news conference. Zurich-based Credit Suisse was pulled into an international tax evasion and money laundering investigation on Thursday when coordinated searches were carried out three of its offices. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Angelika Gruber; Editing by Michael Shields) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/credit-suisse-gp-taxevasion-finma-idUSZ8N17V01F'|'2017-04-04T16:49:00.000+03:00' '43131f9357043f4d47bcab6d07a87e4fc7ad5393'|'Airlines asked to perform early engine checks on CSeries: Bombardier'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 3:41pm EDT Airlines asked to perform early engine checks on CSeries: Bombardier left right Bombardier''s CS300 Aircraft, showing its Pratt & Whitney engine in the foreground, sits in the hangar prior to its test flight in Mirabel February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo 1/2 left right A Bombardier CSeries Aircraft readies for a demonstration flight to mark its first delivery to Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) in Mirabel, Quebec, June 29, 2016. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi 2/2 By Allison Lampert - MONTREAL MONTREAL Two airlines flying Bombardier Inc''s ( BBDb.TO ) CSeries planes were asked to perform early preventive checks of engines by manufacturer Pratt & Whitney after problems were detected in a different variant of the geared turbofan motor, the aircraft maker said on Friday. United Technologies Corp ( UTX.N ) division Pratt & Whitney directed Swiss International Air Lines [SWIN.UL] and airBaltic to inspect engine combustion liners after 2,000 flight hours, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft spokesman Bryan Tucker said. The steel liner fits into the combustion chamber of an engine where fuel is burned. "We expect the lifespan to be greater than this, but the inspections will determine when the liners require replacement," said Bryan Tucker, a spokesman for Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, in an email. "The corrected liner’s lifespan is expected to be around 6,000 hours and these are expected to be delivered (by Pratt) this summer." A Pratt and Whitney spokeswoman referred a reporter to a company statement which said it added a combustor lining inspection to its regular scheduled maintenance of the PW1500G engine. Bombardier expects its first CSeries narrowbody delivered to customer Korean Air Lines ( 003490.KS ) this summer will have a corrected liner, Tucker said. There are no reported performance issues with the PW1500G engine used in the CSeries 110-130 seat jets, unlike a different variant, the PW1100G, which is being used in the A-320NEO. India''s aviation regulator said in February it is investigating technical issues with the engine variant used in Airbus Group ( AIR.PA ) planes flown by IndiGo - owned by InterGlobe Aviation - and privately held GoAir. Two GoAir A320 NEOs made emergency landings following technical issues last month, and in January an IndiGo flight was aborted after one of its engines developed a fault while accelerating for take-off. (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bombardier-cseries-engine-idUSKBN1792Y8'|'2017-04-08T03:41:00.000+03:00' '51e889870b86374dc07502a496218825f5cf79c1'|'New UK trade agreement will happen after UK and EU reach deal - Canadian finance minister'|' 32pm BST New UK trade agreement will happen after UK and EU reach deal - Canadian finance minister Canada''s Finance Minister Bill Morneau in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Wattie LONDON A Canadian trade deal with post-Brexit Britain will be made once the UK has put together a new deal with the European Union, Canada''s finance minister said on Friday. "We hope that we can have an agreement with the UK rapidly afterwards (after Britain leaves the EU) and would be making sure that we have the ongoing dialogue that will allow that to occur," Bill Morneau said at an event in London. Morneau said the CETA agreement between Canada and the European Union would be used as a starting framework for such a deal. "So...(we are) supportive, anxious to have a long-term agreement with the UK that will make sense for businesses and that will be a continuing focus particularly for our trade minister as we watch what''s going on here (in the UK)." (Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho, editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-canada-britain-finmin-trade-idUKKBN1791VM'|'2017-04-07T20:32:00.000+03:00' 'adf76b4d025399b38e7dc16091b0e0bce65e5905'|'Hudson''s Bay to invest 400 mln euros in Europe this year'|' 00am EDT Hudson''s Bay to invest 400 mln euros in Europe this year DUESSELDORF, Germany, April 7 Canadian department store operator Hudson''s Bay Co said on Friday it planned to invest around 400 million euros ($425 million) in Europe this year in a bid to grow its sales there by 20 percent over the next two years. Profits in Europe will grow even faster than sales, the group''s Chief Executive Jerry Storch said. Hudson''s Bay, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, had on Thursday unexpectedly named a new chief of its European business and said it was looking at a "major reinvention" of its business operations. Storch on Friday poured cold water on speculation that Hudson''s Bay was considering a sale of the Kaufhof chain of German department stores, saying such rumours were "absurd". Asked about reports that Hudson''s Bay was in exploratory talks with debt-laden luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group, Chairman Richard Baker said the group was interested in consolidation. If there were opportunities for takeovers that were a good fit for the group, then Hudson''s Bay would consider them, he added. ($1 = 0.9406 euros) (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/hudsons-bay-costcuts-europe-idUSFWN1HF0P0'|'2017-04-07T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'a599165b95c2b87f0bbb568ad976705c218c35fb'|'Bank of England''s Carney calls for UK-EU bank rules pact after Brexit'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 10:04am BST Bank of England''s Carney calls for UK-EU bank rules pact after Brexit left right Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, arrives to speak at a Reuters Newsmaker event in London, Britain April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 1/2 left right Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, arrives to speak at a Reuters Newsmaker event in London, Britain April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 2/2 By David Milliken and Huw Jones - LONDON, LONDON, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney called on Friday for Britain and the European Union to agree to recognise each others'' bank rules after Brexit, to avoid a damaging hit to financial services across Europe. However, Carney said in a speech at Thomson Reuters'' London office that the BoE and banks needed to be ready for a hard Brexit with no deal reached, and set a July 14 deadline for all cross-border financial firms operating in Britain to tell the BoE how they would cope. Banks, including many from the United States and other countries around the world, use EU "passporting" rights to offer their services across the bloc from London, the region''s biggest financial centre by far. But that arrangement is set to end once Brexit pulls the UK from the single market in two years'' time, and it remains far from clear what kind of deal will replace it. Prime Minister Theresa May mentioned the importance of reaching a trade deal with the EU that includes financial services as a "crucial sector" when she triggered the two-year process of Britain’s exit from the EU last week. Carney said on Friday that the global financial system was at a "fork in the road". Governments had to choose between maintaining high standards of regulation and respecting each others'' rules, or looking inward with big costs to global trade. "How Brexit negotiations conclude will be a litmus test for responsible financial globalisation," he said in a speech at Thomson Reuters'' London office. "The EU and UK are therefore ideally positioned to create an effective system of deference to each other''s comparable regulatory outcomes, supported by commitments to common minimum standards and open supervisory co-operation," he said. This system could be bolstered by third-party peer reviews and a new independent dispute resolution mechanism, he said - adding that this could be a template for the wider world. But banks are concerned that Britain and the EU will not reach a deal in time, and are preparing to move large numbers of staff from London, and Germany and France are trying to lure jobs to their financial capitals. HSBC, UBS and Morgan Stanley have decided to move about 1,000 staff each from London in the next two years, sources familiar with their plans have told Reuters. Carney said the BoE needed to be prepared for a worst-case outcome, and alongside his speech, the BoE''s top banking regulator, Sam Woods, sent a letter to financial firms with cross-border activities ordering them to set out Brexit plans. "Our current assessment is that the level of planning is uneven across firms and plans may not be being sufficiently tested against the most adverse potential outcomes - for example, if there is no withdrawal or trade agreement in place when the UK exits from the EU," Woods said. European banks which operated in London on the basis of passporting should be prepared to set up separately capitalised subsidiaries in Britain and submit to direct BoE regulation if Britain and the EU could not reach a deal, Woods added. The BoE has said the UK financial sector accounts for almost a quarter of all EU financial services income and 40 percent of EU financial services exports. Eighty of the of the 358 banks operating in the UK are headquartered elsewhere in Europe. Financial services account for 7 percent of British economic output, according to the BoE, although industry lobbyists say this rises to 12 percent if related professional services companies are included. For live video of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney''s speech at Thomson Reuters, go to reut.rs/2nWLFGo'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-carney-idUKKBN17919D'|'2017-04-07T17:04:00.000+03:00' 'd2f35788b54e231c80e0c845bf58d2cca1cde958'|'Brazil''s Oi considers capital injection under creditor protection -paper'|' 43am EDT Brazil''s Oi considers capital injection under creditor protection -paper SAO PAULO, April 7 Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA is considering a capital injection while still under creditor protection, Chief Executive Marco Schroeder told newspaper Valor Econômico in an interview published on Friday. Valor cited unnamed people involved in negotiations as saying the capital increase could total $2 billion to $3 billion. Schroeder declined to comment on specific figures, according to the report. An Oi press representative confirmed the contents of Schroeder''s interview with Valor. The capital injection would provide more firepower in Oi''s operational turnaround and could help advance thorny discussions between Oi and its creditors after it filed for Brazil''s largest ever bankruptcy protection last year. Some creditors have openly criticized Oi''s proposed debt restructuring, leading Brazil''s government to lay the groundwork for a direct intervention in the company. Communications Minister Gilberto Kassab said on Thursday the chances of intervention are increasing as time passes. Prominent bondholders and some strategic investors have long suggested Oi take additional capital, but this is the first time the carrier''s management publicly acknowledges that possibility. Preferred shares of Oi have advanced 53.8 pct so far this year as traders hope for a solution to its debt issues. Common shares rose 42 percent. (Writing by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/oi-sa-restructuring-idUSL1N1HF0H4'|'2017-04-07T21:43:00.000+03:00' '713f7b93ef908d72789766989769c8cb99155316'|'UPDATE 1-Daily Mail appoints Thomson Reuters executive as CFO'|'Big Story 10 - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 4:16am EDT Daily Mail appoints Thomson Reuters executive as CFO Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) said on Thursday it has appointed Tim Collier as group chief financial officer, filling the post vacated by Stephen Daintith, who left the group to join Rolls-Royce. Collier, who joins from news and information company Thomson Reuters Corp, takes up the post on May 2, the publisher said. Collier held the post of CFO at Thomson Reuters'' Financial and Risk unit, the company said. Collier joins the group at a time when it needs to extract more revenue from online as advertising sales from the Daily Mail newspaper shrink fast. However, its celebrity-focused websites, DailyMail.com and MailOnline, are among the most popular in the English language. To slim down its sprawling range of businesses, the company has reduced its stake in Euromoney, a separate business information company, from around 67 percent to around 49 percent. In January DMGT cut its revenue forecast for its data and analysis business which serves the property, education and energy sectors, to mid single-digit growth from a previous forecast of high single-digit growth, as business in the first quarter was adversely affected by reduced levels of activity in the UK property market. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Next In Big Story 10'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dmgt-cfo-idUSKBN1780SX'|'2017-04-06T16:11:00.000+03:00' 'fa1115eaa5de32d017082e9575706efee5d6e308'|'EU watchdog wants tougher conditions for credit ratings compiled outside EU'|'Business 5:06pm BST EU watchdog wants tougher conditions for credit ratings compiled outside EU Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, attends a policy dialogue during the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON The European Union''s securities watchdog has proposed tougher conditions on the use of credit ratings compiled outside the bloc, potentially making it harder for rating agencies in Britain to offer their services in the EU after Brexit. London hosts the world''s "Big Three" rating agencies, Moody''s, Standard & Poor''s, and Fitch, which dominate ratings on companies and countries globally. Under EU rules, ratings compiled in a "third country" can be used by European customers only if they are endorsed by an EU-regulated rating agency. A rating compiled by Moody''s in New York, for example, can be used in the EU after endorsement by one of agency''s bloc-based entities. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) authorises and supervises rating agencies in the EU, and on Tuesday it published a consultation paper to tighten up guidance on the use of ratings from outside the EU. ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor said a substantial proportion of credit ratings used in the EU were being introduced through the endorsement route. "The need to update the current guidelines provides ESMA with the opportunity to reassess its approach to endorsement more broadly, based on our supervisory experience, and taking into account the extensive use of the endorsement regime in practice," Maijoor said in a statement. Moody''s said it would be reviewing the ESMA paper in detail. S&P and Fitch had no immediate comment. There would no longer be an "automatic" endorsement of non-EU ratings, ESMA said. Instead, an EU regulated agency would have to "demonstrate" that the third country agency which compiled the rating meets regulatory requirements on an ongoing basis that are as strict as those in the EU - a much tougher condition. The amended guidance would also make clear that ESMA has powers to request information directly from the endorsing rating agency about the conduct of the third country agency. EU policymakers have repeatedly called for a "home grown" rating agency in Europe, but none has been able to take on the "Big Three", and hence the bloc could - after Brexit - be even more reliant on ratings compiled outside the EU. After Britain leaves the EU, ratings agencies in London will be supervised by a UK regulator which has yet to be identified. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-ratings-regulations-idUKKBN176228'|'2017-04-05T00:06:00.000+03:00' '363eee4451160007cfb8935513f23c95a4b51a6b'|'Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture'|'Business News 07am BST Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture left right Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and CEO of Amazon, speaks about the future plans of Blue Origin during an address to attendees at Access Intelligence''s SATELLITE 2017 conference in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 1/3 left right The New Shepard booster rocket, owned by Jeff Bezos'' space company Blue Origin, is shown at the moment of separation during the escape module testing in Culberson County, West Texas, U.S., October 5, 2016. Blue Origin/Handout via REUTERS 2/3 left right Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and CEO of Amazon, speaks about the future plans of Blue Origin during an address to attendees at Access Intelligence''s SATELLITE 2017 conference in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 3/3 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of Amazon stock per year to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, and expects to spend about $2.5 billion developing a rocket capable of lifting satellites and eventually people into orbit. Blue Origin is aiming to launch paying passengers on 11-minute suborbital space rides next year, Bezos told reporters at the U.S. Space Symposium here. (Reporting By Irene Klotz; Editing by Joseph White and Chris Reese) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-space-bezos-idUKKBN1772ZQ'|'2017-04-06T07:03:00.000+03:00' '9cb4fcbdaed5c86553f946b856632322c24d4601'|'Japanese retailer Seven & i to buy Sunoco assets for $3.3 bln'|'Deals 23am EDT Japanese retailer Seven & i to buy Sunoco assets for $3.3 billion left right A Sunoco logo is pictured on a building in Syracuse, New York April 15, 2016 REUTERS/Carlo Allegri 1/2 left right A man walks out of Seven & i Holdings Co''s Seven Eleven convenience store in Tokyo, Japan January 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 2/2 TOKYO Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings Co ( 3382.T ) said on Thursday it would buy most of Sunoco LP''s ( SUN.N ) convenience store and gasoline retail businesses for about $3.3 billion. Seven & i, which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said in a statement the deal was aimed at expanding its store network and improving profitability. Seven & i said it expects to carry out the acquisition from Texas-based Sunoco in August. (Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sunoco-lp-m-a-seven-i-hldgs-idUSKBN1780IT'|'2017-04-06T14:18:00.000+03:00' '66bf3631829509a4bc23952af5c0eeff81e11d39'|'Japan LNG buyers wary of Tellurian''s fixed-price offer'|' 10am EDT Japan LNG buyers wary of Tellurian''s fixed-price offer * Buying LNG at fixed prices is a "gamble" -JERA * Flat $8/mmBtu could be expensive in 2023 -Diamond Gas Int''l * Tellurian''s Souki says has seen strong response to offer * Australia''s Woodside also considering flat price offers -CEO By Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori CHIBA, Japan, April 6 Japanese buyers of liquefied natural gas have shown cautious interest in Tellurian Inc''s bold guarantee of U.S. LNG delivered at a fixed price from 2023, wary of locking themselves into a price that may eventually work to their disadvantage. Tellurian Chairman Charif Souki - who pioneered the first U.S. LNG exports ex-Alaska as head of Cheniere Energy - stirred things up at the Gastech conference in Japan from the start, offering cargoes delivered to Japan at a flat $8 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). That goes against four decades of selling LNG and building liquefaction plants worth billions of dollars on the basis of long-term, fixed-volume contracts linked to the price of oil. Souki''s move looked to be in keeping with LNG importers pushing for lower prices and better terms, yet even some of the most aggressive buyers seemed taken aback by the flat rate. "Fixed prices are a gamble," JERA Co''s chief fuel transactions office Hiroki Sato told Reuters in an interview at the conference when asked about Souki''s offer. "If you hear now that you can buy LNG for Japan at $8 in 2023, everybody would probably say it''s cheap. But ... actions based on predictions rarely work out. That is how it works in the world," he said. ''NOT BUYING AT $8'' Tokyo-based JERA Co, a partnership of Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, is the world''s biggest buyer of the fuel. Last month it joined with Korea Gas Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp to form a club to force producers to drop so-called destination clauses. Despite Sato''s wariness, Souki "is a genius (for) throwing a stone in the pond and creating a ripple. I don''t know how I evaluate that or if it is good or bad," he said. During supply shortfalls - such as when the Fukushima nuclear crisis of 2011 led to the shutdown of Japan''s reactors and imports of LNG and coal spiked to records to replace lost power generation - prices can run up rapidly. Spot LNG prices in Asia LNG-AS were at more than $20/mmBtu in February 2014, for instance, but with the more recent surplus they are now trading at less than $6/mmBtu. Buyers might decide that $8/mmBtu looked cheap if oil prices were at $80 or $100, said Ryosuke Tsugaru, chief executive of Diamond Gas International, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp , said on the sidelines of the conference. "But oil by nature is volatile. And if a fixed $8 turned out to be expensive, I don''t know what they would do," Tsugaru said. "I am not buying at $8," he said. DRUM ROLL, PLEASE Souki made his offer on Tuesday to deliver LNG to Japan at $8/mmBtu from 2023 under five-year contracts, including shipping. The offer covers an initial 7 million tonnes a year of LNG from Tellurian''s planned Driftwood project in Louisiana. "I think we will be sold out by the end of the year," he later said, as two Taiko drummers banged away at Tellurian''s stand in the conference hall in Chiba near Tokyo, drawing a crowd of gas executives and onlookers who snapped pictures while drinking wine and champagne. Souki told Reuters he had received a strong response from buyers in Japan, which takes about a third of global LNG output. He declined to identify any companies that had shown interest. Australia''s Woodside Petroleum is also considering sales of some of its LNG on a fixed-price basis, Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman told reporters at a Gastech press briefing, although he mentioned no specific level. "We can get to Japan for eight bucks, so it is fine with me," said Elizabeth Spomer, executive vice president at Veresen Inc and head of its planned Jordan Cove LNG project, when asked about the Tellurian offer. The Jordan Cove terminal will be built in Oregon on the Pacific Coast of U.S. so is closer to Japan. Driftwood supplies from the U.S. Gulf Coast would need to come through the expanded Panama Canal or make an even longer journey. "Charif is always provocative and it will be interesting to see what they do," Spomer said. (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick and Osamu Tsukimori; Additional reporting by Mark Tay; Editing by Tom Hogue) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-gastech-lng-idUSL3N1HE1YR'|'2017-04-06T18:10:00.000+03:00' '85da6d280fc33189c2db1b23df006a90603de8e0'|'Puerto Rico''s PREPA, bondholders agree to new debt deal: source'|'By Nick Brown - NEW YORK NEW YORK Puerto Rican power utility PREPA and its bondholders have reached a new deal to restructure $8.9 billion in debt, the U.S. territory''s government announced on Thursday.The agreement could save an extra $1.5 billion in debt servicing costs over five years, compared with a prior pending deal between the parties, Governor Ricardo Rossello''s administration said in a statement.The sides would extend until April 13 the deadline to effect the new deal, which also must be approved by Puerto Rico''s federally appointed oversight board.PREPA is seen as a bellwether for Governor Ricardo Rossello''s approach to restructuring Puerto Rico''s $70 billion in total debt.Rossello worried investors earlier this year when he said he would reopen negotiations of a previous PREPA deal that had been pending since December 2015, well before he took office.Rossello said he wanted to get more concessions from creditors and lower electricity rates for consumers, while stakeholders fretted that he was putting politics ahead of compromise.Reuters reported last week that Rossello''s administration had made a new offer to creditors.The new deal could reduce customers'' electric bills by about $90 annually over the next five years, according to the statement.At a news conference in San Juan on Thursday, Rossello, who took office on Jan. 2, touted his administration''s ability to reach a quick deal."We have reached a deal in less than 100 days, compared to the [previously pending] deal ... that cost tens of millions of dollars and led nowhere," Rossello told reporters.(Reporting by Nick Brown; Additional reporting by a contributor in San Juan; Editing by Alden Bentley and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-puertorico-debt-prepa-idINKBN1782CD'|'2017-04-06T15:23:00.000+03:00' '546eedefa1f7425082ace3c13a2a7f67ff82f79d'|'World food prices back down in March after two-year high - FAO'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:27pm BST World food prices back down in March after two-year high - FAO A rainbow forms over an oilseed rape field in Heather, Britain May 5, 2015. REUTERS/Darren Staples MILAN World food prices were back down in March after hitting a two-year high last month, with cereal harvests expected to be robust and markets stable this year, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday. Prices for food products fell for five straight years due to ample supply, a slowing global economy and a strong U.S. dollar but in the last two months the index rose and reached 175.5 points in February, a record high since the same period in 2015. In March the Food and Agriculture Organization''s (FAO) price index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 171 points, down 2.8 percent compared to the previous month. All food prices were down due to large supplies and the expectation of strong harvests, but meat ones were up 0.7 percent due to high demand for bovine and pig meat from Asia. FAO forecasts global cereal production to be 2,597 million this year, just under the record output in 2016, because of a reduction in global wheat production and planting cuts expected in Australia, Canada and the United States. The inching down with respect to last year is mainly due to an expected reduction in global wheat production, due to fall 2.7 percent this year. Consumption of cereal is expected to grow by 0.8 percent in 2017 to 2,597 million tonnes as the use of grains for biofuels and to feed animals will grow less than in the past. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-food-idUKKBN1781CS'|'2017-04-06T19:27:00.000+03:00' '7a7ee1df6721ad77b4332761a4e262a447663a9b'|'Asia stocks slip, investors on edge for Trump/Xi meeting'|'Money News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 6:35am IST Asia stocks slip, investors on edge for Trump/Xi meeting A pedestrian stands to look at an electronic board showing the stock market indices of various countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, February 26, 2016. REUTERS/Yuya Shino By Wayne Cole - SYDNEY SYDNEY Stocks fell and bonds rose in Asia on Thursday, with risk appetite soured by signs the Federal Reserve might start paring its king-sized balance sheet later this year just as the chances of an early U.S. fiscal stimulus faded further. Investors were also wary ahead of a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the first between the world''s two most powerful leaders. Topping the agenda at Trump''s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida will be whether he makes good on his threat to use U.S.-China trade ties to pressure Beijing to do more to rein in its nuclear-armed neighbour North Korea. Lingering fears of a possible trade war kept Asian markets on edge. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.2 percent. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 fell 1 percent and Australia''s ASX 200 eased 0.3 percent. Sentiment had already been bruised when U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said there was no consensus on tax reform and it would take longer to accomplish than healthcare. Markets have risen in recent months in part on speculation fiscal stimulus would boost U.S. growth and inflation. Minutes of the Fed''s last meeting also showed most policymakers thought the U.S. central bank should begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year, much earlier than many had expected. "Central bank asset purchases and broader largesse have been a key support factor for markets for nearly a decade," said ANZ economist Felicity Emmett, who wondered if the global economy could cope with such a sea change. "Raising the fed funds rate a quarter of a point every now and then is tinkering at the edges compared to the elephant in the room that is the balance sheet." WHIPLASH The reaction was whiplash on Wall Street. The Dow posted its largest intra-day downside reversal in 14 months after shedding a gain of more than 198 points to end near the session low. The Dow .DJI ended down 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.31 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.58 percent. Stocks had initially rallied when data showed U.S. private employers added a surprisingly strong 263,000 jobs in March, spurring speculation that the official payrolls report on Friday would also impress. Treasuries had likewise eased at first, but rebounded late in the session as safe-havens were sought. Yields on 10-year paper came right back to 2.33 percent US10YT=RR, threatening a hugely important chart barrier at 2.30 percent. The drop in yields dragged the dollar down on the yen, where it was last at 110.42 JPY= and nearing chart support in the 110.11/27 zone. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was off 0.15 percent at 100.410 .DXY. The euro EUR= was a shade firmer at $1.0681. In commodity markets, oil ticked lower after the U.S. government reported a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories to a record high. U.S. crude CLcv1 was down 31 cents at $50.84 a barrel, while Brent LCOcv1 lost 30 cents to $54.06. Easily the biggest mover this week has been coking coal which surged 43 percent on Singapore-listed futures after Cyclone Debbie slammed into top supplier Australia, crippling exports of the steelmaking raw material. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Indian tractor sales seen rising as regions waive farm loans MUMBAI Tractor sales in India are likely to grows in double digits in the fiscal year that started on April 1, following a decision by at least two states to waive some loans to farmers, India''s biggest tractor maker said on Wednesday.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idINKBN178037'|'2017-04-06T09:05:00.000+03:00' 'e74572e0788193386537334f32dbdcfcb507b91e'|'Most Fed policymakers see change to balance sheet policy ''later this year'' - minutes'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 8:34pm BST Most Fed policymakers see change to balance sheet policy ''later this year'' - minutes A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque By Lindsay Dunsmuir and Howard Schneider - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Most Federal Reserve policymakers think the central bank should take steps to begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year as long as the economic data holds up, minutes from their last meeting showed. The minutes released on Wednesday of the March 14-15 policy discussion, at which the Fed voted 9-1 to raise interest rates, also showed that the rate-setting committee had a broad discussion about whether to phase out or halt reinvestments all at once. "Provided that the economy continued to perform about as expected, most participants anticipated that gradual increases in the federal funds rate would continue and judged that a change to the Committee''s reinvestment policy would likely be appropriate later this year," the Fed said in the minutes. Treasury yields initially rose sharply after the release of the minutes but reversed course. The dollar briefly slipped while stocks on Wall Street fell. The Fed bought Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds on an unprecedented scale in the wake of the financial crisis to help keep interest rates low to spur hiring and growth. Fed policymakers have previously indicated that any plan to shrink its portfolio would let the bonds naturally roll off, by not reinvesting them when they mature, once its interest rate hikes were "well under way." "The December FOMC meeting is probably the most likely date to introduce this change," said Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto, following the publication of the minutes. The Fed''s lifted its benchmark interest rate in March to a target range of between 0.75 and 1 percent, its second hike in three months, and signalled it remained on track to lift rates twice more this year. In the minutes, almost all policymakers agreed that the timing of a change in balance sheet policy would depend on economic and financial conditions and generally preferred to taper or stop investments in both Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds. An approach that phased out reinvestments was seen as less likely to trigger financial market volatility while doing so all at once "was generally viewed as easier to communicate while allowing for somewhat swifter normalization of the size of the balance sheet." What they all agreed on was that shrinking the balance sheet should be gradual and predictable and nearly all said that any altering of the policy "should be communicated...well in advance of an actual change." UPSIDE RISKS TO ECONOMY New York Fed President William Dudley recently said that taking steps to normalize the balance sheet would tighten financial conditions and could affect the pace of rate rises. Prior to the minutes Wall Street banks expected no changes to the balance sheet policy until mid-2018, the latest poll by the New York Fed showed. Elsewhere in the minutes policymakers appeared to see upside risks to the economy while there was still disagreement on how close the Fed was to meeting its 2 percent inflation goal this year. In its March policy statement, the Fed said that its inflation target was "symmetric," indicating it could tolerate price rises temporarily overshooting its 2 percent target rate. Along with the minutes, the central bank for the first time also published a set of so-called "fan charts" to show the extent of uncertainty around their quarterly economic forecasts. Uncertainty around them was substantial, the Fed said. The Fed''s next policy meeting is scheduled for May 2-3 while investors currently expect another rate rise in June. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir and Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-fed-minutes-idUKKBN1772GA'|'2017-04-06T03:34:00.000+03:00' '99291d4fd1aa732c6ad5e3667ea69ab79627adaa'|'UPDATE 1-Unilever announces results of business review'|'Company News 14am EDT UPDATE 1-Unilever announces results of business review (Adds details) By Martinne Geller LONDON, April 6 Unilever said on Thursday it will exit its spreads business, increase its margin targets and review its dual-headed legal structure, as it aims to prove it can deliver growth following its rejection in February of a takeover proposal by Kraft Heinz. The pledges are the result of a business review at the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods maker, undertaken following the unsolicited $143 billion bid by its U.S. rival. Unilever, one of Europe''s biggest blue-chip stocks, called the episode a "trigger moment" to assess its business, as the global packaged goods industry faces slowing growth and greater competition. The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry''s ice cream said it was accelerating its cost-savings plan, targeting a 20 percent underlying operating margin, before restructuring, by 2020. It said it would combine its refreshment business, which includes ice cream and tea, with the rest of its foods business, in a bid to unlock growth and grow margins faster. It also said it would target net debt of 2 times EBITDA, and would launch a share buy-back this year of 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion). It also said it was raising its dividend by 12 percent. ($1 = 0.9367 euros) (Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Holmes) Next In Company News GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks waver, investors on knife edge for Trump-Xi meeting SYDNEY, April 6 Stocks slipped and bonds rose in Asia on Thursday, with risk appetite soured by signs the Federal Reserve might start paring its king-sized asset holdings later this year just as the chance of early U.S. fiscal stimulus faded further.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/unilever-review-idUSL5N1HE0S2'|'2017-04-06T14:14:00.000+03:00' '0047fe78290fea7ae6dec9fd10fa3c0272bb40a1'|'Canada police arrest U.S. man after ''mock'' bomb found on Chicago-bound plane'|'World 20pm EDT Canada police arrest U.S. man after ''mock'' bomb found on Chicago-bound plane TORONTO A 58-year-old American man was arrested after airport officials found a "mock improvised explosive device" in a suitcase on a United Airlines flight bound for Chicago, Canadian police said on Thursday. The device was swabbed for explosives and found not to be a threat to safety, a Peel Regional police spokesman said. The Chicago O''Hare-bound flight was delayed for hours from its scheduled 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) departure from Toronto. The suspect, who was not identified, was held for a bail hearing on Friday. (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-arrest-airplane-fakebomb-idUSKBN1782IM'|'2017-04-07T02:18:00.000+03:00' '6577091b4d6770617a0e9313a77871e17dd29428'|'Mothercare plans to raise prices due to fall of pound since Brexit vote - Business'|'Mothercare’s chief executive has said the price of its clothing and toys would increase by 3-5% this summer following the decline in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote.Mark Newton Jones said the childrenswear and maternity specialist had limited price rises by striking better deals with suppliers, but with half its goods bought in dollars the retailer was not able to absorb higher sourcing costs.“From the middle of the year our selling prices will move by 3 to 5% as that inflation flows through,” he said. With a focus on childrenswear Newton-Jones said the price increases would not be material – for example, adding 40p to the cost of a babygrow. The retailer also stocks a large range of toys, from plastic sandpits to trikes, under its Early Learning Centre brand.Other retailers, including the clothing giant Next , are hiking prices as the weakness of sterling pushes up the cost of imported goods. Next increased the price of its spring and summer ranges by 4% on average and plans to do the same again in the autumn.Newton-Jones’s comments came as the retailer said UK like-for-like sales were up 4.5% in 11 weeks to 25 March, which was better than some analysts expected, sending the shares up more than 3%. International sales were down 1.7% in constant currency as shoppers in the Middle East – its biggest regional market outside the UK – spent less because of the slump in oil prices .Newton-Jones was hired in 2014 to lead a turnaround of Mothercare , but confidence was knocked by poor trading last summer. Since taking the helm he has closed loss-making UK outlets and modernised 70% of the remaining 150 stores. “Customers’ response to our spring/summer ranges has been positive, as has the feedback on the new website and our new store environment,” said Newton-Jones.Sanjay Vidyarthi, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity, said the management’s recovery strategy looked to be back on track with the UK chain turning a profit over the last six months - its first profitable half year since 2011. “This is very encouraging, given how difficult and volatile trading conditions have been on the high street, particularly in clothing,” he said. Topics Mothercare Retail industry EU referendum and Brexit Inflation news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/06/mothercare-raises-prices-pound-fall-since-brexit-vote'|'2017-04-07T02:07:00.000+03:00' 'c9fbd2b063d9a95b4463e4ece56e89e4815b6780'|'BRIEF-YouTube says will no longer serve ads on YPP videos until channel reaches 10,000 lifetime views- blog'|'Company News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 4:15pm EDT BRIEF-YouTube says will no longer serve ads on YPP videos until channel reaches 10,000 lifetime views- blog April 6 (Reuters) - * YouTube introduces expanded YouTube partner program safeguards to protect creators- blog * YouTube- we will no longer serve ads on youtube partner program videos until channel reaches 10,000 lifetime views- blog * YouTube- "in a few weeks, we''ll also be adding a review process for new creators who apply to be in the youtube partner program"'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-youtube-says-will-no-longer-serve-idUSFWN1HE0QD'|'2017-04-07T04:15:00.000+03:00' '5565c22bd225b8bf636196e6607be7ca2d3011cc'|'Brazil''s Oi considers capital injection under creditor protection -paper'|'SAO PAULO, April 7 Brazilian phone carrier Oi SA is considering a capital injection while still under creditor protection, Chief Executive Marco Schroeder told newspaper Valor Econômico in an interview published on Friday.Valor cited unnamed people involved in negotiations as saying the capital increase could total $2 billion to $3 billion. Schroeder declined to comment on specific figures, according to the report.An Oi press representative confirmed the contents of Schroeder''s interview with Valor.The capital injection would provide more firepower in Oi''s operational turnaround and could help advance thorny discussions between Oi and its creditors after it filed for Brazil''s largest ever bankruptcy protection last year.Some creditors have openly criticized Oi''s proposed debt restructuring, leading Brazil''s government to lay the groundwork for a direct intervention in the company. Communications Minister Gilberto Kassab said on Thursday the chances of intervention are increasing as time passes.Prominent bondholders and some strategic investors have long suggested Oi take additional capital, but this is the first time the carrier''s management publicly acknowledges that possibility.Preferred shares of Oi have advanced 53.8 pct so far this year as traders hope for a solution to its debt issues. Common shares rose 42 percent. (Writing by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oi-sa-restructuring-idINL1N1HF0H4'|'2017-04-07T11:43:00.000+03:00' 'fa6477a2d8971402b17c2a86e855ac166c6db11c'|'GLOBAL LNG-Asian spot prices edge up on slightly tighter market'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:09am EDT GLOBAL LNG-Asian spot prices edge up on slightly tighter market * LNG market tightens as units enter post-winter maintenance * Overall production glut to remain in place - analysts * Facing buyer pressure, producers allow more flexibility * LNG spot trading set to grow as market gradually opens up By Henning Gloystein and Mark Tay SINGAPORE/CHIBA, April 7 Asian spot LNG prices edged higher this week, albeit from low levels, as tight production supported a market undergoing fundamental changes amid a surge in new sellers and buyers. Spot price for May delivery of LNG in Asia LNG-AS rose by 10 cents to $5.80 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) as seasonal tightness supported the market. Trading data in Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that global LNG supplies have dipped slightly below demand, although analysts said that this was likely only a temporary effect as several production units go into maintenance following the end of the northern hemisphere''s peak demand winter heating season. Neil Beveridge, senior oil and gas analyst at AB Bernstein in Hong Kong, said the "market was tight over the winter period (strong China demand and outages), and you could see that in the spot price", but he added that prices would likely soften soon "with the seasonal demand downturn." LNG markets are undergoing fundamental changes, as a growing number of supplies are coming to market, forcing producers to offer their buyers more flexible terms in order to retain market share. Following months of rising pressure from big buyers in Japan, South Korea and China, major producers including Royal Dutch Shell, Woodside Petroleum, and BP said at an industry event in Japan this week that they would allow more supply flexibility in future contracts. With supplies expected to outstrip demand in the coming years, many producers are expected to sell excess cargoes into the spot market, while more contract flexibility means that utilities may also start selling more LNG into the spot market. Some producers are warning that the current glut will end in the early 2020s due to a lack in investment because of low prices. Despite this, there are signs that investment into new production that would hit the market in the early 2020s is picking up again. Qatar said this week that it has lifted a self-imposed ban on development of the world''s biggest natural gas field, ending a 12-year moratorium as the world''s top LNG exporter looks to see off an expected rise in competition. Italy''s ENI said this week that it was "very close" to making a final investment decision on the Coral floating LNG project in Mozambique, with start-up expected around 2022. In a similar development, Japan''s Mitsui & Co expects a final investment decision on the U.S. Anadarko-led offshore LNG project, also in Mozambique, in April-June 2018, four months later than expected. (Reprting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE and Mark Tay in CHIBA; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-lng-idUSL3N1HF24H'|'2017-04-07T13:09:00.000+03:00' '572d09aa195ca5f98b85b50dcfc952d9657fc7fc'|'U.S., Japan in talks to prevent China acquiring Westinghouse: U.S. official'|'WASHINGTON The Trump administration and the Japanese government are in discussions to ensure that the bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric Co does not lead to U.S. technology secrets and infrastructure falling into Chinese hands, a U.S. official said on Thursday.Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast.The bankruptcy is likely to lead to the eventual sale of Westinghouse''s nuclear business and Chinese interests have been seen as possible buyers, given the chance."It''s is a real concern; they''ve wanted to get their hands on power grid and nuclear infrastructure for a long time," an official in the U.S. administration told Reuters as China''s President Xi Jinping arrived in the United States on Thursday for a first summit with President Donald Trump."You go into a situation like the Toshiba situation where there''s financial chaos. There''s a chance that things can happen in a way that’s dangerous."Some nuclear technologies are dual use, meaning they can be used for civilian and military purposes.The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said conversations were going on between the U.S. and Japanese governments "on ways to mitigate a potential sale.""There are ways that are being looked at, both formally and informally, to make sure there is no threat to critical infrastructure," the official said.An inter-agency body of the U.S. government known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and its Japanese equivalent review the national security implications of foreign investments in firms.South Korea''s State-controlled Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) ( 015760.KS ) has been considered the likeliest potential buyer for Westinghouse.Like Japan, South Korea is a security ally of the United States, while China is a fast-growing strategic rival.(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-japan-westinghouse-idUSKBN1782WF'|'2017-04-07T01:42:00.000+03:00' 'd540ea6ee462befa729130c74f1185e41cffab35'|'INSIGHT-US South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival'|'Politics Special Reports - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 1:18am EDT U.S. South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival left right FILE PHOTO: An Airbus A321 is being assembled in the final assembly line hangar at the Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama September 13, 2015. REUTERS/Michael Spooneybarger 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: People tour the final assembly line hangar at the new Airbus U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama September 13, 2015. REUTERS/Michael Spooneybarger 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A Toyota automaker employee moves an engine at the Toyota engine assembly line in Huntsville, Alabama November 13, 2009. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 3/3 By Howard Schneider - MOBILE, Ala. MOBILE, Ala. In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, this southern U.S. port city has attracted a new Airbus ( AIR.PA ) factory, seen its steel industry retool, and gained thousands of jobs building the Navy''s new combat vessel. Some 300 miles north in Huntsville, new businesses sprout in farm fields drawn by readily available land, low taxes, flexible labor rules and improving infrastructure. As President Trump faces pressure to deliver on his promise to revive manufacturing in the northern "rust belt" states that put him in the White House, his biggest challenge may not be Mexico or China, but the southern U.S. states that form the other pillar of his political base. States like Alabama have built a presence in the global supply chain in direct competition with the country''s Midwestern industrial heartland, and even if Trump coaxes jobs back to the United States they may well head south rather than north. Whether the "rust belt''s" expectations are met will be central to 2018 U.S. mid-term elections and likely frame the presidential race in 2020. The southern states are reliably Republican, but the party''s ability to repeat its success in Midwestern swing states, such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, may hinge on whether the Trump administration delivers on its economic promises. For a decade now, nine southern states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas - together have accounted for a larger share of the U.S. economy than nine northern states that defined America as the 20th century''s industrial superpower, according to a Reuters analysis of federal data. The analysis compared gross domestic product, population and other factors among northern and Midwestern states that played a key role in Trump''s victory or are typically considered part of the industrial heartland, with those in the south and along the Gulf Coast that have become an emerging destination for auto and other investment. (For graphic on'' A battle for jobs'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2nHSda5 ) Florida, a state whose population has boomed under an influx of retirees, many of them from the north, was excluded. FREE LAND AND DEGREES Economists and industrial site consultants say the reasons behind the trend have moved beyond lower wages and lower levels of unionization. Per capita income in the south has now almost caught up with that in the Midwest, and its skilled workforce continues to grow as college graduates move in. "Labor? Perceived advantages. Taxes? Some of these are fairly low (tax) states. Real estate? For big projects that are going to employ three, four, five thousand people, you can find free land - zero cost land," said Darin Buelow, an industrial site specialist with Deloitte Consulting. In the south, business executives and development officials interviewed by Reuters were less likely to call for new tariffs and trade deals than to worry about how any new regime may disrupt a system they have learned to work with. David Fernandes, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, said that of the roughly 700,000 engines the factory made last year, half went to Mexico and Canada. The facility also makes engines for cars assembled at a Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. "Anything that hinders the opportunity to provide product to a customer is what is concerning," he said. Plants in Kentucky and Indiana gave Toyota a U.S. foothold in the 1980s and 1990s, but in this century the Japanese carmaker turned to Alabama, Texas and Mississippi for expansion. Located on former cotton fields, the company''s Huntsville, Alabama, plant now employs more than 1,400 people and churns out about 3,000 engines a day. Gunmaker Remington Outdoor [FREDM.UL] came to Huntsville lured by $110 million in tax and other concessions. Its factory here is expected to eventually employ 2,000, and it has already begun shifting employees from elsewhere, including 100 from the town in upstate New York where the company was founded two centuries ago. Jeremy Littlejohn moved his cloud computing start-up RISC Networks from Chicago to Asheville, NC, in 2012 for the less hectic pace, but has found the location a selling point as he grew from 6 to 33 employees. Many of those new workers came from out of state, contributing to North Carolina''s net annual influx of about 46,000 college degree holders. That migration of educated workers is the norm among the southern states. The rust belt by contrast saw a net outflow of more than 400,000 residents with college degrees between 2007 and 2014. The customers are heading south too. From 1990 to 2015, population in the nine southern and gulf states grew 43 percent, to more than 76 million, and passed that of the rust belt states in the late 1990s. Population in the rust belt grew 13 percent, to 63 million, over the same period. When the Minnesota-based Polaris Industries Inc. ( PII.N ) began planning a new facility for its line of outdoor vehicles, "there was no Minnesota play," said Eric Blackwell, director of operations at the company''s new factory outside Huntsville. The market for Polaris'' machines, popular for farm work, hunting and sport riding, was growing in the south. Open land was available, and Alabama had programs to help recruit and train a workforce expected to rise to 1,500. FROM LAGGARD TO A RISING TIDE Globalization hit both the north and the south hard. Between 2000 and 2010 each lost about a third of their manufacturing jobs. But employment rebounded faster and more broadly in the south. Between 2000 and 2015, combined private sector employment in nine southern and gulf coast states still grew 13.5 percent. In the nine northern states total private sector jobs as of 2015 remained 1.3 percent below their 2000 level, according to federal data. The transition dates back to the 1980s, when German and Japanese automakers began investing in what has become a sprawling, regional industry. Supplier networks followed, creating even stiffer competition in an industry already changing due to passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the growth of automaking in Mexico. New industries, such as aerospace, followed. Boeing opened a new factory in Charleston, South Carolina, while decades of federal spending on space and defense programs created a pool of engineers in Alabama. A surge in energy and locally important industries like wood products added to the employment gains. Judith Adams, vice president at the Alabama State Port Authority, speeds visitors through warehouses of wood fiber products, steel ingots and other goods ready to ship abroad. The port is spending $47 million to boost its capacity to 500,000 containers a year from 300,000. The longer-term the goal is to triple that to 1.5 million. "The vessel sizes are getting bigger. The market is getting bigger. The cargo is here," Adams said. When European aircraft maker Airbus ( AIR.PA ) scouted sites for its $600 million North American plant more than a decade ago it settled on a former Air Force base in Mobile. As it ramps up production, local officials say 20 suppliers have already arrived in Airbus'' wake, with firms like Ireland''s Maas Aviation looking to put 150 people to work painting planes. "We looked at transportation costs, labor costs, productivity, and it made sense," said Allan McArtor, chief executive of Airbus Group Inc. "We will be building single aisle airplanes (in Mobile) for a long, long time." (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Cleveland; Editing by David Chance and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-south-insight-idUSKBN1790HO'|'2017-04-07T13:00:00.000+03:00' '0dcb894b8bf21787658def19b6f6b9aff874f3fd'|'How artificial life spawned a billion-dollar industry'|'Science 4:20pm IST How artificial life spawned a billion-dollar industry left right FILE PHOTO: A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist''s illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute to Reuters on May 15, 2012. REUTERS/National Human Genome Research Institute/Handout/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A researcher, seen through a window, prepares DNA in a laboratory at the Bioaster Technology Research Institute in Lyon, France, October 31, 2014. REUTERS/Robert Pratta/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A robotic DNA sample automation machine works on DNA samples at a Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. laboratory at the biotechnology company''s headquarters in Tarrytown, New York, U.S., March 24, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo 3/3 By Ben Hirschler - LONDON LONDON Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology''s wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrializing the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook ( FB.O ), Uber [UBER.UL] and Zynga ( ZNGA.O ), believes the emerging industry has passed the "epiphany" moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value. "Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business," he said. "The things that sustain and accelerate this industry are today more effective, lower cost, more precise and more repeatable. That makes it easier to extract disruptive value." Ocko, whose Data Collective firm has invested in companies including organism design firm Gingko Bioworks and bioengineer Zymergen, is not alone. Other tech veterans backing the new wave of "synbio" start-ups include Jerry Yang, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt, famous for their roles at Yahoo ( YHOO.O ), Netscape, PayPal and Google respectively. UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN Experts meeting in London this week said the science toolkit was improving fast and the cost of synthesizing DNA was now 100 times cheaper than in 2003, although uncertainties remain about regulation and the public''s appetite for tinkering with life. The global conference hosted by Imperial College London, bringing together scientists and money people, comes four weeks after researchers announced they were close to building a complete artificial genome for baker''s yeast. This ambitious project has brought complex artificial life a big step closer because yeast is a eukaryote, an organism whose cells contain a nucleus, just like human cells. The yeast work shows how DNA can be manipulated on a large scale, with genetic code increasingly treated like a programming language in which binary 1s and 0s are replaced by DNA''s four chemical building blocks, abbreviated as A, T, G, C. A growing emphasis on computing is closing the gap between biology and traditional tech, even though this is an area that remains unpredictable, variable and complex. "The intersection of biology and technology is a difficult place to be because of different cultures and languages, but I think we are breaking through some of those barriers," said Thomas Bostick, former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who now leads biotech firm Intrexon''s ( XON.N ) environment unit. The idea that engineering life can be broken down into data and coding is part of the appeal for tech investors. "DNA is seen as the next programmable matter and that is what a lot of the Silicon Valley investors are excited about," said John Cumbers, founder of synthetic biology network SynBioBeta. "They''ve witnessed the power of software over the last 25 years and they are looking for the next big thing." Data from SynBioBeta shows a record $1.21 billion was invested in the sector worldwide in 2016, a threefold increase from five years earlier, while the number of firms in the sector has almost doubled to 411. For a graphic see tmsnrt.rs/2n3VYuO A range of companies are springing up, from those producing new chemicals for industry to providers of DNA synthesis and related software, like U.S.-based Twist Bioscience and Britain''s Synthace. Work is also advancing by leaps and bounds in the complementary area of gene editing now being embraced by many of the world''s top drugmakers. CHANGE OF TACK The current product focus represents a change of tack from the first widely tipped application of synthetic biology in making biofuels from engineered algae. In the event, algal biofuel proved a lot harder to scale up than expected and a tumbling oil price during the Great Recession of the late 2000s undercut the business model. Drew Endy of Stanford University believes the case for using synthetic biology to take on gasoline never stacked up. "Why would you bank your whole platform on a bulk high-volume, low-price, low-margin product? It''s baffling, not strategic," he said. Today''s synbio firms are looking at more niche and expensive products, such as potent painkillers and cancer medicines made in yeast cells - or fabrics with novel properties, although some have only reached demonstration stage. California-based Bolt Threads recently debuted a limited edition $314 necktie made from yeast-derived spider''s silk and Japanese rival Spiber has made a concept piece spider-silk parka jacket. Boston-based Gingko Bioworks, meanwhile, is developing a rose oil for French fragrance house Robertet ( ROBF.PA ) and Switzerland''s Evolva ( EVE.S ) has developed a vanillin, or vanilla extract, that, unlike most vanilla flavoring, is not made from petrochemicals. In some areas - especially anything to do with food or the environment - synthetic biology is already running into criticism. Friends of the Earth was quick to condemn the new yeast-derived vanillin as "extreme" genetic engineering. Other controversies appear inevitable as synthetic biologists push the envelope with more extreme projects, such as a Harvard team''s "Jurassic Park"-style proposal to resurrect the woolly mammoth by adapting the Asian elephant genome. Intrexon''s Bostick, whose firm is releasing millions of genetically manipulated mosquitoes in Brazil in a bid to slash populations of Zika-carrying insects, believes each synthetic biology scheme has to prove its benefits outweigh the risks. "There are always pros and cons, and we owe people a fair and balanced assessment." Click tmsnrt.rs/2p4uuBJ for graphic on Betting on synthetic life (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Giles Elgood) Next In Science News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-science-life-synthetic-investment-idINKBN178168'|'2017-04-06T18:32:00.000+03:00' '69d05ea8b6681c8f5253973ab99630b59305745f'|'Shell switches New Zealand holdings ahead of possible divestment'|'By Charlotte Greenfield - WELLINGTON WELLINGTON Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) sold its stake in a New Zealand gas field while taking over the field''s operating company as part of a plan to possibly divest its holdings in the country later on, the company said Thursday.Shell has sold its 50 percent stake in the Kapuni Gas Field, New Zealand''s second-largest, for an undisclosed price and has increased its holding to 100 percent in the joint venture that operates the field, Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS), it said in a statement.The announcement was the first concrete action taken by Shell following its announcement in 2015 that it was reviewing its New Zealand business interests."This 100 per cent ownership of STOS will simplify Shell''s operational structure in preparation for any possible portfolio changes to the remaining assets," Rob Jager, Country Chair of Shell New Zealand, told Fairfax Media.Shell, which has operated in New Zealand for more than a century, said in December 2015 it was reviewing its business interests in the Pacific nation as the company seeks to streamline its global portfolio amid a slump in energy prices.(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-shell-divestiture-idINKBN17809R'|'2017-04-06T01:34:00.000+03:00' '97ef0d43070dfa9402f2235b2eba3d6718b88068'|'Bullish but thrifty U.S. consumers present puzzle'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 4:40pm BST Bullish but thrifty U.S. consumers present puzzle People cross Broadway with shopping bags in Manhattan, New York City, U.S. December 27, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly By Philip Blenkinsop - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS U.S. consumers, the bedrock of the world''s largest economy, are presenting a puzzle for economists and policymakers. Two gauges due in the coming week are expected to give contrasting signs of their economic health - the University of Michigan''s survey on Thursday likely to show sky-high sentiment and retail sales the next day set to reveal only sluggish spending. "People may be very confident, very happy, but they''re not spending their money. That could be an interesting conundrum for the Fed," said senior ING economist James Knightley. "If the retail sales continue to disappoint you''ve got to think expectations of, say three Fed hikes from here will start to fade," he added. U.S. retail sales growth, due out on Friday, is expected at a seven-month low of zero after 0.1 percent in February, when delayed tax refunds and the biggest rise in annual inflation in nearly five years eroded consumer spending. In an early indication that the weakness extended into March, U.S. automakers'' sales figures missed market expectations and gave early evidence that America''s long, robust boom cycle for cars may be losing steam. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan survey peaked in January to its highest since 2004 and has dipped only slightly since. A separate gauge from the Conference Board hit a 16-year high in March. Commerzbank Bernd Weidensteiner said the discrepancy between sentiment or "soft" indicators and "hard" data was also visible among businesses, with high confidence but only very muted order intake. "Sooner or later the gap will close and the question is from which side... In principle you''d expect hard data to improve in the next couple of quarters given the very robust labour market. Sooner or later it should persuade U.S. consumers to open their wallets more," he said. Consumer sentiment may be strong partly on expectations of tax cuts from President Donald Trump, although his failure to push Congress into reversing his predecessor''s healthcare reforms a week ago shows a major tax reform is not a given. Commerzbank''s own "Trump-o-meter", an assessment of proposed Trump measures, turned negative thereafter. GERMANY CLOSES HARD/SOFT GAP The hard/soft discrepancy is not unique to the United States. In Europe, business sentiment readings for industry and construction in particular have implied annualised growth of some 3 percent and far outstripped real economic performance. However, data on Friday showed German industrial output surged in February. "What we got today is a probably faster convergence than we had expected. At least for Germany the hard and soft data are now pretty much aligned," said Christian Schulz, economist at Citi, which responded by raising its forecast for German first quarter economic growth to 0.7 percent from 0.5 percent. By contrast in the France, industrial output dropped unexpectedly in February, tempering the country''s outlook after surprisingly strong business confidence surveys. Industrial output data for the euro zone will be released on Tuesday, the same day that the April series of sentiment indices begins with the ZEW''s gauge of German investor morale. BRITISH REAL WAGE SQUEEZE Meanwhile in Britain, more than a week after its Brexit notification, economists are busy looking for signs of softness after unexpected resilience shown since the vote to leave the European Union last June. Industrial output dipped by 0.7 percent in February, data showed on Friday, worse than all forecasts and suggesting manufacturers are not making up for a consumer spending slowdown with exports driven by the weaker pound. The coming week brings inflation data on Tuesday and average earnings figures on Wednesday. Average earnings growth, excluding bonuses, has exceeded inflation since mid-2014, but data released a month ago showed the gap dropped to zero. "We suspect we''re going to start to see inflation overtake wage growth. That could be the first real evidence that Brexit is going to be acting as a brake on the economy," said ING''s Knightley. Inflation could jump above 3 percent by the end of the year, with wage growth more like 2-2.5 percent. Knightley sees a risk that an income squeeze will rein in consumer spending, which makes up some two-thirds of the British economy. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-idUKKBN1792ER'|'2017-04-07T23:40:00.000+03:00' '9aeabf3e157e30bc5b77950c9b79a481355f519c'|'Answerphone hackers rack up £5,000 in calls – all charged to us - Money'|'I work for a small charity in Benwell, Newcastle, where we have been the victim of phone system hacking that has resulted in a bill of almost £5,000 over a four-day period. We have been informed by our phone system supplier, Chaser Communications, that the hackers gained remote access to our phone system via our answering machine, and were somehow able to route calls to Syria at a premium rate. We have reported it to our local police and Action Fraud, but this has been no help. Our insurer has said we are not covered for a cyber attack, while Chaser says it will have to pass on the charges to us. As a charity we cannot afford this loss – and are concerned to warn others that they may be vulnerable. We have had the voicemail disconnected, which reduces the service we can offer as we do not have full-time reception volunteers. JM, Newcastle upon Tyne Dial-through fraud, where criminals attack private branch exchange systems used by small businesses, is a little-known scam that has cost companies millions in the past five years.Chaser says it took every precaution and has agreed to reduce the bill to £4,000 and spread the payments. “We feel we have done everything to help,” says a spokesperson. “We secured the system to manufacturer’s standards, but no system is 100% secure.”The telecoms ombudsman says it has seen a “steady trickle” of similar complaints and, during its investigations, it examines whether the service provider – in your case Chaser – could be liable. Since Chaser set up and managed your system, including the passcode, you should seek a letter of deadlock from Chaser and take your case to the ombudsman in the hope of a better outcome.If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Topics Scams Your problems with Anna Tims Consumer rights Consumer affairs Hacking Telecommunications industry Charities features Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/07/answerphone-hackers-charity-calls-fraud-chaser-communications'|'2017-04-07T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'a4a4effa0ec243d3bb8c09e14db46f52a5daa534'|'Vivendi ends 15-year U.S. lawsuit over big merger, to pay $26.4 million'|'Deals - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 4:28pm EDT Vivendi ends 15-year U.S. lawsuit over big merger, to pay $26.4 million The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau By Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK NEW YORK Vivendi SA ( VIV.PA ) said it agreed to pay $26.4 million to end nearly 15 years of U.S. litigation accusing the French media company of misleading shareholders about its finances in connection with a $46 billion three-way merger. Thursday''s accord resolved claims that Vivendi and officials including former Chief Executive Jean-Marie Messier made false or misleading statements that concealed liquidity problems after the 2000 combination of Vivendi, Seagram Co and Canal Plus. A preliminary settlement was filed with the federal court in Manhattan, and requires approval by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer. It resolves claims by investors whose financial advisers bought Vivendi''s American depositary shares on their behalf from Oct. 30, 2000 to Aug. 14, 2002, according to court papers. The $26.4 million payment represents one-third of the maximum amount the investors might have won had litigation continued, the papers showed. Vivendi said that including the payment, it will have paid $78 million to resolve the entire litigation, in which investors at one time had hoped to recover $9.3 billion. A federal jury in Manhattan had in January 2010 found Vivendi liable for violating U.S. securities laws. But a U.S. Supreme Court decision five months later in an unrelated case ultimately scuttled most claims by Vivendi investors, including over ordinary shares listed in Paris. Vivendi said it will release a roughly 25 million euro ($26.6 million) reserve it had set aside for Thursday''s accord. The case is In re Vivendi Universal SA Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 02-05571. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-settlement-idUSKBN1782RQ'|'2017-04-07T04:28:00.000+03:00' 'dcc85147b59e5ab69530aa72be468bc443f63fdd'|'Unilever to sell off Flora and Stork in shakeup after Kraft Heinz bid - Business'|'Unilever has put its margarine division, which makes Flora and Stork, up for sale, as it shakes up its business after fending off a $143bn (£115bn) takeover bid from US rival Kraft Heinz .The Anglo-Dutch consumer group’s underperforming spreads business could fetch up to £6bn in a sale, according to analysts. Private equity firms including CVC and Bain Capital are reportedly circling the division and Kraft could also be interested.Announcing the outcome of a strategic review, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman said: “After a long history in Unilever , we have decided that the future of the spreads business now lies outside the group.”Unilever owns a raft of household name products, including Dove soap, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Persil washing powder and Marmite. Polman told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the margarine business was a “declining segment” that could be “better managed by others”. Referring to the Kraft bid, he said that “the events of the last few weeks have pointed out that we have opportunities to drive further value in the business”.Unilever also announced a €5bn (£4.3bn) share buyback and 12% dividend hike this year, in a bid to to placate shareholders angered by its rejection of the Kraft bid in February. It will review its historic status as a dual-listed company in the UK and the Netherlands; combine its food and refreshments operations into one unit; and speed up its cost-savings plan, aiming for a 20% margin by 2020.At the time of the Kraft bid, Polman called for more help from the government to protect “national champions” such as Unilever .Neil Wilson, a senior market analyst at spread betting firm ETX Capital, said: “The Kraft Heinz bid was a massive wake-up call. Unilever realised it needed to do more for shareholders but it also has to improve margins – the appeal of Kraft’s bid was being able to squeeze far higher margins out of the business – bribes alone won’t work. “The test is whether it can achieve underlying operating margin of 20% by 2020 while growing the business in emerging markets. That will generate long-term loyalty better than share buybacks.”Topics Unilever Food & drink industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/unilever/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/06/unilever-flora-stork-kraft-heinz-bid'|'2017-04-06T16:59:00.000+03:00' 'dbd4dde9620a9508cbe1fb678e6220eecf5f2ee8'|'S.Korea prosecution to question Lotte Group chief in graft probe'|'News Maps 32am EDT South Korea prosecution to question Lotte Group chief in graft probe FILE PHOTO - Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin speaks during a news conference in Seoul, South Korea, October 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo SEOUL South Korean prosecutors said on Thursday they have summoned Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin for questioning as a witness in an investigation of an influence-peddling scandal that led to the dismissal and arrest of former president Park Geun-hye. The special prosecutor''s office said Shin had been summoned to appear at 9:30 a.m. local time on Friday but did not comment further. (Reporting by Se Young Lee and Christine Kim; Editing by Paul Tait) Next In News Maps Trump says chemical attack in Syria crossed many lines WASHINGTON/BEIRUT U.S. President Donald Trump accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad''s government of going "beyond a red line" with a poison gas attack on civilians and said his attitude toward Syria and Assad had changed, but gave no indication of how he would respond.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-lotte-group-idUSKBN1780JR'|'2017-04-06T14:22:00.000+03:00' '88a79fe47a341d78aa2b0734c7878be1e6faa5bf'|'Henkel to keep looking for acquisitions: CEO'|'DUESSELDORF, Germany German consumer goods group Henkel ( HNKG_p.DE ) will keep looking for acquisitions to bolster its business, its new chief executive said on Thursday."We want to complement our portfolio and strengthen our position in attractive markets via targeted acquisitions," Hans Van Bylen told shareholders at the group''s annual general meeting.Henkel last month made a binding offer to buy Darex Packaging Technologies from GCP Applied Technologies ( GCP.N ) for $1.05 billion (0.84 billion pounds).(Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-henkel-kgaa-strategy-idUSKBN1780W3'|'2017-04-06T12:39:00.000+03:00' 'bc02df2c569402a01f2195eaaf3135a4231fcbd8'|'North American deals drive global investment banking fees to 10-year high'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 7:35pm BST North American deals drive global investment banking fees to 10-year high The Canary Wharf business district is seen at dusk in London, Britain December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Dasha Afanasieva - LONDON LONDON Global investment banking fees reached a 10-year high in the first quarter of 2017 with more than half of the $24 billion (19.29 billion pounds) in total takings coming from North America, Thomson Reuters data showed on Tuesday. The rebound in fees to pre-crisis highs will be good news for global advisers who complain they are being squeezed by regulatory requirements amid competition from boutique players. “The market environment has not been as favourable since the financial crisis with equities at market tops and revived debt origination in anticipation of tightening monetary policy," said Robert Grübner, partner at consultants Bain & Company. "U.S. banks are dominating the league tables as their ongoing gain in market share post-crisis has been further helped by the strength of their home region," he added. Wall Street banks took the top five places last quarter, led by JP Morgan ( JPM.N ), which earned $1.7 billion in fees, followed by Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) with $1.5 billion. Fees from equity issuance almost doubled, although bonds were the biggest contributor to fees globally. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) was the only sector not to improve on last year''s dismal first quarter, with fees falling 2.5 percent in the first three months of this year. Uncertainty surrounding Britain''s exit from the European Union, the election in the Netherlands and upcoming polls in France and Germany dampened European activity, but fees still rose almost 20 percent last quarter. The biggest fee payer was U.S. telecoms operator Charter Communications ( CHTR.O ), which has been exploring a tie-up with Verizon ( VZ.N ) and has issued a series of bonds. Investment banking fees generated by private equity investors and their portfolio companies increased by 50 percent on a year earlier to $2.7 billion for the first quarter of 2017. Fees paid by private equity giant Blackstone ( BX.N ) more than tripled to $230 million. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Susan Fenton and Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-investment-banking-fees-q-idUKKBN1761FV'|'2017-04-05T02:35:00.000+03:00' 'a2cbf3f7a0bd164b806557250a1f0af378c606ec'|'Greek unemployment steady in January, still euro zone''s highest'|' 22am BST Greek unemployment steady in January, still euro zone''s highest A cleaning lady mops the steps at the main entrance of the Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens, Greece, July 15, 2015. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo ATHENS Greece''s jobless rate remained unchanged at 23.5 percent in January from the previous month, statistics agency ELSTAT said on Thursday. December''s reading was upwardly revised to 23.5 percent. The number of officially unemployed reached 1.1 million people. Hardest hit were young people aged 15 to 24 years, with their jobless rate dropping 48 percent from 50.9 percent in the same month a year earlier. The jobless rate hit a record high of 27.9 percent in September 2013. Greece''s jobless rate has come down from record highs but remains more than double the euro zone''s average. Unemployment in the 19 countries sharing the euro eased to 9.5 percent in February, near an eight-year low. The country''s economy contracted in the final quarter of 2016, performing worse than projected. Economic output slumped 1.2 percent compared to the previous quarter. The government expects the jobless rate to drop to 22.6 percent this year, based on its 2017 budget, which sees the economy expanding by 2.7 percent. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou) ECB to stick to policy plan despite calls for tightening: Draghi, Praet FRANKFURT The European Central Bank will stick to its policy plan including bond buying and record-low rates for some time to come as it is not yet convinced the euro zone economy is back to rude health, its president and chief economist said on Thursday.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-unemployment-idUKKBN1780ZK'|'2017-04-06T17:22:00.000+03:00' '840962a62ca7f50ed46f03e5e739d16d890c9a14'|'Brazil watchdog suspends Azul IPO after roadshow video'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Aluísio Alves - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Brazil''s securities watchdog suspended the initial public offering of Azul SA hours ahead of pricing on Thursday, saying the airline gave some investors information that was not included in the transaction''s official documentation.In a statement, the watchdog known as CVM said the suspension would be in effect for up to 30 days. The decision was due to the repeated disclosure of news stories gauging investor demand for the IPO in recent days, as well as the release of a video in which executives gave projections not present in the official prospectus, the statement said.Azul, which has called off plans to go public on three previous occasions, declined to comment.The situation underscores how the CVM has recently toughened oversight of domestic debt and equity offerings as companies are returning to capital markets after a three-year drought. The decision could be reversed if Azul "fully corrects the flaws" that led to the IPO''s suspension, the statement said.JetBlue Airways Corp ( JBLU.O ) founder David Neeleman started Azul in 2008, initially focusing on flights inside Brazil. The company sought to raise up to $550 million from the offering that was taking place simultaneously in Brazil and the United States.The video, which began to circulate on social media earlier in the day, showed estimates of projected gains in Azul''s investment in TAP Transportes Aéreos Portugueses SA [TAPA.UL], a Portuguese carrier it bought in recent years. According to the CVM, the data failed to make it into the official prospectus.According to three people familiar with the IPO, investor demand was building up satisfactorily on the road to pricing, with Brazil-based investors ready to place bids worth 3.5 times the amount of Azul preferred shares on offer, at the middle of the 19-reais-to-23 reais suggested tag.The U.S. portion of the Azul deal, which could represent two-thirds of the offering, saw demand rising as much as seven times supply at the mid-point of the suggested range, said one of the people. Azul sought to price its American depositary shares between $18.02 and $21.81.The investment banking units of Citigroup Inc ( C.N ), Deutsche Bank AG and Itaú Unibanco Holding SA ( ITUB4.SA ) were hired to underwrite the offering.The stock was expected to begin trading on Friday under the symbols AZUL4 in São Paulo and AZUL in New York.(Additional reporting by Brad Haynes in São Paulo and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-azul-ipo-idINKBN1782N3'|'2017-04-06T18:03:00.000+03:00' '5c38702b757e05754730015272d70395d9fb4569'|'Ex-VW chairman sells Porsche SE stake to brother - Frankfurter Allgemeine'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:50pm BST Ex-VW chairman sells Porsche SE stake to brother - Frankfurter Allgemeine File photo: Ferdinand Piech arrives at the annual shareholders meeting in Hanover in this April 25, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/Files BERLIN Former Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) chairman Ferdinand Piech sold the bulk of his stake in the company that controls Europe''s biggest carmaker to his younger brother, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported. Piech, who dominated Volkswagen (VW) for more than two decades as chief executive and chairman before he resigned in 2015, sold a major part of his 14.7 percent stake in Porsche SE ( PSHG_p.DE ), which owns 52.2 percent of voting shares in VW, to Hans Michel Piech, the newspaper reported on Thursday, quoting the acquirer. Porsche SE said on Monday that the Porsche and Piech clan had agreed to buy the bulk of Ferdinand Piech''s stake, without giving details on the redistribution of shares. The families had a right of first refusal on the shares previously owned by the mastermind of VW''s global expansion who turns 80 on April 17. Hans Michel Piech, a 75-year-old lawyer based in Vienna, now owns 25.1 percent of the family-owned investment firm, Frankfurter Allgemeine reported, giving him a blocking minority on major strategic decisions. Another 4.3 percent of the Piech stake was passed on to other family members, the newspaper said. "This was a joint decision by the Porsche and Piech families," Hans Michel Piech was quoted by the newspaper as saying, adding the priority was to ensure that none of the two tribes took sole control over Porsche SE. Through his law firm, Hans Michel Pieche declined to be interviewed by Reuters. The enlarged stake of Piech, who previously held 14.7 percent of Porsche SE like his older brother Ferdinand, will raise his clout at the Volkswagen group. He joined VW group''s supervisory board in 2009 after the Wolfsburg-based carmaker had turned the tables on Porsche in the sports-car maker''s botched takeover of VW. Besides VW, Hans Michel Piech sits on the controlling panels of both Porsche SE and Porsche AG, the carmaker fully acquired by VW in 2012. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; additional reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-piech-idUKKBN1782KV'|'2017-04-07T02:50:00.000+03:00' '106043bda77c3c905dc57589eeaf7550e2e18b4a'|'Ireland and Brexit: Ireland’s food industries would be worst hit by a hard Brexit'|'IN 1962 Tony O’Reilly, head of the Irish Dairy Board, had an idea that would help transform Ireland’s economy. He wanted to create a premium brand for Irish butter to break into the growing British market. The new product, named Kerrygold and backed with a large marketing budget, was sold in half-pound packs in a parchment wrapping so shoppers could inspect the butter’s quality. Its success was an inspiration to other exporters and changed perceptions of Irish business.Half a century on, the Irish economy has been transformed into a global trading hub. Some 90% of its exports are shipped by multinational companies. Many of these are American giants such as Intel, a chipmaker, and Pfizer, a drugs firm. But some are home-grown food firms, such as Kerry Group. Observers speak of a dual economy: a “modern” capital-intensive part, powered by foreign direct investment (FDI), usually from America; and a “traditional” jobs-intensive food business, which still looks to the British market. The prospect of Brexit is pulling these two parts of the economy in opposing directions. 20 3 For decades Ireland has appealed to foreign companies as a low-tax, English-speaking entry point to Europe’s single market. Brexit, in effect, removes a big rival for such mobile capital. Since Britain voted to leave the EU, there has been a “significant increase in inquiries” from firms considering a move to Ireland, says Martin Shanahan, boss of IDA Ireland, the state development agency. Much interest comes from banks and insurance companies, worried that London-based subsidiaries will lose the right to sell financial services in other EU countries. But the IDA’s phone lines were already busy. Many tech firms have chosen Ireland for their European headquarters. LinkedIn, a professional-network site, has built an office for 1,500 staff, having started with three people in 2010. Huawei, a Chinese telecoms firm, already has three centres in Ireland.Ireland’s indigenous industries have correspondingly shrunk in importance. When sales of Kerrygold took off in the 1960s, almost three-quarters of Irish goods exports went to Britain. Now just 13% do, a share that rises to 17% including services (see chart). Yet many analysts reckon that the damage from Brexit to Ireland’s food exporters will swamp any positive impact on high-tech FDI. Ireland is just one link in a global-tech supply chain: only a fraction of the value added to exports originates there. In contrast, the local content of Ireland’s food exports to Britain is high: weighted by Irish jobs, Britain’s export share would be around a quarter, according to John FitzGerald and Patrick Honohan of Trinity College, Dublin. Half of Ireland’s farm exports go to Britain and some would face tariffs of almost 60% in the event of a “cliff-edge” Brexit, in which trade reverts to WTO rules. Ireland’s exporters to Europe rely on Britain as a land-bridge, because shipping goods to the continent is more troublesome than carrying them by lorry. A quarter of Ireland’s imports come from Britain, partly because British chains own supermarkets in Ireland.Brexit could thus be devastating to rural Ireland while boosting the sort of FDI that benefits its bigger cities, notably Dublin. Ireland is already so geared to the global business cycle that a country which a few years ago was suffering a brutal housing bust now faces housing shortages, as FDI and migrants flood back.Yet a soft Brexit would be welcome in both parts of Ireland’s dual economy. Dublin has always been more of a complement than a rival to the City of London, so it benefits from the latter’s global status. A gentler Brexit that allows for a continuation of tariff-free flows for a time after Britain leaves the EU will give time for Irish food producers to reorient to other European markets. That won’t be easy. Ireland would need to create a more distinctive brand for its beef, notes Dan O’Brien, of the Institute of International and European Affairs, and “try flogging Irish Cheddar cheese to the French”. The reassuring lesson of Kerrygold butter is that Ireland has adapted well in the past. Finance and economics "From farm to pharma"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720313-tale-two-economies-irelands-food-industries-would-be-worst-hit-hard?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '92c66e2d0be51028e08e8165c148d3ffa0bd568f'|'Sensex falls; investors await RBI meet'|' 11:25am IST Sensex falls; investors await RBI meet A broker trades on his computer terminal at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai, India, January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/Files By Tanvi Mehta Indian shares reversed gains from the previous session''s record highs to fall on Thursday, as investors waited for clues on which way interest rates are headed when India''s central bank meets to deliberate on monetary policy later in the day. Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has pulled surprises at its last three policy meetings, analysts uniformly expect no change in interest rates, according to a Reuters poll. Across the world, stocks fell with risk appetite soured after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve''s last meeting showed most policymakers thought the central bank should begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year, much earlier than many had expected. U.S. stock market futures fell 0.3 percent and MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.8 percent lower. "Market is awaiting what RBI does on the liquidity front and that has the potential to impact banks negatively, if there is an increase in CRR (cash reserve ratio)," said Dipen Shah, senior vice president and head of private client group research, Kotak Securities. The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.41 percent at 9,226.85 as of 0526 GMT, a day after touching a record high of 9,264.95. The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.38 percent lower at 29,860.36, hovering below its all-time high of 30,024.74 touched on March 4, 2015. Banking stocks dragged the Nifty down, with the Nifty Bank index falling as much as 0.55 percent. The bank index has risen about 19 percent this year. Jindal Steel and Power gained as much as 5.22 percent after posting a 12.3-percent sequential rise in quarterly consolidated steel production. Phoenix Mills Ltd gained as much as 7.3 percent to its highest in seven months after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said it would invest in the company''s unit. (Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-sensex-nifty-stocks-rbi-idINKBN1780G4'|'2017-04-06T13:55:00.000+03:00' 'e2e24f642714ea76207ff850be06b501504b0b2f'|'Developing Asia''s 2017 growth seen as weakest in 16 years - ADB'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 2:34am BST Developing Asia''s 2017 growth seen as weakest in 16 years - ADB Workers work at a construction site in front of Shanghai''s financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song MANILA Developing Asia is on track to post its slowest annual growth in 16 years this year as it adjusts to China''s rebalancing and possible spillovers from global policy uncertainty, the Asian Development Bank said. The Manila-based lender kept at 5.7 percent this year''s growth forecast for developing Asia, which groups 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. That would be the region''s weakest expansion since it grew 5.0 percent in 2001. Next year, developing Asia should again grow by 5.7 percent, the ADB said in its 2017 Asia Development Outlook report. "Developing Asia continues to drive the global economy even as the region adjusts to a more consumption-driven economy in China and looming global risks," said Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB''s chief economist. Sawada said the region faces "risks from uncertain policy direction in the advanced economies, including the pace of interest rate normalisation in the United States". "While short-term risks seem manageable, regional policymakers should remain vigilant to respond to possible spillover through capital outflows and exchange rate movements," Sawada said. The Federal Reserve hiked U.S. rates a notch in mid-March, its second tightening in three months. Forecasts from Fed officials suggest a median of two more increases before year-end. China, which is rebalancing its economy to growth led by consumption rather than exports, is expected to grow 6.5 percent this year, the ADB said. That is better than its December forecast of 6.4 percent, but weaker than the 6.7 percent expansion in 2016. Growth in China is seen slowing further to 6.2 percent in 2018. The ADB reduced its 2017 growth forecast for India to 7.4 percent from 7.8 percent and it expects growth there to pick up to 7.6 percent in 2018. With nearly all economies in Southeast Asia showing an upward trend, the region should expand by a faster 4.8 percent this year and pick up to 5.0 percent next year, the ADB said. Economies in South Asia are projected to expand by 7.0 percent in 2017 and 7.2 percent in 2018. Strong consumer demand and rising global commodity prices could cause the inflation pace in developing Asia to quicken to 3.0 percent this year and to 3.2 percent in 2018, the ADB said. The report is available on ADB''s website: www.adb.org (Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Richard Borsuk) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-asia-economy-adb-idUKKBN17804L'|'2017-04-06T09:34:00.000+03:00' '91f618a34cff60bdba26bdde6b9c7390a507d2ee'|'Lyft valued at $7.5 billion in new funding round - source'|'Internet News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 7:10pm BST Lyft valued at $7.5 billion in new funding round: source left right A Lyft driver from Sacramento, navigates a Lyft app on a smartphone during a photo opportunity in San Francisco, California February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Lam 1/2 left right A smartphone app for Lyft drivers is seen during a photo opportunity in San Francisco, California February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Lam 2/2 By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Ride services company Lyft Inc has nearly completed a funding round of at least $500 million, valuing the company at $7.5 billion, according to a source close to the company. San Francisco-based Lyft has been in fundraising mode for some time as it spends heavily to compete with its much bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL]. The $7.5 billion valuation marks a sharp increase from the $5.5 billion valuation at Lyft''s last financing more than a year ago. Lyft had previously expected to command a valuation of between $6 billion and $7 billion in its newest funding round, but the source said the valuation had been revised upward. (Reporting by Heather Somerville)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-funding-idUKKBN1782GW'|'2017-04-07T02:04:00.000+03:00' '7d6c99beee27b07eec6ca46db73a71f76585ae19'|'Ryanair to pivot growth away from UK for next two years due to Brexit'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 10:10am BST Ryanair to pivot growth away from UK for next two years due to Brexit A Ryanair aircraft lands at Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy December 24, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile LONDON Ryanair ( RYA.I ), Europe''s largest airline by passenger numbers, plans to pivot its growth away from Britain over the next two years as the country negotiates its exit from the European Union, its finance director said on Thursday. Neil Sorahan told reporters in London that the airline had planned to grow by about 15 percent in the UK last year but had instead posted growth of about 6 percent. "Ryanair is pivoting its growth away from the UK," he said. "We may see that growth slow down as we get closer to the divorce negotiations coming to an end, unless we get greater certainty as to what we actually can or cannot do within Europe." Sorahan said the airline also expected Brexit to hit growth in both Britain and the EU, as both parties have to deal with a completely new scenario, although they had not seen that come through yet. "The only positive, I suppose, for our customers, is that this will lead to lower fares, as we have to stimulate the market," he said. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; writing by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-ryanair-hldgs-idUKKBN1780YB'|'2017-04-06T17:10:00.000+03:00' 'b79d1aab78d7031c1235d1837e0c5a4302fbf004'|'JGBs steady, long maturities firm after liquidity-boosting sale'|'TOKYO, April 6 Japanese government bonds were steady on Thursday, underpinned by firm U.S. Treasuries as market participants awaited the Bank of Japan purchase operations, while superlong yields edged down after a liquidity-enhancing auction.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was flat at 0.060 percent , while 10-year JGB futures ended up 0.1 points at 150.42.U.S. Treasury yields fell overnight, with three- and five-year yields touching more than five-week lows after traders viewed the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes as indicating the central bank was maintaining a relatively dovish outlook for a gradual pace of interest rate hikes.The Ministry of Finance offered 500 billion yen ($4.53 billion) of off-the-run 20- and 30-year JGB issues with 15 years or more left to maturity, in a regular sale aimed at enhancing liquidity conditions.The 20-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points (bp) to 0.630 percent, while the 30-year JGB yield shed 2.5 basis points to 0.840 percent.The 40-year yield shed 3 bps to 1.050 percent , moving away from its previous session high of 1.090 percent, which was its highest level since February 2016.Investors were waiting to see if the BOJ trims its purchases of longer JGBs in operations on Friday, the possibility of which bolstered market sentiment.In its bond-buying operations on Wednesday, the central bank offered to buy only 280 billion yen of one- to three-year JGBs, which was the lowest level in almost three years, and was 20 billion yen less than its previous purchase amounts in that zone. However, it was still above the midpoint of the BOJ''s 200 billion yen to 300 billion yen buying target range.($1 = 110.5200 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HE2F5'|'2017-04-06T04:54:00.000+03:00' 'e4b46cceb26d75669ebe6f26a3513f3f394cd8cf'|'MOVES-Evercore names Keith Magnus co-chairman of Asia'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:25am EDT MOVES-Evercore names Keith Magnus co-chairman of Asia SINGAPORE, April 4 U.S. boutique investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners has promoted Singapore-based Keith Magnus as co-chairman of Asia. Magnus, who was previously the CEO of Evercore Asia (Singapore), helped set up the office in late 2013 before stints at UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. Hong Kong-based Steve CuUnjieng is the other Asia co-chairman of Evercore. "In order to underscore the breadth and connectivity of our Asian businesses, Steve CuUnjieng and Keith Magnus will, effective immediately, become Co-Chairmen of Evercore''s business in Asia," Evercore said in an internal note issued late last month. When contacted by Reuters, Magnus confirmed his new role. Evercore was involved in a number of deals last year, including advising Singapore-listed Super Group Ltd in the S$1.45 billion ($1 billion) sale of the pan-Asian food and drink maker to JAB Holding. ($1 = 1.3981 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/evercore-partnrs-moves-keith-magnus-idUSL3N1HC11I'|'2017-04-04T15:25:00.000+03:00' '252b3b62627c4f9b71f11de798bec1f3d6c65d81'|'Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach'|'Deals 55am EDT Unilever promises cash to shareholders after rebuffing Kraft approach left right FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen February 17, McDermid/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: An employee of PT Unilever Indonesia shows Pepsodent tooth paste at Foodmart Fresh supermarket in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo 2/2 By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Unilever ( ULVR.L ) ( UNc.AS ) promised a multi-billion euro program of shareholder rewards on Thursday after a corporate rethink sparked by a takeover approach from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ), aiming to prove it can generate lucrative returns as an independent company. Under a restructuring sparked by the rebuffed $143 billion offer by its U.S. rival, the maker of Dove soap and Knorr soup set out an accelerated cost-saving plan, the sale of its Flora to Stork spreads business where sales are declining, and a review of its dual-headed Anglo-Dutch structure. Unilever will also splash out 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) on a share buyback and raise its dividend 12 percent this year. Unilever, one of Europe''s biggest blue-chip stocks, called the Kraft episode a "trigger moment" to assess its business, as the global packaged goods industry faces slowing growth and greater competition. Some analysts had speculated it would split into two in a dramatic strategy reversal, but executives said the current strategy was working while needing to be speeded up. "We need to accelerate our plans to unlock further value faster, and this was brought home to us by the events of February," Chief Executive Paul Polman said. "There is no doubt that however ... opportunistic it (the Kraft approach) was, it did raise expectations," Polman said. "We are absolutely determined to use it as an opportunity to place Unilever on an even stronger footing." Unilever executives said their strategy of long-term steady growth had found support in talks they had held with investors including all of the group''s top 50 shareholders. STRONG POSITION GAM fund manager Ali Miremadi, who manages two worldwide equity funds that are 2.5 percent invested in Unilever shares, said the announcement was in line with expectations. "They''re not stretching here, and nor should they. They''re in a very strong position and this is hopefully a sign they''re going to be a bit leaner and more shareholder-focused," Miremadi said, adding Unilever should be able to deliver the premium Kraft was offering or more over the next four or five years. Unilever''s London-listed shares, which hit a record 4,088 pence in recent weeks ahead of Thursday''s announcement, were up 1.3 percent at 3,989p by 1036 GMT, outperforming the FTSE 100 .FTSE which was down 0.4 percent. The group said it would speed up a cost-savings plan, targeting a 20 percent underlying operating margin, before restructuring expenses, by 2020, up from 16.4 percent on the same basis in 2016. The company previously forecast 4 billion euros of savings from 2017 to 2019 and has raised that to 6 billion. That includes doubling the savings target within brand and marketing investments to 2 billion euros and increasing supply chain savings from 3 billion euros to 4 billion. About two thirds of these savings are to be reinvested in the business. It also sees 3.5 billion of restructuring costs over the three years. Pitkethly told Reuters that much of the margin improvement would come from the food business, which it plans to combine with the refreshment business, which includes Ben & Jerry''s ice cream and Lipton tea. SHARE BUYBACK Unilever also said it would take on more debt, at least in part to finance acquisitions, targeting net debt of two times core earnings or EBITDA. Its leverage ratio has been below one time for more than half of the past 20 years, Jefferies analysts have said. "Some had speculated Unilever could go to three times to free up even more cash, but it’s remaining fairly conservative," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital in London. "The move ought to deter speculative bids such as that of Kraft Heinz. Unilever was vulnerable to a takeover exactly because it’s been so free of debt." Polman also signaled the company might be interested in the food brands being sold by Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ), saying it would have to decide what position to take. The group will launch a share buyback this year of 5 billion euros having not had a buyback program in place since 2008. Pitkethly said Unilever would consider combining its dual-headed structure - in Britain and the Netherlands - into one, in order to make future large-scale transactions easier. It said a review on the matter would be finished by the end of the year and would not be impacted by Brexit. ”The recent review has shown us that it can add complexity to structural portfolio change,” Pitkethly said. Regarding the margarine and spreads business, one of its founding businesses, Pitkethly said it was already seeing a lot of interest, particularly from financial players such as private equity firms. The company stood by its 2017 sales target of growth of between 3 and 5 percent, supported by brand and marketing investment of about 30 billion euros over the period to 2020. It said its margin would grow by at least 80 basis points this year. (Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Holmes) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-review-idUSKBN1780TV'|'2017-04-06T19:55:00.000+03:00' '6bf021bff2e0ab49e03f342e2ee8159f77e68b7f'|'LPC: US loan refinancing spike propels Q1 bank fee jump'|'By Lynn Adler - NEW YORK, April 6 NEW YORK, April 6 A spike in first-quarter US syndicated loan refinancing activity helped to sharply boost underwriting fees for arranging banks, even though the deals typically pay lower fees than new loans, according to Freeman Consulting Services.Issuance was dominated by companies rushing to lock in low borrowing costs before interest rates rise, as US mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity was stifled by a lack of detail about planned Trump administration tax and trade policy changes.The Federal Reserve raised interest rates in March, hard on the heels of its December 2016 increase, and is signaling two more hikes this year.“There’s so much refinancing and repricing that it’s still creating quite a large fee pool,” said Jeff Nassof, a director at Freeman Consulting.Fees of about US$2.9bn paid to banks arranging US leveraged loans in the first quarter were 116% higher than a year earlier and were the highest first quarter earnings since 2000, Freeman data shows.This spurt helped offset a 10% drop in fees earned on US investment-grade loans, and contributed to a sharp jump in total US investment banking fees in the first quarter from a year earlier.“Refinancing and repricing does pay lower fees, but it’s the sheer scope of this activity,” Nassof said.Refinancing loans totaled US$409bn and accounted for three quarters of all US first quarter syndicated lending, according to Thomson Reuters LPC.Fees on business including M&A advisory, equity and bond underwriting as well as syndicated loan arrangement leaped 39% in the first three months of the year from the same period last year to about US$11.6bn, according to Freeman Consulting.TAX AND TRADEWhile refinancing is keeping loan volume high, new lending is taking a backseat pending progress on President Trump’s vows to overhaul US tax and trade policies.The administration’s inability to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, late in the quarter raised concerns about its other plans and helped to keep new-money lending subdued, said bankers and investors.“People will move on the M&A side as it grows more certain either way: either Trump starts getting his agenda done, and as such it’s predictable, or Trump doesn’t get his agenda done at all, and as such it’s status quo,” a senior banker said.Many corporations are awaiting details of potential changes including the first tax holiday in more than a decade, which could encourage companies to bring offshore cash back to the US at lower tax rates, as well as altered international trade agreements.“If you’re a CEO of a company and you don’t know what’s happening with the trade agenda, how are you going to buy a company that has significant operations in Mexico?”, the banker said. “You’re not.” (Reporting by Lynn Adler; Editing By Tessa Walsh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/loans-bankfees-idINL2N1HE0KP'|'2017-04-06T11:33:00.000+03:00' 'ec3d7accc390cf51e142c5f756fd474ce745b7f2'|'Airbus reports pickup in orders for current A320 amid delays'|'Aerospace & Defense 53pm EDT Airbus reports pickup in orders for current A320 amid delays The logo of Airbus is pictured at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais, near Nantes, France March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe PARIS Airbus ( AIR.PA ) took 20 new jet orders in March to end the first quarter well behind rival Boeing ( BA.N ) as delays in deliveries of the A320neo shifted the spotlight back to an earlier model. The France-based company ended the quarter with 26 orders, but the net total for the year shrank to six after allowing for cancellations and conversions between different models. Boeing earlier posted 226 jetliner orders for the same quarter, though these were boosted by a batch of 11 orders for airframes for its P-8 military surveillance jet project. After cancellations, Boeing posted 198 net orders including the P-8s for Australia, Britain, India and the United States but most of the remaining orders were from airlines that have to be identified. Airbus took 18 orders for its popular A320 single-aisle jet, despite it nearing the end of its production as Airbus switches to the upgraded A320neo, whose deliveries have been delayed by problems at one engine supplier, Pratt & Whitney ( UTX.N ). The order tally for A320neo aircraft fell by 8 units in March: hardly enough to dent a backlog of over 3,500 orders but enough to highlight the unexpected extra availability of current-generation A320s as Airbus keeps assembly lines flowing. Chinese lessor CALC and U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines are among customers seizing the chance to pick up extra A320s powered by an earlier generation of engines at what some industry sources describe as "opportunistic" prices. For the second month in a row, Airbus delivered 12 A320neos in March to bring the total for the year to 26, but deliveries remain behind schedule due mainly to technical and production problems with engines from Pratt, one of two suppliers. Airbus aims to deliver about 200 A320neos this year. Airbus delivered 13 A350s and 3 A380s in the first quarter. It delivered a total of 136 jets compared with Boeing''s total of 169. Boeing overtook its European rival as the world''s largest jetliner producer in 2012 and analysts say it is expected to retain the title through the rest of the decade, while the prize for most orders is hotly contested each year. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-orders-idUSKBN1782FU'|'2017-04-07T01:53:00.000+03:00' '07358ab7b1e6b1efbaaf68085d57240581fc5da9'|'Fed''s Lacker leaves U.S. central bank over role in Medley leak'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 6:33pm BST Fed''s Lacker leaves U.S. central bank over role in Medley leak Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, participates in a session titled, ''''Help or Harm: Central Bank Monetary Policies at the Outer Limits'''' NABE Economic Policy Conference in Washington March 5, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON Richmond Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Lacker left the U.S. central bank on Tuesday after saying a conversation he had with a Wall Street analyst in 2012 may have disclosed confidential information about Fed policy options. "It was never my intention to reveal confidential information," Lacker said in a statement describing a 2012 conversation with an analyst from Medley Global Advisors. Lacker, who said his departure from the Fed was effective on Tuesday, said he "may have contravened the External Communications Policy, which prohibits providing any profit-making person or organization with a prestige advantage over its competitors." (Reporting by Jason Lange and Howard Schneider; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-lacker-idUKKBN1762C0'|'2017-04-05T01:32:00.000+03:00' '860f094db2adeda85b1c1db2df1b21c6c508c799'|'Office supplies retailer Staples explores sale: source'|'Staples Inc ( SPLS.O ), the largest U.S. office supplies retailer, is considering selling itself, and is in talks with private-equity bidders, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.The retailer last year called off a proposed merger with rival Office Depot Inc ( ODP.O ), due to antitrust concerns.Staples spokesman Mark Cautela declined to comment.The company''s shares rose nearly 15 percent in early trading on the Nasdaq. Staples had a market value of $5.65 billion as of Monday.The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Staples was exploring a sale.(This story corrects to "Tuesday" from "Monday" in first paragraph)(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru and Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-staples-m-a-idINKBN1761P6'|'2017-04-04T12:27:00.000+03:00' '1191187443c7732f38a65ebb1ed874c421a7e993'|'LNG industry facing "lack of supply in five years" from reduced investment -TOTAL CEO'|' 30am EDT LNG industry facing "lack of supply in five years" from reduced investment -TOTAL CEO CHIBA, April 4 The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry will face a shortfall in supply in about five years because low prices have kept producers from making new investments in production, Total SA Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Tuesday. "Today we are facing global overcapacity that is putting pressure on prices," Pouyanne said at a gas industry conference in Chiba, Japan. As a result, "the industry is entering a period of reduced investments … this could result in a lack of supply in five years," he said. "We must carry on investing for the future," he said. (Reporting by Mark Tay; Editing By Tom Hogue) UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 4 April 4 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 15.8 points higher on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell''s integrated gas and new energies director, Maarten Wetselaar, said on Tuesday that destination clauses in long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply contracts that have linked suppliers and customers for decades are "not really crucial". * BP: BP Plc has agreed to cut about 5 million pounds ($6.24 million) from Chief Executi * North Atlantic Drilling - majority owned unit of Seadrill Ltd and Seadrill''s MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-gastech-total-idUSL3N1HC10O'|'2017-04-04T13:30:00.000+03:00' 'bf035ec00e7126860a28f52a41338af5be0d1c93'|'UPDATE 1-FDA rejects Merck''s application to add heart data on diabetes drug labels'|'Company News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 8:14am EDT UPDATE 1-FDA rejects Merck''s application to add heart data on diabetes drug labels (Adds background, shares) April 7 Merck & Co said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined an application to include information on the labels of its diabetes drugs - Januvia and Janumet - that the treatments do not raise the risk of major heart problems. Merck is reviewing the agency''s response to its application, the company said on Friday. The application was submitted on the basis of a keenly watched study in 14,724 patients with type 2 diabetes and a history of heart disease. ( reut.rs/2nkYtt2 ) The study''s results, announced in 2015, showed that adding Januvia to usual care did not increase major heart problems any more than the addition of a placebo did. The results also showed no increase in hospitalization rates for heart failure, which had been a particular concern with DPP-4 inhibitors, the class of drugs to which Januvia belongs. Januvia is an oral medication, known chemically as sitagliptin, that helps lower blood sugar levels. Janumet is a related combination product. The two treatments generated sales of more than $6 billion last year. Merck''s shares were down 1.1 percent at $62.50 before the bell on Friday. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/merck-co-fda-idUSL3N1HF47U'|'2017-04-07T20:14:00.000+03:00' '1c3738583d944ce101518ca7e63603e934b6c150'|'Twitter revels in role of free speech defender as it sues Trump administration'|'WASHINGTON, April 6 Twitter Inc has not had a lot to celebrate lately, but a U.S. government demand that it reveal the identity of an account criticizing President Donald Trump''s immigration policies gave the company a chance to assume one of its favorite roles: defender of free speech.The social media company on Thursday sued the government over a demand by the Customs and Border Patrol that it identify the individual or individuals behind @ALT_uscis, an account claimed to be run by at least one employee of the immigration service.The news was met with a rare flood of good will toward Twitter from its users - offering respite for a company that has struggled recently to expand its audience, excite investors or attract new revenue streams.In a 25-page legal filing, Twitter lawyers appeared to revel in their opposition to the Trump administration. Several pages, for example, are dedicated to pictures of tweets from "rogue" government accounts that fact-check statements made by the Trump administration or explain the science behind climate change. ( tmsnrt.rs/2p6CnXp )The tweeting styles of such accounts vary greatly, the filing noted, explaining at one point that "some accounts appear to equate the simple act of broadcasting facts as an expression of dissent."Trump''s inauguration, the filing continued, was met by "a new and innovative class of American speakers … who provide views and commentary that is often vigorously opposed, resistant or ''alternative'' to the official actions and policies of the new administration."The Trump administration made its demand "without realizing how stingy Twitter is about producing private user data," said Nu Wexler, a former spokesman for Twitter.The Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department declined to comment. Twitter also declined to comment.Twitter once prided itself as representing the "free speech wing of the free speech party," and has a history of resisting government demands for information about its users. But the company has been forced to temper its approach over the past two years in the face of government pressure to crack down on incitements to violence and user complaints about rampant hate speech and harassment.As the company has moved in recent months to implement stricter policies intended to limit abuse, legal experts said Thursday''s challenge was an opportunity for Twitter to remind users of some of its long-standing principles."Twitter and other social media sites make promises to users about protecting anonymity," Jane Kirtley, law and journalism professor at the University of Minnesota. "This is a way for Twitter to say, ''See, we are standing up for your rights.''"(Reporting by Dustin Volz; Additional reporting by Alison Frankel; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/twitter-lawsuit-speech-idUSL2N1HE287'|'2017-04-07T04:09:00.000+03:00' '989f85a357f560251a9fab35484086e6dfd33696'|'Westshore Terminals Investment Corp announces normal course issuer bid'|'April 6 Westshore Terminals Investment Corp :* Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation announces normal course issuer bid* Purchases pursuant to bid will be made from time to time by Scotia Capital Inc on behalf of corporation* Westshore Terminals - making normal course issuer bid up to 1.8 million of issued and outstanding common shares being 2.5pct of 73.2 million shares outstanding '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-westshore-terminals-investment-cor-idUSFWN1HE0RR'|'2017-04-07T04:08:00.000+03:00' 'f4449adca5d5255237b94d2c004b886b6c286ca2'|'GM China vehicle sales fall in Q1 as tax cut rolled back'|'BEIJING, April 7 U.S. automaker General Motors Co said on Friday its first quarter sales in China fell 5.2 percent compared to the same period a year ago due to a shift in the government''s tax policy and Lunar New Year fluctuations.The decline comes despite a 16 percent year-on-year increase in China sales in March.Demand for cars in China, the world''s largest auto market, got a shot in the arm in 2016 as people rushed to buy before the planned expiration of a tax cut on vehicles with engines of 1.6 litres or below.That year-end spike could depress auto sales in 2017, GM''s China joint venture partner SAIC Motor Corp said earlier this weak.The purchase tax on small-engine vehicles rose to 7.5 percent this year from 5 percent last year, after the government revised its outright expiry at the end of 2016. The tax will return to the normal level of 10 percent in 2018.A GM spokeswoman also cited the earlier Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, which fluctuates between January and February each year, for the drop.Separately, Nissan Motor Co said on Friday its China sales rose 5.3 percent for the first quarter.That came a day after Toyota Motor Corp reported a 1.7 percent rise in China sales for the first three months of 2017, and a double-digit increase for Honda Motor Co.(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/gm-china-idINL3N1HF2KS'|'2017-04-07T04:50:00.000+03:00' 'ba58e2db97ae4dbc733e262b0e35993128386cb1'|'CANADA FX DEBT-C$ hits nearly 3-week low after surprise trade deficit'|'Company 41am EDT CANADA FX DEBT-C$ hits nearly 3-week low after surprise trade deficit * Canadian dollar at C$1.3451, or 74.34 U.S. cents * Loonie touches its weakest since March 15 at C$1.3455 * Bond prices slightly higher across the yield curve * 10-year yield touches a four-month low at 1.545 percent By Fergal Smith TORONTO, April 4 The Canadian dollar weakened on Tuesday to a nearly three-week low against its U.S. counterpart, pressured by a loss of risk appetite and domestic data showing an unexpected trade deficit. Following three consecutive months of surpluses, February''s C$972 million deficit compared with economists'' expectations for a surplus of C$500 million. Exports tumbled by the most in nearly a year, dampened by a decrease in shipments of aircraft and canola. The drop in exports will embolden the Bank of Canada to not put too much weight on a recent strong run of domestic data when it makes its interest rate decision next week, said Nick Exarhos, economist at CIBC Capital Markets. "They are likely to continue to highlight that we are starting from a position of economic slack. Risk aversion helped support the yen at the expense of commodity-linked currencies, such as the Canadian dollar, that tend to underperform when investors turn less optimistic about the economic outlook. Appetite for risk has been curtailed by market nerves ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and following Monday''s suspected suicide bombing in St. Petersburg, Russia. At 9:21 a.m. ET (1321 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.3451 to the greenback, or 74.34 U.S. cents, weaker than Monday''s close of C$1.3386, or 74.70 U.S. cents. The currency''s strongest level of the session was C$1.3374, while it touched its weakest since March 15 at C$1.3455. Losses for the Canadian dollar came even as prices of oil, one of Canada''s major exports, rose. U.S. crude prices were up 0.58 percent at $50.53 a barrel as a rebound in Libyan crude production balanced expectations of a draw in U.S. crude oil and product inventories. On Monday, dealers speculated that there had been mergers and acquisitions-related buying of U.S. dollars against the loonie. Last week, ConocoPhillips agreed to sell oil sands and western Canadian natural gas assets to Calgary-based Cenovus Energy Inc for C$17.7 billion. Canadian government bond prices were slightly higher across the yield curve, with the two-year up 1 Canadian cent to yield 0.721 percent and the 10-year rising 13 Canadian cents to yield 1.552 percent. The 10-year yield touched its lowest intraday since Nov. 30 at 1.545 percent. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Nick Zieminski) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-forex-idUSL2N1HC0NC'|'2017-04-04T21:41:00.000+03:00' '030c04011ed134c51eb4b1a1deb5f69fc4258725'|'Canadian court delays decision on bail for Yahoo hacking suspect'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 4:55pm EDT Canadian court delays decision on bail for Yahoo hacking suspect April 5 A Canadian court postponed making a decision on whether to grant bail to Karim Baratov, who was arrested in March on U.S. charges that he was involved in a massive hack of Yahoo email accounts, CBC reported Wednesday. Baratov''s lawyer requested that his client be released on bail, promising that he would remain at his parents'' home in Hamilton, Ontario. The prosecutor argued the 22-year-old Kazakh-Canadian citizen was a flight risk and a threat to public safety. Judge Alan Whitten said he would hold off on ruling until Tuesday, following a full-day hearing and private meeting with attorneys, according to a report on the website of Canadian public broadcaster CBC. The United States has asked Canada to extradite Baratov to face charges that Russian intelligence agents paid him to break into email accounts, resulting in the 2014 theft of some 500 million Yahoo Inc YHOO.O accounts. (Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Jim Finkle in Toronto; Editing by Alistair Bell) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/yahoo-cyber-canada-idUSL2N1HD12C'|'2017-04-06T04:55:00.000+03:00' '4f519006ef3706b2834ff43a5ebb22968ded01b9'|'Shrink wrap: The history of growth should be all about recessions'|'“THROUGHOUT history, poverty is the normal condition of man,” wrote Robert Heinlein, a science-fiction writer. Until the 18th century, global GDP per person was stuck between $725 and $1,100, around the same income level as the World Bank’s current poverty line of $1.90 a day. But global income levels per person have since accelerated, from around $1,100 in 1800 to $3,600 in 1950, and over $10,000 today.Economists have long tried to explain this sudden surge in output. Most theories have focused on the factors driving long-term economic growth such as the quantity and productivity of labour and capital. But a new paper* takes a different tack: faster growth is not due to bigger booms, but to less shrinking in recessions. Stephen Broadberry of Oxford University and John Wallis of the University of Maryland have taken data for 18 countries in Europe and the New World, some from as far back as the 13th century. To their surprise, they found that growth during years of economic expansion has fallen in the recent era—from 3.88% between 1820 and 1870 to 3.06% since 1950—even though average growth across all years in those two periods increased from 1.4% to 2.55%. 20 3 Instead, shorter and shallower slumps led to rising long-term growth. Output fell in a third of years between 1820 and 1870 but in only 12% of those since 1950. The rate of decline per recession year has fallen too, from 3% to 1.2%.So why have these “growth reversals” decreased in length and depth? In another paper** Messrs Broadberry and Wallis find that conventional explanations—such as demographic change or a sectoral shift from volatile agriculture to the more stable services sector—do not fully explain the shift.More important is the rise of the rule of law, enabling disputes to be settled by impartial courts. Before the modern era, elites would fight between themselves for the spoils of growth and send the economy back to square one through wars, corruption and the like. Respect for courts to resolve disputes prevents this from happening. With populist politicians challenging the authority of judges once again across the world, that is food for thought.* “Growing, Shrinking and Long Run Economic Performance: Historical Perspectives on Economic Development” by S. Broadberry and J. Wallis** “Shrink Theory: The Nature of Long Run and Short Run Economic Performance” Finance and economics "Shrink wrap"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720311-faster-growth-not-due-bigger-booms-less-shrinking-history?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '02b54fa16f445831665cfed9d6f8619b4dabcbc9'|'Opel to build Buick vehicles after sale to Peugeot'|'Company 25am EDT Opel to build Buick vehicles after sale to Peugeot FRANKFURT, April 6 German-British carmaker Opel and Vauxhall, which is being sold to France''s PSA Group , has committed to produce Buick-branded vehicles in German factories for General Motors well beyond 2019. General Motors agreed to sell Opel to the French group last month, forcing it to start unwinding a product strategy which for years aligned Buick and Opel''s platforms and cars. A briefing held for Opel workers in Ruesselsheim, Germany, on Thursday said Peugeot will be locked into producing vehicles based on GM platforms for a number of years. "The successor of the Mokka X will be built in Eisenach from 2019. A large SUV will be produced in Ruesselsheim as of the end of the decade," Opel said in a statement on Thursday. "In addition, investments are also confirmed for exports of sister products for another GM brand from these plants." A spokesman confirmed this refers to a pledge to produce Buick vehicles. The Opel Insignia, a D-segment vehicle, shares the same underpinnings as the Buick Regal, while the Opel Mokka X shares the same underpinnings as the Buick Encore. Opel is developing a sports utility vehicle based on the Insignia platform. It will also produce Buick-badged version of the model to be built in Ruesselsheim, Germany. Separately, Opel said it will consolidate various legal entities including Adam Opel AG, into a new company, Adam Opel GmbH, consolidating the business activities of the Opel/Vauxhall companies under one company. The changes to the legal entity will be completed in the second quarter, Opel said. All co-determination rights of the employees will remain unchanged, the company added. (Reporting by Edward Taylor, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/opel-peugeot-buick-idUSL5N1HE4LQ'|'2017-04-06T22:25:00.000+03:00' '152bebe8cb7d057688068ff5a7bf3ac4bff5c444'|'BRIEF-Ceragon Networks says files for mixed shelf of up to $150 mln - SEC filing'|' 34am EDT BRIEF-Ceragon Networks says files for mixed shelf of up to $150 mln - SEC filing April 7 Ceragon Networks Ltd : * Files for mixed shelf of up to $150 million - SEC filing Source text : ( bit.ly/2oadT28 ) WASHINGTON, April 7 U.S. job growth slowed sharply in March amid continued layoffs in the retail sector, but a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent suggested labor market strength remained intact. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ceragon-networks-says-files-for-mi-idUSFWN1HF0TZ'|'2017-04-07T22:34:00.000+03:00' '067efbb62f4db6eb32567e39677ae2d1e6cbc8a2'|'RPT-INSIGHT-US South, not just Mexico, stands in way of Rust Belt jobs revival'|'(Repeats for wider distribution) By Howard Schneider MOBILE, Ala., April 7 In the years since the 2008 financial crisis, this southern U.S. port city has attracted a new Airbus factory, seen its steel industry retool, and gained thousands of jobs building the Navy''s new combat vessel. Some 300 miles north in Huntsville, new businesses sprout in farm fields drawn by readily available land, low taxes, flexible labor rules and improving infrastructure. As President Trump faces pressure to deliver on his promise to revive manufacturing in the northern "rust belt" states that put him in the White House, his biggest challenge may not be Mexico or China, but the southern U.S. states that form the other pillar of his political base. States like Alabama have built a presence in the global supply chain in direct competition with the country''s Midwestern industrial heartland, and even if Trump coaxes jobs back to the United States they may well head south rather than north. Whether the "rust belt''s" expectations are met will be central to 2018 U.S. mid-term elections and likely frame the presidential race in 2020. The southern states are reliably Republican, but the party''s ability to repeat its success in Midwestern swing states, such as Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, may hinge on whether the Trump administration delivers on its economic promises. For a decade now, nine southern states - North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas - together have accounted for a larger share of the U.S. economy than nine northern states that defined America as the 20th century''s industrial superpower, according to a Reuters analysis of federal data. The analysis compared gross domestic product, population and other factors among northern and Midwestern states that played a key role in Trump''s victory or are typically considered part of the industrial heartland, with those in the south and along the Gulf Coast that have become an emerging destination for auto and other investment. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2nHSda5 ) Florida, a state whose population has boomed under an influx of retirees, many of them from the north, was excluded. FREE LAND AND DEGREES Economists and industrial site consultants say the reasons behind the trend have moved beyond lower wages and lower levels of unionization. Per capita income in the south has now almost caught up with that in the Midwest, and its skilled workforce continues to grow as college graduates move in. "Labor? Perceived advantages. Taxes? Some of these are fairly low (tax) states. Real estate? For big projects that are going to employ three, four, five thousand people, you can find free land - zero cost land," said Darin Buelow, an industrial site specialist with Deloitte Consulting. In the south, business executives and development officials interviewed by Reuters were less likely to call for new tariffs and trade deals than to worry about how any new regime may disrupt a system they have learned to work with. David Fernandes, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, said that of the roughly 700,000 engines the factory made last year, half went to Mexico and Canada. The facility also makes engines for cars assembled at a Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. "Anything that hinders the opportunity to provide product to a customer is what is concerning," he said. Plants in Kentucky and Indiana gave Toyota a U.S. foothold in the 1980s and 1990s, but in this century the Japanese carmaker turned to Alabama, Texas and Mississippi for expansion. Located on former cotton fields, the company''s Huntsville, Alabama, plant now employs more than 1,400 people and churns out about 3,000 engines a day. Gunmaker Remington Outdoor came to Huntsville lured by $110 million in tax and other concessions. Its factory here is expected to eventually employ 2,000, and it has already begun shifting employees from elsewhere, including 100 from the town in upstate New York where the company was founded two centuries ago. Jeremy Littlejohn moved his cloud computing start-up RISC Networks from Chicago to Asheville, NC, in 2012 for the less hectic pace, but has found the location a selling point as he grew from 6 to 33 employees. Many of those new workers came from out of state, contributing to North Carolina''s net annual influx of about 46,000 college degree holders. That migration of educated workers is the norm among the southern states. The rust belt by contrast saw a net outflow of more than 400,000 residents with college degrees between 2007 and 2014. The customers are heading south too. From 1990 to 2015, population in the nine southern and gulf states grew 43 percent, to more than 76 million, and passed that of the rust belt states in the late 1990s. Population in the rust belt grew 13 percent, to 63 million, over the same period. When the Minnesota-based Polaris Industries Inc. began planning a new facility for its line of outdoor vehicles, "there was no Minnesota play," said Eric Blackwell, director of operations at the company''s new factory outside Huntsville. The market for Polaris'' machines, popular for farm work, hunting and sport riding, was growing in the south. Open land was available, and Alabama had programs to help recruit and train a workforce expected to rise to 1,500. FROM LAGGARD TO A RISING TIDE Globalization hit both the north and the south hard. Between 2000 and 2010 each lost about a third of their manufacturing jobs. But employment rebounded faster and more broadly in the south. Between 2000 and 2015, combined private sector employment in nine southern and gulf coast states still grew 13.5 percent. In the nine northern states total private sector jobs as of 2015 remained 1.3 percent below their 2000 level, according to federal data. The transition dates back to the 1980s, when German and Japanese automakers began investing in what has become a sprawling, regional industry. Supplier networks followed, creating even stiffer competition in an industry already changing due to passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the growth of automaking in Mexico. New industries, such as aerospace, followed. Boeing opened a new factory in Charleston, South Carolina, while decades of federal spending on space and defense programs created a pool of engineers in Alabama. A surge in energy and locally important industries like wood products added to the employment gains. Judith Adams, vice president at the Alabama State Port Authority, speeds visitors through warehouses of wood fiber products, steel ingots and other goods ready to ship abroad. The port is spending $47 million to boost its capacity to 500,000 containers a year from 300,000. The longer-term the goal is to triple that to 1.5 million. "The vessel sizes are getting bigger. The market is getting bigger. The cargo is here," Adams said. When European aircraft maker Airbus scouted sites for its $600 million North American plant more than a decade ago it settled on a former Air Force base in Mobile. As it ramps up production, local officials say 20 suppliers have already arrived in Airbus'' wake, with firms like Ireland''s Maas Aviation looking to put 150 people to work painting planes. "We looked at transportation costs, labor costs, productivity, and it made sense," said Allan McArtor, chief executive of Airbus Group Inc. "We will be building single aisle airplanes (in Mobile) for a long, long time." (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Cleveland; Editing by David Chance and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-south-idINL2N1HE1SS'|'2017-04-07T12:02:00.000+03:00' 'b21226b94b85e70afccc562824b6a30fae50753d'|'Let''s minimise the damage of Brexit, Eurogroup chief says'|'Business 2:01pm BST Let''s minimise the damage of Brexit, Eurogroup chief says Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem talks to the media as he arrives at European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BERLIN Britain and the remaining 27 members of the European Union should stay away from the cliff edge of Britain falling back on World Trade Organization terms at the end of Brexit negotiations, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said. "Let''s try to minimise the damage," he said of Brexit, speaking at a banking conference in Berlin on Thursday. Dijsselbloem, who said he would discuss Greece with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble while in Berlin, said the more he thought about Brexit, the more worried he became. He singled out financial stability as one area of particular risk. Asked about "passporting" rights for Britain-based institutions to sell financial services in the EU single market after Brexit, Dijsselbloem replied: "I think, also talking to financial players from the City, that passporting won''t be the answer. There will be different regimes for different sub-sectors of the financial sector." "Equivalence will be part of the solution," he added of a system whereby Brussels grants access to non-EU firms that comply with rules similar to those in the bloc. "But here again, declaring the rules and regulations and the supervision of the UK equivalent to that of the EU at the outset is quite easy, but over time our standards and the way of supervision will start to diverge," Dijsselbloem said. "So if you want to maintain equivalence over time you will have to commit, also in the long-run, to staying close to the European standards," he added. "Looking to the future, we will have to find to ways to regularly assess whether we are still equivalent." (Writing by Paul Carrel Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-eurozone-idUKKBN1781KS'|'2017-04-06T21:01:00.000+03:00' 'eae823182b0814d01a932830bb0d490e61f4dc70'|'BRIEF-Routemaster acquires royalty portfolio interests'|' 37pm EDT BRIEF-Routemaster acquires royalty portfolio interests April 6 Routemaster Capital Inc * Routemaster acquires royalty portfolio interests * Routemaster Capital Inc - as consideration for purchasing Quebec Gold royalty, routemaster will issue to vendor 11 million common shares * Routemaster Capital- agreement provides co with option to purchase 1.5% net smelter returns royalty in respect of potash development property in Ethiopia * Routemaster capital inc - entered into an agreement to purchase a royalty covering former producing gold mines in province of Quebec * Routemaster capital- in addition,co obtained a 24-month right of first refusal to acquire additional royalties and streaming interests held by vendor Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-routemaster-acquires-royalty-portf-idUSASB0B8XN'|'2017-04-07T06:37:00.000+03:00' '2362991a0f3f5b51fbac697b1bc939772b9ced8f'|'UPDATE 1-Former Barclays traders acquitted in UK''s fourth Libor trial'|'Company News 17am EDT UPDATE 1-Former Barclays traders acquitted in UK''s fourth Libor trial (adds details) By Kirstin Ridley LONDON, April 6 Two former Barclays traders were acquitted by a jury on Thursday of conspiring to rig benchmark interest rates. Ryan Reich, a 35-year-old American, and Greek national Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, walked free after their second trial on a charge of conspiracy to defraud. The first jury to examine their case could not reach a verdict last year, although four Barclays co-defendants were jailed. The unanimous verdicts bring to eight the number of defendants who have been acquitted in a five-year criminal investigation into whether bankers acted dishonestly when they tried to influence benchmark interest rates. The Serious Fraud Office had alleged Reich and Contogoulas plotted with other Barclays staff between June 2005 and September 2007 to skew Libor (London interbank offered rate), a benchmark for rates on around $450 trillion of financial contracts and loans worldwide. Barclays was the first of 11 banks and brokerages to be fined for Libor misconduct in 2012, sparking a political backlash that forced out senior executives including former CEO Bob Diamond, prompted the SFO investigation and new laws to criminalise rate rigging. Some lawyers say the unpredictable nature of criminal prosecutions and the English jury trial system means the SFO, which has been dogged by speculation that Prime Minister Theresa May might merge it into a national crime fighting body, should not be judged by its latest loss or win. The agency has been praised by some lawmakers for clinching a series of corporate plea deals that include a 671 million pound ($840 million) deferred prosecution agreement with Rolls-Royce over widespread bribery in January. But after a costly, six-week retrial, that followed a 10-week trial in 2016, the jury acquitted Reich unanimously shortly after withdrawing to consider its verdict on Wednesday. Judge Anthony Leonard had imposed reporting restrictions until the jury reached its verdict on Contogoulas, who was also acquitted unanimously on Thursday. (Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/court-libor-barclays-idUSL5N1HE2AH'|'2017-04-06T18:17:00.000+03:00' '2bf1a1cd3f96d54d1ccf075d1435614de703da49'|'Swapping notes: De La Rue rethinks its strategy'|'THOMAS DE LA RUE set up shop more than 200 years ago, printing newspapers, then playing cards and stamps. In 1860 a contract to print banknotes for Mauritius started a transformation. Today De La Rue is the largest commercial banknote and passport printer, involved in aspects of the production of currencies for 140 countries, and passports for over 40.The British firm’s chief executive, Martin Sutherland, is relatively relaxed about the much-heralded death of cash. Despite advances in payments technology, and a shift to cards in Europe, the total demand for cash has proven remarkably resilient. Transaction values are rising rapidly in emerging economies, where hard currency is still the norm. De La Rue expects world demand for banknotes to grow by 3-4% a year for the foreseeable future. 15 2 But there are problems nonetheless. Even at the best of times, note production, which accounts for over 70% of the company’s revenues, is a volatile business. Contracts are lumpy. State-owned printers often call in commercial printers at short notice to manage spikes in demand, which are unpredictable. On top of that, national authorities are demanding better value. They are running cut-throat tendering processes rather than relying on existing relationships. Some are sourcing individual components—such as design, paper or security features—from multiple suppliers, rather than buying the entire package from a single provider. Others have gone still further: thanks to the Indian government’s “Make in India” campaign, for example, a former big customer of banknote paper is now making its own.The consequence of such trends has been falling prices and a build-up of excess capacity in the industry. De La Rue had to warn investors about its profits repeatedly in the years leading up to 2015 (since then, profits have exceeded expectations).The company’s answer has been to try to expand its offerings of technology-led security products. Cash itself is getting more secure: polymer banknotes use complex holographic images to guard against forgers. They are longer lasting, so need to be replaced less frequently, but command a higher price. In 2012 De La Rue became the second of only two companies to produce the plastic (Innovia, based in Britain, is the other) and has printed notes for several authorities, including, most recently, the Bank of England. Demand for the material is forecast to rise by 10% a year in the near future (a kerfuffle over traces of animal fat in the new notes seems likely to be resolved by using palm oil instead).De La Rue also expects demand for passports and for other security identification to grow. A significant proportion of the world’s population remains unrecorded—UNICEF estimates that a quarter of the world’s children under the age of five are unregistered, for example. But the market for physical tokens, broadly speaking, could consolidate over time, says John Nelson of Smithers Pira, a market-research firm. Driving licences, social-security documents and passports may be merged into a single ID. The market could even disappear altogether: from 2019 onwards the Australian government, for example, wants to speed up border checks by replacing passport control with biometric scans.De La Rue is responding to such threats by selling end-to-end services, not just physical products. It has new software packages that allow governments to manage the entire passport-issuing process, for example. It wants to help governments manage civil-registration data on births, marriages and deaths.The last prong of Mr Sutherland’s strategy is to apply the company’s anti-counterfeiting expertise to product authentication. The OECD estimates that the market for counterfeit goods was worth $461bn in 2013, with luxury goods, electronics and tobacco most likely to be faked. De La Rue currently sells secure stamps that help governments verify that the appropriate tax on, say, cigarettes, has been paid. Its labels are also used by Microsoft to track and verify software products. There should be room to expand. Mr Sutherland reckons that luxury brands, especially, will become good customers; some already authenticate their products. If so, money will not be the firm’s only cash cow. Business "Swapping notes"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720342-governments-are-striking-hard-bargains-what-they-pay-cash-de-la-rue-rethinks-its-strategy?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' '29cdf7ddf43e326ce8bf2732d147aed5a5eebf7f'|'HIGHLIGHTS-The Trump presidency on April 7 at 7:00 p.m. EDT/2300 GMT'|'April 7 Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump''s administration on Friday: U.S. STRIKES SYRIA Russia warns that U.S. cruise missile strikes on a Syrian air base could have "extremely serious" consequences, as Trump''s first major foray into a foreign conflict opens a rift between Moscow and Washington. U.S. lawmakers from both parties back Trump''s strikes on Syria, but demand he spell out a broader strategy for dealing with the conflict and consult with Congress on any further action. Many Trump voters interviewed by Reuters say his decision to attack the Syrian airfield was a decisive show of strength and resolve - just what they voted for in November; some far-right supporters of his candidacy condemn the strikes. Allies around the world express support for the strikes, calling them a proportionate response to Syrian forces'' suspected use of chemical weapons, while Syria and its allies, Russia and Iran, denounce the attack. Israeli leaders welcome the U.S. strikes in Syria, saying they send a strong message that the Trump administration would not accept the use of chemical weapons and are a warning to other hostile states, including Iran and North Korea. SENATE CONFIRMS GORSUCH The Republican-led Senate gives Trump the biggest triumph of his young presidency over stout Democratic opposition, confirming his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and restoring a conservative majority on the highest U.S. judicial body. Gorsuch will have an immediate impact on cases already pending before the Supreme Court, including those touching on religious rights, employee lawsuits and other issues. TRUMP-XI SUMMIT Trump presses Chinese President Xi Jingping to do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear program and help reduce the gaping U.S. trade deficit with Beijing in talks, even as he tones down the strident anti-China rhetoric of his election campaign. COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS Trump intends to nominate Kevin Hassett, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and fiscal policy expert, as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, the White House says. MEXICAN DRUG WAR For the first time in at least a decade, Mexico''s army is allowing the United States and the United Nations to observe opium poppy eradication, a step toward deeper cooperation to fight heroin traffickers, three sources in Mexico tell Reuters. TWITTER CASE Twitter Inc drops a lawsuit it filed on Thursday against the U.S. Homeland Security Department, saying the government had withdrawn a summons for records about who was behind an account critical of Trump. (Compiled by Jonathan Oatis; Editing by Leslie Adler and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-highlights-idINL2N1HB1GP'|'2017-04-07T21:00:00.000+03:00' 'cda692f3897b8db200cdc3845b5956c1da611b3c'|'ABB wins 270 million euro order for Britain-France power link'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 6:21am BST ABB wins 270 million euro order for Britain-France power link The logo of Swiss engineering group ABB is seen on a office building in Vienna, Austria, September 29, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger ZURICH Power group ABB ( ABBN.S ) has won an order worth around 270 million euros ($230.5 million pounds) from British grid operator National Grid and Reseau de Transport d''Electricite (RTE), the French network owner and operator, to connect electricity networks of France and the UK, it said on Friday. (Reporting by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-abb-order-idUKKBN1790JC'|'2017-04-07T13:21:00.000+03:00' '681b9ac02c9fbd8175be45e20a8771071407e049'|'METALS-Copper firms as dollar dips after U.S. strikes on Syria'|' 51am EDT METALS-Copper firms as dollar dips after U.S. strikes on Syria (Adds detail, comment; updates prices) By Jim Regan (Australia) and Melanie Burton SYDNEY, April 7 London copper prices firmed on Friday as the U.S. dollar fell after the United States launched cruise missiles against an air base in Syria. Geopolitical concerns related to Syria will dominate markets over the next few days, with gold likely to climb and base metals easing if tension escalates, said analyst Daniel Morgan of UBS in Sydney. "If there is a de-escalation, then we may see the market focus back on fundamentals. I expect the stocks for copper, nickel and zinc to start to draw down over the coming quarter." * LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had risen 0.2 percent to $5,871.50 a tonne by 0529 GMT, reversing losses from the previous session. * SHFE COPPER: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.6 percent at 47,630 yuan ($6,902) a tonne. * SHFE ZINC, NICKEL: Shanghai zinc fell 2 percent, while ShFE nickel dropped 1.7 pct alongside a downdraft in steel as speculators cut bets, worried about rising steel supply and tepid demand. * MISSILE STRIKE: U.S President Donald Trump said he ordered missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched, declaring he acted in America''s "national security interest" against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. * MARKET REACTION: Bonds, the yen and gold jumped in Asia on Friday, while stocks slipped, as investors turned to safe-haven assets after the missile strikes. * AUSTRALIA EXPORTS: Australia''s export earnings from mining and energy commodities were forecast on Friday to leap 32 percent to a record A$215 billion ($162 billion) in fiscal year 2017, reflecting recoveries in its most valuable exports - iron ore and coal. * JINDAL SUSPENSION: India''s Jindal Steel and Power suspended operations at its coking coal mine in Australia last month due to heavy rains caused by Cyclone Debbie, forcing it to declare force majeure. * TECH INNOVATIONS: Mining companies chasing the kind of technological breakthroughs made long ago in the manufacture of cars and mobile phones have unveiled eye-catching innovations ranging from vast drills and remote-controlled trucks to second-by-second data analysis. * Japan''s Pan Pacific Copper plans to cut its April-September output of refined copper by 19.9 percent from the same period last year due to long maintenance at one of its plants. * COMING UP: Germany Industrial output for Feb BASE METALS PRICES Three month LME copper 5867 Most active ShFE copper 47640 Three month LME aluminium 1958. 5 Most active ShFE aluminium 23 Three month LME zinc 2735. 5 Most active ShFE zinc 22625 Three month LME lead 2307. 5 Most active ShFE lead 4 Three month LME nickel 10100 Most active ShFE nickel 2 Three month LME tin 20295 Most active ShFE tin 1 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 573.2 4 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1622 .66 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 262.5 4 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1655 .24 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 2190 ($1 = 6.9004 Chinese yuan renminbi) ($1 = 6.9005 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Richard Pullin and Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HF25X'|'2017-04-07T13:51:00.000+03:00' 'f4fa834c48179d275f8e700761b99ea72d23bb08'|'Exclusive - Yum''s KFC to curb antibiotic use in the chickens it buys'|'Health News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 5:06am BST Exclusive: Yum''s KFC to curb antibiotic use in the chickens it buys FILE PHOTO: A KFC fast food restaurant, which is owned by Yum Brands Inc, is pictured ahead of their company results in Pasadena, California, U.S., July 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni By Lisa Baertlein - LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES Yum Brands Inc''s ( YUM.N ) U.S. KFC chain plans to curb the use of antibiotics in its chicken supply, making it the last of the big three chicken restaurants to join the fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs. KFC, the second-biggest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately held Chick-fil-A, is giving its U.S. poultry suppliers until the end of 2018 to stop using antibiotics important to human medicine. Some 70 percent of antibiotics vital for fighting infections in humans are sold for use in meat and dairy production and medical researchers have concerns that overuse of those drugs may diminish their effectiveness in fighting disease in humans. McDonald''s Corp''s ( MCD.N ) roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants last year stopped serving chicken raised with antibiotics considered important to human medicine. Its Chicken McNuggets are a top seller and the change put pressure on the rest of the industry to follow. Chick-fil-A is going a step further, vowing in 2014 to switch to poultry raised without any antibiotics at all by the end of 2019. Given its stature, KFC had been the focus of several antibiotic reduction campaigns by consumer, health and environment groups in addition to a coalition of British and U.S. shareholders with more than $2 trillion in assets under management. "We recognize that it''s a growing public health concern," KFC U.S. President Kevin Hochman told Reuters on Thursday. "This is something that''s important to many of our customers and it''s something we need to do to show relevance and modernity within our brand," Hochman said. The policy applies only to KFC in the United States and its 4,200 restaurants supplied by some 2,000 domestic chicken farms, said Hochman. KFC''s antibiotic policy is set on a country-by-country basis, he added. Yum spun off its KFC-dominated China division in November. ''GREAT NEWS FOR FRIED CHICKEN LOVERS'' Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC U.S., said the new policy applies throughout the bird''s full life cycle, which includes the hatchery where chicks are sometimes injected with antibiotics while still in the shell. Using data from a 2017 WATT PoultryUSA survey, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) estimates that more than 42 percent of the U.S. chicken industry is either under an antibiotics stewardship pledge or has already converted to responsible practices. KFC''s new policy will likely move the number even higher, said Lena Brook, a food policy advocate at the NRDC, who noted that the estimate includes "raised without antibiotics" pledges as well as "raised without medically important" antibiotics pledges from producers like Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ), Perdue Farms and others. "It''s great news for fried chicken lovers, and most importantly it''s great news for public health," Brook said. "Their commitment is one that we''ve been waiting for." Human infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a grave threat to global health and are estimated to kill at least 23,000 Americans each year, although a recent Reuters investigation found that many infection-related deaths are going uncounted. Hochman said the policy change has been in the works for a year. It will add some incremental cost that KFC plans to manage rather than pass on in the form of menu price increases, he said. At least some of KFC suppliers are already well on their way to compliance. Tyson, the largest U.S. poultry producer and a KFC supplier, has announced plans to eliminate the use of human antibiotics in its chicken flocks by September 2017. Yum''s Taco Bell chain already committed to serve chicken raised without antibiotics important to human medicine in all U.S. restaurants by the end of last month. Its Pizza Hut division has the same rules for pizza toppings. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-yumbrands-kfc-antibiotics-exclusive-idUKKBN1790EE'|'2017-04-07T12:05:00.000+03:00' '1240b2fb75602bc68ed9bf9bd6b16b0200ae699f'|'Barrick''s Shandong deal cements chairman''s China strategy'|'By Susan Taylor - TORONTO TORONTO Barrick Gold Corp''s near billion-dollar deal with Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd represents a rich premium for the Canadian miner, while making good on a long-promised plan to forge deep, long-lasting partnerships with China.The sale of a 50-percent stake in Veladero, one of Barrick''s top five gold mines, for $960 million is its biggest partnership deal with a Chinese miner, eclipsing a $298 million joint venture in 2015 with Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd for a mine in Papua New Guinea.The price tag, about 15 percent to 30 percent above some analysts'' net asset valuations, is a feather in Chairman John Thornton''s cap, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker who has pledged closer ties with China since his 2014 appointment."Thornton is doing the right thing. He''s put a billion dollars in our pocket and he has got the Chinese as partners. What more can you ask for?" said billionaire investor Seymour Schulich."I like Thornton''s style. He is well connected in China. The deals are finally starting to happen."Thornton, who lacks a mining background, spent years working in China after stepping down from a senior role at Goldman. He built a broad network of government and business connections in the country, where he taught at Tsinghua University''s business school, a top institution whose alumni include presidents and premiers.Since a first meeting last April, Barrick and state-owned Shandong invested "thousands of hours" to get acquainted and form a partnership that Thornton expects to grow, he said in a statement."Today is the realization of a China dream," he said."REAL PRIZE"Toronto-based Barrick, which has sold a string of assets in recent years to cut a bloated debt load as commodity markets slumped, has been actively seeking joint venture partners to reduce risk and capital outlays while boosting expertise.But Thornton''s challenges are far from over.The deal comes as Barrick, the world''s largest gold miner, grapples with last week''s pipe rupture at Veladero, the third incident at the mine in 18 months involving cyanide-bearing solution.Barrick''s No. 2 executive, President Kelvin Dushnisky, is in Argentina this week meeting with regulators, which on Wednesday rejected a work plan presented by Barrick.Analysts and investors say the deal''s real prize is a plan to jointly study development of the long-stalled, massive Pascua-Lama project and neighboring gold-rich deposits in the El Indio Belt.Straddling the border of Argentina and Chile, Pascua-Lama was put on hold in 2013 due to environmental issues, political opposition, labor unrest and development costs that ballooned to $8.5 billion."The bigger part of the deal today is possibly having a partner lined up for Pascua-Lama and being able to do that development, and maybe even having a broader reach," said Dan Denbow, senior portfolio manager at San Antonio-based USAA Investments, which holds some 700,000 Barrick shares.Barrick will use sale proceeds to cut debt, which it plans to reduce by more than a third to $5 billion by 2018. It will also invest in project development, a shift from previous years when deal proceeds were earmarked for debt reduction.The companies will also study ways to extend Veladero''s mine life, which currently ends in 2024, said Barrick spokesman Andy Lloyd."It''s a huge positive. If they can monetize Pascua-Lama, it would be tremendous," said Schulich. "Thornton wants to get cash flow, and this is just an opening step with the Chinese."(With additional reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Denny Thomas and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-ceo-analysis-idINKBN1782O7'|'2017-04-07T06:56:00.000+03:00' 'c84e437a41f42755fa56361384c50bd370803a29'|'RPT-Chase for tastier tortillas starts with age-old ''Mexican gold'''|' 00am EDT RPT-Chase for tastier tortillas starts with age-old ''Mexican gold'' (Repeats with to additional customers with no changes to text) By David Alire Garcia OTZOLOTEPEC, Mexico, April 7 Under a scorching sun, Clemente Enriquez tips his wide-brimmed hat up as he proudly displays in an open palm the conico corn seeds he plants on his small plot in the rolling hills outside this village west of Mexico City. "These are very special," said Enriquez, a 78-year-old farmer with shaggy gray hair and bushy black eyebrows, speaking on the edge of a neighbor''s field. "I''ve been growing these for years. I like the size of the seed and the color, and the taste of the tortillas you can make with them." Lately, his enthusiasm seems to be catching on. A growing army of "heirloom corn" fans, from celebrity chef Rick Bayless to food giants like ConAgra to a group of dogged Mexican scientists, are aiming to unlock the ancient ingredient to bring tortillas with better flavor to the high-end foodie market while boosting sustainable local economies. Entrepreneurs see a huge profit to be made in higher-margin tortillas and chips sold at restaurants like Bayless'' Frontera Grill in Chicago and Enrique Olvera''s Cosme in New York, and mass marketed at higher-end retailers like Whole Foods Market Inc. It can also boost the incomes of the poor farmers in Mexico who have been cultivating traditional maize for millennia. Several of the nearly 60 native varieties, or landraces, of this heirloom corn often grow alongside corn''s ancestor teocintle, a skimpy stalk with a few meager kernels that Mexican farmers transformed in a dizzying series of improvements over some 8,000 years. Centuries later, their distant descendents see a bright future for the traditional grains if obstacles can be overcome. The first is whether Mexican scientists can hammer out a first-ever fair trade certification for traditional corn farmers, similar to certifications for organic coffee or chocolate. Once an accord is reached, which is expected later this year, organizers say a civic association or panel of experts will provide the voluntary certification. Another hurdle is the farmers themselves, many of whom are not fully versed about the value of their crops abroad, or even the specific variety of corn they tend. They also must ease their reliance on middle-men buyers known as coyotes who have long been their main sales channel and could be the losers if the crop''s value is enhanced. If successful, exports of Mexico''s gourmet maize could start to reverse a flood of cheap U.S. yellow corn imports that have pushed more than 1 million Mexican farmers off their fields since the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994. "I live in GMO corn-country and it is the most tasteless corn in the world," Bayless told Reuters, referring to the sprawling fields planted with genetically modified corn around his hometown Chicago, Illinois, America''s second biggest corn-producing state. But the bolita variety of heirloom corn from Mexico''s southern Oaxaca state is different, he says. "It has taste. That''s the whole thing." MEXICAN GOLD The chef''s taste buds aren''t lying, the maize scientists behind the certification in Mexico say. Commodity benchmark "Yellow 2" corn, a grain used mostly for animal feed, has little in common with Mexican corns that come in a kaleidoscope of colors and in some cases can be traced back for centuries to a specific mountain valley, says Flavio Aragon, one of the scientists behind the certification. "The quality of Mexican corns is something else entirely," he said. Entrepreneurs putting big money on the line include Jorge Gaviria, chief executive of Los Angeles-based, privately-held Masienda, the first company to source the corn, whose ambition is to take on mass-produced tortillas with a tastier if pricier alternative. "What''s clearly in our sights is getting into the tortilla market in a really big way," he said. U.S. tortilla consumption is seen doubling to $30 billion by 2025, according to market research firm IndexBox. Conagra Brands Inc, the maker of Chef Boyardee pasta and Hunt''s ketchup, late last year bought Bayless'' Frontera Foods, part of an industry trend to promote higher-margin products and boost sales as consumers crave more natural foods. Around the same time, Bayless launched a line of premium tortilla chips using mostly bolita sold exclusively at Whole Foods. Conagra said in a statement that the chips are "performing well" but declined to provide sales data. The new landrace maize certification was expected to be ready late last year, but building consensus on the fine print has caused a delay. Organizers say the certification will provide farmers with a document that details the specific variety they grow, the traditional farming methods they use. It would also restrict sales to surplus supply to prevent farmers from selling what they would normally set aside for their families and animals, forcing them to turn to more processed foods in their own diets. Last season, Mexico produced around 24 million tonnes of corn, or about 4 percent of global output, and native corn surpluses are estimated at as much as 5 million tonnes annually. Masienda, which sells directly to hundreds of restaurants, began buying Mexican heirloom corn three years ago. This season, its purchases will probably reach 2,000 tonnes, up five-fold since 2014, said Gaviria. At the higher end, some heirloom varieties can already fetch around three times the price of conventional corns. That has farmers like 22-year-old Octavio Tejeda optimistic he can cash in on growing demand from around the world for tastier tortillas and most importantly preserve the strains. "We''re going to keep our traditions alive and rescue the varieties of corn that are important to us," said Tejeda, gazing out on a recently plowed field. "It''s our Mexican gold." (Editing by Christian Plumb and Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-corn-certification-idUSL2N1HF056'|'2017-04-07T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'cf9703e6828a0e9072aa6d7cf31fb38057891d6f'|'BRIEF-Mccormick & Co expects to reach at least $5 bln in annual net sales by 2019'|' 04am EDT BRIEF-Mccormick & Co expects to reach at least $5 bln in annual net sales by 2019 April 4 Mccormick & Company Inc * Says reaffirmed its long-term constant currency objectives for annual sales growth of 4% to 6% * Says expects to reach at least $5 billion in annual net sales by 2019 * Says expects to achieve annual cost savings of $400 million between 2016 and 2019 * Mccormick & Company Inc - mccormick expects to achieve annual cost savings of $400 million between 2016 and 2019 * Says reaffirmed its long-term constant currency objectives for increase in annual earnings per share of 9% to 11% '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-mccormick-co-expects-to-reach-at-l-idUSFWN1HC063'|'2017-04-04T19:04:00.000+03:00' 'e5c2f004b465878093ea4ac518de0513d1ce0a0e'|'Liberty Interactive to buy General Communication for $1.12 bln'|'Deals 37am EDT Liberty Interactive to buy General Communication for $1.12 billion Liberty Interactive Corp ( QVCA.O ) said on Tuesday it would buy Alaska-based telecoms firm General Communication Inc ( GNCMA.O ) for $1.12 billion. Liberty Interactive will pay $32.50 per General Communication share, representing a premium of 58.1 percent to the stock''s close on Monday. General Communication provides residential and business telecommunications services in Alaska. Liberty Interactive owns interests in companies that are primarily engaged in video and digital commerce industries. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru) Next In Deals Toshiba seeks new loan, offers memory chip unit stake as collateral: sources TOKYO Toshiba Corp asked creditor banks for a new loan and offered as collateral a stake in its memory chip unit that is being split off, sources said, underlining the firm''s growing financial woes as it braces for a multi-billion dollar loss. RIO DE JANEIRO U.S. aviation electronics maker Rockwell Collins Inc and Brazil''s Embraer SA will assess each other''s remote sensing and border control technology for possible joint sales, a senior executive for the Brazilian planemaker told Reuters. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-general-communication-m-a-liberty-int-idUSKBN1761EW'|'2017-04-04T20:32:00.000+03:00' '5cda85dea4188254080484697cc3c9b890272e45'|'UPDATE 1-LNG supply gap may form as investment drop stymies projects'|'Commodities - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 3:32am EDT LNG supply gap may form as investment drop stymies projects Chevron Corp Vice Chairman Michael Wirth speaks at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Mark Tay and Aaron Sheldrick - CHIBA, Japan CHIBA, Japan The global liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry will face a shortfall in supply in about five years because low prices have kept producers from making new investments in production, major producers said on Tuesday. Without the investments, suppliers may not be able to meet the needs of buyers such as Japan, the world''s biggest LNG importer, at a time when reducing emissions from other dirtier fossil fuels will be crucial, gas majors told a conference in Chiba near Tokyo. "Today we are facing global overcapacity that is putting pressure on prices," Total SA Chairman and Patrick Pouyanne said at the Gastech conference. As a result, "the industry is entering a period of reduced investments … this could result in a lack of supply in five years "We must carry on investing for the future," he said. LNG projects typically require billions of dollars of investment over many years of development. The industry has usually relied on long-term contracts linked to oil prices to ensure producers can get financing on favorable terms. That has changed in recent years as buyers led by Japan and other Asian countries have been pushing for lower prices and better contract terms. The recent drop in oil prices has also meant some planned projects are not feasible. Chevron Corp Vice Chairman Michael Wirth said earlier at the conference that a "supply gap" could happen over the next few years if new LNG projects are not approved. (Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Yuka Obayashi; Editing By Tom Hogue and Christian Schmollinger) Next In Commodities'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-gastech-lng-idUSKBN1760KW'|'2017-04-04T15:30:00.000+03:00' '71704935fd8ff4965a19e770762ca19c70dd5af6'|'LPC-European leveraged loan pricing on the rise'|'By Claire Ruckin - LONDON, April 5 LONDON, April 5 Pricing in Europe''s leveraged loan market is rising after investor pushback on recent deals that were deemed too tightly priced, banking sources said.Arranging banks are offering around 25bp-50bp more in order to create more investor appetite, illustrated by the €859m financing backing Ardian’s buyout of a majority stake in French food group Prosol that has just launched to syndication. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Natixis have underwritten Prosol''s financing, which includes a €759m covenant-lite term loan B, guided to pay 400bp over Euribor with a 0% floor and a 99.5 OID.The pricing is seen as generous in a market where deals have been regularly coming with a three handle.“It felt like the market went down to 300bp with unseemly haste and it has clearly pulled back from there but the market is constructive and still has appetite. Primary credits feel like they should be in the 350bp-375bp context,” a senior banker said.The increase in pricing followed deals last month for European medical laboratory services operator Cerba Healthcare and Swiss medical diagnostics company Unilabs that both carried a margin of 300bp over Euribor and suffered in Europe''s secondary loan market after freeing to trade on March 22.Prosol was initially shown to earlybirds at 375bp over Euribor, two of the sources said.“Pricing on Prosol reflects the market today, which has widened a bit of late. There is €759m of money to be raised on a new deal with no existing lender base. If there is a lot of demand, which there is likely to be, then it could get reverse flexed but in this market it is better to be cautious and build a book first before worrying about the price,” a second senior banker said.Since Cerba and Unilabs, bankers are reluctant to squeeze pricing too tight, even on the repricings of existing deals, for fear of losing a significant portion of a deal’s investor base.Dutch trust funds company TMF Group is looking to cut the margin on its €660m term loan to 350bp-375bp over Euribor with a 0% floor, from 400bp with a 0% floor, while chemicals company Inovyn is repricing to 275bp-300bp with a 0.75% floor on a €692m term loan that currently pays 350bp with a 1% floor.“TMF would have launched at 325bp-350bp a few weeks ago,” a third senior banker said.FED UPDespite a large number of deals in Europe’s leveraged loan market, there is a sense that some investors have become disillusioned with the slew of repricings that have dominated the market and pulverised yield.In the background bankers are working on a number of new potential buyouts, including some public-to-privates, which could hit the market shortly.“Parts of the market have gone on holiday. Everyone has had enough and they are likely to come back in May to do some business, after the French elections,” the second banker said.Prosol’s financing also comprises a €100m revolving credit facility, guided to pay 375bp over Euribor. The underwriting backs have fully committed to this and will not be selling it down.The financing will equate to just under 6 times Prosol’s approximate €130m Ebitda.(Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/prosol-loans-idINL5N1HD55J'|'2017-04-05T15:08:00.000+03:00' '1d10ceedf7b870f97d108ff195507a23e7fbef0d'|'China''s Shandong in advanced talks to buy half of Barrick''s Veladero mine: sources'|'By John Tilak and Nicole Mordant - TORONTO/VANCOUVER TORONTO/VANCOUVER China''s Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd is in advanced talks to buy a 50 percent stake in Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina, people familiar with the process told Reuters even as the Canadian miner grappled with a pipe rupture at the site.Barrick is no longer in discussions with China''s Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd about the Veladero mine stake sale, the sources said. A sale could fetch more than $1 billion, they added.Veladero, one of Barrick''s five core mines, was the site of a pipe rupture last week - the third incident in 18 months at the mine involving cyanide-bearing solution.In the wake of the incident, the government of Argentina''s San Juan province, where Veladero is located, said on Wednesday it has rejected a work plan presented by Barrick.San Juan''s governor and provincial mining minister met with Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky and other company executives, according to a statement on the province''s website. A second meeting is expected to be scheduled soon, it said.Barrick will "work with the authorities to understand their concerns and make adjustments as needed," a spokesman said in an emailed response.Barrick''s shares were down 1 percent in Toronto at C$25.85 in early afternoon trading, falling more than its peers.As part of a purchase plan being discussed, Shandong would also acquire 50 percent of Barrick''s nearby undeveloped Pascua-Lama gold and silver project, one of the people said.The Pascua-Lama project, which straddles the border of Argentina and Chile in the Andes, was put on hold in 2013 due to environmental issues, political opposition, labor unrest and development costs that ballooned to $8.5 billion.NEW INCIDENTLast week''s pipe break may delay an agreement as Shandong might want to discuss the incident, a source said, but added that it was unlikely to reduce the Chinese firm''s interest in the asset.China is the world''s top consumer of the yellow metal and given the global scarcity of large, low-cost gold mines, buyers in China would not likely be deterred by environmental mishaps, analysts have said.Shandong is one of China''s biggest gold producers and a deal would mark the latest instance of Chinese companies investing in Latin America''s resource-rich commodities sector, partly to feed domestic demand.The talks with Shandong are at the "final stage of agreeing the conditions and amounts," one of the sources said.Shandong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The company halted trading in its shares in Shanghai late on Wednesday pending an announcement.Barrick and Zijin declined to comment.There is no certainty that the talks will result in a transaction, the people said. The people, whom Reuters spoke to over a period of several days, declined to be named as the talks were confidential.Reuters reported on Oct. 25 that Zijin and Shandong had held separate talks with Barrick to buy half of Veladero.On March 28, a coupling between two pipes on the leach pad processing facility at Veladero failed, causing a gold and diluted cyanide solution to spill.Although all the solution from the incident was contained within the operating facility and Barrick has said there was no impact on people or the environment, the Argentine province of San Juan ordered the miner to stop adding cyanide to the leach pad pending repairs.(Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Additional reporting by Caroline Stauffer in Buenos Aires and Susan Taylor in Toronto, additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; editing by Andrew Hay, G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/barrick-gold-mine-shandong-gold-idINKBN1772AY'|'2017-04-05T15:01:00.000+03:00' '710b8a308b334aba5a02bc6a10f186d777231aae'|'China March services activity expands at weakest pace in six months - Caixin PMI'|'Business 26am BST China March services activity expands at weakest pace in six months - Caixin PMI left right French hair dresser Eric Constantino (R ) washes his staff''s hair during a demonstration at a photo opportunity at his shop in Beijing April 24, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A barber shaves the face of a customer at a makeshift barber shop beside a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/Sheng Li/File Photo 2/2 BEIJING Activity in China''s service sector expanded at its weakest pace in six months in March, hurt by slower growth in new orders and intensifying cost pressures, a private survey showed, painting a less rosy picture of a sector that Beijing is counting on to maintain economic momentum. The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers'' index (PMI) for March fell to 52.2 from February''s 52.6, but remained above the 50-level that separates expansion from contraction. The survey of largely medium- and small-sized firms showed activity at its lowest since September 2016. The result contrasted with official surveys showing services PMI growth for March accelerating at the fastest pace in almost three years, and manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanding at the quickest rate in nearly 5 years last month. In Thursday''s private services survey subdued business demand pulled down the headline PMI index. There are concerns China''s real estate sector - a big growth-driver for sectors from construction to banking - could become a drag on the broader economy as they were hit with fresh waves of housing policy curbs in mid-March. The new business sub-component slipped 1.1 percentage points to 52.2 in March, the weakest demand for China''s service providers since September 2016. "Weaker increases in new business have clouded the economic outlook, and investors should watch closely for signs of a turning point in the second quarter," Zhengsheng Zhong, Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group said in a note. Lukewarm growth may also suggest consumers in the world''s second-largest economy are cutting back on spending, highlighted by disappointing revenue reports at some of the nation''s top consumer firms. Retail sales growth was well below expectations in the first two months of the year as auto sales dipped. Cost pressures also rose sharply as input prices soared to their highest point in more than four years, although firms were able to pass on part of the costs to customers with a modest increase in prices charged. A number of companies linked rising cost to higher salary payments, the survey said. While the overall readings in the private survey were far from alarming, the underlying results backed analysts'' cautious view on the outlook for the economy. In particular, economists believe the construction rally, largely driven by a furious property boom since last year, may have peaked. Indeed, official data on Friday showed new construction orders dropped to the lowest since August 2016. On top of the stepped-up curbs on the property sector, Beijing has also started to tighten policy settings to temper risks from a rapid build-up in debt. Caixin''s composite manufacturing and services PMI, also released on Thursday, reinforced the patchy growth underpinned by weaker demand in March, with the index falling to 52.1 from the previous month''s 52.6. "The Chinese economy continued to expand in March, but growth in both manufacturing and services slowed," CEBM Group''s Zhong said, referring to the private survey. Both the Caixin services and composite readings showed service providers and manufacturers continued to add jobs last month, but the pace was moderating. (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Nicholas Heath; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-pmi-services-caixin-idUKKBN17806D'|'2017-04-06T10:10:00.000+03:00' '74d5707344883e2b6605bc46a44166de5e6d7799'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 6'|' 34am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 6 April 6 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - JAB Holding Company, the investment arm of the Reimann family of Germany, said it would add restaurant chain Panera Bread Co to its growing empire of American coffee and food favorites for $7.5 billion, including debt. nyti.ms/2p3JXlH - Standing against the backdrop of his New Shepard rocket booster and a full-scale mock capsule for carrying humans into space, Jeff Bezos revealed on Wednesday that he was selling about $1 billion in Amazon.com Inc stock a year to finance his Blue Origin rocket company. nyti.ms/2ockJnZ - PepsiCo Inc has apologized for a controversial advertisement that borrowed imagery from the Black Lives Matter movement, after a day of intense criticism from people who said it trivialized the widespread protests against the killings of black people by the police. nyti.ms/2nGilSB - Facebook Inc on Wednesday announced new artificial intelligence tools intended to address a uniquely modern and pernicious form of harassment, often but not exclusively aimed at women, that has attracted increasing attention. Victims of such nonconsensual posts, often referred to as "revenge porn," now have some help in preventing their spread. The tools are designed to keep such content, once flagged, off its site for good. nyti.ms/2ocuhQ7 (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru) Next In Company News UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 6 April 6 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 67 points at 7,264 on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers. * SHELL: Royal Dutch Shell sold its stake in a New Zealand gas field while taking over the field''s operating company as part of a plan to possibly divest its holdings in the country later on, the company said Thursday. * TESCO: UK retailer Tesco Plc is cutting night shifts for shelf stackers in some of its supermarkets in a fresh shakeup that put'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL3N1HE22M'|'2017-04-06T13:34:00.000+03:00' '76c52d4be778e49d98369737e58207b72c493ea8'|'Data drilling: Oil struggles to enter the digital age'|'IT SOUNDS like a spectacular feat of engineering. Employees of Royal Dutch Shell located in Calgary, Canada, recently drilled a well 6,200 miles (10,000km) away in Vaca Muerta, Argentina. In fact, the engineers of the Anglo-Dutch oil major were using computers to perform what they call “virtual drilling”, based on their knowledge of Fox Creek, a shale bed in Alberta, which has similar geological features to Argentina’s biggest shale deposit. They used real-time data sent from a rig in Vaca Muerta to design the well and control the speed and pressure of the drilling. On their second try, they completed the well for $5.4m, down from $15m a few years ago. “It’s the cheapest well we’ve drilled in Argentina,” says Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive.Shell is not alone in deploying computer wizards alongside geologists in an attempt to lower costs in an era of moderate oil prices. The industry as a whole is waking up to the fact that digitisation and automation have transformed other industries, such as commerce and manufacturing, and that they have been left behind. Technology firms and consultancies are knocking on their doors peddling alluring concepts like the “digital oil rig” and the “oilfield of the future”. Some argue that the embrace of digital technologies could be the next big thing after the shale revolution that started to transform oil and gas production in America a decade ago. But this is an industry that embraces new technologies only in fits and starts. 16 2 Once, Big Oil was at the forefront of digitisation, pioneering the use of 3-D seismic data and supercomputers to help find resources. But priorities changed, especially during the past decade when oil prices rose above $100 a barrel and the primary goal was to find more of it, whatever the cost. Whizzy new technology took second place. Ulrich Spiesshofer, chief executive of ABB, a Swedish-Swiss automation-technology company, says the oil industry puts to use in exploration activities barely 5% of the seismic data it has collected. During production of oil, less than 1% of data from an oil rig reaches the people making decisions, reckons McKinsey, a consultancy.It is the process of extracting oil and gas that is considered most ripe for digitisation and automation. Drilling often takes place miles below the surface in rock formations where drill bits and pipes can be broken or snagged, which halts activity for long periods. Baker Hughes, an oil-services firm, has recently developed what it calls the first automated drill bit, capable of self-adjusting depending on the nature of the rock. McKinsey says undersea robots are also being deployed to fix problems.Above the surface, efforts are under way to reduce the amount of people and plant on oil rigs, helping improve safety in a dangerous industry. James Aday, a veteran oil driller now at Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy, says that on the drilling platform itself, automation is not new. Others say that more rigs are being controlled semi-remotely; in the Gulf of Mexico, engineers in Houston use real-time data from oil rigs to make decisions, reducing the cost of shuttling them by helicopter to rigs. “The aim is to bring the data to the expert, not the expert to the data,” says Peter Zornio of Emerson, an automation firm. “There’s a huge incentive to get the people and the choppers off the platform.”Wider use of data, sensors and automation will produce new challenges for the industry. It will have to learn about cyber-security—oil rigs are critical infrastructure—and invest in ways to prevent theft of data. But digitisation may also attract millennials to replace an ageing workforce, where mass retirement is a looming threat.As to whether the workforce could shrink across the industry in the digital age, ultimately geologists and engineers believe technology will not put them out of a job, because producing oil is art as well as science. Nor will tech startups be likely to overcome the barriers to entry—such as high capital requirements—that protect incumbents. But they add to a sense, born out of the shale revolution, that innovation will make oil and gas more accessible and that the days when oil was considered a scarce resource are long gone. Business "Data drilling"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720338-talk-digital-oil-rig-may-be-bit-premature-oil-struggles-enter-digital-age?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'a64e3809d82fd9af7c6afdee6931ecf8e7f81012'|'Bank of England plans liquidity tool for Islamic banks'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:10pm BST Bank of England plans liquidity tool for Islamic banks The Bank of England is seen in the City of London, Britain, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay By Bernardo Vizcaino The Bank of England said on Thursday it will develop a sharia-compliant liquidity tool for use by Islamic banks, underscoring efforts to attract business from the industry''s core centres in the Middle East and South East Asia. London has long sought to position itself as a global hub for Islamic finance, going as far as issuing a sovereign Islamic bond in 2014, and tools to support its Islamic banking sector could help weather the economic impact of leaving the European Union. The central bank has issued a consultation paper on a fund-based deposit model for the facility, which would help Islamic lenders meet regulatory requirements for liquid asset buffers. Islamic finance follows religious principles such as bans on gambling and outright speculation, with interest-bearing products deemed off-limits. This means Islamic banks can find it difficult to access the money markets, and in particular, the interest-based liquidity tools offered by central banks. The BoE said the facility is unlikely to be ready before the spring of 2018, while it has yet to decide on whether it will develop a liquidity insurance facility. However, the proposed tool would be a welcome development for Britain''s Islamic banks. These include Gatehouse Bank, the Bank of London and the Middle East BLME.DI, Qatari-owned Al Rayan Bank and a unit of Qatar Islamic Bank QISB.QA. The pricing of the proposed model would be comparable with conventional tools, making it attractive for Islamic banks, the BoE said in its consultation paper. The central bank said feedback from a previous consultation paper found preference for a model using an agency contract known as ''wakala''. Respondents advised the central bank that another proposed model based on commodity ''murabaha'', a cost-plus-profit arrangement, could pose reputational risks because opinions on its sharia-compliance can vary. Stakeholders have until May 23 to give their views, after which the Bank of England would begin work on the facility, including a set of standardised terms and contractual documentation. (Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-islamic-finance-bank-of-england-idUKKBN1781HY'|'2017-04-06T20:10:00.000+03:00' '3f84753e44c543396d55158ec5dcdf3588318494'|'Why BlackRock wants to pay George Osborne £650,000 a year - Politics'|'I t is easy to understand why George Osborne can find one day a week in his busy schedule to work for BlackRock , the world’s largest fund manager. At £650,000 a year, or £13,000 a day, it sounds a more lucrative gig than editing the London Evening Standard on the other four weekdays. The former chancellor may also be given shares in the US firm, so we do not know if the salary is the starter or the main course.Can he possibly be worth it? They certainly pay themselves well at BlackRock – Larry Fink, its co-founder, chairman and chief executive, got $26m (£21m) in 2015 – but Osborne won’t be managing investments or even lobbying the UK government because the rules forbid it.BlackRock’s bland official explanation is that it hired the Conservative MP for Tatton for his wise counsel on subjects such as European politics and Chinese economic reform. “George has a unique and invaluable perspective on the issues that are shaping our world today,” said Fink when he announced the appointment in January . “At the centre of our mission is helping people around the world save and invest for retirement, and George’s insights will help our clients achieve their goals.”Osborne the pensioners’ friend, then? Up to a point. Many financial companies have advisory boards to generate ideas, interpret long-term trends and deliver occasional home truths to the insiders. The conveyor belt of former regulators, central bankers and politicians never stops. BlackRock’s own Investment Institute, the part Osborne will advise, is led by Philipp Hildebrand, a former head of the Swiss central bank. The critical difference in Osborne’s case is that he intends to continue as an MP and also edit a newspaper.One FTSE 100 chief executive thinks the arrangement is untenable. “Politics is impacting on the business world like never before so I can completely understand why BlackRock would want a politician who knows economics,” he says. “What I cannot understand is why George Osborne thinks he can straddle politics, the media and finance at the same time. How can he separate information and tittle-tattle gained in one role from his duties in another role? It’s just not feasible.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest George Osborne has said he will receive £650,000 a year advising BlackRock for around one day a week. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty ImagesIt’s not as if BlackRock occupies a quiet corner of the financial world. It manages $5.1tn (£4tn) of assets. To put that into perspective, that is more than double the UK’s annual GDP. It spans the market from shares to bonds to private equity.It is often the biggest single investor in large US and UK companies and is a key player in corporate takeover battles. It has 13,000 staff in 30 countries. And, while Fink preaches a gospel of long-termism and sustainability – a refreshing antidote to old-style Wall Street excess – BlackRock’s size means it is constantly in the midst of political and regulatory debates.BlackRock’s closeness to politicians has also come under the spotlight in the past, notably during the financial crisis of 2007-09, when the US administration turned to the firm for help in analysing and solving the meltdowns at investment bank Bear Stearns, giant insurer AIG and government-backed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Back then, the explanation was that BlackRock’s expertise in analysing risk served the interests of the American taxpayer.The argument was plausible, it should be said. Unlike the Wall Street banks, BlackRock was not entangled in financial junk and its brilliance in analysing risk is unquestioned. But the firm’s standing as the trusted adviser to the Obama administration was also clearly helpful in expanding its global reach and picking up business from sovereign wealth funds.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Larry Fink, CEO at BlackRock Photograph: Lucas Jackson/ReutersFink, a Democrat, co-founded the firm in 1988 after his high-flying career as a bond market trader at US bank First Boston came to a humiliating halt when a bet on interest rates produced a $100m loss. BlackRock was conceived as a less risky way do business. The heartbeat of the firm remains Aladdin, an enormous information processing system which drives the “fact-based, data-driven” approach to investing.This technology-led approach has transformed the fund management industry. So has the 20-year trend towards “passive” investment, also led by BlackRock.Its most successful purchase was its acquisition of Barclays Global Investors in 2009, from the then-stricken UK bank. Long-serving Barclays executives now roll their eyes in despair at the thought of how life could have been different for them if BGI had been retained. BlackRock was already big in index-tracking products – those that passively seek to replicate the performance of bond or share index – but the addition of BGI helped to super-charge the expansion.The current planned £12bn merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management can be viewed as a direct response to the power of the passives. The Scottish duo need to cut costs to fund their own technological innovations and lead active management’s fight-back. Yet, even with a combined £660bn under management, the combination will look small next to BlackRock.For some, BlackRock’s sheer size has become a problem. Active managers in the UK grumble that the firm has taken a free-ride on their time-consuming efforts to rein in boardroom pay. That appeared to change this year when BlackRock wrote to large UK companies setting out a tougher stance – calling for an end to huge executive pay rises unless employees were treated similarly. But UK rivals still complain that BlackRock is years behind the curve and too timid.Facebook Twitter Pinterest BlackRock offices in New York City. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/ReutersMore seriously for Fink, regulators wondered after the banking crisis whether giant asset managers could also endanger the global financial system. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), the closest thing to a global financial regulator, asked four years ago whether they should be considered “systemically important”.That label matters. In a post-crisis world, systemically important banks and insurers are more closely supervised and must hold more capital . ““Too big to fail” is a bank concept. We’re not a bank,” argued Fink and other big US managers such as Vanguard. After an intense lobbying effort, they won. The FSB backed off, opting instead to improve its monitoring of their activities to ensure markets could not suddenly seize up. The victory was crucial: for the likes of BlackRock, it meant there is no extra regulatory penalty for becoming even bigger.But the episode illustrated where future threats could emerge. “When you are as big in a sector as BlackRock is, the key risks to your sector aren’t really your competitors,” says one lobbyist. “The biggest risk comes from public policy and regulation policy. Who better to have advising you than a former G7 finance minister?”That is one context in which to place Osborne’s arrival. BlackRock is big, immensely successful and acutely aware of the need to stay in touch with political and regulatory thinking. At £650,000 a year, the services of a former chancellor represent small change for a company that made profits last year of $4.5bn (£3.6bn). So, yes, through BlackRock’s narrow lens, he’s probably worth it.Yet the potential for conflicts of interest are enormous. Here is just one obvious example: BlackRock owns about 10% of AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical firm at the centre of a political storm when US rival Pfizer launched an unsuccessful £69bn bid in 2014 . If, for example, BlackRock had wished the takeover to go ahead, who better to have on board to assess the potential political reaction – and advise on ways around it – than the former chancellor?Add in the fact that the same man is now editor of the Evening Standard - the City’s evening newspaper - and his influence is magnified further. When deals that can generate profits measured in hundreds of millions are on the table, Osborne’s £650k is a mere trifle.Facebook Twitter Pinterest George Osborne visits the AstraZeneca site in Cheshire. BlackRock owns 10% of Astrazenca Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA BlackRock … by numbersBlackRock has a stake in every FTSE 100 company, worth a total of £145bnThat means it owns nearly 8% of the UK’s leading share indexIts investment in the FTSE 100 accounts for around 3.5% of its total assets of £4trnIts biggest stake by value is its £9bn investment in HSBC, its smallest a £9.3m shareholding in medical group ConvatecOther shareholdings worth more than £5bn are AstraZeneca, British American Tobacco, GlaxoSmithKline, and the two classes of Royal Dutch Shell shares.In percentage terms, its top holdings are Next (nearly 14%), BHP Billiton (13.29%), information group Relx (12.88%), Land Securities (12.46%), building materials group CRH (12.46%), cruise company Carnival (12.19%), gold miner Randgold Resource (nearly 12%), easyJet (11.83%), technology group Johnson Matthey (11.83%), and Severn Trent (11.55%).It is the biggest shareholder in more than half of the FTSE 100’s companies: Ashtead, Aviva, AstraZeneca, British American Tobacco, British Land, BHP Billiton, BP, Burberry, Centrica, Compass, Croda, CRH, Diageo, Direct Line, Experian, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, Hammerson, HSBC, 3i, Imperial Brands, Intertek, Johnson Matthey, Kingfisher, Land Securities, Legal & General, Lloyds Banking Group, London Stock Exchange, Marks & Spencer, Mondi, National Grid, Next, Persimmon, Royal Dutch Shell A and B shares, Relx, Royal Mail, Randgold Resources, Sage, Shire, St James’s Place, Standard Life, Smiths Group, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, Smith & Nephew, Severn Trent, Tesco, Unilever, Vodafone, Worldpay, and WPP.(Source: Thomson Reuters)Its joint venture infrastructure investments include a business park at Heathrow, windfarms bought from Centrica, solar farms in Derbyshire and Essex and a £75m loan to Trafford Housing TrustTopics George Osborne House of Commons Sovereign wealth funds Private equity Executive pay and bonuses features '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/apr/06/why-worlds-largest-fund-manager-paying-george-osborne-650000-pounds'|'2017-04-06T21:42:00.000+03:00' '677e8f89d9cb120ac928efce0227bfc26c145588'|'EDF board left nuclear plant closure options open - CGT union'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 6:24pm BST EDF board left nuclear plant closure options open - CGT union The logo of EDF is seen on the company tower at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo PARIS EDF''s board approved a motion on Thursday that leaves the French utility more leeway on whether to close its oldest nuclear plant, the Fessenheim site on the Franco-German border, a CGT union official told Reuters on Thursday. Earlier on Thursday, EDF''s board had decided not to vote through a first motion that would have closed the ageing plant for good. A source at EDF said the second motion had approved the principle of closing Fessenheim but only under two conditions: the start of production of a new nuclear plant in Flamanville, Normandy and if nuclear production remains below a ceiling set by law. Energy Minister Segolene Royal said that meant Fessenheim''s closure was "irreversible". But the CGT union official, Laurent Langlard, disagreed. "In concrete terms, Fessenheim continues to operate in 2017, it continues to operate in 2018, and we''ll see when Flamanville starts producing which unit is disconnected from the grid. But it won''t necessarily be Fessenheim," he told Reuters. Langlard said the law setting the nuclear production ceiling could be changed after a new president is voted in May. (Reporting by Michel Rose and Cyril Altmeyer; Editing by Leigh Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-nuclearpower-fessenheim-decisi-idUKKBN1782D7'|'2017-04-07T01:24:00.000+03:00' 'e4e5b28cbeeac60c4e33bef065f2207078f52fa2'|'UPDATE 2-Overheated housing markets may hamper Canada''s growth -RBC'|'Company 40am EDT UPDATE 2-Overheated housing markets may hamper Canada''s growth -RBC * RBC CEO says single solution unlikely to be successful * RBC CEO calls for co-ordinated intervention * RBC CEO defends sales practices following media reports (Adds comments by RBC CEO) By Matt Scuffham TORONTO, April 6 Royal Bank of Canada Chief Executive Officer Dave McKay warned on Thursday that overheating housing markets could inhibit Canada''s economic growth, and he urged the federal and provincial governments to work together to address the issue. Toronto home sales and prices surged in March, an industry report showed on Wednesday, fueling fears of a real estate bubble in Canada''s largest city and raising expectations that the province of Ontario would soon act to cool the market. British Columbia enacted a 15 percent tax on foreign buyers last year, and some economists have suggested that similar measures may be necessary in Ontario. "Any single solution is unlikely to be successful on its own," McKay said at RBC''s annual meeting. "A complex problem like this requires a multi-faceted solution, which addresses supply constraints and speculative forces and is mindful of the rate environment, which can be a moderating force." With even mainstream Canadian economists calling the Toronto market a bubble and Finance Minister Bill Morneau saying national policies are not the best tool to tackle a local problem, the pressure is now on Ontario. "We would welcome any effort by the three levels of government to coordinate their interventions, and to do so reasonably quickly," McKay said. Owning a home has become "a distant dream" for many Canadians, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, he said, citing "persistent" supply-and-demand imbalances in those areas as well as low interest rates and speculative activity. "All of these factors are mixing to push prices up to unsustainable levels, stressing household balance sheets and locking many people out of the housing market," he said. McKay defended the bank''s sales practices following media reports that staffers, pressured to meet targets, had opened accounts for consumers without their consent. "The media reports over the last few weeks characterize an environment that is not consistent with our experience, our culture, or our values," he said. "It is not the RBC that I know, that our clients know, or that I have grown up with for nearly three decades." Canada''s financial watchdog is investigating sales practices at the country''s banks and expects to conclude its probe by the end of the year. McKay said that of the 2.4 million accounts RBC opened last year, fewer than 0.05 percent of customers raised concerns about the way theirs were opened. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/rbc-agm-idUSL2N1HE0PR'|'2017-04-06T22:40:00.000+03:00' '80da52029e5bcb5755eebbfe9d2fb3849a208cfa'|'How artificial life spawned a billion-dollar industry'|' 6:00am EDT How artificial life spawned a billion-dollar industry * Investors like synthetic biology''s market potential * Tech pioneers backing new wave of start-ups * Ethical and safety concerns remain By Ben Hirschler LONDON, April 6 Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology''s wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrialising the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook, Uber and Zynga , believes the emerging industry has passed the "epiphany" moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value. "Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business," he said. "The things that sustain and accelerate this industry are today more effective, lower cost, more precise and more repeatable. That makes it easier to extract disruptive value." Ocko, whose Data Collective firm has invested in companies including organism design firm Gingko Bioworks and bioengineer Zymergen, is not alone. Other tech veterans backing the new wave of "synbio" start-ups include Jerry Yang, Marc Andreessen, Peter Thiel and Eric Schmidt, famous for their roles at Yahoo, Netscape, PayPal and Google respectively. UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN Experts meeting in London this week said the science toolkit was improving fast and the cost of synthesising DNA was now 100 times cheaper than in 2003, although uncertainties remain about regulation and the public''s appetite for tinkering with life. The global conference hosted by Imperial College London, bringing together scientists and money people, comes four weeks after researchers announced they were close to building a complete artificial genome for baker''s yeast. This ambitious project has brought complex artificial life a big step closer because yeast is a eukaryote, an organism whose cells contain a nucleus, just like human cells. The yeast work shows how DNA can be manipulated on a large scale, with genetic code increasingly treated like a programming language in which binary 1s and 0s are replaced by DNA''s four chemical building blocks, abbreviated as A, T, G, C. A growing emphasis on computing is closing the gap between biology and traditional tech, even though this is an area that remains unpredictable, variable and complex. "The intersection of biology and technology is a difficult place to be because of different cultures and languages, but I think we are breaking through some of those barriers," said Thomas Bostick, former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who now leads biotech firm Intrexon''s environment unit. The idea that engineering life can be broken down into data and coding is part of the appeal for tech investors. "DNA is seen as the next programmable matter and that is what a lot of the Silicon Valley investors are excited about," said John Cumbers, founder of synthetic biology network SynBioBeta. "They''ve witnessed the power of software over the last 25 years and they are looking for the next big thing." Data from SynBioBeta shows a record $1.21 billion was invested in the sector worldwide in 2016, a threefold increase from five years earlier, while the number of firms in the sector has almost doubled to 411. For a graphic see tmsnrt.rs/2n3VYuO A range of companies are springing up, from those producing new chemicals for industry to providers of DNA synthesis and related software, like U.S.-based Twist Bioscience and Britain''s Synthace. Work is also advancing by leaps and bounds in the complementary area of gene editing now being embraced by many of the world''s top drugmakers. CHANGE OF TACK The current product focus represents a change of tack from the first widely tipped application of synthetic biology in making biofuels from engineered algae. In the event, algal biofuel proved a lot harder to scale up than expected and a tumbling oil price during the Great Recession of the late 2000s undercut the business model. Drew Endy of Stanford University believes the case for using synthetic biology to take on gasoline never stacked up. "Why would you bank your whole platform on a bulk high-volume, low-price, low-margin product? It''s baffling, not strategic," he said. Today''s synbio firms are looking at more niche and expensive products, such as potent painkillers and cancer medicines made in yeast cells - or fabrics with novel properties, although some have only reached demonstration stage. California-based Bolt Threads recently debuted a limited edition $314 necktie made from yeast-derived spider''s silk and Japanese rival Spiber has made a concept piece spider-silk parka jacket. Boston-based Gingko Bioworks, meanwhile, is developing a rose oil for French fragrance house Robertet and Switzerland''s Evolva has developed a vanillin, or vanilla extract, that, unlike most vanilla flavouring, is not made from petrochemicals. In some areas - especially anything to do with food or the environment - synthetic biology is already running into criticism. Friends of the Earth was quick to condemn the new yeast-derived vanillin as "extreme" genetic engineering. Other controversies appear inevitable as synthetic biologists push the envelope with more extreme projects, such as a Harvard team''s "Jurassic Park"-style proposal to resurrect the woolly mammoth by adapting the Asian elephant genome. Intrexon''s Bostick, whose firm is releasing millions of genetically manipulated mosquitoes in Brazil in a bid to slash populations of Zika-carrying insects, believes each synthetic biology scheme has to prove its benefits outweigh the risks. "There are always pros and cons, and we owe people a fair and balanced assessment." (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Giles Elgood) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/science-life-synthetic-investment-idUSL5N1HC5MS'|'2017-04-06T18:00:00.000+03:00' '8101813bce2e0f878a48478fc6320262c0f369d0'|'Gary Cohn supports splitting lending and investment banks: Bloomberg'|'White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said in a private meeting with lawmakers that he supports a policy that could revamp Wall Street''s biggest firms by separating their consumer-lending businesses from their investment banks, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.The National Economic Council director, also a former Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) president, said he favors a system of banking where firms like Goldman Sachs focus on trading and underwriting securities, while companies like Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) primarily issues loans, Bloomberg said. bloom.bg/2nZK5n1The White House was not immediately available for comment.In the meeting which was arranged by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Cohn had discussions on topics including financial regulations and overhauling the tax code. The meeting included lawmakers from both political parties and their staffs, Bloomberg reported.On Tuesday, President Trump said his administration is working on changes to the Dodd-Frank banking regulations that will make it easier for banks to loan money.Last month White House spokesman Sean Spicer said during a briefing with reporters that Trump still backs his campaign pledge to restore the Glass-Steagall Act. The law, which separated commercial and investment banking activities, was repealed in 1999 and, if reinstated, would mainly apply to larger banks.(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-gary-cohn-policy-idINKBN1780C8'|'2017-04-06T02:34:00.000+03:00' 'de74b838f4af57331832d8f8324c5308871624b1'|'Puerto Rico''s PREPA, bondholders have new restructuring deal -source'|'April 6 Puerto Rico''s debt-laden power utility, PREPA, and its bondholders have reached a new deal to restructure $8.9 billion in debt, according to a source familiar with the talks.The deal could save an extra $1.5 billion over five years in debt servicing costs, as compared to a prior pending deal between the parties, said the person, who declined to be named because the deal is not yet public. (Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/puertorico-debt-prepa-idINL2N1HE16R'|'2017-04-06T14:05:00.000+03:00' '21901c8a8002e93a4a673606054bac95aeb8a05a'|'FTSE dips as Fed minutes, risk-off mood weigh'|'Business News 29am BST FTSE dips as Fed minutes, risk-off mood weigh People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File photo By Helen Reid - LONDON LONDON British shares dropped on Thursday after minutes of the Federal Reserve''s last meeting indicated the bank would shrink its balance sheet later this year. The FTSE 100 .FTSE was down 0.6 percent in early trade, with financials the biggest weight as investors priced in smaller central bank balance sheets, after U.S. equities dipped on Wednesday. "There were two elements in the Fed minutes: the fact that some officials thought equities were overvalued; but the smarter money is looking at the fact balance sheet reduction seems to be indicated towards the end of this year," said Panmure Gordon chief economist Simon French. "Markets are taking their cue from the U.S. investors, saying the shrinking of balance sheets means less money sloshing around, which will weigh on asset prices," he added. Discounting a raft of stocks trading ex-div, banks Lloyds ( LLOY.L ) and RBS ( RBS.L ) were the top fallers, down 1.8 and 2.2 percent, tracking a broader sell-off in European banking stocks .SX7P. Pearson ( PSON.L ) was down 8.9 percent, trading ex-div and further weighed by a downgrade from Exane to ''underperform''. "Structural pressures in U.S. higher education courseware are now well documented in the share price. However, we raise fresh concerns on the sustainability of double-digit growth in Pearson''s U.S. virtual schools business, its fastest growing segment in North America, currently accounting for 6 percent of group revenues," the broker said. Real estate stocks were the top European gainers, and British Land Company ( BLND.L ) and Land Securities Group ( LAND.L ) were up 1.2 to 1.4 percent. Miners Fresnillo ( FRES.L ), Antofagasta ( ANTO.L ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L ) also rose 1.3 to 1.5 percent, with the price of gold firming ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Intellectual property firm Allied Minds ( ALML.L ) was the top mid-cap faller, down 8.4 percent to a record low and trading below its IPO price for the first time, taking its year-to-date losses to 63 percent. The company, 28 percent owned by Woodford Investment Management, had its worst ever day on Wednesday after cutting funding for seven of its portfolio companies. Jefferies raised the stock to ''hold'' from ''underperform''. "Allied Minds'' new CEO has taken less than a month to cull the weaker companies in the portfolio," said the broker. "This has happened more quickly and broadly than we expected, but we see this $147 million hit as decisive rather than panicked or precipitated." Tullow Oil ( TLW.L ) traded without rights to its cash call and was up 6 percent, the top European gainer. Biotech company BTG ( BTG.L ) was up 3.8 percent, the second top European gainer after it set a bullish full-year forecast. (Reporting by Helen Reid, editing by Larry King) Next In Business News ECB to stick to policy plan despite calls for tightening: Draghi, Praet FRANKFURT The European Central Bank will stick to its policy plan including bond buying and record-low rates for some time to come as it is not yet convinced the euro zone economy is back to rude health, its president and chief economist said on Thursday.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN178100'|'2017-04-06T17:29:00.000+03:00' '17dc1e01bcc5e0045ab94291c9bf60db3cfca045'|'Japanese retailer Seven & i to buy Sunoco assets for $3.3 billion'|'TOKYO Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings Co ( 3382.T ) said on Thursday it would buy most of Sunoco LP''s ( SUN.N ) convenience store and gasoline retail businesses for about $3.3 billion.Seven & i, which operates the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said in a statement the deal was aimed at expanding its store network and improving profitability.Seven & i said it expects to carry out the acquisition from Texas-based Sunoco in August.(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sunoco-lp-m-a-seven-i-hldgs-idINKBN1780IT'|'2017-04-06T04:23:00.000+03:00' '65471551c055d75ee0517f1cd059334085787e3a'|'Delayed delivery: Growth at Indian internet consumer firms has stalled'|'THE promise of virgin commercial territory up for grabs, startups vying to lure investors’ money even faster than they burn through it, and Amazon trying to capture all the spoils: the recent scramble for the Indian online consumer has had more than a whiff of the late-90s dotcom boom about it. The exuberance seemed justified. India is the world’s fastest-growing large economy, its consumers increasingly clutching smartphones and fattening wallets. Online shopping, worth just $1bn five years ago, seemed to be growing so fast that it would exceed $100bn by 2020.The boom has ended not with a pop, as in 2000, but a whimper. Online sales, after more than doubling in 2014 and nearly trebling in 2015, were nearly flat in 2016 (see chart). Analysts are scrambling to lower their forecasts. Given that total retail consumption in India grows by around 18% a year, and internet penetration went up by two-fifths last year, e-commerce if anything looks to be losing ground. 15 2 That is sobering news for many. In the 18 months to December 2015, investors put $9bn into Indian startups, often at eye-popping valuations. Forrester, a research group, now reckons that the market will grow to $48bn by 2020. That may not be enough to sustain the five big general online retailers—Flipkart and Snapdeal, two established Indian firms that are trying to fend off Amazon, as well as a pair of smaller firms, Paytm and ShopClues. A long tail of niche firms peddles everything from taxi rides to cinema tickets.They all hope that 2016 will prove to have been a blip. Some factors that slowed sales growth may have been one-offs; some changes were in fact welcome. An unhealthy cycle had developed, whereby investors backed e-commerce firms that showed strong sales growth, which then used the cash to fund discounts needed to attract more customers, who were unprofitable but boosted sales growth, attracting new investors, and so on.According to RedSeer, a consultancy, by 2015 some 20-30% of all e-commerce sales were to middlemen who were buying heavily discounted merchandise from the big companies and selling it on nearer its full price, pocketing the difference. But a deluge of funding in 2015 turned to drought in 2016. Firms ceased subsidising unprofitable sales and concentrated on limiting their losses, which dented overall sales.The authorities also put a dampener on the market, by reiterating a year ago that e-commerce firms have to act mostly as matchmakers between buyers and sellers (as eBay does in most countries), not sell their own inventory. Companies already skirt the rule using subsidiaries, but it became harder to do so. The sudden “demonetisation” of large bank notes in November hurt online sales (around two-thirds of Indian buyers of goods online are paid with cash upon delivery).Not all online firms have been equally affected by the slowdown. By all accounts Amazon continued to grow; it now claims to be the market leader. Flipkart, which also claims to be the biggest Indian e-commerce firm, struggled in early 2016 amid mass departures of senior staff; it appears to have recovered somewhat since. Snapdeal, formerly beloved of investors, is now a distant third. SoftBank, a Japanese investor with a one-third stake, is reportedly seeking to sell it to Flipkart, even if that means investors getting less money back than the nearly $2bn they put in.Some observers are questioning whether the long-term promise of Indian e-commerce still holds. Increasingly, executives hint in private that the market is far smaller than their former marketing material suggested. “Most people talk about India being a 1.2bn consumer market. It’s not,” Ashish Hemrajani, founder of BookMyShow, a ticketing site, told a conference recently. Though smartphone usage is rising quickly, there are perhaps 200m-250m Indians with internet access and credit or debit cards, most of them in big cities. But only a proportion of this total is actually inclined to shop online. The number of active online shoppers reached 35m-40m in 2015, and has not grown much since then, says Arya Sen of Jefferies, a bank.The funding drought of 2016 seems to be easing. But so-called “down rounds”, in which companies accept investment based on valuations significantly below their peaks, are now the norm. Both Flipkart and Ola, a ride-hailing firm, are having to endure them.This duo have been at the vanguard of calls for protection from foreign competition. Sachin Bansal, a co-founder of Flipkart, has complained about unfair “capital dumping”, notably by Amazon, which has pledged $5bn to its Indian subsidiary. Both Amazon and Uber failed to crack China, and are hoping for redemption in India. They can deploy oodles of capital generated by non-Indian operations. Along with the top brass at Ola, Mr Bansal has pleaded with the government to follow the Chinese model of restricting foreign companies from operating in India.Such tactics are little more than “crying foul after playing the game”, says Radhika Aggarwal, ShopClues’ co-founder. Fears that Alibaba, a deep-pocketed Chinese rival, could gatecrash the market in earnest (it is currently a large investor in Paytm’s parent company) are rising. Rakuten, an aggressive Japanese e-commerce firm, is also said to be preparing to enter the market, which is still big enough to tempt.Cart gameNeedless to say, Flipkart and Ola still welcome foreign capital that goes into their own coffers. They certainly need it. The big Indian e-commerce firms are probably losing $2bn-2.5bn a year in total. Optimists hope the end of the funding froth will have kiboshed only firms with bad business plans. Even the large players are focusing on niches, such as fashion or groceries, that have fatter margins than gizmos such as smartphones (roughly half of all sales now), which are barely profitable. Amazon aside, the focus is on finding ways of making more money from existing customers rather than finding new ones.It also bodes well that founders have pointedly shifted their focus from sales to profits. The question is whether customers will buy as much online if they no longer receive a subsidy from venture capitalists every time they check out. The assumption used to be that the Indian e-commerce market had room for all firms to thrive. Now the consensus is that only the implosion of the weakest can lift returns so that investors become willing to pour in more money, allowing the Indian champions to take on the likes of Amazon. And if this year is no better than last, even that will be called into question. Business "Delayed delivery"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720330-they-must-fend-amazon-amid-doubts-about-their-business-models-growth-indian-internet?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'f3e104ca6b3225f2c575e2eb76d71335375869a8'|'Moody''s downgrades $13 bln in Puerto Rico debt; affirms GO, COFINA'|'By Nick Brown - NEW YORK, April 5 NEW YORK, April 5 Moody''s Investors Service on Wednesday lowered ratings on $13 billion of Puerto Rican bonds, including debt from the U.S. territory''s now-defunct former fiscal agent, the Government Development Bank.Moody''s said it downgraded bonds from six Puerto Rican issuers, but affirmed ratings on the island''s largest classes of debt - general obligation bonds guaranteed by its constitution, and so-called COFINA debt, backed by sales tax revenue.It downgraded to C from Ca the GDB''s senior notes, as well as bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority, backed by rum taxes; bonds issued by its convention center authority, backed by hotel occupancy taxes; debt of the island''s largest retirement system, backed by government pension contributions; and the 1998 Resolution bonds of the island''s highway authority.It downgraded to Ca from Caa3 bonds issued by the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, backed by commercial property rent."The negative outlook is consistent with ongoing economic pressures, which will weigh on (Puerto Rico''s) capacity to meet debt and other funding obligations, potentially driving bondholder recovery rates lower as debt restructuring efforts proceed," Moody''s said in its report.In addition to GO and COFINA debt, Moody''s affirmed ratings on University of Puerto Rico facilities bonds, the highway authority''s 1968 resolution bonds, and debt issued by the island''s municipal finance agency, sewer authority and Public Finance Corp.Puerto Rico is trying to restructuring $70 billion in total debt in hopes of steering itself out of an economic crisis marked by a 45 percent poverty rate, unemployment that is more than twice the U.S. average, rampant emigration, failing schools and near-insolvent public health and pension systems.Its benchmark 2035 GO bonds have plummeted since March 13, when the island''s federal financial oversight board approved a fiscal turnaround plan that forecasts only $800 million a year available to pay debt, less than a quarter of what Puerto Rico owes. (Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/puertorico-ratings-debt-idINL2N1HD20B'|'2017-04-05T19:03:00.000+03:00' '89807afef06b3dd45717fa5be16090946e203285'|'Cheers! Former Oz PM Bob Hawke launches lager to round of applause'|'Lifestyle - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 5:59am EDT Cheers! Former Oz PM Bob Hawke launches lager to round of applause Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke listens to a speaker during a session at the World Leaders Forum for commemorating the 60th anniversary of South Korea at a hotel in Seoul October 30, 2008. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak MELBOURNE Former Australian prime minister and legendary beer drinker Bob Hawke may become a legendary beer maker after he launched his own craft lager on Thursday. He served up a schooner of "Hawke''s Lager" at a Sydney pub, saying, "how''s that for a pour?" to a round of applause. Hawke''s Brewing Co''s lager will be served on tap at 11 pubs across Sydney and the northern city of Newcastle from Thursday while cans bearing his likeness will be released on ANZAC Day on April 25. Australia''s third-longest serving prime minister, Hawke, 87, broke a world record for downing a yard of beer in the fastest-ever time during his time at Oxford University in the 1950s. Hawke said he any profit owed to him would go to environmental charity Landcare. "I set up Landcare when I was prime minister and it was great work and I thought it was an appropriate repository for my share of the profits," he told media. (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Karishma Singh and Nick Macfie) Next In Lifestyle'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-bobhawke-beer-idUSKBN178123'|'2017-04-06T17:59:00.000+03:00' 'b12d1c20362bcb56d50ef9964251a919f2e15049'|'German industrial orders recover in February after sharp drop in January'|' 01am BST German industrial orders recover in February after sharp drop in January Workers assemble an e-Golf electric car at the new production line of the Transparent Factory of German carmaker Volkswagen in Dresden, Germany March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN German industrial orders picked up in February after plummeting the previous month but the rise in contracts for factories in Europe''s largest economy was weaker than expected, data showed on Thursday. Contracts for ''Made in Germany'' goods were up by 3.4 percent on the month, the Economy Ministry said. That missed the Reuters consensus forecast for a 4.0 percent increase but came after an upwardly revised drop of 6.8 percent in January. A breakdown of the February data showed domestic demand surged by 8.1 percent while foreign orders were unchanged. Bookings from the euro zone fell by 2.4 percent. The Economy Ministry said it expected the industrial sector''s performance to improve slightly. (Reporting by Michelle Martin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-orders-idUKKBN1780GK'|'2017-04-06T14:01:00.000+03:00' 'abc07624cdf30479d92ffd1c32cd72ca79b37aba'|'Henkel to keep looking for acquisitions - CEO'|' 26am BST Henkel to keep looking for acquisitions - CEO A logo of consumer goods group Henkel is pictured before its annual news conference in Duesseldorf March 8, 2012. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender/File Photo DUESSELDORF, Germany German consumer goods group Henkel ( HNKG_p.DE ) will keep looking for acquisitions to bolster its business, its new chief executive said on Thursday. "We want to complement our portfolio and strengthen our position in attractive markets via targeted acquisitions," Hans Van Bylen told shareholders at the group''s annual general meeting. Henkel last month made a binding offer to buy Darex Packaging Technologies from GCP Applied Technologies ( GCP.N ) for $1.05 billion (0.84 billion pounds). (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Arno Schuetze) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-henkel-kgaa-strategy-idUKKBN1780U7'|'2017-04-06T16:26:00.000+03:00' '2be8999e3fad7b490884f327f1b420753c752233'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX seesaws as financials slip, gold stocks climb'|' 42am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX seesaws as financials slip, gold stocks climb TORONTO, April 7 Canada''s main stock index seesawed on Friday as the financials group lost ground, while gold mining shares climbed after escalating geopolitical tensions boosted gold prices. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was up 5.05 points, or 0.03 percent, at 15,702.23, shortly after the open. Six of the index''s 10 main groups were higher. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HF0IQ'|'2017-04-07T21:42:00.000+03:00' '4c1dbff28507387d00e1e1d6b4cc8029fcdbcaf6'|'Concerned about White House infighting, Trump eyes shake-up - WSJ'|'WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump, concerned about infighting among his team, is considering a major shakeup of senior officials on his staff in an effort to eliminate some of the White House drama, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.The crisis in Syria sharpened Trump''s desire to reduce the infighting and he is expected to make some staffing decisions soon, the Journal said, citing a senior administration official.Asked about the article, a White House spokeswoman said it was "completely false."The Journal said Trump has spoken to some of the people close to him in recent days about the performance of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and has asked for the names of possible replacements.Some people close to the president have suggested Gary Cohn, the director of the National Economic Council and a former executive at Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ), the Journal reported.Another aide who could be reassigned is Steve Bannon, Trump''s chief strategist, who has tangled with Jared Kushner, the president''s son-in-law and a close adviser, the Journal said.Trump removed Bannon from the National Security Council this week in what was seen as a victory for new national security adviser H.R. McMaster, a former Army lieutenant general who was working to exert control over the national security apparatus.White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the Journal story was an attempt to distract from Trump''s "bold and decisive" action in ordering missile strikes on Syria, the Senate''s confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and the visits of foreign leaders this week."Once again this is a completely false story driven by people who want to distract from the success taking place in this administration." she said. "The only thing we are shaking up is the way Washington operates as we push the President''s aggressive agenda forward," she said.(Additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by David Alexander; Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-staff-idINKBN1792ZN'|'2017-04-07T17:59:00.000+03:00' '6ada69248b8d29323806b0c7af73613ed8f7e8a0'|'Federal Reserve approves United Bankshares buyout of Cardinal Bank'|'Deals - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 4:23pm EDT Federal Reserve approves United Bankshares buyout of Cardinal Bank WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve on Friday said it approved a buyout of Cardinal Financial Corp [CFNLCD.UL] of McLean, Virginia, by United Bankshares Inc ( UBSI.O ) of Charleston, West Virginia. UBV Holding Company, LLC of Fairfax, Virginia, was also part of the acquisition of Cardinal Financial which includes Cardinal Bank. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cardinal-finl-m-a-united-bankshare-idUSKBN17931C'|'2017-04-08T04:20:00.000+03:00' 'b42d9cc240fcafd2879c32b61727c4e782f2b529'|'UPDATE 1-Murdoch''s Fox wins EU approval to take over Sky'|'(Adds Fox, Sky reaction)By Foo Yun Chee and Paul SandleBRUSSELS/LONDON, April 7 The European Commission cleared Rupert Murdoch to take over pay-TV group Sky on Friday, leaving a British investigation into the impact on the country''s media landscape as the only remaining hurdle for the $14.5 billion deal.The Commission said the bid did not raise any competition concerns as Murdoch''s Twenty First Century Fox and Sky were active in different markets in Europe, while existing rules in European Union countries meant that rivals would still have access to Sky films and TV channels.Fox and Sky welcomed the decision, which had been expected, and said they would continue to work with the regulators in Britain where it faces a tougher test to complete the deal."We now look forward to continuing to work with UK authorities and are confident that the proposed transaction will be approved following a thorough review process," Fox said.Reuters reported earlier on Friday that the deal would be cleared by the EU competition enforcer without conditions.Analysts had not expected the EU to block the takeover after it approved Murdoch''s previous attempt to take full control of Sky in 2011, a deal that was later derailed by a phone hacking scandal at his British newspapers that revealed close ties between politicians, police and media.The British government however has referred his new attempt to regulators to decide if it is in the public interest, in a bid to diffuse the political controversy around a deal that would extend Murdoch''s influence in Britain.Regulator Ofcom will advise on whether the deal would give Murdoch and his companies too much control of Britain''s media, and whether the new owner would be committed to upholding broadcasting standards.As part of the investigation, Media Secretary Karen Bradley has also asked Ofcom to assess whether Murdoch''s company is a "fit and proper" holder of a broadcasting licence.Murdoch''s son James, who is chief executive of Fox and chairman of Sky, was criticised by Ofcom in 2012 over his handling of the phone hacking scandal but it ultimately ruled that Sky remained a fit and proper owner of a licence.Rupert Murdoch, through another part of his media empire, owns The Times and The Sun newspapers, and already has a 39 percent stake in Sky, which is present in more than 12 million British and Irish homes.It is also present in Germany, Austria and Italy.Bradley has given Ofcom a 40-day timetable to investigate, and expects to receive its report by May 16.(Additional reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sky-plc-ma-fox-eu-idUSL8N1HF4NF'|'2017-04-07T19:37:00.000+03:00' '078a492229d072fabf5d2ce81adcc25edfca34e1'|'Brazil airline Azul tentatively reschedules IPO for Monday'|'SAO PAULO Brazilian airline Azul SA is tentatively planning to price its initial public offering on Monday, according to a statement on its website, pending approval of securities regulator CVM, which suspended the offering hours ahead of pricing.The CVM on Thursday suspended the IPO for up to 30 days due to several news stories gauging investor demand in recent days, as well as the release of a video in which executives gave projections not present in the official prospectus.Azul said it had removed the video from an investor website and would return funds to any retail investors that wanted to back out of offering by next Thursday, April 13.The CVM has recently toughened oversight of domestic debt and equity offerings as companies are returning to capital markets after a three-year drought. The decision could be reversed if Azul "fully corrects the flaws" that led to the IPO''s suspension, CVM said on Thursday.(Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-azul-ipo-idINKBN179320'|'2017-04-07T18:34:00.000+03:00' '8612acf9c4d4454476542ec65ee89e107cad813d'|'California pension fund is latest to scrap some active managers'|'By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK, April 5 NEW YORK, April 5 A California pension fund has fired Franklin Templeton Investments, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Pacific Investment Management Co from some portfolio-management responsibilities in a shakeup that puts more of its assets in lower-fee, index-tracking investments, the fund said.The Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) is the latest institutional investor to scrap some of its active managers, stemming from a consultant''s recommendation to avoid high fees and subpar performance in its $14.1 billion investment portfolio, according to a notice posted online this week.Last year, active mutual funds lost $343 billion to withdrawals. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett earlier this year said most investors are better off buying index funds.The retirement system based in Santa Ana, California, decided to move more than $1 billion of assets from the managers late in March, the notice said.Parts of the portfolio managed by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & CO LLC and Standard Life PLC are also being liquidated.Franklin Templeton and Standard Life did not respond to requests for comment, while the other fund companies declined to comment.The changes were reported earlier Wednesday by FundFire, an industry news service.Half a trillion dollars moved into index funds last year, according to Morningstar Inc, the seventh straight year they have outpaced counterparts whose managers try to pick winners and losers in the market. Those figures do not include privately managed institutional accounts.The California retirement system''s investment consultant, Meketa Investment Group Inc, told the pension plan it could save at least $9 million a year, excluding performance fees, by cutting some managers and transferring some of the funds to index-tracking investments.Meketa advised cutting equity strategies run by Franklin, GMO and JPMorgan for "historical underperformance" and "expected performance challenges relative to passive exposure going forward."And it said cutting funds such as the Pimco All Asset All Authority Fund and the Standard Life Investments Global Absolute Return Fund could also help save fees.Marc Seidner, Pimco''s chief investment officer for "Non-traditional Strategies," and Robert Arnott, who manages the All-Asset fund, are slated to speak to an OCERS committee on Thursday, according to an agenda posted online.The pension fund has cut hedge funds as a separate investment category, but has kept some hedge funds in its portfolio, including products run by Pimco, D. E. Shaw & Co LP and Bridgewater Associates LP. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/funds-passive-california-idINL2N1HD1DU'|'2017-04-05T19:41:00.000+03:00' '2107990a20bb422c5dc74524690aa93fdd1d5b02'|'Gulf Keystone trims annual loss after debt-for-equity deal'|' 13am BST Gulf Keystone trims annual loss after debt-for-equity deal LONDON Gulf Keystone Petroleum ( GKP.L ), an oil producer in Iraq''s Kurdistan region, cut its annual pretax loss to $17 million last year after a debt-for-equity deal saved it from going under. The oil company, which swapped $500 million (400 million pounds) of debt for equity in deal that diluted shareholders'' ownership to 5 percent, reduced its pretax loss from $213 million in 2015, its annual results statement showed on Thursday. Gulf Keystone, which was worth $3 billion in its heyday around 2012, said it had a cash balance of $112.7 million as of Wednesday, meaning the company has enough money available to invest in increasing production at its flagship Shaikan oil field. Annual production is expected to rise to between 32,000 and 38,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with an average of 34,794 bpd in 2016, the company said. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by David Holmes) Next In Business News UK statistics agency tries to spot recessions sooner LONDON Britain''s statistics agency said on Thursday that it is taking steps to ensure it can see when the economy is heading into recession sooner than it has in the past, after being slow to spot when Britain last entered recession in 2008.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-gulf-keystone-results-idUKKBN1780I1'|'2017-04-06T14:13:00.000+03:00' '7f29bba47010f1fb2f412a42e96c99b52ebff9a9'|'Yum China''s quarterly earnings rise almost 21 pct'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 4:45pm EDT Yum China''s quarterly earnings rise almost 21 pct April 5 Yum China Holdings Inc reported a 20.7 percent rise in quarterly earnings, as margins improved. Net income rose to $175 million, or 44 cents per share, in the first quarter ended Feb. 28, from $145 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. The company''s same-store sales rose 1 percent. Total revenue fell to $1.28 billion from $1.30 billion. (Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/yum-china-hldg-results-idUSL3N1HD4HE'|'2017-04-06T04:45:00.000+03:00' '7b39b854a5c3781a107f89307e5f817d1ba5d8a1'|'China March data seen showing solid growth but all eyes on Trump-Xi meeting'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 3:43am BST China March data seen showing solid growth but all eyes on Trump-Xi meeting Workers work at a construction site in front of Shanghai''s financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song BEIJING A flurry of data in coming weeks is expected to show China posted solid economic growth in March, as President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump meet for the first time this week with China''s trade surplus expected to be high on the agenda. Trump has foreshadowed the risk of talks being tense, tweeting on Thursday that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses. While Trump has not followed through yet on campaign threats to label China a currency manipulator or impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, many analysts reckon the new administration is just beginning to flex its trade muscles. China''s import growth for March is likely to remain strong, while exports could rebound modestly, according to Reuters polls, producing an expected trade surplus of $10 billion after a rare deficit in February. Exports were expected to rise 3.2 percent, while imports were seen up 18 percent, led once again by raw materials such as iron ore which are feeding a months-long construction boom. Imports had surged 38 percent in February while exports unexpectedly dipped, but China''s data in the first two months of the year can be heavily skewed by the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, when many businesses shut for a week or more. Reflecting continued strength in the manufacturing sector, and particularly heavy industry, China''s producer price index (PPI) likely rose 7.6 percent from a year earlier, after jumping 7.8 percent in February, its fastest pace in nearly nine years. However, while factory surveys show manufacturers have been able to pass on some higher input costs by raising prices of their goods, there has been scant evidence of it flowing through to consumer inflation and becoming a worry for policymakers. Many analysts believe China''s producer inflation may peak soon, and see consumer inflation remaining mild. The consumer price index (CPI) is mainly driven by prices of food, particularly pork, and services. The CPI likely rose 1.0 percent in March, after slowing to 0.8 percent in February, its weakest pace since January 2015, as food prices fell. Beijing is targeting consumer inflation at 3 percent this year, unchanged from 2016. China''s foreign exchange reserves likely edged up in March to $3.01 trillion after unexpectedly rising for the first time in eight months in February, rebounding above $3 trillion as a regulatory crackdown and a steadying yuan helped staunch capital outflows. The rebound in reserves could ease fears in global markets that China will engineer another sharp one-off devaluation of the yuan, which would run the risk of inflaming trade tensions with the new U.S. administration. China announces foreign exchange reserves on Friday, followed by inflation and trade data on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, while loan and money data is expected anytime from April 10-15. OUTPUT DATA LIKELY TO SUGGEST SOLID Q1 GROWTH China will release first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) on April 17, along with March industrial output, retail sales and fixed asset investment. Industrial output was expected to have remained at 6.3 percent in March, from 6.3 percent in Jan-Feb combined, while fixed asset investment was likely to grow 8.8 percent, down from 8.9 percent in Jan-Feb. Retail sales were expected to grow 9.6 percent in March, marginally better than 9.5 percent in Jan-Feb, which was the weakest pace in nearly two years. Analysts are awaiting early March data before fine-tuning their GDP forecasts for Q1, but some expect it will be roughly in line with or possibly even slightly stronger than the 6.8 percent growth China posted in the fourth quarter of 2016. Many analysts think that may be as good as it gets for Chinese growth this year, even if Trump takes no direct action on trade in coming months. Activity is expected to start cooling later in 2017 as the boost from record bank lending and strong government infrastructure spending last year begins to fade. Chinese iron ore and steel prices fell sharply in March on worries that high inventories were already signaling supply is outpacing demand. Intensifying government measures to get the overheated housing market under control could also brake economic growth, though few market watchers predict an outright property crash. LOANS SEEN UP DESPITE C.BANK TIGHTENING Loan data will also be closely watched for signs of whether authorities are sticking to credit-fueled stimulus despite official warnings about the risks from a rapid build-up in debt. Chinese banks likely extended 1.25 trillion yuan ($181.29 billion) in new loans in March, up from 1.17 trillion yuan in February but far below January''s 2.03 trillion yuan, the second highest ever. In recent months, the People''s Bank of China (PBOC) has adopted a modest tightening bias in a bid to contain financial risks, though it is treading cautiously to avoid crimping economic growth - which Beijing has said will be a more modest 6.5 percent this year. In a bid to reduce leverage in the financial system, the PBOC has bumped up interest rates on money market instruments and special short- and medium-term loans several times so far in 2017, though analysts do not expect a full-blown policy rate increase this year. ($1 = 6.8950 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Kim Coghill) Next In Business News Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of the internet retailer''s stock annually to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, which aims to launch paying passengers on 11-minute space rides starting next year.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-data-idUKKBN17807N'|'2017-04-06T10:38:00.000+03:00' '62bcbb280fd4e4d286fc77e733cd62d4fad471e4'|'BP to develop Indonesian retail fuel business with AKR Corporindo'|'JAKARTA Oil major BP has signed an agreement with Indonesian petroleum and chemicals logistics company AKR Corporindo for the joint development of a "differentiated" domestic fuel retail business, BP said in a statement.The joint venture will form a company, PT Aneka Petroindo Raya, which will operate as BP AKR Fuels Retail, and expects to open its first retail site in Indonesia in 2018, the statement said."We are delighted to be working with AKR to help meet Indonesia''s growing demand for fuels and provide superior convenience offers," BP downstream chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said.(Reporting by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bp-indonesia-akr-corporindo-idINKBN1780LD'|'2017-04-06T04:47:00.000+03:00' '2b1c34731c5e38b6e7260867b64e2ff12648558d'|'Norwegian Air adds budget transatlantic flights from two U.S. airports'|' 7:11pm EDT Norwegian Air adds budget transatlantic flights from two U.S. airports FILE PHOTO - A satellite antenna is seen on the roof of the Norwegian Airways Boening 737-800 at Berlin Schoenefeld Airport, Germany, April 2, 2015. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/File Photo By Alana Wise Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA ( NWC.OL ) will launch nonstop transatlantic flights from two more U.S. airports this fall, the airline announced on Wednesday, ramping up pressure on larger carriers to compete with the emerging low-fare airline. Beginning in mid-September, Norwegian will offer nonstop flights from Denver International and Seattle-Tacoma International airports to London''s Gatwick Airport, bringing the carrier''s total number of nonstop United States-to-London flights to nine routes. An escalating fare war to court transatlantic passengers has pushed down ticket prices even among established carriers. Air France ( AIRF.PA ) and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA ( ICAG.L ), which owns British Airways and Iberia, have both announced plans for low-cost flights to compete with budget upstarts like Norwegian. Lufthansa is expanding services to long-haul cost-conscious travelers through its Eurowings business. Norwegian''s U.S. network expansion comes after the carrier received a long-awaited U.S. approval in December for its Irish subsidiary, Norwegian Air International, to operate routes across the Atlantic. U.S. airlines and unions representing industry workers have argued that the Norwegian subsidiary will undermine wages and working standards - claims Norwegian has dismissed. "With our continuous U.S. expansion, we also bring even more tourists to the U.S. and support American jobs," Thomas Ramdahl, Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer, To keep costs low, Norwegian typically flies to and from smaller airports with lower fees. Norwegian spokesman Anders Lindstrom said that while the carrier was expanding the international travel market to passengers who otherwise could not afford pricey transatlantic flights, it was also siphoning away customers who were "fed up" with high-priced tickets at other airlines. Prices for the new Denver and Washington state routes begin at $199 for a one-way no-frills ticket, but passengers can spring for a seat in the premium cabin, which includes checked baggage, seat reservation and other perks, starting at $839. No nonstop flights appear between Denver International and Gatwick on Google Flights, but ticket prices for indirect flights start at just over $500 for a one-way, mid-September ticket. Norwegian Air''s expansion strategy has helped it to more than double revenue since 2012. Last year revenue rose 16 percent to 26 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.12 billion) and the company has placed orders for 260 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, which it will receive over several years. Norwegian said it planned to continue to grow its U.S. route network, calling Paris "a natural next step" for Denver and Seattle. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Andrew Hay) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-norweg-air-shut-transatlantic-idUSKBN17730V'|'2017-04-06T07:11:00.000+03:00' '6f66945d89e89aa2d853311886a1eedb1f3d32c0'|'Central banks need joint plans for future funding crunches - BIS'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:34pm BST Central banks need joint plans for future funding crunches - BIS By Marc Jones - LONDON LONDON Major central banks need to plan ahead and work more closely together to ensure the world''s bank funding markets do not freeze up again in future financial crises, the Bank for International Settlements said on Thursday. A new report from the BIS, known as the central bank for the world''s central banks, identified eight areas it believed needed attention to help reduce market turmoil, with six of them focussing on closer co-operation and communication. The first was that central banks needed to decide which of them was responsible for banks with operations in multiple countries. Others ranged from information sharing, collateral and currency issues, to how early to disclose the provision of support to a lender. "The key message throughout the report is that we need to prepare in calm times to be able to provide liquidity assistance effectively in times of stress," said the U.S. Federal Reserve''s William Dudley, who chaired the BIS working group on the topic. One of the complications of providing banks with billions of dollars or euros worth of funding, as the Fed, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and others all did during the financial crisis, is that the money can then flow almost anywhere. "The general lesson that emerges from the review of recent central bank experiences is the need to be prepared for new situations where liquidity assistance might be required," the BIS report said. "In particular, central banks need to consider how the interaction of national liquidity assistance frameworks might affect the cross-border coordination and provision of liquidity assistance." For full report click www.bis.org/publ/cgfs58.htm (Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Catherine Evans) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cenbank-coordination-bis-idUKKBN1781DZ'|'2017-04-06T20:34:00.000+03:00' 'c5303f87353e08b34ad61289789c3d5d9e709f99'|'JPMorgan shareholders to vote again on separate chairman and CEO'|'Business News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 9:40pm BST JPMorgan shareholders to vote again on separate chairman and CEO A view of the exterior of the JP Morgan Chase & Co. corporate headquarters in New York City May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) shareholders will again vote on a proposal calling for the board to select a chairman who is not the company''s chief executive, according to a proxy statement filed on Wednesday for the company''s annual meeting on May 16. The board said in the proxy that it is against the measure, which was proposed by a shareholder who contends that good corporate governance requires a independent chairman. The board and current Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon have defeated similar proposals in the past. (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Bill Trott) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jpmorgan-shareholders-proxy-idUKKBN1772QB'|'2017-04-06T04:40:00.000+03:00' 'ee10cda8644c40ab228f436de8237ee68389b049'|'BRIEF-Barrick announces strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Gold Group'|' 47am EDT BRIEF-Barrick announces strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Gold Group April 6 Barrick Gold Corp: * Barrick announces strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Gold * Deal for $960 million * It has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Shandong Gold Group Co., Ltd. * Barrick and Shandong will form a working group to explore joint development of Pascua-Lama deposit * Both companies will evaluate additional investment opportunities on El Indio gold belt on border of Argentina and Chile * Barrick Gold Corp - Proceeds from transaction will be used to reduce debt and for investments in our business to grow free cash flow per share * Shandong Gold Mining will acquire 50 percent of Barrick''s Veladero mine in San Juan Province, Argentina * Shandong has financing commitments in place for full value of transaction Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-barrick-announces-strategic-cooper-idUSFWN1HD0QN'|'2017-04-06T13:36:00.000+03:00' '27ebb13894ad0f935b88efcc234987abe4270c72'|'Exclusive: U.S. cable operator WaveDivision up for sale: sources'|'WaveDivision Holdings LLC is exploring a sale that its private equity owners hope will value the regional U.S. provider of cable TV, internet and telephone service at more than $2 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.The move comes amid a wave of dealmaking in the U.S. cable sector, as fierce price competition and significant capital expenditure requirements put pressure on what have traditionally been stable businesses with reliable cash flows.Buyout firms Oak Hill Capital Management LLC and GI Partners, which together with Wave''s management own the company, have hired investment bank UBS Group AG ( UBSG.S ) to run an auction for Wave, the people said this week.Wave has 12-month earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of around $200 million, the people added.The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Wave and UBS declined to comment. Oak Hill Capital and GI Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.A sale of Wave would be the latest in a string of such deals in the sector. Earlier this week, U.S. cable mogul John Malone''s Liberty Interactive Corp ( QVCA.O ) said it would acquire Alaska-based cable provider General Communication Inc ( GNCMA.O ) for $1.12 billion.Last year, private equity firm TPG Global acquired regional broadband providers RCN Telecom Services LLC and Grande Communications Networks LLC for $2.25 billion from another buyout firm, ABRY Partners.Headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, Wave has residential and commercial customers in the Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco and Portland markets.A portion of Wave''s network, including in the San Francisco market, is considered an "overbuilder," meaning it competes with existing cable providers. This could present regulatory obstacles for another cable company seeking to acquire it.Wave has also been heavily investing in its fiber network. The company said last fall it has 1,000 fiber construction projects underway.Wave''s fiber-rich network could enable it to generate more cash from its high-speed data services for homes and businesses, credit ratings agency Moody''s Investors Service Inc said last August.Oak Hill Capital, GI Partners and Wave''s management, including Chief Executive Steve Weed, acquired the company in 2012 from Sandler Capital Management. The value of that deal was $950 million, according to Moody''s.(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wavedivision-holdings-m-a-exclusive-idUSKBN1781P1'|'2017-04-06T17:21:00.000+03:00' '92eeda1ec55fa831e2b79040f688b09ef5354aae'|'With Brexit, location of derivatives clearing is key issue - EU''s Dombrovskis'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 6:16pm BST With Brexit, location of derivatives clearing is key issue - EU''s Dombrovskis European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in Berlin, Germany, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch VALLETTA The European Commission will reflect carefully on the location of euro-denominated derivatives clearing, a business mostly done in London now and that will be outside the EU when Britain leaves the bloc, the EU executive''s vice president said on Thursday. Speaking to an audience of finance experts in Malta, Valdis Dombrovskis said a key issue that the Commission will have to analyse is how to deal with a market that is of great importance for EU''s financial stability but will be mostly outside the EU after Brexit. "This will surely be a matter of important reflection in the coming months and years," Dombrovskis said, noting that the EU regulatory framework for derivatives clearing was working well and was there to stay. "An area in which Brexit will profoundly change the EU''s financial landscape is central clearing of derivatives," Dombrovskis added, but stopped short of saying clearly that clearing should be relocated from London, as urged by the European Central Bank and EU lawmakers. The European Commission could suggest a forced relocation from London to the European Union of the clearing business when it reviews the rules on derivatives in June. But the EU executive has so far refrained from taking a clear position on the issue, which could sour Brexit talks. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-clearing-derivatives-idUKKBN1782CB'|'2017-04-07T01:16:00.000+03:00' '88c34430f0913ef89cf72b2efcd91d8e7d0a2864'|'UK could allow EU freedom of movement after Brexit, Boris Johnson says'|' 6:47pm BST UK could allow EU freedom of movement after Brexit, Boris Johnson says left right British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson answers a question during a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis 1/5 left right British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson looks on during a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis 2/5 left right British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson answers a question during a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis 3/5 left right British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias gesture to each other during a press conference, following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis 4/5 left right British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gestures during a joint press conference with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) following their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis 5/5 ATHENS Britain could allow free movement of people from the European Union during an implementation phase after Brexit to allow the economy to attract talented people, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Thursday. When asked by Reuters TV if Britain would accept full free movement of people during an implementation phase, Johnson said this was possible, and could be agreed before Britain left the EU in two years'' time. "Ideally I think it could be done, what with goodwill and imagination it could be done as fast as – I think it can be done in two years," Johnson told reporters in Athens. "In the last 10 years I have been one of the few British politicians to speak up on the benefits of immigration," he said. Johnson added that he did not want to discourage talented people from coming to Britain, but said the government wanted control over flows. "We don''t want to close the doors. We simply want to have a system that is balanced," he said. The comments from Johnson are more explicit than a suggestion from Prime Minister Theresa May that free movement be continued during a phase after Brexit when Britain and the EU implement their divorce accord. Concern over immigration from the European Union was a major reason behind Britain''s vote to leave, and May has said she will respect those fears by not seeking membership of Europe''s single market which would mean allowing freedom of movement of people. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou, writing by Michele Kambas and Guy Faulconbridge, editing by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-greece-britain-johnson-idUKKBN1782F7'|'2017-04-07T01:47:00.000+03:00' 'b8ce65190b5cc2b2d18cc0b6bade28352e2547ba'|'Exclusive - Ortega shields Inditex stake to maintain family control'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 11:40am BST Exclusive - Ortega shields Inditex stake to maintain family control left right This belle epoque palazzo which once housed department store Rinascente and owned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, is seen at exclusive via del Corso in Rome, Italy, April 4, 2017 REUTERS/Remo Casilli 1/5 left right (L-R) Buildings numbered 48-26 Oxford Street, owned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, are seen in London, Britain, March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 2/5 left right The refurbished glass and steel building owned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega and will become one of Zara«s biggest stores in Europe when it re-opens in April is seen at Gran Via street in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Sergio Perez 3/5 left right The building which houses low-cost clothing chain Primark«s five-floor Spanish flagship store and owned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, is seen at Gran Via street in Madrid, Spain, March 29 , 2017. REUTERS/Susana Vera 4/5 left right The refurbished glass and steel building owned Inditex founder Amancio Ortega and will become one of Zara«s biggest stores in Europe when it re-opens in April is seen at Gran Via street in Madrid, Spain, March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Sergio Perez 5/5 By Sonya Dowsett - MADRID MADRID Amancio Ortega, founder of the world''s biggest clothing retailer Inditex and Europe''s richest man, has put a majority stake in the firm that owns the Zara fashion chain into a holding company to ensure family control remains unassailable after he dies. Corporate filings in Spain''s Mercantile Registry show the reclusive 81-year-old put a 50.01 percent shareholding into Pontegadea Investments in December 2015, along with more than 6 billion euros (5 billion pounds) in prime commercial real estate. Ortega''s heirs will now inherit stakes in Pontegadea, which groups assets worth around 57 billion euros, rather than Inditex shares which potentially could be sold, muddying prospects for the company''s direction. "The absolute priority for Ortega is to guarantee the future of the company, to ensure a controlling stake in Inditex that will not be diluted," a source close to Pontegadea told Reuters when asked about the reasoning behind the structure. The move aims to preserve continuity in ownership and management, said the source, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue. It also is likely to maintain the firm''s paternalistic presence in the northwestern region of Galicia, where Ortega lives. A former errand boy, Ortega built his empire in the mid-1970s from a Zara store in his hometown, the rainy fishing port of La Coruna, to a network of over 7,200 stores that employs tens of thousands globally. His success has had a huge knock-on effect on local businesses in Galicia, from Trison, which makes video displays for Zara stores, to Candido Hermida, a furniture maker which fits out Inditex stores worldwide. His charitable foundation, Fundacion Amancio Ortega, has invested millions in projects such as opening kindergartens in the region and training local schoolteachers. In setting up Pontegadea, Ortega aims to avoid the fate of businesses like chocolate maker Cadbury and fashion house Laura Ashley, whose founding families lost control of their empires as their shareholdings were diluted and they retreated from management. The family of Laura Ashley saw its stake in the firm progressively diluted after she died in 1985, and its connection with the company was cut entirely by 2001. Family representation on the board of Cadbury ended in 2000 when chairman Dominic Cadbury retired. U.S. food giant Kraft, now Mondelez, bought the company ten years later, closing a plant in the west of England shortly after the takeover despite protests from descendants of the founding family. Ortega also follows the example of other founders of successful corporate empires. Fashion designer Giorgio Armani set up a foundation last year to control the business empire he started in the 1970s. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of luxury watch maker Rolex, in 1944 placed all of his shares in the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, which has owned and run the company since his death in 1960. "Depending on the terms of the trust, this should help alleviate any fears of shares being placed in the market on the event of his (Ortega''s) death," said Adam Cochrane, retail analyst at UBS. Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman said the move was a way of protecting the Inditex brands, which in addition to Zara include the upmarket Massimo Dutti label and teen fashion chain Bershka. "The most important asset that Inditex has are its brands and the biggest risk to branding is dilution," Hyman said. "It is hard to predict what is going to happen in the apparel industry, the most risky sector in retail. Protecting a majority stake reduces the chances of a takeover that could lead to cost cuts that end up damaging the brand." ALL IN THE FAMILY ... Ortega became a billionaire and Spain''s richest man at the age of 65, when Inditex was listed in 2001. He continues to live in La Coruna where he is often seen walking his dog. Funds from the listing were used at the time to set up Pontegadea, which is structured as a private limited company. A Pontegadea spokesman declined to comment for this article, and an Inditex spokesman said the company did not comment on any matter related to its shareholders. Corporate filings show that Ortega is Pontegadea''s chairman and his wife Flora Perez and close business partner Jose Arnau are vice-chairmen. Arnau, vice president of Inditex''s board of directors, is a former tax inspector and has been closely involved in the managing of Ortega''s personal wealth since 1997. He managed Inditex''s tax affairs from 1993 to 2001. Perez is Ortega''s second wife. He separated from his first wife Rosalia Mera, who died of a stroke in 2013, in the 1980s. Perez has a seat on Inditex''s board as the representative of Pontegadea''s 50.01 percent stake. Her brothers also hold key positions - Oscar Perez is director of flagship brand Zara while Jorge is the director of Massimo Dutti. Ortega has three children: his daughter with Perez, Marta, 33, who works at Zara, and two children from his first marriage, Sandra, 48, and Marcos, 46, neither of whom have pursued careers at Inditex. Sandra, the second-biggest Inditex shareholder with a 5.05 percent stake, works at a Galician charity focused on helping disabled people find work. Marcos was born with cerebral palsy and is severely disabled. ... EXCEPT FOR ONE Ortega split with Spanish tradition when he handed the roles of chief executive officer and chairman outside the family to Pablo Isla, 53, one of Spain''s elite squad of state lawyers, six years ago. Entrusting the day-to-day running of the company to Isla was widely seen as removing any uncertainty about succession plans. Poached from tobacco firm Aldatis in 2005, Isla has overseen a tripling of the company''s value during his tenure. Ortega still goes to work every day at the company''s headquarters in Arteixo, turning his hand to everything from fashion collections to shop floor design. He has made largely debt-free purchases of prime real estate around the world using the dividends from his total stake of just under 60 percent of Inditex, which have nearly doubled over the past five years to a record payout of 1.26 billion euros in the latest financial year ended January 2017, according to a source with knowledge of the matter. His property portfolio - roughly split equally between office and retail - include mining company Rio Tinto''s headquarters in London; Zara rival H&M''s flagship San Francisco store on Powell Street and a five-storey Primark store on Madrid''s Gran Via. Income at the real estate division that also sits under the Pontegadea holding company was 129 million euros in 2015, mostly from rental income, according to results available from that year. ($1 = 0.9260 euros) (Reporting by Sonya Dowsett; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-inditex-legacy-exclusive-idUKKBN178187'|'2017-04-06T18:40:00.000+03:00' '35e685a192595b052e462e81decdd30e504c17d2'|'Tesla passes GM as most valuable U.S. car company'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 4:27pm BST Tesla passes GM as most valuable U.S. car company Tesla Motors'' mass-market Model 3 electric cars are seen in this handout picture from Tesla Motors on March 31, 2016. Tesla Motors/Handout via Reuters/File Photo Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) on Tuesday morning surpassed General Motors Co ( GM.N ) as the most valuable U.S. auto firm. In late morning trade, Tesla had a market capitalization of $52.7 billion (42 billion pounds) compared with $49.6 billion for GM. Tesla on Monday said it delivered a record 25,000 electric vehicles in the first quarter. It plans to begin production this summer of the mass-market Model 3 sedan. (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autos-tesla-idUKKBN1761XP'|'2017-04-04T23:27:00.000+03:00' '95aed20f092dadff9c7e97639c6ff71b12463736'|'PRECIOUS-Gold hits 1-week high on geopolitical worries, weaker dollar'|'Company News - Mon Apr 3, 2017 - 9:22pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold hits 1-week high on geopolitical worries, weaker dollar April 4 Gold prices hit one-week highs on Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and as investors turned to safe-haven assets on worries over geopolitical tensions. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had risen 0.3 percent to $1,255.96 per ounce by 0058 GMT, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.4 percent at $1,258.40. * Investor appetite for risk has been dulled this week by a number of factors, such as caution ahead of the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping and a suspected suicide bombing in St. Petersburg, Russia. * A measure of U.S. manufacturing activity retreated from a 2-1/2 year high in March amid a decline in production and an inventory drawdown, but a surge in factory jobs indicated that the sector''s energy-led recovery was gaining momentum. * Factories across Europe and much of Asia posted another month of solid growth in March, rounding off a strong quarter for manufacturers, even though exporters fear a rise in U.S. protectionism could snuff out a global trade recovery. * From bank runs to credit crunches, regulators and investors are asking French banks about their preparations for any market ructions that might be caused by Marine Le Pen faring better than expected in the presidential election, banking sources said. * Global debt rose to 325 percent of the world''s gross domestic product in 2016, totalling $215 trillion, an Institute for International Finance report released on Monday showed, boosted by the rapid growth of issuance in emerging markets. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, climbed 0.53 percent to 836.77 tonnes on Monday from 832.32 tonnes on Friday. * South Africa''s Harmony Gold said on Monday a labour court had declared the ongoing wildcat strike at its Kusasalethu mine "unprotected" and required employees, who downed tools two-weeks ago, to return to work. * German precious metals group Heraeus said on Monday it had taken full control of Swiss gold and silver processor Argor-Heraeus. * West Africa-focused Avocet Mining Plc named Boudewijn Wentink as its new chief executive officer with immediate effect, as it seeks to refinance and restructure the company. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0900 Euro zone Retail sales Feb 1230 U.S. International trade Feb 1345 U.S. ISM-New York index Mar 1400 U.S. Factory orders Feb (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL3N1HC07F'|'2017-04-04T09:22:00.000+03:00' '36d0852a831640c0752a98b186a9d191bb23e0b4'|'BRIEF-Corvus Pharmaceuticals announces interim safety and efficacy results from its ongoing Phase 1/1B study of CPI-444'|' 36am EDT BRIEF-Corvus Pharmaceuticals announces interim safety and efficacy results from its ongoing Phase 1/1B study of CPI-444 April 4 Corvus Pharmaceuticals Inc: * Corvus Pharmaceuticals announces interim results from ongoing Phase 1/1B study demonstrating safety and clinical activity of lead checkpoint inhibitor CPI-444 in patients with advanced cancers * Trial data showed that treatment with CPI-444 as a single agent and in combination with atezolizumab was well tolerated * Says CPI-444 has been well tolerated to date * Of 37 patients who showed evidence of disease control, 23 remain on treatment Source text for Eikon: BRIEF-Lawson Products enters into Eighth Amendment to Loan and Security Agreement * On March 30 Co entered into an eighth amendment to loan and security agreement with PrivateBank and Trust Company * Says currently generates material portion of its revenues from Charter Corporation, which acquired Time Warner Cable in May 2016 MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-corvus-pharmaceuticals-announces-i-idUSFWN1HC0HK'|'2017-04-04T23:36:00.000+03:00' '90c7e62a2235231ac0bbe0e0373f8e7a1ca643f4'|'Investors raise bearish bets on U.S. Treasuries -JPMorgan'|'Business 51am EDT Investors raise bearish bets on U.S. Treasuries: JPMorgan NEW YORK Investors raised their bearish bets on longer-dated U.S. Treasuries as a rally in the bond market pushed benchmark yields to their lowest since February, J.P. Morgan''s latest Treasury client survey showed on Tuesday. Investors had shifted money into Treasuries from stocks and other risky assets in recent weeks on concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump and top Republican lawmakers may struggle to pass fiscal stimulus policies. Following the Republicans'' failure to repeal Obamacare in the House of Representatives, investors have worried the setback could hamper efforts for a broad restructuring of the tax code, including cuts to the rates paid by corporations. The anticipated tax cuts had underpinned the surge in bond yields and stock prices following Trump''s win in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Some analysts said the bond market rally may be overdone. The share of "short" investors who said they were holding fewer longer-dated U.S. government securities than their portfolio benchmarks rose to 23 percent in the week to April 3 from 20 percent in the prior week, J.P. Morgan''s survey showed. J.P. Morgan surveyed clients, including bond fund managers, central banks and sovereign wealth funds. The share of "long" investors who said they were holding more longer-dated Treasuries than their benchmarks remained at 16 percent for a second week. Short investors outnumbered long investors by 7 percentage points, the most in five weeks. A week ago, they were net shorts by four points. On Tuesday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury US10YT=RR hit a session low of 2.314 percent, its least since Feb. 24, according to Reuters data. The share of "neutral" investors who said they were holding amounts of longer-dated Treasuries that match their benchmarks declined to 61 percent from 64 percent last week, the survey showed. Active clients, which included market makers and hedge funds, stuck to their positions from a week ago, the J.P. Morgan survey showed. Eighty percent of them said they were neutral. None of them said they were short, while 20 percent of them said they were long. (Reporting by Richard Leong Editing by W Simon) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-treasuries-jpmorgan-idUSKBN17620C'|'2017-04-04T23:48:00.000+03:00' '3fb83aaf3f2c9d6d97556d08aca7f7ed5b2f7507'|'Amazon brings its business marketplace to Britain'|'Technology News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:13am BST Amazon brings its business marketplace to Britain FILE PHOTO: An Amazon.com Inc driver stands next to an Amazon delivery truck in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo LONDON Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday launched its business marketplace in Britain, selling products like office supplies, power tools, cleaning materials and lab equipment targeting an online sector worth $120.44 billion a year. Amazon started its business marketplace in the United States in April 2015, achieving $1 billion of sales in its first year, before launching in Germany four months ago. It said Amazon Business would serve enterprises ranging in size from sole traders to multinationals, as well as universities, hospitals and charities. The business-to-business online market in Britain was worth 96.5 billion pounds in 2015, according to Office for National statistics data. (Reporting by Paul Sandle. Editing by Jane Merriman) Next In Technology News Waymo targets second senior executive in Uber self-driving dispute SAN FRANCISCO Alphabet''s self-driving car unit Waymo initiated private legal proceedings against two former executives who launched a rival company acquired by Uber [UBER.UL], court records show, accusing them of trying to recruit Waymo employees to the new startup that aims to revolutionize the auto industry. Imagination Technologies'' shares plunge 70 percent after Apple ditches firm LONDON Imagination Technologies has been told by Apple , its biggest customer, that the maker of iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches is to stop using its graphics technology in its new products, sending shares in the company crashing by more than 70 percent on Monday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-business-britain-idUKKBN1752ND'|'2017-04-04T07:10:00.000+03:00' 'ec79c69a123b24bbf0483b6d47c57cbd34d01084'|'BRIEF-Utilities New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks - WSJ'|'Company News 26pm EDT BRIEF-Utilities New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks - WSJ April 4 (Reuters) - * Utilities New Jersey Resources, South Jersey Industries hold merger talks - WSJ, citing sources Source text: on.wsj.com/2nYXqh0 Next In Company News SAO PAULO, April 4 Two recent bankruptcy protection filings by Brazilian construction companies pose no systemic risk to the country''s real estate sector, Gilberto Occhi, chief executive officer at state lender Caixa Econômica Federal, said on Tuesday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-utilities-new-jersey-resources-sou-idUSFWN1HC0IN'|'2017-04-05T00:26:00.000+03:00' 'f152c583e508ef56f573c3cb090899b95f21df70'|'EU watchdog wants tougher conditions for credit ratings compiled outside EU'|'Business News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:06pm EDT EU watchdog wants tougher conditions for credit ratings compiled outside EU Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, attends a policy dialogue during the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON The European Union''s securities watchdog has proposed tougher conditions on the use of credit ratings compiled outside the bloc, potentially making it harder for rating agencies in Britain to offer their services in the EU after Brexit. London hosts the world''s "Big Three" rating agencies, Moody''s, Standard & Poor''s, and Fitch, which dominate ratings on companies and countries globally. Under EU rules, ratings compiled in a "third country" can be used by European customers only if they are endorsed by an EU-regulated rating agency. A rating compiled by Moody''s in New York, for example, can be used in the EU after endorsement by one of agency''s bloc-based entities. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) authorizes and supervises rating agencies in the EU, and on Tuesday it published a consultation paper to tighten up guidance on the use of ratings from outside the EU. ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor said a substantial proportion of credit ratings used in the EU were being introduced through the endorsement route. "The need to update the current guidelines provides ESMA with the opportunity to reassess its approach to endorsement more broadly, based on our supervisory experience, and taking into account the extensive use of the endorsement regime in practice," Maijoor said in a statement. Moody''s said it would be reviewing the ESMA paper in detail. S&P and Fitch had no immediate comment. There would no longer be an "automatic" endorsement of non-EU ratings, ESMA said. Instead, an EU regulated agency would have to "demonstrate" that the third country agency which compiled the rating meets regulatory requirements on an ongoing basis that are as strict as those in the EU - a much tougher condition. The amended guidance would also make clear that ESMA has powers to request information directly from the endorsing rating agency about the conduct of the third country agency. EU policymakers have repeatedly called for a "home grown" rating agency in Europe, but none has been able to take on the "Big Three", and hence the bloc could - after Brexit - be even more reliant on ratings compiled outside the EU. After Britain leaves the EU, ratings agencies in London will be supervised by a UK regulator which has yet to be identified. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-ratings-regulations-idUSKBN176226'|'2017-04-05T00:01:00.000+03:00' 'eb9bb1919d33d9c0ce075e5db82c58a84065ded5'|'Brazil budget freeze should not delay Saab jet purchases -minister'|'Company News - Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 11:59am EDT Brazil budget freeze should not delay Saab jet purchases -minister RIO DE JANEIRO, April 4 Brazil''s federal budget freeze should not impact the timeline for the purchase of 36 Gripen jet fighters from Sweden''s Saab, Brazil''s Defense Minister Raul Jungmann said on Tuesday at an air and defense exposition in Rio de Janeiro. (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-defense-saab-idUSS0N1H002Z'|'2017-04-04T23:59:00.000+03:00' 'ddb7f30eabff707c089b122899aa88addce98e33'|'As KFC shuns some antibiotics, U.S. chicken industry deploys wet wipes, oregano'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 9:18pm EDT As KFC shuns some antibiotics, U.S. chicken industry deploys wet wipes, oregano FILE PHOTO: Logos of KFC, owned by Yum Brands Inc, are seen on its delivery bicycles in front of its restaurant in Beijing February 25, 2013. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo By Tom Polansek and Lisa Baertlein - CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES To meet increasing demand for meat raised without certain antibiotics, top U.S. chicken company Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ) and rival producers are turning to sanitizing wipes, bacteria-reducing fog and even oregano to keep birds healthy. Some have spent years of trial and error on new techniques to figure out replacements for human drugs, part of a fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people. Yum Brands Inc''s ( YUM.N ) KFC on Friday became the last of the big three U.S. chicken restaurants to move away from antibiotics important to human medicine. McDonald''s Corp ( MCD.N ) and privately held Chick-fil-A had already made similar commitments. Nationwide, more than 42 percent of the U.S. chicken industry has already committed to reducing the use of antibiotics, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. With KFC''s move, that number is set to grow. KFC U.S. President Kevin Hochman called the chain''s move a "major milestone" that should significantly increase the supply of bone-in chicken raised without medically important antibiotics. It should also open the door for smaller chains to follow KFC''s move, he told Reuters. KFC, which sells more than 65 million buckets of chicken a year, estimated that one-third of its suppliers were already transitioning to chicken raised with fewer antibiotics. The company said it was late to shift away from human antibiotics because it had to persuade suppliers of bone-in chickens it uses to make the change. The chain typically only buys up to one-third of birds in a flock because the others do not meet its specifications. That meant its suppliers needed to find other buyers before being able to curb use of the drugs to satisfy KFC, the company said. The suppliers have improved hygiene and airflow in chicken houses to keep birds healthy and given them more room to move, Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC''s U.S. operations, told Reuters on Friday. That has raised costs but also reduced the need for drugs, he said. He did not give further details of the costs. "We had to convince our suppliers to go for the change and then they worked with us," Sukumar said. HERBS AND HYGIENE Tyson, one of KFC''s suppliers, set a goal in April 2015 to eliminate the use of human antibiotics from its broiler flocks, or those raised for meat, by the end of September 2017. More than 90 percent of broiler chickens in its supply chain were raised without antibiotics also used in humans in its fiscal year 2016, Tyson told Reuters on Friday. The company also plans to switch its retail line of Tyson-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics. Perdue Farms, a competitor, said it eliminated the routine use of all antibiotics in chicken last year. It now puts oregano in birds'' water, banking on the herb''s antioxidants to keep them healthy, and takes other steps to avoid drugs. Tyson said it has ramped up efforts to sanitize facilities and eggs that hatch into baby chicks, which are most vulnerable to sickness. The company wanted eggs to be cleaner before they hatch and now asks farmers to rub them with sanitizing wipes before shipping them to a Tyson facility, said Bill Hewat, Tyson''s director of international veterinarian services, during a tour of a Missouri hatchery last year. Once the eggs arrive, Tyson places them in a room filled nightly with a fog of peracetic acid that is intended to keep the bacterial load as low as possible before eggs go into incubators, he said. "It''s an incubator for eggs," said Hewat. "Unfortunately it''s also an incubator for bacteria." The mortality rate for Tyson''s chicks in their first week of life increased after the company initially removed human antibiotics, Hewat said. By September 2016, it had returned to close to where it was before the change, because of Tyson''s extra efforts, he said. Tyson has also started spraying hot water inside the hatchery to maintain a clean environment and increased spot-testing for bacteria. "We wanted hospital-clean," said Kevin Gibbs, a production manager. Tyson has found it difficult to explain to some farmers why the company wants to change its practices to shift away from antibiotics, according to Alan Johnston, a manager at the Tyson facilities in Missouri. "It''s like turning the Titanic on some of these things," he said. (Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yumbrands-kfc-producer-idUSKBN17A01S'|'2017-04-08T09:10:00.000+03:00' '5c4b015b87f653eb3fc8cefe7a74da4148bf6da5'|'As KFC changes policy, Yum shareholders pull proposal on cutting antibiotics'|'Company News 31pm EDT As KFC changes policy, Yum shareholders pull proposal on cutting antibiotics By Lisa Baertlein - LOS ANGELES, April 7 LOS ANGELES, April 7 Yum Brands Inc investors said they have withdrawn a shareholder proposal requesting that the company phase out harmful antibiotic use in its meat supply, after Yum''s KFC restaurant chain made public a plan to ban the use of human antibiotics in the chicken it buys. KFC, the second-biggest U.S. chicken chain by sales after privately held Chick-fil-A, on Thursday told Reuters that it has given its chicken suppliers until the end of 2018 to phase out the use of antibiotics important to human medicine. With the move, KFC became the last major chicken restaurant to join the fight to against dangerous superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics. As You Sow, an environmental health watchdog group, and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), recently withdrew the proposal following "productive discussions" with the restaurant company. "This policy is good news for modern medicine and for long-term shareholder value," said Austin Wilson, environmental health program manager at As You Sow. McDonald''s Corp, known for its Chicken McNuggets, says that its roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants last year stopped serving chicken raised with antibiotics considered important to human medicine. Chick-fil-A plans to switch to poultry raised without any antibiotics at all by the end of 2019. Consumer, health and environment groups, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and allied groups such as the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Food Animals Concern Trust, Center for Science in the Public Interest and Consumers Union had also called on KFC to set stricter antibiotics policies. The vast majority of all antibiotics used in the United States currently are given not to people, but to farm animals. Many medical scientists regard farm use of drugs that treat human infections as particularly dangerous because the practice risks promoting superbugs that can defeat life-saving human antibiotics. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/yumbrands-kfc-antibiotics-shareholders-idUSL1N1HF1CO'|'2017-04-08T05:31:00.000+03:00' '9bfa77f7ee1dbc5ef03d980c66ab2dd68af527b1'|'China clearing houses partners with Canada''s TMX in bond market push'|'Company News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 6:40am EDT China clearing houses partners with Canada''s TMX in bond market push By Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh - SHANGHAI, April 8 SHANGHAI, April 8 In Beijing''s latest push to attract foreign investment into the country''s $9 trillion bond market, China''s state-owned clearing house said on Saturday that it will work with Canada''s TMX Group to expedite cross-border investments. Shanghai Clearing House, supervised by China''s central bank, said in a statement that by exploring ways to link securities registration and custody functions with TMX, "Canadian, and even North American investors will be given easier access to China''s bond market." In addition, the People''s Bank of China will further deregulate the bond market by improving legal, accounting, auditing, taxation and credit rating policies, and strengthen communications with overseas investors, the statement said. China has stepped up efforts to open up its bond market --the world''s third largest -- to foreign investors in an effort to promote international use of the yuan. Attracting inbound investment could also help counter capital outflows and support yuan''s value as China''s economy slows, some analysts have said. Last month, Citigroup Inc said it would include China''s onshore bonds in its emerging markets and regional indexes starting on Feb. 1, 2018, following similar moves by Bloomberg. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced last month that a bond connect scheme with Hong Kong will be launched this year. Currently, foreign ownership in China''s 63.7 trillion yuan ($9.23 trillion) bond market is less than 2 percent. Shanghai Clearing House said by adopting practices that are more familiar to investors in mature bond markets, China can make its bond market more attractive to foreign investors, and accelerate market deregulation. The statement was released following a seminar between the Shanghai Clearing House and TMX held in Toronto on April 6. ($1 = 6.8978 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Editing by Ros Russell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-canada-tmx-idUSL3N1HG05J'|'2017-04-08T18:40:00.000+03:00' '76168bbb7f813ace55fec3c044c8832455398e2c'|'Latest rift in Greek bailout talks dashes hopes for deal in Malta'|' 5:00pm BST Latest rift in Greek bailout talks dashes hopes for deal in Malta FILE PHOTO: People look at pots on display at a shop in central Athens, Greece, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis ATHENS A new rift between Athens and the International Monetary Fund over pensions and labor reforms has dealt a blow to an initial accord, dashing hopes for a bailout review deal before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers this week. Talks between Athens, the European Union and the Washington-based IMF have dragged on for months due to differences over Greece''s fiscal progress, labor and energy market reforms. The delays have revived fears of a new crisis in Europe, which is already reeling from Britain''s decision to exit the union. Sources close to the talks said Greece and its creditors had reached an initial agreement on the main issues of the bailout review in Brussels last week but they hit a last-minute snag. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras'' leftist-led government, which has been sliding in opinion polls, pulled back on the timing of agreed pension cuts, one source said. This prompted the IMF to seek a renegotiation on labor reforms, another source said. A third source said "there were objections (to the deal), which did not come directly from the institutions involved in the talks", without elaborating. EU/IMF mission chiefs were initially expected to return to Athens to sort out the details before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Malta on Friday. "An agreement had been reached on the main parts in Brussels but then there was a breakdown," one of the sources said. Athens agreed in February to take more austerity measures to convince the IMF to participate in its current bailout program, as sought by many EU countries facing national elections this year. The move helped speed up the negotiations which continued in Athens and Brussels. The agreed measures, worth 2 percent of gross domestic product, included lowering the tax-free threshold to about 6,000 euros and cutting pension spending - one of the highest in the euro zone - in 2019, a year after Greece''s bailout expires. Athens had won over some concessions on labor reforms, a key demand by the IMF which has not yet decided if it will participate in the country''s third bailout program. Alternate Foreign Affairs Minister George Katrougalos told Skai radio the IMF wanted more concessions from the Greek side. "Although there was a done deal, following concessions from both sides ... they are asking for more," he said, adding that the latest demands concerned labor reforms. The Commission said on Friday there was no fixed date for the mission chiefs'' return. Talks continue via teleconference. If concluded the review will unlock vital bailout funds. Greece faces big debt repayments in July and needs the cash. "Building on progress already made in talks, the institutions are continuing consultations from headquarters, said Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas on Monday. "The aim is to lay the ground for the conclusion of the second review as soon as possible." (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas; Additional reporting Jan Strupcewski in Brussels; Editing by Andrew Bolton) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-bailout-idUKKBN1751UE'|'2017-04-03T23:52:00.000+03:00' '86e45c82f1b0c2cf4e1ad0592e3547967e5eb93e'|'JPMorgan CEO calls for regulatory changes in shareholder letter'|'Business 17pm BST JPMorgan CEO calls for regulatory changes in shareholder letter JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at an event at JP Morgan''s corporate centre in Bournemouth, southern Britain, June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo By David Henry and Dan Burns - NEW YORK NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) Chief Executive Jamie Dimon devoted one-third of his annual shareholder letter to arguments for changing regulations, particularly those on bank capital and liquidity, as well as home mortgage loan financing. Current regulations are inconsistent and have left banks with "too much capital," some of which could be used to "finance the economy without sacrificing safety," Dimon said in the 17,349-word letter released on Tuesday. He also warned that anti-trade policies could be disruptive and geopolitical risks are in a "heightened state." Dimon, 61, has entered his twelfth year as CEO. He considers the annual letter to be among his most important public statements about JPMorgan, as well as public policy. It is widely read because the bank is one of the most profitable and came out of the financial crisis stronger than competitors. This year, Dimon argued that the idea of banks being "too big to fail" and therefore requiring bailouts during times of stress, is a problem that "has been solved." He said "taxpayers will not pay if a bank fails" because of measures enacted since the crisis nearly a decade ago. Dimon''s comments on bank regulation come at a time of possible flux in rules and laws under a new White House and Congress. In addition, the U.S. Federal Reserve governor who has been overseeing regulation, including bank capital stress tests, is leaving his post on Wednesday and a replacement has yet to be proposed by President Donald Trump. The way the Fed conducts stress tests should be clearer and more consistent, Dimon said. He also said home mortgage rules imposed since the crisis have raised costs for consumers and made it less likely that those with weak credit histories will get loans. "While some of the rules are beneficial, many were hastily developed," he wrote. Dimon said the geopolitical risk environment is in a "heightened state" with the United Kingdom''s pending withdrawal from the European Union and a growing anti-globalization sentiment. He said he hopes Britain''s exit will prompt the EU to fix issues it has with immigration, bureaucracy and restrictive labour laws. "Our fear, however, is that it could instead result in political unrest that would force the EU to split apart," which, he wrote, "could have devastating economic and political effects." Dimon also warned that "poorly conceived" trade policies could be very disruptive, especially with regard to two key trading partners, Mexico and China. (Reporting by David Henry and Dan Burns in New York; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Dan Grebler) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jpmorgan-dimon-letter-idUKKBN17625L'|'2017-04-05T02:17:00.000+03:00' 'e4912885f9ca3dccd15a6671325ceb5581eb40e0'|'"Innovative financing" sours dairy giant in China''s rural northeast'|'Tue Apr 4, 2017 - 12:12am BST ''Innovative financing'' sours dairy giant in China''s rural northeast left right Cows are seen at farm houses at an independent dairy farm in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jake Spring 1/4 left right Gate of a Huishan Dairy farm is seen in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jake Spring 2/4 left right Cow farm houses of Huishan Dairy are seen in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jake Spring 3/4 left right Cow farm houses at a Huishan Dairy farm no longer in operation are seen in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jake Spring 4/4 By Jake Spring - ZHANGWU, China ZHANGWU, China The crisis at Huishan Dairy, one of China''s biggest dairy companies, is a stark reminder of what can lurk in the dark corners of corporate China, where rapid growth can go hand in hand with tangled finances and heavy debt. China Huishan Dairy Holdings Co Ltd ( 6863.HK ) embraced what its executives called "innovative financing", from the sale and leaseback of its cows, to selling wealth management products for rich investors - financial antics that seem incongruous with the dusty fields, tin-roofed sheds and plastic greenhouses of Zhangwu county in northeast China. Now it is battling swollen liabilities, a short-term debt squeeze and considerable unwanted attention. After a late 2016 short-selling attack, it saw an 85 percent drop in its shares in a single day last month, wiping $4 billion off its value and triggering a stock suspension. It has reported a key finance executive missing. Its misfortunes are a reminder that even as banks'' bad debt numbers stabilise, there remain many question marks over the quality of their balance sheets. Those exposed to Huishan include Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ( 601398.SS ), Agricultural Bank of China ( 601288.SS ), regional lenders, leasing companies and online loans firms. "When you move down to the local lenders in less developed provinces and counties, there could be hundreds and thousands of similar cases to Huishan, albeit at a smaller scale," said Shawlin Chaw, Control Risks analyst focused on Greater China. MISSED PAYMENTS In 2013, retail investors flocked to Huishan''s $1.3 billion (£1.04 billion) Hong Kong listing, which was priced at the top of its forecast range. The provincial government was vocal in its support. "Next year, we can all go to work at Huishan Dairy!" Liaoning government slogans proclaimed, in reference to the promised creation of tens of thousands of local jobs. Now that Huishan has missed debt payments, that same government has brokered meetings between the dairy and its 23 creditor banks, including big names such as Bank of China Ltd ( 601988.SS ), AgBank and Ping An Bank Co Ltd ( 1.SZ ). Local officials declined to comment for this story. Falling milk prices and rising feed costs had caused problems for the region, local farmers said. "This year is the worst I''ve seen for the dairy cattle industry," said Shan Jiawu, a dairy farmer in Zhangwu, who has been in the business for over a decade. Around the county where Huishan has dozens of farms, guards at two of three operations visited by Reuters said the farms were functioning normally, though reporters were not allowed in. A third was shut. "All the company''s operational activities are being carried out in an orderly manner. I believe we will quickly solve the problems we are currently facing," said an official in Huishan''s publicity department. Huishan''s latest official statement, issued late on Friday, said it would need more time to verify its financial position. CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Huishan has been open about its creative finances. In November it pledged 40,000 dairy cows to a financial leasing firm for a 750 million yuan (£87.26 million) loan, the second such deal it attempted. It said it would repay in 10 instalments from May. Its accounts indicate it sold wealth management products. China''s banking regulator, CBRC, did not comment. Its top shareholder Champ Harvest, controlled by Huishan chairman Yang Kai, pledged nearly all the shares it owns to secure loans and margin financing. Huishan''s accounts paint a picture of accumulating short-term loans and a deteriorating current ratio that indicates its liabilities are larger than its assets. Last year, finance executive Ge Kun, in charge of treasury functions and cash, said the company, fresh from the cow leasing deal, would consider adopting "innovative tools in the future". She is now missing. Ge, who managed relationships with Huishan''s banks, was named a "model worker" by the provincial capital in 2012 and a year later was a representative for the district People''s Congress, according to Huishan''s IPO prospectus. But Huishan said she was suffering from work stress, would take a leave of absence and did not wish to be contacted. It has now filed a missing person report in Hong Kong. Reuters'' attempts to contact Ge, including a visit to a listed address for her in Shenyang, were unsuccessful. "If similar stories are anything to go by, it is likely that the stock will remain suspended, and the issue is unlikely to be resolved for a long time," said Robert Medd, forensic accountant at Bucephalus Research. For some in Zhangwu, such problems seem outlandishly remote. "As long as they have good products and we can sell like normal, that''s OK," said Bi Junkui, 45, a wholesaler of Huishan products in Zhangwu''s main town. "If the bosses lose so much money, it''s not my business." (Reporting by Jake Spring; Additional reporting by Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI, Umesh Desai and Elzio Barreto in HONG KONG, and by SHANGHAI and BEIJING newsrooms; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Will Waterman) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-huishan-idUKKBN1752NW'|'2017-04-04T07:06:00.000+03:00' '9a2879a72ceacea4182f7b68255c80c93b36f1bf'|'IMAX China says two PE investors sell 5.9 pct stake'|' 55pm EDT IMAX China says two PE investors sell 5.9 pct stake HONG KONG, April 6 IMAX China Holding Inc , which operates and installs cinema systems, said on Thursday two private equity investors had sold an aggregate 5.9 percent stake to a "prominent" international investment bank, helping to increase liquidity in the market. The subsidiary of large-format movie and cinema screen giant IMAX Corp said CMC Capital Partners and FountainVest Partners sold the company shares at HK$39.72 apiece, without giving further details. CMC will remain a key partner of the company and a strategic investor in the IMAX China Film Fund and IMAX VR Fund, the Hong Kong-listed firm said. Shares of IMAX China, which has a market value of $1.92 billion, rose 4.5 percent to close at HK$41.80 on Wednesday. In February, the film company reported a steep fall in profits for 2016 amid a slump in Chinese box-office sales, underlining the challenge filmmakers and cinema operators face in the world''s second-largest economy. ($1 = 7.7692 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Richard Pullin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/imax-china-hldg-sharesale-idUSL3N1HE07N'|'2017-04-06T08:55:00.000+03:00' 'b6abec9d58e1c80b5c0da86ef7fc1563129fe6fa'|'Irish central bank raises growth forecasts in absence of Brexit hit'|' 3:53pm BST Irish central bank raises growth forecasts in absence of Brexit hit Governor Philip R. Lane in Dublin, Ireland November 23, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne DUBLIN Ireland''s central bank raised its 2017 economic growth forecasts for the first time in more than a year on Thursday as it pointed to a broadening domestic-economy recovery despite concerns about Brexit. Ireland''s economy has been the best-performing in the European Union since 2014, but the central bank has for the last year been nudging down its expectations for 2017, anticipating a blow from neighbouring Britain''s vote to leave the EU. So far, though, any impact has been mainly confined to some exporters being hurt by currency depreciation and domestic demand was more than making up for that, the bank said. It raised its forecast for gross domestic product growth to 3.5 percent from 3.3 percent three months ago. That was still more pessimistic than the 4 to 4.25 percent growth Ireland''s finance department pointed to on Wednesday and the 4.4 percent the central bank initially forecast in January last year, five months before Britain''s EU referendum . But the central bank also raised its GDP forecast for 2018 to 3.2 percent from 3 percent, foreseeing both earnings and consumer spending growing by half a percentage point more than it had expected a quarter ago. It said annual earnings growth of 2.8 percent in 2017 and 2018, compared with an average forecast for inflation of less than 1 percent, would constitute significant gains in real terms and provide a further impetus to growth. "The evidence points to an economy which continues to grow at a healthy pace, supported by strong domestic spending and activity data," Central Bank Chief Economist Gabriel Fagan said in a statement. "However, risks continue to be on the downside, with the outlook characterised by uncertainty about the external environment, both in relation to Brexit and the changing political and economic policymaking landscape." Britain is a key trading partner for Ireland, which says it has more to lose in a Brexit than any other EU member. The central bank has said in its most pessimistic scenario, where increased tariff and non-tariff barriers significantly reduce trade flows between Ireland and the United Kingdom, Irish GDP could be 3.2 percent lower over a period of 10 years. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin, editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-idUKKBN1781YK'|'2017-04-06T22:53:00.000+03:00' '5099694a7da407db3ceb5688671df3041513b37c'|'Brazil''s president would veto parts of bill to regulate Uber'|'BRASILIA Brazil''s President Michel Temer would veto clauses of a bill that would force Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] drivers to register with city authorities and turn the ride-hailing app into another form of conventional taxi service, a presidential aide said on Wednesday.The president favors striking down the controversial articles of legislation passed by the lower house of Congress on Tuesday if they were not removed by the Senate before it was sent for his signature, said the aide, who was not authorized to speak on the matter.Drivers, users and even the speaker of the lower chamber spoke out against the bill that gives cities more power over online ride-hailing services, particularly by classifying them as public transport - not a private service.The changes would undermine the business model of Uber''s online ride service in its second largest market by exposing the company to local taxation and raising costs.In a statement Wednesday, Uber said the bill "applies antiquated rules to new technology" and would turn Uber into a traditional cab service.The bill, which passed his chamber on Tuesday, is a "step back," Speaker Rodrigo Maia said, because consumers have shown there is demand for the Uber service and taxis alike. He said he would urged Temer to veto the bill if it reached him unchanged."We need to have a balanced bill that preserves the taxis, preserves Uber and respects the interests of Brazilians who want both systems to co-exist," he told reporters.The bill is the latest challenge to Uber in Brazil, its second-largest market worldwide. The U.S. company has already lost battles in four cities where authorities successfully regulated or taxed the service and faced everything from blockades to physical assaults by taxi drivers, who accuse it of unfair competition.If classified as a public transport service, instead of a technology company, Uber drivers would have to obtain permits from city authorities, who could levy taxes and require insurance and pension benefits for drivers, pushing up costs.The company could also have to report the number of drivers it uses, a figure it does not normally disclose, for social security and other possible tax obligations.Cities could also require vehicles to have special plates, like taxis, or even oblige drivers to install taximeters, an obligation that led Uber to decide to shut down services in Denmark on April 18 if a rule there is not changed.Uber started in Brazil in 2014 and now operates in 50 cities. In the last three months, 13 million people used Uber, a spokesman said.Adding to Uber''s woes, Spanish rival Cabify on Tuesday announced a $200 million investment in Brazil.Cabify also criticized the ride-hailing bill, saying in a statement it would "make the model inviable."Tony de Souza Ribeiro, an Uber driver in Brasilia, agrees.In addition to gasoline, maintenance and the 25 percent cut of revenues that Uber charges, a city license cost of 60,000 reais ($19,000) would drive him off the streets, he said."I think Uber will not be able to survive in Brazil. It will come to an end if this goes through," Ribeiro said.(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Grant McCool and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-uber-idUSKBN17803R'|'2017-04-06T05:19:00.000+03:00' '5e19f1e7ad34b000a8f39ec0a291762c43c8afd7'|'Biotest agrees to takeover by China''s Creat in 1.3 billion euro deal'|'FRANKFURT Germany''s Biotest ( BIOG_p.DE ) has agreed to be bought by Chinese investor Creat Group Corp in a cash deal valuing the blood plasma products maker at 1.3 billion euros ($1.4 billion), including debt.Under the deal, which follows Creat''s purchase of Britain''s Bio Products Laboratory last year, shareholders will receive 28.50 euros per ordinary share in Biotest and 19 euros per preference share, the two companies said on Friday.That''s a 43 percent premium over the price at which the ordinary shares had traded before Creat''s plans to buy Biotest became known, and a slight discount to the price of preference shares, which carry no voting rights."This transaction would deliver immediate value for stakeholders and long term value for the company," Biotest Chief Executive Bernhard Ehmer said in a statement on Friday.Biotest''s share capital is split evenly between ordinary and preference shares, with the latter share class being completely in free-float ownership.OGEL, the investment vehicle of late company founder Hans Schleussner''s family that owns 50.6 percent of ordinary shares in Biotest, has agreed to tender its stake, the companies said.Creat announced last month that it had made an offer for Biotest, whose products are used to treat blood coagulation disorders, auto-immune diseases and immune deficiencies.Ehmer said at the time that Creat had not been the only potential bidder but the company chose to talk to the Chinese investor because its proposal was "thought through".Biotest''s management and supervisory board support the deal, which is conditional on at least 75 percent of ordinary shares being tendered to Creat.Credit Suisse is acting as financial advisor to Biotest, and Ashurst LLP is legal advisor. BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as financial advisor to Creat, and Kirkland & Ellis International LLP is providing legal advice.($1 = 0.9407 euros)(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-biotest-m-a-creat-idUSKBN1791RC'|'2017-04-07T15:49:00.000+03:00' '7818a4af1939a67591a3a01ba9f15326a47d95cf'|'Buyout group SVP combines European packaging firms ahead of U.S. listing'|' 04am EDT Buyout group SVP combines European packaging firms ahead of U.S. listing FRANKFURT, April 7 Private equity group SVPGlobal will combine its packaging firms Kloeckner Pentaplast and Linpac to increase their clout ahead of a planned stock market listing. SVP put UK-based Linpac up for sale last year, but after failing to find a buyer at its asking price has opted to merge it with Germany''s Kloeckner Pentaplast. Kloeckner Pentaplast said on Friday it would buy Linpac, creating a rigid and flexible film maker with combined annual revenue of more than $2 billion employing 6,300 people in 16 countries. Kloeckner filed for an initial public offering in December in the United States, where many of its peers - including Polyone, Sealed Air, Berry, Bemis and Ball - are listed. The acquisition of Linpac is now expected to delay Kloeckner''s plans to list on the stock exchange before mid-year, people close to the matter said. Kloeckner Pentaplast last year posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $243 million, while Linpac earned 60 million euros ($64 million). At the current average earnings multiple of peers, the combined group would fetch a valuation of $2.8 billion. SVP acquired Kloeckner Pentaplast from private equity firm Blackstone following a lengthy restructuring. Blackstone had bought the company from Cinven in 2007, backed by 1.25 billion euros of leveraged loans. The buyout group took control of Linpac in late 2014 after buying up large chunks of debt related to a 2003 takeover of Linpac by private equity group Montagu for 860 million pounds ($1.1 billion), which had been backed by a 600 million pounds loan. Founded in 1965 as a unit of steel and machinery group Kloeckner-Werke, Kloeckner Pentaplast makes packaging for pharmaceutical, food and electronics goods, as well as pipe insulation and other plastics products. Linpac makes plastic boxes, trays and films for vegetables, meat, cake and frozen food. ($1 = 0.9411 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/linpac-ma-kloecknr-pntplst-idUSL8N1HF3E6'|'2017-04-07T20:04:00.000+03:00' '55722af94d069fc53ee520ed79662b53de2659b3'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 7'|'April 7 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Twitter Inc sued the federal government on Thursday to block the unmasking of an anonymous account that has posted messages critical of the Trump administration and has claimed to have ties to a government agency. nyti.ms/2o3dOeY- Under pressure after spurning a blockbuster $143 billion takeover offer, Unilever said on Thursday that it would explore the sale of its spreads business, restructure two major divisions, review its dual legal structure and buy back $5.3 billion in stock as it seeks to cut costs and appease investors. nyti.ms/2oGDAIS- Ride-hailing company Lyft has secured up to $500 million in a new round of funding that values it at $6.9 billion before the addition of new capital, according to two people briefed on the discussions, who asked to remain anonymous because the details were confidential. The privately held company may raise an additional $100 million, these people said. nyti.ms/2o8Bhgn- Two former Barclays Plc traders have been acquitted in their retrial on charges that they plotted to manipulate a benchmark interest rate known as Libor. On Thursday, the jury acquitted Stylianos Contogoulas of a charge of conspiracy to defraud, a day after finding Ryan Michael Reich not guilty on a conspiracy charge. nyti.ms/2oPkInZ- Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, the Japanese retail giant that owns the 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said Thursday it had agreed to buy the Sunoco chain of gas stations for $3.3 billion, accelerating its expansion in the United States. nyti.ms/2p7xHka- Robert Mueller, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is set to oversee nearly $1 billion that the airbag maker Takata Corp has agreed to pay to victims and automakers affected by its defective airbags. nyti.ms/2oKXZfA (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL3N1HF21K'|'2017-04-07T02:14:00.000+03:00' 'ebb1709a0986b132dbcf7e4959451537af8f9729'|'Qatar''s construction workers get solar-powered cooling helmet 6,'|'Qatar 2022: ''Progress made on worker rights'' Construction can be hard, hot work at the best of times. Now imagine building a soccer stadium in the desert. Thousands of workers are doing just that as they develop the venues for the soccer World Cup 2022 in Qatar. So the Gulf state has come up with a new way to keep them comfortable -- a self-cooling hard hat. Temperatures can soar to 122 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. Work stops between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. during those months but the fierce heat still presents a huge challenge. Researchers in Qatar are using the sun to help solve the problem. They have created a hat that they say can reduce the skin temperature by up to 10 degrees centigrade (50 degrees Fahrenheit). It works by using a small solar panel on top to power a fan that blows air over an insert in the lining of the helmet. It contains a material that can absorb and store a large amount of heat. Each insert provides cooling for four hours. "By reducing the temperature of the head and face, the rest of the body will naturally follow and ensure that workers have a constant flow of cooler air to refresh them throughout their day," said Saud Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani, professor of engineering at Qatar University, who led the team that developed the new helmet. Related: Qatar slashes budget for 2022 World Cup by at least 40% Qatar says construction work on eight stadiums for the World Cup is well underway. About 18,000 workers are currently building the facilities, but that number is expected to double next year as activity peaks. Most of them come from South Asia. Qatar has faced criticism from human rights organizations over the exploitation of migrant workers, including poor working and living conditions. In an interview with CNN this week, the head of the Qatar 2022 delivery and legacy committee Hassan Al Thawadi acknowledged there had been problems but said progress had been made on workers'' rights. "There have been people that have not applied the laws. We are working very hard along with the relevant authorities ensure that people do apply the laws," Al Thawadi said. The new cooling helmets will be rolled out this year. And Qatar says it has already received interest in buying the product from potential customers in Mexico, South Korea, Egypt and Singapore. CNNMoney (Dubai) 6, 2017: 11:18 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/06/technology/qatar-cooling-helmets-2022/index.html'|'2017-04-06T19:18:00.000+03:00' 'a1afa761ca4bc1fbb9a98e5b5294210a60b67d9d'|'Revving up, a bit: Tesla increases deliveries of electric cars'|'ELON MUSK, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, has had two bits of good news recently about his various bets on new technology. SpaceX, his privately-held launch company, last month became the first successfully to reuse a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. And this week Tesla, his electric-car manufacturer, at last hit its production targets.Some analysts doubted Tesla would meet its goals after a series of production difficulties. But the carmaker said first-quarter deliveries were just over 25,000 vehicles, a record for the firm and a 69% increase over the same period in 2016. Some 13,450 were its sleek Model S saloons and about 11,550 were the firm’s new SUV, the Model X. This puts Tesla on track to produce the 50,000 vehicles it has promised to make in the first half of this year. That is good progress. But Tesla is going to have to crank production up by an awful lot more to make the 500,000 cars a year which Mr Musk wants to see pouring off the production line by 2018, let alone the 1m intended for just two years later. 15 2 To reach those volumes, Tesla is counting on its forthcoming Model 3. Priced at around $35,000, the new car will cost around half that of the other two models. Due to begin production later this year, the Model 3 is supposed to take Tesla into the mass market, where it will face stiff competition from plug-in vehicles produced by existing mass manufacturers, including GM, Nissan and BMW.Bringing any new car to market burns cash, and Tesla has been busy raising funds. On March 24th Tencent, a Chinese internet giant that owns WeChat, a popular messaging service, paid $1.8bn for a 5% stake in Tesla. Tencent could help accelerate Tesla’s drive into the vast Chinese market, where some 28m cars were sold last year. With Donald Trump trying to dismantle some environmental standards in America, China seems likelier to push green technologies. It is already the world’s biggest market for electric cars; some 700,000 plug-in cars are expected to be sold there this year. But to compete against low-cost local brands, Tesla urgently needs to start churning out its cheaper car.Many investors are betting that Tesla can become a mass producer. This has pushed up the value of the firm’s shares, which have increased by 38% since the start of 2017. On April 3rd Tesla’s market capitalisation exceeded $48bn, overtaking Ford (at $45bn). Ford may not be as technologically glamorous but it is well-versed in mass-producing cars, having made 6.7m last year. An awful lot will be riding on the Model 3. If Tesla fails to hit future targets then a cashflow crisis may loom. Investors, though, will have an exit: the company’s brand and whizzy technology are easily valuable enough to drive the firm into the arms of a bigger manufacturer that can hit its numbers. Business "Revving up, a bit"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720340-real-test-will-be-whether-it-can-churn-out-its-new-model-3?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-06T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'e940acd1234d6246bdf54ba38596a64942d5e833'|'Cost of hedging Czech crown volatility jumps on cap removal jitters'|' 8:53am BST Cost of hedging Czech crown volatility jumps on cap removal jitters A sign of a currency exchange office hangs in front of the Czech National Bank in Prague November 14, 2013. REUTERS/David W Cerny By Jemima Kelly - LONDON LONDON The cost of hedging for volatility in the Czech crown against the euro over the next 24 hours jumped to its highest in more than nine months on Wednesday, on speculation the country''s central bank would imminently remove the cap on its currency. The Czech National Bank''s 3-1/2-year-old commitment to keep the crown weak, which has kept the euro trading above 27 Czech crowns, EURCZK= ended on Friday and some investors are betting the CNB''s meeting on Thursday will be used to scrap the cap. Though Thursday''s meeting is not scheduled to be on monetary policy, the central bank can decide to change the agenda. The bank meets every Thursday, but with next week''s meeting coming a day before the Good Friday holiday, this week''s was being eyed for a policy shift. As this graphic reut.rs/2o28tpF shows, euro/Czech crown overnight implied volatility EURCZKONO=, derived from an option that covers the next 24 hours, hit a high of 6.6 percent according to Reuters data, its highest since Britain''s shock vote to leave the European Union last June, before pulling back to 5.1 percent. One-month implied volatility EURCZK1MO= has also jumped this week, reaching 5.975 percent for the third day running on Wednesday, its highest since the aftermath of the Swiss National Bank''s decision to remove its currency cap in January 2015. Petr Krpata, ING''s chief currency strategist in London, said it was unusual for the longer-dated implied volatility options to be trading lower than the short-dated implied volatility options and that this was a sign investors were expecting near-term volatility. "Under normal circumstances the shape of the vol curve is upward-sloping, because in the future you tend to have bigger uncertainty," he said, adding that short-term implied volatility was likely to trade even higher after the cap is removed. "After the exit (from the cap), the uncertainty will be near-term, because while most of us agree that the cross will somehow normalise in the next few months, initially, who knows? The positioning is getting crazy now." Krpata and traders, however, said crown moves in the aftermath of the cap''s removal were unlikely to be anything like the Swiss franc''s dramatic surge in 2015, with spillover into other markets likely to be limited. "The key difference is that the SNB was an unknown unknown – you didn’t know it was coming," he said. "In this case, you are unsure of when, but you know it is coming." ING estimates interventions in March might have reached more than 18 billion euros, surpassing the record 14.5 billion euros bought in January. A third of last month''s interventions were probably carried out just last week in the run-up to Thursday''s CNB policy meeting, ING said. Intervention volumes so far this year have exceeded the last three years combined. The CNB could also call an extraordinary meeting on another day of the week, but strategists said that was less likely. "We anticipate the likeliest dates for the CNB to end the FX floor to be either on Thursday 6 April or Thursday 20 April," wrote Societe Generale strategists in a research note on Tuesday, adding that the latest they saw the cap being lifted was May 4. Others take a different view. Stephen Gallo, currency strategist with BMO Capital Markets in London, said it was unlikely the CNB would remove the cap before the French presidential election. Some in the market say the euro could fall sharply if far-right anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen wins. "I suspect that they''re watching very closely the events taking place in France though, ahead of the presidential elections (on April 23 and May 7). I doubt they''ll remove it before we get a result there," Gallo said. (Additional reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague and Ritvik Carvalho in London; Graphic by Nigel Stephenson; Editing by Alison Williams and Stephen Powell) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-forex-czech-crown-volatility-idUKKBN1780R5'|'2017-04-06T15:53:00.000+03:00' '5944884876905bf03d1d3ed83030ec3313c040e7'|'Norway''s giant wealth fund advocates transparency on taxes'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 8:07am BST Norway''s giant wealth fund advocates transparency on taxes OSLO Norway''s $915 billion (734.2 billion pounds) sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, will ask corporations around the world to show more transparency regarding tax payments, it said on Friday. Norwegian lawmakers last year ordered the fund to become more involved in international efforts to combat tax havens. With stakes in about 9,000 companies globally, owning on average 1.3 percent of all listed equities, the Norwegian fund is among the world''s most influential investors. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Camilla Knudsen; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-norway-swf-tax-idUKKBN1790TP'|'2017-04-07T15:07:00.000+03:00' '4f5e3c84df269333273dd39c37cd0e634fbe6af2'|'RPT-As KFC shuns some antibiotics, U.S. chicken industry deploys wet wipes, oregano'|'(Repeats story first published on Friday)By Tom Polansek and Lisa BaertleinCHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, April 7 To meet increasing demand for meat raised without certain antibiotics, top U.S. chicken company Tyson Foods Inc and rival producers are turning to sanitizing wipes, bacteria-reducing fog and even oregano to keep birds healthy.Some have spent years of trial and error on new techniques to figure out replacements for human drugs, part of a fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.Yum Brands Inc''s KFC on Friday became the last of the big three U.S. chicken restaurants to move away from antibiotics important to human medicine. McDonald''s Corp and privately held Chick-fil-A had already made similar commitments.Nationwide, more than 42 percent of the U.S. chicken industry has already committed to reducing the use of antibiotics, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. With KFC''s move, that number is set to grow.KFC U.S. President Kevin Hochman called the chain''s move a "major milestone" that should significantly increase the supply of bone-in chicken raised without medically important antibiotics. It should also open the door for smaller chains to follow KFC''s move, he told Reuters.KFC, which sells more than 65 million buckets of chicken a year, estimated that one-third of its suppliers were already transitioning to chicken raised with fewer antibiotics.The company said it was late to shift away from human antibiotics because it had to persuade suppliers of bone-in chickens it uses to make the change.The chain typically only buys up to one-third of birds in a flock because the others do not meet its specifications. That meant its suppliers needed to find other buyers before being able to curb use of the drugs to satisfy KFC, the company said.The suppliers have improved hygiene and airflow in chicken houses to keep birds healthy and given them more room to move, Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC''s U.S. operations, told Reuters on Friday. That has raised costs but also reduced the need for drugs, he said. He did not give further details of the costs."We had to convince our suppliers to go for the change and then they worked with us," Sukumar said.HERBS AND HYGIENETyson, one of KFC''s suppliers, set a goal in April 2015 to eliminate the use of human antibiotics from its broiler flocks, or those raised for meat, by the end of September 2017.More than 90 percent of broiler chickens in its supply chain were raised without antibiotics also used in humans in its fiscal year 2016, Tyson told Reuters on Friday.The company also plans to switch its retail line of Tyson-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics.Perdue Farms, a competitor, said it eliminated the routine use of all antibiotics in chicken last year. It now puts oregano in birds'' water, banking on the herb''s antioxidants to keep them healthy, and takes other steps to avoid drugs.Tyson said it has ramped up efforts to sanitize facilities and eggs that hatch into baby chicks, which are most vulnerable to sickness.The company wanted eggs to be cleaner before they hatch and now asks farmers to rub them with sanitizing wipes before shipping them to a Tyson facility, said Bill Hewat, Tyson''s director of international veterinarian services, during a tour of a Missouri hatchery last year.Once the eggs arrive, Tyson places them in a room filled nightly with a fog of peracetic acid that is intended to keep the bacterial load as low as possible before eggs go into incubators, he said."It''s an incubator for eggs," said Hewat. "Unfortunately it''s also an incubator for bacteria."The mortality rate for Tyson''s chicks in their first week of life increased after the company initially removed human antibiotics, Hewat said. By September 2016, it had returned to close to where it was before the change, because of Tyson''s extra efforts, he said.Tyson has also started spraying hot water inside the hatchery to maintain a clean environment and increased spot-testing for bacteria."We wanted hospital-clean," said Kevin Gibbs, a production manager.Tyson has found it difficult to explain to some farmers why the company wants to change its practices to shift away from antibiotics, according to Alan Johnston, a manager at the Tyson facilities in Missouri. "It''s like turning the Titanic on some of these things," he said. (Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/yumbrands-kfc-producer-idINL1N1HG01B'|'2017-04-08T09:00:00.000+03:00' '92588ee3b768363784902663ef32ec6bf3bfc87b'|'Don''t let up in fight against tax avoidance, Moscovici urges EU states'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 5:55am EDT Don''t let up in fight against tax avoidance, Moscovici urges EU states FILE PHOTO: European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici delivers a keynote speech ahead of an Austrian National Bank panel discussion in Vienna, Austria, February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo VALLETTA European Union states should continue reforming corporate rules to tackle tax avoidance, EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici told finance ministers on Saturday, as some smaller nations urged slower reform to avoid scaring away big corporations. In a paper to be discussed at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Valletta on Saturday, Malta, which holds the rotating EU chair until July, said EU tax reforms would increase uncertainty, harming investment and trade. It suggested states should be given more time to adapt to changing rules. Addressing the ministers, Moscovici opposed Malta''s view and said the biggest source of uncertainty would be to maintain a "status quo" where EU states compete with each other on corporate tax policy. Many large U.S. corporations have set up their headquarters in smaller EU states, allowing them to cut their tax bills due to more lax tax rules. Following recent revelations, such as the Panama Papers, of widespread tax evasion and avoidance by big corporations and wealthy individuals, the European Commission has made several legislative proposals to close legal loopholes. However, some of the most ambitious plans have yet to be approved by EU states. Multinationals, including Apple ( AAPL.O ), Amazon.com ( AMZN.O ), McDonald''s ( MCD.N ) and Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ), are under investigation or have been sanctioned by the EU executive for their excessively low tax bills in some EU states. "We must finish what we have started," Moscovici urged ministers, according to his speaking notes circulated to the media. The pace of reforms should remain "fast", he said. He told states to move "with ambition and determination" to agree on proposals for a common tax base at EU level that would put an end to the wide range of corporate tax exemptions and deductions currently applied by EU countries, and which are exploited by big companies to lower their tax bills. He faced opposition from some smaller EU states. On his arrival to the meeting, Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt said Malta was right in stressing that the pace of reforms should not be "too fast" and that the EU should adapt its speed to other major economies worldwide. His remarks were echoed by Luxembourg''s finance minister Pierre Gramegna, who called for a "level playing field in terms of taxation worldwide". Moscovici said the EU should lead the world on tax reforms, especially at a time when the U.S. tax policy is unclear and may further slow down reforms. Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem sided with Moscovici. "Let''s not get soft on tax avoidance," he told reporters on his arrival to the meeting. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-taxavoidance-malta-idUSKBN17A0AY'|'2017-04-08T17:45:00.000+03:00' 'f9a80f3e47b8c3852028e02b4ae993e65fa5873a'|'Hudson''s Bay explores ''major reinvention,'' considers real estate IPO'|'By Solarina Ho - TORONTO TORONTO Canadian department store operator Hudson''s Bay Co ( HBC.TO ) said on Wednesday it was looking at a "major reinvention" of its business operations and gave its strongest signal yet of a possible initial public offering of its real estate assets.HBC shares, which fell more than 10 percent this week ahead of its fourth-quarter results, rose 7.7 percent to close at C$10.45 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange."What we should''ve done and what we should be doing as quick as possible is IPO-ing our U.S. real estate portfolio and/or IPO-ing our Canadian real estate portfolio," said Chairman Richard Baker, adding that other options are still possible."Maybe in hindsight, we would have been better off IPO-ing the portfolio six months ago or eight months ago."The timing for an IPO may not be ideal given expected rising U.S. interest rates and lower valuations for many U.S. retail-focused real estate companies.The Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor owner reported a fourth-quarter loss after markets closed on Tuesday. The results mirrored a trend in retail, especially department stores in the United States and Europe, which have been hurt by changing consumer trends and fierce competition.Earlier this year, Hudson''s Bay said it was undergoing an operations review and expected initial annualized savings of C$75 million. Executives told analysts that was a "first step" with more to come."It is a major league, full-time effort in our company right now," Baker said. "We''re not just looking at a little tinkering with the business model. We are looking on major reinvention and change in the business."Executives also reiterated to investors in a conference call that acquisitions remained part of Hudson''s Bay corporate strategy. They would not comment on reports that Hudson''s Bay was in exploratory talks with debt-laden luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group, following a failed effort to bid for Macy''s Inc ( M.N )."In no way would we do an acquisition that affected our debt ratios and impacted our existing business in a material way, but we do view ourselves as a global consolidator," Baker said from the Netherlands, where the company is planning to open more than a dozen Hudson''s Bay and Saks OFF 5th stores.Founded in 1670, Hudson''s Bay began primarily as a fur trading business. It once owned more than 40 percent of what is now Canada and a significant portion of what became Minnesota and North Dakota.(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Peter Cooney and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-hudson-s-bay-costcuts-idINKBN1771TZ'|'2017-04-05T20:50:00.000+03:00' '2429a906f20b42049b208fefabc5f49d9f343284'|'Israel''s Bank Hapoalim looks to sell off credit card unit'|'JERUSALEM The board of Bank Hapoalim ( POLI.TA ), Israel''s largest lender, has instructed management to explore options for selling off its credit card unit Isracard, the bank said on Thursday.The move comes in the wake of new regulation meant to increase competition in the sector by prohibiting the country''s top two banks from owning credit card companies. Number two Bank Leumi ( LUMI.TA ) will have to do the same.Bank Hapoalim said in a statement it is looking into three options - selling shares of Isracard to the public, selling it to an investor or group of investors, or distributing its shares as a dividend to Hapoalim stakeholders. Hapoalim has three years to sell the unit - or four years if it sells Isracard to the public.The bank is starting to prepare a prospectus for a possible share offering while also holding talks with leading investment banks about finding a buyer.Isracard is Israel''s largest credit card company, with 4.8 million cardholders, annual revenue of more than 2 billion shekels ($549 million) and net profit of about 300 million shekels.($1 = 3.6460 shekels)(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch,; Editing by Tova Cohen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bank-hapoalim-divestiture-idINKBN1780JN'|'2017-04-06T04:31:00.000+03:00' '9eae978bb704549c55e122fe68db9324bfcbd3a7'|'HomeServe sees full-year profit in line with expectations'|' 47am BST HomeServe sees full-year profit in line with expectations British repair and insurance firm HomeServe ( HSV.L ) said it expected full-year profit to come in at the upper end of market expectations, helped by growth across its businesses. Analysts on average were expecting adjusted pretax profit in the range of 105 million pounds to 112 million pounds ($131 million-$140 million) for the year to March 31, according to a company-compiled consensus. HomeServe, which sells cover for household emergencies such as boiler breakdowns and burst water pipes, said the UK business, its largest unit, saw customer growth of 1 percent, while customer retention remained strong at 80 percent. Income per customer continued to increase in the region, the company said, adding that it anticipated income per customer to increase further in the next financial year as customers buy wider cover. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-homeserve-outlook-idUKKBN1780LG'|'2017-04-06T14:47:00.000+03:00' '02729b485cb2b2184c371812825966f49f9a320d'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown firms as central bank may end crown cap soon'|'* Czech central bank holds non-policy meeting * Some investors think cenbank may abandon crown cap * Non-policy meeting results are normally not communicated * Implied rate strongest since 2013 in 3-month forward deals By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 6 The crown firmed on the spot market and in forwards on Thursday as the Czech central bank was holding a meeting where some market players said it may remove its 3-and-1/2-year cap on the crown''s value. If it does so, the currency may face heavy swings around the cap level, dealers and analysts have said. One dealer said he saw market expectations growing that the bank (CNB) could use the meeting to decide on the end of the cap which has kept the crown weaker than 27 against the euro since 2013. "I think there is chance it could be today and would think there could be some more selling of euros to buy crowns just for a try in the morning," the dealer said. "Anyway it would be good test for market forces." The Czech central bank normally does not communicate results of its weekly non-policy meetings. The meeting was due to start at 0700 GMT. The crown traded 0.1 percent firmer, at 27.02 against the euro, while the Polish zloty eased 0.1 percent. The crown''s implied rates in forward contracts also strengthened, with the 3-month rate touching its firmest level since 2013, at 26.789. The bank has tripled its foreign currency reserves since 2013 to defend the cap and most analysts think that it will seek to get rid of the cap soon, possibly this month or in May. Its euro buying picked up in the past months as many investors speculated that the steadily growing and stable Czech economy could help the crown surge once the cap is removed. Others, however, fear that the currency has got overbought. The bank''s commitment to keep the cap ended on Friday and it did not extend it as inflation, which had been anaemic around zero for years, has reached the bank''s 2 percent target in the past months. In a Reuters poll of analysts published on Thursday, seven of 16 analysts predicted that the crown would firm past the current cap level by the end of April. For end-June, 13 of 18 analysts projected a firmer level than 27. Market participants expect a jump in volatility of the crown once the cap is removed. Generali Investments CEE chief economist Radomir Jac said the bank was likely to wait to see March inflation figures, due on April 10, before removing the cap. CEE SNAPS AT 1025 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 27.02 27.03 +0.0 -0.05 00 95 7% % Hungary 310.4 310.3 -0.02 -0.52 forint 300 750 % % Polish 4.237 4.232 -0.13 3.92% zloty 6 3 % Romanian 4.524 4.530 +0.1 0.23% leu 8 0 1% Croatian 7.460 7.448 -0.16 1.27% kuna 0 2 % Serbian 123.7 123.8 +0.0 -0.31 dinar 300 250 8% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 977.7 980.7 -0.31 +6.0 2 8 % 9% Budapest 32373 32405 -0.10 +1.1 .01 .13 % 6% Warsaw 2236. 2253. -0.74 +14. 89 64 % 83% Bucharest 8217. 8201. +0.2 +15. 92 83 0% 99% Ljubljana 778.8 779.2 -0.06 +8.5 1 9 % 3% Zagreb 1938. 1946. -0.43 -2.83 30 65 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 729.4 729.4 +0.0 +1.6 > 4 7 0% 8% Sofia 643.1 641.7 +0.2 +9.6 9 7 2% 8% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 2 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.28 0.33 0.37 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.22 0.27 0.35 0.18 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.75 1.77 1.799 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL5N1HE1S7'|'2017-04-06T07:15:00.000+03:00' '6393cdd212395cdea6eb9da84ff22f3275426f42'|'Financial institutions risk 24 percent revenue loss from fintech - PwC'|' 22am BST Financial institutions risk 24 percent revenue loss from fintech - PwC - A combination file photo shows international banks Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch from Reuters archive. REUTERS/File photos - Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the announcement that the U.S. Federal Reserve had hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in New York, U.S., on December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo 2/2 By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK Large financial institutions across the world could lose 24 percent of their revenues to financial technology companies over the next three to five years, according to a new study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Of the more than 1300 financial industry executives polled by the professional services firm, 88 percent said they feared their business was at risk to standalone financial technology companies in areas such as payments, money transfers and personal finance, the study found. In banking specifically, consumer services such as personal loans, were seen as most at risk, according to PwC''s annual Global FinTech Report published on Wednesday. The report came as banks and other large financial firms face growing competition from a young cohort of companies that take advantage of new technologies to offer better digital services to customers, in areas ranging from financial advice to life insurance. To counter the threat, financial institutions expected to increase their collaboration with fintech companies, with 82 percent of respondents saying partnerships with tech-savvy firms would increase over the next three to five years, the PwC report found. To improve their digital offering and remain competitive, large firms have been looking to work more closely with young technology companies through a number of initiatives such as corporate venture arms and innovation centres. In his annual shareholder letter published on Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) chief executive Jamie Dimon highlighted some of the bank''s most recent collaborations with fintech companies in areas including mortgages, small business lending and payments. While collaboration is on the rise, entrepreneurs and executives often note that several hurdles are hindering more effective cooperation. IT security, regulatory uncertainty and differences in management and culture, were cited by respondents to PwC''s report as major challenges hindering partnerships. In particular, data privacy rules, as well as anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules were seen as the biggest regulatory barriers to developing more innovative services. The report also highlighted how interest in record-keeping technology blockchain continues to grow in finance, with investments in blockchain companies growing 79 percent year over year in 2016 to $450 million (£360.81 million). While adoption of the nascent technology is not expected to happen quickly, the survey found 55 percent of respondents planned to adopt it by next year, and 77 percent by 2020. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Andrew Hay) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fintech-outlook-idUKKBN17731K'|'2017-04-06T07:22:00.000+03:00' '31fbae2f8483946f8c31fbb86f1b974a8f5bb451'|'State-owned China Unicom says parent reviewing mixed-ownership structure'|'HONG KONG State-owned China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd ( 0762.HK ) said its top shareholder China United Network Communications Ltd ( 600050.SS ) was reviewing its ownership structure as Beijing puts pressure on telcos to bring in private investors and boost competition.The country''s big telecommunication firms - China Unicom, China Telecom Corp Ltd ( 0728.HK ) and China Mobile Ltd 0941.K - are all units of unwieldy state-owned enterprises.Those parent firms are seen as overstaffed, inefficient and slow to develop key technologies, prompting the call to bring in private firms, which have shot ahead in developing cloud and big data services as well as mobile software.China Unicom will be among the first batch of state-owned enterprises expected to introduce private shareholders in a pilot scheme of ownership reform.The Shanghai-listed parent company will be used as a platform for the mixed ownership reform, China Unicom said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse late on Wednesday."As the related plan for these matters is still under further deliberation, these matters are still subject to substantial uncertainty," added China Unicom, in which China United Network owns a 75.94 percent stake.Hong Kong-listed shares of China Unicom, which were halted on Wednesday, opened up 3.1 percent as trade resumed on Thursday at HK$11.2($1.44)- the highest since October 2015. But the gains were erased later with the shares down about 1 percent by 0255 GMT.China United Network, which was also halted on Wednesday, said it will remain suspended from trading until further notice.China Unicom, the worst-performing telco among the three state-owned firms, said in October that it was included in the pilot mixed ownership reform scheme. Last month, it reported a 94 percent drop in profit for 2016.Analysts expect the company to face further headwinds this year due to the government''s call on telco operators to lower rates.(Reporting by Donny Kwok and Sijia Jiang; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-china-unicom-reform-idINKBN1780A7'|'2017-04-06T01:39:00.000+03:00' 'ae53444123af9435717467ca310a4164237c4bb3'|'Gary Cohn supports splitting lending and investment banks - Bloomberg'|'Company News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:26am EDT Gary Cohn supports splitting lending and investment banks - Bloomberg April 5 White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said in a private meeting with lawmakers that he supports a policy that could revamp Wall Street''s biggest firms by separating their consumer-lending businesses from their investment banks, Bloomberg reported, citing sources. The National Economic Council director, also a former Goldman Sachs president, said he favors a system of banking where firms like Goldman Sachs focus on trading and underwriting securities, while companies like Citigroup Inc primarily issues loans, Bloomberg said. bloom.bg/2nZK5n1 The White House was not immediately available for comment. In the meeting which was arranged by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Cohn had discussions on topics including financial regulations and overhauling the tax code. The meeting included lawmakers from both political parties and their staffs, Bloomberg reported. On Tuesday, President Trump said his administration is working on changes to the Dodd-Frank banking regulations that will make it easier for banks to loan money. Last month White House spokesman Sean Spicer said during a briefing with reporters that Trump still backs his campaign pledge to restore the Glass-Steagall Act. The law, which separated commercial and investment banking activities, was repealed in 1999 and, if reinstated, would mainly apply to larger banks. (Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair) Next In Company News Morning News Call - India, April 6 To access the newsletter, click on the link: http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Indiamorning/MNC_IN_04062017.pdf If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: https://forms.thomsonreuters.com/india-morning/ FACTORS TO WATCH 11:00 am: Budget session of Parliament continues in New Delhi. 2:00 pm: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh at an event in New Delhi. 2:30 pm: RBI releases monetary policy statement in Mumbai.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/gary-cohn-policy-idUSL3N1HE1VQ'|'2017-04-06T12:26:00.000+03:00' '875a8bc85fcb46110e5f2e448ad4e8ed853c06f4'|'Spain''s Abengoa starts process to sell stake in U.S. unit: source'|'MADRID Spanish renewable energy and engineering company Abengoa ( ABG.MC ) has started the process of selling the 41 percent stake it still owns in U.S. utility assets operator Atlantica Yield ( ABY.O ), a source close to the company said on Tuesday.Abengoa, which announced the completion of a restructuring at the end of March, is being advised on the sale by Lazard, Santander, and Caixabank, the source said."The idea is to sell the stake in a block to an institutional investor ... within three to six months, with the aim of closing if possible in summer," the source said.Lazard and Caixabank were not immediately available to comment. Santander declined to comment.The 41 percent stake would be worth about $900 million at current market prices.(Reporting by Jose Elias Rodriguez; Writing by Isla Binnie; Editing by Julien Toyer, Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-atlantica-yield-m-a-idINKBN1761TT'|'2017-04-04T12:58:00.000+03:00' '91d24cde171c15be9878aad0a99febd6dc37d1c5'|'BRIEF-Willis Towers Watson reports CFO retirement'|' Willis Towers Watson reports CFO retirement April 6 Willis Towers Watson Plc: * Roger Millay, Willis Towers Watson''s chief financial officer, will be voluntarily retiring, effective October 2, 2017 * Willis Towers Watson announces cfo retirement, effective fall 2017 * Will initiate a search immediately for cfo candidates and intends to complete search over next several months '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-willis-towers-watson-reports-cfo-r-idUSASB0B8TV'|'2017-04-06T20:37:00.000+03:00' 'd5dbc7c89829dabc2f03ce0335dbec45d7a4ce37'|'As KFC shuns some antibiotics, U.S. chicken industry deploys wet wipes, oregano'|'By Tom Polansek and Lisa Baertlein - CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, April 7 CHICAGO/LOS ANGELES, April 7 To meet increasing demand for meat raised without certain antibiotics, top U.S. chicken company Tyson Foods Inc and rival producers are turning to sanitizing wipes, bacteria-reducing fog and even oregano to keep birds healthy.Some have spent years of trial and error on new techniques to figure out replacements for human drugs, part of a fight against the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria in people.Yum Brands Inc''s KFC on Friday became the last of the big three U.S. chicken restaurants to move away from antibiotics important to human medicine. McDonald''s Corp and privately held Chick-fil-A had already made similar commitments.Nationwide, more than 42 percent of the U.S. chicken industry has already committed to reducing the use of antibiotics, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. With KFC''s move, that number is set to grow.KFC U.S. President Kevin Hochman called the chain''s move a "major milestone" that should significantly increase the supply of bone-in chicken raised without medically important antibiotics. It should also open the door for smaller chains to follow KFC''s move, he told Reuters.KFC, which sells more than 65 million buckets of chicken a year, estimated that one-third of its suppliers were already transitioning to chicken raised with fewer antibiotics.The company said it was late to shift away from human antibiotics because it had to persuade suppliers of bone-in chickens it uses to make the change.The chain typically only buys up to one-third of birds in a flock because the others do not meet its specifications. That meant its suppliers needed to find other buyers before being able to curb use of the drugs to satisfy KFC, the company said.The suppliers have improved hygiene and airflow in chicken houses to keep birds healthy and given them more room to move, Vijay Sukumar, chief food innovation officer for KFC''s U.S. operations, told Reuters on Friday. That has raised costs but also reduced the need for drugs, he said. He did not give further details of the costs."We had to convince our suppliers to go for the change and then they worked with us," Sukumar said.HERBS AND HYGIENETyson, one of KFC''s suppliers, set a goal in April 2015 to eliminate the use of human antibiotics from its broiler flocks, or those raised for meat, by the end of September 2017.More than 90 percent of broiler chickens in its supply chain were raised without antibiotics also used in humans in its fiscal year 2016, Tyson told Reuters on Friday.The company also plans to switch its retail line of Tyson-branded chicken products to birds raised without any antibiotics.Perdue Farms, a competitor, said it eliminated the routine use of all antibiotics in chicken last year. It now puts oregano in birds'' water, banking on the herb''s antioxidants to keep them healthy, and takes other steps to avoid drugs.Tyson said it has ramped up efforts to sanitize facilities and eggs that hatch into baby chicks, which are most vulnerable to sickness.The company wanted eggs to be cleaner before they hatch and now asks farmers to rub them with sanitizing wipes before shipping them to a Tyson facility, said Bill Hewat, Tyson''s director of international veterinarian services, during a tour of a Missouri hatchery last year.Once the eggs arrive, Tyson places them in a room filled nightly with a fog of peracetic acid that is intended to keep the bacterial load as low as possible before eggs go into incubators, he said."It''s an incubator for eggs," said Hewat. "Unfortunately it''s also an incubator for bacteria."The mortality rate for Tyson''s chicks in their first week of life increased after the company initially removed human antibiotics, Hewat said. By September 2016, it had returned to close to where it was before the change, because of Tyson''s extra efforts, he said.Tyson has also started spraying hot water inside the hatchery to maintain a clean environment and increased spot-testing for bacteria."We wanted hospital-clean," said Kevin Gibbs, a production manager.Tyson has found it difficult to explain to some farmers why the company wants to change its practices to shift away from antibiotics, according to Alan Johnston, a manager at the Tyson facilities in Missouri. "It''s like turning the Titanic on some of these things," he said. (Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/yumbrands-kfc-producer-idINL1N1HF1S6'|'2017-04-07T23:10:00.000+03:00' 'b71cc241af884514c793340cf0fd6921ba21d921'|'Signs point away from Trump labelling China currency manipulator'|' 4:31am IST Signs point away from Trump labeling China currency manipulator FILE PHOTO: U.S. 100 dollar banknotes and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration in Beijing, China, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Illustration/File Photo By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump looks unlikely to formally declare China a currency manipulator next week just days after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign exchange policy experts say, leaving a vocal Trump campaign pledge unmet, at least for now. The U.S. Treasury would have to radically change its definitions of currency manipulation in order to squeeze China into that label for its next report due April 14, said these experts, several of whom contributed to past Treasury analysis of foreign exchange practices. But over time, the Trump administration may consider changes to the Obama administration''s currency definitions as the Treasury gains staff. "It would be hard to come up with a credible standard that would catch China in the net," said David Dollar, a former U.S. Treasury economic liaison to China who is now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Trump pledged to label China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration, but so far has refrained. A trade and customs enforcement law enacted last year set out three criteria for identifying manipulation among major trading partners: a "material" global current account surplus, a "significant" bilateral trade surplus with the United States, and persistent one-way intervention in foreign exchange markets. The Treasury is required to demand special talks with any country meeting all three thresholds aimed at correcting an undervalued currency, with penalties such as exclusion from U.S. government procurement contracts available after a year. Under the current Obama-defined thresholds, China only meets one of these criteria, based on its $347 billion goods trade surplus with the United States. Its central bank has for the past two years spent over $1 trillion to prop up the yuan''s value - not to push it down. China''s current account surplus, an indicator of its global trade balance, was 1.8 percent of GDP in 2016, well below the threshold for action. The U.S. Treasury says it is "premature" to comment on the outcome of its currency review and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said it will adhere to past practice in its assessment, suggesting that radical changes will not be made in this publication. "The conclusion among people like me from that seems to be that they''re moving away from naming China," said Matthew Goodman, former Treasury official who wrote currency reports during the Clinton administration and is now at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. But with the Trump administration pushing a trade agenda aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits, particularly those with China, experts said that they expect the Trump administration to consider changes aimed at deterring future manipulations. Treasury will be in a much better position to make such changes for its October currency report, said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar and China trade expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "I would be very surprised if a year from now the Obama criteria were still in place," Scissors said. The most logical option would be to lengthen the time period for reviewing currency market interventions from 12 months to several years, capturing more past interventions by China, according to the policy experts. One senior South Korean official told Reuters that doing this would likely lead to manipulator designations for South Korea, Taiwan and possibly other countries. Treasury also could reduce the current account surplus threshold below 3 percent of GDP to try to capture more potential offenders, but that would be at odds with longstanding views of the International Monetary Fund and G20 finance officials that 3 pct of GDP is about where surpluses start to become a concern. (Reporting by David Lawder; additional reporting by Christine Kim in Seoul; Editing by David Chance and Grant McCool) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-trade-idINKBN1772Z4'|'2017-04-06T06:55:00.000+03:00' '092a1e9ab1f1249beabc0086d9ded15abd2e2904'|'UPDATE 2-Brazil''s Embraer sees solid demand for new military cargo jet'|'Big Story 10 28pm EDT Brazil''s Embraer sees solid demand for new military cargo jet By Brad Haynes - RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA sees $1.5 billion in annual exports as "a good target" for its KC-390 military cargo jet entering service next year, Jackson Schneider, head of the company''s defense unit, said on Wednesday. Brazil''s Air Force has already ordered 28 of the aircraft for 7.2 billion reais ($2.3 billion), with two deliveries in 2018 and three in 2019, Schneider told reporters. He added that "the sky is the limit" for production in the following years. Earlier, in remarks on Tuesday at the LAAD defense expo in Rio de Janeiro, Schneider had said Embraer aims to book its first foreign KC-390 contract this year. His comments underscored Embraer''s intent to take a bite out of the global military transport segment long dominated by the workhorse Hercules C-130, made by U.S. aerospace firm Lockheed Martin Corp. Reinforcing the direct rivalry, KC-390 program director Paulo Gastao Silva said Embraer was engaged in "promising conversations" about developing a civilian version of the military aircraft. Earlier this year, Lockheed Martin rolled out the LM-100J, a commercial or civilian variant of the Hercules. Embraer has previously forecast a market worth over $50 billion in the coming decades to replace more than 700 aging Hercules planes, some of them in service since the 1960s. Tony Frere, vice president of business development for the Hercules and other transport aircraft at Lockheed, said Embraer''s estimate of the market size was in the right ballpark, but he saw little room for a new entrant. "The only replacement for a Hercules is another Hercules," Frere said in an interview at the expo, highlighting the C-130''s incumbent advantages after more than 2,500 deliveries over nearly six decades. The civilian version of the aircraft aims to build on that track record, especially on unfinished airstrips where its straight wing and four turboprops have earned it a rugged reputation, said Thomas Wetherall, director of business development for the LM-100J. Lockheed aims to sell 75 to 125 LM-100Js, Wetherall said, and it got off to a strong start in Embraer''s backyard. Brazil-based logistics firm Bravo Industries agreed last year to buy 10 to access hundreds of Brazilian airports unprepared to receive other big cargo planes. Wetherall said growing demand for e-commerce deliveries in remote markets was boosting demand for rugged cargo planes like the LM-100J, expanding the client base beyond mining and oil services companies. (Reporting by Brad Haynes; Editing by W Simon and Tom Brown) Next In Big Story 10 As cities surge, careful planning needed for the ''invisible'' poor OXFORD, England (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With 70 percent of the world''s population expected to live in cities by 2050, getting urban planning right is crucial to ensuring future cities are safe, resilient and fair places, particularly for the poorest residents, experts said Wednesday.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-embraer-kc-idUSKBN17731R'|'2017-04-06T07:24:00.000+03:00' '951545f2be33a205877ac6904d9c0d001c5dbffd'|'Oil prices fall on record U.S. crude stocks, rising production'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 3:07am BST Oil prices fall on record U.S. crude stocks, rising production An oil storage tank and crude oil pipeline equipment is seen during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S. June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Richard Carson By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices fell on Thursday as record U.S. crude inventories underscored that markets remain bloated by high production and brimming storage despite efforts led by OPEC to cut output and prop up prices. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $54.09 per barrel at 0124 GMT, down 27 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 29 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $50.86 a barrel. Traders said the price falls came on the back of rising U.S. crude oil production that resulted in record inventories. U.S. fuel inventories and oil production levels are key to determine whether the United States will remain the world''s biggest oil importer, which is a price supporting indicator, or if its soaring production and bloated stocks lead to lower imports and trigger shipments to the rest of the world, which would weigh on oil markets. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a 1.57 million barrels increase in crude inventories late on Wednesday, bringing total U.S. stocks to a new record of 535.5 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA. "Weaker-than-expected U.S. oil inventory data saw the sector sell off," ANZ bank said on Thursday. The bloated crude inventories came as U.S. oil production rose 52,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.2 million bpd C-OUT-T-EIA, a more than 9 percent increase since mid-2016 to levels last seen at the start of the oil market slump in late 2014 and early 2015. Within the U.S. crude inventories, stocks at Cushing, in Oklahoma, are seen as particularly important as this is the delivery hub into the U.S. WTI pricing hub. Crude stocks at Cushing USOICC=ECI rose 1.4 million barrels to a record 69.1 million barrels. Cushing crude tank farms have a total storage capacity of 77 million barrels, said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. U.S. Gulf Coast inventories also jumped, by 2.7 million barrels, to a peak of 280.9 million barrels, the EIA said. Because of the glut, U.S. crude exports have soared to a record 1.1 million bpd, with most cargoes going to Asia, eroding efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut output in an effort to prop up prices. Somewhat offsetting the bloated U.S. crude market, however, is strong demand. ANZ said that high refinery activity "negated some of that (crude) weakness," with refineries operating at 90.8 percent at capacity last week, up 1.5 percent from the previous week. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN178067'|'2017-04-06T10:07:00.000+03:00' '62858e03f7c7a98c27a7a3846c34e831531a8ba1'|'UPDATE 1-Trump adviser from Wall St. backs U.S. bank breakup law'|'(Updated to include White House confirmation of comments and additional sourcing)By Pete SchroederWASHINGTON, April 6 White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said he backed bringing back the Glass-Steagall Act, a Depression-era law that would revamp Wall Street banks by splitting their consumer-lending businesses from their investment arms.The National Economic Council director, also a former Goldman Sachs president, expressed support to lawmakers for a banking system where firms would focus primarily on trading and underwriting securities or issuing loans.Big banks have strongly opposed such a move that would fundamentally overhaul their business. Reinstating the law, which was repealed in 1999, has not attracted significant attention in Congress, but advocates in the White House and both parties now argue it would provide critical safeguards to prevent another financial crisis. Critics of that approach say it lacks nuance and would not have prevented the last financial meltdown.The fact Cohn, widely viewed as one of Wall Street''s own, was willing to push that position spooked big banks'' representatives in Washington.The White House confirmed Cohn''s remarks in a private meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday. A spokesperson said he was "simply discussing the President''s previously stated position" in favor of a "21st century Glass-Steagall."Cohn''s remarks were first reported by Bloomberg. bloom.bg/2nZK5n1The Trump administration has indicated support for a return to Glass-Steagall. The White House has stuck by the idea since it was included in the Republican Party platform during the presidential campaign, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed interest in a modernized version of the law.When asked on Thursday when large financial institutions should begin to worry about Glass-Steagall becoming a reality, one industry representative said, "Right now."However, any legislation establishing such a firewall faces long odds in the current Congress. The heads of the House and Senate banking committees have indicated support for alternative approaches, and efforts to move Glass-Steagall legislation in prior years have garnered little support."A new Glass-Steagall would require legislation, and it simply isn’t a priority issue in Congress," wrote Ian Katz, a financial policy analyst for the research firm Capital Alpha Partners, in a note to clients.In the meeting which was arranged by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, Cohn was asked by Senator Elizabeth Warren about Glass-Steagall. Cohn responded favorably, noting that the Republican Party platform supports the idea, according to sources familiar with the meeting. The meeting included lawmakers from both parties and their staff.Bringing back Glass Steagall would likely have a significant impact on banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp and Citigroup that have large highly intertwined commercial lending and investment banking operations, say analysts.It would impact Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley to a lesser degree although, they would likely have to revert to being standalone investment banks and shed their deposit funding. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder, Sarah N. Lynch and Olivia Oran; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-banks-trump-idINL2N1HE18X'|'2017-04-06T15:15:00.000+03:00' '6ac236037cacf3275a8c098654a2800e6f72d68d'|'China March data seen showing solid growth but all eyes on Trump-Xi meeting'|'Money News 48am IST China March data seen showing solid growth but all eyes on Trump-Xi meeting Beachgoers walk along Ocean Ave. near the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Skipper BEIJING A flurry of data in coming weeks is expected to show China posted solid economic growth in March, as President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump meet for the first time this week with China''s trade surplus expected to be high on the agenda. Trump has foreshadowed the risk of talks being tense, tweeting on Thursday that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses. While Trump has not followed through yet on campaign threats to label China a currency manipulator or impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, many analysts reckon the new administration is just beginning to flex its trade muscles. China''s import growth for March is likely to remain strong, while exports could rebound modestly, according to Reuters polls, producing an expected trade surplus of $10 billion after a rare deficit in February. Exports were expected to rise 3.2 percent, while imports were seen up 18 percent, led once again by raw materials such as iron ore which are feeding a months-long construction boom. Imports had surged 38 percent in February while exports unexpectedly dipped, but China''s data in the first two months of the year can be heavily skewed by the timing of the Lunar New Year holidays, when many businesses shut for a week or more. Reflecting continued strength in the manufacturing sector, and particularly heavy industry, China''s producer price index (PPI) likely rose 7.6 percent from a year earlier, after jumping 7.8 percent in February, its fastest pace in nearly nine years. However, while factory surveys show manufacturers have been able to pass on some higher input costs by raising prices of their goods, there has been scant evidence of it flowing through to consumer inflation and becoming a worry for policymakers. Many analysts believe China''s producer inflation may peak soon, and see consumer inflation remaining mild. The consumer price index (CPI) is mainly driven by prices of food, particularly pork, and services. The CPI likely rose 1.0 percent in March, after slowing to 0.8 percent in February, its weakest pace since January 2015, as food prices fell. Beijing is targeting consumer inflation at 3 percent this year, unchanged from 2016. China''s foreign exchange reserves likely edged up in March to $3.01 trillion after unexpectedly rising for the first time in eight months in February, rebounding above $3 trillion as a regulatory crackdown and a steadying yuan helped staunch capital outflows. The rebound in reserves could ease fears in global markets that China will engineer another sharp one-off devaluation of the yuan, which would run the risk of inflaming trade tensions with the new U.S. administration. China announces foreign exchange reserves on Friday, followed by inflation and trade data on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, while loan and money data is expected anytime from April 10-15. OUTPUT DATA LIKELY TO SUGGEST SOLID Q1 GROWTH China will release first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) on April 17, along with March industrial output, retail sales and fixed asset investment. Industrial output was expected to have remained at 6.3 percent in March, from 6.3 percent in Jan-Feb combined, while fixed asset investment was likely to grow 8.8 percent, down from 8.9 percent in Jan-Feb. Retail sales were expected to grow 9.6 percent in March, marginally better than 9.5 percent in Jan-Feb, which was the weakest pace in nearly two years. Analysts are awaiting early March data before fine-tuning their GDP forecasts for Q1, but some expect it will be roughly in line with or possibly even slightly stronger than the 6.8 percent growth China posted in the fourth quarter of 2016. Many analysts think that may be as good as it gets for Chinese growth this year, even if Trump takes no direct action on trade in coming months. Activity is expected to start cooling later in 2017 as the boost from record bank lending and strong government infrastructure spending last year begins to fade. Chinese iron ore and steel prices fell sharply in March on worries that high inventories were already signalling supply is outpacing demand. Intensifying government measures to get the overheated housing market under control could also brake economic growth, though few market watchers predict an outright property crash. LOANS SEEN UP DESPITE C.BANK TIGHTENING Loan data will also be closely watched for signs of whether authorities are sticking to credit-fuelled stimulus despite official warnings about the risks from a rapid build-up in debt. Chinese banks likely extended 1.25 trillion yuan ($181.29 billion) in new loans in March, up from 1.17 trillion yuan in February but far below January''s 2.03 trillion yuan, the second highest ever. In recent months, the People''s Bank of China (PBOC) has adopted a modest tightening bias in a bid to contain financial risks, though it is treading cautiously to avoid crimping economic growth - which Beijing has said will be a more modest 6.5 percent this year. In a bid to reduce leverage in the financial system, the PBOC has bumped up interest rates on money market instruments and special short- and medium-term loans several times so far in 2017, though analysts do not expect a full-blown policy rate increase this year. ($1 = 6.8950 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Kim Coghill) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-data-idINKBN1780IL'|'2017-04-06T14:18:00.000+03:00' '72bc76961c66b22ae2aab9991b71d0eea37d1ea0'|'Unilever announces results of business review'|' 15am BST Unilever announces results of business review FILE PHOTO: An employee of PT Unilever Indonesia shows Pepsodent tooth paste at Foodmart Fresh supermarket in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 31, 2016. REUTERS/Beawiharta/File Photo By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Unilever ( ULVR.L ) ( UNc.AS ) said on Thursday it will exit its spreads business, increase its margin targets and review its dual-headed legal structure, as it aims to prove it can deliver growth following its rejection in February of a takeover proposal by Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ). The pledges are the result of a business review at the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods maker, undertaken following the unsolicited $143 billion (114.47 billion pounds) bid by its U.S. rival. Unilever, one of Europe''s biggest blue-chip stocks, called the episode a "trigger moment" to assess its business, as the global packaged goods industry faces slowing growth and greater competition. The maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry''s ice cream said it was accelerating its cost-savings plan, targeting a 20 percent underlying operating margin, before restructuring, by 2020. It said it would combine its refreshment business, which includes ice cream and tea, with the rest of its foods business, in a bid to unlock growth and grow margins faster. It also said it would target net debt of 2 times EBITDA, and would launch a share buy-back this year of 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion). It also said it was raising its dividend by 12 percent. (Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Holmes) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-unilever-review-idUKKBN1780HH'|'2017-04-06T14:15:00.000+03:00' '5155643e517afdafe086cb6b811899cbcc4be352'|'BMW strikes set to disrupt Mini and Rolls-Royce production - Business'|'Workers at BMW , Mini and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars are to hold a series of 24-hour strikes at factories across the UK in a dispute about pensions.Unite said the eight strikes would significantly disrupt production of Minis and called on BMW , the owner of Mini and Rolls-Royce, to hold talks to resolve the dispute.The trade union claims workers could lose up to £160,000 in retirement benefits because of BMW’s plans to close its final-salary pension schemes by the end of May. A Mini part''s incredible journey shows how Brexit will hit the UK car industry Read more The industrial action will impact the Mini factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire, one of the biggest in the country, as well as BMW’s engine plant at Hams Hall in Warwickshire, a pressings plant in Swindon, and Rolls-Royce’s factory in Goodwood, Sussex. They are scheduled to take place between 19 April and 24 May.This week members of Unite voted overwhelming in favour of the strikes.Len McCluskey, the union’s general secretary, said: “BMW’s refusal to talk about affordable options to keep the pension scheme open means a sizeable chunk of its UK workforce will be taking strike action for the first time in the coming weeks. “Bosses in the UK and BMW’s headquarters in Munich cannot feign surprise that it’s come to this point. Unite has repeatedly warned of the anger their insistence to railroad through the pension scheme’s closure would generate and the resulting industrial action. “BMW’s bosses need to get their heads out of the sand and recognise their pension pinching plans will not go unchallenged. “I urge BMW to step back from its May deadline for the pension scheme’s closure and negotiate seriously to find a settlement which is good for the business and good for the workforce.” BMW enjoyed a record financial performance in 2016, despite being engulfed in the scandal over cheating diesel emissions tests in the US . Sales of its vehicles rose by 5.3% to 2.4m, including a 6.4% increase for Mini and a 6% rise for Rolls-Royce. Net profits rose 8% to €6.9bn (£5.9bn).Topics BMW Automotive industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/bmw-strikes-mini-rolls-royce-unite-pension'|'2017-04-05T20:12:00.000+03:00' '754e6c6ff4b35c7616c6353bce1514e7b002f40e'|'UK consumer slowdown underway, caution needed on rates - Bank of England''s Vlieghe'|' consumer slowdown underway, caution needed on rates - Bank of England''s Vlieghe FILE PHOTO: City workers walk past the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain, March 29, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo LONDON, April 5 - Bank of England rate-setter Gertjan Vlieghe said on Wednesday a consumer slowdown was already underway in Britain and was likely to worsen, underscoring the need for caution on interest rates. Vlieghe, who is considered one of the central bank''s most dovish policymakers, repeated his view that a premature rate hike was more dangerous than one that came too late. He also said weak wage growth meant the ongoing rise in inflation, pushed up by the fall in the value of the pound since last June''s Brexit vote, was unlikely to turn into something more damaging. "The consumer slowdown, which initially did not materialise, now appears to be underway," Vlieghe said in a speech delivered at the offices of Bloomberg in London. "Given the hit to real income from a mix of subdued wage growth and rising inflation, I think the slowdown is more likely to intensify than fade away." The BoE is widely expected to keep interest rates at their record low throughout this year and possibly until 2019 as it steers the British economy through the uncertainty linked to the exit from the EU. However, one rate-setter - Kristin Forbes - voted last month for a rate hike and others said they might follow suit soon if there were signs of inflation picking up by more than expected or that economy was maintaining its momentum of 2016. To consider a rate hike, Vlieghe said he would need to see evidence that inflation pressures were spreading beyond the effect of sterling''s depreciation, or that there was a pick-up again in household spending and borrowing. Vlieghe also warned that a "more material" fall in business spending might take place in response to uncertainty around Brexit, given the two-year clock on the negotiations with the European Union had just started. In his speech, he addressed criticism of the BoE for its warning, made before last year''s Brexit vote, that Britian''s economy would face a quick and sharp hit in the event of a decision to leave the EU, something which has not yet happened. Vlieghe said the BoE had been less pessimistic than many other forecasters and, in any case, its decision to cut rates in August had been the right one. "I would take exactly the same action again if faced with the same circumstances," he said. ((Reporting by Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout; editing by William Schomberg); ((andy.bruce@thomsonreuters.com; +442075423484; Reuters Messaging: andy.bruce.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-vlieghe-idUKKBN1771LC'|'2017-04-05T20:34:00.000+03:00' '5fb5eb25972d92f900edbdbfc4cf387f3fd13d00'|'BRIEF-Ocean Rig announces over 75 pct support for restructuring agreement'|' 15am EDT BRIEF-Ocean Rig announces over 75 pct support for restructuring agreement April 5 Ocean Rig Udw Inc- * Ocean Rig announces over 75% support for restructuring agreement from holders of the company''s consolidated indebtedness * Ocean Rig -has sufficient support from supporting creditors in order to implement restructuring of co, dov and dfh as contemplated by terms of rsa Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ocean-rig-announces-over-75-pct-su-idUSASB0B8N9'|'2017-04-05T21:15:00.000+03:00' '2333af00ac32948a247623664f7510e04e030ca5'|'Deliveroo accused of creating ''new vocabulary'' to avoid saying couriers are employees - Business'|'Managers at Deliveroo have been given a list of “dos and don’ts” setting out how to talk to the firm’s food delivery riders, using terms that appear designed to fend off claims that they are employees.In a six page document seen by the Guardian, Deliveroo says its couriers, who deliver takeaways, should always be referred to as “independent suppliers” – self-employed workers with few employment rights – rather than as employees, workers, staff or team members.The business models of gig economy companies such as Deliveroo and taxi app Uber are based on using thousands of self-employed contractors rather than employees – a move which saves them millions of pounds in holiday pay, sick pay and tax. The workers have no right to the minimum wage.Deliveroo’s guidance suggests the food delivery company’s own staff could become confused by the definition of the riders’ role. The document provides carefully worded example sentences to explain how work practices can be described – and how they can’t. Instead of hiring riders at a recruitment centre, for example, senior staff undertake “onboarding” at a “supply centre”. They must also talk about riders’ “availability” rather than refer to shifts. As an example it tells staff they should not tell riders “You did not attend a shift”, and should instead say “You were unavailable to accept orders at a previously agreed time”.Riders’ branded outfits must not be described as uniform but only as “kit” or “equipment”.The document’s list of “dos and don’ts” also says that riders do not clock on but they log in (to the rider app), and says that staff dealing with riders pay should always refer to invoices, rather than payslips.A spokesperson for Deliveroo said: “We have almost 1,000 full-time staff and work with over 15,000 riders in the UK. We ensure that employees know how to work with our partners, which includes training and guidelines to follow when talking to customers, restaurants, and of course self-employed riders.”The “dos and don’ts” document has emerged as several groups of gig economy workers take legal action claiming they are employees or workers, with more employment rights than self-employed contractors.They include a group of Deliveroo couriers planning legal action against the food delivery firm claiming better employment rights including the minimum wage, sick pay and holiday.An initial 20 delivery riders involved in the case say they are employees and not, as the company argues, self-employed contractors. In the latest challenge to employment conditions in the gig economy , the riders are seeking compensation for not receiving holiday pay and for being paid wages below the legal minimum for employees.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Deliveroo workers are told to log in when they start work. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Law firm Leigh Day, which says it has a total of 200 Deliveroo riders lined up to take similar action, argues that they are employees because they are are required to carry out a trial shift, wear a uniform and paid at a set rate with no say on terms and conditions. Their movements are also closely monitored by Deliveroo and subject to performance review.All of this terminology falls under the “don’t” column in the Deliveroo document seen by the Guardian – with alternative wording supplied. It appears to indicate that language is a key factor in separating the definition of a self-employed contractor and an employee at Deliveroo.The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain is also fighting for the right of union recognition at Deliveroo in Camden and Kentish Town, London. Some of the concepts central to the union’s case – such as the use of zones – also fall under the “don’t” column.The union, which led strike action over changes to pay by riders in London last year and has also been campaigning for better pay for Brighton Deliveroo couriers, is applying to the central arbitration committee. In May it will begin the case by deciding if riders should be classed as self-employed or workers.Jason Moyer-Lee, the general secretary of the IWGB, said: “This document is further evidence of what the IWGB has been saying all along. Deliveroo is operating a charade with regard to its employment practices. It has even found it necessary to create a whole new vocabulary to hide what is blindingly obvious to any objective observer.”The action against Deliveroo is part of a wave of action against similar companies. Successful employment tribunal cases have already been brought by cycle couriers at CitySprint and Excel and drivers for taxi app Uber . All three cases found the riders were workers, meaning they are entitled to limited rights including holiday pay and the minimum wage, rather than self-employed contractors with no employment rights.How to speak Deliveroo The food delivery service sets out words and phrases that should and should not be used to describe its riders and how they work. The company also provides handy example sentences to put the allowed and banned words into context:Do say: Independent supplier, eg: “We offer riders hours of work and they choose how many to accept based on their availability and the areas they want to work in”Don’t say: Employee/worker/staff member/team member. eg “Drivers are employed by Deliveroo to complete deliveries”Do say: Onboarding, eg: “Before working with us riders complete a programme of app demonstration, safety guidance and documentation checks” Don’t say: Hiring. “Before their first shift drivers must complete a trial session”Do say: Supply centreDon’t say: Hiring office/hiring centreDo say: Supplier agreement, eg: “Your supplier agreement may be terminated if you continue to fail to meet the service delivery standards”Don’t say: Employment contract, eg: “You are obliged by your employment contract to hit certain performance targets”Do say: Working with Deliveroo, eg: “While you are working with Deliveroo as an independent supplier we would typically expect you to accept 95% of orders you are available to perform when logged in” Don’t say: Working for Deliveroo, eg: “Our drivers work for Deliveroo”Do say: Riders choosing an area of work, eg: “Riders choose to work with us in localised areas to enable them to complete orders safely within time estimate”Don’t say: Assigning riders to a zone, eg: “Drivers are assigned to their zone based on where we need them most”Do say: Kit/equipment/branded clothing, eg: “If you purchased an equipment pack when you started working with Deliveroo please bring it back to the supply centre where we will repurchase it from you” Don’t say: Uniform, eg “Please return the uniform you were issued with to the hiring office and we will refund your equipment deposit”Do say: Availability, eg “Please indicate your availability via Staffomatic” Don’t say: Shifts/sessions/hours, eg “We schedule riders’ shifts in Staffomatic”Do say: Unavailability notification, eg “If you are unavailable for work for a prolonged period of time/at a previously agreed time please let us know” Don’t say: Absence request/booking a holiday/asking for time off, eg “If you want time off you must book a holiday”Do say: Inactivity, eg “According to the system your rider app has been inactive since ... ” Don’t say: Awol/unexplained absence, eg “According to the system you have been absent for ... ”Do say: Logging inDon’t say: Starting a shift/starting a session/clocking inDo say: Fees eg “Maximise fees at our busiest time”Don’t say: Wages/salary/earnings/pay eg “Maximise earnings this weekend”Do say: Invoice eg “Rider invoices are processed fortnightly”Don’t say: Payslip/wage slip/statement of earnings eg “We will pay you every two weeks”Do say: Fee per delivery, eg: “The fee per delivery payment system has been designed to allow you to maximise your fees with complete flexibility” Don’t say: Piece rate/delivery bonus/delivery rate/drop fee, eg: “Working on a piece rate allows you to earn more at busy times”Do say: Service delivery standards eg “Refer to your latest Service Delivery Standards Assessment to see whether you are meeting the Service Delivery Standards”Don’t say: Performance review/performance assessment, eg “Refer to your performance review to see whether or not you are hitting our targets”Do say: Supplier agreement review Don’t say: Performance management/disciplinary meeting/(final) warningDo say: Termination eg “We are terminating your Supplier Agreement due to your failure to meet Service Delivery Standards”Don’t say: Firing/sacking/resignation, eg “We are firing you due to poor performance”Do say: Rider community/Roo communityDon’t say: (Driver) fleet/(driver team/team members/ our ridersIt started with a scooter Facebook Twitter Pinterest Deliveroo founder Will Shu at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in London in 2015. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images Deliveroo was founded in 2013 in a London flat by a former investment banker who spotted a gap in the market for late night takeaways while working on deals long into the night.While number crunching for Morgan Stanley on Wall Street, Will Shu and his colleagues were able to spend their $25 dinner allowance on food delivered by local restaurants. But when he transferred to the bank’s London office he found it much tougher to get nice restaurants to deliver.Shu, who was born in Connecticut to Chinese parents, returned to the US to do an MBA. Then he teamed up with his childhood friend Greg Orlowski, who had been working as a software engineer, to launch Deliveroo in early 2013. It began with just three restaurants on board including the one Shu lived above on the King’s Road in London’s Chelsea.The American made deliveries on his own scooter for the first eight months as a way to understand the business’s complex logistics.While drivers complain of low pay, Deliveroo has raised close to $500m from investors to fund an international rollout. It now operates in over 140 cities across 12 countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.Shu’s old scooter has now been sprayed gold and sits in Deliveroo’s London offices.Topics Deliveroo Gig economy Work & careers news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/05/deliveroo-couriers-employees-managers'|'2017-04-06T02:00:00.000+03:00' '9f08fd0de2dc57fbd4be3a2abf2d8e1b05b4ee30'|'Blackstone to sell $2.7 billion Australian mall portfolio: source'|'SYDNEY Blackstone Group ( BX.N ) has put an A$3.5 billion ($2.65 billion) shopping mall portfolio in Australia up for sale, said a source familiar with the matter, in what could be one of the country''s largest ever real estate transactions.The source, who saw the termsheet for the sale, said that UBS and JPMorgan were mandated to run the sale, along with real estate agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).A spokesman for Blackstone, the world''s biggest alternative asset manager, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Spokeswomen for UBS and JLL could not be immediately contacted, while a JPMorgan spokesman did not have any immediate comment.The Australian portfolio for sale comprises 10 shopping centers, mostly in Sydney and Melbourne, where a booming real estate market has pushed land values ever higher and population growth has underpinned retail spending."It is a very defensive portfolio because it is non-discretionary, there''s no department stores in there," the source said, adding that the asking price was around A$3.5 billion.Details of the sale were circulated last week, the source said.Reuters reported in January that Blackstone is also readying a new $5 billion real estate fund, focused on investing in Asian property such as warehouses and malls in China, India and Australia.Recent filings from Blackstone''s first Asia-focused property fund, which invested in Japanese residential real estate, office space in Australia and Chinese shopping malls, show an internal rate of return of 17 percent through September 2016.(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-blackstone-group-australia-sale-idINKBN17718Q'|'2017-04-05T08:38:00.000+03:00' '7602ddda52258d0e65afbfcf56e422c1c7d3cc53'|'Scottish economy lags behind rest of United Kingdom in 2016'|' 3:45pm BST Scottish economy lags behind rest of United Kingdom in 2016 Scottish memorabilia is seen on display in a shop in Edinburgh, Scotland September 12, 2014. REUTERS/Paul Hackett LONDON Scotland''s economy slowed sharply last year, trailing the rest of the United Kingdom by the biggest margin in six years, official data showed on Wednesday, just days after Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon called for a fresh independence vote. Scots voted by 55 percent to 45 percent in 2014 to stay part of the United Kingdom, but Sturgeon said last week that there should be a new referendum within the next two years now that Britain plans to leave the European Union. Most Scots opposed leaving the EU in June 2016''s Brexit vote, and on Wednesday Scotland''s government blamed negative sentiment after the referendum and a slowdown in the global oil industry for the recent hefty economic underperformance. Economic growth in Scotland fell to 0.4 percent last year from 2.1 percent in 2015, the sharpest slowdown since 2009 and in marked contrast to the United Kingdom as a whole, where the economy grew by 1.8 percent. The gap between UK and Scottish growth is now the widest since 2010. "We have already seen significantly lower consumer confidence in Scotland since the vote last summer. Now we see that feeding through into our growth figures," said the Scottish government''s finance secretary, Derek Mackay. Growth in Scotland was weak even before June''s vote. The economy did not expand at all in the first three months of 2016, before seeing 0.1 percent growth in each of the next two quarters, before shrinking in the last three months of the year. Mackay also highlighted the effect of a weaker oil industry. Wednesday''s data does not include North Sea oil revenue, but does include Scottish companies onshore that service the sector. The Confederation of British Industry - a business lobby which forecast negative economic consequences from both Brexit and Scottish independence - said Scotland''s nationalist-led government should focus on tax reform and improving schools. "Businesses are facing increased uncertainty and rising cost pressures, which has resulted in a number of recent closures and potential job cuts affecting hundreds of people across Scotland," CBI official Hugh Aitken said. "The Scottish Government should therefore prioritise ... improving education attainment and setting a competitive tax regime," he added. (Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-scotland-idUKKBN1771W8'|'2017-04-05T22:45:00.000+03:00' '209a3eff0ca8bb8fa731cee485c3f13eb8d21bff'|'Bank lobby warns of market ructions if Brexit talks stumble'|'Economy News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 7:07am BST Bank lobby warns of market ructions if Brexit talks stumble left right The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, Simon Lewis, speaks during the Reuters Future Face of Finance Summit, in London February 28, 2011. REUTERS/Benjamin Beavan 1/2 left right The famous euro sign landmark is photographed outside the former headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, late evening January 20, 2015. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach 2/2 LONDON Europe''s banking lobby warned on Wednesday of the dangers to wholesale banking and financial stability if negotiations over Britain''s exit from the European Union end in deadlock. "Financial stability and market efficiency must be safeguarded during the Brexit implementation process and thereafter," the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) Chief Executive Simon Lewis said in a statement. In a report released on Wednesday, AFME highlighted conflicting issues faced by the key actors in Brexit talks which it said could cause disruptions, including Britain wanting to secure the best possible access to the bloc, while not wishing to remain part of the single market. AFME is also concerned about the European Commission having responsibility for EU financial markets policy, while also being the EU''s chief Brexit negotiator, as well as Europe''s capitals competing to attract financial firms from London, while also wanting to limit any additional systemic risk. "With such a disparate set of actors and incentives, it will be a major challenge to implement Brexit in an orderly way in relation to wholesale banking," AFME said. There are also potential problems ahead for banks in London that want to continue operating from the British capital after Brexit under an EU system known as "equivalence", whereby the EU grants market access to non-EU firms that comply with rules that are as robust as those in the bloc. AFME said the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), would play a crucial role in advising the EU on whether a non-EU firm could be deemed to be equivalent. ESMA''s resources, however, will become more stretched once the UK''s budget contribution ends, meaning that obtaining equivalence for about 2,000 firms may not be fast enough to avoid market disruption, AFME added. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Alexander Smith) Next In Economy News LNG producers turn to trading, risk taking to maintain market share CHIBA, Japan Producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), having shot themselves in the foot with oversupply, and facing calls for flexibility and greater competition from other fuels are taking on more risk and learning to trade, just like any other commodities dealers. Oil rises to near one-month high on tightening of supplies SINGAPORE Oil climbed to a near one-month high on Wednesday on signs of a gradual tightening in global oil inventories and on concerns about a supply outage at a field in the United Kingdom''s North Sea that feeds into an international benchmark price. China holds up Asia stocks; oil gains on North Sea outage HONG KONG Asian stocks edged up on Wednesday, helped by a bounce in Chinese shares, though investors held off from making big bets before a highly-anticipated summit between U.S. and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping gets underway on Thursday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-banks-idUKKBN1770I4'|'2017-04-05T14:05:00.000+03:00' '359463fae934f9daa30ab2f7305ca7244ecb4beb'|'Britain should overhaul corporate pay, ditch long-term incentives - lawmakers'|' 23am BST Britain should overhaul corporate pay, ditch long-term incentives - lawmakers FILE PHOTO: Workers walk in the rain at the Canary Wharf business district in London, Britain November 11, 2013. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh/File Photo LONDON British businesses should overhaul executive pay and scrap long-term incentive plans to rebuild public trust in corporate culture following recent scandals, a committee of lawmakers said on Wednesday. Companies should publish pay ratios annually and workers should be represented on remuneration committees, parliament''s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee said in a report. Executive pay is a hot political topic in Britain after Prime Minister Theresa May campaigned to help those who voted for Brexit in protest at "out of touch" elites. Corporate scandals - exemplified by the recent collapse of store chain BHS, sold to a serial bankrupt with no retail experience - have fuelled mistrust of company bosses, during a period of mediocre wage growth for most Britons. "Successful, productive and profitable companies cannot be disconnected from society," said Iain Wright, chair of the BEIS committee. "Executive pay has been ratcheted up so high that it is impossible to see a credible link between remuneration and performance." Shareholder revolts over pay have been commonplace this year. On Monday, Sky News reported that BP Plc ( BP.L ) agreed to cut about 5 million pounds ($6.2 million) from Chief Executive Bob Dudley''s maximum pay for the next three years in a bid to ease shareholder unrest, citing people briefed on the matter. And last week Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) said boss Rakesh Kapoor, one of Britain''s highest-earning CEOs, saw his 2016 pay package fall by more than a third following a safety scandal in South Korea that dented the consumer goods maker''s performance. The committee singled out long-term incentive plans for company bosses as lacking in transparency. "Pay must be reformed and simplified to incentivise decision-making for the long term success of the business and to pursue wider company objectives than share value," Wright said. Responding to the report, the Confederation of British Industry agreed long-term incentive plans could be too complex, but said banning them outright would limit flexibility for companies to reward executives. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Hugh Lawson) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-business-pay-idUKKBN176328'|'2017-04-05T07:23:00.000+03:00' '1804afc6dbfde994dbaa7832488dc5f9a8c3256c'|'RPT-Chevron pivots to Permian shale as mega-project era fades'|'Company News - Wed Apr 5, 2017 - 6:00am EDT RPT-Chevron pivots to Permian shale as mega-project era fades By Ernest Scheyder - HOUSTON, April 5 HOUSTON, April 5 Nearly a century after Chevron Corp amassed the No. 2 stake in America''s largest oilfield, Chief Executive John Watson is hitting the accelerator on developing the company''s vast Permian Basin holdings. In an interview, Watson made clear his desire to put the West Texas to New Mexico expanse in the ranks of Chevron''s biggest ventures. That is a stark change from just five years ago, when Chevron executives rarely mentioned the shale basin. But with low oil prices, the company is now spending more than it makes to cover its prized dividend and find new reserves. Now, those 2 million Permian acres have emerged as to way to help fund both goals. "Some of the best things we have in our portfolio are the shales," Watson said during an interview on the 48th floor of the company''s Houston office tower. "My employees in the Permian know I''m featuring it as something very important." Gone, for the next few years at least, are plans for any new multi-billion-dollar mega-projects, he said. To survive and grow, San Ramon, California-based Chevron is turning to acreage it has always controlled and that largely is free of royalties to landowners. "We''re just in a period now where markets are weak and everyone is focused on controlling costs," Watson said. Within a decade, Watson expects Chevron''s production in the Permian to grow eightfold to more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day. By the end of next year, nine drilling rigs will join the 11 that Chevron already has poking holes into Permian land. It is all part of Watson''s plan to methodically pump Chevron''s more than 9 billion barrels of Permian oil, most of it owned outright by the company. That gives Chevron a cost advantage over rival Permian producers as the region in the past year has become the epicenter for the U.S. shale resurgence. Chevron''s Permian portfolio, which was acquired in stages by predecessor companies, is worth at least $43 billion, Chevron believes, greater than the market value of Pioneer Natural Resources Co, Concho Resources and other Texas producers. Watson bristles at critics who say the company is moving too slowly in the Permian. "We''re growing our portfolio in the Permian as fast as anyone," said Watson, an economist by training who has worked at Chevron his entire career. "We''re focused on growing value and growing the dividend over time." Chevron is valued more highly by investors than rival Exxon Mobil Corp partly because of that dividend, which has risen annually for the past 29 years. Watson has called protecting the $1.08 quarterly payout his top priority. "We like inexpensive, recurring revenue streams" such as the Permian, said Oliver Pursche of wealth manager Bruderman Brothers LLC, which holds shares in the company. Chevron, which does not hedge oil production, is boosting spending in the Permian by 67 percent this year to $2.5 billion, an implicit bet that oil prices will rise and lift the company to a profitable year after an annual loss in 2016. That makes the Permian the second-largest area for spending this year for Chevron after the Tengiz project in Kazakhstan, which is not expect to come online until next decade. CARBON TAX WOULD ADD COST Watson said he is not worried about demand for oil hitting a ceiling for at least the next 20 years, despite the rising popularity of electric cars. Rising petroleum needs for air travel and petrochemical production should buffer any drop in demand from the automobile sector, he said. "There is no sign of peak demand right now," Watson said. Like Exxon, BP and other oil peers, Chevron supports the Paris climate accord, a 2015 agreement between nearly 200 nations that aims to limit the rise in global temperatures to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). "We have said that Paris is a first step, but we need to understand what that translates to in terms of policy," Watson said. Watson, however, has spoken out against a tax on carbon, something that Exxon supports. President Donald Trump had considered a carbon tax as part of his proposed budget, but the White House on Tuesday said it was not under consideration. It could still be resurrected by Congress, where it has some support. "A carbon tax will have the effect of adding cost on the people who can least afford it," Watson said. "If you increase energy costs you are going to make it more difficult here for industrial activity." Watson said he is not opposed to renewable energy, just government financial support for it through subsidies and other means. He said he would be open to buying a Tesla or another electric vehicle. "I have no particular aversion" to electric cars, he said. "I''ll buy a car that meets all my needs, particularly around size and other characteristics." (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Leslie Adler) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chevron-watson-idUSL2N1HD00L'|'2017-04-05T18:00:00.000+03:00' '940f723553bfa689ce989d55c5ea1c972993413f'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 5'|' 38am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 5 April 5 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 5 points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers. * GSK: GSK Plc is voluntarily recalling more than 593,000 Ventolin asthma inhalers from U.S. hospitals, pharmacies, retailers and wholesalers due to a defect that may cause them to deliver fewer doses of the medicine than indicated, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday. * TOTAL: French oil major Total has extended an option with British shale gas developer Egdon Resources to buy a stake in one of Egdon''s shale gas licences, the companies said on Tuesday. * BHP: BHP Billiton on Wednesday declared force majeure for all coal deliveries from its mines in Queensland''s Bowen Basin, after Cyclone Debbie damaged railway lines, disrupting delivery to ports. * BRITIAN IMMIGRATION: Britain''s decision to quit the European Union and reassert control over its borders does not mean the country will tighten immigration for the world''s best brains, junior business minister David Prior said on Tuesday. * The UK blue chip index ended up 0.5 percent on Tuesday, outperforming the more hesitant Europe-wide STOXX 600 index, helped by the energy and industrials sectors, while supermarket firms Sainsbury and Morrison fell on poor sales data. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: McCarthy & Stone Plc Half Year 2017 HSS hire Group Plc Full Year 2016 TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HD18P'|'2017-04-05T13:38:00.000+03:00' '33e201b073d1603064c52cae51a391d10bc22d8d'|'Australian regulator sues Apple alleging iPhone ''bricking'''|'Technology 16am BST Australian regulator sues Apple alleging iPhone ''bricking'' left right FILE PHOTO: A customer tries on a new iPhone 7 Plus in Australia''s flagship Apple store in Sydney, September 16, 2016 as the iPhone 7 range goes on sale for the first time. REUTERS/Jason Reed 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Customers and employees are shown through Apple''s Australian flagship store in Sydney, September 7, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed 2/2 SYDNEY Australia''s consumer watchdog has sued Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) alleging it used a software update to disable iPhones which had cracked screens fixed by third parties. The U.S. technology giant "bricked" - or disabled with a software update - hundreds of smartphones and tablet devices, and then refused to unlock them on the grounds that customers had had the devices serviced by non-Apple repairers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a court filing. "Consumer guarantee rights under the Australian Consumer Law exist independently of any manufacturer''s warranty and are not extinguished simply because a consumer has goods repaired by a third party," ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in a statement. An Apple spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The regulator said that between September 2014 and February 2016, Apple customers who downloaded software updates then connected their devices to their computers received a message saying the device "could not be restored and the device had stopped functioning". Customers then asked Apple to fix their devices, only to be told by the company that "no Apple entity ... was required to, or would, provide a remedy" for free, the documents added. Apple engaged in "misleading or deceptive conduct and made false or misleading representations to consumers" about its software updates and customers'' rights to have their products repaired by the company, the commission said. As well as fines, the ACCC said it was seeking injunctions, declarations, compliance program orders, corrective notices, and costs. The lawsuit was filed late on Wednesday, a week after the consumer watchdog granted Apple a win by denying Australia''s banks the right to introduce a mobile payment system to rival its Apple Wallet. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen Coates) Next In Technology News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-apple-australia-idUKKBN17806B'|'2017-04-06T10:12:00.000+03:00' 'd7a30356b68a5bf517603374d97859c72feee07d'|'RPT-Indonesia eyes truce with Freeport as losses mount for both sides'|' Indonesia eyes truce with Freeport as losses mount for both sides (Repeats April 12 story with no changes in text) By Fergus Jensen JAKARTA, April 12 Losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars appear to be pushing the Indonesian government and mining giant Freeport McMoRan to resolve a row that has crippled operations at Grasberg, the world''s richest copper mine, for three months. Freeport says it has lost revenue of about $1 billion since the export of copper concentrate from Grasberg was halted on Jan. 12 under new rules issued by the government. The government has lost millions of dollars in royalties and is worried about layoffs and a slowing economy in the restive Papua region, where the giant mine is located. "There''s a lot of grandstanding in public – that, with our economy being close to a $1 trillion a year now, Freeport is a small matter," said a senior Indonesian government official, who estimated the lost royalties and taxes from the mine at about $1 billion a year. "But truth be told, a $1 billion a year reduction in fiscal revenue is a lot," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Indonesia halted Freeport''s copper concentrate exports under new rules that require the Phoenix, Arizona-based company to adopt a special license, pay new taxes and royalties, divest a 51 percent stake in its operations and relinquish arbitration rights. Freeport threatened in February to take the dispute to arbitration, saying the rules were "in effect a form of expropriation". But now, Indonesia has promised to allow Freeport to export its copper concentrate once again, while negotiations continue over the next six months on contentious issues, including on divestment, economic and legal protection and smelting investment. The compromise comes ahead of a visit to Indonesia by U.S. Vice President Mike Spence next week. Pressure to resolve the row could also come from Freeport''s third-biggest shareholder, activist investor Carl Icahn, who has been appointed a special adviser to President Donald Trump. For Indonesia, tensions at Grasberg could hamper its efforts to calm the Papua region, where a low-level insurgency has simmered for decades. The mine''s social and environmental footprint also remains a source of friction. Papua''s GDP growth is expected to drop to 3 percent this year due to the Freeport dispute, down from 9.21 percent in 2016, according to the Papua branch of Indonesia''s central bank. A slump in Papua''s economy could aggravate tensions with Jakarta, complicating efforts by President Joko Widodo to enforce policies to extract more from its natural resources. "When there is a crisis at Freeport, it will send major ripples through Papuan society," said Achmad Sukarsono, an Indonesian expert at the Eurasia consultancy. PAPUA ECONOMY In Timika, a sprawling town of around 250,000 people and a supply hub for Grasberg, the Freeport dispute has hit businesses, caused a slump in house prices and stalled credit, residents say. Mastael Arobi, who owns a car rental business there, has cut his fleet by two-thirds because of slow business and is worried about the interest he pays on loans. "We are half-dead thinking about repayments," he said. Transport operators in Timika had similar complaints, with a motorcycle taxi driver saying it was hard to make even a third of the up to 300,000 rupiah ($22.50) he used to make each day. "Since these furloughs and layoffs began we have stopped providing credit to Freeport workers," said Joko Supriyono, a regional manager at Bank Papua in Timika, who said ATM transactions had declined by around two-thirds since January. Freeport, which employs more than 32,000 staff and contractors in Indonesia, has now "demobilised" just over 10 percent of its workforce, a number expected to grow until the dispute is resolved. Persipura, the main soccer club in Papua and one of Indonesia''s most decorated teams, announced last month that Freeport, its top sponsor, had stopped its funding. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in a recent interview that while he did not anticipate political pressure, Washington should not politicise the Freeport issue. Another Indonesian government official said moves to allow Freeport to export temporarily were aimed at showing that the government is willing to find a solution, and to send a positive message, especially to foreign investors, who are watching the saga closely. "We are not changing our stance. Our basic stance on 51 percent divestment, our demand for smelters - all that is still there. But in negotiations, you should give a little to assure the other side that we are still open to some options," said the official. The two sides had opted for a temporary solution to break a deadlock in issues that "cannot be resolved quickly," said Bambang Gatot, Director General of Coal and Minerals in the mining ministry, A spokesman for Freeport Indonesia declined to comment on the warming ties with the government. A senior Freeport McMoRan executive said last week the company was awaiting details of a temporary export permit from the Indonesian government that would allow it to ramp up production. ($1 = 13,330 rupiah) Hidayat Setiaji, Wilda Asmarini and Kanupriya Kapoor in JAKARTA and Samuel Wanda in TIMIKA; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/indonesia-freeport-idUSL3N1HK3BY'|'2017-04-13T07:00:00.000+03:00' '2397ddf6f0d3806829e6e3ca3b267379d39a3692'|'HSS Hire CEO to step down'|' 35am BST HSS Hire CEO to step down Tool and equipment rental firm HSS Hire ( HSS.L ) said on Thursday that Chief Executive John Gill will step down once a successor is appointed. The search for a new CEO is underway, the company said. John Gill held the post since September 2015. "...board believes it is the right time to look outside the business for a new CEO who can lead this next phase of our recovery," Chairman Alan Peterson said in a statement. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hss-hire-group-ceo-idUKKBN17F0NA'|'2017-04-13T14:35:00.000+03:00' '82578e52fd28b5abbdea359400dd9a33ae53dd0a'|'Adidas to mass-produce 3D-printed shoe with Silicon Valley start-up'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 12:19am EDT Adidas to mass-produce 3D-printed shoe with Silicon Valley start-up left right The new Adidas Futurecraft shoe is displayed in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 1/8 left right Adidas Executive Board Global Brands member Eric Liedtke holds the new Futurecraft shoe at an unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 2/8 left right Carbon 3D printing machines are seen at an unveiling event for the new Adidas Futurecraft shoe in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 3/8 left right People look at the new Adidas Futurecraft shoe at un unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 4/8 left right Adidas Executive Board Global Brands member Eric Liedtke holds the new Futurecraft shoe at an unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 5/8 left right A sign for the Adidas Futurecraft shoe is seen at the Futurecraft unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 6/8 left right An Adidas logo is seen at the new Futurecraft shoe unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 7/8 left right The new Adidas Futurecraft shoe is displayed in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney 8/8 By Emma Thomasson and Aleksandra Michalska - HERZOGENAURACH, Germany/NEW YORK HERZOGENAURACH, Germany/NEW YORK Adidas launched a new sneaker on Friday with a 3D-printed sole that it plans to mass-produce next year, part of a broader push by the German sportswear firm to react faster to changing fashions and create more customized products. Adidas already lets people customize the color and pattern of shoes ordered online but new 3D printing methods will make small production runs, limited edition shoes and even soles designed to fit an individual''s weight and gait economical. Rivals Nike, Under Armour and New Balance have also been experimenting with 3D printing but have so far only used the technique to make prototypes, soles tailored for sponsored athletes and a handful of high-priced novelty shoes. That''s because traditional 3D printers are slower, more expensive and often create an inferior product than the injection moulds for plastic that are currently used to produce hundreds of millions of shoes each year, mostly in Asia. However, Adidas says its new partnership with Silicon Valley start-up Carbon allows it to overcome many of those difficulties to produce a sole that can rival one made by an injection mould, and at a speed and price that allow for mass production. "This is a milestone not only for us as a company but also for the industry," said Gerd Manz, Adidas head of technology innovation, announcing the launch of its new "Futurecraft 4D" shoe. "We''ve cracked some of the boundaries." Carbon, financed by venture firms such as Sequoia Capital as well as funds set up by General Electric and Alphabet''s Google, has pioneered a technique that prints with light-sensitive polymer resin that is then baked for strength. Standard 3D printers build up products with layers of plastic powder, a method used by Hewlett Packard which is working with Nike and says its newest machines work 10 times faster and at half the cost than earlier models. Adidas hopes to sell 5,000 pairs of its "Futurecraft 4D" this year, and 100,000 next year as Carbon cuts the time it takes to print a sole from the current hour and a half to as low as 20 minutes per sole. The shoes will sell at an unspecified premium price but Adidas plans to lower the cost as the technology develops. Late last year Adidas sold a few hundred pairs of running shoes with soles made by regular 3D printing for $333 but they were relatively rigid and heavy and took 10 hours to print. "WALK BEFORE YOU RUN" Carbon''s technology will allow Adidas to make small batches of shoes far more quickly. Small production runs were not economical before as the metal moulds for most soles need to be used 10,000 times to pay for themselves, and they take four to six weeks to cast and grind. "What you can do is introduce more types of products without a cost penalty," said Terry Wohlers, head of Wohlers Associates, a U.S. consultancy specializing in 3D printing. "With this technology, you can produce one or a few inexpensively." Wohlers expects the 3D printing industry to more than quadruple sales to $26 billion by 2022, driven mostly by the automotive, medical, dental and jewelry sectors. Adidas initially plans batches of shoes tailored to specific sports or cities but hopes consumers will eventually be measured and tested in store to design perfectly-fitting shoes tweaked for an individual''s gait, weight and type of sport. "Individualization will come, but you''ve got to learn to walk before you run," Manz said, citing a survey that shows 80 percent of consumers want to be part of the design process. Adidas last month experimented with a pop-up store where customers could design a custom-fitted sweater and have it knitted in the store. 3D printing will also help cut the time it takes to get new designs to stores from the 12 to 18 months it usually takes for sneakers. To that end, Adidas is also opening factories mainly operated by robots in Germany and the United States. (Editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adidas-manufacturing-idUSKBN1790F6'|'2017-04-07T12:19:00.000+03:00' 'f85f62816c0a784696f96845959955a7a96d4aaf'|'British clothes retailer Jaeger set for creditor protection - source'|' 25pm BST British clothes retailer Jaeger set for creditor protection - source LONDON Jaeger, whose clothes were worn by Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, has filed an intention to enter administration, putting some 700 jobs at risk in the latest blow to the British retailer founded in 1884. A person familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday that Jaeger had filed the notice to enter a form of creditor protection to buy it some breathing space after investment group Better Capital sold the retailer''s debt to another company. Jaeger, which has been linked with many major events in British history, fell into administration in 2012 before being bought by Better Capital. The source said that Jaeger, which declined to comment, needed to establish the intentions of its new debt owner and to look for alternative options. From providing clothing for Ernest Shackleton''s Antarctic expedition, to donating blankets during the First World War and supplying uniforms for Olympic opening parades, Jaeger is perhaps best known for dressing some of the most famous women in the world in the 1950s and 1960s. But the company, known for its long woollen coats and classic suits, has struggled in recent decades to stand out on the British high street and has been forced to repeatedly discount stock in a bid to prop up sales. Earlier this week a second source confirmed that Better Capital had sold Jaeger''s debt to an unnamed company and its directors had stepped down. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jaeger-administration-idUKKBN17926V'|'2017-04-07T22:25:00.000+03:00' '6e449dc3f5b491fb323301764648c1596a5b0f46'|'BRIEF-Seek Ltd says Zhaopin signs merger agreement'|' 32pm EDT BRIEF-Seek Ltd says Zhaopin signs merger agreement April 7 Seek Ltd: * Zhaopin signs merger agreement between Seek, Hillhouse Capital Management and Fountainvest Partners * Buyer group will acquire all of outstanding shares of Zhaopin for total consideration equal to US$18.20 per American depositary share of company * Consideration will be in form of a special dividend, which will be a minimum US$0.56 and maximum US$2.70 per ads and an additional cash payment * If completed, merger will result in Zhaopin becoming a privately-held company and adss will no longer be listed on NYSE Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-seek-ltd-says-zhaopin-signs-merger-idUSFWN1HE0RS'|'2017-04-07T06:32:00.000+03:00' 'ee85c394d7d936e8e620abfda1880f71ab239e07'|'China clearing houses partners with Canada''s TMX in bond market push'|'By Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh - SHANGHAI, April 8 SHANGHAI, April 8 In Beijing''s latest push to attract foreign investment into the country''s $9 trillion bond market, China''s state-owned clearing house said on Saturday that it will work with Canada''s TMX Group to expedite cross-border investments.Shanghai Clearing House, supervised by China''s central bank, said in a statement that by exploring ways to link securities registration and custody functions with TMX, "Canadian, and even North American investors will be given easier access to China''s bond market."In addition, the People''s Bank of China will further deregulate the bond market by improving legal, accounting, auditing, taxation and credit rating policies, and strengthen communications with overseas investors, the statement said.China has stepped up efforts to open up its bond market --the world''s third largest -- to foreign investors in an effort to promote international use of the yuan. Attracting inbound investment could also help counter capital outflows and support yuan''s value as China''s economy slows, some analysts have said.Last month, Citigroup Inc said it would include China''s onshore bonds in its emerging markets and regional indexes starting on Feb. 1, 2018, following similar moves by Bloomberg. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced last month that a bond connect scheme with Hong Kong will be launched this year.Currently, foreign ownership in China''s 63.7 trillion yuan ($9.23 trillion) bond market is less than 2 percent.Shanghai Clearing House said by adopting practices that are more familiar to investors in mature bond markets, China can make its bond market more attractive to foreign investors, and accelerate market deregulation.The statement was released following a seminar between the Shanghai Clearing House and TMX held in Toronto on April 6. ($1 = 6.8978 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Editing by Ros Russell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-canada-tmx-idINL3N1HG05J'|'2017-04-08T08:40:00.000+03:00' '15dfb39b1e733560fbaa64b692a5450c4b3f14c5'|'Brazil regulator CVM revokes suspension of Azul IPO'|'Company News 14pm EDT Brazil regulator CVM revokes suspension of Azul IPO SAO PAULO, April 7 Brazil''s securities watchdog CVM revoked on Friday the suspension of airline Azul SA''s initial public offering (IPO), according to a statement. CVM suspended the IPO process on Thursday, saying the company had disclosed information on the internet that was not included in the original share offer prospect. Azul fixed the irregularities, and was able to continue with the offering, now rescheduled for Monday, CVM said. (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/azul-ipo-regulator-idUSE6N1FK01I'|'2017-04-08T06:14:00.000+03:00' '3403f4a05d67d8fdd9ce457fe3c357e4a23d005e'|'Brazil´s BRF authorized to reopen plant targeted in corruption probe'|'Commodities - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 11:02am EDT Brazil´s BRF authorized to reopen plant targeted in corruption probe A meatpacking company BRF SA''s logo is pictured in Sao Paulo, Brazil March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker SAO PAULO Brazilian food processor BRF SA said on Saturday it has been authorized to reopen a plant that was closed during a corruption probe involving Brazilian companies and meat inspectors. In a statement, BRF said its plant in Mineiros, in the center-western state of Goiás, will return to operation over the following days. Fallout from the corruption probe reduced poultry and beef exports to countries that imposed temporary bans on Brazilian meat. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-food-idUSKBN17A0JP'|'2017-04-08T22:59:00.000+03:00' '4a9ed61c93842052aa1ff77ed0ade398768c5b36'|'BRIEF-Hub Group Inc sees Q1 2017 earnings per share $0.30 to $0.32'|' 22pm EDT BRIEF-Hub Group Inc sees Q1 2017 earnings per share $0.30 to $0.32 April 10 Hub Group Inc: * Hub Group Inc announces first quarter 2017 earnings expectations * Sees FY 2017 earnings per share $1.60 to $1.80 * Sees Q1 2017 earnings per share $0.30 to $0.32 * Hub Group Inc - hub segment truck brokerage revenue is expected to increase between 30 pct and 32 pct year-over-year in Q1 * Hub Group Inc - experiencing a "soft" pricing environment due primarily to excess truck capacity and extraordinarily aggressive intermodal pricing * Hub Group Inc - expect unyson revenue to be up between 20pct and 22pct year-over-year in Q1 * Hub Group Inc - expected Q1 earnings include one-time costs of approximately $1.5 million or $0.03 per share * Hub Group Inc - sees estimated operating expenses will range between $84.2 million and $84.6 million for quarter ended March 31, 2017 * Hub Group Inc - expect revenue will increase between 10 pct and 12 pct in Q1 compared to last year * Hub Group Inc - "primary factor affecting earnings in Q1 lies within our intermodal business line" Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-hub-group-inc-sees-q1-2017-earning-idUSASA09I6B'|'2017-04-11T04:22:00.000+03:00' '60870efe0bd0c80703e3a3e0b0e1221ac1c3e261'|'Fed''s Yellen says aim now is to let ''healthy'' economy coast along'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 4:47pm EDT Fed''s Yellen says aim now is to let ''healthy'' economy coast along Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas The Federal Reserve plans to raise U.S. interest rates gradually so as to sustain healthy growth without letting the economy overheat, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday. "We want to be ahead of the curve and not behind it," Yellen said at an event at the University of Michigan''s Ford School of Public Policy in Ann Arbor. Now that years of aggressive monetary policy easing has nursed the economy back to its current "pretty healthy" state, the aim now is to allow "the economy to kind of coast and remain on an even keel," she said. (Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-yellen-idUSKBN17C2EO'|'2017-04-11T04:47:00.000+03:00' 'c1f95fcdf4ee7f20eae0caf09a1581aa2da88e1d'|'Hedge fund Jana lines up potential directors for Whole Foods battle: source'|'BOSTON Hedge fund Jana Partners has lined up a handful of people including former Gap Inc Chief Executive Glenn Murphy to serve as possible directors at organic grocery chain Whole Foods Market ( WFM.O ), a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.Murphy bought $44 million worth of Whole Foods stock, according to a regulatory filing made by Jana Partners. Additionally Tad Dickson, a former CEO of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, and Meredith Adler, a former Barclays analyst, have committed to serve on Jana''s slate. Diane Dietz, former chief marketing officer at Safeway, and food writer Mark Bitman are working with the hedge fund.(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-wholesale-jana-slate-idINKBN17C2C2'|'2017-04-10T18:35:00.000+03:00' '640aa3c7d49da0d80c6c5c6c076d2b9c9e2bd6cc'|'IMF, WTO argue for open trade, more aid for displaced workers'|' 1:51pm BST IMF, WTO argue for open trade, more aid for displaced workers By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Global trade has brought benefits from increased productivity to lower prices but governments have not adequately helped workers and communities hit hard by imports, the world''s top multilateral economic institutions said on Monday. In a report that serves as their answer to the Trump administration''s more protectionist trade stance, the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Bank said that an open trading system based on well-enforced rules was critical to world prosperity. The institutions, which have promoted free trade for decades, cited research showing that manufacturing regions that were more exposed to imports from China since about 2000 saw "significant and persistent losses in jobs and earnings, falling most heavily on low-skilled workers." It described what U.S. President Donald Trump has called the "forgotten Americans" that he wants to serve with his "America First" trade policies. "Workers displaced from manufacturing tend to be older, less educated and longer-tenured in the lost job than workers displaced from other sectors, and in turn tend to take longer to return to work," the groups said in the report. The report recommended more active government policies beyond traditional unemployment income benefits to retrain and redeploy workers idled by imports, including programs to encourage more worker mobility. These could include relocation allowances to help workers move to regions with better employment prospects and credit policies aimed at helping companies facing import competition to reorient their business models or invest in new technologies. But the report argued in favour of maintaining an open trading system that is bound by enforceable rules, saying that trade liberalisation has boosted productivity and improved living standards. The reports cited research showing that a one percentage point increase in trade openness raised productivity by 1.23 percent in the long run, and a Canadian study showed that a U.S. free trade deal in the 1980s increased Canadian labour productivity in the most impacted export-oriented industries by 14 percent and the most import-competing industries by 15 percent. Economists generally view higher productivity as important to supporting wage growth and higher living standards in advanced economies. The study also cited research showing that open trade is estimated to have reduced by two-thirds the price of a basket of goods consumed by a typical advanced economy low-income household. (Reporting by David Lawder)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-trade-idUKKBN17C1DX'|'2017-04-10T20:51:00.000+03:00' 'c12df8591b0b1644013273f56e411fa75b622b06'|'BRIEF-Northisle Copper and Gold amends private placements'|' 38pm EDT BRIEF-Northisle Copper and Gold amends private placements April 7 Northisle Copper and Gold Inc * Northisle Copper and Gold Inc. amends private placements * Northisle Copper and Gold Inc - Will now be raising up to $1.5 million by way of non-brokered private placements Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-northisle-copper-and-gold-amends-p-idUSFWN1HF0YZ'|'2017-04-08T05:38:00.000+03:00' '2a72892cc3eb2231513433c1bdf5cdd9f01d6dfb'|'Argentina says committed to ensuring no new incidents at Barrick mine'|'BUENOS AIRES, April 7 Argentina''s San Juan province has the full support of the national government to make sure that no more incidents occur at Barrick Gold Corp''s Veladero mine, the national minister of energy and mining, Juan Jose Aranguren, told Reuters on Friday.Barrick has agreed to an audit and needs to present a plan to overhaul environmental and operating processes after a pipe carrying cyanide solution ruptured on March 28, the third incident involving cyanide at the mine in 18 months. (Reporting by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/barrick-gold-veladero-idINE6N1AD02O'|'2017-04-07T18:47:00.000+03:00' '1f786a5aae6077baa4206131677bdb8bf464ab5d'|'BDO declines to replace PwC at Brazil''s Oi restructuring case'|'Technology News 25pm EDT BDO declines to replace PwC at Brazil''s Oi restructuring case FILE PHOTO -- The logo of Brazil''s largest fixed-line telecoms group Oi is seen inside a shop in Sao Paulo October 2, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo SAO PAULO Accounting firm BDO declined to replace PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the in-court restructuring of Brazilian carrier Oi SA, BDO said in a statement on Friday. The judge overseeing the restructuring dropped PwC from the case on March 31 alleging the firm made accounting mistakes in the biggest bankruptcy filing in the country''s history. In his decision, judge Fernando Cesar Viana appointed BDO to replace PwC. But BDO said in Friday''s statement that it had decided not to take the task, despite keeping its work as Oi''s auditor through 2019. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-idUSKBN17937G'|'2017-04-08T06:21:00.000+03:00' 'a3779082a771dab9861e6d5facf3ad1b433dfb07'|'Twitter CEO forgoes compensation; long-time board member to leave'|' 10:59pm BST Twitter CEO forgoes compensation; long-time board member to leave Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and CEO of Twitter, speaks during an interview November 19, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files Twitter Inc''s ( TWTR.N ) chief executive, Jack Dorsey, continued to forego direct compensation and Peter Fenton, a board member since 2009, will leave after the company''s annual meet in May, a regulatory filing showed on Friday. Fenton, who is a partner at venture capital firm Benchmark Capital, will not seek re-election after his term expires, the microblogging site said in the filing. CEO Jack Dorsey''s 2016 total compensation, which excluded salary, bonus and stock and option awards, was $56,551 in 2016, compared with $68,506 in 2015, according to the filing. Anthony Noto, who took over as chief operating officer from Adam Bain in November, received total compensation of $23.8 million in 2016, compared with $401,281 in 2015. Noto is also the company''s chief financial officer. Twitter has been struggling to return to profitability and in the fourth quarter posted the slowest revenue growth since it went public four years ago. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-twitter-compensation-idUKKBN17936H'|'2017-04-08T05:59:00.000+03:00' '98da0dc7d6de9a1812a8b47c76096ef724bc8712'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 6'|'Company News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:56am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 6 April 6 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - President Donald Trump said a suspected chemical attack by the Assad regime was "a terrible affront to humanity" that changed his mind about the Syrian strongman, signaling a more aggressive U.S. policy toward Syria. on.wsj.com/2nZZy6q - Federal Reserve officials agreed at their March policy meeting they would likely begin shrinking a $4.5 trillion portfolio of Treasury and mortgage securities later this year, though they remained undecided on how quickly to reduce the holdings and to what level, according to minutes released Wednesday. on.wsj.com/2o0a5yv - The Trump administration, stung by its failure to advance a health-care overhaul through Congress last month, is trying to lay a stronger foundation for a tax-code rewrite by taking a lead role in shaping the legislative push, according to interviews with several senior administration officials. on.wsj.com/2o091e5 - General Electric Co. is weighing a sale of its consumer-lighting business, which for decades defined the company following its co-founding 125 years ago by Thomas Edison, the inventor of the first viable incandescent lamp. on.wsj.com/2nZZTWM - Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes, whose once-$5 billion stake in her blood-testing firm has shriveled amid regulatory and legal challenges, also owes her company about $25 million. on.wsj.com/2o0ahhd - MGM Holdings Inc is taking full ownership of pay-television network Epix, buying out partners Viacom Inc. and Lions Gate Entertainment in a more than $1.03 billion deal. on.wsj.com/2o09lJP - Australia''s consumer watchdog is suing Apple Inc. over software which disabled iPhones and iPads that had been serviced outside Apple stores after users downloaded updates. on.wsj.com/2nZUWgB - BlackRock Inc has nominated Cisco Systems Inc. leader Chuck Robbins as a director, making him the first technology chief executive on the board of the world''s largest money manager. on.wsj.com/2nZWHuv (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru) Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL3N1HE25G'|'2017-04-06T13:56:00.000+03:00' '88c4c082f242b316ab635ff17f7461c07288a49e'|'Don''t let up in fight against tax avoidance, Moscovici urges EU states'|' 11:02am BST Don''t let up in fight against tax avoidance, Moscovici urges EU states Pierre Moscovici addresses a news conference in Brussels, Belgium February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir VALLETTA European Union states should continue reforming corporate rules to tackle tax avoidance, EU tax commissioner Pierre Moscovici told finance ministers on Saturday, as some smaller nations urged slower reform to avoid scaring away big corporations. In a paper to be discussed at a meeting of EU finance ministers in Valletta on Saturday, Malta, which holds the rotating EU chair until July, said EU tax reforms would increase uncertainty, harming investment and trade. It suggested states should be given more time to adapt to changing rules. Addressing the ministers, Moscovici opposed Malta''s view and said the biggest source of uncertainty would be to maintain a "status quo" where EU states compete with each other on corporate tax policy. Many large U.S. corporations have set up their headquarters in smaller EU states, allowing them to cut their tax bills due to more lax tax rules. Following recent revelations, such as the Panama Papers, of widespread tax evasion and avoidance by big corporations and wealthy individuals, the European Commission has made several legislative proposals to close legal loopholes. However, some of the most ambitious plans have yet to be approved by EU states. Multinationals, including Apple ( AAPL.O ), Amazon.com ( AMZN.O ), McDonald''s ( MCD.N ) and Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ), are under investigation or have been sanctioned by the EU executive for their excessively low tax bills in some EU states. "We must finish what we have started," Moscovici urged ministers, according to his speaking notes circulated to the media. The pace of reforms should remain "fast", he said. He told states to move "with ambition and determination" to agree on proposals for a common tax base at EU level that would put an end to the wide range of corporate tax exemptions and deductions currently applied by EU countries, and which are exploited by big companies to lower their tax bills. He faced opposition from some smaller EU states. On his arrival to the meeting, Belgian finance minister Johan Van Overtveldt said Malta was right in stressing that the pace of reforms should not be "too fast" and that the EU should adapt its speed to other major economies worldwide. His remarks were echoed by Luxembourg''s finance minister Pierre Gramegna, who called for a "level playing field in terms of taxation worldwide". Moscovici said the EU should lead the world on tax reforms, especially at a time when the U.S. tax policy is unclear and may further slow down reforms. Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem sided with Moscovici. "Let''s not get soft on tax avoidance," he told reporters on his arrival to the meeting. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-taxavoidance-malta-idUKKBN17A0AW'|'2017-04-08T18:02:00.000+03:00' '0042e7e540c5013fdbf4b436d8274e01741d1366'|'Bezos is selling $1 billion of Amazon stock a year to fund rocket venture'|'COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said on Wednesday he is selling about $1 billion worth of Amazon stock per year to fund his Blue Origin rocket company, and expects to spend about $2.5 billion developing a rocket capable of lifting satellites and eventually people into orbit.Blue Origin is aiming to launch paying passengers on 11-minute suborbital space rides next year, Bezos told reporters at the U.S. Space Symposium here.(Reporting By Irene Klotz; Editing by Joseph White and Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-space-bezos-idINKBN1772ZQ'|'2017-04-05T22:35:00.000+03:00' '822d892e2222b870115a7ce7a4c537065a8eaa2d'|'Signs point away from Trump labeling China currency manipulator'|'Business 6:48pm EDT Signs point away from Trump labeling China currency manipulator Light is cast on a U.S. one-hundred dollar bill next to a Japanese 10,000 yen note in this picture illustration shot February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Shohei Miyano/Illustration/File Photo By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump looks unlikely to formally declare China a currency manipulator next week just days after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign exchange policy experts say, leaving a vocal Trump campaign pledge unmet, at least for now. The U.S. Treasury would have to radically change its definitions of currency manipulation in order to squeeze China into that label for its next report due April 14, said these experts, several of whom contributed to past Treasury analysis of foreign exchange practices. But over time, the Trump administration may consider changes to the Obama administration''s currency definitions as the Treasury gains staff. "It would be hard to come up with a credible standard that would catch China in the net," said David Dollar, a former U.S. Treasury economic liaison to China who is now a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Trump pledged to label China a currency manipulator on the first day of his administration, but so far has refrained. A trade and customs enforcement law enacted last year set out three criteria for identifying manipulation among major trading partners: a "material" global current account surplus, a "significant" bilateral trade surplus with the United States, and persistent one-way intervention in foreign exchange markets. The Treasury is required to demand special talks with any country meeting all three thresholds aimed at correcting an undervalued currency, with penalties such as exclusion from U.S. government procurement contracts available after a year. Under the current Obama-defined thresholds, China only meets one of these criteria, based on its $347 billion goods trade surplus with the United States. Its central bank has for the past two years spent over $1 trillion to prop up the yuan''s value - not to push it down. China''s current account surplus, an indicator of its global trade balance, was 1.8 percent of GDP in 2016, well below the threshold for action. The U.S. Treasury says it is "premature" to comment on the outcome of its currency review and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has said it will adhere to past practice in its assessment, suggesting that radical changes will not be made in this publication. "The conclusion among people like me from that seems to be that they''re moving away from naming China," said Matthew Goodman, former Treasury official who wrote currency reports during the Clinton administration and is now at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. But with the Trump administration pushing a trade agenda aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits, particularly those with China, experts said that they expect the Trump administration to consider changes aimed at deterring future manipulations. Treasury will be in a much better position to make such changes for its October currency report, said Derek Scissors, a resident scholar and China trade expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "I would be very surprised if a year from now the Obama criteria were still in place," Scissors said. The most logical option would be to lengthen the time period for reviewing currency market interventions from 12 months to several years, capturing more past interventions by China, according to the policy experts. One senior South Korean official told Reuters that doing this would likely lead to manipulator designations for South Korea, Taiwan and possibly other countries. Treasury also could reduce the current account surplus threshold below 3 percent of GDP to try to capture more potential offenders, but that would be at odds with longstanding views of the International Monetary Fund and G20 finance officials that 3 pct of GDP is about where surpluses start to become a concern. (Reporting by David Lawder; Christine Kim in Seoul; Editing by David Chance and Grant McCool) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-trade-idUSKBN1772Z4'|'2017-04-06T06:48:00.000+03:00' '2906dfd97eaa4c598467850c599819f5eef63380'|'Nikkei tumbles to 4-month closing low after Fed minutes spook market'|'Company News 16am EDT Nikkei tumbles to 4-month closing low after Fed minutes spook market TOKYO, April 6 Japan''s Nikkei share average tumbled to a four-month closing low on Thursday after signs the U.S. Federal Reserve may start cutting its king-sized balance sheet earlier than expected spooked the market. The Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to 18,597.06, the lowest close since early December. Investors were also wary ahead of a potentially tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the first between the world''s two most powerful leaders. The broader Topix dropped 1.6 percent to 1,480.18. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) Next In Company News GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks waver, investors on knife edge for Trump-Xi meeting SYDNEY, April 6 Stocks slipped and bonds rose in Asia on Thursday, with risk appetite soured by signs the Federal Reserve might start paring its king-sized asset holdings later this year just as the chance of early U.S. fiscal stimulus faded further.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL3N1HE23D'|'2017-04-06T14:16:00.000+03:00' '246515e70b5d40a99a3046256826e0070098a9db'|'Taser Is Giving Body Cameras to Any Cops Who Want Them'|'Taser International Inc. has become by far the leading U.S. supplier of police body cameras, which departments have rushed to adopt in the years since the shootings in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere led to public demands for greater accountability. Interest in the cameras, and the management of their footage, has pushed the world’s best-known maker of stun guns toward cloud computing and digital devices, sold under the Axon brand. Now that business is becoming the face of the $1.2 billion company.The whole place will be called Axon, and as of April 6 the TASR ticker on the Nasdaq exchange is AAXN. “The Taser brand is a product brand,” says Chief Executive Officer Rick Smith. “People don’t think of cloud software or sensor devices and the many things we now do.” He’s trying to solidify Axon’s position and deepen ties to local departments with a splashy offer: a year of free cameras for any U.S. police agency.Body cameras, and software to manage the footage, marked Taser’s first successful initiative to expand beyond the occasionally dangerous stun guns after years of failure. In 2011 almost all its revenue came from Tasers, but last year Axon made up a quarter of sales. Axon says it’s won contracts with 36 of the 41 major city departments that have bought body cameras.To guide its evolution, Taser brought tech leaders onto its board, including a former Facebook chief technology officer. In 2013 it bought a Seattle startup that became its research hub. The Seattle office now houses 115 employees, and Axon has signed a lease to triple its space there. This year it bought two artificial intelligence teams, startup Dextro and a computer vision team from Fossil Group Inc.For now, the AI group is focused on automating the labor-intensive redaction of body cam videos for public release. But Smith says the company’s long-term goal is to automatically extract the video information needed to fill out police reports. This could free officers from paperwork—and make Axon a required tool for any department, replacing its traditional record management system. “We are licking our chops at this idea,” Smith says.Rachel Levinson-Waldman, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, says police technology should balance automation with human judgment. “We know that people get things wrong, but so do computers,” she says.Smith’s first step is to put cameras on more cops. About two-thirds of officers support using body cams , according to a January study by Pew Research Center, but Smith estimates that only about 20 percent have them. Hence the one-year free trial, software included: It’s partly a public-relations stunt, partly an attempt to end-run often baroque police procurement processes. The idea for the free trial grew out of a loss. Last fall the New York City Police Department, the nation’s largest, chose Taser’s top challenger, Seattle’s Vievu LLC, to supply its first 5,000 cameras. Losing the contract sent Taser’s stock down 18 percent. (It hasn’t rebounded.) Taser howled at the decision, saying the NYPD’s field trials were too small, and offered the department 1,000 cameras and licenses as a “ gift .”Safariland LLC, which owns Vievu, called the Taser offer a “desperate attempt to circumvent the process designed to ensure fair treatment of all vendors.” It added, “If the NYPD had wanted vendors to supply 1,000 free cameras or any other provisions, the NYPD would have spelled out that requirement” in the request for proposals. The NYPD declined the deal.Smith says Axon expects critics to call the latest offer anticompetitive, too. “Oh, sure, there will be some legal challenges,” he says. “Luckily we have plenty of lawyers from our Taser side of the business.”The bottom line: Taser, now Axon, is offering police a year of free body cameras and related software, an effort to make the gear irreplaceable.'|'bloomberg.com'|'https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek'|'http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-05/taser-is-giving-body-cameras-to-any-cops-who-want-them'|'2017-04-06T00:00:00.000+03:00' 'eda8f8fe7fa57e826ed846ecbc3a403ddd6ca36d'|'Linde board still equally divided on Praxair merger: source'|'MUNICH, Germany The labor and capital representatives on Linde''s ( LING.DE ) supervisory board remain committed to their opposing positions over a planned merger with Praxair ( PX.N ), a supervisory board source told Reuters after a board meeting on Thursday."No concessions were made," the source said.The German and U.S. industrial gases groups have agreed to pursue a merger of equals and are hammering out terms of a business combination agreement, but labor representatives are opposing the deal because it would dilute their influence.(Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Kathrin Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idUSKBN1781R5'|'2017-04-06T17:37:00.000+03:00' '93868c80ce3fc7315489ecc4e4312b81e4f8eee7'|'Former Barclays traders acquitted in UK''s fourth Libor trial'|'Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 10:55am BST Former Barclays traders acquitted in UK''s fourth Libor trial left right Former Barclays trader Ryan Reich arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Britain April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth 1/2 left right Former Barclay''s trader Stylianos Contogoulas arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London, Britain April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth 2/2 LONDON Two former Barclays ( BARC.L ) traders were on Thursday acquitted by a jury of conspiring to rig crucial benchmark interest rates. Ryan Reich, a 35-year-old American, and Greek national Stylianos Contogoulas, 45, walked free after their second trial on a charge of conspiracy to defraud. The first jury to examine their case could not reach a verdict last year, although four Barclays co-defendants were jailed. The verdicts, which were unanimous, bring to eight the number of defendants who have been acquitted in a five-year, UK criminal investigation into whether bankers acted dishonestly when they tried to influence benchmark interest rates. The Serious Fraud Office had accused Reich and Contogoulas of plotting with other Barclays staff between June 2005 and September 2007 to skew Libor (London interbank offered rate), a central cog in the financial system and benchmark for rates on around $450 trillion of financial contracts and loans worldwide. Barclays was the first of 11 powerful banks and brokerages to be slapped with a fine for Libor misconduct in 2012, sparking a political backlash that forced out senior executives including former CEO Bob Diamond, prompted the SFO investigation and new laws to criminalise rate rigging. (Reporting By Kirstin Ridley; Editing by Rachel Armstrong) Up Next'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-court-libor-barclays-idUKKBN178126'|'2017-04-06T18:31:00.000+03:00' '4fb29ff57860c2d4607ea997d0dabc1dd603cd9d'|'Airbus, Boeing close in on Qantas'' ultra-long haul dream'|' 11:11pm BST Airbus, Boeing close in on Qantas'' ultra-long haul dream left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of an Airbus A350-1000 is pictured on a scale model during its maiden flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, Southwestern France, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Rolls Royce Trent XWB engines, designed specifically for the Airbus A350 family of aircraft, are seen on the assembly line at the Rolls Royce factory in Derby, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Ellis/Pool/File Photo 2/2 By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY Both Airbus ( AIR.PA ) and Boeing ( BA.N ) now offer aircraft that appear capable of flying non-stop commercial flights from Sydney to London - the "Holy Grail" for Australian carrier Qantas Airways Ltd ( QAN.AX ). As long as oil prices don''t go much higher than around $70 per barrel, the 20-hour flight can be financially viable, and could be on schedules within five years, aviation experts say. Airbus has increased the range of its A350-900ULR to 9,700 nautical miles (17,960 kms) from the 8,700 nautical miles announced when it sold the plane to Singapore Airlines ( SIAL.SI ) in 2015 for delivery next year, a spokesman told Reuters. Including headwinds, the Sydney-London flight is equivalent to 9,600 nautical miles. "These aircraft, we think, are potentially real goers on these routes," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told Reuters of the A350-900ULR and the bigger but less advanced Boeing 777-8. "You know from what they have done on other aircraft that Sydney-London and Melbourne-London has real possibility." For Qantas, a non-stop Sydney-London route that cuts three hours off the flight time would allow it to charge a premium and differentiate its product from the around two dozen other airlines plying the so-called Kangaroo route with stop-offs in Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong. The route accounts for only 13 percent of Qantas'' international capacity, but carries the prestige QF1 flight number and is important to its global brand. Qantas could charge around a 20 percent price premium for a non-stop Sydney-London flight as it would attract business and premium leisure travellers wanting to complete the trip as fast as possible, said Rico Merkert, a professor specialising in transport at the University of Sydney''s business school. "It''s something that can be presented as a unique selling point for Qantas," he said. FUELLING DOUBTS Qantas begins non-stop flights from Perth to London next year, using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. For this scheduled flight, the Dreamliner will have fewer seats than usual, will use the most advanced flight path modelling methods, and will reduce the weight in areas seemingly as minor as the dishes and forks. The Perth flight will take 17 hours - a far cry from the four days and seven stops it took when Qantas created the Kangaroo Route to London in 1947. Qantas can offset the higher cost of carrying more fuel to complete the flight by saving on stopover costs, such as airport charges, ground handling, taxes, crew hotel rooms and lounge usage. "In terms of economics, much depends on fuel prices," said Teal Group aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia. "If they stay at $50 a barrel or less, it should be possible to keep costs reasonable. But as fuel goes up, the disadvantages of flying a very heavy plane begin to make ultra-long haul problematic." He said the flight should remain economic at prices below around $70 a barrel, though Leeham Co analyst Bjorn Fehrm said the actual level could be far higher as one-stop rivals would also be squeezed by higher oil prices. Singapore Airlines ended its New York and Los Angeles flights using the four-engined A340-500 in 2013 when oil prices topped $107 a barrel. The carrier is now waiting for delivery of the far more fuel-efficient twin-engined A350-900ULR next year. HEADWINDS Qantas is pushing the planemakers hard on a stretch goal of completing the Sydney-London flight with 300 seats to give it the highest possible revenue and fleet flexibility. However, Fehrm said the aircraft would likely fall short of that goal if Qantas wanted to avoid a fuel stop on the westbound leg when headwinds are strongest. If such stopovers became frequent enough, Qantas would lose its ability to charge a premium on the route. Two aviation industry sources said the Airbus A350-900ULR would fit more than 250 passengers on the Sydney-London route, up from the 170 mainly business-class seats on Singapore Airlines'' configuration for flights to New York and Los Angeles. Boeing''s 777-8, due to enter service early in the next decade, could carry around 280 passengers on the westbound leg of the Sydney-London flight, the sources said. The sources declined to be named because the configuration details are not finalised. Airbus and Boeing declined to comment specifically on the seat count. "We think our airplane has the legs and the capability," said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing Senior Vice President Sales Asia-Pacific and India. "If the 787-9 can do Perth-London, we think that when the 777-8 comes out in the 2021 timeframe we will have a lot more improvement in technology." Airbus, Boeing and engine manufacturers are constantly investing to reduce fuel usage, extending a plane''s range and its ability to perform in hot conditions like the Middle East. That means the planemakers don''t have to invest specifically for any Qantas order, the size of which is still unclear. Pushing the seat count towards 300 would also give Qantas the flexibility to use these aircraft on other long routes, such as a mooted Sydney-New York flight, as it looks to replace six ageing 747-400ER planes and eventually its fleet of 12 A380s. BEST PRICING Qantas'' Joyce has raised publicly the possibility of ordering the 777-8 for ultra-long haul flights for the last two years, but the A350-900ULR has entered the equation more recently. "It has added competition, and we would be crazy if we didn''t do a competition at the right time," Joyce said. "That gets you the best pricing and ... the most capable aircraft." Qantas has yet to launch a formal tender process for the prestige order, as it waits for Boeing to finalise the specifications on the 777-8. But the first Sydney-London flights are possible around 2022, Joyce said. "The Kangaroo route is probably the most competitive on the globe," Joyce said. "(Flying non-stop) takes us off this superhighway of very competitive conditions of capacity which is priced, in many cases, under costs." (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-qantas-orders-idUKKBN1772XH'|'2017-04-06T06:11:00.000+03:00' '8a921e893a11d5f6a7893e7c5255c45572ec8bf1'|'MGM to buy 81 percent of Epix for $1.03 billion'|'MGM Holdings Inc said it would acquire the 81 percent of Epix it does not already own from two of its partners in the premium U.S. channel, Viacom Inc and Lionsgate Entertainment Corp, for about $1.03 billion.Viacom has a 50 percent stake in Epix, while Lionsgate holds 31.2 percent.The deal would give MGM, a privately held U.S. movie studio best known for its classic film library, control of Epix and would be a boon to its TV business, as it seeks to build a stronger platform to distribute its content.(Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-viacom-epix-sale-idINKBN1772R4'|'2017-04-05T19:04:00.000+03:00' '74b9931a673ee07b71591ab399e4c4b6d62151d8'|'CORRECTED-BRIEF-Air Canada announces departure of vice president & COO Klaus Goersch (April 3)'|' 37pm EDT CORRECTED-BRIEF-Air Canada announces departure of vice president & COO Klaus Goersch (April 3) (In April 3rd brief, corrects designation in headline to COO from CFO) April 3 Air Canada: * Announces departure of vice president & chief operating officer Klaus Goersch, effective from April 30, 2017 * Will announce Goersch''s successor in due course UPDATE 2-QIA''s Santander Brasil offer prices below suggested tag -sources SAO PAULO, April 5 Qatar Investment Authority''s sale on Wednesday of a 2.25 percent stake in Banco Santander Brasil SA priced below initial estimates, three people with direct knowledge of the deal said, reflecting the view that shares of Brazil''s No. 4 listed lender remained expensive. RPT-Brazil speaker joins criticism of legislation to regulate Uber BRASILIA, April 5 Drivers, users and even the speaker of Brazil''s lower house of Congress on Wednesday spoke out against legislation that seeks to force significant changes to the business model of the Uber ride service in Latin America''s biggest country. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSFWN1HB0WD'|'2017-04-06T06:37:00.000+03:00' 'beab26ad7c9c73c8ebc683116b42568aea49489d'|'Ukraine cbank eyes further currency liberalisation after IMF aid'|'KIEV, April 4 The latest tranche of aid from the International Monetary Fund will raise Ukrainian foreign exchange reserves to $16.1 billion and paves the way for further currency liberalisation, Central Bank Deputy Governor Oleg Churiy said on Tuesday.The IMF approved $1 billion in new aid to Kiev on Monday as part of a $17.5 billion bailout programme. Ukraine expects to receive three more aid tranches from the IMF this year, worth a total of $4.5 billion. The next tranche is expected at the end of the second quarter, Churiy told reporters at a briefing.(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-economy-cenbank-idINS8N1BX027'|'2017-04-04T09:28:00.000+03:00' '6231513eb392210890054d8cbe6f5ff30446db8a'|'Shell switches New Zealand holdings ahead of possible divestment'|'Deals - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 4:34am BST Shell switches New Zealand holdings ahead of possible divestment A Shell logo is seen reflected in a car''s side mirror at a petrol station in west London, Britain, January 29, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By Charlotte Greenfield - WELLINGTON WELLINGTON Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) sold its stake in a New Zealand gas field while taking over the field''s operating company as part of a plan to possibly divest its holdings in the country later on, the company said Thursday. Shell has sold its 50 percent stake in the Kapuni Gas Field, New Zealand''s second-largest, for an undisclosed price and has increased its holding to 100 percent in the joint venture that operates the field, Shell Todd Oil Services (STOS), it said in a statement. The announcement was the first concrete action taken by Shell following its announcement in 2015 that it was reviewing its New Zealand business interests. "This 100 per cent ownership of STOS will simplify Shell''s operational structure in preparation for any possible portfolio changes to the remaining assets," Rob Jager, Country Chair of Shell New Zealand, told Fairfax Media. Shell, which has operated in New Zealand for more than a century, said in December 2015 it was reviewing its business interests in the Pacific nation as the company seeks to streamline its global portfolio amid a slump in energy prices. (Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) Next In Deals'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-shell-divestiture-idUKKBN17809R'|'2017-04-06T11:33:00.000+03:00' '9b031e166e462235ae7798a8a86e821877a5f79c'|'BRIEF-General Dynamics UK awarded £330 million contract to develop next-generation battlefield network for British Army'|'Company News 17pm EDT BRIEF-General Dynamics UK awarded £330 million contract to develop next-generation battlefield network for British Army April 5 General Dynamics Corp * General Dynamics UK awarded £330 million contract to develop next-generation battlefield network for british army * System will be used to plan, deploy, manage and monitor communications and information for army * General dynamics - contract creates 125 new jobs as well as sustaining jobs of 125 highly-skilled engineers at general dynamics uk''s headquarters in oakdale Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-general-dynamics-uk-awarded-330-mi-idUSASB0B8R1'|'2017-04-06T07:17:00.000+03:00' 'a03704eaae81204c23c9d2a40b614b6164ba525b'|'METALS-London copper maintains gains ahead of China-U.S. meet'|'MELBOURNE, April 6 London copper held gains on Thursday ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and China''s President Xi Jinping, supported by Chinese demand at the start of the seasonally strongest quarter for industrial metals. FUNDAMENTALS * Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange traded little changed at $5,899.50 a tonne by 0156 GMT, holding 2 percent gains from the previous session when Chinese buyers returned from a long holiday weekend. * Shanghai Futures Exchange copper rose 1.2 percent to 47,890 yuan ($6,946) a tonne. * Trump and Xi are to hold their first summit encounter later on Thursday at Trump''s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Topping the agenda will be U.S.-China trade ties and U.S. requests for China to help rein in its nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea. * U.S. companies added 263,000 workers in March, the most since December 2014, suggesting further tightening of the labor market, payrolls processor ADP said. * Poland''s state-run KGHM, one of the world''s biggest copper producers, will stay in Chile for the long term, and is assessing its Canadian assets, its CEO said in an interview. * Freeport McMoRan Inc is awaiting final details on a temporary export permit in Indonesia, which would end a 12-week ban that has cost the world''s biggest publicly traded copper company nearly $1 billion in lost revenues, its top executives told Reuters on Wednesday. * The copper business will recover from crisis mode after plummeting prices for the metal resulted in output cuts, industry executives said at a meeting in world top copper producer Chile this week, but they expect that incipient recovery will be slow. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or MARKETS NEWS * Stocks fell and bonds rose in Asia on Thursday, with risk appetite soured by signs the Federal Reserve might start paring its king-sized balance sheet later this year just as the chances of an early U.S. fiscal stimulus faded further. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0145 China Caixin services PMI Mar 0600 Germany Industrial orders Feb 1130 U.S. Challenger layoffs Mar 1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0154 Three month LME copper 5899.5 Most active ShFE copper 47880 Three month LME 1962 aluminium Most active ShFE 37 aluminium Three month LME zinc 2778 Most active ShFE zinc 22995 Three month LME lead 2307.5 Most active ShFE lead 8 Three month LME nickel 10260 Most active ShFE nickel 27 Three month LME tin 20080 Most active ShFE tin 2 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 635.71 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1610.4 1 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 293.02 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1394.3 2 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 2432 ($1 = 6.8946 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idINL3N1HE1DF'|'2017-04-06T00:19:00.000+03:00' '101fa84bf7db54833a369075b463ffe75b9b4be6'|'Exclusive: Cardinal Health nears $6 billion deal for Medtronic unit - sources'|'By Carl O''Donnell U.S. drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc ( CAH.N ) is nearing a deal to acquire medical device maker Medtronic Plc''s ( MDT.N ) medical supplies business for close to $6 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.The sale would streamline Medtronic''s portfolio after its $42.9 billion acquisition of Covidien Plc in 2014. In that deal, it inherited most of the company''s medical supplies business, which sells everything from syringes to surgical instruments.Medtronic and Cardinal Health have entered into exclusive talks over the sale of the business, and a deal could be announced later this month, the sources said, cautioning that there was always a chance that the negotiations could end unsuccessfully.The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Medtronic and Cardinal Health declined to comment.For Cardinal Health, the deal would boost efforts to build out its medical products business, which it has highlighted as a priority for dealmaking."Certainly a part of the equation for us is how we use our balance sheet, and that may be through activities that are available external to us and the other ways that we deploy capital," George Barrett, Cardinal Health''s chief executive officer, said last month on the company''s most recent quarterly earnings call.In 2015, Cardinal Health acquired Cordis from Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ) for around $2 billion, adding a portfolio of devices including catheters, filters and stents.Cardinal Health''s medical products business has been a bright spot for the company, on track to reach mid- to high-single-digit revenue growth, at a time when investors have become more anxious about its drug distribution business.This is because the entire drug supply chain, including pharmaceutical benefits managers and drugmakers, has been under pressure in recent years, amid increasing scrutiny among lawmakers and insurance companies over high drug costs.Cardinal Health, along with its peers McKesson Corp ( MCK.N ) and AmerisourceBergen Corp ( ABC.N ), late last year saw their shares drop after McKesson said that competition was weighing on margins more than expected.Cardinal Health''s share price has since recovered, despite it having lowered expectations for full-year earnings in its pharma segment.(Reporting by Carl O''Donnell in New York)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-medtronic-m-a-cardinal-health-idINKBN1772VH'|'2017-04-05T19:47:00.000+03:00' '980e8e76d5f9ec2197ffab65d735922041414f24'|'China urges EU to "correct mistake" of steel anti-dumping duties'|'Money News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 1:59pm IST China urges EU to "correct mistake" of steel anti-dumping duties Czech steel workers take part in a demonstration in central Brussels February 15, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Files BEIJING China''s commerce ministry said on Thursday that it is highly concerned by the European Union (EU) decision to slap 18.1 percent to 35.9 percent anti-dumping duty on China''s hot-rolled steel coil. China urged the EU to "correct its mistake" in levying the anti-dumping duty and said it would take "necessary measures" to protect Chinese firms rights, according to the statement posted on the commerce ministry''s website. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) Next In Money News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-steel-idINKBN1780U1'|'2017-04-06T16:29:00.000+03:00' '2f939e1d7443803621f807084414ba56b5c7d21b'|'BDO declines to replace PwC at Brazil''s Oi restructuring case'|'SAO PAULO Accounting firm BDO declined to replace PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the in-court restructuring of Brazilian carrier Oi SA, BDO said in a statement on Friday.The judge overseeing the restructuring dropped PwC from the case on March 31 alleging the firm made accounting mistakes in the biggest bankruptcy filing in the country''s history.In his decision, judge Fernando Cesar Viana appointed BDO to replace PwC. But BDO said in Friday''s statement that it had decided not to take the task, despite keeping its work as Oi''s auditor through 2019.(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-idINKBN17937G'|'2017-04-07T20:25:00.000+03:00' 'c0b03b351347e18daae91d74af121cfc4ea6ae38'|'Italy says offloading of bank bad loans should not be too fast'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 12:36pm BST Italy says offloading of bank bad loans should not be too fast Pier Carlo Padoan, Minister of Economy and Finance of Italy attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich VALLETTA Italy''s finance minister said banks should be allowed to offload their bad loans in a "reasonable" time because selling too fast could hit their financial stability. The European Central Bank has been pushing lenders with a high ratio of so-called non-performing loans (NPLs) to sell them, causing Italian banks to rush to offload their huge amount of bad loans which account for a quarter of the EU total of 1 trillion euros of bad loans. Pier Carlo Padoan told reporters that he agreed with the ECB policy of stressing the NPLs problem in its supervisory role, but stressed that the sale should not go too fast. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editigng by Jan Strupczewski; @fraguarascio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-banks-italy-idUKKBN17A0D0'|'2017-04-08T19:36:00.000+03:00' 'e5d43f005fb1fa33effed4e78166d713023e7baa'|'Body Shop divorce from L''Oréal looms closer'|'The Body Shop could be one step closer to separating from L’Oréal this week as bidders for the ethical beauty chain put forward their initial offers.The chain has more than 3,000 stores in 66 countries, and sales and profits have come under pressure amid rising competition and an unhappy alliance between two very different brands.Private equity firms including Apax Partners, CVC and Advent International are thought to be weighing up bids of between £600m and £800m for the company, alongside trade buyers including South Korea’s CJ Group, a media, home shopping and pharmaceuticals conglomerate.L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, confirmed in February it had decided “to explore all strategic options” for The Body Shop “to give it the best opportunities and full ability to continue its development”.The first-round bids for The Body Shop are expected before L’Oréal’s first-quarter results on 18 April and annual meeting two days later. It could mark the end of an unhappy decade for the Sussex-based retailer since founder Dame Anita Roddick sold up to L’Oréal for £652m in 2006 – a move seen as betrayal by some regular shoppers.“It was like watching your daughter marry the wrong man. We knew before the wedding it would end in tears,” says Mark Constantine, a former Body Shop staffer who now runs fast-growing rival Lush.His business, which now has 931 stores in 49 countries, increased sales by 26% to £723m last year and pre-tax profits increased 76% to £43.2m as it moved to larger stores and engaged with young shoppers online.And Lush is just one of a much broader spectrum of competitors that The Body Shop now faces, including the likes of Neal’s Yard, L’Occitane, Liz Earle and Chantecaille, which have all expanded in recent years. Meanwhile, many mainstream brands have followed Roddick’s lead, using more natural ingredients and no longer testing on animals.The Body Shop’s chain of stores is also up against rivals such as Space NK and greater competition from clothing chains and department stores that have increased their beauty ranges to offset falling clothing sales. “This is not a time to have lots of stores,” says a source close to the bidding.The Body Shop’s operating profits dived 38% to €33.8m (£29m) in the year to 31 December 2016 while sales sank nearly 5% to €920.8m. The pace of decline stepped up in the final and most important quarter of the year – sliding by 6.3% in total.The proportion of health and beauty shoppers visiting its stores slipped to 9% last year from 10.4% a year before, according to analysts GlobalData.That poor performance came despite good times for the beauty industry, particularly in the UK, which is currently the fastest-growing retail sector. Sales rose 17.4% between 2011 and 2016, according to GlobalData.Constantine believes The Body Shop has lost out as its most concerned ethical consumers were put off by the association with L’Oréal, which is owned by the super-rich Bettencourt family and corporate food giant Nestlé. “You couldn’t ask for a more boo-hiss villain,” he says.While The Body Shop has worked hard to maintain its ethical credentials, last year launching a series of environmental and community initiatives , the group’s ultimate ownership means it finds it difficult to offer the kind of transparency and integrity that young consumers now demand. “They have skipped two generations,” Constantine says, adding that young people are sadly unaware of the legacy of Roddick, who set up the business in Brighton in 1976 to help support her two daughters.However, Charlotte Pearce, an analyst at GlobalData, says most shoppers aren’t aware of The Body Shop’s association with L’Oréal and she doesn’t believe the chain’s ownership has damaged the brand.She believes the decline is the result of dull stores, an unexciting online and social media presence and a lack of innovation in its products.“It has not really moved on and innovated,” Pearce says. The chain has missed out on key beauty trends, such as contouring, and has an image that is stuck in the 1990s. “The social media feeds are focused on Body Shop’s ethical history. They need to move away from that and focus on innovation,” she says.One source close to a potential bidder agrees. “It’s become corporatised and lost some of its zing. Anita sprinkled magic on the brand for years, giving it credibility. The products weren’t that different: it was the brand aura. I’m not sure they can ever recoup that.”Topics Retail industry Anita Roddick Mergers and acquisitions Ethical business '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/retail/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/08/body-shop-divorce-from-loreal-looms-closer'|'2017-04-09T00:00:00.000+03:00' 'e9f537ec064002bd2ee5445a783b7fe1e6e69a5b'|'RPT-WRAPUP 1-Foreign journalists in North Korea gather for big event amid tensions'|'(Repeats to more subscribers, no change to text)By Sue-Lin WongPYONGYANG, April 13 Foreign journalists visiting North Korea gathered in Pyongyang for "a big and important event" on Thursday with tensions high over the possibility of a new weapons test by the isolated state and as a U.S. carrier group sails towards the Korean peninsula.North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of the state founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday and in 2012 launched a long-range rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date. It tested a newly developed intermediate-range missile last year.Around 200 foreign journalists are in Pyongyang for North Korea''s biggest national day called "Day of the Sun". Officials gave no details of the big event and similar announcements in the past have been linked to relatively low-key set pieces.Tensions on the Korean peninsula mounted this week as the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump has put North Korea "clearly on notice" that he will not tolerate certain actions and China urged a peaceful resolution of the tension.Trump has diverted the Carl Vinson Strike Group to near the Korean peninsula, from a planned port call in Australia, in a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea launching another missile. The group is expected to take up to nine days to arrive, U.S. officials have said.On Tuesday, North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression. The North is technically at war with the United States and south Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.The North regularly threatens to destroy both countries.Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday, just days after they met in the United States for the first time, underscoring the sense of urgency given concerns that the North could soon conduct a weapons test.Trump said on Twitter that his call with Xi was a "very good" discussion of the "menace of North Korea". Trump said later on Wednesday the United States is prepared to tackle the crisis surrounding North Korea without China if necessary.Xi stressed that China was "committed to the target of denuclearisation on the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates resolving problems through peaceful means", Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.A Washington-based think tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said satellite image taken on Wednesday showed continued activity around the North''s Punggye-ri nuclear test site the east coast that showed it was ready for a new test.South Korean officials said on Thursday there were no new signs to indicate a North Korean nuclear is more imminent but said the North has maintained a state of readiness to conduct such a test at any time. (Writing by Jack Kim and James Pearson; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/northkorea-usa-idINL3N1HL1KW'|'2017-04-13T00:19:00.000+03:00' '93a66bca26009432c4aa7eced2b044d65341e4cc'|'Morning News Call - India, April 13'|'Company News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 11:19pm EDT Morning News Call - India, April 13 (Morning News Call - India edition will not be published on Friday, April 14, as markets are closed for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti and Good Friday.) To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 11:15 am: Petroleum Secretary K. D. Tripathi briefs media on cabinet decisions related to the ministry in New Delhi. 4:00 pm: India Ratings webinar on power sector in Mumbai. 5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai. GMF: LIVECHAT - CHINA AUTOMOBILE OUTLOOK Will SUVs continue to boost Chinese car makers such as Geely and Great Wall Motor in the rest of 2017 and beyond? What is the prospect of electric cars - both domestic brand BYD and U.S. brand Tesla - in China? Reuters auto correspondent Jake Spring will discuss the trend of the industry at 11:30 am. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • Higher fuel prices drive up India''s inflation to five-month high Higher fuel costs drove up India''s headline inflation to its highest level in five months in March, data showed, vindicating a central bank decision last week to keep its policy rate on hold amid concern about price pressures. • Indian sales tax coming July 1, to boost growth, revenues - official India will launch a new national sales tax as planned on July 1 to boost economic growth and state revenues, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday, despite calls from some businesses for a delay. • Indian state refiners to revise fuel price in 5 cities daily from May 1 - sources India''s state-owned fuel retailers plan to implement daily revision of fuel price in five cities from May 1 ahead of a nationwide roll out of the scheme, industry sources said. • Indian-Greek venture offers 480 mln euros to build Crete airport -sources The only bid submitted to build an airport on the island of Crete was priced at 480 million euros ($509.42 million), well below the expected 850 million, sources close to the project said on Wednesday. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • China''s Xi urges peaceful resolution of N.Korea tension in call with Trump Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a peaceful resolution of rising tension on the Korean peninsula in a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group steamed towards the region. • U.S.-Russia relations at another low after Syria attacks The presidents of the United States and Russia on Wednesday both presented souring views of the relationship between their two countries, exchanging sharp words as Moscow extended an icy welcome to the United States'' top diplomat in a face-off over Syria. • Foreign journalists in North Korea gather for "big event" amid tensions Foreign journalists visiting North Korea gathered in Pyongyang for "a big and important event" with tensions high over the possibility of a new weapons test by the isolated state and as a U.S. carrier group sails towards the Korean peninsula. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,202.50, trading little changed from its previous close. • The Indian rupee will likely open higher against the dollar, as the greenback slipped after U.S. President Donald Trump said the currency was getting too strong and that he prefers a low interest rate policy. • Indian government bonds will likely edge higher in early trade tracking a slide in U.S. Treasury yields after President Donald Trump said he preferred a low Federal funds rate. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.75 pct-6.81 pct band today. The bond closed at 101.30 rupees, yielding 6.78 pct, yesterday. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks eased on Wednesday and the S&P 500 closed below a key technical level for the first time since Election Day, pressured by lingering geopolitical concerns and President Donald Trump''s comments on the dollar and interest rates. • Japanese stocks posted fresh four-month lows as the yen spiked against the dollar after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S currency was too strong, hitting automakers and tech shares hard. • The dollar slumped broadly, falling to a five-month low against the yen, after U.S. President Donald Trump helped accelerate its recent decline by saying the currency was too strong. • U.S. Treasury yields fell on Wednesday with benchmark yields hitting a near five-month low, prompted by comments by U.S. President Donald Trump on favoring low interest rates made in a newspaper interview published in late U.S. trading. • Crude oil futures slid for a second session, moving away from a one-month high touched briefly in the last session as rising U.S. production stoked worries about global oversupply. • Gold hit a five-month peak as the U.S. dollar slid after President Donald Trump said he preferred lower interest rates with the greenback "too strong", and amid rising tensions over U.S. relations with Russia and North Korea. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.52/64.55 April 12 -$89.8 mln $116.57 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.16 Month-to-date -$1.2 mln $2.89 bln Year-to-date $6.78 bln $8.36 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.6850 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nayyar Rasheed in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL3N1HL1Y1'|'2017-04-13T11:19:00.000+03:00' '3d74525b6307b11b529dec4aae80e0c98cea9800'|'Retailer Carrefour reports rise in first quarter sales, keeps outlook'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 6:52am BST Retailer Carrefour reports rise in first quarter sales, keeps outlook FILE PHOTO: The logo of France-based food retailer Carrefour is seen on the roof of Tbilisi Mall in Tbilisi, Georgia, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili/File Photo PARIS French supermarket retailer Carrefour ( CARR.PA ) reported higher first-quarter revenues, slightly above the consensus market forecast, and maintained its full-year sales growth outlook. Carrefour, which is the world''s second-biggest retailer, said group first-quarter sales had risen 6.2 percent at current exchange rates to 21.3 billion euros (£18.10 billion) as strong performance in Brazil boosted turnover. The consensus sales forecast, according to a poll for Reuters compiled by Inquiry Financial, stood at 21.2 billion euros. Carrefour said it was sticking to its target for full-year 2017 sales growth of 3-5 percent, at constant exchange rates. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-carrefour-salesfigures-idUKKBN17F0IX'|'2017-04-13T13:52:00.000+03:00' '0d24dde8b59be8a4374f4683e5701d6e163efb72'|'U.S. judge rejects Goldman Sachs'' bid to narrow gender bias lawsuit'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 12:46am BST U.S. judge rejects Goldman Sachs'' bid to narrow gender bias lawsuit FILE PHOTO: A view of the Goldman Sachs stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., July 16, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK NEW YORK A federal judge on Wednesday rejected Goldman Sachs Group Inc''s ( GS.N ) bid to dismiss two of the four female plaintiffs in a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing the bank of discriminating against women in pay and promotions. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said former vice president Mary De Luis'' claims did not become moot when she resigned last May, after the bank allegedly retaliated for her role in the case by refusing to allow a transfer to Miami from Dallas unless she accepted a demotion. The judge also said another ex-employee, former vice president Allison Gamba, had standing to pursue her claims even after Goldman left her without a job in August 2014 when it "divested itself" of her department. Torres said a judge who previously oversaw the 6-1/2-year-old lawsuit misinterpreted a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wal-Mart Stores Inc v. Dukes, in finding that former employees like De Luis and Gamba who sought "reinstatement" could not sue. In an email, Goldman said it was "examining the implications of the latest ruling and will continue to contest this matter vigorously." The plaintiffs accused Goldman of systematically paying women less than men, and giving them weaker performance reviews that impeded their career growth. Their lawsuit, which began in September 2010, also included allegations that Goldman maintained a "boys'' club atmosphere." This included the use of sexual language, unwanted touching and subjecting women to the "double-edged sword" of being expected to socialize after work with colleagues to advance their careers, it said, but risk being labeled "party girls" if they did. The other named plaintiffs include former Goldman employees Cristina Chen-Oster and Shanna Orlich, who were a vice president and associate, respectively. A fifth plaintiff agreed to arbitration. Torres "brought consistency to how the Southern District of New York interprets standing," Kelly Dermody, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in an interview, referring to the Manhattan court. "This had been a big stopping point in the case and all four plaintiffs can seek class-action status." Class-action certification could let thousands of women sue together, raising the potential for larger awards without excessive legal costs. The case is Chen-Oster et al v. Goldman Sachs & Co et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 10-06950. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-bias-lawsuit-idUKKBN17E2ZF'|'2017-04-13T07:45:00.000+03:00' '6ab7be416ceef887b94fc44492b344497c5e5560'|'U.S.-based stock funds attract $1.4 bln in latest week -Lipper'|'Company 18pm EDT U.S.-based stock funds attract $1.4 bln in latest week -Lipper NEW YORK, April 13 Investors in U.S.-based funds poured $1.4 billion into stock funds in the week ended Wednesday after pulling $11.9 billion from the funds the prior week, data from Thomson Reuters Lipper service showed on Thursday. Taxable bond funds attracted $1 billion in new cash to mark their fourth straight week of inflows. Funds that hold riskier high-yield corporate bonds posted $348 million in outflows after attracting $2.4 billion in inflows the prior week. (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/investment-mutualfunds-lipper-idUSL1N1HL1VS'|'2017-04-14T06:18:00.000+03:00' '31381e429f2d5447308d60a2ae42ca3a59a40534'|'BRIEF-First NBC Bank Holding appoints CEO Carl Chaney to serve in dual capacity as president of company and bank'|'United States 39pm EDT BRIEF-First NBC Bank Holding appoints CEO Carl Chaney to serve in dual capacity as president of company and bank April 7 First Nbc Bank Holding Co * First NBC Bank Holding Co - board took action to appoint CEO Carl Chaney to serve in dual capacity as president of company and bank * First NBC Bank Holding chaney succeeds Ashton Ryan, who had been serving as president of co, bank, who resigned his position, effective April 6, 2017 * First NBC Bank Holding Co - Ashton Ryan will continue to serve bank in an advisory capacity - SEC filing * First NBC Bank Holding Co - Ryan also resigned his position on boards of directors of company and bank, effective April 6, 2017 Source text: ( bit.ly/2oRZi9S ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-first-nbc-bank-holding-appoints-ce-idUSFWN1HF130'|'2017-04-08T05:39:00.000+03:00' '45ad906677421efbe05a005ccf0d0b9cd056aa8f'|'BRIEF-Genesis Healthcare says Steven Fishman to resign from board effective immediately'|' 37pm EDT BRIEF-Genesis Healthcare says Steven Fishman to resign from board effective immediately April 7 Genesis Healthcare Inc * Genesis Healthcare Inc - on April 7, Steven Fishman notified company''s board of directors of his decision to resign from board effective immediately * On April 7, 2017, board appointed Robert Fish, a current board member, as chairman of board Source text: ( bit.ly/2nU2FvR ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-genesis-healthcare-says-steven-fis-idUSFWN1HF12Z'|'2017-04-08T05:37:00.000+03:00' '5b5713e130a55f707aee0d996b97fe4637deaad6'|'Activist Elliott rejects BHP criticism of restructuring plan'|' 36pm BST Activist Elliott rejects BHP criticism of restructuring plan FILE PHOTO: A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo LONDON Hedge fund Elliott said on Tuesday it struggled to understand the "dismissive and premature nature" of BHP Billiton''s ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) response to a restructuring plan it had proposed. Elliott called on BHP to provide "a more thorough and reasoned assessment" of its plan, which BHP had swiftly rejected on Monday. BHP Billiton claimed the costs of the proposal - which called on the company to scrap its dual corporate structure, alter its capital return policy and demerge its oil business - would outweigh any benefits. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan; editing by Simon Jessop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-elliott-bhp-idUKKBN17D1N8'|'2017-04-11T21:36:00.000+03:00' '47ac1d84b29a967b2f41220eb31ceeed7d0eaa3f'|'Yellen says Fed''s independence under threat from Congress - Reuters'|'The Federal Reserve''s ability to conduct monetary policy free of short-term political pressures is under "some threat" from two bills making their way through the U.S. Congress, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday.Central bank independence is "very important and results in better decision-making that’s focussed on the long-term needs and health of the economy," Yellen said at an event at the University of Michigan''s Ford School of Public Policy in Ann Arbor. Of the legislation under consideration, the one that goes the furthest to curtail the Fed''s independence would require the central bank to follow a simple rule for setting interest rates and to justify any deviation from that rule, she said.(Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-yellen-independence-idINKBN17C2GX'|'2017-04-10T19:38:00.000+03:00' '8256196143ca0a6be6005cc54a594d6835e0722d'|'BRIEF-hhgregg to liquidate assets'|' 36pm EDT BRIEF-hhgregg to liquidate assets April 7 hhgregg Inc - * hhgregg to liquidate assets * U.S. Bankruptcy court for southern district of Indiana approved co''s initiation of process to liquidate assets of company commencing on April 8 * Does not anticipate any value will remain from bankruptcy estate for holders of company''s common stock Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-hhgregg-to-liquidate-assets-idUSFWN1HF0YX'|'2017-04-08T05:36:00.000+03:00' 'a16425b1192ca311ee5ca2e234721a92b96712cc'|'BRIEF-Davidson Kempner Capital Management reports 5.71 pct passive stake in Kayne Anderson Acquisition'|' 19pm EDT BRIEF-Davidson Kempner Capital Management reports 5.71 pct passive stake in Kayne Anderson Acquisition April 10 Kayne Anderson Acquisition Corp : * Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP reports 5.71 percent passive stake in Kayne Anderson Acquisition Corp, as of March 30, 2017 - sec filing Source text - bit.ly/2p08oBl '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-davidson-kempner-capital-managemen-idUSFWN1HI0M8'|'2017-04-11T04:19:00.000+03:00' 'e805c100c5720f6dbdb3beabdf45cae584e2bc81'|'Germany says Greece must implement reforms before debt review'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 11:18am BST Germany says Greece must implement reforms before debt review BERLIN Germany wants Greece to implement reforms before any consideration of whether the country might need more debt relief, the finance ministry said on Monday. "We want first to get the reform measures agreed," a finance ministry spokeswoman told a government news conference, noting that European Union ministers had just agreed that the country must implement reforms on pensions and taxes. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Sunday his country will implement additional austerity measures agreed with its official creditors on condition of further debt relief. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Andrea Shalal) UK consumer spending grows at slowest rate in three years - Visa LONDON British consumer spending increased at the slowest annual pace in more than three years in the first three months of 2017, in a further sign that one of the economy''s main engines is losing steam as Brexit preparations begin, a survey showed on Monday. Freight train to leave Britain on long haul for China STANFORD-LE-HOPE, England The first freight train to run from Britain to China was due to depart on Monday, carrying vitamins, baby products and other goods as Britain seeks to burnish its global trading credentials for when it leaves the European Union. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-greece-bailout-germany-idUKKBN17C11K'|'2017-04-10T18:18:00.000+03:00' 'e5284b1211df51ead356e0383c01d45bb72b8f17'|'BRIEF-TSMC orders machinery equipment from Applied Materials'|'Company News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 4:53am EDT BRIEF-TSMC orders machinery equipment from Applied Materials April 10 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd * Says orders machinery equipment worth T$686 million ($22.45 million) Source text on Eikon: S.Korea''s EWP buys 60,000 T of coal for May SEOUL, April 10 Korea East West Power Co Ltd (EWP) has bought 60,000 tonnes of coal for May shipping via a tender that closed on Thursday, a source from the utility said on Monday. The utility purchased the coal products from South Africa, the source said, but declined to give price and seller details. Other details of the purchase are as follows: TONNES(M/T) ORIGIN SPECIFICATION(NCV) SHIPPING SCHEDULE 60,000 S.Africa min. 4,170 kcal/kg May 10- MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-tsmc-orders-machinery-equipment-fr-idUSS7N1EA027'|'2017-04-10T16:53:00.000+03:00' '92d10fb009fa674b460967ebc3607bf0aabf6d8e'|'CEE MARKETS-Czech crown touches multi-year high; zloty and forint ease'|'* End of currency cap helps crown to touch 2013 high vs euro * Looming French election lifts currency volatility * Czech CPI edges up, cbank chief sees rate rise around end-2017 * Crown could come under pressure when speculators take profits By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 10 The Czech crown touched its highest since 2013 in spot and forward euro rates on Monday, seeking a new equilibrium after the central bank (CNB) removed its cap on the currency last week. The crown firmed to 26.50 against the euro before retreating to 26.564 by 0838 GMT, flat from Friday. Poland''s zloty, meanwhile, shed 0.3 percent and the Hungarian forint dipped by 0.1 percent as geopolitical worries weighed on emerging market assets. A key concern is that Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in France''s two-round election on April 23 and May 7, has promised a referendum on euro zone membership. The worry over the euro also contributed to a jump in the one-month volatility of regional currencies. One-month options for the crown and the forint against the dollar jumped to their highest since Britain''s vote last year to quit the European Union. Zloty volatility was its highest since November. The rise in the crown''s volatility was to be expected after the CNB removed the currency cap. Investors who had bet on the cap''s withdrawal accumulated long crown positions estimated at up to 60 billion crowns ($2.39 billion). Profit-taking on those positions could put the crown under significant pressure, though the steadily growing Czech economy is expected to lift it by next year. Investors holding large crown positions are likely to wait for a gradual rise to stronger levels before trying to sell the currency, market participants said. "I think 26.500 is the first support (level). But it is difficult to say how strong it is," one dealer said. "I would expect, however, that it is still not a strong enough level for those who opened short EUR/CZK (positions)." While Poland''s much higher government bond yields edged up by a few basis points, with two-year paper trading at 2 percent, the equivalent Czech yield was steady at minus 0.066 percent. Short-term Czech yields jumped when the CNB scrapped the cap but are unlikely to rise above zero soon as investors wait for a stronger crown to take profit on Czech debt, market participants said. Czech data released on Monday showed an expected rise in annual inflation to 2.6 percent in March, exceeding the CNB''s target rate of 2 percent and the highest since 2012. The bank could start raising interest rates in late 2017 or early 2018 if inflation develops, CNB Governor Jiri Rusnok was Quote: d as saying in an interview with the Hospodarske Noviny daily. CEE SNAPS AT 1038 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.56 26.55 -0.02 1.67% 40 75 % Hungary 310.5 310.0 -0.17 -0.55 forint 300 100 % % Polish 4.230 4.218 -0.28 4.11% zloty 0 2 % Romanian 4.514 4.520 +0.1 0.45% leu 5 3 3% Croatian 7.434 7.449 +0.2 1.63% kuna 0 5 1% Serbian 123.7 123.9 +0.1 -0.35 dinar 800 100 1% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 986.6 984.0 +0.2 +7.0 3 5 6% 6% Budapest 32398 32600 -0.62 +1.2 .42 .34 % 4% Warsaw 2247. 2248. -0.03 +15. 65 33 % 39% Bucharest 8210. 8209. +0.0 +15. 98 22 2% 89% Ljubljana 774.7 779.4 -0.60 +7.9 5 3 % 7% Zagreb 1953. 1950. +0.1 -2.07 60 41 6% % Belgrade <.BELEX15 728.6 728.5 +0.0 +1.5 > 1 3 1% 7% Sofia 659.9 658.2 +0.2 +12. 0 3 5% 53% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 6 bps s 5-year 2 bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.3 0.36 0.44 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.25 0.34 0.17 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.751 1.77 1.83 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HI1QW'|'2017-04-10T07:50:00.000+03:00' '5e890617b5b4cd5dd03d3dbef8c9a6b31415a525'|'UPDATE 1-South Africa''s retailers under pressure, rand extends losses'|'Company 48pm EDT UPDATE 1-South Africa''s retailers under pressure, rand extends losses (adds details, fresh quotes, updates figures) JOHANNESBURG, April 10 South Africa''s general retailers index posted its biggest daily loss in nearly two weeks on Monday, capping gains on the bourse after ratings downgrades last week knocked the rand currency, raising the prospect of inflation curbing consumption. The rand extended its recent losses as the credit downgrades to "junk" by two ratings firms last week following the sudden firing of the finance minister kept investors jittery. The general retailers index shed 2.77 percent on Monday, bringing its decline to around 12 percent since March 27 when President Jacob Zuma recalled finance minister Pravin Gordhan from an overseas investors roadshow, before firing him in a cabinet reshuffle. Massmart, majority-owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc , lead the way, falling 4.85 percent. "It looks like people are starting to realise that these downgrades will cause the economy to slow down, that''s generally a negative for retailers," said Cratos Capital equities trader Greg Davies. Overall, the market closed higher. Advancers included Anglo American, which closed 1.6 percent higher after announcing it would sell its Eskom-linked thermal coal operations in South Africa for $166 million, marking an important step in strategic overhaul to sharpen its focus. The broader All-Share index increased 0.54 percent to 53,139.86 points, while the benchmark Top-40 index added 0.73 percent to 46,422.49 points. On the foreign exchange market, at 1600 GMT the rand traded at 13.9200 per dollar, 1.07 percent weaker from its New York close on Friday. In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark government bond due in 2026 climbed 7.5 basis points to 9.005 percent. (Reporting by Olwethu Boso; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-markets-idUSL8N1HI3HV'|'2017-04-11T00:48:00.000+03:00' 'c4d3faf6268d9a7476625e36ab2f3cc9b9928b1d'|'BRIEF-Ciber files for chapter 11 protection; secures $45 mln in DIP financing'|'Company 09am EDT BRIEF-Ciber files for chapter 11 protection; secures $45 mln in DIP financing April 10 Ciber Inc * Ciber files for chapter 11 protection and secures $45 million in dip financing to fund ongoing operations during process and agree to an asset purchase agreement with Capgemini America * Ciber - Co, certain U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions seeking relief under chapter 11 in U.S bankruptcy court in district of Delaware * Initiates a process intended to preserve value and accommodate an orderly going-concern sale of company''s business operations * Ciber - Notice of proposed sale to Capgemini will be given to third parties and competing bids will be solicited. * Ciber Inc - Entered "stalking horse" purchase agreement with Capgemini to acquire substantially all of assets of co in North America and India Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ciber-files-for-chapter-11-protect-idUSASB0B93S'|'2017-04-10T15:09:00.000+03:00' 'c5b5e8e816fa64d005f1566985962aa16ddf4581'|'Fidelity becomes first asset manager to join blockchain group IC3'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 5:38am BST Fidelity becomes first asset manager to join blockchain group IC3 By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK Fidelity Investments Inc has become the first financial institution to join the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies & Contracts, a group of academic institutions and technology companies looking to develop blockchain-based technology. Fidelity Labs, the innovation arm of asset manager Fidelity, will be a member of IC3 along with Cornell University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, the Technion, IBM Corp ( IBM.N ) and Intel Corp ( INTC.O ), the company said in a statement. The Boston-based fund manager will collaborate with the group to develop blockchain programmes to help make financial systems more efficient and secure. Blockchain, which first emerged as the system underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin, is a distributed record of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers, rather than a centralised authority. Over the past two years, financial institutions have been ramping up their investments in the technology in the hopes that it can help the make some of its processes simpler and cheaper. Potential use cases range from systems to manage international payments, to programs to settle securities trades. In a bid to accelerate development and adoption of blockchain, companies have been joining forces in several industry consortia and groups. Banks have been more vocal about their efforts than asset managers, with most large lenders having joined a group led by New York-based startup R3. Most recently a group of 30 companies, including several banks, launched a new blockchain consortium called the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance. "What IC3 brings is that academic computer science legacy that can help us explore how this technology can be applied," said Hadley Stern, senior vice president at Fidelity Labs, explaining why the asset manager had chosen the group. Use cases the asset manager is interested include the settlement of repurchase agreements transactions, Stern said. Despite the excitement around blockchain, the technology is still in its early days and proponents warn that it may take years before financial institutions can fully reap its benefits. IC3, which is based at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech in New York City, conducts research aimed at developing blockchain that meets the standards needed to be deployed by businesses. "Expected outcomes of our work include new blockchain and smart contract technologies that are secure, incrementally deployable, and efficient to meet the industry''s needs," said Emin Gün Sirer, co-director of IC3 and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fidelity-blockchain-idUKKBN17C0C6'|'2017-04-10T12:38:00.000+03:00' 'e4ba101889b1e85ecaa919d9069d14a6a1fe53c1'|'Nikkei up on weak yen; financials outperform on rising U.S. yields'|' 35am EDT Nikkei up on weak yen; financials outperform on rising U.S. yields TOKYO, April 10 Japan''s Nikkei share average rose on Monday as comments from a U.S. central banker lifted the dollar against the yen, bolstering exporter stocks, while rising U.S. yields helped financial stocks outperform. The Nikkei gained 0.7 percent to 18,797.88, bouncing back further from Friday''s four-month low. Yet, in a sign of fragile market sentiment, it posted so-called "black candlestick", which means the market closed below its opening price, for eight sessions in a row. That is the longest such streak under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose policy centres on boosting share and other asset prices through aggressive stimulus. The broader Topix rose 0.7 percent to 1,499.65, led by 1.5 percent gains in banks. New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley on Friday said there may only be a "little pause" in the central bank''s rate hike plans this year. This contrasted with market interpretations of earlier comments that there may be a more significant delay in Fed tightening this year as it looks to shrink its balance sheet. (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team; Editing by Sam Holmes and Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL3N1HI22T'|'2017-04-10T14:35:00.000+03:00' '106924f7156db9bd1987493d122e84aeff4f7521'|'Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 8:46pm BST Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard Paul Tudor Jones, founder and chief investment officer of Tudor Investment Corporation, speaks at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz By Maiya Keidan , Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/BOSTON LONDON/BOSTON "Macro" hedge funds are back in favor with investors seeking to take a view on U.S. President Donald Trump''s economic policies, European elections, or interest rates, but it is start-up funds rather than established players which are attracting cash. Some of the main beneficiaries of the macro revival are managers who cut their teeth at the big macro firms such as Moore Capital Management, Brevan Howard and Tudor Investment Corp, which made their names for outperformance in 2007-2009. Eric Siegel, head of hedge funds at Citi Private Bank ( C.N ), said in general that macro strategies are likely to thrive. “With volatility coming back and monetary supply tightening, we believe it could be a great environment for macro managers,” Siegel said. Macro funds bet on macroeconomic trends using currencies, bonds, rates and stock futures. They outperformed the broader industry during the financial crisis and amassed tens of billions of dollars between 2010 and 2012. But they lost most of those assets between 2013 and 2014 and also in 2016 for a variety of reasons, including performance. But macro is back in vogue and was the most popular hedge fund strategy among investors in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first two months of this year, according to industry data providers Preqin and eVestment. Moore Capital''s Louis Moore Bacon, Alan Howard, who co-founded Brevan Howard, and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment were among the macro stars after years of delivering double-digit returns. But during the lean years, when macro was less in favor, they had to cut fees and in some cases staff. Now newcomers, such as Moore Capital spin-out Stone Milliner, are pulling in cash and producing some strong returns. Stone Milliner''s discretionary global macro closed to new money last year after taking in over $4 billion in the previous two years. Moore Capital''s assets have fallen slightly from $15 billion in 2012 to $13.3 billion as of Dec. 31 2016, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Anglo-Swiss firm Stone Milliner, set up in 2012 by former Moore Capital portfolio managers Jens-Peter Stein and Kornelius Klobucar, averaged returns of 8.3 percent between 2014 and 2016, a source told Reuters, while Moore Capital Management averaged 3.4 percent, a second source said. London-based Gemsstock, set up in January 2014 by Moore Capital trader Darren Read and his co-founder Al Breach, made 12.8 percent on average over the same period, documents seen by Reuters showed. Chris Rokos, a Brevan Howard alumnus, raised another $2 billion in February after returns of 20 percent in 2016. EDL Capital made gains of 18.4 percent last year after ex-Moore Capital trader Edouard De Langlade launched the firm in September 2015, according to a source close to EDL Capital. It has amassed assets of $450 million to date, he said. Ben Melkman, who also formerly worked at Brevan Howard until May 2016, raised over $400 million for his launch in March, SEC filings showed. Brevan Howard''s firm-wide assets fell to $14.6 billion in 2017, from $37 billion in 2012. [ here ] RUSH FOR MACRO But the old guard are fighting back. Some have been cutting fees and offering alternatives. Howard, Brevan Howard''s co-founder, last month launched a new fund managed solely by him, which sources said has already amassed more than $3 billion. Tudor Investment lowered its management fees to 1.75 percent and performance fees to 20 percent in February after a reduction last year and Moore Capital cut the management fee on its Moore Macro Managers fund to 2.5 percent from 3 percent. Tudor Jones laid off 15 percent of staff in August. The firm''s main Tudor BVI Global Fund started 2017 down 0.6 percent to March 3 after gaining 0.9 percent in 2016. Brevan cut its management fees to zero for some current investors in its Master Fund and its Multi-Strategy fund last September after a similar move from Caxton Associates. But for both the old and new macro funds, it is still to be determined what 2017 will hold. Even though macro funds are flat on average for the first two months of 2017, making gains of just 0.38 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research, the popularity of macro strategies is not in doubt. A Credit Suisse survey in March of more than 320 institutional investors with $1.3 trillion in hedge funds showed macro was set to be the favorite strategy of 2017. Preqin data showed that after pulling assets out of macro for three back-to-back quarters, investors added $6.4 billion to the strategy in the fourth quarter of 2016 after Trump''s win. eVestment data showed that macro funds have pulled in $4.4 billion in the first two months of 2017, demonstrating a turnaround from 2016 when investors took $9.8 billion out of macro after withdrawing $10 billion in 2013 and $19.1 billion in 2014. "I don''t think macro is dead. Managers who can be nimble and are able to look outside the large liquid asset classes can still find great opportunities," Erin Browne, head of Global Macro Investments at UBS O’Connor, said. Representatives at Tudor did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Moore Capital had no comment. A spokesman at Brevan declined to comment. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-macro-idUKKBN17B0B7'|'2017-04-10T03:45:00.000+03:00' '01b2796d24c3af0bd937806799f8e16161724bba'|'Bank of Ireland may be able to breach state salary cap for new CEO'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 3:53pm BST Bank of Ireland may be able to breach state salary cap for new CEO DUBLIN The Irish government may relax its cap on bankers'' pay to allow Bank of Ireland ( BKIR.I ) to find a suitable new CEO, finance minister Michael Noonan said on Monday. Bank of Ireland CEO Richie Boucher announced last month that he will retire before the end of the year after almost a decade in charge of the country''s largest lender by assets, which has begun the search for a replacement. Since Boucher was appointed CEO in February 2009, shortly after all Irish-owned lenders sought a state bailout, the government has imposed a cap of 500,000 euros (426,150 pounds) on annual salaries at rescued banks. In a prospectus issued last week in relation to a proposed share consolidation, Bank of Ireland said the 500,000 euro pay cap "places it at an increasing competitive disadvantage in seeking to retain and attract staff, particularly those with certain skill sets and in international locations." Noonan said that as the government held only a 14 percent stake in Bank of Ireland, it might be more flexible over pay than it has been with the two other lenders it bailed out, which are still majority state-owned. "In the case of Richie Boucher''s replacement, we''ll see who the replacement is but Richie''s salary was never bound by the cap and we are only a 14 percent investor in the Bank of Ireland," Noonan told reporters. "So if they appoint someone significant from outside, I think the parameters for negotiating pay will be somewhere in line with Richie Boucher''s ... It will depend on who they find. It''s not decided yet." Boucher''s gross annual salary has remained at 690,000 euros throughout his tenure and his total compensation package was 958,000 euros last year. Ireland''s two other domestically-owned lenders, Allied Irish Banks ( ALBK.I ) and permanent tsb ( IL0A.I ), have changed chief executives since Ireland''s banking crisis and had to adhere to the pay limits. Asked if he should get rid of the limits altogether, Noonan said he would maintain the cap. (Reporting by Conor Humphries, writing by Padraic Halpin, editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bank-of-ireland-ceo-idUKKBN17C1OX'|'2017-04-10T22:53:00.000+03:00' 'ab5af183c32cd2cb4ce7f2d8a282186e8866443f'|'No ''pattern of retaliation'' against whistleblowers - Wells Fargo report'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 7:08pm BST No ''pattern of retaliation'' against whistleblowers - Wells Fargo report FILE PHOTO: A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo By Elizabeth Dilts and David Henry - NEW YORK NEW YORK An internal investigation into Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) sales scandal released on Monday found no evidence the bank had retaliated against employees who came forward about sales practice abuses, despite earlier media reports and lawsuits from ex-employees that claimed otherwise. At least five Wells Fargo employees had sued the San Francisco-based bank or filed complaints with U.S. regulators alleging they were fired after reporting unauthorized openings of checking and credit card accounts for clients by bank employees, according to a Reuters review of lawsuits and complaints to the U.S. Labour Department. U.S. prosecutors in San Francisco subpoenaed Yesenia Guitron, one of the highest-profile whistleblowers, in December to compel her to testify before a grand jury. [nL1N1EI14W] The internal report commissioned by Wells Fargo''s board and prepared by law firm Shearman & Sterling said on Monday that there was no systematic retaliation against employees who spoke out about the sales practices. [nL1N1HI0D1] "Based on a limited review completed to date, Shearman & Sterling has not identified a pattern of retaliation against Community Bank employees who complained about sales pressures or practices," a footnote in the report said. The review of the cases is ongoing, the report said, and has included files for nearly 900 ex-employees who were fired within a year after calling in a tip to the bank''s ethics hotline or within a month of the bank disclosing in a $185 million settlement in September that employees had opened as many as 2 million accounts without customer permission. In total, 5,300 employees were fired over the sales practice abuses. Investigators found no evidence of retaliation in the cases of 11 ex-employees who were publicly identified as whistleblowers in media reports, according to the report. Stuart Baskin, the lawyer from Shearman & Sterling who led the investigation, said the firm was still investigating reports of retaliation but that he did not expect the conclusion to change. The report said Shearman & Sterling is completing reviews of nine employees who reported being fired after calling Wells Fargo''s ethics line phone number to submit tips about unethical sales practices. (Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts and David Henry in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wells-fargo-accounts-whistleblower-idUKKBN17C24I'|'2017-04-11T02:08:00.000+03:00' '09e34eb9600a99674534ffd7e1f5b9a98ef1768d'|'Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT ''cowboys'' ride into sunset'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 6:21am BST Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT ''cowboys'' ride into sunset left right IBM engineers work with a System 360 mainframe computer using business programs written in an early version of the COBOL language in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters March 31, 2017. IBM/Handout via REUTERS 1/5 left right IBM engineers work with a System 360 mainframe computer using business programs written in an early version of the COBOL language in this circa 1960 handout photo obtained by Reuters March 31, 2017. IBM/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. 2/5 left right A worker guides the first shipment of an IBM System Z mainframe computer in Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S. March 6, 2015. Jon Simon/IBM/Handout via REUTERS 3/5 left right Bill Hinshaw is shown in this undated handout photo provided March 28, 2017. Handout via REUTERS 4/5 left right Commodore Grace M. Hopper, U.S. Navy is shown in this January 20, 1984 handout photo. Courtesy U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS 5/5 By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK Bill Hinshaw is not a typical 75-year-old. He divides his time between his family – he has 32 grandchildren and great-grandchildren – and helping U.S. companies avert crippling computer meltdowns. Hinshaw, who got into programming in the 1960s when computers took up entire rooms and programmers used punch cards, is a member of a dwindling community of IT veterans who specialise in a vintage programming language called COBOL. The Common Business-Oriented Language was developed nearly 60 years ago and has been gradually replaced by newer, more versatile languages such as Java, C and Python. Although few universities still offer COBOL courses, the language remains crucial to businesses and institutions around the world. In the United States, the financial sector, major corporations and parts of the federal government still largely rely on it because it underpins powerful systems that were built in the 70s or 80s and never fully replaced. (GRAPHIC: tmsnrt.rs/2nMf18G ) And here lies the problem: if something goes wrong, few people know how to fix it. The stakes are especially high for the financial industry, where an estimated $3 trillion in daily commerce flows through COBOL systems. The language underpins deposit accounts, check-clearing services, card networks, ATMs, mortgage servicing, loan ledgers and other services. The industry''s aggressive push into digital banking makes it even more important to solve the COBOL dilemma. Mobile apps and other new tools are written in modern languages that need to work seamlessly with old underlying systems. That is where Hinshaw and fellow COBOL specialists come in. A few years ago, the north Texas resident planned to shutter his IT firm and retire after decades of working with financial and public institutions, but calls from former clients just kept coming. COWBOYS AND YOUNGSTERS In 2013, Hinshaw launched a new company COBOL Cowboys, which connects companies to programmers like himself. His wife Eileen came up with the name in a reference to "Space Cowboys," a 2000 movie about a group of retired Air Force pilots called in for a trouble-shooting mission in space. The company''s slogan? "Not our first rodeo." Of the 20 "Cowboys" that work as part-time consultants many have reached retirement age, though there are some "youngsters," Hinshaw said. "Well, I call them youngsters, but they''re in their 40s, early 50s." Experienced COBOL programmers can earn more than $100 an hour when they get called in to patch up glitches, rewrite coding manuals or make new systems work with old. For their customers such expenses pale in comparison with what it would cost to replace the old systems altogether, not to mention the risks involved. Antony Jenkins, the former chief executive of Barclays PLC ( BARC.L ), said for big financial institutions – many of them created through multiple mergers over decades – the problems banks face when looking to replace their old technology goes beyond a shrinking pool of experts. "It is immensely complex," said Jenkins, who now heads startup 10x Future Technologies, which sells new IT infrastructure to banks. "Legacy systems from different generations are layered and often heavily intertwined." Some bank executives describe a nightmare scenario in which a switch-over fails and account data for millions of customers vanishes. The industry is aware, however, that it cannot keep relying on a generation of specialists who inevitably will be gone. The risk is "not so much that an individual may have retired," Andrew Starrs, group technology officer at consulting firm Accenture PLC ( ACN.N ), said. "He may have expired, so there is no option to get him or her to come back." International Business Machines Corp ( IBM.N ), which sells the mainframe computers that run on COBOL, argues the future is not so bleak. It has launched fellowships and training programs in the old code for young IT specialists, and says it has trained more than 180,000 developers in 12 years. "Just because a language is 50 years old, doesn''t mean that it isn''t good," said Donna Dillenberger, an IBM Fellow. But COBOL veterans say it takes more than just knowing the language itself. COBOL-based systems vary widely and original programmers rarely wrote handbooks, making trouble-shooting difficult for others. "Some of the software I wrote for banks in the 1970s is still being used," said Hinshaw. That is why calls from stressed executives keep coming. "You better believe they are nice since they have a problem only you can fix," he said. Hinshaw said the callers seem willing to pay almost any price and some even offer full-time jobs. TURNING POINT Oliver Bussmann, former chief information officer of UBS AG, said banks usually tap into their networks of former employees to find COBOL experts. Accenture''s Starrs said they go through a "black book" of programmer contacts, especially those laid off during or after the 2008 financial crisis. The industry appears to be reaching an inflection point, though. In the United States, banks are slowly shifting towards newer languages taking cue from overseas rivals who have already made the switch-over. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, for instance, replaced its core banking platform in 2012 with the help of Accenture and software company SAP SE ( SAPG.DE ). The job ultimately took five years and cost more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($749.9 million). Accenture is also working with software vendor Temenos Group AG ( TEMN.S ) to help Swedish bank Nordea ( NDA.ST ) make a similar transition by 2020. IBM is also setting itself up to profit from the changes, despite its defence of COBOL''s relevance. It recently acquired EzSource, a company that helps programmers figure out how old COBOL programs work. In the meantime, banks'' scramble has revived careers of those who retired or were let go, and whose expertise, until recently, was considered obsolete. One COBOL programmer, now in his 60s, said his bank laid him off in mid-2012 as it turned to younger, less expensive employees trained in new languages. In 2014, the programmer, who declined to be named to avoid jeopardizing current professional relationships, was brought in as a contractor to the same bank to fix issues management had not anticipated. "The call back to the bank was something of a personal vindication for me," he said. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-banks-cobol-idUKKBN17C0DZ'|'2017-04-10T13:21:00.000+03:00' '0d7f36337c13dca626dfe267133b8c848f75b6e7'|'High court approves £129m fine for Tesco over accounting scandal - Business'|'The high court has approved a settlement between Tesco and the Serious Fraud Office that involves Britain’s biggest retailer paying a £129m fine over an accounting scandal.Sir Brian Leveson approved the so-called deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) at a hearing on Monday. Reporting restrictions mean the reason for Sir Brian’s judgment and details about the SFO’s investigation cannot be published.The DPA was announced by Tesco and the SFO last month, pending approval by the high court . DPAs, which were introduced in the UK in February 2014, allow a company to suspend a prosecution in return for meeting specified conditions, such as paying a fine and demonstrating that its culture has changed. Entering into a DPA does not require an admission of wrongdoing. The DPA relates to allegations of false accounting between February and September 2014 against Tesco Stores Limited, a subsidiary of the retailer.Tesco admitted in 2014 that it had overstated profits by £326m, sparking a crisis at the company. This overstatement was linked to how it booked payments from suppliers. The ruling means that Tesco will pay out £235m to settle investigations into the 2014 accounting scandal.As well as the £129m it has separately agreed with the Financial Conduct Authority to pay about £85m in compensation to investors affected by a trading statement on 29 August 2014 that overstated profits. Tesco will also pay legal costs associated with the agreements.Dave Lewis, the chief executive of Tesco, said last month that the settlement allowed the company to move on. “I want to apologise to all those affected. What happened is a huge source of regret to us all at Tesco, but we are a different business now,” he said.He admitted the Tesco brand had been damaged by the disclosure of the accounting scandal, but said the company was “committed to doing everything we can to continue to restore trust in our business and brand”.The DPA is the fourth to be completed by the SFO after settlements with Standard Bank, Rolls-Royce and another company that cannot be named for legal reasons.Rolls-Royce agreed to pay £671m over allegations that it bribed middlemen around the world between 1989 and 2013.The SFO said it would not comment on the Tesco DPA until reporting restrictions are lifted.Separately, earlier this month, David Green, the director of the SFO, warned that British businesses should not consider DPAs the “new normal” if they are caught misbehaving.Speaking about DPAs in general, Green said: “We are an investigating and prosecuting organisation, that is what we do. But having been given this new power, which comes from a US model, and has been adapted for this jurisdiction, we will use it only in very specific circumstances.“Absolutely crucial to those circumstances is that the company has been fully cooperative with us. If a company is totally uncooperative and sort of leads us a merry dance for four or five years by not cooperating with our investigation, I am sure you would agree that it would be almost impossible for us to represent to the judge that the DPA was in the interests of justice. Companies that don’t cooperate will be prosecuted.”Topics Tesco Serious Fraud Office Supermarkets Retail industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/10/high-court-approves-129m-fine-for-tesco-over-accounting-scandal'|'2017-04-11T03:18:00.000+03:00' 'f982de06fce2d263b11707b8879a4ada0be6e9c1'|'Pentagon seeks at least 5 pct savings on Lockheed F-35 jet, sources'|'U.S. 08pm EDT Pentagon seeks at least 5 pct savings on Lockheed F-35 jet, sources Two Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter jets flies during a display at the Avalon Airshow in Victoria, Australia, March 3, 2017. Australian Defence Force/Handout via REUTERS By Mike Stone - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin Corp could shave at least 5 percent off the price of stealthy F-35 fighter jets in their upcoming annual purchase contract as the standard version of the plane heads toward a price of below $80 million, people familiar with the talks told Reuters. The Pentagon, under the direction of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, has been exploring how to cut the costs of its most expensive weapons program. The deal for last year''s annual purchase contract, struck this February, put the standard takeoff and landing version of the jet at the lowest price ever, $94.6 million, a 7.3 percent reduction from the previous annual purchase price of $102 million. The current negotiations are for a batch of about 130 planes. The talks could shave 5-7 percent, or $660 million, from the approximately 100 standard takeoff and landing "A-model" jets for the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. allies, the people said. The F-35 comes in three configurations: the A-model; the B-model, which can handle short take-offs and vertical landings for the Marine Corps and the British navy; and the carrier-variant F-35C jets. The number and type of jets in the deal as well as the timing for an agreement have not been finalized, the people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private. The Pentagon''s F-35 Joint Program Office said it remains focused on getting the best deal for the planes and for taxpayers, but would not comment on the negotiations. A Lockheed Martin representative declined to comment. President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials have criticized the F-35 program for delays and cost overruns, but the price per jet has steadily declined in recent years as production increases. Speaking at a conference last month, Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, head of the F-35 program for the Pentagon, said the government hoped that by 2020 the F-35 would cost less than $80 million, a 16 percent drop from its current price. Lockheed, the prime contractor for the jet, and its partners including Northrop Grumman Corp, United Technologies Corp''s Pratt & Whitney and BAE Systems Plc, have been working to lower costs by building a more cost-effective supply chain for the production line in Fort Worth, Texas. (Reporting by Mike Stone; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-pentagon-idUSKBN17C1V3'|'2017-04-11T00:00:00.000+03:00' 'edf7882ea70bf59dc6fb87afdb29fd9eaa21d0bd'|'Small towns seethe at bank closures, but others are plotting a new future - Money'|'T udor cottages lining the waterside, Dutch gables and magnolias in flower – Topsham looks like a typically quaint and prosperous Devon seaside town. But its 4,000 residents and traders are unusually indignant – because they have been abandoned by the last bank in town.Quayside warehouses are now home to numerous thriving antiques dealers. But Beverley Cook, manager of a complex that houses 65 traders, says: “I’m horrified. We used to have a NatWest, but when the government said it would ensure every town would keep a bank branch, they closed down almost immediately. Lloyds were then the last one, and now they are going too. We moved our business to Lloyds when NatWest went. What are we supposed to do now?”The Topsham Lloyds was one of 100 branches named by the bank this week as earmarked for closure between July and October. This latest cost-cutting round will bring the number of bank branches shut in the UK over the past two years to more than 1,000, and it is estimated that around 1,500 communities are now without a single bank.“It’s not true that everything can be done online,” says Cook. “A lot of the antique dealers are almost entirely cash. The local pub is horrified, too. Say you want to draw out change for business use? Where are you going to get that now? You can’t give someone change in plastic. We’ll have to drive up to Exeter, which is not great for parking. And I don’t know what the little old ladies who are always in the queue in front of me at Lloyds are going to do now.”To cushion the blow, Lloyds has launched a fleet of mobile vans which will visit communities hit by the disappearance of high street branches. It said on Wednesday that it would add another nine vehicles to the fleet, taking the total to 20 by the end of 2017.Another solution, according to Lloyds, could be the “micro branch”. Near St Paul’s cathedral in London, the bank is trialling its smallest branch, about the size of a studio flat, with just two staff working in what was once a sweet shop.Inside, the branch is like a pint-sized Apple store: rather than rows of windows, it has iPad-wielding staff offering help and advice around a white table. Folding doors allow the creation of a private space for appointments.“This isn’t about the death of the bank branch; it’s a reimagining and reinvigorating of branches,” says spokeswoman Clare Mortimer. Lloyds will maintain “flagship stores” in major cities, but other locations will shift to “community branches” much like the St Paul’s micro-branch. Meanwhile the mobile branch fleet will make weekly or twice-weekly visits to towns left bankless.Yet another bank, just a two-minute walk from Lloyds’ micro-branch in St Paul’s, believes abandoning branches is the wrong strategy. Metro Bank has opened a vast banking hall in a prime corner site on Cheapside, with triple-height ceilings. Inside, its staff appear to be busy serving customers even in the usually quiet mid-morning period.Metro Bank opened its first branch – it prefers to call them “stores” – in Holborn in 2010, and has since opened 47 more. Another 12 will open this year, and it has plans to expand to 250 across the country.At the back of the store, rows of security deposit boxes sit behind bullet-proof security glass. Rental fees for the boxes – they’re particularly popular with the Indian community for storing gold and jewellery – pay for three-quarters of the rent of the building, says Paul Riseborough, Metro’s chief commercial officer.Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Lloyds mobile van. Photograph: Chris Saville/ UNP “The logic of the other banks is that branches means high fixed costs. But they have their branches in the wrong places, where they are unproductive, and to cut costs they have to keep reducing their branch network. We put branches in prime sites, always on a corner, in places where people need them, and open at times that suit them.”He dismisses any suggestion that bank branches are dusty old relics of the pre-smartphone age, serving only older customers resistant to using the internet. “The under-25s really want to come in and talk, particularly when they are opening an account or want a mortgage,” says Riseborough.Research by Accenture into who now uses bank branches confirms this. Its report, Transforming the Banking Branch, said: “Younger customers, particularly those aged 18 to 24, make the greatest use of branches and in-branch value-added activities. While customers in this segment are most vocal in wanting exceptional online and mobile banking, they do not view digital as a complete substitute. Research shows that this age group has a noticeably greater bias towards physical interaction, all pointing to their need for face-to-face contact, advice and reassurance in the initial stages of their own financial journey.”Accenture did its research in the US, not the UK, but it found that 78% of bank customers said they expected to use their local bank branch just as much or more frequently in the next five years.Metro has opened nearly a million accounts since its launch. “They are mostly from banks where customers are fed up with excessive fees or pissed off that the branch is closing,” says Riseborough. “We got a lot when Lloyds was forced to hand over customers to TSB.”Metro’s mantra is that it brings the back office to the front office. Customers who lose a debit card don’t have to call the bank and wait a week for a replacement. They can pop into a branch and staff will print out a new card in minutes.The mantra could scarcely be more different a mile away on Silicon Roundabout, the heart of London’s booming “fin-tech” industry. Here Tom Blomfield, at 31 probably the youngest bank chief executive in the UK, is plotting the end of banking as we know it.Blomfield says he hasn’t been into a bank branch for nearly three years, and only then because he had to to get a mortgage. This week the online-only bank he founded in 2015, Monzo , obtained a full licence from the Bank of England after two years of intense scrutiny by regulators.“You can do everything on your smartphone. Digital isn’t for all people, or indeed for all financial products, but for day-to-day banking, the app-based approach is super-convenient. It just works – it’s instant and convenient.”Monzo is relying on an EU directive, called PSD2 (the second payments services directive) that later this year will open the banking market to digital competitors. Monzo hopes to create a single financial tent, home to the core current account but also drawing in mortgages, savings, card providers, and even utility companies, all accessed from one app.Facebook Twitter Pinterest A spacious Metro Bank branch on Cheapside, London. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer It has already signed up 150,000 customers – and offered them surprising savings. By crunching the data it held on its users (until now just pre-pay card holders) it found that one in 10 were paying over the odds when tapping in and out of London’s tube system, and suggested they buy season tickets instead. The average age of Monzo’s customers is, like the boss, just 31, and, says Blomfield, they rarely go into a traditional bank branch.Back at Lloyds headquarters, David Oldfield, group director in charge of the branch network (including Halifax and Bank of Scotland), scans transaction figures from the 200 branches slated for closure. Most typically have just 20 to 30 unique customers coming in each week. “We look at every branch on an individual basis. This one had just seven customers in a week. That one had five, this one 43, that one five.”He cites one branch in the north of England that regularly sees only 15 customers a week. It will close – but Oldfield says there is another Lloyds branch just a mile away, and a Post Office just a half mile away. He’s checked that the closest branch is wheelchair accessible and notes that at the branch that is closing, just 9.4% of account holders are over 75.“We look at every branch on an individual basis before it is closed. We’re not telling people how to bank; we’re following customer behaviour. Branches will remain important. Lloyds is now down to 1,800 branches – still the UK’s largest network – and 90% of our customers live within five miles of a branch.”But in south Devon, talk of apps or banks-on-wheels fails to cut it. Andrew Leadbetter helps run a charity that includes among its activities bussing elderly citizens to the Topsham Lloyds. He is Devon county council’s “cabinet member” for the economy. “We will really miss it. If you don’t keep a town’s pubs, restaurants, shops – and, yes, its banks – a town starts going into decline. We’re not going to take this lying down.”'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/news/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/08/lloyds-bank-closures-devon-monzo-metro-bank'|'2017-04-08T03:00:00.000+03:00' '7595f973f25e28ce0d8cd486fae5a4b2d20600fc'|'Brazilian apparel retailer Guararapes creates e-commerce division'|'Big Story 10 46pm EDT Brazilian apparel retailer Guararapes creates e-commerce division SAO PAULO Brazilian apparel retailer Lojas Riachuelo SA, controlled by Guararapes Confecções SA, will launch its e-commerce division later this month, the company said on Monday, as a way to boost sales during the country''s worst recession in over a century. Riachuelo has invested 28 million reais ($9 million) in the online unit, which will sell all 15,000 items available in its brick and mortar stores, it said in a statement. Online channels have helped rival Brazilian apparel retailer Lojas Renner SA outperform the sector in recent years. Riachuelo''s late arrival to e-commerce has allowed the company to design a business model more likely to succeed, online head Jonas Ferreira said in the statement, noting that e-commerce will be as integrated as possible with the chain''s 291 stores. Online retailers have been outperforming traditional brick and mortar chains in Brazil, raising sales 7.4 percent in nominal terms in 2016 from 2015 while order volumes were roughly flat, according to data from consultancy Ebit. Sales volumes at traditional retailers fell 6.2 percent over the same period, according to national statistics agency IBGE. (Reporting by Paula Arend Laier; Writing by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-guararapes-confe-internet-idUSKBN17C2BG'|'2017-04-11T03:33:00.000+03:00' '1a02fc0edc806fcbe4f56112bdbc29a445f15f87'|'Toyota invests $1.33 billion in Kentucky plant'|' 34am EDT Toyota invests $1.33 billion in Kentucky plant FILE PHOTO: The Toyota logo seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Japan''s Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) said it had invested $1.33 billion in its Kentucky plant as part of the automaker''s plan to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years. The move comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump''s threat to change trade rules to make them more favorable for American jobs, undermining some Japanese exporters'' confidence in their manufacturing plans and likely sales in the United States. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toyota-investment-idUSKBN17C18I'|'2017-04-10T19:34:00.000+03:00' '1bdd68d30877328eb3f6e1c6b5b2d3c13022e618'|'Loews to buy Consolidated Container for $1.2 billion from Bain Capital'|'Loews Corp ( L.N ), a hotel, energy and financial services conglomerate, said on Tuesday it would buy plastic packaging manufacturer Consolidated Container Co from Bain Capital Private Equity for about $1.2 billion.The deal is expected to be funded with about 50 percent cash on hand and 50 percent debt, Loews said in a statement.Consolidated Container provides packaging solutions for beverage, food, and household chemicals. It will be a part of a newly-created segment called Loews Packaging Group.(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-consolidatedcontainerco-m-a-loews-cor-idINKBN17D1HP'|'2017-04-11T10:33:00.000+03:00' '714cb2e640bb5e86bb80e897255221d0d1e7abef'|'Israel''s Bank Hapoalim looks to sell off credit card unit'|'JERUSALEM The board of Bank Hapoalim ( POLI.TA ), Israel''s largest lender, has instructed management to explore options for selling off its credit card unit Isracard, the bank said on Thursday.The move comes in the wake of new regulation meant to increase competition in the sector by prohibiting the country''s top two banks from owning credit card companies. Number two Bank Leumi ( LUMI.TA ) will have to do the same.Bank Hapoalim said in a statement it is looking into three options - selling shares of Isracard to the public, selling it to an investor or group of investors, or distributing its shares as a dividend to Hapoalim stakeholders. Hapoalim has three years to sell the unit - or four years if it sells Isracard to the public.The bank is starting to prepare a prospectus for a possible share offering while also holding talks with leading investment banks about finding a buyer.Isracard is Israel''s largest credit card company, with 4.8 million cardholders, annual revenue of more than 2 billion shekels ($549 million) and net profit of about 300 million shekels.($1 = 3.6460 shekels)(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch,; Editing by Tova Cohen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bank-hapoalim-divestiture-idUSKBN1780JN'|'2017-04-06T10:31:00.000+03:00' '40c52a64aca698dad754b34164d8f66c758532d3'|'LPC-Revolving credit pricing stands firm as term loan yields plummet'|'By Claire Ruckin - LONDON, April 6 LONDON, April 6 Undrawn loans in Europe’s leveraged market are pricing higher than term loans for the first time as bankers dig in their heels and refuse to succumb to the downward pricing pressure seen in the term loan market.Revolving credit facilities have historically priced 50bp lower than bullet term loans, but unlike term loan pricing -- which has plummeted on both new and existing deals – pricing on undrawn facilities has remained at the same level.“This is the first time where RCFs have priced wider than term loans on a wide scale basis. Banks are digging in their heels and pricing is not coming down,” a senior leveraged banker said.Pricing has tightened on term loans since the last quarter of 2016 as a result of investor demand far outstripping supply. Sponsors have taken advantage of the market dynamics to reprice and refinance term loans of existing portfolio companies, in some cases twice within a six month period.However, the same supply and demand dynamic is not there for the provision of unprofitable undrawn facilities, which are largely done for relationship purposes. Undrawn facilities are seen as capital intensive and pay a small commitment fee of 35% of the margin.“RCF pricing is all over the place at the moment, especially after loans reverse flexed significantly lower. No one wants to do RCFs as they are not very attractive -- you have to have capital allocated against a commitment fee. Banks do them for relationship reasons and when term loan margins move so fast, there is no way banks can or want to match the speed of the change,” a second senior leveraged banker said.For example, Swiss medical diagnostics company Unilabs allocated a loan at the end of March, comprising a €175m revolver paying 375bp with a 0% floor and a €940m term loan priced at 300bp with a 0% floor.ON THE WAY UPWhile banks have maintained pricing for revolvers on a number of repricings, there has been an increase in pricing on revolvers that form part of new leveraged buyout loans.Most banks will be forced to take a portion of the undrawn loan on new deals in order to get an allocation of higher yielding term loans. With term loan pricing so unattractive, extra yield is being piled on to revolvers, in a bid to sweeten a deal and tempt lenders into the deal.In an unusual move, an OID is being added to some revolvers, in addition to higher interest margins, in a bid to crank up the returns.European medical laboratory services operator Cerba Healthcare closed a buyout financing at the end of March that included a €175m RCF priced at 350bp with a 0% floor and a 99 OID, as well as a €794m TLB that priced at 300bp with a 0% floor at par.Meanwhile, Belgian aluminium systems manufacturer Corialis closed in January a €125m RCF that paid 400bp over Euribor/Libor with a 0% floor at 99, and a €355m term loan paying 375bp with a 0% floor at par.“On new deals you do the revolver as a loss leader. If a bank comes in just as a participant then they are getting some OID and some term loan, to juice up the returns,” a third senior banker said.RAISING THE PRESSURESponsors are beginning to question whether there is a way to put pressure on banks to reduce the pricing of undrawn facilities, which would be a further blow to bankers already suffering from a squeeze on transaction fees.However, some bankers think the relationship aspect will prevent sponsors pushing banks too hard, especially as a 35bp commitment fee is not likely to materially impact the ultimate return on portfolio companies.“Sponsors don’t want to necessarily screw up the relationship with banks arranging a deal as they know the revolvers are a costly piece of the transaction for everyone, especially investment banks. However, revolvers are not super costly for sponsors and the commitment fee on a revolver, which they pay on a running basis, is quite small and arguably peanuts to them,” a fourth senior banker said.The second senior banker countered: “Some sponsors have been moaning about it but it is hard to see how you fix the situation as the resources for undrawn lines are limited. Ultimately revolvers will trend down if term loans stay where they are as sponsors will put pressure on banks to move. Will margins stay low enough for long enough? That is another matter.” (Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/pricing-loans-idINL5N1HE5BV'|'2017-04-06T13:58:00.000+03:00' 'd6568a810a6a4fd7021a9bf5847463690e2e5dd0'|'Cenovus achieves key acquisition financing milestones'|'April 6 Cenovus Energy Inc:* Cenovus achieves key acquisition financing milestones* Cenovus Energy Inc - acquisition is expected to close in Q2 of this year* Cenovus Energy - issuing common shares to conocophillips and intends to use portion of existing cash on hand and available credit facility capacity to help finance acquisition* Has fully committed bridge financing in place to manage timing differences in funding of transaction* Cenovus Energy Inc - on closing of acquisition, company anticipates having approximately $4 billion in remaining liquidity, including $1 billion in cash on hand* Cenovus Energy Inc - Cenovus expects to have capacity to generate 2018 free funds flow of approximately $500 million in a US$50 WTI price environment* As part of plan to deleverage, strengthen balance sheet t, co expects to make additional asset divestitures as required '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-cenovus-achieves-key-acquisition-f-idUSASB0B8Y1'|'2017-04-07T04:11:00.000+03:00' 'a35edbd7b66a75bebceb6ffc0c103c83c2372603'|'Hunt for Barclays whistleblower tests strength of new UK regime'|'Business News 24am EDT Hunt for Barclays whistleblower tests strength of new UK regime FILE PHOTO: A Barclays bank office is seen at Canary Wharf in London, Britain May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo By Lawrence White and Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Barclays chief executive Jes Staley''s attempts to unmask a whistleblower will be a test case for a regime put in place last year that aims to hold bank bosses to account if they fail to defend reinforced standards. At stake is not just the image of a bank whose chief executive promised to reform its aggressive culture but also the efficacy of the fledgling Senior Managers Regime, which aims, among other things, to protect those who risk their jobs bringing wrongdoing to light. Earlier this week, Barclays said it had reprimanded Staley and would cut his bonus after he twice attempted to identify the author of a letter that revealed "concerns of a personal nature" about an unnamed senior employee. Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England''s Prudential Regulation Authority, which vetted Staley''s appointment as CEO, are investigating the bank and Staley to see what other penalties might be warranted. Staley also faces scrutiny from parliament''s Treasury Select Committee, which successfully pushed for the departure of Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlotte Hogg for failing to register that her brother worked for a bank, a potential conflict of interest. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee, described Staley''s actions as presenting a "test case" that would show whether the Senior Managers Regime was "capable of providing meaningful scrutiny and accountability of financial institutions". "Now they (regulators) need to get on with the job," said Tyrie, cautioning that "the Treasury Committee will examine their conclusions, and the process by which they arrive at them, very carefully". The regime, introduced by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority in March 2016, makes managers personally accountable for their actions in order to set what regulators have described as the right "tone at the top". Among other things, bosses are required to respect rules to protect whistleblowing. The penalty can be a ban from industry or a fine. Eric Havian, a former U.S. state prosecutor and lawyer who represents whistleblowers in the United States, said he believed Barclays has not gone far enough to penalize Staley. "I think Barclays needs to impose a much more serious sanction," he said. "This is the kind of thing that creates a long-term corrosive atmosphere in the company and it''s a mistake for the bank not to treat this seriously." PARLIAMENT DEMAND Introducing the managers'' regime was a central demand of the British parliament''s commission on banking standards, also chaired by Tyrie, in the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crisis. Tyrie and fellow lawmakers were dismayed by the rarity of whistleblowing in the British banking industry, especially after no-one flagged wrongdoing in the case of manipulation of the Libor interest rate benchmark, which involved mostly British banks and included Barclays. Some lawmakers had gone so far as to suggest that Britain adopt the U.S. model of compensating whistleblowers - an idea ultimately rejected by regulators. Martin Wheatley, the then-chief executive of the FCA, said in March 2015 that the senior manager''s regime was not about putting "heads on sticks". But the watchdog will nonetheless face pressure from lawmakers to show that the regime works. Barclays, which declined to comment for this report, is already battling lawsuits and criticism from politicians in the United States and Britain over its conduct before and during the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the bank and two former executives over charges of fraud in the sale of tens of billions of mortgage securities. In Britain, the bank faces investigations by regulators into payments made to Qatari investors in the course of an emergency 2008 fundraising, and continuing questions about how much its executives knew about traders'' manipulation of the Libor interest rate. Staley has attempted to show contrition, publicly apologizing for his actions and saying his actions were motivated by a desire to prevent what he thought was an unfair attack. He visited the staff canteen this week. Some investors, who believe that Staley has done a good job running the bank since he became chief executive in December 2015, have publicly backed him, and the news has so far had little impact on the bank''s stock price. "This was a failure of judgment not of principle. It was a pretty human failing and that''s why I feel the board have got it right in backing him," said Crispin Odey, London-based founder of Odey Asset Management, which owns shares in Barclays. Regulators may take a different view. "The ultimate sanction would be that he is not ''fit and proper''," said one employment lawyer who advises banks, asking not to be named. Euan Stirling of Standard Life Investments, which owns shares in Barclays, said other banks would do well to watch the outcome of the case. "One of the things you have to consider, and it''s particularly pertinent with a bank: Look at the way that profitability has been destroyed over the past 10 years and it''s been by governance failures. So you ignore that at your peril." (Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by John O''Donnell and Sonya Hepinstall)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-barclays-investigation-regime-idUSKBN17E1XJ'|'2017-04-12T22:24:00.000+03:00' '67e3a355f4a555917db3238ca87c1cff30d6a3a9'|'UPDATE 2-Rio ponders future in Indonesia''s Grasberg copper mine'|'* Talks with all parties over next six months* Rio has 40 percent share of production (Adds detail on length of talks, Rio visit)By Barbara Lewis and Sanjeeban SarkarApril 12 Diversified miner Rio Tinto Plc said on Wednesday it was continuing talks on the long-term future of its stake in the Grasberg copper mine in Indonesia and one of its top executives would visit the country for talks over the coming weeks.Mine operator Freeport McMoRan''s exports of copper concentrate from Grasberg, the world''s richest copper mine, have been at a standstill since mid-January, when Indonesia introduced rules intended to improve revenues from its resources and create jobs."There is no doubt that Grasberg is a world-class resource. However, there''s a difference between a world-class resource and a world-class business," Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said on Wednesday, responding to a shareholder at the company''s annual general meeting in London."Depending what will happen in the coming months and years in terms of negotiations with the government, the extension beyond 2021, Rio will have to come to a conclusion whether we want to stay or not," Jacques said, adding discussions involving all parties would continue over the next six months.Rio Tinto has a joint-venture with Freeport-McMoRan Inc for the huge Grasberg copper and gold complex in remote Papua, with rights to 40 percent of production above specific levels until 2021 and 40 percent of all production after 2021.As pressure mounts on Indonesia to agree a compromise U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will visit the country next week and Arnaud Soirat, head of Rio Tinto''s copper and diamonds business, will visit shortly afterwards, Rio officials said.Freeport McMoRan, the biggest publicly-listed copper miner, has lost $1 billion since the export of copper concentrate from Grasberg was halted on Jan. 12 under new rules issued by the government.The Indonesian government has lost millions of dollars in royalties and is worried about layoffs and a slowing economy in the restive Papua region.Shares in Rio Tinto were trading down about 3.5 percent at 1500 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru and Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/rio-tinto-agm-grasberg-idINL3N1HK45L'|'2017-04-12T12:34:00.000+03:00' 'aba6374f3579cb147700438f6aa423d0fc532472'|'EU increases duties on Chinese hot-rolled flat steel'|' 23am BST EU increases duties on Chinese hot-rolled flat steel BRUSSELS The European Commission said on Thursday it had set anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat steel products from China at a higher rate than those already in place. The Commission, acting on behalf of the 28 EU member states, said it had set final duties of between 18.1 and 35.9 percent for producers including Bengang Steel Plates Co ( 000761.SZ ), Handan Iron & Steel Co [TANGCB.UL] and Hesteel Co 000709.SZ. This compared with provisional rates imposed from October of 13.2 to 22.6 percent following a complaint lodged by European steel association Eurofer on behalf of EU producers ArcelorMittal ( ISPA.AS ), Tata Steel ( TISC.NS ) and ThyssenKrupp ( TKAG.DE ) The Commission said in a statement that the measures should shield EU steel makers from the effects of Chinese dumping. The Commission also said that it had decided not to impose provisional duties on the same product from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine, although the investigation of imports from these countries would continue for another six months. "The decision not to impose provisional measures for imports from Brazil, Iran, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine does not prejudge the final outcome of that investigation," a Commission spokesman said. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-steel-china-idUKKBN1780TL'|'2017-04-06T16:23:00.000+03:00' 'f10a10f9aea9b286c8639e1fe5ce6046244e38ff'|'Wall Street sees Fed balance sheet normalization plan by December: Reuters poll'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 5:29pm EDT Wall Street sees Fed balance sheet normalization plan by December: Reuters poll FILE PHOTO - A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo NEW YORK Wall Street''s top banks see the Federal Reserve laying out by year-end its plan to scale back its reinvestments in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in an effort to begin shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, a Reuters poll showed Friday. Five of 15 primary dealers, or banks that do business directly with the U.S. central bank, expected the Fed to start paring reinvestments by year-end, while the rest forecast the central bank would do so by the end of the second quarter of 2018. (Reporting by Saqib Ahmed, Karen Brettell, Sinead Carew, Sam Forgione, Richard Leong, Chuck Mikolajczak, Dion Rabouin and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-poll-idUSKBN179351'|'2017-04-08T05:29:00.000+03:00' '5ed50ef3c1ca64885c52ecccb20cd0946bcc46c3'|'Imax signs deal with AMC for 25 new theatres in Europe'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:58pm BST Imax signs deal with AMC for 25 new theatres in Europe The IMAX cinema inside the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz is pictured in Berlin, Germany, March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Imax Corp ( IMAX.N ), best known for enormous movie screens, said on Tuesday it signed an agreement with theatre chain AMC Entertainment ( AMC.N ) for 25 new theatres across Europe. AMC units Odeon Cinemas Group and Nordic Cinemas will add ten Imax theatres in existing complexes in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain and Italy. The remaining theatres will be added in western, southern and northern Europe. The agreement brings Odeon and Nordic Cinemas'' total Imax commitment to 47 theatres. Earlier this year, Imax said it had expected to open 175 theatres at AMC-owned locations by the end of the first quarter. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imax-agreement-amc-ent-holdg-idUKKBN17D1J8'|'2017-04-11T20:58:00.000+03:00' 'da93f40ded2c34f94bc194ec1bc62133c0da5ec6'|'Wells Fargo''s profit flat as costs, mortgages weigh'|'Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 6:27pm BST Wells Fargo''s profit flat as costs, mortgages weigh FILE PHOTO: A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo By Nikhil Subba and Dan Freed Wells Fargo & Co posted flat quarterly earnings on Thursday and warned its costs would remain elevated as the fallout from a sales practices scandal continues to impact the third-largest U.S. bank. Higher personnel costs and legal fees as well as lower mortgage banking revenues kept Wells Fargo''s first-quarter net income broadly flat at $5.5 billion and the San Francisco-based bank said expenses as a share of revenues would remain high. Wells Fargo is trying to put a scandal over the opening of unauthorized accounts behind it and earlier this week said it would claw back an additional $75 million of compensation from the two former executives it blamed most for the debacle. Known for consistently growing revenues and earnings in the post-crisis era, Wells Fargo has been thrown off course by the sales controversy and in recent quarters has also been disadvantaged by its smaller trading footprint. Wall Street rivals have bounced back as bond and currency markets roared back to life last year with JPMorgan and Citi each reporting a 17 percent increase in quarterly profit on Thursday, beating analyst expectations and boosting their shares. Wells Fargo''s revenues fell about 1 percent to $22 billion and missed the average estimate of $22.32 billion. On a per share basis, profit rose to $1.00 from 99 cents a year earlier, beating the average analyst estimate of 97 cents. Chief Executive Tim Sloan told analysts he expected new account and credit card openings to recover in the third quarter after a steady decline since the sales scandal broke in September but the bank said costs associated with the controversy, which were $80 million in the first quarter, would remain around $70 million to $80 million for an unspecified period. "I think it will be at least a few more quarters," Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry said in an interview with Reuters. The bank''s efficiency ratio, a closely watched number reflecting non-interest expenses as a percentage of revenue, was 62.7 percent, compared with 58.7 percent a year ago and Sloan said it would be a challenge to get back to a preferred 55 to 59 percent level. "I want to make it very clear that operating at this level is not acceptable," he said. Sloan added that the bank will unveil at its investor day in May additional cost savings initiatives beyond the annual $2 billion in savings they are targeting starting in 2018. The bank also plans to reduce headcount in businesses such as mortgage if, as expected, business gets slower. Sloan faces a rocky shareholder meeting on April 25 after influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services called on investors to vote against 12 out of 15 directors, including Chairman Stephen Sanger. The bank''s stock was down 2.8 percent in midday trade on Thursday, the worst performer in the S&P 500 Financials Index. After the close on Wednesday, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, Wells Fargo''s largest shareholder, said it withdrew an application to the Federal Reserve to boost its ownership stake above 10 percent, and is instead selling 9 million shares to keep it below that threshold. MORTGAGES AND COSTS The Federal Reserve''s decision to hike interest rates in March for the second time in three months has been welcomed by banks which earn more from lending out their deposits when rates rise. Higher rates helped Wells Fargo earn more from lending with a 5 percent rise to $12.3 billion in its net interest income. But higher rates can also put off borrowers, and Wells had a decline in total loans to $958 billion from nearly $968 billion in the prior quarter with a near $8 billion drop in consumer loans in that period. Wells Fargo''s mortgage business, the largest in the United States by volume, saw a 23 percent drop in fee income to $1.23 billion as customers shied away from refinancing their home loans. Mortgage borrowing was likewise a dark spot in JPMorgan''s results, with mortgage fees and loan servicing revenue tumbling 39 percent to $406 million from $667 million. Wells'' consumer business is also feeling the impact from its unauthorized accounts scandal with a steady decline in the number of consumers opening checking and credit card accounts. Overall net profit at its retail bank, its biggest profit center, fell 9 percent due to a drop in fee income. Wells'' wholesale banking division, which provides loans and other services to corporate clients, reported a 10 percent increase in net profit from a year ago. Costs at Wells Fargo rose 6 percent compared to the year-ago period as the bank shelled out more for salaries as well as the legal costs related to the scandal. (Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-wellsfargo-results-idUKKBN17F1HR'|'2017-04-14T02:49:00.000+03:00' 'd6b0d25a01659c7f0232962ff338e02fcfb9578f'|'Uber''s revenue hits $6.5 billion in 2016, still makes large loss'|'Business 56pm BST Uber''s revenue hits $6.5 billion in 2016, still makes large loss FILE PHOTO - An Uber car is seen parked with the driver''s lunch left on the dashboard in Venice, California, United States on July 15, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] generated $6.5 billion(5.19 billion pounds) in revenue last year and its gross bookings doubled to $20 billion, the ride-hailing service said on Friday. Its adjusted net loss was $2.8 billion, excluding the operation in China it sold last year, said Uber, the largest of Silicon Valley''s ''unicorns,'' or venture capital-backed companies with a valuation above $1 billion. As a private company, now worth $68 billion, Uber does not report its financial results publicly. Uber confirmed the figures in an emailed statement after Bloomberg first reported the results. Uber did not provide first quarter figures, but a spokeswoman said they "seem to be in line with expectations." In a separate emailed statement, Rachel Holt, Uber''s regional general manager for the United States and Canada, said: "We’re fortunate to have a healthy and growing business, giving us the room to make the changes we know are needed on management and accountability, our culture and organization, and our relationship with drivers.” Uber has been rocked by a number of setbacks lately, including detailed accusations of sexual harassment from a former female employee and a video showing Chief Executive Travis Kalanick harshly berating an Uber driver. The company is in the process of hiring a chief operating officer to help Kalanick manage the company, repair its tarnished image and improve its culture. (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-uber-tech-results-idUKKBN17G1I7'|'2017-04-15T03:56:00.000+03:00' 'bf6f5db33d9dc2b33ea60f24dc8f32b9c9f2a472'|'Another Akzo Nobel investor calls for meeting on chairman'|'Deals - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 10:40am BST Another Akzo Nobel investor calls for meeting on chairman The sign of AkzoNobel is pictured at its headquarters in Amsterdam February 6, 2014. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos AMSTERDAM Templeton Global Equity said on Thursday it is among a group of investors calling for an extraordinary meeting of Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) shareholders to discuss whether Antony Burgmans should remain chairman of the Dutch paint maker. "We have made no commitment as to how we may vote ... but we do expect Akzo Nobel to respect shareholders’ rights to request that such a discussion takes place," the fund, a long-term shareholder that owns a 3.9 percent stake in Akzo, said in a statement. Akzo''s boards are trying to fend off a 24.6 billion euro ($26.18 billion) takeover by U.S. rival PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), saying it undervalues the company. On Wednesday, Akzo said it would consider calling an extraordinary meeting - but that it would not allow a shareholder vote on Burgmans'' position. ($1 = 0.9397 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-m-a-shareholders-idUKKBN17F132'|'2017-04-13T17:36:00.000+03:00' 'b4b88be0bd9e1a94338ab21111475a664a363bab'|'Nikkei slips to 4-month low on mounting North Korea worries'|'TOKYO, April 14 Japanese shares slipped to a four-month low on Friday as rising tension in the Korean peninsula and other parts of the world soured investor appetite.Nikkei dropped 0.6 percent to 18,335.63, its lowest close since early December.The index has lost 1.8 percent on the week, its fifth straight weekly loss. The broader Topix dropped 0.6 percent to 1,459.07.'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idINL3N1HM23G'|'2017-04-14T05:09:00.000+03:00' '3d5ec34903929ea8edbd251a3642e85ef4eb0511'|'WRAPUP 5-Loan growth stalls despite profit, trading gains at some U.S. banks'|'By David Henry - NEW YORK, April 13 NEW YORK, April 13 Big U.S. banks revealed more evidence of a slowdown in loan growth in their earnings reports on Thursday, though executives assured there is still healthy demand from borrowers and no reason to worry about the state of the economy.JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup Inc posted higher first-quarter earnings that beat analysts'' expectations on large gains in trading revenue. Wells Fargo & Co, which relies more on traditional lending and less on markets-related businesses, reported a slight dip in profit due to a slowdown in mortgage banking. See Breakingviews column:The results underscored concerns expressed recently by analysts and investors that higher interest rates, combined with uncertainty about geopolitical events, could hurt economic growth - and therefore crimp lenders'' bottom lines.But on conference calls to discuss results, top bank executives dismissed those concerns, citing strong demand from borrowers with impressive credit quality."I wouldn''t overreact to the short term in our loan growth with so many things that affect it," said JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon.The bank''s core loan portfolio averaged $812 billion during the first quarter, up 9 percent on an annualized basis. But that growth rate has ticked down from 12 percent in the previous quarter and 17 percent a year ago. Wells Fargo''s annual loan growth rate of 4 percent has also been slowing over the past year.Citigroup''s loan book has been skewed by divestitures and its acquisition of a credit-card portfolio. Adjusting for those matters, Citi''s core loan book grew 5 percent in the first quarter, executives said. But management''s outlook for loan growth has nonetheless been tempered."There was probably just some modest reduction in our expectation for loan growth ... compared to the earlier guidance, certainly following the first-quarter performance," Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said.Across the banking industry, loans fell slightly during the first three months of the year, according to Federal Reserve data.John Conlon, chief equity strategist at People''s United Wealth Management, who invests in bank stocks, said he is still concerned about loan growth after seeing the reports and listening to the executives'' comments."There''s a great deal of optimism," Conlon said, "but there''s still uncertainty."Wells Fargo''s shares were down 2.6 percent at $51.75, while Citigroup''s stock was down 0.7 percent at $58.12 and JPMorgan fell 0.6 percent to $84.88. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index fell 0.8 percent.The mortgage business is putting particular pressure on loan growth. The recent uptick in interest rates has crushed a wave of mortgage refinancing that kicked off in 2010, leading to big declines in mortgage banking revenue.Other areas of lending have also slowed. For instance, some big corporate borrowers have been opting to issue bonds rather than take out traditional loans, JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said.And, in areas where banks are finding growth, like credit-card lending, they are doling out fat rewards and cutting interest rates to lure customers from one another.Even so, bank executives sounded optimistic on Thursday about the outlook for lending.Higher rates allow banks to earn more money from the loans they make, as well as the idle cash they have invested in low-risk securities like Treasury bonds. JPMorgan expects to add another $400 million to its net interest income in the second quarter. That metric is important because it shows the difference between what banks pay for funds and what they earn from using them.Additionally, they said, signals that lawmakers and the White House want to spur the economy bode well for loan growth. Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said first-quarter lending reflects some waiting by borrowers for Washington to act."We haven''t seen concrete changes yet in policies," Gerspach said. "When we get tax reform when the administration is successful in implementing some of what they have been talking about - hopefully that will spur the economy on."(Reporting by David Henry; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran and Dan Freed in New York, and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-banks-results-idINL1N1HL1XS'|'2017-04-13T20:57:00.000+03:00' '4ce2f2f2cdc1de42ff24770a11b690be8788e766'|'Chevron exploring sale of Canadian oil sands stake: sources'|'TORONTO/NEW YORK Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ), the second-largest U.S.-based oil producer, is exploring the sale of its 20 percent stake in Canada''s Athabasca Oil Sands project, which could fetch about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.The company has discussed with investment banks the prospect of selling the stake in the western Canadian oil sands project, one of the people said.The possible sale comes after Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) last month agreed to sell most of its Canadian oil sands assets to Canadian Natural Resources Ltd ( CNQ.TO ) for $8.5 billion.Chevron does not find the oil sands business appealing in the current environment, as low oil prices make it more challenging for global producers to generate strong profits, the people said, declining to be named as the matter is confidential.The California-based company is close to making a decision, taking into account factors such as price, the people added.A Chevron spokesman declined to comment.(Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and David French in New York; Additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston, Nia Williams in Calgary and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Denny Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-divestiture-canada-idINKBN17F1S7'|'2017-04-13T11:58:00.000+03:00' '94de230ed73b17c8d77c0f9e8dd8bf56208a5529'|'Bank of Japan exec - Monetary stimulus not aimed at monetising debt'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 3:05am BST Bank of Japan exec - Monetary stimulus not aimed at monetising debt A pedestrian walks past the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo TOKYO A senior Bank of Japan official said on Friday that the central bank was buying government bonds to accelerate inflation towards 2 percent quickly, not to monetise debt. Masayoshi Amamiya, the BOJ''s executive director overseeing monetary policy, told parliament that it was premature to discuss an exit from the current policy, but added that the BOJ should be able to guide policy appropriately, securing stable market conditions even as interest rates rise upon exit. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-amamiya-idUKKBN17G042'|'2017-04-14T10:05:00.000+03:00' 'f73db185852aa029f80a92492eb5c0765d37326b'|'Russia''s Highland Gold is back in black, sees stable capital expenditure'|' 19pm BST Russia''s Highland Gold is back in black, sees stable capital expenditure MOSCOW Russia''s Highland Gold Mining (HGM) plans to keep its capital expenditure flat at $60 million (48.24 million pounds) and will not take on new debt in 2017 despite ambitious plans to nearly double production in three years, its chief executive said. Since Denis Alexandrov became CEO in early 2016, the company co-owned by Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich and his partners has focused on organic growth, doubled its market capitalisation to $720 million and swung back to profit. "We have shown quite good growth in the last 12 months. The main thing for us it that the liquidity of our shares has improved significantly," Alexandrov said in an interview with Reuters. "The liquidity has risen thanks to three things: market interest in the gold mining industry woke up, we drew up a clear strategy on where to go, when and with which assets, and we also revealed this story to the market," he said. HGM, Russia''s seventh-largest gold producer, has been listed on London''s AIM market since 2002, but many banking analysts stopped coverage of the company due to its low liquidity and limited resources within their research departments. HGM''s management is discussing restoring coverage with some analysts. The company has said it plans to nearly double its production to 500,000 ounces by 2020. Alexandrov said total cash costs (TCC) will be $500 per ounce in 2020 compared with the current market price of around $1,250. "Our strategy is very simple - we have a large resource base, many deposits with good prospects, and we need to transform these resources into reserves. This is organic growth," the CEO said. Thanks to higher gold prices, HGM swung to a net profit of $48 million in 2016 from a net loss a year ago, it said on Monday. The second part of the strategy implies purchases of brownfield assets near its already working assets in Russia''s far east and Siberia. Highland Gold is also considering partnerships with other gold miners for projects in Russia and with Chinese gold miners for its Kyrgyz Unkurtash project, Alexandrov said. Its 2017 production will remain stable at 255,000-265,000 ounces of gold equivalent, which is a mix of gold and other metals. TCCs are expected to rise this year from $454 in 2016 due to the stronger rouble and spending on geological exploration will fall by $3 million to $5 million. While the company does not plan to take on new debt in 2017, Alexandrov said it could use some unused credit lines, currently totalling $227 million, to refinance part of its net debt, which stood at $206 million at the end of 2016. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-highland-gold-mn-idUKKBN17D1XP'|'2017-04-11T23:19:00.000+03:00' '641b5546a7d8a186986652727c51391116219485'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown leads FX easing, inflation rates below forecasts'|'* Hungary, Romania with lower-than-expected inflation * Risk aversion in global markets weighs on CEE currencies * Czech crown stays on roller-coaster, retreats after surge * Czech c.banker says crown less volatile than expected * Dinar firms, Serbian central bank expected to hold fire (Recasts with Czech, Polish central banker comments, Serbian interest rate decision) By Sandor Peto and Robert Muller BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 11 Central Europe''s main currencies eased on Tuesday as investors shunned risky assets due to rising geopolitical risks and after lower-than-expected inflation figures from the region. The Czech crown led the decline, shedding 0.2 percent to trade at 26.666 against the euro at 1251 GMT, while the forint and the zloty eased 0.1 percent. The crown''s volatility has jumped since the central bank (CNB) on Thursday abandoned its cap, which had kept it weaker than 27 versus the euro since 2013. Investors built tens of billions of euros worth of long crown positions since last year, betting on a surge of the Czech unit once its cap was removed. CNB Governor Jiri Rusnok was Quote: d by the newspaper Pravo on Tuesday as saying it could take up to two months for the crown to find a stable level. He also said in an interview to the news website www.idnes.cz that "the amount of crowns, which the market players bought, is enormous". He said the crown''s volatility after the exit from the cap was much lower than the bank had expected. The crown has roller-coastered between 27.25 and 26.5 against the euro since the exit. One-month volatilities of the region''s currencies against the dollar have jumped in the region anyway since last Wednesday due to geopolitical uncertainties, including the risk of a far-right win in France''s presidential elections. Lower-than-expected inflation figures released in the region may have contributed to the weakness of currencies. Monday''s 2.6 percent Czech annual inflation figure was higher than expected and briefly lifted the crown. But Hungary''s 2.7 percent and Romania''s 0.2 percent figure, both released on Tuesday, were lower than forecast, while Poland confirmed its own lower-than-projected 2 percent figure. The Hungarian data underpin the view that the central bank will keep its policy loose. The Polish central bank could keep rates at all-time lows until at least the end of the first quarter of 2018 if inflation stabilises below 2 percent in coming quarters, rate-setter Rafal Sura said. "The weakening (of the forint and Poland''s zloty), however, started weeks ago and is related to the dollar''s advance (against the euro)," said Budapest-based Raiffeisen analyst Zoltan Torok. Elsewhere, the dinar gained 0.1 percent after Serbia''s central bank kept its 4 percent key rate, the highest in the region, on hold as expected. The kuna also continued its rebound from 2-month lows as troubled food and retail group Agrokor said last week that it was handing control to the state. CEE SNAPS AT 1451 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.66 26.60 -0.23 1.28% 60 35 % Hungary 311.7 311.2 -0.14 -0.92 forint 000 750 % % Polish 4.243 4.238 -0.10 3.79% zloty 0 9 % Romanian 4.511 4.513 +0.0 0.53% leu 1 0 4% Croatian 7.419 7.435 +0.2 1.83% kuna 0 5 2% Serbian 123.6 123.7 +0.1 -0.23 dinar 400 950 3% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 994.9 988.8 +0.6 +7.9 0 3 1% 5% Budapest 32424 32468 -0.13 +1.3 .60 .30 % 2% Warsaw 2250. 2244. +0.2 +15. 16 02 7% 52% Bucharest 8208. 8214. -0.07 +15. 98 81 % 86% Ljubljana 781.1 782.1 -0.13 +8.8 5 7 % 6% Zagreb 1936. 1966. -1.54 -2.93 41 70 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 734.0 725.8 +1.1 +2.3 > 0 8 2% 2% Sofia 654.3 654.2 +0.0 +11. 1 4 1% 58% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 4 6 bps 5-year bps s 10-year 7 bps Poland 2-year 9 bps 5-year bps 10-year 7 bps FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.3 0.34 0.44 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.26 0.34 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.751 1.773 1.81 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HJ3K5'|'2017-04-11T11:55:00.000+03:00' '7057f1f86fde2811dd3b74bdfa81376fb4cfdf72'|'MOVES-No replacement planned for Man Group U.S. chairman John Rohal'|' 28pm EDT MOVES-No replacement planned for Man Group U.S. chairman John Rohal By Lawrence Delevingne - NEW YORK, April 11 NEW YORK, April 11 Man Group Plc''s executive chairman for North America, John Rohal, left the world''s biggest publicly traded hedge fund manager at the end of 2016, according to a person familiar with the situation. There will be no replacement for Rohal, the source added. A spokeswoman for London-based Man, Megan Ingersoll, declined to comment. Rohal joined Man in January 2013 from hedge fund manager Makena Capital to help the company expand business in the U.S. and sell its diverse hedge fund and investment products. Man manages more than $80 billion overall, mostly for institutional investors, according to its website, making it the biggest listed hedge fund manager in the world. The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Luke Ellis who replaced Manny Roman in September 2016 after Roman became CEO of Pacific Investment Management Co (Pimco). Eric Burl is head of Man Americas and Michelle McCloskey was named president of the unit in March. (Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/man-group-moves-rohal-idUSL1N1HJ0UK'|'2017-04-12T02:28:00.000+03:00' '1be5934b15daa6d97d710ba153acf5c340013d32'|'BHP rebuffs Elliott''s reform plan, says costs outweigh gains'|' 4:22pm BST BHP rebuffs Elliott''s reform plan, says costs outweigh gains FILE PHOTO: A logo for mining company BHP Billiton adorns a sign outside the Perth Convention Centre where their annual general meeting was being held in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo By James Regan , Barbara Lewis and Simon Jessop - SYDNEY/LONDON SYDNEY/LONDON BHP Billiton on Monday rejected a plan by activist shareholder Elliott Advisors to scrap the miner''s dual company structure, split off its oil business and return more cash to investors, saying the costs would outweigh any benefits. Elliott outlined the proposals in a letter to directors at BHP, adding the world''s biggest miner to a string of firms where it has lobbied for action to boost shareholder returns, including Samsung Electronics, Akzo Nobel and SABMiller. BHP''s ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) response prompted its London-listed stock to pare early gains of nearly 6 percent. By 1500 GMT, it was 2.3 percent higher. "After reviewing the elements of Elliott''s proposal, we have concluded that the costs and associated risks of Elliott''s proposal would significantly outweigh any potential benefits," BHP said in a statement. Elliott said its plan would retain BHP''s listings in London and Australia, but would scrap its dual-company structure in favour of a single headquarters and tax residency in Australia. BHP would also demerge its U.S. petroleum assets into an entity to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and commit to returning excess cash to shareholders. Elliott said BHP had underperformed comparable mineral and petroleum companies and its plan could provide shareholders with an increase in value of up to 48.6 percent for holders of Australian shares and 51 percent for holders of UK shares. BHP disagreed. "There is no obvious discount in BHP Billiton''s trading multiples relative to the weighted average of relevant mining and oil and gas peers," it said. It also said it regularly reassessed how to create value and reviewed company structure. It had spoken with Elliott over many months and would consider a more detailed response, it added. For now, it dismissed Elliott''s plan for buying back shares as "a formulaic approach without regard for the cyclical nature of the resources industry or the returns available from other uses of cash". Commodity prices crashed in 2015 and early 2016, but have since recovered strongly, helping to drive gains across the mining sector, which led the London stock market higher last year. MIXED VIEWS Started in 1977, Elliott manages assets worth more than $32.7 billion, according to the company. It says it holds a "long economic interest" of about 4.1 percent of the issued shares in London-listed BHP Billiton Plc, without specifying the instruments used to build the stake. It also says it has rights with its affiliates to acquire up to 0.4 percent of the issued shares in Sydney-listed BHP Billiton Ltd. Other big shareholders were cautious about Elliott''s plan. "(The) principle is OK. Detail and resultant uplift to shareholders might be more complex/less obvious," Aberdeen Asset Management''s Head of Equities Hugh Young said in emailed comments. Aberdeen is the second-biggest investor in BHP''s London-listed shares, with a 4.9 percent stake worth $1.3 billion, regulatory filings to August last year collated by Thomson Reuters showed. Representing another big shareholder, Standard Life Investments Director Frances Hudson said it was not clear the plan was "in the interest of long-term investors or the company". Over the past two years, Thomson Reuters data show BHP has underperformed relative to fellow miners Rio Tinto ( RIO.L ) ( RIO.AX ), Glencore ( GLEN.L ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L ). But over 15 years, it is ahead of them. Since it was set up in 2001, BHP said it had returned approximately $23 billion to shareholders in buybacks and about $45 billion in cash dividends. It said it had also taken many steps to increase shareholder value, cut the number of assets in its portfolio by $7 billion since 2013 and cutting unit costs by more than 40 percent. "We have laid the foundations for the group to substantially grow the base value of its operations," BHP said in its statement. "Elliott''s proposal would put this at risk." (Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney, Vikram Subhedar in London and Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idUKKBN17C17L'|'2017-04-10T23:22:00.000+03:00' '6cbe403a4fdd632ef1cf987300ade91503fafc1d'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX dips as financials, gold miners weigh'|'Company News 38am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX dips as financials, gold miners weigh TORONTO, April 10 Canada''s main stock index fell on Monday as financial and gold mining shares lost ground, offsetting gains for the energy group as oil prices rose. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 8.23 points, or 0.05 percent, at 15,658.90, shortly after the open. Five of the index''s 10 main groups were lower. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HI0IN'|'2017-04-10T21:38:00.000+03:00' '4f7dfb26ae6aa96237846a43cd0ad1d5f189af61'|'We need to talk about urban regeneration - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'A ny attempt to change the urban landscape is a messy, complex process. Deliberate efforts to revitalise districts in decline or disrepair have often been met with suspicion, cynicism, and in some cases even outright hostility.But if regeneration has become a loaded, contested term, the transformation of towns and cities remains an endlessly compelling idea. Big renewal projects hold out the promise of making rundown neighbourhoods attractive and vibrant again, and offer up the chance to find new purposes for underused or neglected spaces. Manchester, for example, boasts a city centre almost unrecognisable from its drab incarnation of the early 1980s – a renaissance made possible by rejuvenating old industrial buildings, as well as attracting the investment to create new commercial and cultural landmarks. So what makes for a successful regeneration project? How should such interventions be pursued and managed, ideally? The Guardian, supported by Lendlease, recently hosted a roundtable discussion of business leaders and experts to consider how current and future schemes might succeed.Can filling derelict spaces with creatives ease London''s gentrification woes? Read more Everyone on the panel agreed that regeneration takes time – usually a great deal of it. And most agreed that having a clear, shared vision outlined at the beginning of the process is vital. “In Manchester you had a level of political stability over time and a deeply experienced town hall,” said Jason Prior, regeneration consultant at Prior Associates. “They had a plan, a direction, a goal – even if you have to be flexible in how you deliver it.”Delivering new buildings is often the main focus of major regeneration projects, but construction isn’t everything. Prior believes every good regeneration project requires foresight for the spaces in between buildings and how people use them. “We’re not always thinking enough about the quality of the public realm, and how to look after it,” he said, adding: “There is no stronger indication of success or failure of a scheme than the quality of the streetscape, the parks, the play spaces.”Pam Alexander, chair of the Covent Garden Market Authority, also believes regeneration schemes should be adaptable enough to give residents a genuine voice. She cites the localism model of Portuguese capital Lisbon, where each parish council is involved in “participatory” budgeting. “Individual neighbourhoods are given real money and real power to make decisions about what bits of community infrastructure they want, rather than have it done to them,” she explained. “Empowerment is important.”Developers should be willing to compromise, and a good regeneration project should allow the existing community “to take it on and grow into it”, said Andy Rowland, development director at housing association L&Q. “You have to be prepared in the early stages, and for many years afterwards, for people to occupy spaces that aren’t necessarily going to deliver high value.”For example, while most of the panel hailed King’s Cross in London as a successful regeneration scheme, Rowland said the area hadn’t benefited from much affordable housing. “I have a bit of a concern that it’s too antiseptic. What has it done for people on low incomes on the Caledonian Road?”One of the major concerns shared by many members of the panel was whether enough regeneration projects were fostering a healthy variety of uses. Some fear the huge demand for housing and pressure to maximise profit through high-density residential schemes has led to a lack of shops, offices, community facilities, and spaces for arts and leisure activities that make places liveable.“I walk around some new developments and it’s very mono, very residential,” said Jonathan Emery, managing director of property at Lendlease. “The use of retail and other things is just devastatingly appalling. We want to see that diversity of use, that animation of a place – the mixture of night-time and daytime use, the mixture of retail, office and community infrastructure.”Rowland thinks Hackney Wick and Fish Island in east London is an excellent example of people being able to live and work in close proximity. He would like to see more regeneration schemes protect or create spaces for artists, entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses. “I think it’s incumbent on developers to provide affordable work spaces – properly low-cost work spaces,” he said. “It’s what provides an area with its dynamism.”Why we must make homes truly affordable for our key workers Read more Developers may want to focus on making new things possible, but the clearing away of long-established housing estates has proved the most unpopular part of big regeneration projects, especially in London, where many residents’ groups have formed campaigns to fight against demolition. Mayor Sadiq Khan recently released a good practice guide for regeneration . He recommended residents take part in shaping plans at an early stage.Yet the consultation process remains a common complaint. It has been criticised as a tokenistic exercise, conducted alongside a PR drive to persuade residents of the merits of a plan already decided without them. Nicholas Boys Smith, founding director of the social enterprise Create Streets, believes the failure to listen to existing residents is a missed opportunity to get good ideas and “co-design” things together with other stakeholders.“Quite often residents are rightly cynical about consultation,” said Boys Smith. “You get the other problem, where developers are scared of residents, scared of showing them any option that isn’t definitely viable.”Then what should Britain’s housing estates look like in the 21st century? Create Streets has advocated a return to more traditional street patterns so estates can reconnect and blend in with the surrounding area. But with so many new developments opting for large, high-rise apartment blocks, Boys Smith said he feared “we could be recreating some of the problems we created in big residential buildings 20 or 30 years ago”.“There is a measurable disconnect between what professional designers and developers tend to like, aesthetically, and what most of the rest of population likes,” he added.Debbie Jackson, assistant director of regeneration for the Greater London Authority, worries that some new housing developments feel “imported” from fashionable neighbourhoods, and are not always suitably tailored to existing communities.“It’s worth asking whether we are unwittingly creating places that some communities think aren’t for them, purely in their look and feel,” she said. “Is the design community perpetuating a design language – whether it’s the paving, the artwork – that some communities don’t find accessible? Sometimes developments can look like they’ve been imported from Hackney or Shoreditch or Brixton.”If some schemes need to be aware of local sensitivities, others have aimed to make big, bold, exhibitionist statements. What is the role of eye-catching new architectural landmarks and big-ticket cultural attractions in the urban regeneration process? Alexander points towards Bradford’s City Park development, where a huge mirror pool was installed in front of the old town hall, serving as a popular space for families during the day and animated by water fountains and light displays at night. “It’s become a fantastic resource for the community and has given them confidence and pride in a town that still has work to do to turn around its economy,” she said. “So sometimes a major intervention – even if its cultural or playmaking – can be hugely beneficial in giving a place confidence to go forward.”Richard Blakeway, chief adviser at the Policy Exchange thinktank, said the best schemes tend to grow in an “organic” fashion. “A good regeneration scheme starts with what already exists – whether that’s people, landscape or existing buildings,” he said.Like several members of the panel, Blakeway has been highly impressed by Stockholm’s Hammarby Sjöstad project. The ecologically sensitive development of 1,000 apartments is based around a lake, uses purified waste water in its district heating system, provides plenty of green space and easy walkability between transport connections. “One of the striking things about many successful schemes is that water plays a significant role,” he reflected. Planners, architects, builders and local authority bosses all have a shared interest in getting regeneration right. But the stakes are highest for the people who live, work and make use of a redeveloped neighbourhood. It is they who will shape its future and determine whether it thrives.“If you create a meaningful sense of place then people will look after it and take ownership of it, and that will lead to long-term success,” said Adrian Griffiths, board director at architectural practice Chapman Taylor. “If the developments going up now get demolished in 30 years time, then we will have failed.”The panel Jane Dudman (Chair), editor, Public Leaders, Housing and Voluntary Sector, the GuardianPam Alexander , chair, Covent Garden Market AuthorityRichard Blakeway , chief advisor, Policy ExchangeNicholas Boys Smith , founding director, Create StreetsJonathan Emery , managing director of property, LendleaseAdrian Griffiths , board director, Chapman TaylorDebbie Jackson , assistant director of regeneration, Greater London AuthorityJason Prior , regeneration consultant, Prior AssociatesAndy Rowland , development director, L&QTopics Guardian sustainable business Redesigning Cities Communities Architecture features Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/10/urban-regeneration-affordability-communities-neighbourhoods'|'2017-04-10T18:10:00.000+03:00' 'd328488fad33d9fc551e7ee1e5a0c00dfe4a6184'|'British fashion retailer Jaeger goes into administration'|'Business 7:36pm BST British fashion retailer Jaeger goes into administration FILE PICTURE: The Jaeger store logo is seen outside their store in central London September 8, 2009. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty Fashion retailer Jaeger, known for its classic British clothing ranges, has gone into administration, the administrators said in a statement, putting nearly 700 jobs at risk. Jaeger, founded in 1884, is famous for its woolen coats and suits, but the company has struggled in the past few years to stand out in a fiercely competitive fashion retailing market. The appointment of the administrators, AlixPartners, was made at the request of Jaeger''s directors after attempts to sell the business were unsuccessful, the statement said. "Regrettably despite an extensive sales process it has not been possible to identify a purchaser for the business," joint administrator Peter Saville said in the statement. Jaeger has approximately 680 staff in its 46 stores, 63 concessions and head office in London and logistics center in Kings Lynn in eastern England. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday company had filed a notice to enter a form of creditor protection to buy it some breathing space after investment group Better Capital sold the retailer''s debt to another company. Jaeger provided clothing for Ernest Shackleton''s Antarctic expedition and was famous for dressing film stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. It went into administration in 2012 before being bought by Better Capital. The administrators said the company would continue to trade while they worked with all stakeholders to find the most appropriate route forward. (Reporting By Justin George Varghese in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-jaeger-administration-idUKKBN17C27B'|'2017-04-11T02:25:00.000+03:00' '3a4b213bdd27fe3d6f0611ced9cf4194b07fd942'|'Ireland bumps GDP forecast up to 4.3 percent for 2017, 3.7 percent 2018'|' 33pm BST Ireland bumps GDP forecast up to 4.3 percent for 2017, 3.7 percent 2018 DUBLIN Ireland has increased its forecasts for economic growth to 4.3 percent this year and 3.7 percent next year after the immediate impact from Brexit was more muted than initially anticipated, In its last update in October, Noonan''s department saw gross domestic product growing by 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.4 percent in 2018 - in what was then a cut of around half a percentage point each due to neighbouring Britain''s vote to leave the European Union. The department said last week that updated forecasts due in the coming days would reflect increased uncertainties led by Brexit in later years. Noonan said in Monday''s speech that it was fair to say the balance of risks "is tilted towards the downside at this juncture". (Reporting by Padraic Halpin and Conor Humphries; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-idUKKBN17C1CV'|'2017-04-10T20:33:00.000+03:00' '112b322e183410ea7c12691eebbf8031466150af'|'Aspen Skiing Co, KSL Capital to buy Intrawest for about $1.5 billion'|'Ski resorts operator Aspen Skiing Co LLC and private equity firm KSL Capital Partners LLC will buy Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc ( SNOW.N ) for about $1.5 billion, including debt, Intrawest said on Monday.Intrawest''s best known ski properties include Stratton Mountain in Vermont, Mont Tremblant in Quebec and Steamboat in Colorado.It also owns mountain resorts, adventure retreats and real estate across the United States and Canada.Citing sources, Reuters reported on Sunday that Intrawest would announce its sale on Monday to a ski resort operator backed by buyout firm KSL Capital.(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-intrawest-resort-m-a-aspen-skiing-idINKBN17C15C'|'2017-04-10T08:58:00.000+03:00' 'cc7712998802b570b54c9bd92618229652abe323'|'British lender Wonga warns customers of personal data hack'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 6:40pm BST British lender Wonga warns customers of personal data hack LONDON British lender Wonga has warned customers in Britain and Poland that their personal data may have been stolen in the latest major corporate security breach. Cyber attacks have recently affected other British banks, businesses and institutions, including Tesco Bank, Lloyds, Talk-Talk, and the National Health Service "Wonga is urgently investigating illegal and unauthorised access to the personal data of some of its customers in the UK and Poland," the firm, which offers short-term unsecured consumer loans, said in a statement on Sunday. A source close to Wonga said the data could include the addresses and bank account numbers of up to 270,000 past and present customers, including 245,000 in Britain. "We are working closely with authorities and we are in the process of informing affected customers. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused," Wonga said. The source said a hack was detected on Tuesday, but that the firm was not aware personal data had been compromised until Friday and it began notifying customers on Saturday. The so-called "payday lending" industry has been heavily criticised by those who say its interest rates and marketing tactics prey on vulnerable borrowers. Wonga agreed to pay compensation of more than 2.6 million pounds to 45,000 customers in 2014. (Reporting by William James; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-wonga-idUKKBN17B0V8'|'2017-04-10T01:40:00.000+03:00' 'dd25ddec70c9d1f20b5adf229cdabfde0fe9585e'|'AT&T to buy Straight Path Communications for $1.25 billion'|'U.S. wireless carrier AT&T Inc said on Monday it would buy Straight Path Communications Inc, a holder of licenses to wireless spectrum, for $1.25 billion.The No.2 U.S. carrier said it would offer $95.63 per share, a premium of 162.1 percent to Straight Path''s Friday close.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/straight-path-m-a-at-t-idINKBN17C1DF'|'2017-04-10T10:46:00.000+03:00' '6e19fcba9bf77a65b12f3b6761b2bd34ffbaf13d'|'IranAir may receive first Boeing jet sooner than planned'|'World News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 2:29am EDT IranAir may receive first Boeing jet sooner than planned FILE PHOTO: The logo of IranAir is pictured as the company IranAir takes delivery of the first new Western jet under an international sanctions deal in Colomiers, near Toulouse, France, January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau PARIS/DUBAI IranAir may get its first new Boeing jetliner a year earlier than expected under a deal to replace cash-strapped Turkish Airlines, Iranian media and industry sources said. Iran had been expected to receive the first of 80 aircraft ordered from the U.S. planemaker in April 2018, but at least one brand-new aircraft is reported to be sitting unused because it is no longer needed by the Turkish carrier. Industry sources said Boeing was in negotiations to release at least one 777-300ER originally built for Turkish Airlines, which is deferring deliveries due to weaker traffic following last year''s failed coup attempt in Turkey. Boeing and the airlines involved were not immediately available for comment. Iran''s Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan told the semi-official Mehr news agency the first Boeing 777 aircraft would reach Tehran within a month. It would be the first new U.S.-built jet delivered to Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The long-haul 777 is worth $347 million at list prices but is likely to have been sold for less than half that, according to industry estimates. IranAir has also ordered 100 aircraft from Europe''s Airbus under a deal to lift most sanctions in return for curbs on Iran''s nuclear program. Its return to the aviation market after decades of sanctions comes at a time when airlines elsewhere are having second thoughts about purchases due to concerns about the economy and looming over-capacity among wide-body jets. That trend has made a number of unused jets available for quick delivery at competitive prices, including three Airbus jets recently delivered to Iran, and has allowed IranAir to jump the usual waiting list of several years. The government of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani is seen as keen to showcase results from the sanctions deal ahead of a May election at which challengers include hardline Shi''ite cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Aviation sources say the first aircraft were paid directly from Iranian funds, but doubts remain over credit financing needed to secure almost 180 jets still on order. Western banks continue to shy away from financing deals between IranAir and Western companies, fearing U.S. banking sanctions that remain in force or a new chill in relations between Tehran and the West under U.S. President Donald Trump. Boeing has stressed the benefits to U.S. jobs of the plane deals. IranAir is meanwhile negotiating the purchase of 20 European turboprop planes from ATR. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Dubai newsroom; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-aircraft-idUSKBN17C0HT'|'2017-04-10T14:22:00.000+03:00' '4992b701ad064386c0d71e5570a31cb19212344b'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 10'|'April 10 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Top U.S. officials dialed up their criticism of Moscow and blasted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad Sunday, heightening tensions in advance of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson''s visit to Russia this week. on.wsj.com/2nYMBZX- Twin blasts claimed by Islamic State struck Egyptian churches during Palm Sunday services, killing at least 47 people in an escalating campaign of terrorism against the country''s Christian population. on.wsj.com/2oRYzs9- Mondelez International Inc is preparing to look for a successor to its chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, as the snack giant faces pressure from restive shareholders and the broad shift to healthier eating habits. on.wsj.com/2nvub6I- Chinese conglomerate HNA Holding Group Co said Sunday it has made an offer to buy all the shares of Singapore-listed logistics and warehousing firm CWT Ltd , the latest in a series of deals by the Chinese company. on.wsj.com/2oedeLm(Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idINL3N1HI1WS'|'2017-04-10T02:14:00.000+03:00' 'd4b1e2aa997292b2b4c160855e82b07cdf3de466'|'UK car industry defends diesel as government readies pollution plan'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 12:29am BST UK car industry defends diesel as government readies pollution plan FILE PHOTO - Traffic queues on the M6 motorway near Manchester, northern England March 19, 2012. REUTERS/Phil Noble By Costas Pitas - LONDON LONDON Britain''s automotive industry body defended diesel cars on Monday, as the government prepares to announce proposals for improving air quality which could follow London in making it more expensive to use the most polluting vehicles. The government is due to announce by April 24 plans to comply with European Union legislation to improve air quality and meet nitrogen dioxide limits following a ruling by the High Court late last year. London''s mayor has promised to crack down on polluting vehicles to make the city the greenest in the world, banning new diesel taxis from 2018 and introducing a series of new levies on motorists, which could be copied nationwide. Diesel cars have been increasingly maligned since the Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) emissions scandal in 2015, while a study that year by researchers at King''s College London found nearly 9,500 Londoners die prematurely a year as a result of long-term exposure to air pollution. "Some recent reports have failed to differentiate between ... much cleaner cars and vehicles of the past," said Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief Mike Hawes. Sales of diesel cars are down 1 percent so far this year in Britain, compared with a rise of 6 percent in the market as a whole. Demand for petrol is up 11.5 percent, in a sign that buyers may be moving away from diesel. Several cities such as Paris, Stuttgart, Athens, Brussels and Madrid are trying to reduce pollution by proposing bans, fines and restrictions on diesel vehicles. (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-emissions-idUKKBN17B12X'|'2017-04-10T07:22:00.000+03:00' 'b9396d5b2b69a2dbcf0ddcb0acbfb0c985b68fdb'|'Abbot Point coal port spill causes ''massive contamination'' of Queensland wetland'|'Coal dust released from Adani’s Queensland coal port after Cyclone Debbie appears to have caused “massive contamination” of sensitive wetlands, an academic expert says.A vast swathe of the Caley Valley wetlands has been blackened by coal-laden water released from nearby Abbot Point port after Debbie’s torrential rains inundated its coal storage facilities last month.Satellite imagery of the coal spill last week prompted an investigation by the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP), which said the port operator appeared to have acted in line with a temporary licence to release the excess water.It’s either Adani or the Great Barrier Reef. Are we willing to fight for a wonder of the world? - Jeff Sparrow Read more The caveat was that the licence did not “authorise environmental harm”, an environment department spokeswoman said.Norm Duke, a principal research scientist at James Cook University’s TropWater unit and an expert in diagnosing contamination of wetlands, said an aerial image of the area showed “there’s undoubtedly going to be environmental harm”. “The image shows me a massive contamination of an area that I’m very familiar with,” Duke told Guardian Australia. “That’s not an area they should be dumping their stuff in.“I’m surprised [they were allowed to do so] – in some ways it would be almost better going into the sea rather than dropping it into somewhere it’s just going to cause long-term damage.”Duke, who has done extensive research on contamination of mangroves from oil spills, said he had “never seen anything as bad as this for coal dust”.The spread of coal dust over a “huge” area of the wetlands risked creating a “double whammy” of harm that would have dire implications for local flora and fauna, from fish and birds to molluscs and crabs, he said.First, the sediment would raise the level of mangroves where “if you change the elevation even by a few millimetres, some plants and animals will not be able to live there because the tidal regime will change dramatically”. This could then be compounded by the potentially toxic effects of coal dust. The extent of both problems could be established almost immediately with site visits, Duke said. But a further problem could emerge months later in the dry season, when fine coal dust could suffocate plants, he said.“We are looking at something nobody’s going to clean up,” Duke said. The department launched an investigation after it became aware of satellite imagery last Thursday apparently showing sediment-laden water flowing from Abbot Point’s settlement ponds into the adjacent wetland, a spokeswoman said.The investigation was into “whether there has been any unauthorised releases of water” into the wetlands.“Initial monitoring results indicate releases to Caley Valley wetland were in accordance with” the conditions of a temporary emissions licence granted to Abbot Point, which allowed the release of water with up to 100mg per litre of “total suspended solids”, she said.“In the event of major rainfall and flooding, mines and associated sites can apply to EHP for a temporary emissions licence, which is a permit that temporarily relaxes or modifies the conditions of an environmental authority.“A TEL does not authorise environmental harm.”The spokeswoman said the investigation was continuing, “including accessing historical satellite imagery to compare wetland colour and depth fluctuations”.A spokesman for Adani said the company believed it had acted “within the requirements of the temporary emissions licence”.Peter McCallum of Mackay Conservation Group said the spill in 5,000-hectare wetlands that were home to more than 40,000 shore birds showed “the lack of capacity Adani has to operate in a sensitive environment”.Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin v the Adani mine. Democracy is fatally compromised! - First Dog on the Moon Read more The group has written to Queensland’s environment minister, Steven Miles, asking how the government intended to rehabilitate the wetlands and whether any prosecutions for environmental damage would follow.The Palaszczuk government came to power in 2015 having promised to scrap an earlier plan to allow Adani to dump dredge spoil from the port expansion on to the Caley Valley. The plan is now to dump spoil on a disused industrial site near the port and the wetlands.Adani has directly controlled the running of the port since September, when it bought out previous operator Glencore.It bought a 99-year lease on the port in 2011 and says it has invested more than $1.8bn in the existing terminal. Topics Adani Group Cyclone Debbie Coal Queensland Fossil fuels Pollution '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/10/abbot-point-coal-port-spill-causes-massive-contamination-of-queensland-wetland'|'2017-04-10T14:53:00.000+03:00' 'a9d7cc58f753bd9cde2552a9f631a85715f0b398'|'MOVES-Citi hires new co-head of regional leverage finance'|'Company News 19am EDT MOVES-Citi hires new co-head of regional leverage finance LONDON, April 10 Citi on Monday said it had hired Simon Francis as co-head of leverage finance for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) from rival Credit Suisse . Francis will report to head of capital markets origination for EMEA Philip Drury. Paul Gibbs and Rizwan Shaikh have been appointed co-heads of loans in EMEA and will also report to Drury, an internal memo said. "We will continue to invest in our EMEA Leverage Finance business and look forward to making further announcements in due course," Drury said in the memo. (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-citi-idUSL8N1HI4BZ'|'2017-04-10T23:19:00.000+03:00' 'a72eed7a8d2982d72142b9eafd146d18619cc549'|'S.Korea''s EWP buys 60,000 T of coal for May'|'Company News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 3:30am EDT S.Korea''s EWP buys 60,000 T of coal for May SEOUL, April 10 Korea East West Power Co Ltd (EWP) has bought 60,000 tonnes of coal for May shipping via a tender that closed on Thursday, a source from the utility said on Monday. The utility purchased the coal products from South Africa, the source said, but declined to give price and seller details. Other details of the purchase are as follows: TONNES(M/T) ORIGIN SPECIFICATION(NCV) SHIPPING SCHEDULE 60,000 S.Africa min. 4,170 kcal/kg May 10-24, 2017 *Note: NCV stands for Net Calorific Value. (Reporting By Jane Chung; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-coal-tender-idUSL3N1HI2PV'|'2017-04-10T15:30:00.000+03:00' '2bdd1db5c1401fe0af8727883a96e13f297963d5'|'BRIEF-ATSG subsidiaries to convert two b737-400 aircraft for China-based airline'|' 32pm EDT BRIEF-ATSG subsidiaries to convert two b737-400 aircraft for China-based airline April 11 Air Transport Services Group Inc : * ATSG subsidiaries to convert two b737-400 aircraft for china-based airline * Air Transport Services Group - units acquired 2 Boeing 737-400 aircraft and will convert them to freighter configuration for lease to china-based okay airways * Air Transport Services Group Inc - ATSG West Leasing Limited has acquired and will lease aircraft to okay in late 2017 for terms of seven years * Air Transport Services Group - PEMCO World Air Services will convert 737-400s to freighters this summer at Pemco''s facilities at Tampa international airport Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-atsg-subsidiaries-to-convert-two-b-idUSFWN1HJ0IS'|'2017-04-12T04:32:00.000+03:00' '35eaffcd38800bb49c3a3992b29ef2aa75b1369d'|'Telecoms, cable group Altice starts IPO process for U.S. arm'|'By Anjali Athavaley and Mathieu Rosemain - NEW YORK/PARIS NEW YORK/PARIS Altice USA, the cable operator that Netherlands-based Altice NV ( ATCA.AS ) put together by acquiring Cablevision and Suddenlink Communications, on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering that seeks to raise $1 billon to $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.Going public allows Altice''s founder, French billionaire Patrick Drahi, to expand his budding U.S. cable empire by giving Altice USA public stock it can use to help finance more acquisitions.Altice USA will need all the financial firepower it can muster to be competitive for U.S. acquisitions with rivals Charter Communications Inc ( CHTR.O ) and Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ) as a wave of mergers is expected to sweep the wireless and telecom sector. Potential acquisition targets for Altice, such as regional provider Cable One Inc CABO.O, are trading at high valuations with takeover speculation baked into their stock prices, analysts say.Last week John Malone''s Liberty Interactive Corp ( QVCA.O ) said it would acquire Alaska-based cable provider General Communication Inc ( GNCMA.O ) for $1.12 billion. Reuters also reported that WaveDivision Holdings LLC is exploring a sale that its private equity owners hope will value the regional U.S. provider of cable TV, internet and telephone service at more than $2 billion, including debt.Altice USA became the fourth-largest U.S. cable provider after its parent company acquired Suddenlink in 2015 and Cablevision last year. It serves 4.9 million U.S. customers, according to the company''s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Altice is moving to list its U.S. subsidiary just as the IPO market is showing signs of life after a listless 2016. Snapchat''s owner, Snap Inc ( SNAP.N ), raised $3.4 billion in an IPO earlier this year.Altice USA''s current minority shareholders, London-based private equity firm BC Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, which jointly own about 30 percent of Altice USA, are ready to lower their combined holdings. Altice is expected to keep its 70 percent stake in Altice USA intact, according to the source.JP Morgan ( JPM.N ), Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ), Citigroup ( C.N ) and Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) are the banks serving as joint book-runners on Altice''s U.S initial public offering.(Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker and Gwenaelle Barzic; Editing by Bernard Orr and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-altice-ipo-unitedstates-idINKBN17D1CD'|'2017-04-11T15:46:00.000+03:00' '13cb3c843fd883672767d1c829105da52409d46b'|'Qualcomm hits back at Apple''s lawsuit, accuses iPhone maker of false statements'|'Business 33am BST Qualcomm hits back at Apple''s lawsuit, accuses iPhone maker of false statements Apple Inc. store is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo 1/2 left right Qualcomm''s logo is seen during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard 2/2 Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ) hit back at Apple Inc''s ( AAPL.O ) charges that were made in a U.S. lawsuit in January, saying the iPhone maker breached agreements with the firm and encouraged regulatory attacks on its business in various jurisdictions around the world by making false statements. Apple had filed the lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of overcharging for chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates. The lawsuit came days after the U.S. government accused the chipmaker of resorting to anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over key semiconductors in mobile phones. "It (Apple) has launched a global attack on Qualcomm and is attempting to use its enormous market power to coerce unfair and unreasonable licence terms from Qualcomm," the chipmaker said in a statement on Monday. Qualcomm filed counterclaims to Apple''s lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The chipmaker said in the statement that Apple interfered in its agreements with licensees that manufacture iPhones and iPads. Qualcomm also said Apple threatened it in an attempt to prevent it from making any public comparisons about the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones, and misrepresented performance differences between iPhones using Qualcomm modems and those using competitor-supplied modems. Responding to the chipmaker''s statement, Apple said it is reiterating its comments made in January that Qualcomm had overcharged royalties and gained from Apple''s technologies not related to Qualcomm''s patents. Apple also filed in January a lawsuit against Qualcomm in Beijing, alleging the chip supplier abused its clout in the chip industry and seeking 1 billion yuan (117 million pounds) in damages, according to Beijing''s Intellectual Property Court. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-apple-lawsuit-qualcomm-idUKKBN17D0J7'|'2017-04-11T14:14:00.000+03:00' '94ff441b1b132cc35566891f240ffb6444c04527'|'European shares gain, tech stocks drop on Apple supply chain worries - For more see the European equities LiveMarkets blog'|'LONDON, April 11 Live coverage of European markets now available on cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarketsSummary:**STOXX 600 up 0.2 pct in choppy trade**Wall Street seen sluggish ahead of open**Telecom Italia network spin-off talk resurfaces**Lufthansa traffic figures lift Fraport, airlines**Dialog Semiconductor plummets on Apple supply chain concerns**Other Apple suppliers AMS, STMicro drop on jitters**Balfour Beatty tops STOXX after BofA upgrade (Reporting by Helen Reid)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/european-shares-gain-tech-stocks-drop-on-idINL8N1HJ3IQ'|'2017-04-11T10:52:00.000+03:00' '2cf75d7bdace9fa141a291af2200b2a210995a1e'|'The New Blueprint: how the power of design can change our lives - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'The word “design” typically evokes images of hand-drawn sketches, color palettes, computer modeling or visually stunning products or space. But we want to explore the role of design beyond its conventional take. Good design can have the power to shape behavior, and even transform lives.Today we launch a series, The New Blueprint, about how scientists and engineers use design to solve billion-dollar challenges in our lives. Will it enable companies to build a sustainable business? What happens when well intended efforts fall flat? We are kicking off the series with stories on the efforts to redesign sugar and other creative approaches by food companies to soothe our health fears while maintaining a strong influence on our diet – and their profit. You’ll also get chance to test your knowledge of the sugar business in our quiz.The series will then continue with stories that look at how design shapes politics, business and the environment. President Trump could prove a rich source of inspiration for us, given he has vowed to spend $1tn on improving the country’s aging infrastructure, from roads to airports. We will bring you stories about the people who take an novel approach to picking apart a problem and coming up with a solution in a variety of industries.We would love to hear your ideas on how design can solve some of the thorniest challenges of our time. Please leave your comments below or email me at ucilia.wang@theguardian.com.Topics Guardian sustainable business The New Blueprint Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/11/design-business-the-new-blueprint'|'2017-04-11T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'e6498f636e7a35e83d69cd14eb5c265bac7794d3'|'Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules'|' 7:01pm BST Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules DAY 54 / MARCH 14: President Donald Trump paid $38 million in taxes on more than $150 million in income in 2005, the White House said, responding to an MSNBC report that the network had obtained two pages of the returns. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque WASHINGTON President Donald Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was reducing regulations and revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank, which might be eliminated and replaced with "something else." "We''re going to reduce taxes, we''re going to eliminate wasteful regulations," Trump said at a meeting attended by corporate leaders and members of his cabinet. Earlier this year, Trump ordered reviews of the major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis and last week he said officials were planning a "major haircut" for the regulations. "For the bankers in the room, they''ll be very happy because we''re really doing a major streamlining and, perhaps, elimination, and replacing it with something else," Trump said on Tuesday. "That will be the minimum. But we''re doing a major elimination of the horrendous Dodd-Frank regulations, keeping some obviously, but getting rid of many." Participants in the meeting included Rich Lesser, chief executive of Boston Consulting Group; Doug McMillon, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores; Indra Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo; Jim McNerney, former chief executive of Boeing; Ginni Rometty, chief executive of IBM; and Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric. The business leaders are part of Trump''s "Strategy and Policy Forum" that last met with him in February. Trump also reiterated his criticism of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico. "NAFTA is a disaster. It''s been a disaster from the day it was devised. And we''re going to have some very pleasant surprises for you on NAFTA, that I can tell you," he said. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-business-idUKKBN17D1ZD'|'2017-04-12T02:01:00.000+03:00' 'b19d3de99b610b35397c1540b7297a7a08c9226f'|'BRIEF-Wells Fargo announces $20 mln expansion of Innovation Incubator'|' Wells Fargo announces $20 mln expansion of Innovation Incubator April 11 Wells Fargo & Co: * Wells Fargo expands innovation incubator with additional $20 million * Announced $20 million expansion of Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator, program that advances emerging clean technologies and startup companies '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-wells-fargo-announces-20-mln-expan-idUSFWN1HJ0G9'|'2017-04-11T23:34:00.000+03:00' '8431beec4d11e42f69862ccdd801069d8b97c4f2'|'Pipeline operator NuStar to buy Navigator Energy for $1.48 bln'|' 40pm BST Pipeline operator NuStar to buy Navigator Energy for $1.48 bln U.S. pipeline operator NuStar Energy LP ( NS.N ) said on Tuesday it would buy privately held Navigator Energy Services LLC for about $1.48 billion (1.19 billion pounds), as it seeks to expand into the Permian basin. Navigator Energy owns and operates crude oil transportation, pipeline gathering and storage assets in the PermianBasin in West Texas. The assets include about 500 miles of crude oil mainline transportation pipelines and about 1 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity with 440,000 barrels leased to third parties. Other pipeline companies such as Plains All American Pipeline LP ( PAA.N ) and Kinder Morgan Inc ( KMI.N ) have also signed deals to expand in the Permian — the biggest shale play in the United States — as oil producers make a beeline for the basin. NuStar on Tuesday also announced a public stock offering of 10.5 million units to fund a portion of the purchase price for the deal. UBS is NuStar''s financial adviser, while Deutsche Bank advised Navigator. The acquisition is expected to close by mid- to late-May, NuStar said. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-navigatorenergyservices-m-a-nustar-en-idUKKBN17D2OW'|'2017-04-12T05:40:00.000+03:00' 'c04dfaa5da3ecf35d97fada0356d3503a5a4d6a3'|'Smithfield makes move on market for pig-human transplants'|'By Julie Steenhuysen and Michael Hirtzer - CHICAGO CHICAGO Smithfield Foods, the world''s largest pork producer, has established a separate bioscience unit to expand its role in supplying pig parts for medical uses, with the ultimate goal of selling pig organs for transplantation into humans.Routine pig-human organ transplants are years away, but recent scientific advances are breaking down barriers that frustrated prior attempts to use pigs as a ready supply of replacement parts for sick or injured people, making it an attractive new market. "Our bread and butter has always been the bacon, sausage, fresh pork - very much a food-focused operation," Courtney Stanton, vice president of Smithfield''s new bioscience unit, told Reuters in an exclusive interview.“We want to signal to the medical device and science communities that this is an area we''re focused on - that we''re not strictly packers," she said. Smithfield, the $14 billion subsidiary of China’s WH Group, in its first move has joined a public-private tissue engineering consortium funded by an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. Smithfield is the only pork producer, joining health-care companies including Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic and United Therapeutics Corp.Transplants are used for people diagnosed with organ failure and who have no other treatment options. Transplants from animals could help close a critical gap to help those in need. The United Network for Organ Sharing estimates that, on average, 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant.Smithfield already harvests materials for medical use from the 16 million hogs it slaughters each year. The company owns more than 51 percent of its farms and hopes to sell directly to researchers and health-care companies, which now typically buy from third parties.Stanton said the U.S. market for pork byproducts used for medical, pet food and non-food purposes stands at more than $100 billion, and that excludes any potential market for animal-to-human transplants, known as xenotransplants.Smithfield has deals in the works to supply pig organs to two entities, though Stanton would not disclose the names."It''s just a huge potential space, and to be at the leading edge and focused on building those relationships is critical,” she said. HOG HEARTSPigs have long been a tantalizing source of transplants because their organs are so similar to humans. A hog heart at the time of slaughter, for example, is about the size of an adult human heart.Other organs from pigs being researched for transplantation into humans include kidney, liver and lungs.Prior efforts at pig-to-human transplants have failed because of genetic differences that caused organ rejection or viruses that posed an infection risk. Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG folded its $1 billion xenotransplantation effort in 2001 because of safety concerns about pig viruses that could be passed to humans.George Church, a Harvard Medical School genetics professor and researcher, tackled that problem two years ago, using a new gene-editing tool known as CRISPR to trim away potentially harmful virus genes that have impeded the use of pig organs for transplants in humans.Church has since formed a company named eGenesis Bio to develop humanized pigs that do not provoke a rejection response or transfer viruses to people. The company last month raised $38 million in venture funding.Eventually, Church said, the process could enable researchers to harvest a dozen different organs and tissues from a single pig.Church estimates the first transplants involving humanized pig organs could occur in a clinical trial later this year, but these would only be used on people too sick to receive human organs.Genome pioneer Craig J. Venter’s Synthetic Genomics Inc has been working for two years with United Therapeutics on editing the pig genome and mixing in human cells to overcome the complex issues involved in immune rejection. "It''s not like changing a couple genes and you''ve got it solved," Venter said.Stanton would not rule out breeding genetically modified animals, but said Smithfield''s first ventures will likely involve whole pig organs that go through decellularization - a process in which existing cells are washed away and replaced with human cells.Miromatrix Medical Inc, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for example, is using whole pig livers to make a surgical mesh used in hernia repair and breast reconstruction, and it is working toward developing replacement livers, hearts and kidneys.Church welcomes the involvement of a big pork producer. "Even though we''ve got companies like eGenesis that would make the first pigs, you still need someone who will breed them and do it to scale," he said.(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen and Michael Hirtzer; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/health-smithfield-foods-organs-idINKBN17E0AK'|'2017-04-12T02:04:00.000+03:00' '558b40cb781ecd51767edfb9d1673d9e388ae543'|'Millions of EDF customers face second price rise this year - Business'|'Millions of EDF customers will be hit with the second hike in their energy bills in four months, prompting criticism from the government as it prepares to step in to protect consumers.From 21 June, 1.5m households on the supplier’s dual fuel standard tariff will be paying 8.5% or £91 more a year than they were before March. The rise will strengthen Theresa May’s hand for the regulatory intervention that she has threatened.Price rises graphic A government spokesman said: “This price rise, branded ‘difficult to justify’ by Ofgem, will hit around half of EDF’s customers. “It’s another sign the market isn’t working, and we will shortly set out proposals to help energy consumers as part of the government’s Plan for Britain.”The French firm blamed the increase on rising wholesale energy costs and government policies paid through bills, which include schemes to alleviate fuel poverty and support low carbon power.Five of the so-called big six energy companies have raised their prices in recent months, with only British Gas promising to freeze them until August. The hikes have fuelled calls for a price cap to help struggling billpayers, leading energy bosses to warned such a move would hurt competition and consumers . The prime minister recently put suppliers on notice when she said she was planning to take action on a market that was “manifestly not working for all consumers”.“Energy is not a luxury,” she told the Conservative spring conference in March . “It is a necessity of life. But it is clear to me – and to anyone who looks at it – that the market is not working as it should.”EDF had already raised dual fuel bills by 1.2% in March, to an average of £1,082 a year, and the new increase takes that annual bill to £1,160. Electricity prices are going up the most, by 9% or £49, with gas prices up 5.5% or £29. Vincent de Rivaz, the EDF Energy chief executive, said: “I know that price rises are never welcome, but the industry is facing significant cost increases.”His also alluded to the prospect of imminent government intervention: “We accept that the government, regulators and consumers groups have concerns about the way markets work for customers, particularly the energy market. We will continue to work with them constructively for the benefit of customers.”Comparison sites said that EDF’s standard tariff was now one of the more expensive on the market.Mark Todd, co-founder of energyhelpline, said: “This second price rise from EDF is a total shock and an absolute hammer blow for millions of people who will see their bills rise sharply. If you are impacted you must switch to avoid this price rise.”Topics EDF Energy Energy industry Energy bills Household bills Consumer affairs news Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/edf-customers-price-rise-electricity-gas-energy'|'2017-04-12T20:36:00.000+03:00' 'a0781aebc627aadfe248e8b7ef222a828e75ab29'|'UPDATE 1-Venezuela''s cash-strapped PDVSA makes $2.2 bln bond payments -investors'|'Company News 58am EDT UPDATE 1-Venezuela''s cash-strapped PDVSA makes $2.2 bln bond payments -investors (Adds details on payment) By Corina Pons CARACAS, April 12 Venezuela''s cash-strapped state oil company PDVSA has made roughly $2.2 billion in bond payments, two noteholders told Reuters on Wednesday. President Nicolas Maduro''s government has met commitments to Wall Street investors for years by slashing imports of basic goods such as food and medicine, spurring the country''s chronic product shortages. "The payment is already in the account," said one of the investors, who requested anonymity. PDVSA did not immediately respond to an email seeking confirmation. The payments due on Wednesday include interest and principal on PDVSA''s maturing 2017 bond as well as interest on its 2027 and 2037 notes. PDVSA''s bonds were up across the board, with the benchmark 2022 rising 0.900 points to yield 31.980 percent. Venezuela''s bonds are the highest-yielding of any emerging market security due to concerns about default. Maduro has dismissed default talk as a smear campaign against his administration, and he blames the country''s problems on an "economic war" led by business leaders with the support of the United States. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer and Corina Pons; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-bonds-idUSL1N1HK0YF'|'2017-04-12T23:58:00.000+03:00' '5b2f33f153069e0edd19b337e977446cddf9d854'|'BHP Billiton says costs of Elliott restructure plan outweigh benefits'|'Deals - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 5:28am BST BHP Billiton says costs of Elliott restructure plan outweigh benefits FILE PHOTO: A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo SYDNEY Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton on Wednesday dismissed a wide-ranging proposal by shareholder Elliott Advisors to overhaul its corporate strategy and sell off oil interests, saying the measures would not benefit the firm. "The elements of the Elliott proposal as described to the board would not be in the long-term interest of shareholders. The costs would significantly outweigh the benefits." BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said on an analyst call. His comments came as BHP released a detailed response two days after U.S.-based Elliott made public a letter to the miner''s directors urging them to consider spinning off the U.S. oil arm, while returning more cash to investors. Elliott, which said it holds a "long economic interest" of about 4.1 percent of London-listed BHP Billiton PLC, also wants the miner to ditch its dual corporate structure and replace it with a single company domiciled in Britain. Under the Elliott plan, BHP would have a primary share-market listing in London and a secondary listing in Sydney. The Australian government on Tuesday said any significant changes to BHP''s corporate structure would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law. Over the last decade, BHP has examined the prospect of changing its corporate structure and spinning off its oil business but has ultimately rejected the ideas. Elliott, an activist hedge fund, has also lobbied for change at other firms including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Akzo Nobel NV and SABMiller. (Reporting by James Regan and Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idUKKBN17E0C0'|'2017-04-12T12:19:00.000+03:00' '350808635bad61ab80889578b99745dd37599baa'|'UPDATE 1-Shell says it knew some payments for Nigeria oilfield would go to Malabu'|'Company News 5:11pm EDT UPDATE 1-Shell says it knew some payments for Nigeria oilfield would go to Malabu (Adds Eni statement, Global Witness report) By Libby George LONDON, April 11 Royal Dutch Shell was aware that some of the payments it made to Nigeria for rights to an oilfield under a 2011 deal would go to a company associated with former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer Dan Etete, it said in a statement to Reuters. Shell spokesman Andy Norman said the group "always knew" the Nigerian government would compensate the company, Malabu Oil and Gas, "to settle its claim on the block". The admission came as the deal and what Shell and its partner on the block, Eni, knew about the payments made to secure it, are being investigated by courts in Milan and Nigeria. The licence had been awarded to Malabu in 1998 under then-President Sani Abacha, though a successive government revoked the licence. Malabu appealed that decision, and the status of the licence was uncertain at the time Shell finalised the deal with the Nigerian government in 2011. Shell''s acknowledgement that it always knew that the Nigerian government would pay some of the money to Malabu also follows a report released this week by campaign group Global Witness, which said it had proof that Shell executives were told payments would go not only to Malabu but also to a string of Nigerian business people. Reuters could not independently confirm these claims. Shell had previously said in statements to Reuters only that its payments from the deal went to the Nigerian government. "Over time it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse (over disputed ownership claims) through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not," Norman said. Etete was convicted of money laundering in a 2007 French case related to his time in the Nigerian government. Reuters has been unable to contact Etete to seek comment after Shell''s statement admitting it knew that part of its payment would go to Malabu. Norman added that the company believes the settlement was a fully legal transaction with the Nigerian government but did not provide further detail. Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of the offshore block, known as OPL 245. Shell and Italy''s Eni paid $1.3 billion for the rights to the block, which industry estimates say could hold more than 9 billion barrels of oil. Italian prosecutors have asked for Eni chief Claudio Descalzi to be sent to trial over alleged corruption related to the purchase of the block. Eni has said that neither the company nor Descalzi were involved in any illicit conduct. A Nigerian court ordered the block temporarily seized in January at the request of the country''s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the move was overturned. An Eni spokesman on Tuesday again denied any wrongdoing by the company or its personnel. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos, Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Karolin Schaps in London; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/shell-nigeria-idUSL8N1HJ4EN'|'2017-04-12T05:11:00.000+03:00' 'c08cfdb518028ef8749d794bd547e076d4d912e2'|'ECB tells UK-based banks to apply as soon as possible for licences'|' 07pm BST ECB tells UK-based banks to apply as soon as possible for licences The logo of the European Central Bank (ECB) is pictured outside its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Andreas Framke and Huw Jones - FRANKFURT/LONDON FRANKFURT/LONDON Cross-border banks in London looking to shift operations to the euro zone after Britain leaves the European Union should allow at least six months for a new licence, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday. The ECB is responsible for authorising banks in the single currency area, with the help of national regulators for small lenders. Banks in London fear a "hard" Brexit with no access to the bloc''s single market after 2019, and face pressure from regulators to avoid a "cliff edge" or abrupt termination in cross-border customer links, which could unsettle markets. Authorities expect about 40 large international banking groups, currently operating their euro zone business out of London, to move subsidiaries or branches to the 19-member currency bloc. "It usually takes six months from the applicant providing a complete application for a decision to be taken regarding a licence application," an ECB guideline released on Tuesday said. This could be fast-tracked when an applicant asks for an extension of an existing licence. "In any event, a decision must be taken within 12 months of the date of the application." Financial centres Frankfurt, Paris, Madrid, Luxembourg and Dublin are all vying to attract banks from London, but all major euro zone lenders are directly supervised by the ECB to stop any national "sweeteners" being offered. The "relocating to the euro area" guidelines reiterate some comments already made by ECB officials, such as establishing an "empty shell" in the euro zone to avoid moving many staff and operations from London would not be acceptable. "The requirements for a well-functioning bank must be in place before an institution takes up any banking activities in the euro area," the ECB said. "You should plan accordingly, in order to be sure to obtain your license on time." It will hold a technical workshop on May 4 to explain its relocation policies further. Banks in London have been asking whether they could still centralise their broker-dealer trading services in London after Brexit to save on costs of setting up new euro zone entities. The ECB said banks should be capable of managing all material risks potentially affecting them "independently and at the local level", meaning there would be a need for a sizeable presence in the euro zone as a condition of getting a licence. Banks use "internal models" or bespoke software vetted by regulators to calculate risks on their books - and therefore how much capital to hold. The ECB said there will be a "limited period" in which new euro area banks might use internal models endorsed by UK regulators, but not yet approved by the ECB in a process that can take months of sifting through thousands of pages. "This limited period will cease as soon as the bank’s model application has been approved or rejected," the ECB said. (Reporting by Andreas Framke in Frankfurt and Huw Jones in London Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-banks-regulations-idUKKBN17D1QB'|'2017-04-11T22:07:00.000+03:00' '0ae2ea6a48436cf488ab1060fc472f2ef781d2a3'|'Hedge fund wants BHP to drop dual listing, split off U.S. oil arm'|'SYDNEY Hedge fund manager Elliott Advisors said on Monday it has sent a plan to BHP Billiton directors to unlock shareholder value by scrapping the miner''s London Stock Exchange listing, demerging its U.S. oil arm and revising its capital return policy."The goal is to provide details of the BHP shareholder value unlock plan to all of BHP''s shareholders so that BHP can engage openly with all parties on the plan," Elliott said in a statement.BHP did not immediately provide comment on the matter when contacted by Reuters.Elliott said it holds a "long economic interest" of about 4.1 percent of the issued shares in London-listed BHP Billiton PLC.That stake is worth $3.81 billion, Reuters calculations showed based on Friday''s closing price.Elliott also said it holds rights with its affiliates to acquire up to 0.4 percent of the issued shares in Sydney-listed BHP Billiton Ltd, worth about $372 million.Its letter, dated April 10 and released by Elliott online, did not mention any BHP directors by name.Started in 1977, Elliott manages assets worth more than $32.7 billion, according to the company.Its investors include pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and hospitals, among others, it said.Elliott, an activist investor, also has a 3.25 percent stake in Akzo Nobel NV. It is encouraging the Dutch paints and chemicals group to enter talks with spurned U.S. suitor PPG Industries Inc.Elliott said its plan could increase shareholder value by up to 48.6 percent for holders of BHP''s Sydney shares and 51 percent for London shareholders.It also proposed spinning off BHP''s U.S. oil and petroleum arm into a separate listing on the New York Stock Exchange.It estimated the value of BHP''s U.S. petroleum business at around $22 billion.BHP''s Australian shares closed 4.64 percent higher at A$25.73, with most of the gains coming near the end of trade.BHP Billiton was created in 2001 through the merger of the Australian Broken Hill Proprietary Co and the Anglo–Dutch Billiton PLC.The Australia-registered arm is one of the largest companies in Australia measured by market value. The Britain-registered arm has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is part of the benchmark FTSE 100 Index.(Reporting by James Regan and Jamie Freed; Editing by Stephen Coates and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idINKBN17C0J8'|'2017-04-10T05:36:00.000+03:00' 'f03d3fd276c4c3e4f9a5719a22bc093e6cc226e7'|'EU should consider billion-euro investment boost for Greece - Austrian finance minister'|' 51am BST EU should consider billion-euro investment boost for Greece - Austrian finance minister FILE PHOTO: Austrian Finance Minister Hans-Joerg Schelling addresses a news conference in Vienna, Austria, July 20, 2015. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo VIENNA The European Union should consider a one-billion-euro (£887-million) special investment programme to spur growth in debt-ridden Greece, Austria''s finance minister told daily Der Standard in an interview published on Monday. Hans Joerg Schelling said Greece would only be able to get back on track and regain access to capital markets if it was able to generate sustainable growth in the mid- and long-term. It was important to help the country participate in a pick-up in growth in the euro zone, he added. There was no immediate comment from Athens which has called for more help and debt relief as it struggles to cope with its financial crisis and attain a budget surplus of 3.5 percent of economic output, excluding debt servicing outlays next year. "You must assess whether to start a big investment programme through the European Investment Bank or maybe with the (European bailout fund) ESM... to get an additional boost (for the Greek economy)," the paper quoted Schelling as saying. "I would define a scale of one billion euros." Schelling, seen as a possible successor to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said one project could be an investment in renewable energy to make Greece less dependent on energy imports. The European Investment Bank (EIB) launched a one billion euro credit line to Greek banks in December, mainly to be used for on-lending to small and medium sized companies and firms promoting youth employment. Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments since 2010. Last week, Athens struck a deal with its international creditors on key elements of a reform package that could unlock bailout funds for the country to help it repay maturing debt in summer. (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-greece-bailout-austria-idUKKBN17C0OD'|'2017-04-10T15:51:00.000+03:00' 'b9c900a808ccecc5f438d0b3dcc47be7ec566d45'|'Belarus says Russia promises new loans of over $1 bln'|'Business 06am EDT Belarus says Russia promises new loans of over $1 billion Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Belarus'' President Alexander Lukashenko during their meeting at Konstantin palace in St. Petersburg, Russia April 3, 2017. REUTERS/Dmitri Lovetsky/Pool MINSK Moscow has promised over $1 billion in loans for Belarus after last week''s talks between the leaders of two countries, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko told the local ONT TV station late on Sunday. Moscow could also help Belarus tap into an additional $600 million from the Russia-led Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, Semashko said. Last week, at a meeting in St Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko, Russia agreed to refinance Belarus'' debt while Belarus will pay back more than $720 million in arrears for gas supplies. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Russia will also renew oil supplies to Belarus of 24 million tonnes a year and Russia''s Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ) will give Belarus discounts on gas supplies in 2018 and 2019. (Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; Writing by Vladimir Soldtakin; Editing by Christian Lowe)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-belarus-russia-loans-idUSKBN17C0KY'|'2017-04-10T15:02:00.000+03:00' 'e5b7c6d01b4989d4441cafe0a93fb6c97f094fe3'|'RPT-Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard'|'Company 2:00am EDT RPT-Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard (Repeats story from Sunday) * Trump policies seen boosting macro strategy returns * Macro strategy most in demand for 2017 -Credit Suisse * Rokos, Stone Milliner, Gemsstock, EDL Capital assets climb By Maiya Keidan, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lawrence Delevingne LONDON/BOSTON, April 9 "Macro" hedge funds are back in favour with investors seeking to take a view on U.S. President Donald Trump''s economic policies, European elections, or interest rates, but it is start-up funds rather than established players which are attracting cash. Some of the main beneficiaries of the macro revival are managers who cut their teeth at the big macro firms such as Moore Capital Management, Brevan Howard and Tudor Investment Corp, which made their names for outperformance in 2007-2009. Eric Siegel, head of hedge funds at Citi Private Bank, said in general that macro strategies are likely to thrive. “With volatility coming back and monetary supply tightening, we believe it could be a great environment for macro managers,” Siegel said. Macro funds bet on macroecnomic trends using currencies, bonds, rates and stock futures. They outperformed the broader industry during the financial crisis and amassed tens of billions of dollars between 2010 and 2012. But they lost most of those assets between 2013 and 2014 and also in 2016 for a variety of reasons, including performance. But macro is back in vogue and was the most popular hedge fund strategy among investors in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first two months of this year, according to industry data providers Preqin and eVestment. Moore Capital''s Louis Moore Bacon, Alan Howard, who co-founded Brevan Howard, and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment were among the macro stars after years of delivering double-digit returns. But during the lean years, when macro was less in favour, they had to cut fees and in some cases staff. Now newcomers, such as Moore Capital spin-out Stone Milliner, are pulling in cash and producing some strong returns. Stone Milliner''s discretionary global macro closed to new money last year after taking in over $4 billion in the previous two years. Moore Capital''s assets have fallen slightly from $15 billion in 2012 to $13.3 billion as of Dec. 31 2016, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Anglo-Swiss firm Stone Milliner, set up in 2012 by former Moore Capital portfolio managers Jens-Peter Stein and Kornelius Klobucar, averaged returns of 8.3 percent between 2014 and 2016, a source told Reuters, while Moore Capital Management averaged 3.4 percent, a second source said. London-based Gemsstock, set up in January 2014 by Moore Capital trader Darren Read and his co-founder Al Breach, made 12.8 percent on average over the same period, documents seen by Reuters showed. Chris Rokos, a Brevan Howard alumnus, raised another $2 billion in February after returns of 20 percent in 2016. EDL Capital made gains of 18.4 percent last year after ex-Moore Capital trader Edouard De Langlade launched the firm in September 2015, according to a source close to EDL Capital. It has amassed assets of $450 million to date, he said. Ben Melkman, who also formerly worked at Brevan Howard until May 2016, raised over $400 million for his launch in March, SEC filings showed. Brevan Howard''s firm-wide assets fell to $14.6 billion in 2017, from $37 billion in 2012. [ here ] RUSH FOR MACRO But the old guard are fighting back. Some have been cutting fees and offering alternatives. Howard, Brevan Howard''s co-founder, last month launched a new fund managed solely by him, which sources said has already amassed more than $3 billion. Tudor Investment lowered its management fees to 1.75 percent and performance fees to 20 percent in February after a reduction last year and Moore Capital cut the management fee on its Moore Macro Managers fund to 2.5 percent from 3 percent. Tudor Jones laid off 15 percent of staff in August. The firm''s main Tudor BVI Global Fund started 2017 down 0.6 percent to March 3 after gaining 0.9 percent in 2016. Brevan cut its management fees to zero for some current investors in its Master Fund and its Multi-Strategy fund last September after a similar move from Caxton Associates. But for both the old and new macro funds, it is still to be determined what 2017 will hold. Even though macro funds are flat on average for the first two months of 2017, making gains of just 0.38 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research, the popularity of macro strategies is not in doubt. A Credit Suisse survey in March of more than 320 institutional investors with $1.3 trillion in hedge funds showed macro was set to be the favourite strategy of 2017. Preqin data showed that after pulling assets out of macro for three back-to-back quarters, investors added $6.4 billion to the strategy in the fourth quarter of 2016 after Trump''s win. eVestment data showed that macro funds have pulled in $4.4 billion in the first two months of 2017, demonstrating a turnaround from 2016 when investors took $9.8 billion out of macro after withdrawing $10 billion in 2013 and $19.1 billion in 2014. "I don''t think macro is dead. Managers who can be nimble and are able to look outside the large liquid asset classes can still find great opportunities," Erin Browne, head of Global Macro Investments at UBS O’Connor, said. Representatives at Tudor did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Moore Capital had no comment. A spokesman at Brevan declined to comment. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/hedgefunds-macro-idUSL8N1HH0A7'|'2017-04-10T14:00:00.000+03:00' '19f2b5ae9f358ad08bdb62570c76b3122cf714b0'|'The Guardian view on council funding: cheap politics, bad policy - Editorial - Opinion'|'T he Guardian’s analysis of who in Britain is housing and educating the refugees and asylum seekers who should be shared across the country shows that the responsibility falls on fewer than a third of councils. That is not only a shaming example of how many prosperous local authorities have found ways to avoid the appeal to help, which is bleakly revealed in the raw numbers showing that Labour-led authorities have taken 11.6 asylum seekers per 10,000 population, compared with just 0.7 in Conservative-led ones (and only four refugees live in the prime minister’s Maidenhead constituency). Nor is it simply more evidence of how unequal Britain is becoming from city to city, and from inner city to leafy suburb. Nor merely a badly designed plan that urgently needs revising. It is a vivid illustration of how those councils that have rather than those that have not are being favoured by government policy .Local government finance may be a strong contender for the most boring and complex subject in politics, but what it lacks in thrills it gains in its sheer impact on ordinary lives. That is why the current re-engineering of the way it is funded, trailed two years ago when George Osborne announced that councils would be allowed to keep all their business rate income by 2020, is both among the most important and the least discussed questions in a Whitehall dominated by Brexit.The former chancellor wanted a powerful incentive for councils to do all they can to grow their economies and thus their income from business rates. But this is a perilous way of funding the spending that covers not only social care and education but all the activities that act as social glue in civic society – parks and libraries, swimming pools and Sure Start centres. It is also a philosophical departure from a system primarily based on ensuring that needs are met, regardless of income. It is the culmination of Margaret Thatcher’s mission to take apart the postwar settlement.The element of council funding determined by local need is now frozen. A system to replace the old mechanism of transfers from rich councils to poorer ones is work in progress. Councils, which nominally have a four-year funding deal, are still ignorant of what they will get in the process of redistribution after 2019-20. They also face the uncertain impact of legal challenges to the business rate revaluation, which came into force at the start of April. The Tories already have a disturbing reputation for partisan decision-making in areas that ought to be considered more broadly. The poorer an area, the less a council can raise in taxes. To pretend otherwise is to condemn the voters who most rely on good services to bad ones. It will entrench division, and no one has yet shown how it will boost the local economy.Topics Local government Opinion George Osborne Conservatives Labour Austerity Economics editorials '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/10/the-guardian-view-on-council-funding-cheap-politics-bad-policy'|'2017-04-11T03:09:00.000+03:00' 'c4b741402e1033d4377a8a10001b505199d87cef'|'Diesel cars can improve air quality, claims motor industry group - Business - The Guardian'|'Car manufacturers have hit back at the recent spate of negative comments about diesel vehicles, saying that the latest incarnations are “the cleanest in history” and “light years away from their older counterparts”. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said diesel cars could play an important role in helping improve air quality in towns and cities and in tackling climate change. A government report published in April 2016 showed that diesel cars being sold in the UK emit an average of six times more nitrogen oxide in real-world driving than the legal limit used in official tests. How conniving carmakers caused the diesel air pollution crisis Read more Since then, a number of schemes have been mooted to encourage drivers to give up diesel vehicles, including the possibility of a government-run scrappage scheme.Last week, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced a new charge on diesel cars driving into the city . Under the plans, drivers of diesel cars that are more than four years old in 2019 and petrol cars that are more than 13 years old will pay £12.50 a day on top of the congestion charge in an attempt to cut air pollution.In a list entitled “10 facts you need to know about diesel”, the SMMT said that some recent reports had failed to differentiate between older diesel cars and those on sale today, which comply with Euro 6 emissions standards, adding: “This is unfair and dismissive of progress made.”The organisation said the latest vehicles featured special filters and technology that converted most of the nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the engine into harmless nitrogen and water before it reached the exhaust. These cars will be exempt from the new London charges.It added: “Contrary to recent reports, diesel cars are not the main source of urban NOx. In London, gas heating of homes and offices is the biggest contributor, responsible for 16%. While road transport as a whole is responsible for around half of London’s NOx, diesel cars produce just 11%, although concentrations will vary at different times depending on congestion.”Share your experiences of being a diesel car owner Read more It said British car buyers registered almost 250,000 new diesel cars in March, more than in any month in history.Mike Hawes, the SMMT’s chief executive, said: “Euro 6 diesel cars on sale today are the cleanest in history. Not only have they drastically reduced or banished particulates, sulphur and carbon monoxide but they also emit vastly lower NOx than their older counterparts – a fact recognised by London in their exemption from the Ultra Low Emission Zone that will come into force in 2019.” He added: “In addition to their important contribution to improving air quality, diesel cars are also a key part of action to tackle climate change while allowing millions of people, particularly those who regularly travel long distances, to do so as affordably as possible.” Topics Automotive industry London Pollution Sadiq Khan news Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/10/diesel-cars-can-improve-air-quality-claims-motor-industry-group'|'2017-04-10T08:01:00.000+03:00' 'be5484d123c40f43b3843b5418bce6e54f64623f'|'Bidding at U.S. 3-year not sale weakest since 2009'|'NEW YORK, April 10 Bidding for Monday''s $24 billion in U.S. three-year Treasury notes was the weakest since 2009, resulting in the government having paying bond dealers and investors a higher yield than what traders had expected.The ratio of bids to the amount offered was 2.62, compared with 2.74 at the prior three-year note auction in March. This measure of overall demand at an auction was the lowest since July 2009. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-auction-idINL1N1HI10V'|'2017-04-10T15:24:00.000+03:00' '5a664170bee5aa016f6f98c21679b40fae383a6b'|'ECB''s Mersch says ultra easy monetary policy can''t continue forever'|' 10:54am BST ECB''s Mersch says ultra easy monetary policy can''t continue forever Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank presents an oversized newly unveiled 10 euro note at the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, January 13, 2014. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski CERNOBBIO, Italy Economic recovery is strengthening in Europe but this is mostly due to the European Central Bank''s ultra easy monetary policy stance and that support cannot continue forever, ECB Executive Board member Yves Mersch said on Saturday. "It''s true that we have a recovery that''s firming, that''s broadening both in geography and scope but it''s still frail," Mersch told the Ambrosetti workshop in Cernobbio. "It''s mostly predicated on the continuation of the extraordinary monetary policy that we have launched but this is a support that cannot go on forever, " he said. (Reporting by Mark Bendeich, writing by Silvia Aloisi, editing by Francesca Landini)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-eurozone-mersch-idUKKBN17A0AF'|'2017-04-08T17:54:00.000+03:00' '1f70f8b1eac00ab811b5610f9eca7fa66dfd0222'|'China''s top securities regulator vows to punish ''iron roosters'' with no dividend payout'|' 28pm BST China''s top securities regulator vows to punish ''iron roosters'' with no dividend payout Journalists take photos of Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as he arrives for a news conference in Beijing, China, March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee SHANGHAI China''s top securities regulator urged listed companies to reward investors with cash dividends, vowing to punish stingy "iron roosters." Liu Shiyu, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) also warned listed firms against raising money for blind investments, or designing complicated share structures that facilitate insider trading and other malpractices. "Paying cash dividends is a basic way to reward investors ... and the ultimate source of a stock''s intrinsic value," Liu said in a recent speech, a transcript of which was posted on CSRC''s website on Saturday. CSRC will take "tough measures" against those "iron roosters" who haven''t plucked a single feature for many years, even though they have the ability to pay dividends, Liu said. Liu, installed as head of China''s securities watchdog following the 2015 stock market crash, has made investor protection his priority, having stepped up a crackdown on market manipulation and tightened disclosure rules. Rejecting the view that the share price of a growth company will rise even without cash dividends, Liu said a company''s growth is far from certain, so buying a stock with no dividend would be merely a game of "passing flowers until the drum beat stops." "Steady and stable cash dividend payout often signals healthy financial and operational conditions of a listed company," Liu said. "On the contrary, if a company doesn''t pay dividends with no proper reasons, it could be the signal of accounting fraud or mismanagement." (Reporting by Samuel Shen and Brenda Goh; Editing by Ros Russell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-csrc-dividend-idUKKBN17A0IZ'|'2017-04-08T22:28:00.000+03:00' '25fb2f4b86fd9165ee54362c4e53f53174ea029c'|'Italy''s extra moves likely to hit EU fiscal targets in 2017 - Dombrovskis'|' 35pm BST Italy''s extra moves likely to hit EU fiscal targets in 2017 - Dombrovskis European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in Lisbon, Portugal, February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes VALLETTA Italy''s draft additional measures to meet European Union''s fiscal targets this year are likely to be in line with EU requests, the EU commission vice president said on Saturday. Rome has to adopt by the end of April new belt-tightening measures to boost revenues by at least 0.2 percent of its gross domestic product to avoid an EU disciplinary procedure for the country''s increasing public debt. The measures prepared by Italy''s finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan "seem to be in line with what has been discussed and recommended by the Commission," Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters after he met the Italian minister on the sidelines of a meeting of EU finance ministers in Valletta, Malta. The Italian government will discuss the measures on Tuesday, Padoan told reporters in a separate news conference. However, it remains unclear whether all ministers will agree with Padoan''s plans, whose details remain unknown. Italy''s former prime minister Matteo Renzi, who still runs the main party underpinning the government, set red lines on what Padoan can offer Brussels, saying the minister should row back on a commitment that it would raise excise duties. The measure is seen by Renzi as unpopular and could weaken his chances of winning upcoming elections, while eurosceptic parties are on the rise and lead the polls. Dombrovskis'' remarks were seen as a way to strengthen Padoan''s hand in view of next week Italian government''s talks. An EU disciplinary procedure could bring in the long-run to financial sanctions, although this has never happened. The immediate effect could however be to increase market pressure on Italy''s sovereign debt, at a time when the county could face further risks due to the tapering of the European Central Bank''s very accommodative monetary policy. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Francesco Guarascio; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-budget-eu-idUKKBN17A0J6'|'2017-04-08T22:35:00.000+03:00' 'd06adf55409ecc677429c26d2f07f2bac775f9b2'|'Greece plans to cut corporate tax in 2020 if fiscal targets exceeded - paper'|' 6:34pm BST Greece plans to cut corporate tax in 2020 if fiscal targets exceeded - paper A Greek national flag flutters as the moon rises in Athens, Greece February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis ATHENS Greece has agreed with its international creditors on a plan to cut the corporate tax rate by 3 percentage points to 26 percent in 2020 if it outperforms on its bailout-prescribed fiscal targets, the leftist Avgi newspaper said in its Sunday edition. Athens struck a deal with its international lenders on Friday on the key elements of a reform package that could unlock bailout funds for the country, helping it repay debt that matures in July. The leftist-led government agreed on measures that will cut government spending on pensions by 1.0 percent of economic output from 2019, a year after its bailout expires. It also committed to tax reforms in 2020 to generate additional revenue equal to another 1 percent of gross domestic product, mainly by lowering the current income tax exemption threshold. The reforms were prescribed by its official lenders to convince the International Monetary Fund, which remains sceptical about Greece''s fiscal and reform progress, to take part in its 86 billion euro (74 billion pound) bailout, its third such package since its debt crisis emerged almost eight years ago. To make the deal more palatable for Greece, which will hold national elections in 2019, the lenders agreed that if budget savings targets are exceeded, Athens will be allowed to implement relief measures to boost the economy. Greece''s target is for a budget surplus before debt servicing of 3.5 percent of GDP in 2018 and thereafter to be maintained at that level over the "medium term". There is no agreement yet on what exactly "medium term" means and the ministers did not discuss this during Friday''s Eurogroup meeting. The Avgi newspaper said the relief measures will include a lower real estate tax for low and middle-income taxpayers and a 2 percentage-point cut in the income tax rate to 20 percent for those earning 8,600 to 20,000 euros annually. Bailout inspectors are expected to put the finishing touches to the deal, which will then need to be approved by euro zone finance ministers. A date for their return to Athens has not yet been set. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Hugh Lawson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-bailout-idUKKBN17A0O7'|'2017-04-09T01:34:00.000+03:00' '8f72d8d4e0a3af61cbfeee635a098919bca0b019'|'BRIEF-Tapstone Energy files for IPO of up to $100 mln'|'April 13 Tapstone Energy Inc* Tapstone Energy Inc files for IPO of up to $100 million of common stock - sec filing* Tapstone Energy Inc - applied to list common stock on new york stock exchange under symbol “TE”* Tapstone Energy Inc says BofA Merrill lynch and citigroup are underwriters to IPO* Tapstone Energy Inc - proposed IPO price is an estimate solely for purpose of calculating sec registration fee Source text : bit.ly/2o9RRJp'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-tapstone-energy-files-for-ipo-of-u-idINFWN1HL098'|'2017-04-13T08:11:00.000+03:00' '1a3065d1574c921aed28fcb29db2515a4fa3ea65'|'SEC freezes brokerage accounts behind alleged insider trading'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 11:35am EDT SEC freezes brokerage accounts behind alleged insider trading FILE PHOTO: The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hangs on the wall at SEC headquarters in Washington, DC, U.S. on June 24, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo WASHINGTON The Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it had frozen assets in two brokerage accounts used last week to reap more than $1 million in alleged insider trading profits in connection with a merger announcement by Liberty Interactive Corp and General Communication Inc. The agency said in a statement the traders, currently unknown, allegedly used foreign brokerage accounts in Britain and Lebanon to purchase call option contracts through U.S.-based brokerages and on U.S.-based exchanges in the days leading up to the announcement of the acquisition. Liberty Interactive announced a deal on April 4 that included the purchase of General Communication for $1.12 billion. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fraud-sec-idUSKBN17G18A'|'2017-04-14T23:35:00.000+03:00' '44e59ace1d65589c29196e32c1fe78bf81f123df'|'Self-driving start-up set to roll out first laser sensors'|'Technology News 8:03am EDT Self-driving start-up set to roll out first laser sensors By Alexandria Sage - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Luminar, a Silicon Valley start-up, is getting ready to manufacture its laser-based sensor for self-driving cars, a key component that would improve vehicle safety, the company said on Thursday. Founded in 2012 by two photonics experts, Luminar has kept a low profile in the race between automakers, startups and major technology companies to roll out self-driving cars for the masses. Luminar is ramping up a manufacturing facility in Orlando, Florida, for its first run of 10,000 Lidar sensors later this year, Chief Executive Austin Russell said in an interview. Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, shoots out light pulses that are reflected off objects, allowing self-driving cars to "see" their environment. Many self-driving experts regard it as a crucial component, along with other sensors such as cameras and radars. Lidar has been the subject of an ongoing trade secrets lawsuit between Alphabet Inc unit Waymo and Uber. [nL1N1HF12Y] Waymo alleges that a former employee stole intellectual property about its Lidar system that was later copied by Uber. Russell said Lidars for self-driving cars on the market were developed from hardware that existed before autonomous cars. Their limitations in range and resolution make them unfit for the safe rollout of self-driving cars, he noted. Luminar addresses those shortfalls by using a 1550 nanometer wavelength that provides 50 times greater resolution and 10 times the range of the best rival Lidars, Russell said. That means a car can "see" a black object with reflectivity of 10 percent clearly from 200 meters away, he said. By contrast, the so-called "Puck" Lidar from Velodyne, a company that makes most of the Lidar used in self-driving prototypes today, has a range of 100 meters. Russell said four companies, including automakers and technology firms which he did not identify, were testing their products on prototype driverless cars. Russell said manufacturers should focus on perfecting Lidar''s capabilities instead of lowering prices to make self-driving cars more affordable for the public. "As price comes down, performance comes down with it," he said. (Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-luminar-selfdriving-lidar-idUSKBN17F1H3'|'2017-04-13T20:00:00.000+03:00' 'd6be116c0f4f3f045f9f288b718e01e106be2425'|'Dominion Diamond says no contact with Washington Corp after offer'|'TORONTO Canada''s Dominion Diamond Corp ( DDC.TO ) ( DDC.N ) has not had any contact with Washington Corp since the privately-held company made public its unsolicited $1.1 billion offer in late March, said Dominion Chairman Jim Gowans on Thursday.Calgary, Alberta-based Dominion launched a formal sales process March 27, after the approach by U.S. billionaire Dennis Washington. Dominion has repeatedly offered to engage with Washington Corp on "customary terms," Gowans said on a conference call with analysts, but that has not happened.Dominion, currently seeking a new Chief Executive Officer, is pleased with the progress of its strategic review process, Gowans said, but he would not answer a question on whether there was more than one party interested in the miner.(Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-dominion-diamond-m-a-idINKBN17F26P'|'2017-04-13T14:47:00.000+03:00' 'd5a26e9dbdc0edbb4aae4d64da66f6d1a0161c53'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX lower; Bombardier jumps on train merger report'|' 48am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX lower; Bombardier jumps on train merger report TORONTO, April 11 Canada''s main stock index was slightly lower in early trade on Tuesday, while Bombardier Inc rose on a Bloomberg report it and Siemens AG are in talks to combine their train operations. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 36.33 points, or 0.23 percent, at 15,694.46. Bombardier was up 4.1 percent at C$2.31. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HJ0KL'|'2017-04-11T21:48:00.000+03:00' '59af1435e2aa55a301c8fb7178c54851adcd2d52'|'BRIEF-Seadrill: North Atlantic drilling wins ConocoPhillips contract'|' 49am EDT BRIEF-Seadrill: North Atlantic drilling wins ConocoPhillips contract April 11 Seadrill Ltd * north atlantic drilling announces contract awards for the West Wlara and the West Linus * Total additional backlog for new contract awards is estimated at $1.4 billion excluding performance bonuses. * As part of agreement, company has agreed to a dayrate adjustment on existing west linus contract effective from april 2017, resulting in a $58 million reduction in current backlog. * New west elara contract which is expected to commence in october 2017 includes a period of fixed dayrates until march 2020 and contributes approximately $160 million of contract backlog. A * Contract on west linus has been extended from may 2019 until end of 2028 at a market indexed dayrate, which company believes will contribute an estimated $706 million of contract backlog. * Work is for ConocoPhillips at the Ekofisk field off Norway. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-seadrill-north-atlantic-drilling-w-idUSASN0006N2'|'2017-04-11T13:49:00.000+03:00' '8056171a9efa0c526da79fa23eba01930412c0d7'|'OPEC''s war on oil overhang starts to bear fruit'|' 28pm BST OPEC''s war on oil overhang starts to bear fruit A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC''s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader By Libby George and Ahmad Ghaddar - LONDON LONDON OPEC appears to be slowly winning the battle against a global overhang of crude and oil products as inventories in onshore and floating storage decline. The price of oil may not reflect this just yet, as Brent crude futures LCOc1 are struggling to recover its losses for the year to date and break above $55 a barrel. But there is no doubt that stocks are falling around the world, from Saldanha Bay in South Africa, to the Caribbean. A persistent glut of Nigerian oil is easing and even Iran has liquidated the amount of crude held in floating storage. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries explicitly said a joint deal with non-OPEC producers to cut some 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017 was aimed at slashing an excess of around 300 million barrels of crude and petroleum products in OECD stocks. "Across the first quarter of the year, crude stocks built by much less than they did in the first quarter of last year even though refinery maintenance globally was much heavier," Energy Aspects analyst Richard Mallinson said. Iran has sold all the oil it had stored for years at sea and Tehran is now struggling to keep exports growing as it grapples with production constraints. Trading giant Vitol has sold millions of barrels of Nigerian crude oil from storage in South Africa''s Saldanha Bay, according to oil traders, with cargoes sailing for Taiwan, India, the United States and Europe. France''s Total ( TOTF.PA ) has offered a further 2 million barrels of Nigerian Escravos oil from its own Saldanha Bay storage tanks, while sources said trader Mercuria had also been offering oil from storage. At the same time, Nigeria''s new loading programmes are finding buyers at a reasonable pace – in stark contrast to the past two years, when any sales from storage put immense downward pressure on prices for newly loaded cargoes. Nordic bank SEB said global oil inventories in weekly data have dropped by 42 million barrels in the last four weeks. "Rising U.S. crude oil stocks have created some confusion so far this year, but they are a function of reduced U.S. refining activity on the one hand and U.S. crude oil imports on the other," SEB said. Mallinson said OPEC ministers meeting in late May will not have a full picture of world stocks due to a lag in reporting from major agencies including the International Energy Agency. "It is going to take some time of all of the pieces of that inventory picture to become clearer." PRODUCT DRAW Stocks of oil products are also steadily drawing down. According to consultants FGE, total main product stocks levels in the United States, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp independent storage and Singapore and Japan have declined by 6.5 million barrels, in the week to March 13 (latest full data available) to 631 million barrels. The weekly data hit an all-time high of just over 679 million barrels in February 2016, FGE said. If the declines continue, FGE said global product stocks could hit the top of the 10-year range, or 611 million barrels, in just three weeks. Still, they cautioned that much of the product strength was seasonal, and related to maintenance shutdowns that also diminished consumption of crude oil. This bullishness towards oil products has seen huge amounts of gasoline leaving Europe, and has hindered diesel shipments into the region, which has boosted margins and encouraged refineries to run as quickly as they can. Still, Hamza Khan, head of commodities strategy with Dutch bank ING, said normal seasonal draws on oil products, at the tail end of refinery maintenance season, could be creating a mirage of a tight market. "Is this due to the reasonable cuts? Or is it due to seasonal draws on crude?" Khan said, adding that with Asian refineries in their month of heavy maintenance, cleared cargoes from storage may not have been processed yet. "The key question is whether it''s being consumed or whether it''s pushed into somewhere else," he said. In the United States "refineries are already running at 91 percent of capacity, how much more crude can they burn?" (Editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-opec-storage-idUKKBN17D1M7'|'2017-04-11T21:28:00.000+03:00' '5df37916ed561ee58d0323911eb7e3b78d4811a4'|'Asian currencies shaken by geopolitics, Philippine peso bucks trend'|' 11:01am IST Asian currencies shaken by geopolitics, Philippine peso bucks trend South Korean 10,000 won note is seen on U.S. 100 dollar notes in this picture illustration taken in Seoul, South Korea, December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo By Rushil Dutta All Asian currencies besides the Philippine peso were weaker on Monday as heightened geopolitical tension weighed on investor sentiment, turning their focus towards safe assets. The Korean won, down 0.67 percent, fell for a fifth straight session and was the biggest loser in the region. The won, which has weakened on growing concerns over North Korea''s weapons programme, was further dented after a U.S. official said a U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the Korean peninsula as a show of force. "The KRW (won) looks susceptible to further losses, especially if geopolitical tensions escalate," ANZ said in a note. The U.S. Navy move comes after the United States last week struck a Syrian air base in retaliation for a Syrian chemical weapons attack, triggering a rally in safe haven assets and pushing up oil prices. Asian stocks excluding Japan also slipped in the risk-off environment, falling on Monday for a third consecutive session. The Taiwan dollar fell for a seventh day against the dollar, while the Singapore dollar, down 0.23 percent, saw its fifth straight session of losses. The U.S. dollar, which rose 0.1 percent to a three-week high, was bolstered by a key U.S. Federal Reserve official reinforcing the central bank''s commitment to raising interest rates. Major U.S. indexes, however, closed lower after a key jobs report on Friday showed the economy only added 98,000 jobs in March, well below economists'' expectation of 180,000. PHILIPPINE PESO The Philippine peso bucked the trend by rising on strong net inflows to the Philippine equity market during the past week. The peso was up 0.65 percent against the dollar to its highest since early February. "The rise of inflows is likely due to temporarily eased concerns about political instability," said Amy Yuan Zhuang, Nordea Markets'' chief analyst. "Investors are looking past [President Rodrigo] Duterte''s controversial statements and are instead focusing on what he might achieve on the economic agenda." Thousands have died in Duterte''s controversial war on drugs which and his incendiary tirades against some world leaders and international regulatory bodies have added to uncertainty in the Philippines'' political sphere. (Reporting by Rushil Dutta; Additional reporting by Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-forex-emerging-idINKBN17C0EU'|'2017-04-10T13:31:00.000+03:00' '287d9a4d6bf1d47823adbdd881cf8d8bbfaceb59'|'China state refiners given 1.3 million tonnes of general trade fuel quotas'|' 12:09pm BST China state refiners given 1.3 million tonnes of general trade fuel quotas By Chen Aizhu and Meng Meng - BEIJING BEIJING China''s state oil refiners have been granted a combined 1.315 million tonnes of quotas to export refined fuel under so-called general trade terms, three sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. These permits, mostly for diesel and gasoline, were in addition to the 3.335 million tonnes of quotas allotted to the refiners under a separate, so-called processing trade category, after Beijing agreed to grant tax incentives to exports under general trade terms. The general-trade quotas were issued in early March with PetroChina ( 0857.HK ) receiving 1 million tonnes and Sinopec Corp 300,000 tonnes, said two of the three sources familiar with the companies'' quotas. CNOOC, which holds less refining capacity, won a quota for 15,000 tonnes as an "experiment", said the third source, who has direct knowledge of CNOOC''s trade operations. These were the second batch of general trade quotas for 2017. In early 2017, PetroChina was the only refiner granted a quota for 600,000 tonnes, said one of the sources. At the end of March, China also issued its second batch of quotas for 2017 under the prevailing processing, or tolling, rules, lowering the volumes by 73 percent compared to the first round. State refiners applied for the general trade quotas after the government agreed in late 2016 to grant tax incentives on fuel exports making the terms more attractive since it offers refiners greater flexibility in the volumes and time frames for exporting fuel, said the three sources who are familiar with the rules. Top Asian refiner Sinopec ( 0386.HK ) said on Friday it exported a diesel cargo to Singapore under the general trade rules for the first time in 13 years. PetroChina did not win any quotas under the recent round of processing trade quotas, Reuters has reported. The sources said PetroChina, which imports less crude than rival Sinopec, did not apply for the processing trade quotas but only asked for general trade ones since it see those terms as more attractive. State oil firms normally do not comment on operational matters. Under the processing rules, refiners are exempted from import taxes on crude oil and export taxes for oil products, but have a fixed volume and time slots to export, both under the tight scrutiny of Chinese customs, Beijing-based oil traders have said. Under the general trade category, refiners get tax refunds after exports are completed or get a tax waiver on fuel exports, a policy that Beijing granted in 2016, the three sources said. (Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Meng Meng in Beijing, Jessica Jaganathan in Singapore)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-oil-quotas-idUKKBN17C168'|'2017-04-10T19:09:00.000+03:00' 'a98e214e2f540c1e17f7da14891791dad51c8d68'|'BRIEF-Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Q4 loss per share C$0.32'|' 39pm EDT BRIEF-Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Q4 loss per share C$0.32 April 11 Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Inc * Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Q4 revenue C$31.4 million versus C$17.5 Million * Aveda Transportation And Energy Services announces 2016 results and provides operational update for the first quarter of 2017 * Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Q4 loss per share C$0.32 * Aveda Transportation And Energy Services Inc -anticipates a substantial increase in revenue in Q1 of 2017 as compared to Q1 of 2016 * Aveda Transportation And Energy Services - preliminary revenue for Q1 of 2017 of about $39.0 - $41.0 million compared to $12.0 million in Q1 of 2016 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-aveda-transportation-and-energy-se-idUSL8N1HJ5QE'|'2017-04-12T04:39:00.000+03:00' '1a505315ed4f65c096ee71a1c26ff7df27ab3544'|'Fed''s Kashkari sees room for improvement on inflation, jobs'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 7:33pm BST Fed''s Kashkari sees room for improvement on inflation, jobs FILE PHOTO: Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks during an interview at Reuters in New York February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Neel Kashkari, the chief of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve who was the lone dissenter on the Fed''s rate hike last month, repeated Tuesday his view that there is still slack in the labor market and that inflation is still lower than it should be. "I think in both cases we can do a little bit better," Kashkari said in a talk at the Minnesota Business Partnership that was otherwise largely focused on ideas for improving education for kids in low-income families. (Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-kashkari-idUKKBN17D2D6'|'2017-04-12T02:23:00.000+03:00' 'b580979a8753b9c494c6a6646d874a31fc5fcdd9'|'Rio Tinto pays $4 billion in 2016 taxes, royalties; down 12 percent'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 3:16pm BST Rio Tinto pays $4 billion in 2016 taxes, royalties; down 12 percent A sign adorns the building where mining company Rio Tinto has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray By Harry Pearl - SYDNEY SYDNEY Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ) said on Sunday it paid $4 billion (3 billion pounds) in taxes and royalties globally in 2016, a 12 percent drop on 2015 that primarily reflected lower earnings. The release of its annual tax transparency report comes as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued amended income tax assessments for the company on Wednesday, covering calendar years 2010 to 2013. The tax authority ordered Rio Tinto to pay additional tax of A$379 million ($284 million) plus interest of A$68 million for those four years, due to the global miner''s use of marketing hubs in tax-friendly Singapore. Rio Tinto said its effective group tax rate was 22 percent for the year ended Dec. 31, with the majority of tax and royalties paid in Australia - a figure of about $2.9 billion. In the report, Rio Tinto said it had reduced the number of entities registered in so-called tax havens to 12, but its was still "engaged in discussions" with the ATO over use of its Singapore hubs. "While we are satisfied these transactions align with tax requirements, differences of interpretation between companies and tax authorities can occur," Rio Tinto said, adding it will challenge the additional amount ordered by the ATO. The dispute comes as the ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multi-nationals operating in Australia pay. A senate corporate tax inquiry previously said Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Ltd ( BHP.AX ) were using Singapore marketing offices to shift profit from Australia to minimise tax. Chris Lynch, Rio Tinto''s chief financial officer, said the company was committed to tax transparency, but tax law should never be retrospective. (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rio-tinto-tax-idUKKBN17B0MS'|'2017-04-09T22:16:00.000+03:00' '32806618fc9332373154ec2e3203a76667479a93'|'A Formula 1 team is 3D printing race car parts 11,'|'A racecar with no driver behind the wheel Formula 1 race cars need to be constantly tweaked -- parts need to be replaced and swapped out to help cars perform at top speed. But getting each of these specialized parts can take weeks. Now, one team is using 3D printing for an edge. McLaren Racing Limited is using 3D printers to modify the parts on its race car. Replacing a rear wing took just a week and a half instead of the five weeks it would have taken with traditional methods. "It''s important to gain as many small improvements to the car''s performance as quickly as we can," Neil Oatley, design and development director of McLaren Racing Limited told CNNTech. "If it allows us to bring a part to [the track] one race earlier or two races earlier, that''s a gain that accumulates throughout the season and allows us to have a higher performance level." McLaren is using about a dozen 3D printers from Stratasys, mostly in its office outside London. The team also travels to races with one. So far, they''ve used 3D printing to create more than 50 parts. To replace the wing, the team designed and printed a new one out of plastic. The wing is next wrapped in carbon fiber. In the last step, the wing''s plastic interior is dissolved, leaving the wing ready for racing. Related: College students race pods in Hyperloop competition The company''s ultimate goal is to print parts out of carbon fiber, so that they can be immediately put on a car at the race site, according to Andy Middleton, a president at Stratasys. Eventually, a 3D printer in the team''s pit stop might deliver finished parts. The team''s engineers could then even more rapidly create and experiment with parts. That would mean a lot more speed on the track, and perhaps, more victories. CNNMoney (Washington) 11, 2017: 1:18 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/technology/formula-1-3d-printing/index.html'|'2017-04-11T21:18:00.000+03:00' '4d745d303455e4204445576c8b12547796206fba'|'IMF more upbeat about global economy this year than in 2016'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 6:35pm BST IMF more upbeat about global economy this year than in 2016 left right German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and Managing Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde arrive at news conference following a meeting of the heads of international economy and finance organisations at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke 1/3 left right World Bank President Jim Yong Kim (L to R), IMF Director General Christine Lagarde and Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria attend a meeting of the heads of international economy and finance organizations in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Sohn/Pool 2/3 left right German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2nd R), Director General of the World Trade Organization Roberto Azavedo (2nd L to R), World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and IMF Director General Christine Lagarde during the meeting of the heads of international economy and finance organizations in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Michael Sohn/Pool 3/3 BERLIN The International Monetary Fund sees a more favourable outlook for the global economy this year and next than in 2016, but it has concerns beyond the near-term, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Monday. "I have also identified two key concerns that we at the IMF have: one is persistent low productivity and second excessive inequalities that grow together with that low productivity," she said after meeting the chiefs of other leading global economic organisations and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Paul Carrel; editing by Erik Kirschbaum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-imf-idUKKBN17C21R'|'2017-04-11T01:31:00.000+03:00' 'bf35d3b8c4ae097620424e84c539b7e25d167191'|'U.S. trucking companies Swift and Knight to merge: WSJ'|'Swift Transportation Co ( SWFT.N ) is merging with Knight Transportation Inc ( KNX.N ) in a share swap that would combine two of the biggest U.S. trucking operators that are together worth more than $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.Each Swift share would be converted into a 0.72 share of the new company through a reverse stock split. Knight shares would be exchanged one-for-one. Swift shareholders would own 54 percent of the new entity and Knight shareholders would own the rest, the Journal said.The deal values each Swift share at $22.07, a 10 percent premium to its closing price on Friday, the report said.The deal would replace XPO Logistics'' purchase of Con-way Inc for $3 billion as the biggest acquisition in the trucking business, the Journal said. reut.rs/2nSuO5JSwift and Knight were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-swift-tran-m-a-knight-trans-idINKBN17C0CU'|'2017-04-10T02:59:00.000+03:00' '2def89173d472c24694c60b38ab38d4b3bbc4ffb'|'Broadcom, Western Digital among four suitors for Toshiba chip unit - sources'|'TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO Japan''s Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) has narrowed down the field of bidders for its chip unit to four suitors including Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ) and Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ), two sources with knowledge of the matter said.South Korea''s SK Hynix Inc ( 000660.KS ) and Taiwan''s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) are the other bidders, they said, adding that Broadcom has partnered with U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake Partners LP.The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.There were about 10 bidders in the first round of offers, sources have said previously.Toshiba has said it needs to sell most or all of the prized business to cover charges related to U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric that threaten the Japanese conglomerate''s future.(Reporting by Taro Fuse in TOKYO and Liana B. Baker in SAN FRANCISCO; Writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-chips-suitors-idUSKBN17E0YV'|'2017-04-12T13:10:00.000+03:00' '4ec0227dae42cd77f51e57ed5eea5943bdd819cd'|'Bits and bias: Google is accused of underpaying women'|'GOOGLE has made a fortune by helping people dig up whatever information they seek. But in a court hearing on April 7th, America’s Department of Labour (DoL) accused the company behind the profitable search engine of burying the fact that it pays its female employees less than their male counterparts. The accusation of lower compensation for women forms part of a lawsuit by the DoL, which has asked Google to turn over detailed information on pay. The department has not released data to back its assertion, and Google denies the allegation.Whatever the outcome in court, the government’s recriminations risk marring Google’s image. Just three days earlier it had taken to Twitter to boast that it had “closed the gender pay gap globally”. That claim is now under suspicion. It is true that at Google’s parent company, Alphabet, several women hold high positions, including Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer, and Susan Wojcicki, who runs YouTube, an online-video business. But the important question is not only whether a few women get promoted but also how those in the middle and lower ranks fare. an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates What figures there are paint a depressing picture about the status of women in technology. According to a one-off survey in 2015 called “Elephant in the Valley”, two-thirds of women in Silicon Valley feel excluded from key networking events, and three-fifths have experienced unwanted sexual advances. More than a quarter of American women in engineering, technology and science feel “stalled” in their careers, and a third say they are likely to quit their jobs within a year, according to the Centre for Talent Innovation, a think-tank.The marginalisation of women in tech became a prominent subject in 2015 during a sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by Ellen Pao, who had worked at a venture-capital firm, Kleiner Perkins (she lost the case). It has been back in the headlines since Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber, a ride-hailing firm, wrote a blog post in February saying that male supervisors had failed to promote women and that human resources had not taken complaints of sexism and harassment seriously. Uber has hired Eric Holder, America’s former attorney-general, to lead an investigation into the company’s handling of sexual harassment and workplace culture. The results are expected in the coming weeks.Some firms, including Uber, are now publishing annual reports describing the composition of their workforce, after they were criticised for not hiring more women and ethnic minorities. Well under half of tech companies’ employees are female (see chart). Despite attempts to hire more women, they have not shifted their female-staff shares by more than a few percentage points.Educational choices are part of the problem. In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, only around 18% of computer-science graduates were women, half the proportion in 1985. Some suspect there is a “negative” network effect, and that the small share of women in the field discourages others from choosing it as a course of study.Retention is also difficult. A study in 2014 that tracked women in jobs related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) found that half of women had left their professions after 12 years. By comparison, only a fifth of women who work in non-STEM fields leave within 30 years. Female entrepreneurs find it more difficult to secure funding from venture capitalists than their male counterparts do. Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, a blood-testing firm which has run into trouble, attracted a lot of hype largely because she was so unusual. And female venture capitalists, who are more likely to fund startups run by women, are the rarest unicorns of all in Silicon Valley.Transparency about the composition of firms’ staff may help with hiring more women. But another place where transparency can make a big difference is pay. The secretive nature of compensation at tech firms, with employees being discouraged from telling their peers anything about their equity grants or cash bonuses, means that women do not know when they are being underpaid, says Pamela Sayad, a San Francisco-based lawyer who specialises in workplace discrimination.Some companies that have unearthed disparities, including Salesforce, a software firm, and Cisco, a networking company, have pledged millions of dollars to fill wage gaps. But absent disclosure, it can still be hard to see the pay differences in the first place. For years tech executives have talked up the importance of transparency and the power of data for decision-making. They should do a better job of practising what they preach. "Bits and bias"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720672-allegation-inflames-debate-about-sexism-silicon-valley-google-accused-underpaying?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '55a3500de4c3ca5c3ca0bc55f6570f2f7ab65b17'|'Puma raises profit, sales guidance after strong first quarter'|' 02am BST Puma raises profit, sales guidance after strong first quarter The logo of Puma sportswear company is seen at its store at Tbilisi Mall in Tbilisi, Georgia, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili FRANKFURT German sporting goods maker Puma ( PUMG.DE ) lifted its profit and sales guidance for 2017 after posting strong first-quarter earnings in a surprise release on Wednesday that looked set to lift its shares 2.5 percent at market open. Puma, majority-owned by French luxury-goods company Kering ( PRTP.PA ), said it expected earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 185-200 million euros (£157-169 million) in 2017, up from a previous guidance of 170-190 million euros. First-quarter EBIT jumped by about 70 percent to 70 million euros, it said. In February, Retro sneakers and endorsements by stars like Usain Bolt and Rihanna had already helped Puma deliver strong sales growth in the fourth quarter and make a confident forecast for 2017. Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden has led a gradual turnaround of a brand that had fallen far behind market leaders Nike ( NKE.N ) and Adidas ( ADSGn.DE ). It also said on Wednesday that sales would increase by a low double-digit percentage rate, when adjusted for currency swings, up from a previous guidance of a high single-digit percentage increase. Puma plans to release full quarterly results on April 25. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-puma-results-idUKKBN17E0LP'|'2017-04-12T15:02:00.000+03:00' 'ddf05b089a399b0bbf74fea1a23f3fdeb0bfd928'|'Elliott is close to triggering special Akzo shareholder meeting: sources - Reuters'|'By Greg Roumeliotis Hedge fund Elliott Advisors is close to securing support from enough Akzo Nobel NV ( AKZO.AS ) investors to call for an extraordinary general meeting of the Dutch paint maker''s shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter.Elliott is hoping the move will add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ). Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro ($24 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month, and has resisted engaging in deal talks.While Akzo is due to hold its regular annual general meeting on April 25, an extraordinary general meeting would allow shareholders to remove Akzo supervisory board and management board members.Akzo shareholders must hold in total at least 10 percent of the company''s issued stock to be able to convene an extraordinary general meeting, which would then take a few weeks to organize.Elliott, which owns a little more than 3 percent of Akzo, is close to mustering support from enough investors to reach the 10 percent threshold and may trigger an extraordinary general meeting within days, the sources said this week.The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Elliott, Akzo Nobel and PPG did not respond to requests for comment.Akzo has scheduled an investor day for April 19, which it will use to provide updated financial guidance and argue that its standalone operational plan, which calls for shedding its specialty chemicals business, will deliver more value with less risk than a merger with PPG.Akzo is considering spinning off its specialty chemical unit, but it is also mulling a sale after fielding acquisition interest in that business, which could fetch between $9 billion and $10 billion in a sale, according to the sources.Private equity firms and smaller companies seeking to team up with buyout firms to make offers will participate in a sale process for the specialty chemicals unit, the sources said.PPG''s Akzo bid is a major test for PPG Chief Executive Michael McGarry. PPG shares are up 16 percent since he became CEO in September 2015. In comparison, the S&P 500 specialty chemicals index is up 21 percent.In private meetings with shareholders, Akzo has cited McGarry''s track record, as well as the antitrust risks of a potential merger, as a reason why a deal with PPG would be risky, according to the sources.PPG is waiting for Akzo to come under more shareholder pressure before making a new acquisition offer, one of the sources said.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzonobel-m-a-ppg-idINKBN17E02A'|'2017-04-11T22:40:00.000+03:00' 'f95c9d4e2c97f4ffcb36b288d2e2ebc8325daaed'|'Islamic fintech firm becomes first to get UK regulatory approval'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 7:04am BST Islamic fintech firm becomes first to get UK regulatory approval By Jemima Kelly - LONDON LONDON A London-based Islamic financial technology start-up has become the first company of its kind to be given regulatory approval in the UK, as Britain seeks to position itself as a hub for both fintech and Islamic finance. Yielders, a firm that allows retail investors to get exposure to the property market with as little as 100 pounds, became the first Islamic fintech firm to be given full authorisation by Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority earlier this month. Its approval comes at a time when Britain is trying to hold onto its status as a global centre for finance and innovation as it severs ties with its biggest trading partner, the European Union. London has long sought to position itself as a global hub for Islamic finance, going as far as issuing a sovereign Islamic bond in 2014. Last week the Bank of England said it would develop a sharia-compliant liquidity tool for use by Islamic banks, underscoring efforts to attract business from the Middle East and South East Asia. Britain has also in recent years pushed itself as a centre for fintech, and was ranked as the global number one fintech hub by consultancy EY in a report last year. Yielders founding director Irfan Khan said that in conversations over the past two years with the FCA and the Department for International Trade, it had become clear that the UK government wanted to make Britain a premier destination for Islamic fintech. "They (the UK government) believe that outside the Middle East, the UK is the capital of fintech for Islamic finance," he said. "There’s certainly movement in the UK to try to promote Islamic fintech, and for fintech firms in the UK to show the route forward for a lot of the Middle Eastern market." Yielders also had to get approval from Britain''s Islamic Finance Council, which asked a sheikh, Abu Eesa, to certify that the company''s business practices were compliant with sharia law. That included certifying that there was no borrowing or nothing that could be construed as gambling involved. Those restrictions, Khan said, often made Islamic finance uncompetitive in a country like Britain where Islam is a minority religion. "That’s why we decided to start on this fintech journey, because we could mitigate against all of that by driving down the costs and removing all the back-office stuff by having a fintech solution," he said. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-islamic-fintech-idUKKBN17C0FM'|'2017-04-10T14:04:00.000+03:00' 'd838ab36ad60ce0624aff4e0d28e768ab8365288'|'Foxconn could bid up to $27 billion for Toshiba''s chip business - Bloomberg'|'Technology Photos - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 8:32pm IST Foxconn could bid up to $27 billion for Toshiba''s chip business - Bbg FILE PHOTO: Foxconn''s computer motherboards are seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo Taiwan''s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) has indicated that it may pay as much as 3 trillion yen ($26.99 billion) for Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip business, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. South Korea''s SK Hynix Inc ( 000660.KS ) and chipmaker Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ) have submitted preliminary bids for the business, valued at 2 trillion yen ($17.98 billion) or more, according to the report. ( bloom.bg/2nSPHxE ) Toshiba, the second-biggest NAND chip producer after South Korea''s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ), is considering selling the majority - or all - of its marquee flash-memory chip business, as it seeks to make up for a $6.3 billion writedown from its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse. Toshiba and Japanese government officials are planning to look for offers led by Japanese buyers, though no bids have emerged yet, the report said. Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, which is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said in March the company was "definitely bidding" for Toshiba''s chip business. Foxconn, which is the world''s largest contract electronics maker, Toshiba, SK Hynix and Broadcom were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-m-a-foxconn-idINKBN17C1P0'|'2017-04-10T22:56:00.000+03:00' 'e9d41fcb70eb83e2f7baa8028496a839d92d23fd'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 10'|'Company 46am EDT UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 10 (Adds company news items, futures) April 10 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 8 points at 7,357 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.1 percent ahead of the cash market open. * ANGLO AMERICAN: Miner Anglo American said on Monday it would sell its Eskom-tied domestic thermal coal operations in South Africa to a unit of Seriti Resources Holdings for 2.3 billion rand ($166.43 million). * BARCLAYS: British regulators are investigating Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays , and the bank itself over a whistleblowing incident, the bank said on Monday. * RIO TINTO: Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd , said on Sunday it paid $4 billion in taxes and royalties globally in 2016, a 12 percent drop on 2015 that primarily reflected lower earnings. * CAPITAL & COUNTIES: British property developer Capital & Counties said on Friday it has sold its exhibition business for 296 million pounds ($367 mln) to a group of institutional investors. * SKY PLC: The European Commission cleared Rupert Murdoch to take over pay-TV group Sky on Friday, leaving a British investigation into the impact on the country''s media landscape as the only remaining hurdle for the $14.5 billion deal. * EXPERIAN: Credit bureau Experian Plc has joined forces with technology firm BioCatch to use behavioral biometrics to help its clients spot fraudsters applying for credit cards and other lending products online, the companies said on Friday. * GREEN INVESTMENT BANK: Australian investment bank Macquarie looked set to acquire Britain''s Green Investment Bank (GIB) after a court rejected the claim of a rival bidder on Friday. * BRITAIN EMISSION: Britain''s automotive industry body defended diesel cars on Monday, as the government prepares to announce proposals for improving air quality which could follow London in making it more expensive to use the most polluting vehicles. * EUROPEAN INSURERS: Brexit and political uncertainty in Europe are likely to depress merger activity among European insurers this year, after a steep decline in deals in 2016, ratings agency AM Best said on Monday. * The UK blue chip index was up 0.6 percent at 7,349.37 points at its close on Friday as oil stocks extended gains, bucking a broader risk-off move across markets after a U.S. cruise missile strike in Syria. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HI2D6'|'2017-04-10T14:46:00.000+03:00' '80aa12982fdb47eaae856fca27651b90e8cde0f6'|'Spotify executive was killed in Stockholm attack - Apr. 10, 2017'|'A Spotify executive was killed in the Stockholm attack on Friday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote in a Facebook post. Chris Bevington was based in the company''s Stockholm office and was the director of global partnerships and business development, according to his LinkedIn page. He was a UK citizen. "Chris has been a member of our band for over 5 years. He has had a great impact on not just the business but on everyone who had the privilege to know and work with him," Ek wrote in the post on Sunday. "There are no words for how missed he will be or for how sad we all are to have lost him like this." Ek said he was "deeply saddened and upset" that the attack happened in Sweden. "The only light in this deeply tragic moment is the outpouring of love, compassion and solidarity that we have seen from everyone. And that was exactly the kind of person Chris was as well," Ek said. Spotify, which is headquartered in Stockholm, said it was not commenting beyond Ek''s post. Related: Dazed but defiant, Stockholm unites after attack Bevington was among four killed in the attack on Friday, which also left a dozen people injured, after a stolen truck plowed into pedestrians on a busy Stockholm street. A 39-year-old suspect from Uzbekistan has been arrested . "We are all devastated by the untimely and tragic death of our talented, compassionate and caring son Chris," John Bevington, the victim''s father, said in a statement. "A wonderful husband, son, father, brother and close friend to many." CNNMoney (New York) First published April 10, 2017: 11:52 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/10/technology/spotify-executive-stockholm-attack/index.html'|'2017-04-10T20:20:00.000+03:00' '1f333421f40303ac4bd61159702729928a34e57d'|'Google offers at least $880 million to LG display for OLED investment - Electronic Times'|' 10:27am IST Google offers at least $880 million to LG display for OLED investment - Electronic Times FILE PHOTO: A Google logo is seen in a store in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo SEOUL Google Inc has offered to invest at least 1 trillion won ($880.29 million) to help South Korea''s LG Display Co Ltd boost output of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for smartphones, the Electronic Times reported on Monday citing unnamed sources. The paper said Google offered the investment to secure a stable supply of flexible OLED screens for its next Pixel smartphones. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd''s flagship Galaxy smartphones use the bendable displays, while Apple Inc is expected to start using them in at least some of its next iPhones. LG Display declined to comment, while Google could not be immediately reached for comment. ($1 = 1,135.9900 won)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/google-lg-display-idINKBN17C0CQ'|'2017-04-10T12:57:00.000+03:00' '812ddd39e6e2111520c6738851693e9f6928dc81'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises with energy stocks as oil prices gain'|'Company 23am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises with energy stocks as oil prices gain (Adds details on specific stocks, updates prices) * TSX up 15.93 points, or 0.1 percent, at 15,683.06 * Five of the TSX''s 10 main groups move higher TORONTO, April 10 Canada''s main stock index was barely higher in morning trade on Monday, helped by energy stocks as the price of oil rose, while miners broadly weighed. The heavyweight energy group climbed 1.2 percent, with Canadian Natural Resources Ltd adding 1.6 percent to C$45.33 and Encana Corp up 2.2 percent at C$15.89, as a shutdown at Libya''s largest oilfield and political tensions in the Middle East supported prices. At 10:01 a.m. ET (1401 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was up 15.93 points, or 0.1 percent, at 15,683.06. Five of the index''s 10 main groups were in positive territory. The stock market operator, TMX Group Ltd, rose 0.5 percent to C$70.96 after China''s state-owned clearing house said on Saturday that it will work with the company to expedite cross-border investments. Financial stocks were barely higher overall, as data showed housing starts jumped far more than expected in March. Toronto-Dominion Bank gained 0.3 percent to C$66.42 and insurer Manulife Financial Corp rose 0.4 percent to C$23.40. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.4 percent, as gold prices slipped from a five-month high on a stronger U.S. dollar, demand concerns weighed on copper, and other industrial metals also fell. Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd lost 0.9 percent to C$59.26 and Goldcorp Inc declined 0.6 percent to C$19.65. Shares of Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc slid 7.7 percent to C$39.58 after a bank cut its rating on the stock. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL1N1HI0MA'|'2017-04-10T22:23:00.000+03:00' 'c9b70cae6e0a4f2f9872636a04a8d44e976567dd'|'Warm weather and late Easter expected to boost high street spending - Business'|'UK high streets are expected to be busy this Easter weekend, with forecasters predicting an increase in the number of people going out to spend money on food and drink. Mild spring weather and the fact that the bank holiday weekend falls not long after March’s payday, are expected to lead to an 8.8% increase in the number of shoppers on the high street, according to the latest footfall predictions from retail analyst Springboard. In total, footfall to all outlets, including retail parks, is expected to be up by 5.4% year on year, in contrast to a 1.9% fall over Easter 2016.Springboard director Diane Wehrle said: “Last year Easter took place on 25 March, a few days in advance of national payday for many shoppers. This combined with poor weather, impacted footfall, which declined across retail destinations from Easter Saturday onwards.”She added: “Mild spring weather is forecast for this Easter, which falls after the national payday. This strongly indicates that more shoppers will visit retail destinations over the weekend compared with last year.”Springboard said retail footfall was up by 1.2% in March following six months of decline, but there was a move towards evening spending at food and drink outlets as shoppers prioritised experiences over goods. It said while, historically, 25% of sales in stores over the long Easter weekend were made in fashion retailers and 10% were at food and beverage outlets, this year it expected the figures to move towards 20% and 15% respectively.Separate figures from Visa show a modest rise in household spending in March, with the increase of 1% year on year slightly below February’s figure of 1.6%. However, while spending on household goods, and clothing and footwear was down, spending on recreation and culture was up by 7.2%, while hotels saw a 4% boost.Sharp rise in UK food prices inflates household shopping bill Read more Springboard said its prediction that high streets would be busy over the holiday period was “a reflection of their resilience over the year to date; their adaptability and diverse hospitality offering means they are able to expand and respond to trends more quickly than retail parks and shopping centres”.However, online sales will continue to grow much more rapidly than visits to retailers, with ecommerce data firm PCA Predict forecasting a 17% increase in transactions over the four-day weekend. Visa’s figures also underlined the shift towards online shopping, with virtual retailers recording a 8.2% increase in spending in March, while the high street reported a 1.3% fall.Chris Harle at PCA Predict said Easter Monday was typically one of the busiest days of the year for online shopping, and this year was unlikely to be different. He said customers were increasingly using mobile phones and tablets to do their shopping, and these channels were expected to account for 49% of online purchases over the weekend. “With good weather in sight, it is likely that mobile shoppers will continue to make purchases out in the sunshine via smartphone or tablet ... We are also likely to see consistent mobile usage throughout the day, including over the dinner table, with few dramatic spikes.”Topics Retail industry Economics Easter Online shopping news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/10/warm-weather-and-late-easter-expected-to-boost-high-street-spending'|'2017-04-10T15:01:00.000+03:00' 'face0691d54d936143755248c04f91b748e7f523'|'Japan''s Renesas keen on acquisitions, may issue shares to build warchest: CEO'|'TOKYO Japanese automotive chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp is hungry for more acquisitions amid a wave of megamergers in the industry and may need to issue equity shares sometime in the future to build its warchest, its CEO said on Monday."The fragmented (automotive chip) market will be eventually consolidated into some dominant players" posing a long-term threat to Renesas, currently the world''s No. 3, Renesas chief executive Bunsei Kure told reporters.NXP Semiconductors NV, the industry leader, has agreed to be acquired by Qualcomm Inc in a $47 billion deal to retain its lead in the fast-growing automotive chips market.And more recently, Intel Corp agreed to buy Israeli autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye for $15.3 billion.Kure said Renesas, which bought U.S. chipmaker Intersil Corp for $3.2 billion this year, is constantly reviewing its list of potential acquisition targets, comprising around several dozen names in fields such as sensors and security.To be ready for major acquisitions, Kure said the company would probably need to raise capital by issuing shares "at some point" in the future. "We want to be prepared to move when necessary," he said.According to data research firm IHS, Renesas had an automotive chip market share of 9.0 percent in 2016, ranking after NXP with 12.6 percent and Infineon Technologies with 9.5 percent.(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-renesas-m-a-idINKBN17C0MA'|'2017-04-10T05:19:00.000+03:00' '9c5881cd87a6bae7a56688cc79a1f5aa7eee5626'|'British regulators investigate Barclays CEO Staley over whistleblowing'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 2:41am EDT British regulators investigate Barclays CEO Staley over whistleblowing Chief executive officer of Barclays, Jes Staley, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson LONDON British regulators are investigating Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays ( BARC.L ), and the bank itself over a whistleblowing incident, the bank said on Monday. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority are looking into an attempt by Staley last year to identify the author of a letter that was treated by Barclays Bank Plc as a whistleblowing incident, Barclays said in a statement. The regulators are also looking at Barclays'' systems and controls and culture relating to whistleblowing, the bank added. A separate investigation by the board of Barclays has found that Staley made an error. The board will issue a formal written reprimand to Staley and cut his pay, but will support his reappointment at the bank''s annual general meeting on May 10, the statement said. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-barclays-investigation-idUSKBN17C0IU'|'2017-04-10T14:41:00.000+03:00' 'e26929a410bf5c8fb4e7a059e012566ce71005a0'|'Elliott plan for BHP Billiton OK in principle, may be complex - Aberdeen'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 12:27pm BST Elliott plan for BHP Billiton OK in principle, may be complex - Aberdeen FILE PHOTO: A logo for mining company BHP Billiton adorns a sign outside the Perth Convention Centre where their annual general meeting was being held in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo LONDON The second-biggest shareholder in mining company BHP Billiton ( BLT.L ) said an overhaul of the company''s structure suggested by activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors was OK in principle but may prove complex. "(The) principle is OK. Detail and resultant uplift to shareholders might be more complex/less obvious," said Aberdeen Asset Management''s Head of Equities Hugh Young in emailed comments. Earlier on Monday, Elliott said it had sent a letter to BHP Billiton directors outlining a plan to unlock value by scrapping the mining giant''s dual-corporate structure, demerging its oil business and rejigging its capital return policy. Aberdeen is the second-biggest investor in the firm''s London-listed shares, with a holding worth $1.3 billion, Thomson Reuters data showed. (Reporting by Simon Jessop and Barbara Lewis; editing by Carolyn Cohn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-shareholders-aberdeen-idUKKBN17C17L'|'2017-04-10T19:27:00.000+03:00' '3c90383b7bbc07a4ac7fa0fcce0bc746e23decc1'|'European regulators offer Brexit sweeteners to investment banks'|' 2:11pm BST European regulators offer Brexit sweeteners to investment banks FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are illuminated with a giant euro sign at the start of the ''''Luminale, light and building'''' event in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo By Huw Jones , Rachel Armstrong and Jesús Aguado - LONDON/MADRID LONDON/MADRID A gap in EU financial rules is allowing member countries to compete to host the trading operations of London-based investment banks after Brexit by offering looser regulatory standards. The European Central Bank is the euro zone''s banking supervisor but, under EU law, does not have direct responsibility for the divisions of banks that conduct most of their market trading – broker-dealers – even though they are some of the most complex and riskiest parts of their businesses. This is largely because when the ECB became responsible for euro zone supervision in 2014 the bulk of broker-dealers were in London and therefore not under its purview. This means banks now looking to relocate these operations, to continue to trade continental securities after Britain leaves the EU, will have businesses approved and supervised by the national markets regulator of whichever country they move to. Countries hoping to lure banks to their financial centres after Brexit are offering differing regulatory standards, raising fears at the ECB that they could be subject to light touch supervision and undermining its aim of making financial regulation consistent across the bloc. Such inconsistencies mean broker-dealers trading the same markets in Europe could be subject to different regulatory requirements and raise the prospect that some would take on more risks than other regulators would deem appropriate. "Regardless of balance sheet size, it''s currently the national regulators who will have the authority to approve and regulate the broker-dealers. That is raising concerns of inconsistencies emerging," said Vishal Vedi a partner at Deloitte who is advising banks on how they will need to reorganise as a result of Brexit. Across the euro zone, the likes of Frankfurt, Dublin, Luxembourg and Madrid are vying to lure banks, hoping to benefit from the tax revenues and jobs they would bring. Regulation is one way to differentiate themselves. One area in focus is the extent to which national regulators will allow broker-dealers to conduct "back-to-back" trading. This is where a bank would conduct trades - for example, buying European securities - out of its EU base but process and risk manage the transactions at its London office. This would minimise the and number of people a bank would have to move to Europe after Brexit as much of the trading and risk could continue to be overseen in London. But it would mean regulators in that country and the wider euro zone would not have supervisory control over the people and units that are conducting the trading and managing the risks, with minimal amounts of capital held locally at the EU unit. SPAIN, GERMANY Spain''s markets regulator CNMV has said it wants to make Madrid "the most appealing option for investment firms considering a move from the UK to another EU country". According to people advising investment banks on where to move, CNMV has said it would consider allowing broker-dealers to back-to-back 100 percent of their trades. Other regulators have also said they would allow some back-to-back trading, although will require a portion of the trades to be managed locally, those people said. "We can look into it, but we will see how this plays out and what the regulatory framework will look like in two years'' time," a CNMV spokesman said when asked whether it would allow 100 percent back-to-back trading. CNMV said in December that while it wanted to be the most welcoming place in Europe for UK financial firms, it would not accept "totally empty shells" or breaches to EU securities rules. Germany''s regulator Bafin has meanwhile said it would consider the limited and temporary use of back-back arrangements, according to an official there, but has indicated that it would expect banks to eventually establish a substantial operation in the country. The approach by some regulators to Brexit has created resentment among some countries. Last month Ireland complained to the European Commission that it was being undercut by rival cities competing to host financial firms looking for a European Union base outside London after Brexit. The EU''s European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has been studying ways to limit unfair competition among the bloc''s national securities regulators. It declined to comment for this article. So far, banks are showing no signs of flocking to Madrid, citing other factors such as Spain''s relatively low sovereign credit rating as a reason not to go there. Countries are also diverging in how banks'' risk models for their broker dealers would be assessed, with some saying they would be approved immediately if they were to use the same model to the one they use in Britain. "Regulators differ in their approach to risk models – particularly around the level of reliance that they will be prepared to place on models which have already been approved in the existing UK entity and the amount of pre-assessment they will do themselves," said Deloitte''s Vedi. BANKS WARY Most banks - publicly at least - have yet to make a final decision on where they plan to set up their broker dealers after Brexit, and executives say they are sceptical about whether they will be allowed to use workarounds like back-to-back in the long term. "We do suspect that following Brexit, there will be constant pressure by the EU not to ''outsource'' services to the United Kingdom but to continue to move people and capabilities into EU subsidiaries," JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders on Tuesday. The ECB has warned banks that if they try to cut corners by asking for back-to-back deals, they will be disappointed. But currently it does not have the legal authority to oversee broker-dealers, though sources say it is quietly trying to put pressure on countries they think are offering lower standards. The ECB declined to comment on Spain or ''back-to-back'' arrangements more broadly, but instead pointed to previous comments by its officials. Sabine Lautenschlaeger, an ECB executive board member, expressed her concerns on the issue in March when she said there could be changes to EU laws to bring broker-dealers under the ECB''s supervision. "Needless to say that I would certainly not accept banks booking all exposures with the euro area entity while having their risk management and internal control systems outside the euro area," she said. Regulators like CNMV are currently free to cut deals as long as they don''t breach EU securities rules, but the bloc''s regulatory landscape could change within a year or two and cast a shadow over any deals on regulation agreed now. The EU''s executive European Commission has proposed that non-EU banking firms with banking and broker-dealer operations with total assets of more than 30 billion euros in the EU, should set up an intermediate holding company inside the bloc. An intermediate holding company would come under direct ECB supervision in euro zone countries. (Additional reporting by John O''Donnell and Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-banks-idUKKBN17C1EX'|'2017-04-10T21:11:00.000+03:00' 'a066c2769b5d7cef4275250f9ddb927faf3ee761'|'PopVicenza, Veneto Banca remove major hurdle to rescue deal'|' 53pm BST PopVicenza, Veneto Banca remove major hurdle to rescue deal A Banca Popolare di Vicenza sign is seen in Rome, Italy, March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi By Valentina Za - PADUA, Italy PADUA, Italy Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have removed a big obstacle to a state bailout they have requested to stay in business by reducing the risk of shareholder lawsuits, but still face a hard task to win European Union approval for the rescue plan. Italy wants to avoid having to wind down the two regional banks because it fears that ensuing losses for creditors and major depositors would further dent confidence in its ailing banking system. The EU Commission must approve the banks'' restructuring plan to unlock state funds. The two banks said on Tuesday they would pay around 441 million euros ($469 million) to stave off potential legal action from around 121,000 investors, potentially paving the way for a bailout deal. The retail investors had their savings wiped out when two banks were rescued less than a year ago by state-sponsored, privately funded bailout fund Atlante. Since then Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, both based in Italy''s industrial north-east, have had to seek help from the state to fill a capital shortfall of up to 6.4 billion euros ($6.8 billion) identified by European Central Bank supervisors. "The two banks were a minefield before the settlement deal with shareholders," Popolare di Vicenza Chairman Gianni Mion told a news conference. "We passed the written test when the ECB declared us viable, now we have an oral exam to sit through with the European Commission ... it is very complex work ... but we are hopeful we can be granted a state recapitalisation." The two banks, which are both under investigation by magistrates over alleged misselling of their shares to retail investors, offered to repay shareholders who bought stock in the past 10 years 15 percent of their investment losses. The take-up of the offer was around 70 percent, below a target of 80 percent but enough to cut the legal risks. Popolare di Vicenza CEO Fabrizio Viola said such risks would have made it impossible for the state - or anyone else - to invest. Viola - who was brought in by Atlante to oversee a merger of the two banks - said he was working with authorities in Brussels to agree a restructuring plan that ensured the two banks could be profitable after a merger. He said it was imperative to lower a cost-to-income ratio that was now at around 100 percent but declined to give any numbers on job cuts after a report in Italian media at the weekend said the two banks may need to cut 4,000 jobs out of a total of around 11,000. "The EU wants a bank that is able to stand on its own two feet ... trade unions must understand that the situation is very, very, very serious ... we''re not optimising costs here ... survival is at stake," he said. Viola said it was too early to provide any details over the timing of the state bailout and its size. He said Atlante would discuss with the Italian Treasury and the EU Commission whether to invest more money in the banks because the fund wants to curb losses for its contributors which are the country''s leading banks and insurers. Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca posted a 2016 combined loss of 3.4 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9413 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-veneto-banks-restructuring-idUKKBN17D2AL'|'2017-04-12T01:53:00.000+03:00' '4ac69d26fd424cf508e6715e492e3d4c322ec70d'|'IAG to expand low-cost transatlantic flights after strong start'|' 11pm BST IAG to expand low-cost transatlantic flights after strong start LONDON IAG plans to expand its new low-cost, long-haul airline Level to other European cities, after a successful first month that has seen bookings of the Barcelona-based service top 100,000. The airlines group, which owns British Airways, Iberia and Ireland''s Aer Lingus, launched Level on March 17, offering flights from Barcelona to the Americas in response to rising competition on transatlantic routes. IAG''s chief executive Willie Walsh said ticket sales in the first month had been "incredible" and the airline would be expanded over the next year. "This is just the start. In summer 2018 we will have more aircraft and will operate more destinations from Barcelona," Walsh said in a statement. "We''re also planning to expand Level operations to other European cities." Level currently has just two Airbus A330s in its fleet, but IAG is looking to expand the service to fend off low-cost transatlantic offerings from the likes of Norwegian Air Shuttle ( NWC.OL ) and Wow Air. IAG''s shares were up 3.5 percent, the second biggest rise on the FTSE 100 index, with other airlines across Europe lifted after Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) said pricing had improved and the German airline''s stock was upgraded by Exane. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iag-lowcost-idUKKBN17D1QS'|'2017-04-11T22:11:00.000+03:00' '7a3195f72941326b0bb9661a3146ce3a1af7f473'|'Nikkei up on weak yen; financials outperform on rising U.S. yields'|'TOKYO, April 10 Japan''s Nikkei share average rose on Monday as comments from a U.S. central banker lifted the dollar against the yen, bolstering exporter stocks, while rising U.S. yields helped financial stocks outperform.The Nikkei gained 0.7 percent to 18,797.88, bouncing back further from Friday''s four-month low.Yet, in a sign of fragile market sentiment, it posted so-called "black candlestick", which means the market closed below its opening price, for eight sessions in a row.That is the longest such streak under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose policy centres on boosting share and other asset prices through aggressive stimulus.The broader Topix rose 0.7 percent to 1,499.65, led by 1.5 percent gains in banks.New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley on Friday said there may only be a "little pause" in the central bank''s rate hike plans this year. This contrasted with market interpretations of earlier comments that there may be a more significant delay in Fed tightening this year as it looks to shrink its balance sheet. (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team; Editing by Sam Holmes and Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idINL3N1HI22T'|'2017-04-10T04:35:00.000+03:00' 'c8842b76f8a4751d321a017af7935a329c0fd50c'|'Indian state refiners to revise fuel price in 5 cities daily from May 1, sources say'|'NEW DELHI India''s state-owned fuel retailers plan to implement daily revision of fuel price in five cities from May 1 ahead of a nationwide roll out of the scheme, industry sources said.To begin with, daily revision of fuel prices will be implemented in Puducherry and Vizag in southern India, Udaipur in the West, Jamshedpur in the East and Chandigarh in the North, they said.State refiners currently revise fuel prices every fortnight to reflect volatility in the currency and global oil markets.State refiners - Indian Oil Corp ( IOC.NS ), Bharat Petroleum Corp ( BPCL.NS ) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp ( HPCL.NS ) - operate 90 percent of the retail outlets in the country.The three have upto 200 fuel stations in the five cities, the sources said.The roll out of "daily dynamic pricing" in five cities will help them identify the problems ahead of a nationwide roll out of the scheme later this year, the sources, who did not wish to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said.No immediate comment was available from the state refiners.Indian private fuel retailers - Reliance Industries ( RELI.NS ) and Essar Oil - are expected to follow their state peers, the sources added.(Reporting by Malini Menon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-fuel-companies-idINKBN17E0CR'|'2017-04-12T02:53:00.000+03:00' 'eb2a5ce07ea64d84ba8f451d0f4aea1776a922ee'|'Oil prices rise on prospect that Saudi Arabia seeking output cut extension'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 2:24am BST Oil prices rise on prospect that Saudi Arabia seeking output cut extension FILE PHOTO: A pump jack is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose on Wednesday, putting crude futures on track for their longest streak of gains since August 2016, as Saudi Arabia was reported to be lobbying OPEC and other producers to extend a production cut beyond the first half of 2017. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $56.40 per barrel at 0117 GMT, up 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close, their highest since early March. If Wednesday''s price rises hold, they would mark the seventh straight daily increase. That would beat a six-day bull-run from August 2016, although the price jump then was 17.5 percent versus a 6 percent rise in the current rally of consecutive rises. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $53.56 a barrel, also their highest level since early last month. Traders said that the price rises were a result of reports that Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), had told other producers that it wanted to extend a coordinated production cut beyond the first half of the year. OPEC and other producers, including Russia, have pledged to cut output by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year in an effort to rein in global oversupply and prop up prices. While compliance from some participants has been patchy, Saudi Arabia has made significant cuts, with production PRODN-SA down 4.5 since the end of last year, despite a slight increase in March to 9.98 million bpd. "Saudi Arabian production reduction appears to be ahead of forecast and gave oil a boost," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. Despite this, there are still some concerns that oil markets remain bloated and oversupplied, especially in the United States where both production and inventories are surging. U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA has risen by 9 percent since mid-2016 to 9.2 million bpd, resulting in a surge in commercial inventories to a record 535.5 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA. The latest U.S. oil production and inventory data will be published later on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17E04V'|'2017-04-12T09:23:00.000+03:00' '058a2bf1c4df10cc08f1d81f7e5407abe3573576'|'China''s Fosun plans to buy stake in Russia''s Polyus: Interfax'|'MOSCOW China''s Fosun International Ltd ( 0656.HK ) plans to sign an agreement to buy a stake in Russia''s largest gold producer Polyus ( PLZL.MM ), Interfax news agency Quote: d Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying on Wednesday.He did not provide further details on the deal. Sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in November that Fosun was in exclusive talks to buy a large minority stake in Polyus.Shuvalov also said that aluminum giant Rusal ( 0486.HK ) could soon announce the placement of the second tranche of its Chinese yuan-denominated bond, known as a Panda bond. Rusal placed its first tranche of the Panda bond in March.(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-fosun-russia-idINKBN17E2HU'|'2017-04-12T16:47:00.000+03:00' 'cce633c562abde3709ebb2fcf75ccf570fb3c66e'|'Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone'|' 40am BST Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 1/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 2/16 left right A man stands next to tombs in the field on the outskirts of Rongcheng county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 3/16 left right A worker packs pipelines onto a truck at a local plastic pipe factory in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture take on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 4/16 left right A woman is carried by a motor tricycle on a main road in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 5/16 left right A woman and a girl walk toward the government building of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 6/16 left right A local villager drives a vehicle carrying building materials in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 7/16 left right A local villager is pictured on the back of a vehicle in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 8/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 9/16 left right A banner supporting the government''s decision of banning new property sales is placed outside a closed sales office of a property in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 10/16 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 11/16 left right A banner warning illegal land occupancy is placed on a wall in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 12/16 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 13/16 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng (C) speaks to Reuters about his idea for the new special economic zone in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 14/16 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng drives a motor tricycle carrying his friends on a main road in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 15/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 16/16 By Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn - XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING Like many residents of Xiongxian county, a polluted corner of Hebei province, 17-year-old Liu Zipeng has been giddy with excitement since China announced plans this month for a vast new economic zone backed by President Xi Jinping himself. "I am so happy - I don''t need to move to Beijing or worry about getting a wife anymore," Liu said with a laugh. Such are the hopes for the area, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, that authorities quickly banned property sales to quash a speculative frenzy. While China has set high expectations by touting the Xiongan New Area as a successor to zones in Shenzhen and Shanghai that helped make China an economic powerhouse, the force of Xi''s endorsement could help it flourish where other new development areas failed to match the hype. In a sign of Beijing''s intent, Xu Qin, the former mayor and Communist party boss for Shenzhen, was named acting governor of Hebei province on Friday, with analysts saying it is likely he will be tapped to lead development of Xiongan. Once a sleepy fishing village, Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, became an economic juggernaut after being declared a special economic zone in 1980. Details for Xiongan, planned eventually to stretch across 2,000 square kilometers, an area almost as big as Tokyo, remain sketchy. It is pitched as an environmentally friendly city housing some of Beijing''s relocated "non-capital functions", with hopes to attract high-tech industries. Nearly 30 large state enterprises including PetroChina ( 601857.SS ) and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp have expressed interest, though no specific relocation plans have been announced. The three counties that make up the area, Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng, are home to about a million people as well as wheat fields, light manufacturing and heavy pollution - endemic in much of Hebei. But unlike Shenzhen and Shanghai''s Pudong, the development of Xiongan is not expected to be accompanied by major economic reforms, and its landlocked setting is a transportation disadvantage. "Natural market forces would probably not have chosen this place. But if the central government backs it with unlimited resources, it could become whatever it wants to be," said Steven McCord, head of research for North China at real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The plan fits into a broader regional integration push for the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province, dubbed Jing-Jin-Ji, which has been spearheaded by Xi since 2015 to tackle the "big city disease" plaguing Beijing, a crowded and polluted city of 22 million. But Jing-Jin-Ji''s progress has been slower than hoped. "It''s been hard to get traction getting Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to work together seamlessly," McCord said. Xiongan could be a political and geographical "clean slate" to generate more jobs and economic stimulus for North China, he said. Xi himself visited Anxin county in late February, which only became public when China announced plans for Xiongan on April 1. Morgan Stanley''s base scenario foresees 133 billion yuan ($19.3 billion) in additional fixed asset investment annually over 15 years to build Xiongan, equivalent to just 0.24 percent of China''s 56.2 trillion yuan of nationwide fixed asset investment last year. (To view a graphic on on China''s economic zones, click tmsnrt.rs/2oPQVeV ) MIXED RECORD While the Shenzhen and Shanghai economic zones thrived, some similar schemes in China have fallen short of expectations. Caofeidian, also in Hebei, was promoted by former President Hu Jintao as a new industrial zone in 2008, but development foundered as debt accumulated. Authorities have been trying to give Caofeidian another push to upgrade its industries to become a driver of Jing-Jin-Ji''s integration, but competition among provinces has been a drag on progress. "Caofeidian had central government support, but it was a long way from being a national-level special economic zone. Its importance was definitely not at the same level that Xiongan is seeing now," said He Jun, head of macroeconomic research at Anbound Consulting. "Xiongan''s biggest advantage is that it has strong support from the central government." He remains doubtful that Xiongan will emulate Shanghai or Shenzhen due to its geography and the greater openness of China''s economy now, but the political leadership seems intent on making it succeed. Among the architects of the new project is Xu Kuangdi, the mayor of Shanghai in the late 90s who also heads the advisory committee for Jing-Jin-Ji. The leadership make-up is intended to ensure Xiongan would "escape past failures", said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University''s Chong Yang Institute for Financial Studies. Not everyone in Anxin is cheered by the prospect. An Anxin restaurant owner in her 50s surnamed Liu said she checks social media constantly for updates, as she fears being forced out of the spacious villa built on her farmland. "I don''t think it is necessarily a good thing for me. Our lives are pretty good right now." Down a street next to fields of withered wheat, workers loaded a truck with plastic pipes, a major local industry. "The establishment of the new zone for sure will limit us further as we do pollute the environment to some degree," said Zhao Xiaodong, owner of Jitong Plastic. But most locals are optimistic. "If president Xi thinks it will be the next Shenzhen and Shanghai, then it will be," said Mrs Shi, a shop worker in Xiongxian. ($1 = 6.8998 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Additional reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Tony Munroe and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-xiongan-idUKKBN17E0TW'|'2017-04-12T16:23:00.000+03:00' 'bdeb31f45211989ae21e2ed6cd536a9ebea1a25a'|'Brexit blow to workers as real pay starts to fall again - business live - Business'|'Commuters walk over London Bridge in central London. Inflation outpaced wage growth in February, official figures are expected to show Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Angela Monaghan Wednesday 12 April 2017 08.10 BST First published on Wednesday 12 April 2017 07.40 BST Key events Show 7.40am BST 07:40 The agenda: Falling real pay and Tesco sales growth returns 8.00am BST 08:00 Tesco reaction: healthy recovery continues Live feed Show 8.00am BST 08:00 Tesco reaction: healthy recovery continues Tesco’s results were better than City analysts expected, with a 30% jump in operating profit to £1.28bn in the year to the end of February. Under chief executive Dave Lewis, the supermarket’s UK chain delivered its first full year of growth since 2009-10, with like-for-like sales (at stores open for more than a year), up 0.9%. Like other chains, Tesco has been losing shoppers to the discounters Aldi and Lidl.Phil Dorrell , partner at the consultancy Retail Remedy , said it was a good result for Lewis, who is trying to push through a £3.7bn takeover of Booker, the cash-and-carry group behind the Londis and Budgens chains .Dorrell said:It’s a far cry from the £4bn Tesco earned 5 years ago but it is still a very healthy improvement on last years profit. The multi-pronged strategy adopted by Dave Lewis is working on all counts and just needs the Booker deal signed for a full house. Tesco is a retailer with its finger on the pulse. A clear sense of direction and a team that is fuelling the engine will be giving the competition cause for concern.Retail Vision’s John Ibbotson goes further, saying Tesco’s “fairytale recovery” continues:Tesco’s fairy-tale recovery story continues. And at a time of cut-throat competition, it is all the more impressive. In his relatively short tenure, Dave Lewis has turned a thoroughly demoralised business into one with a clear sense of direction.Dave Lewis has achieved this turnaround by returning the company to the basics of retail: pricing to match the UK discounters, new and simplified product ranges, better customer service and regained customer trust in Tesco. He has also improved the relationship with suppliers and that’s no small achievement. Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 7.45am BST 07:45 European markets are expected to open higher this morning. Here is what traders are predicting at spread betting firm IG:IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) Our European opening calls: $FTSE 7372 +0.09%$DAX 12169 +0.24%$CAC 5109 +0.14% $IBEX 10430 +0.13% $MIB 20151 +0.21%April 12, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 7.40am BST 07:40 The agenda: Falling real pay and Tesco sales growth returns Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business. The Brexit-related squeeze in living standards is on, official figures on wage growth are expected to show at 9.30am.Pay growth including bonuses is expected to slow to 2.2% in the three months to February, from 2.4% previously. Regular pay growth, excluding bonuses is expected to come in at 2.1%.Either way, that would be below February’s inflation rate of 2.3%, signalling a return to falling real pay for UK workers who are just about recovering living standards after the blow dealt by the financial crisis.After the 2008 crash, inflation outpaced pay growth for six years.Inflation is rising as the sharp fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote drives up the cost of imported goods and increasingly feeds through to shop prices.The figures from the Office for National Statistics are also expected to show the unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%. We’ll bring you all the details and reaction.In the corporate world, the big news this morning is from Tesco . The UK’s biggest supermarket chain has achieved its first year of sales growth in seven years, with profits back above £1bn.Read our full story here:Tesco profits top £1bn in first full-year sales growth for seven years Read more Updated at 8.10am BST Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close Topics Business Business live Family finances UK unemployment and employment statistics Inflation Tesco Economics '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2017/apr/12/brexit-blow-to-workers-as-real-pay-starts-to-fall-again-business-live'|'2017-04-12T16:10:00.000+03:00' '5b2041e665e393a597c2ca660ea3055e66a694f3'|'Siemens Netherlands employee suspected of spying for Chinese rival'|'Business News - Fri Apr 7, 2017 - 5:32am EDT Siemens Netherlands employee suspected of spying for Chinese rival FILE PHOTO: Siemens logo is pictured at Siemens Healthineers headquarters in Erlangen near Nuremberg, Germany, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle AMSTERDAM The man arrested by Dutch police on suspicion of industrial espionage as he attempted to leave for China on Thursday was an employee of Siemens Netherlands, the company told Reuters. "I can confirm that a Siemens Netherlands employee was arrested by police yesterday for questioning by the authorities," spokesman Leo Freriks said on Friday, adding that the investigation was directed "at the employee and not Siemens as a company". Freriks was unable to say what field the 65-year-old, suspected of spying for a Chinese rival, had been working in. (Reporting By Thomas Escritt) Weak crude oil stunts U.S. energy IPOs, boosts outlook for M&A LONDON/NEW YORK The stream of U.S. energy companies going public at the start of 2017 has dried up on concerns over the future direction of oil prices, but private buyers seeking mergers and acquisitions are ready to take advantage of the volatility to secure cheap deals. On trial for bribery, Samsung boss lets lawyers do the talking SEOUL The third-generation leader of South Korea''s top conglomerate was mostly silent at his first court appearance in what has been called the "trial of the century," as his lawyers labored to portray him as an innocent bystander in a graft scandal. WASHINGTON U.S. job growth likely slowed in March after unseasonably mild weather boosted hiring over the prior two months, but the pace of gains should underscore the economy''s strength despite a recent slowdown in economic growth. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-netherlands-china-siemens-idUSKBN1791CI'|'2017-04-07T17:32:00.000+03:00' '4ee8ad06b040b58de9a1484a1f0f91e66ab7aa68'|'Exclusive: Intrawest nears sale to private equity-backed group - sources'|'Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc ( SNOW.N ), the owner of some of the most popular ski resorts in North America, will announce its sale on Monday to a ski resort operator backed by buyout firm KSL Capital Partners LLC, people familiar with the matter said.The value of the deal could not be established, though it is expected to come at a premium to Intrawest''s $1 billion market capitalization. It underscores the financial appeal of some ski resorts despite concerns over the impact of climate change.KSL is backing a ski resort operator whose identity could not immediately be learned. The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Intrawest and KSL did not respond to requests for comment.For shareholders of Intrawest, including its largest investor, Fortress Investment Group LLC ( FIG.N ), the deal offers a chance to cash out at a high point in Intrawest''s stock market valuation.The company''s stock has almost tripled in last 12 months, in part due to an uptick in annual snowfall that translated to more visits to Intrawest''s mountain resorts. The snowy weather marked a rebound after unseasonably warm weather weighed on the company''s performance in 2015.Intrawest''s best known ski properties include Stratton Mountain in Vermont, Mont Tremblant in Quebec and Steamboat in Colorado. It also owns mountain resorts, adventure retreats and real estate across the United States and Canada.The Denver-based company offers high-end "heli-skiing" packages, referred to as Canadian Mountain Holidays, where guests are transported by helicopter to remote locations, including lodges in the Canadian Rockies. Trips can cost $10,000.Intrawest has pushed to expand its summer resort offerings, including hikes on glaciers and mountains, as a way to even bookings outside of ski seasons.Early last year, Intrawest completed the sale of its timeshare business to Diamond Resorts International for $85 million, a move many of its peers have taken as the business has fallen out of favor among consumers.Fortress took Intrawest private in 2006 for $2.8 billion, and then took it public again in 2014.(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Carl O''Donnell and Liana B. Baker in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-intrawest-resort-m-a-vail-resorts-exc-idUSKBN17C03Z'|'2017-04-10T05:31:00.000+03:00' '1379eb00969c2ae80a0433dba5943ade08a8fc0e'|'Maersk wins conditional EU approval for Hamburg Sud takeover'|' 05pm BST Maersk wins conditional EU approval for Hamburg Sud takeover Containers are seen unloaded from the Maersk''s Triple-E giant container ship Maersk Majestic, one of the world''s largest container ships, at the Yangshan Deep Water Port, part of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in Shanghai, China, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo BRUSSELS World No. 1 shipping company Maersk Line gained EU antitrust approval on Monday for its acquisition of Hamburg Sud (HSDG) after agreeing to pull the German company out from five consortia on trade routes to address competition concerns. The bid by Maersk, part of Denmark''s A.P. Moller-Maersk ( MAERSKb.CO ), underscores the wave of mergers in an industry struggling with over-capacity and slowing global trade. Hamburg Sud will withdraw from the consortia on trade routes connecting northern Europe to central America, the west coast of South America and the Middle East, the European Commission said in a statement, confirming a Reuters story on April 7. The German company will also pull out from the trade route groups connecting the Mediterranean to the west coast of South America and the east coast of South America. Such consortia or alliances are vessel-sharing agreements where members decide jointly on capacity-setting, scheduling and ports of call. "The commitments offered by Maersk Line and HSDG will maintain a healthy level of competition to the benefit of the very many EU companies that depend on these container shipping services," European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Alastair Macdonald)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hamburgsud-m-a-maersk-eu-idUKKBN17C1UC'|'2017-04-11T00:05:00.000+03:00' 'c57e4594376b0a9a7ca48a89f7e63faf4c30cb1a'|'Goldman Sachs recommends short position on June French bond futures'|'LONDON, April 10 Goldman Sachs has recommended its clients take a short position on French government bond futures maturing in June ahead of two-round presidential elections that begin later this month."We recommend going tactically short June French futures at 147-72, for an initial target of 144.00, and stops on a close above 150.00," Goldman Sachs economists said in a note sent on Monday.The position would allow investors to take a view on duration in a market that the bank considers expensive, they added.The economists noted the effect the upcoming presidential elections could have on French government bonds.They said at a victory by either of the centrists, Francois Fillon or Emmanuel Macron, would see the French government bond yield spread over Germany fall whereas a win for either anti-establishment party - headed by Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon respectively - would see the gap increasing. (Reporting by Abhinav Ramnarayan; editing by Sujata Rao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-bonds-france-idINL8N1HI35W'|'2017-04-10T10:29:00.000+03:00' '3e3e3e775b164412603bc666a9fac152c16d2638'|'Oil surplus or scarcity? Shale makes it even harder to predict'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:42am BST Oil surplus or scarcity? Shale makes it even harder to predict By Amanda Cooper - LONDON LONDON The shale oil boom has transformed the U.S. and global energy sector to such an extent that it has upended traditional supply dynamics and made forecasts far more polarised. Investment banks, many of which finance new projects, along with oil majors such as Total and Eni, have warned that huge spending cuts caused by a plunge in oil prices since 2014 would lead to a supply crunch in the next two years. Yet Goldman Sachs, the only bank to make more than $1 billion a year from commodities trading, believes a looming recovery in U.S. output on the back of higher oil prices combined with an avalanche of new conventional projects will create a substantial surplus by 2019. Prior to the shale revolution, conventional oil was the only game in town. Estimating future supply essentially involved calculating the project pipeline and factoring in the "unknown knowns" such as political risk in oil-producing nations. The ability of the shale sector to adapt quickly and nimbly to a lower-price environment means production cycles have shortened as fields can be switched on and off in a matter of weeks. Most forecasters including OPEC and the International Energy Agency underestimated shale''s decline during the oil price collapse and its production increases as prices recovered. Goldman predicts the coming two years will see a huge burst of development, complicating OPEC''s efforts to rebalance the market and ease a global glut with the help of output cuts. "This long lead-time wave of projects and a short-cycle revival, led by U.S. shales, could create a material oversupply in 2018-19," Goldman''s equity research team said last month. "As OPEC prepares for its May 25 meeting, it is likely to weigh the relative benefit of stability (extend cut) versus the risk of long-term share loss." Goldman estimates that new projects and rising shale output could add 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to global supply by 2018-2019. The forecast contrasts with those of consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which foresees a supply gap of 20 million bpd by 2025, and Goldman''s rival Morgan Stanley, which believes a surge in U.S. production this year will not derail the rebalancing. "OPEC has successfully constrained output, and although drilling activity in U.S. shale is picking up rapidly, this will probably not come quick enough to prevent a period of sizeable inventory draws late this year," Morgan Stanley said. "By 2020, we estimate that (around) 1.5 million bpd of demand will need to come from projects that have not been sanctioned yet, but that have break-even oil prices of $70-75 a barrel," the bank said. BLACK HOLES Goldman advises anyone from institutional investors such as pension funds, to oil producers and it seems the oil market is listening. Brent crude futures show prices for oil deliverable up to 2019 trading below those for prompt delivery, before reverting to the contango structure of low prompt prices and higher futures prices that is typical of an oversupplied market. Goldman stands by its prediction that supply and demand will fall into line this year, even though global crude inventories in developed economies alone top 3 billion barrels, some 300 million barrels above the five-year average that OPEC is targeting with its supply cuts. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some of its biggest rivals including Russia, agreed in late2016 to cut output jointly by 1.8 million bpd for the first half of this year to tackle the overhang. UBS, meanwhile, sees a potential 4 million bpd hole by 2020, even though a higher crude price this year has prompted some companies to bring forward their exploration and development plans. "Beyond 2017, the impact of a collapse in longer-cycle conventional investment over 2014-16 begins to be felt. 2015 saw just six major upstream projects totalling (some) 0.6 million bpd ... versus the 3-4 million bpd average, and 2016 has seen just one major liquids project sanctioned," UBS strategist Jon Rigby said. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch points out that along with the collapse in spending, the global rig count, a measure of production activity, shows no sign of picking up outside the United States. According to oil services company Baker Hughes, the number of non-U.S. oil rigs has risen by just 29 since hitting an 11-year low of 666 in November last year, compared with a rise of 346 in U.S. rigs in just 10 months. (Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Dale Hudson; Graphics: IEA/Reuters)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-forecasting-idUKKBN17C0YA'|'2017-04-10T17:42:00.000+03:00' 'faaed073184d151f27d5914992b52dfa5ceee1ff'|'Abbott agrees to buy Alere at lower price from earlier offer'|'Deals 7:57pm BST Abbott agrees to buy Alere at lower price from earlier offer FILE PHOTO: Traders gather at the booth that trades Abbott Laboratories on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, December 10, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories ( ABT.N ) on Friday agreed to buy Alere Inc ( ALR.N ) at a lower price than it had previously offered, after raising concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in the earlier agreement. Abbott''s revised offer values Alere''s equity around $5.3 billion, down from the about $5.8 billion announced in February last year, the companies said in a statement, ending a prolonged legal battle over Abbott''s plan to acquire the diagnostic-testing company. Abbott will now pay $51 per share for Alere, compared with its earlier offer of $56. The new price was a much better outcome than what Alere''s shareholders had priced in, given that Alere''s shares closed at $42.31 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. While the new deal values Alere at 26.84 times forward earnings, Alere''s peers are on average valued at 37.9 times, according to Thomson Reuters data. The new $51 per share deal price is in the middle of the initial $49 to $53 per share range that Abbott had indicated it would be willing to pay for Alere when it first discussed an acquisition in December 2015, according to Alere''s proxy statement to its shareholders. Abbott at the time had not carried out due diligence on Alere, and subsequent negotiations led to a deal being agreed early last year. However, the deal ran into trouble within months of being announced, as Alere received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice in March last year seeking documents relating to the company''s sales practices, and delayed filing its annual report. Both the companies ended up suing each other last year, with Alere forcing Abbott to move ahead with the deal, and Abbott wanting to back out of the deal citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company. "The renegotiated price is in the realm of investor expectations and seems to reflect the impact from some of the challenges witnessed in Alere''s business over the last 12 months," Raymond James analyst Nicholas Jansen told Reuters. Alere has also delayed filing its 2016 annual report and has not yet fixed material weaknesses with respect to its revenue recognition practices disclosed in its 2015 annual report. "We think the new merger agreement now includes all of the known issues that have developed so would not expect any risk to the future of the deal unless something else emerges as of today''s date," Jansen said. Abbott and Alere said on Friday that the companies had agreed to dismiss their respective lawsuits, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2017. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Alere, which makes tests for infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue, while Abbott Park, Illinois-based Abbott sells medical devices, nutritional products and baby formula. The deal will help Abbott expand in point-of-care diagnostic testing, a market that is growing as physicians increasingly adopt rapid tests that speed up treatment. Point-of-care tests provide results to doctors in a matter of minutes and can be conducted in the physician''s office, an ambulance or even at home. The news about the revised deal was first reported by the Financial Times, citing people close to the matter. ( on.ft.com/2nLyoDG ) Up to Thursday''s close Alere shares had risen 8.6 percent this year while Abbott had increased 11.1 percent to $42.67. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Vyas Mohan, Andrea Ricci and Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-alere-m-a-abbott-idUKKBN17G0V3'|'2017-04-15T02:56:00.000+03:00' 'c291f3af803f834aeaefc29a6a074ae22b9791b5'|'Analysis - Bombardier hits cash snag on Australian train order'|'Money News - Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 9:25am IST Analysis - Bombardier hits cash snag on Australian train order A Bombardier flag flutters amidst storm clouds at the Singapore Airshow at Changi Exhibition Center February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Files By Jonathan Barrett and Allison Lampert - SYDNEY/MONTREAL SYDNEY/MONTREAL Bombardier Inc''s hopes of receiving initial payments for a A$4.4 billion contract to build 75 electric trains for Australia''s Queensland state government have been hit amid accusations of design faults. The Canadian company had expected to start booking proceeds from that deal late last year to help meet cash-flow targets. A person familiar with the company''s thinking said it had concerns over its rail division''s operational cash flow in the first quarter of this year. Delays in being paid, and the added cost of fixing any manufacturing faults, could make it harder for Bombardier Transportation to reach its 2017 revenue target of around $8.5 billion, up from $8 billion in 2016, said an industry analyst, who didn''t want to be named as he is not authorised to talk to the media. Similarly, it aims to push up its EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin slightly to about 7.5 percent. The issues with the Queensland order - ranging from braking problems to driver visibility and disability access - come on top of other hitches that have weighed on Bombardier''s rail division. Separately, a Canadian judge is poised to rule on a dispute over a C$770 million contract with Toronto''s Metrolinx system. They also come to light as Bombardier is again discussing a potential merger of its rail unit, the Montreal-based plane and train maker''s most reliable cash generator, with Germany''s Siemens, people close to the matter said this week. Siemens'' transportation business has also had product flaws in its trams, and there were delays recently in supplying high-speed trains to state-owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Claas Belling, spokesman for Germany-based Bombardier Transportation, declined to comment on specific, confidential contract terms, but said the Queensland deal is one of several hundred agreements globally. "Some may be performing better than plan, while others may lag," he said in an email to Reuters. The possible rail merger talks come as Bombardier aggressively cuts costs as part of a 5-year turnaround plan. The company considered bankruptcy in 2015 when it faced a cash crunch while bringing two jets to market, but CEO Alain Bellemare has since led a restructuring, and the company has received cash infusions from the Quebec government and Canada''s second-largest pension fund. ONE-SIDED CONTRACT It''s not clear to what extent Bombardier is responsible for the design flaws on the Queensland contract. Australia was mentioned as an example in a broad internal review of the rail division from 2015 that raised concerns about a systemic problem: at the time, the company agreed to custom-build trains to the client''s request, which is more risky and costly than offering a standard line of equipment, said another person familiar with the matter. While Bellemare, who has been CEO for a little over two years, has addressed that issue, deals signed before his time, including the 2013 Queensland contract won by a Bombardier-led consortium, are a potential drag on the company. A person with knowledge of the contract said it was one-sided in favour of the state government. It could change its mind and order planes instead, and Bombardier would probably have to pay the difference, the person quipped. Downer Group, a Sydney-headquartered engineering firm, told Reuters it decided against bidding for the Queensland order because of the "onerous" contract terms. SUSPENDED By early this year, Queensland had received 13 six-car trains, but suspended further deliveries apart from two that were already en route from Bombardier''s factory in Savli, India. The state has not yet paid any money to Bombardier. The Canadian firm is now trying to have four or five of the trains certified for use in Australia before the end of this year, two people familiar with the issue said. "There''s no funding until they get through testing and are certified," said a political source with knowledge of the contract terms, which are not public. "The issues with the trains include unsatisfactory braking, which are design flaws." Paul Bini, a spokesman for the bid consortium - which also includes Aberdeen Asset Management, UK developer John Laing and Japanese trading company Itochu Corp - said it wasn''t unusual for issues to be identified during testing, especially on large and complex projects. "All 75 New Generation Rollingstock trains are expected to be delivered and rolled-out on to the South East Queensland rail network by late-2018," he added. The Queensland government previously cited problems with the trains'' braking systems, the design of the driver cabs, which it said had inadequate visibility, and doorway disability access that did not meet Australian standards. "We are working around the clock to resolve the issues as soon as possible, without compromising safety," Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Jackie Trad told Reuters. Bini said the trains were being tested to meet safety standards, and the brake issue had been resolved. He added that feedback from rail groups and the disability sector were incorporated into the train''s design. (Reporting by Allison Lampert and Jonathan Barrett, with additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in BERLIN; Editing by Denny Thomas and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/bombardier-railways-australia-idINKBN17H03G'|'2017-04-15T11:55:00.000+03:00' 'e4dca53ef3b42efc7808f87671f18a780fcf2b7d'|'UPDATE 1-Morgan Stanley compliance chief Fenrich leaving for hedge fund'|'Big Story 10 56am EDT Morgan Stanley compliance chief Fenrich leaving for hedge fund By Liana B. Baker and Olivia Oran Morgan Stanley''s chief compliance officer Billy Fenrich is leaving the firm just over a year after being named to the position. Fenrich will be replaced by Raul Yanes, according to an internal Morgan Stanley memo reviewed by Reuters, which was confirmed by a firm spokesman. Fenrich is joining quantitative hedge fund AQR Capital Management as its chief legal officer, according to an AQR spokeswoman. Yanes was most recently a litigation partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and had also served in a number of senior positions under president George W. Bush, including staff secretary and assistant to the president and senior counselor to the attorney general. Fenrich joined Morgan Stanley''s legal department in 2014 from hedge fund PointState Capital. He was named chief compliance officer in 2016, replacing longtime compliance chief Stuart Breslow. He had also worked at Davis Polk. Compliance officers have become critical figures on Wall Street since the financial crisis, helping to ensure that bankers and traders stay out of trouble and avoid massive fines. (Reporting by Liana Baker and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-morgan-stanley-compliance-idUSKBN17E24L'|'2017-04-12T23:56:00.000+03:00' 'd94846fbac5575e410cc4e90ec64f7c472d16fa9'|'TABLE-Mexico''s Pemex sets May crude prices for international buyers'|'MEXICO CITY, April 12 Mexican state-owned oil company Pemex revised its May term pricing formulas for crude oil shipped to international customers, the company said on Wednesday. The following table lists the adjustments to price constants for sales in the Americas, the U.S. West Coast, Europe and the Far East: DESTINATION APRIL CONSTANT MAY CONSTANT AMERICAS Maya crude -3.45 -1.60 Isthmus crude +2.15 +2.40 Olmeca crude +2.65 +2.90 U.S WEST COAST Maya crude -6.15 -5.15 Isthmus crude -2.90 -1.50 EUROPE Maya crude -4.35 -2.95 Isthmus crude -2.60 -1.40 Olmeca crude -2.40 -1.20 FAR EAST Maya crude -9.40 -9.40 Isthmus crude -2.70 -2.70'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mexico-oil-idINL1N1HK18Y'|'2017-04-12T15:06:00.000+03:00' 'c9ed0e9a2ea607523cf9ccbcbe4999e482684bd3'|'Schumpeter: The University of Chicago worries about a lack of competition'|'ONE sign that monopolies are a problem in America is that the University of Chicago has just held a summit on the threat that they may pose to the world’s biggest economy. Until recently, convening a conference supporting antitrust concerns in the Windy City was like holding a symposium on sobriety in New Orleans. In the 1970s economists from the “Chicago school” argued that big firms were not a threat to growth and prosperity. Their views went mainstream, which led courts and regulators to adopt a relaxed attitude towards antitrust laws for decades.But the mood is changing. There is an emerging consensus among economists that competition in the economy has weakened significantly. That is bad news: it means that incumbent firms may not need to innovate as much, and that inequality may increase if companies can hoard profits and spend less on investment and wages. It may yet be premature to talk about a new Chicago school, but investors and bosses should pay attention to the intellectual shift, which may change American business. an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates The fear that big firms might come to dominate the economy and political life has its roots in the era of the robber barons of the 19th century. In 1911 the government broke up Standard Oil; until the 1960s regulators policed mergers with a big stick. But by the 1970s the economy was sputtering, and America Inc was losing ground to Japanese and European industry. Free-market scholars at the Chicago school argued that the pendulum had swung too far towards the state and antitrust action.They felt that regulators were intervening arbitrarily. Richard Posner, an academic who later became a judge, damningly wrote that they relied on “eclectic forays into sociology”, not hard analysis. Firms were being prevented from getting big enough to create economies of scale that could benefit consumers, argued backers of free markets. Well-run companies that naturally gained market share were being penalised for success.Over time the Chicago school’s ideas became so influential that the courts and the two antitrust regulators, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), adopted a far more favourable approach to big business. Today Mr Posner, who is 78, jokes that he became a judge in 1981 expecting to specialise in monopoly cases, but regulators stopped bringing them to court. He remains a true believer in the laissez-faire approach. But at Chicago (and elsewhere) a younger generation of scholars, including Luigi Zingales and Raghuram Rajan, are worried that competition is not as vigorous as it used to be.What has changed? The facts. The pendulum has swung heavily in favour of incumbent businesses. Their profits are abnormally high relative to GDP. Those that make a high return on capital can sustain their returns for longer, suggesting that less creative destruction is taking place. The number of new, tiny firms being born is at its lowest level since the 1970s.Two explanations are plausible. One is successive waves of mergers. When you split the economy into its 900 or so different industries, two-thirds have become more concentrated since the 1990s. Regulators may also have been captured by incumbent firms, which get cosy treatment. American companies collectively spend $3bn a year on lobbying. In regulated industries that don’t face competition from imports—health care, airlines and telecommunications—prices are at least 50% higher than in other rich countries, and returns on capital are high.The technology industry’s expansion could exacerbate the problem. An analysis by The Economist in 2016 suggested that about half the pool of abnormally high profits is being earned by tech firms. The big five platform companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—earned $93bn last year and have high market shares, for instance in search and advertising. They are innovative but sometimes behave badly. They have bought 519 firms, often embryonic rivals, in the past decade, and may stifle them. The data they gather can lock customers into their products. They may also allow firms to exert their market power “vertically” up and down the supply chain—think of Amazon using information on what consumers buy to dominate the logistics business. Investors’ sky-high valuations for the platform firms suggest they will, in aggregate, roughly triple in size.If the summit showed that there is a consensus that competition has weakened, there was little agreement on how to respond. Pessimists abound. Many antitrust technocrats plead that they have little power: bodies like the DoJ and the FTC are not meant to run the economy, but instead to enforce a body of law through courts that have become friendlier to incumbents. Some radicals argue that the government is now so rotten that America is condemned to perpetual oligarchy and inequality. Political support for more competition is worryingly hard to find. Donald Trump has a cabinet of tycoons and likes to be chummy with bosses. The Republicans have become the party of incumbent firms, not of free markets or consumers. Too many Democrats, meanwhile, don’t trust markets and want the state to smother them in red tape, which hurts new entrants.Lessons from the old schoolWhat is needed is a three-pronged approach. A campaign to drum up public backing for competition might prod politicians to act: it was popular anger about monopolies in the 1890s that led to crucial reforms in the early 20th century. The technocrats have more power than they admit. Antitrust laws, such as the Sherman Act of 1890, give plenty of latitude. They must be braver. Lastly, scholars should learn from the first Chicago school. Its leading lights did not seek quick victories, but won the battle of ideas over years, their views percolating into politics, the courts and public opinion. America must rediscover the virtues of competition. With luck, in a couple of decades, it will seem embarrassing that anyone had to hold a conference to debate its relevance. "Crony capitalism"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720657-its-economists-used-champion-big-firms-mood-has-shifted-university-chicago?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '373ed5c175c4304273f7cefef9e5671f2d33644a'|'CME Group, Royal Mint test blockchain-based gold trading platform'|'Internet News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 11:06pm BST CME Group, UK’s Royal Mint test blockchain-based gold trading platform By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK Chicago-based exchange CME Group Inc and Britain''s Royal Mint have started testing a blockchain-based platform for trading gold, as more projects using the emerging technology come closer to deployment. CME Group announced on Tuesday that the new platform, built with technology companies AlphaPoint and BitGo, was being tested by a select group of "major financial institutions," and is on schedule for launch this year. The new platform will allow institutions to trade "Royal Mint Gold," or RMG, a new digital token issued by the Royal Mint, which makes Britain''s coins. Each RMG will represent the digitized version of 1 gram of gold stored in the Royal Mint''s vault. Transactions will be recorded on a blockchain, technology that allows a network of computers to keep track of and verify asset ownership. Blockchain, which first emerged as the technology powering cryptocurrency bitcoin, is seen by financial institution as a powerful new tool to increase transparency and reduce the costs and complexity of a wide range of financial transactions. "There is a higher level of traceability and audit that comes with blockchain technology because participants are provided with a permanent, immutable record of ownership and chain of ownership and custody," said Igor Telyatnikov, president and chief operating officer of AlphaPoint. Up to $1 billion worth of RMGs will be issued initially by the Royal Mint. "This is the first digital gold product that is institutionally targeted - and the first to work with a government entity - to be currently in a live testing state,” said Sandra Ro, head of digitization at CME Group. “An RMG is a digital representation of real gold sitting in the Royal Mint vaults.” Over the past two years, banks and other financial institutions, such as exchanges, have ramped up their investments in the technology. While only a handful have gone live, more are starting to enter the implementation phase. Post-trade provider the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp (DTCC) said in January that it would use blockchain technology this year to rebuild its platform that processes $11 trillion worth of credit default swaps. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-blockchain-gold-idUKKBN17D2RN'|'2017-04-12T06:05:00.000+03:00' 'e4beb139b2d6fb861f3b6ca3a204488ea17587c9'|'Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard'|'Business 6:08am EDT Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard Paul Tudor Jones, founder and chief investment officer of Tudor Investment Corporation, speaks at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York, May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz By Maiya Keidan , Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/BOSTON LONDON/BOSTON "Macro" hedge funds are back in favor with investors seeking to take a view on U.S. President Donald Trump''s economic policies, European elections, or interest rates, but it is start-up funds rather than established players which are attracting cash. Some of the main beneficiaries of the macro revival are managers who cut their teeth at the big macro firms such as Moore Capital Management, Brevan Howard and Tudor Investment Corp, which made their names for outperformance in 2007-2009. Eric Siegel, head of hedge funds at Citi Private Bank ( C.N ), said in general that macro strategies are likely to thrive. “With volatility coming back and monetary supply tightening, we believe it could be a great environment for macro managers,” Siegel said. Macro funds bet on macroeconomic trends using currencies, bonds, rates and stock futures. They outperformed the broader industry during the financial crisis and amassed tens of billions of dollars between 2010 and 2012. But they lost most of those assets between 2013 and 2014 and also in 2016 for a variety of reasons, including performance. But macro is back in vogue and was the most popular hedge fund strategy among investors in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first two months of this year, according to industry data providers Preqin and eVestment. Moore Capital''s Louis Moore Bacon, Alan Howard, who co-founded Brevan Howard, and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment were among the macro stars after years of delivering double-digit returns. But during the lean years, when macro was less in favor, they had to cut fees and in some cases staff. Now newcomers, such as Moore Capital spin-out Stone Milliner, are pulling in cash and producing some strong returns. Stone Milliner''s discretionary global macro closed to new money last year after taking in over $4 billion in the previous two years. Moore Capital''s assets have fallen slightly from $15 billion in 2012 to $13.3 billion as of Dec. 31 2016, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Anglo-Swiss firm Stone Milliner, set up in 2012 by former Moore Capital portfolio managers Jens-Peter Stein and Kornelius Klobucar, averaged returns of 8.3 percent between 2014 and 2016, a source told Reuters, while Moore Capital Management averaged 3.4 percent, a second source said. London-based Gemsstock, set up in January 2014 by Moore Capital trader Darren Read and his co-founder Al Breach, made 12.8 percent on average over the same period, documents seen by Reuters showed. Chris Rokos, a Brevan Howard alumnus, raised another $2 billion in February after returns of 20 percent in 2016. EDL Capital made gains of 18.4 percent last year after ex-Moore Capital trader Edouard De Langlade launched the firm in September 2015, according to a source close to EDL Capital. It has amassed assets of $450 million to date, he said. Ben Melkman, who also formerly worked at Brevan Howard until May 2016, raised over $400 million for his launch in March, SEC filings showed. Brevan Howard''s firm-wide assets fell to $14.6 billion in 2017, from $37 billion in 2012. [ here ] RUSH FOR MACRO But the old guard are fighting back. Some have been cutting fees and offering alternatives. Howard, Brevan Howard''s co-founder, last month launched a new fund managed solely by him, which sources said has already amassed more than $3 billion. Tudor Investment lowered its management fees to 1.75 percent and performance fees to 20 percent in February after a reduction last year and Moore Capital cut the management fee on its Moore Macro Managers fund to 2.5 percent from 3 percent. Tudor Jones laid off 15 percent of staff in August. The firm''s main Tudor BVI Global Fund started 2017 down 0.6 percent to March 3 after gaining 0.9 percent in 2016. Brevan cut its management fees to zero for some current investors in its Master Fund and its Multi-Strategy fund last September after a similar move from Caxton Associates. But for both the old and new macro funds, it is still to be determined what 2017 will hold. Even though macro funds are flat on average for the first two months of 2017, making gains of just 0.38 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research, the popularity of macro strategies is not in doubt. A Credit Suisse survey in March of more than 320 institutional investors with $1.3 trillion in hedge funds showed macro was set to be the favorite strategy of 2017. Preqin data showed that after pulling assets out of macro for three back-to-back quarters, investors added $6.4 billion to the strategy in the fourth quarter of 2016 after Trump''s win. eVestment data showed that macro funds have pulled in $4.4 billion in the first two months of 2017, demonstrating a turnaround from 2016 when investors took $9.8 billion out of macro after withdrawing $10 billion in 2013 and $19.1 billion in 2014. "I don''t think macro is dead. Managers who can be nimble and are able to look outside the large liquid asset classes can still find great opportunities," Erin Browne, head of Global Macro Investments at UBS O’Connor, said. Representatives at Tudor did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Moore Capital had no comment. A spokesman at Brevan declined to comment. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-macro-idUSKBN17B0B7'|'2017-04-09T18:00:00.000+03:00' '395daeda817abf84aa6cfa27ef7ca4d1264ff38d'|'MIDEAST DEBT-Saudi readies debut dollar sukuk with U.S. risk disclosure'|'* Saudi Arabia to issue debut Islamic bond in dollars* Will comply with Dodd-Frank''s risk retention rules* Seen as precedent for future international sukuksBy Davide BarbusciaDUBAI, April 9 Saudi Arabia has included a disclosure on credit risk retention requirements, part of the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act, in the prospectus of a debut dollar sukuk which it is expected to issue this week and could total $10 billion.The disclosure to comply with the act, which the U.S. Congress introduced after the financial crisis to reduce risk-taking, has not been made for other sovereign sukuk issues.The U.S. retention rule was set to align the interests of issuers of asset backed securities (ABS) with those of ABS investors by asking the sponsor of an ABS securitisation to have "skin in the game" by retaining 5 percent of the credit risk associated with the securities it is issuing.In its sukuk prospectus, Saudi Arabia says that it does not consider its planned sukuk a securitisation, but that the issuance "may be captured, as a technical matter, by the language of the U.S risk retention rules".Sukuk are generally considered to be asset-based, rather than asset-backed, but in order to comply with the rules, it will purchase at least 5 percent of the aggregate principal amount of each tranche it issues, the Saudi prospectus shows.Saudi Arabia''s ministry of finance declined to comment.The kingdom''s decision to comply, should the rules apply, has rung some alarm bells. "People are now worried that Dodd Frank risk retention could apply to sukuk in general," a capital markets legal expert of a Dubai-based firm told Reuters.Legal firm White & Case, which worked as legal adviser for the banks arranging the debut sukuk, said in a publication on April 7 that "the majority of sukuk in the international markets are asset-based, making them dependent on the creditworthiness of the sponsor".Since last December, U.S. credit risk retention rules have become effective for all types of asset-backed securities generally defined as securities collateralised by any type of self-liquidating financial asset.Such a definition could "cover many asset-based sukuk that are not traditionally thought of as ‘asset-backed’ or a securitisation," White & Case noted, with reference to certain kinds of sukuk structures such as the murabaha one which is partly being used by Saudi Arabia.Given the breadth of the U.S. risk retention rules, their potential impact must be considered when structuring international sukuk transactions, the law firm said.Saudi Arabia began meeting investors on Sunday ahead of the deal, the second debt sale by the kingdom, which made its debut in the international debt markets last year with a record $17.5 billion bond, the largest sold in emerging markets. (Editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/saudi-arabia-sukuk-dodd-frank-act-idINL8N1HH09S'|'2017-04-09T11:48:00.000+03:00' 'cafe0385ecaf0ddcd67a1a3c0e894c7a62218629'|'Indian private equity firm to acquire Religare Health Insurance'|'NEW DELHI, April 9 A consortium of investors led by Indian private equity fund True North has agreed to acquire Religare Enterprises Ltd''s health insurance business in the country, the groups said in a joint statement on Sunday.The deal, which still needs regulatory approvals, values the Religare Health Insurance at 13 billion rupees ($202.3 million).The move is part of Religare''s strategy to consolidate and focus on its core business of financial services.The transaction, Religare and True North said in a release, "marks the single largest investment in a standalone health insurance company in India".J.P. Morgan acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Religare Enterprises on the transaction.($1 = 64.2660 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-religare-divestiture-idINL3N1HH0AY'|'2017-04-09T12:13:00.000+03:00' '2d97dc8f0f6728d842ce7382563281f2a5c61837'|'Masters turns into Spring Break for CEOs'|'Sports News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 5:04pm EDT Masters turns into Spring Break for CEOs left right A dinner is set up at the Mercedes-Benz USA hospitality area at River Island in Augusta, Georgia, in this undated handout photo. Jensen Larson Photography/Mercedes-Benz USA - 2017 Masters Experience/Handout via REUTERS 1/5 left right The Firethorn Mercedes-Benz hospitality area is seen on the Augusta National golf course in Augusta, Georgia, in this undated handout photo. Jensen Larson Photography/Mercedes-Benz USA - 2017 Masters Experience/Handout via REUTERS 2/5 left right Lady Antebellum performs at the Mercedes-Benz USA hospitality area at River Island in Augusta, Georgia, April 5, 2017. Jensen Larson Photography/Mercedes-Benz USA - 2017 Masters Experience/Handout via REUTERS 3/5 left right A dinner is set up at the Mercedes-Benz USA hospitality area at River Island in Augusta, Georgia, in this undated handout photo. Jensen Larson Photography/Mercedes-Benz USA - 2017 Masters Experience/Handout via REUTERS 4/5 left right A dinner is set up at the Mercedes-Benz USA hospitality area at River Island in Augusta, Georgia, in this undated handout photo. Jensen Larson Photography/Mercedes-Benz USA - 2017 Masters Experience/Handout via REUTERS 5/5 By Steve Keating - AUGUSTA, Georgia AUGUSTA, Georgia To wander the immaculately manicured grounds of Augusta National Golf Club during the U.S. Masters is to take a stroll back in time. A time before the marriage of sport and commercialism where scoreboards are operated manually and the only signage directs you to someplace picturesque rather than entice you to buy a car or smartphone. One of the world''s most elite clubs, Augusta National operates under the principle that if you are obscenely wealthy there is no reason to advertise it, the only label here is the ever-present Masters logo. Outside the Augusta National walls, however, it is all business as some of the world''s biggest brands cozy up alongside golf''s most celebrated event to share in its glow. This is, as one corporate executive put it, Spring Break and Coachella melded into one big corporate CEO-filled mosh pit. "The Masters is the number one corporate event of the year," Kenny Dichter, co-founder and CEO of Wheels Up, a private aviation firm providing luxury service to the Masters, told Reuters. "When you have CEOs and different corporate executives together in one place that''s when magic happens. "We just want to create the platform, the canvas, for our members to meet and talk and create." That canvas is an expansive one of mansions, private jets, celebrity chefs, limousines, cigar bars and premium liquor. It is part loyalty program, part new business. For StubHub, Primesport and the 1018 Club, the Masters is their business, securing hard-to-acquire entry badges and setting up first-rate hospitality experiences within a well-struck Dustin Johnson three-wood of Augusta National. For IMG, a global talent management company, and auto giant Mercedes-Benz, one of three Masters global sponsors, it is all about brand loyalty and providing a first-class experience for their friends and partners. Over in ''Mercedesville,'' the luxury car maker has not just set up a Masters corporate hospitality headquarters but rather a village of mansions anchored by a lavish multi-deck pavilion that serves as a restaurant/entertainment center on the Savannah River in Augusta''s posh River Island neighborhood. Each night Mercedes hosts guests in an elegant setting where they are entertained by golfing celebrities such as brand ambassador Rickie Fowler, who finished an intimate chat on Tuesday by signing autographs for a smitten audience. In the morning there will be no need to be up early and rush to the course to secure a prime spot in Amen Corner with the rest of the Masters mob. That chore will be left to staff who make the dawn trek to set up folding chairs in prime locations while guests enjoy a leisurely breakfast back in Mercedesville. "Everyone is just trying to stand out," said John Terzian, whose brand-building company has hosted events at the Super Bowl, Monaco Grand Prix and top film festivals. "To me, sports and entertainment have become the same thing in a good way. "People are expecting and demanding the highest level when it comes to things like the Super Bowl. "We operate on a very elite VIP level. We cater to extremely high-end business people." What makes the Masters so attractive is that it is one of those rare events that seems to be on everyone''s bucket list, from weekend duffers to Fortune 500 CEOs. Rated one of the most coveted tickets in all of sport, those lucky enough to land a Masters badge do not want to lessen the once-in-a-lifetime experience by cutting corners. A week at the Masters with a private plane, car service, a mansion, personal chef, driver and masseuse can easily top $100,000. But companies like 1018 Club offer a taste of the Masters VIP experience for hundreds of dollars at their setup near the course with perks that include valet parking, buffet breakfast, lunch, beverages and shuttles to and from the gate. Everything but the badges. Without a Masters badge, however, a trip to Augusta this week would be a meaningless visit to Georgia''s second biggest city where Textron Specialized Vehicles, who manufacture 90 percent of the world''s golf carts, is based. "The Masters is a unique event and a lot of people are paying premium prices for this event so we put a lot of investment in and make sure the customer experience is the best it can possibly be," StubHub spokesman Cameron Pappy told Reuters. "The Masters has grown in popularity every year on StubHub and it has really turned into one of those bucket list events." (Editing by Frank Pingue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-golf-masters-hospitality-idUSKBN17A0PD'|'2017-04-09T05:04:00.000+03:00' '56fcd3406deef78e4a5820e3da8c53d773f7b15f'|'Coalition won''t budge despite chance to tackle housing policy - Greg Jericho - Business - The Guardian'|'W ith just over five weeks to go till the budget, the government appears locked into defending Malcolm Turnbull’s old statements and positions, rather than reacting to issues in a way that could help deliver a budget that signals it is more in tune with the policies and politics of a post-financial crisis world.In the past couple of weeks, the housing policy issue has undergone a change. For a long while now, the talk has been all about affordability – what to do to help those looking to buy their first home. Now the focus has shifted to a housing bubble.The two issues are clearly linked – the reason housing affordability is such an issue is because prices in Sydney and Melbourne have been rising much faster than incomes. That the rise has been occurring for several years brings into question just how sustainable the market is.Is there a housing bubble or isn''t there? - Greg Jericho Read more And so the shift is not just about making housing more affordable, but taking out some of the air in the market without bursting the bubble. This puts the government in a tricky spot – although it’s one of their own making. This time last year, housing affordability had reached such a state that the Labor party went into the election with a policy to curb negative gearing. Such a move would have been viewed as political suicide at pretty much every previous election. It would have been good policy – just tough politics. Sometimes it takes a while for politics to catch up with the policy. But that the ALP went within a whisker of knocking over a first-term government was a very good sign that negative gearing was no longer a sacred cow. And yet there is little to indicate the government will make a move in this area in next month’s budget.It could have got a whiff of the wind last year when the Labor party came up with its policy. It would have been very easy for the government to criticise the ALP’s policy to limit negative gearing to new housing as one that would distort the housing market and not actually solve the problem, and instead come up with its own measure – such as limiting the number of properties that could be negative geared, or capping the dollar amount that could be claimed. Company tax cuts: deal struck with Xenophon in return for pension boost Read more On the capital gains tax (CGT) front, where the ALP proposes halving the discount from 50% to 25%, the government could again have argued that such a policy was too reckless and instead proposed that the discount be reduced to 40%. After all, that was the level recommended by the Henry tax Review , which would have given the government plenty of political and policy cover.But no. Instead, despite the Treasury investigating the policy , the prime minister took the nuclear response, suggesting the ALP’s policies would “smash” the value of people’s homes and that they “should put concern into the minds of every single house owner”.And so his position remains, while not only is the politics moving ever more away from him, but so too is the policy. Instead it appears we will get a “housing affordability package”. There will probably be some spending on transport infrastructure, assistance for renters – most likely something about social housing similar to that in the UK – talk about moves by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to limit investor lending, but nothing that will go near taxation. And yet negative gearing and capital gains tax are clearly the big drivers of the instability in the market – because they are the drivers for people to take out multiple interest-only loans , about which the Reserve Bank governor expressed concern this week.Mostly we are in this position because Turnbull has painted himself into a corner. His language to attack the ALP’s policy was so over the top that it is hard to walk back from. He also uses the same talking points to argue against reducing the CGT discount as he does for cutting company taxes. Repeatedly, over the past year, the prime minister has argued that “if you want people to do less of something, you put up the tax”. Last year he used it to argue against increasing the CGT (which is what reducing the discount would do), and this year he has used it to argue in favour of cutting the company tax rate to 25%.The government’s struggles to sell the company tax cut plan are a good example of the politics and the policy shifting again beneath its feet. There was a time when talk of cutting taxes to improve economic growth would have been relatively safe, but the impact of policies on inequality and, in turn, the impact of inequality on growth has come to the fore over the past few years .10 reasons why the company tax cut is a really bad idea - Kristina Keneally Read more It is a world now where the former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser criticises the move to cut company tax as “another illustration of ... an increasing trend towards unfairness in so many ways in policy”.Rather than react, the government continues with its policy – but the politics is done badly. We’re at a point where the treasurer is demanding that big business help with the sales pitch – and where the prime minister continues to argue for the company tax rate cut with ardent fervour , telling the Sydney Institute “no other single tax reform by the commonwealth can do more to grow the economy”.And so the government appears wedded to its previous positions, unable to move with the times. On both housing and company tax, the policy and the political ground has shifted away from it, and with little time before the budget, it would seem it is unwilling to react. That will be bad for the government – both in terms of policy and politics. Topics Australian budget 2017 Grogonomics Australian politics Australian economy Business (Australia) Housing affordability Coalition comment Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2017/apr/09/budget-2017-australia-coalition-tackle-housing-affordability-company-tax'|'2017-04-09T07:11:00.000+03:00' '9fd41cc7e37b394cd57fb462cffe70b33c5e781d'|'Former RBS CEO Goodwin to appear in court in June over cash-call case'|' 24pm BST Former RBS CEO Goodwin to appear in court in June over cash-call case A video grab image shows Fred Goodwin the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland speaking to the Treasury Select Committee in London on February 10, 2009. REUTERS/Parbul TV via Reuters TV LONDON Former Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) chief executive Fred Goodwin is scheduled to appear in court at the start of June over claims the lender misled investors over its 2008 share sale, a draft timetable released on Tuesday showed. Goodwin is scheduled to appear in court on June 8 and 9, according to the timetable, in a rare public appearance for the disgraced executive who has shouldered the blame for the bank''s rapid collapse and subsequent state rescue. (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; editing by Simon Jessop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rbs-goodwin-idUKKBN17D27B'|'2017-04-12T01:24:00.000+03:00' '2038f026388e633d2e3125080f41e2bcd50fe814'|'U.S. airlines bumping fewer passengers, compensation varies'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 6:03pm EDT U.S. airlines bumping fewer passengers, compensation varies FILE PHOTO - A United Airlines Boeing 787 taxis as a United Airlines Boeing 767 lands at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, U.S. on February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro/File Photo By David Shepardson and Grant Smith - NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. airlines are bumping passengers off flights at the lowest rate since 1995, a Reuters analysis of federal data showed on Tuesday, even as United Continental Holdings ( UAL.N ) has kicked up a storm over the practice. Compelling ticketed passengers to give up a seat can be costly, and as United has learned, damaging to an airline''s reputation and share price. United''s decision to have airport security remove a man from his seat to make room for employees overshadows the broader trend in 2016, when airlines forced only six out of every 100,000 passengers to surrender seats on oversold planes. That was the lowest rate since the government began tracking the practice in 1995, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. Federal rules allow carriers to set their own criteria for selecting passengers to bump, such as check-in time, the fare paid, frequent flyer status or whether a passenger is disabled. Passengers bumped off Alaska Airlines ( ALK.N ) flights got the highest average compensation of $1,605, followed by those of JetBlue, who received $1,254 on average, the Reuters analysis of Transportation Department data for 12 large U.S. carriers found. JetBlue spokesman Doug McGraw said the airline does not oversell flights but passengers may be bumped mainly when scheduled flights on its A321 aircraft have been moved to smaller A320 planes to accommodate needs like unplanned maintenance. Alaska declined to comment. Other airlines did not immediately comment when asked about the analysis. United is in the middle of the pack in terms of the rate at which it forces people to give up seats. It bumps 4.3 out of every 100,000 passengers, and pays the third-lowest average compensation rate at $559 each, according to Transportation Department data. Hawaiian Airlines, a relatively small carrier, fares best on both measures. For 2016, it reported the lowest rate of forced bumping among the 12 largest carriers, and paid out less than $25,000 to the 49 passengers involved. Southwest Airlines Co ( LUV.N ) had the highest forced bumping rate among very large carriers, taking nearly 15,000 passengers off flights last year, or 9.9 per 100,000 passengers, down slightly from 2015. Southwest paid an average of $874 per bumped passenger. Only ExpressJet, with far fewer passengers, had a higher involuntary bump rate, of 1.51 per 10,000 passengers. The Transportation Department affirmed on Tuesday that it was reviewing the "involuntary denied boarding" of the United passenger. Washington-based trade group Airlines for America, which represents most major U.S. airlines, said on Tuesday it was "extremely rare" for passengers to be removed from aircraft and that carriers work to accommodate all customers in such instances. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-airlines-idUSKBN17D2R3'|'2017-04-12T06:03:00.000+03:00' 'fc69606ccf57168342a5059d0de0d45bb423319e'|'Tesco recovery gains momentum with profit jump'|'Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 7:39am BST Tesco recovery gains momentum as profit jumps at British supermarket A company logo is pictured outside a Tesco supermarket in Altrincham northern England, April 16, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble LONDON Tesco ( TSCO.L ), Britain''s biggest retailer, beat forecasts for full-year profit, showing its recovery is picking up pace in a boost to CEO Dave Lewis as he seeks investor backing for his plan to buy wholesaler Booker ( BOK.L ). The supermarket group said on Wednesday it made an operating profit before exceptional items of 1.28 billion pounds ($1.60 billion) in the year to Feb. 25 2017. That was ahead of analysts'' average forecast of 1.26 billion pounds, according to Reuters data, and an increase of 30 percent on the 944 million pounds made in 2015-16. Tesco said UK sales at stores open over a year rose 0.7 percent in the 13 weeks to Feb. 25, its fiscal fourth quarter - a fifth straight quarter of underlying growth. "We are confident that we can build on this strong performance in the year ahead," said Chief Executive Dave Lewis. By 2020, Lewis wants Tesco to earn between 3.5 pence and 4 pence of operating profit for every 1 pound spent by shoppers, up from 2.3 pence in 2016-17 as sales rise and 1.5 billion pounds of costs are cut from the business. The supermarket group needs the results to impress to help it persuade shareholders that it can also make a success of its attempt to buy Booker. Two of its biggest shareholders last month urged it to drop the 3.7 billion pound bid, saying it was overpaying and the deal was a distraction from its turnaround plan. Tesco, whose shares have fallen 5 percent this year, says it remains committed to a deal it believes will provide a new avenue of growth when its recovery is secured. Lewis said on Wednesday the proposed merger would drive additional value for shareholders from substantial synergies, and would enable Tesco to access the faster growing ''out of home'' food market. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tesco-results-idUKKBN17E0JW'|'2017-04-12T14:15:00.000+03:00' 'a70bc7e699aba146a5963e9b0847728e2dfd3403'|'U.S. Justice Dept announces actions to dismantle Kelihos botnet'|'Internet News 43pm EDT U.S. Justice Department announces actions to dismantle Kelihos botnet WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department said on Monday it had launched an effort to disrupt and dismantle the Kelihos botnet - a global network of tens of thousands of infected computers under the control of a cybercriminal. Kelihos malware targeted computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, the department said in a statement. According to the civil complaint, Peter Yuryevich Levashov, a Russian citizen, allegedly operated the Kelihos botnet since approximately 2010, the statement said. In order to liberate the victim computers, the United States obtained court orders to take measures to neutralize the Kelihos botnet, including establishing substitute servers and blocking commands sent from the botnet operator, the department said. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-botnet-idUSKBN17C2B4'|'2017-04-11T03:31:00.000+03:00' '80dace853c0158d48fa245bb4bc62fd11a9c6fdf'|'UPDATE 1-Passenger dragged from United Airlines flight in ''upsetting event'''|'(Adds company statement)By Alana WiseNEW YORK, April 10 A doctor trying to return home to his patients was dragged by his hands from an overbooked United Airlines flight, according to social media, embroiling the carrier in its second public relations nightmare in less than a month.The airline was one of the top-trending topics on Twitter as users took to the website to express their anger over the forceful removal of the passenger from United Flight 3411, which was en route from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, on Sunday.Video of the incident posted to Twitter account @Tyler_Bridges shows three security officers huddling over the seated passenger, who appears to be an older Asian man, before dragging him on the floor.The airline said it asked for volunteers to leave because additional flight crew needed to get to Louisville."This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United," Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz said in a statement. "I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers."Munoz said United was "moving with a sense of urgency" to work with the authorities and conduct its own review of the incident.In Bridges'' video, a woman asks: "Can''t they rent a car for the pilots and have them drive?" Two uniformed men then reach into the doctor''s seat and yank him from his chair.The passenger screams as he is dragged on his back by his hands, glasses askew and shirt pulled up above his navel.Another video shows him, still disheveled from the altercation, returning to the cabin, running to the back of the plane and repeating: "I have to go home."Fellow passenger Jayse D. Anspach, who goes by @JayseDavid on Quote: : "No one volunteered (to leave), so @United decided to choose for us. They chose an Asian doctor and his wife."While airport security staff were ejecting him, Anspach wrote, his face was slammed against an arm rest, causing his mouth to bleed."It looked like he was knocked out, because he went limp and quiet," Anspach wrote, "and they dragged him out of the plane like a rag doll."Late last month, two teenage girls dressed in leggings were denied boarding on a United flight from Denver to Minneapolis because of their form-fitting pants.Because the girls were using free passes for employees or family members, they were subject to a dress code. (Reporting by Alana Wise, Angela Moon and Gina Cherelus; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ual-passenger-idINL1N1HI0YU'|'2017-04-10T15:14:00.000+03:00' 'cd937c513b7015fbfa7214410b48e4f2f6ec6735'|'UPDATE 1-Barclays CEO Staley investigated for whistleblowing breach'|'Company 26am EDT UPDATE 1-Barclays CEO Staley investigated for whistleblowing breach (Adds detail, comments from Staley to staff, Tim Main declined to comment paras 3, 7, 13-16) By Steve Slater LONDON, April 10 (IFR) - Britain''s financial regulators are investigating Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and the bank over the handling of a whistleblowing incident. Barclays said on Monday the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority relates to an attempt last year by Staley to identify the author of letters that were treated by Barclays as a whistleblowing incident. Barclays said it has formally reprimanded Staley and will "very significantly" cut his bonus. But the bank said he continued to have the "unanimous confidence" of the board and it will support his reappointment at the annual shareholder meeting on May 10. Staley, the former head of JP Morgan''s investment bank, became Barclays chief executive in December 2015. The investigation relates to anonymous letters sent in June 2016 to members of the board and a senior executive that raised concerns about a senior employee who had been recruited by Barclays earlier that year, the bank said. Barclays did not name the employee, but a person familiar with the matter said the letters were about Tim Main, who Staley worked with at JP Morgan. Main was hired in June 2016 as chairman of Barclays'' financial institutions group, based in New York. Main declined to comment through a Barclays spokeswoman. "Amongst other issues, the letters raised concerns of a personal nature about the senior employee, Mr Staley''s knowledge of and role in dealing with those issues at a previous employer, and the appropriateness of the recruitment process followed on this occasion by Barclays," Barclays said in its statement. After being given a copy of the first letter and made aware of the second, Staley asked the bank''s group information security (GIS) team attempt to identify the author or authors of the letters. "Mr Staley considered that the letters were an unfair personal attack on the senior employee," the bank said. Staley was told it was not appropriate to try to identify the author or authors. But in July 2016 he asked if the issue had been cleared. Following this, he had an "honestly held, but mistaken, belief was that he had clearance to identify the author of one of the letters", the bank said. GIS asked for assistance from a US law enforcement agency in identifying the author, but it was unsuccessful and no further steps were taken to do so after that. Staley apologised to staff in an email on Monday. "One of our colleagues was the subject of an unfair personal attack sent via anonymous letters ... related to personal issues from many years ago, and the intent of the correspondents in airing all of this was, in my view, to maliciously smear this person," Staley said in the memo. "In my desire to protect our colleague, however, I got too personally involved in this matter. My hope was that if we found out who was sending these letters we could try and get them to stop the harassment of a person who did not deserve that treatment." He said he should have let compliance handle the matter. "This was a mistake on my part and I apologise for it." Main was hired from Evercore Partners, where he was senior managing director responsible for coverage of financial services clients. He previously spent more than 20 years at JP Morgan running its equity capital markets and FIG business acting as in-house adviser on the bank''s own deals. He was one of several senior people that Barclays has hired from JP Morgan since Staley''s arrival. Seven of the British bank''s senior executives previously worked at JP Morgan. SYSTEMS & CONTROLS UK regulators are also looking at Barclays'' systems and controls and culture relating to whistleblowing, the bank said. Barclays'' board first heard of Staley''s attempt to identify the author of the letter in early 2017, after the issue was raised by an employee, Barclays said. The board instructed law firm Simmons & Simmons to carry out an investigation and also notified the regulators. The board said Staley made an error in becoming involved with, and not applying appropriate governance around, the matter, and in taking action to attempt to identify the author of the letter, the bank said. The board will issue a formal written reprimand to Staley and cut his variable compensation by an amount decided when the regulatory investigations conclude. The board will also look into the position of other employees involved in the incident, the bank said. Barclays shares dipped in early trading, but were up 0.1% by midday. The issue puts Barclays'' culture under more scrutiny after a number of scandals at the bank in recent years. "I am personally very disappointed and apologetic that this situation has occurred, particularly as we strive to operate to the highest possible ethical standards," Barclays chairman John McFarlane said. Richard Boath, a senior former Barclays investment banker, last year claimed he was fired from the bank for whistle blowing. Boath said in court he was dismissed as a "direct response" of what he told the Serious Fraud Office during an investigation into the bank over its fundraising from Gulf investors during the financial crisis. He is suing the bank at a London employment tribunal in a pay dispute and for unfair dismissal due to whistle blowing. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N1HI3V3'|'2017-04-10T22:26:00.000+03:00' '638d5ca7b45b1874f72d54487e081e1420aa7c8b'|'Sika chairman expects Saint-Gobain takeover attempt to be resolved by 2018'|' 29pm BST Sika chairman expects Saint-Gobain takeover attempt to be resolved by 2018 Paul Haelg, chairman of the board of Swiss chemicals group Sika, addresses the company''s annual shareholder meeting in Baar, Switzerland April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann BAAR, Switzerland Sika ( SIK.S ) Chairman Paul Haelg said on Wednesday he expects the hostile takeover attempt of his company by French construction materials giant Saint-Gobain ( SGOB.PA ) to be resolved by 2018. Haelg said he was ready to speak with Sika''s founding family any time about a counter offer for their controlling stake, which they want to sell to Saint-Gobain for 2.75 billion Swiss francs (2.20 billion pounds). "We have much more freedom to do an attractive offer based on the current share price, we are ready any time if the family wants to talk," Haelg told Reuters after the Sika annual general meeting. "Their current position is we cannot talk and we don''t want to talk because we have a contract (with Saint-Gobain). I still think developing a plan B would not be an issue with the contract," Haelg said. "We are ready to go to 2018 if needed." (Reporting by John Revill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sika-haelg-idUKKBN17D22R'|'2017-04-12T00:29:00.000+03:00' 'bac7ee1079b4e00b98f4d402836c474de5245f93'|'Judges reject US banker''s claim to be a genius in divorce case - Business'|'A US banker has been ordered to pay his ex-wife half of the family’s £140m fortune, after the court of appeal rejected his claim that his “genius” outshone her contribution to the marriage.Randy Work, 49, a former executive at Texas-based private equity firm Lone Star, had first claimed that his wife of 20 years, Mandy Gray, was entitled to only £5m because she had “unfortunately” failed to stick to the terms of their prenuptial agreement and had had an affair with the couple’s personal physiotherapist. A high court judge rejected Work’s claim that he made an “exceptional contribution” to the marriage and was therefore entitled to more than a 50-50 split of the couple’s assets, which include a £30m mansion in Kensington, west London, complete with swimming pool and fitness centre and an £18m ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado. Ruling on their divorce in 2015 Justice Holman told the businessman that his wealth contribution – which Work said totalled more than $300m in 10 years – was not “wholly exceptional” and rejected his claim to be a financial “genius”. “I personally find that a difficult, and perhaps unhelpful, word in this context,” Holman said. “To my mind, the word ‘genius’ tends to be overused and is properly reserved for Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Einstein and others like them.”Work, who has spent at least £3m fighting to keep his wife from collecting half of the family fortune, took the case to the court of appeal which on Tuesday unanimously rejected his appeal against Holman’s ruling. “In our view the husband has failed to demonstrate that Holman J’s decision was wrong,” three court of appeal judges said. London has become known as the divorce capital of the world because British judges tend not to discriminate between breadwinner and homemaker and order equal splits of combined fortunes. However, Work had hoped to convince the court of appeal judges to allow him to join those few men who had been granted more than half of the combined assets in a divorce in recognition of the “wholly exceptional nature” of their success. Sir Martin Sorrell, founder of advertising firm WPP, was awarded 60% of joint assets in his 2005 divorce from Sandra, his wife of 33 years. In 2014, a judge granted the ex-wife of Chris Hohn, the billionaire founder of hedge fund The Children’s Investment Fund, 36% of their $1.5bn fortune. Holman had ruled that although Work was an “astute businessman”, Gray was a “highly intelligent” woman who had given up her career to follow her husband to Tokyo, where he made hundreds of millions of pounds exploiting the Japanese financial crisis. “A successful claim to a special contribution requires some exceptional and individual quality in the spouse concerned. Being in the right place at the right time or benefiting from a period of boom is not enough,” Holman said. “It may one day fall for consideration whether a very highly paid footballer, who is very good at his job but may be no more skilful than past greats, such as Stanley Matthews or Bobby Charlton, makes a special contribution or is merely the lucky beneficiary of the colossal payments now made possible by the sale of television rights.”Holman said Work and Gray, 47, had been “two strong and equal partners” and he would not have been able to amass his vast fortune without her contribution. The pair, who are both American and have two teenage children, met in 1992 and married in 1995. They split up in 2013 when Gray began an affair with the couple’s physiotherapist, 44, who she now lives with in a rented flat in Kensington. During the divorce hearing Holman had said the case “should be so easy” to settle as there was “plenty of money to go round” and criticised the couple for descending into “unedifying and destructive pugilism”.Topics Banking Divorce Court of appeal news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/11/judges-reject-us-bankers-claim-to-be-randy-work-genius-in-divorce-case'|'2017-04-11T22:07:00.000+03:00' 'e6f08255862462a48ef64f91c67d5e437d29c592'|'French utility EDF says notified of a strike on Wednesday'|' 9:03am BST French utility EDF says notified of a strike on Wednesday The logo of France''s state-owned electricity company EDF is seen on the company''s headquarters in Paris, France, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PARIS French state-controlled utility EDF ( EDF.PA ) said Tuesday it had received notice of a strike by workers at its electricity production units starting on Wednesday April 12 at 0500 GMT. The company did not say how many employees would down tools nor what impact it would have on electricity production. Workers in the French gas and electricity sector have carried out weekly rolling strikes since January to protest against wage freezes and cuts in benefits in the sector. EDF also said in a separate note on its website that hydro-electric power production had been cut by 114 megawatts on Tuesday due to strike action. (Reporting by Bate Felix; Editing by Gus Trompiz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-power-strike-idUKKBN17D0RN'|'2017-04-11T16:03:00.000+03:00' '7517b8014ecfd5adb52384d86599f2150f2b90d2'|'Barclays CEO Staley investigated for whistleblowing breach'|' 58am EDT Barclays CEO Staley investigated for whistleblowing breach By Steve Slater LONDON, April 10 (IFR) - Britain''s financial regulators are investigating Barclays chief executive Jes Staley and the bank over the handling of a whistleblowing incident. Barclays said on Monday the investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority relates to an attempt last year by Staley to identify the author of letters that were treated by Barclays as a whistleblowing incident. Barclays said it has formally reprimanded Staley and will "very significantly" cut his bonus. But it said it will support his reappointment at the bank''s annual general meeting on May 10. Staley, the former head of JP Morgan''s investment bank, became Barclays chief executive in December 2015. The investigation relates to anonymous letters sent in June 2016 to members of the board and a senior executive that raised concerns about a senior employee who had been recruited by Barclays earlier that year, the bank said. Barclays did not name the person but a person familiar with the matter said the letters were about Tim Main, who Staley worked with at JP Morgan. Main was hired in June 2016 as chairman of Barclays'' financial institutions group, based in New York. Main could not immediately be reached for comment. "Amongst other issues, the letters raised concerns of a personal nature about the senior employee, Mr Staley''s knowledge of and role in dealing with those issues at a previous employer, and the appropriateness of the recruitment process followed on this occasion by Barclays," Barclays said in its statement. After being given a copy of the first letter and made aware of the second, Staley asked the bank''s group information security (GIS) team attempt to identify the author or authors of the letters. "Mr Staley considered that the letters were an unfair personal attack on the senior employee," the bank said. Staley was told it was not appropriate to try to identify the author or authors. But in July 2016 he asked if the issue had been cleared. Following this, he had an "honestly held, but mistaken, belief was that he had clearance to identify the author of one of the letters", the bank said. GIS asked for assistance from a US law enforcement agency in identifying the author, but it was unsuccessful and no further steps were taken to do so after that. Main was hired from Evercore Partners, where he was senior managing director responsible for coverage of financial services clients. He previously spent more than 20 years at JP Morgan running its equity capital markets and FIG business acting as in-house adviser on the bank''s own deals. He was one of several senior people that Barclays has hired from JP Morgan since Staley''s arrival. Seven of the British bank''s senior executives previously worked at JP Morgan. SYSTEMS & CONTROLS UK regulators are also looking at Barclays'' systems and controls and culture relating to whistleblowing, the bank said. Barclays'' board first heard of Staley''s attempt to identify the author of the letter in early 2017, after the issue was raised by an employee, Barclays said. The board instructed law firm Simmons & Simmons to carry out an investigation and also notified the regulators. The board said Staley made an error in becoming involved with, and not applying appropriate governance around, the matter, and in taking action to attempt to identify the author of the letter, the bank said. "I have apologised to the Barclays board, and accepted its conclusion that my personal actions in this matter were errors on my part," Staley said. The board will issue a formal written reprimand to Staley and cut his variable compensation by an amount decided when the regulatory investigations conclude. The board will also look into the position of other employees involved in the incident, the bank said. Barclays shares dipped in early trading, but were up 0.1% by midday. The issue puts Barclays'' culture under more scrutiny after a number of scandals at the bank in recent years. "I am personally very disappointed and apologetic that this situation has occurred, particularly as we strive to operate to the highest possible ethical standards," Barclays chairman John McFarlane said. Richard Boath, a senior former Barclays investment banker, last year claimed he was fired from the bank for whistle blowing. Boath said in court he was dismissed as a "direct response" of what he told the Serious Fraud Office during an investigation into the bank over its fundraising from Gulf investors during the financial crisis. He is suing the bank at a London employment tribunal in a pay dispute and for unfair dismissal due to whistle blowing. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/barclays-ceo-staley-investigated-for-whi-idUSL8N1HI1ZD'|'2017-04-10T19:58:00.000+03:00' '4dd113177731945c0e8321ccf8572543596ee10a'|'UK inflation stays at three-year high of 2.3% - Business'|'Rising food and clothing prices kept Britain’s inflation rate at its highest level for more than three years last month, putting household budgets under pressure as the Brexit effect on the pound worked its way through the economy.Official figures put inflation on the consumer prices index (CPI) at 2.3% for the second month running in March, in line with economists’ forecasts , as food prices rose at the fastest pace for three years, increasing 1.2% on the year.Economists said inflation was likely to push higher in April and they warned the rising costs of essentials such as groceries were already eating into households’ budgets and leaving them with less cash to spend on other items. Reports from retailers suggest sales have slowed in recent months .“Today’s release confirms our expectations that 2017 will see the end of the consumer spending boom which has driven economic growth in recent years,” said Nina Skero at the consultancy the Centre for Economics and Business Research.“With the prices of essentials such as housing costs, food and transport on the rise, less money will be left over for discretionary spending. This is especially true given that wage growth is unlikely to keep up with the elevated inflation levels.”UK inflation steady at 2.3% in March - business live Read more Much of the pressure on inflation has come from the pound’s sharp fall against other currencies after last June’s Brexit vote. That makes imports to the UK more expensive, with firms now passing on those higher costs to shoppers. There has also been a marked effect on inflation in the UK and other countries from higher global oil prices.Inflation has risen above the Bank of England’s 2% target from just 0.3% this time last year , bringing to an abrupt end to a brief period when Britons enjoyed incomes rising in real terms, or faster than inflation. “Rising prices and sluggish pay increases mean that real earnings growth has now ground to a halt,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. “Without government action, another living standards crisis is on the cards.“We urgently need more investment in skills and infrastructure to build strong foundations for better-paid jobs. And it’s time to scrap the pay restrictions hitting midwives, teachers and other public servants.”The Treasury said it was also taking action.“We are building an economy that works for everyone and helping families with the cost of living by cutting income taxes for 31m people, freezing fuel duty and increasing the national living wage to £7.50 per hour,” said a Treasury spokesman.The Resolution Foundation said the latest inflation figure meant that real average earnings look set to have fallen during the first three months of 2017.“With further price rises expected later this year, and no sign yet of wage settlements responding, this pay squeeze looks set to be deeper and longer than expected,” said Stephen Clarke, economic analyst at the thinkank.The Office for National Statistics said price changes for a range of goods and services in March put upward pressure on inflation. However, some of that was offset by downward pressure on overall inflation from air fares. The cost of a flight rose sharply between February and March 2016 because of the early Easter holidays but this year Easter is later and there has been no rise in air fares.A dip in petrol and diesel prices last month also tempered the pressure on inflation. However, compared with a year ago, fuel costs were up 17% in March.There was upward pressure from a variety of foods with only fruit having a small downward effect. The largest upward effects came from margarine, low-fat spread and crisps. There was an alcohol effect as whisky and beer prices rose and cigarettes also played a role in keeping inflation high last month. Clothing and footwear prices were another factor as they rose 2% between February and March.Some economists predict inflation reaching 3% this year although few feel the cost pressures will push the Bank of England into raising interest rates from their record low of 0.25%. One of the nine members on the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), outgoing policymaker Kristin Forbes, voted for a rate rise in March . But the Bank’s governor, Mark Carney, and other policymakers have indicated they are happy to tolerate inflation being above their government-set target in return for supporting growth and safeguarding jobs with low borrowing costs.“All told, we think that CPI inflation will peak at just over 3% before the end of 2017,” said Ruth Gregory at the consultancy Capital Economics.“But we don’t think that that will panic the MPC into raising rates imminently. Given the uncertainty around the Brexit negotiations and the fact that there has been little sign of building domestic cost pressures, we think that the MPC will hold off until mid-2018 before raising rates.”The next figures on wage growth and unemployment are published on Wednesday. Economists expect average pay growth was 2.2% in the three months to February compared with a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll.Topics Inflation Economics Consumer spending Interest rates Economic growth (GDP) EU referendum and Brexit news Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/11/uk-inflation-rate-stays-three-year-high'|'2017-04-11T19:42:00.000+03:00' 'c00da600cd587ea9853e1ce9a7ea42ce57a7232b'|'BRIEF-Organovo reports CEO transition'|' 34pm EDT BRIEF-Organovo reports CEO transition April 11 Organovo Holdings Inc: * Organovo announces CEO transition * Says Taylor J. Crouch appointed CEO * Says CEO Keith Murphy resigned * Says Taylor J. Crouch named chief executive officer, effective April 24, 2017 * Says CEO Keith Murphy resigned * Organovo Holdings Inc - Murphy will remain chairman of board, will serve as an advisor to company Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-organovo-reports-ceo-transition-idUSASA09ID7'|'2017-04-12T04:34:00.000+03:00' '26c8eb19b8206512666880fb50c128f845f23385'|'Bombardier board approves proposal to cut chairman''s pay'|'Aerospace & Defense - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:25am EDT Bombardier board approves proposal to cut chairman''s pay FILE PHOTO: Pierre Beaudoin, Executive Chairman of Bombardier Inc., speaks at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Bombardier Inc said its board of directors approved a proposal to slash Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin''s pay by $1.4 million, bringing his 2016 compensation to $3.8 million, equal to his remuneration for 2015. The move comes after Beaudoin asked the board to reset his compensation as the rise in pay had "become a distraction" from the company''s regular work. The Canadian plane and train maker has faced a backlash over its executives'' pay rises, which come after Bombardier announced two rounds of layoffs in 2016 totaling 14,500 people over two years at sites around the world. Total compensation for the company''s top five executives and board chairman rose to $32.7 million in 2016, up from $21.9 million a year earlier, according to a proxy circular published ahead of Bombardier''s May 11 annual meeting. Bombardier, which has received more than $1 billion in federal and provincial government aid since 2015, awarded its top five executives and board chairman raises of up to 50 percent for 2016. The pay hikes sparked protests outside Bombardier''s Montreal headquarters last week and calls by opposition leaders for a company freeze on executive compensation, with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau criticizing the planned pay hikes for its senior executives. In addition, Chief Executive Alain Bellemare last week requested the board to defer the payment of more than half of the total planned 2016 compensation for its six named executive officers until 2020. The company also said the deferred compensation will only be payable if Bombardier achieves performance goals that position it for long term success. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-bombardier-compensation-idUSKBN17D0OP'|'2017-04-11T15:25:00.000+03:00' 'c02c2f4203f7b2e34f3363db532548d337f2b2f1'|'India FY 2017-18 passenger vehicle sales seen up 9 percent'|'Money News 6:51pm IST India FY 2017-18 passenger vehicle sales seen up 9 percent Vehicles driving along a road are seen through heat haze in Chandigarh, India, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Ajay Verma/File Photo NEW DELHI India''s passenger vehicle sales are expected to grow by as much as 9 percent in fiscal 2017-18, before stabalising at a higher growth rate in the coming years, the country''s auto industry body said on Tuesday. This year (starting April 1), demand is likley to be disrupted because of the introduction of a unified tax system and a shift to selling newer-technology, Euro IV-compliant vehicles that will push up prices, said Sugato Sen, deputy director general at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. Going forward, Sen expects passenger vehicle sales growth to stabalise in the low double-digits. Passenger vehicles sales rose 9.23 percent to cross 3 million units last fiscal year ending March 31, the highest in six years, SIAM data showed, as demand recovered in January after India''s "demonetisation" move late last year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November declared notes of 500 rupees and 1,000 rupees illegal tender, taking about 86 percent of total currency out of circulation, in a move that hit sales of cars and two-wheelers. Sport-utility vehicles made up about a quarter of total passenger vehicle sales last fiscal year as consumer preferences moved away from sedans to SUVs. (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-autos-sales-idINKBN17D1L4'|'2017-04-11T21:21:00.000+03:00' '3d853666b3d4b14c3965b8697e6e335d10a55fea'|'U.S. oil climbs to five-week top on geopolitical tensions'|'Commodities 8:31pm EDT U.S. oil climbs to five-week top on geopolitical tensions A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver SINGAPORE U.S. crude oil rose for a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday to hit its highest level in five weeks, underpinned by tensions following a U.S. missile strike on Syria and a shutdown at Libya''s largest oilfield. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $53.18 a barrel by 0009 GMT. The market has gained for six sessions in a row, its longest rising streak this year. The international benchmark, Brent crude futures, gained 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $56.07 per barrel. Libya''s Sharara oilfield was shut on Sunday after a group blocked a pipeline linking it to an oil terminal, a Libyan oil source said. The field had only just returned to production, after a week-long stoppage ending in early April. The outage added to a rally that started late last week after the United States fired missiles at a Syrian government air base. While Syria produces only small volumes of oil, the Middle East is home to more than a quarter of the world''s oil output. The gain in oil prices comes despite rising U.S. shale oil production. "Crude oil prices were firmer as oil investors shrugged off rising U.S. supplies and looked forward to the summer driving season," ANZ said in a note. U.S. crude inventories touched record highs both at the U.S. storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, and in the U.S. Gulf Coast in recent weeks, according to U.S. government data. Oil prices have also been supported by a deal led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day for the first six months of 2017, to get rid of excess supply. Libya and fellow OPEC member Nigeria are exempt from cuts. In a sign of OPEC confidence that the deal is working, Kuwait''s oil minister said he expected producers'' adherence in March to their supply cut pledges to "be higher than the previous couple of months." (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN17D016'|'2017-04-11T08:31:00.000+03:00' '63493d60da57aac6f3c8b823b143bfd45251722c'|'China-backed fund to acquire Xcerra for $580 million'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:19pm BST China-backed fund to acquire Xcerra for $580 million By Liana B. Baker and Koh Gui Qing - NEW YORK NEW YORK A unit of a large semiconductor investment fund linked to the Chinese state has agreed to buy U.S. semiconductor testing company Xcerra Corp ( XCRA.O ) for $580 million (467.37 million pounds) in cash, the companies said on Monday. The deal is subject to approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a government panel that reviews acquisitions by foreign entities for potential national security risks. CFIUS has cracked down on technology deals related to the semiconductor industry. The buyer is Unic Capital Management, a subsidiary of Sino IC Capital that was founded last year, the companies said in a news release. Sino IC Capital was established in August 2014 and has approximately RMB 138.7 billion ($20.9 billion) in funds under management to invest in the semiconductor space. Unic is paying $10.25 per share in cash for Xcerra. Xcerra shares gained 7 percent to close at $9.63 on Monday. That was still below Unic''s offer price, indicating some market scepticism about the deal closing. The deal is expected to close by year-end. Chinese suitors have faced intense scrutiny from regulators in their pursuit of U.S. chip makers, resulting in some failed deals in recent years. According to the website of a Sino IC shareholder, China Development Bank Capital, Beijing-based Sino IC has at least eight shareholders and was created with the support of the “leaders in the general office of the State Council and the relevant ministries.” The State Council refers to the Chinese Cabinet. The “overall idea” of Sino IC''s investment strategy is to focus on the national development of China’s integrated circuit industry and “ease the investment bottleneck” in the sector, the website said. Of the eight listed shareholders of Sino IC, at least seven are owned by or affiliated with the Chinese state, according to the websites of the companies and Chinese corporate filings. Xcerra declined to comment when asked about Sino IC''s shareholders. Massachusetts-based Xcerra designs and manufactures equipment to test semiconductors and circuit boards. It does not make semiconductors. It is able to seek other buyers for the next 35 days under terms of the merger agreement. Xcerra was advised by Cowen and Company LLC and Latham & Watkins LLP. Sinoc IC was advised by Grant Thornton International and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Sino IC shareholders include China Development Bank Capital, a unit of China Development Bank [CHDB.UL], a state-owned Chinese development bank; and China Mobile Ltd ( 0941.HK ), China’s state-owned wireless carrier. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Koh Gui Qing in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-xcerra-m-a-unic-idUKKBN17C2G1'|'2017-04-11T05:19:00.000+03:00' '572a0c39cb451ef58159785783f407cfb900c654'|'Hong Kong, London gold contracts to launch in July - HKEX chief'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:26am BST Hong Kong, London gold contracts to launch in July - HKEX chief Staff prepare on a podium before an event celebrating the 16th anniversary of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) in Hong Kong, China June 28, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip HONG KONG Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd ( 0388.HK ) plans to launch Hong Kong and London gold contracts at the beginning of July this year, Chief Executive Charles Li said on Tuesday. The bourse planned to launch trading in two separate London and Hong Kong gold contracts on the 20th anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong back to China, Li told a conference. (Reporting by Michelle Price; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hkex-london-gold-idUKKBN17D07Q'|'2017-04-11T10:26:00.000+03:00' '6714c05004e6b8f102a5898b253608f396df71ce'|'Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM'|'FRANKFURT, April 11 Germany''s Linde has for a second time rejected a request for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting next month on its planned $65 billion merger with U.S. industrial gases rival Praxair.Linde said shareholders would in any case have to decide individually whether to accept a public offer from the new combined holding company, so a vote at the AGM on May 10 would not be appropriate."Even if a qualified majority of Linde shareholders would accept the exchange offer, not a single Linde shareholder will be forced to exchange his shares," it said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Linde was responding to a renewed request from German private-investor association DSW, which came on behalf of shareholders Aberdeen Asset Management and BayernInvest.(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Jens Hack; Editing by Edward Taylor)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/linde-ma-praxair-idINL8N1HJ1U6'|'2017-04-11T07:26:00.000+03:00' '27aa84f4668757696fb8ca996578aed3edd1a761'|'Sensex, Nifty rise after three days of falls; financial, IT stocks boost'|'By Tanvi Mehta Indian shares rose on Tuesday after three consecutive sessions of falls as recent decliners such as IT stocks recovered, but overall sentiment was cautious ahead of the start of the earnings reporting season.Earnings are shaping as critical for investors to ascertain whether the double-digit rise in the shares'' value can be sustained. The broader NSE index has risen about 12.7 percent so far this year, touching a record high of 9,273.90 last week.Meanwhile, analysts expect shares to trade in a narrow range. Infosys Ltd, the country''s second-largest software services company, is due to report results on Thursday, unofficially kicking off the reporting season for major companies."Market will remain in this range of 9,000-9,250 points on Nifty, watching out for earnings," said Rakesh Tarway, head of research, Reliance Securities Ltd.The Nifty was up 0.45 percent at 9,222.7 as of 0559 GMT.The Sensex gained as much as 0.7 percent in its biggest intraday percentage gain in over a week and was last up 0.56 percent at 29,742.78.The Nifty IT index was 0.64 percent higher, recovering from a loss of 1.4 percent in the previous session. Infosys Ltd, which had shed nearly 7 percent this month as of Monday''s close, gained as much as 1.9 percent.Financial stocks drove the gains on the NSE index, contributing about 17 index points. The Nifty Bank index had gained about 18.4 percent this year as of Monday''s close.SpiceJet Ltd rose as much as 2.9 percent after the country''s capital markets regulator settled a case against chairman Ajay Singh over whether he violated disclosure rules when he bought shares from promoters in February 2015.India''s Supreme Court set aside an order by the Appellate Tribunal For Electricity allowing compensatory tariff to Tata Power Ltd and Adani Power Ltd, sending their shares down 12.5 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-stocks-sensex-nifty-idINKBN17D0LZ'|'2017-04-11T04:47:00.000+03:00' '35cd3e1e4d649a7678a01cb5406e97ba49c7e82e'|'US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St opens lower amid geopolitical jitters'|' 32am EDT US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St opens lower amid geopolitical jitters April 11 U.S. stocks opened slightly lower on Tuesday as investors sought shelter in safe-haven assets such as gold amid mounting geopolitical tensions in Syria and North Korea. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 26.71 points, or 0.13 percent, at 20,631.31, the S&P 500 was down 4.43 points, or 0.187938 percent, at 2,352.73 and the Nasdaq composite was down 9.85 points, or 0.17 percent, at 5,871.07. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idUSL3N1HJ4CE'|'2017-04-11T21:32:00.000+03:00' 'c46a804d476630d5f946f695590345022f589893'|'Employment is high, skills are in demand. So why is pay still not rising? - Business'|'Looking back, the spring of 2015 was the perfect time for David Cameron to fight a general election . Tumbling oil prices had left inflation at zero and after a couple of years of falling unemployment, annual wage growth was nudging 3%. Rising real earnings translated into a feelgood factor that delivered a political dividend for the Conservatives.Two years on, the real surprise is not the bounce-back in inflation, which at 2.3% remains modest by Britain’s recent standards, but the renewed slowdown in wage growth . Unemployment has continued to fall since the general election and the jobless rate has not been lower since the 1970s.A tightening labour market is normally associated with upward pressure on earnings, but wage pressure actually seems to be abating. Earnings growth is running at half the 4% expected by the Bank of England a couple of years back.All this takes some explaining. To say the least, it is unusual for an economy to be nearing full employment with absolutely no upward pressure on wages. There are record job vacancies and reports of skill shortages, both of which would normally increase the bargaining power of employees.There are a number of possible explanations. One is that the economy is still quite a way from full employment. The labour market expert John Philpott believes that the jobless rate could fall to 4% before wage pressure starts to build.Pay vs inflation Another is that there is a difference in wage growth between those workers who move jobs and those who remain with the same employee. The movers are able to negotiate better pay deals than the stayers. A third is that the 1% pay limit for the public sector – which accounts for around one in six employees – is dragging down overall earnings growth.Whatever the explanation, the squeeze on real wages will continue and intensify. Inflation is going to hit 3% later this year and will comfortably outpace earnings growth.For consumers, this will be a re-run of the first half of the last parliament, although the impact is unlikely to be as severe, since back then a combination of rocketing oil prices and higher VAT took the annual inflation rate to 5% at a time when wage growth was struggling to get above 1%.In the circumstances, it is not hard to see why George Osborne was booed by the crowd when he turned up at the 2102 London Paralympics , because there tends to be a correlation between what’s happening to living standards and the popularity of the government.The current period of falling real wages could hardly have come at a worse time for Theresa May, since it coincides with the start of two years of hard bargaining to thrash out Britain’s departure from the EU. Those negotiations will take place against a backdrop of people feeling poorer. Topics Economics Pay Inflation UK unemployment and employment statistics Family finances Work & careers analysis '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/employment-high-skills-in-demand-why-pay-still-not-rising'|'2017-04-12T21:49:00.000+03:00' '9f1555995b37549c09761f034f5d0cd46708196d'|'UPDATE 1-Brazilian industries escape extra power tariff after court ruling'|'Company 45am EDT UPDATE 1-Brazilian industries escape extra power tariff after court ruling (Adds court decisions obtained by other groups, Eletrobras comment, context) SAO PAULO, April 11 A large group of Brazilian companies will be partly spared an additional power tariff that will be levied later this year, after a federal court issued an injunction in their favor late on Monday, according to court documents. Several industry groups obtained the injunction that partially exempt the companies they represent from the extra tariff the government plans to add to power bills from the second half of this year. The groups are Abrace, an association of large power consumers in Brazil, including aluminum maker Alcoa Corp and petrochemical company Braskem; Abividro, an organization representing glass producers; and Abrafe, which acts in favor of steel and mining companies such as Vale SA . The government adopted the extra charge of up to 7 percent to compensate power transmission companies such as Eletrobras , CTEEP, Cemig and Copel for the early renewal of operating licenses in 2013. The early renewal left power transmission companies with a credit because investments they had made in their operations were not fully amortized since licenses were terminated before the expected time. The court decision, if not overturned, would impact expected revenues for power companies. State-controlled firm Eletrobras, for example, had already added to its accounting books 36.5 billion reais ($11.62 billion) from its share of the broad compensation. Other power companies have also done the same. Eletrobras said it would evaluate possible appeals. On Monday, another court granted steel producer Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional a similar injunction that exempted it from the additional charge. ($1 = 3.1467 reais) (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira and Luciano Costa; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-power-transmission-idUSL1N1HJ0IN'|'2017-04-11T23:45:00.000+03:00' 'b5e83bbdf328a512a5f24c9c30695cc43abea316'|'Robert Walters'' profit jumps on London banking hiring upturn'|' 7:56am BST Robert Walters'' profit jumps on London banking hiring upturn Recruiter Robert Walters ( RWA.L ) reported a sharp rise in first-quarter profit thanks to a notable increase in hiring activity in London''s financial services industry and a good performance in legal and markets around the UK. The firm, which places people in finance, engineering, legal and marketing jobs, said gross profit - net fee income - rose 33 percent to 78.3 million pounds in the three months ended March 31, helped by growth in all its geographies. Profit was up 20 percent at constant currency. Robert Walters'' UK business, which accounts for around a third of gross profit, saw a 27 percent increase in gross profit at reported and constant currency, as its domestic outsourcing business continued to grow strongly. The company said the impact of uncertainty caused by Britain''s vote to leave the European Union was easing, especially on the financial services industry, where some recruiters have reported a slowdown. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-robert-walters-results-idUKKBN17D0MP'|'2017-04-11T14:56:00.000+03:00' '21e5f738c9241cb347af057f79df36103eae5138'|'South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent'|'Business News 10:59am EDT South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent FILE PHOTO: A woman uses an ATM at a branch of Barclays South African subsidiary Absa bank in Johannesburg, in this picture taken March 6,2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo By Tiisetso Motsoeneng - JOHANNESBURG JOHANNESBURG Barclays'' ( BARC.L ) plan to sell its African business and pull out of the continent are being hindered by South Africa''s political upheaval and credit-rating downgrades, according to banking sources and fund managers. The British bank gave itself 2-3 years to sell its controlling stake in Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa when it announced the plan in early 2016, and sold 12 percent last May in an "accelerated bookbuild" - a share sale held over a short period of time. It had been planning another accelerated bookbuild in the last two weeks but pushed it back because of concerns over investor appetite due to political and economic uncertainty in South Africa, according to a banking source familiar with the plans. The source, who asked not to be named as they are not authorized to speak publicly, did not say when the deal might now take place. A spokesman for Barclays in London declined to comment. South Africa has been mired in business uncertainty since late last year when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) pledged to radically transform the economy following losses in local elections that were partly caused by anger over deep inequality that persists more than two decades after apartheid. It said it would redistribute the wealth of the country to the black majority, but has not outlined how it plans to do so. Investor unease increased significantly two weeks ago with the sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan which led to S&P Global Ratings cutting the credit rating of South Africa and its banks to junk. Fitch also pushed Pretoria''s debt into junk territory and is expected to also downgrade local banks in the coming days because their large exposure to sovereign debt closely links their credit profile to that of the government. The downgrades have heightened the risk of a prolonged economic stagnation and rattled investor confidence in banks, whose performance is closely linked to the economy, wiping out more than 132 billion rand ($9.5 billion) from their market value in two weeks. The pool of potential buyers to which Barclays'' can sell shares in its African business to is also shrinking, according to bankers, because the mandates of some institutional investors, including some pension funds, do not allow them to hold an asset that''s sliding on credit ratings. "Barclays Plc have to make a tough call – go ahead and sell Barclays Africa at a low enough price that will attract investors or wait, possibly a few years, until the situation has stabilized," said Kokkie Kooyman, portfolio manager at Dekker Capital in Cape Town. ''PAYING PRICE'' The British bank said early last year that it planned to reduce its 62 percent stake in its African business to below 20 percent by 2019 as part of its plan to exit Africa to focus on the United States and Britain. As well as hindering its global strategy, delays in the sale timetable could throw up regulatory problems. Barclays is partly relying on funds raised from the stake sale to meet capital requirements that were identified as a concern by the Bank of England in a November "stress test" aimed at gauging its ability to withstand financial shocks. The lender faces the annual test again late this year, and the British regulator could ask it to submit plans to raise extra capital if it has not met the requirements. Barclays is increasingly looking at selling its remaining 50 percent stake in chunks because it is struggling to find one strategic buyer that will satisfy South African regulators, sources have previously said. Barclays Africa earns more than 80 percent of its revenue in South Africa, but also operates in nine other including Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique. It has been hit hard by the economic uncertainty and credit downgrades in South Africa, along with domestic peers Standard Bank ( SBKJ.J ), Nedbank ( NEDJ.J ) and FirstRand ( FSRJ.J ). They are heavily dependent on wholesale funding sources such as bonds, whose costs have surged following the downgrades, and exposed to the effects of economic problems such as rising unemployment. South Africa''s "top four" banks have shed between 7 and 13 percent over the past two weeks. Faced with possibility of losing more supporters in the 2019 national elections, the ANC party has pledged to overhaul the economy, with the central plank being the redistribution of wealth, but has not disclosed details of its plans. The policy is aimed at winning back core voters in a country where black people make up 80 percent of the 54 million population, yet the lion''s share of the economy in terms of ownership of land and companies remains in the hands of white people, who account for around 8 percent of the population. "Banks are paying the price for political uncertainty that we''ve seen in the country over the past two weeks," said Ron Klipin, a fund manager at Cratos Capital in Johannesburg. "As an investor, when you hear words like ''radical economic transformation'', it creates some uncertainty in terms of the economic policy, in terms of further downgrades and the cost of funding for banks." ($1 = 13.8876 rand)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics-barclays-group-idUSKBN17D1VZ'|'2017-04-11T22:54:00.000+03:00' 'fdbe2ba86430b241f235b3c26d193a23102dc5f9'|'Hedge fund Jana lines up potential directors for Whole Foods battle: source'|'BOSTON Hedge fund Jana Partners has lined up a handful of people including former Gap Inc Chief Executive Glenn Murphy to serve as possible directors at organic grocery chain Whole Foods Market ( WFM.O ), a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.Murphy bought $44 million worth of Whole Foods stock, according to a regulatory filing made by Jana Partners. Additionally Tad Dickson, a former CEO of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, and Meredith Adler, a former Barclays analyst, have committed to serve on Jana''s slate. Diane Dietz, former chief marketing officer at Safeway, and food writer Mark Bitman are working with the hedge fund.(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wholesale-jana-slate-idUSKBN17C2C2'|'2017-04-11T00:35:00.000+03:00' '520ac678351136a379cda6ee0e253d686ec5ee54'|'Tesla becomes most valuable U.S. car maker, edges out GM'|' 41pm BST Tesla becomes most valuable U.S. car maker, edges out GM FILE PHOTO -- A Tesla car showroom is seen in west London, Britain, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo - RTX33XRJ By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) on Monday became the most valuable U.S. car maker, reaching a market capitalisation of $50.887 billion and edging past General Motors ( GM.N ) which produces many more cars. Helped by an analyst''s recommendation, the luxury electric car maker''s stock rose 3.26 percent to a new record high close of $312.39, and its market value exceeded GM''s, which ended at $50.886 billion. Over the past month, Tesla has surged 35 percent as investors bet that it and Chief Executive Elon Musk will revolutionise the automobile and energy industries. Tesla''s market capitalisation is now equivalent to $102,000 for every car it plans to make in 2018, or $667,000 per car sold last year. By comparison, GM''s market capitalisation is equivalent to $5,000 per car it sold in 2016. Proponents believe Tesla will become a carbon-free energy and transportation heavyweight and they argue its valuation is reasonable based on long-term expectations for Tesla''s growth. They also point to opportunities from Tesla''s acquisition last year of money-losing solar panel installer SolarCity and Tesla''s Nevada battery cell plant aimed at driving down manufacturing costs. "Even with all the risks, we think growth investors can''t afford to ignore this stock," wrote Piper Jaffray analyst Alexander Potter in a report on Monday, upgrading Tesla to "overweight" from "neutral". Skeptics believe Tesla''s growth targets are unrealistic and that it is at risk of being overtaken by GM, Ford and other deep-pocketed manufacturers that are ramping up their own electric-vehicle offerings. Jeffrey Gundlach, who oversees more than $105 billion in assets at Los Angeles-based DoubleLine Capital, told Reuters last week: "As a car company alone, Tesla is crazy high valuation. As a battery company - one that expands and innovates substantially - maybe the valuation can work." The Silicon Valley car company is rushing to launch its mass-market Model 3 sedan in the second half of 2017 and quickly ramp up its factory to reach a production target of 500,000 cars per year in 2018. Last year it sold 76,230, missing its target of at least 80,000 vehicles. By comparison, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.7 million. (Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-stocks-tesla-idUKKBN17C2EK'|'2017-04-11T04:41:00.000+03:00' '1609320a884595cdeec77052ec5fb4958959ada3'|'LeEco abandons $2 bln Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'''|' 08pm EDT LeEco abandons $2 bln Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'' TAIPEI, April 11 Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco , whose businesses stretch from smartphones to electric vehicles, has abandoned a $2 billion proposed acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio, the company said on Tuesday. A LeEco representative reached by Reuters on Tuesday cited a "Chinese policy factor" for abandoning the proposal, but declined to provide further details. The deal was first announced in July, with LeEco agreeing to acquire the Irvine-based manufacturer of LCD/LED flat panel TVs. In recent months, LeEco has faced financial troubles due to the rapid pace of growth of its various businesses, with founder and chairman Jia Yueting acknowledging in a staff letter that the firm faced a "big company disease." However, in March, the company successfully secured $2.2 billion for expansion from investors including property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd, whose investments went into LeEco''s smart internet TV subsidiary Leshi Zhixin, as well as its film production subsidiary, Le Vision Pictures. Late on Monday, LeEco''s listed unit Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing issued a profit alert for the first quarter, saying it sees net profit at 103 million-132 million yuan from 114.7 million yuan ($16.62 million) net profit a year earlier. ($1 = 6.9033 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Jess Macy Yu; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-tech-leeco-idUSL3N1HJ1CN'|'2017-04-11T10:08:00.000+03:00' '7e8a237562291c99264b8beaa7838431f4f6a59e'|'LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns'|'Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 12:47am BST LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns FILE PHOTO: LeEco''s new Le Pro3 phone is on display during a press event in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 19, 2016. RETUERS/Beck Diefenbach China''s Le Holdings Co Ltd ( 300104.SZ ), also known as LeEco, abandoned its proposed $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio Inc ( VZIO.O ) on Monday, citing "regulatory headwinds." LeEco and Vizio, however, have struck a new collaboration agreement that includes bringing Vizio products to the Chinese market, according to a brief emailed statement from the Chinese company. The statement did not elaborate on the regulatory hurdles that prevented the deal from going ahead. The deal to buy Irvine, California-based Vizio was announced in July. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-vizio-m-a-leeco-idUKKBN17C2MX'|'2017-04-11T07:47:00.000+03:00' '6b5cc7fda5b04a4c113345cc009e47b26a2a8cf7'|'German drugmaker Stada backs 5.32 billion euro offer from Bain, Cinven'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 6:09am BST German drugmaker Stada backs 5.32 billion euro offer from Bain, Cinven German drugmaker Stada ( STAGn.DE ) said it has decided to support an offer from Bain Capital and Cinven for 66 euros per share, valuing the company at about 5.32 billion euros (£4.5 billion) The private equity consortium is offering 65.28 euros per share and a dividend of 0.72 euro per Stada share, the company said in a statement on Monday. Stada, which had received offers from two consortia, said it has signed an investor agreement which would include protection provisions for employees. A tie-up of buyout firms Advent and Permira was bidding against Bain and Cinven. Both had made takeover offers at 58 euros per share, which valued the company at 4.7 billion euros including debt. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-stada-m-a-idUKKBN17C0CT'|'2017-04-10T13:09:00.000+03:00' 'fbef7a54ac0364e139b7b881d4e3a74c051fe0bf'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 10'|'Company 1:52am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 10 April 10 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - The British regulator will rule next month on whether 21st Century Fox can buy the rest of Sky, the British satellite and news giant. nyti.ms/2nSx3WT - China''s anti-corruption investigators are targeting the country''s top insurance regulator, throwing doubt over an industry that has been behind a wave of blockbuster global deals but has raised concerns about financial risk in the world''s second-largest economy. nyti.ms/2nSjI0D - Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson is taking a hard line against Russia on the eve of his first diplomatic trip to Moscow, calling the country "incompetent" for allowing Syria to hold on to chemical weapons and accusing Russia of trying to influence elections in Europe using the same methods it employed in the United States. nyti.ms/2nSyncd - 21st Century Fox has enlisted the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to investigate at least one accusation of sexual harassment against Fox News host Bill O'' Reilly. nyti.ms/2nST33E (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL3N1HI28S'|'2017-04-10T13:52:00.000+03:00' '14090690a7e786cd120241d5aaecb67e2a43fdf7'|'RPT-Australia''s thermal coal miners look to plug coking supply gap'|'(Repeats story from April 7 for wider readership with no change to text.)By James ReganSYDNEY, April 7 Australia''s thermal coal producers will look to plug the supply gap in the coking coal market after Cyclone Debbie disrupted supplies from Queensland by modifying their thermal supplies to meet steelmakers needs.Thermal, or steam, coal miners may try to take advantage of the large price gap between so-called semi-soft coking coal and steam coal, said industry sources on Friday. The semi-soft settlement price for first quarter term shipments stood at $130 a tonne versus a thermal price of just under $90..Thermal coal can be sold as semi-soft coking coal, which can be used in steel making, after it is washed to reduce the ash content. The practice results in a lower yield and is typically only happens when the price spread is great enough to cover the loss of volume."The price spread is definitely there, and do we expect to see switches to semi-soft? Absolutely," said the chief executive of a large coal mining company. "It''s inevitable that we''ll see more semi-soft coal hitting the market given where prices are headed."His company operates near Queensland''s Bowen Basin mines but was spared the impact of Cyclone Debbie, which flooded rail lines that disrupted hard coking coal exports from the state, which is Australia''s biggest producer of coking coal.Most of semi-soft these sales will come from Hunter Valley collieries located some 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) south of the cyclone''s impact zone in New South Wales, where lower-ash thermal coal is already mined in abundance, typically to supply Asian power generators, said the executive.Other producers, such as South 32 and Peabody Energy are already mining coking coal and are also positioned outside the cyclone zone in New South Wales.Those supplies could then be exported from the port of Newcastle, the world''s biggest export terminal for thermal coal, untouched by Debbie.Most steelmakers would blend the semi-soft coking coal with prime hard coking coal to achieve the required amount of coke.Coal is converted to coke in a furnace to remove the oxygen from iron ore to make steel.In the meantime, negotiations for second-quarter supplies between the major Australian coking coal miners, including BHP Billiton, Mitsubishi Corp and Anglo American and Asian steel mills have been postponed until a clearer assessment emerges of the damage to rail lines in the Bowen Basin, said Marian Hookham, coal analyst at consultancy IHS.Rail operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd on Friday said there was no change to the five-week repair schedule for the major Goonyella line that connects into the Dalrymple Bay and Hay Point Coal terminals."It could be weeks before negotiations resume and until then anything goes as far as price until then. Just how much of a shift by those producers that can into the semi-soft market will depend on how quickly things return to normal," she said.Premium hard coking coal was priced at $285 per tonne under the first quarter contract, while spot sales are fetching about $240.(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/australia-cyclone-coal-miners-idINL3N1HF3EX'|'2017-04-09T19:00:00.000+03:00' '0e5cd0ebb30a0b0460d4dd106f75e9d8699b309f'|'Tillerson made $27.4 million last year at Exxon - company'|'Top 28pm EDT Tillerson made $27.4 million last year at Exxon - company U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attends a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following their talks in Moscow, Russia, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin By Ernest Scheyder - HOUSTON HOUSTON U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received compensation worth $27.4 million last year when he was chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp, the world''s largest publicly traded oil producer, regulatory filings showed on Thursday. He and other senior executives got raises even though Exxon''s net income fell more than 50 percent in 2016 as the company, like many of its peers, tried to cut costs and weather a period of low oil prices. The value of Tillerson''s compensation package last year rose about 0.5 percent largely due to a 4 percent boost in his salary to $3.2 million and an 8 percent jump in the value of stock awards to $19.7 million, an Exxon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed. The value of perquisites Tillerson received from Exxon last year, including personal security and a life insurance policy, rose 7 percent to $575,850. Tillerson, 65, was nominated by then President-elect Donald Trump to be secretary of state in December. Tillerson retired from Exxon at the end of the year. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in early February. As part of an ethics agreement when he assumed his government post, Tillerson forfeited unvested Exxon stock worth $2.8 million and potential for a bonus of $3.9 million. He also waived his right to retiree health benefits. Tillerson''s vested Exxon stock was put into a trust worth about $180 million at the time, the proceeds of which will be paid out over the next decade, much in the same way proceeds are paid out to all Exxon retirees. The trust is prohibited from investing in Exxon. Tillerson will not be allowed to work anywhere in the oil and gas industry for the next decade. If he does, the entire trust''s value would be donated to a charity that neither he nor Exxon chooses, according to the regulatory filings. Darren Woods, Exxon''s CEO as of January, saw his compensation rise 64 percent last year, when he was Exxon''s president, to $16.8 million. Woods saw his base salary rise 36 percent to $1 million and the value of stock and stock option awards, his pension and company perquisites, including the cost of a home security system, rise as well. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-compensation-idUSKBN17F2B0'|'2017-04-14T01:23:00.000+03:00' 'ffab44f5a321f18306176cc58111e98e7dffac4f'|'New Boeing 737 makes first flight as larger version moves ahead'|' New Boeing 737 makes first flight as larger version moves ahead FILE PHOTO: Boeing''s new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo By Alwyn Scott and Jamie Freed - SEATTLE/SYDNEY SEATTLE/SYDNEY A new version of Boeing Co''s 737 jetliner took off for the first time on Thursday, marking another step in Boeing''s revamp of its best-selling product line that could see up to five new models introduced by 2020. Boeing''s 737 MAX 9, a fuel-efficient, long-range successor to the 737-900, made its initial flight, a test mission, about 50 years after the 737 first took to the skies on April 9, 1967, and follows the first flight of Boeing''s largest Dreamliner model, the 787-10, last month, from its factory in South Carolina. The new models are coming to market just as demand for aircraft has slowed. Boeing has committed to making four new 737 versions and is considering a bigger version than the MAX 9, known as the 737 MAX 10X. It could begin delivering that version in 2020 if airlines start ordering it this year, with China emerging as a promising market, said Michael Teal, 737 MAX chief project engineer and deputy program manager. With the MAX 9 in the air, Boeing is turning more attention to the larger version. It began pre-marketing the plane this year but has yet to formally launch development of the jetliner, which would compete against the popular Airbus A321neo. Teal said the design of the 737 MAX 10X would be firmed up by the end of this year and customers could receive the aircraft in 2020, depending on orders. "We''ll determine (the delivery date) when we launch that program when the customers show the interest and they buy the airplane," he said on a conference call with reporters. CHINA "The China market and airlines there are very interested in the (MAX) 9 and 10 depending on their needs," said Teal. "We''re looking at putting together deals for the China market today on both the 9 and the 10." Boeing said in March it had approached India''s SpiceJet and Jet Airways about the MAX 10X, which its marketing chief says would offer the best efficiency in that part of the market, a claim Airbus rejects. However, the heads of two major aircraft leasing companies have voiced skepticism about the appeal of the MAX 10X and suggested it would eat into rentals of other MAX models. The 737 MAX 10X would be 66 inches (167 centimeters) longer than the current largest family member, the 737 MAX 9, and add 12 seats. It would require longer landing gear as a result. Teal said the landing gear was still in the development stage, with several concepts in prototype testing. "We won''t hit the firm configuration on the gear and, really, the complete airplane until the end of this year," he said. "All of the development tests are proving positive and we are well on our way to firming up that configuration and moving forward into production." The first 737 MAX 9 customer delivery is expected next year, while the first 737 MAX 8 should be delivered next month. "We start with several airplanes in May, more in June and more in July and we start the ramp-up from there," Teal said. (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Alwyn Scott in Seattle; Editing by David Evans and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-7373-flight-idUKKBN17F2DF'|'2017-04-14T02:18:00.000+03:00' '7167b385d5170531f24b458a5ef807f23a11a374'|'Nikkei licks wounds near 4-month low, spooked by North Korea worries'|'Company News 11:28pm EDT Nikkei licks wounds near 4-month low, spooked by North Korea worries * Rising tension over North Korea keeps investors sidelined * Bank shares hit by falling bond yields * Investors hedge against tail risk by buying put options By Hideyuki Sano TOKYO, April 14 Japanese shares licked their wounds near four-month lows on Friday as rising tensions in the Korean peninsular and other parts of the world threatened investors'' bullish expectations on the global and the Japanese economy. "There''s been nothing to cheer about over the last 24 hours. Geopolitical tensions seem to be rising all over the place," said Masahiro Ayukai, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Nikkei dropped 0.3 percent in morning trade to 18,364.68, hovering just above Thursday''s four-month low and having fallen more than 6 percent in the past month. Although their retreat has brought down the Nikkei''s valuation to reasonable levels -- just above 15 times its earnings -- rising geopolitical uncertainties are raising doubts about whether such estimates are reasonable. Investors fear North Korea may conduct a nuclear test or other actions that could provoke neighbouring countries as early as Saturday, when the reclusive state celebrates the birthday of the country''s founding president. The Pentagon on Thursday declined to comment on an NBC report that the United States is prepared to launch a pre-emptive conventional weapons strike should officials be convinced North Korea was about to follow through with a nuclear weapons test. News that the United States dropped "the mother of all bombs", device it has ever unleashed on Thursday only soured investor mood further. The broader Topix dropped 0.5 percent, touching its lowest level in almost five months. It has fallen 3.4 percent so far this month, led by falls in large-cap financial shares, which have been hurt by falling bond yields globally. Investors were selling shares that they once believed would benefit from stimulus and deregulation policies, as they grew disenchanted with the prospects that he could push them through the Congress quickly. Investors are also trying to protect against sudden fall in stock prices by buying put options, the price of which rises when the price of underlying assets falls. The implied volatility of the Nikkei hit a five-month high of 24.3 percent on Thursday and last stood at 22 percent. The volatility gap between the Nikkei''s puts and calls has widened to its highest level since June last year to 8.8 percentage point on Thursday, said Michiro Naito, executive director of equity derivative strategies at JPMorgan. It eased back on Friday but still remained elevated at 7.4 percent, compared to around 4 percent just three weeks ago, he said, suggesting investors are very much concerned about downside risks. "There''s been an amazing rush to hedge against tail risks," Naito said. (Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idUSL3N1HM1HF'|'2017-04-14T11:28:00.000+03:00' '10df863deaaa844157170764592102100601bf24'|'Daimler first-quarter profit surges 87 percent on strong Mercedes sales'|' 7:50am BST Daimler first-quarter profit surges 87 percent on strong Mercedes sales The Mercedes star logo of an E Coupe is pictured before the annual news conference of Daimler AG in Stuttgart, Germany, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle FRANKFURT Daimler AG''s shares were set to open 3.5 percent higher on Wednesday after the maker of luxury cars pre-released better-than-expected first quarter profit, boosted by a rise in sales of its new Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks late on Tuesday said group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped 87 percent to 4.01 billion euros (£3.41 billion), up from 2.15 billion euros a year ago. The company is scheduled to release its quarterly financial report on April 26. Analysts said that without detailed figures, a final assessment of the preliminary figures is difficult. DZ Bank analyst Michael Punzet said the "strong start into 2017 underpins our positive view on Daimler". EBIT at the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit rose 60 percent to 2.23 billion euros, delivering a return on sales of 9.8 percent after the division reported a 15 percent rise in first-quarter sales. In March alone, sales of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class surged by 65 percent. The EBIT from trucks rose 29 percent to 668 million euros. In late March, the company had said it expected record sales volumes for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division in the first quarter. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-daimler-results-idUKKBN17E0KN'|'2017-04-12T14:58:00.000+03:00' '5f5536d2249e1f086d01e368146622a359cc1dfe'|'UPDATE 1-Low-rated euro zone yields rise as debt sales add to geopolitical pressure on bonds'|'* Four countries sell combined 15bln euros of debt* Safety bid helps German auction after failures* Italy pays highest yield since July 2015 on 3-year bond* Geopolitical tensions continue to roil markets* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2Bqr (Recasts after auctions)By John GeddieLONDON, April 12 Around 15 billion euros of debt sales coming on top of geopolitical worries weighed on euro zone bond markets on Wednesday, pushing yields higher on the region''s low-rated bonds.Simmering political and diplomatic tensions kept demand firm for safe-haven assets, allowing Germany to shrug off recent failed auctions to sell 2.435 billion euros of 10-year bonds despite yields near multi-week lows.But investors remain wary of riskier assets. Italy had to pay up to sell 10 billion euros of long-term debt - the yield offered on its three-year bond was the highest since July 2015 .Portugal sold 1.25 billion euros of five- and eight-year bonds and Ireland issued 1.25 billion euros of six- and nine-year bonds."There is a bit of weight from issuance, but what is really driving the direction of markets at the moment is geopolitics," Rabobank strategist Matt Cairns said, adding that trading was thin as Easter holidays approached.The Syrian conflict has been the centre of concern, since it puts the United States on a collision course with Moscow, allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Fraying nerves further, North Korea warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression .For European investors, France has been the focus. Far-left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon is surging in the polls, joining another anti-EU candidate, Marine Le Pen, among the contenders for the presidency. The first round of voting is on April 23 .German 10-year yields - the bloc''s benchmark - were unchanged on the day, holding just above a five-week low of 0.192 percent hit on Tuesday.Yields on lower-rated bonds from the likes of Italy, Spain and Portugal were up 3 to 4 bps on the day.Diplomatic tension is the latest factor tarnishing an otherwise brightening outlook for global growth.Economic institutes in the bloc''s biggest economy Germany said on Wednesday that uncertainties linked to possible protectionist policies by the United States and a lack of clarity over Britain''s divorce talks with the European Union cloud the outlook for growth.For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets(Editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-bonds-idINL8N1HK2GH'|'2017-04-12T10:10:00.000+03:00' 'e098398b37e6ee668278b0dfeac81e9682ade004'|'Retailer Dunelm third quarter sales fall as market for homewares weakens'|' 14am BST Retailer Dunelm third quarter sales fall as market for homewares weakens British retailer Dunelm Group Plc ( DNLM.L ) said the market for homewares continues to weaken as it reported a 2.2 percent fall in total comparable sales for the third quarter. Dunelm, which sells cushions, bedding and kitchen equipment, said that total third quarter revenue rose 11.4 percent to 255.1 million pounds, but warned that the retail environment was volatile. Shares in the company were up 2 percent at 0709 GMT, making them one of the top three gainers on FTSE mid cap .FTMC index. The company, which currently operates 163 stores, said it expects 1.5 percent of like-for-like sales from the third quarter to move to the fourth, citing a late Easter this year. Dunelm had previously warned that it would increase prices on a number of products in the coming months to offset the impact of a weak pound. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-dunelm-group-outlook-idUKKBN17E0NW'|'2017-04-12T15:14:00.000+03:00' 'bc766013dd48072e4efbb1dc4aacb007d467628b'|'BOJ''s Kuroda says weak yen may quicken achievement of inflation goal'|'By Stanley White and Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday further yen declines may help the central bank achieve its 2 percent inflation target more quickly, even as geopolitical tensions lifted the Japanese currency to a five-month high against the dollar.Kuroda reiterated that the BOJ was not targeting exchange rates in guiding monetary policy and instead was pumping money into the economy to spur inflation.But he conceded the benefits a weak yen would have in accelerating inflation, such as by pushing up the cost of imports and thereby overall price growth."The BOJ guides monetary policy to achieve its price target at an early date and doesn''t directly target exchange rates," Kuroda told parliament.As the economy continues to recover and the base effect from last year''s oil price fall dissipates, inflation will accelerate and heighten public''s inflation expectations, he said."Having said that, it''s true that if the yen weakens, it may quicken achievement of our price target," Kuroda said.The dollar languished at a five-month low versus the yen on Wednesday, as simmering geopolitical tensions checked risk appetite and put the safe-haven Japanese currency in favor.The dollar was at 109.745 yen after touching 109.535 earlier in the session, its lowest since Nov. 17.Japan has been mired in deflation for nearly two decades as households sit on a pile of cash on uncertainty over the outlook.The BOJ has deployed massive monetary stimulus since 2013 in the hope the public''s perception of deflation will shift, with little success.Core consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February from a year earlier and analysts expect inflation to accelerate closer to 1 percent later this year due to a rebound in oil costs and rising import prices from last yen falls.But major Japanese retailers have announced sweeping price cuts for food goods and daily necessities, underscoring the difficulty facing the central bank as it tries to spur inflation and coax consumers to boost spending.The central bank will review its economic and price projections at its policy meeting on April 26-27.The BOJ now projects core consumer inflation to hit 1.5 percent in the current fiscal year that ends in March 2018, and accelerate to 1.7 percent in fiscal 2018. That far exceeds private-sector projections of around 1 percent for both years.(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim & Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-kuroda-idINKBN17E01G'|'2017-04-11T23:28:00.000+03:00' 'f9fdf818f7a10178d91cb859beccfdd58c601d7d'|'Algeria warily edges towards Islamic finance as energy income dives'|'* Algeria under pressure to reform after oil price drop* Government seeks new funding sources* Islamic finance may help tap huge informal economy* State banks plan to offer Islamic products in coming months* Interest-free loan announced but no details yetBy Hamid Ould AhmedALGIERS, April 12 When experts in Islamic banking gathered earlier this year at a state-run hotel in Algiers to share their experiences on sharia-compliant finance, no one from the government showed up.But despite this hesitancy - government officials are reluctant even to refer to Islamic finance by that name - Algeria is edging slowly towards offering banking services to suit more religiously conservative investors.The object is to attract funds from a huge pool of cash held outside the formal banking system as Algeria looks for more ways to offset the sharp fall in oil prices and its energy revenues.Finance Minister Hadji Baba Ammi has already announced plans for the country''s first local bond that is interest-free, complying with sharia law which forbids interest payments - although he called the scheme "participative" rather than Islamic.Now six state-run banks plan to start Islamic financial services by the end of the year or in early 2018, and a national sharia board that would oversee Islamic banking is also planned by the end of 2017, banking and government sources told Reuters.Algeria''s Islamic finance plan still faces huge barriers. It lacks a legal framework and technical expertise, and officials must navigate sensitivities over any perceived revival of political Islam after a 1990s war with armed Islamist militants in which 200,000 people died.On top of such concerns, any kind of reform is often delayed in Algeria by heavy bureaucracy and inertia, but bankers are keen to push ahead with the idea."Financial institutions must be more dynamic and aggressive in the market by allowing Islamic products to grow," said Nasser Haider, head of Bahrain-owned Al Salam Bank Algeria. "Regulation has not been a hurdle for Islamic finance in Algeria, but a legal framework would help its development."With the economy emerging from decades of centralised control, Algeria badly needs alternatives to the energy revenues that have traditionally financed 60 percent of the budget.The plunge in global crude prices from mid-2014 halved earnings from exports of oil and gas. In 2015 the budget deficit shot up to 16 percent of Algeria''s annual gross domestic product (GDP) and the government is estimated to have narrowed the gap only to 15 percent last year.A state fund intended to cover such deficits plunged 59.5 percent over the course of last year while foreign exchange reserves are estimated to have dropped to $114 billion by the end of 2016 from $178 billion in 2014.The government has approved a 14 percent cut in spending for 2017 and higher taxes.Algeria issued a conventional, interest-bearing bond on the domestic market last year. But the amount raised, $5.86 billion, fell short of expectations after religious leaders - and even the government''s own ministry of religious affairs - gave the operation a chilly reception. One well-known preacher told the finance minister: "You will suffer inside your tomb."LOCAL DISTRUSTAlgeria is far behind North African neighbours Morocco and Tunisia, which have started to develop legislation for Islamic finance and sukuk bonds, overseen by a central religious board.That may change if the planned Algerian national sharia board comes to fruition later this year, a government source familiar with Islamic financing plans told Reuters.Algeria is targetting domestic savers rather than foreign investors. Many local people distrust the state-owned banks and keep large sums at home, untaxed, in Algerian and foreign currency.Experts put informal economy savings at about $90 billion. That would be roughly equal to half Algeria''s annual GDP, and the government launched a study last month in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme to assess the real size of the parallel market.Last year it failed to draw money from the informal market when it offered a fiscal amnesty under which Algerians could deposit undeclared income and pay a 7 percent fee.Instead, the government needs to cater for religious conservatives. "Current funding methods are still very weak," said Mohamed Mouloudi, an Islam analyst and editor of religious books. "Giving the green light to Islamic finance through the participative option would help attract much money from reluctant people."The six state banks have now almost finished preparations for sharia-based financial services, said Boualem Djebbar, who heads the Banks and Financial Institutions Association as well as the Banque de l''Agriculture et du Developpement Rural. "They will offer participative financing soon," he said.A government source told Reuters three of the banks would launch Islamic products in the summer and a fourth may join them at the end of the year. For the other two, that may happen in 2018.A source at one of the banks, the Banque de Developpement Local, said it would be ready within three months. "BDL will launch at least two new products with one focusing on financing based on the murabaha principle at the start of the second half of 2017," the source said, referring to a cost-plus-profit arrangement widely used to structure Islamic loans.Al Salam Bank Algeria and Al Baraka Bank Algeria, local units of Bahrain-listed Islamic banks Al Salam Bank and Al Baraka Banking Group, are also already operating in Algeria. But their market share is estimated by experts at less than 4 percent. They offer retail and commercial banking services.Al Salam Bank has submitted a proposal to the finance ministry to use some form of Islamic finance for partial funding of a $3.2 billion port west of Algiers. Chinese banks will also provide around $1.5 billion for the project.SUBJECT TO SLIPPAGEAlgeria''s cautious approach to Islamic finance matches its wrestling with the kind of reforms it needs to deal with the sharp fall in oil prices. "The government preferred a gradual approach," said Abelhak Lamiri, who serves as an economic consultant for the government.Timetables are subject to slippage. In February the state news agency APS, quoting the finance minister, said the interest-free bond would be launched by the end of April. However, this was subject to government approval and so far no details have been announced.Still, state media remain keen on the idea. "The option for Islamic banking products in this time of crisis can only strengthen the financial sector through the diversification of bank offerings," wrote state-run newspaper El Moudjahid, which usually reflects government opinion. "Islamic products will also help attract informal savings." (Additional reporting by Bernardo Vizcaino in New York; Editing by Patrick Markey and David Stamp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/algeria-economy-islamicfunds-idINL8N1HJ1YQ'|'2017-04-12T07:30:00.000+03:00' '6053363f6d8a195f28bdd3339ce2f7391b3daf15'|'Glaukos shares risk steep decline as rivals pressure: Barron''s'|'Shares of Glaukos Corp ( GKOS.N ) could fall 30 percent in the next year, as years of success by the medical device maker has attracted competition from larger companies that threaten its market share, according to the April 10 edition of Barron''s.Glaukos shares have risen 150 percent to around $50 since June 2015, trading at 300 times expected earnings and 10 times forecast sales, the financial newspaper said.The San Clemente, California-based company, which makes tiny titanium stents called iStents used to treat the progressive eye disease glaucoma, has had this market to itself in the United States.But new rivals, including Novartis AG''s ( NOVN.S ) Alcon unit and Allergan Plc ( AGN.N ), are set to challenge its dominance and put pressure on pricing, Barron''s said.Alcon, the world''s largest eye care company, recently won approval for a competing product, while Glaukos is unlikely to have a new product on the market before the second half of next year, Barron''s said."Although Glaukos dominates the stent market in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, it is still a small company reliant on just one product for the foreseeable future, as bigger rivals emerge," the paper said. "That''s a prescription for disappointment, and a potentially steep stock price decline."(Reporting by John McCrank in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-glaukos-stocks-barrons-idINKBN17B0YU'|'2017-04-09T17:50:00.000+03:00' '584cc30f562491ea683e507c9fe41dc98731b8c8'|'Brazil corruption probe will not derail pension vote - minister'|'BRASILIA A corruption investigation into dozens of senior lawmakers and a third of Brazilian President Michel Temer''s cabinet will not affect a key pension reform vote in Congress, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles told Reuters on Wednesday.In a phone interview, Meirelles said he continues to expect the reform to be approved in the first half of the year, but acknowledged that a vote in August would not be a problem.(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Writing by Alonso Soto; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-corruption-pension-idINKBN17E2NA'|'2017-04-12T18:01:00.000+03:00' '6a1fb52675c4683b90d8bd9a79fd0c831567b51b'|'U.S.-based stock funds hit by biggest withdrawals of 2017 -ICI'|'Business 22pm EDT U.S.-based stock funds hit by biggest withdrawals of 2017: ICI By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK NEW YORK Fund investors are ousting U.S. stocks in favor of bonds and international assets as they turn skittish on an aging bull market, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday. Investors pulled $12.7 billion from U.S.-based funds that buy domestic stocks, and plunged an additional $6.7 billion into international equity and $11.1 billion into bond funds, the trade group said. The data covers the week ended April 5. Domestic stock fund outflows were the biggest since October 2016, while international equity inflows were the highest since July 2015, the ICI data showed. Market returns have mirrored that pattern, with the S&P 500 .SPX down 1.3 percent over the last month in price terms, compared to the 1.1 percent rise of MSCI''s gauge of stocks outside the United States .dMIWU PUS. "Investors are getting more concerned about the U.S. equities, given political uncertainty and amid an increasingly aging bull market," said Todd Rosenbluth, director of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA. "Last week''s flows were sharply impacted by rare outflows to U.S. equity ETFs. Investors have sought the relative safety of taxable bond funds." Political tension ranging from Syria to the Korean peninsula weighed on market sentiment this month, pressuring an eight-year bull market in U.S. stocks. Meanwhile, global growth has created opportunities in other regions, such as emerging markets, said Stephen Cucchiaro, president and chief investment officer at 3EDGE Asset Management in Boston. Fixed-income funds attracted their 15th straight week of cash. They have had just two months of net outflows in the past year, according to ICI. Bonds have become the choice asset for U.S. fund investors over the past year despite a rally in stocks. Bonds have their own risks, as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and eyes potential plans this year to trim its $4.5 trillion of bonds and other assets. Rising interest rates erode bond prices. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mutualfunds-ici-idUSKBN17E2BT'|'2017-04-13T01:20:00.000+03:00' '32ec4a14c5f844a3f2fe9ec9f91ef16a9188f52d'|'Cyber breaches have cost shareholders billions since 2013 - report'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 9:07am BST Cyber breaches have cost shareholders billions since 2013 - report A padlock is displayed at the Alert Logic booth during the 2016 Black Hat cyber-security conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. August 3, 2016. REUTERS/David Becker LONDON Cyber security breaches erode companies'' share prices permanently, with financials the worst hit, a study issued by IT consultant CGI and Oxford Economics has found. Severe cyber security breaches, such as those having legal or regulatory consequences, involve the loss of hundreds of thousands of records and hurt the firm''s brand, caused share prices to fall on average 1.8 percent on a permanent basis, the analysis of 65 companies affected since 2013 globally has found. Investors in a typical FTSE 100 firm would be worse off by an average of £120 million after such a breach, the report said. Overall the cost to shareholders of these 65 companies would be in excess of 42 billion pounds ($52.40 billion). CGI''s analysis compared each company''s share price against a cohort of similar companies to isolate the impact of cyber breaches from other market movements, during incidents detailed in a breach index compiled by Dutch security firm Gemalto. Two-thirds of firms had their share price adversely impacted after suffering a cyber breach. Financial firms were the worst affected, followed closely by communications firms. "Financial services experience the greatest burden in terms of impact, reflecting the high levels of regulation, the importance of customer confidence and the potential for financial fraud to be a facet of the breach," the report said. Those least affected were retail, hospitality and travel companies. Hacking attacks and other cyber security breaches have impacted companies across the world in recent years, from retailer Target in the United States in 2013 to British communications firm TalkTalk in 2015. ($1 = 0.8015 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cyber-companies-idUKKBN17E0SI'|'2017-04-12T16:07:00.000+03:00' '474af7252d12a30fe1c57cf2c4be2a8b317beab1'|'MOVES-Pillarstone hires general counsel for Europe growth'|'LONDON, April 12 (IFR) - Pillarstone, the platform set up by US private equity firm KKR to buy or manage non-core bank assets in Europe, has hired Mark Knight as a partner and general counsel.Knight was a partner in the European restructuring practice at law firm Kirkland and Ellis in London.Pillarstone said on Wednesday that Knight will support the continued development of its infrastructure and analyse and structure potential investments. It said he has experience in complex cross-border restructurings, and has advised both debtors and creditors on acquisition, disposal and reorganisation of stressed and distressed businesses.Pillarstone was set up in 2015 by KKR, with John Davison as co-investor and CEO, to partner with European banks to manage their exposure to non-core and underperforming assets. It injects capital and works with firms to help them recover, and is active in both Italy and Greece and is looking to expand into other European countries. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/moves-pillarstone-hires-general-counsel-idINL8N1HK1ZR'|'2017-04-12T08:02:00.000+03:00' 'c56ca39f24328958f72a359b8980311837bd043d'|'Nikkei falls to 4-month low on geopolitical concerns, yen spike'|'* Hopes for rising profits from Japan Inc this FY recede - analyst* Toshiba falls after filing results unapproved by auditorBy Ayai TomisawaTOKYO, April 12 Japanese stocks fell to their lowest in more than four months on Wednesday as rising geopolitical tensions dragged all sectors into negative territory, with exporters hit especially hard as the safe haven yen spiked to a five-month high.The Nikkei 225 share average dropped 1.3 percent to 18,506.17 in midmorning trade after falling to as low as 18,460.59 earlier, the lowest level since Dec. 7.The dollar hit 109.36 yen, its lowest since last November, as geopolitical fears fed a rush to safety.North Korea warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force President Donald Trump described as an "armada".Trump said in a Tweet that North Korea was "looking for trouble" and the United States would "solve the problem" with or without China''s help."The Japanese market will likely stall for a while," said Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Centre.Nakai said hopes that Japanese companies could post double-digit profit gains this fiscal year helped by November''s dollar-yen rally when Trump was elected have faded."Such expectations have receded, so it has become difficult to see the Nikkei''s price to earnings ratio rise," Nakai said.Japanese companies are scheduled to release later this month their earnings for the full year ended March 2017 and forecasts for the current fiscal year.Exporters, whose overseas profits shrink when the yen strengthens, lost ground.Automakers dropped 2.0 percent, with Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Nissan Motor Co all falling between 1.4-2.0 percent.Financial shares were also hit. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 2.0 percent, Mizuho Financial Group shed 1.3 percent and Nomura Securities declined 1.9 percent.Elsewhere, Toshiba Corp fell as much as 3.6 percent after it filed twice-delayed business results on Tuesday without an endorsement from its auditor and warned its very survival was in doubt.The broader Topix dropped 1.2 percent to 1,477.79, with all of its 33 subsectors falling.The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 1.1 percent to 13,225.17.(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idINL3N1HK1IZ'|'2017-04-12T00:43:00.000+03:00' '8af66abd9697a640cf11e7648ff2c44af03fd923'|'COLUMN-No relief for the London Metal Exchange as volumes fall again: Andy Home'|'Company News 49am EDT COLUMN-No relief for the London Metal Exchange as volumes fall again: Andy Home (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) * LME volumes in Q1 by major contract tmsnrt.rs/2p4ZSDT By Andy Home LONDON, April 12 The London Metal Exchange (LME) has just laid to rest its steel billet contract. No need to panic if you didn''t notice. The contract hasn''t traded since June 2015. The last 65 tonnes of registered billet stock left the LME warehouse system a year ago. The exchange has tweaked and prodded the contract many times since its launch in 2008 but to no avail. "The LME believes that the steel billet contract no longer functions as an effective price discovery tool and risk management solution for the physical industry," the exchange said in an April 10 notice to members. The contract will be suspended with immediate effect. Fortunately for the LME, it has two replacement products for the steel industry''s hedging needs. Its steel scrap contract, launched in November 2015, seems to be doing just fine. Volumes surged to 54,700 lots in the first quarter of 2017 from 1,729 a year ago. Open interest at the end of March hit a new record at 4,691 lots. The steel rebar contract, launched at the same time, is also experiencing steady growth, albeit not on the same scale. Unlike billet, which ran into deliverability problems almost as soon as it was launched, these steel products are not physically deliverable but are rather monthly contracts cash settled against third-party indices. Such a format, the LME said, is "better suited for the risk management needs of the steel industry". The steel contracts'' success would appear to reinforce the case for the LME to re-engineer its other contracts towards a more standardised format. Because the broader picture is one of still-falling volumes, keeping the pressure on the exchange, and its owner, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, to try and turn the trend. Graphic on LME volumes in Q1 2017 by major contract: tmsnrt.rs/2p4ZSDT STILL SLIDING Average daily volumes on the LME fell by 13.1 percent in March and 4.6 percent in the first quarter. Those headline figures, however, somewhat overstate the trend due to the higher number of trading days this year relative to last year. In absolute terms volumes were down by "only" 1.5 percent in the first three months of 2017. The problem is that the trend of falling volumes has been running almost continuously for over two years now. Successes such as the steel contracts and cobalt, which has seen volumes explode over recent months as the price has gone on a super-charged rally, are still too small to compensate for lower activity in the LME''s core contracts. True, there are other exceptions to the trend. Both nickel and zinc saw volumes increase year-on-year in the first quarter to the tune of 5.0 percent and 6.8 percent respectively. But on the other side of the ledger, aluminium alloy seems to be hovering on the brink of meltdown with volumes collapsing by 56 percent in the first quarter. CORE PROBLEMS Let''s face it. The alloy contract could go the way of other failed LME offerings such as molybdenum without creating any shock waves through the industrial metals landscape. The real issue facing the LME, both exchange and trading community, is the slide in volumes in flagship contracts such as aluminium and copper. The latter has become the poster child for the reformist faction in the LME community because of the contrast between falling activity in London, where volumes tumbled another 7.7 percent in the first quarter, and the CME''s contract, which saw volumes increase by 25.2 percent. This seems to suggest that business is migrating away from the LME with its complex date system to the more vanilla futures product offered by CME. But it may not be as straightforward as that. If there was a wholesale shift of business towards CME because of its product structure, how come its lead and zinc contracts are moribund? Neither traded at all in March and lead hasn''t traded so far this year. The CME''s most successful new contracts have been its physical aluminium premium suite, which complements rather than directly challenges the LME''s own aluminium contract. That the CME copper contract is attracting incremental new business is not in doubt. To what extent it is doing so by directly grabbing existing LME business, on the other hand, is moot. It''s worth noting, by the way, that the third pillar of global copper trading, the Shanghai Futures Exchange, has experienced a 41-percent decline in copper volumes so far this year. Does that mean it too is losing business to CME or is it simply a case of speculative money moving into more exciting markets such as lead, where Shanghai volumes rocketed by 500 percent in the first quarter? A FINE LINE Excepting the puzzling copper piece of the liquidity jigsaw, the overall downtrend in LME volumes would appear to bear out the views of the traditionalists on the exchange, who argue that the real culprit is the increase in trading fees which has sent business back into the over-the-counter shadows. How else to explain, for example, falling volumes in the lead contract with no apparent beneficial impact on the CME''s contract? If fees are the real problem, traditionalists argue, there''s no need for a wholesale restructuring of existing contracts to stop the rot. The demise of the billet contract may signify nothing more than that it was always a flawed concept, rooted in physical delivery in Turkey, a country that simply didn''t have the right tax code to cover trading of metal in bonded warehouses. That the downtrend in LME volumes is a problem for the exchange and its users, particularly the broker community, is not in question. Why volumes have been falling is a much harder question to answer. It''s a messy mix of industrial cycle, investment cycle, fee cycle and, somewhere in there, contract structure. Pity the new chief executive who will have to disentangle this knot and try and find the fine line between traditionalists and reformists and their respective camps of industrial and speculative users. Fortunately for him, or her, everyone is going to get a stab at answering the question. A major discussion paper is on its way. Whether it generates a clear answer remains to be seen. But each passing month of lower volumes sharpens the question. (Editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lme-reform-ahome-idUSL8N1HK347'|'2017-04-12T19:49:00.000+03:00' '085302b3150dfa8f0cfb9e3f70add3c482f6fc2a'|'Italy''s Carim says private equity firm eyeing controlling stake'|'MILAN, April 12 Italy''s Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini (Carim) said on Wednesday its board had granted access to its books to a private equity firm that offered to buy a controlling stake in the regional bank as it seeks to fill a capital gap.Banca Carim, one of several Italian banks grappling with the fallout of a harsh recession in the country, said its capital ratios were below the requirements demanded by the Bank of Italy.The bank''s core capital ratio stood at 6.91 percent at end-2016, below a minimum 7.80 percent threshold."The board has examined a (non binding) offer ... by a private equity fund willing to inject capital in exchange for control of the bank ... and has decided to grant a due diligence phase," it said.Banca Carim said it had also been in touch with a bank deposit guarantee fund - which can use voluntary contributions from lenders for bank rescues - over a possible capital injection. (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/italy-banks-cassa-rimini-idINI6N1H800U'|'2017-04-12T11:22:00.000+03:00' '367c3ce717c20628623b6c3fa7504483b3cbd4b4'|'Demand for Azul IPO tops supply by five times: sources'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Investor demand for shares in Brazilian airline Azul SA''s initial public offering in São Paulo and New York surpassed the amount of stock on offer by five times, ahead of pricing later on Monday, three people with knowledge of the transaction said.The IPO could price at 21 reais per preferred Brazilian share and $19.90 per American depositary share, both in the middle of a suggested price range for the transaction, the sources said. Azul declined to comment. Robust demand for the transaction could lead Azul to offer additional and supplementary allotments, they said.The airline started by JetBlue Airways Corp ( JBLU.O ) founder David Neeleman filed to sell up to 72 million preferred shares, with a ratio of three Brazilian shares per ADS.The situation suggests that an April 6 decision by Brazil''s securities watchdog to suspend Azul''s IPO hours ahead of pricing on Thursday did little to abate interest in the issue. According to the watchdog known as CVM, Azul had given some investors information that was not included in the transaction''s official documentation.Before the suspension, sources familiar with the deal expected the Azul IPO to be between 60 percent to 70 percent subscribed by investors outside Brazil. Brazilian investors were expected to snap up the remaining amount.The impasse posed a temporary setback to Azul, which had to call off plans to go public on three previous occasions because of challenging market conditions. The company got clearing from regulators to pursue the IPO on Friday, after pledging to include estimates of projected gains in Azul''s investment in TAP Transportes Aéreos Portugueses SA [TAPA.UL] into the official prospectus.The investment banking units of Citigroup Inc ( C.N ), Deutsche Bank AG ( DBKGn.DE ) and Itaú Unibanco Holding SA ( ITUB4.SA ) are acting as the offering''s underwriters. The stock should begin trading on Tuesday under the symbols "AZUL4" in São Paulo and "AZUL" in New York.(Additional reporting by Aluísio Alves in São Paulo; editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-azul-ipo-idINKBN17C2F6'|'2017-04-10T19:31:00.000+03:00' '82264b5184ae78af46a3b359637c37edea41b041'|'Australia says changes to BHP Billiton corporate structure must fit national interest'|'Commodities 2:43am EDT Australia says changes to BHP Billiton corporate structure must fit national interest FILE PHOTO: A logo for mining company BHP Billiton adorns a sign outside the Perth Convention Centre where their annual general meeting was being held in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo SYDNEY Any significant changes to the corporate structure of Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law, the Australian government said on Tuesday. Activist shareholder Elliott Advisors on Monday proposed BHP Billiton scrap its dual-company structure in favor of a primary listing in London and a secondary listing in Sydney. "A change in the corporate structure and listing arrangement would need to be carefully considered against the provisions of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act," a spokeswoman for Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Tuesday. "If the changes were significant they would need to be consistent with Australia’s national interest test under that Act." The Australian government in 2001 approved the merger of Melbourne-based BHP and London-based Billiton based on a number of conditions designed to ensure the miner kept close ties to Australia. BHP Billiton on Monday said the Elliott proposal, which involves replacing the dual-listed company with a single company domiciled in Britain, would require the approval of Australia''s Foreign Investment Review Board. In presentation slides, Elliott said the changes in the listing structure would add $1.50 of value per BHP Billiton share for the holders of London-listed shares but take away $1 in value from the holders of the Australian-listed shares. The bulk of Elliott''s BHP Billiton shareholding is in the U.K.-listed arm, in which it holds a stake of 4.1 percent. It has rights to acquire an interest of up to 0.4 percent in the Australian-listed arm. Elliott also proposed that BHP Billiton split off its U.S. oil and gas division, a move the company has rejected previously. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idUSKBN17D0LN'|'2017-04-11T14:43:00.000+03:00' 'a35da06d9e1c03812f2b7dfb8a89dc18fb9cfd05'|'LeEco abandons $2 billion Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'''|'Deals - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:55pm EDT LeEco abandons $2 billion Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'' FILE PHOTO: LeEco''s new Le Pro3 phone is on display during a press event in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 19, 2016. RETUERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo TAIPEI Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco ( 300104.SZ ), whose businesses stretch from smartphones to electric vehicles, has abandoned a $2 billion proposed acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio ( VZIO.O ), the company said on Tuesday. A LeEco representative reached by Reuters on Tuesday cited a "Chinese policy factor" for abandoning the proposal, but declined to provide further details. The deal was first announced in July, with LeEco agreeing to acquire the Irvine-based manufacturer of LCD/LED flat panel TVs. In recent months, LeEco has faced financial troubles due to the rapid pace of growth of its various businesses, with founder and chairman Jia Yueting acknowledging in a staff letter that the firm faced a "big company disease." However, in March, the company successfully secured $2.2 billion for expansion from investors including property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd ( 1918.HK ), whose investments went into LeEco''s smart internet TV subsidiary Leshi Zhixin, as well as its film production subsidiary, Le Vision Pictures. Late on Monday, LeEco''s listed unit Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing ( 300104.SZ ) issued a profit alert for the first quarter, saying it sees net profit at 103 million-132 million yuan from 114.7 million yuan ($16.62 million) net profit a year earlier. (Reporting by Jess Macy Yu; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-tech-leeco-idUSKBN17D08U'|'2017-04-11T10:55:00.000+03:00' '5ba2e733404ced763bfc9e1510dc59e7a4dc6fdf'|'YPF among bidders for Shell''s Argentina refinery: sources'|'BOSTON/BUENOS AIRES Argentina’s state-run oil company YPF SA is among the bidders for Royal Dutch Shell Plc''s refinery and network of gasoline stations in Argentina, according to two people familiar with the process.Other nationally owned oil companies are interested in the assets but YPF is seen as having an edge because of its strong position in Argentina, the sources said.The assets, including a 113,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Buenos Aires, were put on the block as part of Shell''s program of asset sales to pay down debt after acquiring rival BG Group last year.Shell confirmed it is selling the assets but declined to comment on potential bidders, said spokeswoman Kimberly Windon.YPF declined to comment on the potential bid.The assets are valued at less than $1 billion, according to the sources.Oil majors including Shell, Chevron Corp and Exxon Mobil Corp are divesting refineries to focus on more lucrative oil production and exploration, leaving room for regional players like YPF to grow.Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said last year the company planned to pull out of downstream oil and gas in Argentina, which includes refining and selling fuels.Goldman Sachs has been retained to market the assets, according to one of the two people.Upstream activities, which include oil exploration and production, are not under review, she said.Argentine newspaper La Nacion previously reported that YPF was interested in the refinery and gas stations.(Reporting by Jessica Resnick-Ault in Boston and Juliana Castilla in Buenos Aires; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-argentina-ypf-idUSKBN17C2CB'|'2017-04-11T00:04:00.000+03:00' 'ac2682a65c9e7e70136b9c831aa91b0bcfb6bc90'|'London Stock Exchange looks to Middle East for revival after Brexit'|' 34pm BST London Stock Exchange looks to Middle East for revival after Brexit FILE PHOTO: A red London bus passes the Stock Exchange in London, Britain, February 9, 2011. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo By Dasha Afanasieva - LONDON LONDON The London Stock Exchange ( LSE.L ) is targeting more listings from companies in the Middle East, following a dearth of initial public offerings in the aftermath of Britain''s vote to leave the European Union. Money raised on LSE''s equity markets fell nearly 40 percent in 2016 to 25.6 billion pounds. While funds raised from initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this year recovered slightly from 2016, they were much lower than in the previous two years. The exchange is now turning to the Middle East, an executive said, seeking to convince investors it is attractive despite uncertainty about how Brexit will affect London - a factor that contributed to the recent collapse of LSE''s proposed merger with Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ). The biggest prize would be energy giant Saudi Aramco''s [IPO-ARMO.SE] planned global listing, and LSE Group Chief Executive Xavier Rolet joined British Prime Minister Theresa May on a trip to Saudi Arabia last week, courting a slice of the IPO, which could be the biggest in corporate history. Ibukun Adebayo, who is in charge of emerging markets at the London Stock Exchange, said other opportunities abound. "Immediately, we see the bigger opportunity (for new listings) emanating from the Middle East, and then the longer term prospects are from the Indian subcontinent, and then Africa," Adebayo told Reuters. The LSE is promoting itself through events in the region, helped by index compiler FTSE''s office in Dubai. It is targeting regulators and large companies, pointing to the large number of natural resources companies listed in London. LSE''s Adebayo said he expected natural resources to continue to be a key sector for IPOs. But with fierce competition from exchanges globally and in the Middle East, as well as technical and regulatory hurdles, new business may be hard to secure. The London exchange also has a chequered history with companies from resource-rich regions. Prior to 2008 it courted Russian companies, landing depositary receipt listings of Sistema ( AFKS.MM ), Megafon ( MFON.MM ) and Gazprom ( GAZP.MM ). However three of those have delisted in the past six months, and it has faced questions over whether its entry requirements for them were too lax. The capital markets division, which includes IPOs, represents just over a fifth of the group''s income. Getting an unlisted group onto the exchange, however, can drive revenue in bigger segments such as clearing and technology services. As a result, IPOs are a key battleground for exchanges. "IPOs are a multiplier for derivatives, indices and clearing businesses: liquidity attracts liquidity," said Martin Steinbach, head of IPO and listing services at business services firm EY. COMPETITION A huge coup for London would be the listing of Saudi Aramco, which is expected to raise $100 billion out of an estimated $300 billion in Saudi privatisation opportunities by 2022. New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto are also seeking to win a slice of the Aramco IPO and Saudi officials have been meeting with exchanges to decide where the shares should be traded. In the wake of the massive correction in oil prices, governments across the Middle East are looking to privatise their businesses to shore up state budgets. Adebayo says teaming up with local exchanges is key to the LSE''s strategy. "We consider London liquidity as complimentary," he said, adding that the group is working on fully fungible dual listings. The LSE boasts more than 40 companies from the Middle East and North Africa on the exchange but globally the proportion of cross-border listings is declining. Bankers say with technological advancement international investors can just as easily access stocks listed in local exchanges as in hubs such as London. One of the biggest European IPOs in the first quarter, toy seller Detsky Mir ( DSKY.MM ), managed to secure top international asset managers to take up shares, despite being listed in Moscow. Governments in the Middle East are intent on developing their domestic equity markets and Saudi Aramco is expected to list on the local Tadawul exchange - which opened itself up to foreign investors in 2015 - as well as on one or more overseas exchanges. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), valued above $15 billion, is expected to list on the Dubai or Abu Dhabi stock exchange this year. "Governments have a natural interest to keep their companies at home," said EY''s Steinbach, summing up what could be the biggest obstacle facing London. To view LSE''s new listings click on tmsnrt.rs/2o3m0L8 (Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lse-strategy-middle-east-idUKKBN17D1MO'|'2017-04-11T21:34:00.000+03:00' '038716a55b21953e9df049498af55cf1f98c8481'|'Bombardier board approves proposal to cut chairman''s pay'|'April 11 Bombardier Inc said its board of directors approved a proposal to slash Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin''s pay by $1.4 million, bringing his 2016 compensation to $3.8 million, equal to his remuneration for 2015.The move comes after Beaudoin asked the board to reset his compensation as the rise in pay had "become a distraction" from the company''s regular work.The Canadian plane and train maker has faced a backlash over its executives'' pay rises, which come after Bombardier announced two rounds of layoffs in 2016 totalling 14,500 people over two years at sites around the world.Total compensation for the company''s top five executives and board chairman rose to $32.7 million in 2016, up from $21.9 million a year earlier, according to a proxy circular published ahead of Bombardier''s May 11 annual meeting.Bombardier, which has received more than $1 billion in federal and provincial government aid since 2015, awarded its top five executives and board chairman raises of up to 50 percent for 2016.The pay hikes sparked protests outside Bombardier''s Montreal headquarters last week and calls by opposition leaders for a company freeze on executive compensation, with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau criticising the planned pay hikes for its senior executives.In addition, Chief Executive Alain Bellemare last week requested the board to defer the payment of more than half of the total planned 2016 compensation for its six named executive officers until 2020.The company also said the deferred compensation will only be payable if Bombardier achieves performance goals that position it for long term success. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-bombardier-compensation-idINL3N1HJ2FO'|'2017-04-11T05:07:00.000+03:00' 'a2060099b04e468ee043d5bb65f319cf4ba25f09'|'United shares fall after backlash over dragged passenger'|' 42pm BST United shares fall after backlash over dragged passenger left right A video screengrab shows passenger David Dao being dragged off a United Airlines flight at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in this video filmed by @JayseDavid April 9, 2017. Jayse D. Anspach via REUTERS 1/2 left right A video screengrab shows passenger David Dao being dragged off a United Airlines flight at Chicago O''Hare International Airport in this video filmed by @JayseDavid April 9, 2017. Jayse D. Anspach via REUTERS 2/2 By Alana Wise United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) shares fell as much as 4.4 percent on Tuesday after a worldwide backlash erupted over a passenger who was dragged off one of the carrier''s overbooked U.S. flights. Video showing a man who appeared to be Asian being snatched from his seat, his limp body pulled from the passenger cabin of United Airlines Flight 3411, sparked an outcry on Monday when the footage went viral. On Chinese social media, the incident attracted the attention of more than 340 million users on the Weibo platform by Tuesday morning. United Continental got about 14 percent of its 2016 revenue from flying Pacific routes. "The company has a very black eye, and they need to do some PR work, but I don’t think it will have any effect on the fundamentals," said portfolio manager Craig Hodges of Hodges Capital in Dallas. Much of the backlash centred on whether the man would have faced the same treatment if his ethnic background had been different. According to Tyler Bridges, a passenger who was on board the flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, the man who was dragged off before takeoff said repeatedly that he was being discriminated against because he was Chinese. "He said, ''I''m a doctor; I need to see patients," said Bridges, a civil engineer from Louisville who recorded much of the incident on his phone. Many Weibo users, including comedian Joe Wong and e-commerce company JD.com ( JD.O ) founder Liu Qiangdong, called for a boycott of United. "This makes me recall the nightmare experiences I had the three times I flew with United Airlines," Liu told his more than 3 million followers. "United''s service is definitely the worst in the world!" In the United States, social media outrage continued, with the incident trending on Twitter for the second consecutive day. Many users promoted hashtags #NewUnitedAirlinesMotto and #BoycottUnitedAirlines. Twitter user Ethan @Warbot2003 wrote: "We Put The Hospital In Hospitality #NewUnitedAirlinesMottos." Another Twitter user, Jim MacD @jim_macd, tweeted: "We can re-accommodate you the easy way... or the hard way #NewUnitedAirlinesMotto." In heavy trading, shares of United Continental had pared steeper initial losses by the afternoon but were still down 2.6 percent at $69.65. The decline shaved about $600 million from the company''s market value and made the stock among the biggest percentage decliners in the S&P 500 .SPX . Late on Monday, United Airlines had also reported its March operational results, saying it expected first-quarter consolidated passenger unit revenue to be about flat with a year earlier. UBS analyst Darryl Genovesi said in a research note that the revenue projection "may be seen as a modest beat relative to investor expectations." United plans to report quarterly results next week. The S&P composite 1500 airlines index .SPCOMALI was little changed after trading in negative territory earlier, while the broader S&P 500 .SPX declined 0.3 percent. American Airlines Group ( AAL.O ) shares rose 2.8 percent after the company raised its quarterly forecast for a key revenue metric. (Additional reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru and Lewis Krauskopf, David Randall, Angela Moon and Gina Cherelus in New York, Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago, David Shepardson in Washington and Philip Wen in Beijing; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ual-passenger-shares-idUKKBN17D29E'|'2017-04-12T01:42:00.000+03:00' '471d5a9cf131daccdc2442779b8410e2cdfb267f'|'Korea Inc''s China troubles rattle local workers, suppliers'|' 39pm BST Korea Inc''s China troubles rattle local workers, suppliers left right A view outside a Hyundai factory in Beijing, China April 7, 2017. Picture taken April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Muyu Xu 1/2 left right A Hyundai logo is seen outside a factory in Beijing, China April 8, 2017. Picture taken April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Muyu Xu 2/2 By Muyu Xu and Adam Jourdan - BEIJING/SHANGHAI BEIJING/SHANGHAI South Korean companies in China have been clobbered by Beijing''s angry response to Seoul''s decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system, but the boycotts and regulatory pressure on firms like Hyundai and Lotte are rebounding on their Chinese workers and suppliers. South Korean businesses are a major employer in China, with firms such as Hyundai Motor Co, smartphone manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co, and retail giant Lotte Group directly creating some 700,000 jobs in China, according to a Korea trade promotion agency, and there are many more down the supply chain. Hyundai, which says its Chinese affiliates and suppliers alone create a total of 90,000 jobs, has responded to falling sales by cutting production. In Beijing''s industrial suburb of Shunyi, where Hyundai has its biggest overseas manufacturing base, its suppliers, workers and local retailers who depend on them are feeling the pinch. "We haven''t worked weekends since a month ago and don''t know when it will get back to normal," said a supplier of hub caps to Hyundai. "We can do nothing but wait while losing money." Hyundai''s Beijing plants, which used to run 24 hours, seven days a week, are now running just 8am to 5pm on a four-day week, its workers say, and concerns of further output cuts are unnerving those working in its supply chain and local stores. Couriers complain deliveries to Hyundai''s main plant have dropped by between a half and two-thirds, while the owner of a nearby convenience store said his business had been hit because salaries at the plant were down. The chief executive of a South Korean auto parts supplier employing over 100 Chinese employees said his factory''s utilisation rate had dropped by 30 percent. He had not laid anyone off yet, but said the future was uncertain. "We have no choice but to reduce Chinese workers if the situation is prolonged. There are no signs that the situation would get better anytime soon," he said. Hyundai itself said there was "no current impact on employment in China", that it was fully committed to the Chinese market, and would "continue to do our utmost to protect our employees in the region". COLLATERAL DAMAGE The dispute over the THAAD missile defence system, which South Korea and the United States say is needed to contain the threat from North Korea, has prompted calls for boycotts in Chinese media and increased regulatory scrutiny for South Korean firms. Lotte Group, which has suffered a local boycott of its products since it agreed to provide land for the U.S. missile defence system, closed 75 of its 99 hypermarkets in China in recent weeks after regulatory inspections by authorities. It said workers at affected stores were being paid in full as per Chinese law. This could drop to 60-70 percent in the second month of closure, but the firm would "pay the most it can", a Lotte Mart spokesman said. Lotte Group employs 20,000 people in China. Reuters spoke to five Lotte employees in stores around China who said they were still being paid and that workers were still coming into closed stores to check expiry dates and handle inventory. Corporate risk analysts said China was willing to accept some "tolerable collateral damage", and it was being strategic in the areas it targeted, avoiding, for now, big employers like tech giant Samsung. "They''ve pretty carefully targeted Lotte in terms of what the government has orchestrated, as well as tourism, flights and duty free," said Andrew Gilholm, director of analysis for China and North Asia at risk consultancy Control Risks. He said the stand-off could go on at least until South Korea has new leadership, following the impeachment last month that ended the presidency of Park Geun-hye. "Beijing is likely to keep the pressure on until the new government is set up in Seoul and has made its position (on THAAD) clear," he said. For now, Korean firms are keeping their heads down waiting for the row to blow over. But workers and dealers remain anxious, with sales showing no signs of recovery and no idea when things might return to normal. "The recent slide has been very serious. Normally we sell more than 100 vehicles in a month. Now we can only shift 30," said a Hyundai dealer in Beijing. "Anti-Korean sentiment has soared, and lots of consumers aren''t willing to buy South Korean cars," he said. (Reporting by Muyu Xu in BEIJING, Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; Hyunjoo Jin, Joyce Lee, Suyeong Lee and Heekyong Yang in SEOUL, SHANGHAI and BEIJING newsrooms; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-china-jobs-idUKKBN17D176'|'2017-04-12T00:39:00.000+03:00' 'dbddb2c1e86aba7c977f1cdde2fd55796aff6710'|'British fintech sector has shrugged off Brexit dip, says regulator'|' 4:30pm BST British fintech sector has shrugged off Brexit dip, says regulator By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Britain''s financial technology sector has recovered from an initial dip after Britain''s vote to leave the European Union, a senior UK regulator said on Monday. Fintech companies have revolutionised the financial sector with the likes of mobile payments services and were quickly targeted by centres such as Berlin and Luxembourg after last June''s Brexit vote, playing on fears that UK businesses could be cut off from the EU single market when Britain leaves in 2019. "In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum there was a concern that we would see the number of innovative firms wanting to operate in the UK fall," Chris Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, told an Innovate Finance fintech conference. There was a dip, Woolard said, adding that requests for regulatory advice and applications to use the FCA''s so-called "sandbox", which allows new fintech ideas to be tested without a full authorisation process, have continued to come in since the Brexit vote. In the nine months before the referendum, the FCA received 264 requests for support in the form of regulatory advice, and has since increased to 321 requests, Woolard said. The watchdog received 77 applications for the second wave of businesses wanting to use the sandbox -- more than applied in the first round in 2015 -- and 31 will be accepted, nearly double the first set of trials. Despite the sector''s apparent post-referendum resilience, Woolard said that global standards are needed to secure the long-term future of the fintech industry. "As different jurisdictions begin to set up their own sandboxes, with different models and standards, some believe a Wild West version could emerge," Woolard said. The FCA will seek to develop a global regulatory understanding for fintech through bodies such as the Financial Stabilty Board, which coordinates regulation for the Group of 20 Economies (G20), and the IOSCO global umbrella group of securities regulators. (Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-fintech-regulator-idUKKBN17C1R8'|'2017-04-10T23:30:00.000+03:00' 'a7bcce422c92e61cd6a3bf943cf953183098165e'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks hit longest 2017 losing streak on geopolitics'|'Company News 12am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks hit longest 2017 losing streak on geopolitics By Claire Milhench - LONDON, April 11 LONDON, April 11 Emerging stocks slipped to three-week lows and were set for their longest losing streak of the year as tensions stemming from Syria and North Korea kept investors away from riskier assets, although Russia''s rouble firmed off recent lows. MSCI''s benchmark emerging stocks index fell 0.2 percent and was on track for its fourth session of losses, having sold off in the wake of the U.S. attack on a Syrian air base and hardening attitudes towards North Korea. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump was open to authorising additional strikes on Syria and pressure is building on Russia to break its ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But Russian dollar-denominated stocks rebounded over 1 percent from three-week lows after a sharp sell-off in the aftermath of the U.S. missile strike, while the Russian rouble firmed 0.5 percent against the dollar, off two-week lows. Cristian Maggio, head of emerging markets strategy at TD Securities, said the rouble had been trading too strongly relative to oil prices ahead of the U.S. strike on Syria, and this had triggered an overdue correction. "The rebound today is a rubber band effect," said Maggio. "The move from Trump in Syria put the U.S. on a frontal crash course with Russian interests. Some of the optimism of the market in seeing a normalisation of international relations between Western countries and Russia has started to evaporate." Investors were also eyeing tensions in Asia. China and South Korea have agreed to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests, as a U.S. Navy strike group heads to the region in a show of force. South Korean assets bore the brunt of the regional selling with stocks down 0.4 percent to one-month lows in their sixth straight session in the red. The South Korean won also weakened 0.2 percent to three-week lows after falling more than 1 percent last week. Hong Kong shares fell 0.7 percent. Yet some emerging currencies that have suffered in recent sessions steadied against the dollar. The South African rand firmed 0.5 percent, off the three-month lows reached after the country''s credit rating was downgraded by two ratings agencies to ''junk''. The central bank governor said it was too early to tell if the downgrades would push the economy into recession. The rand has weakened nearly 12 percent since March 27 when President Jacob Zuma recalled Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan from an investor roadshow, before sacking him. The Turkish lira firmed 0.2 percent, off near one-month lows hit on Friday, after its current account deficit narrowed to $2.527 billion in February, more than forecast. Turkey''s referendum on constitutional change will be held on April 16 but is thought unlikely to kickstart long stalled market reforms even if it passes. Maggio said he expected the yes vote to prevail by a small margin, which would be negative for the lira. If Turkey voted no, he expected the lira to strengthen. "But you may have another election or a retry of this referendum, and the political landscape will remain extremely polarised and contentious," he said. The Polish zloty weakened 0.2 percent and the Czech crown slipped 0.3 percent against the euro. Volatility gauges for both remain at multi-month highs, with traders taking out insurance bets ahead of France''s upcoming election. In Serbia, central bank policy makers are expected to keep rates unchanged at 4 percent. In bond markets, Saudi Arabia set initial price guidance for its planned U.S. dollar-denominated debut sukuk expected to be the biggest ever such issue, beating the $4bn that Qatar raised in 2012. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 956.42 -1.58 -0.16 +10.92 Czech Rep 992.65 +3.82 +0.39 +7.71 Poland 2244.57 +0.55 +0.02 +15.23 Hungary 32572.34 +104.04 +0.32 +1.78 Romania 8222.08 +7.27 +0.09 +16.05 Greece 680.39 -1.07 -0.16 +5.71 Russia 1092.91 +8.65 +0.80 -5.16 South Africa 46661.47 +238.98 +0.51 +6.29 Turkey 91092.64 -147.81 -0.16 +16.58 China 3288.19 +18.80 +0.58 +5.95 India 29766.34 +190.60 +0.64 +11.79 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HJ11B'|'2017-04-11T17:12:00.000+03:00' 'd3922998379dcb772cba62a6cdf83a8e1740e435'|'UPDATE 1-Telecoms, cable group Altice starts IPO process for U.S. arm'|'(Adds context, background)By Anjali Athavaley and Mathieu RosemainNEW YORK/PARIS, April 11 Altice USA, the cable operator that Netherlands-based Altice NV put together by acquiring Cablevision and Suddenlink Communications, on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering that seeks to raise $1 billon to $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.Going public allows Altice''s founder, French billionaire Patrick Drahi, to expand his budding U.S. cable empire by giving Altice USA public stock it can use to help finance more acquisitions.Altice USA became the fourth-largest U.S. cable provider after its parent company acquired Suddenlink in 2015 and Cablevision the following year. It serves 4.9 million customers in the U.S., according to the company''s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Altice USA''s current minority shareholders, London-based private equity frim BC Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board which jointly own about 30 percent of Altice USA, are ready to lower their combined stake while Altice is expected to keep its 70 percent stake in Altice USA intact, according to the source.JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are the banks serving as joint book-runners on Altice''s U.S initial public offering.(Additional reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/altice-ipo-idINL8N1HJ40R'|'2017-04-11T13:13:00.000+03:00' '4e57a07fa456d99eb0b9ec8522456724752ef492'|'China Southern Airlines launches first flight to Mexico'|'Business 42pm EDT China Southern Airlines launches first flight to Mexico FILE PHOTO: A China Southern Airlines airplane arrives at the newly-built terminal 2 building at Tianjin airport, August 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer MEXICO CITY China Southern Airlines Co Ltd ( 600029.SS ) has flown its inaugural Guangzhou to Mexico City flight, via Vancouver, the first route operated by a domestic Chinese carrier to the Latin American nation, the Mexican government said on Tuesday. China''s interest in Mexico, including tourism and investment, has been on the rise in recent years. In 2016, 74,300 Chinese tourists visited Mexico, up 33.5 percent from a year earlier. Mexican authorities expect over 100,000 Chinese tourists to visit this year. China and Mexico recently pledged to deepen ties at a meeting between their top diplomats following the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has tested Washington''s relationship with both countries. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-csn-mexico-idUSKBN17D2DW'|'2017-04-12T02:35:00.000+03:00' 'cbc0ab32aa9b64a22189b60abfa44aaac13308a5'|'Gerresheimer sees U.S. uncertainty continuing this quarter'|' 33am EDT Gerresheimer sees U.S. uncertainty continuing this quarter FRANKFURT, April 6 German drugs-packaging maker Gerresheimer expects confusion over U.S. healthcare policy to continue to be a drag on revenues this quarter, with a normalisation coming in the second half of the year, its chief executive said on Thursday. Gerresheimer earlier said it expected full-year sales at the lower end of its guidance range as major customers waited to see what measures new U.S. President Donald Trump might impose, sending its shares down 5.7 percent by 0827 GMT. "The effects are mainly temporary, but in primary packaging in America we may not recover over the course of the year," CEO Uwe Roehrhoff told journalists on a conference call, adding that the effect on full-year profit should be "manageable". (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/gerresheimer-results-usa-idUSL5N1HE1JN'|'2017-04-06T16:33:00.000+03:00' '16ccb1aca95c55124f5eb49970fe97e7f2fd01f1'|'7-Eleven operator to buy U.S. stores from Sunoco for $3.3 billion'|'TOKYO Seven & i Holdings Co ( 3382.T ) on Thursday said it would buy convenience stores and petrol stations from Texas-based Sunoco LP ( SUN.N ) for about $3.3 billion, as the Japanese retailer accelerates efforts to boost its U.S operation.Seven & i, which operates the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores, has been aggressively opening stores in Japan and the United States. In the U.S., it has been acquiring blocks of stores from local retailers.The conglomerate also runs general merchandising stores, department stores and specialty shops, and has total store sales over 10 trillion yen ($90.52 billion). But it is the convenience store business that earns the bulk of its profit.For the year ended in February, the company booked 364.6 billion yen in operating profit, of which convenience stores accounted for 86 percent.In a statement, the firm said U.S. unit 7-Eleven Inc [SILC.UL] would acquire about 1,100 convenience stores and petrol stations in Texas and other states from Sunoco. It said it expects to carry out the acquisition in August.Sunoco currently operates about 1,350 retail fuel sites and convenience stores under brands such as APlus and Stripes, the firm''s website showed.The deal would be the biggest by 7-Eleven Inc. Most recently, 7-Eleven Inc acquired 79 stores in California and Wyoming from CST Brands Inc ( CST.N ) in July last year.Seven & i has about 19,400 7-Eleven stores in Japan and 8,700 in the United States and Canada, including those run by franchisees. 7-Eleven Inc has said it aims to increase its number of stores to 10,000 over the three years through 2019.(Reporting by Chris Gallagher and Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sunoco-lp-m-a-seven-i-hldgs-idINKBN1780IT'|'2017-04-06T05:18:00.000+03:00' 'effbf7b299bccffca5d5feb949ecc2d7f2461ef2'|'IMAX China says two PE investors sell 5.9 pct stake'|'HONG KONG, April 6 IMAX China Holding Inc , which operates and installs cinema systems, said on Thursday two private equity investors had sold an aggregate 5.9 percent stake to a "prominent" international investment bank, helping to increase liquidity in the market.The subsidiary of large-format movie and cinema screen giant IMAX Corp said CMC Capital Partners and FountainVest Partners sold the company shares at HK$39.72 apiece, without giving further details.CMC will remain a key partner of the company and a strategic investor in the IMAX China Film Fund and IMAX VR Fund, the Hong Kong-listed firm said.Shares of IMAX China, which has a market value of $1.92 billion, rose 4.5 percent to close at HK$41.80 on Wednesday.In February, the film company reported a steep fall in profits for 2016 amid a slump in Chinese box-office sales, underlining the challenge filmmakers and cinema operators face in the world''s second-largest economy.($1 = 7.7692 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imax-china-hldg-sharesale-idINL3N1HE07N'|'2017-04-05T22:55:00.000+03:00' '81c6a78d33a0dae6c7048ddb15760c6b9e9df2d8'|'Automakers unveil new SUVs at New York auto show but also focus on EVs'|'Technology News 21pm EDT Automakers unveil new SUVs at New York auto show but also focus on EVs left right The The 2018 Volvo XC60 (L) and Volvo S90 are displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 1/15 left right The 2018 Volvo XC60 is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 2/15 left right Lex Kerssemakers, President and CEO, Volvo Cars USA, speaks at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 3/15 left right Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America, speaks at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 4/15 left right The Kia logo is seen at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 5/15 left right View of the interior of the 2018 Hyundai Sonata being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 6/15 left right REFILE - CORRECTING TYPO - A 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 7/15 left right A 2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 8/15 left right Lyric, a border collie, walks down the ramp of the Nissan Rogue, Dogue edition, at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 9/15 left right The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq is unveiled at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 10/15 left right The 2018 Hyundai Sonata is unveiled at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 11/15 left right The 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 12/15 left right Journalists look over the fuel cell version of the Honda Clarity being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 13/15 left right Interior view of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 14/15 left right The 707 horsepower supercharged V-8 engine of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is shown at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, Mcdermid 15/15 By David Shepardson Automakers unveiled new sport utility vehicles at the New York auto show on Wednesday, boosted by low fuel prices and increasing demand, but said they were also moving ahead with new U.S. electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for the U.S. market. Ford Motor Co showed off a redesigned Lincoln Navigator luxury SUV with an aluminum body that cuts nearly 200 pounds (90.72 kg) off its weight. Subaru Corp unveiled a concept seven-passenger Ascent SUV Concept, meanwhile, saying it planned to start selling the large SUV in 2018, and General Motors Co showed off a new larger seven-passenger Buick Enclave. Not to be outdone, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV took the wraps off a new limited version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, with 707 horsepower and a 6.2-liter V-8 engine, while Toyota Motor Corp showed off a concept SUV aimed at outdoorsy millennials called "FT-4X" for "Future Toyota." SUVs accounted for nearly 40 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2016, up from 32.6 percent in 2014, as a growing number of Americans ditched cars for more fuel-thirsty larger vehicles. President Donald Trump has said he will revisit strict 2022-2025 vehicle fuel efficiency requirements set by the Obama administration, a move that may reduce future requirements. But after investing substantial sums in electric vehicles, automakers say they are not backing off their plans to compete in the EV market segment. Ford alone is investing $4.5 billion to introduce 13 new electric and hybrid vehicles over the next five years, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told reporters at the New York show. Honda Motor Co unveiled a new Clarity electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid version at the show and the Japanese automaker said it sees electric or hybrid vehicles accounting for two thirds of all sales worldwide by 2030. Nissan Motor Co, meanwhile, said it will unveil a new version of its electric Leaf later this year with a longer battery range than its current version. Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ), the world''s biggest automaker, said it will sell at least three new electric vehicles by 2020, partly due to an agreement with California aimed at settling its diesel emissions cheating scandal. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-new-york-vehicles-idUSKBN17E2KK'|'2017-04-13T03:15:00.000+03:00' '01a565d09c6bb2b908ce53611d6d18df3e7e61ed'|'Allied Irish IPO in coming weeks not yet inevitable - minister'|' 47pm BST Allied Irish IPO in coming weeks not yet inevitable - minister DUBLIN It is not yet inevitable that Ireland will launch an initial public offering of state-owned Allied Irish Banks ( ALBK.I ) in the coming weeks and the government will have to decide by the middle of May, Ireland has appointed a number of investment banks to act as a bookrunners and global coordinators for the potential sale of a 25 percent stake in AIB and Noonan has said the nearest window to sell the shares would be some time in May or June. "It''s not inevitable yet, but all the preliminary hurdles are being crossed successfully. It will be about mid-May before we reach the point of no return," Noonan told reporters. (Reporting by Conor Humprhies, editing by Padraic Halpin, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/ireland-aib-ipo-idUKKBN17C1DD'|'2017-04-10T20:47:00.000+03:00' '95b7b836885c913b99382d750514958503801b4a'|'European shares drop as banks and tech stocks weigh'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 8:38am BST European shares drop as banks and tech stocks weigh Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote LONDON European shares fell on Tuesday as banks and tech stocks weighed, led lower by a slump in Dialog Semiconductor''s shares, ( DLGS.DE ) though energy stocks provided support. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent, while the FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 0.2 percent. Tech stocks .SX8P were the biggest sectoral losers, down 0.8 percent after Dialog Semiconductor dropped 18.4 percent. Broker Bankaus Lampe cut its rating on the chipmaker to "sell" from "buy". AMS ( AMS.S ) also came under pressure after UBS cut its rating to "neutral" from "buy", sending the stock down 7.5 percent. Banking stocks .SX7P fell 0.4 percent, with Banco Popular ( POP.MC ) the biggest loser, down 5.6 percent. On Monday, the bank said that it was considering another capital hike to clean up its balance sheet and would consider a merger deal. A rise in oil stocks, however, provided support, with the sector .SXEP up 0.1 percent. Shares in Balfour Beatty ( BALF.L ) were the biggest gainers, up 5.9 percent, while Givaudan ( GIVN.S ) jumped 3.5 percent after its first quarter sales beat a Reuters poll. Luxury goods group LVMH ( LVMH.PA ) hit a record high, sending its shares up 1.7 percent after reporting a surge in first-quarter sales that beat analysts'' forecasts. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-idUKKBN17D0Q4'|'2017-04-11T15:38:00.000+03:00' '69b6398bb40261a447c2a78974fea74e06715526'|'Union sees 4,000 job cuts in Thyssenkrupp steel restructuring'|' 2:05pm BST Union sees 4,000 job cuts in Thyssenkrupp steel restructuring The logo of German steel-to-elevators group ThyssenKrupp AG is pictured during the company''s annual news conference in Essen, Germany, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay DUESSELDORF, Germany Thyssenkrupp ( TKAG.DE ) could cut about 4,000 of the 27,000 jobs at its European steel unit in a coming restructuring of the business, a representative of trade union IG Metall told Reuters on Tuesday. The German industrial group had said on Friday it planned to cut costs by 500 million euros (426.15 million pounds) at its steel unit, which it is seeking to merge with Tata Steel''s ( TISC.NS ) European operations to curb overcapacity. A spokesman for Thyssenkrupp reiterated on Tuesday it was not yet decided how many jobs would be cut. (Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Arno Schuetze)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-thyssenkrupp-steel-jobs-idUKKBN17D1JY'|'2017-04-11T21:05:00.000+03:00' '948ae0d82e0707f228af736deddc6a84f674a446'|'BRIEF-Gladstone Investment increases monthly cash distributions to common stockholders'|' 36pm EDT BRIEF-Gladstone Investment increases monthly cash distributions to common stockholders April 11 Gladstone Investment Corp * Gladstone Investment increases monthly cash distributions to common stockholders and announces cash distributions for April, May, and June 2017, including supplemental distribution to common stockholders * Gladstone Investment Corp - its board declared increasing distributions to common stockholders by more than 2 pct * Gladstone Investment Corp - announced it will pay a supplemental distribution of $0.06 per share to holders of its common stock in June 2017 * Gladstone Investment- anticipates paying semi-annual, supplemental distributions each fiscal year, with june 2017 payment being first payment in FY 2018 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-gladstone-investment-increases-mon-idUSFWN1HJ0IT'|'2017-04-12T04:36:00.000+03:00' '17e2884f67b42659d98c7432f11ce87c9ac0de6b'|'Australia must legislate to prevent modern slavery in our supply chains - Amy Sinclair and Felicitas Weber - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'I n Australia, workers on farms , in restaurants and shops are often exploited in conditions akin to modern slavery.Modern slavery also permeates the global supply chains of Australian businesses supplying goods to the Australian market from overseas. Major retailers, including Rip Curl , Woolworths, Coles and Aldi , have all been implicated in recent scandals involving exploitation in their supply chains. No company wants the curse of slavery in their products, yet too often that is the reality. The federal government recently announced it is considering introducing legislation to prevent modern slavery in domestic and global supply chains. A federal inquiry into establishing a modern slavery act in Australia is currently under way and accepting submissions. Myer, 7-Eleven and Pizza Hut scandals show many workers don''t get a fair go Read more This announcement forms part of a welcome global trend in legislative measures to eradicate modern slavery from corporate supply chains. Corporate transparency laws have been adopted in a number of jurisdictions, including in the United States , the European Union and Denmark, requiring companies to report publicly on the action they have taken to avoid human rights abuses. Most notably, in 2015, the UK government enacted landmark legislation to combat modern slavery in businesses and supply chains. This new law includes a mandatory transparency measure requiring companies to publish an annual statement on steps taken to safeguard against slavery. It applies to all large companies, wherever located, supplying goods and services to the UK market. But does Australia need a new law? The evidence from the UK, is that its Modern Slavery Act is creating momentum and driving change. The law has triggered constructive dialogue and elevated the issue of modern slavery to board level within companies. CEO engagement with modern slavery has reportedly doubled since the act was introduced. It is also raising awareness more generally and has generated significant public debate about the responsibilities of companies. Modern slavery has become a priority issue for both mainstream consumers and, significantly, for investors. This act is forcing companies to move ahead, leading to positive changes in corporate culture and human rights practices. With increased transparency, corporate activities are open to greater public scrutiny and companies are more accountable for their human rights performance. Analysis of statements published under the UK act reveals that companies are doing more to identify human rights risks, train staff and strengthen supplier contracts in a bid to stamp out exploitative labour practices.We had slavery in our supply chains, says Andrew Forrest Read more Given the context of rising public mistrust in corporations and the global market, new Australian legislation would both prevent abuse and give workers and consumers greater assurance that action to eradicate modern slavery is a priority. The legislation should be designed to encourage businesses to take decisive steps to eradicate slave labour. The UK act provides a useful model for a potential legislative framework. It should not, however, be imported wholesale and requires improving and refining to fit our local context. While building upon the successes of the UK legislation, it is important that Australia also mitigates against its weaknesses. In doing this, new Australian legislation must mandate, rather than suggest as the UK act does, the areas to be covered in companies’ public slavery statements. This would create consistency and guarantee higher reporting standards. It would also, critically, allow the performance of companies in addressing slavery to be measured and compared, creating a race to the top. The Australian government should publish a list of all companies that are subject to the provisions of a new act. This would facilitate monitoring and promote legislative compliance. A further vital improvement is the provision by the government of a central public register in which all company statements on anti-slavery efforts are located. This would facilitate analysis of these statements, inform appropriate future action and encourage improved anti-slavery performance by companies. Appropriate penalties for noncompliance, both for corporate entities and their officeholders, would provide critical legislative “bite” and require Australian businesses to step up their efforts in combating modern slavery.We must all stand up to the world’s richest nation and oppose its use of modern slavery Read more The Australian government must not wait for another Rana Plaza tragedy before acting. As a wealthy, stable nation, we should show regional leadership and take steps to remedy the wrongs in our systems of supply.Strong business support is emerging in Australia for legislative measures to tackle modern slavery, with recent endorsements by the Business Council of Australia and Wesfarmers . There is a growing awareness among corporate Australia that action on human rights is critical. The challenges, however, are great and not all businesses are taking the necessary steps.The Australian government must not wait for another Rana Plaza tragedy before acting. As a wealthy, stable nation, we should show regional leadership and take steps to remedy the wrongs in our systems of supply.The government should harness support and embrace the opportunities provided by this inquiry. Australia is well placed to set a high, common denominator and bolster the efforts of other nations, to ensure a consistent, global regulatory approach to eradicating slavery from corporate supply chains. A bold modern slavery act in Australia would press laggard companies to act and provide both certainty and a level playing field for those Australian businesses already tackling the issues. It would help slavery-proof corporate supply chains for Australian consumers. But most importantly, it would be a vital step in curbing exploitation and improving the lives of countless workers, both at home and overseas, whose labour produces the goods we use every day.Topics Guardian sustainable business Social equality Slavery Work & careers Australian law Human rights Australian politics comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/11/australia-must-legislate-to-prevent-modern-slavery-in-our-supply-chains'|'2017-04-11T11:18:00.000+03:00' 'd702aefdf99b6d0401f1c40126e8cc1f0685e8ff'|'Brazil''s Oi says customer complaints fell up to 56 pct in Jan-Feb'|' 10:56am EDT Brazil''s Oi says customer complaints fell up to 56 pct in Jan-Feb SAO PAULO, April 12 Oi SA saw complaints from phone customers fall as much as 56 percent in the first two months of 2017, a senior executive told journalists on Wednesday, as the Brazil''s No. 4 wireless carrier tries to win back client loyalty. Based on several metrics, complaints filed to consumer advocate agencies fell between one-third and over half between January and February from a year earlier, said Bernardo Winik, Oi''s head of retail. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/oi-sa-restructuring-complaints-idUSE6N1FG026'|'2017-04-12T22:56:00.000+03:00' 'e127b7d58ba34de0e1e7572facfaa668ed5b8b00'|'MOVES-UBS wealth management unit names new head of capital markets'|'Company 49pm EDT MOVES-UBS wealth management unit names new head of capital markets April 12 UBS Wealth Management Americas (WMA), a unit of UBS Group AG named Mark Sanborn as head of capital markets & sales, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters. Sanborn — currently chief risk officer of the company''s investment bank — will be succeeding Tom Troy, who is retiring after 30 years in financial services. In addition, Peter Hill will be joining UBS WMA as head of public finance from Wells Fargo where he was U.S. head of public finance since 2009. The company also named Steven Genyk as WMA head of municipal trading. (Reporting by Elizabeth Dilts in New York and Komal Khettry in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ubs-moves-mark-sanborn-idUSL3N1HK4VA'|'2017-04-13T01:49:00.000+03:00' '9b271554ddbdeceace80b273c7d66eef806d3848'|'Germany''s Schaeuble says we need a pro-EU France to hold Europe together'|' 6:46pm BST Germany''s Schaeuble says we need a pro-EU France to hold Europe together German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke BERLIN Germany needs a strong, pro-European France to hold together the European project, veteran German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Wednesday, 10 days out from the first round of the French presidential election. "We need a strong France ... we need a pro-European France," Schaeuble said during a round table discussion in Berlin. "We need France to hold together Europe." The comments from Schaeuble, 74, reflect the German government''s aversion to far-right National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who wants to abandon the euro currency. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-germany-france-eu-idUKKBN17E2DE'|'2017-04-13T01:42:00.000+03:00' '8d3fca1acd63f5d47423500f7f9accee462de212'|'Lack of clarity on Toshiba earnings audit is a problem - Japan finance minister'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 3:37am BST Lack of clarity on Toshiba earnings audit is a problem - Japan finance minister left right The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind cherry blossoms at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 1/2 left right Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso takes questions from reporters at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington October 7, 2016. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan 2/2 By Stanley White - TOKYO TOKYO Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Wednesday that a lack of clarity on why auditors did not sign off on Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) earnings is problematic for shareholders and financial markets. Aso, who is also head of the country''s financial regulator, said this uncertainty could cause confusion for stock and bond markets. Aso also said he did not want investors to lose faith in Japan''s financial markets simply based on Toshiba''s problems. "The problem is it is not clear why the auditors did not sign off," Aso said. "If you''re a shareholder or an investor, you''d look at Toshiba''s earnings and ask, ''What is this?'' This could fuel speculation that Japan''s auditing standards are soft or that Toshiba has problems." Toshiba filed twice-delayed business results on Tuesday without an endorsement from its auditor and warned its very survival was in doubt, deepening a crisis stemming from problems at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co. The filing carried a disclaimer from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata LLC that it was unable to form an opinion of the results, increasing the likelihood that the Tokyo Stock Exchange will delist Toshiba. The move puts the stock exchange centre-stage as it weighs the pros and cons of forcing Toshiba to delist. Failing to act tough with Toshiba would bring into question authorities'' credibility in maintaining standards for investors, but a delisting would complicate the crisis at Toshiba, increasing its financing costs and exposing it to further lawsuits from angry shareholders. Accountants have been questioning the numbers at Westinghouse, where massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9 billion annual (7.25 billion pounds) net loss. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-idUKKBN17E02Y'|'2017-04-12T10:37:00.000+03:00' 'c151bc930ee9eeb934c2888d0df45cb48ade57b4'|'Airbus CFO sees further pressure on book-to-bill ratio'|'Company 9:59am EDT Airbus CFO sees further pressure on book-to-bill ratio AMSTERDAM, April 12 Airbus airplane sales may remain under pressure for some time as the company works through a record backlog of unfilled orders, but the long-term outlook is strong, the European planemaker''s finance director said on Wednesday. Airbus is predicting a commercial aircraft book-to-bill ratio below 1 for 2017, meaning that it expects fewer orders than deliveries for the first time in eight years as industry orders continue to dwindle after peaking in 2014. "We are fully booked in the years to come...so it is not a surprise that the book-to-bill could be lower for some time," Harald Wilhelm told a shareholder meeting. "At the same time we are bringing up the production rates. In the long term the outlook remains very positive," he added, citing robust forecasts for passenger traffic. Chief Executive Tom Enders said Airbus expected to deliver more than 720 aircraft in 2017, a slightly firmer projection than its official guidance of ''more than 700'' deliveries. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/airbus-shareholders-orders-idUSL8N1HK3ZC'|'2017-04-12T21:59:00.000+03:00' '09174261808c1d75d780b6dcd269349bb728ba57'|'RPT-South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent'|' RPT-South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent (Repeats story published late on Tuesday) * Downgrades shrink pool of potential investors * Barclays pushes back share sale plans - source * ANC economic transformation plans cause uncertainty By Tiisetso Motsoeneng JOHANNESBURG, April 11 Barclays'' plan to sell its African business and pull out of the continent are being hindered by South Africa''s political upheaval and credit-rating downgrades, according to banking sources and fund managers. The British bank gave itself 2-3 years to sell its controlling stake in Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa when it announced the plan in early 2016, and sold 12 percent last May in an "accelerated bookbuild" - a share sale held over a short period of time. It had been planning another accelerated bookbuild in the last two weeks but pushed it back because of concerns over investor appetite due to political and economic uncertainty in South Africa, according to a banking source familiar with the plans. The source, who asked not to be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly, did not say when the deal might now take place. A spokesman for Barclays in London declined to comment. South Africa has been mired in business uncertainty since late last year when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) pledged to radically transform the economy following losses in local elections that were partly caused by anger over deep inequality that persists more than two decades after apartheid. It said it would redistribute the wealth of the country to the black majority, but has not outlined how it plans to do so. Investor unease increased significantly two weeks ago with the sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan which led to S&P Global Ratings cutting the credit rating of South Africa and its banks to junk. Fitch also pushed Pretoria''s debt into junk territory and is expected to also downgrade local banks in the coming days because their large exposure to sovereign debt closely links their credit profile to that of the government. The downgrades have heightened the risk of a prolonged economic stagnation and rattled investor confidence in banks, whose performance is closely linked to the economy, wiping out more than 132 billion rand ($9.5 billion) from their market value in two weeks. The pool of potential buyers to which Barclays'' can sell shares in its African business to is also shrinking, according to bankers, because the mandates of some institutional investors, including some pension funds, do not allow them to hold an asset that''s sliding on credit ratings. "Barclays Plc have to make a tough call – go ahead and sell Barclays Africa at a low enough price that will attract investors or wait, possibly a few years, until the situation has stabilised," said Kokkie Kooyman, portfolio manager at Dekker Capital in Cape Town. ''PAYING PRICE'' The British bank said early last year that it planned to reduce its 62 percent stake in its African business to below 20 percent by 2019 as part of its plan to exit Africa to focus on the United States and Britain. As well as hindering its global strategy, delays in the sale timetable could throw up regulatory problems. Barclays is partly relying on funds raised from the stake sale to meet capital requirements that were identified as a concern by the Bank of England in a November "stress test" aimed at gauging its ability to withstand financial shocks. The lender faces the annual test again late this year, and the British regulator could ask it to submit plans to raise extra capital if it has not met the requirements. Barclays is increasingly looking at selling its remaining 50 percent stake in chunks because it is struggling to find one strategic buyer that will satisfy South African regulators, sources have previously said. Barclays Africa earns more than 80 percent of its revenue in South Africa, but also operates in nine other including Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique. It has been hit hard by the economic uncertainty and credit downgrades in South Africa, along with domestic peers Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand. They are heavily dependent on wholesale funding sources such as bonds, whose costs have surged following the downgrades, and exposed to the effects of economic problems such as rising unemployment. South Africa''s "top four" banks have shed between 7 and 13 percent over the past two weeks. Faced with possibility of losing more supporters in the 2019 national elections, the ANC party has pledged to overhaul the economy, with the central plank being the redistribution of wealth, but has not disclosed details of its plans. The policy is aimed at winning back core voters in a country where black people make up 80 percent of the 54 million population, yet the lion''s share of the economy in terms of ownership of land and companies remains in the hands of white people, who account for around 8 percent of the population. "Banks are paying the price for political uncertainty that we''ve seen in the country over the past two weeks," said Ron Klipin, a fund manager at Cratos Capital in Johannesburg. "As an investor, when you hear words like ''radical economic transformation'', it creates some uncertainty in terms of the economic policy, in terms of further downgrades and the cost of funding for banks." ($1 = 13.8876 rand) (Additional reporting by Lawrence White in London; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-barclays-group-idUSL8N1HK10Q'|'2017-04-12T14:52:00.000+03:00' '56f2d678131eb693c27fa228105c1bd69b3edc09'|'Regulator warns of multiple risks among China''s insurers - Xinhua'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:12am BST Regulator warns of multiple risks among China''s insurers - Xinhua SHANGHAI China''s insurance industry is facing solvency risks, liquidity pressures, poor corporate governance and macro political and economic issues, the Xinhua news agency reported Chen Wenhui, vice chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) saying on Wednesday. Chen''s comments come just days after the country''s top anti-graft body said it was investigating the head of the CIRC for disciplinary violations - a byword for corruption. On Monday, the regulator said it will investigate and deal with illegal activities in the insurance market. The anti-corruption investigation into the head of the insurance watchdog could lead to more intense regulatory scrutiny of the insurance industry, executives and analysts said. (Reporting by Engen Tham; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-insurance-regulator-idUKKBN17E00J'|'2017-04-12T08:12:00.000+03:00' '143e3d18844a991927c0c6c200ca17fb6066fce0'|'World trade seen growing 2.4 percent in 2017, uncertainty weighs - WTO'|' 12:20pm BST World trade seen growing 2.4 percent in 2017, uncertainty weighs - WTO left right World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo attends a news conference on world trade figure for 2016 and forecast for 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse 1/2 left right World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo attends a news conference on world trade figure for 2016 and forecast for 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse 2/2 By Stephanie Nebehay - GENEVA GENEVA World trade is on track to expand by 2.4 percent this year, though there is "deep uncertainty" about economic and policy developments, particularly in the United States, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Wednesday. WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo said that clarity was still needed on U.S. President Donald Trump''s trade policies, while making a general appeal to resist protectionism. The results of upcoming elections in major economies including France should provide more predictability for investors, he said. The range for growth this year has been adjusted to between 1.8 and 3.6 percent, from 1.8 to 3.1 percent last September, the WTO said. "We should see trade as part of the solution to economic difficulties, not part of the problem," Azevedo said. "Overall I think that while there are some reasons for cautious optimism, trade growth remains fragile and there are considerable risks on the downside. Much of the uncertainty around the outlook is political," he told a news conference. "We need to keep strengthening the system, delivering new reforms, and resisting the erection of new barriers to trade." The WTO has repeatedly revised preliminary estimates over the past five years as predictions of economic recovery prove overly optimistic. Global trade grew by "an usually low" 1.3 percent in 2016, the slowest pace since the financial crisis, failing to match even its revised forecast of 1.7 percent of last September. "The poor performance over the year was largely due to a significant slowdown in emerging markets where imports basically stagnated last year, barely growing in volume terms," Azevedo said. In 2018, global trade is forecast to grow by between 2.1 percent and 4 percent in WTO''s latest analysis. "A spike in inflation leading to higher interest rates, tighter fiscal policies and the imposition of measures to curtail trade could all undermine higher trade growth over the next two years," it warned. Trump has made reducing U.S. trade deficits a key focus of his economic agenda to try to grow American manufacturing jobs. He has taken particular aim at renegotiating trade relationships with China and Mexico. He is considering an executive order to launch a trade investigation that could lead to supplemental duties in certain product categories, a Trump administration official told Reuters on Monday. "If policymakers attempt to address job losses at home with severe restrictions on imports, trade cannot help boost growth and may even constitute a drag on the recovery," Azevedo said. He awaited confirmation of the new U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) nominee Richard Lighthizer - who has pledged an "America First" strategy to aggressively enforce U.S. laws and trade deals to stop unfair imports and push China to scrap excess factory capacity. "We are waiting to see the new trade team really in place, waiting for the new USTR to be confirmed so that we can have a more meaningful dialogue at this point in time we don''t have that. We are still waiting to see how the trade policy itself is going to shape up in the United States." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-trade-idUKKBN17E1D0'|'2017-04-12T19:20:00.000+03:00' 'fa4069506dc07b2316b22c7a34a982a43c05c9a9'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 12'|'Company 8:01pm EDT PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 12 April 12 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines * Royal Marines cut by 200 as armed forces face staffing crisis on.ft.com/2o4qgKl * British Library plans a 500 million pound extension on.ft.com/2o41Tg8 *Australia defends BHP Billiton after investor call for shake-up on.ft.com/2o4dT12 Overview *The Royal Marines will be cut by 200. The 200 posts, including many specialist roles, will be transferred from the marines to the Royal Navy to stave off staffing gaps. *The British Library is considering a 500 million pounds ($624.35 million) extension that will offer it 100,000 sq ft of extra space for education, exhibitions and research next to its headquarters at St Pancras in London. *Australia defended BHP Billiton Ltd on Tuesday, saying that any major changes to the corporate structure of the country''s biggest company would need to be consistent with the "national interest". The defence came after activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors called on Monday for the scrapping of BHP''s dual corporate structure involving Australian and British companies. ($1 = 0.8008 pounds) (Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL1N1HJ22L'|'2017-04-12T08:01:00.000+03:00' 'b238c86c71e9e3ee76f624316f8c88191289b208'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 12'|'April 12 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- A group of Chinese political activists filed a lawsuit in federal court against Yahoo on Tuesday, saying the company failed to properly oversee a $17 million fund it created a decade ago to help Chinese writers, democracy advocates and human rights lawyers persecuted for standing up to the country''s government. nyti.ms/2oWw50I- Toshiba, a pillar of the modern Japanese economy whose roots stretch back to the country''s industrial stirrings in the 19th century, warned on Tuesday that a disastrous foray into nuclear power may have crippled its business beyond repair. nyti.ms/2oWd7Hl- Uber has lost a string of top managers in recent months as the ride-hailing company has dealt with scandals over its workplace culture and its executives'' behavior. That exodus is continuing with the exit of Rachel Whetstone, the company''s head of policy and communications. nyti.ms/2oWm0kp- Rolling Stone and a writer have agreed to settle a libel suit brought by a University of Virginia administrator over a debunked article that described a gangrape at the university, the magazine announced on Tuesday. nyti.ms/2oWr08m- LeEco has scrapped a planned $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio, citing unspecified "regulatory headwinds". nyti.ms/2oWjmei(Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL3N1HK2BK'|'2017-04-12T03:47:00.000+03:00' 'e0f258687ed1b8e10c9db6c0d36b6852767480e2'|'China March producer inflation cools for first time in seven months on steel glut fears'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 3:21am BST China March producer inflation cools for first time in seven months on steel glut fears FILE PHOTO - A worker verifies a product at a steel factory in Dalian, Liaoning province, China September 1, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS BEIJING China''s producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, pressured by fears that Chinese steel production is outweighing demand and threatening a glut of the metal later this year. A renaissance in China''s steel industry has been a major driver of the world''s second-largest economy in recent quarters, helping to generate the strongest profit growth in years and adding to a reflationary pulse being felt across the global manufacturing sector. But after cranking out as much metal as possible in recent months, Chinese steel mills are now starting to cut prices, threatening to snuff out a bull market that had pushed prices of some steel construction products to their highest since 2014. China''s producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6 percent in March from a year earlier, still at an elevated pace but in line with analysts'' expectations and easing from a gain of 7.8 percent in February, which was a 9-year high, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a softer reading as a torrid rally in China''s commodity markets showed signs of correcting and on expectations that measures to cool the country''s overheated housing market would eventually slow demand for steel and other building materials. On a month-on-month basis, the PPI rose just 0.3 percent, the smallest increase since September 2016 and half the pace seen in February. China''s consumer price inflation edged up to 0.9 percent year-on-year, slightly softer than expected and compared with 0.8 percent in February. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted March consumer inflation would edge up to 1.0 percent, but remain well within the central bank''s comfort zone. Still-modest consumer inflation and moderating producer prices will give policymakers room to continue with a gradual pace of monetary policy tightening as they try to contain risks from years of debt-fueled stimulus without crimping economic growth. Consumer inflation picked up in March as costs for health care services, housing, transportation and communication surged, suggesting stronger demand from an increasingly wealthy and rapidly aging population, and that stronger producer inflation in the past months may have started passing through to downstream consumers. Food prices, the biggest component of CPI, fell by 4.4 percent in March after a 4.3 percent drop in February. China lowered gasoline and diesel retail prices late last month by most so far this year. Similar to previous months, much of the year-on-year surge in producer inflation was largely driven by higher prices of raw materials for steelmaking products such as iron ore and coking coal. Demand has been fueled by a housing boom and a government infrastructure spending spree, with Beijing''s efforts to cut excess production in heavy industries giving an added boost to frenzied futures markets and imports of raw materials from big producers such as Australia''s Rio Tinto ( RIO.AX ) and BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ). (Reporting by Yawen Chen and Nicholas Heath; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-inflation-idUKKBN17E05S'|'2017-04-12T10:16:00.000+03:00' '7c50fc622406fb2fb5f2a10111de3587697a2062'|'FTSE at three-week high, mid-caps hit fresh record'|'Business News 10:24am BST FTSE at three-week high, mid-caps hit fresh record A worker shelters from the rain under a Union Flag umbrella as he passes the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, October 1, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By Helen Reid - LONDON LONDON British shares gained on Tuesday, outpacing European markets, while mid and small-caps hit fresh record highs with strong gains from JD Sports and Balfour Beatty driving the index. Britain''s FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.4 percent, at a three-week high, by 0900 GMT. A measure of volatility on the blue-chip index .VFTSE was at a four-month high, though still near historically low levels. "We still feel that the general context, even now, is that equity markets are probably pricing in too much bad news," said Kevin Gardiner, global investment strategist at Rothschild Private Wealth. "We think the economic backdrop is less fragile than people have felt, and we are expecting markets to outperform," he added. The blue-chip index was little changed after statistics showed UK inflation held steady in March, due to the later Easter holidays and a dip in global oil prices, though the squeeze on households'' spending looked set to resume soon. Retail sales figures published earlier showed British shoppers clamped down on spending as the cost of essentials rose. "Hedging has so far shielded UK non-food retailers and consumers from imported cost inflation," said HSBC analysts. Randgold Resources ( RRS.L ), Rio Tinto ( RIO.L ) and Fresnillo ( FRES.L ) were among top blue-chip gainers. International Consolidated Air ( ICAG.L ) and EasyJet ( EZJ.L ) were up 1.5 and 1.4 percent, gaining after broker Exane set a positive tone on the European airline sector, upgrading its view on German rival Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ). "We firmly stand by our view that European and global demand will remain stubbornly strong, notwithstanding the potential impact of geopolitical events," the analysts wrote. Burberry ( BRBY.L ) was among top gainers, up 1.6 percent and tracking other European luxury stocks higher after the world''s biggest luxury goods group LVMH ( LVMH.PA ) beat expectations for its first-quarter sales. Britain''s mid-caps .FTMC and small-caps climbed to fresh record highs, up 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent respectively, driven by results and broker upgrades. Construction and support services company Balfour Beatty ( BALF.L ) was the top European gainer, up 6.4 percent after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to ''buy'' on its improved confidence in margin recovery in its key markets. Retailer JD Sports ( JD.L ) was the top mid-cap gainer, up 9.7 percent and hitting an all-time high after strong demand for leisure clothing drove a 55 percent rise in pretax profit, its biggest increase in eight years. Shares in small-cap radio communications firm Sepura ( SEPU.L ) dropped 7.7 percent after the Competition and Markets Authority said it was investigating the anticipated acquisition of the firm by Chinese radio company Hytera ( 002583.SZ ). (Reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN17D107'|'2017-04-11T17:24:00.000+03:00' 'e07b39322509c962221e08cf98a76c3b970c13da'|'Mexico retail group ANTAD says same-store March sales up 3.1 pct'|'Company 17pm EDT Mexico retail group ANTAD says same-store March sales up 3.1 pct MEXICO CITY, April 11 Mexico''s retailers'' association said on Tuesday that sales at stores open at least a year rose 3.1 percent in March compared to same month a year earlier. The association, known as ANTAD, includes retail chains Walmex and Soriana as well as other department stores. Total sales grew 6.0 percent compared to March 2016, the group said. (Reporting by Anthony Esposito)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-retail-antad-idUSE1N1H000M'|'2017-04-12T01:17:00.000+03:00' 'ef6891789c9252e1226d137c9bac422f94a2a0dc'|'New Hong Kong leader''s affordable homes plan up against wall of Chinese capital'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 4:57am BST New Hong Kong leader''s affordable homes plan up against wall of Chinese capital left right FILE PHOTO: A potential buyer looks at a model of Riva, one of the latest developments by Sun Hung Kai Properties, in Hong Kong February 19, 2014. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A newly built luxurious high rise residential building is seen in between old flats at Hong Kong''s Tsim Sha Tsui district January 22, 2009. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo 2/2 By Clare Jim and Venus Wu - HONG KONG HONG KONG A pledge by Hong Kong''s incoming leader Carrie Lam to make the city''s vertiginous property prices more affordable could founder on the bottomless pockets of mainland Chinese developers, who are bidding up the price of land. Home prices in Hong Kong have jumped 364 percent since 2003, while the median monthly household income has risen just 61 percent, pushing home ownership out of reach for many. While the mass protests that paralysed parts of Hong Kong for 79 days in 2014 were primarily about demands for full democracy from Beijing, many were also motivated by the rising cost of living in the city, and the cost of accommodation in particular. A typical Hong Kong apartment costs 18.1 times gross annual median income, according to research group Demographia, and the city topped its survey of the world''s most expensive places for accommodation for the seventh straight year. Second-placed Sydney was a long way behind on 12.2. "Anything over a multiple of 5.1 is usually deemed as being ''severely unaffordable''," said Denis Ma, JLL''s Head of Research in Hong Kong. With most of the city''s more than 7 million citizens living in cramped apartments - some no bigger than a parking space - Lam, who takes over as chief executive on July 1, is aiming to tackle the problem by increasing housing and land supply. But Alice Mak, head of the Hong Kong legislature''s housing panel, said the influx of capital from mainland developers will make Lam''s job very difficult. "When there''s overseas capital investment in Hong Kong, it will stimulate the local property market. If the government wants the housing market to grow at a stable rate, this will be a very big challenge for them," Mak said. Chinese companies successfully bid for six out of 27 plots of land sold by the government in the fiscal year starting April 2016, Lands Department data shows, but in money terms they accounted for 44 percent of total transactions. In the previous fiscal year, Chinese firms paid more on land deals than their Hong Kong competitors, taking up 55 percent of the value and nearly half of the land sold. Graphic on Hong Kong property market tmsnrt.rs/2o8NCkM IMPOSSIBLE DREAM? Mainland developer KWG Property ( 1813.HK ), which won a plot of residential land for a record price co-bidding with Logan Property ( 3380.HK ), said lower lending rates and taxes make development in Hong Kong more profitable than in China. "There''s still a gap between ''flour and bread prices'' in Hong Kong, but in China the prices are basically the same, so I boldly predict that more and more Chinese developers will come to Hong Kong to buy land in the future," KWG chairman Kong Jian Min told an earnings conference last month. The direct impact of this influx on home prices is stark in the Kai Tak district, overlooking Victoria Harbour. Prices there rose as much as 50 percent in less than a year, consultancy JLL said, after Chinese conglomerate HNA Group HNAIRC.UL bought four land parcels in the past five months at eye-popping prices. Hong Kong''s homegrown property companies are being edged out of their own market and are looking overseas to do business. Local developer David Chiu, chairman of Far East Consortium International ( 0035.HK ), said he had become increasingly disheartened after seeing his company''s auction bids fall below the average. "In the past there were 20 developers fighting for land, but now with Chinese developers joining, it means another 20 more," he told a conference in February, adding that he was glad his company had already invested elsewhere and had plans to expand in the UK and Australia. "I think it''ll be very difficult for Hong Kong''s small and medium developers to win a tender; it wouldn''t surprise me if Hong Kong developers became landlords relying only on rental income (from commercial properties) after 10 years," he said. Lam has already conceded in an interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal there is nothing she can do to stop outside capital competing in the land bids. Even established professionals say buying a home is an increasingly daunting prospect and doubt that government will succeed in holding down prices. "They won''t be able to help us," said 30-year-old accountant Mok Ho-man. "Buying a flat is not an impossible dream ... but it will only get more and more difficult." (Reporting By Clare Jim and Venus Wu; Additional reporting by Katy Wong; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-property-idUKKBN17B01G'|'2017-04-09T11:57:00.000+03:00' '7b3d71f47f500e9895f2445824ec581309f007ce'|'China says insurance regulator head probed for suspected graft - Reuters'|'BEIJING The head of China''s insurance regulator is under investigation for suspected disciplinary violations, the ruling Communist Party''s anti-corruption watchdog said on Sunday, using phrasing that usually refers to graft.In a brief statement, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Xiang Junbo, head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, was suspected of "serious disciplinary violations".It gave no further details.Chinese President Xi Jinping is leading a campaign against official corruption that is tearing down once-untouchable party, military and business leaders and rolling up their powerful networks of relatives and allies.(Reporting by Kevin Yao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-corruption-idINKBN17B056'|'2017-04-09T04:55:00.000+03:00' '1a0289c0a6294c9fb917524d958d51764a1ecd2d'|'ECB won''t hike deposit rate before 2018 - traders'|' 07pm BST ECB won''t hike deposit rate before 2018 - traders European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski The European Central Bank will not raise its deposit rate until next year at the earliest, according to more than three-quarters of euro money market traders polled by Reuters. Recent better-than-expected economic data from the euro zone has fuelled market speculation the ECB might move away from its ultra-easy monetary policy and raise interest rates as a first move. But comments from three of the central bank''s top policymakers last week suggested it will not deviate from its current policy plan, including record-low rates and monthly asset purchases, until inflation picks up and the economy is on a healthy growth path. Asked when the ECB will raise its deposit rate, currently -0.40 percent, eight of 18 traders said next year, five said in 2019 and one said in 2020. The remaining four respondents said the ECB could move as early as this year. A regular survey of 22 traders showed banks are expected to borrow 13.0 billion euros ($13.8 billion) at the ECB''s weekly refinancing operation, a touch less than the 13.2 billion euros maturing from last week. ALLOTMENT ONE-WEEK'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-refi-poll-idUKKBN17C1AT'|'2017-04-10T20:07:00.000+03:00' 'fdfdf45e87d4afacee5afb1f6a97e200293c1511'|'Roche''s Alecensa notches trial win against Pfizer''s Xalkori'|' 38am EDT Roche''s Alecensa notches trial win against Pfizer''s Xalkori ZURICH, April 10 Roche''s Alecensa kept people with a specific lung cancer alive longer without their disease progressing than Pfizer''s Xalkori, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday, as it seeks to move in on the U.S. company''s share of early treatment of the disease. Roche now plans to submit the results of the Phase III study to global health regulators, it said in its statement. Alecensa, approved since 2015 in people with advanced ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer who have failed on Xalkori, is now being trialed head-to-head against Pfizer''s medication as an initial treatment. (Reporting by John Miller)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/roche-pfizer-idUSFWN1HH021'|'2017-04-10T13:38:00.000+03:00' 'b6d7ba0f5260a0db1140718c1c2e6b9e2f43d5d4'|'New York State passes $163 bln budget, raises criminal responsibility age'|'By James Odato - ALBANY, April 9 ALBANY, April 9 Travelers across New York state will get the chance to summon ride-sharing cars under a $163 billion state budget passed on Sunday that includes a free public college tuition program and ends imprisoning people younger than 18 with adults.The passage completed a deal struck between lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Friday, nine days after the fiscal year began.Key components – raising the age of criminal responsibility and free tuition for students from families earning less than $120,000 a year – were pushed by Cuomo and led to the longest budget delay since the Democrat took office in 2011.To be phased in through October 2019, people under the age of 18 will no longer be housed in adult jails and prisons.The measure, strongly embraced by Assembly Democrats, will leave North Carolina as the only state to automatically prosecute and imprison 16 and 17-year-olds as adults regardless of the crime.Cuomo, considered a possible 2020 presidential contender, said in a radio interview that raising the age - along with increasing the state''s minimum wage last year and legalizing same-sex marriages in 2011 - are "really great lasting legacies."Republican lawmakers complained Cuomo incorporated social policy into the budget, but ultimately compromised."There''s a lot of things you like, a lot things you don''t like," Senate Deputy Majority Leader John DeFrancisco, a Republican, said from the Senate floor.State residents with household incomes under $100,000 will be able to enroll in state public colleges tuition-free. The income limit rises to $125,000 in three years.The budget revives a tax cut program for New York City affordable housing developers and funds $2.5 billion of clean water infrastructure projects.The spending plan won overwhelmingly support in the Assembly and Senate.Legislators hailed the provision to permit Uber, Lyft and similar ride-hailing services to operate beyond New York City.Sen. Timothy Kennedy, a Buffalo Democrat, said upstate New York can now join the 21st Century.The $163 billion package also includes federal disaster aid for people impacted by 2012''s Superstorm Sandy hurricane and funds for health care reform.The pact gives Cuomo''s budget director authority to plan spending cuts if the federal government slashes more than $850 million of funding to New York this fiscal year.Cuomo called New York "a target for hostile federal actions" under Republican President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress, which could cut billions of Medicaid dollars to New York and other states by replacing the Affordable Care Act.To help offset the state''s $3.5 billion deficit and fund income tax cuts for people making under $300,000, the budget extends for two years an 8.82 percent tax rate on individuals making more than $1 million a year.Cuomo failed in his quest to compel giant online marketplaces such as Amazon to collect taxes on third-party transactions. (Reporting By James Odato in Albany; Editing by Daniel Bases and Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/new-york-budget-idINL1N1HI042'|'2017-04-10T01:50:00.000+03:00' '19da09ea17bf0a2219a5f8b4334242c178f334bf'|'Gold edges down on stronger dollar, but geopolitical tensions support'|'By Sethuraman N R SendinGold inched down on Monday on a stronger dollar, moving away from a 5-month high hit n the previous session, although geopolitical tensions continued to buoy safe-haven demand for the precious metal.Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump differed on Sunday on where U.S. policy on Syria was headed after last week''s attack on a Syrian air base, while U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the strikes were a warning to other nations, including North Korea.Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,252.20 per ounce by 0319 GMT, while U.S. gold futures had dropped 0.2 percent to $1,254.30.Spot gold hit its highest since Nov. 10 at $1,270.46 on Friday and crossed the 200-day moving average. But, it failed to close above that key resistance level.The dollar index on Monday rose as much as 0.15 percent to over 3-week highs at 101.340."Somehow gold is keeping its $1,200-$1,250 range intact even thought it keeps rising and falling," said Mark To, head of research at Hong Kong''s Wing Fung Financial Group."I don''t think it can have a further upside as even though the (U.S. interest) rate hike expectations have come down; the direction of hikes and monetary tightening are quite clear."The U.S. Federal Reserve might in the future avoid raising interest rates at the same time that it begins the process of shrinking its $4.5 trillion bond portfolio, prompting only a "little pause", New York Fed President William Dudley said on Friday.Gold''s safe-haven appeal has been bolstered by mounting geopolitical tensions, with a U.S. official telling Reuters on Saturday that a U.S. Navy strike group will be moving towards the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force.The bullish sentiment on gold was also underpinned by U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data that showed speculators raising their net long position in COMEX gold for the third straight week in the week to April 4.However, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said spot gold may fall to $1,241 per ounce, as suggested by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis.Meanwhile, spot silver dropped 0.2 percent to $17.92 an ounce, after hitting its best since Feb. 27 at $18.47 in the previous session.Platinum declined 0.5 percent to $947 an ounce, while palladium fell 0.7 percent to $796.10.(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idINKBN17C0AP'|'2017-04-10T02:04:00.000+03:00' '797e7be0bdd9189922ae646a02deead8bdef5cdd'|'''Best banker in America'' blamed for Wells Fargo scandal'|'Business News 45pm BST ''Best banker in America'' blamed for Wells Fargo scandal A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith By Carmel Crimmins An out-of-control sales culture, a defensive boss obsessed with stamping out negative views about her division and a group chief executive who called her the "the best banker in America" were to blame for Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) devastating sales scandal, an internal investigation found. The probe into how the San Francisco-based bank could have allowed abusive sales practices to fester for years at its branch network laid most of the blame on the former head of the retail division, Carrie Tolstedt, and some of her management team, in a report released to media on Monday. In the report, which was carried out by the bank''s chairman Stephan Sanger and three other independent directors, Tolstedt is blamed for ignoring the systemic nature of the problem which was pinned instead on individual wrongdoers and she was accused of obstructing the board''s efforts to get to the bottom of what was going on. John Stumpf, the chief executive who retired under pressure from the scandal in October, was criticized for failing to grasp the gravity of the sales practice abuses and their impact on the bank. In the 110-page report, Stumpf was described as someone who was blinded by Wells Fargo''s cross-selling success. He refused to believe the model was seriously impaired and was full of admiration for Tolstedt, with whom he had a long working relationship. According to one director, Stumpf praised Tolstedt as the "best banker in America". The report said Tolstedt hid the scale of the misconduct from the board, which only discovered that 5,300 staff had been fired for opening over 2 million unauthorised accounts when the bank reached a $185 million settlement with regulators in September last year. On the advice of her lawyers, Tolstedt declined to be interviewed for the investigation. Wells Fargo said that she had been fired for cause and it would be forfeiting her outstanding stock options with an approximate value of $47.3 million. Wells Fargo said it had decided to claw back approximately $28 million of Stumpf’s bonus, which was paid in March 2016. In total, the bank has fired five senior retail bank executives, including Tolstedt, over the scandal and has imposed forfeitures, clawbacks and compensation adjustments on senior leaders totalling more than $180 million, including $69 million from Stumpf and $67 million from Tolstedt. Since the scandal broke, the bank has seen a steady decline in the number of consumers opening checking and credit card accounts and it has lost its status as America''s most valuable bank by market value. THE BOARD Sanger, a board member since 2003, is under pressure to assure investors and regulators that he is rooting out the bank''s problems after a welter of criticism that the board didn''t do enough despite knowing about the problem since 2014. According to the report, multiple board members felt misled by a presentation by Tolstedt and others to the board''s risk committee in May 2015. The board members said they left thinking that between 200 and 300 employees had been fired for sales practice abuses and the problem was largely concentrated in southern California. Last week, influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services recommended investors vote to replace the majority of directors at Wells Fargo, including Sanger and the other three independent directors, at its April 25 annual meeting. The Justice Department, meanwhile, is investigating whether executives hid details from the company board and regulators as the problem grew over the years, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters. U.S. Attorney offices in San Francisco and Charlotte, North Carolina, are also investigating. The report criticized the board for not centralising the risk functions at the bank earlier, for not requesting more detailed reports from management and for not insisting Stumpf get rid of Tolstedt sooner. Tim Sloan, who replaced Stumpf as chief executive, is described in the report as having little contact with sales practices at the bank before becoming chief operating officer and Tolstedt''s boss in November 2015. Six months later he told her to step aside. Since the scandal broke, the bank has ended sales targets, changed pay incentives for branch staff, separated the role of chairman and chief executive and hired new directors to its board. A NOTEWORTHY RISK A big part of Wells Fargo''s problem was its decentralised business model, which meant the retail bank was able to keep inquiries from head office at arm''s length and there was no joined-up effort by either the bank''s human resources or legal divisions to track and analyse the scale of the problem. As far back as 2002, Wells Fargo''s retail bank was taking steps to deal with sales practice violations and in 2004, a report by the bank''s Internal Investigations division recommended eliminating sales goals for employees. That report was sent to, among others, the chief auditor, a senior in-house employment lawyer, retail bank HR personnel and the head of sales & service development in the retail bank. No action was taken. Externally, Wells was lauded by investors for its ability to cross-sell individual customers multiple products and for its squeaky-clean reputation relative to peers in the wake of the financial crisis. Internally, the sales pressure was oppressive, particularly in California and Arizona, where senior bankers sometimes called subordinates several times a day to check in and chastise those who failed to meet sales objectives. A sales push, dubbed "Jump into January", saw bankers encouraged to make lists of friends and family who were potential sales targets. Staff turnover usually increased that month. Sales practices were identified as a “noteworthy risk” to the board and its risk committee, of which Sanger was a member, after a series of stories in the Los Angeles Times detailed some of the sales practices. But Tolstedt was left to deal with the issue and she was “notoriously resistant to outside intervention and oversight” the report said. Tolstedt was also perceived as having the support of Stumpf, who, in turn, was seen not seen as someone to raise problems with. "Stumpf was ultimately responsible for enterprise risk management at Wells Fargo, but was not perceived within Wells Fargo as someone who wanted to hear bad news or deal with conflict." (Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wells-fargo-accounts-idUKKBN17C194'|'2017-04-10T19:45:00.000+03:00' 'ad2c23f0af543319b7e34d8ebf16286ce81eea08'|'Turkey''s Vestel in talks to buy Toshiba television unit - official'|'Technology 59am BST Turkey''s Vestel in talks to buy Toshiba television unit: official A man walks past a Toshiba Corp logo displayed on one of its television sets in Tokyo, Japan, November 26, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Ceyda Caglayan - ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkey''s Vestel is in talks to buy the television unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp, an official for the Turkish maker of electronics and home appliances said on Monday, declining to be identified. Vestel last year signed a five-year agreement with Toshiba, giving it the right to produce and sell televisions under the Toshiba brand in Europe. Toshiba, a televisions-to-construction conglomerate expects to book a net loss of about $9 billion for the year that ended in March, due to a writedown related to cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse that recently went bankrupt. (Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-vestel-idUKKBN17C0K5'|'2017-04-10T14:56:00.000+03:00' '48a6cbb49cbd7f24e9f19cf54677e9e8bfd62f9b'|'EU should consider billion-euro investment boost for Greece - Austrian finmin'|' 19pm IST EU should consider billion-euro investment boost for Greece - Austrian finmin Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling waits to meet President Alexander Van der Bellen (not pictured) in Vienna, Austria, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/Files VIENNA The European Union should consider a one-billion-euro ($1.1-billion) special investment programme to spur growth in debt-ridden Greece, Austria''s finance minister told daily Der Standard in an interview published on Monday. Hans Joerg Schelling said Greece would only be able to get back on track and regain access to capital markets if it was able to generate sustainable growth in the mid- and long-term. It was important to help the country participate in a pick-up in growth in the euro zone, he added. There was no immediate comment from Athens which has called for more help and debt relief as it struggles to cope with its financial crisis and attain a budget surplus of 3.5 percent of economic output, excluding debt servicing outlays next year. "You must assess whether to start a big investment programme through the European Investment Bank or maybe with the (European bailout fund) ESM... to get an additional boost (for the Greek economy)," the paper quoted Schelling as saying. "I would define a scale of one billion euros." Schelling, seen as a possible successor to Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said one project could be an investment in renewable energy to make Greece less dependent on energy imports. The European Investment Bank (EIB) launched a one billion euro credit line to Greek banks in December, mainly to be used for on-lending to small and medium sized companies and firms promoting youth employment. Greece is on its third bailout from euro zone governments since 2010. Last week, Athens struck a deal with its international creditors on key elements of a reform package that could unlock bailout funds for the country to help it repay maturing debt in summer. ($1 = 0.9448 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/greece-bailout-austria-idINKBN17C0OF'|'2017-04-10T15:49:00.000+03:00' 'c35d2d1ee84f3e6b407e985bf4402685442fa78f'|'UK needs immigration to keep service industries going, says ONS - Business'|'Immigration is particularly important to keep Britain’s health service, wholesale and retail, public administration and hospitality trades going with more than 1.5 million migrants working in these sectors, according to a new official analysis.The Office of National Statistics analysis also shows that migrants from eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania are likely to work more hours and earn lower wages than other workers, partly reflecting their numbers in lower skilled jobs. They are also likely to be over-educated for the jobs they do.But they also show that migrants from western European countries are more likely to have a university degree, to be higher paid and to work in a job that matches their education. This split in profile between western and eastern European migrants working in Britain is echoed by their relative concentrations in the financial and business service sectors on the one hand and agriculture and manufacturing on the other. It also carries serious implications for ministers attempting to devise a post-Brexit immigration policy from Europe.It is also reflected in average wage levels those from western European EU countries, such as France and Germany, earn more – £12.59 an hour on average – than UK national average earnings of £11.30 an hour while those from eastern Europe earn on average £8.33 an hour. East Europeans also work harder with 61% completing more than 40 a hours a week compared to only 32% of UK nationals.The difference in average wages may be accounted for by the difference in educational background. More than half the western European migrants in the British labour force – 488,000 out of 863,000 – have degrees while a much lower proportion of east Europeans 242,000 out of 822,000 hold degrees.The ONS analysis, the first of a series international immigration and the labour market, shows that 3.4 million migrants work in Britain making up 11% of the 30.3 million-strong UK labour workforce. EU nationals account for 2.2 million or 7% while those from outside Europe account for 1.2 million or 4%.The statisticians say that there are higher proportions of international migrants in some industry sectors than others and make up 14% of the workforce in the wholesale and retail trade and in hotels and restaurants. More than 508,000 EU nationals work in these sectors.They are also particularly important to financial and business services where they make up 12% of the workforce and include 382,000 EU nationals.Migrants are also essential to keep the public sector going with 701,000 non-UK nationals working in public administration, education and health sectors. More than a quarter of migrants work in the public sector.The non-UK workforce is also almost evenly split between those who work in professional occupations – 658,000 – and those in “elementary” occupations such as selling goods, cleaning or freight handling – 669,000.The ONS analysis shows foreign workers are more likely to be in jobs they are over-qualified for than UK nationals. About 15% of UK nationals were employed in jobs they were deemed to be over-educated for compared with almost two in five non-UK nationals.The statisticians say one explanation for the proportion classed as over-educated is that they may have sought employment in the UK to do lower-skilled jobs in order to experience life in the UK and gain other experiences, such as learning English, rather than as a career move.Anna Bodey, migration analyst, Office for National Statistics commented: “Today’s analysis shows the significant impact international migration has on the UK labour market. It is particularly important to the wholesale and retail, hospitality, and public administration and health sectors, which employ around 1.5 million non-UK nationals.“Migrants from Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania are likely to work more hours and earn lower wages than other workers, partly reflecting their numbers in lower-skilled jobs. Many EU migrants are also more likely to be over-educated for the jobs they are in.” A “setting the scene” note introducing the analysis says that while the number or EU nationals living in Britain increased by 1.3 million between 2011 and 2016 the proportion of UK nationals in Britain remained at around 91% because their numbers rose also increased by 1.5m over the same period. EU nationals make up 5% of the 64 million UK population with 2.4 million migrants from outside Europe the other 4%.Topics Business NHS Office for National Statistics news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/uk-needs-immigration-to-keep-service-industries-going-says-ons'|'2017-04-12T19:50:00.000+03:00' 'aa474f7d932e26fdb2e89e9d48fede12777a6ce8'|'Lipstick on the robot: why is everyone suddenly happy about tech unemployment? - Tim Dunlop - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'Call me suspicious but there appears to be a recent shift in how industry spokespeople are talking about the relationship between work and automation.Suddenly, the conversation is no longer gloomy prognostications about robots taking our jobs; instead everyone is smiling brightly and telling us that our future is going to see us working happily alongside robots and other artificially intelligent coworkers.Hence the suspicion. Robin Bordoli, the chief executive of the AI company CrowdFlower , wrote a piece in December last year that may well be the template for this new approach. It very precisely positions humans and technology as coworkers. “For too long the thrust of AI has been to replace humans,” he writes. “A better framing is realising that machines and humans have complementary capabilities ... AI is about blending these respective strengths.”While this is perfectly reasonable, what worries me is that we are seeing this “positive” approach escalate into what feels like full-scale spin, an attempt to apply lipstick to the pig of technological unemployment.For instance, a recent AFR article was presented under the heading, “We must work alongside robots, not against them”. Written by Cindy Hook, the CEO of accounting firm Deloitte, it cheerily tells us that, “debate about [digitisation] is beset with myths and fear-mongering. Fears about robots and artificial intelligence taking jobs.” Hook is unimpressed with such talk, and argues instead that the “reality is that robotic process automation (RPA) ... is about augmenting work”.By way of example, she mentions the introduction of artificial intelligence programs into Deloitte’s payroll systems, and explains that this has allowed them to on-shore work formerly off-shored to India. Thus, she says, “We can actually process the payroll in Australia, using a machine that thinks intuitively.” She concludes that, “I think of it as a machine working next to a person, not as a machine replacing a person.” But what really happened here? Australian workers had already lost these jobs to India and now the Indians are losing them to AI. I’m not sure this is the positive story Hook seems to think it is.Other examples of this spin around robots as coworkers can be found in a recent Bloomberg article looking at the automation of warehouses . Patrick Clark and Kim Bashin quote Rick Faulk, the CEO of Focus Robotics, a company helping organisations like DHL automate. He says, “The first trend was to try to replace humans. Now it’s about humans and robots working collaboratively.” After explaining that a warehouse robot now carries items to a human checker – while carefully not mentioning the human workers who no longer do the carrying – Faulk intones, “Working with robots is a fun thing to do.”CEO Dennis Mortensen recently said that Amy Ingram, the chatbot developed by his company x.ai , has been asked out on dates by “her” fellow workers.Such talk is insulting and, while I doubt there is any coordination in this sudden spurt of happy talk from various business types, it does appear to be the emergent narrative of a class of people who know big change is coming and who are looking for a gentle way to break it to the rest of us.None of this is to deny that many of us will end up working with robots and other forms of artificial intelligence. The question is whether it will be quite the panacea proponents pretend. After all, to work with a robot is to work with something that requires neither pay, holidays, sick leave or even toilet breaks. It is the robot, therefore, that will set the standard for what is an acceptable day’s work, which means that the pressure to increase human productivity, to depress wages and conditions will be relentless. As cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener observed in the 1950s, “Let us remember that the automatic machine is the precise economic equivalent of slave labor. Any labor which competes with slave labor must accept the economic consequences of slave labor.”By hiding behind the shiny new narrative of robots and AI becoming our new workmates, we lock ourselves into the mindset of the past: instead of approaching the new technologies as a potential pathway to a better future, we enforce the status quo. If AI and robots really are going to augment human work rather than simply replace it, then it needs to be on terms that maximise human skills like empathy, creativity, playfulness and ethics, not just in the sense of leaving humans coequals with the technology or, worse still, its subordinates. I shudder when I listen to this TED talk by designer Maurice Conti in which he tells of a “cool project” with Bishop, a robot Conti and his partners have been experimenting with. “The humans acted as labor,” he tells us. “And then we had an AI that was controlling everything.” The question we should be asking ourselves and our politicians is not about how we can keep some token job working next to a robot – but how the wealth generated by the increased productivity of machines can be distributed fairly and equitably to help us build a world in which the many, rather than the few, can thrive. In other words, the case for robots in the workplace should be made on the basis that they increase human well being. It shouldn’t rely on phoney talk about AI and humans as happy happy coworkers.Topics Guardian sustainable business Fourth industrial revolution Robots Work & careers comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/12/putting-lipstick-on-the-robot-why-are-corporate-leaders-happy-about-tech-unemployment'|'2017-04-12T14:50:00.000+03:00' 'db369dd59c3348e82af39aa4aedba93daf27f8cc'|'House GOP vows to offer Dodd-Frank overhaul bill by end of April - Apr. 11, 2017'|'Robert Rubin: Much of Dodd-Frank was ''necessary'' A top House Republican lawmaker plans to roll out a new draft of his bill overhauling the Dodd-Frank Act, the sweeping financial reform law passed by Congress in 2010, by the end of April. In a statement to reporters Tuesday, a spokeswoman for House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling said he has set a deadline of unveiling an updated version of his bill to unwind the law "in the next few weeks." Until now, the Texas lawmaker and his staff have refrained from offering a specific timeline on when he might release his Dodd-Frank overhaul bill. Instead, the committee has been relaying the message that it could be "weeks" before a bill would be released -- and by "weeks" that "could be two weeks or 52 weeks," a lobbyist from a large bank told CNNMoney on Monday. "The House Republicans have been managing expectations of this lately," said Ian Katz, an analyst at Capital Alpha Partners. "They do still talk about overhauling Dodd-Frank. But they will note, ''Well, we don''t control the Senate. I can''t tell you what the Senate is going to do.''" Hensarling''s statement comes on the heels President Trump''s meeting with a group of chief executives on Tuesday, where he renewed his pledge to do a "major elimination of the horrendous" Dodd-Frank regulations. Related: Trump pledges to ''do a big number'' on Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform Sources familiar with the matter told CNNMoney, Hensarling had been waiting for a green light from leadership that his bill would be considered on the House floor, before announcing any plans to hold a committee markup or to release the updated bill publicly. The chairman has been trying to avoid a lag between unveiling his bill and consideration by the full House, but not because the bill isn''t done, sources told CNNMoney. The latest version of Hensarling''s bill would significantly reduce the power of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, placing it under tougher scrutiny by the White House and restructuring the agency''s leadership into a commission rather than a single director, according to an outline sent to the Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee seen by CNNMoney. The new bureau would be restricted to enforcing its own existing law and be stripped of the power to crack down on "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." It would also make significant changes to how regulators oversee the country''s largest banks. Banks would only have to undergo a stress test exercise every two years, rather than one. The test by regulators shows the strength of bank''s balance sheets under severe economic circumstances and their ability to continue to lend to consumers and businesses. Even with an updated version of the House bill, the Senate will want to put its own footprint on any potential changes to the 2010 regulatory reform law. Mike Crapo, the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee committee, has already set the tone of seeking to find areas of common ground with Democrats. Related: Fed taps Jerome Powell to head oversight of ''too big to fail'' banks It''s still unclear, however, whether Crapo will seek to do a number of targeted bills or put together a larger overhaul package later in the year. Instead, Crapo has taken a wait-and-see approach until the president nominates individuals to run the regulatory agencies, including the Federal Reserve''s vice chair of supervision. He is also working with Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown to review possible changes to Dodd-Frank and other policies to improve economic growth. Another Republican senator, Patrick Toomey, has suggested the possibility of using reconciliation as a vehicle to make changes to Dodd-Frank. There is also an outstanding report requested by President Trump to review the burdens of existing regulations due out in June, which is likely to shape the administration''s regulatory priorities moving forward. Isaac Boltansky, a policy analyst with Compass Point Research & Trading LLC, said in a note to clients that Congress'' attempt at broad regulatory relief "may prove too cumbersome" this year. Instead, he believes key priorities will be added on to "must-pass" legislation, like a congressional spending bill. CNNMoney (Washington) First published April 11, 2017: 9:36 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/11/news/economy/gop-dodd-frank-overhaul-bill/index.html'|'2017-04-12T05:36:00.000+03:00' 'a855528fb5b9ffbb7b73052e51fc73a78be9bc61'|'UK statistics agency tries to spot recessions sooner'|'Business News - Thu Apr 6, 2017 - 12:08am BST UK statistics agency tries to spot recessions sooner Offices are seen at dusk as St. Paul''s Cathedral and construction cranes are seen on the skyline in the City of London, Britain November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville LONDON Britain''s statistics agency said on Thursday that it is taking steps to ensure it can see when the economy is heading into recession sooner than it has in the past, after being slow to spot when Britain last entered recession in 2008. British gross domestic product data is produced faster than in almost all other major economies, but early versions of the numbers contain a large proportion of estimated data and faces frequent, occasionally sizeable, revisions. Last year a review by former Bank of England deputy governor Charles Bean concluded that confidence in Britain''s Office for National Statistics had fallen, and said statisticians needed to think more about whether their figures made economic sense. On Thursday the ONS said it planned to use a wider range of data sources to cross-check early versions of its GDP data. These include monthly government figures on value-added tax revenue, which can be compared with the ONS''s own surveys of businesses, as well as Bank of England data on activity in the financial services sector. "It is vital that ONS is able to pick up turning points as soon as they happen, enabling policymakers to respond quickly," ONS statistician Darren Morgan said. Statisticians will also look more closely at raw spending data before adjusting them for inflation, to spot any trends or anomalies that might get masked when they converted the data from nominal into ''real-terms'' figures. Some changes had already been made, while others would be implemented through 2017, the ONS said. ONS growth data has seen relatively little revision since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016, and has generally painted a picture of steady expansion - in contrast to private sector surveys that pointed to a steep downturn. However, in 2008 the ONS was three months late in noticing Britain''s economy had entered recession, and significantly underestimated the size of the downturn. It was later slow to spot the recession was easing and that Britain had returned to growth, and in early 2012 produced data that wrongly implied Britain had re-entered recession. (Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Stephen Powell) Next In Business News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-idUKKBN17730H'|'2017-04-06T07:08:00.000+03:00' 'd4863845f9542e76384e5f932e50902918e90182'|'First Solar wants out of ''yieldco'' venture with SunPower'|'U.S. solar company First Solar Inc ( FSLR.O ) on Wednesday said it was looking to sell its stake in a publicly traded company it formed with rival SunPower Corp ( SPWR.O ) less than two years ago, at the height of investor euphoria over so-called "yieldcos."Separately, SunPower said it was exploring strategic alternatives for the venture, 8point3 Energy Partners ( CAFD.O ). Shares of the company slid 12 percent in extended trade on Wednesday.Yieldcos are publicly traded entities that house solar and wind projects with long-term contracts with utilities. The vehicles collect the stable cash flows from utility contracts and pay them out as dividends.In its statement, First Solar said the move would allow it to allocate more capital to the production of its next-generation Series 6 panels, which Chief Executive Mark Widmar said "has the potential to be a transformational product."A global glut of panels has pushed prices down substantially over the last year, cutting profit margins for manufacturers like SunPower and First Solar and sometimes driving prices on power plant contracts down to uneconomic levels. First Solar, which is based in Tempe, Arizona, announced late last year that it would bring forward production of Series 6 by a year in a bid to improve profitability.Yieldcos became popular among investors earlier this decade because they were viewed as a less volatile means of investing in renewable energy. But the bankruptcy of solar industry bellwether SunEdison, which formed two yieldcos before imploding last year, soured investor interest on the business model.8point3, which houses projects developed by both SunPower and First Solar, went public at $21 a share in June of 2015. Its stock closed at $13.21 Wednesday on the Nasdaq, and dropped to $11.65 in after-hours trade.In its statement, SunPower said it would consider a potential replacement partner for First Solar, among other options. The partnership "still offers significant, long-term strategic value," the San Jose-based company said.SunPower is majority owned by France''s Total SA ( TOTF.PA ).(Reporting by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sunpower-8point3-energy-idUSKBN1772QG'|'2017-04-06T01:55:00.000+03:00' '395271bcdc0ec153e6ad08a2226949cf54cf46dd'|'BRIEF-Arconic announces cash tender offers by Citigroup Global Markets Credit Suisse Securities (USA)'|' 33pm EDT BRIEF-Arconic announces cash tender offers by Citigroup Global Markets Credit Suisse Securities (USA) April 5 Arconic Inc : * Announces cash tender offers by citigroup global markets Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for up to $1 billion of co''s outstanding debt securities * Says cash tender offers is for up to $1 billion principal amount of arconic''s outstanding debt securities * Purchasers are offering to purchase any and all of co''s 6.500% notes due 2018 and 6.750% notes due 2018 * Purchasers also offering to purchase co''s 5.720% notes due 2019 up to $500 million less the amount tendered and accepted in 2018 offers '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-arconic-announces-cash-tender-offe-idUSL5N1HD6JN'|'2017-04-06T06:33:00.000+03:00' '18bb72d157fbf4b77b4bfe4e9610a81e6bc40af8'|'Tesla jumps after Elon Musk teases commercial truck, pickup'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 2:38pm EDT Tesla jumps after Elon Musk teases commercial truck, pickup left right FILE PHOTO: Tesla Chief Executive, Elon Musk enters the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., January 6, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo 1/2 left right A Tesla car showroom is seen in west London, Britain, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo 2/2 By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Tesla ( TSLA.O ) jumped nearly 3 percent on Thursday after Chief Executive Elon Musk said the electric car company expects to unveil its planned commercial truck in September. Musk last year announced plans for electric vehicles ranging from a commercial truck called the Tesla Semi to a public transport bus, a "new kind of pickup truck" and a compact sport utility vehicle. "Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level," Musk said in a tweet on Thursday. "Pickup truck unveil in 18 to 24 months," he added in another Tweet. Tesla''s stock was up $8.14, or 2.74 percent, at $304.98 after Musk''s tweets. Shares of Tesla have surged 41 percent to record highs this year, and this week the Silicon Valley company briefly became the largest U.S. car maker by market capitalization, beating out General Motors Co ( GM.N ). Proponents believe Tesla''s stock rally and high valuation are justified based on long-term expectations for growth. Skeptics and short sellers say Tesla''s growth targets are unrealistic and that the company risks being overtaken by GM, Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) and other deep-pocketed manufacturers ramping up their own electric-vehicle offerings. The Palo Alto, California company, which is not profitable, is rushing to launch its mass-market Model 3 sedan in the second half of 2017 and quickly ramp up its factory to reach a production target of 500,000 cars per year in 2018. By comparison, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.7 million. (Reporting by Noel Randewich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-stocks-idUSKBN17F2FF'|'2017-04-14T02:33:00.000+03:00' 'd4e94269e05c04ec632ee2506dd39f77714ddefb'|'UPDATE 1-China March producer inflation cools for first time in 7 months on steel glut fears'|'Business 00pm EDT China March producer inflation cools, consumer inflation below forecast FILE PHOTO - A labourer shovels iron ore into a steel ladle at Wuhan Iron and Steel Group in the capital of central China''s Hubei province October 17, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo BEIJING domestic demand is not strong enough to absorb surging supplies of steel. The producer price index (PPI) rose 7.6 percent from a year earlier, in line with economists'' expectations for a moderation from the previous month''s gain of 7.8 percent. China''s consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.9 percent from a year earlier, edging up from February''s 0.8 percent but slightly below analysts'' forecasts, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted March consumer price inflation would edge up to 1.0 percent but remain well within the central bank''s comfort zone, giving it room to continue with a gradual pace of monetary policy tightening without risking crimping economic growth. (Reporting by Nicholas Heath and Yawen Chen; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-inflation-idUSKBN17E05S'|'2017-04-12T10:11:00.000+03:00' '9a03f9239c1f18e4c27eadd53d174e904f28f175'|'EMERGING MARKETS-U.S. yield fall helps emerging markets snap losing streak'|'Company News 47am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-U.S. yield fall helps emerging markets snap losing streak By Sujata Rao - LONDON, April 12 LONDON, April 12 Emerging stocks snapped out of this year''s longest losing streak on Wednesday, rising 0.3 percent as a fall in U.S. Treasury yields towards five-month lows offset jitters around Syria and North Korea. Emerging stocks had fallen for four days in a row amid a standoff between Russia and West over Syria, jitters around French elections and North Korea''s nuclear threat. But some of those trades unravelled, with the South Korean won rising after six sessions in the red, MSCI''s emerging market index gaining and the recent Japanese yen rally boosting other Asian currencies. Even the Turkish lira and the South African rand touched one-week highs despite Turkey heading into a weekend referendum over expanding presidential powers and South Africa being hit by a spate of rating downgrades. "While headline news suggest a risk-off environment, it is not the ordinary risk-off in the world of FX," ING analysts said, noting the resilience of high-yielding currencies. "An equally important driver of FX markets seems to be dollar softness due to lower Treasury yields that is partly outweighing concerns about geopolitics." Investors have also noted the improvement in emerging growth and company earnings. The Institute of International Finance on Tuesday noted emerging economies likely expanded by 4.5 percent in the first quarter, higher than previously forecast. "Emerging markets have been strengthening from the fundamental case for several months. We made the decision back in September that emerging GDP growth rates ... were re-accelerating, so we thought we were back in a bullish cycle," Bryan Carter, head of emerging debt at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, said. The Russian rouble was lifted 0.2 percent thanks to higher oil prices, while local stocks also rose. But markets were eyeing an upcoming news conference by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, after the two sides traded accusations over last week''s deadly poison gas attack in Syria. Ten-year bond yields approached one-month highs, standing 20 basis points above recent three-year lows before an auction of 40 billion roubles ($704.16 million) in OFZ bonds. Russian five-year credit default swaps inched to the highest level since end-March at 173 bps, according to IHS Markit. The Czech crown was steady around 26.6 per euro, off 3-1/2-year highs hit on Monday after authorities scrapped its 27-per-euro cap. One-month euro-Czech volatility, a gauge of expected currency swings, slipped off recent two-year highs . Bond markets are focusing on Saudi Arabia''s sukuk, expected to be the largest ever Islamic issue. While initial guidance was 20 bps above Saudi''s conventional bonds, it is likely to end up almost flat to the curve, players say. Later on Wednesday, Brazil''s central bank may speed up monetary easing. Most of the 47 economists polled by Reuters predicted a 100 bps cut to 11.25 percent and one forecast a 125 bps cut. Ten-year yields, which recently touched 3-1/2-year lows, are down almost 200 bps this year. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 959.97 +5.53 +0.58 +11.33 Czech Rep 984.47 -8.48 -0.85 +6.82 Poland 2219.46 -2.36 -0.11 +13.94 Hungary 32369.60 +170.45 +0.53 +1.15 Romania 8208.15 +7.97 +0.10 +15.85 Greece 678.73 -1.33 -0.20 +5.45 Russia 1097.76 +6.68 +0.61 -4.74 South Africa 47078.98 +321.44 +0.69 +7.24 Turkey 91165.62 +261.13 +0.29 +16.67 China 3273.83 -15.14 -0.46 +5.48 India 29733.88 -54.47 -0.18 +11.67 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HK129'|'2017-04-12T16:47:00.000+03:00' 'ad14ac17d68f2d886247a51b01d0eb16d6043dfd'|'BRIEF-Ivanhoe Mines CEO says company has approved start of early-works construction for Shaft 2 at Platreef Mine in South Africa'|'United States 45am EDT BRIEF-Ivanhoe Mines CEO says company has approved start of early-works construction for Shaft 2 at Platreef Mine in South Africa April 12 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd * Ivanhoe Mines CEO Lars-Eric Johansson - company has approved start of early-works construction for Shaft 2 at Platreef Mine in South Africa * Ivanhoe Mines CEO Lars-Eric Johansson - Ivanplats, Ivanhoe''s unit, is expected to begin two-part, early-works program for shaft 2 in Q2 2017 * Ivanhoe Mines CEO Lars-Eric Johansson says early-works construction is expected to take approximately 12 months and cost about $5.5 million '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ivanhoe-mines-ceo-says-company-has-idUSFWN1HK0H1'|'2017-04-12T19:45:00.000+03:00' '271a8d687da9b4d54097227db473c9860ee0b599'|'RPT-South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent'|'(Repeats story published late on Tuesday)* Downgrades shrink pool of potential investors* Barclays pushes back share sale plans - source* ANC economic transformation plans cause uncertaintyBy Tiisetso MotsoenengJOHANNESBURG, April 12 Barclays'' plans to sell its African business and pull out of the continent are being hindered by South Africa''s political upheaval and credit-rating downgrades, according to banking sources and fund managers.The British bank gave itself 2-3 years to sell its controlling stake in Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa when it announced the plan in early 2016, and sold 12 percent last May in an "accelerated bookbuild" - a share sale held over a short period of time.It had been planning another accelerated bookbuild in the last two weeks but pushed it back because of concerns over investor appetite due to political and economic uncertainty in South Africa, according to a banking source familiar with the plans.The source, who asked not to be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly, did not say when the deal might now take place.A spokesman for Barclays in London declined to comment.South Africa has been mired in business uncertainty since late last year when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) pledged to radically transform the economy following losses in local elections that were partly caused by anger over deep inequality that persists more than two decades after apartheid.It said it would redistribute the wealth of the country to the black majority, but has not outlined how it plans to do so.Investor unease increased significantly two weeks ago with the sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan which led to S&P Global Ratings cutting the credit rating of South Africa and its banks to junk.Fitch also pushed Pretoria''s debt into junk territory and is expected to also downgrade local banks in the coming days because their large exposure to sovereign debt closely links their credit profile to that of the government.The downgrades have heightened the risk of a prolonged economic stagnation and rattled investor confidence in banks, whose performance is closely linked to the economy, wiping out more than 132 billion rand ($9.5 billion) from their market value in two weeks.The pool of potential buyers to which Barclays'' can sell shares in its African business to is also shrinking, according to bankers, because the mandates of some institutional investors, including some pension funds, do not allow them to hold an asset that''s sliding on credit ratings. "Barclays Plc have to make a tough call – go ahead and sell Barclays Africa at a low enough price that will attract investors or wait, possibly a few years, until the situation has stabilised," said Kokkie Kooyman, portfolio manager at Dekker Capital in Cape Town.''PAYING PRICE''The British bank said early last year that it planned to reduce its 62 percent stake in its African business to below 20 percent by 2019 as part of its plan to exit Africa to focus on the United States and Britain.As well as hindering its global strategy, delays in the sale timetable could throw up regulatory problems.Barclays is partly relying on funds raised from the stake sale to meet capital requirements that were identified as a concern by the Bank of England in a November "stress test" aimed at gauging its ability to withstand financial shocks.The lender faces the annual test again late this year, and the British regulator could ask it to submit plans to raise extra capital if it has not met the requirements.Barclays is increasingly looking at selling its remaining 50 percent stake in chunks because it is struggling to find one strategic buyer that will satisfy South African regulators, sources have previously said.Barclays Africa earns more than 80 percent of its revenue in South Africa, but also operates in nine other including Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique.It has been hit hard by the economic uncertainty and credit downgrades in South Africa, along with domestic peers Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand. They are heavily dependent on wholesale funding sources such as bonds, whose costs have surged following the downgrades, and exposed to the effects of economic problems such as rising unemployment.South Africa''s "top four" banks have shed between 7 and 13 percent over the past two weeks.Faced with possibility of losing more supporters in the 2019 national elections, the ANC party has pledged to overhaul the economy, with the central plank being the redistribution of wealth, but has not disclosed details of its plans.The policy is aimed at winning back core voters in a country where black people make up 80 percent of the 54 million population, yet the lion''s share of the economy in terms of ownership of land and companies remains in the hands of white people, who account for around 8 percent of the population."Banks are paying the price for political uncertainty that we''ve seen in the country over the past two weeks," said Ron Klipin, a fund manager at Cratos Capital in Johannesburg."As an investor, when you hear words like ''radical economic transformation'', it creates some uncertainty in terms of the economic policy, in terms of further downgrades and the cost of funding for banks." ($1 = 13.8876 rand) (Additional reporting by Lawrence White in London; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/safrica-politics-barclays-group-idINL8N1HK10Q'|'2017-04-12T06:13:00.000+03:00' '1a4ef7abc0bdfa745876264154e553cdde8cffbc'|'Fed''s Yellen says aim now is to let ''healthy'' economy coast along'|' 44pm BST Fed''s Yellen says aim now is to let ''healthy'' economy coast along Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas The Federal Reserve plans to raise U.S. interest rates gradually so as to sustain healthy growth without letting the economy overheat, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Monday. "We want to be ahead of the curve and not behind it," Yellen said at an event at the University of Michigan''s Ford School of Public Policy in Ann Arbor. Now that years of aggressive monetary policy easing has nursed the economy back to its current "pretty healthy" state, the aim now is to allow "the economy to kind of coast and remain on an even keel," she said. (Reporting by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-yellen-idUKKBN17C2EO'|'2017-04-11T04:43:00.000+03:00' '3852bd74980f8f85523369c7964a080a871fd149'|'Toshiba files earnings without auditor endorsement'|'Company 25am EDT Toshiba files earnings without auditor endorsement TOKYO, April 11 Japan''s Toshiba Corp filed twice-delayed business results on Tuesday without an endorsement from its auditor, increasing the likelihood that the nuclear-to-TVs conglomerate will be delisted. The filing carried a disclaimer from auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata LLC that it was unable to form an opinion of the results. The move is unprecedented for a major Tokyo-based firm and will put financial regulators and the Tokyo Stock Exchange centre stage as they weigh whether to accept it, as well as the pros and cons of forcing it to delist. For the nine months through December, Toshiba, a laptops-to-construction behemoth, reported deeper losses than previously estimated due to writedowns at U.S. nuclear subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-results-idUST9N1GU00R'|'2017-04-11T16:25:00.000+03:00' '02fffe9fb9efaf22f0cc4ab2f9c46c05d87002c3'|'UPDATE 1-Siemens, Bombardier in talks about rail JV - source'|' 10:58am EDT UPDATE 1-Siemens, Bombardier in talks about rail JV - source * Talks are pretty far advanced - source * Drive to consolidate given urgency by China''s ambitions * Siemens shares rise to record high of 129.80 euros (Adds shares, background) By Alexander Hübner and Andrea Shalal FRANKFURT/BERLIN, April 11 German industrial conglomerate Siemens and Canada''s Bombardier are in talks to combine their rail operations in a joint venture, two people close to the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. "Talks are occurring and are already pretty far advanced," one of the people said, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are confidential. The news was earlier reported by Bloomberg, lifting Siemens shares to a record high of 129.80 euros. The stock later slipped back, but remained near the top of the German blue-chip DAX, which was down 0.9 percent. Siemens and Bombardier declined to comment. Bombardier, Siemens and France''s Alstom - three of the world''s biggest rail equipment makers - have talked to each other about combining their businesses in various arrangements over the past years. The drive to consolidate has taken on new urgency in light of the rising global ambitions of China''s CRRC Corp - the result of a 2015 merger of the country''s two top players. The deal would require clearance from antitrust authorities and face potential opposition from unions. It is not yet clear which of Siemens or Bombardier would eventually consolidate the entity in the event of an agreement, the source said. (Additional reporting by Jens Hack in Munich and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Writing by Arno Schuetze and Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/siemens-bombardier-joint-venture-idUSL8N1HJ4CH'|'2017-04-11T22:58:00.000+03:00' 'c351b3c25f83b88e8714b11a04f41506afcd7580'|'Le Pen no longer markets'' only French election worry as Melenchon surges'|' 3:56pm BST Le Pen no longer markets'' only French election worry as Melenchon surges A man walks past a campaign poster of Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader and one of the eleven candidates who runs in the 2017 French presidential election, in Paris, France, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes By Jemima Kelly and John Geddie - LONDON LONDON Investors who worry that the French election could see the far-right Marine Le Pen reach the second round are bracing for another risk - that the far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon could make it too, perhaps even against her. With just 12 days to go until the first round of voting in the presidential election, polls are tightening. For weeks investors have been betting that the run-off would be between Le Pen and the centrist Emmanuel Macron, with Macron beating the far-right candidate comfortably in the second round. But investors are rethinking that assumption. A poll from Ifop on Tuesday put Melenchon in third place, ahead of the conservative Francois Fillon and just four points behind Macron, and confirmed that almost one-third of voters are still undecided. The late surge for Melenchon, who wants to slap a 100 percent tax on the rich, leave NATO and renegotiate France''s position in the European Union, is spooking markets and prompted a warning on Tuesday by the head of the business lobby group Medef Pierre Gattaz. The cost of hedging against volatility in the euro over the next month against both the dollar and yen jumped to the highest levels since the results of Britain''s vote to leave the EU last June EUR1MO= EURJPY1MO=. One-month risk reversals - a gauge of demand for options on a currency rising or falling - fell to -4.175 vol, showing the strongest bias for euro weakness since November 2011. EUR1MRR=FN "The risks going into the first round of the election have been underpriced by the market, especially with that new dynamic introduced by Melenchon’s performance in the polls," said Credit Agricole''s head of currency strategy in London, Valentin Marinov. "The risk of having a far-left versus far-right second round was on no one’s radar screen until now, and that latest development is highlighting that such an outcome should not be ruled out." The euro hit a four-month low against the safe-haven yen EURJPY= in a broad flight to safety as investors sought refuge from the risks surrounding the French election as well as growing tensions between the United States and Russia. FRENCH BOND DUMP "French political risk is back!" read an ABN Amro research note on Monday afternoon. "The gap between (Macron and Le Pen) and Mr Melenchon is about 5 percent of the votes, which seems small considering that approximately 30 percent of voters are still undecided." In debt markets, the gap between French 10-year government bond yields and their German equivalents stretched to its widest in six weeks. FR10YT=TWEB DE10YT=TWEB [GVD/EUR] Japanese bank Nomura said on Tuesday it would enter an "outright short" position to bet against French government bonds if Melenchon were to face Le Pen in the run-off on May 7. Japanese investors, who are large holders of French debt and are therefore seen as a proxy for foreign investors, dumped a record amount of French bonds in February, data from Japan''s Ministry of Finance showed on Monday. (Additional reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-markets-france-election-idUKKBN17D1VV'|'2017-04-11T22:56:00.000+03:00' '207054e096d3bb6064c88a4bf8c4941488d5e079'|'Apple may ditch Dialog chip, analyst says; chipmaker''s shares plunge'|' 52am BST Apple may ditch Dialog chip, analyst says; chipmaker''s shares plunge Dialog semiconductor logo is pictured at a company building in Germering near Munich, Germany August 15, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle FRANKFURT Dialog Semiconductor ( DLGS.DE ) risks losing a crucial supply deal with Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ), according to a financial analyst who cut his rating on the stock on Tuesday, sending the Anglo-German chipmaker''s shares down by as much as one-third. Bankhaus Lampe cut its rating on Dialog to "sell" from "hold" as it argued in a research note that Apple was working on its own battery-saving chip for the iPhone that could replace Dialog''s power management integrated circuits (PMIC) as early as 2019. Apple accounted for more than 70 percent of Dialog''s 2016 sales, the broker estimated. Shares in Dialog fell as much as 36 percent to a seven-month low. By 0831 GMT they were trading down 23.7 percent at 36.39 euros. Bankhaus Lampe cited unnamed industry sources as saying that Apple is setting up power management design centres both in Munich and California and added that Apple already has around 80 engineers working on a power management chip of its own. "In our view, there is strong evidence that Apple is developing its own PMIC and intends to replace the chip made by Dialog at least in part," Bankhaus Lampe analyst Karsten Iltgen advised investors. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that Apple was recruiting top Dialog engineers in Munich. "They are poaching like crazy," the person said. A Dialog spokesman declined to comment. He added that the company is not planning to release any official statement. The downgrade comes after Imagination Technologies ( IMG.L ) was advised by Apple that it planned to replace Imagination''s graphics chip designs in upcoming products, sending shudders through Apple''s global component supply chain. Imagination shares plunged 70 percent on the news last week. Iltgen is a four-star rated analyst for the accuracy of his earnings estimates on Dialog and ranks sixth among 16 analysts covering the stock, according to Thomson Reuters data. Dialog has made several failed attempts to diversify beyond Apple and other smartphone customers in recent years. In 2014, merger talks between Dialog and Austrian sensor chip maker Ams AG ( AMS.S ) fell apart after they failed to come to terms. Its plans to buy U.S.-based Atmel in 2015 were derailed after Microchip ( MCHP.O ) swooped in with a higher bid. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Eric Auchard; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-dialog-apple-idUKKBN17D0VH'|'2017-04-11T16:52:00.000+03:00' '794d00261f31bb58297c7ffc70ac13dba89a73e8'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 11)'|'BRUSSELS, April 11 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- Investment company Ardian to acquire majority of France''s Prosol, an operator of Grand Frais grocery stores (approved April 10)NEW LISTINGS-- Italian cinema operator The Space Cinema, which is controlled by Vue International Holdco Ltd, and Italian peer UCI Italian S.p.A. which is part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- German industrial gas producer Linde and Russian power generation equipment maker PJSC Power Machines to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- U.S. packaging company WestRock to acquire U.S. peer Multi Packaging Solutions (notified April 7/deadline May 19)-- Asset manager Ares Management L.P. and investment firm The Baupost Group to jointly acquire German shopping mall operator Prejan Enerprises Ltd (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- French insurer Axa and French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire two commerical lots in a shopping centre (notified April 6/deadline May 18/simplified)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGESNoneFIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEAPRIL 12-- U.S. aircraft component maker Rockwell Collins to acquire aircraft interior maker B/E Aerospace (notified March 8/deadline April 12)-- U.S. car part supplier Lear to acquire Grupo Antolin''s automotive seating business (notified March 8/deadline April 12/simplified)APRIL 19-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions)-- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions)APRIL 24-- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24)APRIL 26-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline April 26)-- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26)MAY 2-- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (notified March 22/deadline May 2/simplified)MAY 4-- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified)MAY 5-- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5)-- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified)MAY 8-- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified)MAY 10-- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified)MAY 12-- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified)-- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17)May 15-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)MAY 16-- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)-- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idINL8N1HJ4Z1'|'2017-04-11T14:16:00.000+03:00' 'd92cc60d1b95f63e332aa17bfd1adf775bbe7ba9'|'Australia says changes to BHP Billiton corporate structure must fit national interest'|'Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 7:43am BST Australia says changes to BHP Billiton corporate structure must fit national interest FILE PHOTO: A logo for mining company BHP Billiton adorns a sign outside the Perth Convention Centre where their annual general meeting was being held in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo SYDNEY Any significant changes to the corporate structure of Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law, the Australian government said on Tuesday. Activist shareholder Elliott Advisors on Monday proposed BHP Billiton scrap its dual-company structure in favor of a primary listing in London and a secondary listing in Sydney. "A change in the corporate structure and listing arrangement would need to be carefully considered against the provisions of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act," a spokeswoman for Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Tuesday. "If the changes were significant they would need to be consistent with Australia’s national interest test under that Act." The Australian government in 2001 approved the merger of Melbourne-based BHP and London-based Billiton based on a number of conditions designed to ensure the miner kept close ties to Australia. BHP Billiton on Monday said the Elliott proposal, which involves replacing the dual-listed company with a single company domiciled in Britain, would require the approval of Australia''s Foreign Investment Review Board. In presentation slides, Elliott said the changes in the listing structure would add $1.50 of value per BHP Billiton share for the holders of London-listed shares but take away $1 in value from the holders of the Australian-listed shares. The bulk of Elliott''s BHP Billiton shareholding is in the U.K.-listed arm, in which it holds a stake of 4.1 percent. It has rights to acquire an interest of up to 0.4 percent in the Australian-listed arm. Elliott also proposed that BHP Billiton split off its U.S. oil and gas division, a move the company has rejected previously. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idUKKBN17D0LN'|'2017-04-11T14:39:00.000+03:00' '739092c95f773848b6d5cb7f74939fd6ee7e68f4'|'Volkswagen to build new SUV in Tennessee plant'|'Business 57am EDT Volkswagen to build new SUV in Tennessee plant FILE PHOTO - The logo of German car maker Volkswagen is pictured at the company''s stand during the Hannover Fair in Hanover, Germany, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo NEW YORK Volkswagen AG''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) top U.S. executive said the German automaker plans to build another new sport utility vehicle at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant as demand surges for larger vehicles. The world''s largest automaker said in 2014 it planned $900 million to build a new SUV in Tennessee and VW will start selling its new seven-seat VW Atlas SUV in May. VW Group of America chief executive Hinrich Woebcken told reporters at the New York auto show the automaker also plans to build a smaller five-seat SUV in Tennessee but he declined to say when production will begin. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-new-york-vw-idUSKBN17E1UB'|'2017-04-12T21:48:00.000+03:00' '0cead36607666eae47c23e85c7007124b3d93100'|'BAT buys cigarette brands from Bulgaria''s Bulgartabac'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 8:39am BST BAT buys cigarette brands from Bulgaria''s Bulgartabac People walk past the British American Tobacco offices in London, Britain October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth SOFIA British American Tobacco (BAT) ( BATS.L ) said on Wednesday it had agreed with Bulgarian cigarette maker Bulgartabac to acquire some of its leading cigarette brands in a deal worth more than 100 million euros (84.97 million pounds). BAT said the acquisition of the Victory, Eva Slim and GD brands would help expand its market share in Bulgaria to 40 percent from 12 percent and said the deal would also include retail and distribution assets in the country and in Bosnia. The deal is subject of anti-trust approvals and is expected to be concluded by the end of June this year, the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bulgaria-tobacco-bat-idUKKBN17E0Q2'|'2017-04-12T15:39:00.000+03:00' 'f872d8de4a9995144554fa1f8b41bfbca2dd3036'|'Barclays alumni to replace Panmure Gordon CEO after takeover'|' 4:00pm BST Barclays alumni to replace Panmure Gordon CEO after takeover LONDON British stockbroker Panmure Gordon ( PMR.L ), subject of a 15.5 million pound bid by a group headed by former Barclays ( BARC.L ) boss Bob Diamond, said on Wednesday that its chief executive would step down when the deal completes. Patric Johnson, who will leave the company after just over a year at the helm, is to be replaced by one of Diamond''s old colleagues at Barclays, Ian Axe, the company said in a statement. Axe, previously chief executive at LCH.Clearnet, held several positions at Barclays, including head of global operations. The agreed bid for one of the City''s oldest stockbroking firms by Diamond''s investment company, Atlas Merchant Capital, and Qatari investment group QInvest is due to complete around June 20. Panmure, which has weathered a tough period for the industry as regulatory costs rise and stock market listings sag, swung to a profit in 2016 and said first-quarter trading was in line with expectations. (Reporting by Simon Jessop, Editing by Anjuli Davies)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-panmure-gordon-ceo-idUKKBN17E210'|'2017-04-12T23:00:00.000+03:00' '6e96eebe3555e3d8c6288e09d8dea7d19abf2e98'|'U.S. anti-border tax coalition to target lawmakers during Congressional recess'|'By Ginger Gibson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Opponents of a proposal to create a U.S. border tax on imported goods are targeting lawmakers in their home states for the next two weeks while Congress is in recess, according to organizers of the lobbying effort.The anti-border tax coalition, known as Americans for Affordable Products, includes large corporations that require imports like automakers and retail giants like Target ( TGT.N ) , Best Buy ( BBY.N ) and Walmart ( WMT.N ). The tax opponents will target 40 members of Congress in 11 states, said coalition spokesman Joshua Baca.“We’re talking to businesses, local associations, having a frank conversation with them about how dumb this idea is,” Baca said. His group argues the proposal will raise consumer prices.As part of a total overhaul of the U.S. tax code, Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan has proposed lowering the corporate income tax to 20 percent from 35 percent, imposing a 20 percent tax on imports and excluding export revenue from taxable income.The proposal has some strong corporate backers who say it will boost American jobs and not raise prices, including companies that do considerable amount of exporting, such as Boeing ( BA.N ), Caterpillar ( CAT.N ) and Pfizer ( PFE.N ).The anti-border tax group is planning to host a town hall meeting next week in Nevada with Republican Senator Dean Heller, which will also be co-sponsored by local business groups and Americans For Prosperity, the conservative group funded by the Republican Koch brothers which also opposes the border tax.Town hall meetings have gained more attention recently as events featuring Republican lawmakers have been targeted by activists to voice their opposition to several proposals, including repealing the Affordable Care Act which widened health insurance coverage for about 20 million Americans.Additionally, the anti-tax group will hold a discussion in Ohio with Republican Representative David Joyce, where he will hear from local furniture store owners who would be affected by a border tax, Baca said.Concurrently, members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which is comprised of large retailers like Autozone ( AZO.N ) , Walgreens Boot Alliance, Inc. ( WBA.O ) and J.C. Penny Company, are using the recess to give members of Congress behind-the-scenes tours of both their headquarters and stores in an effort to persuade them against the tax, spokesman Brian Dodge said.Both groups are hoping to make more voters aware of their position and are armed with an opinion poll by a pollster who also works for several Republican members of Congress.The poll, shared first with Reuters and which was conducted with funding from opponents of the tax, found 63 percent of voters are against the tax, including 70 percent of women.Additionally, the poll makes the case that 56 percent of voters say they would be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who supports the tax proposal.(Reporting by Ginger Gibson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-lobbying-idINKBN17C2HQ'|'2017-04-10T19:55:00.000+03:00' '20e01f82067e0ca914db7b0618a1d9076b61064d'|'Ford executive predicts U.S. SUV boom will continue'|'Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 12:16am BST Ford executive predicts U.S. SUV boom will continue Guests are served coffee while riding in a 2017 Ford Escape SUV during Ford''s ''''Escape the Room'''' drive experience in New York City, U.S., June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RTX2HUZR NEW YORK A top Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) executive said the second largest U.S. automaker predicts industry sales of U.S. sport utility vehicles will continue to rise as it plans to unveil a refreshed 2018 Ford Explorer SUV. The market share of sport utilities has increased to nearly 40 percent from 32.6 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2016. Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service Mark LaNeve told reporters at an event on Monday ahead of this week''s auto show that the company expects that total to rise to 45 percent of industry sales within five to seven years. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-ford-idUKKBN17C2L7'|'2017-04-11T07:15:00.000+03:00' '1d22c38273ef3681d0dbfb0c01038a6a1f3f31ca'|'Indian private equity firm to acquire Religare Health Insurance'|'NEW DELHI, April 9 A consortium of investors led by Indian private equity fund True North has agreed to acquire Religare Enterprises Ltd''s health insurance business in the country, the groups said in a joint statement on Sunday.The deal, which still needs regulatory approvals, values the Religare Health Insurance at 13 billion rupees ($202.3 million).The move is part of Religare''s strategy to consolidate and focus on its core business of financial services.The transaction, Religare and True North said in a release, "marks the single largest investment in a standalone health insurance company in India".J.P. Morgan acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Religare Enterprises on the transaction.($1 = 64.2660 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Aditya Kalra; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-religare-divestiture-idUSL3N1HH0AY'|'2017-04-09T18:13:00.000+03:00' '0b90c483306d4706046e62baaa99a53b4835fea9'|'CEE MARKETS-Stocks, fx mostly rebound'|' 29am EDT CEE MARKETS-Stocks, fx mostly rebound * Prague stocks buck CEE rise as Moneta trades ex-div * Daimler earnings, dollar retreat cause some improvement in mood * Geopolitical concerns may return * Hungarian bonds firm, still helped by Tuesday''s CPI data By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 12 Central European currencies and equities mostly firmed on Wednesday as investors took a breath after selling risky assets in recent weeks due to geopolitical worries. Market participants were split as to whether sentiment towards emerging markets had actually improved, or the selling had merely lost some steam. A surge in the profit of German auto maker Daimler , which has a big Mercedes-Benz production plant in Hungary, improved the mood across European stock markets, said Monika Kiss, analyst at Equilor Brokerage in Budapest. The dollar, whose strength against the euro has also weighed on Central European currencies in recent weeks, has also retreated slightly this week. "I would say one-off factors are causing today''s relief rather than a sentiment change," Kiss said, adding that geopolitical risks could continue to cast a shadow on markets in the region and in the world. A Budapest-based fixed income trader saw a slight improvement in risk sentiment and said worries that France''s far-right may win the upcoming presidential election there seemed to have eased somewhat. "Remaining worries seem to have shifted towards others (emerging markets)... while Central Europe looks a bit decoupled," the trader added. The forint and the zloty firmed 0.1 percent against the euro in morning trade, rebounding from a one-month and a one-week low touched on Tuesday. The crown stood slightly weaker against the euro at 26.681, off morning lows, taking a respite after increased volatility since the Czech central bank removed its cap at 27, letting it firm after a rise in inflation in the past months. Prague''s stock index fell 0.9 percent, while other regional stock indices mostly rose or were flat. The decline was down to one share, Moneta Bank, which shed more than 8 percent to hit its lowest level since January as it traded ex-dividend. A rise in the stocks of OTP Bank and pharmaceuticals company Richter helped Budapest''s index gain 0.7 percent. Hungarian government bond yields dropped by a few basis points, with 10-year paper trading at 3.28 percent, down 2 basis points. Hungarian debt got some help, and the forint came under some pressure, from lower-than-expected 2.7 percent annual inflation reported on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to confirm its loose policy stance in the minutes of its March rate-setting meeting which it is due to publish at 1200 GMT. Department head Judit Varhegyi told state television M1 on Wednesday that the bank expected a slowdown in inflation in the coming months. CEE SNAPS AT 1026 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.68 26.66 -0.07 1.22% 10 10 % Hungary 311.7 312.0 +0.1 -0.93 forint 200 650 1% % Polish 4.248 4.251 +0.0 3.65% zloty 8 5 6% Romanian 4.513 4.515 +0.0 0.48% leu 5 1 4% Croatian 7.431 7.428 -0.03 1.67% kuna 0 5 % Serbian 123.6 123.7 +0.1 -0.22 dinar 200 550 1% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 984.5 992.9 -0.85 +6.8 0 5 % 2% Budapest 32438 32199 +0.7 +1.3 .86 .15 4% 6% Warsaw 2223. 2221. +0.0 +14. 11 82 6% 13% Bucharest 8211. 8200. +0.1 +15. 40 18 4% 90% Ljubljana 781.7 781.1 +0.0 +8.9 2 5 7% 4% Zagreb 1918. 1939. -1.11 -3.85 11 72 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 736.3 734.0 +0.3 +2.6 > 9 0 3% 5% Sofia 658.5 656.4 +0.3 +12. 9 5 3% 30% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 2 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.3 0.34 0.44 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.26 0.33 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.75 1.78 1.81 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for quotes ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idUSL8N1HK1VQ'|'2017-04-12T17:29:00.000+03:00' 'd8d7da7f1479a166cfb8fbc12ea88142c8f8cb63'|'Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail JV -sources'|'* Both companies reluctant to cede control of train business* Antitrust issues also threaten to derail deal* Politicians and unions also an influenceBy Georgina Prodhan and Alexander HübnerFRANKFURT, April 12 Talks about uniting the rail operations of Germany''s Siemens and Canada''s Bombardier are being complicated by the desire of both companies to keep control of a merged business, two people close to the matter said on Wednesday.Antitrust issues and political considerations could also ultimately make a deal to create a company with combined sales of $16 billion hard to pull off, industry experts said.The two groups are talking about a joint venture that could compete better with Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC , which is expanding aggressively abroad and would still be twice their combined size by revenue."It could go fast, it could be very drawn-out or it could fail. It''s completely open," one of the people said.The three main rivals to CRRC -- Bombardier, Siemens and France''s Alstom -- have talked to each other about combining their businesses in various arrangements over the past years.A Bombardier-Siemens combination could run into anti-trust issues as it did last time it surfaced, with significant overlap particularly in Germany."On a country-by-country basis the deal looks difficult to pull off in Europe, and that''s why it has not happened over the past 20 years," a person familiar with the industry said.In a global context the arrival of CRRC has however changed the shape of the industry and Europe should be interested in creating a strong competitor to the emerging Chinese challenge, the person said.However, antitrust experts doubt that watchdogs will give the deal a green light without imposing conditions that could make it unviable."Besides Alstom no real competitor would remain in Europe as long as the Chinese haven''t arrived," said Dario Struwe, antitrust lawyer at law firm FPS.JOBS FEARAny transaction also runs the risk of resistance from trade unions.One of the sources told Reuters that German unions were expected to support the deal as long as Siemens was in control. The two businesses, which span rolling stock to signalling, have significant overlap in Europe, especially in Germany.German trade union IG Metall declined to comment on the matter.But given the Bombardier founding family''s influence on the company - they control the company through a dual class share structure - it is highly doubtful that Bombardier would agree to relinquish control to Siemens.One of the sources also said that the German chancellery was involved in the situation, without giving details. Another complication is that Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owns 30 percent of Bombardier''s train business.A German government spokesman declined to comment.For Alstom, a deal might not be all bad."(Alstom) will have a higher chance of gaining share given that the other two companies would need to address anti-trust concerns first and then integrate the two operations which likely is a cumbersome process, particularly the integration of the various platforms which could lead to market share losses," analysts at JP Morgan said in a note to clients.SIMILAR IN SIZEBombardier has had problems in the past executing on its contracts, including issues in Canada and Australia. It claims it has fixed the source of these problems.Siemens'' transportation business used to be notorious for similar risks -- with product flaws in trams and more recently repeated delays in supplying high-speed ICE trains to state-owned German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn.Since Joe Kaeser took over as chief executive in 2013 the company has worked to resolve these issues and appears to have put them behind it for the time being.The two transportation businesses are roughly comparable in terms of revenue and profitability.Bombardier Transportation has set targets of generating about $8.5 billion in revenues and an EBIT margin of about 7.5 percent in 2017, up from $8 billion and an EBIT margin of under 6.5 percent in 2016.Siemens Mobility made revenue of 7.82 billion euros ($8.3 billion) and increased its operating profit by 15 percent to 678 million euros last fiscal year, giving it a profit margin of 8.7 percent. Its target profit margin range is 6-9 percent."Such a merger would create the clear number-two player in the rail sector, with a global leading network of clients and installed equipment and service opportunities," analysts at brokerage Kepler said. ($1 = 0.9433 euros)(Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, Jens Hack and Allison Lambert; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/siemens-bombardier-joint-venture-idINL8N1HK2A6'|'2017-04-12T11:32:00.000+03:00' 'f14683a7edb26d5152a582c33e1c258727227bd2'|'ClubCorp to not pursue strategic alternatives; CEO to step down'|'ClubCorp Holdings Inc ( MYCC.N ), one of the largest owners and operators of private golf and country clubs in the United States, said on Wednesday that it would not explore strategic alternatives at this time.The company also said its Chief Executive Eric Affeldt would step down from his role upon the appointment of a successor.ClubCorp in January said it was exploring strategic alternatives after Reuters reported the company was in the process of selling itself.(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D''Couto)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-clubcorp-holdgs-m-a-idINKBN17E1C9'|'2017-04-12T09:14:00.000+03:00' '8591b497f422d4834e52bafd190560ccfae2958e'|'China''s Dongfeng signs JV with Nexteer for power steering systems'|'April 10 China''s Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd will form a joint venture with auto parts maker Nexteer Automotive Group Ltd to design and make electric power steering systems for Dongfeng passenger vehicles, Nexteer said on Monday.The venture - to be equally owned by Nexteer and a unit of Dongfeng - will set up a facility near Dongfeng''s headquarters in Wuhan, China, Nexteer said.Nexteer, whose customers include Fiat Chrysler, General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen , currently provides electric power steering systems for many Dongfeng-affiliated vehicles, including the Peugeot 2008 crossover. (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/next-auto-grp-dongfeng-group-jv-idINL3N1HI4MP'|'2017-04-10T13:54:00.000+03:00' '33e6460027e31a5cbcba2a0e742af2d8cce325ff'|'Exclusive: Brazil''s Votorantim Metais considers IPO, sources say'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Votorantim Metais Holding SA, one of Latin America''s largest producers of base metals, is considering an initial public offering to fund investments and provide parent company Votorantim SA with cash to expand in other core areas, four people with direct knowledge of the transaction said.The São Paulo-based company, known as VMH, is seen completing a three-stage IPO preparation plan by September, according to one of the people. Toronto and New York appear to be the favored destinations for a VMH listing, the person said.Talks with investment banks are at an advanced stage, with Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ), Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) among those said to be vying for underwriting spots, two of the people said.The four people spoke under condition of anonymity because the transaction remains private. They did not detail a tentative structure and timetable for the transaction or give an estimated value for VMH.The IPO would give VMH access to a wide base of investors betting on a long-term recovery in zinc, copper, lead and silver prices, the first person said. Proceeds may come in handy for parent Votorantim, Brazil''s largest diversified industrial group, to grow in energy and other core sectors while cutting a 14.7 billion-real ($4.7 billion) debt burden, the people added.Contacted on Sunday, media officials at parent Votorantim, which is controlled by Brazil''s billionaire Ermirio de Moraes family, declined to comment on "market speculation."Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan declined to comment.EQUITY OFFERINGSVMH is the latest addition to a long list of Brazilian companies pursuing IPOs in coming months to rebalance their capital structure and pave the way for future expansion.Some large Brazilian groups are taking advantage of a revival in capital markets activity this year to list some subsidiaries or exit businesses, as well as to raise cash to bring down debt.Bankers expect up to one-fourth of planned Brazilian company listings for this year to happen overseas.The local subsidiary of France''s Carrefour SA ( CARR.PA ), as well as airline Azul SA and N2com Internet SA, known by the online shoe retailing brand Netshoes, are seeking to list their operations domestically or overseas.With a presence in Brazil and Peru, where it holds a majority stake in Cia Minera Milpo SA ( MIL.LM ), VMH operates five industrial compounds in Brazil''s state of Minas Gerais, and in Cajamarquilla in Peru. VMH also has sales offices in Houston and Luxembourg.Last year, investments in zinc and byproducts represented 11 percent of Votorantim''s capital spending of about $3 billion. Those investments included efforts to extend the working life of the Vazante mine in Brazil for another 10 years.Net revenue at Votorantim''s zinc and byproducts division came in at 6.386 billion reais last year, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 1.328 billion reais.EBITDA, as the gauge of operational profits is commonly known, reached 21 percent of revenue, making the zinc and byproducts division the most profitable activity among parent Votorantim''s five business segments in last year''s financial results.(Editing by Daniel Flynn and Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-votorantim-metais-ipo-idINKBN17C084'|'2017-04-10T14:33:00.000+03:00' '5408f0aa82313f0f4ce2ce470a1fcf0a5b89d873'|'Role of trade as growth driver is threatened - IMF, WTO, World Bank'|' 10pm BST Role of trade as growth driver is threatened - IMF, WTO, World Bank BERLIN The role of trade as a driver of global growth is threatened by a slowdown in trade reform since the early 2000s and an uptick in protectionism after the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Bank said on Monday. Unveiling a joint report in Berlin entitled ''Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All,'' the three organizations urged governments to address the negative effects that global trade has had on manufacturing jobs, workers and communities, especially in advanced economies. "Recent evidence on the effect of import competition on manufacturing jobs in certain locations in Europe and the United States demonstrates how harsh such impacts can be in the absence of accompanying policies," the IMF, WTO and World Bank said. "The role of trade in the global economy is at a critical juncture." The report said a lack of reform to make trade more beneficial to broader sections of societies has been a drag on productivity and income growth. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Joseph Nasr, editing by Emma Thomasson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-g20-germany-imf-idUKKBN17C1B7'|'2017-04-10T20:10:00.000+03:00' '9a38d4757c027dd2c90ce42f611f4ae6e8f99d01'|'Foxconn could bid up to $27 bln for Toshiba''s chip business-Bbg'|'Technology 11:02am EDT Foxconn could bid up to $27 billion for Toshiba''s chip business - Bbg FILE PHOTO: Foxconn''s computer motherboards are seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo Taiwan''s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) has indicated that it may pay as much as 3 trillion yen ($26.99 billion) for Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip business, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. South Korea''s SK Hynix Inc ( 000660.KS ) and chipmaker Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ) have submitted preliminary bids for the business, valued at 2 trillion yen ($17.98 billion) or more, according to the report. ( bloom.bg/2nSPHxE ) Toshiba, the second-biggest NAND chip producer after South Korea''s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ), is considering selling the majority - or all - of its marquee flash-memory chip business, as it seeks to make up for a $6.3 billion writedown from its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse. Toshiba and Japanese government officials are planning to look for offers led by Japanese buyers, though no bids have emerged yet, the report said. Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, which is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said in March the company was "definitely bidding" for Toshiba''s chip business. Foxconn, which is the world''s largest contract electronics maker, Toshiba, SK Hynix and Broadcom were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-m-a-foxconn-idUSKBN17C1P0'|'2017-04-10T22:50:00.000+03:00' '69458a971d6b0e678a2502a5f6d900fe8c7b3b70'|'U.S. trucking companies Swift and Knight to merge'|'Deals - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 9:39pm BST U.S. trucking companies Swift and Knight to merge By Rachit Vats and Ankit Ajmera Trucking and logistics operators Swift Transportation Co ( SWFT.N ) and Knight Transportation Inc ( KNX.N ) are merging in a stock-swap deal, creating a company with a market value of more than $5 billion. The merger, which combines Swift''s scale with Knight''s operational prowess, will give the new entity more muscle to operate in an industry struggling with excess capacity that has hurt prices and squeezed profits. Shareholders of Swift will own 54 percent of the new entity and Knight shareholders the rest after the deal closes. The companies, both based in Phoenix, have a shared history - Jerry Moyes started Swift in 1966, while Randy Knight, who was a part-owner of Swift - founded Knight Transportation along with three cousins in 1990. Knight''s executive chairman, Kevin Knight, will assume the same title at the new company. Moyes, who retired as co-CEO of Swift last year, will become one of the directors of the new company. The Jerry Moyes family, however, will own about 24 percent of Knight-Swift. "Effectively, this deal represents the pupil acquiring the teacher''s company and will give the Knight team control of the new entity," Stifel Transportation & Logistics Research Group analyst John Larkin said in a note. "Swift appears to have struggled with the retirement of its founder and spiritual leader, Jerry Moyes. ... Kevin Knight will be in a strong position to provide strategic leadership of the combined entity." Baird Equity Research analyst Benjamin Hartford said the deal combines Swift''s scale in both truckload and intermodal and Knight''s industry-leading operating margins and capital returns. The deal, which would create the biggest truckload operator in North America, came days after rival Schneider National Inc ( SNDR.N ) went public in an IPO that raised about $550 million. Under the deal, each Swift share will be converted into 0.72 shares of the new company through a reverse stock split. Each Knight share will be exchanged for one share of the new company. The transaction values each Swift share at $22.07, a 10 percent premium to its closing price on Friday. Swift''s shares closed 23.7 percent higher at $24.77, while Knight was up 13.4 percent at $34.75. "I cannot think of a better combination. The Knight and Moyes families grew up together, and the Knights helped me build Swift before starting their own company and making it an industry leader in growth and profitability," Moyes said. The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal. (Reporting by Rachit Vats and Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-swift-tran-m-a-knight-trans-idUKKBN17C0CU'|'2017-04-11T04:32:00.000+03:00' '7d3f34f17573167fbbdd540c67ab65596da52832'|'UPDATE 1-3-D printed titanium to shave millions in Boeing Dreamliner costs'|'Company News 41pm EDT UPDATE 1-3-D printed titanium to shave millions in Boeing Dreamliner costs (Adds Boeing comment, detail about printing in New York state) By Alwyn Scott SEATTLE, April 10 Boeing Co hired Norsk Titanium AS to print the first structural titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner, the Norwegian 3-D printing company said on Monday, paving the way to cost savings of $2 million to $3 million for each plane. The contract is a major step in Boeing''s effort to cut the cost of its barely profitable 787 and a sign of growing industrial acceptance of the durability of 3-D printed metal parts, allowing them to replace pieces made with more expensive traditional manufacturing in demanding aerospace applications. Strong, lightweight titanium alloy is seven times more costly than aluminum, and accounts for about $17 million of the cost of a $265 million Dreamliner, industry sources say. Boeing has been trying to reduce titanium costs on the 787, which requires more of the metal than other models because of its carbon-fiber composite fuselage and wings. Titanium also is used extensively on Airbus Group SE''s rival A350 jet. "This means $2 million to $3 million in savings for each Dreamliner, at least," starting in 2018 when many more parts are being printed, Chip Yates, Norsk Titanium''s vice president of marketing, said in a telephone interview. Boeing declined to comment on the estimate but said Norsk''s technology would help reduce costs. The aircraft maker in February said it had hired privately held Oxford Performance Materials to print plastic parts for its Starliner spacecraft. Norsk worked with Boeing for more than a year to design four 787 parts and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification for them, Yates said. Norsk expects the U.S. regulatory agency will approve the material properties and production process for the parts later this year, which would "open up the floodgates" and allow Norsk to print thousands of different parts for each Dreamliner, without each part requiring separate FAA approval, Yates said. "You''re talking about tons, literally," on the 787 that would be printed instead of made with traditional, expensive forging and machining, he said. General Electric Co is already printing metal fuel nozzles for a line of new aircraft engines. But Norsk and Boeing said the titanium parts are the first printed structural components designed to bear the stress of an airframe in flight. Norsk said that initially it will print in Norway, but is building up a 67,000-square-foot (6,220-square-meter) facility in Plattsburgh in upstate New York, where it aims to have nine printers running by year-end. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/norsk-boeing-idUSL1N1HI15S'|'2017-04-11T03:41:00.000+03:00' '35bed80c83e2d583a2a20b08614ff08d4fd7cc68'|'Jana Partners takes 8.3 percent stake in Whole Foods'|'Activist investor Jana Partners LLC disclosed an 8.3 percent stake in Whole Foods Market Inc ( WFM.O ) and said that it intends to hold discussions with the company''s board about exploring possible strategic options.Jana, which is the second biggest shareholder in the organic and natural food grocer, said it was also prepared to nominate members to Whole Foods'' board, a regulatory filing showed on Monday. ( bit.ly/2okbH8b )(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-whole-foods-stake-jana-partners-idINKBN17C29T'|'2017-04-10T17:10:00.000+03:00' 'bb318a4488ddfd37114523cdb97dd3eea9bb0cfd'|'Ukraine president''s grip weakens as central bank chief quits'|'By Pavel Polityuk - KIEV KIEV If Ukraine''s central bank chief needed any more incentive to quit, last week she woke up to find the image of a pig draped in a Russian flag spray-painted onto the wall of her house and a gaggle of young protesters calling her a Russian stooge.After a sustained hate campaign that also included a coffin laid at her door, Valeria Gontareva finally quit on Monday.Her departure, with no obvious candidate for a successor, leaves President Petro Poroshenko with one fewer ally in power at a time when lenders keeping Ukraine afloat already question his ability to follow through on promised reforms.Gontareva''s bloody-mindedness in enacting tough anti-crisis measures attracted many enemies while winning praise from investors and the International Monetary Fund, which props up the country with $17.5 billion bailout.The appearance that Poroshenko could not shield Gontareva, his former business partner, from being hounded out of office may make it harder to replace her. The president will struggle to find someone willing to step into her "kamikaze" role, said Oleksander Kirsh, a lawmaker with the People''s Front, which is in coalition with Poroshenko''s bloc."Even those who are seen as being part of the president''s team will wonder about agreeing" to head the central bank "if Poroshenko cannot protect them," Kirsh said.PRESIDENT WEAKERPoroshenko, owner of Ukraine''s biggest chocolate company, was elected in 2014 promising to unite the country after a popular uprising toppled a pro-Russian leader and Moscow responded by seizing the Crimea peninsula.Since then, a revolt by pro-Russian separatists in the east has bogged down in bloody stalemate with 10,000 dead, and the economy, struggling to wean itself from dependency on Russia and plagued by official corruption, has been on life support.Support for Poroshenko''s party has fallen to just 11.9 percent as of December, from 21.7 percent in October 2014, according to the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. Polls show he would lose to former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko at the next presidential election due in 2019.Recent months have seen political setbacks that make him appear even weaker. He found himself on the wrong side of public opinion when he initially opposed activists imposing an economic blockade of territory held by pro-Russian separatists; two months later he made the blockade government policy.He also signed a parliamentary amendment that will dilute one of the biggest anti-corruption reforms enacted since the 2014 protests. He says he was forced to accept the amendment by recalcitrant lawmakers."Poroshenko follows behind public opinion," lawmaker and investigative journalist Serhiy Leshchenko, a member of the president''s own bloc, told Reuters. "Poroshenko''s agenda is formed by others instead of him, and he must follow it."Poroshenko''s office did not reply to a request for comment.The government of his protege, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, has only a thin majority in parliament to pass difficult measures demanded by the IMF, such as raising the pension age and lifting a ban on land sales.Not passing them risks delaying or shrinking the amount of money the IMF will disburse at a time when Ukraine''s economic growth is expected to weaken to 2 percent from an earlier IMF projected 2.9 percent because of the blockade on separatists.The IMF in a report last week flagged its concerns that domestic politics could derail the bailout programme.TAKING A BREAKGontareva, who has also been in office since 2014, has been responsible for many of the reforms enacted to secure the lifeline from the IMF. She switched Ukraine to a flexible exchange rate and shuttered half the country''s banks - including many which the authorities say were used as cash cows or money-laundering vehicles by their owners. She nationalised the largest lender, PrivatBank.The protesters and some lawmakers accuse her of incompetence at best, and at worst, enriching herself at Ukraine''s expense in league with the country''s enemy number one, Russia.A poll by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation in December said 80 percent of Ukrainians distrust Gontareva. But the pervasive influence in Ukrainian politics of powerful business figures makes it difficult to assess the degree to which protests against her are driven by real public anger, rather than stoked by hostile vested interests.Gontareva''s press service suggested that the latest protests were engineered as revenge by people who lost out from PrivatBank''s nationalisation in December.The coffin at her door was a reminder of what can happen to central bankers in this part of the world. Andrei Kozlov, a Russian central bank deputy governor who shut down dozens of corrupt lenders, was shot dead in the street in 2006."Gontareva gets a lot of criticism but I judge her on what she''s done and its absolutely remarkable what''s been achieved at great personal risk," said Tim Ash, Sovereign Strategist at Bluebay Asset Management."I think it''s sad she is going, but after the exhaustion of fighting constantly against corruption and oligarchs for two years people want a break," he told a conference in London.(Additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in KIEV and Sujata Rao in LONDON Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Peter Graff)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-politics-idINKBN17C0S7'|'2017-04-10T06:38:00.000+03:00' '9bdbeeebb60a25cdf0eb19905f0193808420c00a'|'Anglo American sells Eskom-linked coal operations in South Africa'|' 20am BST Anglo American sells Eskom-linked coal operations in South Africa JOHANNESBURG Miner Anglo American ( AAL.L ) will sell its Eskom-linked thermal coal operations in South Africa for $166 million (£134 million), it said on Monday, part of a strategic overhaul announced a year ago to cope with a slump in commodity prices. The mines, along with four closed collieries, have a supply agreement with Eskom [ESCJ.UL] under which South Africa''s sole power utility paid for their running costs in exchange for coal supply at a pre-set price. The company said it will sell the assets -- New Vaal, New Denmark and Kriel collieries -- to Seriti Resources Holdings - a company led by Mike Teke, the president of the local mining industry lobby group, Chamber of Mines. Anglo was hit hard by a slump in commodity prices in 2015, prompting it to launch a sweeping overhaul to slim down its portfolio and focus on diamonds, platinum and copper. "This transaction forms part of our ongoing commitment to reshape and upgrade our global asset portfolio," Anglo Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said in a statement. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru and Tiisetso Motsoeneng in Johannesburg; Editing by Louise Heavens/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-anglo-american-divestiture-safrica-idUKKBN17C0MD'|'2017-04-10T15:20:00.000+03:00' '3b4216573a9d4af239ceb40a7a849bc9b7bf3d2e'|'Boeing Dreamliner cost to drop $2-$3 million per plane from 3-D printed titanium'|'Technology 7:25pm BST Boeing Dreamliner cost to drop $2-$3 million per plane from 3-D printed titanium Visitors take pictures of a model of Boeing''s 787 Dreamliner during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Alwyn Scott - SEATTLE SEATTLE Boeing Co hired Norsk Titanium AS to print the first structural titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner, the Norwegian 3-D printing company said on Monday, paving the way to cost savings of $2 million to $3 million for each plane. The contract is a major step in Boeing''s effort to cut the cost of its barely profitable 787 and a sign of growing industrial acceptance of 3-D printing technology, which is replacing more expensive traditional ways of manufacturing components. Strong, lightweight titanium alloy is seven times more costly than aluminum, and accounts for about $17 million of the cost of a $265 million Dreamliner, industry sources say. Boeing has been trying to reduce the cost of titanium on the 787, which requires more of the metal than other models because of its carbon-fiber composite fuselage and wings. Titanium also is used extensively on Airbus Group SE''s carbon-fiber A350. "This means $2 million to $3 million in savings for each Dreamliner, at least," starting in 2018, Chip Yates, Norsk Titanium''s vice president of marketing, said in a telephone interview. Norsk worked with Boeing for more than a year to design four 787 parts and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification for them. Norsk expects the U.S. regulatory agency will approve the material properties and production process for the parts later this year, which would "open up the floodgates" and allow Norsk to print thousands of different parts for each Dreamliner, without each part requiring separate FAA approval, Yates said. "You''re talking about tons, literally," on the 787 that would be printed instead of made with traditional, expensive forging and machining, he said. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-norsk-boeing-idUKKBN17C264'|'2017-04-11T02:21:00.000+03:00' '6757795573c6d4688214f17d08a122d7ef4a331e'|'Bombardier family mulls new blood on board -founder''s grandson'|'Big Story 10 39pm EDT Bombardier family mulls new blood on board: founder''s grandson A plane flies over a Bombardier plant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 21, 2014. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo By Allison Lampert - MONTREAL MONTREAL Bombardier Inc''s controlling family has discussed governance and board succession in the wake of an executive pay uproar, with some family members wanting new blood for its representatives on the board, the grandson of the company founder told Reuters in an interview. The plane and train maker set off protests, most recently near Bombardier''s Montreal headquarters on Sunday, after the board raised 2016 salaries of five executives and its chairman by up to 50 percent just weeks after it received a federal loan. The company later agreed to defer part of the raises to 2020. Charles Bombardier, grandson of founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier who died in 1964, said the executive pay decision has moved to the forefront talk of who should represent the family on the board. His father, J.R. Andre Bombardier, sits on the current board of directors. Charles Bombardier spoke to Reuters by telephone from Montreal on Friday. The family, which controls Bombardier through a dual voting structure, now has five of the 15 board seats, including one for former chief executive Laurent Beaudoin who is chairman emeritus. Pierre Beaudoin, also a grandson of the founder, is the executive chairman. "I think the third generation will play a more active role on the board since they are in their prime working years," Charles Bombardier said in his first media interview following the pay uproar. Charles Bombardier, 43, an industrial designer and an investor in startup companies left a company spinoff, Bombardier Recreational Products, in 2006 and does not currently hold any executive position in Bombardier or have a board seat. But his comments offer a rare insight into the thinking of the Bombardier-Beaudoin family, whose members maintain a low profile. Bombardier, which considered bankruptcy protection in 2015, has been in the midst of a five-year turnaround. The company scored a major boost for its flagship CSeries jet in 2016 with the signing of key sales contracts and the plane''s smooth entry into service after years running over-budget and behind schedule. "The family took great risk by investing in this (CSeries) aircraft program and now it''s a technical success," Charles Bombardier said. "This was a family decision and in the years to come, you will see it was an excellent one." DUAL-CLASS SHARES He reiterated the family would never modify the dual-class share structure that gives them voting control, partly because it protects Bombardier from becoming a takeover target. "The key is keeping control of the company and passing it on to the next generation while making sure that shareholder value is generated along the way," he said. A Bombardier spokesman declined to comment. In the past, the family''s vision for the company has conflicted at times with external chief executives. One CEO left after two years at the helm. Current CEO Alain Bellemare, who took the reins of Bombardier in 2015 and replaced Pierre Beaudoin, has the support of family members, Charles Bombardier said. Charles Bombardier said Beaudoin deserved a higher salary in 2015 because he was assisting Bellemare in the transition to become CEO. "The role of the chairman needs to be separated from the CEO and one year to make the transition is enough in my opinion," he said, adding the executive chairman''s role should now focus on leading the board and Beaudoin''s salary should be benchmarked to industry norms. In an email statement sent on Sunday, Beaudoin said he is "happy to have the continuing support of my entire family," and reiterated family support for company management. (Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-bombardier-compensation-idUSKBN17C2AY'|'2017-04-11T03:31:00.000+03:00' 'c3e546a141c84494fbe9b2ce9d40d4f0b4743925'|'Mondelez lays groundwork to replace its CEO -WSJ'|'April 9 Mondelez International Inc is preparing to look for a successor to Chief Executive Officer Irene Rosenfeld as the snack maker faces shareholder pressure and a broad shift to healthier eating habits, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.Mondelez, which makes Oreo cookies, Trident gum and Ritz crackers, has hired recruiting company Heidrick & Struggles International Inc, and its board recently discussed outside candidates to potentially replace Rosenfeld, the newspaper said.A Mondelez representative was not immediately available for comment.The timing of the succession is up to Rosenfeld, who is also chairman, and Heidrick & Struggles has not yet been asked to interview prospects, the paper said.Potential successors among Mondelez''s current executives include Tim Cofer, chief growth officer, and Chief Financial Officer Brian Gladden, the Journal said.The company''s revenue fell more than 12 percent in 2016 as important emerging market economies faltered and consumers sought more nutritious foods, leading to a lagging share price that has sparked unrest among some Mondelez investors, the Journal said.Shareholder activists Nelson Peltz and William Ackman own big stakes in the company and have urged Mondelez to boost earnings or sell itself. ( reut.rs/2on71io )Mondelez, which has a market value of nearly $70 billion, last year tried to buy Hershey Co for $23 billion. Hershey rejected the offer, and Mondelez walked away.There has also been speculation that Deerfield, Illinois-based Mondelez, which relies on foreign markets for most of its $26 billion in annual sales, could be taken over by one of its rivals. (Reporting by John McCrank in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mondelez-intl-ceo-succession-idINL1N1HH0HJ'|'2017-04-09T18:38:00.000+03:00' '792f582818301d1fbf6af9d8b8335bd5cd38f500'|'European shares inch higher, helped by miners, pharma stocks'|'Money News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 1:59pm IST European shares inch higher, helped by miners, pharma stocks Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/Files MILAN European shares were slightly higher in opening deals on Monday, helped by higher mining and healthcare stocks with Stada surging to a fresh record high after the German drugmaker backed a 5.32 billion euro offer. By 0709 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent, while the UK''s FTSE 100 and Germany''s DAX also rose by the same amount. Stada soared 11 percent, leading gainers on the STOXX index. The company said it had decided to support an offer from Bain Capital and Cinven for 66 euros per share, valuing the company at about 5.32 billion euros. Top gainer among mining stocks was BHP Billiton, which gained 4.5 percent after hedge fund Elliott Advisors sent directors a plan to unlock value in the mining giant. Weaker energy stocks and financials capped gains. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, editing by Kit Rees)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idINKBN17C0R8'|'2017-04-10T16:29:00.000+03:00' '2c67d9b66cdfff7f58b42f6a88f70e38961be810'|'Shell says it knew some payments for Nigeria oilfield would go to Malabu'|' 12:25pm BST Shell says it knew some payments for Nigeria oilfield would go to Malabu Staff members work at the booth of Royal Dutch Shell at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Libby George - LONDON LONDON Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) has said it knew that some of the payments it made to Nigeria for the rights to an oilfield would go to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company associated with a former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer. Shell spokesman Andy Norman said the group had known the Nigerian government "would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block". Shell previously had said only that its payments from the 2011 deal went to the Nigerian government. In an email to Reuters, Norman said that while Shell knew that former oil minister Dan Etete was "involved" with Malabu, it had not confirmed that he controlled the company. Etete was convicted of money laundering in a separate case in France in 2007. Attempts by Reuters to contact Etete have been unsuccessful. "Over time it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not," Norman said. Norman added that the company believes the settlement was a fully legal transaction with the Nigerian government. The statement comes amid mounting pressure over the deal, in which Shell and Italy''s Eni ( ENI.MI ) paid $1.3 billion (1.04 billion pounds) for the rights to offshore block OPL 245, which industry estimates say could hold more than 9 billion barrels of oil. Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of the block. Italian prosecutors have asked for Eni chief Claudio Descalzi to be sent to trial in correction with the case. Eni has said neither the company nor Descalzi were involved in any allegedly illicit conduct. A Nigerian court ordered the asset temporarily seized in January at the request of the country''s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the move was overturned. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram in Lagos, Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Karolin Schaps in London; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-shell-nigeria-idUKKBN17D1AS'|'2017-04-11T19:25:00.000+03:00' 'e669efe09056b7c5324556e965e9046d0d6f5660'|'China first-quarter auto sales strongest since 2014 despite tax cut rollback'|'Business News 2:48am EDT China first-quarter auto sales strongest since 2014 despite tax cut rollback FILE PHOTO: Cars are built at a BYD weld line in Shenzhen, China May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo By Lusha Zhang and Jake Spring - BEIJING BEIJING China auto sales grew 7 percent in the first quarter, China''s automakers association said on Tuesday, with the strongest January-March period since 2014 setting up the world''s largest auto market for a better-than-expected year. Many in the industry had feared that sales would be weak in the first three months after the government rolled back a tax cut on small engine cars on Jan. 1, contributing to expectations for a slowdown in 2017 sales. But first-quarter growth outpaced the China Association of Automobile Manufacturer''s (CAAM) prediction in January that auto sales would grow 5 percent in 2017, and the market is expected to improve further as the year progresses. Vehicle sales rose 4 percent year-on-year in March to 2.5 million vehicles, CAAM told reporters in Beijing. The purchase tax for cars with engines of 1.6 litres or below climbed to 7.5 percent this year from 5 percent in 2016 after the government stepped in to stimulate slumping sales. The tax will rise to the normal 10 percent rate next year. "We''ve always planned for the fact that (in) the first quarter there would be payback from the pull forward of sales into the fourth quarter (before the incentive was reduced)," Mark Fields, chief executive of Ford Motor Co ( F.N ), told reporters in Shanghai on Saturday. "We expect the second, third and fourth quarter to show improvement." Ford predicts that China''s overall auto sales will be flat or down slightly this year, Fields said. The U.S. automaker is due to report its March China sales on Wednesday. U.S. rival General Motors Co ( GM.N ) reported last week that its sales in the first quarter fell 5.2 percent year-on-year, with the automaker citing the impact of the tax cut reduction. Automakers with a steady stream of new models, particularly in the hot-selling sport-utility vehicle (SUV) segment like Japan''s Honda Motor Co ( 7267.T ), continue to lead the market. Honda reported its sales grew 16.6 percent in the first quarter. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-autos-sales-idUSKBN17D0M8'|'2017-04-11T14:48:00.000+03:00' '620f1f7eea1e396598b001d1ef04a50cf5496c73'|'Swiss billionaire Wyss gets nearly 10 pct of Molecular Partners'|'Company 20am EDT Swiss billionaire Wyss gets nearly 10 pct of Molecular Partners ZURICH, April 11 Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss has built a nearly 10 percent stake in biotech group Molecular Partners after share sales by Johnson & Johnson and other investors, the SIX Swiss Exchange said on Tuesday. Wyss, who made a large share of his fortune by selling med-tech company Synthes Holding AG to J&J in 2012 for nearly $20 billion, now owns 9.85 percent of Molecular Partners, whose products include several prospective cancer and eye disease treatments with partners including Allergan. In addition to J&J, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Index Ventures Associates IV Ltd have unloaded stakes this month. Beyond ventures in Swiss medical companies, Wyss has given about $225 million to Harvard University and its Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/molecular-partners-wyss-idUSL8N1HJ1GP'|'2017-04-11T16:20:00.000+03:00' '84d5a4e5ffe30d9eb0df824eeb044a8b030825f4'|'Singapore fund GIC led first quarter sovereign investor deals'|' 1:47pm BST Singapore fund GIC led first quarter sovereign investor deals By Claire Milhench - LONDON LONDON Singapore''s $344 billion GIC led the sovereign investor pack in the first three months of 2017, sealing two of the biggest investments of the quarter. Wealth funds and state pension funds participated in a total $9 billion (7.24 billion pounds) of deals in January-March. GIC teamed up with private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a $1.9 billion deal for a 75 percent stake in Spain''s Allfunds Bank, and paired with Paramount Group to acquire 60 Wall Street, a "trophy asset" in downtown Manhattan, for $1.04 billion. The 47-storey tower serves as the U.S. headquarters of Deutsche Bank. GIC, which was involved in at least 12 deals over the quarter, was also part of an investment with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and property owner Scion Group for three U.S. student housing portfolios worth over $1 billion. The Singaporean fund has been very active in the last six months, having secured the biggest real estate deal of the fourth quarter of 2016, when it paid $2.7 billion for P3 Logistic Parks, a European warehouse company. In GIC''s last annual report, chief investment officer Lim Chow Kat said the fund would look for bargains during periodic spikes in market volatility. It continued to see opportunities in private equity, real estate and infrastructure, Lim said. GIC is funded from government budget surpluses generated from trade rather than commodities, so it has been less constrained over the last two years compared with some of its oil-backed peers, hit by plunging prices. "Given the high competition for assets, especially in private markets, it makes sense that Middle East funds are losing some of these deals," said Javier Capape, a director at the Sovereign Wealth Lab research centre at the IE Business School. He added that oil price uncertainty had encouraged some sovereign investors to be more prudent and deploy more capital at home, although these deals weren''t always publicised. TOTALS At $9 billion, total deal value for the first quarter was down 64 percent from fourth quarter 2016, with fewer of the chunky infrastructure and real estate deals that boosted the overall value in the previous quarter. However, the number of deals was almost unchanged at 33, versus 34 in the fourth quarter of 2016. The quarter''s second biggest deal was China Investment Corp''s move to raise its stake in China Everbright Bank for $1.27 billion. But there was nothing as large as the previous quarter''s Rosneft deal. There were signs of growing sovereign investor interest in the funding rounds of high tech start-ups. These are seen as a portfolio hedge against more traditional companies that could be overtaken by digital disruptors, Capape said, citing the example of hoteliers'' profits being affected by online room renting service Airbnb. But because the failure rate amongst start-ups is high, SWFs are spreading their investments across a number of players. For example, GIC participated in a funding round for China''s NextEV, which is building self-driving electric vehicles, and invested in China''s Advanced Leading Technology Group, also focussed on electric vehicles. Australia''s Future Fund participated in a funding round for Fugue, a start-up developing an operating system for cloud computing. Although the amounts committed are relatively small, the number of deals is growing as SWFs try to get in at the ground floor. Student housing also remained popular, with GIC snapping up Birmingham-based Aston Student Village for $283 million in February, in conjunction with Unite Students. Student accommodation is seen as having greater resilience to the general economic cycle than retail or office space. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-emerging-swf-investment-idUKKBN17D1IJ'|'2017-04-11T20:47:00.000+03:00' 'cb5b0caf602c1573e0bee963e5b5195d547d6d36'|'Asian currencies affected by geopolitical risks; won worst hit'|'Money News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 11:57am IST Asian currencies affected by geopolitical risks; won worst hit South Korean 10,000 won note is seen on U.S. 100 dollar notes in this picture illustration taken in Seoul, South Korea, December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo By Rushil Dutta Asian currencies were subdued on Tuesday as geopolitical risks dampened risk appetites and dented assets such as regional equities. The dollar fell in Asian trading as tensions with North Korea and Syria weighed on U.S. Treasury yields. [FRX/] "The risk-off sentiment is a bit driven by the North Korea risk. That puts more risk in North Asian economies and economies reliant on trade," said Sean Yokota, head of Asia strategy at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. China and South Korea agreed on Monday to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests. U.S. President Donald Trump last week pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping to do more to curb North Korea''s nuclear program. A U.S. Navy strike group is headed towards the Korean peninsula as a show of force. North Korea marks several major anniversaries this month and often marks such occasions with major tests of military hardware. The South Korean won continued to lose, down 0.39 percent to 1,146.7 against the dollar. The currency fell more than 1 percent last week. The Philippine peso, which saw a strong run the past two sessions in contrast to the regional trend, see-sawed after data showed its deficit widening in February. With exports growing at a slower pace and import growth at a 9-month high, trade deficit in February widened to $1.73 billion from $1.1 billion a year ago. Strong capital inflows in the past few sessions have kept peso buoyant with analysts expecting the prospects of a tax amnesty plan raising hopes for potential inflows. The Taiwan dollar was up marginally in the early afternoon, presenting a possibility it could break a seven-day losing streak against the U.S. dollar. On Monday, The island dependent on tech exports reported solid trade data for the first quarter on Monday. Exports in the January-March quarter to the two biggest markets, China and the U.S., were up 22 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively. (Reporting by Rushil Dutta; Additional reporting by Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-forex-emerging-idINKBN17D0KK'|'2017-04-11T14:27:00.000+03:00' '3b71fc8de4356b371cc5ee578d3987d6a6e812c3'|'BRIEF-FXCM Group reports monthly metrics'|' 37pm EDT BRIEF-FXCM Group reports monthly metrics April 12 FXCM Group LLC * FXCM Group reports monthly metrics * FXCM Group LLC - customer trading volume of $225 billion in march 2017, 12% higher than february 2017 and 28% lower than march 2016 * FXCM Group LLC - active accounts of 130,832 as of march 31, 2017, an increase of 314, or 0.2%, from february 28, 2017 * FXCM Group LLC - customer trading volume for q1 2017 was $679 billion, 15% lower than q4 2016, and 26% lower than q1 2016 * FXCM Group LLC - average customer trading volume per day of $9.8 billion in march 2017, 3% lower than february 2017 and 28% lower than march 2016 * FXCM Group LLC - tradeable accounts of 109,080 as of march 31, 2017, a decrease of 53, or relatively unchanged, from february 28, 2017 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-fxcm-group-reports-monthly-metrics-idUSASA09IDB'|'2017-04-12T04:37:00.000+03:00' '41b6667f6ae220161cbf0f90b32e9202fa140a5a'|'A Buddhist tycoon: China’s HNA Group goes on a global shopping spree'|'NOW it is a conglomerate with more than $100bn-worth of assets around the world. But HNA Group started life as a small local airline. Chen Feng, the Chinese company’s founder, led a coalition including private investors and the government of Hainan, a southern province, to launch Hainan Airlines in 1993.Despite some help from the local government, the upstart firm was an outsider then. The central government chose three big state-run airlines to receive favoured landing slots, lavish subsidies and other advantages. The scrappy Mr Chen was undeterred. With $25m in early funding from George Soros, an American billionaire, he carved out a profitable niche. an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates Since then, HNA has grown quickly, mainly through acquisitions. It reported revenues of 600bn yuan ($90bn) last year. In 2016 it acquired a 25% stake in America’s Hilton Worldwide for $6.5bn and paid $10bn for the aircraft-leasing division of CIT Group, a New York-based financial firm. This week it bid nearly $1bn for Singapore’s CWT, a logistics company.Most deals have been in industries adjacent to its core business, such as travel, tourism and logistics. But some recent purchases have raised eyebrows for being more distant. It spent $6bn last year on Ingram Micro, an information-technology outfit based in California. Money has also gone into Deutsche Bank. It is rumoured to be bidding for Forbes , an American magazine. Some people suspect that these deals chime with China’s industrial policy more than HNA’s own corporate logic.Yet HNA is not a classic state-owned enterprise. The Hainan government retains a big stake in it, but HNA has traits that distinguish it from state-owned enterprises, which tend to be sclerotic and run by bureaucratic grey men.It has adopted professional management practices. Mr Chen has trained his employees in Six Sigma, a management method popularised by Jack Welch, a former boss of General Electric, to eliminate waste; and in a financial methodology that scrutinises investments for economic value added. Hainan Airlines is considered the best Chinese airline. Mr Chen, a Buddhist scholar, has also imprinted traditional Chinese philosophies onto the company’s culture. When it takes over a firm he leads new executives in a recitation of HNA’s core values, which include “love and devotion”. HNA typically does not fire the top brass at firms it acquires, nor does it force big lay-offs.Mr Chen certainly seems skilful at managing the Chinese authorities. HNA is presenting this week’s bid for CWT as part of President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” geopolitical strategy, for example. It is clever to play the political card given that the state is tightening control of outbound investment, which could hamper the company’s style, notes a Chinese business expert. A clampdown on foreign deals by Chinese regulators, who are worried about capital outflows, has led to the cancellation of dozens of announced acquisitions by Chinese firms.But HNA is having no trouble getting the money and approval to do lots of big deals—it has spent over $40bn on acquisitions in the past three years. Indeed, Mr Chen appears to have the advantages of a state firm, including cheap access to capital, without the disadvantages, such as officials telling him how to run his company, says a seasoned China hand. In this, he reckons, HNA is becoming “a lot like Huawei”, a telecoms-equipment firm. Mr Chen should be flattered by the comparison to one of the country’s most successful multinationals. But he should also recall that a backlash against Huawei’s perceived closeness to China’s leadership led to its blacklisting by America’s government. "A Buddhist tycoon"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720674-its-investments-range-hilton-worldwide-deutsche-bank-chinas-hna-group-goes-global?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' 'ac86a50bd8a4f067c1608596f261b78194c18b44'|'Volkswagen offers 6-year warranty to win back U.S. customers'|' 10:05pm BST Volkswagen offers 6-year warranty to win back U.S. customers FILE PHOTO: New cars of several brands of German carmaker Volkswagen AG are covered with protective covers before they are loaded for export on a transport ship at the harbour of the Volkswagen plant in Emden, Germany, April 24, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius/File photo By David Shepardson - NEW YORK NEW YORK Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) is trying to win back American customers after its diesel emission scandal with SUV warranties that it said will be the longest in the United States. Ahead of the New York auto show, the world''s largest automaker said Tuesday it will offer a six-year, 72,000 mile warranty on its new 2018 Atlas and 2018 Tiguan sport utility vehicles that go on sale later this year. "This warranty further addresses the needs of American buyers head-on," said Volkswagen Group of American chief executive Hinrich Woebcken. VW said most other major rivals offer a 36,000 mile, three-year warranty on similar SUVs. The longest warranty is now offered by Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and its Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) affiliate. That warranty extends 60,000 miles or five years. The powertrain warranty is 100,000 miles, but it only lasts five years or 60,000 miles if transferred. The German automaker has been struggling to recover since it admitted in 2015 the company installed secret software that allowed vehicles to cheat emissions tests for six years. The new VW warranty is twice as long as the current three-year 36,000-mile warranty on the Tiguan. The Atlas is a new model. VW brand U.S. sales this year are up 10 percent this year, but fell 8 percent in 2016 to 323,000 vehicles after falling 5 percent in 2015. The automaker halted all U.S. diesel sales in late 2015. AutoNation ( AN.N ) Inc chief executive Mike Jackson said that an extended warranty could help win customers. "The American people are full of forgiveness. All you have to do is say you are sorry and give them a deal," said Jackson, who heads the largest U.S. new car dealership chain. VW has "to give a price that reflects that you are asking for forgiveness." In March Volkswagen pleaded guilty as part of a settlement over the automaker''s diesel emissions scandal. In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-new-york-idUKKBN17D2MV'|'2017-04-12T05:05:00.000+03:00' '8c506fbbe296ae38ff5d7ba57ebee8dd8ce55fe3'|'LPC-Blackstone agrees to hand over Jack Wolfskin to lenders'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 5:20pm BST LPC-Blackstone agrees to hand over Jack Wolfskin to lenders Company logos are pictured outside a store of German outdoor sport goods company Jack Wolfskin in Vienna, Austria, April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger By Sandrine Bradley - LONDON LONDON Private equity firm Blackstone ( BX.N ) has reached an agreement in principle to hand over control of German outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin to a group of its lenders in a debt for equity swap, sources close to the situation said. Under the terms of a lender-led debt restructuring plan, lenders will write off €80 million and reduce Jack Wolfskin’s debt to €210 million from €330 million (178.44 million pounds) and inject €25 million into the business in return for ownership, one of the sources said. Blackstone has verbally agreed to the deal and a co-ordinating committee of lenders is seeking 100% support from the wider lender group for the plan, the sources said. The deal is expected to be closed by summer. “We are not quite there, nobody has signed anything yet - the lawyers are working on the documentation, it will take another couple of months to bring it all together, but we hope to have it implemented by the end of the first half” one of the sources said. Negotiations are still ongoing with a group of second lien lenders who are out of the money on their €45m investment, he said. “The second lien lenders have acknowledged that they are out of the money but there is the payment of some expenses which is still being discussed,” he said. Jack Wolfskin’s senior debt has been sold to funds. In February a lender coordinating committee including funds H.I.G Capital, CQS and Sankaty put forward the plan for the debt for equity swap. The company also launched an M&A process in January to see if there were any viable buyers for the business, which has not produced any serious bids so far. “The M&A process is not the focus anymore. Some parties did look at the business but none of the bids would have cleared the €330m of debt,” the source said. In January Jack Wolfskin agreed a circa six-month waiver with its lenders to give it time to agree a restructuring deal. PJT Partners is advising the company on the restructuring, while lenders have hired Houlihan Lokey and law firm Kirkland & Ellis. Jack Wolfskin has been struggling with tough conditions in the retail sector and has also faced difficulties in China since it took direct control of the distribution of its products to around 700 Jack Wolfskin stores in the country in 2015. In July 2015 it amended and extended its debt, which included a €75m capital injection from Blackstone. Blackstone agreed to buy Jack Wolfskin in 2011 from Quadriga Capital and Barclays Private Equity, backed with €485m of debt. (additional reporting By Alexander Huebner in Frankfurt; Editing by Tessa Walsh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jack-wol-loans-idUKKBN17E27P'|'2017-04-13T00:20:00.000+03:00' '7e0c535807b557e94f1c26be4eed5f815da71df8'|'IMF chief Lagarde says ''halfway'' there on Greek talks'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 11:41am BST IMF chief Lagarde says ''halfway'' there on Greek talks International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivers a speech at the Solvay Library in Brussels, Belgium April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BRUSSELS International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Wednesday said Greece is heading in the right direction on reforms but talks on its bailout and the IMF''s potential role in it are "only halfway through". Lagarde, speaking in Brussels ahead of next week''s IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, said the IMF is still considering whether to join the Greek bailout, but "we are not there yet", she said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; @fraguarascio; Editing Alissa de Carbonnel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-bailout-imf-idUKKBN17E189'|'2017-04-12T18:41:00.000+03:00' '1a5db346874b4e981c82e4eda3429df7c86118c5'|'German economy gained momentum at start of 2017 - economy ministry'|' German economy gained momentum at start of 2017 - economy ministry A long-exposure picture shows a container ship, at a loading terminal, in the harbour of Hamburg, Germany April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer BERLIN The German economy, Europe''s largest, picked up speed at the beginning of this year, lifted by a robust industrial sector and rising employment that is supporting private consumption, the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday. "The German economy''s rate of expansion accelerated somewhat in the first quarter," the ministry said in a statement. In the final three months of 2016, the economy grew by 0.4 percent. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Joseph Nasr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-idUKKBN17E0TQ'|'2017-04-12T16:15:00.000+03:00' '2b615b3d255d0d922fbb8b521a2a4a2d1558030a'|'Daimler reports first quarter EBIT up 87 percent in surprise release'|' 43pm BST Daimler reports first quarter EBIT up 87 percent in surprise release The Mercedes star logo of an E Coupe is pictured before the annual news conference of Daimler AG in Stuttgart, Germany, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle FRANKFURT Daimler AG''s ( DAIGn.DE ) operating profit jumped a better-than-expected 87 percent in the first quarter, the German luxury carmaker said in an unscheduled release late on Tuesday. The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks said group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped to 4.01 billion euros (3.40 billion pounds), "significantly above market expectation" and up from 2.15 billion euros a year ago, citing unaudited figures. Two analysts providing estimates for a Thomson Reuters consensus had forecast just over 3 billion euros on average for the quarter. The company is scheduled to release its quarterly financial report on April 26. EBIT at the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit rose 60 percent to 2.23 billion euros while combined EBIT from trucks, vans and buses rose 27 percent to 1.09 billion euros. In late March the company said it expected record sales volumes for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division in the first quarter. ($1 = 0.9430 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-daimler-results-idUKKBN17D2OZ'|'2017-04-12T05:43:00.000+03:00' 'cf3dadf32b68ac8ab807cb8d3fa6ec84e001222c'|'Puerto Rico union sues governor, oversight board over pension cuts'|'April 12 A Puerto Rico labor union sued the U.S. territory''s governor and financial oversight board on Wednesday, saying pension cuts being proposed as part of the island''s fiscal turnaround plan are unconstitutional.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Juan, seeks an injunction blocking the implementation of the plan. (Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/puertorico-debt-pensions-idINL1N1HK0Z9'|'2017-04-12T13:22:00.000+03:00' '30cbf97e163755eb649e55f07fd2549a4c4890f5'|'Billions of euro zone bonds a test for reluctant investors'|'* Nearly 16bn euros of debt to be sold at auction* Debt sales from Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Germany* Geopolitical tensions continue to dominate* Euro zone periphery govt bond yields tmsnrt.rs/2ii2BqrBy John GeddieLONDON, April 12 Yields on most euro zone government bonds edged up on Wednesday with nearly 16 billion euros of upcoming debt sales weighing on risk-averse, holiday-thinned markets.After a number of days in which rising political and diplomatic tensions have put investors off riskier assets, analysts said debt sales from the likes of Italy and Portugal may prove challenging, especially just days before the Easter break.On the flip side, steep yield falls in safe haven German Bunds suggest there should be demand for Berlin''s sale of 10-year debt -- although recent auctions of both two- and five-year bonds have failed.France is the focus of concern for European investors, with far left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon surging up the polls to join another anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen among the contenders for the presidency. The first round vote is on April 23.Rattling nerves in broader markets, the Syrian conflict has put the United States on a collision course with Moscow, allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States."A veritable glut of government-bond issues will be appearing on what is a rather reluctant market: Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Germany will all be vying for the favour of relatively risk-averse investors," DZ Bank analyst Christoph Kutt said."With the market possibly showing a low level of receptiveness, it is quite conceivable that some price concessions will have to be offered at these auctions."German 10-year yields - the bloc''s benchmark - nudged back above 0.20 percent having hit a five-week low of 0.192 percent on Tuesday.Yields on lower-rated bonds from the likes of Italy, Spain and Portugal were up 2-3 bps on the day.Italy is set to offer up to 10 billion euros of four bonds on Wednesday, Ireland and Portugal will offer up to 1.25 billion euros in dual bond auctions, and Germany aims to sell 3 billion euros of Bunds. The auctions get underway from around 0900 GMT.Analysts at Mizuho said there was lukewarm demand for bonds sold by the Netherlands and Austria on Tuesday and that countries selling bonds on Wednesday could see some underperformance.Investors tend to sell bonds in secondary markets ahead of debt sales to make room in their portfolios for new supply."We are expecting a similar dynamic at play today with the large supply slate weighing on outright direction for Bund while countries with bonds on offer today should lag other euro zone government bonds," Mizuho said.For Reuters Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url=http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-bonds-idINL8N1HK190'|'2017-04-12T05:39:00.000+03:00' '933708bf43f571292e025e5dcab7f46841757cd0'|'Elliott plans legal action if Akzo rejects vote on chairman dismissal'|'AMSTERDAM, April 12 Elliott Advisors, the AkzoNobel shareholder that backs rival PPG''s planned takeover of the Dutch paint maker, said it would take legal action if Akzo did not give an upcoming shareholder meeting the chance to vote to dismiss its chairman.Along with Akzo''s board, Chairman Antony Burgmans opposes the sweetened 24 billion euro ($26 billion) takeover bid PPG proposed last month. Akzo said earlier on Wednesday it would reject a proposal to put a vote on Burgmans''s dismissal on the meeting agenda."Shareholders have a legal right under Dutch law to put a proposal to dismiss Mr Burgmans onto the EGM agenda," Elliott said in a statement on Wednesday. If Akzo stuck to its "inexplicable" refusal, "Elliott intends to use its recourse to the Dutch Courts," the fund manager added. ($1 = 0.9410 euros) (Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/akzonobel-ma-elliott-idINA5N1GZ00F'|'2017-04-12T17:20:00.000+03:00' 'bd419bec91d4af86bf705518ca2fcf13b7e15f44'|'Airbus CEO considers another term, says not retiring soon'|' 6:40pm BST Airbus CEO considers another term, says not retiring soon Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders speaks during a news conference on the aerospace group''s annual results, in London, Britain February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Hannah McKay AMSTERDAM Airbus ( AIR.PA ) Chief Executive Tom Enders is in the early stages of considering whether to seek another term as head of Europe''s largest aerospace company when his mandate expires in 2019, and says he is not currently thinking about retirement. The German-born executive told Reuters in an interview he was far from bored after five years in the job, during which the company has gone through sweeping governance changes as well as a reorganisation whose final step was approved on Wednesday. "It is up to shareholders and the board to decide. I am 58 now and I am not close to retirement. (Former CEO) Louis (Gallois) retired from the company aged 68, which is not my benchmark, but in 2019 I will only be 60," he said. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-shareholders-enders-idUKKBN17E2D4'|'2017-04-13T01:40:00.000+03:00' '198696642635405cb2c65598739adc2e417e1298'|'British Columbia election campaign starts, race neck-and-neck'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 11:19am EDT British Columbia election campaign starts, race neck-and-neck By Nicole Mordant - VANCOUVER, April 11 VANCOUVER, April 11 British Columbia''s ruling Liberal Party and the opposition New Democratic Party were in a dead heat as election campaigning kicked off in the western Canadian province on Tuesday, four weeks before voters go to the polls. A loss for the Liberals on May 9 could derail big oil and gas projects in the province. NDP leader John Horgan has vowed to stop Kinder Morgan''s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and has expressed reservations about a liquefied natural gas terminal that Malaysia''s Petronas may build. The Liberals are seeking a fifth consecutive term, with a backdrop of voters opting for change in the neighboring province of Alberta in the Canadian federal election and in the United States in the past two years. The provincial Liberals are not linked to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau''s Liberal Party and are more right-leaning. Adding uncertainty to the outcome of the provincial election is an early jump in support for the BC Green Party and its leader, Andrew Weaver, said David Valentin, executive vice president at Ottawa-based polling firm Mainstreet Research. Although support is up, nearly half of Green Party supporters say they might change their minds about which party to give their votes. It is not clear which of the two big parties would benefit the most. "That is the X-factor for us right now because we have seen so many elections where the improbable becomes not just probable but reality," Valentin said in an interview. He pointed to the surprise win in 2015 by the left-leaning NDP in the oil-producing province of Alberta, a traditional Conservative Party stronghold. According to the latest Mainstreet/Postmedia poll, which surveyed respondents April 1-3, 26 percent of voters would back the Liberals, 29 percent the NDP, the official opposition, 13 percent the Green Party and 9 percent the Conservative Party. Some 23 percent of voters were undecided. The issue of fundraising is expected to emerge as a campaign issue in a province that has few limits on political contributions. The New York Times in January called British Columbia the "''Wild West'' of Canadian political cash" and said there was an "unabashedly cozy relationship between private interests and government officials in the province." Unaffordable housing could also weigh on the Liberals, who have been in power for nearly 16 years. With its million-dollar tear-downs, Vancouver, British Columbia''s biggest city, is the most expensive real estate market in Canada. (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-britishcolumbia-election-idUSL1N1HI1NR'|'2017-04-11T23:19:00.000+03:00' 'f193730fc8081a0dcfdfc0fef43bb01cd78ecaf8'|'UK inflation holds steady in March, set to gather steam in April'|'Economic News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:20pm IST UK inflation holds steady in March, set to gather steam in April FILE PHOTO: A customer service representative stands in an aisle at a Tesco Extra supermarket in Watford, north of London August 8, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo LONDON British inflation held steady in March due to the later timing of this year''s Easter holidays which pushed down airfares, and a dip in global oil prices, but the squeeze on households looks set to resume soon. Consumer prices increased in March by 2.3 percent compared with a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday, in line with economists'' forecasts in a Reuters poll. Inflation has accelerated in Britain in recent months, pushed up by a weakening of the pound since last year''s decision by voters to leave the European Union, and by the rise in oil prices which has fuelled inflation in other countries too. With wages growing at the same rate or slightly slower than prices in the shops, many households are facing the prospect of a renewed squeeze on their incomes after a respite when inflation dipped to zero in 2015 and remained low last year. Earlier on Tuesday, a group representing British retailers said shoppers in Britain clamped down on their spending in early 2017 as the cost of essentials rose. The ONS data showed food prices rose by an annual 1.2 percent in March, their biggest increase in three years. Confronted with the tough outlook for consumers, most Bank of England policymakers have signalled they see no urgency to raise interest rates, even as they predict inflation will peak at 2.8 percent in around a year''s time. March''s inflation figures were held down by airfares which fell, a sharp contrast with a jump of more than 20 percent in the same month last year when the Easter holidays fell. With Easter falling in April this year, inflation is likely to come under renewed pressure from airfares then. Also in April, increases in taxes on air passengers and car owners are kicking in and many utility companies are raising their prices too. Housing costs, which include utility bills, already rose at their fastest pace since November 2014 in March, the ONS figures showed. Furthermore, economists say the impact of the fall in sterling on inflation will probably be felt more strongly in the coming months. Many expect CPI to top 3 percent before falling back. The ONS said retail price inflation - tracked by British inflation-linked government bonds and many commercial contracts - dipped to 3.1 percent in March, a bit weaker than forecast in the Reuters poll. Excluding oil prices and other volatile components such as food, core consumer price inflation slowed to 1.8 percent, also a touch below economists'' expectations. As well as pushing down fuel prices for drivers moderately in March, a fall in international oil prices helped to take some of the steam out of cost growth faced by factories, the ONS data showed. Prices paid by factories for materials and energy were up by an annual 17.9 percent, slowing from February. Overall output prices rose by 3.6 percent, also a touch weaker than in February but above a forecast of 3.3 percent in the Reuters poll. Separately, the ONS said house prices rose by an annual 5.8 percent in February, picking up speed from January and their increase since October. But house prices in London rose at their slowest pace in nearly five years, increasing by 3.7 percent. Other surveys have detected a weakening of the market in the capital, especially for the most expensive properties. (Reporting by William Schomberg and David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-inflation-idINKBN17D12O'|'2017-04-11T17:50:00.000+03:00' 'a634d4bf988ff59b4b5cf78c1b2514746c6dcf00'|'OPEC''s war on oil overhang starts to bear fruit'|'Money News 6:56pm IST OPEC''s war on oil overhang starts to bear fruit A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC''s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo By Libby George and Ahmad Ghaddar - LONDON LONDON OPEC appears to be slowly winning the battle against a global overhang of crude and oil products as inventories in onshore and floating storage decline. The price of oil may not reflect this just yet, as Brent crude futures are struggling to recover its losses for the year to date and break above $55 a barrel. But there is no doubt that stocks are falling around the world, from Saldanha Bay in South Africa, to the Caribbean. A persistent glut of Nigerian oil is easing and even Iran has liquidated the amount of crude held in floating storage. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries explicitly said a joint deal with non-OPEC producers to cut some 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017 was aimed at slashing an excess of around 300 million barrels of crude and petroleum products in OECD stocks. "Across the first quarter of the year, crude stocks built by much less than they did in the first quarter of last year even though refinery maintenance globally was much heavier," Energy Aspects analyst Richard Mallinson said. Iran has sold all the oil it had stored for years at sea and Tehran is now struggling to keep exports growing as it grapples with production constraints. Trading giant Vitol has sold millions of barrels of Nigerian crude oil from storage in South Africa''s Saldanha Bay, according to oil traders, with cargoes sailing for Taiwan, India, the United States and Europe. France''s Total has offered a further 2 million barrels of Nigerian Escravos oil from its own Saldanha Bay storage tanks, while sources said trader Mercuria had also been offering oil from storage. At the same time, Nigeria''s new loading programmes are finding buyers at a reasonable pace – in stark contrast to the past two years, when any sales from storage put immense downward pressure on prices for newly loaded cargoes. Nordic bank SEB said global oil inventories in weekly data have dropped by 42 million barrels in the last four weeks. "Rising U.S. crude oil stocks have created some confusion so far this year, but they are a function of reduced U.S. refining activity on the one hand and U.S. crude oil imports on the other," SEB said. Mallinson said OPEC ministers meeting in late May will not have a full picture of world stocks due to a lag in reporting from major agencies including the International Energy Agency. "It is going to take some time of all of the pieces of that inventory picture to become clearer." PRODUCT DRAW Stocks of oil products are also steadily drawing down. According to consultants FGE, total main product stocks levels in the United States, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp independent storage and Singapore and Japan have declined by 6.5 million barrels, in the week to March 13 (latest full data available) to 631 million barrels. The weekly data hit an all-time high of just over 679 million barrels in February 2016, FGE said. If the declines continue, FGE said global product stocks could hit the top of the 10-year range, or 611 million barrels, in just three weeks. Still, they cautioned that much of the product strength was seasonal, and related to maintenance shutdowns that also diminished consumption of crude oil. This bullishness towards oil products has seen huge amounts of gasoline leaving Europe, and has hindered diesel shipments into the region, which has boosted margins and encouraged refineries to run as quickly as they can. Still, Hamza Khan, head of commodities strategy with Dutch bank ING, said normal seasonal draws on oil products, at the tail end of refinery maintenance season, could be creating a mirage of a tight market. "Is this due to the reasonable cuts? Or is it due to seasonal draws on crude?" Khan said, adding that with Asian refineries in their month of heavy maintenance, cleared cargoes from storage may not have been processed yet. "The key question is whether it''s being consumed or whether it''s pushed into somewhere else," he said. In the United States "refineries are already running at 91 percent of capacity, how much more crude can they burn?" (Editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oil-opec-storage-idINKBN17D1M0'|'2017-04-11T21:26:00.000+03:00' '5500cebd698ffb5a8de7275ae11d7c151ba174b8'|'LVMH shares hit record high after first quarter sales beat, other luxury stocks rise'|' 8:29am BST LVMH shares hit record high after first quarter sales beat, other luxury stocks rise FILE PHOTO: The logo of French luxury group Louis Vuitton is seen at a store in Paris, France, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen/File Photo PARIS Shares in LVMH ( LVMH.PA ), the world''s biggest luxury goods group, hit a record high on Tuesday after the French company reported a surge in first-quarter sales that beat analysts'' forecasts. LVMH shares rose as much as 2.9 percent to an intraday record high of 213.50 euros ($225.9). The stock was up by 2.3 percent at 212.15 euros by 0705 GMT, the top performer on France''s benchmark CAC-40 index .FCHI , which was down 0.4 percent. Other luxury goods stocks also rose, with Kering ( PRTP.PA ) up 1.1 percent. Hermes ( HRMS.PA ) rose 0.9 percent to a record high as well, while Richemont ( CFR.S ) gained 0.8 percent. LVMH reported a 15 percent year-on-year increase in first quarter sales after the stock market had closed on Monday, beating the consensus market forecast. LVMH warned that its business environment remained uncertain, given general political and macroeconomic concerns, but analysts focused more on the strong sales. "What was truly impressive though is that all divisions were up double-digit, which was last seen in Q1, 2011," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note, keeping a "buy" rating on LVMH shares. LVMH shares are up around 17 percent so far in 2017. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lvmh-stocks-idUKKBN17D0OZ'|'2017-04-11T15:29:00.000+03:00' 'eaa1024828ae745da6350a92541f031fe58504a4'|'Nikkei falls to lowest since early December as yen surges'|'Company 9:08pm EDT Nikkei falls to lowest since early December as yen surges TOKYO, April 12 Japanese stocks fell more than 1 percent to their lowest level in over four-months on Wednesday morning as rising geopolitical tensions curbed risk appetite, while exporters dropped after the yen spiked to a five-month high. The Nikkei 225 share average tumbled 1.3 percent to 18,504.81 in midmorning trade, the lowest since Dec. 7. The broader Topix also shed 1.3 percent, to 1,476.35. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 1.2 percent to 13,248.36. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-morning-idUSL3N1HK01X'|'2017-04-12T09:08:00.000+03:00' 'b771c80ffcbd2d6046c9a44afe9fff88847196f7'|'Prysmian in talks over potential acquisitions, won''t overpay: CEO'|'MILAN Italy''s Prysmian ( PRY.MI ), the world''s largest cable maker, is discussing potential acquisitions but does not to overpay and offers it has submitted so far have been rejected, Chief Executive Valerio Battista said on Wednesday.Prysmian, which manufactures telecoms and power cables, became the sector leader in 2011 when it bought Dutch rival Draka. The company has gone on acquiring small and medium-sized companies in recent years."We''ve filed offers ... that have been rejected ... they didn''t like the price," Battista told journalists after a shareholder meeting, adding however talks were still going on.He declined to give details on potential targets and just said one of the companies was medium-large sized.(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Massimo Gaia, editing by Valentina Za)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-prysmian-m-a-idINKBN17E25C'|'2017-04-12T13:50:00.000+03:00' 'b0d914597dfca98678c545d3a2fb6f8ecd5328e4'|'Rio Tinto to continue talks on Grasberg mine stake future'|' 22am EDT Rio Tinto to continue talks on Grasberg mine stake future By Barbara Lewis and Sanjeeban Sarkar - April 12 April 12 Diversified miner Rio Tinto Plc reiterated its decision to continue discussions regarding the future of its stake in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. "There is no doubt that Grasberg is a world-class resource. However, there''s a difference between a world class resource and a world class business," Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said on Wednesday, responding to a shareholder at the company''s annual general meeting in London. Rio Tinto has a joint-venture with Freeport-McMoRan Inc for the huge Grasberg copper and gold complex in remote Papua, with right to 40 percent of production above specific levels until 2021 and 40 percent of all production after 2021. (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/rio-tinto-agm-grasberg-idUSL3N1HK42J'|'2017-04-12T20:22:00.000+03:00' '653d7d8668485d5aac8e811745eacc12ad08a371'|'Akzo Nobel receives request from Elliott for shareholder meeting'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 6:24am BST Akzo Nobel receives request from Elliott for shareholder meeting FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) said on Wednesday that it had received a request from a group of shareholders led by Elliott Advisors to hold a special shareholder meeting to dismiss Chairman Antony Burgmans. Elliott hopes to add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ), after Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro (£19.03 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month. "The Supervisory Board strongly supports Mr. Burgmans in his role as Chairman," Akzo Nobel said in a statement. (Reporting by Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzonobel-m-a-idUKKBN17E0DW'|'2017-04-12T13:24:00.000+03:00' '051b96eff3946fa9f32595130e14f14cc4631a16'|'Nikkei hits lowest in over 4 months on geopolitical concerns, yen rise'|' 21am EDT Nikkei hits lowest in over 4 months on geopolitical concerns, yen rise TOKYO, April 12 Japanese stocks fell to their lowest in more than four months on Wednesday as rising geopolitical tensions curbed risk appetite, with exporters badly hit as the safe-haven yen spiked to a five-month high. The Nikkei 225 share average dropped 1.0 percent to 18,552.61, the lowest closing level since Dec. 7. The Nikkei volatility index jumped to a five-month high. North Korea on Tuesday warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force President Donald Trump described as an "armada". Trump tweeted that North Korea was "looking for trouble" and the United States would "solve the problem" with or without China''s help. The broader Topix dropped 1 percent to 1,479.54. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 1 percent to 13,271.23. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL3N1HK2DH'|'2017-04-12T14:21:00.000+03:00' 'd3099ae8b45add0d5f2627411e1e142986189c10'|'China first quarter growth seen steady at 6.8 percent on construction boom, investment boost'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 10:21am BST China first quarter growth seen steady at 6.8 percent on construction boom, investment boost Buildings under construction are seen among fog in Rizhao, Shandong province, China, May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer BEIJING China''s economy likely grew by a solid 6.8 percent in the first quarter, the same pace as the previous quarter, due to sustained government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying housing market, according to a Reuters poll of 60 economists. But the world''s second-largest economy is widely expected to lose steam later in the year as the impact of earlier stimulus measures starts to fade and as local authorities step up a battle to rein in red-hot housing prices. A tighter monetary policy stance by the central bank and intensifying efforts by regulators to contain debt risks and asset bubbles could also weigh on growth in the world''s second-largest economy if not handled well, economists said. "Growth is still driven by infrastructure investment and the property sector, but property investment is likely to slow in the second half due to curbs on home buying and mortgages," said Tang Jianwei, economist at Bank of Communications in Shanghai. "The economy is stabilising and warming up, but there are still downside risks in the medium term." A surprisingly upbeat reading would likely boost stocks and global commodity prices, but a weak outcome could fuel the risk of more capital outflows, putting fresh pressure on the yuan currency CNY=CFXS . The government is aiming for 2017 growth of around 6.5 percent, slightly lower than last year''s target of 6.5-7 percent and the actual 6.7 percent, which was the weakest pace in 26 years. Top leaders have signalled tolerance for more modest growth this year to help defuse financial risks created by an explosive growth in debt. Economists in the poll estimated GDP grew 1.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, versus 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter, though only 25 analysts gave sequential forecasts. PROPERTY, DEBT KEY RISKS Most analysts agree the property market may pose the single biggest immediate risk to growth. In March and early April, more than a dozen local governments imposed or tightened restrictions on home purchases and tightened mortgage down payment rules, after data showed housing prices, sales and investment remained strong, defying earlier cooling measures. Increasingly tough measures are expected to slow activity in the property market eventually, but at the risk of a nasty crash that would damage the economy and consumer confidence. At the same time, China''s central bank has shifted to a tightening bias and is using more targeted measures to contain risks in the financial system, after years of ultra-loose settings. The People''s Bank of China (PBOC) has raised short-term interest rates modestly several times already this year and some market watchers expect one or two more hikes by year-end. But it is considered unlikely to tighten policy abruptly ahead of a major leadership transition later this year. Indeed, some analysts believe the government could quickly unwind tightening measures and revert to traditional pump-priming if growth slows too sharply, despite official warnings about the dangers of prolonged debt-fuelled stimulus. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says China''s total private and public debt has exceeded 250 percent of GDP, up from 150 percent before the global financial crisis. STEADY MARCH EXPANSION EXPECTED China will release first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) on April 17 (Monday), along with March industrial output, retail sales and fixed asset investment. Industrial output likely grew at a steady 6.3 percent pace in March, aided by a continuing construction boom and a pickup in export orders as global demand improves. Fixed asset investment was expected to grow 8.8 percent in the first quarter, easing marginally from 8.9 percent in the first two months of the year. Investors and policymakers will be watching for any further signs of improvement in private investment, which quickened in January and February after a sharp loss of momentum in the last few years. Retail sales could remain a source of concern, however. Growth is expected to pick up only marginally to 9.6 percent in March from 9.5 percent in January and February combined, which was the weakest pace in nearly two years. Still, China auto sales grew 7 percent in the first quarter, the strongest January-March period since 2014 and raising the possibility of an upside surprise. Growth in car sales was expected to be weaker this year after the government reduced tax incentives on small cars. Data on Wednesday showed China''s producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, pressured by fears that Chinese steel production is outweighing demand. Consumer prices remained mild. March trade figures will be issued on Thursday, with an expected rebound in exports being overshadowed by concerns about a rise in U.S. protectionism. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Shaloo Shrivastava; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-gdp-idUKKBN17E10E'|'2017-04-12T17:23:00.000+03:00' '6e071de1ba73085bcf2cd873df56026e761c5ebf'|'United Air raises forecast for first-quarter flight capacity'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 5:13pm EDT United Air raises forecast for first-quarter flight capacity FILE PHOTO: Customers of United wait in line to check in at Newark International airport in New Jersey, November 15, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) on Monday raised its forecast for first-quarter flight capacity, a keenly watched industry metric. The No. 3 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said it expects capacity growth of 2.6 percent for the quarter ended March 31, compared to a prior forecast of a 1-2 percent increase. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-outlook-idUSKBN17C2FN'|'2017-04-11T05:13:00.000+03:00' 'cbdca138f4c78bc7e90850d5dd3efb17ba584472'|'BRIEF-Atico Mining says produced 2,550 ounces of gold in Q1'|' 25pm EDT BRIEF-Atico Mining says produced 2,550 ounces of gold in Q1 April 12 Atico Mining Corp * Atico produces 5.05 million pounds of Cu and 2,550 ounces of Au in first quarter 2017 * Qtrly copper and gold recovery of 93.5% and 65.8%; a decrease of 1% for copper 2% for gold over q1 2016 * Atico Mining Corp - qtrly production of 5.05 million pounds of copper contained in concentrates; an increase of 18% over q1 2016 * Atico Mining Corp - qtrly production of 2,550 ounces of gold contained in concentrates; a very slight decrease over q1 2016 * Atico mining corp qtrly average processed tonnes per day of 810, an increase of 4% over q1 2016 * Sees to maintain production between 9,700 and 10,000 ounces of gold at El Roble mine in 2017 * Sees to maintain production between 8,300 and 8,500 tonnes of copper at El Roble mine in 2017 * Sees to maintain production between 37,000 and 39,000 dry tonnes of concentrate at El Roble mine in 2017 '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-atico-mining-says-produced-2550-ou-idUSFWN1HJ0JW'|'2017-04-12T04:25:00.000+03:00' '51e73afdde329b70b3c64d36c56a0464bb62dada'|'Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules'|'WASHINGTON President Donald Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was reducing regulations and revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank, which might be eliminated and replaced with "something else.""We''re going to reduce taxes, we''re going to eliminate wasteful regulations," Trump said at a meeting attended by corporate leaders and members of his cabinet.Earlier this year, Trump ordered reviews of the major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis and last week he said officials were planning a "major haircut" for the regulations."For the bankers in the room, they''ll be very happy because we''re really doing a major streamlining and, perhaps, elimination, and replacing it with something else," Trump said on Tuesday."That will be the minimum. But we''re doing a major elimination of the horrendous Dodd-Frank regulations, keeping some obviously, but getting rid of many."Participants in the meeting included Rich Lesser, chief executive of Boston Consulting Group; Doug McMillon, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores; Indra Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo; Jim McNerney, former chief executive of Boeing; Ginni Rometty, chief executive of IBM; and Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric.The business leaders are part of Trump''s "Strategy and Policy Forum" that last met with him in February.Trump also reiterated his criticism of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico."NAFTA is a disaster. It''s been a disaster from the day it was devised. And we''re going to have some very pleasant surprises for you on NAFTA, that I can tell you," he said.(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-business-idINKBN17D266'|'2017-04-11T15:53:00.000+03:00' '6531e04b5a33ea6b6a6dbb832c67a92ca16a0496'|'Airbnb signs dozens more tax agreements in the U.S., France'|' 15am BST Airbnb signs dozens more tax agreements in the U.S., France A man walks past a logo of Airbnb after a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, November 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Airbnb has reached new deals with dozens of jurisdictions in the United States and France to collect and pay taxes, doubling down on its effort to improve its image with local policymakers even as it face regulatory challenges around the world. Airbnb, the short-term rental service that offers a website where homeowners can rent out a room or their entire property, has collected $240 million in hotel and occupancy taxes since it was founded in 2008, remitting them to the jurisdictions where the company has agreements, Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas told Reuters. The most recent tax agreements, formally announced by the company Tuesday, came in eight U.S. cities and counties, the state of Texas and 31 cities in France, making for a total of 275 agreements, Papas said. The taxes, which Airbnb says are at the same rate paid by hotels, will be collected beginning May 1 for the newest agreements. More than half of Airbnb''s U.S. listings are in communities where we the company collects and remits taxes, Papas said. Chris Bryan, a spokesman for the Texas comptroller, said Airbnb approached Texas with the offer to pay taxes. "The state saw this as the most efficient way of bringing these people into tax compliance rather than going after thousands and thousands of homeowners," he said. Texas is the 20th U.S. state with which Airbnb has a deal. Seeking agreements with more states allows the company to avoid the thorny local politics in cities where it faces opposition. It is still unclear how successful Airbnb will be in collecting and remitting all the taxes it had pledged because many of these agreements are less than a year old. Critics of the deals have questioned how local officials could have enough data on Airbnb hosts to verify how much tax the company ought to pay. Airbnb''s push to address taxes has helped to weaken one of the arguments made by the hotel industry against the company''s growing presence in major cities. But the tax agreements have not quieted critics'' concerns that Airbnb, valued at $31 billion, has exacerbated housing shortages and brought unwanted traffic into neighbourhoods. In April, Airbnb reached an agreement with Miami-Dade County in Florida to collect taxes but the mayor of the city of Miami Beach, part of Miami-Dade County, remains a vocal opponent to Airbnb. The city allows Airbnb in areas that are zoned for short-term rentals but not in residential neighbourhoods, said Mayor Philip Levine. "When you bought a house you didn''t bargain on having a nightclub next to you," he said. "You relied on having the zoning of the city protect you." Airbnb said last year it collected $19 million in taxes in San Francisco, $7 million in San Diego and $3 million in Chicago. Several cities declined to confirm how much tax Airbnb had paid, citing taxpayer confidentiality rules. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbnb-taxes-idUKKBN17E162'|'2017-04-12T18:15:00.000+03:00' '176e93300678ff8dd055a41fa6cde360e512f4d4'|'Japan''s GPIF starts recruiting managers for alternative assets'|'By Thomas Wilson - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) on Tuesday began recruiting asset managers for investments in private equity, infrastructure and real estate, as the world''s largest pension fund''s embrace of riskier assets gathers pace.In its first recruitment of outside managers for investments in so-called alternative assets, GPIF is looking to hire an unspecified number of institutional investors to oversee bets in Japan and other developed countries.The fund in 2014 reduced its holdings of low-yielding domestic government bonds and invested more in stocks. The landmark move followed a government push to spur higher returns on pension investments and jolt Japan out of deflation.The scale of investment in the three asset classes would not be decided until after the fund has assessed candidates'' investment capacities, a GPIF spokesman said. Initial checks on applications are set to begin on June 1.As with GPIF''s current investments in stocks and bonds, the managers for alternative assets will oversee "fund of funds" products in accounts created especially for GPIF, according to an advertisement on the fund''s website.GPIF managed 144.8 trillion yen ($1.31 trillion) worth of assets as of December, and last month posted a third-quarter gain of $92 billion on the back of a rally in the Japanese stock market.GPIF''s upper limit on alternative investments was set at 5 percent of its total pension reserve fund, but as of the end of December it stood at 0.07 percent.(Reporting by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-gpif-alternative-assets-idINKBN17D0DR'|'2017-04-11T02:47:00.000+03:00' 'd711f17db693559adafe9a3887fa8a7868cd2e51'|'Russia to start talking to oil firms about extending OPEC deal - TASS'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 9:23am BST Russia to start talking to oil firms about extending OPEC deal - TASS MOSCOW Russia will soon start consultations with its own oil producers about the possibility of extending an output cut deal with OPEC, the TASS news agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Tuesday. A final decision will depend on how the situation in the oil market develops in April and on forecasts for May and June, said Novak. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Andrew Osborn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-oil-opec-russia-idUKKBN17D0TA'|'2017-04-11T16:11:00.000+03:00' '6b33f391a095fcb8ef23dc96cc52521938b7b848'|'Diversify or die: China''s independent oil refiners adapt to new challenges'|'Commodities - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 2:03am EDT Diversify or die: China''s independent oil refiners adapt to new challenges FILE PHOTO: A worker walks past oil pipes at a refinery in Wuhan, Hubei province March 23, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo By Chen Aizhu - BEIJING BEIJING Cut off from lucrative fuel export markets and seeing their margins squeezed by new taxes, China''s independent oil refiners are branching out into new sectors from clean energy and lumber as well as expanding their trading to overcome the challenges. These independents, known as "teapots" since they are smaller companies than their state-owned rivals, are scrambling to survive shifting government policies at the same time domestic oil demand growth is slowing, undermining their ability to expand by just serving their home market. In 2016, China''s annual fuel demand growth was at a three-year low. "The good days won''t last much longer, as China''s oil demand has been shrinking," said Zhang Liucheng, vice president of Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group, the country''s largest independent refiner. Late last year, Beijing suspended fuel export quotas for the independents, handing control of diesel and gasoline exports to the dominant state refiners. Other government moves may also squeeze the independent''s margins. Top state refiner Sinopec overhauled its fuel buying policy by centralizing all purchases at its Beijing headquarters and China plans to slap consumption taxes on refinery by-products such as light cycle oil, sold as diesel, and mixed aromatics, which are added to gasoline to improve fuel quality. "They had already been diversified and nimble at working around the various government mandates...now they are definitely looking for ways to step up their game and have better people, global access and financing to do so," said Michal Meidan, analyst at consultants Energy Aspects. Executives at some of China''s top independent refiners outlined to Reuters their plans to diversify to endure these changes. Dongming, for example, plans to add a 800,000 tons-per-year naphtha cracker, extending its business from transportation fuels to higher value plastics and synthetic rubber as well as fine chemicals, said Zhang. The 260,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refiner is also looking to invest in small-scale onshore fields, said Zhang. Zhang also aims to boost trading operations by combining physical oil and gas trading with financial services such as offering credit facilities for fellow teapots at better rates than banks. Underscoring how much Beijing has prioritized clean energy, Shandong Haike Group said it will open this month a factory that makes electrolytes used in lithium batteries for electric vehicles. The company said the plant will be the country''s largest with the capacity to produce 100,000 tons a year. It also plans to grow its pharmaceutical business but has no plans to expand its refining capacity. UNCERTAIN FUTURE FOR TEAPOTS Shandong Chambroad Group plans to move into lumber processing to develop a special building material for villa cottages and gardens, said chairman Ma Yunsheng. In addition to the policy actions against them, the teapots have lost a major advocate with the departure of Shandong provincial governor Guo Shuqing, which further shrouds their future, said Energy Aspects'' Meidan. Newly installed Shandong party chief Liu Jiayi could try to tackle overcapacity and pollution in the province, which would add to pressure on the independents, she said. For some, the expansions are an opportunity to move from a small local operation into a global company. Shandong Hengyuan Petrochemical Co, a refiner backed by a local government and the first teapot to own a refinery abroad, wants to become a regional player, combining assets at its home base in Shandong with the refinery in Port Dickson, Malaysia, that it recently acquired from Shell ( RDSa.L ). As part of the expansion, it will set up a trading desk in Kuala Lumpur to secure crude for the two plants with a combined capacity of 160,000 bpd and also supply 4 millions of tons of fuel annually to Shell under a 10-year pact. "Without differentiating yourself, the competition will be tough," said Hengyuan''s chairman Wang Youde. (Editing by Josephine Mason and Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-oil-teapots-idUSKBN17D0I2'|'2017-04-11T14:03:00.000+03:00' '9033751543752bcad3d0a7c93f125d50641b07d0'|'U.S. oil climbs to five-week top on geopolitical tensions'|'Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:29am BST U.S. oil climbs to five-week top on geopolitical tensions A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver SINGAPORE U.S. crude oil rose for a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday to hit its highest level in five weeks, underpinned by tensions following a U.S. missile strike on Syria and a shutdown at Libya''s largest oilfield. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $53.18 a barrel by 0009 GMT. The market has gained for six sessions in a row, its longest rising streak this year. The international benchmark, Brent crude futures LCOc1, gained 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $56.07 per barrel. Libya''s Sharara oilfield was shut on Sunday after a group blocked a pipeline linking it to an oil terminal, a Libyan oil source said. The field had only just returned to production, after a week-long stoppage ending in early April. The outage added to a rally that started late last week after the United States fired missiles at a Syrian government air base. While Syria produces only small volumes of oil, the Middle East is home to more than a quarter of the world''s oil output. The gain in oil prices comes despite rising U.S. shale oil production. "Crude oil prices were firmer as oil investors shrugged off rising U.S. supplies and looked forward to the summer driving season," ANZ said in a note. U.S. crude inventories touched record highs both at the U.S. storage hub of Cushing, Oklahoma, and in the U.S. Gulf Coast in recent weeks, according to U.S. government data. Oil prices have also been supported by a deal led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day for the first six months of 2017, to get rid of excess supply. Libya and fellow OPEC member Nigeria are exempt from cuts. In a sign of OPEC confidence that the deal is working, Kuwait''s oil minister said he expected producers'' adherence in March to their supply cut pledges to "be higher than the previous couple of months." (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17D016'|'2017-04-11T08:26:00.000+03:00' '11115ede659cce6eae4f78a15d8e294a453ed0c7'|'Citi tops global transaction banking ranks: Coalition'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 7:06pm EDT Citi tops global transaction banking ranks: Coalition A view of the exterior of the Citibank corporate headquarters in New York, New York, U.S. May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Files By Sujata Rao - LONDON LONDON Citi was the top bank last year in transaction banking, a segment comprising trade finance and cash management services, rankings compiled by industry analytics firm Coalition showed on Tuesday. This is the first time Coalition has ranked banks on transaction banking, basing the scores on services provided to clients with annual turnover of over $1.5 billion. Cash management encompasses services such as direct debits, wire transfers and currency clearing, while trade finance can include items such as letters of credit and trade loans. Coalition regularly releases investment banking league tables and its 2016 rankings, released last month, showed U.S. banks grabbing the top five places. Eric Li, research and analytics director at Coalition, told Reuters that while the investment banking industry typically grabbed more attention, transaction banking had proved to be a more steady source of income for global banks. Also, trade finance, a key element in transaction banking, is picking up after a decline caused by the slowdown in global commerce in recent years, he noted. "This business is a lot more resilient compared to investment banking, you don''t see huge swings by 20-30 percent in terms of top line revenue. It''s a very steady business," Li said. "As a result ... we are increasingly seeing a gradual increase in coverage of this from the media as well as the bank management perspective." Coalition''s transaction banking list is less U.S. heavy than its investment banking league table - after Citi, U.S. banks JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo were in second, fourth and ninth place respectively. HSBC was the top placed European bank, tying for second place with JPMorgan, while other top 10 European names were Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, Societe Generale and Barclays, Coalition said. "In trade finance, most major players are European banks. This is a big divergence from the investment banking industry where you see big dominance by U.S. banks," Lee added. The data showed Citi increasing its market share in trade finance as well as cash management, and dominant in the Americas. HSBC, on the other hand, was rapidly growing its transaction banking business in EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Within transaction banking, the top trade finance banks were Citi, HSBC and BNP Paribas, while Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan and BAML scored highest in cash management. Coalition did not give details on how much banks had earned from the transaction business. The table was based upon the largest transaction banks within 15 leading banks, which included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Société Générale, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo. (Reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-banking-transaction-leaguetable-idUSKBN17C2KI'|'2017-04-11T07:06:00.000+03:00' '82323cb2435680f27ffa3848a30510bf2b082f4b'|'OPEC over-delivers on oil cuts in March, but sees more from rivals'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 12:15pm BST OPEC over-delivers on oil cuts in March, but sees more from rivals FILE PHOTO: A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC''s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo LONDON OPEC countries cut oil output in March by more than they pledged, according to figures the group published in a monthly report on Wednesday, as it sticks to an effort to clear a supply glut that has weighed on prices. But the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also raised its forecast of oil supplies from non-member countries in 2017 as a recovery in oil prices encourages U.S. shale drillers to pump more, reducing demand for the group''s oil this year. Compliance in March by the 11 OPEC members with output targets under a supply cut deal averaged 104 percent, according to a Reuters calculation based on production figures OPEC published. (Reporting by Alex Lawler; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-opec-oil-outlook-idUKKBN17E1C1'|'2017-04-12T19:15:00.000+03:00' '3275fbac2e4cc8368a71e208f6d9eb56caf5f524'|'Homes with air conditioning – in pictures - Money'|'Homes with air conditioning – in pictures View more sharing options Share Close It will be a breeze to stay as cool as a cucumber in these properties, located from London to FloridaAnna Tims Wednesday 12 April 2017 10.01 BST Home: Great West Rd, London W6 Despite its purpose as a pumping station, this was built like a palace in the urban village of Chiswick, west London, and over a century on, you have to pay a royal price for a berth here. Not that there’s anything palatial about the accommodation. For £675,000 you get a two-bedroom duplex on the fourth and fifth floors, but the service charges include security gates and a porter to keep commoners at bay. The views over the Thames from the wraparound balcony are positively aristocratic. Savills , 020 8987 5550 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Home: Cowes, Isle of Wight You might have to live in the car for a bit while you pay off the mortgage through holiday lets, but when that’s done you have front row seats of the sailing on the Solent from the balconies and terrace. Well, almost front row. A line of new homes got the best pitch on the shore and you have to peer over their roofs for the action. There is underfloor heating in the five bedrooms and reception rooms, but only the living area and master suite get the air conditioning. Guide price: £599,950. Onthemarket.com , 01983 507952 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Away: Lisbon, Portugal This 16th-century palace perched on a hilltop in the city was once owned by royal courtiers and has been segmented into 21 flats. Renaissance luxury has being adapted for modern pampering, so amid the ornate high ceilings and tall windows will be air conditioning, en suites, secure parking and, for the richer residents, a private swimming pool. Some of the terraces overlook the river and the multi-coloured old town cascading down the hillside. Other flats are less favoured with a square of lawn between high walls. Prices start at £616,000. Athena Advisers , 020 74714 500 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Away: Alicante, Spain Ditch the studio flat in Hounslow and, for the same price, sit out Brexit in a three-bedroom villa on the Costa Blanca. Porcelain floor tiles and air conditioning should do battle with the Spanish heat. But if that battle is lost you can tip into the pool in the communal palm-fringed gardens. Each house in this gated, yet-to-be development has an underground parking slot and a garden or rooftop solarium. Cost: £191,144. Sequre International , 0800 011 2639 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Away: VIP Island, Florida The island lives up to its name, being accessible only by private boat. From your private jetty you can fish in the Indian River and watch the sunset up on the balcony. It’s a chalet ambience inside, with wooden steeply pitched walls. Tall occupants of the two bedrooms may endure a painful levee given the restricted head height. Asking price: £260,000. Dale Sorensen Real Estate , +1 321 987 3328 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Property Home and away Homes'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2017/apr/12/homes-with-air-conditioning-in-pictures'|'2017-04-12T18:01:00.000+03:00' '6a096ebeb68afd535e59777e78fb78f5ac06f94c'|'Wheels in motion: Why carmakers need to get bigger'|'CARS are getting bigger. Motorists worldwide have for years been abandoning four-door saloons in favour of bulkier SUVs. Carmakers have become bigger, too. Four car firms now make around 10m vehicles a year in order to reap economies of scale, particularly in the mass-market bit of the business where profit margins can be painfully thin.Many executives also believe that size is the only protection against the technological upheaval sweeping the industry. But bulking up fast is easier said than done. Lots of different constituents have to be won over. And most car bosses are still reticent about taking the plunge on mergers because many have been catastrophes. Daimler’s acquisition of Chrysler in 1998, for example, was a notable disaster. The list of past crashes is lengthy. Indeed, one recent deal—General Motors’ sale of Opel, its European arm, to France’s PSA Group for €1.3bn ($1.4bn)—seems to go directly against the imperative to bulk up.In fact, that deal has had the effect of spurring more talk of consolidation. Speculation centred at first on a possible mega-merger between GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), itself the result of a deal in 2014 (FCA’s chairman, John Elkann, sits on the board of The Economist’s parent company). The Italian-owned firm, which makes just under 5m vehicles a year, is run by Sergio Marchionne, who has been eyeing a merger with GM for years. With the American firm now discarding a loss-making European business, the theory goes, it could replace it with a profitable one—Fiat—and crunch together the two firms’ successful operations in America. an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates Mary Barra, GM’s boss, has repeatedly rejected Mr Marchionne’s overtures; selling Opel is unlikely to have changed her mind. Some observers unkindly suggest that GM is in any case unable to handle three tasks at once, and that its aim in ridding itself of Opel was to concentrate on improving its operations in America and in China. Moreover, a lot of the synergies from a deal depended on combining Fiat and Opel in Europe.The rumour mill has since moved to Volkswagen. The German firm has long cast a covetous eye over bits of FCA. At an annual industry shindig in Geneva in March that coincided with the final sale of Opel, Mr Marchionne said he had “no doubt that at the relevant time Volkswagen may show up and have a chat”. He also suggested that PSA Group’s acquisition of the GM unit, which puts the French firm in second place in Europe, adds to the pressure on VW, the market leader, to bulk up further. VW’s campaign to conquer America, where its diesel-emissions scandal has undermined its weak position, would be strengthened with FCA in tow. FCA’s Ram trucks are hugely profitable in America and the Jeep brand is resurgent worldwide. The unrealised potential of Maserati and Alfa Romeo, alluring bywords for Italian style, is also attractive.A deal would, however, bring little benefit in Europe, where VW already has a big slice of the market and plenty of small cars on offer. With Seat, a Spanish division, struggling and its own brand said to be loss-making in the region, VW could well do without the trouble of integrating Fiat. FCA is also the only big car company that is lumbered with lots of debt (of just under €5bn), making it a less tempting target.Matthias Müller, VW’s chief executive, has not ruled out talks with FCA, and has indicated that the German group is more open to a merger than it used to be. But FCA is not the only option. An acquisition of Ford (which just suffered the humiliation of being overtaken in market capitalisation by Tesla, an electric-car firm founded in 2003) might also fit VW’s plans. Still, if VW is intent on leading the next round of industry consolidation, it will need to put “dieselgate” behind it. Though the German firm has paid $22bn in fines and compensation, the issue of who knew what and when is still unresolved.Whatever combination of firms might bring it about, the goal of creating a group that produces nearly 15m vehicles a year makes sense. Mr Marchionne’s oft-stated view is that the industry’s duplicated investment in kit such as near-identical engines and gear boxes is a waste of resources, and that much of the money would be better returned to shareholders. Other car bosses reckon the money should go on the technologies that will transform the industry: mobility services such as ride-sharing, electrification of the drivetrain and autonomous vehicles. Scale would allow car firms to spread the cost over more vehicles.One argument against full-scale mergers has been that loose alliances, such as that between Renault, a French car manufacturer, and Japan’s Nissan, can do the job by helping to pool development costs. The Renault-Nissan alliance has succeeded. After taking a controlling stake in Mitsubishi, a smaller Japanese carmaker, last year, the firm makes nearly 10m cars a year.An alliance works well for components and for individual platforms, the basic structure underpinning a car, where the aim is clear and specifications can be agreed on. An engine that might cost $1bn to develop, for example, can be easily split two or more ways. Yet alliances work far less well for broader technologies such as connectivity and autonomous vehicles. It is harder to specify a common goal for a product that could find its way into every vehicle the companies make. And it makes less sense to share futuristic technologies that may prove to be the differentiating factor for buyers of cars in the future.The arrival of new competitors such as Tesla, and deep-pocketed tech giants intent on disrupting the transport industry such as Google, Apple and Uber, make dealmaking an even more pressing need. “Everyone agrees on the rationale for big mergers, even if execution of deals has been extremely difficult up to now,” says an adviser to the industry.If car mega-mergers are to go ahead, however, and stand a better chance of success than past attempts, two conditions apply. First, the big stakeholders—governments, families and unions—will need to be convinced. Many carmakers, such as BMW, Fiat, Ford, Toyota, VW and others, have ties to families, which in some cases have blocking shareholdings. VW’s unions or France’s government, which has stakes in Renault and PSA, would oppose deals that could result in big domestic job losses.Second, transactions will need to do more than simply chase volume. A welcome new trend in the industry is to put greater emphasis on profitability. One of GM’s reasons for getting rid of Opel was to concentrate on profits rather than solely on how many cars it turns out, a decision that Tim Urquhart of IHS Markit, a research firm, calls “groundbreaking and brave”.A mega-merger would take similar courage, and car bosses tend to be conservative and risk-averse. But after over 100 years of selling cars powered by internal-combustion engines, the industry faces the huge wrench of adapting to a future of electrification and self-driving cars. Software and electronics are displacing mechanical parts as the most important components of a car. A business focused on selling objects will have to start offering ever more transport services. If carmakers do not take the plunge, an alternative is that one of the technology giants with big ambitions in mobility could try to buy, say, Ford, Tesla or PSA Group. For cash-rich firms like Apple or Google, the cost of such an acquisition would be pocket change. "Wheels in motion"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720658-gms-recent-sale-opel-has-revived-talk-mega-mergers-why-carmakers-need-get-bigger?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '0a7dcc3da40a66e8acaca4a101e152bb6014ca69'|'UPDATE 1-Handelsbanken chairman says target of bribery probe, denies wrongdoing'|'Company 39pm EDT UPDATE 1-Handelsbanken chairman says target of bribery probe, denies wrongdoing (Adds details, background) April 12 Handelsbanken Chairman Par Boman said on Tuesday that prosecutors are investigating whether he received bribes related to hunting trips but Boman denied any wrongdoing. The trips occurred when he was chief executive officer of the Swedish bank between 2006 and 2015. Boman said the suspicions were groundless and that he would cooperate fully with the prosecutor. He said he had participated in hunting trips arranged by Handelsbanken Deputy Chairman Fredrik Lundberg but that he had checked with the bank''s board before accepting. "Consequently, my participation was completely open, and with the express consent of my principal," Boman said in a statement released by Handelsbanken. Lundberg, one of Sweden''s most powerful tycoons, and former Finance Minister Anders Borg have previously been questioned by prosecutors as suspects in a bribery probe relating to hunting trips. Both men have denied wrongdoing and neither have been charged with any crime. Boman also said he had participated in two elk hunts since becoming the chairman of Handelsbanken, but said he had paid the company arranging the trips as well as for his travel and accommodation. "According to the legal experts that I have consulted, my participation has thus been entirely in order, and in accordance with the law," Boman said. The prosecutor''s office could not be immediately reached for comment. (Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sweden-handelsbanken-chairman-idUSL8N1HJ60C'|'2017-04-12T06:39:00.000+03:00' '2af8d580e949383932e8a68d391ceeb4f8e1b8f1'|'EU clears Lear''s takeover of Grupo Antolin''s car seat business'|' 6:57am EDT EU clears Lear''s takeover of Grupo Antolin''s car seat business BRUSSELS, April 12 European Union regulators on Wednesday cleared U.S. car supplier Lear''s takeover of the seats and metals business of Spain''s Grupo Antolín-Irausa, saying it would still face sufficient competition. "The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would not raise competition concerns given the parties'' moderate combined market positions," the European Commission, which acts as the bloc''s competition supervisor, said in a statement. The deal includes 12 factories and two research and development centres in Europe and northern Africa. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Alastair Macdonald) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lear-grpo-antolin-irs-eu-idUSL8N1HK2P6'|'2017-04-12T18:57:00.000+03:00' '1068bb4d16d3ebc7fce7ad1daf36bed9b919238b'|'S.Korea''s EWP buys 60,000 T of coal for May'|'SEOUL, April 10 Korea East West Power Co Ltd (EWP) has bought 60,000 tonnes of coal for May shipping via a tender that closed on Thursday, a source from the utility said on Monday. The utility purchased the coal products from South Africa, the source said, but declined to give price and seller details. Other details of the purchase are as follows: TONNES(M/T) ORIGIN SPECIFICATION(NCV) SHIPPING SCHEDULE 60,000 S.Africa min. 4,170 kcal/kg May 10-24, 2017 *Note: NCV stands for Net Calorific Value. (Reporting By Jane Chung; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southkorea-coal-tender-idINL3N1HI2PV'|'2017-04-10T05:30:00.000+03:00' 'e88cd6674c985db5e222845829e6fc22e348e145'|'Bank of England says won''t publish Libor details until fraud probe over'|'Business News 49pm BST Bank of England says won''t publish Libor details until fraud probe over A bus passes the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay LONDON The Bank of England said on Monday it would not publish details of its dealings with banks that rigged market interest rates at the height of the financial crisis until a lengthy criminal fraud investigation has concluded. The BBC released a recording on Monday of an October 2008 phone call between two bankers at Barclays ( BARC.L ) in which one said he was under "serious pressure" from the BoE to set an artificially low rate for Libor, an inter-bank borrowing rate. The information in the recording largely echoes facts uncovered in investigations in 2012 by parliament and Britain''s now-defunct Financial Services Authority. Those led to a record fine for Barclays and the resignation of its chief executive Bob Diamond, its chairman and chief operating officer. The scandal involved a total of 11 banks and brokerages and raised questions about the relationship between the BoE and banks in the run-up to the crisis. It also triggered new laws explicitly to criminalise setting inaccurate market interest rates, and a series of probes by Britain''s Serious Fraud Office which have brought five convictions and some unsuccessful prosecutions. "The Bank is committed to publishing materials relating to the SFO''s investigations into benchmark manipulation when it is appropriate to do so," the BoE said in a statement. "Until the SFO''s ongoing prosecutorial activity relating to Libor and other benchmarks has concluded, the Bank is not in a position to publish these materials." The BoE said Libor and other global benchmarks were not regulated in Britain during the period in question. Barclays'' then chief operating officer, Jerry del Missier, told a British parliament committee in 2012 that following a conversation with Diamond in 2008, he understood that the BoE wanted Barclays to submit artificially low reports of its borrowing costs to reduce concerns about its financial health. Diamond and Paul Tucker, then a deputy governor at the BoE, both denied in 2012 that the BoE had given any such instruction, despite a written record that Diamond made in 2008 of a conversation between him and Tucker which partly implied this. Diamond disputed this interpretation of his note, while Tucker said Diamond''s note-keeping was inaccurate. Parliament''s Treasury committee concluded in 2012 that "if Mr Tucker, Mr Diamond and Mr del Missier are to be believed, an extraordinary, but conceivably plausible, series of misunderstandings and miscommunications occurred". A British lawmaker who sits on parliament''s Treasury Committee told the BBC on Monday that he wanted Tucker and Diamond to appear before the committee again to discuss the BBC''s recorded telephone conversation. Diamond told the BBC: "I never misled parliament and ... I stand by everything I have said previously." The BBC said Tucker did not respond to its questions. (Reporting by William Schomberg and David Milliken Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boe-libor-idUKKBN17C19E'|'2017-04-10T19:49:00.000+03:00' '2d92723fdbb52948c8054ac793735ffef75129fc'|'Petronas pitches $1 billion offshore gas project stake to oil firms - sources'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 11:58am BST Petronas pitches $1 billion offshore gas project stake to oil firms - sources The logo of a Petronas fuel station is seen with the Petronas Twin Towers in the background in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Picture taken February 10, 2016. REUTERS/Olivia Harris By Anshuman Daga and Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Malaysia''s Petronas has pitched an estimated $1 billion (804 million pounds) stake in a prized upstream local gas project to potential bidders including Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ), ExxonMobil Corp ( XOM.N ), Thailand''s PTT Exploration and Production ( PTTEP.BK ) and Japanese firms, sources familiar with the matter said. If successful, the deal could mark Petronas'' [PETR.UL] biggest upstream stake sale since oil prices started declining more than two years ago. Petronas is targeting lowering operating expenses, job cuts and project rollbacks to help it navigate through the low oil price environment. The state-owned oil and gas company has approached about a dozen prospective buyers including global oil majors and Asian firms focussed on Southeast Asia, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the talks are private. They said Petronas has begun providing financial and operational data to the companies and expects to receive bids over the next few weeks. Citing sources, Reuters reported in February that Petronas was considering selling a stake of as much as 49 percent in the SK316 offshore gas block in Malaysia''s Sarawak state. In a statement to Reuters, Petronas said that through its subsidiary, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, it is looking for partners who can bring the technology and capabilities to explore, develop and efficiently operate the various fields and opportunities in the SK316 offshore gas block. "We are confident that we will attract the right partners to maximise the potential value of these opportunities to help meet the world''s growing oil and gas demand," Petronas said. It was not immediately known what the individual companies'' response to Petronas'' approach was. ExxonMobil declined to comment, while Shell referred the query to Petronas. A spokeswoman for PTTEP declined to comment on the deal but said the company was keen to invest in Southeast Asia because it had expertise in the region where costs and risks were low. (Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Gloystein Henning in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in KUALA LUMPUR, Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE, Satawasin Staporncharnchai in BANGKOK and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-petronas-m-a-idUKKBN17C14Y'|'2017-04-10T18:58:00.000+03:00' '4adbbcf93eca882817857a35782ec81ac1a13a05'|'Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT "cowboys" ride into sunset'|'Company News 1:00am EDT Banks scramble to fix old systems as IT "cowboys" ride into sunset By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK, April 10 NEW YORK, April 10 Bill Hinshaw is not a typical 75-year-old. He divides his time between his family – he has 32 grandchildren and great-grandchildren – and helping U.S. companies avert crippling computer meltdowns. Hinshaw, who got into programming in the 1960s when computers took up entire rooms and programmers used punch cards, is a member of a dwindling community of IT veterans who specialize in a vintage programming language called COBOL. The Common Business-Oriented Language was developed nearly 60 years ago and has been gradually replaced by newer, more versatile languages such as Java, C and Python. Although few universities still offer COBOL courses, the language remains crucial to businesses and institutions around the world. In the United States, the financial sector, major corporations and parts of the federal government still largely rely on it because it underpins powerful systems that were built in the 70s or 80s and never fully replaced. (GRAPHIC: tmsnrt.rs/2nMf18G ) And here lies the problem: if something goes wrong, few people know how to fix it. The stakes are especially high for the financial industry, where an estimated $3 trillion in daily commerce flows through COBOL systems. The language underpins deposit accounts, check-clearing services, card networks, ATMs, mortgage servicing, loan ledgers and other services. The industry''s aggressive push into digital banking makes it even more important to solve the COBOL dilemma. Mobile apps and other new tools are written in modern languages that need to work seamlessly with old underlying systems. That is where Hinshaw and fellow COBOL specialists come in. A few years ago, the north Texas resident planned to shutter his IT firm and retire after decades of working with financial and public institutions, but calls from former clients just kept coming. COWBOYS AND YOUNGSTERS In 2013, Hinshaw launched a new company COBOL Cowboys, which connects companies to programmers like himself. His wife Eileen came up with the name in a reference to "Space Cowboys," a 2000 movie about a group of retired Air Force pilots called in for a trouble-shooting mission in space. The company''s slogan? "Not our first rodeo." Of the 20 "Cowboys" that work as part-time consultants many have reached retirement age, though there are some "youngsters," Hinshaw said. "Well, I call them youngsters, but they''re in their 40s, early 50s." Experienced COBOL programmers can earn more than $100 an hour when they get called in to patch up glitches, rewrite coding manuals or make new systems work with old. For their customers such expenses pale in comparison with what it would cost to replace the old systems altogether, not to mention the risks involved. Antony Jenkins, the former chief executive of Barclays PLC , said for big financial institutions – many of them created through multiple mergers over decades – the problems banks face when looking to replace their old technology goes beyond a shrinking pool of experts. "It is immensely complex," said Jenkins, who now heads startup 10x Future Technologies, which sells new IT infrastructure to banks. "Legacy systems from different generations are layered and often heavily intertwined." Some bank executives describe a nightmare scenario in which a switch-over fails and account data for millions of customers vanishes. The industry is aware, however, that it cannot keep relying on a generation of specialists who inevitably will be gone. The risk is "not so much that an individual may have retired," Andrew Starrs, group technology officer at consulting firm Accenture PLC, said. "He may have expired, so there is no option to get him or her to come back." International Business Machines Corp, which sells the mainframe computers that run on COBOL, argues the future is not so bleak. It has launched fellowships and training programs in the old code for young IT specialists, and says it has trained more than 180,000 developers in 12 years. "Just because a language is 50 years old, doesn''t mean that it isn''t good," said Donna Dillenberger, an IBM Fellow. But COBOL veterans say it takes more than just knowing the language itself. COBOL-based systems vary widely and original programmers rarely wrote handbooks, making trouble-shooting difficult for others. "Some of the software I wrote for banks in the 1970s is still being used," said Hinshaw. That is why calls from stressed executives keep coming. "You better believe they are nice since they have a problem only you can fix," he said. Hinshaw said the callers seem willing to pay almost any price and some even offer full-time jobs. TURNING POINT Oliver Bussmann, former chief information officer of UBS AG, said banks usually tap into their networks of former employees to find COBOL experts. Accenture''s Starrs said they go through a "black book" of programmer contacts, especially those laid off during or after the 2008 financial crisis. The industry appears to be reaching an inflection point, though. In the United States, banks are slowly shifting toward newer languages taking cue from overseas rivals who have already made the switch-over. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, for instance, replaced its core banking platform in 2012 with the help of Accenture and software company SAP SE. The job ultimately took five years and cost more than 1 billion Australian dollars ($749.9 million). Accenture is also working with software vendor Temenos Group AG to help Swedish bank Nordea make a similar transition by 2020. IBM is also setting itself up to profit from the changes, despite its defense of COBOL''s relevance. It recently acquired EzSource, a company that helps programmers figure out how old COBOL programs work. In the meantime, banks'' scramble has revived careers of those who retired or were let go, and whose expertise, until recently, was considered obsolete. One COBOL programmer, now in his 60s, said his bank laid him off in mid-2012 as it turned to younger, less expensive employees trained in new languages. In 2014, the programmer, who declined to be named to avoid jeopardizing current professional relationships, was brought in as a contractor to the same bank to fix issues management had not anticipated. "The call back to the bank was something of a personal vindication for me," he said. ($1 = 1.3335 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-banks-cobol-idUSL2N1HC1SA'|'2017-04-10T13:00:00.000+03:00' 'b3124ee2a7b8abc2fa36719ccc3b45330deebb5f'|'Turkey''s Vestel in talks to buy Toshiba television unit: official'|'By Ceyda Caglayan - ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkey''s Vestel is in talks to buy the television unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp, an official for the Turkish maker of electronics and home appliances said on Monday, declining to be identified.Vestel last year signed a five-year agreement with Toshiba, giving it the right to produce and sell televisions under the Toshiba brand in Europe.Toshiba, a televisions-to-construction conglomerate expects to book a net loss of about $9 billion for the year that ended in March, due to a writedown related to cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse that recently went bankrupt.(Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Daren Butler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-vestel-idINKBN17C0K5'|'2017-04-10T04:59:00.000+03:00' '13559b6740119df73ee9304c716a5ec984e9b4cf'|'Germany''s Stada backs 5.32 billion euro offer from Bain, Cinven'|'German drugmaker Stada said it has decided to support an offer from Bain Capital and Cinven for 66 euros ($69.85) per share, valuing the company at about 5.32 billion euros.The private equity consortium is offering 65.28 euros per share and a dividend of 0.72 euro per Stada share, the company said in a statement on Monday.Stada, which had received offers from two consortia, said it has signed an investor agreement which would include protection provisions for employees.Bain and Cinven have agreed to refrain from forced redundancies for four years in a move that exceeds staffing pledges incorporated in current business plans, Stada said."With this combination, we will create a foundation for tapping the great potential of Stada together with Bain Capital and Cinven and continuing to grow profitably," Stada Chief Executive Matthias Wiedenfels said.The offer documents will be published following approval by Germany''s financial regulator BaFin. Stada, based near Frankfurt, may disclose more information in a conference call at 0530 GMT.A tie-up of buyout firms Advent and Permira was bidding against Bain and Cinven. Both had made takeover offers at 58 euros per share, which valued the company at 4.7 billion euros including debt.($1 = 0.9448 euros)(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/stada-m-a-idINKBN17C0HL'|'2017-04-10T04:26:00.000+03:00' 'dff8a69ca8436491a3804b5285d114c0164cb790'|'Bank of France trims French first-quarter GDP growth estimate to 0.3 percent'|'Business 44am BST Bank of France trims French first-quarter GDP growth estimate to 0.3 percent Shipping containers sit stacked at the Port 2000 terminal in the Port of Le Havre, France March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS The Bank of France on Monday trimmed its estimate for first quarter French economic growth to 0.3 percent, from an earlier 0.4 percent estimate, although the central bank kept its overall, estimate for annual growth of 1.3 percent. The Bank of France''s business climate survey showed a dip in the climate for the industrial sector, which edged down to 103 points in March from 104 points in February. The business climate indicator for the services sector stood at 101 points in March, unchanged from February. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-economy-idUKKBN17C0IY'|'2017-04-10T14:44:00.000+03:00' '9d6260b904fcd70128322bddfdec632b4447430e'|'Croatia struggling to contain Agrokor fallout - new restructuring head'|' 2:09pm BST Croatia struggling to contain Agrokor fallout - new restructuring head FILE PHOTO: Croatian food producer Agrokor''s headquarters in Zagreb, Croatia, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Antonio Bronic/File Photo By Igor Ilic - ZAGREB ZAGREB Croatia is struggling to contain the economic fallout from problems at heavily indebted food group Agrokor [AGROK.UL], the restructuring expert appointed by the government to lead the process said on Monday. Agrokor, the biggest employer in the Balkan region with some 60,000 staff, racked up debts during a rapid expansion, notably in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Serbia. According to the latest data from last September, its debts totalled around 45 billion kuna (5.16 billion pounds), or six times its equity. "We''re struggling to prevent Agrokor''s problems spilling over to the whole Croatian economy and wider across the (Balkan) region," Ante Ramljak, an investment banking expert, told reporters. Ramljak''s nomination to lead Agrokor''s restructuring was approved by the Zagreb commercial court on Monday. Agrokor said on Friday it was handing control to the state under an emergency law introduced last week to deal with big companies facing financial trouble. Under the law, the state must appoint an executive to steer a restructuring. Ramljak is expected to assemble a team of experts and advisers to guide the process, which will include refinancing of debts and possibly selling parts of the company. Six banks, including Agrokor''s biggest creditors Russian lenders Sberbank ( SBER.MM ) and VTB ( VTBR.MM ), said on Monday they were working to conclude an initial cash injection. "The banks have agreed to provide a liquidity injection worth 150 million euros. If a good restructuring plan is prepared, I think this process could take a right direction," said Miljenko Zivaljic, head of Croatia''s largest bank, Zagrebacka Banka, after a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Zagrebacka Banka is owned by UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ). Analysts say this is a good first step, but a solution for Agrokor''s problems is still far away. "The banks are apparently cautious as we still don''t know the details of restructuring plan. Ramljak must act quickly to take advantage of the liquidity injection. Also, the problem is we don''t know exactly how huge is Agrokor''s debt at the moment," said Damir Novotny, an independent analyst. Agrokor struck a deal last week with the banks to freeze repayments and get an unspecified cash injection before restructuring the business. But suppliers, who were worried about delayed payments under a restructuring, did not sign up. Without broad agreement of all the stakeholders, Agrokor was left little choice but to seek state assistance. The emergency law envisages any restructuring taking 15 months. It was unclear on Monday what role the restructuring expert Agrokor appointed under last week''s deal - Antonio Alvarez III - would have under Ramljak. The Zagreb commercial court also unfroze the accounts of Agrokor and its firms on Monday, and has asked creditors to submit their claims within 60 days. "Our goal now is to stabilise Agrokor''s operations in the coming days and the second step will include its restructuring for which we will also seek an adviser," Prime Minister Plenkovic said on Monday. (Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Susan Thomas and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-agrokor-restructuring-idUKKBN17C1G3'|'2017-04-10T21:09:00.000+03:00' 'b7b4ccf647f92fc8589793cb33fd796f95f2e877'|'Oil surplus or scarcity? Shale makes it even harder to predict'|'Stocks & Shares News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:58am BST Oil surplus or scarcity? Shale makes it even harder to predict A pumpjack brings oil to the surface in the Monterey Shale, California, U.S. April 29, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo By Amanda Cooper - LONDON LONDON The shale oil boom has transformed the U.S. and global energy sector to such an extent that it has upended traditional supply dynamics and made forecasts far more polarised. Investment banks, many of which finance new projects, along with oil majors such as Total and Eni, have warned that huge spending cuts caused by a plunge in oil prices since 2014 would lead to a supply crunch in the next two years. Yet Goldman Sachs, the only bank to make more than $1 billion a year from commodities trading, believes a looming recovery in U.S. output on the back of higher oil prices combined with an avalanche of new conventional projects will create a substantial surplus by 2019. Prior to the shale revolution, conventional oil was the only game in town. Estimating future supply essentially involved calculating the project pipeline and factoring in the "unknown knowns" such as political risk in oil-producing nations. The ability of the shale sector to adapt quickly and nimbly to a lower-price environment means production cycles have shortened as fields can be switched on and off in a matter of weeks. Most forecasters including OPEC and the International Energy Agency underestimated shale''s decline during the oil price collapse and its production increases as prices recovered. Goldman predicts the coming two years will see a huge burst of development, complicating OPEC''s efforts to rebalance the market and ease a global glut with the help of output cuts. "This long lead-time wave of projects and a short-cycle revival, led by U.S. shales, could create a material oversupply in 2018-19," Goldman''s equity research team said last month. "As OPEC prepares for its May 25 meeting, it is likely to weigh the relative benefit of stability (extend cut) versus the risk of long-term share loss." Goldman estimates that new projects and rising shale output could add 1 million barrels per day (bpd) to global supply by 2018-2019. The forecast contrasts with those of consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which foresees a supply gap of 20 million bpd by 2025, and Goldman''s rival Morgan Stanley, which believes a surge in U.S. production this year will not derail the rebalancing. "OPEC has successfully constrained output, and although drilling activity in U.S. shale is picking up rapidly, this will probably not come quick enough to prevent a period of sizeable inventory draws late this year," Morgan Stanley said. "By 2020, we estimate that (around) 1.5 million bpd of demand will need to come from projects that have not been sanctioned yet, but that have break-even oil prices of $70-75 a barrel," the bank said. BLACK HOLES Goldman advises anyone from institutional investors such as pension funds, to oil producers and it seems the oil market is listening. Brent crude futures show prices for oil deliverable up to 2019 trading below those for prompt delivery, before reverting to the contango structure of low prompt prices and higher futures prices that is typical of an oversupplied market. Goldman stands by its prediction that supply and demand will fall into line this year, even though global crude inventories in developed economies alone top 3 billion barrels, some 300 million barrels above the five-year average that OPEC is targeting with its supply cuts. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some of its biggest rivals including Russia, agreed in late2016 to cut output jointly by 1.8 million bpd for the first half of this year to tackle the overhang. UBS, meanwhile, sees a potential 4 million bpd hole by 2020, even though a higher crude price this year has prompted some companies to bring forward their exploration and development plans. "Beyond 2017, the impact of a collapse in longer-cycle conventional investment over 2014-16 begins to be felt. 2015 saw just six major upstream projects totalling (some) 0.6 million bpd ... versus the 3-4 million bpd average, and 2016 has seen just one major liquids project sanctioned," UBS strategist Jon Rigby said. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch points out that along with the collapse in spending, the global rig count, a measure of production activity, shows no sign of picking up outside the United States. According to oil services company Baker Hughes, the number of non-U.S. oil rigs has risen by just 29 since hitting an 11-year low of 666 in November last year, compared with a rise of 346 in U.S. rigs in just 10 months. (Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Dale Hudson; Graphics: IEA/Reuters)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-forecasting-idUKKBN17C0ZT'|'2017-04-10T17:42:00.000+03:00' '5701db584d06b9e64cff48817ea985853946a9dc'|'China offers concessions to avert trade war with U.S. - FT'|' 11:05am IST China offers concessions to avert trade war with U.S. - FT China''s flag flies in front of the New York Stock Exchange before the initial public offering (IPO) of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd under the ticker ''''BABA'''' in New York September 19, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files China will offer the Trump administration better market access for financial sector investments and U.S. beef exports to help avert a trade war, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing officials familiar with the matter. China is prepared to raise the investment ceiling in the Bilateral Investment treaty and is also willing to end the ban on U.S. beef imports, the newspaper also reported. on.ft.com/2oniaQ4 "China was prepared to (raise the investment ceilings) in the BIT but those negotiations were put on hold (after Trump''s election victory)," the Financial Times also reported citing a Chinese official involved in the talks. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed to a new 100-day plan for trade talks on Friday. The U.S. trade department was not immediately available for comment while the China''s ministry of commerce could not be reached for comment. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-china-trade-idINKBN17C0EX'|'2017-04-10T13:35:00.000+03:00' 'cd478cd470a3a979110df16f739eb013c082aac2'|'Senate crossbench majority pushes for overhaul of petroleum rent tax ''rort'''|'A Senate crossbench majority is in favour of reforming the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) because taxpayers are not receiving a fair share of revenue for gas resources – a situation the Labor senator Sam Dastyari has called a “complete fucking rort”. One Nation, the Nick Xenophon Team and senators Jacqui Lambie and Derryn Hinch told Guardian Australia that they would be urging the government to change the system that had allowed multinational gas companies to avoid paying tax on Australian resources at a time when gas exports are booming .One Nation, Lambie and Hinch support a 10% flat tax to replace the PRRT to ensure adequate royalties are paid to the commonwealth. Xenophon would not discuss a specific figure but said Australians needed a fair return on resources and an increased supply of gas.Taxpayers to pay for oil spill clean-ups under petroleum resource rent tax Read more On Sunday, the left-leaning McKell Institute, the Tax Justice Network and Dastyari launched a report that called on the Turnbull government to apply a flat rate resource royalty to all offshore gas projects – a move that would deliver taxpayers $28.4bn over 10 years.“There is no other way of framing what is going on at the moment with the offshore gas industry without saying the whole thing has become a complete fucking rort,” Dastyari said.“It really is. The idea that you are paying more tax in a beer than they are paying on billion-dollar projects shows how ridiculous the system has become. You will get industry and government saying ‘but nothing we are doing is illegal’ but that is exactly the point. The fact that they can get away with this is the problem.”A spokesman for One Nation said the party favoured an imposition of a royalty to ensure that, no matter how large resource companies structured their affairs, Australia would receive some tax revenue.“We favour imposition of a royalty so we get a drip of money all the time,” the spokesman said. “Those companies can then arrange their affairs any way they like but at least Australia is going to get something.”The spokesman said One Nation senators would be discussing the issue but a royalty proposal would be taken to the government as the Coalition began discussions to gain the party’s support in the Senate for budget measures.“The government has been very good at engaging with us, they are aware we don’t horse trade and we think they would be mad to reject this,” the spokesman said. “Everyone wants the multinationals to pay their fair share of tax.”The whole thing has become a complete fucking rort.Labor senator Sam Dastyari Hinch said that while he was suspending final judgment until the government review reports later in the month, 10% would be fair and reasonable.“I think a 10% tax/royalty would be fair and reasonable,” Hinch said. “Reportedly, Exxon’s paying no company tax at all. Neither is Chevron. I’m told that Qatar is expected to raise about $26bn in revenue from royalties by 2021.“Compare that to Australia. The forecast is that we’ll raise less than $1bn under the current system – even though Australia may soon become the world’s biggest gas exporter thanks to projects exploiting vast reserves off WA and in Queensland.”In the last sitting week, Lambie argued against the government’s company tax cuts on the grounds that Australia was “giving away” its resources. She said multinational companies needed to pay more tax if the government wanted budget repair. “Australians are missing out on billions of dollars in royalties when Australia is experiencing a gas boom,” Lambie told Guardian Australia.“Since revealing how little gas companies pay in royalties to Australia in the Senate more than a week ago, the public response has been overwhelming. I will make sure the government looks at this as a matter of priority for the budget in May.”Xenophon said he would not discuss a specific figure but warned the PRRT needed to be part of the solution to solve the gas crisis because businesses would not survive without an increase in domestic gas supplies.“The policy objective has to be fair return on the natural resources of Australia,” Xenophon told Guardian Australia. “Secondly, the prices paid for gas is increasing, which has seen domestic gas being double the price of Australian gas sold into Japan. The PRRT needs to be part of the solution.”The treasurer, Scott Morrison, admitted last year that revenues from the PRRT had halved since 2012-13 and crude oil excise collections had fallen by more than half.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Origin Energy’s Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas facility at Curtis Island in north Queensland. At that time, he announced a formal review of the PRRT regime in November after a rapid decline in revenues from the tax.The government review, headed by the former executive director of treasury Mike Callaghan is due in April and recommendations were to be taken into the budget process.In November, Morrison said, “It is important these companies pay their fair share when it comes to these issues.”But last week Morrison appeared to walk away from significant changes to the PRRT regime in the May budget, notwithstanding the government’s own review.He rejected suggestions that Australia was missing out on tax revenue and warned that any changes needed to ensure investment projects were not effected.Australia must charge royalties on natural gas or lose billions, says expert Read more “What I’m saying is, if there are improvements that need to be made in this tax then you need to be very careful about how you do it because the last thing we want to see is go and scuttle a major investment project in this country by making changes to a tax arrangement which is critical to the yes-no decisions of those boards,” Morrison said. “That would cost jobs.”While Labor has not committed to change the policy, it referred the issue to an inquiry by the Senate standing committee on economics before the government announcing its review but that committee will not report until September.Labor faced a fierce industry campaign against its mining tax under the Rudd and Gillard governments as did the former WA National party leader Brendon Grylls, who lost his seat in the recent state election . But the resource industry is split on the royalty debate.If Labor were to support change, there would be a majority in the Senate favouring PRRT reform, including the Greens and the majority of the crossbench.The McKell report found the PRRT was extremely generous towards major oil and gas companies, “who poorly compensate the Australian public for the publicly owned resources they are extracting from the ground and selling for profit”.The report found PRRT tax revenue continues to decline. In 2014-15 the commonwealth received $1.8bn in PRRT and the report predicts this will decline to a predicted $880m by 2020.“At the same time, gas and oil companies in Australia are making significant profits, with the industry turning over $67bn in 2014-15,” the report says.The report, written by professor of economics Richard Holden, of the University of New South Wales business school, and Marieke D’Cruz, of the McKell Institute, found the PRRT had become increasingly inadequate in delivering economic benefits for Australians.At present, LNG projects located in commonwealth waters are not subject to any royalties.“The introduction of a royalty-based regime is both conceptually more appropriate and economically more beneficial to the commonwealth, and could deliver up to $11.361bn in revenue over the four-year forward estimates, or up to $28.4bn over 10 years,” the McKell report says.“Simply, the current system based solely around the PRRT, the system that applies to the majority of projects in commonwealth waters, results in significant portions of Australia’s gas reserves being extracted with no compensation to the Australian owners of these resources. This is unacceptable.”The report found the Australian tax regime was not in line with other countries, including Qatar, which has been the world’s biggest exporter of LNG.Topics Australian economy Australian politics Coalition Malcolm Turnbull One Nation Pauline Hanson news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/10/senate-crossbench-pushes-for-overhaul-of-petroleum-rent-tax-rort'|'2017-04-10T03:30:00.000+03:00' 'f56b34be8674f20230897a2466d756f568a5d716'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 11'|' 32am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 11 April 11 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - The Trump administration held out the prospect Monday of wider retaliation against Syria and signaled a new push to remove the country''s divisive leader ahead of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson''s meetings with Damascus''s Russian allies. on.wsj.com/2otHpQN - Activist investor Jana Partners has amassed a nearly 9 percent stake in Whole Foods Market and wants the upscale organic grocer to speed up its turnaround efforts while also exploring a possible sale. on.wsj.com/2otWSjJ - A new report on the sales scandal at Wells Fargo places much of the blame on former CEO John Stumpf and his protégée, Carrie Tolstedt. The board clawed back an additional $75 million of pay from the two former executives. on.wsj.com/2otHDY9 - Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley is under investigation by UK and U.S. regulators after he tried to unmask a whistleblower who criticized his hiring of a longtime associate for a top job. on.wsj.com/2otWW2Z - United Airlines drew widespread criticism for having a passenger forcibly removed from a flight, an incident that threatens to further damage the reputation of an airline recovering from a proxy fight and leadership upheaval. on.wsj.com/2otME2N - A surge in Tesla stock gave it the title of largest U.S. auto maker by market value - a feat that would have seemed highly improbable 13 years ago when the electric-car maker first began tinkering with the idea of making a sports car. on.wsj.com/2otI4BL - A new cancer drug licensed by Eli Lilly was discovered by a six-year-old startup on the outskirts of Shanghai, and derived from the ovary cells of Chinese hamsters. Lilly now is planning to test it on Americans. on.wsj.com/2otJtZ6 - Foxconn Technology offered up to $27 billion for Toshiba Corp''s computer-chip business, another bold bid for a pillar of Japan''s high-tech industry. on.wsj.com/2otXLc5 (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL3N1HJ24I'|'2017-04-11T13:32:00.000+03:00' 'e1a2d3518660bb6958376c9470c06efe1c514563'|'Cenovus CEO says investors understand ''strategic rationale'' for deal'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:13pm EDT Cenovus CEO says investors understand ''strategic rationale'' for deal TORONTO, April 11 Cenovus Energy Inc has 75 percent of financing in place for its C$17.7 billion ($13.3 billion) acquisition of ConocoPhillips'' oil and gas assets, Cenovus Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said on Tuesday. The strategic rationale for the deal is well understood by investors, Ferguson said. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Jim Finkle and Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/conocophillips-cenovus-idUSL1N1HJ145'|'2017-04-12T01:13:00.000+03:00' 'f3e7511e11578fb5134b3e7710132210fcfd999d'|'Algeria warily edges towards Islamic finance as energy income dives'|' 30am EDT Algeria warily edges towards Islamic finance as energy income dives * Algeria under pressure to reform after oil price drop * Government seeks new funding sources * Islamic finance may help tap huge informal economy * State banks plan to offer Islamic products in coming months * Interest-free loan announced but no details yet By Hamid Ould Ahmed ALGIERS, April 12 When experts in Islamic banking gathered earlier this year at a state-run hotel in Algiers to share their experiences on sharia-compliant finance, no one from the government showed up. But despite this hesitancy - government officials are reluctant even to refer to Islamic finance by that name - Algeria is edging slowly towards offering banking services to suit more religiously conservative investors. The object is to attract funds from a huge pool of cash held outside the formal banking system as Algeria looks for more ways to offset the sharp fall in oil prices and its energy revenues. Finance Minister Hadji Baba Ammi has already announced plans for the country''s first local bond that is interest-free, complying with sharia law which forbids interest payments - although he called the scheme "participative" rather than Islamic. Now six state-run banks plan to start Islamic financial services by the end of the year or in early 2018, and a national sharia board that would oversee Islamic banking is also planned by the end of 2017, banking and government sources told Reuters. Algeria''s Islamic finance plan still faces huge barriers. It lacks a legal framework and technical expertise, and officials must navigate sensitivities over any perceived revival of political Islam after a 1990s war with armed Islamist militants in which 200,000 people died. On top of such concerns, any kind of reform is often delayed in Algeria by heavy bureaucracy and inertia, but bankers are keen to push ahead with the idea. "Financial institutions must be more dynamic and aggressive in the market by allowing Islamic products to grow," said Nasser Haider, head of Bahrain-owned Al Salam Bank Algeria. "Regulation has not been a hurdle for Islamic finance in Algeria, but a legal framework would help its development." With the economy emerging from decades of centralised control, Algeria badly needs alternatives to the energy revenues that have traditionally financed 60 percent of the budget. The plunge in global crude prices from mid-2014 halved earnings from exports of oil and gas. In 2015 the budget deficit shot up to 16 percent of Algeria''s annual gross domestic product (GDP) and the government is estimated to have narrowed the gap only to 15 percent last year. A state fund intended to cover such deficits plunged 59.5 percent over the course of last year while foreign exchange reserves are estimated to have dropped to $114 billion by the end of 2016 from $178 billion in 2014. The government has approved a 14 percent cut in spending for 2017 and higher taxes. Algeria issued a conventional, interest-bearing bond on the domestic market last year. But the amount raised, $5.86 billion, fell short of expectations after religious leaders - and even the government''s own ministry of religious affairs - gave the operation a chilly reception. One well-known preacher told the finance minister: "You will suffer inside your tomb." LOCAL DISTRUST Algeria is far behind North African neighbours Morocco and Tunisia, which have started to develop legislation for Islamic finance and sukuk bonds, overseen by a central religious board. That may change if the planned Algerian national sharia board comes to fruition later this year, a government source familiar with Islamic financing plans told Reuters. Algeria is targetting domestic savers rather than foreign investors. Many local people distrust the state-owned banks and keep large sums at home, untaxed, in Algerian and foreign currency. Experts put informal economy savings at about $90 billion. That would be roughly equal to half Algeria''s annual GDP, and the government launched a study last month in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme to assess the real size of the parallel market. Last year it failed to draw money from the informal market when it offered a fiscal amnesty under which Algerians could deposit undeclared income and pay a 7 percent fee. Instead, the government needs to cater for religious conservatives. "Current funding methods are still very weak," said Mohamed Mouloudi, an Islam analyst and editor of religious books. "Giving the green light to Islamic finance through the participative option would help attract much money from reluctant people." The six state banks have now almost finished preparations for sharia-based financial services, said Boualem Djebbar, who heads the Banks and Financial Institutions Association as well as the Banque de l''Agriculture et du Developpement Rural. "They will offer participative financing soon," he said. A government source told Reuters three of the banks would launch Islamic products in the summer and a fourth may join them at the end of the year. For the other two, that may happen in 2018. A source at one of the banks, the Banque de Developpement Local, said it would be ready within three months. "BDL will launch at least two new products with one focusing on financing based on the murabaha principle at the start of the second half of 2017," the source said, referring to a cost-plus-profit arrangement widely used to structure Islamic loans. Al Salam Bank Algeria and Al Baraka Bank Algeria, local units of Bahrain-listed Islamic banks Al Salam Bank and Al Baraka Banking Group, are also already operating in Algeria. But their market share is estimated by experts at less than 4 percent. They offer retail and commercial banking services. Al Salam Bank has submitted a proposal to the finance ministry to use some form of Islamic finance for partial funding of a $3.2 billion port west of Algiers. Chinese banks will also provide around $1.5 billion for the project. SUBJECT TO SLIPPAGE Algeria''s cautious approach to Islamic finance matches its wrestling with the kind of reforms it needs to deal with the sharp fall in oil prices. "The government preferred a gradual approach," said Abelhak Lamiri, who serves as an economic consultant for the government. Timetables are subject to slippage. In February the state news agency APS, quoting the finance minister, said the interest-free bond would be launched by the end of April. However, this was subject to government approval and so far no details have been announced. Still, state media remain keen on the idea. "The option for Islamic banking products in this time of crisis can only strengthen the financial sector through the diversification of bank offerings," wrote state-run newspaper El Moudjahid, which usually reflects government opinion. "Islamic products will also help attract informal savings." (Additional reporting by Bernardo Vizcaino in New York; Editing by Patrick Markey and David Stamp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/algeria-economy-islamicfunds-idUSL8N1HJ1YQ'|'2017-04-12T17:30:00.000+03:00' '8117a17afb9712a4b9f2b97bd58fe8884755d746'|'Italy''s Carim says private equity firm eyeing controlling stake'|'MILAN, April 12 Italy''s Cassa di Risparmio di Rimini (Carim) said on Wednesday its board had granted access to its books to a private equity firm that offered to buy a controlling stake in the regional bank as it seeks to fill a capital gap.Banca Carim, one of several Italian banks grappling with the fallout of a harsh recession in the country, said its capital ratios were below the requirements demanded by the Bank of Italy.The bank''s core capital ratio stood at 6.91 percent at end-2016, below a minimum 7.80 percent threshold."The board has examined a (non binding) offer ... by a private equity fund willing to inject capital in exchange for control of the bank ... and has decided to grant a due diligence phase," it said.Banca Carim said it had also been in touch with a bank deposit guarantee fund - which can use voluntary contributions from lenders for bank rescues - over a possible capital injection. (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/italy-banks-cassa-rimini-idUSI6N1H800U'|'2017-04-12T17:22:00.000+03:00' 'dab0abb0802deb671d5f998feceb78fb46b997ee'|'Elliott is close to triggering special Akzo shareholder meeting - sources'|' 41am BST Elliott is close to triggering special Akzo shareholder meeting - sources By Greg Roumeliotis Hedge fund Elliott Advisors is close to securing support from enough Akzo Nobel NV ( AKZO.AS ) investors to call for an extraordinary general meeting of the Dutch paint maker''s shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter. Elliott is hoping the move will add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ). Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro ($24 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month, and has resisted engaging in deal talks. [nL5N1GZ1KR] While Akzo is due to hold its regular annual general meeting on April 25, an extraordinary general meeting would allow shareholders to remove Akzo supervisory board and management board members. Akzo shareholders must hold in total at least 10 percent of the company''s issued stock to be able to convene an extraordinary general meeting, which would then take a few weeks to organise. Elliott, which owns a little more than 3 percent of Akzo, is close to mustering support from enough investors to reach the 10 percent threshold and may trigger an extraordinary general meeting within days, the sources said this week. The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Elliott, Akzo Nobel and PPG did not respond to requests for comment. Akzo has scheduled an investor day for April 19, which it will use to provide updated financial guidance and argue that its standalone operational plan, which calls for shedding its speciality chemicals business, will deliver more value with less risk than a merger with PPG. Akzo is considering spinning off its speciality chemical unit, but it is also mulling a sale after fielding acquisition interest in that business, which could fetch between $9 billion and $10 billion in a sale, according to the sources. Private equity firms and smaller companies seeking to team up with buyout firms to make offers will participate in a sale process for the speciality chemicals unit, the sources said. PPG''s Akzo bid is a major test for PPG Chief Executive Michael McGarry. PPG shares are up 16 percent since he became CEO in September 2015. In comparison, the S&P 500 speciality chemicals index is up 21 percent. In private meetings with shareholders, Akzo has cited McGarry''s track record, as well as the antitrust risks of a potential merger, as a reason why a deal with PPG would be risky, according to the sources. PPG is waiting for Akzo to come under more shareholder pressure before making a new acquisition offer, one of the sources said. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzonobel-m-a-ppg-idUKKBN17E02D'|'2017-04-12T08:41:00.000+03:00' 'e55801e240ef30fb431c5cb633bfc9ba6e43e413'|'China''s banking regulator issues notice on financial risk'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 7:05am BST China''s banking regulator issues notice on financial risk BEIJING China''s banking regulator on Wednesday published a notice ordering lending institutions to effectively identify and control risks, the latest in a series of moves by the government to shore-up supervision of its financial system. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) document, published on its official website, called on regulatory departments to strengthen oversight and beef-up their inspections to address regulatory shortcomings. Banks were told to standardise their information disclosure on financial products sold to the public and private placements. In recent months, financial regulators have issued more than two dozen notices aimed at controlling risk stemming from the generation of loans and the accounting of collateral, to the issuance and accounting of more complicated financial products. China''s leaders have stressed the government is moving this year to address risks in the country''s financial system. Earlier this month, CBRC told the country''s banks to conduct "self-inspections" of their use of wealth management products and in other areas where loopholes may have been used to circumvent rules. This week, the banking regulator also issued guidelines on risk controls for lenders, focusing on loans overdue for 90 days or more, and strengthening liquidity risk management. (Reporting By Matthew Miller; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-banks-regulation-idUKKBN17E0GR'|'2017-04-12T14:05:00.000+03:00' 'e2e2366c0090edfbdf239edda4b7e6d79fa48cb5'|'Careful who you CC: Hedge fund Elliott accidentally emails AkzoNobel'|'Money News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 10:54pm IST Careful who you CC: Hedge fund Elliott accidentally emails AkzoNobel By Toby Sterling - AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM Message from the front line of a takeover battle: even the smartest investors can make sloppy mistakes with a sensitive email. In a communication seen by Reuters, Gordon Singer of hedge fund Elliot Advisors accidentally included a representative of AkzoNobel in an otherwise internal distribution list on Tuesday. Not just any email, but one in which Elliott''s team discussed tactics after privately informing Akzo it and other investors would seek to convene a meeting of Akzo shareholders to discuss the dismissal of Chairman Antony Burgmans due to his opposition to takeover talks with PPG Industries.. Akzo has said PPG''s 24.6 billion euros ($26 billion) offer is not worth discussing further - a stance which has angered some shareholders who see scope for further talks between the two sides. The Singer email speculated on whether Akzo would make public the letter calling for Burgman''s dismissal and said shareholders would withdraw their call for a meeting if Burgmans did agree to talks with PPG. In a footnote, Singer instructed an Elliott employee to inform PPG that it had sent the letter to Akzo about the possible meeting. Akzo Nobel''s director of investor relations Lloyd Midwinter was mistakenly included as one of the addressees. In its response to the letter, Akzo said it fully backed the chairman. Perhaps having noticed the footnote to the email, Akzo also filed a complaint with the Dutch financial markets authority AFM, alleging PPG and Elliott may have engaged in improper sharing of sensitive information. It demanded to know what if any agreements exist between PPG and Elliott. Though it was not immediately clear what rules the U.S. company and the British fund might have violated, both felt obliged to respond. Elliott confirmed that it and other investors had been in contact with PPG. Elliott is "aware of its various regulatory obligations, including obligations related to handling price sensitive, or potentially price sensitive, information," it said in a statement. PPG "has always maintained its strict and long-standing policy of not sharing any material, non-public information and has acted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including those of the Netherlands, with respect to communications with any shareholders," it said. "There has not been any, and there are currently no agreements or arrangements, in whatever form, between PPG and Elliott Advisors." AFM confirmed it had received a complaint from Akzo but declined to comment on whether it would take any action. ($1 = 0.9422 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/akzo-nobel-m-a-email-idINKBN17E2BO'|'2017-04-13T01:24:00.000+03:00' 'b437fe6ad92836dc6e3d5a387decb3ec49c7b8c5'|'Euro zone recovery on track despite political uncertainty - ECB''s Draghi'|' 2:14pm BST Euro zone recovery on track despite political uncertainty - ECB''s Draghi Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) speaks during a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach FRANKFURT The recovery of the euro zone''s economy will stay on track this year although heightened political uncertainty around the globe is likely to persist, the president of the European Central Bank said in its annual report. "Political uncertainty is likely to persist into 2017. But we remain confident that the economic recovery, buoyed by our monetary policy, will continue," Mario Draghi wrote in the report, published on Monday. The ECB has cut its main policy rate to zero and has purchased bonds worth trillions of euros in the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crisis. The central bank has to decide later this year if it wants to wind down its money-printing from January, a policy action its critics - mainly in the bloc''s powerhouse Germany - have long been asking for. Draghi gave no hints about the ECB''s future monetary policy steps in the annual report, but repeated that the central bank would stick to its mandate to maintain price stability in the 19-member currency union. (Reporting by Andreas Framke; editing by Andrew Roche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-draghi-idUKKBN17C1GJ'|'2017-04-10T21:14:00.000+03:00' '0be7e79b1ee7d99249c10015cb61ae1e22efd2d3'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 11'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:09am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 11 April 11 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Jana Partners, the activist hedge fund founded by Barry Rosenstein, criticized Whole Foods Market''s brand development, customer service and distribution strategy, and nominated four candidates for the company''s board. nyti.ms/2otz67G - The British authorities are investigating Barclays and its American chief executive, James Staley, after he admitted to trying to learn the identity of the author of an anonymous letter. nyti.ms/2otKdgW - Wells Fargo said on Monday it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company''s scandal over fraudulent accounts: the bank''s former chief executive, John Stumpf, and its former head of community banking, Carrie Tolstedt. nyti.ms/2otAHuf - Adding to this year''s flurry of law firm combinations, Boies Schiller Flexner said on Monday it would take the West Coast litigation firm Caldwell Leslie & Proctor under its wing starting next week. nyti.ms/2otBzPt - In the latest move by a major automaker to enhance its American manufacturing operations, Toyota said it would invest more than $1.3 billion to upgrade its assembly plant in Kentucky. nyti.ms/2otI0lD (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL3N1HJ21M'|'2017-04-11T13:09:00.000+03:00' '88bb5b6597f19e7218ed8408bde34d28944ed414'|'Oil majors'' reserves are shrinking and investors don''t mind'|'Global Energy 7:08am BST Oil majors'' reserves are shrinking and investors don''t mind By Ron Bousso - LONDON LONDON As crude prices recover, oil majors face a dilemma – how quickly should they seek to replenish reserves? It’s the same question the cyclical oil industry has tackled many times before: go too fast and risk spending too much for little reward, go too slowly and your rivals will be better positioned to grab market share should oil prices rise. New data revealed by a Reuters analysis shows the oil and gas reserves of global majors have fallen sharply. Reserve life - the number of years that a company can keep production stable with its reserves - has decreased for Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ), Shell ( RDSa.L ), Total ( TOTF.PA ) and Statoil ( STL.OL ), according to the Reuters analysis of the firms'' annual reports. BP ( BP.L ) and Italy''s Eni ( ENI.MI ) saw a slight increase. ( tmsnrt.rs/2nGfmte ) In the case of Exxon, the world''s top publicly listed oil company, reserve life dropped in 2016 to 13 years, the lowest since 1997, after it wrote down Canadian oil sands. Shell has its lowest reserve life since 2008 despite buying rival BG last year. In the past, the trend may have caused alarm among investors. But, focussed on stock market returns, investors have clear advice: be cautious, do not overspend. That, they say, is because the rise of oil production from shale and the growth of renewable energy mean oil majors should actively avoid storing volumes of oil underground they would have held in previous cycles. Rohan Murphy, energy analyst at Allianz Global Investors, which holds shares in Shell, BP, Total and Statoil, sees a reserve life of eight to 10 years as "quite a healthy level". "I don''t think these companies should have a reserve life much above eight to 10 years, especially when we are trying to get to grips with what oil demand will be in 10 years from now." PEAK DEMAND The global transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy in coming decades further reduces the need for a larger reserve life, said Murphy. That contrasts sharply with fears about peak supply, so widespread only a decade ago, when investors were eagerly watching for news about majors'' reserve replacement. Over the past decade, the world has changed so much that Saudi Arabia now plans to list its national champion Saudi Aramco in what is widely seen by the market as an attempt to cash in on the country''s huge reserves before demand peaks. Oil companies are required to report their reserves every year based on an annual average oil price. With an average 2016 price of around $44 a barrel, the lowest in over a decade, firms were forced to remove reserves from high-cost projects. Jonathan Waghorn, energy fund co-manager at Guinness Asset Management, which holds shares in a number of oil majors, says lower reserves are not his big concern at the moment: "The focus is on cutting costs and living within cash flows so that they survive for the future." To offset the shrinkage, companies could opt to acquire other oil firms or sign production-sharing deals with countries that hold large reserves, similar to what BP and Total did with Abu Dhabi last year, Morgan Stanley analyst Martijn Rats said. Companies have also taken advantage of the rout to buy acreage for future exploration, such as Total''s investment in Brazil and Uganda and BP''s buy into Eni''s Egyptian field Zohr. "It has never been cheaper to buy reserves or find them yourself ... it is very much a buyers'' market if you want to replace reserves," Allianz''s Murphy said. LOOMING SUPPLY SHORTFALL The drop in reserves comes not only as oil prices fell but also because companies sharply cut spending in recent years, shelving many expensive, large-scale developments. "We may be starting to witness the effect of significant capex cuts. The oil market is becoming increasingly undersupplied, which should move the oil price higher," said Kirill Pyshkin from Mirabaud, who has Shell in his portfolio. Last year, 10 billion barrels of oil were discovered, around one third of global consumption, including well-appraisal activity, according to Per Magnus Nysveen, head of analysis at Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy. Oil majors have made only a handful of large discoveries in recent years, including Zohr, Exxon''s Liza field in Guyana and BP''s Tortue discovery in west Mauritania and Senegal. Since 2010, less than 2 billion barrels of oil has been discovered by majors per year and most of this in existing fields, Nysveen said. "The shortcoming of oil replacement by the drillbit has been quite drastic ... Discoveries are not keeping up with production," said Nysveen, adding that supply could fall short by up to 2 million barrels per day within seven to eight years. (Reporting by Ron Bousso, additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Dale Hudson and Richard Mably)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-majors-reserves-analysis-idUKKBN17D0I4'|'2017-04-11T14:08:00.000+03:00' '97b9d43e22e38eaecfa6b74ea6349c4974a3e81a'|'LVMH first quarter sales rise 15 percent, company says environment uncertain'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 5:33pm BST LVMH first quarter sales rise 15 percent, company says environment uncertain FILE PHOTO: The logo of French luxury group Louis Vuitton is seen at a store in Paris, France, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen/File Photo PARIS Luxury goods group LVMH ( LVMH.PA ) posted a surge in first quarter sales on Monday that beat consensus forecasts, although the French company cautioned that its business environment remained uncertain. Sales rose to 9.88 billion euros (8.44 billion pounds), up 15 percent year-on-year. According to a consensus compiled for Reuters by Inquiry Financial, the mean forecast for first quarter sales stood at 9.55 billion euros. LVMH said it had witnessed solid growth across its main markets in Asia, Europe and the United States but added that "the trend currently observed cannot reasonably be extrapolated for the full year". In January, LVMH reported record revenues and profits for 2016 but sounded a note of caution for 2017, given geopolitical uncertainties ranging from the impact of Britain''s decision to leave the European Union to the new U.S. administration of President Donald Trump. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sarah White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lvmh-sales-idUKKBN17C1XB'|'2017-04-11T00:33:00.000+03:00' 'd9156cde563f984418e829f5253603ec7cf2db4b'|'Trump''s message to bankers: Wall Street reform rules may be eliminated'|'By Jeff Mason and Sarah N. Lynch - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank and might eliminate the rules and replace them with "something else."At the beginning of his administration, Trump ordered reviews of the major banking rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis, and last week he said officials were planning a "major haircut" for them."For the bankers in the room, they''ll be very happy because we''re really doing a major streamlining and, perhaps, elimination, and replacing it with something else," Trump said on Tuesday."That will be the minimum. But we''re doing a major elimination of the horrendous Dodd-Frank regulations, keeping some obviously, but getting rid of many," he said.The White House is not unilaterally able to upend Dodd-Frank’s rules, almost all of which are implemented by independent regulatory agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve.A sweeping change to the law would require congressional action, though in some cases regulators may also have wiggle room to make changes through a formal rule-making process.In February, Trump issued an executive order requiring Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to consult with U.S. regulators and submit a report outlining a proposal for possible regulatory and legislative changes that would help fuel economic growth and promote American business interests.That report, due to be released in June, will likely serve as a blueprint for possible changes down the road.Congressional action on a Wall Street bill is not expected in the near term, as Congress focuses primarily on healthcare and tax reform.On Tuesday, House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling announced that he was planning to introduce a new draft by month''s end of sweeping legislation known as the "Financial CHOICE Act" that would give Dodd-Frank a major overhaul.The new draft of the bill would largely defang the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''s supervisory powers and make the director removable at will.It would also revamp bank stress-testing rules and loosen securities regulations to help companies raise cash.The bill is likely to face an uphill battle in the Senate, where Democrats are expected to be resistant and a 60-vote threshold is needed to pass legislation.Participants in Tuesday''s meeting included Rich Lesser, chief executive of Boston Consulting Group; Doug McMillon, chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ); Indra Nooyi, chief executive of PepsiCo ( PEP.N ); Jim McNerney, former chief executive of Boeing Co ( BA.N ); Ginni Rometty, chief executive of IBM ( IBM.N ); and Jack Welch, former chairman of General Electric Co ( GE.N ).The business leaders are part of Trump''s "Strategy and Policy Forum" that last met with him in February.Trump also reiterated his criticism of the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico."NAFTA is a disaster. It''s been a disaster from the day it was devised. And we''re going to have some very pleasant surprises for you on NAFTA, that I can tell you," he said.(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Sarah N Lynch; additional reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Alistair Bell and Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-business-idINKBN17D2QN'|'2017-04-11T20:28:00.000+03:00' '03fca11ab52c6bb7d1abf409c38933f6b3d6e756'|'Short-sellers keep up pressure on Allied Minds'|' 12:25pm BST Short-sellers keep up pressure on Allied Minds By Alasdair Pal - LONDON LONDON Allied Minds ( ALML.L ), the technology and healthcare incubator, is facing more pressure from short-sellers of its stock, pitting hedge funds against one of Britain''s best-known fund managers. The company, which has some high-profile shareholders, including Neil Woodford''s Woodford Investment Management and Invesco Asset Management, was one of the UK''s hottest initial public offerings (IPO) in 2014, with its shares having risen by nearly threefold in the year after listing. But the shares have lost 65 percent so far this year and are trading well below their listing price on worries about the value of its portfolio. The share price weakened significantly after the company pulled the plug on seven of its investments earlier this month. Woodford - founder of Woodford Investment Management, a £15 billion fund group that owns nearly a third of Allied Minds - last week dismissed weakness in shares as "short-term" noise. But demand from hedge funds to borrow shares to sell short has remained intact. Investors borrow shares to sell, betting that the price will fall so they can buy them at a lower price and make money in the process. The number of Allied Minds shares out on loan - a key indicator of short selling interest - has doubled in the last three weeks, from four percent to eight percent, according to data provider IHS Markit. Allied Minds, which partners with universities to fund start-ups, including a business disinfecting nut kernels, declined to comment. New York-based hedge fund Kerrisdale Capital disclosed a short position in Allied Minds as far back as in September 2015 and published a report calling for a 70 percent drop in share price, a successful trade as of last week. At the time, Woodford called the report "opportunistic", but other short sellers appear to have joined Kerrisdale in recent weeks. The hedge fund''s founder Sahm Adrangi told Reuters it was maintaining a short position. "We didn''t think any of the companies had any real value," Adrangi said of Kerrisdale''s original report. "Usually in these situations you see a company that is worth something, but we couldn''t find a single holding we thought was worth much above zero." "If Woodford is not there I don’t know why anyone would own Allied Minds," Adrangi said. According to latest filings, Woodford''s fund owned 28.1 percent of Allied Minds. On April 7, Invesco disclosed it sold 2.5 million Allied Minds shares, though it still owns 25 percent of the company. Woodford, who made his name avoiding technology stocks during the tech bubble in the late 1990s, has more recently funded a number start-ups attempting to monetise intellectual property developed by universities. "We remain strong supporters of the intellectual property commercialisation sector," he said last week. "The businesses we have backed have diverse portfolios of young, disruptive businesses with significant long-term potential." He declined to comment further when contacted by Reuters. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-allied-minds-hedge-funds-idUKKBN17E1DC'|'2017-04-12T19:25:00.000+03:00' '2b44e79f46a3f617e6751ae44767a4c04ddaa9f7'|'Skype founder Zennstrom invests in water-saving shower company Orbital Systems'|'STOCKHOLM Orbital Systems, which makes water-saving showers, said on Wednesday it had raised 15 million pounds ($18.7 million) from a group of investors including its board member Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, to finance its expansion plans.Founded five years ago by Chief Executive Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, who initially developed its water-recycling technique for NASA''s Mars mission project, the company said its investors also included fashion retailer H&M''s ( HMb.ST ) Chief Executive Karl-Johan Persson.Sweden-based Orbital has so far raised a total of 25 million pounds from backers including former Tesla ( TSLA.O ) executive Peter Carlsson, also a board member.It says its shower, which via a built-in purification system reuses the same batch of water over and over again, enables water savings of 90 percent compared with a conventional shower."For our next growth phase we''ll focus on getting Orbital showers into every home that wants to save on ... water, energy and money," Mahdjoubi said in a statement.($1 = 0.8043 pounds)(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm; Editing by Anna Ringstrom and David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-orbitalsystems-funding-idUSKBN17E0SS'|'2017-04-12T12:08:00.000+03:00' '59ffa3cd5b790eb438d9a6998538bf97c61df5dd'|'Petronas pitches $1 billion offshore gas project stake to oil firms - sources'|'By Anshuman Daga and Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Malaysia''s Petronas has pitched an estimated $1 billion stake in a prized upstream local gas project to potential bidders including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil Corp, Thailand''s PTT Exploration and Production and Japanese firms, sources familiar with the matter said.If successful, the deal could mark Petronas'' biggest upstream stake sale since oil prices started declining more than two years ago. Petronas is targeting lowering operating expenses, job cuts and project rollbacks to help it navigate through the low oil price environment.The state-owned oil and gas company has approached about a dozen prospective buyers including global oil majors and Asian firms focused on Southeast Asia, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the talks are private.They said Petronas has begun providing financial and operational data to the companies and expects to receive bids over the next few weeks.Citing sources, Reuters reported in February that Petronas was considering selling a stake of as much as 49 percent in the SK316 offshore gas block in Malaysia''s Sarawak state.In a statement to Reuters, Petronas said that through its subsidiary, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, it is looking for partners who can bring the technology and capabilities to explore, develop and efficiently operate the various fields and opportunities in the SK316 offshore gas block."We are confident that we will attract the right partners to maximise the potential value of these opportunities to help meet the world''s growing oil and gas demand," Petronas said.It was not immediately known what the individual companies'' response to Petronas'' approach was.ExxonMobil declined to comment, while Shell referred the query to Petronas. A spokeswoman for PTTEP declined to comment on the deal but said the company was keen to invest in Southeast Asia because it had expertise in the region where costs and risks were low.(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Gloystein Henning in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in KUALA LUMPUR, Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE, Satawasin Staporncharnchai in BANGKOK and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/petronas-m-a-idINKBN17C146'|'2017-04-10T09:24:00.000+03:00' '42ff94faab6ef18ad99998d1a896c577ee878388'|'BRIEF-United Continental CEO says apologize for having to re-accommodate customers - tweet'|'Company 35pm EDT BRIEF-United Continental CEO says apologize for having to re-accommodate customers - tweet April 10 (Reuters) - * United Continental CEO says this is an upsetting event; apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers - tweet * United Continental CEO says team is working with authorities and conducting detailed review of what happened - tweet Source text: bit.ly/2oZa6Tt'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-united-continental-ceo-says-apolog-idUSFWN1HI0IJ'|'2017-04-11T00:35:00.000+03:00' 'f2e8890f4a58ba05b874252852e7600f25636a97'|'Cinema entrepreneurs return indies to their glory days - Guardian Small Business Network'|'I n its previous incarnations the room above the Spar in Clapton, Hackney, was a bingo hall, a shoe factory and a snooker hall. But in February this year the space in the east London art deco building returned to its original glory as a cinema.The rebirth was thanks to film fans Asher Charman and Danielle Swift. They threw their energy into a Kickstarter campaign to revive the old single-screen Castle Electric Theatre, which had closed its curtains in 1958 after a 45-year run.Charman and Swift never envisaged becoming full-time cinema owners. The couple organise pop-up film nights, Hot Tub Cinema and Pillow Cinema, across the capital and were looking for a venue for an event when they stumbled upon the empty space in Clapton. But they were so bowled over by the building it made them reassess their plans. “It was one of the earliest cinemas ever built and it just compelled us,” says Charman. “It was a beautiful space with a curved ceiling and original features of the cinema. It became apparent that here was an opportunity to create a long-term vision.”With £57,000 raised, one year later the historic Castle Cinema drew back its curtains once again, and screened La La Land on opening night. Charman also injected £10,000 of his own funds into the venture, but success relied on the Kickstarter campaign. “Crowdfunding was essential in sourcing money, but more than money it was a powerful way of gauging interest,” he says. “It meant that when the doors opened, we already had up to 600 loyal members.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest The auditorium of the Castle after restoration. Cinema entrepreneur Tony Mudin is the former owner of a packaging company. His connection to film is through his wife who has held several roles in the industry, most recently as a scriptwriter. Mudin restored The Ritz cinema in Belpar, Derbyshire, in 2006 and The Regal in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, in 2013. Then a third presented itself in Heaton Moor, a suburb of Stockport. “We were looking for cinemas to reopen and somebody mentioned The Savoy in the local town and we thought it could be something we’d be interested in,” says Mudin, chief executive of the parent company behind the trio of cinemas. “Local residents were trying to rescue it and turn it into an arts centre, but they needed funding and were busy professionals. We ended up reverting it to our luxury experience format, and changed the seat capacity to 180 (it was previously 460), putting in sofas and a full bar.” It opened in October 2015.Now the business is a family affair, with Mudin’s middle son and daughter in law running The Regal and his youngest son and other daugher in law running The Savoy. “We enjoy the industry and it’s great to save these buildings. If opportunities present themselves, we will look at them,” he says. “It makes people happy and we want to be part of it.”Film and television streaming services are on the rise with nearly seven in 10 Britons reporting that their household subscribes to watch live broadcast or on-demand programming. But film fans are still devoted to the cinema experience. At the end of 2015 there were 4,046 cinema screens, 137 more than 2014, according to the British Film Institute (BFI). Indie cinemas account for around 350 screens. “Independent cinemas are having a good run at the moment,” says Ben Luxford, head of UK-wide audiences at the BFI. “If you look back at recent titles such as Moonlight, La La Land, Lion, Elle and Viceroy’s House [arthouse films that tend to be shown at independent cinemas] – all have delivered exceptionally well at the box office.”Meet the entrepreneurs shaking up the art world Read more Mudin believes indie cinemas aren’t in competition with online streaming. “People have a fridge of food but still go to restaurants,” he says. “[In the same vein] even if they are watching [movies] on Sky or Netflix, they are still maintaining an interest in films and we play a part in that interest. Our mission is to provide a luxurious and enjoyable experience.”But the battle for customers means indie cinemas tend to be more than just a screen. They need to build an enticing experience into their business plan. Today’s cinema venues, Luxford says, are often also restaurants, cafes or bars, or offer space for wider cultural activities such as art exhibitions.Many also have a strong role to play in the local community. “For people attending indies, there’s a sense of supporting the local business,” says Charman. Rebecca Turner is one film fan won over by her local independent. She visits The Island in Lytham Saint Annes, Lancashire, with her husband nearly every week. “We love the fact it’s not a big chain,” she says. “It feels like we’re supporting local enterprise, and it’s cheaper than going to the big chains nearby.”Phil Clapp, chief executive of the UK Cinema Association , is hopeful that indie cinemas can continue to pull in the crowds. “There’s no reason not to remain optimistic as signs show that people will continue to respond to an immersive, and increasingly personalised, out-of-home experience,” he says. The organisation estimates that the UK could see about 100 new cinema sites in the next five years, with a good proportion being independents.After successfully restoring a local screen, what tips can Charman share with other budding cinema saviours? “It’s important to try and play content that appeals to a broad audience. Try and capture something for everyone.” Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Accessing expertise Small business Entrepreneurs features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/12/cinema-entrepreneurs-return-indies-glory-days'|'2017-04-12T15:00:00.000+03:00' '55a613e33f6b96962261b398e35863893ffc6eaf'|'Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone'|'Business 22am EDT left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 1/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 2/16 left right A man stands next to tombs in the field on the outskirts of Rongcheng county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 3/16 left right A worker packs pipelines onto a truck at a local plastic pipe factory in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture take on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 4/16 left right A woman is carried by a motor tricycle on a main road in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 5/16 left right A woman and a girl walk toward the government building of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 6/16 left right A local villager drives a vehicle carrying building materials in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 7/16 left right A local villager is pictured on the back of a vehicle in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 8/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 9/16 left right A banner supporting the government''s decision of banning new property sales is placed outside a closed sales office of a property in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 10/16 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 11/16 left right A banner warning illegal land occupancy is placed on a wall in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 12/16 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 13/16 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng (C) speaks to Reuters about his idea for the new special economic zone in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 14/16 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng drives a motor tricycle carrying his friends on a main road in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 15/16 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 16/16 By Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn - XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING "I am so happy - I don''t need to move to Beijing or worry about getting a wife anymore," Liu said with a laugh. Such are the hopes for the area, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, that authorities quickly banned property sales to quash a speculative frenzy. While China has set high expectations by touting the Xiongan New Area as a successor to zones in Shenzhen and Shanghai that helped make China an economic powerhouse, the force of Xi''s endorsement could help it flourish where other new development areas failed to match the hype. In a sign of Beijing''s intent, Xu Qin, the former mayor and Communist party boss for Shenzhen, was named acting governor of Hebei province on Friday, with analysts saying it is likely he will be tapped to lead development of Xiongan. Once a sleepy fishing village, Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, became an economic juggernaut after being declared a special economic zone in 1980. Details for Xiongan, planned eventually to stretch across 2,000 square kilometers, an area almost as big as Tokyo, remain sketchy. It is pitched as an environmentally friendly city housing some of Beijing''s relocated "non-capital functions", with hopes to attract high-tech industries. Nearly 30 large state enterprises including PetroChina ( 601857.SS ) and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp have expressed interest, though no specific relocation plans have been announced. The three counties that make up the area, Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng, are home to about a million people as well as wheat fields, light manufacturing and heavy pollution - endemic in much of Hebei. But unlike Shenzhen and Shanghai''s Pudong, the development of Xiongan is not expected to be accompanied by major economic reforms, and its landlocked setting is a transportation disadvantage. "Natural market forces would probably not have chosen this place. But if the central government backs it with unlimited resources, it could become whatever it wants to be," said Steven McCord, head of research for North China at real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The plan fits into a broader regional integration push for the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province, dubbed Jing-Jin-Ji, which has been spearheaded by Xi since 2015 to tackle the "big city disease" plaguing Beijing, a crowded and polluted city of 22 million. But Jing-Jin-Ji''s progress has been slower than hoped. "It''s been hard to get traction getting Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to work together seamlessly," McCord said. Xiongan could be a political and geographical "clean slate" to generate more jobs and economic stimulus for North China, he said. Xi himself visited Anxin county in late February, which only became public when China announced plans for Xiongan on April 1. Morgan Stanley''s base scenario foresees 133 billion yuan ($19.3 billion) in additional fixed asset investment annually over 15 years to build Xiongan, equivalent to just 0.24 percent of China''s 56.2 trillion yuan of nationwide fixed asset investment last year. MIXED RECORD While the Shenzhen and Shanghai economic zones thrived, some similar schemes in China have fallen short of expectations. Caofeidian, also in Hebei, was promoted by former President Hu Jintao as a new industrial zone in 2008, but development foundered as debt accumulated. Authorities have been trying to give Caofeidian another push to upgrade its industries to become a driver of Jing-Jin-Ji''s integration, but competition among provinces has been a drag on progress. "Caofeidian had central government support, but it was a long way from being a national-level special economic zone. Its importance was definitely not at the same level that Xiongan is seeing now," said He Jun, head of macroeconomic research at Anbound Consulting. "Xiongan''s biggest advantage is that it has strong support from the central government." He remains doubtful that Xiongan will emulate Shanghai or Shenzhen due to its geography and the greater openness of China''s economy now, but the political leadership seems intent on making it succeed. Among the architects of the new project is Xu Kuangdi, the mayor of Shanghai in the late 90s who also heads the advisory committee for Jing-Jin-Ji. The leadership make-up is intended to ensure Xiongan would "escape past failures", said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University''s Chong Yang Institute for Financial Studies. Not everyone in Anxin is cheered by the prospect. An Anxin restaurant owner in her 50s surnamed Liu said she checks social media constantly for updates, as she fears being forced out of the spacious villa built on her farmland. "I don''t think it is necessarily a good thing for me. Our lives are pretty good right now." Down a street next to fields of withered wheat, workers loaded a truck with plastic pipes, a major local industry. "The establishment of the new zone for sure will limit us further as we do pollute the environment to some degree," said Zhao Xiaodong, owner of Jitong Plastic. But most locals are optimistic. "If president Xi thinks it will be the next Shenzhen and Shanghai, then it will be," said Mrs Shi, a shop worker in Xiongxian. ($1 = 6.8998 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Additional reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Tony Munroe and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-xiongan-idUSKBN17E0TW'|'2017-04-12T16:13:00.000+03:00' '035429d6321be6fb406d10923458f7dcf7084037'|'Siemens to set up global logistics headquarters in Dubai'|' 44am BST Siemens to set up global logistics headquarters in Dubai A man passes Germany''s Siemens AG headquarters in Munich Perlach May 30, 2014. REUTERS/Lukas Barth DUBAI German engineering group Siemens AG ( SIEGn.DE ), will set up its global headquarters for airports, cargo and ports logistics in Dubai, the company said on Wednesday. Siemens, one of the largest manufacturing and electronic firms in the world, will use buildings at the Expo 2020 Dubai, a $7 billion exhibition centre project, as the new home for its future global logistics headquarters from April 2021. The arrival of Siemens at the Expo project provides more evidence that Dubai is back in expansion mode after running into trouble during the 2009 global financial crisis. The expo is a major part of Dubai''s plans to expand its infrastructure and boost its credentials as a tourist destination. The new global HQ will include bases for Siemens’ airports, cargo infrastructure and ports teams, said the statement. "All levels of value addition will be represented in Dubai including global management and strategy, research and development, innovation, software development, sales, assembly, and production." The Munich-based group has operations in around 190 countries and its projects in the Middle East include sustainable power generation, industrial automation and smart building technologies. In October the company signed a contract to upgrade Iran''s railway network , one of several deals agreed by German firms. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom, Editing by William Maclean)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-siemens-dubai-idUKKBN17E12N'|'2017-04-12T17:44:00.000+03:00' 'edc0b9dc628cca8cd543758ba7465f607a3baf1a'|'Bank of England says no need for tougher fintech regulation'|' 2:11pm BST Bank of England says no need for tougher fintech regulation left right Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivers a speech at the International Fintech Conference in London, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall 1/3 left right Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivers a speech at the International Fintech Conference in London, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall 2/3 left right Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, speaks during a question and answer session with Reuters Global Editor Alessandra Galloni at a Reuters Newsmaker event in London, Britain April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 3/3 By Huw Jones and Jemima Kelly - LONDON LONDON Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Wednesday the financial technology sector did not need the same level of regulation as banks, in the latest sign of Britain seeking to cement its position as a global fintech hub after Brexit. The fast-emerging fintech sector is shaking up financial services and forcing banks to make their operations leaner and cheaper, and to offer more innovative and user-friendly products so as not to fall behind. Fintech already employs more than 60,000 people in Britain, providing services like contactless payments, banking apps and online crowd funding, a sector worth nearly 7 billion pounds ($8.75 billion). The government sees the sector boosting growth and offering job opportunities, but uncertainty over Brexit is prompting some firms to rethink whether Britain is the best place for them. Centers including Berlin and Luxembourg have been targeting UK fintech firms since last June''s Brexit vote, and London-based fintech firm Transferwise told Reuters it would shift its European head office to the continent. Carney''s reassurances on regulation underscore a supportive attitude from the government, which is seeking to avoid stifling innovation and sending firms to lighter-touch countries. Speaking at a government-sponsored conference in London to promote investment in fintech, Carney said the fastest changes were taking place with payment providers, and with companies that aggregated consumer data to provide price comparison and switching services. "In their current form, these innovations are simply a new front end to the banking system where fintech providers take a slice of customer revenue and loyalty but none of the associated risks," Carney said. "They have generally avoided undertaking traditional banking activities. So for now, absent a substantive change in business models or scale of activities, the Financial Policy Committee is unlikely to want to bring these firms into the regulatory perimeter." NO RESTING ON LAURELS Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority said this week it saw no need for new rules for blockchain, the emerging technology underpinning bitcoin that is seen as having the potential to help make processes such as the settlement of securities transactions cheaper and quicker. The FCA is hosting a summit on Wednesday to discuss what more regulators could do to help the fintech sector flourish. Brexit provides a chance for Britain to forge a new role for itself in the global economy, finance minister Philip Hammond told the London conference, though it was important that Britain does not "rest on (its) laurels". "If the UK is going to make the most of the freedoms it will have after leaving the European Union we have to build trade links with the fast-growing economies of Asia... and our economy must remain at the cutting edge, not just of fintech," Hammond said. Berlin has already sent representatives to London to try to persuade UK fintech firms to relocate, saying they would be then guaranteed access to the EU market after Brexit in 2019. Transferwise will move its European office to the continent by March 2019 to maintain customer links, its chief executive Taavet Hinrikus said. "Uncertainty means that maybe if you''re building the next fintech business you shouldn''t build it in London today, until everything clears up again and we understand what’s going to happen," Hinrikus said on the sidelines of the conference. Gwyneth Nurse, a senior official in Britain''s finance ministry, said she was confident that a free trade agreement with the EU would be negotiated in the timescale set out by Prime Minister Theresa May, including a period for firms to adjust. (Additional reporting by David Milliken, editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-boe-carney-idUKKBN17E0W1'|'2017-04-12T21:11:00.000+03:00' 'd87e9e21bd8486b47183160d87bd47a4e613ea1d'|'PRESS DIGEST- Canada - April 12'|' 6:46am EDT PRESS DIGEST- Canada - April 12 April 12 The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. THE GLOBE AND MAIL ** A landmark deal between TransCanada Corp and Western Canadian natural gas companies for discounted, long-distance pipeline transport comes "just in time" to help stave off some competition from increasing U.S. production, says one of the key backers of the agreement. tgam.ca/2p4Zs0j ** British Columbia Liberal Leader Christy Clark has launched the 41st general election in British Columbia, laying out a simple campaign theme that she is counting on voters to favour on May 9 – that only her party will keep the province''s economy strong and job opportunities growing. tgam.ca/2p4TcWw ** Canadian oil producers are confident in Alberta''s oil sands projects as a long-term play, betting that consolidation and a homegrown focus will drive down operating costs and make the industry more competitive as foreign players retreat. tgam.ca/2p4HhI1 NATIONAL POST ** Cenovus Energy Inc CEO Brian Ferguson says the company is encouraged by the interest in its asset divestiture plan to fund part of the mega C$17.7 billion ($13.29 billion)deal to buy ConocoPhillips'' Canadian assets, which should help improve investor sentiment around the acquisition. bit.ly/2p4YRf4 ** Pembina Pipeline Corp plans to build a propane export terminal in Prince Rupert, British Columbia where major liquefied natural gas export projects have stalled in recent years. bit.ly/2p4HIlD ** Canadian oilsands producers worried about international capital fleeing to the U.S. should take heart from the long-term attractiveness of the reserves, according to a senior think-tank advisor. bit.ly/2p4Ti0t ($1 = C$1.33) (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-canada-idUSL3N1HK3QB'|'2017-04-12T18:46:00.000+03:00' '5c29532b4ddb454ad0fdc3d00db7800ea85c1548'|'LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns'|'Deals - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 7:47pm EDT LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns FILE PHOTO: LeEco''s new Le Pro3 phone is on display during a press event in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 19, 2016. RETUERS/Beck Diefenbach China''s Le Holdings Co Ltd ( 300104.SZ ), also known as LeEco, abandoned its proposed $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio Inc ( VZIO.O ) on Monday, citing "regulatory headwinds." LeEco and Vizio, however, have struck a new collaboration agreement that includes bringing Vizio products to the Chinese market, according to a brief emailed statement from the Chinese company. The statement did not elaborate on the regulatory hurdles that prevented the deal from going ahead. The deal to buy Irvine, California-based Vizio was announced in July. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-vizio-m-a-leeco-idUSKBN17C2MX'|'2017-04-11T07:47:00.000+03:00' '36f9f84ddae0ed1c3dfdbe248ea2f728c15894cb'|'Mexico''s Asur acquires majority in airport groups in Colombia'|'MEXICO CITY Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste said on Monday it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in two peers in Colombia, Airplan and Aeropuertos de Oriente, for some $262 million.The Mexican company known as Asur ( ASURB.MX ), said once the deal was concluded, it would hold 92.42 percent of Airplan''s capital and 97.26 percent of Aeropuertos de Oriente.The two companies each have concessions to operate six airports in Colombian cities including Medellin, Cucuta, Bucaramanga, Santa Marta and Monteria, Asur said in a statement.The deal is subject to approval from Colombian authorities, the Mexican company added.(Reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by Alexandra Alper)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-asur-colombia-idINKBN17C2HZ'|'2017-04-10T19:57:00.000+03:00' '4ffc166dd9c54a38b3a8227a65cfbecd4f8f7ff3'|'Baoshan steel cuts main steel product prices for May delivery'|' 46am BST Baoshan steel cuts main steel product prices for May delivery BEIJING China''s biggest listed steelmaker, Baoshan Iron & Steel ( 600019.SS ) (Baosteel), has cut its main steel product prices for May delivery, the company said in a statement late on Monday. Prices for hot rolled coil for May will be cut by between 120 yuan and 300 yuan ($17.39 and $43.46) per tonne, the company said. Prices for CQ grade and non-auto grade cold rolled coil will be cut by 300 yuan per tonne, while prices for other cold rolled coil will be cut by 120 yuan per tonne, it said. The firm''s pricing moves usually set the tone for the industry. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-steel-idUKKBN17D062'|'2017-04-11T09:46:00.000+03:00' '540dbccf18ab524046f571ca73c06d77a24926e7'|'France''s gig economy creates hope and tension as election looms'|'Business 7:05am BST France''s gig economy creates hope and tension as election looms By Michel Rose - PARIS PARIS It''s lunchtime and Parisians are queuing for baguettes at a bakery on the Rue Montmartre, a sight long typical of life in the French capital. But three cyclists clad in neon-blue outfits chat outside and regularly check the smartphones strapped to their wrists, waiting for orders to whisk meals from nearby restaurants and bistros to other Parisians in their homes or offices. They''re among an army of riders working for the British-based Deliveroo firm who have rapidly become a familiar sight pedalling up and down the city''s boulevards. These recent scenes in the Montorgueil district of Paris offer two opposing visions for large parts of France''s services economy; each is championed by one of the candidates likely to contest the run-off vote for the French presidency next month. Far-right contender Marine Le Pen wants to protect the likes of the traditional French baker or driver of metered taxis in towns and cities across the country from unfair competition. Her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron sees the "gig economy" of firms such as Deliveroo and the U.S. app-based cab service Uber as a model for creating jobs particularly in the "banlieues" - deprived suburban housing estates where unemployment is almost three times the national rate. Still, concern is growing about a new class of working poor with no social protection, and California-based Uber faced days of sometimes violent protests by its French drivers in December after raising fees it charges them to use the platform. So, with the rapid emergence of new forms of employment creating such frictions, the next president will have to decide whether to say "stop" or "more" to the gig economy. On the Rue Montmartre, the Deliveroo riders leant towards the view of Macron - a former banker who tried to push through liberal reforms as economy minister from 2014-16 - even though they work as self-employed contractors without protections such as accident insurance that salaried staff automatically enjoy. One was 21-year-old Nicolas Usunier, who dropped out of college in his first year and looked in vain for a job at bakeries and supermarkets. By contrast, becoming a Deliveroo rider was quick and easy, he told Reuters. "I was struggling. Then I saw a guy doing that; two weeks later I was on my bike going around Paris," he said. "I know some would like a real contract, but I like the flexibility." Waiting for an order at the bakery in central Paris, an-hour''s commute from his home, Usunier says he has not seriously considered getting insurance. "I will think about it the day I have an accident," he laughed. (For graphic on business creation and bankruptcies in the transport sector, click tmsnrt.rs/2lkLqC3 ) THE JOB ARGUMENT France is famous for strong rights enjoyed by those people who have traditional employment contracts. Their working week is set at just 35 hours and firing them is difficult. Critics say this makes employers reluctant to hire and the price is chronic unemployment which, at almost 10 percent is roughly double the rate in Germany or Britain. Approaching a quarter of young workers have no job. France is also struggling to integrate generations of immigrants, failing to create anything like enough jobs for those stuck on the cities'' peripheries. But contrary to France''s image of a country set in its ways, the gig economy - where people offer their labour without the security of a traditional employment contract, often in industries where smartphone apps connect customers to businesses - is changing the landscape. France now has 1.1 million registered self-contracting workers, although only 643,800 were active as of the middle of last year. That compares with a labour force of about 29 million, including just under 3.5 million unemployed. However, one in four jobs created in the first half of 2016 in the Paris region was due alone to cab services operated by Uber and its rivals, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group commissioned by the U.S. company. The figure for what is known as the VTC sector - "transport vehicle with driver" - was lower elsewhere as Uber is less active in provincial cities, but still significant at 15 percent of new net jobs in the whole of France. Ironically, Uber and its competitors possibly have more growth potential in France than in generally less regulated economies such as Britain and the United States. Last year, there were just 5.6 VTC and traditional taxi drivers per 1,000 residents of greater Paris compared with 12 in London and 17 in New York, making it hard to find a cab at times. Outside the capital, getting French taxi firms to answer the phone late at night, let alone send a car, can be an even more frustrating experience. Boston Consulting said almost 60,000 extra jobs could be created in Paris alone by 2022 if it came close to matching the London or New York levels. In the meal delivery sector, growth has been exponential. Deliveroo''s sales rose 650 percent in France in 2016, more than in other European markets, country manager Hugues Decosse said. Decosse declined to give precise figures and with the gig economy new to France - Uber launched in Paris in 2012 and Deliveroo in 2015 - official data on the sector is scarce. OPPORTUNITY FOR THE EXCLUDED A study by Facta consultancy, partly commissioned by taxi companies, said the newcomers had gained market share by cutting prices but the overall taxi and VTC sector had not grown. However, data from Thomson Reuters Datastream suggests the transport sector generates disproportionately large numbers of entrepreneurs and jobs: since mid 2015 it has created 20 new companies for each that goes bust, compared with nine firms for each bankruptcy in the broader economy. GRAPHIC - The Uber effect tmsnrt.rs/2lkLqC3 Consumers are also benefiting. Inflation for taxi rides has fallen from nearly four percent three years ago to 0.2 percent, compared with overall inflation of 1.6 percent in January. Government social affairs inspectors say the new economy offers an opportunity for people excluded from the labour market. Macron has also taken up this message for the elections, to be held over two rounds on April 23 and May 7. "All those who became self-employed drivers, what did they do before? They weren''t taxi drivers; they were unemployed. They were on benefits, or even sometimes dealing drugs," he said. Macron denounced a French social model that he said cared more about protecting "insiders" on iron-clad permanent contracts than opening up to "outsiders". "Let''s end this French preference for unemployment," he added in a radio interview. Not everyone shares his vision. Sayah Baaroun, who has set up a union for VTC drivers, accused Macron of patronising banlieues residents, many of whom have immigrant backgrounds. "Basically what he says is: considering what you look like, where you''re from, where you live, you really shouldn''t be complaining and accept the crumbs," he told Reuters. Last week Baaroun called for a boycott of Uber to demand higher prices for his drivers. LONG HOURS, POOR PAY Abi Cheli, a 34-year-old cleaner who works for Deliveroo in his spare time to top up his income, says it is making a big difference in neighbourhoods which have endured riots and sometimes Islamist radicalisation. "I see these jobs as a way to absorb all this social tension, which is huge," he said. Deliveroo has unveiled free third-party insurance for its riders. But generally gig economy firms are reluctant to offer benefits in case this leads to court rulings that contractors are de facto employees who should have permanent jobs. Hours can also be long and pay poor. The Boston Consulting study said Uber drivers worked 52 hours a week on average - much more than the statutory 35 hours for employees - for 1,400 euros ($1,500) a month. That is below the minimum wage of 1,480 euros. Work for Deliveroo is often more a top-up than a living wage. A Harris Interactive study commissioned by the firm showed more than half of its riders were students and 82 percent were satisfied. But they worked 22 hours a week on average, with only 41 percent of them earning more than 750 euros a month. On the election trail, Le Pen has leapt to defend traditional professionals such as taxi drivers from the newcomers. "What''s certain today is that this competition is unfair, it''s illegal," she told France 2 television. The National Front candidate said she did not condone incidents in which taxi drivers have set upon Uber drivers and their passengers. But she added: "This anger that is rising - any worker experiencing that would probably do the same if faced with the same situation." Le Pen''s promise to set a minimum tariff for Uber drivers and ensure it pays more taxes in France attracts taxi drivers, who have suffered big drops in their income since Uber launched. "The whole profession was transformed in the last few years and not in a good way," said 56-year-old driver Armando Calcada. "So for me it''ll be Le Pen, and straight from the first round." (Additional reporting by Matthias Blamont, Leigh Thomas and Simon Carraud; editing by David Stamp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-election-gigeconomy-analysis-idUKKBN17D0I8'|'2017-04-11T14:05:00.000+03:00' '3eec195bfcbe266d750f64c3da6d739d998596f3'|'German GDP growth seen topping estimates in 2017, 2018 - sources'|'Money News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 2:23pm IST German GDP growth seen topping estimates in 2017, 2018 - sources FILE PHOTO - A steel-worker is pictured at a furnace at the plant of German steel company Salzgitter AG in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony on March 21, 2012. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo BERLIN Germany''s leading economic institutes have raised their forecasts for economic growth to 1.5 percent in 2017 from 1.4 percent, and to 1.8 percent in 2018, according to sources familiar with new projections due to be released on Wednesday. The institutes had previously estimated that Germany''s gross domestic product - which grew by 1.9 percent in 2016 - would expand by 1.6 percent in 2018. The institutes also project continued increases in employment, with the total workforce expected to increase by 1 million people in both 2017 and 2018, said the sources. (Reporting by Rene Wagner and Klaus Lauer; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/germany-economy-forecast-idINKBN17D0VZ'|'2017-04-11T16:53:00.000+03:00' '31156c6354d8a278a91776ccd25de40c4d13d759'|'METALS-London copper slips as oversupply worries drag'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:46am EDT METALS-London copper slips as oversupply worries drag * London copper slips * Weaker dollar fails to generate buyers (Adds trader comment, updates prices) By James Regan SYDNEY, April 11 London copper eased further on Tuesday after dropping the day before, weighed down by concerns about oversupply as the world''s top two copper mines look to recover from disruptions. "Even a weaker dollar didn''t generate much interest for investors," said a commodities trader in Perth. "It was more a case of everyone sitting on the sidelines for now." The dollar index, which gauges the U.S. currency against a basket of six major peers, was slightly down on the day at 101.050. FUNDAMENTALS * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper had slipped 0.01 percent to $5,740 a tonne by 0730 GMT, after dropping nearly 1.5 percent the day before. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper declined 1.7 percent to 46,580 yuan ($6,748) a tonne. * COPPER SUPPLY: Prices have faltered since shipments resumed from BHP Billiton''s Escondida mine in Chile and since Freeport McMoRan Inc said it was waiting for final details on a temporary export permit in Indonesia, ending lengthy disruptions. * U.S. STOCKS: U.S. stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher as gains in energy shares offset losses in financials ahead of quarterly corporate earnings later this week. * BHP: BHP on Monday rejected a plan by activist shareholder Elliott Advisors to scrap the miner''s dual company structure, split off its oil business and return more cash to investors, saying the costs would outweigh any benefits. * Any significant changes to the corporate structure of BHP Billiton would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law, the Australian government said on Tuesday. * PERU: A Southern Copper Corp spokesman said its operations in Peru were near normal as workers started an indefinite strike on Monday, although a union representative said 80 percent of capacity was affected. * NEW CALEDONIA: A powerful cyclone that hit New Caledonia late on Monday and shuttered nickel operations has moved offshore, allowing authorities to lift warnings on the French South Pacific territory. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or * MARKETS Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as the political tinderbox in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula added to uncertainty over the looming French vote, pushing nervous investors into safer assets such as the yen and Treasuries. * Even oil, which advanced earlier on supply concerns in the wake of U.S. missile strikes on a Syrian air base last week and a shutdown at a Libyan oilfield, reversed to trade lower, breaking its multi-session winning streak. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0900 Euro Zone Industrial Production Feb 1000 U.S. NFIB Business Optimism Mar 1400 U.S. JOLTS Job Openings Feb PRICES'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HJ2IE'|'2017-04-11T15:46:00.000+03:00' 'bcafff7bf5d5c4497193a2fe83ebdd3fda1fb211'|'IranAir signs contract with ATR to buy 20 planes'|'Business 46am BST IranAir signs contract with ATR to buy 20 planes LONDON IranAir has signed a contract to buy 20 planes from turboprop maker ATR, Iranian deputy transport minister was quoted as saying on Monday. "The contract between IranAir and ATR to buy 20 ATR 72-600 aircrafts has been signed by the officials of both countries," Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan was quoted as saying by ISNA. ATR is joint-owned by France-based Airbus ( AIR.PA ) and Leonardo SIFI.MI of Italy. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-transportation-atr-idUKKBN17C0JA'|'2017-04-10T14:53:00.000+03:00' '9471126665c99e1b1b980a69f7ed77682d745e01'|'Brazil banking group sees pension reform passed by September'|'SAO PAULO, April 10 Brazil''s Congress is likely to pass a pension reform spearheaded by President Michel Temer in the next six months, the head of national banking association Anbima, Jose Eduardo Laloni, told journalists on a Monday conference call.Laloni said financial markets are indicating a growing confidence that Temer can pass the reform, which would guarantee a more stable fiscal outlook for the government. That outlook and the drop in inflation and interest rates should lead companies to issue more new shares and bonds this year, he said. (Reporting by Aluisio Alves)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-politics-pensions-idINE6N1FG020'|'2017-04-10T12:41:00.000+03:00' 'b5ea08ccc065191b92b106ef5be4e563c602c1d1'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|' 11am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 10 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Monday: ** Swift Transportation Co is merging with Knight Transportation Inc in a share swap that would combine two of the biggest U.S. trucking operators that are together worth more than $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. ** Buyout groups Bain Capital and Cinven won the backing of German generic drugmaker Stada''s management with a surprise improvement on its previous takeover proposal, valuing the company at about 5.3 billion euros ($5.6 billion). ** Turkey''s Vestel is in talks to buy the television unit of Japan''s Toshiba Corp, a Vestel official said on Monday, a deal that could be worth a few hundred million dollars and could expand the Turkish firm''s global presence. ** Anglo American will sell its Eskom-linked thermal coal operations in South Africa for $166 million, it said on Monday, marking an important step in the mining giant''s strategic overhaul to sharpen its focus on three commodities. ** China''s HNA Holding Group Co. said it would make an offer to acquire Singapore-listed logistics firm CWT Ltd for $1 billion. ** A consortium of investors led by Indian private equity fund True North has agreed to acquire Religare Enterprises Ltd''s health insurance business in the country, the groups said in a joint statement on Sunday. (Compiled by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HI3EC'|'2017-04-10T18:11:00.000+03:00' '43ff24dad990a308dc32c72bb305f31b38f42b84'|'UK consumer spending grows at slowest rate in three years - Visa'|' 9:08am BST UK consumer spending grows at slowest rate in three years - Visa FILE PHOTO: A market stall is seen between two High Street shops on Oxford Street in central London December 13, 2011. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/File Photo LONDON British consumer spending increased at the slowest annual pace in more than three years in the first three months of 2017, in a further sign that one of the economy''s main engines is losing steam as Brexit preparations begin, a survey showed on Monday. Payment card company Visa ( V.N ) said real-terms spending increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in the three months to March, the weakest calendar-quarter performance since late 2013 and down from 2.7 percent in the last quarter of 2016. In March alone, spending dropped 0.7 percent compared with the previous month, after being flat in February. The survey adds to a growing mass of indicators showing that rising inflation - caused in part by the pound''s post-Brexit vote tumble - is crimping consumer spending, just as Prime Minister Theresa May begins Britain''s EU divorce talks. "Our data suggests that consumer spending is beginning to slow from the strong levels seen in late 2016, as rising prices increasingly squeeze household purchasing power," said Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, speaking at Thomson Reuters'' London office on Friday, said he would keep a close eye on whether consumer demand weakens in line with the central bank''s expectations. Last week pension provider Scottish Friendly and the Social Market Foundation think tank said 46 percent of households plan to cut back on spending. More than half of these households blamed the rising cost of living. The Office for National Statistics releases inflation data for March on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters expect consumer prices rose at a 2.3 percent annual pace, unchanged from February''s rate. Visa''s monthly figures are based on spending on its credit and debit cards, which it says account for about a third of consumer spending in Britain. The figures are adjusted to strip out payments such as taxes that do not count as consumer spending, and to take account of the growing proportion of purchases made by card rather than with cash. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-spending-visa-idUKKBN17B12A'|'2017-04-10T16:08:00.000+03:00' '688368f2ef53567313128893a6d37c21230bfbfb'|'IranAir may receive first Boeing jet sooner than planned'|' 12am BST IranAir may receive first Boeing jet sooner than planned PARIS/DUBAI IranAir may get its first new Boeing ( BA.N ) jetliner a year earlier than expected under a deal to take jets originally bought by cash-strapped Turkish Airlines, Iranian media and industry sources said. Iran had been expected to receive the first of 80 aircraft ordered from the U.S. planemaker in April 2018, but at least one brand-new aircraft is reported to be sitting unused because it is no longer needed by the Turkish carrier. Industry sources said Boeing was in negotiations to release at least one 777-300ER originally built for Turkish Airlines, which is deferring deliveries due to weaker traffic following last year''s failed coup attempt in Turkey. Boeing said it never comments on talks with customers. The airlines involved were not immediately available for comment. Iran''s Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told the semi-official Mehr news agency the first Boeing 777 aircraft would reach Tehran within a month. It would be the first new U.S.-built jet delivered to Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The long-haul 777 is worth $347 million (£280 million) at list prices but is likely to have been sold for less than half that, according to industry estimates. IranAir has also ordered 100 aircraft from Europe''s Airbus ( AIR.PA ) under a deal to lift most sanctions in return for curbs on Iran''s nuclear programme. Its return to the aviation market after decades of sanctions comes at a time when airlines elsewhere are having second thoughts about purchases due to concerns about the economy and looming over-capacity among wide-body jets. That trend has made a number of unused jets available for quick delivery at competitive prices, including three Airbus jets recently delivered to Iran, and has allowed IranAir to jump the usual waiting list of several years. The government of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani is seen as keen to showcase results from the sanctions deal ahead of a May election at which challengers include hardline Shi''ite cleric Ebrahim Raisi. Aviation sources say the first aircraft were paid directly from Iranian funds, but doubts remain over credit financing needed to secure almost 180 jets still on order. Western banks continue to shy away from financing deals between IranAir and Western companies, fearing U.S. banking sanctions that remain in force or a new chill in relations between Tehran and the West under U.S. President Donald Trump. Boeing has stressed the benefits to U.S. jobs of the plane deals. Fakhrieh-Kashan was meanwhile quoted on Monday as saying IranAir had reached a long-awaited agreement to buy 20 European turboprops from ATR ( LDOF.MI )( AIR.PA ). Talks over maintenance with engine maker Pratt & Whitney Canada ( UTX.N ) had delayed a final deal. It was not immediately clear whether the official was referring to an earlier deal for the planes or the final contract including engine overhaul. ATR said on Sunday it was still in talks with IranAir. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Dubai newsroom; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath and Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-aircraft-idUKKBN17C0IB'|'2017-04-10T15:12:00.000+03:00' '4e465176d64c6008f06ee779bbf509cbe660ef79'|'Virgin couldn’t find Anytime at all for us to book a balloon flight - Money'|'As a 60th birthday present I was given vouchers for a Virgin balloon flight, ironically called 7 Day Anytime, for myself and two adult sons. That was in 2014. They both work full time in different cities and I also work, making booking a flight at weekends the only viable option. This is virtually impossible as the flight times and dates are only released a month in advance and seem to be fully booked within minutes of reaching the website. We managed to book on four occasions but each time it was cancelled, apparently due to bad weather. Each time Virgin extended the voucher for a further six months.However, in 2016 I was unable to rebook because one of my sons was travelling before starting a new job, with no confirmed start date. Virgin said it would extend the vouchers into the new year. However, it can’t find a record of this conversation, even though I used the same mobile as I have now.When I tried to rebook in January it said the vouchers had expired, and it wanted £40 or £50 per person for “administration charges”. When I refused, its complaints department initially agreed to reinstate the vouchers after demanding proof that my son had actually been away.I contacted Virgin with some possible dates when all three of us were available in late April and May. I was offered two dates in April on a take-it-or-leave -it basis, then it demanded an extra £10 to extend them for a month claiming I had been too slow in taking up the reinstatement offer. Again, I refused.The whole experience has been a nightmare. The booking process is so restrictive that it is virtually impossible to get three places on a weekend anywhere in the country.Virgin has been remarkably inflexible and shows no understanding of the difficulties of booking a flight.IW, Barlaston, near Stoke-on-TrentVirgin Experience – and Virgin Balloon Flights – feature with some regularity in this column. Commonly, vouchers for these trips are bought as gifts, which rather takes the joy out of it when recipients have problems arranging dates or – typically – getting refunds. Virgin points out hot air ballooning is weather-dependent and it will never take any risk with passengers’ safety.It adds that its weekend flights are “for obvious reasons our most popular and do get booked up very quickly. However, our customer service team is on hand seven days a week, all year round, to help any passenger struggling to find a date that works for them.“We also extend all of our vouchers following any cancellation by us to ensure passengers always have at least six months to book again, as often as required, until they do get into the air. We do not charge for rebooking by any passenger with a valid flight voucher. The expiry date of a voucher is a date by which passengers need to have booked, rather than a date by which they need to have flown. So even though we only fly March to October, passengers can still book on to flights during the winter for the start of the following season.”All this is explained in its terms and conditions – and, crucially, that if your flight is cancelled you must book a new date before a voucher expires. Virgin says it records all calls and takes issue with some aspects of your version of events. However, as a goodwill gesture it is offering a further extension of a month and says it will be happy to assist you with booking an available flight.We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone numberTopics Money Consumer champions Consumer rights Virgin Group features '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/09/virgin-balloon-flights-weather-cancel-booking'|'2017-04-09T15:00:00.000+03:00' '68814b55236cb86c80766ef512a03c6d8730203d'|'BRIEF-Vanguard''s former CEO Bogle says stocks are expensive - CNBC'|'Company News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:31am EDT BRIEF-Vanguard''s former CEO Bogle says stocks are expensive - CNBC April 10 (Reuters) - * Vanguard Group''s former CEO Bogle on CNBC - stocks are expensive; good time to raise capital * Vanguard Group''s former CEO Bogle on CNBC - will have lower inflation in future'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-vanguards-former-ceo-bogle-says-st-idUSL8N1HI3Z5'|'2017-04-10T22:31:00.000+03:00' '2c4de6529789f97e2c3cb96cc1fbe5c4f4b318f2'|'Partial owner of Kushner''s New York flagship property willing to sell'|'Business News 10pm EDT Partial owner of Kushner''s New York flagship property willing to sell A building at 666 Fifth Avenue, owned by Kushner Companies, rises above the street in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson NEW YORK Efforts to breathe new life into an ageing Manhattan office building that is the flagship property of the family of President Donald Trump''s son-in-law has gained a green light after a partial owner of the building indicated a willingness to sell. Steven Roth, chairman and chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, said in a letter to its shareholders that there had been "much press" recently about 666 Fifth Avenue, a 60-year-old building that Vornado owns with the Kushner family. "This is an ongoing, complex, dynamic, and unpredictable situation," Roth said in the letter dated April 4. Vornado has a joint venture in the building with Kushner Cos., a real estate company whose chief executive until recently was Jared Kushner, an adviser to Trump who is married to Trump''s daughter Ivanka. Jared sold his interests to a family trust in January. Vornado declined to elaborate on Roth''s letter, first reported by the New York Post late on Friday. "Kushner Cos. is in active, ongoing discussions around 666 Fifth Avenue," spokesman James Yolles said in a statement. A previous statement had termed talks as "advanced." Kushner said two weeks ago it ended talks to re-develop the 39-story building, valued for its proximity to Rockefeller Center, the Museum of Modern Art, and St. Patrick''s Cathedral, with China''s Anbang Insurance Group [ANBANG.UL]. Talks had centered on Anbang providing as much as half of $2.5 billion in equity in a plan that called for stripping the building down to its steel columns and adding about 40 floors. The project was designed by Zaha Hadid, a Pritzker Prize award winner for architecture, before she died last year. In February, Vornado said in a regulatory filing that the office segment of the building was under development or not available for lease, a sign the building was being emptied of tenants to accommodate a makeover. Roth''s letter showed that Vornado''s share of debt in the office portion of the building was $691 million, which would value the Kushner''s 50.5 percent share at about $705 million. While Roth said it is a "rare case" when Vornado may be sellers, he acknowledged since 2012 the real estate investment trust has increased selling activity four-fold. It executed $5.7 billion in asset sales, resulting in gains of $2.4 billion. Any redevelopment plan could be hampered by the cost of buying out tenants with long-term leases or Spanish retailer Zara''s store at the building''s foot. (Reporting by Herbert Lash)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-property-kushner-vornado-realty-idUSKBN17C1UT'|'2017-04-11T00:05:00.000+03:00' '9e3df0bae4ceb9a68b5daa33e050fd9a3a3431b3'|'Markets edgy on political risks ahead of UK inflation - business live'|'Markets edgy on political risks ahead of UK inflation - business live UK prices expect to come in above Bank of England’s 2% target again LIVE Updated Bank of England governor Mark Carney. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AFP/Getty Images View more sharing options 07.32 07.33 BST Live feed 07:32 Agenda: UK consumer prices in focus Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business. Stock markets are back in nervous mode, with a number of political concerns to worry investors. The US attack on Syria has increased the global uncertainty, and on top of that there are increasing tensions between President Trump’s administration and North Korea. In Europe the French presidential race continues to dominate the agenda. Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said: Flight to safety continues, as geopolitical concerns occupy the global headlines with North Korea’s missile tests, US’ strike on Syria and Jean-Luc Melonchon gaining support in the French election race... According to one Kantar poll, Melonchon advanced to the third place, taking lead over Francois Fillon. Political risks could encourage a further slide in the euro. So the Nikkei has closed down 0.27% and European markets are expected to open slightly lower: IGSquawk (@IGSquawk) Our European opening calls: $FTSE 7343 down 6$DAX 12170 down 30 April 11, 2017 On the economic front, the latest UK inflation figures are in focus, and are expected once again to come in above the Bank of England’s 2% target. Many analysts are forecasting a figure of 2.3% in March, flat on the previous month although some believe there could be a slight dip. Unicredit said: We see headline CPI inflation easing to 2.1% year on year in March from 2.3% year on year in the previous month, and core inflation down by 0.3 percentage points to 1.7% year on year. The later timing of Easter this year and a negative contribution from motor fuel prices is likely to more than offset substantial price rises by some of the Big 6 UK energy suppliers. Here’s our preview of what to expect: Price rises and pay figures to underline Brexit strain on Britons Read more German confidence figures are also due later and, on the corporate front, we have figures from JD Sports. Share'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2017/apr/11/markets-edgy-on-political-risks-ahead-of-uk-inflation-business-live'|'2017-04-11T14:32:00.000+03:00' 'c729dd8021d643daec39a3cda057b37ce8ceeded'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Manulife Real Estate, Siemens, Vedanta Ltd, Barclays, ChemChina, Sika, Autogrill and Cenovus Energy)April 11 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:** Loews Corp, a hotel, energy and financial services conglomerate, said it would buy plastic packaging manufacturer Consolidated Container Co from Bain Capital Private Equity for about $1.2 billion.** Weight-control nutrition company Atkins Nutritional Holdings has agreed to go public through a merger with blank-check company Conyers Park Acquisition Corp in a deal that will value the combined company at about $856 million.** Finnish retailer Kesko said it will sell its agricultural trade chain K-maatalous to Sweden''s Lantmannen EK for 38.5 million euros ($40.8 million).** South African e-commerce and pay-TV group Naspers will pay 960 million rand ($69.5 million) to increase its stake in local online retailer Takealot, the companies said in a joint statement.** LeEco has scrapped a planned $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio due to regulatory issues, a fresh setback to the cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate''s expansion drive.** Germany''s Linde has for a second time rejected a request for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting next month on its planned $65 billion merger with U.S. industrial gases rival Praxair.** Accell Group, the maker of Dutch bicycle brands Sparta and Batavus, said on Tuesday it had received a takeover proposal that values its stock at 845 million euros ($895 million) from investor Pon Holdings.** The CEO of AkzoNobel, the Dutch paints and coatings maker whose management is trying to avoid a takeover by U.S. rival PPG Industries, said its shareholders are divided over the bid in an interview published.** Argentina''s state-run oil company YPF SA is among the bidders for Royal Dutch Shell Plc''s refinery and network of gasoline stations in Argentina, according to two people familiar with the process.** A unit of a large semiconductor investment fund linked to the Chinese state has agreed to buy U.S. semiconductor testing company Xcerra Corp for $580 million in cash, the companies said on Monday.** Online coupon provider RetailMeNot Inc said it had agreed to be bought by marketing services company Harland Clarke Holdings Corp for about $630 million.** Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste said it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in two peers in Colombia, Airplan and Aeropuertos de Oriente, for some $262 million.** Manulife Real Estate, the global real estate arm of Manulife Financial Corp, said it acquired 8 Cross Street, a 28-storey office tower in Singapore, for $526 million.** Germany''s Siemens and Canada''s Bombardier are in talks to combine their rail operations, two people close to the matter told Reuters, a move that could strengthen their hand against Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC Corp.** Greece concluded a 1.2 billion euro ($1.27 billion) airport deal with a Fraport-led consortium, the country''s privatization agency said.** Indian metals and mining group Vedanta Limited said it had completed its buyout of oil and gas explorer Cairn India Ltd, consummating a deal that was delayed for months by investor opposition.** Barclays'' plan to sell its African business and pull out of the continent are being hindered by South Africa''s political upheaval and credit-rating downgrades, according to banking sources and fund managers.** Mexico''s antitrust commission COFECE said it would condition its approval of ChemChina''s planned $43 billion takeover bid of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG.** Sika Chairman Paul Haelg said he expects the hostile takeover attempt of his company by French construction materials giant Saint-Gobain to be resolved by 2018.** Italian travel caterer Autogrill plans to rejig its business structure, the company said, a move that drove its shares to a record high by fuelling talk it could seek to sell off units or acquire others.** Cenovus Energy Inc will do more hedging after its acquisition of ConocoPhillips assets, the Canadian company''s Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said as he mounted a charm offensive on investors who balked at the deal. ($1 = 0.9430 euros) ($1 = 13.8200 rand) (Compiled by Komal Khettry and Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HJ3FJ'|'2017-04-11T18:00:00.000+03:00' '45b3708d8739b6acc7c2818e40a2ec00680584f6'|'Four more banks named in bond price-fixing complaint'|' 28pm BST Four more banks named in bond price-fixing complaint FILE PHOTO: The logo of French BNP Paribas bank is seen in central Paris December 15, 2008. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo By Abhinav Ramnarayan and Karen Freifeld - LONDON/NEW YORK LONDON/NEW YORK Investors who are suing a group of traders and banks, saying they colluded to fix bond prices, have named four more banks as defendants. An amended copy of their lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Monday, shows BNP Paribas, HSBC, RBC and TD Bank have been added to the suit, which alleges that various banks and individuals manipulated the U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign, supranational and agency (SSA) bond market. Bond trader Gary McDonald, who worked at three of the banks, has also been named as a defendant in the amended lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges McDonald was also involved in colluding to fix bond prices. They join Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Agricole, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Nomura as defendants, along with individual defendants Hiren Gudka, Bhardeep Singh Heer, Amandeep Singh Manku and Shailen Pau, who have been named in previous lawsuits. Bank of America, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Nomura declined to comment. Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, TD and RBC did not respond to requests for comment. Pau and Heer''s lawyers declined to comment, while lawyers for Gudka and Manku did not immediately respond to requests for comment. McDonald could not immediately be reached for comment. The amended lawsuit says lawyers for the investors have obtained transcripts of hundreds of electronic chats between the alleged conspirators, covering over 300 trading days. The suit says the alleged collusion began as early as 2005 and lasted for nearly a decade. "This case concerns a brazen conspiracy to manipulate the market for U.S. dollar denominated supranational, sovereign, and agency bonds," the lawsuit claims. "Rather than the dealer defendants competing with each other for the purchase and sale of SSA bonds to investors and to each other, the dealer defendants worked as one team." In January last year, International Financing Review, a Thomson Reuters publication, reported sources saying that the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating four London-based SSA traders and the banks that employed them for possible manipulation of bond prices [ bit.ly/2ongDsW ]. Since then, several investors have filed complaints against the banks and individual traders allegedly involved. Monday''s filing adds new details and allegations, including a sampling of chat transcripts, although some of the information, including the transcripts, has been redacted. The redactions were necessary because of a confidentiality agreement associated with obtaining the documents, a person familiar with the matter said. The plaintiffs in the consolidated class action lawsuit include the Iron Workers Pension Plan of Western Pennsylvania, KBC Asset Management and Sheet Metal Workers Pension Plan of Northern California. (Additional reporting by John Geddie; Editing by Nigel Stephenson, Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-banks-bonds-lawsuit-idUKKBN17D2KD'|'2017-04-12T04:28:00.000+03:00' '3cd9c77c8395fde3d19e83bbaed96a043474946b'|'BRIEF-Ten reports delivery of aframax tanker sola ts'|' 32pm EDT BRIEF-Ten reports delivery of aframax tanker sola ts April 11 Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd: * Ten announces delivery and charter of aframax tanker sola ts and initiation of strategic relationship with large end user * Tsakos Energy Navigation - announced initiation of strategic alliance with major us oil co for chartering series of crude tankers for periods of up-to 3 years Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ten-reports-delivery-of-aframax-ta-idUSFWN1HJ0IU'|'2017-04-12T04:32:00.000+03:00' 'aed395c13049b11c43cd300c457ffbc9c8d52478'|'Freight train to leave Britain on long haul for China'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 10:12am BST Freight train to leave Britain on long haul for China left right Chinese women wave flags at the official ceremony to mark the departure of the first UK to China export train, laden with containers of British goods, from the DP World London Gateway, Stanford-le-Hope, Britain April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 1/2 left right Chinese women wave flags at the official ceremony to mark the departure of the first UK to China export train, laden with containers of British goods, from the DP World London Gateway, Stanford-le-Hope, Britain April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 2/2 STANFORD-LE-HOPE, England The first freight train to run from Britain to China was due to depart on Monday, carrying vitamins, baby products and other goods as Britain seeks to burnish its global trading credentials for when it leaves the European Union. The 7,500-mile journey from eastern England to eastern China will take three weeks, around half the time needed for the equivalent journey by boat. The first freight train from China arrived in Britain in January. The train will leave a depot at Stanford-Le-Hope in Essex for Barking in east London, before passing through the Channel Tunnel into France and on to Belgium, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. Britain is seeking to enhance its trade links with the rest of the world as it prepares to leave the EU in two years'' time. "This new rail link with China is another boost for global Britain, following the ancient Silk Road trade route to carry British products around the world," said Greg Hands, a British trade minister. Run by Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment, the Yiwu-London freight service makes London the 15th European city to have a direct rail link with China after the 2013 unveiling of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative by Chinese premier Xi Jinping. Among the goods being transported to China are soft drinks, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and baby products. "This is the first export train and just the start of a regular direct service between the UK and China," Xubin Feng, chairman of Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co., said. "We have great faith in the UK as an export nation and rail provides an excellent alternative for moving large volumes of goods over long distances faster." (Reporting by Peter Nicholls; Writing by Alistair Smout; Editing by William Schomberg)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-china-train-idUKKBN17C0PQ'|'2017-04-10T17:06:00.000+03:00' '83fc634617589422571eaa87b4d02dc53fcea581'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 10'|'April 10 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The Times* Shaftesbury, the owner of large chunks of Soho and Covent Garden, is braced for a bid from a reclusive Hong Kong billionaire, Samuel Tak Lee, who has yet to meet the company. bit.ly/2onmJd8* Lloyds would not have gone ahead with the disastrous deal to save HBOS if the failed bank''s managers had admitted what they knew about the huge fraud at its Reading branch, according to confidential documents. bit.ly/2onr1RWThe Guardian* More than a quarter of a million customers of payday loan firm Wonga are being warned that their personal data may have been stolen in a data breach at the firm. bit.ly/2ont4W7The Telegraph* U.S. based TSG Consumer Partners splashed out 213 million pounds for a 22 percent holding in Scotland-based brewer Brewdog, valuing the business at almost 1 billion pounds. bit.ly/2onzmVM* Thailand based Minor International, which has 140 hotels largely in Asia, said the fall in the value of the pound had made the company more determined to find a site for its first UK hotel. bit.ly/2nRlUW5Sky News* Associated British Foods has appointed headhunter Spencer Stuart to identify a successor to Charles Sinclair, who has led the company for exactly eight years, according to Sky News. bit.ly/2nQZBjs* Drax Group, which operates the Yorkshire coal-fired power plant of the same name, is braced for substantial opposition to its 2016 pay report at its annual meeting on Thursday, according to Sky News. bit.ly/2nR9OwkThe Independent* The U.S. Department of Labour has accused internet giant Google of not paying women employees the same as men. ind.pn/2onDjtw(Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL1N1HH0M5'|'2017-04-09T21:25:00.000+03:00' 'ad135ca8bd2f0a27fc82ff1f2ce9979178fb7bd3'|'BRIEF-Invesco reports preliminary month-end AUM of $834.8 bln'|' 33pm EDT BRIEF-Invesco reports preliminary month-end AUM of $834.8 bln April 12 Invesco Ltd * Invesco Ltd. announces March 31, 2017 assets under management and extension of foreign exchange hedges * Says reported preliminary month-end assets under management (AUM) of $834.8 billion, a decrease of 0.2% month over month Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-invesco-reports-preliminary-month-idUSASA09IDC'|'2017-04-12T04:33:00.000+03:00' '33f22e23da1cc18985f17bbb6eaade449258ea8e'|'Barclays whistleblower case sparks calls for more protection'|'Whistleblowing charities and law firms have called for companies to offer more protection to workers who flag up internal problems after the chief executive of Barclays attempted to track down the author of anonymous letters.Jes Staley is being investigated by financial regulators and faces a significant cut to his pay after admitting trying to unmask a whistleblower who made allegations about a long-term associate he had brought to the bank. Public Concern at Work, a charity for whistleblowers, said there was “much work to be done” while GoodCorporation said that the Barclays saga would be a “real test” for the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority.Barclays boss used bank''s security team to hunt for whistleblower Read more There are strict regulations in the financial services industry about encouraging and protecting whistleblowers. This includes the senior managers and certification regime , which is aimed at improving individual accountability within the financial services industry.Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the House of Commons Treasury select committee, said: “The senior managers and certification regime is supposed to ensure that whistleblowers are protected. This is the first proper test of those rules, and it is for the regulators to test whether Barclays had the right processes in place. The Treasury committee will take a close interest in the regulators’ conclusions.”Cathy James, the chief executive of Public Concern at Work, said there has been an increase in interest from City firms about how to draw up internal guidelines and calls to its helpline from potential whistleblowers.James said: “I’m not in a position to say whether that’s good or bad news in terms of a change in culture.”“Is that because of increased confidence in whistleblowing, or increased interest from the regulator? It still remains to be seen,” she said. “There is clearly much work to be done.”Last year the whistleblowing charity advised on 130 cases involving individuals working in the financial sector, compared with 98 in 2015 and 102 in 2014. So far this year, it has received 35 calls from the financial sector. Public Concern at Work is working with some of the big banks and other financial firms to help them draw up internal whistleblowing guidelines. James said the new FCA rules, including the requirement to have an internal whistleblowing champion, had contributed to a surge in interest.However, one employment lawyer said Barclay’s refusal to sack Staley undermined its approach to whistleblowers. Barclays has said it will send Staley a formal written reprimand and cut his bonus but also backed him to continue as chief executive. Anna Birtwistle from CM Murray said:“While cutting Staley’s pay may outwardly appear to represent a strong response from Barclays, it is difficult to reconcile the board’s continued confidence in Staley with its stated commitment to whistleblowing. “Fostering an open culture of disclosing wrongdoing in the workplace requires top-down stewardship and while it may be understandable that Barclays has backed Staley given his successes in post, the bank’s response to Staley’s actions may give mixed messages to its employees and the wider financial services industry about the steadfastness of its commitment to whistleblowing.” GoodCorporation, a consultancy that advises businesses on ethics, said Staley’s conduct could discourage others whistleblowers from speaking out.Leon Martin, the managing director of GoodCorporation, said: “The Barclays whistleblower scandal will be a real test for the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, whose rules on whistleblowing clearly state that a whistleblower’s confidentiality must be protected and that firms need to create a culture that encourages employees to raise concerns about poor behaviour.“It is hard to see how an organisation whose CEO instructs his internal security team to identify the author of a whistleblowing letter has created an open culture whereby employees feel confident to speak out. With all that has been said about reforming behaviour in the banking sector, it seems clear that this is still a work in progress.“Whistleblowing is an essential component of good corporate governance which needs to be embraced at the top of an organisation. An effective board will ensure that the right culture is in place, paying particular heed to employee confidence in raising concerns and to monitoring the ways in which they are dealt with. Avoiding any form or repercussion or detriment is essential.”Topics Barclays Banking Financial Conduct Authority Regulators Corporate governance '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/11/barclays-whistleblower-bank-jes-staley-investigation'|'2017-04-11T20:59:00.000+03:00' '0edb16a66ea3fcb58e4c01b68e3d7705cbf4f336'|'Expert help for gardens on a budget, plus the older expats facing poverty - Money'|'Hello and welcome to this week’s Money Talks – a roundup of the week’s biggest stories and some things you may have missed.Money news Millions of EDF customers face second price rise this year Government launches ‘market-leading’ savings account The older expats facing poverty – thanks to Brexit and frozen pensions Student loan interest rate set to rise by a third after UK inflation surge Wonga data breach could affect nearly 250,000 UK customers Feature Revealed: the huge profits earned by big banks on overseas money transfers Facebook Twitter Pinterest The bulk of banks’ profits from money transfers come from the so-called ‘FX margin’ rather than fees directly charged to the customer. Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian In pictures Homes with air conditioning Facebook Twitter Pinterest Stay cool in this property on VIP Island, Florida. Photograph: Walt Simpson/Sorensen Real Estate In the spotlight The experts’ guide to making your garden bloom on a budget Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andy Sturgeon’s design was named best show garden at the 2016 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Consumer champions It was DFS customer service that didn’t measure up Why won’t the Co-op Bank believe me when I say I’m 15? Virgin couldn’t find Anytime at all for us to book a balloon flight Money deals Planning an Easter getaway? Get great value holiday cover with Guardian travel insurance , provided by Voyager.You could save when you send money overseas with expert guidance and free online transfers from moneycorp, provider of Guardian international money transfers . Topics Money Money Talks Consumer rights Pensions Savings Banks and building societies Property Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/12/expert-help-gardens-budget-older-expats-poverty-consumer-champions'|'2017-04-12T23:07:00.000+03:00' '44b9b0b8ad1264fec5f43ff1259a5310ba215d35'|'Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM'|'FRANKFURT Germany''s Linde ( LING.DE ) has for a second time rejected a request for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting next month on its planned $65 billion merger with U.S. industrial gases rival Praxair ( PX.N ).Linde said shareholders would in any case have to decide individually whether to accept a public offer from the new combined holding company, so a vote at the AGM on May 10 would not be appropriate."Even if a qualified majority of Linde shareholders would accept the exchange offer, not a single Linde shareholder will be forced to exchange his shares," it said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.Linde was responding to a renewed request from German private-investor association DSW, which came on behalf of shareholders Aberdeen Asset Management and BayernInvest.(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Jens Hack; Editing by Edward Taylor)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idINKBN17D11F'|'2017-04-11T07:35:00.000+03:00' '585a8b055d2b5c370eb7e15f687ee6a840879c23'|'Swiss billionaire Wyss gets nearly 10 percent of Molecular Partners'|'ZURICH Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss has built a nearly 10 percent stake in biotech group Molecular Partners ( MOLN.S ) after share sales by Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ) and other investors, the SIX Swiss Exchange said on Tuesday.Wyss, who made a large share of his fortune by selling med-tech company Synthes Holding AG to J&J in 2012 for nearly $20 billion, now owns 9.85 percent of Molecular Partners, whose products include several prospective cancer and eye disease treatments with partners including Allergan. ( AGN.N )In addition to J&J, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Index Ventures Associates IV Ltd have unloaded stakes this month.Beyond ventures in Swiss medical companies, Wyss has given about $225 million to Harvard University and its Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.(Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-molecular-partners-wyss-idINKBN17D0XQ'|'2017-04-11T07:07:00.000+03:00' '31acd3479e45014b70efddc4e4ec3721b756e6a9'|'Trump’s Biggest Legislative Success Story'|'Forget about the Obamacare-repeal-and-replace fiasco. The White House wants the media—and all Americans—to pay more attention to its accomplishments under the Congressional Review Act.You may be asking, “The Congressional Review what?”The CRA is an obscure 1996 statute that allows lawmakers to get rid of regulations passed by the immediately previous administration. So far, President Donald Trump has signed 11 CRA resolutions sent to him by Congress, knocking out Obama-era rules ranging from a restriction on aerial bear hunting on federal land in Alaska to limits on when the mentally ill can purchase firearms to regulation of pollution from coal mining.“I think if you take in totality what we’ve been trying to do on the regulatory front, it is a news story,” Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, told reporters Wednesday. And he’s right.The triviality of the bear-hunting-by-helicopter issue notwithstanding, Trump and his sometimes-allies in the Republican controlled Congress have followed through on the president’s threat to roll back a bunch of Obama-era rules. On April 3, Trump signed a CRA measure killing online privacy protections passed last year by the Federal Communications Commission. The regulator had required that internet companies obtain customer permission before using their browsing history and other data to create advertising.Condemning the CRA roll-backs, Public Citizen, a liberal Washington nonprofit, estimated that corporate interests had originally spent a total of $1 billion opposing the now-canceled regulations. The White House, for its part, estimated that rescinding the regulations would save some $10 billion over 20 years (the sort of projection best assessed with a generous helping of salt).When Trump on Feb. 14 signed a resolution overturning an Obama regulation that forced oil, gas, and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments, it was the first time a president had acted under the CRA in almost 16 years. The only other successful use of the CRA came in 2001, when President George W. Bush vaporized ergonomic protections of workers put in place by the administration of Bill Clinton. The CRA does have limited scope. It applies to regulations with an anticipated annual economic effect of $100 million or more. And it allows lawmakers to invalidate a new rule only within 60 working days of the regulation’s taking effect. The window for Congress to counteract Obama rules will close roughly at the end of April. Between now and then, Congress has a two-week recess and the not-incidental matter of avoiding a government shutdown.While the Trump CRA binge is likely nearing its conclusion, it has been, for better or worse, the new administration’s main legislative achievement.'|'bloomberg.com'|'https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek'|'http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-06/trump-s-biggest-legislative-success-story'|'2017-04-07T02:07:00.000+03:00' 'a76cb4b54d9b0f0cfb6cc0be06405e69c3c204e4'|'Petronas pitches $1 billion offshore gas project stake to oil firms-sources'|'By Anshuman Daga and Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Malaysia''s Petronas has pitched an estimated $1 billion stake in a prized upstream local gas project to potential bidders including Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil Corp, Thailand''s PTT Exploration and Production and Japanese firms, sources familiar with the matter said.If successful, the deal could mark Petronas'' [PETR.UL] biggest upstream stake sale since oil prices started declining more than two years ago. Petronas is targeting lowering operating expenses, job cuts and project rollbacks to help it navigate through the low oil price environment.The state-owned oil and gas company has approached about a dozen prospective buyers including global oil majors and Asian firms focused on Southeast Asia, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the talks are private.They said Petronas has begun providing financial and operational data to the companies and expects to receive bids over the next few weeks.Citing sources, Reuters reported in February that Petronas was considering selling a stake of as much as 49 percent in the SK316 offshore gas block in Malaysia''s Sarawak state.In a statement to Reuters, Petronas said that through its subsidiary, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, it is looking for partners who can bring the technology and capabilities to explore, develop and efficiently operate the various fields and opportunities in the SK316 offshore gas block."We are confident that we will attract the right partners to maximize the potential value of these opportunities to help meet the world''s growing oil and gas demand," Petronas said.It was not immediately known what the individual companies'' response to Petronas'' approach was.ExxonMobil declined to comment, while Shell referred the query to Petronas. A spokeswoman for PTTEP declined to comment on the deal but said the company was keen to invest in Southeast Asia because it had expertise in the region where costs and risks were low.(Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Gloystein Henning in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in KUALA LUMPUR, Jessica Jaganathan in SINGAPORE, Satawasin Staporncharnchai in BANGKOK and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-petronas-m-a-idINKBN17C14A'|'2017-04-10T08:47:00.000+03:00' 'e8798589c5667df21d8757e223db629313b89ae0'|'UPDATE 1-IranAir signs contract with ATR to buy 20 planes'|'World 55am EDT IranAir signs contract with ATR to buy 20 planes LONDON IranAir has signed a contract to buy 20 planes from turboprop maker ATR, Iranian deputy transport minister was quoted as saying on Monday. The deal comes after Iran, which had not directly purchased a Western-built plane in nearly 40 years, signed contracts with Europe''s Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing last year to purchase about 180 jets. That became possible after an agreement between Iran and six major powers lifted most international sanctions imposed on Tehran, in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program. ATR is joint-owned by France-based Airbus and Leonardo of Italy. "The contract between IranAir and ATR to buy 20 ATR 72-600 aircrafts has been signed by the officials of both countries," Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan was quoted as saying by ISNA. A basic deal for the purchase of 20 airplanes, with options for another 20, was reached several weeks ago but negotiations dragged on over an agreement for maintenance and spare engines between IranAir and engine supplier Pratt & Whitney Canada, owned by U.S. aerospace group United Technologies. It was not immediately clear whether Fakhrieh-Kashan was referring to the underlying aircraft contract or the final package including the engine deal. ATR was not immediately available for comment, but on Sunday a spokesman said, "We are still working on finalizing the deal." (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin in London and Tim Hepher in Paris, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-transportation-atr-idUSKBN17C0IM'|'2017-04-10T14:53:00.000+03:00' '4693ef4bd67c7169e378b721005fb370c0ae334e'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 10'|' 32am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 10 April 10 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 8 points at 7,357 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers. * RIO TINTO: Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd , said on Sunday it paid $4 billion in taxes and royalties globally in 2016, a 12 percent drop on 2015 that primarily reflected lower earnings. * CAPITAL & COUNTIES: British property developer Capital & Counties said on Friday it has sold its exhibition business for 296 million pounds ($367 mln) to a group of institutional investors. * SKY PLC: The European Commission cleared Rupert Murdoch to take over pay-TV group Sky on Friday, leaving a British investigation into the impact on the country''s media landscape as the only remaining hurdle for the $14.5 billion deal. * EXPERIAN: Credit bureau Experian Plc has joined forces with technology firm BioCatch to use behavioral biometrics to help its clients spot fraudsters applying for credit cards and other lending products online, the companies said on Friday. * GREEN INVESTMENT BANK: Australian investment bank Macquarie looked set to acquire Britain''s Green Investment Bank (GIB) after a court rejected the claim of a rival bidder on Friday. * BRITAIN EMISSION: Britain''s automotive industry body defended diesel cars on Monday, as the government prepares to announce proposals for improving air quality which could follow London in making it more expensive to use the most polluting vehicles. * EUROPEAN INSURERS: Brexit and political uncertainty in Europe are likely to depress merger activity among European insurers this year, after a steep decline in deals in 2016, ratings agency AM Best said on Monday. * The UK blue chip index was up 0.6 percent at 7,349.37 points at its close on Friday as oil stocks extended gains, bucking a broader risk-off move across markets after a U.S. cruise missile strike in Syria. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HI26M'|'2017-04-10T13:32:00.000+03:00' '942c37e717ff028ebe32a4c43828e274ef4cb342'|'BRIEF-South Africa''s Competition Commission refers ten more charges against Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha to tribunal for adjudication'|'Company 10:48am EDT BRIEF-South Africa''s Competition Commission refers ten more charges against Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha to tribunal for adjudication April 10 South Africa''s Competition Commission: * Referred ten more charges against Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd to tribunal for adjudication * Relates to price fixing, market division and collusive tendering practices involving transportation of cars produced by Toyota South Africa Motors, by sea * Is seeking administrative penalties of 10% of company''s annual turnover for each of additional ten charges Source Text ID: (file:///C:/Users/u6026132/AppData/Local/Fastwire/Download/-1615 328321/Body.Html)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-south-africas-competition-commissi-idUSFWN1HI0DL'|'2017-04-10T22:48:00.000+03:00' '2d4b1f75f91b50047b909d92ce42fd6141cf88df'|'Oil prices firm on strong demand, political uncertainty in Syria'|' 9:43am IST Oil prices firm on strong demand, political uncertainty in Syria An offshore oil platform is seen at the Bouri Oil Field off the coast of Libya August 3, 2015. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi/Files By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices were firm on Monday, supported by strong demand and political uncertainty in Syria, although another rise in U.S. drilling activity kept a lid on gains. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were at $55.28 per barrel at 0226 GMT, up 4 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 10 cents at $52.34 a barrel. Traders said prices were being supported by strong demand, and also political uncertainty following the U.S. missile air strikes on Syria late last week. ANZ bank said on Monday that strong oil demand and "an unsettled global backdrop (is) leaving the market very finely balanced". However, another increase in U.S. oil drilling, which has run up for 12 straight weeks to 672 rigs - the highest level since August 2015, kept markets from breaking last week''s one-month highs of over $56 per barrel. U.S. bank Goldman Sachs said following the rig data release that year-on-year U.S. oil production "would rise by 215,000 barrels per day in 2017" once a backlog of production waiting to be brought back online was taken into account. The soaring output in the United States contrasts with a supply cut led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which hopes to prop up prices by reducing supplies in the first half of 2017 - and maybe even beyond. This allows U.S. producers to sell rising amounts of cheap U.S. crude into the rest of the world, where prices are higher. "Reduced OPEC volumes and stronger U.S. output will result in a deeper discount for U.S. crude and support greater exports from the U.S. to Asia over the coming months," BMI Research said, although it added that in terms of overall volumes, "the U.S. will remain a small player in Asia as OPEC actively protects its market share." Beyond the United States, other producers are also benefiting from OPEC''s supply cuts and artificially tighter market. Brazil''s oil exports have soared 65 percent since February 2016, to record highs of more than 1.46 million bpd, according to government data obtained by Reuters. Consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates 2017 exports will hit nearly 1 million bpd, up from 798,000 bpd last year. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin and Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-oil-idINKBN17C0B9'|'2017-04-10T12:13:00.000+03:00' '8a404c7d954c300b53dff65d8e42ec17e9dad27f'|'Indonesia eyes truce with Freeport as losses mount for both sides'|'Commodities 57am EDT Indonesia eyes truce with Freeport as losses mount for both sides left right FILE PHOTO: A view of the Grasberg copper and gold mine operated by an Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc, situated 4,285 meters above sea level, near Timika, Papua province, February 15, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. REUTERS/M Agung Rajasa/Antara Foto/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Trucks operate in the open-pit mine of PT Freeport''s Grasberg copper and gold mine complex near Timika, in the eastern region of Papua, Indonesia on September 19, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. REUTERS/Muhammad Adimaja/Antara Foto/File Photo 2/2 By Fergus Jensen - JAKARTA JAKARTA Losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars appear to be pushing the Indonesian government and mining giant Freeport McMoRan to resolve a row that has crippled operations at Grasberg, the world''s richest copper mine, for three months. Freeport says it has lost revenue of about $1 billion since the export of copper concentrate from Grasberg was halted on Jan. 12 under new rules issued by the government. The government has lost millions of dollars in royalties and is worried about layoffs and a slowing economy in the restive Papua region, where the giant mine is located. "There''s a lot of grandstanding in public – that, with our economy being close to a $1 trillion a year now, Freeport is a small matter," said a senior Indonesian government official, who estimated the lost royalties and taxes from the mine at about $1 billion a year. "But truth be told, a $1 billion a year reduction in fiscal revenue is a lot," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Indonesia halted Freeport''s copper concentrate exports under new rules that require the Phoenix, Arizona-based company to adopt a special license, pay new taxes and royalties, divest a 51 percent stake in its operations and relinquish arbitration rights. Freeport threatened in February to take the dispute to arbitration, saying the rules were "in effect a form of expropriation". But now, Indonesia has promised to allow Freeport to export its copper concentrate once again, while negotiations continue over the next six months on contentious issues, including on divestment, economic and legal protection and smelting investment. The compromise comes ahead of a visit to Indonesia by U.S. Vice President Mike Spence next week. Pressure to resolve the row could also come from Freeport''s third-biggest shareholder, activist investor Carl Icahn, who has been appointed a special adviser to President Donald Trump. For Indonesia, tensions at Grasberg could hamper its efforts to calm the Papua region, where a low-level insurgency has simmered for decades. The mine''s social and environmental footprint also remains a source of friction. Papua''s GDP growth is expected to drop to 3 percent this year due to the Freeport dispute, down from 9.21 percent in 2016, according to the Papua branch of Indonesia''s central bank. A slump in Papua''s economy could aggravate tensions with Jakarta, complicating efforts by President Joko Widodo to enforce policies to extract more from its natural resources. "When there is a crisis at Freeport, it will send major ripples through Papuan society," said Achmad Sukarsono, an Indonesian expert at the Eurasia consultancy. PAPUA ECONOMY In Timika, a sprawling town of around 250,000 people and a supply hub for Grasberg, the Freeport dispute has hit businesses, caused a slump in house prices and stalled credit, residents say. Mastael Arobi, who owns a car rental business there, has cut his fleet by two-thirds because of slow business and is worried about the interest he pays on loans. "We are half-dead thinking about repayments," he said. Transport operators in Timika had similar complaints, with a motorcycle taxi driver saying it was hard to make even a third of the up to 300,000 rupiah ($22.50) he used to make each day. "Since these furloughs and layoffs began we have stopped providing credit to Freeport workers," said Joko Supriyono, a regional manager at Bank Papua in Timika, who said ATM transactions had declined by around two-thirds since January. Freeport, which employs more than 32,000 staff and contractors in Indonesia, has now "demobilised" just over 10 percent of its workforce, a number expected to grow until the dispute is resolved. Persipura, the main soccer club in Papua and one of Indonesia''s most decorated teams, announced last month that Freeport, its top sponsor, had stopped its funding. Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said in a recent interview that while he did not anticipate political pressure, Washington should not politicize the Freeport issue. Another Indonesian government official said moves to allow Freeport to export temporarily were aimed at showing that the government is willing to find a solution, and to send a positive message, especially to foreign investors, who are watching the saga closely. "We are not changing our stance. Our basic stance on 51 percent divestment, our demand for smelters - all that is still there. But in negotiations, you should give a little to assure the other side that we are still open to some options," said the official. The two sides had opted for a temporary solution to break a deadlock in issues that "cannot be resolved quickly," said Bambang Gatot, Director General of Coal and Minerals in the mining ministry, A spokesman for Freeport Indonesia declined to comment on the warming ties with the government. A senior Freeport McMoRan executive said last week the company was awaiting details of a temporary export permit from the Indonesian government that would allow it to ramp up production. ($1 = 13,330 rupiah) (Additional reporting by Hidayat Setiaji, Wilda Asmarini and Kanupriya Kapoor in JAKARTA and Samuel Wanda in TIMIKA; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-freeport-idUSKBN17E0XT'|'2017-04-12T16:53:00.000+03:00' '5fc95fa60f0d2840ac1c447323240a2e11129a4f'|'Kuwait''s Alimtiaz raises $120 mln from HumanSoft stake sale'|' 6:02am EDT Kuwait''s Alimtiaz raises $120 mln from HumanSoft stake sale DUBAI, April 12 Kuwait''s Alimtiaz Investment Group has raised $120 million from the sale of a 10 percent stake in education provider HumanSoft Holding which it plans to reinvest, Chief Executive Nawaf Marefi told Reuters. It plans to use the money to invest in sectors including education, healthcare and real estate, he said. Citigroup and EFG Hermes acted as joint bookrunners on the deal, which cut the sharia-compliant investment company''s stake in HumanSoft to 10 percent, the parties said in a joint statement. The buyers were institutional investors including regional sovereign wealth funds and other funds. HumanSoft establishes and manages private universities and colleges in Kuwait and internationally. (Reporting by Tom Arnold; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/aiic-humansoft-idUSL8N1HK1KE'|'2017-04-12T18:02:00.000+03:00' '265008244e608b3a6af1d83018397ea672fdfd09'|'Germany''s Schaeuble promises ''moderate'' tax cuts after election'|' 04am BST Germany''s Schaeuble promises ''moderate'' tax cuts after election German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview published on Wednesday he would propose moderate tax cuts for low- and middle-income earners after an election in September. Schaeuble is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel''s conservatives who have made security and tax relief a main component of their campaigning platform and are ahead in the polls of their Social Democrat (SPD) junior coalition partners. The centre-left SPD have said they want to reverse some labour market and social welfare reforms that hurt the poorer sections of society most and want to boost investment on infrastructure. "We want moderate tax relief," Schaeuble told public broadcaster ZDF, rejecting the idea of new debt as this would breach his cherished balanced budget. "Therefore we also don''t have unlimited flexibility to cut taxes." Schaeuble has said the tax cuts would amount to some 15 billion euros ($15.92 billion) a year, which economists says is too little to boost private consumption. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says Germany has the second-highest tax burden of all industrialised countries. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-election-taxation-idUKKBN17E0MB'|'2017-04-12T15:04:00.000+03:00' '71ee467fc6123e68d175b2bdfe0ead748db61bca'|'Akzo Nobel receives request from Elliott for shareholder meeting'|'Deals - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:30am EDT Akzo Nobel receives request from Elliott for shareholder meeting The sign of AkzoNobel is pictured at its headquarters in Amsterdam February 6, 2014. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) said on Wednesday that it had received a request from a group of shareholders led by Elliott Advisors to hold a special shareholder meeting to dismiss Chairman Antony Burgmans. Elliott hopes to add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ), after Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro ($24 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month. "The Supervisory Board strongly supports Mr. Burgmans in his role as Chairman," Akzo Nobel said in a statement. (Reporting by Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-akzonobel-m-a-idUSKBN17E0E4'|'2017-04-12T13:30:00.000+03:00' '6d74d784209f6f3965749d2494bc7b4f0b65b9a1'|'Central banks could do more to stabilise repo markets - BIS report'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 11:05am BST Central banks could do more to stabilise repo markets - BIS report By Abhinav Ramnarayan - LONDON LONDON Central banks could help reduce volatility in short-term funding markets used by banks and big business by lending out more securities used as collateral, a group of policymakers from around the world said on Wednesday. A committee of the Bank for International Settlements also said in a study on how repurchase agreements, or repos, function, that debt management agencies could sell more securities that were becoming scarce. The $9 trillion (7.2 trillion pounds) global repo market, which allows borrowers to pawn securities for short-term loans, is seen as essential for the functioning of global financial markets. However, the entire sector is struggling to adjust to the after effects of a series of financial crises and the regulatory environment that has followed them, the committee said. Some high-quality euro zone government bonds -- typically used as collateral in repo markets -- have deeply negative yields mainly because of scarce supply created by the European Central Bank''s asset-purchase programme. The ECB has a scheme to lend bonds it has purchases but that has done little to prevent short-dated German government bond yields hitting record lows in recent months. DE2YT=TWEB "Where such facilities already exist, central banks might consider ways to increase their efficacy by reducing barriers to access," the committee said in the study, released on Wednesday. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-moneymarket-idUKKBN17E14P'|'2017-04-12T18:05:00.000+03:00' '5d762cab545168810b7edae2f0850119396bb025'|'Rio Tinto to continue talks on Grasberg mine stake future'|'By Barbara Lewis and Sanjeeban Sarkar - April 12 April 12 Diversified miner Rio Tinto Plc reiterated its decision to continue discussions regarding the future of its stake in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia."There is no doubt that Grasberg is a world-class resource. However, there''s a difference between a world class resource and a world class business," Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said on Wednesday, responding to a shareholder at the company''s annual general meeting in London.Rio Tinto has a joint-venture with Freeport-McMoRan Inc for the huge Grasberg copper and gold complex in remote Papua, with right to 40 percent of production above specific levels until 2021 and 40 percent of all production after 2021. (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/rio-tinto-agm-grasberg-idINL3N1HK42J'|'2017-04-12T10:22:00.000+03:00' '06c1a9033b56da333ac2f7ef5fe7a37501562aea'|'UK wage growth after inflation almost disappears'|'By Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout - LONDON LONDON Inflation almost completely gnawed away the growth in pay of British workers during the three months to February, the clearest evidence yet that households are feeling the strain of rising prices as Brexit negotiations begin.Inflation-adjusted pay growth inched up just 0.2 percent over the period, the weakest increase since mid-2014, official data showed on Wednesday.The figures drove home how households are grappling with rising prices in shops, exacerbated by the pound''s plunge that followed last year''s vote to leave the European Union and by rising global oil prices.The unemployment rate in the period between December and February held steady at an almost 12-year low of 4.7 percent, in line with the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists."Big picture remains a labour market with very strong employment plateauing at record highs ... combined with a pay disaster," Torsten Bell, director of the Resolution Foundation think tank, said on Twitter.Sterling hit its highest level in over a week against the U.S. dollar after the figures as investors focused on a slightly stronger-than-expected rate of nominal pay growth. [GBP/]Earnings including bonuses rose by an annual 2.3 percent in the three months to February, unchanged from the previous period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.Economists taking part in a Reuters poll had expected growth of 2.2 percent.An expected further rise in inflation is raising the prospect that wages, in real terms, will soon start to contract, as they did in most of the years since the 2008/09 recession.Consumer price inflation stood at 2.3 percent in the 12 months to March and the Bank of England expects it to approach 2.7 percent by the end of this year. Many private economists expect inflation will surpass 3 percent this year.After Britain''s economy withstood the initial shock of the Brexit vote last year, economists have reined in their forecasts for how much unemployment is likely to rise.But the ONS said the number of unemployment benefit claimants - which is a potential early warning sign of an economic downturn - rose by 25,500 to 765,400 in March, the largest increase since July 2011.Economists taking part in the Reuters poll had expected the number of benefit claimants to fall by 3,000.The number of people in work increased only modestly by 39,000 although the employment rate of 74.6 percent was a joint record high. Job vacancies in the three-month period to the end of March rose by 16,000 to a record high 767,000.British workers are becoming more reticent about moving jobs as the process of leaving the European Union gets underway, exacerbating long-standing skill shortages, a survey of recruiters showed on Friday. [nL3N1HE465](Editing by William Schomberg and Janet Lawrence)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-jobs-idINKBN17E127'|'2017-04-12T07:36:00.000+03:00' 'aff43052db9ce0e808ba979b31ac40bd59555713'|'Tesco to report a return to financial health - Business'|'Tesco will this week reassure investors that its crisis years are behind it by reporting a bigger than expected jump in annual profits.Chief executive Dave Lewis has alarmed some of the supermarket’s biggest shareholders by mounting a surprise £3.7bn takeover of Booker . But on Wednesday he will be able to provide some reassurance about the company’s financial health, with underlying profits set to exceed the £1.2bn figure pencilled in by City analysts.Macquarie analyst Sreedhar Mahamkali thinks Tesco is on track to bank £1.3bn for the year to the end of February, thanks to cost-cutting and a more benign pricing environment after two years of falling food prices came to an end. “We expect a beat and look for a confident outlook,” said Mahamkali.Last year Tesco made an operating profit of £944m but five years ago that figure was £4bn, which is why some investors are worried the purchase of Booker, the cash and carry company behind the Londis and Budgens convenience stores, will derail its recovery. Last month Schroders and Artisan Partners , which between them own 9% of Tesco , revealed they had both written to Tesco chairman John Allan to ask him to pull out of the deal.Lewis took the helm at Tesco in 2014 after a string of profit warnings under his predecessor, Philip Clarke. But the subsequent discovery of accounting irregularities forced him to embark on a major restructuring of the business, including the disposal of its South Korean chain Homeplus for £4bn. The shakeup culminated in a £6.4bn loss two years ago after the group slashed the book value of its property and stock.Tesco is now close to drawing a line under the accounting scandal. Last month the company agreed to pay a fine of £129m to settle the Serious Fraud Office investigation. It also struck a £85m deal with the Financial Conduct Authority to compensate affected shareholders. On Monday Tesco’s lawyers will attend Southwark crown court to seek judicial approval for the deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) reached with the SFO. The proposed DPA relates to false accounting at its subsidiary Tesco Stores Limited between February and September 2014. Agreeing to pay a fine as part of a DPA is not an admission of wrongdoing but enables a company to avoid prosecution.While analysts believe profits from Tesco’s overseas chains will miss expectations, that will be countered by a recovery in the UK, which is the retailer’s biggest and most lucrative market. The retailer has won back disillusioned British shoppers by focusing on lower prices, improving customer service and making sure its shelves are full. It has also fought back against discounters Aldi and Lidl with the introduction of a budget range of own-label “farm” brands .Satisfied that the UK’s biggest supermarket chain is no longer in freefall Lewis has set a target that by 2020 it will earn between 3.5p and 4p of operating profit for every £1 customers spend. The group currently makes 2.2p in the £1. To get there, Lewis is slashing £1.5bn from the company’s running costs by seeking to make its stores and distribution network more efficient. There was evidence of this programme last week when Tesco said 3,000 jobs were at risk as part of a shakeup that involves cutting night shifts for shelf stackers in some of its biggest supermarkets.On Wednesday investors will also be looking for an update on the retailer’s pension fund after last autumn’s admission the deficit had ballooned to £5.9bn due to the collapse in bond yields after Britain voted to leave the EU. Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne estimates that favourable market movements have wiped at least £1bn off that figure. But the scheme will undergo a triennial pension valuation this year that could lead to its trustees asking for more than the £270m a year they already receive to fund the scheme.Topics Tesco Supermarkets Retail industry Food & drink industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/09/tesco-to-report-a-return-to-financial-health'|'2017-04-10T01:14:00.000+03:00' '0554885df8ea40f4bd1fea2d4ada452a3d003cca'|'U.S. to seek China access for beef, services: White House - Reuters'|'By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. trade negotiators will try to hammer out deals with China over the next 100 days to resume imports of American beef and to allow U.S. access to China''s closed services sector, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday.Spicer said that U.S and Chinese officials were still at the early stages of "fleshing out" a pledge by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to develop 100-day plan to help reduce China''s massive trade surplus with the United States that was made at their first meeting in Florida last week.Asked in a press briefing whether China had offered concessions on beef and financial services access, as reported by the Financial Times, Spicer said these sectors were among topics that U.S.-China talks would cover."I think, obviously, beef exports and additional market access in China, intellectual property, the ability to have foreign ownership, especially in the services industry, is something that has been a big prize of U.S. exporters and industry for a long time," Spicer said. "But it is something that is being hammered out as we go forward."Another Trump administration official said U.S. trade discussions with China will cover a variety of sectors, and the meetings were just getting started.Asked about the FT''s report of beef and financial services concessions by China, the official said: "Two sectors is not considered comprehensive."No decisions have been made to revive negotiations over a U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty that were pursued by the Obama administration last year, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about U.S. negotiating plans.China could become a massive export market for U.S. beef if a deal could be struck, said Brett Stuart, chief executive of Global AgriTrends in Denver. He said the Greater China region currently imports about $7 billion worth of beef annually - a figure expected to grow as China''s middle class expands.But China has purchased hardly any American beef since it conditionally lifted a longstanding import ban last year. The ban was imposed in 2003 due to a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in Washington state."We have yet to see U.S. beef on Chinese tables," said Craig Uden, president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.(Additional reporting by Tom Polansek and Theopolis Waters in Chicago; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-china-trade-idINKBN17C2IT'|'2017-04-10T20:49:00.000+03:00' '2991fad1ebda46a5df51f85f29f8dd9709610719'|'South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 4:05pm BST South African tumult hinders Barclays'' exit from continent FILE PHOTO: A Barclays logo is pictured outside the Barclays towers in Johannesburg, South Africa, December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo By Tiisetso Motsoeneng - JOHANNESBURG JOHANNESBURG Barclays'' ( BARC.L ) plan to sell its African business and pull out of the continent are being hindered by South Africa''s political upheaval and credit-rating downgrades, according to banking sources and fund managers. The British bank gave itself 2-3 years to sell its controlling stake in Johannesburg-based Barclays Africa when it announced the plan in early 2016, and sold 12 percent last May in an "accelerated bookbuild" - a share sale held over a short period of time. It had been planning another accelerated bookbuild in the last two weeks but pushed it back because of concerns over investor appetite due to political and economic uncertainty in South Africa, according to a banking source familiar with the plans. The source, who asked not to be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly, did not say when the deal might now take place. A spokesman for Barclays in London declined to comment. South Africa has been mired in business uncertainty since late last year when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) pledged to radically transform the economy following losses in local elections that were partly caused by anger over deep inequality that persists more than two decades after apartheid. It said it would redistribute the wealth of the country to the black majority, but has not outlined how it plans to do so. Investor unease increased significantly two weeks ago with the sacking of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan which led to S&P Global Ratings cutting the credit rating of South Africa and its banks to junk. Fitch also pushed Pretoria''s debt into junk territory and is expected to also downgrade local banks in the coming days because their large exposure to sovereign debt closely links their credit profile to that of the government. The downgrades have heightened the risk of a prolonged economic stagnation and rattled investor confidence in banks, whose performance is closely linked to the economy, wiping out more than 132 billion rand ($9.5 billion) from their market value in two weeks. The pool of potential buyers to which Barclays'' can sell shares in its African business to is also shrinking, according to bankers, because the mandates of some institutional investors, including some pension funds, do not allow them to hold an asset that''s sliding on credit ratings. "Barclays Plc have to make a tough call – go ahead and sell Barclays Africa at a low enough price that will attract investors or wait, possibly a few years, until the situation has stabilised," said Kokkie Kooyman, portfolio manager at Dekker Capital in Cape Town. ''PAYING PRICE'' The British bank said early last year that it planned to reduce its 62 percent stake in its African business to below 20 percent by 2019 as part of its plan to exit Africa to focus on the United States and Britain. As well as hindering its global strategy, delays in the sale timetable could throw up regulatory problems. Barclays is partly relying on funds raised from the stake sale to meet capital requirements that were identified as a concern by the Bank of England in a November "stress test" aimed at gauging its ability to withstand financial shocks. The lender faces the annual test again late this year, and the British regulator could ask it to submit plans to raise extra capital if it has not met the requirements. Barclays is increasingly looking at selling its remaining 50 percent stake in chunks because it is struggling to find one strategic buyer that will satisfy South African regulators, sources have previously said. Barclays Africa earns more than 80 percent of its revenue in South Africa, but also operates in nine other including Kenya, Ghana, Botswana and Mozambique. It has been hit hard by the economic uncertainty and credit downgrades in South Africa, along with domestic peers Standard Bank ( SBKJ.J ), Nedbank ( NEDJ.J ) and FirstRand ( FSRJ.J ). They are heavily dependent on wholesale funding sources such as bonds, whose costs have surged following the downgrades, and exposed to the effects of economic problems such as rising unemployment. South Africa''s "top four" banks have shed between 7 and 13 percent over the past two weeks. Faced with possibility of losing more supporters in the 2019 national elections, the ANC party has pledged to overhaul the economy, with the central plank being the redistribution of wealth, but has not disclosed details of its plans. The policy is aimed at winning back core voters in a country where black people make up 80 percent of the 54 million population, yet the lion''s share of the economy in terms of ownership of land and companies remains in the hands of white people, who account for around 8 percent of the population. "Banks are paying the price for political uncertainty that we''ve seen in the country over the past two weeks," said Ron Klipin, a fund manager at Cratos Capital in Johannesburg. "As an investor, when you hear words like ''radical economic transformation'', it creates some uncertainty in terms of the economic policy, in terms of further downgrades and the cost of funding for banks." (Additional reporting by Lawrence White in London; Editing by Pravin Char)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-safrica-politics-barclays-group-idUKKBN17D1WN'|'2017-04-11T23:05:00.000+03:00' '0207165984e8f03df6f0a1ee9c462e5d6ad131a9'|'Investing in cannabis: The world’s first pot-focused exchange-traded fund'|'THE launch of the world’s first cannabis-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 5th, is welcome news to aficionados of marijuana. As with any ETF, the fund spares would-be investors the need to pick out their own favourite stocks, or indeed weed out dodgy ones, as it will simply replicate and track an index, in this case the North American Medical Marijuana Index.The fund’s home in Canada is no accident. Medical marijuana has been legal there since 2001, with growing and selling outsourced to licensed firms since 2013. (Justin Trudeau’s administration has also announced plans to legalise recreational use by 2018.) In America, despite state-level legalisation, marijuana is still illegal under federal law, making it nigh-impossible for pot firms to even access the banking system, let alone seek a proper public listing. 6 7 As a result, the index itself ends up having a strong Canadian bent. Eleven of its 16 companies are based there, and all but three are licensed suppliers of medical marijuana in Canada, though a few also have American operations. Three of the others are American, though none of them deal directly with marijuana as such: one, Scotts Miracle-Gro, makes hydroponic systems popular among pot-growers, and two others make pharmaceuticals out of synthetic cannabinoids. (A British drug company listed in America and a Canadian-listed Uruguayan firm round out the list.)Investors are likely to be attracted to the industry’s mouth-watering returns. Shares in Toronto-based Aphria, the largest constituent of the index, are up by 89% in the last six months. Alberta-based Aurora Cannabis, the second-largest component of the index, are up by 50% in the same period. But this ETF is a highly concentrated bet on a very small sector. Many of these shares are very thinly traded, meaning that the prices of the underlying constituents of the ETF will move much more than is typical. Moreover, the ETF’s exposure to America makes it vulnerable not just to exchange-rate risk, but also to the real possibility of a harsh crackdown by the new, dope-decrying attorney-general, Jeff Sessions.The most important factor driving dreamy valuations of Canadian cannabis companies is the imminence of full legalisation, and the ensuing expectation of a vastly larger market. This means that companies in the sector are currently “trading like speculative tech stocks”, says Khurram Malik of Jacob Capital Management, based on sometimes rosy projections of future recreational sales. Although the rest of 2017 may see further share-price rises, Mr Malik reckons 2018 will bring a market correction as actual hard figures show which companies are succeeding better than others. Investors in the sector should not expect a smooth roll, but a rough grind.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-economics/21720501-investors-can-gain-exposure-budding-industry-set-profit-canadian?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-10T08:00:00.000+03:00' '0a404aa1a029eed17dd9acf03efd329ba8aaf9cc'|'German investor morale surges as economy grows, Trump angst fades'|' 11:58am BST German investor morale surges as economy grows, Trump angst fades People gesture as they sit in front of the skyline of the banking district (C) and the new headquarters of the European Central Bank (R) in Frankfurt, September 18, 2014. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach By Paul Carrel - BERLIN BERLIN German investor morale brightened in April to its highest level since August 2015, buoyed by a strong first quarter for Europe''s largest economy and fading concerns about protectionism taking hold under U.S. President Donald Trump. Mannheim-based ZEW said on Tuesday its monthly economic sentiment index surged to 19.5 points from 12.8 in March. That compared to the Reuters consensus forecast for a rise to 14.0. "Donald Trump is losing his scariness and in the euro zone there is now a sense of optimism breaking through," said Thomas Gitzel at VP Bank. Trump has threatened to hit German carmakers with a border tax of 35 percent, arguing that such a step would make them create more jobs on American soil. But German industry has enjoyed what the government last week called an "extraordinary" start to the year, as the economy''s engine room fires on all cylinders to satisfy demand at home and abroad. In March, German business morale hit its highest level in nearly six years. ZEW President Achim Wambach said in a statement investors were encouraged by the German economy''s robust first quarter, adding: "The financial market experts expect this positive development to continue." Official figures released last Friday showed German industrial output surged in February and the trade surplus swelled. The ZEW survey is the latest in a batch of strong German economic indicators, helping Chancellor Angela Merkel burnish her economic credentials before federal elections on Sept. 24, when she will seek a fourth term. German firms appear unfazed by "America First" protectionist rhetoric in Washington, European politics and even Germany''s own election cycle. Merkel''s conservatives lead in polls, though the formation of the next government is unclear. A separate ZEW gauge measuring investors'' assessment of the economy''s current conditions rose to 80.1 points from 77.3 in March. This compared with the Reuters consensus forecast of 77.7. "The robust current conditions component allows for hope for a continuation in the second quarter of the economy''s pleasing performance," said Viola Julien at Helaba. Earlier, sources familiar with new projections due to be released on Wednesday said Germany''s leading economic institutes have raised their forecasts for economic growth to 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent in 2017, and to 1.8 percent in 2018. In 2016, the economy grew by 1.9 percent, the strongest rate in five years. (Additional reporting by Rene Wagner; Editing by Victoria Bryan and John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-zew-idUKKBN17D17R'|'2017-04-11T18:58:00.000+03:00' '1ef10e5ac812d17c50e6be156e05f43bb739efb4'|'Most bad loans in Italian banks do not require quick sale - Visco'|' 6:55pm BST Most bad loans in Italian banks do not require quick sale - Visco Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco attends a news conference at the end of the ECB Governing Council meeting in Naples October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Remo Casilli By Francesco Guarascio - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS Most bad loans held by Italian banks do not need to be sold immediately, the governor of the Bank of Italy said on Tuesday, in a bid to quell pressure on banks saddled with soured credit. In absolute terms, Italy is the EU country with the highest level of non-performing loans (NPLs) on bank balance sheets, data from the European Banking Authority (EBA) show, a burden that reduces their ability to lend to companies and households. "The majority of bad loans are held by banks whose financial position does not require to sell them immediately," Ignazio Visco told European Union lawmakers at a hearing in the economic affairs committee of the EU parliament. His remarks came after Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said last week that banks should be given a "reasonable" time to sell bad loans. The European Central Bank, which supervises euro zone banks through its Single Supervisory Mechanism, included offloading NPLs in its priorities for this year. It urged ailing banks to submit "ambitious and realistic" plans to deal with them. Visco said the Italian government had set aside enough funds to deal with capital shortfalls that may emerge in the country''s most troubled banks as a result of the offloading of their NPLs. He said that the sale of bad loans by the ailing banks at market prices far below their book value would create a total capital shortfall of about 10 billion euros ($10.6 billion), far less than the 20 billion-euro fund set up by the Italian government at the end of last year to support troubled banks. Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI, Italy''s fourth- largest lender, holds the largest proportion of bad loans compared with its capital. Only a few other, smaller banks are also affected by the problem, Visco said. Among those are two smaller banks from the Veneto region, Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, which have called for the use of an exception in EU rules on banking rescues that would reduce losses for their creditors in case of state aid. EU bail-in rules require heavy losses for bank creditors, including large depositors, before public money can be used. They were introduced to end taxpayer-funded bank bailouts which were frequent during the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Visco said he was "quite confident" that an agreement with EU regulators can be reached on a plan to plug the capital shortfall of the two lenders with limited losses for creditors. Monte Paschi is negotiating with the EU a similar state support. Visco''s remarks on the Veneto banks echoed last week''s comments by Padoan and statements from EU regulators that a solution for the two banks can be found in coming weeks. He added that, even with the EU exception granted, subordinated creditors of the two small lenders may need to contribute to the public rescue with about 1 billion euros. Public support for Italian banks with high levels of NPLs should be done at national level and without EU funds, Visco said. He discarded plans for an EU-funded bad bank to absorb soured loans put forward by the EBA. The plan was rejected last week by EU finance ministers. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by Alissa de Carbonnel, Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-banks-italy-visco-idUKKBN17D2AX'|'2017-04-12T01:55:00.000+03:00' 'cb9b0c7d63483c69c8c59516888d4130ccf9d569'|'BRIEF-AlixPartners updates on Jaeger in administration'|'April 10 AlixPartners:* Statement regarding Jaeger in administration* Peter Saville, Ryan Grant, Catherine Williamson of AlixPartners appointed joint administrators over Jaeger, Jaeger Shops, Jaeger Company’s Shops, The Jaeger Co* Appointment made at request of Jaeger''s directors after co being unable to attract suitable offers despite sales process* "Regrettably despite an extensive sales process it has not been possible to identify a purchaser for the business"* At time of appointment co employs approximately 680 staff across its 46 stores, 63 concessions, head office in London and logistics function in Kings Lynn'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-alixpartners-updates-on-jaeger-in-idINFWN1HI0JK'|'2017-04-10T15:12:00.000+03:00' 'f441e0cd6bd19d79b9e648fad3d746b250a53a74'|'Raiffeisen plans to cut up to 950 jobs in Poland by end-2019'|' 41pm BST Raiffeisen plans to cut up to 950 jobs in Poland by end-2019 The logo of Raiffeisen Bank International is seen at a branch office in Vienna, Austria March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader VIENNA Austrian lender Raiffeisen Bank International ( RBIV.VI ), which recently shelved plans to sell its Polish unit and announced it would restructure it instead, said on Monday it would cut the equivalent of up to 950 jobs in Poland by the end of 2019. The bank plans to close 60-70 branches in Poland by 2018 as well as launch "cost-saving initiatives" of around 50 million euros (42.61 million pounds) and cut 850-950 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs by the end of 2019, it said in a statement. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Shadia Nasralla)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-raiffeisen-poland-idUKKBN17C1IZ'|'2017-04-10T21:41:00.000+03:00' '860c7f006f99af635fc7333730b00bfc15b8004d'|'Acrimonious Brexit could hit European Union''s credit rating - S'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 4:09pm BST Acrimonious Brexit could hit European Union''s credit rating - S&P FILE PHOTO: A Union flag flies next to the flag of the European Union in London, Britain, January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo LONDON An acrimonious Brexit, in which Britain declines to honour its existing financial obligations could put pressure on the European Union''s ''double A'' rating, S&P Global said on Monday. Having recently triggered the EU exit process, Britain''s government is facing a request from the European Commission to honour its existing financial obligations, which reportedly could reach 60 billion euros. S&P said the claims were unlikely to be legally enforceable however, and that the EU''s rating could suffer if the UK didn''t stump up the money. "The European Union (AA-Stable/A-1+) ratings could come under pressure in an adverse scenario," S&P said. "This is because our ratings on the EU are to a certain extent predicated on our expectation that the UK would honour its share of financial obligations to the EU." It said a non-payment of obligations would not constitute a default by Britain. The ratings of a handful of multilateral lenders the UK pays into could also come under pressure, S&P Global said. Multilateral lenders including the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, African Development Bank, and Eurofima could all see their ratings reviewed. (Reporting by Marc Jones, editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-ratings-idUKKBN17C1PQ'|'2017-04-10T23:09:00.000+03:00' '8197dcd88883dc3027c6e90d44ba7b24df30cb2e'|'Court approves Tesco deal to settle accounting charges'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 3:13pm BST Court approves Tesco deal to settle accounting charges FILE PHOTO: Grey clouds hang over a Tesco Extra store in New Malden, London, Britain, June 4, 2014. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo LONDON A court approved a deal on Monday between Tesco ( TSCO.L ), Britain''s biggest retailer, and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to settle a probe over a 2014 accounting fraud. Court approval of the Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA), first detailed on March 28, means Tesco will pay a 129 million pound (128.65 million pounds) fine and the SFO''s full costs. The DPA relates to false accounting by Tesco''s UK business, Tesco Stores Limited, between February and September 2014. The scandal sparked the biggest crisis in Tesco''s near 100-year history. The DPA only relates to the potential criminal liability of Tesco Stores Ltd, and does not address whether liability of any sort attaches to Tesco plc or any employee or former employee of Tesco plc or Tesco Stores Ltd. (Reporting by James Davey, editing by Paul Sandle and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-tesco-fraud-idUKKBN17C1LS'|'2017-04-10T22:13:00.000+03:00' '23323cc788f84d9bccb409d58d3e59d07ecece69'|'Fox News hires Scripps executive as first female CFO'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 7:32pm BST Fox News hires Scripps executive as first female CFO The logos of Fox News Channel are seen engraved on the glass of one of their booths at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein LOS ANGELES U.S. cable network Fox News Channel has hired Amy Listerman, a former executive at Scripps Networks Interactive ( SNI.O ), as its first female chief financial officer, the network said on Monday. Fox, a unit of 21st Century Fox ( FOXA.O ), faces scrutiny following a New York Times report earlier this month that the company and anchor Bill O''Reilly paid five women to settle claims he sexually harassed them. O''Reilly has said he was unfairly targeted because of his prominence. Fox, in a statement on Sunday, said it investigates all complaints and considers them "serious matters." [L1N1HH0MT] Last year, Fox News Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Ailes resigned after allegations of sexual harassment. Listerman will oversee all financial operations for Fox News Channel, the top-rated cable news network, and Fox Business Channel, the company said in a statement. She replaces Mark Krantz, who retired last year, and will begin the job on May 1. Listerman previously served as CFO and head of advertising sales at Scripps Networks Interactive and in various roles at Comcast Corp''s ( CMCSA.O ) NBC Universal. (Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fox-cfo-idUKKBN17C274'|'2017-04-11T02:32:00.000+03:00' '6cdcaec785066718cd9974e522d62cc9cfee1cd0'|'RetailMeNot to be bought by Harland Clarke for $555 million'|'Online coupon provider RetailMeNot Inc ( SALE.O ) said it had agreed to be bought by Harland Clarke Holdings Corp for about $555 million in cash.Harland Clarke, owned by billionaire Ron Perelman''s investment company MacAndrews & Forbes Inc, has offered $11.60 per share for each RetailMeNot share, representing a premium of 49.7 percent to the stock''s Monday close.(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-retailmenot-m-a-harlandclarke-idINKBN17C2EI'|'2017-04-10T18:43:00.000+03:00' 'c6872116d38f16e6c16a68265ae4111554d04d29'|'Toshiba aims to file results Tuesday, even if auditors don''t sign off - sources'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 6:09pm BST Toshiba aims to file results Tuesday, even if auditors don''t sign off - sources FILE PHOTO The logo of Toshiba is seen as shareholders arrive at Toshiba''s extraordinary shareholders meeting in Chiba, Japan, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo TOKYO Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) aims to file its twice-delayed business results on Tuesday, even if its auditors don''t fully sign off on the numbers, two people familiar with the matter said, raising the stakes for a potential delisting of the Japanese conglomerate from the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Toshiba, plagued by spiralling cost overruns at its U.S. nuclear unit on the heels of an accounting scandal, has failed to report audited earnings for the three months through December as the accountants question the numbers at the company''s U.S. nuclear subsidiary, where massive cost overruns have pushed the Japanese parent company to the brink. A third deadline looms as Toshiba''s auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC, questions not only recent results but also probes the books at Westinghouse Electric Co for the business year through March 2016, said the sources, one with direct knowledge of the matter and one who was briefed on it. Toshiba and PwC media representatives could not be reached for comment outside business hours. (Reporting by Taro Fuse and Kentaro Hamada; Additional reporting by Takahiko Wada; Editing by William Mallard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-results-idUKKBN17C200'|'2017-04-11T01:09:00.000+03:00' 'c75e3e91531ee269c7c6788d3f5d924136ce4b60'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 11'|' 26am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 11 April 11 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 9.5 points lower on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers. * BHP: Elliott Management Corp''s activist campaign to shake up Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton, relies on tested U.S. shareholder activism strategies to deliver one of the hedge fund''s biggest ever bets on a company. * BRITAIN RETAIL: Shoppers in Britain clamped down on their spending in early 2017 as retail sales rose at the slowest pace since the depths of the global financial crisis nearly a decade ago, a retail industry group said on Tuesday. * TESCO: A court approved a deal on Monday between Britain''s biggest retailer Tesco plc and the country''s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to settle a probe over a 2014 accounting scandal. * BARCLAYS: The United States Department of Justice is probing Barclays over whistleblower scandal, New York Times reported on Monday. nyp.st/2okrowc . * JAEGER: Fashion retailer Jaeger, known for its classic British clothing ranges, has gone into administration, the administrators said in a statement, putting nearly 700 jobs at risk. * BRITAIN ELECTRIC CARS: Britain awarded millions of pounds on Tuesday to help boost manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, including a project to build the country''s second purpose-built electric battery plant and another to make the technology more powerful. * BRITAIN WHEAT: Britain''s wheat exports rose slightly in February but were still running behind last season''s pace, customs data showed on Monday. * The UK blue chip index ended the day flat on Monday with retailers the top gainers, and mid and small-caps rose to new record highs on strength in commodities. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Vedanta Resources Plc Q4 & FY 2017 Production Results JD Sports Fashion Plc Full Year Results TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HJ24C'|'2017-04-11T13:26:00.000+03:00' '1e63176d799fc32a237dc6b39057a6eefd01f375'|'Vivendi indicates it wants its CEO to be Telecom Italia''s new chairman'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 10:03pm BST Vivendi indicates it wants its CEO to be Telecom Italia''s new chairman left right The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo 1/2 left right Vivendi''s Chief Executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine leaves the headquarters of Italian financial markets regulator Consob in Rome, Italy, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Remo Casilli 2/2 MILAN Telecom Italia''s biggest shareholder Vivendi ( VIV.PA ) indicated that it wants its CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine to be the Italian group''s new chairman, putting him top of its list of candidates for board members on Sunday. The term of Telecom Italia''s current board is three years and expires next month. Shareholders will pick board members at a meeting on May 4 and the new board will then choose a chairman at a meeting scheduled for the following day. Vivendi, which owns 24 percent of Telecom Italia, is aiming to nominate 10 seats on the Italian company''s new board, which is expected to be reduced to 15 members. The top name on the list of board nominees at Italian companies usually designates the proposed chairman, and sources have said Vivendi is considering appointing de Puyfontaine as Telecom Italia''s next chairman. However, the French media group kept its options open by also including on the list Telecom Italia''s current Italian chairman, Giuseppe Recchi, making it technically possible that he could be confirmed in the job. The choice of Telecom Italia''s next chairman is politically sensitive because it could aggravate concerns about Vivendi''s growing influence over Italian companies. The French group''s sway over the Italian telecoms group has come under the spotlight after it took a significant holding in Italian broadcaster Mediaset ( MS.MI ), leading to speculation over whether it plans to combine the two companies. Sunday was the deadline for shareholders to submit candidates for Telecom Italia''s new board. Two other Vivendi top executives also featured on Vivendi''s list: CFO Herve Philippe and General Counsel Frederic Crepin, as did Telecom Italia''s CEO Flavio Cattaneo. Italy''s communications regulator is already looking into Vivendi''s stakebuilding at Mediaset, given domestic anti-trust regulations that prevent companies from having an excessive market share both in telecommunications and media. Vivendi filed a pre-emptive notification to the European Commission on March 31, saying that after the shareholder meeting it could de facto control Telecom Italia. (Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-telecom-italia-vivendi-board-idUKKBN17B104'|'2017-04-10T05:01:00.000+03:00' '54587256be7aa23fe3168032b988568ed8a99824'|'Japan Feb current account surplus 2.8 trillion yen, beats forecast'|'By Minami Funakoshi - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s current account surplus stood at 2.81 trillion yen ($25.26 billion) in February, finance ministry data showed on Monday, the biggest surplus since March 2016.The result, the 32nd straight month of current account surpluses, compares with economists'' median forecast for a surplus of 2.62 trillion yen in a Reuters poll. This February''s current account surplus was the largest on record for February.The surplus reflected the trade balance rising as exports picked up pace after a Lunar New Year slowdown. The trade balance stood at 1.08 trillion yen in February, rebounding from a deficit of 853.4 billion yen the previous month.Trade surpluses and currency valuations are in focus as U.S. pursues an "America First" campaign in which he has accused big exporters such China, Germany and Japan of deliberately weakening their currencies to gain a competitive advantage.U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso will hold their first round of economic talks in Tokyo next week to discuss issues ranging from macroeconomic policy, infrastructure investment and trade.Nonetheless, in what appears to be a shift in emphasis, the Trump administration is touting a new term, "currency misalignment," because it is seen as more significant than "manipulation" as a cause of trade deficits.Income from overseas investment also helped boost the current account balance. The primary income account in February was 1.98 trillion yen, up from 1.27 trillion yen the previous month."It’s difficult to explain this month''s current account surplus with just the (effects from) Lunar New Year," said Hidenobu Tokuda, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute."The income account is rising, too. There is upward pressure on current account balance."(Reporting by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-currentaccount-idINKBN17C086'|'2017-04-10T01:08:00.000+03:00' '9319ab7e8155729a4aecad177b09fa59101330c1'|'BHP says cost of Elliott Advisors proposal would outweigh benefits'|'LONDON BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) said on Monday the cost of a proposal from hedge fund manager Elliott Advisors to unlock shareholder value would outweigh any benefits.The plans would involve scrapping the mining giant''s dual corporate structure, demerging its oil business and rejigging its capital return policy. [L3N1HI3HI]"After reviewing the elements of Elliott''s proposal, we have concluded that the costs and associated risks of Elliott''s proposal would significantly outweigh any potential benefits," BHP said in a statement.(Reporting by Rahul B and Barbara Lewis; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-statement-idUSKBN17C17A'|'2017-04-10T15:19:00.000+03:00' 'd0d7f61ba3159131d2afacb2afb96cdebd557aea'|'Automakers unveil new SUVs at New York auto show but also focus on EVs'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 8:49pm BST Automakers unveil new SUVs at New York auto show but also focus on EVs left right The The 2018 Volvo XC60 (L) and Volvo S90 are displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 1/15 left right The 2018 Volvo XC60 is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 2/15 left right Lex Kerssemakers, President and CEO, Volvo Cars USA, speaks at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 3/15 left right Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America, speaks at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 4/15 left right The Kia logo is seen at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 5/15 left right View of the interior of the 2018 Hyundai Sonata being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 6/15 left right REFILE - CORRECTING TYPO - A 2018 Porsche 911 GT3 is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 7/15 left right A 2018 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 8/15 left right Lyric, a border collie, walks down the ramp of the Nissan Rogue, Dogue edition, at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 9/15 left right The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq is unveiled at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 10/15 left right The 2018 Hyundai Sonata is unveiled at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 11/15 left right The 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 12/15 left right Journalists look over the fuel cell version of the Honda Clarity being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 13/15 left right Interior view of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk being displayed at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 14/15 left right The 707 horsepower supercharged V-8 engine of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is shown at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid 15/15 By David Shepardson - NEW YORK NEW YORK Automakers unveiled new sport utility vehicles at the New York auto show on Wednesday, boosted by low fuel prices and increasing demand, but said they were also moving ahead with new U.S. electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for the U.S. market. Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) showed off a redesigned Lincoln Navigator luxury SUV with an aluminium body that cuts nearly 200 pounds (90.72 kg) off its weight. Subaru Corp ( 7270.T ) unveiled a concept seven-passenger Ascent SUV Concept, meanwhile, saying it planned to start selling the large SUV in 2018, and General Motors Co ( GM.N ) showed off a new larger seven-passenger Buick Enclave. Not to be outdone, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ( FCHA.MI ) took the wraps off a new limited version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, with 707 horsepower and a 6.2-liter V-8 engine, while Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) showed off a concept SUV aimed at outdoorsy millennials called "FT-4X" for "Future Toyota." SUVs accounted for nearly 40 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2016, up from 32.6 percent in 2014, as a growing number of Americans ditched cars for more fuel-thirsty larger vehicles. President Donald Trump has said he will revisit strict 2022-2025 vehicle fuel efficiency requirements set by the Obama administration, a move that may reduce future requirements. But after investing substantial sums in electric vehicles, automakers say they are not backing off their plans to compete in the EV market segment. Ford alone is investing $4.5 billion to introduce 13 new electric and hybrid vehicles over the next five years, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told reporters at the New York show. Honda Motor Co ( 7267.T ) unveiled a new Clarity electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid version at the show and the Japanese automaker said it sees electric or hybrid vehicles accounting for two thirds of all sales worldwide by 2030. Nissan Motor Co ( 7201.T ), meanwhile, said it will unveil a new version of its electric Leaf later this year with a longer battery range than its current version. Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ), the world''s biggest automaker, said it will sell at least three new electric vehicles by 2020, partly due to an agreement with California aimed at settling its diesel emissions cheating scandal. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-new-york-vehicles-idUKKBN17E2MF'|'2017-04-13T03:49:00.000+03:00' '2cc370d78c5870a49528c310f872f4ebb3695e56'|'Elliott plans legal action if Akzo rejects vote on chairman dismissal'|' 8:37pm BST Elliott plans legal action if Akzo rejects vote on chairman dismissal The sign of AkzoNobel is pictured at its headquarters in Amsterdam February 6, 2014. REUTERS/Toussaint Kluiters/United Photos AMSTERDAM Elliott Advisors, the AkzoNobel ( AKZO.AS ) shareholder that backs rival PPG''s ( PPG.N ) planned takeover of the Dutch paint maker, said it would take legal action if Akzo did not give an upcoming shareholder meeting the chance to vote to dismiss its chairman. Along with Akzo''s board, Chairman Antony Burgmans opposes the sweetened 24 billion euro (20 billion pound) takeover bid PPG proposed last month. Akzo said earlier on Wednesday it would reject a proposal to put a vote on Burgmans''s dismissal on the meeting agenda. "Shareholders have a legal right under Dutch law to put a proposal to dismiss Mr Burgmans onto the EGM agenda," Elliott said in a statement on Wednesday. If Akzo stuck to its "inexplicable" refusal, "Elliott intends to use its recourse to the Dutch Courts," the fund manager added. (Reporting By Thomas Escritt; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzonobel-m-a-elliott-idUKKBN17E2KX'|'2017-04-13T03:37:00.000+03:00' '268d30876d3d7a4475e5f18f52cdaa634e1c94f1'|'BOJ''s Kuroda says weak yen may quicken achievement of inflation goal'|' 3:41am BST BOJ''s Kuroda says weak yen may quicken achievement of inflation goal Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Stanley White and Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday further yen declines may help the central bank achieve its 2 percent inflation target more quickly, even as geopolitical tensions lifted the Japanese currency to a five-month high against the dollar. Kuroda reiterated that the BOJ was not targeting exchange rates in guiding monetary policy and instead was pumping money into the economy to spur inflation. But he conceded the benefits a weak yen would have in accelerating inflation, such as by pushing up the cost of imports and thereby overall price growth. "The BOJ guides monetary policy to achieve its price target at an early date and doesn''t directly target exchange rates," Kuroda told parliament. As the economy continues to recover and the base effect from last year''s oil price fall dissipates, inflation will accelerate and heighten public''s inflation expectations, he said. "Having said that, it''s true that if the yen weakens, it may quicken achievement of our price target," Kuroda said. The dollar languished at a five-month low versus the yen on Wednesday, as simmering geopolitical tensions checked risk appetite and put the safe-haven Japanese currency in favour. The dollar was at 109.745 yen after touching 109.535 earlier in the session, its lowest since Nov. 17. Japan has been mired in deflation for nearly two decades as households sit on a pile of cash on uncertainty over the outlook. The BOJ has deployed massive monetary stimulus since 2013 in the hope the public''s perception of deflation will shift, with little success. Core consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February from a year earlier and analysts expect inflation to accelerate closer to 1 percent later this year due to a rebound in oil costs and rising import prices from last yen falls. But major Japanese retailers have announced sweeping price cuts for food goods and daily necessities, underscoring the difficulty facing the central bank as it tries to spur inflation and coax consumers to boost spending. The central bank will review its economic and price projections at its policy meeting on April 26-27. The BOJ now projects core consumer inflation to hit 1.5 percent in the current fiscal year that ends in March 2018, and accelerate to 1.7 percent in fiscal 2018. That far exceeds private-sector projections of around 1 percent for both years. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim & Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-kuroda-idUKKBN17E01I'|'2017-04-12T10:41:00.000+03:00' '2568cd18894b47eb15f3b835e28ae2cee671dc17'|'RPT-In the Trump era, one U.S. Muslim investor tries a louder voice'|'(Repeats story published overnight)By Ross KerberBOSTON, April 10 Shareholder activism is rare in Islamic finance, but one wealth manager has staked out new territory as the most outspoken voice among Muslim investors in the United States.Working from an office in Falls Church, Virginia, Bashar Qasem was the only Islamic financial representative among religious shareholder advocates who sent a letter in February to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban.It was only one of a number of such moves since 2015, when Qasem''s Azzad Asset Management firm started weighing in on issues like worker safety, climate change and lobbying disclosures.This direct advocacy will test whether many U.S. Muslim investors will support the sort of faith-based shareholder activism common among other religious groups even as many cite safety concerns or have experienced bullying.Qasem said his clients seemed to welcome his growing public role. Most are Muslim, and about half are immigrants."Most of them, they feel it''s about time," said Qasem, who grew up in Jordan, moved to the United States in 1987 and became a citizen in 1996.So far Qasem''s strategy appears to be helping to differentiate his firm at a time when the popularity of cheaper index-tracking products is rising.Azzad''s assets increased 11 percent in 2016 to $487 million at year-end. Growth included $5.7 million into the firm’s mutual funds, the third consecutive year of inflows.By contrast, the Amana family of mutual funds, which Morningstar says is the largest in U.S. Islamic finance at $2.9 billion of assets, has had three years of investor withdrawals, which it blames partly on the rise of passively managed products.Laila El-Haddad, who writes about food and Palestinian politics, said Qasem''s outspokenness helped draw her to his firm. "Given the choices between two Islamic investment companies," she said, "we would definitely opt for the one taking this approach."TESTING INVESTORS'' FAITHFunds involved in Islamic finance are sometimes classified as "Sharia-compliant," or adhering to religious precepts such as avoiding investments in alcoholic beverage companies and businesses making or receiving interest payments.Qasem said he preferred the term "Halal investing," referring to the Arabic word for "permitted" investments.Islamic finance assets stood at $2 trillion worldwide in 2015, up from $1.7 trillion in 2012, according to the latest Thomson Reuters data.The much smaller $4.6 billion U.S. Islamic finance sector, however, has grown little in recent years. Only a few institutions, mostly community banks, have significant Islamic lending practices.Ibrahim Warde, an adjunct professor at Tufts University''s Fletcher School, said the slow growth reflected both U.S. regulations that make some Islamic products difficult to offer and some Muslim financial executives'' desire to avoid drawing attention, given the public mood."There''s this question of keeping a low profile,” he said.Sheraz Iftikhar, managing partner of New York wealth manager Arch Global Advisors, said his clients, who are mainly Muslim, had not changed their investment strategies lately."It''s too early to see a change in Muslim investor sentiment," said Iftikhar.Typical of Qasem''s recent efforts is a measure that Azzad co-filed in January, calling on Google parent Alphabet Inc to adopt "Holy Land Principles" that would lead U.S. companies doing business is Israel to hire more Palestinian Arabs.Azzad spokesman Joshua Brockwell said Alphabet told the firm it would hold a vote on the measure at its annual meeting.Azzad has also co-filed a shareholder resolution calling on Exxon Mobil Corp to disclose more about its spending on lobbying. Brockwell said the oil company would probably oppose the measure, as it did last year.Spokesmen for Alphabet and Exxon declined to comment.In addition, Qasem signed on to a Feb. 1 letter from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and other groups, urging business leaders to use an upcoming meeting with Trump to speak out against his ban on travelers from a number of Muslim-majority nations. Courts have since blocked the restrictions, and the U.S. Justice Department has appealed the rulings.While the ban jarred Qasem and some of his clients, he expressed optimism about U.S. economic growth prospects, given Trump''s agenda of tax cuts and infrastructure investments. Higher interest rates could also help Azzad''s holdings in low-debt companies, he said."After all," Qasem said of Trump, "he''s a businessman." (Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-islam-investing-idINL1N1HF15O'|'2017-04-10T09:00:00.000+03:00' '3725b9cf9c40fbdf16e16a5389a4e0ce45cfaab1'|'German drugmaker Stada backs 5.32 billion euro offer from Bain, Cinven'|'German drugmaker Stada said it has decided to support an offer from Bain Capital and Cinven for 66 euros per share, valuing the company at about 5.32 billion euros.The private equity consortium is offering 65.28 euros per share and a dividend of 0.72 euro per Stada share, the company said in a statement on Monday.Stada, which had received offers from two consortia, said it has signed an investor agreement which would include protection provisions for employees.A tie-up of buyout firms Advent and Permira was bidding against Bain and Cinven. Both had made takeover offers at 58 euros per share, which valued the company at 4.7 billion euros including debt.(Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-stada-m-a-idINKBN17C0DA'|'2017-04-10T03:08:00.000+03:00' 'd587ee340eb76db39c166dfac2b9d21b1ec1bc63'|'Busch seeks chairmanship at takeover target Pfeiffer Vacuum'|'FRANKFURT German pump maker Busch is seeking to install a family member in the supervisory board of takeover target Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) at short notice and is striving for the chairmanship, it said in the official offer document published on Wednesday.Busch reiterated its improved offer of 110 euros per Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) share plus a dividend of 3.60 euros a share. It described its intentions as "friendly".Last week, Busch had promised to hold off changes to rival Pfeiffer Vacuum''s strategy and to safeguard jobs as it seeks to drum up support for its latest takeover offer.(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfeiffer-vacuum-m-a-busch-idUSKBN17E0J9'|'2017-04-12T10:34:00.000+03:00' '1ca4e963c54e7ce105b3b7ddc59da6c77b1e5a0f'|'Azul prices Brazilian portion of IPO at 21 reais/share'|'SAO PAULO, April 10 Azul SA, Brazil''s No. 2 domestic airline, priced the domestic portion of a dual-country initial public offering at 21 reais per preferred share on Monday.According to information on the website of Brazil''s securities industry watchdog CVM, Azul sold 63 million preferred shares at the mid-point of a suggested price range of between 19 reais and 23 reais. The domestic portion fetched a total of 1.323 billion reais ($422 million) for Azul and seller shareholders, according to the CVM.($1 = 3.1325 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/azul-ipo-pricing-idINL1N1HI1TI'|'2017-04-10T21:02:00.000+03:00' 'e464c9e3951b0630647289f45f46589c9cb84c69'|'BOJ Kuroda says aiming for inflation backed by wage growth'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 2:33am BST BOJ Kuroda says aiming for inflation backed by wage growth FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday the central bank is aiming for a moderate acceleration of inflation driven by increases in wages and corporate earnings. "We won''t be satisfied just because consumer inflation hits our 2 percent target. What''s important is for a positive economic cycle ... to drive up inflation moderately to 2 percent," Kuroda told parliament. He said wages have not increased as much as hoped for despite a tightening job market. (Reporting by Stanley White and Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17D05S'|'2017-04-11T09:29:00.000+03:00' '379e1ba91ca8c8dd74baf6f5909216827a46b226'|'Drone footage captures scale of world''s largest ship – video - Business'|'Drone footage captures scale of world''s largest ship – video Pioneering Spirit, the largest construction vessel ever built, is due to arrive in the North Sea next month in an attempt to remove the 24,500-tonne top of a Shell oil rig. Drone footage shows the size of the ship which is 382 metres long, 124 metres wide and capable of lifting 48,000 tonnes Six jumbo jets long … the £2.4bn ship that can lift an oil rig View more sharing options Share Close Source: YouTube/ Silvan T. PaganiniWednesday 12 April 2017 11.15 BST Topics Energy industry Oil'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/video/2017/apr/12/drone-footage-scale-pioneering-spirit-worlds-largest-ship-video'|'2017-04-12T19:15:00.000+03:00' '55140f6121987f742196f9860367a7025b57632f'|'BRIEF-Kinder Morgan, DCP Midstream announce LoI for Gulf Coast Express Pipeline Project'|' 27pm EDT BRIEF-Kinder Morgan, DCP Midstream announce LoI for Gulf Coast Express Pipeline Project April 12 DCP Midstream LP * Kinder Morgan and DCP Midstream announce letter of intent on development of Gulf Coast express pipeline project * It is anticipated that DCP will be a partner and shipper on proposed pipeline * DCP midstream LP -project is designed to transport up to 1,700,000 dekatherms per day (dth/d) of natural gas from Waha, Texas area to Agua Dulce, texas * Says pipeline is expected to be in service in second half of 2019, subject to shipper commitments * DCP Midstream LP says sand hills pipeline is currently being expanded from 280,000 barrels per day (bbls/d) to 365,000 bbls/d * Says KMI will build and operate pipeline '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-kinder-morgan-dcp-midstream-announ-idUSFWN1HJ0IX'|'2017-04-12T04:27:00.000+03:00' '0d466ef2767e78032cc731d514ffcbdec776a620'|'European shares drop as banks and tech stocks weigh'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:36am EDT European shares drop as banks and tech stocks weigh LONDON, April 11 European shares fell on Tuesday as banks and tech stocks weighed, led lower by a slump in Dialog Semiconductor''s shares, though energy stocks provided support. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent, while the FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent. Tech stocks were the biggest sectoral losers, down 0.8 percent after Dialog Semiconductor dropped 18.4 percent. Broker Bankaus Lampe cut its rating on the chipmaker to "sell" from "buy". AMS also came under pressure after UBS cut its rating to "neutral" from "buy", sending the stock down 7.5 percent. Banking stocks fell 0.4 percent, with Banco Popular the biggest loser, down 5.6 percent. On Monday, the bank said that it was considering another capital hike to clean up its balance sheet and would consider a merger deal. A rise in oil stocks, however, provided support, with the sector up 0.1 percent. Shares in Balfour Beatty were the biggest gainers, up 5.9 percent, while Givaudan jumped 3.5 percent after its first quarter sales beat a Reuters poll. Luxury goods group LVMH hit a record high, sending its shares up 1.7 percent after reporting a surge in first-quarter sales that beat analysts'' forecasts. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HJ0Y4'|'2017-04-11T15:36:00.000+03:00' '55606a659632b8d67d81ccab901adafd0008f4e6'|'Foxconn could bid up to $27 bln for Toshiba''s chip business-Bbg'|'April 10 Taiwan''s Foxconn has indicated that it may pay as much as 3 trillion yen ($26.99 billion) for Toshiba Corp''s chip business, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.South Korea''s SK Hynix Inc and chipmaker Broadcom Ltd have submitted preliminary bids for the business, valued at 2 trillion yen ($17.98 billion) or more, according to the report. ( bloom.bg/2nSPHxE )Toshiba, the second-biggest NAND chip producer after South Korea''s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, is considering selling the majority - or all - of its marquee flash-memory chip business, as it seeks to make up for a $6.3 billion writedown from its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse.Toshiba and Japanese government officials are planning to look for offers led by Japanese buyers, though no bids have emerged yet, the report said.Terry Gou, founder of Foxconn, which is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said in March the company was "definitely bidding" for Toshiba''s chip business.Foxconn, which is the world''s largest contract electronics maker, Toshiba, SK Hynix and Broadcom were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 111.1700 yen) (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-ma-foxconn-idINL3N1HI4ID'|'2017-04-10T12:50:00.000+03:00' 'd268d13e71b7718c14c1b7d20fbffa8628b888c8'|'China stocks fall as regulator moves to calm high spirits over new economic zone'|'SHANGHAI, April 10 China stocks fell on Monday with strong gains in listed companies that would benefit from the country''s new economic zone were offset by weakness in other sectors after the securities regulator vowed to punish stingy "iron roosters".The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.2 percent, to 0.00, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained!lost! XX percent to 0.00 points.Dozens of newly-listed stocks and counters expected to issue bonus shares instead of paying cash dividends were hard hit, plunging the maximum allowed 10 percent limit, after the nation''s top securities regulator urged listed companies to reward investors with cash dividends.On the other hand, investors, unfazed by regulator''s effort to cool speculative fever, continued to chase stocks related to Xiongan New Area, a recently announced new economic zone.More than 20 stocks related to new plan surged 10 percent for the fourth consecutive session in a row, with more participants rushing into the investment theme by selling elsewhere.The stock regulator has moved to cool speculative fever around plans to build a massive economic zone near Beijing, warning several listed companies against misleading investors with exagerated claims.Share prices in listed major insurers were largely flat, after news that the head of China''s insurance regulator was being investigated for "serious disciplinary violations" - a phrase that usually refers to corruption.Sectors were mixed. Gains were led by real estate stocks , while consumer and healthcare stocks dragged behind.Share prices in steelmaker Hesteel, developer China Fortune Land Development and infrastructure operator Beijing Capital shot up 10 percent for the fourth straight session, as those companies are widely seen benefiting from the future development of the Xiongan New Area. (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-stocks-close-idINL3N1HI2DL'|'2017-04-10T05:17:00.000+03:00' '43888cba60d351015fd91de267bb58068508c06e'|'German economy gained momentum at start of 2017 - econ ministry'|'Money 2:53pm IST German economy gained momentum at start of 2017 - econ ministry An illustration picture shows euro coins, April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach BERLIN The German economy, Europe''s largest, picked up speed at the beginning of this year, lifted by a robust industrial sector and rising employment that is supporting private consumption, the Economy Ministry said on Wednesday. "The German economy''s rate of expansion accelerated somewhat in the first quarter," the ministry said in a statement. In the final three months of 2016, the economy grew by 0.4 percent. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Joseph Nasr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/germany-economy-idINKBN17E113'|'2017-04-12T17:23:00.000+03:00' 'cfcbd86c3b27a7347abbddf5664cc1095a62f176'|'Mexican regulator pins conditions ChemChina, Syngenta deal'|'MEXICO CITY Mexico''s antitrust commission COFECE said on Tuesday it would condition its approval of ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] planned $43 billion takeover bid of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG ( SYNN.S ).If the deal were carried out as originally planned by the firms, free competition would be placed at risk in certain herbicide and fungicide markets, COFECE said.The regulator said its approval would be conditioned on Syngenta divesting five specific products, without naming them, in order to avoid risks to competition.The COFECE remarks appear to be at odds with a statement by Syngenta on Monday, which indicated that COFECE approved the proposed acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina. [nFWN1HH020]"This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017," Syngenta said in the statement.(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-idUSKBN17D208'|'2017-04-11T19:56:00.000+03:00' 'd87f673cc7024773f4b5d6687eca8607dadeab73'|'Deutsche Boerse reluctant to extend CEO contract after failed merger: sources - Reuters'|'FRANKFURT Deutsche Boerse''s ( DB1Gn.DE ) supervisory board is reluctant to approve quickly an extension of Chief Executive Carsten Kengeter''s contract following the German exchange operator''s failed merger with the London Stock Exchange ( LSE.L ), two people close to the matter said.Carsten Kengeter''s contract as Chief Executive is due to expire in March 2018.German blue-chip firms usually renew board member contracts a year before they expire, but such a contract extension is not a priority for Deutsche Boerse''s directors, who are due to meet in late April, the sources said.Deutsche Boerse declined to comment on Kengeter''s possible contract extension.One of the main factors preventing Deutsche Boerse from giving Kengeter another full term is a pending investigation into insider trading, the sources said.German financial watchdog Bafin handed over the findings of an investigation into allegations of insider dealing against Kengeter to public prosecutors in February.Kengeter and Deutsche Boerse deny that a share purchase program, awarded shortly before Deutsche Boerse announced merger talks with the LSE, amounted to anything improper.Some investors have already said that they would like Kengeter to be replaced if he is officially charged by public prosecutors.A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor''s office on Wednesday said it remained unclear how long the insider trading investigation would take to be concluded.The merger, which was the exchanges'' fifth attempt to combine, would have created Europe''s biggest stock exchange, but was struck down by European regulators after LSE failed to comply with a small antitrust-related demand.Kengeter has been criticized for underestimating the political dimension of the merger and failing to assure political backing in Germany.(Reporting by Kathrin Jones and Hans Seidenstücker; Writing by Arno Schuetze. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-boerse-management-idUSKBN17E1QB'|'2017-04-12T17:13:00.000+03:00' '0c5c853ec0b490028d4fdfbc9adde7ba74834604'|'CIBC to move 15,000 staff into new Toronto headquarters'|' 11:00am EDT CIBC to move 15,000 staff into new Toronto headquarters TORONTO, April 12 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada''s fifth-biggest lender, said on Wednesday it plans to move into a new headquarters in Toronto in 2020 that will house 15,000 employees. CIBC said it has agreed to be the anchor tenant of Bay Park Centre, a new 2.9 million-square-foot campus in Toronto''s financial district, across from Union Station, the city''s main railway station, and the Air Canada Centre, home of the Toronto Raptors basketball and Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey teams. The building will be developed and jointly managed by Ivanhoe Cambridge and Hines and construction will begin this spring, CIBC said. The move will bring 15,000 of CIBC''s 21,000 employees in the greater Toronto area, who are currently spread across more than 20 buildings, into one location between 2020 and 2023. "It''s a chance to consolidate a lot of our staff in Toronto into one modern and innovative building. It likely is the most coveted space in downtown Toronto coming on stream in the next couple of years," Stephen Forbes, CIBC''s chief commercial officer, said in an interview. The financial terms of the deal were not concerned. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cibc-headquarters-idUSL1N1HK0SP'|'2017-04-12T23:00:00.000+03:00' '9fa56ac18cc570fc0016c9b44f7db027d5a9926f'|'CME Group shuts loss-making London derivatives and clearing units'|' 48pm BST CME Group shuts loss-making London derivatives and clearing units By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON CME Group ( CME.O ), one of the world''s biggest exchanges, is closing two operations in London by year end after they ran up losses of more than $100 million (80 million pounds), saying on Wednesday customers preferred using its U.S. operations. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, whose products include futures contracts on commodities such as wheat and cocoa, said that after closing its UK-based derivatives exchange and clearing house, it would continue to have a significant operation to serve European customers. "While Europe continues to be a critically important and expanding market for CME Group ... our customers have shown that they prefer to access our global products, deep liquidity and greater capital efficiencies through our U.S. infrastructure," William Knottenbelt, CME Group senior managing director, international, said in a statement. Analysts said the CME had failed to win market share in Europe, where arch U.S. rival ICE ( ICE.N ), as well as Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) and the London Stock Exchange''s LCH ( LSE.L ), dominate. "CME Europe had a challenging time establishing itself and was not making the headway some had hoped," said Patrick Young, an exchange industry consultant. "Thus in the short term CME Group chairman Terry Duffy consolidates his position as CEO by being seen as a cost cutter." CME employs 400 people in London and Belfast. A spokeswoman for the company said only a "very small single-digit percentage" of those would be affected. CUMULATIVE LOSSES Since CME Europe launched, Duffy has explained its slow start by saying it takes time to get such start-ups off the ground. He took over as CEO after Phupinder Gill retired last year. CME''s London clearing house was launched in 2011 and the derivatives trading platform followed in 2014. Cumulative losses from the two operations totalled $112 million by the end of last year, mostly from the clearing unit. Customers from Europe traded an average of 2.6 million contracts a day last year, the bulk on CME''s U.S.-based platforms. CME''s EU wheat futures, launched last year in a challenge to Euronext’s wheat market, would not be affected by the closure of CME Europe as they are traded via the group''s Chicago Board of Trade exchange in the United States, a CME spokeswoman said. CME had already decided earlier this year to suspend trading in its European cocoa futures after the derivatives failed to develop liquidity since their launch in 2015. The pullout comes ahead new European Union securities rules due next January and at a time when the Trump administration in the United States wants to cut regulation. Britain''s scheduled departure from the European Union in 2019 may also bring a loss of single market access for Britain, and unlike rival exchanges in Europe, CME does not have a base elsewhere in the bloc to build on and would have to set up new operations from scratch. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cme-group-europe-operations-idUKKBN17E1ZY'|'2017-04-12T22:48:00.000+03:00' '489212cd087c568f384a1e214285be2ac09097bb'|'Asian stocks set for a rough ride as geopolitical risks rise'|'By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stocks started the week on a cautious footing on Monday as increased geopolitical risks prompted investors to favour safe-haven bets such as government debt while the dollar benefited from comments from a U.S. central banker.The rise in risks of a conflict contrasts with market watchers'' outlook for the global economy, which is perhaps the most optimistic it has been in years, with Chinese data this week expected to show the economy performing well.Top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump differed on Sunday on where U.S. policy on Syria was headed after last week''s attack on a Syrian air base, while U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the strikes were a warning to other nations, including North Korea.A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea''s advancing weapons program."The risks of a conflict have certainly grown and that should keep the dollar supported against most Asian currencies with hawkish comments from the U.S. central bank also helping," said Gao Qi, an FX strategist at Scotiabank in Singapore.MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was broadly flat after declining 0.4 percent on Friday. Korea was down 0.5 percent while Australia was up by 0.4 percent.Economic data also offered little support with major U.S. indexes closing lower in choppy trade after a key jobs report on Friday showed the economy added 98,000 jobs in March, the fewest since last May and well below economists'' expectation of 180,000.With S&P 500 valuations on a forward earnings basis at their highest since 2004, market watchers will be hoping for stellar corporate results to sustain a market rally.RISK RISINGRisk indicators have edged higher with the CBOE Volatility Index trading at near 13 compared to around 11 at the beginning of March, prompting some analysts to warn of a pull back in global equities."Shares remain vulnerable to a short term pull-back as investor sentiment towards them is very bullish and a lot of good news has been factored in which has left them vulnerable to any bad news," said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney.Latest flows data showed investors yanked money out of both developed and emerging market equity funds in the week ending April 5, according to Thomson Reuters Lipper data.The dollar index, a trade-weighted basket of the greenback against its major rivals was trading near a one-month high of 101.26.Only the yen, a favoured haven in times of stress, offered some resistance against the greenback at 111.39 yen, after touching 110.11 on Friday, its lowest since March 27.Support for the dollar also came from rising U.S. yields after comments from a U.S. policymaker boosted expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate increases this year.Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries were at 2.39 percent on Monday after briefly breaking below a significant chart barrier at 2.30 percent on Friday for the first time this year.Spot gold was last at $1,253.60 per ounce. It has rallied nearly 5 percent over the past month.Oil prices held firm at $52.45 per barrel, on risks that the Syria conflict may spread more widely within the oil-rich Middle East region.(Editing by Richard Pullin and Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idINKBN17C06L'|'2017-04-10T00:38:00.000+03:00' 'b8f5bdaaef6efa83f65b2ac53d80cc7319243fce'|'METALS-London copper slips on mounting geopolitical concerns'|'MELBOURNE, April 10 London copper eased on Monday as rising geopolitical tensions blunted appetite for risk and lifted the dollar, eroding the purchasing power of commodity buyers.FUNDAMENTALS* LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper had slipped 0.4 percent to $5,809 a tonne by 0124 GMT, adding to small losses from the previous session, before finding support at its 100-day moving average at $5,800 a tonne.* SHFE: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper dropped 0.9 percent to 47,200 yuan ($6,843) a tonne. ShFE zinc fell 2.4 percent, dragged down by weakness in steel and also after news that two mines hit by floods in Peru were ready to restart.* U.S. ECONOMY: U.S. job growth slowed sharply in March amid continued layoffs in the embattled retail sector, but a drop in the unemployment rate to a near 10-year low of 4.5 percent suggested labour market strength remained intact.* NORTH KOREA: A U.S. Navy strike group will be moving toward the western Pacific Ocean near the Korean peninsula as a show of force, a U.S. official told Reuters on Saturday, as concerns grow about North Korea''s advancing weapons programme.* ZINC MINE: Peruvian miner Milpo, controlled by Brazilian group Votorantim Metais, said on Friday it could restart operations at two mines over the weekend if there were no new restrictions to roads affected by flooding.* PHILIPPINES: A suspended Philippine nickel miner has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to allow it to ship ore stockpiles after some cargoes were seized as tensions escalated over a required fee it claimed was illegal.* PERU: Peru, fresh off a sharp rise in copper output, is upstaging top producer Chile as a prime place to hunt for new supplies as the historic rivals race to usher in new mines.* COPPER SPECULATORS: Hedge funds and money managers cut their net long position in copper futures and options by 6,600 contracts to 54,173, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Friday. That was the first cut in three weeks.* COPPER ARSENIC: Ecometales, a unit of Chile''s state-run Codelco is in talks with smelters in Europe and China to share its technology for stabilising arsenic while processing lower-quality copper ore, an executive said on Friday.* For the top stories in metals and other news, click or* MARKETS: Asian stocks are set for a cautious start on Monday as increased geopolitical risks combined with expensive valuations prompt investors to shun risky assets in favour of safe-haven bets such as government debt.DATA AHEAD (GMT)0830 Euro zone Sentix index Apr1400 U.S. Employment trends MarPRICESThree month LME copperMost active ShFE copperThree month LME aluminiumMost active ShFE aluminiumThree month LME zincMost active ShFE zincThree month LME leadMost active ShFE leadThree month LME nickelMost active ShFE nickelThree month LME tinMost active ShFE tinARBS ($1 = 6.8978 Chinese yuan renminbi)(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idINL3N1HI1A2'|'2017-04-09T23:54:00.000+03:00' '5cd8572e7eb2ca8c73994d385864cb0d62ace822'|'3-D printed titanium to shave millions in Boeing Dreamliner costs'|'By Alwyn Scott - SEATTLE SEATTLE Boeing Co ( BA.N ) hired Norsk Titanium AS to print the first structural titanium parts for its 787 Dreamliner, the Norwegian 3-D printing company said on Monday, paving the way to cost savings of $2 million to $3 million for each plane.The contract is a major step in Boeing''s effort to cut the cost of its barely profitable 787 and a sign of growing industrial acceptance of the durability of 3-D printed metal parts, allowing them to replace pieces made with more expensive traditional manufacturing in demanding aerospace applications.Strong, lightweight titanium alloy is seven times more costly than aluminium, and accounts for about $17 million of the cost of a $265 million Dreamliner, industry sources say.Boeing has been trying to reduce titanium costs on the 787, which requires more of the metal than other models because of its carbon-fibre composite fuselage and wings. Titanium also is used extensively on Airbus Group SE''s ( AIR.PA ) rival A350 jet."This means $2 million to $3 million in savings for each Dreamliner, at least," starting in 2018 when many more parts are being printed, Chip Yates, Norsk Titanium''s vice president of marketing, said in a telephone interview.Boeing declined to comment on the estimate but said Norsk''s technology would help reduce costs.The aircraft maker in February said it had hired privately held Oxford Performance Materials to print plastic parts for its Starliner spacecraft.Norsk worked with Boeing for more than a year to design four 787 parts and obtain Federal Aviation Administration certification for them, Yates said.Norsk expects the U.S. regulatory agency will approve the material properties and production process for the parts later this year, which would "open up the floodgates" and allow Norsk to print thousands of different parts for each Dreamliner, without each part requiring separate FAA approval, Yates said."You''re talking about tons, literally," on the 787 that would be printed instead of made with traditional, expensive forging and machining, he said.General Electric Co ( GE.N ) is already printing metal fuel nozzles for a line of new aircraft engines. But Norsk and Boeing said the titanium parts are the first printed structural components designed to bear the stress of an airframe in flight.Norsk said that initially it will print in Norway, but is building up a 67,000-square-foot (6,220-square-meter) facility in Plattsburgh in upstate New York, where it aims to have nine printers running by year-end.(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/norsk-boeing-idINKBN17C2BA'|'2017-04-10T17:44:00.000+03:00' 'd327b979ac9bb703031bbc9a0513cbf90f2b2ef4'|'Easter is an egg-cellent excuse to shop small - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Easter is an egg-cellent excuse to shop small View more sharing options Share Close The UK chocolate Easter egg market is worth around £200m, but it is competitive. So small business owners are getting creative to stand out Emma Sheppard @Emmalousheppard Tuesday 11 April 2017 13.56 BST Last modified on Tuesday 11 April 2017 14.13 BST Every one of Lick the Spoon’s paisley eggs [ pictured, £24.95 ] is unique. Co-founder Matthew Short says they take around an hour to decorate, although they have had to scale back designs in the past. “The intricate work is our unique selling point. My wife [and co-founder] Diana is artistic and as a small business, you try to make the most of these things. We’ve been guilty in the past of coming up with beautiful designs and it takes so long to make them that we’ve almost come unravelled.” Photograph: Michael HolmanFacebook Twitter Pinterest Father and daughter team, Kerr Dunlop and Flo Broughton, started Choc on Choc in 2003 in a village near Bath. Broughton says they are both self-taught chocolatiers and try to be slightly alternative. “Not everyone wants an egg,” she says. “I’m not a huge fan of fruit and I love chocolate so I make chocolate fruit. The coconut [ pictured, £20 ] has proven popular this year. I love that I can eat chocolate every day and it’s just part of my job,” Broughton says. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Seven years ago, The Chocolate Society went bankrupt. Alasdair Garnsworthy, who was developing websites at the time, and his brother decided to buy the domain name, but also had to acquire half the company. “Once we owned it, we were getting calls from customers asking when we were going to make the truffles again,” Garnsworthy says. “We tried outsourcing to other manufacturers but the quality wasn’t there.” He is self-taught but says he enjoys being a chocolatier. “It’s completely consumed me, but I love it. It doesn’t feel like a job.” [ Pictured, dark chocolate egg, £29.50 ] Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sarah Payne, founder and creative director of Cocoa Loco, started the business by selling brownies on eBay. Now, she and husband, Rory, have a team of 15 and a chocolate cafe in Horsham. “We’ve always taken the stand that we’re not going to supply supermarkets,” Payne says. “We’ve never wanted to. We can’t compete on price with those guys, but our chocolate is handmade, all organic and fairtrade. It’s hard to put into words what I love about working with chocolate. I feel blessed.” [ Pictured, marbled rabbit, £9.99 ] Photograph: Sarah KetelaarsFacebook Twitter Pinterest “It’s our tenth anniversary this year,” says Marc Demarquette, head chocolatier and owner of Demarquette. “We wanted to show we can still be creative.” Demarquette’s school run Easter egg [pictured, £30] takes an hour to decorate with gold-dusted fish. He says innovative designs keep them competitive: “You need to give value for money, but you need to be creative. You’ve got to create something you know the supermarkets can’t replicate.” He admits to “constantly nibbling away” while working. “Even when you have a bad day, you have a little nibble and think, actually it’s not that bad, is it.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest “Our avocado egg [pictured, £49.50] seems to have captured people’s imagination this year,” Louise Mason, founder of Melt, says when asked which has proven to be their most popular egg. She adds there is growing demand for unique Easter eggs in the UK. “Customers are looking for something visually exciting and it’s an opportunity for chocolatiers to show their skill and creativity. My background as an art specialist has helped me look to art and design for inspiration.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Audrey’s Chocolates dates back to 1961, when William Pain, chocolatier to Fortnum & Mason, retired and opened a chocolate shop in the seaside town of Hove. Today’s head chocolatier and managing director, David Burns, says: “We have a team of three or four ladies who make all the flowers for the Easter eggs by hand [ pictured, £15.40 each ]. Some of the staff have been with us for 30 years. Easter is the best time for me, it’s when Audrey’s comes alive.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christina Purnell started Sweet Tree by Browns three years ago after she made a series of chocolate tree centrepieces for her daughter’s wedding. “This year the bunny trees [ pictured, from £24.99 ] are popular,” she says. “And the scotch egg has gone bananas. We’ll do a giant one next year.” Purnell has a team of eight and says they are constantly coming up with new ideas. The business has grown purely by word of mouth and is now stocked by 12 online retailers. Purnell hopes to open her own shop one day. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chief chocolate adventurer, Anne Weyns, says the hardest part is not coming up with ideas, but making them happen. The packaging for Artisan du Chocolat’s balloon egg [pictured, £25] took three months to get right – Weyns wanted it to look like it was floating. Where do her ideas come from? “We don’t do market research, we don’t look at other people, we just think. There’s a famous Belgian author who says ‘when you write a book, you go into your own madness and you just hope people will come on the ride with you’. It’s similar for us.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Guardian Small Business Network Small business Entrepreneurs'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/gallery/2017/apr/11/easter-eggs-small-business-unique-designs'|'2017-04-11T21:56:00.000+03:00' '153714f8b1abd66856de6a3d55e9561c73693881'|'Ireland only marginally trims post-Brexit economic outlook'|' 21pm BST Ireland only marginally trims post-Brexit economic outlook A general view of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland in Dublin May 27, 2007. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor By Padraic Halpin - DUBLIN DUBLIN Ireland trimmed its economic growth outlook for the years following Britain''s future exit from the European Union only marginally on Tuesday, saying consumer spending would offset most of the hit to export growth. Ireland''s economy, which has been the best performing in the EU for the last three years, is widely considered the most vulnerable among the the bloc''s 27 remaining members to Brexit due to its close trading links with its nearest neighbour. But Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Monday growth forecasts had been boosted to 4.3 percent for this year and 3.7 percent next year, an average increase of half a percentage point each. His department pared back its forecasts for gross domestic product (GDP) growth post-Brexit by the smallest of margins on Tuesday, seeing growth moderating from 3.1 percent in 2019 to 2.5 percent in 2021. "The evidence that the exit will be detrimental to the UK economy is fairly compelling, and the short- and medium-term trajectory for growth in a key trading partner is far from clear," it said in its biannual update to its outlook. While forecasts for export growth were cut by 0.2 to 0.5 percent from 2019 and 2021 with the expected slowdown in the UK, personal consumption growth was upgraded by 0.7 percent in each of those years. That reflected a labour market that continues to improve far quicker than expected. The department sees the jobless rate falling below 6 percent by the end of this year compared to an average rate of 7.7 percent for 2017 seen six months ago. Ireland could therefore reach full employment next year, it said, with the unemployment rate forecast to remain at 5.5 percent from 2018 onwards. That resilience would leave the economy better prepared for Brexit. The department has previously said that a "Hard Brexit" that resulted in trade with the bloc governed by World Trade Organisation rules could leave Irish GDP almost 4 percent off where it otherwise would have been within a decade. It also maintained its expectation that Ireland''s budget deficit will fall to 0.4 percent of GDP this year. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Andrew Roche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-idUKKBN17D2K1'|'2017-04-12T04:21:00.000+03:00' 'c65930df2f318f41d2f137bbef187672d21428b8'|'Brazil''s Cemig sees asset sales needed to ease debt repayment burden'|' 22pm EDT Brazil''s Cemig sees asset sales needed to ease debt repayment burden SAO PAULO, April 12 Brazilian power utility Cia Energetica de Minas Gerais SA will step up efforts to renegotiate existing debt and sell assets as a way to delay 4.837 billion reais ($1.5 billion) worth of debt maturities by the end of this year, executives said on Wednesday. Cemig, as the utility is known, is also considering existing options in capital markets to reduce a 52 percent stake in Light Energia SA, said Chief Financial Officer Adezio Lima, without elaborating. Lima spoke on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter financial results. ($1 = 3.1525 reais) (Reporting by Luciano Costa; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cemig-results-divestiture-idUSE6N1D200K'|'2017-04-13T02:22:00.000+03:00' '199b4a0f63c3be98ddf54828d4e21a7ab3e738b8'|'Lyft lands $600 million in fresh funding'|'By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO, April 11 SAN FRANCISCO, April 11 Ride services company Lyft has raised $600 million in fresh funding, one of its investors said on Tuesday.Private equity firm KKR & Co said it had joined a $600 million financing round, giving a sizeable financial boost to San Francisco-based Lyft as it continues to compete fiercely with rival Uber Technologies Inc.Sources close to Lyft said last week the company was close to completing a funding round that would value the firm at $7.5 billion, a sharp increase from the $5.5 billion valuation at Lyft''s last financing more than a year ago. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lyft-funding-idINL1N1HJ1J3'|'2017-04-11T17:56:00.000+03:00' '45ff0a49d6e75712c2886e5c97fc7995e87f7310'|'Syngenta, defence stocks help European stocks steady at 16-month peak - Reuters'|'* STOXX 600 up 0.2 pct after choppy session* Syngenta closer to tie-up after China OK, shares up* Geopolitical unease lifts aerodefence stocks* Tesco drops as analysts spot weaknesses in results (Recasts with details and closing prices)By Danilo Masoni and Helen ReidMILAN, April 12 European shares inched up on Wednesday, steadying around 16 month highs, helped by gains in Syngenta and a rally in defence stocks on investor concerns about lingering geopolitical risks.The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 percent but trading was choppy just a few days ahead a holiday break, while Germany''s DAX added 0.1 percent and France''s CAC was flat.Syngenta was the biggest single-stock contributor to gains in the STOXX index, up 2.2 percent, after ChemChina''s $43 billion planned takeover of the Swiss pesticides and seeds group received approval from Chinese regulators.Europe''s aerospace and defence stocks index outperformed, up 0.9 percent to a fresh 20 month highs."Every time macro political tensions arise, the sector gets a boost," said Federico Polese, fund manager at Simplify Partners, noting however that defence spending programs are long term and do not change when the political climate heats up."Investors are pricing in expectations of a rise to defence spending in the U.S.," he added.Auto stocks also provided support but their sectoral index pared some gains to end up 0.3 percent.French auto parts manufacturer Faurecia gained 1 percent after it posted first-quarter sales up 10 percent to 4.2 billion euros. Deutsche Bank said strong results over consecutive semesters should feed through into a valuation which is one of the lowest in the sector.German luxury carmaker Daimler gained 0.3 percent after it said first-quarter profits jumped 87 percent on strong Mercedes sales.Dialog Semiconductor was the top European faller for a second day, down 1.6 percent. It fell 14 percent on Tuesday after an analyst report said its biggest client Apple could be seeking to ditch its power management supply (PMIC) in favour of creating the parts itself."Apple PMIC insourcing fears appear overdone for Dialog," said Deutsche Bank, reiterating a ''hold'' rating on the stock.Britain''s biggest retailer Tesco fell 5.7 percent as analysts pointed to a few negatives in its full-year results, including slowdown in UK and Ireland margins. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idINL8N1HK4YV'|'2017-04-12T14:34:00.000+03:00' '45fa2a313205fd8c8a35b2e9a4430e918c0d05c6'|'Exclusive: Meredith falls short of Time Inc''s deal price expectations - sources'|'By Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Toonkel U.S. media group Meredith Corp ( MDP.N ) has made a preliminary acquisition offer to Time Inc ( TIME.N ) that fell short of the price expectations of the publisher of Sports Illustrated and Fortune magazines, according to people familiar with the matter.The gap in valuation expectations could represent a setback to Time Inc''s efforts to sell itself. It comes after an investor group led by former music executive Edgar Bronfman Jr abandoned its pursuit of Time Inc in March, following a $1.8 billion offer it made late last year.While Time Inc is looking to sell itself for more than $20 per share, Meredith has so far made a preliminary offer with a price range that values it below that, the people said this week. The exact price range that Meredith has offered could not be learned.The sources cautioned that Time Inc is still willing to engage with Meredith in price negotiations, which have yet to kick off in earnest. Time Inc has also been pursuing offers from other parties in what is sees as a competitive sale process, according to the sources.Time Inc shares dropped 4 percent to $18.20, giving the company a market capitalization of around $1.8 billion. Meredith shares were down 1.8 percent to $63.20, giving that company a market capitalization of $2.8 billion.An investment group led by private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management LP remains interested in Time Inc, but it also considers it unlikely that it can meet its price expectations, according to the sources.The sources asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. Time, Meredith and Pamplona declined to comment.An acquisition of Time Inc would give Meredith the scale required to spin off its broadcasting arm into a standalone company. Many of Meredith''s competitors, from Tronc Inc ( TRNC.O ) to Tribune Media Co ( TRCO.N ), have shed their publishing operations following a drop in print advertising revenue.Time Inc has been weighing a sale of the company for the past several months, amid a decline in earnings.For the fourth quarter, the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue. Print ad revenue, which accounts for more than two-thirds of its total ad sales, fell 10.2 percent in the three months to Dec. 31, from a year earlier.This would not be the first time that Meredith has come close to buying Time Inc. In 2013 Meredith and Time Inc''s owner at the time, Time Warner, were in talks about a deal for Time Inc but the discussions ended unsuccessfully. Time Warner then spun off Time Inc as a stand-alone company in 2014.Time Inc has since made attempts to expand beyond its print roots by going on a shopping spree for digital media firms. It acquired Viant Technology, an advertising technology firm that owns Myspace, an early social media company.Time Inc replaced its chief executive last year after activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC unveiled a stake in the company. The deadline for any activist shareholder to put forward nominees to challenge the company''s board director picks is April 21.Meredith tried to merge with Richmond, Virginia-based broadcaster Media General in 2015, but Nexstar Broadcasting Inc swooped in with a higher bid, acquiring Media General for $4.6 billion.(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Toonkel in New York; Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-time-m-a-meredith-exclusive-idINKBN17E1W9'|'2017-04-12T13:02:00.000+03:00' 'fe46f4041bfcb3b610b2b402d837cacf9cb67d10'|'Private equity firms have bid $22 billion for SCA hygiene unit-paper'|'STOCKHOLM A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.26 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA ( SCAb.ST ), daily Dagens Nyheter wrote on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.SCA said last year it planned to split into two units."At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," DN said.SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and No.2 in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products.SCA could not immediately be reached by Reuters for a comment.(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-sca-idINKBN17E2O0'|'2017-04-12T18:18:00.000+03:00' '34b8dfe9e691406b2d7b3c6cbf47181ee5ef952b'|'Telecomulonimbus: Cloudification will mean upheaval in telecoms'|'IN THE computing clouds, startups can set up new servers or acquire data storage with only a credit card and a few clicks of a mouse. Now imagine a world in which they could as quickly weave their own wireless network, perhaps to give users of a fleet of self-driving cars more bandwidth or to connect wireless sensors.As improbable as it sounds, this is the logical endpoint of a development that is picking up speed in the telecoms world. Networks are becoming as flexible as computing clouds: they are being turned into software and can be dialled up and down as needed. Such “cloudification”, as it is known, will probably create as much upheaval in the telecoms industry as it has done in information technology (IT). an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates IT and telecoms differ in important respects. One is largely unregulated, the other overseen closely by government. Computing capacity is theoretically unlimited, unlike radio spectrum, which is hard to use efficiently. And telecoms networks are more deeply linked to the physical world. “You cannot turn radio towers into software,” says Bengt Nordstrom of Northstream, a consultancy.The data centres of big cloud-computing providers are packed with thousands of cheap servers, powered by standard processors. Telecoms networks, by contrast, are a collection of hundreds of different types of computers with specialised chips, each in charge of a different function, from text messaging to controlling antennae. It takes months, if not years, to set up a new service, let alone a new network.But powerful forces are pushing for change. On the technical side, the current way of building networks will hit a wall as traffic continues to grow rapidly. The next generation of wireless technologies, called 5G, requires more flexible networks. Yet the most important factor behind cloudification is economic, says Stéphane Téral of IHS Markit, a market-research firm. Mobile operators badly need to cut costs, as the smartphone boom ends in many places and prices of mobile-service plans fall. The shift was evident at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. Equipment-makers’ booths were plastered with diagrams depicting new technologies called NFV and SDN, which stand for “network-functions virtualisation” and “software-defined networks”. They turn specialised telecoms gear into software in a process called “virtualisation”.Many networks have already been virtualised at their “core”, the central high-capacity gear. But this is also starting to happen at the edges of networks—the antennae of a mobile network. These usually plug directly into nearby computers that control the radio signal. But some operators, such as SK Telecom in South Korea, have begun consolidating these “baseband units” in a central data centre. Alex Choi, SK Telecom’s chief technology officer, wants “radio” to become the fourth component of cloud computing, after computing, storage and networking.Spin me up, AT&TThe carrier that has pushed cloudification furthest is AT&T, America’s largest operator. By the end of 2017 it wants to have more than half of its network virtualised. In areas where it has already upgraded its systems, it can now add to the network simply by downloading a piece of software. “Instead of sending a technician, we can just spin up a virtual machine,” says Andre Fuetsch, AT&T’s chief technology officer.Even more surprising for a firm with a reputation for caution, AT&T has released the program that manages the newly virtualised parts of its network as open-source software: the underlying recipe is now available free. If widely adopted, it will allow network operators to use cheaper off-the-shelf gear—much as the rise of Linux, an open-source operating system, led to the commoditisation of hardware in data centres a decade ago.If equipment-makers are worried about all this, they are not letting it show. Many parts of a network will not get virtualised, argues Marcus Weldon, chief technology officer of Nokia. And there will always be a need for specialised hardware, such as processors able to handle data packets at ever faster speeds. Still, Nokia and other telecoms-gear-makers will have to adapt. They will make less money from hardware and related maintenance services, which currently form a big chunk of their revenues. At the same time, they will have to beef up their software business.Cloudification may also create an opening for newcomers. Both Affirmed Networks and Mavenir, two American firms, for instance, are developing software to run networks on off-the-shelf servers. Affirmed already claims 50 customers. Mavenir wants to work with underdog operators “to bring the incumbents down”, says Pardeep Kohli, its chief executive. If the history of cloud computing is any guide, the telecoms world may also see the rise of new players in the mould of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s fast-growing cloud-computing arm.According to John Delaney of IDC, a research firm, the big barrier to cloudification is likely to be spectrum, which newcomers will still have to buy. But a clever entrepreneur may find ways to combine assets—unlicensed spectrum, fibre networks, computing power—to provide cheap mobile connectivity. Startups such as FreedomPop and Republic Wireless already offer “Wi-Fi first” mobile services, which send calls and data via Wi-Fi hotspots, using the mobile network as backup.As the case of AWS shows, a potential Amazon Telecoms Services does not have to spring from the telecoms world. Amazon itself is a candidate. But carmakers, operators of power grids and internet giants such as Facebook could have a go: they are huge consumers of connectivity and have built networks. Facebook, for instance, is behind the Telecom Infra Project, another effort to open the network infrastructure. However things shake out, expect the telecoms world to become much more fluid in the coming years, just like IT before it. "Telecomulonimbus"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720670-it-will-allow-startups-challenge-incumbent-operators-cloudification-will-mean-upheaval?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '8e6d3a29c6006448cc13653d2eb03402774b6719'|'Airbus CEO considers another term, says not retiring soon'|'Big Story 10 32pm EDT Airbus AMSTERDAM The German-born executive told Reuters in an interview he was far from bored after five years in the job, during which the company has gone through sweeping governance changes as well as a reorganization whose final step was approved on Wednesday. "It is up to shareholders and the board to decide. I am 58 now and I am not close to retirement. (Former CEO) Louis (Gallois) retired from the company aged 68, which is not my benchmark, but in 2019 I will only be 60," he said. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-shareholders-enders-idUSKBN17E2CN'|'2017-04-13T01:28:00.000+03:00' '406da98dfb6496943ca708378b50c7dd925f8a99'|'Unilever Nigeria to seek approval next month for $200 million share sale'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:07pm BST Unilever Nigeria to seek approval next month for $200 million share sale FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo LAGOS Unilever Nigeria ( UNILEVE.LG ) said on Wednesday it will seek shareholder approval next month to raise 63 billion naira (160 million pounds) through a rights issue. The household products maker also said it would seek approval to increase its authorised share capital to 5 billion naira by creating an additional 3.95 billion new ordinary shares of 0.50 naira each. The local unit of Unilever ( UNc.AS ) ( ULVR.L ) plans to seek a vote at a shareholder meeting on May 11, it said in a notice, adding that it would also ask for approval to convert shareholder loans to stock as part of the share sale. (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; editing by Chijioke Ohuocha and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-unilever-nigeria-issue-idUKKBN17E1HL'|'2017-04-12T20:07:00.000+03:00' 'ae557b63a8743457e16875394b17ecd64e70473f'|'Transferwise to move European headquarters from UK to continent due to Brexit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:22pm BST Transferwise to move European headquarters from UK to continent due to Brexit LONDON Money transfer company Transferwise, one of the biggest fintech firms in Europe, will move its European headquarters from London to mainland Europe by March 2019 in order to keep access to the single market after Brexit, its CEO said on Wednesay. Taavet Hinrikus, who co-founded the $1 billion company in 2011 in London with fellow Estonian Kristo Kaarmann, said if they were setting up the company now, they would not chose Britain for its location due to uncertainty from Brexit. "Uncertainty means that maybe if you''re building the next fintech business you shouldn''t build it in London today, until everything clears up again and we understand what’s going to happen with access to talent and so on," he told Reuters at the sidelines of a government-sponsored fintech event in London. Hinrikus said the global headquarters would remain in London, where the company employs around 120 people, because the UK is its biggest market. The company has not yet decided where the new European headquarters will be, he said, but it will be set up by March 2019, so that it will be in place when Britain has finally exited the EU, and will provide jobs that would otherwise have been in Britain. The main reason for the move, Hinrikus said, was the loss of passporting rights, which give EU companies unfettered access to all of the bloc from a single base. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Huw Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fintech-transferwise-brexit-idUKKBN17E1KC'|'2017-04-12T20:22:00.000+03:00' 'f3c9d1528a9134e80b8d1687a8b71dbe1845db13'|'LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns'|'China''s Le Holdings Co Ltd ( 300104.SZ ), also known as LeEco, abandoned its proposed $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio Inc ( VZIO.O ) on Monday, citing "regulatory headwinds."LeEco and Vizio, however, have struck a new collaboration agreement that includes bringing Vizio products to the Chinese market, according to a brief emailed statement from the Chinese company.The statement did not elaborate on the regulatory hurdles that prevented the deal from going ahead.The deal to buy Irvine, California-based Vizio was announced in July.(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/vizio-m-a-leeco-idINKBN17C2MU'|'2017-04-10T21:45:00.000+03:00' '97bc3c05af4ac088a83419d3e7a8db6cd5106438'|'Syngenta says Mexican remedies for ChemChina deal will not have major impact'|' 40am BST Syngenta says Mexican remedies for ChemChina deal will not have major impact A Syngenta logo is pictured in their office in Singapore, February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo ZURICH Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG ( SYNN.S ) said Mexican regulatory conditions for approving ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] planned $43 billion (34.44 billion pounds) takeover bid will not have a major impact on the business. Mexico''s antitrust commission COFECE approved the deal on Tuesday on condition that Syngenta divests five products, without naming them, in order to avoid risks to competition. If the deal were carried out as originally planned by the firms, free competition would be placed at risk in certain herbicide and fungicide markets, COFECE said. A Syngenta spokesman said the regulator''s remarks were in line with the company''s announcement on Monday that COFECE had approved the proposed acquisition by ChemChina. "This approval included remedies, which are not material to our business," he said in an email. The deal is one of several reshaping the agricultural chemicals and seeds market, even as these deals trigger fears among some farmers that bigger, more powerful suppliers could be better placed to push up prices and economise on developing new herbicides and pesticides. Syngenta expects the deal to close in the second quarter of 2017. U.S. antitrust authorities have nodded the deal through on Tuesday on condition ChemChina divests three products, while the European Commission said planned asset sales would address its competition concerns. (Reporting by Oliver Hirt and Michael Shields, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-idUKKBN17E0VT'|'2017-04-12T16:40:00.000+03:00' 'a09be43c21417fb4797c3c06f0b01b58e73f01fc'|'UPDATE 1-Southern Copper says Peru operations normal despite strike'|' 43pm EDT UPDATE 1-Southern Copper says Peru operations normal despite strike (Adds comments from company spokesman) LIMA, April 10 A Southern Copper Corp spokesman said operations in Peru were near normal as workers started an indefinite strike on Monday, although a union representative said 80 percent of capacity was affected. The Cuajone and Toquepala copper mines were producing at 98 percent and the Ilo refinery was operating at 100 percent capacity, a Southern Copper spokesman said. The strike follows labor disruptions at Peru''s biggest copper mine, Cerro Verde, and Chile''s Escondida, the world''s largest copper mine, earlier this year. Southern Copper, owned by Grupo Mexico, boosted its copper output by 21 percent to 900,000 tonnes last year on the back of an expansion at a mine in Mexico. Jose Espejo, a member of a union representing 2,200 workers, said workers had walked off the job and started protesting early on Monday to demand a greater share of company profits. "We are based on each side of the railroad and we will not let the train pass," he said, referring to the railway that transports copper concentrates from Cuajone and Toquepala to the Ilo refinery. Another union of 800 workers at Toquepala plans to join the strike on Wednesday, Espejo said. The company spokesman said union members would meet later on Monday with company representatives to try to resolve the conflict. (Reporting by Marco Aquino and Teresa Cespedes; Writing by Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Steve Orlofsky) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/southern-copper-strike-idUSL1N1HI0YE'|'2017-04-11T02:43:00.000+03:00' '228c63aa821019e9c414ae485ec3807e67825808'|'EU watchdog to stop Brexit ''race to bottom'' by financial centres'|' 20pm BST EU watchdog to stop Brexit ''race to bottom'' by financial centres Steven Maijoor, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority, attends a policy dialogue during the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON The European Union''s markets watchdog will issue guidance and possible curbs for national regulators in coming weeks to stop a "race to the bottom" to attract UK-based financial firms after Brexit, it said on Tuesday. Steven Maijoor, chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), outlined how the watchdog will keep national regulators toeing the EU line on authorising firms, confirming a Reuters article last month. "This work is aimed at avoiding competition on regulatory and supervisory practices between member states, and a possible race to the bottom, which might be detrimental to the capital markets union," Maijoor said in a speech in Brussels. ESMA will publish four "opinions" or formal guidance to the bloc''s national securities regulators before the summer, covering general issues and three market sectors. The general opinion will consider how national regulators should handle day-to-day supervision of relocated operations, in particular when certain functions are subject to outsourcing and delegation. "Potential limitations to outsourcing and delegation are also being discussed," Maijoor said. Outsourcing and delegation is common in fund management and in broking, whereby the processing of transactions or other activities across several EU states are centralised in one country. The broker-dealer trading arms of banks in Britain have asked EU regulators whether their entities in the remaining 27 EU states will still be allowed to outsource operations to London after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019. Maijoor said it was essential that national regulators do not compete on regulatory and supervisory treatment of UK firms wanting to relocate operations. "Some practical examples where this may be a risk include such issues as UK firms seeking authorisation from one of the EU27 financial markets regulators and subsequently outsourcing and delegating some of the activities back to the UK entity," he said. Separately, the European Central Bank reiterated on Tuesday it would not allow banks from Britain to have a euro zone licence if they wanted an unlimited ability to outsource operations back to London. Maijoor said ESMA''s remaining three opinions would address in more detail the areas of asset management, investment firms and secondary markets. The EU watchdog is also working to set up a "mechanism" for national regulators to share live cases at EU level regarding UK firms seeking authorisation in an EU of 27 states. "This will allow ESMA to coordinate the consideration of key issues in the authorisation procedures for these entities in order to reach common views on significant relocation files," Maijoor said. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-banks-regulations-idUKKBN17D26W'|'2017-04-12T01:20:00.000+03:00' '5cf3387942b1a40799a438def0ecf274d5c3db0e'|'BRIEF-Artisan Partners Asset Management reports March 2017 assets under management'|' 27pm EDT BRIEF-Artisan Partners Asset Management reports March 2017 assets under management April 11 Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc - * Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc reports March 2017 assets under management * Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc - reported that its assets under management as of March 31, 2017 totaled $103.8 billion '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-artisan-partners-asset-management-idUSASA09IDE'|'2017-04-12T04:27:00.000+03:00' '3734a129a197d47fae294dbedaeb068d2016b7b7'|'Algeria could amend oil law to draw investment - oil minister statement'|' 50pm EDT Algeria could amend oil law to draw investment - oil minister statement By Lamine Chikhi - ALGIERS, April 11 ALGIERS, April 11 Algeria could change its hydrocarbons law to boost energy partnerships with foreign firms and draw more investment into its oil and gas sector, Energy Minister Nourredine Bouterfa said in a statement on Tuesday. Any move to amend its law -- criticised by some oil companies as too tough -- would be a major shift as Algeria looks to boost production. But changing the law may face resistance from the country''s political old guard wary of ending more nationalist policies. A key gas supplier to Europe, Algeria has managed over the last year to reverse stagnant production and increase oil and gas output, bringing new fields online and getting better yield from mature fields. But new exploration for longer-term output will need more foreign investment just as Algeria is juggling reforms to help offset the sharp slide in global crude prices that have slashed the government''s energy revenues. "We have engaged a dialogue with oil firms to shed light on their understanding of our laws, including their apprehensions with regard to taxes and to bring the necessary corrections so we can boost the development of our partnership and make our country more attractive," Bouterfa said in a statement to EU officials in Brussels. Bouterfa was speaking during a visit to discuss deepening energy cooperation with the European Union. Algeria, E.U. officials and oil companies have been in dialogue for a year over how to improve energy ties. Algeria''s energy legal framework and taxes have been seen by foreign oil and gas firms as a hurdle to more partnership. But the law is only one barrier. Oil firms say bureaucracy and delayed projects are others. In 2013, Algeria amended its law offering incentives to foreign companies in unconventional resources such as shale and linking taxes on partners of state energy firm Sonatrach to profit instead of turnover. But that was not enough to entice companies to subsequent energy bidding rounds, where investors saw little on offer and a lack of transparency in data on the fields. Since then Sonatrach has adopted a more flexible approach dealing with companies on a bilateral basis and abandoning public bids. The minister''s statement also told EU energy decision makers that "growth of output mainly natural gas will continue in a sustained way for the medium term and beyond." Algeria is the third gas supplier to the Europe Union after Russia and Norway, covering 55 percent of Spain''s gas energy needs in 2016, 16 percent of Italy''s and 15 percent of Portugal''s. Algeria exported 54 billion cubic metres in 2016, and it will export more than 57 billion cubic metres in 2017, according to Sonatrach. (Editing by Patrick Markey and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/algeria-energy-idUSL8N1HJ4S4'|'2017-04-12T00:50:00.000+03:00' '9d8b7084cbb46fe85c26fbd255cf58ec97a10ea7'|'UPDATE 1-Cenovus CEO says investors understand ''strategic rationale'' for deal'|' 33pm EDT UPDATE 1-Cenovus CEO says investors understand ''strategic rationale'' for deal (Adds CEO comments on hedging plans, background on deal, stock price) TORONTO, April 11 Cenovus Energy Inc has 75 percent of financing in place for its C$17.7 billion ($13.3 billion) acquisition of ConocoPhillips'' oil and gas assets, Cenovus Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said on Tuesday. The strategic rationale for the deal is well understood by investors, though some have questioned the company''s divestiture plan, which would partly fund the acquisition, Ferguson said. ConocoPhillips last month agreed to sell the assets, becoming the latest major international oil company to exit Canadian oil sands. Cenovus shares had their biggest one-day percentage fall ever as investors balked at the deal. Some investors fear the deal, which effectively doubled the size of Cenovus, will leave the company more exposed to changes in oil prices, according to analysts. Ferguson said the company will do more hedging after the deal closes, and that it will have lower per-barrel costs as a result of the bigger scale of production. Cenovus shares were down 1.7 percent in midafternoon trading in Toronto at C$14.76. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Jim Finkle and Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/conocophillips-cenovus-idUSL1N1HJ17N'|'2017-04-12T02:33:00.000+03:00' '874bcb142441324867a73d996811246b242d0117'|'Dialog Semi slump, banks weigh on European shares; volatility up'|'Company News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 12:43pm EDT Dialog Semi slump, banks weigh on European shares; volatility up * STOXX 600 ends little changed * Apple worries smash Dialog, but big banks play down risks * Volatility index rises to more than 1-month high * Alstom hit after reports of rival rail merger talks * Autogrill rallies as spin-off move fuels M&A chatter (Adds details, closing prices) By Kit Rees and Danilo Masoni LONDON, April 11 A sharp drop in shares of Apple-supplier Dialog Semiconductor dominated trading in otherwise muted European stock markets on Tuesday as a shortened week and risk-off sentiment kept investors from making big bets. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat as gains in the luxury goods sectors offset weakness in chipmakers and financials. Better-than-expected quarterly sales at LVMH lifted shares of the world''s largest luxury goods maker to a record high. European shares have been treading water in recent sessions, with the benchmark index little changed so far this month on mounting political tensions in the Middle East and North Korea, above-average valuations and caution ahead of earnings season. Expectations that European stocks might see bigger swings in the short term rose to their highest since end-February, following a similar spike in volatility on Wall Street overnight. On the day, tech stocks were the worst sectoral performers, with a sub-index tracking top European tech firms down 1.2 percent. Losses were led by Dialog Semiconductor, which lost 14 percent after a German broker said the company risks losing business from Apple. Broker Bankhaus Lampe cut its rating on the chipmaker to "sell" from "buy", warning that Apple could be developing its own PMIC (power management integrated circuit). Dialog Semiconductor supplies power management chips to Apple. "We hear from the industry that about 80 engineers at Apple are already working on a PMIC with specific plans to employ it in the iPhone by as early as 2019," analysts at Bankhaus Lampe said in a note. Dialog sharespared some losses as big banks including Barclays, Morgan Stanley and BofA-ML cast doubts on views that the firm risked losing business from Apple and called the share slide an over-reaction. Dialog had lost one-third of its market value at one point. Last week, shares in Imagination Technologies lost two-thirds of their value after Apple, its biggest customer, said that it would stop using Imagination''s graphics technology. "(Dialog Semiconductor) could potentially go the same way as Imagination Technologies has recently. It just shows the risks associated with companies being very reliant on one key contract," Dafydd Davies, partner at Charles Hanover Investments, said. Industry peer AMS also came under pressure after UBS cut its rating to "neutral" from "buy", sending the stock down 9.5 percent, while STMicroelectronics fell 3.6 percent. Elsewhere, share price moves were driven by dealmaking expectations. French rail equipment maker Alstom fell 2.7 percent on reports that rivals Siemens and Bombardier were in talks to combine their rail operations. Italian restaurants firm Autogrill surged 8.2 percent to a record high after news that it plans to separate its food and beverage business fueled speculation of possible merger and acquisition activity. Banking stocks dropped 0.7 percent, with Banco Popular the biggest loser, down 9.7 percent and hitting fresh record lows. On Monday, the bank said that it was considering another capital hike to clean up its balance sheet and would consider a merger deal. (Reporting by Kit Rees and Danilo Masoni; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HJ4XF'|'2017-04-12T00:43:00.000+03:00' 'ab035075a361877e143308b25d44402a841e8d7e'|'UPDATE 1-Cenovus CEO says investors understand ''strategic rationale'' for deal'|'(Adds CEO comments on hedging plans, background on deal, stock price)TORONTO, April 11 Cenovus Energy Inc has 75 percent of financing in place for its C$17.7 billion ($13.3 billion) acquisition of ConocoPhillips'' oil and gas assets, Cenovus Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said on Tuesday.The strategic rationale for the deal is well understood by investors, though some have questioned the company''s divestiture plan, which would partly fund the acquisition, Ferguson said.ConocoPhillips last month agreed to sell the assets, becoming the latest major international oil company to exit Canadian oil sands. Cenovus shares had their biggest one-day percentage fall ever as investors balked at the deal.Some investors fear the deal, which effectively doubled the size of Cenovus, will leave the company more exposed to changes in oil prices, according to analysts.Ferguson said the company will do more hedging after the deal closes, and that it will have lower per-barrel costs as a result of the bigger scale of production.Cenovus shares were down 1.7 percent in midafternoon trading in Toronto at C$14.76. (Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Jim Finkle and Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/conocophillips-cenovus-idINL1N1HJ17N'|'2017-04-11T16:33:00.000+03:00' 'f7139d274f0e69bcd8ad650f6c6002bb4c3d4e54'|'Lyft lands $600 million in fresh funding'|'By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Ride services company Lyft has raised $600 million in fresh funding, one of its investors said on Tuesday.Private equity firm KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) said it had joined a $600 million financing round, giving a sizeable financial boost to San Francisco-based Lyft as it continues to compete fiercely with rival Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL].Sources close to Lyft said last week the company was close to completing a funding round that would value the firm at $7.5 billion, a sharp increase from the $5.5 billion valuation at Lyft''s last financing more than a year ago.(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-funding-idINKBN17D2I8'|'2017-04-11T18:04:00.000+03:00' '173cece97de9c25b62002e52f0caa9c5a1b90e98'|'Flyer beware: why the customer isn''t always right at 40,000ft - Business'|'A irline passengers beware: when you buy a ticket, you are not only subjecting yourself to the ordeals of security queues, baggage limits and turbulence. You are also signing a near-40,000-word contract with a carrier that, in the extreme case of a United Airlines passenger on 9 April , could have you hauled off an overbooked aircraft – legally – as fellow customers and a global web audience look on aghast.United Airlines shares plummet after passenger dragged from plane Read more Sunday’s extraordinary scenes on a Chicago, Illinois, to Louisville, Kentucky, flight unfolded because of two regulations that are standard practice across the industry. The first says a passenger can be barred from a flight if the number of customers with tickets exceeds the number of seats. The second says the captain can have you removed from the plane if you get emotional about it.Air travel is a thicket of regulations and acronyms that, of course, have your safety at heart. But there can be a thin line between guaranteeing your security and dragging a seemingly innocent passenger off an overbooked aircraft.Flight overbooking is a phenomenon born of an industry that has struggled historically to make money. Indeed, airlines lost nearly $50bn (£40bn) in the past decade due to a combination of the 9/11 attacks, high oil prices and the credit crunch. The sector is making money now, but profits are slender – $9.89 per passenger per journey – so taking a risk and selling 183 tickets for a 180-seater plane is worth it if three of those passengers fail to turn up and you can pocket their fare expenditure as pure profit.Facebook Twitter Pinterest United Airlines passenger forcibly removed from overbooked flight – video . “Airlines have very large fixed costs, so if they don’t fill the plane past a certain point they will lose money. They know a certain proportion of these passengers will not show, so they need to overbook to get to break-even or better,” says Brian Pearce, the chief economist of the industry’s trade body, the International Air Transport Association.The contract of carriage at United – the conditions to which you agree when you buy a ticket – comes in at 37,000 words and embraces a range of arcane treaties and rules, from the Montreal and Warsaw conventions to FARs, the US’s federal aviation regulations.According to one legal expert, United was acting within its rights as the furore unfolded when it tried to find seats for four crew who needed to reach a plane they were due to operate in Louisville. But such a calamitous collision of passenger rights and airline prerogative is unlikely. “It is a very rare set of circumstances,” says Kevin Clarke, a flight-delay specialist at UK law firm Bott & Co. Pointing out that US airlines usually seek, and find, volunteers to come off full flights in exchange for compensation, he adds: “It can be a question of who backs down first.” In the case of this United flight, the passenger certainly didn’t.United’s contract of carriage is a joyless tour of one of the world’s most over-regulated industries, where a minority of colourful terms – “acts of God”; “civil commotions” – is crowded out by tightly worded legalese that will stop you from taking any future journey for granted (at least on United). Under rule five, covering “cancellations of reservations”, the passenger is warned that all flights are “subject to overbooking”, which could result in the airline being unable to put the passenger on the flight. In that scenario – please bear with this – rule 25, on passengers denied boarding compensation, kicks in.United Airlines CEO calls dragged passenger ''disruptive and belligerent'' Read more Using language that inadvertently acknowledges the confrontation inherent in the situation, it states that, if no passengers agree voluntarily to give up their seats in exchange for compensation, “other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily”. Admittedly, there is recompense of about $1,000 available in this scenario, but it appears that the United passenger in this case said no. This brought him head to head with the far tougher rule, enshrined under the 1963 Tokyo Convention , that says the captain’s word is law on an airliner and that he or she has “the ultimate authority” in dealing with any onboard incident.Rule 21 of United’s contract states that removal of a passenger may be necessary if their conduct is deemed to be “disorderly, offensive, abusive or violent”. It appears that the Louisville-bound passenger refused to give up his seat voluntarily and the crew deemed his behaviour to be out of line, prompting them to call in the security team at Chicago O’Hare international airport.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Compensation for delays caused by overbooking is guaranteed by EU law. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Speaking to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity, a senior pilot at a major airline said: “The legal position is that you are not guaranteed to travel and that you must obey any ‘reasonable commands’ of the crew. So, legally, the airline is right.“If it were me, I might have sought to promote a different solution [to allow] the crew to travel. I suspect a crew was ‘out of hours’ [about to exceed its working-hours limit] or sick or injured somewhere else on the network and the decision was therefore a little late to send them on that aircraft. I think the reputational damage from the events on Facebook will be significantly worse than a delay – even significant – elsewhere.”Airline professionals are astonished that United’s overbooking procedures, in a market where overbooking is prevalent, resulted in a passenger being allowed to board before they were subsequently dragged off. John Strickland, an industry consultant whose career has included managing the overbooking process at a major airline, says carriers now have sophisticated computer systems that calibrate whether flights can get away with being overbooked – right down to the specific route, the time of day and whether demand will surge due to holidays or special events. However, he adds: “It is not a perfect science, which means when it goes wrong it needs to be handled sensitively.” This is where United, a so-called full-service airline that tries to offer a level of customer service superior to that of budget rivals, could suffer lasting reputational damage.At the end of rule 25, United states: “UA shall not be liable for any punitive, consequential or special damages arising out of or in connection with UA’s failure to provide the passenger with confirmed reserved space.” Best of luck with that one, United.An argument in favour of airline laws is what happens when they disappear. In the UK, compensation for delays caused by overbooking is covered by a regulation called EU 261/2004 . According to industry lore, it came into fruition when MEPs grew exasperated with being bumped from flights to Brussels and Strasbourg. But airline passenger compensation could be one of the items of red tape that will be lobbed into the Brexit bonfire come EU independence day. One of the unintended consequences of severing links with Brussels, and abandoning EU 261/2004, is that passengers flying from the UK could be exposed when we say goodbye to the single market.“There is the possibility that we adopt the principles of the regulation [after leaving the EU],” says Bott and Co’s Clarke. “But it is a possibility that we will be left without that protection. The obligation to put you on an alternative flight, the entitlement to compensation, that would not be there. You could be left stranded.”Another reason for Michael Gove and his fellow Brexiters to stick to the staycation.Topics Airline industry Air transport features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/11/flyer-beware-why-the-customer-isnt-always-right-at-40000ft'|'2017-04-12T02:03:00.000+03:00' '589e8e7228d8a299c9806f0297886f8692086239'|'LeEco abandons $2 billion Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'''|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 3:13am BST LeEco abandons $2 billion Vizio deal, citing ''Chinese policy factor'' FILE PHOTO: LeEco''s Le Pro3 phone is on display during a press event in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 19, 2016. RETUERS/Beck Diefenbach/File Photo TAIPEI Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco, whose businesses stretch from smartphones to electric vehicles, has abandoned a $2 billion (1.6 billion pounds) proposed acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio, the company said on Tuesday. A LeEco representative reached by Reuters on Tuesday cited a "Chinese policy factor" for abandoning the proposal, but declined to provide further details. The deal was first announced in July, with LeEco agreeing to acquire the Irvine-based manufacturer of LCD/LED flat panel TVs. In recent months, LeEco has faced financial troubles due to the rapid pace of growth of its various businesses, with founder and chairman Jia Yueting acknowledging in a staff letter that the firm faced a "big company disease." However, in March, the company successfully secured $2.2 billion for expansion from investors including property developer Sunac China Holdings Ltd, whose investments went into LeEco''s smart internet TV subsidiary Leshi Zhixin, as well as its film production subsidiary, Le Vision Pictures. Late on Monday, LeEco''s listed unit Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp Beijing issued a profit alert for the first quarter, saying it sees net profit at 103 million-132 million yuan from 114.7 million yuan ($16.62 million) net profit a year earlier. (Reporting by Jess Macy Yu; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-tech-leeco-idUKKBN17D074'|'2017-04-11T10:13:00.000+03:00' '5a8dae15cc67100d42b13a5674ef7de6a4ccc094'|'United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane'|'Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 2:15am BST United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane A United Airline Airbus A320 aircraft lands at O''Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski United Airlines said on Friday it is changing its policy on booking its own flight crews onto its planes after a man was dragged off an overbooked flight to make way for a United employee on Sunday, video of which went viral and made the airline the target of global criticism and ridicule. The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ), said it would make sure crews traveling on their aircraft are booked into seats at least 60 minutes before departure, in an emailed statement. It said the new policy would ensure that a situation in which a passenger is forcibly removed from a plane does not occur again. United said the change is an initial step as it reviews policies in order to "deliver the best customer experience." The passenger ejected from the plane, David Dao, suffered a significant concussion, a broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident, and he will need reconstructive surgery, according to his attorney, Thomas Demetrio, who has signaled that Dao will likely sue the airline. United''s board on Friday apologized to Dao and his family, and said it stands behind Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, who has been under fire in the wake of the incident. Munoz has said he has no plans to resign. Even before this week, Munoz was under pressure from activist investors to improve the airline''s performance, including its customer relations. In an unrelated yet bizarre incident, a United passenger complained that a scorpion stung him during a flight from Texas, also on Sunday. A physician on the ground assured the crew that "it was not a life-threatening matter," United spokeswoman Maddie King said in an email on Friday, adding that the airline is "reaching out to the customer to apologize and discuss the matter." (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ual-crew-idUKKBN17H00M'|'2017-04-15T09:13:00.000+03:00' 'df09954b89e1bfa0c85966f33432c5bd3259d4ef'|'EURO DEBT SUPPLY-Four euro zone countries to sell bonds next week'|'LONDON, April 13 At least four countries in the euro area are scheduled to sell bonds next week.* On Tuesday, Slovakia will offer two bonds due in 2026 and 2031.* Germany, the bloc''s benchmark bond issuer, on Wednesday will auction 1 billion euros of bonds maturing in 2044.* France and Spain are expected to sell bonds on Thursday, with details of the auctions yet to be released.(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe, Editing by Abhinav Ramnarayan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-bonds-outlook-idINL8N1HL1MJ'|'2017-04-13T07:13:00.000+03:00' 'ca40687cce96b2a35a1970519a775e8e12772f94'|'Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism'|'Company News 16am EDT Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism * Pressure grows to ditch long-term incentive plans * Most firms have renewed plans for three years * Some investors cautious on blanket ban By Simon Jessop LONDON, April 13 Pressure on British companies to ditch a common performance-related bonus scheme blamed for generating excessive executive pay has not stopped many firms from planning to stick with such schemes for another three years, a Reuters analysis shows. In theory so-called long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) aim to legitimately encourage management success in boosting shareholder returns. Yet a series of corporate scandals and lucrative payouts has made them a target for criticism. Lawmakers in Britain last week recommended LTIPs be phased out from 2018, while Norway''s sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, wants them scrapped. The British government has also launched a review of corporate governance including incentive plans. Exemplifying LTIP generosity, advertising company WPP paid Chief Executive Martin Sorrell more than 70 million pounds ($88 million) for 2015, more than 60 million of which came through an incentive scheme - a payout that a third of WPP shareholders declined to support. However, most top companies have retained LTIPs as part of executive pay when seeking investor approval for a three-yearly remuneration policy at shareholder meetings. Analysis by Reuters of company annual reports and data from governance advisory firm Manifest shows 59 members of the FTSE 100 blue-chip stock index recently updated their remuneration policy or plan to soon, of which 56 currently use or plan to continue using LTIPs. "There (is) no reason why LTIPs should be used almost universally across the FTSE 100," Luke Hildyard, policy lead for stewardship and governance at trade body the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said. "We would welcome more companies moving to simpler, smaller pay packages, perhaps involving a basic salary and a long-term share award," Hildyard said, adding the current system acted to drive ever-higher pay awards. Companies use a range of data to calculate the payouts, with many referencing the firm''s share price. The process, opponents say, can be complex, overly generous, and can potentially incentivise actions detrimental to the long-term interests of a company. There is also evidence their overall economic benefits are limited. A study by Lancaster University Management School, looking at Britain''s 350 biggest listed companies, found CEO pay had risen an average 82 percent in real terms between 2003 and 2014/15, but economic return on invested capital was up less than 1 percent. SIMPLER STRUCTURE Asset management industry body the Investment Association said too much time is spent discussing pay with companies, and a simpler structure would free up time to engage on other important issues. As the government considers whether to implement the recommendations by parliament''s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee, some cautioned a blanket ban was equally problematic. "We don''t think there should be a one-size-fits-all approach ... companies should be able to choose the right tools for the job," said Sarah Wilson, chief executive at Manifest, which advises funds on how to vote on corporate decisions. The head of governance at a leading British asset manager said most LTIPs worked well. "In the vast majority of cases, we''ll vote in favour of them because we''ve analysed them in detail and think they''re based on stretching targets that reflect the company''s strategy ... there are exceptions, but you deal with them on a case-by-case basis." Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, said she was willing to consider alternative bonus models but a phasing out of LTIPs from 2018 would be challenging. Were the government to rule out LTIPs, Manifest''s Wilson said many firms would likely use share options, with bonuses paid in shares with a long-term lock-in period. "Much of it will depend on the tax implications," Wilson said. "Some investors like LTIPs because there are performance conditions associated with them so the BEIS committee''s view isn''t necessarily universally approved." Yet the key basis of LTIPs remains contentious. "The idea of tying a CEO''s pay to the share price is flawed," said Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre pressure group. "Share prices move for all sorts of reasons completely beyond the control of one human being or the board." ($1 = 0.7973 pounds) (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-companies-pay-idUSL5N1HF05M'|'2017-04-13T18:16:00.000+03:00' 'c2672dd5cbe8d653ae5a2e9008665490f5b6d615'|'Former Wells Fargo retail chief rejects board report on sales scandal'|' 36am EDT Former Wells Fargo retail chief rejects board report on sales scandal By Karen Freifeld - NEW YORK, April 10 NEW YORK, April 10 Former head of retail banking at Wells Fargo & Co Carrie Tolstedt rejected on Monday the bank''s internal investigation into sales practice abuses which laid much of the blame for the problems on her. “We strongly disagree with the report and its attempt to lay blame with Ms. Tolstedt. A full and fair examination of the facts will produce a different conclusion,” Enu Mainigi, Williams & Connolly LLP, attorneys for Tolstedt, said in a statement. (Editing by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/wellsfargo-accounts-tolstedt-idUSL1N1HI0RC'|'2017-04-10T23:36:00.000+03:00' '3237c4f2059e444e80a960c87aa7e4087bdea68e'|'Rio Tinto pays $4 billion in 2016 taxes, royalties; down 12 percent'|' 22pm IST Rio Tinto pays $4 billion in 2016 taxes, royalties; down 12 percent FILE PHOTO - A sign adorns the building where mining company Rio Tinto has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo By Harry Pearl - SYDNEY SYDNEY Mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd said on Sunday it paid $4 billion in taxes and royalties globally in 2016, a 12 percent drop on 2015 that primarily reflected lower earnings. The release of its annual tax transparency report comes as the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued amended income tax assessments for the company on Wednesday, covering calendar years 2010 to 2013. The tax authority ordered Rio Tinto to pay additional tax of A$379 million ($284 million) plus interest of A$68 million for those four years, due to the global miner''s use of marketing hubs in tax-friendly Singapore. Rio Tinto said its effective group tax rate was 22 percent for the year ended Dec. 31, with the majority of tax and royalties paid in Australia - a figure of about $2.9 billion. In the report, Rio Tinto said it had reduced the number of entities registered in so-called tax havens to 12, but its was still "engaged in discussions" with the ATO over use of its Singapore hubs. "While we are satisfied these transactions align with tax requirements, differences of interpretation between companies and tax authorities can occur," Rio Tinto said, adding it will challenge the additional amount ordered by the ATO. The dispute comes as the ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multi-nationals operating in Australia pay. A senate corporate tax inquiry previously said Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Ltd were using Singapore marketing offices to shift profit from Australia to minimise tax. Chris Lynch, Rio Tinto''s chief financial officer, said the company was committed to tax transparency, but tax law should never be retrospective. ($1 = 1.3348 Australian dollars)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/rio-tinto-tax-idINKBN17C0OL'|'2017-04-10T15:52:00.000+03:00' '1d842b4dafe614a8d718dc89ed4cc2a1563cef46'|'BRIEF-Vine Resources files for IPO of up to $500 mln for co''s class A common stock'|'April 10 (Reuters) -* Vine Resources Inc files for ipo of up to $500 million for co''s class a common stock - sec filing* Vine Resources Inc says have applied to list class a common stock on the new york stock exchange under the symbol “vri"* Vine Resources Inc says credit suisse, morgan stanley are underwriters to ipo* Vine Resources Inc - IPO price estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee Source text - bit.ly/2oSornV'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-vine-resources-files-for-ipo-of-up-idINFWN1HI0MR'|'2017-04-10T19:38:00.000+03:00' '8ffe5a733908da19b5bcc89ab1b4bc89c930627d'|'Elliott applies U.S. activist investor tactics to BHP offensive'|'Deals - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:03am BST Elliott applies U.S. activist investor tactics to BHP offensive A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray By Greg Roumeliotis Elliott Management Corp''s activist campaign to shake up Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton ( BLT.L ) ( BHP.AX ) relies on tested U.S. shareholder activism strategies to deliver one of the hedge fund''s biggest ever bets on a company. U.S. activist investors have for years called on companies to deploy various financial engineering techniques, from spinning off assets to tweaking their corporate structure, in order to boost the value of their stock. Elliot''s $3.8 billion investment, or 4.1 percent stake, in BHP shows how U.S. hedge funds are increasingly exporting their activist shareholder playbook overseas. Ellliott'' s BHP demands are a mix of strategies it developed going after U.S. companies, such as Marathon Petroleum Corp ( MPC.N ), as well as foreign targets, such as South Korea''s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ). "The questions and techniques activist shareholders developed in the U.S. pertain to how investors value companies universally. The question of whether BHP is undervalued applies whether the company is Australian or American," said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan''s Ross School of Business. Elliott declined to comment on its investor strategies. BHP on Monday rejected a plan by Elliott, a hedge fund with $31 billion in assets under management, to scrap the miner''s dual company structure, split off $22 billion worth of oil assets, and return more cash to investors, arguing that the costs would outweigh any benefits. All the elements of this plan have been tried by Elliott before, some more successfully than others. Elliott in October called for Samsung to adopt a holding company structure by splitting itself in two and pay out a 30 trillion won ($26.75 billion) special dividend. Samsung said last month it would not adopt such a structure. In the case of Marathon Petroleum, the oil refining and transportation company announced in January it would seek to spin off its Speedway gas station business following pressure from Elliott. The fact that Elliott has a commodity trading business helped Elliott familiarize itself with BHP. Crucially, Australia and Britain have, in general, more shareholder-friendly corporate regimes, emboldening activists such as Elliott. For example, just a 5 percent stake in an Australian company enables a shareholder to call for an extraordinary shareholder meetings. In the United States, the threshold is often double that, and in many cases calling a special meeting is not an option made available to shareholders at all. "Asking the right question as an activist shareholder is not enough, if you do not have a stick available to you, you become like a professor who has no power. People answer your question cause your technique might work," Gordon said. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-elliottmanagement-idUKKBN17C2N8'|'2017-04-11T07:59:00.000+03:00' '2af3b3bc45cdd9b3e166ecba3e34920a263daf1c'|'LME reform controversy highlights divisions between members'|' 19pm BST LME reform controversy highlights divisions between members FILE PHOTO: Traders and clerks react on the floor of the London Metal Exchange, London, Britain, May 13, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett/File Photo By Peter Hobson and Pratima Desai - LONDON LONDON The London Metal Exchange (LME) is considering reforming its complex structure of trading to lure funds and reverse falling volumes, laying bare a schism between those wanting change and core traditional members who do not. By early next month, the 140-year-old British institution that sets global benchmark prices for industrial metals such as copper and aluminium will publish a discussion paper that is expected to include the offer of a simpler alternative to its intricate three-month date structure, sources say. A hike in trading fees two years ago drove many LME regulars to the over-the-counter markets, precipitating a 7.7 percent fall in trading volumes last year and 4.3 percent the year before and forcing the exchange to consider its future. Dwindling volumes have undermined profits at parent Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEx) ( 0388.HK ), which paid $2.2 billion for the LME in 2012 and is still trying to recoup on its investment. "Growth has to come from speculators," a source at a London-based brokerage said. "They are going to have to come out with something new, they can''t just keep tinkering around the edges." That something new, metal industry sources say, could be modelled on the exchange''s new precious metal contracts due to go live in June. Its mix of daily and monthly gold and silver contracts aims to allow industrial users to hedge specific dates. But its standardised monthly future would also appeal to funds, allowing them to settle a trade as soon as it is closed, much like futures on other exchanges such as the CME ( CME.O ). "There are people who want futures and there are people who want to leave things as they are," the head of a commodities brokerage said. "A lot of our clients are real hedgers so the date structure has a value for us, but some of our clients are financial and they would prefer futures." The LME will seek feedback on the discussion paper before implementing any changes. "We are committed to broad engagement with our stakeholders, to understand their perspectives, and to map out a development path for the LME which evolves together with the needs of our users," the LME said. "We will only make changes where and when we believe these to be in the best interests of the whole market." ''BREAD AND BUTTER'' Traditional members fret that adding more industrial metals contracts will erode liquidity for the three-month forward contracts that are traded in the open-outcry ring, risking the exchange''s position as global benchmark setter. "They need to understand we, and the three-month contracts, are their bread and butter, we are their core audience, they can''t have everything," one brokerage head said. "Taking liquidity away from the three-months could impact their use as global benchmarks, without which the LME becomes like any other exchange." Liquidity on the LME is concentrated in the rolling three-month forward contracts, based on the time it took to ship copper from Chile to London in the 19th century, which allow industrial users to lock in prices on a specific day. But it is costly and complex for financial investors. For example, a fund wanting to bet on higher prices can buy the three-month contract today and when it sells, perhaps a few days later, it must reconcile the two dates with a separate spread transaction. That requires three transactions and three lots of fees. Matching the dates has to be done through a broker, and the forward contract requires investors to wait until its expiration date to settle their accounts. Speaking at a briefing this year, HKEx chief executive Charles Li said: "It''s really about making our system easier, making our trading platform more friendly, (so) completely new people can find it easier." The LME has already tried to make trading easier for funds by trying to boost liquidity on Select, its electronic trading system, for monthly forward contracts, which settle on the third Wednesday of each month, with incentives such as discounts for new participants. The monthly forwards are only two transactions, both of which could be done on Select. But liquidity is lacking, sources say. "With the third Wednesday contract, your money is not unlocked until settlement," a U.S.-based investor said. "They need to go one step further – offer futures. On COMEX CME.L, when I want to buy copper, a few clicks and it''s in my account, if I want to sell tomorrow a few more clicks and it''s done." (Editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lme-reform-idUKKBN17D1LB'|'2017-04-11T21:19:00.000+03:00' '4bd7d5b0485a425aeafebade4600a4737d90af3b'|'Porsche-Piech clan to stay out of VW management - Porsche chairman'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 3:45pm BST Porsche-Piech clan to stay out of VW management: Porsche chairman Wolfgang Porsche, member of the Supervisory board of German car maker Volkswagen, addresses a news conference at the company''s headquarters in Wolfburg, Germany October 7, 2015. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt FRANKFURT Members of the Porsche-Piech clan that controls Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) will no longer be eligible to serve as executives of the carmaker, Porsche Automobil Holding SE ( PSHG_p.DE ) Chairman Wolfgang Porsche told a German newspaper. "That no family member is active in the operating business must apply to Porsche SE and the whole Volkswagen group," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted him as saying in an interview published on Saturday. His comments come after Ferdinand Piech, a member of the clan sold the bulk of his stake in Porsche SE, which owns 52.2 percent of the voting shares in VW, to his younger brother Hans Michel Piech. Piech once had aspirations to lead carmaker Porsche, but his hopes were dashed in the 1970s because the clan did not want a family member at the helm. He went on to hold senior positions at Audi and Mercedes-Benz before rising to chief executive of VW, before it was controlled by the Porsche-Piech families, and eventually supervisory board chairman. Ferdinand Piech''s exit from VW marked an end to the influence of a towering figure in the auto industry who has had a rocky relationship with the company since he was ousted as chairman in 2015, months before the company was engulfed in the diesel emissions test cheating scandal. Hans Michel Piech told Frankfurter Allgemeine that the secret of Porsche''s success was that it brought in outsiders as managers rather than appointing family members. "As a supervisory board member you cannot easily tell a family member what to do. You can talk to a hired manager in a completely different manner," he said. He declined to tell Frankfurter Allgemeine how much he paid for his brother''s stake, which had a market value of about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). Asked who would fill Ferdinand Piech''s seat on VW''s supervisory board, he said: "I still have to think about who will get that position." Both Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piech are also members of VW''s supervisory board. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Holmes and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-piech-porsche-hldg-idUKKBN17A0BL'|'2017-04-08T18:32:00.000+03:00' 'fa5a39b6ec893e62eed5330abf45a6ec59ea7e36'|'Shanghai stocks close at 15-month high, Xiong''an New Area in focus - Reuters'|'SHANGHAI, April 11 China stocks reversed earlier losses to end higher on Tuesday, led by the Shanghai benchmark index closing at a 15-month high. Strong gains in stocks related to the Xiong''an New Area underpinned the market, even as investors continued to retreat from smaller-caps over regulatory concerns.The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.3 percent to 3,517.33 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 3,288.97 points.Stocks and sectors expected to benefit from the country''s newly-launched Xiong''an New Area continued to grab attention, with shares in around 30 listed companies rocketing 61 percent in just five sessions.Beijing on Saturday announced plans to build Xiongan New Area, modelled on the Shenzhen special economic zone next to Hong Kong that helped kickstart China''s economic reforms in 1980."The Xiong''an New area could prove to be a big investment theme within the year," said Zhang Gang, an analyst with China Central Securities.He added investors should avoid smaller-caps, in particular those companies that award bonus shares instead of cash dividends, echoing China''s top securities regulator who vowed to punish stingy "iron roosters" which gave investors no cash return.Banks continued to drag on the market after the country''s banking regulator said it had issued guidelines on risk control for lenders as authorities increased their efforts to contain risks from a rapid build-up in debt.Sectors were mixed. Gains were led by real estate stocks.An index tracking major developers rose 2.2 pct to close at a 4-month high, posting its fifth straight session of gains, with developers operating in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area expected to benefit handsomely from the development of Xiong''an New Area. (Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-stocks-close-idINZZN2RZP00'|'2017-04-11T05:35:00.000+03:00' 'b11487c1cd40f0b45777f8bf879fe3cff3b87cfc'|'BRIEF-Akzo Nobel has received a request to hold an EGM to dismiss chairman'|' 18am EDT BRIEF-Akzo Nobel has received a request to hold an EGM to dismiss chairman April 12 Akzo Nobel NV: * Has received a request to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to dismiss Antony Burgmans as Chairman of Supervisory Board * Request was received from a number of shareholders led by Elliott Advisors. * In accordance with Dutch company law, board will consider proposal to hold an EGM and respond within statutory 14 days. * Supervisory board strongly supports Mr. Burgmans in his role as chairman. (Gdynia Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-akzo-nobel-has-received-a-request-idUSFWN1HJ0M7'|'2017-04-12T13:18:00.000+03:00' '9cac26b0400d144a121c8a5ccb1a95a842ef9f8e'|'Grey market has become a necessary evil for luxury watchmakers'|' 7:01pm BST Grey market has become a necessary evil for luxury watchmakers left right Swiss watch manufacturer Omega advertises its Speedmaster Master watch at the Baselworld watch and jewellery fair in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. Picture taken March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 1/10 left right FILE PHOTO: A visitor takes pictures in front of a display of Swiss watch manufacturer Patek Philippe at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 2/10 left right FILE PHOTO: Patek Philippe Chairman Thierry Stern gestures as he speaks during a Reuters interview at the Baselworld fair in Basel March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 3/10 left right FILE PHOTO: An Omega Speedmaster Master Chronometre Chronograph Moonphase watch is displayed at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 4/10 left right FILE PHOTO: The ''Ballon Bleu'' watch model by Cartier is pictured during the ''Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie'' SIHH exhibition in Geneva January 20, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo 5/10 left right FILE PHOTO: Jean-Claude Biver, Tag Heuer CEO and President of LVMH Watch Division poses with a watch movement and a Zenith El Primero 21 watch at the at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 6/10 left right FILE PHOTO: An Omega Speedmaster Master Chronometre Chronograph Moonphase watch is displayed at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 7/10 left right FILE PHOTO: Bulgari CEO Jean Christophe Babin poses for a photograph inside a flagship store in central London, Britain, April 14, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo 8/10 left right FILE PHOTO: A visitor looks at a display window of Rolex at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 9/10 left right FILE PHOTO: A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date Sea-Dweller 50th Anniversary special edition watch is displayed at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in Basel, Switzerland March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 10/10 By Silke Koltrowitz - ZURICH ZURICH A diamond-studded Rolex at 40 percent off the $34,000 retail price or an Omega Speedmaster Moonphase for less than $10,000? While still out of reach for most people, the increasing prevalence of such deals highlights the perplexing predicament in which luxury watchmakers now find themselves. With sales falling, more unsold timepieces are finding their way from the Swiss-dominated industry''s carefully controlled official retail networks to online platforms where they are often offered at steep discounts. Swiss watchmakers say they loathe this "grey market" because high discounts damage the meticulously crafted aura of prestige and make it harder to sell their goods at the full price. "In luxury goods, when you break the illusion of prestige, the dream, the prices, it takes away the confidence. It means slow death for luxury goods," Jean-Claude Biver, head of LVMH''s ( LVMH.PA ) watch division, told Reuters at last month''s Baselworld watch fair, describing the grey market as the "industry''s cancer". However, a sudden end to a boom in Chinese demand is forcing the brands to begin working quietly with dealers in the grey market, occasionally to help with sales but mostly to secure some influence over the unofficial resellers, according to dealers and industry executives interviewed by Reuters. "There are many sources for grey market watches: authorised retailers who want to get rid of slow-selling models, country distributors or even the brands themselves," said one watch industry executive who asked not to be named. He said that in some cases operators in the grey market are cooperating with the brands, removing new models from sale when asked or reducing discounts manufacturers consider excessive. FREE ADVERTISING Though representatives of the biggest luxury watchmakers, including Swatch Group ( UHR.S ) and Richemont ( CFR.S ), refused to discuss their strategy with regard to the grey market, some manufacturers may find that it offers benefits. "For every timepiece we sell, the manufacturer is getting the lion''s share of the profit, and then all the search engine queries, image searches, social media brand posts, tweets and pins are terrific and free (advertising)," said Darryl Randall, founder and owner of United States-based online platform SwissLuxury.com, which he said generates sales of about $10 million in good years. Another grey market dealer said he will sometimes withdraw watches if asked by manufacturers and that brands regularly offer U.S. dealers packages of 15 or 20 pieces at a discount. "As much as the brands dislike us, we have more or less the same goals they have -- we also want to sell the goods and be able to make a profit," he said. Chinese demand for luxury timepieces boomed after the 2008/09 financial crisis, leading to a surge in production and retail prices. But demand has dropped sharply in the past two years as extremist attacks have deterred tourists from visiting Europe, where many of the watches are sold, and China has cracked down on luxury gift-giving by civil servants. It was difficult to rein in production when demand fell, partly because the watches are put together slowly in stages, meaning production plans are often made two years in advance. Nobody needs a luxury product, but the brands find that when customers see and touch an intricately crafted watch in an opulent boutique and are drawn into its "story", they will want it so much that the price becomes secondary. MIXED AVAILABILITY In the good times, the industry can take home 20 percent of sales as profit and retailers are still left with an attractive margin of up to 45 percent. But when business tails off, the manufacturers do not allow official retailers to cut sticker prices too far, fearing that big discounts will damage their brands -- a policy that may push cash-strapped retailers to sell to the grey market. Swiss watch exports fell 8 percent in the first two months of this year, on top of a 10 percent drop last year. In the grey market sales are often clinched in small, shabby stores or via online platforms that do not have most of the watches in stock and source them only when orders are placed. Randall said that brands vary in their efforts to keep products out of the grey market. Some of the hardest to source are Patek Philippe and Richard Mille, which both keep a tight rein on production. Audemars Piguet, another independent brand, only distributes certain models through its own boutiques. "Brands like (Swatch''s) Omega and (LVMH''s) Tag Heuer are easily available at all times," Randall said. The unnamed U.S. grey market dealer agreed and said that Richemont''s Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin and Swatch''s Breguet are also easy to source. The United States is the second-biggest market for Swiss watches and is a hub for grey market watches, with online platforms such as Jomashop.com, AuthenticWatches.com and PrestigeTime.com. "There''s a lot of grey market watches coming in from outside the country. The excess of the world''s products used to flow to Hong Kong, now it flows to the States," said Danny Govberg, an official U.S. retail partner for Switzerland''s biggest brands but who also sells pre-owned watches online. He confirmed that brands sometimes offer him new pieces to sell as pre-owned but would not name them and said it was only a small share of his flourishing business. FROM ZURICH WITH A DISCOUNT The grey market is by no means restricted to the United States. Germany''s Chrono24.com has sales offices in both Hong Kong and New York, while a lot of grey market watches are also sold on Amazon ( AMZN.O ) and eBay ( EBAY.O ), the unnamed watch industry executive said. As its name suggests, there are no statistics on the grey market and few dealers are willing to explain how the system works. Unlike fakes, grey market watches are legal, authentic goods sold by their rightful owners, though they generally come without factory warranties because brands refuse to service watches that are not sold via their official networks. While that might deter some buyers, other more price-conscious shoppers may actually prefer the convenience of the online platforms that are tempting potential customers with trade-in schemes for old watches, financing solutions, price-match guarantees and their own warranty and service centres. Randall said he has been sourcing most of his watches in the United States to get them to customers quickly but can also find good deals in Europe thanks in part to the strong dollar. "We just sold a beautiful Jaquet Droz Eclipse to a Chicago businessman and were able to get a great deal and quick shipment out of Zurich. The price was so good we gave him an additional $2,000 discount," Randall said, adding he sold the watch at 22 percent below the list price of $29,300. Saifullah Kazmi, from Karachi, said he bought a TAG Heuer Carrera at almost half price on Jomashop.com and had a relative bring it to Pakistan, where a local retailer confirmed that it was genuine. Kazmi was concerned at first about the legitimacy of Jomashop and the absence of a factory warranty, but the big discount tipped the scales, he said. (Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-swiss-watches-grey-market-idUKKBN17E2EA'|'2017-04-13T02:01:00.000+03:00' '3f2f907c0cae162d6e29e4b57f835caa15dc25a2'|'BHP Billiton says costs of Elliott restructure plan outweigh benefits'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 5:41am BST BHP Billiton reasserts strategy, says Elliott proposals flawed A sign adorns the building where mining company BHP Billiton has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File photo SYDNEY Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) on Wednesday dismissed a wide-ranging proposal by shareholder Elliott Advisors to overhaul its corporate strategy and sell off oil interests, saying the costs would far outweigh the benefits. "The elements of the Elliott proposal as described to the board would not be in the long-term interest of shareholders," BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said on an analyst call. "I cannot overstate my strong belief that BHP Billiton is on the right track." The comments came as BHP released a detailed response two days after U.S.-based Elliott made public a letter to its directors urging them to consider spinning off the U.S. oil arm, while returning more cash to investors. The response offered no counterproposal and instead defended the miner''s longstanding strategy. "We have been in engagement with Elliott for eight months," Mackenzie said. "From our earliest engagements it was clear there were major flaws in Elliott''s proposals." Elliott, which said it holds a "long economic interest" of about 4.1 percent of London-listed BHP Billiton PLC, wants the miner to ditch its dual corporate structure and replace it with a single company domiciled in Britain. "The (dual-listed structure) is not a restraint to our business," BHP Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven told analysts. "It provides two important acquisition currencies in addition to cash." Under the Elliott plan, BHP would have a primary share-market listing in London and a secondary listing in Sydney. The Australian government on Tuesday said any significant changes to BHP''s corporate structure would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law. Over the last decade, BHP has examined the prospect of changing its corporate structure and spinning off its oil business but has ultimately rejected the ideas. "A standard petroleum business would lose access to BHP Billiton''s balance sheet," Mackenzie said on Wednesday. "Were we to adopt this proposal our global partners would have to work with a Balkanised, broken up BHP Billiton." Elliott, an activist hedge fund, has also lobbied for change at other firms including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ), Akzo Nobel NV ( AKZO.AS ) and SABMiller [SABXSH.UL]. (Reporting by James Regan and Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idUKKBN17E0BE'|'2017-04-12T12:28:00.000+03:00' '561f0182f77068302431279cbc4f0fcd70b57ebd'|'UPDATE 1-Volkswagen to build new SUV in Tennessee plant'|'(Adds details, background)By David ShepardsonNEW YORK, April 12 Volkswagen AG plans to build another new sport utility vehicle at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant as demand surges for larger vehicles, the German company''s top U.S. executive said on Wednesday.VW Group of America Chief Executive Officer Hinrich Woebcken told reporters at the New York auto show that the automaker planned to build a five-seat SUV in Tennessee, but he declined to say when production would begin. The news follows VW''s 2014 announcement that the company would spent $900 million to build a new SUV in Tennessee.VW, the largest automaker worldwide by sales, will start selling its new seven-seat VW Atlas SUV next month.Woebcken said VW was shifting focus in the United States from a mainly car brand to a "family friendly" automaker offering larger, U.S.-built SUVs.At the show, major automakers said they expected the popularity of SUVs to increase in the United States. SUVs'' share of U.S. vehicle sales rose to nearly 40 percent in 2016 from 32.6 percent in 2014.Woebcken would not say whether VW would add additional workers in Tennessee to build the new SUV.VW will sell four separate SUVs in the United States later this year, a figure that does not include the new one.The company said on Tuesday that it would continue selling the current Tiguan as the "Tiguan Limited" for several years even as it plans to offer a completely new, larger version later this year. The company also announced it was offering an industry-leading six-year, 72,000 mile warranty on its new SUVs.As part of its diesel emissions settlement, Volkswagen has agreed to add at least three additional electric vehicles, including an SUV, in California by 2020 and must sell an average of 5,000 electric vehicles annually there through 2025.Woebcken said he hopes that decision will help boost the company''s image in the United States. VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion to buy back vehicles and resolve claims from U.S. regulators, dealers, owners and states. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-new-york-vw-idINL1N1HK0R3'|'2017-04-12T13:09:00.000+03:00' '2c76b3dcd112906edeabc68b588c4492fa2b8bbc'|'Waterous PE firm targets Canadian, U.S. energy assets'|'Company News 5:23pm EDT Waterous PE firm targets Canadian, U.S. energy assets By John Tilak - TORONTO, April 11 TORONTO, April 11 Private equity firm Waterous Energy Fund is seeking investment opportunities in the Canadian oil and gas sector as valuations turn attractive after a prolonged slump in the oil price, making a contrarian bet as global players pull back, its top executive said. Calgary-based Waterous Energy, which invests C$100 million to C$400 million ($75 million to $300 million) per deal in energy assets, is targeting companies in Canada and the United States, and is finding Canada particularly appealing, said Adam Waterous, head of Waterous Energy and a former top investment banker at Bank of Nova Scotia. Waterous Energy agreed to pay about C$244 million for a 67 percent stake in Canadian energy company Northern Blizzard Resources Inc from U.S. private equity firms Riverstone Holdings LLC and NGP Energy Capital Management LLC. This marks the second deal for Waterous Energy, which already has committed C$650 million since setting up shop earlier this year. Northern Blizzard shares ended the day up 5.1 percent. The Waterous acquisition is the latest example of Canada-focused firms buying into the country''s energy sector and comes as international energy players exit the market. "The macro theme playing out is the ''Canadianization'' of the heavy oil business," Waterous said in an interview. "These assets tend to be very capital intensive upfront but once they''re onstream they have long reserve life and tend to have high free cash flow. From a Canadian investor''s perspective, that''s really compelling." Last month, ConocoPhillips said it would sell oil sands and natural gas assets to Calgary-based Cenovus Energy for C$17.2 billion, while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd is snapping up billions of dollars worth of oil sands assets from Royal Dutch Shell and Marathon Oil Corp. Oil prices have lost about 50 percent of their value since June 2014, when the industry slump began. They are almost flat since the start of the year. "The market is saying the sun has set on the oil business," Waterous said. "I''m willing to bet against that." Waterous said his firm was looking for assets with long reserve lives in top quartile reservoirs, where advanced technology techniques could be used. "I find the environment right now to be very compelling. You''ve got a pessimistic market, you''ve got low costs in Calgary and you''ve got new technology being developed," he said. For Waterous Energy, private Canadian energy producer Strath Resources Ltd was its first investment. ($1 = 1.3328 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Tilak; Additional reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/waterous-privateequity-energy-idUSL1N1HJ1Q4'|'2017-04-12T05:23:00.000+03:00' '8a7037fc538859eb42786bbf15c482a0c3abd16a'|'Volkswagen offers six-year warranty to win back U.S. customers'|' 5:04pm EDT Volkswagen offers six-year warranty to win back U.S. customers FILE PHOTO: A U.S. flag flutters in the wind above a Volkswagen dealership in Carlsbad, California, U.S. May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By David Shepardson - NEW YORK NEW YORK Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) is trying to win back American customers after its diesel emission scandal with SUV warranties that it said will be the longest in the United States. Ahead of the New York auto show, the world''s largest automaker said Tuesday it will offer a six-year, 72,000 mile warranty on its new 2018 Atlas and 2018 Tiguan sport utility vehicles that go on sale later this year. "This warranty further addresses the needs of American buyers head-on," said Volkswagen Group of American chief executive Hinrich Woebcken. VW said most other major rivals offer a 36,000 mile, three-year warranty on similar SUVs. The longest warranty is now offered by Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and its Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) affiliate. That warranty extends 60,000 miles or five years. The powertrain warranty is 100,000 miles, but it only lasts five years or 60,000 miles if transferred. The German automaker has been struggling to recover since it admitted in 2015 the company installed secret software that allowed vehicles to cheat emissions tests for six years. The new VW warranty is twice as long as the current three-year 36,000-mile warranty on the Tiguan. The Atlas is a new model. VW brand U.S. sales this year are up 10 percent this year, but fell 8 percent in 2016 to 323,000 vehicles after falling 5 percent in 2015. The automaker halted all U.S. diesel sales in late 2015. AutoNation ( AN.N ) Inc chief executive Mike Jackson said that an extended warranty could help win customers. "The American people are full of forgiveness. All you have to do is say you are sorry and give them a deal," said Jackson, who heads the largest U.S. new car dealership chain. VW has "to give a price that reflects that you are asking for forgiveness." In March Volkswagen pleaded guilty as part of a settlement over the automaker''s diesel emissions scandal. In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-new-york-idUSKBN17D2MR'|'2017-04-12T05:04:00.000+03:00' '89f4b15fd88195e5fe728d19b8f8edffa20c841d'|'Sorting out paying on time and productivity - Letters - Business'|'In defence of large companies named and shamed by Corbyn ( Corbyn declares war on M&S – but retailer ‘does not recognise figures’ , 12 April), Experian said that the data taken from its report showing very late payment of invoices do not apply to the majority of invoices. Capita said that only 10% of its payments are made later than 30 days of receipt. But even such a small percentage of late payment by a large company can cause huge pressures down the supply chain, and it invites questions about corporate ethics. Jeremy Corbyn raises a valid alarm about a potential national scandal.SP Chakravarty Bangor, Gwynedd • Jeremy Corbyn is right to “declare war” on late-paying companies. Data on the scale of the problem comes as no surprise. My late father worked into his 80s doing bookkeeping for a small engineering firm. They did minor maintenance on ships. Every time I spoke to my father about work, he seemed to be chasing up overdue payments (cheques in those days) from major shipping companies. On some occasions, his boss had to pay his employees out of his personal bank account. Nothing has changed. That’s what big companies do. That’s why they’re big and why small businesses struggle or go to the wall.Karen Barratt Winchester • The claim by M&S to “not recognise” Jeremy Corbyn’s figures in his accusations of late payments to suppliers is pathetic. The company protests that its average time from being invoiced to payment is 54 days, despite that already being almost double the standard one-month term. And obviously if that is the average, it means there are payments that take considerably more than 54 days, as Labour highlights.Norman Miller Brighton, East Sussex • Your editorial on productivity ( Brexit makes solving the productivity puzzle a priority , 10 April) raises an important point about low productivity, but is disingenuous about causes.Those of us with children of average ability struggling to find decent employment in the labour market see daily the impact of a seemingly unlimited supply of qualified and hard-working immigrant labour which is exploited by the inefficient and incompetent management that characterises much of British business. Hire and fire is the norm, combined with awful working environments and marginal pay. Work benefits are history for most, sickness is penalised and opportunity non-existent.The underlying problem is that UK society has no understanding of professional management, just as it belittles manufacturing and most forms of commercial endeavour outside the professions. Productivity will not improve until wealth creators get the respect they deserve and this has to come through cultural change and education.The state can do two things. First, to only procure from companies with accredited management development; and second, to provide the infrastructure and fiscal incentives to remove any excuses for not developing this capability.It is up to opinion formers (like this newspaper) to overcome their distaste for “trade” and champion professional management and the state resources needed to achieve and sustain it.Paul Wood Southampton • By all means worry about low productivity, the lack of a living wage and poor working conditions, but don’t forget the elephant in the room: bosses are simply taking advantage of a ready supply of cheap migrant labour. Rather than pin our hopes on a difficult-to-police, statutory living wage, simply pursue an even-handed immigration policy that is not biased against Britain’s unskilled citizenry. The market will increase unskilled pay.A reduction in the import of cheap labour will result in the transfer of purchasing power from the majority haves to the minority have-nots, as the many menial jobs that cannot be outsourced abroad become more costly. Not to do so is to say goodbye to a living wage.Yugo Kovach Winterborne Houghton, Dorset • A key factor in the UK’s awful productivity record is that far too much time and energy goes into devising elaborate schemes for generating funny money rather than putting in the effort needed to invest for the long term in actual wealth creation.For over a century the UK has shown a distinct preference for finance over industrial capital, a situation made even worse over the last 40 years since the deregulation of the City. This will not change until the rules are changed to make it more profitable to invest in the production of real goods and services than in the high-class gambling that is par for the course in the City. Given the Tories’ reliance on City money it’s doubtful that meaningful change will come from that quarter. Roy Boffy Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters Topics Business Jeremy Corbyn Marks & Spencer Retail industry Immigration and asylum Management letters '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/sorting-out-paying-on-time-and-productivity'|'2017-04-13T02:34:00.000+03:00' 'b1c26421f348aa63763512ff535553518655d803'|'National Grid sees higher full-year earnings'|'Business News 48am BST National Grid sees higher full-year earnings Gas and electricity distributor National Grid Plc ( NG.L ) said it expected full-year earnings per share to be 5 pence more than previously estimated due to "higher favourable timing" in both its UK and U.S. businesses. "The over-recoveries primarily relate to out-turn electricity and gas volumes being different to anticipated volumes (e.g. due to weather)," the company said, adding U.S. over-recoveries benefited from mandated state level collections. Timing has no impact on long-term performance and the gains would be returned to shareholders in the future, National Grid added. (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-national-grid-outlook-idUKKBN17E0R4'|'2017-04-12T15:48:00.000+03:00' '3e4efe1bb12579f824d988151628828e99cd60e8'|'Monte Paschi CEO says EU demands radical restructuring plan'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 6:12pm BST Monte Paschi CEO says EU demands radical restructuring plan A logo of Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank is seen on the ground in Siena, Italy, November 5, 2014. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito/File Photo By Silvia Aloisi and Stefano Bernabei - SIENA, Italy SIENA, Italy Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( BMPS.MI ) is still negotiating with the European Commission how many jobs to cut in a radical restructuring plan that is a condition for a state rescue of the Italian bank, Chief Executive Marco Morelli said on Wednesday. The world''s oldest bank, whose troubles date back several years, asked for state support in December after failing to raise 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) on the market to shore up its capital. The European Central Bank has since put the capital shortfall that the bank must fill at 8.8 billion euros. The Italian government is expected to pump 6.6 billion euros into the bank, taking a stake of around 70 percent. But for state aid to be unlocked, the European Commission must approve the bank''s restructuring and negotiations are dragging on. Morelli''s own business plan, unveiled in October, envisaged 2,600 layoffs - around 10 percent of the bank''s employees - and 500 branch closures, but he said Brussels is demanding "a much more stringent approach" in terms of cost cuts and revenue targets. Morelli told a shareholder meeting on Wednesday he did not know the final number of job cuts. A source close to the matter said the EU was asking for a staff reduction of more than 5,000 people. "We are negotiating a plan that will be radically different from the one that the bank had presented to the market," Morelli said. "We have told our counterparts that we need to find the right compromise ... Right now I am not in a position to give numbers (on layoffs)." One big hurdle is the bank''s mountain of problem loans, which stand at 46 billion euros on a gross basis - the highest amount relative to a bank''s capital in Italy. Monte dei Paschi''s failed capital raising last year was designed to cover losses from the planned disposal of 28 billion euros of its most toxic soured debts. Morelli said the bank needed to get rid of such loans as soon as possible, but also said the timing and details of the sale were still being discussed as Monte dei Paschi wanted to minimise further loan losses. He said it would take years for the bank to reverse a 28 billion euros loss in commercial deposits suffered in 2016 when customers were worried about its survival. Italy is trying to shore up its problem banks to avoid losses for creditors and depositors that could undermine confidence in the banking system. Monte dei Paschi is not the only Italian bank that is seeking a state bailout. Two regional lenders, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, last month also requested a so-called precautionary recapitalisation by the state. The ECB has put the combined capital shortfall for these two lenders at 6.4 billion euros. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-banks-italy-montedeipaschi-idUKKBN17E2AY'|'2017-04-13T01:12:00.000+03:00' '510038a392aa6380c49595ec10089169a7ff640a'|'U.S. housing demand seen holding up despite rising rates'|'Company News 35am EDT U.S. housing demand seen holding up despite rising rates By Arunima Banerjee and Sweta Singh - April 12 April 12 Fears that higher home mortgage rates this year will keep buyers away and hit home sales could be overblown. While interest rates are expected to rise this year and wages will likely remain stagnant, buyers can look forward to a potential slackening in home prices during the crucial spring selling season. Home prices are expected to rise at their slowest pace in six years as affordability - an industry measure based on income and home prices - is expected to hit its lowest since the recession. This may hurt margins at homebuilders such as Lennar Corp and PulteGroup Inc, but a pick-up in volumes as buyers slowly return to the market is expected to offset losses. PulteGroup said in January it expected 2017 gross margin to come in the low-end of its forecast of 24.0-24.5 percent, partly due to an expected drop in affordability. Homebuilders are also keeping a tight lid on costs as they rein in home prices to attract buyers, analysts said. "Even in the face of slowing price growth, I think they''ll continue to see fairly good profitability," said Alvaro Lacayo, an analyst at New York-based research firm Gabelli & Co. "Builders are more focused on controlling costs to better deal with slowing price growth." U.S. home prices have risen steeply over the past four years amid ever-tightening supply and a shortage of skilled labor, crimping affordability for the average homebuyer. In December, the supply of houses on the market dropped to levels last seen in 1999. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate, which hovered around 3.77 percent just before the December 2016 Fed interest rate hike, has now risen to about 4.20 percent, according to Freddie Mac. Annual wage growth, meanwhile, has remained firmly below 3 percent, making it difficult for home buyers to save up for downpayments. All of this is expected to push down the Housing Affordability Index to 153 this year from 164.8 in 2016. "As rates go up, it is going to increase the monthly costs of servicing a mortgage which in turn means that potential home buyers are going to have to bid a smaller price when they buy homes," said Robert Dietz, chief economist, National Association of Home Builders. DISCOUNTS AND INCENTIVES New home prices are expected to rise only 3 percent this year compared with a 6.4 percent increase in 2016, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. To be sure, analysts don''t expect buyers to start buying homes immediately as affordability still remains a problem and a rationalization in home prices is only expected to boost volumes later in the year. For instance, if a buyer paid $60,000 in downpayment for a home worth $300,000 in March last year, they would have shelled out $63,540 for the same home in January this year. While homebuilders have not commented on whether they are reining in prices, analysts said companies have rolled out incentives to offset higher payment costs. Pulte said it offered higher discounts in the December quarter and some of it "may have been interest rate related." D.R. Horton, the largest U.S. homebuilder, said in November it expects average selling price (ASP) to be flat to slightly up in 2017. The company''s ASP rose 2.3 percent last year. D.R. Horton and LGI Homes Inc did not respond to requests for comments. PulteGroup declined to comment. KB Home and Lennar Corp directed Reuters toward their publicly issued statements. "Homebuilders (are) showing a willingness to use incentives to lessen the impact on consumers; consumer confidence has improved considerably, while there is also fear of even higher costs in the future," Barclays analyst Michael Dahl wrote in a note published in March. (Reporting by Sweta Singh and Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-housing-idUSL3N1HE4LO'|'2017-04-12T21:35:00.000+03:00' '24c358a70527275d40eef5745ae46833a7df06d7'|'Australian consumers fret on economic outlook - survey'|'SYDNEY A measure of Australian consumer sentiment inched lower in April as worries about the economic outlook overshadowed growing optimism about the state of family finances, a survey showed on Wednesday.The survey of 1,200 people by Melbourne Institute and Westpac Bank ( WBC.AX ) found consumer sentiment dipped 0.7 percent in April, from March when it had risen by 0.1 percent.That left the index at 99.0, up 4.1 percent on this time last year but just below the level where the number of optimists matches pessimists.The sub-indices in the survey showed some easing in money concerns. The measure of family finances compared to a year ago rebounded 8.5, while that for family finances over the next 12 months rose 2.4 percent.Sentiment on the economy went the other way, however.Expectations for the economic outlook over the next 12 months fell 6.5 percent, and the assessment of economic conditions for the next five years dropped 2.7 percent.The measure of whether this was a good time to buy major household items lost 2.9 percent.Westpac''s chief economist, Bill Evans, felt confidence had held up well in the face of media attention over housing affordability and growing geopolitical tensions globally."Arguably these factors could have been expected to produce a marked fall in confidence," said Evans.Concerns over housing affordability have ballooned in recent years as home prices climbed in Sydney and Melbourne.(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/australia-economy-consumersentiment-idINKBN17E038'|'2017-04-11T22:57:00.000+03:00' '1082f3777d6d5d70ef49e5a4e8dbd58fa7645f1b'|'BRIEF-Facebook says more than 1.2 billion people use messenger every month'|'Company 33pm EDT BRIEF-Facebook says more than 1.2 billion people use messenger every month April 12 Facebook Inc: * Federal Home Loan Bank Of New York says reached an agreement in principle to settle all claims pending in United States bankruptcy court in case relating to 2008 Lehman Brothers MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-facebook-says-more-than-12-billion-idUSB8N1FM003'|'2017-04-13T04:33:00.000+03:00' '63c6e38723a6137e9faa523c6382fec6f02a6966'|'America owes China $1tn. That’s a problem for Beijing, and Trump knows it'|'F orget the warm handshake . Take with a pinch of salt Donald Trump’s talk of his “very, very, great relationship” with Xi Jinping. The idea that Washington has ceased to harbour deep suspicions of Beijing just because the presidents of the world’s two biggest economies shared pleasantries over steak in Florida is fanciful.Xi will certainly be hoping Trump’s cordial welcome was for real, because China has much more to lose economically from a trade war than America does. This might sound counter-intuitive given that Beijing can deploy the economic nuclear option if Trump makes good on his campaign pledge to slap whopping tariffs on Chinese imports. The US owes China more than $1 trillion and Xi could send America’s economy into a tailspin by sanctioning a dumping of US Treasury bonds.But the problem with nuclear missiles is that they are never really intended to be fired, and if they are, there are no winners. Sure, China could cause enormous damage to the US, but only by damaging itself.Indeed, the US-China relationship is a classic example of the old saw: if you owe the bank a thousand dollars, you have a problem; if you owe the bank a trillion dollars, the bank has a problem. Trump holds the important cards and it is simply a case of whether he wants to play them.As Brian Davidson of the US’s Fathom consultancy has pointed out, the Chinese leadership is keen to avoid the social and political unrest a trade war with the US would inevitably bring. Beijing’s willingness to pump the economy full of credit to finance unprofitable investment demonstrates its determination to avoid a sharp rise in unemployment.China depends on the US in a way the US does not depend on China. Nearly 4% of China’s GDP comes directly from exports to the US, while the equivalent figure for the US is less than 1%. There are several other countries that could provide the US with the manufactured goods it gets from China, but China would have real trouble finding an alternative to the US as an export market.Trump has expressed in blunt, often bellicose, terms his unhappiness with the way China conducts its trade, but according to Davidson he has a point. “The US position in these trade negotiations is strengthened by international trade law, and by China’s systematic violation of obligations under World Trade Organisation rules. The US has scope to open, and win, lawsuits against China at the WTO , a point not lost on both leaders.”Xi clearly hopes that Trump can be talked down from the aggressively anti-Beijing stance he adopted on the campaign trail, and arrived for his talks armed with a few vague promises about future Chinese investment in the US. This is not going to be enough to satisfy Trump, who has made action on America’s $350bn a year trade deficit with China a touchstone of his presidency. It was a coincidence that the Florida tête-à-tête took place on the night the White House launched airstrikes on Syria, but the message will not have been lost on the Chinese president: Trump’s impetuosity makes him hard to read.Beijing has been left guessing about what it will actually take to stop Trump slapping a 45% tariff on all Chinese exports. The answer is that it will probably require Xi to remove the barriers that make it hard for hi-tech US companies to export to China. Even then, there is likely to be some US protectionism in sectors – such as steel – that are politically sensitive in the rust-belt states that carried Trump to victory.There will be less talk in the months ahead of China “raping” the US , but that simply means the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has learned from one of his predecessors, Teddy Roosevelt, to speak softly and carry a big stick.Unilever is safe. But it won’t forget its own naivety Unilever, the maker of Magnum, Dove and Persil, has unveiled its strategic overhaul after fighting off a hostile takeover bid from Kraft Heinz worth $143bn (£115bn). The consumer goods group is to sell or spin off its margarine business – which includes Flora – accelerate its cost-cutting plans, spend €5bn (£4.3bn) buying back its own shares and review its Anglo-Dutch structure. This last point could have political ramifications, given the review is being conducted against a backdrop of Brexit: it could eventually lead to Unilever leaving its UK tax base and moving jobs, although company insiders insist that is not on the table at the moment.Unilever’s announcement, however, was reactionary. The big question for chief executive Paul Polman and the board is why these changes have come after an aggressive takeover approach that they ridiculed and picked apart.Polman has not been shy about promoting the importance of a long-term strategy and major companies contributing positively to the world. But he now looks to have been naive about the environment in which he was operating.To be fair, Polman has been frank about the bid being a “near death” experience from which the company has learned. Furthermore, he has been decisive in making changes. The bid from Kraft Heinz was revealed on 17 February, and withdrawn two days later. But less than seven weeks after that, Unilever had announced the review and completed it.The changes also look sensible. The sale of the underperforming margarine division has been under consideration for some time, while the proposed cost-cutting and share buybacks are small relative to the size of the company.Together, the measures send a message that Unilever will never be an easy takeover target for the likes of Kraft Heinz or anyone else considering a debt-laden, slash-and-burn strategy. Nonetheless, the aura surrounding Polman and his team has been greatly reduced by this saga.Investors and MPs try to corral runaway pay at last Could it be that we are finally reaching peak executive pay? The business select committee has just recommended that long-term incentive plans – the schemes behind so many egregious pay awards – be axed. It is LTIPs that produce the worst excesses – like the lion’s share of the £210m handed to WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell since 2012. They dish out an average of £1.5m to each FTSE 100 boss a year, often reward pedestrian performance and can produce huge payouts as result of nothing more than luck – like a rise in commodities prices.Other loud voices are also demanding change, finally recognising that runaway executive pay is eroding trust in business. BlackRock, the world’s biggest fund manager, wants an end to directors’ pay that grows faster than ordinary employees’. On Friday the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund – Norway’s $910bn oil fund – also demanded an end to LTIPs.Remuneration committees must, surely, start to take note.Topics US economy Business leader Chinese economy WTO Global economy Donald Trump Xi Jinping comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/unilever/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/09/us-owes-china-billion-dollars-problem-beijing-trump-knows'|'2017-04-09T15:00:00.000+03:00' '6b1ef2b8b400d4f08c4fc889eeb4eb4d7904897d'|'China''s HNA offers to buy Singapore''s CWT for $1 billion'|'By Sijia Jiang - HONG KONG HONG KONG China''s HNA Holding Group Co. ( 0521.HK ) said it would make an offer to acquire Singapore-listed logistics firm CWT Ltd ( CWTD.SI ) for $1 billion.The Chinese conglomerate said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Sunday that its subsidiary HNA Belt and Road Investments (Singapore) Pte. Ltd would offer to purchase 600 million CWT shares at S$2.33 apiece, which values the deal at S$1.399 ($0.9962) billion.Reuters reported in May 2016 citing sources that HNA Group was in talks to acquire CWT for $1 billion. nL3N1832DTHNA, one of China''s most acquisitive conglomerates with businesses spanning aviation to financial services, has been snapping up assets overseas. nL8N1G517YCWT, incorporated in 1970 as a private arm of the Port of Singapore Authority, has interests which include logistics services, commodity marketing, financial services and engineering services.The offer represents a 13.11 percent premium over CWT''s last traded price of S$2.06 on Wednesday. HNA said in the filing that it intended to keep CWT''s management team.It said the acquisition would help it to leverage an established international platform, become a leading logistics player and diversify its property investment portfolio.(Reporting by Sijia Jiang. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cwt-m-a-hna-idINKBN17B0JH'|'2017-04-09T10:38:00.000+03:00' 'eca0595c13e04d7ce4b5f91706959d809beaa2ec'|'Deutsche Boerse reluctant to extend CEO contract after failed merger: sources'|'FRANKFURT Deutsche Boerse''s ( DB1Gn.DE ) supervisory board is reluctant to approve quickly an extension of Chief Executive Carsten Kengeter''s contract following the German exchange operator''s failed merger with the London Stock Exchange ( LSE.L ), two people close to the matter said.Carsten Kengeter''s contract as Chief Executive is due to expire in March 2018.German blue-chip firms usually renew board member contracts a year before they expire, but such a contract extension is not a priority for Deutsche Boerse''s directors, who are due to meet in late April, the sources said.Deutsche Boerse declined to comment on Kengeter''s possible contract extension.One of the main factors preventing Deutsche Boerse from giving Kengeter another full term is a pending investigation into insider trading, the sources said.German financial watchdog Bafin handed over the findings of an investigation into allegations of insider dealing against Kengeter to public prosecutors in February.Kengeter and Deutsche Boerse deny that a share purchase program, awarded shortly before Deutsche Boerse announced merger talks with the LSE, amounted to anything improper.Some investors have already said that they would like Kengeter to be replaced if he is officially charged by public prosecutors.A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor''s office on Wednesday said it remained unclear how long the insider trading investigation would take to be concluded.The merger, which was the exchanges'' fifth attempt to combine, would have created Europe''s biggest stock exchange, but was struck down by European regulators after LSE failed to comply with a small antitrust-related demand.Kengeter has been criticized for underestimating the political dimension of the merger and failing to assure political backing in Germany.(Reporting by Kathrin Jones and Hans Seidenstücker; Writing by Arno Schuetze. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-boerse-management-idINKBN17E1QB'|'2017-04-12T11:13:00.000+03:00' '601f3cf23881c1061ab2c87e27a385364cf793f5'|'LPC: On Assignment dispenses with loan Libor floor'|'Company News 44am EDT LPC: On Assignment dispenses with loan Libor floor By Kristen Haunss - NEW YORK, April 12 NEW YORK, April 12 Staffing company On Assignment is one of many US borrowers that have taken the opportunity of a leveraged loan refinancing to remove an unwanted ‘Libor floor,’ which artificially increases their borrowing costs. Leveraged loans typically pay an interest margin plus Libor, but Libor floors were added during the financial crisis to guarantee minimum yields for investors after Libor rates plummeted. Robust loan market conditions and higher Libor rates since the start of 2016 mean that Libor floors are no longer required. Companies are choosing to remove them or set the rate at zero while investor demand for floating-rate loans remains strong in a rising interest rate environment. In the first quarter, 24% of companies either issued loans without Libor floors or set the rate at 0%, compared to only 10% a year earlier, according to LPC data. “Libor floors made their way into the market during the last down cycle in order to entice investors to buy leverage loans,” said Enam Hoque, a senior covenant officer at Moody’s Investors Service. “There’s really no need to entice investors any longer.” On Assignment was able to remove a 75bp Libor floor when it refinanced an existing loan in February and cut 50bp off its interest margin to 225bp over Libor, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data. “Any time you can do a repricing, you’d like to get the most beneficial terms you can and so to the extent the market allows you to remove the Libor floor, you want to remove the Libor floor,” said Jim Brill, treasurer and chief administrative officer at Calabasas, California-based On Assignment. The company also refinanced in August 2016, but was unable to remove the 75bp Libor floor. One-month Libor on September 1 was 52bp, which meant that the company had to pay around 23bp more to meet the Libor floor rate. During the credit crisis, three-month Libor slumped by 94% to 28bp in October 2009 from 482bp in October 2008 after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. Since the start of 2016 the rate has risen 89% to 1.16% on April 11, initially in response to pending money-market reform and then in concert with interest rate hikes. Three-month Libor topped 1% in January 2017 for the first time since May 2009 and now exceeds the most common Libor floors of 75bp or 100bp. The Federal Reserve increased its target interest rate in March by 25bp to 75-100bp and said it expects two further hikes this year and three in 2018. Unlike bond investors, loan investors receive higher yields when rates rise. Investors have poured more than US$13.65bn into bank loan mutual funds and exchange-traded funds this year as of April 5, far exceeding flows of US$8.6bn in 2016, as investors try to hedge against rising interest rates. Increasing investor demand allowed borrowers to refinance a record US$261.2bn of loans in the first quarter, according to LPC data. The average yield on a B rated loan was 5.02% in the first three months of the year, down from 6.99% in the first quarter of 2016. “Loan pricing is already low, and covenant-lite and otherwise weak covenant structures dominate the market, so borrowers in 2017 are clearly targeting the Libor floor as an additional concession,” said Hoque. (Reporting by Kristen Haunss; Editing By Tessa Walsh and Jon Methven)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/loan-liborfloor-idUSL1N1HK12O'|'2017-04-12T23:44:00.000+03:00' 'cf841be1bb00e6b52b67d084d96e2aa878e38c9f'|'IMF''s Lagarde - protectionist ''sword'' hangs over firming growth'|' 10:05am BST IMF''s Lagarde - protectionist ''sword'' hangs over firming growth FILE PHOTO - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde holds a speech to present the report ''''Making Trade an Engine of Growth for All: The Case for Trade and For Policies to Facilitate Adjustment'''' in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke BRUSSELS Global economic recovery is gaining momentum but could be cut off by a "sword of protectionism" now threatening global trade, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday. Lagarde, speaking ahead of next week''s IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, argued for countries to strengthen the post-war open trade architecture by cooperating multilaterally to solve trade issues such as reducing excessive external imbalances. Her prepared remarks did not specifically mention U.S. President Donald Trump''s "America First" trade agenda that aims to restrict imports into the United States. But she said restricting trade would be a "self-inflicted wound" that would disrupt supply chains and raise prices for components and consumer goods, hitting the poor hardest. For the first time in years, she said the global economy "has a spring in its step" as the Fund prepares to release new growth estimates on April 18 "The good news is that, after six years of disappointing growth, the world economy is gaining momentum as a cyclical recovery holds out the promise of more jobs, higher incomes and greater prosperity going forward." The prospects are better for advanced economies, where manufacturing activity is stronger, as well as for emerging and developing economies, which will contribute more than three quarters of global GDP growth this year, she said. Higher oil and commodity prices have aided many commodity exporters, but their revenues will stay well below the boom years, she added. "At the same time, there are clear downside risks: political uncertainty, including in Europe, the sword of protectionism hanging over global trade, and tighter global financial conditions that could trigger disruptive capital outflows from emerging and developing economies," Lagarde said. She reiterated her call for countries to use fiscal and monetary policy to boost demand and structural reforms to make economies more efficient. She also voiced concern about lagging productivity growth and called for more investments in research. She said trade promotes efficiency and innovation, citing forthcoming IMF research that estimates that China''s integration into the global trading system accounted for as much as 10 percent of advanced economies'' overall productivity gains between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. Governments also need to find better ways to aid workers who are displaced by technology and trade flows, Lagarde said. "There is no magic formula. But we do know that greater emphasis on retraining and vocational training, job search assistance, and relocation support can help those affected by labour market dislocations," Lagarde said. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and David Lawder; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-imf-idUKKBN17E0YN'|'2017-04-12T17:05:00.000+03:00' '53fe1efa8354ba58355005cf84d9846215633c33'|'Handelsbanken chairman investigated over suspicion of receiving bribes -company'|' 10:30pm BST Handelsbanken chairman investigated over suspicion of receiving bribes -company STOCKHOLM Handelsbanken''s ( SHBa.ST ) chairman Par Boman has been questioned by prosecutor regarding suspicions of receiving bribes related to hunting trips by forest industry company Holmen ( HOLMb.ST ), the Swedish bank said on Tuesday. "These suspicions are, in my opinion, groundless," Boman said in a statement. Holmen said in January that its chairman Fredrik Lundberg was told by a prosecutor he was suspected of offering a bribe related to hunting events arranged by the company. (Reporting by Olof Swahnberg, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sweden-handelsbanken-chairman-idUKKBN17D2OI'|'2017-04-12T05:30:00.000+03:00' '94cbfe9eb327498da4c4bf486b9ecfe3a3927278'|'WH Smith first-half profit up 3.75 percent on travel boost'|' 7:40am BST WH Smith first-half profit up 3.75 percent on travel boost File photo of pedestrians walking past a WH Smith shop in London, Britain October 6, 2008. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico/File Photo British books, newspaper and stationery retailer WH Smith Plc ( SMWH.L ) posted a 3.75 percent rise in first-half pretax profit as its travel business continued to outshine lagging high street or town centre retail operations. WH Smith, which has more than 1,300 stores mostly in the UK, said profit before tax for the six months to Feb. 28 rose to 83 million pounds from 80 million last year. Trading profit at its travel business, made up of outlets at airports, railway stations, motorway services, hospitals and workplaces, rose 11 percent to 39 million pounds, helped by an improvement in passenger numbers. The group, which will celebrate its 225th anniversary this year, said sales fell 4 percent at its high street business, citing tough comparatives from last year, when sales were boosted by the "colour therapy" trend for adult colouring-in books. Trading profit at its high street business remained flat at 53 million pounds. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wh-smith-results-idUKKBN17E0JZ'|'2017-04-12T14:40:00.000+03:00' 'f7fffa39082816cbe6da4ed3bb5c87be021b0b72'|'Australia''s TPG Telecom says to pay $945 million for mobile airspace'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:15am BST Australia''s TPG Telecom says to pay $945 million for mobile airspace SYDNEY Australia''s TPG Telecom Ltd ( TPM.AX ) said it will pay the federal government A$1.26 billion (761.79 million pounds) for mobile phone airspace and spend another A$600 million to build a network, enabling it to bring its services to 80 percent of the population. TPG, 34 percent owned by Malaysia-born entrepreneur David Teoh, added that it plans to raise A$400 million in a rights issue to pay down debt and allow it to re-draw the cash to pay for the three-year infrastructure build. ($1 = 1.3328 Australian dollars)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tpg-telecom-infrastructure-idUKKBN17E00Q'|'2017-04-12T08:15:00.000+03:00' '7d70c2a799cd038238cd02a53291e54fa0da7f0e'|'PRECIOUS-Gold hits 5-mth high, geopolitical worries drive flight to safety'|'Company 9:06pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold hits 5-mth high, geopolitical worries drive flight to safety April 12 Gold hit a 5-month high on Wednesday after rising nearly 2 percent in the previous session, with investors seeking refuge in safe-haven assets due to rising tensions over U.S. relations with Russia and North Korea. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had edged up 0.1 percent to $1,275.21 per ounce by 0035 GMT, after earlier hitting its strongest since Nov.10 at 1,276.28. * U.S. gold futures edged up 0.3 percent to $1,277.60. * Heightened tensions in the Korean peninsula and Middle East following U.S. strikes on Syria, along with the upcoming French presidential election, have left investors nervous. * The United States accused Russia on Tuesday of trying to shield Syria''s leader from blame for a deadly poison gas attack last week, as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson brought a Western message to Moscow condemning its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. * North Korean state media warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force U.S. President Donald Trump described as an "armada". * French centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen clung on as frontrunners in France''s tight presidential race on Tuesday, but the unpredictable outcome is pushing some pollsters to calculate the most extreme runoff scenarios. * San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank should raise interest rates three or four times this year, and begin to trim the Fed''s multitrillion-dollar balance sheet in late 2017. * Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank and might eliminate the rules and replace them with "something else". * Euro zone industrial output declined in February, against market expectations of a slight increase, largely due a sharp drop in energy production, dampening prospects for robust economic growth. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.50 percent to 842.41 tonnes on Tuesday from 838.26 tonnes on Monday. * London''s gold price benchmark fixed some $12 below the spot price on Tuesday afternoon as the auction appeared to become locked in a downward spiral. * Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd plans to launch Hong Kong and London gold contracts by June or July this year, Chief Executive Charles Li said on Tuesday. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0130 China PPI March 0130 China CPI March 0600 Germany Wholesale prices March 0830 U.K. ILO unemployment rate Feb 1230 U.S. Import prices March (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL3N1HK03Y'|'2017-04-12T09:06:00.000+03:00' '5a35755ee8895f0dc6acbe6b6ae101c1fc6d4154'|'Skype founder Zennstrom invests in water-saving shower company Orbital Systems'|'STOCKHOLM Orbital Systems, which makes water-saving showers, said on Wednesday it had raised 15 million pounds ($18.7 million) from a group of investors including its board member Niklas Zennstrom, co-founder of Skype, to finance its expansion plans.Founded five years ago by Chief Executive Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, who initially developed its water-recycling technique for NASA''s Mars mission project, the company said its investors also included fashion retailer H&M''s ( HMb.ST ) Chief Executive Karl-Johan Persson.Sweden-based Orbital has so far raised a total of 25 million pounds from backers including former Tesla ( TSLA.O ) executive Peter Carlsson, also a board member.It says its shower, which via a built-in purification system reuses the same batch of water over and over again, enables water savings of 90 percent compared with a conventional shower."For our next growth phase we''ll focus on getting Orbital showers into every home that wants to save on ... water, energy and money," Mahdjoubi said in a statement.($1 = 0.8043 pounds)(Reporting by Helena Soderpalm; Editing by Anna Ringstrom and David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-orbitalsystems-funding-idINKBN17E0SS'|'2017-04-12T06:08:00.000+03:00' '00a9e30fe944dabad2a9ce560e4a5fe61cd9ba0c'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 12'|' 14am EDT Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 12 ZURICH, April 12 The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening 0.22 percent higher at 8,661 points on Wednesday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer. The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks: SYNGENTA Mexico''s antitrust commission COFECE said on Tuesday it would condition its approval of ChemChina''s planned $43 billion takeover bid of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG. For more news, click SIKA Chairman Paul Haelg said on Wednesday he expects the hostile takeover attempt by French construction materials giant Saint-Gobain to be resolved by 2018. For more news, click BARRY CALLEBAUT The Swiss cocoa and chocolate manufacturer said first-half net profit rose 32 percent to 142.1 million Swiss francs ($141.08 million), beating analyst forecasts, as the company was helped by a good product and customer mix and a more supportive cocoa products market. Analysts surveyed by Reuters had expected net profit, on average, of 127 million francs. For more, click COMPANY STATEMENTS * Kuehne + Nagel said it had a memorandum of understanding with Alibaba.com on offering global logistics services to customers of the Chinese e-commerce company''s B2B business unit. * Molecular Partners said Christian Zahnd, co-founder and former CEO, for health reasons will not stand for re-election as member of board of directors and will instead become honorary chairman. * Edisun Power Europe AG said FY revenues were up 8 percent to 8.23 million francs. * Implenia said it won a nearly $100 million order in Sweden. * Galenica Sante said there was a full exercise of over-allotment option for its IPO. * Elina Leimgruber, mayor of Vevey, has been designated to represent the municipalities of Vaud canton on the board of directors of Romande Energie Holding, the company said, succeeding Laurent Ballif. * Inficon said its shareholders approved all the proposals made by the board of directors at its annual general meeting. * Zug Estates Holding AG said shareholders approved all proposals of the board of directors at its ordinary general meeting of shareholders. ECONOMY * Results from Swiss federal bond issues due around 0900 GMT. ($1 = 1.0072 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idUSL8N1HJ447'|'2017-04-12T14:14:00.000+03:00' 'bd73d3763ae87205fe928a2e707c4e0bfcfc16ce'|'Oil prices rise on prospect that Saudi Arabia seeking output cut extension'|' 56am IST A gas station worker pumps gas into a car at a gas station of the state oil company PDVSA in Caracas, Venezuela March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil, were at $56.40 per barrel at 0117 GMT, up 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close, their highest since early March. If Wednesday''s price rises hold, they would mark the seventh straight daily increase. That would beat a six-day bull-run from August 2016, although the price jump then was 17.5 percent versus a 6 percent rise in the current rally of consecutive rises. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $53.56 a barrel, also their highest level since early last month. Traders said that the price rises were a result of reports that Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), had told other producers that it wanted to extend a coordinated production cut beyond the first half of the year. OPEC and other producers, including Russia, have pledged to cut output by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year in an effort to rein in global oversupply and prop up prices. While compliance from some participants has been patchy, Saudi Arabia has made significant cuts, with production PRODN-SA down 4.5 since the end of last year, despite a slight increase in March to 9.98 million bpd. "Saudi Arabian production reduction appears to be ahead of forecast and gave oil a boost," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. Despite this, there are still some concerns that oil markets remain bloated and oversupplied, especially in the United States where both production and inventories are surging. U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA has risen by 9 percent since mid-2016 to 9.2 million bpd, resulting in a surge in commercial inventories to a record 535.5 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA. The latest U.S. oil production and inventory data will be published later on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-oil-idINKBN17E051'|'2017-04-12T09:26:00.000+03:00' '380197c898c4fe1bf3513867236ea048d6e6c21c'|'Exclusive - Meredith falls short of Time Inc''s deal price expectations-sources'|'By Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Toonkel U.S. media group Meredith Corp has made a preliminary acquisition offer to Time Inc that fell short of the price expectations of the publisher of Sports Illustrated and Fortune magazines, according to people familiar with the matter.The significant gap in valuation expectations could represent a setback to Time Inc''s efforts to sell itself. It comes after an investor group led by former music executive Edgar Bronfman Jr abandoned its pursuit of Time Inc in March, following a $1.8 billion offer it made late last year.While Time Inc is looking to sell itself for more than $20 per share, Meredith has so far made a preliminary offer with a price range that values it below that, the people said this week. The exact price range that Meredith has offered could not be learned.The sources cautioned that Time Inc is still willing to engage with Meredith in price negotiations, which have yet to kick off in earnest. Time Inc has also been pursuing offers from other parties in what is sees as a competitive sale process, according to the sources.An investment group led by private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management LP remains interested in Time Inc, but it also considers it unlikely that it can meet its price expectations, according to the sources.The sources asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. Time, Meredith and Pamplona declined to comment.An acquisition of Time Inc would give Meredith the scale required to spin off its broadcasting arm into a standalone company. Many of Meredith''s competitors, from Tronc Inc to Tribune Media Co, have shed their publishing operations following a drop in print advertising revenue.Time Inc has been weighing a sale of the company for the past several months, amid a decline in earnings.For the fourth quarter, the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue. Print ad revenue, which accounts for more than two-thirds of its total ad sales, fell 10.2 percent in the three months to Dec. 31, from a year earlier.This would not be the first time that Meredith has come close to buying Time Inc. In 2013 Meredith and Time Inc''s owner at the time, Time Warner, were in talks about a deal for Time Inc but the discussions ended unsuccessfully. Time Warner then spun off Time Inc as a stand-alone company in 2014.Time Inc has since made attempts to expand beyond its print roots by going on a shopping spree for digital media firms. It acquired Viant Technology, a New York-based marketing firm that owns Myspace, an early social media company.Time Inc replaced its chief executive last year after activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC unveiled a stake in the company. The deadline for any activist shareholder to put forward nominees to challenge the company''s board director picks is April 21.Meredith tried to buy Richmond, Virginia-based broadcaster Media General for $2.34 billion in 2015, but Nexstar Broadcasting Inc swooped in with a higher bid, acquiring Media General for $4.6 billion.(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch and Jessica Toonkel in New York; Additional reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/time-m-a-meredith-idINKBN17E1YP'|'2017-04-12T12:35:00.000+03:00' '46635bb566f072cae57a3166e9eb03c1718a3a19'|'Morgan Stanley compliance chief Fenrich leaving for hedge fund'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 5:00pm BST Morgan Stanley compliance chief Fenrich leaving for hedge fund FILE PHOTO: A view of the Morgan Stanley London headquarters at Canary Wharf financial centre in London, Britain June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Boyce/File Photo By Liana B. Baker and Olivia Oran Morgan Stanley''s ( MS.N ) chief compliance officer Billy Fenrich is leaving the firm just over a year after being named to the position. Fenrich will be replaced by Raul Yanes, according to an internal Morgan Stanley memo reviewed by Reuters, which was confirmed by a firm spokesman. Fenrich is joining quantitative hedge fund AQR Capital Management as its chief legal officer, according to an AQR spokeswoman. Yanes was most recently a litigation partner at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and had also served in a number of senior positions under president George W. Bush, including staff secretary and assistant to the president and senior counsellor to the attorney general. Fenrich joined Morgan Stanley''s legal department in 2014 from hedge fund PointState Capital. He was named chief compliance officer in 2016, replacing longtime compliance chief Stuart Breslow. He had also worked at Davis Polk. Compliance officers have become critical figures on Wall Street since the financial crisis, helping to ensure that bankers and traders stay out of trouble and avoid massive fines. (Reporting by Liana Baker and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-morgan-stanley-compliance-idUKKBN17E264'|'2017-04-13T00:00:00.000+03:00' 'bcb6c4a10748b361325bd9d36bbebaa8aec08006'|'Hong Kong regulator fines Coutts for breaching anti-money laundering rules'|' 1:08pm BST Hong Kong regulator fines Coutts for breaching anti-money laundering rules left right The logo of British bank Coutts is seen at the entrance of an office building in Zurich March 27, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A security guard walks past a directory board of Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in Hong Kong December 20, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu 2/2 HONG KONG The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said on Tuesday it had ordered the local branch of private bank Coutts & Co Ltd to pay a fine of HK$7 million (724,295 pounds) for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist rules. HKMA said the move followed a probe that found Coutts had failed between April 2012 and June 2015 to set up and maintain procedures for determining if "its customers or the beneficial owners of its customers were politically exposed persons". "Politically exposed persons" (PEPs) refers to people with a prominent public function, whom regulators view as presenting a higher risk for potential involvement in bribery and corruption due to their position and the influence they may hold. The HKMA''s probe also found Coutts''s Hong Kong branch had failed to identify PEPs despite relevant information being publicly available, it said in its order. Furthermore, the private bank failed to follow up promptly on "PEP alerts received from a commercially available database" to which Coutts subscribed, the order said, adding the firm had taken remedial measures to address the deficiencies identified. Hong Kong authorities are under pressure from international bodies to clamp down on illegal money flows following a number of high profile cases that involved local firms, including a corruption scandal that engulfed soccer body FIFA in 2015. The Panama Papers leak also drew attention to how wealthy individuals use offshore companies, many of them structured by intermediaries based in Hong Kong, to conceal assets. The global anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is due to inspect Hong Kong''s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules next year. Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) sold the majority of Coutts'' international assets to Union Bancaire Privee (UBP) in March 2015 after splitting the bank, best known as banker to Britain''s Queen Elizabeth II, into a British and a Swiss-based arm. A spokesperson for UBP could not immediately be reach for comment. In February, Coutts was ordered to pay 6.5 million Swiss francs ($6.6 million) by Swiss watchdog FINMA for breaching money laundering regulations in its relationships with scandal-tainted Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. Singapore''s central bank in December imposed a penalty of 2.4 million Singapore dollars ($1.7 million) on Coutts due to money laundering breaches also related to 1MDB. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Michelle Price; Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hongkong-coutts-regulator-idUKKBN17D174'|'2017-04-11T20:08:00.000+03:00' 'a80c589510015f33542780e3b4c6de1a6660b648'|'Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM'|'Deals 35am BST Linde rejects request to vote on Praxair merger at AGM FILE PHOTO: Linde Group logo is seen at company''s plant in Munich-Pullach, Germany, August 16, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo FRANKFURT Germany''s Linde ( LING.DE ) has for a second time rejected a request for a shareholder vote at its annual general meeting next month on its planned $65 billion merger with U.S. industrial gases rival Praxair ( PX.N ). Linde said shareholders would in any case have to decide individually whether to accept a public offer from the new combined holding company, so a vote at the AGM on May 10 would not be appropriate. "Even if a qualified majority of Linde shareholders would accept the exchange offer, not a single Linde shareholder will be forced to exchange his shares," it said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Linde was responding to a renewed request from German private-investor association DSW, which came on behalf of shareholders Aberdeen Asset Management and BayernInvest. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Jens Hack; Editing by Edward Taylor)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idUKKBN17D11F'|'2017-04-11T17:29:00.000+03:00' 'ea4ff6d2104e2b3a1b7dcce1f71219afa7776f3b'|'Atkins Nutritional to merge with blank-check firm Conyers Park'|'Weight-control nutrition company Atkins Nutritional Holdings agreed on Tuesday to go public through a merger with blank-check company Conyers Park Acquisition Corp ( CPAAU.O ) in a deal valuing the combined company at about $856 million.Atkins, owned by private equity firm Roark Capital Management LLC, and Conyers will combine under a holding company called Simply Good Foods Co.Atkins, best known for its high-protein eponymous diet, has now shifted to make protein bars, shakes and frozen meals.The selling equity owners of Atkins will get $730.1 million, which includes 10.3 million shares of Simply Good Foods common stock valued at $10.00 per share.(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-atkins-m-a-conyers-park-idINKBN17D1CY'|'2017-04-11T09:42:00.000+03:00' '46629ec768d82d94e615b1852e84659b57c4afca'|'Japan''s frugal households offer no respite for BOJ, retailers'|' 3:51pm IST Japan''s frugal households offer no respite for BOJ, retailers FILE PHOTO: Light is cast on a Japanese 10,000 yen note as it''s reflected in a plastic board in Tokyo, in this February 28, 2013 picture illustration. REUTERS/Shohei Miyano/Illustration/File Photo By Leika Kihara and Kaori Kaneko - TOKYO TOKYO Naruhito Nogami, a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tokyo, drives to discount stores on weekends to bulk buy cheap groceries, even though he earns enough to make ends meet and the prospects for Japan''s economic recovery are brighter. "I do have money, but I''m frugal anyway. Everyone is like that. That''s just the way it is," he says. Kazuko Sato, a 50-year-old animation artist, also frequents discount chain Daiso, where most items ranging from groceries and bath towels to kitchenware sell for just 100 yen ($0.91). "I look for things here first, and if they aren''t here then I go to the supermarket," she says, cradling a basket in the stationery aisle. "My job and salary are unstable so I need to be careful about my spending." People like them have prompted some companies to embark on sweeping price cuts, showing how tough it will be to eradicate Japan''s deflationary malaise despite the improving economy. It also highlights a new paradox facing the Bank of Japan: a disparity between solid growth and stubbornly weak inflation. Top retailer Aeon Co is cutting prices for over 250 grocery items this month to lure cost-savvy shoppers, and Seiyu, operated by Wal-Mart Stores, cut prices on more than 200 products from February. "It''s unthinkable for us to raise prices at this stage," Fast Retailing Co CEO Tadashi Yanai said after the owner of clothing brand Uniqlo reported flat revenue on Thursday. To be sure, many retailers say they are protecting their bottom line by offering not just discounts but high-end products. "It''s not just prices consumers are looking at. They are just being selective," said Takaharu Iwasaki, president of supermarket chain operator Life Corp. But central bank policymakers are struggling to explain why inflation and wages remain so low even as Japan''s economy enjoys its third-longest recovery since World War Two. "It''s a new conundrum for us," one official said. "It just shows how sticky Japan''s deflationary mindset is." DEMOGRAPHICS DRAG Japan''s economy has sustained a modest recovery cycle that kicked off when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power in late 2012 and launched his "Abenomics" package of aggressive monetary, fiscal stimulus measures and structural reforms. A recent rebound in overseas demand has helped boost exports and output, pushing up business confidence to its highest in a year and a half, with companies upbeat on their spending plans. Encouraged by recent positive data, the BOJ is expected to offer a more upbeat view of the economy at this month''s rate review than it did last month, people familiar with the matter said. The benefits of the recovery have yet to reach households, though, despite four years of heavy money printing by the central bank and fiscal spending packages. Real wages have been largely flat despite job losses hitting a 22-year low, as firms remain wary of raising wages. Core consumer inflation remained stuck at 0.2 percent in February, well below the BOJ''s ambitious 2 percent target, as companies hold back on price rises for fear of scaring away cost-sensitive households. Japan''s demographics are a key factor working against consumption. Nearly 30 percent of the population will be aged 65 or above in 2020, according to a government estimate. Living off pensions, elderly households are unaffected by any wage hikes and tend to withhold spending, analysts say. Miyako Minamizawa, a 65-year-old pensioner in Tokyo, says the recovery hasn''t changed her life. "I don''t feel like the economy is doing well," she said, adding she is dipping into her savings because her pension isn''t enough to get by on. In the capital''s upmarket Ginza shopping district, 72-year-old Shimako Naito said: "I used to often impulse buy, on quite expensive clothes and jewellery, but now I take my time and try and buy when things are cheaper." Inefficiencies in Japan''s highly-protected farm sector have kept fresh food prices high and volatile. A weak-yen trend also hurt households by pushing up the price of imported goods. Food prices rose 1.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, even though overall consumer prices fell 0.1 percent. Households used 26 percent of their income to buy food last year, the highest level in almost three decades, leaving them with little left to spend on non-necessities. Food products topped the list of items that households spent more on, a quarterly BOJ survey showed this month, while households cut spending most on eating out, clothing and travel. Roughly 80 percent of households who replied to the BOJ''s survey said they feel price rises are a bad thing, a sign the central bank has failed to convince the public of the benefits of putting a sustained end to growth-sapping deflation. Masayuki Yamamuro, 51, who works at a real estate firm, says he eats out less and is cutting down on spending because grocery shopping is becoming more expensive. "My salary hasn''t risen. I want to buy a car, own a house or go travelling. But I''m not able to do that." ($1 = 109.1600 yen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-prices-idINKBN17G0ST'|'2017-04-14T18:21:00.000+03:00' '3e689095f3ea8303d0fb94caa34a7afc50b08e43'|'METALS-Shanghai copper hovers near 3-mth low in holiday-thinned trade'|' 34pm EDT METALS-Shanghai copper hovers near 3-mth low in holiday-thinned trade SYDNEY, April 14 Shanghai copper edged up on Friday but was still mired near its weakest for the year as mounting geopolitical tensions curbed appetite for risk, while London markets were closed for the Easter holiday. FUNDAMENTALS * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper had risen 0.5 percent to 46,290 yuan ($6,722) a tonne by 0114 GMT. On Thursday, it fell to its lowest since Jan. 4 at 45,520 yuan. Prices were set to close lower for a second week, with losses targeting 1.5 percent. * LME COPPER: The London Metal Exchange was closed for the Easter break, reopening on Tuesday. LME copper finished up 1.1 percent on Thursday. * NORTH KOREA TENSIONS: Military force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China said on Thursday, while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for Chinese protection. * AFGHANISTAN: News that the U.S. dropped a massive bomb in eastern Afghanistan late on Thursday added to uncertainty. * CHINA ECONOMY: China''s 2017 export outlook brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and as U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift. * U.S. ECONOMY: The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid unexpectedly fell last week and consumer sentiment rose early this month amid continued optimism over household finances, suggesting a sharp slowdown in job growth in March was an aberration. * COPPER SUPPLY: State copper commission Cochilco forecast on Thursday that Chile would produce slightly less than 5.6 million tonnes of copper in 2017, down from a previous forecast of 5.79 million, due largely to a strike at BHP Billiton''s Escondida mine. * MARKETS: Wall Street indexes fell along with U.S. Treasury yields on Thursday on safe-haven demand spurred by geopolitical worries, and the U.S. dollar rebounded after a sell-off following remarks by Trump on Wednesday was seen as an overreaction. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0112 GMT Three month LME copper 0 Most active ShFE copper 46270 Three month LME aluminium 0 Most active ShFE aluminium 14130 Three month LME zinc 0 Most active ShFE zinc 21650 Three month LME lead 0 Most active ShFE lead 16305 Three month LME nickel 0 Most active ShFE nickel 81680 Three month LME tin 0 Most active ShFE tin 142560 ($1 = 6.8865 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL8N1HM02D'|'2017-04-14T09:34:00.000+03:00' '7471c3fe6fe3fe6603f682959ba829726e8cedb0'|'Italy court lifts block of Uber services in Italy'|' 3:22pm BST Italy court lifts block of Uber services in Italy ROME A Rome court on Friday suspended a lower court ruling that had blocked the use of smart phone apps for Uber cars [UBER.UL] in Italy. The court accepted an appeal by Uber against the first ruling, made a week ago, which said Uber could not use its Black, Lux, Suv, X, XL, Select and Van phone applications nor could it promote or advertise its services in Italy. The first court had ruled in favour of a suit filed by Italy''s major traditional taxi associations, taking the view that the apps constituted unfair competition. Italy''s two main consumer groups, Codacons and UNC, welcomed the latest ruling, saying it gave people more choice. (Reporting By Philip Pullella)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-uber-idUKKBN17G14M'|'2017-04-14T22:22:00.000+03:00' '81423aa9df978a582584e95754f3731f91b925cc'|'UPDATE 2-AIG board denies CEO 2016 cash bonus after dismal earnings'|'(Adds details on compensation, Paulson''s departure)By Suzanne BarlynApril 13 American International Group Inc''s board of directors declined to award Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock a cash bonus for his work last year, after the company''s dismal financial performance roiled shareholders, according to a proxy filing on Thursday.Hancock, however, will still receive a total of nearly $9.6 million in 2016 compensation, according to the filing. The figure includes his $1.6 million base salary, longer-term incentive pay in stock worth $7.8 million and additional funds. The stock incentive starts to pay out in 2019.His total compensation for 2016 fell 23 percent from 2015, the filings show.The insurance company''s board also re-nominated Samuel Merksamer, who represents billionaire Carl Icahn, to serve on the board for another term. Merksamer, who last year left the activist investor''s firm, Icahn Capital, a unit of Icahn Enterprises LP, will continue as Icahn''s representative, according to the proxy filing.AIG''s board also disclosed in the filing that hedge fund manager John Paulson is leaving the board because of "other time commitments." Paulson owned 4.55 million AIG shares as of March 15, according to the filing.The proxy filing comes at a tumultuous time for the U.S. insurance company. AIG announced last month that Hancock, 58, would step down, after a poor fourth quarter frustrated shareholders and the insurer''s board of directors. Hancock will stay on as chief executive until the board finds a successor, the company has said.Icahn, AIG''s fourth-largest investor, began acquiring his stake in the insurance firm in 2015. He advocated splitting AIG into three parts. The company instead embarked on a two-year turnaround plan developed by Hancock, which intended to return $25 billion to shareholders.Last year, AIG returned a total of $13.1 billion of capital to shareholders, the company said.While Hancock must forego a 2016 cash bonus, other AIG executives will receive bonuses of $680,000 or more, representing 40 percent of possible target amounts, according to the filing. (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/aig-compensation-idINL1N1HL1OG'|'2017-04-13T19:52:00.000+03:00' '0e11f92e58e4a5077b34fde4fe288dc8360459c7'|'Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism'|' 54pm IST Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism By Simon Jessop - LONDON LONDON Pressure on British companies to ditch a common performance-related bonus scheme blamed for generating excessive executive pay has not stopped many firms from planning to stick with such schemes for another three years, a Reuters analysis shows. In theory so-called long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) aim to legitimately encourage management success in boosting shareholder returns. Yet a series of corporate scandals and lucrative payouts has made them a target for criticism. Lawmakers in Britain last week recommended LTIPs be phased out from 2018, while Norway''s sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, wants them scrapped. The British government has also launched a review of corporate governance including incentive plans. Exemplifying LTIP generosity, advertising company WPP paid Chief Executive Martin Sorrell more than 70 million pounds ($88 million) for 2015, more than 60 million of which came through an incentive scheme - a payout that a third of WPP shareholders declined to support. However, most top companies have retained LTIPs as part of executive pay when seeking investor approval for a three-yearly remuneration policy at shareholder meetings. Analysis by Reuters of company annual reports and data from governance advisory firm Manifest shows 59 members of the FTSE 100 blue-chip stock index recently updated their remuneration policy or plan to soon, of which 56 currently use or plan to continue using LTIPs. "There (is) no reason why LTIPs should be used almost universally across the FTSE 100," Luke Hildyard, policy lead for stewardship and governance at trade body the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said. "We would welcome more companies moving to simpler, smaller pay packages, perhaps involving a basic salary and a long-term share award," Hildyard said, adding the current system acted to drive ever-higher pay awards. Companies use a range of data to calculate the payouts, with many referencing the firm''s share price. The process, opponents say, can be complex, overly generous, and can potentially incentivise actions detrimental to the long-term interests of a company. There is also evidence their overall economic benefits are limited. A study by Lancaster University Management School, looking at Britain''s 350 biggest listed companies, found CEO pay had risen an average 82 percent in real terms between 2003 and 2014/15, but economic return on invested capital was up less than 1 percent. SIMPLER STRUCTURE Asset management industry body the Investment Association said too much time is spent discussing pay with companies, and a simpler structure would free up time to engage on other important issues. As the government considers whether to implement the recommendations by parliament''s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee, some cautioned a blanket ban was equally problematic. "We don''t think there should be a one-size-fits-all approach ... companies should be able to choose the right tools for the job," said Sarah Wilson, chief executive at Manifest, which advises funds on how to vote on corporate decisions. The head of governance at a leading British asset manager said most LTIPs worked well. "In the vast majority of cases, we''ll vote in favour of them because we''ve analysed them in detail and think they''re based on stretching targets that reflect the company''s strategy ... there are exceptions, but you deal with them on a case-by-case basis." Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, said she was willing to consider alternative bonus models but a phasing out of LTIPs from 2018 would be challenging. Were the government to rule out LTIPs, Manifest''s Wilson said many firms would likely use share options, with bonuses paid in shares with a long-term lock-in period. "Much of it will depend on the tax implications," Wilson said. "Some investors like LTIPs because there are performance conditions associated with them so the BEIS committee''s view isn''t necessarily universally approved." Yet the key basis of LTIPs remains contentious. "The idea of tying a CEO''s pay to the share price is flawed," said Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre pressure group. "Share prices move for all sorts of reasons completely beyond the control of one human being or the board." ($1 = 0.7973 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-companies-pay-idINKBN17F17X'|'2017-04-13T18:24:00.000+03:00' '7eb722fdf23cdfdcbd6f57018ee0fc1f4741850c'|'Proxy adviser ISS opposes Credit Suisse management bonuses'|' 2:10pm BST Proxy adviser ISS opposes Credit Suisse management bonuses The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH Influential U.S. proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has advised Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) shareholders to vote against proposed bonuses for the Swiss bank''s executive board totalling almost 80 million Swiss francs (63.84 million pounds). This follows similar recommendations from other proxy advisers Glass Lewis and Ethos. A Credit Suisse spokeswoman said on Tuesday the bank took note of the recommendations and that it respects shareholder democracy. Executive pay is a hot-button issue in Switzerland, with voters backing a "fat cat" referendum in 2013 giving shareholders the option of blocking executive payouts, although such revolts remain rare. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin and Oliver Hirt; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-agm-bonuses-idUKKBN17D1KD'|'2017-04-11T21:10:00.000+03:00' '3421fbfb2cf891fb0f2106e31b155942c5b28d7e'|'LeEco, Vizio abandon $2 billion deal over regulatory concerns'|'China''s Le Holdings Co Ltd ( 300104.SZ ), also known as LeEco, abandoned its proposed $2 billion acquisition of U.S. consumer electronics company Vizio Inc ( VZIO.O ) on Monday, citing "regulatory headwinds."LeEco and Vizio, however, have struck a new collaboration agreement that includes bringing Vizio products to the Chinese market, according to a brief emailed statement from the Chinese company.The statement did not elaborate on the regulatory hurdles that prevented the deal from going ahead.The deal to buy Irvine, California-based Vizio was announced in July.(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-vizio-m-a-leeco-idINKBN17C2MX'|'2017-04-10T21:47:00.000+03:00' '01293f4a572a49a25541e96dc3eb1d9e29d74785'|'Exclusive - Saudis, oil majors discuss gas investments ahead of giant IPO'|'Global Energy 21am BST Exclusive - Saudis, oil majors discuss gas investments ahead of giant IPO Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo 1/4 left right The logo of Chevron Corp is seen in its booth at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: A British Petroleum petrol station logo is seen at Heathrow in London, Britain February 2, 2010. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo 3/4 logo of oil company Eni is pictured at San Donato Milanese near Milan February 5, 2013. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo 4/4 By Ron Bousso , Dmitry Zhdannikov and Rania El Gamal - LONDON/DUBAI LONDON/DUBAI Saudi Arabia and international oil companies have discussed gas venture opportunities inside the kingdom and abroad as part of the top crude-exporting country''s drive to diversify investments before the listing of national energy giant Saudi Aramco. Saudi officials explored investment opportunities with firms including BP ( BP.L ) and Chevron ( CVX.N ) to help develop its gas reserves, the world''s sixth largest, at a time of booming energy demand at home, four industry sources told Reuters. Aramco has also looked into investing in gas ventures abroad, including with Italy''s Eni ( ENI.MI ), the sources said. The development revives memories of talks between Aramco and global majors at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, known as the Saudi gas initiative. Most of those talks collapsed as the parties disagreed over returns on investment. This time, Aramco is gearing up for a share listing next year, aiming to get a valuation of up to $2 trillion in what could be the world''s biggest initial public offering (IPO). Chevron, BP, Aramco and Eni declined to comment on talks. "We have a long-standing relationship with Saudi Arabia, so it is not uncommon for us to talk to them. We''re always having discussions about business development. I don''t have anything particular to say about Saudi Arabia," Chevron CEO John Watson told Reuters last week. BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley, who travelled to Saudi Arabia at the end of last year, said this year he wouldn''t rule out "creative partnerships" with Aramco but that an outright investment by BP in the IPO was unlikely. The kingdom has a long-term goal of increasing the use of gas for domestic power generation, thus reducing oil burning at home and freeing up more crude for export. This could help increase Aramco''s valuation as it generates more revenue from exports than selling oil at lower domestic prices - Saudi Arabia is the world''s fifth-biggest oil consumer despite being only the 20th-biggest economy. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, who is also Aramco''s chairman, said last year that Aramco was interested in investing in international upstream ventures, particularly gas, and could invest in importing gas into the kingdom. Diversifying gas assets abroad would help Aramco achieve a better valuation and is attractive for investors, industry sources said. Riyadh also plans to raise domestic gas prices, a move seen as an incentive for foreign companies. NEW GAS STRATEGY Aramco is preparing to reveal in the next few months a new gas strategy aimed at developing resources to keep pace with rising domestic demand, sources familiar with the discussions said. It comes as part of the kingdom''s push to diversify its economy away from oil, a strategy known as "Vision 2030", amid a global drive to phase out the most polluting fossil fuels. Aramco wants nearly to double gas production to 23 billion standard cubic feet a day in the next decade. "IOCs (international oil companies) are waiting for that (strategy) to make their decisions," one industry source familiar with the matter said. Another industry source said Energy Minister Falih had said in private meetings with Western oil executives that he wanted Aramco to partner with other companies in upstream projects. Two Saudi-based industry sources familiar with the discussions said BP''s Dudley had expressed an interest in investing in gas exploration in the Red Sea. However, the two sides have yet to hold any talks on the project. Aramco controls gas reserves in excess of 8 trillion cubic metres, according to BP''s annual energy review. The Saudi company has said it wants to explore for gas in the shallow waters of the Red Sea as well as onshore shale gas. SOUR MEMORIES Since gradually renationalising the industry in the 1970s, Saudi Arabia has not allowed the majors to develop its oil. The Saudi gas initiative of the 1990s was effectively an effort by the then-minister for oil, Ali al-Naimi, to thwart attempts by companies such as Exxon Mobil ( XOM.N ) to partner with Riyadh in oil developments. In a book published last year, Naimi said he was convinced that as part of gas talks during that decade, oil majors hoped to acquire cheap Saudi reserves of gas condensate, a high-quality form of crude oil. The $25 billion gas initiative offered in 1997-98 had some of the world''s top oil companies such as Exxon and Shell expressing interest but struggling to agree terms. Riyadh later invited investors in 2003-2004 to find and produce gas in Rub Al Khail, a desert in the country''s southeast. Companies including Russia''s Lukoil ( LKOH.MM ), Shell and China''s Sinopec formed ventures with Aramco but have failed to find commercially viable deposits. They also complained about low domestic gas prices and high extraction costs. Russia''s Lukoil ( LKOH.MM ) was the most recent foreign company to quit Saudi Arabia''s search for gas. However, Saudi Arabia last month slashed income tax on energy companies operating in the kingdom to make energy investments more attractive. "The terms will be better now," an oil executive said. (Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-aramco-gas-exclusive-idUKKBN17D0JQ'|'2017-04-11T14:21:00.000+03:00' '9a26f4dd97019904b8eea22eaae956aac5cb4a95'|'Swiss billionaire Wyss gets nearly 10 pct of Molecular Partners'|'ZURICH, April 11 Swiss billionaire Hansjoerg Wyss has built a nearly 10 percent stake in biotech group Molecular Partners after share sales by Johnson & Johnson and other investors, the SIX Swiss Exchange said on Tuesday.Wyss, who made a large share of his fortune by selling med-tech company Synthes Holding AG to J&J in 2012 for nearly $20 billion, now owns 9.85 percent of Molecular Partners, whose products include several prospective cancer and eye disease treatments with partners including Allergan.In addition to J&J, Essex Woodlands Health Ventures and Index Ventures Associates IV Ltd have unloaded stakes this month.Beyond ventures in Swiss medical companies, Wyss has given about $225 million to Harvard University and its Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/molecular-partners-wyss-idINL8N1HJ1GP'|'2017-04-11T06:20:00.000+03:00' '7738b4d8445b7f1bceb10b09e9a0b01cc8c3f1ad'|'Euro rises as ECB president Draghi says single currency is ''irrevocable''- as it happened'|'A papier mache caricature depicting ECB President Draghi at the Rose Monday carnival parade in Cologne, Germany, in February. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Graeme WeardenThursday 9 March 2017 15.53 GMT First published on Thursday 9 March 2017 08.30 GMTKey events Show 3.15pm GMT 15:15 Draghi press conference: What the experts say 2.45pm GMT 14:45 Draghi: The euro is here to stay 2.06pm GMT 14:06 Draghi: Sense of urgency has gone 2.01pm GMT 14:01 ECB raises growth and inflation forecasts 1.18pm GMT 13:18 German MEP criticises ECB for leaving rates on hold 12.59pm GMT 12:59 ECB: We''re pushing on with QE too 12.52pm GMT 12:52 ECB leaves interest rates unchanged Live feed Show 3.51pm GMT 15:51President of Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi (C), at today’s press conferenece Photograph: Armando Babani/EPAThat’s all for today.Here’s AFP’s take on the ECB press conference.The European Central Bank reported signs of an improving eurozone economy Thursday, but said it would keep cheap money gushing for fear of undermining the recovery.ECB watchers were alert for any tightening of the ECB’s ultra-loose policy as inflation rates rise and prospects for growth in the 19-nation single currency area improve.The central bank has set interest rates at record lows and buys tens of billions of euros of bonds per month in a bid to drive up growth and inflation.At the meeting of the bank’s governing council “there was a general recognition that the balance of risk has improved, certainly as far as growth is concerned,” ECB president Mario Draghi told reporters. “There is no longer that sense of urgency in taking further actions.”But “this is a gradual process,” he went on at a Frankfurt press conference.“The governing council members want to be convinced they see a self-sustained adjustment in the inflation rate” before closing the money sluices, he said.For now, faced with uncertain impacts from global upheavals abroad and elections at home, the ECB plans to continue its bond-buying scheme until December as planned, as well as maintaining its commitment to interest rates “at present or lower levels” for the foreseeable future.“Spring is coming and the ECB is celebrating,” judged analyst Florian Hense of Berenberg bank, while noting that, despite the lifting spirits, “it has not moved significantly closer to actually tightening policy”....Goodnight. GWFacebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 3.15pm GMT 15:15Draghi press conference: What the experts say Kathleen Brooks of City Index says Mario Draghi has proved he was the “king of curveballs” at today’s press conference in Frankfurt .After delivering what was arguably a dovish statement early on in his press conference, and clearly stating that for the ECB’s GDP and inflation forecasts are conditional on the implementation “of all our policy measures”, Draghi displayed a more hawkish tone during the Q&A.The key takeaway from this month’s ECB meeting appears contradictory: QE is here to stay in the Eurozone , until at least the end of this year. However, more policy action is less likely because deflation risks have receded. Reading between the lines suggests that the next change from the ECB will be towards removing accommodation and not adding it.Aberdeen Asset Management investment manager Patrick O’Donnell says Draghi has given a small hint that the ECB could adjust its policy stance soon:“Draghi has ever so slightly opened the door to changing their policy stance. He’s done this by saying that the Governing Council talked about changing the language about where rates are in their monthly statement, but didn’t actually change it. This is effectively him signalling that something might change in the future, just not today.“It’s a classic Draghi technique of saying something that will move markets without actually doing anything. Due to this, and a wordy response to a question about raising rates before QE ends, markets will now start to recalibrate on the assumption that the ECB will remove accommodation towards the end of the year.”Jamie Dutta, senior market analyst at Faraday Research, says the ECB president “flip-flopped’ between his bearish opening statement, and some bullish remarks in the press conference.The ECB and Mario Draghi celebrated its two year anniversary of its Asset Purchase Program by being marginally less dovish than expected in the monthly press conference. It was an interesting balancing act for Draghi between unchanged monetary policy stimulus policies and improved economic prospects. The market took the upgraded forecasts for growth and inflation in its stride.However they reacted more positively when Draghi stated that there was no longer a ‘sense of urgency on taking further actions’ to boost inflation and the recovery. Indeed Draghi further said the ‘risks to deflation have largely disappeared’.And Pictet’s Frederik Ducrozet shows how the ECB has raised its forecasts for inflation in 2017 and 2018:Frederik Ducrozet (@fwred) First (and largest revision) to staff forecasts for inflation since June 2015. But the ECB will "look through" the hump. pic.twitter.com/LeiQnjENx3March 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.45pm GMT 14:45Draghi: The euro is here to stay The press conference ends with Mario Draghi insisting that the euro is irrevocable, and not going to break up.The ECB president declares that:The euro is here to stay. It’s not about whether or not it is irrevocable. It is.ECB (@ecb) Draghi: The euro is here to stay. It is irrevocable. A more productive question is how do we increase prosperity?March 9, 2017 The ECB president calls the euro a “channel for solidarity” (which might rankle with those suffering financial plight in Greece).Draghi points out that Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania all joined the single currency since the financial crisis began, due to the benefits of membership.We need to make monetary union function better, Draghi adds, to increase prosperity in the region.Alessandro Speciale (@aspeciale) The #Euro is here to stay - question not so much if it''s irrevocable but how do we make it function better and increase propsperity #DraghiMarch 9, 2017 And this bullish talk has helped to push the euro up. It’s currently up 0.6% at $1.06.Photograph: Bloomberg TV Updated at 2.48pm GMTFacebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.29pm GMT 14:29German bond prices are falling, driving up the yield on the debt.Traders are reacting to the news that t he ECB has dropped its pledge to use ‘all available instruments’ to achieve its mandate, and is now less worried about deflation.Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) #Germany ''s 10y yields jump as #ECB ''s Draghi less dovish than expected. pic.twitter.com/MkoNeiaJFFMarch 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.28pm GMT 14:28Mario Draghi is treading an interesting path at today’s press conference.On the one hand, he’s talking up the prospects for the eurozone economy and saying there is no longer a deflation risk.But he’s also warning that there are ‘downside risks’ that could derail the recovery.Why? Because he’s got a firm eye on upcoming elections, particularly in France.Mike Bird (@Birdyword) If you don''t think Draghi''s ''everything great, huge downside risks'' makes sense yr forgetting abt something that rhymes w Bench CollectionMarch 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.24pm GMT 14:24Q: Were today’s decisions unanimous?Enigmatically, Draghi says the discussion was ‘consensual’Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) #Draghi : "the discussion today was pretty consensual" but refuses to compare it with the last meeting.March 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.24pm GMT 14:24Rather sweetly, Draghi suggests that it’s 18 months since Britain voted to leave the EU.Just nine, old boy. Although it sometimes feels like nine years...Mehreen (@MehreenKhn) Draghi thinks its been 18 months since Brexit. It''s been 9March 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.20pm GMT 14:20Draghi says the governing council did not discuss ending its QE programme, or boosting it, at today’s meeting.Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.20pm GMT 14:20Mario Draghi sounds somewhat concerned about geopolitics, warning that global risks have risen recently.We haven’t yet seen negative consequences from the Brexit vote, he adds, but it’s not clear how various ‘risk events’ will play out.Maxime Sbaihi (@MxSba) #Draghi says domestic risks are now more contained but then spends 2 minutes explaining how elections actually make everything uncertain...March 9, 2017 DailyFXTeamMember (@DailyFXTeam) ECB''s Draghi says geopolitical global risks have gone up.March 9, 2017 Riva Gold (@GoldRiva) Draghi: we don''t know yet how political risk events will reverberate in economies.March 9, 2017 Updated at 2.52pm GMTFacebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.17pm GMT 14:17Draghi is asked about the criticism of Germany’s trade surplus from Peter Navarro, trade advisor to Donald Trump, who argues that the euro is unfairly weak.Draghi defends Berlin, saying he doesn’t see any merit in attacking Germany.Germany’s currency is the euro, and eurozone monetary policy is set for the whole region, he insists.Katie Martin (@katie_martin_fx) "I don''t think there is any merit in attacking Germany" - DraghiMarch 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.12pm GMT 14:12Q: Could the ECB raise interest rates before it has ended its QE programme?Draghi ducks the question. And that’s interesting, as he’s previously insisted that rate would not rise until the asset-purchase programme had concludes.Carsten Brzeski (@carstenbrzeski) New room for speculation. #Draghi dodges answer on whether rate hikes could be possible before end of QE.March 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.08pm GMT 14:08On deflation....Mario Draghi says that the risks have “largely disappeared”, adding:Market-based inflation expectations have increased noticeably.Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.06pm GMT 14:06Draghi: Sense of urgency has gone In a hawkish move, the European central bank has dropped an important line from its statement.The pledge to use “all the instruments at its disposal” if necessary to achieve it mandates has been removed.Mario Draghi says this has been dropped because the “sense of urgency” has gone, suggesting the ECB is less worried about the situation.Paul Mortimer-Lee (@MortimerleePaul) #Draghi #ECB draws attention to dropping of reference to "use all instruments" to indicate sense of urgency has goneMarch 9, 2017 Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 2.01pm GMT 14:01ECB raises growth and inflation forecasts Hello again. Sorry about that breakdown - while I was away, Mario Draghi has been speaking to the press in Frankfurt.The ECB president has announced slightly higher growth forecasts; GDP is now expected to rise by 1.8% in 2017 (up from 1.7% in December) and by 1.6% in 2018 (up from 1.5%)It has also raised its inflation forecast this year to 1.7% (from 1.3%).ECB (@ecb) Draghi: ECB staff projections: HICP at 1.7% in 2017 (1.3% in Dec proj), 1.6% in 2018 (1.5%), 1.7% in 2019 (unchanged)March 9, 2017 Draghi still sound cautious, saying:The risks surrounding the euro area growth outlook have become less pronounced, but remain tilted to the downside and relate predominantly to global factors.Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 1.27pm GMT 13:27We’re having a few technical issues here , so might miss the start of the ECB press conference #developing....Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 1.18pm GMT 13:18German MEP criticises ECB for leaving rates on hold Markus Ferber, a German conservative MEP, is unhappy that Bank didn’t raise interest rates today.Ferber argues that the ECB should have responded to the recent rise in euro area inflation, to 2%.“The inflation rate is picking up and the European economy is growing strongly. Now would be the perfect time for Mario Draghi to show a little courage and end the period of zero interest rate. The craving for cheap money is like an addiction that has to stop now. This is even more so as monetary policy in the USA and the EU are at risk of drifting further and further apart.In the US, the main interest rate is already higher than in the Eurozone and the Federal Reserve plans to have two to three additional interest rate hikes this year alone. I am disappointed that the ECB missed yet another chance to initialise a normalisation of monetary policy.“Facebook Twitter Google plus Share Share this post Facebook Twitter Google plus close 1 of 3 Newest Newer Older Oldest Topics Business Business live Stock markets Eurozone European Central Bank Mario Draghi '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/eurozone'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2017/mar/09/ecb-rate-decision-qe-mario-draghi-markets-euro-business-live'|'2017-03-09T22:53:00.000+02:00' 'a32c0e406651a621a3b65edbcc55d5d97f084013'|'China anti-graft body probing chief insurance regulator'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 10:54am BST China anti-graft body probing chief insurance regulator BEIJING The head of China''s insurance regulator is being investigated for suspected disciplinary violations, the country''s top anti-graft body said on Sunday, bringing the most senior financial regulator to date into the government''s fight against corruption. China''s top leaders have pledged this year to address financial risks and asset bubbles. In a brief statement, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said Xiang Junbo, head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) and a member of the central bank''s monetary policy committee, was suspected of "serious disciplinary violations" - a phrase that usually refers to graft. It gave no further details. As of Sunday afternoon, Xiang''s name and position remained on the website of the CIRC, www.circ.gov.cn. As head of the insurance regulator, Xiang oversaw rapid growth of the insurance industry, along with liberalisation of investment rules that provided insurers greater latitude to invest more of their assets at home and overseas. China''s insurance assets nearly doubled over the last three years, reaching 15.1 trillion yuan (1.76 trillion pounds) at the end of 2016. In February, Xiang appeared at a press conference where he vowed the insurance regulator would take more punitive action to punish short-term speculators and reduce long-term risk. Xiang said CIRC wouldn''t allow the insurance industry to become "a rich man''s club" or hideout for "financial crocodiles". The regulator has intensified a crackdown on risky activity by some aggressive players in the insurance sector, particularly those seen to be engaging in financial market speculation using expensive short-term funds. Xiang took control of the insurance regulator in 2011 after serving as chairman of Agricultural Bank of China Ltd ( 601288.SS ) ( 1288.HK ), one of the four biggest state banks. Xiang would be the most senior regulator hauled in during the anti-graft campaign since Yao Gang, a former deputy head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, was put under investigation in late 2015 following a stock market crash. President Xi Jinping is leading a campaign against corruption that is tearing down once-untouchable party, military and business leaders as well as their powerful networks of relatives and allies. Wang Yincheng, vice chairman of state-owned People''s Insurance Group of China ( 1339.HK ) was brought in for suspected corruption in February. Earlier this year, the chief risk officer of Bank Of Communications Co Ltd ( 601328.SS ) ( 3328.HK ) was expelled from his post for serious discipline violations, and a former Communist Party boss at Bank of Jiangsu Co Ltd ( 600919.SS ) was investigated for suspected corruption. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Matt Miller; Editing by Michael Perry and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-corruption-idUKKBN17B0AS'|'2017-04-09T17:54:00.000+03:00' '69d199a51ebe51fbd3eb223a22e0dd88c429efa1'|'Elliott applies U.S. activist investor tactics to BHP offensive'|'By Greg Roumeliotis Elliott Management Corp''s activist campaign to shake up Anglo-Australian mining group BHP Billiton ( BLT.L ) ( BHP.AX ) relies on tested U.S. shareholder activism strategies to deliver one of the hedge fund''s biggest ever bets on a company.U.S. activist investors have for years called on companies to deploy various financial engineering techniques, from spinning off assets to tweaking their corporate structure, in order to boost the value of their stock.Elliot''s $3.8 billion investment, or 4.1 percent stake, in BHP shows how U.S. hedge funds are increasingly exporting their activist shareholder playbook overseas. Ellliott'' s BHP demands are a mix of strategies it developed going after U.S. companies, such as Marathon Petroleum Corp ( MPC.N ), as well as foreign targets, such as South Korea''s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS )."The questions and techniques activist shareholders developed in the U.S. pertain to how investors value companies universally. The question of whether BHP is undervalued applies whether the company is Australian or American," said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan''s Ross School of Business.Elliott declined to comment on its investor strategies.BHP on Monday rejected a plan by Elliott, a hedge fund with $31 billion in assets under management, to scrap the miner''s dual company structure, split off $22 billion worth of oil assets, and return more cash to investors, arguing that the costs would outweigh any benefits.All the elements of this plan have been tried by Elliott before, some more successfully than others. Elliott in October called for Samsung to adopt a holding company structure by splitting itself in two and pay out a 30 trillion won ($26.75 billion) special dividend. Samsung said last month it would not adopt such a structure.In the case of Marathon Petroleum, the oil refining and transportation company announced in January it would seek to spin off its Speedway gas station business following pressure from Elliott.The fact that Elliott has a commodity trading business helped Elliott familiarize itself with BHP. Crucially, Australia and Britain have, in general, more shareholder-friendly corporate regimes, emboldening activists such as Elliott.For example, just a 5 percent stake in an Australian company enables a shareholder to call for an extraordinary shareholder meetings. In the United States, the threshold is often double that, and in many cases calling a special meeting is not an option made available to shareholders at all."Asking the right question as an activist shareholder is not enough, if you do not have a stick available to you, you become like a professor who has no power. People answer your question cause your technique might work," Gordon said.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-elliottmanagement-idINKBN17C2N8'|'2017-04-10T22:03:00.000+03:00' 'a33acd4cd065718d336120afd86cbc4c40fe1dc1'|'Betfair slashes Melenchon''s French election odds from 979/1 to 11/1'|'Company 56am EDT Betfair slashes Melenchon''s French election odds from 979/1 to 11/1 LONDON, April 11 British bookmaker Betfair has slashed the odds on French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon winning next month''s election to 11/1 from 979/1 last month, the company said on Tuesday, as the far-left candidate surges in the polls. That reflects a shift in the probability of Melenchon becoming president to around 12 percent from 0.1 percent previously. A new poll on Tuesday showed Melenchon nipping at the heels of frontrunners Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron in France''s presidential race, building on his recent surge as sniping between the top contenders gathered pace. "If Melenchon continues to gain ground and Macron continues losing it with Le Pen holding hers, this presidential race could potentially become a far-right versus far-left battle in the second round," said Naomi Totten, spokeswoman for Betfair. Betfair is offering odds of 5/6 that the centrist Macron will become president, implying a 54 percent chance, down from 65 percent before Melenchon''s surge in the polls. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly, editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/france-election-gambling-idUSL8N1HJ4T1'|'2017-04-11T23:56:00.000+03:00' '5b23d9c68f8707f4fd1942cdbd92caab31cc01a3'|'Not conducting policy to target FX market - BOJ Kuroda'|' 27am BST BOJ Kuroda: Not conducting policy to target FX market Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Wednesday the central bank was not conducting monetary policy to influence the currency market. Kuroda, speaking at the lower house fiscal and monetary affairs committee, said the BOJ was using quantitative easing to meet its 2 percent inflation target. Kuroda said the BOJ''s outlook for prices was not based on forecasts for future currency moves. He also said that if the yen weakened, it was possible that prices would rise towards the 2 percent inflation target more quickly. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-kuroda-idUKKBN17E01G'|'2017-04-12T08:27:00.000+03:00' '278bd8afbe9f949a945022b73288793b6b7f3705'|'METALS-London copper slips as North Korea tensions grow'|' 20am EDT METALS-London copper slips as North Korea tensions grow (Adds comment, detail, updates prices) By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, April 12 London copper eased on Wednesday amid heightening geopolitical tensions with North Korea, but held above two-week lows hit in the previous session on hopes demand will heat up during the second quarter. North Korean state media warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific. The news dented risk appetite in Asia, with gold at five-month highs and yields on top-rated sovereign bonds at their lowest for the year so far. With Easter holidays approaching, the news only encouraged investors to cut positions, analysts said. "We are starting to see some price erosion start to set in over various metals, with the complex''s recent high-fliers – copper and zinc – being the most wobbly," Ed Meir of INTL FC Stone said in a report. Producers of a number of metals are ramping up output due to the recent higher prices, while the market is still awaiting an expected seasonal pick-up in demand, he noted. * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper slipped by 0.4 percent to $5,742 a tonne by 0547 GMT, after ending a tad firmer on Tuesday when it had slumped to $5,710 a tonne, a two-week low. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper slipped by half a percent to 46,630 yuan ($6,761) a tonne. ShFE zinc and nickel remained under pressure, down 1.3 percent and 3 percent respectively, tracking weakness in China''s steel sector. * NORTH KOREA: Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in North Korea with U.S President Donald Trump on a telephone call on Wednesday. * CHINA INFLATION: China''s producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, pressured by fears that Chinese steel output is outweighing demand and threatening a glut of the metal. * CHINA PROPERTY: At least 12 major Chinese cities are requiring newly bought homes to be held for at least two to three years before they can be sold, the first time cities in the country are taking such measures and suggesting intensified efforts to cool the red-hot property market. * SOUTHERN COPPER: Union representatives and executives from miner Southern Copper in Peru failed to reach an agreement to end an indefinite strike after a long meeting on Monday night, the union said on Tuesday. * ZINC: Expected shortages of zinc, a metal often favoured by speculators, may not materialise this year because recent price gains have spurred miners around the world to increase output. BASE METALS PRICES Three month LME copper 5751 Most active ShFE copper 46690 Three month LME aluminium 1923.5 Most active ShFE aluminium 120 Three month LME zinc 2585 Most active ShFE zinc 21375 Three month LME lead 2246 Most active ShFE lead 2 Three month LME nickel 9850 Most active ShFE nickel 10 Three month LME tin 19960 Most active ShFE tin 2 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 438.52 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1382.77 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 231.91 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -2115.39 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1342 ($1 = 6.8973 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HK2A5'|'2017-04-12T14:20:00.000+03:00' '58f9b5bfb5e8193027681b07b0ebd0bb94db4d8a'|'UPDATE 1-Pushing two-stock plan, Greenlight nominates three GM directors'|'(Adds details about proposed directors, proposed director comment, background, stock price)By Nick CareyDETROIT, April 12 Hedge fund Greenlight Capital, which is run by billionaire investor David Einhorn, nominated three directors to General Motor Co''s board and reiterated its proposal to split the company''s common stock into two classes to help boost the share price.Einhorn went public with a proposal in late March that the U.S. automaker create one class of stock that pays a dividend and one that does not.GM rebuffed that proposal, and both Moody''s and Standard & Poor''s declared that such a structure could hurt its credit rating.In a regulatory filing, Greenlight nominated former AT&T Broadband Chief Executive Officer Leo Hindery, longtime Greenlight research director Vinit Sethi and Consol Energy Inc Chairman William Thorndike.Einhorn himself was not on the proposed slate."GM is ignoring the significant value unlocked by our Plan, and has concocted a ratings issue by presenting a one-sided and flawed analysis to the rating agencies," Sethi said in a statement.Shares of GM were up 0.2 percent at $33.98 in morning trading.Greenlight Capital has owned GM shares on and off for five years and has a 4.9 percent stake, including options.A majority of investors surveyed by Evercore ISI just after Einhorn disclosed his proposal said it would not raise GM''s value.The filing comes just two days after luxury electric car maker Tesla Inc surpassed GM to become the highest-valued U.S. automaker despite selling around 76,000 vehicles last year to GM''s 10 million. (Additional reporting by Svea-Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/gm-greenlight-idINL1N1HK0KL'|'2017-04-12T12:18:00.000+03:00' 'b1c8680fe1d6b50dfed2a35bc65abf55caacaf43'|'Tesco hopes to turn over a new leaf with Serious Fraud Office - Business'|'I t used to be said that Tesco was so popular that one in every eight pounds spent in the UK retail sector ended up in the supermarket’s jingling tills. Some £214m of that hard-earned money could soon be weighing down the pockets of the Serious Fraud Office , and of investors affected by its 2014 accounting scandal, in the form of fines and compensation, after a settlement agreement last month.It doesn’t seem like all that much when you consider that it’s equivalent to just £4 from each adult in the UK. Still, every little helps for the historically underfunded SFO. Nothing is set in stone just yet though. Tesco Stores Ltd will find out in a high court hearing on Monday whether its deferred prosecution agreement with the fraud cops can go ahead. Should Sir Brian Leveson give his blessing to the settlement, Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis will look to draw a line under the whole affair and turn to full-year results due on Wednesday.Analysts have been reading the future in their Tesco Everyday Value tea leaves and think there will be cause for modest celebration. Tesco posted its largest-ever loss in 2015 – a staggering £6.4bn – thanks to hefty writedowns on its property portfolio and stock. It bounced back with a modest profit last year, and further improvement will raise hopes of a return to its halcyon days.JD Sports leaves Ashley standing There’s an old joke about two explorers who find themselves being stalked by a lion. One of them begins hurriedly lacing up his running shoes. “There’s no point in doing that,” says the other, “you’ll never outrun a lion.” “No, but I’ll outrun you,” is the response.Compared to its rival Sports Direct, JD Sports Fashion is the explorer wearing the trainers. Both have seen their reputations savaged by reports of poor working conditions at their warehouses. But while Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct has also suffered the pain of watching its profits fall faster than stretched tracksuit bottoms whose elastic has gone, JD Sports Fashion has been fighting fit. It has benefited from expansion in Europe, coupled with a focus on what it called the more “aspirational” end of the market.The difference in the two companies’ fortunes will be all the more galling for Ashley, who sold £12.5m shares in JD nearly a year ago, only to see it prosper. After “exceptional” Christmas trading, JD promised that annual profits would be up again, a year on from reporting a 45% rise in earnings. The company will reveal detailed figures on Tuesday, when it is likely to show Sports Direct a clean pair of heels once again.Sales boost smartens WH Smith outlook In what is shaping up to be a relatively quiet week for results, WH Smith is due to release profit figures for the first six months of the year on Wednesday.There’s no word from the company as yet on whether it will be offering a discount jumbo-sized bar of Dairy Milk to go with the figures. But it will be hoping to stick two chocolate fingers up to Waterstones boss James Daunt, who last month delivered a damning verdict on the ubiquitous chain, which he accused of “godawful uniformity”, not to mention “crushing consistency”.Its stores may not be to Daunt’s taste but, after a streak of declining sales and underinvestment that lasted more than a decade, the chain has been looking rather less dog-eared lately. Shares in WH Smith, which can trace its history back to 1792, have been rising steadily in 2017 since it recorded the strongest sales figures in 14 years last October. In January it raised annual profit forecasts, citing a boost from sales of spoof children’s books such as Five on Brexit Island , a nod to Enid Blyton.Chief executive Stephen Clarke has predicted sunlit uplands of growth driven by overseas expansion and a focus on its higher-margin stable of airport and railway station stores. Wednesday’s interim figures will provide a clearer picture of whether it is working.Topics Tesco Observer business agenda Retail industry Supermarkets Serious Fraud Office WH Smith comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/09/tesco-turn-over-new-leaf--deferred-prosecution'|'2017-04-09T15:00:00.000+03:00' '767372c4edc2bfd506ee28a4f93a83b64f886b51'|'Automatic for the people: How Germany’s Otto uses artificial intelligence'|'A GLIMPSE into the future of retailing is available in a smallish office in Hamburg. From there, Otto, a German e-commerce merchant, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its activities. The firm is already deploying the technology to make decisions at a scale, speed and accuracy that surpass the capabilities of its human employees.Big data and “machine learning” have been used in retailing for years, notably by Amazon, an e-commerce giant. The idea is to collect and analyse quantities of information to understand consumer tastes, recommend products to people and personalise websites for customers. Otto’s work stands out because it is already automating business decisions that go beyond customer management. The most important is trying to lower returns of products, which cost the firm millions of euros a year. an hour 3 4 8 10 hours ago See all updates Its conventional data analysis showed that customers were less likely to return merchandise if it arrived within two days. Anything longer spelled trouble: a customer might spot the product in a shop for one euro less and buy it, forcing Otto to forgo the sale and eat the shipping costs.But customers also dislike multiple shipments; they prefer to receive everything at once. Since Otto sells merchandise from other brands, and does not stock those goods itself, it is hard to avoid one of the two evils: shipping delays until all the orders are ready for fulfilment, or lots of boxes arriving at different times.The typical solution would be slightly better forecasting by humans of what customers are going to buy so that a few goods could be ordered ahead of time. Otto went further and created a system using the technology of Blue Yonder, a startup in which it holds a stake. A deep-learning algorithm, which was originally designed for particle-physics experiments at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, does the heavy lifting. It analyses around 3bn past transactions and 200 variables (such as past sales, searches on Otto’s site and weather information) to predict what customers will buy a week before they order.The AI system has proved so reliable—it predicts with 90% accuracy what will be sold within 30 days—that Otto allows it automatically to purchase around 200,000 items a month from third-party brands with no human intervention. It would be impossible for a person to scrutinise the variety of products, colours and sizes that the machine orders. Online retailing is a natural place for machine-learning technology, notes Nathan Benaich, an investor in AI.Overall, the surplus stock that Otto must hold has declined by a fifth. The new AI system has reduced product returns by more than 2m items a year. Customers get their items sooner, which improves retention over time, and the technology also benefits the environment, because fewer packages get dispatched to begin with, or sent back.The initiative suggests that an important role of AI in business may be simply to make existing processes work better. Otto did not fire anyone as a result of its new algorithmic approach: it hired more, instead. In many cases AI will not affect a firm’s overall headcount, but will perform tasks at a level of productivity that people could not achieve. Otto’s experience also underlines that ordinary companies can use AI, not just giants such as Amazon and Google, notes Dave Selinger, a retailing-technology expert and former data scientist at Amazon. The degree to which the company has yielded control to an algorithm, he says, is extremely unusual. But it may not be long before others catch up. "Automatic for the people"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720675-firm-using-algorithm-designed-cern-laboratory-how-germanys-otto-uses?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '0b10c846620b21c2752672012bf11823471e9d56'|'Cyber breaches have cost shareholders billions since 2013: report'|'Technology News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 4:04am EDT Cyber breaches have cost shareholders billions since 2013: report FILE PHOTO: A computer keyboard lit by a displayed cyber code is seen in this illustration picture taken on March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo LONDON Cyber security breaches erode companies'' share prices permanently, with financials the worst hit, a study issued by IT consultant CGI and Oxford Economics has found. Severe cyber security breaches, such as those having legal or regulatory consequences, involve the loss of hundreds of thousands of records and hurt the firm''s brand, caused share prices to fall on average 1.8 percent on a permanent basis, the analysis of 65 companies affected since 2013 globally has found. Investors in a typical FTSE 100 firm would be worse off by an average of £120 million after such a breach, the report said. Overall the cost to shareholders of these 65 companies would be in excess of 42 billion pounds ($52.40 billion). CGI''s analysis compared each company''s share price against a cohort of similar companies to isolate the impact of cyber breaches from other market movements, during incidents detailed in a breach index compiled by Dutch security firm Gemalto. Two-thirds of firms had their share price adversely impacted after suffering a cyber breach. Financial firms were the worst affected, followed closely by communications firms. "Financial services experience the greatest burden in terms of impact, reflecting the high levels of regulation, the importance of customer confidence and the potential for financial fraud to be a facet of the breach," the report said. Those least affected were retail, hospitality and travel companies. Hacking attacks and other cyber security breaches have impacted companies across the world in recent years, from retailer Target in the United States in 2013 to British communications firm TalkTalk in 2015. ($1 = 0.8015 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-companies-idUSKBN17E0SA'|'2017-04-12T16:04:00.000+03:00' '502298ce30f6cde6d077f85b9fcfa5faee8207e5'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 12'|'April 12 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Senior White House officials accused Russia of trying to cover up the suspected Syrian chemical attack last week, adding that the U.S. has concluded the Syrian military used banned sarin gas in the assault. The officials also questioned whether Russia had a role in the attack and suggested it may have known that its ally Syria was planning to use sarin. on.wsj.com/2oUqY13- Three explosions hit a soccer team''s bus just ahead of a major game in the German city of Dortmund on Tuesday, seriously injuring one player in what authorities described as a targeted attack on one of Europe''s most prominent sports clubs. on.wsj.com/2oxd4Ri- United Airlines Chief Executive Oscar Munoz apologized Tuesday for an altercation in which police forcibly removed a passenger from a flight in Chicago, seeking belatedly to quell a worldwide furor. The incident sparked outrage on social media, angered millions in United''s fast-growing China market and drew condemnation on Capitol Hill. on.wsj.com/2ooY33K- Uber Technologies Inc is losing its communications chief in the middle of a public-relations crisis for the ride-hailing company. Rachel Whetstone, who joined Uber in 2015 from Alphabet Inc''s Google where she also led communications and public policy, said in a statement Tuesday she is leaving the company, without citing a reason. on.wsj.com/2oVMvqb- The English-language version of a voice-activated "virtual assistant" that is a major feature of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd''s newest flagship device won''t be ready to go when the Galaxy S8 smartphone arrives in U.S. stores next week, according to people familiar with the matter. on.wsj.com/2o4t6z5- Elliott Management Corp has informed Akzo Nobel NV that it plans to call a shareholder meeting to try to oust the chairman of the company''s supervisory board, ratcheting up the pressure on the paint giant to engage in sale talks. on.wsj.com/2nCJpqQ(Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idINL3N1HK23V'|'2017-04-12T02:15:00.000+03:00' '142e211ee1f424fca994825b5a55bbd87c0d08d9'|'Italy regulator to decide on Vivendi stakebuilding in Mediaset on April 18 - source'|' 49pm BST Italy regulator to decide on Vivendi stakebuilding in Mediaset on April 18 - source The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau MILAN Italy''s communications authority (AGCOM) is set to decide on April 18 whether stake building by France''s Vivendi ( VIV.PA ) in Italian broadcaster Mediaset ( MS.MI ) breaches Italian antitrust regulations, a source close to the matter said on Tuesday. AGCOM opened an investigation into the French media company on Dec. 21, after Mediaset filed a complaint regarding Vivendi rapidly accumulating a 28.8 percent share. The source said the board of AGCOM started a discussion on its findings in the Mediaset-Vivendi case on Tuesday and was likely to reach a conclusion by April 18. The authority has to decide whether Vivendi, which also holds a 24 percent share in phone incumbent Telecom Italia ( TLIT.MI ), breaches a national law which prevents companies from having an excessive share in both the domestic telecommunications and media markets. Vivendi declined to comment. (Reporting by Francesca Piscioneri,; Gwenaelle Barzic in Paris,; Writing by Giulia Segreti,; Editing by Giselda Vagnoni)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mediaset-vivendi-regulator-idUKKBN17D24C'|'2017-04-12T00:49:00.000+03:00' '0801cd964140a3b9631ff89528b4df129f89edc9'|'Grains piled on runways, parking lots, fields amid global glut'|'Commodities - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 1:07am EDT Grains piled on runways, parking lots, fields amid global glut left right A mountain of grain sits in a storage pile, as midwestern grain farmers and merchants struggle to find storage space after three years of record harvests, near Minburn, Iowa, U.S., March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Scott Morgan 1/4 left right A mountain of grain sits in a storage pile, as midwestern grain farmers and merchants struggle to find storage space after three years of record harvests, near Boone, Iowa, U.S., March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Scott Morgan 2/4 left right A mountain of grain sits in a storage pile, as midwestern grain farmers and merchants struggle to find storage space after three years of record harvests, near Boone, Iowa, U.S., March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Scott Morgan 3/4 left right A mountain of grain sits in a storage pile, as midwestern grain farmers and merchants struggle to find storage space after three years of record harvests, near Minburn, Iowa, U.S., March 11, 2017. REUTERS/Scott Morgan 4/4 By P.J. Huffstutter and Karl Plume - CHICAGO CHICAGO Iowa farmer Karl Fox is drowning in corn. Reluctant to sell his harvest at today''s rock-bottom prices, he has stuffed storage bins at his property full and left more corn piled on the ground, covered with a tarp. He would rather risk potential crop damage from the elements than pay the exorbitant cost of storage elsewhere. "That''s how poor people do it," said Fox, who has been farming for 28 years. "You do what you have to do." Farmers face similar problems across the globe. World stockpiles of corn and wheat are at record highs. From Iowa to China, years of bumper crops and low prices have overwhelmed storage capacity for basic foodstuffs. Global stocks of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans combined will hit a record 671.1 million tonnes going into the next harvest - the third straight year of historically high surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That''s enough to cover demand from China for about a year. In the United States, farmers facing a fourth straight year of declining incomes and rising debts are hanging on to grain in the hope of higher prices later. They may be waiting a long time: Market fundamentals appear to be weakening as the world''s top grain producers ponder what to do with so much food. The persistent glut is a striking contrast from the panic a decade ago, when severe droughts in Russia and the United States sent prices soaring. The shrinking supply forced big importers such as China to enact policies to encourage more domestic production and increase the volume of storage to improve food security. China abandoned that policy last year and is now selling off hundreds of millions of tonnes of old stocks. Russia, too, is looking at exporting from state-held stockpiles, with storage stuffed after a record harvest in 2016. A surge of Chinese and Russian exports would put even more downward pressure on prices in an oversupplied global market. That means U.S. farmers will likely be producing more grain for less money. The USDA forecasts net farm income will fall 8.7 percent this year to $62.3 billion - the lowest level since 2009. CATERPILLARS, RODENTS AND DONKEYS In farms across Iowa, corn bulges in plastic tubes that snake across the fields. The grain-stuffed silo bags are taller than a man, often longer than a soccer field and look like monstrous white caterpillars. On the other side of the globe in Australia, demand for the storage bags has exploded after farmers produced record crops of wheat and barley. They are laying across fields in Argentina, too. There, wheat production spiked 41.6 percent this year over the 2015/16 season, according to the most recent USDA data. There are risks to using the bags, however, as wild animals ranging from rodents to armadillos and even donkeys can be tempted to break in for the grain, said Mariano Bosch, the head of Adecoagro SA ( AGRO.K ), which farms more than 225,000 hectares of row crops in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. When the company expanded its grain plantings in northern Argentina, he said, they started building electrified fences around their silo bags to keep out cougars and pumas. "They won''t eat the grain. They''re just curious," said Bosch, who added that about 40 percent of the company''s grain this year is stored in silo bags. In neighboring Brazil, the world''s largest soybean shipper and the second-largest exporter of corn, towering grain silos have sprung up all across the country. GRAINS ON THE RUNWAY Storing grain gives farmers more control over when and how they sell, to avoid low harvest-time prices and to best take advantage of spikes in futures or currency swings. But with storage running short - and a mountain of grain to move ahead of summer or early autumn harvests - that control is slipping away. Farmers with mounting bills, tight cash-flow and nowhere to store crops may have to sell them - even if it means taking a loss. In Goodland, Kansas, where the next wheat harvest begins in late June, farmers holding grain in silos are facing cash wheat prices of about $3.15 a bushel and cash corn prices of $2.90 a bushel - both well below production costs of at least $4 a bushel. CORNSCUGDL-C1 WHRWFAGGDL-C1 Permanent storage in the United States can handle about 24.3 billion bushels - well short of the 25.9 billion bushels of wheat, soybeans and feed grains the USDA said was piled up by the end of last autumn''s harvest. The overflow in the United States has prompted a rush for temporary storage. The USDA has approved permits for more than 1.2 billion bushels of temporary and emergency grain storage - such as tarp-covered piles and open-air mounds. That''s a record amount, according to the USDA. In Kansas, some grain owners are renting airport tarmacs from decommissioned military bases, empty farm fields and parking lots to stash their corn as the situation becomes acute, according to farmers and local, state and federal officials. Meanwhile, there are no signs of a slowdown in grain production. The USDA already expects 2016/17 global harvests to be the highest since its records started in 1960/61 at 340.79 million tonnes of soybeans, 1.049 billion tonnes of corn and 751.07 million tonnes of wheat. "Nobody is going to cut back," said Fox, the Iowa farmer. With spring planting coming up, he is scouting for more storage space for this year''s harvest. "I have a note at the bank to pay off," he said. "I can''t do less." (Additional reporting by Tom Polansek and Mark Weinraub in Chicago, Hugh Bronstein in Buenos Aires, Gustavo Bonato in Sao Paulo, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Polina Devitt in Moscow; Editing by Simon Webb and Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-grains-storage-analysis-idUSKBN17D0EO'|'2017-04-11T13:07:00.000+03:00' '47649a6789368315739eeb71da70668667dc99a6'|'China discovers Asia''s largest manganese ore reserve - Xinhua'|'Business News - Sat Apr 8, 2017 - 1:29pm BST China discovers Asia''s largest manganese ore reserve - Xinhua SHANGHAI China has discovered a reserve believed to contain 203 million tonnes of manganese ore which local authorities said was the largest in Asia, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday. The reserve in China''s southwest Guizhou was discovered by the province''s geology and mineral exploration bureau, Xinhua said citing the local government. The reserve has a potential value of more than 100 billion yuan (12 billion pounds), it said. Manganese is used in steel production and for making batteries. "The newly discovered ore deposits make up 60 percent of China''s total proven reserves and will greatly reduce the country''s reliance on imports," Chen Yuchuan, a geologist and academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Xinhua. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-manganese-idUKKBN17A0FE'|'2017-04-08T20:29:00.000+03:00' '5c56bdc3eb6104b19c43cc5ebcbb15ab26db190d'|'Osram eyes acquisitions of up to $530 million: CFO in paper - Reuters'|'BERLIN German lighting company Osram ( OSRn.DE ) is on the lookout for acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros ($530 million), although there are no specific plans for a deal as yet, its finance chief told a German newspaper.Osram wants to strengthen the areas of electronics and software within its automotive lighting unit and is looking for acquisition targets or partners, Ingo Bank told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday.Acquisitions for its Opto semiconductors unit would also be attractive if they opened up access to markets, he said.Osram has funds available after the sale of lamps division LEDvance, which brought in gross proceeds of about 500 million euros, and thanks to its strong balance sheet, Bank said."We have a lot of firepower and the ability to act. However, we will not be making the error of buying for the sake of it," the paper Quote: d him as saying.(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-osram-licht-m-a-idINKBN17H0C8'|'2017-04-15T10:53:00.000+03:00' '297ebdfe14ea9a5e4446b7f64d6ee40e68f4901f'|'Italy''s Roberto Cavalli posts 2016 loss on 13.6 percent drop in sales'|' 39pm BST Italy''s Roberto Cavalli posts 2016 loss on 13.6 percent drop in sales A company logo is pictured outside a Roberto Cavalli store in Vienna, Austria, May 4, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger MILAN Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli said on Thursday direct sales had stabilised in the first months of the year thanks to its reorganisation efforts, after overall revenue plunged 13.6 percent annually in 2016. The Florence-based group, popular with celebrities, reported net revenues of 155 million euros (131.71 million pounds) for last year and a loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 26 million euros. Restructuring costs contributed to a net loss of 55 million euros. But CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris, who launched a deep overhaul of the group six months ago, including cutting almost a third of Cavalli''s jobs, said in a statement direct sales were "stabilised, if not slightly growing in the first quarter of 2017." The fashion label, which has been going through an overhaul since Italian private equity firm Clessidra bought it in April 2015, confirmed a return to profitability in 2018. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti, editing by Valentina Za)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-cavalli-results-idUKKBN17F1VT'|'2017-04-13T22:39:00.000+03:00' '96b1ed6e757d281870805f587b57ecd17d2064a7'|'Apple considering multi-billion dollar investment in Toshiba chip unit - NHK'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 4:48am BST Apple considering multi-billion dollar investment in Toshiba chip unit - NHK The Apple logo is pictured on an iPhone in an illustration photo taken in Bordeaux, France, February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau TOKYO Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) is considering investing at least several billion dollars in the chip business put up for sale by Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ), public broadcaster NHK reported, citing an unidentified source. Apple wants to take a stake of more than 20 percent in Toshiba''s chip business, while convincing Toshiba to maintain a partial stake to keep the business under U.S. and Japanese control to allay the Japanese government''s concerns, the report said. Apple is considering a plan in which Taiwan''s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) would also own a stake of around 30 percent in its bid, it added. Toshiba is now in the process of selling its memory chip unit to raise cash to cover writedowns at U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse that have plunged it into crisis. (Reporting by Junko Fujita, Tim Kelly and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-apple-idUKKBN17G08A'|'2017-04-14T11:48:00.000+03:00' '2f86b88510410d7c3ebadb8b236e4437e6108b3d'|'China''s CMG in talks for Advent''s Brazil port stake -report'|'Company News 9:53am EDT China''s CMG in talks for Advent''s Brazil port stake -report SAO PAULO, April 13 China Merchants Group Ltd is in advanced talks to buy Advent International Corp''s 50 percent stake in TCP Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá SA, Brazil''s second-busiest container port, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said on Thursday. According to Estado, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the transaction, talks with the Chinese state-run company known as CMG gained momentum after Advent''s negotiations with Dubai-based DP World Ltd hit a snag. Reuters reported in August that Advent had hired Morgan Stanley & Co and Grupo BTG Pactual SA to sell the TCP stake. Sources said at the time that Advent wanted to fetch a price for the stake that could set a minimum value of 3.5 billion reais ($1.1 billion) for TCP. Currently, DP World is engaged in talks to buy out partner Odebrecht SA in the Embraport container terminal at Brazil''s Santos port, Latin America''s largest, Estado said. Odebrecht is selling assets and refinancing debt following its involvement in Brazil''s biggest corruption scandal. Two people involved in the transaction told Reuters recently that Advent partners flew to Hong Kong and Dubai in February to discuss preliminary terms for the TCP deal with CMG and DP World, respectively. TCP and Advent declined to comment on the Estado report and the February trip. China Merchant, DP World and Odebrecht did not immediately have a comment. ($1 = 3.1203 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes, Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/tcp-brasil-stake-idUSL1N1HL0M3'|'2017-04-13T21:53:00.000+03:00' '6f80c5de3a6814b176877ec8fbb0dc8025e2e6bf'|'IEA says global oil market now close to balance'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 9:24am BST IEA says global oil market now close to balance An oil derrick and wind turbines stand above the plains north of Amarillo, Texas, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson LONDON The global oil market is close to balance after nearly three years of excess supply, as production cuts by the world''s largest exporters offset a longer-term decline in demand in the richest nations, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday. The Paris-based agency said preliminary data showed oil stocks across industrialised nations fell by 17.2 million barrels in March, resulting in an increase of 38.5 million barrels, or 425,000 barrels per day (bpd), in the first three months of the year. "The net result is that global stocks might have marginally increased in the first quarter versus an implied draw of about 0.2 million bpd," the IEA said. Overall crude stocks in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development fell by 8.1 million barrels in February to 3.055 billion barrels, still 330 million barrels above the five-year average, the IEA said. (Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Jason Neely and Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-iea-idUKKBN17F0W6'|'2017-04-13T16:24:00.000+03:00' '41dfed3520e939bff77261f50947154ace5b0a77'|'Takata rescue talks extended, even as bankruptcy risk looms'|'By Taiga Uranaka and Maki Shiraki - TOKYO, April 14 TOKYO, April 14 Potential rescuers of Japan''s Takata Corp have extended talks, already in their 14th month, for a deal to take over the air bag maker at the heart of the auto industry''s biggest safety recall, people briefed on the process said.Car-parts maker Key Safety Systems Inc (KSS) and Bain Capital LLC are the preferred bidder for Takata, whose faulty air bags have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide.Discussions that include the steering committee tapped by the air bag maker to oversee the search for a financial sponsor, automaker clients, suitors and bankers are now likely to run on until at least end-May, three people told Reuters.The parties have already moved beyond an informal, self-imposed end-March deadline to thrash out a deal.Recent talks, described by two participants as “chaotic”, have focused on issues such as an indemnity agreement to cover reimbursement costs for air bag recalls, estimated to be as high as $10 billion.KSS, a U.S.-based maker of air bags, seatbelts and steering wheels, and Bain, a U.S. private equity fund, are still conducting due diligence, one of those close to the matter said.Another said KSS - which was bought last year by China''s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp - and Bain plan to offer around 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for Takata.A spokesman for Takata and the steering committee declined to comment. A spokeswoman for KSS also declined to comment.Automakers including Honda Motor Co, which have been footing the bill for recalls dating back to 2008, want Takata restructured through a transparent court-ordered process such as bankruptcy, which would wipe out the firm''s shareholder value, four automaker sources have told Reuters."There''s no other option," said one automaker executive. "A privately arranged restructuring would require them to repay billions. They can''t afford that."But Takata, the world''s second-biggest air bag maker, is holding out for a “private restructuring” that would preserve some of the founding Takada family’s 60 percent stake.BATTERED REPUTATIONThe clock is ticking for Takata, whose stock has cratered 90 percent since the recall crisis began escalating in early 2014.U.S. federal Judge George Steeh in February cited the potential for Takata to collapse if it couldn’t find a buyer.Takata pleaded guilty in Steeh’s District Court to a felony charge as part of a $1 billion settlement with automakers and victims of its inflators, which can explode with excessive force, blasting shrapnel into passenger areas.The company, which began as a textiles firm and became an early maker of seatbelts, is also trying to settle legal liabilities in the United States, where it faces a class-action lawsuit, and other countries where its air bag inflators have exploded.Takata has denied speculation it would have to seek some form of bankruptcy protection from creditors in the United States or Japan.The company has not been allowed to simply disappear as the auto industry needs it to keep producing the millions of inflators needed to replace recalled air bags - though some automakers have switched to rival suppliers.Also, the government in Tokyo is keen to preserve a major Japanese maker of air bags in a global industry dominated by just three companies.($1 = 108.8300 yen) (Additional reporting by, Taro Fuse, Naomi Tajitsu and Junko Fujita; Editing by William Mallard and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/takata-restructuring-idINL8N1HA098'|'2017-04-14T13:56:00.000+03:00' '72747e3d36477cdb07e9647f1bb0030482f65fce'|'Unilever picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman to sell spreads business- sources'|'Deals 7:53am EDT Unilever picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman to sell spreads business: sources FILE PHOTO: The company logo for Unilever is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Pamela Barbaglia and Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever ( ULVR.L ) has decided to work with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the sale of its margarine and spreads business, which was announced last week, sources told Reuters on Thursday. The sale, which could fetch as much as 6 billion pounds ($7.52 billion), is expected to kick off later this year, the sources said, following a far-reaching review of Unilever''s business prompted by February''s unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ). Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are mainly targeting private equity bidders which could team up in large consortia to finance the bid, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the process is private. Unilever and Morgan Stanley declined to comment while Goldman Sachs was not immediately available to comment. Goldman and Morgan Stanley have both worked with Unilever on deals in the past. Morgan Stanley worked on Unilever''s defense against Kraft. Unilever said last week that it planned to sell the spreads business by year-end, but would also prepare it for a spin-off if a sale could not be completed. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-m-a-spreads-idUSKBN17F1G3'|'2017-04-13T19:52:00.000+03:00' '65864312593272b1877b47b0cc0ba2e5af12fc0c'|'Wal-Mart in advance talks to acquire men''s fashion retailer Bonobos- Recode'|'April 14 Wal-Mart Stores Inc is in advance discussions to buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc, Recode reported on Friday, citing sources.Both the sides have agreed on a price and the deal is in its final stages, Recode said. The expected deal value could not be learned. ( bit.ly/2nNA6nO )The deal, if announced, would come two months after the world''s largest retailer acquired online outdoor clothing and gear retailer Moosejaw for $51 million, to boost its competitive standing in U.S. e-commerce.Wal-Mart did not respond to the requests for comment. Bonobos could not be immediately reached. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bonobos-ma-walmart-idUSL3N1HM379'|'2017-04-15T01:37:00.000+03:00' 'fc043196cbb185f4c7505e314b643161ea1d5df3'|'UPDATE 1-CME Group shuts loss-making London derivatives and clearing units'|'(Adds background, detail, executive and consultant Quote: s)By Huw JonesLONDON, April 12 CME Group, one of the world''s biggest exchanges, is closing two operations in London by year end after they ran up losses of more than $100 million, saying on Wednesday customers preferred using its U.S. operations.The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group, whose products include futures contracts on commodities such as wheat and cocoa, said that after closing its UK-based derivatives exchange and clearing house, it would continue to have a significant operation to serve European customers."While Europe continues to be a critically important and expanding market for CME Group ... our customers have shown that they prefer to access our global products, deep liquidity and greater capital efficiencies through our U.S. infrastructure," William Knottenbelt, CME Group senior managing director, international, said in a statement.Analysts said the CME had failed to win market share in Europe, where arch U.S. rival ICE, as well as Deutsche Boerse and the London Stock Exchange''s LCH, dominate."CME Europe had a challenging time establishing itself and was not making the headway some had hoped," said Patrick Young, an exchange industry consultant. "Thus in the short term CME Group chairman Terry Duffy consolidates his position as CEO by being seen as a cost cutter."CME employs 400 people in London and Belfast. A spokeswoman for the company said only a "very small single-digit percentage" of those would be affected.CUMULATIVE LOSSESSince CME Europe launched, Duffy has explained its slow start by saying it takes time to get such start-ups off the ground. He took over as CEO after Phupinder Gill retired last year.CME''s London clearing house was launched in 2011 and the derivatives trading platform followed in 2014. Cumulative losses from the two operations totaled $112 million by the end of last year, mostly from the clearing unit.Customers from Europe traded an average of 2.6 million contracts a day last year, the bulk on CME''s U.S.-based platforms.CME''s EU wheat futures, launched last year in a challenge to Euronext’s wheat market, would not be affected by the closure of CME Europe as they are traded via the group''s Chicago Board of Trade exchange in the United States, a CME spokeswoman said.CME had already decided earlier this year to suspend trading in its European cocoa futures after the derivatives failed to develop liquidity since their launch in 2015.The pullout comes ahead new European Union securities rules due next January and at a time when the Trump administration in the United States wants to cut regulation.Britain''s scheduled departure from the European Union in 2019 may also bring a loss of single market access for Britain, and unlike rival exchanges in Europe, CME does not have a base elsewhere in the bloc to build on and would have to set up new operations from scratch. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cme-group-europe-operations-idUSL8N1HK4BX'|'2017-04-12T18:39:00.000+03:00' 'd5782bc64734f9cf8b825ba34548033922edf942'|'Trump, trade, interest and aid make for a challenging IMF summit - Business'|'G eopolitical tensions, uncertainty about the future of the EU and an increasingly unpredictable US president form the fraught backdrop to this year’s spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank this week.The prospect of rising protectionism also looms large for the IMF, a multilateral organisation set up during the second world war to foster cooperation between economies. Its co-host, the World Bank , faces similarly daunting challenges to its mission to cut poverty and inequality.As the two bodies prepare to bring together thousands of delegates in Washington, including finance ministers, central bankers and business leaders, we look at five key themes they will discuss.Protectionism and trade Donald Trump’s arrival in the White House has sparked worries about a new wave of protectionism among international bodies such as the IMF.Fearing Trump and other populist politicians around the world could further dent already moribund international trade, the fund will undoubtedly use this week’s meeting to issue fresh warnings around what it sees as the perils of protectionism. The IMF’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, has said putting up barriers to trade would be a “self-inflicted wound” to an improving global economy. The fund and other bodies are expected to reinforce that message this week, by arguing that rolling back the clock on globalisation would cost jobs and hit living standards.But talking heads in Washington will have to concede that part of Trump’s electoral success was born out of discontent among many voters who felt harmed by globalisation. There was some admission of that, in the run-up to the meeting, in a joint defence of trade from the IMF, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation. The three multilateral bodies said the opening up of markets had been good for growth but admitted that action was needed to help “left-behind” individuals and communities. Ensuring gains from globalisation are better shared out will probably be a key feature of talks, though it remains to be seen how good intentions will translate into action.Raising productivity It is not just in the UK that productivity growth has been poor since the financial crisis. This key gauge of economic efficiency, often measured by output per hour worked, has been stubbornly low in most advanced countries over the past decade. That has repercussions for growth and living standards.On the IMF’s reckoning, GDP in advanced economies would be about 5% higher today if the pre-crisis trend had continued for growth in “total-factor productivity” – a broad measure of what goes into production that includes things such as research spending. As Lagarde put it in a recent speech: “That would be the equivalent of adding another Japan – and more – to the global economy.”The IMF head wants governments to take urgent action to turn things around by investing in education, cutting red tape and incentivising research and development. At the same time, delegates at the IMF’s meetings will need to be mindful that solutions such as automation risk widening inequality if those who lose their jobs to robots are not given other opportunities.Political uncertainty Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fast-rising French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters By contrast to last year’s spring meetings for the World Bank and IMF, two electoral uncertainties are out the way: the UK’s referendum on EU membership and the race for the White House in the US. But the political outlook is no more certain than a year ago. The vote for Brexit means the UK and EU face a tortuous two years of negotiations, and Trump has proved to be anything but predictable .Added to that is the French presidential election, which is looking increasingly hard to call after an apparent surge in support for the leftwing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon . Voting in the first round takes place on the closing day of the IMF meeting, with wild card Mélenchon up against independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centre-right candidate François Fillon.German elections follow in September when Angela Merkel is seeking a fourth term as chancellor . She faces tough competition from Martin Schulz of the Social Democratic party . Merkel’s Christian Democrats have also seen their support eroded by the far-right Alternative for Germany.After last year’s electoral upsets, the central bankers and finance ministers gathering in Washington will be sharing their fears that populism could get another boost in 2017 with consequences for the global economy.Migration The Washington meetings are being held against the backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions, just one factor driving an increase in international migration. Growing numbers of people are moving country in search of better lives, compelled by economic, political and security concerns.The IMF and World Bank have previously sought to highlight the potential upsides to those countries receiving large numbers of immigrants and refugees . Young workers arriving in countries with low unemployment rates such as Germany can fill skills gaps and help ease long-term pressures on the state from an ageing population, for example.But as anti-immigrant sentiment fuels support for populist movements in a number of countries, delegates in Washington will also be keenly aware of the risks if immigrants are not properly integrated into labour markets and if migration continues to rise rapidly.The World Bank’s president believes more needs to be done in developing countries so their populations do not feel under such pressure to migrate.Before the spring meetings, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim called for an urgent development push as he highlighted how the internet and smartphones had raised awareness in poor countries of how richer people lived . Failure to meet the resulting aspirations of people in developing countries risked creating the conditions for war, terrorism and increased migration, he warned.The Bank is particularly worried about recent low growth in Africa, and Kim wants government aid money to be used to turn the billions provided by western countries into trillions in investment from the private sector.Rising US interest rates Facebook Twitter Pinterest IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, left, with Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel. Photograph: Clemens Bilan/EPA Central bank policy, in particular in the US, and the relative strength of the dollar will be hot topics at the meetings.The US Federal Reserve has started raising borrowing costs after a long stretch of record low interest rates following the financial crisis. The rate rises can be seen as a vote of confidence in the world’s biggest economy. But the tightening is not without repercussions for the rest of the world.Poor countries and emerging markets have taken out big loans in recent years from western countries where interest rates have been low. Now they are being squeezed as borrowing costs rise and as their dollar-denominated debts are inflated by a strengthening in the US currency.Still, there may be some respite from the currency effect if Trump ups his recent rhetoric on the US dollar getting too strong . The US president, who worries a strong dollar makes his country less competitive, has also renewed his claim that other countries are devaluing their currencies, but withdrawn previous accusations that China was a currency manipulator . The US Treasury has indicated it is looking to the IMF to keep a close eye on global exchange rate policies. It could push for reassurances from the Fund on this surveillance role during the meetings.Even after the US rate rises, monetary policy in advanced economies remains historically loose. As such, the talking heads in Washington will doubtless make the usual call for politicians not to rely on central banks alone to get economic growth going again .Topics International Monetary Fund (IMF) The Observer World Bank Global economy Economics Interest rates features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/15/imf-summit-world-bank-trump-trade-interest-aid'|'2017-04-16T00:00:00.000+03:00' 'c8a07e9e9d77221fe28e3f90bc2b4c8562442644'|'Exclusive: Safran could lower and restructure Zodiac offer - source'|' 5:51pm EDT Exclusive: Safran could lower and restructure Zodiac offer - source The logo of Safran is seen outside the company''s heanquarters in Paris, France, February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau PARIS France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ) is exploring contingency plans to lower its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) and possibly simplify its structure amid continued turmoil at the seats maker and pressure from its own shareholders, a financial source said. A new structure could involve a mixture of cash and shares in a more traditional offer for Zodiac, rather than the current complex two-tier structure designed to woo family shareholders. But an increasingly wary Safran is unwilling to take any decisions on a range of options before Zodiac issues its newly delayed first-half results, the source said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Safran, which makes aircraft engines and other aerospace equipment, declined to comment. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safran-zodiac-aero-exclusive-idUSKBN17G1K7'|'2017-04-15T05:51:00.000+03:00' '477f6087fdb60156fde2df449e5520720d9a137d'|'Secret aid worker: what I wish I could say to the people back home - Global Development Professionals Network'|'F ew things elicit greater dread in an aid worker than conversations that begin with: “Wow, you’re such an amazing person”. Like an outed spy or a burglar caught in the act, hearing this phrase triggers a sense of panic that sends us scanning for exits. Please don''t equate my character with my jobIt may not have always been this way – when we started out, these types of compliments may have indeed brought a sense of pride or validation in our chosen profession. But as the years go by and the reality sets in, this type of praise is more likely to leave us feeling uncomfortable. Rather than try to explain why we feel this way, the cornered aid worker will probably awkwardly laugh and try to change the subject. One option is to claim we have a “normal” job . Another is to assign ourselves such boring titles that no one in their right mind would ask for details. Project manager and business management consultant are two popular options, although one friend recently found that “I’m unemployed and live with my parents” was also particularly effective. “I virtually never get any follow-up questions,” she says.Secret aid worker: when your crisis isn''t cool enough to attract the right people Read more But what if we could honestly explain our discomfort with the praise, bluntly and without worrying about hurting people’s feelings? What would we say to our friends, relatives and neighbours who assume that aid workers are the embodiment of altruism instead of flawed individuals just like professionals in every other industry? Below are some of the things I wish I could say to people back home. Being an aid worker doesn’t mean you’re a good person As another secret aid worker put it, working in the humanitarian sector does not make you a saint . To the contrary, many of the people I work with are downright assholes. Between the UN salaries, ego-boosting praise, and the Peter Pan lifestyle, there are plenty of reasons people join (or stay in) the sector that have nothing to do with saving lives. Infidelity is so rife that it has earned its own acronym: MBA, married-but-available. So while I try to be a good person, please don’t equate my character with my job – unfortunately, no such correlation exists. Most of my job is really mundane Although we may work in “exotic” places, most of our time as international aid workers is spent filling in spreadsheets or attending coordination meetings (or my personal favourite, filling in spreadsheets while attending a coordination meeting). You probably have images of us handing out food to grateful families, but in reality, this hands-on contact is typically managed by national staff while the internationals are sitting behind desks. When we are engaging directly with communities, there’s a good chance we’re getting yelled at by self-appointed officials who aren’t the slightest bit impressed by our choice of career. Mums, we don’t have the patience to comfort you about our traumatic experiencesWe often don’t like talking about the heavy stuff Mums, listen up: it’s not that we don’t love you or trust you, we just 1) don’t know how to explain it to you, and 2) don’t have the patience to comfort you about our traumatic experiences. We get that retired life can be boring and you may crave a bit of drama or emotional angst, but we spend a lot of energy keeping our emotions tightly compartmentalised in order to do our jobs – and sometimes just to get through the day. No, I don’t want to help your kid find a volunteer position overseasSecret aid worker: ''Has anyone worked out if celebrities are worth the effort?'' Read more If your daughter/niece/friend wants to “build homes for the needy”, they should go back to school and study structural engineering or sustainable development. Please also excuse me for being underwhelmed by your recent mission trip to Honduras. There are plenty of great articles out there that talk about the perils of voluntourism, but long story short, have your kid call me when they get a skill. In the meantime, tell them to work in a restaurant this summer like the rest of us did to learn about hard, undervalued work. If this all sounds a bit harsh, this is why we don’t say these things to your face. But this is our reality. After having worked in active conflict zones, many of us may find it easier to relate to that nutty veteran in the old-man bar than the nice woman in your knitting club. Like the war veteran, we also often feel conflicted about what we do and ask ourselves questions like: “Why are we here?” We feel uncomfortable in the realisation that our work is sometimes manipulated by political agendas. We are not perfect. If you want to praise us, praise us for who we are as people, not for what we do for a living.Do you have a secret aid worker story you’d like to tell? You can contact us confidentially at globaldevpros@theguardian.com – please put “Secret aid worker” in the subject line. If you’d like to encrypt your email to us, here are instructions on how to set up a PGP mail client and our public PGP key . Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/11/secret-aid-worker-humanitarians-flawed-individuals'|'2017-04-11T03:00:00.000+03:00' 'bf89ee2d0b18335a8992776b6a95ae5f1b0598bd'|'''The journey is nothing but extraordinary'' – Confessions of a Startup - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Photograph: Anna Gordon for the Guardian Subscribe via iTunes Download MP3 Podcast feed URL Supported by About this content Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email View more sharing options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on WhatsApp Share on Messenger Close Presented by Coco Khan and produced by Rowan Slaney Tuesday 11 April 2017 10.00 BST Subscribe and review on iTunes , Soundcloud & Mixcloud and join the discussion on Facebook and Twitter . On 6 March, 50 entrepreneurs attended a seminar hosted by the Guardian Small Business Network to discuss pushing through the challenges that come with starting a business. Our keynote speaker for the evening was Efe Çakarel, founder of MUBI, who said it took him two years to launch the platform and a further four years to find a workable business model. During that time, he nearly ran out of money, had to let good people go, and cut his own salary down to zero. “You do whatever you need to do to stay in business,” he said. The panel discussion included Isabella Lane, co-founder of Smarter Applications; Rich Pleeth, who started the app SUP; and Emily Forbes, owner of Seenit. Lane said recent political events have taught her not to leave the fate of her business in someone else’s hands. “It’s exciting [when you get an opportunity],” she explained. “But we’re trying to scale back our egos and be careful.” Pleeth had to close his company SUP after 18 months, but he said he learned so much from failure. “It’s such a negative word,” he added. “But we need to be realistic about starting a business ... [a large number fail] in their first year.”Forbes advised the entrepreneurs present to trust their guts and have faith. “Every time I’ve freaked out, my gut has always been right,” she said.Topics Guardian Small Business Network Adventures in Business Entrepreneurs'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/audio/2017/apr/11/journey-extraordinary-confessions-startup-sup-smarter-applications-seenit-mubi'|'2017-04-11T03:00:00.000+03:00' '00ee818a0e77ddaffaa2dd26bf118c030d4fe5f6'|'Probate fees plan is daft as well as devious - Letters - Money'|'You report on a plan of dubious legality to impose enormous probate fees to fund the justice system, using a statutory instrument to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of this new taxation ( Truss’s plan to increase probate fees may not be legally enforceable , 6 April).This plan is daft as well as devious. Probate fees are not, as you put it, “payable when claiming inheritances”. They are paid by executors, and in the case of intestacy, administrators, to obtain authority to administer the estate of a deceased person. Executors may or may not be beneficiaries. Although the draft legislation is adamant that this would be an upfront fee, it is only once probate has been granted that it is possible to assess the value of an estate taking into account all assets and liabilities. This charge therefore could only be imposed retrospectively. That would reveal it for what it is: an increase in inheritance tax, but one not levied in a smoothly progressive manner.I would support raising the rate of inheritance tax on very large estates, but I thought this was contrary to Tory policy.Professor Ruth Levitas Bristol • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters Topics Inheritance tax Tax Tax and spending Liz Truss Property letters '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/11/probate-fees-plan-is-daft-as-well-as-devious'|'2017-04-12T02:52:00.000+03:00' '06cde34967ce8305e9c715ae59c4a3e3ea25fe09'|'Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules'|' 38am EDT Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules DAY 54 / MARCH 14: President Donald Trump paid $38 million in taxes on more than $150 million in income in 2005, the White House said, responding to an MSNBC report that the network had obtained two pages of the returns. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque WASHINGTON President Donald Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was reducing regulations and revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank, which might be eliminated and replaced with "something else." "We''re going to reduce taxes, we''re going to eliminate wasteful regulations," Trump said at a meeting attended by corporate leaders and members of his cabinet. Trump previously ordered reviews of the major banking rules that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-business-idUSKBN17D1ZD'|'2017-04-11T23:38:00.000+03:00' 'c0dc0a5b45951bd4ae7765af1d19bc43f4dad5d1'|'Mercedes-Benz undecided if it will sell future U.S. diesels'|'Business News 58pm EDT Mercedes-Benz undecided if it will sell future U.S. diesels Dietmar Exler, President and CEO of Mercedes Benz USA, speaks at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid By David Shepardson - NEW YORK NEW YORK Daimler AG''s ( DAIGn.DE ) Mercedes-Benz USA chief said the German automaker has not decided whether to resume selling diesel vehicles in the United States. The German automaker has not received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to sell 2017 model diesel vehicles. The EPA said in September 2015 that it would review all U.S. diesel vehicles following an admission from Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) that it had installed software in cars allowing them to emit up to 40 times legally permissible level of pollution. In April 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice asked Daimler to investigate the emissions certification process for its Mercedes vehicles. Dietmar Exler, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, told reporters at the New York auto show said the company''s engineers are in talks with EPA over the diesel vehicles. He said he was not aware of the status of those talks. Before the EPA declined to approve 2017 model diesel sales, Mercedes-Benz diesels accounted for just 2-3 percent of U.S. sales, Exler said. "No decision made one way or the other," on the future of diesel sales, he added. Exler said the automaker plans a big boost in electric vehicles, adding 10 new EVs by 2025 worldwide, including 7 or 8 coming to the United States. "That''s going to be the big focus going forward," he said. He declined to comment on the status of the EPA review, saying if a "regulatory investigation is ongoing and you are not involved, it does not make sense to comment." In March, German prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into whether Daimler employees may have committed fraud in a probe tied to diesel vehicle emissions. Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Tata Motors ( TAMO.NS ), said on Wednesday it was adding a seventh diesel model for sale in the United States. The company estimates about 10-15 percent of its U.S. sales will be diesels this year. Fiat Chrysler ( FCHA.MI ) is also still trying to win U.S. approval to sell 2017 diesel models as the U.S. government decides whether to take legal action. The EPA accused the Italian-American automaker of illegally using undeclared software to allow excess diesel emissions from 104,000 U.S. trucks and SUVs. The EPA has refused to grant Fiat Chrysler approval to sell 2017 diesel models. VW Group of America chief Hinrich Woebcken reiterated on Wednesday the company has no plans to resume sales on new U.S. diesels. In March, VW won approval from the EPA to sell up to 67,000 diesel vehicles from the 2015 model year, including about 12,000 in dealer inventory with approved emissions fixes. Woebcken said dealers have not yet resumed sales. (Reporting by David Shepardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-new-york-daimler-idUSKBN17E2R0'|'2017-04-13T04:58:00.000+03:00' '2e5dce3e57fbdeea85a9621dc8821c4ed19a1c1d'|'Air rage : Police drag a man from a United Airlines plane'|'UNITED AIRLINES urges travellers to “Fly the Friendly Skies”. The company makes no promises about its customer service before take-off. When, on April 9th, a traveller in Chicago refused to give up his seat on an overcrowded flight to Louisville, Kentucky, police yanked him into the aisle and dragged him by his hands along the floor, bleeding after he cut his head on an armrest. Horrified fellow passengers took videos on their phones and posted them to social media.The company’s initial response was possibly the worst bit of crisis-PR in history, noted one media commentator. As videos of the bloodied man quickly went viral, Oscar Munoz, the carrier’s boss, woodenly apologised for having to “re-accommodate” customers. In an internal letter to staff, Mr Munoz said crew had “no choice” in their action and blamed the flyer for not co-operating. Overbooking, which is common at many carriers, was not the problem. Rather, it was late-arriving, off-duty airline employees who needed seats at the last moment. The usual way of persuading paying passengers not to fly—offering lots of cash—did not work. Such bargains are best struck before boarding the plane. United, however, let passengers take their seats as it offered up to $1,000 to catch a later flight. When not enough travellers were tempted, rather than raising the price further, the crew selected four travellers for disembarkation. The man in question, a doctor aged 69 called David Dao, said he had patients to see the next day and refused to go.As the scene looped on the world’s news channels and Twitter feeds (one user, @Reflog_18, suggested the cabin layout for United below), Mr Munoz was derided for his apparent antipathy towards passengers. Before the man’s identity was known, his airline became the top-trending topic on Weibo, a Chinese microblog, as rumours swirled (erroneously) that the passenger had been singled out because he was Chinese. Amid calls for a boycott, United’s share price fell by nearly 4% on April 11th before recovering. That day Mr Munoz issued a fresh apology that was different in tone, saying of the forcibly removed customer that “no one should ever be mistreated this way”. He promised a review of company practices, including its partnerships with law enforcement.Investors are watching to see how quickly the social-media frenzy will subside. Many praise the way that Mr Munoz has run the company since his appointment in 2015. He has focused on costs and delivered pre-tax profit of $3.8bn in 2016, down by 9.5% on the previous year though ahead of analysts’ expectations. But Mr Munoz had promised to tackle the airline’s reputation for bad customer service. Here, he has hardly been a success. United has fallen to 68th place in the influential SKYTRAX airline ranking, one place ahead of Copa Airlines, Panama’s flag carrier.And scandal seems to follow the firm. In March it was accused of sexism for barring three girls wearing leggings from a flight: a ten-year-old had to put on a dress and the other two teenagers were left at the gate. They had not complied with dress codes for friends and family of employees. Such incidents highlight the gap between the stories firms tell about themselves and what consumers see. Not long before United put Mr Munoz’s initial statement about the bloodied passenger on Facebook, it had posted a picture of a company dog nuzzling a boy, part of a programme to make travel less stressful. Travellers will be telling a story about United for some time. It won’t be the one about the puppies. "Air rage"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21720580-ugly-incident-provokes-social-media-storm-passenger-dragged-united-airlines?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-15T08:00:00.000+03:00' '803a3924f1e9c3bc3641ca71a870ad03d638c215'|'Exclusive: Safran could lower, restructure Zodiac offer - source'|'Deals 11:02pm BST Exclusive: Safran could lower, restructure Zodiac offer - source The logo of Safran is seen outside the company''s heanquarters in Paris, France, February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau By Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ) is exploring plans to lower its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) and may simplify its structure amid continued turmoil at the seats maker and pressure from its own shareholders, a financial source said. A new structure could involve a mixture of cash and shares in a more traditional offer for Zodiac, rather than a complex two-tier structure designed to woo family shareholders. But an increasingly wary Safran is unwilling to take any decisions on a range of options before Zodiac issues its newly delayed first-half results, the source said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Safran, which makes aircraft engines and other aerospace equipment, declined to comment. Zodiac said earlier it was postponing publication of its first-half financial results by a week to April 28 due to what it described as excess work amid Safran merger talks. The delay coincides with analyst concerns that Zodiac''s rapid growth through numerous acquisitions has complicated its reporting processes, which in turn make it harder to resolve a two-year industrial crisis in its seats and cabins plants. Safran faces criticism over the value and structure of its offer from British hedge fund TCI, notably since Zodiac last month issued the latest in a spate of profit warnings, weeks after agreeing to the tie-up. Safran is unwilling to run the risk that the results delay could coincide with another warning and has given itself a few weeks to decide how to alter its 29.47 euro per share bid, the source said. Despite Zodiac''s industrial woes, Safran has so far defended efforts to buy the company and believes it can bring Zodiac''s factories under control due to its own track record. But CEO Philippe Petitcolin is seen as unlikely to put at risk a recent transformation of Safran around core aerospace activities by proceeding with the offer at all costs. Two sources said they could no longer rule out Safran walking away from Zodiac for the second time in seven years. The deal''s unusual structure was crafted to allow a group of core Zodiac shareholding families to receive Safran shares without losing a longstanding tax status. It involves a cash bid aimed at ordinary investors holding 68 percent of Zodiac followed by a merger, which would draw in the Zodiac families without the hefty tax bill that would automatically be triggered by a classic cash or share offer. France''s Socialist government has supported the scheme to create a new aerospace champion by agreeing to add its own Safran shares to a shareholder pact between the families, keeping their combined shareholding above a tax-neutral threshold. If Safran restructures the offer, experts say the families could notionally face hundreds of millions of euros in wealth tax and other charges unless another way can be found to smooth the deal, though the outcome would depend on individual factors. TCI has argued Safran is wasting its efforts to tailor the deal to family shareholders since Zodiac shares would fall sharply if Safran withdrew its offer. It has called for a shareholder vote before the first part of the deal goes ahead. Zodiac shares closed on Thursday at 23.56 euros. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-safran-zodiac-aero-exclusive-idUKKBN17G1K7'|'2017-04-15T06:02:00.000+03:00' 'eea2497fb0aa84a6cf03cf7babec5d331059d475'|'Asian economies escape ''manipulator'' tag, but expect more pressure on trade'|'Foreign Exchange Analysis - Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 7:12am BST Asian economies escape ''manipulator'' tag, but expect more pressure on trade South Korean won, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen notes are seen on U.S. 100 dollar notes in this picture illustration December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji//Illustration/File photo BEIJING Asian countries escaped the currency manipulator label in the latest U.S. Treasury report, but remain wary of possible trade friction as President Donald Trump maintains his administration will seek to address trade imbalances. Trump has said some U.S. trading partners, particularly China, manipulated their currency, but has since backed off that claim and acknowledged that China had not weakened the yuan to make its exports cheaper. China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan remained on a list for special monitoring of currency practices, China by virtue of a massive trade surplus with the United States. "Fixing trade imbalances will be an issue for the U.S. in its dialogues with China and Japan, while the manipulator threat has been put on the backburner," a Japanese government official told Reuters. The semi-annual U.S. Treasury currency report released on Friday did not name any major trading partner as a currency manipulator, although it seemed to leave open the option for action in the future. Trump has softened his rhetoric against China''s trade practices as Beijing has intervened in foreign exchange markets to prop up the value of its yuan, and as he looks to China for help dealing with rising tension on the Korean peninsula. "I think the United States decided to forego (labelling China a currency manipulator) this time because it wants China''s cooperation on North Korea," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo. "Depending on how the North Korean situation develops, we don''t know what will happen in half a year (when the next currency report is due to be published)." NEW LANGUAGE New language in the Treasury report citing a history of currency intervention in China, South Korea and Taiwan is in line with what experts say could be eventual changes to the criteria aimed at deterring future manipulation. With Washington pushing a trade agenda aimed at reducing deficits, experts say the most logical option is to lengthen the time period for reviewing currency market interventions from 12 months to several years. "One thing we noticed was the report touched on the previous history of (currency manipulation). They''re telling us not to do so in the future and we have no intention of doing so," a senior South Korean finance official said. "SCRUTINIZING" CHINA The report showed the high priority the administration puts on addressing trade imbalances and said it would be "scrutinizing China''s trade and currency practices very closely". The report came after China data showed its surplus with the United States was nearly unchanged in the first quarter compared to a year earlier at $49.6 billion, and cited China''s market protection as an impediment to a balanced trade relationship. While Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week agreed to 100-day trade talks, U.S. business leaders in China have expressed concern about a lack of progress in gaining further access to the Chinese market despite years of negotiations. JAPAN The Treasury report''s language on Japan was similar to past reports, and focussed on the need for structural reforms to improve domestic demand, analysts said. "The basic message is that Japan needs to expand its domestic demand and one can read this as them telling Japan to import more American goods," said Minami of the Norinchukin Research Institute. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will visit Japan next week for a bilateral economic dialogue, with U.S. officials signalling they would press Japan to remove non-tarrif trade barriers and buy more U.S. products. "The report won''t have an impact on the upcoming Japan-U.S. economic dialogue next week. But the U.S. administration’s focus on the trade deficit is something to keep an eye on," said Nobuyasu Atago, chief economist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Minami Funakoshi and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, and Christine Kim in Seoul; Writing by Elias Glenn; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-currency-asiapac-idUKKBN17H04K'|'2017-04-15T14:12:00.000+03:00' '82d14c9edba77d23cc4e91422a1ac982277190e3'|'Asian economies escape ''manipulator'' tag, but expect more pressure on trade'|'Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 7:23am BST Asian economies escape ''manipulator'' tag, but expect more pressure on trade South Korean won, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen notes are seen on U.S. 100 dollar notes in this file photo illustration shot December 15, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji//Illustration/File Photo BEIJING Asian countries escaped the currency manipulator label in the latest U.S. Treasury report, but remain wary of possible trade friction as President Donald Trump maintains his administration will seek to address trade imbalances. Trump has said some U.S. trading partners, particularly China, manipulated their currency, but has since backed off that claim and acknowledged that China had not weakened the yuan to make its exports cheaper. China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan remained on a list for special monitoring of currency practices, China by virtue of a massive trade surplus with the United States. "Fixing trade imbalances will be an issue for the U.S. in its dialogues with China and Japan, while the manipulator threat has been put on the backburner," a Japanese government official told Reuters. The semi-annual U.S. Treasury currency report released on Friday did not name any major trading partner as a currency manipulator, although it seemed to leave open the option for action in the future. Trump has softened his rhetoric against China''s trade practices as Beijing has intervened in foreign exchange markets to prop up the value of its yuan, and as he looks to China for help dealing with rising tension on the Korean peninsula. "I think the United States decided to forego (labeling China a currency manipulator) this time because it wants China''s cooperation on North Korea," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo. "Depending on how the North Korean situation develops, we don''t know what will happen in half a year (when the next currency report is due to be published)." NEW LANGUAGE New language in the Treasury report citing a history of currency intervention in China, South Korea and Taiwan is in line with what experts say could be eventual changes to the criteria aimed at deterring future manipulation. With Washington pushing a trade agenda aimed at reducing deficits, experts say the most logical option is to lengthen the time period for reviewing currency market interventions from 12 months to several years. "One thing we noticed was the report touched on the previous history of (currency manipulation). They''re telling us not to do so in the future and we have no intention of doing so," a senior South Korean finance official said. "SCRUTINIZING" CHINA The report showed the high priority the administration puts on addressing trade imbalances and said it would be "scrutinizing China''s trade and currency practices very closely". The report came after China data showed its surplus with the United States was nearly unchanged in the first quarter compared to a year earlier at $49.6 billion, and cited China''s market protection as an impediment to a balanced trade relationship. While Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week agreed to 100-day trade talks, U.S. business leaders in China have expressed concern about a lack of progress in gaining further access to the Chinese market despite years of negotiations. JAPAN The Treasury report''s language on Japan was similar to past reports, and focused on the need for structural reforms to improve domestic demand, analysts said. "The basic message is that Japan needs to expand its domestic demand and one can read this as them telling Japan to import more American goods," said Minami of the Norinchukin Research Institute. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will visit Japan next week for a bilateral economic dialogue, with U.S. officials signaling they would press Japan to remove non-tarrif trade barriers and buy more U.S. products. "The report won''t have an impact on the upcoming Japan-U.S. economic dialogue next week. But the U.S. administration’s focus on the trade deficit is something to keep an eye on," said Nobuyasu Atago, chief economist at Okasan Securities in Tokyo. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Minami Funakoshi and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo, and Christine Kim in Seoul; Writing by Elias Glenn; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-currency-asiapac-idUKKBN17H04O'|'2017-04-15T14:12:00.000+03:00' 'a7033faca5c67d150dab86a24751f9244224dd9e'|'Citi tops global transaction banking ranks - Coalition'|' Citi tops global transaction banking ranks - Coalition FILE PHOTO: A Citi sign is seen at the Citigroup stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Sujata Rao - LONDON LONDON Citi was the top bank last year in transaction banking, a segment comprising trade finance and cash management services, rankings compiled by industry analytics firm Coalition showed on Tuesday. This is the first time Coalition has ranked banks on transaction banking, basing the scores on services provided to clients with annual turnover of over $1.5 billion (1.21 billion pounds). Cash management encompasses services such as direct debits, wire transfers and currency clearing, while trade finance can include items such as letters of credit and trade loans. Coalition regularly releases investment banking league tables and its 2016 rankings, released last month, showed U.S. banks grabbing the top five places. Eric Li, research and analytics director at Coalition, told Reuters that while the investment banking industry typically grabbed more attention, transaction banking had proved to be a more steady source of income for global banks. Also, trade finance, a key element in transaction banking, is picking up after a decline caused by the slowdown in global commerce in recent years, he noted. "This business is a lot more resilient compared to investment banking, you don''t see huge swings by 20-30 percent in terms of top line revenue. It''s a very steady business," Li said. "As a result ... we are increasingly seeing a gradual increase in coverage of this from the media as well as the bank management perspective." Coalition''s transaction banking list is less U.S. heavy than its investment banking league table - after Citi, U.S. banks JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo were in second, fourth and ninth place respectively. HSBC was the top placed European bank, tying for second place with JPMorgan, while other top 10 European names were Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, Societe Generale and Barclays, Coalition said. "In trade finance, most major players are European banks. This is a big divergence from the investment banking industry where you see big dominance by U.S. banks," Lee added. The data showed Citi increasing its market share in trade finance as well as cash management, and dominant in the Americas. HSBC, on the other hand, was rapidly growing its transaction banking business in EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Within transaction banking, the top trade finance banks were Citi, HSBC and BNP Paribas, while Citi, HSBC, JPMorgan and BAML scored highest in cash management. Coalition did not give details on how much banks had earned from the transaction business. The table was based upon the largest transaction banks within 15 leading banks, which included Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Société Générale, Standard Chartered and Wells Fargo. (Reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-banking-transaction-leaguetable-idUKKBN17C2KM'|'2017-04-11T07:06:00.000+03:00' 'e56ecc18aeb4b843737b379441d1a11bc45f4060'|'Trump administration issues final rule on stricter Obamacare enrollment'|'Top 28pm EDT Trump administration issues final rule on stricter Obamacare enrollment An emergency sign points to the entrance to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, California, U.S. March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Yasmeen Abutaleb - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Trump administration on Thursday issued a final rule that will shorten the Obamacare enrollment period and give insurers more of what they say they need in the individual insurance market, likely making it harder for some consumers to purchase insurance, healthcare experts said. It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses, the experts said, because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage. The rule, which takes effect later this year, comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have renewed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, after an effort to pass a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives failed last month. Issued by a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and first proposed in February, the rule aims to aid insurers, who have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the individual insurance markets set up by Obamacare. Several major insurers, including Humana Inc and Aetna Inc, have announced plans to exit some state exchanges in 2018. Insurers welcomed the rule but said there is still too much uncertainty in the market. On Wednesday, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he may withhold Obamacare payments to insurers that amount to about $7 billion a year to force Democrats back to the negotiating table. Marilyn Tavenner, president and chief executive of America''s Health Insurance Plans, said in a statement that funding for the payments must continue uninterrupted. Otherwise, she said premiums will rise 20 percent across the market and more insurers would drop out of the exchanges. The changes under Thursday''s final rule include a shortened open enrollment period for Obamacare plans. They also make it harder for people to enroll outside that period, which is allowed under certain circumstances such as a pregnancy or a move. The rule could also allow insurers to collect unpaid premium payments and make it tougher for people to move in and out of insurance plans, according to healthcare industry experts. Insurers say "gaming the system" has created an unprofitable mix of healthy and sick customers. The rule also gives states broader authority by removing the federal government''s role in overseeing doctor and hospital networks included in insurance plans. Republicans have said any healthcare reform or overhaul must give states more flexibility. The Affordable Care Act enabled 20 million Americans to gain insurance, mostly through the individual insurance markets set up by the law or through an expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled. (Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-rule-idUSKBN17F2RX'|'2017-04-14T06:23:00.000+03:00' '42fab2edb1cccce08ab5ef67dcf83932785e76aa'|'Malaysian developer S P Setia to buy I&P Group for $800 million'|'By Liz Lee - KUALA LUMPUR KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian property developer S P Setia Bhd ( SETI.KL ) said on Friday it will buy privately held rival I&P Group for over 3.5 billion ringgit ($794.55 million) to create one of the country''s largest real estate firms.The deal comes at a time when the local real estate market has been hit by tighter lending rules and softer purchasing power due to a weaker economy.Both real estate companies are overseen by state investment fund Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), which has in recent months said it intends to restructure its core portfolio and rationalize its property investments."This combination will create the largest property company in Malaysia and one of the leading players, with a total land bank of close to 10,000 acres," said PNB president and group chief executive officer Abdul Rahman Ahmad. PNB was ready to provide the necessary capital support for the deal, he said.PNB owns 63.5 percent of S P Setia, showed Thomson Reuters data, while I&P Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of the fund.The indicative price for the proposed acquisition is estimated to be within the range of 3.5 billion ringgit to 3.75 billion ringgit, S P Setia said in a stock exchange statement.It plans to fund the acquisition with a combination of equity, internally generated funds and borrowing.Maybank Investment Bank Research property sector analyst Wong Wei Sum said the deal was a "rational" move by PNB as a weak market provided opportunities to buy assets at cheaper values. There could be more deals in the sector, she said."Some may want to privatize their companies now due to cheaper share prices and could relist when the market returns," Wong said. Developers could also pursue reverse takeovers of listed firms, she added.Last month, Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd, controlled by property tycoon Lim Kang Hoo, offered to buy Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd ( IWCI.KL ) in a "back door" listing of one of the country''s biggest property firms.Conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd ( SIME.KL ), of which PNB owns 50 percent, in January said it would spin off its property and plantation businesses.Trading of S P Setia''s shares was suspended on Friday ahead of the announcement.($1 = 4.4050 ringgit)(Reporting by Liz Lee; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Editing by Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-i-p-group-m-a-s-p-setia-idINKBN17G0O9'|'2017-04-14T06:54:00.000+03:00' '26c3689dd0b83308040c2aa933e04faae3f1b6fa'|'Brazil''s GPA books 9.5 pct rise in revenue from food division'|' 29am EDT Brazil''s GPA books 9.5 pct rise in revenue from food division SAO PAULO, April 13 GPA SA, Brazil''s biggest retailer, reported a 9.5 percent rise in first-quarter net revenue from its food division to 10.553 billion reais ($3.37 billion), according to a securities filing on Thursday. Sales surged 28.8 percent in the Assaí cash-and-carry unit, but grew just 0.4 percent at the Extra and Pão de Açúcar supermarket chains. Via Varejo SA, the appliance division that GPA is looking to sell, separately reported a 2.2 percent rise in net revenue to 5.993 billion reais, as sales rose 4.2 percent at physical stores and fell 5.7 percent online. ($1 = 3.13 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/gpa-results-idUSE6N1FG028'|'2017-04-13T20:29:00.000+03:00' '94df41242382f9911ed02591eedc4b75f8b83fca'|'JPMorgan profit rises 16.8 percent'|' 6:49am EDT JPMorgan profit rises 16.8 percent FILE PHOTO -People walk by the JP Morgan & Chase Co. building in New York, U.S. on October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/File Photo JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as the bank made more loans and racked up additional revenue from increased trading. The bank''s net income rose to $6.45 billion in the first quarter ended March 31 from $5.52 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to $1.65 from $1.35. [ bit.ly/2nHTfHJ ] Analysts had expected earnings of $1.52 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable. Trading increased across Wall Street over the past year as investors changed their positions around the Brexit vote, the U.S. elections and the Federal Reserve''s hikes in interest rates. Customers also borrowed more as the economy expanded, though the pace of loan growth has slackened somewhat recently. Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) are also scheduled to report results on Thursday. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-results-idUSKBN17F1B4'|'2017-04-13T18:49:00.000+03:00' '63a43755f3c5e473d745410c83f8b7237636d6fe'|'Japan''s Nomura targets younger generation as demographic crunch looms'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 6:06am EDT Japan''s Nomura targets younger generation as demographic crunch looms left right Nomura Holdings president Toshio Morita speaks at an interview with Reuters in Tokyo April 12, 2017. Picture taken on April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 1/5 left right Nomura Holdings president Toshio Morita speaks at an interview with Reuters in Tokyo April 12, 2017. Picture taken on April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 2/5 left right Nomura Holdings president Toshio Morita speaks at an interview with Reuters in Tokyo April 12, 2017. Picture taken on April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 3/5 left right Nomura Holdings president Toshio Morita poses in front of his company''s logo prior to an interview with Reuters in Tokyo April 12, 2017. Picture taken on April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 4/5 left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of Nomura Securities is seen at the company''s Head Office in Tokyo, Japan, November 28, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo 5/5 By Thomas Wilson and Emi Emoto - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s Nomura Holdings Inc ( 8604.T ) aims to leverage its access to about 1.6 million members of employee stock ownership plans to tap a new generation of customers as its client base grays. The country''s largest brokerage is administrator for about 60 percent of people in such plans at listed companies, and can do more to engage with them, Nomura Securities President Toshio Morita told Reuters in an interview. Nomura aims to recruit younger plan members by boosting web and phone access to information on its products, Morita said. That could help it secure long-term clients, manage more assets and generate stabler revenue sources. "Until now, we''ve relied on these people coming to us after retirement or visiting our branches," said Morita, Nomura Securities chief from this month. "We''ll connect with them by phone and online, enriching the way we provide information." Thirty- and forty-somethings are crucial for Nomura - and peers including Daiwa Securities Group Inc ( 8601.T ) and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc - to build a new generation of clients as Japan''s population shrinks. Younger generations are often tech-savvy but lack investment experience and tend to choose low-cost internet securities firms like SBI Holdings Inc ( 8473.T ), online brokerages said. As of March last year, 2.6 million people owned shares worth 4.7 trillion yen ($43.2 billion) through employee stock ownership plans, Tokyo Stock Exchange data showed. Nomura is administrator for 1.6 million people, according to Reuters calculations based on a 60 percent share. Nomura''s domestic-focused retail arm has suffered since 2014 as investor optimism at government reflationary policies was replaced by concern over negative interest rates and the failure to end deflation. In April-December, Nomura''s pretax profit plummeted nearly 60 percent year-on-year, compounding a one-third decline from 2014 through 2016. In the same periods, Daiwa''s profit fell 63 percent and 40 percent respectively. The gloomy results come as Nomura shifts its focus to earning recurring revenue via consulting services and managing assets, rather than commission from securities. The brokerage aims to cover 50 percent of costs via recurring revenue by 2020. Analyst Hideyasu Ban at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities said cuts to the retail division''s cost base may be necessary to complete the transformation. As of December, Nomura employed some 16,450 people in Japan. It had 158 branches, unchanged since 2013. Morita, however, said he intends to boost resilience to stock market swings through the new business model. "I''m always thinking of how to reduce costs," he said. "But I''m not thinking of cuts to staff numbers." ($1 = 108.8200 yen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nomura-hldgs-strategy-idUSKBN17F15S'|'2017-04-13T18:02:00.000+03:00' '82077f811e60667d64014cf825daa0afd7f46a55'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|' 17am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 12 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1015 GMT on Wednesday: ** Rebel shareholders in Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel want to oust the company chairman after Akzo refused to engage in takeover talks with U.S. rival PPG Industries . ** Japan''s Toshiba Corp has narrowed down the field of bidders for its chip unit to four suitors including Broadcom Ltd and Western Digital Corp, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. ** U.S. pipeline operator NuStar Energy LP said on Tuesday it would buy privately held Navigator Energy Services LLC for about $1.48 billion, as it seeks to expand into the Permian basin. ** British American Tobacco (BAT) said it had agreed with Bulgarian cigarette maker Bulgartabac to acquire some of its leading cigarette brands in a deal worth more than 100 million euros ($106 million). ** Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG said Mexican regulatory conditions for approving ChemChina''s planned $43 billion takeover bid will not have a major impact on the business. (Compiled by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HK3IZ'|'2017-04-12T18:17:00.000+03:00' '1aaca50159d215fdde77fdd4c180c01360e33b7e'|'Tesco to save £105m in business rates after property revaluation'|'Tesco will see the business rates bill for its biggest stores fall by £105m over the next five years, highlighting another anomaly created by the controversial tax.Earlier this year the government came under pressure to take action on business rates after a revaluation of property in Britain hit independent shopkeepers hard in parts of the country where property prices had surged.In Southwold, the coastal town’s property boom forced rateable values up by 152% , with some store owner’s saying the hike threatened their business’s viability. On the other hand it emerged that online retailers such as Amazon, Shop Direct and Asos were enjoying tax cuts after the bills for their distribution centres declined.MPs on the communities and local government committee will question the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, about the revaluation on Wednesday. Javid has already promised to “level the playing field” between online retailers and high street shops, and the committee chairman, Clive Betts, said he would press for a timetable for a review.“There is a fundamental problem in the way valuations for business rates are done and that needs to be looked at,” said Betts. “High street shops seem to pay more than a similar unit out-of-town. That doesn’t feel right when there is a public and political view that high streets need some form of protection. There’s also an imbalance between property-based businesses and online sellers”The Tesco store analysis by the business rates specialists CVS calculated that firm’s bill for its largest stores in England and Wales would fall by £13m this year alone, from £450m to £437m.“Over the next five years, allowing for transitional relief which limits how quickly bills can rise and fall … CVS projects Tesco will save £105.32m in rates under the revaluation for its largest stores,” said its chief executive, Mark Rigby. “In comparison, across England and Wales small shops have seen their rateable values, used to determine bills, increase by 8.5% whilst pubs have seen a 14.36% hike.Tesco has 3,400 UK stores. The CVS figures is based on official data on its 563 largest stores, which are classed as superstores. The analysis estimates that the supermarket’s rateable value has fallen by 8.6% to £825.78m compared with 2010. It follows a 2015 writedown of the value Tesco’s property portfolio by £4.7 bn.Tesco said the 2017 revaluation would not alter its status as one of the UK’s largest rate payers and called for urgent reform of the system, which many business leaders agree is not fit for purpose.“Tesco is one of the UK’s largest rate payers, paying almost £700m in rates in 2016-2017, and the 2017 revaluation will not alter that trend,” said a spokesman. “Tesco has a significant physical presence across high streets and town centres, and fixed costs such as business rates are placing huge pressure on our operations. The current rates system is unsustainable and needs urgent reform.”Topics Commercial property Tesco Real estate Retail industry Supermarkets news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/tesco/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/tesco-to-save-105m-in-business-rates-after-property-revaluation'|'2017-04-17T02:12:00.000+03:00' 'a7dfbe096d07c0a5832add74b5e771baa810cae7'|'Mexican regulator pins conditions ChemChina, Syngenta deal'|'MEXICO CITY Mexico''s antitrust commission COFECE said on Tuesday it would condition its approval of ChemChina''s [CNNCC.UL] planned $43 billion takeover bid of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta AG ( SYNN.S ).If the deal were carried out as originally planned by the firms, free competition would be placed at risk in certain herbicide and fungicide markets, COFECE said.The regulator said its approval would be conditioned on Syngenta divesting five specific products, without naming them, in order to avoid risks to competition.The COFECE remarks appear to be at odds with a statement by Syngenta on Monday, which indicated that COFECE approved the proposed acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina. [nFWN1HH020]"This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017," Syngenta said in the statement.(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-idINKBN17D208'|'2017-04-11T13:56:00.000+03:00' '1b27d19dc5b2cccbca7099dd0f43b56ee51bfc4f'|'China launches checks into banks'' arbitrage activities - sources'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 2:14am BST China launches checks into banks'' arbitrage activities - sources SHANGHAI China''s banking regulator has ordered checks of lenders in areas such as regulatory arbitrage to better supervise the vast shadow banking sector, three sources familiar with the matter said. The China Banking Regulatory Commision (CBRC) wants to better understand the amount of leverage in the banking system, the sources told Reuters late on Monday. The CBRC could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours. The regulator on Monday issued guidelines on risk control for lenders, as authorities ramp up efforts to contain risks from a rapid build-up in debt. (Reporting by Li Zheng and Ma Rong, Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-banking-regulation-idUKKBN17D044'|'2017-04-11T09:14:00.000+03:00' '9659de0b6e0f9953b7f9b003076113957dea4c88'|'United Air raises forecast for first-quarter flight capacity - Reuters'|'United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) on Monday raised its forecast for first-quarter flight capacity, a keenly watched industry metric.The No. 3 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said it expects capacity growth of 2.6 percent for the quarter ended March 31, compared to a prior forecast of a 1-2 percent increase.United said the increase in the forecast was driven mainly by an improvement in mainline completion factor — the number of completed flights relative to the number of flights scheduled — in the first quarter, which resulted in higher flight capacity.The Chicago-based carrier also said it expects first-quarter passenger unit revenue, which measures sales relative to flight capacity, to be about flat, compared to a year earlier."Better than expected close-in traffic in March offset higher than anticipated completion factor in the quarter," United said of the unit revenue forecast.Last week, Delta Air Lines Inc ( DAL.N ) lowered its first-quarter passenger unit revenue forecast for the second time, citing slower-than-expected improvement in average fare prices for flights booked at the last minute.(Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ual-outlook-idINKBN17C2H3'|'2017-04-10T19:35:00.000+03:00' '9bccde2767923469c8dbedcfa9cf5a29133051a0'|'Ford executive predicts U.S. SUV boom will continue'|'NEW YORK, April 10 A top Ford Motor Co executive said the second largest U.S. automaker predicts industry sales of U.S. sport utility vehicles will continue to rise as it plans to unveil a refreshed 2018 Ford Explorer SUV.The market share of sport utilities has increased to nearly 40 percent from 32.6 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales in 2016. Ford vice president of U.S. marketing, sales and service Mark LaNeve told reporters at an event on Monday ahead of this week''s auto show that the company expects that total to rise to 45 percent of industry sales within five to seven years. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-ford-idINL1N1HI1TK'|'2017-04-10T21:06:00.000+03:00' '99503a52c706086de69831c137a190a5edc0befb'|'UPDATE 1-Italy''s Stefanel to be relaunched, sold within 5 years -source'|'(Adds details of funding and relaunch plan)MILAN, April 10 Two private equity funds that have agreed to take over loss-making Italian clothing company Stefanel plan to relaunch the brand and sell it within five years, a source at one of the funds said.Stefanel reached an agreement at the end of March to sell a 75 percent stake to Oxy Capital and Attestor Capital and immediately received 10 million euros ($10.6 mln) in emergency funding from them to avoid bankruptcy.The new owners seek to reposition the Italian group, aiming at women between the ages of 35 and 50 rather than younger customers, in a segment of the market just above Benetton and Zara, the source at Oxy Capital, who did not wish to be identified, said."One of Stefanel''s problems was raising its target too much, pushing towards luxury, without doing the same thing on the quality offered, and thus losing customers," the source said.Oxy and Attestor also aim to cut the number of Stefanel stores and sell more through third-party outlets such as department stores.The fashion group accumulated over 170 million euros in losses over the past decade as it faced fierce competition from high-street brands like H&M and Zara.Oxy and Attestor expect to complete the purchase by the summer, after receiving the green light from Italy''s market watchdog and a Treviso-based court that handled the bankruptcy case, the source said.They will appoint a new CEO in the next three to six months but have decided against delisting Stefanel as that was considered too costly.Stefanel is set to receive another 15 million euros in new funds from creditor banks and from Oxy Capital and Attestor Capital. Giuseppe Stefanel, former owner and chairman, might contribute between 1.25 million and 2.5 million euros of that but it has not yet been decided, the source said.Stefanel''s new business model could entail shifting production from China to Italy, Turkey and Romania, the source said. ($1 = 0.9433 euros) (Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, writing by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/italy-stefanel-relaunch-idINL8N1HI4LK'|'2017-04-10T15:12:00.000+03:00' '67ba548704fdc286ab25182907d5703b7c4628d0'|'MOVES-Citi hires Francis to co-head EMEA leverage finance'|' 30am EDT MOVES-Citi hires Francis to co-head EMEA leverage finance LONDON, April 10 (IFR) - Citigroup has hired Simon Francis from Credit Suisse to co-head its leverage finance business in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and made several promotions in its capital management and loans businesses. Francis will report to Philip Drury, head of capital markets origination for EMEA, according to a memo sent to staff on Monday. Francis was most recently head of leverage finance capital markets at Credit Suisse. Drury said Citi will continue to invest in its EMEA leverage finance business and make further announcements in due course. The memo said Richard Basham has been appointed as the new head of global capital management for EMEA. Basham has been involved in Citi''s capital markets origination business for 27 years and was previously head of EMEA leverage finance and loans. Paul Gibbs and Rizwan Shaikh have also been appointed co-heads of EMEA loans. Gibbs has been at Citi for 22 years, most recently as head of western European loans. Shaikh has been with the bank for 19 years, most recently as head of CEEMEA loans. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-citi-hires-francis-to-co-head-emea-idUSL8N1HI4CD'|'2017-04-10T23:30:00.000+03:00' '6b5acbcf2a59b1c591bfbab2400b3478cff40312'|'Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard'|'Business News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 1:33pm BST Investors flock to ''macro'' hedge funds, but not only the old guard By Maiya Keidan , Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/BOSTON LONDON/BOSTON "Macro" hedge funds are back in favour with investors seeking to take a view on U.S. President Donald Trump''s economic policies, European elections, or interest rates, but it is start-up funds rather than established players which are attracting cash. Some of the main beneficiaries of the macro revival are managers who cut their teeth at the big macro firms such as Moore Capital Management, Brevan Howard and Tudor Investment Corp, which made their names for outperformance in 2007-2009. Eric Siegel, head of hedge funds at Citi Private Bank ( C.N ), said in general that macro strategies are likely to thrive. “With volatility coming back and monetary supply tightening, we believe it could be a great environment for macro managers,” Siegel said. Macro funds bet on macroeconomic trends using currencies, bonds, rates and stock futures. They outperformed the broader industry during the financial crisis and amassed tens of billions of dollars between 2010 and 2012. But they lost most of those assets between 2013 and 2014 and also in 2016 for a variety of reasons, including performance. But macro is back in vogue and was the most popular hedge fund strategy among investors in the fourth quarter of 2016 and the first two months of this year, according to industry data providers Preqin and eVestment. Moore Capital''s Louis Moore Bacon, Alan Howard, who co-founded Brevan Howard, and Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investment were among the macro stars after years of delivering double-digit returns. But during the lean years, when macro was less in favour, they had to cut fees and in some cases staff. Now newcomers, such as Moore Capital spin-out Stone Milliner, are pulling in cash and producing some strong returns. Stone Milliner''s discretionary global macro closed to new money last year after taking in over $4 billion (3 billion pounds) in the previous two years. Moore Capital''s assets have fallen slightly from $15 billion in 2012 to $13.3 billion as of Dec. 31 2016, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed. Anglo-Swiss firm Stone Milliner, set up in 2012 by former Moore Capital portfolio managers Jens-Peter Stein and Kornelius Klobucar, averaged returns of 8.3 percent between 2014 and 2016, a source told Reuters, while Moore Capital Management averaged 3.4 percent, a second source said. London-based Gemsstock, set up in January 2014 by Moore Capital trader Darren Read and his co-founder Al Breach, made 12.8 percent on average over the same period, documents seen by Reuters showed. Chris Rokos, a Brevan Howard alumnus, raised another $2 billion in February after returns of 20 percent in 2016. EDL Capital made gains of 18.4 percent last year after ex-Moore Capital trader Edouard De Langlade launched the firm in September 2015, according to a source close to EDL Capital. It has amassed assets of $450 million to date, he said. Ben Melkman, who also formerly worked at Brevan Howard until May 2016, raised over $400 million for his launch in March, SEC filings showed. Brevan Howard''s firm-wide assets fell to $14.6 billion in 2017, from $37 billion in 2012. [ here ] RUSH FOR MACRO But the old guard are fighting back. Some have been cutting fees and offering alternatives. Howard, Brevan Howard''s co-founder, last month launched a new fund managed solely by him, which sources said has already amassed more than $3 billion. Tudor Investment lowered its management fees to 1.75 percent and performance fees to 20 percent in February after a reduction last year and Moore Capital cut the management fee on its Moore Macro Managers fund to 2.5 percent from 3 percent. Tudor Jones laid off 15 percent of staff in August. The firm''s main Tudor BVI Global Fund started 2017 down 0.6 percent to March 3 after gaining 0.9 percent in 2016. Brevan cut its management fees to zero for some current investors in its Master Fund and its Multi-Strategy fund last September after a similar move from Caxton Associates. But for both the old and new macro funds, it is still to be determined what 2017 will hold. Even though macro funds are flat on average for the first two months of 2017, making gains of just 0.38 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research, the popularity of macro strategies is not in doubt. A Credit Suisse survey in March of more than 320 institutional investors with $1.3 trillion in hedge funds showed macro was set to be the favourite strategy of 2017. Preqin data showed that after pulling assets out of macro for three back-to-back quarters, investors added $6.4 billion to the strategy in the fourth quarter of 2016 after Trump''s win. eVestment data showed that macro funds have pulled in $4.4 billion in the first two months of 2017, demonstrating a turnaround from 2016 when investors took $9.8 billion out of macro after withdrawing $10 billion in 2013 and $19.1 billion in 2014. "I don''t think macro is dead. Managers who can be nimble and are able to look outside the large liquid asset classes can still find great opportunities," Erin Browne, head of Global Macro Investments at UBS O’Connor, said. Representatives at Tudor did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Moore Capital had no comment. A spokesman at Brevan declined to comment. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-macro-idUKKBN17B0J5'|'2017-04-09T20:33:00.000+03:00' 'c0cf5ad0e0ce00698a25978b18335df4507f9202'|'JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing'|' 6:16am BST JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing FILE PHOTO - People pass the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Corporate headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo By David Henry - NEW YORK NEW YORK After having to stomach $31 billion (24.80 billion pounds) worth of bitter mortgage settlements with government agencies a few years ago, JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) swore off a huge swath of the home loan market. Gone were borrowers with anything much less than pristine credit ratings. The cost of managing delinquent accounts and the threat of huge legal penalties were written off as not worth the risk. Better instead to focus on wealthier customers who wanted jumbo-sized loans that are beyond the reach of government housing finance agencies. But there was a problem: Chase was leaving behind many of its mass market customers who were going to competitors for the conventional and government-guaranteed loans they wanted. Now, the bank’s management team, led by Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, is working fiercely to change course – hoping to not only bring back customers, but influence what could be a reshaping of U.S. mortgage finance policy for the first time in a generation. Customers will soon start seeing signs of this effort. Next month, Chase plans to launch advertising featuring Drew and Jonathan Scott, stars of the popular reality “Property Brothers” shows. In addition to TV spots, the campaign will feature cardboard cutouts of the telegenic twins in Chase branches. Chase is also in the process of boosting its mortgage lending force by 10 percent, upgrading its loan-making software and jazzing up its smartphone app with more mortgage account tools. At the moment, fewer than one in 10 Chase customers with home loans got them directly from Chase, a situation consumer banking chief Gordon Smith recently described as "terrible." “It is time to go after the opportunity we have with our own customers,” Mike Weinbach, the bank''s mortgage chief, said in a recent interview with Reuters. JPMorgan Chase is not the only major bank that is restless after having stepped back from the U.S. mortgage market in the aftermath of the housing crisis last decade. At Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ), executives say they are no more content with fewer than two in 10 of their customers with mortgage loans having borrowed from their bank. Mortgage companies such as Quicken, Caliber and loanDepot.com scooped up much of the business from battered banks. ( tmsnrt.rs/2orqDzB ) JPMorgan''s $31 billion cost of 13 mortgage-related legal settlements was second only to Bank of America’s $71 billion, according to data collected by bank analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Still, JPMorgan''s mortgage retreat stands out because the bank has used its scale and financial strength to gobble up market share in many other businesses, from credit cards and deposit-taking to commercial lending and Wall Street banking. In backing away, JPMorgan saw its market share of conventional mortgages that are small enough to be resold to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fall by half, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. Its share of all mortgage loans made directly by lenders fell to 2.8 percent last year from 12.6 percent in 2011. Logically, it should be close to Chase''s 8.3 percent of share of retail deposits, said Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance. JUMBO MISSES Chase opted to go after better-off borrowers who took out so-called jumbo loans in excess of the Fannie and Freddie limit, which then was $417,000 in most parts of the United States. Last year, jumbos were 49 percent of all loans Chase made, up from 14 percent in 2013. But jumbos account for only 18 percent of U.S. mortgages. By turning from bigger parts of the market, JPMorgan was hurting its wider consumer franchise. That could be costly if it persists. Customers without Chase mortgages are twice as likely to leave as those who have them from the bank, Weinbach said. And, checking and savings account customers who get their home loans from Chase tend to add to their deposits. Management’s effort to swing back may already be bearing some fruit. JPMorgan said on Thursday that it made $9 billion of home loans directly to customers in the first quarter, 3 percent more than in the same period a year earlier. Chase’s shift comes amid crosscurrents in the mortgage market. The latest wave of loans for refinancing is abating as interest rates rise. That has reduced revenue across the industry. But bank executives also see other conditions improving. Federal housing agencies have been loosening policies to help middle America get access to more credit. The millennial generation has also begun reaching the nesting age, leading to a new crop of home buyers. The GSEs have already adjusted some rules to be less financially threatening to lenders. For instance, they dropped a demand that banks take back loans that default after three years unless there has been fraud. Dimon sees a chance to get more relief from the government. This month he used four pages of his annual letter to shareholders to outline more changes he wants to see. He expressed particular concern about a bank’s costs and liability when loans it underwrites default. Current rules have made lenders so cautious that they have not funded an additional $300 billion to $500 billion of loans for home purchases in each of the last five years, JPMorgan analysts estimate. The cost to the economy, they believe, has been one third of a percentage point of annual growth. “If that number is right, shame on us,” Dimon told reporters on the bank''s post-earnings conference call on Thursday. “We should have done something about that. And, it can be done very quickly.” (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jpmorgan-mortgage-strategy-idUKKBN17G0B1'|'2017-04-14T13:16:00.000+03:00' '9d1674687da4a5f778af513e1f55ac969234652e'|'BSGR sues George Soros over loss of Guinea iron project'|'Business News - Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 12:55am BST BSGR sues George Soros over loss of Guinea iron project Mining company BSG Resources (BSGR) on Friday filed a lawsuit accusing U.S. financier George Soros of scuttling its iron ore deal in Guinea and alleged $10 billion (7.99 billion pounds) worth in damages. BSGR, which is controlled by Israeli billionaire businessman Beny Steinmetz, accused Soros and his controlled entities of manipulating the government of Guinea and elected officials and other misconduct to strip it of mining contracts in Guinea in 2014. Case 1:17-cv-02726 was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bsgr-lawsuit-idUKKBN17G1LN'|'2017-04-15T07:55:00.000+03:00' 'ff493e1de4803cc2dc03aa883c44ef8e93e46c64'|'Hard left, hard right, or centre? French economy may decide'|' 2:33pm BST Hard left, hard right, or centre? French economy may decide FILE PHOTO: From L-R, campaign posters for candidates Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN), Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Parti de Gauche, and Benoit Hamon of the Socialist Party who are running in the 2017 French presidential election are seen in Paris, France, April 5,... REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo By Jeremy Gaunt - LONDON LONDON If in the United States and Britain''s decision to quit the European Union stirred the global economic waters, then there is the potential for a tsunami on the near horizon. The coming week is the last before the first round of France''s presidential election on April 23. It has already been a barrel of surprises -- an incumbent not running, the far right in ascendance, an independent seen as likely winner, a scandal hampering the early favourite. But the latest twist -- one with arguably the most potential global economic impact -- could conceivably see a far-left candidate, one-time communist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, make it through to the May 7 run-off against a far-right nationalist, Marine Le Pen. The potential economic shock stems from the fact that both are against the euro and the European Union, threatening the stability and even existence of both. The word Frexit -- the Gallic version of Brexit -- has been doing the rounds. Boosted by a strong performance in televised debates, Mélenchon has gathered momentum in the past week. One poll on Tuesday showed his support as high as 19 percent, within four points of centrist Emmanuel Macron and within five of Le Pen; the latest survey on Thursday put him on 17 percent. "For France, Europe and markets, a run-off between Mélenchon and ultra-right Marine Le Pen on May 7 would be a choice between bad and ugly," Berenberg bank said in a note on Thursday. The odds are still strongly against it happening: the polls show former economy minister Macron winning the big prize. But the fact is that perennial outsider Mélenchon and Le Pen are in the frame. France''s economy offers a mixed bag. Unemployment is at 10 percent and has been around that mark for five years. Projected economic growth of just 1.4 percent for this year puts France down at 25th equal (with Belgium) out of 28 EU countries. Other data shows the strain too. A study by World Economics of the relative value of euros within the euro zone, shows a yawning gap between Germany and France, making the latter far less competitive. But although growth is weak, France performs much better than other economies such as the United States and Britain in terms of income equality. One recent study, for example, found that the median French income in 2012 was about 17 percent higher than in 1996, while the median U.S. income was just 2 percent above its 1996 level. How all this plays with the French equivalent of the angry, left-out voters who went for Trump and Brexit remains to be seen. BRIGHT SPOT One recent bright spot for France has been the Purchasing Managers'' Index, which has shown a degree of rising optimism among businesses as the euro zone also improves. On Friday in the coming week -- just before the first round vote -- flash PMIs for April are released. Last time around all three of France''s readings -- manufacturing, services and composite -- were well in the expansion range, particularly services. Early Reuters polling suggests the services and manufacturing reports will essentially be unchanged, possibly as a result of election uncertainty. The euro zone and Germany will also report. The former is expected to improve slightly on a composite basis, which would add to the overall view of a steadily recovering economy. German manufacturing could show a tiny dip. Outside the euro zone, British retail sales data for March, released on Friday April 21, should provide another glimpse of how consumer sentiment is holding up as Brexit negotiations loom. Economists and others were surprised by the tenacity of British consumers after last year''s vote to leave the EU, but there have been recent signs of a tailing off. The British Retail Consortium said in the past week that its gauge of first-quarter consumer shopping showed the slowest growth since 2008. It was put down to inflation rising as a result of the post-Brexit vote fall in the pound. There were also some seasonal impacts relating to when Easter fell last year. Snapshots of the state of the U.S. economy, meanwhile, will come from New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve reports and from March industrial output data. The latter is expected to climb, reflecting an economy that has recovered well enough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin a tentative rate-tightening cycle. For graphic on French PMI and growth click on tmsnrt.rs/2p9mLpI For graphic on job creation click on tmsnrt.rs/2mhrTmJ For graphic on euro zone labour costs click on tmsnrt.rs/2mhrTmJ For graphic on France economic snapshot click on tmsnrt.rs/2b4ue0a (Graphics by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-weekahead-idUKKBN17F1KL'|'2017-04-13T21:33:00.000+03:00' 'e6815a18e5a113964122d1237b9ac876971d40ac'|'Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for $4.4 billion - FT'|' 13am BST Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for $4.4 billion - FT Abbott Laboratories ( ABT.N ) agreed to buy diagnostic-testing company Alere Inc ( ALR.N ) for $4.4 billion (3.52 billion pounds), ending a prolonged legal battle over Abbott''s plan to buy the company, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter. Abbott will pay $51 per share, a premium of 21 percent to Alere''s closing price on Thursday, but below the earlier $56-per-share price announced in February last year, the FT said. on.ft.com/2nLyoDG Abbott had raised concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in last year''s $5.8 billion merger agreement, and offered to pay $30 million to $50 million to terminate the deal. Abbott Laboratories had moved to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company since they struck a deal in February 2016. European Union antitrust regulators cleared Abbott Laboratories'' proposed acquisition of Alere on January, subject to the divestment of some of Alere''s operations. Alere sued Abbott in August last year in an attempt to force the company to move ahead with the deal. Abbott and Alere were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alere-m-a-abbott-idUKKBN17G0M4'|'2017-04-14T16:13:00.000+03:00' '4593fa76966dc098a57c36903ad0e8a5a95ce46b'|'BlackRock holds Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016'|'NEW YORK, April 13 BlackRock Inc, the world''s largest asset manager, held total compensation for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink nearly flat in 2016, according to a filing on Thursday.Fink was awarded $25.5 million in compensation last year, compared with $25.8 million in 2015, based on a calculation of his pay according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines.(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackrock-compensation-ceo-idINFWN1HL0L3'|'2017-04-13T18:47:00.000+03:00' '5c849f5f3b07c51b6f364615da5b517edff13905'|'METALS-London copper slips as North Korea tensions grow'|'Company 14pm EDT METALS-London copper slips as North Korea tensions grow MELBOURNE, April 12 London copper eased on Wednesday amid heightening geopolitical tensions with North Korea, but held above two-week lows hit in the previous session on a healthy demand outlook. FUNDAMENTALS * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper traded down 0.1 percent at $5,763 a tonne by 0200 GMT, after ending a tad firmer on Tuesday having previously slumped to $5,710 a tonne during the session, a two-week low. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper traded flat at 46,840 yuan ($6,799) a tonne. ShFE zinc and nickel remained under pressure but cut losses to 0.9 percent and 2.5 percent respectively, due to weakness in China''s steel sector. * NORTH KOREA: North Korean state media warned on Tuesday of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression, as a U.S. Navy strike group steamed toward the western Pacific - a force President Donald Trump described as an "armada". * U.S. RATES: San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said on Tuesday the U.S. central bank should raise interest rates three or four times this year, and begin to trim the Fed''s multitrillion-dollar balance sheet in late 2017. * CHINA PROPERTY: At least 12 major Chinese cities are requiring newly bought homes to be held for at least two to three years before they can be sold, the first time that cities in the country are taking such measures and suggesting intensified government efforts to cool the red-hot property market. * domestic demand is not strong enough to absorb surging supplies of steel. * SOUTHERN COPPER: Union representatives and executives from miner Southern Copper in Peru failed to reach an agreement to end an indefinite strike after a long meeting on Monday night, the union said on Tuesday. * ZINC: Expected shortages of zinc, a metal often favoured by speculators, may not materialise this year because recent price gains have spurred miners around the world to increase output. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or MARKETS NEWS * Investors ducked for cover on Wednesday as news of geopolitical tensions sent the safe-haven yen and gold to five-month highs and yields on top-rated sovereign bonds to their lowest for the year so far. DATA/EVENTS 0600 Germany Wholesale prices March 0830 U.K. ILO unemployment rate Feb 1230 U.S. Import prices March BASE METALS PRICES 0153 GMT Three month LME copper 5765.5 Most active ShFE copper 46860 Three month LME aluminium 1927 Most active ShFE aluminium 30 Three month LME zinc 2594.5 Most active ShFE zinc 21440 Three month LME lead 2256 Most active ShFE lead 4 Three month LME nickel 9880 Most active ShFE nickel 5 Three month LME tin 20000 Most active ShFE tin 1 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 482.3 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1365.6 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 253.65 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -2187.35 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1120 ($1 = 6.8893 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HK1CZ'|'2017-04-12T10:14:00.000+03:00' 'da8bc4117c47556879e7fb8bf10a1f6f30e09cc1'|'Straight Path says third party may top AT&T''s buyout offer'|'Deals 6:16pm EDT Straight Path says third party may top AT&T''s buyout offer Signage for an AT&T store is seen in New York October 29, 2014. AT&T Inc has made a bid for Yahoo Inc''s internet business, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo - RTX2PXRO Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ), which agreed to be bought by AT&T Inc ( T.N ) for $1.25 billion, said on Thursday it had received a letter from a third party that was considering topping AT&T''s offer. Straight Path said the party, which it did not name, had made a bid to acquire the company before AT&T''s offer. AT&T, which earlier this week agreed to buy the holder of licenses to wireless spectrum in an all-stock deal, could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-straight-path-m-a-at-t-idUSKBN17F2R9'|'2017-04-14T06:11:00.000+03:00' '9b777315ce253e7a1975ef873f0ebee49cf12000'|'Lufthansa to receive fewer A320neos than expected this year'|'BERLIN, April 13 Lufthansa is due to receive 5 A320neo jets this year, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, half the number it originally expected, as delivery delays hamper the Airbus plane.Lufthansa, which was the first airline to operate the A320neo and took delivery of five of the jets in 2016, had said at the end of December that it expected 10 of the medium-haul planes this year.A spokeswoman said Lufthansa was now expecting five this year, with the next one slated to arrive in the summer.That could affect Lufthansa''s capex plans for this year. The airline said in March it expected to spend 2.7 billion euros ($2.87 billion) this year.Airbus delivered 12 A320neos in March to bring the 2017 total to 26, but deliveries remain behind schedule due mainly to problems with engines from Pratt & Whitney, one of two suppliers.Lufthansa Group has ordered 116 of the A320neo family jets in total, with around half to have Pratt engines and the other half engines made by CFM, a joint venture between GE and Safran. ($1 = 0.9414 euros) (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lufthansa-a320neo-idINFWN1HL0B2'|'2017-04-13T10:49:00.000+03:00' '653800f348e12dc2dd155e7633731fce7a6aefa1'|'In about-face, Trump nominates new head of export bank'|'Politics - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 8:09pm EDT In about-face, Trump nominates new head of export bank Scott Garrett appears at the Reuters Financial Regulation Summit in Washington April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Gary Cameron WASHINGTON President Donald Trump nominated former Republican lawmaker Scott Garrett as president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States on Friday, completing an about-face over an institution he had denounced as "featherbedding" for big business. A White House statement also named Spencer Bachus, another Republican former congressman, to be a member of the board of directors of the bank. Both were named for four-year terms. Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday he would fill the two vacancies on the bank''s five-member board that have prevented it from having a quorum and being able to act on loans over $10 million. His picks must gain approval from the Senate, which blocked nominees by former President Barack Obama. The Export-Import Bank, an independent government agency, provides loans to foreign entities that enable them to purchase American-made goods. For example, it has been used by foreign airlines to purchase planes from Boeing Co ( BA.N ) and farmers in developing nations to acquire equipment. The bank has become a popular target for conservatives, who worked in Congress to kill the institution, arguing that it perpetuates cronyism and does little to create American jobs. Trump''s backing of the bank represents a victory for manufacturers like Boeing and General Electric Co ( GE.N ), which have overseas customers that use the agency''s government-backed loans to purchase their products. Trump told the Journal the bank benefits small businesses and creates jobs, a reversal of his earlier criticism of the bank as being "featherbedding" for wealthy corporations. Trump''s about-face followed a meeting on Tuesday with former Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney, who left the company last year but oversaw the corporation''s aggressive lobbying effort in support of the bank in 2015. Large American corporations that do significant amounts of exports say other countries have similar agencies and the export bank levels the playing field. A 2015 fight to shutter the bank led by conservatives in Congress allowed the bank''s charter to expire for five months. After overwhelming bipartisan support emerged to renew the bank''s charter, which is needed for it to operate, conservatives blocked nominees to the board, preventing it from financing large exports like aircraft and power turbines. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-eximbank-idUSKBN17H003'|'2017-04-15T08:03:00.000+03:00' 'acad853fca8faea7641a5334d253ebab575631a0'|'Osram eyes acquisitions of up to 500 million euros - CFO in paper'|'Deals - Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 1:53pm BST Osram eyes acquisitions of up to $530 million: CFO in paper A woman walks in the headquarters of lamp manufacturer Osram in Munich, Germany February 26, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo BERLIN German lighting company Osram ( OSRn.DE ) is on the lookout for acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros ($530 million), although there are no specific plans for a deal as yet, its finance chief told a German newspaper. Osram wants to strengthen the areas of electronics and software within its automotive lighting unit and is looking for acquisition targets or partners, Ingo Bank told Boersen-Zeitung in an interview published on Saturday. Acquisitions for its Opto semiconductors unit would also be attractive if they opened up access to markets, he said. Osram has funds available after the sale of lamps division LEDvance, which brought in gross proceeds of about 500 million euros, and thanks to its strong balance sheet, Bank said. "We have a lot of firepower and the ability to act. However, we will not be making the error of buying for the sake of it," the paper quoted him as saying. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-osram-licht-m-a-idUKKBN17H0C8'|'2017-04-15T20:48:00.000+03:00' '1ff4a3d2667ecf7eee75cdfae356d3ff21776512'|'Excusive - North Korean ships head home after China orders coal returned'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 5:35am BST Excusive - North Korean ships head home after China orders coal returned A Thomson Reuters Eikon ship-tracking screen shows cargo ships returning to Nampo port in North Korea April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration By John Ruwitch and Meng Meng - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI A fleet of North Korean cargo ships is heading home to the port of Nampo, the majority of it fully laden, after China ordered its trading companies to return coal from the isolated country, shipping data shows. Following repeated missile tests that drew international criticism, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on Feb. 26, cutting off the country''s most important export product. To curb coal traffic between the two countries, China''s customs department issued an official order on April 7 telling trading companies to return their North Korean coal cargoes, said three trading sources with direct knowledge of the order. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were discussing North Korea at Trump''s Mar-a-Lago resort on April 7. Shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon, a financial information and analytics platform, shows a dozen cargo ships on their way to North Korea''s main west coast port of Nampo, almost all carrying cargoes from China. Chinese authorities did not respond to requests for official comment. The Trump administration has been pressuring China to do more to rein in North Korea, which sends the vast majority of its exports to its giant neighbour across the Yellow Sea. But U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said last week''s U.S. military strike against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons was a warning to other countries, including North Korea, that "a response is likely" if they pose a danger. As a U.S. Navy strike group headed to the region in a show of force, China and South Korea agreed on Monday to slap tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carries out nuclear or long-range missile tests, a senior official in Seoul said. North Korea marks several major anniversaries this month and often marks the occasions with major tests of military hardware. TWO MILLION TONNES A source at Dandong Chengtai, one of China''s biggest buyers of North Korean coal, said the company had 600,000 tonnes of North Korean coal sitting at various ports, and a total of 2 million tonnes was stranded at Chinese ports. Eikon data shows that most of these ships have recently left Chinese coal ports, including Weihai and Peng Lai, returning to North Korea full or mostly filled with cargo. Last month, Reuters reported that Malaysia briefly prevented a North Korean ship carrying coal from China from entering its port in Penang because of a suspected breach in sanctions. The ship was eventually allowed to unload its 6,300 metric tonnes of anthracite coal. North Korea is a significant supplier of coal to China, especially of the type used for steel making, known as coking coal. To make up for the shortfall from North Korea, China has ramped up imports from the United States in an unexpected boon for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has declared he wants to revive his country''s struggling coal sector. Eikon data shows no U.S. coking coal was exported to China between late 2014 and 2016, but shipments soared to over 400,000 tonnes by late February CKC-USCN-IMP. This trend was exacerbated after cyclone Debbie knocked out supplies from the world''s top coking coal region in Australia''s state of Queensland, forcing Chinese steel makers to buy even more U.S. cargoes. The other big coking coal supplier that has ramped up exports to China since the ban on North Korean cargoes is Russia. CKC-RUCN-IMP. (Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Bill Tarrant)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-northkorea-coal-exclusive-idUKKBN17D0DA'|'2017-04-11T12:45:00.000+03:00' '38774cc532c0119f63864ab9ceba0b004726db0d'|'China solar, wind to attract $780 billion investment by 2030 - research report'|'Global Energy 1:14pm IST China solar, wind to attract $780 billion investment by 2030 - research report An employee walks between rows of solar panels at a solar power plant on the outskirts of Dunhuang, Gansu province, China, June 10, 2011. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo SHANGHAI China''s wind and solar sectors could attract as much as 5.4 trillion yuan ($782 billion) in investment between 2016 and 2030 as the country tries to meet its renewable energy targets, according to a research report published on Tuesday. China has pledged to increase non-fossil fuel energy to at least 20 percent of total consumption by the end of the next decade, up from 12 percent in 2015, part of its efforts to tackle air pollution and bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak by around 2030. To do that, China would need to raise wind and solar power''s share of primary energy consumption to 17 percent by 2030, up from 4 percent in 2015, according to the report, published by environmental organization Greenpeace and involving research by a government institute, a Chinese university, and other groups. Wind and solar power could reduce fossil fuel consumption by nearly 300 million tonnes of standard coal a year by the end of 2030, equivalent to France''s total primary energy consumption in 2015, the report said, assuming China met its targets. In its 2016-2020 "five-year plan" for renewables, China''s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) laid out a plan to raise total wind generation capacity from 129 gigawatts (GW) in 2015 to more than 210 GW in 2020, with solar set to rise from 43.18 GW to 110 GW over the same period. Total renewable capacity, including hydropower, would rise to 680 GW, 27 percent of the national total and up from around 480 GW in 2015, the NDRC said. The NDRC itself projected its plans would require a total investment of 2.5 trillion yuan on solar, wind and other renewables just over the 2016-2020 period. However, the agency warned the country''s electricity distribution system was still not flexible enough to handle renewable power, and there were still technological obstacles when it came to connecting wind and solar to the grid, leading to large amounts of waste. According to figures released last month by China''s Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, 49.7 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of wind power failed to make it to the grid in 2016, up from 33.9 billion kWh in 2015 and amounting to 17 percent of total wind power generation. Greenpeace said it worked with the China Wind Energy Association, the NDRC''s Energy Research Institute, Tsinghua University and an environmental research group called Draworld, and then submitted the findings to independent experts. ($1 = 6.9035 yuan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-energy-renewables-idINKBN17D0QD'|'2017-04-11T15:44:00.000+03:00' '571b5d7edf6e65166984a71567dc4b60168b07fc'|'Deutsche Post DHL takes on carmakers with its electric van'|'Business News 59am BST Deutsche Post DHL takes on carmakers with its electric van left right FILE PHOTO: Frank Appel, CEO of German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL looks out of a StreetScooter E-car in Bonn May 21, 2013. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay /File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: The electronic delivery car ''Street Scooter'' of German postal and logistics group Deutsche Post DHL is seen during a press confernce in Aachen, Germany, August 23, 2016. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen /File Photo 2/2 DUESSELDORF, Germany German logistics group Deutsche Post DHL Group ( DPWGn.DE ) plans to take on carmakers by stepping up production of its Streetscooter electric van and selling it to external customers. Deutsche Post developed the Streetscooter for internal use to keep emissions low as online shopping results in more demand for parcel deliveries. However, it has been considering whether to sell it to others and said on Tuesday it said it would seek another production site and double annual output to 20,000 vans by the end of the year. It plans to sell around half of this year''s production to third-party customers. The group decided to design and make its own van after conventional vehicle makers turned down requests to build the electric vans. Deutsche Post is phasing out use of Volkswagen''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) Caddy vans in favour of Streetscooters, and going it alone with the electric van project has upset VW. Deutsche Post currently has about 2,500 StreetScooter vans in its fleet and plans to at least double that this year, it said on Tuesday. The company expects demand for the van, which will start selling at a price of 32,000 euros (27,338 pounds), from municipal authorities, strategic partners and large fleet customers. It will sell the vans itself, and customers will be able to use a network of 400 garages across Germany for repairs and maintenance. "The large demand for the StreetScooter and our own ambitious climate-protection goals have encouraged us to further expand our commitment in the area of electro-mobility and to also make our expertise available to others," Deutsche Post board member Juergen Gerdes said in a statement. In an interview with newspaper Rheinische Post, Gerdes said he could imagine production of up to 100,000 vans a year across 10 factories in the long run. He said Deutsche Post was not planning to float StreetScooter on the stock market but did not rule it out in the future. (Reporting by Matthias Inverardi; Writing by Edward Taylor and Victoria Bryan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-post-streetscooter-idUKKBN17D134'|'2017-04-11T17:59:00.000+03:00' 'f48d272eebeef21b41b4b92afe71e3706b777474'|'Frosta examining takeover of Nestle''s Italian frozen food business'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 11:41am BST Frosta examining takeover of Nestle''s Italian frozen food business The Nestle logo is pictured on the company headquarters building in Vevey, Switzerland February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy ZURICH German food company Frosta ( HNDG.F ) said on Monday it was talking to KitKat maker Nestle ( NESN.S ) about buying its Italian frozen food business. Frosta has entered exclusive negotiations to buy the business, which includes the brands La Valle Degli Orti, Mare Fresco and Surgela, the Bremerhaven-based company said. "In the framework of the exclusivity Frosta is currently examining whether such an investment would be beneficial for the company," it said in a statement. (Reporting by John Revill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-frosta-nestle-idUKKBN17C13D'|'2017-04-10T18:41:00.000+03:00' 'a8787c617c3a7f6fc43e1e6ea59229c61c3d4852'|'UK inflation holds steady in March, set to gather steam in April'|'Business News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 9:35am BST UK inflation holds steady in March, set to gather steam in April FILE PHOTO: Britain Rugby Union - England v Australia - 2016 Old Mutual Wealth Series - Twickenham Stadium, London, England - 3/12/16 Scarves for sale outside the ground Action Images via Reuters / Henry Browne Livepic/File Photo LONDON British inflation held steady in March due to the later timing of this year''s Easter holidays which pushed down airfares, and a dip in global oil prices, but the squeeze on households looks set to resume soon. Consumer prices increased in March by 2.3 percent compared with a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday, in line with economists'' forecasts in a Reuters poll. Inflation has accelerated in Britain in recent months, pushed up by a weakening of the pound since last year''s decision by voters to leave the European Union, and by the rise in oil prices which has fuelled inflation in other countries too. With wages growing at the same rate or slightly slower than prices in the shops, many households are facing the prospect of a renewed squeeze on their incomes after a respite when inflation dipped to zero in 2015 and remained low last year. Earlier on Tuesday, a group representing British retailers said shoppers in Britain clamped down on their spending in early 2017 as the cost of essentials rose. The ONS data showed food prices rose by an annual 1.2 percent in March, their biggest increase in three years. Confronted with the tough outlook for consumers, most Bank of England policymakers have signalled they see no urgency to raise interest rates, even as they predict inflation will peak at 2.8 percent in around a year''s time. March''s inflation figures were held down by airfares which fell, a sharp contrast with a jump of more than 20 percent in the same month last year when the Easter holidays fell. With Easter falling in April this year, inflation is likely to come under renewed pressure from airfares then. Also in April, increases in taxes on air passengers and car owners are kicking in and many utility companies are raising their prices too. Housing costs, which include utility bills, already rose at their fastest pace since November 2014 in March, the ONS figures showed. Furthermore, economists say the impact of the fall in sterling on inflation will probably be felt more strongly in the coming months. Many expect CPI to top 3 percent before falling back. The ONS said retail price inflation - tracked by British inflation-linked government bonds and many commercial contracts - dipped to 3.1 percent in March, a bit weaker than forecast in the Reuters poll. Excluding oil prices and other volatile components such as food, core consumer price inflation slowed to 1.8 percent, also a touch below economists'' expectations. As well as pushing down fuel prices for drivers moderately in March, a fall in international oil prices helped to take some of the steam out of cost growth faced by factories, the ONS data showed. Prices paid by factories for materials and energy were up by an annual 17.9 percent, slowing from February. Overall output prices rose by 3.6 percent, also a touch weaker than in February but above a forecast of 3.3 percent in the Reuters poll. Separately, the ONS said house prices rose by an annual 5.8 percent in February, picking up speed from January and their increase since October. But house prices in London rose at their slowest pace in nearly five years, increasing by 3.7 percent. Other surveys have detected a weakening of the market in the capital, especially for the most expensive properties. (Reporting by William Schomberg and David Milliken; uk.economics@reuters.com, +44 20 7542 7748)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-inflation-idUKKBN17D0TT'|'2017-04-11T16:35:00.000+03:00' 'f837ef4b6e1ebcaa4c8b36dfd01141341e4e6a67'|'Tata Power, Adani Power slump as top court sets aside tribunal order'|'The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside an order by the Appellate Tribunal For Electricity allowing compensatory tariff to Tata Power Ltd and Adani Power Ltd, sending down shares of both companies.Shares of Tata Power reversed early gains to fall as much as 6.78 percent, while Adani Power slumped up to 20 percent to its lowest since Feb. 21.The tribunal, in April last year, had said that the two companies needed to be compensated as the change in Indonesian laws on coal export prices were outside the control of these companies. bit.ly/2ou08Mg(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tata-power-adani-power-court-idINKBN17D0MF'|'2017-04-11T04:50:00.000+03:00' '89f23c813973ebb96454fcb399b385993d45d239'|'Spending by UK shoppers stalls as inflation squeeze intensifies - BRC'|' Spending by UK shoppers stalls as inflation squeeze intensifies - BRC left right FILE PHOTO: Shoppers walk along Oxford Street in London, Britain December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo 1/2 A shopper browses at a vegetable market, in London, Britain February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls 2/2 LONDON Shoppers in Britain clamped down on their spending in early 2017 as retail sales rose at the slowest pace since the depths of the global financial crisis nearly a decade ago, a retail industry group said on Tuesday. In the latest sign of how consumers are reacting to rising inflation and slowing wage growth, total sales inched up by just 0.1 percent in the January-March period compared with the same three months of last year, the British Retail Consortium said. That was the weakest growth since the three months to December 2008, the BRC said. Households in Britain are suffering a power squeeze from the fall in the value of the pound since the referendum decision in June to leave the European Union, and the rise in global oil prices in recent months. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Friday he would keep a close eye on fading consumer demand as he and his fellow policymakers consider whether they should raise interest rates to protect the economy against inflation. "The pressure on prices continues to build, albeit slowly, and will inevitably put a tighter squeeze on disposable income," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said. As shoppers spent more on essentials, non-food retail sales fell by 0.8 percent on a total basis in the January-March period, the weakest three-month performance in nearly six years. In March alone, the value of total sales fell by 0.2 percent, the first such decline since August. On a like-for-like basis - which excludes new store openings - sales were down 1 percent, the sharpest decline since August 2015. The figures were affected by the timing of the Easter holiday - which fell in March last year and in April this year - the BRC said. Also on Tuesday, credit card firm Barclaycard said a 16 percent increase in spending on fuel pushed up its overall measure of consumer spending - which includes spending on things such as restaurants and hotels as well as in shops - by 4.6 percent in March compared with the same month last year. Barclaycard also said rising inflation meant a third of consumers planned to shop more at discount stores. Official figures due for release on Tuesday are expected to show inflation remained at a nearly three-and-a-half-year high of 2.3 percent in the 12 months to March while figures on Wednesday will probably show total wages growing by a weaker 2.2 percent, according to a Reuters poll of economists. (Reporting by William Schomberg; editing by Andy Bruce)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-retail-idUKKBN17C2K8'|'2017-04-11T07:03:00.000+03:00' 'c0a246c7d104987d7ba121a698fe3cd786529ce5'|'Busch seeks chairmanship at takeover target Pfeiffer Vacuum'|'FRANKFURT German pump maker Busch is seeking to install a family member in the supervisory board of takeover target Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) at short notice and is striving for the chairmanship, it said in the official offer document published on Wednesday.Busch reiterated its improved offer of 110 euros per Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) share plus a dividend of 3.60 euros a share. It described its intentions as "friendly".Last week, Busch had promised to hold off changes to rival Pfeiffer Vacuum''s strategy and to safeguard jobs as it seeks to drum up support for its latest takeover offer.(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-pfeiffer-vacuum-m-a-busch-idINKBN17E0J9'|'2017-04-12T04:34:00.000+03:00' 'e4162661e6359be0a3023103934eaf6c6d70e3cc'|'Akzo Nobel receives request from Elliott for shareholder meeting'|'Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) said on Wednesday that it had received a request from a group of shareholders led by Elliott Advisors to hold a special shareholder meeting to dismiss Chairman Antony Burgmans.Elliott hopes to add to pressure on Akzo to negotiate a potential sale to U.S. coatings manufacturer PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ), after Akzo rejected a sweetened 22.4 billion euro ($24 billion) cash-and-stock offer from PPG last month."The Supervisory Board strongly supports Mr. Burgmans in his role as Chairman," Akzo Nobel said in a statement.(Reporting by Alan Charlish in Gdynia; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzonobel-m-a-idINKBN17E0E4'|'2017-04-12T03:30:00.000+03:00' '33baabbf36ca982c649ee61a828c9f5a39e578fc'|'Facebook shareholders propose reports on ''fake news'', pay equality'|'Shareholders have proposed that Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) prepare a report on the threat to democracy and free speech from so-called fake news spread on the social media forum, and the dangers it may pose to the company itself, according to a proxy filing made on Friday.The proposal, which said Facebook had provided "a financial mechanism supporting fabricated content" on the internet, suggests the company review the issue broadly, including the extent to which it blocks fake posts, how its strategies impact free speech and how it evaluates claims in posts."Facebook is highly vulnerable, as fake news promoters are spamming their way to visibility for fake news through strategically gaming Facebook’s algorithms and publishing platform," the proposal states."In light of the societal crisis generated by the explosion of fake news and related hate speech, failure to effectively manage this issue creates public policy risk," it said.The issue of fake news came to prominence during the U.S. presidential election last year, when many inaccurate posts were widely shared on Facebook and other social media services. Facebook has said it is tackling the problem.It already has a program in France to use outside fact-checkers to combat fake news in users'' feeds and suspended 30,000 accounts in France on Thursday, ahead of the country''s presidential election.Separately, shareholders also proposed a gender pay equality report be prepared by December.The proposal recommends the company disclose the percentage pay gap between male and female employees across race and ethnicity, policies taken to address the gap, the methodology used to take those measures, and targets that could be set to reduce the gap.Facebook''s board of directors have recommended a vote against both proposals.(Reporting by Sangameswaran S Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-fakenews-idINKBN17H01A'|'2017-04-15T00:21:00.000+03:00' '9a7a2b33d2517fd659ff965a6f2e01cc24dc255f'|'Wal-Mart in advance talks to acquire men''s fashion retailer Bonobos: Recode'|'Deals - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 5:57pm EDT Wal-Mart in advance talks to acquire men''s fashion retailer Bonobos: Recode FILE PHOTO - Shopping carts are seen outside a new Wal-Mart Express store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on July 26, 2011. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ) is in advance discussions to buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc, Recode reported on Friday, citing sources. Both the sides have agreed on a price and the deal is in its final stages, Recode said. The expected deal value could not be learned. ( bit.ly/2nNA6nO ) The deal, if announced, would come two months after the world''s largest retailer acquired online outdoor clothing and gear retailer Moosejaw for $51 million, to boost its competitive standing in U.S. e-commerce. Wal-Mart did not respond to the requests for comment. Bonobos could not be immediately reached. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bonobos-m-a-walmart-idUSKBN17G1K5'|'2017-04-15T05:57:00.000+03:00' '9df4ec2789274c7c88df72e47c4edfe712781372'|'Japan''s frugal households offer no respite for Bank of Japan, retailers'|'Business News - Sat Apr 15, 2017 - 6:04am BST Japan''s frugal households offer no respite for Bank of Japan, retailers FILE PHOTO: The logo of Aeon Co is seen on shopping carts at its supermarket in Tokyo January 10, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Leika Kihara and Kaori Kaneko - TOKYO TOKYO Naruhito Nogami, a 37-year-old systems engineer in Tokyo, drives to discount stores on weekends to bulk buy cheap groceries, even though he earns enough to make ends meet and the prospects for Japan''s economic recovery are brighter. "I do have money, but I''m frugal anyway. Everyone is like that. That''s just the way it is," he says. Kazuko Sato, a 50-year-old animation artist, also frequents discount chain Daiso, where most items ranging from groceries and bath towels to kitchenware sell for just 100 yen ($0.91). "I look for things here first, and if they aren''t here then I go to the supermarket," she says, cradling a basket in the stationery aisle. "My job and salary are unstable so I need to be careful about my spending." People like them have prompted some companies to embark on sweeping price cuts, showing how tough it will be to eradicate Japan''s deflationary malaise despite the improving economy. It also highlights a new paradox facing the Bank of Japan: a disparity between solid growth and stubbornly weak inflation. Top retailer Aeon Co ( 8267.T ) is cutting prices for over 250 grocery items this month to lure cost-savvy shoppers, and Seiyu, operated by Wal-Mart Stores ( WMT.N ), cut prices on more than 200 products from February. "It''s unthinkable for us to raise prices at this stage," Fast Retailing Co ( 9983.T ) CEO Tadashi Yanai said after the owner of clothing brand Uniqlo reported flat revenue on Thursday. To be sure, many retailers say they are protecting their bottom line by offering not just discounts but high-end products. "It''s not just prices consumers are looking at. They are just being selective," said Takaharu Iwasaki, president of supermarket chain operator Life Corp ( 8194.T ). But central bank policymakers are struggling to explain why inflation and wages remain so low even as Japan''s economy enjoys its third-longest recovery since World War Two. "It''s a new conundrum for us," one official said. "It just shows how sticky Japan''s deflationary mindset is." DEMOGRAPHICS DRAG Japan''s economy has sustained a modest recovery cycle that kicked off when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power in late 2012 and launched his "Abenomics" package of aggressive monetary, fiscal stimulus measures and structural reforms. A recent rebound in overseas demand has helped boost exports and output, pushing up business confidence to its highest in a year and a half, with companies upbeat on their spending plans. Encouraged by recent positive data, the BOJ is expected to offer a more upbeat view of the economy at this month''s rate review than it did last month, people familiar with the matter said. The benefits of the recovery have yet to reach households, though, despite four years of heavy money printing by the central bank and fiscal spending packages. Real wages have been largely flat despite job losses hitting a 22-year low, as firms remain wary of raising wages. Core consumer inflation remained stuck at 0.2 percent in February, well below the BOJ''s ambitious 2 percent target, as companies hold back on price rises for fear of scaring away cost-sensitive households. Japan''s demographics are a key factor working against consumption. Nearly 30 percent of the population will be aged 65 or above in 2020, according to a government estimate. Living off pensions, elderly households are unaffected by any wage hikes and tend to withhold spending, analysts say. Miyako Minamizawa, a 65-year-old pensioner in Tokyo, says the recovery hasn''t changed her life. "I don''t feel like the economy is doing well," she said, adding she is dipping into her savings because her pension isn''t enough to get by on. In the capital''s upmarket Ginza shopping district, 72-year-old Shimako Naito said: "I used to often impulse buy, on quite expensive clothes and jewellery, but now I take my time and try and buy when things are cheaper." Inefficiencies in Japan''s highly-protected farm sector have kept fresh food prices high and volatile. A weak-yen trend also hurt households by pushing up the price of imported goods. Food prices rose 1.7 percent in 2016 from a year earlier, even though overall consumer prices fell 0.1 percent. Households used 26 percent of their income to buy food last year, the highest level in almost three decades, leaving them with little left to spend on non-necessities. Food products topped the list of items that households spent more on, a quarterly BOJ survey showed this month, while households cut spending most on eating out, clothing and travel. Roughly 80 percent of households who replied to the BOJ''s survey said they feel price rises are a bad thing, a sign the central bank has failed to convince the public of the benefits of putting a sustained end to growth-sapping deflation. Masayuki Yamamuro, 51, who works at a real estate firm, says he eats out less and is cutting down on spending because grocery shopping is becoming more expensive. "My salary hasn''t risen. I want to buy a car, own a house or go travelling. But I''m not able to do that." ($1 = 109.1600 yen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-prices-analysis-idUKKBN17G0N2'|'2017-04-15T13:04:00.000+03:00' '377da81d50e4fa02352b747aeb8d0cba833d7f79'|'Young midwestern farmers want to grow sustainable food – but they need help - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'O n a recent chilly afternoon, Natasha Hegmann, 28, and her husband, Pete Kerns, 27, tended the fire of a giant copper boiler holding some 250 gallons of maple sap. The sap had flowed into the boiler overnight through a series of pipes from nearby trees. Turning the gooey sap into syrup will take days.A native Iowan, Hegmann worked at a number of local community farms before her and Kerns set up their own, Turkey River Farms, in 2015 to grow vegetables in warmer months and harvest maple sap during the winter. The couple thought about farming in other states but ultimately decided to stay in Iowa because of the support given by Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), a 32-year-old nonprofit that aims to attract new and young farmers to the field and teach them to grow food organically. The group offers workshops and a program that gives funds to match the money saved by new farmers over a period of time.Will 2017 be the year we get serious about sustainable food? Read more “PFI has been huge for us,” Hegmann says. “It’s actually part of the reason that we chose to settle and start our farm in Iowa.”For decades, the midwest has boasted the highest concentration of farms in the US , and is also a crucial agricultural region, both for local food production and food that is exported. Today, midwestern states, particularly Iowa, are the second leading producers of crops and livestock behind California, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) census . This says a lot about the midwest’s potential for being the next sustainable food production hub in the US.But here’s the trouble: statistically, young people just aren’t that into farming. In the most recent USDA agricultural census, new farmer numbers dropped by around 20% between 2007-2012, with the majority of farmers falling somewhere between the ages of 55-64, consistent with a 30-year trend . The culprits of this trend: a diminishing ability to subsist on farming income, an increase in debt needed to farm and general rural poverty .Young people are leaving the midwest faster than anywhere else . “Farming is also not on the typical list of ‘hot’ careers for twenty-somethings, and the barriers to entry can seem daunting,” says Gary Adamkiewicz, assistant professor of Environmental Health and Exposure Disparities at Harvard University.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Natasha Hegmann, 28, and her husband, Pete Kerns, 27, run Turkey River Farms in Iowa. They grow vegetables in warmer months and harvest maple sap during the winter. Photograph: Adrian White One of the biggest roadblocks for beginning farmers is land access. Land costs continue to climb and, despite the enormous land transference to come as older farmers retire – 70% of the nation’s farmland over the next two decades – most of it may not end up in the hands of willing young farmers but in the hands of property developers .For farmers just cutting into the market, starting small, and wanting to grow sustainably, the odds are not great. Large farms have the scale, money and freedom to use synthetic pesticides and fertilizers to maximize yields. Organic farming, on the other hand, can be more profitable but takes more land to grow the same amount of food as conventional farming. Farmers are limited in the types of chemicals they can use to get rid of pests and nurture crops, and organic certification is long and expensive. The USDA requires farmers to demonstrate organic practices for three years before they can be certified – but farmers are not allowed to increase the prices of their products during this time to be on par with other organic produce.Hannah Breckbill has faced these challenges. The 29-year-old owner of Humble Hands Harvest near Decorah, Iowa, runs a two-woman operation growing organic vegetable produce. “Access to capital is a lot harder with unconventional agriculture, but the capital needs are not a lot less,” she says. Her biggest challenge? Land. “I’ve been able to manage that through creative means, renting and borrowing from landowners who had a few acres to spare. Now I’m finally buying my own land, and that had to happen by creative means too: lots of people in my community gifting me with substantial amounts of money and capital.”Breckbill says that she’s spent almost $100,000 on Humble Hands Harvest since starting the operation in 2013. Her first year required around $12,000 to run the farm on land she didn’t have to buy at the time. Later, the eight acres she is on now cost $40,000 – some was gifted, some was through a $20,000 loan from her uncle. Electricity cost a further $10,000 and the greenhouse a little over $8,000. Operating costs are roughly around $10,000 per year, not counting labor costs.Fortunately for Breckbill and other young farmers in the midwest, organizations like PFI help relieve the burden. The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (Moses) is a nonprofit formed in 1999 that aims to help out farmers in the upper midwest with resources, workshops, and education on all sorts of farming-related subjects, from fieldwork to financial.The nonprofit’s biggest contribution: an annual educational farming conference, held in Wisconsin. This year’s event, held in February, drew 3,100 attendants hailing from 49 different states and six foreign countries ; 44% of them designated themselves as new or beginning farmers (in other words, farming less than ten years) – a rise from the 42% since 2016. Moses designates specific workshops for new farmers as part of its New Organic Stewards program, including education on topics from practical sustainable farming skills to financial tools.There’s also the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a Minnesota nonprofit that provides training workshops and courses throughout the state for new farmers, designed to help equip new farmers with business planning skills so they can then run their own profitable agricultural businesses.Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (Moses) is a nonprofit formed in 1999 that aims to help out farmers in the upper midwest with resources, workshops, and education on all sorts of farming-related subjects, from fieldwork to financial. Photograph: Adrian White According to LSP, farm startup costs tend to average around $60,000 (whether for livestock, a diversified crop of vegetables, or fruits) and may include greenhouses, electricity, coolers for food storage, tractors, equipment, fencing and more. Planting orchards or a mix of vegetables tends to have much higher startup costs, even when on smaller acreage; livestock is relatively lower, even on land close to 50 acres. However, this number does not include the price of land, which varies widely depending on location.More than 600 farmers completed a beginner’s farming course in the first 16 years of the nonprofit’s initiative, according to LSP . There’s also a two-year mentorship program that pairs new farmers with established and profitable farms in the area. Breckbill happened to benefit from LSP’s programs. “I did my first business planning through LSP, and I continue to work with them,” she says.Can we feed 10 billion people on organic farming alone? Read more The beginner’s farming course has even formed its own nationwide collaborative, spawning its own website and splinter programs that model the original program piece-for-piece in South Dakota, North Carolina, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri.To address the problem of land, an Iowa organization called Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, or Silt, was established 2014. Modeled closely after other land trusts around the country, the nonprofit protects land purchased or donated to the trust with conservation easements, which are legal agreements that prohibit the land from being developed for business use other than farming.As a result of placing the land in conservation easement, its value is depreciated – due to it no longer being on the market for development – making it an affordable lease option for new farmers. Silt also helps with organic certification and doesn’t allow farmers to grow high cash conventional crops, such as corn for ethanol – just food. “We set a higher bar in our easements than almost any land trust,” says Suzan Erem, president of Silt.Erem feels a sense of urgency about carrying out Silt’s mission. “We have a window of opportunity, but if young people don’t keep stepping up to do this labor intensive, somewhat risky form of farming, none of us will have any choices left.”Adamkiewicz at Harvard agrees. “Last year, the USDA announced a series of initiatives aimed at cultivating the next generation of farmers, including mentoring and loan programs. We need more investments like these.“We need to train this next generation who are trying to make a difference while dealing with some of the stresses already put on farmland by conventional agriculture.”Topics Guardian sustainable business Food Agriculture features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/13/sustainable-farming-midwest-food-organic-agriculture'|'2017-04-14T00:38:00.000+03:00' '5a703a28e23c5e4b901be347c8b8399062bf25b1'|'Loan growth stalls despite profit, trading gains at some U.S. banks'|'Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 7:23pm BST Loan growth stalls despite profit, trading gains at some big banks left right FILE PHOTO - People pass the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Corporate headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo 1/3 left right A Citigroup office is seen at Canary Wharf in London, Britain May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO - A Wells Fargo branch is seen in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, U.S. on February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo 3/3 By David Henry - NEW YORK NEW YORK Big U.S. banks revealed more evidence of a slowdown in loan growth in their earnings reports on Thursday, though executives assured there is still healthy demand from borrowers and no reason to worry about the state of the economy. JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) posted higher first-quarter earnings that beat analysts'' expectations on large gains in trading revenue. Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ), which relies more on traditional lending and less on markets-related businesses, reported a slight dip in profit due to a slowdown in mortgage banking. See Breakingviews column: The results underscored concerns expressed recently by analysts and investors that higher interest rates, combined with uncertainty about geopolitical events, could hurt economic growth - and therefore crimp lenders'' bottom lines. But on conference calls to discuss results, top bank executives dismissed those concerns, citing strong demand from borrowers with impressive credit quality. "I wouldn''t overreact to the short term in our loan growth with so many things that affect it," said JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon. The bank''s core loan portfolio averaged $812 billion during the first quarter, up 9 percent on an annualized basis. But that growth rate has ticked down from 12 percent in the previous quarter and 17 percent a year ago. Wells Fargo''s annual loan growth rate of 4 percent has also been slowing over the past year. Citigroup''s loan book has been skewed by divestitures and its acquisition of a credit-card portfolio. Adjusting for those matters, Citi''s core loan book grew 5 percent in the first quarter, executives said. But management''s outlook for loan growth has nonetheless been tempered. "There was probably just some modest reduction in our expectation for loan growth ... compared to the earlier guidance, certainly following the first-quarter performance," Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said. Across the banking industry, loans fell slightly during the first three months of the year, according to Federal Reserve data. John Conlon, chief equity strategist at People''s United Wealth Management, who invests in bank stocks, said he is still concerned about loan growth after seeing the reports and listening to the executives'' comments. "There''s a great deal of optimism," Conlon said, "but there''s still uncertainty." Wells Fargo''s shares were down 2.6 percent to $51.70, while Citigroup''s stock was flat at $58.41 and JPMorgan fell 0.6 percent to $84.90. The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index .BKX fell 0.8 percent. The mortgage business is putting particular pressure on loan growth. The recent uptick in interest rates has crushed a wave of mortgage refinancing that kicked off in 2010, leading to big declines in mortgage banking revenue. Other areas of lending have also slowed. For instance, some big corporate borrowers have been opting to issue bonds rather than take out traditional loans, JPMorgan Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake said. And, in areas where banks are finding growth, like credit-card lending, they are doling out fat rewards and cutting interest rates to lure customers from one another. Even so, bank executives sounded optimistic on Thursday about the outlook for lending. Higher rates allow banks to earn more money from the loans they make, as well as the idle cash they have invested in low-risk securities like Treasury bonds. JPMorgan expects to add another $400 million to its net interest income in the second quarter. That metric is important because it shows the difference between what banks pay for funds and what they earn from using them. Additionally, they said, signals that lawmakers and the White House want to spur the economy bode well for loan growth. Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach said first-quarter lending reflects some waiting by borrowers for Washington to act. "We haven''t seen concrete changes yet in policies," Gerspach said. "When we get tax reform [and] when the administration is successful in implementing some of what they have been talking about - hopefully that will spur the economy on." (Reporting by David Henry; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran and Dan Freed in New York, and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-results-idUKKBN17F21R'|'2017-04-14T02:54:00.000+03:00' '0eb3530c97ef3913166c56b8e2fab7a1251b241f'|'Wall Street flat as investors parse bank earnings'|' 9:14pm IST Wall Street flat as investors parse bank earnings FILE PHOTO - Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shortly after the announcement that the U.S. Federal Reserve had hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade in New York, U.S., on December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors weighed earnings from the top Wall Street banks and President Donald Trump''s comments on the strength of the dollar. Shares of JPMorgan and Citigroup rose about 1 percent after the two banks reported better-than-expected quarterly profits. However, Wells Fargo slipped 1.4 percent after reporting a big drop in mortgage banking revenue and Berkshire Hathaway''s disclosure that it had reduced its stake in the bank. The earnings come in the wake of a frenetic rally in bank shares that started after Trump''s election as U.S. president on hopes that he would rein in banking regulations and introduce other business friendly policies. The S&P 500 financial index was up 0.2 percent. Bank of America and Goldman Sachs, which are due to report results next week, were also up. At 11:04 a.m. EDT (1504 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 6.58 points, or 0.03 percent, at 20,598.44, the S&P 500 was up 2.22 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,347.15 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 18.15 points, or 0.31 percent, at 5,854.31. President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the dollar "was getting too strong" and that he would like to see interest rates stay low. However, the impact of the comments was short-lived as the beaten down dollar recovered slightly and gold prices lost some of their luster after gaining for four straight days. "Despite the rhetoric that comes out of any political event, if you have good economic data and decent earnings, (the market will) overcome the day-to-day dynamics of macro policy and political risk," said Nathan Thooft, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management in Boston Massachusetts. Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, led by technology, which rose for the first time after a nine-day losing streak. Trading volumes are likely to be weak on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,360 to 1,351. On the Nasdaq, 1,332 issues rose and 1,258 fell. The S&P 500 index showed three 52-week highs and no lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 18 highs and 37 lows. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17F1L6'|'2017-04-13T23:44:00.000+03:00' 'e6b415449f9251c2744cc4bfee6f965c07213e04'|'India''s trade deficit widens to four-month high in March'|' 6:05pm IST India''s trade deficit widens to four-month high in March A mobile crane carries a container at Thar Dry Port in Sanand in the western state of Gujarat, India, February 13, 2017. Picture taken February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo NEW DELHI India''s trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $10.44 billion in March following a surge in merchandise imports, government data showed on Thursday. Merchandise exports last month grew 28 percent to $29.23 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement. Imports, however, surged 45.25 percent on year to $39.67 billion in March. (Reporting by Manoj Kumar and Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Malini Menon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-trade-deficit-idINKBN17F1JP'|'2017-04-13T20:35:00.000+03:00' 'e1e8d86b33e59c40ec8e9612c4b4291940d05d08'|'Gross says equity markets, junk bonds pricing in ''too much'' hope, growth'|'Money 7:56am EDT Gross says equity markets, junk bonds pricing in ''too much'' hope, growth By Jennifer Ablan - NEW YORK NEW YORK Influential bond investor Bill Gross on Thursday stepped up his warning to investors not to be tempted into buying equities, high-yield junk bonds and other asset classes, given the possibility that U.S. President Donald Trump might fail to enact policies that fuel economic growth. "Equity markets are priced for too much hope, high-yield junk bond markets for too much growth, and all asset prices elevated to artificial levels that only a model-driven, historically-biased investor would believe could lead to returns resembling the past six years, or the decades predating Lehman," Gross said in his latest Investment Outlook. "High rates of growth, and the productivity that drives it, are likely distant memories from a bygone era." Gross, who runs the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, earlier this year said investors should not be allured by the "Trump mirage," of 3-4 percent economic growth and the "magical benefits" of tax cuts combined with deregulation. Trump told the Fox Business network this week that he wants to tackle the healthcare issue before tax reform. "I have to do healthcare first, I want to do it first to really do it right," Trump said. Trump said that although tax reform is critical to growth and businesses large and small, "hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars" would be saved by repealing and replacing Obamacare, which would help with tax reform. Gross said U.S. stock and corporate debt markets have rallied on expectations that tax reform would get done sooner rather than later. "Can the Trump agenda re-create 3 percent growth?" Gross asked in his April report to clients. "Well now, that is the investment question of the hour/day/decade and its conclusion, unlike romance on a desert island, will determine the level of asset prices across the investment spectrum." Growth is productivity dependent, Gross said, noting that Northwestern University economist Robert Gordon has long argued that lower productivity may now be a function of having picked all of the "low-hanging fruit," such as electrification and other gains from 20th century technology. "Then there is the obvious connection between recent years'' low levels of private sector investment, which perhaps begs another question as to why that is so low," Gross said. "Optimists claim that the future benefit of smartphones and medical technology have yet to have an impact and that eventually - much like the introduction of the automobile - they will lead to a resumption of historical trends." (Reporting by Jennifer Ablan, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-funds-janus-capjanus-glbl-uncons-bd-g-idUSKBN17F1GF'|'2017-04-13T19:55:00.000+03:00' '201722d0e90b2b6a426b0bc1629307e9a11c13ea'|'China central bank resumes cash injections as shadow banking crackdowns spur liquidity worries'|' 31pm IST China central bank resumes cash injections as shadow banking crackdowns spur liquidity worries FILE PHOTO: A woman walks out of the headquarters of the People''s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing November 20, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo SHANGHAI China''s central bank resumed injections into the money market on Thursday after a near three-week absence, in an apparent bid to ease fears of a cash crunch in the financial system following massive drains from maturing debt instruments. The market has also been on edge after a flurry of moves by regulators to curb riskier lending activity, including a crackdown by the banking watchdog this week on misdemeanors with a focus on shadow banking. Some investors are predicting a sell-off in low-grade corporate bonds by lenders rushing to avoid penalties, which would further strain the financial system and rattle investors. After skipping open market operations for 13 consecutive sessions -- saying liquidity was relatively high -- the People''s Bank of China (PBOC) injected 110 billion yuan ($15.98 billion) into the interbank market via reverse bond repurchase agreements on Thursday. It added another 83.9 trillion yuan through its pledged supplementary lending facility (PSL). "This reflects the central bank''s intention to ease worries of a liquidity shortage," said Wang Jingjie, a bond analyst at GF Futures. Wang said 217 billion yuan worth of Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) loans matured on Thursday, draining cash from the market. In recent months, the PBOC has shifted to a focus on liquidity management to guide short-term interest rates and squeeze financial institutions and speculators which it believes to be too highly leveraged. Underscoring the potential liquidity swings from maturing debt instruments, China has about 4 trillion yuan worth of outstanding MLFs, which are PBOC loans with a maturity period of up to 12 months. The PBOC last month completed its most rigorous quarterly inspection of the nation''s banks to date to get a better idea of the problems it is facing. For the first time since it was launched last year, the Macro Prudential Assessment, or MPA, included off-balance sheet wealth management products to give authorities a better sense of potential risks to the financial system. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) this week told lenders to conduct checks on improper trading, incentives and innovative financing methods. Analysts say this could force banks to shrink their off-balance sheet investment activities, potentially hurting the bond market, a key destination for such investments. "Depending on how strictly the clean-up is executed ... it is possible to see a sell-off in corporate bonds, especially those with low ratings," said Zhou Li, president at bond-focused asset manager Rationalstone Investment. He suspected that a sudden slump on Thursday in the shares of Ping An Insurance Group Co and Industrial Bank Co Ltd could be related to checks on shadow banking, and said the same could happen in the bond market as well. The shares'' slide was believed to have been triggered by massive selling via a brokerage''s asset management account. But Zhou retains some optimism toward China''s treasury bonds. "China''s economic fundamentals doesn''t seem very solid. That''s good news for treasuries." ($1 = 6.8818 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Samuel Shen and John Ruwitch; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-pboc-liquidity-idINKBN17F104'|'2017-04-13T17:01:00.000+03:00' 'aef9825bd335280eaa1baa7b0b9fa50fb17494fb'|'METALS-Copper climbs as China trade brightens, imports jump'|'* LME/SHFe arb: tmsnrt.rs/2oQ5nm2 (Updates with closing prices)By Zandi ShabalalaLONDON, April 13 Copper prices rebounded from their lowest level in three months on Thursday, helped by a weaker dollar and upbeat trade data from China, the largest consumer of the metal, that spurred hopes for higher demand.Benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange closed 1.1 percent lower at $5,692 tonne, after falling to its lowest since Jan. 10 in the previous session."The China data definitely shows a recovery from recent lows, so its not surprising to see prices higher," said Eugene Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank.* CHINA: China''s 2017 export outlook brightened considerably after it reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift.* COPPER: China''s imports of copper rose 26.5 percent from month ago to 430,000 tonnes in March, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.* DOLLAR: The dollar index slid to a two-week low after U.S. President Donald Trump said it was too strong. A lower U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for holders of other currencies, which could boost demand.* TECHNICALS: Copper support seen at Wednesday''s low around $5,600/15, a breach could see a test of $5,500. Resistance seen at $5,800 near the 100-day moving average. * China''s central bank has been quietly boosting its policy independence and regulatory reach as it seeks to contain risks to the financial system, policy insiders said, helping ensure stability before a five-yearly leadership team transition this year.* Losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars appear to be pushing Indonesia and miner Freeport McMoRan to resolve a row that has crippled operations at Grasberg for three months.* Chile, the world''s biggest copper producer, faces a fresh threat of labour action when a union at the large Chuquicamata mine said it had blocked access as a "warning" over planned changes to job opportunities.* The global zinc market moved into a surplus of 19,800 tonnes in February from a deficit of 22,300 tonnes in January, data from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group showed.* ALUMINIUM: China exported 410,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, up from February''s 260,000 tonnes. China''s aluminium makers have stepped up exports as a healthier global manufacturing climate and declining world stockpiles boost demand.* OTHER METALS: LME aluminium gained 0.6 percent to $1,910, nickel inched 0.1 percent lower to $9,750, while tin was up 1 percent at $19,605. Lead fell 0.1 percent to $2,239. Zinc fell 0.7 percent to $2,624, edging close to January lows touched this week.(Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idINL3N1HL382'|'2017-04-13T14:15:00.000+03:00' 'f46a795369f1be673dc90b0ee4d55893e71a1f09'|'Eiffage wins 795-million-euro contract for new "Grand Paris" metro'|' 7:11am BST Eiffage wins 795-million-euro contract for new "Grand Paris" metro View of the logo of French construction group Eiffage on a crane at a job site in Paris, France, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen/File Photo PARIS A consortium led by French construction company Eiffage has won a 795 million euro (674.45 million pounds) contract for work on the southern branch of the Paris metro''s new line 15, which forms part of large-scale expansion plans for the French capital. The contract was announced on Friday by Societe du Grand Paris, the state-owned company in charge of the whole development project worth an estimated 25-30 billion euros and due for completion by 2030. The project is backed by the French state and the local authority for the Ile-de-France region, which numbers 12 million habitants and accounts for almost a third of France''s gross domestic product (GDP). (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; editing by Michel Rose)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eiffage-grandparis-idUKKBN17G0E8'|'2017-04-14T14:11:00.000+03:00' 'ff60ea474a3a3cbf2b0a7caa66b5e8c163be1d40'|'Lufthansa to receive fewer A320neos than expected this year'|' 1:55pm BST Lufthansa to receive fewer A320neos than expected this year The logo of German airline Lufthansa is seen before the company''s annual news conference at the airport in Munich, Germany, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle BERLIN Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) is due to receive five A320neo jets this year, a spokeswoman said on Thursday, half the number it originally expected, as delivery delays hamper the Airbus ( AIR.PA ) plane. Lufthansa, which was the first airline to operate the A320neo and took delivery of five of the jets in 2016, had said at the end of December that it expected 10 of the medium-haul planes this year. A spokeswoman said Lufthansa was now expecting five this year, with the next one slated to arrive in the summer. That could affect Lufthansa''s capex plans for this year. The airline said in March it expected to spend 2.7 billion euros (2.29 billion pounds) this year. Airbus delivered 12 A320neos in March to bring the 2017 total to 26, but deliveries remain behind schedule due mainly to problems with engines from Pratt & Whitney ( UTX.N ), one of two suppliers. Lufthansa Group has ordered 116 of the A320neo family jets in total, with around half to have Pratt engines and the other half engines made by CFM, a joint venture between GE ( GE.N ) and Safran ( SAF.PA ). (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lufthansa-a320neo-idUKKBN17F1L1'|'2017-04-13T20:55:00.000+03:00' 'f51cc40b1b319bbf51d39d405c237e9393f4a436'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 14'|'Company News 41pm EDT PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 14 April 14 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines * UK banks expected to ease loan growth in Q2 – Bank of England on.ft.com/2oESG0J *''Golden age'' for UK radio as number of listeners hits record high on.ft.com/2oF1unx *Royal Mail faces strike threat after pension scheme closure on.ft.com/2oER7jA *Facebook blames human error for publishing child porn on.ft.com/2oEXfbw Overview *UK retail banks are expected to ease the supply of unsecured credit to British consumers in the middle of the year, according to the Bank of England, which has issued caveats over the state of the Britain''s current borrowing boom. *Radio listening in the UK is at a new high. Rajar, which collects audience data for the UK radio industry, shows that 48 million adults listened to just over 1 billion hours of radio each week in the last three months of 2016. *Royal Mail Plc is facing the threat of workers'' strike after it decided to close its pension scheme, affecting 90,000 members. UK postal operator said on Thursday that its 7.4 billion pounds ($9.25 billion) pension scheme will close to future accruals after March 2018. *Facebook Inc held human error responsible for its failure to remove dozens of child pornography images and videos after they were flagged to the company. ($1 = 0.7999 pounds) (Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL1N1HL1Z3'|'2017-04-14T07:41:00.000+03:00' 'c1a0c0bd0e44314edbd1d3f09b0f1f5b3d491b6d'|'BRIEF-Credit Suisse - CEO and Executive Board voluntarily propose a reduction of variable compensation by 40 percent'|'Company 22pm EDT BRIEF-Credit Suisse - CEO and Executive Board voluntarily propose a reduction of variable compensation by 40 percent April 13 Credit Suisse Group Ag * CEO and Executive Board voluntarily propose a reduction of variable compensation by 40 percent * Board of directors decides on no increase in total board compensation for 2017 * Board of directors has also decided to maintain total board compensation at the level of 2015 and 2016'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-credit-suisse-ceo-and-executive-bo-idUSFWN1HL0MY'|'2017-04-14T06:22:00.000+03:00' '86085c7c1a910c5530962202b3cbc6cbaed45b9b'|'White van nation: meet the drivers behind the on-demand economy - Money'|'T he car park that surrounds New Spitalfields Market like an awesome concrete moat is, this morning as every morning, teeming with vans. “Thousand, easy,” says Johnny Bates, scanning the fleet of Ford Transits and Mercedes Sprinters as they grind in and out of gear, halt with sudden handbrake croaks, and give out rich and satisfying roars as cargo-bay doors slide open. Bates, 55, who is employed to choreograph traffic at the east London food market, gestures at a Vauxhall Vivaro. “He’s leaking diesel.” Behind him, an inbound Citroën Berlingo beeps and does not slow, and Bates skips out of its path. He narrows his eyes at a departing Renault Trafic, silver-painted and glinting in the 7am sun. Most vans on site accord with tradition (and stereotype): they are white. “But you get the odd few who want to be trendy,” says Bates, who must know the vans and their drivers better than anybody. He jogs away to help a reversing Peugeot Boxer.This car park could be looked at as a microcosm of Britain in 2017, with its finite tarmac, and its great and growing fleet of vans on top. This is the age of the online shop, of the one-click purchase and the convenient delivery window, and to make it all possible, more vans (“Light goods vehicles... with a gross weight up to 3.5 tonnes,” in the DVLA definition ) are on UK roads than ever before. Last year, the total topped 4m for the first time. One in every 10 new vehicles registered with the DVLA was a van, and vans now account for a fifth of traffic on urban streets and motorways. At the end of 2015 (the last time such an eccentric calculation was undertaken), the total yearly distance covered by the UK’s vans reached 46.9bn miles , or enough for a few round-trip deliveries to Pluto.Who’s inside them, these millions of Renault Masters, Volkswagen Crafters, Fiat Doblòs, Iveco Dailys? In a recent government survey of the labour force, 251,000 people identified van-driving as their main occupation, up 50,000 on the year before. But when politicians and the press use the phrase “white van man” (most recently in a row over proposals to raise the cost of national insurance ), it’s meant to suggest a more substantial body of people: the construction workers, entrepreneurs, traders and small business owners who run disparate enterprises out of a van’s rear doors. Vans and their drivers deliver parcels, put up buildings, maintain infrastructure and the internet, convey waste, and rumble about with cargoes of sweatshirts, flowers, books and energy drinks. One in every 1,000 vans is put to use in “mining and quarrying”; one in every 20,000 rattles around the grounds of a stately home.Johnny Bates, the van authority of New Spitalfields, believes you can judge the degree to which a driver’s livelihood depends on their vehicle by peering through its windshield and counting the Styrofoam cups, the empty Coke cans, the curling newspapers. “If they spend their life driving it,” Bates says, “they keep it nicer.” Whenever a new driver comes to Bates for advice, he tells them the same thing: “Buy a comfortable van and buy a comfortable bed. Because, if you’re not in one, you’re in the other.” Van hours can be long hours.I go to towns! I go to the countryside! I went to the nuclear plant at Leiston once! I cannot be boredI want to get to know the drivers, to conduct an informal audit of this expanding community, so I drive out behind a procession of vans as they leave the market. All but the new or newly washed are stained with smut and soot. Most have a dent or dents; one Transit is so massively impacted along its flanks that it’s rippled like a crinkle-cut potato chip. Some vans are unmarked and others imprinted with the branding of their keepers. Poplar Oriental Grocers, “where demand meets quality”. Carpet City, “the flooring experts”. I follow any vans with names or slogans that catch my eye and together we circumnavigate London, from east (Fishland, Unique Surfaces, Removals Zone) to north (Mr Yoghurt, Simply Loos, Hypnos, “the most comfortable beds in the world”) to west (Supercleaning, Kestrel Cool Delivery, FrenchClick, “French groceries brought to your door”).Vans move so slowly in west London traffic, I can get out and follow on foot. Outside a Japanese cafe on Kings Road, I speak with Richard Toorac, 40, as he unloads bottles of teriyaki and soy sauce from the back of a Sprinter. “Too long,” Toorac says when I ask about his time in this line of work. His passion is music, he says, the delivering a sideline to support reggae events he hosts. For now, he’s in the middle of a 15-stop condiment tour of the south-east. “What do I think about? Nothing. Taking the quickest route possible… I only want to get home.”I meet a driver of chilled perishables who’s more sanguine. Whenever he’s at the wheel of his van, he says, he thinks about, “The road, the journey.” Rafal Dabrowski, a Polish courier for UK Mail, says: “I go to towns! I go to the countryside! I went to the nuclear plant at Leiston once! I cannot be bored.” He used to be a bus driver, he says. He knows true boredom.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: Franck Allais for the GuardianMost of those I meet drive alone in their vehicles. Tony Capener, a joiner taking furniture around London, today has a trio of young apprentices crammed into his van with him. Capener schools them in mood management. “When you’re stuck in traffic, you’re stuck in traffic. Got to learn not to mind traffic. It fascinates me, someone’s stuck in traffic and they shout about it.”Just about every driver I encounter stresses forbearance as a key professional tool. Do any amount of car-spotting, says Frank Hunt, 69, in the middle of a run from Southampton to Ely to deliver air conditioners. Stop for Burger Kings or count the number of ripped tyres on the road (both of which distractions Hunt has tried in the last few hours). To keep yourself sane, he says, “you’ve got to have patience”.I come across a uniformed courier, Ali Waqasali, 29, without a lot of choice in the matter. He leaves his Renault Master on a Chelsea side street and takes off up Kings Road at a sprint. He crosses, avoiding a van from the National Grid and almost getting struck by another. Waqasali works for the courier giant DPD, which has 3,600 delivery vehicles on the road. He carries a parcel from the clothing firm Asos in one hand and a large device like a raygun in the other. Waqasali reaches an apartment block and rings the bell. His device has a ticking timer on its display, a customer having been promised their Asos box within a specific hour.“One minute to go,” Waqasali says, wrestling with a door that’s been buzzed but won’t immediately open. Thirty seconds. There’s urgent debate over the intercom as to whether he should push or pull. Ten, nine, eight… Waqasali shoves inside, takes the apartment stairs two at a time, and is back on the road within a minute. “Not an easy job, man,” he says as the device in his hand resets. He lets a succession of vans pass by before crossing back over the road. Maxlight Sliding Doors. Edward Miles Removals, “A profoundly moving experience”. Vans driving for rival couriers FedEx and DHL. The DHL van, squat and yellow, creeps north in the direction of Knightsbridge. Unusually, a woman’s driving this one. I follow it.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Christie Shackleton delivered tablecloths. Less than 5% of vans are registered to women. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the GuardianLess than 5% of vans are registered to women, and in my informal survey through British windshields, it’s bloke after bloke after bloke. (They brand these things Boxer and Master for a reason.) I do get to know a driver called Christie Shackleton, 20, from Edinburgh, who spent eight happy months bombing around north-east Scotland in an LDV last year, ferrying napkins and tablecloths for a wedding firm. “Third gear was hell, but it had character, that van,” says Shackleton, who has since given up the work and will soon train as a teacher. In Knightsbridge, the DHL van parks outside the fashion boutiques of Chanel and Valentino. When I intercept the driver, she gasps: “Busy!” She’s a 33-year-old Brazilian called Thais Orsa and these are her first days in the job. She shows me a device in her hand, similar to a smartphone; like Waqasali’s raygun, it’s ticking, ticking. “Twenty deliveries! Before 5pm!”Orsa hurries away and I stay to watch an intricate little van-ballet play out in her wake, half a dozen couriers parking on the same patch of Knightsbridge kerb within minutes of each other. There’s another van from DPD. Two from FedEx. A black van run by Addison Lee Courier and a white van from ecourier.co.uk. Online shopping continues to grow year on year , and more and more of us, more and more often, buy our stuff by squinting at 2D images, punching in a three-digit security code and waiting for tangible goodies to appear on our doorsteps. For all the talk of parcel-carrying drones or pavement-walking delivery robots , digitised shopping still manifests as a bunch of sooty Citroën Dispatches and VW Caddys driving crisscrossing routes, mounting kerbs, and adding to the air pollution that in most UK cities already exceeds EU limits .Harried-looking drivers run in and out of shops, with the focused urgency of Olympic steeplechasersIn Knightsbridge, I watch an endless relay of ignitions and central-locking clicks, of punched-on hazard lights and harried-looking drivers undertaking obstacle runs, in and out of shops, with the focused urgency of Olympic steeplechasers. The guy from ecourier.co.uk, pelting into Chanel, has a company fleece that he leaves tucked on the dashboard of his van. I get up close to see the slogan stitched on its breast: “Happiness delivered.”“We’ve become dependent on a service economy,” Mark Cartwright says when I reach him by phone. “We’ve become addicted, honestly.” Cartwright is head of vans at the FTA, the Freight Transport Association . As I drive out of London (behind a garden centre’s nimble Fiat Ducato and a Renault Trafic that’s been converted into a private ambulance for a funeral company), Cartwright gives me his explanation for the massive growth in his sector. Roughly that, while the van driver who spends serious time on British roads learns to be stoical or quickly goes mad, we customers and consumers have become impatient about delay of any sort. The local pharmacy should have our perishable medicine whenever we choose to stroll in. Kicking our heels longer than a week for a delivery has become pretty much unacceptable. Quietly, every quarter, another 80,000 vans take to the road.These armadas are relatively inexpensive to finance because of historically low interest rates. And they’re relatively cheap to maintain because of the low vehicle taxation that applies to vans. Most significantly, vans are easy to fill with drivers because anyone with a basic licence can hop in and go. Pass your test in a sporty little hatchback tomorrow, and that same day you’ll be able to gun around in a Renault Master the length and breadth of a shipping container. Limits that curtail the amount of hours a day a lorry driver can spend on the road do not apply to van drivers, either: so why not take that Master on an overnighter to the Hebrides?A report put out recently by Mark Cartwright and the FTA explained, delicately, that the van community had in recent years become, “Diffuse… characterised by non-professional drivers”. Accidents and injury rates are up by about 25% in a decade. Cartwright worries about reputational damage and an enforcing of the negative stereotypes. We all know them: the dodgem driving, the leery misogyny. Out on the road, I spend a good while behind a Renault Kangoo that has a large, detailed penis drawn into the soot of its rear doors. In its brazenness, it makes me think of the time I was out with a group of female friends and a driver projected himself through the window of his van to sing at the girls: “Who let the dogs out?” He barrelled on, took a mini-roundabout at speed, and came back to finish the phrase: “Who, who-who-who?”Christie Shackleton, in Scotland, recalls being pointed at, eye-rolled at, generally harangued by drivers “who saw a 5ft 2in blonde in charge of an LDV” and assumed she was out of her depth. (“But I never bumped it once.”) A driver in New Spitalfields volunteers his take on women in vans: “They’re good – at four o’clock in the morning with nothing else to look at.” When I ask his name for attribution, he falls shy and reverses away.“What I always try to tell drivers,” Cartwright says, “is that with great power comes great responsibility.” I tell him I’m pretty sure that his line is from a superhero movie. “When I first started using it, I assumed I was quoting a great statesman,” he replies. “But, yes, it’s Spider-Man.” He suggests I go out of my way to meet a superhero of the van industry: Dave Lucas, a driver who not long ago won a “ van excellence ” competition staged by the FTA.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dave Lucas, who won van driver of the year 2015. Photograph: courtesy of David LucasI drive to Redbridge, north-east London, where Lucas is identifiable by the large crest on his door that reads, “VAN DRIVER OF THE YEAR, 2015”. There used to be a larger sticker on his bonnet, explains Lucas, bespectacled and wearing a flat cap. “But it came off under a pressure wash.” I climb into his passenger seat, tucking in under a furry toy on the dash shaped like a pair of breasts. A gift from his wife, the 36-year-old explains, something to keep his spirits up during runs on the A12.Lucas manages cleaning projects in Redbridge, driving circuits between them. “The A12 all day long. Christ, the cutting-in. The last-minute decisions. It’s frightening.”We take off on his usual route. “It’s your own little space, your own little world,” Lucas says of his front cab, inside which he keeps a vacuum flask, an air freshener, a back-up air freshener, two mounted mobile phones and two hands-free earpieces. “This one in my lughole’s for my wife, in case she calls.” They have four children and two dogs, Lucas says, so use a Transit recreationally. He learned to drive as a boy, in his dad’s ice-cream van. All good training for what he calls “the tournament”, or the FTA’s driver of the year competition. He recalls the event, how he was tested in various categories.“I won hazard perception. I won manoeuvrability. I won fuel economy. I won harsh braking.” A couple of disciplines got away (“I didn’t spot a broken wiper in vehicle checking”) but in the end Lucas was named champion. There was a prizegiving ceremony, “the atmosphere electric”, and only when Lucas got back to the depot in Redbridge was his ego checked by colleagues. “You ever park slightly crooked? As driver of the year, they’re on you.” Last year, he had to vacate his title because the competition coincided with the birth of his youngest child. A pharmaceuticals courier in Swansea drove away with the winner’s crest on his bonnet. “I’ll be back,” Lucas says.We drive another lap of the A12, in convoy with an AA van, travelling faster, and an unmarked white Renault with paving slabs in its open flatbed, travelling faster still. An NHS van with “Give blood” stencilled on its side zips by. “We’re all driving around in weapons, really,” Lucas says. “In killing machines, really. The ones that bully on the road, the ones that drive hard, drive stupid, they put a stigma on the community. But judge each of us, I’d say, to our own credit.”He stayed up to watch a horror film the other night, he says. Or, rather, what counted as a horror film in his mind: a documentary about drivers who deliver for Amazon. Lucas winces. There were reports of 200-parcel-a-day runs, 13-hour shifts. And the state, he says, appalled, of the vans.Other drivers mostly gripe about congestion, about fines for using bus lanes, lorry drivers on one side (“They hate us”) and Deliveroo cyclists on the other (“Like a plague of locusts around you”), everyone accusing everyone else of being greedier users of the road. Van drivers are fraternal with each other, and fraternally quick to tease. They tell me you can spot the compliance nerds by the presence of wheel-nut protectors on their hubcaps. There are certain articles of faith they all seem to share, none more widespread than the trust in the pacifying power of the hazard light. I meet a dried fruit wholesaler in an ageing Boxer who swears that, by combining his hazard lights with a laminate “Unloading” sign, he can get away with half an hour of comically obstructive street parking, unmolested. “But it has to be laminate.”We’re all driving around in killing machines. The ones that drive hard, drive stupid, they put a stigma on the communityThe way van drivers are paid seems inconsistent, asymmetrical. Frank Hunt, driving air conditioners to Ely as a freelancer, tells me his rate: “65p a mile, £10 an hour any waiting”. The courier Rafal Dabrowski, contracted to UK Mail, works 10-hour, 60-package days for £20,000 a year. I speak with a goods courier who has an informal arrangement with his employer through which he takes a cut of each job, and earns between £30,000 and £35,000 a year. Others are not so fortunate. Many who drive for courier firms and supermarkets are on zero-hours contracts. DPD made the news recently after claims its drivers were charged £150 a day if they could not find their own sick cover. The “horror film” that so unnerved Lucas, a BBC Inside Out investigation , reported findings that drivers delivering Amazon packages were paid well below the minimum wage, once the various costs and fees that fell to them were factored in – sometimes as little as £2.60 an hour. ( Amazon said that they expected their delivery providers to pay more than the national living wage.)Pulling into Birchanger Green services off the M11, towards the end of my tour, I encounter a cheerful driver called Frank Wilkes, 56, who says he makes a very decent annual wage delivering food around the UK and the rest of Europe. His Sprinter has “Cool Express” painted on its side, because the cargo bay has been fitted with two large fridges. Wilkes sips coffee and recalls the time he drove from King’s Lynn to La Coruña with a bay full of Norfolk seafood. Four days on the road from the rump of England to north-west Spain! He once took quails’ eggs to Norway; collected beer from the Czech Republic. Not long ago, Wilkes says, he undertook an all-nighter to France, transporting a tray of ready meals from a supermarket in London to a film studio in Paris. In Paris, the food was dressed up and filmed for use in a television ad that’s currently airing on British TV. “My little claim to fame.”As I drive away from the service station (behind a window-cleaning van, behind a microwave courier), I keep thinking over Wilkes’ London to Paris run. A journey thoroughly of its time, as inexpensive cargo such as oven-ready food was transported over borders, between time zones, from one studio-rich city to another, presumably because an ad-maker liked Paris more than London, so discounted the 300 miles of asphalt and water between. A decision was made, and a driver filled his vacuum flask, mustering patience for more road.Topics Shops and shopping Consumer affairs Social trends features Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/15/white-van-nation-drivers-behind-on-demand-economy'|'2017-04-15T15:00:00.000+03:00' '43dfbb09937001dae7da3ee0d0f2cce71beee327'|'Linde-Praxair merger deal falls behind schedule - source'|' 12:04pm BST Linde-Praxair merger deal falls behind schedule - source Linde Group logo is seen at company building before the annual news conference in Munich, Germany March 9, 2017. REUTERS/Lukas Barth MUNICH, Germany Linde ( LING.DE ) and Praxair''s ( PX.N ) $65 billion (52 billion pounds) merger talks are facing legal complexities that mean the agreement will not be finalised as planned before Linde''s annual shareholder meeting on May 10, a source familiar with the situation said. The all-share U.S.-German merger of equals is intended to create a market leader that will overtake France''s Air Liquide ( AIRP.PA ) and reunite a global Linde group split by World War One a century ago. Adding to the complexities, the deal has met unexpectedly strong resistance from German trade unions who fear a dilution of their influence when the headquarters moves out of Germany and more profitable Praxair applies its operating practices worldwide. A Linde spokesman said the two companies were still working towards finalising the business combination agreement before the AGM, but could not rule out that it would be later. Linde is not planning to allow shareholders to vote on the deal at the AGM, arguing that each investor would in any case have to make an individual decision whether to tender his or her shares. German private-investor association DSW has already demanded that an extraordinary shareholder meeting be called if the deal is not wrapped up before the AGM. (Reporting by Jens Hack; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-linde-m-a-praxair-idUKKBN17F1CG'|'2017-04-13T19:04:00.000+03:00' '10c42083f7340333a406220b18788436322527d9'|'Italian packaging firm Guala Closures preps IPO, sale - sources'|'Business News 4:56pm BST Italian packaging firm Guala Closures preps IPO, sale - sources FRANKFURT Private-equity held Italian packaging firm Guala Closures is preparing a stock market listing or sale that may value the company at more than 1 billion euros (849.74 million pounds) including debt, sources close to the matter said. Guala''s main shareholder, Apriori Capital Partners, will at the end of this month interview investment banks vying for a role in the potential initial public offering or outright sale, the sources added. The company specialises in closures, such as bottle tops, for sealing spirits and counts makers such as Diageo ( DGE.L ), Pernod Ricard ( PERP.PA ), Remy Cointreau ( RCOP.PA ), Fortune Brands ( FBHS.N ), Brown-Forman ( BFb.N ) and UB Group as its customers. It is expected to post earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of up to 110 million euros this year and its owners, which also include the company''s management and fund Nb Reinassance, are hoping to reap a valuation of up to 11-12 times that, the sources said. That would represent a premium to peers such as Polyone ( POL.N ), Sealed Air ( SEE.N ), Berry ( BERY.N ), Bemis ( BMS.N ) and Ball ( BLL.N ). Other packaging groups such as Germany''s Kloeckner Pentaplast are looking to the United States as a listing location as most of its peers are listed there. Guala, which sells more than 14 billion closures each year, will also be marketed to potential trade or private equity buyers, though it has rebuffed offers from groups such as private equity firm KKR ( KKR.N ) on price in the past, the sources added. Guala Closures is directly owned by GLC Holdings whose main investor is Apriori Capital. Credit Suisse, which led Guala''s 510 million euro bond sale in November, is expected to take a leading role in the potential IPO or sale, which could take place after the summer, the sources said. Guala, which has 4000 employees, was delisted from the stock exchange in 2008. In the first nine months of 2016, it posted an EBITDA of 74.5 million euros on revenues of 369 million euros. Full year figures are due April 27. Apriori Capital, KKR and Credit Suisse declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan; Editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-guala-m-a-italy-idUKKBN17F234'|'2017-04-13T23:56:00.000+03:00' 'd81225b9c00e4ce0cc28fccd9db3ae1b83500d82'|'Citi profit rises 17 pct as fixed-income trading jumps'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 8:17am EDT Citi profit rises 17 percent as fixed-income trading jumps FILE PHOTO: A Citi sign is seen at the Citigroup stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) reported a 17 percent rise in quarterly profit, boosted by strong fixed-income trading as clients adjusted their positions following rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and changes in the forex and credit markets. The fourth-biggest U.S. bank by assets said on Thursday that net income rose to $4.09 billion, or $1.35 per share, in the first-quarter ended March 31, from $3.50 billion, or $1.10 per share, a year earlier. The company said the latest quarter''s results included a net benefit of 8 cents per share from a few previously announced divestitures. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.24 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable. JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, earlier reported a higher-than-expected 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by additional revenue from increased trading. Wells Fargo & Co, ( WFC.N ) the third-biggest U.S. bank, was scheduled to report results at the same time as Citigroup. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-citigroup-results-idUSKBN17F1HD'|'2017-04-13T20:07:00.000+03:00' '7f57be6de295c834c70760e14fe3d4db2cb62321'|'China''s Fosun plans to buy stake in Russia''s Polyus: Interfax'|'MOSCOW China''s Fosun International Ltd ( 0656.HK ) plans to sign an agreement to buy a stake in Russia''s largest gold producer Polyus ( PLZL.MM ), Interfax news agency Quote: d Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov as saying on Wednesday.He did not provide further details on the deal. Sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in November that Fosun was in exclusive talks to buy a large minority stake in Polyus.Shuvalov also said that aluminum giant Rusal ( 0486.HK ) could soon announce the placement of the second tranche of its Chinese yuan-denominated bond, known as a Panda bond. Rusal placed its first tranche of the Panda bond in March.(Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fosun-russia-idUSKBN17E2HU'|'2017-04-12T22:47:00.000+03:00' '58b7b7a6a1ae6e12715a65089310d4bf4d9d149c'|'Recruiter Hays forecasts full-year profit at top end of guidance'|' 31am BST Recruiter Hays forecasts full-year profit at top end of guidance British recruitment company Hays ( HAYS.L ) forecast full-year profit at the top end of market expectations on Thursday after reporting record third-quarter net fees as international hiring offset weakness in the UK market following the Brexit vote. The company, which places workers in areas such as finance and IT, said it expected full-year operating profit to be at the top of a market consensus range of 199 million to 209 million pounds. Net fees increased 10 percent on a constant currency basis in the third quarter which ended on March 31 boosted largely by strong growth in continental Europe, where Germany and France were standout performers. Net fees from its UK and Ireland operations fell 4 percent, but showed an improvement against a 10 percent fall recorded for the preceding two quarters, Hays said in its trading update. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hays-outlook-idUKKBN17F0MR'|'2017-04-13T14:31:00.000+03:00' '4d1bcf899ef0e23be42a8b711e157c716d833f77'|'Berkshire to pare Wells Fargo stake, pull Fed application'|' 11:01pm BST Berkshire to cut Wells Fargo stake, pulls Fed application FILE PHOTO: A man walks by a bank machine at the Wells Fargo & Co. bank in downtown Denver, Colorado, U.S. April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo By Jonathan Stempel Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ) on Wednesday said it withdrew its application to the Federal Reserve to boost its ownership stake in Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) above 10 percent, and is instead selling 9 million shares to keep it below that threshold. Berkshire said it concluded after several months of talks with Fed officials that "the commitments that would be required of us" to maintain a higher stake "would materially restrict our commercial activity with Wells Fargo." It also said "investment or valuation considerations" were not factors in the sale of the 9 million shares, which it began on Monday and expects to complete by early July. Berkshire is the largest shareholder in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which has been beset by a scandal since September over its creation of unauthorized customer accounts. The bank on Monday said it would claw back an additional $75 million of compensation from the executives it blamed most, former Chief Executive John Stumpf and former community banking chief Carrie Tolstedt. Despite the scandal, Wells Fargo shares have, like shares of many banks, rallied in recent months, gaining 16.6 percent since Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in November. Buffett told CNBC television on Feb. 27 that Wells Fargo made a "huge mistake" by not immediately addressing the unauthorized accounts, and that letting the problem mushroom made its reputation suffer. The Fed exerts special oversight when investors take large bank stakes. It often allows double-digit stakes not designed to exert a "controlling influence," but has said it would review any resulting business relationship "case-by-case." Berkshire said it will sell more Wells Fargo shares as necessary to keep its ownership stake "slightly below 10 percent," including additional sales that may become necessary if the bank repurchases its own stock. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-berkshire-hatha-wells-fargo-idUKKBN17E2S4'|'2017-04-13T05:22:00.000+03:00' '3f32c6829a4324948f1fcd41e26eb8f7775a3a6a'|'Beware the unintended consequences of a robot revolution - Technology'|'Ask an economist or a technology expert and they will happily tell you that decades of data reliably show automation has created more jobs than it has destroyed .Far fewer of us now work on farms, for example, thanks to super-efficient machines that do the bulk of the work. Such technology has boosted productivity and, with it, living standards. As a result, more people work in leisure industries such as hospitality or hairdressing, serving all those people with higher disposable incomes and more free time.So far so good. And were the pattern to continue, one could envisage the realisation at last of the prediction made by John Maynard Keynes in 1930 that the working week would eventually be cut , perhaps to just 15 hours.The Guardian view on the automated future: fewer shops and fewer people - Editorial Read moreThe problem with this rose-tinted view of automation, however, is its focus on big averages that take little account of individuals’ experiences. Sure, the number of job gains for the whole of the UK may well be higher than the number lost to technology. But that is little consolation to someone who loses their job in a Midlands car plant to a robot and discovers most of the new openings are far afield in the coffee bars and hotels of London.Nor do studies of what has gone before allow for the fact that the pace of technological change will probably be quicker in the future. In other words, evolutions that took place over previous decades may well have been gradual enough for most people to find new ways of making a living, with varying degrees of difficulty. But faster and more widespread technological changes in the future are unlikely to be so easy to adapt to.For governments, this imposes a pressing need to step in and ensure the rise of the robots is not accompanied by a further rise in inequality . As tempting as it may be to pour money into boosting automation in return for the long-awaited boost to productivity and headline economic growth, doing so without having a clear plan for retraining displaced workers would cause untold harm to millions of individuals.The robots are coming. Will they bring wealth or a divided society? Read moreAs the Institute for Public Policy Research points out , some workers are far more vulnerable than others to automation . It highlights particular risks for low-skill sectors and warns that the robot revolution could widen Britain’s already entrenched north-south divide.The thinktank rightly calls for an urgent increase in investment in education and retraining and for funds to be prioritised to help regions far away from the capital that most need help equipping people to adapt as automation shakes up their workplaces. If the government fails to act, the result could all too easily be a spike in unemployment and poverty in places with the lowest skilled workers – a very high price to pay for a bit of average productivity growth.Topics Robots Economics Unemployment Work & careers analysis '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics'|'https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/15/beware-the-unintended-consequences-of-a-robot-revolution'|'2017-04-15T17:00:00.000+03:00' '01e683325c6acd74df889b11774e3cfd26926fbc'|'Refurbs and rental planes in vogue as China''s jet-set seek value'|' 3:44pm IST Refurbs and rental planes in vogue as China''s jet-set seek value FILE PHOTO: A VistaJet aircraft is seen at the Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (ABACE) at Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai, China, April 11, 2016. REUTERSAly Song/File Photo By Brenda Goh - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China''s rich are foregoing fancy new private jets in favour of second-hand planes or rentals, reflecting how the country''s business elite are increasingly shunning flashy signs of wealth amid slower economic growth. Planemakers such as Embraer and Bombardier are shifting focus to after-sales services in response, while brokers are refurbishing older jets or hiring out planes as the once high-flying industry braces for its weakest growth in a decade. Dealers at one of Asia''s top industry shows in Shanghai this week said second-hand jets now made up more than half of sales to wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs and corporations, up from under a third two years ago. Chinese buyers, who began purchasing new business jets 30 years ago, were also becoming more pragmatic about buying cheaper, second-hand jets and giving them a makeover, they said. "Now ... while you can still get a Gulfstream 550 for around $50 million for a new one, you can get an extremely adequate aeroplane for $30 million," said David Dixon, president of business jet brokerage Jetcraft Asia. "So $20 million is a lot of money to anybody." In part the shift reflects a broader trend that is making life tougher for firms selling luxury goods in the world''s second biggest economy, as Chinese buyers increasingly push for bargains on everything from high-end handbags to holidays. In such a market, where new planes quickly lose their value, dealers said second-hand jets were simply a less risky bet. "When the economic climate is going down, there''s fewer buyers in the market honestly, so the depreciation rate is higher," said Jackie Wu, president of Hong Kong-based plane broker and charter firm JetSolution Aviation Group. She said a new jet typically lost around 15 percent of its value last year, faster than the 10 percent loss in 2015. "Now pre-owned aircraft are a better buy," she said. "COLD WIND" Greater China is the world''s second-largest business jet market behind the United States and had seen annual growth of up to 49 percent before 2012, when President Xi Jinping launched a fierce crackdown on corruption that has discouraged conspicuous displays of wealth. Owners include China''s richest man, Wang Jianlin, who flies a Gulfstream 550, and Tencent founder Pony Ma who has a Bombardier Global 6000, according to data compiled by Hurun Report which tracks China''s super-rich. But growth has been slowing since 2012 and sales remain subdued. At the Shanghai show there was a distinct lack of new orders announced, while planemakers instead talked up their after-sales service. Consultancy Asian Sky Group estimates the private jet fleet across Greater China will grow just 1 percent this year - with a total of five new plane deliveries - its weakest on record. There are currently around 480 private jets in China, compared with 466 in 2015 and 67 in 2007. "The entire market is now experiencing a cold wind," said Guan Dongyuan, president of Embraer China. Guan said, however, that the Brazilian planemaker was holding out for better days, given the potential of a market that is still a long way behind the United States, where there are around 12,000 private jets. "We want to use the period when the market is relatively depressed to improve our after-sales services," he said, referring to its spare parts and engineering units. Canadian rival Bombardier, which has 110 aircraft based in Greater China, last Friday opened its first business jet service centre in the country in the coastal city of Tianjin. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Executives said they were heartened by government signals to encourage growth of the country''s aviation industry, which remains hampered by a lack of infrastructure and tight military control of China''s airspace. Last year, China said it would have more than 500 airports specifically for business jets by 2020, and would further open up airspace for civilian use with a view to grow the country''s general aviation fleet to 5,000 aircraft by that year. "It''s good that there''s commitment, it takes time and we need to be patient," said Bjorn Naf, chief executive of Hong Kong-based jet management firm Metrojet, who said competitors were still swarming into the market despite the headwinds. "The market will swing back, I''m convinced." Fang Xinyu, Beijing-based vice president of Deer Jet, which manages a fleet of 90 aircraft in China, said there had been a period of "depression" but that business jets still made sense for busy company executives. "The value general aviation provides in terms of time efficiency and privacy have always been present," he said. "This is something no one can take away." (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Alex Richardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-jets-business-idINKBN17G0SP'|'2017-04-14T18:14:00.000+03:00' '22c3b91413f4ee88917bf79889bfd6c5aaf1343a'|'''Star Wars'' embraces girl power with new heroine stories, toys'|'Entertainment News - 37am EDT ''Star Wars'' embraces girl power with new heroine stories, toys Some of Mattel''s Star Wars merchandise is seen at the 114th North American International Toy Fair in New York City, U.S., February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith "Star Wars" is beefing up its girl power through a new series of animated short movies featuring the sci-fi saga''s heroines including Princess Leia, Rey and Jyn Erso. Walt Disney Co and Lucasfilm announced on Thursday that "Star Wars Forces of Destiny" will focus on the "untold stories of everyday heroism that shape the destinies" of the main female characters in the franchise. The move is the latest by Disney to broaden the male-dominated audience for the "Star Wars" series, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the original 1977 film starring Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. The 2-3 minute shorts will be launched on Disney YouTube in July and will be followed by more shorts on Disney Channel television in the autumn. A range of new action figures and dolls, as well as other merchandise, will also be released. "''Star Wars Forces of Destiny'' is for anyone who has been inspired by Leia’s heroism, Rey’s courage, or Ahsoka''s tenacity,” Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, said in a statement. Actors Daisy Ridley (Rey), Felicity Jones (Jyn) and Lupita Nyong''o (Maz Kanata) will voice their characters. The voice for Princess Leia, played in the movies by Carrie Fisher, will be supplied by Shelby Young following Fisher''s sudden death of a heart attack in December. Disney was criticized when Ridley''s fearless Rey in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was barely featured in toys and merchandising even though she was a lead character in the 2015 film. The uproar sparked the social media campaign #wheresrey. John Frascotti, president of toymaker Hasbro Inc, said in a statement the "Star Wars" fan base has broadened over the last 40 years, and the "Forces of Destiny" toy line would "help connect with new audiences as well as appeal to existing fans." (Reporting by Jill Serjeant in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-film-starwars-animated-idUSKBN17F227'|'2017-04-13T23:20:00.000+03:00' '5a4d1bc4799ec902a8bacfa27b7ac95a5e601b27'|'Germany approves offshore wind parks beyond 2020 at low cost'|'Global Energy News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 3:50pm BST Germany approves offshore wind parks beyond 2020 at low cost DUESSELDORF/FRANKFURT Germany''s network regulator on Thursday approved 1,490 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind capacity on the German North Sea at costs well below expectations, showing the renewable energy source can operate with lower subsidies than it currently receives. The projects, due to be implemented beyond 2020, were cleared at an average price requiring a subsidy of 0.44 euro cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power, the regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, said in a statement. They were awarded to Denmark''s DONG Energy ( DENERG.CO ), the world''s largest offshore wind park operator, and Germany''s EnBW ( EBKG.DE ), it said in the conclusion of the first public bidding round that started on April 1. Under current tariffs, operators of offshore wind receive a subsidy of 12 cents/kWh. The power price paid by end-users is around 30 cents/kWh, among the highest in Europe. Germany''s thermal power generators obtain just 3 cents a kWh in the wholesale market, while the bulk of costs for households comes from transport, state fees and taxes. TRDEBYZ8 "The auction process has unlocked cost-cutting potential in the medium and long term that will result in an unexpected reduction of support payments," said Bundesnetzagentur president Jochen Homann, whose job it is to slash costs for consumers. The authority will put to auction approval for a further 1,610 MW in a second round next year. EnBW said it had received approval for a 900-MW site called He Dreiht, which ties in with two other wind farms in close vicinity, and is part of its long-term strategy to move away from nuclear and coal to renewable energy. DONG said it would comment later. European offshore wind has seen investment costs plummeting at Danish and Dutch sites in the past two years, along with a rise in expertise. Critics say that even with recent cost reductions, offshore wind remains much more expensive than traditional fossil-fuel electricity generation, while some environmental groups say the huge structures could harm marine life. In Germany, the technology has attracted high feed-in costs for years as there was little experience of installing turbines far out at sea, which is necessary due to Germany''s geography. Lenders foresaw unprecedented risks but judging by the range of bids at the tender of between zero and 6 cents/kWh, offshore operators now have faith in the new assets'' profitability. (Reporting by Tom Kaeckenhoff, Vera Eckert and Christoph Steitz,; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-windfarm-offshore-idUKKBN17F1X2'|'2017-04-13T22:50:00.000+03:00' '31bb1dac74b19e7641f47cf66f2f72f3e5721720'|'Wal-Mart in advanced talks to buy Bonobos - Recode'|'Deals - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 11:44pm BST Wal-Mart in advanced talks to buy Bonobos: Recode FILE PHOTO - Shopping carts are seen outside a new Wal-Mart Express store in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. on July 26, 2011. REUTERS/John Gress/File Photo Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ) is in advanced discussions to buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc, Recode reported on Friday, citing sources. Wal-Mart and Bonobos have agreed on a price and the deal is in final due diligence, Recode said. Nordstrom ( JWN.N ) is an investor in Bonobos. The website said that the price of the deal could not be learned, but a retail business would likely fetch one to two times revenue. Bonobos has $100 million to $150 million in revenue and was valued at $300 million in 2014, the article said.( bit.ly/2nNA6nO ) The world''s biggest retailer has been working aggressively to close the gap with rival Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ) under the leadership of Chief Executive Doug McMillon and new e-commerce chief Marc Lore. The deal, if announced, would become the fourth e-commerce acquisition by the retailer in less than a year. Wal-Mart declined to comment while, Bonobos did not respond to the requests for comment. Lore has overseen the acquisition of three other online retailers, shuffled management and made two-day shipping free on all online orders over $35, without any membership fees to compete with Amazon''s popular Prime shipping program. Alden Bentley and Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bonobos-m-a-walmart-idUKKBN17G1K5'|'2017-04-15T06:42:00.000+03:00' '87871e57c8b26a1f9d26ca69476fa8c7986daffe'|'Dassault Aviation not in favour of Thales-Alstom rail tie-up - CEO'|'PARIS, April 13 The head of Dassault Aviation , the biggest shareholder in Thales, said he was not in favour of pursuing a joint venture in railway operations between the French defence electronics firm and transport group Alstom.Analysts have suggested Thales could be a possible partner for Alstom at a time when rivals Siemens and Bombardier are eyeing a potential tie-up of their rail operations, according to sources close to the matter.Eric Trappier, chief executive of Dassault Aviation, told Reuters that he was "not at all" in favour of a similar joint venture between Alstom and Thales, which is specialised in rail signalling rather than in train parts."We''re still pursuing the same vision (...), which has been well defined for the past two or three years and which consists of consolidating the rail signalling unit within Thales," Trappier said on the sidelines of a news conference in Paris.A spokesman for Thales declined to comment. (Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer; Writing by Sarah White; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/thales-alstom-idINFWN1HL02M'|'2017-04-13T07:03:00.000+03:00' '5f98119354e837bd927633b6bd91ede30b59e52c'|'Rhode Island hires Goldman''s Stais as its pension fund CIO'|'BOSTON, April 14 The state of Rhode Island hired a senior Goldman Sachs Group Inc executive as chief investment officer to oversee its $7.9 billion pension fund, the state''s Treasurer said in an email on Friday.Alec Stais was a managing director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he helped match smaller pensions and endowments with investment staff in the Global Portfolio Solutions Group. He worked for Goldman for 21 years.Stais will start the new position in May, succeeding Anne-Marie Fink, a former JP Morgan banker, who left the pension fund in June 2016 for a position in the private sector.The pension fund made headlines in October with its decision to exit a handful of hedge funds, including Och-Ziff Capital Management, Brevan Howard Asset Management and Ascend Capital. For the 12 months that ended in February, Rhode Island''s pension fund returned 14.4 percent, modestly outperforming its benchmark which gained 14 percent. (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/goldmansachs-rhodeisland-idINL1N1HM0QJ'|'2017-04-14T19:36:00.000+03:00' '4cfc916c72880a661c12beef0513b632c9d68bfc'|'Wells Fargo reports slight drop in profit'|' 21pm BST Wells Fargo reports slight drop in profit A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ), which has been mired in litigations stemming from a sales scandal, reported a 0.6 percent fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, hit by weaker mortgage banking fees and higher costs. The third-largest net income applicable to common shareholders fell to $5.06 billion (4.05 billion pounds) , or $1.00 $5.09 billion, or 99 cents estimated earnings of 96 cents It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable. Wells Fargo has been dealing with multiple lawsuits and regulatory inquiries since government investigations found in September that some of its employees had opened as many as two million accounts without customers'' knowledge. The scandal damaged the bank''s folksy image and also led to the ouster of Chief Executive John Stumpf, but growing deposit balances and a stable level of account closings show that profitability in the long run should not be hampered. The company has been reporting customer activity in its branch banking unit on a monthly basis ever since the scandal, in an effort to be transparent with investors and to win back their trust. Wells Fargo''s total revenue fell 0.9 percent to $22 billion. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wellsfargo-results-idUKKBN17F1I6'|'2017-04-13T20:21:00.000+03:00' '43ae53ad24f8a258cfdf8d0c3ef4f65f83610f0f'|'RPT-WRAPUP 1-Foreign journalists in North Korea gather for "big event" amid tensions'|'Company News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 10:19pm EDT RPT-WRAPUP 1-Foreign journalists in North Korea gather for "big event" amid tensions (Repeats to more subscribers, no change to text) By Sue-Lin Wong PYONGYANG, April 13 Foreign journalists visiting North Korea gathered in Pyongyang for "a big and important event" on Thursday with tensions high over the possibility of a new weapons test by the isolated state and as a U.S. carrier group sails towards the Korean peninsula. North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of the state founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday and in 2012 launched a long-range rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date. It tested a newly developed intermediate-range missile last year. Around 200 foreign journalists are in Pyongyang for North Korea''s biggest national day called "Day of the Sun". Officials gave no details of the big event and similar announcements in the past have been linked to relatively low-key set pieces. Tensions on the Korean peninsula mounted this week as the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump has put North Korea "clearly on notice" that he will not tolerate certain actions and China urged a peaceful resolution of the tension. Trump has diverted the Carl Vinson Strike Group to near the Korean peninsula, from a planned port call in Australia, in a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea launching another missile. The group is expected to take up to nine days to arrive, U.S. officials have said. On Tuesday, North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression. The North is technically at war with the United States and south Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy both countries. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday, just days after they met in the United States for the first time, underscoring the sense of urgency given concerns that the North could soon conduct a weapons test. Trump said on Twitter that his call with Xi was a "very good" discussion of the "menace of North Korea". Trump said later on Wednesday the United States is prepared to tackle the crisis surrounding North Korea without China if necessary. Xi stressed that China was "committed to the target of denuclearisation on the peninsula, safeguarding peace and stability on the peninsula, and advocates resolving problems through peaceful means", Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said. A Washington-based think tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said satellite image taken on Wednesday showed continued activity around the North''s Punggye-ri nuclear test site the east coast that showed it was ready for a new test. South Korean officials said on Thursday there were no new signs to indicate a North Korean nuclear is more imminent but said the North has maintained a state of readiness to conduct such a test at any time. (Writing by Jack Kim and James Pearson; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/northkorea-usa-idUSL3N1HL1KW'|'2017-04-13T10:19:00.000+03:00' 'd81ddb584eaafdd5a011e1495021b53e2367bb54'|'RPT-Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone'|' Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone (Repeats story from late Wednesday with no changes) By Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING, April 12 Like many residents of Xiongxian county, a polluted corner of Hebei province, 17-year-old Liu Zipeng has been giddy with excitement since China announced plans this month for a vast new economic zone backed by President Xi Jinping himself. "I am so happy - I don''t need to move to Beijing or worry about getting a wife anymore," Liu said with a laugh. Such are the hopes for the area, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, that authorities quickly banned property sales to quash a speculative frenzy. While China has set high expectations by touting the Xiongan New Area as a successor to zones in Shenzhen and Shanghai that helped make China an economic powerhouse, the force of Xi''s endorsement could help it flourish where other new development areas failed to match the hype. In a sign of Beijing''s intent, Xu Qin, the former mayor and Communist party boss for Shenzhen, was named acting governor of Hebei province on Friday, with analysts saying it is likely he will be tapped to lead development of Xiongan. Once a sleepy fishing village, Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, became an economic juggernaut after being declared a special economic zone in 1980. Details for Xiongan, planned eventually to stretch across 2,000 square kilometres, an area almost as big as Tokyo, remain sketchy. It is pitched as an environmentally friendly city housing some of Beijing''s relocated "non-capital functions", with hopes to attract high-tech industries. Nearly 30 large state enterprises including PetroChina and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp have expressed interest, though no specific relocation plans have been announced. The three counties that make up the area, Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng, are home to about a million people as well as wheat fields, light manufacturing and heavy pollution - endemic in much of Hebei. But unlike Shenzhen and Shanghai''s Pudong, the development of Xiongan is not expected to be accompanied by major economic reforms, and its landlocked setting is a transportation disadvantage. "Natural market forces would probably not have chosen this place. But if the central government backs it with unlimited resources, it could become whatever it wants to be," said Steven McCord, head of research for North China at real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The plan fits into a broader regional integration push for the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province, dubbed Jing-Jin-Ji, which has been spearheaded by Xi since 2015 to tackle the "big city disease" plaguing Beijing, a crowded and polluted city of 22 million. But Jing-Jin-Ji''s progress has been slower than hoped. "It''s been hard to get traction getting Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to work together seamlessly," McCord said. Xiongan could be a political and geographical "clean slate" to generate more jobs and economic stimulus for North China, he said. Xi himself visited Anxin county in late February, which only became public when China announced plans for Xiongan on April 1. Morgan Stanley''s base scenario foresees 133 billion yuan ($19.3 billion) in additional fixed asset investment annually over 15 years to build Xiongan, equivalent to just 0.24 percent of China''s 56.2 trillion yuan of nationwide fixed asset investment last year. MIXED RECORD While the Shenzhen and Shanghai economic zones thrived, some similar schemes in China have fallen short of expectations. Caofeidian, also in Hebei, was promoted by former President Hu Jintao as a new industrial zone in 2008, but development foundered as debt accumulated. Authorities have been trying to give Caofeidian another push to upgrade its industries to become a driver of Jing-Jin-Ji''s integration, but competition among provinces has been a drag on progress. "Caofeidian had central government support, but it was a long way from being a national-level special economic zone. Its importance was definitely not at the same level that Xiongan is seeing now," said He Jun, head of macroeconomic research at Anbound Consulting. "Xiongan''s biggest advantage is that it has strong support from the central government." He remains doubtful that Xiongan will emulate Shanghai or Shenzhen due to its geography and the greater openness of China''s economy now, but the political leadership seems intent on making it succeed. Among the architects of the new project is Xu Kuangdi, the mayor of Shanghai in the late 90s who also heads the advisory committee for Jing-Jin-Ji. The leadership make-up is intended to ensure Xiongan would "escape past failures", said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University''s Chong Yang Institute for Financial Studies. Not everyone in Anxin is cheered by the prospect. An Anxin restaurant owner in her 50s surnamed Liu said she checks social media constantly for updates, as she fears being forced out of the spacious villa built on her farmland. "I don''t think it is necessarily a good thing for me. Our lives are pretty good right now." Down a street next to fields of withered wheat, workers loaded a truck with plastic pipes, a major local industry. "The establishment of the new zone for sure will limit us further as we do pollute the environment to some degree," said Zhao Xiaodong, owner of Jitong Plastic. But most locals are optimistic. "If president Xi thinks it will be the next Shenzhen and Shanghai, then it will be," said Mrs Shi, a shop worker in Xiongxian. ($1 = 6.8998 Chinese yuan renminbi) David Stanway; Editing by Tony Munroe and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-economy-xiongan-idUSL3N1HK385'|'2017-04-13T07:00:00.000+03:00' '1b63bb3c83ed1e629a0a226898584477a488b061'|'World Bank maintains 2017 East Asia growth view, sees cenbank policy risks'|'Money News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 8:46am IST World Bank maintains 2017 East Asia growth view, sees cenbank policy risks FILE PHOTO: An advertisement poster promoting China''s renminbi (RMB) or yuan , U.S. dollar and Euro exchange services is seen outside at foreign exchange store in Hong Kong, China August 13, 2015. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo SINGAPORE The World Bank kept its 2017 economic growth forecast for developing East Asia and the Pacific unchanged, but added the region is vulnerable to any sharp slowdown in global trade or tightening in financial conditions. The Washington-based lender expects the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.2 percent in 2017, slowing from 6.4 percent growth last year. It sees growth slowing further to 6.1 percent in 2018, compared with its previous forecast in October of 6.0 percent growth. "Growth in developing East Asia and Pacific is expected to remain resilient, as continued buoyancy in domestic demand, including public and increasingly private investment, is supported by strengthening external demand," the World Bank said in its latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update report on Thursday. "Nevertheless, global and regional vulnerabilities mean that the positive prospects for growth and poverty reduction in the region in this base case are subject to significant risks." The World Bank kept its 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts for China unchanged at 6.5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. It said countries in the region may need to adjust their accommodative monetary policies as upward pressure on consumer prices could intensify on the back of a pick-up in producer prices and projected recovery in commodity prices. The monetary easing cycle in Indonesia likely needs to be placed on hold, and in the Philippines, policies must be ready to adjust to rising inflationary pressures, the World Bank said. Additionally, any sharp slowdown in global trade or in China could pose risks to the region''s growth outlook. "Significant slowdowns in world trade, whether stemming from mounting global protectionist pressures or from unanticipated weakness in global activity, could adversely affect most of the region," it said. The World Bank added that the region''s resilience could be tested if global financial conditions tighten faster than expected at a time when the United States is normalising its monetary policy. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/worldbank-asia-idINKBN17F0CH'|'2017-04-13T11:16:00.000+03:00' '6d1120b58ee9bebda761c644de1287cfcf650eb1'|'BRIEF-U.S. Steel issues update on April 11 Midwest Plant incident'|' 29pm EDT BRIEF-U.S. Steel issues update on April 11 Midwest Plant incident April 13 United States Steel Corp * Updates on April 11 midwest plant incident * Identified source of process release that occurred April 11 at our midwest plant and has made necessary repairs * says reviewing a potential restart plan * "Recent sampling has indicated we are in compliance with our water permit limits" Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-us-steel-issues-update-on-april-idUSASA09IPX'|'2017-04-14T09:29:00.000+03:00' 'cae581f089b6c00d39885d0200f6b3aa3e5f0843'|'Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail JV -sources'|'Deals 37am EDT Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail JV: sources left right Siemens logo is pictured at a building of the manufacturing plant of Siemens Healthineers in Forchheim near Nuremberg, Germany, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle 1/2 left right A new regional transport train is seen under construction at the Bombardier plant in Crespin, near Valenciennes, northern France, October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier 2/2 By Georgina Prodhan and Alexander Hübner - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Talks about uniting the rail operations of Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) and Canada''s Bombardier ( BBDb.TO ) are being complicated by the desire of both companies to keep control of a merged business, two people close to the matter said on Wednesday. Antitrust issues and political considerations could also ultimately make a deal to create a company with combined sales of $16 billion hard to pull off, industry experts said. The two groups are talking about a joint venture that could compete better with Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC ( 601766.SS ), which is expanding aggressively abroad and would still be twice their combined size by revenue. "It could go fast, it could be very drawn-out or it could fail. It''s completely open," one of the people said. The three main rivals to CRRC -- Bombardier, Siemens and France''s Alstom ( ALSO.PA ) -- have talked to each other about combining their businesses in various arrangements over the past years. A Bombardier-Siemens combination could run into anti-trust issues as it did last time it surfaced, with significant overlap particularly in Germany. "On a country-by-country basis the deal looks difficult to pull off in Europe, and that''s why it has not happened over the past 20 years," a person familiar with the industry said. In a global context the arrival of CRRC has however changed the shape of the industry and Europe should be interested in creating a strong competitor to the emerging Chinese challenge, the person said. However, antitrust experts doubt that watchdogs will give the deal a green light without imposing conditions that could make it unviable. "Besides Alstom no real competitor would remain in Europe as long as the Chinese haven''t arrived," said Dario Struwe, antitrust lawyer at law firm FPS. JOBS FEAR Any transaction also runs the risk of resistance from trade unions. One of the sources told Reuters that German unions were expected to support the deal as long as Siemens was in control. The two businesses, which span rolling stock to signaling, have significant overlap in Europe, especially in Germany. German trade union IG Metall declined to comment on the matter. But given the Bombardier founding family''s influence on the company - they control the company through a dual class share structure - it is highly doubtful that Bombardier would agree to relinquish control to Siemens. One of the sources also said that the German chancellery was involved in the situation, without giving details. Another complication is that Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owns 30 percent of Bombardier''s train business. A German government spokesman declined to comment. For Alstom, a deal might not be all bad. "(Alstom) will have a higher chance of gaining share given that the other two companies would need to address anti-trust concerns first and then integrate the two operations which likely is a cumbersome process, particularly the integration of the various platforms which could lead to market share losses," analysts at JP Morgan said in a note to clients. SIMILAR IN SIZE Bombardier has had problems in the past executing on its contracts, including issues in Canada and Australia. It claims it has fixed the source of these problems. Siemens'' transportation business used to be notorious for similar risks -- with product flaws in trams and more recently repeated delays in supplying high-speed ICE trains to state-owned German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Since Joe Kaeser took over as chief executive in 2013 the company has worked to resolve these issues and appears to have put them behind it for the time being. The two transportation businesses are roughly comparable in terms of revenue and profitability. Bombardier Transportation has set targets of generating about $8.5 billion in revenues and an EBIT margin of about 7.5 percent in 2017, up from $8 billion and an EBIT margin of under 6.5 percent in 2016. Siemens Mobility made revenue of 7.82 billion euros ($8.3 billion) and increased its operating profit by 15 percent to 678 million euros last fiscal year, giving it a profit margin of 8.7 percent. Its target profit margin range is 6-9 percent. "Such a merger would create the clear number-two player in the rail sector, with a global leading network of clients and installed equipment and service opportunities," analysts at brokerage Kepler said. (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, Jens Hack and Allison Lambert; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-siemens-bombardier-joint-venture-idUSKBN17E1SW'|'2017-04-12T21:32:00.000+03:00' '4e1786b8ab879b10c69df30b65398df78657689f'|'CANADA STOCKS-Futures lower ahead of Bank of Canada''s rate decision'|'Company News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 7:39am EDT CANADA STOCKS-Futures lower ahead of Bank of Canada''s rate decision April 12 Canada''s main stock index was set for a slightly lower start on Wednesday as investors awaited the Bank of Canada''s interest rate decision. The central bank is widely expected to hold rates at 0.50 percent, where they have stayed since the bank cut twice in 2015. June futures on the S&P TSX index were down 0.12 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET. The interest rate decision, which is due at 10:00 a.m. ET, will be followed by Governor Stephen Poloz''s press conference. Later in the day, Poloz and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Wilkins will testify before a House of Commons committee on finance. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index ended barely lower on Tuesday as financial stocks weighed, while a flight to safety helped gold miners and shares of Bombardier Inc jumped on reports it was discussing a merger of rail operations with Siemens. Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.02 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 0.07 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were down 0.05 percent. (Morning News Call newsletter here ; The Day Ahead newsletter here ) TOP STORIES Shaw Communications reported a 13.3 percent rise in quarterly revenue, driven by the addition of more wireless customers. Private equity firm Waterous Energy Fund is seeking investment opportunities in the Canadian oil and gas sector as valuations turn attractive after a prolonged slump in the oil price, making a contrarian bet as global players pull back, its top executive said. ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Capstone Mining Corp: TD Securities raises rating to "buy" from "hold" TFI International Inc: National Bank Financial cuts target price to C$37 from C$40 COMMODITIES AT 7:15 a.m. ET Gold futures: $1272.6; +0.11 percent US crude: $53.63; +0.43 percent Brent crude: $56.51; +0.5 percent LME 3-month copper: $5701; -1.14 percent U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON WEDNESDAY 08:30 Import prices mm for Mar: Expected -0.2 pct; Prior 0.2 pct 08:30 Export prices mm for Mar: Expected 0.1 pct; Prior 0.3 pct 11:00 TR IPSOS PCSI for Apr: Prior 58.84 14:00 Federal budget for Mar: Expected -$167.0 bln; Prior -$192.0 bln FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES: TSX market report Canadian dollar and bonds report Reuters global stocks poll for Canada Canadian markets directory ($1= C$1.33) (Reporting by Nikhil Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL3N1HK3UB'|'2017-04-12T19:39:00.000+03:00' 'ec3ac2638ee912ca4397e01f8b7a4cd5c0505b14'|'Driverless cars will make our roads safer, says Oxbotica co-founder - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'Paul Newman is a self-confessed “positivist” when it comes to autonomous driving.A professor of information engineering at Oxford University, he co-founded Oxbotica in 2014, a specialist provider of autonomous control system technologies, and believes driverless cars will make our roads safer and help an ageing population remain independent.“Driving is hard. It’s tiring. And it’s a bit dangerous… it’s imperative we fix some of this stuff,” he says. “Plus, the amount of time we spend tied up in traffic, having to concentrate – that’s a criminal waste of humanity.”Despite his entrepreneurial enthusiasm, Newman is not naïve about the future. The days of autonomous vehicles zipping us all around as we lounge on the back seat remain, in his view, “a long way down the line”.Yet initial everyday applications are closer than we may think, he insists. Driverless trucks are already being deployed in ports and mines for short, repetitive trips, for example.Facebook Twitter Pinterest An Oxbotica trial in the London borough of Greenwich. Photograph: Oxbotica “It’ll be quite some time before you have autonomous vehicles that can take you from any place to any other place, at any time of day, whatever the weather […] but I can see ‘mobility as a service’ kicking off quite rapidly.”Uber suspends fleet of self-driving cars following Arizona crash Read more That could mean picking up groceries from the supermarket or driverless goods vehicles in warehouses or self-driving “pods” at airports, he says.That said, future business applications aren’t Oxbotica’s primary concern: designing autonomous software is. The company has developed a system called Selenium that uses patented algorithms to help cars understand their immediate environment and then navigate their way around in real time.Two key attributes set Oxbotica’s software solution apart. First, it doesn’t necessitate building a whole new fleet. Assuming the right cameras, lasers, sensors and so forth are in place, Selenium can be uploaded into a standard vehicle and – theoretically – off it goes. Second, the system is self-learning. So use it in New York, say, and it will soon twig not to give an inch at the lights.The invention is currently being trialled in prototype shuttles in the London borough of Greenwich. Funded by the government-supported GATEway initiative , the six-month experiment sees the shuttles run on a 2km stretch shared by pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers. The trial also includes automated deliveries.Safety and CO2 emissions Newman is most optimistic about the potential social upsides of autonomous driving technology. Safety is the major win in his opinion. “90% of all accidents are caused by distraction”, he notes. “Distraction is the one thing that machines don’t do. They have super human abilities to concentrate.”Those who can’t currently drive because of poor eyesight, epilepsy or some other kind of physical impairment stand to benefit enormously as well. Removing transport from people is “not okay”, he insists. “Machines should be doing that for us.”The environmental upsides excite him too. Self-drive cars will lead to steadier traffic and less unnecessary acceleration, both of which will help reduce transport-related emissions, he argues. More impactful still is the boost he believes autonomy will give to the electric car market – the rationale being that the two technologies are part of the same process of “reinventing vehicles”.Twelve things you need to know about driverless cars Read more His optimism about autonomous driving isn’t dewy-eyed. New types of accidents will emerge, he admits. Tesla’s experience substantiates that fear. Last year, the driver of a Model S died after his autopilot failed to register a tractor-trailer in bright light.Yet Newman is confident that such risks will continually reduce as self-learning software gets smarter and sensor technologies improve. In January, for instance, Oxbotica released a new component to Selenium called Dub4 that works entirely on visual clues rather than GPS, which can fail when underground or under tree cover.Nor does the autonomy advocate deny that mainstreaming driverless cars will be anything but a long and “messy” journey. Don’t expect to be driving through central Athens in a driverless taxi any time soon, he says. But then don’t be surprised, either, if you start seeing autonomous taxis on specific highways or on short stretches in towns.So what’s holding things up? Hardware mostly, he says. The necessary sensors, lasers, radars and so forth are still not good enough nor cheap enough for mass adoption. “Car manufacturers will want to bring the cost of those sensors right down and they’ll want us to integrate it into the styling. All of that has to be done still.”Given high manufacturing costs at present, the smart money initially is on shared ownership models and public transport. Autonomous cars will be too expensive for the average punter for a good while. But as a pay-to-use shuttle service, for example, the economics look more attractive.“A Routemaster bus costs – what? – £1.5m. But if you’re running it as a transport service then that’s not the most important thing. What matters is the reliability. So as autonomous cars go through different price points, you can see how different people will decide to own them.”Sign up to be a Guardian Sustainable Business member and get more stories like this direct to your inbox every week. You can also f ollow us on Twitter .'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/13/driverless-cars-will-make-our-roads-safer-says-oxbotica-co-founder'|'2017-04-13T03:00:00.000+03:00' '9f8b0612c94380b6f355f2fe44d216d058010114'|'Wal-Mart in advance talks to acquire men''s fashion retailer Bonobos: Recode'|'Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ) is in advance discussions to buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc, Recode reported on Friday, citing sources.Both the sides have agreed on a price and the deal is in its final stages, Recode said. The expected deal value could not be learned. ( bit.ly/2nNA6nO )The deal, if announced, would come two months after the world''s largest retailer acquired online outdoor clothing and gear retailer Moosejaw for $51 million, to boost its competitive standing in U.S. e-commerce.Wal-Mart did not respond to the requests for comment. Bonobos could not be immediately reached.(Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bonobos-m-a-walmart-idINKBN17G1K5'|'2017-04-14T19:57:00.000+03:00' '4274827956e1cc7ad3cbea28b79a87cac7c8728d'|'BSGR sues billionaire George Soros over loss of Guinea iron project'|'Commodities 8:38pm EDT BSGR sues billionaire George Soros over loss of Guinea iron project FILE PHOTO -- Business magnate George Soros arrives to speak at the Open Russia Club in London, Britain June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo Mining company BSG Resources (BSGR) on Friday filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York accusing financier George Soros of scuttling an iron ore deal in Guinea, claiming $10 billion in damages. BSGR, which is controlled by Israeli billionaire businessman Beny Steinmetz, accused Soros and his controlled entities of manipulating the government of Guinea and elected officials and other misconduct to strip BSGR of mining contracts in Guinea in 2014. Israeli authorities put Steinmetz under house arrest on Dec. 19 after accusations that he paid tens of millions of dollars to senior public officials in Guinea to advance his businesses. He was released in January without being charged. Soros fabricated defamatory statements about BSGR''s involvement in corruption, the company said in the complaint. "Soros was motivated solely by malice, as there was no economic interest he had in Guinea," BSGR added. Michael Vachon, a spokesman for Soros, did not respond to requests for comment, made outside of regular business hours. The case is 1:17-cv-02726 in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bsgr-lawsuit-idUSKBN17G1LL'|'2017-04-15T08:38:00.000+03:00' '0196b54f123c4186947e6199796dfe0b1963e1a6'|'Flipkart raises $1.4 billion from Tencent, eBay, Microsoft'|'MUMBAI India''s top e-commerce firm Flipkart has raised $1.4 billion from Tencent Holdings Ltd, Microsoft Corp and eBay Inc, the company said in a statement on Monday.Flipkart will have a valuation of $11.6 billion after the latest funding round, which was its biggest ever, the statement added.The news comes amid strong but unconfirmed speculation that Flipkart is looking at a potential takeover of smaller rival Snapdeal.As part of the fundraising, eBay invested $500 million in Flipkart for a stake. In exchange, the two companies will merge their operations in India and Flipkart will own and operate eBay''s business in the South Asian country when the deal closes later this year.EBay said in a separate statement it did not expect the deal to have any "material impact" on its guidance provided in January.(Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Rafael Nam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ebay-flipkart-online-idINKBN17C0ZO'|'2017-04-10T07:55:00.000+03:00' 'fbf246999f3fe915bcff5ec7717be037c3293b2b'|'BRIEF-The Weather Company, Lyft to provide personalized recommendations for Samsung users'|' 24pm EDT BRIEF-The Weather Company, Lyft to provide personalized recommendations for Samsung users April 11 International Business Machines Corp - * The Weather Company and Lyft collaborate to provide personalized recommendations for made for samsung app users * Weather CO - collaborated with samsung electronics america & lyft to provide made for samsung app users with personalized transportation recommendations '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-the-weather-company-lyft-to-provid-idUSFWN1HJ0IV'|'2017-04-12T04:24:00.000+03:00' 'd37f11526e32fc5cfa56d44f9a9f12a74012d201'|'Lyft lands $600 million in fresh funding'|'Technology News - Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 9:04pm BST Lyft lands $600 million in fresh funding A smartphone app for Lyft drivers is seen during a photo opportunity in San Francisco, California February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Lam By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Ride services company Lyft has raised $600 million in fresh funding, one of its investors said on Tuesday. Private equity firm KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) said it had joined a $600 million financing round, giving a sizeable financial boost to San Francisco-based Lyft as it continues to compete fiercely with rival Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL]. Sources close to Lyft said last week the company was close to completing a funding round that would value the firm at $7.5 billion, a sharp increase from the $5.5 billion valuation at Lyft''s last financing more than a year ago. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lyft-funding-idUKKBN17D2I8'|'2017-04-12T04:00:00.000+03:00' 'c4c2a6806b48bc049290314cccf7c6137cee4b94'|'BRIEF-Hospitality Properties Trust raises quarterly dividend'|' 33pm EDT BRIEF-Hospitality Properties Trust raises quarterly dividend April 11 Hospitality Properties Trust: * Hospitality Properties Trust raises quarterly dividend on common shares * Hospitality Properties Trust - raised its regular quarterly cash distribution on its common shares by $0.01 to $0.52 per common share Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-hospitality-properties-trust-raise-idUSASA09ID5'|'2017-04-12T04:33:00.000+03:00' '9a915370a781aa8549a435aea3820cf142b821f4'|'Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliner takes off successfully on first flight'|'Business News 2:01pm EDT Boeing 737 MAX 9 jetliner takes off successfully on first flight FILE PHOTO: Boeing''s new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo SEATTLE A new version of Boeing Co''s ( BA.N ) 737 jetliner took off for the first time on Thursday, marking another step in Boeing''s revamp of its best-selling product line. Boeing''s 737 MAX 9, a fuel-efficient, long-range successor to the 737-900, took off at 1:52 p.m. ET (1752 GMT) from Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Washington, on a test flight to help prepare the new version for delivery to customers next year. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-7373-flight-idUSKBN17F2DF'|'2017-04-14T01:57:00.000+03:00' 'a9b7d22903fe42b3ca05f20a8d77f2cc6553f06d'|'Top BlackRock portfolio manager turning to safe-haven assets'|' 8:15pm BST Top BlackRock portfolio manager turning to safe-haven assets By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK NEW YORK One of the portfolio managers behind BlackRock Inc''s ( BLK.N ) largest mutual fund says his team has been buying safe-haven assets such as gold and Treasuries to protect from "known unknowns" in global politics. "There is a little political risk creeping back into investors'' awareness and that''s probably appropriate because there are some things out there that can go wrong," Russ Koesterich, a manager of the $40 billion BlackRock Global Allocation Fund ( MALOX.O ), told Reuters on Thursday. "We''ve been raising our allocation to U.S. duration and we''ve been raising our allocation to gold." Despite what he said was a "good year" for markets and a low likelihood of recession, Koesterich said there is "less conviction" in the "reflation trade," the belief that markets are poised to profit from a coming global growth wave. Koesterich and other investors saw that reflation narrative driving stocks'' strong performance since last November as U.S. president. "Against the dry tinder of firming prices, we now have a potential match: a rare combination of fiscal stimulus and tax cuts," Koesterich wrote in November. "Welcome to the new world." The match has not yet been struck, and the unpredictability of conflict involving the Korean peninsula is dragging on markets, Koesterich said. Reclusive North Korea could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of U.N. sanctions and warnings from the United States that a policy of patience is over. "I don''t think anybody is going to predict what happens in North Korea," said Koesterich. "That''s one of those known unknowns." Gold and bonds are traditionally used to curtail risk. But the U.S. dollar is more likely to trade within a tight range, rather than "rocket" higher, Koesterich said, especially after Trump told the Wall Street Journal this week that the greenback is "getting too strong." The Global Allocation Fund trimmed its quarter-billion dollar stake in JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) in March, according to new disclosures showing the bank was no longer one of the fund''s top-10 holdings at the end of the month. JPMorgan and other bank stocks faced selling pressure on Thursday after their earnings reports showed slower loan growth and other comments by Trump on Wednesday endorsing low interest rates. Low interest rates dampen a bank''s ability to make money from lending. The latest disclosures did not clarify how much of the JPMorgan stake has been sold and Koesterich declined to comment on individual stocks. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-blackrock-outlook-idUKKBN17F2HW'|'2017-04-14T03:15:00.000+03:00' '38fca04913cd3902322f76822169b42de55fdff8'|'Ryan Giggs divorce: ex-footballer to argue his genius before high court - Life and style'|'Ryan Giggs must follow in the footsteps of a bin-liner entrepreneur and convince a divorce hearing of something that Manchester United fans take for granted: that he is a genius.Giggs will argue in the high court that he should be awarded more than half of the £40m fortune he shares with his wife because of his “special contribution” to their marital millions. If the 43-year-old’s legal team can convince a judge that this contribution possesses the spark of genius then he could prevail, under a precedent set by the man who earned his fortune from introducing black plastic bin liners to the UK.Giggs’s lawyers this week told the high court that they will call witnesses to prove that he is a genius and contributed far more to his 10-year marriage than his spouse Stacey Cooke. They argued this should trump law that states homebuilding and companionship are of equal importance to breadwinning.However, one legal expert warned that the strategy is high-risk. “No judge likes the idea of people spending huge amounts to legally brag about their own self-imagined genius,” said David Ruck, a partner and divorce specialist at law firm Gordon Dadd. “The courts are very reluctant to describe what a special contribution is”, adding that it has only been acknowledged in a handful of cases where “the sums are massive”.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Randy Work, who this week lost his claim to more than half of a £140m fortune. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PAIf Giggs succeeds, he will be one of only a handful of men to have successfully convinced an English court that his financial contribution to marriage should overrule the “yardstick of equality” which means the lesser-earning spouse is entitled to half of the assets in a divorce.In the past fortnight, two other multimillionaire husbands – American banker Randy Work and Laura Ashley chairman Khoo Kay Peng – have failed to have their genius recognised by the courts. Work, 49, was forced to pay £72m to his ex-wife , while 78-year-old Khoo was required to settle for £64m .The precedent that Giggs is relying on was set in 2001 when the court of appeal judges ruled that Michael Cowan could keep 62% of the £12m bin liner fortune he shared with his wife because “his contribution, in terms of entrepreneurial flair, inventiveness and hard work, was truly exceptional”.Since that ruling, many wealthy men have also tried to claim they are geniuses and should also be able collect more than half of their family’s finances, but few have succeeded in convincing judges that they are as exceptional as Cowan.Sir Martin Sorrell of advertising firm WPP was awarded 60% of the £75m joint assets in his 2005 divorce from Sandra, his wife of 33 years. Mr Justice Bennett ruled that Sorrell was “regarded within his field and the wider business community as one of the most exceptional and most talented businessmen”. Bennett said the “true explanation for this extraordinary success story is that the husband does possess the ‘spark’ or ‘force’ or ‘seed’ of genius”. And with that the so-called “genius” clause was born.The next year, insurance magnate John Charman was awarded 63.5% of the £131m marital fortune because “the wealth created is of extraordinary proportions from extraordinary talent and energy”. In 2014, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, ex-wife of Chris Hohn, the billionaire founder of hedge fund The Children’s Investment Fund Management, was awarded just 36% of their $1.5bn fortune.But far more husbands have tried and failed to invoke the genius clause. This week, American private equity tycoon Work failed to convince the court of appeal to recognise his genius and grant him more than half of a £140m fortune, which included a £30m mansion in Kensington, west London, complete with swimming pool and fitness centre, and an £18m ski lodge in Aspen, Colorado.The court of appeal agreed with an earlier ruling that it would be “unjustifiably gender-discriminatory to make an unequal award. This was a marriage of two strong and equal partners over 20 years.”Ruling on their divorce in 2015, Mr Justice Holman told the businessman that his wealth contribution was not “wholly exceptional” and rejected his claim to be a financial “genius”. “I personally find that a difficult, and perhaps unhelpful, word in this context,” Holman said. “To my mind, the word ‘genius’ tends to be overused and is properly reserved for Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Einstein and others like them.”In Cowan’s case, his legal team did not stint on claiming the word “genius” applied to their client. Speaking at a court of appeal hearing in 2001, Cowan’s lawyer compared his client to “a popular musician who achieves worldwide success, or a novelist with international bestsellers.” Michael Pointer QC added: “These are people who have the spark of genius, the Midas touch, and Mr Cowan falls into that category. He was the man who introduced bin liners to this country. He realised the potential.”Ruck said the more times the clause is defeated the harder it will become to convince judges that anyone is so much of a genius that they should be granted more than half the assets. “There will be more, although it does require fairly litigious people, with money to pay the lawyers,” he said. “But, then again, if you have £175m, it may not matter a huge amount.”London is widely regarded as the divorce capital of the world because of English law’s regard for homebuilding as of equal value to financial earnings. But it has only been so since 2000, when a landmark divorce case was taken to the House of Lords. Pamela White complained that she had originally been granted just £800,000 of the £4.6m farming fortune she had made with her husband Martin White. “The Lords said to family lawyers, ‘look you’ve been getting this wrong, you should be starting at a 50/50 split and then looking to see if there is any good reason to depart from equality,” said Jo Edwards, a partner and head of family law at London law firm Forsters.The biggest financial risk for women today? Embarking on a relationship Read moreEdwards said that before White v White, ex-wives of wealthy men could not hope for anything approaching parity. Settlements were based on so-called Duxbury tables, which calculate a wife’s “reasonable needs” for the rest of her life.Lawyer’s handbook At a Glance shows that in “Big Money Awards” before White v White, wives were granted as little as 2.5% of the marital fortune. Katina Dart, wife of burger-box billionaire Robert Dart, was, in 1996, awarded just £10m of the couple’s £400m fortune after 15 years of marriage. Lady Caroline Conran was granted 12.3% of the £85.7m assets in her 1997 divorce from designer Sir Terence Conran.Edwards said she expected the super-rich to continue trying to play the genius card despite Work’s failure, as the financial benefits of succeeding can be so great. “But Giggs is going to find it hard running,” she said. “And full and frank disclosure: I’m a massive Manchester United fan, so I do think he is a genius”Topics Divorce Ryan Giggs Family law news '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/15/ryan-giggs-to-argue-his-genius-before-high-court-divorce-law'|'2017-04-15T17:00:00.000+03:00' '49f1c44bc705e15a02ef680f17c32e16e122bf58'|'IDG Capital to deploy more resources in firms, eyes tech assets'|'* Says in the past ''we made some mistakes and sold too early''* Mobile remains a core focus for the IDG CapitalBy Matthew MillerBEIJING, April 14 IDG Capital, a private equity and venture capital firm, will deploy greater resources and time in companies as they grow, in contrast to some quick exits in the past, Global Chairman Hugo Shong told Reuters in an interview.IDG Capital, which together with China Oceanwide Holdings Group recently bought tech publisher International Data Group for an estimated $1.5 billion, will also look to increase and extend its investments in telecoms, financial technology and advanced manufacturing, Shong said.The firm presently manages more than 10 funds and has assets under management estimated at over $7 billion. It completed 17 exits, including three IPOs and 14 strategic sales, last year."In the past, we made some mistakes and sold too early, because our initial fund size was too small," said Shong. "(If) you don''t have money to follow on, you can only exit."Finding talented managers is always challenging, Shong said.It is hard to find "entrepreneurs who can run a scalable business ... some entrepreneurs at the early stage are pretty good, but once you get to the size where you''re managing 2000 people it can get tough", he added.Shong did not provide any details on fundraising plans.He said "mobile remains a core focus" for the firm.IDG Capital''s portfolio includes Meitu Inc, a mobile hardware and app maker that raised HK$4.88 billion ($623 million) at its December IPO, Internet search behemoth Baidu Inc and smartphone maker Xiaomi Inc.Its recent investments include online game developer Gbits Network Technology, interactive social video platform Tian Ge Interactive Holdings, and CreditEase, a wealth and credit management firm and parent of Yirendai , an online consumer finance marketplace.The International Data Group buyout, which closed in March, gave IDG Capital control of the firm''s venture investments in companies spanning the United States, South Korea, India and Vietnam.The deal also provided China Oceanwide, a real estate and financial holdings conglomerate headed by tycoon Lu Zhiqiang, control of International Data Group''s publication assets, such as Computerworld magazine, and market researcher IDC.Shong said the buyout was an "emotional" decision, following a promise made to International Data Group founder Pat McGovern before his death in 2014 to maintain his businesses and philanthropic legacies.McGovern provided the funding to establish the McGovern Institutes for Brain Research at MIT and in China.IDG Capital''s partnership with China Oceanwide came together following a friendly lunch in Beijing during the bidding process after each had submitted a separate offer, Shong said.IDG Capital also has many industrial technology investments. In March, it and other Chinese investors completed the buyout of Ledvance, an LED maker, from Munich-based lighting group Osram GmbH for 500 million euros ($531 million). ($1 = 0.9422 euros) ($1 = 7.7730 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting By Matthew Miller; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-idgcapital-idINL3N1HM1JN'|'2017-04-14T06:02:00.000+03:00' 'ed30a0fc736aaf4cfdf2798550c74606cd960caf'|'China''s CMG in talks for Advent''s Brazil port stake -report'|'SAO PAULO, April 13 China Merchants Group Ltd is in advanced talks to buy Advent International Corp''s 50 percent stake in TCP Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá SA, Brazil''s second-busiest container port, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said on Thursday.According to Estado, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the transaction, talks with the Chinese state-run company known as CMG gained momentum after Advent''s negotiations with Dubai-based DP World Ltd hit a snag.Reuters reported in August that Advent had hired Morgan Stanley & Co and Grupo BTG Pactual SA to sell the TCP stake. Sources said at the time that Advent wanted to fetch a price for the stake that could set a minimum value of 3.5 billion reais ($1.1 billion) for TCP.Currently, DP World is engaged in talks to buy out partner Odebrecht SA in the Embraport container terminal at Brazil''s Santos port, Latin America''s largest, Estado said. Odebrecht is selling assets and refinancing debt following its involvement in Brazil''s biggest corruption scandal.Two people involved in the transaction told Reuters recently that Advent partners flew to Hong Kong and Dubai in February to discuss preliminary terms for the TCP deal with CMG and DP World, respectively.TCP and Advent declined to comment on the Estado report and the February trip. China Merchant, DP World and Odebrecht did not immediately have a comment.($1 = 3.1203 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes, Tatiana Bautzer and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tcp-brasil-stake-idINL1N1HL0M3'|'2017-04-13T11:53:00.000+03:00' '2285483607827719b2479cb20c025f1087934aec'|'Hunt for Barclays whistleblower tests strength of new UK regime'|' 42pm IST Hunt for Barclays whistleblower tests strength of new UK regime FILE PHOTO - Chief executive officer of Barclays, Jes Staley, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo By Lawrence White and Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Barclays chief executive Jes Staley''s attempts to unmask a whistleblower will be a test case for a regime put in place last year that aims to hold bank bosses to account if they fail to defend reinforced standards. At stake is not just the image of a bank whose chief executive promised to reform its aggressive culture but also the efficacy of the fledgling Senior Managers Regime, which aims, among other things, to protect those who risk their jobs bringing wrongdoing to light. Earlier this week, Barclays said it had reprimanded Staley and would cut his bonus after he twice attempted to identify the author of a letter that revealed "concerns of a personal nature" about an unnamed senior employee. Britain''s Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England''s Prudential Regulation Authority, which vetted Staley''s appointment as CEO, are investigating the bank and Staley to see what other penalties might be warranted. Staley also faces scrutiny from parliament''s Treasury Select Committee, which successfully pushed for the departure of Bank of England Deputy Governor Charlotte Hogg for failing to register that her brother worked for a bank, a potential conflict of interest. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee, described Staley''s actions as presenting a "test case" that would show whether the Senior Managers Regime was "capable of providing meaningful scrutiny and accountability of financial institutions". "Now they (regulators) need to get on with the job," said Tyrie, cautioning that "the Treasury Committee will examine their conclusions, and the process by which they arrive at them, very carefully". The regime, introduced by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority in March 2016, makes managers personally accountable for their actions in order to set what regulators have described as the right "tone at the top". Among other things, bosses are required to respect rules to protect whistleblowing. The penalty can be a ban from industry or a fine. Eric Havian, a former U.S. state prosecutor and lawyer who represents whistleblowers in the United States, said he believed Barclays has not gone far enough to penalise Staley. "I think Barclays needs to impose a much more serious sanction," he said. "This is the kind of thing that creates a long-term corrosive atmosphere in the company and it''s a mistake for the bank not to treat this seriously." PARLIAMENT DEMAND Introducing the managers'' regime was a central demand of the British parliament''s commission on banking standards, also chaired by Tyrie, in the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crisis. Tyrie and fellow lawmakers were dismayed by the rarity of whistleblowing in the British banking industry, especially after no-one flagged wrongdoing in the case of manipulation of the Libor interest rate benchmark, which involved mostly British banks and included Barclays. Some lawmakers had gone so far as to suggest that Britain adopt the U.S. model of compensating whistleblowers - an idea ultimately rejected by regulators. Martin Wheatley, the then-chief executive of the FCA, said in March 2015 that the senior manager''s regime was not about putting "heads on sticks". But the watchdog will nonetheless face pressure from lawmakers to show that the regime works. Barclays, which declined to comment for this report, is already battling lawsuits and criticism from politicians in the United States and Britain over its conduct before and during the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the bank and two former executives over charges of fraud in the sale of tens of billions of mortgage securities. In Britain, the bank faces investigations by regulators into payments made to Qatari investors in the course of an emergency 2008 fundraising, and continuing questions about how much its executives knew about traders'' manipulation of the Libor interest rate. Staley has attempted to show contrition, publicly apologising for his actions and saying his actions were motivated by a desire to prevent what he thought was an unfair attack. He visited the staff canteen this week. Some investors, who believe that Staley has done a good job running the bank since he became chief executive in December 2015, have publicly backed him, and the news has so far had little impact on the bank''s stock price. "This was a failure of judgement not of principle. It was a pretty human failing and that''s why I feel the board have got it right in backing him," said Crispin Odey, London-based founder of Odey Asset Management, which owns shares in Barclays. Regulators may take a different view. "The ultimate sanction would be that he is not ''fit and proper''," said one employment lawyer who advises banks, asking not to be named. Euan Stirling of Standard Life Investments, which owns shares in Barclays, said other banks would do well to watch the outcome of the case. "One of the things you have to consider, and it''s particularly pertinent with a bank: Look at the way that profitability has been destroyed over the past 10 years and it''s been by governance failures. So you ignore that at your peril." (Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by John O''Donnell and Sonya Hepinstall)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/barclays-investigation-regime-idINKBN17F0Y0'|'2017-04-13T17:12:00.000+03:00' '80151dff32c650a58bf3899ec905dbac92b1525f'|'U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fall as labor market remains firm'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 8:33am EDT U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly fall as labor market remains firm A sign marks the entrance to a job fair in New York October 24, 2011. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton WASHINGTON The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market remains strong despite a sharp slowdown in job growth in March. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 234,000 for the week ended April 8, the Labor Department said on Thursday. That was the third straight weekly decline in claims and left them not too far from a 44-year low of 227,000 hit in February. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a healthy labor market, for 110 straight weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the unemployment rate close to a 10-year low of 4.5 percent. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast first-time applications for jobless benefits rising to 245,000 last week. Claims tend to be volatile around this time of the year because of the different timings of spring and Easter holidays. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell 3,000 to 247,250 last week. The low level of claims suggests that a sharp slowdown in job growth in March was an aberration and that the labor market continues to tighten. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 98,000 jobs last month, the fewest since last May. Thursday''s claims report also showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid dropped 7,000 to 2.03 million in the week ended April 1. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims edged up 750 to 2.03 million. (Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-idUSKBN17F1JB'|'2017-04-13T20:33:00.000+03:00' 'f6281b517322e66b3e01116efcd8fbd2858d9896'|'Hard left, hard right, or centre? French economy may decide'|' 2:05pm BST Hard left, hard right, or center? French economy may decide left right FILE PHOTO: A man looks at campaign posters of the 11th candidates who run in the 2017 French presidential election in Saint Andre de La Roche, near Nice, France, April 10, 2017. L-R : Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Debout La France group candidate, Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader, Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche ! (Onwards !), French Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon, Nathalie Arthaud, France''s extreme-left Lutte Ouvriere political party (LO) leader, Philippe Poutou, Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) presidential candidate, Jacques Cheminade, ''Solidarite et Progres'' (Solidarity and Progress) party candidate, lawmaker and independent candidate Jean Lassalle, Jean-Luc Melenchon, candidate of the French far-left Parti de Gauche, Francois Asselineau, UPR candidate, and Francois Fillon, the Republicans political party candidate. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: From L-R, campaign posters for candidates Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN), Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Parti de Gauche, and Benoit Hamon of the Socialist Party who are running in the 2017 French presidential election are seen in Paris, France, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo 2/2 By Jeremy Gaunt - LONDON LONDON If Donald Trump''s election in the United States and Britain''s decision to quit the European Union stirred the global economic waters, then there is the potential for a tsunami on the near horizon. The coming week is the last before the first round of France''s presidential election on April 23. It has already been a barrel of surprises -- an incumbent not running, the far right in ascendance, an independent seen as likely winner, a scandal hampering the early favorite. But the latest twist -- one with arguably the most potential global economic impact -- could conceivably see a far-left candidate, one-time communist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, make it through to the May 7 run-off against a far-right nationalist, Marine Le Pen. The potential economic shock stems from the fact that both are against the euro and the European Union, threatening the stability and even existence of both. The word Frexit -- the Gallic version of Brexit -- has been doing the rounds. Boosted by a strong performance in televised debates, Mélenchon has gathered momentum in the past week. One poll on Tuesday showed his support as high as 19 percent, within four points of centrist Emmanuel Macron and within five of Le Pen; the latest survey on Thursday put him on 17 percent. "For France, Europe and markets, a run-off between Mélenchon and ultra-right Marine Le Pen on May 7 would be a choice between bad and ugly," Berenberg bank said in a note on Thursday. The odds are still strongly against it happening: the polls show former economy minister Macron winning the big prize. But the fact is that perennial outsider Mélenchon and Le Pen are in the frame. France''s economy offers a mixed bag. Unemployment is at 10 percent and has been around that mark for five years. Projected economic growth of just 1.4 percent for this year puts France down at 25th equal (with Belgium) out of 28 EU countries. Other data shows the strain too. A study by World Economics of the relative value of euros within the euro zone, shows a yawning gap between Germany and France, making the latter far less competitive. But although growth is weak, France performs much better than other economies such as the United States and Britain in terms of income equality. One recent study, for example, found that the median French income in 2012 was about 17 percent higher than in 1996, while the median U.S. income was just 2 percent above its 1996 level. How all this plays with the French equivalent of the angry, left-out voters who went for Trump and Brexit remains to be seen. BRIGHT SPOT One recent bright spot for France has been the Purchasing Managers'' Index, which has shown a degree of rising optimism among businesses as the euro zone also improves. On Friday in the coming week -- just before the first round vote -- flash PMIs for April are released. Last time around all three of France''s readings -- manufacturing, services and composite -- were well in the expansion range, particularly services. Early Reuters polling suggests the services and manufacturing reports will essentially be unchanged, possibly as a result of election uncertainty. The euro zone and Germany will also report. The former is expected to improve slightly on a composite basis, which would add to the overall view of a steadily recovering economy. German manufacturing could show a tiny dip. Outside the euro zone, British retail sales data for March, released on Friday April 21, should provide another glimpse of how consumer sentiment is holding up as Brexit negotiations loom. Economists and others were surprised by the tenacity of British consumers after last year''s vote to leave the EU, but there have been recent signs of a tailing off. The British Retail Consortium said in the past week that its gauge of first-quarter consumer shopping showed the slowest growth since 2008. It was put down to inflation rising as a result of the post-Brexit vote fall in the pound. There were also some seasonal impacts relating to when Easter fell last year. Snapshots of the state of the U.S. economy, meanwhile, will come from New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve reports and from March industrial output data. The latter is expected to climb, reflecting an economy that has recovered well enough for the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin a tentative rate-tightening cycle. (Graphics by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-economy-weekahead-idUKKBN17F1KJ'|'2017-04-13T20:52:00.000+03:00' 'da91eb9a0a3b6705788d8d1f39ba55bde6359aaf'|'VW says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 12:02pm EDT VW says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels FILE PHOTO: A Volkswagen logo is pictured at Volkswagen''s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo WASHINGTON Volkswagen AG said on Friday the company has bought back or repaired more than half of 475,000 polluting 2.0-liter diesel vehicles under a U.S. government settlement, just six months after it launched the largest-ever repurchase offer. The world''s largest automaker said in a letter to a U.S. judge overseeing the settlement that as of Wednesday, it has repurchased or terminated leases on nearly 238,000 vehicles and has repaired 6,200 vehicles after it admitted in 2015 to secretly installing software that let vehicles emit up to 40 times legally-allowable pollution levels. Under the agreement, Volkswagen must buy back or repair at least 85 percent of the vehicles by late 2018 or face additional penalties. (Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUSKBN17G1AK'|'2017-04-15T00:02:00.000+03:00' '1a3e2cb7a4ae1e50553637bc7eeb5757cccc1463'|'Volkswagen says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels in U.S.'|'Money News 10:07pm IST Volkswagen says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels in U.S. FILE PHOTO - The logo of German car maker Volkswagen is pictured at the company''s stand during the Hannover Fair in Hanover, Germany, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Volkswagen AG said on Friday the company has bought back or repaired more than half of 475,000 polluting 2.0-liter diesel vehicles under a U.S. government settlement, just six months after it launched the largest-ever automotive repurchase offer. The world''s largest automaker said in a letter to a U.S. judge overseeing the settlement that as of Wednesday, it repurchased or terminated leases on nearly 238,000 vehicles and repaired 6,200 after it admitted in 2015 to secretly installing software that let vehicles emit up to 40 times legally-allowable pollution levels. Under the agreement, Volkswagen must buy back or repair at least 85 percent of the vehicles by 2019 or face additional penalties. In March, VW pleaded guilty to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department. The company is to be sentenced to three years of probation on April 21 by a federal judge in Detroit. Under a plea agreement, the automaker must make reforms and faces oversight by a yet to be named independent monitor. The September 2015 disclosure that VW intentionally cheated on emissions tests for at least six years led to the ouster of its chief executive, damaged the company''s reputation around the world and prompted massive bills. In total, VW has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and offered to buy back about 500,000 polluting U.S. vehicles. It agreed last year to spend up to $10.03 billion to buy back the polluting 2.0-liter vehicles. In February, VW said it had spent $2.9 billion on buybacks. A federal judge granted preliminary approval in March to a plan for Volkswagen to pay at least $1.22 billion to fix or buy back a separate group of polluting vehicles - nearly 80,000 3.0-liter diesel vehicles including some Porsche, Audi and VW SUVs. VW has offered to buy back 20,000 of those vehicles, but could have to repurchase others if regulators do not approve fixes. The 3.0-liter vehicles have an undeclared auxiliary emissions system that allowed them to emit up to nine times allowable limits. A judge will hold a May 11 hearing on whether to grant final approval to the 3.0-liter settlement. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by G Crosse and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/volkswagen-emissions-idINKBN17G1BP'|'2017-04-15T00:37:00.000+03:00' '9cf4081f138b24c373606ebcbacc6e6baaa62b50'|'A country mile: Rescuing Myanmar’s farmers from the debt trap'|'WHEN Myo Than was a young man, his family had 12 hectares of farmland in Dala, a rural township just across the river from Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city. His mother sold most of it after his father died. Mr Myo Than grows rice on what’s left, but water shortages mean he reaps just one harvest each year. He borrows money from the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank (MADB)—1.5m kyats ($1,100) this year, at an annual rate of 8%—to cover planting costs. But rice is a low-return crop. To repay the bank he borrows from local moneylenders at a rate of around 4% each month. Mr Myo Than owes them $7,300. He has given his land deeds to a moneylender as security.Mr Myo Than’s predicament is not unusual: poor crop returns and usurious loan terms have kept Myanmar’s farmers trapped in poverty and debt. Around 60% of Myanmar’s population are engaged in agriculture. Most are poor, and farm small plots of land using age-old manual techniques. Farmers scythe rice fields; water buffaloes pull wooden ploughs; hay-laden bullock-carts trundle down narrow roads. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Many farmers borrow to cover planting costs, buy equipment or purchase land, and repay after the harvest. Under the junta that isolated Myanmar for decades, farmers had to borrow from the MADB, which was permitted only to make small loans for rice seed, rarely for periods of longer than a year. This hampered farmers in two ways. First, the small loan size sent them to informal moneylenders. Second, it prevented them from diversifying into higher-yield crops.Slowly, things are improving. Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader since last year, has made rural development a priority. The core of her support is in the rural heartlands of the country’s ethnic-Burman majority; her voters are counting on her to improve their lives. New laws on microfinance have increased the range of lenders available to farmers. According to Curtis Slover of LIFT, an anti-poverty NGO, microfinance, where it is available, has overtaken private moneylenders as the main source of credit. He cautions that only around 2.5m of Myanmar’s 54.7m people so far have access to microcredit. Many, however, even among the rural poor, have mobile phones. A wave of mobile-money ventures has streamed into Myanmar. The World Bank is piloting a programme that uses mobile-network data and crop-suitability mapping to arrange seasonal loans using mobile money.But cash will remain king of the countryside for a long time, and the MADB’s reach (223 branches) means it has no rivals. Getting it into shape is essential. On March 1st a loan agreement signed with the government by JICA, Japan’s overseas aid agency, included ¥15.1bn ($137m) for the MADB, for onlending and to build capacity at the bank. The priority, says Sean Turnell, an Australian economist who advises Miss Suu Kyi’s government, is to figure out what the bank’s financial condition really is.That may prove a challenge. The MADB lacks real-time financial reporting and still runs on paper ledgers. Every season it must check millions of written loan-application forms against similar lists of defaults. Chasing down defaulters requires travelling to remote villages. Funds from JICA and the World Bank should help drag the bank closer to the modern era, but getting it functional and effective—to say nothing of competitive—may take a generation.This article appeared in the Finance and economics "A country mile"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720632-microfinance-its-infancy-hopes-still-depend-lumbering-state?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '8ead775956f0e4ce1edb231ccfbf56bdd1a06f21'|'After years of soaring growth, Asia''s fuel demand falters'|' 6:31am BST After years of soaring growth, Asia''s fuel demand falters left right Tankers line the anchorage area behind the Singapore Flyer observatory wheel in Singapore May 27, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su 1/2 left right Shipping vessels and oil tankers line up on the eastern coast of Singapore in this July 22, 2015. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo 2/2 By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE After years of often explosive growth, fuel consumption in Asia''s biggest economies is stuttering, undermining efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to end a global supply glut and lift prices. Gobbling up over a third of global supplies, Asia is the world''s biggest and fastest growing region for oil consumption, and its seemingly insatiable fuel thirst has long been a core support for prices. Now, some say that picture of buoyant growth in demand is crumbling. "The signs of growing demand aren''t quite what they seem. Chinese fuel growth is at a three year low, Japanese fuel demand is down," said Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Investor Services (FIS) in Dubai. "Considering the sheer volume of product available... sooner or later I think we could see some distressed sellers." Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 have risen by around 5.5 percent this month to $55.75 per barrel as traders bet on a broader commodity market recovery and price in a Middle East risk premium after the U.S. missile attack on Syria last week. But in a sign that there remains an abundance of oil available to buyers and that the more opaque physical oil market is not as convinced by the rally in financial markets, top exporter Saudi Arabia this month lowered the price for its May crude for Asian customers by 30 cents versus April, and to a discount of 45 cents compared with the benchmark Oman/Dubai average. It is showing up in various parts of the region''s economy. China''s gasoline exports in February climbed to their second-highest monthly level on record as refiners increasingly turned to exports to Asian markets to drain a domestic supply glut that almost wiped out imports altogether. Even India, which is often touted as the next driver of global demand growth, fuel consumption fell 0.6 percent in March from a year earlier. "The stutter in Indian demand may have been caused due to the effects of demonetisation," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta. With little notice, India abolished the then existing 500 and 1,000 rupee notes late last year, which made up the bulk of the country''s cash in circulation. That crimped consumption, affecting many consumers and disrupting many businesses. And while India''s annual fuel demand is still expected to grow this year, analysts say, it is unlikely to recover enough to fully offset the demonetization impact. M. K. Surana, chairman of Hindustan Petroleum Corp, said he expects India''s fuel demand to rise by 5.5 to 6 percent this year. Though that is still a high growth rate by global standards, it is a far cry from 2016''s refined product demand growth of more than 10.9 percent. FALLING POPULATION Consumption in other major Asian oil buyers is in terminal decline. Countries like Japan and South Korea face major demographic problems because of low birth rates and an ageing population. A Japanese government agency this week forecast that the nation’s population will fall nearly a third by 2065. Add in improving fuel efficiency and the longer-term picture for oil producers trying to sell to Japan appears to be bleak. "Because of structural factors such as the improvement of vehicle fuel economy, domestic demand has been weakening... and that is continuing," said a spokesman for JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, which has a 50 percent share of Japanese gasoline sales. Japan''s oil demand is expected to fall by more than 1.5 percent per year on average over the next five years, forecasts by the government''s energy committee show. In South Korea, oil products demand fell by 0.4 percent in January-February from a year earlier, according to data from Korea National Oil Corp. "This year''s overall domestic oil products demand growth is expected to slow," said Lee Seung-moon, a research fellow at the state-run Korea Energy Economic Institute. The longer-term trend in South Korea is similar to that in Japan, as rising efficiency, alternative fuels, and an aging population take their toll on oil demand. (For a graphic on global oil supply versus demand click reut.rs/2p3PI6N ) NO END TO GLUT? With demand faltering in Asia''s four biggest oil consuming countries, efforts led by OPEC and Russia to cut output by 1.8 million bpd during the first half of the year to rein in a global fuel supply overhang could be undermined, resulting in calls by Saudi Arabia to extend the cuts into the second half of 2017. Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients on Wednesday that its long-term forecast for benchmark U.S. crude is $50 per barrel CLc1 versus the current price of $53.08 per barrel. Data from Thomson Reuters Eikon shows that global oil supplies on average exceeded demand by 680,000 bpd in 2016, and that 2017 will still see oversupply, albeit of less than 100,000 bpd, excluding stored oil. Still, lots of fuel remains stored on tankers in Asia''s oil trading hub around Singapore. Eikon data shows that around 20 supertankers are currently sitting offshore Singapore and southern Malaysia, filled with oil. While this figure is slightly lower than a month ago, it is a sign of continuing oversupply. Keeping oil on tankers is only profitable if fuel prices for future delivery are significantly higher than those for imminent discharge. Yet the forward price curve for Brent crude futures <0#LCO:>, the international benchmark for oil prices, shows only a slight increase of 90 cents in prices between now and a peak in November, at $57.20 per barrel. "That''s not enough to make it profitable to store oil on tankers," one ship broker said on condition of anonymity. What''s worse, Brent prices start falling from November onward, back towards $56 a barrel for delivery towards the end of 2018 and into 2019. Such a price curve, “makes it commercial suicide to store oil on tankers, so the only reason to do that is if you have nowhere else to put it," the broker added. (For a graphic on global oil demand by region click reut.rs/2o3gszA ) (Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO, Jane Chung in SEOUL, and Nidhi Verma in NEW DELHI; Editing by Martin Howell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-asia-oil-analysis-idUKKBN17F0I0'|'2017-04-13T13:31:00.000+03:00' 'e45f3cc65d8ffedf82ddea0746d840d739780cd2'|'Investors eye midstream sector as production ramps up'|'Commodities 51pm EDT Investors eye midstream sector as production ramps up Crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the Cushing oil hub, in Cushing, Oklahoma, March 24, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo By Liz Hampton - HOUSTON HOUSTON Investors are placing bets that demand for U.S. energy pipelines, storage and processing facilities will outstrip supply in the next few years as the resurgence in shale oil and gas production increases. With U.S. oil prices mostly above $50 a barrel for several months and a jump in drilling activity this year, new projects are moving off the drawing boards, and backers are lining up customers. There also has been a spate of deals involving existing transportation and storage networks. The deals should ensure that production growth coming from shale basins has new outlets to market. The amount of money moving off the sidelines also is spurring valuations that potential investors say could trip up some deals. Several long-haul pipelines have been proposed in recent months to move natural gas and liquids from West Texas to the Gulf Coast, including one by private-equity-backed NAmerico Partners. Its multibillion-dollar line would ferry 1.85 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the Permian to Corpus Christi. The NAmerico project and a similar line announced by Kinder Morgan are "indicative of the type of supply growth we''re going to see," said Billy Lemmons, managing partner and founder at private equity fund EnCap Flatrock Midstream. For every dollar invested in production, another 15 cents to 35 cents is required for pipelines, processing plants and other midstream infrastructure, he said. Many investors favor such projects because they are fee-collecting businesses and face less commodity price risk than exploration and production investments. Stable oil prices also have alleviated worries that shippers won''t meet their pipeline commitments. In the Delaware Basin region of the Permian, private equity firms have accounted for more than 46 percent of growth in new gas processing systems, according to Barclays. GREATER COMPETITION In active drilling areas, operators are trying to get 10 times to 12 times estimated 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization on pipeline and other assets. "Auctions have become very pricey," said Lex Hochner, vice president at Haddington Ventures, a private equity fund backing a massive salt dome oil storage project in Houston. Targa Resources Corp ( TRGP.N ) in January agreed to buy Outrigger Energy LLC''s Permian Basin gathering and processing assets for $1.5 billion, the same month Plains All American Pipeline ( PAA.N ) paid $1.2 billion to Concho Resources Inc ( CXO.N ) and Frontier Midstream Solutions for a pipeline system. Private equity firms also bid on those assets but could not compete on the rich valuation, said one source familiar with the deals. This week, pipeline operator NuStar Energy NS.S agreed to pay $1.48 billion for Navigator Energy Services to get a foothold in the Permian. Pipeline transactions are percolating elsewhere. An arm of Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) plc in December acquired interests in three pipelines from BP plc for undisclosed amounts. BP earlier sold one of its Gulf of Mexico pipelines to American Midstream Partners ( AMID.N ). Investors also are acquiring preferred equity in companies. Last August, pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) agreed to take up to $500 million in preferred stock units from infrastructure provider Howard Energy Partners. "The longer commodity price recovery continues, the better the balance sheets of midstream companies look," said Kirkland & Ellis partner Adam Larson, who advised on the AIMCo and Howard Energy deal. (Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by Gary McWilliams and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-privateequity-midstream-idUSKBN17E2Q7'|'2017-04-13T04:51:00.000+03:00' 'aea71fb5455cc4a23c22a5f095458e001abf57aa'|'Democratic U.S. senator questions Deutsche Bank over Trump'|'Politics 5:57pm EDT Democratic U.S. senator questions Deutsche Bank over Trump FILE PHOTO - The headquarters of Germany''s Deutsche Bank are seen early evening in Frankfurt, Germany January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo WASHINGTON A Democratic U.S. senator pressed Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) on Wednesday to release information about issues including President Donald Trump''s debt and any bank meetings with Trump administration officials, saying he had "great concern" about possible conflicts of interest. "I write to you with great concern regarding conflicts of interest between Deutsche Bank and the President of the United States and how these conflicts may impact ongoing investigations and regulatory oversight of your institution," Senator Chris Van Hollen wrote in a letter addressed to the chief executive of Deutsche Bank USA, which he released to the public. Van Hollen is a member of the Senate Banking Committee. A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank declined comment. White House officials did not respond to a request for comment. Van Hollen''s letter said prior financial disclosures listed two loans and two mortgages for which Deutsche Bank was the lender and Trump the borrower. Those loans amounted to about $340 million, with another $950 million extended to a venture in which Trump owns a 30 percent stake, he wrote. The letter also noted that Jared Kushner, Trump''s son-in-law and senior adviser, holds a multimillion-dollar line of credit at Deutsche Bank. Van Hollen asked for a response by May 12. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-deutschebank-idUSKBN17E2UD'|'2017-04-13T05:57:00.000+03:00' '1bb9e06daabadf01e01a26ae1bb835f79f575669'|'RPT-UPDATE 1-Private equity firms have bid $22 bln for SCA hygiene unit-paper'|'(Repeats to additional subscribers without changes to text)STOCKHOLM, April 13 A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.3 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said, citing unnamed sources.Sweden''s SCA said last year it planned to split into two listed units, a hygiene products firm and a forestry company. The split was formally approved at the group''s annual meeting last week."At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," Dagens Nyheter said in a report that first appeared on its Web site on Wednesday night. The newspaper did not name the private equity firms.SCA, which counts U.S. firms Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark among its main rivals, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday.SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and the second largest in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products.The group, which has yet to complete its planned split, currently has an overall market value of 194 billion crowns.Last year, SCA''s hygiene business accounted for 86 percent of the group''s total sales.($1 = 8.9859 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sweden-sca-idINL8N1HL0Y7'|'2017-04-13T04:57:00.000+03:00' '80da9f4d8b9a9058de60d4e5665f1397b608ca63'|'Regulator accuses ex-Aston Hill executives of insider trading'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 9:31pm EDT Regulator accuses ex-Aston Hill executives of insider trading The logo of gaming company Amaya Inc is seen at its head office in Montreal June 22, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File photo Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) on Wednesday filed a statement of allegations accusing former Aston Hill Financial Inc executives of securities law violations in connection with a leaked takeover offer in 2014 by online gambling company Amaya Inc ( AYA.TO ). The OSC staff alleged that Ben Cheng, then president of Aston Hill Financial, became aware of undisclosed "material facts" and illegally tipped company sales manager John Rothstein about Amaya''s proposed bid to acquire the parent company of the online gaming operation PokerStars. The regulator also alleged that Eric Tremblay, who was Aston Hill Financial''s chief executive officer, and Frank Soave, an investment adviser at CIBC, of insider trading and making misleading statements on material matters or omitting facts when examined under oath by staff of the OSC. The Office of the Secretary has scheduled the court hearing for May 4. ( bit.ly/2oubO1b ) In 2014, Montreal-based Amaya closed the $4.9 billion takeover of Oldford Group, operator of online gambling website PokerStars. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amaya-regulator-idUSKBN17F069'|'2017-04-13T09:31:00.000+03:00' '28eaaade62c02cfac39246b92e8f14c1e936982b'|'METALS-London copper climbs as China trade brightens, imports jump'|'(Adds comment, detail, updates prices) By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, April 13 London copper rose from its lowest in three months on Thursday after upbeat China trade data for March, and as traders closed positions ahead of the long Easter holiday weekend. China''s 2017 export outlook brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift. "Now that the Easter break is about to start and the LME will be shut for four days many Asian traders will have squared up positions. The markets will have also taken comfort from the positive Chinese data," said Kingdom Futures in a report. "(Still) with premiums still easing ...all eyes (are) on China for signs of the much talked about buying." * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper rose 1.5 percent to $5,712 a tonne by 0534 GMT, paring losses from the previous session when prices fell more than 2 percent to their lowest since Jan. 10. * HOLIDAYS: The LME will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter break. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper cut early losses to trade down 0.6 percent at 46,350 yuan ($6,740) a tonne. * TRUMP: President Trump said on Wednesday that his administration will not label China a currency manipulator, backing away from a campaign promise, even as he said the dollar was "getting too strong" and would eventually hurt the economy. * COPPER: China''s imports of copper rose 26.5 percent from month ago to 430,000 tonnes in March, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. * ALUMINIUM: China exported 410,000 tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products, up from February''s 260,000 tonnes. China''s aluminium makers have stepped up exports as a healthier global manufacturing climate and declining world stockpiles boost demand. * CHINA ECONOMY: China''s economy likely grew by a solid 6.8 percent in the first quarter, the same pace as the previous quarter, due to sustained government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying housing market. * China''s central bank has been quietly boosting its policy independence and regulatory reach as it seeks to contain risks to the financial system, policy insiders said, to help ensure stability ahead of a five-yearly leadership team transition this year. * Losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars appear to be pushing the Indonesian government and mining giant Freeport McMoRan to resolve a row that has crippled operations at Grasberg, the world''s richest copper mine, for three months. * Chile, the world''s biggest copper producer, faced a fresh threat of labour action in the sector on Wednesday when a union at the large Chuquicamata mine said it had blocked access as a "warning" over planned changes to job opportunities. * The global zinc market moved into a surplus of 19,800 tonnes in February from a deficit of 22,300 tonnes in January, data from the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG) showed on Wednesday. PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0538 GMT Three month LME copper 5711 Most active ShFE copper 46300 Three month LME 1919.5 aluminium Most active ShFE 84 aluminium Three month LME zinc 2635 Most active ShFE zinc 21750 Three month LME lead 2268 Most active ShFE lead 1 Three month LME nickel 9825 Most active ShFE nickel 9 Three month LME tin 19825 Most active ShFE tin 2 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 515.39 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1270.19 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 253.61 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -2139.58 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1454 ($1 = 6.8768 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idINL3N1HL2EP'|'2017-04-13T04:15:00.000+03:00' '474664b859a7134f191228cfc28e41a947666950'|'Bombardier hits cash snag on Australian train order'|'By Jonathan Barrett and Allison Lampert - SYDNEY/MONTREAL SYDNEY/MONTREAL Bombardier Inc''s hopes of receiving initial payments for a A$4.4 billion contract to build 75 electric trains for Australia''s Queensland state government have been hit amid accusations of design faults.The Canadian company had expected to start booking proceeds from that deal late last year to help meet cash-flow targets.A person familiar with the company''s thinking said it had concerns over its rail division''s operational cash flow in the first quarter of this year.Delays in being paid, and the added cost of fixing any manufacturing faults, could make it harder for Bombardier Transportation to reach its 2017 revenue target of around $8.5 billion, up from $8 billion in 2016, said an industry analyst, who didn''t want to be named as he is not authorized to talk to the media. Similarly, it aims to push up its EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin slightly to about 7.5 percent.The issues with the Queensland order - ranging from braking problems to driver visibility and disability access - come on top of other hitches that have weighed on Bombardier''s rail division. Separately, a Canadian judge is poised to rule on a dispute over a C$770 million contract with Toronto''s Metrolinx system.They also come to light as Bombardier is again discussing a potential merger of its rail unit, the Montreal-based plane and train maker''s most reliable cash generator, with Germany''s Siemens, people close to the matter said this week.Siemens'' transportation business has also had product flaws in its trams, and there were delays recently in supplying high-speed trains to state-owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.Claas Belling, spokesman for Germany-based Bombardier Transportation, declined to comment on specific, confidential contract terms, but said the Queensland deal is one of several hundred agreements globally. "Some may be performing better than plan, while others may lag," he said in an email to Reuters.The possible rail merger talks come as Bombardier aggressively cuts costs as part of a 5-year turnaround plan. The company considered bankruptcy in 2015 when it faced a cash crunch while bringing two jets to market, but CEO Alain Bellemare has since led a restructuring, and the company has received cash infusions from the Quebec government and Canada''s second-largest pension fund.ONE-SIDED CONTRACTIt''s not clear to what extent Bombardier is responsible for the design flaws on the Queensland contract.Australia was mentioned as an example in a broad internal review of the rail division from 2015 that raised concerns about a systemic problem: at the time, the company agreed to custom-build trains to the client''s request, which is more risky and costly than offering a standard line of equipment, said another person familiar with the matter.While Bellemare, who has been CEO for a little over two years, has addressed that issue, deals signed before his time, including the 2013 Queensland contract won by a Bombardier-led consortium, are a potential drag on the company.A person with knowledge of the contract said it was one-sided in favor of the state government. It could change its mind and order planes instead, and Bombardier would probably have to pay the difference, the person quipped.Downer Group, a Sydney-headquartered engineering firm, told Reuters it decided against bidding for the Queensland order because of the "onerous" contract terms.SUSPENDEDBy early this year, Queensland had received 13 six-car trains, but suspended further deliveries apart from two that were already en route from Bombardier''s factory in Savli, India.The state has not yet paid any money to Bombardier.The Canadian firm is now trying to have four or five of the trains certified for use in Australia before the end of this year, two people familiar with the issue said."There''s no funding until they get through testing and are certified," said a political source with knowledge of the contract terms, which are not public. "The issues with the trains include unsatisfactory braking, which are design flaws."Paul Bini, a spokesman for the bid consortium - which also includes Aberdeen Asset Management, UK developer John Laing and Japanese trading company Itochu Corp - said it wasn''t unusual for issues to be identified during testing, especially on large and complex projects."All 75 New Generation Rollingstock trains are expected to be delivered and rolled-out on to the South East Queensland rail network by late-2018," he added.The Queensland government previously cited problems with the trains'' braking systems, the design of the driver cabs, which it said had inadequate visibility, and doorway disability access that did not meet Australian standards."We are working around the clock to resolve the issues as soon as possible, without compromising safety," Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Jackie Trad told Reuters.Bini said the trains were being tested to meet safety standards, and the brake issue had been resolved. He added that feedback from rail groups and the disability sector were incorporated into the train''s design.(Reporting by Allison Lampert and Jonathan Barrett, with additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in BERLIN; Editing by Denny Thomas and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bombardier-railways-australia-analysi-idINKBN17F2LO'|'2017-04-13T18:21:00.000+03:00' 'bf6d708d9b9a859e3bb8ebc598f0e4840408d293'|'Citi profit beats estimates as fixed-income trading jumps'|' 27pm BST Citi profit beats estimates as fixed-income trading jumps A Citi sign is seen at the Citigroup stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) reported a better-than-expected 17 percent jump in quarterly profit, boosted by strong fixed-income trading as clients adjusted their positions following rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and changes in the forex and credit markets. The fourth-biggest on Thursday that net income rose to $4.09 billion (3.27 billion pounds), or $1.35 $3.50 billion, or $1.10 The company said the latest quarter''s results included a net benefit of 8 cents per share from a few previously announced divestitures. expected earnings of $1.24 JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, earlier reported a higher-than-expected 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by additional revenue from increased trading. Citigroup''s total revenue rose about 3 percent to $18.12 billion, beating the average analysts'' estimate of $17.76 billion. Revenue from fixed-income trading rose 19 percent to $3.62 billion, while the bank''s much smaller equities trading saw revenue increase 10 percent to $769 million. Combined, trading revenue jumped about 17 percent, higher than the "low double-digit" rise that Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach projected five weeks ago. Loans at the end of the period were up only 2 percent, from a year earlier. "The momentum we saw across many of our businesses towards the end of last year carried into the first quarter, resulting in significantly better overall performance than a year ago," Chief Executive Michael Corbat said in a statement. Operating expenses were little changed at $10.48 billion. The ratio of expenses to revenue was about 58 percent, in line with the company''s goal for this year. Tangible book value per share was $65.94 at the end of March, compared with $64.57 three months earlier and $62.58 a year earlier. Citigroup''s shares were up marginally at $58.65 in premarket trading. Through Wednesday''s close, the stock had risen about 17 percent since the U.S. presidential elections, but is down 1.6 percent so far this year. The elections sparked a rally in U.S. bank stocks as investors bet on lower taxes and easing regulations. But, the rally is losing momentum as investors scale back expectations for any quick changes. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-citigroup-results-idUKKBN17F1HJ'|'2017-04-13T20:27:00.000+03:00' 'ecc0aeceefbfd5cd4939cae8491aaf8e993e7f87'|'VW says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels'|' 5:09pm BST VW says has bought, fixed more than half of polluting 2.0-liter diesels A Volkswagen logo is shown on the front of an old Volkswagen van in Encinitas, California September 29, 2015. U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday asked Volkswagen AG to turn over documents related to the company''s diesel emissions scandal, including records concerning the development... REUTERS/Mike Blake - RTS2BD9 WASHINGTON Volkswagen AG said on Friday the company has bought back or repaired more than half of 475,000 polluting 2.0-liter diesel vehicles under a U.S. government settlement, just six months after it launched the largest-ever repurchase offer. The world''s largest automaker said in a letter to a U.S. judge overseeing the settlement that as of Wednesday, it has repurchased or terminated leases on nearly 238,000 vehicles and has repaired 6,200 vehicles after it admitted in 2015 to secretly installing software that let vehicles emit up to 40 times legally-allowable pollution levels. Under the agreement, Volkswagen must buy back or repair at least 85 percent of the vehicles by late 2018 or face additional penalties. (Reporting by David Shepardson, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-emissions-idUKKBN17G1AI'|'2017-04-15T00:09:00.000+03:00' 'f39cbc93b712cf660eb6ceff172f4858dd521d9c'|'Apple considering multi-billion dollar investment in Toshiba chip unit - NHK'|'TOKYO, April 14 Apple Inc is considering investing at least several billion dollars in the chip business put up for sale by Toshiba Corp, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing an unidentified source.Apple wants to take a stake of more than 20 percent in Toshiba''s chip business, while convincing Toshiba to maintain a partial stake to keep the business under U.S. and Japanese control to allay the Japanese government''s concerns, the report said.Appls is considering a plan in which Taiwan''s Foxconn would also own a stake of around 30 percent in its bid, it added.Toshiba is now in the process of selling its memory chip unit to raise cash to cover writedowns at U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse that have plunged it into crisis.(Reporting by Junko Fujita, Tim Kelly and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-apple-idUST9N1G601R'|'2017-04-14T07:41:00.000+03:00' 'e930a80eb78e56056c801ff14c2bc8bb854da2cc'|'BRIEF-Timkensteel sees Q1 sales about $309 mln'|' 26pm EDT BRIEF-Timkensteel sees Q1 sales about $309 mln April 13 Timkensteel Corp * Announces preliminary results for first-quarter 2017 * Sees Q1 sales about $309 mln * Expects EBITDA for quarter to be approximately $17 million, which is lower than its original guidance Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-timkensteel-sees-q1-sales-about-idUSFWN1HL0N0'|'2017-04-14T09:26:00.000+03:00' '5de1969c5011626f059ace1cb5aaa695d78285e7'|'Forget the property ladder. We need housing rights for all - Dawn Foster - Housing Network'|'A s far back as 2007, I remember more affluent peers confidently predicting that they would be clambering onto the property ladder shortly after graduation: purchasing a small flat, then upgrading to a small house before, with any luck, buying in their forties the kind of home featured in weekday evening property programmes.Then the financial crash hit while we were in university, and finding a job, let alone a mortgage, looked increasingly unlikely. House prices rose, while wages didn’t and the dream looked more distant. Now, post-Brexit and Trump, with World War III threatening to result from Russia, Syria and the US’s sabre-rattling, trying to get onto this increasingly mythical property ladder seems fruitless, since we’re essentially living in a society that resembles Threads more closely than Notting Hill .Now, even the Telegraph (£) is warning that so-called “housing mobility”, the ability to move from one home to another larger home, is declining. Yes, people who got into the market early, and onto the famous ladder, may be asset rich, but this benefit is offset by how much their children will have to pay to escape private renting. An increasing number of people are also paying the maximum they can on mortgages, with an increase in interest rates, or a redundancy threatening to upset the financial balancing act. Few young people now buy in most prime markets without parental help and in the areas where housing is most affordable, like Blaenau Gwent, Copeland and Port Talbot, jobs are scarce.And that’s just the people who were ever likely to scale this ladder. The poorest never expected to be able to secure mortgages, but in the past were more likely to find a home in social housing, with security of tenure and affordable rents. That security has been attacked for decades, with council homes sold under right to buy, and now with the forced sale of high value council homes, the end of lifetime tenancies, and right to buy put on steroids: the right to buy discount has been raised to encourage sales, and government leaflets advertising the scheme are repeatedly posted through letterboxes.Home ownership in England at a 30-year low, official figures show Read moreThe concept of the property ladder is dead for all but a small minority of young people. It needs to be replaced with a campaign for housing rights. Homelessness should not happen in a country as wealthy as Britain. Ignore Conservative chancellors and their tendency to both claim Britain is bankrupt and that an economy is akin to a household budget. The government can always find money for vanity yachts and Buckingham Palace repairs, and could borrow extremely cheaply to build homes.Every person should have the right to housing and shelter, and if the market excludes people, the government should step in. Post-war, when millions of people faced living in slums, a national house building programme employed thousands to house millions, increasing life chances and expectancies as a result. In that era adequate housing was recognised as a basic right. Why not now?In the years since, housing has become completely commodified : even social housing is seen as ripe for flogging at a profit. Continuing to prop up an over-inflated housing market while denying housing to people at the bottom of this rickety ladder is a recipe for vast social division.England''s housing market is ''broken'', government admits in white paper Read moreBut while traditionally, the haves have outnumbered the have nots, now very few people have the sort of housing they’d like; not in terms of wild ambition, but even to meet their basic desires. A young professional earning an above-average salary should be able to afford a mortgage on a one-bed property without help. The market is broken . A family working full-time on minimum wage should be able to afford the rent on a council home; but again, they can’t, without state help, because the employment market is broken.The days of the housing ladder are over: what we need now is a national conversation about housing rights for all, with a government willing to remove its fingers from its ears.Sign up for your free Guardian Housing network newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you on the last Friday of the month. Follow us: @GuardianHousingTopics Housing Network Foster on Friday Communities Housing Housing market Real estate Social mobility comment '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2017/apr/14/property-ladder-dead-campaign-housing-rights'|'2017-04-14T15:05:00.000+03:00' '93139bdc51e9f621b540b30c710db36ba106ad53'|'Unilever picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman to sell spreads business - sources'|' 12:59pm BST Unilever picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman to sell spreads business - sources The logo of the Unilever group is seen at the Miko factory in Saint-Dizier, France, May 4, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo By Pamela Barbaglia and Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever ( ULVR.L ) has decided to work with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the sale of its margarine and spreads business, which was announced last week, sources told Reuters on Thursday. The sale, which could fetch as much as 6 billion pounds, is expected to kick off later this year, the sources said, following a far-reaching review of Unilever''s business prompted by February''s unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ). Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are mainly targeting private equity bidders which could team up in large consortia to finance the bid, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the process is private. Unilever and Morgan Stanley declined to comment while Goldman Sachs was not immediately available to comment. Goldman and Morgan Stanley have both worked with Unilever on deals in the past. Morgan Stanley worked on Unilever''s defence against Kraft. Unilever said last week that it planned to sell the spreads business by year-end, but would also prepare it for a spin-off if a sale could not be completed. (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-unilever-m-a-spreads-idUKKBN17F1GJ'|'2017-04-13T19:59:00.000+03:00' 'cb3c5f901dc3cc654289fd30b646544824a9960b'|'Credit Suisse board proposes to cut variable pay by 40 percent'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 11:44pm BST Credit Suisse board proposes to cut variable pay by 40 percent A logo is pictured on a branch of the Credit Suisse bank in Bern, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) said its CEO and board of directors has proposed a reduction in performance awards by 40 percent. The bank said on Thursday that the board has proposed to reduce the long-term incentive awards for 2017 and short-term incentive award for 2016 by 40 percent each. ( bit.ly/2oEJlG2 ) The bank''s board also proposed to maintain total board pay at the same level for 2015 and 2016, with no increase in pay for 2017. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-agm-idUKKBN17F2SC'|'2017-04-14T06:44:00.000+03:00' 'f3017c0439150e554918f290f5de6db7dafbcfac'|'In one of coldest spots on earth, Russia bets on boosting gold output'|' 53pm IST In one of coldest spots on earth, Russia bets on boosting gold output left right A dump truck drives at the Taryn gold mine, with the mine''s base camp seen in the background, in Oymyakon district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, March 22, 2017. Picture taken March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin 1/3 left right Employees are seen at the Taryn gold mine in Oymyakon district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, March 22, 2017. Picture taken March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin 2/3 left right Excavators load dump trucks at the Taryn gold mine in Oymyakon district of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, March 22, 2017. Picture taken March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin 3/3 By Diana Asonova - UST-NERA, Yakutia, Russia UST-NERA, Yakutia, Russia In winter it gets so cold that metal snaps. When the weather is warmer people make a living sifting the earth for fragments of gold in the Oymyakon district of Russia''s far eastern Yakutia region. But the unusually rich deposits of the alluvial gold near the surface are running out and producers have had to switch to the more expensive process of digging mines to extract gold ore. Production at the first two mines to be opened in the area since the fall of the Soviet Union will start soon. One is being launched by GV Gold, with U.S. fund BlackRock and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development among its shareholders, and another by the locally-owned Yantar group. As alluvial deposits disappear in other areas, producers are opening mines to help Russia keep its place as the world''s third biggest gold producer after China and Australia and ahead of the United States in fourth place. "It is always hard to move away from old traditions but all regions nearby... have already gone through it," said Elena Andreyeva, chief ore mining geologist at Yantar. Global gold prices in London are now at around $1,285 per ounce, down by around a third from their peak in 2011. But Russia''s rouble currency has also fallen, making foreign investments more attractive in an area dependent on gold for the bulk of local revenues and that is a challenging place to work. There are no direct flights from Moscow to Ust-Nera, the main village of the Oymyakon district, located some 9,300 km east of Moscow and temperatures often fall below 50 Celsius. In winter, motorists keep their engines running at all times so they don''t seize up. Some people have heated garages. Locals call it "the Pole of Cold," and the district claims the title of the coldest continually-inhabited settlement in the northern hemisphere, although other places also claim it. The area was home to Gulag labour camps in the former Soviet Union and prisoners were made to pan for gold from local rivers with their bare hands. GOOD RETURNS Alluvial gold as a proportion of national gold production has fallen to around 30 percent from 83 percent twenty years ago, according to the Russian Gold Industrialists'' Union. In Oymyakon it is also declining but still accounts for the bulk of 9 tonnes of gold the district produced in 2016 when Russia produced a total 297 tonnes. GV Gold''s new plant will start production in May. It is expected to produce up to 3 tonnes of gold a year, including gold-bearing concentrate. GV Gold has put in $113 million for the first stage of investment in the mine which will become the third of its type in the area. "This would be the biggest gold mining and processing plant in the Oymyakon district," Alexander Tuluptsov, chief executive of the Tarynsky plant, told Reuters. The EBRD has a 5.26 percent stake in GV Gold. An EBRD spokesman directed questions about the investment to GV Gold. A spokesman for Blackrock declined to comment. GV Gold shelved a plan for an Initial Public Offering in 2007 and then 2009. In a statement this week it said: "The current international and political situation is not favourable for a successful ‘investment window’, however the company is constantly monitoring public market opportunities." Tuluptsov expects GV Gold to see a return on its investment within five to six years. Yantar''s Khangalas plant, located some 160 km from Ust-Nera village, will start operating in 2018. It should produce up to 1 tonne of gold a year, including concentrate, a Yantar official said. The investment is being funded by proceeds from alluvial gold production but the official did not give a figure. Yantar''s alluvial gold production was 2.3 tonnes in 2016, and this year it plans to produce around 1.8 tonnes. Producers first offer the gold to the Russian central bank and some of the surplus is exported. Russia exported around 30 tonnes of gold last year, mainly to Europe, China and India, according to Russia''s Gold Industrialists'' Union. RISING OUTPUT Despite the larger outlay, ore mining has advantages over the seasonal alluvial mining. "Hardrock mining is more stable and profitable and less dependent on weather and logistic issues than alluvial mining," said Mikhail Leskov, director for mining practice at American Appraisal Russia, a global valuation and corporate finance advisor. Although still some way behind China''s 453.9 tonnes and Australia''s 298 tonnes of gold production last year, the new mines should help Russia meet forecasts by the Gold Industrialists'' Union for an increase in output by 8 tonnes this year. Other gold-ore mining projects are also coming on tap. Amongst them, Russia''s largest gold producer Polyus is expected to commission its large Natalka gold deposit in the east by the end of 2017. In the next three to four year it will also study Sukhoi Log, one of the world''s largest untapped gold deposits. (Additional reporting by Alexander Ershov and Elena Fabrichnaya; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Polina Devitt and Anna Willard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/russia-gold-yakutia-idINKBN17F181'|'2017-04-13T18:23:00.000+03:00' 'be12f511a02cf253d4a9643665ae86825c4a1c7a'|'Biggest share of UK lenders since 2008 plan to tighten supply of consumer credit - Bank of England'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 9:55am BST Biggest share of UK lenders since 2008 plan to tighten supply of consumer credit - Bank of England A traffic sign is pictured in front of the skyline of the the Canary Wharf financial district in London October 21, 2010. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor LONDON, More British lenders plan to rein in the supply of credit to consumers in the next three months than at any time since the 2008/09 financial crisis, according to a Bank of England survey that may add to concerns about the economic outlook ahead of Brexit. A net balance of 18.8 percent of British lenders expect to tighten the availability of unsecured credit to consumers in the next three months, the BoE''s quarterly credit conditions survey showed. The last time the BoE conducted the quarterly survey, 7.9 percent of banks said they planned a similar tightening. The new result marked the biggest proportion of lenders planning to tighten consumer lending since the end of 2008 - when Britain was mired in recession. The economic outlook was reported as by far the biggest drag on plans for credit supply. Consumer credit expanded strongly last year, helping to sustain spending by households that fuelled strong economic growth after last June''s vote to leave the European Union. But Thursday''s figures will add to worries about the outlook for consumers, who have become increasingly pressured by rising prices after the pound''s fall following the Brexit vote and a rise in global oil prices. The BoE survey also showed weaker business investment exerted a "significant drag" on demand for credit from businesses. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by William Schomberg) ((andy.bruce@thomsonreuters.com; +442075423484; Reuters Messaging: andy.bruce.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-lending-idUKKBN17F0ZI'|'2017-04-13T16:55:00.000+03:00' 'f895e3bfdd06fa2dda348842d9077401e73b6033'|'Exclusive: Safran could lower, restructure Zodiac offer - source'|'By Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ) is exploring plans to lower its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) and may simplify its structure amid continued turmoil at the seats maker and pressure from its own shareholders, a financial source said.A new structure could involve a mixture of cash and shares in a more traditional offer for Zodiac, rather than a complex two-tier structure designed to woo family shareholders.But an increasingly wary Safran is unwilling to take any decisions on a range of options before Zodiac issues its newly delayed first-half results, the source said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.Safran, which makes aircraft engines and other aerospace equipment, declined to comment.Zodiac said earlier it was postponing publication of its first-half financial results by a week to April 28 due to what it described as excess work amid Safran merger talks.The delay coincides with analyst concerns that Zodiac''s rapid growth through numerous acquisitions has complicated its reporting processes, which in turn make it harder to resolve a two-year industrial crisis in its seats and cabins plants.Safran faces criticism over the value and structure of its offer from British hedge fund TCI, notably since Zodiac last month issued the latest in a spate of profit warnings, weeks after agreeing to the tie-up.Safran is unwilling to run the risk that the results delay could coincide with another warning and has given itself a few weeks to decide how to alter its 29.47 euro per share bid, the source said.Despite Zodiac''s industrial woes, Safran has so far defended efforts to buy the company and believes it can bring Zodiac''s factories under control due to its own track record.But CEO Philippe Petitcolin is seen as unlikely to put at risk a recent transformation of Safran around core aerospace activities by proceeding with the offer at all costs.Two sources said they could no longer rule out Safran walking away from Zodiac for the second time in seven years.The deal''s unusual structure was crafted to allow a group of core Zodiac shareholding families to receive Safran shares without losing a longstanding tax status.It involves a cash bid aimed at ordinary investors holding 68 percent of Zodiac followed by a merger, which would draw in the Zodiac families without the hefty tax bill that would automatically be triggered by a classic cash or share offer.France''s Socialist government has supported the scheme to create a new aerospace champion by agreeing to add its own Safran shares to a shareholder pact between the families, keeping their combined shareholding above a tax-neutral threshold.If Safran restructures the offer, experts say the families could notionally face hundreds of millions of euros in wealth tax and other charges unless another way can be found to smooth the deal, though the outcome would depend on individual factors.TCI has argued Safran is wasting its efforts to tailor the deal to family shareholders since Zodiac shares would fall sharply if Safran withdrew its offer. It has called for a shareholder vote before the first part of the deal goes ahead.Zodiac shares closed on Thursday at 23.56 euros.(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-safran-zodiac-aero-exclusive-idINKBN17G1K7'|'2017-04-14T20:02:00.000+03:00' 'e363a9e181dab535a5760b084509d2a5a182bb4c'|'China Eastern Airlines to build base worth $2 billion at new Beijing airport'|' 06am BST China Eastern Airlines to build base worth $2 billion at new Beijing airport SHANGHAI China''s economic planner on Thursday approved China Eastern Airlines'' ( 600115.SS )( 0670.HK ) 13.2-billion-yuan (1.54 billion pounds) plan for a base at an expansive new airport in Beijing that could eventually be the world''s largest, when completed. The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its website that the base will cover 1.17 million square meters, and 30 percent of the investment, or 3.96 billion yuan, will be funded by China Eastern. The remaining 92.4 billion yuan will be financed using domestic bank loans, the statement added. China plans to complete the first phase by 2019, and will be able to serve 45 million passengers a year with four runways on the first opening. Two more phases would push the capacity to an annual count of 100 million passengers. That would put the airport as the world''s largest in surface area, roughly in line with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world''s busiest by number of annual passengers. Upon completion, rival state carrier, China Southern Airlines Co Ltd ( 600029.SS ), will also relocate to the new airport from the existing Beijing Capital International Airport, the airport project managers told reporters last year. They said China Eastern and China Southern will handle 40 percent of the new airport''s footfalls. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-airport-china-eastern-idUKKBN17F15Y'|'2017-04-13T18:06:00.000+03:00' '9167fc8d319496e26e81f41fff8fae34269d9aef'|'Petrobras produced 2.74 mln barrels of oil equivalent/day in March'|'BRASILIA, April 13 Brazilians state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Thursday it produced 2.74 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in March.The company said production was impacted by stoppages due to maintenance on FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis in the Lula field and on P-37 in the Marlim field. (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/petrobras-output-idINS0N1H0034'|'2017-04-13T19:32:00.000+03:00' '477cd251be79c092fa08fea56f1b65c3e1cc7fdf'|'Credit Suisse rolls back proposal for executive bonuses'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 12:43am BST Credit Suisse rolls back proposal for executive bonuses The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann In the face of shareholder criticism, Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) said its top officers had proposed reducing the bonuses they would get by 40 percent from the bank''s original recommendation. The company had previously proposed bonuses for the executive board totalling almost 80 million Swiss francs (£64 million). The bank said on Thursday that its chief executive and other members of its executive board "voluntarily" proposed reducing the long-term incentive awards for 2017 and short-term incentive awards for 2016 for top executives by 40 percent each. ( bit.ly/2oEJlG2 ) Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) had advised Credit Suisse shareholders to vote against proposed bonuses for Credit Suisse top executives at the annual general meeting on April 28. The recommendation by ISS follows similar recommendations from other proxy advisers amid criticism over bonus payouts at Credit Suisse despite Switzerland''s second-biggest bank posting a second consecutive multi-billion franc loss in 2016. The bank''s board of directors also decided not to increase its compensation in 2017. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; editing by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-agm-bonuses-idUKKBN17F2TM'|'2017-04-14T07:43:00.000+03:00' '782248a259f5359ab60cae0743eb679c3d38e919'|'EBRD annual meeting to discuss Russia lending halt - source'|' 33pm BST EBRD annual meeting to discuss Russia lending halt - source The headquarter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is seen in London, Britain, November 22, Britain 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth LONDON Russia has asked for a top level discussion over the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development''s 2014 ban on new Russia lending at the bank''s upcoming meeting in Cyprus next month, an EBRD source told Reuters on Thursday. "There is likely to be discussion at the annual meeting," the source, who requested anonymity, said. "It isn''t about EBRD re-engagement in Russia, it is about whether the EBRD was compliant with its own rules when board directors gave their political guidance." The bank''s directors gave a "guidance" to halt new investment in Russia in 2014 following the imposition of Western sanctions against Moscow for its annexation of Ukraine''s Crimea region. Russia has already taken the issue to the bank''s London-based board of directors, but by raising it at the annual meeting it will mean it is discussed by national finance ministers and central bank heads that act as EBRD ''governors''. "This has already been discussed once in the board of directors and it was found the bank was compliant (with its rules) it is hard to imagine that this situation has changed," the source added. (Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Sujata Rao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-ebrd-meeting-idUKKBN17F1V9'|'2017-04-13T22:33:00.000+03:00' '2ce674e3bbdcc252ac2f7c98bd82f0d4303d4ea7'|'Facebook shareholders propose reports on ''fake news'', pay equality'|' 3:29am BST Facebook shareholders propose reports on ''fake news'', pay equality Facebook logo is seen on a wall at a start-up companies gathering at Paris'' Station F in Paris, France, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer Shareholders have proposed that Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) prepare a report on the threat to democracy and free speech from so-called fake news spread on the social media forum, and the dangers it may pose to the company itself, according to a proxy filing made on Friday. The proposal, which said Facebook had provided "a financial mechanism supporting fabricated content" on the internet, suggests the company review the issue broadly, including the extent to which it blocks fake posts, how its strategies impact free speech and how it evaluates claims in posts. "Facebook is highly vulnerable, as fake news promoters are spamming their way to visibility for fake news through strategically gaming Facebook’s algorithms and publishing platform," the proposal states. "In light of the societal crisis generated by the explosion of fake news and related hate speech, failure to effectively manage this issue creates public policy risk," it said. The issue of fake news came to prominence during the U.S. presidential election last year, when many inaccurate posts were widely shared on Facebook and other social media services. Facebook has said it is tackling the problem. It already has a programme in France to use outside fact-checkers to combat fake news in users'' feeds and suspended 30,000 accounts in France on Thursday, ahead of the country''s presidential election. Separately, shareholders also proposed a gender pay equality report be prepared by December. The proposal recommends the company disclose the percentage pay gap between male and female employees across race and ethnicity, policies taken to address the gap, the methodology used to take those measures, and targets that could be set to reduce the gap. Facebook''s board of directors have recommended a vote against both proposals. Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-facebook-fakenews-idUKKBN17H01C'|'2017-04-15T10:29:00.000+03:00' 'f11e437cbae2ad6015a25786a4ca89749ebeca59'|'Bank of Japan to offer brighter view of economy, exports - sources'|' 31am BST BOJ to offer brighter view of economy, exports: sources FILE PHOTO: A man runs past the Bank of Japan (BOJ) building in Tokyo, Japan, July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo TOKYO The Bank of Japan is expected to offer a more upbeat view of the economy than it did last month at its next rate review, people familiar with the matter said, as robust exports and factory output support recovery in the world''s third-largest economy. But the central bank will stress its resolve to maintain its massive monetary stimulus, as the export-driven recovery has yet to boost private consumption and inflation, the sources told Reuters. "The economy is doing quite well. The problem is it''s not translating into higher prices," one of the sources said, conceding that underlying inflation remains "surprisingly weak". "Exports and output are gathering momentum," another source said, adding that a recent slew of positive data has heightened the chance the BOJ will upgrade its economic view. Last month, the BOJ said Japan''s economy is "recovering moderately as a trend." The central bank will likely remove the phrase "as a trend" to signal its confidence that the recovery is gaining momentum, the sources said. The BOJ is also likely to offer a more optimistic view on exports and output than in March, when it said they were "picking up," the sources said. The BOJ is widely expected to keep monetary settings unchanged at its two-day rate review that ends April 27. At the meeting, it will also review its quarterly projections and its assessment of economic and price developments. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17G0J5'|'2017-04-14T15:26:00.000+03:00' '003f4f1e0e174128578092791d92a6b6b2340bcd'|'Citi profit beats estimates as fixed-income trading jumps'|' 5:55pm IST Citi profit beats estimates as fixed-income trading jumps FILE PHOTO: A Citi sign is seen at the Citigroup stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) reported a better-than-expected 17 percent jump in quarterly profit, boosted by strong fixed-income trading as clients adjusted their positions following rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and changes in the forex and credit markets. The fourth-biggest U.S. bank by assets said on Thursday that net income rose to $4.09 billion, or $1.35 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $3.50 billion, or $1.10 per share, a year earlier. [nBw154rKga] The company said the latest quarter''s results included a net benefit of 8 cents per share from a few previously announced divestitures. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.24 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, earlier reported a higher-than-expected 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by additional revenue from increased trading. [nL3N1HL3ZO] Citigroup''s total revenue rose about 3 percent to $18.12 billion, beating the average analysts'' estimate of $17.76 billion. Revenue from fixed-income trading rose 19 percent to $3.62 billion, while the bank''s much smaller equities trading saw revenue increase 10 percent to $769 million. Combined, trading revenue jumped about 17 percent, higher than the "low double-digit" rise that Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach projected five weeks ago. Loans at the end of the period were up only 2 percent, from a year earlier. "The momentum we saw across many of our businesses towards the end of last year carried into the first quarter, resulting in significantly better overall performance than a year ago," Chief Executive Michael Corbat said in a statement. Operating expenses were little changed at $10.48 billion. The ratio of expenses to revenue was about 58 percent, in line with the company''s goal for this year. Tangible book value per share was $65.94 at the end of March, compared with $64.57 three months earlier and $62.58 a year earlier. Citigroup''s shares were up marginally at $58.65 in premarket trading. Through Wednesday''s close, the stock had risen about 17 percent since the U.S. presidential elections, but is down 1.6 percent so far this year. The elections sparked a rally in U.S. bank stocks as investors bet on lower taxes and easing regulations. But, the rally is losing momentum as investors scale back expectations for any quick changes. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/citigroup-results-idINKBN17F1IU'|'2017-04-13T20:25:00.000+03:00' 'ba4d9bcae5d11a3229257837c5c3f683457de01a'|'Italian soccer clubs look to China to bankroll revival'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 8:12am BST Italian soccer clubs look to China to bankroll revival left right FILE PHOTO: The AC Milan logo is pictured on a pennant in a soccer store in downtown Milan, Italy April 29, 2015. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Italy''s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gestures as he the attends television talk show ''Porta a Porta'' (Door to Door) in Rome, Italy, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo 2/2 By Elvira Pollina and Adam Jourdan - MILAN/SHANGHAI MILAN/SHANGHAI Italian soccer is sticking to its game plan to pull itself out of a steady decline: keep passing the ball to China. The league that runs Italy''s Serie A top division is likely for the first time to sell a separate Chinese package of media rights to try to maximise revenues, said a source close to the upcoming rights auction. Serie A already relies heavily on Chinese investment: two top teams, Inter and city rivals AC Milan, are now in Chinese hands and the competition''s media rights are underwritten by a unit of Chinese entertainment giant Dalian Wanda. Its prospects, though, remain dim as TV audiences for Serie A fall further behind the other big European leagues and Italy''s media industry loses one of its most fervent investors in the game, pay-TV tycoon and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. In response, Italian soccer is doubling down on China. Serie A officials declined to comment for this article, but the source said the league was counting on sales of Serie A''s overseas media rights, especially in China, to help it avert a heavy slump in revenues at its next auction, for 2018-2021, due to be held by the summer. The auction is being guided by the league''s advisor and underwriter, Wanda-owned Infront Sports and Media, which aims to boost revenues from Serie A''s international rights by 50 percent to around 300 million euros ($318 million) per season, the source said. Infront is looking to generate around 80 million euros per season from the China rights alone, the source added. On Saturday, the league has scheduled a much-anticipated local derby between its two Chinese-owned clubs, Inter and AC Milan, at 12.30 pm -- prime time in Asia but only lunchtime at home. For Italians, it will be a taste of things to come. [nL3N1HL4RR] Inter, controlled by Chinese retail giant Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd 002024.SZ, will play its local rival just two days after Berlusconi finally closed his sale of loss-making AC Milan to a Chinese-led consortium of investors. [nI6N1H8010] AGEING STARS In China, the value of European soccer rights has soared. The English Premier League recently sold its China TV rights for $700 million over three years, reportedly 10 times larger than the previous deal. "You could even say the prices are a bit mad," said Lou Yichen, a veteran Chinese sports commentator. Italian clubs were once the envy of Europe but hooliganism, match-fixing scandals and run-down stadiums mean attendances at matches have fallen and the domestic game has lost ground to leagues in Spain, England and Germany. Only three Italian teams -- AC Milan, Inter and champions Juventus -- figure among the 15 most influential European clubs, according to an annual survey by China-based sports marketing firm Mailman Group. Gao Pengfei, 25, a computer programmer and avid football fan in Beijing, watches Serie A but prefers the Premier League because it has more star players and is more competitive. "In Serie A the strong teams are usually very strong and the weak team very weak. There''s no suspense," he said. "A lot of the players in Italy are ageing stars." Hu Rongzhi, a 24-year-old construction project manager from Beijing, said the rescheduling of games would overcome the major hurdle for Chinese fans interested in Serie A, but Chinese ownership did not guarantee more Chinese viewers. "I don''t like or hate a team more just because of the company that bought it," he said. Edoardo Lipari, Shanghai-based client manager at Mailman Group, said more Italian teams were visiting China but Serie A was historically the least active of major European leagues in China, behind the Premier League, Germany''s Bundesliga and Spain''s La Liga. Lipari rated Suning-controlled online broadcaster PPTV as a leading contender to buy Serie A rights in China. PPTV already has rights to the Premier League, La Liga and China''s Super League, and is also reported to be interested in Germany''s Bundesliga. Reuters could not reach PPTV for comment. RIGHTS AUCTION Despite uncertainty over the Serie A auction, the Italian league is guaranteed to receive 1 billion euros a season for 2018-2021 under an underwriting deal with Infront, which is committed to make up any shortfall below that amount. But it would be a poor sign for Italian soccer if the league were required to call on the Infront guarantee. Even if Serie A raises 300 million euros per season from international rights, it still needs at least 700 million euros from the domestic market to avoid triggering the guarantee, a sum that cannot be taken from granted. The two domestic rights holders, Sky Italia ( SKYB.L ) and Berlusconi''s Mediaset ( MS.MI ), show few signs of wanting to compete hard at the next auction. Mediaset is more focused on trying to sell its loss-making pay-TV business, which has suffered after paying a record amount for the 2015-2018 rights. In response, Lega Serie A and Infront are trying to create more competitive tension by designing TV rights packages for prospective bidders such as Telecom Italia ( TLIT.MI ) and Amazon ( AMZN.O ), though a second source said "the bulk of the money for domestic licences will have to come from traditional pay TV". Mediaset declined to comment. It has said it will take an "opportunistic approach" to the next rights auction. Sky Italia did not respond to a request for comment. A source close to Telecom Italia said it was interested in online streaming rights for Serie A and Champions League rights in Italy, depending on prices and how the rights were packaged. An Amazon spokesperson in Italy declined to comment. Three years ago, Lega Serie A cashed in around 1.2 billion euros per season from domestic and offshore licenses, an Italy record, but matching that in the current climate will be tough. If the auction flops, there is a plan B: Infront itself will produce and package video content for the league which in turn would distribute them to domestic media, the two sources said. ($1 = 0.9419 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-italy-broadcasting-analysis-idUKKBN17G0H2'|'2017-04-14T15:12:00.000+03:00' '20cebfe14931c1c49834da4f37a5d991b1fa3b0b'|'Audi picks lower cost eastern European sites to build new SUVs'|' 1:42pm BST Audi picks lower cost eastern European sites to build new SUVs Audi cars are parked in front of the company''s headquarters in Ingolstadt, Germany, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Lukas Barth BERLIN Audi ( NSUG.DE ) will expand its lineup of higher margin sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and assemble two new models at lower cost plants in eastern Europe, the German premium carmaker said on Tuesday, as it strives to boost profitability. The Volkswagen-owned ( VOWG_p.DE ) brand last month reported a 37 percent plunge in operating profit after it raised provisions to help meet the cost of the group''s diesel emissions test-cheating scandal. Audi said on Tuesday it would start building a full-sized Q8 SUV at a Volkswagen (VW) factory in Bratislava, Slovakia, next year and in 2019 add the Q4 SUV in Gyor, Hungary. Audi''s new offerings in the fast-growing SUV market will compete with forthcoming models from German rival BMW ( BMWG.DE ), which is adding an X2 and an X7 to its lineup in 2018. "We are integrating two completely new Q models into the existing production network and are raising our competitiveness in an extremely important segment," Audi production chief Hubert Waltl said. Audi''s efforts to raise margins with the new vehicles will be helped by low production costs at the chosen sites. Labour costs in the manufacturing industries of Slovakia and Hungary were an hourly 10.70 euros and 8.40 euros per worker respectively in 2016, compared with 26.10 euros in Britain and 33.40 euros in Germany, according to Germany''s Federal Statistics Office. Audi last year slipped into third place behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz ( DAIGn.DE ) in terms of luxury car sales. An expanded lineup of SUVs may also help Audi to gain ground in the United States where it sells many fewer cars than its two German competitors. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-audi-production-idUKKBN17D1I5'|'2017-04-11T20:42:00.000+03:00' '47f7f0cfd43652c5ab83e92fd3b2eec46a2ba412'|'AT&T bets on 5G with Straight Path Communications buy for $1.25 billion'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 8:19pm BST AT&T bets on 5G with Straight Path Communications buy for $1.25 billion By Anjali Athavaley AT&T Inc ( T.N ) said on Monday it would buy Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ), a holder of licenses to wireless spectrum, for $1.25 billion(1.01 billion pounds)in an all-stock deal as it aims to accumulate the airwaves it needs for a next generation network. The deal shows how wireless carriers may be increasingly willing to pay lofty prices for assets they view as critical to 5G, which is expected to boast higher speeds and more capacity. The network is widely considered to be a multibillion dollar opportunity, and wireless carriers do not have many acquisition targets that would give them the type of spectrum they need in preparation for the roll out. Straight Path is one of the largest holders of 28 GHz and 39 GHz millimeter wave spectrum used in mobile communications. The No.2 U.S. wireless carrier said it would offer $95.63 per share, a premium of 162.1 percent over Straight Path''s close on Friday. Straight Path''s shares rose to $91.32 in afternoon trade, while AT&T''s shares were marginally lower. Millimeter wave spectrum is expected to play a large role in 5G networks. Both AT&T and rival Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) have been conducting 5G trials. Verizon is testing a 5G fixed wireless service with equipment maker Ericsson in 11 markets in the U.S. and expects a commercial launch as early as 2018. Meanwhile, AT&T said earlier this year that it had successfully completed tests with Nokia [NOKI.UL] that delivered its streaming video service DirecTV Now over a 5G connection using millimeter wave technology. Earlier this year, AT&T said it was acquiring privately held FiberTower and its millimeter wave spectrum rights. It expects that deal to close by next January. In February, Verizon Communications, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, said it had closed on its acquisition of XO Communications'' fibre-optic network business for about $1.8 billion, giving it access to millimeter wave spectrum. Between FiberTower and Straight Path, AT&T should have a similar amount of spectrum as Verizon if not more, said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche, in a note on Monday. Shares of other telecom companies rose after the news as investors expect a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the sector this year. Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ), which has been amassing wireless spectrum licenses, was up 1.9 percent to $63.75 in afternoon trading. Dish as well as Ligado Networks, the wireless satellite venture awaiting approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow it to use its spectrum for 5G purposes, are considered potential acquisition targets by industry analysts. Ligado is working with financial advisers to explore strategic alternatives, sources told Reuters in March. Straight Path had said in January it was hiring investment bank Evercore Partners to help explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of assets. The company had also agreed in January to pay the FCC $15 million to settle a federal probe of claims that it had submitted false data to renew airwave licenses. The tax-free deal, valued at $1.6 billion in total, includes liabilities and amounts to be remitted to the FCC, according to the January settlement terms. It is expected to close within a year, pending FCC review. The deal with AT&T is supported by Straight Path''s majority shareholder, Howard Jonas, who has entered into a voting agreement with the carrier in support of the transaction. Evercore advised Straight Path on the deal and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP provided legal counsel, while AT&T was advised by Moelis & Co and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru and Liana Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Bernard Orr) FILE PHOTO -- An AT&T sign is seen outside a branch in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, U.S., October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-straight-path-m-a-at-t-idUKKBN17C2AA'|'2017-04-11T03:19:00.000+03:00' '87a49bd160e15312ad359798f2970668a823af9d'|'Aramco board to meet in Shanghai as it seeks Chinese investors for IPO'|'Business News 53pm BST Aramco board to meet in Shanghai as it seeks Chinese investors for IPO FILE PHOTO: The Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo DUBAI Saudi Aramco''s board will meet in China in May for the first time in seven years, industry sources said, as the state-owned energy firm seeks to lure Chinese and Asian investors to its giant share offering. The board of directors would gather in Shanghai on May 10 to discuss the firm''s business plans, investments and preparations to sell up to 5 percent of Aramco in 2018, the sources said. An annual report of the company''s activities for the previous year is usually issued after the board meeting. The board, which gathers twice a year, often meets abroad but only once before had a meeting in China, in 2010. Aramco has appointed international banks with access to Chinese investors to advise on the initial public offering (IPO). The issue of Aramco''s IPO and a potential role for Chinese investors was discussed last month during the visit by Saudi Arabia''s King Salman to Beijing, sources said. The IPO could generate up to $100 billion and give Aramco an overall valuation of $2 trillion, the biggest ever. "Chinese participation in Aramco''s IPO would be very logical and strategic," said Sadad al-Husseini an energy analyst and former Aramco executive. Saudi officials have said Chinese companies were interested in investing in the Aramco IPO as Beijing seeks to secure crude supplies from the world’s biggest oil exporter. "There is a serious push from Aramco for Chinese investors to become cornerstone investors in the IPO," an industry source said. A second source said talks were at an early stage and any Chinese investment in Aramco would likely be in coordination with the Beijing government. Aramco is likely to be listed on the Saudi stock exchange in Riyadh and on one or more international markets. The kingdom is considering exchanges in New York, London, Toronto and Asia. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China International Holdings, a unit of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ( 601398.SS ), and China International Capital Corporation (CICC) are among Chinese banks pitching for a role in the IPO, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. Chinese participation in the IPO could strengthen Riyadh''s hand in other Chinese investment decisions, the sources said. Aramco has been in talks for years to invest in refineries in China so it can sell more of its crude to China. Those plans have yet to progress. The board, which often tours Aramco''s investments where they meet, also comes before the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gathers in Vienna on May 25 to decide on output policy. An OPEC-led pact to cut supplies ends in June. The nine-member board includes Saudi Energy Minister and Aramco Chairman Khalid al-Falih, Minister of State Ibrahim al-Assaf, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, Public Investment Fund Managing Director Yasir al-Rumayyan and royal court adviser Majid al-Moneef. It also includes former Royal Dutch Shell Chairman Mark Moody-Stuart and former Schlumberger head Andrew Gould. (Reporting by Reem Shamseddine in Khobar, Rania El Gamal in Dubai and Aizhu Chen in Beijing; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-aramco-board-china-idUKKBN17C19V'|'2017-04-10T19:53:00.000+03:00' 'b11f00b383e60b01eaa89a5d58b32570f266bad8'|'METALS-Shanghai copper hovers near 3-mth low in holiday-thinned trade'|'SYDNEY, April 14 Shanghai copper edged up on Friday but was still mired near its weakest for the year as mounting geopolitical tensions curbed appetite for risk, while London markets were closed for the Easter holiday. FUNDAMENTALS * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper had risen 0.5 percent to 46,290 yuan ($6,722) a tonne by 0114 GMT. On Thursday, it fell to its lowest since Jan. 4 at 45,520 yuan. Prices were set to close lower for a second week, with losses targeting 1.5 percent. * LME COPPER: The London Metal Exchange was closed for the Easter break, reopening on Tuesday. LME copper finished up 1.1 percent on Thursday. * NORTH KOREA TENSIONS: Military force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China said on Thursday, while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for Chinese protection. * AFGHANISTAN: News that the U.S. dropped a massive bomb in eastern Afghanistan late on Thursday added to uncertainty. * CHINA ECONOMY: China''s 2017 export outlook brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and as U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift. * U.S. ECONOMY: The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid unexpectedly fell last week and consumer sentiment rose early this month amid continued optimism over household finances, suggesting a sharp slowdown in job growth in March was an aberration. * COPPER SUPPLY: State copper commission Cochilco forecast on Thursday that Chile would produce slightly less than 5.6 million tonnes of copper in 2017, down from a previous forecast of 5.79 million, due largely to a strike at BHP Billiton''s Escondida mine. * MARKETS: Wall Street indexes fell along with U.S. Treasury yields on Thursday on safe-haven demand spurred by geopolitical worries, and the U.S. dollar rebounded after a sell-off following remarks by Trump on Wednesday was seen as an overreaction. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0112 GMT Three month LME copper 0 Most active ShFE copper 46270 Three month LME aluminium 0 Most active ShFE aluminium 14130 Three month LME zinc 0 Most active ShFE zinc 21650 Three month LME lead 0 Most active ShFE lead 16305 Three month LME nickel 0 Most active ShFE nickel 81680 Three month LME tin 0 Most active ShFE tin 142560 ($1 = 6.8865 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idINL8N1HM02D'|'2017-04-13T23:34:00.000+03:00' '2624a81ff62bee8d8fcd4f3b59e52ba50dc4c288'|'Japan March exports seen up for fourth month, imports to jump on oil prices'|' 33am BST Japan March exports seen up for fourth month, imports to jump on oil prices FILE PHOTO: Newly manufactured vehicles await export at a port in Yokohama, Japan, January 16, 2017. Picture taken January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Kaori Kaneko - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s exports were expected to rise for a fourth straight month in March thanks to solid global demand, while imports were seen likely to gain at their fastest in three years as oil prices rose, a Reuters poll found. Exports were seen likely to grow 6.7 percent in March from a year earlier after they surged 11.3 percent in February, the poll of 18 analysts showed. That gain was the most in more than two years and included a rebound from January''s Lunar New Year slowdown. A recovery in oil prices and a weak yen pushed Japan''s imports up 10.4 percent from a year ago, the fastest increase since March 2014 when they rose an annual 18.2 percent. This would result in trade surplus at 575.8 billion yen, a third straight month of surplus. "We see exports remaining on a rising trend on the back of global economic recovery," said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Research Institute. "Exports for January-March likely surpassed that of the previous quarter." Demand for electronics components from Asian nations likely continued to bolster Japan''s exports, analysts said. The finance ministry will publish the trade data at 8:50 a.m. Japan time on Thursday (2350 GMT Wednesday). Japan and the United States will start an economic dialogue on April 18, with Tokyo seeking to fend off U.S. pressure to reduce the bilateral trade imbalance. The Trump administration''s protectionist policy statements have worried Japanese leaders, given Japan''s export-reliant economy. Discussions at the dialogue next week will focus more on setting a "framework" for future talks rather than on specific industry issues, a White House official said. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-trade-idUKKBN17G0JE'|'2017-04-14T15:22:00.000+03:00' 'e9571b6641a20f993f0fa33e76b2e82b03329d11'|'Takata rescue talks extended, even as bankruptcy risk looms'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 6:33pm BST Takata rescue talks extended, even as bankruptcy risk looms FILE PHOTO: Visitors walk past a logo of Takata Corp on its display at a showroom for vehicles in Tokyo, Japan February 5, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Taiga Uranaka and Maki Shiraki - TOKYO TOKYO Potential rescuers of Japan''s Takata Corp ( 7312.T ) have extended talks, already in their 14th month, for a deal to take over the air bag maker at the heart of the auto industry''s biggest safety recall, people briefed on the process said. Car-parts maker Key Safety Systems Inc (KSS) and Bain Capital LLC are the preferred bidder for Takata, whose faulty air bags have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide. Discussions that include the steering committee tapped by the air bag maker to oversee the search for a financial sponsor, automaker clients, suitors and bankers are now likely to run on until at least end-May, three people told Reuters. The parties have already moved beyond an informal, self-imposed end-March deadline to thrash out a deal. Recent talks, described by two participants as “chaotic”, have focused on issues such as an indemnity agreement to cover reimbursement costs for air bag recalls, estimated to be as high as $10 billion. KSS, a U.S.-based maker of air bags, seatbelts and steering wheels, and Bain, a U.S. private equity fund, are still conducting due diligence, one of those close to the matter said. Another said KSS - which was bought last year by China''s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp ( 600699.SS ) - and Bain plan to offer around 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for Takata. A spokesman for Takata and the steering committee declined to comment. A spokeswoman for KSS also declined to comment. Automakers including Honda Motor Co ( 7267.T ), which have been footing the bill for recalls dating back to 2008, want Takata restructured through a transparent court-ordered process such as bankruptcy, which would wipe out the firm''s shareholder value, four automaker sources have told Reuters. "There''s no other option," said one automaker executive. "A privately arranged restructuring would require them to repay billions. They can''t afford that." But Takata, the world''s second-biggest air bag maker, is holding out for a “private restructuring” that would preserve some of the founding Takada family’s 60 percent stake. BATTERED REPUTATION The clock is ticking for Takata, whose stock has cratered 90 percent since the recall crisis began escalating in early 2014. U.S. federal Judge George Steeh in February cited the potential for Takata to collapse if it couldn’t find a buyer. Takata pleaded guilty in Steeh’s District Court to a felony charge as part of a $1 billion settlement with automakers and victims of its inflators, which can explode with excessive force, blasting shrapnel into passenger areas. The company, which began as a textiles firm and became an early maker of seatbelts, is also trying to settle legal liabilities in the United States, where it faces a class-action lawsuit, and other countries where its air bag inflators have exploded. Takata has denied speculation it would have to seek some form of bankruptcy protection from creditors in the United States or Japan. The company has not been allowed to simply disappear as the auto industry needs it to keep producing the millions of inflators needed to replace recalled air bags - though some automakers have switched to rival suppliers. Also, the government in Tokyo is keen to preserve a major Japanese maker of air bags in a global industry dominated by just three companies. ($1 = 108.8300 yen) (Additional reporting by, Taro Fuse, Naomi Tajitsu and Junko Fujita; Editing by William Mallard and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-takata-restructuring-idUKKBN17G1E3'|'2017-04-15T01:33:00.000+03:00' '21f9ce1db610a5368dfb3e23102c1a515abfd13e'|'Puerto Rico COFINA bondholder sues trustee Bank of New York'|'By Nick Brown - NEW YORK, April 12 NEW YORK, April 12 A holder of sales tax-backed Puerto Rican debt, known as COFINA debt, sued Bank of New York Mellon Corp on Wednesday, alleging the bank breached its duty as trustee for COFINA debt to protect senior bondholders.Whitebox Advisers sued the bank in a New York state court, saying it should have either accelerated or frozen payouts on COFINA debt after technical defaults by the Puerto Rican government, which is facing an economic crisis marked by $70 billion in debt and a 45 percent poverty rate.Whitebox alleges that several events since 2015 constitute technical defaults, including plans by the government to restructure its debt and potentially cut recoveries to senior COFINA holders.The island''s current fiscal turnaround plan, approved by its federal financial oversight board in March, is one such event, Whitebox alleges, because it forecasts major cuts to all creditors, including COFINA.The complaint alleges the Bank of New York should have sought assurances that the government was committed to protecting COFINA debt and, in an event of default, should have frozen disbursements.Instead, it did not seek such assurances, and continued making disbursements to more junior COFINA holders, potentially risking payment cuts for more senior ones, the complaint alleges.Whitebox is seeking monetary damages from the bank of New York. A representative of the bank could not immediately be reached on Wednesday.The lawsuit is the latest indication of growing concern among creditors about potential cuts to recoveries.Senior COFINA holders already are facing efforts to slash their recoveries on two fronts - from the island''s oversight board, which is pushing cuts for all creditors, and from Puerto Rico''s general obligation (GO) bondholders, who have alleged in a separate lawsuit that sales tax revenue should be redirected to pay GO debt instead.Wednesday''s lawsuit essentially pits certain senior COFINA holders against junior ones, accusing the Bank of New York of failing to enforce priority rules for different classes of COFINA holders. (Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/puertoric-debt-lawsuit-idINL1N1HK2AD'|'2017-04-12T20:59:00.000+03:00' '1f6eb15d509e145da6e5aec8d16855ea2c8dc456'|'Air France expands Asia links with Singapore Airlines tie-up'|' 16pm BST Air France expands Asia links with Singapore Airlines tie-up The tail of an Air France airplane is seen as it taxies past a control tower at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy during an air traffic controller strike, near Paris, France, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann Air France-KLM ( AIRF.PA ) has signed a code share deal with Singapore Airlines ( SIAL.SI ) to boost its network to Asia, following a similar move by rival Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) with Cathay Pacific ( 0293.HK ) as European airlines battle back against rival Gulf carriers. Both Air France and Lufthansa have been vocal critics of the Gulf airlines, saying their expansion has led them to terminate services to destinations in the Middle East, Asia and in particular India over recent years. But with carriers such as Emirates and Etihad suffering from signs of weaker demand caused partly by currency fluctuations, European carriers are fighting back. Air France said on Thursday that it would add its AF code to Singapore Airlines flights from Singapore to Melbourne and Sydney, and on three routes to Malaysia and Thailand operated by regional subsidiary Silkair. In exchange, Singapore Airlines will add its SQ code to 10 Air France flights from Paris'' Charles de Gaulle airport. The Air France-Singapore Airlines agreement is also similar to that signed by Lufthansa last month in that it sees airlines from rival alliances working together. Air France is in the Skyteam alliance, while Singapore is in Star Alliance. "This kind of partnership is part of our aim to expand our market position and increase our range of destinations for our customers all around the world," said Patrick Roux, Senior Vice-President Alliances at Air France-KLM, in a statement. The two carriers will also consider expanding the code share to other airlines within their groups, Air France-KLM said in a statement. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-air-france-klm-singapore-airlin-codes-idUKKBN17F1NT'|'2017-04-13T21:16:00.000+03:00' '286735885f82bc650a2bc7ebbe7761da65665762'|'U.S. looks to IMF to strengthen its FX rates oversight - Treasury official'|' 17pm BST U.S. looks to IMF to strengthen its FX rates oversight - Treasury official Currency exchange rates are shown at a money exchange site in New York July 11 , 2007. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton WASHINGTON The United States will reiterate to the International Monetary Fund its role in keeping a close eye on global foreign exchange rates policies at next week''s spring meetings of the international lender, a senior Treasury official said on Thursday. "We would be looking for the IMF to continue to strengthen its analysis of exchange rate policies of major economies," the Treasury official said in a briefing with reporters ahead of next week''s semi-annual meeting of IMF and World Bank members. "We view that as very important." The official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, added currency surveillance was an important aspect of ensuring a fair and sustainable global economy. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies, known as the G20, are also scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the April 21-23 conference. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been in his post for a little over two months and has already clashed with the international community. At a meeting in Germany four weeks ago, the G20 abandoned a decade-old pledge to keep global trade free and open at the behest of the United States. The G20 also removed a commitment to finance the fight against climate change. According to the senior Treasury official, the United States also plans to discuss financial regulation and international tax reform next week and Mnuchin is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings. President Donald Trump has given mixed signals on trade despite running for office on an increasingly protectionist campaign. On Wednesday, he said that his administration will not label China a currency manipulator, backing away from a campaign promise. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-treasury-idUKKBN17F2FR'|'2017-04-14T03:17:00.000+03:00' 'd8757acb4f3311ec1eec28f476b829d97c10ddfa'|'EMERGING MARKETS-China data, weak dollar send EM stocks to 1-week high'|'Company 21am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-China data, weak dollar send EM stocks to 1-week high (There will be no emerging markets report from London on Friday, April 14 and Monday, April 17 due to UK bank holidays) By Claire Milhench LONDON, April 13 A weaker U.S. dollar and a fall in Treasury yields helped emerging market assets advance on Thursday, with stocks up at one-week highs and set for a second straight week of gains. Stronger Chinese export data also lent support. U.S. President Donald Trump''s comments that the dollar was too strong and he would like to see U.S. interest rates stay low pushed the dollar 0.5 percent lower against a basket of currencies while 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell to a five-month low. This offset investor jitters over Syria, North Korea''s nuclear threat and the French elections and lifted MSCI''s benchmark emerging equities index 0.5 percent. South Korean stocks, which had suffered earlier in the week, were the strongest performer in the region on Thursday, up 0.9 percent, while the won firmed 0.4 percent to a one-week high. The central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25 percent for a 10th straight month as expected, and upgraded its growth outlook. Emerging markets were also supported by forecast-beating Chinese trade data, which confirmed that global demand was picking up. March exports rose 16.4 percent from a year earlier, while imports increased 20.3 percent, both exceeding market expectations. "China has been the leader of the emerging market trade rebound," said Manik Narain, an emerging FX strategist at UBS. "The health of the Chinese economy is definitely taking on added importance for emerging markets more broadly because we have not seen a pick-up in imports from U.S. and Europe." China''s yuan rose 0.2 percent to two-week highs after the central bank set a sharply firmer midpoint and Trump backed away from labelling China a currency manipulator. Narain noted the bounce in Asian currencies and said Trump''s comments on China may have played a role: "For some of these markets it may reduce some concerns about trade protectionism." Mexico''s peso, which has borne the brunt of investor fears over punitive tariffs due to Trump''s campaign rhetoric, also firmed 0.5 percent against the dollar to trade at its strongest level since Trump''s election win last November. However, South Africa''s rand was an underperformer, weakening 0.4 percent and snapping a two-day winning streak. South Africa''s parliament said on Wednesday that a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma had been postponed until a court decides whether it should be taken by secret ballot. Meanwhile the yield premium paid by emerging market sovereign bonds over U.S. Treasuries remained elevated at 318 basis points. This was up 12 basis points from April 7 when the U.S. carried out a missile strike against Syria, causing riskier assets to sell off as investors sought out safe havens. Emerging Europe stock markets also delivered a patchy performance, with Russian shares down 1.5 percent to 8-1/2 month lows. The index has lost 4.7 percent so far this week, its worst performance since January 2016. Russia has close ties to Syria''s President Bashar al-Assad and the deterioration in relations with the West following the U.S. strike prompted investors to revise their hopes that sanctions against Russia would be lifted soon. Turkish stocks fell 0.2 percent, but the lira touched its strongest level in 10 days ahead of Sunday''s referendum on constitutional change. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 963.15 +4.95 +0.52 +11.70 Czech Rep 974.98 -8.63 -0.88 +5.79 Poland 2218.40 +4.34 +0.20 +13.89 Hungary 32443.35 +33.41 +0.10 +1.38 Romania 8230.45 +12.62 +0.15 +16.17 Greece 683.14 -2.05 -0.30 +6.14 Russia 1067.08 -11.64 -1.08 -7.40 South Africa 46599.60 -147.59 -0.32 +6.14 Turkey 90739.46 -212.70 -0.23 +16.13 China 3276.07 +2.24 +0.07 +5.56 India 29540.46 -103.02 -0.35 +10.94 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HL11Y'|'2017-04-13T17:21:00.000+03:00' 'bbd4d1a5eac38a2012765841ebd3112f75a91308'|'Japan''s Suga - FX stability vital, watching market closely'|'Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 9:09am BST Japan''s Suga: FX stability vital, watching market closely Japan''s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks to media during a news conference after the reports on the launch of a North Korean missile, at the prime minister''s office in Tokyo, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo February 12, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS TOKYO Japan''s top government spokesman said on Thursday that he was watching the currency market with a sense of urgency, stressing the importance of its stability, as the yen rose after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed concern about the strong dollar. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, while declining to comment on currency levels, told a regular news conference that markets are aware of geopolitical risks but that the U.S. and global economy remain on firm footing. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto and Leika Kihara; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-suga-idUKKBN17F0UX'|'2017-04-13T16:08:00.000+03:00' '13eb94955517070ef7c03c7684d502f02fef7f2b'|'BlackRock holds Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016'|'Company News 47pm EDT BlackRock holds Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016 NEW YORK, April 13 BlackRock Inc, the world''s largest asset manager, held total compensation for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink nearly flat in 2016, according to a filing on Thursday. Fink was awarded $25.5 million in compensation last year, compared with $25.8 million in 2015, based on a calculation of his pay according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/blackrock-compensation-ceo-idUSFWN1HL0L3'|'2017-04-14T04:47:00.000+03:00' '97b6f486b0cac3690c0833e506baaa7ce8e6af1c'|'UPDATE 1-Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for about $4.48 bln'|'Deals - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 7:01am EDT Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for about $4.48 billion Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories ( ABT.N ) on Friday agreed to buy Alere Inc ( ALR.N ) for about $4.48 billion, ending a prolonged legal battle over its plan to buy the diagnostic-testing company. Abbott''s revised offer of $51 per share represents a premium of 20.5 percent to Alere''s closing price on Thursday, but is below the earlier $56-per-share offer announced in February last year. Reuters'' calculation of the deal value is based on Alere''s 87.9 million diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2016. In April last year, Abbott had raised concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in the earlier merger agreement, and had offered to pay $30 million to $50 million to terminate the deal. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Alere, which makes tests for infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue, sued Abbott in August last year in an attempt to force the company to move ahead with the deal. In December, Abbott filed a suit to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company since they struck a deal in February 2016. Abbott and Alere said on Friday that the companies had agreed to dismiss their respective lawsuits, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2017. The deal will help Abbott expand in point-of-care diagnostic testing, a market that is growing as physicians increasingly adopt rapid tests that speed up treatment. Point-of-care tests provide results to doctors in a matter of minutes and can be conducted in the physician''s office, an ambulance or even at home. Illinois-based Abbott makes products ranging from Similac infant formula to Ensure beverages for adults. The news about the revised deal was first reported by Financial Times, citing people close to the matter. (Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes and Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alere-m-a-abbott-idUSKBN17G0V3'|'2017-04-14T18:57:00.000+03:00' 'f763349eca93419503b2faf3ec025460991144b0'|'After price gains, investor sells Lufthansa, Air France-KLM shares'|' 52am BST After price gains, investor sells Lufthansa, Air France-KLM shares A logo of German airline Lufthansa is seen before the company''s annual news conference at the airport in Munich, Germany, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle FRANKFURT An investor has sold shares in Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) and Air France-KLM ( AIRF.PA ), a source familiar with the transaction said on Thursday, taking advantage of recent gains in the airlines'' share prices. Infinite Miles placed a 2.5 percent Lufthansa stake at 15.25 euros (12.96 pounds) apiece, while it sold a roughly 3.5 percent stake Air France-KLM stake at 7.30 euros apiece, the person said. The source described Infinite Miles as a financial investor rather than as a strategic or institutional shareholder. Other media reports said Infinite Miles had invested in the two carriers only in the fourth quarter of 2016. The placement hit shares in the two carriers on Thursday, with Lufthansa down 3.75 percent at 15.09 euros and Air France-KLM down 5 percent to 7.12 euros by 0850 GMT. There was no immediate comment from Lufthansa and Air France-KLM. Shares in the two carriers have performed strongly this year, with Lufthansa up almost 28 percent and Air France-KLM gaining 45 percent, far outperforming other major European airlines thanks to progress on cost cuts and more positive comments on ticket prices. After years of falling ticket prices putting yields under pressure, both Lufthansa and Air France-KLM made more upbeat comments on pricing this week, boosting their shares further. UBS acted as bookrunner in both transactions. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Ludwig Burger/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lufthansa-placement-idUKKBN17F148'|'2017-04-13T17:52:00.000+03:00' 'c62c6b840babddb5cfa4769199dc1bee7c39da29'|'Toshiba denies report of suspension of chip unit sale process'|' 23am BST Toshiba denies report of suspension of chip unit sale process The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind cherry blossoms at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) on Friday denied a Bloomberg report that the company had temporarily suspended all meetings and decisions over the sale of its memory chip business to address concerns raised by an industry partner. "It is not true Toshiba has put the chip sale process on hold," a Toshiba spokesman told Reuters. Shares in Toshiba plunged more than 8 percent in early trade. In a move seen complicating the auction of the prized chip unit, Toshiba''s partner Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ) warned the Japanese conglomerate in a letter this week that the sale process violated their joint venture contract. In the letter, obtained by Reuters, Western Digital also urged Toshiba to give it exclusive negotiating rights for the chip business. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki, writing by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-chips-idUKKBN17G011'|'2017-04-14T08:23:00.000+03:00' '7d56e0e451eae8f974876803df318e192884c1dd'|'Brazil''s Temer held meeting for $13 million bribe, Odebrecht exec says'|'Business News - Brazil''s Temer held meeting for $13 million bribe, Odebrecht exec says The headquarters of Odebrecht SA is pictured in Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 22, 2016. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File photo By Pedro Fonseca - RIO DE JANEIRO RIO DE JANEIRO A former senior executive of Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL] has accused President Michel Temer of presiding over a meeting to solicit a 40 million reais (10 million pound) illegal payment in 2010, according to video testimony released on Tuesday. Prosecutors have said Temer cannot be investigated for offences committed before he assumed the presidency in 2016, but the testimony could dent his credibility as he seeks unpopular reforms to restore confidence in Brazil''s economy. Executive Marcio Faria da Silva, the former vice president of Odebrecht''s industrial wing, said in the video testimony that the meeting took place in Temer''s legal office in Sao Paulo. In addition to Temer, former lower house speaker Eduardo Cunha and Congressman Henrique Eduardo Alves from Temer''s PMDB party took part, according to testimony which was among a trove of plea bargains by Odebrecht executives made public by a Supreme Court justice on Tuesday. Temer''s office confirmed in a statement he had met with Faria in 2010 in the presence of Cunha, but denied that Alves participated. It said Temer had never discussed values with Faria. Justice Luiz Edson Fachin released the testimony this week after announcing investigations into nearly 100 senior politicians as part of the Operation Car War probe into political kickbacks on contracts with state companies, particularly oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA. ( PETR4.SA ) The Odebrecht executive alleged that, while Temer did not speak about any figures, Cunha made it clear that a payment was expected. "Eduardo Cunha spoke. He explained that we were seeking a contract with Petrobras. A commitment that it would be signed would require a very important contribution to the party," Faria said. Representatives for Alves and Cunha, who is in prison pending trial on other charges, could not be immediately reached for comment. The new allegations came at a time when Temer is trying to slash welfare spending and incentivise private investment, moves which have lifted Brazil''s stockmarket and currency. The veteran politician already faces a case in Brazil''s top electoral court over illegal funding of the 2014 election when he was the running mate of former President Dilma Rousseff. "QUICK AND SUPERFICIAL" Temer''s office said in its statement that the conversation with Faria in 2010 was "quick and superficial" and did not touch any discussion of Petrobras contracts or financial amounts. "The president categorically disputes any involvement of his name with vested interests," the statement said. "He never acted in the name of special interests in Petrobras nor defended the payment of incorrect values to third-parties." The amount of the payment allegedly requested in the 2010 meeting was based on a 5 percent levy on a contract between Odebrecht and Petrobras worth 825 million reais for the maintenance of the state oil companies'' assets in 9 countries. Asked if it was clear the meeting was to request a bribe, Faria told investigators: "It was clearly about an unfair advantage, because it was a percentage on top of a contract." The executive said that once the contract was won, the payment was made in cash in Brazil and to foreign bank accounts. The PMDB took 4 percent of the value of the contract, leaving 1 percent for the left-leaning Workers Party that controlled the presidency at the time. (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-corruption-idUKKBN17F2EE'|'2017-04-14T02:14:00.000+03:00' '4b3afcc4914b884077acfbb136e80e8b6ab178a9'|'China to create 10 ''mega'' coal companies through M&As - report'|' 20am BST China to create 10 ''mega'' coal companies through M&As - report A logo of the Shenhua Group is seen atop of Shenhua Tower in Beijing March 21, 2013. To match story SHENHUA/RESULT REUTERS/Iris Zhao SHANGHAI China aims to create 10 "mega" coal producers by the end of the decade as part of its drive to consolidate the industry and tackle overcapacity, the official China Daily reported on Friday, citing an energy official. Wang Xiaolin, deputy director of the National Energy Administration, said China was preparing guidelines to create 10 new industry giants each with annual production capacity of more than 100 million tonnes. The report said China already has six firms with production capacity above 100 million tonnes. According to the China Coal Trade and Distribution Association, the new guidelines will compel coal mining regions to consolidate smaller mines over the next two years, and close those that are not restructured. The association said large-scale state miners, including the Shenhua Group, China''s biggest coal producer, are also set to undergo restructuring. China is in the middle of a programme aimed at tackling price-sapping supply gluts in the coal sector, and aims to shut at least 500 million tonnes of production capacity by the end of the decade, with smaller mines shut or consolidated. China aims to shut at least 150 million tonnes of coal production capacity this year alone, and the campaign has helped drive up coal prices by more than a quarter since the beginning of the year. (Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-coal-m-a-idUKKBN17G00J'|'2017-04-14T08:20:00.000+03:00' '490484263137abe33eb6d5ac330796de40b5588f'|'Russia''s Lukoil CEO says won''t sell off retail operation'|'NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia Russian''s second biggest oil producer, Lukoil, has decided not to sell off its network of filling stations, Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov said on Thursday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin."The retail business is in a crisis situation, oil refining and the retail business are under pressure from the new tax realities," Alekperov told Putin at their meeting, at the presidential residence outside Moscow."There was an idea to sell (Lukoil''s retail business), the management did not agree. We are now optimizing our network."(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-lukoil-retail-idUSKBN17F1QM'|'2017-04-13T17:46:00.000+03:00' 'a9ec8a95aace6a688f43a1fecb0343872305e0f9'|'IEA says global oil market now close to balance'|'Money News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 1:59pm IST IEA says global oil market now close to balance FILE PHOTO: An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 21, 2014. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo LONDON The global oil market is close to balance, after nearly three years of excess supply, as production cuts by top exporters offset a longer-term decline in demand in the richest nations, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. The agency said oil stocks across the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell by 17.2 million barrels in March, resulting in an increase of 38.5 million barrels, or 425,000 barrels per day (bpd), in the first three months of the year. "The net result is that global stocks might have marginally increased in the first quarter, versus an implied draw of about 0.2 million barrels per day," the Paris-based IEA said. "It can be argued confidently that the market is already very close to balance, and as more data becomes available this will become clearer. We have an interesting second half to come." Overall, OECD crude stocks fell by 8.1 million barrels in February to 3.055 billion barrels, still 330 million barrels above the five-year average, the IEA said. The IEA trimmed its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2017 by 40,000 bpd to 1.32 million bpd. It warned this could prove optimistic given slowing consumption in the United States and developed Asian economies such as Australia, Japan and South Korea. On the supply front, the agency said global production fell by 755,000 bpd in March to 95.98 million bpd as OPEC and its partners complied with a joint deal to cut output by 1.8 million bpd in the first half of this year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stuck to its pledge in March, bringing compliance to a "robust" 99 percent, the IEA said. The agency said non-OPEC signatories, including Russia and Oman, raised their compliance rate to 64 percent, from 38 percent in February. For 2017, the IEA said it expects non-OPEC supply to rise by 485,000 bpd, above its previous estimate of 400,000 bpd, led by increases in U.S. production growth. (Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Jason Neely and Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oil-iea-idINKBN17F0VS'|'2017-04-13T16:21:00.000+03:00' '05fb43f896b1afeb5b8acc3bf618117312be8a9b'|'BlackRock holds CEO Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016'|'Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 10:17pm BST BlackRock holds CEO Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016 Larry Fink, Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK NEW YORK BlackRock Inc ( BLK.N ), the world''s largest asset manager, held total compensation for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink nearly flat in 2016, according to a filing on Thursday. Fink was awarded $25.5 million in compensation last year, compared with $25.8 million in 2015, based on a calculation of his pay in line with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines. The company''s president, Rob Kapito, was paid $19.6 million, according to those calculations. Both Kapito and Fink were among BlackRock''s founders in 1988. BlackRock''s stock rose 11.8 percent in price terms during 2016. That compares to an 8.4 percent rise for a Thomson Reuters index that includes 26 of its industry rivals in the United States .TRXFLDUSPINVM. Net income of New York-based BlackRock fell 5 percent in 2016 to nearly $3.2 billion even as assets the company managed grew by 11 percent to $5.1 trillion. Investment managers have been pressured by a move to lower-cost funds. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-compensation-ceo-idUKKBN17F2OG'|'2017-04-14T05:09:00.000+03:00' 'd38610606bba63d2b1677d5b30ffbd48a6047fa9'|'U.S. business wary of skin-deep results from Trump-Xi trade talks'|' 3:57pm IST U.S. business wary of skin-deep results from Trump-Xi trade talks FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago state in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo By Michael Martina - BEIJING BEIJING The 100-day trade talks announced after a Sino-American presidential summit last week will aim to deal with decades of thorny trade issues, leaving some U.S. business leaders wary that the short timeline might yield superficial results. Business executives are also worried that President Donald Trump''s focus on curtailing North Korea''s nuclear and missile programmes could undercut U.S. commercial interests in China. Days after Trump''s meeting with President Xi Jinping, Trump tweeted that Beijing would get a better trade deal with Washington if it helped resolve the U.S. problem with Pyongyang. The U.S. business community should not be used as a "bargaining chip", said James Zimmerman, a Beijing-based lawyer and the former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. "Trump''s ''far better trade deal'' linkage to North Korea is amateurish, illogical horse trading, at best," Zimmerman said. The White House has said U.S and Chinese officials are still at the early stages of "fleshing out" a pledge by Trump and Xi to develop the 100-day plan to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which last year reached $347 billion. It was among the limited set of public outcomes from their first meeting in Florida. While Trump has promised to aggressively address trade imbalances and open the Chinese market to more American goods and services, William Zarit, the Chamber''s current chairman, said the talks need to address the "structural impediments" U.S. companies face in China. "We''d rather be talking than having a trade war. But remember we''ve been talking for 20 years and haven''t gotten very far," Zarit said. The White House has said that issues including opening up China''s financial services sector and getting U.S. beef exports into China were up for talks. "We are pleased to hear the issue has been elevated to the highest levels of both governments and that there is commitment to resolve the U.S. beef access issue in an expedited fashion," CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation Philip Seng said. Others remain sceptical. "Beef should have been done 10 years ago. The fact that that has been going on for so long is emblematic of the imbalance in the way we negotiate and deal with each other," said James McGregor, Chairman of APCO Worldwide in Greater China. China has purchased hardly any American beef since it conditionally lifted an import ban last year that was imposed in 2003 due to a case of mad cow disease in Washington state. Despite initial media reports suggesting Xi may have offered access for U.S. beef as a concession to stave off rising trade tensions, China''s Premier Li Keqiang this week appeared to link progress on the issue to U.S. restrictions on imports of some Chinese poultry products for food safety reasons. "China is willing to import market-competitive U.S. beef that meets quality and health standards," Li told a U.S. Congressional delegation in Beijing on Monday, according to the state-run Beijing News. "Chinese chicken is also very competitive in the international market. We hope the United States can quickly lift the ban on Chinese chicken imports. Only in this way can we better embody fair trade," Li said. POLITICALLY FRAUGHT While individual companies are hesitant to criticise China for fear of backlash, critics from U.S. business groups accuse Beijing of unfairly subsidising domestic firms and restricting foreign investment into much of the world''s second-biggest economy. A 50-percent ownership cap for foreign life insurers, for example, despite China''s 2001 World Trade Organization commitments to lift it, has helped limit their market share to about 6 percent. Beijing has repeatedly promised to open up financial services more widely to foreign firms, but has given few details on implementation. Jacob Parker, vice president of China operations at the U.S.-China Business Council, said concerns persist that China would make commitments but not follow through or take only incremental steps. While the government could remove some industries from a list of sectors restricted for foreign investment, businesses could still face red tape and licensing hurdles or be restricted to regional pilot zones. "There are lots of ways China can call something an opening and it is not," Parker said. Xi proposed further cooperation on infrastructure development in meetings with Trump, but Chinese state-owned companies working on major U.S. public works is a politically fraught issue in the United States, where Trump campaigned on creating jobs. High-tech industries where China hopes to funnel investment, such as semiconductors, virtual reality and autonomous vehicles, are considered sensitive. Such partnerships would likely also have to clear national security hurdles. Sceptics also wonder if Chinese cooperation in redressing the trade imbalance will be limited to areas that serve Chinese needs, such as increasing imports of U.S. gas, oil and coking coal. Xi stopped in Alaska on his way home, meeting with Governor Bill Walker, who touted the state''s oil, gas, and mineral resources. On the market access side, lowering restrictions on foreign investment in Chinese banking, securities, investment management, futures, insurance, credit ratings and accounting sectors, as Beijing has already promised, would help China improve the quality financial of instruments and make their markets more stable and professional, said McGregor. "If you look at the things that China is talking about opening, it''s all areas where China needs help," McGregor said. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu and Matthew Miller; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-usa-business-idINKBN17G0T9'|'2017-04-14T18:27:00.000+03:00' 'aed91aa276ae4305714d9e6ce2e02ed0c0a2ca7d'|'Dakota Access Pipeline to start interstate service May 14 -filing'|'Commodities 42pm EDT Dakota Access Pipeline to start interstate service May 14: filing Construction continues on the Dakota Access Pipeline near the town of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S., October 30, 2016. REUTERS/Josh Morgan The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline will begin interstate crude oil delivery on May 14, according to a filing with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Energy Transfer Partners on Thursday filed what is known as a tariff, which lays out details about the line and the oil to be delivered. The Dakota Access line runs from western North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. (Reporting by David Gaffen; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-north-dakota-pipeline-idUSKBN17F2TO'|'2017-04-14T07:25:00.000+03:00' '110f82a8428f5f8bfc1d0ae37ae7e38f4f254be3'|'Some Nigerian banks have breached FX borrowing limit: central bank'|'LAGOS, April 13 Nigeria''s central bank said on Thursday some commercial lenders have breached its regulatory limit of foreign currency borrowings due to the recent fall in the value of the naira.In a remedial action, the regulator increased the foreign currency borrowing limit for lenders to 125 percent of their respective shareholders'' fund from 75 percent previously, it said in a new circular seen by Reuters on Thursday. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-borrowing-banks-idUSL8N1HL2AO'|'2017-04-13T14:44:00.000+03:00' 'aa4affa8f1ecfb6aedf96a6baa0f489f8b84f979'|'Russia''s Lukoil CEO says won''t sell off retail operation'|'NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia Russian''s second biggest oil producer, Lukoil, has decided not to sell off its network of filling stations, Lukoil Chief Executive Vagit Alekperov said on Thursday at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin."The retail business is in a crisis situation, oil refining and the retail business are under pressure from the new tax realities," Alekperov told Putin at their meeting, at the presidential residence outside Moscow."There was an idea to sell (Lukoil''s retail business), the management did not agree. We are now optimizing our network."(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Vladimir Soldatkin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-russia-lukoil-retail-idINKBN17F1QM'|'2017-04-13T11:46:00.000+03:00' 'cc65e4e03b7bf3e30345eca6548896fb7d202bc2'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips as financial stocks weigh'|' 36am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips as financial stocks weigh TORONTO, April 13 Canada''s main stock index slipped in early trade on Thursday, weighed down by heavyweight financial stocks as U.S. bank earnings season kicked off, with losses offset by gains for gold miners. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 24.67 points, or 0.16 percent, at 15,623.73 shortly after the open. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HL0NU'|'2017-04-13T21:36:00.000+03:00' '127bf42e1a19b687bdde4807aeda99059bf80c5c'|'Hackers release files indicating NSA monitored global bank transfers'|'Company News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 3:18pm EDT Hackers release files indicating NSA monitored global bank transfers By Clare Baldwin - April 14 April 14 Hackers released documents and files on Friday that cybersecurity experts said indicated the U.S. National Security Agency had accessed the SWIFT interbank messaging system, allowing it to monitor money flows among some Middle Eastern and Latin American banks. The release included computer code that could be adapted by criminals to break into SWIFT servers and monitor messaging activity, said Shane Shook, a cyber security consultant who has helped banks investigate breaches of their SWIFT systems. The documents and files were released by a group calling themselves The Shadow Brokers. Some of the records bear NSA seals, but Reuters could not confirm their authenticity. The NSA could not immediately be reached for comment. Shook said criminal hackers could use the information released on Friday to hack into banks and steal money in operations mimicking a heist last year of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank. "The release of these capabilities could enable fraud like we saw at Bangladesh Bank," Shook said. The SWIFT messaging system is used by banks to transfer trillions of dollars each day. Belgium-based SWIFT said on Friday that it had no evidence that the main SWIFT network had been accessed. It was possible that the local messaging systems of some SWIFT client banks had been breached, SWIFT said in a statement, which did not specifically mention the NSA. “We have no evidence to suggest that there has ever been any unauthorized access to our network or messaging services,” SWIFT said in a statement to Reuters. When cyberthieves robbed the Bangladesh Bank last year, they compromised that bank''s local SWIFT network to order money transfers from its account at the New York Federal Reserve. The documents released by the Shadow Brokers on Friday indicate that the NSA may have accessed the SWIFT network through service bureaus. SWIFT service bureaus are companies that provide an access point to the SWIFT system for the network''s smaller clients, and may send or receive messages regarding money transfers on their behalf. “If you hack the service bureau, it means that you also have access to all of their clients, all of the banks," said Matt Suiche, founder of the United Arab Emirates-based cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, who has studied the Shadow Broker releases and believes the group has access to NSA files. The documents posted by the Shadow Brokers include Excel files listing computers on a service bureau network, user names, passwords and other data, Suiche said. “That''s information you can only get if you compromise the system," he said. Cris Thomas, a prominent security researcher with the cybersecurity firm Tenable, said the documents and files released by the Shadow Brokers show “the NSA has been able to compromise SWIFT banking systems, presumably as a way to monitor, if not disrupt, financial transactions to terrorists groups”. Since the early 1990s, interrupting the flow of money from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere to al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries has been a major objective of U.S. and allied intelligence agencies. Mustafa Al-Bassam, a computer science researcher at University College London, said on Twitter that the Shadow Brokers documents show that the "NSA hacked a bunch of banks, oil and investment companies in Palestine, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, more." He added that NSA "completely hacked" EastNets, one of two SWIFT service bureaus named in the documents that were released by the Shadow Brokers. Reuters could not independently confirm that EastNets had been hacked. EastNets, based in Dubai, denied it had been hacked in a statement, calling the assertion "totally false and unfounded." EastNets ran a "complete check of its servers and found no hacker compromise or any vulnerabilities," according to a statement from EastNets'' chief executive and founder, Hazem Mulhim. In 2013, documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden said the NSA had been able to monitor SWIFT messages. The agency monitored the system to spot payments intended to finance crimes, according to the documents released by Snowden. Reuters could not confirm whether the documents released Friday by the Shadow Brokers, if authentic, were related to NSA monitoring of SWIFT transfers since 2013. Some of the documents released by the Shadow Brokers were dated 2013, but others were not dated. On Friday, Snowden tweeted that the Shadow Brokers release was "not a drill" and that it shows the NSA was capable of hacking fully updated Microsoft Windows systems. Several of the alleged NSA hacking techniques identified in the Shadow Brokers'' documents appeared to target older Windows operating systems, including Windows XP. That may indicate that the documents, if they are authentic, are older. Microsoft stopped releasing routine security updates for Windows XP in 2014, but some businesses and individual users continue to use Windows XP. The documents released by the hackers did not clearly indicate whether the NSA had actually used all the techniques cited for monitoring SWIFT messages. (Additional reporting by Tom Bergin in London; Dustin Volz and John Walcott in Washington; and Jim Finkle in Buffalo, New York.; Editing by Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-cyber-swift-idUSL1N1HM0JN'|'2017-04-15T03:18:00.000+03:00' '9075b0edd2a5b5ee4345eaa411c4c171fdd5c6e7'|'Motor racing-Baku promoter clears the air with F1 boss'|'Sports News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 12:59pm EDT Motor racing: Baku promoter clears the air with F1 boss By Alan Baldwin - MANAMA MANAMA Azerbaijan Grand Prix promoter Arif Rahimov has cleared the air with Formula One boss Chase Carey after criticism of the race by the sport''s new owners Liberty Media. Liberty CEO Greg Maffei had told a media conference in Florida last month that Baku paid a big hosting fee but the race did "nothing to build the long-term brand and health of the business". The comment drew an angry response from Rahimov, who said at the time that it was "ignorant" and upsetting. Speaking to reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday, Rahimov said Carey had called soon after to reassure him about the race''s future. "Chase Carey was strongly against what was said in the press by Greg Maffei," he said. "He said he''s really excited about the race, really wants to come and see the race and he''s heard a lot of good things and feels that we are a strategic partner to Formula One and he really wants to keep this race. "It was a very good talk that we had and it was good to know that not everyone is sharing the opinion of Greg Maffei in Formula One." Carey, who is also in Bahrain for Sunday''s third race of the season, was not immediately available for comment. Azerbaijan, which made its debut last year, pays a significant hosting fee. Although details remain confidential, Formula One insiders put the figure at around $50 million annually with an escalator clause. That would be more than double what some European races pay. Rahimov said the fee was not the highest but indicated he could seek a renegotiation of the contract when a break clause comes into effect in 2018. "As the time goes, maybe we''ll try to get more rights or sources of income...we know what we want, roughly, how we can improve on the contract," he added. He suggested Formula One should introduce standard fees with two race categories -- European and flyaways. The fees are a major contributor to the sport''s revenues, along with television rights deals and sponsorship. "I think what has to be done is that the promoters are given more rights in the areas where Formula One cannot utilize those rights," said Rahimov, suggesting sponsorship of vending areas as an example. Ticket sales for this year''s race in June were going well with more international interest, Rahimov said, and a crowd of around 35,000 hoped for compared to less than 25,000 last season. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-motor-f1-bahrain-azerbaijan-idUSKBN17G1CF'|'2017-04-15T00:49:00.000+03:00' 'a3941319eee2807de1755d9cebcb0be1eeb0ba87'|'Sao Paulo judge rules Uber drivers are employees, deserve benefits'|'Technology News 2:04pm EDT Sao Paulo judge rules Uber drivers are employees, deserve benefits An Uber driver holds his cell phone showing the queue to pick up passengers departing Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Nacho Doce SAO PAULO A judge in Brazil''s biggest city ruled this week that a driver using the Uber [UBER.UL] ride-hailing app is an employee of the San-Francisco-based company, threatening its business model in one of its biggest markets. Uber said it would appeal the decision on Tuesday by Judge Eduardo Rockenbach Pires at the regional labor court in Sao Paulo, which was made public in recent days. "By connecting drivers and users, Uber creates thousands of flexible opportunities for generating income," the company said in a statement. Pires ordered Uber to pay the driver 80,000 reais ($25,000), including compensation for holidays, contribution to a severance fund and 50,000 reais in "moral damages" related to attacks from taxi drivers upset with Uber''s competitive pricing model. The decision follows a similar ruling in a labor court in Minas Gerais state, along with parallel cases in the United States, Britain, Switzerland, and Europe''s highest court threatening to subject Uber to higher costs and regulation. The lower house of Brazil''s Congress has also threatened Uber''s business model with a bill requiring it and other ride-hailing apps to register with city authorities as conventional taxi services. President Michel Temer has pledged to veto parts of the legislation if it passes the Senate. Adding to Uber''s challenges, a Reuters investigation found a ten-fold increase in attacks on drivers in Sao Paulo last year, including several murders, after the start of cash payments on its platform at the end of July. (Reporting by Brad Haynes, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-brazil-labor-idUSKBN17G1F6'|'2017-04-15T02:04:00.000+03:00' '9bc5e9512670b70cae7daa71d7452857aeef347a'|'Trump and Yellen may not be an odd couple after all'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 10:31pm BST Trump and Yellen may not be an odd couple after all left right FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks during a news conference after a two day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo 1/2 left right U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, U.S., before traveling to Palm Beach, Florida for the Good Friday holiday/Easter weekend, April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 2/2 By Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON At first glance, U.S. President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen may have little in common. Yellen is an academic economist and veteran of Democratic administrations who is committed to an open global economy, while Trump is a real estate mogul with an electoral base suspicious of the economic order Yellen helped to create. Yet the two may have interests in common now that Trump is president and both want to get as many Americans working as possible. Since her appointment as Fed chair in February 2014, Yellen has kept interest rates low and she currently pledges to raise them only slowly even though unemployment, at 4.5 percent, is at its lowest in nearly ten years. Meanwhile, Trump''s election campaign promises to cut taxes, spend money on infrastructure and deregulate banking, have helped propel a surge in the U.S. Conference Board''s consumer confidence index to its highest level since the internet stocks crash 16 years ago. Former Fed staff and colleagues who know Yellen said Trump''s surprising remarks this week in a Wall Street Journal interview, in which he did not rule out Yellen''s reappointment to a new four year term next year, are not as outlandish as they may appear now that the president has a vested interest in keeping markets and the economy on an even keel. And the same staff and colleagues say Yellen may well accept reappointment, despite Trump''s criticism of her during last year''s election campaign. Many in Trump''s Republican party have called for tighter monetary policy and a less activist Fed, but "the president would not really find that useful," said former Fed vice chair Donald Kohn. If Trump fills three existing Federal Reserve board vacancies with people Yellen thinks she could work with, "it would be really difficult to turn down" a reappointment when her term as chair expires in February 2018. "If she continues to do well, he’d be nuts to ditch her for an unknown quantity," said University of California, Berkeley, economics professor Andrew Rose, a long-time colleague and co-author with Yellen of an oft-cited study of labour markets. Yellen took over from Ben Bernanke as Fed chair in February 2014 with the U.S. economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis still on shaky ground, and she has made no secret she puts a priority on growth in jobs and wages and a broad recovery in U.S. household wealth. In a slow return to more normal monetary policy, Yellen has stopped the purchase of additional financial securities by the Fed and in December 2015 began raising short term interest rates for the first time in 10 years. So far those policy shifts have been engineered with little apparent impact on job growth, and so mesh with Trump''s core election campaign promises to restore employment and earnings. The slow rise in interest rates in the past year has also happened while U.S. stock prices have risen to record highs, though Trump has claimed the credit for himself. PRECEDENT FOR FED CHAIR TO STAY ON There is precedent for Trump to stick with a former president''s Fed chair appointment. Paul Volcker, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, the three previous Fed chairs, served at least two four year terms and were nominated by both Democratic and Republican presidents. However it may be a more difficult step for Trump. During last year''s election campaign, Trump accused Yellen of accepting orders from then President Obama to keep interest rates low for political reasons, and he said he would replace her as Fed chair because she is not a Republican party member. In a particularly biting moment last year, in a campaign video advertisement, he labelled her as among the "global special interests" who had ruined life for middle America. The Fed on Thursday said it had no response to Trump''s comments published on Wednesday on Yellen and or on whether Yellen would consider a second term. MUCH COULD STILL GO WRONG Some of Trump''s advisers and some Republican lawmakers want a more conservative Fed in which the chair has less power and would see a Yellen reappointment as yet another step away from his promise to "drain the swamp" of the Washington establishment. There are also three current vacancies on the Fed''s seven member Board of Governors, and unorthodox new members could make it difficult for Yellen to manage policy or accept another four year term. But if the choice is her consensus style or someone unproven in their ability to manage public and market expectations, "he''d be wise to reappoint her," said Joseph Gagnon, a former Fed staffer and Berkeley colleague of Yellen''s currently at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "I don''t see what is in his interests to appoint someone who is going to jack up interest rates." (Reporting by Howard Schneider in Washington DC and Ann Saphir in San Fransisco; editing by Clive McKeef)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-yellen-analysis-idUKKBN17F2PE'|'2017-04-14T05:31:00.000+03:00' '50b8e59516fb36254afdf7b22c7030e17930d207'|'Italian packaging firm Guala Closures preps IPO, sale -sources'|'FRANKFURT, April 13 Private-equity held Italian packaging firm Guala Closures is preparing a stock market listing or sale that may value the company at more than 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) including debt, sources close to the matter said.Guala''s main shareholder, Apriori Capital Partners, will at the end of this month interview investment banks vying for a role in the potential initial public offering or outright sale, the sources added.The company specialises in closures, such as bottle tops, for sealing spirits and counts makers such as Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Remy Cointreau, Fortune Brands, Brown-Forman and UB Group as its customers.It is expected to post earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of up to 110 million euros this year and its owners, which also include the company''s management and fund Nb Reinassance, are hoping to reap a valuation of up to 11-12 times that, the sources said.That would represent a premium to peers such as Polyone , Sealed Air, Berry, Bemis and Ball.Other packaging groups such as Germany''s Kloeckner Pentaplast are looking to the United States as a listing location as most of its peers are listed there.Guala, which sells more than 14 billion closures each year, will also be marketed to potential trade or private equity buyers, though it has rebuffed offers from groups such as private equity firm KKR on price in the past, the sources added.Guala Closures is directly owned by GLC Holdings whose main investor is Apriori Capital.Credit Suisse, which led Guala''s 510 million euro bond sale in November, is expected to take a leading role in the potential IPO or sale, which could take place after the summer, the sources said.Guala, which has 4000 employees, was delisted from the stock exchange in 2008. In the first nine months of 2016, it posted an EBITDA of 74.5 million euros on revenues of 369 million euros. Full year figures are due April 27.Apriori Capital, KKR and Credit Suisse declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment. ($1 = 0.9407 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze, additional reporting by Stephen Jewkes in Milan; Editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/guala-ma-italy-idINL8N1HL4BE'|'2017-04-13T13:52:00.000+03:00' '383144473d45e4bed5e3886e3f251673b95e2e21'|'UPDATE 1-Private equity firms have bid $22 bln for SCA hygiene unit-paper'|' 54am EDT UPDATE 1-Private equity firms have bid $22 bln for SCA hygiene unit-paper (Updates with SCA declines to comment, background, detail) STOCKHOLM, April 13 A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.3 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said, citing unnamed sources. Sweden''s SCA said last year it planned to split into two listed units, a hygiene products firm and a forestry company. The split was formally approved at the group''s annual meeting last week. "At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," Dagens Nyheter said in a report that first appeared on its Web site on Wednesday night. The newspaper did not name the private equity firms. SCA, which counts U.S. firms Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark among its main rivals, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday. SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and the second largest in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products. The group, which has yet to complete its planned split, currently has an overall market value of 194 billion crowns. Last year, SCA''s hygiene business accounted for 86 percent of the group''s total sales. ($1 = 8.9859 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sweden-sca-idUSL8N1HL0RW'|'2017-04-13T14:54:00.000+03:00' 'f971ad5a3719940af77aa37b8ffe0dd8655727f5'|'Infosys Q4 profit beats estimates on key client wins'|'Money 19am IST Infosys Q4 profit beats estimates on key client wins left right FILE PHOTO: An employee walks past a signage board in the Infosys campus at the Electronics City IT district in Bangalore, February 28, 2012. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: An employee is seen behind an Infosys logo at the company''s campus in Bangalore, India, September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Abhishek Chinnappa/File Photo 2/2 Infosys Ltd ( INFY.NS ), India''s second-biggest software services exporter, reported a slightly higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit as the company added more clients in the $100 million-plus category. Consolidated net profit for the Bengaluru-based company rose 0.2 percent to 36.03 billion rupees ($557.01 million) in the quarter, while revenue grew 3.4 percent to 171.20 billion rupees. ( bit.ly/2oupjxB ) Analysts, on average, had expected Q4 consolidated profit of 35.67 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data. The company, in the spotlight recently due to differences between founders and board members over governance issues, has beaten analysts'' profit estimates in seven of the last nine quarters. ($1 = 64.6850 Indian rupees)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/infosys-results-idINKBN17F0DV'|'2017-04-13T11:49:00.000+03:00' '8135284954c0a53f31fecae88a2384a54e2eb5e2'|'L-EFTA behind: The EFTA countries show how hard Brexit will be for Britain'|'NORWAY offers much to envy. The food is tasty, public services are great and the people are impossibly good-looking. Its trade policy looks equally desirable. Though it trades heavily with the EU, Norway can also strike trade deals all over the world, either operating in concert with the three other members of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) or on its own. Members of EFTA have dozens of deals, including two with China, with which the EU cannot even start negotiations.After it leaves the EU, Britain will look much like an EFTA country: a rich economy with close links to Europe, but also seeking trade deals elsewhere. It is superficially an attractive prospect. Yet EFTA’s half-in-half-out relationship with the EU hinders its trade as much as it helps. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates EFTA’s flexibility in trade stems from its odd relationship with the EU. Switzerland has a series of bilateral agreements, whereas Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are part of the single market through the European Economic Area (though with opt-outs for agriculture and fisheries). Crucially, however, all are outside the EU’s customs union, an agreement which regulates tariffs charged to third countries. This allows them to strike other trade deals.EFTA has made the most of this power. The group has 27 free-trade agreements in all corners of the world. They give its exporters access to around 900m consumers—impressive for a club which covers just 14m people. In addition, individual states have bilateral deals. Norway struggled to do a deal with China after the Nobel peace prize was awarded in 2010 to a jailed Chinese dissident. That did not stop Iceland from striking one. (China would like access to shipping routes through the Arctic as climate change melts the ice.)A recent paper from the European Parliament found that EFTA tends to make trade deals faster than the EU. South Korea’s talks with EFTA, for instance, took half as long as those with the EU. EFTA is speedy because it can agree on a common strategy faster than the EU, which has more countries to accommodate.Similarly, once outside the EU customs union, Britain may be able to reach faster deals. Donald Trump says he wants a trade agreement with Britain “very quickly”. However, EFTA’s experience offers cautionary lessons. Striking a trade deal quickly is a bonus; but what really matters is how good a deal it is. The parliament paper also notes that EFTA’s agreements have been “shallow” compared with the EU’s.Analysis of the Design of Trade Agreements Database, a project led by the World Trade Institute in Bern, backs up this claim. EFTA is not a big market: its partners are happy to make deals, but they are loth to spend too much time on the finer details. Nor will they make large concessions. The relatively low quality of the deals helps explain why EFTA’s free-trade agreements still account for only about a tenth of its members’ trade.Britain is a much bigger market than EFTA. But it will still be in a far weaker negotiating position outside the EU than as part of the single market. Moreover, EFTA also shows that, besides offering uncertain benefits, an independent trade policy brings large costs. Being outside the EU customs union is an irritant for many firms. Goods moving from EFTA to an EU member undergo “rules of origin” checks, to ensure that the exporter is not avoiding EU tariffs. Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe of Oslo University says that to avoid cumbersome checks many Norwegian firms simply relocate to Sweden. The idea of going it alone in international trade negotiations may be more appealing than the reality.This article appeared in the Finance and economics "L-EFTA behind"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720626-striking-trade-deals-quickly-bonus-what-really-matters-quality?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:50:00.000+03:00' 'fd3fa656a3d95a8b36d2bfe61a86110586a80d4f'|'Lawmaker behind Swiss pay veto calls for Credit Suisse bonus cut'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 7:48am EDT Lawmaker behind Swiss pay veto calls for Credit Suisse bonus cut left right FILE PHOTO: Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam listens to the speech of Chairman Urs Rohner (R) of Swiss bank Cedit Suisse during the annual shareholder meeting in Zurich, Switzerland April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Swiss bank Credit Suisse''s CEO Tidjane Thiam marches in a parade to mark the start of spring in Zurich, Switzerland April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Swiss People''s Party (SVP) Councillor of State Thomas Minder speaks to delegates during their party meeting in Balsthal January 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO: CEO Tidjane Thiam (R) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse awaits a news conference to present the bank''s half-year results in Zurich, Switzerland July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 4/4 By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH The lawmaker who instigated a shareholder veto over excessive management pay in Switzerland has urged investors to use this power to block 78 million Swiss francs ($78 million) in bonuses for Credit Suisse''s ( CSGN.S ) top executives. The comments from Thomas Minder add to pressure on Switzerland''s second-biggest bank to rethink the bonuses after several advisory groups told shareholders to oppose part or all of the payments when they vote this month. "If corporate governance is correct and the company has worked well and has a good annual result, then yes, some of (the profits) should be distributed," Minder said in a telephone interview. "But if it worked badly, like Credit Suisse, then, dear me, nothing can be allowed to be paid out." Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam is set to receive almost 12 million francs, making him one of Europe''s highest-paid bankers despite a multibillion-dollar loss last year. If shareholders reject the plan, it would be the first use of the Swiss veto at a leading company. Minder, an independent member of the Swiss parliament, led a 2013 referendum that resulted in the implementation of binding shareholder votes on executive pay in the wake of massive bonuses at UBS ( UBSG.S ) that preceded a government bailout. Four years on, Minder said Credit Suisse''s proposal for hefty payouts to Thiam and his fellow senior managers smack of the same disconnect between performance and pay that spawned his referendum. "If there''s no money in the coffers then there are no bonuses for top management or employees," he said. "That is a mortal sin." ON TARGET A Credit Suisse spokeswoman said the bonuses were based on performance targets agreed by shareholders. She also pointed to management''s cost-cutting efforts and the strong performance of its core private banking business. Nevertheless, Credit Suisse faces growing opposition to the proposed bonuses, with investor advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Ethos and Glass Lewis opposing part or all of the payments. ISS also recommended investors vote against the compensation recommended for Credit Suisse''s board of directors, led by Chairman Urs Rohner, whom Ethos said should be replaced. ISS, which advises more than 1,700 of the world''s biggest investors, is highly influential and its recommendations are widely followed when shareholders cast their votes. The vote will take place at Credit Suisse''s annual meeting in Zurich on April 28 with the support of a majority of shareholders sufficient for the pay packages to pass, the bank said. The opposition risks straining investor patience with Credit Suisse at a time when the bank is considering asking them for money to shore up finances that were hit by a $5.3 billion settlement for selling toxic debt. If shareholders vote down the bonuses, the board of directors can submit a new proposal, according to Credit Suisse''s articles of association. Credit Suisse has locked up some key support. Harris Associates, one of its biggest shareholders with a 4.96 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data, plans to vote in favor of all the AGM proposals, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag has reported. The bank has argued that cutting compensation now would punish current management for mistakes made by their predecessors. Since taking over as CEO in mid-2015, Thiam has shifted the bank''s focus towards wealth management while shrinking Credit Suisse''s investment bank. The costly restructuring and the heavy penalties for selling toxic mortgage debt in the run-up to the financial crisis meant the bank posted a 2.7 billion franc loss for 2016, its second straight year in the red. ($1 = 1.0016 Swiss francs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-bonuses-agm-idUSKBN17F1FP'|'2017-04-13T19:48:00.000+03:00' '9e5daace287675dbd49e8495dd33416347b53289'|'Staley stumbles: The boss of scandal-plagued Barclays gets into trouble himself'|'IN HIS first 17 months running Barclays, Jes Staley seemed scarcely to put a foot wrong. The American has narrowed the British lender’s ambitions, to focus on retail business at home, corporate and investment banking on both sides of the Atlantic, and credit cards. He is pulling Barclays out of Africa, after a century, and has sped up its retreat from other markets. He has also poached several folk from JPMorgan Chase, where he spent 34 years and ran the investment bank.On April 10th it emerged that Mr Staley had clumsily planted a boot out of bounds. Last June Barclays’ board and an executive received anonymous letters about a “senior employee” hired earlier in 2016. These, say the bank, raised concerns “of a personal nature” about this person and Mr Staley’s role in dealing with the matter “at a previous employer” (presumably JPMorgan Chase). 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Mr Staley, seeing the letters as “an unfair personal attack” on the newcomer, asked Barclays’ security team to find out who had written them, but was told that this should not be done. In July he inquired whether the matter was resolved—and formed the “honestly held, but mistaken” belief that he was now free to identify one of the authors. He set security on the trail again. This time they called in American law-enforcement officials, but failed to unmask the writer.Both boss and bank are up before the beak: regulators are examining Mr Staley’s conduct and Barclays’ treatment of whistle-blowers. Barclays will reprimand Mr Staley in writing and cut last year’s bonus of £1.3m ($1.6m). By how much depends on the regulators’ findings.After the financial crisis Barclays’ reputation took a battering. Mr Staley and his predecessor, Antony Jenkins, have tried to repair it. But new troubles are easily born, and old ones die hard. In 2012 Barclays was fined £290m for rigging LIBOR, a key interest rate; four of its traders were later jailed. On April 10th the BBC stirred bad memories, with fresh allegations about the scandal and questioning whether the whole truth had emerged in a parliamentary inquiry. Regulators are also examining Barclays’ raising of capital from Qatar in 2008.It may not comfort Mr Staley that others had an even worse start to the week. Wells Fargo, America’s third-biggest bank by assets, castigated John Stumpf, its former boss, for tolerating sales practices that led to the opening of 2m-odd ghost accounts, for which Wells was fined $185m last year. Wells is reclaiming $69m from Mr Stumpf and $67m from Carrie Tolstedt, ex-head of its consumer bank. How was your Monday?This article appeared in the Finance and economics "Staley stumbles"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720623-new-scandals-are-easy-create-old-ones-hard-forget-boss?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:50:00.000+03:00' 'dd9768e43830cf9c681b76777614d29cdc7ea16f'|'UPDATE 1-JGBs edge down after yields probe multi-month lows'|'(Updates with futures closing price, analyst Quote: )TOKYO, April 13 The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield edged higher on Thursday after plumbing its lowest level since November and coming within a whisker of zero.For the most part of the session, JGBs took cues from lower U.S. Treasury yields and were underpinned by solid demand at a 30-year JGB auction.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell one basis point to 0.005 percent, but was one basis point higher at 0.025 percent in late afternoon trade.The Bank of Japan, in its yield curve control policy, pledged to guide the 10-year JGB to around zero percent."Some people bought on momentum, when the curve flattened" after the 30-year sale, said Naomi Muguruma, senior strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities."We all know that the BOJ''s target is around zero, so the consensus view is that they would probably taper once the 10-year yield hit that level. So there was some profit-taking," she said.The outlook for JGBs also depends on the situation in North Korea, she said, with safe-haven buying expected to underpin demand on any escalations.North Korea may have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, amid concerns that the reclusive state could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or more missile launches.While 10-year JGB futures rose to a session high of 151.15 in afternoon trade, their highest since November, before paring gains as cash bonds sold off and finished only 0.01 point higher at 150.91.The U.S. benchmark Treasury yield approached five-month lows on Wednesday, prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump''s comments on favouring low interest rates. It continued to slip in Asian trading, and last stood at 2.242 percent, down from the U.S. close of 2.296 percent. It touched 2.221 percent earlier, the lowest since November.On Thursday, Japan''s Ministry of Finance offered 800 billion yen ($7.35 billion) of 30-year JGBs with a 0.8 percent coupon, and 98.5832 percent of the bids accepted at the lowest price of 100.05.The sale drew bids 3.08 times the amount offered, down from the previous sale''s bid-to-cover ratio of 3.14 times.However, the tail - the gap between the average and lowest accepted prices - narrowed to 0.07, compared with that of last month''s offering at 0.19, indicating stronger demand for the bonds.The outcome bolstered the super-long tenor, with 30-year yield slipping 4 basis points to 0.770 percent, its lowest since late January. In late trading, it stood at 0.790 percent, down 2 basis points.The 20-year yield fell half a basis points to 0.580 percent after falling to 0.550 percent earlier, its lowest since December.The five-year yield dropped one basis point to minus 0.175 percent, its lowest since November, but was last flat at minus 0.165 percent. ($1 = 108.8000 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sam Holmes and Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HL2P5'|'2017-04-13T05:12:00.000+03:00' '9b872437ca05b1740300a78fb59e00494415dee7'|'UK consumer spending grows at slowest rate in three years - Visa'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 12:22am BST UK consumer spending grows at slowest rate in three years: Visa Shoppers are reflected in a shop window as they walk along Oxford Street on the last Saturday before Christmas, in London December 21, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo LONDON British consumer spending increased at the slowest annual pace in more than three years in the first three months of 2017, in a further sign that one of the economy''s main engines is losing steam as Brexit preparations begin, a survey showed on Monday. Payment card company Visa ( V.N ) said real-terms spending increased 0.9 percent year-on-year in the three months to March, the weakest calendar-quarter performance since late 2013 and down from 2.7 percent in the last quarter of 2016. In March alone, spending dropped 0.7 percent compared with the previous month, after being flat in February. The survey adds to a growing mass of indicators showing that rising inflation - caused in part by the pound''s post-Brexit vote tumble - is crimping consumer spending, just as Prime Minister Theresa May begins Britain''s EU divorce talks. "Our data suggests that consumer spending is beginning to slow from the strong levels seen in late 2016, as rising prices increasingly squeeze household purchasing power," said Kevin Jenkins, UK and Ireland managing director at Visa. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, speaking at Thomson Reuters'' London office on Friday, said he would keep a close eye on whether consumer demand weakens in line with the central bank''s expectations. Last week pension provider Scottish Friendly and the Social Market Foundation think tank said 46 percent of households plan to cut back on spending. More than half of these households blamed the rising cost of living. The Office for National Statistics releases inflation data for March on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters expect consumer prices rose at a 2.3 percent annual pace, unchanged from February''s rate. Visa''s monthly figures are based on spending on its credit and debit cards, which it says account for about a third of consumer spending in Britain. The figures are adjusted to strip out payments such as taxes that do not count as consumer spending, and to take account of the growing proportion of purchases made by card rather than with cash. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-spending-visa-idUKKBN17B12T'|'2017-04-10T07:05:00.000+03:00' '0fa6b0e926e3d1e78487d346407fb8caf71b9a92'|'After Brexit, EU bets on risk, green finance to relaunch capital plan'|'Tue Apr 11, 2017 - 10:01am BST After Brexit, EU bets on risk, green finance to relaunch capital plan FILE PHOTO: European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis attends the German Banking Congress in Berlin, Germany, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BRUSSELS The European Union will focus on infrastructure, green and risk finance to boost funding for the economy, a European Commission vice president said on Tuesday, noting Britain''s departure could deprive the EU of its largest financial center. The commission launched a plan in 2015 to create a capital market union (CMU) by 2019 to smooth the movement of capital across national borders and reduce the EU economy''s reliance on banks for loans. The plan has so far made little headway and was further weakened by Brexit, potentially making it more difficult for the City of London to provide liquidity to the continent. "The prospect of Europe''s largest financial center leaving the single market makes our task more challenging, but all the more important," Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a finance conference in Brussels. In June, the commission is planning to publish a review of the plan based on feedback collected from the industry. Dombrovskis listed risk finance, green and infrastructure projects as the sectors where the plan will be expected to deliver results. He said the commission will continue its overhaul of financial legislation to favor the growth of alternative sources of finance for businesses reducing their over-reliance on banks. He said regulatory changes may be necessary in the asset management sector to eliminate red-tape obstacles that limit funds'' ability to operate across national borders within the EU. To foster investment in infrastructure, he said the commission will continue lowering capital requirements for companies involved in construction projects. After having reduced costs for insurers and banks, he said he will propose similar measures for infrastructure corporates. Dombrovskis also said the commission had set up an expert group on green finance that will make proposals by the end of the year on calls to speed up the flow of capital to sustainable green projects. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-markets-regulations-idUKKBN17D0W7'|'2017-04-11T16:42:00.000+03:00' '0839458a743e84c2d9840ad0c08fb9a261b863ff'|'Exclusive - Blackstone in advanced talks to buy Ascend Learning: sources'|'Business News - 27am BST Exclusive - Blackstone in advanced talks to buy Ascend Learning: sources FILE PHOTO - The ticker and trading information for Blackstone Group is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP ( BX.N ) is in advanced talks to acquire Ascend Learning LLC, a privately held U.S. maker of educational software, for more than $2 billion (1.60 billion pounds), including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal would underscore the appetite of buyout firms for companies in the educational software sector, at a time when corporate America and schools are using more digital tools to enhance learning and reduce some of their operational costs. Blackstone has prevailed in an auction for Ascend Learning, and is now negotiating terms with its majority owner, private equity firm Providence Equity Partners LLC, the sources said on Thursday. A deal could be announced within days, the sources added, cautioning that it was still possible that negotiations would end without a deal. The sources asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. Blackstone and Providence Equity declined to comment. Ascend Learning did not respond to a request for comment. The transaction would be the latest private equity deal in the educational software sector. In 2015, private equity firms TPG Capital LP and Leonard Green & Partners LP acquired Ellucian Company LP, a U.S. provider of software to universities and colleges, for $3.5 billion, including debt. Based in Burlington, Massachusetts, Ascend Learning offers software programs for testing and certifications in various industries, from nursing to sports medicine. The majority of its revenue comes from the healthcare and public safety sectors. Providence Equity also owns Blackboard Inc, a U.S. software company that provides learning tools for high school and university classrooms. It explored a sale of Blackboard in 2015, but then ultimately decided to put it on hold. The private equity firm sold scuba certifier Professional Association of Diving Instructors earlier this year. Based in New York, Blackstone is the world''s largest alternative asset manager, with more than $360 billion in assets under management. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ascend-learning-m-a-blackstone-group-idUKKBN17G04T'|'2017-04-14T10:27:00.000+03:00' '7fb1019782b9055c40f198a4e3787b31c6af9d2a'|'Dominion Diamond says no contact with Washington Corp after offer'|'Deals 47pm EDT Dominion Diamond says no contact with Washington Corp after offer TORONTO Canada''s Dominion Diamond Corp ( DDC.TO ) ( DDC.N ) has not had any contact with Washington Corp since the privately-held company made public its unsolicited $1.1 billion offer in late March, said Dominion Chairman Jim Gowans on Thursday. Calgary, Alberta-based Dominion launched a formal sales process March 27, after the approach by U.S. billionaire Dennis Washington. Dominion has repeatedly offered to engage with Washington Corp on "customary terms," Gowans said on a conference call with analysts, but that has not happened. Dominion, currently seeking a new Chief Executive Officer, is pleased with the progress of its strategic review process, Gowans said, but he would not answer a question on whether there was more than one party interested in the miner. (Reporting by Susan Taylor; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dominion-diamond-m-a-idUSKBN17F26P'|'2017-04-14T00:45:00.000+03:00' '321ad8ce5177335e86a602c79f186541848f196b'|'Lawmaker behind Swiss pay veto calls for Credit Suisse bonus cut'|' 56pm BST Lawmaker behind Swiss pay veto calls for Credit Suisse bonus cut left right FILE PHOTO: Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam listens to the speech of Chairman Urs Rohner (R) of Swiss bank Cedit Suisse during the annual shareholder meeting in Zurich, Switzerland April 29, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Swiss People''s Party (SVP) Councillor of State Thomas Minder speaks to delegates during their party meeting in Balsthal January 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: CEO Tidjane Thiam (R) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse awaits a news conference to present the bank''s half-year results in Zurich, Switzerland July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Swiss bank Credit Suisse''s CEO Tidjane Thiam marches in a parade to mark the start of spring in Zurich, Switzerland April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo 4/4 By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH The lawmaker who instigated a shareholder veto over excessive management pay in Switzerland has urged investors to use this power to block 78 million Swiss francs (62.44 million pounds) in bonuses for Credit Suisse''s ( CSGN.S ) top executives. The comments from Thomas Minder add to pressure on Switzerland''s second-biggest bank to rethink the bonuses after several advisory groups told shareholders to oppose part or all of the payments when they vote this month. "If corporate governance is correct and the company has worked well and has a good annual result, then yes, some of (the profits) should be distributed," Minder said in a telephone interview. "But if it worked badly, like Credit Suisse, then, dear me, nothing can be allowed to be paid out." Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam is set to receive almost 12 million francs, making him one of Europe''s highest-paid bankers despite a multibillion-dollar loss last year. If shareholders reject the plan, it would be the first use of the Swiss veto at a leading company. Minder, an independent member of the Swiss parliament, led a 2013 referendum that resulted in the implementation of binding shareholder votes on executive pay in the wake of massive bonuses at UBS ( UBSG.S ) that preceded a government bailout. Four years on, Minder said Credit Suisse''s proposal for hefty payouts to Thiam and his fellow senior managers smack of the same disconnect between performance and pay that spawned his referendum. "If there''s no money in the coffers then there are no bonuses for top management or employees," he said. "That is a mortal sin." ON TARGET A Credit Suisse spokeswoman said the bonuses were based on performance targets agreed by shareholders. She also pointed to management''s cost-cutting efforts and the strong performance of its core private banking business. Nevertheless, Credit Suisse faces growing opposition to the proposed bonuses, with investor advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Ethos and Glass Lewis opposing part or all of the payments. ISS also recommended investors vote against the compensation recommended for Credit Suisse''s board of directors, led by Chairman Urs Rohner, whom Ethos said should be replaced. ISS, which advises more than 1,700 of the world''s biggest investors, is highly influential and its recommendations are widely followed when shareholders cast their votes. The vote will take place at Credit Suisse''s annual meeting in Zurich on April 28 with the support of a majority of shareholders sufficient for the pay packages to pass, the bank said. The opposition risks straining investor patience with Credit Suisse at a time when the bank is considering asking them for money to shore up finances that were hit by a $5.3 billion settlement for selling toxic debt. If shareholders vote down the bonuses, the board of directors can submit a new proposal, according to Credit Suisse''s articles of association. Credit Suisse has locked up some key support. Harris Associates, one of its biggest shareholders with a 4.96 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data, plans to vote in favour of all the AGM proposals, Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag has reported. The bank has argued that cutting compensation now would punish current management for mistakes made by their predecessors. Since taking over as CEO in mid-2015, Thiam has shifted the bank''s focus towards wealth management while shrinking Credit Suisse''s investment bank. The costly restructuring and the heavy penalties for selling toxic mortgage debt in the run-up to the financial crisis meant the bank posted a 2.7 billion franc loss for 2016, its second straight year in the red. For graphic on earnings of European big bank''s CEOs against company''s profits click on tmsnrt.rs/2nCJUzq (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; editing by John O''Donnell/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-bonuses-agm-idUKKBN17F1FR'|'2017-04-13T19:56:00.000+03:00' '876968de9509b88255a06bc1f0c979306e570b50'|'Toshiba creditors likely to approve chip unit collateral for $9.2 billion finance - sources'|' 11:18am BST Toshiba creditors likely to approve chip unit collateral for $9.2 billion finance - sources FILE PHOTO: The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen as window cleaners work on the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo TOKYO Japan''s Toshiba Corp is likely to win creditors'' approval for offering its prized memory chip business stake as collateral for new loans and loan commitments worth around 1 trillion yen (7.35 billion pounds), sources briefed about the matter said on Friday. The approval is crucial for the troubled conglomerate, which needs billions of dollars in fresh funding to tide it over before it can complete the sale of the memory chip unit, which is expected to raise around 2 trillion yen. Some small lenders have baulked at the offer as they have been offered other Toshiba assets as collateral, such as its group companies'' shares and real estate. A few have not yet given their approval ahead of a Friday deadline, but Toshiba''s main lenders expect all creditors to give their consent, said the sources, who were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. In exchange for the chip unit stake as collateral, Toshiba hopes to get about 300 billion yen in fresh loans and to be able to draw down loan commitments worth 680 billion yen, the sources said. The loan commitments - promises by lenders to lend money - were previously set up, but Toshiba needs approval to draw money from the banks given its financial problems. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka and Taro Fuse; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-creditors-idUKKBN17G0T0'|'2017-04-14T18:18:00.000+03:00' '4b2b7616e3bf4435e9130f74def4258e38d10ced'|'Exclusive - Company behind bitcoin ''creator'' sold to private investors'|'Technology 5:50pm BST Exclusive: Company behind bitcoin ''creator'' sold to private investors By Jeremy Wagstaff and Byron Kaye - SINGAPORE/SYDNEY SINGAPORE/SYDNEY A company built around the research of Craig Wright, who has claimed to have invented the bitcoin cryptocurrency, has been sold to a private equity firm in a deal the company says is the biggest to date involving bitcoin''s underlying blockchain technology. The deal swings the spotlight once again on to Wright, a 46-year-old computer scientist who is the cryptocurrency''s most controversial figure. He hopes to remain central to the technology''s future, telling Reuters the goal is to build bitcoin into a global "system with no ruler, no king." "We will scale and grow bitcoin to become what it was envisioned to be," he said. "All I do is to help grow the use of bitcoin, and I want to see it in daily use by at least a billion people on-chain. We have the funds, the people and the technology to do this." According to a news release on Thursday, Malta-based High Tech Private Equity Fund SICAV plc bought nChain Holdings, "the world leader in blockchain-centric research and development." It put no value on the deal and did not mention Wright. Reuters previously identified nChain, formerly known as EITC Holdings, as Wright''s vehicle for filing hundreds of bitcoin and blockchain-related patents. UK records confirm that the target company - under both its EITC and nChain names - already filed more than 80 bitcoin and blockchain-related patents. A person close to the deal said $300 million had been invested in nChain, but it was not clear over what period of time. The Maltese fund did not respond to emails asking for comment. Reuters reported last year that EITC planned to file hundreds of patents related to blockchain, the distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The financial industry and others are exploring its potential. The fund is managed by Liechtenstein-based Accuro Fund Solutions, part of Zurich-based Accuro Group. Accuro did not respond to an emailed request for comment. DIVISIVE FIGURE Wright remains a divisive figure in the bitcoin world. After failing to convince many in the bitcoin community that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous founder of bitcoin, Wright retreated from view last year. Reuters reported last month that Wright was working with Calvin Ayre, a Canadian online gambling tycoon, to build a patent portfolio, though its purpose was not clear. Ayre was not immediately available for comment. nChain said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters that neither Ayre nor Wright had a stake in it before or after the sale. It said the company previously acquired Wright''s assets and intellectual property, and he now held the post of chief scientist. Although it was not possible to confirm Wright''s identity as Nakamoto, a Reuters investigation found he was deeply involved in the early development of bitcoin, and had told Australian tax officials he possessed more than 1 million bitcoin - worth $1.2 billion at the current exchange rate. Patent lawyers have noted that open-source technologies like bitcoin are not easy to patent, and even if patents are approved, they are not always easy to defend. Thursday''s announcement is the first time nChain has publicly acknowledged it is filing patents. Without confirming how many bitcoins he owns, Wright told Reuters he would never "dump bitcoin." "I will sell when I do this for goods on a daily basis, or I will go down with it. Past the basics of my family''s well-being, all I have is dedicated to building the systems and institutions needed to make bitcoin successful globally," he said. The news release also shed light on what Wright and nChain might do with its patents. nChain this year "intends to make some of its intellectual property assets available to the blockchain community through open-source software and royalty-free licensing." It invited interested parties to register via email. nChain''s patent filings, seen by Reuters, range from the storage of medical documents to WiFi security. Investors have spent more than $1.5 billion on blockchain and bitcoin start-ups over the past four years, according to CB Insights, an internet research company. The company said it was also working on software tools and applications to support the growth of blockchain. These include a software to develop applications on the bitcoin blockchain, solutions for bitcoin blockchain scalability, inventions to improve security, on-chain scripting for smart contracts, and a decentralized trading platform that uses autonomous agents. The company also called for a neutral standards body to be set up to coordinate bitcoin''s development. (Reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff and Byron Kaye; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bitcoin-wright-fund-exclusive-idUKKBN17F26V'|'2017-04-14T00:53:00.000+03:00' '7be57f74a2148bed949760ad34bee3d20373cee4'|'Linde-Praxair agreement will not be ready by May 10 AGM: source'|'MUNICH, Germany A $65 billion merger contract between industrial gases groups Linde ( LING.DE ) and Praxair ( PX.N ) will not be ready as planned by Linde''s annual shareholder meeting on May 10, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Thursday.The Business Combination Agreement will still take weeks to complete due to legal complexities, the person said.A Linde spokesman said the German and U.S. rivals were still working to get the agreement finalised before the AGM but could not rule out that it would be later.(Reporting by Jens Hack; Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Kathrin Jones and Christoph Steitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-linde-m-a-praxair-idINKBN17F17Q'|'2017-04-13T08:20:00.000+03:00' '0cb0d02a6686749372ed31a9bef52f030bb4a185'|'United Air passenger says scorpion bit him on flight from Texas'|'U.S. 45pm EDT United Air passenger says scorpion bit him on flight from Texas NEW YORK United Airlines found itself on the defensive again on Friday after a passenger complained that a scorpion stung him during a flight from Texas, capping off a bruising week for the public image of the one of the world''s largest carriers. A man on board a United flight from Houston to Calgary, Alberta on Sunday, said a scorpion dropped on his head from an overhead storage bin and stung him under his fingernail, according the United and media reports. "We were on the plane about an hour, having dinner, and then something fell on my head, so I grabbed it," passenger Richard Bell told CBS in a Skype interview on its website. Bell said another passenger who was Mexican told him, "''Hey, that''s a scorpion, they''re dangerous,'' ... That''s when it stung." United flight attendants helped the passenger after he was bitten "by what appeared to be a scorpion," airline spokeswoman Maddie King said in an email on Friday, adding that a physician on the ground assured the crew that "it was not a life-threatening matter." United is "reaching out to the customer to apologize and discuss the matter," she said. The airline spent the week scrambling to contain the fallout from a video that emerged on social media showing security officers dragging a bloodied passenger off an overbooked United Express flight in Chicago on Sunday as other travelers looked on in horror. Dr. David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor, suffered a concussion and broken nose when dragged from the plane and will likely sue, his attorney said on Thursday. His lawyers have filed an emergency request with an Illinois court to require the carrier to preserve video recordings and other evidence related to the incident. After the incident triggered international outrage, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz apologized to Dao, his family and its customers, saying the carrier would no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights. (Reporting by Frank McGurty in New York and Alana Wise in Washington, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-scorpion-idUSKBN17G1EQ'|'2017-04-15T01:42:00.000+03:00' '0282e5187fedc9bfb7cbd4263ea036d699d1589d'|'Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for about $4.48 billion'|'Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories ( ABT.N ) on Friday agreed to buy Alere Inc ( ALR.N ) for about $4.48 billion, ending a prolonged legal battle over its plan to buy the diagnostic-testing company.Abbott''s revised offer of $51 per share represents a premium of 20.5 percent to Alere''s closing price on Thursday, but is below the earlier $56-per-share offer announced in February last year.Reuters'' calculation of the deal value is based on Alere''s 87.9 million diluted weighted-average common shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, 2016.In April last year, Abbott had raised concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in the earlier merger agreement, and had offered to pay $30 million to $50 million to terminate the deal.Waltham, Massachusetts-based Alere, which makes tests for infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue, sued Abbott in August last year in an attempt to force the company to move ahead with the deal.In December, Abbott filed a suit to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company since they struck a deal in February 2016.Abbott and Alere said on Friday that the companies had agreed to dismiss their respective lawsuits, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2017.The deal will help Abbott expand in point-of-care diagnostic testing, a market that is growing as physicians increasingly adopt rapid tests that speed up treatment.Point-of-care tests provide results to doctors in a matter of minutes and can be conducted in the physician''s office, an ambulance or even at home.Illinois-based Abbott makes products ranging from Similac infant formula to Ensure beverages for adults.The news about the revised deal was first reported by Financial Times, citing people close to the matter.(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes and Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-alere-m-a-abbott-idINKBN17G0V3'|'2017-04-14T09:01:00.000+03:00' 'a802caaea15ce6b8ab456c0a03543e54e2074de4'|'Six megatrends that could alter the course of sustainable development - Global Development Professionals Network'|'W e are approaching two years into implementing the ambitious 2030 Agenda – a historic agreement to end poverty, combat inequalities, promote peaceful and inclusive societies, and protect the environment. The new global framework, with 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) at its core, commits to promoting development in an integrated way – economically, socially and environmentally – in all countries, ensuring that no one is left behind.Our recently published report identifies six megatrends that will shape the trajectories of – and could potentially undermine – progress on the SDGs. In the current context of a looming retreat from multilateralism, the choices governments and societies make to manage these long-term trends will be fundamental to whether the world can get onto a pathway of sustainable development.1 - Poverty and inequalities Substantial progress has been achieved in multiple dimensions of poverty in the past decades, including the reduction of absolute poverty, decline in child and maternal mortality rates, and improved access to clean water and sanitation facilities. Income inequality between countries has also been falling, mainly due to the rapid growth in large developing countries.How can we reach an SDG target when we''re moving in the wrong direction? Read moreDespite these gains, the progress has been uneven and considerable challenges remain. These include rising income disparities within countries, persistent gender inequality and the recent resurgence of poverty across regions due to economic shocks and escalating conflicts. The Multidimensional Poverty Index , which measures deprivation in health, education and living standards, counted 1.6 billion people living in multidimensional poverty in 2016 – nearly twice the number of people living in extreme poverty measured by income alone.Progress towards eliminating poverty is more difficult during times of uncertain economic prospects, the report suggests. This is further complicated by weak labour market conditions, demographic changes, and conflicts and insecurity. Evidence shows that while economic growth is essential for reducing poverty, a critical link between growth and the reduction of poverty and inequalities is related to the nature and quality of growth, and a balanced distribution of gains across all segments of society.2 - Demography The implementation of the 2030 Agenda will be affected by demographic dynamics, including population growth, ageing, migration and urbanisation. In 2015, 12.3% of the global population reached the age of 60 or over (pdf), with rapid ageing expected to occur in Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. In Africa, by contrast, populations are young, which provides an opportunity for a demographic dividend .It has become easier for people to move, and factors such as poverty, unemployment, conflicts and natural hazards compel people to leave their homes in search of better lives. International migration has reached record levels (pdf), accounting for 244 million migrants worldwide in 2015. If managed well, migration will continue to bring profound benefits to sending countries through remittances, knowledge and networks, and to receiving countries by filling acute labour shortages and contributions in terms of taxes and care services.Internal migration is also growing, driving fast increases in urbanisation. On one hand, urbanisation fosters growth and provides a higher quality of life, with cities accounting for more than 80% of global GDP (pdf). On the other, it raises concerns about urban poverty, social tensions and disparities, changes in family patterns, and environmental risks.3 - Environmental degradation and climate change Major environmental challenges identified by the report include degradation of air and land, water scarcity, deforestation, marine pollution and a decline in biodiversity. Some of the underlying factors behind environmental degradation include population growth, polluting technologies, and overexploitation of ecosystems driven by unsustainable consumption and production patterns.The first year of SDG implementation was marked by the slowest rate of economic growth since 2008The world is already witnessing the impact of climate change on natural systems. This is translated into the increasing frequency and severity of natural hazards (pdf), which lead to more disasters due to population growth (pdf) and patterns of economic development. Climate change is also projected to undermine food security, exacerbate existing health threats, adversely affect water availability and lead to increased displacement.In the coming decades, it is likely that this trend will continue, with more losses expected in livelihoods and assets. This underlines the link between poverty and vulnerability to natural hazards. It also exposes inequity, as countries and populations likely to be most harmed by climate change impacts are often the least responsible for causing them, and have limited capacity and resources to cope with the consequences.4 - Shocks and crises The report discusses various shocks and crises including economic and financial shocks, disasters, conflicts and disease outbreaks that have undermined the precarious livelihoods of millions of people and can affect progress towards sustainable development. Over the past decades, global forced displacement, for example, increased by 75% due to conflicts, violence and human rights violations .Despite many obstacles, the world is getting better - Johan Norberg Read moreThe first year of SDG implementation was marked by the slowest rate of economic growth since the 2008 global financial crisis (pdf), weak investment growth and stagnant global trade. While progress has been made in reducing the global unemployment rate, nearly 201 million people worldwide (pdf) were estimated to be unemployed in 2016, including 71 million young people. Global economic prospects remain subject to various risks, including increasing policy uncertainty in major advanced and emerging economies, financial market disruptions and heightened geopolitical tensions.At the same time, remarkable achievements have been made in combating major infectious diseases and reducing hunger over the past decades, which can be attributed to political commitment, strong global partnerships and sound social protection policies . Despite this, the world continues to face significant challenges in addressing health issues and under-nutrition, with nearly 800 million people suffering from hunger worldwide , and high risks of famine.5 - Financing for development To achieve the SDGs, development finance strategies need to go beyond filling financing gaps. While official development assistance will remain a vital source of external public finance for the poorest and most vulnerable countries, it will not be sufficient. All sources of finance – public and private, domestic and international – need to be mobilised. In particular, effective domestic resource mobilisation will be at the core (pdf) of financing sustainable development.There is no shortage of capital in the global economyWhile resources allocated for development objectives are not adequate, there is no shortage of capital in the global economy. The challenge is to enhance the impact of available resources, while catalysing additional sources of finance into investments in long-term sustainable development.It is critical to better align private sector incentives with sustainable development objectives through strengthened policies and sound institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks. As a positive trend, the private sector’s involvement in philanthropic giving, corporate social responsibility initiatives, impact investing, and inclusive business approaches has been expanding.A number of innovative multi-stakeholder partnerships such as the Global Fund and new financing mechanisms for development including green bonds have emerged since 2000. It will be essential to scale up the proven mechanisms in size, scope and geographical reach.6 - Technological innovations Technology is an important means for implementing the SDGs. The biggest technological advancements over the past decades have occurred in health, education and the environment. For example, the development of new vaccines against infectious diseases is estimated to save nearly 3 million lives every year . Online courses and interactive applications expand access to education around the globe, providing new ways of learning, teaching and collaborative work. Renewable energy technologies are critical in addressing climate change and its negative impacts.While technologies have provided innovative solutions to many development problems, they have also added new challenges and risks, including security and privacy concerns, polarising opportunities and job replacement. Forecasts suggest that computers could do the work of 140 million knowledge workers by 2025, while 30% of middle-income jobs could be eliminated (pdf) due to innovation in artificial intelligence.How to move forward? The multiple crises and disasters in recent decades have highlighted unpredictability and volatility in the global economy, continued uncertainties and disruptions in people’s lives, and the vulnerability of development progress to external shocks. Against this backdrop, there is a challenge – and an opportunity – for a sophisticated policy response of preparedness, investment and cooperation.Old economics is based on false ‘laws of physics’ – new economics can save us Read moreThe report points to four main factors that are crucial in addressing these trends: the importance of evidence in decision-making; policy coherence across the global goals and at different levels of policymaking and implementation; collective action to maximise the positive dynamics in these areas and minimise risk; and broad-based inclusive participation.Esuna Dugarova and Nergis Gülasan are policy specialists in the strategic policy unit at the UN Development Programme . Follow @Esuna_Dugarova on Twitter.Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Join the conversation with the hashtag #Dev2030 .Topics Global development professionals network Development 2030 Inequality and development Maternal health Access to water Sanitation Conflict and development comment '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/14/six-megatrends-that-could-alter-the-course-of-sustainable-development'|'2017-04-14T16:00:00.000+03:00' '1caaa25800dd5517c98818c325fcaacb00a1dae3'|'Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail JV: sources'|'By Georgina Prodhan and Alexander Hübner - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Talks about uniting the rail operations of Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) and Canada''s Bombardier ( BBDb.TO ) are being complicated by the desire of both companies to keep control of a merged business, two people close to the matter said on Wednesday.Antitrust issues and political considerations could also ultimately make a deal to create a company with combined sales of $16 billion hard to pull off, industry experts said.The two groups are talking about a joint venture that could compete better with Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC ( 601766.SS ), which is expanding aggressively abroad and would still be twice their combined size by revenue."It could go fast, it could be very drawn-out or it could fail. It''s completely open," one of the people said.The three main rivals to CRRC -- Bombardier, Siemens and France''s Alstom ( ALSO.PA ) -- have talked to each other about combining their businesses in various arrangements over the past years.A Bombardier-Siemens combination could run into anti-trust issues as it did last time it surfaced, with significant overlap particularly in Germany."On a country-by-country basis the deal looks difficult to pull off in Europe, and that''s why it has not happened over the past 20 years," a person familiar with the industry said.In a global context the arrival of CRRC has however changed the shape of the industry and Europe should be interested in creating a strong competitor to the emerging Chinese challenge, the person said.However, antitrust experts doubt that watchdogs will give the deal a green light without imposing conditions that could make it unviable."Besides Alstom no real competitor would remain in Europe as long as the Chinese haven''t arrived," said Dario Struwe, antitrust lawyer at law firm FPS.JOBS FEARAny transaction also runs the risk of resistance from trade unions.One of the sources told Reuters that German unions were expected to support the deal as long as Siemens was in control. The two businesses, which span rolling stock to signaling, have significant overlap in Europe, especially in Germany.German trade union IG Metall declined to comment on the matter.But given the Bombardier founding family''s influence on the company - they control the company through a dual class share structure - it is highly doubtful that Bombardier would agree to relinquish control to Siemens.One of the sources also said that the German chancellery was involved in the situation, without giving details. Another complication is that Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owns 30 percent of Bombardier''s train business.A German government spokesman declined to comment.For Alstom, a deal might not be all bad."(Alstom) will have a higher chance of gaining share given that the other two companies would need to address anti-trust concerns first and then integrate the two operations which likely is a cumbersome process, particularly the integration of the various platforms which could lead to market share losses," analysts at JP Morgan said in a note to clients.SIMILAR IN SIZEBombardier has had problems in the past executing on its contracts, including issues in Canada and Australia. It claims it has fixed the source of these problems.Siemens'' transportation business used to be notorious for similar risks -- with product flaws in trams and more recently repeated delays in supplying high-speed ICE trains to state-owned German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn.Since Joe Kaeser took over as chief executive in 2013 the company has worked to resolve these issues and appears to have put them behind it for the time being.The two transportation businesses are roughly comparable in terms of revenue and profitability.Bombardier Transportation has set targets of generating about $8.5 billion in revenues and an EBIT margin of about 7.5 percent in 2017, up from $8 billion and an EBIT margin of under 6.5 percent in 2016.Siemens Mobility made revenue of 7.82 billion euros ($8.3 billion) and increased its operating profit by 15 percent to 678 million euros last fiscal year, giving it a profit margin of 8.7 percent. Its target profit margin range is 6-9 percent."Such a merger would create the clear number-two player in the rail sector, with a global leading network of clients and installed equipment and service opportunities," analysts at brokerage Kepler said.(Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, Jens Hack and Allison Lambert; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-siemens-bombardier-joint-venture-idINKBN17E1SW'|'2017-04-12T11:37:00.000+03:00' 'd8af49c11b6460099ad58a066cb2c889d20fc8ab'|'Airbnb signs dozens more tax agreements in the U.S., France'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 6:03am EDT Airbnb signs dozens more tax agreements in the U.S., France A man walks past a logo of Airbnb after a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, November 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Airbnb has reached new deals with dozens of jurisdictions in the United States and France to collect and pay taxes, doubling down on its effort to improve its image with local policymakers even as it face regulatory challenges around the world. Airbnb, the short-term rental service that offers a website where homeowners can rent out a room or their entire property, has collected $240 million in hotel and occupancy taxes since it was founded in 2008, remitting them to the jurisdictions where the company has agreements, Airbnb spokesman Nick Papas told Reuters. The most recent tax agreements, formally announced by the company Tuesday, came in eight U.S. cities and counties, the state of Texas and 31 cities in France, making for a total of 275 agreements, Papas said. The taxes, which Airbnb says are at the same rate paid by hotels, will be collected beginning May 1 for the newest agreements. More than half of Airbnb''s U.S. listings are in communities where we the company collects and remits taxes, Papas said. Chris Bryan, a spokesman for the Texas comptroller, said Airbnb approached Texas with the offer to pay taxes. "The state saw this as the most efficient way of bringing these people into tax compliance rather than going after thousands and thousands of homeowners," he said. Texas is the 20th U.S. state with which Airbnb has a deal. Seeking agreements with more states allows the company to avoid the thorny local politics in cities where it faces opposition. It is still unclear how successful Airbnb will be in collecting and remitting all the taxes it had pledged because many of these agreements are less than a year old. Critics of the deals have questioned how local officials could have enough data on Airbnb hosts to verify how much tax the company ought to pay. Airbnb''s push to address taxes has helped to weaken one of the arguments made by the hotel industry against the company''s growing presence in major cities. But the tax agreements have not quieted critics'' concerns that Airbnb, valued at $31 billion, has exacerbated housing shortages and brought unwanted traffic into neighborhoods. In April, Airbnb reached an agreement with Miami-Dade County in Florida to collect taxes but the mayor of the city of Miami Beach, part of Miami-Dade County, remains a vocal opponent to Airbnb. The city allows Airbnb in areas that are zoned for short-term rentals but not in residential neighborhoods, said Mayor Philip Levine. "When you bought a house you didn''t bargain on having a nightclub next to you," he said. "You relied on having the zoning of the city protect you." Airbnb said last year it collected $19 million in taxes in San Francisco, $7 million in San Diego and $3 million in Chicago. Several cities declined to confirm how much tax Airbnb had paid, citing taxpayer confidentiality rules. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-taxes-idUSKBN17E14R'|'2017-04-12T18:03:00.000+03:00' 'a2e3fe0bab482653c34002375eef5a17f455f5e2'|'Brazil''s Oi offers custom mobile plan to recoup market share'|'SAO PAULO, April 12 Oi SA, the Brazilian phone carrier under bankruptcy protection, is launching tailor-made client plans that can be modified through an app, in an effort to recover market share in an increasingly competitive industry.As part of the plan unveiled on Wednesday, Oi clients will be able to swap voice minutes for data, said Bernardo Winik, the company''s head of retail. The move is another step toward consolidating the Oi Livre sales platform, which launched in December 2015 and now has 16.4 million subscribers. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oi-sa-restructuring-idINL1N1HK0MJ'|'2017-04-12T11:54:00.000+03:00' 'b604ac58325930a834345e95130d7b2d672b8a28'|'Schumpeter: The University of Chicago worries about a lack of competition'|'ONE sign that monopolies are a problem in America is that the University of Chicago has just held a summit on the threat that they may pose to the world’s biggest economy. Until recently, convening a conference supporting antitrust concerns in the Windy City was like holding a symposium on sobriety in New Orleans. In the 1970s economists from the “Chicago school” argued that big firms were not a threat to growth and prosperity. Their views went mainstream, which led courts and regulators to adopt a relaxed attitude towards antitrust laws for decades.But the mood is changing. There is an emerging consensus among economists that competition in the economy has weakened significantly. That is bad news: it means that incumbent firms may not need to innovate as much, and that inequality may increase if companies can hoard profits and spend less on investment and wages. It may yet be premature to talk about a new Chicago school, but investors and bosses should pay attention to the intellectual shift, which may change American business. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates The fear that big firms might come to dominate the economy and political life has its roots in the era of the robber barons of the 19th century. In 1911 the government broke up Standard Oil; until the 1960s regulators policed mergers with a big stick. But by the 1970s the economy was sputtering, and America Inc was losing ground to Japanese and European industry. Free-market scholars at the Chicago school argued that the pendulum had swung too far towards the state and antitrust action.They felt that regulators were intervening arbitrarily. Richard Posner, an academic who later became a judge, damningly wrote that they relied on “eclectic forays into sociology”, not hard analysis. Firms were being prevented from getting big enough to create economies of scale that could benefit consumers, argued backers of free markets. Well-run companies that naturally gained market share were being penalised for success.Over time the Chicago school’s ideas became so influential that the courts and the two antitrust regulators, the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), adopted a far more favourable approach to big business. Today Mr Posner, who is 78, jokes that he became a judge in 1981 expecting to specialise in monopoly cases, but regulators stopped bringing them to court. He remains a true believer in the laissez-faire approach. But at Chicago (and elsewhere) a younger generation of scholars, including Luigi Zingales and Raghuram Rajan, are worried that competition is not as vigorous as it used to be.What has changed? The facts. The pendulum has swung heavily in favour of incumbent businesses. Their profits are abnormally high relative to GDP. Those that make a high return on capital can sustain their returns for longer, suggesting that less creative destruction is taking place. The number of new, tiny firms being born is at its lowest level since the 1970s.Two explanations are plausible. One is successive waves of mergers. When you split the economy into its 900 or so different industries, two-thirds have become more concentrated since the 1990s. Regulators may also have been captured by incumbent firms, which get cosy treatment. American companies collectively spend $3bn a year on lobbying. In regulated industries that don’t face competition from imports—health care, airlines and telecommunications—prices are at least 50% higher than in other rich countries, and returns on capital are high.The technology industry’s expansion could exacerbate the problem. An analysis by The Economist in 2016 suggested that about half the pool of abnormally high profits is being earned by tech firms. The big five platform companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—earned $93bn last year and have high market shares, for instance in search and advertising. They are innovative but sometimes behave badly. They have bought 519 firms, often embryonic rivals, in the past decade, and may stifle them. The data they gather can lock customers into their products. They may also allow firms to exert their market power “vertically” up and down the supply chain—think of Amazon using information on what consumers buy to dominate the logistics business. Investors’ sky-high valuations for the platform firms suggest they will, in aggregate, roughly triple in size.If the summit showed that there is a consensus that competition has weakened, there was little agreement on how to respond. Pessimists abound. Many antitrust technocrats plead that they have little power: bodies like the DoJ and the FTC are not meant to run the economy, but instead to enforce a body of law through courts that have become friendlier to incumbents. Some radicals argue that the government is now so rotten that America is condemned to perpetual oligarchy and inequality. Political support for more competition is worryingly hard to find. Donald Trump has a cabinet of tycoons and likes to be chummy with bosses. The Republicans have become the party of incumbent firms, not of free markets or consumers. Too many Democrats, meanwhile, don’t trust markets and want the state to smother them in red tape, which hurts new entrants.Lessons from the old schoolWhat is needed is a three-pronged approach. A campaign to drum up public backing for competition might prod politicians to act: it was popular anger about monopolies in the 1890s that led to crucial reforms in the early 20th century. The technocrats have more power than they admit. Antitrust laws, such as the Sherman Act of 1890, give plenty of latitude. They must be braver. Lastly, scholars should learn from the first Chicago school. Its leading lights did not seek quick victories, but won the battle of ideas over years, their views percolating into politics, the courts and public opinion. America must rediscover the virtues of competition. With luck, in a couple of decades, it will seem embarrassing that anyone had to hold a conference to debate its relevance.This article appeared in the Business "Crony capitalism"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720657-its-economists-used-champion-big-firms-mood-has-shifted-university-chicago?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' 'b26ebab2471d2843089774ab835e30d247ef449c'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Linde, ConocoPhillips, HighTower, Chevron, Polyus, AC Milan)April 13 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1500 GMT on Thursday:** Linde and Praxair''s $65 billion merger talks are facing legal complexities that mean the agreement will not be finalised as planned before Linde''s annual shareholder meeting on May 10, a source familiar with the situation said.** ConocoPhillips said on Thursday it would sell natural gas-heavy assets in San Juan basin, spanning New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado, to an affiliate of privately held Hilcorp Energy Co for about $3 billion.** Wealth management firm HighTower said on Thursday it will acquire WealthTrust, which has interests in a dozen registered investment advisory firms with $6.4 billion in client assets nationwide, bringing HighTower''s total client assets to more than $47 billion.** Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S.-based oil producer, is exploring the sale of its 20 percent stake in Canada''s Athabasca Oil Sands project, which could fetch about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the situation.** A consortium led by China''s Fosun International Ltd plans to buy between 20 and 25 percent in Russia''s top gold producer Polyus for up to $2 billion, RIA news agency reported, citing documents of a Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission.** Italian former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi finalised his troubled sale of soccer club AC Milan to a Chinese-led consortium on Thursday, a 740 million euro ($788 million) deal that tightens China''s grip on the game in Italy.** A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.26 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA, daily Dagens Nyheter wrote on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.** Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc withdrew its application to the Federal Reserve to boost its ownership stake in Wells Fargo & Co above 10 percent, and is instead selling 9 million shares to keep it below that threshold.** Australia''s foreign investment watchdog has cleared Chinese-backed coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd to pursue its $2.45 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto''s, Coal and Allied Division, Yancoal said on Thursday.** Japan''s Kobe Steel Ltd said it had acquired Swedish firm Quintus Technologies AB from shareholders led by U.S. private equity firm Milestone Partners for $115 million.** Chinese internet firm Baidu Inc has agreed to acquire U.S. computer vision firm xPerception for an undisclosed amount to support their renewed efforts in artificial intelligence as Chinese tech firms face regulatory headwinds in U.S.** A group of shareholders in Czech betting company Fortuna has filed an application for an injunction to halt the proposed acquisition of Romanian businesses from Penta Investments, Fortuna''s biggest stakeholder.** The head of Dassault Aviation, the biggest shareholder in Thales, said he was not in favour of pursuing a joint venture in railway operations between the French defence electronics firm and transport group Alstom. (Compiled by Komal Khettry in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HL3S3'|'2017-04-13T12:58:00.000+03:00' 'f428f19a629eb592ed47c80716ce3b0bf2f3c891'|'Bombardier hits cash snag on Australian train order'|'SYDNEY/MONTREAL Bombardier Inc''s hopes of receiving initial payments for a A$4.4 billion contract to build 75 electric trains for Australia''s Queensland state government have been hit amid accusations of design faults.The Canadian company had expected to start booking proceeds from that deal late last year to help meet cash-flow targets.A person familiar with the company''s thinking said it had concerns over its rail division''s operational cash flow in the first quarter of this year.Delays in being paid, and the added cost of fixing any manufacturing faults, could make it harder for Bombardier Transportation to reach its 2017 revenue target of around $8.5 billion, up from $8 billion in 2016, said an industry analyst, who didn''t want to be named as he is not authorized to talk to the media. Similarly, it aims to push up its EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin slightly to about 7.5 percent.The issues with the Queensland order - ranging from braking problems to driver visibility and disability access - come on top of other hitches that have weighed on Bombardier''s rail division. Separately, a Canadian judge is poised to rule on a dispute over a C$770 million contract with Toronto''s Metrolinx system.They also come to light as Bombardier is again discussing a potential merger of its rail unit, the Montreal-based plane and train maker''s most reliable cash generator, with Germany''s Siemens, people close to the matter said this week.Siemens'' transportation business has also had product flaws in its trams, and there were delays recently in supplying high-speed trains to state-owned German rail operator Deutsche Bahn.Claas Belling, spokesman for Germany-based Bombardier Transportation, declined to comment on specific, confidential contract terms, but said the Queensland deal is one of several hundred agreements globally. "Some may be performing better than plan, while others may lag," he said in an email to Reuters.The possible rail merger talks come as Bombardier aggressively cuts costs as part of a 5-year turnaround plan. The company considered bankruptcy in 2015 when it faced a cash crunch while bringing two jets to market, but CEO Alain Bellemare has since led a restructuring, and the company has received cash infusions from the Quebec government and Canada''s second-largest pension fund.ONE-SIDED CONTRACTIt''s not clear to what extent Bombardier is responsible for the design flaws on the Queensland contract.Australia was mentioned as an example in a broad internal review of the rail division from 2015 that raised concerns about a systemic problem: at the time, the company agreed to custom-build trains to the client''s request, which is more risky and costly than offering a standard line of equipment, said another person familiar with the matter.While Bellemare, who has been CEO for a little over two years, has addressed that issue, deals signed before his time, including the 2013 Queensland contract won by a Bombardier-led consortium, are a potential drag on the company.A person with knowledge of the contract said it was one-sided in favor of the state government. It could change its mind and order planes instead, and Bombardier would probably have to pay the difference, the person quipped.Downer Group, a Sydney-headquartered engineering firm, told Reuters it decided against bidding for the Queensland order because of the "onerous" contract terms.SUSPENDEDBy early this year, Queensland had received 13 six-car trains, but suspended further deliveries apart from two that were already en route from Bombardier''s factory in Savli, India.The state has not yet paid any money to Bombardier.The Canadian firm is now trying to have four or five of the trains certified for use in Australia before the end of this year, two people familiar with the issue said."There''s no funding until they get through testing and are certified," said a political source with knowledge of the contract terms, which are not public. "The issues with the trains include unsatisfactory braking, which are design flaws."Paul Bini, a spokesman for the bid consortium - which also includes Aberdeen Asset Management, UK developer John Laing and Japanese trading company Itochu Corp - said it wasn''t unusual for issues to be identified during testing, especially on large and complex projects."All 75 New Generation Rollingstock trains are expected to be delivered and rolled-out on to the South East Queensland rail network by late-2018," he added.The Queensland government previously cited problems with the trains'' braking systems, the design of the driver cabs, which it said had inadequate visibility, and doorway disability access that did not meet Australian standards."We are working around the clock to resolve the issues as soon as possible, without compromising safety," Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Jackie Trad told Reuters.Bini said the trains were being tested to meet safety standards, and the brake issue had been resolved. He added that feedback from rail groups and the disability sector were incorporated into the train''s design.(Reporting by Allison Lampert and Jonathan Barrett, with additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in BERLIN; Editing by Denny Thomas and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bombardier-railways-australia-analysi-idUSKBN17F2LO'|'2017-04-14T00:21:00.000+03:00' 'a437a9722d9be0c0d3f9bfafe93015718d7d9f47'|'T-Mobile, Dish bid $14 billion in U.S. airwaves auction: FCC'|'By David Shepardson and Anjali Athavaley - NEW YORK NEW YORK T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ) bid $8 billion and Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ) $6.2 billion to win the bulk of broadcast airwaves spectrum for sale in a government auction, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday.The two carriers accounted for more than two-thirds of $19.8 billion in winning bids, the FCC said. Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ) agreed to acquire $1.7 billion in spectrum, AT&T Inc ( T.N ) bid $910 million and investment firm Columbia Capital offered $1 billion.T-Mobile said its $8 billion winning bid would enable it "to compete in every single corner of he country." The company, controlled by Deutsche Telekom AG ( DTEGn.DE ), said the investment will quadruple its low-band holdings.Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) and Sprint Corp ( S.N ) opted not to bid.“What is most interesting to us was (Verizon) was nowhere to be found,” Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo, said in a research note, adding that “we continue to believe Verizon’s interests lay in the higher band spectrum assets.”She said that T-Mobile was opportunistic with its purchases as expected.Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson, said in an email that there were three surprises in the results: “Comcast bought less than expected, Dish Network bought more, and Verizon bought nothing at all.""We had expected Dish to be a de minimis player in the auction," he said. “Dish’s spectrum spending underscores the growing importance of the company’s valuation as it relates to their spectrum holdings.”The FCC said 175 broadcast stations were selling airwaves to 50 wireless and other telecommunications companies. Companies plan to use the spectrum to build new networks or improve existing coverage to meet growing mobile data demands.Of the 175 winning broadcasters, the FCC said, 30 will receive money for agreeing to move to a lower channel and 133 others will relinquish licenses and indicated their intent to remain on air through channel-sharing agreements.The FCC also announced new channel assignments for 957 non-winning stations that must change channels to clear the new wireless airwaves for use. The first group of stations to move channels is scheduled for November 2018.(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-wireless-auction-idINKBN17F2CJ'|'2017-04-13T17:17:00.000+03:00' 'f419778ae1ab6cbe99024008fe271e52e7f6c861'|'UPDATE 1-Fiat Chrysler CEO says not in a position to hold merger talks'|'Deals - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 10:25am EDT Fiat Chrysler CEO says not in a position to hold merger talks FILE PHOTO: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo AMSTERDAM Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne rowed back on his search for a merger on Friday, saying the group was not in a position to seek deals and would focus instead on developing its business plan. Answering investors questions in Amsterdam, he said there were no merger talks ongoing with Volkswagen, a deal he had said last month was a possibility. "On the Volkswagen issue, on the question if there are ongoing discussions, the answer is no," Marchionne said. "I have a lot of respect for Volkswagen and I think we are not in a position to discuss any alliance, the primary focus is (on) the execution of the plan," he added without elaborating. Marchionne has long advocated consolidation in the car industry and analysts wonder whether he would manage to find a partner for Fiat Chrysler before he steps down in early 2019. Marchionne said last month that Volkswagen - the market leader in Europe - may eventually agree to discuss a tie-up with FCA in reaction to the purchase of Opel by the second largest operator on the continent, PSA Group. Volkswagen, which is still reeling from an emissions scandal that hurt its profits, initially spurned FCA''s approach. However, CEO Matthias Mueller said last month the group had become more open on the issue of tie-ups and invited Marchionne to speak to him directly rather than with the press. Marchionne, an experienced dealmaker, is due to step down after Fiat Chrysler approves its 2018 results. He has said meeting ambitious targets under a business plan to 2018 will put Fiat Chrysler in a better position to strike a deal down the line. Asked about U.S. electric car company Tesla, Marchionne said the big difference in market valuations made a merger impossible. "I don''t think it''s possible to talk about alliances. We have today (the) tech capability to do what it does. I wish them all the best," he said. FCA Chairman John Elkann said Marchionne would be replaced internally. "I want to be clear about how seriously the succession process has been taken. We are working with Sergio in order to be able to identify someone who comes from inside the organization," he said at the event. (Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-m-a-idUSKBN17G0VU'|'2017-04-14T22:22:00.000+03:00' '0892716c26888837e1cf01f39df7630af0ebfec5'|'Wall Street CEOs downplay risk of new bank breakup law'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 6:50pm BST Wall Street CEOs downplay risk of new bank breakup law Michael L. Corbat, president of the Citigroup in Brasilia April 9, 2013. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino NEW YORK Top Wall Street bankers on Thursday said they are having positive discussions about financial regulation in Washington, and downplayed the idea that U.S. policymakers might force their institutions to split up. On conference calls to discuss first-quarter earnings, executives from JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) said recent chatter about reinstating a Depression-era law to separate capital markets operations from traditional lending is nothing more than talk. The White House confirmed last week that economic adviser and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) executive Gary Cohn backed the idea of bringing back the law, called Glass-Steagall. He is one of several prominent lawmakers, regulators or policy advisers who have expressed support for the idea, which Wall Street generally opposes. Citigroup Chief Executive Michael Corbat said his conversations with Trump administration officials have not centered on the topic. "I have yet to have anybody really explain to me what value there is in terms of either a reinstatement of Glass-Steagall, which is in itself strange, or what ''21st century Glass-Steagall'' is," he said. "We continue to ask about it but not necessarily be that focused on it." He noted that a number of Wall Street executives have been "very engaged" with the Trump administration, as well as key members of congressional committees and regulators with regard to financial reform. He called the White House conversations "constructive." JPMorgan executives struck a similar tone, saying a reinstatement of Glass-Steagall is inconsistent with other objectives of President Donald Trump. "It is a pro-growth agenda, tax, infrastructure, regulatory reform," said CEO Jamie Dimon. "And that is a good thing." (Reporting by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-banks-results-regulation-idUKKBN17F2BS'|'2017-04-14T01:50:00.000+03:00' 'de7fe0ac285699d2dc322d38a0736a12e7d660e5'|'RPT-Abbott Laboratories to buy Alere for $4.4 bln - FT'|'(Repeats to add Reuters Instrument Codes in first paragraph)April 14 Abbott Laboratories agreed to buy diagnostic-testing company Alere Inc for $4.4 billion, ending a prolonged legal battle over Abbott''s plan to buy the company, the Financial Times reported, citing people close to the matter.Abbott will pay $51 per share, a premium of 21 percent to Alere''s closing price on Thursday, but below the earlier $56-per-share price announced in February last year, the FT said. on.ft.com/2nLyoDGAbbott had raised concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in last year''s $5.8 billion merger agreement, and offered to pay $30 million to $50 million to terminate the deal.Abbott Laboratories had moved to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company since they struck a deal in February 2016.European Union antitrust regulators cleared Abbott Laboratories'' proposed acquisition of Alere on January, subject to the divestment of some of Alere''s operations.Alere sued Abbott in August last year in an attempt to force the company to move ahead with the deal.Abbott and Alere were not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/alere-ma-abbott-idINL3N1HM2CY'|'2017-04-14T06:04:00.000+03:00' 'c7be266d0297e40e87f94961bb7d8329ce73ba7d'|'UPDATE 1 -South Africa''s finmin Gigaba says to meet with Moody''s to stave off third downgrade'|'(Adds details, context)CAPE TOWN, April 13 South Africa''s new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday he would meet with ratings firm Moody''s to convince them the country would stay on the path of fiscal discipline, in order to avoid a third credit downgrade.Gigaba, who replaced the respected Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet reshuffle that triggered credit downgrades to subinvestment by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch, told local investors he would clarify Treasury''s policy positions to Moody''s on an upcoming roadshow overseas."There is no silver bullet in this regard. Nothing is taken for granted and nothing is taken as a guarantee," Gigaba told the media after briefing investors at parliament."We will do all we can to avoid another downgrade and one of the ways to do that is to engage with Moody’s directly, to demonstrate our willingness to stay the course in terms of fiscal discipline and fiscal consolidation," Gigaba said.The cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma, who is mid-way through his second five-year term ending in 2019, has roiled domestic financial markets and battered the rand. The opposition has called on Zuma to resign and held protests to force him out of office.Investors have also sought answers over Zuma''s policy of "radical economic transformation", which has been echoed by Gigaba. Zuma has also recently talked of plans to redistribute land without compensation. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/safrica-finmin-idINL8N1HL2NX'|'2017-04-13T09:47:00.000+03:00' '035bdf944fcd300059a286c63d5d7f8e2f83c215'|'JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing'|'Company News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 1:00am EDT JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing By David Henry - NEW YORK, April 14 NEW YORK, April 14 After having to stomach $31 billion worth of bitter mortgage settlements with government agencies a few years ago, JPMorgan Chase & Co swore off a huge swath of the home loan market. Gone were borrowers with anything much less than pristine credit ratings. The cost of managing delinquent accounts and the threat of huge legal penalties were written off as not worth the risk. Better instead to focus on wealthier customers who wanted jumbo-sized loans that are beyond the reach of government housing finance agencies. But there was a problem: Chase was leaving behind many of its mass market customers who were going to competitors for the conventional and government-guaranteed loans they wanted. Now, the bank’s management team, led by Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, is working fiercely to change course – hoping to not only bring back customers, but influence what could be a reshaping of U.S. mortgage finance policy for the first time in a generation. Customers will soon start seeing signs of this effort. Next month, Chase plans to launch advertising featuring Drew and Jonathan Scott, stars of the popular reality “Property Brothers” shows. In addition to TV spots, the campaign will feature cardboard cutouts of the telegenic twins in Chase branches. Chase is also in the process of boosting its mortgage lending force by 10 percent, upgrading its loan-making software and jazzing up its smartphone app with more mortgage account tools. At the moment, fewer than one in 10 Chase customers with home loans got them directly from Chase, a situation consumer banking chief Gordon Smith recently described as "terrible." “It is time to go after the opportunity we have with our own customers,” Mike Weinbach, the bank''s mortgage chief, said in a recent interview with Reuters. JPMorgan Chase is not the only major bank that is restless after having stepped back from the U.S. mortgage market in the aftermath of the housing crisis last decade. At Bank of America Corp, executives say they are no more content with fewer than two in 10 of their customers with mortgage loans having borrowed from their bank. Mortgage companies such as Quicken, Caliber and loanDepot.com scooped up much of the business from battered banks. ( tmsnrt.rs/2orqDzB ) JPMorgan''s $31 billion cost of 13 mortgage-related legal settlements was second only to Bank of America’s $71 billion, according to data collected by bank analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Still, JPMorgan''s mortgage retreat stands out because the bank has used its scale and financial strength to gobble up market share in many other businesses, from credit cards and deposit-taking to commercial lending and Wall Street banking. In backing away, JPMorgan saw its market share of conventional mortgages that are small enough to be resold to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fall by half, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. Its share of all mortgage loans made directly by lenders fell to 2.8 percent last year from 12.6 percent in 2011. Logically, it should be close to Chase''s 8.3 percent of share of retail deposits, said Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance. JUMBO MISSES Chase opted to go after better-off borrowers who took out so-called jumbo loans in excess of the Fannie and Freddie limit, which then was $417,000 in most parts of the United States. Last year, jumbos were 49 percent of all loans Chase made, up from 14 percent in 2013. But jumbos account for only 18 percent of U.S. mortgages. By turning from bigger parts of the market, JPMorgan was hurting its wider consumer franchise. That could be costly if it persists. Customers without Chase mortgages are twice as likely to leave as those who have them from the bank, Weinbach said. And, checking and savings account customers who get their home loans from Chase tend to add to their deposits. Management’s effort to swing back may already be bearing some fruit. JPMorgan said on Thursday that it made $9 billion of home loans directly to customers in the first quarter, 3 percent more than in the same period a year earlier. Chase’s shift comes amid crosscurrents in the mortgage market. The latest wave of loans for refinancing is abating as interest rates rise. That has reduced revenue across the industry. But bank executives also see other conditions improving. Federal housing agencies have been loosening policies to help middle America get access to more credit. The millennial generation has also begun reaching the nesting age, leading to a new crop of home buyers. The GSEs have already adjusted some rules to be less financially threatening to lenders. For instance, they dropped a demand that banks take back loans that default after three years unless there has been fraud. Dimon sees a chance to get more relief from the government. This month he used four pages of his annual letter to shareholders to outline more changes he wants to see. He expressed particular concern about a bank’s costs and liability when loans it underwrites default. Current rules have made lenders so cautious that they have not funded an additional $300 billion to $500 billion of loans for home purchases in each of the last five years, JPMorgan analysts estimate. The cost to the economy, they believe, has been one third of a percentage point of annual growth. “If that number is right, shame on us,” Dimon told reporters on the bank''s post-earnings conference call on Thursday. “We should have done something about that. And, it can be done very quickly.” (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/jpmorgan-mortgage-strategy-idUSL1N1HF04D'|'2017-04-14T13:00:00.000+03:00' '3a19eaeb1d816ae9c7ce88855f119e43644d0e6d'|'BRIEF-Tocagen Inc shares open at $10.27, above IPO price of $10 per share'|' 10:57am EDT BRIEF-Tocagen Inc shares open at $10.27, above IPO price of $10 per share April 13 Tocagen Inc NEW YORK, April 13 US investors are turning to higher-yielding second-lien loans as primary spreads on US leveraged loans continue to fall in an aggressive repricing round and new deals remain scarce. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-tocagen-inc-shares-open-at-1027-ab-idUSFWN1HL0GC'|'2017-04-13T22:57:00.000+03:00' '9f83ee4097d6a470b7fffda5cb563a2781ee2198'|'China cbank resumes cash injections as shadow banking crackdowns spur liquidity worries'|'Company 59am EDT China cbank resumes cash injections as shadow banking crackdowns spur liquidity worries SHANGHAI, April 13 China''s central bank resumed injections into the money market on Thursday after a near three-week absence, in an apparent bid to ease fears of a cash crunch in the financial system following massive drains from maturing debt instruments. The market has also been on edge after a flurry of moves by regulators to curb riskier lending activity, including a crackdown by the banking watchdog this week on misdemeanors with a focus on shadow banking. Some investors are predicting a sell-off in low-grade corporate bonds by lenders rushing to avoid penalties, which would further strain the financial system and rattle investors. After skipping open market operations for 13 consecutive sessions -- saying liquidity was relatively high -- the People''s Bank of China (PBOC) injected 110 billion yuan ($15.98 billion) into the interbank market via reverse bond repurchase agreements on Thursday. It added another 83.9 trillion yuan through its pledged supplementary lending facility (PSL). "This reflects the central bank''s intention to ease worries of a liquidity shortage," said Wang Jingjie, a bond analyst at GF Futures. Wang said 217 billion yuan worth of Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) loans matured on Thursday, draining cash from the market. In recent months, the PBOC has shifted to a focus on liquidity management to guide short-term interest rates and squeeze financial institutions and speculators which it believes to be too highly leveraged. Underscoring the potential liquidity swings from maturing debt instruments, China has about 4 trillion yuan worth of outstanding MLFs, which are PBOC loans with a maturity period of up to 12 months. The PBOC last month completed its most rigorous quarterly inspection of the nation''s banks to date to get a better idea of the problems it is facing. For the first time since it was launched last year, the Macro Prudential Assessment, or MPA, included off-balance sheet wealth management products to give authorities a better sense of potential risks to the financial system. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) this week told lenders to conduct checks on improper trading, incentives and innovative financing methods. Analysts say this could force banks to shrink their off-balance sheet investment activities, potentially hurting the bond market, a key destination for such investments. "Depending on how strictly the clean-up is executed ... it is possible to see a sell-off in corporate bonds, especially those with low ratings," said Zhou Li, president at bond-focused asset manager Rationalstone Investment. He suspected that a sudden slump on Thursday in the shares of Ping An Insurance Group Co and Industrial Bank Co Ltd could be related to checks on shadow banking, and said the same could happen in the bond market as well. The shares'' slide was believed to have been triggered by massive selling via a brokerage''s asset management account. But Zhou retains some optimism toward China''s treasury bonds. "China''s economic fundamentals doesn''t seem very solid. That''s good news for treasuries." ($1 = 6.8818 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Samuel Shen and John Ruwitch; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/china-pboc-liquidity-idUSL3N1HL2UP'|'2017-04-13T16:59:00.000+03:00' '6afc0cdf47d101f2685ad99bd45b8c548653a419'|'Reckitt working with Morgan Stanley on food business sale: sources'|'By Martinne Geller and Pamela Barbaglia - LONDON LONDON British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser Group ( RB.L ) is working with Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) on the sale of its food business, which could fetch roughly $3 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.The process will kick off soon, said the sources, who declined to be identified, as the matter is private.Reckitt, which confirmed earlier this month that it was exploring options for the business, declined to comment, as did Morgan Stanley.Reckitt is expected to use proceeds of the sale, which includes French''s mustard and Frank''s RedHot sauce, to pay down debt following its $16.6 billion purchase of Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ).(Reporting by Martinne Geller. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-reckitt-benc-grp-m-a-food-idINKBN17F1FT'|'2017-04-13T09:48:00.000+03:00' '3006a5dceb89e0ec05adffc295908be97cff372b'|'How Britain can build a successful, lasting industrial strategy'|'F or many years, the idea that a government of the right should have an industrial policy was heresy. The state’s role was to keep inflation and taxes low, then stay out of the way so that market forces could operate. Ronald Reagan summed up the philosophy when he said the nine most dangerous words in politics were: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.The idea that Reagan pursued a form of pure laissez-faire is, of course, nonsense. Plenty of US firms reaped the benefits of vastly increased defence spending in the 1980s, a form of military Keynesianism, that had plenty of technological spin-offs.Similarly, all Conservative governments in Britain have an industrial strategy even if they are not always prepared to confess as much. Margaret Thatcher based hers on inward investment and the City of London. Ted Heath was as likely as Harold Wilson to bail out a lame duck. Michael Heseltine was a powerful business secretary in John Major’s government, eager that the UK should be at the cutting edge of the new industries then emerging.So when Theresa May calls for an industrial strategy to help deliver a “stronger economy and a fairer society”, she is saying nothing new or radical. She is part of a tradition that stretches back to Neville Chamberlain’s industrial interventionism as chancellor in the 1930s and beyond.The prime minister sketched out her vision for a more active role for the state in the foreword to the government’s green paper – Building our Industrial Strategy – published three months ago. The consultation period ends on Monday and will influence a white paper from the current business secretary, Greg Clark.May’s idea of trying to build a cross-party consensus around an industrial strategy is sensible. Britain’s problem has never been the lack of a plan; there have been plenty of those down the decades. Nor were all the plans useless, although some of them were. Rather, it is that there has been too much chopping and changing, a failure to stick at anything for long. Ministers regularly deliver lectures about the need to eschew short-termism but hardly lead by example.As the Institute for Government pointed out in a recent report , Clark’s three predecessors in the decade before he got the job all had a different industrial strategy. “From 2008, [Peter] Mandelson looked to use his department to rebalance the economy away from one focused heavily on financial services. He called for a ‘new activism’ and ‘targeted intervention’ for government to invest to support particular enterprises. After 2010, [Vince] Cable sought to use government to support themes such as skills, technological development and creating conditions for investment and growth. After 2015, [Sajid] Javid also sought to distance himself from his predecessor, setting out a far more deregulatory and small-state role for government.” That Germany would have three different industrial strategies is unimaginable.So what could be done to prevent May’s “modern” industrial strategy failing in its promise and before too long being supplanted by the latest fad?One approach would be to learn from the process that led to the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. The SDGs are not perfect but they provide a template for how the government could turn its lofty aspirations into something more concrete.Although it sounds obvious, the first thing to do is to identify the problem. In the case of the UN, it was that too many people were living in poverty despite a growing global economy. May’s motivation is not that different: the economy should work for the many not the few.Second, break the problem down into its component parts. There are 17 individual SDGs – such as tackling hunger and ensuring universal access to clean water – which are further broken down into more than 160 targets.The government’s industrial strategy green paper is candid about some of the failings of the UK economy: its weak investment record; the poor level of skills; regional disparities that mean 61% of people live in areas with incomes 10% below the national average and only two cities outside London – Bristol and Aberdeen – have productivity above the national average.But that’s the easy bit. It’s proved much harder to raise investment levels (Britain has ranked in the lowest 25% of all rich countries in the OECD for investment in 48 out of the last 55 years), to improve skills, and to close the North-South divide. If the government has a role in trying to tackle these issues – and May is clear that she thinks it does – Britain needs Industrial Strategy Goals. These should be limited in number; 17 is too many. Dame Kate Barker is chairing the Industrial Strategy commission, set up to keep tabs on the Government’s plan as it evolves. She says May and her team need to identify the big things they want to achieve. Theresa May''s industrial strategy: what took them so long? Read more Third, set a date for the targets to be reached. In the case of the SDGs, the UN has given itself 15 years, which is a testing but realistic deadline provided action is not delayed.By 2030, Britain will be in the middle of a robot revolution and the industrial strategy should reflect that. Around one-third of jobs in Britain could be put in jeopardy by automation and as the Institute for Public Policy Research has noted, those with the least qualifications are most at risk .“The government is developing an industrial strategy which calls for employer-led sector deals to boost productivity and skills. But so far, efforts have focused on high-skill, high productivity, hi-tech export sectors such as automotive and aerospace.”Fourth, build as big a consensus around the plan as possible. In the case of the SDGs, governments, civil society, the private sector and the multilateral organisations all signed up. Getting everybody inside the tent took effort but was vital.One of the reasons Germany’s industrial strategy has been successful is that the government, business and unions all agree with its broad principles and that ensures its durability. There would be no change of direction were Angela Merkel to be ousted as chancellor this autumn.A report by Barker’s commission published on Easter Sunday notes : “To be effective, we believe that any industrial strategy needs consistent application over a long period – probably to be measured in decades rather than years.” In Germany that would not need to be spelled out.Finally, the industrial strategy goals should have independent monitoring of the progress being made, or the lack of it. The government should take its industrial strategy targets as seriously as its fiscal targets, with an independent watchdog created along the lines of the Office for Budget Responsibility. If the industrial strategy is as important as May says it is, ministers should not be allowed to mark their own homework. Topics Economics Economics viewpoint Economic policy Robots Theresa May comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/how-britain-can-build-a-successful-lasting-industrial-strategy'|'2017-04-16T19:03:00.000+03:00' '835813a5e3ca14a157ac85a467d3b37d6b1d7eba'|'Global sovereign fund assets stall at $6.59 trillion - Preqin'|' 5:58pm IST Global sovereign fund assets stall at $6.59 trillion - Preqin FILE PHOTO: U.S. dollar notes are seen in this November 7, 2016 picture illustration. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo LONDON Sovereign wealth fund (SWF) assets all but stalled at $6.59 trillion in the year to March 2017 due to a combination of weak markets, low oil prices and shifts in government policy, a report from research provider Preqin showed. Total assets under management have levelled off in the last two years, with growth of just 3 percent in 2015 and 1 percent in 2016, when assets stood at $6.51 trillion. This is in contrast to previous years, when SWF assets grew by 17 percent between December 2011 and December 2012, and by a further 16 percent the following year, Preqin said in a report received on Thursday. "Macroeconomic headwinds, low oil prices, and shifts in domestic and economic policy from their governments have all contributed to this tapering off," Selina Sy, editor of the 2017 Preqin Sovereign Wealth Fund Review, said. Some oil-backed funds have reined in spending as their governments have used them to close budget gaps. Oil prices are currently around $56 a barrel, a long way off the highs of $115 touched in June 2015. In another sign of belt-tightening, SWFs pulled $37.8 billion from global stock and bond markets in 2016, according to separate data from research firm eVestment. However, hydrocarbon-backed SWFs grew by $60 billion in the 12 months to March 2017, Preqin said, suggesting the worst of the selling may be over. In fact, only 29 percent of SWFs suffered a decline in assets in the last 12 months, versus 36 percent in the previous year. A slim majority of 51 percent saw their assets increase in the year to March 2017, with SWFs funded by non-hydrocarbon commodities growing by $10 billion, as did those funded by non-commodity sources. The investor class remains dominated by a handful of heavyweights with the 10 largest funds collectively holding $5.2 trillion - 79 percent of the whole. They include Norway''s $915 billion fund, the world''s biggest, and the China Investment Corporation, with $800 billion under management. At the other end of the scale, 45 percent of SWFs hold less than $10 billion. The sector continues to evolve, with Abu Dhabi creating a $125 billion fund by merging Mubadala Development Company and International Petroleum Investment Company. Some smaller SWFs, such as the Turkey Wealth Fund, have also launched. The proportion of SWFs investing in alternatives has grown, with 61 percent allocating to private equity, a record high, and 63 percent to real estate. Some 63 percent of SWFs were also invested in infrastructure, liked for its ability to deliver steady, visible cashflows over the long term. (Reporting by Claire Milhench; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-swf-assets-idINKBN17F1IW'|'2017-04-13T20:28:00.000+03:00' '6b245034f5122365e785ded79823e2f405d36fca'|'U.S. consumer prices post first drop in 13 months'|'Business 6:22pm IST U.S. consumer prices post first drop in 13 months A Chevron gas station is seen in Cardiff, California January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake WASHINGTON, U.S. consumer prices fell in March for the first time in 13 months as declining costs for gasoline and mobile phone services offset rising rents and food prices. The Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index dropped 0.3 percent, the first decline since February 2016, after nudging up 0.1 percent in February. That lowered the year-on-year increase in the CPI to 2.4 percent from 2.7 percent in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI unchanged last month and slowing to a 2.6 percent increase from a year ago. The so-called core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, fell 0.1 percent last month, the first and largest decrease since January 2010, after rising 0.2 percent in February. As a result, the year-on-year increase slowed to 2.0 percent. That was the smallest advance since November 2015 and followed a 2.2 percent increase in February. The Federal Reserve has a 2 percent inflation target and tracks an inflation measure which is currently at 1.8 percent. Rents increased 0.3 percent last month after a similar gain in February. Owners'' equivalent rent of primary residence rose 0.2 percent after climbing 0.3 percent in February. Last month, gasoline prices fell 6.2 percent, the biggest drop since February 2016, after falling 3.0 percent in February. The cost of wireless telephone services dropped 7.0 percent, the biggest drop on record. Food prices rose 0.3 percent. The cost of food consumed at home increased 0.5 percent, the biggest gain since May 2014. Medical care increased 0.1 percent last month, as the cost of doctor visits fell 0.3 percent. Prices for hospital services rose 0.4 percent and the cost of prescription medicine was unchanged. Motor vehicle prices dropped 0.3 percent after falling 0.2 percent in February. Apparel prices declined 0.7 percent last month after rising 0.6 percent in February. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-consumer-prices-idINKBN17G108'|'2017-04-14T20:40:00.000+03:00' '28cbf61e5c1266bb28c88a819896c0967a6be1e2'|'JPMorgan profit rises 16.8 percent'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 11:55am BST JPMorgan profit rises 16.8 percent FILE PHOTO - People pass the JP Morgan Chase & Co. Corporate headquarters in the Manhattan borough of New York City, May 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, reported a 16.8 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as the bank made more loans and racked up additional revenue from increased trading. The bank''s net income rose to $6.45 billion (5.16 billion pounds) in the first quarter ended March 31 from $5.52 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to $1.65 from $1.35. [ bit.ly/2nHTfHJ ] Analysts had expected earnings of $1.52 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported results were comparable. Trading increased across Wall Street over the past year as investors changed their positions around the Brexit vote, the U.S. elections and the Federal Reserve''s hikes in interest rates. Customers also borrowed more as the economy expanded, though the pace of loan growth has slackened somewhat recently. Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) are also scheduled to report results on Thursday. (Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bengaluru and David Henry in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jpmorgan-results-idUKKBN17F1BH'|'2017-04-13T18:55:00.000+03:00' '0a5af9985d7f0fb4bd88e6b2c9ead9a9448304d5'|'European shares post weekly loss as banks weigh, SCA gains on bid report'|'Company 36pm EDT European shares post weekly loss as banks weigh, SCA gains on bid report * STOXX 600 down 0.4 pct, ends two weeks of gains * Banks at five-week low, with Popular falling * Sweden''s SCA rises on bid speculation (ADVISORY- European stock markets are closed on Friday and Monday. There will be no European market reports on those days.) By Helen Reid and Kit Rees LONDON, April 13 European shares were led lower by declines in the bank sector on Thursday, leaving an index of the continent''s top companies to nurse a weekly loss. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.4 percent, ending the week with a 0.2 percent decline over a holiday-shortened four-day week, following two weeks of gains. The banking sector was down 1.2 percent at a five-week low, set for its fifth straight day of losses as investors globally fled risky assets. Spain''s Banco Popular and Austria''s Raiffeisen Bank led the sector''s losses, down 3.6 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. French banks Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas were also among the top fallers, down by between 1.4 and 2.6 percent. “The global reflation trade came off and banks, which have been doing quite well, have been dropping," Norman Villamin, chief investment officer at UBP (Union Bancaire Privée), said. "But we still see opportunity for European banks going forward, and we are looking in the pull back for the opportunity to put some money to work in European banks.” German airline Lufthansa fell 3.1 percent after investor InfiniteMiles placed a 2.5 percent stake at 15.25 euros per share. Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget rose to a record high, up 7.8 percent. A group of private equity companies bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.3 billion) for the hygiene arm of the tissue and forestry products company, a Swedish newspaper said, citing unnamed sources. GOLD ADVANCES SCA, which declined comment on the report, said last year it would split its business into a hygiene segment and a forestry segment. Gold climbed to a five-month high on geopolitical tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump''s comments on the dollar''s strength. Gold miner Centamin was up 5.1 percent. Blue-chip peers Fresnillo and Randgold Resources also gained. Mediclinic rose 3.1 percent after a trading update showed 2017 revenue increased 3.5 percent. British retailer ABF was up 3.4 percent. Jefferies raised the stock to "buy" from "hold", citing continued strength in sugar and a turn in margins in its Primark unit. Britain''s Royal Mail rose 3.6 percent after saying it would close its defined benefit pension scheme next year. Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian exchanges were closed for the Maundy Thursday holiday, taking volume out of the European benchmarks. Looking ahead, investors are focusing on upcoming European company earnings and UBP''s Villamin said he was looking for results to reflect the macro-economic picture. "We think that''s going to be quite important for the next leg of performance in the market,” he added. (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HL4G7'|'2017-04-14T00:36:00.000+03:00' '6c0833953ab2d74ecc8f1963c2d178d4d0f1bd0d'|'Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 11:22am BST Boardroom excess? British companies stick with bonus plans despite criticism By Simon Jessop - LONDON LONDON Pressure on British companies to ditch a common performance-related bonus scheme blamed for generating excessive executive pay has not stopped many firms from planning to stick with such schemes for another three years, a Reuters analysis shows. In theory so-called long-term incentive plans (LTIPs) aim to legitimately encourage management success in boosting shareholder returns. Yet a series of corporate scandals and lucrative payouts has made them a target for criticism. Lawmakers in Britain last week recommended LTIPs be phased out from 2018, while Norway''s sovereign wealth fund, the world''s biggest, wants them scrapped. The British government has also launched a review of corporate governance including incentive plans. Exemplifying LTIP generosity, advertising company WPP paid Chief Executive Martin Sorrell more than 70 million pounds for 2015, more than 60 million of which came through an incentive scheme - a payout that a third of WPP shareholders declined to support. However, most top companies have retained LTIPs as part of executive pay when seeking investor approval for a three-yearly remuneration policy at shareholder meetings. Analysis by Reuters of company annual reports and data from governance advisory firm Manifest shows 59 members of the FTSE 100 blue-chip stock index recently updated their remuneration policy or plan to soon, of which 56 currently use or plan to continue using LTIPs. "There (is) no reason why LTIPs should be used almost universally across the FTSE 100," Luke Hildyard, policy lead for stewardship and governance at trade body the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, said. "We would welcome more companies moving to simpler, smaller pay packages, perhaps involving a basic salary and a long-term share award," Hildyard said, adding the current system acted to drive ever-higher pay awards. Companies use a range of data to calculate the payouts, with many referencing the firm''s share price. The process, opponents say, can be complex, overly generous, and can potentially incentivise actions detrimental to the long-term interests of a company. There is also evidence their overall economic benefits are limited. A study by Lancaster University Management School, looking at Britain''s 350 biggest listed companies, found CEO pay had risen an average 82 percent in real terms between 2003 and 2014/15, but economic return on invested capital was up less than 1 percent. SIMPLER STRUCTURE Asset management industry body the Investment Association said too much time is spent discussing pay with companies, and a simpler structure would free up time to engage on other important issues. As the government considers whether to implement the recommendations by parliament''s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) committee, some cautioned a blanket ban was equally problematic. "We don''t think there should be a one-size-fits-all approach ... companies should be able to choose the right tools for the job," said Sarah Wilson, chief executive at Manifest, which advises funds on how to vote on corporate decisions. The head of governance at a leading British asset manager said most LTIPs worked well. "In the vast majority of cases, we''ll vote in favour of them because we''ve analysed them in detail and think they''re based on stretching targets that reflect the company''s strategy ... there are exceptions, but you deal with them on a case-by-case basis." Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, said she was willing to consider alternative bonus models but a phasing out of LTIPs from 2018 would be challenging. Were the government to rule out LTIPs, Manifest''s Wilson said many firms would likely use share options, with bonuses paid in shares with a long-term lock-in period. "Much of it will depend on the tax implications," Wilson said. "Some investors like LTIPs because there are performance conditions associated with them so the BEIS committee''s view isn''t necessarily universally approved." Yet the key basis of LTIPs remains contentious. "The idea of tying a CEO''s pay to the share price is flawed," said Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre pressure group. "Share prices move for all sorts of reasons completely beyond the control of one human being or the board." (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-companies-pay-idUKKBN17F189'|'2017-04-13T18:22:00.000+03:00' 'bd03a2b9a4b5b51e22a864cae918718108913ea7'|'Extended outage to push Centrica''s storage business deeper into red - analysts'|' 11:58am BST Extended outage to push Centrica''s storage business deeper into red - analysts LONDON Britain''s largest energy supplier Centrica ( CNA.L ) could face a more than 100 million pound hit to its bottom line after announcing an extension to an outage at its Rough storage field, analysts said. Centrica had closed the storage site, a depleted gas field in the North Sea, to gas injections on concerns about the safety of some of its wells. On Wednesday, it extended the outage to April 2018 from June 2017. The utility had already warned in February that its storage business, which swung to an operating loss for a first time last year, would slip further into the red this year because of the problems at the Rough site. Analysts are now expecting those losses to come in at the higher end of the spectrum as the extended outage will curb revenue Centrica would have made from gas traders storing fuel. "The direct impact on Centrica will be a likely EBIT loss of in excess of 100 million pounds in 2017 for the storage division," said analysts at RBC Capital Markets. Barclays analysts echoed the assessment, saying the unit''s loss will likely be closer to Centrica''s worst-case scenario of a 110 million pound loss. Analysts at Credit Suisse said the news meant it had reduced Centrica''s Earnings Per Share (EPS) forecast by 0.6 pence per share. Shares in Centrica, which runs operates the British Gas brand, were down 1 percent at 0955 GMT, slightly worse than the 0.5 percent loss on London''s FTSE 100 index .FTSE . (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-centrica-storage-idUKKBN17F1BX'|'2017-04-13T18:58:00.000+03:00' 'ae98695855c077d01eeb27de28d0afd8a0fb8f27'|'Regulator ASN says Areva foundry must show improvement before re-opening'|' 56am BST Regulator ASN says Areva foundry must show improvement before re-opening A view shows the Areva Tower, the headquarters of the French nuclear reactor maker Areva, at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, March 2, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen/File Photo PARIS France''s ASN nuclear regulator said that before Areva will be allowed to restart its Creusot Forge foundry, the company will have to show that an improvement plan at the plant has been fully implemented. Creusot Forge, which makes huge steel components for nuclear plants, was closed last year following the discovery of manufacturing irregularities and the forgery of manufacturing tracking documentation. Two EDF nuclear reactors have also been shut for months following problems related to Creusot-made parts. ASN said in a statement on Thursday that Areva''s reactor unit Areva NP had informed it of its intention to restart foundry operations for French nuclear installations at Creusot. The regulator said it had laid out the preconditions for a restart in April 12 letters to Areva NP and EDF ( EDF.PA ). It said that following the problems last year, Areva had put in place an action plan to guarantee the quality of manufacturing in the future at the plant. ASN also said that following the restart, it will increase its oversight of Creusot Forge. (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-areva-safety-idUKKBN17F14U'|'2017-04-13T17:56:00.000+03:00' 'aebc2b481d7d76038325e0be3fff00def824195e'|'Foxconn asks for SoftBank cooperation in bid for Toshiba chip unit: Nikkei'|'TOKYO Taiwan''s Foxconn has asked for SoftBank Group''s cooperation in its bid for Toshiba Corp''s prized memory chip unit, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.Foxconn, known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry, is expected to ask SoftBank for help in smoothing the way with Japanese banks, the report said.Foxconn may also team up with Apple Inc for the bid, the report said, following a similar report by public broadcaster NHK earlier.(Reporting by Junko Fujita and Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-softbank-group-idINKBN17G0CS'|'2017-04-14T03:41:00.000+03:00' '579622520b7c1f0439dd80a09c310d0652128f6f'|'UPDATE 1-Powertech seeks Japan chip technology with purchases from Micron'|'* Deals are worth up to $132 million* Will have majority stake in Tera Probe* Likes Japan''s leading edge in IOT, vehicle electronics (Recasts and adds chairman comments)TAIPEI, April 14 Taiwan''s Powertech Technology said on Friday it had bought two of Micron Technology''s interests in Japan in deals worth up to $132 million, part of its efforts to expand its presence in Japanese chip technology.It plans to buy a near 40 percent stake in wafer testing firm Tera Probe, which combined with its own holding will give it majority control of at least 51.2 percent. It has also bought a Japanese assembly and test plant from the U.S. firm."Powertech has been hoping to build a full turn-key solution in Japan," Chairman D. K. Tsai told a news briefing."Although the Japanese semiconductor industry has declined, they still have a leading edge in vehicle electronics, IOT and other areas."Powertech will offer to pay 1,100 yen per Tera Probe share from Micron and any other shareholders who tender their offer. That compares with the Japanese firm''s Friday closing price of 1,198 yen.The deals are subject to approval from Taiwan regulators.(Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tera-probe-ma-powertech-tech-idINL3N1HM28R'|'2017-04-14T07:12:00.000+03:00' '11788f01b3108c4eed9ad55c1021d4e4c0980760'|'Bank of Japan to offer brighter view of economy, exports - sources'|' 9:27am BST Bank of Japan to offer brighter view of economy, exports - sources A Japanese flag flutters atop the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO The Bank of Japan is expected to offer a more upbeat view of the economy at this month''s rate review than it did last month, people familiar with the matter said, as robust exports and factory output support recovery in the world''s third-largest economy. But the central bank will stress its resolve to maintain its massive monetary stimulus, as the export-driven recovery has yet to boost private consumption and inflation, the sources told Reuters. "The economy is doing quite well. The problem is it''s not translating into higher prices," one of the sources said, conceding that underlying inflation remains "surprisingly weak". "Exports and output are gathering momentum," another source said, adding that a recent slew of positive data has heightened the chance the BOJ will upgrade its economic view. Last month, the BOJ said Japan''s economy is "recovering moderately as a trend." The central bank will likely remove the phrase "as a trend" to signal its confidence that the recovery is gaining momentum, the sources said. The BOJ is also likely to offer a more optimistic view on exports and output than in March, when it said they were "picking up," the sources said. The BOJ is widely expected to keep monetary settings unchanged at its two-day rate review that ends April 27. At the meeting, it will also review its quarterly projections and its assessment of economic and price developments. INFLATION REMAINS WEAK Japan''s economy has shown signs of life, as a rebound in overseas demand helped exports grow by the fastest pace in more than two years in February. Analysts polled by Reuters expect exports to rise for a fourth straight month in March. Factory output rose at its fastest pace in eight months in February and job losses hit a two-decade low, a sign the economy was running at near full-capacity mainly on external tailwinds. An estimate by the BOJ showed the output gap, which turns positive when an economy''s demand exceeds supply, posted its first positive reading in seven quarters in October-December. But core consumer prices rose just 0.2 percent in February from a year earlier, casting doubt on the BOJ''s forecast that the economic recovery will prod firms to raise prices and wages. An index stripping away the cost of energy showed consumer inflation stood at 0.1 percent in February, suggesting that companies remain wary of raising prices for fear of scaring away cost-savvy consumers. The BOJ now projects core consumer inflation to hit 1.5 percent in the current fiscal year ending in March 2018, and accelerate to 1.7 percent the following year. Some analysts say the BOJ will be forced to slash the price forecasts, which far exceed private-sector projections of around 1 percent. "The BOJ''s price forecasts are too optimistic, so there''s a very high chance they will be revised down. This may happen at its next quarterly forecast review in April," said Kazuo Momma, a former top BOJ economist. (Additional reporting by Sumio Ito and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17G0IK'|'2017-04-14T16:27:00.000+03:00' '2b964acd06c0f3b997fcdde44852db8972349950'|'New Boeing 737 makes first flight as larger version moves ahead'|'Money News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 1:33am IST New Boeing 737 makes first flight as larger version moves ahead left right Boeing’s new 737 MAX 9 aircraft is seen during takeoff on its first flight in Renton, Washington, U.S., April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Craig Larsen-Boeing Handout 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Ground crew members escort a Boeing 737 MAX as it returns from a flight test at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Boeing''s new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo 3/3 By Alwyn Scott and Jamie Freed - SEATTLE/SYDNEY SEATTLE/SYDNEY A new version of Boeing Co''s ( BA.N ) 737 jetliner took off for the first time on Thursday, marking another step in Boeing''s revamp of its best-selling product line that could see up to five new models introduced by 2020. Boeing''s 737 MAX 9, a fuel-efficient, long-range successor to the 737-900, made its initial flight, a test mission, about 50 years after the 737 first took to the skies on April 9, 1967, and follows the first flight of Boeing''s largest Dreamliner model, the 787-10, last month, from its factory in South Carolina. The new models are coming to market just as demand for aircraft has slowed. Boeing has committed to making four new 737 versions and is considering a bigger version than the MAX 9, known as the 737 MAX 10X. It could begin delivering that version in 2020 if airlines start ordering it this year, with China emerging as a promising market, said Michael Teal, 737 MAX chief project engineer and deputy programme manager. With the MAX 9 in the air, Boeing is turning more attention to the larger version. It began pre-marketing the plane this year but has yet to formally launch development of the jetliner, which would compete against the popular Airbus ( AIR.PA ) A321neo. Teal said the design of the 737 MAX 10X would be firmed up by the end of this year and customers could receive the aircraft in 2020, depending on orders. "We''ll determine (the delivery date) when we launch that programme when the customers show the interest and they buy the airplane," he said on a conference call with reporters. CHINA "The China market and airlines there are very interested in the (MAX) 9 and 10 depending on their needs," said Teal. "We''re looking at putting together deals for the China market today on both the 9 and the 10." Boeing said in March it had approached India''s SpiceJet ( SPJT.BO ) and Jet Airways ( JET.NS ) about the MAX 10X, which its marketing chief says would offer the best efficiency in that part of the market, a claim Airbus rejects. However, the heads of two major aircraft leasing companies have voiced scepticism about the appeal of the MAX 10X and suggested it would eat into rentals of other MAX models. The 737 MAX 10X would be 66 inches (167 centimetres) longer than the current largest family member, the 737 MAX 9, and add 12 seats. It would require longer landing gear as a result. Teal said the landing gear was still in the development stage, with several concepts in prototype testing. "We won''t hit the firm configuration on the gear and, really, the complete airplane until the end of this year," he said. "All of the development tests are proving positive and we are well on our way to firming up that configuration and moving forward into production." The first 737 MAX 9 customer delivery is expected next year, while the first 737 MAX 8 should be delivered next month. "We start with several airplanes in May, more in June and more in July and we start the ramp-up from there," Teal said. (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney and Alwyn Scott in Seattle; Editing by David Evans and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/boeing-idINKBN17F2KL'|'2017-04-14T04:03:00.000+03:00' '469d00aa60e652c6e9c51b63d4b59f6b8fa12563'|'Futures down on Trump''s dollar remark; bank earnings eyed'|'Business News 7:33am EDT Futures down on Trump''s dollar remark; bank earnings eyed Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Thursday following President Donald Trump''s remarks on the U.S. dollar and interest rates, while investors kept an eye on bank earnings. * The dollar, already suffering from a risk-off mode in the market amid geopolitical tensions, hit its lowest level this month after Trump told the Wall Street Journal that the dollar "was getting too strong" and that he would like to see interest rates stay low. * Gold XAU=, which has become the preferred asset in the past week as investors scurried to safety, was up 0.11 percent, continuing to hit levels unseen in over five months. * Wall Street ended lower on Wednesday, responding to Trump''s comments and as investors stayed away from making big bets ahead of the earnings season. * JPMorgan ( JPM.N ) shares were up 1.3 percent at $86.50 premarket after the biggest U.S. bank by assets reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. * The results also lifted shares of other banks. Citigroup ( C.N ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC.N ), which are due to report premarket on Thursday, were marginally up. * Bank of America ( BAC.N ) and Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) trimmed earlier losses to trade little changed. * The results mark the beginning of the first-quarter earnings season, which investors will closely watch to justify lofty valuations in the market. * The combined profit of S&P 500 companies is estimated to have risen about 10 percent. However, the index is trading at about 18 times forward earnings estimate, compared with its historical average of 15, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. * Reports on weekly jobless claims and the March producer price index are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET. * The University of Michigan will release its consumer sentiment data for April at 10:00 a.m. ET. * Shares of Applied Optoelectronics ( AAOI.O ) jumped nearly 23 percent to $50.15 after the company said it expected first-quarter earnings to exceed its forecast . * Trading volumes could be lower than usual on Thursday ahead of the Good Friday holiday. Futures snapshot at 6:58 a.m. ET: * Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 39 points, or 0.19 percent, with 27,907 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 7 points, or 0.3 percent, with 183,128 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 13.5 points, or 0.25 percent, on volume of 29,361 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17F1EZ'|'2017-04-13T19:33:00.000+03:00' 'e55beb881d243cb5ee5bef30223cfb3c46b261ff'|'BRIEF-Unum Group sets quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share'|' 51pm EDT BRIEF-Unum Group sets quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share April 14 Unum Group * Blackstone and canada pension plan investment board to acquire ascend learning from providence equity partners and ontario teachers'' pension plan MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-unum-group-sets-quarterly-dividend-idUSFWN1HM00S'|'2017-04-15T04:51:00.000+03:00' 'e1e1f0256a1c36fe7765e57f81159909caf0ab14'|'Lightower Fiber Networks explores sale: sources'|'By Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis Lightower Fiber Networks is exploring a sale that its private equity owners hope will value the high-speed internet U.S. infrastructure company at more than $7 billion, including debt, according to sources familiar with the matter.The sale process comes just as growing demand from U.S. businesses for fast data transfers has fueled a revival in fiber-optic services and has driven many telecommunications providers to find ways to expand their reach.Lightower is working with investment banks Evercore Partners Inc ( EVP.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) on an auction for the Boxborough, Massachusetts-based company, which is still at its early stages, the sources said this week.CenturyLink ( CTL.N ), Zayo Group Holdings ( ZAYO.N ) and Crown Castle International Corp ( CCI.N ) are among business communications services and infrastructure companies that are expected to consider whether to make an offer for Lightower, the sources added.Lightower may choose to pursue an initial public offering if the acquisition offers it receives do not meet its valuation expectations, one of the sources added.The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.Lightower, Evercore, CenturyLink, Zayo and Crown Castle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Citi declined to comment.Companies in the sector are seeking scale to cope with heavier internet traffic coming from businesses. CenturyLink Inc agreed to buy Level 3 Communications ( LVLT.N ) for $34 billion last year, adding 200,000 miles (321,870 km) of fiber to its network.Lightower connects business clients to larger networks, allowing data and internet traffic to be transmitted at ultra-fast speeds through thin filaments of glass.Its network spans more than 33,000 fiber route miles and serves the financial services industry, as well as government clients over its network in the Northeastern United States.Formed by private equity firm Berkshire Partners LLC, Lightower been an industry consolidator itself. It bought Fibertech Networks LLC in 2015 for $1.9 billion, in an all-cash deal.Berkshire Partners led an acquisition and merger of enterprise telecommunications service providers Lightower and another company, Sidera Networks, in 2013, in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. Pamlico Capital, an investor in Lightower, and ABRY Partners LLC, an investor in Sidera, took minority stakes in the combined companies.(Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-lightower-m-a-idINKBN17F2J8'|'2017-04-13T17:44:00.000+03:00' 'fc253e91c051c8167c7cb74b20d7a014f024afda'|'British watchdog checks banks'' whistleblowing policies amid Barclays probe'|' 25pm BST British watchdog checks banks'' whistleblowing policies amid Barclays probe FILE PHOTO: The Barclays headquarters building is seen in the Canary Wharf business district of London, Britain February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo By Andrew MacAskill and Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON Britain''s financial watchdog this week spoke to senior executives at the country''s top banks to stress the importance of protecting whistleblowers after the head of Barclays sought to unmask one, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters. The executives were asked to ensure staff are aware of the regulations and they have the necessary procedures in place to protect any whistleblowers, according to the sources, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. The Financial Conduct Authority declined to comment as did Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ), Barclays ( BARC.L ), Lloyds Banking Group ( LLOY.L ), and HSBC ( HSBA.L ). The calls to the banks are a sign of how seriously the regulator is taking this issue and show concerns that other banks may not have enforced the policy, one of the sources said. "They didn''t want to be caught with their trousers down and to find out that no one is really enforcing the rules," said a senior executive at one of Britain''s largest banks. Earlier this week, Barclays said it had reprimanded Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley and would cut his bonus after he twice attempted to identify the author of a letter that revealed "concerns of a personal nature" about an unnamed senior employee. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England''s Prudential Regulation Authority, which vetted Staley''s appointment as CEO, are investigating the bank and Staley to see what other penalties might be warranted. The case has raised concerns about how much the culture at large banks has really changed since the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, when misconduct by bankers led to a slew of lawsuits and regulatory probes. Since then banks have been at pains to demonstrate they have mended their ways. Measures at Barclays, for example, have included a series of training programs reinforcing conduct policies, changing employee performance measurements to better emphasise conduct and having CEO Staley write several internal memos about the importance of the bank''s reputation. Lawmakers have likewise tightened their scrutiny, demanding banks make clearer who is accountable for executives'' behaviour and strengthen protections for those who call attention to misbehaviour. Former JPMorgan banker Staley''s attempts to hunt an internal whistleblower down will become a test case for whether these claims of reform are more than lip service, lawmakers and lawyers said this week.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-regulators-whistleblowing-idUKKBN17F1OB'|'2017-04-13T21:25:00.000+03:00' '3278f3e860bfb2a0bcf72f60675a57de19ea1c31'|'MOVES-JPMorgan Securities lands $1 billion broker team from Morgan Stanley'|' 40am EDT MOVES-JPMorgan Securities lands $1 billion broker team from Morgan Stanley By Elizabeth Dilts - NEW YORK, April 12 NEW YORK, April 12 JPMorgan Chase & Co''s retail brokerage arm, JPMorgan Securities, has hired a team of advisers from its bigger wealth management rival Morgan Stanley, where the team managed $1 billion in client assets, the bank said late Wednesday. Twin brothers Jay and Neil Canell, along with Justin Dembo joined JPMorgan in New York City, where they will operate under the name the Canell Group. Morgan Stanley is the largest U.S. securities brokerage by sales force with more than 15,700 advisors. JPMorgan Securities has roughly 420 financial advisers who manage $110 billion in client assets, according to the firm. JPMorgan Securities went through a leadership shakeup last month when Chris Harvey was named the new chief executive. His predecessor Greg Quental will retire at the end of the year. Quental had led the boutique wealth management firm since joining from Bear Stearns in August 2010. Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Christine Jockle confirmed that the advisers had left but declined to comment beyond that. Neil Canell said his group was drawn to JPMorgan''s banking services, like mortgages and customizable loans, which are useful for their high net worth client families. "We believe that we will be able to make their experience just as personal as it has always been, but now with greater speed, better tools and platforms as well as more bank offerings," Canell said in an email. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-jpmorgan-wealth-idUSL1N1HK28Z'|'2017-04-13T21:40:00.000+03:00' '29f25a2136cfdd8a52cb966ae4c0c58be95a3b89'|'UPDATE 1-Powertech seeks Japan chip technology with purchases from Micron'|'Company News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 5:12am EDT UPDATE 1-Powertech seeks Japan chip technology with purchases from Micron * Deals are worth up to $132 million * Will have majority stake in Tera Probe * Likes Japan''s leading edge in IOT, vehicle electronics (Recasts and adds chairman comments) TAIPEI, April 14 Taiwan''s Powertech Technology said on Friday it had bought two of Micron Technology''s interests in Japan in deals worth up to $132 million, part of its efforts to expand its presence in Japanese chip technology. It plans to buy a near 40 percent stake in wafer testing firm Tera Probe, which combined with its own holding will give it majority control of at least 51.2 percent. It has also bought a Japanese assembly and test plant from the U.S. firm. "Powertech has been hoping to build a full turn-key solution in Japan," Chairman D. K. Tsai told a news briefing. "Although the Japanese semiconductor industry has declined, they still have a leading edge in vehicle electronics, IOT and other areas." Powertech will offer to pay 1,100 yen per Tera Probe share from Micron and any other shareholders who tender their offer. That compares with the Japanese firm''s Friday closing price of 1,198 yen. The deals are subject to approval from Taiwan regulators. (Reporting by Faith Hung; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/tera-probe-ma-powertech-tech-idUSL3N1HM28R'|'2017-04-14T17:12:00.000+03:00' 'f726d2ea21f6ba673efd43825a186f830c53dc00'|'PRECIOUS-Gold holds near 5-mth peak; heads for best week since last April'|'Company News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 10:26pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold holds near 5-mth peak; heads for best week since last April April 14 Gold prices on Friday hovered near 5-month highs hit in the previous session, with trade thinned by public holidays in many countries. The metal was set for its biggest weekly percentage rise since April last year as a weaker dollar and geopolitical worries over the Middle East and North Korea fueled safe-haven demand. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was steady at $1,287.32 per ounce by 0200 GMT. Prices hit their highest since early November at $1,288.64 an ounce the session before. * The metal was on track for its biggest weekly gain since late-April last year, up about 2.7 percent this week. * U.S. gold futures were up 0.9 percent at $1,290.10. * The dollar nursed losses on Friday, on track for a losing week as geopolitical tensions underpinned the perceived safe-haven Japanese currency. * U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that North Korea is a problem that "will be taken care of", as China urged caution and speculation rose that Pyongyang might be on the verge of a sixth nuclear test. * The U.S. military said on Thursday that it dropped "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. * The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State on Thursday denied a Syrian army report it had carried out an air strike that had hit poison gas supplies belonging to IS and caused the deaths of hundreds of people. * The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid unexpectedly fell last week and consumer sentiment rose early this month. * China''s 2017 export outlook brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth in March and as Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.77 percent to 848.92 tonnes on Thursday. * Gold was sold at a discount to official prices in India this week for the first time in six weeks, while demand elsewhere in Asia remained subdued as surging bullion prices turned off buyers. * India''s gold imports surged by more than four times to $4.2 billion in March, data released by the government showed on Thursday. * South Africa''s mined gold output fell 16.8 percent in February, Statistics South Africa said on Thursday. * One of the portfolio managers behind BlackRock Inc''s largest mutual fund says his team has been buying safe-haven assets such as gold and Treasuries to protect from "known unknowns" in global politics. * A consortium led by China''s Fosun International Ltd plans to buy between 20 and 25 percent in Russia''s top gold producer Polyus for up to $2 billion, RIA news agency reported, citing documents of a Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 1230 U.S. CPI index March 1230 U.S. Retail Sales March 1400 U.S. Business inventories February (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL3N1HM18L'|'2017-04-14T10:26:00.000+03:00' 'fa991a5d85b9e05e747d7673d111d80357991dbe'|'FCA CEO says no talks with Volkswagen'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 12:26pm BST FCA CEO says no talks with Volkswagen FILE PHOTO: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne speaks next to the Utility Vehicle of the Year award given for the Chrysler Pacifica during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 9, 2017. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo AMSTERDAM Car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCHA.MI ) is not holding any merger talks with German rival Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ), Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday. FCA is not at a stage where it can discuss tie-ups, Marchionne added, speaking at a shareholder meeting of the group. Marchionne has long advocated consolidation in the car industry. (Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo, editing by Valentina Za)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fiat-chrysler-m-a-idUKKBN17G0VS'|'2017-04-14T19:26:00.000+03:00' '233a6ea7f3f7d48614ea1b686572d5c7f82487bf'|'Wealth management firm HighTower to acquire RIAs with $6.4 billion in assets'|'By Jennifer Ablan - NEW YORK NEW YORK Wealth management firm HighTower said on Thursday it will acquire WealthTrust, which has interests in a dozen registered investment advisory firms with $6.4 billion in client assets nationwide, bringing HighTower''s total client assets to more than $47 billion.Chicago-based HighTower has been in discussions with private equity firm Lee Equity Partners LLC for four months to buy or invest in most of WealthTrust, HighTower Chief Executive Elliot Weissbluth said in a telephone interview."The story really has to do with an entire industry that''s turning itself inside out," Weissbluth said. There''s "a shift of assets and financial advisers that are leaving the wirehouses and going to the independent side," he said. "It''s the growth of the fiduciary duty and we obviously have been out in front of this for 10 years, long before Dodd-Frank and the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule came out."Following the WealthTrust acquisition, about 40 percent of HighTower teams will originate from registered investment adviser (RIA) backgrounds - either as previously independent teams acquired by HighTower or as independent RIAs using HighTower''s platform of services.HighTower Executive Vice President Matthias Kuhlmey led the WealthTrust transaction.(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Steve Oerlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-wealthtrust-m-a-hightower-idINKBN17F1GZ'|'2017-04-13T10:02:00.000+03:00' '93b81504897b4331c44c52aa7e85c9c5eb8d84a4'|'Tesla jumps after Elon Musk teases commercial truck, pickup'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 7:33pm BST Tesla jumps after Elon Musk teases commercial truck, pickup left right FILE PHOTO: Tesla Chief Executive, Elon Musk enters the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., January 6, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo 1/2 left right A Tesla car showroom is seen in west London, Britain, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo 2/2 By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Tesla jumped nearly 3 percent on Thursday after Chief Executive Elon Musk said the electric car company expects to unveil its planned commercial truck in September. Musk last year announced plans for electric vehicles ranging from a commercial truck called the Tesla Semi to a public transport bus, a "new kind of pickup truck" and a compact sport utility vehicle. "Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level," Musk said in a tweet on Thursday. "Pickup truck unveil in 18 to 24 months," he added in another Tweet. Tesla''s stock was up $8.14, or 2.74 percent, at $304.98 after Musk''s tweets. Shares of Tesla have surged 41 percent to record highs this year, and this week the Silicon Valley company briefly became the largest U.S. car maker by market capitalization, beating out General Motors Co. Proponents believe Tesla''s stock rally and high valuation are justified based on long-term expectations for growth. Skeptics and short sellers say Tesla''s growth targets are unrealistic and that the company risks being overtaken by GM, Ford Motor Co and other deep-pocketed manufacturers ramping up their own electric-vehicle offerings. The Palo Alto, California company, which is not profitable, is rushing to launch its mass-market Model 3 sedan in the second half of 2017 and quickly ramp up its factory to reach a production target of 500,000 cars per year in 2018. By comparison, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.7 million. (Reporting by Noel Randewich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-stocks-idUKKBN17F2FF'|'2017-04-14T02:36:00.000+03:00' '20b013066545c7adfb2cad0204ccfc957d0db7b0'|'Rickmers Maritime to wind up after failing to reach deal with lenders'|'SINGAPORE Rickmers Maritime ( RIMT.SI ), a Singapore-listed trust that operates container ships, said it would be wound up after it was unable to reach an agreement with its lenders to restructure its debt or raise new equity.Rickmers said its failure to repay some debt obligations and various breaches in loan covenants cast material uncertainties on its ability to continue as a going concern."This situation places the trust in a situation of aggravated and unsustainable illiquidity going forward," it said in a statement on Wednesday.The trust had flagged the going concern risk last year.Rickmers joins other Singapore-listed companies that have struggled with debt over the last year. In March, oilfield services firm Ezra Holdings Ltd ( EZRA.SI ) filed for U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy.Singapore banks, which were caught off-guard by the collapse of oilfield services company Swiber Holdings ( SWBR.SI ) last year, have taken a hit as companies in the offshore and marine sector restructure debt."In light of the aggravated illiquidity and lack of new investors, the trustee-manager opines that it is impracticable to continue the trust and that it shall therefore be wound up," Rickmers said.(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-rickmers-maritime-debt-idINKBN17E0CI'|'2017-04-12T02:40:00.000+03:00' '56f380db5e29c69cc5e4c8e33abf23d70a1ad0a2'|'Prada shares set to fall after 2016 profit lags forecast'|' 29am BST Prada shares set to fall after 2016 profit lags forecast FILE PHOTO: A Prada product is seen inside a display window at the financial Central district of Hong Kong, China in this November 10, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo HONG KONG Shares of luxury fashion group Prada SpA ( 1913.HK ) were set to fall 2 percent on Thursday after it reported a 15.9 percent fall in annual profit, lagging estimates. [nL3N1HE3FC] Prada blamed the lacklustre earnings on soft global luxury spending. Its shares, which have risen more than 30 percent so far this year were set to fall to 2 perecent to HK$34.00 (Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-prada-it-stocks-idUKKBN17F06B'|'2017-04-13T09:29:00.000+03:00' 'bf8ef807656395d04f8ac4633c1412a4d093cd55'|'SWIFT to introduce tool to spot fraudulent inter-bank messages'|'Internet News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 12:08am BST SWIFT to introduce tool to spot fraudulent inter-bank messages FILE PHOTO: Swift code bank logo is displayed on an iPhone 6s among Euro banknotes in this picture illustration January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo By Tom Bergin - LONDON LONDON Interbank messaging service SWIFT, which is used to transfer trillions of dollars between banks every day, will launch a new tool to spot fraudulent messages, seeking to restore trust in the system after millions of dollars were stolen in cyber raids. Belgium-based SWIFT said on Wednesday that it will offer clients a service that will be able to learn a user bank''s messaging patterns so that it can spot if a payment is being made to an unusual counterparty or for an unusual amount. Last year $81 million was stolen from Bangladesh''s central bank after thieves hacked into its SWIFT system and sent instructions to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pay money from Bangladesh Bank''s account to parties in Asia. SWIFT was criticized last year by some users and industry players for failing to beef up security on its system even as the risk of cyber attacks increased and the network expanded to include smaller institutions with more lax security procedures. Though SWIFT launched a range of new security measures and services in September, the latest product -- due to be introduced early next year -- will "red-flag", or put on hold, payment instructions that exceed limits set by clients or are deemed anomalous by the system''s learning software. “The new payment controls service is a direct response to our community’s request for additional services to complement and strengthen existing fraud controls," SWIFT Chairman Yawar Shah said. Luc Meurant, SWIFT''s head of financial crime compliance services, told Reuters that the service would be targeted initially at institutions and central banks with small messaging volumes because they might not be able to afford to develop such detection tools themselves. He said the service could cost small users as little as 10,000 euros a year, though prices have yet to be finalised. (Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-banking-swift-crime-idUKKBN17D2TZ'|'2017-04-12T07:03:00.000+03:00' 'c59da06494b67cd80884c6c54e6c492dbd7064db'|'Wall Street set to open flat; geopolitics, earnings in focus'|'Money News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 6:24pm IST Wall Street set to open flat; geopolitics, earnings in focus FILE PHOTO: A street sign for Wall Street is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S. December 28, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks looked set to dip at the open on Wednesday as investors braced for the upcoming corporate earnings season amid mounting geopolitical risks. The United States launched missiles at a Syrian airfield last week to retaliate a deadly chemical attack on civilians. The strikes pushed President Donald Trump, who came to power in January calling for warmer ties with Syria''s ally Russia, and his administration into confrontation with Moscow. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the U.S. for a peaceful resolution with North Korea, which has warned it would launch a nuclear attack if provoked by the United States, as a U.S. Navy strike group headed toward the western Pacific. Investors are closely watching the quarterly earnings to support lofty valuations on Wall Street following a rally fueled by bets on Trump''s pro-growth agenda. The big banks unofficially kick-off the season on Thursday, with results due from JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. "It would be very important what they (banks) offer as forecast because stock prices imply better times ahead and investors are looking for assurances and positive forecasts to be issued," said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey. Dow e-minis were down 19 points, or 0.09 percent, at 8:17 a.m. ET (1217 GMT), with 28,815 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.18 percent, with 177,798 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 9.5 points, or 0.18 percent, on volume of 30,660 contracts. Gold prices were flat but remained close to the highest level hit in November. The dollar index was also little changed, while oil prices edged up slightly. Comments from Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will be parsed for clues on interest rate hikes and the Fed''s plans to trim its balance sheet. Kaplan is expected to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET. (1300 GMT) Shares moving premarket included Whole Foods, which rose 2.8 percent to $34.50 after Bloomberg reported overnight that Amazon.com had mulled buying the organic food chain last year. Delta Air Lines was up 2.8 percent at $46.55, following a quarterly profit that beat analysts'' expectation. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17E1NW'|'2017-04-12T20:54:00.000+03:00' '2771580b336fdbf789cdac528bde9458638df9f8'|'MOVES-Pillarstone hires general counsel for Europe growth'|' 6:02am EDT MOVES-Pillarstone hires general counsel for Europe growth LONDON, April 12 (IFR) - Pillarstone, the platform set up by US private equity firm KKR to buy or manage non-core bank assets in Europe, has hired Mark Knight as a partner and general counsel. Knight was a partner in the European restructuring practice at law firm Kirkland and Ellis in London. Pillarstone said on Wednesday that Knight will support the continued development of its infrastructure and analyse and structure potential investments. It said he has experience in complex cross-border restructurings, and has advised both debtors and creditors on acquisition, disposal and reorganisation of stressed and distressed businesses. Pillarstone was set up in 2015 by KKR, with John Davison as co-investor and CEO, to partner with European banks to manage their exposure to non-core and underperforming assets. It injects capital and works with firms to help them recover, and is active in both Italy and Greece and is looking to expand into other European countries. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-pillarstone-hires-general-counsel-idUSL8N1HK1ZR'|'2017-04-12T18:02:00.000+03:00' 'b1175d28cc9320592311c16b9a5f0e1f7ce9b898'|'BHP Billiton reasserts strategy, says Elliott proposals flawed'|'SYDNEY Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton on Wednesday dismissed a wide-ranging proposal by shareholder Elliott Advisors to overhaul its corporate strategy and sell off oil interests, saying the costs would far outweigh the benefits."The elements of the Elliott proposal as described to the board would not be in the long-term interest of shareholders," BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie said on an analyst call. "I cannot overstate my strong belief that BHP Billiton is on the right track."The comments came as BHP released a detailed response two days after U.S.-based Elliott made public a letter to its directors urging them to consider spinning off the U.S. oil arm, while returning more cash to investors.The response offered no counterproposal and instead defended the miner''s longstanding strategy."We have been in engagement with Elliott for eight months," Mackenzie said. "From our earliest engagements it was clear there were major flaws in Elliott''s proposals."Elliott, which said it holds a "long economic interest" of about 4.1 percent of London-listed BHP Billiton PLC, wants the miner to ditch its dual corporate structure and replace it with a single company domiciled in Britain."The (dual-listed structure) is not a restraint to our business," BHP Chief Financial Officer Peter Beaven told analysts. "It provides two important acquisition currencies in addition to cash."Under the Elliott plan, BHP would have a primary share-market listing in London and a secondary listing in Sydney.The Australian government on Tuesday said any significant changes to BHP''s corporate structure would need to be consistent with a "national interest" test under the law.Over the last decade, BHP has examined the prospect of changing its corporate structure and spinning off its oil business but has ultimately rejected the ideas."A standard petroleum business would lose access to BHP Billiton''s balance sheet," Mackenzie said on Wednesday. "Were we to adopt this proposal our global partners would have to work with a Balkanised, broken up BHP Billiton."Elliott, an activist hedge fund, has also lobbied for change at other firms including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, Akzo Nobel NV and SABMiller.(Reporting by James Regan and Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-shareholders-idINKBN17E0C0'|'2017-04-12T02:41:00.000+03:00' '991122e82caf56510593074c1bdb3dbc8dacb44d'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 12'|' UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 12 (Adds company news, futures) April 12 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 6 points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.1 percent ahead of the cash market open. * HUNTING: Oilfield services company Hunting Plc said on Wednesday its revenue for the first quarter had been ahead of management''s expectations due continued higher activity levels in the U.S. shale sector. * WH SMITH: British books, newspaper and stationery retailer WH Smith Plc posted a 3.75 percent rise in first-half pretax profit as its travel business continued to outshine lagging high street or town centre retail operations. * PAGEGROUP: British recruiter PageGroup reported a record first-quarter gross profit and said it saw growth in its markets outside the UK, where client and candidate confidence levels are constrained by uncertainty after Britain''s vote to leave the EU. * TESCO: Tesco, Britain''s biggest retailer, beat forecasts for full-year profit, showing its recovery is picking up pace and potentially giving a boost to its stuttering campaign to win investor backing for a takeover of wholesaler Booker. * BHP: Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton, said on Wednesday a minor shareholder''s proposal to overhaul its corporate structure and spin off its U.S. oil division was flawed and would involve costs far beyond any benefits. * BARCLAYS: Investors have warned that it is "entirely possible" that British regulators would force Barclays'' chief executive out of the job, the Telegraph reported on Tuesday. ( bit.ly/2oV6IMG ). * RBS: Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin is scheduled to appear in court at the start of June over claims the lender misled investors over its 2008 share sale, a draft timetable released on Tuesday showed. * EU-BANKS REGULATIONS: The European Union''s markets watchdog will issue guidance and possible curbs for national regulators in coming weeks to stop a "race to the bottom" to attract UK-based financial firms after Brexit, it said on Tuesday. * The UK blue chip index ended up 0.2 percent on Tuesday, after hitting earlier in the session a three-week high, outpacing European markets, while mid and small-caps hit fresh record highs with strong gains from JD Sports and Balfour Beatty driving the index. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HK2KT'|'2017-04-12T14:52:00.000+03:00' 'd6d8e48115582fc8d002deccc5bbbc3674ac5cfa'|'Venezuela''s cash-strapped PDVSA makes $2.2 bln bond payments - bondholders'|' 10:56am EDT Venezuela''s cash-strapped PDVSA makes $2.2 bln bond payments - bondholders CARACAS, April 12 Venezuela''s cash-strapped state oil company PDVSA has made roughly $2.2 billion in bond payments, two bondholders told Reuters on Wednesday. The oil-rich but crisis-stricken South American nation faces debt payments of nearly $3 billion in April, mostly on bonds issued by PDVSA. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer and Corina Pons; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) Brazil''s Oi says customer complaints fell up to 56 pct in Jan-Feb SAO PAULO, April 12 Oi SA saw complaints from phone customers fall as much as 56 percent in the first two months of 2017, a senior executive told journalists on Wednesday, as the Brazil''s No. 4 wireless carrier tries to win back client loyalty. April 12 Russia''s biggest mobile phone operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) : MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-bonds-idUSL1N1HK0HI'|'2017-04-12T22:56:00.000+03:00' '9090d81d6b0395f6b3bd5a2c3dbf5fc42f21301e'|'RPT-UPDATE 1-Private equity firms have bid $22 bln for SCA hygiene unit-paper'|' 57am EDT RPT-UPDATE 1-Private equity firms have bid $22 bln for SCA hygiene unit-paper (Repeats to additional subscribers without changes to text) STOCKHOLM, April 13 A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.3 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said, citing unnamed sources. Sweden''s SCA said last year it planned to split into two listed units, a hygiene products firm and a forestry company. The split was formally approved at the group''s annual meeting last week. "At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," Dagens Nyheter said in a report that first appeared on its Web site on Wednesday night. The newspaper did not name the private equity firms. SCA, which counts U.S. firms Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark among its main rivals, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday. SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and the second largest in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products. The group, which has yet to complete its planned split, currently has an overall market value of 194 billion crowns. Last year, SCA''s hygiene business accounted for 86 percent of the group''s total sales. ($1 = 8.9859 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sweden-sca-idUSL8N1HL0Y7'|'2017-04-13T14:57:00.000+03:00' '46e854f3300d3a9d23119a8f0f85e3f60b134499'|'Bits and bias: Google is accused of underpaying women'|'GOOGLE has made a fortune by helping people dig up whatever information they seek. But in a court hearing on April 7th, America’s Department of Labour (DoL) accused the company behind the profitable search engine of burying the fact that it pays its female employees less than their male counterparts. The accusation of lower compensation for women forms part of a lawsuit by the DoL, which has asked Google to turn over detailed information on pay. The department has not released data to back its assertion, and Google denies the allegation.Whatever the outcome in court, the government’s recriminations risk marring Google’s image. Just three days earlier it had taken to Twitter to boast that it had “closed the gender pay gap globally”. That claim is now under suspicion. It is true that at Google’s parent company, Alphabet, several women hold high positions, including Ruth Porat, the chief financial officer, and Susan Wojcicki, who runs YouTube, an online-video business. But the important question is not only whether a few women get promoted but also how those in the middle and lower ranks fare. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates What figures there are paint a depressing picture about the status of women in technology. According to a one-off survey in 2015 called “Elephant in the Valley”, two-thirds of women in Silicon Valley feel excluded from key networking events, and three-fifths have experienced unwanted sexual advances. More than a quarter of American women in engineering, technology and science feel “stalled” in their careers, and a third say they are likely to quit their jobs within a year, according to the Centre for Talent Innovation, a think-tank.The marginalisation of women in tech became a prominent subject in 2015 during a sex-discrimination lawsuit brought by Ellen Pao, who had worked at a venture-capital firm, Kleiner Perkins (she lost the case). It has been back in the headlines since Susan Fowler, a former engineer at Uber, a ride-hailing firm, wrote a blog post in February saying that male supervisors had failed to promote women and that human resources had not taken complaints of sexism and harassment seriously. Uber has hired Eric Holder, America’s former attorney-general, to lead an investigation into the company’s handling of sexual harassment and workplace culture. The results are expected in the coming weeks.Some firms, including Uber, are now publishing annual reports describing the composition of their workforce, after they were criticised for not hiring more women and ethnic minorities. Well under half of tech companies’ employees are female (see chart). Despite attempts to hire more women, they have not shifted their female-staff shares by more than a few percentage points.Educational choices are part of the problem. In 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, only around 18% of computer-science graduates were women, half the proportion in 1985. Some suspect there is a “negative” network effect, and that the small share of women in the field discourages others from choosing it as a course of study.Retention is also difficult. A study in 2014 that tracked women in jobs related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) found that half of women had left their professions after 12 years. By comparison, only a fifth of women who work in non-STEM fields leave within 30 years. Female entrepreneurs find it more difficult to secure funding from venture capitalists than their male counterparts do. Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, a blood-testing firm which has run into trouble, attracted a lot of hype largely because she was so unusual. And female venture capitalists, who are more likely to fund startups run by women, are the rarest unicorns of all in Silicon Valley.Transparency about the composition of firms’ staff may help with hiring more women. But another place where transparency can make a big difference is pay. The secretive nature of compensation at tech firms, with employees being discouraged from telling their peers anything about their equity grants or cash bonuses, means that women do not know when they are being underpaid, says Pamela Sayad, a San Francisco-based lawyer who specialises in workplace discrimination.Some companies that have unearthed disparities, including Salesforce, a software firm, and Cisco, a networking company, have pledged millions of dollars to fill wage gaps. But absent disclosure, it can still be hard to see the pay differences in the first place. For years tech executives have talked up the importance of transparency and the power of data for decision-making. They should do a better job of practising what they preach.This article appeared in the Business "Bits and bias"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720672-allegation-inflames-debate-about-sexism-silicon-valley-google-accused-underpaying?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '895d89e71328cd0e1dd6cfbe27e713db3a51b83d'|'Up and down: Trends in the air-freight business'|'WHEN people think of air travel they picture planes full of passengers. But air cargo is as vital—perhaps more—to the global economy. Only 1% of exports by volume go in aircraft but because they tend to be the most expensive goods, they account for 35% of global trade by value. Nearly everyone has used products delivered by aircraft, from vaccinations in poor countries to smartphones in rich ones.Cargo airlines such as FedEx Express and Emirates Skycargo have had a difficult few years. Global trade growth has stalled, and along with it demand for air freight. Inanimate air cargo mostly rides in the same planes as the live sort; when rising passenger demand encouraged airlines to buy more planes, the additional cargo capacity flooded the industry, causing air-freight prices to slide. Industry revenues have fallen from a peak of $67bn in 2011 to $50bn now, according to IATA, a trade group. Yet the mood at the World Air Cargo Symposium in March in Abu Dhabi was cautiously optimistic. For the first time since the global financial crisis in 2008, demand for air freight has started to expand quickly again.Latest updates The romance between Bangladesh and India is star-crossed Asia 7 minutes ago Trends in the air-freight business Business and finance an hour ago The cooling of Donald Trump’s Islamo-scepticism Erasmus 2 hours ago America 5 6 The industry-by-industry variations within this overall context of rising demand are striking, however. Custom from companies that make high-value electronics has plummeted, according to Marco Bloemen of Seabury Consulting, an airline-consulting firm. In the 1990s and 2000s, large volumes of electronic goods were flown to impatient consumers in the West from cheap manufacturing locations in Asia. But since 2007 the total volume of electronics being air freighted has fallen by a tenth and is still going down. Over the past two years alone the total weight of laptops and tablets being delivered by plane has fallen by 50%. The drop is partly because computers and smartphones are shrinking in size and heft, but much of the fall is accounted for by the increased proximity of final assembly lines to customers, as manufacturing localises and as Asian demand for electronics has risen.The market for fresh food, in contrast, is a thriving one for air-cargo companies thanks to the globalisation of eating habits. The volumes of perishables being flown—fruit, vegetables, flowers and suchlike—have risen by a third since 2007, more than for any other category of product. A decade ago the Chinese used to eat seasonally, for example, but now they can afford to fly in red cherries from Chile for the Chinese New Year (which falls between late January and mid-February). In the past year alone the weight of fresh food travelling by air increased by a tenth, while the weight of computing equipment riding in planes fell by the same amount. Flowers, salmon and milk powder, all hankered after by Asian consumers, have seen some of the strongest growth.Another bright spot is express-parcel deliveries. Shoppers are going online to buy direct from producers across the globe. Fashion items, as well as jewellery and milk powder, are particularly popular. The total value of online shopping sent across borders increased in value by a third, to $400bn, in the past year and is set to increase to more than $1trn annually by 2020, according to a joint study by Accenture, a consultancy, and AliResearch, the research arm of Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce company. Most of it will travel by air.In spite of these more positive trends, the air-cargo business has one big worry: the likelihood of sharply lower trade if Donald Trump enacts genuinely protectionist policies. “It’s our number-one threat,” says the boss of one cargo airline. And one that China’s year-round taste for cherries would not be enough to offset.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21720901-fewer-electronics-are-being-flown-instead-planes-are-full-fresh-produce-trends?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-14T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'f84564fe23c6d511ab10eb5611fe7d55b5a037f6'|'Shell lobbies Dutch government to quadruple offshore wind target by 2030'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 12:33pm BST Shell lobbies Dutch government to quadruple offshore wind target by 2030 Staff members work at the booth of Royal Dutch Shell at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Karolin Schaps - LONDON LONDON Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) said it has urged the Dutch government to come up with bolder offshore wind targets and quadruple the goal for installed capacity to 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. Europe''s biggest oil company, which has traditionally invested little in green energy sources, is ramping up renewable energy investments to $1 billion a year by the end of the decade after pressure from shareholders to do so and as it sees governments turning to less carbon intensive and more flexible fuels. Some of its recent activities in renewable energy include winning a contract, as part of a consortium, to build a wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands and bidding for an offshore wind licence in the United States. In the Netherlands, where it is by far the largest listed company, it is lobbying the government to raise its long-term offshore wind target to give investors clarity on priorities further out. "We need to lower the costs of development, but we would also want the Dutch government to come up with the policy for a further rollout of 10-15 GW in capacity for the period until 2030," said a spokeswoman for Shell in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is lagging other European countries in renewable energy investments and was ordered by a district court in The Hague in 2015 to cut carbon emissions by 25 percent within five years after losing a court case brought by environmental campaigners. The government has since launched a programme to speed up renewable energy projects, including tenders to build 4.5 GW of offshore wind farm capacity and more beyond that. As part of a group of the Netherlands'' largest companies, Shell has called on policymakers making up the next Dutch government to adopt a comprehensive climate law that will help the country meet targets set out in the 2015 Paris climate accord. Shell said in its sustainability report published on Wednesday that it is "helping" policymakers in the Netherlands to find an energy mix that allows reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The oil major, which operates the Netherlands'' largest operating gas field in Groningen jointly with Exxon Mobil, is also pushing for the use of gas to complement erratic renewable energy production. The Dutch government has capped the amount of gas that can be produced from the Groningen field because of related earthquakes and wants to continue winding down output as part of its emissions-cutting plans. "The largest contribution Shell can make to reducing emissions globally in the near term is to continue to grow the role of natural gas," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said at an industry event last month. (Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-shell-netherlands-windpower-idUKKBN17F1ET'|'2017-04-13T19:33:00.000+03:00' '45e4a38d6113352c6d242359488bcd68c40771a1'|'FCA CEO says no talks with Volkswagen'|'AMSTERDAM Car maker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is not holding any merger talks with German rival Volkswagen, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday.FCA is not at a stage where it can discuss tie-ups, Marchionne added, speaking at a shareholder meeting of the group.Marchionne has long advocated consolidation in the car industry.(Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo, editing by Valentina Za)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-fiat-chrysler-m-a-idINKBN17G0VU'|'2017-04-14T09:25:00.000+03:00' 'b304aeda08495d31664c4f001975c4b08a6c5eda'|'Motor racing-Ecclestone reveals scant contact with new F1 bosses'|' 12pm EDT Motor racing-Ecclestone reveals scant contact with new F1 bosses By Alan Baldwin - MANAMA, April 14 MANAMA, April 14 Former commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone returned to the Formula One paddock on Friday, for the first time since he was ousted in January, and revealed how little involvement he has had with the new management. The 86-year-old, who ran Formula One for decades, said he had yet to meet the sport''s new commercial manager Sean Bratches. "Never met Sean, I met (motorsport manager) Ross (Brawn) for 10 minutes this year and I knew Ross from the past obviously and I feel sorry for (chairman) Chase (Carey) being thrown in the deep end," the 86-year-old told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Carey, who is also at the Bahrain race, was not immediately available for comment. Brawn is a Formula One veteran -- a former technical director at Ferrari, principal of Honda''s team and winning the 2009 world championship with his own Brawn outfit before selling to Mercedes, where he was also the boss. He and Bratches attended the season-opening race in Australia. Ecclestone was appointed ''chairman emeritus'', a job with no defined role, after being moved away from the helm and replaced by Carey. Formula One Management has moved out of its old headquarters into new premises away from Ecclestone. Asked whether he was acting as a consultant to them, he replied that "they’ve never asked me anything" although he had spoken to Carey earlier on Friday as well as several times in recent weeks. "I’m busier now than I have been in the past, with the same sort of things. I’m still busy," added the Briton, who spent time on Friday talking to Red Bull principal Christian Horner and Mercedes'' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/motor-f1-bahrain-ecclestone-idUSL3N1HM34U'|'2017-04-15T03:12:00.000+03:00' 'f474e26a11e728c39354d3392dfdb73064ffc181'|'Berkshire Hathaway says intends to sell 1.9 mln Wells Fargo shares in near future'|'April 12 Berkshire Hathaway Inc:* Press release - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. News release* Berkshire Hathaway Inc says in near future, intend to sell 1.9 million shares of Wells Fargo in addition to shares being reported on Wednesday''s form 4* Says the sales of Wells Fargo shares are not being made because of investment or valuation considerations* Berkshire Hathaway says Wells Fargo stock sales "solely motivated by desire to return to a percentage ownership below 10 pct notification threshold"* Berkshire Hathaway - commitments required of co by federal reserve to retain ownership of 10 pct or more of Wells Fargo''s outstanding common stock would materially restrict commercial activity with Wells Fargo* Berkshire Hathaway - on April 7, informed Federal Reserve we were withdrawing filing and that we intend to reduce ownership in Wells Fargo common stock below 10 pct within 60 trading days* Berkshire Hathaway - will file a form 4 with SEC reporting sale of 7.1 million shares of Wells Fargo common stock during period between April 10 and April 12 Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-berkshire-hathaway-says-intends-to-idINASA09IJY'|'2017-04-12T19:18:00.000+03:00' '6e5907f21a5eb3999d739c9546cc3eb4784288bc'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 13'|'Company News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 1:18am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 13 April 13 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - United Airlines struggled on Wednesday to respond to a third day of public outrage over widely shared videos of a passenger being dragged off an airplane, offering a refund to every passenger on the flight and promising to no longer have the police remove passengers from planes that are too full. nyti.ms/2o8SfIb - Bill O''Reilly left Fox News this week for a long-planned vacation to Italy and the Vatican, with his fate in the hands of a Murdoch family calculating the risks and rewards of keeping him on or forcing him out of the network. nyti.ms/2o94MLw - The Daily Mail apologized to Melania Trump on Wednesday and agreed to pay damages to settle two lawsuits she had filed over an article last year asserting that the professional modeling agency she worked for in the 1990s had also been an escort service. nyti.ms/2o8Vq2z - The accounting firm KPMG has fired six employees, including the head of its audit practice in the United States, after it learned they were given improper warnings ahead of planned audit inspections by its regulator, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. nyti.ms/2o95xUT (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL3N1HL2EY'|'2017-04-13T13:18:00.000+03:00' '17577ed44076e1c3f122120743c9631af0b63b25'|'Central London house prices fall in March on Brexit, tax - RICS'|' 04am BST Central London house prices fall in March on Brexit, tax - RICS Construction cranes are seen on a residential building project behind homes in west London in Britain, October 26, 2016. Photograph taken on October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville LONDON House prices in central London saw their most widespread declines since 2009 as Brexit uncertainties and high transaction costs dented demand for high-end property in the British capital, a Overall, British house prices grew modestly in March, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said. The RICS monthly house price index held at +22 in March, unchanged from its downwardly revised reading for February and the lowest since September 2016. "The UK housing market continues to lack impetus, with new buyer enquiries and agreed sales stagnant in March," RICS said. Outside London, price momentum has strengthened since the end of last year. But in the capital, prices fell in central areas due to a steep increase in a purchase tax for second homes and property valued over 1 million pounds ($1.25 million), as well as country''s prospects once it leaves the European Union in 2019. Official data published on Tuesday showed house prices in London rose at their slowest pace in nearly five years in the 12 months to February, increasing by 3.7 percent. "High-end sale properties in central London remain under pressure, while the wider residential market continues to be underpinned by a lack of stock," RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said. "For the time being it is hard to see any major impetus for change in the market, something also being reflected in the flat trend in transaction levels," he added. RICS polls members across Britain, but says its regional data for London better reflects trends in central London rather than in outer boroughs. Mortgage lender Halifax reported last week that average house prices in the first three months of this year were 3.8 percent higher than a year earlier, the smallest rise in nearly four years. [nEONH440SI] Most economists forecast that British house prices will come under further pressure over the course of 2017 as wages fail to keep up with inflation, though few predict outright falls. RICS said a large majority of its members in Britain overall - but a slimmer majority in London - expected prices to rise over the next 12 months. Before last year''s Brexit vote, then Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne had warned Britons could expect a 10 percent hit to house prices if they voted to leave the EU. ($1 = 0.8003 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-houseprices-rics-idUKKBN17E2XH'|'2017-04-13T07:04:00.000+03:00' 'c64fccda0051792030694d5c5a15031c49281bc0'|'Trump jawboning drags dollar, Treasuries down, Asia stocks mixed'|' 59pm EDT Trump jawboning drags dollar, Treasuries down, Asia stocks mixed People walk past an electronic board showing stock prices outside a brokerage at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Nichola Saminather - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields stumbled on Thursday after President Donald Trump said he preferred the Federal Reserve keep interest rates low as the dollar is getting too strong, and said he wouldn''t label China a currency manipulator. But Asian stocks fared better than Wall Street, which declined following the comments and closed between 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent lower. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.15 percent in early trade. Most markets in the region will be closed on Friday for the Good Friday public holiday. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 slumped 1 percent. Australian stocks fell 0.7 percent, on track to post a 0.5 percent gain for the week. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said the dollar is getting too strong and that would eventually hurt the economy. "Trump''s comments came at a time when some had begun to think that perhaps the president was not as supportive of a weak dollar as initially perceived," said Shin Kadota, senior strategist at Barclays in Tokyo. Trump didn''t rule out the possibility of re-nominating Fed Chair Janet Yellen once her current four-year term is up next year. Trump also said he had decided to reverse a campaign pledge to label China a currency manipulator in a Treasury report due this week, saying it hasn''t manipulated the yuan in months. He also said taking the step now would hurt talks with Beijing on dealing with threats from North Korea. "The change in policy should certainly ease concerns over the protectionist stance of the Trump administration that should benefit emerging markets in general," James Woods, global investment analyst at Rivkin in Sydney, wrote in a note. "However it also continues to raise doubts about the administration’s ability to deliver on campaign promises, which include the all-important pledge for tax reform." U.S. 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR were trading at 2.241 percent early on Thursday. On Wednesday, they dropped to a five-month low of 2.239, but recovered to close at 2.296. The dollar was 0.1 lower early on Thursday at 108.86 yen JPY= , lingering near the lowest point since Nov. 17 hit earlier in the session. It ended Wednesday with a 0.55 percent loss following Trump''s comments. The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six trade-weighted peers, dropped 0.6 percent to 100.11. While U.S. and global politics have consumed investors'' attention this week, a raft of Asian economic data may share some of the spotlight on Thursday. Singapore''s central bank kept its exchange-rate based policy unchanged as expected on Thursday, saying a "neutral" stance will be needed for an extended period of time. South Korea''s central bank is also expected to hold interest rates steady, at 1.25 percent. Other data expected includes March trade figures from China and employment from Australia, and first-quarter gross domestic product from Singapore. In commodities, oil prices fell as concerns about rising U.S. output continued to weigh on markets. U.S. crude CLc1 dropped 0.3 percent to $52.93 a barrel, extending Wednesday''s 0.5 percent loss that saw it break a six-session winning streak. The dollar''s loss was gold''s gain XAU=. The precious metal was fractionally higher at $1,286.84 an ounce, near its highest level in five months, after jumping almost 1 percent on Wednesday. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17F03U'|'2017-04-13T08:59:00.000+03:00' '70dc2df13b638c1beb259262b1f4aaf71bcbff2c'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 13'|'April 13 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The TimesKPMG has fired its top auditor in United States and four other partners for "unethical behaviour" in connection with leaked information that gave them advance warning of the audits that a U.S. watchdog was about to inspect. bit.ly/2o890mFMore than a quarter of British employers have experienced a fall in job applications from European Union workers since last June''s Brexit referendum, according to Reed, the jobs website. bit.ly/2o86ddvThe GuardianThe average number of homes for sale by each estate agent has fallen to a record low, with agents in parts of the country gloomier than at any time since the financial crash, according to a report by the surveyor''s professional body. bit.ly/2o87OjkThe government is under mounting pressure to take strong action on rising energy bills after one of the "big six" suppliers imposed its second price hike this year on 1.5 million customers. bit.ly/2o7YPP5The TelegraphThe European Commission has warned that a 750 million pound ($941.18 million) plan that will allow Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to abandon a troublesome sale of its Williams & Glyn business could eventually deal a 1.5 billion pound hit to the taxpayer-backed lender. bit.ly/2o87zoyDulux owner Akzo Nobel NV has reported one of its leading investors to financial regulators as the fallout continues over U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc''s failed attempts to take over the Dutch giant. bit.ly/2o89UQnSky NewsA 1 billion-pound-plus Chinese takeover of Doncasters Group, one of the UK''s oldest engineering firms, has been called off amid U.S. security concerns over the company''s defence operations. bit.ly/2o8fL81Britain''s biggest care home operator, Four Seasons Health Care, is preparing to sell its mental health division as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at securing the company''s long-term financial security. bit.ly/2o8bT6WThe IndependentInternational flight bookings to the UK have increased by 49 percent for the Easter holiday period, which falls between 31 March and 14 April, compared to the same holiday period last year, according to data by eDreams ODIGEO, one of Europe''s largest e-commerce businesses and owner of online travel agency eDreams. ind.pn/2o7OiDE ($1 = 0.7969 pounds) (Compiled by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL1N1HL00N'|'2017-04-12T22:27:00.000+03:00' '2aba6fc69cf9dcb2515d638b8490e1ea3caa8a78'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 13'|' 49am EDT UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 13 (Adds company news, futures) April 13 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening 15.3 points lower on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 down 0.1 percent ahead of the cash market open. * SAINSBURY: Britain''s No. 2 supermarket group Sainsbury plans to convert 60 Argos general merchandise stores to a digital format and open more in-store Habitat outlets over the next year, it said on Thursday. * HSS HIRE: Tool and equipment rental firm HSS Hire said on Thursday that Chief Executive John Gill will step down once a successor is appointed. * HAYS: British recruitment company Hays forecast full-year profit at the top end of market expectations on Thursday after reporting record third-quarter net fees as international hiring offset weakness in the UK market following the Brexit vote. * ROYAL MAIL: Britain''s Royal Mail said on Thursday it would close its defined benefit pension scheme at end-March 2018 after a review found it would need to more than double annual contributions to over 1 billion pounds ($1.26 billion) to keep the plan running. * RIO: Australia''s foreign investment watchdog has cleared Chinese-backed coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd to pursue its $2.45 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto,''s Coal and Allied Division, Yancoal said on Thursday. * BRITAIN HOUSE PRICES: House prices in central London saw their most widespread declines since 2009 as Brexit uncertainties and high transaction costs dented demand for high-end property in the British capital, a survey showed on Thursday. * BRITAIN ECONOMY: British manufacturers reported the fastest export growth in more than two years in early 2017 and the services sector also recovered to rack up its strongest sales growth since last June''s Brexit vote, a business survey showed on Thursday. * EX-DIVS: Reckitt Benckiser, Standard Life and Taylor Wimpey will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.7 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations * The UK blue chip index fell 0.2 percent at close on Wednesday as results weighed on Tesco shares and the broader UK supermarket sector. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HL2NQ'|'2017-04-13T14:49:00.000+03:00' 'bb9dda2c5e93389a5fdccc9007e18da63b9e0e87'|'BRIEF-GCI Inc launches consent solicitation related to senior notes'|'Company 32pm EDT BRIEF-GCI Inc launches consent solicitation related to senior notes April 12 General Communication Inc * Launches consent solicitation related to senior notes * Unit GCI Inc soliciting consents from holders of its 6.75% senior notes due 202 and 6.875% senior notes due 2025 * Consent solicitation to effect certain amendments to indentures governing notes Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-gci-inc-launches-consent-solicitat-idUSFWN1HK0OZ'|'2017-04-13T09:32:00.000+03:00' 'ed938fd71125c6a7501292b4ef3017c8964eee8a'|'Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail joint venture - sources'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 2:42pm BST Siemens, Bombardier vie for control of rail joint venture - sources A Siemens flag waves after the Annual Press Conference in Berlin, Germany, November 12, 2015. REUTERS/Stefanie Loos/File Photo By Georgina Prodhan and Alexander Hübner - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Talks about uniting the rail operations of Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) and Canada''s Bombardier ( BBDb.TO ) are being complicated by the desire of both companies to keep control of a merged business, two people close to the matter said on Wednesday. Antitrust issues and political considerations could also ultimately make a deal to create a company with combined sales of $16 billion hard to pull off, industry experts said. The two groups are talking about a joint venture that could compete better with Chinese state-backed market leader CRRC ( 601766.SS ), which is expanding aggressively abroad and would still be twice their combined size by revenue. "It could go fast, it could be very drawn-out or it could fail. It''s completely open," one of the people said. The three main rivals to CRRC -- Bombardier, Siemens and France''s Alstom ( ALSO.PA ) -- have talked to each other about combining their businesses in various arrangements over the past years. A Bombardier-Siemens combination could run into anti-trust issues as it did last time it surfaced, with significant overlap particularly in Germany. "On a country-by-country basis the deal looks difficult to pull off in Europe, and that''s why it has not happened over the past 20 years," a person familiar with the industry said. In a global context the arrival of CRRC has however changed the shape of the industry and Europe should be interested in creating a strong competitor to the emerging Chinese challenge, the person said. However, antitrust experts doubt that watchdogs will give the deal a green light without imposing conditions that could make it unviable. "Besides Alstom no real competitor would remain in Europe as long as the Chinese haven''t arrived," said Dario Struwe, antitrust lawyer at law firm FPS. JOBS FEAR Any transaction also runs the risk of resistance from trade unions. One of the sources told Reuters that German unions were expected to support the deal as long as Siemens was in control. The two businesses, which span rolling stock to signalling, have significant overlap in Europe, especially in Germany. German trade union IG Metall declined to comment on the matter. But given the Bombardier founding family''s influence on the company - they control the company through a dual class share structure - it is highly doubtful that Bombardier would agree to relinquish control to Siemens. One of the sources also said that the German chancellery was involved in the situation, without giving details. Another complication is that Canadian pension fund giant Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owns 30 percent of Bombardier''s train business. A German government spokesman declined to comment. For Alstom, a deal might not be all bad. "(Alstom) will have a higher chance of gaining share given that the other two companies would need to address anti-trust concerns first and then integrate the two operations which likely is a cumbersome process, particularly the integration of the various platforms which could lead to market share losses," analysts at JP Morgan said in a note to clients. SIMILAR IN SIZE Bombardier has had problems in the past executing on its contracts, including issues in Canada and Australia. It claims it has fixed the source of these problems. Siemens'' transportation business used to be notorious for similar risks -- with product flaws in trams and more recently repeated delays in supplying high-speed ICE trains to state-owned German national rail operator Deutsche Bahn. Since Joe Kaeser took over as chief executive in 2013 the company has worked to resolve these issues and appears to have put them behind it for the time being. The two transportation businesses are roughly comparable in terms of revenue and profitability. Bombardier Transportation has set targets of generating about $8.5 billion in revenues and an EBIT margin of about 7.5 percent in 2017, up from $8 billion and an EBIT margin of under 6.5 percent in 2016. Siemens Mobility made revenue of 7.82 billion euros ($8.3 billion) and increased its operating profit by 15 percent to 678 million euros last fiscal year, giving it a profit margin of 8.7 percent. Its target profit margin range is 6-9 percent. "Such a merger would create the clear number-two player in the rail sector, with a global leading network of clients and installed equipment and service opportunities," analysts at brokerage Kepler said. (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, Jens Hack and Allison Lambert; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-siemens-bombardier-joint-venture-idUKKBN17E1T3'|'2017-04-12T21:42:00.000+03:00' 'ec11f9c05eac82bd016eef06a663c182785ebb35'|'Telecomulonimbus: Cloudification will mean upheaval in telecoms'|'IN THE computing clouds, startups can set up new servers or acquire data storage with only a credit card and a few clicks of a mouse. Now imagine a world in which they could as quickly weave their own wireless network, perhaps to give users of a fleet of self-driving cars more bandwidth or to connect wireless sensors.As improbable as it sounds, this is the logical endpoint of a development that is picking up speed in the telecoms world. Networks are becoming as flexible as computing clouds: they are being turned into software and can be dialled up and down as needed. Such “cloudification”, as it is known, will probably create as much upheaval in the telecoms industry as it has done in information technology (IT). 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates IT and telecoms differ in important respects. One is largely unregulated, the other overseen closely by government. Computing capacity is theoretically unlimited, unlike radio spectrum, which is hard to use efficiently. And telecoms networks are more deeply linked to the physical world. “You cannot turn radio towers into software,” says Bengt Nordstrom of Northstream, a consultancy.The data centres of big cloud-computing providers are packed with thousands of cheap servers, powered by standard processors. Telecoms networks, by contrast, are a collection of hundreds of different types of computers with specialised chips, each in charge of a different function, from text messaging to controlling antennae. It takes months, if not years, to set up a new service, let alone a new network.But powerful forces are pushing for change. On the technical side, the current way of building networks will hit a wall as traffic continues to grow rapidly. The next generation of wireless technologies, called 5G, requires more flexible networks. Yet the most important factor behind cloudification is economic, says Stéphane Téral of IHS Markit, a market-research firm. Mobile operators badly need to cut costs, as the smartphone boom ends in many places and prices of mobile-service plans fall. The shift was evident at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February. Equipment-makers’ booths were plastered with diagrams depicting new technologies called NFV and SDN, which stand for “network-functions virtualisation” and “software-defined networks”. They turn specialised telecoms gear into software in a process called “virtualisation”.Many networks have already been virtualised at their “core”, the central high-capacity gear. But this is also starting to happen at the edges of networks—the antennae of a mobile network. These usually plug directly into nearby computers that control the radio signal. But some operators, such as SK Telecom in South Korea, have begun consolidating these “baseband units” in a central data centre. Alex Choi, SK Telecom’s chief technology officer, wants “radio” to become the fourth component of cloud computing, after computing, storage and networking.Spin me up, AT&TThe carrier that has pushed cloudification furthest is AT&T, America’s largest operator. By the end of 2017 it wants to have more than half of its network virtualised. In areas where it has already upgraded its systems, it can now add to the network simply by downloading a piece of software. “Instead of sending a technician, we can just spin up a virtual machine,” says Andre Fuetsch, AT&T’s chief technology officer.Even more surprising for a firm with a reputation for caution, AT&T has released the program that manages the newly virtualised parts of its network as open-source software: the underlying recipe is now available free. If widely adopted, it will allow network operators to use cheaper off-the-shelf gear—much as the rise of Linux, an open-source operating system, led to the commoditisation of hardware in data centres a decade ago.If equipment-makers are worried about all this, they are not letting it show. Many parts of a network will not get virtualised, argues Marcus Weldon, chief technology officer of Nokia. And there will always be a need for specialised hardware, such as processors able to handle data packets at ever faster speeds. Still, Nokia and other telecoms-gear-makers will have to adapt. They will make less money from hardware and related maintenance services, which currently form a big chunk of their revenues. At the same time, they will have to beef up their software business.Cloudification may also create an opening for newcomers. Both Affirmed Networks and Mavenir, two American firms, for instance, are developing software to run networks on off-the-shelf servers. Affirmed already claims 50 customers. Mavenir wants to work with underdog operators “to bring the incumbents down”, says Pardeep Kohli, its chief executive. If the history of cloud computing is any guide, the telecoms world may also see the rise of new players in the mould of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s fast-growing cloud-computing arm.According to John Delaney of IDC, a research firm, the big barrier to cloudification is likely to be spectrum, which newcomers will still have to buy. But a clever entrepreneur may find ways to combine assets—unlicensed spectrum, fibre networks, computing power—to provide cheap mobile connectivity. Startups such as FreedomPop and Republic Wireless already offer “Wi-Fi first” mobile services, which send calls and data via Wi-Fi hotspots, using the mobile network as backup.As the case of AWS shows, a potential Amazon Telecoms Services does not have to spring from the telecoms world. Amazon itself is a candidate. But carmakers, operators of power grids and internet giants such as Facebook could have a go: they are huge consumers of connectivity and have built networks. Facebook, for instance, is behind the Telecom Infra Project, another effort to open the network infrastructure. However things shake out, expect the telecoms world to become much more fluid in the coming years, just like IT before it.This article appeared in the Business "Telecomulonimbus"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720670-it-will-allow-startups-challenge-incumbent-operators-cloudification-will-mean-upheaval?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' 'f004840387ba70da16dfd5ec92f9198ac429302c'|'PRECIOUS-Gold hits 5-mth high on weaker dollar, geopolitical tensions'|'Company News 9:19pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold hits 5-mth high on weaker dollar, geopolitical tensions April 13 Gold hit a five-month peak on Thursday as the U.S. dollar slid after President Donald Trump said he preferred lower interest rates with the greenback "too strong", and amid rising tensions over U.S. relations with Russia and North Korea. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,286.80 per ounce by 0100 GMT, after hitting its strongest since Nov.10 at 1,287.31. * U.S. gold futures edged up 0.8 percent to $1,287.90. * The U.S. dollar took a heavy hit after President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal the dollar "is getting too strong" and that he would prefer the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. * Meanwhile, tensions continued over the United States'' relationship with Russia over Syria and in the Korean peninsula, while worries about the upcoming French presidential election also kept investors nervous. * Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday trust had eroded between the United States and Russia under President Donald Trump as Moscow delivered an unusually hostile reception to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a face-off over Syria. * In another possible setback to a thaw with Moscow, Trump said on Wednesday that NATO is not obsolete, as he had declared during the election campaign last year. But he told a news conference at the White House with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that alliance members still need to pay their fair share for the European security umbrella. * Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday stressed the need for a peaceful solution for the Korean peninsula on a call with U.S President Donald Trump. * U.S. import prices recorded their biggest drop in seven months in March as the cost of petroleum declined, but the underlying trend pointed to a moderate rise in imported inflation as the dollar''s rally fades. * Barrick Gold , must take steps to safeguard investor confidence by ensuring there are no more operating mishaps at its mines after a third incident in 18 months at its big Argentina mine, analysts said. * Goldman Sachs on Wednesday maintained its near-term target for gold at $1,200 per ounce and 12-month target at $1,250 per ounce. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 1230 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims weekly 1230 U.S. PPI Final Demand Mar 1400 U.S. U Mich Sentiment Prelim Apr 1430 U.S. ECRI Weekly index (Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in BENGALURU; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL3N1HL0LL'|'2017-04-13T09:19:00.000+03:00' '694808c155f7a0b45930500e7ea5139586d1b1dc'|'In win for Boeing and GE, Trump says he wants to revive export bank'|' 36am BST In win for Boeing and GE, Trump says he wants to revive export bank left right Boeing Co''s logo is seen above the front doors of its largest jetliner factory in Everett, Washington, U.S. January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Alwyn Scott 1/2 left right On a day when he ceded a loss over a signature policy in a federal appeals court, had to replace his labor secretary pick and faced questions over the resignation of his national security adviser, Trump chose to make the media a central focus of an unusually long and combative presidential news conference. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 2/2 By Ginger Gibson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump plans to revive the hobbled Export-Import Bank of the United States, his office said, a victory for American manufacturers like Boeing Co ( BA.N ) and General Electric Co ( GE.N ) which have overseas customers that use the agency''s government-backed loans to purchase their products. Trump first told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday he would fill two vacancies on the agency''s five-member board that have prevented the bank from having a quorum and being able to act on loans over $10 million. Trump''s picks must gain approval from the Senate, which blocked nominees by former President Barack Obama. Trump told the Journal that the bank benefits small businesses and creates jobs, a reversal of his earlier criticism of the bank being "featherbedding" for wealthy corporations. The Export-Import Bank, an independent government agency, provides loans to foreign entities that enables them to purchase American-made goods. For example, it has been used by foreign airlines to purchase planes from Boeing and farmers in developing nations to acquire equipment. The bank’s acting chairman, Charles “CJ” Hall, was not immediately available for comment. The bank has become a popular target for conservatives, who have worked in Congress to kill the bank, arguing that it perpetuates cronyism and does little to create American jobs. Trump''s about-face on the export bank comes after meeting on Tuesday with former Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney, who left the company last year but oversaw the corporation''s aggressive lobbying effort in support of the bank in 2015. Trump also met at the White House on Feb. 23 with GE CEO Jeff Immelt and Caterpillar Inc ( CAT.N ) CEO Mark Sutton, both vocal supporters of the bank. It is not known if they discussed the bank at those meetings. Large American corporations that do significant amounts of exports say other countries have similar agencies and the export bank levels the playing field. "This is an encouraging development on a key competitive issue for U.S manufacturers and their extensive supply chains," Boeing spokeswoman Kate Bernard said in statement to Reuters. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, which includes companies like Ingersoll-Rand Plc ( IR.N ), United States Steel Corp ( X.N ) and Pfizer Inc ( PFE.N ), cheered the move. “Manufacturers are encouraged by President Trump’s vocal support for the bank,” said NAM Vice President of International Economic Affairs Linda Dempsey in a statement. A 2015 fight to shutter the bank led by conservatives in Congress allowed the bank''s charter to expire for five months. After overwhelming bipartisan support emerged to renew the bank''s charter, which is needed for it to operate, conservatives blocked nominees to the board, preventing it from financing large exports like aircraft and power turbines. Freedom Partners and Americans for Prosperity, two groups funded by the Republican donor Koch brothers, worked aggressively for years to kill the bank. Brothers Charles and David Koch have opposed the bank for what they call damaging interference into the free market by government. Nathan Nascimento, Freedom Partners vice president of policy, called the bank on Wednesday "the epitome of what''s wrong with Washington." "Reopening the flood gates to Ex-Im’s corporate welfare is a bad deal for hardworking taxpayers and a bad deal for American businesses,” he said. The Club for Growth, which spends heavily in electing conservative candidates and was one of the few groups to campaign against Trump during the Republican primary in 2016, also lamented the change in position. "Ex-Im has a long history of cronyism and corruption that is well-known to many in the Trump Administration, and while we hoped it would be done away with, the administration now has taken on the almost impossible challenge of reforming a federal agency whose mission has been to pick winners and losers with taxpayer dollars," spokesman Doug Sachtleben said in a statement to Reuters. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Additional reporting by Steve Holland and David Lawder; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-eximbank-idUKKBN17F06W'|'2017-04-13T09:36:00.000+03:00' 'c59266b7e55790a6a293a8c90b357d29e5fc7ce2'|'World Bank maintains 2017 East Asia growth view, sees cenbank policy risks'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 3:06am BST World Bank maintains 2017 East Asia growth view, sees cenbank policy risks A woman walks at the Bund in front of the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai March 5, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song SINGAPORE The World Bank kept its 2017 economic growth forecast for developing East Asia and the Pacific unchanged, but added the region is vulnerable to any sharp slowdown in global trade or tightening in financial conditions. The Washington-based lender expects the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.2 percent in 2017, slowing from 6.4 percent growth last year. It sees growth slowing further to 6.1 percent in 2018, compared with its previous forecast in October of 6.0 percent growth. "Growth in developing East Asia and Pacific is expected to remain resilient, as continued buoyancy in domestic demand, including public and increasingly private investment, is supported by strengthening external demand," the World Bank said in its latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update report on Thursday. "Nevertheless, global and regional vulnerabilities mean that the positive prospects for growth and poverty reduction in the region in this base case are subject to significant risks." The World Bank kept its 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts for China unchanged at 6.5 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively. It said countries in the region may need to adjust their accommodative monetary policies as upward pressure on consumer prices could intensify on the back of a pick-up in producer prices and projected recovery in commodity prices. The monetary easing cycle in Indonesia likely needs to be placed on hold, and in the Philippines, policies must be ready to adjust to rising inflationary pressures, the World Bank said. Additionally, any sharp slowdown in global trade or in China could pose risks to the region''s growth outlook. "Significant slowdowns in world trade, whether stemming from mounting global protectionist pressures or from unanticipated weakness in global activity, could adversely affect most of the region," it said. The World Bank added that the region''s resilience could be tested if global financial conditions tighten faster than expected at a time when the United States is normalising its monetary policy. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-worldbank-asia-idUKKBN17F08B'|'2017-04-13T10:06:00.000+03:00' 'ceb37b34bd5281ec7ac43df1dfc09bc564fd1df6'|'New study on Monsanto weedkiller to feed into crucial EU vote'|'Health News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 3:39am EDT New study on Monsanto weedkiller to feed into crucial EU vote A Monsanto logo is pictured in the company headquarters in Morges, Switzerland, May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo By Kate Kelland - LONDON LONDON Results of a new animal study into possible health risks of the weedkiller glyphosate will be published in time to inform a key EU re-licensing vote due by the end of 2017, according to the researcher leading the trial. A row over possible effects of glyphosate - an ingredient in Monsanto''s big-selling herbicide Roundup - has prompted investigations by congressional committees in the United States and forced a delay in Europe to a decision on whether it should be banned or re-licensed for sale. Giving details and preliminary findings of the latest study to Reuters, Italian scientist Fiorella Belpoggi said experimental rats exposed to the herbicide at levels equivalent to those allowed in humans showed no initial adverse reaction. "Exposed animals had no evident differences from non-exposed animals," Belpoggi, who is director of the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Centre at the Ramazzini Institute in Italy, said in a telephone interview. "But this tells us very little at the moment, because the examinations of key parameters that could be affected by exposure are still being done (and) we are waiting for those results," Belpoggi added. Those parameters include any genetic changes, as well as potential toxic effects on measures related to fertility, such as sperm, embryo development and offspring growth, she said. Argument over glyphosate centers on whether it is carcinogenic. Scientists at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) say it probably does cause cancer, putting them at odds with scientists at the European Food Safety Authority, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and multiple other safety and regulatory agencies around the world, who say it likely doesn''t. Congressional committees in the United States have raised questions about the work and funding of IARC, which is based in Lyon, France, and the Ramazzini Institute, based in Bologna. IARC and Ramazzini defend the independence of their work and say their research is conducted to the highest scientific standards. DECADES OF RESEARCH A spokesman for Monsanto said: "There are nearly a thousand scientific studies from decades of research that are already available to every regulatory agency in the world, which have all concluded that glyphosate is safe to use." According to data published by IARC, glyphosate was registered in more than 130 countries as of 2010 and is one of the most heavily used weedkillers in the world. Analysts have estimated Monsanto could lose out on up to $100 million of sales if glyphosate were banned in Europe. Belpoggi said her team decided to conduct their trial to produce fresh, independent results in an effort to settle differences over glyphosate''s health effect. But she stressed that due to time constraints, the study is not able to analyze the weed killer''s potential carcinogenicity, which would take several years to research properly, given the time any tumors might take to develop and grow. "We are focused on reproductive and developmental issues, in other words, whether glyphosate ... affects the development of embryos, fetuses and pups," she said. Chemicals that can affect hormones and reproduction are known as endocrine disruptors and, like carcinogens, are subject to strict regulations in the European Union. This study involves scientists working at five laboratories, Belpoggi''s and one other in Italy, and three outside the country. "This was to ensure we would have the best experts analyze each end point," Belpoggi said. The study is funded by the Ramazzini Institute, a research cooperative of around 28,000 members who are its co-owners and raise funds for its work. Using laboratory rodents known as Sprague Dawley rats, the researchers exposed them to low levels of glyphosate and its formulation Roundup in their diet, equivalent to U.S. Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels permitted in humans. The U.S. ADI for glyphosate is 1.75 milligrams per kilogram of body weight per day while the European Union ADI for consumers is 0.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. Full results should be available by June, Belpoggi said, and will be submitted in a paper for peer review and publication in a scientific journal. A draft copy of the results will be sent at the same time to the European Commission. The Commission has said it expects to restart talks with EU member states by August on re-approving the use of glyphosate in herbicides. A decision is due before the end of 2017. "We would like to have the results in time to help regulators have a good judgment about this chemical," Belpoggi said. "If it is negative (no effect), then I will be happy because I am also exposed. But if there is some damage, then we would like everyone to know." (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-europe-glyphosate-idUSKBN17F0S1'|'2017-04-13T15:30:00.000+03:00' 'b096cb6d8dc71a4d60218552121c738d925fcdbd'|'TSMC says Q1 net profit up 35 pct to T$87.6 bln, misses estimates'|'TAIPEI, April 13 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co on Thursday said first-quarter profit rose 35.3 percent from a year prior, below expectations, and after revenue for the world''s largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to Apple Inc missed guidance.Net profit totaled T$87.63 billion ($2.90 billion) for January-March, traditionally a weak period for the tech sector after the year-end sales rush. That was down from the T$100.2 billion of the fourth quarter of last year, which was a quarterly record.The result was also worse than the T$88.26 billion median estimate in a Thomson Reuters/Eikon poll.TSMC earlier this week said first-quarter revenue, at T$233.91 billion, missed the lower end of its guidance for T$236 billion given in January due to a strong Taiwan dollar. ($1 = 30.2260 Taiwan dollars) (Reporting by Jess Macy Yu and J.R. Wu in TAIPEI)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/tsmc-results-idUST8N1H4008'|'2017-04-13T09:40:00.000+03:00' 'e58690c32e32af917524767a4857fba17b3a40fc'|'China''s Baidu buys U.S. computer vision startup amid AI push'|'BEIJING Chinese internet firm Baidu Inc has agreed to acquire U.S. computer vision firm xPerception for an undisclosed amount to support their renewed efforts in artificial intelligence as Chinese tech firms face regulatory headwinds in U.S.xPerception, which makes vision perception software and hardware with applications in robotics and virtual reality, will continue to develop their core technology under Baidu''s research unit, the Chinese firm said in a statement on Thursday."The acquisition of xPerception is the latest in a recent series of notable investments aimed at strengthening Baidu''s position as a global leader in AI," it said.Baidu is targeting foreign personnel and technology as part of a wider drive to refocus company resources on developing artificial intelligence capabilities.Revenues from the firm''s core search unit took a beating last year when the Chinese government tightened online ad regulations, culling a chunk of existing advertisers with new eligibility requirements.The announcement comes as other Chinese tech firms struggle with regulatory push-back on acquisitions in the U.S. market.Alibaba Group Holding Ltd affiliate Ant Financial has denied claims by rival bidder Euronet Worldwide Inc that its bid for U.S. remittance firm MoneyGram International Inc poses national security risks.On Tuesday Chinese internet firm LeEco announced it will scrap a $2 billion bid for U.S. electronics firm Vizio.Baidu says xPerception will help the firm develop visual perception technology for their augmented reality projects and autonomous driving unit.xPerception is founded by two former engineers from Magic Leap, a U.S. augmented reality startup that counts Alibaba as an investor.(Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-baidu-m-a-idINKBN17F0JF'|'2017-04-13T03:59:00.000+03:00' 'fefaf8a39a18e96a0e7b413730c3574b2e9a6ac1'|'Refurbs and rental planes in vogue as China''s jet-set seek value'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 8:41am BST Refurbs and rental planes in vogue as China''s jet-set seek value FILE PHOTO: A business jet takes off as others are parked at the Hong Kong Airport February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo By Brenda Goh - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China''s rich are foregoing fancy new private jets in favour of second-hand planes or rentals, reflecting how the country''s business elite are increasingly shunning flashy signs of wealth amid slower economic growth. (For a graphic of the business aircraft market click here ) Planemakers such as Embraer ( EMBR3.SA ) and Bombardier ( BBDb.TO ) are shifting focus to after-sales services in response, while brokers are refurbishing older jets or hiring out planes as the once high-flying industry braces for its weakest growth in a decade. Dealers at one of Asia''s top industry shows in Shanghai this week said second-hand jets now made up more than half of sales to wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs and corporations, up from under a third two years ago. Chinese buyers, who began purchasing new business jets 30 years ago, were also becoming more pragmatic about buying cheaper, second-hand jets and giving them a makeover, they said. "Now ... while you can still get a Gulfstream 550 for around $50 million (£39.99 million) for a new one, you can get an extremely adequate aeroplane for $30 million," said David Dixon, president of business jet brokerage Jetcraft Asia. "So $20 million is a lot of money to anybody." In part the shift reflects a broader trend that is making life tougher for firms selling luxury goods in the world''s second biggest economy, as Chinese buyers increasingly push for bargains on everything from high-end handbags to holidays. In such a market, where new planes quickly lose their value, dealers said second-hand jets were simply a less risky bet. "When the economic climate is going down, there''s fewer buyers in the market honestly, so the depreciation rate is higher," said Jackie Wu, president of Hong Kong-based plane broker and charter firm JetSolution Aviation Group. She said a new jet typically lost around 15 percent of its value last year, faster than the 10 percent loss in 2015. "Now pre-owned aircraft are a better buy," she said. "COLD WIND" Greater China is the world''s second-largest business jet market behind the United States and had seen annual growth of up to 49 percent before 2012, when President Xi Jinping launched a fierce crackdown on corruption that has discouraged conspicuous displays of wealth. Owners include China''s richest man, Wang Jianlin, who flies a Gulfstream 550, and Tencent founder Pony Ma who has a Bombardier Global 6000, according to data compiled by Hurun Report which tracks China''s super-rich. But growth has been slowing since 2012 and sales remain subdued. At the Shanghai show there was a distinct lack of new orders announced, while planemakers instead talked up their after-sales service. Consultancy Asian Sky Group estimates the private jet fleet across Greater China will grow just 1 percent this year - with a total of five new plane deliveries - its weakest on record. There are currently around 480 private jets in China, compared with 466 in 2015 and 67 in 2007. "The entire market is now experiencing a cold wind," said Guan Dongyuan, president of Embraer China. Guan said, however, that the Brazilian planemaker was holding out for better days, given the potential of a market that is still a long way behind the United States, where there are around 12,000 private jets. "We want to use the period when the market is relatively depressed to improve our after-sales services," he said, referring to its spare parts and engineering units. Canadian rival Bombardier, which has 110 aircraft based in Greater China, last Friday opened its first business jet service centre in the country in the coastal city of Tianjin. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Executives said they were heartened by government signals to encourage growth of the country''s aviation industry, which remains hampered by a lack of infrastructure and tight military control of China''s airspace. Last year, China said it would have more than 500 airports specifically for business jets by 2020, and would further open up airspace for civilian use with a view to grow the country''s general aviation fleet to 5,000 aircraft by that year. "It''s good that there''s commitment, it takes time and we need to be patient," said Bjorn Naf, chief executive of Hong Kong-based jet management firm Metrojet, who said competitors were still swarming into the market despite the headwinds. "The market will swing back, I''m convinced." Fang Xinyu, Beijing-based vice president of Deer Jet, which manages a fleet of 90 aircraft in China, said there had been a period of "depression" but that business jets still made sense for busy company executives. "The value general aviation provides in terms of time efficiency and privacy have always been present," he said. "This is something no one can take away." (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Alex Richardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-jets-business-idUKKBN17G0HF'|'2017-04-14T15:41:00.000+03:00' '3c8ac12800f177ef6db9e68e2c86ff9fd4badcd5'|'UPDATE 1-Chile to produce less than 5.6 mln tonnes of copper in 2017 -Cochilco'|' 10:41am EDT UPDATE 1-Chile to produce less than 5.6 mln tonnes of copper in 2017 -Cochilco (Adds production and price details throughout; changes title) SANTIAGO, April 13 State copper commission Cochilco forecast on Thursday that Chile would produce slightly less than 5.6 million tonnes of copper in 2017, down from a previous forecast of 5.79 million, due largely to a strike at BHP Billiton''s Escondida mine. The walkoff at Escondida, where workers downed tools for 43 days in the first quarter, chopped 180,000 tonnes off the commission''s previous estimate in January, Cochilco said in its quarterly report. Cochilco''s estimate for 2017 production represents a 0.8 percent increase over 2016. "An important part of that increase can be attributed to the low base of comparison of 2016 when Chilean production registered a decrease of 3.8 percent," Cochilco executive vice-president Sergio Hernandez said in a statement. The commission estimated copper prices would average $2.60 in 2017, up from a previous forecast of $2.40, due to tighter supply. In particular, the body cited stoppages at Escondida, the world''s largest copper mine, as well as at Freeport-McMoran Inc''s Grasberg mine in Indonesia and Cerro Verde mine in Peru. For 2018, Cochilco estimated that global copper prices would level out at $2.60 per pound. "This combination of disruptions generated expectations that during 2017, the refined copper market would present a deficit, bringing about an upward turn in the price," Chile''s mining minister Aurora Williams said in a statement. Worldwide copper production would likely grow 0.7 percent, down from Cochilco''s previous forecast of 2.9 percent, she said. (Reporting by Felipe Iturrieta; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chile-copper-idUSL1N1HL0PL'|'2017-04-13T22:41:00.000+03:00' '54c0f749631dc5dab0e7452f156dab0cbf831a00'|'Verizon considering topping AT&T''s bid to buy Straight Path: sources'|'By Greg Roumeliotis and Liana B. Baker Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) is considering making a buyout offer for Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ) which would top AT&T Inc''s ( T.N ) $1.25 billion bid, people familiar with the matter said.Shares of Straight Path, a holder of licenses to wireless spectrum, rose 3.6 percent to $95 in after-market trading.Straight Path said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that a third party, which it did not name, is evaluating making an offer that would top AT&T''s bid. ( bit.ly/2pc8Nn0 )The party had also been bidding to acquire the company before AT&T made its offer, Straight Path said.AT&T and Verizon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Straight Path on Monday agreed to be acquired by AT&T, the No. 2 U.S. wireless carrier, for $95.63 per share. The price represents a hefty 162.1 percent premium to Straight Path''s April 7 closing price.Millimeter wave spectrum is expected to play a large role in 5G networks. Both AT&T and bigger rival Verizon have been conducting 5G trials.Verizon is testing a 5G fixed wireless service with equipment maker Ericsson in 11 markets in the U.S. and expects a commercial launch as early as 2018.Straight Path had said in January it was hiring investment bank Evercore Partners to help explore strategic alternatives, including a sale of assets.Shares of AT&T and Verizon were unchanged in extended trading.(Additional reporting by Laharee Chatterjee and Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-straight-path-m-a-at-t-idINKBN17F2R9'|'2017-04-13T20:53:00.000+03:00' '5d261afd43ed1e8baf97576fd1d5abbe85108b82'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX hits 2-week low as financials track bond yields lower'|' 10pm EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX hits 2-week low as financials track bond yields lower (Adds portfolio manager , details on bond yields, geopolitics; updates prices) * TSX closes down 112.92 points, or 0.72 percent, at 15,535.48 * Nine of the TSX''s 10 main groups end lower By Fergal Smith TORONTO, April 13 Canada''s main stock index fell on Thursday to the lowest in more than two weeks as declining bond yields pressured the heavyweight financials group, while resource shares also lost ground. Canada''s 10-year yield dropped below the 1.50 percent threshold for the first time in nearly five months, tracking a drop in U.S. Treasury yields as U.S. President Donald Trump''s favorable view of low interest rates intensified a bond market rally that was underpinned by geopolitical tensions in Syria and North Korea. News of a massive bomb dropped by the United States in eastern Afghanistan added to uncertainty ahead of a holiday weekend in the United States and Canada. "Long-term interest rates have moved down, meaning there is a squeeze on margins (of banks) here," said Ian Nakamoto, equity specialist at MacDougall, MacDougall & MacTier, a division of Raymond James. Royal Bank of Canada fell 1.5 percent to C$94.67, while the overall financials group lost 1 percent. Wall Street also closed lower as investors weighed earnings from big U.S. banks, while investors have scaled back hopes for quick implementation of market-friendly policies by the Trump administration, including financial sector deregulation and tax reform. "I think we got ahead of ourselves thinking things were going to be done quicker," Nakamoto said. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 112.92 points, or 0.72 percent, at 15,535.48, its lowest close since March 27. It lost 0.8 percent for the holiday-shortened week. The energy group declined 1.6 percent even as oil prices ended higher. U.S. crude oil futures settled up 7 cents at $53.18 a barrel. Nine of the index''s 10 main groups ended lower. The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, lost 0.6 percent. Barrick Gold Corp, the world''s largest gold miner, fell 1.6 percent to C$26.42 even as prices for the precious metal posted a five-month high. Analysts say Barrick must take steps to safeguard investor confidence by ensuring there are no more operating mishaps at its mines after a third incident in 18 months at its big Argentina mine. Canadian new home prices rose in February, driven by higher costs in Toronto and other cities in Ontario in a report that was likely to underscore concerns that some markets are becoming too hot. Canadian manufacturing sales declined less than expected in February after three consecutive months of increases. (Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL1N1HL1QU'|'2017-04-14T05:10:00.000+03:00' '0941b0551174f67ce9c6ea9a282a88631a32fcea'|'Unilever picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman to sell spreads business: sources'|'By Pamela Barbaglia and Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Anglo-Dutch consumer group Unilever ( ULVR.L ) has decided to work with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the sale of its margarine and spreads business, which was announced last week, sources told Reuters on Thursday.The sale, which could fetch as much as 6 billion pounds ($7.52 billion), is expected to kick off later this year, the sources said, following a far-reaching review of Unilever''s business prompted by February''s unsolicited $143 billion takeover offer from Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ).Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are mainly targeting private equity bidders which could team up in large consortia to finance the bid, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the process is private.Unilever and Morgan Stanley declined to comment while Goldman Sachs was not immediately available to comment.Goldman and Morgan Stanley have both worked with Unilever on deals in the past. Morgan Stanley worked on Unilever''s defense against Kraft.Unilever said last week that it planned to sell the spreads business by year-end, but would also prepare it for a spin-off if a sale could not be completed.(Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-m-a-spreads-idINKBN17F1G3'|'2017-04-13T09:53:00.000+03:00' '6251e0279d1cfbb1287869805dc2489fe3a653c8'|'Saudi banks, bin Laden companies face $4.2 bln U.S. lawsuit by 9/11 insurers'|'By Jonathan Stempel and Katie Paul - NEW YORK/RIYADH, April 13 NEW YORK/RIYADH, April 13 More than two dozen U.S. insurers affiliated with Travelers Cos have sued two Saudi banks, companies affiliated with Osama bin Laden''s family, and several charities for at least $4.2 billion over the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.The lawsuit filed late on Wednesday night in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan is the latest effort to hold entities in Saudi Arabia liable for the attacks.Nearly 3,000 people died when hijacked airplanes crashed into New York''s World Trade Center, the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. and a Pennsylvania field.The 10 defendants in the lawsuit include Al Rajhi Bank , National Commercial Bank, aviation contractor Dallah Avco, the Mohamed Binladin Co, the Muslim World League, and other charities.They were accused in the lawsuit of having "aided and abetted" the attacks through a variety of "activities in support of al Qaeda" in the years leading up to them."But for the assistance provided by defendants," the lawsuit said, "al Qaeda could not have successfully planned, coordinated, and carried out the September 11th attacks, which were a foreseeable and intended result of their material support and sponsorship of al Qaeda."The insurers are seeking to recoup sums paid to policyholders who suffered personal, property and business injuries from the attacks.Their lawsuit seeks at least $1.4 billion of compensatory damages, triple damages and punitive damages.The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday, which is the start of the weekend in the Gulf.Al Rajhi has previously said that U.S. courts have "repeatedly" dismissed similar claims against the bank, which "has no links to terrorism" and is "committed to operating at the highest levels of compliance" with applicable rules.The Saudi government and affiliates including the Public Investment Fund, its sovereign wealth fund, have a majority stake in National Commercial Bank.A Travelers spokesman, Matt Bordonaro, had no immediate additional comment on Thursday.Several other lawsuits pending in the Manhattan court seek to hold Saudi Arabia liable to individuals and insurers over its alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. The Saudi government has denied such involvement.Saudi Arabia long had broad immunity from such lawsuits in the United States, but Congress in September overrode a veto by former President Barack Obama and allowed such lawsuits to proceed.The case is Charter Oak Fire Insurance Co et al v Al Rajhi Bank et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-02651. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Katie Paul in Riyadh and Tom Arnold in Dubai; Editing by Toni Reinhold)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-saudi-sept-idINL1N1HL1EG'|'2017-04-13T16:30:00.000+03:00' 'eb545d6bb175c3ba90c93b303da42efe4e8c0981'|'U.S. looks to IMF to strengthen its FX rates oversight - Treasury official'|'WASHINGTON The United States will reiterate to the International Monetary Fund its role in keeping a close eye on global foreign exchange rates policies at next week''s spring meetings of the international lender, a senior Treasury official said on Thursday."We would be looking for the IMF to continue to strengthen its analysis of exchange rate policies of major economies," the Treasury official said in a briefing with reporters ahead of next week''s semi-annual meeting of IMF and World Bank members. "We view that as very important."The official, who spoke under condition of anonymity, added currency surveillance was an important aspect of ensuring a fair and sustainable global economy.Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies, known as the G20, are also scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the April 21-23 conference.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been in his post for a little over two months and has already clashed with the international community.At a meeting in Germany four weeks ago, the G20 abandoned a decade-old pledge to keep global trade free and open at the behest of the United States. The G20 also removed a commitment to finance the fight against climate change.According to the senior Treasury official, the United States also plans to discuss financial regulation and international tax reform next week and Mnuchin is scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings.President Donald Trump has given mixed signals on trade despite running for office on an increasingly protectionist campaign.On Wednesday, he said that his administration will not label China a currency manipulator, backing away from a campaign promise.(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-treasury-idINKBN17F2JK'|'2017-04-13T17:44:00.000+03:00' '63121f8fdc613ce003e46a79cbb37ee1eb6227e4'|'As Samsung''s profit surges, some investors worry about peaking growth'|'Technology 3:03am EDT As Samsung''s profit surges, some investors worry about peaking growth Shareholders walk past the logo of Samsung Electronics before their general meeting at a company''s building in Seoul, South Korea, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji By Se Young Lee - SEOUL SEOUL Even as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ) is poised to deliver a surge in earnings to an all-time high this year, some investors are already starting to fret the tech giant will soon become a victim of its own success. With a market capitalization of 331 trillion won ($293 billion), the South Korean firm has emerged as Asia''s most valuable company and its shares have jumped 60 percent since end-2015, hitting a record high in late March. The outlook is upbeat with analysts seeing high chip prices continuing at least through to the end of this year, and the launch of a new flagship smartphone this month reviving its mobile business after last year''s Galaxy Note 7 fires. But the stock is losing steam, up just 3 percent so far in April, and some investors are questioning the company''s long-term growth potential and whether it can maintain the double-digit profit growth expected this year. "People are starting to worry whether Samsung can repeat these kinds of numbers next year," said Park Jung-hoon, fund manager at HDC Asset Management. "There''s no reason to be the first to jump off, but those worries will grow as time passes." Samsung''s operating profit is expected to grow just 5.5 percent next year compared to 61 percent in 2017, according to the average forecast from a Thomson Reuters survey of 16 analysts. SHORT MEMORY The driver of Samsung''s rally has been the booming memory chip market, with prices for both DRAM and NAND chips soaring as suppliers scramble to meet demand for more firepower from mobile devices and data servers. Researcher IHS expects 2017 memory industry revenues to leap 32 percent to a record $104 billion this year. But this growth will not be repeated, analysts say, with more production capacity coming online to alleviate the bottleneck. IHS projects 2018 memory industry revenue to grow by just 3 percent to $107 billion. There is also concern product makers could reach "pricing fatigue" and maintain current chip capacity for new products instead of adding more. "It feels like we might be reaching a little bit of that right now (for DRAM)," IHS analyst Mike Howard said during a Seoul media briefing earlier this month. Meanwhile, Samsung has missed out on a flurry of deals in the global chip industry, and the group is unlikely to join the party any time soon as management deals with a damaging corruption scandal that has rocked South Korean politics. Company scion Jay Y. Lee was arrested in February and is on trial on charges of bribing ousted South Korean president Park Geun-hye. He denies any wrongdoing. The leadership vacuum will temper investors'' hopes for strategic moves that could deliver new near-term growth drivers. "We''re basically going to see the chip profit double this year from 2016 and people will start considering whether that can be matched next year," HDC''s Park said. "As time passes we''ll start seeing some analysts start changing their tune." To be sure, no investors or analysts are expecting Samsung shares to crash. The firm trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters, still undervalued compared to 14.61 for smartphone rival Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) and 12.55 for chipmaker Intel Corp ( INTC.O ). It plans to buy back and cancel 9.3 trillion won in shares, which will support the share price and boost yields. Extra payouts or buybacks are possible given the likelihood of record profits, further supporting shares, IBK Asset Management fund manager Kim Hyun-su said. Samsung said on Thursday pre-orders for its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone have exceeded those of its predecessor S7, suggesting many consumers were unfazed by the Note 7 fires. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-outlook-idUSKBN17F0OO'|'2017-04-13T15:03:00.000+03:00' '0adf9229f99e4a5e142ea4e22f4b115e67da7187'|'OECD endorses Japan''s monetary easing, urges caution against risks'|' 40am BST OECD endorses Japan''s monetary easing, urges caution against risks left right OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, left, explains materials of OECD Economic Surveys Japan to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Abe''s official residence in Tokyo, Japan April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool 1/3 left right OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, left, is greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to a meeting at Abe''s official residence in Tokyo, Japan April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool 2/3 left right OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, left, is greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to a meeting at Abe''s official residence in Tokyo, Japan April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool 3/3 TOKYO The Bank of Japan should maintain quantitative easing until inflation exceeds its price target but it must be alert to the risks posed to asset prices and the financial sector, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said. The OECD raised Japan''s 2017 economic growth forecast slightly because of an expected pickup in consumer spending, exports, and capital expenditure. However, the Paris-based think tank left unchanged its forecast for growth to slow the following year, highlighting the difficulty Japan faces in achieving sustainable growth. To improve this situation, Japan should raise the minimum wage further and improve productivity at small- and medium-sized enterprises, the OECD said in its latest economic assessment. "Achieving the 2 percent inflation target should remain a top priority, while monitoring the potential costs and side effects," the OECD said in its report. The BOJ currently applies a negative 0.1 percent interest rate on a small portion of commercial banks'' excess reserves. The BOJ also buys government debt to keep the 10-year bond yield near zero and buys exchange-traded funds to lower risk premiums. The BOJ''s holdings of government debt now total around 40 percent of all outstanding debt, which could hurt liquidity and lead to market instability when the BOJ exits the policy, the OECD said. The BOJ''s policy mix could push up asset prices by encouraging excessive risk-taking, the OECD said. Negative interest rates could hurt bank earnings and make asset management more difficult for pension funds and life insurers, the report said. Exiting quantitative easing is still far away given that inflation is around zero, the OECD acknowledged in the report. The OECD was more upbeat about Japan''s growth prospects this year. It raised Japan''s GDP forecast to 1.2 percent growth from its November forecast of 1.0 percent growth. However, the OECD stuck with its view that growth will slow to 0.8 percent in 2018 as consumer spending and net exports lose momentum. The OECD called on Japan''s government to promote consumption by raising the minimum wage to half the level of median wages. Currently Japan''s minimum wage is around 40 percent of the median level and one of the lowest among OECD member countries. Japan also needs a better system to encourage cooperation between the private sector and academia on research and development, which should improve productivity, the report said. Japan''s public debt burden, which is the worst among advanced nations at more than twice the size of its economy, needs to be brought down with spending cuts and gradual increases in the sales tax, the OECD said. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-oecd-idUKKBN17F0RR'|'2017-04-13T15:40:00.000+03:00' '0e02d6079810a7f8739deb45d7e6c836198fc809'|'Japan, U.S. likely to engage in trade talks in near future - Reuters poll'|' 6:11am BST Japan, U.S. likely to engage in trade talks in near future - Reuters poll A TV monitor showing U.S. President Donald Trump is seen through national flags of the U.S. and Japan at a foreign exchange trading company in Tokyo, Japan February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Kaori Kaneko - TOKYO TOKYO A firm majority of economists expect Japan will engage in bilateral trade talks with the United States in the near future, a Reuters poll showed ahead of next week''s high-level economic talks between the two nations. Japan and the United States kick off an economic dialogue on April 18 that will be led by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. The talks will cover issues such as macroeconomic policy, infrastructure investment and trade. Sixteen of 37 economists said they were somewhat concerned the talks would hurt Japan, the poll showed. Fifteen said they don''t expect much from the dialogue; few saw a positive impact. And some predicted the meeting would sow the seeds for future bilateral trade talks. "It is reasonable to forecast that the dialogue will develop to trade negotiations as Washington sees Japan''s trade surplus with the U.S. is a result of unfair commercial practice," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. Twenty-nine of 37 analysts said bilateral trade negotiations would happen in the near future, while eight said it was unlikely, according to the poll taken April 4-12. After his inauguration in January, President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact and declared Washington would instead seek one-on-one trade deals. His protectionist trade policies could undermine Japan''s export-reliant economy. "There is a chance that Washington could demand Japan to make concessions to what have been agreed at the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the two nations could move on to negotiations on an individual sector such as autos to reduce the U.S. trade deficit," said Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Economics. Washington is pushing for trade to be a key issue in top-level economic talks with Japan, a person directly involved in preparations for the talks told Reuters on Thursday, an unwelcome development for Tokyo, which has sought to keep the talks from turning into a forum for U.S. pressure to reduce the bilateral trade imbalance. BOJ OUTLOOK Most analysts, meanwhile, maintained their view that the Bank of Japan''s next action will be scaling back its ultra-easy monetary policy. Thirty of 38 analysts projected the central bank would phase out its stimulus while the rest said it is likely to ease further if it decides to change policy. That was largely in line with the previous survey. "The BOJ emphasizes the importance of maintaining inflation momentum more than that of attaining 2 percent at the earliest possible time," said Hiroshi Ugai, chief economist at JP Morgan Securities. "Therefore, we expect the BOJ''s next policy move will be unwinding even though the BOJ cannot attain 2 percent target in fiscal 2018." Some analysts pushed back the timing of the central bank''s projected next move. Five analysts said the move would start in the latter half of this year, down from ten in last''s month survey, and seven projected it would happen in the first half of next year. Eight believe it will happen in the latter half of 2018. Eleven analysts see the BOJ taking steps in 2019 or later, up from eight in the previous survey. A few declined to predict the timing. Asked about what steps the BOJ would take if it decides to unwind its stimulus policy, the majority expect it to raise the 10-year Japanese government bond yield target from around zero percent now. Others said the central bank would raise the negative 0.1 percent interest rate applied on a small portion of commercial banks'' excess reserves. Economists forecast the world''s third-largest economy will expand 1.3 percent this fiscal year, started April, and grow 1.1 percent the next. That''s up a tick from last month''s 1.2 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. The nation''s core consumer prices, which include oil products but exclude fresh food prices, will probably rise 0.8 percent this fiscal year and 1.0 percent next, unchanged from a March survey. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Editing by Malcolm Foster and Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-poll-idUKKBN17F0H2'|'2017-04-13T13:11:00.000+03:00' '23a2d7ce8aa529e5dc7b34082b405592b037ff69'|'Private equity firms have bid $22 billion for SCA hygiene unit-paper'|'STOCKHOLM A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns ($22.26 billion) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA ( SCAb.ST ), daily Dagens Nyheter wrote on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.SCA said last year it planned to split into two units."At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," DN said.SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and No.2 in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products.SCA could not immediately be reached by Reuters for a comment.(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sweden-sca-idUSKBN17E2O0'|'2017-04-13T00:18:00.000+03:00' '6b5ea5245e540a286b6a340620813e9eaf506a0f'|'Berkshire to pare Wells Fargo stake, pull Fed application'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 5:27pm EDT Berkshire to pare Wells Fargo stake, pull Fed application A Wells Fargo branch is seen in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois, U.S. on February 10, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ) on Wednesday said it is selling 9 million shares of Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ), and will withdraw its application for Federal Reserve permission to boost its ownership stake above 10 percent. Berkshire said it concluded after several months of talks with Fed representatives that boosting its stake in Wells Fargo "would materially restrict our commercial activity" with the bank. It also said "investment or valuation considerations" were not factors in the sales. Wells Fargo has been beset by a scandal over its creation of unauthorized customer accounts. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-berkshire-hatha-wells-fargo-idUSKBN17E2S6'|'2017-04-13T05:27:00.000+03:00' '3e16688476d40e7e36e086a068b26b31d08dc70c'|'Regulator accuses ex-Aston Hill executives of insider trading'|'April 12 Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) on Wednesday filed a statement of allegations accusing former Aston Hill Financial Inc executives of securities law violations in connection with a leaked takeover offer in 2014 by online gambling company Amaya Inc.The OSC staff alleged that Ben Cheng, then president of Aston Hill Financial, became aware of undisclosed "material facts" and illegally tipped company sales manager John Rothstein about Amaya''s proposed bid to acquire the parent company of the online gaming operation PokerStars.The regulator also alleged that Eric Tremblay, who was Aston Hill Financial''s chief executive officer, and Frank Soave, an investment adviser at CIBC, of insider trading and making misleading statements on material matters or omitting facts when examined under oath by staff of the OSC.The Office of the Secretary has scheduled the court hearing for May 4. ( bit.ly/2oubO1b )In 2014, Montreal-based Amaya closed the $4.9 billion takeover of Oldford Group, operator of online gambling website PokerStars.(Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/amaya-regulator-idINL3N1HL0QQ'|'2017-04-12T23:26:00.000+03:00' '48189edefeaa68205619dc3e5171cffc668ba005'|'United to refund tickets for all passengers on infamous flight - Business - The Guardian'|'Seeking to quell the uproar over a man being dragged off a plane , United Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would refund the tickets for all customers who were on the flight when the man was removed and that it would no longer ask police to remove passengers from full flights.The airline said that passengers on United Express Flight 3411 on Sunday would be compensated equal to the cost of their tickets and could take the compensation in cash, travel credits or miles.The Sunday flight was loaded and preparing to leave Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when the man was dragged off. Videos shot by passengers showing the man’s bloodied face went viral on social media , prompting a storm of protest.In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America aired Wednesday, Oscar Munoz, CEO of United’s parent company, said he felt “ashamed” watching video of the man being forced off the jet. He has promised to review the airline’s passenger-removal policy. He also apologized again to Kentucky physician David Dao, his family and the other passengers who witnessed him being taken off the flight.United Airlines CEO offers softer apology after stock nosedives Read more “That is not who our family at United is,” he said. “This will never happen again on a United flight. That’s my promise.”In the future, law enforcement will not be involved in removing a “booked, paid, seated passenger”, Munoz said. “We can’t do that.”Munoz called the incident a “system failure” and said United would reassess its procedures for seeking volunteers to give up their seats when a flight is full. United was trying to find seats for four employees, meaning four passengers had to deplane.It was at least Munoz’s fourth statement about the confrontation.After the video first emerged, he said the airline was reaching out to the man to “resolve this situation”.Hours later on Monday, his tone turned defensive. He described the man as “disruptive and belligerent”.By Tuesday afternoon, almost two days after the Sunday evening events, Munoz issued another apology.“No one should ever be mistreated this way,” Munoz said.The passenger was identified as Dao, a 69-year-old physician from Elizabethtown, Kentucky.Attorneys for Dao filed court papers Wednesday asking the airline and the city of Chicago to preserve evidence in the case. Those documents are often the first steps toward a lawsuit. His legal team planned to hold a news conference Thursday to discuss the matter with reporters.Airport officials have said little about Sunday’s events and nothing about Dao’s behavior before he was pulled from the jet that was bound for Louisville, Kentucky.Likewise, the Chicago Aviation Department has said only that one of its employees who removed Dao did not follow proper procedures and has been placed on leave. The department announced Wednesday that two more officers have been placed on leave.Thanks to United Airlines, is flying while Asian something to fear? - Steven W Thrasher Read more No passengers on the plane have mentioned that Dao did anything but refuse to leave the plane when he was ordered to do so.The event stemmed from a common air travel issue – a full flight.At first, the airline asked for volunteers, offering $400 and then when that did not work, $800 per passenger to relinquish a seat. When no one voluntarily came forward, United selected four passengers at random.Three people got off the flight, but the fourth was Dao, who said he was a doctor and needed to get home to treat patients on Monday. He refused to leave.That’s when three aviation department police officers boarded the plane. When Dao refused to leave his seat, one of the officers could be seen grabbing the screaming man from his window seat and dragging him down the aisle by his arms.Other passengers on Flight 3411 are heard saying, “Please, my God”, ”What are you doing?”, “This is wrong”, ”Look at what you did to him” and “Busted his lip”.Also Wednesday, a Chicago alderman said representatives from United and the city’s aviation department have been summoned before a city council committee to answer questions about the confrontation at O’Hare Airport.The US transportation department announced Tuesday that it was reviewing Sunday’s events to see if United violated rules on overselling flights. The four top-ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee asked the airline and Chicago airport officials for more information about what happened.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/united-airlines-video-passenger-removed-refund-tickets'|'2017-04-12T03:00:00.000+03:00' '354692108a108b74b8964ba0631b7964240894fd'|'New Hong Kong leader''s affordable homes plan up against wall of Chinese capital'|'Money News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 11:52am IST New Hong Kong leader''s affordable homes plan up against wall of Chinese capital People take selfies with Carrie Lam, chief executive-elect, a day after she was elected in Hong Kong, China March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/Files By Clare Jim and Venus Wu - HONG KONG HONG KONG A pledge by Hong Kong''s incoming leader Carrie Lam to make the city''s vertiginous property prices more affordable could founder on the bottomless pockets of mainland Chinese developers, who are bidding up the price of land.Home prices in Hong Kong have jumped 364 percent since 2003, while the median monthly household income has risen just 61 percent, pushing home ownership out of reach for many. While the mass protests that paralysed parts of Hong Kong for 79 days in 2014 were primarily about demands for full democracy from Beijing, many were also motivated by the rising cost of living in the city, and the cost of accommodation in particular. A typical Hong Kong apartment costs 18.1 times gross annual median income, according to research group Demographia, and the city topped its survey of the world''s most expensive places for accommodation for the seventh straight year. Second-placed Sydney was a long way behind on 12.2. "Anything over a multiple of 5.1 is usually deemed as being ''severely unaffordable''," said Denis Ma, JLL''s Head of Research in Hong Kong. With most of the city''s more than 7 million citizens living in cramped apartments - some no bigger than a parking space - Lam, who takes over as chief executive on July 1, is aiming to tackle the problem by increasing housing and land supply. But Alice Mak, head of the Hong Kong legislature''s housing panel, said the influx of capital from mainland developers will make Lam''s job very difficult. "When there''s overseas capital investment in Hong Kong, it will stimulate the local property market. If the government wants the housing market to grow at a stable rate, this will be a very big challenge for them," Mak said. Chinese companies successfully bid for six out of 27 plots of land sold by the government in the fiscal year starting April 2016, Lands Department data shows, but in money terms they accounted for 44 percent of total transactions. In the previous fiscal year, Chinese firms paid more on land deals than their Hong Kong competitors, taking up 55 percent of the value and nearly half of the land sold. IMPOSSIBLE DREAM? Mainland developer KWG Property, which won a plot of residential land for a record price co-bidding with Logan Property, said lower lending rates and taxes make development in Hong Kong more profitable than in China. "There''s still a gap between ''flour and bread prices'' in Hong Kong, but in China the prices are basically the same, so I boldly predict that more and more Chinese developers will come to Hong Kong to buy land in the future," KWG chairman Kong Jian Min told an earnings conference last month. The direct impact of this influx on home prices is stark in the Kai Tak district, overlooking Victoria Harbour. Prices there rose as much as 50 percent in less than a year, consultancy JLL said, after Chinese conglomerate HNA Group bought four land parcels in the past five months at eye-popping prices. Hong Kong''s homegrown property companies are being edged out of their own market and are looking overseas to do business. Local developer David Chiu, chairman of Far East Consortium International, said he had become increasingly disheartened after seeing his company''s auction bids fall below the average. "In the past there were 20 developers fighting for land, but now with Chinese developers joining, it means another 20 more," he told a conference in February, adding that he was glad his company had already invested elsewhere and had plans to expand in the UK and Australia. "I think it''ll be very difficult for Hong Kong''s small and medium developers to win a tender; it wouldn''t surprise me if Hong Kong developers became landlords relying only on rental income (from commercial properties) after 10 years," he said. Lam has already conceded in an interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal there is nothing she can do to stop outside capital competing in the land bids. Even established professionals say buying a home is an increasingly daunting prospect and doubt that government will succeed in holding down prices. "They won''t be able to help us," said 30-year-old accountant Mok Ho-man. "Buying a flat is not an impossible dream ... but it will only get more and more difficult." (Reporting By Clare Jim and Venus Wu; Additional reporting by Katy Wong; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/hongkong-property-idINKBN17B051'|'2017-04-09T14:22:00.000+03:00' '0ee837bfe50ecef6c8e65182252550996767bafe'|'Wall Street sees Fed balance sheet normalization plan by year end - Reuters poll'|'Economic News - Sun Apr 9, 2017 - 8:32am IST Wall Street sees Fed balance sheet normalization plan by year end - Reuters poll Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the Manhattan borough of New York, New York, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Richard Leong - NEW YORK NEW YORK Wall Street''s top banks see the Federal Reserve laying out by year end its plan to scale back reinvestments in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities in order to begin shrinking its $4.5 trillion balance sheet, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. Five of 15 primary dealers, or banks that do business directly with the U.S. central bank, expected the Fed to start paring reinvestments by year end, while the rest forecast the central bank would do so by the end of the second quarter of 2018. The median view of 11 dealers was for the Fed to eventually shrink its balance sheet to $2.75 trillion. As the U.S. central bank seems prepared to tackle unwinding its bond holdings, primary dealers see the Fed raising interest rates two more times by year end and three times in 2018. Fed policymakers have turned their focus to paring the central bank''s massive bond holdings, as shown in the minutes of their March policy meeting released on Wednesday. Last month, the Fed raised rates by a quarter percentage point to 0.75 percent-1.00 percent amid signs of an improving U.S. economy and stock prices reaching record highs. The central bank amassed its Treasuries and MBS during three rounds of large-scale purchases known as quantitative easing, which was aimed to lower long-term borrowing costs and combat the repercussions of a severe recession that was exacerbated by the global credit crisis more than eight years ago. On Wednesday, the Fed held $2.46 trillion in Treasuries and $1.77 trillion in MBS. While the Fed has longed to reduce those holdings, it has been reluctant to do so due to concerns that buying fewer bonds could cause a spike in mortgage rates and other long-term borrowing costs and hurt an economy that has been stuck at a 2 percent growth rate. The Fed''s willingness to embark on this change came after Donald Trump''s surprise U.S. presidential victory in November, which unleashed hopes of tax cuts, looser regulations and infrastructure spending to bolster business investments and job growth. That optimism has cooled in recent weeks after Trump and the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress failed to pass healthcare reform. This led investors to scale back expectations on tax cuts and infrastructure spending in 2017. Federal fiscal stimuli, analysts say, would cushion tighter financial conditions from interest rate increases and fewer bond purchases from the Fed. A disappointing March jobs report caused traders to briefly slash their bets on a June rate hike on Friday before comments from influential New York Fed chief William Dudley on rate increases and balance sheet normalization revived those bets. "This report doesn''t take away from the Fed''s near-term outlook on the economy," said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo, a primary dealer in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the latest Reuters poll, 13 of 17 dealers saw the Fed hiking rates to 1.00-1.25 percent by the end of the second quarter, compared with 11 of 17 dealers in a March 15 poll. Eight of 17 dealers saw the Fed lifting rates to 1.25-1.50 percent by the end of the third quarter, while 16 of 17 expected that rate range to be reached by year end. (Reporting by Saqib Ahmed, Karen Brettell, Sinead Carew, Sam Forgione, Richard Leong, Chuck Mikolajczak, Dion Rabouin and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-poll-idINKBN17B033'|'2017-04-09T11:02:00.000+03:00' '9f07e5fcca1ddf0006e7ba850371e0b388e06726'|'Bombardier family mulls new blood on board -founder''s grandson'|'Business News - Mon Apr 10, 2017 - 8:41pm BST Bombardier family mulls new blood on board -founder''s grandson A plane flies over a Bombardier plant in Montreal, January 21, 2014. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi By Allison Lampert - MONTREAL MONTREAL Bombardier Inc''s ( BBDb.TO ) controlling family has discussed governance and board succession in the wake of an executive pay uproar, with some family members wanting new blood for its representatives on the board, the grandson of the company founder told Reuters in an interview. The plane and train maker set off protests, most recently near Bombardier''s Montreal headquarters on Sunday, after the board raised 2016 salaries of five executives and its chairman by up to 50 percent just weeks after it received a federal loan. The company later agreed to defer part of the raises to 2020. Charles Bombardier, grandson of founder Joseph-Armand Bombardier who died in 1964, said the executive pay decision has moved to the forefront talk of who should represent the family on the board. His father, J.R. Andre Bombardier, sits on the current board of directors. Charles Bombardier spoke to Reuters by telephone from Montreal on Friday. The family, which controls Bombardier through a dual voting structure, now has five of the 15 board seats, including one for former chief executive Laurent Beaudoin who is chairman emeritus. Pierre Beaudoin, also a grandson of the founder, is the executive chairman. "I think the third generation will play a more active role on the board since they are in their prime working years," Charles Bombardier said in his first media interview following the pay uproar. Charles Bombardier, 43, an industrial designer and an investor in startup companies left a company spinoff, Bombardier Recreational Products, in 2006 and does not currently hold any executive position in Bombardier or have a board seat. But his comments offer a rare insight into the thinking of the Bombardier-Beaudoin family, whose members maintain a low profile. Bombardier, which considered bankruptcy protection in 2015, has been in the midst of a five-year turnaround. The company scored a major boost for its flagship CSeries jet in 2016 with the signing of key sales contracts and the plane''s smooth entry into service after years running over-budget and behind schedule. "The family took great risk by investing in this (CSeries) aircraft program and now it''s a technical success," Charles Bombardier said. "This was a family decision and in the years to come, you will see it was an excellent one." DUAL-CLASS SHARES He reiterated the family would never modify the dual-class share structure that gives them voting control, partly because it protects Bombardier from becoming a takeover target. "The key is keeping control of the company and passing it on to the next generation while making sure that shareholder value is generated along the way," he said. A Bombardier spokesman declined to comment. In the past, the family''s vision for the company has conflicted at times with external chief executives. One CEO left after two years at the helm. Current CEO Alain Bellemare, who took the reins of Bombardier in 2015 and replaced Pierre Beaudoin, has the support of family members, Charles Bombardier said. Charles Bombardier said Beaudoin deserved a higher salary in 2015 because he was assisting Bellemare in the transition to become CEO. "The role of the chairman needs to be separated from the CEO and one year to make the transition is enough in my opinion," he said, adding the executive chairman''s role should now focus on leading the board and Beaudoin''s salary should be benchmarked to industry norms. In an email statement sent on Sunday, Beaudoin said he is "happy to have the continuing support of my entire family," and reiterated family support for company management. (Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-canada-bombardier-compensation-idUKKBN17C2B2'|'2017-04-11T03:41:00.000+03:00' '649331646287d278f6e68b701063e957c2423e84'|'BRIEF-Nevada Zinc Corporation announces public offering of units'|' 20pm EDT BRIEF-Nevada Zinc Corporation announces public offering of units April 10 Nevada Zinc Corp: * Nevada Zinc Corporation announces public offering of units * Nevada Zinc Corp - proposes to complete on a commercially reasonable efforts basis a public offering of units of company for gross proceeds of $2 million * Nevada Zinc-to use proceeds of offering for exploration, development of co''s lone mountain zinc project in Nevada, gold exploration projects in Yukon Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-nevada-zinc-corporation-announces-idUSASA09I63'|'2017-04-11T04:20:00.000+03:00' '53b63ab61d822e0b810051aa6cac6ea20388f10d'|'BRIEF-Aerojet Rocketdyne expands competitive improvement program'|' 23pm EDT BRIEF-Aerojet Rocketdyne expands competitive improvement program April 10 Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc : * Aerojet Rocketdyne expands competitive improvement program to drive affordability and position for future growth * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - announced plans for next phase of its competitive improvement program (cip) that was launched in 2015 * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - phase ii includes additional consolidation and optimization of aerojet rocketdyne facilities over next two years * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - plans to consolidate its Sacramento and Vernon, California and Gainesville, Virginia sites * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - expanding its existing presence in Huntsville, Alabama * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - company plans to close its gainesville, virginia facility in q3 of 2018 * Aerojet Rocketdyne - about 170 positions there will be relocated or eliminated with relocations planned to huntsville and facility in orange county, virginia * Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc - company expects total costs associated with cip to be $235.1 million Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-aerojet-rocketdyne-expands-competi-idUSFWN1HI0MA'|'2017-04-11T04:23:00.000+03:00' '2eaab96ff703a14c4e3cdd584e1914dd33833c9c'|'LPC: Demand for yield fires up US second-lien market'|' 10:44am EDT LPC: Demand for yield fires up US second-lien market By Leela Parker Deo - NEW YORK, April 13 NEW YORK, April 13 US investors are turning to higher-yielding second-lien loans as primary spreads on US leveraged loans continue to fall in an aggressive repricing round and new deals remain scarce. Second-lien volume of US$8.61bn in the first quarter was more than five times higher than US$1.54bn booked a year ago when bank appetite waned amid market turbulence in late 2015. “The market is incredibly hot right now. In a thin market people tend to take on risk. Where do they go? To the credits they know, but further down the risk spectrum,” one investor said. Second-lien debt is considered more risky as it sits behind senior first-lien bank debt in corporate capital structures and offers higher returns to investors. Although second-lien loans can be a difficult sell in choppy markets, loan market conditions are robust and banks and loan buyers currently have a ‘risk on’ mindset, market participants said. Yields on first-lien institutional term loan yields have sunk to levels not seen since 2004, Thomson Reuters LPC data shows. Average yields on first-lien term loans were 4.5% in the first quarter, down from 6.54% a year earlier. Average yields on second-lien term loans were 9.85% in the first quarter, compared to 10.78% in the first quarter of 2016, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data. This price compression has been driven by unrelenting demand for yield and floating rate loans since last year as investors try to hedge against rising interest rates, allowing issuers to cut borrowing costs with opportunistic refinancing. Junk-rated companies refinanced a total of US$261bn in loans in the first three months of the year, leaving the prior 2Q13 record of US$246bn behind. Retail investors have poured US$12.9bn into bank loan mutual funds and exchange-traded funds as of April 5, lifting total inflows since early August 2016 to about US$23.6bn. New collateralized loan obligation (CLO) issuance, a measure of institutional demand, was roughly US$16bn in the first quarter. In another measure of risk appetite, riskier triple-C rated loans have rallied more than double-B names in the secondary market since the end of last year. In early December, the average secondary price for CCCs rose 2.81 points to 87.8 from 84.99 on December 1. The average secondary price of BB-rated loans increased 31bp to 100.09 from 99.78 in the same time. BUYER BASE Increased appetite for risk assets is creating a broader buying base for second-lien loans, which includes insurance companies, pension funds, and alternative asset managers as well as alternative lenders. Alternative lenders stepped in to provide privately-placed second-lien loans when banks stepped away from underwriting loans for syndication in 2015, which were sold to business development companies (BDCs) and other direct lenders. Direct lenders are seeing fewer lending opportunities in a hot market as banks return to lending and are now targeting second-lien debt. Direct lenders are still needed at the larger end of the middle market for issuers in the US$75m-US$100m Ebitda range, which do not require a broad syndication effort but are large enough to require a handful of direct lenders of scale to place the junior debt. “There are situations where a pre-placed second-lien loan makes more sense and is useful to sponsors in terms of execution and certainty,” a middle market credit investor said. High precision manufacturing services company Tecomet Inc is in market with a US$835m acquisition loan including a US$225m second-lien tranche that financial sponsor Charlesbank opted to pre-place with a trio of investors, including at least two direct lenders, sources said. Three of the largest second-lien loans marketed in the first quarter came via the syndicated loan market, however, and financed dividend recapitalizations along with first-lien loans. Barclays arranged a US$690m second-lien term loan for real estate investment trust Capital Automotive and warehouse retailer BJ''s Wholesale Club''s sealed a US$625m second-lien term loan led by Nomura which was upsized by US$25m during syndication. Life sciences company Avantor Performance Materials also upsized the second-lien portion of a dividend deal. The company raised a US$455m second-lien term loan, which was increased from US$380m at launch and was led by Jefferies. (Reporting by Leela Parker Deo; Editing By Tessa Walsh and Jon Methven)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/loan-secondlien-idUSL1N1HL0SR'|'2017-04-13T22:44:00.000+03:00' '510e133a2dbc0328fbcb4eb3f38e96d9c4d42a6b'|'HSBC to pay $2 million to resolve U.S. civil loan fraud lawsuit'|'Business 36pm BST HSBC to pay $2 million to resolve U.S. civil loan fraud lawsuit FILE PHOTO: Logos of HSBC are displayed at a major branch at the financial Central district in Hong Kong, China February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo HSBC Holdings Plc ( HSBA.L ) has agreed to pay about $2 million (1.60 million pounds) to settle a civil fraud lawsuit that alleged the bank improperly attempted to get reimbursement from the federally backed U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on bad loans it knew were based on fraudulent or potentially fraudulent information. Under the SBAExpress loan program, designed to help startups and small businesses, the SBA guarantees up to half the value of loans made to companies by lenders such as HSBC. According to a complaint made by the U.S. government in federal court in Manhattan, HSBC sought reimbursement for 42 defaulted loans without revealing that borrowers may have submitted false information to the bank to obtain many of the loans, or that the bank had included them on an internal list of fraudulent or potentially fraudulent loans. The case was initially brought by a whistleblower under the False Claims Act, and the U.S. government intervened in the case. As part of the settlement, HSBC admitted and accepted responsibility for not informing the SBA of all of the facts indicating that borrowers may have submitted false information on the loans, or that it had identified these loans as fraudulent or potentially fraudulent. ( bit.ly/2pfnq9a ) An HSBC spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hsbc-settlement-idUKKBN17G1HO'|'2017-04-15T03:36:00.000+03:00' '257aceba945b91d2001c9e8825c3b91edabb392b'|'Gold steady near five-month; poised for best week in a year'|'Money News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 11:36am IST Gold steady near five-month; poised for best week in a year A man looks on as he inspects gold jewellery at a shop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File Photo By Swati Verma - BENGALURU BENGALURU Gold on Friday held near the 5-month highs hit in the previous session and was set for its biggest weekly percentage rise since April last year as a weaker dollar and geopolitical worries over the Middle East and North Korea stoked safe haven demand. Spot gold was steady at $1,287.40 per ounce by 0545 GMT in muted trade due to a public holiday in many countries. Bullion prices hit their highest since early November at $1,288.64 an ounce the session before. The metal was on track for its biggest weekly gain since late-April last year, up about 2.7 percent this week. "Everyone is nervous about the (geo-political) situation at the moment and nobody wants to sell gold, so it is pretty firm this week," said Yuichi Ikemizu, head of commodity trading at Standard Bank in Tokyo. "People do not want to hold any positions over the weekend since many markets are closed." U.S. gold futures were up 0.9 percent at $1,290.10. Gold on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was also at a 5-month peak. Gold, often seen as an alternative investment during times of political and financial uncertainty, benefitted from the risk-averse sentiment in the market. The dollar nursed losses on Friday, on track for a losing week as continuing tensions in North Korea underpinned the perceived safe-haven Japanese currency. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that North Korea is a problem that "will be taken care of", as China urged caution and speculation rose that Pyongyang might be on the verge of a sixth nuclear test. The U.S. military said on Thursday that it dropped "the mother of all bombs," the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State on Thursday denied a Syrian army report it had carried out an air strike that had hit poison gas supplies belonging to IS and caused the deaths of hundreds of people. The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid unexpectedly fell last week and consumer sentiment rose early this month. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.77 percent to 848.92 tonnes on Thursday. Among other precious metals, spot silver inched 0.1-percent higher at $18.51 an ounce, after touching a five-month high of $18.599 in the previous session. Platinum was up 0.2 percent at $970.65 while palladium was down 0.1 percent at $794.08. (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Joseph Radford and Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idINKBN17G0E4'|'2017-04-14T14:06:00.000+03:00' '2fe1bf647251f6d8ef5056860693243d0b4ccd9d'|'Irish annual inflation hits four-year high of 0.7 percent in March'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 11:32am BST Irish annual inflation hits four-year high of 0.7 percent in March DUBLIN Ireland''s annual inflation rate hit its highest level in almost four years in March when prices rose 0.7 percent both on a monthly and year-on-year basis, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday. Consumer prices last rose at that pace in July 2013, while Ireland was still in an international bailout and before a sharp economic recovery took off. Inflation has since remained broadly flat in the European Union''s fastest growing economy. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP), which strips out mortgages, climbed 0.5 percent on the month and 0.3 percent on the year. The finance ministry forecast this week that HICP would grow by 0.6 percent in 2017 and 1.2 percent in 2018. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-inflation-idUKKBN17F18Y'|'2017-04-13T18:32:00.000+03:00' '53167c5cca7484bbd2c845011e312c4eaedca6bb'|'Exclusive: Lightower Fiber Networks explores sale - sources'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 8:45pm BST Exclusive: Lightower Fiber Networks explores sale - sources By Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis Lightower Fiber Networks is exploring a sale that its private equity owners hope will value the high-speed internet U.S. infrastructure company at more than $7 billion, including debt, according to sources familiar with the matter. The sale process comes just as growing demand from U.S. businesses for fast data transfers has fuelled a revival in fibre-optic services and has driven many telecommunications providers to find ways to expand their reach. Lightower is working with investment banks Evercore Partners Inc ( EVP.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ) on an auction for the Boxborough, Massachusetts-based company, which is still at its early stages, the sources said this week. CenturyLink ( CTL.N ), Zayo Group Holdings ( ZAYO.N ) and Crown Castle International Corp ( CCI.N ) are among business communications services and infrastructure companies that are expected to consider whether to make an offer for Lightower, the sources added. Lightower may choose to pursue an initial public offering if the acquisition offers it receives do not meet its valuation expectations, one of the sources added. The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Lightower, Evercore, CenturyLink, Zayo and Crown Castle did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Citi declined to comment. Companies in the sector are seeking scale to cope with heavier internet traffic coming from businesses. CenturyLink Inc agreed to buy Level 3 Communications ( LVLT.N ) for $34 billion last year, adding 200,000 miles (321,870 km) of fibre to its network. Lightower connects business clients to larger networks, allowing data and internet traffic to be transmitted at ultra-fast speeds through thin filaments of glass. Its network spans more than 33,000 fibre route miles and serves the financial services industry, as well as government clients over its network in the Northeastern United States. Formed by private equity firm Berkshire Partners LLC, Lightower been an industry consolidator itself. It bought Fibertech Networks LLC in 2015 for $1.9 billion, in an all-cash deal. Berkshire Partners led an acquisition and merger of enterprise telecommunications service providers Lightower and another company, Sidera Networks, in 2013, in a deal valued at more than $2 billion. Pamlico Capital, an investor in Lightower, and ABRY Partners LLC, an investor in Sidera, took minority stakes in the combined companies. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lightower-m-a-idUKKBN17F2JF'|'2017-04-14T03:45:00.000+03:00' '8d0c86a89a90d47af0260eccef8aaa02cb733cfb'|'UPDATE 1-Europe''s ATR says completes deal selling 20 planes to IranAir'|' 31am EDT UPDATE 1-Europe''s ATR says completes deal selling 20 planes to IranAir (Adds details, official comment) By Tim Hepher PARIS, April 13 European turboprop manufacturer ATR said on Thursday it had completed a deal to sell 20 ATR 72-600 aircraft to IranAir, part of the national carrier''s effort to modernise its creaking fleet following a pact with world powers to ease sanctions. Iran''s deputy transport minister told an Iranian news agency on Monday the contract had been signed but an ATR official at the time said elements were still being finalised. ATR and Iranian officials said the final contract was signed on Thursday in Tehran. The planemaker, jointly owned by France-based Airbus and Italian company Leonardo, said the deal granted IranAir options to buy 20 more planes. The main part of the deal is worth $536 million at list prices and will allow rapid delivery of the first four aircraft from Toulouse, France, where they have been sitting for weeks while details of the contract were ironed out. Commercial aircraft are typically sold at a discount. It follows deals between IranAir and plane giants Airbus and Boeing for 180 passenger jets, the first three of which - built at Airbus factories in Europe - have already been in delivered. Iran wants to reopen for business after decades of sanctions. Under a 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers, Iran secured an easing of sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear technology programme. The 70-seat ATR''s will serve secondary cities inside Iran, as the government of President Hassan Rouhani seeks to showcase what it sees as economic benefits of the nuclear deal before a May presidential election. Hardline Iranian media and some prominent hardline figures have criticised the plane deals as a waste of resources at a time of continued hardship for many Iranians. Aviation sources say the ATR deal had hung in the balance for weeks amid negotiations over spare engines and maintenance of the Canadian-built engines. Iran''s aircraft deals have also been hampered by the reluctance of many Western banks to take part because of U.S. funding restrictions that remain in force. Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told the Mehr news agency that ATR would provide the finance for the first eight airplanes and would absorb part of the cost if Iran was unable to finance the purchase. IranAir Chairman Farhad Parvaresh was quoted on Iran''s official news agency IRNA as saying ATR would also help with pilot training and technical support. (Additional reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/atr-aircraft-idUSL8N1HL2H1'|'2017-04-13T20:31:00.000+03:00' 'f011b0cae3465f11570a94e1cd64f426164e053b'|'Transfer market: A different approach to mobile money in Africa'|'WITH her phone in one hand and a live chicken in the other, Brenda Deeomba comes for her money. Her husband is a builder in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, and sends his wages home through Zoona, a money-transfer company. She receives them at a roadside booth in Chongwe, a nearby town, using a PIN number sent to her phone. It is a safe way to get the money, says Ms Deeomba, above muffled squawks.Money-transfer businesses are proliferating in Africa. But Zoona is unusual. Unlike M-PESA, the best-known, in Kenya, it is not run by a phone company. Nor is it owned by a bank. Instead, Zoona has built a business from scratch. It processed $200m in transactions last year and bubbles with ambition: Mike Quinn, its (Canadian) chief executive, talks of reaching 1bn customers. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Zoona was founded in Zambia in 2009 by two brothers, Brad and Brett Magrath. As a startup, they were at a disadvantage, having to recruit their own agents. Zoona did so by seeing them as its core customers, giving them credit and training to set up their own franchises. Some are impressively successful. In central Lusaka, Misozi Mkandawire presides over an empire of kiosks. She started with Zoona while at college. Her profits can now reach 50,000 kwacha ($5,200) a month. That is exceptional. Last year the average agent made $548 in monthly commission, before costs. Globally, nearly half of mobile-money agents have not processed a transaction for a month; 97% of Zoona agents do so every day.The right location helps. Zoona puts its lime-green booths in canny places, like markets, bus stations and even a hospital. They are often flanked by booths for Airtel and MTN, two phone companies offering similar services. Zoona is not the cheapest—the sender pays about 10% on small transactions—but competes on coverage and reliability: for example, ensuring its agents have enough float to cash large amounts.Last year Zoona raised $15m from investors. Its outlets now dot streets in Malawi and Mozambique, and it has plans for the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such “third-party” operators are also thriving elsewhere: Wari, in Senegal, is not just competing with phone companies, but buying one. In most places mobile giants and a few banks still dominate, but maybe not for ever.This article appeared in the Finance and economics "Transfer market"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21720624-startup-takes-banks-and-mobile-operators-different-approach-mobile?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:50:00.000+03:00' '6fdff62141eefe0fdd472bf9134ed08f7ffb3235'|'UPDATE 1-BOK holds rates for 10th mth as N.Korea event, U.S. Treasury report awaited'|'Company News 9:20pm EDT UPDATE 1-BOK holds rates for 10th mth as N.Korea event, U.S. Treasury report awaited (Adds detail, analyst quote) * BOK keeps rates at 1.25 pct (Reuters poll 1.25 pct) * Central bank wary over U.S. Treasury report, North Korea * Pyongyang tells reporters to prepare for "big, important" event * Economic forecast revisions due later By Christine Kim and Cynthia Kim SEOUL, April 13 South Korea''s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a 10th straight month on Thursday, wary of geopolitical risks around North Korea and ahead of a much-anticipated U.S. Treasury report on foreign currency policy. The Bank of Korea''s monetary policy committee held its base rate steady at 1.25 percent, a media official said without elaborating. Governor Lee Ju-yeol is due to hold a news conference from 11:20 a.m. (0220 GMT). All 21 analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll before the decision forecast the Bank of Korea would leave the base rate unchanged on Thursday. A majority of analysts see the central bank on hold for the rest of the year and some see tightening beginning next year. The central bank will release quarterly revisions to its economic forecasts later in the day. "We''ll have to see what the reasoning was behind the rate decision and whether Lee''s comments change from his previous remarks but at this stage I don''t think the BOK''s rate stance will change," said Choi Un-sun, a fixed-income analyst at Cape Investment & Securities. Choi also sees the BOK standing pat until year-end. Markets shrugged off the interest rate announcement, with the won and stocks up slightly and futures on three-year treasury bonds rising 0.09 points to trade at 109.49. Market players were keeping a close eye on movements in North Korea, where visiting foreign journalists were gathered in Pyongyang for "a big and important event" early on Thursday. Analysts have said any revisions to the BOK''s forecasts were likely to be minimal, although considering recent positive indicators such as exports and inflation, the BOK could upgrade its growth outlook. The BOK and the finance ministry are awaiting the April 13 release of a semi-annual U.S. Treasury report on the currency policies of its major trading partners, which includes South Korea. Policymakers have fretted over whether South Korea will be named as a currency manipulator in the report although on balance they are confident it is unlikely. Consumer price growth in South Korea picked up at the fastest pace in nearly five years in March as the prices of fresh food and services rose, signalling a rebound in domestic demand after months of weakening consumer sentiment amid a corruption scandal that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye. Rising household debt also remains an issue for the central bank, as previous interest rate cuts by the Bank of Korea have been identified as a key reason behind feverish borrowing. The BOK did not hold a rate-setting meeting in March as it has reduced the number of such meetings starting this year to eight from 12. (Additional reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-economy-rates-idUSL3N1H736Q'|'2017-04-13T09:20:00.000+03:00' 'db74063622f95308833a3937d9e0a17f0e8c1c76'|'Self-driving ''arms race'' complicates supplier alliances'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 12:11am EDT Self-driving ''arms race'' complicates supplier alliances FILE PHOTO - A company logo on BOSCH building is pictured at the company''s new research and advance development centre Campus Renningen during a guided media tour in Renningen, Germany, September 30, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo By Edward Taylor and Paul Lienert - FRANKFURT/DETROIT FRANKFURT/DETROIT The race to develop and exploit autonomous vehicle technology is reshaping the hierarchy of the automotive industry, replacing traditional top-down manufacturing relationships with complex webs of alliances and acquisitions. Dealmaking in the automotive and technology industry is driven by the rapid transition of self-driving vehicles from research projects to major elements of near-term product plans at several of the world''s biggest automakers. That shift is behind deals like one announced last week between Robert Bosch and Daimler AG''s ( DAIGn.DE ) Mercedes. Bosch and Mercedes said they will collaborate on development of self-driving vehicles, with Bosch in a broad role as a systems integrator — sort of a copilot with the automaker in speeding up deployment of self-driving vehicles. Bosch also expects to sell the jointly developed systems to other companies. Separately, Silicon Valley chipmaker Intel Corp ( INTC.O ) acquired automotive vision technology leader Mobileye NV ( MBLY.N ), and has a deal to help German luxury car maker BMW AG ( BMWG.DE ) develop autonomous vehicles around Intel and Mobileye systems. The first fully self-driving cars are expected to go into production by 2020-2021. Analysts have said self-driving cars will not be in wide use before 2030. "Everybody is trying to understand what skill sets are required to be first in the game (and) if they don’t have it, they’re going to partner, invest or purchase,” said Xavier Mosquet, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group and an authority on autonomous vehicles. Major auto companies are rich in engineers schooled in the physics of combustion and collisions, materials science and mechanical systems. The development of self-driving cars demands experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, computer programing and digital networks who work mainly outside the auto industry. Automakers are following different paths to acquire engineering talent. Some are relying on partnerships like the Bosch-Mercedes pact. Others such as General Motors Co ( GM.N ) are going it alone, buying self-driving vehicle startups and building technology in-house. Alphabet Inc’s ( GOOGL.O ) Waymo and auto supplier Delphi Automotive Plc ( DLPH.N ) are offering turn-key systems to companies such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCHA.MI ) ( FCAU.N ) that are choosing not to invest in their own autonomous driving systems. COPILOT APPROACH Some of the car companies and large suppliers could wind up as competitors. BMW has said it wants to sell its self-driving systems to other manufacturers, as does Delphi, which is developing a system of its own. Intel and Mobileye are partners in both ventures. The Dutch provider of high-definition maps, HERE, has taken a position at the center for several supplier webs. HERE is jointly owned by Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen AG’s ( VOWG_p.DE ) Audi. Intel owns a minority stake in HERE, and rival chipmaker Nvidia Corp ( NVDA.O ) has a partnership deal. Nvidia itself wants to be a provider of powerful computer chips and “deep learning” software for self-driving cars to a broad array of customers, including rivals such as Mercedes and Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ), competing mega-suppliers such as Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Chinese tech companies Baidu Inc ( BIDU.O ) and Tencent Holdings Ltd ( 0700.HK ) (For a graphic on self-driving vehicles see: tmsnrt.rs/2nYv7gc ) The vehicle manufacturers are divided on how much self-driving development and integration to farm out to the parts makers, or whether to keep most of that in-house - as they have done for decades with much of their core engine technology. “At the moment, the carmaker is at an advantage since it knows how the components all fit together," said Mercedes executive Christoph von Hugo. BCG’s Mosquet believes the industry may not settle on a single template for collaboration, given the complexity of autonomous vehicles and their underlying technology. "These different approaches will have to pass the test of time," he said. “In two or three years, we will see who has been successful with which approach.” (Reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-suppliers-idUSKBN17F0EZ'|'2017-04-13T12:01:00.000+03:00' '225fef0fcbc9459825ac563c0ef610f9780c8f36'|'Brazil court suspends Petrobras oilfield sale to Statoil'|'SAO PAULO A Brazilian court has ordered state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ) to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Norway''s Statoil ASA ( STL.OL ) after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process.Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a securities filing on Monday that the deal for its stake in the BM-S-8 region known as the Carcara field was approved by regulators.Half of the $2.5 billion in proceeds were due when the deal closed in November, and the company said it had used those funds to repay debts. Petrobras said it would take legal measures to defend its interests.The sale of the 66 percent stake in the offshore prospect was the first major pre-salt asset sold as part of a divestment plan that now aims to raise $21 billion in two years for Petrobras to pay down its debts.The National Federation of Oil Workers said it had filed the lawsuit because Petrobras, as a state-controlled enterprise, is required to hold an open bid for any asset sale.A Statoil representative said the Norwegian firm would not comment on the matter because it had not received an official notice of the decision.(Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/petrobras-divestiture-statoil-idINKBN17K04E'|'2017-04-17T23:25:00.000+03:00' '47aa9fca8de8e51ea4bce4252e98c4f24ae595e4'|'Nestle confirms outlook as first quarter sales growth slows'|' 41am BST Nestle confirms outlook as first slows The Nestle logo is pictured on the company headquarters entrance building in Vevey, Switzerland February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy/File Photo ZURICH Food group Nestle ( NESN.S ) confirmed it aims to grow underlying sales by 2-4 percent this year after growth slowed in the first quarter, hit by weak consumer demand for packaged foods and a deflationary environment. Underlying "organic" sales growth at the maker of Buitoni pasta and Maggi soups slowed to 2.3 percent in the first quarter, from 3.9 percent in the year-ago period that included one more trading day and an earlier Easter, the group based in Vevey on Lake Geneva said in a statement on Thursday. This was in line with forecasts in a Reuters poll. Consumer goods groups face challenges as increasingly health-conscious consumers often prefer fresh produce to packaged foods, pushing the world''s biggest food group to make its products healthier by cutting back on sugar, salt and fat and build up the business of foods with health benefits. (Reporting by Silke Koltrowitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nestle-results-idUKKBN17M0GS'|'2017-04-20T13:41:00.000+03:00' '6e9444ecdf4e5b56b779df830948918d11bf8bdc'|'United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane'|'Aerospace & Defense - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 9:15pm EDT United changes crew booking policy after passenger dragged off plane A United Airline Airbus A320 aircraft lands at O''Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski United Airlines said on Friday it is changing its policy on booking its own flight crews onto its planes after a man was dragged off an overbooked flight to make way for a United employee on Sunday, video of which went viral and made the airline the target of global criticism and ridicule. The airline, owned by United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ), said it would make sure crews traveling on their aircraft are booked into seats at least 60 minutes before departure, in an emailed statement. It said the new policy would ensure that a situation in which a passenger is forcibly removed from a plane does not occur again. United said the change is an initial step as it reviews policies in order to "deliver the best customer experience." The passenger ejected from the plane, David Dao, suffered a significant concussion, a broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident, and he will need reconstructive surgery, according to his attorney, Thomas Demetrio, who has signaled that Dao will likely sue the airline. United''s board on Friday apologized to Dao and his family, and said it stands behind Chief Executive Oscar Munoz, who has been under fire in the wake of the incident. Munoz has said he has no plans to resign. Even before this week, Munoz was under pressure from activist investors to improve the airline''s performance, including its customer relations. In an unrelated yet bizarre incident, a United passenger complained that a scorpion stung him during a flight from Texas, also on Sunday. A physician on the ground assured the crew that "it was not a life-threatening matter," United spokeswoman Maddie King said in an email on Friday, adding that the airline is "reaching out to the customer to apologize and discuss the matter." (Reporting by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-crew-idUSKBN17H00M'|'2017-04-15T09:15:00.000+03:00' '9f1695b194f3a148635c907f3f7881385896f5a0'|'Hackers release files indicating NSA monitored global bank transfers'|'By Clare Baldwin Hackers released documents and files on Friday that cybersecurity experts said indicated the U.S. National Security Agency had accessed the SWIFT interbank messaging system, allowing it to monitor money flows among some Middle Eastern and Latin American banks.The release included computer code that could be adapted by criminals to break into SWIFT servers and monitor messaging activity, said Shane Shook, a cyber security consultant who has helped banks investigate breaches of their SWIFT systems.The documents and files were released by a group calling themselves The Shadow Brokers. Some of the records bear NSA seals, but Reuters could not confirm their authenticity.The NSA could not immediately be reached for comment.Also published were many programs for attacking various versions of the Windows operating system, at least some of which still work, researchers said.In a statement to Reuters, Microsoft ( MSFT.O ), maker of Windows, said it had not been warned by any part of the U.S. government that such files existed or had been stolen."Other than reporters, no individual or organization has contacted us in relation to the materials released by Shadow Brokers," the company said.The absence of warning is significant because the NSA knew for months about the Shadow Brokers breach, officials previously told Reuters. Under a White House process established by former President Barack Obama''s staff, companies were usually warned about dangerous flaws.Shook said criminal hackers could use the information released on Friday to hack into banks and steal money in operations mimicking a heist last year of $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank."The release of these capabilities could enable fraud like we saw at Bangladesh Bank," Shook said.The SWIFT messaging system is used by banks to transfer trillions of dollars each day. Belgium-based SWIFT downplayed the risk of attacks employing the code released by hackers on Friday.SWIFT said it regularly releases security updates and instructs client banks on how to handle known threats."We mandate that all customers apply the security updates within specified times," SWIFT said in a statement.SWIFT said it had no evidence that the main SWIFT network had ever been accessed without authorization.It was possible that the local messaging systems of some SWIFT client banks had been breached, SWIFT said in a statement, which did not specifically mention the NSA.When cyberthieves robbed the Bangladesh Bank last year, they compromised that bank''s local SWIFT network to order money transfers from its account at the New York Federal Reserve.The documents released by the Shadow Brokers on Friday indicate that the NSA may have accessed the SWIFT network through service bureaus. SWIFT service bureaus are companies that provide an access point to the SWIFT system for the network''s smaller clients and may send or receive messages regarding money transfers on their behalf.“If you hack the service bureau, it means that you also have access to all of their clients, all of the banks," said Matt Suiche, founder of the United Arab Emirates-based cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, who has studied the Shadow Broker releases and believes the group has access to NSA files.The documents posted by the Shadow Brokers include Excel files listing computers on a service bureau network, user names, passwords and other data, Suiche said.“That''s information you can only get if you compromise the system," he said.ATTEMPT TO MONITOR FLOW OF MONEYCris Thomas, a prominent security researcher with the cybersecurity firm Tenable, said the documents and files released by the Shadow Brokers show “the NSA has been able to compromise SWIFT banking systems, presumably as a way to monitor, if not disrupt, financial transactions to terrorists groups”.Since the early 1990s, interrupting the flow of money from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere to al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other militant Islamic groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries has been a major objective of U.S. and allied intelligence agencies.Mustafa Al-Bassam, a computer science researcher at University College London, said on Twitter that the Shadow Brokers documents show that the "NSA hacked a bunch of banks, oil and investment companies in Palestine, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Yemen, more."He added that NSA "completely hacked" EastNets, one of two SWIFT service bureaus named in the documents that were released by the Shadow Brokers.Reuters could not independently confirm that EastNets had been hacked.EastNets, based in Dubai, denied it had been hacked in a statement, calling the assertion "totally false and unfounded."EastNets ran a "complete check of its servers and found no hacker compromise or any vulnerabilities," according to a statement from EastNets'' chief executive and founder, Hazem Mulhim.In 2013, documents released by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden said the NSA had been able to monitor SWIFT messages.The agency monitored the system to spot payments intended to finance crimes, according to the documents released by Snowden.Reuters could not confirm whether the documents released Friday by the Shadow Brokers, if authentic, were related to NSA monitoring of SWIFT transfers since 2013.Some of the documents released by the Shadow Brokers were dated 2013, but others were not dated.The documents released by the hackers did not clearly indicate whether the NSA had actually used all the techniques cited for monitoring SWIFT messages.(Additional reporting by Tom Bergin in London; Dustin Volz and John Walcott in Washington; Joseph Menn in San Franciso; and Jim Finkle in Buffalo, New York.; Editing by Brian Thevenot and Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-swift-idINKBN17G1HC'|'2017-04-14T22:52:00.000+03:00' '328bf09d8df3386c9d25a01de11d8c2b6deb85d2'|'BOK keeps rates unchanged for 10th month, in line with forecasts'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 2:04am BST BOK keeps rates unchanged for 10th month, in line with forecasts SEOUL South Korea''s central bank kept interest rates unchanged for a 10th straight month on Thursday, wary of geopolitical risks around North Korea and ahead of a much-anticipated U.S. Treasury report on foreign currency policy. The Bank of Korea''s monetary policy committee held its base rate KROCRT=ECI steady at 1.25 percent, a media official said without elaborating. Governor Lee Ju-yeol is due to hold a news conference from 11:20 a.m. (0220 GMT). All 21 analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll before the decision forecast the Bank of Korea would leave the base rate unchanged on Thursday, while a majority agreed the BOK would leave rates untouched through year-end. The BOK did not hold a rate-setting meeting in March as it has reduced the number of such meetings to eight from 12 starting this year. (Reporting by Christine Kim and Cynthia Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-economy-rates-idUKKBN17F042'|'2017-04-13T09:04:00.000+03:00' 'c86d843645825a8ef75be2409d21984a4f7d0e34'|'Yancoal says Australia government clears Rio coal sale'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 12:36am BST Yancoal says Australia government clears Rio coal sale FILE PHOTO - A sign adorns the building where mining company Rio Tinto has their office in Perth, Western Australia, November 19, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo SYDNEY Australia''s foreign investment watchdog has cleared Chinese- backed coal miner Yancoal Australia Ltd ( YAL.AX ) to pursue its $2.45 billion acquisition of Rio Tinto''s ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ) Coal and Allied Division, Yancoal said on Thursday. The approval by Australia''s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) marked a critical milestone for Yancoal, representing the government''s support for investment in the resources sector, Yancoal said. Yancoal said it expects to complete the deal in the third quarter of 2017. Its purchase of the Rio Tinto coal assets had not led to any political controversy in Australia. FIRB has yet to approve a A$7.37 billion bid for utility firm DUET Group ( DUE.AX ) led by Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) ( 1038.HK ). DUET’s assets include a state electricity grid. CKI and China’s State Grid Corp last year had their bid for a larger state electricity grid, Ausgrid, rejected by the Australian government based on unspecified national security concerns. Australia in January set up a new body to vet foreign investment in critical infrastructure assets, which include power grids but not coal mines. (Reporting by James Regan and Jamie Freed; Editing by Sandra Maler and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rio-tinto-yancoal-idUKKBN17E2YC'|'2017-04-13T07:21:00.000+03:00' '07d04bf9954d07c058c1d7fe217fb0a6566b8367'|'Crude oil eases for second day on rising U.S. inventories'|'Global Energy News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 1:56am BST Crude oil eases for second day on rising U.S. inventories A general view of a crude oil importing port in Qingdao, Shandong province, in this November 9, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer/Files SINGAPORE Crude oil futures slid for a second session on Thursday, moving away from a one-month high touched in the last session as rising U.S. inventories stoked worries about global oversupply. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 slid 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $55.62 a barrel in early Asian trade. The market climbed to a one-month high of $56.65 on Wednesday before losing ground. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were down 23 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $52.88 a barrel. They touched their highest since March 7 at $53.76 barrel in the last session. Traders focussed on preliminary U.S. production estimates in the weekly Energy Information Administration (EIA) report that suggested domestic output is still climbing. The report also showed stockpiles at the U.S. crude hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose 276,000 barrels in the week. "U.S. oil production rose to the highest level in over a year, leaving oil prices weaker on the day after the U.S. EIA released its data," ANZ said in a note. "U.S. production rose 36,000 barrels per day, the most since January 2016 and the Baker Hughes rig count of 672 is the highest since August 2015." Brent and WTI have rallied in recent sessions after Saudi Arabia was reported to be pushing fellow OPEC members and some rivals to prolong supply cuts beyond June. OPEC and other producers, including Russia, agreed late in November to curb output by around 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to rein in oversupply. The U.S. data followed bullish reports from OPEC nations, which said they had cut March output beyond measures they had promised, according to figures the group published in a monthly report, as it sticks to an effort to clear a glut that has weighed on prices. However, OPEC also raised its forecast for supplies from non-member countries in 2017 as higher prices encourage U.S. shale drillers to pump more, reducing demand for OPEC''s oil this year. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17F03I'|'2017-04-13T08:56:00.000+03:00' '0d950117f24c87532f91d9d287f8778e778a57e4'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 13'|'April 13 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The TimesKPMG has fired its top auditor in United States and four other partners for "unethical behaviour" in connection with leaked information that gave them advance warning of the audits that a U.S. watchdog was about to inspect. bit.ly/2o890mFMore than a quarter of British employers have experienced a fall in job applications from European Union workers since last June''s Brexit referendum, according to Reed, the jobs website. bit.ly/2o86ddvThe GuardianThe average number of homes for sale by each estate agent has fallen to a record low, with agents in parts of the country gloomier than at any time since the financial crash, according to a report by the surveyor''s professional body. bit.ly/2o87OjkThe government is under mounting pressure to take strong action on rising energy bills after one of the "big six" suppliers imposed its second price hike this year on 1.5 million customers. bit.ly/2o7YPP5The TelegraphThe European Commission has warned that a 750 million pound ($941.18 million) plan that will allow Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc to abandon a troublesome sale of its Williams & Glyn business could eventually deal a 1.5 billion pound hit to the taxpayer-backed lender. bit.ly/2o87zoyDulux owner Akzo Nobel NV has reported one of its leading investors to financial regulators as the fallout continues over U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc''s failed attempts to take over the Dutch giant. bit.ly/2o89UQnSky NewsA 1 billion-pound-plus Chinese takeover of Doncasters Group, one of the UK''s oldest engineering firms, has been called off amid U.S. security concerns over the company''s defence operations. bit.ly/2o8fL81Britain''s biggest care home operator, Four Seasons Health Care, is preparing to sell its mental health division as part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at securing the company''s long-term financial security. bit.ly/2o8bT6WThe IndependentInternational flight bookings to the UK have increased by 49 percent for the Easter holiday period, which falls between 31 March and 14 April, compared to the same holiday period last year, according to data by eDreams ODIGEO, one of Europe''s largest e-commerce businesses and owner of online travel agency eDreams. ind.pn/2o7OiDE ($1 = 0.7969 pounds) (Compiled by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idUSL1N1HL00N'|'2017-04-13T04:27:00.000+03:00' 'c16678ddbe0a617c115540e2cf5e8b83b58393b8'|'Western Digital says Toshiba chip unit sale violates joint venture contract'|'Deals 54am BST Western Digital says Toshiba chip unit sale violates joint venture contract A Western Digital office building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Makiko Yamazaki - TOKYO TOKYO Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ) has warned Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) that splitting off its chip unit prior to a planned sale of the business violates their joint chip venture contract and that it wouldn''t sit idly by while Toshiba runs roughshod over its rights. Western Digital, which operates a chip plant with Toshiba in Japan, said the split-off is "very serious breach of joint venture agreements," according to a letter sent by the California-based company to Toshiba and seen by Reuters. The objection is likely to complicate the sale of the prized unit - the world''s second-biggest producer of NAND chips which Toshiba has valued at around $18 billion. A spokeswoman for Toshiba was not immediately available to comment. Western Digital also said that the auction process was not in the best interests of Toshiba stakeholders and that it wanted to enter into exclusive talks with the Japanese conglomerate. Rumored bids of between 2 trillion yen to 3 trillion yen ($18 billion to $27 billion) were well above the fair and supportable value of the chip business, it added in the letter which was dated April 9. It also said that each of the rumored bidders are highly problematic for both Japan and the joint ventures and specifically named Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ), saying that it had grave concerns based on recent commercial dealings with them. Toshiba, which expects to book an annual net loss of 1 trillion yen ($9 billion) for this business year on a writedown at nuclear unit Westinghouse, has said it is selling most or even all of the chip business to help cover the charges and create a buffer for future losses that threaten the conglomerate''s future. ($1 = 109.7100 yen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-chips-idUKKBN17E0OG'|'2017-04-12T15:50:00.000+03:00' '1fdff6299cca60478164feab0aa01e5e3b108b67'|'Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 9:23am BST Xi stamp of approval fuels frenzied hopes for new China economic zone left right A worker packs pipelines onto a truck at a local plastic pipe factory in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture take on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 1/19 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 2/19 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 3/19 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 4/19 left right A banner warning illegal property purchase is placed on the gates of a closed sales office of a property after the government banned new property sales in counties earmarked as part of a new special economic zone in Rongcheng county, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 5/19 left right A local villager drives a vehicle carrying building materials in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 6/19 left right A woman and a girl walk toward the government building of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 7/19 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng drives a motor tricycle carrying his friends on a main road in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 8/19 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 9/19 left right A local villager is pictured on the back of a vehicle in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 10/19 left right Local 17-year-old Liu Zhipeng (C) speaks to Reuters about his idea for the new special economic zone in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 11/19 left right Tombs are seen in the field on the outskirts of Rongcheng county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 12/19 left right A banner warning illegal land occupancy is placed on a wall in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 13/19 left right A banner supporting the government''s decision of banning new property sales is placed outside a closed sales office of a property in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 14/19 left right A woman works at Tongfa shoe factory in Santai town of Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 15/19 left right People are transported by a boat at Baiyangdian Lake in Anxin county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 16/19 left right Zhao Xiaodong, a local business owner of Jitong plastic pipe factory, is pictured at his villa in Donghegang village on the outskirts of Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 17/19 left right A man stands next to tombs in the field on the outskirts of Rongcheng county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 18/19 left right A woman is carried by a motor tricycle on a main road in Xiongxian county, one part of the new special economic zone Xiong''an New Area, Hebei province, China, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 19/19 By Yawen Chen and Elias Glenn - XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING XIONGXIAN, China/BEIJING Like many residents of Xiongxian county, a polluted corner of Hebei province, 17-year-old Liu Zipeng has been giddy with excitement since China announced plans this month for a vast new economic zone backed by President Xi Jinping himself. "I am so happy - I don''t need to move to Beijing or worry about getting a wife anymore," Liu said with a laugh. Such are the hopes for the area, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Beijing, that authorities quickly banned property sales to quash a speculative frenzy. While China has set high expectations by touting the Xiongan New Area as a successor to zones in Shenzhen and Shanghai that helped make China an economic powerhouse, the force of Xi''s endorsement could help it flourish where other new development areas failed to match the hype. In a sign of Beijing''s intent, Xu Qin, the former mayor and Communist party boss for Shenzhen, was named acting governor of Hebei province on Friday, with analysts saying it is likely he will be tapped to lead development of Xiongan. Once a sleepy fishing village, Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, became an economic juggernaut after being declared a special economic zone in 1980. Details for Xiongan, planned eventually to stretch across 2,000 square kilometres, an area almost as big as Tokyo, remain sketchy. It is pitched as an environmentally friendly city housing some of Beijing''s relocated "non-capital functions", with hopes to attract high-tech industries. Nearly 30 large state enterprises including PetroChina ( 601857.SS ) and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp have expressed interest, though no specific relocation plans have been announced. The three counties that make up the area, Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng, are home to about a million people as well as wheat fields, light manufacturing and heavy pollution - endemic in much of Hebei. But unlike Shenzhen and Shanghai''s Pudong, the development of Xiongan is not expected to be accompanied by major economic reforms, and its landlocked setting is a transportation disadvantage. "Natural market forces would probably not have chosen this place. But if the central government backs it with unlimited resources, it could become whatever it wants to be," said Steven McCord, head of research for North China at real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle. The plan fits into a broader regional integration push for the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and Hebei province, dubbed Jing-Jin-Ji, which has been spearheaded by Xi since 2015 to tackle the "big city disease" plaguing Beijing, a crowded and polluted city of 22 million. But Jing-Jin-Ji''s progress has been slower than hoped. "It''s been hard to get traction getting Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei to work together seamlessly," McCord said. Xiongan could be a political and geographical "clean slate" to generate more jobs and economic stimulus for North China, he said. Xi himself visited Anxin county in late February, which only became public when China announced plans for Xiongan on April 1. Morgan Stanley''s base scenario foresees 133 billion yuan (£15.45 billion) in additional fixed asset investment annually over 15 years to build Xiongan, equivalent to just 0.24 percent of China''s 56.2 trillion yuan of nationwide fixed asset investment last year. MIXED RECORD While the Shenzhen and Shanghai economic zones thrived, some similar schemes in China have fallen short of expectations. Caofeidian, also in Hebei, was promoted by former President Hu Jintao as a new industrial zone in 2008, but development foundered as debt accumulated. Authorities have been trying to give Caofeidian another push to upgrade its industries to become a driver of Jing-Jin-Ji''s integration, but competition among provinces has been a drag on progress. "Caofeidian had central government support, but it was a long way from being a national-level special economic zone. Its importance was definitely not at the same level that Xiongan is seeing now," said He Jun, head of macroeconomic research at Anbound Consulting. "Xiongan''s biggest advantage is that it has strong support from the central government." He remains doubtful that Xiongan will emulate Shanghai or Shenzhen due to its geography and the greater openness of China''s economy now, but the political leadership seems intent on making it succeed. Among the architects of the new project is Xu Kuangdi, the mayor of Shanghai in the late 90s who also heads the advisory committee for Jing-Jin-Ji. The leadership make-up is intended to ensure Xiongan would "escape past failures", said Liu Ying, a researcher at Renmin University''s Chong Yang Institute for Financial Studies. Not everyone in Anxin is cheered by the prospect. An Anxin restaurant owner in her 50s surnamed Liu said she checks social media constantly for updates, as she fears being forced out of the spacious villa built on her farmland. "I don''t think it is necessarily a good thing for me. Our lives are pretty good right now." Down a street next to fields of withered wheat, workers loaded a truck with plastic pipes, a major local industry. "The establishment of the new zone for sure will limit us further as we do pollute the environment to some degree," said Zhao Xiaodong, owner of Jitong Plastic. But most locals are optimistic. "If president Xi thinks it will be the next Shenzhen and Shanghai, then it will be," said Mrs Shi, a shop worker in Xiongxian. (For a graphic on China''s economic zones click here ) (Additional reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Tony Munroe and Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-xiongan-idUKKBN17E0U6'|'2017-04-12T16:23:00.000+03:00' 'abb88d0ce61d45a0bd4edfa217e6dbb4aa68e9f6'|'Deutsche Boerse reluctant to extend CEO contract after failed merger - sources'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 2:15pm BST Deutsche Boerse reluctant to extend CEO contract after failed merger - sources Carsten Kengeter, CEO of Deutsche Boerse attends the initial public offering of Scale at the Frankfurt stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski FRANKFURT Deutsche Boerse''s ( DB1Gn.DE ) supervisory board is reluctant to approve quickly an extension of Chief Executive Carsten Kengeter''s contract following the German exchange operator''s failed merger with the London Stock Exchange ( LSE.L ), two people close to the matter said. Carsten Kengeter''s contract as Chief Executive is due to expire in March 2018. German blue-chip firms usually renew board member contracts a year before they expire, but such a contract extension is not a priority for Deutsche Boerse''s directors, who are due to meet in late April, the sources said. Deutsche Boerse declined to comment on Kengeter''s possible contract extension. One of the main factors preventing Deutsche Boerse from giving Kengeter another full term is a pending investigation into insider trading, the sources said. German financial watchdog Bafin handed over the findings of an investigation into allegations of insider dealing against Kengeter to public prosecutors in February. Kengeter and Deutsche Boerse deny that a share purchase programme, awarded shortly before Deutsche Boerse announced merger talks with the LSE, amounted to anything improper. Some investors have already said that they would like Kengeter to be replaced if he is officially charged by public prosecutors. A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor''s office on Wednesday said it remained unclear how long the insider trading investigation would take to be concluded. The merger, which was the exchanges'' fifth attempt to combine, would have created Europe''s biggest stock exchange, but was struck down by European regulators after LSE failed to comply with a small antitrust-related demand. Kengeter has been criticised for underestimating the political dimension of the merger and failing to assure political backing in Germany. (Reporting by Kathrin Jones and Hans Seidenstücker; Writing by Arno Schuetze. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-boerse-management-idUKKBN17E1QF'|'2017-04-12T21:15:00.000+03:00' '56f9d037348db55dfac380d2e6a0181fcf5c9c1c'|'Staying the course, Duterte looks for the next best Philippine central bank chief - Reuters'|'By Karen Lema - MANILA MANILA Whoever is picked as the next Philippine central bank governor, it will be President Rodrigo Duterte''s second choice.Duterte is expected to announce as early as this month a new chief of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), after failing to get the much praised current governor, Amando Tetangco, to stay on for an unprecedented third term.The president is seen favoring someone who will continue Tetangco''s monetary policies and reforms that have kept the over $300 billion economy humming for years. And the four names widely floated as potential successors - two deputy central bank governors and two veteran bankers - were expected to do just that.The changing of the guard comes amid rising inflation, higher global interest rates and protectionism that could affect a key economic lifeline - the millions of Filipinos working abroad who send billions of dollars home."We are in an important juncture. While overheating risks seem manageable for now...the BSP needs to ensure that stability will be maintained in the longer run," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS, who believes the central bank will hike interest rates in May for the first time in 2-1/2 years.Duterte, who delegates economic management to his technocrats, has said he will "largely" listen to Finance Minister Carlos Dominguez and other political leaders when choosing Tetangco''s replacement.The firebrand leader, who has targeted 8 percent economic growth in the medium term, will also replace three other outgoing members of the monetary board, giving him a free hand in choosing a majority for the seven-member policy-making committee."This is probably the most important appointment President Duterte will make," Dominguez, who is leading the selection process, told Reuters late last month.MORE THAN QUALIFIEDThe main names being floated as possible successors were BSP deputy governors Diwa Guinigundo and Nestor Espenilla, former trade secretary Peter Favila, and East West Banking Corp ( EW.PS ) Chief Executive Antonio Moncupa.All the candidates are considered more than qualified to run the central bank, and wouldn''t radically alter Tetangco''s policies when he steps down in July, several top bank executives told Reuters."The policies put forward by Governor Tetangco and his team are lasting legacies," said an official at one of the Philippines'' top lenders."They are good policies that any incoming governor would benefit from. For us, one of the things we''re hoping for is continuity," said the official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.Without resorting to extreme policy measures, Tetangco has significantly brought down inflation, shored up foreign exchange reserves, and steered the economy through the 2008 global financial crisis, with the Philippines among the few Asian nations to have avoided recession.It was under his watch when Manila''s long history of junk-debt status ended. Fitch, S&P and Moody''s awarded the country with investment-grade status in 2013, owing to a strong external profile, low inflation and a shrinking budget deficit.Under Philippine law, Tetangco can only serve two six-year terms. He told Reuters in January, he preferred "someone with central banking background" to succeed him."The current strength of the economy owes much to the prudent policy path struck by Governor Tetangco and his team," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC."In the coming years, the Philippines faces some tough macroeconomic challenges, including maintaining exchange rate stability amid a falling current account surplus and preserving price stability amid surging demand."(Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-cenbank-idINKBN17D2TG'|'2017-04-11T21:05:00.000+03:00' 'd3ce30aed360bac982d2d6697364799fdcd58360'|'Broadcom makes highest first-round bid of $23 bln for Toshiba chip unit: source'|'By Taro Fuse - TOKYO TOKYO Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ) offered about 2.5 trillion yen ($23 billion) for Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip unit, the highest among 10 or so bidders who participated in the first round of offers, a source briefed on the matter said.Taiwan''s Foxconn ( 2317.TW ) made the second highest offer, of about 2 trillion yen, the source said, declining to be identified as he was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.Broadcom and Foxconn were among four suitors selected to proceed to the second round, several sources said, adding that Broadcom has partnered with U.S. private equity firm Silver Lake Partners LP.South Korea''s SK Hynix Inc ( 000660.KS ) and Toshiba''s chip joint venture partner Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ) are the other suitors, but Western Digital''s offer was far lower than those of Broadcom and Foxconn, the source said.The size of SK Hynix''s offer was not immediately known.Toshiba has said it needs to sell most or all of the prized business to cover charges related to U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric that threaten the Japanese conglomerate''s future.Representatives for Broadcom, Silver Lake, Foxconn and Western Digital could not be reached immediately for comment outside of regular business hours. A Toshiba spokeswoman declined to comment on the specifics of the sale process.(Reporting by Taro Fuse; Writing by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-chips-bids-idINKBN17E1JS'|'2017-04-12T10:17:00.000+03:00' 'c1b00712561783ec9b5415091cd590814ea967bb'|'Prada reports 15.9 percent fall in 2016 annual profit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 1:55pm BST Prada reports 15.9 percent fall in 2016 annual profit A woman cleans the brand logo at a Prada fashion boutique in Beijing, China, September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter HONG KONG Luxury fashion group Prada SpA ( 1913.HK ) on Wednesday reported a 15.9 percent fall in annual profit as global luxury spending remained soft and as it sold more accessible products in competitive market. In the year ended Jan. 31, Prada reported net income of 278.3 million euros (236.48 million pounds), down from 330.9 million euros a year earlier. Analysts were expecting net income of 296 million euros, according to Thomson Reuters SmartEstimate data. Prada''s shares have risen more than 30 percent so far this year, outpacing a 9 percent rise in the benchmark Index .HSI . In February, the Italian group said saw its sales accelerating in the past months, particularly in Greater China and Russia, pointing to an improving outlook after sales slumped last year. France''s LVMH ( LVMH.PA ), the world''s biggest luxury group, in January predicted a "relatively easy" first half of 2017, but warned the second half could be "more difficult". (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-prada-it-results-idUKKBN17E1NQ'|'2017-04-12T20:55:00.000+03:00' 'd380866a0de740df3e00275abe0044b583971ea2'|'Careful who you CC: Hedge fund Elliott accidentally emails AkzoNobel'|'By Toby Sterling - AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM Message from the front line of a takeover battle: even the smartest investors can make sloppy mistakes with a sensitive email.In a communication seen by Reuters, Gordon Singer of hedge fund Elliot Advisors accidentally included a representative of AkzoNobel ( AKZO.AS ) in an otherwise internal distribution list on Tuesday.Not just any email, but one in which Elliott''s team discussed tactics after privately informing Akzo it and other investors would seek to convene a meeting of Akzo shareholders to discuss the dismissal of Chairman Antony Burgmans due to his opposition to takeover talks with PPG Industries ( PPG.N )..Akzo has said PPG''s 24.6 billion euros ($26 billion) offer is not worth discussing further - a stance which has angered some shareholders who see scope for further talks between the two sides.The Singer email speculated on whether Akzo would make public the letter calling for Burgman''s dismissal and said shareholders would withdraw their call for a meeting if Burgmans did agree to talks with PPG. In a footnote, Singer instructed an Elliott employee to inform PPG that it had sent the letter to Akzo about the possible meeting.Akzo Nobel''s director of investor relations Lloyd Midwinter was mistakenly included as one of the addressees.In its response to the letter, Akzo said it fully backed the chairman. Perhaps having noticed the footnote to the email, Akzo also filed a complaint with the Dutch financial markets authority AFM, alleging PPG and Elliott may have engaged in improper sharing of sensitive information. It demanded to know what if any agreements exist between PPG and Elliott.Though it was not immediately clear what rules the U.S. company and the British fund might have violated, both felt obliged to respond. Elliott confirmed that it and other investors had been in contact with PPG.Elliott is "aware of its various regulatory obligations, including obligations related to handling price sensitive, or potentially price sensitive, information," it said in a statement.PPG "has always maintained its strict and long-standing policy of not sharing any material, non-public information and has acted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including those of the Netherlands, with respect to communications with any shareholders," it said."There has not been any, and there are currently no agreements or arrangements, in whatever form, between PPG and Elliott Advisors."AFM confirmed it had received a complaint from Akzo but declined to comment on whether it would take any action.(Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-email-idINKBN17E29M'|'2017-04-12T14:49:00.000+03:00' '60092a89fd47ec7aa62c18a7ec35c97228457d64'|'Staying the course, Duterte looks for the next best Philippine c.bank chief'|'Business 05pm EDT Staying the course, Duterte looks for the next best Philippine central bank chief A logo of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) is seen at their main building in Manila, Philippines March 23, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo By Karen Lema - MANILA MANILA Whoever is picked as the next Philippine central bank governor, it will be President Rodrigo Duterte''s second choice. Duterte is expected to announce as early as this month a new chief of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), after failing to get the much praised current governor, Amando Tetangco, to stay on for an unprecedented third term. The president is seen favoring someone who will continue Tetangco''s monetary policies and reforms that have kept the over $300 billion economy humming for years. And the four names widely floated as potential successors - two deputy central bank governors and two veteran bankers - were expected to do just that. The changing of the guard comes amid rising inflation, higher global interest rates and protectionism that could affect a key economic lifeline - the millions of Filipinos working abroad who send billions of dollars home. "We are in an important juncture. While overheating risks seem manageable for now...the BSP needs to ensure that stability will be maintained in the longer run," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS, who believes the central bank will hike interest rates in May for the first time in 2-1/2 years. Duterte, who delegates economic management to his technocrats, has said he will "largely" listen to Finance Minister Carlos Dominguez and other political leaders when choosing Tetangco''s replacement. The firebrand leader, who has targeted 8 percent economic growth in the medium term, will also replace three other outgoing members of the monetary board, giving him a free hand in choosing a majority for the seven-member policy-making committee. "This is probably the most important appointment President Duterte will make," Dominguez, who is leading the selection process, told Reuters late last month. MORE THAN QUALIFIED The main names being floated as possible successors were BSP deputy governors Diwa Guinigundo and Nestor Espenilla, former trade secretary Peter Favila, and East West Banking Corp ( EW.PS ) Chief Executive Antonio Moncupa. All the candidates are considered more than qualified to run the central bank, and wouldn''t radically alter Tetangco''s policies when he steps down in July, several top bank executives told Reuters. "The policies put forward by Governor Tetangco and his team are lasting legacies," said an official at one of the Philippines'' top lenders. "They are good policies that any incoming governor would benefit from. For us, one of the things we''re hoping for is continuity," said the official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Without resorting to extreme policy measures, Tetangco has significantly brought down inflation, shored up foreign exchange reserves, and steered the economy through the 2008 global financial crisis, with the Philippines among the few Asian nations to have avoided recession. It was under his watch when Manila''s long history of junk-debt status ended. Fitch, S&P and Moody''s awarded the country with investment-grade status in 2013, owing to a strong external profile, low inflation and a shrinking budget deficit. Under Philippine law, Tetangco can only serve two six-year terms. He told Reuters in January, he preferred "someone with central banking background" to succeed him. "The current strength of the economy owes much to the prudent policy path struck by Governor Tetangco and his team," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC. "In the coming years, the Philippines faces some tough macroeconomic challenges, including maintaining exchange rate stability amid a falling current account surplus and preserving price stability amid surging demand." (Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-cenbank-idUSKBN17D2TG'|'2017-04-12T07:00:00.000+03:00' '4eb30a2dec0ce4e1f10a07eb98e7c84b83a23bd6'|'Germany sees public debt falling 2 percentage points in 2017'|' 48am BST Germany sees public debt falling 2 percentage points in 2017 BERLIN German public debt is expected to fall by some 2 percentage points this year, the government said in a report on Wednesday, keeping Europe''s largest economy on track to bring down debt to below 60 percent of economic output by 2020. Debt stood at 68.3 percent of output in 2016, the government said in its report, which it will present to the European Commission. European Union rules say countries should keep the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) at no more than 60 percent or at least be heading down towards that level. The rules have been broken for years by Germany and other countries. The German government said in its report that the low interest rate environment created by the European Central Bank had lightened Germany''s debt burden. A stability programme agreed by the government last year also includes a goal of no net new debt until 2020 despite higher state spending. "This course has proven to be a guarantor of growth, secure jobs and prosperity," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a statement. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Paul Carrel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-debt-idUKKBN17E13B'|'2017-04-12T17:48:00.000+03:00' 'd0d8113d99530ba62b7247b61448a8d5aa20d28c'|'RPT-Korea Inc''s China troubles rattle local workers, suppliers'|'Company 00pm EDT RPT-Korea Inc''s China troubles rattle local workers, suppliers (Repeats story from late Tuesday) * S.Korean firms see sales hit by boycotts, cut output * Workers, suppliers relying on carmaker Hyundai feel pinch * S.Korean firms directly employ 700,000 Chinese -trade agency * Retailer Lotte has closed 75 of its 99 outlets in China By Muyu Xu and Adam Jourdan BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 11 South Korean companies in China have been clobbered by Beijing''s angry response to Seoul''s decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system, but the boycotts and regulatory pressure on firms like Hyundai and Lotte are rebounding on their Chinese workers and suppliers. South Korean businesses are a major employer in China, with firms such as Hyundai Motor Co, smartphone manufacturer Samsung Electronics Co, and retail giant Lotte Group directly creating some 700,000 jobs in China, according to a Korea trade promotion agency, and there are many more down the supply chain. Hyundai, which says its Chinese affiliates and suppliers alone create a total of 90,000 jobs, has responded to falling sales by cutting production. In Beijing''s industrial suburb of Shunyi, where Hyundai has its biggest overseas manufacturing base, its suppliers, workers and local retailers who depend on them are feeling the pinch. "We haven''t worked weekends since a month ago and don''t know when it will get back to normal," said a supplier of hub caps to Hyundai. "We can do nothing but wait while losing money." Hyundai''s Beijing plants, which used to run 24 hours, seven days a week, are now running just 8am to 5pm on a four-day week, its workers say, and concerns of further output cuts are unnerving those working in its supply chain and local stores. Couriers complain deliveries to Hyundai''s main plant have dropped by between a half and two-thirds, while the owner of a nearby convenience store said his business had been hit because salaries at the plant were down. The chief executive of a South Korean auto parts supplier employing over 100 Chinese employees said his factory''s utilisation rate had dropped by 30 percent. He had not laid anyone off yet, but said the future was uncertain. "We have no choice but to reduce Chinese workers if the situation is prolonged. There are no signs that the situation would get better anytime soon," he said. Hyundai itself said there was "no current impact on employment in China", that it was fully committed to the Chinese market, and would "continue to do our utmost to protect our employees in the region". COLLATERAL DAMAGE The dispute over the THAAD missile defence system, which South Korea and the United States say is needed to contain the threat from North Korea, has prompted calls for boycotts in Chinese media and increased regulatory scrutiny for South Korean firms. Lotte Group, which has suffered a local boycott of its products since it agreed to provide land for the U.S. missile defence system, closed 75 of its 99 hypermarkets in China in recent weeks after regulatory inspections by authorities. It said workers at affected stores were being paid in full as per Chinese law. This could drop to 60-70 percent in the second month of closure, but the firm would "pay the most it can", a Lotte Mart spokesman said. Lotte Group employs 20,000 people in China. Reuters spoke to five Lotte employees in stores around China who said they were still being paid and that workers were still coming into closed stores to check expiry dates and handle inventory. Corporate risk analysts said China was willing to accept some "tolerable collateral damage", and it was being strategic in the areas it targeted, avoiding, for now, big employers like tech giant Samsung. "They''ve pretty carefully targeted Lotte in terms of what the government has orchestrated, as well as tourism, flights and duty free," said Andrew Gilholm, director of analysis for China and North Asia at risk consultancy Control Risks. He said the stand-off could go on at least until South Korea has new leadership, following the impeachment last month that ended the presidency of Park Geun-hye. "Beijing is likely to keep the pressure on until the new government is set up in Seoul and has made its position (on THAAD) clear," he said. For now, Korean firms are keeping their heads down waiting for the row to blow over. But workers and dealers remain anxious, with sales showing no signs of recovery and no idea when things might return to normal. "The recent slide has been very serious. Normally we sell more than 100 vehicles in a month. Now we can only shift 30," said a Hyundai dealer in Beijing. "Anti-Korean sentiment has soared, and lots of consumers aren''t willing to buy South Korean cars," he said. (Reporting by Muyu Xu in BEIJING, Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Joyce Lee, Suyeong Lee and Heekyong Yang in SEOUL, SHANGHAI and BEIJING newsrooms; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/southkorea-china-jobs-idUSL3N1HJ3O3'|'2017-04-12T07:00:00.000+03:00' '05ba64ad046f1d413e52f27726081ee750ac096f'|'UPDATE 1-ChemChina-Syngenta deal wins Chinese regulatory approval'|'Deals 49am EDT ChemChina-Syngenta deal wins Chinese regulatory approval People smoke outside the headquarters of the China National Chemical Corp, or ChemChina, in Beijing, China February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter ZURICH ChemChina''s [CNCC.UL] $43 billion planned takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) has received approval from China''s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the two companies said on Wednesday. "This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017," they said in a statement. China''s approval comes without any conditions, Syngenta said in an email. The deal still requires regulatory approval from India after U.S. and European Union competition authorities gave conditional approval last week and Mexico''s anti-trust commission did so this week. The agreed offer is for $465 per share. Syngenta shares were up 3 percent at 464.20 Swiss francs ($461.06) by 1222 GMT n Wednesday. The deal is one of several reshaping the agricultural chemicals and seeds market, even as such tie-ups prompt fears among some farmers that bigger, more powerful suppliers could push up prices and economize on developing new herbicides and pesticides. ($1 = 1.0068 Swiss francs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-ag-m-a-chemchina-china-idUSKBN17E1J2'|'2017-04-12T20:45:00.000+03:00' '738bf24395f64988d66b767659334ca0c3981efb'|'Staying the course, Duterte looks for the next best Philippine central bank chief'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 12:13am BST Staying the course, Duterte looks for the next best Philippine central bank chief A logo of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) is seen at their main building in Manila, Philippines March 23, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo By Karen Lema - MANILA MANILA Whoever is picked as the next Philippine central bank governor, it will be President Rodrigo Duterte''s second choice. Duterte is expected to announce as early as this month a new chief of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), after failing to get the much praised current governor, Amando Tetangco, to stay on for an unprecedented third term. The president is seen favouring someone who will continue Tetangco''s monetary policies and reforms that have kept the over $300 billion economy humming for years. And the four names widely floated as potential successors - two deputy central bank governors and two veteran bankers - were expected to do just that. The changing of the guard comes amid rising inflation, higher global interest rates and protectionism that could affect a key economic lifeline - the millions of Filipinos working abroad who send billions of dollars home. "We are in an important juncture. While overheating risks seem manageable for now...the BSP needs to ensure that stability will be maintained in the longer run," said Gundy Cahyadi, an economist at DBS, who believes the central bank will hike interest rates in May for the first time in 2-1/2 years. Duterte, who delegates economic management to his technocrats, has said he will "largely" listen to Finance Minister Carlos Dominguez and other political leaders when choosing Tetangco''s replacement. The firebrand leader, who has targeted 8 percent economic growth in the medium term, will also replace three other outgoing members of the monetary board, giving him a free hand in choosing a majority for the seven-member policy-making committee. "This is probably the most important appointment President Duterte will make," Dominguez, who is leading the selection process, told Reuters late last month. MORE THAN QUALIFIED The main names being floated as possible successors were BSP deputy governors Diwa Guinigundo and Nestor Espenilla, former trade secretary Peter Favila, and East West Banking Corp ( EW.PS ) Chief Executive Antonio Moncupa. All the candidates are considered more than qualified to run the central bank, and wouldn''t radically alter Tetangco''s policies when he steps down in July, several top bank executives told Reuters. "The policies put forward by Governor Tetangco and his team are lasting legacies," said an official at one of the Philippines'' top lenders. "They are good policies that any incoming governor would benefit from. For us, one of the things we''re hoping for is continuity," said the official, who requested not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. Without resorting to extreme policy measures, Tetangco has significantly brought down inflation, shored up foreign exchange reserves, and steered the economy through the 2008 global financial crisis, with the Philippines among the few Asian nations to have avoided recession. It was under his watch when Manila''s long history of junk-debt status ended. Fitch, S&P and Moody''s awarded the country with investment-grade status in 2013, owing to a strong external profile, low inflation and a shrinking budget deficit. Under Philippine law, Tetangco can only serve two six-year terms. He told Reuters in January, he preferred "someone with central banking background" to succeed him. "The current strength of the economy owes much to the prudent policy path struck by Governor Tetangco and his team," said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC. "In the coming years, the Philippines faces some tough macroeconomic challenges, including maintaining exchange rate stability amid a falling current account surplus and preserving price stability amid surging demand." (Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Erik dela Cruz; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-philippines-cenbank-idUKKBN17D2U3'|'2017-04-12T07:13:00.000+03:00' '8c935067c5bbb6f485d908d7bdf400b0ad13a22f'|'Eni paid no intermediary, bribes to acquire Nigeria oilfield'|'Business News 3:59pm BST Eni paid no intermediary, bribes to acquire Nigeria oilfield The logo of Italian energy company Eni is seen at an Agip gas station in Lugano, Switzerland June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo MILAN Italian oil and gas group Eni ( ENI.MI ) reiterated on Thursday it had not paid any intermediary or any bribes to acquire the OPL-245 oilfield in Nigeria. Speaking at the group''s annual shareholder meeting chairwoman Emma Marcegaglia said Eni had only ever dealt with the Nigerian government. Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of OPL 245. Eni and major Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) paid $1.3 billion (1.04 billion pounds) for the rights to the block in 2011. On Wednesday Shell said for the first time it was aware that some of the payments it made to Nigeria would go to a company associated with former Nigerian oil minister and convicted money launderer Dan Etete. Etete awarded the block in 1998 for $20 million to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he was a leading shareholder. Marcegaglia said Shell''s comments did not change Eni''s position, adding the company had not paid any money to Etete or sealed any deal with Malabu. She added Eni has made no provisions for the Nigeria probe. At the same meeting, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said in the future the group did not rule out a share buy-back programme but added for the time being he had no intention to discuss the issue with the board. (Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Stephen Jewkes, editing by Francesca Landini)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eni-nigeria-probe-idUKKBN17F1Y2'|'2017-04-13T22:59:00.000+03:00' '638c133884b1573cb9ba7fe8c340599831880d14'|'REFILE-U.S. drillers add oil rigs for 13th week in a row -Baker Hughes'|'Company 12pm EDT REFILE-U.S. drillers add oil rigs for 13th week in a row -Baker Hughes (Corrects dateline to April 13) April 13 U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a 13th week in a row, extending a recovery as energy companies boost spending on new production to take advantage of a recovery in crude prices. Drillers added 11 oil rigs in the week to April 13, bringing the total count up to 683, the highest since April 2015, energy services firm Baker Hughes Inc said on Thursday. RIG-OL-USA-BHI During the same week a year ago there were 351 active oil rigs. (Reporting by David Gaffen; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Next In Company News'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-rigs-baker-hughes-idUSL2N1HE1ZC'|'2017-04-14T01:12:00.000+03:00' '90427dadec6d39e0dacb91a893373342b73fe635'|'France sticks with "plausible" 1.5 percent growth estimate for 2017'|' 7:56am BST France sticks with "plausible" 1.5 percent growth estimate for 2017 left right FILE PHOTO - Construction cranes are seen in front of Paris landmark, the Eiffel Tower, May 25, 2015. Picture taken May 25, 2015. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier 1/2 left right Businessmen are seen on the esplanade of La Defense, in the financial and business district in La Defense, west of Paris, September 19, 2014. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann 2/2 PARIS The French government left its growth forecast for 2017 unchanged at 1.5 percent in an update on Wednesday of its long-term public finance plans, which the independent fiscal watchdog judged to be "plausible". The government also said it now expected a public deficit of 2.8 percent of economic output this year, revised from 2.7 percent previously after the 2016 shortfall came in slightly bigger than expected. President Francois Hollande''s outgoing government gave the forecasts in its annual stability programme for the public finances which will be sent on to the European Commission in the coming weeks. The government estimated the economy would grow 1.5 percent this and next year before gradually picking up to 1.7 percent in 2020. However, the forecasts may be changed under a new administration after France elects a new president next month. The High Council for the Public Finances, which is tasked by law with giving its opinion on the government''s projections, said in a statement that those projections were a reasonable basis for building forecasts for the public finances. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Myriam Rivet; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-budget-idUKKBN17E0KV'|'2017-04-12T14:56:00.000+03:00' 'e992fed40bd62cb622248f3bebb583b24b6d7ec5'|'Wheels in motion: Why carmakers need to get bigger'|'CARS are getting bigger. Motorists worldwide have for years been abandoning four-door saloons in favour of bulkier SUVs. Carmakers have become bigger, too. Four car firms now make around 10m vehicles a year in order to reap economies of scale, particularly in the mass-market bit of the business where profit margins can be painfully thin.Many executives also believe that size is the only protection against the technological upheaval sweeping the industry. But bulking up fast is easier said than done. Lots of different constituents have to be won over. And most car bosses are still reticent about taking the plunge on mergers because many have been catastrophes. Daimler’s acquisition of Chrysler in 1998, for example, was a notable disaster. The list of past crashes is lengthy. Indeed, one recent deal—General Motors’ sale of Opel, its European arm, to France’s PSA Group for €1.3bn ($1.4bn)—seems to go directly against the imperative to bulk up.In fact, that deal has had the effect of spurring more talk of consolidation. Speculation centred at first on a possible mega-merger between GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), itself the result of a deal in 2014 (FCA’s chairman, John Elkann, sits on the board of The Economist’s parent company). The Italian-owned firm, which makes just under 5m vehicles a year, is run by Sergio Marchionne, who has been eyeing a merger with GM for years. With the American firm now discarding a loss-making European business, the theory goes, it could replace it with a profitable one—Fiat—and crunch together the two firms’ successful operations in America. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Mary Barra, GM’s boss, has repeatedly rejected Mr Marchionne’s overtures; selling Opel is unlikely to have changed her mind. Some observers unkindly suggest that GM is in any case unable to handle three tasks at once, and that its aim in ridding itself of Opel was to concentrate on improving its operations in America and in China. Moreover, a lot of the synergies from a deal depended on combining Fiat and Opel in Europe.The rumour mill has since moved to Volkswagen. The German firm has long cast a covetous eye over bits of FCA. At an annual industry shindig in Geneva in March that coincided with the final sale of Opel, Mr Marchionne said he had “no doubt that at the relevant time Volkswagen may show up and have a chat”. He also suggested that PSA Group’s acquisition of the GM unit, which puts the French firm in second place in Europe, adds to the pressure on VW, the market leader, to bulk up further. VW’s campaign to conquer America, where its diesel-emissions scandal has undermined its weak position, would be strengthened with FCA in tow. FCA’s Ram trucks are hugely profitable in America and the Jeep brand is resurgent worldwide. The unrealised potential of Maserati and Alfa Romeo, alluring bywords for Italian style, is also attractive.A deal would, however, bring little benefit in Europe, where VW already has a big slice of the market and plenty of small cars on offer. With Seat, a Spanish division, struggling and its own brand said to be loss-making in the region, VW could well do without the trouble of integrating Fiat. FCA is also the only big car company that is lumbered with lots of debt (of just under €5bn), making it a less tempting target.Matthias Müller, VW’s chief executive, has not ruled out talks with FCA, and has indicated that the German group is more open to a merger than it used to be. But FCA is not the only option. An acquisition of Ford (which just suffered the humiliation of being overtaken in market capitalisation by Tesla, an electric-car firm founded in 2003) might also fit VW’s plans. Still, if VW is intent on leading the next round of industry consolidation, it will need to put “dieselgate” behind it. Though the German firm has paid $22bn in fines and compensation, the issue of who knew what and when is still unresolved.Whatever combination of firms might bring it about, the goal of creating a group that produces nearly 15m vehicles a year makes sense. Mr Marchionne’s oft-stated view is that the industry’s duplicated investment in kit such as near-identical engines and gear boxes is a waste of resources, and that much of the money would be better returned to shareholders. Other car bosses reckon the money should go on the technologies that will transform the industry: mobility services such as ride-sharing, electrification of the drivetrain and autonomous vehicles. Scale would allow car firms to spread the cost over more vehicles.One argument against full-scale mergers has been that loose alliances, such as that between Renault, a French car manufacturer, and Japan’s Nissan, can do the job by helping to pool development costs. The Renault-Nissan alliance has succeeded. After taking a controlling stake in Mitsubishi, a smaller Japanese carmaker, last year, the firm makes nearly 10m cars a year.An alliance works well for components and for individual platforms, the basic structure underpinning a car, where the aim is clear and specifications can be agreed on. An engine that might cost $1bn to develop, for example, can be easily split two or more ways. Yet alliances work far less well for broader technologies such as connectivity and autonomous vehicles. It is harder to specify a common goal for a product that could find its way into every vehicle the companies make. And it makes less sense to share futuristic technologies that may prove to be the differentiating factor for buyers of cars in the future.The arrival of new competitors such as Tesla, and deep-pocketed tech giants intent on disrupting the transport industry such as Google, Apple and Uber, make dealmaking an even more pressing need. “Everyone agrees on the rationale for big mergers, even if execution of deals has been extremely difficult up to now,” says an adviser to the industry.If car mega-mergers are to go ahead, however, and stand a better chance of success than past attempts, two conditions apply. First, the big stakeholders—governments, families and unions—will need to be convinced. Many carmakers, such as BMW, Fiat, Ford, Toyota, VW and others, have ties to families, which in some cases have blocking shareholdings. VW’s unions or France’s government, which has stakes in Renault and PSA, would oppose deals that could result in big domestic job losses.Second, transactions will need to do more than simply chase volume. A welcome new trend in the industry is to put greater emphasis on profitability. One of GM’s reasons for getting rid of Opel was to concentrate on profits rather than solely on how many cars it turns out, a decision that Tim Urquhart of IHS Markit, a research firm, calls “groundbreaking and brave”.A mega-merger would take similar courage, and car bosses tend to be conservative and risk-averse. But after over 100 years of selling cars powered by internal-combustion engines, the industry faces the huge wrench of adapting to a future of electrification and self-driving cars. Software and electronics are displacing mechanical parts as the most important components of a car. A business focused on selling objects will have to start offering ever more transport services. If carmakers do not take the plunge, an alternative is that one of the technology giants with big ambitions in mobility could try to buy, say, Ford, Tesla or PSA Group. For cash-rich firms like Apple or Google, the cost of such an acquisition would be pocket change.This article appeared in the Business "Wheels in motion"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720658-gms-recent-sale-opel-has-revived-talk-mega-mergers-why-carmakers-need-get-bigger?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '017ca335ffa904810c0cc0c8439592547f15bae5'|'BRIEF-Largo sees production of up to 840 tonnes per month starting as early as May 2017'|'Company 28pm EDT BRIEF-Largo sees production of up to 840 tonnes per month starting as early as May 2017 April 12 Largo Resources Ltd * Largo provides operational update and announces new term loan * Sees monthly production of up to 840 tonnes per month starting as early as May 2017, up 5% Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-largo-sees-production-of-up-to-idUSASA09IKO'|'2017-04-13T09:28:00.000+03:00' '9ec85bd43e925698d319ff846f077e431d594f60'|'GM to add 1,100 jobs in California over five years at self-driving unit'|' 17pm BST GM to add 1,100 jobs in California over five years at self-driving unit The GM logo is seen at the General Motors Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing, Michigan October 26, 2015. Photo taken October 26. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON General Motors Co ( GM.N ) said on Thursday it will add more than 1,100 jobs in California over five years at its Cruise Automation unit to boost its self-driving efforts after receiving $8 million in state tax credits. The largest U.S. automaker said it is investing $14 million in a new research and development facility in San Francisco that will more than double its current space. GM acquired Cruise Automation for $1 billion in March 2016 as part of its effort to build autonomous vehicles. GM is testing more than 50 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with self-driving technology on public roads in San Francisco, the Detroit metropolitan area and Scottsdale, Arizona. "Running our autonomous vehicle program as a startup is giving us the speed we need to continue to stay at the forefront of development of these technologies and the market applications," said GM Chief Executive Mary Barra in a statement. When GM acquired Cruise in 2016, the company had been working to develop hardware and software that could be installed in a vehicle to enable the car to pilot itself on a highway, without the driver steering or braking. Traditional auto companies have been making major investments in ride-sharing and technology companies as industry executives worry that the century-old business of building and selling cars that people drive themselves may shift rapidly in the coming years. California has aggressively courted companies to invest in self-driving research and development. A state filing said GM had 485 direct employees in California last year and will have more than 1,640 by 2021. "GM’s investment is further proof that California is leading the nation in the design, engineering and deployment of autonomous vehicles,” said Panorea Avdis, director of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-gm-jobs-idUKKBN17F2RG'|'2017-04-14T06:17:00.000+03:00' 'f64689bf68c847cbb574065abceb862742dca5e8'|'Straight Path says third party may top AT&T''s buyout offer'|' 19pm BST Straight Path says third party may top AT&T''s buyout offer Signage for an AT&T store is seen in New York October 29, 2014. AT&T Inc has made a bid for Yahoo Inc''s internet business, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo - RTX2PXRO Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ), which agreed to be bought by AT&T Inc ( T.N ) for $1.25 billion, said on Thursday it had received a letter from a third party that was considering topping AT&T''s offer. Straight Path said the party, which it did not name, had made a bid to acquire the company before AT&T''s offer. AT&T, which earlier this week agreed to buy the holder of licenses to wireless spectrum in an all-stock deal, could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-straight-path-m-a-at-t-idUKKBN17F2RK'|'2017-04-14T06:19:00.000+03:00' 'e2dbf845a2cf262236fb53241d75e90f9cfcbffd'|'Abbott agrees to buy Alere at lower price from earlier offer'|'Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories on Friday agreed to buy Alere Inc at a lower price than it had previously offered, ending a prolonged legal battle over the company''s plan to acquire the diagnostic-testing company.Abbott''s revised offer values Alere''s equity around $5.3 billion, down from the about $5.8 billion value announced in February last year, the companies said in a statement.Abbott will now pay $51 per share for Alere, compared with its earlier offer of $56 per share.Alere shares closed at $42.31 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange while those of Abbott ended at $42.67.In April last year, Abbott had raised concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in the earlier merger agreement, and had offered to pay $30 million to $50 million to terminate the deal.Waltham, Massachusetts-based Alere, which makes tests for infections such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and dengue, sued Abbott in August last year in an attempt to force the company to move ahead with the deal.In December, Abbott filed a suit to terminate its proposed acquisition of Alere, citing a "substantial loss" in the value of the diagnostics company since they struck a deal in February 2016.Abbott and Alere said on Friday that the companies had agreed to dismiss their respective lawsuits, and the deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter of 2017.The deal will help Abbott expand in point-of-care diagnostic testing, a market that is growing as physicians increasingly adopt rapid tests that speed up treatment.Point-of-care tests provide results to doctors in a matter of minutes and can be conducted in the physician''s office, an ambulance or even at home.Illinois-based Abbott sells medical devices, nutritional products and baby formula.The news about the revised deal was first reported by Financial Times, citing people close to the matter. ( on.ft.com/2nLyoDG )Up to Thursday''s close Alere shares had risen 8.6 percent this year while Abbott had gained 11.1 percent.(Reporting by Rama Venkat Raman and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Sam Holmes and Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/alere-m-a-abbott-idINKBN17G12X'|'2017-04-14T11:37:00.000+03:00' '27f705f0f876df2c1a87c52c9f37700e6319945c'|'Reckitt working with Morgan Stanley on food business sale - sources'|' 55pm BST Reckitt working with Morgan Stanley on food business sale - sources By Martinne Geller and Pamela Barbaglia - LONDON LONDON British consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser Group ( RB.L ) is working with Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) on the sale of its food business, which could fetch roughly $3 billion (2.4 billion pounds), sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The process will kick off soon, said the sources, who declined to be identified, as the matter is private. Reckitt, which confirmed earlier this month that it was exploring options for the business, declined to comment, as did Morgan Stanley. Reckitt is expected to use proceeds of the sale, which includes French''s mustard and Frank''s RedHot sauce, to pay down debt following its $16.6 billion purchase of Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ). (Reporting by Martinne Geller. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-reckitt-benc-grp-m-a-food-idUKKBN17F1G9'|'2017-04-13T19:55:00.000+03:00' 'e9504188a47091433a4809d6cf7ccc3dd9c0842a'|'U.S. high court won''t halt price-fixing class action against containerboard makers'|'Big Story 10 - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 9:43am EDT U.S. high court won''t halt price-fixing class action against containerboard makers By Andrew Chung - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to halt a class action lawsuit against several containerboard manufacturers, which could now face trial on claims of price fixing by tens of thousands of buyers and nearly $12 billion in potential damages. The justices left in place a federal judge''s certification of the antitrust class action against manufacturers including International Paper Co, Weyerhaeuser Co, and Georgia-Pacific LLC [KCHINP.UL]. The companies argued that individually negotiated pricing regimes with the buyers should preclude class action certification. The defendants make containerboard, a heavy stock paper used to produce a variety of cardboard products, from shipping containers to takeout pizza boxes. Several containerboard or cardboard product buyers, including Minnesota-based floor care product maker Kleen Products LLC, filed suit in Chicago federal court in 2010 alleging the manufacturers violated U.S. antitrust law. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-antitrust-idUSKBN17J126'|'2017-04-17T21:41:00.000+03:00' '0138b3b7341c7c19a1e46048add4d5a0139482d0'|'Can’t we stop colossal firms taking over small businesses? - Life and style'|'I ’ve just heard that Tesco may be taking over wholesaler Booker , which includes Budgens, for £3.7bn, in the face of fierce opposition . Count me in that opposition, because I cannot shop in Tesco. Soon I may not even be able to shop in Budgens, just down the road. Damn. Because I feel I must stick to some priciples, and I’m still enraged with Shirley Porter, the heiress to the Tesco fortune, who was responsible for the “homes for votes” scandal when she was leader of Westminster council. Remember her? You should. Why should I add one penny more to her immense fortune?And aren’t there enough Tescos already ? How come these massive outfits are allowed to take over smaller outfits, whether the smaller ones want them to or not? Remember Kraft’s takeover of Cadbury’s in 2010? Afterwards, the chocolate bars shrank, the Somersdale factory closed, goodbye to 500 jobs, and the company stopped working with Fairtrade and changed from “ a force for social good to the worst example of brutal corporate capitalism ”, as the Independent put it.Isn’t there meant to be a monopolies watchdog? The Competitions and Markets Authority? What’s it watching while all these colossal takeovers are going on? The telly? I hope they saw Follow the Money, in which a huge and wicked bank took over a small and idealistic one, murdering and brutally assaulting anyone who impeded them. I suppose that was a particularly hostile takeover.Not that your average gigantic takeover involves murder, unless you include killing off thousands of jobs and independent businesses, but why force yourself upon something that doesn’t want you? I know the answer, really. It’s just shareholders wanting fatter wallets. The more they have, the more they want, and the more they get, and no one seems able to stop them. Are there no rules?“There are some,” says Fielding. “But throw in a few billion, and there aren’t any.” Money is winning, bombs are flying about. It’s Easter, festival of renewal and rebirth. Jesus, a Jewish socialist revolutionary, would be very disappointed to find that the ruthless, murderous and greedy have inherited the earth. And so am I.Topics Tesco Still here: reflections on later life Retail industry Supermarkets comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/tesco/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/apr/17/cant-we-stop-colossal-firms-taking-over-small-businesses'|'2017-04-17T22:08:00.000+03:00' 'b33a2e4c16dcdcd57d674136c846a1148108afea'|'Trump won''t rule out second Yellen term, signalling drift to the mainstream'|' 11:02pm BST Trump won''t rule out second Yellen term, signaling drift to the mainstream FILE PHOTO - Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks during a news conference after a two day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo By Howard Schneider - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday he could be moving closer to the mainstream on monetary policy, saying he had not ruled out reappointment of Janet Yellen to a new four-year term as Fed chair as he considers his choices for the central bank. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump was asked if Yellen was "toast" when her term expires in February, a question that reflected a widespread assumption that he would put his own stamp on the monetary authority rather than rely on former President Barack Obama''s choice to run the Fed. Trump replied with his most explicit comments about the Fed since taking office, saying that Yellen was "not toast," that he had "respect" for her, and that he would prefer the Fed to keep interests rates low. Though rates are rising under Yellen they remain low by historic standards. Yellen and other policymakers have emphasized that rates will rise only gradually in the months ahead, and that monetary policy would remain loose for perhaps years to come. The Fed said it would not comment on Trump''s remarks. Yellen, who like Trump turned 70 last summer, has said little about the subject other than that she intended to serve out her current four year term. Trump will have a chance to appoint five of the seven members of the Fed''s Washington-based Board of Governors, including a currently open job of vice-chair in charge of financial supervision. His comments on Wednesday were cast in general terms. During the campaign he talked from both extremes - criticizing Yellen as a political hack who kept interest rates low to help the Obama administration, but also saying that as a businessman he liked to borrow cheap. For President Trump, lower or slower-growing interest rates could make it easier to pay for any infrastructure program he proposes, and slow what has been a steady rise in the dollar that makes U.S. exports more expensive and hurts manufacturers. In complimenting Yellen and citing the advantages of loose policy, Trump also appeared to downplay the likelihood he intends to reshape U.S. monetary policy along the lines called for by some of the more conservative voices in the Republican party. Some key Republicans want the Fed to set monetary policy based on a mathematical rule. The most commonly used versions of those rules would recommend much higher rates for the U.S. at this point, with inflation near the Fed''s target and the economy near full employment. “Maybe he’s learning on the job,” said Carl Tannenbaum, chief economist at Chicago-based Northern Trust. While his statements as a candidate were aimed at the election, he is now in an administration being counseled by more orthodox voices sensitive to what is needed to keep global bond markets on an even keel, he said. “It’s not easy to find somebody who is going to have credibility in that job," he said of Yellen and her possible replacement. "The confirmation process is not an assured thing these days. And the markets weigh in if they were to nominate somebody who didn’t share the Fed’s view of itself as independent.” (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by Ann Saphir in San Francisco; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fed-idUKKBN17E2U9'|'2017-04-13T05:46:00.000+03:00' '8854fe4a9cd05c5c3f317e821aecd999507209df'|'Private equity firms have bid $22 billion for SCA hygiene unit - paper'|'Business 8:21am BST Private equity firms have bid $22 billion for SCA hygiene unit - paper A woman walks past an advertisement of a tissue paper brand of Swedish SCA company on a street in Santiago, Chile, November 10, 2015. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo STOCKHOLM A group of private equity companies have bid around 200 billion Swedish crowns 17.75 billion pounds) for the hygiene arm of tissue and forestry products firm SCA ( SCAb.ST ), Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said, citing unnamed sources. Sweden''s SCA said last year it planned to split into two listed units, a hygiene products firm and a forestry company. The split was formally approved at the group''s annual meeting last week. "At least two private equity companies together have bid around 200 billion crowns for the hygiene unit," Dagens Nyheter said in a report that first appeared on its Web site on Wednesday night. The newspaper did not name the private equity firms. SCA, which counts U.S. firms Procter & Gamble ( PG.N ) and Kimberly-Clark ( KMB.N ) among its main rivals, declined to comment when contacted by Reuters on Thursday. SCA hygiene business is the world''s largest maker of incontinence pads and the second largest in consumer tissues such as napkins and toilet paper. Its forestry arm produces paper, pulp and wood products. The group, which has yet to complete its planned split, currently has an overall market value of 194 billion crowns. Last year, SCA''s hygiene business accounted for 86 percent of the group''s total sales. (Reporting by Simon Johnson and Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sweden-sca-idUKKBN17F0QJ'|'2017-04-13T15:21:00.000+03:00' 'ed1080385194b27dcae8de5f81c060ce670f34c0'|'Nikkei hits fresh 4-month low as yen spikes; automakers, financials fall'|'Company News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 11:02pm EDT Nikkei hits fresh 4-month low as yen spikes; automakers, financials fall * Trump''s "big mouth" creates volatility - analyst * Nikkei has fallen 4 pct since beginning of 2017 By Ayai Tomisawa TOKYO, April 13 Japanese stocks posted fresh four-month lows on Thursday morning as the yen spiked against the dollar after U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S currency was too strong, hitting automakers and tech shares hard. The Nikkei 225 share average dropped 1.0 percent to 18,360.08 in midmorning trade, hitting as low as 18,304.72 earlier, the lowest level since Dec. 5. The greenback took a heavy hit after Trump told the Wall Street Journal that the dollar "is getting too strong" and that he would prefer the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. This week, Japanese stocks have already been hammered by escalated geopolitical concerns. Rising U.S. tensions with Russia, North Korea and Syria after U.S missile strikes in Syria last week and the moving of U.S. warships toward the Korean Peninsula have kept investors cautious. The Nikkei has fallen 4.0 percent since the beginning of the year. On Wednesday, Trump also said that his administration will not label China a currency manipulator, backing away from a campaign promise. "Trump''s big mouth...is creating volatility in the market," said Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, adding that short-term hedge funds might welcome the volatility, but a lot of other investors are cautious. Eyes are also on next week''s Japan-U.S. meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and Vice President Mike Pence to discuss economic relations. On Thursday, the Asahi Shimbun reported that the United States is pushing for trade to be a key issue in top-level economic talks with Japan. The newspaper said that Washington''s demand, made last week, did not specify any trade areas for discussion, but reported that a U.S. government source said the Trump administration mainly wants to discuss cars and agriculture. Thursday''s big losers included automakers, with Toyota Motor Corp shedding 1.6 percent, Mazda Motor Corp stumbling 2.6 percent and Subaru Corp declining 1.2 percent. As the dollar hit a five-month low of 108.920 yen, other exporters were also battered on worries that the strong yen would hurt their earnings. Meanwhile, the latest Bank Of Japan tankan survey showed that big manufacturers expect the dollar to average 108.43 yen for this fiscal year. Chip equipment makers, which had outperformed lately, languished. Advantest Corp dived 4.1 percent, while Tokyo Electron shed 2.8 percent. Financial stocks, which hunt for high-yielding products, also lost ground after Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields at one point dropped 2.259 percent overnight, which was the lowest since Nov. 17. Dai-ichi Life Holdings tumbled 2.8 percent, T&D Holdings slipped 2.7 percent and Mizuho Financial Group declined 1.6 percent. The broader Topix fell 1.1 percent to 1,462.60 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 was down 1.2 percent to 13,114.20. (Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idUSL3N1HL1ME'|'2017-04-13T11:02:00.000+03:00' '614f339ef37be61c56319796b8ae4e598defb075'|'BOK holds rates, upgrades economic outlook with hawkish tone'|'SEOUL South Korea''s central bank raised its growth outlook for this year and kept interest rates unchanged at a record low for a 10th straight month on Thursday, while its governor shifted policy to a more hawkish stance.The Bank of Korea''s monetary policy committee held its base rate KROCRT=ECI steady at 1.25 percent, in line with forecasts from 21 analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll.A majority of analysts see the central bank on hold for the rest of the year and some see tightening beginning next year."Right now, I don''t think the BOK is looking at a rate cut at all. In the second half of the year there may be talk of an extra budget, but to the BOK... rate cuts will not be on the table," said Oh Chang-sob, a fixed-income strategist at Korea Investment & Securities.In its quarterly revision of economic forecasts, the BOK raised its GDP growth forecast for this year to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent previously announced. Inflation this year is now seen at 1.9 percent, versus 1.8 percent announced in January.BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol said the outlook was revised up on better-than-expected economic conditions from improving exports and a higher base thanks to fourth-quarter GDP growth that was revised up to 0.5 percent on-quarter from 0.4 percent."When considering the growth and inflation path going forward, it is true the need for rate cuts has diminished," said Lee. "However we will keep an accommodative stance to support economic growth."Lee noted South Korea''s economy could face downside risks at any time from something unexpected, while the outlook for the jobs market was "not all positive."Market players boosted the won KRW= after the governor''s remarks, taking the currency to 1,129.5 per dollar as of 0322 GMT, up more than 1 percent versus its previous close.Lee remained wary of geopolitical risks around North Korea, saying it was too early to say what effect they will have on the economy.Foreign journalists visiting Pyongyang were told early on Thursday to prepare for "a big and important event", with tensions high over the possibility North Korea would test its weapons even as a U.S. carrier group steamed toward the Korean peninsula.Policymakers had fretted over whether South Korea would be named as a currency manipulator in a U.S. Treasury report, although on balance they are confident it is unlikely.A local currency trader said concerns over the report had "completely eased" after U.S. President Trump said in a media interview that China would not be named a currency manipulator.Consumer price growth in South Korea picked up at the fastest pace in nearly five years in March as the prices of fresh food and services rose, signaling a rebound in domestic demand after months of weakening consumer sentiment amid a corruption scandal that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye.Rising household debt remains an issue for the central bank, as previous interest rate cuts by the BOK have been identified as a key reason behind feverish borrowing. The BOK said on Thursday borrowing from non-bank institutions continued to grow rapidly.The central bank did not hold a rate-setting meeting in March as it has reduced the number of such meetings, starting this year, to eight from 12.(Additional reporting by Dahee Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-economy-rates-idUSKBN17F0FL'|'2017-04-13T08:28:00.000+03:00' '71791a091c36b2052caf160162444d9a3714a411'|'Trump administration narrows list for Fed regulatory post'|'Business News - Wed Apr 12, 2017 - 9:17pm EDT Trump administration narrows list for Fed regulatory post left right U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Randal Quarles speaks during a Reuters sponsored panel discussion on the future of the U.S. housing foundations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in New York, July 19, 2006. REUTERS/Keith Bedford 1/2 The Federal Reserve Building stands in Washington April 3, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo 2/2 By Pete Schroeder and Olivia Oran - WASHINGTON/NEW YORK WASHINGTON/NEW YORK A former U.S. Treasury official in the George W. Bush administration, a veteran banking lawyer, and a Harvard professor are three leading candidates as the Trump administration looks to fill the post of Federal Reserve vice chair in charge of banking oversight, people familiar with the matter said. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the administration was "very close" to filling the regulatory post, which will play a critical role in President Donald Trump’s efforts to revamp regulation of the financial sector. Randal Quarles, who worked as under secretary for domestic fiance at the Treasury under President George W. Bush, met with Mnuchin and Gary Cohn, Trump''s director of the National Economic Council, last week to discuss the role, four sources told Reuters. Quarles, along with corporate attorney Thomas Vartanian and Harvard Law professor Hal Scott, have all interviewed for the role, according to a source familiar with the talks. Several financial industry lobbyists believe Quarles to be the favorite for the position. But others say it remains unclear who the administration is favoring, and Trump could still opt for another candidate. Quarles, Vartanian and Scott all did not respond to requests for comment. The Treasury Department and White House declined to comment. Quarles, who worked as a partner at private equity firm the Carlyle Group, currently runs a private investment firm, the Cynosure Group, from Salt Lake City, Utah. He also served in the Treasury Department under President George H.W. Bush, and was the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in March 2016, Quarles and Lawrence Goodman, another former U.S. Treasury official, argued against breaking up big banks because it risks damaging the wider economy. He has also talked about refining Obama-era financial rules, introduced in the wake of the financial crisis. Quarles is married to Hope Eccles, and works alongside Spencer Eccles, two members of the Utah family that includes Marriner Eccles, the former Fed chairman whose name graces the building that now houses the central bank in Washington. Vartanian has also been mentioned as a candidate for the vice chair position. A financial services attorney for the Dechert law firm based in Washington, Vartanian has assisted large financial institutions with a host of complex transactions, and written frequently on financial rules. He recently filed a brief on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as part of MetLife''s case against federal regulators seeking to impose stricter rules on the insurance company. He also served in President Ronald Reagan''s administration. As director of international financial systems at Harvard Law School, Scott''s focus has been on financial firms, regulation and capital markets. Scott is director of the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, a research group made up of financial industry representatives and academics that has been critical of financial regulations. At Harvard, Scott also worked alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has emerged as the Democratic Party''s strongest voice in favor of strict rules on the financial sector. Speculation over who will fill the vice chair post has been intense on Wall Street and in Washington, as the open spot is widely seen as a critical position for Trump to follow through on his vows to relax rules on the financial sector. The position was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law, but was never filled by President Barack Obama. Chatter ramped up after the apparent favorite for the post removed his name from the running. General Electric executive David Nason withdrew his name from consideration in March, after he had been vetted for the post. Former Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo effectively filled the role as top regulatory voice at the Fed under Obama, but he stepped down at the beginning of April. Current Fed Governor Jay Powell has taken on those issues for the time being. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder and Olivia Oran; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-fed-idUSKBN17F04Y'|'2017-04-13T09:17:00.000+03:00' '77baf7669b07833544cb4701f1d8411ebae7807b'|'Self-driving ''arms race'' complicates supplier alliances'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 5:11am BST Self-driving ''arms race'' complicates supplier alliances FILE PHOTO - A company logo on BOSCH building is pictured at the company''s new research and advance development centre Campus Renningen during a guided media tour in Renningen, Germany, September 30, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo By Edward Taylor and Paul Lienert - FRANKFURT/DETROIT FRANKFURT/DETROIT The race to develop and exploit autonomous vehicle technology is reshaping the hierarchy of the automotive industry, replacing traditional top-down manufacturing relationships with complex webs of alliances and acquisitions. Dealmaking in the automotive and technology industry is driven by the rapid transition of self-driving vehicles from research projects to major elements of near-term product plans at several of the world''s biggest automakers. That shift is behind deals like one announced last week between Robert Bosch and Daimler AG''s ( DAIGn.DE ) Mercedes. Bosch and Mercedes said they will collaborate on development of self-driving vehicles, with Bosch in a broad role as a systems integrator — sort of a copilot with the automaker in speeding up deployment of self-driving vehicles. Bosch also expects to sell the jointly developed systems to other companies. Separately, Silicon Valley chipmaker Intel Corp ( INTC.O ) acquired automotive vision technology leader Mobileye NV ( MBLY.N ), and has a deal to help German luxury car maker BMW AG ( BMWG.DE ) develop autonomous vehicles around Intel and Mobileye systems. The first fully self-driving cars are expected to go into production by 2020-2021. Analysts have said self-driving cars will not be in wide use before 2030. "Everybody is trying to understand what skill sets are required to be first in the game (and) if they don’t have it, they’re going to partner, invest or purchase,” said Xavier Mosquet, a senior partner at Boston Consulting Group and an authority on autonomous vehicles. Major auto companies are rich in engineers schooled in the physics of combustion and collisions, materials science and mechanical systems. The development of self-driving cars demands experts in artificial intelligence, robotics, computer programing and digital networks who work mainly outside the auto industry. Automakers are following different paths to acquire engineering talent. Some are relying on partnerships like the Bosch-Mercedes pact. Others such as General Motors Co ( GM.N ) are going it alone, buying self-driving vehicle startups and building technology in-house. Alphabet Inc’s ( GOOGL.O ) Waymo and auto supplier Delphi Automotive Plc ( DLPH.N ) are offering turn-key systems to companies such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCHA.MI ) ( FCAU.N ) that are choosing not to invest in their own autonomous driving systems. COPILOT APPROACH Some of the car companies and large suppliers could wind up as competitors. BMW has said it wants to sell its self-driving systems to other manufacturers, as does Delphi, which is developing a system of its own. Intel and Mobileye are partners in both ventures. The Dutch provider of high-definition maps, HERE, has taken a position at the center for several supplier webs. HERE is jointly owned by Daimler, BMW, and Volkswagen AG’s ( VOWG_p.DE ) Audi. Intel owns a minority stake in HERE, and rival chipmaker Nvidia Corp ( NVDA.O ) has a partnership deal. Nvidia itself wants to be a provider of powerful computer chips and “deep learning” software for self-driving cars to a broad array of customers, including rivals such as Mercedes and Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ), competing mega-suppliers such as Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Chinese tech companies Baidu Inc ( BIDU.O ) and Tencent Holdings Ltd ( 0700.HK ) (For a graphic on self-driving vehicles see: tmsnrt.rs/2nYv7gc ) The vehicle manufacturers are divided on how much self-driving development and integration to farm out to the parts makers, or whether to keep most of that in-house - as they have done for decades with much of their core engine technology. “At the moment, the carmaker is at an advantage since it knows how the components all fit together," said Mercedes executive Christoph von Hugo. BCG’s Mosquet believes the industry may not settle on a single template for collaboration, given the complexity of autonomous vehicles and their underlying technology. "These different approaches will have to pass the test of time," he said. “In two or three years, we will see who has been successful with which approach.” (Reporting by Edward Taylor in Frankfurt and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autos-selfdriving-suppliers-idUKKBN17F0EZ'|'2017-04-13T12:10:00.000+03:00' '0befc5eb769eb41177ae52a9d102b0a4366c7bea'|'BRIEF-Coupa Software announces pricing of upsized follow-on offering'|' 26am EDT BRIEF-Coupa Software announces pricing of upsized follow-on offering April 12 Coupa Software Inc * Coupa Software announces pricing of upsized follow-on offering * Coupa Software - pricing of its upsized underwritten public offering of 4.4 million shares of its common stock at a price to public of $25.25 per share. (Bengaluru Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-coupa-software-announces-pricing-o-idUSASA09IEF'|'2017-04-12T13:26:00.000+03:00' '5cd80677ff987cf7f8bf7a0dfbba372a709f8d6b'|'Secret aid worker: we''ve lost our humanity to jargon and statistics - Global Development Professionals Network'|'I can’t stand it when people refer to my work as humanitarian. Any humanity has long disappeared from the aid and development sectors. Somewhere along the way, with our technical jargon, sophisticated statistical evaluation methods, and a knowing but resigned pragmatism, we’ve forgotten that the people who we serve are humans . Right from the start, assistance programmes identify and categorise a “target group” – refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), rural poor, pregnant and lactating women (PLWs), unemployed urban youth, people without iPhones (PWIs) – a process which inadvertently strips them of their dignity and personhood. From the standpoint of NGOs and development agencies, becoming an aid recipient transforms people into infant-like beings in need of total re-socialisation. And we are instructed to measure their progress towards supposed markers of civilisation. Secret aid worker: ''It''s time to talk about the dark side of development comms'' Read more The “innovation” of cash assistance is one of the best examples of how operating within an international development framework suspends common sense. The aid world has deemed it “revolutionary” and lauded the success of cash transfer programmes, which essentially give poor people (ie people who have little or no money) money. To the astonishment of development practitioners and economists alike, aid recipients could figure out how to use money to feed their families, send their children to school, buy household items and medicine. The real revolution was not that cash transfers worked, since most people – even in the poorest countries and most dire settings – have interacted with cash before. The real shift was that letting out the tight leash of restrictive, in-kind, conditional assistance restored some agency back to our “target beneficiaries”. It was a rare moment when we, as aid workers and development professionals, were forced to come face-to-face with the fact that the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups we work with are regular people. Yet I cannot emphasise how often we forget and unconsciously blame poor people rather than circumstances for their poverty.It’s a dangerous path, which allows us to rationalise that anything – even ineffective, paternalistic assistance – is better than nothing. We forget that a belief that all people are entitled to certain standards of dignity and rights is what drew us to this sector in the first place.We have become so myopically focused on toggling arbitrary indicators, framing our projects around the buzzwords of tomorrow and proving impact to donors, that we have lost our sense of reference. Secret aid worker: I regret not speaking out for my LGBT colleagues Read more We celebrate signs of progress when people are living on $2 a day rather than $1 a day, and when people build slum houses with metal rather than thatched rooftops. Have the lofty ideals of development to reduce global inequality and give all people a decent quality of life been abandoned in pursuit of making the very, very poor only very poor? The bar for success has been lowered so far, I’m afraid all of us in the aid sector just walk right over it. And in doing so, we have side-stepped our humanitarian calling. Do you have a secret aid worker story you’d like to tell? You can contact us confidentially at globaldevpros@theguardian.com – please put “Secret aid worker” in the subject line. If you’d like to encrypt your email to us, here are instructions on how to set up a PGP mail client and our public PGP key . Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Topics Global development professionals network Secret aid worker Humanitarian response features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/18/secret-aid-worker-weve-lost-our-humanity-to-jargon-and-statistics'|'2017-04-18T20:24:00.000+03:00' '166141d04c7f8eb0378f52dda15153b352ef3a49'|'Mayoral candidate pledges free childcare for Liverpool parents - Money'|'Parents in Liverpool would be given free childcare for all children over nine months under radical plans by the Women’s Equality party.Tabitha Morton, the party’s candidate in the Liverpool City Region mayoral elections next month, wants to use the £30m of extra money available to the new mayor each year to help parents back into work.Nationally, the cost of childcare is thought to average around £6,000 a year . But under proposals that Morton will lay out at Blackburne House in Liverpool on Tuesday, parents will get 15 hours free each week after the end of parental leave at nine months, paying just £1 for every additional hour.In England, parents currently receive 15 hours free only after their child’s second birthday and if they are receiving benefits including tax credits and jobseeker’s allowance.The WEP’s plans, which Morton insists are fully costed, would make Liverpool the first city in the UK to offer universal, affordable childcare for all children from the end of parental leave. The party – formed two years ago by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer – claim the idea would create at least 40,000 jobs in the Liverpool region and allow more parents to work.Morton said: “This will change things so dramatically in Liverpool, we have got a quarter of children living in poverty and three out of four are in single parent families. “My proposal is that the metro mayor has £900m over 30 years to spend, and we need to look at this differently: rather than building another bridge or road, we need to actually look at how we mobilise our economy. The way to do that is free childcare.”Labour MP Steve Rotherham, the frontrunner to win the mayoral race, has suggested his priorities are affordable housing, transport and skills.The WEP said it would fund the £100m plans through a combination of the Liverpool City Region single investment fund – £30m a year for the next 30 years (a total of £900m) to be used “to unlock the economic potential” of the region – pilot project funding from central government, local businesses and six local authorities. Party officials say the proposals would give the tens of thousands of Liverpool women who currently care for their children at home but would prefer to work , the chance to go into paid employment. The WEP insists its research suggests prioritising childcare would generate more jobs and economic benefits than traditional pledges on infrastructure and transport. “There is this constant battle between economic growth and social justice – they seem to be a trade-off between each other,” Morton told the Guardian. “We think within the first five years this will have paid for itself. It makes sense on so many different levels – the businesses in the area will have a bigger talent pool to pick from. If we have supplied and provided quality childcare we also hope to change businesses’ attitudes.“It works in other countries. In Sweden you see such a different attitude to parenting and flexible working.” Responding to analysis by the Electoral Reform Society , which suggests more than 90% of the most powerful positions in the English mayoralties and their cabinets are likely to be held by white men, Morton said: “It is about having women on the ballot but it also about our policies. The WEP looks at everything through a gendered lens to make sure that there is equality, because it does benefit everyone longer term.”Morton said that she would be happy for other parties to take on her plans and encouraged the government to use the proposed scheme as a model for the rest of the UK.Topics Childcare Children Family finances Women Liverpool Women''s Equality Party news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/18/mayoral-candidate-tabitha-morton-free-childcare-liverpool-parents-womens-equality-party'|'2017-04-18T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'ba697f650f3314c0b1301a37dbec7e4cd2b1d497'|'The gig economy ''slashies'' risk burnout - Guardian Small Business Network'|'I n a world of Uber and Deliveroo, the gig economy is thriving – it is estimated 1.3 million people are now working two jobs or more. Such workers are sometimes called “slashies” – think barista/blogger, charity worker/Uber driver or SEO manager/delivery biker.Many in this category can be classed as freelancers, a group that has increased in number by 43% in less than a decade, according to a recent survey [pdf] by IPSE. The group is diverse: almost half are aged between 40 and 59 and 20% are over the age of 60. One in seven freelancers is also a working mother.Of course, many work this way out of necessity when, for instance, they cannot secure a full-time job with a sufficient income to support a family. But others do it by choice. So, why do they opt for this seemingly unstable existence? Richard McColl, 40, is a British, Colombia-based hotelier, foreign correspondent, author, PhD student and travel guide. “I love the pressure of being freelance,” he says. McColl works from home, as does his wife, and he enjoys being able to see his two-year-old son during the day.Facebook Twitter Pinterest McColl with his son. Photograph: Richard McColl However, McColl admits his erratic work schedule can be bad for his health, and stress levels. “This year I have been run off my feet giving talks about the political situation in Colombia, working on my PhD, managing the hotel and with more freelance work than ever,” he says. At times like this, he sleeps and eats poorly.There is also a strain on family life. “My job often takes me away from home,” he says. “I think [my wife would sometimes] rather that I had a 9 to 5 ... but it’s what I do.”With his family in mind, last year McColl took a full-time job as a creative strategist for the city of Bogotá. He lasted 12 days. “It ended over political differences with the administration, but I don’t doubt that if I’d lasted, I would have been yearning to get back to the freelance world,” he says. “Regular pay would be nice, though.”For McColl, the upsides of having several jobs outweigh the stress. But is working two or more jobs sustainable long-term? Jonathan Taylor, senior psychologist at Pearn Kandola , says it ultimately comes down to why someone does it. “Feeling that you have to for financial reasons is very different to supplementing your income with a second job to allow you to pursue your passion. If it’s a deliberate choice, it can be liberating ... A sense of control is central to psychological wellbeing.”For Ruth Thomson, a mother of two, having several jobs allows her to fulfil different interests. She is a learning designer (designing and creating online training content) for Digital Mums , digital marketing adviser for The Soap Co , and founder of Social Social . She says: “I don’t want to be defined by a single job and would find a hierarchical work structure restrictive. It’s unlikely a traditional job would give me the flexibility and the same freedom to learn, innovate and explore.”Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ruth Thompson. But even those energised by a slashie lifestyle need to factor in downtime. You could be clocking up more hours than a full-time worker. The current Working Time Regulations stipulate that we should work no longer than 48 hours a week and have a 20-minute break every six hours.“If both [or all] roles demand a high pace and intensity of work, this can take its toll,” says Taylor. “While the general pace of living has increased significantly over the last 20 years, our bodies have not – we’re simply not designed to work consistently, at high intensity for long periods of time.”Taylor points out that while the importance of sleep is long recognised, psychologists are increasingly interested in the role of recovery in waking hours. He advises taking time to detach from work by exercising or pursuing interests outside of work. This is key to maintaining your ability to perform effectively under pressure.While Omar Mohamed, a charity worker and Uber driver from London, doesn’t tend to exceed 48 hours of work a week, his hours can be erratic. He works three days a week in his paid charity role at the Haringey Somali Community Centre and around three nights a week as a cab driver. Mohamed finds his typical 40-hour week manageable. “If I’m working till 5am, I sleep in till 11am or 12pm the next day,” he says. While many might find this routine disrupts their body clock, Mohamed says it suits him. He chooses not to work in the evening if he’s feeling tired. “It can be hard at times, but I like the flexibility and the extra money,” he adds. Mohamed, who is separated from his wife, is also a father of young children. However, they live with his parents.Self-employed workers contend with particular challenges, says Adam Waters, senior policy adviser for IPSE. Freelance income isn’t always regular or consistent. And, alongside professional duties, the self-employed have responsibility for running their own business. “This means keeping accounts in order, searching for new business, and making sure you stay up-to-date with the law. No one would argue that being self-employed isn’t hard work, but it can be very rewarding.”Emma Bartlett, a partner at Charles Russell Speechlys law firm, says the tax on those with several incomes can be tricky to navigate. “If you have more than one employed position, the second employer will not be able to apply your personal allowance (£11,500 untaxed) so it might feel like a harsher rate of tax is being applied to your second job,” she says. You also have no workplace protection as a self-employed person. “In particular, minimum-wage protection and working-time rights, such as holiday pay or rest breaks.”However, between self-employment and employment, a worker category has emerged. Slashie workers should be aware which definition fits each of their roles. “A self-employed person is someone who doesn’t fit into the worker category,” says Bartlett. “It will be a person who is genuinely in business on their own account; a person providing professional or business services to their clients or customers.” A worker has some limited rights, adds Bartlett. These include the right to the minimum national wage, protection from discrimination, working-time rights (eg holiday pay, rest breaks), health and safety, and statutory sick pay. As the slashie lifestyle is still relatively new, time will better tell how it affects health and wellbeing. But for those who are slashies by choice, Taylor offers some advice: “Regularly check in with yourself and why you are working the way you are. Is it still for the right reasons?”Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Accessing expertise Small business Entrepreneurs Work & careers Gig economy features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/18/gig-economy-slashies-risk-burnout-career-planning'|'2017-04-18T15:00:00.000+03:00' '7ef17865a9c717b8edcac2c60b22fcf480de10f2'|'Automakers charge ahead with electrics in China, even as policy drive slows'|'Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 11:55am BST Automakers charge ahead with electrics in China, even as policy drive slows FILE PHOTO: Employees work on an assembly line producing electronic cars at a factory of Beijing Electric Vehicle, funded by BAIC Group, in Beijing, China, January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo By Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China''s auto industry is charging ahead with aggressive plans to electrify cars even as policymakers scale back subsidies aimed at building sales from relatively low levels and consider tapping the brakes on sales quotas for plug-in cars. Industry executives will use the Shanghai Motor Show, which opens to the public on Friday, to show off numerous battery electric and plug-in hybrid models. But behind the scenes, many are worried that batteries capable of delivering the same driving range as gasoline cars are still too expensive. While green energy car sales have risen dramatically on the back of government policies, making China the world''s leading market in this segment, electric cars have otherwise generated little consumer interest. They make up less than 2 percent of China''s overall auto market of 28 million vehicles sold last year. The dominant players in China''s electric vehicle market are local, including state-owned Beijing Automotive Group, and Warren Buffett-backed BYD ( 1211.HK )002594.SZ. Most cars are relatively cheap with limited range. Beijing''s central government has floated proposals to require automakers to substantially boost sales of so-called "new energy vehicles" (NEVs), or risk being penalized. But at the same time, it is cutting subsidies on green cars by a fifth this year, a move that could deepen manufacturers'' losses on such models and discourage consumers from buying them. Policymakers say reducing subsidies gradually to 2020 will wean automakers off government support and create a self-sustained market for electric vehicles. Industry officials and experts reckon tightening fuel efficiency regulations through 2020 will compel car makers to rely more on electrification to boost average fuel efficiency despite the drop-off in subsidies. ACT NOW Industry executives say long term, they expect China will insist on more electric vehicles, and to be ready, they must invest in developing those vehicles now. "We''re not holding back anything. The requirements whether they get changed or adjusted or whatever, the bottom line is clear that electrification is going to play a bigger and bigger role ... in China and other markets as well," Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) CEO Mark Fields told reporters at a pre-show event this month. Industry executives expect Beijing to ask automakers operating in China ultimately to generate green car credits equivalent to 12 percent of annual sales volume with NEVs by around 2020, with each green vehicle getting a different number of credits depending on the level of electrification and driving range. Automakers and government officials have been bargaining over China''s electric vehicle policy for years. In the latest draft policy released in September, Beijing proposed a requirement that they generate credits equivalent to 8 percent of automakers'' sales next year by selling battery electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, rising to 10 percent in 2019 and 12 percent in 2020. More recently, the government has indicated that timetable could slip. [nL3N1GL230] Whatever target the government sets, automakers would have little choice but to comply. China is the world''s biggest auto market by far, and growth is set to continue this year, albeit at a slower 5 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That is why even as automakers fight electric vehicle mandates in the United States, they are scrambling to develop more plug-in electric hybrids and electric battery cars for China. NEW MODELS Ford, for example, says that by 2018 it will launch in China a plug-in hybrid sedan called the Mondeo Energi, a version of the low-volume Ford Fusion Energi offered in the United States. It also plans to bring an all-electric sport-utility vehicle to China over the next five years. General Motors Co ( GM.N ), one of the largest automakers in the Chinese market, plans to launch at least 10 NEVs by 2020. To support the growth of its NEV line-up, GM has built a battery assembly plant in Shanghai which should be ready to deliver battery packs next year. Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) plans to have 13 additional NEVs by 2020 based on its current generation of technology, following on plug-in hybrid versions of the Phideon sedan, due to be unveiled later on Tuesday, and the Audi A6L sedan. The VW brand aims to further launch 10 electric vehicles between 2020 and 2025. The German manufacturer also hopes to form a joint venture just for NEVs with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC) ( 600418.SS ), and any models from that partnership would be on top of those plans, a spokesman told Reuters. VW said in January the first VW-JAC car could be produced next year. China''s drive for electric vehicles, driven in part to combat often suffocating urban smog, has put pressure on Japan''s Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) to re-think its earlier scepticism about battery-electric technology. Toyota has said it will locally build plug-in hybrids and sell them in China, starting in 2018, although it has not said when all-electric car models would hit Chinese showrooms. To be sure, even as automakers renew commitments to produce more NEVs, it''s not clear how aggressively they would push those cars in the marketplace. "All automakers in China are still trying to understand the implications of the more stringent fuel efficiency regulations and whether to increase production of qualifying NEVs or purchase NEV credits from other automakers, including their partners," said James Chao, Shanghai-based Asia-Pacific chief of consulting firm IHS Markit Automotive. (Reporting by Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu in SHANGHAI, with additional reporting and editing by Joe White in DETROIT/SHANGHAI; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-preview-idUKKBN17K15R'|'2017-04-18T18:54:00.000+03:00' 'cc9d286da6e9f815a975e53b4085e037bb7d2933'|'Sterling soars to highest since December after PM calls early election'|' 49pm IST Sterling soars to highest since December after PM calls early election A pile of one pound coins is seen, in central London June 17, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files LONDON Sterling surged by as much as 1.3 percent against the dollar on Tuesday to hit its highest levels since mid-December, after British Prime Minister Theresa May surprised markets by calling an early parliamentary election for June. Sterling jumped to as high as $1.2730, its strongest since Dec. 14. It was on track for its biggest one-day rise since January. Deutsche Bank, one the world''s biggest sterling bears, said May''s call for a general election was a "game-changer" for the currency, and that it would raise its forecasts for the pound in the coming days. Analysts at the bank and elsewhere said May''s move should result in a larger and more stable majority in parliament, thereby reducing the likelihood of a so-called "hard Brexit". On a trade-weighted basis, sterling jumped 1 percent to a four-month high of 78.8. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly, editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-markets-sterling-idINKBN17K1L5'|'2017-04-18T21:19:00.000+03:00' 'bcffd98fca3a26cfe22a525457c13c33840eadca'|'Schroders agrees to buy Swiss private equity firm Adveq'|' 2:06pm BST Schroders agrees to buy Swiss private equity firm Adveq LONDON British asset manager Schroders ( SDR.L ) said on Thursday it had agreed to buy Swiss-based private equity firm Adveq for an undisclosed sum, as part of efforts to grow its private assets business. The deal for Adveq, which manages more than $7 billion, is expected to close in the second half of 2017, Schroders said in a statement. Schroders'' private assets business currently manages 14 billion pounds in assets. Schroders, Britain''s largest listed standalone asset manager with around 400 billion pounds in assets, said there would be no changes to Adveq''s investment team, process or strategies as a result of the deal. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Carolyn Cohn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-schroders-m-a-adveq-idUKKBN17M1KE'|'2017-04-20T21:06:00.000+03:00' 'aade090387ca5eb87993a4fd6b25c5965707cc16'|'Japan government raises business sentiment assessment, first time in four months'|' 44am BST Japan government raises business sentiment assessment, first time in four months A construction site is reflected on a window as a businessman walks in Tokyo''s business district, Japan January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Japan''s government raised its assessment of business sentiment in April, the first upgrade in four months, after the Bank of Japan''s tankan survey showed this month that the corporate mood brightened. However, the government left unchanged for the fifth month its overall assessment that the economy is recovering gradually though pockets of weakness remain. Japan''s economy has shown signs of life in recent months, with exports and factory output benefiting from a recovery in global demand. Business confidence among big manufacturers improved for a second straight quarter to hit a one-and-a-half year high, the BOJ tankan released on April 3 showed, a sign the benefits of an export-driven economic recovery were broadening. "Firms'' judgment on current business conditions is improving," the Cabinet Office said in its monthly economic report released on Thursday. This marked an upgrade from last month, when the Cabinet Office, which helps coordinate economic policy, said business sentiment was improving gradually. The BOJ is expected to offer a more upbeat view of the economy at its policy review next week than it did a month ago, sources have told Reuters, as robust exports and factory output support recovery in the world''s third-largest economy. The economy is expected to recover gradually as employment and wages continue to improve, but uncertainty in overseas economies and fluctuations in the financial markets warrant attention, the Cabinet Office said in its report. The Cabinet Office left unchanged its assessment that consumer spending is continuing to recover on the whole, capital expenditure is showing signs of pick up, and that exports are recovering. (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-report-idUKKBN17M0VL'|'2017-04-20T16:44:00.000+03:00' 'eef10216d6628fe0cd2c0e2ca49e823f96225213'|'UPDATE 1-D.R. Horton beats profit estimates; raises revenue forecast'|'(Adds details)April 20 D.R. Horton Inc reported a quarterly profit that beat analysts'' estimates on Thursday, driven by higher home sales, and the largest U.S. homebuilder raised its revenue forecast for the year.An improving job market continues to fuel demand for housing in the United States. Mortgage rates are now climbing higher but are still near historic lows.Orders, an indicator of future revenue for homebuilders, rose 13.8 percent to 13,991 homes in the second quarter ended March 31.The Fort Worth, Texas-based company raised its 2017 revenue forecast to $13.6 billion-$14.0 billion from $13.4 billion-$13.8 billion.D.R. Horton said it expects to sell 44,500-46,000 homes, compared with its previous forecast of 43,500-45,500 homes."The spring selling season is going well," Chairman Donald Horton said.The homebuilder, which mainly sells single-family homes, said it sold 10,685 homes in the quarter, up from 9,262 in the year-earlier period.The company''s net income rose to $229.2 million, or 60 cents per share, from $195.1 million, or 52 cents per share.Home sales rose 17.6 percent to $3.16 billion.Analysts on average had expected a profit of 59 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Up to Wednesday''s close, the company''s shares had risen 24.2 percent since the start of the year.(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Edited by Martina D''Couto)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/dr-horton-results-idINL3N1HS42D'|'2017-04-20T09:43:00.000+03:00' '1230201fd1dc01dae090dddf744ba31d082fd423'|'Dominican Republic ratifies terms of Odebrecht''s $184 million plea deal'|'SAO PAULO A judge in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday approved terms of a $184 million fine on Odebrecht SA [ODBES.UL], which sought a plea deal after admitting to bribing officials to win contracts in the country.Dominican Attorney General Jean Rodriguez called the ruling by Judge Danilo Quevedo "a momentous step forward in the fight against corruption." Rodriguez said Odebrecht will provide a list of those who accepted bribes by May 19, along with testimony and documents corroborating the accusations.The accord is the first of about 10 that Odebrecht wants to settle across Latin America and Africa.Reuters reported earlier in the day that Brazilian prosecutors will submit criminal evidence that their Dominican counterparts need to continue their investigation of Odebrecht.In December, Odebrecht and petrochemical subsidiary Braskem SA ( BRKM5.SA ) settled with Brazilian, U.S. and Swiss authorities a record fine of $3.5 billion. Odebrecht admitted to bribing officials in 12 countries, mostly Latin America, to help secure lucrative contracts.Speeding up negotiations across Latin America is crucial to Odebrecht, which is trying to prevent upcoming elections across the region from slowing planned asset sales and refinancing 76 billion reais ($24 billion) of debt. Prosecutors from 10 Latin American countries formed a task force to investigate the scheme.Odebrecht and prosecutors in Panama, Colombia and Peru have made significant progress on the elaboration of plea deals, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The countries have for years been relevant clients of Odebrecht''s civil construction unit.(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Additional reporting by Jorge Pineda in the Dominican Republic; Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-odebrecht-dominican-idINKBN17L2X1'|'2017-04-19T23:21:00.000+03:00' 'bdb6650b305230549e04953b3780da6c26952596'|'The human cost of smartphone minerals - Letters - Technology'|'I notice your review of the Huawei P10 smartphone (theguardian.com, 20 April) makes no reference to the manufacturer’s policy concerning sourcing the materials used in production. I’m sure your product reviewers are all very aware that minerals such as gold, which are used in mobile phone production, can come from mines that use slaves. Furthermore, the mercury and cyanide used in gold extraction have a devastating environmental and human impact.Despite the fact that it is not, as yet, the norm in technology reviews in the press, I strongly encourage you to take the lead and highlight in your reviews whether or not producers ensure that no slave labour is used in any part of their supply chain. Reference to the environmental cost of production and post-use product recycling policy would also be welcome.By including this information as standard in your reviews you would be taking a valuable positive step in reducing demand for products that contribute to slavery, and so causing producers to abandon unethical supply practices.Jonathan ShaveBolzano, Italy• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/lettersTopics Technology Mobile phones Technology sector letters '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/20/the-human-cost-of-smartphone-minerals'|'2017-04-21T02:17:00.000+03:00' 'fe04307a43bfc710721953fc83b2fd26ff37a164'|'London finance firm seeks to block Portugal Novo Banco sale'|'* Aethel Partners wants to block sale to Lone Star* London-based firm complained to central bank about process* Aethel said sale should be relaunched* Aethel move further complicates sale that is already in dispute* EU says sale must be completed by AugustBy Sergio GoncalvesLISBON, April 20 A failed bidder for Portugal''s third-largest lender Novo Banco has asked its lawyers to block the 1 billion euro ($1.08 billion) sale to U.S. fund Lone Star and told the central bank it should relaunch the bidding.London-based financial firm Aethel Partners complained to the Bank of Portugal this week in a document viewed by Reuters. It said the central bank had not properly considered its 3.8 billion euro bid when it awarded Novo Banco to Lone Star last month.European Union rules require Portugal to sell the bank by August or it may have to be liquidated. The move by Aethel threatens to further complicate a transaction that is already snagged on a separate legal dispute involving some of Novo Banco''s creditors.The sale is one of the Socialist government''s biggest headaches and could impose costs on a country that made huge efforts to cut its budget deficit since the eurozone debt crisis when it had to be bailed out. "Aethel has already instructed its lawyers in Portugal to rapidly find a way to suspend the (sales) process and block the decision to sell Novo Banco to Lone Star," a spokeswoman for Aethel told Reuters."The execution of these judicial proceedings (seeking information and documents) may lead to an injunction and then to an action to challenge the decision."The bondholders'' legal challenge also says the tender process did not follow correct procedures by banning them from taking part in the sale because they were in a legal battle with the country.The Aethel spokeswoman said it would request information and documents from the central bank on the sales process.A Bank of Portugal spokesman declined to comment on potential legal action by Aethel. A spokeswoman for Lone Star declined to comment on the challenge to the deal.Novo Banco was carved out of Banco Espirito Santo, which collapsed under a pile of debt in 2014 and had to be rescued in a 4.9-billion-euro operation by the previous government. Novo Banco was left with the healthy operations of BES.The current government has said it will not spend any taxpayers money on Novo Banco.The European Union deadline was set under new rules designed to ensure governments did not end up owning rescued banks. The rules say that if the bank is not sold, it must be liquidated. A first attempt to sell it in 2015 failed as bids were too low.The sale of Novo Banco already faces an injunction in a case filed by bondholders led by U.S. fund BlackRock that want to recover 1.5 billion euros of losses on Novo Banco bonds.The bondholders asked a Lisbon court this month to stop the sale to put pressure on Portugal to pay them their losses. The court has yet to rule on the injunction request and has not publicly stated when it will hand down a decision.If the sales process were to be relaunched, other firms could potentially enter the bidding, including Aethel.Aethel had offered to pay 2.8 billion euros into the country''s bank resolution fund, the entity which formally owns Novo Banco, and make a 1 billion euro capital injection into the bank itself. In return, it wanted 91 percent of Novo Banco.Instead, the central bank agreed to sell 75 percent of Novo Banco to Lone Star in return for a 1 billion euro capital injection into the bank.Aethel Partners was established in 2014. It was founded by Ricardo Santos Silva, former deputy president of hedge fund Lyxor Asset Management, and Aba Rosa Schubert, who was previously a partner at Eton Park Capital Management, a hedge fund.Since the rescue in 2014, Novo Banco has posted only one quarterly profit and remains lumbered by bad loans, debt and restructuring costs. ($1 = 0.9289 euros) (Reporting By Sergio Goncalves, writing by Axel Bugge, editing by Mark Bendeich and Anna Willard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/portugal-novobanco-idINL3N1HS3FO'|'2017-04-20T12:52:00.000+03:00' '0a0f45a2e65691c69f54fcd92abc5b921c169808'|'Man Group, Pandora strength boosts European stocks, French equities rally'|' 6:16pm BST Man Group, Pandora strength boosts European stocks, French equities rally Stock index price for France''s CAC 40 and company stock price information are displayed on screens as they hang above the Paris stock exchange, operated by Euronext NV, in La Defense business district in Paris, France, December 14, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier LONDON European shares edged higher on Thursday as investors welcomed results from Man Group ( EMG.L ) and Pandora ( PNDORA.CO ) maintained its outlook, while French equities outperformed ahead of the first round of France''s presidential election. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended the session 0.2 percent higher. France''s CAC 40 .FCHI outperformed peers, jumping 1.5 percent and marking its best day since the beginning of March. Banking stocks, which are regarded as bellwethers for the economy, led the CAC 40 higher, with BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ) and Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ) up 4 and 2.8 percent respectively. Some analysts suggested that investors were closing out short positions ahead of the vote. "Few days ahead of the French elections, almost anything is possible based on the polls. The worst outcome for markets is if Le Pen and Melenchon are in the 2nd round, in our view, as markets could start pricing Frexit risks," strategists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note, referring to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and the far-left''s Jean-Luc Melenchon. More broadly, European banks also rose, up 0.8 percent. UBS on Wednesday upgraded the sector to ''neutral'' from ''underweight'', citing rising reflation expectations and a seemingly more benign regulatory environment. Even the struggling UK FTSE 100 .FTSE managed to post a 0.1 percent gain, despite coming under pressure this week after British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election, a move that sent sterling to a more than 6-month high. "The inverse correlation of FTSE with sterling is logical because of the overseas earnings of the FTSE, so if sterling continues to move, that will have a significant effect on that trade-off between large, international companies and more domestic companies," said Simon Gergel, CIO for UK Equities at Allianz Global Investors. Earnings-related newsflow drove the top gainers, with Pandora ( PNDORA.CO ) up 5 percent, regaining ground after a broker downgrade hit it earlier in the week. The company updated its financial reporting structure, confirming its 2017 outlook. In another sign of a better backdrop for the asset management industry, British hedge fund Man Group ( EMG.L ) shares rose 4 percent after it reported net inflows over the first quarter. "This is a very strong start to the year that is likely to lead to consensus upgrades," said Liberum analysts. Earlier this week peer fund manager Ashmore ( ASHM.L ) posted net inflows for the first time in nearly three years, and on Wednesday Henderson ( HGGH.L ) posted first quarter results, showing assets were cushioned by market gains in the period. Energy sector stocks were in the red, however, reeling from a sharp slide in oil prices overnight. Lundin Petroleum ( LUPE.ST ) and Tullow Oil ( TLW.L ) were among the top fallers in the sector .SXEP. (Reporting by Kit Rees and Helen Reid)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-idUKKBN17M27O'|'2017-04-21T01:16:00.000+03:00' 'af5fe98b0857bffcf9ecdc9f390eface9d26fbbb'|'BP mulls sale of stakes in Canadian oil sands assets - sources'|' 7:51pm BST BP mulls sale of stakes in Canadian oil sands assets - sources Spectators are seen reflected in a British Petroleum sponsors building in Olympic Park at the London 2012 Paralympic Games September 6, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By John Tilak and Nia Williams - TORONTO/CALGARY TORONTO/CALGARY BP Plc ( BP.L ) is considering the sale of its stakes in three Canadian oil sands projects, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week, as part of the British oil company''s strategy of retreating from noncore businesses. BP''s 50 percent stake in the Sunrise project near Fort McMurray in Alberta, where Husky Energy Inc ( HSE.TO ) owns the rest and is the operator, is the most valuable of the three assets. BP''S Sunrise stake is valued at about $810 million, based on recent transactions in the sector. It also owns a 50 percent stake in Pike, operated by Devon Energy Corp ( DVN.N ), which is still awaiting a final investment decision, and is majority-owner of the Terre de Grace oil sands pilot project. A BP spokesman declined to comment. Sources declined to be named as the information is confidential. The three projects are located in northeastern Alberta. BP has discussed with advisers the possibility of selling the stakes, though no final decision has been made, the people added. If the sale proceeds, BP would deploy capital in more attractive regions, such as the Permian basin in the United States, where the rate of return tends to be higher, one of the people said. BP''s planned move comes after other global energy majors, including ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) and Royal Dutch Shell ( RDSa.L ) have cut their exposure to Canada''s oil sands operations, which are among the world''s most expensive oil plays to develop. Faced with a lower oil price environment and challenging economics, which include high cost operations and carbon taxes, global players are increasingly put off by the oil sands. Reuters reported last week that U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ) was exploring the sale of its 20 percent stake in Canada''s Athabasca Oil Sands project, which could fetch about $2.5 billion. BP is focussing its operations in Egypt, Azerbaijan, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and Trinidad in the coming years. Husky said in February that current production at the Sunrise project is about 36,000 barrels of oil per day. It is in the process of ramping up the project to full capacity of 60,000 bpd but progress has been slower than expected and the company is drilling extra wells to try to speed up production. Husky lowered the 2017 production forecast to 40,000-44,000 bpd from 60,000 bpd. While Husky is not keen to increase its exposure to the oil sands, it may consider buying BP''s stake if the price is attractive, two sources said. Husky spokesman Mel Duvall declined to comment on whether the company had discussed buying BP''s stake in Sunrise. "We take a look at everything, but we have a number of organic growth opportunities," he added. ($1 = 1.3475 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nia Williams in Calgary; Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London, Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta; and David French in New York; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-canada-divestiture-idUKKBN17M2AQ'|'2017-04-21T02:51:00.000+03:00' '833bf2178b4c3491906d2d2e5ec7babe791990a0'|'Dutch court puts two units of Brazil''s Oi into bankruptcy proceedings'|'SAO PAULO A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered two subsidiaries of Brazilian phone company Oi SA to begin bankruptcy proceedings, giving some creditors a new form of leverage for their fight in Brazil''s biggest-ever bankruptcy case.The ruling, which overturned a lower court''s decision in February, gives Oi the chance for a final appeal before the Dutch Supreme Court, which the company said it would request.If Wednesday''s ruling stands, court-appointed trustees for Oi Brasil Holdings Coöperatief UA and Portugal Telecom International Finance BV will be tasked with liquidating the units to repay creditors.Oi''s two Dutch subsidiaries issued about 5.8 billion euros ($6.2 billion) of debt, representing most of the company''s outstanding bond debt of approximately 8.5 billion euros.Those funds were passed largely to the parent company, which is protected from creditors by its own restructuring process in a Brazilian court, where the judge will have a say over claims from trustees of the Dutch subsidiaries.Oi said in a securities filing that the Dutch ruling had no impact on its day-to-day operations, including sales, maintenance and investments.In June, Oi filed for Brazil''s largest-ever bankruptcy protection process, in an effort to restructure about 65 billion reais ($21 billion) of bond, bank and regulatory liabilities.The Dutch case created an early divide among the company''s bondholders. Investors such as Aurelius Capital Management LP, Attestor Capital LLC, Citadel LLP and York Capital Management formed the so-called International Bondholder Committee to press their case in the Netherlands while a group advised by Moelis & Co focused exclusively on the Brazilian case.The International Bondholder Committee, which holds more than $2 billion of bonds issued by the two Dutch companies and other Oi units, declined to comment on Wednesday''s ruling.(Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oi-sa-restructuring-idUSKBN17M0BF'|'2017-04-20T10:40:00.000+03:00' '8d89fd738cd9963a4706bfdd020de83429de4c44'|'BRIEF-Allergan says it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with Novartis to conduct a phase 2b study'|'United States 21am EDT BRIEF-Allergan says it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with Novartis to conduct a phase 2b study April 18 Allergan Plc * Announced it has entered into a clinical trial agreement with Novartis to conduct a phase 2b study, using Allergan''s Cenicriviroc * Financial details of this transaction are not disclosed * Phase 2b study will assess safety, efficacy and tolerability of this multi-therapy treatment approach for NASH Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-allergan-says-it-has-entered-into-idUSFWN1HP0IB'|'2017-04-18T13:21:00.000+03:00' '46cffa19c1ca46d32df0fa4f870f57c5b063f273'|'Dutch builder VolkerWessels to return to stock market'|' 16am BST Dutch builder VolkerWessels to return to stock market AMSTERDAM Dutch construction company VolkerWessels said on Tuesday it intends to return to the stock market after nearly 15 years, as the controlling Wessels family seeks to sell a minority stake via a share sale on Euronext Amsterdam. People close to company told Reuters in March the company was targeting a market value of around 2 billion euros (1.70 billion pounds), or about 7 times 2016 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 254 million euros. The valuation is roughly in line with the average for the construction sector. CEO Jan de Ruiter, a former banker for ABN Amro, told reporters the exact size of the offering was yet to be determined, but the Wessels family intended to continue to sell down its stake over time after the listing. "We believe that a stock market listing of VolkerWessels ... will strengthen the name and profile of the company," De Ruiter said, adding that it would also "generate liquidity for the selling shareholders." The Wessels family''s investment vehicle, Reggeborgh Participaties, said it was selling shares because it wanted to diversify its investments. VolkerWessels was formed in 1997 when tycoon Dik Wessels bought rival Volker Stevin. Wessels has expanded his family''s construction company of the same name via a series of mergers. Wessels took VolkerWessels private in a 720 million euro buyout in 2003. He sold a 47.5 percent stake in VolkerWessels to private equity firm CVC in 2007, which he bought back in 2012. Financial details of those transactions were not disclosed. His personal fortune is estimated at more than 3 billion euros by Quote Magazine, which lists the wealthiest people in the Netherlands. VolkerWessels had 2016 sales of 5.5 billion euros, making the group the Netherlands'' second-largest builder after Royal BAM group. It has major operations in the Netherlands, with additional activities in Britain, Germany and North America. There is no date yet for the pricing and the listing. ABN Amro ( ABNd.AS ), ING ( INGA.AS ), Merrill Lynch ( BAC.N ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) are joint global coordinators for the sale, with BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), Rabobank bookrunners. Kempen & Co is advising Reggeborgh. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkerwessels-ipo-idUKKBN17K11K'|'2017-04-18T18:16:00.000+03:00' '570aab061d90a97c12347bb7e4e2d27acc932666'|'Samsung Electronics says Galaxy S8 pre-orders better than expected so far'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 2:48am BST Samsung Elec says Galaxy S8 preorders better than expected so far A man tries out a Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphone at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL Pre-orders for tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd''s flagship Galaxy S8 smartphones have been better than expected so far, the South Korean firm''s mobile business chief Koh Dong-jin said on Thursday. Koh also told reporters during a media event in Seoul the S8, which some analysts believe will set a new first-year sales record for Samsung and help the firm recover from the costly collapse of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, will be the safest smartphone to date for Samsung. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-idUKKBN17F07A'|'2017-04-13T09:51:00.000+03:00' '0a9fa689a078ee96fe1b5bee5e1748af8f7cfd17'|'Dollar/yen off five-month low but U.S.-Japan trade issues limit rise'|'Money 11:18am IST Dollar/yen off five-month low but U.S.-Japan trade issues limit rise FILE PHOTO: The word ''''Yen'''' is pictured on a Japanese banknote on top of a U.S. dollar bill at Interbank Inc. Money exchange in Tokyo, Japan in this September 9, 2010 picture illustration. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao/File Photo By Shinichi Saoshiro - TOKYO TOKYO The dollar pulled away from five-month lows versus the yen on Tuesday, with comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and higher debt yields giving the bruised greenback some breathing space. Still, the dollar was capped by nervousness about Tuesday''s economic dialogue between the United States and Japan. Lingering worries about North Korea and the coming French presidential elections also kept a lid on the dollar against the safe-haven yen. Mnuchin told the Financial Times that he agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump''s view that the dollar''s strength in the short term was hurting exports, but that he saw the currency''s strength over the long term as a positive. Mnuchin''s comments were seen countering those of the president, who last week said the dollar was too strong, sending it reeling. The dollar added to overnight gains and was up 0.1 percent at 109.040 yen after rising briefly to 109.225. It had sunk to a five-month trough of 108.130 earlier on Monday on worries about tensions in the Korean Peninsula. At the U.S.-Japan economic dialogue, there are concerns Washington could take a tough trade stance against Tokyo, which has been wary of Trump''s complaints that Japan and other countries have artificially weakened their currencies. "For dollar/yen, the main focus will be on what kind of pressure the United States could apply on Japan as basically U.S. trade policy is linked with a policy for a weaker dollar," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior forex strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo. "The yen cannot simply continue weakening along with higher stocks under such conditions," he said. Washington''s standoff with Pyongyang was seen adding a new dimension to U.S.-Japan economic talks, as the United States has sought support from China in confronting North Korea. "Trump appears to have made a concession regarding China, a key player in the North Korean situation," said Makoto Noji, senior strategist at SMBC Nikko Securities, referring to last week''s U.S. Treasury''s semi-annual currency report in which the Trump administration backed away from a key campaign promise and did not label China a currency manipulator. "But at the same time, for the sake of his supporters, Trump has to stick with his pledge to tackle trade imbalances, and this raises the risk of his administration getting tough with Japan," Noji said. The dollar index, measuring it against a basket of major currencies, was flat at 100.290 after popping up to 100.400 earlier in the session. The euro was a shade higher at $1.0652, having seen limited movement on Monday when many European markets were shut for the Easter holiday. The Australian dollar dipped 0.3 percent to $0.7566 . The Aussie nudged up above $0.7600 to a two-week high on Monday on upbeat Chinese growth data. However, weaker prices of iron ore, Australia''s key export, have prevented the currency from staying above that threshold. Treasury yields rose from five-month lows on Monday as Wall Street shares gained, reducing demand for safe-haven debt. (Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-forex-idINKBN17K0EY'|'2017-04-18T13:48:00.000+03:00' 'd67a883996980f0b076468369af819b98baac7d8'|'Airbus CEO hopes for significant boost from A400M talks'|'Company News 53am EDT Airbus CEO hopes for significant boost from A400M talks AMSTERDAM, April 12 Airbus hopes to get "significant" financial help from European governments to ease renewed problems with its A400M military transport aircraft, Chief Executive Tom Enders said on Wednesday. In February, Airbus called for further help on Europe''s largest defence project, following penalties for delays and a contract clause allowing buyers to withhold some cash payments. In late March, Airbus held talks with European purchasing governments who decided to maintain the penalties, but did not rule out some short-term flexibility.. "We are very grateful that governments have responded to our plea to engage in these discussions, which will hopefully bring significant financial mitigation," Enders told an annual shareholder meeting. Enders said the drain on cash from the A400M problems should be reduced beyond 2018, after which the company would demonstrate strong potential for cashflow generation. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/airbus-shareholders-idUSL8N1HK3BV'|'2017-04-12T20:53:00.000+03:00' 'beaa1fa3e965fbaa7cdbecc59f2e639eeaa77291'|'Trump''s trade barriers would be self-inflicted wound, says IMF chief - Business'|'The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has delivered one of her strongest condemnations of the protectionist policies of Donald Trump , warning that putting up barriers to trade would be a “self-inflicted wound” to an improving global economy.Christine Lagarde used a speech in Brussels to launch a strong attack on the go-it-alone approach championed by the US president during his election battle with Hillary Clinton.Speaking before the IMF’s spring meeting next week, Lagarde said international cooperation had been vital in preventing the deep recession of 2008-09 turning into a second Great Depression .Global productivity slowdown risks creating instability, warns IMF Read more After Trump picked strong critics of the IMF to be key members of his treasury team, Lagarde defended her organisation, saying it had helped foster the international cooperation that had underpinned a “phenomenal rise in incomes and living standards around the world”.She added: “More recently, we worked together to ensure that the great recession did not become another Great Depression. Cooperation through a multilateral framework has benefited every country. Fostering more resilient growth therefore requires more international cooperation – not less.”Trump has threatened to put swingeing tariffs on Chinese goods and to impose a tax on imports coming into the US as part of an economic strategy designed to put America first.Lagarde said cooperation was a better way of dealing with the global imbalances that had resulted in some countries, such as China and Germany, running trade surpluses while others including the US run deficits. This meant working together to ensure that countries observed a level playing field, including by avoiding protectionist measures.“Restricting trade would be a self-inflicted wound that disrupts supply chains, hurts global output, and inflates the prices of production materials and consumer goods. And low-income households are hurt the most as they consume the largest part of their incomes,” she said.The IMF will release its half-yearly health check on the global economy next week but Lagarde hinted that the growth prospects for 2017 would be revised up.After six years of disappointing growth, Lagarde said the global economy was gaining momentum, holding out the prospect of more jobs and higher incomes.“At the same time, there are clear downside risks: political uncertainty, including in Europe; the sword of protectionism hanging over global trade; and tighter global financial conditions that could trigger disruptive capital outflows from emerging and developing economies,” she said.Topics International Monetary Fund (IMF) US economy Economics Christine Lagarde Donald Trump news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/trump-trade-barriers-imf-christine-lagarde-protectionism'|'2017-04-12T19:15:00.000+03:00' '5aa1745160570d05bbe302e25caffd3d3614cb37'|'Air rage : A passenger is dragged from a United Airlines plane'|'UNITED AIRLINES urges travellers to “Fly the Friendly Skies”. The company makes no promises about its customer service before take-off. When, on April 9th, a traveller in Chicago refused to give up his seat on an overcrowded flight to Louisville, Kentucky, police yanked him into the aisle and dragged him by his hands along the floor, bleeding after he cut his head on an armrest. Horrified fellow passengers took videos on their phones and posted them to social media.The company’s initial response was possibly the worst bit of crisis-PR in history, noted one media commentator. As videos of the bloodied man quickly went viral, Oscar Munoz, the carrier’s boss, woodenly apologised for having to “re-accommodate” customers. In an internal letter to staff, Mr Munoz said crew had “no choice” in their action and blamed the flyer for not co-operating.Overbooking, which is common at many carriers, was not the problem. Rather, it was late-arriving, off-duty airline employees who needed seats at the last moment. The usual way of persuading paying passengers not to fly—offering lots of cash—did not work. Such bargains are best struck before boarding the plane. United, however, let passengers take their seats as it offered up to $1,000 to catch a later flight. When not enough travellers were tempted, rather than raising the price further, the crew selected four travellers for disembarkation, based on their ticket class and frequent-flyer status. The man in question, a doctor, claimed he had patients to see the next day and refused to go. 4 As the scene looped on the world’s news channels and Twitter feeds (one user, @Reflog_18, suggested the cabin layout for United below), Mr Munoz was derided for his apparent antipathy towards passengers. Before the man’s identity was known, his airline became the top-trending topic on Weibo, a Chinese microblog, as rumours swirled that the passenger had been singled out because he was Chinese. Amid calls for a boycott, United’s share price fell by nearly 4% on April 11th before recovering by the market’s close. The same day Mr Munoz issued a fresh apology that was different in tone, and said of the forcibly removed customer that “no one should ever be mistreated this way”.Investors are watching to see if the social-media frenzy will disappear. Many investors praise the way that Mr Munoz has run the company since his appointment in 2015. He has focused on costs and delivered pre-tax profit of $3.8bn in 2016, down by 9.5% on the year before though ahead of analysts’ expectations. But Mr Munoz had promised to tackle the airline’s reputation for bad customer service. On this measure he has hardly been a success. United has fallen to 68th place in the influential SKYTRAX airline ranking, just one place ahead of Copa Airlines, Panama’s flag carrier.And scandal seems to dog the firm. In March it was accused of sexism for barring three girls from boarding a flight wearing leggings: a ten-year-old had to change into a dress and the other two teenagers were left at the gate. The girls had failed to comply with United’s dress codes for friends and family of employees. Such incidents highlight a growing gap between the stories firms tell about themselves and what consumers see. Not long before United released Mr Munoz’s statement about the bloodied passenger on Facebook, it had posted a picture of a company dog nuzzling a young boy, part of a programme to make travel less stressful. Travellers will be telling a story about United for some time. It won’t be the one about the puppies.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21720580-ugly-incident-provokes-social-media-storm-passenger-dragged-united-airlines?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-11T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'e76c0622dd342c7653b2500ec1c0f0d1ec715b25'|'India hopes to auction coal blocks for commercial mining by end-December'|' 10:05am IST India hopes to auction coal blocks for commercial mining by end-December Labourers load coal onto a supply truck on the outskirts of Jammu April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mukesh Gupta NEW DELHI India aims to auction coal blocks for commercial mining by end-December, coal secretary Susheel Kumar told television channel ET NOW on Thursday. The country is the world''s third-biggest producer and importer of the fuel, and with coal accounting for about 70 percent of India''s power generation, the government wants to boost domestic output to cut imports. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Sunil Nair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-coal-idINKBN17F0FT'|'2017-04-13T12:35:00.000+03:00' '1bfa92013f9b10a97af61aeb8ddd796ffa132232'|'Expert views: China''s commodity imports surge in March; crude imports at record'|' 9:48am IST Expert views: China''s commodity imports surge in March; crude imports at record Trucks carrying copper and other goods are seen waiting to enter an area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, in Shanghai in this September 24, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo China''s imports of oil, copper, iron ore, coal and soybeans in March surge on a month earlier, customs data showed on Thursday. KEY POINTS: Copper: China imported 430,000 tonnes, versus 340,000 tonnes in February Crude oil: China imported 38.95 million tonnes, versus 31.78 million tonnes in February Iron ore: China imported 95.56 million tonnes, versus 83.49 million tonnes in February Soybeans: China imported 6.33 million tonnes, versus 5.54 million tonnes in February Coal: China imported 22.09 million tonnes, versus 17.68 million tonnes in February Preliminary table of commodity trade data Commentary on copper: HELEN LAU, ARGONAUT SECURITIES, HONG KONG “We have been seeing exchange inventories going down, so we are not surprised about the March import recovery. For fabricators, perhaps they are looking at the short supply of copper concentrate, and choosing to import more metal now. For sure, this trend will extend into April but for May we will need to wait and see.” Commentary on crude oil: HARRY LIU, ANALYST, IHS MARKIT "The 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude imports is definitely a shocking number. That means China built close to 1.7 million bpd of crude inventory in March, way off the chart from any perspectives! Particularly at a time when storage capacity addition is light. This level of imports are considered unsustainable in the coming months. We''re expecting a significant slowdown to close to 8 million bpd as refinery maintenance picks up, as well as the tightening room for stock building." Commentary on Soybeans: MONICA TU, ANALYST, JC INTELLIGENCE CO "The figures are basically in line with the market expectation. Buyers bought a lot of soybeans from Brazil maybe out of concern about Sino-U.S. trade relations. And logistics were quite smooth and shipping was fast. On the domestic demand side, soybean crushers signed many presale contracts around spring festival time in January and February, when there was mismatch of supply and demand. We expect soy imports for the coming months to be even higher, reaching over 8 million tonnes in April, May and June. Pressure on supplies will start kicking in around April." Commentary on coal: ZHANG XIAOJIN, COAL ANALYST, EVERBRIGHT FUTURES "The year on year increase in monthly coal imports is quite high and a bit unexpectedly. Robust imports reflected both strong demand from the power plants in the first three months and deep discount of imported coal to domestic coal. Demand for imported coal remain strong in April, but due to disruption to transportation in Australian, shipment could be lower compared with March." Commentary on iron ore: NEV POWER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP "We have seen the follow through on new supply coming on to the market in seaborne iron ore and there is still more supply to come, which will replace higher cost (Chinese) production. Imported iron ore to China will continue at the levels we are seeing now or perhaps even grow as we go forward." LINKS: For details, see the official Customs website(www.customs.gov.cn) BACKGROUND: China is the world''s biggest net crude oil consumer and topbuyer of copper, coal, iron ore and soy. (Reporting by Asia Commodities and Energy team; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-trade-commodities-idINKBN17F0FH'|'2017-04-13T12:18:00.000+03:00' '6295244225e19a3caa7abdfa571a573b8141386f'|'Asia stocks slip amid North Korea concerns, dollar up on Mnuchin comments'|'Business News 6:31am IST Asia stocks slip amid North Korea concerns, dollar up on Mnuchin comments A stock quotation board displaying Japan''s Nikkei average is seen at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan December 30, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Nichola Saminather - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks pulled back in early trade on Tuesday, while the dollar bounced back from a five-month low after the U.S. Treasury Secretary''s comments supported a stronger currency, although escalating tensions over North Korea capped gains. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was 0.15 percent lower. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 jumped 0.8 percent, its biggest one-day gain in three weeks, thanks to a weaker yen. Australian shares slipped 0.8 percent on their first trading day this week. South Korea''s KOSPI .KS11 climbed 0.1 percent. Markets are awaiting data on Chinese home prices in March and South Korea''s producer price index, as well as minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia''s April meeting. U.S. housing starts and building permits for March, as well as industrial production, are also due later in the session. Following North Korea''s failed missile launch on Sunday, tensions have escalated amid concerns that the isolated state may soon test another nuclear bomb or missile. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday that recent American military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed President Donald Trump''s resolve should not be questioned, but Pyongyang vowed to continue its tests. While praising China for stepping up efforts to rein its neighbor and ally, Pence and South Korea''s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, said they would proceed with the early deployment to South Korea of the U.S. THAAD missile-defense system, in spite of China''s objections. "It seems the focus is now firmly on future missile tests from North Korea and whether any future tests will actually be successful," Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note. "One suspects the concerns in North Korea have further to play out." Despite these tensions, Wall Street posted its first session of gains in four, as investors turned their attention to first-quarter corporate earnings. Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) is among companies due to report this week. All three major indexes .DJI .SPX .IXIC advanced about 0.9 percent overnight. The dollar edged higher after U.S. Treasury Secretary said he saw the currency''s strength over the long term as a positive, although he agreed with Trump''s view that it hurts exports in the short term. The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, rose 0.1 percent to 100.38. The dollar gained 0.2 percent to 109.15 yen JPY= in early trade on Tuesday. It hit its lowest level since Nov. 15 on Monday. Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and Pence are due to meet later on Tuesday, with issues including trade, currencies, energy and infrastructure likely to be discussed. "For dollar/yen, the main focus will be on what kind of pressure the United States could apply on Japan as basically U.S. trade policy is linked with a policy for a weaker dollar," said Junichi Ishikawa, senior forex strategist at IG Securities in Tokyo. "The yen cannot simply continue weakening along with higher stocks under such conditions," he said. The euro EUR=EBS was steady at $1.0639, retaining Monday''s 0.25 percent gain. In commodities, oil prices inched up after sliding on Monday on rising U.S. production and as investors took profits after three straight weeks of gains. U.S. crude CLc1 added 0.1 percent to $52.69 a barrel, after falling 1 percent on Monday, its biggest decline in almost a month. Gold XAU= retreated 0.15 percent to $1,282.24 an ounce early on Tuesday on the dollar''s strength. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idINKBN17K02Q'|'2017-04-18T08:58:00.000+03:00' 'afe769bb6e5953d2b90df9c28ad47e5ab3498f1d'|'Japan jet may make money, but aims to revive dormant industry'|'By Tim Kelly and Maki Shiraki - TOKYO TOKYO The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) has been delayed five times and faces rising costs, yet its future as the vanguard of Japanese-built passenger jets seems assured by the corporate muscle behind it and a government set on reviving an aerospace industry dismantled after World War Two.The delays - the new 90-seat plane was due to take off in 2013, but the first delivery is not now seen until 2020 - have dented its chances of commercial success as established regional jet makers, Brazil''s Embraer SA ( EMBR3.SA ) and Canada''s Bombardier Inc ( BBDb.TO ), catch up with its innovations, and China and Russia flex their aerospace ambitions.But the Japanese government''s primary goal isn''t to make money for Mitsubishi Aircraft, the MRJ''s manufacturer, rather it''s to have the plane cement an industry revival that failed to take off half a century ago with Japan''s last passenger plane, the YS-11."Rather than a simple question of whether it makes a profit or loss, what is more important is will it over the longer term be the foundation of a strong aerospace industry," a government source who is helping the program told Reuters. He asked not to be identified as he is not authorized to talk to the media.Presentation documents prepared by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, seen by Reuters, see the MRJ as the first in a three-generation program stretching beyond 2060.With the plane still awaiting U.S.-standard certification for commercial flights, signed-up customers are banking on the backing of big-name Japanese companies to see the project through.Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp is 64 percent-owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ( 7011.T ), with Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) and Mitsubishi Corp ( 8058.T ) each holding a 10 percent stake. Other shareholders include state-owned Development Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Corp ( 8053.T ) and Mitsui & Co ( 8031.T )."Not a bad list," says Jep Thornton, a partner at Aerolease Aviation in Florida which has ordered 10 of the planes. "This is coming from the government sector, the financial sector and the investor sector."Launch customer ANA Holdings ( 9202.T ), Japan''s biggest carrier, says it won''t walk away from its order for 15 MRJs even as it has to keep older aircraft flying and leases four Boeing ( BA.N ) 737-800 aircraft to make up for a capacity shortfall."We want this plane in our fleet and although we have been on stand-by for a while, we await it with anticipation," said Yuji Hirako, who runs All Nippon Airways.RE-WIRINGThe plane''s latest delay, announced in January, can be dated back more than 20 years - six years before Mitsubishi even considered a passenger jet - when a Boeing 747 plunged into the Atlantic, killing 230 people.Investigators blamed a short circuit that ignited a fuel tank fire, prompting the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to tighten wiring certification in 2007.Mitsubishi, which had by then begun work on the MRJ, overlooked the change, said two people with knowledge of the project. "Mitsubishi was clearly aware of it but did not apply it to the design," said one, who didn''t want to be named as he is not authorized to talk to the media.Hundreds of engineers wiring the MRJ did so without using a common design framework incorporating the new rule. So, when asked by Japanese regulators certifying the jet to FAA standards how it complied with the stricter standard, Mitsubishi Aircraft faced a time-consuming task to explain each twist and turn in the 23,000 wires snaking through the plane''s fuselage."They decided it would be easier to start from scratch," the second person said.In response to Reuters queries, Mitsubishi Aircraft said: "We were aware of the regulation in our early phase of design, so it is not accurate to say we overlooked the regulation. Our design was made reflecting the regulations, but we made a subsequent decision to relocate certain systems for a better design. System location was the main reason for requiring wiring changes and the re-routing ensures we meet the highest safety standards."Four of the five delays so far have been caused to some degree by similar failures to document work for certification, forcing engineers to redo some of their work, said Yugo Fukuhara, vice president and general manager of sales and marketing at Mitsubishi Aircraft, adding the company is hiring ex-Boeing engineers and other foreign experts to help it better navigate FAA rules.BREAKING EVEN?Mitsubishi Aircraft has orders for 233 MRJs, and aims to sell more than 1,000 of the planes over two decades. The company declined to say how many planes it has to sell to break even.Based on presentations by Mitsubishi Heavy, the first four delays doubled the MRJ''s development cost, and the latest delay could add another 30 percent - taking total spending to 350 billion yen ($3.17 billion), equivalent to the value of 67 list-price MRJs.At the average operating margin of 7.84 percent at commercial planemakers including Embraer, Boeing and Airbus ( AIR.PA ) over the past three years, the profit per MRJ plane would be $3.7 million, according to Reuters calculations.At that rate of return, Mitsubishi Aircraft would need to sell more than 800 of the planes to cover its costs."Assume a very conservative 30 percent discount to the list price, then re-do. That probably brings us to 1,200 jets, and they''ll never get there," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Teal Group, when asked about Reuters'' estimate. A more realistic number, he says, would be 30 aircraft a year over 25 years, adding up to sales of around 750 MRJs."We understand that the commercial aircraft business is a long-term investment, and we expect to absorb the development costs over the long run," Mitsubishi Aircraft told Reuters."We see this as the creation of a new industry, establishing supply chains and a regulatory certification process," said Fukuhara, the sales and marketing manager, in his office at Nagoya Airport. "I don''t think it will end with the MRJ."(For graphic comparing regional jets, click: here )(Reporting by Tim Kelly and Maki Shiraki, with additional reporting by Allison Lampert in MONTREAL and Brad Haynes in SAO PAULO; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-aerospace-mrj-analysis-idINKBN17J1ST'|'2017-04-17T21:08:00.000+03:00' '352f9dc0282de02ab66aa88e64f257712c218849'|'South32 scraps $200 mln Australian coal acquisition from Peabody'|'Deals 29pm EDT South32 scraps $200 million Australian coal acquisition from Peabody left right The logo of Australian miner South32 can be seen at the venue of a media conference in Perth, Western Australia, November 18, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 1/2 left right An underground truck is parked in a chamber of the Metropolitan coal mine at Helensburgh, 40km (25 miles) south west of Sydney June 9, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne 2/2 MELBOURNE South32 Ltd ( S32.AX ) on Tuesday killed a $200 million deal to buy Peabody Energy''s Metropolitan coal mine in Australia after running into competition concerns about supply of coal to local steel makers. South32, which had been pursuing its first acquisition since being spun off by global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX )( BLT.L ), said it was unwilling to take the steps required to appease Australian steel makers to get the deal over the line. "To proceed with the acquisition, in light of the anticipated concessions, would have compromised the merits of the transaction and this is not something we are prepared to do," South32 Chief Executive Graham Kerr said in a statement. The decision comes just as Peabody has emerged from bankruptcy. The company said it was surprised that South32 and Australia''s competition watchdog had reached an impasse over the acquisition. "On the other hand, we see continuing opportunities given Metropolitan''s quality coking coals and port location, and our objective will be to operate the mine while maximizing returns in the international marketplace," Peabody President Glenn Kellow said in a statement. Peabody said it would keep the 2 million tonnes a year coking coal mine and its 16.67 percent stake in the Port Kembla coal terminal and would resume shipments after completing a move to a new coal panel in the mine at the end of May. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south32-australia-peabody-energy-idUSKBN17J1TT'|'2017-04-18T07:09:00.000+03:00' '96ea99529a6c0f7ca85981366de2d800b340330d'|'Emerging Asian FX slips as worry over North Korea remains'|'By Aparajita Saxena Asian currencies were weaker on Tuesday as investors reduced their positions in emerging markets, unwilling to take risks until tensions over North Korea significantly subside.There was some suggestion that the risk-off sentiment following North Korea''s failed missile launch on Sunday, which raised concerns that the isolated state may soon test another nuclear bomb or missile, was changing.Safe-haven gold prices, which rose after the launch, fell from five-month highs and the safe-haven yen declined 0.17 percent versus the U.S. dollar.But the hard-line that President Donald Trump has taken over the North Korea "problem" in the recent weeks, was further underscored by Vice President Mike Pence''s warning on Monday that recent American military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed that the U.S. leader''s resolve should not be questioned.North Korea remained defiant and said that Pyongyang''s next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary".In a note on Tuesday, Mizuho Bank said "Fact is, the North Korea ''problem'' is long way off a resolution. Crucially, the potential for more launches ahead of this weekend warrants watching as much as precaution''"Asian currencies fell as the U.S. dollar pulled away from five-month lows against the yen it hit on Monday.Dollar upticks in U.S. trading were underpinned by comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin who told the Financial Times he agreed with Trump''s view that the dollar''s strength in the short term was hurting exports, but strength over the long term was a positive.The Philippine peso slipped for a second day versus the dollar after February overseas workers remittances rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Scotiabank said the market had expected a 5.8 percent gain for remittances, which help power domestic consumption.The Indonesian rupiah fell to its lowest in nearly a week, ahead of Wednesday''s election of the Jakarta governor.Indonesian markets will be closed on Wednesday for the voting.THAI BAHTThe baht fell 0.37 percent to 34.378, its lowest in nearly 21 months versus the dollar, on Tuesday.However, ANZ Research said it expects the baht to resume its uptrend soon, underpinned by a large current account surplus, which is when exports of a country exceed its imports.The note added that even though the U.S. Treasury''s semi-annual report to Congress did not include Thailand on its monitoring list, it does not mean the focus is off its foreign exchange intervention activities."Thailand has the 11th largest bilateral trade deficit with the US in 2016. This could result in reduced FX intervention activity by the Bank of Thailand to ensure they remain under the US Treasury''s radar," the note said, making the case for further strengthening in the baht.KOREAN WONThe South Korean won erased modest early morning gains and was 0.27 percent lower against the U.S. dollar."Geopolitical concerns will likely increase the volatility in capital flows and the fluctuations in the Korean-won assets," DBS Group said in a note, adding that concerns about North Korea may also weigh on South Korea''s tourism industry.Local political concerns from the coming South Korean presidential election may also affect the won, the note said, adding frontrunner Moon Jae-in is perceived to favour a relatively soft line towards Pyongyang.(Reporting by Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-forex-emerging-idINKBN17K0KH'|'2017-04-18T04:55:00.000+03:00' 'f40c31f37769c076c0a44af47c569515770cdb6a'|'Netflix scorecard to test mettle of tech rally'|'By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO The longevity of the technology stocks rally is on the line next week as Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) kicks off the earnings season for a sector that has mushroomed to account for more than a fifth of the U.S. stock market''s value.Surges in Apple ( AAPL.O ), Facebook ( FB.O ) and other Silicon Valley heavyweights have pushed the S&P 500 technology index 10 percent higher this year, more than double the broader S&P 500 index''s 4 percent gain. The tech sector''s aggregate value now tops $4.4 trillion, 30 percent higher than No. 2 financials, and even rivals the size of the Federal Reserve''s massive balance sheet.The next test for these companies is whether their profit growth is sufficient to justify their outsized share price gains.Enter Netflix, which reports after the bell on Monday. The video streaming pioneer is expected by analysts to quintuple its earnings per share. But with its stock surging 43 percent in the past six months and now trading at 109 times expected earnings, Netflix''s valuation is based more on sentiment than on fundamentals, many investors believe."The market''s reaction to whatever the news is from Netflix will be telling," said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "If the slightest little negative leads to a 15-point decline, that tells you things are elevated and the market is only going to reward the most excellent of news."Momentum in many tech stocks has been driven by ambitious expectations for earnings. Tech profits are seen climbing 14.7 percent for the first quarter, I/B/E/S. That would account for nearly a third of the 10.4 percent earnings growth predicted across the S&P 500."It''s great for everybody to feel good, but if nobody is buying stuff and the companies are reporting disappointing sales and that affects their margins, then you''ll be starting to say - wait a second," said Thomas Martin, a portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.Along with the S&P 500, tech shares have flatlined for weeks as Wall Street reassesses whether President Donald Trump will be able to push corporate tax cuts through Congress.Still, so far in April investors have poured $122 million into the U.S.-listed Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLK.P ), bringing total flows into the fund this year to $1.4 billion, according to ETF.com, which tracks fund flows.Inside the tech rally, chip makers have been notable outperformers, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index up 40 percent in the past year. Semiconductor companies are expected to boost EPS by 46 percent in the first quarter, helped by the growing use of chips in cars and mobile gadgets. One of the biggest - Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ) - reports on Wednesday.While shares of the mobile chipmaker have been bogged down by a legal battle with Apple, its sales are seen rising by 6 percent and EPS by 14 percent.(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-weekahead-idINKBN17F2ML'|'2017-04-13T19:11:00.000+03:00' 'a6e1bda98895d01cd4c3c7d2a360af94537e2823'|'Letter to my younger self: it''s been ugly at times but I wouldn''t change a thing - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Dear Chris,Right now, you think the world owes you a living. You’re desperate for a quick fix to transform your life. I’m afraid to say this couldn’t be further from the path you will eventually take.You’ve got some hard work in front of you. The fun gambling you do on the horses, football and in casinos will develop into a crippling addiction that takes over your life. The pain and turmoil it causes will haunt you for years. But I promise, there is light at the end of the tunnel.You’re 22 now and about to have a drunken conversation with Dad, where he tells you to “sort your life out”. He’d noticed you’ve become increasingly withdrawn and erratic. Little did he know what you were hiding.If there''s one thing we can thank gambling for, it''s your ability to take risksYou get a job at a local recruitment company and learn the brutal techniques of the recruitment sales sector. Ringing someone back two minutes after they’ve just said “no” feels awful. You want to give up. But stick with it. You’re learning a lot.The salary isn’t great, but it doesn’t matter. Whether you earn £1 or £4,000, you’re spending it all on gambling. You’re regularly broke within 24 hours of being paid and are always desperate for money. You will take out some stupid loans and get deeper into debt.After 18 months, you’re offered a role in London and your salary doubles overnight. It’s a great opportunity and you will be successful for a time, even winning sales rep of the year. But your gambling has spiralled out of control. Work, health, friends and loved ones have all taken a back seat.It seems like an unlikely time to start your own business. But if there’s one thing we can thank gambling for, it’s your ability to take risks. In 2009, you leave a safe job to start your own venture, generating leads for an online training programme. Remarkably, entrepreneurship suits you. But you are truly incapable of managing money. Looking back, you will wish you had asked for help.Instead, you will learn through trial and error. Desperate not to fail, you relentlessly chase people for decisions and money, and rush into decisions. If you’d only given yourself 20 minutes to calm down first, you would save yourself many embarrassing moments. And you are gambling more than ever. It’s exhausting – a constant juggling act, putting all of your energy and drive into keeping both going.Letter to my younger self: be kinder to yourself. You are enough Read moreFinally you will admit your life is out of control. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired all the time. You go to Gamblers Anonymous on 10 April 2011, and you are still an active member today. This is the day your new life begins.Your experience in the recruitment industry gives you an insight into the growth of the training sector and the potential of e-learning. After three years of running the lead generation business and clean living, you and your brother build an online training course business called New Skills Academy in 2014. He will have some reservations about going into business with you, of course, but he can see the relentless drive to succeed in your eyes.Starting a business is always hard, and particularly so when you’re in the early throes of recovery. There will be low moments. In the early days, there is no money and no interest from customers. You will lose sleep. You will both wonder if you’ve done the right thing. You’re bursting with ideas but don’t have the money to do any of them. But you will have a breakthrough and move into developing your own e-learning courses.The growth of the business from there is steady and it will finally feel like you’re finally getting somewhere. Today, your courses have trained more than 50,000 people, helping others set up their own businesses, change career or learn a new skill.You will learn a lot on this journey. You will realise you are not the arbiter of the universe. You will grow up, calm down, and take time to think things through. It’s been a rollercoaster, but you wouldn’t change one thing. The good, the bad and the very ugly. Seeing something that you have created from the seed of an idea in your head is truly the most rewarding thing you have ever done.ChrisChris Morgan is the co-founder of New Skills Academy .Are you an entrepreneur who would like to write a letter to your younger self? Email us at smallbusinessnetwork@theguardian.com to take part in this series.Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.Topics Guardian Small Business Network Entrepreneurs blogposts '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/15/letter-to-my-younger-self-thank-gambling-risks-entrepreneurship-elearning-new-skills-academy'|'2017-04-15T17:00:00.000+03:00' 'e9b8eb4277c589f0c00801f259051418b56aee2b'|'JGB yields probe multi-month lows, tracking U.S. Treasuries'|'TOKYO, April 13 The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yield edged down on Thursday to its lowest level since November and within a whisper of zero, taking its cues from lower U.S. Treasury yields and underpinned by solid demand at a 30-year JGB auction.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell one basis point to 0.005 percent, while 10-year JGB futures were up 0.19 point in afternoon trade at 151.09.The U.S. benchmark yield approached five-month lows on Wednesday, prompted by comments by U.S. President Donald Trump on favouring low interest rates made in a newspaper interview published in late U.S. trading. It continued to slip in Asian trading, and last stood at 2.228 percent, down from the U.S. close of 2.296 percent.On Thursday, Japan''s Ministry of Finance offered 800 billion yen ($7.35 billion) of 30-year JGBs with a 0.8 percent coupon, and 98.5832 percent of the bids accepted at the lowest price of 100.05.The sale drew bids 3.08 times the amount offered, down from the previous sale''s bid-to-cover ratio of 3.14 times but still solid. The tail - the gap between the average and lowest accepted prices - narrowed to 0.07, compared with that of last month''s offering at 0.19, indicating stronger demand for the bonds.The outcome bolstered the superlong tenor, with 30-year yield slipping 3.5 basis points to 0.775 percent, its lowest since late January. The 20-year yield fell 1.5 basis points to 0.570 percent after falling to 0.565 percent earlier, its lowest since late December. ($1 = 108.8000 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HL26S'|'2017-04-13T02:18:00.000+03:00' 'e5eb8462b6443f866e98ff3faace8b9f5dafb29b'|'China''s Baidu buys U.S. computer vision startup amid AI push'|'Technology 59am EDT China''s Baidu buys U.S. computer vision startup amid AI push FILE PHOTO - Baidu''s company logo is seen at its headquarters in Beijing December 17, 2014. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon BEIJING Chinese internet firm Baidu Inc has agreed to acquire U.S. computer vision firm xPerception for an undisclosed amount to support their renewed efforts in artificial intelligence as Chinese tech firms face regulatory headwinds in U.S. xPerception, which makes vision perception software and hardware with applications in robotics and virtual reality, will continue to develop their core technology under Baidu''s research unit, the Chinese firm said in a statement on Thursday. "The acquisition of xPerception is the latest in a recent series of notable investments aimed at strengthening Baidu''s position as a global leader in AI," it said. Baidu is targeting foreign personnel and technology as part of a wider drive to refocus company resources on developing artificial intelligence capabilities. Revenues from the firm''s core search unit took a beating last year when the Chinese government tightened online ad regulations, culling a chunk of existing advertisers with new eligibility requirements. The announcement comes as other Chinese tech firms struggle with regulatory push-back on acquisitions in the U.S. market. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd affiliate Ant Financial has denied claims by rival bidder Euronet Worldwide Inc that its bid for U.S. remittance firm MoneyGram International Inc poses national security risks. On Tuesday Chinese internet firm LeEco announced it will scrap a $2 billion bid for U.S. electronics firm Vizio. Baidu says xPerception will help the firm develop visual perception technology for their augmented reality projects and autonomous driving unit. xPerception is founded by two former engineers from Magic Leap, a U.S. augmented reality startup that counts Alibaba as an investor. (Reporting by Cate Cadell; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-baidu-m-a-idUSKBN17F0JF'|'2017-04-13T13:52:00.000+03:00' '1c580bb3ef6cd17684906073e5d71ebf742c192a'|'Boeing could deliver 737 MAX 10X in 2020 if airlines start buying - executive'|'Business News - Thu Apr 13, 2017 - 1:01am EDT Boeing could deliver 737 MAX 10X in 2020 if airlines start buying - executive The Boeing Company logo is projected on a wall at the ''''What''s Next?'''' conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY Boeing Co ( BA.N ) could begin delivering the 737 MAX 10X aircraft in 2020 if airlines start ordering the largest version of its 737 MAX family this year, a senior executive of the aeroplane manufacturer said on Thursday. The comments from Boeing 737 MAX chief project engineer and deputy program manager Michael Teal came as the smaller 737 MAX 9 completed its first airport taxi test in Seattle on Wednesday. That aircraft will make its first test flight in Seattle on Thursday, weather permitting, he said. Boeing began marketing the 737 MAX 10X as an option to customers this year but has yet to receive any orders for the fuel-efficient single-aisle jetliner, which competes against the popular Airbus SE ( AIR.PA ) A321neo. Teal said the design of the 737 MAX 10X would be firmed up by the end of this year and customers could receive the aircraft in 2020 depending on orders. "We''ll determine (the delivery date) when we launch that program when the customers show the interest and they buy the airplane," he said on a conference call with reporters. "Sales teams are out meeting with customers today." He did not specify at what date deliveries by 2020 would become unlikely if orders were not received. Boeing in March said it had approached India''s SpiceJet Ltd ( SPJT.BO ) and Jet Airways Ltd ( JET.NS ) as it gauged interest in the aircraft. However, the heads of two major aircraft leasing companies have said the MAX 10X holds no particular attraction for their customers and would eat into rentals of other MAX models. The 737 MAX 10X has a body 66 inches (167 centimeters) longer than the second-largest family member, the 737 MAX 9, and adds 12 seats. It will require longer landing gear as a result. Teal said the landing gear were still in the development stage, with several concepts in prototype testing. "We won''t hit the firm configuration on the gear and really the complete airplane until the end of this year," he said. "All of the development tests are proving positive and we are well on our way to firming up that configuration and moving forward into production." The first 737 MAX 9 customer delivery is expected next year, while the first 737 MAX 8 should be delivered next month, Teal said. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-idUSKBN17F0GR'|'2017-04-13T13:01:00.000+03:00' 'ef9843c6649e677f6cfbbeca7b4b6d54a96a2530'|'Russian gov''t gives cash injection to Crimea bank'|'MOSCOW, April 13 Russia''s government is to inject $265 million of budget money into a state-owned bank in Crimea because the lender does not have enough capital to finance infrastructure projects in the region, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine three years ago.Russia promised ambitious projects to develop Crimea''s economy and hoped many of them would be financed by private business. But that finance has not materialised, in part because of Western sanctions on investments in the region. The burden has instead shifted on to state coffers.According to a government order seen by Reuters, the charter capital of the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNKB), one of the biggest lenders in Crimea, is to be increased by 15 billion roubles ($265 million) via the issue of additional shares.The shares are to be bought by the government and paid for out of budget funds, the order stated.In an explanatory note to accompany the order, the government said the resources the bank has at the moment were not sufficient to finance planned infrastructure projects such as new power plants and a new airport terminal.The decision to increase the bank''s capital "will allow RNKB to ensure implementation of investment projects," the note said. ($1 = 56.5398 roubles) (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Christian Lowe)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-crimea-bank-idINL8N1HL0QF'|'2017-04-13T04:18:00.000+03:00' 'c2b044420c1c883e00c82f5af714dc61d6714514'|'UK manufacturers report strongest export growth since late 2014 - BCC'|' 09am BST UK manufacturers report strongest export growth since late 2014 - BCC FILE PICTURE: A worker checks a TX4 at the end of the production line at the London Taxi Company in Coventry, central England, September 11, 2013. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo By David Milliken - LONDON LONDON British manufacturers reported the fastest export growth in more than two years in early 2017 and the services sector also recovered to rack up its strongest sales growth since last June''s Brexit vote, a business The British Chambers of Commerce, which runs Britain''s largest quarterly private-sector business survey, said firms reported a robust short-run outlook. But there was much more medium term as well as fears of sharply rising costs. Britain''s economy bucked most economists'' expectations that it would slow sharply immediately after the vote to leave the European Union. Exporters have been in a positive mood helped by a recovering global economy and a fall in the value of sterling. However, growth is expected to weaken this year as consumers - the mainstay of last year''s expansion - come under pressure from higher inflation after sterling''s post-referendum tumble. "Many firms tell us their short-term expectations are strong, but that the medium-term picture is far from clear," said Adam Marshall, the BCC''s director-general. A similar message came from smaller companies, whose morale rose to its highest since late 2015, according to a survey also released on Thursday by the Federation of Small Businesses. "We cannot rely in the long term on the boost that exporters have received from a weak pound," FSB chairman Mike Cherry said. The FSB said a quarter of small businesses would be deterred from exporting to the EU if they faced any tariffs after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019. A separate survey by market research company Nielsen, conducted after Prime Minister Theresa May formally started the clock on Brexit talks on March 29, showed consumer confidence was stable. But worries were growing about rising prices - especially among people who had voted to leave the EU. "Although immigration concerns have dropped, Leavers are starting to worry more about everyday matters, particularly rising utility bills and food prices," said Steve Smith, Nielsen''s managing director for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Many voters who backed Leave come from poorer households which are likely to face the biggest pinch from rising prices for food and fuel. The BCC said raw material costs were having the biggest influence on prices since late 2011, and called inflation "a key risk to the UK''s growth prospects". Official data on Tuesday showed consumer price inflation held at its highest in nearly four years at 2.3 percent in March, while the pace of factory-gate inflation barely eased from February''s five-year high of 3.7 percent. Nonetheless, confidence at services firms and manufacturers was its highest since the first half of 2016, the BCC said. Services companies, which make up the overwhelming majority of Britain''s private-sector economy, reported the fastest growth in domestic and overseas sales since June''s referendum. Manufacturers enjoyed the most rapid domestic sales growth since the third quarter of 2015, while export sales grew at the quickest pace since the final three months of 2014. The BCC survey was based on responses from more than 7,300 firms polled between Feb. 20 and March 13. The FSB study was based on 1,245 firms contacted in January and February.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-idUKKBN17E2XM'|'2017-04-13T07:07:00.000+03:00' '0ef1b8cb1fa6010a8243402505cf74acaef21ef5'|'Uber may face $1 mln fine over California drunken-driving complaints'|'By Steve Gorman - LOS ANGELES, April 13 LOS ANGELES, April 13 Uber''s popular ride-sharing network has repeatedly failed to promptly suspend and investigate its California drivers when passengers report them driving drunk, state regulators charged in an enforcement action, recommending $1.13 million in fines.The consumer protection arm of the California Public Utility Commission found Uber Technologies Inc has violated "zero-tolerance" rules governing drunken-driving complaints on 151 occasions over the course of a year, out of 154 complaints reviewed.In only 21 of those cases did the company conduct any follow-up driver investigation, the commission inquiry found.The recommended fine for alleged violations is believed to mark the first such citation issued against the San Francisco-based ride-hailing network or its competitors since the rules were adopted in 2013.The enforcement action follows a recent consumer backlash against the company and its senior management over a series of revelations about its corporate culture and business tactics, including complaints of sexual harassment.The drunken-driving findings, which stem from a review of passenger complaints lodged between August 2014 and August 2015, were contained in a nine-page investigative order issued by the commission''s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division on Tuesday.Those charges and the proposed penalty are now subject to examination by an administrative law judge who will conduct further proceedings before recommending to the five-member commission itself what action, if any, should be taken against the company.Uber spokeswoman Eva Behrend, noting that the report relates to complaints dating back two or three years, said, "We''ve significantly improved our processes since then.""We have zero tolerance for any impaired driving," she said, citing Uber''s "community guidelines," which state that any driver found to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol while on the job will be "permanently deactivated" from the network."Uber may also deactivate the account of any driver who receives several unconfirmed complaints of drug or alcohol use," it says.According to the commission''s own findings, the company received 2,047 zero-tolerance complaints statewide against its UberX and UberPool drivers during the year in question, and the company dismissed drivers in 574 of those cases.The company, which operates in 74 countries, says it currently has 147,000 drivers on the Uber platform in California, accounting for nearly one-fourth of its U.S. total. (Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/uber-drunken-idINL1N1HM01A'|'2017-04-14T00:33:00.000+03:00' 'b305d9013b172d944b31b6fe132566fe6d83c64a'|'Time for bosses to abandon corporate-speak and deplane into the real world - Business'|'United Airlines has been compared to Gerald Ratner after its extraordinary reaction to a passenger on one of its planes being dragged away with a bloodied face by security guards.Ratner, as a reminder, is responsible for probably the most famous PR gaffe of all time. He was chairman of the high street jewellery firm Ratners when during a speech in 1991 he described one of his products as “total crap”, saying that earrings sold by the business were “cheaper than an M&S prawn sandwich but probably wouldn’t last as long”. After the speech the company nearly collapsed, and he was fired less than two years later.United’s disastrous week, however, was totally different from “doing a Ratner”, as the moment came to be described. While the jewellery boss’s error lay in being outrageously frank and honest in his assessment of his company, United got into trouble because it did the exact opposite and slipped into corporate-speak.Oscar Muñoz, chief executive of United Airlines, apologised for having to “reaccommodate” passengers on the plane and said his staff had “followed established procedures”. David Dao – the man who was dragged from the plane, suffered concussion and now apparently needs reconstructive surgery on his face – had been politely asked to “deplane” but was “disruptive and belligerent”.What do any of these words even mean? They are exercises in gobbledygook. Amusingly, the online Urban Dictionary has changed the definition of “reaccommodate” to a euphemistic term for an airline’s decision to “knock out and then drag off unconscious passengers”.Even worse was Muñoz’s comment that staff “followed established procedures”. OK, so he was trying to protect staff, but procedures established for what? Acting like a corporate robot, not a human being?As for Muñoz’s comments about Dao being “disruptive and belligerent” after being asked to “deplane” – surely many people would be disruptive and belligerent after being subjected to such distortion of the English language. “Deplane” may be a common term on American flights, but that does not make it right. Also, in the US it tends to be used by the pilot to invite passengers to leave the plane when they arrive at their destination, not to describe kicking someone off the aircraft before it has even taken off.It is important to deconstruct what United and Muñoz said because, sadly, they are not alone in using this kind of language, and it is symptomatic of a wider issue: namely the lack of connection between the boardroom and a company’s workers and customers.Dave Lewis , the chief executive of Tesco, was in the spotlight last week for regularly slipping into corporate-speak. For example, he praised Tesco’s “customercentricity”.This type of usage portrays big businesses as machines whose cogs – the workers – behave according to set directions and procedures. It takes away the human side of making decisions and thinking on the spot. It also helps to divert responsibility. Muñoz’s initial comments did not blame the staff involved– because they were just following procedures – but nor did they attempt to explain who had put those procedures in place, or question whether they were right.In this post-Ratner world of rolling news and social media, chief executives seem more fearful than ever that something they say will come back to haunt them. But that should not stop them from engaging with staff and customers openly.Too often, chief executives seem to prioritise addressing shareholders rather than staff or customers. Strategic reviews are a good example of this – companies are constantly giving them names and timetables. Unilever’s is called Connected 4 Growth.This may perhaps impress shareholders and make it look like something is at least happening within the business, but how much does it really matter to the workers who implement it and the customers who buy the product or service? Nothing. As Ratner would say: it is total crap.Barclays boss must be censured over hunt for whistleblower Jes Staley and Barclays should thank United Airlines. Until David Dao was dragged off the US carrier’s flight there was a bright spotlight on Staley and Barclays’s own extraordinary gaffe: trying to find a whistleblower .A quick recap of the Barclays story: when Tim Main was hired to the bank in a senior position, a couple of letters were sent to the board and a senior executive making allegations about his past conduct. Main and Staley had worked together for years at JP Morgan: sources say Staley was already aware of these past issues and felt that not only were the allegations unfounded, but that someone was trying to smear his long-time associate.As a result, Staley twice asked the internal security team at Barclays to track down the whistleblower. The first time, Staley was told to back off by compliance. The second time was after the allegations had been cleared by the bank and the security team received help from a US law enforcement agency, thought to be the US Postal Inspection Service.They failed, but eventually their antics were flagged to the Barclays board by a different whistleblower.Staley now faces a significant cut to his bonus, and worse could follow. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority are investigating him. They have strict rules about protecting whistleblowers and have the power to ban Staley from working in the City of London.A block on Staley is unlikely. The board of Barclays seems to think so too, because if there were a genuine chance that he could be banned, they would surely have taken pre-emptive action and asked him to resign rather than face the embarrassment of being forced into a change by the regulator.In his defence, Staley appears to have been trying to protect a friend who he felt was being harassed. However, after the events of the financial crisis it is essential that bankers follow best practice and that those who flout the rules are punished.Nothing and no one should discourage whistleblowers from coming forward. The nature of whistleblowing means the informant is likely to be going against the grain of a company or the wishes of a manager. Therefore, while Staley is likely to keep his job, he should be publicly shamed.Electricity up again! What are we going to do with you? Every time electricity companies raise their prices, as EDF has done for the second time in the space of a year, bill payers hear the same vague threats issued by those with the power to act.In March, Theresa May said the energy market was “manifestly not working for all consumers”, while Ofgem just said that EDF’s rise was “difficult to justify”.This sounds like an exhausted parent sighing “Stop that!” at a naughty toddler. If the child knows no punishment will be forthcoming, why stop misbehaving?The government is supposed to be publishing plans to help energy consumers later this month. Given the ridicule heaped on Ed Miliband when, as Labour leader, he suggested capping energy prices, that solution is surely unlikely.But the plans will need to contain something to give the “Big Six” energy firms pause for thought. Otherwise they will continue to do as they please.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/news/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/united-airlines-deplane-gaffe-tesco-corporate-speak'|'2017-04-16T03:00:00.000+03:00' '47d9c4abf141f12f943f6b7095fe65e8ec8709ed'|'A Buddhist tycoon: China’s HNA Group goes on a global shopping spree'|'NOW it is a conglomerate with more than $100bn-worth of assets around the world. But HNA Group started life as a small local airline. Chen Feng, the Chinese company’s founder, led a coalition including private investors and the government of Hainan, a southern province, to launch Hainan Airlines in 1993.Despite some help from the local government, the upstart firm was an outsider then. The central government chose three big state-run airlines to receive favoured landing slots, lavish subsidies and other advantages. The scrappy Mr Chen was undeterred. With $25m in early funding from George Soros, an American billionaire, he carved out a profitable niche. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Since then, HNA has grown quickly, mainly through acquisitions. It reported revenues of 600bn yuan ($90bn) last year. In 2016 it acquired a 25% stake in America’s Hilton Worldwide for $6.5bn and paid $10bn for the aircraft-leasing division of CIT Group, a New York-based financial firm. This week it bid nearly $1bn for Singapore’s CWT, a logistics company.Most deals have been in industries adjacent to its core business, such as travel, tourism and logistics. But some recent purchases have raised eyebrows for being more distant. It spent $6bn last year on Ingram Micro, an information-technology outfit based in California. Money has also gone into Deutsche Bank. It is rumoured to be bidding for Forbes , an American magazine. Some people suspect that these deals chime with China’s industrial policy more than HNA’s own corporate logic.Yet HNA is not a classic state-owned enterprise. The Hainan government retains a big stake in it, but HNA has traits that distinguish it from state-owned enterprises, which tend to be sclerotic and run by bureaucratic grey men.It has adopted professional management practices. Mr Chen has trained his employees in Six Sigma, a management method popularised by Jack Welch, a former boss of General Electric, to eliminate waste; and in a financial methodology that scrutinises investments for economic value added. Hainan Airlines is considered the best Chinese airline. Mr Chen, a Buddhist scholar, has also imprinted traditional Chinese philosophies onto the company’s culture. When it takes over a firm he leads new executives in a recitation of HNA’s core values, which include “love and devotion”. HNA typically does not fire the top brass at firms it acquires, nor does it force big lay-offs.Mr Chen certainly seems skilful at managing the Chinese authorities. HNA is presenting this week’s bid for CWT as part of President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” geopolitical strategy, for example. It is clever to play the political card given that the state is tightening control of outbound investment, which could hamper the company’s style, notes a Chinese business expert. A clampdown on foreign deals by Chinese regulators, who are worried about capital outflows, has led to the cancellation of dozens of announced acquisitions by Chinese firms.But HNA is having no trouble getting the money and approval to do lots of big deals—it has spent over $40bn on acquisitions in the past three years. Indeed, Mr Chen appears to have the advantages of a state firm, including cheap access to capital, without the disadvantages, such as officials telling him how to run his company, says a seasoned China hand. In this, he reckons, HNA is becoming “a lot like Huawei”, a telecoms-equipment firm. Mr Chen should be flattered by the comparison to one of the country’s most successful multinationals. But he should also recall that a backlash against Huawei’s perceived closeness to China’s leadership led to its blacklisting by America’s government.This article appeared in the Business "A Buddhist tycoon"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720674-its-investments-range-hilton-worldwide-deutsche-bank-chinas-hna-group-goes-global?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '575268afe1c2f04e464582eed9a884fb604f2056'|'Automatic for the people: How Germany’s Otto uses artificial intelligence'|'A GLIMPSE into the future of retailing is available in a smallish office in Hamburg. From there, Otto, a German e-commerce merchant, is using artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its activities. The firm is already deploying the technology to make decisions at a scale, speed and accuracy that surpass the capabilities of its human employees.Big data and “machine learning” have been used in retailing for years, notably by Amazon, an e-commerce giant. The idea is to collect and analyse quantities of information to understand consumer tastes, recommend products to people and personalise websites for customers. Otto’s work stands out because it is already automating business decisions that go beyond customer management. The most important is trying to lower returns of products, which cost the firm millions of euros a year. 6 9 hours 11 12 16 hours ago Foreign reserves 18 hours ago See all updates Its conventional data analysis showed that customers were less likely to return merchandise if it arrived within two days. Anything longer spelled trouble: a customer might spot the product in a shop for one euro less and buy it, forcing Otto to forgo the sale and eat the shipping costs.But customers also dislike multiple shipments; they prefer to receive everything at once. Since Otto sells merchandise from other brands, and does not stock those goods itself, it is hard to avoid one of the two evils: shipping delays until all the orders are ready for fulfilment, or lots of boxes arriving at different times.The typical solution would be slightly better forecasting by humans of what customers are going to buy so that a few goods could be ordered ahead of time. Otto went further and created a system using the technology of Blue Yonder, a startup in which it holds a stake. A deep-learning algorithm, which was originally designed for particle-physics experiments at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, does the heavy lifting. It analyses around 3bn past transactions and 200 variables (such as past sales, searches on Otto’s site and weather information) to predict what customers will buy a week before they order.The AI system has proved so reliable—it predicts with 90% accuracy what will be sold within 30 days—that Otto allows it automatically to purchase around 200,000 items a month from third-party brands with no human intervention. It would be impossible for a person to scrutinise the variety of products, colours and sizes that the machine orders. Online retailing is a natural place for machine-learning technology, notes Nathan Benaich, an investor in AI.Overall, the surplus stock that Otto must hold has declined by a fifth. The new AI system has reduced product returns by more than 2m items a year. Customers get their items sooner, which improves retention over time, and the technology also benefits the environment, because fewer packages get dispatched to begin with, or sent back.The initiative suggests that an important role of AI in business may be simply to make existing processes work better. Otto did not fire anyone as a result of its new algorithmic approach: it hired more, instead. In many cases AI will not affect a firm’s overall headcount, but will perform tasks at a level of productivity that people could not achieve. Otto’s experience also underlines that ordinary companies can use AI, not just giants such as Amazon and Google, notes Dave Selinger, a retailing-technology expert and former data scientist at Amazon. The degree to which the company has yielded control to an algorithm, he says, is extremely unusual. But it may not be long before others catch up.This article appeared in the Business "Automatic for the people"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21720675-firm-using-algorithm-designed-cern-laboratory-how-germanys-otto-uses?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-12T22:51:00.000+03:00' '6ba446a64b30a7cd42da5f837db74bcce2ecdda8'|'Boeing could deliver 737 MAX 10X in 2020 if airlines start buying - exec'|' 6:04am BST Boeing could deliver 737 MAX 10X in 2020 if airlines start buying - exec Boeing Co''s logo is seen above the front doors of its largest jetliner factory in Everett, Washington, U.S. January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Alwyn Scott By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY Boeing Co ( BA.N ) could begin delivering the 737 MAX 10X aircraft in 2020 if airlines start ordering the largest version of its 737 MAX family this year, a senior executive of the aeroplane manufacturer said on Thursday. The comments from Boeing 737 MAX chief project engineer and deputy programme manager Michael Teal came as the smaller 737 MAX 9 completed its first airport taxi test in Seattle on Wednesday. That aircraft will make its first test flight in Seattle on Thursday, weather permitting, he said. Boeing began marketing the 737 MAX 10X as an option to customers this year but has yet to receive any orders for the fuel-efficient single-aisle jetliner, which competes against the popular Airbus SE ( AIR.PA ) A321neo. Teal said the design of the 737 MAX 10X would be firmed up by the end of this year and customers could receive the aircraft in 2020 depending on orders. "We''ll determine (the delivery date) when we launch that program when the customers show the interest and they buy the airplane," he said on a conference call with reporters. "Sales teams are out meeting with customers today." He did not specify at what date deliveries by 2020 would become unlikely if orders were not received. Boeing in March said it had approached India''s SpiceJet Ltd ( SPJT.BO ) and Jet Airways Ltd ( JET.NS ) as it gauged interest in the aircraft. However, the heads of two major aircraft leasing companies have said the MAX 10X holds no particular attraction for their customers and would eat into rentals of other MAX models. The 737 MAX 10X has a body 66 inches (167 centimetres) longer than the second-largest family member, the 737 MAX 9, and adds 12 seats. It will require longer landing gear as a result. Teal said the landing gear were still in the development stage, with several concepts in prototype testing. "We won''t hit the firm configuration on the gear and really the complete airplane until the end of this year," he said. "All of the development tests are proving positive and we are well on our way to firming up that configuration and moving forward into production." The first 737 MAX 9 customer delivery is expected next year, while the first 737 MAX 8 should be delivered next month, Teal said. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-idUKKBN17F0GT'|'2017-04-13T13:04:00.000+03:00' '6868026ae35d960799f374e20cca20aa2bc7da23'|'Singapore first-quarter GDP contracts 1.9 percent qtr/qtr, in line with forecasts'|'SINGAPORE Singapore''s trade-reliant economy shrank 1.9 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months on an annualised basis, weighed by contractions in manufacturing and services, preliminary data showed on Thursday.That matched the median forecast in a Reuters survey of a contraction of 1.9 percent from the previous quarter on an annualised basis. In the fourth quarter GDP had jumped 12.3 percent quarter-on-quarter.(Reporting by Singapore bureau; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/singapore-economy-gdp-idINKBN17F027'|'2017-04-12T22:23:00.000+03:00' '4434cd842bb53d936db6ebe23e0d095b887965d6'|'South32 scraps $200 mln Australian coal acquisition from Peabody'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 12:41am BST South32 scraps $200 million Australian coal acquisition from Peabody left right The logo of Australian miner South32 can be seen at the venue of a media conference in Perth, Western Australia, November 18, 2015. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 1/2 left right An underground truck is parked in a chamber of the Metropolitan coal mine at Helensburgh, 40km (25 miles) south west of Sydney June 9, 2011. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne 2/2 MELBOURNE South32 Ltd ( S32.AX ) on Tuesday killed a $200 million (159.32 million pounds) deal to buy Peabody Energy''s ( BTU.N ) Metropolitan coal mine in Australia after running into competition concerns about supply of coal to local steel makers. South32, which had been pursuing its first major acquisition since being spun off by global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX )( BLT.L ), said it was unwilling to take the steps required to appease Australian steel makers to get the deal over the line. "To proceed with the acquisition, in light of the anticipated concessions, would have compromised the merits of the transaction and this is not something we are prepared to do," South32 Chief Executive Graham Kerr said in a statement. The decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to block the deal underscores concerns voiced by steel makers that too much of Australia’s massive coking coal reserves rest in the hands of a small handful of big miners, including BHP, Mitsui ( 8031.T ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L ) If the deal went through, South32 would have become the only large supplier of coking coal to the eastern Illawarra steelmaking hub, a market position opposed by Australia''s biggest steel company, BlueScope Steel Ltd ( BSL.AX ) Steel producers are facing some of the highest raw materials costs in years as prices for coking coal as high as $300 a tonne remain well above last year''s levels. The ACCC''s ruling also comes just as Peabody has emerged from bankruptcy. Peabody in a statement said it was surprised that South32 and Australia''s competition watchdog had reached an impasse over the acquisition. "On the other hand, we see continuing opportunities given Metropolitan''s quality coking coals and port location, and our objective will be to operate the mine while maximizing returns in the international marketplace," Peabody President Glenn Kellow said in a statement. Peabody said it would keep the 2 million tonnes a year coking coal mine and its 16.67 percent stake in the Port Kembla coal terminal and would resume shipments after completing a move to a new coal panel in the mine at the end of May. (Reporting by Sonali Paul and James Regan; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-south32-australia-peabody-energy-idUKKBN17J1U5'|'2017-04-18T07:37:00.000+03:00' '9f6bf6eec5542e9d457e62a5f412921c6f0b5ec3'|'Trump talk tempers exporters'' optimism at top China trade fair'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 9:17am BST Trump talk tempers exporters'' optimism at top China trade fair left right A visitor checks a high speed paper bag making machine displayed at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 1/9 left right Visitors gather information at a booth on packaging services at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 2/9 left right Visitors walk inside one of the exhibition halls for the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 3/9 left right A visitor gets popcorn from a popcorn machine displayed at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 4/9 left right Visitors gather information in front of an ice cream machine displayed at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 5/9 left right Visitors walk inside one of the exhibition halls for the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 6/9 left right Workwear products are displayed at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 7/9 left right Visitors crowd the venue of the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 8/9 left right A map of complex is displayed at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, China April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Venus Wu 9/9 By James Pomfret and Venus Wu - GUANGZHOU, China GUANGZHOU, China Higher costs and rising wages are among the top headaches for exporters at China''s largest trade fair, but days after the first U.S.-China summit under the new president one topic of conversation buzzed about the vast halls: Donald Trump. Trump made reversing the United States'' long-standing trade deficit with China a key part of his election campaign. But while most gathered around thousands of booths at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou in southern China did not expect a trade war, a less predictable White House was the recurrent concern - at a time when domestic operating pressures are also increasing. "Trump is a hot topic for us," said Alex Huang, an export manager with KoLice, a factory making ice cream equipment in Jiangmen city in the Pearl River Delta, southern China''s export powerhouse region often dubbed the "world''s workshop". "You can''t tell what he''ll do tomorrow and it brings instability to business. I think he''ll impose a big import tax." Trump has softened talk on trade and tariffs, and reversed an earlier position that he would designate China as a currency manipulator - keeping its yuan low so that its goods are more competitive in international markets. But analysts say Washington could get tougher with Beijing. The White House has said U.S and Chinese officials are still at the early stages of "fleshing out" a pledge by Trump and China''s President Xi Jinping to develop a 100-day plan to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, which last year reached $347 billion. A Reuters survey of just over 100 exporters in the first phase of the Canton Fair - focused on electronics, household appliances, machinery and construction materials - found 40 percent expected a trade war with the United States. The survey covers largely small and medium-sized manufacturers who dominate the fair and does not encompass all segments of the export industry, but the fair is widely seen as a bellwether and many attendees expressed anxiety about relations with the United States. More than 70 percent expected China to react if Trump imposed an import tariff, a body blow to exports that rose in March at their fastest pace in little more than two years. Some U.S. buyers said they did not see that happening, however, because they would be hit too. "I don''t think he''ll do it," said John Cevik, a buyer with Aflex Packaging in Virginia, who was on the hunt for Chinese packaging equipment and new suppliers. "I''ll just have to raise my prices and the (U.S.) consumer will suffer... America cannot do anything to China like this ... these countries are bound together." EXPORT CLOUDS The biannual fair bringing together tens of thousands of international buyers and Chinese manufacturers has long been a barometer for the economy of China, the world''s biggest exporter. A forecast-beating trade performance helped growth accelerate to 6.9 percent in the first three months of 2017, its fastest quarterly pace since 2015. But China''s export dominance is under threat as labor, material and production costs soar. Scores of labor intensive factories have uprooted in recent years to cheaper countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. Still, with the global economy showing signs of picking up, the cavernous exhibition halls at the Canton Fair, filled with everything from flatscreen TVs to ice cream makers, car fenders and optical cables, seemed to be teeming with a larger numbers of international buyers than in recent times. "It''s much busier than I''ve seen for a few years," said an auto parts maker, Belinda Ho. "There are more people, but less quality customers who place big orders. Many are just looking." China''s exports have accelerated and 73 percent of those polled said they expected their orders to increase this year. While many reported they were not highly dependent on the United States, with Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe also important amid global diversification of customers - they do fear broader repercussions should tariffs and protectionism escalate between the two superpowers. Forty-nine percent of those polled said they expected overall exports to be flat this year, 19 percent expect the export rebound to last between 6-12 months, while 18 percent say exports would slow despite March''s frothy trade numbers. For most, the headaches were rising costs. China''s producer price inflation has been on a tear, as raw material prices soar, cooling in March for the first time in seven months. Joe Chung, the boss of Atlantis, a manufacturer of ceramic tiles and quartz construction surfaces at a factory in Guangdong province, said production cost increases over the past two years had been significant, especially the rising cost of power, which is now eating into his margins. "China gets more expensive every year for manufacturers and it is getting tougher," he said. Others, such as auto parts maker Belinda Ho, agreed - production costs were the single greatest concern, followed by new orders and wages: "It''s harder and harder for factories in China." (Reporting by James Pomfret, Venus Wu and Katy Wong; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Alex Richardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-trade-cantonfair-idUKKBN17K0QJ'|'2017-04-18T16:13:00.000+03:00' 'c491c3c0ec13c869144b385c864fb8f122d05e1f'|'H-1B visa applications decline for first time in 5 years'|'H-1B visas by the numbers Fewer people want to come to America to work. On Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the number of H-1B applications fell below 200,000 this year for the first time since 2014. Just 85,000 H-1B visas (20,000 of which are reserved for master''s degree holders) are granted annually, but the past few years have seen swelling demand. Applications for the visa opened on April 3, and it was the fifth consecutive year that the cap was met within five days. During that period, 199,000 applications were received. In 2016, USCIS received 236,000 applications -- and the number had been climbing since at least 2013. The H-1B is the most common visa for high-skilled foreign workers, but it''s also become the subject of much scrutiny. While H-1B visas are used to fill the U.S. skills gap, critics, including the Trump administration, have voiced concerns about abuse of the program. Related: H-1B visa applications hit cap in 4 days In some cases, outsourcing firms flood the system with applicants, obtaining visas for foreign workers and then contracting them out to tech companies. American jobs are sometimes replaced in the process, critics say. The start of H-1B season was met with pointed reminders from the government that it is paying close attention to the visa. USCIS announced that it would take a "more targeted approach" in visiting the workplaces of H-1B petitioners. And the Justice Department issued a press release "cautioning" employers petitioning for H-1B visas to not discriminate against American workers. These are moves designed to cripple outsourcing firms. Related: India freaks out over U.S. plans to change high-skilled visas This year, the expedited processing option was put on hold. For an additional $1,225 fee, premium processing had guaranteed that an H-1B petition was reviewed within 15 days (if selected in the lottery). Non-premium visa petitions can take as much as eight months before they''re approved, immigration lawyers say. USCIS hopes to reduce overall processing times with the temporary freeze. 5:56 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/17/technology/h-1b-visa-applications/index.html'|'2017-04-18T01:56:00.000+03:00' '0401b971ff3e30e0e0f78e4044d78f7fd4d7077b'|'Goldman Sachs quarterly profit surges 80 percent'|' 57pm BST Goldman Sachs quarterly profit surges 80 percent FILE PHOTO - A sign is displayed in the reception of the Sydney offices of Goldman Sachs in Australia, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) reported an 80 percent jump in quarterly profit as the Wall Street bank benefited from a pick up in global equity and debt offerings. Net income applicable to common shareholders jumped to $2.16 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.2 billion a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2nYyF63 ) Earnings per share rose to $5.15 from $2.68. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $5.31 per share, according It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable. Provision for taxes fell 35.6 percent to $284 million. Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ), Goldman''s traditional rival, reports earnings on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-results-idUKKBN17K1C9'|'2017-04-18T19:52:00.000+03:00' '0ec19d67623e2537339878139724334530e20f10'|'U.S. court rejects Frontline''s last-minute bid to stop BW-DHT deal'|'Market News 20am EDT U.S. court rejects Frontline''s last-minute bid to stop BW-DHT deal OSLO, April 20 A U.S. court has rejected a last-minute effort by billionaire investor John Fredriksen''s Frontline to prevent BW Group from acquiring a major stake in rival oil tanker firm DHT Holdings, DHT said on Thursday. The New York County Supreme Court''s decision means that privately-owned BW Group, led by shipping tycoon Andreas Sohmen Pao, can proceed with the sale of 11 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to DHT in exchange for DHT''s shares. "The transaction will proceed as planned, and in fact the first ship is being transferred to DHT today, and others will follow in quick succession," Carsten Mortensen, BW Group''s chief executive, said in a email to Reuters. DHT said in a separate statement that eight of the vessels would be delivered during the second quarter of 2017, with the final two to come in 2018. Frontline had failed to establish that the New York court had jurisdiction over BW and DHT and failed to establish a probability of success of its claim that the transaction violated Delaware law, Justice Barry R. Ostrager ruled. The timing of the lawsuit, filed on April 18, was also "inexcusable", he added, given that the BW-DHT transaction was scheduled to partly close on Thursday. The deal will bring BW''s ownership in DHT to 33.5 percent from less than 5 percent, surpassing Frontline as DHT''s top shareholder. Frontline said in a separate court filing, its stake would be diluted to 8.9 percent from 13.4 percent if the transaction proceeded. DHT''s board twice rejected Frontline''s offer, including an improved one on Feb. 28, to combine businesses at an exchange ratio of 0.8 Frontline shares for each DHT shares, as being too low. A Frontline spokeswoman declined to comment. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/frontline-dht-holdings-lawsuit-idUSL8N1HS2DS'|'2017-04-20T22:20:00.000+03:00' '21b86f736bf09cc9c2af940c9509de0f9a8e521c'|'Daimler reports first-quarter EBIT up 87 percent in surprise release'|'FRANKFURT Daimler AG''s ( DAIGn.DE ) operating profit jumped a better-than-expected 87 percent in the first quarter, the German luxury carmaker said in an unscheduled release late on Tuesday.The maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks said group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) jumped to 4.01 billion euros ($4.25 billion), "significantly above market expectation" and up from 2.15 billion euros a year ago, citing unaudited figures.Two analysts providing estimates for a Thomson Reuters consensus had forecast just over 3 billion euros on average for the quarter.The company is scheduled to release its quarterly financial report on April 26.EBIT at the Mercedes-Benz Cars unit rose 60 percent to 2.23 billion euros while combined EBIT from trucks, vans and buses rose 27 percent to 1.09 billion euros.In late March the company said it expected record sales volumes for its Mercedes-Benz Cars division in the first quarter.(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Larry King and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/daimler-results-idINKBN17D2QX'|'2017-04-11T19:56:00.000+03:00' '46924086f148d1626f2de64f90781361743fb357'|'China''s central bank quietly increases its power in battle to curb risks'|' China''s central bank quietly increases its power in battle to curb risks left right FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the headquarters of the central bank of the People''s Republic of China in Beijing, January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Loic Hofstedt/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A woman walks out of the headquarters of the People''s Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, in Beijing November 20, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo 2/2 By Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING China''s central bank has been quietly boosting its policy independence and regulatory reach as it seeks to contain risks to the financial system, policy insiders said, to help ensure stability ahead of a five-yearly leadership team transition this year. By greater use of market mechanisms to adjust interest rates instead of changing the official benchmark rates, which need political approval, the People''s Bank of China has assumed more targeted, timely and effective control of its principal policy objective - to calibrate the cost of capital in the economy. And by broadening the scope of the tools it uses to assess and limit the accumulation of risky assets in the banking system, it has expanded its oversight powers without getting embroiled in the kind of bureaucratic infighting that has beset plans to create a financial super-regulator. That has given the PBOC room to maneuver at a time when it needs to contain speculative bubbles and risky lending while avoiding abrupt tightening measures that could hurt the economy. "China faces big systemic risks, and 2017 is a crucial year for controlling such risks," said a policy adviser. "The central bank has been expanding its regulatory functions and it''s taking an over-riding role (on risk controls)." The PBOC is likely to guide market interest rates higher using reverse repurchase agreements (repos), and its standing lending facility (SLF) and medium-term lending facility (MLF), while keeping benchmark interest rates steady, policy advisers said. That will allow it to fine-tune borrowing costs without using the blunt instrument of benchmark rates, which could hurt the heavily indebted corporate sector. "China''s economic fundamentals are slowly improving, but there could be problems if we tighten policy too quickly," a second policy adviser said. The central bank raised short-term interest rates on March 16 in what economists said was a bid to stave off capital outflows and keep the yuan currency stable after the Federal Reserve had raised U.S. rates. That followed increases in its repo rates and the SLF on Feb. 3, and a rise in rates on the MLF in late January. Its recent changes to interest rates have been announced during market trading, including just hours after the Fed raised rates. In contrast, previous changes in official benchmark lending and deposit rates, which needed cabinet approval, often came in the evening or at weekends. China''s central bank still has much less autonomy than Western peers, so it doesn''t have the final word on adjusting official interest rates or the value of the yuan. The basic course of monetary and currency policy is set by the cabinet or by the Communist Party''s ruling Politburo. The PBOC did not return requests for comment. TWIN PILLARS Under long-serving Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, the PBOC has been a driver of the reform agenda, with a long-term goal to make banks'' borrowing costs more market driven to improve resource allocation and wean the economy off its reliance on state-led investment. Reuters reported in 2015 that China was considering bringing together its banking, insurance and securities regulators into a single super-commission, following a stock market crash that was blamed in part on poor inter-agency coordination. But policymakers and the different bureaucracies have yet to reach a consensus on how to proceed with a regulatory overhaul. "Such an overhaul is unlikely to happen soon because it concerns interests, personnel arrangements and relationships between different departments," said another policy adviser. Chen Yulu, a central bank vice-governor, told a forum last month that the PBOC is trying to establish a "twin-pillar framework of monetary policy plus macro-prudential policy". The central bank''s macro-prudential assessment (MPA) is a formal evaluation that assigns a score to each bank based on parameters believed to include asset quality, capital adequacy, the proportion of liquid assets and stability of funding. The MPA was launched last year and, while not publicly disclosed, the PBOC has widened the risk-assessment framework to include off-balance-sheet wealth management products (WMPs) in the first-quarter report, sources at commercial banks said, in line with the central bank''s announcement in December. "To control financial risks, we cannot have a fragmented regulatory system under which different agencies do their own things," said a source at a major commercial bank. "Letting the central bank take the lead is most suitable, given that it''s tasked to oversee money supply, liquidity, and control systemic risks." WMPs, often linked to shadow banking, have seen explosive growth in recent years, with funds channeled into stock and bond markets. "It''s necessary for the PBOC to take on more regulatory functions under its MPA because there are many hidden risks that could pose a threat to China''s financial stability," said the second policy adviser. The official Shanghai Securities News reported last month that mortgages could also be included in the MPA this year. Home mortgages accounted for nearly 40 percent of China''s record new loans of 12.65 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion) last year. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says China''s total private and public debt has grown to more than 250 percent of GDP, up from 150 percent before the global financial crisis. ($1 = 6.8979 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-pboc-idUKKBN17E0TE'|'2017-04-12T16:13:00.000+03:00' 'c61d050e432910ca99cb9efd661acf179f0a4392'|'BRIEF-SPot Coffee provides an update on its franchise activities'|' 47am EDT BRIEF-SPot Coffee provides an update on its franchise activities April 12 SPot Coffee (Canada) Ltd * SPot Coffee provides an update on its franchise activities * SPot Coffee (Canada) Ltd - Company''s financial plan anticipates payment of all its outstanding debentures by summer of 2017 * SPot Coffee (Canada) - Financial plan anticipates attaining positive EBITDA corporate level-wise albeit already attaining positive EBITDA at café level '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-spot-coffee-provides-an-update-on-idUSASA09IFP'|'2017-04-12T19:47:00.000+03:00' 'b27484dd72d64f919f6fad700af182490e784915'|'South Korea''s Daewoo Shipbuilding unlocks $2.6 billion bailout after bondholder approval'|'Deals 58am EDT South Korea''s Daewoo Shipbuilding unlocks $2.6 billion bailout after bondholder approval The name of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co is seen on a replica ship displayed at its building in Seoul, South Korea, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji By Joyce Lee - SEOUL SEOUL South Korea''s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd ( 042660.KS ) has won near unanimous agreement from bondholders to swap their debt for equity, meeting a condition that unlocks a $2.6 billion bank bailout for the world''s biggest shipbuilder. Daewoo won approval from over 96 percent of bondholders at two meetings on Tuesday and three on Monday, with attendance exceeding 78 percent. The meetings came shortly after the shipbuilder won the approval of its biggest bondholder, the National Pension Service. "We will normalize the company as soon as possible through bone-grinding effort, so you (bondholders) can come to think you made a good choice for yourselves, the company and the economy," Jung Sung-leep said in a statement. The shipbuilder has been pushed to the brink by the impact of historically low oil prices, which caused delays in payments for complex offshore facilities. At risk is an estimated 50,000 jobs and an economic hit of tens of billions of dollars. But with bondholders accepting a debt-to-equity swap, Korea Development Bank (KDB) [KDB.UL] and Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) [KEXIM.UL] will supply up to 2.9 trillion won from late April or early May after court approval, a KDB official said. The bailout plus a 4.2 trillion won bailout starting in late 2015 amounts to South Korea''s biggest state-backed rescue of a single company in over a decade, state bank officials said. The new cash will help Daewoo meet its need for about 471 billion won in operating funds by the end of April, and allow commercial banks to resume issuing ship owners refund guarantees on orders Daewoo wins, without which contracts are voided. Daewoo can also continue building the 108 ships ordered as of February for on-time delivery. Delivery dates of nearly all existing orders - and payments for delivery - are either this year or next, a Daewoo spokesman told Reuters. Daewoo''s existing orders amount to the most in the world at 6.2 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT), 70 percent or more over compatriots Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd ( 010140.KS ) and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd ( 009540.KS ), Clarksons Research data showed. But the shipbuilder aims to become more sustainable by cutting annual revenue to about 7 trillion won by 2018 from 12.7 trillion won last year, CEO Jung previously said. After shrinking, the government intends to sell its stake in Daewoo and consolidate the biggest three domestic shipbuilders into two, the Financial Services Commission and KDB have said. Daewoo will also continue with a planned 5.3 trillion won in asset sales and cost-cutting, ongoing since late 2015, by selling a construction subsidiary, a shipyard in Romania and three other units. So far, Daewoo has met a third of its goal. Last week, it said about 98 percent of employees and executives had agreed to a pay cut. The shipbuilder aims to cut labor costs by about 25 percent this year to 640 billion won, almost half the figure of two years earlier. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-daewoo-restructuring-idUSKBN17K0KX'|'2017-04-18T14:58:00.000+03:00' '0797e8901fb0b7618bfa673638bca735cf193fa0'|'Western Digital would consider Japan partners for Toshiba chip unit bid'|'By Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada - TOKYO TOKYO Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ), the U.S. partner of Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) in a semiconductor venture, is in talks with Japanese government-backed investors and would consider a joint bid with them for the chip business, a senior official said on Thursday."We want to find a way to ensure we are aligned with INCJ and DBJ," Mark Long, chief financial officer, told Reuters in an interview, referring to state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ).Asked whether a joint bid was possible, Long said, "It could be."Teaming up the government-backed players would give Western Digital a big advantage as it would represent a government stamp of approval.But another U.S. bidder, chipmaker Broadcom Ltd ( AVGO.O ), is also in talks with INCJ and DBJ for a joint bid, sources told Reuters, potentially vying with Western Digital for government backing.The sources said INCJ and DBJ are considering investing in the business as a minority partner - a move that would help the government prevent a sale to bidders it deems risky to national security.Toshiba, which expects to book a net loss of $9 billion for the business year that began this month, is selling most or all of the prized chip unit to fill a vast balance sheet hole left at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co, which last month filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection from creditors.Toshiba has narrowed the field of bidders for its chip unit to four suitors, people familiar with the process have said: Western Digital, Broadcom, South Korea''s SK Hynix ( 000660.KS ), and Foxconn ( 2317.TW ), the world''s largest contract electronics maker.Western Digital, which operates a flash memory chip plant with Toshiba in Japan, has discussed antitrust issues with the conglomerate, and both agreed they shouldn''t be an obstacle to a Western Digital bid, Long said."Because of our flexibility and the different ways we can participate, our lawyers are very confident that we can address any trust risks in a way that would help get cash to Toshiba very quickly and then allow enough time for any antitrust review as necessary," he said."We have had that discussion with Toshiba''s attorneys and they actually see things very similarly," he added.Sources have said flash memory competitors such as Western Digital may find it difficult to clear regulators'' antitrust reviews by March next year, the deadline for Toshiba to resolve its negative shareholders'' equity and stay listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.That could give Broadcom a better chance of winning because the chipmaker currently has no flash memory business, they said.Toshiba and Western Digital have 19 percent and 16 percent global market share, respectively, in NAND flash memory chips, trailing Samsung Electronics'' ( 005930.KS ) 35 percent, according to research firm IHS.Western Digital wrote to Toshiba on April 9 saying the transfer of the chip venture''s rights to a new chip unit, which was split off recently without the U.S. firm''s consent, violated their joint venture agreements. Western Digital called for it to be given exclusive negotiating rights.Long said Western Digital has not received a written response from Toshiba, but stressed the company hopes to resolve the issue through dialogue.(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada, with additional reporting by Tim Kelly and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by William Mallard and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-western-digital-idINKBN17M133'|'2017-04-20T10:56:00.000+03:00' 'b1789aa544a04cb83a5abdc8304eea33e0410293'|'New solar-powered device makes drinking water out of desert air 19,'|'New solar-powered device makes water out of desert air by Kaya Yurieff @kyurieff April 19, 2017: 11:35 AM ET Making scientists the new celebrities Scientists have a new solution for bringing clean water to remote areas. A team has created a solar-powered device that can produce drinking water out of air -- even in desert climates, according to the researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley. "I''m most excited about being able to realize a functioning device in these remote areas and to be able to provide clean water to all the people who need it," Evelyn Wang, associate mechanical engineering professor at MIT and co-author of the paper first published in the journal "Science," told CNNTech. While similar methods like atmospheric water generators already exist, the new project works in drier climates and uses less energy. The new device looks like a box. Inside the box is a layer of a custom metal-organic framework (also called a MOF), which is essentially a material that acts as a sponge to capture as much water as possible when the box is open.Water can be collected from the air and rain. Once the water is captured, the box is closedmanually and exposed to the sun. The sun heats up the material so it releases water from its surface in the vapor phase. The vapor is then converted to the liquid phase with a condenser -- which can cool the vapor even in hot climates -- to create clean drinking water. Related: This ''bee'' drone is a robotic flower pollinator It''s capable of collecting 2.8 liters of water per kilogram of metal-organic framework that is used. It can do this in areas where the humidity level is as low as 20%, compared to existing devices that work in 50% humidity. MOFs are one-, two- or three-dimensional compounds invented about 20 years ago by Berkeley professor Omar Yaghi, one of the researchers behind the new device. They are an extremely porous material and water molecules can easily attach to the framework. The MOF used in the new device is called MOF-801, which was first reported a few years ago. Related: Tesla solar panels are starting to power Hawaii island Right now, the new system is in the "proof of concept" phase to show it can work, Wang said. The key, she added, will be scaling up the prototype. The researchers have developed the materials in a lab environment and now will have to make them in larger quantities -- which Wang said will reduce costs. Companies like German manufacturer BASF have produced large-scale quantities of MOFs previously, she noted. The prototype is currently the size of a small tissue box, but the final product is expected to be about as big as a carry-on suitcase so it can produce enough water for a family of four.The researchers do not have a cost estimate yet, but they plan to work with not-for-profits and local governments in the developing world to distribute the device. It''s designed for places that are extremely dry, but that still have a lot of sun, such as North Africa and India. "We can deploy [the] devices in those types of regions, where all they need is this device and sun," Wang said. Two-thirds of the world''s population is experiencing water shortages, according to the researchers. CNNMoney (New York) First published April 19, 2017: 8:37 AM ET '|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/19/technology/future/solar-powered-device-drinking-water/index.html'|'2017-04-19T19:35:00.000+03:00' '8a0ece26ab430b34e1094927031274edd03a5b7e'|'Room for improvement with Accor’s pricing policy - Money'|'Last November I used AccorHotels’ website to book a night at its Stratford-upon-Avon Mercure hotel at the end of this April. I paid upfront at the advance saver rate of £98.10. Last weekend I checked the website for directions, only to find that the rate had dropped to £71.10. I rang the hotel to ask them to refund the difference and was told that the manager would get back to me. They haven’t. Since then I’ve contacted Accor by phone and email with no joy. I’m pushing 70 and greatly enjoy my trips to the theatre, but would rather spend an extra £27 on a better seat than a so-called saver rate, which is no such thing. Hopefully you can get it to admit that it is a blatant misnomer. EC, Winchester In keeping with every other hotel booking website, Accor promises those booking its rooms a best-price guarantee. But as you found, this guarantee turned out to be worthless. The difference between this and some other booking sites is that Accor is selling its own rooms and has complete control over prices. An email to the French HQ prompted the hotel to spring into action. The manager has now replied and apologised.“I have taken this up with the person responsible for bedroom pricing at our head office and he has apologised and confirms it is an oversight – we would never normally lower our prices; we always reward those who book earliest with our lowest rates,” he claimed.He has agreed to charge you £65 and is refunding you £33. He has also promised, if possible, to upgrade you to a better room.We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number Topics Hotels Consumer champions Consumer affairs Consumer rights Travel & leisure features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/18/accor-hotels-advance-saver-rate-cheaper-rooms'|'2017-04-18T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'd7995bc2e6249ae2fb83f7f4df5dbef82776848e'|'Manufacturing and retail recovery drives China''s solid Q1 growth'|'Economic 11:01am IST Manufacturing and retail recovery drives China''s solid Q1 growth Containers are pictured at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer/Files BEIJING A recovery in China''s industrial sector, which accounts for about one-third of the economy, drove China''s better-than-expected first quarter economic growth as export orders picked up and steel output hit a record. Data on Tuesday from the National Bureau of Statistics showed the industrial sector grew 6.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, its fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2014. For a table of GDP growth breakdown by sector, see: On Monday, China reported first quarter growth of 6.9 percent, the quickest in six quarters. Within the industrial sector, manufacturing grew 7.0 percent compared with the first quarter last year. Analysts credited growth in exports, in contrast to a contraction in the first three months of 2016, for providing the pick-up in the first quarter. "It looks to us like the acceleration in 1Q 2017 GDP growth came from electronics exports complementing the 4Q 2016 growth drivers, housing and infrastructure investment," Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING, said in a note. ANOTHER BRIGHT SPOT The other bright spot was the retail and wholesale sector, which also expanded at the fastest pace since the end of 2014. In January-March, the annual growth pace was 7.4 percent, compared with 5.8 percent a year earlier, data showed. However, growth in the construction industry slowed to 5.3 percent from 5.9 percent at the end of last year and has decelerated for four straight quarters, despite rising investment in infrastructure and the real estate industry. The property sector grew 7.8 percent in the first quarter, up from 7.7 percent at the end of 2016, while growth in the finance industry rose to 4.4 percent from 3.8 percent. NBS data showed housing starts picked up in March, growing nearly as fast as sales, which could be a warning sign for overheating in the sector, said Rosealea Yao at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. "Construction growth is in double digits again, which is not consistent with underlying trends as housing demand has peaked," said Yao. (Reporting by Elias Glenn; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-gdp-idINKBN17K0E2'|'2017-04-18T13:31:00.000+03:00' '534af6fc119a97407f11e49bbecca8d050da39de'|'Fiat Chrysler CEO says first quarter of 2017 was difficult, doesn''t change targets'|'Business News - Fri Apr 14, 2017 - 9:47am BST Fiat Chrysler CEO says first quarter of 2017 was difficult, doesn''t change targets A screen displays the ticker information for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV at the post where it''s traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid AMSTERDAM The first quarter of 2017 was "difficult" for carmaker Fiat Chrysler but this will not affect the company''s targets for this year and next, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Friday. "The first quarter was difficult, we had said it would have been the weakest of the year, but this doesn''t change the targets for this year nor for 2018," Marchionne told reporters on the sidelines of a shareholder meeting of truck maker CNH. (Reporting by Stefano Rebaudo, writing by Silvia Aloisi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fiatchrysler-ceo-idUKKBN17G0NQ'|'2017-04-14T16:47:00.000+03:00' 'ee53f0f49f239fbfd1d2d5e4642b60ffe5488a75'|'PRESS DIGEST- Canada - April 13'|'April 13 The following are the top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.THE GLOBE AND MAIL** BlackBerry Ltd''s shares rose 15 per cent on Wednesday after a surprise announcement that it had won back hundreds of millions in patent royalty payments in an arbitrated settlement with semiconductor giant Qualcomm Inc. The windfall will be added to the company''s C$1.2 billion ($906.62 million) in cash. tgam.ca/2o9NMow** The Ontario Securities Commission has accused fund manager Ben Cheng and three other Bay Street players of securities-law violations in connection with a leaked takeover offer in 2014 by online gambling company Amaya Inc. tgam.ca/2o9RDC4** A U.S. coal mine and health-care executive, Tom Clarke, who bid for U.S. Steel Canada Inc is trying to make a bid for Essar Steel Algoma Inc with the backing of the United Steelworkers union. tgam.ca/2o9NXjJ** Canada is warning the Trump administration that a Buy American requirement for new oil and gas pipelines would break international trade law and hurt business on both sides of the border. tgam.ca/2o9ZYpzNATIONAL POST** The Alberta Investment Management Corp is demanding local drilling company Savanna Energy Services Corp to immediately repay C$111 million ($83.86 million) in loans and fees, which is pressuring the company to refinance its debt while in the middle of a takeover. bit.ly/2o9D1mi** Cheesecake Factory Inc announced on Wednesday that it would open its first restaurant north of the border this fall, at Toronto''s Yorkdale Shopping Centre. bit.ly/2o9KtxE** Northern Dynasty Mineral Ltd stock jumped as much as 32 percent on Wednesday after the company received a crucial permit from the Alaska government that could see its Pebble project clear a 10-year-long development hurdle. bit.ly/2o9OZfB** Canadian oilfield services companies, which bore the brunt of the two-year downturn in crude oil prices, are reporting higher prices, buoyant business activity and robust bookings for the remainder of the year. bit.ly/2o9TXJf($1 = 1.3236 Canadian dollars) (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-canada-idINL3N1HL3UC'|'2017-04-13T08:33:00.000+03:00' '9087f81a4fa8dabe1548936182dfdc7f915bd9f5'|'UPDATE 1-BlackRock holds CEO Larry Fink''s pay nearly flat in 2016'|'(Adds details on executive pay at BlackRock, byline)By Trevor HunnicuttNEW YORK, April 13 BlackRock Inc, the world''s largest asset manager, held total compensation for Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink nearly flat in 2016, according to a filing on Thursday.Fink was awarded $25.5 million in compensation last year, compared with $25.8 million in 2015, based on a calculation of his pay in line with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines.The company''s president, Rob Kapito, was paid $19.6 million, according to those calculations. Both Kapito and Fink were among BlackRock''s founders in 1988.BlackRock''s stock rose 11.8 percent in price terms during 2016. That compares to an 8.4 percent rise for a Thomson Reuters index that includes 26 of its industry rivals in the United States.Net income of New York-based BlackRock fell 5 percent in 2016 to nearly $3.2 billion even as assets the company managed grew by 11 percent to $5.1 trillion. Investment managers have been pressured by a move to lower-cost funds. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackrock-compensation-ceo-idINL1N1HL1Q1'|'2017-04-13T19:06:00.000+03:00' '59f1cf491d5ffafb29cfc246d58e65a59ca9d359'|'BMW reports 27 percent jump in first quarter pretax profit'|' 12:03pm BST BMW results lifted by HERE after Intel buys stake A BMW logo is seen at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson FRANKFURT German luxury carmaker BMW ( BMWG.DE ) reported a better-than-expected 27 percent jump in quarterly pretax profit after an investment by chipmaker Intel ( INTC.O ) drove up the value of its stake in mapping service HERE. BMW also cited other positive valuation effects and improved profits from its Chinese joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive as a boost to profits, which it announced ahead of schedule on Thursday, saying the results were ahead of expectations. Pretax profit came to 3.01 billion euros (2.52 billion pounds) in the first quarter through March, well above analyst forecasts of 2.38 billion and 2.25 billion given to Thomson Reuters estimates after taking account of the one-offs. BMW said the value of its stake in mapping service HERE had risen by 183 million euros in connection with the participation of new investors, and its other financial results had increased by 122 million euros. U.S. chip giant Intel said in January it was buying 15 percent of HERE, which is co-owned by Daimler ( DAIGn.DE ) and Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ). It did not disclose how much it would pay for the stake. BMW affirmed its guidance for a slight increase in full-year group pretax profit and an operating margin of 8 to 10 percent at its automotive business, which posted a first-quarter margin of 9.0 percent, down from 9.4 percent a year earlier. Shares in BMW jumped briefly on the news before easing back to trade 0.4 percent lower at 83.75 euros by 1049 GMT, against a flat German blue-chip DAX index .GDAXI . BMW''s sales rose 12 percent in the quarter to 23.5 billion euros, above the average analyst forecast of 22.1 billion euros, according to Thomson Reuters estimates. The luxury carmaker is due to publish detailed first-quarter results on May 4. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bmw-results-idUKKBN17M14R'|'2017-04-20T18:35:00.000+03:00' 'bd017e68cfe948f7bc46f9a82dea1848d67def3e'|'BRIEF-Jabil announces retirement of chief operating officer'|' 10am EDT BRIEF-Jabil announces retirement of chief operating officer April 20 Jabil Circuit Inc: * Jabil announces retirement of chief operating officer * Jabil Circuit Inc says chief operating officer Bill Muir is retiring, effective December 31, 2017 Source text for Eikon: UPDATE 1-Vale''s first-quarter output falls on weather, keeps guidance SAO PAULO, April 20 Vale SA''s first-quarter iron ore output fell 6.7 percent as seasonal rainfalls in a fast-growing mine in northern Brazil hampered extraction and the world''s No. 1 producer of the raw material sought to rein in production at low-margin facilities. * Magellan Midstream increases quarterly cash distribution to 87.25 cents MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-jabil-announces-retirement-of-chie-idUSASA09JF8'|'2017-04-20T21:10:00.000+03:00' 'c5e0519b28b4ef10726e2494ca9a52571997b040'|'Everbright International plans to spin off greentech business'|'HONG KONG China Everbright International ( 0257.HK ) said on Thursday it plans to spin off and separately list its greentech subsidiary, in a deal that could value the business at up to $1.5 billion.The Chinese financial services giant said it plans to sell up to 644 million shares in China Everbright Greentech Limited, representing around 30 percent of the company, at between HK$5.18 and HK$5.90 per share.The proposed Hong Kong listing is subject to approval by the Hong Kong exchange listing committee.The market capitalization of China Everbright Greentech Limited company would be between HK$10.4 billion and HK$11.8 billion ($1.3 billion-$1.5 billion), the company said.($1 = 7.7718 Hong Kong dollars)(Reporting by Farah Master and Michelle Price; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-everbright-intl-greentech-ipo-idINKBN17F0B1'|'2017-04-13T00:55:00.000+03:00' 'ead731ed1f774a3f471ea101af3c253a2640bf0f'|'Sainsbury to convert Argos stores to digital format and expand Habitat'|' 38am BST Sainsbury to convert Argos stores to digital format and expand Habitat Shoppers pass an Argos concession at a Sainsbury''s store in London, Britain October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall By James Davey - LONDON LONDON Britain''s No. 2 supermarket group Sainsbury ( SBRY.L ) plans to convert 60 Argos general merchandise stores to a digital format and open more in-store Habitat outlets over the next year, it said on Thursday. Last September Sainsbury purchased Argos- and Habitat-owner Home Retail for 1.1 billion pounds, securing an avenue of growth in non-food while also enhancing its online logistics operations. The acquisition has so far proved a success with Argos''s underlying sales increasing 4.3 percent in Sainsbury''s fiscal fourth quarter. Sainsbury has already opened 50 Argos Digital stores, using tablet PCs instead of catalogues to select goods and place orders, in its supermarkets and has committed to opening 250 over three years. The move to transform 60 stand-alone Argos stores to the digital format, which offers shoppers faster access to thousands of products, represents the next stage of Sainsbury''s growth plans. It also said it plans to open another 10 mini Habitats in supermarkets in its 2017-18 year, bringing the total to 17. Argos Chief Executive John Rogers noted an uplift of between 1 and 2 percent in sales from Argos customers shopping for food, general merchandise and clothing in Sainsbury stores. He said Argos Digital stores located in Sainsbury supermarkets open for more than a year were delivering like-for-like sales growth of 20 to 30 percent. However, some analysts caution that life could get tougher for Argos as 2017 progresses. They argue it will see higher import costs due to the weaker pound, while consumers are likely to see a decline in discretionary income as inflation bites. (Editing by David Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sainsbury-argos-idUKKBN17F0NG'|'2017-04-13T14:38:00.000+03:00' '57f95acacc661fdab6c0f0f0f27ba4f9abf2688b'|'Exclusive: Safran could lower, restructure Zodiac offer - source'|' 48am BST Exclusive: Safran could lower, restructure Zodiac offer - source The logo of Safran is seen outside the company''s heanquarters in Paris, France, February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau By Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ) is exploring plans to lower its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) and may simplify its structure amid continued turmoil at the seats maker and pressure from its own shareholders, a financial source said. A new structure could involve a mixture of cash and shares in a more traditional offer for Zodiac, rather than a complex two-tier structure designed to woo family shareholders. But an increasingly wary Safran is unwilling to take any decisions on a range of options before Zodiac issues its newly delayed first-half results, the source said, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. Safran, which makes aircraft engines and other aerospace equipment, declined to comment. Zodiac said earlier it was postponing publication of its first-half financial results by a week to April 28 due to what it described as excess work amid Safran merger talks. The delay coincides with analyst concerns that Zodiac''s rapid growth through numerous acquisitions has complicated its reporting processes, which in turn make it harder to resolve a two-year industrial crisis in its seats and cabins plants. Safran faces criticism over the value and structure of its offer from British hedge fund TCI, notably since Zodiac last month issued the latest in a spate of profit warnings, weeks after agreeing to the tie-up. Safran is unwilling to run the risk that the results delay could coincide with another warning and has given itself a few weeks to decide how to alter its 29.47 euro per share bid, the source said. Despite Zodiac''s industrial woes, Safran has so far defended efforts to buy the company and believes it can bring Zodiac''s factories under control due to its own track record. But CEO Philippe Petitcolin is seen as unlikely to put at risk a recent transformation of Safran around core aerospace activities by proceeding with the offer at all costs. Two sources said they could no longer rule out Safran walking away from Zodiac for the second time in seven years. The deal''s unusual structure was crafted to allow a group of core Zodiac shareholding families to receive Safran shares without losing a longstanding tax status. It involves a cash bid aimed at ordinary investors holding 68 percent of Zodiac followed by a merger, which would draw in the Zodiac families without the hefty tax bill that would automatically be triggered by a classic cash or share offer. France''s Socialist government has supported the scheme to create a new aerospace champion by agreeing to add its own Safran shares to a shareholder pact between the families, keeping their combined shareholding above a tax-neutral threshold. If Safran restructures the offer, experts say the families could notionally face hundreds of millions of euros in wealth tax and other charges unless another way can be found to smooth the deal, though the outcome would depend on individual factors. TCI has argued Safran is wasting its efforts to tailor the deal to family shareholders since Zodiac shares would fall sharply if Safran withdrew its offer. It has called for a shareholder vote before the first part of the deal goes ahead. Zodiac shares closed on Thursday at 23.56 euros. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-safran-zodiac-aero-exclusive-idUKKBN17G1JI'|'2017-04-16T08:48:00.000+03:00' '69acbd4607befe6b9072b3011d2dbdb60fd4abf3'|'Goldman Sachs to advise former Quintis boss on bid for Australian firm'|'By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY Goldman Sachs Group ( GS.N ) has been appointed financial advisor to the former head of sandalwood plantation group Quintis Ltd ( QIN.AX ) as he considers a joint bid for the A$450 million ($340.34 million) company, his spokesman said on Tuesday.Frank Wilson, who owns around 13 percent of Quintis, resigned as the company''s managing director on March 28 to consider making a takeover offer alongside an unidentified international group."Goldman Sachs, as financial advisor, will be managing a process to assess the approaches to Mr Wilson," a spokesman for Wilson said on Tuesday. "The process is in its early stages and it will take some time to work through the details before any potential offer can be presented to the Quintis board."Quintis, formerly known as TFS Corp, owns Indian sandalwood plantations. Oil from the trees is sold to India and China for fragrances, cosmetics and medicinal uses.U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP ( KKR.N ) is one of several parties that has approached Wilson about a bid for Quintis, Reuters has reported previously.A spokesman for KKR declined to comment on Tuesday.KKR has a controlling stake in Santanol Group, which owns and operates Indian sandalwood plantations in the same part of Western Australia as Quintis.Quintis said last month it had retained legal and financial advisers to assess any proposal lodged by Wilson or other parties in the future.Wilson''s resignation came a week after the publication of a highly negative report by short-seller Glaucus Research Group that knocked shares in Quintis down 24 percent.A Quintis spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment and a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman declined to comment.(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-quintis-m-a-idINKBN17K0L9'|'2017-04-18T05:01:00.000+03:00' 'f5b94d2e755e8b1b014d6c3951436811a14ea9ed'|'Air Canada apologizes for bumping youth off oversold flight: father'|'Aerospace & Defense 35pm EDT Air Canada apologizes for bumping youth off oversold flight: father An Air Canada Boeing 767-300ER lands at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, April 16, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro By Allison Lampert - MONTREAL MONTREAL Air Canada ( AC.TO ) has apologized and offered compensation for bumping a 10-year-old off a flight, the boy''s father said on Monday, after the Canadian family''s story sparked headlines following a high-profile incident involving overbooking by U.S. carrier United Airlines. Brett Doyle said his family, who first tried unsuccessfully to check in his older son online, was told at the airport there was no seat available for the boy on an oversold flight from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to Montreal, where they were connecting to a flight to a Costa Rica vacation last month. The entrepreneur from Prince Edward Island said the family of four then drove to Moncton, New Brunswick, to catch a different flight to Montreal only to discover at the airport that it had been canceled. "I thought it was a joke, that there were hidden cameras or something," he recalled by phone from Charlottetown. Doyle said the family contacted Air Canada, the country''s largest carrier, in March, but only received an apology and the offer of a C$2,500 trip voucher after the story was published by a Canadian newspaper on Saturday. Air Canada could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment. An airline spokeswoman told the Canadian Press: “We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr. Doyle and his family as well as offered a very generous compensation to the family for their inconvenience.” Doyle, whose family finally arrived in Montreal and was able to connect to Costa Rica, said he understood the public outcry after a 69-year-old passenger was dragged from his seat on a United plane in Chicago on April 9 to make space for crew members. "People are fed up," he said of airline overbooking. "You shouldn''t be able to sell something twice." United''s parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ), which is still recovering from the public relations debacle, apologized again on Monday for the passenger''s forceful removal, while reporting quarterly earnings. Doyle said the incident on United Flight 3411, which spread rapidly on social media after being shot on video by passengers, resonated with his family. "I ... said things could always be worse," he said after hearing about the United incident. "At least we weren''t thrown off the plane." (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-air-canada-passenger-idUSKBN17K04Q'|'2017-04-18T09:35:00.000+03:00' 'c54024f62341c65a1798efa701f0ea3ec4b0dce3'|'UPDATE 3-BP accuses Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating contract'|'Commodities 4:28pm EDT BP accuses Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating contract: filing BP''s logo is seen in Stratfod, east London, July 19, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Winning/File Photo By Jarrett Renshaw - NEW YORK NEW YORK BP Plc has accused Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating a crude supply contract in 2016, costing the oil major at least $59 million in damages, according to a federal court filing. BP said in the filing that Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, terminated the contract after misinterpreting a provision regarding the blending of crude oils. BP declined to comment further on the case and Monroe could not be immediately reached. Monroe has yet to respond to the allegations in court. The dispute with Monroe marks at least the second time in the past two years that BP has been accused by a refiner of supplying lesser-grade crudes. NARL Refining is embroiled in an arbitration dispute with BP that involves allegations that the oil major was providing crude oil at the company''s Come-By-Chance refinery in Newfoundland, Canada, that helped BP''s profits but hurt the refinery''s equipment. Monroe Energy inked a three-year contract with BP in August 2014 to supply the company''s 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery outside Philadelphia with crude oil from the Eagle Ford or Bakken shale fields, according to the lawsuit filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Southern New York. Monroe notified BP last June that it was severing the contract, alleging the oil major was intentionally blending batches of Eagle Ford crude that did not meet the API gravity grade called for in the contract, according to the lawsuit. BP said the agreement had no language that barred it from commingling grades of crude oil from the same fields, court papers showed. BP says it blended batches of Eagle Ford crude from different wells, calling it a routine industry practice. BP also said Monroe used gravity figures measured at the docks in Texas, not at the point of delivery as required by contract, according to the lawsuit. Monroe never alleged the delivered crude was not in compliance, BP alleges. "Monroe''s allegations were nothing more than an unfounded pretext to terminate the (contract)," BP said in the filing. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Richard Chang and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-lawsuit-monroe-energy-idUSKBN17J1KZ'|'2017-04-18T05:42:00.000+03:00' 'eaef9dd8eae5d3470a1f032d4aa1345ed67bb77e'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 20'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:02am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 20 April 20 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Chinese authorities plan to question Apple Inc about video streaming services available over its app store within the country, in their latest move to intensify pressure on the American technology giant over the content it provides in the vast and crucial market. nyti.ms/2oRK8Sq - Exxon Mobil is pursuing a waiver from Treasury Department sanctions on Russia to drill in the Black Sea in a venture with Rosneft, the Russian state oil company, a former State Department official said on Wednesday. nyti.ms/2oRILmq - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Wednesday admitted that its oversight of Wells Fargo & Co was "untimely and ineffective." The report said the agency failed to spot clues that would have allowed it to connect the dots in one of the most brazen banking scandals of the recent past. nyti.ms/2oRCLKp - Bill O''Reilly''s reign as the top-rated host in cable news came to an abrupt and embarrassing end on Wednesday as Fox News forced him out after the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations against him and an internal investigation that turned up even more. nyti.ms/2oRHmwj (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL3N1HS270'|'2017-04-20T13:02:00.000+03:00' '1046d378ff5e0d76eba4e1769b7c4b226015b166'|'Italy - Factors to watch on April 18'|'The following factors could affect Italian markets on Tuesday.Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on .COMPANIESBourse After Hours market closed.(*) UNICREDITThe bank is working at some changes to its corporate governance after a 13 billion capital increase transformed it in a fully-fledged public company, its Chairman Giuseppe Vita told Il Sole 24 Ore on Tuesday. The lender''s executive directors could have a role in appointing the new board, Vita said to give an example of the new rules.MEDIASETItaly''s communications authority (AGCOM) is set to decide on Tuesday whether stake building by France''s Vivendi in Italian broadcaster Mediaset breaches Italian antitrust regulations, a source close to the matter said last week. (*) AGCOM''s veridict will likely be in favour of Mediaset, several newspapers said on Tuesday, with La Stampa reporting that the authority could give as much as one year to the French media group to reduce its stake in Mediaset or in Telecom Italia . (*) If the authority puts a ceiling to Vivendi''s voting rights in Mediaset, the Berlusconi family, which controls the Italian group, could hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting to introduce a loyalty vote scheme at the broadcaster, La Repubblica reported on Tuesday.TELECOM ITALIA, MEDIASETThe telecoms group is discussing with both U.S. media group Discovery and Italian broadcaster Mediaset the possibility of bidding together for the Serie A and Champions League''s broadcasting rights, Il Messaggero reported on Saturday citing Ansa. Telecom is only interested in the ultra-broadband rights and will choose its partner also in relation to how the tenders are structured.ENIThe oil and gas group said on Sunday it was waiting to examine in detail the reasons behind Italy''s Basilicata region''s decisions to again block operations at Eni''s Val d''Agri oil centre in Viggiano and that it conducted with the utmost diligence activities aimed at ensuring the centre operated safely.(*) MEDIOBANCA, INTESA SANPAOLO, UNICREDITThe Italian government has informally suggested Intesa Sanpaolo to ask UniCredit about its willingness to sell its stake in Mediobanca, la Repubblica reported on Sunday, adding the bank has not listened to the advise.(*) MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENAThe rescue plan for the lender is expected to start in May, MF reported on Tuesday, adding the bank will likely sell its 28 billion euro bad loans all together.(*) FINCANTIERIThe Italian shipbuilder said on Tuesday it signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of two additional cruise ships for Viking Ocean Cruises, with an option for another two.The shipbuilder will likely finalise a deal to buy STX France by the end of April, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Tuesday.ATLANTIAFour suitors are left in the race to buy a minority stake in Atlantia''s motorway unit, two sources close to the matter said on Thursday, as the Italian infrastructure group prepares to finalise the deal in coming weeks.Macquarie has submitted an offer for a 15 percent stake in the Italian motorway group''s Autostrade per l''Italia unit which places the Australian fund next to Allianz among the favoured bidders, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Saturday.FIAT CHRYSLERChief Executive Sergio Marchionne rowed back on his search for a merger on Friday, saying the car maker was not in a position to seekdeals for now and would focus instead on following its business plan.UNICREDIT, INTESA SANPAOLO, ASSICURAZIONI GENERALIAlitalia and labour unions reached a preliminary agreement on Friday on job and pay cuts that the loss-making airline says are necessary to keep it in business, union and government officials said.Adviser Lazard has worked over the Easter weekend to provide Alitalia''s creditors UniCredit, Intesa and Generali by Tuesday with an updated version of the business plan that incorporates the impact of Friday''s accord, Il Messaggero reported on Saturday. The paper Quote: d a person working on the deal as saying the lower-than-expected labour cost cuts in the accord should not significantly alter the plan''s projections. (*) Alitalia''s designated Chairman Luigi Gubitosi met Delta airways'' top official over Easter holidays, Il Messaggero reported on Tuesday.(*) BANCA INTERMOBILIAREVeneto Banca has picked Lazard as advisers to sell its Banca Intermobiliare in the short term, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Tuesday.BANCA MEDIOLANUMItaly''s top administrative court said on Friday it had asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) whether the latter had full competence over the case concerning the stake that Silvio Berlusconi''s holding company Fininvest holds in the Italian asset manager -- or whether the Italian court had any jurisdiction in the matter.Berlusconi and Fininvest appealed in December to the ECJ against European Central Bank''s decision that Fininvest should cut its 30 percent stake in Mediolanum.ASSICURAZIONI GENERALIInvestor Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone has bought a further 1 million shares at an average price of 14.1 euros each raising his stake to around 3.6 percent, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.AVIOLeonardo Del Vecchio owns 3.89 percent of the aerospace group, pioneer investments 3.24 pct and Multilabel Sicav 4.71 percent, a regulatory filing showed on FridayITALMOBILIAREThe Pesenti family''s holding company is close to finalising an investment in mountain garments company Tecnica, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Sunday.FERRARIFerrari''s Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix to go seven points clear at the top of the Formula One standings on Sunday, with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton staging a late charge to finish second.PRIMA INDUSTRIEThe group stands by a target of around 500 million euros in revenue in 2019 and an EBITDA margin of 12 percent up from 9 percent at end-2016, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Sunday.IPOsPrivate-equity held Italian packaging firm Guala Closures is preparing a stock market listing or a sale that may value the company at more than 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) including debt, sources close to the matter said.For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets:20 biggest gainers (in percentage)20 biggest losers (in percentage)FTSE IT allshare indexFTSE Mib indexFTSE Allstars index...FTSE Mid Cap index....Block tradesStories on Italy IT-LENFor pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets: European Equities speed guide FTSEurofirst 300 index DJ STOXX index Top 10 STOXX sectors Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors Top 25 European pct gainers Top 25 European pct losers Main stock markets: Dow Jones Wall Street report Nikkei 225 Tokyo report FTSE 100 London report Xetra DAX Frankfurt market stories CAC-40 Paris market stories... World Indices Reuters survey of world bourse outlook Western European IPO diary European Asset Allocation Reuters News at a Glance: Equities Main currency report: ($1 = 0.9395 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/italy-factors-april-idINL8N1HL2H6'|'2017-04-18T04:55:00.000+03:00' 'db83bc16c6e8575a7bcb8a03dd1b93aa1da8ab48'|'FCC approves Time Warner sale of Atlanta TV station'|'Deals 42pm EDT FCC approves Time Warner sale of Atlanta TV station left right A woman walks past the Time Warner Center near Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York July 16, 2014. REUTERS/Adrees Latif 1/2 left right Ticker and trading information for media conglomerate Time Warner Inc. is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/2 By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Monday it approved Time Warner Inc''s ( TWX.N ) sale of a broadcast station in Atlanta to Meredith Corp ( MDP.N ), a transaction that could help speed Time Warner''s planned merger with AT&T Inc ( T.N ). In January, AT&T said it expected to be able to bypass the FCC in its planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner because it would not seek to transfer any significant Time Warner licenses. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said previously he did not plan to use the proposed TV station license transfer as a way to examine the AT&T-Time Warner merger. About a dozen senators had urged him to review the deal. The station that Time Warner is selling, WPCH-TV, for $70 million, is its only FCC-regulated broadcast station. It has other, more minor FCC licenses. Meredith has operated WPCH-TV for Time Warner since 2011. It was previously known as WTBS. In a statement on Monday, Meredith said it was pleased the FCC approved the application and that it anticipated "moving forward expeditiously to close this deal." The company said in February it expected to close on the sale by June 30 and that the deal would not have a material impact on its results. Time Warner did not immediately comment on the FCC approval. The Justice Department has to prove a proposed deal harms competition in order to block it. The FCC has broad leeway to block a merger it deems is not in the "public interest" and can impose additional conditions. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told CNBC in February the Justice Department review was ongoing and he thought the deal would close by the end of the year. "It''s a clean transaction," he said. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-timewarner-fcc-meredith-idUSKBN17J1N8'|'2017-04-18T04:42:00.000+03:00' 'e9520ebfb7bd0d675a106cdf91ea67139ef65bc3'|'BP accuses Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating contract'|'Global Energy News 04pm BST BP accuses Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating contract Spectators are seen reflected in a British Petroleum sponsors building in Olympic Park at the London 2012 Paralympic Games September 6, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By Jarrett Renshaw - NEW YORK NEW YORK BP Plc ( BP.L ) has accused Monroe Energy of wrongfully terminating a crude supply contract in 2016, costing the oil major at least $59 million in damages, according to a federal court filing. BP said in the filing that Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc ( DAL.N ), terminated the contract after misinterpreting a provision regarding the blending of crude oils. BP declined to comment further on the case and Monroe could not be immediately reached. Monroe has yet to respond to the allegations in court. The dispute with Monroe marks at least the second time in the past two years that BP has been accused by a refiner of supplying lesser-grade crudes. NARL Refining is embroiled in an arbitration dispute with BP that involves allegations that the oil major was providing crude oil at the company''s Come-By-Chance refinery in Newfoundland, Canada, that helped BP''s profits but hurt the refinery''s equipment. Monroe Energy inked a three-year contract with BP in August 2014 to supply the company''s 185,000 barrel-per-day refinery outside Philadelphia with crude oil from the Eagle Ford or Bakken shale fields, according to the lawsuit filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Southern New York. Monroe agreed to pay $8.35 above the U.S. benchmark price for Eagle Ford and $7.35 above the U.S. benchmark for Bakken deliveries, according to the lawsuit. The supply contract was favourable for Monroe when U.S. crude sold at a wide discount against the global benchmark during the early months of the deal, but the spread narrowed significantly in late 2015, making global crude more attractive to East Coast refiners. Monroe notified BP last June that it was severing the contract, alleging the oil major was intentionally blending batches of Eagle Ford crude that did not meet the API gravity grade called for in the contract, according to the lawsuit. BP said the agreement had no language that barred it from commingling grades of crude oil from the same fields, court papers showed. BP says it blended batches of Eagle Ford crude from different wells, calling it a routine industry practice. BP also said Monroe used gravity figures measured at the docks in Texas, not at the point of delivery as required by contract, according to the lawsuit. Monroe never complained the delivered crude was not in compliance, BP said. "Monroe''s allegations were nothing more than an unfounded pretext to terminate the (contract)," BP said in the filing. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Bill Trott and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-lawsuit-monroe-energy-idUKKBN17J1KB'|'2017-04-18T06:04:00.000+03:00' '9ed273f583ce25f8c47b57983d970cdd882c5287'|'INCJ looking at Toshiba chip unit auction; didn''t bid in first round'|'Technology 37am BST INCJ looking at Toshiba chip unit auction; didn''t bid in first round A logo of Toshiba Corp is seen on a printed circuit board in this photo illustration taken in Tokyo July 31, 2012. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao TOKYO The state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan is looking at the auction of Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip unit but did not participate in first-round bidding, INCJ Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga said on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters INCJ may invest in the business as a minority partner - a move that would help the government prevent a sale to bidders it deems risky to national security. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-incj-idUKKBN17K0EA'|'2017-04-18T13:36:00.000+03:00' 'f7e86ecf108eda964ba0318369f912467849e19b'|'Buffalo Wild Wings rejects Marcato''s call to replace CEO'|'Funds News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 10:50am EDT Buffalo Wild Wings rejects Marcato''s call to replace CEO April 20 Buffalo Wild Wings Inc said on Thursday that it had turned down activist shareholder Marcato Capital Management''s offer to withdraw its board nominees if the restaurant chain replaced Chief Executive Sally Smith. Hedge fund Marcato, which said it owned a 6.1 percent stake in Buffalo Wild Wings, launched a proxy fight in February, nominating four directors for the nine-member board. Marcato began to agitate for changes last July, saying Buffalo Wild Wings did not franchise out enough restaurants and citing concerns about the board''s lack of experience in the restaurant industry. One of Marcato''s nominees, Kraft Food veteran Sam Rovit, is also part of Buffalo Wild Wings slate. Marcato also wanted its founder Mick McGuire and Rovit named to Buffalo Wild Wings'' board for withdrawing its nominations, the company said in a regulatory filing. ( bit.ly/2oOiyaj ) "The status quo is unacceptable – oversight and accountability must be restored and CEO Sally Smith must be replaced," McGuire said in a statement on Thursday. Buffalo Wild Wings'' annual meeting is expected in May. The company''s shares were up 3.4 percent at $159.80 on Thursday in morning trade. (Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/buffalo-wild-marcato-idUSL3N1HS4V0'|'2017-04-20T22:50:00.000+03:00' '2b93731fd3f9f15824623980ab1b8ac3c5a59050'|'Usiminas sees Brazil domestic steel price premium unsustainable'|'Company 51am EDT Usiminas sees Brazil domestic steel price premium unsustainable SAO PAULO, April 20 Higher domestic steel prices in Brazil are unsustainable in the medium and long term, and could entice imports of the commodity that could impact margins for local mills, executives at Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA said on Thursday. In a conference call to discuss first-quarter results, the executives said Usiminas, as Brazil''s No. 1 listed producer of flat steel products is known, said that international steel prices are expected to rise in coming months. The so-called premium, or the difference between steel prices practiced in Brazil and abroad, is currently between 20 percent and 30 percent, they said. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Alberto Alerigi Jr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usiminas-results-outlook-idUSE6N1D200Q'|'2017-04-20T22:51:00.000+03:00' 'fc511af947aa05e151205cc28bc67a81aa9a40c2'|'Verizon reports 20 percent fall in quarterly profit'|' 48pm BST Verizon reports 20 percent fall in quarterly profit The Verizon logo is seen on the side of a truck in New York City, U.S., October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Verizon Communications Inc, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, reported a 20 percent fall in quarterly profit as it lost wireless postpaid subscribers despite the re-launch of unlimited data plans. Net income attributable to the company fell to $3.45 billion (2.69 billion pounds), or $0.84 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $4.31 billion, or $1.06 per share, a year earlier. Verizon said it lost 307,000 retail postpaid subscribers on a net basis in the first quarter. Analysts on average were expecting net additions of 222,000, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Verizon is struggling to fend off smaller rivals T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp in a maturing market for U.S. wireless service. In February, Verizon announced that it would offer an unlimited data plan for the first time in more than five years, following which other companies sweetened their unlimited offerings. Total operating revenue fell to $29.81 billion for the fourth straight quarter from $32.17 billion a year earlier. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-verizon-results-idUKKBN17M1BS'|'2017-04-20T19:48:00.000+03:00' '5b6e5f4a6420b891b023ad622dcfc272adcbad57'|'Sterling slips ahead of statement by UK prime minister'|'FRB 34am EDT Sterling slips ahead of statement by May A pile of one pound coins is seen in a photo illustration shot June 17, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Illustration/File Photo LONDON Sterling fell by almost a cent against the dollar on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May''s office said she would make a statement outside Downing Street at 10.15 GMT. Sterling fell as low as $1.2515 from around $1.26 as investors awaited the statement, which follows media reports that some senior Conservatives favour calling an early parliamentary election. It earlier hit a three-week high of $1.2608. The pound also hit the day''s low of 85.11 pence per euro, having earlier touched an eight-week high. It is unusual for leaders to make a statement outside Number 10 Downing Street and most prime ministers only use the setting for major announcements. Her office gave no indication on the subject of Tuesday''s statement. Britain''s FTSE pared losses slightly, last down 1 percent, after sterling dipped to a day''s low. Its majority foreign-earning constituents tend to gain when sterling is weak. British government bonds extended gains, with yields on 10-year debt falling to their lowest since mid-October at 1.007 percent by 0927 GMT, more than 3 basis points down on the day. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly, Patrick Graham, David Milliken and Helen Reid)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-sterling-open-idUSKBN17K0UI'|'2017-04-18T17:33:00.000+03:00' '4d7a22a6e0be25d29792c4b91f90360c47d40fb5'|'Brazil''s former minister Palocci enters plea deal talks - Folha'|'Company News 8:46am EDT Brazil''s former minister Palocci enters plea deal talks - Folha BRASILIA, April 18 Former Brazilian Finance Minister Antonio Palocci entered talks with federal police to strike a plea bargain deal, in a potential blow to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva''s chances of running in next year''s election, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo said on Tuesday. Palocci, one of the closest advisers to Lula and former president Dilma Rousseff between 2003 and 2011, has been in jail since September of last year on charges that he ran a bribery scheme that funneled money to the former-ruling Workers Party''s (PT). Folha said, without citing sources, that Palocci had a first meeting with investigators two weeks ago to discuss the terms of a possible collaboration. He would present evidence against Lula and other senior members of his party, Folha said. Several polls show Lula as the favorite in voting intentions for the 2018 presidential election, but he could be barred from running if sentenced for corruption. Lula already faces five court cases related to the investigations. A plea bargain testimony by Palocci, once one of Brazil''s most powerful politicians, could also add fuel to the country''s political and economic turmoil by widening the scope of the so-called Car Wash investigation, currently focused on engineering firms, to include banks and large corporations, Folha said. Palocci''s lawyer, José Roberto Batochio, did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment. He has previously denied his client had taken any bribes. Federal police did not comment. Growing speculation about a Palocci collaboration comes one week after details of a plea bargain deal by executives of engineering firm Odebrecht SA rocked Brazilian politics by implicating dozens of lawmakers, eight ministers and President Michel Temer. Odebrecht executives named Palocci as the intermediary for alleged bribes paid to Lula, an accusation which Lula and his lawyers have repeatedly denied. Palocci, a medical doctor by training, was Lula''s finance minister and a key player in the 2002 election campaign that put the Workers'' Party leader in the presidential seat. Palocci helped Lula change his image from leftist radical into a business friendly and socially progressive leader who finally secured election on his fourth bid. He also served as chief of staff to Lula''s hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, ousted in an impeachment last year. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-corruption-palocci-idUSL1N1HQ0CZ'|'2017-04-18T20:46:00.000+03:00' '79d0f287f817a67095be0001ac9067c3bd24e525'|'Goldman Sachs profit misses estimates on trading weakness'|' 12pm BST Goldman Sachs profit misses estimates on trading weakness A view of the Goldman Sachs stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 16, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit as gains in investment banking were offset by weak trading revenue. Total revenue from trading fell 2.4 percent to $3.36 billion (2.69 billion pounds), the lowest in five quarters. Revenue from fixed-income securities, currencies and commodities trading rose just 1.3 percent to $1.69 billion. "The operating environment was mixed, with client activity challenged in certain market-making businesses...," Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said in a statement. Goldman''s trading results were in sharp contrast to those from JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) and Bank of America ( BAC.N ), which reported a rise in trading revenue. Shares of Goldman were down 3 percent in premarket trading. Goldman has historically relied more on trading than other big banks, but has been trying to shift to stable businesses such as investment management. Earnings per share rose to $5.15 from $2.68. ( bit.ly/2nYyF63 ) Analysts on average had expected earnings of $5.31 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Investment banking revenue, which includes M&A, debt underwriting and stock underwriting, rose 16.4 percent to $1.7 billion. Total operating expenses rose 15.2 percent to $5.49 billion. Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ), Goldman''s traditional rival, reports earnings on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-goldman-sachs-results-idUKKBN17K1CD'|'2017-04-18T20:12:00.000+03:00' '592e0d2a44dd2efd7745fc6e2d4f5ad7d9011874'|'Ex-JPMorgan analyst cleared of remaining insider trading charges'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 3:11pm BST Ex-JPMorgan analyst cleared of remaining insider trading charges By Nate Raymond A federal judge has dismissed the remaining charges against a former JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) investment banking analyst accused of engaging in an insider trading scheme, after a jury in February largely acquitted him. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter in Los Angeles on Monday dismissed four counts of insider trading and tender offer fraud pending against Ashish Aggarwal, who previously worked at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in its San Francisco office. The decision, which was confirmed by lawyers for Aggarwal, came after a jury in February found him not guilty of 26 of 30 counts he faced. His lawyers argued the jury had already determined Aggarwal did not intend to commit the charged crimes. "We are pleased that the court, in granting our motion, agreed with us that the government''s case could not proceed, and correctly put an end to this prosecution," Aggarwal''s lawyers, Grant Fondo and Derek Cohen, said in a joint statement. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney''s Office in Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Aggarwal was charged in August 2015 in connection with what prosecutors said were tips he provided a college friend, Shahriyar Bolandian, who they said in turn tipped his childhood friend, Kevan Sadigh. Prosecutors said Aggarwal tipped Bolandian to inside information before the announcements of Integrated Device Technology Inc''s 2012 acquisition of PLX Technology Inc and Salesforce.com Inc''s 2013 acquisition of ExactTarget Inc. Bolandian in turn told Sadigh in both cases, enabling them to trade ahead of the deals and make more than $600,000, prosecutors said. Both have pleaded not guilty and have yet to face trial. Aggarwal denied wrongdoing. His lawyers at trial said the prosecution''s case was circumstantial and lacked evidence that Aggarwal knew about the trades before they happened, tipped his co-defendants or received anything in exchange. The case is U.S. v. Aggarwal et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 15-cr-465. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-insidertrading-jpmorgan-idUKKBN17K1RO'|'2017-04-18T22:11:00.000+03:00' '2934c243f2a6cff868f514fbc9ed190ee43770ed'|'BRIEF-NCS Multistage Holdings Inc sees IPO of up to 9.5 mln shares of common stock'|'April 17 NCS Multistage Holdings Inc* NCS Multistage Holdings Inc sees IPO of up to 9.5 million shares of common stock - sec filing* NCS Multistage Holdings Inc - estimated initial public offering price per share will be between $15.00 and $18.00* NCS Multistage Holdings-to use IPO net proceeds to repay indebtedness under senior secured credit facilities and remainder for general corporate purposes Source text : bit.ly/2pJJlC5'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-ncs-multistage-holdings-inc-sees-i-idINFWN1HP0BK'|'2017-04-17T14:31:00.000+03:00' 'ac422c4a981eeeb00d5d24620e76a00f53a96de8'|'U.S. high court won''t halt price-fixing class action against containerboard makers'|'WASHINGTON, April 17 The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to halt a class action lawsuit against several containerboard manufacturers, which could now face trial on claims of price fixing by tens of thousands of buyers and nearly $12 billion in potential damages.The justices left in place a federal judge''s certification of the antitrust class action against manufacturers including International Paper Co, Weyerhaeuser Co, and Georgia-Pacific LLC. The companies argued that individually negotiated pricing regimes with the buyers should preclude class action certification.The defendants make containerboard, a heavy stock paper used to produce a variety of cardboard products, from shipping containers to takeout pizza boxes. Several containerboard or cardboard product buyers, including Minnesota-based floor care product maker Kleen Products LLC, filed suit in Chicago federal court in 2010 alleging the manufacturers violated U.S. antitrust law.(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-court-antitrust-idUSL1N1HM00Z'|'2017-04-17T17:41:00.000+03:00' '2f98a3e0c8ab17520acd41bf2ba4c9ccedc982d1'|'Expert views: China Q1 GDP growth picks up to 6.9 percent, better than forecast'|'Economic 9:26am IST Expert views: China Q1 GDP growth picks up to 6.9 percent, better than forecast A construction security personnel stands next to a poster bearing a picture of Beijing''s central business district area, China April 16, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee BEIJING China''s economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017 from a year earlier, slightly faster than market expectations, as higher government spending and a frenzied property market fuelled a construction boom. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the world''s second-largest economy to have expanded by a steady 6.8 percent in the quarter, the same pace as in the fourth quarter of 2016. On a sequential basis, the economy grew 1.3 percent in January-March from the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. Analysts had expected quarterly growth of 1.6 percent, dipping slightly from 1.7 percent in the prior quarter. KEY POINTS Q1 GDP +6.9 pct y/y (f''cast +6.8 pct, prev +6.8 pct) Q1 GDP +1.3 pct q/q (f''cast +1.6 pct, prev +1.7) March industrial output +7.6 pct y/y (f''cast +6.3 pct, Jan-Feb +6.3) March retail sales +10.9 pct y/y (f''cast +9.6 pct, Jan-Feb +9.5) Q1 fixed asset investment +9.2 pct y/y (f''cast +8.8 pct, Jan-Feb +8.9 pct) Q1 property investment +9.1 pct y/y (Jan-Feb +8.9 pct) COMMENTARY: BILL ADAMS, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIST, THE PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP, PITTSBURGH, PA "The first quarter was a solid one for the Chinese economy, supported by a pickup in industrial activity and residential real estate investment. It is encouraging to see credit growth slowing to a less unsustainable pace; an extended period in which nominal GDP growth outpaced credit growth would greatly allay concerns about the sustainability of China''s growth model. China might not have the luxury of waiting for such a period to elapse, though: The People''s Bank of China has been timing increases in its quasi-policy rate, the reverse repo rate, against US federal funds rate hikes to curb capital outflows. "A large increase in Chinese effective interest rates would squeeze Chinese companies'' cash flows and might increase stresses on the financial system, even if debt growth remains more moderate. With U.S. interest rates likely to rise significantly faster over the next 12 to 18 months than in 2015 or 2016, the possible spillover to Chinese financial conditions is a clear downside risk to the country''s economic outlook." RAYMOND YEUNG, CHIEF ECONOMIST GREATER CHINA, AND DAVID QU, CHINA MARKETS ECONOMIST, ANZ RESEARCH "The past few months have seen the Chinese economy returning to the investment driven growth model... However, the headline GDP data still needs to be interpreted with caution. Our model indicates that a 6.9 percent y/y growth should have corresponded to a sequential growth of 1.6 percent q/q sa. It seems to us that the statistical bureau has adopted a different set of seasonal adjustment factors and that a smaller q/q rate has resulted in a higher headline growth. We suggest a more detailed assessment of China''s economic conditions using a wider set of economic and financial statistics." BRIAN JACKSON, CHINA ECONOMIST, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT "Chinese GDP growth exceeded expectations in the first quarter, although we expect momentum to remain downward on a year-to-year basis from 2016 to 2017. Faster growth in industrial output is the primary factor in the first quarter surprise, and due mostly to higher value-added growth related to supply-side consolidation in heavy industry. While this will remain a positive factor in the remainder of 2017, its total impact will diminish as headwinds from other sectors, such as automobile manufacturing and sales, become more significant. "More importantly, a steady deceleration in the real estate sector should take hold from the second quarter onward, due to high base effects and policy tightening, which will create an additional drag for both the services and construction components of GDP." TOMMY XIE, ECONOMIST, OCBC BANK, SINGAPORE "I do see some support from the private sectors. Fixed asset investment in March was also very strong. If you look at the breakdowns of fixed asset investment, there''s one section called private investment...this number has continued to accelerate in the first quarter. "This is one of the, basically, evidence showing that there''s more participation from the private sector and that the sentiment in the private sector has improved. "For the full year, personally, I feel growth may decelerate again in the second half of the year...That''s because we''re seeing less support from investment from the property sector, and also in terms of monetary policy, we do expect a little bit tighter monetary policy in the coming months. Because for this year, deleveraging is one of the key tasks for China''s government. "I still expect GDP to slow down to maybe about 6.4 percent to 6.5 percent for the full year. "In terms of the money markets, overall liquidity in the money market will be fairly neutral. China will continue to manage money market liquidity very carefully. "Money supply M2 has been decelerating for the past few months. M2 may continue to slow down in the coming months. "China may also follow the U.S. to further hike money market rates...I don''t think they are going to touch the benchmark lending rate anyway, but in terms of the rate hike in the money market, I think it''s still possible should the Fed continue to hike rates in the coming months." JULIAN EVANS-PRITCHARD, CHINA ECONOMIST, CAPITAL ECONOMICS "Looking ahead, we think it makes sense to focus on the monthly data for March in order to gauge the economy''s current momentum. Growth in industrial production and fixed investment both accelerated and retail sales held steady, despite the drag on car sales from higher taxes. All three series beat consensus expectations by a wide margin and suggest that economic activity strengthened at the end of Q1. "The upshot is that China''s economy continued to experience strong growth last quarter and the upbeat data for March suggests that some of this strength will likely extend into Q2. Nonetheless, with the acceleration in credit growth that helped drive the recent recovery now being reversed, we still expect the economy to begin slowing before long." VISHNU VARATHAN, SENIOR ECONOMIST, MIZUHO BANK, SINGAPORE "There are some spots of activity pick-up in the private sector. Not all of which are welcome of course. For example, the property market continues to be rather frothy. But...the general pick-up in exports corresponds to industrial activity picking up much stronger. Some of this has got to do with the more buoyant mood in external demand and this has pervaded the entire region. "These are bright spots in any case. The fact that it is complemented by a rather accommodative fiscal policy of course lends a boost to it, and hence, we see a bit of an upside surprise. "Our base case is we still have got growth somewhere between 6.7 to 6.8 percent for full-year. What we do acknowledge is you''ll probably find some slowdown in growth as we go into the second half partly due to base effects, partly due to some of the stimulus fading off." HIDENOBU TOKUDA, SENIOR ECONOMIST, MIZUHO RESEARCH INSTITUTE, TOKYO"On principle, because the national congress looms ahead, China is trying to avoid slowing down economic growth by investing in infrastructure. Real estate investments are a bit bubbly and although China is trying to tighten on the monetary front, real estate sales are still growing. "It''s difficult for China to ease monetary policy - in fact, monetary policy is heading toward tightening. So the structure of supporting the economy with fiscal spending will likely continue. "I think China should be directing the economy to slow down its growth in the long term...but on the contrary, growth is accelerating. This is good for now but it makes it difficult to see how China''s economic slowdown will land in the future. Uncertainties remain high. "January-March growth was quite high, so if growth were to dip below 6.5 percent for the year, that would mean a significant slowdown (in the months ahead). I think growth still remains in the upper 6 percent range." MARKET REACTION The Australian dollar, a proxy for China plays, was largely unchanged. China''s major stock indexes came off earlier lows. They have risen about 5 percent so far this year, though shares of many resources and infrastructure companies have rallied more sharply. The yuan was barely changed. After losing 6.5 percent against the surging dollar in 2016, it has recovered around 1 percent so far this year as the greenback lost steam. BACKGROUND - China''s economy has surprised global financial markets and investors by rebounding more solidly than expected in recent months. So far in 2017, it seems to have sustained the momentum, driven by a renaissance in "smokestack" industries such as steel and strong growth in the services sector. - China''s strong demand for imported industrial commodities such as iron ore and coal has helped drive a reflationary pulse that is contributing to a global manufacturing revival. - Exports are also starting to show signs of recovering, growing at the strongest pace in just over two years in March, though the outlook is clouded by fears of growing U.S. trade protectionism. - Many economists, however, believe the economy will soon lose steam, arguing that the impact of earlier stimulus measures will start to fade. - Moreover, more local governments are imposing tougher restrictions on property buying in a bid to cool speculation and overheated home prices. Steps announced late last year have proved largely ineffective in slowing the property rally juggernaut, but the accumulated measures are expected to curb price rises, construction activity and investment eventually. - China''s government has set a more modest economic growth target of around 6.5 percent this year, from a range of 6.5 to 7 percent in 2016 and an actual 6.7 percent, which was the slowest pace of expansion in 26 years. - In theory, official tolerance for a slightly lower growth target should give authorities room to defuse financial risks created by explosive growth in debt in recent years, spurred in large part by the imperative to meet high growth targets. - Officials have vowed to push ahead with reforms of often bloated state companies this year and shutter "zombie" firms which have lost money for years. - The central bank has moved to a tighter monetary policy bias and has raised short-term interest rates several times already this year to encourage deleveraging and speculative activity, though a full-blown policy rate hike is not expected for fear of crimping economic growth. - Regulators have also been stepping up checks on riskier activity such as shadow banking. - However, some analysts believe the government could quickly unwind tightening measures and revert to traditional pump-priming if there is a risk of growth slowing too sharply, despite official warnings about the dangers of prolonged debt-fueled stimulus. (Reporting by Reuters SHANGHAI newsroom and Asia bureaus; Compiled by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-gdp-idINKBN17J09E'|'2017-04-17T11:56:00.000+03:00' '8db971a8c5e5cf73198c829dd9bd417b4892477c'|'Indonesia''s Telkom says in talks to team up with Netflix'|'By Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata - JAKARTA JAKARTA U.S. video streaming service provider Netflix is in talks with Indonesia''s top telecom firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) to roll out its service in the country, a spokesman at the Indonesian company said.The U.S. company has made an aggressive push globally, but faced problems such as tough local competition and regulatory hurdles in several major Asian markets. In Indonesia, a country of 250 million people, Netflix ran afoul of the film censorship board last year for carrying content deemed inappropriately violent or sexual.The communications ministry of Indonesia, home to the world''s largest Muslim population, had also demanded that Netflix set up a office in the country and pay local taxes.While state-controlled Telkom had blocked Netflix, the service was still available in Indonesia via WiFi connections and other carriers.Telkom is now negotiating a partnership agreement with Netflix and hopes to complete the process next month, Arif Prabowo, vice president for corporate communication at Telkom, said in a text message.Telkom was previously concerned that Netflix carried "content that has a negative element", Prabowo said."If we work together, that means we would know and can be responsible for the content broadcast by Netflix."Teaming up with Netflix would expand Telkom''s content offering, Prabowo added. "The choices for our customers will be more varied."A Netflix spokeswoman declined to comment.(Reporting by Cindy Silviana and Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-indonesia-idINKBN17J0JB'|'2017-04-17T06:32:00.000+03:00' '849109fc9ea5c8f8acc550e5a04f660f01b3fc83'|'Japanese stocks eke out gains in holiday-thinned trade'|'Company News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 2:24am EDT Japanese stocks eke out gains in holiday-thinned trade TOKYO, April 17 Japanese stocks eked out small gains in thin and choppy trade on Monday, with retail investors hunting for small-to-mid cap stocks in the absence of foreign investors due to the Easter holiday. The Nikkei 225 share average opened lower and moved closer to near five-month lows in the morning, after the dollar fell on rising tensions over North Korea, hurting such exporters as automakers on worries that a strong yen would eat into their earnings. But the sell-off ended later in the session, with investors buying stocks sensitive to domestic demand. The Nikkei ended 0.1 percent higher at 18,355.26 after falling to as low as 18,224.68 earlier. Retail investors also chased small cap stocks, with the Tokyo Mothers market soaring 2.1 percent and the Nikkei Jasdaq market rising 0.7 percent. The broader Topix added 0.5 percent at 1,465.69, with only 1.45 billion shares changing hands, the lowest level since early March. Turnover was 1.63 trillion yen, the weakest since late December. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.4 percent to 13,141.92. (Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL3N1HP2C2'|'2017-04-17T14:24:00.000+03:00' 'a2732e26b5717364ff60aa41917bf79a1e07d547'|'United Air removes engaged couple traveling to wedding from plane'|'U.S. - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 10:54pm EDT United Air removes engaged couple traveling to wedding from plane United Airlines planes are seen on platform at the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, July 8, 2015. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz NEW YORK An engaged couple flying on United Airlines from Houston, Texas, to their wedding in Costa Rica were removed by a federal law enforcement officer from the flight on Saturday amid disputed circumstances, according to media reports. The removal comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the airline''s approach to customer service after a video emerged a week ago showing security officers dragging a bloodied passenger off an overbooked United Express flight in Chicago. United said the couple repeatedly tried to sit in more expensive seats for which they had not paid and would not follow flight crew instructions, according to the KHOU 11 New channel in Houston. United, owned by United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ), did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday evening. Michael Hohl and his fiancée, Amber Maxwell, gave a different account. Hohl said he and Maxwell found another passenger sleeping sprawled across their seats after they were the last to board the flight, according to an interview with KHOU. Soon after moving to other, empty seats in the economy cabin a few rows up, flight crew denied their request to pay a supplement for the seats, which United sells as "economy plus", and told them to move back to their original seats, Hohl said. "We thought not a big deal, it''s not like we are trying to jump up into a first-class seat," Hohl told KHOU. "We were simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat." They then cooperated with an officer from the U.S. Marshals Service who boarded and told them they had to get off the plane, Hohl said. The couple were rebooked on a flight on Sunday, KHOU reported. Dr. David Dao, the 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor who was seen in video being dragged off a United flight a week ago, will likely sue the airline, his attorney said on Thursday. After the incident triggered international outrage, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz apologized to Dao, his family and its customers, saying the carrier would no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-passenger-couple-idUSKBN17J05Q'|'2017-04-17T10:47:00.000+03:00' '4e4c76747296b9a4b6d8e35a1025abace0de5412'|'Publicis expects growth rate "in line with market" in second half'|' 6:39am BST Publicis expects growth rate "in line with market" in second half The logo of Publicis Groupe is seen at the company''s headquarters in Paris, France, February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen PARIS France''s Publicis ( PUBP.PA ) said on Thursday it suffered less than expected in the first quarter from past losses on big U.S. media accounts, prompting it to see a recovery in the second half of this year. The world''s third-largest advertising group said its underlying sales dropped by 1.2 percent over the first three months of the year to 2.33 billion euros (£1.95 billion), beating a Reuters poll of a drop of 1.9 percent. Underlying sales dropped by 5 percent in North America alone over the period, dragging down the total and highlighting the tough environment existing for ad companies in the U.S. "Instability continues to prevail in the international environment, causing companies to proceed with great caution despite strong balance sheets," Publicis'' chief executive Maurice Levy said. Omnicom ( OMC.N ), the second-largest advertising company, reported slower-than-expected growth in North America on Tuesday, which hit its shares. The world''s number one advertising group, WPP ( WPP.L ), will report first-quarter net sales on April 27. Levy said in a briefing with reporters that he expected Publicis'' growth rate to be "in line with the market" in the second half of 2017. The group''s underlying sales growth should start to be higher than market average in the second half of next year, he added. In its statement, the group said it stuck to targets set out under its strategic plan for 2018, including a yearly operating margin of 17.3 to 19.3 percent. Last year, Publicis'' operating margin stood at 15.6 percent. The group is preparing for change at the top when Levy hands over in June to 45-year-old Arthur Sadoun, who oversees its creative agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett. Levy is set to become Publicis'' new chairman, replacing Elisabeth Badinter, pending the formal approval by shareholders at the annual general meeting on May 31. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-publicis-groupe-results-idUKKBN17M0GO'|'2017-04-20T13:39:00.000+03:00' 'f52f2eb2f7e3313db8b50968996ba37f6206150b'|'Australia''s economy to capture global growth crown this year - Reuters poll'|' 5:47am BST Australia''s economy to capture global growth crown this year - Reuters poll left right Two workers descend from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as a rainbow is seen in the sky, on a sunny winter afternoon in Sydney July 31, 2013. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz 1/2 left right Cranes can be seen near a worker as he hangs from the side of a building under construction in Sydney, Australia, June 30, 2016. Picture taken June 30, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray 2/2 By Wayne Cole - SYDNEY SYDNEY Australia''s economy is forecast to slowly gather speed this year and next, according to a Reuters poll of analysts, an outcome that would see the resource-rich nation pip the Dutch for the longest expansion in modern history. Analysts estimated Australia''s A$1.7 trillion (£997.28 billion) of annual gross domestic product (GDP) would grow 2.6 percent this year and 2.8 percent next year, unchanged from forecasts in the previous poll in January. That would be up from 2.4 percent in 2016 and extend the country''s current run of 101 quarters without a recession, already just a whisker from the Netherlands'' record of 103. The race had looked in doubt when the economy unexpectedly contracted in the September quarter of last year, but activity bounced back strongly as export earnings surged and consumers and government spent more. Lofty prices for major commodity exports delivered a big boost to national income and nominal growth. While iron ore prices have swung lower recently on concerns about Chinese demand, shipments of liquefied natural gas are expanding massively as new projects come on stream. Growth will take a temporary knock from Cyclone Debbie, which barrelled into northern Queensland late in March and caused widespread flooding in the coal-heavy region, disrupting rail haulage for several weeks. Analysts estimate the damage might take 0.3 percentage points off GDP growth this year and add a little to inflation, though rebuilding would offset some of that over time. Also helping will be a levelling off in mining investment after several years of steep falls. Business investment alone took around 1 percentage point from GDP in 2016, so if it merely stabilises that would remove a major hurdle to growth. This was one reason the IMF this week raised its forecast for Australian growth to 3.1 percent for 2017, from 2.7 percent. "Modest growth as far as the eye can see," was the prognosis of Riki Polygenis, head of Australia economics at NAB, who saw GDP rising 2.8 percent next year and 2.6 percent for 2019. One risk was the lacklustre performance of the labour market which is keeping wage growth at record lows and sapping consumer spending power. The danger is all the greater as household debt is at all-time highs and red-hot housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne are vulnerable to a major price correction. The heat in housing has made the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) very reluctant to cut interest rates any further, though neither is there much pressure to tighten given inflation is still too low for comfort. Having spent the past two years under the RBA''s target band of 2 to 3 percent, analysts predict inflation will pick up only slowly to 2.1 percent this year and 2.2 percent in 2018. (Polling by Khushboo Mittal and Shaloo Shrivastava in Bangalore; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-australia-economy-poll-idUKKBN17M0DR'|'2017-04-20T12:47:00.000+03:00' '08c7268238323b1cbeb538a0b3ff8fdf8b155b59'|'Malaysia''s KWAP takes $100 mln stake in Axiata''s telco infra business'|'KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 Malaysia''s $28 billion Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) has picked a $100 million stake in edotco, the telecommunications infrastructure services unit of mobile network operator Axiata Group Bhd.The investment is an add-on to the $600 million being raised by edotco through an equity private placement, announced in December, from sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ).The upsized placement exercise involves a final allocation of $400 million and $100 million worth of primary shares to INCJ and KWAP, respectively, and another $200 million of secondary shares allocated to Khazanah Nasional, Axiata said in a statement.At completion, the three investors will collectively own 37.6 percent of edotco while Axiata will remain the majority shareholder with a 62.4 percent stake.KWAP''s investment was concluded based on the same equity valuation in December, of close to $1.5 billion and an enterprise value to 2016 financial year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation multiple of 12.5 times. That multiple is comparable to regional peers, Axiata said.J.P. Morgan is the sole placement agent in this transaction.Edotco operates and manages more than 25,000 telecom towers across Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, directly operating 17,000 of the towers.Axiata is Malaysia''s largest mobile operator by market value. ($1 = 4.4077 ringgit) (Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/axiata-group-kwap-edotco-idINL3N1HQ2NJ'|'2017-04-18T05:11:00.000+03:00' 'b2198273656a469ff334d106108f1c473aedc2c6'|'Indian businessman Vijay Mallya arrested in London - TV channels'|' 10am BST Indian businessman Vijay Mallya arrested in London - TV channels Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya speaks to the media during a news conference in Mumbai November 15, 2011. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File photo MUMBAI Indian businessman Vijay Mallya was arrested in London, Indian news channels CNN NEWS18 and Times Now reported on Tuesday afternoon. India had applied to Britain to extradite Vijay Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. No further details were immediately available and Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports. An India-based spokesman for Mallya''s UB Group did not offer an immediate comment. (Reporting by Swati Bhat; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-india-mallya-arrest-idUKKBN17K10T'|'2017-04-18T18:10:00.000+03:00' '239aafa15cc2ca6cd4575762c68168ecc769e6f4'|'Fidelity and Guaranty says will no longer be acquired by China''s Anbang'|'Deals 42pm EDT Fidelity and Guaranty says will no longer be acquired by China''s Anbang The headquarters building of Anbang Insurance Group are pictured in Beijing, China, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee SHANGHAI - Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) ( FGL.N ), a U.S. annuities and life insurer, said on Tuesday it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by China''s Anbang Insurance group. Reuters reported earlier that the Chinese insurer would let its agreement to acquire FGL for $1.6 billion lapse after failing to secure all the necessary regulatory approvals. FGL is looking at alternative strategies and "has received interest from a number of parties," it said in a news release. Anbang did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The development casts new doubt on Anbang''s commitment to U.S. deals, following its abandoned attempt last year to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $14 billion. Established in 2004, Anbang signed more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last 2-1/2 years, with high-profile investments including a $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. (Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Matthew Miller in Beijing; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fidelityguarantylife-m-a-anbang-idUSKBN17K052'|'2017-04-18T09:42:00.000+03:00' '1c3dc8bba50d5a904611dd4cc0bccbda92769339'|'South32 scraps $200 million Australian coal acquisition from Peabody'|'MELBOURNE South32 Ltd ( S32.AX ) on Tuesday killed a $200 million deal to buy Peabody Energy''s ( BTU.N ) Metropolitan coal mine in Australia after running into competition concerns about supply of coal to local steel makers.South32, which had been pursuing its first major acquisition since being spun off by global miner BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX )( BLT.L ), said it was unwilling to take the steps required to appease Australian steel makers to get the deal over the line."To proceed with the acquisition, in light of the anticipated concessions, would have compromised the merits of the transaction and this is not something we are prepared to do," South32 Chief Executive Graham Kerr said in a statement.The decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to block the deal underscores concerns voiced by steel makers that too much of Australia’s massive coking coal reserves rest in the hands of a small handful of big miners, including BHP, Mitsui ( 8031.T ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L )If the deal went through, South32 would have become the only large supplier of coking coal to the eastern Illawarra steelmaking hub, a market position opposed by Australia''s biggest steel company, BlueScope Steel Ltd ( BSL.AX )Steel producers are facing some of the highest raw materials costs in years as prices for coking coal as high as $300 a tonne remain well above last year''s levels.The ACCC''s ruling also comes just as Peabody has emerged from bankruptcy.Peabody in a statement said it was surprised that South32 and Australia''s competition watchdog had reached an impasse over the acquisition."On the other hand, we see continuing opportunities given Metropolitan''s quality coking coals and port location, and our objective will be to operate the mine while maximizing returns in the international marketplace," Peabody President Glenn Kellow said in a statement.Peabody said it would keep the 2 million tonnes a year coking coal mine and its 16.67 percent stake in the Port Kembla coal terminal and would resume shipments after completing a move to a new coal panel in the mine at the end of May.(Reporting by Sonali Paul and James Regan; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-south32-australia-peabody-energy-idINKBN17J1TT'|'2017-04-17T21:36:00.000+03:00' '1d31440d896224400264ecb741b426378b26d1f2'|'Alitalia workers to vote on new labour deal between April 20-24'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 4:04pm BST Alitalia workers to vote on new labour deal between April 20-24 Passengers await their flight during a strike by workers of Italy''s national airline, Alitalia at Fiumicino international airport in Rome, Italy April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Remo Casilli MILAN Workers at Italy''s loss-making airline Alitalia will vote over the period April 20-24 on the preliminary agreement reached last Friday over job and pay cuts necessary to keep the airline in business, unions said on Tuesday. A vote in favour is needed to unlock a financing package worth some 2 billion euros (1.70 billion pounds), including an emergency cash injection of 400 million euros to keep it afloat if the rescue plan does not work as expected. Last week the company and unions agreed to trim the scale of lay-offs among ground staff to around 1,700 from 2,037 previously envisaged, and reduce cuts to flight personnel wages to 8 percent from up to 30 percent. Alitalia, which is 49 percent owned by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, said last month it expected to return to profit by the end of 2019 by making 1 billion euros worth of cost cuts over the next three years and revamping its business model for short and medium-haul flights. (Reporting by Alberto Sisto; Writing by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alitalia-plan-vote-idUKKBN17K1UW'|'2017-04-18T23:04:00.000+03:00' 'f1eaaebd989b5c7cd1576ee92b97f30e45aa9642'|'Netflix''s first quarter subscriber additions misses estimates'|' 50pm BST Netflix misses subscriber target, but firm outlook helps shares higher FILE PHOTO: An USB key with the logo of Netflix, the American provider of on-demand Internet streaming media, is seen in this illustration photo, in Paris September 15, 2014. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo By Lisa Richwine and Narottam Medhora Streaming video pioneer Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ) ended the first quarter with fewer customers than Wall Street expected but issued a bullish forecast on the number of new subscribers it expects by mid-year, in a positive sign for its big international expansion. The company pushed back the next season of its defining hit, "House of Cards," and other programming to the second quarter, which should boost the number of new subscribers in that period, Netflix said. It added just under 5 million subscribers globally in the first quarter and expects 3.2 million more in the seasonally slow second quarter. Analysts had forecast nearly 2.4 million for the second quarter, according to FactSet. Netflix shares, which typically swing wildly after earnings reports, dropped as much as 3 percent in after-hours trading before rebounding to gain 1.3 percent. The company, which shook up Hollywood with its monthly, on-demand streaming service, said it expects to top 100 million global customers this weekend, and the after-hours share move put it on track to open at a record high. Netflix has expanded around the world over the last few years, betting that its U.S. formula would pay off in other countries. Opening in new markets and creating shows in additional languages was an expensive proposition. Netflix earnings per share in the first quarter beat Wall Street targets due to the change in timing of "House of Cards," which pushed costs into the second quarter, boosting operating margins from January through March and reducing them in the second quarter. "We have come to see these quarterly variances as mostly noise in the long-term growth trend and adoption of internet TV," the company said in its quarterly letter to shareholders. For the quarter that ended March 31, Netflix added 3.53 million subscribers outside the United States. ( bit.ly/2puJ1Yt ) Analysts on average had estimated 3.68 million additions, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. In the United States, the company added 1.42 million subscribers, compared with analysts'' average estimate of 1.50 million. The Los Gatos, California-based company said revenue rose 34.7 percent to $2.64 billion in the quarter. Net income rose to $178 million, or 40 cents per share, from $28 million, or 6 cents per share. Netflix said it expects to add 600,000 subscribers in the United States in the current quarter, above the FactSet estimate of 364,000. In international markets, Netflix expects to add 2.60 million subscribers, above the average estimate of 2.09 million. Up to Monday''s close, Netflix''s stock had risen nearly 19 percent in 2017, outperforming the roughly 5 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 index .SPX . (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza and Peter Henderson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-netflix-results-idUKKBN17J1MG'|'2017-04-18T04:19:00.000+03:00' 'af0162479f864c400d2df54e1f27bcc09b310727'|'Zimbabwe''s Mugabe impatient over pace of mining reform'|'Company News 23am EDT Zimbabwe''s Mugabe impatient over pace of mining reform HARARE, April 18 Zimbabwe''s mining industry needs to be "reorganised" so that it contributes more towards the African country''s economy, President Robert Mugabe said on Tuesday. Although Mugabe did not give details on what form the transformation would take, his government has, in recent years, pressured mining firms to transfer majority stakes to black ownership under a 2008 law and to cede some claims. "There is a lot of work which is going on in that sector, not least the reorganisation whose completion we impatiently await," Mugabe, Zimbabwe''s sole ruler since independence in 1980, told thousands at a rally to mark the southern African country''s 37th independence anniversary in a Harare stadium. Zimbabwe, where mining generates more than 50 percent of export earnings, holds significant mineral deposits and the world''s top two platinum producers, Impala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum, have operations there. Mining has also overtaken agriculture as the leading provider of employment, after the Mugabe government started seizing white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks in 2000. The government has also leaned on producers to invest in local refinery facilities. Platinum miners currently ship their matte to South Africa for processing. While Mugabe''s government has signalled plans to relax the ownership rules for existing mines, it has shifted its focus to seizing land owned by foreign mines, which it claims to be idle. "Much is expected from this important sector. It must play its part towards this overall development vision we have," Mugabe said. (Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-politics-idUSL8N1HQ3PR'|'2017-04-18T21:23:00.000+03:00' '4d76b0b25553e3376d64eb6676447d4346488f5c'|'May’s election gamble offers longer-term turnaround for sterling, but at FTSE’s expense'|'FRB - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 11:22am EDT May’s election gamble offers longer-term turnaround for sterling, but at FTSE’s expense left right Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street, in central London, Britain April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying the government had the right plan for negotiating the terms of Britain''s exit from the European Union and she needed political unity in London. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth 1/2 left right A union flag is seen near the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying the government had the right plan for negotiating the terms of Britain''s exit from the European Union and she needed political unity in London. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth 2/2 By Patrick Graham - LONDON LONDON Running contrary to the norm on shock election announcements, the pound''s steep gains on Tuesday point to hope among investors that the June poll may stabilise domestic UK politics as the country faces its biggest challenges in half a century. Buffeted initially by speculation over the likely content of Theresa May''s surprise statement, sterling bounced by a full cent after the prime minister called a vote for June 8, seeking to strengthen her parliamentary majority and bargaining position in talks on leaving the European Union. London''s main stock indices fell, but her decision encouraged major figures in the City, who have been worried so far by the government''s strategy for the process and the fallout for the economy. They hope it may give May more room to rein in her own Brexiteers to deliver a more orderly divorce from Europe while also allowing a reset of a weakened opposition Labour Party. "The decision to call a snap election on June 8 is not without risk, but given a 20-point lead in the polls the Conservatives should be able to materially increase their working majority in parliament," said Mike Amey, head of sterling portfolio management at the bond fund PIMCO. "That in turn would give the government more room for manoeuvre during the Brexit negotiations, and make the government less exposed to the more right wing factions within the party." All this comes after a run of declines by the pound, which reduced one of the world''s five big reserve currencies to levels not seen since a collapsed bid to join the euro in 1985. Against the dollar, 2016 was the worst year for sterling since the 2008 financial crisis, and some strategists worried a flurry of negative headlines from the first blows in the Brexit talks over the next few months may weaken it further. But one of the biggest bears, Deutsche Bank''s George Saravelos, argued in a note after the announcement that it would be a game-changer for sterling, chiefly by giving May more room to negotiate and organise a slower, more orderly Brexit. "It makes the deadline to deliver a `clean'' Brexit without a lengthy transitional arrangement by 2019 far less pressing ... (and) second, it will dilute the influence of MPs pushing for hard Brexit," he said. "We have been structurally bearish on sterling for the last two years but are now changing view. We are closing out all our bearish FX trades." STOCKS SPLIT The story on stock markets since the vote for Brexit last June has been more complicated and, for the past nine months, is the flipside of sterling''s fortunes. London''s main FTSE 100 index, made up chiefly of multinational companies whose international revenues get more valuable when sterling falls, has outpaced the rest of Europe''s main markets since the vote last June. But it fell almost two percent as the pound gained on Tuesday. Some argue the past gains for the FTSE, along with some of the major merger deals done since last year, also reflect the corporate world''s confidence that sterling is unusually cheap - and will recover. A better measure of stock market sentiment towards May''s move may be the performance of domestically focussed firms in London''s mid-cap index. They were down just 1 percent. "If Theresa May’s Conservative Party can increase their majority in the snap general election called for 8 June, this should be bullish for UK equity markets and consumer confidence," said Henderson Global Investors'' UK portfolio managers Neil Hermon and Indriatti van Hien in another note. "The UK government would be in a stronger position to negotiate the terms of Brexit and May’s government would be given a definitive mandate for Brexit ... A positive move for UK stocks, particularly mid caps." (Editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-markets-analysis-idUSKBN17K1V4'|'2017-04-18T23:05:00.000+03:00' '1c21549ecbe6bbf2c70dbd03dd586792827e50cf'|'UPDATE 2-Omnicom''s North America growth slows even as profit, revenue beat'|'* North America organic growth 1.1 pct vs est 2.1 pct* Q1 revenue, profit beat estimates* Shares down 3.8 pct in morning trading (Adds shares, analyst comment, details)April 18 The world''s second-largest advertising company Omnicom Group Inc reported slower-than-expected growth in North America, overshadowing a quarterly profit and revenue that beat estimates.Shares of the company, part of the global "big four" advertising companies, were down 3.8 percent at $82.90 in morning trading on Tuesday.The company''s organic revenue in the North America rose 1.1 percent to $2.14 billion, missing the average analysts'' estimate of 2.1 percent, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.North America is Omnicom''s largest market, and accounts for about 60 percent of its revenue.Investors will be weary about the U.S. growth numbers being light, Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser said.U.S. growth was tepid again...despite significant new business wins, as media and advertising gains were offset by declines in events, field marketing and branding businesses, Wieser added.The company would remain cautious as numerous geopolitical and macroeconomic events remain unresolved, Chief Executive John Wren said on a call with analysts on Tuesday."(Omnicom) still unclear on how legislation in several major areas (in the U.S.), including the budget, tax reform, infrastructure spending and health care, could impact the economy," Wren said.However, New York-based Omnicom said organic revenue grew 8.1 percent in the UK and 8.2 percent in Europe, for the first quarter ended March 31.The company said its international revenue for the quarter was $1.45 billion, edging past FactSet estimates of $1.44 billion, allaying some concerns about its growth abroad following UK''s decision to leave the European Union.Omnicom, owner of agencies such as BBDO Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice along with fellow rivals such as Interpublic Group of Companies Inc and Publicis Groupe SA over rigged bids to favor in-house production units.Top advertising companies worldwide are increasingly looking to boost presence in digital media, with print ads drying up.Omnicom — which serves over 5,000 clients worldwide, including Procter & Gamble, Cisco Systems Inc and McDonald''s Corp — said net income rose to $241.8 million, or $1.02 per share, in the quarter, from $218.4 million, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, Omnicom earned 97 cents per share, beating the average analysts'' estimate of 96 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Revenue rose 2.5 percent to $3.59 billion, beating estimates of $3.55 billion. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/omnicom-group-results-idINL3N1HQ40U'|'2017-04-18T12:56:00.000+03:00' '08ad722dcd745591532eefcf313f5086c9d56dd5'|'Goldman Sachs quarterly profit surges 80 percent'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 7:50am EDT Goldman Sachs quarterly profit surges 80 percent FILE PHOTO - A sign is displayed in the reception of the Sydney offices of Goldman Sachs in Australia, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) reported an 80 percent jump in quarterly profit as the Wall Street bank benefited from a pick up in global equity and debt offerings. Net income applicable to common shareholders jumped to $2.16 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.2 billion a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2nYyF63 ) Earnings per share rose to $5.15 from $2.68. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $5.31 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable. Provision for taxes fell 35.6 percent to $284 million. Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ), Goldman''s traditional rival, reports earnings on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-results-idUSKBN17K1C9'|'2017-04-18T19:50:00.000+03:00' '059fd1e7921f33a34f4a0c9ce34baead30bce4be'|'United earnings match forecasts, apologises again for dragging incident'|'Business News 31pm BST United earnings match forecasts, apologises again for dragging incident File photo: Two ground crew members walk past a United Airlines airplane as it sits at a gate at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, June 18, 2011. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn By Alana Wise - NEW YORK NEW YORK United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) on Monday released first-quarter earnings that matched analysts'' expectations on several key measures, and again apologised for the forceful removal of a passenger from a flight last week. The parent company of United Airlines, the U.S. industry''s third-largest by passenger traffic, reported earnings of 41 cents per share, excluding special items, beating analysts'' consensus forecast of 38 cents. Revenue of $8.4 billion was up 2.7 percent year-over-year, slightly above the average estimate of $8.38 billion. "In the first quarter of 2017, our financial and operational performance gives us a lot of confidence about the foundation we are building. It is obvious from recent experiences that we need to do a much better job serving our customers," Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said in a statement. United is recovering from a public relations debacle after a passenger, Dr. David Dao, was dragged from his seat off the plane in O''Hare International Airport to make space for crew members. "The incident that took place aboard Flight 3411 has been a humbling experience, and I take full responsibility. This will prove to be a watershed moment for our company, and we are more determined than ever to put our customers at the centre of everything we do," Munoz said. United shares rose 2.46 percent after closing 1.7 percent higher at $70.77. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ual-results-idUKKBN17J1PE'|'2017-04-18T05:31:00.000+03:00' 'f2cadf22f911b70d3737d0461c01355262aef76c'|'Greek debt must be sustainable for IMF to join bailout - Lagarde'|'Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 8:28am BST Greek debt must be sustainable for IMF to join bailout: Lagarde International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivers a speech at the Solvay Library in Brussels, Belgium April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir BERLIN The International Monetary Fund will not take part in a bailout program for Greece if it deems the country''s debt is unsustainable, the international lender''s chief Christine Lagarde said in an interview published on Tuesday. Greece needs to implement reforms agreed by euro zone finance ministers earlier this month to secure a new loan under its 86 billion-euro ($91.58 billion) bailout program, the third since 2010. The loan is needed to pay debt due in July, but talks continue and the IMF has not yet decided whether to join the bailout. The fund''s participation is seen as a condition for Germany to unblock new funds to Greece. "If Greek debts are not sustainable based on IMF rules and reasonable parameters, we will not take part in the program," Lagarde told German newspaper Die Welt when asked if the IMF would take part in the plan if Greek debt is not restructured. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr and Paul Carrel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-bailout-imf-idUKKBN17K0N3'|'2017-04-18T15:16:00.000+03:00' 'eb4fb721fe5eebf136c5271b2b37a2f3c75c7c61'|'Dutch court puts two units of Brazil''s Oi into bankruptcy proceedings'|'SAO PAULO, April 19 A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered two subsidiaries of Brazilian phone company Oi SA to begin bankruptcy proceedings, giving some creditors a new form of leverage for their fight in Brazil''s biggest-ever bankruptcy case.The ruling, which overturned a lower court''s decision in February, gives Oi the chance for a final appeal before the Dutch Supreme Court, which the company said it would request.If Wednesday''s ruling stands, court-appointed trustees for Oi Brasil Holdings Coöperatief UA and Portugal Telecom International Finance BV will be tasked with liquidating the units to repay creditors.Oi''s two Dutch subsidiaries issued about 5.8 billion euros ($6.2 billion) of debt, representing most of the company''s outstanding bond debt of approximately 8.5 billion euros.Those funds were passed largely to the parent company, which is protected from creditors by its own restructuring process in a Brazilian court, where the judge will have a say over claims from trustees of the Dutch subsidiaries.Oi said in a securities filing that the Dutch ruling had no impact on its day-to-day operations, including sales, maintenance and investments.In June, Oi filed for Brazil''s largest-ever bankruptcy protection process, in an effort to restructure about 65 billion reais ($21 billion) of bond, bank and regulatory liabilities.The Dutch case created an early divide among the company''s bondholders. Investors such as Aurelius Capital Management LP, Attestor Capital LLC, Citadel LLP and York Capital Management formed the so-called International Bondholder Committee to press their case in the Netherlands while a group advised by Moelis & Co focused exclusively on the Brazilian case.The International Bondholder Committee, which holds more than $2 billion of bonds issued by the two Dutch companies and other Oi units, declined to comment on Wednesday''s ruling.($1 = 3.149 reais) (Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oi-sa-restructuring-idINL1N1HS03W'|'2017-04-20T00:40:00.000+03:00' 'b7448124c92d06e5c02c105f503c9bb97a4ddc33'|'IMF raises global growth forecast, warns against protectionism'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 2:12pm BST IMF raises global growth forecast, warns against protectionism The International Monetary Fund logo is seen inside its headquarters at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund raised its 2017 global growth forecast on Tuesday due to manufacturing and trade gains in Europe, Japan and China, but warned that protectionist policies threaten to halt a broad-based recovery. The IMF, whose spring meetings with the World Bank get underway in Washington this week, forecast that the global economy would grow 3.5 percent in 2017, up from its previous forecast of 3.4 percent in January. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Fund said that chronically weak advanced economies are expected to benefit from a cyclical recovery in global manufacturing and trade that started to gain momentum last summer. "The economic upswing that we have expected for some time seems to be materializing," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld wrote in the report. The IMF lifted Japan''s 2017 growth projection by 0.4 percentage point from January, to 1.2 percent, while the eurozone and China both saw a 0.1 percentage point growth forecast increase to 1.7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the IMF held its 2017 U.S. growth forecast steady at 2.3 percent, which still represents a substantial jump from 1.6 percent growth in 2016, partly due to expectations that President Donald Trump will cut taxes and increase government spending. The IMF also revised Britain''s growth forecast to 2.0 percent for 2017, up a half percentage point from January. The Fund said negative effects from the UK vote to leave the European Union are taking longer to materialise. For a table showing the IMF''s latest growth projections, see Although growth looks to be strengthening broadly among advanced and emerging market economies as well oil and commodity exporters that are starting to benefit from a commodity price recovery, including Russia, the IMF said the recovery remains fragile. The outlook faces headwinds from chronically weak productivity growth and policies that could constrict trade, the IMF said. It did not specifically mention the Trump administration''s "America First" trade agenda aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits and turning away more unfairly traded imports. "One salient threat is a turn towards protectionism, leading to trade warfare," Obstfeld said, adding this "would result in a self-inflicted wound that would lead to higher prices for consumers, lower productivity and therefore, lower overall real income for households." The case against trade protectionism is expected to be a major theme of the semi-annual gathering of finance officials from the IMF, the World Bank and the Group of 20 major economies later this week. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned last week that a "sword of protectionism" hung over a brightening global outlook. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pushed back in a Financial Times interview published on Sunday, saying such warnings were aimed at the Trump administration and were "rubbish." He told the newspaper that the United States was far less protectionist than China and Europe, "and every time we do anything to defend ourselves, even against the puny obligations that they have, they call that protectionism. It’s rubbish." The IMF also said that risks to the global outlook also could come from a faster-than-expected pace of interest rate hikes in the United States, which could trigger a sharp rise in the dollar and disruptive capital outflows from emerging markets. The Fund also said China''s strong growth was clouded in the medium term by "growing vulnerabilities" associated with its reliance on policy easing and credit-financed investment. This could prompt a sharp tightening of financial conditions that could cause spillovers to many other countries. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-outlook-idUKKBN17K1KG'|'2017-04-18T21:12:00.000+03:00' 'd23fd953788bb44ccebbdf4cca7c80662e689ee0'|'Fed''s Fischer sees no repeat of ''taper tantrum'' this time around'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 10:09pm BST Fed''s Fischer sees no repeat of ''taper tantrum'' this time around Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer in Jackson Hole, Wyoming August 28, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Crosby NEW YORK The muted market reaction to recent hints from the U.S. central bank that reductions to its $4.5 trillion balance sheet could begin later this year suggests the policy shift may go smoothly after all, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said on Monday. Fed policymakers want to avoid the sharp bond market selloff that followed the last time the central bank reversed course on its balance sheet policy, in 2013. That so-called taper tantrum sent bond yields up sharply, ultimately forcing the Fed to delay plans to scale back bond purchases and prompting it to retool the way it gathers information from investors about their expectations for Fed actions. But in the last several weeks, several policymakers and minutes from the Fed''s March meeting have suggested the Fed may start to trim its balance sheet late this year, sooner than what the average Wall Street bank had been predicting. Bond yields however moved little in response. "My tentative conclusion from market responses to the limited amount of discussion of the process of reducing the size of our balance sheet that has taken place so far is that we appear less likely to face major market disturbances now than we did in the case of the taper tantrum," Fischer said in remarks prepared for delivery at Columbia University. Since the 2013 taper tantrum, the Fed has changed how it surveys investors, and now has a better picture not only of the average Wall Street view but also of how strongly banks, hedge funds and asset managers hold those views, Fischer said. That detailed survey data suggested that, unlike in 2013 when some market participants were betting heavily that the Fed would not trim its bond purchases any time soon, investors today have been less sure about how soon the Fed would begin trimming its balance sheet, Fischer said. Those results, he said, "suggest that the factors that exacerbated the taper tantrum, dispersed but firmly held beliefs, may be less pronounced in current circumstances than they were at the time of the taper tantrum." (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, writing by Ann Saphir; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-fischer-idUKKBN17J1OF'|'2017-04-18T05:08:00.000+03:00' '290dfcbcd3375ad3604e1bf32f21f97d950d0120'|'Brazil''s MRV Q1 home sales, starts rise while Cyrela slips'|'SAO PAULO, April 17 Homebuilder MRV Engenharia SA on Monday reported a rise in first-quarter net sales and record housing starts, helped by slowing sales cancellations as management declared a turning point after years of economic crisis in Brazil.By contrast, Cyrela Brazil Realty SA, which warned of high levels of sales cancellations in the quarter, reported slipping sales and flat housing starts.The divergence, reported in separate securities filings, underscores how the performance of builders of affordable housing in Brazil hinges on the ability to contain a surge in canceled sales due to rising unemployment amid a lingering recession.MRV''s Co-Chief Executive Rafael Menin said by booking only "guaranteed sales," it had waited longer to register new signings, slowing the growth of gross sales to 7 percent from a year earlier, but slashing sales cancellations by 15 percent.As a result, net sales climbed 15 percent from a year earlier to 1.322 billion reais ($427 million)."The first quarter represented a turning point and we expect this year to be more active for launches and sales than 2016," Menin told Reuters in a telephone interview.The value of MRV''s new projects launched in the first quarter rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 1.211 billion reais, the highest ever for the quarter and largely concentrated in the month of March.Menin said MRV aims to invest an additional 100 million to 120 million reais buying land in 2017 compared to last year."There is not much competition and we want to build a gigantic land bank before this window of opportunity closes," he said, referring to MRV''s land holdings, which grew 0.7 percent in the three months through March to 41.4 billion reais.MRV said spending on land, construction and urban amenities cut free cash generation by 58 percent from a year ago to 75 million reais. The transfer of some 8,000 units has also been held up by banks with restrictive credit policies, which should be overcome in the second half of the year, generating more cash and sales, according to the securities filing.Cyrela did not provide information about its cash generation or land bank. It reported a 4.5 percent drop in net sales to 520 million reais, while the value of new construction edged 0.2 percent lower to 612 million reais.($1 = 3.098 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Gabriela Mello; writing and additional reporting by Brad Haynes; editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-builders-idINL1N1HP1PL'|'2017-04-17T21:54:00.000+03:00' '29c4f727640b1154ff0df057a29c14b11341c14c'|'Bass Pro lowers price for Cabela''s under new merger terms'|'Deals 00pm BST Bass Pro lowers price for Cabela''s under new merger terms The outdoor sign seen at the Cabela''s store in Denver February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking Cabela''s Inc ( CAB.N ) said it agreed to be bought by fellow outdoor goods retailer Bass Pro Shops for a lower price than agreed, and that it would sell its bank unit in a two-step deal as it seeks regulatory clearance for the transactions. Synovus Financial Corp ( SNV.N ) will buy certain assets of Cabela''s financial division and then resell the credit card portfolio within the unit to Capital One Financial Corp ( COF.N ), Cabela''s said in a statement on Monday. The unit, called World''s Foremost Bank, was supposed to be bought by Capital One last year, but the deal wasn''t able to get timely regulatory approval. The new merger terms come amid regulatory scrutiny of the deal, although Cabela''s did not offer a reason for the revised price. The company was not immediately available to comment on the lowered merger price. Bass Pro Shops will now buy Cabela''s for about $5 billion, $500 million lower than the price agreed upon last year. The deal, originally announced in October, will combine Cabela''s 85 stores, which have a stronger U.S. Northwest presence, with Bass Pro''s roughly 100 locations that are concentrated in the U.S. Southeast. The companies have an overlap across Texas, Missouri and Kansas. Cabela''s had warned of a delay in closing the deal, because of delays in regulatory approval. The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates and enforces antitrust laws, had sought more information from the companies about the deal. Cabela''s said on Monday it now expects the deal to close in the third quarter this year. Bass Pro will acquire Cabela''s for $61.50 per share, lower than the originally agreed upon $65.50-per-share price, Cabela''s said. Shares of Cabela''s were up 6.6 percent at $56.91 in after-market trade. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-cabela-s-m-a-basspro-idUKKBN17J1QT'|'2017-04-18T06:00:00.000+03:00' '9ec76adb447f6bedb382a534d846ed97c11a442a'|'H&M says March sales slightly below preliminary reading'|'Business News - 37am BST H&M says March sales slightly below preliminary reading View of a H&M clothing store in Paris, France, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen - RTSOZDV STOCKHOLM The world''s second-biggest fashion retailer, Swedish H&M ( HMb.ST ), reported on Tuesday a 6 percent increase in local-currency March sales, just below a preliminary reading. H&M had said on March 30 sales in the first 28 days of the month were up 7 percent. March is the first month of H&M''s fiscal second quarter. Societe Generale analyst Anne Critchlow said the final reading was disappointing, as had been already the preliminary. "It remains to be seen whether April sales will help the company to make up for a weak start to early spring," she said. "Easter was in April this year, which in theory should be helpful, but the weather was quite cold across northern and western Europe, which are important territories for H&M." In February, H&M, which is hit by growing competition from other budget retailers and new online players, saw local-currency sales shrink for the first time in four years. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Rebecka Roos, editing by Terje Solsvik)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-h-m-sales-idUKKBN17K0IN'|'2017-04-18T14:37:00.000+03:00' '021615ee8ab29042258ddb4f7e085a9a3853b9b2'|'Vietnam beer giant Sabeco says state divestment plan submitted'|'By Mai Nguyen - HO CHI MINH CITY HO CHI MINH CITY Vietnam''s trade ministry has submitted a plan for the divestment of the government''s majority stake in Sabeco SAB.HM, the company''s CEO said on Tuesday, moving the country''s largest brewer one step closer to a long-awaited privatization.Vietnam has one of the world''s most attractive beer markets and the biggest in Southeast Asia, thanks to a young population that consumed nearly 4 billion liters in 2016. Several foreign brewers - from Kirin ( 2503.T ) to Heineken ( HEIN.AS ) - have been eyeing Sabeco since it was earmarked for privatization.But the sale of the government stake in cash-generating Sabeco, formerly Saigon Beer, has faced repeated delays. A limited offering last year listed only a fraction of the group, leaving the state with almost 90 percent to divest.Sabeco Chief Executive Le Hong Xanh told shareholders at the company''s annual general meeting that the ministry''s divestment plan had been submitted to the government, but gave no details."Divestment is a program of the government. The ministry of industry and trade has proposed a plan to the government and it is awaiting approval," the CEO told shareholders. He did not provide any details of the plan.The Vietnamese government has said it aims to fully divest its stake in Sabeco, but a clear plan has not yet been announced. Sabeco, the country''s second-biggest listed firm by market value, is a key plank of a broader privatization effort, which includes dairy firm Vinamilk VNM.HM, Vietnam Airlines HVN.HNO and brewer Habeco BHN.HM.Foreign companies and their advisers have grumbled over the idiosyncratic two-stage divestment process, including the initial, limited IPO that has meant the price of illiquid Sabeco shares has rocketed. Sabeco listed at 110,000 dong ($4.87) but has touched 227,000 dong.Sabeco said on Tuesday said it had received approval to appoint Ernst & Young and Bao Viet Securities to advise on the sale of the state stake, worth $5.2 billion at market price.Sabeco said last week it plans to increase net profit this year to 4.7 trillion dong, up 1 percent from 2016, when net profit jumped 33 percent. It targets beer sales this year of 1.7 billion liters, up 3.4 percent.Sabeco''s main market is Vietnam, but it exports to about 20 countries.(Reporting by Mai Nguyen; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Himani Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sabeco-agm-idINKBN17K0TK'|'2017-04-18T06:42:00.000+03:00' '35e1b075dc5cbef50c449d0120cba75498adebb8'|'TREASURIES-Bond prices rally on French election, geopolitical concerns'|'* French election uncertainty boosts bond demand * Fed rate hike expectations falling By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, April 18 U.S. Treasury yields fell on Tuesday as nervousness ahead of France’s first round of Presidential elections this weekend and ongoing geopolitical tensions increased demand for safe-haven U.S. debt. French opinion polls show far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron qualifying next Sunday for the May 7 run-off, but the gap with conservative Francois Fillon and far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon has been tightening. Rising tensions between U.S. and North Korea have also put investors on edge in recent weeks. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea''s nuclear and missile ambitions on Tuesday, after warning that U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve. “There are election fears in France and geopolitical fears in Asia,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York. British Prime Minister Theresa May also called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by shoring up support for her Brexit plan. Benchmark 10-year notes were last up 8/32 in price to yield 2.23 percent, down from 2.25 percent on Monday. The yields have tumbled from 2.63 percent on March 14. Bonds have also been boosted by falling expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates an additional two times this year, as economic data disappoints and the Trump administration is seen as less likely to pass fiscal or tax reforms in the near-term. Data on Tuesday showed that U.S. homebuilding fell in March as the construction of single-family homes in the Midwest recorded its biggest decline in three years. It came after weaker retail sales and falling inflation data disappointed investors on Friday. Futures traders are pricing in a 44 percent chance the U.S. central bank will raise rates at its June meeting, down from 71 percent on April 6, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. (Editing by Nick Zieminski) )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-idINL1N1HQ0LX'|'2017-04-18T11:14:00.000+03:00' '7eeab9c5eaa09b0234a9bc6fcf9f02e83ff6d88f'|'Germany to defend trade at G20 meeting in Washington'|' 10pm BST Germany to defend trade at G20 meeting in Washington BERLIN Germany will at G20 talks this week in Washington stress the importance of globalisation and free trade for growth as well as the need for reforms to increase resilience against future shocks, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The official said Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the group of the world''s 20 biggest economies, expects some G20 peers like the United States to demand that it take measures to reduce its high current account surplus. The official added that Germany will publish a chairman''s summary instead of a joint communique after the meeting in Washington as G20 finance ministers had summarised their joint positions only five weeks ago during talks in Baden Baden. "This time, that''s not unusual at the G20, there won''t be a communique", the official said ahead of the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major economies, known as the G20. The G20 meeting will take place on the sidelines of the bi-annual conference of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, which is from Thursday until Sunday. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber,; Editing by Joseph Nasr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-germany-idUKKBN17K17R'|'2017-04-18T19:10:00.000+03:00' 'ef1d00478c1e01c569fe11221a20f6ba8e06982a'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|' 15am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 18 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Tuesday: ** U.S. annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) said it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by Anbang Insurance Group Co Ltd, becoming the latest deal involving the Chinese insurer to have fallen through in recent years. ** U.S. cereal company Post Holdings has agreed to buy British brand Weetabix from China''s Bright Food Group Co Ltd in a 1.4 billion pound ($1.76 billion) deal that will expand its international business, the companies said. ** South32 Ltd killed a $200 million deal to buy Peabody Energy''s Metropolitan coal mine in Australia after running into competition concerns about supply of coal to local steel makers. ** The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Monday it approved Time Warner Inc''s sale of a broadcast station in Atlanta to Meredith Corp, a transaction that could help speed Time Warner''s planned merger with AT&T Inc . ** The state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan is looking at the auction of Toshiba Corp''s chip unit but did not participate in first-round bidding, INCJ Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga said. ** SharkNinja Operating LLC, the privately held U.S. manufacturer of Ninja blenders and Shark vacuum cleaners, is exploring a sale that it hopes will value it at more than $1.5 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. ** South African miner Sibanye Gold plans to tap shareholders for about $1 billion to partly fund a takeover of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining Co, it said, a day after the deal secured a U.S. regulatory approval. ** Cabela''s Inc said it agreed to be bought by fellow outdoor goods retailer Bass Pro Shops for a lower price than agreed, and that it would sell its bank unit in a two-step deal as it seeks regulatory clearance for the transactions. ** South Korea''s Netmarble Games Corp said it expects to have a war chest of some $4.4 billion for acquisitions after an imminent IPO, and plans to roll out its new blockbuster game to Japan and China this year. ** Vietnam''s trade ministry has submitted a plan for the divestment of the government''s majority stake in Sabeco , the company''s CEO said, moving the country''s largest brewer one step closer to a long-awaited privatization. ** Malaysia''s $28 billion Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) has picked a $100 million stake in edotco, the telecommunications infrastructure services unit of mobile network operator Axiata Group Bhd. ** A Brazilian court has ordered state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Norway''s Statoil ASA after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process. ** China Hongqiao Group Ltd said it has terminated plans to subscript non-public A shares of Loften Environmental Technology Co and sell Loften the entire equity interest in Innovative Metal, as the plans did not comply with regulatory rules. (Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL3N1HQ3NK'|'2017-04-18T18:15:00.000+03:00' '6b4e9b1efc7193d195092134484c31cf2eefb4ea'|'JGBs track Treasuries lower, longer dated bonds sag after surge'|'TOKYO, April 18 Japanese government bond prices fell across the board on Tuesday as the market tracked a broad retreat by U.S. Treasuries.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was up 1 basis point at 0.010 percent after rising to as high as 0.015 percent as prices eased. The 30-year yield climbed 2.5 basis points to 0.760 percent, after hitting a three-month low of 0.735 percent on Monday.An auction of five-year JGBs drew sufficient demand after the finance ministry reduced their issuance amount to 2.2 trillion yen ($20.2 billion) from 2.4 trillion yen and tightened supply. The bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, at Tuesday''s auction rose to 3.28 from 2.86 at the previous sale in March.But another measure of demand showed that five-year JGBs may have become too expensive for some buyers following the recent fall in their yields to five-month lows as prices rose.The tail, the difference between the lowest and average accepted auction prices, was unchanged at a relatively wide 0.04. A shorter tail generally indicates stronger demand.U.S. Treasury yields rose from five-month lows on Monday as Wall Street shares gained, reducing demand for safe-haven debt.($1 = 108.9100 yen) (Reporting by the Tokyo markets team)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HQ23A'|'2017-04-18T02:40:00.000+03:00' 'baeb2374b2e4452e991b72102d739db9d0833e0d'|'L''Oreal says like-for-like sales rise 4.2 percent in first quarter'|' 5:25pm BST L''Oreal says like-for-like sales rise 4.2 percent in first quarter A cosmetic display of French cosmetics group L''Oreal is seen during the inauguration of the commercial zone at the Nice international airport Terminal 1 in Nice, France, June 10, 2016. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard PARIS French cosmetics company L''Oreal ( OREP.PA ) reported a slightly higher-than-expected 4.2 percent rise in like-for-like first-quarter sales on Tuesday, helped by thriving demand for its luxury products in Asia. The maker of Garnier shampoo and Maybelline make-up said sales in its consumer products division rose 1.4 percent on a like-for like basis, while revenues in its professional unit fell 1.8 percent. In its luxury division, meanwhile, which houses brands such as Lancome and Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics, like-for-like sales were up 12.2 percent. "We are confident in our ability to achieve another year of sales and profit growth in 2017," Chief Executive Officer Jean-Paul Agon said in a statement. Analysts had expected like-for-like sales across the group to rise 3.9 percent, according to forecasts compiled for Reuters by Inquiry Financial. L''Oreal''s reported sales were up 7.5 percent at 7.04 billion euros (5.98 billion pounds), also slightly above analyst forecasts. (Reporting by Sarah White and Pascale Denis, Editing by Bate Felix)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-loreal-results-idUKKBN17K20Y'|'2017-04-19T00:25:00.000+03:00' '670ff4e9afa248a88d3434abd240fce411f714d4'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil currency firms after central bank intervention'|'Company 39pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil currency firms after central bank intervention MEXICO CITY, April 17 The Brazilian real firmed on Monday as the central bank stepped up intervention, while the view that the government will stick to its plans to push a pension overhaul also helped to boost the currency as well as local stocks. The real firmed 1.35 percent against the dollar to its strongest level in nearly two weeks after the central bank sold $800 million worth of currency swaps, which function like dollar sales to investors for future delivery, to roll over contracts expiring next month. Should the bank maintain that pace of sales daily until the end of the month, it will fully roll over $6.4 billion worth of swaps set to mature on March 2. The central bank currently holds around $17.7 billion worth of swaps on its balance sheet. Meanwhile, lawmakers who attended a meeting with Brazilian President Michel Temer on Sunday said he was sticking with his plans to push the pension overhaul through Congress by July. The proposed pension reform is a cornerstone of Temer''s plan to restore fiscal discipline and bolster investor confidence to spark a recovery, but it remains unpopular among Brazilians, many of whom would have to work longer before retirement. Brazil''s benchmark Bovespa stock index jumped 2.5 percent on Monday, the biggest gain among the region''s bourses. Despite the gains in Brazil, escalating tension between the United States and North Korea, depressed investor appetite for higher-yielding, emerging market assets. A day after a failed missile test by North Korea, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Monday warned that recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan show that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested. The news led other Latin American currencies to seesaw, with the Mexican peso slipping from a five-month peak, though Chile''s peso followed copper prices higher. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 2000 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 963.33 0.3 11.38 MSCI LatAm 2,655.15 1.9 11.32 Brazil Bovespa 64,394.78 2.5 6.92 Mexico IPC 49,007.81 0.11 7.37 Chile IPSA 4,860.48 0.04 17.08 Chile IGPA 24,376.56 0.07 17.57 Argentina MerVal 20,723.16 -0.42 22.49 Colombia IGBC 10,174.39 -0.74 0.46 Venezuela IBC 47,329.03 0.64 49.28 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1035 1.35 4.69 Mexico peso 18.5090 -0.06 12.08 Chile peso 645.7 0.69 3.87 Colombia peso 2,850.68 0.50 5.29 Peru sol 3.25 0.12 5.05 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.1950 -0.03 4.48 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.86 -1.07 6.05 (Reporting by Anthony Esposito, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-latam-idUSL1N1HP1MS'|'2017-04-18T06:39:00.000+03:00' '8b74d87434d3d097ea5cc386397c348233dd13ac'|'Oil down slightly in subdued trade after failed North Korean missile test'|'Global Energy News 06am BST Oil down slightly in subdued trade after failed North Korean missile test left A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver 1/2 left right File Photo: Crude oil tanks at Kinder Morgan''s terminal are seen in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo 2/2 TOKYO Crude oil futures fell slightly in quiet trading on Monday, after a three-day Easter break, as investors digested a third consecutive weekly gain in prices along with North Korea''s failed missile launch on Sunday. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 18 cents 55.71 at 0047 GMT. On Thursday, before the break closed most major markets, they settled up 3 cents at $55.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were also down 18 cents at $53. They rose 7 cents to $53.18 a barrel on Thursday. Both benchmarks closed out the Easter holiday eve higher for a third consecutive week, with Brent adding 1.2 percent over the four days and WTI up 1.8 percent. The subdued start to this week came as markets braced for more geopolitical tensions over North Korea, after its attempted launch on Sunday of a ballistic missile failed as the projectile blew up almost immediately. The United States is working with allies and China on responses to the failed test, U.S. President Donald Trump''s national security adviser said on Sunday. Crude traders and investors in Asia also had their first chance to assess a 13th consecutive increase in the rig count by drillers of U.S. shale oil. Energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Thursday that drillers added 11 oil rigs in the week to April 13, bringing the total count up to 683. (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17J01T'|'2017-04-17T09:06:00.000+03:00' 'e34a377968acb0a98c273674c0293a9c6491d6e9'|'U.S. judge approves $2.6 billion fine for Odebrecht in corruption case'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 4:38pm BST U.S. judge approves $2.6 billion fine for Odebrecht in corruption case The corporate logo of Odebrecht is seen in a construction site in Caracas, Venezuela January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins - RTSXK8G A U.S. judge on Monday sentenced Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht SA to pay $2.6 billion (2.08 billion pounds) in fines in a massive criminal corruption case, signing off on a plea deal between the company and U.S., Brazilian and Swiss authorities. U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie said at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court that about $93 million will go to the United States, $2.39 billion to Brazil and $116 million to Switzerland. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-corruption-usa-idUKKBN17J17M'|'2017-04-17T23:38:00.000+03:00' '78489474b0f38e61bee05805dc645ea9f4e8cc3a'|'MOVES-Citigroup, Northern Trust, Morningstar Credit Ratings'|'Company News 49pm EDT MOVES-Citigroup, Northern Trust, Morningstar Credit Ratings April 17 The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Monday. To inform us of other job changes, email moves@thomsonreuters.com. CITIGROUP INC The bank appointed Carmen Haddad as head of its Saudi Arabia business, according to a source close to the lender. NORTHERN TRUST WEALTH MANAGEMENT Northern Trust Wealth Management, a unit of Northern Trust Corp, appointed Robert Ashcroft senior vice president and director of business owner consulting in its wealth management unit. MORNINGSTAR CREDIT RATINGS LLC Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC, a unit of Morningstar Inc , named Charles Citro managing director for commercial mortgage-backed securities ratings and analytics. (Compiled by Divya Grover in Bengaluru) Wal- April 17 China''s HNA nears deal to buy Odebrecht''s Brazil airport stake - source SAO PAULO, April 17 HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd is close to buying out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil''s second-busiest international airport, a person briefed on the matter said on Monday, partly solving an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/financial-moves-idUSL3N1HP4B8'|'2017-04-18T01:49:00.000+03:00' '32a3ae373f33c1f3e1d82edfec32a7a137535bc2'|'Omnicom revenue beats on Europe, UK growth'|'Business News - 40pm BST Omnicom revenue beats on Europe, UK growth Omnicom Group Inc ( OMC.N ), the world''s second-largest advertising company, reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by improved growth in the United Kingdom and Europe. New York-based Omnicom said organic revenue grew 8.1 percent in the UK and 8.2 percent in Europe, for the first quarter ended March 31. Results of the company, whose international sales made up about 44 percent of the total revenue in 2016, allayed concerns about its growth abroad following UK''s decision to leave the European Union. However, Omnicom, owner of agencies such as BBDO Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, said negative impact of foreign exchange rates reduced revenue in the quarter by 1.2 percent. Omnicom, one of the ''big four'' ad agencies, is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice along with fellow rivals such as Interpublic Group of Companies Inc ( IPG.N ) and Publicis Groupe SA ( PUBP.PA ) over rigged bids to favour in-house production units. "A dominating element...is a macro environment that remains very uncertain in terms of geopolitical issues and fiscal policies in the United States," Pivotal research analyst Brian Wieser wrote in a pre-earnings note. Top advertising companies worldwide are increasingly looking to boost presence in digital media, with print ads drying up. Omnicom — which serves over 5,000 clients worldwide, including Procter & Gamble ( PG.N ), Cisco Systems Inc ( CSCO.O ) and McDonald''s Corp ( MCD.N ) — said net income rose to $241.8 million (193.55 million pounds), or $1.02 per share, in the quarter, from $218.4 million, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Omnicom earned 97 cents per share, beating the average analysts'' estimate of 96 cents, according Revenue, for the company which is one of the "big four" ad agencies, rose 2.5 percent to $3.59 billion, beating estimates of $3.55 billion. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-omnicom-group-results-idUKKBN17K1B1'|'2017-04-18T19:40:00.000+03:00' '0d7cc067ff95009754378c126aecb5b175965a16'|'Investors think the election means a softer Brexit – are they right? - Business'|'I gnore the 180-point fall in the FTSE 100 index . Part of the decline occurred before the lectern had even been placed in Downing Street. Part of the rest can be explained by a stronger pound, which tends to depresses the value of the many big dollar-earners in the index. The real question is why sterling, which hit a six-month high, reacted so strongly to an early general election .It was because investors calculated – counter-intuitively at first glance – that a bigger Tory majority in the Commons, if that’s what follows, will mean a softer form of Brexit. This argument was best expressed by Deutsche Bank’s analysts, who reckon the election is “a game-changer” for the pound and the Brexit negotiations. A bigger majority would set Theresa May free from the “unrealistic timetable” set by the eurosceptics in her party, they argue.First, the 2019 deadline for delivering a “clean” Brexit will be less pressing because there won’t now be an election the following year. Second, the influence of hard Brexiters will be diluted and the government will be able to compromise over transitional agreements. Third, May can fall into step with the EU’s desire to settle the divorce bill first and then negotiate the detail of Brexit. “This sequenced approach materially reduces the ‘crash risk’ of Brexit negotiations as well as strengthening the prime minister’s hand in pursuing an orderly (and very lengthy) withdrawal,” argues Deutsche.FTSE 100 suffers worst day since Brexit vote after May calls election Read moreUp to a point, this line seems legitimate. If delivering a “successful” Brexit involves making a few pragmatic compromises – which is surely the lesson from the initial skirmishes with the EU negotiators – you can’t blame May for seeking cover from the hard-liners in her own party. And kicking out the next election until 2022 seems a smart political move: it would allow time for a three-year transitional phase before UK voters go back to the polls, which could take the edge off any economic shock at the moment of Brexit in 2019.So, yes, it was fair for investors to take some comfort in the idea that a market-friendly “soft” Brexit is now easier to imagine. Just don’t get too carried away with the idea. Investment uncertainties rarely evaporate so easily. If the election delivers a messy result – even a barely-improved Tory majority – what would really have changed?China couldn’t stomach Weetabix – will its US owners find the right recipe? The late Sir Richard George, the businessman who built Weetabix as a family company before selling it to a private equity firm in 2003, understood he was selling a product with limited international appeal. “Mothers tend to wean their children on Weetabix and people in Britain tend to grow up with an in-built liking for them. That’s not the case in other countries – it’s very hard to sell them in Germany for instance,” he said.The Chinese attempt to disprove this theory has, to nobody’s great surprise, ended in failure. The Weetabix that Chinese state-backed Bright Food group is selling looks very like the business it bought in 2012 : 75% of revenues are in the UK and the 20% that comes from North America is mainly generated from products with a US heritage. The big idea of persuading breakfast diners in Shanghai and Beijing to enjoy the delights of wheat biscuits hasn’t moved the dial. Weetabix’s overall revenues of £400m-ish and top-line earnings of £120m have gone sideways for the past half-decade.In the circumstances, Bright Food should count itself lucky that it has found a buyer willing to pay a price that allows it to exit with financial respectability. Post Holdings, a US cereal maker, is paying £1.4bn , versus the £1.2bn that Bright Food shelled out.Post, as it happens, is also talking about “bringing much-loved brands to significantly more customers globally”. But words are easy to utter. Once suspects the US acquirer perfectly understands that Weetabix is a niche product outside the UK. What it really likes, apart from the undoubted strong cash flows, is the potential for removing a claimed £20m a year in costs. That sounds a more realistic plan.FCA investigation looms for Barclays boss Andrew Bailey, head of the Financial Conduct Authority, refused to mention Jes Staley or Barclays when asked about whistleblowing. But his response was exactly what you’d expect: it’s important for regulators and society that whistleblowers are protected. Staley’s unsuccessful attempt to uncover the identity of a whistleblower at his bank is being investigated by the authorities , including the FCA. It’s hard to see how the report can be less than damning. Staley’s survival as chief executive is not guaranteed.Topics Economics Nils Pratley on finance FTSE Stock markets Food & drink industry Financial Conduct Authority Regulators comment '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2017/apr/18/investors-election-brexit-theresa-may-uk-eu'|'2017-04-19T03:40:00.000+03:00' 'be1ab3f2be1a5f7ddca49e8e27655979571747d1'|'INCJ looking at Toshiba chip unit auction; didn''t bid in first round'|'TOKYO The state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan is looking at the auction of Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip unit but did not participate in first-round bidding, INCJ Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga said on Tuesday.Sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters INCJ may invest in the business as a minority partner - a move that would help the government prevent a sale to bidders it deems risky to national security.(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-accounting-incj-idINKBN17K0EA'|'2017-04-18T03:37:00.000+03:00' 'ecbf46535a1b6f3d86bc7f85573d6c303c774e13'|'Volkswagen first quarter operating earnings jump on improved VW brand profit'|' 3:30pm BST Volkswagen first quarter operating profit jumps thanks to VW brand The Volkswagen logo is seen at the company''s display during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Blinch FRANKFURT Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) posted a 28 percent jump in first-quarter operating profit, helped by a return to earnings growth at its core VW brand, which has struggled to recover from the German carmaker''s diesel emissions scandal. Group operating profit came to 4.4 billion euros (3.74 billion pounds) in the three months through March, Volkswagen said on Tuesday, compared with 3.4 billion it reported for the year-earlier period. Shares in Volkswagen jumped on the news, trading 3.5 percent higher at 135.70 euros at 1407 GMT, making them the second-biggest gainers on the STOXX Europe 600 index . Although the group as a whole has bounced back from the scandal, and overtook Japan''s Toyota ( 7203.T ) last year to become the world''s biggest selling carmaker, analysts view a turnaround at the VW brand as key to its prospects. Volkswagen said on Tuesday that first-quarter operating earnings at the VW brand came to around 900 million euros, up from 73 million in the year-earlier period. It said it still expected to report a full-year group return on sales between 6 and 7 percent this year. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde and Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-results-idUKKBN17K1QI'|'2017-04-18T22:06:00.000+03:00' 'ed26f80a754466bec898520b0871697208c3583a'|'Banned at sea: Venezuela''s crude-stained oil tankers'|'Global Energy 10:58am IST Banned at sea: Venezuela''s crude-stained oil tankers left right The oil tanker Caspian Galaxy sits anchored near Amuay beach, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer 1/2 left right The oil tanker Caspian Galaxy (L) sits anchored near Amuay beach, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela March 30, 2017. Picture taken March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer/Files 2/2 By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa - HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela In the scorching heat of the Caribbean Sea, workers in scuba suits scrub crude oil by hand from the hull of the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker so filthy it can''t set sail in international waters. The vessel is among many that are constantly contaminated at two major export terminals where they load crude from Venezuela''s state-run oil company, PDVSA. The water here has an oily sheen from leaks in the rusty pipelines under the surface. That means the tankers have to be cleaned before traveling to many foreign ports, which won''t admit crude-stained ships for fear of environmental damage to their harbors, port facilities or other vessels. The laborious hand-cleaning operation is one of many causes of chronic delays for dozens of tankers that deliver Venezuela''s principle export to customers worldwide, according to three executives of the state-run firm, eight employees of maritime firms that contract with PDVSA and Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data. Other reasons include delayed repairs and impoundments by service providers that are owed money by cash-strapped PDVSA. Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela''s Oil Ministry responded to requests for comment about the firm''s maritime operations. The tankers sidelined for cleaning provide a vivid example of the firm''s downward spiral: Lacking the cash to properly maintain ships, refineries and production operations - or to pay business partners on time - PDVSA can''t boost exports, which is its only option for raising more cash. The lagging exports crimp the flow of cash back to the country''s crippled socialist economy, as citizens struggle daily amid soaring inflation and shortages of food and medicine. Because Venezuela relies on oil for more than 90 percent of export revenues, the problems of its state-run oil company pose a national crisis. Venezuela''s crude exports declined 8 percent to 1.69 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter versus the same period in 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data. When oil prices were high, crude and fuel exports almost entirely financed an elaborate system of government price controls and social subsidies that maintained the popularity of late President Hugo Chavez, the socialist firebrand. Although embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro insists the government has maintained social programs, he has publicly acknowledged that lower oil prices have left the government with less money to finance them. Venezuela''s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the nation''s social spending. THOUSANDS OF BRUSH STROKES At oil export terminals around the world - where crude leaks like those in Venezuela are relatively rare - an oil-stained tanker would normally be taken out of the water and cleaned with industrial equipment in a dry dock. But Venezuela has just one small dry dock and lacks the cash or the time to send its soiled tankers there for proper cleaning, according to the PDVSA executives, ship captains and two workers from tanker cleaning companies. So workers on a small fishing boat clean the giant tanker with thousands of scrub-brush strokes. The work - which involves scouring ships above and below the water line - can take up to ten days per vessel, a worker involved in the cleaning said. In a scene witnessed by Reuters in April, workers wearing scuba suits baked on the deck of a small boat as they reached out with brushes to scrub the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker leased for one trip by a PDVSA customer. The workers labored just offshore from Amuay beach, near a tourist hub and PDVSA''s largest refinery. The crews here have washed so many vessels in recent months that they have dubbed their operation "the boatwash". In nearby Maracaibo Lake - where tankers are stained at the export terminals - a scuba diver died in an accident this week while inspecting a leaking pipeline. Jose Bermudez, a 40-year-old father of two, drowned after the line connected to his air supply got tangled in the propeller on his boat, according to union representatives. The Professional Union of Scuba Divers and Marine Staff from Zulia state had previously requested that PDVSA replace the propellers with a different propulsion system, the organization said. A supervisor at PDVSA''s Western division on Monday confirmed the accident but declined to answer further questions. PDVSA''s maritime crisis is uniquely dire, said George Los, a senior tanker market analyst at U.S. ship brokerage Charles R. Weber Company. "I can''t think of any situation similar to this anywhere else in the world right now," he said. LEASES AT $1 MILLION PER MONTH Eighteen of the 31 oil tankers PDVSA owns were out of commission at the end of March, according to Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data and six maritime industry employees, who spoke with Reuters on condition of anonymity. Several needed cleaning, while others need repairs, according to the data. To keep oil flowing, PDVSA leases more than 50 tankers - each at a cost of between $800,000 to $1 million per month, according to three captains and ship brokers involved in lease contracts with PDVSA and Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data. That is more than double the number of vessels it typically leases to complement its own fleet of tankers, according to the sources. It''s a short-term fix that is driving up costs and exposing PDVSA to further detentions or seizures of vessels when it does not pay leasing fees on time. Several ship owners, exasperated by payment delays, have sought court orders to have the oil on board the tankers impounded, according to three sources involved in some of the disputes and a court document seen by Reuters. Russian shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot in October won a court order to seize a $20 million Venezuelan crude cargo from a Sovcomflot tanker as partial payment on a $30 million debt. The tanker was carrying crude to the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. [L2N1HD1MI] Sovcomflot did not respond to requests for comment. Six other PDVSA vessels are stuck in yards in Portugal, Turkey and Curacao, either for lack of payment or because PDVSA has not supplied the necessary parts for repairs, according to two shippers and an executive of a firm supplying equipment to PDV Marina, PDVSA''s maritime branch. THE ''VENEZUELA CLAUSE'' Most port owners have to pay fees if they delay tankers from loading or unloading at their docks. But PDVSA, which operates terminals in Venezuela, has traditionally refused to include such penalties - known as demurrage fees - in its contracts with shipping companies that move Venezuelan oil. At least five major shipping companies, however, are now pushing back on that practice, according to oil traders and contracts signed by PDVSA. The shippers now include a so-called "Venezuela clause" in their contracts. The penalties can be as much as $23,500 per day, according to recent shipping contracts with PDVSA seen by Reuters. One contract specifies that PDVSA must pay demurrage for delays resulting from workers strikes, the late arrival of tug boats and even for drug inspections - a nod to international investigations into Venezuela''s role in the global drug trade. Some tanker-leasing companies and service providers also charge PDVSA above-market rates because of the risk of delayed payments, two shipbrokers told Reuters. Similar operational problems plague PDVSA''s oil drilling and refining operations. Once the pride of the country''s economy, the state-run firm saw crude production plummet last year to a 23-year low. The crisis has now reached the point where state-run PDVSA can''t buy spare parts to keep oil fields pumping, pay workers enough to feed their families, or keep its tankers on the water, the PDVSA executives and maritime company employees told Reuters. The rising costs and falling exports, in turn, are depriving the firm - and the country - of the commodity it needs most: dollars. (Additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Caracas and Jonathan Saul in London; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Simon Webb and Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/venezuela-oil-tankers-idINKBN17K0DQ'|'2017-04-18T13:28:00.000+03:00' '1b9bab42d12d2d51a1558a51a3c5261ce00a69ba'|'Brazil court suspends sale of Petrobras stake in oilfield to Statoil'|'Business News 34pm EDT Brazil court suspends sale of Petrobras stake in oilfield to Statoil SAO PAULO A Brazilian court has ordered state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ) to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Norway''s Statoil ASA ( STL.OL ). Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a securities filing on Monday that the deal for its stake in the BM-S-8 region known as the Campo de Carcara was approved by regulators and closed in November. Half of the $2.5 billion in proceeds have been used to repay debts, the company said, adding that it would take legal measures to defend its interests. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-petrobras-divestiture-statoil-idUSKBN17J1U1'|'2017-04-18T07:32:00.000+03:00' 'a422da36e6aa242b42d57489d2436bf302bcede0'|'Volkswagen China sales to grow at least 4-5 percent in 2017 - China CEO'|'Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 4:27am BST VW China sales to grow at least 4-5 percent in 2017: China CEO Jochem Heizmann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China, attends a news conference in Guangzhou, China November 17, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip SHANGHAI German carmaker Volkswagen AG''s ( VOWG_p.DE ) China sales are set to grow at least 4-5 percent this year, the automaker''s China chief said on Tuesday. China Chief Executive Jochem Heizmann also said the firm was looking to quickly resolve concerns among some Chinese dealers of its Audi AG ( NSUG.DE ) cars over a tie-up with SAIC Motor Corp Ltd ( 600104.SS ). The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM)predicted in January overall car sales would rise 5 percent this year, slowing from the 13.7 percent growth in 2016 due to the rollback of a tax incentive for small-engine cars. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-china-idUKKBN17K08Z'|'2017-04-18T11:24:00.000+03:00' 'e4977654f4c3c4359de7a9014d967c5eb039d1f7'|'METALS-London copper hovers above 2017 low as China stocks weigh'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 3:14am EDT METALS-London copper hovers above 2017 low as China stocks weigh (Adds detail, updates prices) By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, April 20 London copper rose on Thursday but was still not far from its lowest for the year after China''s refined production surged in March, underlining ample stocks in the world''s biggest metals consumer. China''s refined copper output rose 8.5 percent in March from a year ago to its highest since at least December 2015. "The emergence of opportunistic buying should see the recent selloff in metal markets come to an end," ANZ said in a report. * LME COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 1 percent at $5,609 a tonne by 0703 GMT, after closing slightly lower in the previous session when prices hit the weakest since early January at $5,530 a tonne. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper pared losses to close down 0.2 percent at 45,560 yuan ($6,616)a tonne. * CHINA OUTPUT: China''s refined copper output rose 8.5 percent in March from a year ago to 764,000 tonnes, its highest since at least December 2015, while aluminium and iron ore output levels were the lowest in months, according to the National Statistics Bureau. * NICKEL: Short-dated nickel contracts have surged this week, reflecting a lack of immediately available supply. Nickel for tomorrow next day (tom/next) delivery traded as high as $10 this week and $7.50 last, the highest since December CMNIT-O. * ZINC: ShFE zinc rallied 3.3 percent, away from near year-to-date lows, as steel prices cut losses. Shfe nickel was up 1 percent and Shfe lead up 2.3 percent. * CHINA CAPITAL: Capital outflows from China eased sharply in the first quarter and cross border flows were more balanced, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday, in the latest official comments indicating policymakers are growing less worried about the yuan currency. * JAPAN ECONOMY: Confidence among Japanese manufacturers has risen for an eighth straight month to a level not seen since before the 2008 global financial crisis, a Reuters survey found, reflecting output and export gains led by overseas economic recovery. * INVESTORS: Total global commodity assets under management (AUM) fell to $277 billion in March from $282 billion the month before, Barclays said in a note. * RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto cut its copper guidance to 500,000-550,000 tonnes from as much as 665,000 tonnes as a result of a strike at the Escondida mine in Chile and the curtailment of production at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. MARKETS: Asian stocks erased early losses and edged higher on Thursday as steadying commodity prices, especially crude oil, prompted some bargain hunting by investors. PRICES BASE METALS PRICES 0705 GMT Three month LME copper 5613 Most active ShFE copper 45550 Three month LME aluminium 1930 Most active ShFE aluminium 14335 Three month LME zinc 2607 Most active ShFE zinc 21655 Three month LME lead 2172 Most active ShFE lead 16150 Three month LME nickel 9495 Most active ShFE nickel 79680 Three month LME tin 19840 Most active ShFE tin 140820 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 372.1 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1124.6 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 287.13 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1856.6 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 771.91 ($1 = 6.8860 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Subhranshu Sahu) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HS2RU'|'2017-04-20T15:14:00.000+03:00' 'ad3b5471471aa0357a7ce4e0c217f37cc5f4c0de'|'Unilever first-quarter sales top expectations'|'Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 7:27am BST Unilever first-quarter sales top expectations The logo of the Unilever group is seen at the Miko factory in Saint-Dizier, France, May 4, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer LONDON Consumer goods maker Unilever ( ULVR.L ) ( UNc.AS ) reported better than expected first-quarter sales on Thursday, helped by pricing growth. The results could boost investor enthusiasm for Unilever, whose shares have remained higher since February when it received, and swiftly rejected, a $143 billion takeover offer from rival Kraft Heinz ( KHC.O ). The maker of Dove soap and Knorr soups said underlying sales rose 2.9 percent in its financial first quarter. That compares to analysts'' estimates of 2 percent, according to a consensus compiled by the company, and growth of 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter and 3.2 percent in the third quarter. (Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-unilever-nv-results-idUKKBN17M0KC'|'2017-04-20T14:21:00.000+03:00' '5116d731eee63ac02c4e4893700f124fe8174263'|'Exclusive - Buffett likely voted shares to back Wells Fargo board'|'Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 4:47am BST Exclusive: Buffett likely voted shares to back Wells Fargo board Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks at the Fortune''s Most Powerful Women''s Summit in Washington October 13, 2015. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo By Dan Freed - NEW YORK NEW YORK Billionaire investor Warren Buffett supports Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) management and board of directors, and has likely already voted shares owned by him and his conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ), in line with the bank''s official suggestions, a representative told Reuters. Wells Fargo''s board is facing a threat at a shareholder meeting next week because proxy advisers are telling shareholders not to support many of them. The opposition is related to a scandal wherein employees created up to 2 million accounts in customers'' names without their permission. Buffett''s support is influential because of his status as a savvy investor. Although he recently sold some shares, Buffett and his firm own nearly 10 percent of Wells Fargo stock. Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan recently told The Wall Street Journal that Buffett would support the board, but Buffett had not confirmed Sloan''s statement until now. (Reporting by Dan Freed; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-accounts-buffett-idUKKBN17M0BS'|'2017-04-20T11:44:00.000+03:00' 'ccd5d32e3c7a8fb7660f132a56bd5573dbd2fc0a'|'Oil prices claw back ground after sharp drop, buoyed by US crude stock dip'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 8:24am BST Oil prices claw back losses, but oversupply still weighs FILE PHOTO: A worker checks the valve of an oil pipe at an oil field owned by Russian state-owned oil producer Bashneft near the village of Nikolo-Berezovka, northwest of Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia January 28, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices regained some ground on Thursday after steep losses the previous day, as Kuwait said it expected an OPEC-led effort to cut supplies would be extended beyond the middle of the year. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $53.34 per barrel at 0715 GMT, up 41 cents, or 0.77 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 32 cents, or 0.63 percent, to $50.76 a barrel. Traders said that the gains followed comments by OPEC-members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that an effort by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers, including Russia, to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year would be extended beyond June. A reduction in commercial U.S. crude stocks C-STK-T-EIA, which fell by 1 million barrels last week to 532.34 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), also supported prices, traders said. The price increases on Thursday followed a more than 3.5 percent drop in both crude benchmarks during the previous session after the EIA reported surging gasoline inventories as well as another rise in U.S. crude oil production to 9.25 million barrels per day (bpd), up almost 10 percent since mid-2016 C-OUT-T-EIA. U.S. gasoline stocks posted a counter-seasonal build of 1.5 million barrels, because of rising refining activity USOILG=ECI. Traders said that the rising U.S. crude production posed a concern that the oil supply overhang would continue, while the jump in gasoline stocks implied a stutter in demand. "The fact that gasoline stocks rose... worried traders that demand is not as strong as many thought," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader. Overall, global fuel markets remain bloated, and Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih was quoted on Thursday in an interview with the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper that supplies remained elevated in part because traders were selling supplies out of tanker storage. In China, an ongoing fuel supply overhang is persisting as there were signs that Chinese refiners were using record crude oil imports to produce more fuel like gasoline and diesel than the country can absorb. China''s March gasoline output rose 2.5 percent year on year to 11.24 million tonnes, the highest level since at least April 2014, data from China''s National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday, adding fuel into an Asian market that is already well supplied. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford and Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17M04P'|'2017-04-20T09:14:00.000+03:00' 'd940f640b8f04c85e8f2d487eec408866b429984'|'Creditor Sumitomo Mitsui Trust gives Toshiba full support'|' 4:04pm BST Creditor Sumitomo Mitsui Trust gives Toshiba full support FILE PHOTO The logo of Toshiba is seen as shareholders arrive at Toshiba''s extraordinary shareholders meeting in Chiba, Japan, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo TOKYO Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) creditor Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) said it fully supports the troubled electronics conglomerate as it battles to survive by shedding a pair of core businesses. "Toshiba is at a crucial stage now and it is making very big efforts. As a member of its main creditor group, we will provide as much support as possible," Masaru Hashimoto, who became president of SMTB this month, said in an interview. His bank is working with bigger rivals Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) ( 8316.T ) and Mizuho Bank ( 8411.T ) to mollify minor lenders which are increasingly jittery about Toshiba''s prospects. Toshiba''s U.S. nuclear unit, Westinghouse Electric Co, last month filed for bankruptcy as the Japanese company tried to stem mounting losses from U.S. projects. Toshiba has also put its prized chip business up for auction to raise around 2 trillion yen (14.30 billion pounds) to replenish its capital. Toshiba has told creditors it would need about 1 trillion yen in fresh funds for the year started April. "We would like to sincerely consider when Toshiba makes specific requests for support," Hashimoto said. UNDER PRESSURE Hashimoto and Tetsuo Ohkubo, who became president of parent Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings ( 8309.T ) at the same time, are taking over the leadership role as Japan''s financial industry is under growing regulatory pressure to overhaul practices. The government is frustrated that households have yet to shift significant sums of money out of savings accounts and into capital markets despite incentives introduced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to stimulate economic growth. Regulators are urging financial institutions to show they are fulfilling fiduciary duty as honest agents for clients, demanding greater transparency in fee structures of investment products and better performance of money managers. "It''s important to conduct customer-oriented business. But in reality, it''s not necessarily happening and it''s hard to say stable asset creation by the public has been realised," Nobuchika Mori, commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, told an industry gathering earlier this month. For trust banks such as SMTB, there have been concerns they are not fully acting in the best interest of clients including pension funds and mutual fund investors, out of consideration for banking business relationships with companies whose stocks are performing poorly. "Preventing potential conflicts of interest is the very core of the trust banking business and we have been doing that for years," Ohkubo said. "But given various opinions on the matter of fiduciary duty, we are currently working to make our efforts more visible to clients and regulatory authorities." (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-accounting-smth-idUKKBN17M1UM'|'2017-04-20T23:04:00.000+03:00' '1b533758320e0dbc907c4b3439141754d250c1af'|'Tesla to recall 53,000 cars over parking brake issue'|' 7:33pm BST Tesla to recall 53,000 cars over parking brake issue FILE PHOTO: A Tesla logo adorns a ''Model S'' car in the dealership in Berlin, Germany, November 18, 2015. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) said on Thursday it would recall 53,000 of its Model S and Model X cars globally to fix a parking brake issue. Shares of the U.S. luxury electric car maker were down nearly 1 percent at $302.77 in afternoon trading, following its biggest ever recall. ( bit.ly/2ovjTzb ) Tesla''s total production for 2016 was 83,922 vehicles and included both Model S and Model X. "The electric parking brakes installed on Model S and Model X vehicles built between February and October 2016 may contain a small gear that could have been manufactured improperly by our third-party supplier," Tesla said in a statement on its website. The car maker said there had been no accidents or injuries due to the issue. Tesla said less than 5 percent of the vehicles being recalled may be affected and it would take less than 45 minutes to replace the brakes. The company also said it would send an official recall notice to its customers. Tesla, led by entrepreneur Elon Musk, had said last year it would recall 2,700 Model X sport utility vehicles in the United States due to a faulty locking hinge in third-row seats. The company said on Thursday it was working with Italian supplier Freni Brembo SpA ( BRBI.MI ) to get the replacement parts. Brembo did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-recall-idUKKBN17M28E'|'2017-04-21T02:33:00.000+03:00' 'd54ec57f6392edfb13c218b6c8bbac55cc8a8cad'|'Worries over Trump policies cloud start of IMF, World Bank meetings'|'Business News 2:52pm EDT IMF chief willing to work with Trump to fix global trading system left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde makes remarks during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 1/11 left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) holds up agenda papers as she attends a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, with First Deputy David Lipton, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 2/11 left right World Bank President Jim Yong Kim cups his ear as he listens to a question by a reporter during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings in Washington, U.S. April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 3/11 left right Visitors listen to remarks by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on a giant monitor in the atrium of the IMF headquarters during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 4/11 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 5/11 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 6/11 left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde makes remarks during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 7/11 left right A security personnel stands next to International Monetary Fund logo at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 8/11 left right International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde moderates a forum on Innovation, Technology, and Jobs at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 9/11 left right World Bank President Jim Yong Kim makes remarks during a press briefing to open the the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings in Washington, U.S. April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 10/11 left right Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn attends The Bretton Woods Committee meeting at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 11/11 By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World financial leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration. Worries over Trump''s approach to trade, taxes, financial regulation and climate change clouded the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, even amid improved optimism over global growth prospects. As the meetings got started, two blocks away at the White House, Trump signed a directive to study whether steel imports into the United States could be restricted for national security reasons under a law passed in 1962. Such moves, including a review of "Buy American" rules launched earlier this week, have raised concerns that the United States is looking outside the World Trade Organization for remedies to restrict U.S. imports. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she would work with the Trump administration to improve the global trading system. She added that there was a need to reduce government subsidies for industry and other trade distortions that limited competition, but said "protectionist measures" needed to be avoided. "From the various contacts that I''ve had with the (Trump) administration so far, I have every reason to believe that we will make progress, that we will cooperate all together in order to support and indeed improve the system as we have it," Lagarde said in a news conference. The changes, including improvements to WTO dispute settlement rules, must ensure a "level playing field" for trade, Lagarde said, adding that such changes could only be achieved through multilateral dialogue. The concerns over Trump''s trade policies come at a time when the IMF''s latest forecasts point to a strengthening global economy - along with a warning that trade restrictions could stall growth. "We are finally seeing the global economy picking up the momentum that we hope is going to be sustained in the medium and longer term," Lagarde said. Separately, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he was "encouraged" by his engagement so far with Trump. But he added that he would not reduce the multilateral lender''s commitment to trade or to financing alternative energy projects. "The science of climate change didn''t change with any particular election, and I don''t see that it will," Kim said told a news conference. "We have to be an evidence-based organization." In addition to trade, the IMF said in a report released on Wednesday that Trump''s proposed tax cuts and roll-back of financial regulations could fuel financial risk-taking and raise public debt enough to hurt economic growth. ''LITTLE LEVERAGE'' The IMF and World Bank meetings come about a month after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted that an anti-protectionism pledge be dropped from a Group of 20 communique issued in Baden-Baden, Germany. Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF''s China department, said the Trump administration may choose to simply ignore the advice of the IMF and other institutions. "The IMF has little leverage since its limited toolkit of analysis-based advice, persuasion, and peer pressure is unlikely to have much of an impact on this administration''s policies," said Prasad, now an international trade professor at Cornell University. Mnuchin''s decision against naming China a currency manipulator last week removed one concern for the IMF ahead of the meeting. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g-idUSKBN17M0EP'|'2017-04-20T13:06:00.000+03:00' 'fd4f2640c0cb3302721fdb97cfa5531d045d6dd7'|'BRIEF-Lawson Products Q1 earnings per share $0.09'|' 19am EDT BRIEF-Lawson Products Q1 earnings per share $0.09 April 20 Lawson Products Inc * Lawson Products reports first quarter 2017 results * Q1 earnings per share $0.09 * Q1 sales $74.6 million versus $69.7 million Source text for Eikon: UPDATE 1-Vale''s first-quarter output falls on weather, keeps guidance SAO PAULO, April 20 Vale SA''s first-quarter iron ore output fell 6.7 percent as seasonal rainfalls in a fast-growing mine in northern Brazil hampered extraction and the world''s No. 1 producer of the raw material sought to rein in production at low-margin facilities. * Magellan Midstream increases quarterly cash distribution to 87.25 cents MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-lawson-products-q1-earnings-per-sh-idUSASA09JDZ'|'2017-04-20T21:19:00.000+03:00' '77944c7653d78c63022b3e53e00eb94f7ff0a980'|'UPDATE 1-Danone raises 2017 EPS forecast after WhiteWave acquisition'|'* Q1 l-f-l sales up 0.7 pct vs est. 0.6 pct* Q1 l-f-l dairy sales down 2.3 pct vs est. down 2 pct* Eyes 2017 double-digit recurring EPS growth at constant forex (Adds CFO comments from call, details)By Dominique VidalonPARIS, April 20 French food group Danone on Thursday raised its forecast for earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2017, having now closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave foods Co.The world''s largest yoghurt maker, with brands including Actimel and Activia, made the prediction as weak dairy sales in Europe and Brazil held back sales growth in the first quarter.Danone unveiled in July 2016 plans to buy WhiteWave - maker of Silk almond milk and Earthbound Farm Organic salad - in its largest acquisition since 2007, a move it said would double the size of its U.S. business. The deal finally closed April 12."2017 is a year of construction that will strengthen Danone as an even more resilient company, best prepared to seize tomorrow''s opportunities," CEO Emmanuel Faber said in a statement.Whitewave''s products have outperformed mainstream packaged food businesses in recent years as they are in line with a consumer shift toward natural foods and healthier eating and should help Danone as it struggles with challenging conditions in dairy in Europe and babyfood in China.Danone said on Thursday it was now targeting double-digit recurring EPS at constant exchange rates and moderate like-for-like sales growth for 2017.In February, Danone had said it was targeting earnings per share growth of above 5 percent in 2017, excluding WhiteWave, having achieved growth of 9.3 percent in 2016.Danone also reported a 0.7 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales to 5.46 billion euros ($5.88 billion).The quarterly performance was in line with the company-compiled average of 18 analyst estimates of 0.6 percent like-for-like growth in group sales.It however marked a sharp slowdown from 2.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter 2016 and also came well below the 2.3 percent reported earlier in the day by Swiss rival Nestle and the 2.9 percent achieved by Unilever.The modest performance reflected mostly a 2.3 percent fall in dairy division sales, which makes the bulk of group revenue."In Europe sales continued to be impacted by difficult market conditions and problems with the relaunch of Activia while consumption trends worsened in Brazil," Finance Chief Cecile Cabanis said.She predicted dairy division sales would still be low single negative in the second quarter and "flattish" in the full year.($1 = 0.9296 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Geert De Clercq and Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/danone-results-idINL8N1HS5TW'|'2017-04-20T16:45:00.000+03:00' '7e01850310cc256240eb9b1ef94a0f00afda7266'|'Adidas CEO says fat China margins to stabilise as thin U.S. margins grow'|' 11:42am BST Adidas CEO says fat China margins to stabilise as thin U.S. margins grow An Adidas logo is seen at the new Futurecraft shoe unveiling event in New York City, New York, U.S. April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Joe Penney By Adam Jourdan - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI German sports apparel brand Adidas AG ( ADSGn.DE ) expects its huge operating margin in China to shrink slightly in the long term, while its small U.S. margin grows markedly in the near term, its new chief executive officer said on Thursday. Kasper Rorsted, on his first visit to China since taking the helm in September, said Adidas'' margin in Greater China of 35 percent last year would "stabilise and slightly decline". Meanwhile North America, with a margin of 6.3 percent last year from 2.5 percent in 2015, was playing "catch-up". "We expect a dramatic improvement in margins in the United States, but we expect over time also a slowdown in the margin development in China," he said, without detailing specifics. The firm''s Greater China sales, about half those of North America in 2013, reached 16 percent of its global total last year, just shy of North America''s 18 percent. The sports apparel market, buoyed by supportive government policies and health-conscious consumers, has been a bright spot in China amid tougher conditions for firms from snack makers to cinema operators in the world''s second-largest economy. Rorsted said Adidas would "invest heavily" in China, where he saw huge long-term potential. The firm is on track to add 2,000 stores in China and hit 12,000 by 2020. The company forecasts "double digit" China growth this year, though Rorsted said this would be slower than in 2016 when Adidas had sales of 3 billion euros (2.50 billion pounds) in the market, up 28 percent on 2015 before currency fluctuations. China''s wider retail market, however, remained tough, he said, despite an uptick in official data in the first quarter. "What we are seeing, if you take the total industry, is a slowdown in retail," he said. "Brick-and-mortar traditional and fast-moving consumer goods has dramatically slowed down. Traffic in large malls has slowed down. That is one trend and right now that''s not being offset by anything," he said, without elaborating. Rorsted added firms in apparel and footwear, which manufacture mostly in Asia, were not going to be relocating plants to Europe or the United States any time soon - something that has been on the agenda of new U.S. President Donald Trump. "The size is these plants is humongous... They are highly automated today and the entire supplier base is based out of Asia," he said. "Just financially it''s illogical and so it''s highly unlikely that this will happen." (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-adidas-china-idUKKBN17M14H'|'2017-04-20T18:42:00.000+03:00' '1d78aa26a587e0e2eaaa958951ae06b8360c02c3'|'Orange bank to go online across France on July 6'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 11:03am BST Orange bank to go online across France on July 6 The logo of telecom company Orange is seen at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 27, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard PARIS French telecoms company Orange ( ORAN.PA ) plans to launch its online banking service nationwide on July 6, aiming to take on traditional banks with a low-cost offering that will eventually expand into loans and insurance. Along with growth in Africa and the Middle East, France''s biggest telecoms operator sees its new banking services as a key driver for growth, hoping to lure some 2 million customers over 10 years. France''s largest online banks, ING Direct and SocGen''s Boursorama, currently have around 1 million clients each. Orange said on Thursday customers would be able to use an instant, secure mobile payment service as well as a free debit card. Its online app will also make it possible for users to transfer money via a text message to another Orange account. "The offer will gradually grow into credit and insurance," the company said in a statement. The bank aims to break even in four to five years, Orange chief executive Stephane Richard said. Orange Bank was formed after the acquisition of a 65 percent stake in Groupama Banque last year. (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Writing by Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-orange-banking-idUKKBN17M11J'|'2017-04-20T18:03:00.000+03:00' '96beb7b7756b62a7ec625531005cce97ef382c17'|'World Bank to continue alternative energy financing efforts - Reuters'|'Money 07pm IST World Bank to continue alternative energy financing efforts World President Jim Yong Kim participates in a discussion ''''Investing in the Early Years: Identifying Synergies and Catalyzing Action'''' at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said on Thursday that the multilateral lender does not plan to change its stance on financing alternative energy projects and mitigating the effects of climate change. Asked about the Trump administration''s skepticism about climate change at a news conference, Kim said the World Bank would continue to work with governments and the private sector to boost financing for alternative energy, especially in China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan and Vietnam. "The science of climate change didn''t change with any particular election, and I don''t see that it will," Kim said. "We have to be an evidence-based organization." (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-worldbank-climate-idINKBN17M1NL'|'2017-04-20T11:37:00.000+03:00' 'a07953e90f43c6c1baf8a83718c006b4d5729188'|'Spotify ensures independent artists are on board with fresh deal'|'By Helena Soderpalm and Sophie Sassard - STOCKHOLM/LONDON STOCKHOLM/LONDON Music streaming service Spotify said on Thursday it has renewed a nine-year-old licensing deal with independent digital agency Merlin that has proven essential to its enduring appeal to dedicated music fans even as it has become more mainstream.Merlin represents 20,000 independent record labels in 51 countries - around 12 percent of the digital recorded music market - making it Spotify''s fourth largest partner after major labels Sony, Universal and Warner Music, the company said.The agreement come weeks after Spotify reached a licensing deal with Universal that could make the streaming platform more attractive to its top-selling artists, including Taylor Swift, Adele, Lady Gaga, Coldplay and Kanye West - by letting them release albums exclusively to paying premium users.Spotify is the world''s top music streaming site, having doubled the number of its paying subscribers over the past two years to 50 million as of last month. Rival Apple Music counted 20 million paying subscribers as of last December.Its stable includes classic British indie labels such as Beggars Group and Sub Pop through to German electronic music label !K7, Kobalt Music, which licenses the music of Prince, and Mad Decent, a U.S. label which has distributed everything from African and Brazilian funk to artists like Outkast.Spotify, which has yet to show a profit as it expands in markets worldwide and builds new offices in New York, is exploring a market listing in the United States this year, banking sources say, confirming reports over the past year.But the music platform has resisted a traditional initial public offering (IPO) in favor of a direct share listing, a source with knowledge of the plan said, confirming an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal.This means existing Spotify investors and employees with stock options would have their shares registered, enabling them to be traded freely, while the company would not be able to raise extra money or work with underwriters to place new shares.The company raised $526 million in its last funding round in 2015, giving it a valuation of around $8.5 billion at that time.Spotify lost 173 million euros in 2015 according to the latest figures disclosed by its Luxembourg holding company, but recent deals with labels and the prospect of a stock market listing may mean its cash needs are less urgent.Merlin, based in Amsterdam and London, also licenses digital rights to Spotify rivals including SoundCloud, Google Play and YouTube Red, Pandora and Deezer.(Editing by Eric Auchard and Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-spotify-merlin-idINKBN17M1QU'|'2017-04-20T16:31:00.000+03:00' '6e828eb043ee837182f653793dae236c1b9c9890'|'India, RBI have not agreed on bad debt cleanup plan: central bank deputy'|'MUMBAI The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India had not yet reached an agreement on a new plan to clean up the record troubled debt accumulated at the country''s lenders, S.S. Mundra, a deputy governor at the central bank, said on Thursday.Mundra, in an interview with CNBC TV18, added it would be "difficult to put a timeline" on when consensus could be reached, but said it "could be very near".Investors have been waiting for India to come up with a new plan on how to deal with almost $150 billion stressed assets at banks after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said last month it would soon announce new action.Mundra said among the considerations would be how to provide more capital for the banks, making it important to get consensus from the government, which owns majority stakes in nearly two dozen lenders that together dominate India''s banking system.(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Rafael Nam; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-rbi-deputy-badloans-idINKBN17M0ZD'|'2017-04-20T07:25:00.000+03:00' 'e1e2eb9d0f1aee6fa8281fe12b9dfa9f59b62c29'|'En garde!: Paris bankers brace for restless night of French election'|'By Maya Nikolaeva - PARIS PARIS Paris bankers and brokers will be on call, ready to scoot to the office as results of the first round of the roller-coaster French presidential election start to dribble in this Sunday.Their workload will depend on the outcome of the tight race that could potentially see two extremes -- the far right Marine Le Pen and the communist-backed leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon -- make it to the second round.But the preparations underway already reflect the bankers'' experience in facing market volatility following Britain''s shock vote to leave the European Union and U.S. presidential elections last year.Societe Generale said it would be holding a conference call on the evening of Sunday, April 23 with some of its economists and strategists to discuss the first round results.Traders and financial analysts in some of the world''s biggest investment firms in London will also be on standby for advising clients on Sunday evening and also primed for pre-dawn starts on Monday. However those contacted by Reuters said they would leave actual overnight trading in the euro or any cash bond or equity transactions to their Asia operations.First exit polls are expected at around 1800 GMT on Sunday or 2000 Paris time.In Paris, French asset manager La Francaise with 60 billion euros ($64 billion) under management has a special task force in place for the election that will be on call or could even meet in the office on Sunday evening to decide on what to advise clients on Monday."In any case, the task force will meet early on Monday ... and have a strong shot of coffee in order to brief teams," one of the asset manager''s staff said.One reason, brokerage Nomura said, is that it will be the April 23 vote that gives investors "the most information" as to who will be the next president after the may run-off."Jean-Luc Melenchon has seen such a rise in support that it is now a true four-way race," Nomura''s forex strategists said."The gaps between candidates in the first round are close to the margins of error, while in the second they are far apart and in the ''safe zone'' polling numbers."The latest polls show centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Le Pen narrowly beating other candidates in the first round, followed by the conservative Francois Fillon and far-left Melenchon.Melenchon proposes a 100-billion-euro economic stimulus plan funded by government borrowing, corporate nationalisation in some sectors, devaluation of the euro currency, withdrawal from NATO and possible exit from the European Union.His sudden rise in opinion surveys is worrying many investors, because various poll scenarios show he could win should he reach the second round.Le Pen does not off much solace. She plans to leave the euro currency and hold a vote on European Union membership."I will be ready on Sunday-Monday, but my hope is that there will be no disastrous scenario and I won''t have to work," a London-based analyst covering French banks said.HEDGINGSome investment banks and asset managers have already reduced and hedged their exposure to assets that could bear the brunt of volatility, depending on the outcome of the elections."As for fixed income investors, they have also already sold out, because there was a buyer –- the (European Central Bank) , which bought hundreds of billions of euros (of debt). There is no big reason to have a long position on France," said Jean-Francois Legoux, a strategist at UBS Global Asset Management, based in Paris.Forex brokerage Saxo Bank in Paris said it tried to make sure all clients were aware of potential risks, while offering all the money management tools so that they don''t have a significant exposure with no protection in the markets."In any event, just as with Brexit, any spasm is bound to be very short-lived," one Geneva-based trader said.($1 = 0.9345 euros)(Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/france-election-markets-idINKBN17M0W0'|'2017-04-20T16:47:00.000+03:00' '77a3484aec2fe36616d0ab2e2217da39fde90780'|'FCC votes to allow some broadcasters to buy more TV stations'|'Hollywood 21pm IST FCC votes to allow some broadcasters to buy more TV stations Ajit Pai, Chairman of U.S Federal Communications Commission, delivers his keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted 2-1 on Thursday to reverse a 2016 decision that limits the number of television stations some broadcasters can buy. The decision could lead to a possible acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc of Tribune Media Co, some Democrats in Congress said. Tribune did not discuss any tie up, but said in a statement the FCC decision "will serve the important interest of localism by enabling broadcasters to better serve their communities." FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he plans to take a new look at the current overall limit on companies owning stations serving no more than 39 percent of U.S. television households. Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn called the vote a "huge gift for large broadcasters with ambitious dreams of more consolidation." She said it "will have an immediate impact on the purchase and sale of television stations." Meredith Corp spokesman Art Slusark said on Thursday the vote "may open up the opportunity for more acquisition opportunities ... We are always interested in adding quality properties to our broadcast portfolio." Under rules adopted in 1985, stations with weaker over-the-air signals could be partially counted against a broadcaster''s ownership cap. But last year, the FCC under Democratic President Barack Obama said those rules were outdated after the 2009 conversion to digital broadcasting, which eliminated the differences in station signal strength. It revoked the rule in September. There is a dispute over whether the FCC has the authority to amend the 39 percent ownership limit. The 2016 decision did not require any company to sell existing stations, but could bar acquisitions. in September challenged the FCC rule in court. Reuters reported in March that Sinclair had approached Tribune to discuss a potential combination, which would hinge on regulations being relaxed. Pai said the FCC previously effectively tightened ownership rules and then companies previously below the national cap suddenly exceeded it. He said the FCC "did not examine whether the facts justified a more stringent cap." Pai, who was named by U.S. President Donald Trump to head the FCC in January, said it will begin a comprehensive review of the national cap this year. That could launch a new wave of consolidation in the broadcast television industry. Clyburn cited comments from CBS Corp Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves in February that Pai would be "very beneficial to our business." Moonves said the company would like to acquire more stations if the cap is lifted. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fcc-ownership-idINKBN17M21T'|'2017-04-20T14:21:00.000+03:00' '28e3eadfa565c9b8eeaa49dbada3905f627a2950'|'In Japan talks, U.S. VP Pence to seek market access, investment'|'By Roberta Rampton - SEOUL SEOUL U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Japan''s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S.-made products and attract Japanese investment for infrastructure projects in the United States.Tokyo is the second stop on Pence''s 10-day tour of Asia, a trip aimed at emphasizing that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost U.S. trade in the region even though he killed the 10-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact shortly after taking office."We thought it was important, particularly post-withdrawal (from) TPP, to let the region know that we haven''t forgotten about them," a White House economic policy adviser told reporters travelling with Pence.Advocates for the TPP, negotiated by former President Barack Obama, said it would have dramatically reduced tariffs on U.S. goods and opened new markets. But U.S. labour interests argued it would hurt American workers and Trump said he could negotiate a better deal.Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and shrink the country''s trade deficit with countries like Japan.He also vowed to renegotiate existing trade deals to focus on bilateral agreements rather than regional ones. Even the Korea-U.S. trade agreement could come under scrutiny for "tweaks," the adviser said.Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed in February to have Pence and Aso open an economic dialogue.The leaders are expected on Tuesday to agree on principles and a process for further detailed discussions between Japanese officials and the U.S. Commerce, Treasury, State and Agriculture Departments, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative, the adviser said.But Pence and Aso are not expected to get into the details. Japan wants to avoid opening talks on a bilateral trade deal for fear of being pressured into opening up highly protected areas of its economy, such as agriculture.Tuesday''s discussions will not prescribe a free-trade deal, though the talks eventually could lead to those kinds of negotiations, the White House adviser said."We ultimately want this to be about, how do we get more American products to Japan?" the adviser said.Pence will meet Abe for a working lunch. They are expected to be joined by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, in Tokyo for his own talks with Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko.INDIANA MODELPence developed ties with Japanese business and political leaders as governor of Indiana, a state that is home to Subaru ( 9778.T ), Honda ( 7267.T ) and Toyota ( 7203.T ) plants, and about 260 Japanese companies in total employing about 60,000 residents."To some extent, we want to do for the United States what we did for Indiana," the White House adviser said.It is the top U.S. state for per-capita foreign direct investment from Japan, including higher-technology and better-paying manufacturing jobs, said Victor Smith, Pence''s commerce secretary, when he led the state."This is not your dingy lit, oil-on-the-floor manufacturing facilities. These are LED-lit, epoxy-sealed floors with robots everywhere," Smith said in an interview.The Trump administration wants to find more of that kind of foreign direct investment, and hopes to attract some with the $1 trillion plan to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges and other types of infrastructure.That is a message Pence will take to upcoming stops this week in Jakarta and Sydney. While no immediate announcements are expected from Tokyo, the White House expects a "handful" of investment announcements while Pence is in Australia this weekend, the adviser said.Pence will meet with business leaders at each of his stops, starting on Tuesday morning in Seoul. Those sessions are aimed at reassuring businesses that trade in the United States is worth their while."Part of the trip is the very big symbolism of listening," the adviser said. "We''re not pivoting away from the region."(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg, Kiyoshi Takenaka, Leika Kihara in Tokyo; editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/pence-asia-japan-idINKBN17J1GS'|'2017-04-17T16:13:00.000+03:00' '2aa37cf3e938b46cc11c41d19401abbcaa8f121c'|'UPDATE 3-Cleveland police seek man they say broadcast killing on Facebook'|'(Adds police identifying victim)April 16 Cleveland police urged a suspect who they said broadcast video of himself on Facebook killing an elderly man on Sunday to turn himself in to authorities.Officials in the Ohio city said they were looking for Steve Stephens in connection with the one confirmed killing but had found no evidence to support what police said was a claim he made in the video of having killed more than a dozen other people."Everybody is out there looking for Steve," Calvin Williams, the Cleveland police chief, told a news conference, where he joined Mayor Frank Jackson in asking Stephens to turn himself in. They said Stephens might be driving a white or cream-colored Ford Fusion, and that he was armed and dangerous."We want this to end with as much peace as we can bring to this right now," Williams said, adding police knew of no other victims.Police said Stephens used Facebook Inc''s live-streaming video service, called Facebook Live, to broadcast the killing of the man, whom police identified as 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. Stephens is not believed to have known Godwin, police said.The world''s largest online social network, used by more than 1.2 billion people every day, condemned the accused killer''s action."This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook," said a spokesperson for the company. "We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety."It is not the first time a serious crime has been captured on Facebook Live. In January, four black people in Chicago were accused of attacking an 18-year-old disabled white man and broadcasting the assault on the service while making anti-white racial taunts.A month later, the suspects pleaded not guilty to assaulting the man. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby and Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/cleveland-murder-idINL1N1HO0KW'|'2017-04-16T23:56:00.000+03:00' '3f0595bb40e610e21a1266e0d6cb223a43abf8ce'|'DEALTALK-U.S. telecoms industry set for M&A negotiations frenzy'|'Deals 03am EDT U.S. telecoms industry set for M&A negotiations frenzy By Liana B. Baker and Anjali Athavaley In 10 days, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will lift a ban on telecoms companies engaging in merger talks, and Wall Street is betting on T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ), Sprint Corp ( S.N ) and Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ) to be the first ones out of the gate. Shares of these companies have soared over the past 12 months on expectations of deal talks, and are trading at up to 31 times forward earnings, versus the S&P 500 telecom services index''s .5SP50 18 times. The rich valuations could discourage acquirers, who also have to assume the risk that antitrust regulators may look askance at more consolidation in the sector after a wave of mergers in recent years, investment bankers and industry experts say. "It seems as though valuations have already jumped to a near certainty a deal will be announced and approved. You have to ask yourself whether T-Mobile is going to be as eager to do a deal as Sprint," said Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson. Sprint shares have risen 142 percent in the last 12 months, and T-Mobile shares have risen 65 percent. Both companies declined to comment on the possibility of a merger or how valuation considerations could be a factor. Investors have long expected a deal between T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless service providers, anticipating cost cuts and other synergies in the range of $6 billion to $10 billion. Reuters reported in February that Sprint''s controlling shareholder, SoftBank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), was positioning itself for deal talks with T-Mobile''s top shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG ( DTEGn.DE ), once a U.S. government auction of airwaves spectrum ended. Companies participating in the auction, which started last May, were banned from engaging in merger talks. The end of the auction last Thursday meant the FCC will lift the ban on April 27, when down payments are due from auction winners. T-Mobile and satellite TV provider Dish won the bulk of the spectrum, making them more attractive M&A targets, analysts said. T-Mobile now has more power to improve its network and support unlimited data packages for customers. Its financial results have also strengthened since it last held merger talks with Sprint in 2014. DISH TO BUILD NETWORK Controlled by Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen, Dish faces an FCC deadline to use the spectrum by 2021 to build its first wireless network. Some investors say Ergen will likely want a partner to help share the cost of the investment, even though he has said the company can build the network by itself. Analysts have viewed Dish as a likely target for Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ), since Dish would bring spectrum and its Internet TV business, Sling TV to the telecoms giant. Dish and Verizon declined to comment. Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told investors in December that a deal with cable operator Charter Communications Inc ( CHTR.O ) would make "industrial sense," igniting takeover speculation. With Charter, Verizon would gain a fiber and cable network across 49 million homes that could boost its wired network ahead of the advent of 5G wireless technology. Verizon and Charter declined to comment. Charter''s controlling shareholder, billionaire John Malone''s Liberty Broadband Corp LBDR.O, could be an obstacle to any deal. His lieutenant, Liberty Broadband Chief Executive Greg Maffei, said in March that "the hurdle around M&A is very high, because we are very enthused about our own plans." The price tag could also be an issue. Charter has a market capitalization of $101 billion and trades at 53 times forward earning estimates, far more expensive than Verizon''s 13 times. "One of our principle concerns is that a deal would come with a high price target, and thus, be materially dilutive," Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar wrote in a research note. Charter''s proxy statement to its shareholders shows that CEO Tom Rutledge has compensation incentives to take Charter''s share price to more than $564. The stock closed last week at $330. FCC STANCE UNCLEAR The stance of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on these mergers is not clear. Pai is seen as a friend to major telecommunications companies, but price wars between Sprint and T-Mobile have helped to lower wireless prices for consumers so regulators may be reluctant to remove that competition. It could be easier for regulators if cable and media group Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ) wanted to buy a wireless company as that would preserve four major carriers in the market, analysts said. Such a deal would be the most complementary for T-Mobile, according to Morningstar analyst Alex Zhao, since it would unite Comcast''s wired network with T-Mobile''s spectrum. However, Comcast seemed to be forging ahead with a standalone wireless strategy, launching a mobile service and an unlimited data plan earlier this month using Verizon''s airwaves and buying $1.7 billion in the spectrum auction. Comcast declined to comment. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Anjali Athavaley in New York; Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Tiffany Wu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-telecoms-m-a-idUSKBN17J0T6'|'2017-04-17T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'e395e7621c1687fd4f26cbc7820de2a30b775333'|'But it was spreads that put the ‘uni’ in Unilever - Business'|'One of the most memorable gags from long-running sitcom Only Fools and Horses centres on the road sweeper, Trigger, receiving a medal from the local council, awarded to him for saving taxpayers’ money by dutifully keeping the same broom for 20 years.“This old broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles in its time,” Trigger muses, prompting cafe owner Sid to ask: “How the hell can it be the same bloody broom, then?”Which, with impeccable Trigger-esque logic, brings us to consumer goods giant Unilever and its first-quarter results this week. The focus will be on the constituent parts that make up the giant group – the owner of brands ranging from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and Flora to Persil and Surf washing powders.At the firm’s margarine and spreads business, however, performance has been poor (they can’t believe it’s not better), prompting chief executive Paul Polman to put the division up for sale as part of a wider shakeup after he fought off a £115bn hostile takeover bid from US rival Kraft Heinz.However, like Trigger’s broom, that move raises fundamental questions about the identity of Unilever, which was formed in 1929 by a merger between Merseyside soap makers Lever Brothers, and Margarine Unie, a Netherlands-based collection of margarine makers. Without spreads, can it still be Unilever?Reckitt boss has a saucy plan How do you earn a £14m pay packet? Simple: start with one totalling £23m, preside over a safety scandal involving one of your products in a significant foreign market, and wait for the 39% pay cut to kick in.That is what has happened to Rakesh Kapoor, chief executive of consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser Group, which has a first-quarter trading update this week.There will be much to discuss too, aside from: one, the fallout from the South Korean government saying in 2015 that 92 people were believed to have died from injuries related to humidifier sterilisers, sold by several companies including Reckitt; and two, how Kapoor is getting by on his measly stipend of about £40k a day.Like Unilever, Reckitt is looking to shed a business, after putting its food group on the block earlier this month.Selling the division, which includes French’s mustard and Frank’s RedHot sauce, could fetch more than £2.4bn, which might come in handy following Reckitt’s planned $16.6bn purchase of baby formula firm Mead Johnson.Still, Kapoor’s plan to cut the mustard does seem to have cut the mustard, at least as far as shareholders are concerned. Shares are up since the announcement, at least giving some hope to Kapoor that he might get a fatter pay packet next time.It can’t be a win-win for Primark Prices are rising and wages aren’t, which means that our standard of living is falling. That irritation is likely to continue for a bit, too, with economists expecting the squeeze on inflation-adjusted wages to intensify over the coming months as the weak pound affects the cost of living.But is that bad news for everyone? Possibly not, if it makes shoppers trade down to cheaper retailers such as Primark , whose owner Associated British Foods (ABF) announces first-half results this week.Chris Beauchamp of financial spread betting group IG, mused: “Now, after recent data on wage growth has confirmed that UK shoppers’ pay packets are shrinking in real terms, we could see a boost for the cheaper end of the market, with Primark being a beneficiary.”Meanwhile, in what appears to be the sort of luck you’d expect to land only at an Irish retailer’s door, ABF said in February that Primark had been enjoying a boost from tourists drawn to Britain by the cheap pound.Sales at the cut-price fashion chain’s two stores in London’s Oxford Street were up 10% as the UK’s premier high street benefited from an influx of bargain-hunting visitors.Still, if you’re thinking that Primark wins both ways, it may not prove as simple as that.A weaker pound should eventually put some pressure on even this retailer, as suppliers tend to want to be paid in dollars. Primark has assured customers it is “working hard” on keeping costs down. We may find out just how hard this week.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/news/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/unilever-margarine-division-sale-results'|'2017-04-16T03:00:00.000+03:00' 'efc71eabcde3732129a248d0f7fa160b69de91db'|'Circassia gives up on allergy after house dust mite study fails'|' 31am BST Circassia gives up on allergy after house dust mite study fails LONDON Britain''s Circassia Pharmaceuticals ( CIRCI.L ) said on Tuesday it was halting allergy investment after an immunotherapy clinical study in house dust mite allergy failed. The setback follows similar disappointing results earlier with a cat allergy Phase III study. In future, the company said it would focus on its broader respiratory business, including a new U.S. collaboration with AstraZeneca ( AZN.L ). (Reporting by Ben Hirschler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-circassia-pharma-allergy-idUKKBN17K0I9'|'2017-04-18T14:31:00.000+03:00' '7704338bc587be1fa2cd206b2c6a376b28d24319'|'Roche''s Tecentriq wins FDA approval for treating advanced bladder cancer'|'Company News 25pm EDT Roche''s Tecentriq wins FDA approval for treating advanced bladder cancer April 17 Genentech, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, said on Monday it got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its already approved immunotherapy drug, Tecentriq, to treat advanced bladder cancer. Tecentriq, also known as atezolizumab, received the go-ahead under the FDA''s accelerated approval program as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced bladder cancer who are not eligible for standard cisplatin chemotherapy. The drug was earlier approved in patients with advanced or metastatic bladder cancer whose disease worsened within a year of receiving chemotherapy. The approval, which came six months after the FDA approved Tecentriq for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, is a boost to the Swiss drugmaker''s bid to expand indications for the drug. Tecentriq belongs to a closely watched class of drugs called PD-1 inhibitors, which help the immune system fight cancer by blocking a mechanism that tumors use to evade attack. Bladder cancer is the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, according to the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Benagluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/roche-fda-idUSL3N1HP57R'|'2017-04-18T07:25:00.000+03:00' '211940baf2f3953e58846e7bad1e21e56d281bd9'|'Nikkei edges up as dollar, Wall Street climb'|'Company News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 11:10pm EDT Nikkei edges up as dollar, Wall Street climb * Nikkei, dollar both pull away from recent 5-month lows * North Korea tensions ease, though still in background TOKYO, April 18 Japan''s Nikkei stock index took its cue from a rebound in U.S. shares and a weaker yen on Tuesday, pulling away from its recent five-month lows. The Nikkei was up 0.2 percent at midday at 18,398.24. The dollar added 0.1 percent at 108.96 yen, after plumbing five-month lows on Monday. It rose after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times he agreed with President Donald Trump that the dollar''s strength in the short term was hurting exports, but a strong dollar over the long term was positive. Wall Street rebounded overnight, as market focus shifted from tensions in North Korea and Syria to earnings later this week, with the S&P 500 pulling off last week''s two-month lows. "Much-awaited U.S. market rebound lifts the Tokyo market, and investors are not swayed by recent yen strength that usually depresses Japanese stocks," said Hiroki Allen, chief representative of Superfund Japan in Tokyo. Risk sentiment also perked up after North Korea''s latest missile blew up almost immediately after its test launch on Sunday. "Geopolitical risks in this region, particularly in Japan toward North Korea, had sent market sentiment to fairly extreme lows," said Stefan Worrall, director of Japan equity sales at Credit Suisse in Tokyo. But even as tensions eased, they did not evaporate. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday that recent American military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed Trump''s resolve should not be questioned, even as Pyongyang vowed to continue its missile and nuclear tests. Higher rates and the brighter market helped lift Japanese banking and financial shares. The Tokyo Stock Exchange''s banks subindex rose 1.7 and the securities subindex added 1.3 percent. Shares of engine maker Daihatsu Diesel jumped as much as 9.2 percent to their highest levels since mid-December, after it raised its group net profit outlook on Monday. The broader Topix added 0.4 percent to 1,471.47, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 also gained 0.4 percent to 13,190.03. (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idUSL3N1HQ1R0'|'2017-04-18T11:10:00.000+03:00' '2bfd41f13c719798f017e20b3df831f57725b0cb'|'Oil prices mixed after U.S. production seen rising'|'Global Energy News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 2:25am BST Oil prices mixed after U.S. production seen rising FILE PHOTO: Crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the Cushing oil hub, appearing to run out of space to contain a historic supply glut that hammered prices, in Cushing, Oklahoma, March 24, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo TOKYO Crude oil prices were mixed in thin trading on Tuesday after the Easter holiday break shut many markets for as long as four days and a U.S. government report indicated rising production, which may keep a cap on prices after recent gains. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 5 cents at $55.41 at 0058 GMT. They ended a quiet session on Monday down 53 cents at $55.36, after rising the three previous weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 1 cent at $52.64 a barrel. They settled down 53 cents at $52.65 a barrel. The benchmark for U.S. oil had also risen for three straight weeks through Thursday, before the Easter break. U.S. shale production in May is likely to post the biggest monthly gain in more than two years, government data showed on Monday, as producers have stepped up the pace of drilling with oil prices holding above $50 a barrel. May output is expected to rise by 123,000 barrels per day to 5.19 million bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration''s drilling productivity report. If that is right, May will have the biggest monthly increase since February 2015 and the highest monthly production level since November 2015. More barrels could be on their way to market from U.S. shale fields as financial companies are investing billions in production, a Reuters analysis shows. Any increase in output in the U.S., now the world''s third-biggest oil producer, will likely put pressure on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - which agreed to curb output at the end of last year - to cut production further. OPEC is due to meet on May 25 to weigh an extension of output cuts beyond June to alleviate a glut that has depressed prices for nearly three years. Still, Saudi Arabia''s energy minister has said it was too early to discuss an extension. (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17K04A'|'2017-04-18T09:25:00.000+03:00' '16e4c4df8e1d4cc821c60fba582242475decae40'|'RPT-Saudi Arabia pushes ahead with renewable drive to diversify energy mix'|'(Repeats April 17 story with no changes)By Rania El Gamal, Reem Shamseddine and Katie PaulRIYADH, April 17 Saudi Arabia aims to produce 10 percent of its power from renewable sources in the next six years as it pushes ahead with a multi-billion-dollar plan to diversify its energy mix and free up more crude oil for export.The drive by the world''s top oil exporter will see the kingdom developing 30 solar and wind projects by 2023 to boost its electricity generation and reduce crude oil burning.Saudi Arabia is targeting 9.5 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy by 2023. The renewables initiative involves investment estimated between $30 billion and $50 billion.Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih kicked off the massive renewable programme in Riyadh on Monday by announcing the beginning of the bidding process for a 300 megawatt (MW) solar power project, which is expected to come online by 2018-2019."The energy mix to produce electricity will change, today the kingdom uses large quantities of oil liquids, including crude, fuel oil and diesel," Falih said."So the percentage of renewable energy by 2023 (will be) 10 percent of total installed capacity in the kingdom."Under an economic reform programme launched last year, known as Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is seeking to use non-oil means to generate much of its additional future energy needs to avoid running down oil resources and diversify its economy.ENERGY REFORM PUSHThe kingdom is restructuring its energy sector as part of Vision 2030 and a focus on renewable projects is a pillar of this transformation as it would help develop the private sector and create thousands of jobs."Since the restructuring of the energy sector ... one of our key priorities is to engage with the private sector," Falih said, adding he was confident the programme would be delivered.Saudi Arabia has short-listed 27 companies for its solar power project and 24 firms for its wind project, the energy ministry said last week.France''s EDF Energies Nouvelles, Japanese companies Marubeni Corp and Mitsui & Co and Saudi Acwa Power are among the firms which have qualified to bid for the 300 MW solar PV project in Sakaka, the al-Jouf Province in the north of the kingdom.Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), GE, Marubeni Corporation, Mitsui & Co., JGC Corp, SNC Lavalin Arabia and Iberdrola Renovables Energia are among those qualified to bid for the 400 MW wind farm project in Midyan in the northwest.The kingdom also plans to launch a second bidding round for 400 MW of wind power at a project in Domat al-Jandal in al-Jouf Province by the fourth quarter of this year, which will be followed by 620 MW of solar power, Turki Shehri, head of the renewable energy project development office at the energy ministry told reporters on Monday."This will come in stages. It (wind power project) will come in the fourth quarter of this year with Domat al-Jandal, and then the 620 MW (solar) will come immediately after that in phases," he said.The projects will be tendered on a build, operate and own basis, meaning the companies which win the projects will retain ownership for 20 years for the solar plants and 25 years for the wind, Shehri said.State oil giant Saudi Aramco would be interested in investing in the second bidding round for renewable projects as it aims to play a major role in the sector, Abdulaziz al-Judaimi, senior vice president for downstream at Aramco said.Aramco, which is preparing to list up to 5 percent of its shares by next year, has created a department for renewables within the company to develop wind and solar projects.The kingdom has a long-term goal of increasing the use of gas for domestic power generation, thus reducing oil burning at home and freeing up more crude for export.This could help increase Aramco''s valuation as it generates more revenue from exports than selling oil at lower domestic prices - Saudi Arabia is the world''s fifth-biggest oil consumer despite being only the 20th biggest economy.The OPEC heavyweight burned an average of 700,000 bpd of oil for electricity to keep the population cool in the hottest months from May to August.The expansion into renewables will help the kingdom to save 18 million barrels of oil equivalent being consumed for electricity generation by 2020, Shehri said. (Editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/saudi-renewable-idINL8N1HP1EO'|'2017-04-18T05:00:00.000+03:00' '3052d332b6575b45d6bf1c3b7e361e63a3e2d379'|'UPDATE 1-Finnish used car retailer Kamux revives IPO plan'|'(Adds comments, detail)HELSINKI, April 18 Finland''s Kamux, a used car retailer, is making a fresh attempt to list its shares after withdrawing an initial public offering (IPO) last year, it said on Tuesday.Kamux, majority-owned by Finnish private equity firm Intera Partners, last year cancelled its IPO after an internal audit found that salaries of some employees had been partly paid in fuel, meaning the company had not paid all of its taxes.Spokeswoman Satu Heikkila said the unpaid taxes and social security costs amounted to less than 60,000 euros ($64,900), that the company had resolved the problem, and that the cancellation of the previous IPO had nothing to do with the level of investors'' interest in the company."(The cancellation) was regrettable because interest towards the company was strong ... but corporate responsibility issues are extremely important these days," she said.The new IPO is aimed at raising about 20 million euros of new equity that would be used to support growth. The shares would be listed on the main list of the Helsinki bourse.Last year, the company had revenue of 405 million euros, up 31 percent from 2015. Kamux, which has business in Finland, Sweden and Germany, said it was targeting at least 700 million euros of sales by 2019.Kamux declined to give a timetable for the planned listing.Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken is the financial adviser and the bookrunner for the IPO, while OP Corporate Bank is the co-lead manager.($1 = 0.9390 euros) (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kamux-ipo-idINL8N1HQ1D8'|'2017-04-18T07:06:00.000+03:00' '6fbb5ab197d3e4c735f93d8c5fd39ec9980ab252'|'BRIEF-Hitgen, Pfizer enter research collaboration and license agreement to build and screen novel DNA-encoded libraries'|' 21am EDT BRIEF-Hitgen, Pfizer enter research collaboration and license agreement to build and screen novel DNA-encoded libraries April 18 (Reuters) - * Hitgen and Pfizer enter research collaboration and license agreement to build and screen novel dna-encoded libraries * Hitgen - Pfizer will fund the research at Hitgen '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-hitgen-pfizer-enter-research-colla-idUSFWN1HQ024'|'2017-04-18T15:21:00.000+03:00' '9cb81f5569b980799ab72525c8f0c7382901646e'|'METALS-Copper slips on geopolitical tensions, aluminium sees China boost'|' 23am EDT METALS-Copper slips on geopolitical tensions, aluminium sees China boost * Drop in European equities flags up investor caution * Three new aluminium projects halted in China * Lead slides to lowest since early January * LME-SHFE arb: tmsnrt.rs/2oQ5nm2 (Updates with official prices) By Jan Harvey LONDON, April 18 Copper fell on Tuesday as risk aversion in wider markets related to tensions over North Korea hit base metals, with lead also sliding to a three-month low and zinc down more than 1 percent. But aluminium rose as traders returned from a four-day Easter break to news of upcoming capacity cuts in China. "There is still some uncertainty in the market about geopolitical issues, and there is some risk aversion at this stage," ABN Amro analyst Casper Burgering said. "A small deficit (in copper) is expected this year, and demand is very good... but that hasn''t benefited the metal." Aluminium rose after Shanghai aluminium futures hit a near four-year high on Monday. "There is still a lot of oversupply in aluminium, and a lot of stocks, and that oversupply has depressed prices for quite some time," Burgering said. "Now you see there are initiatives to cut capacity in China, and prices are moving (up)." * PRICES: London Metal Exchange copper was down 0.7 percent in official midday trading at $5,650 a tonne, as the LME resumed trading after the Easter weekend. * FINANCIAL MARKETS: European shares fell as tensions over North Korea and the coming weekend''s French election kept investors on edge. UK stocks fell after British Prime Minister Theresa May surprised markets by calling an early parliamentary election for June 8. * NORTH KOREA: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea''s nuclear and missile ambitions on Tuesday, after warning that U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve. * INDONESIA EXPORTS: Freeport McMoRan Inc has received a preliminary approval to resume copper concentrate exports from its Indonesian unit and is now in the process of obtaining an export permit, a company spokesman said. * ALUMINIUM CAPACITY: Three new aluminium projects with a capacity of 2 million tonnes have been halted in Xinjiang in western China for violating rules aimed at curbing capacity, state-owned China Securities Times reported on Sunday. * ALUMINIUM: LME aluminium was untraded in official rings, and was last bid up 0.9 percent at $1,928 a tonne. * TECHNICALS: LME aluminium may drop into a range of $1,914-$1,930 a tonne to fill a common gap forming on Tuesday, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. LME copper may test support at $5,689 per tonne, a break below which could spark a retreat to the next support at $5,629. * SPEC POSITIONING: Hedge funds and other money managers increased their net long positions in COMEX copper, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed Friday. * OTHER METALS: LME tin was up 1.1 percent at $19,825 a tonne in official trading. Other metals were untraded in official rings. Zinc was last bid down 1 percent at $2,597 a tonne, lead was 2.5 percent lower at $2,184 a tonne, and nickel was down 1.7 percent at $9,580. (Additional reporting by James Regan in Sydney; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL3N1HQ3H7'|'2017-04-18T20:23:00.000+03:00' '9012b3b2d249879c453197339c885c5b4580a29c'|'China will open up capital account in prudent and orderly way - FX regulator'|'BEIJING China will push forward with opening up its capital account in a prudent and orderly way, the country''s foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday.While regulators have stepped up supervision of money leaving the country, State Administration of Foreign Exchange spokeswoman Wang Chunying told a news conference that China will not go back to the old road of capital controls.(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-forex-idUKKBN17M0AE'|'2017-04-20T11:10:00.000+03:00' '63518ca97f605ef38fa7bdadfc860792d30f9b31'|'China''s Ant Financial raises offer for MoneyGram to $1.2 billion'|'Deals 19am BST China''s Ant Financial raises offer for MoneyGram to $1.2 billion FILE PHOTO - A logo of Ant Financial is displayed at the Ant Financial event in Hong Kong, China November 1, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo SINGAPORE China''s Ant Financial has raised its offer for electronic payment firm MoneyGram International Inc ( MGI.O ) and the deal was unanimously approved by the U.S. firm''s board, outbidding rival Euronet Worldwide Inc ( EEFT.O ). Ant, the finance affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ), increased its offer to $18 per share in cash from $13.25, and the transaction is valued at around $1.2 billion, a statement by Ant and Moneygram said. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-moneygram-intl-m-a-ant-financial-idUKKBN17J02P'|'2017-04-17T09:19:00.000+03:00' '10bcb8f86573b9b7b9f29e987774b93fb9d52b20'|'Japan government picks banker, reflationist economist for BOJ board'|' 54pm IST Japan government picks banker, reflationist economist for BOJ board FILE PHOTO - A Japanese flag flutters atop the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Sumio Ito and Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s government nominated a reflation-minded economist and an executive from a megabank which has been critical of radical monetary easing to join the central bank''s nine-member board, in a choice seen as maintaining the status quo on monetary policy. The nominations, presented to parliament on Tuesday, suggest the Bank of Japan will maintain its massive stimulus but with an eye on concerns held by the country''s banks that its policy of capping bond yields is hurting profits, some analysts say. One of the nominees, Goushi Kataoka, a 44-year-old economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, has been a vocal advocate of premier Shinzo Abe''s reflationist policies including the BOJ''s huge asset-buying programme. The government also nominated 63-year-old Hitoshi Suzuki, a director for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, to join the board. "One is an economist reflecting the government''s reflationist stance and another is a bank executive who probably dislikes excessive easing. It''s a well-balanced choice," said Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at BNP Paribas Securities. The two would replace former market economists Takahide Kiuchi and Takehiro Sato, whose five-year terms end in July. The nominations suggest BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda would have fewer opponents of his massive stimulus programme, as both Kiuchi and Sato were openly against keeping the bank''s unorthodox policy in place for too long. MENDING STRAINED RELATIONS After three years of heavy money printing failed to accelerate inflation to its 2 percent target, the BOJ revamped its policy framework last September to one better suited for a long-term battle to beat deflation. Under the new framework, the BOJ now guides short-term interest rates to minus 0.1 percent and the 10-year government bond yield around zero percent via asset purchases. An advocate of aggressive asset purchases, Kataoka has called for reigniting Japan''s economy through bold monetary and fiscal stimulus measures. "I think he would place emphasis on getting Japan out of deflation," said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. "I think he would be cautious about reducing monetary easing," said Kichikawa, who knows Kataoka well. Little is known of Suzuki''s stance on monetary policy, though he is unlikely to rock the boat given his background as a banker from one of Japan''s top financial institutions. Some analysts say Suzuki may serve as a counter-balance to a board dominated by reflationist-minded members, as he could be more vocal of the pain ultra-low interest rates are inflicting on banks. Bond traders were stunned last year when Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), one of the nation''s three megabanks, said it was giving up its status as a primary dealer of Japanese government bonds. The move was seen as the clearest and most public display yet of growing distaste over the BOJ''s negative rate policy by one of the biggest players in the government bond market. An expert of financial markets, Suzuki could help the BOJ communicate its policy intentions more clearly to markets in the event of an exit from its massive stimulus, they say. Others say the choice of a bank executive may be an attempt by policymakers to mend relations between the BOJ and the banking sector - strained after the central bank''s abrupt decision last year to adopt negative interest rates. "The nomination of Suzuki signals a return to the days an executive from a major Japanese bank always held a position at the BOJ board," said Tetsuya Inoue, chief researcher at Nomura Research Institute. "It''s a positive move in terms of enhancing the BOJ''s communication with markets." The appointments need approval by the upper and lower houses of the parliament, which are considered a near certainty as the ruling coalition holds a solid majority in both chambers. (Additional reporting by Stanley White, Kaori Kaneko and Izumi Nakagawa; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-boj-idINKBN17K0RV'|'2017-04-18T16:24:00.000+03:00' 'faeaed8c0c06f15ceaf00182c0a02e0c06abc458'|'BRIEF-ICE expands Daily Trading Limit for Cotton No. 2 futures'|' 26pm EDT BRIEF-ICE expands Daily Trading Limit for Cotton No. 2 futures April 20 Intercontinental Exchange Inc: * ICE Futures U.S.- Daily Trading Limit for all cotton no. 2 futures contract delivery months will expand to 4 cents per pound (400 points) above and below prior day settlement price * ICE Futures U.S.- The 4 cent limit is effective with the start of trading for Friday, April 21, 2017 (Reporting by Apeksha Nair in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-ice-expands-daily-trading-limit-fo-idUSL3N1HS5DS'|'2017-04-21T03:26:00.000+03:00' 'a807565a867a319eadc18f75c00fbeadd3538040'|'M&S to close six stores as it tries to ''stay in tune'' with shoppers'|'Marks & Spencer has announced plans to close six stores, affecting 380 jobs, but the retailer has pledged to find staff alternative posts in nearby outlets.The announcement comes after Debenhams, Britain’s second-largest department store chain, warned that several hundred jobs are at risk as part of a shakeup that will close up to 10 shops and 11 warehouses.M&S said last year that it planned to close 30 UK stores and convert 45 more into food-only shops as part of a business overhaul designed to slash the amount of shopfloor space devoted to its ailing clothing ranges.On Thursday, the retailer confirmed that the first “full-line” stores – which sell clothing, homeware and food – to close would be in Portsmouth, Slough, Warrington and Wokingham. It is also closing Simply Food outlets in York’s Monks Cross centre and Worksop.Debenhams jobs at risk as stores close in ''social shopping'' restructure Read moreThe M&S chief executive, Steve Rowe, said stores would always be an integral part of the business but customers’ shopping habits were changing.“Picking up food for now or tonight rather than doing one big shop, or browsing and shopping online and collecting in store, are great examples of this,” he said. “We are committed to adapting our business so that we stay in tune with our customers.”Despite the closure programme, M&S is still opening new stores, with 34 food and two full-line shops due to open in the next six months, expected to create 1,400 jobs.Locations include food halls in London’s Bishopsgate, Huntingdon, Aylesbury and Spinningfields in central Manchester. The new clothing, home and food stores will open in Bracknell and Rushden this summer.City analysts have said M&S has too many stores at a time when sales are transferring to the internet. The retailer has 959 UK shops, comprised of 304 full-line stores and 615 food branches. The shakeup of the company’s estate will mean a reduction of 10% in the floor space devoted to racks of skirts, jumpers and trousers. The plan will cost £150m over three years.Rowe said the plans would mean “more M&S colleagues working in an increased number of convenient locations”.“We will open new stores, some will reduce in size, some will move, some will close and others will convert to food only,” he said. “Each proposal we make will be very carefully considered with our colleagues and customers firmly front of mind. It is our intention that nobody leaves M&S and we will work as hard as possible to ensure that we can deliver against this promise.”The retailer said staff affected by the store closure programme would be offered “guaranteed redeployment” at a nearby branch. In Monks Cross, for example, the company said there is a full-line shop within 500 metres, but in Worksop, the new store it highlights as an alternative employer is 9 miles (14km) away.Topics Marks & Spencer Retail industry news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/20/marks-spencer-close-stores-mands-clothing--ood'|'2017-04-20T03:00:00.000+03:00' '4dc58b002ed16f3b87b666b1107536d2352a0162'|'BRIEF-SITO Mobile filed a preliminary consent revocation solicitation statement with SEC'|' 20am EDT BRIEF-SITO Mobile filed a preliminary consent revocation solicitation statement with SEC April 20 SITO Mobile Ltd * SITO Mobile Ltd - Filed a preliminary consent revocation solicitation statement with SEC * SITO Mobile- Statement in response to preliminary consent solicitation statement filed on April 12 by Stephen Baksa, Thomas Candelaria, other participants * SITO Mobile Ltd - "Advises stockholders to take no action" Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-sito-mobile-filed-a-preliminary-co-idUSFWN1HS0FB'|'2017-04-20T21:20:00.000+03:00' 'dd7aaddffa452029df0302d50b175971a9fd1002'|'Euro zone growth steady but modest - if political status quo remains: Reuters poll'|'Business News 06am BST Euro zone growth steady but modest - if political status quo remains: Reuters poll left right Supporters for Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, (Onwards !), and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, attend a campaign political rally in Saint-Herblain near Nantes, France, April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe 1/3 left right A poster campaign with factice portable cellphone numbers for French presidential candidates, Top row from L, Benoit Hamon, Socialist Party candidate, Emmanuel Macron, candidate for ''En Marche !'' or (Onwards !), Nathalie Arthaud, candidate for France''s extreme-left Lutte Ouvriere, and Marine Le Pen, the National Front (FN) leader and candidate; Bottom row R, Francois Fillon, the Republicans centre-right candidate, are seen on a wall in Paris, France, April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier 2/3 left right A man looks at campaign posters of the 11th candidates who run in the 2017 French presidential election in Enghien-les-Bains, near Paris, France April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann - RTS12ZQ5 3/3 By Shrutee Sarkar Euro zone economic growth will be steady but modest over the coming year, but that will depend partly on independent candidate Emmanuel Macron winning the French presidency next month, a Reuters poll of economists showed. The results suggest forecasters, like investors and traders, appear unrattled by political uncertainty as France prepares for a presidential election in which far right and anti-European Union leader Marine Le Pen is polling strongly, although no major survey sees her winning. France is the EU''s second biggest economy so turmoil there would weigh on the wider bloc. "A win by the populist Marine Le Pen in the second round could result in a prolonged period of uncertainty as she attempts to negotiate better terms for France remaining in the EU." said Beata Caranci, chief economist at TD Securities. "This outcome would undoubtedly increase volatility in global financial markets, particularly in European equities, bonds, and currencies." A separate poll of foreign exchange strategists earlier this month showed the euro falling about 5 percent to near 15-year lows and close to parity against the dollar in the immediate aftermath of a Le Pen win the vote. [EUR/POLL] Still, the latest poll of over 80 economists showed predictions for euro zone growth and inflation have barely budged over the last two years of monthly Reuters surveys. "Our macro views involve assumptions on not just policy but also politics, especially in Europe. For example, underlying our growth forecasts is the view that European elections will not lead to governments that try to take their countries out of the euro area," noted Ajay Rajadhyaksha, head of macro research at Barclays. When asked which candidate for the presidency would be best for French economic growth, 30 of 51 respondents said Emmanuel Macron, 19 said François Fillon and the remaining two economists said both. But none chose Marine Le Pen. For a graphic: reut.rs/2pBAZQr STEADY AS SHE GOES Economic growth in the euro zone is expected to be steady at 0.4 percent in each quarter through the third quarter of next year, unchanged from last month''s poll. Median consensus for annual GDP growth for this year was 1.7 percent and for next it was 1.6 percent, in line with the International Monetary Fund''s latest projections. But inflation is forecast to remain below the European Central Bank''s target of close to but under 2 percent until at least 2019. The highest call was for inflation to average 2.1 percent this year. Those decent-yet-uninspiring predictions come despite surprisingly strong business confidence surveys and hints of a pick up in price pressures since the start of the year. But with the inflation outlook still tepid, economists unanimously said the ECB would stand pat at its monetary policy meeting on April 27. The central bank is expected to keep its interest rates on hold through to until at least the fourth quarter of 2018. While the ECB is expected to remain on the sidelines through this year, when asked on the next likely move, a majority of economists said it would extend its asset purchases programme beyond December 2017 with a cut to the monthly spend, currently at 60 billion euros per month. The next top pick was for the ECB to announce a taper to its asset purchase programme with an intention to wind it down completely. "The first step in the ECB''s exit strategy is likely to be tapering and not hiking policy rates," said Kristian Toedtmann, economist at DekaBank. "The ECB wants to withdraw stimulus only very slowly. At the same time, it seems not inclined to extend the universe of assets that it can buy. Therefore, the most consistent way to normalise monetary policy would be to phase out QE." (Additional reporting by Sujith Pai; Polling and analysis by Vartika Sahu Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-economy-poll-idUKKBN17M0QH'|'2017-04-20T15:41:00.000+03:00' '06124d60916a4e9dfa864ca80b3da72b8daf83ec'|'En garde!: Paris bankers brace for restless night of French election'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 9:10am BST En garde!: Paris bankers brace for restless night of French election Candidates pose prior to a prime-time televised debate for the French 2017 presidential election in La Plaine Saint-Denis, near Paris, France, April 4, 2017. L to R: Jean-Luc Melenchon of the Parti de Gauche, Francois Fillon of the Republicans party, Jean Lassalle, Nathalie... REUTERS/Lionel Bonaventure/Pool By Maya Nikolaeva - PARIS PARIS Paris bankers and brokers will be on call, ready to scoot to the office as results of the first round of the roller-coaster French presidential election start to dribble in this Sunday. Their workload will depend on the outcome of the tight race that could potentially see two extremes -- the far right Marine Le Pen and the communist-backed leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon -- make it to the second round. [DATA/] But the preparations underway already reflect the bankers'' experience in facing market volatility following Britain''s shock vote to leave the European Union and U.S. presidential elections last year. Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ) said it would be holding a conference call on the evening of Sunday, April 23 with some of its economists and strategists to discuss the first round results. Traders and financial analysts in some of the world''s biggest investment firms in London will also be on standby for advising clients on Sunday evening and also primed for pre-dawn starts on Monday. However those contacted by Reuters said they would leave actual overnight trading in the euro or any cash bond or equity transactions to their Asia operations. First exit polls are expected at around 1800 GMT on Sunday or 2000 Paris time. In Paris, French asset manager La Francaise with 60 billion euros ($64 billion) under management has a special task force in place for the election that will be on call or could even meet in the office on Sunday evening to decide on what to advise clients on Monday. "In any case, the task force will meet early on Monday ... and have a strong shot of coffee in order to brief teams," one of the asset manager''s staff said. One reason, brokerage Nomura said, is that it will be the April 23 vote that gives investors "the most information" as to who will be the next president after the may run-off. "Jean-Luc Melenchon has seen such a rise in support that it is now a true four-way race," Nomura''s forex strategists said. "The gaps between candidates in the first round are close to the margins of error, while in the second they are far apart and in the ''safe zone'' polling numbers." The latest polls show centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Le Pen narrowly beating other candidates in the first round, followed by the conservative Francois Fillon and far-left Melenchon. Melenchon proposes a 100-billion-euro economic stimulus plan funded by government borrowing, corporate nationalization in some sectors, devaluation of the euro currency, withdrawal from NATO and possible exit from the European Union. His sudden rise in opinion surveys is worrying many investors, because various poll scenarios show he could win should he reach the second round. Le Pen does not off much solace. She plans to leave the euro currency and hold a vote on European Union membership. "I will be ready on Sunday-Monday, but my hope is that there will be no disastrous scenario and I won''t have to work," a London-based analyst covering French banks said. HEDGING Some investment banks and asset managers have already reduced and hedged their exposure to assets that could bear the brunt of volatility, depending on the outcome of the elections. "As for fixed income investors, they have also already sold out, because there was a buyer –- the (European Central Bank) , which bought hundreds of billions of euros (of debt). There is no big reason to have a long position on France," said Jean-Francois Legoux, a strategist at UBS Global Asset Management, based in Paris. Forex brokerage Saxo Bank in Paris said it tried to make sure all clients were aware of potential risks, while offering all the money management tools so that they don''t have a significant exposure with no protection in the markets. "In any event, just as with Brexit, any spasm is bound to be very short-lived," one Geneva-based trader said. For a graphic on French election, click here (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-markets-idUKKBN17L25J'|'2017-04-20T16:06:00.000+03:00' '1c5a57e0662be520a526609436098d9a4f1ec358'|'Fidelity and Guaranty says will no longer be acquired by China''s Anbang'|'Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 2:42am BST Fidelity and Guaranty says will no longer be acquired by China''s Anbang The headquarters building of Anbang Insurance Group are pictured in Beijing, China, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee SHANGHAI - Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) ( FGL.N ), a U.S. annuities and life insurer, said on Tuesday it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by China''s Anbang Insurance group. Reuters reported earlier that the Chinese insurer would let its agreement to acquire FGL for $1.6 billion lapse after failing to secure all the necessary regulatory approvals. FGL is looking at alternative strategies and "has received interest from a number of parties," it said in a news release. Anbang did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The development casts new doubt on Anbang''s commitment to U.S. deals, following its abandoned attempt last year to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $14 billion. Established in 2004, Anbang signed more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last 2-1/2 years, with high-profile investments including a $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. (Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Matthew Miller in Beijing; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-fidelityguarantylife-m-a-anbang-idUKKBN17K052'|'2017-04-18T09:38:00.000+03:00' '17a664deb70a082912a137d58b62dc6921491c85'|'Fed''s Fischer says balance sheet plan will not affect Fed policy'|'Business 11am BST Fed''s Fischer says balance sheet plan will not affect Fed policy FILE PHOTO:U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer addresses The Economic Club of New York in New York March 23, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo NEW YORK Trimming the U.S. central bank''s $4.5 trillion balance sheet "in effect" tightens U.S. monetary policy, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said on Monday, though he added that there would likely be little impact on Fed policy. Asked whether drawing down the balance sheet would affect monetary policy, "Well it shouldn''t, I don''t think," Fischer said after a speech at Columbia University. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer, writing by Ann Saphir; editing by Diane)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-fed-fischer-balance-sheet-idUKKBN17J1SJ'|'2017-04-18T07:11:00.000+03:00' '14d1428b5d9e9d34df1bcf63c3783b2d960a7dac'|'FCA says EU access vital for healthy competition'|'Business News 9:08am BST FCA says EU access vital for healthy competition The logo of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seen at the agency''s headquarters in the Canary Wharf business district of London April 1, 2013. REUTERS/Chris Helgren By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Access to European Union markets and people after Britain leaves the bloc is essential for maintaining healthy competition in financial services, the country''s markets watchdog said on Tuesday. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) set out the key principles for advising the government on EU withdrawal negotiations in its annual business plan for next year, with handling uncertainties surrounding Brexit a top priority. "Open markets are an important enabler of healthy competition, supporting FCA objectives," the watchdog said. The regulator said the ability to recruit a diverse workforce would also help to ensure that markets and firms are well run and remain competitive - a nod to concerns at banks that they may no longer be able to recruit freely from EU countries in future. Consistent global regulatory standards and cooperation between national authorities will also be "fundamental regardless of the outcomes of the negotiations." The FCA said Britain should also have a say over the rules it applies. Regulators have said they do not want Britain to become a "rule taker" in order to obtain EU market access, meaning they must match the bloc''s standards. It remains unclear if banks and other financial firms in Britain will have access to EU markets after Brexit. Some companies have decided to build up operations in the EU rather than risk disruption to established customer links. "This lack of clarity will potentially lead to a period of prolonged uncertainty for markets, firms and consumers," the FCA said. The watchdog, funded by levies on the firms it supervises, said its total requirement for financial the year starting this month was 526.9 million pounds, up 1.5 percent or 7.6 million pounds on the previous year. The increase is partly due to 2.5 million pounds extra needed to handle Brexit, the watchdog said. The FCA also published its new "Mission", a 36-page document that resets the regulator''s core objectives as new chief executive, Andrew Bailey, seeks to draw a line under a string a mis-selling scandals spanning more than two decades. The Mission, in line with a draft version that was put out to public consultation, seeks to strike a balance between demands and finite resources, saying that protecting the most vulnerable customers would be a priority. "The Mission gives firms and consumers greater clarity about how and why we prioritise, protect and intervene in financial markets," Bailey said in a statement. It is being made clearer, for example, that when a firm or individual is referred to enforcement, this does not mean that the watchdog already believes wrongdoing has taken place. The watchdog also published for the first time documents that set out its internal thinking on key parts of the financial industry. It will also launch a strategic review of retail banking business models in the year ahead, look at the motor finance industry, review pricing practices in general insurance, assess "robo" or automated advice models, (Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-regulator-idUKKBN17K0Q9'|'2017-04-18T16:08:00.000+03:00' 'e3d0bbf3804ecbe5e73590da46fc7a830f794393'|'FGL terminates takeover deal by Chinese insurer Anbang'|'SHANGHAI - U.S. annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) ( FGL.N ) said on Tuesday it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by Anbang Insurance Group Co Ltd [ANBANG.UL], becoming the latest deal involving the Chinese insurer to have fallen through in recent years.Reuters reported earlier that Anbang would let its agreement to acquire FGL for $1.6 billion lapse after failing to secure all necessary regulatory approvals.The development casts new doubt on Anbang''s commitment to U.S. deals, following its abandoned attempt last year to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $14 billion.It also comes amid a sharp fall in Chinese outbound deals as authorities strengthen curbs over capital outflows. China''s non-financial outbound direct investment fell 30.1 percent in March from a year earlier, according to government data published on Tuesday.Starwood is the most high-profile deal Anbang has abandoned, although the Chinese firm has previously bowed out of several other smaller deals.Anbang did not immediately respond to requests for comment.FGL said in a statement it was looking at alternative strategies and "has received interest from a number of parties."Anbang''s FGL acquisition bid had received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. government panel that scrutinizes deals for potential national security concerns, but was unable to get past some U.S. state regulators.Established in 2004, Anbang burst onto the global scene from near obscurity by signing more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last 2-1/2 years, including a $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.Corporate records in China show Anbang is owned by 39 privately held and little-known companies scattered across China.(Reporting by Engen Tham in SHANGHAI and Matthew Miller in BEIJING; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-fidelityguarantylife-m-a-anbang-idINKBN17K0TA'|'2017-04-18T07:18:00.000+03:00' 'fa4beaf7eb95d22c6dc7ba66c25f12bb9d212c18'|'Former LME accountant sentenced to 32 months in prison for fraud'|' 22pm BST Former LME accountant sentenced to 32 months in prison for fraud LONDON A former accountant at the London Metal Exchange (LME) was sentenced to 32 months in prison at the Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday for fraud while working at the world''s biggest market for industrial metals. Annmarie Norris had pleaded guilty to two fraud charges for using LME credit cards to buy goods and services for herself and her family and also for ordering foreign exchange that was not needed by the exchange. In November, Norris was charged with fraud worth about 1 million pounds that occurred between December 2012 and December 2015, according to an indictment from the Crown Prosecution Service. At a December hearing, charges against her husband Michael Norris of converting criminal property worth 167,595 pounds were dismissed. The LME, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd ( 0388.HK ), has not commented on the case. (Reporting by Eric Onstad and Peter Hobson; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lme-fraud-idUKKBN17K1FP'|'2017-04-18T20:22:00.000+03:00' 'e0caca9a8b64828aca2deb7b40527b949ba5ba40'|'South Africa''s Sibanye to raise $1 billion in equity for Stillwater deal'|'JOHANNESBURG South African miner Sibanye Gold ( SGLJ.J ) plans to tap shareholders for about $1 billion to partly fund a takeover of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining Co ( SWC.N ), it said on Tuesday, a day after the deal secured a U.S. regulatory approval.The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which examines deals for potential national security concerns, has cleared Sibanye''s $2.2 billion takeover of the country''s sole platinum and palladium miner.The deal will increase South Africa''s grip over global platinum and palladium supply and underline Sibanye Chief Executive Neal Froneman''s determination to branch out of gold mining and South Africa."Sibanye management and board has determined that a US$1 billion equity capital raise, through the rights offer, is optimal given current market conditions," it said in a statement.The company also said it would raise a further $1 billion in debt, most likely in the bond market, to fund the transaction.It expects the two tranches of capital to be raised by the end of June.The deal is still subject to shareholder votes of both companies. Stillwater and Sibanye have scheduled shareholders'' meetings on April 25 to vote on the proposed merger.(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-stillwater-minng-m-a-sibanye-gold-idINKBN17K0LT'|'2017-04-18T05:12:00.000+03:00' '676cb670c8d45cc289d5cc0a2f1a13a4181d6391'|'MOVES-EMC executive joins Warburg Pincus as adviser'|'By Liana B. Baker - April 18 April 18 Paul Maritz, a technology executive who held senior roles at EMC Corp, Microsoft Corp and VMWare Inc, has joined Warburg Pincus LLC as an industry adviser, the private equity firm announced on Tuesday.Maritz, 62, will advise Warburg Pincus on software investments with a focus on cloud computing and machine learning. Machine learning is an emerging technology that can help predict behavior based on past patterns by crunching large amounts of data.Maritz is executive chairman of EMC''s Pivotal unit and is on the board of directors of VMware Inc, where he had served as a CEO from 2008 to 2012. Computer maker Dell Inc bought EMC for about $67 billion last year and now owns 80 percent of VMware.Warburg Pincus, which has $44 billion in private equity assets under management, is looking to invest more in machine learning technology, especially as it can be applied to companies, Warburg Pincus'' managing director, Cary Davis, said in an interview.Some of the technology companies that Warburg has invested in, such as cyber security firm CrowdStrike, use machine learning in some of their offerings but the firm has not made an investment in a company that focuses solely on the technology."Business to business (B2B) machine learning in the next 10 years will be as big as enterprise software is now," Davis said.Maritz was an adviser to Warburg Pincus 15 years ago and founded Pi Corporation, a software firm backed by Warburg that was sold to EMC in 2008.Maritz will join a handful of other industry technology advisers at Warburg Pincus, including Scot Melland, a former CEO of human resources software company DHI Group Inc who joined the firm in 2015. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/warburgpincus-moves-maritz-idINL1N1HP0ZR'|'2017-04-18T09:00:00.000+03:00' 'b11daa9fc02f2d5c28e76e1b9b2d0ee6f53ecc26'|'BRIEF-Activist hedge fund CIAM says Euro Disney''s buyout offer not fair for minority investors'|'April 18 Euro Disney/CIAM:* CIAM says 2 euros per share buyout offer for Euro Disney''s minority shareholders is not fair* CIAM says thinks minimum acceptable price is 2.50 euros/share* Walt Disney is in process of taking full control of debt-ridden Paris theme park operator Euro Disney* Walt Disney has said it would support a recapitalisation of up to 1.5 billion euros, helping cut debt and improve Euro Disney''s financial position.* Minority shareholders will be offered 2 euros a share to sell their stake to Walt Disney - a 67 percent premium to Euro Disney''s share price on Feb 9, which was the day before the offer was announced.* Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal also involved in Walt Disney''s plans to take full control of Euro Disney'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-activist-hedge-fund-ciam-says-euro-idINL8N1HQ1YM'|'2017-04-18T07:35:00.000+03:00' 'ad5fbc15c8fe0bcf32fb4ce019b96137d55722ac'|'Goldman Sachs quarterly profit surges 80 percent'|'Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported an 80 percent jump in quarterly profit as the Wall Street bank benefited from a pick up in global equity and debt offerings.Net income applicable to common shareholders jumped to $2.16 billion in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.2 billion a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2nYyF63 )Earnings per share rose to $5.15 from $2.68. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $5.31 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.Provision for taxes fell 35.6 percent to $284 million.Morgan Stanley, Goldman''s traditional rival, reports earnings on Wednesday.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru and Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/goldman-sachs-results-idINKBN17K1CC'|'2017-04-18T09:50:00.000+03:00' '87f4b1cc7337d78dee8d00e3a424fc127d4ef9b2'|'South Korea''s Netmarble eyes $4.4 billion war chest for acquisitions after IPO'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 9:17am BST South Korea''s Netmarble eyes $4.4 billion war chest for acquisitions after IPO FILE PHOTO: The logo of Netmarble Games is seen at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, March 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo By Joyce Lee - SEOUL SEOUL South Korea''s Netmarble Games Corp said on Tuesday it expects to have a war chest of some $4.4 billion (£3.5 billion) for acquisitions after an imminent IPO, and plans to roll out its new blockbuster game to Japan and China this year. While little known in the West, Netmarble has scored big with its latest role-playing game "Lineage II: Revolution", which became the world''s best-selling mobile game in February despite only being available in South Korea. That has added momentum to an offering expected to raise as much as 2.7 trillion won (£1.9 billion) - possibly South Korea''s second-largest ever listing. The nation''s largest mobile game company, backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent ( 0700.HK ), will be wrapping up bookbuilding on Thursday. It is due to list on May 12. "We''ve gotten a lot of interest from pension funds or sovereign wealth funds from various countries - interest from such long-term investors is encouraging," Choi Chan-seok, director of corporate strategy, told a briefing. Money from the IPO and cash flow this year, plus borrowings will mean it will have a war chest of about 5 trillion won for acquisitions, the company said, adding that it will look for bigger targets than previously. The company does not have any specific candidates but will look at acquiring game developers and intellectual property holders. Netmarble acquired U.S. game developer Kabam''s Vancouver studio in February for $710 million, according to a filing. Released in mid-December, sales of "Lineage II: Revolution" exceeded Mixi''s ( 2121.T ) Monster Strike and Supercell''s Clash Royale in February, according to games data provider SuperData. Netmarble said revenue for the game was 206 billion won ($180 million) in its first month of sales. It plans to launch the game in Japan in the third quarter and in China in the fourth, hoping for a thaw in relations between Seoul and Beijing - currently at odds over a planned anti-missile system in South Korea - before then. CEO Kwon Young-sig said he believes the game could rank among the top three in China. JPMorgan and NH Investment & Securities are advising the IPO. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-netmarble-ipo-idUKKBN17K0R1'|'2017-04-18T16:17:00.000+03:00' 'd2705a44afc021241374ef56f593b9f8095bd3dc'|'Japan gov''t nominates reflationist economist for Bank of Japan board'|' Japan gov''t nominates reflationist economist for Bank of Japan board By Sumio Ito - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s government on Tuesday nominated Goushi Kataoka, a private economist considered an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, to join the Bank of Japan''s nine-member policy board. The government also nominated 63-year-old Hitoshi Suzuki, a director for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ - a Japanese megabank - to join the board, a parliament official said. Kataoka, a 44-year-old economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting, and Suzuki would replace former market economists Takahide Kiuchi and Takehiro Sato, whose terms expire in July. The appointments suggest BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda would have fewer opponents of his massive stimulus programme, as both Kiuchi and Sato were openly against keeping the unorthodox policy in place for too long. Masayuki Kichikawa, a market analyst who knows Kataoka well, says he was likely chosen because he favours premier Shinzo Abe''s pro-growth economic policies. "I think he would place emphasis on getting Japan out of deflation. He would try to keep policy easy until he can find evidence of Japan escaping deflation," said Kichikawa, chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. "I think he would be cautious about reducing monetary easing." Little is known of Suzuki''s stance on monetary policy, though he is unlikely to rock the boat given his background as a banker from one of Japan''s top financial institutions. The nominations need approval by the upper and lower houses of the parliament, which are considered a near certainty as the ruling coalition holds a solid majority in both chambers. (Additional reporting by Stanley White and Kaori Kaneko, writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17K089'|'2017-04-18T11:16:00.000+03:00' 'd54ad7944f7d94927986123d4c1de70d2e135755'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Turkish lira, bonds firm after Erdogan victory'|' 56am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Turkish lira, bonds firm after Erdogan victory * For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml * For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 By Claire Milhench LONDON, April 18 The Turkish lira firmed and sovereign dollar bond prices rose on Tuesday after President Tayyip Erdogan''s victory in a referendum that handed him sweeping powers, while emerging equities fell as geopolitical tensions dampened risk appetite. The lira strengthened 0.2 percent but was still off a two-week high hit on Monday after a narrow victory for Erdogan in Turkey''s referendum on constitutional reform. Erdogan has argued that a concentration of power is needed to prevent instability, but opposition parties challenged the result. European monitors said the referendum did not meet international standard. Turkish dollar bond prices rose across the curve to five-month highs and five-year credit default swaps traded at a two-week low of 233 basis points (bps), according to IHS Markit data. The average yield spread paid by Turkish sovereign bonds over U.S. Treasuries on the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified narrowed by 3 bps to 305 bps, an 11-day low. Greg Saichin, chief investment officer for emerging markets fixed income at Allianz Global Investors, said the tight result was a surprise. "The markets are taking this initial result as positive in so far as the buck now stops with one person and in theory political noise should come down," he said, adding that the next battleground will be the planned 2019 election. "Should the economic outlook deteriorate, or the system move towards a more autocratic style that does not sit well with voters, chances are that the next election will be again about a referendum on Erdogan''s new powers," he said. Turkish economic weakness was exposed in data released on Monday showing a rise in the budget deficit and unemployment at a seven-year peak. Away from Turkey, emerging market assets sold off, with MSCI''s emerging equities index down 0.3 percent as tensions with North Korea kept investors away from riskier assets. Amongst the biggest fallers were Hong Kong down 1.4 percent to a one-month low, and Chinese mainland stocks, down 0.8 percent. But South Korea steadied, rising 0.1 percent to an 11-day high. The United States and South Korea have pledged to forge a stronger alliance but U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the free trade agreement between the two will be reviewed. The Korean won fell 0.7 percent to a one-week low. South African assets remained under pressure, with stocks down 0.7 percent and the rand slipping 0.5 percent against the dollar, off a near three-week high. Russian dollar-denominated stocks fell 0.6 percent and the rouble weakened 0.5 percent off a two-week high, with oil prices heading back towards $55 a barrel. The Hungarian forint firmed 0.2 percent against the euro after slumping to a four-month low on Monday. Thousands of Hungarians rallied in Budapest on Saturday against what they said were attempts by the government to silence critical voices, in the latest mass protest. Ashmore, a bellwether stock for the emerging markets asset management sector, saw quarterly net inflows for the first time in nearly three years, helping to drive a 7 percent rise in its total assets. For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 959.21 -3.50 -0.36 +11.24 Czech Rep 975.55 -0.97 -0.10 +5.85 Poland 2251.36 +17.73 +0.79 +15.58 Hungary 32566.38 -56.02 -0.17 +1.76 Romania 8238.76 -19.97 -0.24 +16.28 Greece 679.84 -3.73 -0.55 +5.62 Russia 1085.45 -8.82 -0.81 -5.80 South Africa 46340.87 -303.62 -0.65 +5.56 Turkey 90674.31 +20.51 +0.02 +16.04 China 3196.60 -25.57 -0.79 +3.00 India 29523.67 +110.01 +0.37 +10.88 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HQ182'|'2017-04-18T16:56:00.000+03:00' '7e7ede8e6a275da6288c59479b3ac12ebeb23ddc'|'Vacuum cleaner maker SharkNinja up for sale: sources'|'By Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis SharkNinja Operating LLC, the privately held U.S. manufacturer of Ninja blenders and Shark vacuum cleaners, is exploring a sale that it hopes will value it at more than $1.5 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.The sale would be a key test of the company''s brand, which it has developed through advertising on several television shopping networks. Private equity firms are among those that have expressed interest in SharkNinja, according to the sources.SharkNinja has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) to run an auction, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential.SharkNinja did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Goldman Sachs declined to comment.SharkNinja was originally known as Euro-Pro, a family-run company that started more than a century ago. It was renamed SharkNinja in 2015 by Mark Rosen, the third generation of his family to lead the business.It has sought to build upon its brands over the last decade, extending its Shark vacuum business to include steam mops and irons, and its Ninja kitchen appliance business to include one-pot cookers as well as blenders.SharkNinja also makes a drip coffee maker called "Ninja Coffee Bar," which is promoted by actress Sofia Vergara.SharkNinja sells its products in stores and online in the United States and around the world.SharkNinja''s competitors include privately owned Dyson Ltd, a British company known for its namesake vacuum cleaners.(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sharkninja-m-a-idINKBN17J1TH'|'2017-04-17T21:22:00.000+03:00' '30a7948771d33079fd3a73cd0325e8b6e6226588'|'China March outbound direct investment slumps 30.1 percent as capital curbs bite'|'Money 11:26am IST China March outbound direct investment slumps 30.1 percent as capital curbs bite FILE PHOTO: A 100 yuan banknote is placed beside a U.S. 100 dollar banknote in this illustrative photograph taken in Taipei June 20, 2010. REUTERS/Nicky Loh/File Photo BEIJING China''s non-financial outbound direct investment (ODI) slumped 30.1 percent in March from a year earlier as authorities kept a tight grip on capital outflows to help support the yuan currency and safeguard the country''s foreign exchange reserves. Non-financial ODI totalled $7.11 billion last month, Commerce Ministry data showed on Tuesday. For the first three months of this year, non-financial ODI tumbled 48.8 percent to $20.54 billion from the same period last year. Outbound investment in countries involved China''s "One Belt one Road" infrastructure initiative was $2.95 billion in the first quarter, or 14.4 percent of the total, the ministry said. Non-financial ODI tumbled 52.8 percent in January-February from the same period last year, with amounts in the property and entertainment sectors down over 80 percent. Dealmakers have said many Chinese firms are unable to close deals because they cannot secure official permission to transfer yuan into foreign exchange. Merger and acquisitions involving Asian companies fell 39 percent in the first quarter of 2017 to $176 billion, the lowest level in nearly three years and highlighting a sharp pull back in overseas deals by Chinese firms, Thomson Reuters data showed. Banks'' advisory fees have taken a heavy hit as a result. The ministry did not give the latest figures on China''s outbound property investment, but said funds mainly flowed to manufacturing, business services, software and information technology services, with manufacturing accounting for 24.7 percent of the total. China tightened its grip on moving funds out of the country late last year as the yuan plumbed more than eight-year lows. The currency has steadied so far this year, thanks to the capital curbs and a retreat in the surging U.S. dollar. While Beijing says it supports legitimate overseas investment, regulators have warned they would pay close attention to "irrational" investment in property, entertainment, sports and other sectors. Earlier data showed foreign direct investment into China rose 1 percent to 226.51 billion yuan ($32.91 billion) in the first quarter from a year earlier. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-odi-idINKBN17K0ES'|'2017-04-18T13:45:00.000+03:00' '915c190e98e18fc5b8772306be6513e3e9106832'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown bucks rebound, weakest since removal of its cap'|'* Currencies off Monday''s lows after Turkish referendum * Stocks rise and retreat, geopolitical worries remain * Czech crown weakest since April 6 removal of its cap * Hopes for bigger short-term Czech crown surge have faded By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 18 Central European currencies rebounded on Tuesday after Turkey''s referendum gave new powers to President Tayyip Erdogan, removing some political uncertainty in emerging markets. The Czech crown, however, eased past 26.8 against the euro, reaching its weakest levels since the Czech central bank removed its cap on the currency on April 6. The Hungarian forint, after touching 4-month lows at 313.81 against the euro on Monday, firmed 0.3 percent to 312.85 by 0831 GMT. Appetite for emerging market assets in general got a lift from the victory of the "Yes" vote in Turkey''s referendum, but remaining political uncertainty in Turkey and elsewhere in the world abounds. "There is Korea, the Turks and also the upcoming French elections," one Budapest-based currency dealer said, adding that jolts in the euro/dollar cross also blurred the outlook. The market risks, including the first-round French presidential election on April 27, could weigh on Romania''s leu , which also firmed slightly on Tuesday, ING analysts said in a note. "The unease is caused by the fact that some (French presidential) candidates are vocally anti-EU," they said. The region''s main stock indices quickly retreated after an initial rise. The Czech crown traded at 26.794 against the euro, off an early low at 26.812 but weaker by half a percent from Monday. The currency peaked at 26.5 last week, after the central bank removed the cap which had kept it weaker than 27 since 2013. The size of those gains disappointed most investors who had bought tens of billions of euros worth of crowns, speculating on a surge after exit from the cap. A recent Reuters poll of analysts projected that the strength of the Czech economy could boost the crown to 25.7 by end-March 2018, but many analysts hoped for opportunities to close their euro selling positions earlier, with bigger profits. "Short position investors are waiting for 26.20. No one is closing positions at these levels, long-term it is going (to strengthen) so why stop it here," one Prague-based dealer said. CEE SNAPS AT 1031 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.79 26.64 -0.54 0.79% 40 80 % Hungary 312.8 313.7 +0.2 -1.29 forint 500 100 7% % Polish 4.241 4.251 +0.2 3.82% zloty 7 5 3% Romanian 4.519 4.524 +0.1 0.35% leu 0 4 2% Croatian 7.434 7.429 -0.06 1.63% kuna 0 2 % Serbian 123.5 123.6 +0.0 -0.16 dinar 500 400 7% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 975.3 976.5 -0.12 +5.8 6 2 % 3% Budapest 32561 32622 -0.19 +1.7 .39 .40 % 4% Warsaw 2251. 2233. +0.8 +15. 99 63 2% 61% Bucharest 8237. 8258. -0.26 +16. 29 73 % 26% Ljubljana 774.4 778.2 -0.48 +7.9 9 4 % 3% Zagreb 1911. 1905. +0.3 -4.16 91 29 5% % Belgrade <.BELEX15 731.7 732.0 -0.05 +2.0 > 1 9 % 0% Sofia 654.9 657.7 -0.44 +11. 0 9 % 68% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 3 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year 5 bps Poland 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.3 0.31 0.4 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.27 0.34 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.76 1.77 1.8 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HQ1V1'|'2017-04-18T07:26:00.000+03:00' '32ceba8f2cd027860e8c7dbefc468e7f275d79ff'|'Lufthansa boarding process hit by computer outage - airport staff'|' 8:34pm BST Lufthansa departures briefly hit by computer outage - airport staff A logo of German airline Lufthansa is seen before the company''s annual news conference at the airport in Munich, Germany, March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle FRANKFURT Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) and Air France ( AIRF.PA ) were briefly hit by computer problems preventing them from boarding passengers on Thursday evening, airport and airline staff said on Thursday. A gate agent at Frankfurt airport, Lufthansa''s main hub, had announced the airline was having "a computer system breakdown worldwide," preventing passengers from getting on planes, but shortly afterwards was able to resume boarding, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. The airline said on its Twitter account the systems were back up and running after a global outage. Twitter users spoke of similar boarding delays at Air France, although they were also quickly resolved. A spokesman for Air France said there had been an IT problem. Some North American carriers have in recent months had to ground flights as a result of computer glitches, although such instances have been rare in Europe. In January for example, United Airlines ( UAL.N ) had to ground all domestic flights for about an hour one Sunday evening, causing a cascade of delays throughout the United States. Last August, a power outage hit computer systems at Delta Air Lines ( DAL.N ) and led to thousands of flights being cancelled. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lufthansa-flights-idUKKBN17M2CU'|'2017-04-21T02:32:00.000+03:00' '8d7c1d34153fb2fc212bc9b8cf2b45e2f266af01'|'Bank of Cyprus launches competitive online savings account paying 1.05% - Money'|'The Bank of Cyprus has launched an online savings account paying 1.05%, making it one of the top-paying instant access accounts currently available.While many savings accounts are paying a paltry 0.15%, the Bank of Cyprus’s rate of 1.05% relies on a bonus – a variable underlying rate of 0.6% (which could be reduced) plus a bonus of 0.45%, fixed for the first 12 months.Deposits of up to £85,000 held with Bank of Cyprus UK are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme.The new account is only beaten by a couple of other instant access accounts. The Yorkshire Building Society’s Single Access Saver Issue 3 account is currently the top payer at 1.15%, though this can only be opened in a YBS branch or by post, which will put off some.The Britannia recently launched its Select Access Saver 7 account paying 1.1%. This can be opened online but has a minimum investment of £500. The Renault-owned RCI bank also has an account paying 1.1%.The problem with all these accounts is that they are paying about half the current rate of inflation (2.3%), meaning that even if you have your cash in a top-paying account you are losing money each month.To get above 2.3% savers must look to stocks and shares investments or peer-to-peer lenders. RateSetter is currently paying 2.7% on its rolling monthly market, or 4.7% if you are prepared to put away your money for five years – though early access is possible provided others come into the market – and is subject to a 1.4% sellout fee.Deposits with peer-to-peer lenders are not covered by the FSCS should the worst happen and the lender stops trading. So far firms like RateSetter have proudly claimed that no investor has lost out.Topics Savings Consumer affairs news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/20/bank-cyprus-top-online-savings-account'|'2017-04-20T03:00:00.000+03:00' '0c6727e8650bf69f2481d240d9aa5ec4d96724da'|'LPC-Misys launches US$5.7bn-equivalent jumbo loan'|'By Hannah Brenton - April 18 April 18 UK financial software provider Misys has launched a jumbo US$5.7bn-equivalent financing backing its merger with Canadian fintech company DH Corp, banking sources said.The deal will bring much-desired supply to the loan market on both sides of the Atlantic during a period of subdued new issuance and rampant repricings.The company is seeking US$4.6bn-equivalent of first-lien debt split between a seven-year US$3.12bn dollar-denominated term loan, a seven-year €1bn euro-denominated term loan and a five-year US$400m multi-currency revolver.The dollar term loan is guided at 350bp-375bp over Libor with a 1% floor while the euro term loan is guided at 400bp-425bp over Euribor with a 0% floor. Both tranches are offered with an OID of 99-99.5.The revolver, which includes a springing net leverage ratio, is guided at 350bp-375bp over Libor with a 0% floor at par. It also includes a 50bp undrawn fee subject to two leveraged-based step downs of 25bp on the pricing margin at 4.25 times and 3.75 times first-lien net leverage.The first-lien debt will amortise at 1% per annum with the balance at maturity.A US$1.15bn-equivalent eight-year second-lien portion of the financing is split between an US$850m term loan guided at 775bp-800bp over Libor and an €280m term loan guided at 725bp-750bp over Euribor.Both tranches include 1% floors and are guided with an OID of 98.5.Vista Equity Partners said in March it would buy DH for C$4.8bn and combine it with Misys, which abandoned plans to list on the London stock market in October 2016, blaming shaky market conditions.LPC reported in March that banks had underwritten around US$6bn of debt financing to back Vista’s acquisition of DH Corp and to refinance existing debt as it combines DH with Misys.Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Barclays, Macquarie and Nomura are joint lead arrangers.Morgan Stanley leads the dollar first-lien, Citigroup leads the euro first-lien and Barclays leads the dollar and euro second-lien. Morgan Stanley is also administrative agent.Commitments are due on Wednesday May 3. The borrowers are Almonde, Inc, Tahoe Canada Bidco, and Misys Europe SA. (Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/misys-loans-idINL8N1HQ2WV'|'2017-04-18T09:44:00.000+03:00' 'd8588842f46161fdeead5fac79d6380c7423efcc'|'BRIEF-Peabody to retain 2 million ton per year metropolitan hard coking coal mine in new south wales australia'|'United States 14pm EDT BRIEF-Peabody to retain 2 million ton per year metropolitan hard coking coal mine in new south wales australia April 17 Peabody Energy Corp * Peabody to retain 2 million ton per year metropolitan hard coking coal mine in New South Wales Australia * Will retain metropolitan metallurgical coal mine and its associated 16.67 percent interest in port Kembla Coal terminal in company''s portfolio * Peabody Energy Corp - as a result of South32 not completing acquisition of mine, peabody will retain previously negotiated deposit * Peabody Energy Corp - intends to continue to pursue its financial priorities of reducing debt * Peabody Energy - purchaser south32 terminated purchase contract after it was unable to get clearance from Australian Competition and Consumer Commission * Termination of transaction has no effect on operations * Metropolitan intends to fully resume shipments following scheduled completion of a longwall move to a new coal panel at end of may (Bengaluru Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-peabody-to-retain-2-million-ton-pe-idUSFWN1HP0CO'|'2017-04-18T09:14:00.000+03:00' '21cecc719f506f34816438cf093a47351c08318a'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 18'|' 25pm EDT PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 18 April 18 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Times Tesco Plc is facing fresh questions over the impact of its proposed 3.7 billion pound ($4.65 billion) takeover of Booker Group after a rival wholesaler argued that it would give Britain''s biggest supermarket group "an obvious level of influence" over thousands of convenience stores. bit.ly/2pb6FMS The Co-op has attracted 750,000 new members in the past six months by offering a 5 percent cash back reward on purchases of own-brand products and a 1 percent donation to local charities. bit.ly/2onTAuV The Guardian Theresa May said the energy market was "manifestly" not working after a flurry of price rises by the big six companies – British Gas, e.on, EDF, npower, ScottishPower, and SSE – and dozens of smaller suppliers. A government crackdown was most likely in the form of a price cap on the standard variable tariffs affecting nearly two-thirds of households. bit.ly/2pLa29z Ticketmaster has been accused of not doing enough to stop professional ticket touts bypassing strict purchase limits imposed on ordinary fans. Fans can use the site to buy tickets when they first go on sale. But it also owns the resale sites GetMeIn and Seatwave. Critics of these "secondary" sites say they have become a lucrative haven for professional touts. bit.ly/2pswGHa The Telegraph One of Britain''s best loved breakfast cereals is expected to be gobbled up by the American ­cereal giant Post Holdings Inc in a 1.4 billion pound deal. The maker of Golden Crisp and Cocoa Pebbles was tipped as the frontrunner in the race to buy Weetabix last month, and is expected to confirm the long-awaited deal when U.S. markets open on Tuesday. bit.ly/2oFMSlG Sky Plc and Virgin Media are close to a landmark deal to join forces in the advertising market, in a move meant to challenge local media and tempt spending away from Google and Facebook. bit.ly/2pLj9qy Sky News Vice is in talks with private equity firms including the former owner of Formula One motor racing about an investment valuing it at close to $5.5 billion. bit.ly/2nWqsj7 Supermarket giant Tesco Plc is in line for a 105 million pound cut in business rates on its biggest stores, while small firms are set to be hit with hikes. bit.ly/2puS5Ne Independent One of Britain''s most powerful business lobby groups is urging the Government to ramp up efforts towards making the UK economy the world''s most competitive by 2030, just as Westminster begins the arduous process of disentangling from the European Union. ind.pn/2pLmpCx ($1 = 0.7965 pounds) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idUSL3N1HQ013'|'2017-04-18T08:25:00.000+03:00' '8553afb28ebe873f611d48f3669fcfe6ae6a5464'|'Audi, FAW to sell five plug-in cars in China by 2021 - executive'|' 00am BST Audi, FAW to sell five plug-in cars in China by 2021 - executive A charging station for e-tron cars is pictured near the headquarters of German car manufacturer Audi in Ingolstadt, Germany February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle SHANGHAI Audi AG ( NSUG.DE ) and its China joint-venture partner FAW Group will produce and sell five "e-tron" plug-in cars in China over the next five years, part of a global push to boost sales of all-electric battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As part of this agreement, the two companies recently began producing in China the first of the five planned cars - a plug-in hybrid version of the Audi A6L. The model is expected to hit the market later this year. "In this plan we have a clear focus on e-tron cars," Dietmar Voggenreiter, a member of Audi''s management board, told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Shanghai auto show which opens to the public on Friday. "Sustainability is one of the mega trends worldwide and China is a leading market in electric mobility." Globally, Audi aims to generate 30 percent of its overall sales from electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2025. It currently sells one e-tron car in China, a plug-in hybrid version of the A3 which is imported from Germany. At an event on Tuesday, Audi gave a "sneak preview" of the Audi e-tron Sportback concept car, a fully-electric battery car that the premium automaker is expected to unveil at the Shanghai show. Voggenreiter said the concept car was "really close" to the version expected to be mass produced in Germany from 2019. He added the car would first be produced in Europe, "but we will see whether to import into China or produce it in China." He added Audi believed the green car industry might hit a "tipping point" in the next couple of years and see demand for plug-in cars accelerate. "There is, first of all, a worldwide customer trend for sustainability," he said. "In a transition phase we will have plug-in hybrid cars. In the long-run we will see more and more fully electric battery cars." (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-audi-idUKKBN17K0Z1'|'2017-04-18T18:00:00.000+03:00' '5aefe85b6834ec079995f492a85264841836f0d8'|'Netflix''s first quarter subscriber additions misses estimates'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 9:46pm BST Netflix''s first-quarter subscriber additions misses estimates The Netflix sign on is shown on an iPad in Encinitas, California, April 19,2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Popular video streaming service Netflix Inc added fewer subscribers than analysts'' had estimated, both internationally and in the United States, in the first quarter, sending its shares down about 3 percent after the bell on Monday. Netflix, whose original shows include the award-winning British drama "The Crown" and "A Series of Unfortunate Events", added 3.53 million subscribers outside the United States in the quarter ended March 31. ( bit.ly/2puJ1Yt ) Analysts on average had estimated 3.68 million additions, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. In the United States, the company added 1.42 million subscribers, compared with analysts'' average estimate of 1.50 million. The Los Gatos, California-based company said revenue rose 34.7 percent to $2.64 billion in the quarter. Net income rose to $178 million, or 40 cents per share, from $28 million, or 6 cents per share. Netflix, said it expects to add 600,000 subscribers in the United States in the current quarter, above the FactSet estimate of 364,000. In international markets, Netflix expects to add 2.60 million subscribers, above the average estimate of 2.09 million. Up to Monday''s close, Netflix''s stock had risen nearly 19 percent in 2017, outperforming the roughly 5 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 index. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-results-idUKKBN17J1MC'|'2017-04-18T04:19:00.000+03:00' 'ad175806d5fe8e117e83bd1b8f00228054166fa8'|'U.S. Vice President Pence says S.Korea-U.S. free trade agreement to be reviewed, reformed'|' 53am BST U.S. Vice President Pence says South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement to be reviewed, reformed U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told business leaders in Seoul on Tuesday that the Trump administration will review and reform the five-year-old free trade agreement between the two countries. Pence said the U.S. trade deficit has more than doubled in the five years since the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement began and there are too many barriers for U.S. businesses in the country. Pence''s meeting in Seoul with business leaders comes before he heads to Tokyo later on Tuesday, where he will meet Japan''s Finance Minister Taro Aso and kick off talks that Washington hopes will open doors for U.S.-made products. U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations like China and Japan, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs. "That''s the hard truth," Pence told an American Chamber of Commerce meeting in Seoul. "We have to be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short", said Pence, adding the Trump administration would work with businesses on reforms. Trump campaigned on an "America First" pledge, promising to overhaul trade agreements that he said hurt U.S. jobs. Before the free trade agreement between the two countries took effect in 2012, South Korea''s trade surplus against the United States stood at $11.6 billion at end-2011. In 2016, the surplus measured at $23.2 billion, data. James Kim, CEO of GM Korea, said there are opportunities to improve the free trade deal between Washington and Seoul. “We need to minimize as many unique Korea standards which would make it easier to buy American products made in America,” Kim said at the meeting with Pence. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, additional reporting by Christine Kim; Writing by James Pearson, Ju-min Park; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-usa-pence-idUKKBN17K01E'|'2017-04-18T08:33:00.000+03:00' '3740dc75a9a2b32a71287601126176ef42916746'|'US STOCKS-Wall St rallies as earnings lead charge'|'* American Express boosts Dow after results* Investors eye first round of French election this Sunday* Dow up 0.98 pct, S&P 500 up 0.90 pct, Nasdaq up 1.02 pct (Updates to mid-afternoon, changes byline)By Chuck MikolajczakNEW YORK, April 20 U.S. stocks were higher in on Thursday, with the S&P 500 index on track for its best day in about seven weeks, as American Express set the tone for the latest batch of earnings.The credit card company was up 5.8 percent as the top boost to the Dow Industrials after reporting a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit late Wednesday.CSX Corp, up 5.6 percent, was one of the best performers on the S&P 500 after the railroad company reported a better-than-expected quarterly net profit driven by rising freight volumes and said it plans to cut costs and boost profitability moving forward."They really are just focusing now on the micro, which they should be, on the earnings and what the earnings are saying," said Ken Polcari, Director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York."Investors are putting the geopolitical stuff to the back of the bus at the moment and they are really focusing on what they should be."Major indexes had scuffled in recent days, falling for two straight weeks to retreat from record levels as worries about President Donald Trump''s ability to deliver on his pro-growth promises raised some concern about stretched stock valuations.Mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States and the looming French presidential elections also served to heighten investor caution.Of the 82 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings through Thursday afternoon, about 75 percent have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the 71 percent average for the past four quarters.Overall, profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.1 percent in the quarter, the best since 2011.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 200.94 points, or 0.98 percent, to 20,605.43, the S&P 500 gained 21.25 points, or 0.91 percent, to 2,359.42 and the Nasdaq Composite added 59.98 points, or 1.02 percent, to 5,923.01.Each of the three major indexes were on pace for their biggest daily percentage gain since March 1. The S&P 500 climbed back above its 50-day moving average, a level that had acted as resistance after the index fell below it last week.Recent polls showed centrist Emmanuel Macron hung on to his lead as favorite to win France''s presidential election in a four-way race that is too close to call.Philip Morris fell 3.8 percent to $109.61 as the biggest drag to the benchmark S&P index after the tobacco maker''s first-quarter profit forecast fell below estimates.Key companies scheduled to report results after the close on Thursday include Dow component Visa and toymaker Mattel .Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.45-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.90-to-1 ratio favored advancers.The S&P 500 posted 37 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 101 new highs and 28 new lows. (Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D''Silva and Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINL1N1HS1M8'|'2017-04-20T16:37:00.000+03:00' '3caf7478c300e2ae4d3af6093318cf9ebe4f7c4a'|'Boeing plans more layoffs affecting hundreds of engineers - source'|' 5:46pm BST Boeing plans more layoffs affecting hundreds of engineers - source Boeing''s logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon NEW YORK Boeing Co ( BA.N ) warned employees on Monday that it plans another round of involuntary layoffs that will affect hundreds of engineers, according to a source and a memo seen by Reuters. The layoffs are set to start June 23, and follow a prior involuntary reduction of 245 workers set for May 19, according to the memo from John Hamilton, vice president of engineering at Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-layoffs-idUKKBN17J1CF'|'2017-04-18T00:46:00.000+03:00' 'b1c3ed273d8f7d9fe3af100b8a85d26fed10f192'|'Harley offers rare incentives to shift bike overhang: dealers'|'Business News 1:19pm EDT Harley offers rare incentives to shift bike overhang: dealers A Harley-Davidson signage is displayed in their head office in Singapore October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su By Ankit Ajmera and Rachit Vats Harley-Davidson Inc ( HOG.N ) has taken the rare step of offering rebates on its 2016 motorcycles to U.S. dealers as an incentive for them to shift a backlog that has restricted sales of its latest models, three dealers and two analysts said. The unusual promotion, which the dealers expect to run until the end of April, is likely to weigh on the U.S. motorcycle maker''s margins in the first half of the year, the analysts said. Demand for Harley''s motorcycles in the United States has slowed as its loyal baby boomer demographic ages and rivals such as Indian-motorcycle maker Polaris Industries Inc ( PII.N ) and Japan''s Honda Motor Co Ltd ( 7267.T ) offer competitive discounts. Harley, keen to protect its premium-brand image, does not discount its bikes. The Milwaukee-based company commands slightly more than half of the U.S. "big-bike" market: motorcycles with engine capacity of more than 601 cc. Speaking on a post-earnings conference call in January, Chief Financial Officer John Olin said Harley would focus on selling its 2016 motorcycles through the first quarter of this year. As a result, he said, Harley would limit shipments of its 2017 models, including touring motorcycles with the new "Milwaukee-Eight" engine. The company has forecast it would ship fewer bikes in the quarter than in the year-earlier period. Three U.S. dealers and two analysts said Harley was offering rebates of up to $1,000 on each sale of its 2016 motorcycles, including its higher-end touring bike, cruisers and Sportsters. A 2016 model Sportster SuperLow costs upwards of $8,499, while prices of Softail Slim cruisers start at $14,899. Harley''s touring bikes are among its costliest, with the price of a 2016 Road King starting from $18,749. Two of the three dealers said they had been able to clear most of their 2016 inventory, and the third said it could take another month or two to shift last year''s models. The dealers spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity as the information is confidential. Dozens of other dealers declined to comment on the rebates. Harley did not respond to a request for comment on whether it had offered rebates to its dealers. As of Dec. 31, Harley had 701 U.S. dealerships. ''NOT NORMAL'' Though Harley has been known to offer attractive financing schemes and extended warranties to customers when there is a seasonal overhang of motorcycles, two of the three dealers said they had never before been offered a rebate. "It''s not normal," a Harley dealer in the western United States said. "Usually, any incentives are customer-facing." James Hardiman, an analyst at Wedbush Equity Research, said the rebates were likely to hit Harley''s gross margins in the first and second quarters. But, he and two other analysts said the scheme would have helped first-quarter shipments to track close to the higher end, or even above, Harley''s forecast of 66,000 to 71,000 motorcycles. The forecast implies a drop of between 20.5 percent and 14.5 percent from the year-earlier quarter. Warmer-than-usual weather, meaning an earlier start to the annual riding season, would have also helped shipments last quarter, dealers and analysts said. Customer response to the "Milwaukee-Eight" engine bikes had been strong, dealers said. Harley is scheduled to report its first-quarter results on April 18. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Rachit Vats in Bengaluru, Editing by Robin Paxton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-harley-davidson-incentives-idUSKBN17J1EK'|'2017-04-18T01:19:00.000+03:00' '80f0f771620d11b5d9291e4813c41b645169196b'|'Credit Suisse CEO Thiam to get 10.24 million Swiss francs for 2016 after bonus cut'|' 35am BST Credit Suisse CEO Thiam to get $10.2 million for 2016 after bonus cut Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive Officer of Swiss bank Credit Suisse attends the session ''''The Global Economic Outlook'''' during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland January 23, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam''s 2016 compensation will total 10.24 million Swiss francs ($10.2 million), down from 11.9 million after the Swiss bank''s top management offered to cut their bonuses by 40 percent following mounting shareholder pressure. Overall, Thiam''s compensation will be reduced by 4.67 million francs in the bonus cut, Jean Lanier, chairman of Credit Suisse''s compensation committee, said in a letter to shareholders. However, 3 million francs of the reduction will come from planned long-term payments for 2017. Despite the bonus cut, announced in a brief statement last week, proxy adviser Glass Lewis has still advised shareholders to reject the bonus payments in a binding vote at Credit Suisse''s annual investor meeting on April 28, Swiss broadcaster SRF reported. (Reporting by Joshua Franklin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-agm-bonuses-idUKKBN17K0IC'|'2017-04-18T14:33:00.000+03:00' 'd6b5a422bfea2a6874aa2af16e882ffb94b4c4d9'|'United CEO again apologizes for dragging incident in earnings release'|'Business News 56pm EDT United CEO again apologizes for dragging incident in earnings release left right A United Airlines plane with the Continental Airlines logo on its tail, taxis to the runway at O''Hare International airport in Chicago October 1, 2010. REUTERS/Frank Polich 1/2 left right Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines Oscar Munoz in New York, U.S. June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson 2/2 NEW YORK United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) on Monday released first-quarter earnings that matched analysts'' expectations on several key measures, in the wake of last week''s public relations meltdown. "In the first quarter of 2017, our financial and operational performance gives us a lot of confidence about the foundation we are building," Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said in a statement. "It is obvious from recent experiences that we need to do a much better job serving our customers. The incident that took place aboard Flight 3411 has been a humbling experience, and I take full responsibility." (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ual-outlook-idUSKBN17J1NX'|'2017-04-18T04:56:00.000+03:00' 'a89870f230677cd400678b3460e3226bcc0d20da'|'Manufacturing and retail recovery drives China''s solid first quarter growth'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 6:16am BST Manufacturing and retail recovery drives China''s solid first quarter growth FILE PHOTO - Employees work at a shoe factory in Lishui, Zhejiang province, January 24, 2013. REUTERS/Lang Lang BEIJING A recovery in China''s industrial sector, which accounts for about one-third of the economy, drove China''s better-than-expected first quarter economic growth as export orders picked up and steel output hit a record. Data on Tuesday from the National Bureau of Statistics showed the industrial sector grew 6.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, its fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2014. For a table of GDP growth breakdown by sector, see: On Monday, China reported first quarter growth CNGDP=ECI of 6.9 percent, the quickest in six quarters. Within the industrial sector, manufacturing grew 7.0 percent compared with the first quarter last year. Analysts credited growth in exports, in contrast to a contraction in the first three months of 2016, for providing the pick-up in the first quarter. "It looks to us like the acceleration in 1Q 2017 GDP growth came from electronics exports complementing the 4Q 2016 growth drivers, housing and infrastructure investment," Tim Condon, head of Asia research at ING, said in a note. ANOTHER BRIGHT SPOT The other bright spot was the retail and wholesale sector, which also expanded at the fastest pace since the end of 2014. In January-March, the annual growth pace was 7.4 percent, compared with 5.8 percent a year earlier, data showed. However, growth in the construction industry slowed to 5.3 percent from 5.9 percent at the end of last year and has decelerated for four straight quarters, despite rising investment in infrastructure and the real estate industry. The property sector grew 7.8 percent in the first quarter, up from 7.7 percent at the end of 2016, while growth in the finance industry rose to 4.4 percent from 3.8 percent. NBS data showed housing starts picked up in March, growing nearly as fast as sales, which could be a warning sign for overheating in the sector, said Rosealea Yao at Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. "Construction growth is in double digits again, which is not consistent with underlying trends as housing demand has peaked," said Yao. (Reporting by Elias Glenn; Editing by Richard Borsuk)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-gdp-idUKKBN17K0BK'|'2017-04-18T13:16:00.000+03:00' '4bd0b695eca6b7344d52d4b91fbb154aadd32fcb'|'Edison, GE unveil new battery systems at California gas plants'|'Global Energy 15am BST Edison, GE unveil new battery systems at California gas plants A major California utility and General Electric Co ( GE.N ) on Monday unveiled a first-of-its-kind battery storage system that will enable instant power output from a natural gas peaking plant to accommodate the state''s changing electricity needs while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The system, which was installed at two separate Southern California Edison "peaker" plants this month, will give the utility increased flexibility as the large amounts of renewable wind and solar power required by state mandates have made energy generation cleaner but far less predictable. Peaker plants are small power plants designed to come online quickly when power demand is high, such as on a hot summer day. But they are also among the least efficient resources available to the utility. The 10 megawatt batteries, which contain cells made by Samsung SDI ( 006400.KS ), are capable of providing power immediately, eliminating the need for the plant to burn fuel in "standby" mode. Prior to integrating the batteries, the 50 megawatt plant would take about 10 minutes to ramp up to a desired capacity. Southern California Edison''s president, Ron Nichols, said at an event to unveil the hybrid electric gas turbine in Norwalk, California that the new system would cut plant startups in half and reduce total run hours by 60 percent. The systems will work particularly well as solar power drops off at the end of the day, just at the time when demand starts to rise as utility customers get home from work and begin running air conditioners or turning on appliances. California is requiring its utilities to source half of their electricity needs from renewable sources by 2030. At the same time, the state has required procurement of energy storage systems to help integrate those renewables. Southern California Edison has brought several energy storage projects online, including a large Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) battery earlier this year. The GE systems were installed at peakers in Norwalk and Rancho Cucamonga. The utility is considering adding the systems to three other peaker plants in its territory, Nichols said. (Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-edison-intl-ge-batteries-idUKKBN17J1TD'|'2017-04-18T07:15:00.000+03:00' '4e89077e199104ad8787db5623f7e3acd0d341f7'|'New York City taxi commission plans to force Uber to add driver tipping feature'|'Technology News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 8:17pm BST New York City taxi commission plans to force Uber to add driver tipping feature A man exits the Uber offices in Queens, New York, U.S., February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Ride-services company Uber Technologies Inc may be required to provide passengers a way to tip their drivers, despite its longstanding resistance, if a plan by New York City''s taxi regulator is implemented. The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission said on Monday that it plans to propose a rule no later than July that would require all for-hire vehicles to allow passengers to tip drivers using the same method they use to pay for the ride. In Uber''s case, this would involve adding a tipping feature within the its smartphone app. The commission said its proposal is a response to driver concerns over falling wages, as Uber has reduced fares in New York City and across the country. Tips could help boost drivers'' income. Uber has said previously it opposed tipping because it was an inconvenience to passengers and slowed the transaction between rider and driver. "I found myself having to work longer hours away from my family to earn the same money," Luiny Tavares, who has driven for Uber for five years, said on a call with reporters that was organized by the Independent Drivers Guild. The guild, set up last year to advocate for drivers, started a campaign last summer to pressure Uber to add a tipping feature in its app. Uber was "unable to move on the option," said guild founder Jim Conigliaro, so the guild brought the issue to the taxi commission. Any tipping proposal faces a protracted process before it becomes a rule Uber must follow. The taxi commission has the authority to initiate rulemaking on its own, but rules must be certified by city legal authorities. There is also 30-day public comment period and public hearing, and a board of commissioners votes on the final rule. "We have not seen the proposal and look forward to reviewing it," said Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang. "Uber is always striving to offer the best earning opportunity for drivers and we are constantly working to improve the driver experience." Adding a tipping feature to Uber''s app would remove one significant difference between Uber and its chief U.S. competitor, Lyft. Lyft has a smaller market share but is the preferred service of many drivers because it allows tipping through the smartphone app. Lyft said in March that its drivers have earned more than $200 million in tips since the company''s founding. (Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tips-idUKKBN17J1K1'|'2017-04-18T03:07:00.000+03:00' 'e904041d1f167a754bdba860f369620eef8ebd00'|'RPT-Chevron says restarting output at Gorgon Train Two LNG project in Australia'|' 54am EDT RPT-Chevron says restarting output at Gorgon Train Two LNG project in Australia (Repeats to extra subscribers) SINGAPORE, April 18 Chevron is restarting liquefied natural gas (LNG) production at its Gorgon Train Two facility in Australia, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday. "Restart activities are underway on Gorgon Train Two. We continue to produce LNG from Trains One and Three and load LNG cargoes," the spokeswoman said in a statement emailed to Reuters. Chevron temporarily suspended production at its Train Two facility in late March. (Reporting by Mark Tay; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lng-chevron-gorgon-idUSL3N1HQ34S'|'2017-04-18T15:54:00.000+03:00' 'eca46754bf234bc8cc8270aecc4dfd091296dd45'|'UK watchdog warns banks against ''opportunistic'' transaction booking'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 2:05pm BST UK watchdog warns banks against ''opportunistic'' transaction booking Workers walk to work during the morning rush hour in the financial district of Canary Wharf in London, Britain, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh LONDON Britain''s top markets regulator will clamp down on any attempt post-Brexit to return to the "bad old world" of opaque transactions in which banks did not know where trades were being booked, he said on Tuesday. Banks based in London want to maintain broker links with customers across the European Union once Britain has left the bloc in 2019, such as by opening trading offshoots in EU countries. But to limit costs, some dealers want the processing of securities and derivatives trades at such units to be still handled centrally at hubs in London, a step regulators fear could muddy electronic trails for trades. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said there is a "potential world" in which trading arms seek to move the minimum amount of activity that would satisfy a regulator, while still keeping the UK "hub" intact. The European Central Bank, which authorises lenders in the EU''s single currency area, has already warned banks they will not get a licence if they push for such deals. Bailey told reporters the FCA was likewise focussed on making "opportunistic" transaction booking models transparent and backed by sound risk management. "We do not want to go back to the bad old world. The bad old world was part of the crisis story, of opaque booking models, firms themselves actually really did not know where stuff was being booked," Bailey said. "There are standards that you can expect of firms. You cannot have opaque, opportunistic booking models... We''re not going to compromise on that." The EU''s securities watchdog announced last week it would issue guidance and possible curbs to stop a "race to the bottom" among national watchdogs in the EU to lure banking business from London because of Brexit. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Pritha Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-banks-idUKKBN17K1IQ'|'2017-04-18T21:05:00.000+03:00' '65e249629ce1911b499b32257dd78c969ef002c5'|'Vietnam''s Sabeco state divestment plan submitted to the government -Sabeco CEO'|' 5:13am BST Vietnam''s Sabeco state divestment plan submitted to the government -Sabeco CEO left right Sabeco''s Saigon beers are display for sale in a market in Hanoi, Vietnam April 17, 2017. Picture taken April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kham 1/3 left right Sabeco''s Saigon beers are display for sale in a market in Hanoi, Vietnam April 17, 2017. Picture taken April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kham 2/3 left right People drink beer in a restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam April 17, 2017. Picture taken April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kham 3/3 HANOI Vietnam''s trade ministry has submitted a state divestment plan for the country''s biggest beer firm, Sabeco SAB.HM, to the government, Sabeco''s chief executive said on Tuesday. The plan is pending government approval, Chief Executive Le Hong Xanh told shareholders at the company''s annual general meeting. He did not provide any details of the plan. The Vietnamese government aims to fully divest its 89.6 percent stake in Sabeco, the country''s second-biggest listed firm by market value, but a clear plan has yet been announced. The stake is worth $5.2 billion (£4.14 billion) at market price. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sabeco-agm-idUKKBN17K0AG'|'2017-04-18T12:13:00.000+03:00' '5d409ae6c81e8175314a4247ffab0bbd8cdb1936'|'Investment bank Houlihan Lokey to open Dubai office'|'Big Story 10 11am EDT Investment bank Houlihan Lokey to open Dubai office By Tom Arnold - DUBAI DUBAI Houlihan Lokey is opening an office in Dubai in the second quarter aiming to capitalize on opportunities in finance, M&A and other advisory work in the Middle East and Africa, an executive at the company told Reuters. Houlihan Lokey is the latest North American investment bank to expand in the Middle East, where low oil prices have increased demand for asset sales and debt refinancing. Rival Evercore said on Tuesday it expected to open a new office in Dubai in the second quarter of 2017. Canada''s Canaccord Genuity''s aims to double the contributions to its investment banking business from the Middle East and India in the next five years, executives from the firm told Reuters last month. Houlihan Lokey sees opportunities in the region to bring in outside capital whether it is from insurance companies, hedge funds, private equity or others, Arun Reddy, a managing director of the firm currently based in London, who will relocate to Dubai to co-head the office, said. Low oil prices have squeezed local banks'' liquidity in the Middle East, while sluggish economic growth has put more stress on companies'' finances, pushing them to look at asset sales and debt restructuring. Houlihan Lokey, which works on between 150 and 200 asset sales a year, is top of the rankings of global investment banking restructuring advisers and is in the top ten most active global M&A advisers, according to Thomson Reuters 2016 data. The bank, which has been granted a license to operate in the Dubai International Financial Centre, is already active in the Middle East and Africa, acting on deals including advising the Kuwaiti shareholders of Aston Martin on a debt restructuring deal. The company already has offices across the United States, as well as Europe and Asia Pacific. (This story was refiled to add dropped word "said" in fifth paragraph.) (Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-houlihan-loke-dubai-idUSKBN17K1RI'|'2017-04-18T22:02:00.000+03:00' 'f164c3a5edccd8f2dc759b0f9fb8a4b0718793f2'|'Motor racing-Formula One appoints CAA Sports in sponsorship push'|'Company News 27am EDT Motor racing-Formula One appoints CAA Sports in sponsorship push LONDON, April 18 Formula One has appointed CAA Sports, a division of the U.S.-based Creative Artists Agency, to represent its global sponsorship rights. "CAA Sports will be responsible for taking the Formula One brand into new markets and expanding the sponsorship portfolio to include new and innovative commercial partners," it said in a statement. Sean Bratches, Formula One''s managing director for commercial operations, said the appointment was part of a strategic growth plan "to support existing partners and broaden the number of sponsors coming into the sport". "We have ambitious plans to expand to new markets and seek out exciting brand activation opportunities that will drive new levels of fan engagement," he added. Liberty Media completed their takeover of the sport in January. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Sudipto Ganguly)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/motor-f1-sponsorship-idUSL3N1HQ3KR'|'2017-04-18T17:27:00.000+03:00' '378f1ef2a2a62565f302fde6745fbea3f73b913b'|'BMO bundles uninsured Canada mortgages into securities -Moody''s'|'Big Story 10 25pm EDT BMO bundles uninsured Canada mortgages into securities: Moody''s The logo of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) is seen on their flagship location on Bay Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 16, 2017. Picture taken March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren Bank of Montreal is bundling nearly C$2 billion ($1.50 billion) of prime Canadian mortgages into securities, said Moody''s in a pre-sale report on Monday. The bond is backed by C$1.96 billion of uninsured prime residential mortgages, more than half of which are in Ontario and Quebec, added Moody’s. BMO did not respond to requests for comment. About 95 percent of the securities will be rated "Aaaa". BMO will offer to renew or refinance the mortgage loans at the end of their term if the borrower is in compliance with BMO''s underwriting criteria at that time. Upon renewal or refinance of the mortgage loan, BMO will purchase the mortgage loan from the trust, Moody''s said. "Canada''s one of the few jurisdictions that doesn''t have a developed RMBS market, this could be the first step to getting that going on," Richard Hunt, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service who rated the deal, told Reuters. "This could be a template for future deals" Hunter added. Canada''s housing market has been robust in the years since the global financial crisis, supported by low interest rates that have seen consumers take on more debt. But last year''s changes by the federal government to tighten mortgage lending rules are expected to mitigate some of the run-up in housing seen recently in areas like Toronto and Vancouver. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bmo-residentialmortgages-idUSKBN17J1TN'|'2017-04-18T07:09:00.000+03:00' '7578f175791debe08b9ed1067b33cf30631dca5d'|'Trump asks for probe into imports of foreign-made steel - officials'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:08am BST Trump asks for probe into imports of foreign-made steel - officials left U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 1/2 left right Smog billows from chimneys and cooling towers of a steel plant during hazy weather in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, December 28, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer 2/2 By Steve Holland - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign a directive asking for a speedy probe into whether imports of foreign-made steel are hurting U.S. national security, two administration officials said on Wednesday. Trump is to sign the memorandum related to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event that is expected to include leaders of some U.S. steel companies. The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security. There are national security implications, one of the officials said, from imports of steel alloys that are used in products such as the armour plating of ships and require a lot of expertise to create and produce. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross launched the probe on Wednesday night. Trump''s directive will ask Ross to conduct it "with all deliberate speed and deliver the results to the president with his recommendations," a second official said. The move is another step in Trump''s "America First" policies in which he has tried to boost U.S. manufacturers and preserve American jobs. It comes as he tries to coax China into taking a more active role in reining in North Korea''s nuclear and missile programs. The first official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the directive is not aimed at a specific country but is "product oriented." He said there is concern when a domestic industry is hurt by imports from a foreign entity "that hampers our ability to maintain production and maintain the expertise necessary for these high national security-concerned products, specific alloys and so forth." (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-steel-idUKKBN17M00H'|'2017-04-20T08:08:00.000+03:00' '54fb4fdf480b56a7f8bfed8f061b3214bc36787b'|'Sky says UK customer defections steady in third quarter'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 7:45am BST Sky says UK customer defections steady in third quarter A Sky logo is seen at the company''s UK headquarters in west London July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo LONDON European pay-TV group Sky ( SKYB.L ) said the number of customers deserting the service in its key home market had remained steady in the third quarter, helping it to reiterate its targets for the full year. The company, which has accepted a buyout offer from Rupert Murdoch''s Twenty-First Century Fox ( FOXA.O ), had unnerved investors in January with a rise in customer defections. But the group said on Thursday that churn had remained steady despite it announcing new price rises. Operating profit for the nine months exceeded 1 billion pounds. "Looking forward, we enter the final quarter of our fiscal year in good shape," Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said. "Despite the broader consumer environment remaining uncertain, we continue to deliver on our strategy and are on track for the full year." (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by David Evans) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sky-outlook-idUKKBN17M0KD'|'2017-04-20T14:27:00.000+03:00' 'ce6510dc67c81f5f976fe121f70c670ffcf9f0c9'|'U.S. reviewing Venezuela''s seizure of GM assets'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 4:36pm EDT U.S. reviewing Venezuela''s seizure of GM assets The GM logo is seen in Warren, Michigan, U.S. on October 26, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo WASHINGTON U.S. officials are reviewing Venezuela''s seizure of General Motors Co''s ( GM.N ) assets in the country, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Thursday. "We are reviewing the details of the case," Toner said in a statement, saying the United States hoped to resolve the case "rapidly and transparently." GM said on Wednesday that Venezuelan authorities had illegally seized its plant in the industrial hub of Valencia. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-venezuela-usa-idUSKBN17M2N0'|'2017-04-21T04:36:00.000+03:00' 'acd6f11f5a129ec5b102b4d8372d8d29da04dae0'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Shandong Tyan, Rolls-Royce, Advent International, Abu Dhabi National Energy, Telecom Italia, Grupo Bimbo and BlackRock; updates PPG and Lufthansa)April 19 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday:** A group backed by private equity firm KKR & Co said it had made a revised A$6.15 billion ($4.65 billion) offer for Australia''s biggest lottery operator Tatts Group Ltd, upping the ante in a bidding war against Tabcorp Holdings Ltd.** Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S.-based oil company, sold its Canadian gasoline stations and refinery in British Columbia to Parkland Fuel Corp, a marketer of petroleum products, for C$1.46 billion ($1.09 billion).** Ant Financial, the payment affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , has acquired Singapore-based payment service helloPay Group, as part of the Chinese firm''s drive to boost its Alipay brand and presence in Southeast Asia.** A Japanese government-backed fund and policy bank are considering a joint bid with Broadcom Ltd for Toshiba Corp''s semiconductor business, a move that would vault the U.S. chipmaker into the lead to buy the prized unit, the Asahi newspaper said.** Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) has entered into exclusive talks with Hong Kong insurer FWD Group to sell its life insurance arm, which could raise $3 billion for Thailand''s third-biggest lender, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.** Canadian grocery and pharmacy retailer Loblaw Cos Ltd said it would sell its gas station business to asset manager Brookfield Business Partners LP for about C$540 million ($402.17 million).** The Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) plans to take at least a 10 percent stake in Turkey''s state-run stock exchange as the multilateral lender ramps up activities in the country, a senior official of the bank told Reuters.** Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries dismissed proposals put forward by Dutch paintmaker Akzo Nobel to fend off its takeover bid and won support from activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors.** British materials testing company Exova Group said UK-based Element Materials Technology would buy it in a deal valued at 620.3 million pounds ($795.3 million).** Dutch eyeglass store operator Grandvision said it will acquire Tesco''s chain of more than 200 opticians.** Lufthansa is in talks with Iran Air to provide catering, maintenance and pilot training as it seeks to take advantage of emerging business opportunities in the country, executives at the German airline group said.** China Development Bank is considering providing financing for a Chinese consortium seeking to buy a stake in Russia''s largest gold producer Polyus , two sources familiar with discussions about the potential deal told Reuters.** German automotive supplier Continental AG and a unit of China Unicom have agreed to set up a joint venture in China to offer intelligent transport systems, such as vehicle data services and connected vehicle software.** Centurion Midstream Group LLC said it acquired a petroleum marketing and transportation business that operates in West Texas from Agave Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Lucid Energy Group.** India''s online grocery delivery service BigBasket and smaller rival Grofers India Pvt Ltd have begun talks on a possible merger, Indian newspaper Mint reported, citing sources.** Sweden''s SCA has rejected a recent bid for its hygiene arm and an offer last year for its forestry business, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported, citing sources.** Top shareholder Invesco Perpetual has trimmed its stake in technology incubator Allied Minds for the second time in as many weeks, according to regulatory filings.** An Italian regulator ordered French media group Vivendi on Tuesday to cut its stake in either Telecom Italia or broadcaster Mediaset within a year, ruling it was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of power.** Czech utility CEZ aims to sell all of its Bulgarian assets and has received expressions of interest mainly from investors in the Balkan country, a company official said.** KAR Auction Services Inc, a provider of car auction and salvage services, said it would acquire DRIVIN, which aggregates automotive retail, pricing, registration and economic data to match vehicle inventory to dealer demand, for $43 million in stock.** Renova Energia SA sold a wind farm project to a unit of AES Corp for 600 million reais ($193 million) on Tuesday, enabling the Brazilian renewable power company to replenish cash amid a severe cash crunch.** Verizon Communications Inc has agreed to buy optical fiber from Corning Inc for at least $1.05 billion over the next three years as the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier aims to improve its network infrastructure, the companies said on Tuesday.** Shanghai-listed Shandong Tyan Home said its negotiations with Barrick Gold Corp to buy the Canadian operator''s 50-percent stake in Kalgoorlie mine have ended without a deal, citing new capital and acquisition rules in China.** European Union antitrust regulators said they had cleared the acquisition of aircraft engine components maker ITP by Rolls-Royce subject to its elimination of a conflict of interest in an engine consortium.** European Union antitrust regulators said they had cleared U.S. private equity firm Advent International''s planned acquisition of Morpho, the biometrics and security business of French aerospace group Safran.** Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) might sell some of its oil and gas interests in North America to raise capital for its core business, its chief operating officer told Reuters.** Telecom Italia shareholders should not support board candidates proposed by Vivendi, two advisory firms said, potentially dealing a fresh blow to Vivendi chairman Vincent Bollore''s attempts to build a southern European media empire.** BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink, who runs the world''s largest asset manager, forecast a wave of mergers and acquisitions in asset management, but said his company may be limited for now to small deals.** Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo plans to grow in China in the short term with acquisitions, while also expanding its presence in the rest of Asia and entering Middle Eastern markets, the company''s food business chief said. (Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha and Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HR3DK'|'2017-04-19T18:03:00.000+03:00' '66f937a4e7f7860fafaceff11f1ada0a22985265'|'Wal-Mart seeks online fashion presence through acquisitions'|'Deals 58pm EDT Wal- FILE PHOTO: Women''s clothing are displayed in a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, November 11, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo By Nandita Bose and Gayathree Ganesan ( WMT.N ) ( AMZN.O ) If Wal-Mart succeeds, the move into fashion also would advance its effort to access younger, millennial customers who usually do not shop on Walmart.com. A Bonobos deal would mark the company''s fourth acquisition of a small online clothing-and-accessories brand since the start of 2017. The bid was first reported by Recode on Friday. Wal-Mart has declined to comment. The move is in keeping with an online strategy led by Marc Lore, the founder and former chief executive of internet retailer Jet.com, who took over Wal-Mart''s e-commerce business in August, after Wal-Mart paid $3.3 billion for Jet. Wal-Mart is the world''s largest brick-and-mortar clothing retailer, with 2016 sales exceeding $23 billion, according to retail think tank Fung Global Retail & Technology. But despite its traditional muscle, the Bentonville, Arkansas, company has been unable to replicate that success online. It has not only struggled to attract the type of affluent young consumers who tend to shop for clothes online but has also faced challenges in persuading well-known apparel brands to sell on its website. Wal-Mart''s online sales account for only about 3 percent of total sales, the company has said. In the second half of this year, it is targeting online sales growth of 20 to 30 percent. In its push for a bigger online presence, Wal-Mart so far has bought ShoeBuy, which specializes in footwear and apparel; Moosejaw, which sells outdoor wear; and ModCloth, an online seller of women''s clothing. In March, Lore said at an industry event that Wal-Mart will make more acquisitions to expand its business rapidly. Jan Rogers Kniffen, chief executive of retail consultancy J. Rogers Kniffen WWE, said the deals could begin to add up, though so far they are too small to have a material impact on Wal-Mart. "It gives them a totally separate vehicle to grow with fashion brands and to own fashion brands," he said. Wal-Mart''s move also aims to stem the loss of market share to Amazon in the highly competitive fashion sector. Amazon leads the U.S. online clothing and footwear market with sales of $13 billion in 2016, up $9 billion from five years ago. It is expected to triple its share of the U.S. apparel market over the next four years, according to data from Euromonitor and Forrester. Macy''s Inc ( M.N ), Nordstrom Inc ( JWN.N ), Gap Inc ( GPS.N ), Kohl''s Corp ( KSS.N ), L Brands Inc ( LB.N ) and J.C. Penney Co Inc ( JCP.N ) also compete in the segment. Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc, said Wal-Mart''s prior efforts to buy market share through acquisitions have not succeeded. "They have been involved with this strategy for a long time. How has it done? Terribly," Davidowitz said. "Marc Lore has continued this strategy." Lore did not respond to a request for comment. Wal-Mart has been investing in e-commerce for the past 15 years, but it still lags far behind Amazon. In the five years before the Jet.com deal, Wal-Mart acquired more than 15 start-ups. The company has not disclosed what it spent on each deal, but said in January it had spent a total of $3.1 billion on e-commerce and digital projects in its prior four fiscal years. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by David Greising and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-fashion-idUSKBN17J1FQ'|'2017-04-18T01:53:00.000+03:00' 'b445d535c2df9ca639f7ef9c00edf829b0315618'|'Japan Finance Minister Aso, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to meet Thursday: Ministry of Finance'|' 35pm EDT Japan Finance Minister Aso, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to meet Thursday: Ministry of Finance Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso arrives for the family photo at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach TOKYO Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will hold a bilateral meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 finance leaders'' gathering in Washington D.C., Japan''s Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Aso will also meet with French Finance Minister Michel Sapin on Friday, the MOF said. The meeting between and Aso and Mnuchin comes in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump''s recent remarks that the dollar was "getting too strong" and would eventually hurt the U.S. economy. Japan, whose export-reliant economy benefits from a weak yen, wants to keep any currency talks within the realms of the finance ministers, instead of at the U.S.-Japan economic dialogue on Tuesday. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-aso-idUSKBN17J03E'|'2017-04-17T09:35:00.000+03:00' 'a5508c86b26758cb015d885f8f60197559bccb36'|'BP''s leaking Alaska well stops spraying crude oil, still emitting gas - officials'|'Global Energy News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 3:15am BST BP''s leaking Alaska well stops spraying crude oil, still emitting gas - officials Spectators are seen reflected in a British Petroleum sponsors building in Olympic Park at the London 2012 Paralympic Games September 6, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD PACKAGE - SEARCH ''BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD 31 OCT'' FOR ALL IMAGES - RTX2R4PH By Carl O''Donnell A well on the North Slope of Alaska owned by BP ( BP.L ), the UK-based oil and gas company, is no longer spraying crude oil but is still emitting natural gas, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, or ADEC, said on Sunday. The well remains too dangerous for workers to access and fully assess the scope of the environmental impact, ADEC said. Based on aerial photographs, it appears that the crude spray plume has not left the gravel pad where the rig is located, ADEC added. The department has not yet been able to estimate how much crude has been released, it said. The leak was discovered on Friday morning and responders are addressing it. BP has dealt with several spills and leaks in Alaska in the past. In 2006, a corroded pipeline released nearly 5,000 barrels of crude oil, the largest oil spill in the North Slope at the time. Another spill occurred in 2009 that saw just over 1,000 barrels leak. In 2010, a BP-operated drilling rig called Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 people and spilling nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. federal waters. BP eventually agreed to pay $18.7 billion to settle all federal and state claims related to the spill. (Reporting by Carl O''Donnell in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bpplc-oilspill-idUKKBN17J03Y'|'2017-04-17T10:15:00.000+03:00' '20a8358e277384e38e63bd65320479b6b320eb4d'|'IMF can cooperate with Trump to improve global trade - Lagarde'|' 5:12pm BST IMF can cooperate with Trump to improve global trade - Lagarde IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde makes remarks during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday she believes the IMF can work with the Trump administration to improve the global trading system, but cautioned against jeopardizing open trade as a growth engine. Lagarde told a news conference at the opening of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington that the IMF saw the need to reduce subsidies and other trade distortions that limit competition, but also said "protectionist measures" needed to be avoided. "From the various contacts that I''ve had with the administration so far, I have every reason to believe that we will make progress, that we will cooperate all together in order to support and indeed improve the system as we have it," Lagarde said. She added that improvements must ensure a "level playing field" for trade, adopting a phrase often used by Trump administration officials. But as she was speaking, U.S. President Donald Trump was preparing to sign an executive order to study whether steel imports into the United States could be restricted for national security reasons under a law passed in 1962. Lagarde said that the rising number of World Trade Organization dispute cases and rule violations showed that "there is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed." She said the WTO dispute settlement system has room for improvement. Although the United States regularly uses the system to try to remove unfair trade restrictions and subsides, Trump administration officials have complained that countries often ignore its rulings. But the IMF chief said that such improvements can only come through multilateral dialogues, like those occurring at this week''s meetings of the IMF, World Bank and G20 finance ministers. "We believe very firmly in this institution, in the value and virtues of dialogue, cooperation, reciprocated assessment," she said. "We will contribute our part where we have competence and where it is our mission." The Trump administration has complained about Germany''s high trade surplus with the United States. Lagarde repeated her view that Germany should take steps to reduce its current account and trade surpluses by encouraging more consumption. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-g20-imf-lagarde-trade-idUKKBN17M1TX'|'2017-04-21T00:12:00.000+03:00' 'a0cd1ee255b32ce446a344b2aac348fc6527ce0e'|'Abu Dhabi''s Mubadala attracts $2.5 billion in Europe private equity deal'|'ABU DHABI European fund manager Ardian will invest $2.5 billion in private equity funds run by Mubadala Capital, an arm of Abu Dhabi''s state fund Mubadala, the companies said on Thursday, the first time Mubadala has accepted capital from a third-party investor.The deal will see Ardian invest $1.75 billion to take a majority stake in S$2.5 billion portfolio owned by Mubadala Capital. The portfolio includes mainly North American buyout and growth funds as well as direct investments.Mubadala has also established a new $1.5 billion private equity fund with equal primary capital commitments from Mubadala Capital and Ardian."This deal represents one of Ardian''s largest transactions with a sovereign wealth fund," Ardian''s head of funds and private debt, Vincent Gombault, said in a joint statement by Ardian and Mubadala Capital.Ardian manages and advises $60 billion of assets, with a team of more than 450 employees based in 12 offices across the world.Mubadala Capital manages more than $10 billion of assets across its portfolio.Sovereign investors like Singapore''s Temasek have also executed similar deals, bringing in outside institutional investors in joint deals. In 2014, it launched Astrea II, a co-investment vehicle in which Ardian was an investor.( reut.rs/2oNBPst )(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho and Saeed Azhar; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mubadala-fund-idINKBN17M0PB'|'2017-04-20T05:23:00.000+03:00' 'a16f66ec6fbedfd7adbaa91ab84dba6857a14bf6'|'South Korea think tank upgrades 2017 economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 4:16am BST South Korea think tank upgrades 2017 economic growth forecast to 2.6 percent A man works on a glass fence in Seoul, South Korea, August 30, 2016. Picture taken on August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL A state-run South Korean think tank upgraded its 2017 economic growth outlook on Tuesday as the global economy recovers broadly, raising this year''s gross domestic growth forecast to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent projected earlier. "In 2017, exports will improve...as the global economy recovers gradually," the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a report. Despite the sunnier outlook, growth this year would lag last year''s 2.8 percent expansion because of sluggish domestic consumption, it said. Next year''s GDP growth was expected to be a slightly slower 2.5 percent. The research institute said economic growth would be impaired if protectionist policies were to spread quickly to many countries or if geopolitical issues around North Korea were to debilitate consumer or investor sentiment. The Bank of Korea last week upgraded its growth outlook for this year to 2.6 percent from 2.5 percent, while its 2018 growth projection is 2.9 percent. Last December the finance ministry forecast economic growth for this year at 2.6 percent, although it may revise its outlook in coming months. (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-economy-forecast-idUKKBN17K080'|'2017-04-18T11:08:00.000+03:00' '6794568c0061e1ad2e6c1309b19456b7113962e1'|'Japan trade min: U.S. commerce secretary has not requested any specific topic for talks'|' 29pm EDT Japan trade min: U.S. commerce secretary has not requested any specific topic for talks TOKYO, April 18 Japanese trade minister Hiroshige Seko said on Tuesday that he has not received a request from U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for any particular topic to be discussed. Seko also told reporters that he would exchange information on Toshiba issue if Ross asks to do so. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Japan''s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S. products and attract Japanese investment in U.S. infrastructure projects. [nL3N1HP4BL ] Pence will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a working lunch. They are expected to be joined by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who is in Tokyo for talks with Seko. (Reporting by Ami Miyazaki, writing by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/pence-asia-japan-ross-commerce-idUST9N1G601Y'|'2017-04-18T08:29:00.000+03:00' '2dceba0d6cccfece7e500cf021d482ee36f6d5fc'|'Amazon says it is bringing retail shopfront service to Australia'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:55am BST Amazon says it is bringing retail shopfront service to Australia FILE PHOTO: Employees of Amazon India are seen behind a glass bearing the company''s logo inside its office in Bengaluru, India, August 14, 2015. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/File Photo SYDNEY Global retail juggernaut Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ) said on Thursday it plans to offer its retail shopfront service in Australia, confirming rumours which have circulated for years about its plans to expand into the world''s 12th-largest economy. The Seattle-based firm said in an email that after offering its internet cloud service in Australia in 2012 and opening an online e-book store in 2013, "the next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia". "We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace," the email said, referring to the company''s online retail shopfront service. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-amazon-com-australia-idUKKBN17M03K'|'2017-04-20T08:55:00.000+03:00' '73e25316417bb121468e539d6a9e37bff9d0da62'|'U.S. judge approves $2.6 billion fine for Odebrecht in corruption case'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 12:13pm EDT U.S. judge approves $2.6 billion fine for Odebrecht in corruption case The corporate logo of Odebrecht is seen in a construction site in Caracas, Venezuela January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins - RTSXK8G By Brendan Pierson - NEW YORK NEW YORK A U.S. judge on Monday sentenced Brazilian engineering company Odebrecht SA to pay $2.6 billion in fines in a massive criminal corruption case, signing off on a plea deal between the company and U.S., Brazilian and Swiss authorities. U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie said at a hearing in Brooklyn federal court that about $93 million will go to the United States, $2.39 billion to Brazil and $116 million to Switzerland. Odebrecht, along with affiliated petrochemical company Braskem SA, pleaded guilty to U.S. bribery charges in December. U.S. authorities charged Odebrecht with paying about $788 million in bribes to officials in 12 countries, mostly in Latin America, to secure lucrative contracts. Some of those bribes flowed through U.S. banks, the prosecutors said. Monday''s order comes as Odebrecht tries to negotiate plea deals with other countries, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama and Portugal. A public relations executive working for Odebrecht in São Paulo had no immediate comment. William Burck, a lawyer for Odebrecht in the United States, declined to comment after the court hearing. The charges against Odebrecht stemmed from a nearly three-year investigation in Brazil into corruption at the state-run oil company Petrobras, which has led to dozens of arrests and political upheaval in Brazil. Brazilian President Michel Temer said on Monday he expects some of his ministers to resign after they were implicated in the investigation. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Additional reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal in São Paulo; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-corruption-usa-idUSKBN17J1A7'|'2017-04-18T00:13:00.000+03:00' 'ea398b69a2caf1f68430a7fe2fea3203de73908c'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'April 17 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Monday:** China''s Ant Financial has sweetened its bid for MoneyGram International Inc by 36 percent, beating a rival offer to gain approval from the U.S. electronic payment firm''s board, although it still faces regulatory hurdles.** Wal-Mart Stores Inc is in advanced discussions to buy online men’s fashion retailer Bonobos Inc, Recode reported on Friday, citing sources.** Apple Inc is considering teaming up with its supplier Foxconn to bid for Toshiba Corp''s semiconductor business, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Friday - the latest twist in the sale of the world''s second-biggest flash memory chipmaker.** Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories on Friday agreed to buy Alere Inc at a lower price than it had previously offered, after raising concerns about the accuracy of various representations, warranties and covenants made by Alere in the earlier agreement.** Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne rowed back on his search for a merger on Friday, saying the car maker was not in a position to seek deals for now and would focus instead on following its business plan.** U.S. video streaming service provider Netflix is in talks with Indonesia''s top telecom firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (Telkom) to roll out its service in the country, a spokesman at the Indonesian company said.** U.S. buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners LP has prevailed in an auction to acquire Charter NEX Films Inc, a U.S. manufacturer of specialty films for the food and medical industries, for $1.5 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said.** China''s Anbang Insurance Group will let its agreement to acquire U.S. annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) for $1.6 billion lapse, after failing to secure all the necessary regulatory approvals, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.** German lighting company Osram is on the lookout for acquisitions worth up to 500 million euros ($530 million), although there are no specific plans for a deal as yet, its finance chief told a German newspaper.** Malaysian property developer S P Setia Bhd said on Friday it will buy privately held rival I&P Group for over 3.5 billion ringgit ($794.55 million) to create one of the country''s largest real estate firms.** Taiwan''s Powertech Technology said on Friday it had bought two of Micron Technology''s interests in Japan in deals worth up to $132 million, part of its efforts to expand its presence in Japanese chip technology.** Chinese stadium builder Lander Sports said late on Sunday it was terminating plans to buy a stake in English soccer club Southampton, citing uncertain factors wrought by changes in China''s securities market and policies.** U.S. private equity group Carlyle Group has gained full control of Italian fashion brand TWINSET by buying the remaining 10 percent stake from founder Simona Barbieri, who will step down as the affordable luxury label''s creative director. (Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HP38Y'|'2017-04-17T08:09:00.000+03:00' '2d5dcdb1408562ff710244b58fcab29bb01e5711'|'BRIEF-Milacron Holdings says unit entered agreement to sell 2 properties for CAD $14.25 mln - SEC Filing'|' 01pm EDT BRIEF-Milacron Holdings says unit entered agreement to sell 2 properties for CAD $14.25 mln - SEC Filing April 17 Milacron Holdings Corp: * On April 12, co''s unit entered into agreement of purchase & sale with Skyline Real Estate Acquisitions Inc - SEC Filing * Agreement to sell two properties located in Halton Hills, Ontario, Canada for CAD $14.25 million - SEC Filing * Closing of the agreement''s transaction is expected to provide co with net proceeds of approximately CAD $14.0 million * Contract is subject to Skyline Real Estate Acquisitions entering agreement to lease properties to co for 15 years for about CAD $15 million Source text: ( bit.ly/2pryWhQ ) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-milacron-holdings-says-unit-entere-idUSFWN1HP09I'|'2017-04-18T03:01:00.000+03:00' 'adef824e6db8f79569dcbcba44f8ee0386837604'|'Stocks, dollar under pressure after soft U.S. data'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 1:36am BST Stocks, dollar under pressure after soft U.S. data Pedestrians are reflected on an electronic board showing Japan''s Nikkei average (top L), the Dow Jones average (top R) and the stock averages of other countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Hideyuki Sano - TOKYO TOKYO Shares dipped on Monday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields fell after soft U.S. economic data hurt investor sentiment already frayed by worries over North Korea and upcoming French elections. That dwarfed any relief for market players after the U.S. Treasury department did not name China as a currency manipulator, avoiding an all-out confrontation on currencies between the world''s two largest economies. S&P 500 mini futures ESc1 dipped 0.1 percent to 2,325, edging near a six-week low of 2,317.75 touched in late March following U.S. President Donald Trump''s defeat over healthcare reform. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.2 percent in holiday-thinned trade, while Japan''s Nikkei .N225 shed 0.4 percent. The biggest focus during the Asian trading hours is China''s economic data, due at 0200 GMT, including January-March GDP. Economists expect growth in the world''s second-biggest economy to have expanded 6.8 percent compared to a year earlier, the same pace as the preceding quarter. That would be above the target of around 6.5 percent Beijing has set for this year''s growth, but many analysts expect momentum to fade slowly in coming months. Barring a major shock in the China readings, markets are expected to remain focused on U.S. data and its possible impact on the pace of interest rate hikes, and concerns over North Korea and the French presidential election. U.S. retail sales dropped more than expected in March while annual core inflation slowed to 2.0 percent, the smallest advance since November 2015, from 2.2 percent in February, data showed on Friday. That helped to drive down the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield to 2.200 percent US10YT=RR, its lowest level since mid-November from around 2.228 percent on Thursday before a market holiday on Friday. The yield could now fill the chart gap between 2.150 and 2.168 percent made just after the U.S. presidential election, some analysts said. "At the moment, it is hard to see any factors that could drive up bond yields," said Hiroko Iwaki, senior strategist at Mizuho Securities. "And compared to U.S. bond yields, which have given up much of their gains after the election, U.S. share prices, having gone through a limited correction, look vulnerable given potential developments in North Korea or the French election," she said. Fed fund futures <0#FF:> rose in price, now pricing less than a 50 percent chance of a rate hike in its June 13-14 meeting for the first time in about a month. U.S. President Donald Trump''s administration declined to name any major trading partner as a currency manipulator in a highly anticipated report on Friday, backing away from a key Trump campaign promise to slap such a label on China. But the semi-annual U.S. Treasury currency report maintained the six countries on a "monitoring list" -- China, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan and Switzerland. The dollar slipped to 108.35 yen JPY= , hitting a five-month low. The dollar has given up three quarters of the gains it had made after the Trump''s surprise election victory had boosted expectations that his stimulus and deregulation plans would buoy U.S. growth and inflation. The euro stood at $1.0603 EUR= , little moved so far, and not far from a one-month low of $1.0570 touched last Monday, with focus on the French presidential election. Ahead of the first round of voting on April 23, the race looked tighter. Two polls put any of the four frontrunners, including far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and hard-left challenger Jean-Luc Melenchon, within reach of a two-person run-off vote. Gold gained 0.7 percent to hit a five-month high of $1,295.5 per ounce XAU= on continued concerns on tensions over North Korea. The United States, its allies and China are working together on a range of responses to North Korea''s latest failed ballistic missile test, Trump''s national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act. The Turkish lira jumped TRYTOM=D3 about 2.5 percent to 3.6300 per dollar versus 3.7220 on Friday after President Tayyip Erdogan snatched a victory in a referendum to grant him sweeping powers in the biggest overhaul of modern Turkish politics. (Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17J011'|'2017-04-17T08:36:00.000+03:00' 'e5e58fd9ff44133376172216f8a09d7aa93e8954'|'PPG CEO - AkzoNobel independence plan riskier than merger'|' 11:35am BST PPG CEO - AkzoNobel independence plan riskier than merger FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo AMSTERDAM PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), the U.S. paint-maker that is trying to buy Dutch peer AkzoNobel ( AKZO.AS ) for 24.6 billion euros (20.90 billion pounds), said on Monday that Akzo''s plan to instead spin off its chemicals arm and remain independent is riskier and would create less value. In an open letter addressed to Akzo''s "stakeholders", Michael McGarry urged Akzo''s management and supervisory boards to enter talks, saying they had so far given insufficient consideration to PPG''s proposal, which is favoured by many of Akzo''s own shareholders. Akzo is due to outline details of its alternative plan on Wednesday. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idUKKBN17J0QS'|'2017-04-17T18:35:00.000+03:00' '4bac656f0ae0eed150f7c7c28b973391c2a3ce61'|'UK banking lobby chief to step down in the summer'|' 5:22pm BST UK banking lobby chief to step down in the summer LONDON British Bankers'' Association (BBA) chief Anthony Browne will step down in the summer, the trade body said on Tuesday, as the industry emerges from one of its more turbulent periods and enters another. Browne leaves ahead of the BBA''s merger with five other finance industry bodies to create a new UK Finance lobby group aiming to protect the British financial sector as the government negotiates terms for the country''s exit from the European Union. Having joined the BBA from Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) only two weeks before the Libor rate-rigging scandal broke in 2012, Browne said he leaves the association in "robust good health" with membership and income at record levels. The Libor scandal resulted in fines for some BBA members for trying to rig the interest rate benchmark that the association itself compiled. The BBA was later stripped of that role. The sector was also recovering from the financial crisis in the teeth of public anger over taxpayer bailouts of lenders and payments of big bonuses at a time of austerity for many. Browne, who said when he took the reins in 2012 that he would stay for five years, now plans to pursue "a range of other opportunities". The BBA has been lobbying the UK government to maintain banking access to the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc in 2019. Browne famously warned policymakers that bankers have their hands "hovering over the relocate button" to shift some operations to the continent if they don''t receive reassurances on EU market access. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-banks-browne-idUKKBN17K20N'|'2017-04-19T00:22:00.000+03:00' 'ecbe6123483c081b6d967cb36801d912ebca881d'|'Norway''s sovereign fund backs Credit Suisse executive pay'|' 55am EDT Norway''s sovereign fund backs Credit Suisse executive pay OSLO, April 18 Norway''s $915 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world''s largest, will vote in favour of Credit Suisse''s planned payouts to senior managers following a recent bonus cut, the fund said in a statement on Tuesday. "The board has listened to shareholder concerns related to remuneration resolutions ... Norges Bank Investment Management welcomes the announcement made by the board on 13 April regarding a revision of executive remuneration," the fund added. Shareholder advisory service Glass Lewis separately said on Tuesday the concessions offered by Credit Suisse were "too little too late". (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Camilla Knudsen)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/credit-suisse-gp-agm-norway-idUSO9N1GM01R'|'2017-04-18T21:55:00.000+03:00' '5b2fd0e99ebe9f4ed70f3314a48bfd3096b7c517'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown bucks rebound, geopolitical worries eyed'|' 53am EDT CEE MARKETS-Crown bucks rebound, geopolitical worries eyed * Currencies off Monday''s lows after Turkish referendum * Stocks retreat, geopolitical worries remain * Czech crown weakest since April 6 removal of its cap * Hopes for bigger short-term Czech crown surge have faded (Adds rebound of Croatian stocks) By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 18 Central European currencies rebounded on Tuesday after Turkey''s referendum, removing some uncertainty in emerging markets, while Croatian stocks surged following a cash injection to troubled Agrokor. The Czech crown, however, eased past 26.8 against the euro, reaching its weakest levels since the Czech central bank removed its cap on the currency on April 6. The forint, after touching 4-month lows at 313.81 against the euro on Monday, firmed 0.3 percent to 312.70 by 1312 GMT. Appetite for emerging market assets in general got a lift from the victory of the "yes" vote in the Turkish referendum, giving more powers to President Tayyip Erdogan, but remaining political uncertainty in Turkey and elsewhere in the world abounds. "There is Korea, the Turks and also the upcoming French elections," one Budapest-based currency dealer said, adding that jolts in the euro/dollar cross also blurred the outlook. The market risks, including the first round of France''s two-step presidential election on April 23, could weigh on Romania''s leu, which also firmed slightly on Tuesday, ING analysts said in a note. "The unease is caused by the fact that some (French presidential) candidates are vocally anti-EU," they said. The runoff round will be on May 7. The region''s stock indices mostly retreated after an initial rise, tracking a fall of Asian and Western European peers, with Prague and Budapest shedding about 0.7 percent. Zagreb''s main stock index bucked the trend, jumping 2 percent. It started to rebound last week after indebted Agrokor , Croatia''s largest private firm and the biggest employer in the Balkan region, secured an initial cash injection. The stocks of builder Viadukt rose 32 percent from their lowest levels in at least 12 years, while ice cream producer Ledo jumped 18 percent. The Czech crown traded at 26.72 against the euro, off an early low at 26.812 but weaker by 0.3 percent from Monday. The currency peaked at 26.5 last week, after the central bank removed the cap which had kept it weaker than 27 since 2013. The size of those gains disappointed most investors who had bought tens of billions of euros worth of crowns, speculating on a surge after exit from the cap. A recent Reuters poll of analysts projected that the strength of the Czech economy could boost the crown to 25.7 by end-March 2018, but many analysts hoped for opportunities to close their euro selling positions earlier, with bigger profits. "Short position investors are waiting for 26.20. No one is closing positions at these levels, long-term it is going (to strengthen) so why stop it here," one Prague-based dealer said. CEE SNAPS AT 1512 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.72 26.64 -0.27 1.07% 00 80 % Hungary 312.7 313.7 +0.3 -1.24 forint 000 100 2% % Polish 4.232 4.251 +0.4 4.06% zloty 0 5 6% Romanian 4.521 4.524 +0.0 0.30% leu 5 4 6% Croatian 7.437 7.429 -0.10 1.59% kuna 0 2 % Serbian 123.5 123.6 +0.0 -0.15 dinar 400 400 8% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 970.0 976.5 -0.66 +5.2 4 2 % 5% Budapest 32370 32622 -0.77 +1.1 .94 .40 % 5% Warsaw 2239. 2233. +0.2 +14. 71 63 7% 98% Bucharest 8224. 8258. -0.41 +16. 47 73 % 08% Ljubljana 778.1 778.2 -0.01 +8.4 6 4 % 4% Zagreb 1942. 1905. +1.9 -2.62 49 29 5% % Belgrade <.BELEX15 726.6 732.0 -0.74 +1.3 > 9 9 % 0% Sofia 650.6 657.7 -1.09 +10. 0 9 % 94% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 3 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year 5 bps Poland 2-year 3 bps 5-year bps s 10-year 3 bps FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.3 0.3 0.37 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.2 0.265 0.34 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.749 1.77 1.815 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for quotes ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idUSL8N1HQ1V1'|'2017-04-18T21:53:00.000+03:00' '95ba076969d7af5fc6e529ebcd528068542d8543'|'Most major Western leaders to skip China''s New Silk Road summit'|' 7:03am BST Most major Western leaders to skip China''s New Silk Road summit left right FILE PHOTO - The shadow of a participant is seen on a map illustrating China''s ''One Belt, One Road'' megaproject at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - A map illustrating China''s silk road economic belt and the 21st century maritime silk road, or the so-called ''One Belt, One Road'' megaproject, is displayed at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip 2/2 By Ben Blanchard - BEIJING BEIJING Only one leader of a big Western country is attending China''s most important diplomatic event of the year, a summit next month on President Xi Jinping''s New Silk Road strategy, as China''s foreign minister denied it had been snubbed. Xi has championed what China formally calls the "One Belt, One Road" or OBOR initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe, a landmark programme to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including railways, ports and power grids. China has dedicated $40 billion (£31.84 billion) to a Silk Road Fund and the idea was the driving force behind the establishment of the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Diplomatic sources in Beijing said China had hoped for at least some senior Western leaders to attend the summit, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, to burnish the plan''s international credentials and make it less China-centric. But a list of attendees announced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday included only one leader from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who took over in December after his predecessor quit following a crushing defeat in a reform referendum. Wang confirmed the presence of the presidents of Russia and the Philippines as among 28 leaders coming, along with the Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Serb and Polish prime ministers and Swiss and Czech presidents. "This is a positive, cooperative agreement, and we don''t want to politicise it," Wang told reporters when asked if China was upset at the absence of most major Western leaders. "This is an economic cooperation forum, an international cooperation platform that everyone is paying attention to, supports and hopes to participate in," he said, adding representatives of 110 countries would come. British finance minister Philip Hammond will come as May''s representative, while Germany and France are having elections at the time and will send high-level representatives, Wang said. "They have explained to us many times, France has elections in May, as does Germany about then, so their leaders originally were really willing to attend. This is not a platitude, it''s the real information we got." China is sensitive to any suggestion that what it sees as its benign intentions do not have a receptive global audience, especially in Western capitals. China was privately upset in 2015 after most Western leaders rebuffed invitations to attend a big military parade through Beijing marking 70 years since the end of World War Two. Western leaders were unhappy that the guest list that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and wary of the message China would send with the show of strength. GLOBAL FRIEND While China has portrayed the New Silk Road as a genuine effort to share the bounty of China''s economic development and to fund infrastructure gaps, many Western countries are concerned about a lack of detail and transparency in the project and are suspicious about China''s broader political intents. Diplomatic sources said the presence of Putin and other leaders from countries with dubious human rights records, like the Philippines and Central Asian states, had contributed to a reluctance among Western leaders to attend. "What Western leader wants to sit on the same stage as Putin?" said one senior Beijing-based Western diplomat who is familiar with the planning for the summit, speaking on condition of anonymity. Still, at a time of uncertainty about the U.S. place in the world following President Donald Trump''s pledges to put America first, China sees an opportunity to become more of a global leader and has found a receptive audience for its New Silk Road. Leaders from countries that would appear to have little, if any, connection to the plan are coming to the summit, including Chile and Argentina. "Everyone wants to be China''s friend now with Trump in office," said a senior Asian diplomat in Beijing.While China says the New Silk Road is not political, it has run into opposition from India due to a section of it in Pakistan, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, where some projects run through the disputed Kashmir region. Wang dismissed those concerns, saying the Pakistan project had nothing to do with the dispute and India was welcome to participate in the New Silk Road. A senior Indonesian government official said China was aiming for a "spectacular" summit. "The Chinese are gunning for ... global leadership so I think this OBOR summit is going to be huge," the official said. (Additional reporting by John Chalmers in Jakarta; Editing by Robert Birsel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-silkroad-summit-idUKKBN17K0FT'|'2017-04-18T14:03:00.000+03:00' 'b27e861625168d8e059be970333615943e11f6e0'|'Deutsche Bank says UK election call a ''game-changer'' for sterling'|'Money 42pm IST Deutsche Bank says UK election call a ''game-changer'' for sterling The headquarters of Germany''s Deutsche Bank are seen early evening in Frankfurt, Germany January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/Files LONDON Deutsche Bank, one the world''s biggest sterling bears, said on Tuesday that UK Prime Minister Theresa May''s surprise call for a general election is a "game-changer" for the currency, and that it will raise its forecasts for the pound in the coming days. May''s move should result in a larger and more stable majority in parliament, thereby reducing the likelihood of a so-called ''hard Brexit'', the bank''s currency analysts said. "We have been structurally negative on sterling for the last two years but are now changing view. This morning''s announcement of a snap general election on June 8 is a game-changer for both the UK''s Brexit negotiations and sterling," they said. May''s announcement paves the way for a lengthier negotiating process with the rest of the European Union, which is more in line with the EU approach, they said. Sterling rose sharply on Tuesday, hitting a 2016 high of $1.2725. As recently as March 23, Deutsche Bank analysts reiterated their call for a fall to $1.06 by the end of this year. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-sterling-election-idINKBN17K1K8'|'2017-04-18T21:12:00.000+03:00' 'fd0e8d354ea2b7432561db2b205c68757c37dd08'|'Japan jet may not make money, but aims to revive dormant industry'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 1:11am BST Japan jet may not make money, but aims to revive dormant industry left right FILE PHOTO: A visitor takes a picture of a poster of Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Visitors sit inside a model of Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ)''s cabin during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp''s Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) takes off for a test flight at Nagoya Airfield in Toyoyama town, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo November 11, 2015. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS 3/3 By Tim Kelly and Maki Shiraki - TOKYO TOKYO The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) has been delayed five times and faces rising costs, yet its future as the vanguard of Japanese-built passenger jets seems assured by the corporate muscle behind it and a government set on reviving an aerospace industry dismantled after World War Two. The delays - the new 90-seat plane was due to take off in 2013, but the first delivery is not now seen until 2020 - have dented its chances of commercial success as established regional jet makers, Brazil''s Embraer SA and Canada''s Bombardier Inc, catch up with its innovations, and China and Russia flex their aerospace ambitions. But the Japanese government''s primary goal isn''t to make money for Mitsubishi Aircraft, the MRJ''s manufacturer, rather it''s to have the plane cement an industry revival that failed to take off half a century ago with Japan''s last passenger plane, the YS-11. "Rather than a simple question of whether it makes a profit or loss, what is more important is will it over the longer term be the foundation of a strong aerospace industry," a government source who is helping the program told Reuters. He asked not to be identified as he is not authorized to talk to the media. Presentation documents prepared by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, seen by Reuters, see the MRJ as the first in a three-generation program stretching beyond 2060. With the plane still awaiting U.S.-standard certification for commercial flights, signed-up customers are banking on the backing of big-name Japanese companies to see the project through. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp is 64 percent-owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with Toyota Motor Corp and Mitsubishi Corp each holding a 10 percent stake. Other shareholders include state-owned Development Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Corp and Mitsui & Co. "Not a bad list," says Jep Thornton, a partner at Aerolease Aviation in Florida which has ordered 10 of the planes. "This is coming from the government sector, the financial sector and the investor sector." Launch customer ANA Holdings, Japan''s biggest carrier, says it won''t walk away from its order for 15 MRJs even as it has to keep older aircraft flying and leases four Boeing 737-800 aircraft to make up for a capacity shortfall. "We want this plane in our fleet and although we have been on stand-by for a while, we await it with anticipation," said Yuji Hirako, who runs All Nippon Airways. RE-WIRING The plane''s latest delay, announced in January, can be dated back more than 20 years - six years before Mitsubishi even considered a passenger jet - when a Boeing 747 plunged into the Atlantic, killing 230 people. Investigators blamed a short circuit that ignited a fuel tank fire, prompting the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) to tighten wiring certification in 2007. Mitsubishi, which had by then begun work on the MRJ, overlooked the change, said two people with knowledge of the project. "Mitsubishi was clearly aware of it but did not apply it to the design," said one, who didn''t want to be named as he is not authorized to talk to the media. Hundreds of engineers wiring the MRJ did so without using a common design framework incorporating the new rule. So, when asked by Japanese regulators certifying the jet to FAA standards how it complied with the stricter standard, Mitsubishi Aircraft faced a time-consuming task to explain each twist and turn in the 23,000 wires snaking through the plane''s fuselage. "They decided it would be easier to start from scratch," the second person said. In response to Reuters queries, Mitsubishi Aircraft said: "We were aware of the regulation in our early phase of design, so it is not accurate to say we overlooked the regulation. Our design was made reflecting the regulations, but we made a subsequent decision to relocate certain systems for a better design. System location was the main reason for requiring wiring changes and the re-routing ensures we meet the highest safety standards." Four of the five delays so far have been caused to some degree by similar failures to document work for certification, forcing engineers to redo some of their work, said Yugo Fukuhara, vice president and general manager of sales and marketing at Mitsubishi Aircraft, adding the company is hiring ex-Boeing engineers and other foreign experts to help it better navigate FAA rules. BREAKING EVEN? Mitsubishi Aircraft has orders for 233 MRJs, and aims to sell more than 1,000 of the planes over two decades. The company declined to say how many planes it has to sell to break even. Based on presentations by Mitsubishi Heavy, the first four delays doubled the MRJ''s development cost, and the latest delay could add another 30 percent - taking total spending to 350 billion yen ($3.17 billion), equivalent to the value of 67 list-price MRJs. At the average operating margin of 7.84 percent at commercial planemakers including Embraer, Boeing and Airbus over the past three years, the profit per MRJ plane would be $3.7 million, according to Reuters calculations. At that rate of return, Mitsubishi Aircraft would need to sell more than 800 of the planes to cover its costs. "Assume a very conservative 30 percent discount to the list price, then re-do. That probably brings us to 1,200 jets, and they''ll never get there," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at Teal Group, when asked about Reuters'' estimate. A more realistic number, he says, would be 30 aircraft a year over 25 years, adding up to sales of around 750 MRJs. "We understand that the commercial aircraft business is a long-term investment, and we expect to absorb the development costs over the long run," Mitsubishi Aircraft told Reuters. "We see this as the creation of a new industry, establishing supply chains and a regulatory certification process," said Fukuhara, the sales and marketing manager, in his office at Nagoya Airport. "I don''t think it will end with the MRJ." (For graphic comparing regional jets, click: here ) (Reporting by Tim Kelly and Maki Shiraki, with additional reporting by Allison Lampert in MONTREAL and Brad Haynes in SAO PAULO; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-aerospace-mrj-analysis-idUKKBN17J1UE'|'2017-04-18T07:48:00.000+03:00' 'd00cb8aa6b880f9980e927190805f2fd956fa021'|'UPDATE 1-U.S. consumer agency sues Ocwen over mortgage servicing errors'|'(Adds details from CFPB statement, action by state regulators against Ocwen)WASHINGTON, April 20 The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday sued Ocwen Financial Corp and its subsidiaries, alleging the mortgage loan servicer''s "years of widespread errors, shortcuts, and runarounds cost some borrowers money and others their homes."The bureau said in a statement that it had uncovered evidence that Ocwen, based in West Palm Beach, Florida, had "engaged in significant and systemic misconduct at nearly every stage of the mortgage servicing process."Regulators from Wisconsin and more than 20 other state regulators have also issued regulatory orders or charges against Ocwen subsidiaries to address violations of state and federal laws, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions said in a separate statement on Thursday.Ocwen is one of the country''s largest nonbank mortgage servicers. It serviced almost 1.4 million loans with an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $209 billion at the end of 2016, according to the CFPB statement.The bureau said some of Ocwen''s alleged violations included illegally foreclosing on homeowners, failing to credit borrowers'' payments, servicing loans using error-riddled information, and deceptively signing up and charging borrowers for add-on products."Ocwen has repeatedly made mistakes and taken shortcuts at every stage of the mortgage servicing process, costing some consumers money and others their homes," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said.The complaint was filed in federal district court for the Southern District of Florida. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; editing by Eric Walsh and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ocwen-financial-cfpb-idUSL1N1HS1HV'|'2017-04-20T22:05:00.000+03:00' 'a2de1aceb72fefbae4e2c384e8905729c1b91f34'|'British hedge fund Man Group says first quarter assets up 10 percent'|'Global Energy News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 9:41am BST Man Group shares lifted by rise in managed assets By Maiya Keidan - LONDON LONDON British hedge fund firm Man Group ( EMG.L ) said net inflows, positive market moves and the impact of a recent acquisition helped to boost funds under management by 10 percent in the first three months of the year. Man shares rose four percent after the figures came in ahead of consensus expectations. Hedge funds generally attracted more investor cash as interest rate rises and increased volatility provided more fertile ground for the industry after a tough 2016. Total assets under management at the end of March were $88.7 billion (£69.45 billion), up from $80.9 billion at the end of December, the world''s largest listed hedge fund said in a statement. "We came into the year with a good pipeline of interest from clients, and that has resulted in net inflows of $3 billion in the first three months," said Luke Ellis, Man Group Chief Executive. Man Group suffered a loss in 2016 when performance fees fell due to tough markets. However, the brightening outlook has helped to drive the fund''s share price more than 25 percent higher this year. Net inflows exceeded expectations and were the strongest since June 2011, according to research from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. "Man benefitted from a $1.4 billion mandate win this quarter. Even stripping this out, Man saw its second-strongest gross sales in five years," said the Goldman note. Investors putting cash to work with hedge funds had started picking up pace since the start of the year, industry tracker Eurekahedge, which said net inflows came in at $26.1 billion. Man''s long-only funds, which aim to profit when markets rise, and its fund of funds business, FRM, took in the bulk of new assets, with net flows of $1.4 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. FRM invests in other funds. Man made gains in 24 out of 30 strategies, delivering 14.4 percent and 11.5 percent improvements quarter-on-quarter in its top-performing Numeric emerging markets funds. Positive investment performance added a further $2.2 billion, with long-only strategies contributing $1.9 billion and its alternatives strategies $400 million. The completed acquisition of U.S. and Europe-based real asset manager Aalto, meanwhile, added $1.8 billion. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan; editing by Simon Jessop/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-man-group-results-idUKKBN17M0K5'|'2017-04-20T14:25:00.000+03:00' 'f3fd0718c539203e1366756c1b4e0e6d83135cc9'|'Oman plans IPOs for downstream energy firms -minister'|'ABU DHABI, April 20 Oman plans to offer shares in some state-owned downstream energy companies to the public, partly to raise money as low oil prices pressure its finances, Omani Oil and Gas Minister Mohammad bin Hamad al-Rumhy said on Thursday.The companies include Salalah Methanol Co and a drilling company, Rumhy told reporters without naming the drilling firm or giving any financial details.Oman has been considering privatisation of a wide range of state firms for several years but has not yet moved ahead with the programme, and Rumhy did not say when the initial public offers might take place.Salalah Methanol, founded in 2006, is owned 90 percent by state-run Oman Oil Co and 10 percent by Takamul Investment Co, and has a methanol production capacity of 3,000 tonnes per day, according to its website. (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho; Writing by Andrew Torchia)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oman-petrochemicals-privatisation-idINL8N1HS205'|'2017-04-20T06:45:00.000+03:00' '67d196f4aa9bc520a14b3d5e9927ca5edcac73cc'|'Britain to sell Green Investment Bank to Macquarie in 2.3-billion-pound deal'|'Deals - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 10:18am BST Britain to sell Green Investment Bank to Macquarie in 2.3 billion pounds deal LONDON The British government said on Thursday it will sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to Macquarie Bank [MBL.UL] in a deal worth 2.3 billion pounds ($3 billion). "(The) deal will meet government requirements for a sale, providing value for the taxpayer while ensuring GIB continues its green mission in the private sector," the government said in a statement. The deal includes a 1.7 billion pound transaction price and 600 million pounds of estimated future funding for existing GIB projects, it added. (Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic, editing by Nina Chestney) Exclusive: China gathers state-led consortium for Aramco IPO - sources HONG KONG/RIYADH/DUBAI China is creating a consortium, including state-owned oil giants and banks and its sovereign wealth fund, that will act as a cornerstone investor in the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. Democrats urge FCC to drop plan to revise TV ownership rules WASHINGTON The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to cancel a vote scheduled for Thursday on a measure to reverse a 2016 rule that limits the number of television stations some broadcasters can buy. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-greenbank-sale-idUKKBN17M0Z0'|'2017-04-20T17:09:00.000+03:00' '5249388678c7ddce63a8ca09124fcfa2e3063e3f'|'BP mulls sale of stakes in Canadian oil sands assets: sources'|'Commodities - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 2:45pm EDT BP mulls sale of stakes in Canadian oil sands assets: sources A BP logo is seen at a petrol station in London, Britain January 15, 2015. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo By John Tilak and Nia Williams - TORONTO/CALGARY TORONTO/CALGARY BP Plc is considering the sale of its stakes in three Canadian oil sands projects, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week, as part of the British oil company''s strategy of retreating from noncore businesses. BP''s 50 percent stake in the Sunrise project near Fort McMurray in Alberta, where Husky Energy Inc owns the rest and is the operator, is the most valuable of the three assets. BP''S Sunrise stake is valued at about $810 million, based on recent transactions in the sector. It also owns a 50 percent stake in Pike, operated by Devon Energy Corp, which is still awaiting a final investment decision, and is majority-owner of the Terre de Grace oil sands pilot project. A BP spokesman declined to comment. Sources declined to be named as the information is confidential. The three projects are located in northeastern Alberta. BP has discussed with advisers the possibility of selling the stakes, though no final decision has been made, the people added. If the sale proceeds, BP would deploy capital in more attractive regions, such as the Permian basin in the United States, where the rate of return tends to be higher, one of the people said. BP''s planned move comes after other global energy majors, including ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell have cut their exposure to Canada''s oil sands operations, which are among the world''s most expensive oil plays to develop. Faced with a lower oil price environment and challenging economics, which include high cost operations and carbon taxes, global players are increasingly put off by the oil sands. Reuters reported last week that U.S. oil producer Chevron Corp was exploring the sale of its 20 percent stake in Canada''s Athabasca Oil Sands project, which could fetch about $2.5 billion. BP is focusing its operations in Egypt, Azerbaijan, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and Trinidad in the coming years. Husky said in February that current production at the Sunrise project is about 36,000 barrels of oil per day. It is in the process of ramping up the project to full capacity of 60,000 bpd but progress has been slower than expected and the company is drilling extra wells to try to speed up production. Husky lowered the 2017 production forecast to 40,000-44,000 bpd from 60,000 bpd. While Husky is not keen to increase its exposure to the oil sands, it may consider buying BP''s stake if the price is attractive, two sources said. Husky spokesman Mel Duvall declined to comment on whether the company had discussed buying BP''s stake in Sunrise. "We take a look at everything, but we have a number of organic growth opportunities," he added. ($1 = 1.3475 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Nia Williams in Calgary; Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London, Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta; and David French in New York; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bp-canada-divestiture-idUSKBN17M2D0'|'2017-04-20T22:32:00.000+03:00' 'd80aeb8aac07971b57377163223fd1fe2acfe461'|'BRIEF-Scorpio Bulkers reports Q1 GAAP loss per share $0.48'|' 18am EDT BRIEF-Scorpio Bulkers reports Q1 GAAP loss per share $0.48 April 20 Scorpio Bulkers Inc * Scorpio Bulkers Inc. announces financial results for the first quarter of 2017 * Q1 adjusted loss per share $0.23 excluding items * Q1 GAAP loss per share $0.48 * Q1 earnings per share view $-0.25 -- Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S * Scorpio Bulkers - TCE revenue was $34.6 million for Q1 of 2017 compared to $10.2 million during prior year quarter * Scorpio Bulkers Inc- During Q1 of 2017, recorded write down on assets held for sale $17.1 million related to sale of two kamsarmax vessels * Scorpio Bulkers Inc says TCE revenue per day was $8,608 and $3,404 for Q1 of 2017 and 2016, respectively * Scorpio Bulkers Inc - During Q1 of 2017 also recorded a $0.6 million adjustment related to vessels previously sold Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-scorpio-bulkers-reports-q1-gaap-lo-idUSASA09JDY'|'2017-04-20T21:18:00.000+03:00' 'c4c0630da9489340dde38de5c93d4a297d78e2b4'|'Mexico''s Bimbo plans expansion in China, Asia, Middle East'|'By Sheky Espejo - MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo ( BIMBOA.MX ) plans to grow in China in the short term with acquisitions, while also expanding in the rest of Asia and entering Middle Eastern markets, the company''s food business chief said on Wednesday.Bimbo, which entered China in 2006 after buying the local assets of Spanish competitor Panrico, plans to expand in China through purchases of local companies, Bernardo Zermeno, the food business chief, told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Mexico City."Bimbo will look for a consolidation that will allow for expansion," he said.Bimbo shares were up 0.60 percent in late afternoon trading at 45.44 pesos ($2.41).(Reporting by Sheky Espejo; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bimbo-china-idINKBN17L2LW'|'2017-04-19T23:26:00.000+03:00' 'd21d7e476349dc7fc2fd5d841737f3219f5217b6'|'Pernod Ricard third-quarter sales growth slows, India weighs'|'By Dominique Vidalon and Pascale Denis - PARIS PARIS Pernod Ricard''s third quarter sales beat forecasts on Thursday, lifting its shares, but the French spirits group cautioned that a ban on alcohol sales near Indian highways would slow growth in its second-largest market.Pernod, the world''s second-biggest spirits group after Britain''s Diageo, maintained its profit outlook, saying it saw further robust growth in the U.S, its largest market, and in Europe and improving Chinese demand for its Martell cognac.The owner of Mumm champagne and Absolut vodka said it expected underlying operating profit growth of between 2 and 4 percent in the full year to June 30.India, which accounts for about 10 percent of group revenue, has been a key growth area, driven by local whisky brands such as Blender''s Pride and Royal Stag.But a government ban on high-value bank notes held back local consumption in the second and third quarter and sales growth in India slowed to 1 percent in the nine months to March 31, from 12 percent in the full year 2015-16, Pernod said.While the ban on alcohol sales near Indian highways will impact sales mainly in the fourth quarter and in the first half of the fiscal year 2017/18, finance chief Gilles Bogaert told Reuters he hoped they should be close to flat in the full year ending June 30 and he was confident about India over the long-term.The company did not specify what proportion of its sales in India would be hit by the highway sales ban.Pernod Ricard posted sales of 1.987 billion euros ($2.13 billion) in the three months to March 31, up 3 percent on a like-for-like basis, beating expectations for 1 percent growth, helped by double-digit sales growth of its Jameson Irish whiskey in the United States and improving demand in Europe.Pernod shares had gained 1.8 percent to 115.3 euros by 1010 GMT, outperforming the French blue chip CAC-40 index."The stronger-than-expected (results) ... should provide further comfort that the business continues to improve," Jefferies analysts, who have a "buy" rating, said in a note.However, the performance marked a slight slowdown from 4 percent growth in the second quarter, reflecting weaker sales in Asia due to regulatory changes in India and the earlier timing of the Chinese New Year, which helped second quarter sales.Like other spirits makers, Pernod Ricard has been hit by a downturn in China sparked by a government clampdown on extravagant spending and its sales fell in the third quarter and were flat over the nine months, after falling 9 percent last year, although Bogaert said the underlying trend was improving."The expected rebound in China is materialising," he said, echoing Remy Cointreau which made optimistic comments over its prospects in the country.($1 = 0.9327 euros)(Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/pernod-ricard-salesfigures-idINKBN17M0NG'|'2017-04-20T05:00:00.000+03:00' 'e846623afa5c83526d244b045cbedd776519cb4d'|'Diageo cutting jobs in Scotland ahead of Brexit - union'|' 5:43pm BST Diageo cutting jobs in Scotland ahead of Brexit - union Workers talk to each other on the production line at the Diageo owned Shieldhall bottling plant in Glasgow, Scotland March 24, 2011. REUTERS/David Moir LONDON Alcoholic drinks giant Diageo ( DGE.L ) plans to cut roughly 100 jobs in Scotland, at a time when Britain''s workforce is facing uncertainty over the nation''s impending exit from the European Union. Diageo, the world''s largest spirits maker and home to Johnnie Walker Scotch, Smirnoff vodka and Tanqueray gin, said on Thursday that it reviewed its European bottling plant footprint following the disposal of its wine business and subsequent end of wine bottling contracts. It said the review was currently estimated to impact around 100 roles in Scotland, towards the end of the year. "We will now enter a period of consultation with our employees and their representatives to discuss this and all these proposals of the business in greater detail," a Diageo spokeswoman said. The Scottish arm of Britain''s GMB union, which first reported the news on its website, said workers and unions were told on Thursday that there would be 70 redundancies at Diageo''s Leven bottling plant in Fife and 35 at its Shieldhall site, near Glasgow. Diageo has another European bottling plant in Italy. The GMB union, which says it has 639,000 members in various sectors, said it warned the UK government’s Scottish Secretary David Mundell earlier this year about the need for special measures to protect Scotland''s drinks manufacturing sector amidst the backdrop of Brexit uncertainty. Scotch whisky is one of Britain''s largest food and drink exports. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-diageo-layoffs-idUKKBN17M23O'|'2017-04-21T00:43:00.000+03:00' '11641d2d451a683933c0609ddd17795a40a96610'|'Greek debt must be sustainable for IMF to join bailout - Lagarde'|'BERLIN The International Monetary Fund will not take part in a bailout programme for Greece if it deems the country''s debt is unsustainable, the international lender''s chief Christine Lagarde said in an interview published on Tuesday.Greece needs to implement reforms agreed by euro zone finance ministers earlier this month to secure a new loan under its 86 billion-euro ($91.58 billion) bailout programme, the third since 2010.The loan is needed to pay debt due in July, but talks continue and the IMF has not yet decided whether to join the bailout. The fund''s participation is seen as a condition for Germany to unblock new funds to Greece."If Greek debts are not sustainable based on IMF rules and reasonable parameters, we will not take part in the programme," Lagarde told German newspaper Die Welt when asked if the IMF would take part in the plan if Greek debt is not restructured.($1 = 0.9391 euros)(Reporting by Joseph Nasr and Paul Carrel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-bailout-imf-idINKBN17K0RG'|'2017-04-18T06:21:00.000+03:00' 'e569608b9e6eacbd89f5b1c5aa993a27e078615b'|'Stung by debt, China''s economic growth to slow to 6.5 percent in 2017: Reuters poll'|' 12:58pm IST Stung by debt, China''s economic growth to slow to 6.5 percent in 2017: Reuters poll A worker walks past a construction site in the Central Business District in Beijing, China, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter By Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING China''s economic growth is seen slowing to 6.5 percent in 2017 despite a strong start to the first quarter, as the government seeks to cool the property sector and temper credit growth to contain risks from a dangerous build-up of debt, a Reuters poll showed. Growth is expected to weaken further to 6.2 percent in 2018, the Reuters poll of over 75 economists showed, extending a slowing trajectory for the world''s second-biggest economy which grew 6.7 percent in 2016 for its worst performance in 26 years. The forecasts for this year and in 2018 were unchanged from a January poll, even after stronger than expected first quarter growth of 6.9 percent, underscoring the drag on the economy from property controls and tighter credit. The solid first quarter was boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property boom which helped boost industrial output by the most in over two years. But as Beijing looks to put the economy on a more balanced and sustainable footing, growth is seen losing steam later this year on the back of more property cooling measures and central bank steps to raise funding costs to defuse bubble risks. On a quarterly basis, China''s economy is expected to slow to 6.7 percent growth in the second quarter, 6.6 percent in the third and 6.5 percent in fourth quarter, the poll showed. The government is targeting annual growth of around 6.5 percent this year. The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised its forecasts for China''s 2017 growth to 6.6 percent from the previous 6.5 percent and raised 2018 growth to 6.2 percent from 6.0 percent, but warned of potential disruptions in the medium term unless the country reduces its reliance on rapid credit growth. China''s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 277 percent at the end of 2016 from 254 percent the previous year, with an increasing share of new credit being used to pay debt servicing costs, according to an estimate from UBS. Analysts also expect annual inflation to average 2.1 percent in 2017 and 2.3 percent in 2018, up from 2 percent in 2016. Sluggish demand is expected to keep consumer prices largely in check despite a big bump in producer prices. TIGHTENING BIAS Stronger global demand and China''s bid to keep the economy on an even keel could support growth ahead of a major leadership transition later this year. The People''s Bank of China (PBOC) is trying to put the brakes on flush credit by guiding short-term interest rates higher, but it''s expected to keep benchmark interest rates steady and may even loosen credit conditions if growth falters. Higher domestic borrowing costs could also support the yuan, especially if U.S. interest rates continue to rise, which could risk a resurgence in capital outflows from China. The yuan has stabilised this year, due to curbs on capital outflows and a reversal of the dollar rally, following a fall of 6.5 percent in 2016. Currency strategists polled by Reuters earlier this month predicted it would weaken to 7.05 in six months and fall further to 7.10 in a year. Analysts believe the PBOC will keep benchmark lending rates unchanged at 4.35 percent through at least the third quarter of 2018, the Reuters poll showed. They have pushed back their expectations on a cut in the amount of cash that banks are required hold as reserves, or the reserve requirement ratio (RRR). The central bank is expected to cut the RRR by 50 basis points (bps) in the fourth quarter this year to 16.5 percent, according to the poll. The January had predicted a 50 bps cut in RRR in the third quarter of this year. Fan Gang, an adviser to China''s central bank, has said that cuts in the RRR would be normal given sharp drops in its foreign exchange reserves. (For other stories from the poll) (Polling by Shaloo Shrivastava and Khushboo Mittal in Bangalore, Jing Wang in Shanghai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-poll-idINKBN17M0PQ'|'2017-04-20T15:28:00.000+03:00' 'deca92516ace85e7258c514bfafad5208952d679'|'UK watchdog warns banks against ''opportunistic'' transaction booking'|'Economic 44pm IST UK watchdog warns banks against ''opportunistic'' transaction booking A worker arrives at his office in the Canary Wharf business district in London February 26, 2014. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh/Files LONDON Britain''s top markets regulator will clamp down on any attempt post-Brexit to return to the "bad old world" of opaque transactions in which banks did not know where trades were being booked, he said on Tuesday. Banks based in London want to maintain broker links with customers across the European Union once Britain has left the bloc in 2019, such as by opening trading offshoots in EU countries. But to limit costs, some dealers want the processing of securities and derivatives trades at such units to be still handled centrally at hubs in London, a step regulators fear could muddy electronic trails for trades. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, said there is a "potential world" in which trading arms seek to move the minimum amount of activity that would satisfy a regulator, while still keeping the UK "hub" intact. The European Central Bank, which authorises lenders in the EU''s single currency area, has already warned banks they will not get a licence if they push for such deals. Bailey told reporters the FCA was likewise focused on making "opportunistic" transaction booking models transparent and backed by sound risk management. "We do not want to go back to the bad old world. The bad old world was part of the crisis story, of opaque booking models, firms themselves actually really did not know where stuff was being booked," Bailey said. "There are standards that you can expect of firms. You cannot have opaque, opportunistic booking models... We''re not going to compromise on that." The EU''s securities watchdog announced last week it would issue guidance and possible curbs to stop a "race to the bottom" among national watchdogs in the EU to lure banking business from London because of Brexit. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Pritha Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-banks-idINKBN17K1KQ'|'2017-04-18T21:14:00.000+03:00' 'c4badb3e32e1e0e589d75fd707818d78b18ce877'|'China to post solid, steady first-quarter growth on building boom, but debt risks loom'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 12:04am BST China to post solid, steady first-quarter growth on building boom, but debt risks loom left right FILE PHOTO: New properties are seen near a square in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, September 23, 2016. Picture taken September 23, 2016. REUTERS/Yawen Chen/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Workers survey the construction site of the terminal for the Beijing New Airport in Beijing''s southern Daxing District, China October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo 2/2 By Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING China is expected to report on Monday that its economy grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter, well above Beijing''s full-year target, buoyed by surging government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property market that is showing signs of overheating. A strong reading could help wobbly global financial markets but add to worries that China''s government is still relying too heavily on old growth engines like stimulus and not doing enough to tackle risks from an explosive build-up in debt. Though policymakers have pledged repeatedly to push reforms to head off financial risks and asset bubbles, the government is seeking to keep the world''s second-largest economy on an even keel ahead of a major leadership transition later this year. Beijing has set a slightly more modest growth target of around 6.5 percent for this year, theoretically offering more wiggle room for reforms after the economy grew 6.7 percent in 2016 - the weakest pace in 26 years. Most economists polled by Reuters expect the economy expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the same pace as in the fourth quarter of 2016. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it likely grew 1.6 percent in January-March from the previous three-month period. Economists at ANZ reckon growth may even clock in at 6.9 percent in the quarter, pointing to strong property and infrastructure investment. "The announcement in early April of the construction of the Xiongan new economic zone, which requires massive infrastructure spending, suggests Chinese authorities are likely to rely more on investment to stabilise growth in the next few years," ANZ said in a note. China''s long-ailing industrial sector has been posting its best profits in years, thanks to higher prices for steel and other building materials, giving "smokestack" industries more cash flow to pay off debt and invest in more efficient plants. China''s export outlook also brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth and as U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift, though the risk of U.S. protectionist trade action is by no means off the table. Still, many analysts expect economic growth to cool later this year as the impact of earlier stimulus measures starts to fade and as local authorities resort to ever-tougher measures in a bid to get soaring home prices under control. ACCUMULATED PROPERTY CURBS Most analysts don''t see a price crash, but believe the accumulated weight of property curbs will eventually translate into weaker sales, construction and investment. China imported the most iron ore on record in the first quarter, but iron ore and steel futures prices are nosediving on fears that its steel production is outweighing demand. Beijing also is continuing to rely heavily on new credit to generate growth as productivity slows, despite worries about debt risks. China''s banks extended the third highest loans on record in the first quarter, though March lending was less than expected. At the same time, China''s central bank has shifted to a tightening bias, and is using more targeted measures to contain risks in the financial system, after years of ultra-loose settings. MORE RATE INCREASES? The People''s Bank of China (PBOC) has raised short-term interest rates several times already this year, while boosting its regulatory oversight. Analysts predict further modest rate increases this year, but do not expect a full-blown policy rate hike as authorities fear tapping the brakes too hard would stunt economic growth. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says China''s total private and public debt has exceeded250 percent of GDP, up from 150 percent before the global financial crisis. "While the authorities obviously recognise the risks, credit has continued to expand at a pace that looks unsustainable," analysts at Barclays said. "Although this does not necessarily equate to the risk of an imminent crisis, the apparent plan to ''kick the can down the road'', at least past the Party Congress, means that problems left to fester may become more difficult to resolve." (Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-idUKKBN17I0W6'|'2017-04-17T07:04:00.000+03:00' '293389ecc3635d73c830b5417e34aedb23e2ffc6'|'Kelvin MacKenzie pays price after Sun takes eye off the ball - Media'|'T he real curiosity is Kelvin MacKenzie ’s “suspension” from Sun columnising (after a notably vile and clodhopping piece about the young Everton footballer Ross Barkley). It sounds almost as though Kelvin is some redtop version of Ken Livingstone, benched for putting his boot in it again.Yet any comparison between Corbyn Labour and Murdoch Sun can’t survive for a second. MacKenzie doesn’t have unlimited licence to write or say what he likes. He doesn’t rent a white sheet of blank paper from Rupert every columnar morning. On the contrary, he’s contracted to write his piece, turn it in on time, and watch it go through the editing process before appearing in print. MacKenzie was a long-term editor. He knows what editing means. He knows there’s an executive hierarchy – from subs to night lawyers to supreme authorities – there to watch his back.But did they? They commissioned a grisly cartoon to sit with the piece. But the racism and gorilla references that incensed the mayor of Liverpool don’t seem to have rung any alarms. MacKenzie is left to take this rap alone.A good, richly deserved comeuppance, you may think – and maybe the end of his career. But a suspension for something the powers-that-be sanctified before turning turtle? That seems a little rough – just like this whole blundering, bewildering episode itself.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/news/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/16/kelvin-mackenzie-ross-barkley-sun'|'2017-04-16T03:00:00.000+03:00' '0572bc0094592c8d8ae7f475b779301e19f3501e'|'RPT-Wall St Week Ahead-Netflix scorecard to test mettle of tech rally'|'(Repeats Thursday story without changes)* Tech’s growing sway on Wall Street: tmsnrt.rs/2oYIpgQBy Noel RandewichSAN FRANCISCO, April 13 The longevity of the technology stocks rally is on the line next week as Netflix Inc kicks off the earnings season for a sector that has mushroomed to account for more than a fifth of the U.S. stock market''s value.Surges in Apple, Facebook and other Silicon Valley heavyweights have pushed the S&P 500 technology index 10 percent higher this year, more than double the broader S&P 500 index''s 4 percent gain. The tech sector''s aggregate value now tops $4.4 trillion, 30 percent higher than No. 2 financials, and even rivals the size of the Federal Reserve''s massive balance sheet.The next test for these companies is whether their profit growth is sufficient to justify their outsized share price gains.Enter Netflix, which reports after the bell on Monday. The video streaming pioneer is expected by analysts to quintuple its earnings per share. But with its stock surging 43 percent in the past six months and now trading at 109 times expected earnings, Netflix''s valuation is based more on sentiment than on fundamentals, many investors believe."The market''s reaction to whatever the news is from Netflix will be telling," said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "If the slightest little negative leads to a 15-point decline, that tells you things are elevated and the market is only going to reward the most excellent of news."Momentum in many tech stocks has been driven by ambitious expectations for earnings. Tech profits are seen climbing 14.7 percent for the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. That would account for nearly a third of the 10.4 percent earnings growth predicted across the S&P 500."It''s great for everybody to feel good, but if nobody is buying stuff and the companies are reporting disappointing sales and that affects their margins, then you''ll be starting to say - wait a second," said Thomas Martin, a portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.Along with the S&P 500, tech shares have flatlined for weeks as Wall Street reassesses whether President Donald Trump will be able to push corporate tax cuts through Congress.Still, so far in April investors have poured $122 million into the U.S.-listed Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund, bringing total flows into the fund this year to $1.4 billion, according to ETF.com, which tracks fund flows.Inside the tech rally, chip makers have been notable outperformers, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index up 40 percent in the past year. Semiconductor companies are expected to boost EPS by 46 percent in the first quarter, helped by the growing use of chips in cars and mobile gadgets. One of the biggest - Qualcomm Inc - reports on Wednesday.While shares of the mobile chipmaker have been bogged down by a legal battle with Apple, its sales are seen rising by 6 percent and EPS by 14 percent.(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-weekahead-idINL1N1HL1O9'|'2017-04-16T15:00:00.000+03:00' '6f22cab1d890e7d8d8ec45b376e797e2ecee4580'|'Brazil''s MRV Q1 home sales, starts rise while Cyrela slips'|'Company News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 7:54pm EDT Brazil''s MRV Q1 home sales, starts rise while Cyrela slips SAO PAULO, April 17 Homebuilder MRV Engenharia SA on Monday reported a rise in first-quarter net sales and record housing starts, helped by slowing sales cancellations as management declared a turning point after years of economic crisis in Brazil. By contrast, Cyrela Brazil Realty SA, which warned of high levels of sales cancellations in the quarter, reported slipping sales and flat housing starts. The divergence, reported in separate securities filings, underscores how the performance of builders of affordable housing in Brazil hinges on the ability to contain a surge in canceled sales due to rising unemployment amid a lingering recession. MRV''s Co-Chief Executive Rafael Menin said by booking only "guaranteed sales," it had waited longer to register new signings, slowing the growth of gross sales to 7 percent from a year earlier, but slashing sales cancellations by 15 percent. As a result, net sales climbed 15 percent from a year earlier to 1.322 billion reais ($427 million). "The first quarter represented a turning point and we expect this year to be more active for launches and sales than 2016," Menin told Reuters in a telephone interview. The value of MRV''s new projects launched in the first quarter rose 25 percent from a year earlier to 1.211 billion reais, the highest ever for the quarter and largely concentrated in the month of March. Menin said MRV aims to invest an additional 100 million to 120 million reais buying land in 2017 compared to last year. "There is not much competition and we want to build a gigantic land bank before this window of opportunity closes," he said, referring to MRV''s land holdings, which grew 0.7 percent in the three months through March to 41.4 billion reais. MRV said spending on land, construction and urban amenities cut free cash generation by 58 percent from a year ago to 75 million reais. The transfer of some 8,000 units has also been held up by banks with restrictive credit policies, which should be overcome in the second half of the year, generating more cash and sales, according to the securities filing. Cyrela did not provide information about its cash generation or land bank. It reported a 4.5 percent drop in net sales to 520 million reais, while the value of new construction edged 0.2 percent lower to 612 million reais. ($1 = 3.098 Brazilian reais) (Reporting by Gabriela Mello; writing and additional reporting by Brad Haynes; editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-builders-idUSL1N1HP1PL'|'2017-04-18T07:54:00.000+03:00' '864ee808c7a52bf349db8fae1922f473f5dce2ea'|'Executive salaries at China''s largest state firms linked to "party building" efforts'|' 5:42am BST Executive salaries at China''s largest state firms linked to "party building" efforts FILE PHOTO - A business man rides an escalator in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai September 21, 2011. REUTERS/Aly Song BEIJING Salaries of executives at China''s largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be directly linked to their performance on tests by the ruling Communist Party to assess their "party building" efforts, state media said on Tuesday. President Xi Jinping has overseen a push to re-establish the party in Chinese business and institutions, stating that a "key few" loyal and talented officials should play a greater role in leading the country. These efforts, often described as efforts to strengthen party discipline, dovetail with Xi''s war on graft, a multi-year campaign to target offenders at all levels. New rules released on Sunday will create for the first time a "system of responsibility" to ensure appointed executives are carrying out work to promote party ideology in China''s national-level SOEs, the party''s official People''s Daily newspaper reported. A meeting by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac), which appoints top executives in SOEs and approves mergers and sales of their assets, was held in Beijing on Monday. It was decided that the rules will link pay, appointment or dismissal and other rewards or punishments to assessments of how well individuals carrying out "party building" work, the article said. "We must resolutely assess party building, without tests there is no way to hold (people) accountable," Hao Peng, party secretary of Sasac said at the meeting, according to the state broadcaster. The party appoints party executives to top positions in SOEs, and party loyalty has always been a part of assessing officials'' performance. All institutions and companies must have a party unit to register with the authorities. But as China''s SOEs began to internationalize and take some entities public, the party role has waned in some organizations, with executives choosing their business role over party work, a phenomenon the new rules hope to address. "The party committee secretary and chairman are shouldered as one; two jobs, two duties with only one person in charge; we must resolutely avoid paying attention to one while neglecting the other," Hao Peng said, according to the People''s Daily. (Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-politics-statefirm-salaries-idUKKBN17K0B4'|'2017-04-18T12:42:00.000+03:00' '4bf157a2caf031947e0813a65343529fed7230e6'|'European stocks in, U.S. equities out - BAML survey'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:55am BST European stocks in, U.S. equities out - BAML survey Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote LONDON Global investors'' enthusiasm for European stocks continues to surge, the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) survey of portfolio managers showed on Tuesday, with bank noting that the swing of funds into the region and away from the United States was one of the largest since 1999. Allocation to U.S. equities fell to it lowest since January 2008, BAML said, adding that investors cited rich valuations and potential delays to U.S. tax reforms as key concerns. The so-called "Trump trade," which saw major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs and lifted bond yields on hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would push through business-friendly reforms, has faltered in recent weeks on worries over the new administration''s ability to deliver on promises. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform is set to falter following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare, the Financial Times reported on Monday. More than 40 percent of investors surveyed do not expect tax reforms to be passed before 2018, BAML said. In Europe, meanwhile, the mood for stocks has brightened. The brightest earnings outlook for European firms in 7 years, a recovering banking sector and better economic data from across the region has bolstered investor appetite and drawn funds back into the region. European stocks traded at about 15 times forward earnings compared with a multiple of 17.7 times for the United States, according to Thomson Reuters data. The risk that European elections might lead to the disintegration of the European Union slipped sharply from last month''s survey, the BAML said, though it remained the biggest "tail risk" for global investors. Along with the euro zone, investors added to emerging markets stocks with allocations running at 5-year highs while enthusiasm for global banking stocks was at its highest ever. More broadly, global funds held about 4.9 percent of their portfolio in cash, the survey showed. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-stock-survey-baml-idUKKBN17K0YK'|'2017-04-18T17:55:00.000+03:00' '6091588dec6def9a4a5de12e8df32c94053ee166'|'FCA says takes whistleblowing rules ''very seriously'''|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:39am BST FCA says takes whistleblowing rules ''very seriously'' A maintenance worker cleans the entrance area of the headquarters of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the Canary Wharf business district of London April 1, 2013. REUTERS/Chris Helgren LONDON Britain''s financial markets regulator said on Tuesday it was vital to protect corporate whistleblowers, after it launched a high-profile probe last week into Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley''s attempts to unmask one inside his own bank. "We take it very seriously", Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, told a news conference in London. Bailey declined to comment specifically on the Barclays case, but said it was important that whatever is seen in the outside world does not damage the support and protections whistleblowers have. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Writing by Lawrence White; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-regulation-idUKKBN17K0XR'|'2017-04-18T17:39:00.000+03:00' '9edb80040431f4c313ee3fb3ab052c8c8c84c944'|'Bass Pro lowers price for Cabela''s under new merger terms'|'Cabela''s Inc ( CAB.N ) said it agreed to be bought by fellow outdoor goods retailer Bass Pro Shops for a lower price than agreed, and that it would sell its bank unit in a two-step deal as it seeks regulatory clearance for the transactions.Synovus Financial Corp ( SNV.N ) will buy certain assets of Cabela''s financial division and then resell the credit card portfolio within the unit to Capital One Financial Corp ( COF.N ), Cabela''s said in a statement on Monday.The unit, called World''s Foremost Bank, was supposed to be bought by Capital One last year, but the deal wasn''t able to get timely regulatory approval.The new merger terms come amid regulatory scrutiny of the deal, although Cabela''s did not offer a reason for the revised price.The company was not immediately available to comment on the lowered merger price.Bass Pro Shops will now buy Cabela''s for about $5 billion, $500 million lower than the price agreed upon last year.The deal, originally announced in October, will combine Cabela''s 85 stores, which have a stronger U.S. Northwest presence, with Bass Pro''s roughly 100 locations that are concentrated in the U.S. Southeast.The companies have an overlap across Texas, Missouri and Kansas.Cabela''s had warned of a delay in closing the deal, because of delays in regulatory approval.The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates and enforces antitrust laws, had sought more information from the companies about the deal.Cabela''s said on Monday it now expects the deal to close in the third quarter this year.Bass Pro will acquire Cabela''s for $61.50 per share, lower than the originally agreed upon $65.50-per-share price, Cabela''s said.Shares of Cabela''s were up 6.6 percent at $56.91 in after-market trade.(Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cabela-s-m-a-basspro-idINKBN17J1QT'|'2017-04-17T20:00:00.000+03:00' '8f201d585f425b4e3ed0e5a65c3239d2c9365633'|'RPT-Saudi Arabia pushes ahead with renewable drive to diversify energy mix'|'Company News 3:00am EDT RPT-Saudi Arabia pushes ahead with renewable drive to diversify energy mix (Repeats April 17 story with no changes) By Rania El Gamal, Reem Shamseddine and Katie Paul RIYADH, April 17 Saudi Arabia aims to produce 10 percent of its power from renewable sources in the next six years as it pushes ahead with a multi-billion-dollar plan to diversify its energy mix and free up more crude oil for export. The drive by the world''s top oil exporter will see the kingdom developing 30 solar and wind projects by 2023 to boost its electricity generation and reduce crude oil burning. Saudi Arabia is targeting 9.5 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy by 2023. The renewables initiative involves investment estimated between $30 billion and $50 billion. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih kicked off the massive renewable programme in Riyadh on Monday by announcing the beginning of the bidding process for a 300 megawatt (MW) solar power project, which is expected to come online by 2018-2019. "The energy mix to produce electricity will change, today the kingdom uses large quantities of oil liquids, including crude, fuel oil and diesel," Falih said. "So the percentage of renewable energy by 2023 (will be) 10 percent of total installed capacity in the kingdom." Under an economic reform programme launched last year, known as Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is seeking to use non-oil means to generate much of its additional future energy needs to avoid running down oil resources and diversify its economy. ENERGY REFORM PUSH The kingdom is restructuring its energy sector as part of Vision 2030 and a focus on renewable projects is a pillar of this transformation as it would help develop the private sector and create thousands of jobs. "Since the restructuring of the energy sector ... one of our key priorities is to engage with the private sector," Falih said, adding he was confident the programme would be delivered. Saudi Arabia has short-listed 27 companies for its solar power project and 24 firms for its wind project, the energy ministry said last week. France''s EDF Energies Nouvelles, Japanese companies Marubeni Corp and Mitsui & Co and Saudi Acwa Power are among the firms which have qualified to bid for the 300 MW solar PV project in Sakaka, the al-Jouf Province in the north of the kingdom. Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar), GE, Marubeni Corporation, Mitsui & Co., JGC Corp, SNC Lavalin Arabia and Iberdrola Renovables Energia are among those qualified to bid for the 400 MW wind farm project in Midyan in the northwest. The kingdom also plans to launch a second bidding round for 400 MW of wind power at a project in Domat al-Jandal in al-Jouf Province by the fourth quarter of this year, which will be followed by 620 MW of solar power, Turki Shehri, head of the renewable energy project development office at the energy ministry told reporters on Monday. "This will come in stages. It (wind power project) will come in the fourth quarter of this year with Domat al-Jandal, and then the 620 MW (solar) will come immediately after that in phases," he said. The projects will be tendered on a build, operate and own basis, meaning the companies which win the projects will retain ownership for 20 years for the solar plants and 25 years for the wind, Shehri said. State oil giant Saudi Aramco would be interested in investing in the second bidding round for renewable projects as it aims to play a major role in the sector, Abdulaziz al-Judaimi, senior vice president for downstream at Aramco said. Aramco, which is preparing to list up to 5 percent of its shares by next year, has created a department for renewables within the company to develop wind and solar projects. The kingdom has a long-term goal of increasing the use of gas for domestic power generation, thus reducing oil burning at home and freeing up more crude for export. This could help increase Aramco''s valuation as it generates more revenue from exports than selling oil at lower domestic prices - Saudi Arabia is the world''s fifth-biggest oil consumer despite being only the 20th biggest economy. The OPEC heavyweight burned an average of 700,000 bpd of oil for electricity to keep the population cool in the hottest months from May to August. The expansion into renewables will help the kingdom to save 18 million barrels of oil equivalent being consumed for electricity generation by 2020, Shehri said. (Editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-renewable-idUSL8N1HP1EO'|'2017-04-18T15:00:00.000+03:00' '6f30ec25556cc923ffb223ac6079a1c60b837f58'|'IRobot sues Hoover, other rivals over robot vacuum patents'|'Technology News 13pm EDT IRobot sues Hoover, other rivals over robot vacuum patents By Jan Wolfe IRobot, the maker of the popular Roomba robotic vacuum, brought a string of lawsuits on Monday accusing rivals including The Hoover Co and Black & Decker Corp of using its patented technology without permission. Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot filed lawsuits in federal court in Boston against Hoover, Black & Decker, Bobsweep Inc and Bissell Homecare Inc. IRobot said they infringe on several of its patents covering the idea of an autonomous floor-cleaning robot. "iRobot will not stand by while others offer products that infringe on our intellectual property," the company said in a statement. Representatives for Hoover, Black & Decker, Bissell and Bobsweep did not immediately return a request for comment. iRobot also sued China-based Shenzhen Silver Star Intelligent Technology Co, which iRobot said manufactures Hoover and Black & Decker vacuums. One of the oldest and best-known makers of traditional vacuums, Hoover is now owned by TTI Floor Care North America, a subsidiary of Hong-Kong based Techtronic Industries Company Limited. Black & Decker is a subsidiary of New Britain, Connecticut-based Stanley Black & Decker Inc. IRobot created the market for robotic vacuums when it launched Roomba in 2002 but has faced increased competition from other appliance makers. Hoover launched its line of Quest robotic vacuums, over which iRobot is suing, in 2016. Other vacuums at issue in the lawsuits are the Bissell SmartClean, Bobsweep''s Bobi and Black & Decker''s BDH5000WM. Residential robotic vacuums generated $1.5 billion in global revenues in 2016, an amount expected to reach $2.5 billion by the end of 2021, according to the market research firm Future Market Insights. The overall market for household vacuums was $12 billion in 2015, according to Global Market Insights, another research firm. (Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-irobot-lawsuit-idUSKBN17J1RD'|'2017-04-18T06:07:00.000+03:00' '8c5d16833a852dde465e269f9aa05b2ca2313c2c'|'Futures higher on optimism around earnings'|'Business 20pm EDT Wall St rallies on earnings; Nasdaq hits record left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/2 left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/2 By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record, as a round of solid earnings led by American Express pushed equities higher. The credit card company ( AXP.N ) closed up 5.9 percent as the top boost to the Dow Industrials after reporting a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly profit late Wednesday. CSX Corp ( CSX.O ), up 5.6 percent, was one of the best performers on the S&P 500 after the railroad reported a better-than-expected quarterly net profit driven by rising freight volumes and said it plans to cut costs and boost profitability moving forward. "You need a catalyst to go higher and the only one that is out there to me that is logical and would drive the market higher is earnings, and so far it is OK," said Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenberg Thalmann Asset Management in New York. "You look at a day like today and it tells you there is a lot of cash on the sidelines that wants an opportunity to buy when the market sells off even just a little bit." Major indexes have fallen for two straight weeks, retreating from record levels as worries about President Donald Trump''s ability to deliver on his pro-growth promises raised some concern about stretched stock valuations. Mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States, as well as the looming French presidential elections, also served to heighten investor caution. Recent polls showed centrist Emmanuel Macron hung on to his lead in a four-way French race that is too close to call. Of the 82 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings through Thursday afternoon, about 75 percent have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, above the 71 percent average for the past four quarters. Overall, profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.1 percent in the quarter, the best since 2011. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 174.22 points, or 0.85 percent, to 20,578.71, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 17.67 points, or 0.76 percent, to 2,355.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 53.74 points, or 0.92 percent, to 5,916.78. The S&P 500 closed just below its 50-day moving average, a level that had acted as resistance after the index fell below it last week. Philip Morris ( PM.N ) fell 3.5 percent to $109.98 as the biggest drag to the benchmark S&P index after the tobacco maker''s first-quarter profit forecast fell below estimates. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.49-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.61-to-1 ratio favored advancers. The S&P 500 posted 40 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 117 new highs and 35 new lows. About 6.65 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 6.3 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17M18N'|'2017-04-20T19:12:00.000+03:00' 'bcc9525ea8d282976027cb5889ad43caa558b70b'|'Futures dip as investors weigh tax cut delays, earnings'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 7:32am EDT Futures dip as investors weigh tax cut delays, earnings A street sign for Wall Street is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S. December 28, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as investors weighed a possible delay in tax reforms, while keeping an eye on quarterly earnings and global politics. * U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times on Monday that the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform was probably delayed following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare. * Mnuchin''s statement added to concerns about President Donald Trump''s ability to deliver on his promises to cut taxes and simplify regulations - bets on which U.S. stocks have hit record highs since his election. * A raft of quarterly earnings from corporate heavyweights is expected to keep investors busy. Bank of America ( BAC.N ) shares rose 1.3 percent premarket after the company reported a strong jump in quarterly profit. * Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ), which is scheduled to report results before markets open, was up 0.3 percent. * Safe-haven bets continued to be in favor as investors remained on the edge ahead of critical presidential elections in France and tensions between the United States and North Korea. * In an unscheduled statement, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early election on June 8 to guarantee political stability as the country negotiates its way out of the European Union. * Gold prices hovered close to five-month highs, while the dollar dipped. * Wall Street had closed higher in very thin trading volumes on Monday as investors bought technology and bank stocks. * Shares of Dow component UnitedHealth ( UNH.N ) rose 2.3 percent to $170.95 premarket after the health insurer reported quarterly revenue and profit that beat analysts'' estimates. * Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ) slipped 0.9 percent to $124.60 after the healthcare conglomerate reported quarterly revenue that missed analysts'' expectations. * A report on March building permits is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT), while manufacturing output data for the month is expected at 9:15 a.m. ET. Futures snapshot at 6:55 a.m. ET: * Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 27 points, or 0.13 percent, with 27,231 contracts changing hands. * S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 6.75 points, or 0.29 percent, with 149,238 contracts traded. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were down 12.75 points, or 0.24 percent, on volume of 26,730 contracts. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17K1AJ'|'2017-04-18T19:32:00.000+03:00' '05f63083ebfd476bee50651874028160b7e4ab54'|'Post Holdings set to buy Britain''s Weetabix in $1.76 billion deal - source'|' 2:26am BST Post Holdings set to buy Britain''s Weetabix in $1.76 billion deal - source FILE PHOTO: Packets of Weetabix cereal and other food goods are seen inside the Ocado Customer Fulfilment Centre in Hatfield on the outskirts of London, Britain, April 6, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez/File Photo By Lauren Hirsch Post Holdings, the No.3 U.S. cereal company, is set to acquire British cereal company Weetabix in a $1.76 billion deal, a person familiar with the matter said. Reuters had reported in January that Post Holdings was among four bidders vying for Weetabix, which is owned by China''s Bright Food [SHMNGA.UL]. The other bidders were UK''s Associated British Foods, Cereal Partners Worldwide and Italian pasta maker Barilla. Weetabix and Post Holdings were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-weetabix-m-a-post-holdings-idUKKBN17J1Q0'|'2017-04-18T09:26:00.000+03:00' 'a876f3a5db91dc600d0b637684980d4d8618b573'|'Vacuum cleaner maker SharkNinja up for sale -sources'|'By Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis - April 17 April 17 SharkNinja Operating LLC, the privately held U.S. manufacturer of Ninja blenders and Shark vacuum cleaners, is exploring a sale that it hopes will value it at more than $1.5 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.The sale would be a key test of the company''s brand, which it has developed through advertising on several television shopping networks. Private equity firms are among those that have expressed interest in SharkNinja, according to the sources.SharkNinja has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc to run an auction, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential.SharkNinja did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Goldman Sachs declined to comment.SharkNinja was originally known as Euro-Pro, a family-run company that started more than a century ago. It was renamed SharkNinja in 2015 by Mark Rosen, the third generation of his family to lead the business.It has sought to build upon its brands over the last decade, extending its Shark vacuum business to include steam mops and irons, and its Ninja kitchen appliance business to include one-pot cookers as well as blenders.SharkNinja also makes a drip coffee maker called "Ninja Coffee Bar," which is promoted by actress Sofia Vergara.SharkNinja sells its products in stores and online in the United States and around the world.SharkNinja''s competitors include privately owned Dyson Ltd, a British company known for its namesake vacuum cleaners. (Reporting by Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sharkninja-ma-idINL1N1HP0W8'|'2017-04-17T21:09:00.000+03:00' 'fc49706149efb1cf7839ca9bda41354c65d6d99d'|'FCC approves Time Warner sale of Atlanta TV station'|'By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Monday it approved Time Warner Inc''s ( TWX.N ) sale of a broadcast station in Atlanta to Meredith Corp ( MDP.N ), a transaction that could help speed Time Warner''s planned merger with AT&T Inc ( T.N ).In January, AT&T said it expected to be able to bypass the FCC in its planned $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner because it would not seek to transfer any significant Time Warner licenses.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said previously he did not plan to use the proposed TV station license transfer as a way to examine the AT&T-Time Warner merger. About a dozen senators had urged him to review the deal.The station that Time Warner is selling, WPCH-TV, for $70 million, is its only FCC-regulated broadcast station. It has other, more minor FCC licenses.Meredith has operated WPCH-TV for Time Warner since 2011. It was previously known as WTBS.In a statement on Monday, Meredith said it was pleased the FCC approved the application and that it anticipated "moving forward expeditiously to close this deal."The company said in February it expected to close on the sale by June 30 and that the deal would not have a material impact on its results.Time Warner did not immediately comment on the FCC approval.The Justice Department has to prove a proposed deal harms competition in order to block it. The FCC has broad leeway to block a merger it deems is not in the "public interest" and can impose additional conditions.AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson told CNBC in February the Justice Department review was ongoing and he thought the deal would close by the end of the year."It''s a clean transaction," he said.(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-timewarner-fcc-meredith-idINKBN17J1N8'|'2017-04-17T18:42:00.000+03:00' 'd5e2555e8bf86be1285a888c054522ffb8b48f15'|'Banned at sea - Venezuela''s crude-stained oil tankers'|' 6:14am BST Banned at sea: Venezuela''s crude-stained oil tankers left right The oil tanker Caspian Galaxy sits anchored near Amuay beach, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela March 30, 2017. Picture taken March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer 1/3 left right The oil tanker Caspian Galaxy sits anchored near Amuay beach, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela March 30, 2017. Picture taken March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer 2/3 left right The oil tanker Caspian Galaxy (R) sits anchored near Amuay beach, in Punto Fijo, Venezuela March 30, 2017. Picture taken March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer 3/3 By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa - HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela In the scorching heat of the Caribbean Sea, workers in scuba suits scrub crude oil by hand from the hull of the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker so filthy it can''t set sail in international waters. The vessel is among many that are constantly contaminated at two major export terminals where they load crude from Venezuela''s state-run oil company, PDVSA. The water here has an oily sheen from leaks in the rusty pipelines under the surface. That means the tankers have to be cleaned before traveling to many foreign ports, which won''t admit crude-stained ships for fear of environmental damage to their harbors, port facilities or other vessels. The laborious hand-cleaning operation is one of many causes of chronic delays for dozens of tankers that deliver Venezuela''s principle export to customers worldwide, according to three executives of the state-run firm, eight employees of maritime firms that contract with PDVSA and Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data. Other reasons include delayed repairs and impoundments by service providers that are owed money by cash-strapped PDVSA. Neither PDVSA nor Venezuela''s Oil Ministry responded to requests for comment about the firm''s maritime operations. The tankers sidelined for cleaning provide a vivid example of the firm''s downward spiral: Lacking the cash to properly maintain ships, refineries and production operations - or to pay business partners on time - PDVSA can''t boost exports, which is its only option for raising more cash. The lagging exports crimp the flow of cash back to the country''s crippled socialist economy, as citizens struggle daily amid soaring inflation and shortages of food and medicine. Because Venezuela relies on oil for more than 90 percent of export revenues, the problems of its state-run oil company pose a national crisis. Venezuela''s crude exports declined 8 percent to 1.69 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter versus the same period in 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data. When oil prices were high, crude and fuel exports almost entirely financed an elaborate system of government price controls and social subsidies that maintained the popularity of late President Hugo Chavez, the socialist firebrand. Although embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro insists the government has maintained social programs, he has publicly acknowledged that lower oil prices have left the government with less money to finance them. Venezuela''s Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the nation''s social spending. THOUSANDS OF BRUSH STROKES At oil export terminals around the world - where crude leaks like those in Venezuela are relatively rare - an oil-stained tanker would normally be taken out of the water and cleaned with industrial equipment in a dry dock. But Venezuela has just one small dry dock and lacks the cash or the time to send its soiled tankers there for proper cleaning, according to the PDVSA executives, ship captains and two workers from tanker cleaning companies. So workers on a small fishing boat clean the giant tanker with thousands of scrub-brush strokes. The work - which involves scouring ships above and below the water line - can take up to ten days per vessel, a worker involved in the cleaning said. In a scene witnessed by Reuters in April, workers wearing scuba suits baked on the deck of a small boat as they reached out with brushes to scrub the Caspian Galaxy, a tanker leased for one trip by a PDVSA customer. The workers labored just offshore from Amuay beach, near a tourist hub and PDVSA''s largest refinery. The crews here have washed so many vessels in recent months that they have dubbed their operation "the boatwash". In nearby Maracaibo Lake - where tankers are stained at the export terminals - a scuba diver died in an accident this week while inspecting a leaking pipeline. Jose Bermudez, a 40-year-old father of two, drowned after the line connected to his air supply got tangled in the propeller on his boat, according to union representatives. The Professional Union of Scuba Divers and Marine Staff from Zulia state had previously requested that PDVSA replace the propellers with a different propulsion system, the organization said. A supervisor at PDVSA''s Western division on Monday confirmed the accident but declined to answer further questions. PDVSA''s maritime crisis is uniquely dire, said George Los, a senior tanker market analyst at U.S. ship brokerage Charles R. Weber Company. "I can''t think of any situation similar to this anywhere else in the world right now," he said. LEASES AT $1 MILLION PER MONTH Eighteen of the 31 oil tankers PDVSA owns were out of commission at the end of March, according to Thomson Reuters vessel-tracking data and six maritime industry employees, who spoke with Reuters on condition of anonymity. Several needed cleaning, while others need repairs, according to the data. To keep oil flowing, PDVSA leases more than 50 tankers - each at a cost of between $800,000 to $1 million per month, according to three captains and ship brokers involved in lease contracts with PDVSA and Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data. That is more than double the number of vessels it typically leases to complement its own fleet of tankers, according to the sources. It''s a short-term fix that is driving up costs and exposing PDVSA to further detentions or seizures of vessels when it does not pay leasing fees on time. Several ship owners, exasperated by payment delays, have sought court orders to have the oil on board the tankers impounded, according to three sources involved in some of the disputes and a court document seen by Reuters. Russian shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot in October won a court order to seize a $20 million Venezuelan crude cargo from a Sovcomflot tanker as partial payment on a $30 million debt. The tanker was carrying crude to the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius. [L2N1HD1MI] Sovcomflot did not respond to requests for comment. Six other PDVSA vessels are stuck in yards in Portugal, Turkey and Curacao, either for lack of payment or because PDVSA has not supplied the necessary parts for repairs, according to two shippers and an executive of a firm supplying equipment to PDV Marina, PDVSA''s maritime branch. THE ''VENEZUELA CLAUSE'' Most port owners have to pay fees if they delay tankers from loading or unloading at their docks. But PDVSA, which operates terminals in Venezuela, has traditionally refused to include such penalties - known as demurrage fees - in its contracts with shipping companies that move Venezuelan oil. At least five major shipping companies, however, are now pushing back on that practice, according to oil traders and contracts signed by PDVSA. The shippers now include a so-called "Venezuela clause" in their contracts. The penalties can be as much as $23,500 per day, according to recent shipping contracts with PDVSA seen by Reuters. One contract specifies that PDVSA must pay demurrage for delays resulting from workers strikes, the late arrival of tug boats and even for drug inspections - a nod to international investigations into Venezuela''s role in the global drug trade. Some tanker-leasing companies and service providers also charge PDVSA above-market rates because of the risk of delayed payments, two shipbrokers told Reuters. Similar operational problems plague PDVSA''s oil drilling and refining operations. Once the pride of the country''s economy, the state-run firm saw crude production plummet last year to a 23-year low. The crisis has now reached the point where state-run PDVSA can''t buy spare parts to keep oil fields pumping, pay workers enough to feed their families, or keep its tankers on the water, the PDVSA executives and maritime company employees told Reuters. The rising costs and falling exports, in turn, are depriving the firm - and the country - of the commodity it needs most: dollars. (Additional reporting by Brian Ellsworth in Caracas and Jonathan Saul in London; Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Simon Webb and Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-tankers-insight-idUKKBN17K0CE'|'2017-04-18T13:09:00.000+03:00' 'da21ffeb14f2910ca337f629578bdb2ebeefde2b'|'Saudi Al Rajhi Bank net profit up 10.1 percent, RBS-backed Alawwal''s profit drop'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 2:52pm BST Saudi Al Rajhi Bank net profit up 10.1 percent, RBS-backed Alawwal''s profit drop DUBAI Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, Saudi Arabia''s second-largest lender by assets, reported a 10.1 percent rise in its first-quarter net profit on Monday, beating analysts forecasts. Smaller lender Alawwal Bank 1040.SE, partly owned by Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ), posted a 36.7 percent drop in quarterly profit as the lender was hit by higher impairment charge for credit losses. The level of provisioning on bad debt was the main difference between the results of the two lenders, said Murad Ansari, a Riyadh-based analyst at EFG Hermes. Al Rajhi also benefited from a larger retail book compared to Alawwal, which is more exposed to the corporate sector where there is more pain, he said. Saudi banks are facing headwinds as cheap oil cuts state revenues and forces the government into expenditure cuts, weighing on consumer spending and business activity, while pushing up bad loans. Al Rajhi made 2.22 billion riyals (471.47 million pounds) in the three months to March 31, up from 2.017 billion riyals in the same period a year earlier, it said in a bourse statement. Four analysts surveyed by Reuters had on average forecast the bank''s quarterly profit would be 2.156 billion riyals. Al Rajhi, which had reported rising profit growth in the previous five quarters, attributed the performance in the first quarter to higher net financing and investment income even though fee income fell. Saudi companies issue brief earnings statements early in the reporting period before publishing more detailed results later. Alawwal, previously called Saudi Hollandi Bank, made a profit of 324.0 million riyals in the three months to March 31, down from 511.5 million riyals in the corresponding quarter of 2016, below some market forecasts. NCB Capital had projected a net profit of 376 million riyals, while EFG Hermes'' profit forecast for the bank was 443 million riyals. Alawwal, which launched a new corporate identity in November, could undergo a change in shareholder after RBS hired Credit Suisse to sell its 40 percent stake in the lender, sources told Reuters in November. (Reporting by Saeed Azhar and Tom Arnold; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alrajhi-results-idUKKBN17J12I'|'2017-04-17T21:52:00.000+03:00' 'a37f15b3448a9162fbe55b67fd376979bd9cfb8c'|'TREASURIES-Yields rise as expected Quarles nomination seen helping banks'|'* Quarles nomination seen helping banks * North Korea tensions, weak data boosts bond demand * 10-year note yields fall to five-month lows overnight By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, April 17 U.S. Treasury yields rose from five-month lows on Monday on reports that Randal Quarles, a former Treasury Department official, is expected to be nominated as the Federal Reserve''s vice chairman for bank supervision, which was seen as positive for bank growth. Quarles, a former top Treasury Department official during the Bush administration, was viewed as likely to help boost banks that have complained about new regulations implemented since the financial crisis. The Wall Street Journal late on Sunday and Bloomberg News on Monday were among publications reporting Quarles'' expected nomination. “The feeling is that he might start pushing through some regulations that might help the banking sector, and take the pressure off yields moving lower,” said Tom di Galoma, a managing director at Seaport Global Holdings in New York. U.S. Treasury yields fell to five-month lows overnight as rising geopolitical tensions in North Korea hurt risk appetite and weak economic data boosted demand for the bonds. Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 1/32 in price to yield 2.232 percent, after dropping to 2.198 percent overnight, the lowest since Nov. 17. The United States, its allies and China are working together on a range of responses to North Korea''s latest failed ballistic missile test, U.S. President Donald Trump''s national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act. H.R. McMaster indicated that Trump was not considering military action for now. Weak U.S. retail sales and consumer price data on Friday, when the bond market was closed, also put a dent in expectations that growth will be sufficient for the Fed to raise interest rates two more times this year. “The CPI number came out very weak on Friday, and weak PPI on Thursday, so the inflation outlook doesn’t look all that great for the Fed,” said di Galoma. The data showed that U.S. retail sales fell for a second straight month in March and consumer prices dropped for the first time in just over a year, underscoring a loss of economic growth momentum in the first quarter. Data on Thursday showed producer prices falling in March for the first time in seven months. Traders have been reducing expectations of tax reform in the near-term as the Trump administration focuses on foreign affairs. Tax reform and fiscal stimulus had been expected to help bolster U.S. growth. (Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-idINL1N1HP0G7'|'2017-04-17T11:51:00.000+03:00' '2892ad48ab58c57add98988089de6980f88520d4'|'Buffett''s Berkshire, Chinese property portal Juwai.com team up'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 4:04pm BST Buffett''s Berkshire, Chinese property portal Juwai.com team up Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices on Monday said it entered a marketing agreement with Juwai.com, China''s largest international property website, to attract wealthy Chinese buyers looking to purchase homes in the United States. The real estate affiliate of billionaire investor Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ) said the agreement will allow the roughly 2 million monthly users of Juwai.com and Juwai.com/luxe to browse its franchisees'' residential listings. Gino Blefari, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices'' chief executive, in a statement said the Chinese are the leading buyers of U.S. property apart from Americans, and the agreement with Juwai.com will make it "much easier" for them to shop. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices may also be hoping to benefit from Buffett''s popularity in China. The 86-year-old "Oracle of Omaha" recently let Coca-Cola Co ( KO.N ) put his smiling likeness on cans of Cherry Coke, which he drinks often, in China. He is also providing real-time translation only in Mandarin for the May 6 webcast of Berkshire''s annual shareholder meeting and the firm is a large investor in Chinese car company BYD Co ( 1211.HK ). Berkshire''s HomeServices of America Inc, the second-largest U.S. residential real estate brokerage, is the majority owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-berkshire-hatha-juwai-com-idUKKBN17J15Q'|'2017-04-17T23:04:00.000+03:00' '08c937ceefb92eb8b614d2c82a5361ffc3f4724d'|'Oil down slightly in subdued trade after failed North Korean missile test'|'Aerospace & Defense - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 9:05pm EDT Oil down slightly in subdued trade after failed North Korean missile test FILE PHOTO: A worker checks the valve of an oil pipe at Nahr Bin Umar oil field, north of Basra, Iraq December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo TOKYO Crude oil futures fell slightly in quiet trading on Monday, after a three-day Easter break, as investors digested a third consecutive weekly gain in prices along with North Korea''s failed missile launch on Sunday. Benchmark Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 18 cents 55.71 at 0047 GMT. On Thursday, before the break closed most major markets, they settled up 3 cents at $55.89 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were also down 18 cents at $53. They rose 7 cents to $53.18 a barrel on Thursday. Both benchmarks closed out the Easter holiday eve higher for a third consecutive week, with Brent adding 1.2 percent over the four days and WTI up 1.8 percent. The subdued start to this week came as markets braced for more geopolitical tensions over North Korea, after its attempted launch on Sunday of a ballistic missile failed as the projectile blew up almost immediately. The United States is working with allies and China on responses to the failed test, U.S. President Donald Trump''s national security adviser said on Sunday. Crude traders and investors in Asia also had their first chance to assess a 13th consecutive increase in the rig count by drillers of U.S. shale oil. Energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Thursday that drillers added 11 oil rigs in the week to April 13, bringing the total count up to 683. (Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN17J01R'|'2017-04-17T09:05:00.000+03:00' '4219cc0d33445a4f7e198b8e489176491536a045'|'China to post solid, steady first-quarter growth on building boom, but debt risks loom'|'Business 7:03pm EDT China to post solid, steady first-quarter growth on building boom, but debt risks loom FILE PHOTO: A woman walks past residential buildings in Beijing, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo By Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING China is expected to report on Monday that its economy grew 6.8 percent in the first quarter, well above Beijing''s full-year target, buoyed by surging government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property market that is showing signs of overheating. A strong reading could help wobbly global financial markets but add to worries that China''s government is still relying too heavily on old growth engines like stimulus and not doing enough to tackle risks from an explosive build-up in debt. Though policymakers have pledged repeatedly to push reforms to head off financial risks and asset bubbles, the government is seeking to keep the world''s second-largest economy on an even keel ahead of a major leadership transition later this year. Beijing has set a slightly more modest growth target of around 6.5 percent for this year, theoretically offering more wiggle room for reforms after the economy grew 6.7 percent in 2016 - the weakest pace in 26 years. Most economists polled by Reuters expect the economy expanded 6.8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the same pace as in the fourth quarter of 2016. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it likely grew 1.6 percent in January-March from the previous three-month period. Economists at ANZ reckon growth may even clock in at 6.9 percent in the quarter, pointing to strong property and infrastructure investment. "The announcement in early April of the construction of the Xiongan new economic zone, which requires massive infrastructure spending, suggests Chinese authorities are likely to rely more on investment to stabilize growth in the next few years," ANZ said in a note. China''s long-ailing industrial sector has been posting its best profits in years, thanks to higher prices for steel and other building materials, giving "smokestack" industries more cash flow to pay off debt and invest in more efficient plants. China''s export outlook also brightened considerably on Thursday as it reported forecast-beating trade growth and as U.S. President Donald Trump softened his anti-China rhetoric in an abrupt policy shift, though the risk of U.S. protectionist trade action is by no means off the table. Still, many analysts expect economic growth to cool later this year as the impact of earlier stimulus measures starts to fade and as local authorities resort to ever-tougher measures in a bid to get soaring home prices under control. ACCUMULATED PROPERTY CURBS Most analysts don''t see a price crash, but believe the accumulated weight of property curbs will eventually translate into weaker sales, construction and investment. China imported the most iron ore on record in the first quarter, but iron ore and steel futures prices are nosediving on fears that its steel production is outweighing demand. Beijing also is continuing to rely heavily on new credit to generate growth as productivity slows, despite worries about debt risks. China''s banks extended the third highest loans on record in the first quarter, though March lending was less than expected. At the same time, China''s central bank has shifted to a tightening bias, and is using more targeted measures to contain risks in the financial system, after years of ultra-loose settings. MORE RATE INCREASES? The People''s Bank of China (PBOC) has raised short-term interest rates several times already this year, while boosting its regulatory oversight. Analysts predict further modest rate increases this year, but do not expect a full-blown policy rate hike as authorities fear tapping the brakes too hard would stunt economic growth. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says China''s total private and public debt has exceeded250 percent of GDP, up from 150 percent before the global financial crisis. "While the authorities obviously recognize the risks, credit has continued to expand at a pace that looks unsustainable," analysts at Barclays said. "Although this does not necessarily equate to the risk of an imminent crisis, the apparent plan to ''kick the can down the road'', at least past the Party Congress, means that problems left to fester may become more difficult to resolve." (Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-idUSKBN17I0W1'|'2017-04-17T07:03:00.000+03:00' '99b0de34efc4fafcebaccdcb8909172317d72cb9'|'U.S. telecoms industry set for M&A negotiations frenzy'|'By Liana B. Baker and Anjali Athavaley In 10 days, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will lift a ban on telecoms companies engaging in merger talks, and Wall Street is betting on T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ), Sprint Corp ( S.N ) and Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ) to be the first ones out of the gate.Shares of these companies have soared over the past 12 months on expectations of deal talks, and are trading at up to 31 times forward earnings, versus the S&P 500 telecom services index''s .5SP50 18 times.The rich valuations could discourage acquirers, who also have to assume the risk that antitrust regulators may look askance at more consolidation in the sector after a wave of mergers in recent years, investment bankers and industry experts say."It seems as though valuations have already jumped to a near certainty a deal will be announced and approved. You have to ask yourself whether T-Mobile is going to be as eager to do a deal as Sprint," said Craig Moffett, an analyst at MoffettNathanson.Sprint shares have risen 142 percent in the last 12 months, and T-Mobile shares have risen 65 percent. Both companies declined to comment on the possibility of a merger or how valuation considerations could be a factor.Investors have long expected a deal between T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless service providers, anticipating cost cuts and other synergies in the range of $6 billion to $10 billion.Reuters reported in February that Sprint''s controlling shareholder, SoftBank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), was positioning itself for deal talks with T-Mobile''s top shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG ( DTEGn.DE ), once a U.S. government auction of airwaves spectrum ended.Companies participating in the auction, which started last May, were banned from engaging in merger talks. The end of the auction last Thursday meant the FCC will lift the ban on April 27, when down payments are due from auction winners.T-Mobile and satellite TV provider Dish won the bulk of the spectrum, making them more attractive M&A targets, analysts said. T-Mobile now has more power to improve its network and support unlimited data packages for customers. Its financial results have also strengthened since it last held merger talks with Sprint in 2014.DISH TO BUILD NETWORKControlled by Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen, Dish faces an FCC deadline to use the spectrum by 2021 to build its first wireless network. Some investors say Ergen will likely want a partner to help share the cost of the investment, even though he has said the company can build the network by itself.Analysts have viewed Dish as a likely target for Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ), since Dish would bring spectrum and its Internet TV business, Sling TV to the telecoms giant. Dish and Verizon declined to comment.Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told investors in December that a deal with cable operator Charter Communications Inc ( CHTR.O ) would make "industrial sense," igniting takeover speculation.With Charter, Verizon would gain a fiber and cable network across 49 million homes that could boost its wired network ahead of the advent of 5G wireless technology. Verizon and Charter declined to comment.Charter''s controlling shareholder, billionaire John Malone''s Liberty Broadband Corp LBDR.O, could be an obstacle to any deal. His lieutenant, Liberty Broadband Chief Executive Greg Maffei, said in March that "the hurdle around M&A is very high, because we are very enthused about our own plans."The price tag could also be an issue. Charter has a market capitalization of $101 billion and trades at 53 times forward earning estimates, far more expensive than Verizon''s 13 times."One of our principle concerns is that a deal would come with a high price target, and thus, be materially dilutive," Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar wrote in a research note.Charter''s proxy statement to its shareholders shows that CEO Tom Rutledge has compensation incentives to take Charter''s share price to more than $564. The stock closed last week at $330.FCC STANCE UNCLEARThe stance of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on these mergers is not clear. Pai is seen as a friend to major telecommunications companies, but price wars between Sprint and T-Mobile have helped to lower wireless prices for consumers so regulators may be reluctant to remove that competition.It could be easier for regulators if cable and media group Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ) wanted to buy a wireless company as that would preserve four major carriers in the market, analysts said.Such a deal would be the most complementary for T-Mobile, according to Morningstar analyst Alex Zhao, since it would unite Comcast''s wired network with T-Mobile''s spectrum.However, Comcast seemed to be forging ahead with a standalone wireless strategy, launching a mobile service and an unlimited data plan earlier this month using Verizon''s airwaves and buying $1.7 billion in the spectrum auction.Comcast declined to comment.(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and Anjali Athavaley in New York; Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Tiffany Wu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-telecoms-m-a-idINKBN17J0T6'|'2017-04-17T09:03:00.000+03:00' 'fd7f6a62db7e35d5d3f7abcf1b2cb6caa0c02e08'|'Tata Steel merger with Thyssenkrupp under threat - Business'|'The proposed merger between Tata Steel and the steel operations of Thyssenkrupp, which would secure the future of the Port Talbot steel works and a total of 8,000 UK jobs, is at risk because of complex negotiations around pensions and opposition from German trade unions.Talks between Tata Steel and German company Thyssenkrupp about combining their European steel operations have been ongoing for months but there are still major hurdles to overcome.Germany’s largest trade union, IG Metall, confirmed this week it was opposed to the tie-up and described it as “high risk” amid fears it would lead to thousands of job losses and the closure of plants in Germany .In the UK, the Pensions Regulator has warned about “significant issues” to be resolved regarding the pension scheme behind Tata Steel, which is called the British Steel Pension Scheme.Earlier this year Tata Steel’s UK workers voted in favour of proposals to rescue the business and 8,000 jobs, including about 4,000 at Port Talbot. Tata Steel UK has been under threat of closure since March 2016 when its Indian parent company revealed it was considering a sale, sparking a political crisis. However, under the turnaround plans Tata Steel will invest £1bn in modernising its UK operations in return for replacing its final salary pension scheme with a less generous contribution scheme. But while Tata Steel has won the backing of workers to change their future retirement benefits it is still battling to find a solution for the existing liabilities in the British Steel Pension Scheme. The pension fund has 130,000 members and liabilities of £15bn. Thyssenkrupp is reluctant to take on this burden so Tata Steel has been in talks with regulators about spinning it off or letting it enter the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), a government-backed pensions lifeboat funded by a levy paid by UK pension schemes.However, the pension scheme would be by far the largest ever taken on by the PPF. For the scheme to enter the fund, Tata Steel must persuade the regulator that it is on the brink of insolvency and cannot continue to support it. The Indian company is likely to have to pump hundreds of millions of cash into the scheme in order for the regulator to allow it to be offloaded. Workers will suffer a 10% cut to their benefits if the scheme enters the PPF.The Pensions Regulator said: “We continue to have discussions with the employer and the trustee about the future of the British Steel Pension Scheme. There are still significant issues to be resolved and we will consider any proposals carefully in light of their impact upon the 130,000 pension scheme members and PPF levy payers.”The PPF added: “Discussions between all relevant parties on the future of the British Steel Pension Scheme are continuing. In the event that there is no future employer able to support the scheme, the Pension Protection Fund will work with all parties to find a solution that is in the best interest of our levy payers and the 11 million people who are protected by us, including the members of the British Steel scheme.”If the proposed joint venture between Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp falls apart then Tata Steel will have to consider whether to press ahead with its turnaround plan for the business alone or seek a different deal.Tata Steel said: “We continue to be engaged in constructive discussions with Thyssenkrupp regarding a potential merger of the steel businesses of the respective companies in Europe . However, until a definitive agreement is reached, there can be no assurances these discussions will result in a transaction.“Meanwhile, Tata Steel UK continues to be deeply engaged with the pension scheme trustee, the trade unions and relevant regulatory and government bodies to identify the best prospects for the future sustainability of its UK operations and a fair and practical outcome for the members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.”Topics Tata Steel industry Mergers and acquisitions India Wales Regulators Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/17/tata-steel-merger-with-thyssenkrupp-under-threat'|'2017-04-17T21:36:00.000+03:00' '7e6b010b80b35c657b510bb207b2755fa10e83d0'|'BRIEF-Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices signs marketing agreement with Juwai.com'|'U.S. high court won''t halt price-fixing class action against containerboard makers WASHINGTON, April 17 The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to halt a class action lawsuit against several containerboard manufacturers, which could now face trial on claims of price fixing by tens of thousands of buyers and nearly $12 billion in potential damages. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-berkshire-hathaway-homeservices-si-idUSFWN1HP08E'|'2017-04-17T21:39:00.000+03:00' 'ce1354aa42761575b0515f17d1be111288d16abc'|'Luxury cosmetic sales give L''Oreal a lift in mixed start to year'|'By Sarah White - PARIS PARIS A jump in luxury cosmetic sales at L''Oreal ( OREP.PA ) offset a weak first quarter for several of the French company''s other divisions, with overall like-for-like revenues 4.2 percent higher, slightly above forecasts.L''Oreal, which produces Maybelline make-up and Garnier shampoo, said that demand for its mass-market consumer products was slow to pick up in the first three months of the year.Sales in this unit rose 1.4 percent from a year earlier on a like-for-like basis, which strips out swings in currency exchange rates and acquisitions or disposals. They had grown 4.2 percent on an annual basis in the fourth quarter.Chief Executive Jean-Paul Agon told a conference call on Tuesday that this trend would likely be reversed in the rest of 2017, however, as the consumer division returned to healthier growth rates after a "strange" start to the year.Demand for L''Oreal''s luxury cosmetics was especially strong in Asia, with sales up 12.2 percent on a like-for-like basis."This part of the world is a fantastic opportunity for our luxury division," Agon said, adding that cosmetic brands like Lancome, Armani and Yves Saint Laurent were "on fire" in China and attracting young consumers.That contrasted with shrinking sales in the company''s professional unit, which makes products for salons.L''Oreal also said sales were particularly weak in its home market, which accounts for just under 8 percent of its revenues, although other parts of Europe such as Britain and Germany held up better and the United States performed well.Reported sales across the L''Oreal group were up 7.5 percent at 7.04 billion euros ($7.5 billion), slightly above analyst expectations. Analysts had forecast like-for-like sales across the group to rise 3.9 percent, according a compilation for Reuters by Inquiry Financial.L''Oreal said that it would decide on a possible sale of retailer The Body Shop, an ethical beauty pioneer that has struggled with rising competition, in the coming months.Shares in L''Oreal closed down 0.52 percent at 180.1 euros per share before the company released its earnings.(Additional reporting by Pascale Denis; editing by Bate Felix and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/loreal-results-idINKBN17K28G'|'2017-04-18T16:24:00.000+03:00' 'e3cfb89ba861c4b12fc90637cef31dab304a55fc'|'BNP Paribas research restructure puts dozen analyst jobs at risk - sources'|' 38am BST BNP Paribas research restructure puts dozen analyst jobs at risk - sources A man is seen in silhouette as he walks behind the logo of BNP Paribas in a building in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes By Umesh Desai - HONG KONG HONG KONG French lender BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ) is merging two research teams in a development that could see the bank cut around a dozen jobs globally as it looks to comply with new European regulations, two sources told Reuters. The move is the latest sign that global investment banks are starting to radically rethink their research franchises ahead of the January 2018 implementation of the so-called "MiFID II" rules which some analysts say could result in a 30 percent decline in global research spend. BNP is merging its Markets Economics teams and Research & Strategy teams to form a single new team called Global Markets Research. The restructure had put about a dozen jobs "at risk" globally, according to one source with direct knowledge of the matter. The bank had already begun to make redundancies in Asia, a second source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. BNP Paribas declined to comment. The new MiFID II rules will prohibit banks from giving away research free to clients in return for trading commissions, which is typically the current practice, and investors will have to vet the quality of research and pay for it separately. Giving away research free could be considered an inducement to do business which would create a conflict of interest for investors, regulators say. The rules spell trouble for the banks because investors are unlikely to pay for much of the research currently produced, according to an August report by Hong Kong consultancy Quinlan & Associates, which estimates that global investment research spend could fall by as much as 30 percent by 2020 - putting pressure on headcount costs. Greenwich Associates, a U.S. based financial markets consultancy, estimates research commission spending will fall by nearly $200 million (£156.59 million) in the United States and by over 100 million euros (£83.86 million) in Europe over the 12 months following MiFID''s implementation. The new rules will require firms to classify research as independent or non-independent, but investors are less likely to pay for non-independent research, analysts say. BNP''s new Global Markets Research team would be classified as non-independent although the bank will continue to provide independent research, the sources said. (Editing by Michelle Price and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bnp-paribas-research-redundancies-idUKKBN17M08A'|'2017-04-20T10:38:00.000+03:00' 'a6032999f9a8b45085cc621e376e3cd68d4f03b0'|'Britain to sell Green Investment Bank to Macquarie in 2.3 billion pounds deal'|'LONDON The British government said on Thursday it will sell the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to Macquarie Bank [MBL.UL] in a deal worth 2.3 billion pounds ($3 billion)."(The) deal will meet government requirements for a sale, providing value for the taxpayer while ensuring GIB continues its green mission in the private sector," the government said in a statement.The deal includes a 1.7 billion pound transaction price and 600 million pounds of estimated future funding for existing GIB projects, it added.(Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic, editing by Nina Chestney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-britain-greenbank-sale-idINKBN17M0Z0'|'2017-04-20T07:18:00.000+03:00' '883e418688edd9614a332e5320d4fe0603f11815'|'BRIEF-Supremex announces appointment of Bertrand Jolicoeur as CFO'|' 23am EDT BRIEF-Supremex announces appointment of Bertrand Jolicoeur as CFO April 20 Supremex Inc * Supremex announces appointment of Chief Financial Officer and strengthens executive team * Says announced appointment of Bertrand Jolicoeur as Chief Financial Officer * Says Lyne Bégin, interim vice-president of finance, will return to her role as corporate controller Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-supremex-announces-appointment-of-idUSASA09JE1'|'2017-04-20T21:23:00.000+03:00' 'd89c1da54b19d964b97b6d1b33cc23a7484a9268'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Anthem, EDP, Televisa, Novo Banco, Frontline, Societe Generale, Schroders and National Aluminium; updates Virtu Financial)April 20 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Thursday:** Virtu Financial Inc said it would buy rival KCG Holdings Inc in a $1.4 billion deal that brings together two major players in the U.S. electronic trading space.** Germany''s Beiersdorf, the maker of Nivea skin cream, still prefers hoarding cash to fund possible acquisitions over raising its dividend, supervisory board Chairman Reinhard Poellath told shareholders.** Sanofi is looking at potential acquisitions of devices, such as blood glucose testing kits, to boost its diabetes business, a senior executive at the French drugmaker said.** Western Digital Corp, the U.S. partner of Toshiba Corp in a semiconductor venture, is in talks with state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan and the Development Bank of Japan and would consider a joint bid with them for the chip business, a senior official said.** The British government said it will sell the Green Investment Bank to a consortium led by Macquarie Bank in a deal worth 2.3 billion pounds ($3 billion), which critics said failed to guarantee its future.** Japan''s Sawai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd is buying the generic drug business of U.S. drug maker Upsher-Smith Laboratories Inc for $1.05 billion, marking the Osaka-based generic drugmaker''s first overseas acquisition.** Chinese tech conglomerate LeEco is in talks to sell a prized property asset in the heart of Beijing it acquired in a $420 million deal last year, the latest effort by the electric car-to-smartphone behemoth to raise funds amid a severe cash crunch.** Belgian publisher Mediahuis and partner VP Exploitatie have launched a recommended cash offer for the Netherlands'' Telegraaf Media Group, the three parties said in a statement, as they try to build a Dutch-Belgian multimedia company.** Mubadala Capital, an arm of Abu Dhabi''s state fund Mubadala, said it had conducted a private equity transaction with European fund manager Ardian, which had committed to invest $2.5 billion in the deal.** German glasses retailer Fielmann could pursue takeovers in the future, marketing chief Marc Fielmann, the son of company founder Guenther Fielmann, told magazine Capital in an interview.** Shares in Italian toll-road operator Atlantia extended losses in early afternoon following a downgrade by Deutsche Bank, which highlighted the risks of a possible combination with Spanish rival Abertis.** Spain''s Banco Popular CEO Ignacio Sanchez-Asiain said the lender''s current priority is the sell off of non-performing real estate assets as it fights to return to profits and improve its capital.** Brazilian police conducted raids on Wednesday as part of an investigation of state-controlled Caixa Econômica Federal''s purchase of a stake in a consumer lender six years ago, the latest scandal rocking the nation''s largest mortgage lender.** India raised 12 billion rupees ($185.7 million) from a 9.2 percent stake sale in state-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO), the government said, kicking off its asset sale programme for the new financial year.** British asset manager Schroders said it had agreed to buy Swiss-based private equity firm Adveq Holding for an undisclosed sum.** Croatia''s competition regulator AZTN has approved the sale of Splitska Banka by Societe Generale to the local unit of Hungary''s OTP Group, increasing OTP''s market share in Croatia to over 10 percent.** A U.S. court has rejected a last-minute effort by billionaire investor John Fredriksen''s Frontline to prevent BW Group from acquiring a major stake in rival oil tanker firm DHT Holdings, DHT said.** A failed bidder for Portugal''s third-largest lender Novo Banco has asked its lawyers to block the 1 billion euro ($1.08 billion) sale to U.S. fund Lone Star and told the central bank it should relaunch the bidding.** Health insurer Anthem Inc denied a report on Thursday that it was in negotiations with the Justice Department in an effort to save its merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp .** Mexican broadcaster Televisa said it had signed a deal with Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica that would give the mobile operator''s customers cheaper access to the broadcaster''s content carried on its digital platform Blim.** London hedge fund firm Ecofin said an offer from Portugal''s largest company EDP to buy 22.47 percent of subsidiary EDP Renovaveis "significantly undervalues" the company, in a letter to EDPR''s board seen by Reuters. (Compiled by Ahmed Farhatha and Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL3N1HS3P0'|'2017-04-20T08:10:00.000+03:00' 'e1b33f850f3c886ef39df9def7c29bffa1d168c1'|'Exclusive - Anbang''s Fidelity & Guaranty acquisition set to fall through: sources'|'Business 8:35pm BST Exclusive - Anbang''s Fidelity & Guaranty acquisition set to fall through: sources FILE PHOTO: The headquarters building of Anbang Insurance Group are pictured in Beijing, China, August 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo By Koh Gui Qing and Greg Roumeliotis China''s Anbang Insurance Group will let its agreement to acquire U.S. annuities and life insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) ( FGL.N ) for $1.6 billion (£1.27 billion) lapse, after failing to secure all the necessary regulatory approvals, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The development casts new doubt on Anbang''s commitment to U.S. deals, following its abandoned attempt last year to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $14 billion. Marriott International Inc ( MAR.O ) ended up buying Starwood. While Anbang''s FGL acquisition had received clearance from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a U.S. government panel that scrutinizes deals for potential national security concerns, it could not get past some U.S. state regulators. FGL had extended its merger agreement with Anbang, which was signed in November 2015, to April 17 after it was set to expire on Feb. 8. Had Anbang secured a public hearing with Iowa''s financial regulator by April 17, it could have extended the expiration date to May 31. However, Anbang has failed to meet the conditions for any further extension, the sources said. Anbang also needed approval from New York financial regulators, but it has abandoned efforts to secure it, the sources added. The sources asked not to be identified because the recent developments are confidential. The sources did not say why Anbang could not secure approvals from U.S. state regulators after clearing CFIUS, but noted that the Beijing-based group had pushed back against making some of the disclosures required. FGL said in February it would solicit other acquisition offers as part of its merger agreement extension with Anbang. Negotiations between FGL and other suitors, including Bermuda-based reinsurance company Athene Holding Ltd ( ATH.N ), are continuing, the sources said. FGL declined to comment, while Anbang and Athene did not immediately respond Established in 2004, Anbang burst onto the global scene from near obscurity by signing more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last 2-1/2 years. Its high-profile investments included a $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Little is known about Anbang''s funding and shareholding structure, partly because it is a private company. Corporate records in China show Anbang is owned by 39 privately held and little-known companies scattered across China. Last month, Kushner Companies, the real estate firm headed by U.S. President Donald Trump''s son-in-law until recently, said it ended talks to redevelop its flagship New York office tower with Anbang. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Karen Freifeld and Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fidelityguarantylife-m-a-anbang-exclu-idUKKBN17I0QV'|'2017-04-17T03:35:00.000+03:00' '1f76e16c44fd99729daeefca306ad31a59d77e18'|'Back to basics - global investment banks beef up transaction business in Asia'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:19am BST Back to basics - global investment banks beef up transaction business in Asia By Sumeet Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG With dealmaking in Asia sluggish and Chinese investment banks taking market share from global rivals, some foreign banks are ploughing resources into transaction banking, the workaday business of financing trade, managing cash and facilitating payments. At a time of growing intra-regional trade in Asia, the largest trading region in the world, and expansion of supply-chain networks beyond China, transaction banking promises to offset slowing revenues elsewhere. While existing transaction banking powerhouses including Citigroup and HSBC are expanding sales and reach, firms who have traditionally focussed more on investment banking, such as JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank, are also bulking up. In its inaugural transaction banking league table, industry analytics firm Coalition this week ranked HSBC and JPMorgan as the two strongest performers in 2016 in Asia, based on revenue, versus a year earlier. "Across the board, we do see most of the traditional investment banks are investing in transaction banking," Eric Li, London-based research and analytics director at Coalition, told Reuters. "They realise the investment banking pool is more volatile, and secondly there is very limited room to further improve," he said, adding the top 12 foreign banks'' revenue concentration in investment banking was already above 60 percent. In contrast, these banks account for just 15 percent of the market for cash management in the region, Li said. As a result, the banks are gearing up to tap a likely pick-up in trade and using their investment banking platforms as a lever to pick up more transaction business, which consumes less capital and delivers more stable returns. "We contribute in terms of relationship, we contribute in terms of funding, and we contribute in terms of a steady source of business," said Lisa Robins, Asia Pacific head of global transaction banking at Deutsche Bank. "I won''t say (it) doesn''t use capital, because we do use capital, but it''s a relatively efficient business." Robins declined to give a business forecast, but the bank said in May last year that within transaction banking, the share of revenue coming from Asia could rise to a quarter in the coming years from 18 percent. BOOSTING HEADCOUNT While 2016 saw many foreign banks cutting investment banking headcount in Asia to cope with sluggish deals activity, staff additions for the transaction banking business was strong, headhunters and some bankers said. This year, global banks'' headcount for transaction banking in Asia could rise 5 percent, while investment banking is likely to be flat or fall 5 percent, said John Mullally, director of financial services at headhunter Robert Walters. JPMorgan, for instance, has added more people both on the sales side and the product side in transaction banking in Asia, helping it expand its share, said Muhammad Aurangzeb, head of its Asia Pacific corporate banking. Banks such as Deutsche and JPMorgan are also increasingly using their investment banking clout to win more bread-and-butter trade finance and cash management services to develop their client relationships. "We are saying (to investment banking clients) we want to go wider and deeper with you," said Aurangzeb. "We don''t want to just do an M&A trade, or your IPO or your block trade and forget about it till we meet again in a year and a half''s time." They will nevertheless face stiff competition to win market share from global rivals such as Citigroup and HSBC that have much bigger balance sheets and banking networks in the region. HSBC, for example, is looking to add around 500 new staff in commercial banking, which includes transaction banking, in Asia Pacific this year, to capitalise on initiatives such as China''s "One Belt, One Road" project, which aims to develop trade and connectivity with the rest of Eurasia. "Economic weight is shifting to Asian and Middle Eastern economies which are expected to grow their GDP threefold between now and 2050," said Ajay Sharma, HSBC''s regional head of global trade and receivables finance in Asia Pacific. "That''s the sweet spot for our customers and our global footprint." (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-asia-transactionbanking-idUKKBN17L30J'|'2017-04-20T07:19:00.000+03:00' 'eac52429b9a3dd4068726ac3bd9baf15eb4a4190'|'Japan manufacturers'' mood rises to pre-financial crisis level - Reuters Tankan'|'Business News 12am BST Japan manufacturers'' mood rises to pre-financial crisis level - Reuters Tankan FILE PHOTO: Newly manufactured vehicles await export at a port in Yokohama, Japan, January 16, 2017. Picture taken January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Izumi Nakagawa - TOKYO TOKYO Confidence among Japanese manufacturers has risen for an eighth straight month to a level not seen since before the 2008 global financial crisis, a Reuters survey found, reflecting output and export gains led by overseas economic recovery. The Reuters'' monthly poll - which tracks the Bank of Japan''s key quarterly tankan - also showed confidence at service-sector firms hit a three-month high, a sign that the effects of an export-led economic recovery are spreading - albeit gradually. The Reuters Tankan highlights the signs of life Japan''s economy has shown in recent months as global demand has recovered, despite the weakness in private consumption that constitutes about 60 percent of the economy. In the poll of 529 large- and mid-sized firms, conducted between April 4-17 in which 261 responded, the sentiment index for manufacturers rose one point to 26 in April, led by manufacturers of items such as food, metals and machinery. It was the highest reading since August 2007, a year before the collapse of a U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial crisis. At plus 28, the service-sector gauge was up two points in April from March, led by wholesalers. "Currencies are stable, which provides favourable conditions for exporters. The machine tools market also remains in an uptrend," a manager at a nonferrous metals producer wrote in the survey, which companies answer anonymously. But manufacturers and non-manufacturers expected conditions to worsen in the coming three months, highlighting their concerns about a strong yen, analysts say. Geopolitical risks such as North Korea''s missile threats, and uncertainty over the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump weigh on the outlook. "Rising sentiment despite the dollar''s fall below 110 yen during the survey period underscores that underlying conditions are firm," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities. "But deterioration in the outlook sentiment suggest that manufacturers are becoming cautious about a strong yen." The sentiment index was seen lower at 20 for manufacturers and 26 for non-manufacturers in July. "Uncertainty is mounting overseas, with emerging markets and resource-producing economies undershooting, while protectionism is on the rise - as seen in Britain''s vote to exit the European Union and the results of the U.S. presidential election," a manager at a machinery maker wrote in the survey. The BOJ''s last tankan out on April 3 showed big manufacturers'' business confidence improved for a second straight quarter to hit a one-and-a-half year high, and service-sector sentiment improved for the first time in six quarters. The central bank survey also showed companies remained upbeat on their capital expenditure plans, offering hope the economic recovery will gather momentum in coming months. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Eric Meijer and Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-tankan-idUKKBN17L316'|'2017-04-20T11:12:00.000+03:00' '23c4bde2f8bfd7163dba1ee5e977ad4628329256'|'Kuwait, Saudi signal likely extension of oil cuts'|'Business 9:05am BST Kuwait, Saudi signal likely extension of oil cuts A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC''s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader ABU DHABI Leading Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave the clearest signal yet that OPEC plans to extend into the second half of the year a deal with non-OPEC producers to curb oil supplies. "I expect we will have an extension of the agreement," Kuwait''s oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said at a Gulf industry forum with five other Gulf energy ministers. "We have a noticeable increase in compliance from non-OPEC which shows the importance of extending the agreement," Marzouq said. OPEC is keen that non-OPEC play its part in reducing world inventories to support a price rise that has stalled near $55 a barrel. Crude is up from lows last year below $30. OPEC meets on May 25 to discuss extending supply curbs with non-OPEC countries that total 1.8 million barrels daily, two-thirds of that from OPEC. Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih, speaking at the same event, said there was "an initial agreement" that the oil cuts may need extending to drain high global inventories. He said talks were ongoing. "Our target is the level of inventories. This is the main indicator for the success of the initiative," Falih said. While inventories held at sea and in producer countries have dropped, they remain stubbornly high in consumer regions, particularly in Asia and International Energy Agency said last week that inventories in OECD countries were still 10 percent above the 5-year average, a key gauge for OPEC. (reporting by Rania el-Gamal, editing Richard Mably)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-opec-idUKKBN17M0MG'|'2017-04-20T15:43:00.000+03:00' 'b46cc3643aad20ea5c1c415571e46bbffd0833f3'|'REFILE-U.S. prosecutors to monitor corporate cases after failed FedEx trial'|'(Refiles to fix garbled words in second paragraph)By Dan LevineSAN FRANCISCO, April 17 The U.S. Justice Department in San Francisco has instituted new oversight for complex cases, a federal prosecutor said, following a failed drug conspiracy prosecution against delivery service FedEx Corp .U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch, in an interview with Reuters last week, said his staff has identified about 20 of the office''s most complex cases to undergo "investigative progress reviews." He declined to identify any specific matters but said such cases would likely include corporate fraud and complicated drug investigations.Every two months, the lead prosecutor assigned to such a case will meet with supervisors in the office, including the U.S. attorney, Stretch said. Management will receive regular updates on the investigation, help decide novel legal issues, and ensure the case receives proper resources."This allows everybody in chain to be sharing in real time a lot of the decisions on these larger investigations," Stretch said.The new protocols were put in place after Stretch ordered a review of the FedEx case to improve future prosecutions. In that case, prosecutors obtained a grand jury indictment in 2014 against the courier service alleging it had knowingly helped internet pharmacies ship illegal pills. The Justice Department abruptly dropped all charges four days into trial last year amid evidence the company had actually tried to cooperate with the government on combating such pharmacies.The judge commended the decision, saying it was clear FedEx was "factually innocent." An attorney for FedEx called the prosecution "an epic institutional failure."Stretch''s office is currently investigating a phony accounts scandal at Wells Fargo & Co.John Zach, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan who investigated SAC Capital, said unit chiefs in that U.S. attorneys office closely monitored cases but line prosecutors did not usually meet with top officials until it was time to decide if someone would face charges.The problem in the FedEx case was that prosecutors, including supervisors, did not recognize the significance of cooperation evidence that FedEx had highlighted before the company was charged, FedEx attorney Cristina Arguedas said.The new oversight system "is certainly a good idea," Arguedas said, although its success will depend on whether supervisors look at the actual evidence or rely on a single prosecutor''s interpretation.Stretch declined to comment on FedEx case details, but said no one wants to have to dismiss a case during trial."It is my expectation that this new review process can only aid with such situations," he said. (Reporting by Dan Levine; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/fedex-doj-idINL1N1HP11S'|'2017-04-17T21:12:00.000+03:00' 'fd3b014280463503fe83a74dff586eadbb00350d'|'China plans two million new units of public housing for 2017 - Xinhua'|' 29am BST China plans two million new units of public housing for 2017 - Xinhua China''s Vice Housing Minister Lu Kehua speaks at a news conference in Beijing, China, March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon SHANGHAI China plans to build two million units of public rental housing this year to provide affordable homes for low-income groups, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday. The meteoric rise of house prices in China''s major cities and the country''s household registration or "hukou" regime have left many low-income families unable to afford or access to buy their own homes. The plan is high on the agenda of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, vice minister Lu Kehua told Xinhua in an interview. The ministry will work with the national economic planning body and the Ministry of Finance on the program, Lu noted. He said local governments in some regions had been asked to lower the threshold for the public housing system, giving migrant workers access, Xinhua reported, with most regions heeding the call. China has raised subsidies and credit support for public housing and at the end of last year, a total of 11.3 million families had been housed, Xinhua reported. China''s property sales surged in the first two months of the year despite government measures to cool the market, though growth in real estate investment showed signs of easing, data in March. (Reporting by Engen Than; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-property-idUKKBN17K014'|'2017-04-18T08:29:00.000+03:00' '1266bcff21298d8adf829e460882d6f5affc1a1f'|'Shrinking U.S. role in World Bank would clash with Trump agenda - CEO'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:31am BST Shrinking U.S. role in World Bank would clash with Trump agenda - CEO Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Trump administration would be working against its "America First" agenda if it were to diminish the United States'' leadership role in multilateral institutions including the World Bank, the lender''s second-ranking executive said on Wednesday. Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank Group''s new chief executive, said that so far, her meetings with Trump administration officials have not revealed a desire to step back from multilateral institutions. "I haven''t heard from them saying, ''Oh, we want to disengage,''" Georgieva told a forum at the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. The Trump administration''s so-called "skinny budget" proposal had envisioned a $650 million cut to funding for multilateral development banks including the World Bank over three years, compared to commitments made by the Obama administration. But it is the U.S. Congress, not the White House, that will ultimately decide spending levels for the fiscal year ended Oct. 1, 2018. Georgieva said the budget did show, however, that the administration values its place in the institutions. The United States is by far the World Bank''s largest shareholder, with about 17 percent of its voting power. "It''s not so much aligned with ''America First'' for you to ignore your place in institutions where you are a very important, prominent voice," she told a meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee. She added that the financing of the World Bank is likely "not top of mind" amid the many priorities of the new administration, and emphasized that the bank is self-funding in many respects. "We are a bank. You put money in, you get money out," she said, adding that shareholders have only paid in about $15 billion in capital since the World Bank''s founding 70 years ago, while over $700 billion in loans have been made and paid back with interest. "We are a very good value-for-money place," said Georgieva, a Bulgarian national who joined the World Bank in January after several years working at the European Commission. She said another reason that she believes President Donald Trump''s administration will want to maintain its role in the bank is its work in stabilizing war-torn areas where there are U.S. interests. "We are in Iraq. We are in Afghanistan. Hopefully, we would be in Syria one day, places that require investments in stabilization. I don''t see how that would be bad for any of our shareholders to have a more stable world," she said. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-g20-imf-worldbank-idUKKBN17L31G'|'2017-04-20T07:31:00.000+03:00' '793f180d4b95b557074904cd9d053d0ea76b76e9'|'AmEx profit tops estimates as card members spend more'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:11am BST AmEx profit beats as higher spending blunts partnership losses The logo of Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market index listed company American Express (AXP) is seen in Los Angeles, California, United States, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson By Pallavi Dewan and Nikhil Subba American Express Co''s ( AXP.N ) first-quarter profit fell less than expected as its card members spent more and the company expressed more confidence over its full-year results, amid fierce competition in the industry. AmEx''s shares rose 2.5 percent after the bell on Wednesday as the results and guidance indicated the company was starting to mitigate some of the impact of losing key partnerships last year, especially one with Costco Wholesale Corp ( COST.O ). Some of that impact was also blunted by AmEx spending heavily on marketing as well as on premium rewards to retain existing customers and woo new ones. The company, which has long catered to affluent customers, last month fattened up rewards on its Platinum charge cards to fortify its high-end market against JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) and Citigroup Inc ( C.N ). However, AmEx is curbing costs in other areas to bolster margins and said it was on track to remove $1 billion from its expenses this year and was "very confident" of meeting its full-year profit forecast of $5.60-$5.80 per share. "As we move through 2017, we expect net income and EPS to grow due to the benefits from our cost-reduction initiatives and the seasonality of revenue," Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Campbell said on a call with analysts. Campbell has said in mid-January, after AmEx''s fourth-quarter results, that earnings and revenue would be "uneven" in 2017. AmEx said first-quarter net income attributable to shareholders fell 13 percent to $1.21 billion, or $1.34 per share, from a year earlier, which included some now discontinued partnerships. Analysts on average were expecting $1.28 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. KBW analyst Sanjay Sakhrani said AmEx did reasonably well, excluding Costco, and noted the company''s growth had accelerated last year and continued in the latest quarter. "The company has had to spend more to generate the types of growth ... and now we see them starting to pull back on the expenses, but still put up accelerated growth and I think that is what is encouraging," Sakhrani said. AmEx said it also benefited from higher net card fees and loan growth in the quarter. Card member spending increased 8 percent, adjusted for currency fluctuations and the loss of the Costco partnership, while net card fees rose 7 percent. Loans grew 11 percent, with more than half of the growth in U.S. consumer loans coming from existing customers. AmEx added 1.7 million new cards across its U.S. issuing businesses and 2.6 million worldwide in the quarter, slightly higher than the additions in the fourth quarter. (Reporting by Pallavi Dewan and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-american-express-results-idUKKBN17L2Q9'|'2017-04-20T04:40:00.000+03:00' '6b12becedf943b82c003a210e63c467542c354e3'|'EU clears Rolls-Royce''s acquisition of Spain''s ITP subject to conditions'|'BRUSSELS European Union antitrust regulators said on Wednesday they had cleared the acquisition of aircraft engine components maker ITP by Rolls-Royce ( RR.L ) subject to its elimination of a conflict of interest in an engine consortium.The engine consortium EPI, made up of Rolls-Royce, ITP, Germany''s MTU and France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ), designs and manufactures the engine powering the Airbus A400M, which competes with the Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ) C-130J aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine.The European Commission said in a statement that it initially had concerns the merger would have allowed Rolls-Royce to gain additional influence on the decision-making process of the EPI consortium, on matters that affected its competitiveness against the Lockheed Martin C-130J.To allay those concerns Rolls-Royce offered commitments to eliminate the conflict of interest and ensure EPI remains competitive, the Commission said.(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-itp-m-a-rolls-royce-eu-idUSKBN17L1XX'|'2017-04-19T19:01:00.000+03:00' '8bc5f53afe98eeae5053c7052635754d4334bd64'|'Oil prices claw back ground after sharp drop, buoyed by U.S. crude stock dip'|'SINGAPORE Oil prices regained some ground on Thursday after steep losses the previous day, as Kuwait said it expected an OPEC-led effort to cut supplies would be extended beyond the middle of the year.Brent crude futures were at $53.34 per barrel at 0715 GMT (3:15 a.m. ET), up 41 cents, or 0.77 percent, from their last close.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 32 cents, or 0.63 percent, to $50.76 a barrel.Traders said that the gains followed comments by OPEC-members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that an effort by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers, including Russia, to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year would be extended beyond June.A reduction in commercial U.S. crude stocks, which fell by 1 million barrels last week to 532.34 million barrels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), also supported prices, traders said.The price increases on Thursday followed a more than 3.5 percent drop in both crude benchmarks during the previous session after the EIA reported surging gasoline inventories as well as another rise in U.S. crude oil production to 9.25 million barrels per day (bpd), up almost 10 percent since mid-2016.U.S. gasoline stocks posted a counter-seasonal build of 1.5 million barrels, because of rising refining activity.Traders said that the rising U.S. crude production posed a concern that the oil supply overhang would continue, while the jump in gasoline stocks implied a stutter in demand."The fact that gasoline stocks rose... worried traders that demand is not as strong as many thought," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader.Overall, global fuel markets remain bloated, and Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih was Quote: d on Thursday in an interview with the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper that supplies remained elevated in part because traders were selling supplies out of tanker storage.In China, an ongoing fuel supply overhang is persisting as there were signs that Chinese refiners were using record crude oil imports to produce more fuel like gasoline and diesel than the country can absorb.China''s March gasoline output rose 2.5 percent year on year to 11.24 million tonnes, the highest level since at least April 2014, data from China''s National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday, adding fuel into an Asian market that is already well supplied.(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford and Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN17M04R'|'2017-04-20T09:23:00.000+03:00' '0ddc0353cb51bae1d6e5af99f47425ed961e2866'|'Wall Street set to open lower as earnings gather pace'|'Money 37pm IST Wall Street set to open lower as earnings gather pace Trader Peter Tuchman works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 21, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Files By Yashaswini Swamynathan U.S. stocks were on track to open slightly lower on Tuesday as investors weighed quarterly earnings and a possible delay in tax reforms, while keeping an eye on global politics. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times on Monday that the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform was probably delayed following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare. Mnuchin''s statement added to concerns about President Donald Trump''s ability to deliver on his promises to cut taxes and simplify regulations - bets on which U.S. stocks have hit record highs since his election. A raft of quarterly earnings from corporate heavyweights is expected to keep investors busy. Goldman Sachs shares sank 3.4 percent in premarket trading after the bank reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit due to weak trading revenue. Bank of America inched up 1.2 percent after the company reported a strong jump in quarterly profit. Shares of Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan were trading lower. "The key for the market is still earnings, economic growth etc, and politics is merely a daily side show," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, Illinois. Dow e-minis were down 63 points, or 0.31 percent at 8:32 a.m. ET (1232 GMT), with 37,433 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were down 6.75 points, or 0.29 percent, with 189,256 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 12 points, or 0.22 percent, on volume of 33,948 contracts. Safe-havens continued to be in favor ahead of crucial presidential elections in France and rising tensions between the United States and North Korea. Adding to uncertainties, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early election on June 8 to guarantee political stability as the country negotiates its way out of the European Union. Gold prices hovered close to five-month highs, while the dollar dipped. Wall Street had closed higher in very thin trading volumes on Monday as investors bought technology and bank stocks. Shares of Dow component UnitedHealth rose 1.7 percent to $170.01 after the health insurer reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its profit and revenue forecast for the year. Johnson & Johnson was down 1.3 percent at $124.10 after the healthcare conglomerate reported quarterly revenue that missed analysts'' expectations. Netflix, the first of the FANG stocks to report, was up 1.4 percent at $149.24 after the video streaming service provider reported weaker-than-expected subscriber numbers in the first quarter, but forecast strong growth in the current quarter. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17K1JO'|'2017-04-18T21:07:00.000+03:00' 'e82af9b9858118ee99af51f3ab06b4050fa92783'|'Miners, oil a drag on European shares'|' 43am EDT Miners, oil a drag on European shares LONDON, April 18 Commodity-linked stocks weighed on European shares on Tuesday in a choppy start to the session, with the main pan-European index unable to hold initial gains. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent, while sterling strength weighed on Britain''s FTSE 100 which fell 0.6 percent. The basic resources sector the biggest sectoral faller, down 1.7 percent, while oil & gas shares also fell 0.6 percent as the price of oil edged down following an expected climb in U.S. output. Jeweler Pandora was the worst performing stock on the STOXX 600, down more than 7 percent. It was joined by DONG Energy, which dropped 4 percent after Citigroup cut its rating to "neutral". Among risers, biotech firm Galapagos jumped 4.5 percent after raising $338 million gross proceeds in a U.S. public offering, while Germany''s Uniper gained 3.3 percent after SocGen raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "hold". (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HQ0XN'|'2017-04-18T15:43:00.000+03:00' '32f4319e2f2273fddcc9a46b8a36e42c7762fcd5'|'Bankers dominate lobbying of Britain''s Brexit ministry'|' 14pm BST Bankers dominate lobbying of Britain''s Brexit ministry By Andrew MacAskill and William James - LONDON LONDON Finance firms have held twice as many meetings with ministers handling Britain''s exit from the European Union as any other sector of the economy, a Reuters analysis shows. The figures show that the finance sector retains an outsized influence despite Prime Minister Theresa May signalling she wants to reduce Britain''s economic dependence on the sector and banks'' complaints that they are having difficulty getting their views across. Britain''s decision to leave the EU sparked one of the most intensive lobbying efforts in recent memory as different sectors fought for government access to help shape the strategy of its most complex negotiations since the end of World War Two. The Department for Exiting the European Union, headed by David Davis, is in charge of prioritising the government''s demands in those negotiations - a process that involves balancing the competing needs of sectors across the economy. A Reuters analysis of recently released government data detailing the Brexit department''s 277 external meetings show 59 instances where one of the department''s four ministers met finance companies in the last six months of 2016. Overall, ministers held meetings with almost 40 sectors ranging from support services to technology, education, infrastructure, charities and agriculture. The finance industry, including banks, insurers and hedge funds, make up about 10 percent of the British economy, but accounted for about a fifth of the department''s meetings, the analysis shows. This excludes round-table meetings where companies from different sectors were present. By comparison, manufacturing industry representatives and firms held about 24 meetings with the government, according to the analysis. Trade unions and the transport sector met the ministry 16 times, the analysis shows. British financial firms launched a frenzy of political lobbying after last year''s vote. They face losing wide-open access to the EU''s $16.5 trillion-a-year single market, raising concerns about whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centres. Alex Runswick, a director at the government transparency group Unlock Democracy, raised concern about the number of finance sector meetings with government, warning that it may show only a fraction of its lobbying power. "What you are seeing is the visible tip of the lobbying iceberg," Runswick said. "We need to know what it is they are lobbying about and ensure it is fair and transparent so other sectors and voters can have their say too." Finance executives said although they have held numerous meetings with ministers, they feel they are still struggling to influence policy. They point to government plans to pull Britain out of the single market despite months of lobbying to retain some form of access. "We are having lots of meetings, but we are finding it much harder to get our viewpoint heard," said one banker, who has held meetings with the government. Bankers were surprised when government ministers told financial executives in the autumn they would not get special treatment in the Brexit negotiations. The Department for Exiting the European Union said in a statement that it has spent the last nine months understanding the challenges and opportunities from Brexit and will seek a deal that works for all areas of the British economy. Most of the previous five British governments going back to Margaret Thatcher''s put financial services at the centre of their plans to grow Britain''s economy. But May''s government has signalled she wants some rebalancing of the economy away from financial services. May met finance executives individually twice in the last six months of last year - a meeting with Morgan Stanley, and another with Wall Street executives in New York, records show. She met journalists 17 times and charities four times, the analysis shows. May also held two dinners with a range of business executives, including bankers from Barclays and Goldman Sachs, the records show. Since coming to office in July 2016 after the vote to leave the EU, May has made clear her political priority is to re-engage with many working class voters whose backing for Brexit stemmed partly from lingering resentment of hardship caused by the 2007-2009 financial crisis. To view graphic on Brexit lobbying, click on tmsnrt.rs/2puK4ul (Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-banks-lobbying-idUKKBN17K1F2'|'2017-04-18T20:14:00.000+03:00' '15dade7420ecba209f42647de7c7b4e299d47a3f'|'Post Holdings set to buy Britain''s Weetabix in $1.76 billion deal: source'|'By Lauren Hirsch Post Holdings ( POST.N ), the No.3 U.S. cereal company, is set to acquire British cereal company Weetabix in a $1.76 billion deal, a person familiar with the matter said.Reuters had reported in January that Post Holdings was among four bidders vying for Weetabix, which is owned by China''s Bright Food [SHMNGA.UL].The other bidders were UK''s Associated British Foods ( ABF.L ), Cereal Partners Worldwide and Italian pasta maker Barilla.Weetabix and Post Holdings were not immediately available for comment.(Reporting by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-weetabix-m-a-post-holdings-idINKBN17J1Q4'|'2017-04-17T19:50:00.000+03:00' '8f8b93d31a904842097c1c9a3c4cac12a8de04e6'|'Brazil court suspends Petrobras oilfield sale to Statoil'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 2:22am BST Brazil court suspends Petrobras oilfield sale to Statoil SAO PAULO A Brazilian court has ordered state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro SA ( PETR4.SA ) to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Norway''s Statoil ASA ( STL.OL ) after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process. Petrobras, as the company is known, said in a securities filing on Monday that the deal for its stake in the BM-S-8 region known as the Carcara field was approved by regulators. Half of the $2.5 billion in proceeds were due when the deal closed in November, and the company said it had used those funds to repay debts. Petrobras said it would take legal measures to defend its interests. The sale of the 66 percent stake in the offshore prospect was the first major pre-salt asset sold as part of a divestment plan that now aims to raise $21 billion in two years for Petrobras to pay down its debts. The National Federation of Oil Workers said it had filed the lawsuit because Petrobras, as a state-controlled enterprise, is required to hold an open bid for any asset sale. A Statoil representative said the Norwegian firm would not comment on the matter because it had not received an official notice of the decision. (Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Tatiana Bautzer; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-petrobras-divestiture-statoil-idUKKBN17J1U1'|'2017-04-18T09:18:00.000+03:00' 'fb28988c1773721663bcaaa1568033fc30304789'|'MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf may move sideways as investors await fresh Q1 results'|'Company News - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 1:49am EDT MIDEAST STOCKS-Gulf may move sideways as investors await fresh Q1 results DUBAI, April 16 Stock markets in the Gulf may trade sideways on Sunday as investors await a fresh batch of first-quarter results and because most other markets were shut for the Easter holiday. Brent crude June contracts closed at $55.89 a barrel on Thursday. Last week the commodity recouped more of March''s losses on increased hopes world supply and demand were nearing balance. The contracts did not trade on Friday in observance of Good Friday. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent on Friday, though many markets in the region, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, were closed. European, and U.S. markets are also shut for the holiday. Last week stock markets in the Gulf saw some positive momentum as first-quarter results, especially from banking firms, encouraged some institutional funds to buy up shares in that sector. "For the momentum to be extended into this week, asset managers will be waiting for more positive surprises but will be very prudent with their allocation," said a Riyadh-based fund manager. The Dubai-listed shares of Bahrain investment firm GFH Financial Group may attract buying interest after the company said one its units had signed a deal to acquire a U.S. based data centre, in partnership with a New York Stock Exchange listed real estate investment trust, with a market value exceeding $100 million. The subsidiary plans to offer the investment for private placement. (Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mideast-stocks-idUSL8N1HO02O'|'2017-04-16T13:49:00.000+03:00' 'c979f249416aeaefdb667bf0bf39a230b8cbd4af'|'Most oil producers want extension of output cuts - Iran minister'|'Business News - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 1:44am BST Most oil producers want extension of output cuts - Iran minister FILE PHOTO: An Iranian man works on an oil production platform at the Soroush oil fields in the Persian Gulf, south of the capital Tehran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo DUBAI Most oil producers support an extension of output cuts by OPEC and non-OPEC countries, and Iran would also back such a move, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying. "(Zanganeh) stressed that most countries want OPEC''s decision to be extended," the Iranian Students'' News Agency (ISNA) reported. "Iran also supports such a decision and if others comply, so would Iran," Zanganeh told reporters late on Saturday, according to ISNA. The market has been oversupplied since mid-2014, prompting members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some non-OPEC producers to agree to cut output in the first six months of 2017. OPEC meets on May 25 to consider extending the cuts beyond June. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and most other OPEC members are leaning towards this if agreement is reached with other producers, OPEC sources told Reuters last month. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-opec-iran-idUKKBN17I00Q'|'2017-04-16T08:44:00.000+03:00' '5aef836a99730dfdd0f7b54d2ac59b6ebf4cbc58'|'Japan says it''s committed to G20 agreement on forex policy'|'Business News - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 11:06pm EDT Japan says it''s committed to G20 agreement on forex policy left right Light is cast on a U.S. one-hundred dollar bill next to a Japanese 10,000 yen note in this picture illustration shot February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Shohei Miyano/Illustration/File Photo 1/2 left right Japan''s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga speaks to media during a news conference after the reports on the launch of a North Korean missile, at the prime minister''s office in Tokyo, Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo February 12, 2017. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS 2/2 TOKYO Japan is committed to the G20 agreement on foreign-exchange policy and is not manipulating its currency, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the country''s top government spokesman, said on Monday. The U.S. Treasury issued its semiannual currency report on Friday and Japan was one of the U.S. trading partners who were on a currency "monitoring list". Suga told reporters the report did not require a response as the list was mechanically created based on data such as current account and trade surpluses with the United States. The report did not label any major trading partner as a currency manipulator. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chris Gallagher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-currency-idUSKBN17J06F'|'2017-04-17T11:06:00.000+03:00' 'e1cc4093d3815f0ced2d56da0f055ef1768cb134'|'HSBC predicts 100 Saudi Arabian listings in privatisation drive'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 11:46am BST HSBC predicts 100 Saudi Arabian listings in privatisation drive By Tom Arnold , Saeed Azhar and Hadeel Al Sayegh - DUBAI DUBAI Saudi Arabia''s privatisation drive is likely to result in around 100 new stock market listings in sectors including mining, healthcare and retail, a top HSBC executive said on Monday. Georges Elhedery, HSBC''s chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa, did not give a time frame for the listings but said they were part of Saudi plans to diversify its economy beyond oil by 2030. Close to 180 companies are already listed on the Saudi market and HSBC is advising the stock exchange on its planned listing of its own shares, while industry sources have told Reuters that the bank will play a key advisory role in the upcoming listing of national oil giant Saudi Aramco. "We are talking, up to possible 100 IPOs (or) 100 entities to be listed on the stock exchange in Saudi Arabia," Elhedery said at an event marking the 150th anniversary of Thomson Reuters ( TRI.TO ) in the region. Elhedery said the planned listing of a "jewel" like Aramco is a strong example of Saudi Arabia''s commitment to the privatisation programme. Aramco is gearing up for a 5 percent share listing next year, aiming to get a valuation of up to $2 trillion in what could be the world''s biggest initial public offering. Although Aramco has not made a decision yet on the international venue for the IPO, Gulf Capital''s co-founder Karim El Solh said at the same event on Monday that he expected it to be New York "given the size (and) the nature of the industry". Global exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange ( LSE.L ) are pitching to win a slice of Aramco''s IPO, which HSBC''s Elhedery said would generate huge demand from strategic investors regardless of where it is listed. In recent weeks, Chinese oil firms PetroChina ( 601857.SS ), ( 0857.HK ) and Sinopec Corp ( 600028.SS ) have both shown interest in the Aramco IPO. Elhedery also said the region''s debt capital market issuance this year was likely to exceed last year''s record of more than $60 billion. Richad Soundardjee, head of Middle East for Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ), said that the region is "on a good track to beat the 2016 record" of issuance but noted that there has been a lot of "front loading" in the first quarter. That meant companies taking advantage of good market conditions and coming to market to refinance debt which is still some time away from maturing. Soundardjee also said that diversification of sources of funding and currencies will have a positive impact for the region, referring to the emerging of structured finance solutions and export credit agency-backed financing. (Additional reporting by Davide Barbuscia; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-privatisation-idUKKBN17J0RG'|'2017-04-17T18:46:00.000+03:00' 'c3cb25e5541991f7b2d224c83e7bd710d0806df4'|'BRIEF-Citigroup to name Carmen Haddad as head for Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg, citing sources'|'Company 39am EDT BRIEF-Citigroup to name Carmen Haddad as head for Saudi Arabia - Bloomberg, citing sources April 17 (Reuters) - Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles Next In Company News * Htg molecular diagnostics - entered into master services agreement with daiichi sankyo company, ltd for work to be performed in htg''s veri/o laboratory MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-citigroup-to-name-carmen-haddad-as-idUSFWN1HP01Q'|'2017-04-17T19:39:00.000+03:00' '33ea5761b29af7a0d20caf4950e9a034e3e1e7bb'|'Germany''s Schaeuble presses ECB to unwind loose monetary policy'|'Business News 7:48pm BST Germany''s Schaeuble presses ECB to unwind loose monetary policy German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch WASHINGTON It would not be a bad idea for the European Central Bank and other central banks to follow the U.S. Federal Reserve''s example and change course away from an ultra-accommodative monetary policy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. Speaking on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington, Schaeuble said the ultra-loose monetary policies in place in many areas of the world were not helpful. "It is encouraging undue risk-taking, political complacency, capital misallocation and asset price bubbles," he added. "The Fed has initiated the exit from loose monetary policy. It wouldn''t be a bad idea, if the European Central bank and others were to start following this example," he said. Three ECB policymakers said on Wednesday - days before a tense French presidential election and the ECB''s own policy meeting - that prospects for the euro zone economy had improved but the time to withdraw support has not yet come. Investors are on tenterhooks before Sunday''s first round vote in France, where two of the four leading candidates are threatening to leave the European Union and the euro currency. Any turmoil in the bond market after the French vote would push up borrowing costs for countries and companies - undoing some of the stimulus the ECB is providing - and even raise questions about the euro''s survival. While stressing that the ECB, and not the German government, sets monetary policy for the euro zone, Schaeuble added: "It is true that the euro being undervalued, from a German perspective, benefits our exporters." German officials have said Schaeuble and his delegation will stress the importance of globalisation and free trade for growth at the talks in Washington this week, as well as the need for reforms to increase resilience against future shocks. (Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-germany-policy-idUKKBN17M1XT'|'2017-04-21T02:48:00.000+03:00' 'a10d1c9625c4587ebd6ab8314e3f210b8136b953'|'China urges Canada to relax curbs on high-tech exports - Xinhua'|' 25pm BST China urges Canada to relax curbs on high-tech exports - Xinhua OTTAWA Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday pressed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to relax curbs on high-tech exports to China and also suggested the two nations work together on clean energy, China''s official Xinhua news agency said. Trudeau wants to boost trade with China as a way of lessening dependence on exports to the United States, especially given protectionist signs from the administration of President Donald Trump. Canada, citing national security needs, places strict restrictions on the Canadian assets that China and other nations can buy. Reporting on a phone call between the two leaders, Xinhua said, "The Chinese premier hoped that Canada would relax the restrictions on high-tech exports to China, believing this would be helpful to a balanced growth of bilateral trade." Last month, Trudeau''s Liberals allowed Hong Kong-based O-Net Technologies Group Ltd ( 0877.HK ) to buy a Canadian technology company, reversing a 2015 decision by the former Conservative government to block the deal on national security grounds. Trudeau spokeswoman Andree-Lyne Halle confirmed the two men had spoken and said more details would be released later. China is looking to boost its global environmental role as Trump shows signs of pulling back from green commitments the United States made under previous President Barack Obama. Li also told Trudeau that the two nations should "strengthen cooperation on tackling climate change and cooperate in new areas such as clean energy", according to Xinhua. In September, during a visit by Li to Ottawa, Canada and China said they would start exploratory talks on a free trade pact. (This version of the story makes changes spokeswomen to spokeswoman in sixth paragraph ) (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-canada-china-idUKKBN17K26U'|'2017-04-19T02:25:00.000+03:00' 'e9a01994b2ad29cbfae76337a166e971d99c8f83'|'BRIEF-Activist hedge fund CIAM says Euro Disney''s buyout offer not fair for minority investors'|'Company News 35am EDT BRIEF-Activist hedge fund CIAM says Euro Disney''s buyout offer not fair for minority investors April 18 Euro Disney/CIAM: * CIAM says 2 euros per share buyout offer for Euro Disney''s minority shareholders is not fair * CIAM says thinks minimum acceptable price is 2.50 euros/share * Walt Disney is in process of taking full control of debt-ridden Paris theme park operator Euro Disney * Walt Disney has said it would support a recapitalisation of up to 1.5 billion euros, helping cut debt and improve Euro Disney''s financial position. * Minority shareholders will be offered 2 euros a share to sell their stake to Walt Disney - a 67 percent premium to Euro Disney''s share price on Feb 9, which was the day before the offer was announced. * Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal also involved in Walt Disney''s plans to take full control of Euro Disney'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-activist-hedge-fund-ciam-says-euro-idUSL8N1HQ1YM'|'2017-04-18T17:35:00.000+03:00' '272fc9069bbc429b5dfe760860d8c2c772071924'|'Wall Street banker Cohn moving Trump toward moderate policies'|'By James Oliphant and Svea Herbst-Bayliss - WASHINGTON/BOSTON WASHINGTON/BOSTON In a White House marked by infighting, top economic aide Gary Cohn, a Democrat and former Goldman Sachs banker, is muscling aside some of President Donald Trump''s hard-right advisers to push more moderate, business-friendly economic policies.Cohn, 56, did not work on Republican Trump''s campaign and only got to know him after the November election, but he has emerged as one of the administration''s most powerful players in an ascent that rankles conservatives.Trump refers to his director of the National Economic Council (NEC), as "one of my geniuses," according to one source close to Cohn.More than half a dozen sources on Wall Street and in the White House said Cohn has gained the upper hand over Trump''s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, the former head of the right-wing website Breitbart News and a champion of protectionist trade opposed by moderate Republicans and many big companies.Cohn is a key administration link to business executives and White House sources say he will lead the charge for Trump on top domestic priorities such as tax reform, infrastructure and deregulation."Gary''s singular focus is tax reform and he''s working to try and get that done in 2017," said Orin Snyder, a partner at law firm Gibson Dunn and a long-time friend of Cohn."He is working to implement the president''s twin goals of economic growth and job creation. The tax plan will also include a reduction in the corporate rate, but also tax relief for middle- and low-income Americans."Some conservatives fear Cohn may push through a tax plan that is unnecessarily complicated and argue that including tax relief for middle- and low-income Americans would not spur economic growth as much as cuts focused entirely or mostly on businesses and entrepreneurs.Adam Brandon, president of the conservative group FreedomWorks, is disappointed Trump is not charging ahead with a plan unveiled last year during his campaign that would slash taxes on businesses and wealthy individuals.That plan was shaped heavily by Stephen Moore, an economic policy expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, who advised Trump''s campaign. But it has since been shelved."I don''t like the idea of scrapping it and starting over again," Brandon said.A senior administration official said the White House has started from scratch on the tax plan and, while setting business tax cuts as the highest priority, is consulting with lawmakers, economists and business leaders before taking it to the Republican-led Congress.Two administration officials said reports that the White House was considering a carbon tax and a value-added tax were incorrect, but that other ideas were on the table. "We are considering a multitude of options for tax reform," a White House official said on Sunday.RAPPORTAssociates of both Trump and Cohn say the two have developed a bond. People who have worked with Cohn say he is loyal, direct and assertive, traits that Trump likes.Crucially, Cohn also has the trust of Jared Kushner, Trump''s adviser and son-in-law, and his wife Ivanka, Trump''s daughter.Cohn hired his staff more quickly than other top officials, building a reputation for competence in an administration hurt by early missteps over healthcare reform and a travel ban, the sources said."Gary is a huge asset to the Trump administration. He''ll be of great help in eliminating unnecessary regulation, stimulating growth and reforming the tax code," said billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, an early backer of Trump who knows Cohn through Wall Street circles.The son of middle-class parents in Cleveland, Ohio, Cohn overcame dyslexia and worked in sales before elbowing his way into a position as a Wall Street trader and rising to become president and chief operating officer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ).Kushner was a Goldman Sachs intern when he first crossed paths with Cohn. After Trump''s election victory, Kushner paved the way for Cohn to meet the president-elect, who had spent much of the campaign blasting investment banks as modern-day robber barons. Trump soon named Cohn his NEC director.Apparently paying more heed to Cohn and other moderates on his team, Trump last week said he was open to reappointing Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chairman when her term is up and he also held back from naming China a currency manipulator.Both stances marked a reversal from his campaign when Trump criticized Yellen and vowed to label China a currency manipulator on "day one" of his administration, a move that could lead to punitive duties on Chinese goods.Sources close to Cohn and inside the White House said there are sharp policy differences between Cohn and both Bannon and Reince Priebus, White House chief of staff.A White House spokesperson denied there was a power struggle inside the West Wing.Cohn has already put his stamp on regulatory policy by working with Kushner to successfully push Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton for head of the Securities and Exchange Commission after billionaire investor Carl Icahn, an early Trump supporter, had vetted other candidates. Clayton''s nomination has been advanced to the Senate for a vote.The vacant Federal Reserve vice chairman''s seat is a key regulatory role Cohn and his colleagues on the economic team want to fill soon. Cohn has interviewed nearly two dozen candidates and has whittled the list down. Randal Quarles, a veteran of the George W. Bush administration is one of several candidates left, a source familiar with the process said.Cohn will also take a leading role in developing Trump’s infrastructure plan to rebuild airports, roads and bridges. The biggest challenge may be figuring out how to pay for the initiative, which Trump has estimated at $1 trillion.While conservatives are concerned by Cohn, they note that Bannon is still part of Trump''s mercurial administration and that Cohn could fall out of favor as quickly as he has risen."Whoever is up today," Brandon said, "could be gone tomorrow."(Reporting by James Oliphant, Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Olivia Oran, Sarah Lynch, Ayesha Rascoe and Caren Bohan; Editing by Kieran Murray and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cohn-idINKBN17I0RD'|'2017-04-16T17:45:00.000+03:00' '6aaa4ce64990ffb0b649830a03b520432269b0b1'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 20'|'April 20 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.The TimesThe head of High Speed Two told MPs that he and his executives had done no checks and had not monitored a former HS2 chief of staff at the centre of a conflict of interest fiasco with its key contractor on the 55 billion pound ($70.26 billion)London-Birmingham rail line. bit.ly/2ooHzGcThe GuardianThe government will not delay tackling rising electricity and gas bills that are hurting consumers because of Theresa May''s decision to call a surprise general election for June 8, business secretary Greg Clark said. bit.ly/2otvAGuThe government has agreed a 2.3 billion pound sale of the Green Investment Bank to the Australian bank Macquarie, according to sources close to the process. The privatisation of the bank was expected in January but signoff was delayed in the face of stiff political opposition and wrangling over the final price. bit.ly/2ooH535The TelegraphCommunities secretary Sajid Javid has downplayed concerns that foreign investors are buying up swathes of London property as he promised government reforms to the housing market would continue despite the upcoming general election. bit.ly/2pE4bGAWarehouse property developer Segro Plc has so far this year signed new leasing deals worth twice as much as the same time last year, showing the demand for industrial property continues to hold up. bit.ly/2oQHtIDSky NewsA former owner of Boots the Chemist is weighing a $6 billion takeover bid for the U.S.-based parent company of Holland & Barrett, the high street health foods chain. KKR & Co is among a small number of potential bidders for NBTY - a vitamins and nutritional supplements manufacturer previously known as Nature''s Bounty. bit.ly/2oWWeeOWorkers at three BMW plants in the United Kingdom have started a 24-hour strike over proposed changes to pensions. bit.ly/2pT7WVfThe IndependentTesco Plc has announced that it is selling its optician business to Vision Express, as it continues to slim down and focus on core operations in its home market. ind.pn/2omeR95($1 = 0.7828 pounds) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL3N1HS06F'|'2017-04-19T22:53:00.000+03:00' 'a96373ea9d65b717b4387dcf8bb2fac64d2fbd48'|'Harley Davidson will shift production, lay off 118 Pennsylvania workers'|'Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc ( HOG.N ) said on Thursday it will lay off 118 workers at its York, Pennsylvania, plant and shift employment to Kansas City, Missouri.The company said it told employees in November 2015 of plans to shift production of Harley-Davidson Cruisers from the Pennsylvania plant to Kansas City starting in the 2018 model year. Harley-Davidson told employees on Thursday it will cut about 118 positions in York and add 118 positions in its Kansas City plant, spokeswoman Katie Whitmore said.Harley-Davidson on Tuesday reported a 25.6 percent fall in quarterly profit, hurt by a drop in shipments. The Milwaukee-based company''s net income fell to $186.37 million, or $1.05 per share, in the first quarter ended March 26, from $250.49 million, or $1.36 per share, a year earlier.Demand for Harley''s motorcycles in the United States has slowed as its loyal baby boomer demographic ages and rivals such as Indian motorcycle-maker Polaris Industries Inc ( PII.N ) and Japan''s Honda Motor Co Ltd ( 7267.T ) offer competitive discounts.(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-harley-layoffs-idUSKBN17M1SQ'|'2017-04-20T22:39:00.000+03:00' 'de733bf660d67079e39ab01eba087d606b39abac'|'China''s Shandong Tyan says talks over on bid for Barrick''s Kalgoorlie'|'TORONTO Shanghai-listed Shandong Tyan Home ( 600807.SS ) said on Wednesday its negotiations with Barrick Gold Corp ( ABX.TO ) to buy the Canadian operator''s 50-percent stake in Kalgoorlie mine have ended without a deal, citing new capital and acquisition rules in China.Toronto-based Barrick had been reviewing the financial backing behind an approximate $1.3 billion bid for its stake in Kalgoorlie mine by Minjar Gold, a unit of Shandong Tyan, Reuters reported in November.Barrick, the world''s largest gold producer, declined to comment on the matter. It reports first-quarter financial results on April 24.In February, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky said "advanced negotiations with a proposed buyer," were under way and Barrick would be "happy sellers" at the right price. "We''re also very happy to continue to own that asset," he said.Shandong Tyan said it had been in contact with Barrick about buying a stake in the mine, but did not reach any formal investment agreement. "We did not continue the negotiation," it said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, due to China''s capital outflow curbs and greater scrutiny of overseas acquisitions.Shandong had trumped offers by Australian, Chinese and Canadian companies for the asset, sources had told Reuters.Newmont Mining ( NEM.N ), Barrick''s joint venture partner at Kalgoorlie and mine operator, has said it was interested in buying the remaining stake, but price has been a sticking a point."We would be open to discussing a possible transaction with Barrick on (Kalgoorlie) if they are interested in doing so," said Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara.Shandong Tyan is a publicly-listed arm of Shandong Tianye Group, a private company with operations including property development, mining, finance and venture investment.It is unrelated to Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd ( 600547.SS ), a Shandong province state-owned enterprise, which recently struck a $960 million deal to buy a 50-percent stake of Barrick''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina.Under that deal, which was announced on April 6 and which confirmed an earlier Reuters report, the two miners will also look at jointly developing Barrick''s nearby undeveloped Pascua-Lama gold and silver project and additional investment opportunities in the El Indio Gold Belt.(Reporting by Susan Taylor in Toronto, Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, and Meg Shen in Hong Kong; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-m-a-australia-idUSKBN17L23Y'|'2017-04-19T20:00:00.000+03:00' 'a084bf961bf300aa7901578ae3ae29585b1f789c'|'Verizon, Corning agree to $1.05 billion fibre deal'|'By Anjali Athavaley - NEW YORK NEW YORK Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) has agreed to buy optical fibre from Corning Inc ( GLW.N ) for at least $1.05 billion over the next three years as the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier aims to improve its network infrastructure, the companies said on Tuesday.Corning will sell up to 12.4 million miles of optical fibre to Verizon each year from 2018 through 2020, with a minimum purchase commitment of $1.05 billion, according to the agreement. Shares of both companies closed up roughly 1 percent.In a statement, Verizon said the deal would help it meet its rollout schedule for a fibre-optic network in Boston.The company also views fibre as critical for a next generation, or 5G network. Verizon is testing a 5G fixed wireless service with equipment maker Ericsson in 11 U.S. markets and expects a commercial launch as early as 2018.U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that he supported the deal and that the agency would "continue to focus on creating a regulatory climate that favours greater investment and competition."Both Verizon and competitor AT&T Inc ( T.N ) have been buying assets in preparation for 5G. On Friday, sources told Reuters that Verizon is considering making a buyout offer for wireless spectrum licence holder Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ) that would top AT&T Inc''s (T.N) $1.25 billion bid.Verizon has said it would evaluate opportunities to build out or buy fibre on a market-by-market basis. In February, Verizon said it had closed on its acquisition of XO Communications'' fibre-optic network business for about $1.8 billion.Verizon has also hinted at an interest in buying cable provider Charter Communications Inc ( CHTR.O ), which would give it access to a fibre and cable network across 49 million homes.Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told investors in December that a deal with Charter would make "industrial sense," igniting takeover speculation.But in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, McAdam said the company had not found the right "architectural fit" that would justify doing a big deal.(Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by Dan Grebler and Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/corning-verizon-idINKBN17K2G7'|'2017-04-18T18:32:00.000+03:00' '76c89e2c320dedf2f071dfd0377f117b0d909f29'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises as banking stocks bounce'|'Company News 38am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX rises as banking stocks bounce TORONTO, April 17 Canada''s main stock index rose in early trade on Monday, boosted by a rebound among financial stocks and gains for some railway and pipeline stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was up 61.40 points, or 0.40 percent, at 15,596.88 shortly after the open. Nine of its 10 main groups gained. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HP0H6'|'2017-04-17T21:38:00.000+03:00' '8a559dd5c9968845ed778764c0659c8c8985a621'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 20'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:54am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 20 April 20 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - The Trump administration worked Wednesday to quell an international furor and calm questions over its credibility after misstating by thousands of miles the location of a U.S. aircraft carrier officials had warned could be used to strike North Korea. on.wsj.com/2oRuVAx - Officials at the University of California at Berkeley canceled a scheduled appearance by Ann Coulter, the conservative commentator and Donald Trump supporter, citing safety concerns. on.wsj.com/2oRvaeV - U.S. Bancorp plans on May 1 to launch a premium card geared toward high spenders and millennials. This adds to the threats facing American Express Co in a card category where it was until recently unrivaled. on.wsj.com/2oRCuqU - The letter that cost Klaus Kleinfeld his job as chief executive of aerospace-parts maker Arconic Inc on Monday contained a vague threat toward the billionaire whose hedge fund had been campaigning for Mr. Kleinfeld''s ouster. on.wsj.com/2oREorI - New Jersey Democratic U.S. Senator Cory Booker and Republican Governor Chris Christie again joined political forces on Wednesday to call for federal investment in the region''s troubled transit system. on.wsj.com/2oRz87k (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL3N1HS26S'|'2017-04-20T12:54:00.000+03:00' 'fc41050498774bf489f2be9669afd0b0cab70603'|'AUTOSHOW-Eyeing U.S. market, Chinese automaker may change Trumpchi brand name'|'SHANGHAI When Chinese automaker GAC Motor was preparing to enter the United States market it foresaw challenges in product localization and regulation, but didn''t see any issue with the name of its flagship brand, Trumpchi.Executives at the firm and its parent Guangzhou Automobile Group ( 601238.SS ) say they may now change the Trumpchi brand - which was meant to sound like its Chinese name Chuanqi, which is a play on the word "legendary" and means passing good fortune - after it drew some ridicule at the Detroit auto show in January."We saw people were laughing at this and took pictures looking only at this detail, and also put on Facebook or other websites," GAC Motor Design Director Zhang Fan told Reuters. "When we read all that feedback, we realized it might not be very positive promotion for the brand."The company says any similarity between the brand name and that of the U.S. president was unintentional. Working from similar sounds to the Chinese name, GAC came up with "trump" for being the best and "chi" for China, Zhang said."This is a complete coincidence, we didn''t even have the slightest idea he would be president," Feng Xingya, GAC Group President, said at the Shanghai auto show."At first I''d never thought of it, why change the name? It''s the president Americans selected, it''s similar to the president''s name, this has to be good right?" he added. "But in the United States the level of opposition (to Trump) is high."Trumpchi cars are generally priced below foreign brands, but the brand created around a decade ago has recently seen a surge in sales thanks to rapidly improving product quality. Parent GAC Group is China''s sixth-largest automaker by sales.The southern Chinese automaker says it now expects to enter the United States in 2019, two years later than it initially hoped, after a management change. It says it is still working on products that meet U.S. regulatory and market demands.(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-trumpchi-idUSKBN17M1TV'|'2017-04-20T22:49:00.000+03:00' '3b97a9a951d4c3766c2b65e5a8d287de3f5ffde5'|'Democrats urge FCC to drop plan to revise TV ownership rules'|'By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Communications Commission to cancel a vote scheduled for Thursday on a measure to reverse a 2016 rule that limits the number of television stations some broadcasters can buy.House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that the changes could be harmful to consumers, hitting their wallets and their access to an independent media voice, as she cited press reports of a possible acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc ( SBGI.O ) of Tribune Media Co stations ( TRCO.N ).Under rules adopted in 1985, stations with weaker over-the-air signals could be partially counted against a broadcaster''s ownership cap. But last year, the FCC under Democratic President Barack Obama said those rules were outdated after the 2009 conversion to digital broadcasting - which eliminated the differences in station signal strength - and revoked them in September.Federal law limits companies to owning stations serving no more than 39 percent of U.S. television households; there is a dispute over whether the FCC has the authority to amend the ownership limits.The 2016 decision did not require any company to sell existing stations, but could bar new acquisitions. Twenty-First Century Fox Inc ( FOXA.O ) in September challenged the FCC rule in federal court.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in March that he wanted to repeal the Obama FCC decision and "launch a comprehensive review of the national ownership cap" later this year.In a letter, Pelosi and Representative Frank Pallone, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, urged Pai to drop the plan, which could allow the Sinclair-Tribune tie-up."That would be bad news for consumers in Tribune’s markets in two ways: First, consumers would lose an independent voice in their media market; and second, consumers could see their cable bills go up because Sinclair charges cable operators more than Tribune for retransmission consent," they wrote.Another Democrat, Representative Anna Eshoo, wrote Pai asking him to drop the plan, saying that further consolidation "will ensure there are fewer independent news outlets serving as a counter-balance to misleading or inaccurate information."Tribune and a spokesman for Pai both declined comment. Reuters reported in March that Sinclair had approached Tribune to discuss a potential combination, in a deal that would hinge on regulations being relaxed.Pai''s broad FCC ownership review could launch a new wave of consolidation in the broadcast television industry, analysts and companies said.CBS Corp ( CBS.N ) lobbyist John Orlando urged the FCC in January to reverse the Obama decision and reinstate the prior rule, citing increased competition."Time is of the essence in providing broadcasters the ownership breathing room they so desperately need to compete with other video services," he said, according to a CBS FCC filing. "Our industry has been frozen in time for more than three years.... Since then, our video competitors have marched on unfettered by ownership limits," he said, referring to online outlets and cable companies.(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Jessica Toonkel in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-fcc-ownership-idINKBN17L2N1'|'2017-04-19T23:24:00.000+03:00' '021240b61226e688029e54a84e4e5fad5f8caf38'|'BOJ''s Kuroda says geopolitical risks cloud outlook: Bloomberg TV'|'WASHINGTON Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the country''s economy is performing well but warned that geopolitical risks including escalating tensions with North Korea were clouding the global growth outlook, according to an interview with Bloomberg Television."There are a lot of geopolitical risks. But I do think leaders, including the U.S. leader, will deal with it in a good way," Kuroda was Quote: d as saying in the interview in New York on Thursday.When asked whether such risks could spur a spike in the safe-haven yen, Kuroda said there were cases in the past where geopolitical risks pushed up the yen and "made our monetary policy difficult."Kuroda also reiterated that the BOJ will continue with its massive asset purchases for some time, brushing aside market speculation that it will face difficulty keeping up the current pace of buying.(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idINKBN17M2J6'|'2017-04-20T17:49:00.000+03:00' '303447fb490c47053c14db155fe218569a83eef7'|'Chipmaker Qualcomm''s revenue, adjusted profit beat estimates'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 11:51pm BST Chipmaker Qualcomm''s revenue, adjusted profit beat estimates A Qualcomm sign is pictured at one of its many campus buildings in San Diego, California, U.S. April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ), the largest maker of chips used in smartphones, reported higher-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit and revenue, helping allay concerns about the company''s patent-licensing business. The company''s shares were up 2.4 percent at $53.85 in aftermarket trading on Wednesday. Qualcomm forecast current-quarter adjusted profit of $0.90-$1.15 per share and revenue of $5.3 billion-$6.1 billion. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1.09 per share and revenue of $5.94 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Qualcomm''s patent-licensing practices have come under increasing scrutiny from governments across the world, as well as its key customers. Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) sued the chipmaker in January, accusing Qualcomm of overcharging for its chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates. Qualcomm fired back at the iPhone maker last week, saying Apple had breached agreements with the firm. In the counterclaim, Qualcomm also said Apple and other contract manufacturers were holding back licensing payments for the use of the chipmaker''s products in Apple''s devices. The company warned on Wednesday that it was unclear whether Apple''s contract manufacturers would underpay royalties owed in the third quarter. Revenue fell 9.6 pct to $5.02 billion in the second quarter ended March 26. The quarter included a $974 million reduction to revenue, or 48 cents per share, related to the BlackBerry arbitration decision, Qualcomm said on Wednesday. On an adjusted basis, Qualcomm reported revenue of $5.99 billion, beating analysts'' average estimate of $5.89 billion. Net income attributable to the company fell to $749 million, or 50 cents per share, in the second quarter ended March 31, from $1.16 billion, or 78 cents per share, a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2ot17st ) Excluding items, Qualcomm earned $1.34 per share, above the average analysts'' estimate of $1.19. The litigation has weighed on Qualcomm''s shares, which are down about 19 percent this year through Wednesday''s close. The stock is the worst performer this year on the Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX, which has gained about 8 percent. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-qualcomm-results-idUKKBN17L2Y1'|'2017-04-20T06:51:00.000+03:00' 'c07fadfbdc1a62ee4e9f540f597d2b15f6c8fc70'|'Worker dies at Codelco''s Salvador mine in Chile; concentrator shut'|' 48am EDT Worker dies at Codelco''s Salvador mine in Chile; concentrator shut SANTIAGO, April 18 A supervisor at the Salvador copper mine owned by Chile''s Codelco died in an accident on Tuesday, causing the state-owned company to suspend operations at its concentrator plant there. Codelco is investigating the accident, it said. The death occurred in the flotation plant area of the concentrator, which helps turn the ore that is extracted from the earth into purer copper. "Given the nature of the situation, the Salvador Division suspended all operations immediately at the concentrator plant and initiated the established procedures," Codelco said in a statement. Salvador produced 60,000 tonnes of copper in 2016, making it the smallest of Codelco''s copper mines. Codelco did not give a timeline for when the concentrator would restart operations. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/chile-copper-salvador-idUSL1N1HQ0NC'|'2017-04-18T21:48:00.000+03:00' '0b51492aee04efb6ff9024d295e9fa7c2d1c5d9a'|'Chevron says restarting output at Gorgon Train Two LNG project in Australia'|'Company News 2:44am EDT Chevron says restarting output at Gorgon Train Two LNG project in Australia SINGAPORE, April 18 Chevron is restarting liquefied natural gas (LNG) production at its Gorgon Train Two facility in Australia, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday. "Restart activities are underway on Gorgon Train Two. We continue to produce LNG from Trains One and Three and load LNG cargoes," the spokeswoman said in a statement emailed to Reuters. Chevron temporarily suspended production at its Train Two facility in late March. (Reporting by Mark Tay; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lng-chevron-gorgon-idUSL3N1HQ2NK'|'2017-04-18T14:44:00.000+03:00' '82889546fcf16bbcc19fa5188d1caeb69ae85d0f'|'Fidelity and Guaranty says will no longer be acquired by China''s Anbang'|'SHANGHAI - Fidelity & Guaranty Life (FGL) ( FGL.N ), a U.S. annuities and life insurer, said on Tuesday it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by China''s Anbang Insurance group.Reuters reported earlier that the Chinese insurer would let its agreement to acquire FGL for $1.6 billion lapse after failing to secure all the necessary regulatory approvals.FGL is looking at alternative strategies and "has received interest from a number of parties," it said in a news release.Anbang did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The development casts new doubt on Anbang''s commitment to U.S. deals, following its abandoned attempt last year to acquire Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc for $14 billion.Established in 2004, Anbang signed more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last 2-1/2 years, with high-profile investments including a $1.95 billion purchase of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York.(Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Matthew Miller in Beijing; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-fidelityguarantylife-m-a-anbang-idINKBN17K052'|'2017-04-17T23:42:00.000+03:00' '008ae9ea6ae731d6149201122fbbc9efeb5bde95'|'South Korea pension fund accepts Daewoo Shipbuilding bailout proposal'|'Business News - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 6:41pm EDT South Korea pension fund accepts Daewoo Shipbuilding bailout proposal left right The logo of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co is seen at its building in Seoul, South Korea, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 1/2 left right The logo of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co is seen at its building in Seoul, South Korea, March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 2/2 By Joyce Lee - SEOUL SEOUL A South Korean pension fund on Monday accepted a debt-to-equity swap proposal for bondholders of troubled Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering ( 042660.KS ), greenlighting the country''s latest plan to bail out the world''s largest shipbuilder. The National Pension Service (NPS), the world''s third-largest pension fund, said early on Monday that "accepting the debt restructuring will be more advantageous to improve the fund''s returns." NPS is Daewoo''s single-largest single bondholder, with about 390 billion won out of about 1.5 trillion won in bonds, Yonhap reported. The South Korean government suggested in March that bondholders, which hold about 1.5 trillion won of Daewoo debt, agree to a 50 percent debt-to-equity swap and a three-year grace period on the remaining, as a condition for state banks to provide a fresh $2.6 billion bailout to save the shipbuilder. Enough remaining bondholders still need to approve the debt-to-equity swap in the series of bondholder meetings to be held on Monday and Tuesday, but other large bondholders including Korea Post are expected to follow NPS'' lead to approve the proposal, creditor bank officials said on Sunday. The officials declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. With this, South Korea is closer to its goal of bailing out Daewoo Shipbuilding, with an estimated 50,000 jobs at risk and billions of dollars in an economic hit if it should topple. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-daewoo-restructuring-nps-idUSKBN17I0VM'|'2017-04-17T06:41:00.000+03:00' '2fee09e9944efb8971b62505ecf8fbd619562bc5'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil real jumps on central bank intervention'|'SAO PAULO, April 17 The Brazilian real jumped on Monday as the central bank stepped up intervention, providing additional support for the currency amid rising geopolitical frictions abroad and political concerns at home. The real firmed 1.4 percent to the strongest in nearly two weeks after the central bank sold $800 million worth of currency swaps, which function like dollar sales to investors for future delivery, to roll over contracts expiring next month. Should the bank maintain that pace of sales daily until the end of the month, it will fully roll over $6.4 billion worth of swaps set to mature on March 2. The central bank currently holds around $17.7 billion worth of swaps on its balance sheet. The move comes as escalating frictions between the United States and North Korea depressed investor appetite for high-yielding, emerging market assets. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned on Monday that recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan show that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested, a day after a failed missile test by North Korea. Demand for the Brazilian currency also wavered in recent days due to uncertainty over the approval of a planned pension reform following corruption investigations against senior members of President Michel Temer''s administration. Other Latin American currencies seesawed on Monday as investors remained weary of the geopolitical tensions. The Mexican peso slipped from a five-month peak, but the Chilean peso followed copper prices higher. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1530 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 962.33 0.2 11.38 MSCI LatAm 2638.96 1.28 11.32 Brazil Bovespa 63817.50 1.58 5.96 Mexico IPC 49066.69 0.23 7.50 Chile IPSA 4853.60 -0.1 16.92 Chile IGPA 24343.38 -0.07 17.41 Argentina MerVal 20753.58 -0.28 22.67 Colombia IGBC 10162.69 -0.86 0.34 Venezuela IBC 47196.37 0.35 48.86 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1023 1.39 4.74 Mexico peso 18.5600 -0.34 11.77 Chile peso 646 0.64 3.82 Colombia peso 2852.57 0.44 5.22 Peru sol 3.25 0.12 5.05 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.2300 -0.26 4.24 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.76 -0.44 6.73 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/latam-emergingmarkets-idINL1N1HP0PM'|'2017-04-17T13:37:00.000+03:00' '381449061d8973dbc58e531d92975741633b2661'|'IMF raises global growth forecast, warns against protectionism'|'Economic 34pm IST IMF raises global growth forecast, warns against protectionism The International Monetary Fund logo is seen inside its headquarters at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/Files By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund raised its 2017 global growth forecast on Tuesday due to manufacturing and trade gains in Europe, Japan and China, but warned that protectionist policies threaten to halt a broad-based recovery. The IMF, whose spring meetings with the World Bank get underway in Washington this week, forecast that the global economy would grow 3.5 percent in 2017, up from its previous forecast of 3.4 percent in January. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Fund said that chronically weak advanced economies are expected to benefit from a cyclical recovery in global manufacturing and trade that started to gain momentum last summer. "The economic upswing that we have expected for some time seems to be materializing," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld wrote in the report. The IMF lifted Japan''s 2017 growth projection by 0.4 percentage point from January, to 1.2 percent, while the eurozone and China both saw a 0.1 percentage point growth forecast increase to 1.7 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the IMF held its 2017 U.S. growth forecast steady at 2.3 percent, which still represents a substantial jump from 1.6 percent growth in 2016, partly due to expectations that President Donald Trump will cut taxes and increase government spending. The IMF also revised Britain''s growth forecast to 2.0 percent for 2017, up a half percentage point from January. The Fund said negative effects from the UK vote to leave the European Union are taking longer to materialize. For a table showing the IMF''s latest growth projections, see Although growth looks to be strengthening broadly among advanced and emerging market economies as well oil and commodity exporters that are starting to benefit from a commodity price recovery, including Russia, the IMF said the recovery remains fragile. The outlook faces headwinds from chronically weak productivity growth and policies that could constrict trade, the IMF said. It did not specifically mention the Trump administration''s "America First" trade agenda aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits and turning away more unfairly traded imports. "One salient threat is a turn toward protectionism, leading to trade warfare," Obstfeld said, adding this "would result in a self-inflicted wound that would lead to higher prices for consumers, lower productivity and therefore, lower overall real income for households." The case against trade protectionism is expected to be a major theme of the semi-annual gathering of finance officials from the IMF, the World Bank and the Group of 20 major economies later this week. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned last week that a "sword of protectionism" hung over a brightening global outlook. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pushed back in a Financial Times interview published on Sunday, saying such warnings were aimed at the Trump administration and were "rubbish." He told the newspaper that the United States was far less protectionist than China and Europe, "and every time we do anything to defend ourselves, even against the puny obligations that they have, they call that protectionism. It’s rubbish." The IMF also said that risks to the global outlook also could come from a faster-than-expected pace of interest rate hikes in the United States, which could trigger a sharp rise in the dollar and disruptive capital outflows from emerging markets. The Fund also said China''s strong growth was clouded in the medium term by "growing vulnerabilities" associated with its reliance on policy easing and credit-financed investment. This could prompt a sharp tightening of financial conditions that could cause spillovers to many other countries. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-outlook-idINKBN17K1JB'|'2017-04-18T21:04:00.000+03:00' 'ed74b946c78f8a3e664e7c2aec28e3229f0ef336'|'Fukoku Life plans to invest $4.59 billion in higher-yielding assets over next five years'|'By Ayai Tomisawa and Daiki Iga - TOKYO TOKYO Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance plans to invest 500 billion yen ($4.59 billion) in higher-yielding assets over the next five years as global bond yields stay low, a senior company official said on Tuesday.The insurer, which has 6.64 trillion yen in total assets as of December, will create a new fund this fiscal year to invest in high-yielding, riskier products over the next five years, Takehiko Watabe, general manager of investment planning, told Reuters.Fukoku''s strategy to increase holdings of foreign debt in 2010 without currency hedging is expected to help it earn profits as such bonds mature in years ahead. The dollar is trading close to 110 yen now, compared with 80 yen in 2010.However, the Bank of Japan''s negative interest rates would eat into profits after 2021 once the gains from its open foreign debt positions are fully realized, assuming the central bank maintains such a policy."Since we will be able to continue enjoying returns from the foreign exchange rate at least until 2020, we don''t have to aggressively invest in foreign debt while credit spreads are tight," Watabe said.But after the foreign debt''s redemption is done in 2020, the insurer expects that the BOJ''s negative interest rate policy will likely start hurting its assets."We need to start taking a countermeasure while we are lucrative," Watabe said.Watabe also said that the insurer will likely invest mainly in foreign corporate debt, but said anything with higher yields such as foreign equities, is also possible."Even the 20-year JGB yield is trading around 0.6 percent now... it would be nice if our fund managers in each asset class can hunt for at least an additional 1 percent yield," Watabe said.For this fiscal year through March 2018, the insurer expects a much smaller increase in total investment than the previous year. It expects to buy 50 billion yen in foreign debt, compared with 150 billion yen during the last fiscal year ended March."The current hedging cost is more than 1.5 percent, so we won''t be hunting for U.S. Treasury yields which are around 2.2 percent," he said.If the dollar falls further against the yen, Fukoku may buy foreign debt without currency hedging, he added.Meanwhile, Fukoku will reduce holdings of Japanese government and corporate bonds by 40 billion yen this fiscal year, having invested 60 billion yen in this category last fiscal year.Fukoku expects the Nikkei to trade between 17,500 and 21,000 points this fiscal year. It ended at 18,418.59 on Tuesday.It expects the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury yield to move between 2.3 percent and 2.9 percent, compared with 2.244 percent on Monday, and the 10-year JGB yield between negative 0.10 percent and 0.15 percent, against 0.010 percent on Tuesday.It predicts the 20-year JGB yield to fluctuate between 0.40 percent and 0.9 percent.Fukoku sees the dollar trading between 100 and 120 yen, versus 109.08 yen, while the euro is seen trading between 110 and 130 yen, compared with 116.06 yen.(Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-insurance-fukokulife-idINKBN17K0ON'|'2017-04-18T05:43:00.000+03:00' '2bebd01dd17a251531d5758a3eb51116f3b8a143'|'Vacuum cleaner maker SharkNinja up for sale -sources'|'Deals 22pm EDT Vacuum cleaner maker SharkNinja up for sale: sources By Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis SharkNinja Operating LLC, the privately held U.S. manufacturer of Ninja blenders and Shark vacuum cleaners, is exploring a sale that it hopes will value it at more than $1.5 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sale would be a key test of the company''s brand, which it has developed through advertising on several television shopping networks. Private equity firms are among those that have expressed interest in SharkNinja, according to the sources. SharkNinja has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) to run an auction, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. SharkNinja did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Goldman Sachs declined to comment. SharkNinja was originally known as Euro-Pro, a family-run company that started more than a century ago. It was renamed SharkNinja in 2015 by Mark Rosen, the third generation of his family to lead the business. It has sought to build upon its brands over the last decade, extending its Shark vacuum business to include steam mops and irons, and its Ninja kitchen appliance business to include one-pot cookers as well as blenders. SharkNinja also makes a drip coffee maker called "Ninja Coffee Bar," which is promoted by actress Sofia Vergara. SharkNinja sells its products in stores and online in the United States and around the world. SharkNinja''s competitors include privately owned Dyson Ltd, a British company known for its namesake vacuum cleaners. (Reporting by Lauren Hirsch and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sharkninja-m-a-idUSKBN17J1TH'|'2017-04-18T07:09:00.000+03:00' 'a6bea4e95f2e6c79266e332d0c78c3a932176af7'|'BofA''s profit boosted by surge in trading'|'Bank of America reported a 44 percent rise in quarterly profit as higher interest rates bulked up earnings from loans and an increase in trading boosted revenue.The second-largest U.S. bank said net income attributable to shareholders rose to $4.35 billion in the three months ended March 31 from $3.02 billion a year earlier.Earnings per share rose to 41 cents per share from 28 per share. ( bit.ly/2px3E6G )Analysts on average had expected earnings of 35 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It was not immediately clear if the reported figures were comparable.Total revenue, net of interest expense, rose 7 percent to $22.25 billion."We saw good client activity in our balanced portfolio of businesses ... The U.S. economy continues to show consumer and business optimism, and our results reflect that," Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a statement.The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank''s shares were up about 1 percent at $23.05 in premarket trading.Big U.S. banks have been vitalized by increased market activity prompted by the so-called "Trump trade". They have also benefited from higher interest rates, which the U.S. Federal Reserve has indicated will be raised again this year.Interest rates were hiked in December and March - a 0.25 percentage point uptick in each case - marking only the second and third raise in seven years, after being kept stagnantly near zero.Bank of America relies heavily on higher interest rates to maximize profits as it has a large stock of deposits and rate-sensitive mortgage securities.Higher interest rates increased the amount of money banks can earn from their various loans, known as net interest income. BofA made $11.06 billion as net interest income in the quarter, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier.JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup last week also reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, driven by increased trading activity.Excluding special items, the bank''s trading activities brought in $4 billion, a 21.2 percent rise.Revenue from fixed-income trading surged about 29 percent, while equity trading revenue rose about 7 percent, boosted by volatility around the Fed''s interest rate hikes.Bank of America posted record investment banking fees of $1.6 billion.The lender''s non-interest expenses was nearly flat at $14.85 million.Moynihan said last year he would make trimming costs a top priority and would shrink annual expenses by about an additional $5 billion by 2018.Up to Monday''s close, the bank''s stock had risen about 34 percent since President Trump''s election on Nov. 8.(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/bank-of-america-results-idINKBN17K177'|'2017-04-18T09:15:00.000+03:00' '1c7dc3daee5a0ef96abffcb20a6ca12365751718'|'Mediahuis consortium launches recommended cash offer for all TMG shares'|'Belgian publisher Mediahuis and partner VP Exploitatie have launched a recommended cash offer for the Netherlands'' Telegraaf Media Group ( TLGNc.AS ), the three parties said in a statement, as they try to build a Dutch-Belgian multimedia company.TMG''s supervisory board said on Wednesday it unanimously supported the offer of 6 euros ($6.43) per share, and recommended shareholders accept and tender all their shares to the offer.The board''s backing is a blow to Dutch tycoon John de Mol, who, through his investment vehicle Talpa, had launched a counteroffer, setting off a bidding war over the owner of the Netherlands'' largest paper in late January.Mediahuis'' offer price represents a 73 percent premium to the Dec. 13, 2016, closing price of 3.48 euros, the day before the merger talks first surfaced, but falls 5 percent short of Tuesday''s 6.30 euro closing price.De Mol, best known as the creator of hit television show Big Brother, in March raised his counterbid to 6.50 euros per share, or around 300 million euros, but the board has now backed the lower bid of around 274 million euros.The Mediahuis-led consortium already holds a 60 percent stake in TMG, notably via the Van Puijenbroek family, which has held shares in De Telegraaf since the 1950s, and expects to complete the offer in July 2017.De Mol''s Talpa Holding has built a rival 25 percent stake in TMG, which he had earlier pledged not to sell, effectively blocking Mediahuis'' intent to reach the 95 percent threshold required to initiate buy-out proceedings and take the company private.The combined group would continue to focus on its core news division under the leadership of current Mediahuis chairman Marc Vangeel as chief executive, TMG and Mediahuis said.TMG publishes the popular Telegraaf daily and also owns Sky Radio and several leading magazine titles in the Netherlands, while Mediahuis owns another major Dutch newspaper, NRC Handelsblad.De Mol''s Talpa owns 33 percent of television broadcaster SNS and several leading Dutch radio stations.($1 = 0.9336 euros)(Reporting by Wout Vergauwen; Editing by Adrian Croft and Alison Williams)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-telegraaf-media-group-mediahuis-m-a-idINKBN17L2SL'|'2017-04-19T19:09:00.000+03:00' '0c68a0a37b377c01c20a7f2c33c542e88e610d7f'|'BRIEF-Areo reports 14.15 pct stake in Tarena International'|' 11am EDT BRIEF-Areo reports 14.15 pct stake in Tarena International April 20 Tarena International Inc: * Areo Holdings Limited reports a 14.15 percent passive stake in Tarena International Inc as of February 28, 2017 - SEC filing Source text: ( bit.ly/2oYQUYj ) UPDATE 1-Vale''s first-quarter output falls on weather, keeps guidance SAO PAULO, April 20 Vale SA''s first-quarter iron ore output fell 6.7 percent as seasonal rainfalls in a fast-growing mine in northern Brazil hampered extraction and the world''s No. 1 producer of the raw material sought to rein in production at low-margin facilities. * Magellan Midstream increases quarterly cash distribution to 87.25 cents MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-areo-reports-1415-pct-stake-in-tar-idUSFWN1HS0GM'|'2017-04-20T21:11:00.000+03:00' '2632d09225d034485c63f2a1ae697a30fbc541d9'|'ConocoPhillips takes slow, steady route in race for oil profits'|'Commodities - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:17am EDT ConocoPhillips takes slow, steady route in race for oil profits FILE PHOTO: ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance attends Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan on April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Gary McWilliams - HOUSTON HOUSTON ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) has beaten its 2017 asset sales target less than four months into the year, after shedding $30.8 billion worth of energy assets in six years. But instead of a chorus of cheers on Wall Street, Chief Executive Ryan Lance is facing investor skepticism that the company can deliver growth from remaining oil and gas fields. ConocoPhillips'' most recent sales of Canadian oil-sands properties and U.S. natural gas wells for a combined $16 billion will part with nearly 30 percent of its proved reserves in order to deliver near-term shareholder payouts and pare debt. For a graphic, click tmsnrt.rs/2pKHtZQ Lance told Reuters the sales to Cenovus Energy ( CVE.TO ) and Hilcorp Energy Co will fulfill promises to reduce long-term debt by 42 percent to $15 billion, fund $6 billion in share purchases and help reshape the company for an era of low and volatile energy prices. Drilling in two shale regions should help restore falling U.S. output by the fourth quarter. "I don''t worry about production and reserves in the company," he told Reuters in an interview, citing oil and gas fields that could be upgraded to proved reserves over time. ConocoPhillips can achieve flat to 2 percent annual production growth on its properties, after adjustments for sales, and deliver shareholder payouts, he said. But interviews with portfolio managers, former employees and industry analysts point to the frequent sales as a short-term fix. They worry ConocoPhillips'' plan for modest production growth, flat capital spending and steady shareholder payouts pales in comparison to rivals that have retooled themselves to deliver sharply higher growth rates. The danger of its reliance on fewer assets was driven home in recent weeks as a fire at a supplier hurt its ability to ship crude from oil-sands properties. Mike Breard, who tracks energy stocks for Hodges Capital Management, said the strategy lacks appeal. "If I wanted yield, I''d buy something else. If I wanted growth, I buy something else. I just don''t see what customers would want to be in that in-between situation," Breard said. The Houston company projects its daily production of crude and natural gas will fall 26 percent after the latest sales to about 1.16 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Barclays expects overall it won''t return to production growth on a full-year basis until 2019. "They''ve sold a very valuable asset," said Marc Heilweil, senior portfolio manager at Atlanta-based investment firm Gratus Capital, referring to the oil-sands holdings. The deal will "make it harder for them to fully replace reserves down the line" because shale-oil properties have shorter productive lives, he said. To ensure growth, oil producers must continually add reserves to offset production and the natural decline that occurs in oil-and-gas properties. In 2012, ConocoPhillips spun off its refining business, leaving the ranks of the large, integrated companies like Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) and Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ), and putting it among a group of mostly-small U.S. independent exploration and production companies. Lance, who was the company''s technology chief, became ConocoPhillips'' chairman and CEO upon the spin off. He pledged to boost output by 3 percent to 5 percent annually by tapping its large pool of deep-water, oil-sands and conventional oil-and-gas properties. That goal ended two years later as prices collapsed, forcing it to borrow heavily to cover its spending on production. ConocoPhillips later cut its dividend. Its lack of exposure to refining has helped its shares stand out recently. The company''s stock is down 4.3 percent year to date, even after an about 9 percent jump following the March 29 disclosure of a $3 billion addition to its share buy backs. In contrast, Chevron is 11.5 percent lower and Exxon is off about 10.8 percent in the same period. Of analysts with published ratings on the stock, 7 rate it a strong buy, 11 rate it a buy and 6 rate it a hold. That compares to Chevron with 6 strong buy ratings, 12 buy ratings and 3 hold ratings. VALUE FROM SHALE Last fall, Lance recast ConocoPhillips as an energy company able to offer steady shareholder returns on flat production spending of about $5 billion a year. It shaved its growth target to as much 2 percent, instead of up to 5 percent, and promised 20 percent to 30 percent of operating cash flow would go to holders via dividends and buy backs. He insists the remaining assets can generate substantial cash from operations even if oil CLc1 falls below $40 a barrel. ConocoPhillips is ramping up output from its Eagle Ford and Bakken shale wells, from another oil-sands property and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from operations in Australia. Meanwhile, rivals have cranked up their production much faster. U.S. shale-focused companies project 15 percent volume growth this year, says consultancy Wood Mackenzie, and the larger oil producers such as Chevron are raising output and delivering fatter dividends. ConocoPhillips will be producing an average 1.25 million boe a day in 2019, estimates Barclays. In contrast, Chevron projects its daily output this year will rise between 103,000 boe and 233,000 boe over 2016''s average 2.59 million boe, excluding divestitures. Chevron pays a 4 percent dividend. The risk for ConocoPhillips investors is the growth in production doesn''t generate higher free cash flow for share buy backs, and the 2 percent dividend yield, about half that of Chevron, becomes the bigger part of returns. Henry Smith, co-chief investment officer at Haverford Trust, which invests in companies offering revenue growth and dividend gains, sold ConocoPhillips shares ahead of its 2016 dividend cut and has not been tempted back by the new strategy. ConocoPhillips'' pledge to deliver steady returns and growth is appealing, said Smith. But, he added: "Exxon over the years has fit that bill." Haverford''s oil-industry holdings are Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ), Chevron and Schlumberger NV ( SLB.N ), he said. Tom Bergeron, an equity analyst at Frost Bank, also prefers other oil producers such as Chevron and Occidental Petroleum Corp ( OXY.N ) for what he said is their expected growth and their higher dividend yields. Lance, who worked summers as an oilfield roughneck while studying petroleum engineering in Montana, said he understands investors want proof the company can deliver regular payouts without the asset sales. "It''ll probably take performance through a cycle to demonstrate we have the position and the passion to deliver," he said, referring to the industry''s boom and bust periods. For a graphic on trading energy production for cash, click here (Editing by Simon Webb and Edward Tobin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-conoco-assetsales-idUSKBN17M0FS'|'2017-04-20T13:00:00.000+03:00' '7e95dcd6244c6ded8c45ae8898563054fea1903c'|'Investigative reporting is alive and well – and the prizes prove it - Media'|'M r Rupert Murdoch is no fan of Pulitzer prizes. Not because the award-givers don’t shower honours on the Murdoch press – though they don’t – but because Pulitzer puts traditional, complex investigation first, leaving stories that sell in big numbers far behind. In short, a distraction to the business of making journalism pay.Which is, of course, a valid enough criticism of this year’s most feted gong to the tiny local Storm Lake Times in Iowa , for taking on corporate giants such as Monsanto over the ruination of local water supplies. (Though it’s a pity the courts didn’t crown that campaign in victory.) Maybe the New York Times won plenty as usual and the Washington Post’s man on the road with Trump dug deep for glory, but this was essentially a year when smaller guys – from papers like the East Bay Times in Oakland, California , and the Gazette-Mail in Charleston, West Virginia had their moments of glory.And there is, naturally, a theme that binds: you don’t have to be big and heavily staffed to do great work that serves your readers. Even in the teeth of doubt, sorrow and cuts, there’s a lot of inspiring work out there if you look hard enough. As I’m sure we’ll see closer to home later this week when the European Press Prize judges produce their fifth parade of winners at a grand celebration in Amsterdam.Every shortlist tells a story , and there are huge similarities that define great stories on either side of the Atlantic. Here’s a dreadful fire killing too many young people in a Bucharest night club – and another parallel horror in Oakland. Here, ubiquitous through 2016, are the mighty Panama Papers, either centred on the Miami Herald for Pulitzer purposes or the Süddeutsche Zeitung for European ones. But the real difference comes where international boundaries, not state lines, take over.A government – the Hungarian government – snarls then smirks benignly as the main paper of opposition goes belly up. Serbian reporters bring a challenge direct to authority – ombudsmen who seldom resolve anything, lawyers who live, retire and die watching hard cases turn to legal mush, mayors who line their own pockets, and administrations who put their own wealth creation first.There’s an edge of pity and sorrow to some notable German reporting of year two of the migration crisis, the year we found out what had happened to the millions who streamed across Europe (including two orphans, lost, alone and working in Turkish sweatshops). But there is also introspection, an examination of how our social systems (this one Norwegian) seeks to help a teenage girl but buries her in chill bureaucracy.Every time I write about investigative journalism these days, dismissive correspondents tell me that investigations, like journalism itself, are on some deathbed. I wish those doom-mongers would read some of the hundreds – literally hundreds – of contenders here. Not just Danish reporters exploding the frailties of EU expenses evasion, but great yarns from far and wide: how a Bosnian connection gets arms to Isis; how a state post office in Moldova became the heart of global steroid supply ; how bored teenagers in a Macedonian village created fake news.Europe and America aren’t in some kind of competition for ultimate prizes. There’s a lot of fine work and brilliant comment at every turn. But the European Press Prize, building year by year, is beginning to tell us something unexpected. European journalism, reaching out to all 47 countries on the Council of Europe list, isn’t some poor relation. On the contrary, time and again, it produces work that sits alongside any other worldwide.On to the future? Turn to some brilliant and innovative websites such as Spain’s eldiario or De Correspondent from Holland. Follow, this year, the course of the Turkish coup in real time via a collation of the failed plotters’ intercepted WhatsApp messages. No one’s standing still, no one’s giving up. Doom doesn’t belong on this stage. It only prospers behind the curtain of different languages and national perceptions.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/news/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/apr/16/investigative-reporting-alive-well-prizes-prove-it'|'2017-04-16T03:00:00.000+03:00' '0c4ed41e4ab4fa9d1f4d4731f7cfa6b8954fa68a'|'TUC chief calls for changes to post-Brexit trade dispute court - Business'|'A post Brexit trade deal should be governed by a brand-new court system that is “fairer” to workers, the head of the TUC has said.Frances O’Grady said Britain and the EU had a chance “to do things differently” when it comes to the arbitration courts that make judgments on trade disputes.The Investor-State dispute settlement, the little-known system for resolving trade disputes which has existed since the 1960s, underpins thousands of European contracts. Critics, led by trade unions, have long argued the system awards too much power to corporations at the expense of the public interest, while not giving enough protection to workers and consumers.The TUC general secretary said there was a chance to change this system, when Britain negotiates a trade deal with the EU. Britain cannot sign any trade deal until it leaves the EU, most likely in 2019, but unions want to place the issue on the agenda now.Don''t make ordinary workers pay for Brexit, TUC urges government Read more “There is an opportunity to do this one differently, to ensure that workers’ rights are seen as a core standards, rather than an add on, that any arbitration mechanism is not only transparent, but fair,” O’Grady said. “I hope people have learnt lessons from trade deals, like TTIP and Ceta, and public concern over arbitration mechanisms,” she said arguing that both the EU-US deal and EU-Canada one, treated workers and consumers like “second-class citizens”.The European commission has strongly rejected claims that it downgrades workers’ rights. The comprehensive and economic trade agreement with Canada was described as the “gold standard” of global trade deals, with more government oversight than any earlier agreement.Responding to critics of the ISDS system, the EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström, devised a new kind of special court for resolving disputes, where judges would be appointed by governments rather than disputing parties.O’Grady said that the arbitration mechanism in Ceta was “better than those that came before” but had not fundamentally addressed unions’ concerns. “If you are going to have standards for goods and services, why not have standards for labour as well, to make sure there is a level playing field and you don’t get competition on the back of workers being treated badly.”O’Grady was speaking to the Guardian in Brussels, where she also called on Theresa May to face down “Brexit fundamentalists” in the Conservative party who want to use Britain’s EU departure to start a bonfire of regulations.Speaking in-between meetings with EU officials, she said she was pleased with the EU’s Brexit guidelines and the European parliament’s resolution, which both put European negotiators on guard against “unfair competition” from Britain. The EU guidelines draft – to be agreed by EU leaders at the end of April – call for safeguards against “unfair competitive advantages through … fiscal, social and environmental dumping”.Arguably, the TUC’s trickier task is to lobby the British government, as debate rages about what kind of economy post-Brexit Britain should be.On the steps of Downing Street in her first speech as prime minister , May promised to fight the “burning injustice” of poverty. But the government’s message was clouded when Philip Hammond suggested the UK could turn itself into a tax haven if it didn’t get a good Brexit deal .Amid concern that Brexit will drown out the government’s domestic agenda, O’Grady said she didn’t expect much from this year’s Queen’s speech, but stressed the prime minister would be under pressure to deliver on her Downing Street speech, after raising expectations about help for people from “an ordinary working-class family”. “She is going to have to have something compelling to inspire confidence that people’s lives are going to get better.”The prime minister, O’Grady added, could not afford “another hiccough”, such as the apparent watering down of proposals to put workers on company boards. O’Grady said last year’s proposals were “disappointing” but the issue was not “completely dead yet”.Topics International trade TUC Frances O''Grady Trade unions Global economy Economics news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/16/tuc-chief-frances-ogrady-change-post-brexit-eu-trade-court'|'2017-04-16T21:09:00.000+03:00' 'acd347539320910bca0c448f3cce014a2332dccb'|'RPT-JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing'|'Company News 8:00am EDT RPT-JPMorgan tries TV stars, political muscle to regain mortgage footing (Repeats story first published on Friday) By David Henry NEW YORK, April 14 After having to stomach $31 billion worth of bitter mortgage settlements with government agencies a few years ago, JPMorgan Chase & Co swore off a huge swath of the home loan market. Gone were borrowers with anything much less than pristine credit ratings. The cost of managing delinquent accounts and the threat of huge legal penalties were written off as not worth the risk. Better instead to focus on wealthier customers who wanted jumbo-sized loans that are beyond the reach of government housing finance agencies. But there was a problem: Chase was leaving behind many of its mass market customers who were going to competitors for the conventional and government-guaranteed loans they wanted. Now, the bank’s management team, led by Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, is working fiercely to change course – hoping to not only bring back customers, but influence what could be a reshaping of U.S. mortgage finance policy for the first time in a generation. Customers will soon start seeing signs of this effort. Next month, Chase plans to launch advertising featuring Drew and Jonathan Scott, stars of the popular reality “Property Brothers” shows. In addition to TV spots, the campaign will feature cardboard cutouts of the telegenic twins in Chase branches. Chase is also in the process of boosting its mortgage lending force by 10 percent, upgrading its loan-making software and jazzing up its smartphone app with more mortgage account tools. At the moment, fewer than one in 10 Chase customers with home loans got them directly from Chase, a situation consumer banking chief Gordon Smith recently described as "terrible." “It is time to go after the opportunity we have with our own customers,” Mike Weinbach, the bank''s mortgage chief, said in a recent interview with Reuters. JPMorgan Chase is not the only major bank that is restless after having stepped back from the U.S. mortgage market in the aftermath of the housing crisis last decade. At Bank of America Corp, executives say they are no more content with fewer than two in 10 of their customers with mortgage loans having borrowed from their bank. Mortgage companies such as Quicken, Caliber and loanDepot.com scooped up much of the business from battered banks. ( tmsnrt.rs/2orqDzB ) JPMorgan''s $31 billion cost of 13 mortgage-related legal settlements was second only to Bank of America’s $71 billion, according to data collected by bank analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. Still, JPMorgan''s mortgage retreat stands out because the bank has used its scale and financial strength to gobble up market share in many other businesses, from credit cards and deposit-taking to commercial lending and Wall Street banking. In backing away, JPMorgan saw its market share of conventional mortgages that are small enough to be resold to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fall by half, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. Its share of all mortgage loans made directly by lenders fell to 2.8 percent last year from 12.6 percent in 2011. Logically, it should be close to Chase''s 8.3 percent of share of retail deposits, said Guy Cecala, CEO of Inside Mortgage Finance. JUMBO MISSES Chase opted to go after better-off borrowers who took out so-called jumbo loans in excess of the Fannie and Freddie limit, which then was $417,000 in most parts of the United States. Last year, jumbos were 49 percent of all loans Chase made, up from 14 percent in 2013. But jumbos account for only 18 percent of U.S. mortgages. By turning from bigger parts of the market, JPMorgan was hurting its wider consumer franchise. That could be costly if it persists. Customers without Chase mortgages are twice as likely to leave as those who have them from the bank, Weinbach said. And, checking and savings account customers who get their home loans from Chase tend to add to their deposits. Management’s effort to swing back may already be bearing some fruit. JPMorgan said on Thursday that it made $9 billion of home loans directly to customers in the first quarter, 3 percent more than in the same period a year earlier. Chase’s shift comes amid crosscurrents in the mortgage market. The latest wave of loans for refinancing is abating as interest rates rise. That has reduced revenue across the industry. But bank executives also see other conditions improving. Federal housing agencies have been loosening policies to help middle America get access to more credit. The millennial generation has also begun reaching the nesting age, leading to a new crop of home buyers. The GSEs have already adjusted some rules to be less financially threatening to lenders. For instance, they dropped a demand that banks take back loans that default after three years unless there has been fraud. Dimon sees a chance to get more relief from the government. This month he used four pages of his annual letter to shareholders to outline more changes he wants to see. He expressed particular concern about a bank’s costs and liability when loans it underwrites default. Current rules have made lenders so cautious that they have not funded an additional $300 billion to $500 billion of loans for home purchases in each of the last five years, JPMorgan analysts estimate. The cost to the economy, they believe, has been one third of a percentage point of annual growth. “If that number is right, shame on us,” Dimon told reporters on the bank''s post-earnings conference call on Thursday. “We should have done something about that. And, it can be done very quickly.” (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/jpmorgan-mortgage-strategy-idUSL1N1HM02J'|'2017-04-17T20:00:00.000+03:00' '48cd62f2e18480727c31d7a5bda6a124c75dc863'|'UPDATE 1-Boeing to lay off hundreds more engineers -source'|'(Adds Boeing statement, background on layoffs)By Alwyn ScottNEW YORK, April 17 Boeing Co warned employees on Monday it planned another round of involuntary layoffs that would affect hundreds of engineers at its commercial airplanes unit, according to a source and a memo seen by Reuters.The latest job cuts followed a prior involuntary reduction of 245 workers set for May 19 as the company responded to increasing competition and slowing aircraft sales.The additional layoffs are due to start June 23, according to the memo from John Hamilton, vice president of engineering at Boeing Commercial Airplanes."We are moving forward with a second phase of involuntary layoffs for some select skills in Washington state and other enterprise locations," the memo said. "We anticipate this will impact hundreds of engineering employees. Additional reductions in engineering later this year will be driven by our business environment and the amount of voluntary attrition."Boeing''s airplane unit eliminated several hundred engineers through voluntary redundancies announced in January and March.In a statement, the aerospace and defense company said the extra job cuts would include managers and executives and be achieved through a combination of attrition, voluntary layoffs and in some cases involuntary layoffs."In an ongoing effort to increase overall competitiveness and invest in our future, we are reducing costs and matching employment levels to business and market requirements," the statement said.It was not immediately clear whether workers at Boeing''s Dreamliner factory in South Carolina would be affected. (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/boeing-layoffs-idINL1N1HP0VN'|'2017-04-17T15:37:00.000+03:00' '2cbdcde0a33822153b8a3758de70c5bd65707851'|'Williams Partners to sell stake in petrochem plant for $2.1 bln'|'Deals - Americas 8:04am EDT Williams Partners to sell stake in petrochem plant for $2.1 billion Pipeline operator Williams Partners LP ( WPZ.N ) said it would sell its stake in a unit that owns 88.46 percent of an olefins plant in Louisiana to Nova Chemicals for $2.1 billion cash. Williams Partners said its units would enter into long-term supply and transportation agreements with Nova after the deal closes, the company said on Monday. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-williams-lp-divestiture-idUSKBN17J0WI'|'2017-04-17T20:02:00.000+03:00' '4c22358bdddd1747da93d4736606a2425ec4d781'|'Blackstone to buy EagleClaw Midstream for about $2 billion'|'Deals - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 9:14am EDT Blackstone to buy EagleClaw Midstream for about $2 billion FILE PHOTO - The ticker and trading information for Blackstone Group is displayed at the post where it is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) April 4, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC, the largest privately held operator of pipelines and processing facilities in West Texas'' Delaware Basin, said it agreed to be bought by funds managed by Blackstone Group LP ( BX.N ) for about $2 billion. Private-equity funds, including Blackstone, Carlyle Group ( CG.O ), and CVC Partners, have built up significant firepower in recent years to invest in the oil and gas industry, where asset prices have dipped sharply since crude oil prices collapsed mid-2014. Blackstone said in August it would invest about $1.5 billion in the oil-rich Permian basin. EagleClaw Midstream Ventures LLC said on Monday the all-cash deal includes about $1.25 billion in debt, financed by Jefferies LLC. Midland, Texas-based EagleClaw''s assets include over 375 miles of natural gas pipelines and 320 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity. Jefferies LLC is the financial adviser to EagleClaw, while Morgan Stanley and Intrepid Partners LLC advised Blackstone. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair and Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eagleclaw-midstream-m-a-blackstone-gr-idUSKBN17J0YV'|'2017-04-17T21:14:00.000+03:00' 'ed28e3142b42109573b2e47cc710f35abf74f223'|'JGBs firm on cue from U.S. Treasury yields'|'TOKYO, April 17 Japanese government bonds firmed on Monday, with superlong yields touching multi-month lows as JGBs took cue from falling U.S. Treasury yields in the wake of their lacklustre economic data.The benchmark 10-year JGB yield was half a basis point lower on the day at 0.005 percent, while 10-year JGB futures ended up 0.06 point at 151.15. Earlier in the session, futures hit 151.21, their highest level since mid-November.The 20-year JGB yield shed 1.5 basis points to 0.545 percent , matching its lowest level on Dec. 22, while the 30-year JGB yield fell 2.5 basis points to 0.735 percent , its lowest since mid-January.The benchmark U.S. Treasury yield wallowed at five-month lows, catching up to global yields after the U.S. bond market was closed late last week to observe Good Friday.The 10-year U.S. yield slipped as low as 2.198 percent and last stood at 2.210 percent, down from the U.S. close of 2.228 percent on Thursday.U.S. economic data on Friday showed retail sales dropped more than expected last month as annual core inflation slowed to 2.0 percent, the smallest advance since November 2015.On Monday, the BOJ offered to buy 450 billion yen ($4.16 billion) of five- to 10-year JGBs, in line with the amount it offered to purchase in that zone in its previous buying operations. It also offered to buy 100 billion yen of floating-rate JGBs linked to the consumer price index.($1 = 108.1800 yen) (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HP2BR'|'2017-04-17T04:28:00.000+03:00' 'e2f8fe769de1358f21f5dab0995e45d37b0a1569'|'Snap stock falls as alleged CEO comments rile some on social media'|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 7:41pm BST Snap stock falls as alleged CEO comments rile some on social media FILE PHOTO - The logo of messaging app Snapchat is seen at a booth at TechFair LA, a technology job fair, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Snap ( SNAP.N ) fell 1.5 percent on Monday as the Snapchat owner faced criticism for comments allegedly made by its CEO about not prioritizing growth in India and Spain because they were "poor" countries. The dip put Snap on track to close at its lowest level in nearly a month, a bad sign following its $3.4 billion public listing that was the hottest by a technology company in three years. Twitter users using the #boycottsnapchat hashtag called for uninstalling the Snapchat app after a legal document unsealed last week alleged that Snap Chief Executive Evan Spiegel in 2015 said he was uninterested in prioritizing growth in India and Spain because they were "poor". The legal document filed in a Los Angeles state court concerns claims made in a lawsuit filed by an employee who left the company in 2015, and Snap has said it considers the litigation to be a publicity stunt. "This app is only for rich people. I don''t want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain," Spiegel is alleged to have said. "Those words were written by a disgruntled former employee. We are grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world," Snap said in a statement. Snapchat is popular among people under 30 for applying bunny faces and vomiting rainbows onto selfies, but many investors are critical of its slowing user growth. Snap has warned it may never become profitable. Its stock was down 29 cents at $19.90. Shares of Snap have fallen 26 percent from their highest closing price following the public listing, and they remain up 17 percent from the company''s $17 IPO price. (Reporting by Noel Randewich, additional reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-snap-stocks-idUKKBN17J1I5'|'2017-04-18T02:35:00.000+03:00' 'fd4bffc64721c6b855674ccdec7c866b0c922fb6'|'PPG CEO: AkzoNobel independence plan riskier than merger'|'AMSTERDAM PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), the U.S. paint-maker that is trying to buy Dutch peer AkzoNobel ( AKZO.AS ) for 24.6 billion euros ($26.1 billion), said on Monday that Akzo''s plan to instead spin off its chemicals arm and remain independent is riskier and would create less value.In an open letter addressed to Akzo''s "stakeholders", Michael McGarry urged Akzo''s management and supervisory boards to enter talks, saying they had so far given insufficient consideration to PPG''s proposal, which is favored by many of Akzo''s own shareholders.Akzo is due to outline details of its alternative plan on Wednesday.(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idINKBN17J0QY'|'2017-04-17T08:33:00.000+03:00' 'ef9d32d9f5b8f059e97f8a6d02c0eaa72f376414'|'Jared Kushner in talks to sell stake in real estate tech firm: WSJ'|'Jared Kushner, a senior level White House official and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, is in talks to sell his stake in a real estate technology company as he attempts to pare his numerous business ties, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.He is in the late stages of negotiating a deal to sell his stake in the company, called WiredScore, to a group of investors that include Los Angeles-based Fifth Wall Ventures, the Journal said. It was unable to determine the price of the stake or the identity of other group members.Kushner is working to exit other business investments as well, as the Trump administration faces criticism for not doing enough to rid its senior officials of potential conflicts of interest.He disclosed earlier this year that his stake in the WiredScore was worth $5 million to $25 million. Founded in 2013, WiredScore assesses the speed and quality of office buildings'' internet connections.Earlier this year, Kushner said in a federal disclosure form that he was "in the divestment process" of his holdings in WiredScore''s owner, Broadband Proliferation LLC, where he is a managing member.(Reporting by Carl O''Donnell; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-kushner-idINKBN17I0S2'|'2017-04-16T18:09:00.000+03:00' 'f883cc0ede46806d1419ae0c150e20dbe0a40633'|'Daewoo Shipbuilding bondholders accept bailout plan after pension fund''s agreement'|'By Joyce Lee - SEOUL SEOUL South Korea''s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd ( 042660.KS ) on Monday won near unanimous approval for a debt-to-equity swap plan in the first two of five bondholder meetings, as the world''s largest shipbuilder battles to stay afloat.The votes were held hours after Daewoo''s biggest bondholder, the National Pension Service (NPS), said it had agreed to the proposal. That move made it likely other bondholders would follow suit, creditor bank officials said, allowing the shipbuilder to meet conditions of a $2.6 billion bank bailout.The shipbuilder has been pushed to the brink by the impact of historically low oil prices, which caused delays in payments for complex offshore facilities. At risk is an estimated 50,000 jobs and an economic hit of tens of billions of dollars.Its predicament follows the bankruptcy and liquidation of compatriot Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd after creditors declined further support last year for what was the world''s seventh-largest container shipper."Accepting the debt restructuring will be more advantageous to improve the fund''s returns," NPS, the world''s third-largest pension fund, said in a statement earlier on Monday.Holders of about 1.5 trillion won ($1.32 billion) worth of Daewoo bonds must agree to swap half of debt owed to them for equity, and allow Daewoo to suspend repayment of the rest for three years, so Daewoo can meet conditions for $2.6 billion worth of financial assistance from state banks.Five meetings have been planned for Monday and Tuesday to discuss the proposal. Agreement came from 99.99 percent of bondholders present at the first meeting where attendance reached 80 percent, and 98.99 percent at the second with 89 percent attendance.The proposal is likely to be approved at all meetings as large bondholders such as Korea Post are likely to follow the lead of the NPS due to the fund''s size and influence, creditor bank officials said.The officials declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter. Korea Post told Reuters it decided to agree to the proposal after the NPS agreement was made public.SHARING THE PAINThe NPS is Daewoo''s largest bondholder, with about 390 billion won worth of bonds, Yonhap reported.It accepted the proposal after Korea Development Bank (KDB) [KDB.UL] and Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) [KEXIM.UL] agreed to store bond payments in an escrow account before bonds mature, and after they effectively pledged to pay bondholders before pursuing their own claims, creditor bank officials said."We decided to approve the proposal after considering KDB and KEXIM''s measures reinforcing the repayment of bonds whose maturity will be extended," an NPS spokesman told Reuters.The two banks have supported Daewoo with 4.2 trillion won since October 2015, adding to a state bailout in the late 1990s during the Asian financial crisis. To justify more, "all stakeholders must share the pain", the Financial Services Commission said when setting the debt-to-equity condition.The government plans to sell its stake in Daewoo after shrinking the shipbuilder over two years to a company generating revenue of 7 trillion won from about 13 trillion won last year, KDB Chairman Lee Dong-geol said at a news briefing on Sunday.Daewoo reported a net loss of 2.8 trillion won last year.(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Peter Cooney and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-daewoo-restructuring-nps-idINKBN17I0VM'|'2017-04-17T04:02:00.000+03:00' '4b5dac19fa33d981928672bf9baa6b16e13f8453'|'Energy tycoon Leonid Mikhelson tops Russia''s rich list - Forbes'|'Money News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 2:45pm IST Energy tycoon Leonid Mikhelson tops Russia''s rich list - Forbes Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) visits ''''Voronezhsintezkauchuk'''' plant, part of the SIBUR company, in Voronezh, Russia, May 23, 2013. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Kremlin MOSCOW Leonid Mikhelson, co-owner of Russian gas producer Novatek, has topped Russia''s rich list for a second year running with an estimated wealth of $18.4 billion, the Russian edition of Forbes reported on Thursday. It said that Mikhelson, 61, had increased his wealth by $4 billion year-on-year, putting him at the head of the financial magazine''s 2017 list of Russia''s 200 wealthiest businessmen. Apart from a stake in Novatek, Russia''s second largest gas producer after Gazprom, Mikhelson also owns a stake in Sibur, a petrochemical firm. "The cost of a ticket" for a place on the Russian rich list reached a record $500 million this year, compared with $350 million a year ago, Forbes said. The collective wealth of the 200 richest Russian businessmen increased to $460 billion, up $100 billion in a year. The number of dollar billionaires also jumped -- to 96 from 77. The increase was caused by the strengthening of the rouble against the dollar and by favourable conditions in the global commodity markets, above all by growth in steel prices. As a result, the second and third spots in the ranking were occupied by steel tycoons. Alexei Mordashov, 51, who controls Russian steel producer Severstal, was ranked second with an estimated wealth of $17.5 billion. He was followed by Vladimir Lisin, 60, the controlling shareholder of NLMK, another steel maker, who was credited with an estimated wealth of $16.1 billion. Their estimated wealth rose by $6.6 billion and $6.8 billion year-on-year respectively, Forbes said. Mikhail Fridman, co-owner of Alfa-Bank, fell to seventh spot from second place last year, Forbes said. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Andrew Osborn and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/russia-business-forbes-idINKBN17M0X4'|'2017-04-20T16:57:00.000+03:00' '22b90e8106e6ae7e03cb3b8c25c36306c584f27d'|'Premier League clubs enjoy record revenues but suffers losses'|'Business News 3:45am BST Premier League clubs enjoy record revenues but suffer losses File Photo: A football is rests on the pitch during the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley and Everton in Burnley August 23, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis MANCHESTER, England Premier League clubs'' revenues reached a new high of 3.6 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) last season, business advisory firm Deloitte said in its annual analysis while noting the clubs'' suffered record combined pre-tax losses of 110 million pounds. A number of one-off costs contributed to the loss, after two years of profits, while the report noted that wage costs increased by 12 percent to 2.3 billion pounds. Dan Jones, head of the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, said Manchester clubs United and City alone were responsible for more than 50 percent of the increase. "Manchester United’s participation in the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League, coupled with continued strong commercial revenue growth, resulted in a 30 percent increase in revenue to 515m pounds. This saw them top the Deloitte Football Money League for the first time since 2003-04, as the world’s highest revenue-generating club," Jones said. "Increased distributions to clubs competing in Europe, under the new UEFA broadcast rights cycle – notably Manchester City, who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League – also contributed to Premier League clubs’ revenue growth," he added. Combined revenue for the previous season was 3.4 billion pounds, according to Deloitte''s study. Jones said the losses should be seen as a blip and the new television deals coming online should see a swift return to profitability. "It is worth noting that this is due to a small number of one-off ''exceptional'' costs, and we fully expect that the Premier League’s new three-year broadcast rights deal will see a return to record levels of profitability in the 2016/17 season," the analyst said. ($1 = 0.7825 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-deloitte-idUKKBN17M00S'|'2017-04-20T08:11:00.000+03:00' '157fb30970778e927289ce5f29db8eabc22e6a9f'|'Unilever, Man Group strength boosts European stocks'|' 1:15pm IST Unilever, Man Group strength boosts European stocks FILE PHOTO: Detail of a European map is seen on the face of a euro coin in London, Britain, January 31, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo LONDON European shares inched up on Thursday as strong results from Unilever lifted bluechip consumers staple stocks and helped offset weakness in the energy sector. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.3 percent by 0730GMT. The UK''s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent. Unilever was among the top boosts on the UK and European benchmarks, after the consumer sector bellwether posted a first-quarter sales beat, helped by price increases. Unilever''s gains supported the personal and household goods sector which rose up 0.8 percent. Nestle shares rose more than 1 percent. Energy sector stocks were in the red, however, reeling from a sharp slide in oil prices overnight. Lundin Petroleum and Tullow Oil were among top fallers in the sector. In another sign of a better backdrop for the asset management industry, British hedge fund Man Group shares rose 4.4 percent after it reported net inflows over the first quarter. Pandora was up 4.3 percent, regaining ground after a broker downgrade hit it earlier in the week. The company updated its financial reporting structure, maintaining its outlook for 2017. Construction equipment rental company Ashtead fell 3.7 percent after its U.S. peer United Rentals'' results disappointed. (Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idINKBN17M0RH'|'2017-04-20T15:45:00.000+03:00' '3fcadeed357342d73fcc94eb0aad4d5761e0da6f'|'BRIEF-Mid Penn Bank receives regulatory approval to open Orwigsburg branch'|' 02pm EDT BRIEF-Mid Penn Bank receives regulatory approval to open Orwigsburg branch April 17 Mid Penn Bancorp Inc: * Mid Penn Bank receives regulatory approval to open Orwigsburg branch * Co''s unit received approval from Pennsylvania Department Of Banking, Securities, Federal Deposit Insurance Co to open Orwigsburg branch Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-mid-penn-bank-receives-regulatory-idUSFWN1HP09J'|'2017-04-18T03:02:00.000+03:00' '7e4bd117ed228b2035bbce3925a4d41c2073cfd7'|'CalPERS looks at changing how it invests in private equity: WSJ'|' 36pm EDT CalPERS looks at changing how it invests in private equity: WSJ A retired state employee seeks retirement advice at California Public Employees'' Retirement System (CalPERS) headquarters in Sacramento, California, U.S. February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Max Whittaker CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the United States, is considering changes in how it invests in private equity that could slash payments to fund managers, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The internal review is an attempt by the California Public Employees'' Retirement System to reconsider some of its pricier investments as it faces a funding shortfall and weaker-than-expected estimates of its future investment earnings. It is considering moves that would give it greater latitude in selecting and managing its private equity investments in an attempt to reduce costs, the Journal reported. Some of the options under consideration include buying a private equity firm or creating a private equity fund outside of CalPERS, the Journal said, or it could also choose to act as sole investor in more customized accounts with outside managers. CalPERS has even considered asking its staff members to make private equity investments directly, the Journal added. Although some hedge funds and mutual funds have reported outflows in recent years from endowments and pensions, private equity firms have generally drawn considerable demand because of strong performance. The Journal said it did not know whether the issues under consideration would affect CalPERS'' total private equity allocation. (Reporting by Carl O''Donnell; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-calpers-privateequity-idUSKBN17J03K'|'2017-04-17T09:36:00.000+03:00' '75875129fb1d670bfac28a94854341ee07b3ac50'|'BP says crews brought leaking Alaskan well under control'|' 05pm BST BP says crews brought leaking Alaskan well under control FILE PHOTO: A British Petroleum petrol station logo is seen at Heathrow in London, Britain February 2, 2010. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo HOUSTON BP Plc said workers on Alaska''s North Slope had brought under control a company-operated well that spewed oil and gas over the weekend. The leak was discovered on Friday and a team from BP, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and local government was brought in to coordinate efforts. The team halted the well leaks overnight, BP said in a statement on Monday. (Reporting by Gary McWilliams; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-oilspill-control-idUKKBN17J1GM'|'2017-04-18T02:05:00.000+03:00' '7bb2473411bd576734790d66cb7c2baf51e2fabb'|'European stocks in, U.S. equities out: BAML survey'|'LONDON, April 18 Global investors'' enthusiasm for European stocks continues to surge, the latest Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) survey of portfolio managers showed on Tuesday, with bank noting that the swing of funds into the region and away from the United States was one of the largest since 1999.Allocation to U.S. equities fell to it lowest since January 2008, BAML said, adding that investors cited rich valuations and potential delays to U.S. tax reforms as key concerns.The so-called "Trump trade," which saw major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs and lifted bond yields on hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump would push through business-friendly reforms, has faltered in recent weeks on worries over the new administration''s ability to deliver on promises.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform is set to falter following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare, the Financial Times reported on Monday.More than 40 percent of investors surveyed do not expect tax reforms to be passed before 2018, BAML said.In Europe, meanwhile, the mood for stocks has brightened.The brightest earnings outlook for European firms in 7 years, a recovering banking sector and better economic data from across the region has bolstered investor appetite and drawn funds back into the region.European stocks traded at about 15 times forward earnings compared with a multiple of 17.7 times for the United States, according to Thomson Reuters data.The risk that European elections might lead to the disintegration of the European Union slipped sharply from last month''s survey, the BAML said, though it remained the biggest "tail risk" for global investors.Along with the euro zone, investors added to emerging markets stocks with allocations running at 5-year highs while enthusiasm for global banking stocks was at its highest ever.More broadly, global funds held about 4.9 percent of their portfolio in cash, the survey showed. (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/european-stocks-in-us-equities-out-baml-idINL3N1HQ3NI'|'2017-04-18T07:42:00.000+03:00' '529fca8841054a4bb9903d95b0e4c08a0bdf1daf'|'Central Grocers considering bankruptcy -sources'|'By Jessica DiNapoli - April 20 April 20 Central Grocers Inc, a supplier to independent grocery stores in the Midwestern United States, is considering a bankruptcy filing as one possible option as it struggles with its debt, according to people familiar with the matter.Central Grocers is working with law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, investment bank Peter J. Solomon Co, and consultants from Conway MacKenzie Inc on reviewing strategic alternatives, including a debt restructuring, three people said this week.The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Central Grocers declined to comment on any bankruptcy plans. Conway MacKenzie and Peter J. Solomon declined to comment. Weil did not immediately return a request for comment.The preparations for a potential bankruptcy indicate that Central Grocers, which distributes its own Centrella brand food products to grocery stores, is making contingencies in case an asset sale plan it announced earlier this week is not successful.The Joliet, Illinois-based company said on Tuesday it was working with its advisors to sell as a going concern a majority of the Strack & Van Til grocery stores it operates, and that it also plans to close nine supermarkets operating under the Ultra Foods banner.The company, which has about $2 billion in sales annually, is also exploring selling its warehouse, according to the sources.Earlier this year, Central Grocers, a cooperative owned by independent member grocery stores, told members in a letter that it had received indications of interest in its business from "multiple parties" hoping to expand in its marketplace in the Midwest.Already operating with razor-thin margins, supermarkets have been under more pressure due to falling food prices and growing competition from big box stores including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and online options such as Amazon.com Inc. Last year, the parent company of Fairway Markets, a New York-area chain of supermarkets, filed for bankruptcy.In addition to operating Strack & Van Til and Ultra, Central Grocers supplies Midwestern supermarkets Tony''s Finer Foods and Sunset Foods.The company says it is the seventh-largest grocery store cooperative in the United States, serving 500 supermarkets. (Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/centralgrocers-bankruptcy-idINL1N1HQ261'|'2017-04-20T15:24:00.000+03:00' 'b941fd287987142483a80f553de5a9a0f6693c96'|'Hedge funds lose on UK election shock, but man less than machines'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 8:56pm BST Hedge funds lose on UK election shock, but man less than machines Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street, in central London, Britain April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth By Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly - LONDON LONDON Hedge funds lost out on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May shocked markets by calling a snap election, but those led by humans outsmarted those led by machines, in a reversal of fortunes from the Brexit referendum. While computer-driven hedge funds garnered plaudits for their outperformance in the wake of Britain''s shock vote to leave the European Union last year, this year''s first major test resulted in big losses. Among the most high-profile losers was New York-based investment firm AQR Capital Management''s $13.3 billion computer-driven Managed Futures Strategy, which lost 1.1 percent on Tuesday, according to an investor who was told by the hedge fund, representing a loss of more than $130 million. The same strategy made 5.2 percent on the day the results of Britain''s EU referendum were revealed in June. "The announcement of the general election was a turnaround for markets, leading to a trend reversal across UK assets, which hurts computer-driven hedge funds most," said Philippe Ferreira, head of hedge funds research at Lyxor Asset Management. Most of the hedge fund strategies run by machines that lost out from these moves did so because their algorithms simply follow market momentum. A break in the trends that those algorithms have spotted, therefore, tends to hurt them. Tuesday''s surprise announcement sent sterling soaring to a six-month high above $1.29 with the currency jumping above its 200-day moving average and breaking the trading range of between $1.20 and $1.28 that had been in place since early October. And Britain''s FTSE 100 stock index, which tends to move inversely to the pound, suffered its heftiest falls since the days following the Brexit vote, having hit record highs just last month. Other computer-driven - or "quant" - hedge funds to lose out included Candriam Alternative Systematic, which lost 0.9 percent on Tuesday, with the steep fall in the FTSE penalising its positions, according to a spokesman at the firm. Harmonic Capital was also marginally negative on the day, it said. Two other hedge funds run by machines, which the investor declined to name, lost 2.8 percent and 1.9 percent. MACHINES "DON''T GET EMOTIONAL" Some computer-driven funds put on additional short positions in response to the news that there was set to be an announcement from the prime minister, amid speculation the news was set to be negative, such as that she was suffering from ill health. "That element of uncertainty creates a sell signal - that might explain why (the computer-driven funds) didn’t do as well as the macro guys," said Mizuho''s head of hedge fund currency sales in London, Neil Jones. Computer-driven funds tend to mainly tracks general trends while human traders anticipate and react to macroeconomic events in the case of discretionary macro managers. "The macro people are much more likely to wait to see what the announcement is, analyse that, and then make a trading decision." Human-led macro hedge funds, which mainly carry out bets through currencies and bonds, lost out but to a lesser degree on Tuesday. "On performance of macro versus quant...discretionary macros were burned earlier this year so reduced risk, while quants tend to be always in the market -- machines target risk and don''t get emotional," said Cedric Fontanille, director at Unigestion. Hugh Hendry''s Eclectica Asset Management lost 0.1 percent in its CF Eclectica Absolute Macro Fund for example, confirmed a spokesman at the firm, though he said the fund was not betting on sterling and had little direct exposure to the UK. Goldman Sachs Global Strategic Macro Bond Portfolio lost 0.1 percent and the 21.6 billion euro ($23.15 billion) Carmignac Patrimoine fund lost 0.3 percent, said sources. Some macro funds even made marginal gains on Tuesday, like Legg Mason Global Funds'' Western Asset Macro Opportunities Fund, which made 0.3 percent, and 25 billion pound ($32.01 billion) Standard Life''s Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund, which made 0.2 percent. Macro hedge fund demand remains very strong, with the strategy taking in its largest monthly inflows since January 2010 in March, according to a report from industry tracker eVestment. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-hedgefunds-idUKKBN17M2IW'|'2017-04-21T03:46:00.000+03:00' '329dacf4d3a5de316509931802d5554f95ea8b6b'|'IMF chief willing to work with Trump to fix global trading system'|' 7:52pm BST IMF chief willing to work with Trump to fix global trading system left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde makes remarks during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 1/11 left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) holds up agenda papers as she attends a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, with First Deputy David Lipton, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 2/11 left right World Bank President Jim Yong Kim cups his ear as he listens to a question by a reporter during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings in Washington, U.S. April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 3/11 left right Visitors listen to remarks by IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde on a giant monitor in the atrium of the IMF headquarters during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 4/11 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 5/11 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 6/11 left right IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde makes remarks during a press briefing to open the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings, in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 7/11 left right A security personnel stands next to International Monetary Fund logo at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 8/11 left right International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde moderates a forum on Innovation, Technology, and Jobs at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 9/11 left right World Bank President Jim Yong Kim makes remarks during a press briefing to open the the IMF and World Bank''s 2017 Annual Spring Meetings in Washington, U.S. April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Theiler 10/11 left right Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn attends The Bretton Woods Committee meeting at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 11/11 By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World financial leaders gathered in Washington on Thursday with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration. Worries over Trump''s approach to trade, taxes, financial regulation and climate change clouded the start of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, even amid improved optimism over global growth prospects. As the meetings got started, two blocks away at the White House, Trump signed a directive to study whether steel imports into the United States could be restricted for national security reasons under a law passed in 1962. Such moves, including a review of "Buy American" rules launched earlier this week, have raised concerns that the United States is looking outside the World Trade Organization for remedies to restrict U.S. imports. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said she would work with the Trump administration to improve the global trading system. She added that there was a need to reduce government subsidies for industry and other trade distortions that limited competition, but said "protectionist measures" needed to be avoided. "From the various contacts that I''ve had with the (Trump) administration so far, I have every reason to believe that we will make progress, that we will cooperate all together in order to support and indeed improve the system as we have it," Lagarde said in a news conference. The changes, including improvements to WTO dispute settlement rules, must ensure a "level playing field" for trade, Lagarde said, adding that such changes could only be achieved through multilateral dialogue. The concerns over Trump''s trade policies come at a time when the IMF''s latest forecasts point to a strengthening global economy - along with a warning that trade restrictions could stall growth. "We are finally seeing the global economy picking up the momentum that we hope is going to be sustained in the medium and longer term," Lagarde said. Separately, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he was "encouraged" by his engagement so far with Trump. But he added that he would not reduce the multilateral lender''s commitment to trade or to financing alternative energy projects. "The science of climate change didn''t change with any particular election, and I don''t see that it will," Kim said told a news conference. "We have to be an evidence-based organization." In addition to trade, the IMF said in a report released on Wednesday that Trump''s proposed tax cuts and roll-back of financial regulations could fuel financial risk-taking and raise public debt enough to hurt economic growth. ''LITTLE LEVERAGE'' The IMF and World Bank meetings come about a month after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted that an anti-protectionism pledge be dropped from a Group of 20 communique issued in Baden-Baden, Germany. Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF''s China department, said the Trump administration may choose to simply ignore the advice of the IMF and other institutions. "The IMF has little leverage since its limited toolkit of analysis-based advice, persuasion, and peer pressure is unlikely to have much of an impact on this administration''s policies," said Prasad, now an international trade professor at Cornell University. Mnuchin''s decision against naming China a currency manipulator last week removed one concern for the IMF ahead of the meeting. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g-idUKKBN17M0EP'|'2017-04-21T02:10:00.000+03:00' 'ab11856f7a3fc855b7f9aaff2d4191d6b5f34a40'|'Western Digital CFO: Would consider bid with INCJ, DBJ for Toshiba chip unit'|'By Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada - TOKYO TOKYO Western Digital Corp, the U.S. partner of Toshiba Corp in a semiconductor venture, is in talks with state-backed fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) and the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and would consider a joint bid with them for the chip business, a senior official said on Thursday."We want to find a way to ensure we are aligned with INCJ and DBJ," Mark Long, chief financial officer, told Reuters in an interview. Asked whether a joint bid was possible, Long said, "It could be."Teaming up the government-backed players would give Western Digital a big advantage as it would represent a government stamp of approval.Toshiba, which expects to book a net loss of $9 billion for the business year that began this month, is selling most or all of the prized chip unit to fill a vast balance sheet hole left at its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co, which last month filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection from creditors.Western Digital, which operates a flash memory chip plant with Toshiba in Japan, has discussed antitrust issues with the conglomerate, and both agreed they shouldn''t be an obstacle to a Western Digital bid, Long said."Because of our flexibility and the different ways we can participate, our lawyers are very confident that we can address any trust risks in a way that would help get cash to Toshiba very quickly and then allow enough time for any antitrust review as necessary," he said."We have had that discussion with Toshiba’s attorneys and they actually see things very similarly," he added.Sources have said flash memory competitors such as Western Digital may find it difficult to clear regulators'' antitrust reviews by March next year, the deadline for Toshiba to resolve its negative shareholders'' equity and stay listed on the Tokyo stock exchange.Toshiba and Western Digital have 19 percent and 16 percent global market share, respectively, in NAND flash memory chips, trailing Samsung Electronics'' 35 percent, according to research firm IHS.Toshiba has narrowed the field of bidders for its chip unit to four suitors, people familiar with the process have said: Western Digital; U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Ltd, South Korean rival SK Hynix; and Foxconn, the world''s largest contract electronics maker.Western Digital wrote to Toshiba on April 9 saying the transfer of the chip venture''s rights to a new chip unit, which was split off recently without the U.S. firm''s consent, violated their joint venture agreements. Western Digital called for it to be given exclusive negotiating rights.Long said Western Digital has not received a written response from Toshiba, but stressed the company hopes to resolve the issue through dialogue.(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki and Kentaro Hamada, with additional reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by William Mallard and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-western-digital-idINKBN17M132'|'2017-04-20T08:19:00.000+03:00' 'a9e058250dd633db989625509688544276fb8ab0'|'Exclusive: Saudi to shelve, reform billions of dollars of unfinished projects - sources'|'Global Energy News - Sun Apr 16, 2017 - 11:49am EDT Exclusive: Saudi to shelve, reform billions of dollars of unfinished projects - sources Clouds move over the Riyadh skyline November 17, 2013. Picture taken November 17, 2013. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser By Marwa Rashad - RIYADH RIYADH Saudi Arabia''s government is ordering its ministries and agencies to review billions of dollars'' worth of unfinished infrastructure and economic development projects with a view to shelving or restructuring them, government sources said. Riyadh''s Bureau of Capital and Operational Spending Rationalization, set up last year to make the government more efficient, is compiling a list of projects that are under 25 percent complete, the sources told Reuters. Many of these projects are relics of a decade-long boom of high oil prices and lavish state spending, which ended when oil began sliding in mid-2014, making it increasingly difficult for Riyadh to find the money needed to complete their construction. Officials will study the feasibility of the projects in light of the government''s reform drive, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil exports, and decide whether to suspend them indefinitely or try to improve how they are conducted. "Some projects could be retendered so they can be executed in partnership with the private sector, possibly through build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts," said one source familiar with the plan, declining to be named as the matter is not yet public. Under BOT contracts, private investors finance and build projects and operate them for a period of time to earn a profit before eventually transferring ownership to the government. Riyadh has said it is keen to begin bringing the private sector into projects to ease pressure on state finances. "Other projects could be suspended if they do not meet the current economic objectives," the source said. Recommendations for some projects may be made within days, he added. Seeking to close a huge budget deficit caused by low oil prices, the government clamped down on infrastructure spending last year. Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said in February this year that the efficiency bureau had so far saved the kingdom 80 billion riyals ($21.33 billion). The plan to review unfinished projects suggests the government is looking for large additional savings this year. In a report at the end of last year, it estimated the cost of completing all capital spending projects currently underway at about 1.4 trillion riyals. In a January report, consultants Faithful+Gould estimated at least $13.3 billion of government projects were at risk of being canceled in Saudi Arabia this year because of fiscal pressures and changing government priorities. The government is likely to prioritize projects with strong social welfare and business justifications such as power and water generation, while less essential "vanity projects" such as sports infrastructure, some transport systems and perhaps nuclear energy could be cut back, it said. (Writing by Andrew Torchia; editing by Anna Willard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-projects-idUSKBN17I0GM'|'2017-04-16T23:49:00.000+03:00' 'c5a93c151ac022a724f3daf23bba9943c8e9ac4b'|'Hacker documents show NSA tools for breaching global money transfer system'|'By Clare Baldwin and Joseph Menn - HONG KONG/SAN FRANCISCO HONG KONG/SAN FRANCISCO Documents and computer files released by hackers provide a blueprint for how the U.S. National Security Agency likely used weaknesses in commercially available software to gain access to the global system for transferring money between banks, a review of the data showed.On Friday, a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers released documents and files indicating NSA had accessed the SWIFT money-transfer system through service providers in the Middle East and Latin America. That release was the latest in a series of disclosures by the group in recent months.Matt Suiche, founder of cybersecurity firm Comae Technologies, wrote in a blog post that screen shots indicated some SWIFT affiliates were using Windows servers that were vulnerable at the time, in 2013, to the Microsoft exploits published by the Shadow Brokers. He said he concluded that the NSA took advantage and got in that way."As soon as they bypass the firewalls, they target the machines using Microsoft exploits," Suiche told Reuters. Exploits are small programs for taking advantage of security flaws. Hackers use them to insert back doors for continued access, eavesdropping or to insert other tools."We now have all of the tools the NSA used to compromise SWIFT (via) Cisco firewalls, Windows," Suiche said.Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the documents released by the hackers. Microsoft acknowledged the vulnerabilities and said they had been patched. Cisco Systems Inc has previously acknowledged that its firewalls had been vulnerable.Cisco and the NSA did not reply to requests for comment.BREACH OF FIREWALLSA PowerPoint presentation that was part of the most recent Shadow Brokers release indicates the NSA used a tool codenamed BARGLEE to breach the SWIFT service providers'' security firewalls.The NSA''s official seal appeared on one of the slides in the presentation, although Reuters could not independently determine the authenticity of the slides.The slide referred to ASA firewalls. Cisco is the only company that makes ASA firewalls, according to a Cisco employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. ASA stands for Adaptive Security Appliance and is a combined firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention and virtual private network, or VPN.Documents included in the Shadow Brokers release suggest that the NSA, after penetrating the firewall of the SWIFT service providers, used Microsoft exploits to target the computers interacting with the SWIFT network, Comae Technologies'' Suiche said.The Al Quds Bank for Development and Investment, for example, was running a Windows 2008 server that at the time was vulnerable to newly disclosed Windows exploits, he said.Microsoft late on Friday said it had determined that prior patches to dozens of software versions had fixed the flaws that apparently were exploited by nine of the NSA programs. Four of the vulnerabilities were blocked by comprehensive updates on March 14. That left only older, unsupported versions of Windows operating systems and Exchange email servers at risk to three of the newly released exploits, the company said.Earlier Friday, Microsoft had said the company had not been warned by the government or other outsiders about the stolen programs.Microsoft declined to say how it learned of the exploits without outside help. The company''s security systems are capable of detecting attacks against customers, and Microsoft in the past has monitored discussion about exploits on the Internet and also hired former intelligence agency veterans to help it devise programming to protect its software from encroachment.The NSA targeted nine computer servers at a SWIFT contractor, Dubai-based service bureau EastNets, according to the documents. The U.S. intelligence agency then used lines of code to query the SWIFT servers and Oracle databases handling the SWIFT transactions, according to the documents.EastNets on Friday denied it had been hacked.(Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Joseph Menn; Additional reporting by Dustin Volz; Editing by David Greising and Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-swift-idINKBN17H0NX'|'2017-04-15T21:17:00.000+03:00' '4d72ba2e051b5806c36fae31f852fefea994c008'|'IMF raises China growth outlook but warns of risk of ''disruptive adjustments'''|'BEIJING The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday raised forecasts for China''s economic growth in 2017 and 2018, citing expectations of continued policy support, but warned of potential disruptions in the medium term unless the country reduces its reliance on rapid credit growth.The IMF upgraded its estimate for China''s 2017 growth to 6.6 percent from 6.5 percent, which it made in January. It also raised its forecast for growth next year to 6.2 percent from the previous 6.0 percent.While higher, the IMF estimates would equate to a significant slowdown from recent growth rates.China''s economy grew by a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter of this year, fueled by robust bank lending, higher government infrastructure spending and a housing market that is showing signs of overheating.The IMF said China has made some progress in reducing its industrial production overcapacity, but noted that the economy continues to rely on government stimulus and rapid credit expansion to maintain growth.The report cited China''s "policy preference for maintaining relatively high GDP growth", but warned of the consequences of unbalanced growth in the medium term."The resulting persistent resource misallocation, however, raises the risk of a disruptive adjustment in China in the medium term," which could be exacerbated by continued capital outflows, the report said.Despite vows from policymakers to rein in financial risks and pursue more sustainable growth, China continues to depend heavily on debt and public spending to drive growth.Total new credit to the economy, which includes bank lending as well as other forms of credit, increased by a record 6.93 trillion yuan in the first quarter, data showed last week..The Bank for International Settlements in September warned excessive credit growth in China is signalling an increasing risk of a banking crisis in the next three years."The longer the wait before fiscal consolidation occurs, the sharper the fiscal consolidation may have to be," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld told a news conference in Washington.He said that while current data shows strength, the IMF believes that China''s efforts to rebalance its economy toward domestic consumption-based growth will be more sustainable with reforms to constrain the budgets of state-owned enterprises, rein in domestic credit growth and upgrade China''s financial regulation.China''s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 277 percent at the end of 2016 from 254 percent the previous year, with an increasing share of new credit being used to pay debt servicing costs, according to an estimate from UBS.The IMF raised its forecast for global growth for 2017 to 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent but left its estimate for 2018 growth unchanged at 3.6 percent.(Reporting by Elias Glenn; Editing by Kim Coghill and Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-growth-china-idINKBN17K1XS'|'2017-04-18T13:37:00.000+03:00' '54cdc520198fc34702b5115a1b7197a0d5d70a68'|'World Bank ready to help Venezuela if asked - Latam chief'|'By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The World Bank Group stands ready to assist Venezuela, a member and shareholder of the institution, if the government asks for help in dealing with a punishing economic crisis, the bank''s top executive for Latin America said.Jorge Familiar, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Reuters in an interview late on Monday that the bank has had no engagement with Venezuela since it paid off past loans in 2008 under the late former President Hugo Chavez.But Familiar said the bank''s officials have been intensely watching growing shortages of food and medicine this year as the oil exporting country sinks deeper into recession, sparking violent protests.Familiar said that the multilateral lender would be ready to develop a loan programme for Venezuela, but it would need to be "invited" to do so by President Nicolas Maduro''s government."As with all shareholders of the institution, if the situation were to arise, we would be ready to engage with Venezuela," Familiar said. "What we would need is for them to call us."While the International Monetary Fund normally plays the role of crisis lender to governments with borrowing or balance-of-payments problems, the World Bank has assisted some commodity-exporting countries, including Peru, suffering from lower revenues amid reduced commodity prices.Last year, the World Bank approved $2.5 billion in new credit lines for Peru to backstop its financial plans. The credit lines carry reform requirements under World Bank programs to support improvements in public expenditure management, public education and to streamline the formation of new private companies.Familiar said Peru was meeting benchmarks for that programme.Venezuela was the outlier on Tuesday when the World Bank released its latest economic forecasts for Latin America and the Caribbean, predicting that regional growth would turn positive, to 1.5 percent in 2017 as recessions end in Brazil and Argentina, after a regional decline of about 1 percent in 2016.The World Bank forecast that Venezuela''s growth would fall by 3.1 percent in 2017 after a spectacular 12 percent drop in 2016. It forecast that Venezuela would start to recover by 2018, with 0.6 percent growth amid firmer oil prices, but lag far behind regional growth of about 2.5 percent for 2018.(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-worldbank-venezuela-idINKBN17K2G0'|'2017-04-18T18:30:00.000+03:00' '48752fe2854a69643adcae0725f504d9d2b78415'|'Oil prices dip on bloated U.S. market, mixed Saudi signals'|'By Libby George and Amanda Cooper - LONDON LONDON Oil edged higher on Wednesday as OPEC said it was committed to eroding a global surplus of crude, but increasing shale production in the United States and still-high global stocks threatened to pull prices lower.Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 27 cents at $55.16 a barrel at 1106 GMT, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 20 cents at $52.61.Crude fell in the previous two sessions, but it received a boost from comments on Wednesday by the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that the group was committed to cutting inventories to the five-year average.Analysts warned that prices could quickly turn negative."It seems that the optimism in the oil market we have seen since the last few days of March is running out of steam," wrote Tamas Varga, PVM Oil Associates analyst, noting concerns about the "ever-increasing rise" in U.S. shale output.OPEC and other producers such as Russia agreed to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to drain a supply overhang that has persisted for nearly three years.The cuts, and talk of a possible extension, enabled a rally in major oil contracts of some 10 percent between March 22 and April 12, Varga said.Geopolitical concerns have also helped underpin oil.This week, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the United States'' national interests. A lifting of certain sanctions against Iran in late 2015 under a nuclear deal allowed Tehran to more than double its crude exports over 2016.But U.S. stockpiles - and shale production - have cast doubt on whether the production cuts were enough. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday that although crude inventories fell by 840,000 barrels in the week to April 14, they remained near record highs.Gasoline stocks also posted a counter-seasonal build of 1.4 million barrels. Gasoline margins have since come under downward pressure, which analysts warned could undermine crude prices as well. nZXN04ZW00]Official U.S. oil data is due to be published on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)."Unless the (EIA) data shows something drastically different, this report should cause a severe dent in the bullish case (for oil prices)," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta.(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idINKBN17L03T'|'2017-04-19T09:14:00.000+03:00' '188167e9ec82aad7a52e61f800149bebee26a842'|'Ex-drug executive Shkreli wins separate fraud trial'|' 28pm BST Ex-drug executive Shkreli wins separate fraud trial FILE PHOTO - Martin Shkreli, former chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc, departs after a hearing at U.S. Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. on October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo By Brendan Pierson Martin Shkreli, the former drug company executive who drew public outcry when he raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000 percent, will be tried for securities fraud separately from a lawyer charged alongside him, a Brooklyn federal judge ruled Wednesday. Both Shkreli and lawyer Evan Greebel, who worked for Shkreli''s former company Retrophin Inc, had asked that their case be split. U.S. prosecutors had sought to try the two men together on charges that they schemed to defraud investors in a hedge fund Shkreli controlled. Greebel''s lawyer, Reed Brodsky, said at a hearing earlier this month before U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that he aimed to prove that Shkreli was guilty and that he deceived Greebel. Brodsky said he would present evidence of wrongdoing by Shkreli even beyond what prosecutors claimed. Shkreli''s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he would try to prove that Shkreli had no criminal intent and relied on Greebel''s advice. Brafman and other lawyers for Shkreli said in a joint statement that they were pleased with the decision. Brodsky and a spokesman for the prosecutors both declined to comment. Matsumoto wrote in Wednesday''s order that trying the two men together "would place on Shkreli an unfair and heavy burden in defending himself against both the government and Greebel." Shkreli is now set to go to trial on June 26. A trial date for Greebel has not been set, though Matsumoto earlier set aside Oct. 2 as a possible second trial date if the trial was split. After leaving Retrophin, Shkreli ran Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he sparked outrage among patients and U.S. lawmakers by raising the price of a drug used to treat a dangerous parasitic infection by more than 5,000 percent, to $750 a pill. The criminal charges, which are not related to Turing, involve Shkreli''s management of Retrophin and the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management from 2009 to 2014. Prosecutors claim that Shkreli engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme in which he defrauded investors in MSMB and took $11 million in assets from Retrophin to repay them. Shkreli faces charges of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while Greebel faces only conspiracy charges. Both have pleaded not guilty. The case is U.S. v. Shkreli, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 15-cr-00637. (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-crime-shkreli-idUKKBN17L2K7'|'2017-04-20T03:28:00.000+03:00' 'eff74ce0179b3a77f6c0a413bc17954e6a0ae604'|'BMW expects China sales growth to be around 10 percent this year'|' 3:29am BST BMW expects China sales growth to be around 10 percent this year BMW logos are seen on an automobile wheel at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson SHANGHAI BMW Group ( BMWG.DE ) expects sales in China to grow around 10 percent this year while global sales are likely to climb between 5 percent and 5.5 percent, BMW board member for sales and marketing Ian Robertson said at the Shanghai auto show. Asked what growth rates he expects for BMW Group, which includes the Mini brand, in China this year, Robertson said, "Overall we think it will be 10ish percent." (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-bmw-idUKKBN17L075'|'2017-04-19T10:29:00.000+03:00' 'b803ad487386b94816de396f5c8f3e28fa1dee32'|'TREASURIES-Yields rise as investors wait on French election'|'(Adds Quote: s, Fed''s Rosengren, Fed economic report, updates prices) * Traders wait on new catalyst for direction * Fed''s Rosengren says Fed should pare bond holdings By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, April 19 U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as traders waited on a new catalyst for direction, after a rally on Tuesday sent yields to five-month lows prompted by concerns about the French election and rising geopolitical tensions. “We’re consolidating and looking for the next big trade, whether it is a reversal of the rally or an extension of it,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York. Benchmark 10-year notes dropped 8/32 in price to yield 2.21 percent. The 10-year yield fell as low as 2.165 percent on Tuesday and has tumbled from a recent high of 2.63 percent hit on March 14. “Today is a little bit of a giveback, things are settling down a little bit given the overbought nature of the market,” said Dan Mulholland, head of Treasuries trading at Credit Agricole in New York. “Ten-year notes got down to 2.16 (percent), which is well below where anyone thought we’d get given the backdrop of the economy.” With no major economic releases due this week investors were focused on the French elections, U.S. tensions with North Korea and any new indications on when the Trump administration is likely to undertake tax and fiscal reforms. Centrist Emmanuel Macron held on to his lead as favorite to win France''s presidential election, a closely watched poll showed, although it indicated that the first round of voting at the weekend remained too close to call. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that Washington would work with its allies and China to put economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea but added that the United States would defeat any attack with an "overwhelming response." Bonds prices have been boosted in recent weeks by reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates two more times this year following disappointing economic data releases. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is also seen as less likely to pass fiscal or tax reforms in the near term. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said the Fed should begin shedding its bond holdings soon but do so in a very gradual way that has little effect on its planned interest rate hikes. The U.S. economy expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace between mid-February and the end of March, but inflation pressures remained in check, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. (Editing by Andrea Ricci) )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-idINL1N1HR1GI'|'2017-04-19T17:23:00.000+03:00' 'ed2ad5433ef7c37828deb9834e78f3f5051757a8'|'UPDATE 1-Insurers push to keep industry expert on U.S. regulatory council'|'(Adds comment from Ann Kappler, Prudential''s deputy general counsel and head of external affairs)By Sarah N. Lynch and Suzanne BarlynApril 19 With no sign of a replacement in the works, the U.S. insurance industry is pushing to prevent the departure of a key figure on the federal body that determines how large insurance companies are regulated.Roy Woodall, the sole independent voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) with insurance expertise, will lose his seat in late September, as his six-year term set out under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation reform law expires.His presence on the council is important to the insurance industry, because FSOC has the power to decide whether large financial companies are "systemically important financial institutions," or SIFIs, a tag that carries higher capital requirements and Federal Reserve oversight.As there is no federal insurance regulator, Woodall is effectively the most important figure in U.S. regulation of large insurers.He will be forced to step down in five months, leaving a critical vacancy on the FSOC, which is based out of the U.S. Treasury Department, unless Congress changes the Dodd-Frank law and permits him to be held over temporarily, or U.S. President Donald Trump acts swiftly to nominate a replacement."Treasury doesn’t have that much experience in insurance, so it makes the insurance expert particularly important," said Dave Snyder, vice president of international policy and policy development for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.A U.S. Treasury spokesperson declined comment.Woodall, 80, told Reuters that he would not want to serve another full six-year term but would be willing to stay on until a replacement can be confirmed.Several large insurers fought their SIFI designations, arguing that they do not pose the same kind of risks as big banks.Prudential Financial Inc and American International Group Inc still carry the designation, but Prudential is widely expected to seek to have it rescinded.Industry executives say that if Woodall leaves without a replacement lined up, it could hurt their chances of success.FSOC''s process to determine whether to apply the designation is "imprecise," said Ann Kappler, Prudential''s deputy general counsel and head of external affairs, on Wednesday during an event about insurance regulation organized by the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank.Many FSOC staffers responsible for decisions did not fully understand how the company operates, Kappler said. "Despite the amount of work done by FSOC staff, it was rife with problems," Kappler said.''NOBODY''S PUPPET''Two-thirds of FSOC''s sitting members must support rescinding a designation for it to happen, and regulatory matters affecting insurance companies are likely to come up during FSOC meetings.A former insurance commissioner of Kentucky, Woodall has more than 50 years of experience in insurance regulation, law and policymaking. Former President Barack Obama appointed him to the FSOC in 2011.He voted against designating Prudential and MetLife Inc as SIFIs but was outnumbered by his other FSOC colleagues.He favored designating AIG, whose near-failure during the 2008 crisis was a major threat to the financial system, as well as GE Capital, which has since shrunk and simplified."Roy Woodall is nobody''s puppet," said Bridget Hagan, a partner at the lobbying and consulting firm Cypress Group, who also leads a coalition of insurers that are subject to Federal Reserve supervision. "But he has deep experience ... It''s important that he stay in his role until a new official is confirmed."GE Capital shed its designation after breaking itself up, and MetLife successfully sued the government to shake its designation. An appeal is working its way through the courts.UNIQUE POSITIONAlthough Woodall’s departure is five months away, insurers are worried that the White House will not nominate a replacement in time, or that Congress will not change the law to permit Woodall to be held over on a temporary basis.Trump has been slow to appoint financial regulators, including those that wield more power, such as the Federal Reserve''s vice chair of supervision.A White House spokeswoman said the president is aware of the deadline and that it will be addressed in due time.Woodall''s situation is unique on the council, whose other members are allowed to continue serving in their roles on expired terms, or be temporarily replaced with an acting member if there is a vacancy. The FSOC is composed of heads of federal financial regulators and led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.Industry lobbyists are starting to approach lawmakers to find out whether they might be willing to tuck language into unrelated legislation, such as a spending bill, that would allow Woodall to stay in place, a person familiar with the matter said.A financial regulatory proposal by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling would merge Woodall’s role with a separate job inside the U.S. Treasury''s Federal Insurance Office and allow for the sitting expert to be held over after a term expires. But the bill is not expected to go far because Senate Democrats oppose it. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Suzanne Barlyn in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-insurance-regulator-idINL1N1HR1A1'|'2017-04-19T18:11:00.000+03:00' '0ac274f89e062e25a555bc529f218abde3b57cf6'|'Thailand''s Siam Commercial in exclusive talks FWD for $3 billion insurance sale: sources'|'By Sumeet Chatterjee and Anshuman Daga - HONG KONG HONG KONG Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) ( SCB.BK ) has entered into exclusive talks with Hong Kong insurer FWD Group to sell its life insurance arm, which could raise $3 billion for Thailand''s third-biggest lender, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.A successful deal would rank as the largest insurance M&A transaction in Southeast Asia, and the biggest in Asia since the merger of two insurance companies in India valued at $3.2 billion in August 2016, according to Thomson Reuters data.FWD, owned by Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, the youngest son of Asia''s richest man, Li Ka-shing, entered into exclusive talks last month, and a decision is likely by the end of May, three people said.If the deal were to fall through, SCB could consider new bidders, the people told Reuters.Southeast Asia has emerged as a battleground for foreign insurers attracted by the region''s lower insurance penetration levels and faster growth rates for life insurance premiums than in their home markets.The acquisition will help FWD expand its existing wholly owned insurance business in Thailand, which started in 2012 and had total assets of about 74.7 billion baht ($2.2 billion) at the end of 2015, data on its website showed.Aaron Pan, a spokesman for FWD Group in Hong Kong, declined to comment on "market rumor or speculation", while a spokeswoman at SCB had no immediate comment.All the sources spoke to Reuters on condition that they not be named as they were not authorized to speak to the media.Five years after selling out of Asian insurance, FWD founder Li returned in 2012 by paying $2.14 billion in cash for ING Groep NV''s ( INGA.AS ) Hong Kong, Macau and Thai insurance operations.Since then, FWD has grown its presence in the region''s fast-growing and under-penetrated insurance sector, expanding into markets including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. It now has more than 11,000 insurance advisors and over 1.1 million customers in Asia.In its most recent Asian deal, FWD agreed in November to buy American International Group Inc''s ( AIG.N ) Japan life insurance business AIG Fuji Life Insurance Company Ltd for an undisclosed sum.FASTER GROWTHReuters had reported in January that Hong Kong-based AIA Group ( 1299.HK ), Manulife Financial Corp ( MFC.TO ), and Prudential Plc ( PRU.L ) were among insurers weighing a bid for SCB''s insurance business. SCB Life Assurance is among the top insurers in Thailand.Some quit the process due to a mismatch in valuation expectations, two of the people said. Representatives at AIA, Manulife and Prudential declined to comment on the deal process.Asian insurance M&A is on the rise, with volumes for the top five announced deals at nearly $3 billion this year, including the sale of Hong Kong Life Insurance Ltd for $914 million last month.A number of large deals are also in the pipeline, including the sale of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group''s ( ANZ.AX ) life insurance and wealth business valued at more than $3 billion.Aviva ( AV.L ) is considering selling its Friends Provident International unit, which offers life assurance and investment products, in a deal that could raise between $500 million and $700 million, Reuters reported last month.(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in HONG KONG and Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE; Additional; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-siam-comrcl-m-a-insurance-idINKBN17L0G6'|'2017-04-19T03:49:00.000+03:00' 'd5787125af563de5a0f916f8a6bc643371470f4b'|'Spain''s Iberdrola eyes merger of Brazilian units - report'|' 46am EDT Spain''s Iberdrola eyes merger of Brazilian units - report BRASILIA, April 18 Spanish power utility Iberdrola is considering merging the operations of two Brazilian companies in which it is a major shareholder and eventually offer shares of the combined companies, newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo said on Tuesday. Neoenergia SA, in which Iberdrola shares control with two government-led investors, and Elektro Redes SA , almost fully owned by the Spanish firm, have kicked off the merger talks a few weeks ago, O Estado said, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of the talks. The merger could pose an opportunity for Brazil''s state-controlled bank Banco do Brasil SA and its employee pension fund Previ to sell their stakes in Neoenergia, which is Brazil''s largest private power distributor, the paper said. Spokespeople to Neoenergia and Elektro did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comments to Reuters. O Estado said the companies had no comment. (Reporting by Silvio Cascione; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/elektro-ma-neoenergia-idUSL1N1HQ0LU'|'2017-04-18T21:46:00.000+03:00' '3b532306e4d54f06639ae186e72c08ea8f39e939'|'If charities can''t inspire loyalty, ''caring capitalism'' will take over - Max du Bois - Voluntary Sector Network'|'It’s been a punishing year for charities as public trust hit record lows , but they now face their biggest threat yet: a corporate takeover.Charities need to remember why they exist – and shout about it Read moreWhile charities are striving to sound more businesslike in their bid to reclaim trust and credibility after a slew of scandals, companies have started adopting a “caring capitalism” attitude that focuses on passion, heart and the responsibilities of citizenship. So while the corporate sector is focusing on the value of doing good to attract customers and investors, charities are aiming to be seen as more professional, talking about impact, returns and investment.By losing this focus on their values, however, charities are eroding their unique position in society. They are letting the corporate sector steal a march on them.In the UK, 88% of people [pdf] think corporations have the resources and influence to make change at international, national and local levels; and 78% think they should do it. Meanwhile, research shows that 83% of households use a service provided by a charity but a quarter of them don’t actually realise this. Charities are not getting credit where it’s due and it’s showing.So how can charities turn this around? The answer is value statements.Values are crucial. They help tell a unique story, engage and connect with people, and motivate them to be part of a movement. That is how charities inspire loyalty.Most charity value statements have become generic and bland. Setting their sights on efficiency and professionalism may appear to be the safest route, yet in reality it is the most damaging. As the sector is transformed by technology, competition and changing donor behaviour, charities need to get in front of the right people for the right reasons. Here are some of the best ways to do so:Five ways to strengthen your charity''s brand Read more Have a clear statement of your valuesIn our recent analysis of 50 of the top 100 UK charities, 28% didn’t explicitly talk about their values at all.Remember, in a crowded market, people will listen to you – and give you time and money – when they care about your cause and share your values.Don’t waste the opportunity to use value statements to say something really engaging and different. Your values are about why you do what you do. When emotional engagement is the goal, lead with the why rather than the what or how.Generic values are those that are shared across the sector. They are expected and assumed by all but are often considered “things that we should probably say”. The main problem with using them is that it states the obvious.Some of the worst offenders are words like honest (10% of charities researched), passionate (25%) and committed (25%). These values are almost universal in the third sector; it’s like claiming to be altruistic. Don’t waste everyone’s time by simply telling them what type of organisation they can expect to find in the charity sector.Know the difference between values and behaviours Almost 35% of the charities we looked at confused values and behaviours. The key difference is that behaviours are the standards you operate to and values are the principles behind your actions. Values are external communications tools. Behaviours are internal management tools, but often have a similar-sounding, positive vocabulary, like respect (28%) and effective (16%). When they get confused a crucial opportunity to engage with the public is lost.Charities need to put beneficiaries before their brand when campaigning Read moreThe simple rule is this: don’t tell me you’re funny; make me laugh! In other words, demonstrate you are professional, inclusive, transparent and so on, and use the values statement for something really engaging.In the worst examples we found values statements that read like the internal strategy documents from which they were probably copied and pasted.Be bold and be different Charities need to be bold, ambitious and different. Drawing your individual values out and sharing them will go a long way to achieving this.Tell people who you are and why it matters that you exist. If you don’t take a stand for something, you may as well not stand for anything. By trying to please everyone and playing it safe, you risk not getting through to anyone.Stand for something, cause a reaction, get past the obvious, remember who you represent and find something genuine – then people will rally to your cause, give you the funds you need and make your charity the change-maker you were set up to be.Max du Bois is executive director at charity brand experts Spencer du BoisTalk to us on Twitter via @ Gdnvoluntary and join our community for your free fortnightly Guardian Voluntary Sector newsletter, with analysis and opinion sent direct to you on the first and third Thursday of the month.Topics Voluntary Sector Network charity leadership Fundraising Communications Charities Voluntary sector Corporate social responsibility blogposts '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2017/apr/18/charities-loyalty-caring-capitalism-take-over'|'2017-04-18T19:08:00.000+03:00' '40fa487a822053fdc0491e9d0aa771f42a730fe4'|'Ashmore Group third quarter assets boosted by market gains, net inflows'|' 15am BST Ashmore Group third quarter assets boosted by market gains, net inflows LONDON Emerging markets-focused asset manager Ashmore Group ( ASHM.L ) said on Tuesday that assets under management rose 7 percent in its third quarter to the end of March, boosted by market gains and net inflows. The firm said total assets at the end of the period were $55.9 billion (£44.50 billion), up 7 percent on the prior quarter, after a $2.3 billion uplift from positive market movements and after clients added a net $1.4 billion in new capital to its funds. The group said clients had added more money to its overlay/liquidity, local currency, external debt and corporate debt strategies, while flows into equities and alternatives were flat. (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Maiya Keidan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ashmore-trading-idUKKBN17K0GO'|'2017-04-18T14:15:00.000+03:00' '81e329644e473662c8fe2ed6fffa4296b99b159c'|'Post-sanctions Iran helps planemakers solve ''orphan jet'' problem'|' 53am EDT Post-sanctions Iran helps planemakers solve ''orphan jet'' problem * Iran ready to grab jet market opportunities -deputy minister * Iran confirms examining jet delivery swap with Turkish Air * Early Boeing jet delivery could boost sanctions pact By Tim Hepher PARIS, April 18 Iran''s return to the world economy is helping planemakers cope with a downturn in global demand, providing homes for airplanes orphaned by reversals in the growth plans of airlines elsewhere. Planemakers are also gambling that the early delivery of such aircraft could help prop up a nuclear sanctions deal between Iran and world powers, threatened by conservative opponents in both Washington and Tehran, Western sources said. Since sanctions were lifted under the deal to reopen trade and curb Iran''s nuclear projects, the Islamic Republic, trying to boost its economy after years of isolation, has joined a waiting list of up to eight years for 200 new aircraft. But efforts to meet its most immediate needs have been boosted by financial problems facing other airlines across the globe as new airplanes come onto the market at bargain prices. "We hunt opportunities in the market. If there are opportunities, we can take advantage of that," Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan told Reuters. Despite denials by manufacturers that the downturn is hurting, Iran''s return to the market has brought to light pockets of surplus aircraft. With presidential elections looming in May and keen to show the 2015 nuclear deal is working, Iran has proved only too keen to take up the slack. So far it has taken delivery of three Airbus jets. Industry executives say they were left on the planemaker''s books when their Colombian buyer, Avianca, balked at taking delivery. Such orphan planes are often known as ''white tails''. Last week, Iran also signed a deal for 20 ATR turboprops. Unusually in a risk-averse industry with high costs, four of those are already built and ready to be delivered: short-circuiting their usual l8 months'' waiting time. Although it denies they are white tails, ATR took the rare decision to build them for IranAir before the final contract was signed. Analysts say that too is a signal of market weakness as manufacturers wrestle with weakness in developing economies. TURKISH SWAP The sudden reshuffling suits both sides as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani tries to demonstrate results from the nuclear deal, opposed by hardline candidates in May elections. It also holds up a mirror to geopolitical changes in the region, played out in the fortunes of national carriers. While Iran''s aviation industry is coming out of decades of cold storage as sanctions are lifted, Turkey has seen a slump in travel demand after a failed coup and attacks in major cities. Now, Turkish Airlines is having doubts about taking one of the industry''s key growth engines, a 350-seat Boeing 777-3000ER. Uncertainty over next month''s scheduled delivery contrasts with Iran''s urgent need for the same model, the first of which is due to be delivered to Tehran in April or May next year. At Boeing''s suggestion, Iranian representatives are now inspecting the Turkish configuration to see whether the airlines could swap deliveries, Fakhrieh-Kashan confirmed. Boeing declined to comment. Iran has ordered 15 777-300ERs as part of a deal for 80 Boeing jets. They are crucial to Boeing''s efforts to steady declining 777 production, pending the arrival of a new model. Bringing forward Boeing''s first delivery to Iran since the 1970s could also provide broader momentum to the sanctions pact, hampered by funding problems and uncertainty about the attitude of U.S. President Donald Trump who has said he dislikes it. Since all planemakers need U.S. export licences due to the number of U.S. parts in their planes, any decision to block the Boeing deals would likely halt European activities in Iran too. "It helps to bring Boeing to the same table as everyone else," said a senior European industry executive, referring to the talks to swap Turkish and Iranian deliveries. Iranian officials have however been forced to defend the reshuffling from suggestions that Iran is getting cast-off airplanes. They stress the Avianca jets, for example, had been sitting unused for two years and had never flown commercially. "It is good for Airbus and Boeing, but this is part of the game that everyone knows," Fakhrieh-Kashan told Reuters. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/iran-aviation-idUSL8N1HM1H2'|'2017-04-18T21:53:00.000+03:00' '377795c75d770a588d787b7c60ee090018b3c166'|'Trump to seek changes in visa program to encourage hiring Americans'|'Politics 16pm EDT Trump to seek changes in visa program to encourage hiring Americans U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with children as they make Easter greeting cards for members of the military at the 139th annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts By Steve Holland - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs. Two senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters at the White House said Trump will also use the "buy American and hire American" order to seek changes in government procurement practices to increase the purchase of American products in federal contracts. Trump is to sign the order when he visits the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc ( SNA.N ), a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The order is an attempt by Trump to carry out his "America First" campaign pledges to reform U.S. immigration policies and encourage purchases of American products. As he nears the 100-day benchmark of his presidency, Trump has no major legislative achievements to tout but has used executive orders to seek regulatory changes to help the U.S. economy. The order he will sign on Tuesday will call for "the strict enforcement of all laws governing entry into the United States of labor from abroad for the stated purpose of creating higher wages and higher employment rates for workers in the United States," one of the senior officials said. It will call on the departments of Labor, Justice, Homeland Security and State to take action to crack down on what the official called "fraud and abuse" in the U.S. immigration system to protect American workers. The order will call on those four federal departments to propose reforms to ensure H-1B visas are awarded to the most skilled or highest paid applicant. H-1B visas are intended for foreign nationals in "specialty" occupations that generally require higher education, which according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) includes, but is not limited to, scientists, engineers or computer programmers. The government uses a lottery to award 65,000 visas every year and randomly distributes another 20,000 to graduate student workers. The number of applications for H-1B visas fell to 199,000 this year from 236,000 in 2016, according U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Companies say they use visas to recruit top talent. More than 15 percent of Facebook Inc''s ( FB.O ) U.S. employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. Labor Department filings. But a majority of the visas are awarded to outsourcing firms, sparking criticism by skeptics who say those firms use the visas to fill lower-level information technology jobs. Critics also say the lottery system benefits outsourcing firms that flood the system with mass applications. Both Democratic and Republican critics have argued that companies such as Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ) and Southern California Edison Co ( SCE_pe.A ), a utility, have used the program to terminate in-house IT employees and replace them with cheaper contractors. Disney and Edison have said that they paid foreign contractors comparably with local staffers. The senior official said the end result of how the system currently works is that foreign workers are often brought in at less pay to replace American workers, "violating the principle of the program." The order also asks federal agencies to look at how to get rid of loopholes in the government procurement process. Specifically, the review will take into account whether waivers in free-trade agreements are leading to unfair trade by allowing foreign companies to undercut American companies in the global government procurement market. "If it turns out America is a net loser because of those free-trade agreement waivers, which apply to almost 60 countries, these waivers may be promptly renegotiated or revoked," the second official said. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-visa-idUSKBN17K02U'|'2017-04-18T09:00:00.000+03:00' 'b9aff39db8a907b51a0b675b862ed7c68427d829'|'Japan''s Aso pushes back against US pressure for bilateral trade deal'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 2:37am BST Japan''s Aso pushes back against U.S. pressure for bilateral trade deal Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso in New York City, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Leika Kihara - NEW YORK NEW YORK Japan has less room to compromise with the United States under a bilateral trade deal than under a multilateral agreement like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), its deputy prime minister said, taking a swipe at U.S. attempts to directly pressure Tokyo into opening up heavily-protected markets like agriculture. Taro Aso, who heads Japan for a newly-created bilateral economic dialogue with the United States, said that under TPP, Japan was able to accede to more U.S. demands as it could make up for the losses through agreements with other countries. "In a bilateral deal, you can''t do that. You can''t get back what you lose from a compromise with the United States," Aso said in a seminar at Columbia University on Wednesday. Aso''s comments underscore Japan''s hopes of avoiding a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA) with the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the 12-nation TPP backed by his predecessor Barack Obama and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe. Tokyo fears a two-way agreement would expose it to stronger U.S. pressure to open up politically-sensitive markets like agriculture and beef. After the first round of talks in Tokyo on Tuesday, Japan and the United States remained at logger-heads on how to frame the bilateral economic dialogue. The Trump administration has signaled its intention to use the dialogue to push for a two-way trade deal, while Japan wants to broaden the agenda to add less-thorny issues like infrastructure investment. Vice President Mike Pence, who headed the U.S. delegation, said his administration hopes the bilateral dialogue could lead to future negotiations on a FTA. TAX HIKE UNDER WAY On domestic policy, Aso, who is also Japan''s finance minister, said budding signs of recovery in the economy and private consumption are paving the way for Japan to proceed with a twice-delayed sales tax hike now scheduled for October 2019. He also warned that there was no quick fix for the country''s tattered finances, shrugging off the chance the central bank would resort to "helicopter money" - or direct underwriting of public debt to fund government spending. Aso said he was aware of proposals by some academics for radical steps to spur growth, such as having the Bank of Japan directly underwrite government spending or intentionally creating sharp inflation to pay off public debt without raising tax. "In reality, there are various problems to such ideas. For one, it would undermine the BOJ''s independence and market confidence over monetary policy," Aso said. Given Japan''s huge public debt, any signs the government is abandoning efforts on fiscal discipline could also invite a bust in the country''s finances or runaway inflation that would have a detrimental effect on the public. "We can''t allow that to happen....There''s no quick fix," Aso said. The only way to solve the problem would be to raise tax, cut spending and take steps to revive the economy, he added. "The economy is likely to do well ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, so it will be easier to raise the sales tax," said Aso, who visited New York ahead of this week''s meeting of the Group of 20 finance leaders'' gathering in Washington, D.C. Japan has twice delayed the second promised tax hike after the first increase in April 2014 tipped the world''s third-biggest economy into a recession. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-aso-idUKKBN17L31K'|'2017-04-20T09:36:00.000+03:00' 'a2ac9463e813abee4d7daa18b4bd7261bb61ae5a'|'Dollar edges away from recent lows with French vote in focus'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:57am BST Dollar edges away from recent lows with French vote in focus FILE PHOTO: Light is cast on a U.S. one-hundred dollar bill next to a Japanese 10,000 yen note in this picture illustration shot February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Shohei Miyano/Illustration/File Photo TOKYO The dollar caught its breath in Asian trading on Thursday, holding above lows hit earlier this week as investors anxiously awaited this weekend''s first round of presidential voting in France. The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of six major rivals, edged up 0.1 percent to 99.781 .DXY, moving away from a three-week low of 99.465 plumbed on Tuesday. The euro was flat on the day at $1.07140 EUR= , and was expected to tread water ahead of this weekend''s vote. Centrist Emmanuel Macron held on to his lead as favourite to emerge as the eventual victor, a closely watched poll showed, although it indicated that the outcome of the first round of voting on Sunday was too close to call. Millions of French voters remain undecided, making this the least predictable vote in France in decades, and raising fears of a potential surprise result that spread turmoil in markets. Against its perceived safe-haven Japanese counterpart, the dollar was slightly higher on the day at 108.84 yen JPY= , pulling away from five-month lows touched on Monday. "There was a reversal of the recent flight-to-safety trend on Wednesday that we''d been seeing," said Bill Northey, chief investment officer at the private client group of U.S. Bank in Helena, Montana. "You can see that reflected in the U.S. yield curve, as rates moved a bit higher after release of the Beige Book," he said, referring to the U.S. Federal Reserve''s periodic report on the economy. The Beige Book showed the economy expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace between mid-February and the end of March, but inflation pressures remained in check despite more difficulties in attracting and retaining workers. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate in March for the second time in three months. But in recent weeks, weaker-than-forecast data on employment, consumer spending and inflation, as well as geopolitical tension in Syria and North Korea, have prompted investors to trim their expectations for two more hikes this year, according to interest rate futures. Investors also remain concerned that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will be able to pass fiscal or tax reforms any time soon. Sterling was steady on the day at $1.2845 GBP= after notching a more than six-month high of $1.2908 on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early general election ahead of Brexit negotiations. (Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-forex-idUKKBN17M03R'|'2017-04-20T08:57:00.000+03:00' 'e88678f5554e0f3200cbe7f64189a0069dce4123'|'Nearly 30 Chinese steel firms have production licenses revoked for violations - ministry'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 4:39am BST Nearly 30 Chinese steel firms have production licenses revoked for violations - ministry An employee walks past columns of steel as she works at a steel production factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, August 2, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo BEIJING Twenty-nine Chinese steel firms have had their production licenses revoked for not meeting government calls for capacity reduction or not meeting other industry requirements, China''s industry ministry said on Monday. Another 40 steel firms have been asked to make changes in areas such as environmental protection and safety, according to a statement posted on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-steel-idUKKBN17Q08J'|'2017-04-24T11:39:00.000+03:00' '5f36902fd7a4b2512ee4594fca5f37b3d86da5e3'|'Australia clears Chow Tai Fook''s $3 bln buyout of Alinta Energy'|'SYDNEY, April 24 A buyout by Hong Kong''s Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) of gas and electricity retailer Alinta Energy has been approved by Australia''s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), clearing the way for a deal said to be worth nearly A$4 billion ($3 billion).The deal is subject to strict conditions, a spokeswoman for the FIRB said in an email on Monday.Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison decides whether to approve foreign takeovers after taking advice from FIRB.A deal would mark a first foray into the Australian energy sector for CTFE, a privately held conglomerate best known for retail arm Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group.The family-controlled business already invests in Australian property including a joint venture with casino operator Star Entertainment Group Ltd.Alinta, owned by private equity companies including TPG Capital Management LP, had been preparing for an initial public offering with a valuation from brokers averaging A$3.4 billion before Chow Tai Fook Enterprises made its offer last month.Hong Kong and China combined are the fifth-biggest source of foreign investment in Australia and Treasurer Morrison has blocked some recent buyouts citing national security concerns.Last year he rejected bids from China''s State Grid Corp and Hong Kong''s Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings for electricity grid Ausgrid.But earlier this month he cleared CKI''s $5.5 billion bid for DUET Group, which owns a power grid in the state of Victoria.($1 = 1.3210 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Byron Kaye; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/alinta-energy-ma-chow-tai-fook-idINL4N1HW44X'|'2017-04-24T10:33:00.000+03:00' '3eaa02fd30e527d467e014499b2fd3014ee1a8af'|'India to expand access to J&J''s TB drug this year'|'Health News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 5:30am EDT India to expand access to J&J''s TB drug this year By Zeba Siddiqui - MUMBAI MUMBAI India''s top tuberculosis fighter said the government will expand access to Johnson & Johnson''s breakthrough TB drug this year, but health experts warn much more needs to be done to eliminate the superbug by 2025. India will make bedaquiline, one of just two new TB drugs marketed over the last 50 years, available at 140 government-run TB treatment centers by November, said Sunil Kharpade, head of India''s Central TB Division. The drug is currently available at only six centers. "We''ve conducted training in several states in the last few months, and we''re prepared to start giving it to patients across 140 centers," Kharpade told Reuters. Health experts and activists welcomed the move, but said the government must do even more against TB, which claims the lives of thousands of Indians each year. "India''s TB program has made a lot of progress in the last few years," said Jennifer Furin, an infectious diseases expert at Harvard Medical School. "But compared to what they need to do if they are serious about eliminating TB in eight short years, they have barely scratched the surface." India has nearly a quarter of the world''s TB cases, and poor infection control practices and a stressed public healthcare system make it a hotbed for spreading the drug-resistant bacteria. India has provided bedaquiline to only 300 patients, with another 300 courses available. There are plans to get treatment for 1,000 more patients in the next year, said Kharpade. But that is way short of India''s requirements with nearly 2.8 million new TB cases a year, and 80,000 patients with multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. About a third of those with MDR TB are eligible to use bedaquiline, according to the World Health Organization, leaving thousands of Indians without access. "What that means is those people continue to transmit the bacteria to the community and it makes elimination impossible," Furin said. Kharpade says the country has been cautious in rolling out the drug to ensure people don''t develop resistance to it. But some health experts believe the response has been too slow. Groups like Lawyers Collective and Medecins Sans Frontieres have called for expanded access to bedaquiline as well as delamanid, another drug for late-stage TB patients marketed by Japan''s Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd. "We got these drugs after half a century of stagnant research," said Mario Raviglione, head of the WHO''s TB-control program. "We don''t want to lose these drugs for future people in need." (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui; Editing by Randy Fabi) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-disease-pharmaceuticals-idUSKBN17Q0SP'|'2017-04-24T17:26:00.000+03:00' 'aa926de6de7e10ad5fab843af63e5c9e925d5c5c'|'Visa''s adjusted profit jumps 27 percent'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 1:49am IST Visa''s adjusted profit jumps 27 percent A Visa logo is seen on a car during a news conference in Rome, Italy May 17, 2016 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi Visa Inc ( V.N ), the world''s largest payments network operator, reported a 27 percent increase in quarterly adjusted profit on Thursday, as more people used its payments network. San Francisco-based Visa''s adjusted net income rose to $2.1 billion, or 86 cents per Class A share in the second fiscal quarter ended March 31. Net income fell to $430 million or 18 cents per Class A share in the quarter, from $1.71 billion or 71 cents per share, reflecting a one-time charge related to Visa''s purchase of Visa Europe. Net operating revenue rose 23.5 percent to $4.48 billion. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-visa-inc-results-idINKBN17M2LS'|'2017-04-21T04:18:00.000+03:00' '9563a2563414d1e2797ea562e627696899de4330'|'Essential stock market data costs to soar, trade group warns'|' 48pm BST Essential stock market data costs to soar, trade group warns By John McCrank - NEW YORK NEW YORK Many small- and mid-sized trading firms will see massive data cost increases as a result of a "clarification" added to a plan that governs how essential stock trading data is collected and disseminated, according to an industry trade group. The data in question comes from a market utility called the Consolidated Tape Association (CTA) that provides investors with stock quotes and last sale prices for New York Stock Exchange-listed securities. It is essential for trading and regulatory compliance. Following a recent amendment to CTA rules, fees for some smaller trading firms will skyrocket twenty-fold or more, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which represents banks, broker-dealers and asset managers. "As this likely impacts thousands of firms, we can be sure that an extraordinary number of investors will be facing a significant impediment to their ability to access core data," SIFMA said in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. The CTA declined to comment. A spokesman for the utility, which is run by the Intercontinental Exchange''s ( ICE.N ) NYSE unit and governed by 15 securities exchanges, as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, said the CTA would officially respond to the SEC next week. The CTA said in December it was adding a "clarification" to its fee schedule around who has to pay fees for data access and displayed and non-displayed data. Displayed data has traditionally referred to data the recipient could see, whereas non-displayed data fed directly into trading algorithms. As a result of the clarification, which the SEC published on March 23, with immediate effect, many firms that had been paying for displayed data only will also have to pay access and non-displayed fees. For example, a firm that has received data on NYSE-listed securities to be used on 10 professional devices, such as laptop or desktop computers, for display use only, would have paid the CTA around $270 a month, SIFMA said. Following the CTA amendment, those professional devices would be considered non-display and the firm''s bill would soar to $6,000 a month, SIFMA said. The CTA also includes data for securities listed on Bats, NYSE Arca and NYSE MKT exchanges, which would cost an additional $3,000 a month. The steep price for essential data highlights conflicts of interest among exchanges, which have in recent years gone from being non-profit utilities to for-profit, publicly traded companies, but retained their regulatory responsibilities, SIFMA said. (Reporting by John McCrank; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-exchange-data-idUKKBN17L2QN'|'2017-04-20T04:48:00.000+03:00' 'd881260e36b21f99a13c11c99405d5f69d3ce139'|'Cleveland police seek man who broadcast killing on Facebook'|'April 16 Cleveland police were searching for a suspect they said broadcast video of himself on Facebook killing a person on Sunday and claiming that he had murdered others.The Cleveland Division of Police said it was looking for Steve Stephens in connection with the killing of an individual in the city, whom police did not identify. It said he was armed and dangerous."Suspect did broadcast the killing on Facebook Live and has claimed to have committed multiple other homicides which are yet to be verified," the police said in a statement, referring to social-media network Facebook Inc''s live-streaming video service.It said Stephens may be driving a white or cream-colored sports utility vehicle.In January, four black people in Chicago were accused of attacking an 18-year-old disabled white man and broadcasting the attack on Facebook Live while making anti-white racial taunts. The incident prompted international outrage.A month later, the accused pleaded not guilty to assaulting the man, whom prosecutors described as schizophrenic. (Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/cleveland-murder-idINL1N1HO0IV'|'2017-04-16T19:43:00.000+03:00' '2e20449090f116c10795722964beb5e221f50a80'|'Wal-Mart seeks online fashion presence through acquisitions'|' 16pm BST Wal-Mart seeks online fashion presence through acquisitions FILE PHOTO: Women''s clothing are displayed in a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, November 11, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo By Nandita Bose and Gayathree Ganesan Wal-Mart Stores Inc''s bid for clothing retailer Bonobos, which surfaced last week, is the latest step in the company''s attempt to recover lost ground against Amazon.com Inc and others in the rapidly growing online fashion world, analysts and retail consultants said. If Wal-Mart succeeds, the move into fashion also would advance its effort to access younger, millennial customers who usually do not shop on Walmart.com. A Bonobos deal would mark the company''s fourth acquisition of a small online clothing-and-accessories brand since the start of 2017. The bid was first reported by Recode on Friday. Wal-Mart has declined to comment. The move is in keeping with an online strategy led by Marc Lore, the founder and former chief executive of internet retailer Jet.com, who took over Wal-Mart''s e-commerce business in August, after Wal-Mart paid $3.3 billion for Jet. Wal-Mart is the world''s largest brick-and-mortar clothing retailer, with 2016 sales exceeding $23 billion, according to retail think tank Fung Global Retail & Technology. But despite its traditional muscle, the Bentonville, Arkansas, company has been unable to replicate that success online. It has not only struggled to attract the type of affluent young consumers who tend to shop for clothes online but has also faced challenges in persuading well-known apparel brands to sell on its website. Wal-Mart''s online sales account for only about 3 percent of total sales, the company has said. In the second half of this year, it is targeting online sales growth of 20 to 30 percent. In its push for a bigger online presence, Wal-Mart so far has bought ShoeBuy, which specializes in footwear and apparel; Moosejaw, which sells outdoor wear; and ModCloth, an online seller of women''s clothing. In March, Lore said at an industry event that Wal-Mart will make more acquisitions to expand its business rapidly. Jan Rogers Kniffen, chief executive of retail consultancy J. Rogers Kniffen WWE, said the deals could begin to add up, though so far they are too small to have a material impact on Wal-Mart. "It gives them a totally separate vehicle to grow with fashion brands and to own fashion brands," he said. Wal-Mart''s move also aims to stem the loss of market share to Amazon in the highly competitive fashion sector. Amazon leads the U.S. online clothing and footwear market with sales of $13 billion in 2016, up $9 billion from five years ago. It is expected to triple its share of the U.S. apparel market over the next four years, according to data from Euromonitor and Forrester. Macy''s Inc, Nordstrom Inc, Gap Inc, Kohl''s Corp, L Brands Inc and J.C. Penney Co Inc also compete in the segment. Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc, said Wal-Mart''s prior efforts to buy market share through acquisitions have not succeeded. "They have been involved with this strategy for a long time. How has it done? Terribly," Davidowitz said. "Marc Lore has continued this strategy." Lore did not respond to a request for comment. Wal-Mart has been investing in e-commerce for the past 15 years, but it still lags far behind Amazon. In the five years before the Jet.com deal, Wal-Mart acquired more than 15 start-ups. The company has not disclosed what it spent on each deal, but said in January it had spent a total of $3.1 billion on e-commerce and digital projects in its prior four fiscal years. (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by David Greising and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-walmart-fashion-idUKKBN17J1FQ'|'2017-04-18T01:58:00.000+03:00' 'adf19805b5e345ce07d9fd8ec9fda4f10b1487f4'|'Ford taking cautious approach to China electric vehicle market'|'Technology News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 6:24am BST Ford taking cautious approach to China electric vehicle market The logo of Ford is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha By Joseph White - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI Ford Motor Co is taking a cautious approach to producing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for the Chinese market, citing uncertainty about consumer interest and government policy, despite a rush by carmakers to jump into the sector. "You don''t get any prizes for being first to market," said Trevor Worthington, Ford''s vice president for product development in Asia Pacific. The challenge is to offer electrified vehicles "at the right time". Ford earlier this month outlined plans to offer by 2025 hybrid or fully electric versions of all models built in China with its domestic joint venture partner, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd. However, Ford executives said how many such vehicles are built and sold will depend on factors including government subsidies, regulatory policy and when battery-electric cars can match the cost and fast refueling of gasoline vehicles. During a meeting with reporters ahead of the Shanghai auto show on Wednesday, Worthington and Mazen Hammoud, the automaker''s Asia Pacific powertrain director, said battery recharging would be a critical issue. "Our goal needs to be something on the order of less than half an hour" to deliver an 80 percent charge, said Hammoud. Ultimately, "the goal needs to be similar to refueling a gasoline vehicle. We are a long way from that." Worthington also said Ford has a "team of people who meet with the government every week" to discuss the still evolving policies designed to promote vehicle electrification. Reuters reported in March, citing industry executives, that China was considering easing proposed quotas aimed at producing more electric vehicles. China has strongly supported and subsidized electric vehicles, but is gradually swapping out incentives for hard targets automakers must meet. Worthington added Ford intended to bring to market what Chinese officials call "new energy vehicles" in a cost efficient way. He also expressed confidence the Chinese government would not push regulations that harm the industry. "We provide huge employment," he said. "I don''t think they are going to do things to make it impossible for the joint ventures to survive and thrive." (Reporting by Joseph White; Editing by Adam Jourdan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-ford-motor-idUKKBN17L0BU'|'2017-04-19T12:44:00.000+03:00' '145904bca80208863ed6c7b2eb64ce165cea6423'|'S.Korea''s ING Life banks on high dividends to help sell $1.2 bln IPO'|'* S.Korea''s 5th-largest life insurer to list in 2nd week of May* Paid 58 pct of net profit as dividends in 2016* ING Life says can continue paying high dividendsBy Joyce LeeSEOUL, April 19 Private equity-owned ING Life Insurance Korea is banking on its hefty dividend payouts to draw investors to its planned initial public offering (IPO) that could raise as much as $1.2 billion in one of South Korea''s bigger public floats.The nation''s fifth-largest life insurer by assets, wholly owned by Asia-based MBK Partners, will list in the second week of May, CEO Cheong Mun-kuk said on Wednesday. The IPO would be South Korea''s second-largest float so far this year, behind Netmarble Games''s planned $2.4 billion IPO.The two IPOs come at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions in the region over North Korea and amid a corruption scandal that has led to the ouster of president Park Geun-hye and fresh presidential elections in May.But ING Life Insurance Korea said investors asked no questions about the geopolitical and political risks to the IPO, choosing instead to focus on its operations."They (investors) were very interested in our attractive dividends," Cheong told reporters, adding hedge funds, especially, responded positively.ING Life paid dividends of 182.5 billion won ($160.09 million) in 2016, or about 58 percent of net profit excluding one-off costs, according to company data.Cheong said the company has the ability to continue paying such dividends as it has a good capital-adequacy ratio and depends on higher-margin captive agents for its growth, instead of on lower-margin channels such as bank partnerships to sell its policies.ING Life''s risk-based capital ratio, a key measure of insurers'' ability to pay policyholders, was 319 percent in end-2016, compared to South Korea''s No. 1 insurer Samsung Life''s 302 percent, according to Korea Life Insurance Association data. ING Life had 5,118 captive agents as of end-2016, company data showed.The company said in a filing last month it is selling 33.5 million shares at an indicative price range of 31,500 won to 40,000 won per share, with the IPO seen worth between 1.05-1.34 trillion won. Pricing is expected on April 24, and listing is expected in the second week of May, Cheong said.MBK, which acquired ING Life from ING Groep in 2013, will retain about 59.1 percent stake of the company after the float, giving the whole company a pre-listing valuation of 3.28 trillion won.Morgan Stanley and Samsung Securities are advising the IPO. ($1 = 1,140.0000 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southkorea-ing-life-insurance-ipo-idINL3N1HR03M'|'2017-04-19T04:44:00.000+03:00' '5c5ec5eb9dbff28f81e1fdf5ee056311d800d7be'|'BRIEF-Genentech announces positive interim results for Emicizumab in phase III study of children with Hemophilia A'|'Company News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 1:07am EDT BRIEF-Genentech announces positive interim results for Emicizumab in phase III study of children with Hemophilia A April 17 (Reuters) - * Genentech announces positive interim results for Emicizumab in phase III study of children with Hemophilia A * Genentech - results build upon data for Emicizumab in adults and adolescents with Hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII * Genentech - Emicizumab Prophylaxis reduced number of bleeds in children with Hemophilia A and inhibitors to factor VIII Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-genentech-announces-positive-inter-idUSFWN1HL0OD'|'2017-04-17T13:07:00.000+03:00' '303e8592567785dce2b1943984afb3f3ac109c4a'|'The long, rough ride ahead for ''Made in America'''|'Business News - Mon Apr 17, 2017 - 8:21pm BST The long, rough ride ahead for ''Made in America'' left right Kerry Goldsmith and Brian Jackson construct mini-bikes at motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 1/6 left right Jamison Spurlock (C) pushes a mini-bike forward on an assembly line at motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 2/6 left right Alex Keechle, CEO of Mini motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto, poses on the factory floor in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 3/6 left right Brian Mahaffey constructs a mini-bike at motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 4/6 left right Alex Keechle, CEO of Mini motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto, poses on the factory floor in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 5/6 left right Workers construct mini-bikes at motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto in Ruston, Louisiana January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Nick Carey 6/6 By Nick Carey - RUSTON, Louisiana RUSTON, Louisiana Mini motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto made a big bet on U.S. manufacturing by moving assembly to this Louisiana town in 2016 from China. But it will be a long ride before it can stamp its products "Made in USA." The loss of nearly one out four U.S. factories in the last two decades means parts for its bike frames and engines must be purchased in China, where the manufacturing supply chain moved years ago. "There''s just no way to source parts in America right now," said Monster Moto Chief Executive Alex Keechle during a tour of the company''s assembly plant. "But by planting the flag here, we believe suppliers will follow." Monster Moto''s experience is an example of the obstacles American companies face as they, along with President Donald Trump, try to rebuild American manufacturing. U.S. automakers and their suppliers, for example, have already invested billions in plants abroad and would face an expensive and time-consuming transition to buy thousands of American-made parts if President Trump’s proposed “border tax” on imported goods were to become law. When companies reshore assembly to U.S. soil – in Monster Moto’s case that took two years to find a location and negotiate support from local and state officials – they are betting their demand will create a local supply chain that currently does not exist. For now, finding U.S.-based suppliers "remains one of the top challenges across our supplier base," said Cindi Marsiglio, Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s ( WMT.N ) vice president for U.S. manufacturing and sourcing. Wal-Mart partnered with Monster Moto and several other U.S. companies in a drive to increase spending on American-made goods by $250 billion by 2023 in response to consumer demand for American-made goods. Their experience has shown Americans’ patriotic shopping habits have limits, namely when it comes to price. Take Monster Moto''s bikes, which sell for between $249 to $749. Keechle, the CEO, says he can’t raise those prices for fear his price sensitive prospective customers will turn to less expensive rivals made in China. "Consumers won''t give you a free pass just because you put ''Made in USA'' on the box," Keechle says. "You have to remain price competitive." Keeping a sharp eye on labor costs in their factory is one thing these U.S. manufactures can control. They see replacing primarily lower-skilled workers on the assembly line with robots on American factory floors as the only way to produce here in a financially viable, cost-competitive way. It’s a trend that runs against the narrative candidate Donald Trump used to win the U.S. Presidency. Since taking office, Trump has continued promises to resurrect U.S. manufacturing''s bygone glory days and bring back millions of jobs. On March 31, Trump directed his administration to clamp down on countries that abuse trade rules in a bid to end to the "theft of American prosperity." But it''s more complicated on the ground for companies like Monster Moto. "It''s almost as if people think you can just unplug manufacturing in one part of the world and plug it in to the U.S. and everything’s going to be fine," said David Abney, Chief Executive Officer of package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc ( UPS ), which helped Monster Moto reconfigure its supply chain to bring its Chinese-made parts to Ruston. "It''s not something that happens overnight," he said. A White House official said that the Trump administration’s efforts to encourage manufacturers to reshore production will be focused on cutting regulations and programs to provide new skills to manufacturing workers. “We recognize that the manufacturing jobs that come back to America might not all look like the ones that left,” a White House official said, “and we are taking steps to ensure that the American workforce is ready for that.” MAKING ROBOTS GREAT AGAIN In Monster Moto''s cavernous warehouse in Ruston, boxes of imported parts that are delivered at one end then become bikes on a short but industrious assembly line of a few dozen workers. A solitary, long-bearded worker by the name of Billy Mahaffey fires up the bikes to test their engine and brakes before a small group of workers puts them in boxes declaring: "Assembled in the USA." Helped by that label, Monster Moto has experienced a recent boom in demand from major customers that include Wal-Mart. The company expects to double production to 80,000 units and increase its assembly workers - who make $13 to $15 an hour - to 100 from around 40 in 2017. The most likely components Monster Moto could produce in America first are black, welded-metal frames for bikes and go-karts, but they would have to automate production because human welders would be too expensive. "We can''t just blow up our cost structure," said Monster Moto President Rick Sukkar. "The only way to make it work in America is with robotics." The same principle applies for much larger manufacturers, such as automotive supplier Delphi Automotive PLC’s ( DLPH.N ). Chief Financial Officer Joe Massaro told analysts in February that 90 percent of the company’s hourly workforce is in “best-cost countries.” When asked about shifting production to the United States from Mexico, Massaro said depending on what happens to trade rules “it would have to be much more of the sort of the automated type manufacturing operations just given… the labor differential there.” That trend is already showing up in data compiled by Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think-tank. According to senior economist Rob Scott, not only did America lose 85,000 factories, or 23.5 percent of the total, from 1997 to 2014, but the average number of workers in a U.S. factory declined 14 percent to 44 in 2014 from 1997. According to Scott, much of the decline in workers was due to automation. For a graphic, click tmsnrt.rs/2oaz5mD "We''re going to see more automation in this country because it makes good sense economically for every company," said Hal Sirkin, a managing director at the Boston Consulting Group. "You can spend a lot of time bemoaning it, but that''s not going to change." Manufacturers say automated production requires fewer, but more skilled workers such as robot programmers and operators. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates because of the "skills gap" there are 350,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs today in a sector that employs over 12 million people. In Ruston, Mayor Ronny Walker bet on Monster Moto by guaranteeing the company''s lease because he wants to diversify the city''s economy, and envisions suppliers setting up alongside Monster Moto''s assembly plant. "Could it take a long time to bring manufacturing back here? Sure," he says. "But you have to start somewhere." (Editing by Joe White and Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-manufacturing-suppliers-idUKKBN17J0SY'|'2017-04-18T02:56:00.000+03:00' '3cecdfa67622f670e6b642b3b474690a4e9aa05a'|'Cardinal Health to buy Medtronic units for $6.1 billion'|'U.S. drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc ( CAH.N ) said on Tuesday it would buy medical device maker Medtronic Plc''s ( MDT.N ) medical supplies businesses for $6.1 billion in cash.Cardinal Health is acquiring the patient care, deep vein thrombosis and nutritional insufficiency units from Medtronic.The businesses encompass 23 product categories across multiple market settings, including brands such as Curity, Kendall, Dover, Argyle and Kangaroo.Cardinal Health said it would finance the acquisition with cash and $4.5 billion in new debt.(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-medtronic-unit-cardinal-health-idINKBN17K183'|'2017-04-18T09:10:00.000+03:00' '84d35bd01bf1e6c0e303b2b9f64f1982bd01ed48'|'UPDATE 1-Facebook to review handling of videos after Cleveland killing'|'Company News 5:57pm EDT UPDATE 1-Facebook to review handling of videos after Cleveland killing (Adds details of review, link to Breakingviews column) By David Ingram SAN FRANCISCO, April 17 Facebook Inc launched a review on Monday of how it handles violent videos and other objectionable material, saying it needed to do better after a video of a killing in Cleveland remained on its service for more than two hours on Sunday. The world''s largest social network plans to look for ways to make it easier for people to report videos and to speed up the process of reviewing items once they are reported, Justin Osofsky, Facebook''s vice president for global operations and media partnerships, said in a blog post. "We prioritize reports with serious safety implications for our community, and are working on making that review process go even faster," Osofsky said. U.S. authorities on Monday widened a manhunt for a murder suspect who, according to police and Facebook, posted a video of himself on the online service shooting an elderly man in Cleveland. Police said they had received "dozens and dozens" of tips about the possible location of the suspect, Steve Stephens, and tried to convince him to turn himself in when they spoke with him on his cellphone on Sunday after the shooting. But Stephens remained at large as the hunt for him expanded nationwide, police said. The shooting was the latest violent incident shown on Facebook, raising questions about how the company moderates content. (Reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cleveland-murder-facebook-idUSL1N1HP1KU'|'2017-04-18T05:57:00.000+03:00' '54187088ce1bc78810d95bbda3e50ab96438e81f'|'Ex-JPMorgan analyst cleared of remaining insider trading charges'|'Big Story 10 08am EDT Ex-JPMorgan analyst cleared of remaining insider trading charges By Nate Raymond A federal judge has dismissed the remaining charges against a former JPMorgan Chase & Co investment banking analyst accused of engaging in an insider trading scheme, after a jury in February largely acquitted him. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter in Los Angeles on Monday dismissed four counts of insider trading and tender offer fraud pending against Ashish Aggarwal, who previously worked at J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in its San Francisco office. The decision, which was confirmed by lawyers for Aggarwal, came after a jury in February found him not guilty of 26 of 30 counts he faced. His lawyers argued the jury had already determined Aggarwal did not intend to commit the charged crimes. "We are pleased that the court, in granting our motion, agreed with us that the government''s case could not proceed, and correctly put an end to this prosecution," Aggarwal''s lawyers, Grant Fondo and Derek Cohen, said in a joint statement. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney''s Office in Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Aggarwal was charged in August 2015 in connection with what prosecutors said were tips he provided a college friend, Shahriyar Bolandian, who they said in turn tipped his childhood friend, Kevan Sadigh. Prosecutors said Aggarwal tipped Bolandian to inside information before the announcements of Integrated Device Technology Inc''s 2012 acquisition of PLX Technology Inc and Salesforce.com Inc''s 2013 acquisition of ExactTarget Inc. Bolandian in turn told Sadigh in both cases, enabling them to trade ahead of the deals and make more than $600,000, prosecutors said. Both have pleaded not guilty and have yet to face trial. Aggarwal denied wrongdoing. His lawyers at trial said the prosecution''s case was circumstantial and lacked evidence that Aggarwal knew about the trades before they happened, tipped his co-defendants or received anything in exchange. The case is U.S. v. Aggarwal et al, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 15-cr-465. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-insidertrading-jpmorgan-idUSKBN17K1R8'|'2017-04-18T22:01:00.000+03:00' '4d6700428791eab4731e568ef17ec636fcb65a7a'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 18'|'April 18 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Investment firm Silver Lake plans to announce on Tuesday that it has closed its fifth buyout fund at $15 billion, one of the biggest ever dedicated to technology deals. That exceeds the $12.5 billion fund-raising target that the firm had previously aimed for and brings the firm''s total assets and committed capital to about $39 billion. nyti.ms/2pvM0Qs- Arconic Inc''s CEO Klaus Kleinfeld has been ousted from the company after mounting pressure from the big hedge fund Elliott Management and a letter he sent in response without his board''s approval. nyti.ms/2pvDUaq- Officials in New York City are moving to require Uber Technologies Inc to provide a tipping option in the ride-hailing application. The city''s Taxi and Limousine Commission announced a proposal on Monday requiring car services that accept only credit cards to allow passengers to tip the driver using their card. nyti.ms/2pvSyOZ- Facebook Inc is facing a backlash over a shooting video, as it grapples with its role in policing content on its global platform. Criticism built swiftly on Monday after the company took more than two hours to pull down the video. nyti.ms/2pvNUAv- The threat of a Hollywood strike is getting real. On Wednesday, television and movie writers will begin voting on whether to authorize a walkout. If members approve a strike, and no pact with studios has been reached by May 1, picketing will begin the next day. nyti.ms/2pvO8aV(Compiled by Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL3N1HQ24F'|'2017-04-18T02:27:00.000+03:00' 'f82afa1c1bffe9575b64793f93365ca7fc90de7d'|'China''s Lander Sports scraps plans to buy stake in Southampton'|' 1:21am BST China''s Lander Sports scraps plans to buy stake in Southampton SHANGHAI Chinese stadium builder Lander Sports ( 000558.SZ ) said late on Sunday it was terminating plans to buy a stake in English soccer club Southampton, citing uncertain factors wrought by changes in China''s securities market and policies. In a statement issued to the stock market, Lander Sports said the process to buy an 80 percent stake in the Southampton''s holding firm, St. Mary''s Football Group, also involved having to gain approval from government bodies including China''s foreign exchange regulator and top economic planner. "Whether the company can eventually complete the acquisition of the target firm''s shares remains uncertain," it said in the statement. "To keep to principle of prudence, ensure the company''s development remains normal and to safeguard the majority of investors'' interests, the company has decided to end this major asset restructuring." The company had earlier this year said it had struck a deal with Saints'' owner Katharina Liebherr, without disclosing the price. Reuters reported in March that Chinese buyers including materials giant Amer International and CITIC Securities Co Ltd ( 600030.SS ) were preparing a rival bid. Chinese entities and individuals have ploughed more than $3 billion into overseas soccer investments since late 2015, encouraged by avid fan President Xi Jinping, who wants the country to become a soccer superpower. A number of sports-related deals, however, have hit hurdles after Beijing said it would rein in risks from "irrational" outbound investments, with particular focus on sectors including hotels, entertainment and sports. A 740 million euros ($784.92 million) agreement for Italian club AC Milan, which was held up as the buyers struggled to get approval from Beijing, finally closed last week eight months after it was agreed. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-china-southampton-idUKKBN17J00K'|'2017-04-17T08:21:00.000+03:00' 'cbf49973c34499efbec1d2b483dd778d7e9cc114'|'AUTOSHOW-China EV start-up Nio to sell mass-production car next year'|'SHANGHAI, April 19 Chinese electric vehicle start-up Nio will start selling its first mass-production vehicle next year, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday, as it unveiled its ES8 SUV car at the Shanghai auto show.Nio, formerly known as NextEV, is among the first of a raft of Chinese electric vehicle startups to launch a production vehicle, with many so far only showing concept cars.The Chinese auto market has been flooded with electric vehicle start-ups in recent years after Beijing opened the sector to technology and venture capital (VC) investment. Nio is backed by Chinese technology giants Tencent Holdings and Baidu Inc as well as Silicon Valley investors.The company said it would also sell 10 EP9 electric "super cars" for $1.48 million without offering a timeline. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Joseph Radford)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-shanghai-nio-idINB9N1HM00D'|'2017-04-19T00:30:00.000+03:00' '45820bd8d62353d7cc1d1ff13f5e024a50bbb762'|'Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.2-$1.5 billion - report'|'Electronics payments provider Paytm is in talks with Japan''s SoftBank Group ( 9984.T ) to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion in cash, making the latter one of the largest shareholders in the fintech start-up, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday citing sources.The deal, which could increase Paytm''s valuation to $7 billion to $9 billion, will see SoftBank buying some shares from existing Paytm investor SAIF Partners and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma beside investing money in the company, the report said. ( bit.ly/2oK3j27 )Local media had reported recently that SoftBank is keen to sell its stake in India''s e-commerce firm Snapdeal in exchange for a stake in market leader Flipkart ( IPO-FLPK.N ).Paytm may also buy Snapdeal-owned payments rival Freecharge, as part of the deal, the report said.Digital payments have assumed great significance in India after the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government ban on old high-valued bank notes in November led to a severe cash crunch across the country.(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-paytm-softbank-group-fundraising-idINKBN17L09Z'|'2017-04-19T12:38:00.000+03:00' '459bdea494993bffc7e66a206c08c66701680a97'|'Brazil''s Renova sells wind farm to AES unit for $193 million'|'SAO PAULO Renova Energia SA sold a wind farm project to a unit of AES Corp for 600 million reais ($193 million) on Tuesday, enabling the Brazilian renewable power company to replenish cash amid a severe cash crunch.In a securities filing, AES Tietê Energia SA said it plans to assume 1.150 billion reais worth of debt owed by the Alto Sertao II project. The deal''s value could increase by 100 million reais within five years, depending on whether the project outperforms some unspecified operational metrics.Reuters reported on Jan. 2 that Renova and AES Tietê, a unit of AES Brasil, had reached an accord over Alto Sertao II for a price between 600 million reais and 700 million reais.($1 = 3.1071 reais)(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Luciano Costa; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-renova-energia-m-a-aes-corp-idUSKBN17K2M9'|'2017-04-19T02:01:00.000+03:00' '4f6ecc41bdfa9e66684577966e085e10f78023ff'|'China''s HNA nears deal to buy Odebrecht''s Brazil airport stake: source'|'By Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd is close to buying out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil''s second-busiest international airport, a person briefed on the matter said on Monday, partly solving an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights.The Chinese company, which is part of HNA Group Co Ltd, is currently conducting due diligence proceedings that could lead to the purchase of the approximately 30 percent stake that Odebrecht has in the Rio de Janeiro international airport, commonly known as Galeão, said the person.As a condition to a deal, Odebrecht and partner Changi Airports International Pte Ltd of Singapore will pour 900 million reais ($290 million) into the investment vehicle managing Galeão, representing payment of past-due operating licensing fees, the person said. The payment is expected to take place as early as this week, the person added.Odebrecht and Changi have a combined 51 percent of Galeão, with Brazil''s civil aviation infrastructure authority Infraero the remainder. The consortium failed to pay the licensing installment last year, citing a cash crunch amid Brazil''s harshest recession on record.Odebrecht declined to comment. HNA and Changi press representatives did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.The person, who requested anonymity because terms of the transaction remain private, declined to elaborate on a potential timetable or a value for the deal.The move underscores how Odebrecht, the largest Latin American infrastructure conglomerate, is disposing of assets to stay current on about 76 billion reais of net debt and weather the impact of its involvement in Brazil''s worst corruption scandal. The scandal has almost fully shut Odebrecht''s access to credit and new contracts in Brazil and almost a dozen countries.Brazil''s government wants Odebrecht''s exit from the consortium to settle the airport''s licensing problems, Reuters reported on March 28. The installment in arrears totaled 800 million reais, and another 1 billion reais is coming due in coming months.The fate of pending asset sales outside Brazil is increasingly dependent on how quickly governments across Latin America and Africa decide penalties for Odebrecht, which admitted to paying bribes to win projects in recent years.Several planned divestitures like the Galeão stake, Angola''s Catoca mining project and a 28 percent stake in Brazil''s Santo Antônio hydropower dam could be finalized later this year, Reuters reported on Feb. 22, citing people directly involved in the plans.Earlier, U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie sentenced Odebrecht to pay $2.6 billion in fines related to the corruption case. Dearie''s decision is seen as helping Odebrecht resolve legal problems related to the scandal, accelerating a thorough restructuring taking place at the Brazilian conglomerate.($1 = 3.1032 reais)(Editing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-odebrecht-transport-divestiture-idINKBN17J1G4'|'2017-04-17T16:08:00.000+03:00' '19bfe716ef30816fb2cdb506526cd10f530e9681'|'U.S. shale oil output to rise 123,000 bpd in May - EIA'|'NEW YORK U.S. shale production in May is expected to rise 123,000 barrels per day to 5.19 million bpd, government data showed on Monday.In the Permian, oil production is forecast to rise by 76,000 bpd to 2.36 million bpd, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration''s drilling productivity report.In the Eagle Ford region, output is set to rise by 39,000 bpd to 1.22 million bpd. Production in the Bakken is forecast to drop 1,400 bpd to 1.02 million bp(Reporting by Catherine Ngai; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-oil-productivity-idINKBN17J1HF'|'2017-04-17T16:18:00.000+03:00' 'df435e44ef6d2c509be861ffe501b8c98bbb5019'|'Exclusive: Buffett likely voted shares to back Wells Fargo board'|'By Dan Freed - NEW YORK NEW YORK Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) largest investor, Warren Buffett, has likely already voted his shares to support the bank''s recommendations at its contentious annual shareholder meeting next week, a representative told Reuters on Wednesday, which include reinstating most of the board''s directors.The prominent billionaire''s conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ), owns nearly 10 percent of Wells Fargo and Buffett personally owns shares as well. Many investors follow Buffett''s lead because of his decades-long track record of profitable investments.Wells Fargo, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, has for months been embroiled in a scandal that involves thousands of former employees creating as many as 2 million accounts in customers'' names without their permission.The matter has already subsumed former Chief Executive John Stumpf, who resigned in October. Now the board, whose members include new CEO Tim Sloan, is facing opposition in the shareholder vote next week after proxy advisers recommended rejecting many of them.Buffett''s assistant, Debbie Bosanek, told Reuters that Buffett supports management and the board, and that he has likely voted shares held by him and Berkshire to reflect that view. Berkshire held nearly 10 percent of Wells Fargo''s outstanding shares as of year-end, but has decided to sell some to avoid breaching the 10 percent threshold that would require special regulatory permission.Wells Fargo Chief Executive Tim Sloan recently told The Wall Street Journal that Buffett would support the board, but Buffett had not confirmed Sloan''s statement until now.(This story corrects Reuters Instrument Code to tag story to Wells Fargo & Co instead of Wayfair Inc)(Reporting by Dan Freed; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-accounts-buffett-idINKBN17M0BS'|'2017-04-20T01:47:00.000+03:00' '9ccb1d66a81653bab40f4bf30749ad24bfc2f9f6'|'Former U.S. deputy attorney general to be named Volkswagen monitor - source'|' 27pm BST Former U.S. deputy attorney general to be named Volkswagen monitor - source The Volkswagen logo is seen at the company''s display during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Blinch WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department is expected to name a former deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush to serve as independent monitor of Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) as part of a plea agreement over the automaker''s diesel emissions scandal, a source briefed on the matter said Wednesday. Larry Thompson, a lawyer at Finch McCranie LLP who served as U.S. deputy attorney general from 2001-2003, is expected to be tapped to oversee the world''s largest automaker for three years. Under a plea agreement announced in January, VW must make reforms and faces oversight by a monitor for three years. The automaker is set to be sentenced to three years of probation on Friday by a federal judge in Detroit. Thompson and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-emissions-idUKKBN17L2P6'|'2017-04-20T04:27:00.000+03:00' '20f4c9b2e50b1e179aa18d073e41f2f716680281'|'UPDATE 1-U.S. announces probe into imports of steel wire rod'|'WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday it was launching investigations into whether imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod from certain countries are being dumped and/or subsidized.The probe affects imports from Belarus, Italy, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Britain; the subsidization probe covers those from Italy and Turkey, the Commerce Department said in a statement.The action follows petitions from Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc, a subsidiary of Gerdau SA, Nucor Corp, Keystone Consolidated Industries and Charter Steel, it said.Wire rod is a hot-rolled intermediate steel product used in a wide variety of other intermediate and end-use products.In 2016, the estimated imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod were valued at an estimated $10.4 million from Belarus; $12.2 million from Italy; $45.6 million from Korea; $32.3 million from Russia; $7.1 million from South Africa; $40.7 million from Spain; $41.4 million from Turkey; $55 million from Ukraine; $7 million from the United Arab Emirates; and $20.5 million from the United Kingdom, the statement said.If the U.S. International Trade Commission makes a preliminary finding by a May 12 deadline that the imports cause damage to U.S. producers, the investigations will continue, the Commerce Department said.(Reporting by Eric Beech; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-steel-rod-idUSKBN17K2PM'|'2017-04-19T07:21:00.000+03:00' '50731bfd473e7d2bc4a1dba00c05ffbf6aa9e55e'|'Daimler says in talks with Didi, others for potential cooperation'|'Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 5:11am BST Daimler says in talks with Didi, others for potential cooperation left right Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche stands next to the new Mercedes-Maybach S 680 ahead of the Shanghai Autoshow in Shanghai, China April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song 1/2 left right Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche attends an event ahead of the Shanghai Autoshow in Shanghai, China April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song 2/2 SHANGHAI Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ) is in talks with local Chinese ride-hailing firms including Didi Chuxing to discuss potential cooperation deals, board member Hubertus Troska said on Wednesday. "We are talking to the leading players including Didi about how we may develop something," Troska, Daimler''s board member with responsibility for Greater China, told journalists gathered at the Shanghai Motor Show. Separately, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said he sees further potential for expanding production in China by continuing to work with joint-venture partner BAIC Motor Corp Ltd ( 1958.HK ). "We see no limiting factors regarding continued expansion with this partner," Zetsche said in response to a question about whether Daimler was exploring further partnerships like rival Audi. (Reporting by Edward Taylor)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-daimler-idUKKBN17L0B9'|'2017-04-19T12:06:00.000+03:00' '32da86e7b37d1b4b0beaf2fe01595d30270449e7'|'Akzo Nobel beats on first quarter operating profit, sees 2017 growth'|'Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 6:23am BST Akzo Nobel beats on first-quarter operating profit, sees 2017 growth FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo AMSTERDAM/LONDON Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ), the Dutch paint-maker struggling to avoid a 24.6 billion euro ($26.4 billion) takeover by U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ), on Wednesday reported better than expected operating profit for the first quarter. Operating profit was up 13 percent to 376 million euros from 334 million euros in the same period a year earlier. Analysts polled for Reuters had put the figure at 337 million euros. Akzo is due to release details of its plan to sell its chemicals division and remain independent later on Wednesday. (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-results-idUKKBN17L0DO'|'2017-04-19T13:21:00.000+03:00' '0ef7470565e0e149e5261de890ed81745e073d26'|'ASML first quarter results buoyed by stronger demand'|'Company News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 1:22am EDT ASML first quarter results buoyed by stronger demand FRANKFURT, April 19 Dutch semiconductor equipment supplier ASML on Wednesday reported strong net income and sales during the first quarter, said sales for the second quarter would be around the same levels and that demand looked healthy for the rest of 2017. The company posted net income of 452 million euros, significantly higher than analysts'' average forecast of 397 million euros in a Reuters poll and more than doubling profit from 198 million euros reported in the year-ago quarter. Net sales grew 46 percent year over year to 1.94 billion euros ($2.08 billion) for the first three months of 2017, compared with analyst expectations for 1.82 billion euros. "A positive industry environment provided a strong start to 2017 and healthy demand is expected to continue throughout the rest of the year," ASML Chief Executive Peter Wennink said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9329 euros) (Reporting By Eric Auchard; Editing by Victoria Bryan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/asml-holding-results-idUSFWN1HR00C'|'2017-04-19T13:22:00.000+03:00' '5c27ac1311954ae62ecfeac594f3b704d58055e6'|'Sweden''s SCA rejected $25 billion bid for hygiene arm: report'|'STOCKHOLM Sweden''s SCA ( SCAb.ST ) has rejected a recent bid for its hygiene arm and an offer last year for its forestry business, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported on Wednesday, citing sources.SCA shares rose nearly 8 percent on Thursday last week after Dagens Nyheter reported unnamed sources saying a group of private equity firms had bid 200 billion crowns ($22 billion) for its hygiene products arm, a top global producer of diapers and toilet paper.The newspaper said on Wednesday says the bid, made in March, was for 225 billion Swedish crowns ($25 billion), but was rejected "rather quickly".It also said a bid for SCA''s forestry operations last autumn was rejected.The board of SCA is sticking to its plan of splitting the company later this year into two listed companies, the main hygiene unit, which accounts for the bulk of SCA''s value, and its forestry unit, a source said.An SCA spokesman declined to comment on the report.(Reporting by Olof Swahnberg, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sca-m-a-privateequity-idINKBN17L0IY'|'2017-04-19T04:29:00.000+03:00' '714c7b45254a1d24a35aefd9f1f1bf09df4a3cd3'|'AUTOSHOW-China EV makers to take on Tesla''s Model 3 through price, local manufacture'|'* Chinese-funded EV start-ups to battle Tesla on price* After China tariff, Model 3 may cost $43,000, plus tax* Chinese to launch rival premium EVs at around 300,000 yuan* They see local production as key to competitionBy Norihiko ShirouzuSHANGHAI, April 19 It''s not due to arrive in China until next year, but already Chinese-funded, smart, connected plug-in car start-ups are scrambling to launch cars to go head-to-head against Tesla Inc''s "mass market" Model 3 sedan.For leading Chinese electric vehicle (EV) start-ups such as Future Mobility, WM Motor and Singulato Motors, the key is that they will produce their cars locally, making them better able to match the Model 3''s price.Tesla, which has largely enjoyed a monopoly in the premium electric car market, is expected to price its Model 3 from $35,000 in the United States. Buyers in China would expect to add 25 percent to that in import tariffs.The founders and CEOs of Future Mobility, WM Motor and Singulato acknowledge the Model 3 is the car to beat.The first vehicles they aim to launch in the next couple of years will be priced around 300,000 yuan (roughly $43,500) or below, they told Reuters ahead of the Shanghai auto show, which opens to the public on Friday."Between 200,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan," said Singulato''s co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin.The Chinese-funded firms'' strategy is to beat the Model 3 in China by making their cars more premium and yet cheaper than Tesla''s mass-market all-electric battery car.The three start-ups see California-based Tesla''s weakness in its inability to produce cars in China, the world''s leading market for plug-in cars.Tesla has denied recent talk in China that it was considering manufacturing its cars locally. "Tesla is deeply committed to the Chinese market, however these rumours are not true," the company said.To be sure, Tesla will be no pushover. It this month overtook Ford Motor Co in market value as investors embrace CEO Elon Musk''s strategy of offering stylish, high performance cars that are continually upgraded with features that rival automakers are still only testing.Tesla has to date competed only in premium price classes at relatively low volumes. The Model 3 will need to appeal to more price-sensitive consumers to reach its projected annual sales of 500,000 vehicles."COMPETITIVE" PRICINGDaniel Kirchert, president and co-founder of Future Mobility, says his company plans to launch three models. The first, a premium midsize crossover sport-utility vehicle (SUV), will arrive "before 2020", followed within three years by a sedan and a 7-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).All will be based on the same vehicle underpinning architecture and share major components, "to achieve this very attractive entry price of about 300,000 yuan," Kirchert told Reuters in a telephone interview."It''s a bit more than $40,000, a very competitive price positioning ... because Tesla customers buying the Model 3 in China would have to shoulder the cost of a 25 percent import tariff on the car", unless it''s produced in China, he said."We will be competitive because we produce the car locally," he added.As well as making its car in China, at a planned assembly plant in Nanjing, Kirchert said Future Mobility plans to make the SUV bigger than the Model 3 and more luxurious."In the end, it''s really about how premium you are. That''s the real challenge."Singulato Motors unveiled its first "mass-production" car, also a crossover SUV, in Beijing last week, and says it will be priced below 300,000 yuan. It has started taking pre-orders for a limited period from customers willing to put down a deposit of 2,017 yuan.WM Motor plans to launch its first car, an electric plug-in crossover SUV, in the second half of 2018, again priced to compete with the Model 3, co-founder Freeman Shen told Reuters.The car will be the first of three electric vehicles the Shanghai-based firm plans to launch by 2020, by which time Shen says WM Motor should be selling around 100,000 cars a year.WM Motor showed a concept car to reporters on Tuesday in Shanghai, which Shen said hinted at the mass market model. The company aims to get the car to showrooms by September 2018.($1 = 6.8848 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in SHANGHAI, with additional reporting/editing by Joe White in SHANGHAI; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-shanghai-startups-tesla-idINL3N1HP27H'|'2017-04-19T06:24:00.000+03:00' '8d8c3eb35538c3e4c8876cba507d96af17e94134'|'India sugar futures fall after cabinet extends cap on stocks by 6 months'|'NEW DELHI Indian sugar futures fell on Wednesday after the cabinet extended by six months a limit on the quantity of sugar that mills can hold, in a move to contain high local prices.May sugar was down 0.2 percent at 3,761 rupees ($58.26) per 100 kg on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Ltd (NCDEX) as of 1240 GMT.The price of the contract had breached the 4000-rupee level to reach a record high in February.India, the world''s biggest sugar consumer, earlier this month allowed imports of 500,000 tonnes of duty-free raw sugar, as a drought has cut output below consumption levels for the first time in seven years.May soyoil futures were down 0.4 percent at 617 rupees, tracking weakness in Malaysian palm oil and other overseas soyoil contracts.May rapeseed contract was marginally up at 3,821 rupees per 100 kg, while Indian soybean closed largely flat at 3009 rupees.($1 = 64.5550 Indian rupees)(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Vyas Mohan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-grains-idINKBN17L1NP'|'2017-04-19T11:21:00.000+03:00' '78f1883d2f255734cb3dcfdcc0aca9a9c829f38b'|'IndusInd Bank Q4 net profit rises 21 percent'|'IndusInd Bank, India''s sixth-biggest private sector lender by assets, reported a 21 percent rise in its fourth-quarter profit on higher interest income, while its bad-loan ratio eased sequentially.Net profit rose to 7.52 billion rupees ($116.4 million) for the quarter ended March 31, from 6.20 billion rupees a year earlier, the Mumbai-based lender said on Wednesday. ( bit.ly/2oreRDQ )Gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans fell to 0.93 percent at end-March, from 0.94 percent as of end-December.($1 = 64.5900 Indian rupees)(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/indusind-bank-results-idINKBN17L0XK'|'2017-04-19T16:59:00.000+03:00' 'd4593ead53493d7e1ee5e99a053de9fa682e9509'|'Italy''s Atlantia mulling takeover of Spain''s Abertis - source'|' 5:47pm BST Italy''s Atlantia mulling takeover of Spain''s Abertis - source By Carlos Ruano - MADRID MADRID Italian toll-road company Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) is looking at the possibility of making a bid for Spanish rival Abertis ( ABE.MC ) in a deal that would create an industry giant with a market value of more than 35 billion euros (29.74 billion pounds), a source close to the matter said on Tuesday. The takeover would be friendly and would likely involve a cash-and-share offer, the source said. Atlantia, 30 percent controlled by the Benetton family, said in a statement it had expressed to Abertis a generic and preliminary interest in assessing "common projects", adding it had made no commitment and no plans had been submitted to its own board of directors. It gave no further details. In a separate statement, Abertis said the terms of any transaction had not been established. The two companies had agreed a merger in 2006 but the deal fell apart in the face of opposition from the Italian government. Atlantia, whose shares fell 3.8 percent after Bloomberg first reported that it was considering a bid for Abertis, has a market value of just under 20 billion euros and in 2016 booked revenues of 5.5 billion euros. The Spanish group has a capitalisation of 15.5 billion euros and sales last year totalled 4.9 billion euros. Atlantia last year said it wanted to increase the share of core earnings generated abroad to 50 percent by 2020 from 25 percent at present. As part of this strategy it is looking to sell a stake of around 15 percent in its Italian motorway division ASPI. Analysts have estimated that Atlantia, which is ASPI''s sole owner, could bag around 2.5 billion euros from the sale. Abertis''s main shareholder is holding company Criteria Caixa, which also controls Caixabank ( CABK.MC ). (Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-abertis-m-a-atlantia-idUKKBN17K21N'|'2017-04-19T00:47:00.000+03:00' '88b8b43cf6b5d4ec27264f547c62dfe18ff43bb6'|'BRIEF-MHP S.A. announces invitation to purchase notes for cash'|' 44am EDT BRIEF-MHP S.A. announces invitation to purchase notes for cash April 18 MHP SA SANTIAGO, April 18 A supervisor at the Salvador copper mine owned by Chile''s Codelco died in an accident on Tuesday, causing the state-owned company to suspend operations at its concentrator plant there. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-mhp-sa-announces-invitation-to-pur-idUSASA09J0J'|'2017-04-18T21:44:00.000+03:00' 'fbbb8332e68651abf6534982242f1abc91c8d994'|'Rains cut Rio first-quarter iron ore output 3 percent'|'Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:38am BST Rains cut Rio first-quarter iron ore output 3 percent Rio Tinto new Chief Executive Officer, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, poses for a photograph at their head office in London, Britain June 30, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett SYDNEY Global miner Rio Tinto ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ) on Thursday said first-quarter iron production from Australia fell 3 percent from the same period a year ago due to wet weather at its mines, but kept its full-year guidance intact despite weakening ore prices. Pilbara mines output totaled 77.2 million tonnes, the company said. Full-year shipping guidance was kept at 330 million-340 million tonnes. Shipments from the Australian mines in the first quarter were flat at 76.7 million tonnes against the year-ago period, but down 13 percent from the previous quarter. Ship loading was impacted by a cyclone, with parts of its rail line hit by heavy rainfall. "Despite these disruptions, shipments were in line with the first quarter of 2016 and guidance for 2017 remains at 330 to 340 million tonnes," the company said. Rio Tinto and rivals Vale ( VALE5.SA ), BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) and Fortescue Metals Group ( FMG.AX ) are facing a rapidly declining iron ore price amid waning demand from China, the biggest market for ore. The worldwide iron ore surplus reached 70 million tonnes last year - more than total U.S. consumption last year - and could balloon to 90 million tonnes in 2017, according to Citigroup. Iron ore prices are down more than 33 percent since a mid-February peak of $94.86 a tonne and forecasters are warning of a further pullback. Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science predicted iron ore prices would backtrack to U$55 a tonne in the fourth quarter. Next year’s forecast calls for iron ore prices to reach $51.60 a tonne, according to the department. In other minerals, Rio Tinto stuck to a full-year target of producing between 3.5 million 3.7 million tonnes of aluminum following a 2 percent rise in first-quarter production. But mined copper guidance was reduced to 500,000-550,000 tonnes from as much as 665,000 tonnes as a result of a strike at the Escondida mine in Chile and the curtailment of production at the Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Refined copper production guidance remains unchanged at 185,000 to 225,000 Rio said. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-rio-tinto-output-idUKKBN17L2YW'|'2017-04-20T07:33:00.000+03:00' '1832d0693ce8de181e954d9e1a525fe294c28e83'|'Japan''s exports rise in March, trade friction fears cloud outlook'|' 26am BST Japan''s exports rise in March, trade friction fears cloud outlook Workers load containers onto trucks from a cargo ship at a port in Tokyo, Japan, March 16, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Stanley White - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s exports rose in March at the fastest pace in more than two years as increased shipments of car parts and steel signalled that expanding overseas demand could help boost the country''s notoriously slow economic growth. Exports rose 12.0 percent in March from a year ago, more than the median estimate of 6.7 percent annual growth. The data also showed Japan''s trade surplus narrowed, although this development is unlikely to wholly ease concerns about U.S. trade policy. Japan''s exports are expected to continue rising as global economic growth gains momentum, but concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump''s pledges to adopt more protectionist trade policies cloud the outlook for Japan''s trade. "Exports look pretty good, and we expect this to contribute to growth this year," said Hidenobu Tokuda, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. "One concern is Trump could start to take a tougher stance on trade with China, and by doing so he could also start to criticise Japan''s exports more openly." In terms of volume, exports rose 6.6 percent in March from a year ago, a second consecutive month of gains in another sign that global demand is picking up. Exports to the United States rose 3.5 percent in March from a year ago due to higher shipments of car parts. That compares with a 0.4 percent annual increase in U.S.-bound exports in the previous month. Japan''s trade surplus fell 8.1 percent in March from a year ago to 628.1 billion yen ($5.77 billion) on rising imports of liquefied natural gas and grains. Exports to China rose 16.4 percent in March from a year ago, following a 28.2 percent annual surge in exports in February after the Lunar New Year. Japan''s exports to Asia rose 16.3 percent year-on-year in March after rising an annual 21.0 percent in the previous month. Japan''s imports rose 15.8 percent in March from a year ago, the largest increase since March 2014, as higher oil prices pushed up the value of energy imports. The overall trade balance came to a surplus of 614.7 billion yen versus the median estimate for a 575.8 billion yen surplus. On Tuesday U.S. Vice President Mike Pence put Japan on notice that Washington wants results "in the near future" from talks it hopes will open Japan''s markets to U.S. goods. Pence was speaking in Tokyo where he attended the first U.S.-Japan economic dialogue with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso. The next meeting will be held in Washington before year''s end, where the Trump administration could press for concessions on trade that could increase U.S. exports to Japan. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-trade-idUKKBN17M05G'|'2017-04-20T09:26:00.000+03:00' '6399ccf72a8b2b7b3348a2af8900e5397c38929f'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 20'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:57am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 20 April 20 Britain''s blue chip FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 0.16 percent at 7103 points on Thursday, according to financial spreadbetters. * IHG: Global hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group Plc said 1,200 of its franchised hotels in the United States, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, were victims of a three-month cyber attack that sought to steal customer payment card data. * RIO TINTO: Global miner Rio Tinto, on Thursday said first-quarter iron production from Australia fell 3 percent from the same period a year ago due to wet weather at its mines, but kept its full-year guidance intact despite weakening ore prices. * OIL: Oil prices regained some ground on Thursday after steep losses the previous day, with a slight drop in U.S. crude inventories stoking hopes that a push to rein in global oversupply could be gathering at least some momentum. * GOLD: Gold held firm on Thursday, after falling as much as 1 percent the previous day, as tensions surrounding North Korea and the upcoming French presidential election offered support to the safe-haven asset amid a firmer dollar. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,280 per ounce as of 0107 GMT. * Copper: London copper rose on Thursday but was mired near its lowest for the year after China''s refined production surged in March, underlining ample stocks in the world''s biggest metals consumer. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose by 0.7 percent to $5593 a tonne by 0126 GMT. * EMA: The European Medicines Agency (EMA), Europe''s equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is preparing to leave its London headquarters in the wake of Brexit and its executive director is hoping for a quick decision on its new location. France offered the northern city of Lille as a candidate to host the European Union''s drug regulator to replace London after Britain leaves the bloc, the government said on Wednesday. * EX-DIVS: BAE Systems, Barratt Developments, Intu Properties, Mondi and Smurfit Kappa Group will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.1 points off the FTSE 100, according to Reuters calculations. * Britain''s top share index closed down 0.5 percent at 7,114.36 points as it came under pressure once again on Wednesday, giving up the gains it had made in 2017 as sterling held close to a six-and-a-half-month high after Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap general election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Moneysupermarket.Com Group Q1 2017 Moneysupermarket.Com Plc Group PLC Trading Statement Release Man Group Plc Q1 2017 Man Group PLC Trading Statement Release Senior Plc Q1 2017 Senior PLC Trading Statement Release Go-Ahead Group Plc Q3 2016 Go-Ahead Group PLC Trading Statement Release Essentra Plc Essentra PLC Trading Statement Release Unilever Plc Q1 2017 Unilever PLC Trading Statement Release Sky Plc Q3 2017 Sky PLC Earnings Release Debenhams Plc Half Year 2017 Debenhams PLC Earnings Release Acacia Mining Plc Q1 2017 Acacia Mining PLC Earnings Release Hvivo Plc Full Year 2016 Hvivo PLC Earnings Release TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HS2DU'|'2017-04-20T13:57:00.000+03:00' '4e3aef5048b9dec003ac6edf78842288302f6f17'|'Trump resorting to unilateralism with steel probe: China Daily'|'Commodities - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 4:02am EDT Trump resorting to unilateralism with steel probe: China Daily An employee works at a steel factory in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, July 4, 2016. China Daily/via REUTERS BEIJING Washington''s move to probe steel imports could trigger a trade dispute between the United States and its major trading partners, who are likely to take retaliatory steps, the official China Daily said in an editorial on Monday. The article was the strongest official response yet to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launching an investigation of China and other steel producers for dumping cheap steel products into the United States. "By proposing an unjustified investigation into steel imports in the guise of safeguarding national security, the U.S. seems to be resorting to unilateralism to solve bilateral and multilateral problems," the China Daily said. The probe could result in efforts by the United States to curb imports that will affect the interests of a number of its major trade partners, including China, it said. "If the U.S. does take protectionist measures, then other countries are likely to take justifiable retaliatory actions against U.S. companies that have an advantage ... in fields such as finance and high-tech, leading to a tit-for-tat trade war that benefits no one," it said. The article called on the United States, the world''s top economy, to use the settlement mechanism under the World Trade Organization to resolve the dispute over steel. Reducing imports will not alter the weak competitiveness of U.S. steelmakers, help restore U.S. manufacturing or bring back jobs, as President Trump hopes, it said. It was a marked shift from official comments on Friday. China''s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a briefing the country needed to ascertain the direction of any U.S. investigation before it could make a judgment. (Reporting by Josephine Mason; Editing by Tom Hogue) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-steel-china-idUSKBN17Q0AY'|'2017-04-24T12:31:00.000+03:00' 'fc23953b480699581defccb0fc4462937ed74361'|'INSIGHT-NASH: The next untapped pharma market gives investors many options'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 1:00am EDT INSIGHT-NASH: The next untapped pharma market gives investors many options By Bill Berkrot - April 24 April 24 Large drugmakers with piles of cash are on the hunt for promising medicines being developed by small companies to treat NASH, a progressive fatty liver disease poised to become the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020. The eventual market for the complex disease, formally known as Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, is forecast to be $20 billion to $35 billion as populations with fatty diets increasingly fall victim to a condition with no approved treatments. With intense competition and pricing pressure eroding sales of medicines for diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other lucrative disease categories, and an already crowded field for developmental cancer drugs, big pharma sees NASH as an enormous new market for future profit that will accelerate a wave of deal making. "We are actively looking on the outside for opportunities... to complement our internal program," Morris Birnbaum, chief scientific officer for internal medicine for Pfizer, told Reuters. Pfizer currently has three early-stage drugs in the clinic aiming to block or reverse fat accumulation in the liver. "We believe that even though we''re a bit behind, we still might come out with the best-in-class molecules," Birnbaum said. Bristol-Myers Squibb also confirmed it is looking for additional assets to enhance its internally-developed NASH drugs. It presented promising data for its lead NASH candidate at the big European liver meeting in Amsterdam that ended on Sunday. "It''s early days, but keep your seatbelts fastened," said Dr. Scott Friedman, dean for therapeutic discovery at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and one of the world''s leading liver disease experts. Estimates for the prevalence of NASH in nations with fatty diets range from 5 to 20 percent of the population with up to 15 million potentially affected in the United States alone. Driven by the obesity and diabetes epidemics, the disease guarantees an enormous pool of patients for decades, making it a prime target for deals for promising therapies for NASH and its consequences - advanced fibrosis and liver-destroying cirrhosis. The very early stages of many of the drugs, and the complicated nature of the disease itself, pose risks for drug developers and their investors alike. But the upside potential is still enticing to Raghuram Selvaraju, managing director and senior healthcare analyst at Rodman and Renshaw. He calls NASH one of the hottest spaces in the healthcare sector. "We anticipate that there will be more transactions, more licensing deals from big pharma involving emerging biotechnology companies," he said. GILEAD A PIONEER Just a few years ago, Gilead Sciences was the lone large drugmaker talking about NASH. It was undeterred after its most advanced anti-fibrosis candidate failed, striking deals with two small companies to acquire additional NASH programs. Liver disease experts were impressed last year by Phase II data from a Gilead-developed drug that demonstrated fibrosis regression after just six months. Allergan became a top NASH contender with its acquisition of Tobira Therapeutics and a deal with private Akarna Therapeutics on the same day last year. Other big drugmakers with licensing deals or options on future deals in the space include Novartis, Merck & Co , Bristol-Myers and Johnson & Johnson. While many of the drugs in development are two-to-five years from reaching the market if they get that far, betting on the feverish deal activity gives investors a chance to profit near term. Many small companies developing drugs with a wide variety of approaches across the disease spectrum do not have partners. They include Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Galectin Therapeutics, Genfit and Galmed Pharmaceuticals, all with a chance to be among the first to market, as well as Enanta Pharmaceuticals , Durect Corp and little-known U.K.-traded Tiziana Life Sciences with assets much earlier in development. Galectin, which expects key data in December, has commenced preliminary partnership discussions, its chief operating officer told Reuters. Len Yaffe, who runs the StockDoc Partners healthcare fund and has long followed the liver disease space, said investors with tolerance for risk could do well to buy shares in several small-cap and micro-cap companies with promising NASH drugs in early development. He said if any one has stellar data, or lands a deal, the payoff could be considerable. When Allergan announced the $1.7 billion deal for Tobira, for example, that company''s shares jumped from under $5 to over $30. Yaffe, who had singled out Tobira to investors prior to its acquisition, said the Durect drug "looks incredibly promising as it relates to inflammation and fibrosis." Enanta has the advantage of cash flow from its hepatitis C partnership with AbbVie to fund its NASH program. "You want to bet on companies that can survive even if they don''t get a partnership this year or next year," Selvaraju said. Enanta Chief Executive Jay Luly said companies in earlier stages of development may have an advantage over the first wave of experimental treatments as regulators'' thinking on clinical trial goals and what makes an approvable product in such a new market evolves. "When we get there, the development pathway could be not only more clearly defined, but more simplified," Luly said. MANY SHOTS ON GOAL Drugmakers are taking a wide range of approaches to treat the complex disease, given multiple health issues among NASH patients that contribute to the liver damage, such as heart disease and diabetes. There are drugs targeting inflammation to prevent or reduce fibrotic scarring. Some address lipid regulation to reduce liver fat, while others attempt to directly halt or reverse fibrosis. And some companies are testing diabetes treatments to assess their ability to also improve NASH. "The big sea change from two years ago - apart from an increased number of players - is a fairly rapid acceptance of the fact that we''re going to be seeking combination therapies since it''s a disease that involves multiple pathways," said Mt. Sinai’s Friedman. "In the end, whatever the mechanism is, it needs to yield decreased fibrosis," he said, noting that progressing fibrosis is what ultimately causes serious health consequences. The knowledge that multiple drugs will be needed for therapeutic combinations to treat NASH, and that most experimental drugs fail, are big drivers for deal activity. Drugmakers are looking to improve chances of success by amassing numerous experimental drugs for their NASH programs. Some experts said drugs that target late-stage fibrosis and cirrhosis, where the risk of cancer and liver failure is highest, are likely to gain earliest acceptance from insurers. That fits the strategy of tiny Conatus Pharmaceuticals , whose shares more than doubled when it signed a $50 million collaboration deal with Novartis. Conatus is targeting end-stage disease with the goal of preventing transplants. But given the millions of potential patients and expense of treating advanced disease, there should be incentive for insurers to embrace medicines that target earlier stage NASH as well. "There''s still a major role for drugs that work on the front end," said Dr. Arun Sanyal, a leading liver disease expert whose Virginia Commonwealth University lab discovered the compound being developed by Durect. "One size will not fit all." (Editing by Edward Tobin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/health-liver-nash-idUSL1N1HJ1AK'|'2017-04-24T13:00:00.000+03:00' '03bb995141041ebbfea0ee4a7a8c97619461b962'|'Canada''s Teck Resources first-quarter profit jumps'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:42am EDT Canada''s Teck Resources first-quarter profit jumps April 25 Canada''s Teck Resources Ltd , North America''s largest producer of steelmaking coal, reported a surge in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, lifted by significantly higher prices for the commodity, and increased prices of zinc and copper. Teck, which also mines gold and silver, said adjusted profit attributable to shareholders rose to C$671 million ($494.6 million), or C$1.16 per share, from C$18 million, or 3 Canadian cents a share, in the first quarter of 2016. ($1 = 1.3567 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Susan Taylor and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/teck-res-results-idUSL4N1HX2VO'|'2017-04-25T15:42:00.000+03:00' 'd8a2edc61480b26eeb9ace3aa1686aa6fc3b91d8'|'Italy - Factors to watch on April 20'|'The following factors could affect Italian markets on Thursday.Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on .ECONOMYMarket regulator Consob President Giuseppe Vegas speaks before Chamber of Deputies Foreign Affairs Committee (0630 GMT).DEBTTreasury announces sale of six-month BOT bills, with relative amounts to be auctioned on April 26.Italy''s Treasury said on Wednesday it would offer 5- and 15-year linkers at an auction on Monday.COMPANIESBourse After Hours market closed.MEDIASETThe Italian private broadcaster would have broken even last year had it not been for the failed sale of its pay-TV unit Premium to France''s Vivendi, the group''s CEO Pier Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday.Mediaset said the failed sale of its pay-TV unit Premium to France''s Vivendi hit the group''s 2016 accounts by 341.3 million euros ($365 million).The company sees 2017 pay-TV unit revenues at between 630-640 million euros, its CFO said.(*) Vivendi could decide to freeze part of its Mediaset stake by transferring a 18.8 percent holding to a trust, MF reported citing industrial and advisory sources.TELECOM ITALIATelecom Italia shareholders should not support board candidates proposed by Vivendi, two advisory firms said, potentially dealing a fresh blow to Vivendi chairman Vincent Bollore''s attempts to build a southern European media empire.BANCO BPMItaly''s third-largest bank has short-listed Blackstone , Cerberus, Bain Capital Credit and Algebris for the sale of a 700-800 million-euro portfolio of bad loans backed by real estate assets including some hotels, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.UNICREDITItaly''s biggest bank said on Thursday Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was stepping down from his role as deputy chairman ahead of Thursday''s annual general meeting. The move brings forward a planned governance change by cutting the number of deputy chairmen to one.ATLANTIAChinese conglomerate HNA approached Spain''s Abertis in recent months with a proposal alternative to the one put forward by Italy''s Atlantia, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.A potential tender offer by Atlantia on Abertis shares could be launched at a price of 16 euros, Corriere della Sera reported citing the Spanish press.BANKSItaly''s FITD deposit guarantee fund approved on Wednesday a 420 million-euro capital injection into Carim and San Miniato which will pave the way for a takeover of the two ailing banks, as well as of rival lender CariCesena, by Credit Agricole''s Italian unit Cariparma, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.(*) Carim Chairman Sido Bonfatti told MF in an interview that an exclusive due diligence phase granted to private equity firm JC Flowers would last until mid-May. Bonfatti said an offer by a rival banking group such as Cariparma was better than a private equity investment but added that San Miniato had yet to pick its preferred bidder.(*) CREDITO VALTELLINESEThe Italian bank has asked advisers Equita and KPMG to look for a insurance partner and Cattolica Assicurazioni would be interested, MF reported.ITALMOBILIARECEO Carlo Pesenti said on Wednesday his family''s holding company was looking for a "big acquisition" but would not invest in infrastructure or in the publishing and financial sectors given excessively high multiples, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.(*) Italmobiliare is interested in the energy sector and around six months ago briefly considered a possible investment in Edison, Pesenti was Quote: d as saying in Corriere della Sera.BRUNELLO CUCINELLIAnnual general meeting (0800 GMT)MONCLERAnnual general meeting (0900 GMT)SAIPEMBoard meeting on Q1 results, press release on April 21.SALVATORE FERRAGAMOThe luxury good group said on Wednesday deputy general manager Massimo Barzaghi would leave the company as of July 31, 2017.BANCA GENERALIAnnual general meeting (0730 GMT).BREMBOAnnual and extraordinary shareholders'' meetings (0830 GMT).EI TOWERSAnnual general meeting (0900 GMT).ERGAnnual general meeting (0830 GMT).GEOXAnnual general meeting (0800 GMT).INWITAnnual general meeting (1300 GMT).SARASAnnual and extraordinary shareholders'' meetings (0830 GMT).UNIPOLNews conference to present Unipol''s initiative in support of earthquake victims in central Italy, with Chairman Pierluigi Stefanini, CEO Carlo Cimbri (1000 GMT).For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets:20 biggest gainers (in percentage)20 biggest losers (in percentage)FTSE IT allshare indexFTSE Mib indexFTSE Allstars index...FTSE Mid Cap index....Block tradesStories on Italy IT-LENFor pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets: European Equities speed guide FTSEurofirst 300 index DJ STOXX index Top 10 STOXX sectors Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors Top 25 European pct gainers Top 25 European pct losers Main stock markets: Dow Jones Wall Street report Nikkei 225 Tokyo report FTSE 100 London report Xetra DAX Frankfurt market stories CAC-40 Paris market stories... World Indices Reuters survey of world bourse outlook Western European IPO diary European Asset Allocation Reuters News at a Glance: Equities Main currency report:'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/italy-factors-april-idINL8N1HR3L8'|'2017-04-20T04:52:00.000+03:00' 'c83af7f23cc018dcec4fad0249004f0d7fe66f7b'|'Microsoft brings back developer behind Word and Excel 18,'|'Microsoft brings back developer behind Word and Excel by Seth Fiegerman @sfiegerman April 18, 2017: 12:04 PM ET How Microsoft''s Cortana will compete with Alexa Charles Simonyi, a legendary early Microsoft employee who helped create some of its most iconic products, is returning to the company after more than a decade away. Microsoft ( MSFT , Tech30 ) announced Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Simonyi''s startup, Intentional Software, to help advance its productivity tools. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "I am excited, stoked, amped, and elated to join forces again with Microsoft," Simonyi wrote in a post Tuesday. Simonyi joined Microsoft in 1981 and oversaw development of products like Microsoft Word and Excel. He left in 2002 to launch Intentional Software, which focuses on "reinventing productivity software" for the "modern workplace." Since then the billionaire software executive has gotten married, traveled to space and donated millions alongside Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates. Related: Steve Ballmer launches USAFacts to track government spending "During his tenure, Charles oversaw the creation of some of Microsoft''s most well-known productivity applications," Rajesh Jha, executive VP of Microsoft''s office product group, wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. "Now it''s my honor to welcome Charles back to Microsoft, along with his exceptional team." Under CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has redoubled its investments in tools for consumers and businesses. It scooped up popular email and calendar applications, acquired LinkedIn for $26 billion and built its own competitor to Slack, a popular workplace chat tool. "This is a very exciting time rivalling previous sea changes in the industry," Simonyi wrote in his post. But, he adds, "another sea change will require tremendous undertakings that only a company with the depth and breadth of Microsoft can bring to fruition." "It will amount," he said, "to reinventing productivity itself." CNNMoney (New York) First published April 18, 2017: 11:57 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/technology/charles-simonyi-returns-microsoft/index.html'|'2017-04-18T20:04:00.000+03:00' '38ee22706ffb838e4ae9e3414207e299ce23a346'|'Wells Fargo tests Facebook chatbot'|'NEW YORK Wells Fargo & Company ( WFC.N ) is testing a "chatbot", an automated program that can communicate with the bank''s customers on Facebook''s ( FB.O ) messaging platform to give them information on their accounts and help them reset their passwords.The U.S. bank said on Tuesday that it is piloting the virtual assistant with several hundred employees, and plans to extend testing to a few thousand customers later this spring.Wells Fargo''s chatbot will use artificial intelligence to respond to natural language messages from users, such as how much money they have in their accounts, and where the nearest bank ATM is.Chatbots have risen in popularity in finance and other industries over the past few months because recent improvements in artificial intelligence have made them better at interacting and interpreting human language.Banks and other financial firms are hopeful chatbots can be used to provide better and continuous customer service at the fraction of the cost of large call centers populated by humans.French bank Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ), for example, recently revealed that it was working with startup Personetics Technologies to develop chatbots that could answer queries about equity funds in its Romanian banking unit.Money transfer startup TransferWise in February launched a Facebook chatbot that enables customers to send money to friends and family internationally from Facebook Messenger.In March U.S. bank Capital One Financial Corp ( COF.N ) launched a chatbot named "Eno", which can answer questions on their recent account balances or help pay off credit card bills.Wells Fargo''s chatbot, which does not yet have a name, comes as the bank ramps up its development of artificial intelligence-based technology.In February it created a dedicated AI team to create technology, such as the new chatbot, that can help the bank provide more personalized customer service through its bankers and online."AI technology allows us to take an experience that would have required our customers to navigate through several pages on our website, and turn it into a simple conversation in a chat environment," said Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo''s Innovation Group, where the company''s AI team is based.Facebook opened up its Messenger app to developers to create chatbots in April 2016 in a bid to expand its reach in customer service and enterprise transactions.(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-chatbot-idUSKBN17K2GI'|'2017-04-19T05:02:00.000+03:00' 'e5c7736e2b8121ee11a649cd262d6437ce60cec6'|'Sky says UK customer defections steady in Q3'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 2:21am EDT Sky says UK customer defections steady in Q3 LONDON, April 20 European pay-TV group Sky said the number of customers deserting the service in its key home market had remained steady in the third quarter, helping it to reiterate its targets for the full year. The company, which has accepted a buyout offer from Rupert Murdoch''s Twenty-First Century Fox, had unnerved investors in January with a rise in customer defections. But the group said on Thursday that churn had remained steady despite it announcing new price rises. Operating profit for the nine months exceeded 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion). "Looking forward, we enter the final quarter of our fiscal year in good shape," Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch said. "Despite the broader consumer environment remaining uncertain, we continue to deliver on our strategy and are on track for the full year. " ($1 = 0.7806 pounds) (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by David Evans) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sky-outlook-idUSASM000AS3'|'2017-04-20T14:21:00.000+03:00' '4f23964b21e002db46ee95cb36bc4a7a709b74fa'|'Fed''s Kaplan: Three rate rises this year ''still a good baseline'''|'Money News 6:04pm IST Fed''s Kaplan: Three rate rises this year ''still a good baseline'' A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo WASHINGTON Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday that two more interest rate hikes this year remains possible but that the U.S. central bank has the flexibility to wait and see how the economy unfolds. "Three rate increases this year...is still a good baseline. If the economy develops a little more slowly, then we can do less than that and if the economy is a little stronger, we can do more than that," Kaplan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. The Fed has already raised its benchmark interest rate once this year, by a quarter percentage point at its last policy meeting in March. In deciding when to support future rate rises, the Dallas Fed chief noted he was closely watching inflation and that even though it continued to slowly move up, excess capacity in China and technology-enabled disruption of business were both exerting downward pressure. The central bank has raised interest rates at two of its last three meetings and has already partly turned its attention to tackling the $4.5 trillion balance sheet it built up to help spur the economy in the wake of the financial crisis. Kaplan said that he thought this year could be appropriate to take action to reduce the size of the Fed''s portfolio. "As soon as later this year or maybe early next year, we should begin the process of letting the balance sheet roll off," he said, adding that any plan should be made public at least a couple of months in advance. On the size of the reduction, he said the Fed doesn''t have an "exact fix" but "it''s going to be bigger than the $800 billion we used to run." (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-kaplan-idINKBN17M1HZ'|'2017-04-20T10:34:00.000+03:00' 'eb9a64307ed4adeacb8f4bf9f2ba51cbadaf6a51'|'World Bank chief echoes Bill Gates''s warning to Theresa May on aid - Business'|'The president of the World Bank has told Theresa May that cutting the UK’s aid budget could lead to an increase in conflict, terrorism and migration and would damage Britain’s international reputation.In a strongly worded response to reports that the government was considering dropping its commitment to devote 0.7% of national income to aid each year, Jim Kim said the money the UK provided was vital not just for developing countries but for the future of the world.His comments came after Bill Gates told the Guardian that lives would be lost in Africa if the government dropped the commitment because plans to eradicate malaria would be jeopardised. Like Kim, the Microsoft founder also stressed that the UK would lose influence. Lives at risk if Tories choose to ditch UK foreign aid pledge, says Bill Gates Read more At £13.3bn in 2016, Britain’s aid budget was the third biggest in the world after Germany and US. Of the G7, only Britain and Germany currently meet the UN’s 0.7% target for aid, and Britain is also one of the biggest donors to the World Bank . Kim said the UK’s Department for International Development had played a vital role in efforts to rid the world of poverty. “We were extremely encouraged when prime minister David Cameron fulfilled the commitment to 0.7%,” Kim said at a press conference to mark the opening of the spring meetings of the Bank and the International Monetary Fund.“It is important for people in the UK to understand just how significant that was in expanding the UK’s influence in the world. It would be very unfortunate for the UK to reduce its efforts. I would say the 0.7% that has been committed to is critically, critically important, not just for developing countries but for the future of the world.”The 0.7% pledge was originally made by Labour but it was only achieved after Cameron became prime minister in 2010. May is under pressure from the Tory right, Ukip and Conservative-supporting papers to cut aid spending. She pointedly refused this week to say she would keep to the commitment in the event of winning the forthcoming general election, prompting strong speculation that it will be abandoned.Kim said Britain’s aid money had never been more important, joining a chorus of voices opposing the idea of reneging on the 0.7% pledge.Romilly Greenhill, a senior research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, said it allowed Britain to punch above its weight on the international stage.Everything you need to know about UK aid and the 0.7% spending pledge Read more “Bill Gates is right to say Britain’s aid contribution is saving lives and putting children in school,” he said. “The first message is that it is needed, the second is that it is effective, and the third is that, in terms of a global Britain, it is very significant.“I’ve observed a lot of UN negotiations and developing countries and richer countries see it as a real indicator of Britain’s place on the international stage. It buys Britain a lot of kudos. Particularly when we leave the EU, it will demonstrate that we are punching above our weight.”Tamsyn Barton, the chief executive of Bond, the UK membership body for development groups, said: “It would be a travesty if the UK’s 0.7% commitment, made to help the world’s poorest people, was not committed to by all political parties. This is not the time to shirk our global responsibility or step back from the world.”Charlie Matthews, ActionAid’s head of advocacy, said: “A truly global Britain must be outward looking. UK aid and the commitment to 0.7% is helping to feed millions of hungry people in east Africa whose lives have been devastated by drought. Aid saves lives and helps the world’s poorest people, especially women and girls.”Jeff Crisp, a research associate at the Refugees Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, said dropping the aid pledge was not inevitable, but would be one way for May to appease the Tory right before difficult Brexit negotiations.“She will have to appease the right wing of her own party. One of the ways will be to get rid of it or to reduce it. Another way she could appease the right wing of the party would be to increase the way the overseas development budget will be used for things that are not strictly development.”Kim said: “We’re meeting at a time when we face overlapping crises, both natural and man made, all which add urgency to our mission: conflict; climate shocks; the worst refugee crisis since the second world war; and famine in parts of East Africa and Yemen, which the UN has called the worst in 70 years. With the famine in particular, the world was caught unprepared.”Kim said the multiple crises were linked to rising aspirations prompted by greater internet access. Aspiration matched by opportunity could create dynamic societies, he added.“But if those rising aspirations meet frustration we are very worried about more and more countries going down the path to fragility, conflict, violence, extremism and, of course, eventually migration. Because the other thing that access to the internet does is it increases people’s desire to migrate.”Kim said there was a need to create successful developing countries that would buy goods from the developed west and so ensure that rising aspirations were not met with frustration.“This is not something that’s theoretical. It’s happening in front of our eyes. People have to think of aid as more than just giveaways.”'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/20/world-bank-chief-echoes-bill-gatess-warning-to-theresa-may-on-aid'|'2017-04-20T03:00:00.000+03:00' '3c32943dc71d833ad8b8be9e567bc9f84168e664'|'Worries over Trump policies cloud start of IMF, World Bank meetings'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 6:09am BST Worries over Trump policies cloud start of IMF, World Bank meetings FILE PHOTO - A delegate waves a ''''Make America First Again'''' sign on the floor during the third session of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 20, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON World finance leaders are gathering on U.S. President Donald Trump''s home turf on Thursday to try to nudge his still-evolving policies away from protectionism and show broad support for open trade and global integration. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings bring the two multilateral institutions'' 189 members face-to-face with Trump''s "America First" agenda for the first time, just two blocks from the White House. "These meetings will all be about Trump and the implications of his policies for the international agenda," said Domenico Lombardi, a former IMF board official who is now with the Centre for International Governance Innovation, a Canadian think-tank. He added that IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde is aiming to "socialize" the new administration to the IMF''s agenda and influence its policy choices. The IMF in particular has sounded warnings against Trump''s plans to shrink U.S. trade deficits with potential measures to restrict imports, arguing in its latest economic forecasts that protectionist policies would crimp global growth that is starting to gain traction. Trump administration officials are now pushing back against such warnings by arguing that other countries are more protectionist than the United States. Trump launched the week by signing an executive order to review "Buy American" public procurement rules that have long offered some exemptions under free trade agreements, and by lashing out at Canadian dairy restrictions. In addition to warnings on trade, the IMF on Wednesday unveiled two studies pointing out dangers from fiscal proposals that Trump is considering. These included warnings that his tax reform ideas could fuel financial risk-taking and raise public debt enough to hurt growth. Making tax reforms "in a way that does not increase the deficit is better for growth," added IMF fiscal affairs director Vitor Gaspar. The advice may simply be ignored, especially after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last month insisted that an anti-protectionism pledge be dropped from a Group of 20 communique issued in Baden-Baden, Germany, said Eswar Prasad, former head of the IMF''s China department "The IMF has little leverage since its limited toolkit of analysis-based advice, persuasion, and peer pressure is unlikely to have much of an impact on this administration''s policies," said Prasad, now an international trade professor at Cornell University. Mnuchin''s decision against naming China a currency manipulator last week removed one concern for the IMF ahead of the meeting. Lagarde also noted on Wednesday that the IMF would listen to all of its members, and work for "free and fair" trade. Lagarde is set to interview Mnuchin on stage during the meetings. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g-idUKKBN17M0ET'|'2017-04-20T13:09:00.000+03:00' '30512db789f798f29de26166a19df2e1f5d55f99'|'CORRECTED-UK materials testing firm Exova says gets proposals for cash offers (March 27)'|'(In March 27 story, corrects paragraph 1 to say Element Materials is a UK-based firm, not Dutch)April 19 British materials testing company Exova Group said on Monday it had received proposals for a possible cash offer, including one from UK-based Element Materials Technology.Exova, whose laboratories test the safety and performance of products used in industries ranging from aerospace to pharmaceuticals, said private equity fund PAI Partners, and Jacobs Holding AG, a Swiss investment firm, had also made similar proposals."There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made by any of the possible offerors," Exova said in a statement.The controlling shareholder, Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC (CD&R), is poised to put up Exova for sale, the Sunday Times reported last week. bit.ly/2nDZqM2 (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/exova-group-ma-idINL3N1HR37U'|'2017-04-19T07:29:00.000+03:00' '6a1647688b9e81571d17bfa061ccbf1ca33200d2'|'Centurion Midstream acquires oil transport business from Agave Energy'|'HOUSTON Centurion Midstream Group LLC said it acquired a petroleum marketing and transportation business that operates in West Texas from Agave Energy Holdings, a subsidiary of Lucid Energy Group.Price of the purchase was not disclosed.Ken Douglas, Centurion''s chief financial officer, said the deal will expand the Dallas-based company''s Permian Basin crude oil and condensate marketing and logistics operation. The acquisition includes a fleet of about 20 trucks.(Reporting by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-agave-m-a-centurion-idUSKBN17K2K2'|'2017-04-19T01:36:00.000+03:00' '166143c1d9537c74def84d612690f51914d56bae'|'British companies to increase ad budgets this year despite Brexit uncertainty - survey'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 12:18am BST British companies to increase ad budgets this year despite Brexit uncertainty: survey People stand under Union Flag umbrellas during rain in Piccadilly Circus in London November 8, 2013. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor British companies plan to increase their spending on advertising this year as they expect the UK economy to remain resilient despite the Brexit vote, a survey showed on Wednesday, reversing a previous forecast for a decline in ad budgets. The IPA Bellwether report forecast corporate ad spending would rise 0.6 percent in the current financial year, revising a previous forecast, made in October and reiterated in January, for a 0.7 percent decline. The survey, conducted by IHS Markit on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, said on balance a net 26.1 percent of UK companies indicated they would increase their advertising budgets in the 2017/18 financial year. Growth in ad spending would stagnate in 2018 before trending upwards again in 2019 and 2020, the report said. "The ... survey paints a picture of a solidly growing UK economy, with companies continuing to show a willingness to commit increased resources to marketing and capitalize on current positive sales trends," said IHS Markit''s senior economist Paul Smith. The report showed a net balance of 11.8 percent of companies increased their budgets in the first quarter, led by a jump in internet ad spending, which touched its highest level in just under four years. The increase comes even as Google''s YouTube ( GOOGL.O ) and Facebook ( FB.O ), which dominate global online ad spending, face rising criticism for not sufficiently policing offensive posts and content. That has prompted some top client brands to pull ads in recent months. "Despite the current, turbulent digital ecosphere, it is clear that marketers are attracted to the cost-effectiveness of digital advertising and its ability to reach and accurately target their consumers," said IPA''s director general Paul Bainsfair. The survey interviewed around 300 UK marketing professionals primarily from Britain''s top 1,000 companies and across all key business sectors. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-advertising-idUKKBN17K2P4'|'2017-04-19T07:16:00.000+03:00' 'a2e2849a458cf934dfb51cdf3e5a669c3a14e2c7'|'Farm loan write-offs win votes in India, but may hurt economy'|' 1:43am BST Farm loan write-offs win votes in India, but may hurt economy left right FILE PHOTO: A farmer from the southern state of Tamil Nadu poses as he bites a rat during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the federal government, in New Delhi, India, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: Farmers from the southern state of Tamil Nadu display skulls, who they claim are the remains of Tamil farmers who have committed suicide, during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the federal government, in New Delhi, India, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo 2/2 By Rajendra Jadhav and Mayank Bhardwaj - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI India risks straining public finances and undermining already ailing state banks, economists said, after a $5.6 billion loan write-off for farmers in Uttar Pradesh and moves to do something similar in at least four other states. One of the first acts of the new government in India''s most populous state following last month''s election triumph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was to keep a promise to provide debt relief to 21.5 million farmers. Taking their cue from Uttar Pradesh, more state governments could waive loans to farmers, senior officials there said, to fulfill election pledges or woo rural voters before further polls in the run-up to a general election in 2019 when Modi is expected to run for a second term. "This will spread like a contagious disease to most parts of the country and you will very soon see at least 3-4 states announcing similar farm loan waivers," said Ashok Gulati, a farm economist who advised India''s last government. Economists caution that the move could encourage indebted farmers not to repay loans, deepening malaise at public sector banks already saddled with most of India''s $150 billion in stressed loans. Uttar Pradesh will cover the cost of the waivers by issuing bonds. This would in turn constrain India''s sovereign credit because such bonds are backstopped by the federal government, the economists said. India''s total public sector debt, as a share of gross domestic product, stands at around 66 percent - high compared to other emerging economies. Economists at Merrill Lynch estimate that states will end up writing off debts equivalent to 2 percent of GDP - the bulk of all outstanding loans to farmers. LEVERAGE LEVELS Ratings agencies would like to see India''s debt-to-GDP ratio fall below 60 percent over the next three years to justify an upgrade in its sovereign rating. Yet debt waivers would, even if staggered, force up borrowing, analysts said. "The loan waivers would likely worsen the fiscal deficits and leverage levels of the state governments, unless other resources are mobilized or expenditure is controlled," said Aditi Nayar of ICRA, an affiliate of Moody''s Investors Service. "There is a significant risk that productive capital spending may end up being reduced to fund a portion of the loan waivers." A government-appointed panel has suggested capping the states'' debt at 20 percent of India''s GDP, while Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has said the Uttar Pradesh loan waiver "undermines honest credit culture". WHO''S NEXT? The western state of Maharashtra and Punjab in the north are expected to announce similar loan waivers soon, senior officials in both states told Reuters. In Maharashtra, ruled by the BJP, farmers are clamoring for a bailout after two years of drought and falling commodity prices. In Punjab, known as India''s grain bowl, the opposition Congress party won last month''s election partly on the promise of a farm loan waiver. In southern Tamil Nadu, reeling from dry weather, a court asked the state government to write off loans to all farmers. Farmers from Tamil Nadu recently protested in New Delhi, showing the skulls of neighbors who had committed suicide to press their demand for drought relief and loan write-offs. WON''T PAY Some of India''s 263 million farmers have decided not to repay their debts, expecting loan waivers to mean they don''t have to. "I am not going to repay the loan because defaulters benefited from the previous waiver and I didn''t get any government help even as I repaid the loan on time," said Gorakh Patil, a farmer from Jalgaon in western India. Patil was referring to an $11 billion national farm loan waiver in 2008 that helped the Congress party-led coalition of the day win re-election the following year. But non-performing assets jumped. Gross non-performing loans in agriculture and its allied sectors surged to 588 billion rupees ($9.12 billion) at the end of the December quarter, from 97.4 billion rupees in the 2007/08 fiscal year, RBI data show. "There''s no benefit from such waivers," said a director at one state bank who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. "If you give any benefit across the board, it definitely has an adverse effect on credit discipline." (Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh and Manoj Kumar in NEW DELHI and Devidutta Tripathy in MUMBAI; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Mike Collett-White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-india-farming-loans-idUKKBN17L01L'|'2017-04-19T08:38:00.000+03:00' '6962cb552b06fb85e1605368cb87db8593807030'|'Goldman Sachs licks wounds in equities trading as peers grab share'|'Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) on Tuesday became the first Wall Street bank this earnings season to report lower equities trading revenue, signaling it was unlikely to reclaim the top market share ranking from Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) any time soon.People familiar with the business said a combination of outdated trading technology, a late effort to court quantitative funds and overall fee pressure on the bank''s key clients has blunted Goldman''s edge. It now ranks No. 2 behind its biggest rival.Last year, the once-dominant bank fell more than $1 billion behind Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) in equities revenue, marking the widest-ever such gap between the firms. That gap, which has been growing for years, has raised pressure from investors looking for answers and prompted Goldman to rethink its strategy."If they''re not experiencing the same good results as their peers, you may have to question if they''re owning up to their issues," said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, which holds Goldman shares.(GRAPHIC: Goldman vs. Morgan Stanley tmsnrt.rs/2opMFS0 )Goldman executives acknowledge that the business has taken a hit and say they are trying hard to turn things around. They point to some key hires and investments they have made in trading technology to win over new types of customers.But a full rehabilitation will take some time, they said. The executives requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.A spokeswoman for Goldman declined to comment.Equities trading is a tough business for big Wall Street banks in the best of times. It has costly infrastructure, demanding customers and big operational risks.Profit margins have been razor-thin for some time, but the business is facing new fee pressure from struggling asset managers. In 2016, total equities revenue at the world''s biggest banks fell 13 percent to $43.4 billion, the lowest level in four years, according to research provider Coalition.Other trends, like investors'' shifting to passive management, have shaved $15 billion from the equities revenue pool since 2009, according to a report from Morgan Stanley and management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.Just a handful of players dominate the equities business, which also includes trading in ETFs and derivatives, lending to hedge funds through prime brokerage and providing research to investors.PLAYING CATCH UPGoldman''s problems began in 2012, when Morgan Stanley launched an equities trading overhaul called "Project Velocity," and began trying to win back clients it lost during the financial crisis. ( reut.rs/14kKMtC )Goldman meanwhile began to stumble. Its head of electronic trading left in early 2013 and soon thereafter it suffered an embarrassing and costly trading glitch in the options market.Instead of developing light-speed technology to win over computer-driven money managers, Goldman chose to cater to institutional investors, like hedge funds, that it already had relationships with.The decision cost the bank dearly: high-frequency trading firms now dominate the stock market, representing 55 percent of U.S. daily volume. Meanwhile, active fund managers in Goldman''s target audience have been struggling to attract assets and are doubling down on investments in computer models to cut costs."If you''re playing catch up in electronic trading, that''s going to be an issue," said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive & managing partner at Quinlan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on banks. "It''s not that you can''t succeed, but there is a natural first-mover advantage for firms that started investing in their low-touch platforms earlier."On Tuesday, Goldman said its first-quarter equities trading revenue fell 6 percent, compared to gains of 2 percent to 10 percent at Citigroup ( C.N ), Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ) and JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ). Morgan Stanley will report results on Wednesday.TECHNOLOGY REVAMPGoldman in 2015 took steps to build new trading, hiring Raj Mahajan to revamp electronic technology in equities trading to cater to quantitative hedge funds and institutional investors who are increasingly adopting algorithmic trading strategies.It also acquired Sweden''s Pantor Engineering to help build out its electronic platform.Goldman executives say those efforts will take time to bear fruit, and focusing on ironing out quarter-to-quarter bumps in trading revenues should not overshadow existing relationships with clients.In discussing the first-quarter decline in a conference call on Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer R. Martin Chavez said management is less concerned with market share than with how profitable the business is, and whether clients are satisfied."Trading businesses should be measured not so much on quarterly numbers but how well they serve clients," said Mike Mattioli, a portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management, which holds shares in Goldman. "Goldman''s management team thinks about it this way."(Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-results-equities-idUSKBN17K2IF'|'2017-04-19T05:25:00.000+03:00' '8179b704f02f2779d8ac558a58ee8c0ca7a7020a'|'Sterling soars to highest since December after PM calls early election'|'Foreign Exchange Analysis 21am EDT Sterling soars to highest since December after PM calls early election A pile of one pound coins is seen in a photo illustration shot June 17, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Illustration/File Photo LONDON Sterling surged by as much as 1.3 percent against the dollar on Tuesday to hit its highest levels since mid-December, after British Prime Minister Theresa May surprised markets by calling an early parliamentary election for June. Sterling jumped to as high as $1.2730, its strongest since Dec. 14. It was on track for its biggest one-day rise since January. Deutsche Bank, one the world''s biggest sterling bears, said May''s call for a general election was a "game-changer" for the currency, and that it would raise its forecasts for the pound in the coming days. Analysts at the bank and elsewhere said May''s move should result in a larger and more stable majority in parliament, thereby reducing the likelihood of a so-called "hard Brexit". On a trade-weighted basis, sterling jumped 1 percent to a four-month high of 78.8. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly, editing by Nigel Stephenson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-markets-sterling-idUSKBN17K1LM'|'2017-04-18T21:11:00.000+03:00' '0493a52cc0346bc04c7ad9f20f80b5078085f7be'|'Visa''s adjusted profit jumps 27 percent'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 6:50pm EDT Visa''s profit boosted by Europe unit, big card portfolio wins A Visa logo is seen on a car during a news conference in Rome, Italy May 17, 2016 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi By Nikhil Subba Visa Inc ( V.N ) on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and said it expects full-year profit at the high end of its forecast, as it benefits from the purchase of Visa Europe and big credit-card portfolio wins back home. Shares of Visa, the world''s largest payments network operator, were up 2.5 percent at $93.45 in trading after the bell, after it also announced a $5 billion share buyback program. The company said total payments volume jumped 37.2 percent to $1.73 trillion in the second quarter ended March 31, on a constant dollar basis. San Francisco-based Visa, like rival MasterCard ( MA.N ) generates revenue by facilitating credit- and debit-card transactions. The growth in payments volume was helped by the addition to Visa''s results of Visa Europe, a former subsidiary Visa bought in June last year in a deal worth as much as $23 billion. Visa Europe made up nearly a fifth of total payments volume. Payments volume in the United States, Visa''s biggest market, increased 11.7 percent on a constant dollar basis, helped both by major portfolio contracts as well as a stronger economy. Warehouse club retailer Costco ( COST.O ) and USAA, one of the largest U.S. issuers of credit and debit cards, switched their card portfolios to Visa last year, in a competitive environment where large portfolios are hotly sought-after by payment networks. A healthier U.S. economy, which has seen strong jobs growth and rising incomes in the first quarter of 2017, bodes well for consumer spending — a key economic indicator for payments processors like Visa. The trends, while boosting quarterly profit and revenue, also helped Visa update its full-year forecast. The company now expects adjusted profit at the high end of its forecast for a mid-teens percentage point increase. Visa also said it expects full-year revenue at the high end of its forecast for a 16-18 percent increase. Net income fell to $430 million or 18 cents per Class A share in the second quarter, from $1.71 billion or 71 cents per Class A share, a year earlier, reflecting a $1.5 billion one-time charge related to Visa Europe. Excluding one-time items, Visa earned 86 cents per Class A share, beating analysts'' average estimate of 79 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net operating revenue rose 23.5 percent to $4.48 billion. Analysts on average had expected $4.29 billion. Visa''s stock — a Dow component — had climbed 12.3 percent in the 12 months through Thursday. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-visa-inc-results-idUSKBN17M2LS'|'2017-04-21T04:19:00.000+03:00' '4f373c4b9829dd45c286bd0f8a9202d538e50392'|'Morning News Call - India, April 21'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 11:08pm EDT Morning News Call - India, April 21 To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 11:00 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in New Delhi. 11:30 am: Renewable Energy Secretary Rajeev Kapoor, Heads of PTC India and IREDA at an event in New Delhi. 2:30 pm: HDFC Bank earnings concall in Mumbai. 5:00 pm: Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha at an event in New Delhi. 5:00 pm: RBI to release weekly foreign exchange data in Mumbai. GMF: LIVECHAT - WEEKAHEAD Reuters EMEA markets editor Mike Dolan discusses the upcoming week''s main market inflection points at 3:30 pm. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • India rate panel maintains hawkish stance, warns of inflation - minutes Indian central bank''s monetary policy committee cited upside risks to inflation arising from price pressure excluding food and fuel as the main reason for keeping its policy rate unchanged, according to minutes of its April meeting released on Thursday. • POLL-India''s central bank to keep rates steady over the next 18 months India''s central bank is expected to keep interest rates steady well into next year after it shifted to a neutral monetary policy stance in February, and despite having raised concerns over a potential spike in inflation, a Reuters poll found. • Supply disruption hits Vedanta''s aluminium plant in eastern India Diversified miner Vedanta said on Thursday its 500,000 tonne aluminium smelter in the eastern state of Odisha was hit by a power outage this week that damaged over one-third of its processing capacity. • India raises $186 mln from NALCO share sale, kicks off FY18 asset sale process India raised 12 billion rupees ($185.7 million) from a 9.2 percent stake sale in state-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO), the government said on Thursday, kicking off its asset sale programme for the new financial year. • No consensus yet on resolving bad debt at lenders - India cbank deputy The Indian government and the Reserve Bank of India had not yet reached an agreement on a new plan to clean up the record troubled debt accumulated at the country''s lenders, S.S. Mundra, a deputy governor at the central bank, said on Thursday. • Pernod rides U.S and China growth, cautions on India highway ban Pernod Ricard''s third quarter sales beat forecasts on Thursday, lifting its shares, but the French spirits group cautioned that a ban on alcohol sales near Indian highways would slow growth in its second-largest market. • Mindtree Q4 net profit plunges 27 percent, misses estimates Information technology company Mindtree Ltd said consolidated net profit fell 27 percent in the fourth quarter hurt by a foreign exchange loss and fewer client additions. • Goldman to sell up to $123 mln worth shares in India''s Max Financial - term sheet Goldman Sachs will sell shares worth up to $123 million in India''s Max Financial Services Ltd, according to a deal term sheet seen by Reuters. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • Trump praises Chinese efforts on North Korea ''menace,'' Pyongyang warns of strike U.S. President Donald Trump praised Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea" on Thursday, after North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike." • Trump administration, world financial officials clash over trade The Trump administration had a simple but stark message for world financial leaders who gathered in Washington on Thursday amid worries about rising U.S. protectionism: fair trade means tit-for-tat tariffs. • Islamic State claims Paris shooting, one policeman killed A French policeman was shot dead and two others were wounded in central Paris on Thursday night in an attack carried out days before presidential elections and quickly claimed by the Islamic State militant group. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,176.50, trading up 0.2 pct from its previous close. • The Indian rupee is poised to open lower against the dollar, as investors remain cautious ahead of the first round of voting in French presidential elections this weekend. • Indian government bonds will likely edge lower after minutes of the nation’s Monetary Policy Committee released after market hours yesterday showed that the central bank is intent on meeting its medium-term inflation aim of 4 pct. A fresh supply of notes later today is also likely to weigh on bond prices. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.87 pct-6.92 pct band today. The bond closed at 100.62 rupees yesterday, yielding 6.88 pct. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, with the Nasdaq closing at a record, as a round of solid earnings led by American Express pushed equities higher. • Asian stocks rose, lifted by bets on strong U.S. earnings and U.S. tax reform, while the euro retreated from a three-week high as jitters returned over the first round of French presidential elections on Sunday after a shooting in Paris. • The euro held steady below a three-week high against the dollar as investors awaited this weekend''s first round of voting in France''s presidential election. • U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors waited on the results from the French presidential election this weekend and as rising risk appetite boosted stocks, after yields fell earlier and broke below key technical resistance. • Oil opened the last day of a choppy trading week on a cautious note over doubts that an OPEC-led production cut was having the desired effect of restoring balance to a market that has been dogged by oversupply for more than two years. • Gold held steady, after rising 0.2 percent in the prior session, with tensions surrounding upcoming French elections on Sunday underpinning the safe-haven demand. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.61/64.64 April 20 -$26.2 mln $270.76 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.12 Month-to-date -$350.1 mln $3.85 bln Year-to-date $6.43 bln $9.32 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.6100 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Nayyar Rasheed in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL3N1HT1MS'|'2017-04-21T11:08:00.000+03:00' 'd8f4f93485b5396941261828d17e79fad4cb798a'|'Buyout firm Leonard Green nears $1.5 billion acquisition of Charter NEX: sources'|'By Greg Roumeliotis U.S. buyout firm Leonard Green & Partners LP has prevailed in an auction to acquire Charter NEX Films Inc, a U.S. manufacturer of specialty films for the food and medical industries, for $1.5 billion, including debt, people familiar with the matter said.The deal values Charter NEX at around 14 times its 12-month earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a frothy valuation for a packaging company that indicates private equity firms are having to pay top dollar to acquire coveted assets amid a buoyant market, the sources said on Sunday.A deal could be announced in the coming weeks, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the sale process is confidential. Leonard Green and Charter NEX did not respond to requests for comment, while Pamplona Capital Management, the private equity owner of Charter NEX, declined to comment.Headquartered in Milton, Wisconsin, Charter NEX is a producer of specialty polyethylene film for food and consumer packaging and for industrial and medical applications.Pamplona acquired Charter NEX from private equity firm Mason Wells in 2015 for an undisclosed amount. A year later, Charter NEX under Pamplona acquired a smaller peer, Optimum Plastics Inc.Pamplona has been stepping up its asset sales to capture the high prices in the market. Last week, it sold a 33 percent stake in French funeral services provider OGF to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.Leonard Green is flush with cash, having raised a $9.6 billion private equity fund last year.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-charter-nex-m-a-leonardgreen-idINKBN17I0LD'|'2017-04-16T14:43:00.000+03:00' 'fe498a78d58e775545aa8b23d6c372f4c91728f4'|'Reflation trades of 2016 deflate with remarkable speed'|'Saving And Loans 1:28pm BST Reflation trades of 2016 deflate with remarkable speed Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Jamie McGeever - LONDON LONDON Stocks, bond yields and the dollar are all falling, yield curves are flattening and sterling is marching higher. The "reflation" trades of 2016 that were supposed to mark a turning point in global markets are fading. Fast. The question for investors is whether this is the play book for the rest of the year, or whether the trends of 2016 will resume in the second half of the year. What is clear is that much of the conviction with which investors went into 2017 has been lost. This week, Goldman Sachs ditched its long-standing bullish call on the U.S. dollar, and Deutsche Bank did likewise with their gloomy sterling outlook. Following the developed world''s two most seismic events last year -- the U.S. presidential election and Britain''s vote to leave the European Union -- investors around the world had positioned for a broad-based reflation trade. Trump''s surprise election victory was supposed to unleash a wave of tax cuts, banking deregulation and fiscal largesse that would lift U.S. -- and global -- growth. Meanwhile, sterling''s 20 percent plunge after the Brexit vote was supposed to pave the way for a surge in UK equities and inflation. This, indeed, is how it played out as 2017 got underway. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates twice, the dollar reached a 14-year peak, Wall Street hit record highs, and government bond yield curves around the world steepened to the benefit of banks and financial stocks. But it is now unraveling, in large part due to a clear slowdown in U.S. growth and signs that global inflation is leveling off. Flatter yield curves where short- and long-term bond yields are close to each other suggest economic uncertainty. "(They) are definitely not corroborating a Trump reflation scenario. Some of the survey data is strong and has hit new multi-year highs, but the real data has been tepid," said Jonathan Tepper, co-founder of Variant Perception Research. Citi''s economic surprises indexes for most of the world''s major economies have been heading south for the past month. The U.S. index has suddenly tumbled to lows not seen since November, and is below all its peers apart from Japan''s. And inflation expectations are showing signs of peaking too. IT''S THE YIELD CURVE Estimates of first quarter U.S. growth have been slashed in recent weeks, with the Atlanta Fed''s closely-watched GDPNow model pointing to just 0.5 percent compared with around 2.5 percent less than two months ago. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform is set to falter following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare. More than 40 percent of the fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch do not expect U.S. tax reforms to be passed before 2018. The same survey also showed that major adjustments are taking place in key markets, and that some measures of positioning are reaching extreme levels. Investors'' exposure to U.S. equities is its lowest since January 2008, but their allocation to global banks is the highest on record. "Investors are scrambling out of U.S. equities as the majority find U.S. stocks overvalued and perceive a risk of delayed U.S. tax reform," said Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BAML. Among the biggest fallers on Wall Street have been banks. They rose more than 30 percent in the three months after the U.S. election but have since drifted lower and are now down on the year. The extreme overweight bank positioning highlighted in the BAML survey suggests there''s more room to fall. A flatter yield curve is bad news for banks, who make much of their money by borrowing cheaply at the short end and lending longer term at higher rates of interest. The difference between 10-year and two-year U.S. yields touched 100 basis points on Tuesday, the lowest since November and a far cry from 135 bps in December. And that''s despite the 50 bps rise in U.S. interest rates since December. "Banks don''t tend to do well in a flattening yield curve environment," said Tepper at of Variant Perception Research, whose website states: "The yield curve is by far the best predictor of economic growth in most economies of the world." The dollar doesn''t do well in this environment either. On Tuesday Goldman Sachs abandoned its bullish call. Also on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank did the same with its bearish sterling forecast after British Prime Minister Theresa May''s surprise announcement to call a UK general election - a "game-changer" for the pound, they said. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-fizzle-idUKKBN17L1IN'|'2017-04-19T20:20:00.000+03:00' '5906958fc1b74e7c6a5573aaecb0f2c9d36b6fd2'|'Activist Sarissa says Innoviva backed out of proxy settlement deal'|'By Greg Roumeliotis and Michael Flaherty Activist hedge fund Sarissa Capital Management LP said on Wednesday that U.S. respiratory drug company Innoviva Inc ( INVA.O ) reneged on a proxy settlement deal that was struck earlier in the day.Sarissa, run by former Carl Icahn protege Alex Denner, said in a statement that Innoviva had accepted an offer to settle the proxy contest ahead of the shareholder vote scheduled for Thursday by adding two Sarissa-nominated directors to the board.After Sarissa signed and sent back the settlement contract Wednesday afternoon, Innoviva continued to lobby shareholders to vote for its own nominees without disclosing its settlement with the activist, the hedge fund said. Then Innoviva said it would no longer agree to a deal.Innoviva declined to comment.Based on shareholder votes that had come in as of late Wednesday, Innoviva believed it had enough support to defeat Sarissa''s director nominees, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations.Innoviva and Sarissa declined to comment on the current votes.Sarissa, which owns a 2.72 percent stake in Innoviva, had accused the company of spending too much money on executive pay and board compensation, given that its only function is to manage the drug royalties it receives from GlaxoSmithKline Plc ( GSK.L ).Earlier this month, Innoviva announced plans to undertake a review of cost and executive compensation structures that it said could result in "meaningful savings in our core operating costs that will benefit our financial performance."Innoviva, which had 14 employees as of Dec. 31, according to its annual report, has a market capitalization of $1.5 billion. GlaxoSmithKline, which has a 29.3 percent stake in Innoviva, had opposed Sarissa''s board nominees.Innoviva and GlaxoSmithKline submitted an application in November to market their new three-in-one inhaled lung drug for U.S. approval. Innoviva and GlaxoSmithKline have other respiratory medicines in the market.Sarissa has a track record of shaking up boards in the pharmaceutical industry. Its past targets have included Biogen Inc ( BIIB.O ) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc, a manufacturer of cancer drugs which agreed to sell itself to Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd ( 4502.T ) in January for $5.2 billion.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-innoviva-sarissa-idINKBN17M08C'|'2017-04-20T00:29:00.000+03:00' '9555882f31488c7f521f0708fa6acf375f90cd90'|'Bloomingdale''s sales clerks demand commissions for online sales - Apr. 18, 2017'|'America''s top retailers in trouble What happens when you find the perfect prom dress at a Bloomingdale''s store and then buy it online? You get a better price. But store clerks miss out -- and now they''re demanding a cut of the action. Bloomingdale''s workers represented by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union protested outside the chain''s flagship New York store Tuesday as contract negotiations heat up. Their chief demand: commissions for online sales. "Currently, workers only earn commission for sales in the store," union spokeswoman Chelsea Connor said. Related: Trump''s new problem: Americans aren''t shopping There are two key issues at play. If salespeople have to handle in-store pickups from online purchases, that cuts into their ability to make new sales on the floor, Connor said. Plus, clerks don''t make any money when customers buy products online -- even if they helped them find the very best casserole dish. It''s not clear how Bloomingdale''s would be able to track purchases store customers later made online. "I am sure the company can work on a tracking system," Connor said. "There''s technology for everything." Bloomingdale''s spokeswoman Anne Keating said the company isn''t able to comment on what this kind of system would look like. "We are trying to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that represents our associates'' commitment to our customers," she told CNNMoney. "But we have to address the competitive business realities we face. And we have to be flexible about the way we take care of our customers." The union covers 2,000 workers at the flagship location. Connor said most are paid entirely on commission. Bloomingdale''s said this is "totally wrong," and store employees receive a variety of different pay packages. The workers'' most recent agreement was signed in 2012. The union says a strike is on the table if negotiations go south before May 1. The last time Bloomingdale''s workers staged a walkout at the flagship store was in 1965. Related: There is a retail bubble -- and it''s bursting Bloomingdale''s has 55 stores total, according to the latest filing by parent company Macy''s ( M ) . Macy''s has been struggling to deal with the rise of online shopping and declining foot traffic at brick-and-mortar stores. The company said in January that it''s shutting down 68 stores and cutting more than 10,000 jobs -- part of efforts to close 100 stores announced last August. CNNMoney (New York) 18, 2017: 4:20 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_companies.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/news/companies/bloomingdales-flagship-union-protest/index.html'|'2017-04-19T00:34:00.000+03:00' '70c633c7b6ac9e79a84c61cd42fa1b4612cb9a08'|'UnitedHealth plans for costly Obamacare tax in 2018'|'Money News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 11:59pm IST UnitedHealth plans for costly Obamacare tax in 2018 The logo of Down Jones Industrial Average stock market index listed company UnitedHealthcare is shown in Cypress, California April 13, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/Files By Caroline Humer and Ankur Banerjee UnitedHealth Group Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results on Tuesday and said it was coping with uncertainty in U.S. healthcare laws by pricing its 2018 insurance plans to include a costly Obamacare tax. President Donald Trump and other Republicans have vowed to repeal Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, but have been unable to agree on a law to do that. That means the 3 percent tax collected on all health insurance plans, currently on a hiatus, is due to take effect again next year. As a result, U.S. health insurers are uncertain about how to price their plans and what benefits to include in 2018. Those selling Obamacare individual plans are particularly affected by these and other regulatory questions, but UnitedHealth''s comments show that the lack of certainty has broad reach for the industry. UnitedHealth, the biggest U.S. health insurer, pulled out of the individual insurance market created under Obamacare this year. The health insurance tax affects pricing and benefits for all healthcare plans, including small business and government policies, which UnitedHealth must submit to state and federal regulators in the next few months. "Our plans continue to assume the tax will return in 2018, which will raise premiums and/or reduce benefits for commercial businesses, states and our nation’s senior population," UnitedHealth Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said during a conference call with investors to discuss earnings. The company said first-quarter results benefited from strength across its businesses, and it raised its profit and revenue forecasts for the year. The company''s shares were up less than 1 percent at $168.27. "This is a great quarter, and there is a lot of upside this year," but uncertainty about U.S. tax policy could create obstacles next year, Leerink analyst Ana Gupte said. Trump has pledged to overhaul taxes, but details are unclear. UnitedHealth said net earnings rose to $2.17 billion, or $2.23 per share, from $1.61 billion, or $1.67 per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items, the company earned $2.37 per share, beating the analysts'' average estimate of $2.17, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue rose 9.4 percent to $48.73 billion. The company had 2.5 million more people across its insurance plans, offset by a loss of 900,000 who were in individual Obamacare plans. That market withdrawal, and the 2017 health insurance tax hiatus, reduced consolidated revenue by about $1.6 billion for the quarter, UnitedHealth said. (Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/unitedhealth-results-idINKBN17K298'|'2017-04-18T16:29:00.000+03:00' '580dfb63edbbaeec5562d0b9b80349c726944019'|'China capital outflows stabilised in Q1 as capital controls bite'|'By Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING Capital outflows from China eased sharply in the first quarter and cross border flows were more balanced, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday, in the latest official comments indicating policymakers are growing less worried about the yuan currency.Reduced pressure from outflows has helped steady the yuan this year and brought China''s foreign currency reserves back over the closely watched $3 trillion mark.Expectations for further yuan depreciation have weakened significantly, State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) spokeswoman Wang Chunying told a news conference.Net foreign exchange sales by China''s commercial banks fell sharply in the first quarter after policymakers tightened supervision on money leaving the country and as a weaker U.S. dollar took pressure of the yuan and other emerging currencies.Net sales of foreign exchange by Chinese commercial banks dropped to $40.9 billion in the first quarter, compared with $124.8 billion in the first quarter of 2016 and $337.7 billion in sales last year, SAFE data showed.The yuan slumped around 6.5 percent against the surging dollar last year, but has firmed nearly 1 percent so far in 2017 at the dollar recoiled.Though most analysts polled by Reuters earlier this month still expect the yuan''s downtrend to resume later in the year -- assuming the dollar will recover -- some market watchers such as Macquarie Capital Ltd now forecast no depreciation this year.China''s improving economy has helped support the currency even as the U.S. central bank raises interest rates, Wang said. The economy grew at the strongest pace since mid-2015 in the first quarter.The central bank said last week its net foreign exchange sales in March were the lowest in 10 months at 54.7 billion yuan ($7.94 billion), while China''s foreign exchange reserves edged up in March to $3.009 trillion.Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday that market confidence in the yuan has significantly improved, Xinhua news agency reported.Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that China''s central bank has relaxed some of the curbs on cross-border capital outflows, the first signs of easing of measures put in place last year as authorities and financial markets feel more confident that pressure on the yuan has eased.As the yuan fell against the dollar and capital outflows accelerated late last year, the government stepped up capital controls, making it harder for individuals and companies to move money out of China.Those measures are credited with quashing speculative outflows and helping to stabilise the currency, but have also hampered legitimate outflows as China Inc goes more global.Non-financial outbound direct investment from China tumbled 48.8 percent in the first quarter year-on-year, with dealmakers saying many Chinese firms are unable to close deals because they cannot secure official permission to transfer yuan into foreign currency.But Wang said on Thursday China will push forward with opening up its capital account in a prudent and orderly way and will not backtrack by adding more capital controls."China''s foreign exchange management will not turn back, we will not go back down the old road of capital controls," said Wang.While clamping down on outflows, China has also been looking to encourage more inflows by opening up its bond market to foreign investors and promising to open more sectors to foreign investment.Foreign central banks held $81.1 billion in yuan assets at the end of last year, up 13 percent, with 92.5 percent of those assets in bonds, SAFE data showed.That number was slightly different from the International Monetary Fund''s total of $84.51 billion in foreign government-held yuan assets, with Wang saying the reason for the difference could be that some yuan assets were held by intermediaries.The yuan was added to the International Monetary Fund''s basket of reserve currencies last October, but fears of further weakness have impaired Beijing''s push for more global usage of the currency and foreign investors'' appetite for yuan assets.($1 = 6.8851 Chinese yuan renminbi)(Reporting by Kevin Yao and Cheng Fang; Writing by Elias Glenn; Editing by Joseph Radford and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-capital-outflows-idINKBN17M0D4'|'2017-04-20T12:33:00.000+03:00' 'ff412cac0a254778b53d2f709b610536aea1b138'|'Asian stocks set for cautious start on weak U.S. cues'|' 6:54am BST Asian stocks recoup losses in cautious trade; oil supports A woman walks past electronic board showing stock prices and Japanese Yen''s exchange rate outside a brokerage at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Asian stocks erased early losses and edged higher on Thursday as steadying commodity prices, especially crude oil, prompted some bargain hunting by investors. But markets cautiously stuck to well-worn trading ranges ahead of global risk events such as the first-round of French presidential elections at the weekend and continued tensions over North Korea. Stock index futures in Europe were set to follow the broadly cautious undertone, with markets set to open flat to slightly lower. FFIc1 FDXc1 MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.3 percent after declining 0.5 percent in early trades. Gains in Chinese and Japanese stocks pulled the broader market higher. "Given the binary risk of the French presidential elections and geopolitical concerns over North Korea, investors are staying on the sidelines," said Fan Cheuk Wan, head of investment strategy and advisory, Asia, HSBC Private Banking. "We are looking at the opportunities in Asia, particularly. ..equities in China and India where corporate earnings are expected to be strong this year." Centrist Emmanuel Macron clung on to his status as favourite to win France''s presidential election in a four-way race that is too close to call, as the camp of far-right challenger Marine Le Pen ramped up its eurosceptic rhetoric in a row with Brussels. Japanese stocks .N225 rose 0.2 percent, buoyed by data showing exports rose a stronger-than-expected 12.0 percent in March from a year earlier and a Reuters survey that showed confidence among Japanese manufacturers has risen to levels not seen since before the 2008 global financial crisis. "Even though a technical rebound in the Tokyo market lifts stocks, the basic trend to avoid risks hasn''t changed," said Hiroyuki Nakai, chief strategist at Tokai Tokyo Research Center. "There is still so much uncertainty from global events." Caution remained the overarching theme as cash levels among investors remained above the 10-year average in a monthly poll conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Weak results from index heavyweight IBM ( IBM.N ) pulled the S&P 500 and Dow lower with falls in energy sector stocks .SPNY also weighing on the broader market. [.N] Bonds also came in for some profit-taking after a recent rally, with yields on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR firming to 2.21 percent from a five-month low of 2.165 percent hit on Tuesday. A run of disappointing U.S. economic data and worries that the Trump administration will struggle to push through tax cuts have quelled expectations of faster inflation. The dollar failed to capitalize on higher U.S. yields with the greenback hugging the 200-day moving average of around 108.85 against the Japanese yen JPY= as traders preferred to trade on market technicals rather than take fresh bets. Oil languished near a two-week low after a surprising build in U.S. gasoline inventories and a rise in domestic crude output partially offseting cutbacks by other countries trying to reduce a global glut. U.S. crude futures CLc1 climbed 0.22 percent to $50.55 a barrel, after posting a near 4 percent drop overnight, the biggest one-day decline since March 8. Gold XAU= was trading at $1279.20 per ounce, below Monday''s peak of $1,295.42. (Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Eric Meijer and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17M02O'|'2017-04-20T08:41:00.000+03:00' '1fed5f1606d087fd7e25a84d2c3a56e5447fe589'|'UPDATE 2-Court sides with Bombardier in Metrolinx rail contract dispute'|'TORONTO Bombardier Inc''s C$770 million ($572.79 million) light rail contract with an Ontario transportation agency cannot be canceled despite delivery delays, a judge ruled on Wednesday.In a victory for Bombardier, Ontario Superior Court Justice Glenn Hainey accepted the plane and train maker''s request for an injunction to stop Metrolinx from terminating the contract. The provincial agency, which manages public transportation in Greater Toronto, sought in late 2016 to cancel the 2010 order for 182 cars, complaining of delivery delays and poor execution."It appears to me that MTX (Metrolinx) is using the threat of termination for negotiating purposes," Hainey said in his ruling.He said it was also unrealistic to conclude another supplier could provide the rail cars to Metrolinx by the 2018 deadline.Bombardier, based in Montreal, said in a statement that it wanted to now "find a clear path forward" with Metrolinx.Metrolinx President and Chief Executive John Jensen said in a statement the agency was reviewing the ruling."Nothing in today''s decision changes our focus on delivering high-quality vehicles on time," he said.Metrolinx wanted to end the contract after questioning Bombardier''s ability to manufacture the cars on time and the reliability of the first pilot vehicle, which was produced behind schedule.The Berlin-based rail division, Bombardier Transportation, is the company''s most reliable cash generator. Bombardier is again discussing a potential merger of the rail unit with Germany''s Siemens, people close to the matter said this month.Such a combination faces an uphill battle because of antitrust issues, politics and concerns of who would control the united company, industry sources have said.Bombardier has also faced delays in Australia. A A$4.4 billion ($3.31 billion) contract to build 75 electric trains for the Queensland state government has been delayed by accusations of design faults, although it is not clear whether Bombardier is fully responsible.($1 = 1.3312 Australian dollars)($1 = 1.3443 Canadian dollars)(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by David Gregorio and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bombardier-metrolinx-idUSKBN17L252'|'2017-04-20T01:58:00.000+03:00' '36404defcb85128ba4ffd750f9af262147314394'|'China''s Li says EU and China must promote free and fair trade'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 5:33am BST China''s Li says EU and China must promote free and fair trade left right Chinese Premier Li Keqiang shakes hands with the European Union''s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini before their meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, China, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool 1/3 left right Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks with the European Union''s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini during their meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, China, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool 2/3 left right Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks with the European Union''s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini during their meeting at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing, China, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Pool 3/3 BEIJING China and the European Union should promote a "positive signal" of economic globalisation and free and fair trade, Premier Li Keqiang told the EU''s top diplomat Federica Mogherini. "China and the EU, as two great forces in the world, should...respond to global challenges, reform and improve the international governance system, [and] promote a positive signal of economic globalisation and free and fair trade," Li told Mogherini on Tuesday, according to a statement on China''s Foreign Ministry website on Wednesday. The two sides should "respond to changes and uncertainty in the international situation with the cooperation and stability of China-EU relations," he said to Mogherini, who is visiting China for a China-EU strategic dialogue. Some European diplomats say that China has launched a charm offensive with the EU since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, in an effort to find allies amid fears Trump could undermine it with his protectionist "America First" policies. The Chinese statement cited Mogherini as saying that China and the EU shoulder the duty to safeguard international order, respond to terrorism and climate change and other global challenges. Europe''s climate commissioner said last month that China and the EU could not expect the same leadership from the Trump administration, after the U.S. president moved to undo the climate change regulations of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But the EU remains cautious about the direction of its second-largest trading partner, concerned by China''s massive steel exports, its militarisation of islands in the South China Sea and a turn towards greater authoritarianism under President Xi Jinping. Xi has made a vigorous defence of globalisation and painted a picture of China as a "wide open" economy, but foreign business groups complain vociferously that China discriminates against them with policies that limit their access to the Chinese market and support domestic competitors. The EU is looking to a bilateral investment treaty with Beijing to make it easier for European companies to do business in China. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Sam Holmes) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-eu-idUKKBN17L09I'|'2017-04-19T11:52:00.000+03:00' '168e0a4ac2d4cecaaebea0894ae81f01b90e5adb'|'EU clears Rolls-Royce''s acquisition of Spain''s ITP subject to conditions'|' 4:08pm BST EU clears Rolls-Royce''s acquisition of Spain''s ITP subject to conditions A Rolls-Royce logo is pictured on the company booth during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Cointrin airport in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse BRUSSELS European Union antitrust regulators said on Wednesday they had cleared the acquisition of aircraft engine components maker ITP by Rolls-Royce ( RR.L ) subject to its elimination of a conflict of interest in an engine consortium. The engine consortium EPI, made up of Rolls-Royce, ITP, Germany''s MTU and France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ), designs and manufactures the engine powering the Airbus A400M, which competes with the Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ) C-130J aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine. The European Commission said in a statement that it initially had concerns the merger would have allowed Rolls-Royce to gain additional influence on the decision-making process of the EPI consortium, on matters that affected its competitiveness against the Lockheed Martin C-130J. To allay those concerns Rolls-Royce offered commitments to eliminate the conflict of interest and ensure EPI remains competitive, the Commission said. (Reporting by Julia Fioretti; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-itp-m-a-rolls-royce-eu-idUKKBN17L1YF'|'2017-04-19T23:08:00.000+03:00' '604108ec014504e5a2c6d4807d2e56903c214364'|'Maserati China sales to grow up to 47 percent this year - CEO'|' 16am BST Maserati China sales to grow up to 47 percent this year - CEO The Maserati Levante SUV is seen during the 2016 New York International Auto Show media preview in Manhattan, New York March 23, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid SHANGHAI Fiat Chrysler Automobile NV''s ( FCHA.MI ) ( FCAU.N ) premium Maserati brand expects to see sales in China rise as much as 47 percent this year, the firm''s chief executive said on Wednesday. Reid Bigland said China sales of the luxury Italian brand would be 17,000 to 18,000 vehicles, from 12,250 last year. He was talking to reporters at an auto show in Shanghai. He added the carmaker was forecasting global sales of 55,000 vehicles this year, versus 42,000 in 2016. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-maserati-idUKKBN17L0ZQ'|'2017-04-19T17:16:00.000+03:00' 'a5cda8a7f0eaf89146d70718fbdd58d74bfc55cc'|'BlackRock CEO Fink sees wave of M&A in asset management industry'|' 8:09pm BST BlackRock CEO Fink sees wave of M&A in asset management industry Larry Fink, Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK NEW YORK BlackRock Inc ( BLK.N ) Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who runs the world''s largest asset manager, on Wednesday forecast a wave of mergers and acquisitions in asset management, but said his company may be limited for now to small deals. "I believe you''re going to see a consolidation in our industry," Fink told Reuters in a telephone interview, citing previous waves in industries such as banking. Even so, he said, "We''re not going to be a big participant" in M&A. He did say BlackRock is considering three or four small acquisitions that would be focussed on shoring up the company''s technology and its investment expertise in different assets and geographic regions. Started as a bond-focused fund manager in 1988, BlackRock later used acquisitions to add index-tracking exchange-traded funds and equities to its menu of offerings. Yet its traditionalist stock-picking unit has remained a source of frustration. BlackRock''s earnings reported on Wednesday showed it attracted nearly $65 billion in new cash from clients in the first quarter, while many of its peers have been trying to stanch outflows. BlackRock oversees $5.4 trillion in assets. The massive inflows at BlackRock raise the prospect that an industry that has nurtured dozens of brand names from Fidelity Investments to Pacific Investment Management Co is increasingly turning into a winner-take-all game. BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street Corp ( STT.N ) captured nearly 72 percent of the net cash collected globally last year by mutual funds, money market funds and exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar Inc. "Asset managers historically benefited - in most cases, they benefited - from rising beta so you didn''t have this need for consolidation," said Fink, referring to how rising markets boosted asset managers'' earnings. The next leg of growth may be harder, including M&A and developing new business lines. Fink has placed an unusual emphasis on technology for an asset manager. BlackRock added revenue by licensing its Aladdin operating system for money managers to its rivals. The company is also exploring how computer models can improve stock picking while reducing costs. Last month, BlackRock announced plans to transfer some responsibilities from more traditionalist fund managers to an internal team known for data-driven approaches to picking stocks. In the interview, Fink said he has "100 percent confidence" that approach will help performance. The company''s overhaul of its active equities franchise includes doubling-down on niche geographic specialties, such as Asia, where it may have a greater chance to beat the market. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-blackrock-results-ceo-idUKKBN17L2JM'|'2017-04-20T03:09:00.000+03:00' '8dcdbb0cef38aa87f987960dffde78b8bfc95c6b'|'RPT-In Indonesia, labour friction and politics fan anti-Chinese sentiment'|'(Repeats Tuesday''s story, no change in text)* China investment in Indonesia at record high* Chinese companies prefer their own workers* Jakarta election raises fears about anti-Chinese feeling* Visa-free travel helps Chinese bring in workers-union leader* Student vigilantes rounded up workers at Sulawesi smeltersBy Eveline Danubrata and Gayatri SuroyoJAKARTA, April 18 A bitterly fought election to govern Indonesia''s capital that has fanned religious tensions has also thrown a spotlight on anti-foreign sentiment, as conspiracy theories swirl about an influx of illegal Chinese workers spurring vigilantism.Foreign direct investment from China hit a record high of $2.67 billion last year after President Joko Widodo rolled out the red carpet to Chinese investors, who are typically willing to take on risks for infrastructure and other big projects.But the cheap funding comes at a price: Chinese companies often bring in their own workers and machines, creating friction with locals, according to interviews with labour groups, company executives and government officials.Indonesian investment chief Thomas Lembong said a "freak-out over foreign workers" had been politicised, fuelling tensions surrounding the Jakarta poll, which pits the ethnic Chinese Christian incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama against a Muslim rival.Purnama is backed by Widodo''s ruling party and Lembong said the issue of anti-foreign and - in particular anti-Chinese - sentiment had been harnessed by rivals of the government."It''s part of a broader effort to turn political sentiment anti-foreigner and anti-Chinese at a time when Chinese investment is poised to be the biggest factor driving the Asian economy," Lembong told Reuters.The number of Chinese work permit holders jumped 30 percent in the past two years to 21,271 in 2016, the latest data from Indonesia''s manpower ministry showed. In comparison, there were 12,490 from Japan and 2,812 from the United States last year.While the issue had been compounded by discredited reports circulating on social media claiming that 10 million Chinese workers had flooded Indonesia, labour unions still dispute official figures.Chinese companies have been mis-using a visa-free route meant for tourists to bring in "hundreds of thousands" of low-skilled Chinese workers, said labour leader Said Iqbal.Since February, the Confederation of Indonesian Workers'' Union (KSPI) has been compiling unofficial data on Chinese workers suspected of not having proper documentation and it has asked the manpower ministry to take action, he said."Local unskilled labour cannot work because the jobs have been filled by the Chinese," the KSPI''s Iqbal told Reuters.Liky Sutikno, the Beijing-based chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in China, said some Chinese companies temporarily bring in their own "technical workers", who would return to China once the local teams take over.These workers may have a better knowledge of products and processes, on top of being faster in executing steps such as installing machinery, Sutikno said.VIGILANTISMLate last year, around 150 college students on Sulawesi island, where several Chinese smelters are being built, stopped vehicles they suspected of carrying illegal Chinese workers and brought them to the authorities.The group planned more raids this year, said Erik, one of the students, who declined to give his full name.Maruli Hasoloan, a manpower ministry official, acknowledged some labour friction and vigilantism over the past few months. While the ministry was coordinating with other authorities to prevent any abuse of visa-free entry, it does not condone a vigilante crackdown on foreign workers, he added.Indonesia has suffered bouts of anti-Chinese and anti-communist sentiment over its history, though this has usually been directed at its minority ethnic Chinese community.On average, Indonesian Chinese are far wealthier than other ethnic groups. During riots leading to the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, ethnic Chinese were targeted, making up many of around 1,000 people who were killed in the violence.Under Suharto, Chinese culture and language were severely restricted, but at the same time he cultivated some ethnic Chinese businessmen who became hugely rich.UGLIER MOODThe capital Jakarta has seen a series of mass rallies led by hardline Islamists calling for Purnama, Jakarta''s first Christian and Chinese governor, to be jailed even as he was put on trial over allegations that he had insulted the Koran.Purnama, who is competing against former education minister Anies Baswedan, denies what are regarded by critics as politicised charges.While it is too soon to assess whether all this could have an impact on Chinese investment decisions, some Chinese business groups say they are worried about the uglier mood and also about potentially losing a business-friendly leader of Jakarta.Many Chinese companies favour Purnama for his perceived ability to execute Widodo''s infrastructure reform agenda, which is aligned with Chinese President Xi Jinping''s "One Belt, One Road" policy to invest billions of dollars in global projects. Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million people, accounts for nearly a fifth of national economic output and is home to major construction projects including a $5 billion Chinese-backed rail connecting the capital to the West Java city of Bandung.The anti-Purnama movement has also revived jitters about the racial and religious under-currents in Indonesia, which has the world''s largest Muslim population."Chinese concern is stability and consistency of the rule of law," Sutikno said. "What they are scared of the most is a repeat of 1998, that the Chinese will be singled out again." (Additional reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa, John Chalmers, Fransiska Nangoy, Hidayat Setiaji and Wilda Asmarini; Editing by Ed Davies and Bill Tarrant)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/indonesia-election-china-idINL3N1HQ62Z'|'2017-04-18T21:46:00.000+03:00' 'a9512aa3a9a94f4b4da05d83d74c8966cbb0467e'|'IMF shifts from dismal to pessimistic, but has a sharper message about inequality - Greg Jericho'|'T he latest IMF world economic outlook released on Tuesday is the most positive for years, but it also highlights the continued risks from nationalistic and protectionist policies and the impact of policies and technology changes that reduce the share of income going to workers.For the past eight or nine years, the IMF world economic outlook has been pretty soul crushing. Dismal doesn’t begin to convey the mood. Consider that the titles for the outlook have been such joyous reads as “ Financial Stress, Downturns, and Recoveries ”, “ Crisis and Recovery ”, “ Slowing Growth, Rising Risks ”, “Legacies, Clouds, Uncertainties ” and the one from April last year, “ Too Slow for Too Long ”. So it is with some relief to see a bit of positivity infect the IMF. The most recent update, is titled, “ Gaining Momentum? ”Malcolm Turnbull''s myth of ''middle Australia'' ignores both gender and reality - Greg Jericho Read more The question mark of course lets us know that the folk at the IMF remain the sober pessimistic economists we know and love – and the blog post accompanying the report is titled “ Gaining Momentum – For Now ”.But at least they do think things are on the improve – even if only for a while.In October last year the IMF was predicting Australia’s GDP growing in 2017 by just 2.7% – they’ve now increased that to 3.1% – the most optimistic they’ve been since 2012.They are also more positive about growth in China, the US and very much so in the UK, where the worries of last year about the immediate impact of the Brexit have been pushed out a few years:Across the world, the prediction is for global GDP growth of 3.5% this year – up from the prediction of 3.4% made last October. Most of the improvement is coming from a better outlook for advanced economies – especially in the Euro area:But the outlook beyond this year rather suggests that the answer to the IMF question about gathering momentum is “nope”.The growth for 2018 is largely unchanged, except for the UK where there has been a big downgrade and the US, which has a big upgrade. The downgrade for the UK is due to the effects of Brexit, where the IMF predicts diminished medium-term growth prospects “because of the expected increase in barriers to trade and migration”.And, crucially, the improvement in 2018 in the US is based on the assumption of “a sizable fiscal stimulus in the United States, reflecting the anticipated changes in US federal government tax policy”.Given the difficulty Donald Trump apparently has doing anything other than finding his way to a golf course, and his utter incompetence in passing any major legislative measures, that is a very big assumption:Looking out to 2022 (which is so far off, that admittedly it is of limited worth), the IMF sees Australia’s growth rarely going above the long-term average of 3%:The IMF however does predict the unemployment rate will fall below 5% – a much more optimistic outlook than it has had for the past two years:Mostly this increased optimism is because Australia exports iron ore, coal and gas. The IMF suggests that our economy will improve along with similar commodity-exporting nations like Norway and Canada. But this is based on the proviso that monetary policy remains “accommodative” (ie interest rates stay low) and there are “supportive fiscal policies or infrastructure investment” and “less drag from declining investment in the commodity sector.”The IMF’s outlook not only examined economic growth, it also researched the impact of economic policies and technological changes that have reduced the share of national income going to labour.The IMF found that over the past 25 years, the labour share of income has declined in 29 of the largest 50 economies:One measure of the labour share of income is the real unit cost of labour. In Australia there were substantial falls of this measure from 1999 until the GFC:The IMF suggests that across most nations, technological advancement is the main reason for the falls. It also found that the decline in share of income going to labour caused by technology and global integration “has been particularly sharp for middle-skilled labour” – with the biggest falls occurring in manufacturing.But while falling real unit labour costs are trumpeted by businesses as crucial for maintaining Australia’s “competitiveness”, the IMF found that there was a strong correlation between falling shares of income going to labour and increasing inequality.Looking at labour shares and Gini coefficients across advanced economies since 1961, the IMF found a clear link between the two – economies with lower shares of income going to labour were more likely to have higher levels of inequality:But crucially the IMF study also found that the differences were not just across different countries, but within countries. They found that as the labour share of income fell within countries, the level of inequality was also likely to rise:These results fit nicely with a new study published this week that found taxation “reforms” since the mid-1980s in Australia, New Zealand and Norway did nothing to improve economic growth, and instead just increased inequality – especially with more of the nations’ incomes going to the richest 1%:The study’s authors conclude, these tax reforms, which lowered the top tax rate and made the system less progressive, did not “increase the size of the cake”, but did provide the wealthiest with a bigger share.Does earning $180,000 make you rich? Let''s not pretend about who''s rich and who''s poor - Greg Jericho Read more In the period ahead, where the IMF, despite its muted optimism still predicts below average economic growth, the report highlights the importance of governments focusing on inequality. As the IMF outlook notes, “inequality can fuel social tension, and recent research suggests that it can also harm economic growth.”Governments ignore inequality at their peril – not only because of the harm it will do to their own election prospects, but also the prospects to the economy. Topics Global economy Grogonomics Business (Australia) Australian economy International Monetary Fund (IMF) Economics Equality comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2017/apr/20/imf-shifts-from-dismal-to-pessimistic-but-has-a-sharper-message-about-inequality'|'2017-04-20T04:00:00.000+03:00' 'a5dc316b093f0d86196ce7b92d4e07041538f3ed'|'Britain loses 1 billion pounds through VAT fraud and error by Amazon and eBay sellers'|'Technology 23pm BST Britain loses $1.28 billion through VAT fraud and error by Amazon and eBay sellers FILE PHOTO: Amazon boxes are seen stacked for delivery in the Manhattan borough of New York City, January 29, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo By Tom Bergin - LONDON LONDON A report by the British government auditor said the UK is losing up to 1 billion pounds ($1.28 billion) a year in value added tax (VAT) because of fraud or error by sellers using online marketplaces eBay and Amazon. The National Audit Office (NAO) said on Wednesday that the sellers involved are often based in China and that consumer regulator Trading Standards had found that U.S. companies Amazon and eBay had failed to remove sellers that were flouting VAT rules, even after being informed of the sellers'' non-compliance. All retailers selling to customers in the UK must collect VAT of 20 percent of the value of goods sold and pay this to the government. Most western countries operate similar VAT systems. EBay said it is committed to making its platform, where sellers advertise their goods for sale, a fair place to buy and sell. "We will continue to work closely with (British tax authority) HMRC to ensure that all sellers on our platform comply with the law," eBay said in an emailed statement. Amazon, which has also been criticized by British lawmakers for using complex corporate structures to avoid paying tax on the profits it makes from UK customers, did not respond immediately to requests for comment. New rules aimed at making operators of marketplaces liable for VAT not paid by a seller identified to the operator as non-compliant would help to tackle the problem, the NAO said. The auditor said that eBay and Amazon supported this measure but that Amazon had opposed another rule due to come into force next year, under which such businesses must perform due diligence checks on their overseas customers. Amazon felt this was “disproportionate and ineffective”, the NAO said. In addition to offering a marketplace to sellers, Amazon has a business that acts as a dispatcher for goods sold by third-party sellers. (Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-tax-amazon-ebay-idUKKBN17L1NR'|'2017-04-19T21:23:00.000+03:00' 'b6fc8ddbdd5c4a08d136cd309dc0146d594c61b9'|'White House''s Cohn says ''fair trade'' means reciprocal tariffs'|'WASHINGTON The Trump administration wants to tax imports from countries that put tariffs on the United States, said Gary Cohn, director of President Donald Trump''s National Economic Council."Fair means we treat our trading partners the way they treat us," Cohn told a conference on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank''s spring meetings in Washington on Thursday. "If you want to insist on having a tariff on a product, which we prefer you not, the president believes that we should treat you in a reciprocal fashion and that we should tax your product coming into the United States."(Reporting by Jason Lange and Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-cohn-idINKBN17M2H0'|'2017-04-20T17:28:00.000+03:00' 'f7cb3de734b9ad442cf2c1e5260674f67d1838ae'|'Goldman Sachs licks wounds in equities trading as peers grab share'|'Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:18pm BST Goldman Sachs licks wounds in equities trading as peers grab share A view of the Goldman Sachs stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 16, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Olivia Oran Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) on Tuesday became the first Wall Street bank this earnings season to report lower equities trading revenue, signaling it was unlikely to reclaim the top market share ranking from Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) any time soon. People familiar with the business said a combination of outdated trading technology, a late effort to court quantitative funds and overall fee pressure on the bank''s key clients has blunted Goldman''s edge. It now ranks No. 2 behind its biggest rival. Last year, the once-dominant bank fell more than $1 billion behind Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) in equities revenue, marking the widest-ever such gap between the firms. That gap, which has been growing for years, has raised pressure from investors looking for answers and prompted Goldman to rethink its strategy. "If they''re not experiencing the same good results as their peers, you may have to question if they''re owning up to their issues," said Jerry Braakman, chief investment officer of First American Trust, which holds Goldman shares. (GRAPHIC: Goldman vs. Morgan Stanley tmsnrt.rs/2opMFS0 ) Goldman executives acknowledge that the business has taken a hit and say they are trying hard to turn things around. They point to some key hires and investments they have made in trading technology to win over new types of customers. But a full rehabilitation will take some time, they said. The executives requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. A spokeswoman for Goldman declined to comment. Equities trading is a tough business for big Wall Street banks in the best of times. It has costly infrastructure, demanding customers and big operational risks. Profit margins have been razor-thin for some time, but the business is facing new fee pressure from struggling asset managers. In 2016, total equities revenue at the world''s biggest banks fell 13 percent to $43.4 billion, the lowest level in four years, according to research provider Coalition. Other trends, like investors'' shifting to passive management, have shaved $15 billion from the equities revenue pool since 2009, according to a report from Morgan Stanley and management consulting firm Oliver Wyman. Just a handful of players dominate the equities business, which also includes trading in ETFs and derivatives, lending to hedge funds through prime brokerage and providing research to investors. PLAYING CATCH UP Goldman''s problems began in 2012, when Morgan Stanley launched an equities trading overhaul called "Project Velocity," and began trying to win back clients it lost during the financial crisis. ( reut.rs/14kKMtC ) Goldman meanwhile began to stumble. Its head of electronic trading left in early 2013 and soon thereafter it suffered an embarrassing and costly trading glitch in the options market. Instead of developing light-speed technology to win over computer-driven money managers, Goldman chose to cater to institutional investors, like hedge funds, that it already had relationships with. The decision cost the bank dearly: high-frequency trading firms now dominate the stock market, representing 55 percent of U.S. daily volume. Meanwhile, active fund managers in Goldman''s target audience have been struggling to attract assets and are doubling down on investments in computer models to cut costs. "If you''re playing catch up in electronic trading, that''s going to be an issue," said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive & managing partner at Quinlan & Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on banks. "It''s not that you can''t succeed, but there is a natural first-mover advantage for firms that started investing in their low-touch platforms earlier." On Tuesday, Goldman said its first-quarter equities trading revenue fell 6 percent, compared to gains of 2 percent to 10 percent at Citigroup ( C.N ), Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ) and JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ). Morgan Stanley will report results on Wednesday. TECHNOLOGY REVAMP Goldman in 2015 took steps to build new trading, hiring Raj Mahajan to revamp electronic technology in equities trading to cater to quantitative hedge funds and institutional investors who are increasingly adopting algorithmic trading strategies. It also acquired Sweden''s Pantor Engineering to help build out its electronic platform. Goldman executives say those efforts will take time to bear fruit, and focusing on ironing out quarter-to-quarter bumps in trading revenues should not overshadow existing relationships with clients. In discussing the first-quarter decline in a conference call on Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer R. Martin Chavez said management is less concerned with market share than with how profitable the business is, and whether clients are satisfied. "Trading businesses should be measured not so much on quarterly numbers but how well they serve clients," said Mike Mattioli, a portfolio manager at Manulife Asset Management, which holds shares in Goldman. "Goldman''s management team thinks about it this way." (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-results-equities-idUKKBN17K2IF'|'2017-04-19T05:14:00.000+03:00' '911e0621d2d2f9f08c4c3ca3764b47e4bbc54061'|'British companies to increase ad budgets this year despite Brexit uncertainty - survey'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 8:46am BST British companies to increase ad budgets this year despite Brexit uncertainty - survey FILE PICTURE: Shoppers pass an advertisement for the James Bond film, Skyfall, on the electronic screens at Piccadilly Circus in central London October 21, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Esha Vaish British companies plan to increase their spending on advertising this year as they expect the UK economy to remain resilient despite the Brexit vote, a survey showed on Wednesday, reversing a previous forecast for a decline in ad budgets. The IPA Bellwether report forecast corporate ad spending would rise 0.6 percent in the current financial year, revising a previous forecast, made in October and reiterated in January, for a 0.7 percent decline. The survey, conducted by IHS Markit on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, said on balance a net 26.1 percent of UK companies indicated they would increase their advertising budgets in the 2017/18 financial year. Growth in ad spending would stagnate in 2018 before trending upwards again in 2019 and 2020, the report said. "The ... survey paints a picture of a solidly growing UK economy, with companies continuing to show a willingness to commit increased resources to marketing and capitalise on current positive sales trends," said IHS Markit''s senior economist Paul Smith. The report showed a net balance of 11.8 percent of companies increased their budgets in the first quarter, led by a jump in internet ad spending, which touched its highest level in just under four years. The increase comes even as Google''s YouTube ( GOOGL.O ) and Facebook ( FB.O ), which dominate global online ad spending, face rising criticism for not sufficiently policing offensive posts and content. That has prompted some top client brands to pull ads in recent months. "Despite the current, turbulent digital ecosphere, it is clear that marketers are attracted to the cost-effectiveness of digital advertising and its ability to reach and accurately target their consumers," said IPA''s director general Paul Bainsfair. The survey interviewed around 300 UK marketing professionals primarily from Britain''s top 1,000 companies and across all key business sectors. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-advertising-idUKKBN17K2OL'|'2017-04-19T15:46:00.000+03:00' 'd26e9a4e2e253dc4d8d9e43c9344bf91873f010f'|'Reflation trades of 2016 deflate with remarkable speed'|' 6:27pm BST Reflation trades of 2016 deflate with remarkable speed By Jamie McGeever - LONDON LONDON Stocks, bond yields and the dollar are all falling, yield curves are flattening and sterling is marching higher. The "reflation" trades of 2016 that were supposed to mark a turning point in global markets are fading. Fast. The question for investors is whether this is the play book for the rest of the year, or whether the trends of 2016 will resume in the second half of the year. What is clear is that much of the conviction with which investors went into 2017 has been lost. This week, Goldman Sachs ditched its long-standing bullish call on the U.S. dollar, and Deutsche Bank did likewise with their gloomy sterling outlook. Following the developed world''s two most seismic events last year -- the U.S. presidential election and Britain''s vote to leave the European Union -- investors around the world had positioned for a broad-based reflation trade. Trump''s surprise election victory was supposed to unleash a wave of tax cuts, banking deregulation and fiscal largesse that would lift U.S. -- and global -- growth. Meanwhile, sterling''s 20 percent plunge after the Brexit vote was supposed to pave the way for a surge in UK equities and inflation. This, indeed, is how it played out as 2017 got underway. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates twice, the dollar reached a 14-year peak, Wall Street hit record highs, and government bond yield curves around the world steepened to the benefit of banks and financial stocks. But it is now unraveling, in large part due to a clear slowdown in U.S. growth and signs that global inflation is leveling off. Flatter yield curves where short- and long-term bond yields are close to each other suggest economic uncertainty. "(They) are definitely not corroborating a Trump reflation scenario. Some of the survey data is strong and has hit new multi-year highs, but the real data has been tepid," said Jonathan Tepper, co-founder of Variant Perception Research. Citi''s economic surprises indexes for most of the world''s major economies have been heading south for the past month. The U.S. index has suddenly tumbled to lows not seen since November, and is below all its peers apart from Japan''s. And inflation expectations are showing signs of peaking too. The dollar is now down 2.5 percent year-to-date (but still up 2 percent since the U.S. election; U.S. bank stocks are down 10 percent from their February peak (but still up 20 percent from the election); and sterling is down 13 percent against the dollar since the Brexit vote last June (but it has been down as much as 20 percent). IT''S THE YIELD CURVE Estimates of first quarter U.S. growth have been slashed in recent weeks, with the Atlanta Fed''s closely-watched GDPNow model pointing to just 0.5 percent compared with around 2.5 percent less than two months ago. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration''s timetable for tax reform is set to falter following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over healthcare. More than 40 percent of the fund managers surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch do not expect U.S. tax reforms to be passed before 2018. The same survey also showed that major adjustments are taking place in key markets, and that some measures of positioning are reaching extreme levels. Investors'' exposure to U.S. equities is its lowest since January 2008, but their allocation to global banks is the highest on record. "Investors are scrambling out of U.S. equities as the majority find U.S. stocks overvalued and perceive a risk of delayed U.S. tax reform," said Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at BAML. Among the biggest fallers on Wall Street have been banks. They rose more than 30 percent in the three months after the U.S. election but have since drifted lower and are now down on the year. The extreme overweight bank positioning highlighted in the BAML survey suggests there''s more room to fall. A flatter yield curve is bad news for banks, who make much of their money by borrowing cheaply at the short end and lending longer term at higher rates of interest. The difference between 10-year and two-year U.S. yields touched 100 basis points on Tuesday, the lowest since November and a far cry from 135 bps in December. And that''s despite the 50 bps rise in U.S. interest rates since December. "Banks don''t tend to do well in a flattening yield curve environment," said Tepper at of Variant Perception Research, whose website states: "The yield curve is by far the best predictor of economic growth in most economies of the world." The dollar doesn''t do well in this environment either. On Tuesday Goldman Sachs abandoned its bullish call. Also on Tuesday, Deutsche Bank did the same with its bearish sterling forecast after British Prime Minister Theresa May''s surprise announcement to call a UK general election - a "game-changer" for the pound, they said. (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-fizzle-idUKKBN17L1HS'|'2017-04-19T22:23:00.000+03:00' 'cf75ce36e81bbdd812f3df744a93d24a9f504480'|'Wall Street gears up for busiest earnings week in years'|'Business News - Sat Apr 22, 2017 - 11:30am EDT Wall Street gears up for busiest earnings week in years The Wall Street bull is seen in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Caroline Valetkevitch - NEW YORK NEW YORK Forget about French elections or the flagging Trump trade. Corporate America is set to unleash its biggest profit-reporting fest in at least a decade next week, with more than 190 members of the S&P 500 index .SPX delivering quarterly scorecards, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices data. The lineup accounts for around 40 percent of the benchmark index''s value, or more than $7.7 trillion, and includes big names like Google''s parent Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ), Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ), Microsoft Corp ( MSFT.O ) and Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ). The onslaught could keep U.S. stock investors'' focus largely on earnings next week even as the world''s attention is likely to be drawn elsewhere. "That would be our hope," said Joe Zidle, portfolio strategist at Richard Bernstein Advisors in New York. "A lot of people looked at this market and said it was the result of the Trump bump or the Hillary relief rally," while earnings have been rebounding, he said. "The faster earnings growth is underappreciated by investors." Many strategists have attributed the 10 percent rally in the S&P 500 .INX since Donald Trump''s victory over Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election to optimism Trump would boost the domestic economy through tax cuts and an infrastructure spending binge. The gains drove market valuations recently to their highest since 2004, even with little progress in Washington on the fiscal policy front. Meanwhile, other anxiety-provoking events have grabbed headlines, including unsettling relations with North Korea and this weekend''s election in France, which has a bearing on the country''s membership in the European Union and its currency, the euro. Upbeat earnings from Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and other banks so far this reporting period cushioned those geopolitical worries, helping push the S&P 500 .SPX up 0.9 percent this week, its best such performance in two months. Shares of smaller companies did even better, with S&P''s benchmark indexes for small .SPCY and mid-cap .IDX stocks notching their best weeks of 2017, with gains of between 2 percent and 3 percent. Expectations for the quarter''s profit growth have risen as well, and the first three months of the year now appear set to mark the strongest quarterly earnings growth in more than five years. In the last week alone, expected S&P 500 first-quarter earnings per share growth rose to 11.2 percent from 10.4 percent, a more than 7 percent jump, according to Thomson Reuters data. "This week definitely has proven that the Street likes earnings - it''s controllable, it''s U.S.," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. The reason for the slew of reports next week is anyone''s guess, Silverblatt said, although recent holidays possibly played a role. Passover, Good Friday and Easter all fell in the previous weeks, which may have prompted some companies that typically report earlier to delay a week. Just 76 companies reported this week compared with 134 in the comparable week a year ago, Silverblatt said. Next week''s rush will represent a 15 percent increase from the 166 S&P constituents that reported in the comparable week last year. Thursday will be the busiest day with nearly 70 reports due, including updates after the closing bell from Alphabet, Amazon, Intel Corp ( INTC.O ), Microsoft and Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ). That could make for a bang in the market on Friday, Silverblatt said, which is also the final trading day of April. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Dan Burns and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-results-idUSKBN17N2HM'|'2017-04-22T04:55:00.000+03:00' '48d34f5b1c846458175940e6078d419d6413e7ea'|'Brazil central bank saw no fraud in Caixa-PanAmericano deal'|'Company News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 11:20am EDT Brazil central bank saw no fraud in Caixa-PanAmericano deal SAO PAULO, April 20 The Brazilian central bank found no evidence of accounting fraud at the time of state-controlled Caixa Econômica Federal''s purchase of a stake in a consumer lender in 2009. Brazilian federal police is investigating whether Caixa''s purchase of a stake in Banco PanAmericano SA led to losses for Caixa''s clients. The central bank contacted prosecutors in November 2010, four months after approving the deal, once it identified irregularities in Panamericano''s booking of certain transactions. (Reporting by Bruno Federowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-corruption-caixa-ec-federal-idUSE6N1H100I'|'2017-04-20T23:20:00.000+03:00' '0283760563be351e63318914eae83a617a326f27'|'Euro zone consumer confidence jumps in April'|' 09pm BST Euro zone consumer confidence jumps in April BRUSSELS Euro zone consumer confidence improved to -3.6 in April, figures released on Thursday showed. The European Commission said a flash estimate that euro zone consumer morale increased by 1.4 points from -5.0 in March. In the European Union as a whole, consumer sentiment improved by 0.8 to -3.4 compared to March. For European Commission data click on:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-economy-consumersentiment-idUKKBN17M1Q4'|'2017-04-20T22:09:00.000+03:00' 'b85b9be808224976ce679857a0ef9118639631fe'|'Johnson & Johnson target Actelion could exit Swiss benchmark SMI index this month'|' 56pm BST Johnson & Johnson target Actelion could exit Swiss benchmark SMI index this month A Johnson & Johnson building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Rupert Pretterklieber - ZURICH ZURICH The composition of the top Swiss stock index is due to change as early as this month, with Actelion ( ATLN.S ) poised to fall out of the Swiss Market Index (SMI) ahead of the completion of the biotechnology company''s takeover by Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ). Friday is the next deadline for Actelion shareholders to take J&J''s $30 billion, $280 per share offer. If more than 80 percent of shares are tendered, then Actelion''s free float would slip below the 20 percent threshold required for inclusion in not only the benchmark SMI but also the broader Swiss Performance Index, Stephan Meier, a spokesman for the SIX Swiss Exchange, said on Thursday. The chances of J&J''s stake topping 80 percent are good, since it held 77 percent of Actelion shares at the end of March when it declared the takeover a success. Should that happen, the SIX Swiss Exchange could make an announcement as early as Friday about future steps leading to another company filling Actelion''s place in the SMI. Candidates include drug ingredients maker Lonza ( LONN.S ), adhesives maker Sika ( SIK.S ) and asset manager Partners Group ( PGHN.S ), as well as hearing aid maker Sonova ( SOON.S ). There will almost certainly be further SMI changes later this year, after ChemChina''s CNNCC.UL takeover of Swiss chemicals maker Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) is completed. (Reporting by Rupert Pretterkleber; Writing by John Miller; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-actelion-m-a-j-j-idUKKBN17M1DJ'|'2017-04-20T19:56:00.000+03:00' '1def1796608bd3ff8493a800166aa2446e7bb868'|'Hedge funds lose on UK election shock, but man less than machines'|'Market News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 3:39pm EDT Hedge funds lose on UK election shock, but man less than machines * AQR Managed Futures Strategy lost 1.1 percent on Tuesday * Tuesday''s announcement sent sterling to six-month high * Hugh Hendry''s Eclectica Asset Management lost 0.1 percent By Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly LONDON, April 20 Hedge funds lost out on Tuesday after British Prime Minister Theresa May shocked markets by calling a snap election, but those led by humans outsmarted those led by machines, in a reversal of fortunes from the Brexit referendum. While computer-driven hedge funds garnered plaudits for their outperformance in the wake of Britain''s shock vote to leave the European Union last year, this year''s first major test resulted in big losses. Among the most high-profile losers was New York-based investment firm AQR Capital Management''s $13.3 billion computer-driven Managed Futures Strategy, which lost 1.1 percent on Tuesday, according to an investor who was told by the hedge fund, representing a loss of more than $130 million. The same strategy made 5.2 percent on the day the results of Britain''s EU referendum were revealed in June. "The announcement of the general election was a turnaround for markets, leading to a trend reversal across UK assets, which hurts computer-driven hedge funds most," said Philippe Ferreira, head of hedge funds research at Lyxor Asset Management. Most of the hedge fund strategies run by machines that lost out from these moves did so because their algorithms simply follow market momentum. A break in the trends that those algorithms have spotted, therefore, tends to hurt them. Tuesday''s surprise announcement sent sterling soaring to a six-month high above $1.29 with the currency jumping above its 200-day moving average and breaking the trading range of between $1.20 and $1.28 that had been in place since early October. And Britain''s FTSE 100 stock index, which tends to move inversely to the pound, suffered its heftiest falls since the days following the Brexit vote, having hit record highs just last month. Other computer-driven - or "quant" - hedge funds to lose out included Candriam Alternative Systematic, which lost 0.9 percent on Tuesday, with the steep fall in the FTSE penalising its positions, according to a spokesman at the firm. Harmonic Capital was also marginally negative on the day, it said. Two other hedge funds run by machines, which the investor declined to name, lost 2.8 percent and 1.9 percent. MACHINES "DON''T GET EMOTIONAL" Some computer-driven funds put on additional short positions in response to the news that there was set to be an announcement from the prime minister, amid speculation the news was set to be negative, such as that she was suffering from ill health. "That element of uncertainty creates a sell signal - that might explain why (the computer-driven funds) didn’t do as well as the macro guys," said Mizuho''s head of hedge fund currency sales in London, Neil Jones. Computer-driven funds tend to mainly tracks general trends while human traders anticipate and react to macroeconomic events in the case of discretionary macro managers. "The macro people are much more likely to wait to see what the announcement is, analyse that, and then make a trading decision." Human-led macro hedge funds, which mainly carry out bets through currencies and bonds, lost out but to a lesser degree on Tuesday. "On performance of macro versus quant...discretionary macros were burned earlier this year so reduced risk, while quants tend to be always in the market -- machines target risk and don''t get emotional," said Cedric Fontanille, director at Unigestion. Hugh Hendry''s Eclectica Asset Management lost 0.1 percent in its CF Eclectica Absolute Macro Fund for example, confirmed a spokesman at the firm, though he said the fund was not betting on sterling and had little direct exposure to the UK. Goldman Sachs Global Strategic Macro Bond Portfolio lost 0.1 percent and the 21.6 billion euro ($23.15 billion) Carmignac Patrimoine fund lost 0.3 percent, said sources. Some macro funds even made marginal gains on Tuesday, like Legg Mason Global Funds'' Western Asset Macro Opportunities Fund, which made 0.3 percent, and 25 billion pound ($32.01 billion) Standard Life''s Global Absolute Return Strategies Fund, which made 0.2 percent. Macro hedge fund demand remains very strong, with the strategy taking in its largest monthly inflows since January 2010 in March, according to a report from industry tracker eVestment. ($1 = 0.9329 euros) ($1 = 0.7809 pounds) (Reporting by Maiya Keidan and Jemima Kelly; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-election-hedgefunds-idUSL8N1HS30I'|'2017-04-21T03:39:00.000+03:00' '5626f3612166d40c65b3bc24ad4d52f38e4a850f'|'Asian stocks set for cautious start on weak U.S. cues'|'NEW YORK The euro and stocks on major markets recovered on Thursday as a market-friendly presidential candidate held the lead ahead of Sunday''s first-round election in France, while the yen and U.S. Treasury debt prices weakened.Former French finance minister, Emmanuel Macron, remained atop the polls for Sunday''s French vote, but the election is still a four-way battle in the first round on April 23. Should Macron rank first or second in Sunday''s poll, he is seen easily winning the runoff vote on May 7 after remaining candidates are eliminated.However, after surprises in last year''s U.S. election and the UK Brexit referendum, voter indecision and low turnout could catch markets wrong-footed yet again.France''s CAC stock index .FCHI jumped 1.5 percent, its strongest daily performance since March 1.On Wall Street, stocks rose as traders continued to bet on a strong earnings reporting season. Profit expectations have risen in the last two weeks and S&P 500 company earnings now are expected to have gained 11.1 percent in the first quarter."They really are just focusing now on the micro, which they should be, on the earnings and what the earnings are saying," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York."Investors are putting the geopolitical stuff to the back of the bus at the moment and they are really focusing on what they should be."The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 198.03 points, or 0.97 percent, to 20,602.52, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 20.45 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,358.62 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 58.02 points, or 0.99 percent, to 5,921.06.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 ended up 0.2 percent and MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS gained 0.62 percent.Emerging market stocks rose 0.55 percent.EURO JUMPSCurrency traders said short-term players were closing out positions taken in anticipation of euro weakness before the French election, emboldened by the steady stream of polls confirming that centrist Macron would lead returns on Sunday."Short euro is still one of the larger positions out there. No risk on the table means take some of that off," said BMO strategist Stephen Gallo."(But) there is still no fundamental reason for the euro to be rising here."The U.S. dollar index .DXY rose 0.04 percent, with the euro EUR= up 0.1 percent to $1.072.The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 109.31 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2809, up 0.25 percent on the day.Oil prices fell further after Wednesday''s steep losses, with rising U.S. production weighing against comments from leading Gulf oil producers that an extension to OPEC-led supply cuts was likely.U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 0.22 percent to $50.74 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $53.02, up 0.17 percent on the day.U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors waited on the results from the French election, after the 10-year yield earlier failed to break below key technical resistance at 2.19 percent.Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 10/32 in price to yield 2.2356 percent, from 2.202 percent late on Wednesday.Spot gold XAU= added 0.1 percent to $1,280.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.05 percent to $1,282.70 an ounce.Copper CMCU3 rose 1.43 percent to $5,635.50 a tonne.For graphic on French presidential election, click: tmsnrt.rs/2lPduBGFor graphic on global foreign exchange rates in 2017, click: tmsnrt.rs/2kIQHolFor graphic on global assets in 2017, click: reut.rs/2kD4BGAFor graphic on global bond dashboard, click: tmsnrt.rs/2lmwqHCFor graphic on global market cap, click: reut.rs/2pHTxif(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, Chuck Mikolajczak and Karen Brettell in New York, Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru, Libby George and Patrick Graham in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17M02M'|'2017-04-20T08:39:00.000+03:00' 'c6b825a1a7383004a059e50f49a83b530ec34257'|'Euro jumps, global shares firm on French election relief'|'By Wayne Cole - SYDNEY SYDNEY The euro briefly vaulted to five-month peaks on Monday after the market''s favoured candidate won through the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of a Brexit-like shock and sparking a mass unwinding of safe-haven trades.Spreadbetters pointed to opening gains across European bourses with the French market alone seen up around 2 percent.E-mini futures for the S&P 500 climbed 0.9 percent in early trade, while yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose almost 8 basis points to 2.31 percent.Japan''s Nikkei jumped 1.5 percent as the yen retreated, while MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.3 percent.Shanghai shares, however, fell 1.7 percent after state media signalled Beijing would tolerate more market volatility as regulators clamp down on riskier financing.In France, Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step toward the presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen.The outcome lessens the risk of an anti-establishment shock on the scale of Britain''s vote to quit the European Union with Macron widely tipped to win the final vote and keep France in the union.Opinion polls put Macron ahead by over 20 points, a lead so large that a repeat of the Brexit surprise that spread turmoil in financial markets seemed highly unlikely.Investors had feared for the single currency''s future if one of the far-left candidates had gotten through to fight Le Pen. The euro jumped in relief, and was last up 1.3 percent at $1.0866, having been as far as $1.0940, the highest since early November.The safe-haven yen slipped across the board with the euro surging 2.4 percent to 119.77 yen while the U.S. dollar gained 1 percent to 110.20 yen. Likewise, gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,273.40 an ounce."The rise of the euro and risk appetite rebounding is understandable and this should also see yields in Europe fall, spreads to Bunds tighten and stocks rally," said Tim Riddell, an analyst at Westpac."However, such gains are likely to be contained when markets reflect upon the marked shift away from the "establishment" and just how effective the new president may be," he added.SCEPTICAL ON TAXWall Street on Friday had only a modest lift from news President Donald Trump would announce the broad outline of his proposed tax package on Wednesday."Markets are sceptical that the real details will be forthcoming," said analysts at ANZ in a note."There is also plenty of conjecture about whether any tax cuts will be able to be revenue neutral, and that could affect their ease of passage through Congress."The Dow ended Friday down a minor 0.15 percent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.30 percent and the Nasdaq fell 0.11 percent.Investors were also keeping a wary eye on tensions in the Korean peninsula.North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension as Trump called the leaders of China and Japan to discuss the situation.South Korea responded by asking Washington about holding joint drills with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group as it approaches waters off the Korean peninsula.Oil prices recouped just a little of last week''s hefty losses, still weighed by signs U.S. production and inventory growth were offsetting OPEC''s attempts to reduce the global crude glut.Brent futures were up 29 cents at $52.25 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures added 24 cents to $49.86.(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idINKBN17Q08W'|'2017-04-24T11:46:00.000+03:00' '7eb139234f964021fc3344eaeefc8f9e36b8c132'|'NASH: The next untapped pharma market gives investors many options'|'Large drugmakers with piles of cash are on the hunt for promising medicines being developed by small companies to treat NASH, a progressive fatty liver disease poised to become the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020.The eventual market for the complex disease, formally known as Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis, is forecast to be $20 billion to $35 billion as populations with fatty diets increasingly fall victim to a condition with no approved treatments.With intense competition and pricing pressure eroding sales of medicines for diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and other lucrative disease categories, and an already crowded field for developmental cancer drugs, big pharma sees NASH as an enormous new market for future profit that will accelerate a wave of deal making."We are actively looking on the outside for opportunities... to complement our internal program," Morris Birnbaum, chief scientific officer for internal medicine for Pfizer ( PFE.N ), told Reuters.Pfizer currently has three early-stage drugs in the clinic aiming to block or reverse fat accumulation in the liver. "We believe that even though we''re a bit behind, we still might come out with the best-in-class molecules," Birnbaum said.Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY.N ) also confirmed it is looking for additional assets to enhance its internally-developed NASH drugs. It presented promising data for its lead NASH candidate at the big European liver meeting in Amsterdam that ended on Sunday."It''s early days, but keep your seatbelts fastened," said Dr. Scott Friedman, dean for therapeutic discovery at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and one of the world''s leading liver disease experts.Estimates for the prevalence of NASH in nations with fatty diets range from 5 to 20 percent of the population with up to 15 million potentially affected in the United States alone.Driven by the obesity and diabetes epidemics, the disease guarantees an enormous pool of patients for decades, making it a prime target for deals for promising therapies for NASH and its consequences - advanced fibrosis and liver-destroying cirrhosis. The very early stages of many of the drugs, and the complicated nature of the disease itself, pose risks for drug developers and their investors alike.But the upside potential is still enticing to Raghuram Selvaraju, managing director and senior healthcare analyst at Rodman and Renshaw. He calls NASH one of the hottest spaces in the healthcare sector."We anticipate that there will be more transactions, more licensing deals from big pharma involving emerging biotechnology companies," he said.GILEAD A PIONEERJust a few years ago, Gilead Sciences ( GILD.O ) was the lone large drugmaker talking about NASH. It was undeterred after its most advanced anti-fibrosis candidate failed, striking deals with two small companies to acquire additional NASH programs.Liver disease experts were impressed last year by Phase II data from a Gilead-developed drug that demonstrated fibrosis regression after just six months.Allergan ( AGN.N ) became a top NASH contender with its acquisition of Tobira Therapeutics and a deal with private Akarna Therapeutics on the same day last year.Other big drugmakers with licensing deals or options on future deals in the space include Novartis ( NOVN.S ), Merck & Co ( MRK.N ), Bristol-Myers and Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ).While many of the drugs in development are two-to-five years from reaching the market if they get that far, betting on the feverish deal activity gives investors a chance to profit near term.Many small companies developing drugs with a wide variety of approaches across the disease spectrum do not have partners. They include Intercept Pharmaceuticals ( ICPT.O ), Galectin Therapeutics ( GALT.O ), Genfit ( GNFT.PA ) and Galmed Pharmaceuticals ( GLMD.O ), all with a chance to be among the first to market, as well as Enanta Pharmaceuticals( ENTA.O ), Durect Corp ( DRRX.O ) and little-known U.K.-tradedTiziana Life Sciences ( TILST.L ) with assets much earlier indevelopment.Galectin, which expects key data in December, has commenced preliminary partnership discussions, its chief operating officer told Reuters.Len Yaffe, who runs the StockDoc Partners healthcare fund and has long followed the liver disease space, said investors with tolerance for risk could do well to buy shares in several small-cap and micro-cap companies with promising NASH drugs in early development. He said if any one has stellar data, or lands a deal, the payoff could be considerable.When Allergan announced the $1.7 billion deal for Tobira, for example, that company''s shares jumped from under $5 to over $30.Yaffe, who had singled out Tobira to investors prior to its acquisition, said the Durect drug "looks incredibly promising as it relates to inflammation and fibrosis."Enanta has the advantage of cash flow from its hepatitis C partnership with AbbVie ( ABBV.N ) to fund its NASH program."You want to bet on companies that can survive even if they don''t get a partnership this year or next year," Selvaraju said.Enanta Chief Executive Jay Luly said companies in earlier stages of development may have an advantage over the first wave of experimental treatments as regulators'' thinking on clinical trial goals and what makes an approvable product in such a new market evolves."When we get there, the development pathway could be not only more clearly defined, but more simplified," Luly said.MANY SHOTS ON GOALDrugmakers are taking a wide range of approaches to treat the complex disease, given multiple health issues among NASH patients that contribute to the liver damage, such as heart disease and diabetes.There are drugs targeting inflammation to prevent or reduce fibrotic scarring. Some address lipid regulation to reduce liver fat, while others attempt to directly halt or reverse fibrosis. And some companies are testing diabetes treatments to assess their ability to also improve NASH."The big sea change from two years ago - apart from an increased number of players - is a fairly rapid acceptance of the fact that we''re going to be seeking combination therapies since it''s a disease that involves multiple pathways," said Mt. Sinai’s Friedman."In the end, whatever the mechanism is, it needs to yield decreased fibrosis," he said, noting that progressing fibrosis is what ultimately causes serious health consequences.The knowledge that multiple drugs will be needed for therapeutic combinations to treat NASH, and that most experimental drugs fail, are big drivers for deal activity. Drugmakers are looking to improve chances of success by amassing numerous experimental drugs for their NASH programs. Some experts said drugs that target late-stage fibrosis and cirrhosis, where the risk of cancer and liver failure is highest, are likely to gain earliest acceptance from insurers.That fits the strategy of tiny Conatus Pharmaceuticals ( CNAT.O ), whose shares more than doubled when it signed a $50 million collaboration deal with Novartis. Conatus is targeting end-stage disease with the goal of preventing transplants.But given the millions of potential patients and expense of treating advanced disease, there should be incentive for insurers to embrace medicines that target earlier stage NASH as well."There''s still a major role for drugs that work on the front end," said Dr. Arun Sanyal, a leading liver disease expert whose Virginia Commonwealth University lab discovered the compound being developed by Durect. "One size will not fit all."(Editing by Edward Tobin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-liver-nash-insight-idUSKBN17Q0D5'|'2017-04-24T20:09:00.000+03:00' '9d89c8bdb0c5467e06f53b4b4ce489523cfe6833'|'Emerging markets could help lift German engineering this year'|'Business 22am BST Emerging markets could help lift German engineering this year HANOVER, Germany Germany''s VDMA engineering association could lift its growth forecast for this year if early signals of positive business sentiment persist and prove justified, the VDMA''s president said on Monday. The association, which represents thousands of companies with over a million workers and more than $200 billion (£156.40 billion) in annual revenue between them, has forecast 1 percent growth this year in output and exports. Carl-Martin Welcker said emerging markets, Russia, India and Germany could lift German engineering production this year after a year of stagnation. China, the United States and Britain were sources of uncertainty, he said. "If the currently prevailing good sentiment, which we can read in many early indicators, continues and proves itself, it could work out even better than we have forecast," he told a news conference at the Hannover Messe industrial fair. But he said there was no guarantee, saying the VDMA was unsure how China would develop, warning that Brexit still had to make itself felt, and saying it was unclear what economic policies U.S. President Donald Trump would really pursue. "All of European industry faces big challenges. Chinese rivals are becoming not only bigger but also more competitive, and our important and hitherto dependable trade partner the United States threatens to become unreliable," Welcker said. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-industry-engineering-idUKKBN17Q0J9'|'2017-04-24T15:22:00.000+03:00' '0fbe0d97559dfa6fe8944fe5cbcab1ff10bfbb2c'|'LafargeHolcim CEO to depart in wake of Syria controversy'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 6:21am BST LafargeHolcim CEO to depart in wake of Syria controversy Chief Executive Eric Olsen of LafargeHolcim, the world''s largest cement maker addresses a news conference to present the company''s 2016 results in Zurich March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH LafargeHolcim ( LHN.S ) Chief Executive Eric Olsen will leave the company in July, the world''s largest cement maker said on Monday, in the wake of a report into allegations the company paid armed groups in Syria to keep a plant open. "While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoing I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case," said Olsen in a statement. (Reporting by John Revill; editing by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lafargeholcim-syria-ceo-idUKKBN17Q0EA'|'2017-04-24T13:21:00.000+03:00' 'bf93bf6aa94846863883afc5f7e97a30946a0d0d'|'Liberty House to buy ArcelorMittal''s U.S. Georgetown steel plant'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 1:00pm BST Liberty House to buy ArcelorMittal''s U.S. Georgetown steel plant Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House Group, poses for a photo at the companyÕs Dubai office, UAE June 19, 2016. REUTERS/David French LONDON Metals group Liberty House Group has agreed to buy the Georgetown Steelworks plant from Arcelor Mittal ( ISPA.AS ) in its first major U.S. acquisition, the companies said on Friday. London-based Liberty will buy the plant based in South Carolina, including its 540,000 tonne a year electric arc furnace and 680,000 tonne a year rod mill, the joint statement said. It did not disclose the cost of deal. The Georgetown plant was closed in August 2015 and directly employed more than 320 workers. "Acquiring the plant at Georgetown, with its ability to recycle scrap steel in an arc furnace, gives us a strong platform from which to launch our strategy in the USA," said Liberty House executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta. The provisional deal marks the "first significant step in Liberty''s plan to make major investments in the U.S. steel industry", the statement said. Liberty House was in talks with the United Steelworks union on recruiting a workforce to re-open the plant. ArcelorMittal said in February that it expected apparent steel consumption in the United States and in Brazil to rise 4 percent this year. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libertyhouse-m-a-arcelormitta-idUKKBN17N1EX'|'2017-04-21T20:00:00.000+03:00' 'c41849e98da172a68e2157ba9868f2fd53b287d0'|'Reload: Another debate about net neutrality in America'|'THE details around network neutrality, the principle that internet-service providers (ISPs) must treat all sorts of web traffic equally, can be mind-numbingly abstruse. But they fuel passion, nonetheless. After Tom Wheeler, a former chairman of America’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC), proposed unpopular net-neutrality rules in late 2014, for instance, protesters blocked his driveway, forcing him to walk to work. Their action was meant to illustrate the threat of big ISPs erecting toll-booths and other choke-points that would relegate less well-off consumers to digital slow lanes.Now it is the turn of Ajit Pai (pictured), Mr Wheeler’s successor, to stir the hornets’ nest. In the coming days Mr Pai is expected to unveil a proposal for new rules on net neutrality. His plan is anticipated to be a testament both to his deregulatory agenda and to the big ISPs’ lobbying power. It would essentially take the FCC out of the equation when it comes to policing the smooth running of the internet. Because of the protests in 2014 and because of a court decision that year suggesting that the FCC needed the jurisdiction to be able to mandate net-neutrality rules, Mr Wheeler reclassified internet access as a “telecommunications service” to be under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, meaning that ISPs are regulated as utilities. It is this change that Mr Pai has vowed to undo: he considers the FCC’s new dominion over ISPs as regulatory overkill.Mr Pai does support general rules to protect net neutrality. Like other advocates of the principle, he credits these for the internet’s innovativeness. But he believes that light-touch regulation is enough. Once ISPs are no longer classed as telecommunications services he wants them to commit to net neutrality in their terms of service. This commitment would (in theory) be enforced by a different agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has the authority to go after firms if they fail to live up to promises they make to customers.Yet the ISPs’ commitments would, at bottom, be voluntary, as critics such as Chris Lewis of Public Knowledge, an advocacy group, note. ISPs could refuse to make promises on net neutrality, or abandon them down the line. If they did break promises, it is unclear how vigorously the FTC would go after them. It has less expertise in network engineering, for example, so is much less well equipped to enforce the rules. And Mr Pai may risk going too far even for his own comfort on net neutrality. If he reclassifies internet access, he finds himself in the same situation Mr Wheeler was in: the FCC then has limited authority to intervene should things go wrong.The logical answer to this legal conundrum would be for Congress to add a statute on net neutrality to the Telecommunications Act, which predates the rise of the internet. That is unlikely, given other legislative priorities such as health care and corporate tax, but in a less partisan universe, Republicans and Democrats would have little problem finding common ground on the subject, says Kevin Werbach of Wharton, a business school at the University of Pennsylvania.Such a compromise would also be in tune with how the debate about net neutrality has evolved. Although they oppose internet access being regulated under Title II, most ISPs, including big ones such as AT&T and Verizon, have made their peace with net neutrality. The current rules have had no discernible negative impact on the companies, notes Mr Werbach. Investment in broadband networks may have fallen, as critics of the strict net-neutrality rules predicted, but such swings are common in the telecoms industry and there is no conclusive evidence that net neutrality is to blame for the fall.Will Mr Pai’s plans trigger widespread protests similar to those in 2014? Mr Lewis of Public Knowledge expects that resistance will be stronger still, but others are not so sure. Although big internet firms such as Google, Netflix, Amazon and others have come out against his expected proposals, their opposition seems less determined than it was three years ago. Netflix, one of the fiercest defenders of net neutrality, says it is now big enough to stand up for itself. Activists, for their part, may already be weary from fighting Mr Trump’s government on other fronts.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Reload"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721245-new-head-fcc-will-roll-back-obama-era-rules-another-debate-about-net-neutrality?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-22T08:00:00.000+03:00' '9e0aaea0f0ff1a2bb7373afd8053c251751d0af1'|'Schumpeter: Why the decline in the number of listed American firms matters'|'LAST month Schumpeter attended an event at the New York Stock Exchange held in honour of Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, a room-sharing website that private investors value at $31bn. Glittering tables were laid out not far from where George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. The well-heeled members of the Economic Club of New York watched as Thomas Farley, the NYSE’s president, hailed Airbnb as an exemplar of American enterprise. Mr Chesky recounted his journey from sleeping on couches in San Francisco to being a billionaire. His mum, a former social worker, looked on. Only one thing was missing. When Mr Chesky was asked if he would list Airbnb on the NYSE, he hesitated. He said there was no pressing need.Airbnb is not alone. A big trend in American business is the collapse in the number of listed companies. There were 7,322 in 1996; today there are 3,671. It is important not to confuse this with a shrinking of the stockmarket: the value of listed firms has risen from 105% of GDP in 1996 to 136% now. But a smaller number of older, bigger firms dominate bourses. The average listed firm has a lifespan of 18 years, up from 12 years two decades ago, and is worth four times more. The number of companies doing initial public offerings (IPOs), meanwhile, has fallen from 300 a year on average in the two decades to 2000 to about 100 a year since. Many highly-valued startups, including Lyft, a ride-sharing firm, and Pinterest, a photo-sharing site, stay private for longer. A new paper by Michael Mauboussin, who works for Credit Suisse, a bank, and teaches at Columbia Business School in New York, explains why this matters. Consider the first reason behind the slump in the number of listed firms: the IPO drought. Although the total population of companies in America has been steady, their propensity to list their shares has roughly halved. Fear of red tape is one reason (although the decline predates the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which tightened disclosure rules and which bosses hate). Many founders also believe that private markets are better at allowing them a long-term perspective.As for companies’ hunger for capital, many need less to spend on assets such as plant and equipment as the economy becomes more technology-intensive. Private markets, meanwhile, have become more sophisticated at supplying the funds they do require. Many big, mainstream fund managers, such as Fidelity and T. Rowe Price, are investing in unicorns, meaning private firms that are worth over $1bn, of which there are now roughly 100.Airbnb exemplifies the trend. It is almost a decade old but unlisted. Amazon was three years old in 1997 when it floated. Airbnb has raised billions from private markets and has 26 external investors. It will make gross operating profits of $450m this year, according to a new book, “The Airbnb Story” by Leigh Gallagher, so doesn’t need piles of new cash. At its fund-raising round last autumn, employees were able to sell around $200m of shares, which does away with another reason for firms to do an IPO.Exits from the stockmarket by established firms—the second factor behind listed firms’ shrinking ranks—are growing in number. About a third of departures are involuntary, as companies get too small to qualify for public markets or go bust. The rest are due to takeovers. Some firms get bought by private-equity funds but most get taken over by other corporations, usually listed ones. Decades of lax antitrust enforcement mean that most industries have grown more concentrated. Bosses and consultants often argue that takeovers are evidence that capitalism has become more competitive. In fact it is evidence of the opposite: that more of the economy is controlled by large firms.Perhaps the number of listed firms will stop falling. This year several trendy companies have floated, including Snap, a social-media firm, and Canada Goose, a maker of expensive winter coats beloved of Manhattanites. If the euphoria over tech firms fades somewhat it may become harder for unicorns to raise money privately. Continued decline in the number of listed firms would be bad news. It would be a symptom of the oligopolisation of the economy, which will harm growth in the long run.Fewer listed firms also undermines the notion of shareholder democracy. Mr Mauboussin notes that 40 years ago a pension fund could get full exposure to the economy by owning the S&P 500 index and betting on a venture-capital fund to capture returns from startups. Now a fund needs to make lots of investments in private firms and in opaque vehicles that generate fees for bankers and advisers. Ordinary Americans without connections are meanwhile unable directly to own shares in new companies that are active in the fastest-growing parts of the economy.Unicorns don’t have to meet public-company standards on accounting and disclosure, so it is expensive to monitor them properly. Some money managers don’t bother. There has already been one blow-up among the unicorns, Theranos, a blood-testing company whose products didn’t work. And without the close scrutiny that comes with being public, other firms appear trapped in a permanent adolescence of erratic management. Uber, a transport firm that is losing money and whose boss, Travis Kalanick, is scandal-prone, is a case in point.Time to grow upThe fact that fewer companies control the economy is a question for antitrust regulators. Whether young firms list their shares is entirely up to their owners. Some tech tycoons including Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, an electric-car company and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have mastered the art of running public firms on long-term horizons. Mr Chesky says that Mr Bezos has pointed out to him that a company must be “robust” to survive once it is public. Achieving that might be seen as a chore. But it can also be an incentive to improve performance and corporate culture. The hope is that Mr Chesky is up to the task, and that the next time he visits the NYSE, he’ll be there to ring the bell.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Life in the public eye"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721153-company-founders-are-reluctant-go-public-and-takeovers-are-soaring-why-decline?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-22T08:00:00.000+03:00' '1285fa4498007050e5871d859979637446fbd46d'|'United CEO Munoz will not chair board in 2018 following passenger removal'|'NEW YORK United Airlines ( UAL.N ) Chief Executive Oscar Munoz will not chair the company''s board in 2018, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday, following a high-profile incident in which an elderly passenger was dragged from a flight.In a reversal of Munoz''s earlier employment agreement, he has opted to leave "future determinations related to the Chairman position to the discretion of the Board," the filing said.(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ual-passenger-idINKBN17N2H8'|'2017-04-21T18:41:00.000+03:00' '12acaf765c1e76a14d3a962e013ed88c3245b63c'|'A former water pumping station – in pictures - Money'|'A former water pumping station – in pictures View more sharing options Share Close Go with the flow and renovate this piece of Cornish historyJill Papworth Friday 21 April 2017 07.00 BST This former water pumping station near the seaside town of Newlyn in south-west Cornwall is up for auction at a guide price of £95,000 plus fees. Photographs by Auction House Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Old Pump House, which is surrounded by fields seen through the porthole windows at each gable end, supplied the major part of the district’s mains water, pumping a reputed 30,000 gallons of water per day, before the nearby Drift reservoir and dam were completed in 1961. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The building is just a shell with two 20 x 14 ft floors, but it comes with conditional planning permission to convert it for residential use. Details can be found online on Cornwall council’s website . Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ground floor of the pump house, which is being auctioned by Auction House in Redruth at 2.30pm on Wednesday 26 April. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Property Surreal estate Homes'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2017/apr/21/former-water-pumping-station-newlyn-cornwall-in-pictures'|'2017-04-21T15:00:00.000+03:00' '0fd392b63e765b638b77bc78527da873e7f5427c'|'RPT-In Indonesia, labour friction and politics fan anti-Chinese sentiment'|'(Repeats Tuesday''s story, no change in text)* China investment in Indonesia at record high* Chinese companies prefer their own workers* Jakarta election raises fears about anti-Chinese feeling* Visa-free travel helps Chinese bring in workers-union leader* Student vigilantes rounded up workers at Sulawesi smeltersBy Eveline Danubrata and Gayatri SuroyoJAKARTA, April 18 A bitterly fought election to govern Indonesia''s capital that has fanned religious tensions has also thrown a spotlight on anti-foreign sentiment, as conspiracy theories swirl about an influx of illegal Chinese workers spurring vigilantism.Foreign direct investment from China hit a record high of $2.67 billion last year after President Joko Widodo rolled out the red carpet to Chinese investors, who are typically willing to take on risks for infrastructure and other big projects.But the cheap funding comes at a price: Chinese companies often bring in their own workers and machines, creating friction with locals, according to interviews with labour groups, company executives and government officials.Indonesian investment chief Thomas Lembong said a "freak-out over foreign workers" had been politicised, fuelling tensions surrounding the Jakarta poll, which pits the ethnic Chinese Christian incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama against a Muslim rival.Purnama is backed by Widodo''s ruling party and Lembong said the issue of anti-foreign and - in particular anti-Chinese - sentiment had been harnessed by rivals of the government."It''s part of a broader effort to turn political sentiment anti-foreigner and anti-Chinese at a time when Chinese investment is poised to be the biggest factor driving the Asian economy," Lembong told Reuters.The number of Chinese work permit holders jumped 30 percent in the past two years to 21,271 in 2016, the latest data from Indonesia''s manpower ministry showed. In comparison, there were 12,490 from Japan and 2,812 from the United States last year.While the issue had been compounded by discredited reports circulating on social media claiming that 10 million Chinese workers had flooded Indonesia, labour unions still dispute official figures.Chinese companies have been mis-using a visa-free route meant for tourists to bring in "hundreds of thousands" of low-skilled Chinese workers, said labour leader Said Iqbal.Since February, the Confederation of Indonesian Workers'' Union (KSPI) has been compiling unofficial data on Chinese workers suspected of not having proper documentation and it has asked the manpower ministry to take action, he said."Local unskilled labour cannot work because the jobs have been filled by the Chinese," the KSPI''s Iqbal told Reuters.Liky Sutikno, the Beijing-based chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in China, said some Chinese companies temporarily bring in their own "technical workers", who would return to China once the local teams take over.These workers may have a better knowledge of products and processes, on top of being faster in executing steps such as installing machinery, Sutikno said.VIGILANTISMLate last year, around 150 college students on Sulawesi island, where several Chinese smelters are being built, stopped vehicles they suspected of carrying illegal Chinese workers and brought them to the authorities.The group planned more raids this year, said Erik, one of the students, who declined to give his full name.Maruli Hasoloan, a manpower ministry official, acknowledged some labour friction and vigilantism over the past few months. While the ministry was coordinating with other authorities to prevent any abuse of visa-free entry, it does not condone a vigilante crackdown on foreign workers, he added.Indonesia has suffered bouts of anti-Chinese and anti-communist sentiment over its history, though this has usually been directed at its minority ethnic Chinese community.On average, Indonesian Chinese are far wealthier than other ethnic groups. During riots leading to the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, ethnic Chinese were targeted, making up many of around 1,000 people who were killed in the violence.Under Suharto, Chinese culture and language were severely restricted, but at the same time he cultivated some ethnic Chinese businessmen who became hugely rich.UGLIER MOODThe capital Jakarta has seen a series of mass rallies led by hardline Islamists calling for Purnama, Jakarta''s first Christian and Chinese governor, to be jailed even as he was put on trial over allegations that he had insulted the Koran.Purnama, who is competing against former education minister Anies Baswedan, denies what are regarded by critics as politicised charges.While it is too soon to assess whether all this could have an impact on Chinese investment decisions, some Chinese business groups say they are worried about the uglier mood and also about potentially losing a business-friendly leader of Jakarta.Many Chinese companies favour Purnama for his perceived ability to execute Widodo''s infrastructure reform agenda, which is aligned with Chinese President Xi Jinping''s "One Belt, One Road" policy to invest billions of dollars in global projects. Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million people, accounts for nearly a fifth of national economic output and is home to major construction projects including a $5 billion Chinese-backed rail connecting the capital to the West Java city of Bandung.The anti-Purnama movement has also revived jitters about the racial and religious under-currents in Indonesia, which has the world''s largest Muslim population."Chinese concern is stability and consistency of the rule of law," Sutikno said. "What they are scared of the most is a repeat of 1998, that the Chinese will be singled out again." (Additional reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa, John Chalmers, Fransiska Nangoy, Hidayat Setiaji and Wilda Asmarini; Editing by Ed Davies and Bill Tarrant)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/indonesia-election-china-idUSL3N1HQ62Z'|'2017-04-19T07:46:00.000+03:00' 'd9a3011d0639918e3999e4e5e726a19d83e07937'|'U.S. finds hardwood plywood from China subsidized, slaps on duties'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 12:37am BST U.S. finds hardwood plywood from China subsidized, slaps on duties WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday it had made a preliminary finding of subsidies in imports of hardwood plywood products from China and will impose countervailing duties ranging from 9.89 percent to 111.09 percent. The investigation follows petitions from six privately owned U.S. plywood producers into the imports, which are used in wall panels, kitchen cabinets, table and desk tops, and flooring. In 2016, imports of hardwood plywood products from China were valued at an estimated $1.15 billion, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement. The Commerce Department said it calculated preliminary subsidy rates of 111.09 percent for Shandong Dongfang Bayley Wood Co and 9.89 percent for Linyi Sanfortune Wood Co. Sixty-two other companies received a subsidy rate of 111.09 percent and all other producers/exporters in China were slapped with a preliminary subsidy rate of 9.89 percent, the department said. The Commerce Department said it is scheduled to announce its final determination on or about July 5 unless the statutory deadline is extended. (Reporting by Eric Walsh and Eric Beech; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-china-plywood-idUKKBN17K2Q6'|'2017-04-19T07:37:00.000+03:00' '5eca7f4a938cb4103fe129044e1712bcc8ee76b3'|'Nissan aims to sell 1.4 million vehicles in China this year - global sales chief'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 6:28am BST Nissan aims to sell 1.4 million vehicles in China this year - global sales chief The Nissan logo is seen at the 2017 New York International Auto Show in New York City, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid SHANGHAI Japan''s Nissan Motor Co Ltd ( 7201.T ) aims to sell at least 1.4 million vehicles in China this year, the carmaker''s global sales chief Daniele Schillaci told reporters on Wednesday at the Shanghai auto show. The Japanese carmaker saw vehicle sales rise 8.4 percent last year to 1.35 million units, above its target of 1.3 million. (Reporting by Jake Spring; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-nissan-idUKKBN17L0E0'|'2017-04-19T13:28:00.000+03:00' '83622323cbf5974d22301e5a1a8df4de76cb5cae'|'Boom in index funds and ETFs lifts BlackRock profit'|'Business News 7:50am EDT Boom in index funds and ETFs lifts BlackRock profit FILE PHOTO: The company logo and trading information for BlackRock is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK NEW YORK BlackRock Inc ( BLK.N ), the world''s biggest asset manager, on Wednesday reported a 31 percent rise in quarterly profit as investors continued to plow money into its index-tracking funds. Investors poured $64.5 billion into BlackRock''s iShares exchange-traded funds business during the quarter, up from $24.3 billion a year earlier. That helped the company end the quarter with $5.4 trillion in assets under management, up from the preceding quarter, when managed assets totaled $5.1 trillion. BlackRock''s net income rose to $862 million, or $5.23 per share, in the first quarter, from $657 million, or $3.92 per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $5.25 per share. That beat the $4.89 forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The investment management industry is being reshaped by a move of investors toward cheaper products, especially index funds. Yet BlackRock has been rewarded by Wall Street in part because its iShares franchise offers relatively low-cost funds that are in high demand. Still, BlackRock''s higher-fee business of actively picking individual winners in the market is under pressure. Last quarter, BlackRock''s active funds posted $1.8 billion in withdrawals. The asset manager announced a plan last month to cut jobs and fees while relying more on computers to assemble its investment portfolios, a flurry of changes meant to jumpstart its lagging stockpicking franchise. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-results-idUSKBN17L18S'|'2017-04-19T19:50:00.000+03:00' '0213ad38b633ed6ab4b6a16d57888988132a3d4a'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 19'|'April 19 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.Headlines* Theresa May calls snap election in bid to strengthen hand in Brexit talks. on.ft.com/2peRr9P* IMF upgrades UK 2017 growth forecast to 2 percent. on.ft.com/2peEHja* Weetabix to be sold to U.S. group Post Holdings for $1.76 bln. on.ft.com/2pvc52iOverview* British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by bolstering support for her Brexit plan.* The International Monetary Fund revised Britain''s growth forecast to 2 percent for 2017, up a half percentage point from January. The Fund said negative effects from the UK vote to leave the European Union are taking longer to materialize.* Post Holdings is buying leading British breakfast cereal brand Weetabix from China''s Bright Food Group Co Ltd for 1.4 billion pounds ($1.80 billion), giving the U.S. focused company a European base on which to build.($1 = 0.7787 pounds) (Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL1N1HQ282'|'2017-04-19T07:16:00.000+03:00' 'bae22b981880c627136e57eab3ae2caf6ce14ba6'|'UPDATE 1-Amazon says it is bringing retail shopfront service to Australia'|'* Amazon says will open an online shopfront service in Australia* Australia will be the 12th location for Amazon Marketplace* Amazon is looking for a logistics centre in Australia (Adds global context, fulfilment centre details)SYDNEY, April 20 Global retail juggernaut Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it plans to offer its retail shopfront service in Australia, confirming rumours which have circulated for years about its plans to expand into the world''s 12th-largest economy.The Seattle-based firm said in an email that after offering its internet cloud service in Australia in 2012 and opening an online e-book store in 2013, "the next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia"."We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace," the email said, referring to the company''s online retail shopfront service.Amazon Marketplace now handles half of all sales on its websites globally, the company said in a posting on its Australian website. Thousands of Australian businesses sold products on existing Amazon Marketplaces in other countries, it added.The Australian operation would be the company''s fourth Amazon Marketplace in Asia after China, Japan and India and its 12th globally. It has three Amazon Marketplaces in the United States and five in Europe.The company did not give a timeline for its move on Australia or details about where it wanted to locate its facility.It currently employed nearly 1,000 people in Australia. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/amazoncom-australia-idINL3N1HS07M'|'2017-04-19T23:45:00.000+03:00' '00d4718e1b4658193a7a2ab9f730dba49d15cfdb'|'Uber could face higher licence fees in London under new proposals'|'Company 51am EDT Uber could face higher licence fees in London under new proposals LONDON, April 20 Taxi app Uber could face an increase in operator licence fees in London under proposed changes by the city''s transport authority, the latest in a series of moves by regulators to rein in a firm that has disrupted the traditional taxi industry. Transport for London (TfL) launched a consultation on Thursday on plans to change the fee structure for private hire operators so that firms pay fees that reflect the increased costs of regulating the sector. San Francisco-based Uber, which allows people to book journeys on their smartphones, said it supported the principle of larger operators paying higher fees and would look at the details once it received the consultation documents. More than 30,000 licensed drivers in London use the Uber app, making it the largest operator of private hire vehicles in the city. TfL said the private hire industry in London had grown dramatically, from 65,000 licensed drivers in 2013/14 to more than 117,000 now. The transport authority said this meant the cost of regulating the industry was soaring, with enforcement costs over the next five years set to reach 30 million pounds from a previous estimate of 4 million. "It is only fair that licence fees for private hire operators accurately reflect the costs of enforcement and regulating the trade," said Helen Chapman, TfL''s general manager of taxi and private hire. As things stand, there are only two rates for five-year licenses: around 1,500 pounds for small operators of up to two vehicles and around 2,800 pounds for firms operating three or more vehicles. Under the new proposals, the existing two tiers would be replaced with five. For large operators with more than 1,000 vehicles -- Uber and rival Addison Lee -- fees would rise to 167,000 pounds plus 68 pounds per car. Uber has generated controversy in many countries, facing protests from traditional taxi drivers, lawsuits from its own drivers and regulatory bans. In Britain, the firm has suffered several legal setbacks. It lost a court battle in March to stop TfL from imposing strict new English reading and writing standards on drivers. In a separate case, a tribunal ruled in October it should treat two drivers as workers and pay them the minimum wage and holiday pay. A spokesman for Uber said the firm had been granted permission to appeal against that ruling. The case will be heard at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in London on Sept 27/28. (Reporting by Estelle Shirbon; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uber-britain-idUSL8N1HS4X6'|'2017-04-20T22:51:00.000+03:00' '00377acc33d8b65a70d14db2eae06299f21fe018'|'InterContinental Hotels says 1,200 hotels hit by malware'|'Internet News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 9:10pm EDT Cyber attack hits 1,200 InterContinental hotels in United States The Logo of a Holiday Inn Hotel is pictured in Paris, France, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen By Alastair Sharp - TORONTO TORONTO Global hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group Plc ( IHG.L ) said 1,200 of its franchised hotels in the United States, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, were victims of a three-month cyber attack that sought to steal customer payment card data. The company declined to say how many payment cards were stolen in the attack, the latest in a hacking spree on prominent hospitality companies including Hyatt Hotels Corp ( H.N ), Hilton, and Starwood Hotels, now owned by Marriott International Inc ( MAR.O ). The breach lasted from September 29 to December 29, InterContinental spokesman Neil Hirsch said on Wednesday. He declined to say if losses were covered by insurance or what financial impact the hacking might have on the hotels that were compromised, which also included Hotel Indigo, Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites properties. The malware searched for track data stored on magnetic stripes, which includes name, card number, expiration date and internal verification code, the company said. Hotel operators have become popular targets because they are easier to breach than other businesses that store credit card numbers as they have limited knowledge in defending themselves against hackers, said Itay Glick, chief executive of Israeli cyber-security company Votiro. "They don''t have massive data centers like banks which have very secure systems to protect themselves," said Glick. InterContinental declined to say how many franchised properties it has in the United States, which is part of its business unit in the Americas with 3,633 such properties. In February, InterContinental said it had been victim of a cyber attack, but at that time said that only 12 of its 286 managed properties in the Americas were infected with malware. '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-intercontinental-cyber-idUSKBN17L1TA'|'2017-04-19T22:09:00.000+03:00' '5657449a10d2a3d88e2577919df4c8463dfc2828'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as oil price slide weighs on energy stocks'|'Market News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 4:09pm EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as oil price slide weighs on energy stocks TORONTO, April 19 Canada''s main stock index ended lower on Wednesday as a sharp fall in oil prices weighed on its heavyweight energy sector and gold miners slipped with lower prices for the precious metal. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 69.69 points, or 0.45 percent, at 15,552.88. Six of its 10 main groups fell. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Sandra Maler) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-close-idUSL1N1HR1NL'|'2017-04-20T04:09:00.000+03:00' '2eb6051cf03b53d4a6b0d6a5c26b0cd820bae2db'|'China says trademarks registered equally as Ivanka Trump gets more approved'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 5:33am EDT China says trademarks registered equally as Ivanka Trump gets more approved Ivanka Trump touches a piece of moon rock at an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, U.S., March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts BEIJING China''s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the government equally handles applications to register trademarks, following a report that the company of the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump has had new trademarks approved in China. The Associated Press reported that since Trump took office on Jan. 20, Ivanka Trump''s Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has won provisional approval from China for at least five new trademarks, adding to 16 already registered and more than 30 pending applications. The report said that on April 6, when President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were meeting in Florida, Ivanka Trump''s firm won provisional approval from China for three new trademarks, covering jewelry, bags and spa services. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about the report, said there was nothing untoward. "We consistently follow the principle of equally protecting the legal trademark rights of trademark owners of foreign companies and handle the process of relevant trademark registration in accordance with the law and rules," he told a daily news briefing. AP cited a statement from a spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand as saying that all 2017 Chinese trademarks were defensive, aimed at preventing counterfeiters or squatters from using her name. China has also granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks linked to Donald Trump, giving the U.S. president and his family protection were they to develop the "Trump" brand in the market. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-trump-trademark-idUSKBN17L11B'|'2017-04-19T17:33:00.000+03:00' '416ba2351d43f8d92abe2f734edd4b6cc12c6fe7'|'Foreign carmakers embrace China as electric car development hub'|'By Edward Taylor and Joseph White - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China''s crackdown on vehicle pollution will turn the world''s largest auto market into a hub for cutting edge electric car technologies previously exported from Europe and the United States, industry executives at the Shanghai motor show said.Foreign automakers have long been building cars in China to meet surging demand in the world''s most populous nation.But a raft of proposals to promote cleaner driving is now encouraging them to do more research in China, potentially turning the country into a world leader in a technology predicted to be a major force in the future of the industry."We are convinced China will become the leading market for electromobility," Volkswagen (VW) brand chief Herbert Diess told Reuters on the sidelines of the motor show.For years, carmakers have struggled to gain economies of scale to bring down the cost of electric cars, which have failed to gain traction with consumers in part because of their price.But by floating proposals to require automakers to boost sales of so-called "new energy vehicles," or risk being penalised, Beijing has given a powerful incentive for them to focus the development of such vehicles in China.That could be a big fillip for the local economy - and a blow to other major car manufacturing nations such as the United States, Germany and Japan. Analysts at UBS say the shift from combustion toward electric cars is a 100 billion euros ($107 billion) revenue opportunity for suppliers."There is a clear (Chinese) government policy in favour of electromobility - high subsidies and an industrial framework in the form of joint venture companies which are being encouraged to invest in this technology," Diess said, adding Beijing appeared to be trying to replicate the success of hybrid car technology in Japan and diesel vehicles in Germany.According to management consulting firm McKinsey, 43 percent of the 870,000 electric cars produced in 2016 came from China. Germany and the United States accounted for 23 percent and 17 percent respectively.In order to defend its market position in China, VW will invest in locally developed electric car technology, Diess said."This is a challenge but also an opportunity because we will quickly gain large volumes and gain sufficient scale to make electromobility cost effective enough so that it will also be a success in Germany and the United States," he told Reuters.In the wake of its diesel emissions scandal, VW is focusing much more on electric vehicles and software-based technologies - strategies also being pursued by its Chinese joint venture partners, which include SAIC and First Automotive Works (FAW)."Here in China the transformation is almost quicker. Our joint venture partners, in particular SAIC, are even more committed to transformation. They are already thinking about next steps which go beyond things like software and semiconductors," Diess said, without elaborating.TAKING THE LEADGKN, a global engineering group based in England that supplies components for the BMW i8 and Volvo''s XC90, said on Wednesday China would become its global production hub for electrified drivelines starting in 2018 and production would be ramped up to an annual 1 million "eDrive" units by 2025.Through a Chinese joint venture company, SDS, GKN will start making an electric transmission for a domestic Chinese automaker in 2018 and then deliver an electric motor, inverter, axle and gearbox for a European firm''s small car platform a year later.GKN declined to name the European client, but said the manufacturer would sell Chinese-made electric motors worldwide, and further supply agreements with domestic and international car manufacturers had been signed.GKN Driveline Chief Executive Officer Phil Swash said four global carmakers had agreed to buy GKN''s electric motors, and that these motors would be rolled out in China first."Whereas in the past we imported technology from outside China, for eDrive, China is now taking the lead. The first launch deployment of the newest technology will be here. That is the first time that has happened in our 30 year history," Swash told Reuters in an interview.Daimler, which has trailed German peers BMW and VW-owned Audi in terms of expanding its Chinese manufacturing capacity, is also preparing to make Mercedes-Benz electric cars in Beijing."We are going to localise electric cars for Mercedes-Benz," Daimler''s board member responsible for China, Hubertus Troska, said."We''re not concerned about technology transfer" to Chinese partners, he added, referring to fears that Chinese firms might eventually use technology gleaned from foreign partners against them.Mercedes has more than tripled the size of its Chinese research and development operations during the past two to three years, to 700 people.The Chinese team is capable of developing entire vehicles, rather than merely customising designs originated in Europe, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said, adding that how R&D would be divided between China and other Mercedes-Benz research centres remained to be seen."We will decide how to divide up the tasks on a case-by-case basis, but of course this will include capacities to develop electric cars here in China," Zetsche said.($1 = 0.9328 euros)(Reporting by Edward Taylor and Joe White; Additional reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-shanghai-electromobility-idINKBN17L1RY'|'2017-04-19T21:59:00.000+03:00' '025ab6370435046ff49b023a982fdfe03e8327b5'|'Farm loan write-offs win votes in India, but may hurt economy'|'Asia 2:59pm IST Farm loan write-offs win votes in India, but may hurt economy left right FILE PHOTO: A farmer from the southern state of Tamil Nadu poses as he bites a rat during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the federal government, in New Delhi, India, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Farmers from the southern state of Tamil Nadu display skulls, who they claim are the remains of Tamil farmers who have committed suicide, during a protest demanding a drought-relief package from the federal government, in New Delhi, India, March 22, 2017. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo 2/3 left right Workers remove stalks from red chillies at a farm on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave 3/3 By Rajendra Jadhav and Mayank Bhardwaj - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI India risks straining public finances and undermining already ailing state banks, economists said, after a $5.6 billion loan write-off for farmers in Uttar Pradesh and moves to do something similar in at least four other states. One of the first acts of the new government in India''s most populous state following last month''s election triumph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was to keep a promise to provide debt relief to 21.5 million farmers. Taking their cue from Uttar Pradesh, more state governments could waive loans to farmers, senior officials there said, to fulfil election pledges or woo rural voters before further polls in the run-up to a general election in 2019 when Modi is expected to run for a second term. "This will spread like a contagious disease to most parts of the country and you will very soon see at least 3-4 states announcing similar farm loan waivers," said Ashok Gulati, a farm economist who advised India''s last government. Economists caution that the move could encourage indebted farmers not to repay loans, deepening malaise at public sector banks already saddled with most of India''s $150 billion in stressed loans. Uttar Pradesh will cover the cost of the waivers by issuing bonds. This would in turn constrain India''s sovereign credit because such bonds are backstopped by the federal government, the economists said. India''s total public sector debt, as a share of gross domestic product, stands at around 66 percent - high compared to other emerging economies. Economists at Merrill Lynch estimate that states will end up writing off debts equivalent to 2 percent of GDP - the bulk of all outstanding loans to farmers. LEVERAGE LEVELS Ratings agencies would like to see India''s debt-to-GDP ratio fall below 60 percent over the next three years to justify an upgrade in its sovereign rating. Yet debt waivers would, even if staggered, force up borrowing, analysts said. "The loan waivers would likely worsen the fiscal deficits and leverage levels of the state governments, unless other resources are mobilised or expenditure is controlled," said Aditi Nayar of ICRA, an affiliate of Moody''s Investors Service. "There is a significant risk that productive capital spending may end up being reduced to fund a portion of the loan waivers." A government-appointed panel has suggested capping the states'' debt at 20 percent of India''s GDP, while Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has said the Uttar Pradesh loan waiver "undermines honest credit culture". WHO''S NEXT? The western state of Maharashtra and Punjab in the north are expected to announce similar loan waivers soon, senior officials in both states told Reuters. In Maharashtra, ruled by the BJP, farmers are clamouring for a bailout after two years of drought and falling commodity prices. In Punjab, known as India''s grain bowl, the opposition Congress party won last month''s election partly on the promise of a farm loan waiver. In southern Tamil Nadu, reeling from dry weather, a court asked the state government to write off loans to all farmers. Farmers from Tamil Nadu recently protested in New Delhi, showing the skulls of neighbours who had committed suicide to press their demand for drought relief and loan write-offs. WON''T PAY Some of India''s 263 million farmers have decided not to repay their debts, expecting loan waivers to mean they don''t have to. "I am not going to repay the loan because defaulters benefited from the previous waiver and I didn''t get any government help even as I repaid the loan on time," said Gorakh Patil, a farmer from Jalgaon in western India. Patil was referring to an $11 billion national farm loan waiver in 2008 that helped the Congress party-led coalition of the day win re-election the following year. But non-performing assets jumped. Gross non-performing loans in agriculture and its allied sectors surged to 588 billion rupees ($9.12 billion) at the end of the December quarter, from 97.4 billion rupees in the 2007/08 fiscal year, RBI data show. "There''s no benefit from such waivers," said a director at one state bank who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. "If you give any benefit across the board, it definitely has an adverse effect on credit discipline." (Additional reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh and Manoj Kumar in NEW DELHI and Devidutta Tripathy in MUMBAI; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Mike Collett-White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-farming-loans-idINKBN17L0Y9'|'2017-04-19T08:59:00.000+03:00' 'ff1684cc2fec1c0aab2b53d0c6eeb52bc1925b81'|'Exclusive: China Development Bank may finance Fosun''s Polyus deal - sources'|'By Polina Devitt and Julie Zhu - MOSCOW/HONG KONG MOSCOW/HONG KONG China Development Bank is considering providing financing for a Chinese consortium seeking to buy a stake in Russia''s largest gold producer Polyus ( PLZL.MM ), two sources familiar with discussions about the potential deal told Reuters.The consortium, led by Fosun International Ltd ( 0656.HK ), one of China''s most acquisitive conglomerates, has since last year been in talks to buy a stake in Polyus, controlled by the family of Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov.According to one of the sources, the Chinese buyer is also discussing the financing with a few other banks, but the source did not identify them.The plan under discussion is to sell "well below" a 25 percent stake in Polyus to the Fosun-led consortium, with a potential option to increase the stake later, said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Polyus has a market value of about $10 billion.Russia has been actively looking for investments in Asia, mainly in China, since the West imposed sanctions on Moscow due to its role in the Ukraine crisis and the annexation of Ukraine''s Crimea peninsula in 2014.China is the world''s top consumer, producer and importer of gold and Chinese companies have been targeting gold mine acquisitions.Discussions on the deal are still underway and there is no firm deadline, according to one of the sources familiar with the discussions, and a third source also familiar with the discussions.Two of Fosun''s Chinese affiliates - Zhaojin Mining ( 1818.HK ) and Hainan Mining ( 601969.SS ) - may join the consortium, the same two sources said.Fosun and Polyus declined to comment. Reuters''s telephone calls to China Development Bank''s office in Beijing went unanswered. Zhaojin and Hainan did not answer Reuters''s emailed requests for comment.Polyus is a potentially attractive target because global gold prices XAU= have risen 11 percent so far in 2017, and Polyus this year acquired the giant Sukhoi Log gold deposit in Russia.Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on April 12 that Fosun planned to sign an agreement to buy a stake in Polyus.Russian officials are keen to have the deal ready for when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits China in May, one of the sources familiar with the situation said.SPO IN LONDON AND MOSCOWPolyus is also considering launching a secondary share offering (SPO) in London and Moscow in May or June, several sources familiar with planning for the listing said.The deal will take about one month, including pre-marketing and road-show, but the size of the offer is still under discussion, two of the sources said.The Polyus SPO does not directly depend on the Fosun deal and Polyus is not in a hurry to do it, but the listing will go ahead anyway, one of the sources familiar with the planning for the offering said.The aim is to carry out a successful listing with major investors, the source said. "The timing is not crucial to them. The situation is far better than it was three years ago, and everyone is satisfied with the price of gold."Western investors, which steered clear of Russian assets after the 2014 annexation of Ukraine''s Crimea, are now making a cautious return to Russia.The planned share offering is a big strategy switch for Kerimov''s family, who delisted the shares of Polyus''s Jersey-registered parent company from the London Stock Exchange in late 2015 amid Western sanctions imposed on Moscow. Polyus''s return to London may coincide with a potential initial public offering by En+ Group, which manages Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska''s aluminum and hydro power businesses. Polyus has said that it would place its shares in Moscow as it needs to raise its free float to at least 10 percent to meet a requirement of the Moscow Stock Exchange, and would consider placing global depositary receipts in London.Polyus''s free float is currently 6.76 percent after the cancellation of some of treasury shares in April, in a move which would technically pave the way for the SPO.(Reporting by Polina Devitt, Julie Zhu, Olga Popova, Yan Jiang, Dasha Afanasieva, Katya Golubkova, Oksana Kobzeva and Darya Korsunskaya; editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-russia-polyus-china-idINKBN17L1JT'|'2017-04-19T10:35:00.000+03:00' '68863f1fc470c060c3098feeccf0d650a1fc7bbc'|'Last stand - Nebraska farmers could derail Keystone XL pipeline'|'Environment - 40pm BST Last stand: Nebraska farmers could derail Keystone XL pipeline left right Art and Helen Tanderup talk about where the Keystone XL Pipeline will cut through the farm that has been in his wife, Helen''s family for more than 100 years near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 1/13 left right Diana Steskal expresses concerns that ''man camps'' created during construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline might bring the sex trade to their area during a human trafficking seminar in O''Neill, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 2/13 left right Art and Helen Tanderup''s farm near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. is similar to many around it with it''s gently sloped fields, hand-planted tree-lined borders and thin topsoil, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 3/13 left right Art and Helen Tanderup are against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would cut through the farm where they live near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 4/13 left right Bonny Kilmurry talks with Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force coordinator Glen Parks at a seminar in O''Neill, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 5/13 left right Art and Helen Tanderup show where the Keystone XL Pipeline will cut through the farm that has been in his wife, Helen''s family for more than 100 years near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 6/13 left right Art and Helen Tanderup are against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would cut through the farm where they live near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 7/13 left right Art Tanderup is opposed to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would cut through the farm where he lives with his wife Helen near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 8/13 left right Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson talks about sex traffickers in Iowa and Nebraska during a human trafficking seminar, where opponents of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline expressed concerns that ''man camps'' created during construction of the pipeline might bring the sex trade to their area in O''Neill, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 9/13 left right Various anti-pipeline signs line the walls of the machine shed of Art and Helen Tanderup, who are against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would cut through the farm where they live near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 10/13 left right Art Tanderup shows where the Keystone XL Pipeline will cut through the farm that has been in his wife''s family for more than 100 years near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 11/13 left right Art and Helen Tanderup talk about where the Keystone XL Pipeline will cut through the farm that has been in his wife, Helen''s family for more than 100 years near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 12/13 left right Helen Tanderup is opposed to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would cut through the farm where she lives with her husband, Art near Neligh, Nebraska, U.S. April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Lane Hickenbottom 13/13 By Valerie Volcovici - Neligh, NEBRASKA Neligh, NEBRASKA When President Donald Trump handed TransCanada Pipeline Co. a permit for its Keystone XL pipeline last month, he said the company could now build the long-delayed and divisive project "with efficiency and with speed." But Trump and the firm will have to get through Nebraska farmer Art Tanderup first, along with about 90 other landowners in the path of the pipeline. They are mostly farmers and ranchers, making a last stand against the pipeline - the fate of which now rests with an obscure state regulatory board, the Nebraska Public Service Commission. The group is fine-tuning an economic argument it hopes will resonate better in this politically conservative state than the environmental concerns that dominated the successful push to block Keystone under former President Barack Obama. Backed by conservation groups, the Nebraska opponents plan to cast the project as a threat to prime farming and grazing lands - vital to Nebraska''s economy - and a foreign company''s attempt to seize American private property. They contend the pipeline will provide mainly temporary jobs that will vanish once construction ends, and limited tax revenues that will decline over time. They face a considerable challenge. Supporters of the pipeline as economic development include Republican Governor, Pete Ricketts, most of the state’s senators, its labor unions and chamber of commerce. "It’s depressing to start again after Obama rejected the pipeline two years ago, but we need keep our coalition energized and strong," said Tanderup, who grows rye, corn and soybeans on his 160-acre property. Now Tanderup and others are gearing up for another round of battle - on a decidedly more local stage, but with potentially international impact on energy firms and consumers. The latest Keystone XL showdown underscores the increasingly well-organized and diverse resistance to pipelines nationwide, which now stretches well beyond the environmental movement. Last year, North Dakota''s Standing Rock Sioux, a Native American tribe, galvanized national opposition to the Energy Transfer Partners Dakota Access Pipeline. Another ETP pipeline in Louisiana has drawn protests from flood protection advocates and commercial fishermen. The Keystone XL pipeline would cut through Tanderup''s family farm, near the two-story farmhouse built in the 1920s by his wife Helen''s grandfather. The Tanderups have plastered the walls with aerial photos of three "#NoKXL" crop art installations they staged from 2014 to 2016. Faded signs around the farm still advertise the concert Willie Nelson and Neil Young played here in 2014 to raise money for the protests. The stakes for the energy industry are high as the Keystone XL combatants focus on Nebraska, especially for Canadian producers that have struggled for decades to move more of that nation''s landlocked oil reserves to market. Keystone offers a path to get heavy crude from the Canada oil sands to refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast equipped to handle it. TransCanada has route approval in all of the U.S. states the line will cross except Nebraska, where the company says it has been unable to negotiate easements with landowners on about 9 percent of the 300-mile crossing. So the dispute now falls to Nebraska''s five-member utility commission, an elected board with independent authority over TransCanada’s proposed route. The commission has scheduled a public hearing in May, along with a week of testimony by pipeline supporters and opponents in August. Members face a deadline set by state law to take a vote by November. "TENS OF THOUSANDS" OF JOBS TransCanada has said on its website that the pipeline would create "tens of thousands" of jobs and tens of millions in tax dollars for the three states it would cross - Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. TransCanada declined to comment in response to Reuters inquiries seeking a more precise number and description of the jobs, including the proportion of them that are temporary - for construction - versus permanent. Trump has been more specific, saying the project would create 28,000 U.S. jobs. But a 2014 State Department study predicted just 3,900 construction jobs and 35 permanent jobs. Asked about the discrepancy, White House spokeswoman Kelly Love did not explain where Trump came up with his 28,000 figure, but pointed out that the State Department study also estimates that the pipeline would indirectly create thousands of additional jobs. The study indicates those jobs would be temporary, including some 16,100 at firms with contracts for goods and services during construction, and another 26,000, depending on how workers from the original jobs spend their wages. TransCanada estimates that state taxes on the pipeline and pumping stations would total $55.6 million across the three states during the first year. The firm will pay property taxes on the pumping stations along the route, but not the land. It would pay a different - and lower - "personal property" tax on the pipeline itself, said Brian Jorde, a partner in the Omaha-based law firm Domina Law Group, which represents the opposition. The personal property taxes, he said, would decline over a seven-year period and eventually disappear. TRUMP: ''I''ll CALL NEBRASKA'' The Nebraska utilities commission faces tremendous political pressure from well beyond the state it regulates. "The commissioners know it is game time, and everybody is looking," said Jane Kleeb, Nebraska''s Democratic party chair and head of the conservation group Bold Alliance, which is coordinating resistance from the landowners, Native American tribes and environmental groups. The alliance plans to target the commissioners and their electoral districts with town halls, letter-writing campaigns, and billboards. During the televised ceremony where Trump awarded the federal permit for the pipeline, he promised to weigh in on the Nebraska debate. "Nebraska? I''ll call Nebraska," he said after TransCanada Chief Executive Russell Girling said the company faced opposition there. Love, the White House spokeswoman, said she did not know if Trump had called Nebraska officials. The commission members - one Democrat and four Republicans - have ties to a wide range of conflicting interests in the debate, making it difficult to predict their decision. According to state filings, one of the commissioners, Democrat Crystal Rhoades, is a member of the Sierra Club - an environmental group opposing the pipeline. Another, Republican Rod Johnson, has a long history of campaign donations from oil and gas firms. The others are Republicans with ties to the farming and ranching sectors - including one member that raises cattle in an area near where the pipeline would cross. All five members declined requests for comment. PREPPING THE WITNESSES TransCanada has been trying since 2008 to build the 1,100-mile line - from Hardisty, Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect to a network feeding the Midwest and Gulf Coast refining regions. The firm had its federal permit application rejected in 2015 by the Obama administration. Opponents want the pipeline, if not rejected outright, to be re-routed well away from Nebraska''s Sandhills region, named for its sandy soil, which overlies one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the United States. The Ogallala aquifer supplies large-scale crop irrigation and cattle-watering operations. “It all comes down to water,” said Terry Steskal, whose family farm lies in the pipeline''s path. Steskal dug his boot into the ground on his property, kicking up sand to demonstrate his biggest concern about the pipeline. If the pipeline leaks, oil can easily seep through the region''s porous soil into the water, which lies near the surface. TransCanada spokesman Terry Cunha said the company has a good environmental record with its existing Keystone pipeline network in Nebraska, which runs east of the proposed Keystone XL. The company, however, has reported at least two big pipeline spills in other states since 2011, including some 400 barrels of oil spilled in South Dakota last year. The Domina Law Group is helping the opposition by preparing the landowners, including the Tanderups and Steskals, for the August hearings, much as they would prepare witnesses for trial. If the route is approved, Jorde said the firm plans to file legal challenges, potentially challenging TransCanada''s right to use eminent domain law to seize property. Eminent domain allows for the government to expropriate private land in the public interest. But Jorde said he thinks TransCanada would struggle to meet that threshold in Nebraska. "Some temporary jobs and some taxes is not enough to win the public interest argument," he said. (Additional reporting by Ethan Lou in Calgary; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-keystone-insight-idUKKBN17L2HK'|'2017-04-20T02:38:00.000+03:00' '8ab7a60635424f4c526f80a8be0e3bb4222c3ff4'|'MOVES-Goldman names Kirk, Lee to new investment bank engineering role'|'Funds News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 10:23am EDT MOVES-Goldman names Kirk, Lee to new investment bank engineering role By Olivia Oran - NEW YORK, April 21 NEW YORK, April 21 Goldman Sachs Group Inc has named Marie Louise Kirk and George Lee as co-heads of engineering for its investment bank, a new role created to foster technological change within the business, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The organizational change comes as Goldman has been installing programmers into the investment bank to reduce grunt work for bankers and offer new digital tools for clients. Although investment banking has historically not had much technological innovation, Goldman is trying to change that. Kirk had been head of programmers - which Goldman calls "strats" - who sell products for its bond trading business in the Americas. Lee had been chief information officer for the investment bank. He will maintain his other role as co-chairman of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) investment banking. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama; Writing by Lauren Tara LaCapra) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/goldman-sachs-investment-bank-moves-idUSL1N1HT0KQ'|'2017-04-21T22:23:00.000+03:00' '4547e82543264be6911a81b18d96f3de444b9571'|'General electric CEO says "we see global growth accelerating"'|'Market News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 9:46am EDT General electric CEO says "we see global growth accelerating" NEW YORK, April 21 The head of General Electric said on Friday that the global economy is picking up speed even though the natural resources sector remains slow. "We see global growth accelerating, while the U.S. continues to improve," Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt said on a conference call after first-quarter results, adding that his visits to China, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa this year showed "all are stronger than last year." (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ge-results-ceo-idUSL1N1HT0ES'|'2017-04-21T21:46:00.000+03:00' 'b66bd9e9313457871888058c5dbb3cc290d9cead'|'Japan manufacturers'' mood rises to pre-financial crisis level - Reuters Tankan'|'By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Izumi Nakagawa - TOKYO TOKYO Confidence among Japanese manufacturers has risen for an eighth straight month to a level not seen since before the 2008 global financial crisis, a Reuters survey found, reflecting output and export gains led by overseas economic recovery.The Reuters'' monthly poll - which tracks the Bank of Japan''s key quarterly tankan - also showed confidence at service-sector firms hit a three-month high, a sign that the effects of an export-led economic recovery are spreading - albeit gradually.The Reuters Tankan highlights the signs of life Japan''s economy has shown in recent months as global demand has recovered, despite the weakness in private consumption that constitutes about 60 percent of the economy.In the poll of 529 large- and mid-sized firms, conducted between April 4-17 in which 261 responded, the sentiment index for manufacturers rose one point to 26 in April, led by manufacturers of items such as food, metals and machinery.It was the highest reading since August 2007, a year before the collapse of a U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial crisis.At plus 28, the service-sector gauge was up two points in April from March, led by wholesalers."Currencies are stable, which provides favourable conditions for exporters. The machine tools market also remains in an uptrend," a manager at a nonferrous metals producer wrote in the survey, which companies answer anonymously.But manufacturers and non-manufacturers expected conditions to worsen in the coming three months, highlighting their concerns about the risks to global trade from uncertainty over the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump.The sentiment index was seen lower at 20 for manufacturers and 26 for non-manufacturers in July."Uncertainty is mounting overseas, with emerging markets and resource-producing economies undershooting, while protectionism is on the rise - as seen in Britain''s vote to exit the European Union and the results of the U.S. presidential election," a manager at a machinery maker wrote in the survey.The BOJ''s last tankan out on April 3 showed big manufacturers'' business confidence improved for a second straight quarter to hit a one-and-a-half year high, and service-sector sentiment improved for the first time in six quarters.The central bank survey also showed companies remained upbeat on their capital expenditure plans, offering hope the economic recovery will gather momentum in coming months.The Reuters Tankan''s sentiment indexes subtract the percentage of companies saying conditions are poor from those saying conditions are good. A positive number means optimists outnumber pessimists.(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Eric Meijer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-economy-tankan-idINKBN17L2ZI'|'2017-04-19T21:03:00.000+03:00' '9963a31cc94eb91c30ee59edffbcb23b0de3ff18'|'Sterling on a high; shares sidelined as caution rules'|'LONDON European shares edged up on Wednesday and gold fell as questions hung over the ''reflation'' trades that had lifted markets since Donald Trump became U.S. president, while sterling held near a six-month high after Tuesday''s calling of a snap UK election.Wall Street looked set to open higher as corporate earnings take center stage, with index futures up 0.2-0.3 percent ESc1 1YMc1.Yields on safe-haven government bonds rose, the safe-haven yen fell and copper surged as some in markets suggested investors'' worries over the coming weekend''s French presidential election first round and still simmering tensions over North Korea appeared to ease somewhat.The pan-European STOXX 600 index , which hit a three-week low on Tuesday, was up 0.3 percent, led by gains of 1.5 percent in banks .SX7P.Earlier, Asian equities outside Japan hit a one-month low, .MIAPJ0000PUS while Tokyo shares closed up 0.1 percent.However, Britain''s FTSE 100 .FTSE index fell a further 0.3 percent following Tuesday''s 2.5 percent slide, its biggest fall since June last year.British stocks are vulnerable to a rising pound because more than two-thirds of FTSE 100 company earnings are derived from operations overseas. The FTSE has erased all its gains for the year.Sterling was just off a six-month peak against the dollar above $1.28 GBP=D3 having surged when British Prime Minister Theresa May called an early general election for June 8, seeking to strengthen her party''s majority ahead of Brexit negotiations.The dollar rose 0.2 percent against a basket of currencies .DXY but stayed close to Tuesday''s three-week lows.A run of disappointing U.S. economic data and doubts the Trump administration will progress with tax cuts have quelled expectations of faster inflation and boosted U.S. Treasuries.The greenback rose half a percent against the safe-haven yen JPY= , having hit a five-month low on Monday on the mounting geopolitical tension over North Korea, Syria and the uncertain French election, and last traded just shy of 109 yen.The euro dipped 0.1 percent to $1.0720 but held near a three-week high.Just four days before the first round of voting in France, just a few points separate the top four candidates, including two who oppose the euro -- the far-right''s Marine Le Pen and the far-left''s Jean-Luc Melenchon."There were probably some nerves around the prospect of Melenchon making it into the final round, potentially even along with Le Pen, but that does seem to have faded," said Richard Benson, co-head of portfolio investment with currency fund Millennium Global in London.Others took a different view, suggesting markets were approaching the vote with complacency."There is a real risk that we get a choice between the far-left and the far-right, neither of which would be market-friendly, and both of which could leave the EU in a very different position than it''s in today," said Rabobank currency strategist Jane Foley, in London.In commodity markets, profit-taking nudged gold down 0.6 percent to XAU= $1,282 an ounce and away from Monday''s peak of $1,295.42.Oil prices were little changed. Brent crude LCOc1 was last up four cents a barrel at $54.93.Copper rebounded from a 14-week low as investors judged that the recent sell-off on the political uncertainties that have weighed on metals in recent weeks was overdone. It last traded at $5,630 a tonne, up 1.1 percent on the day.(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Hugh Lawson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17L01W'|'2017-04-19T08:37:00.000+03:00' '6b9ab173ade016d047e564321c498f2e5a786a86'|'ECB policy path remains, despite better growth - Praet, Coeure'|'Business 1:57pm BST ECB''s Coeure takes more benign view on growth risk Benoit Coeure, executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), speaks during a conference in Brussels, Belgium March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman NEW YORK Risks to the euro zone economic outlook are largely balanced, European Central Bank rate board member Benoit Coeure said on Wednesday, taking a more benign stand than ECB chief Mario Draghi and highlighting the bloc''s growth momentum. Arguing that he does not see risks tilted to the downside, Coeure said he saw prospects for policy normalisation after years of having to increase stimulus to prop up growth and inflation. The ECB has long argued that risks surrounding the growth outlook remain tilted to the downside, even if they are less pronounced than in the past. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Balazs Koranyi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-coeure-idUKKBN17L1LF'|'2017-04-20T00:05:00.000+03:00' '7af30d45c04c387a22681831cc86cf10d1499ae3'|'India''s Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion - report'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 4:59am BST India''s Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion - report left right An advertisement of Paytm, a digital wallet company, is pictured at a road side stall in Kolkata, India, January 25, 2017. Picture taken January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri 1/2 left right A man talks on the phone as he stand in front of an advertising poster of the SoftBank telecommunications company in Tokyo October 16, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 2/2 Electronics payments provider Paytm is in talks with Japan''s SoftBank Group ( 9984.T ) to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion (935 million - 1.17 billion pounds)in cash, making the latter one of the largest shareholders in the fintech start-up, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday citing sources. The deal, which could increase Paytm''s valuation to $7 to $9 billion, will see SoftBank buying some shares from existing Paytm investor SAIF Partners and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma beside investing money in the company, the report said. Local media had reported recently that SoftBank is keen to sell its stake in India''s e-commerce firm Snapdeal in exchange for a stake in market leader Flipkart ( IPO-FLPK.N ). Paytm may also buy Snapdeal-owned payments rival Freecharge, as part of the deal, the report said. Digital payments have assumed great significance in India after the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government ban on old high-valued bank notes in November led to a severe cash crunch across the country. (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-paytm-softbank-group-fundraising-idUKKBN17L0A4'|'2017-04-19T11:59:00.000+03:00' '26d4c11e6eb4434beba6a4f799f9703b7d9d1d41'|'Uber extends sexual harassment probe; expects report by end-May'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 5:54am BST Uber extends sexual harassment probe; expects report by end-May A sign is seen during a news conference to announce Uber resumes ride-hailing service, in Taipei, Taiwan April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu Uber Technologies Inc said it has extended its internal investigation into sexual harassment claims in its own organization, and a report is expected by the end of May. In February, Susan Fowler, a female former engineer at Uber, said in a widely read blog post that managers and human resources officers at the company had not punished her manager after she reported his unwanted sexual advances, and even threatened her with a poor performance review. Board director Arianna Huffington, in a memo to employees on Thursday, said the board subcomittee has granted a request for more time to complete the assessment and the investigation is being extended to "ensure that no stone is left unturned". The memo states that the internal report is anticipated by the end of May. The ride-hailing firm hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Tammy Albarran, who are partners at the law firm Covington & Burling, to conduct a review of the claims as well as general questions about diversity and inclusion. According to Recode, Holder has not had the opportunity to interview several key figures in the investigation, including top human resources executives. He plans to do so in the coming weeks. bit.ly/2pJUXZo Uber has come under more pressure over the results of its sexual harassment review, particularly after the scandal at Fox News leading to the ouster of its anchor Bill O''Reilly. Chief Executive Travis Kalanick called the allegations by Fowler "abhorrent and against everything Uber stands for and believes in". (Reporting by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-sexual-harassment-idUKKBN17N0D0'|'2017-04-21T12:26:00.000+03:00' '720832327d63c7df0f62797936a1f20ac872c148'|'UPDATE 1-Danone raises 2017 EPS forecast after WhiteWave acquisition'|'* Q1 l-f-l sales up 0.7 pct vs est. 0.6 pct* Q1 l-f-l dairy sales down 2.3 pct vs est. down 2 pct* Eyes 2017 double-digit recurring EPS growth at constant forex (Adds CFO comments from call, details)By Dominique VidalonPARIS, April 20 French food group Danone on Thursday raised its forecast for earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2017, having now closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave foods Co.The world''s largest yoghurt maker, with brands including Actimel and Activia, made the prediction as weak dairy sales in Europe and Brazil held back sales growth in the first quarter.Danone unveiled in July 2016 plans to buy WhiteWave - maker of Silk almond milk and Earthbound Farm Organic salad - in its largest acquisition since 2007, a move it said would double the size of its U.S. business. The deal finally closed April 12."2017 is a year of construction that will strengthen Danone as an even more resilient company, best prepared to seize tomorrow''s opportunities," CEO Emmanuel Faber said in a statement.Whitewave''s products have outperformed mainstream packaged food businesses in recent years as they are in line with a consumer shift toward natural foods and healthier eating and should help Danone as it struggles with challenging conditions in dairy in Europe and babyfood in China.Danone said on Thursday it was now targeting double-digit recurring EPS at constant exchange rates and moderate like-for-like sales growth for 2017.In February, Danone had said it was targeting earnings per share growth of above 5 percent in 2017, excluding WhiteWave, having achieved growth of 9.3 percent in 2016.Danone also reported a 0.7 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales to 5.46 billion euros ($5.88 billion).The quarterly performance was in line with the company-compiled average of 18 analyst estimates of 0.6 percent like-for-like growth in group sales.It however marked a sharp slowdown from 2.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter 2016 and also came well below the 2.3 percent reported earlier in the day by Swiss rival Nestle and the 2.9 percent achieved by Unilever.The modest performance reflected mostly a 2.3 percent fall in dairy division sales, which makes the bulk of group revenue."In Europe sales continued to be impacted by difficult market conditions and problems with the relaunch of Activia while consumption trends worsened in Brazil," Finance Chief Cecile Cabanis said.She predicted dairy division sales would still be low single negative in the second quarter and "flattish" in the full year.($1 = 0.9296 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Geert De Clercq and Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/danone-results-idUSL8N1HS5TW'|'2017-04-20T22:45:00.000+03:00' '2fe51e051805d350eb2d5fb4899bc8a3d9842a61'|'HDFC Bank fourth-quarter net profit beats estimates, bad loans stable'|' 5:14pm IST HDFC Bank profit rise drives shares to record FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of India''s HDFC bank is pictured in Mumbai, India, December 4, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/File Photo By Devidutta Tripathy - MUMBAI MUMBAI Shares in HDFC Bank ( HDBK.NS ), India''s second-biggest lender by assets, hit a record high on Friday thanks to higher than expected quarterly profit and a stable bad loans portfolio. Net profit rose 18.3 percent from a year earlier to 39.9 billion rupees ($617.60 million) for its fiscal fourth-quarter to March 31, HDFC Bank said, slightly ahead of analysts'' estimate of 39.56 billion rupees. The Mumbai-based lender stands out in a sector that has been marked by a surge in soured assets and slower loan growth. A shock government ban on high-value banknotes in November also hit their usual business as they scrambled to exchange scrapped notes, and further weakened credit demand. The sector also faces higher regulatory scrutiny with total stressed loans in the sector hitting almost $150 billion. HDFC Bank, with its stronger retail business and relatively smaller exposure to project finance, has far lower bad loans among India''s leading banks, and has been an investor favourite. "Our focus will remain on growing both our wholesale and retail businesses, and that''s something we remain committed to," Deputy Managing Director Paresh Sukthankar told a news conference after the results. Shares in HDFC Bank, which is the most valuable in the sector and overall has India''s third-highest market capitalisation of about $58 billion, closed 2.4 percent higher at 1496.60 rupees, having hit a lifetime high of 1499 rupees earlier in the session. BAD LOANS STABLE The bank''s gross bad loans as a percentage of total loans, at 1.05 percent, were little changed from end-December, although higher than 0.94 percent a year earlier. Provisions, including for loan losses, jumped, however. While faster loan growth led to an increase in standard asset provisioning, loan-loss provisions also nearly doubled from a year earlier to 9.78 billion rupees in the March quarter. The bank said it accounted for loan defaults that were not recognised as such in the December quarter after the central bank temporarily relaxed rules to help businesses weather the shock banknote ban. HDFC Bank''s "asset quality remains one of the best in the system", said Alpesh Mehta, a sector analyst at Mumbai brokerage Motilal Oswal Securities, adding the results "positively surprised". HDFC Bank''s loans grew 19.4 percent in the year to end-March, far outpacing the sector''s loan growth of about 5 percent. That helped a 21.5 percent rise in fourth-quarter net interest income from a year ago, while net interest margin for the quarter was 4.3 percent. Non-interest income including fees and commissions grew 20.3 percent in the March quarter. ($1 = 64.6050 Indian rupees)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/hdfc-bank-results-idINKBN17N0QV'|'2017-04-21T06:05:00.000+03:00' '8e92797888618f7e05d695f2da4cc656a4792b95'|'BRIEF-Pacific Consortium updates on proposal to acquire Tatts'|'April 24 Pacific Consortium* to permit further dividend payments to tatts shareholders in addition to its all-cash $4.21 per share proposal in the event transaction completion delayed beyond second half of 2017* $4.21 per share proposal superior in value to tabcorp proposal on 44 days of 57 trading days since Tabcorp’s last results announcement"* believes Tatts independent chairman and board should consider this proposal seriously and allow the consortium to conduct due diligence'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-pacific-consortium-updates-on-prop-idUSFWN1HT0NZ'|'2017-04-24T07:30:00.000+03:00' '9ee67c732582abcd874455b7a7f807a47292afc1'|'UK consumer morale softens in first-quarter on price worries - Deloitte'|'Money 10:03am BST UK consumer morale softens in first quarter on price worries - Deloitte A shopper carries a basket in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall LONDON British consumer confidence softened last month in the face of higher inflation, a survey showed on Monday, adding to the weight of evidence showing that higher inflation is taking the steam out of the main engine of the economy. Deloitte said its quarterly consumer confidence index dropped to -7 for the first quarter of 2017 from -6 in the last three months of 2016. "Since last summer''s EU referendum consumer spending has held up well, but with inflation rising and nominal wage growth starting to slow, consumers are beginning to feel a squeeze on their disposable income," Deloitte economist Ian Stewart said. Official retail sales data on Friday showed the sharpest fall in the volume of goods sold since 2010 during the first quarter of 2017, with statisticians citing a broad-based rise in prices. Higher prices partly reflect the fall in sterling after June 2016''s Brexit vote, and on Friday Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders said he would not be surprised to see inflation hit 3 percent later this year or in early 2018. However Prime Minister Theresa May is banking on voters still enjoying the fruits of unexpectedly strong growth since the 2016 referendum when they come to vote in an early election she has called for June 8 to boost her parliamentary majority. Separately, property website Rightmove said the average price advertised for houses and apartments sold on it in April had risen to a record-high 313,655 pounds ($400,945), up 1.1 percent from March. But Rightmove - which does not seasonally adjust its data - said that in previous years prices rose 1.6 percent price on average in April. "Increasingly stretched buyer affordability will continue to be a price moderator for sellers who are over-ambitious with their pricing, tempering the pace of price rises," Rightmove director Miles Shipside said. The BoE has previously pointed to a close link between British consumer sentiment and rises and falls in house prices. (Reporting by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-idUKKBN17P116'|'2017-04-24T07:06:00.000+03:00' 'be33a439f1aa64804e82ca902f848d699b45854a'|'Toshiba to drop its auditor - Nikkei'|' 33pm BST Toshiba to drop its auditor - Nikkei The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind cherry blossoms at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) has decided to drop its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata, which declined to approve the company''s full-year financial statement, the Nikkei financial daily reported. The Japanese tech company is in the middle of a conflict with PwC Aarata over recent results and governance issues at Westinghouse Electric, its American nuclear subsidiary. Massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors being constructed by Westinghouse in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9 billion (£7 billion) annual net loss and take drastic measures. PwC Aarata''s refusal to sign-off on Toshiba''s results has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange potential grounds for delisting the company. The company is in talks with second-tier auditing firms with which it has no potential conflicts of interest, the Japanese newspaper reported. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-auditors-idUKKBN17R2I1'|'2017-04-26T02:33:00.000+03:00' 'a506438b2fd4a4488162d0cf3798ff8d1fb161a0'|'UPDATE 1-Teck Resources profit misses estimates as costs rise'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 4:57am EDT UPDATE 1-Teck Resources profit misses estimates as costs rise (Adds details, estimates) April 25 Canada''s Teck Resources Ltd , North America''s largest producer of steelmaking coal, reported lower-than-expected profit due to higher costs, lower production and sales volumes. Unit production costs in the first quarter rose by C$13 to C$56 per tonne from a year ago. First-quarter coal production was 6.1 million tonnes, 8 percent lower than last year, the company said on Tuesday. Teck, which also mines gold and silver, said adjusted profit attributable to shareholders rose to C$671 million ($494.6 million), or C$1.16 per share, from C$18 million, or 3 Canadian cents a share, in the first quarter of 2016. Revenue rose 70 percent to C$2.89 billion. Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn C$1.29 per share, on revenue of C$3.04 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Teck said a quarterly benchmark price for steelmaking coal for the second quarter was not yet agreed upon due to cyclone Debbie''s impact on Australian supply. It expects total steelmaking coal sales, including spot sales, of at least 6.8 million tonnes in the second quarter. That is in line with last month''s updated forecast. Steelmaking coal prices almost tripled from a year ago and spot prices stabilized in the $150 to $160 per tonne range during the quarter, while copper and zinc prices rose by 25 percent and 66 percent respectively, Teck said. Steelmaking coal prices have soared from about $156 a tonne at the end of March to more than $200 a tonne, amid supply disruptions caused by a powerful cyclone in Australia. Steel plants use coking, or metallurgical, coal to fire blast furnaces. Net profit attributable to shareholders jumped to C$572 million, or C$0.99 per share, for the quarter ending March 31, from C$94 million, or C$0.16 share, in the same period last year. ($1 = 1.3567 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Susan Taylor and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/teck-res-results-idUSL4N1HX2ZO'|'2017-04-25T16:57:00.000+03:00' '01363edca95e3415f363804ab2cb67ee2f1ac15b'|'Morning News Call - India, April 25'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 11:15pm EDT Morning News Call - India, April 25 To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 10:00 am: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh at an event in New Delhi. 11:00 am: DIPP Joint Secretary Rajeev Aggarwal at an event in New Delhi. 11:00 am: Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia to brief media on Goods & Services Tax in new Delhi. 12:00 pm: Citibank press meet in Mumbai. 12:15 pm: IRB INVIT Fund''s IPO conference in Mumbai. 3:00 pm: NITI Aayog Chief Executive Amitabh Kant and Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya to brief media on 3-year draft Action Agenda in New Delhi. 3:00 pm: Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal at an event in New Delhi. 6:00 pm: IDFC Bank earnings call in Mumbai. LIVECHAT - FED MEETING PREVIEW with Wilfred Wee, Portfolio Manager, Investec The probability of a Fed rate hike in June has dropped to less than 50 percent from more than 60 percent at the beginning of April. Wee will discuss buyside expectations in terms of the pace of tightening by the central bank this year at 11:30 a.m. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • Reliance lifts Jio investment above $30 billion after record year India''s Reliance Industries plans to spend a further $2.8 billion on its Jio telecoms business in the current quarter, it said on Monday, taking its investment in the venture to more than $30 billion. • Infosys in process of adding two new members to board Infosys Ltd, India''s second biggest software services exporter, is in the process of expanding its board of directors by inducting two more members, CNBC TV18 reported on Monday. • Boutique bank Moelis eyes expansion in India amid M&A boom Boutique investment bank Moelis & Co plans to expand in India where it believes economic growth and corporate restructuring will prolong a boom in dealmaking, the head of its local business said on Monday. • India aims to cut petroleum imports as it boosts alternative fuel use India is aiming to cut its oil products imports to zero as it turns to alternative fuels such as methanol in its transport sector, a government official said at an investor briefing on Monday. • UltraTech Cement profit beats; shares hit record high India''s largest cement producer UltraTech Cement reported a better-than-expected quarterly consolidated profit, sending its shares to a record high on Monday. • India to expand access to J&J''s TB drug this year India''s top tuberculosis fighter said the government will expand access to Johnson & Johnson''s breakthrough TB drug this year, but health experts warn much more needs to be done to eliminate the superbug by 2025. • India''s DCB Bank launches share sale to institutions Mid-sized Indian lender DCB Bank Ltd has launched a share sale to institutions, according to a stock exchange filing on Monday. • Qatar Airways closes in on Italy deal, to own minority stake in Indian airline Qatar Airways will finalise a long-negotiated agreement to buy 49 percent of Italy''s Meridiana in the coming days, and soon apply with Qatar''s sovereign wealth fund to start an Indian airline. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • U.S. submarine makes S.Korea port call, North remains defiant A nuclear-powered U.S. submarine made a port call in South Korea on Tuesday in a show of force amid concerns that North Korea may mark the foundation of its military with a missile launch or a nuclear test, defying U.S. and Chinese pressure. • Hollande urges French to reject Le Pen in presidential run-off vote France''s outgoing president, Francois Hollande, on Monday urged people to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in a vote to choose his successor next month and reject far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whose place in the run-off represented a "risk" for France. • Trump''s push to fund wall may be delayed as government shutdown looms U.S. President Donald Trump indicated an openness on Monday to delaying his push to secure funds for his promised border wall with Mexico, potentially eliminating a sticking point as lawmakers worked to avoid a looming shutdown of the federal government. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were trading at 9,243.50, trading up 0.2 pct from its previous close. • The Indian rupee will likely open little changed to slightly lower against the dollar amid a lack of fresh triggers and after a win for a pro-European Union centrist in the first round of French elections sparked a rally yesterday. • Indian government bonds will likely edge lower tracking gains in U.S. Treasury yields and as New Delhi will auction the benchmark note this week, amid expectations that a new 10-year paper is just round the corner. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.93 pct - 6.99 pct band today. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, tracking a relief rally that swept through Asian and European markets, after centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election. • Asian equities were steady and the euro retained gains as markets'' euphoria over a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election subsided, though near-term investor sentiment remains positive. • The euro edged lower, catching its breath after a relief rally sparked by the first round results of the French election, while the Canadian dollar fell on news of U.S. duties on Canadian softwood lumber. • U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron''s victory in the first round of France''s presidential race bolstered expectations the country would stay in the European Union and preserve the euro. • Oil prices inched up but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of losses as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. • Gold held steady after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.40/64.43 April 24 -$43.42 mln $104.59 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.17 Month-to-date -$173.3 mln $3.99 bln Year-to-date $6.61 bln $9.46 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.44 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Sai Sharanya Khosla in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL4N1HX1G8'|'2017-04-25T11:15:00.000+03:00' '1bbc10d5767400cea85db4a5dc1cc68944a23a72'|'Tyson Foods to buy AdvancePierre for $3.2 billion'|'Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ), the No. 1 U.S. meat processor, said on Tuesday it would buy packaged sandwich supplier AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc ( APFH.N ) for about $3.2 billion in cash, to expand its fast-growing portfolio of prepared foods.Tyson''s offer of $40.25 per share is a 9.8 percent premium to AdvancePierre''s Monday close.The deal, which has an enterprise value of about $4.2 billion, includes $1.1 billion of AdvancePierre debt.AdvancePierre sells a variety of meat sandwiches and snacks through brands such as Landshire and Barber Foods.Funds affiliated with investment manager Oaktree Capital Management LP, which own about 42 percent of AdvancePierre, have agreed to support the deal.Tyson had said on Monday it was exploring a sale of its three non-protein brands, including Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, to sharpen its focus on its core businesses.The three brands — Sara Lee, the Kettle business and Van''s — produce items such as frozen desserts, waffles, breakfast bars and soups. Rothschild is acting as Tyson''s financial adviser for the sale.Morgan Stanley & Co LLC is advising Tyson, while Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is providing legal counsel for the AdvancePierre deal.Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Moelis & Co LLC are serving as financial advisers to AdvancePierre, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is providing legal counsel.AdvancePierre shares rose 9.1 percent to $40.00 in premarket trading. Tyson Foods shares were slightly higher.(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-advancepierre-m-a-tyson-foods-idINKBN17R1DT'|'2017-04-25T10:44:00.000+03:00' 'dd7a596bc5f9b6d055232e1f557334c3bcc06de7'|'Citigroup shareholder meeting briefly interrupted by protesters'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 1:26pm EDT Citi meeting protest prompts apology on pipeline finance steps FILE PHOTO: A Citi sign is seen at the Citigroup stall on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By David Henry - NEW YORK NEW YORK A brief, noisy protest by drum-beating young adults at Citigroup''s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday evolved into an orderly exchange between an older tribal woman and the bank''s two top executives, who conceded it had approved investments in a North Dakota pipeline too quickly. "We wish we could have a do-over on this," Chairman Mike O''Neill said after hearing from Casey Camp-Horinek, a council woman for the Ponca Nation. She asked the executives to pardon the disruption from younger protesters who were concerned about environmental damage from the pipeline and shale oil. Citigroup is one of four lead banks in a group of 17 which have provided project financing for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline crosses land of the Standing Rock Sioux whose members are concerned about possible ground water contamination if the pipeline breaks. In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders smoothing the path for the pipeline in a move to expand energy infrastructure and roll back key Obama administration environmental actions. Chief Executive Mike Corbat said Citigroup had not given enough early consideration to the concerns of the indigenous people. But now, he said, Citigroup could do more to protect the environment by keeping its investments. "We made the decision that we are a better force for good at the table than away from the table," Corbat said. "We don''t think it is the right thing to simply sell these and walk away." Camp-Horinek thanked the men for listening and spoke with them and Corbat''s wife, Donna, after the meeting. O''Neill and Corbat had waited quietly during the drumbeating and resumed the meeting after the protesters walked out peacefully after an interruption of less than 10 minutes. Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) shareholder meeting, which was held at the same time in Florida, resulted in repeated interruptions. That meeting went into a brief recess after a shareholder made what Chairman Stephen Sanger called a "physical approach" toward a board member and was removed. At the Citigroup meeting in New York, shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favor of the company''s annual compensation of executives and sided with directors in rejecting a call for a special study of breaking up the big bank. In the so-called "say-on-pay" referendum, more than 95 percent of votes were cast to approve 2016 compensation awards, according to a preliminary count announced by the company. Only about 2.5 percent of votes favored a breakup study of the bank, which is the fourth biggest in the United States by assets. The compensation endorsement was far stronger than the 63.6 percent approval at the 2016 annual meeting. Directors, disappointed that support was so weak last year, reviewed compensation practices and made changes after meeting with institutional investors and proxy voting advisory firms. (Reporting by David Henry in New York; Editing by Richard Chang) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-citigroup-shareholder-meeting-idUSKBN17R20Y'|'2017-04-25T23:13:00.000+03:00' '09f95d3e871b34ec1de04c2fbf7fd9e62a6c2cd1'|'PPG raises proposed bid for Akzo Nobel to $28.8 billion'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 12:48pm BST PPG raises bid for Dutch Akzo Nobel to $28.8 billion FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo By Toby Sterling - AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM PPG Industries ( PPG.N ), the U.S. paintmaker that is pursuing a takeover of Dutch peer Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ), on Monday increased its proposed cash and share offer to 26.9 billion euros (22.50 billion pounds), from around 24.6 billion euros. The move comes a day before Akzo, which has declined two previous approaches from PPG, faces a group of unhappy shareholders at its annual meeting. Akzo shares jumped 6 percent to a record high of 82.86 euros by 1130 GMT. The shareholders, led by hedge fund Elliott Advisors, say Akzo should at least open exploratory talks with PPG to more closely examine their proposal. [L8N1HK0KC] "We are extending this one last invitation to you and the AkzoNobel boards to reconsider your stance and to engage with us," PPG Chief Executive Michael McGarry said in a statement on Monday. "Our revised proposal represents a second increase in price along with significant and highly-specific commitments that we are confident AkzoNobel''s stakeholders will find compelling," added McGarry. Akzo Nobel confirmed it had received a "third unsolicited proposal" from PPG but was non-committal in its response. "The Board of Management and Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel will carefully review and consider this proposal," said Akzo, whose brands include Dulux paint. A spokesman for Elliott said the fund was examining PPG''s latest proposal and could not immediately comment. PPG said its bid represented an increased price of 96.75 euros, including dividend, per AkzoNobel share -- comprised of 61.50 euros in cash and 0.357 shares of PPG common stock. That is a 50 percent premium from Akzo Nobel''s closing price of 64.42 on March 8, the day before PPG confirmed it had made a proposal to buy Akzo at 80 euros per share. A second bid worth 90 euros per share on March 20 was rejected within 48 hours, with Akzo arguing that it substantially undervalued the company and would be bad for other stakeholders, such as employees and customers. Last week, Akzo presented its case for remaining independent, offering shareholders 1.6 billion euros in extra dividends and detailing plans to sell or float its chemicals arm, representing a third of company sales and profits, within one year. Both moves, if completed, would make Akzo a less attractive target for PPG, although the Pittsburgh-based company has said the primary reason for the merger would be synergies of $750 million between the companies'' paints and coatings businesses. (Reporting by Toby Sterling. Additional reporting by Maya Keidan. Editing by Keith Weir/Jason Neely) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idUKKBN17Q0ZH'|'2017-04-24T18:52:00.000+03:00' '13d5f93cca8f393234c7e993881a53c9e395186d'|'Japan''s Nikkei hits near 3-week high on French vote relief, Sony climbs'|'Market News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 10:22pm EDT Japan''s Nikkei hits near 3-week high on French vote relief, Sony climbs * French vote relief weakens yen to the advantage of Japan stocks * Sony gains after raising its profit forecast * North Korea tensions still a worry, defence-related stocks up By Shinichi Saoshiro TOKYO, April 24 Japan''s Nikkei share average rose to a near three-week high on Monday with broader investor risk sentiment improving after centrist Emmanuel Macron took a step towards the French presidency after the weekend''s voting. The Nikkei was boosted as the safe-haven yen slid to a two-week low versus the dollar on the results of the French presidential election''s first round, which qualified Macron for a May 7 runoff with far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Latest opinion polls put Macron ahead of Le Pen. Concerns towards the anti-European Union Le Pen winning the elections had been a factor that had weighed on equity markets globally. The Nikkei was up 1.4 percent at 18,878.31 after rising to 18,910.33, its highest since April 5. "The equity market is breathing a sigh of relief for the moment. The worst case scenario of Le Pen heading in to the final round of voting with (far-leftist Jean-Luc) Melenchon has been avoided," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. "That said, other geopolitical concerns are likely to limit a further rise by equities, such as tensions over North Korea which marks the 85th anniversary of its army''s foundation this week." Pyongyang will mark the anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People''s Army on Tuesday as a U.S. carrier strike group made its way towards the Korean Peninsula. Defence industry-related firms gained amid lingering geopolitical tensions. Ishikawa Seisakusho Ltd, a maker of defence equipment including landmines, rose 15.6 percent. Howa Machinery , a manufacturer that supplies rifles and mortars to Japan''s military, gained 5.4 percent. Defence system equipment maker Nippon Avionics Co climbed 8.2 percent. Shares of Sony Corp rose as much as 4.6 percent to hit their highest since March 31 after the electronics company raised its operating profit estimate for the year ended March 31 thanks to lower amortisation costs for its financial services segment. Sony now expects a profit of around 285 billion yen ($2.59 billion), up from the 240 billion yen it estimated in February. Japanese exporters rose after yen slid to near two-week low against the dollar. Panasonic Corp gained 3.4 percent, Tokyo Electron rose 2 percent and Bridgestone Corp added 1.1 percent. Mazda Motor Corp climbed 1.4 percent and Nissan Motor Co gained 1 percent. Sanden Holdings Corp dove as much as 10.7 percent after the automotive equipment manufacturer and distributor revised its net loss for the year ended March 31 to 23 bln yen ($209 million) from its prior forecast of 10.8 billion yen. The broader Topix gained 1.1 percent to 1,504.37 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 was also 1.1 percent higher, at 13,467.50. ($1 = 110.0500 yen) (Editing by Sam Holmes) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idUSL4N1HW1D5'|'2017-04-24T10:22:00.000+03:00' 'e89aaa719e59b96071a95e0800d9c5bf65e9c14f'|'German Ifo business morale brightens more than expected in April'|'Business 31am BST German business morale brightens more than expected in April FILE PHOTO: A steel-worker is pictured at a furnace at the plant of German steel company Salzgitter AG in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony on March 17, 2015. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo By Michael Nienaber - BERLIN BERLIN German business morale brightened more than expected in April, hitting its highest in nearly six years, a survey showed on Monday, suggesting Europe''s largest economy is set to carry its robust upswing into the second quarter of this year. The Munich-based Ifo economic institute said its business climate index, based on a monthly survey of some 7,000 firms, rose to 112.9 from an upwardly revised 112.4 in March. The reading, the highest since July 2011, came in stronger than a Reuters consensus forecast for a value of 112.5. "The German economy is growing strongly," Ifo chief Clemens Fuest said in a statement. Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe told Reuters that the German economy was not being influenced by political uncertainties such as the threat of rising protectionism, major elections in Europe and the course of Brexit negotiations. The survey was conducted in the first half of April, meaning it did not include any reaction to the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday in which centrist Emmanuel Macron came in first, qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Managers'' assessments of the current business situation improved significantly while their outlook for the coming six months was a bit less optimistic, it showed. Morale improved in construction, retailing and wholesaling whereas managers in manufacturing were somewhat less upbeat. In construction, assessments of the current business situation rose to a new record high while expectations remained broadly positive and the order level was excellent, Ifo said. GOLDEN CYCLE "The Ifo index continued its recent surge in April, increasing for the third consecutive month, suggesting that Germany''s golden cycle has entered yet another round," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said. "The only weak spot of the German economy remains rather sluggish investment," he noted, adding the government should focus on the import side of the trade surplus and further support domestic demand, preferably in the form of stimulating higher private and further increasing public investments. Germany''s gross domestic product grew by 1.9 percent last year, the strongest rate in five years, helped by a vibrant domestic economy which more than offset a drag from net trade. Strong industrial output and export figures for January and February have suggested that the economy shifted into an even higher gear in the first quarter of 2017, helped by rising global demand for cars and machines. Economists expect Germany''s quarterly growth rate to clearly pick up in the January-March period after 0.4 percent in the final three months of 2016. Germany''s VDMA engineering association said earlier on Monday it could lift its growth forecast for this year if early signals of positive business sentiment persist and prove justified. VDMA head Carl-Martin Welcker said higher demand from emerging markets such as Russia and India could lift German engineering production this year after a year of stagnation while China, the United States and Britain were sources of uncertainty. The association, which represents thousands of companies with over a million workers and more than $200 billion (£156.40 billion) in annual revenue between them, has forecast 1 percent growth this year in output and exports. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Additional reporting by Irene Preisinger; Editing by Paul Carrel and Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-ifo-idUKKBN17Q0OC'|'2017-04-24T16:27:00.000+03:00' '699a13713e60890af17ae419456c8d155013d82f'|'China says trademarks registered equally as Ivanka Trump gets more approved'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 10:38am BST China says trademarks registered equally as Ivanka Trump gets more approved Ivanka Trump attends a CEO town hall on the American business climate at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque BEIJING China''s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the government equally handles applications to register trademarks, following a report that the company of the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump has had new trademarks approved in China. The Associated Press reported that since Trump took office on Jan. 20, Ivanka Trump''s Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has won provisional approval from China for at least five new trademarks, adding to 16 already registered and more than 30 pending applications. The report said that on April 6, when President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were meeting in Florida, Ivanka Trump''s firm won provisional approval from China for three new trademarks, covering jewellery, bags and spa services. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, asked about the report, said there was nothing untoward. "We consistently follow the principle of equally protecting the legal trademark rights of trademark owners of foreign companies and handle the process of relevant trademark registration in accordance with the law and rules," he told a daily news briefing. AP cited a statement from a spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand as saying that all 2017 Chinese trademarks were defensive, aimed at preventing counterfeiters or squatters from using her name. China has also granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks linked to Donald Trump, giving the U.S. president and his family protection were they to develop the "Trump" brand in the market. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-usa-trump-trademark-idUKKBN17L11Y'|'2017-04-19T17:38:00.000+03:00' '0f26116235e9a626bddec995c15444ab7c91980c'|'BUZZ-India''s ACC hits near 6-month high; March-quarter profit beats estimates'|'** Shares of cement maker ACC Ltd gain as much as 3.70 pct to their highest since Oct 25, 2016** Stock among top pct gainers on NSE** Company reports better-than-expected profit for March-qtr, helped by stronger cement sales volume** Quarterly sales volume at ACC''s cement segment rose 4 pct as impact from government''s move to withdraw high-denomination notes declined, company said on Friday** Stock up 12.3 pct this year up to Friday''s close'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/buzz-indias-acc-hits-near-6-month-high-m-idINL4N1HW1L4'|'2017-04-24T02:07:00.000+03:00' '07dfcc43ca43e15db1b14b0de2d796fa3805970b'|'U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief expects basic NAFTA deal by mid-2018'|'Business 6:46am EDT U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief expects basic NAFTA deal by mid-2018 Tom Donohue, President of U.S. chamber of Commerce, gestures during an interview with Reuters in Mexico City, Mexico April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso By Dave Graham - MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY The United States, Mexico and Canada are likely to reach a basic accord over reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the middle of next year, the head of the biggest U.S. business lobby group said on Sunday. The future of the deal binding the three nations has been in doubt since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency in November pledging to ditch it if he could not rework terms in favor of the United States, clouding the outlook for Mexico in particular. However, Thomas Donohue, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said that he believed business leaders and policymakers were increasingly aware of the need to get a new deal and move on without disrupting business. "We''re not going to be fooling around with this deal in 2018," he said in an interview with Reuters on a visit to Mexico City where he will meet policymakers and make the case for free trade. Trump contends that Mexico''s growth as a manufacturing power since NAFTA took effect in 1994 has cost jobs in the United States. However, defenders of the deal say it has benefited all three nations and helped American firms compete globally. The U.S. government has yet to send a letter telling Congress that it intends to launch NAFTA negotiations in 90 days - the notification period required under the fast-track process - so the potential start of talks is now drifting into August. Donohue said that step should follow in the next few weeks, adding neither Trump nor U.S. firms had an interest in dragging out the NAFTA talks because of the economic damage it would do. "(Trump) is looking at how to get things done," he added. "And I can tell you that he wants to speed this thing up." When asked if he thought a basic agreement on a reworked NAFTA would likely be in place by July 2018, Donohue said: "Yes. That''s my opinion. That''s my view. The bottom line is we need to move forward on this deal. It is critical to our economic and geopolitical well-being. Period." Mexico, which sends 80 percent of its exports to the United States, will hold its next presidential election in July next year. President Enrique Pena Nieto''s government is hoping to wrap up the NAFTA talks before it takes place. During his own campaign, Trump threatened to slap hefty tariffs on Mexican-made goods, including a 35 percent tax on cars, and he caused dismay in Mexico with a pledge to build a southern border wall to keep out illegal immigrants. Since taking office, Trump''s tone has softened, though he again railed against NAFTA over the past week and returned to the issue of the wall, saying Mexico would pay for it "eventually." Nevertheless, Donohue said understanding was growing over the need for a deal that would accelerate, not reduce trade, and argued the prospect of punitive tariffs was receding. "In fact, we haven''t heard of that in a long time," he said. "Because if a country were to put a 35 percent tariff on products moving into their country, the guys you''re trading with are going to do it the next morning." (Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mexico-nafta-idUSKBN17Q0DV'|'2017-04-24T13:16:00.000+03:00' 'c62ded8aade3baa7c27d183090007c9604170168'|'Soccer pitch operator Goals Soccer confirms talks with Powerleague'|'Business 40am BST Soccer pitch operator Goals Soccer confirms talks with Powerleague Goals Soccer Centres Plc, the five-a-side football pitch operator, confirmed that it was in early discussions with privately owned Powerleague Group to explore possibilities of a merger. The company''s response comes after media reports suggested that it was in talks with Powerleague to combine the two businesses. "The preliminary discussions with Powerleague are but one of the strategic opportunities currently being assessed by the Goals Board," Goals Soccer Centres said in a statement. At this stage, no commercial or financial terms have been agreed and no decision on any course of action has been made by the board, Goals Soccer said. The two pitch operators are examining a merger that would create a major international leisure player, the Sky News reported on Sunday. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-goals-soccer-ctr-powerleague-idUKKBN17Q0M3'|'2017-04-24T15:40:00.000+03:00' 'e334eb5ebde0c304cba94e80e2cffc827a100f54'|'IPO candidate Delivery Hero reports strong sales growth'|' 46pm BST IPO candidate Delivery Hero reports strong sales growth BERLIN Online food takeaway firm Delivery Hero, one of Europe''s biggest start-ups that is seen as likely to seek to list later this year, reported that revenues jumped 71 percent in 2016 and said it would keep investing to drive future growth. Delivery Hero is seen as the start-up closest to going public in the portfolio of German ecommerce investor Rocket Internet. Rocket holds a 37.7 percent stake in the firm valued at almost 3 billion euros (2.50 billion pounds). The Berlin-based company that has built up a delivery network for 271,000 restaurants in more than 40 countries said 2016 sales rose 79 percent to 297 million euros, or 71 percent after accounting for disposals and acquisitions. Niklas Ostberg, the CEO of the firm founded in 2011, said he expected Delivery Hero to keep up the strong growth in 2017 and in the medium term and would continue to invest, adding he is considering a potential initial public offering to raise funds. The company did not give any details on its profitability. It has said its marketplace business is profitable, although the Foodpanda business it bought from Rocket Internet is still loss-making, although growing fast. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-delivery-hero-results-idUKKBN17Q13G'|'2017-04-24T19:46:00.000+03:00' '6888e4a02b39c60f8b3f84b384a9a57196af8c73'|'Greece primary surplus well above target in 2016 - EU Commission'|' 35am BST Greece primary surplus well above target in 2016 - EU Commission BRUSSELS Greece''s primary surplus was 4.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) last year, significantly above the target set for Athens under its bailout programme, the European Commission said on Monday. "The mission is returning to Athens today with the objective of concluding a sub-level agreement as soon as possible on the basis of the understanding of Greeks of the Eurogroup in Valletta," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference, adding that talks were expected to take several days. Schinas said the 4.2 percent primary surplus - a measure that excludes interest payments - was well above the programme target of 0.5 percent for 2016 and even above the level of 2.5 percent set for 2018. "This confirms the trend which we at the Commission have been reporting for a while," he said. (Reporting by Waverly Colville and Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-idUKKBN17Q0YA'|'2017-04-24T18:35:00.000+03:00' '725c207ca092ef7ddf53190d5faf27ff87895ca2'|'IMF says may raise China 2017 GDP forecast again'|'Business News 4:02pm BST IMF says may raise China 2017 GDP forecast again FILE PHOTO: A woman walks at the Bund in front of the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai March 5, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo WASHINGTON China''s economy may grow faster than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had expected for all of 2017 after a first-quarter performance that beat forecasts, the fund said, as it urged Beijing to address entrenched financial risks in the country. Data this month showed China''s economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate of 6.9 percent in the first three months of this year after record credit growth, a gravity-defying property boom and higher government infrastructure spending juiced activity. The better-than-anticipated data prompted the IMF this week to raise its 2017 and 2018 growth forecasts for the Chinese economy, and Changyong Rhee, director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the fund, said on Friday there was a chance it may lift its 2017 estimate again. The IMF, which holds its spring meeting this week for central bankers and finance ministers, lifted its 2017 growth projection for the Chinese economy, the world''s second largest, to 6.6 percent from 6.5 percent on Tuesday. "There is upside risk to our current projection," Rhee told reporters at a briefing. But at the same time, the fund said it expects certain parts of China''s economy, including its real estate market and its shadow banking sector, to cool in the second half of this year. The fund said it has always advised China that the country''s financial trends are "dangerous and unsustainable". These include an "excessive" role of the state, large resource miscalculation in many areas, state-owned companies that lack budget constraints and financial discipline, said Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the IMF. "When this would unravel in some way or another, nobody can predict," said Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of the IMF''s Asia and Pacific Department, adding the fund was hopeful that China could untangle its problems. China''s debt-to-GDP ratio rose to 277 percent at the end of 2016 from 254 percent the previous year, with an increasing share of new credit being used to pay debt servicing costs, according to an estimate from UBS. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-imf-idUKKBN17N1WJ'|'2017-04-21T23:02:00.000+03:00' '6fcb70feed8fafc7fe9141b19ca7e3335f2ee349'|'AB Foods profit jump driven by sugar rebound, lifts outlook'|'Business News 7:43am BST AB Foods profit jump driven by sugar rebound, lifts outlook FILE PHOTO - The Primark logo can be seen on windows at Primark''s new Spanish flagship store in Madrid, Spain, October 15, 2015. REUTERS/Andrea Comas LONDON Associated British Foods ( ABF.L ) on Wednesday reported a 36 percent rise in first-half profit, driven by a recovery in its sugar business and a resilient performance at Primark, its discount fashion retailer. The group, which also reported progress in its ingredients and grocery businesses, raised its profit guidance for the full year. For the six months to March 4, AB Foods made an adjusted operating profit of 652 million pounds. That compares with analysts'' average forecast of 623 million pounds, according to Reuters data, and 486 million pounds in the previous corresponding period. Revenue rose 19 percent to 7.3 billion pounds, while the dividend was raised 10 percent to 11.35 pence. "Our outlook for the group''s full year results has improved and we now expect to report good growth in adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share," it said. AB Foods said it expects underlying revenue momentum in all of its businesses to continue in the second half. However, it did caution that profit growth in the second half will, at current exchange rates, be tempered primarily by a smaller currency translation benefit and the full effect of the devaluation of sterling against the dollar on Primark''s margin. Primark accounts for over half of AB Foods'' profit. AB Foods made adjusted operating profit of 1.12 billion pounds in 2015-16, with adjusted earnings per share of 106.2 pence. Shares in the group, a majority of which are owned by the family of Chief Executive George Weston, have fallen 19 percent over the last year due to concerns over the impact of a weaker pound on Primark''s profit margin, but have risen 5 percent over the last week. They closed at 2,718 pence on Tuesday, valuing the business at 21.1 billion pounds. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ab-foods-results-idUKKBN17L0ID'|'2017-04-19T14:43:00.000+03:00' '0be36e8b0b3eb836830b6b4b2fd2eadb091e69a4'|'World Bank''s Kim says ''encouraged'' by Trump''s interest in lender'|' 2:19pm BST World Bank''s Kim says ''encouraged'' by Trump''s interest in lender World President Jim Yong Kim participates in a discussion ''''Investing in the Early Years: Identifying Synergies and Catalyzing Action'''' at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said on Thursday he is "encouraged" by the Trump administration''s interest so far in the multilateral lender''s mission and its plans to harness more private capital for development finance. Kim told Reuters in an interview that Trump administration officials, including U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have been asking questions about the bank''s views on solving development problems. "Speaking with President Trump directly, I told him about the need to make this shift, to work more effectively with the private sector, he was very enthusiastic about that," Kim said. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-worldbank-idUKKBN17M1LW'|'2017-04-20T21:19:00.000+03:00' 'd23a78a579bf376cd53a7f3f0b0f9ed8b96fd1f9'|'Foreign carmakers embrace China as electric car development hub'|'Business 37pm BST Foreign carmakers embrace China as electric car development hub FILE PHOTO: A BYD Dynasty electric concept car is displayed at the Shanghai Auto Show during its media day, in Shanghai, China April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo By Edward Taylor and Joseph White - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI China''s crackdown on vehicle pollution will turn the world''s largest auto market into a hub for cutting edge electric car technologies previously exported from Europe and the United States, industry executives at the Shanghai motor show said. Foreign automakers have long been building cars in China to meet surging demand in the world''s most populous nation. But a raft of proposals to promote cleaner driving is now encouraging them to do more research in China, potentially turning the country into a world leader in a technology predicted to be a major force in the future of the industry. "We are convinced China will become the leading market for electromobility," Volkswagen (VW) ( VOWG_p.DE ) brand chief Herbert Diess told Reuters on the sidelines of the motor show. For years, carmakers have struggled to gain economies of scale to bring down the cost of electric cars, which have failed to gain traction with consumers in part because of their price. But by floating proposals to require automakers to boost sales of so-called "new energy vehicles," or risk being penalised, Beijing has given a powerful incentive for them to focus the development of such vehicles in China. That could be a big fillip for the local economy - and a blow to other major car manufacturing nations such as the United States, Germany and Japan. Analysts at UBS say the shift from combustion towards electric cars is a 100 billion euros (83.61 billion pounds) revenue opportunity for suppliers. "There is a clear (Chinese) government policy in favour of electromobility - high subsidies and an industrial framework in the form of joint venture companies which are being encouraged to invest in this technology," Diess said, adding Beijing appeared to be trying to replicate the success of hybrid car technology in Japan and diesel vehicles in Germany. According to management consulting firm McKinsey, 43 percent of the 870,000 electric cars produced in 2016 came from China. Germany and the United States accounted for 23 percent and 17 percent respectively. In order to defend its market position in China, VW will invest in locally developed electric car technology, Diess said. "This is a challenge but also an opportunity because we will quickly gain large volumes and gain sufficient scale to make electromobility cost effective enough so that it will also be a success in Germany and the United States," he told Reuters. In the wake of its diesel emissions scandal, VW is focusing much more on electric vehicles and software-based technologies - strategies also being pursued by its Chinese joint venture partners, which include SAIC and First Automotive Works (FAW). "Here in China the transformation is almost quicker. Our joint venture partners, in particular SAIC, are even more committed to transformation. They are already thinking about next steps which go beyond things like software and semiconductors," Diess said, without elaborating. TAKING THE LEAD GKN, a global engineering group based in England that supplies components for the BMW i8 and Volvo''s XC90, said on Wednesday China would become its global production hub for electrified drivelines starting in 2018 and production would be ramped up to an annual 1 million "eDrive" units by 2025. Through a Chinese joint venture company, SDS, GKN will start making an electric transmission for a domestic Chinese automaker in 2018 and then deliver an electric motor, inverter, axle and gearbox for a European firm''s small car platform a year later. GKN declined to name the European client, but said the manufacturer would sell Chinese-made electric motors worldwide, and further supply agreements with domestic and international car manufacturers had been signed. GKN Driveline Chief Executive Officer Phil Swash said four global carmakers had agreed to buy GKN''s electric motors, and that these motors would be rolled out in China first. "Whereas in the past we imported technology from outside China, for eDrive, China is now taking the lead. The first launch deployment of the newest technology will be here. That is the first time that has happened in our 30 year history," Swash told Reuters in an interview. Daimler DIAGn.DE, which has trailed German peers BMW ( BMWG.DE ) and VW-owned Audi in terms of expanding its Chinese manufacturing capacity, is also preparing to make Mercedes-Benz electric cars in Beijing. "We are going to localise electric cars for Mercedes-Benz," Daimler''s board member responsible for China, Hubertus Troska, said. "We''re not concerned about technology transfer" to Chinese partners, he added, referring to fears that Chinese firms might eventually use technology gleaned from foreign partners against them. Mercedes has more than tripled the size of its Chinese research and development operations during the past two to three years, to 700 people. The Chinese team is capable of developing entire vehicles, rather than merely customising designs originated in Europe, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said, adding that how R&D would be divided between China and other Mercedes-Benz research centres remained to be seen. "We will decide how to divide up the tasks on a case-by-case basis, but of course this will include capacities to develop electric cars here in China," Zetsche said. (Reporting by Edward Taylor and Joe White; Additional reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-electromobility-idUKKBN17L1PZ'|'2017-04-19T21:37:00.000+03:00' 'cb6fe45758ea22911ce3799759ac967c7b9090e2'|'BlackRock CEO Fink sees wave of M&A in asset management industry'|'Market News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 2:52pm EDT BlackRock CEO Fink sees wave of M&A in asset management industry By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK, April 19 NEW YORK, April 19 BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who runs the world''s largest asset manager, on Wednesday forecast a wave of mergers and acquisitions in asset management, but said his company may be limited for now to small deals. "I believe you''re going to see a consolidation in our industry," Fink told Reuters in a telephone interview, citing previous waves in industries such as banking. Even so, he said, "We''re not going to be a big participant" in M&A. He did say BlackRock is considering three or four small acquisitions that would be focused on shoring up the company''s technology and its investment expertise in different assets and geographic regions. Started as a bond-focused fund manager in 1988, BlackRock later used acquisitions to add index-tracking exchange-traded funds and equities to its menu of offerings. Yet its traditionalist stock-picking unit has remained a source of frustration. BlackRock''s earnings reported on Wednesday showed it attracted nearly $65 billion in new cash from clients in the first quarter, while many of its peers have been trying to stanch outflows. BlackRock oversees $5.4 trillion in assets. The massive inflows at BlackRock raise the prospect that an industry that has nurtured dozens of brand names from Fidelity Investments to Pacific Investment Management Co is increasingly turning into a winner-take-all game. BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street Corp captured nearly 72 percent of the net cash collected globally last year by mutual funds, money market funds and exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar Inc. "Asset managers historically benefited - in most cases, they benefited - from rising beta so you didn''t have this need for consolidation," said Fink, referring to how rising markets boosted asset managers'' earnings. The next leg of growth may be harder, including M&A and developing new business lines. Fink has placed an unusual emphasis on technology for an asset manager. BlackRock added revenue by licensing its Aladdin operating system for money managers to its rivals. The company is also exploring how computer models can improve stock picking while reducing costs. Last month, BlackRock announced plans to transfer some responsibilities from more traditionalist fund managers to an internal team known for data-driven approaches to picking stocks. In the interview, Fink said he has "100 percent confidence" that approach will help performance. The company''s overhaul of its active equities franchise includes doubling-down on niche geographic specialties, such as Asia, where it may have a greater chance to beat the market. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/blackrock-results-ceo-idUSL1N1HR187'|'2017-04-20T02:52:00.000+03:00' 'b5a6f4a929309905f227d04463f01a96ba7b12bc'|'The salary gap between expat and local aid workers – it’s complicated - Global Development Professionals Network'|'Global development professionals network The salary gap between expat and local aid workers – it’s complicated It’s time for more nuance and less ideology in the debate about expat aid workers being paid more than local staff at NGOs Aid workers from the west generally get paid more than national staff working in NGOs. Photograph: Alamy Global development professionals network The salary gap between expat and local aid workers – it’s complicated It’s time for more nuance and less ideology in the debate about expat aid workers being paid more than local staff at NGOs View more sharing options Senior lecturer in communication for development at Malmö University, Sweden Wednesday 19 April 2017 11.31 BST Last modified on Wednesday 19 April 2017 11.59 BST Aid workers have been discussing the issue of expat versus local worker salaries for some time now. From one side of the argument, it looks pretty simple: why should expat workers swing into town and get paid far higher rates than their national colleagues? It’s worth taking a more nuanced assessment of the professional realities in the aid industry that are changing rapidly. We also need to put aside ideology and look at the administrative realities of living the expat aid worker life. And finally, we need to think about how we can move the debate forward beyond salaries. Expat wages up to 900% higher than for local employees, research shows Read more The aid industry, including both humanitarian and development work, has been changing significantly over the past few years. “Localisation” is a term being used to describe this: large international NGOs such as ActionAid and Oxfam have moved or will move their global headquarters to the global south. And despite the fact that a recent Overseas Development Institute report states that development organisations are “behind the curve” on changes in the workplace, discussions are taking place that will transform the sector. Aid work is professionalising and that will mean more opportunities for local workers and changing roles for expats. Skilled professionals for project management, IT and creative industries are already in demand in growing economies across Africa and Asia, and the relatively small aid industry will have to offer incentives to attract and retain local talent. A new generation of internationally educated, global professionals with local language skills is sought in many sectors. The simple truth is that most aid workers do not have generous UN or diplomatic housing, or moving allowances That said, expat aid workers will continue to exist. And the fact is that most of them are embedded in a secondary financial economy, as well as the country they have been posted to. The unexciting reality of earning a taxable income abroad, maintaining a link to their home countries and preparing for a life after aid work means they need to earn a higher salary to make aid work a viable career. The simple truth is that most aid workers do not have generous UN or diplomatic housing, or moving allowances. And since claims of paying professionals a professional salary apply globally just as they do locally, it also means finding a balance between paying a project officer in Brussels or Nairobi. Despite anecdotal evidence about local prices hikes, a study from 2006 (pdf) suggests that UN missions, often the epitome of expat aid work, contribute significantly and in diverse ways to the local economy. Often, local staff in the back office work close to a regular 9-5 job, whereas many expats work different – often longer – hours, travel more or need to engage with global headquarters across time zones. National staff’s long-term perspectives may also differ from a six-month contract for an expat colleague, so comparing the two is tricky. Secret aid worker: Why do expats earn more than the rest of us? Read more And yet, this discussion strikes a chord with many professionals in the industry. I agree that the issue of benefits such as travel allowances or schooling support for local staff in addition to their salaries needs more attention. The truth is that many expat NGO workers probably live less privileged lives than those in diplomatic missions and they can’t always freely chose how to live, as they are entangled in security protocols and the desire of their home countries to create a competitive and comparative global service across countries – regardless of where they are posted. One issue that seems to get lost in the salary discussion is the risk of aid work being reduced to a capital city-centered endeavour. The global elite is as much present in Geneva or London as it is in Bangkok or Nairobi, but the bulk of aid work takes place in the field and we need to ensure adequate benefits for local and expat aid workers in different environments. So how can we ensure that frontline health workers or drivers in the regional hubs are included in the conversation rather than focusing on who should have the right to send their children to the private American school? Expat pay in the aid sector: your responses Read more There should be a more nuanced discussion on absolute and relative privilege beyond salaries that takes more dimensions of wellbeing and professional development into consideration. How can stress, long-distance relationships and the ethos of aid work as an impartial and solitary endeavour be redefined in a globalised world with many challenges? Expat aid workers are also needed as vocal advocates for public debates around global development at home. Rather than approaching the topic purely from a moral perspective of “Do expat aid workers deserve higher salaries?” we should also discuss how entrenched inequalities, outside the control of the aid industry, cause different salaries and benefit structures to exist. Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Topics '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/19/the-salary-gap-between-expat-and-local-aid-workers-its-complicated'|'2017-04-19T19:31:00.000+03:00' '56c23e9ffe31772048c60e2be055695523f2b905'|'Canada''s resilient dairy sector girds for Trump fight'|' 32pm BST Canada''s resilient dairy sector girds for Trump fight left right FILE PHOTO - Dairy farmer Keith Trotter stands in a field amongst his herd of cows on his farm in the town of Matakana, located north of Auckland, New Zealand, September 24, 2015. REUTERS/Nigel Marple/File Photo 1/2 left right Dairy cows wait to be milked at a farm in Granby, Quebec July 26, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi 2/2 By Rod Nickel and Benjamin Weir - WINNIPEG/SYDNEY WINNIPEG/SYDNEY For decades, Canada''s protected dairy sector has riled rival exporters from Asia to Europe who resent having limited access to a wealthy consuming nation. But that could change now U.S. President Donald Trump has taken up the cause, trade experts said on Wednesday. Despite an earlier challenge before the World Trade Organization and concerns by domestic producers that it may be threatened by sweeping trade deals with three continents, Canada''s supply management system, as the policy around dairy imports and production is known, has proven all but impossible to vanquish. Trump took aim on Tuesday during a visit to cheese-producing Wisconsin, saying he would "stand up for our dairy farmers" against Canada''s "unfair" practices. The United States is Canada''s largest trading partner. "By virtue of economic weight alone, Trump has the overwhelming leverage to force open the protected Canadian dairy sector," said Canadian trade lawyer Larry Herman. "The Aussies and New Zealanders don’t have anything like that kind of bullying power." Trump''s vow comes as global dairy prices are rebounding after two years of declines amid abundant supplies. Trump did not specify what parts of Canada''s tariff-protected dairy sector he wanted to change, nor what measures he would take to make it happen, but his remarks re-ignited calls from rival exporters for a fresh complaint to the WTO. SACRED COW Canada''s dairy sector, which includes C$6 billion ($4.45 billion) in annual farmer milk sales, is protected by high tariffs on imports and controls on domestic production as a means of supporting prices. It includes about 11,000 farmers who are concentrated in the vote-rich provinces of Quebec and Ontario and who have outsized political influence. All major Canadian political parties have promised to defend supply management. "Political reality means that external pressure like (Trump) is the only way to force changes to the Canadian system," Herman said. The most recent flashpoint came last year, when Canada''s dairy farmers struck a new pricing deal with processors including Saputo Inc ( SAP.TO ) and Parmalat Canada [PLTPRC.UL]. Foreign industry groups said the deal priced domestic milk ingredients used to make cheese and yogurt below cost and undercut their exports. Canadian producers disagree. "The reality is, there haven''t been any changes to Canadian regulations or tariffs," said David Wiens, who milks 220 cows and is chairman of Dairy Farmers of Manitoba. "What we''ve done here does not block imports." But dairy industry leaders in Australia and New Zealand said on Wednesday they would support any move by the United States to draw the WTO into the trade dispute. "I don''t expect there would be many countries that would do anything other than support a WTO action against Canada," said Australian Dairy Farmers interim Chief Executive John McQueen. Malcolm Bailey, chairman of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand, said his organization was working with his foreign ministry to gather information for a possible WTO complaint. Canada denies that its dairy policies cause losses for U.S. dairy farmers, and blames instead overproduction by the United States and globally, which the highly regulated Canadian system avoids. Canada''s dairy system survived a WTO challenge in 2002. Trump is more likely to use his promised renegotiation of the North American Free Trade (NAFTA) to bring about change on dairy, said John Weekes, a former Canadian ambassador to the WTO and now an adviser at law firm Bennett Jones. “I think this is probably the biggest trade negotiations test it (supply management) has yet faced.” (Additional reporting by Charlotte Greenfield in Wellington, Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels, David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Robert Birsel, Adrian Croft and Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-canada-dairy-australia-newzealand-idUKKBN17L2PM'|'2017-04-20T04:32:00.000+03:00' '91383186340996553056c07525ef1041ab0cf016'|'Unconventional central banking here to stay - ECB paper'|'Business 11:52am BST Unconventional central banking here to stay - ECB paper The logo of the European Central Bank (ECB) is pictured outside its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski FRANKFURT Central banks around the globe are likely to get even broader mandates in the post-crisis era and will retain many of their often improvised unconventional tools, according to research published by the European Central Bank on Wednesday. Banks will increase their focus on financial stability, use more macro-prudential tools, communicate more actively and may continue to cross the line into the realm of politics, said an ECB paper based on surveys of central bankers and academics. Central banks resorted to untested policy instruments, like negative interest rates and large-scale asset buys, during and after the global financial crisis, hoping to revive growth and inflation. Buying big chunks of government debt, and in the ECB''s case, taking part in sovereign bailouts, central banks have been heavily criticized for exceeding their mandates, playing politics and attempting to meet conflicting goals with improvised instruments. "We see central banks in the future as having broader mandates, using macro-prudential tools more widely, and communicating more than before the crisis," said the paper, which does not necessarily reflect the ECB''s opinion. "We expect most (unconventional tools to) remain in central banks’ toolkits, in particular because central bank governors who gain experience with a particular tool are considerably more likely to assess that tool positively," it added. A key question that remains open is whether banks will continue to cross the line into politics with quasi-fiscal policies, like large-scale lending to banks and corporations, which essentially put the taxpayer at risk. Communication, which has become a key policy instrument, may become an even more prominent tool, the paper also concluded, even if there are disagreements over how banks should use policy guidance. Still, the costs and benefits of using unconventional tools require more studies and inflation targets should not change, the paper said. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cenbank-ecb-research-idUKKBN17L1A1'|'2017-04-19T18:52:00.000+03:00' '27846dda3e33d71a654598c83ef052c51b9839e8'|'Malaysia Airlines signs up for minute-by-minute plane tracking'|'April 19 Malaysia Airlines has signed up to a new system to track its planes minute-by-minute, three years after the unexplained disappearance of one of its aircraft carrying 239 people, the providers of the satellite-based system said in a statement.Flight MH370 went missing on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014. Australia, Malaysia, and China called off a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January.The new space-based tracking system, due to be operational from 2018, was developed by U.S.-based Aireon, which is working with FlightAware on plane tracking. It will be delivered to Malaysia Airlines by Sitaonair, which provides connectivity products to airlines and works with FlightAware on tracking.Instead of sending tracking signals to ground stations - which means planes'' locations can be lost over oceans or remote areas - the new system will beam them to satellites providing global coverage. It uses existing data from planes and so does not require any modifications to aircraft."Real-time, global flight tracking, anywhere on the planet will further its safety goals, by allowing Malaysia Airlines to track its aircraft anytime, anywhere," Aireon Chief Executive Officer Don Thoma said in a statement.After the disappearance of MH370, regulators and airlines were criticised for responding too slowly to French tracking recommendations after the crash of an Air France plane in 2009.The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in response set out plans to impose a 15-minute standard for normal flight tracking, or more frequently in case of emergency, by November 2018.Aireon is placing its data receivers on Iridium satellites. The first 10 of a planned 66 low-earth orbit satellites were sent up in January 2017.The space-based system was initially conceived to help air traffic controllers route planes more efficiently, thus helping to reduce fuel costs and improve safety.Aireon and FlightAware signed up Qatar Airways as the launch customer for their GlobalBeacon tracking service in September. Malaysia Airlines is the first Sitaonair customer to sign up to the scheme.Daniel Baker, CEO of FlightAware, told Reuters that Qatar and Malaysia will begin receiving data for testing this summer and will be able to use it globally next summer. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan in Berlin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/airlines-tracking-malaysia-airlines-idUSL8N1HR42T'|'2017-04-19T22:09:00.000+03:00' '45ae5aa57444babea3ff15b88dd4a069dc171260'|'Michigan official sees Detroit exit from state oversight in 2018'|'CHICAGO Detroit''s post-bankruptcy finances have improved to the point where the city should be able to exit state oversight in early 2018, a Michigan official said on Wednesday.Eric Scorsone, who oversees local Michigan governments as a senior deputy state treasurer, said Detroit was on track to end its third-straight fiscal year without a budget deficit. That is a main requirement for the Detroit Financial Review Commission, created as part of the city''s bankruptcy exit plan, to go dormant."I never thought Detroit''s recovery could happen so quickly," Scorsone told a Chicago conference sponsored by the Civic Federation and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.Michigan''s largest city ended the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy in December 2014 after shedding about $7 billion of its $18 billion of debt and obligations.If Detroit exits state oversight, the commission, which currently meets monthly, could come back to life if the city had a deficit or debt problem, Scorsone said.Detroit must still deal with an unfunded pension liability of at least $2 billion and pension payments set to resume in 2024, according to Scorsone.A court-approved bankruptcy exit plan had projected city pension payments would total $111 million beginning in fiscal 2024. But a subsequent actuarial analysis pegged the payment spike at $200 million or more.The Detroit City Council in March approved Mayor Mike Duggan''s proposal to deposit $377 million into a trust fund by the end of fiscal 2023 to help Detroit cover the higher-than-expected pension payments."That''s great because the city really moved proactively," Scorsone said.(Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-detroit-budget-idINKBN17L288'|'2017-04-19T14:37:00.000+03:00' '7d8866ba80ca62c167cb895cd47d8051431acb58'|'Bosch in self-driving tie-up China''s Baidu, AutoNavi'|'Technology News 11:32am IST Bosch in self-driving tie-up with China''s Baidu, AutoNavi FILE PHOTO - A company logo on BOSCH building is pictured at the company''s new research and advance development centre Campus Renningen during a guided media tour in Renningen, Germany, September 30, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo SHANGHAI Germany''s Robert Bosch will collaborate with Chinese internet giant Baidu Inc and domestic mapping firms AutoNavi and NavInfo Co Ltd on automated driving projects, the engineer said in a statement on Wednesday. The deal marks a push by the firm in China''s autonomous vehicle market and follows a self-driving tie-up it made with Daimler AG''s Mercedes aimed at accelerating the production of "robo-taxis" last month. China issued a self-driving "roadmap" late last year, with the aim of having highly or fully autonomous vehicles on sale in the world''s biggest auto market by as early as 2021. Firms like Bosch, a major automotive supplier, have become prominent in the global race to develop autonomous vehicle technology, supplanting traditional top-down manufacturing relationships with a complex web of tie-ups. The collaboration with Baidu, AutoNavi - owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - and NavInfo will use Bosch radar and video sensors on cars to help generate and update maps critical to autonomous driving capabilities, the firm said. "Automated driving will not be possible without high-precision maps – not in China and not anywhere else in the world either," Rolf Bulander, chairman of Bosch''s Mobility Solutions unit said in the statement. Chinese automakers including Geely have called on authorities to loosen controls on mapping, saying national security concerns risk inhibiting the development of self-driving vehicles. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/autoshow-shanghai-r-bosch-idINKBN17L0H7'|'2017-04-19T04:02:00.000+03:00' '356cb9c8ec528a2ddc159ad0c1eeee7800bb82cf'|'BlackRock CEO Fink sees wave of M&A in asset management industry'|'By Trevor Hunnicutt - NEW YORK, April 19 NEW YORK, April 19 BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink, who runs the world''s largest asset manager, on Wednesday forecast a wave of mergers and acquisitions in asset management, but said his company may be limited for now to small deals."I believe you''re going to see a consolidation in our industry," Fink told Reuters in a telephone interview, citing previous waves in industries such as banking.Even so, he said, "We''re not going to be a big participant" in M&A. He did say BlackRock is considering three or four small acquisitions that would be focused on shoring up the company''s technology and its investment expertise in different assets and geographic regions.Started as a bond-focused fund manager in 1988, BlackRock later used acquisitions to add index-tracking exchange-traded funds and equities to its menu of offerings. Yet its traditionalist stock-picking unit has remained a source of frustration.BlackRock''s earnings reported on Wednesday showed it attracted nearly $65 billion in new cash from clients in the first quarter, while many of its peers have been trying to stanch outflows. BlackRock oversees $5.4 trillion in assets.The massive inflows at BlackRock raise the prospect that an industry that has nurtured dozens of brand names from Fidelity Investments to Pacific Investment Management Co is increasingly turning into a winner-take-all game.BlackRock, Vanguard Group and State Street Corp captured nearly 72 percent of the net cash collected globally last year by mutual funds, money market funds and exchange-traded funds, according to Morningstar Inc."Asset managers historically benefited - in most cases, they benefited - from rising beta so you didn''t have this need for consolidation," said Fink, referring to how rising markets boosted asset managers'' earnings.The next leg of growth may be harder, including M&A and developing new business lines.Fink has placed an unusual emphasis on technology for an asset manager.BlackRock added revenue by licensing its Aladdin operating system for money managers to its rivals. The company is also exploring how computer models can improve stock picking while reducing costs.Last month, BlackRock announced plans to transfer some responsibilities from more traditionalist fund managers to an internal team known for data-driven approaches to picking stocks.In the interview, Fink said he has "100 percent confidence" that approach will help performance.The company''s overhaul of its active equities franchise includes doubling-down on niche geographic specialties, such as Asia, where it may have a greater chance to beat the market. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Jennifer Ablan and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackrock-results-ceo-idINL1N1HR187'|'2017-04-19T16:52:00.000+03:00' '2e4da2bad05f6d08066d24ba32edafda8b7c218f'|'IMF chief says all members believe in free, fair trade'|'By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday that the 70-year-old multilateral institution will keep evolving to meet the needs of its 189 members, but added that none are opposed to free and fair trade."The institution is changing and we will continue to do that in order to adjust to the needs of the membership," Lagarde said at a forum at the start of IMF and World Bank spring meetings."And we will be listening to all members as they themselves change over the course of time. But everything I have seen leads me to believe that all members believe in the virtue and the value of free, fair and global trade," Lagarde told the Bretton Woods Committee.The IMF and World Bank meetings are starting amid concerns over the Trump administration''s commitment to multilateral cooperation as it embarks on an "America First" trade agenda that aims to slash U.S. trade deficits and take steps to shut out more imports.Responding to a question about these concerns, Lagarde said that all of the Fund''s members were keen to examine ways "to make sure that trade benefits all under conditions that are fair and constitute a level playing field. We will continue to try to deliver on that front."She said China was not likely to make major strides toward needed reforms to its economy that would rein in growing debt levels until after the country''s 19th Party Congress in the fall of this year."It''s our assessment that the policies that would be needed are probably not going to be put in place until...maybe a little less than a year from now," Lagarde said. "Once the Congress is over, then we are likely to see more movement than what we see at the moment. Everything that we hear, every analysis that we conduct, drives us to that conclusion."However, she said China was taking some steps to shrink excess capacity in its coal sector and to a lesser extent, steel. She said that she hoped that stronger actions would be taken by November or December.Asked whether the Fund would consider providing more frequent assessments of currency valuations than its once-a-year External Sector Report, Lagarde said that was not likely because of the "very heavy-duty work" needed to assess the currencies of 29 countries representing about 80 percent of global gross domestic product, an undertaking that required extensive local engagement and analysis.(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g20-lagarde-idINKBN17L2L6'|'2017-04-19T17:37:00.000+03:00' 'b5c443f301b332db6bd39f2b1bbffab47bb8c68a'|'Nikkei edges down in choppy trade; regional banks fall on bond yield declines'|'* 10-year JGB yield drops to lowest level in 5 months* Toraku ratio shows Japan stocks likely hit bottomBy Ayai TomisawaTOKYO, April 19 Japanese stocks edged down in choppy trade on Wednesday morning as geopolitical tensions soured investor sentiment, while regional banking stocks underperformed as Japanese government bond yields fell to five-month lows.The Nikkei 225 share average dropped 0.2 percent to 18,380.81 in midmorning trade, after briefly flirting in positive territory earlier.Regional banks Kita-Nippon Bank and Keiyo Bank both dropped 1.5 percent after the 10-year JGB yield hit 0 percent, its lowest level since mid November.Escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea also kept investors nervous, while eyes were also on Europe where sterling surged after British Prime Minister Theresa May called an early general election for June 8, seeking to strengthen her party''s majority ahead of Brexit negotiations.But traders said that the Japanese market is seen hitting the bottom, and a sell-off seems to have been exhausted for the time being."A technical indicator shows that the market is oversold, and investors will likely shift attention to companies, which are likely reporting strong earnings," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.The toraku ratio, or up-down ratio, stood at 72.6 percent as of Wednesday, moving away from 68 percent hit on Monday, the lowest since February 2016. A reading below 80 signals market are oversold.Japanese companies will report their full-year earnings this month, and Yaskawa Electric Corp, which is scheduled to report the results on Thursday, is focused. The stock is up 0.3 percent.Exporters were mixed, with Toyota Motor Corp falling 1.0 percent, Honda Motor Co shedding 1.1 percent and Panasonic Corp rising 0.4 percent.Elsewhere, Yamato Holdings shed 3.6 percent after the parcel delivery services provider cut its full-year earnings forecast for the year ending March 2018.The broader Topix was flat at 1,471.44 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 0.1 percent to 13,177.92. (Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-midday-idINL3N1HR1HK'|'2017-04-19T00:40:00.000+03:00' '484f4babe2b357bb34f6ed8b7caf370267ed0f3c'|'ECB rate hike would help reduce German current account surplus - media'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 2:05am BST ECB rate hike would help reduce German current account surplus: media German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Brussels, Belgium March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman BERLIN The German government believes an interest rate increase by the European Central Bank (ECB) would help to reduce Germany''s often-criticized export surplus, the Funke Mediengruppe newspaper chain reported Wednesday. The newspaper cited an eight-page paper prepared by the German finance and economics ministries which Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble plans to present at the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund later this week. Schaeuble is a longtime critic of the ECB''s current ultra-low interest rate policy. The new paper does not call for the ECB to raise interest rates, but said tighter monetary policy would be in line with European economic recovery and would reduce Germany''s current account surplus due to an expected strengthening of the euro. "Economic growth in the eurozone and inflationary developments could spur the ECB to begin a normalization of its monetary policy," the paper said, according to the media report. "A stronger euro would automatically reduce the trade surplus." U.S. President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials have taken aim at Germany''s high current account surplus. A senior German government official on Tuesday said it expected additional pressure from Washington to cut its surplus at IMF and G20 meetings this week. The German government paper reiterated Berlin''s view that the trade surplus was mainly due to the quality of its products and the decisions of private consumers and companies. It also noted that Germany had no influence on the monetary policy of the ECB, and that trade policy was decided by the EU. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Andrew Roche) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-policy-germany-idUKKBN17L033'|'2017-04-19T09:03:00.000+03:00' '1038544c6594f24e0d2d16f730e5f576ca3bc72b'|'U.S. announces probe into imports of steel wire rod'|' 09am BST U.S. announces probe into imports of steel wire rod WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday it was launching investigations into whether imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod from certain countries are being dumped and/or subsidized. The dumping probe affects imports from Belarus, Italy, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Britain, and the subsidization probe covers those from Italy and Turkey, the department said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Writing by Eric Walsh) May’s election gamble offers longer-term turnaround for sterling, but at FTSE’s expense LONDON Running contrary to the norm on shock election announcements, the pound''s steep gains on Tuesday point to hope among investors that the June poll may stabilise domestic UK politics as the country faces its biggest challenges in half a century. Verizon, Corning agree to $1.05 billion fibre deal NEW YORK Verizon Communications Inc has agreed to buy optical fiber from Corning Inc for at least $1.05 billion (817.38 million pounds) over the next three years as the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier aims to improve its network infrastructure, the companies said on Tuesday. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-steel-rod-idUKKBN17K2P6'|'2017-04-19T07:09:00.000+03:00' '975134199e2506143c3155fc96397abdea3a1f32'|'Hyundai China JV facing "severe challenges" given complex political, economic environment - chairman'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 4:11am BST Hyundai China JV facing "severe challenges" given complex political, economic environment - chairman A signboard of Hyundai is seen in Shanghai, China, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song SHANGHAI Hyundai''s China joint venture is facing "severe challenge" due to a complex political and economic environment and tough local competition, the firm''s chairman said on Wednesday, amid a political stand-off between China and South Korea. Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture between South Korea''s Hyundai Motor Co ( 005380.KS ) and BAIC Motor Corp Ltd ( 1958.HK ), was speaking at the Shanghai autoshow. Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp ( 000270.KS ) saw combined China sales slump 52 percent in March from a year earlier, hit by anti-Korean sentiment over the planned deployment of a U.S. missile defence system outside Seoul. "At the moment given the complicated political, economic and competitive market environment, Beijing Hyundai faces what we can describe as severe market challenges," said Xu, adding the firm would not slow its pace of innovation in the market. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Writing by Adam Jourdan) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-hyundai-motor-idUKKBN17L08U'|'2017-04-19T11:11:00.000+03:00' 'a57253fa0f713652a00a08623b6ae78d8b1e2f03'|'Shell opens treatment plant in Argentina shale play'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 11:36pm BST Shell opens treatment plant in Argentina shale play Staff members work at the booth of Royal Dutch Shell at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan, April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai BUENOS AIRES Royal Dutch Shell PLC ( RDSa.L ) inaugurated on Tuesday a treatment plant for shale oil and gas in Argentina''s Vaca Muerta shale play, one of the world''s largest. The plant, announced in 2014, has a capacity to process up to 10,000 barrels per day from the Sierras Blancas, Cruz de Lorena and Coiron Amargo Sur Oeste blocks operated by Shell, the company said in a statement. "(The plant) receives output from the wells of these blocks, processing the oil and gas to leave it ready for commercialization," the statement said. Investment has been picking up in Vaca Muerta in recent months after President Mauricio Macri''s government announced a deal with labour unions to lower costs and defined price supports. [nL2N1H01Z1] Shell said in September it planned to invest $300 million per year through 2020 in Argentina in exploration, refining, distribution and marketing. [nE6N178023] (Reporting by Juliana Castilla and Caroline Stauffer)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-shell-argentina-idUKKBN17K2NO'|'2017-04-19T06:36:00.000+03:00' '6aba2fce25f032c01ecaf9b1cf1b8847c0585eb4'|'The varnished truth: AkzoNobel, under siege, makes unrealistic promises about growth'|'THE future for AkzoNobel is dazzling—if you believe Ton Büchner, its chief executive. The boss of the Dutch paint-and-coatings firm reported a solid set of quarterly earnings on April 19th, then promised a new era of rapid growth and investments. Shareholders are to get lavish dividends this year. The firm will break up its ungainly conglomerate structure. A speciality-chemicals part of the business will be sold or listed separately next year.Mr Büchner has no choice but to talk things up, if he is to justify rebuffing two recent takeover offers from a similar-sized American rival, PPG. Its latest bid, of €22.5bn ($24bn) in cash and shares, represented a 40% premium over Akzo’s market value before the first bid. An activist fund, Elliott Management, which has a 3% stake in Akzo, is pushing other shareholders to demand discussion of the bid. Akzo’s promises were welcome. But like a newly opened tin of paint, they made some heads spin. After years of eking out smallish gains mostly through cost-cutting, the firm is suddenly to boom. Akzo had previously forecast that returns on sales would be 11% by 2018, already well over its average of less than 9% since 2008; now the CEO promises a rate of 14% by 2020. The firm, which had revenues of €14.2bn in 2016, has emerged from a difficult period. It bought Britain’s Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), the owner of Dulux paint and other products, a decade ago, absorbing it as Europe fell into a slump. The group’s recovery since looks solid, but not of the sort to match Mr Büchner’s bold targets. “It is a huge stretch, it looks really tough,” is the verdict of Jeremy Redenius of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm.PPG’s chief executive, Michael McGarry, this week wrote an open letter explaining that merging the two strongest firms in many markets for paints and coatings makes sense, given consolidation in the wider chemicals sector. The European Commission cleared the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont in March, to create a firm worth $130bn. Though Akzo and PPG have some overlapping businesses, notably in Britain and France, antitrust risks should be manageable.A third PPG offer is likely in the near future. That Mr Büchner is now talking about numbers is an improvement on his initial talk of “cultural” differences between firms and his complaints that Mr McGarry’s approach, during the recent Dutch election, was tactless. But rising nationalism among Dutch politicians and voters could indeed help with fending off a takeover, says Ron Meyer of TIAS business school in Tilburg. A political outcry helped to scotch Kraft Heinz’s recent pursuit of Unilever, a bigger part-Dutch conglomerate. A foreign bid for the privatised Dutch postal service was also repelled last year.PPG has talked of doing a deal by June. So far relations have been cordial, but Akzo’s managers dislike Elliott’s aggression, such as its call for the sacking of the chairman of the supervisory board. Elliott this week dismissed the strategic review as “incomplete” and threatened to use the Dutch courts if Akzo turned down its request for a special shareholder meeting to oust the chairman. Akzo has some protection if things turn hostile, notably an independent foundation that appoints board directors, which may mean a legal battle.If so, Mr Büchner might well appeal to Dutch nationalist sentiment. Yet doing so is risky. Akzo brags of a swashbuckling history, back to 1792, of growing with acquisitions, many abroad. Shunning foreigners now would look hypocritical and short-sighted. Mr Büchner seems painted into a corner: either he will be held to unrealistic promises, or he will give way to PPG.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "The varnished truth"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721240-nasty-transatlantic-takeover-battle-gets-worse-akzonobel-under-siege-makes-unrealistic?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-22T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'dc08bff9023a491dedb51fa7067612f9016826f3'|'China Mobile, others approached for buying into Singapore telco M1: sources'|'By Anshuman Daga - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Top shareholders in Singapore telecoms company M1 Ltd ( MONE.SI ) have approached potential buyers China Mobile ( 0941.HK ) and global private equity firms, among others, to sell their combined majority stake in the firm, sources familiar with the matter said.The three main shareholders of Singapore''s smallest listed telecoms player, who own a combined 61 percent, flagged a strategic review of their investments last month, and jointly appointed Morgan Stanley as their financial adviser.They did not give a reason behind the review of their stake in the S$1.9 billion ($1.36 billion) company.The sources said the three shareholders - Malaysia''s Axiata Group ( AXIA.KL ), Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) ( SPRM.SI ) and Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation ( KTEL.SI ) - had also reached out to other telecoms firms, cash-rich business groups in China and Japanese tech firms to gauge their interest.First-round bids for M1, long seen as a target due to its small size and diverse shareholding, are expected in a few weeks, the sources said. They added that talks between the parties were still at an early stage and there was no certainty the process would succeed.They did not provide details on how China Mobile or the other prospective bidders have responded to the approach.When contacted for comments, Keppel, SPH and Axiata referred Reuters to their joint statement issued last month. M1 referred the query to its shareholders. China Mobile declined to comment.The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to the media.The sale process comes as competition heats up in Singapore, with Australia''s TPG Telecom ( TPM.AX ) set to launch its services next year after winning a license to become the city-state''s fourth telecom operator. Analysts expect M1 to be the most vulnerable to new competition.M1''s shares have nearly halved over the past two years due to its weak business performance amid increased competition.But Singapore''s well-regulated telecoms market offers stable cash flows. Some telecoms firms could also use the city-state as a launch pad into a region that is still developing, industry executives and analysts said."It''s actually a decent business for current owners or any new ones if you factor in the upsides," said Rameez Ansar, co-founder of Singapore firm Circles.Life, which leases towers from M1, referring to weakness in M1''s share performance and Singapore''s position as a tier-one market and high user revenues.M1 could also fit in a portfolio of other telecoms ventures."M1 could become part of a portfolio of investments in telecom-related assets. Someone looking for financial returns could be interested, if other portfolio companies could help to enhance M1''s overall value," said Gregory Yap, analyst at Maybank Kim Eng Securities.Under Singapore''s rules, an acquirer of a 30 percent or more stake in a listed company is required to make an offer to buy out the rest of the shareholders.Some of the sources said M1''s main shareholders would require a substantial control premium for the sale to get done.State-run China Mobile, as well as local peers China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd ( 0762.HK ) and China Telecom Corp Ltd ( 0728.HK ), the country''s big telecoms firms, are pursuing expansion plans beyond their home market.If China Mobile acquires M1, it would mark its biggest overseas foray. The world''s largest mobile operator bought an 18 percent stake in Thailand''s True Corp ( TRUE.BK ) in 2014 after buying Pakistan telecoms firm Paktel in 2007.($1 = 1.3961 Singapore dollars)(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff, Aradhana Aravindan and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-m1-m-a-idINKBN17N1CM'|'2017-04-21T09:38:00.000+03:00' 'e65ba50ef14ae81f1ef834c2dcc9f994f746e670'|'Brexit makes campsites cool again as Britons tighten belts'|'Business News 7:46am BST Brexit makes campsites cool again as Britons tighten belts left right A union jack flutters as locals play by the harbour in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 1/13 left right The sun shines on the interior of a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 2/13 left right The sun shines on a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 3/13 left right Scott McCready looks out from one of his holiday cabins at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 4/13 left right Scott McCready looks out from one of his holiday cabins at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 5/13 A man walks through Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 6/13 left right The interior of a mobile home is seen inside a cabin at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 7/13 left right A boat floats on a creek flowing into the English Channel seen from Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 8/13 left right An EU flag flutters outside a house in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 9/13 left right The sun shines on a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 10/13 left right A worker extends a decking to a mobile home at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury, Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 11/13 left right A resident relaxes in a swimming pool at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 12/13 left right A sign hangs outside The Dolphin pub in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 13/13 By Kate Holton and William Schomberg - NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON Before last year''s Brexit vote, Scott McCready was struggling to fill his holiday cabins on the coast of southwest England. Now the site is fully booked with British tourists avoiding more expensive foreign trips following a plunge in the pound. This turnaround in the 10 months since Britons decided to leave the European Union reflects a jump in demand for "staycations", with British consumers seeking ways to make their money go further as rising inflation squeezes their incomes. McCready, who gave up a job in IT to build his site between ancient woodlands and a creek in the county of Devon, recalled the hectic days after last June''s referendum. "My phone just took off," he told Reuters. "It was like someone flicked a switch. We were booked out for the rest of the summer and now this year we''re having to turn people away." The reason why Britons and some Europeans have flocked to his 24 wooden lodges in Newton Ferrers, once a quiet fishing village 370 km (230 miles) from London, is straightforward. The referendum result caught financial markets off guard, sending the pound down about 20 percent against the dollar and 16 percent against the euro at one point. That rapidly pushed up the cost of holidays to the United States and continental Europe, both popular destinations for Britons. Since then, sterling has recovered some of its losses but remains down about 14 percent against the dollar and 8 percent against the euro. So about 15 km away, Chris Duff is enjoying a similar jump in demand at his 90-lodge Thatches park, where he is investing to upgrade facilities which include a swimming pool and a fitness suite. "If we could, we would like to expand," he said. Britain''s $2.6 trillion economy surprised almost all forecasters by withstanding the initial shock of the Brexit vote, a point made by Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday when she called a snap June 8 election. "Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations," she said. But the picture for the years ahead looks weaker as sterling''s fall raises import costs. With annual inflation pushing up toward 3 percent, outstripping sluggish wage growth, Britons are becoming cautious in their spending - and not just on holidays. Retail sales rose at the slowest pace in nearly a decade in the first three months of 2017, according to the British Retail Consortium, and surveys have shown that households are increasingly worried about the outlook for the economy. German supermarket groups Aldi and Lidl, which attracted new British shoppers during the global financial crisis due to their deeply discounted prices, have seen accelerating sales in 2017. "Customers are voting with their feet," Matthew Barnes, Aldi''s CEO for Britain and Ireland, told Reuters in February. The squeeze facing many people in Britain is unlikely to be as sharp as in the years following the 2007-09 financial crisis when inflation hit 5 percent and annual wage growth was even weaker than it is now. Nonetheless, the Bank of England expects almost no growth in the spending power of households over the next three years. Many private economists say even this forecast may be too optimistic. The extent of the hit to consumer spending is the most important factor behind the central bank''s view that the economy cannot be weaned off its record low interest rates. "The big story in terms of the strength of the UK economy is ... the strength of consumer demand, and there are some signs of (that) coming off slowly," Governor Mark Carney said. STAYING IN UK Last month, the Bank pointed to rising demand for staycations as a sign of how consumers are adapting. According to tourism agency Visit England, 63 percent of British adults expect to take a holiday or break in England in 2017, up from 57 percent in 2016. More will flock to traditional destinations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Bookings website Pitchup.com, which specializes in outdoor holidays, says it has seen a 41 percent jump in UK reservations from domestic tourists since the referendum, a much stronger growth rate than in previous years. Bookings for lodges are nearly tripling and cabins doubling and to Pitchup.com founder Dan Yates, this suggests that many holidaymakers want to avoid expense but without resorting to a tent in Britain''s unreliable climate. "People who are moving from a hotel to a cabin are going to be paying significantly less. But they still want their dishwashers, cable TV and iPod docks," he said. Britons have not suddenly given up foreign travel. Official figures show an 8 percent increase in the number of UK residents taking a holiday abroad in the three months to January. But that pales in comparison with a 22 percent surge in the number of foreign tourists coming to Britain in the same period. This data also suggests British holidaymakers are spending more cautiously while abroad while foreign visitors to Britain are taking advantage of the weak pound to spend more. Luxury brand Burberry said it had seen a 90 percent rise in the number of Americans buying in Britain in the six months to the end of March. With the outlook for British tourism spending unclear, Europe''s biggest budget airline Ryanair is shifting its future capacity growth away from the country. The Irish-based carrier is worried about the impact of Brexit and, like some of its rivals, is cutting fares to win over customers. One of the potential winners from the Brexit effect is Merlin, the world''s second-biggest visitor attractions group. It expects more tourists to visit its British sites such as the Madame Tussauds waxworks museum and the London Eye observation wheel this year. Merlin CEO Nick Varney sees little likelihood of any change to the fundamental drivers of the change. He thinks a pound-to-euro exchange rate of 1.40 is the tipping point for holidaymakers in Britain and Europe when deciding where to book. The pound is currently trading at about 1.19 euros, keeping the economic advantage firmly in favor of Britain. One man hoping to benefit is Adrian Coppin, who owns the Mill Park campsite in southwest England where tents can be pitched for 10 pounds ($13) a night. Having seen a sharp rise in British bookings he expects an increase in continental European visitors too. He now just needs the sun to shine. "If we can now secure six to eight weeks of glorious weather then this could set the scene for years to come," he said. For a graphic on Brexit belt tightening, click here (editing by Guy Faulconbridge and David Stamp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-consumers-analysis-idUKKBN17N0HJ'|'2017-04-21T14:17:00.000+03:00' '9e3a0553c2244fd52f4d762d261b636d3db12992'|'U.S. Treasury conducts debt buyback operation'|'WASHINGTON, April 19 The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday announced the results of its small-value debt buyback operation.Treasury said last week it would conduct the operation to ensure the readiness of its buyback infrastructure and that the operation was not meant to signal any policy changes regarding Treasury''s use of buybacks more broadly.Treasury said $365 million was offered in the operation and $25 million was accepted.A buyback occurs when the Treasury redeems outstanding marketable Treasury securities. In a buyback, the owner of the security sells it to the U.S. Treasury on a voluntary basis at a price determined by a competitive auction process. For details of Wednesday''s operation, see: here(Washington economics newsroom; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-treasury-buyback-idINL1N1HR0WA'|'2017-04-19T13:45:00.000+03:00' '5a759d3cb2adff9f549418eea2b468073e0404a1'|'IMF says Trump corporate tax cuts could lead to financial risk-taking'|' 5:51pm BST IMF says Trump corporate tax cuts could lead to financial risk-taking International Monetary Fund logo is seen inside the headquarters at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump''s proposed tax cuts and roll-back of financial regulations could spark a new round of financial risk-taking of the type that preceded the last crisis in 2008. The IMF said in its semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report that risks to stability have generally diminished in the last six months amid stronger global economic growth and higher interest rates that have improved bank earnings. But it said that already highly leveraged U.S. companies may not be in a position to translate a cash-flow boost from U.S. Republican tax reform proposals into productive capital investments that can aid sustainable growth. Instead, the Fund said the slug of cash, which is likely to include repatriation of profits held overseas by multinational corporations, could be channelled into risks such as purchases of financial assets, mergers and dividend payouts. Such temptations would be highest in the information technology and health care sectors, according to the report. "Cash flow from tax reforms may accrue mainly to sectors that have engaged in substantial financial risk taking," the IMF said. "Such risk taking is associated with intermittent large destabilising swings in the financial system over the past few decades." The report noted that past major tax changes typically were followed by increases in financial risk-taking, including the tax reforms in 1986 and a corporate tax repatriation "holiday" in 2004. In both cases, these led to leverage buildups that were followed by recessions, in 1990 and 2008. If the U.S. labour market turns out to have little slack left to absorb the stimulus from Trump''s proposed tax cuts and spending plans, inflation and interest rates could rise more sharply than expected. This could increase market volatility and raise debt service costs for already-stretched corporate balance sheets, the IMF said.It added that a shift towards protectionism in the United States and other advanced countries also could reduce trade and capital flows, reducing growth and dampening market sentiment. "Tighter financial conditions could lead to distress" for weaker firms, the IMF said, noting that resulting losses would be borne by banks, life insurers, mutual funds, pension funds, and overseas institutions. The report urged U.S. policy makers to be "vigilant" about the increased leverage and declining credit quality in the corporate sector. It said tax measures now under discussion that reduce incentives for debt financing, including the elimination of corporate tax deductibility of interest costs, could help reduce leverage risks. The IMF said there was room to "fine-tune" U.S. financial regulations, but it warned against a "wholesale dilution" of the stronger U.S. bank capital requirements enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. Regarding emerging markets, the IMF report said that financial stability risks remain elevated. It said those economies face the double threat of rising protectionism that could reduce demand for their exports, and U.S. inflation and faster interest rate hikes that could spark capital outflows and make it harder for them to service external debt. It also voiced concerns about the rapid credit growth in China, risks that were also highlighted in the IMF''s World Economic Outlook on Tuesday. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-stability-idUKKBN17L1J7'|'2017-04-20T00:51:00.000+03:00' '92633d99688fb4ca12d7c7f35667d9050353cff0'|'Atlantia CEO says only interested in friendly deal with Abertis'|'Deals - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 6:10am EDT Atlantia CEO says only interested in friendly deal with Abertis ROME Atlantia''s ( ATL.MI ) CEO Giovanni Castellucci said the Italian toll-road operator was interested in a tie-up with rival Abertis ( ABE.MC ) only if the takeover could be conducted in a friendly manner, involving the Spanish group''s top shareholder La Caixa. Speaking at the annual general meeting on Friday, Castellucci said Atlantia had room to raise debt without hurting its credit ratings but would not pursue a deal that endangered the prospect of boosting future dividend payments to shareholders. He said the company would not keep markets guessing for long after a media leak of its interest for Abertis sped the process up. A deal with Abertis could help Atlantia reach its strategic goals more quickly, he said. (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, writing by Valentina Za, editing by Francesca Landini) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-atlantia-abertis-idUSKBN17N140'|'2017-04-21T14:10:00.000+03:00' '4e4892eb8261a5d2191f6e803f1ed0396adc6ab5'|'Acacia Mining first quarter gold sales stall on Tanzanian export ban'|' 7:33am BST Acacia Mining first quarter gold sales stall on Tanzanian export ban LONDON Acacia Mining ( ACAA.L ) reported a 15 percent rise in its first-quarter gold production on Thursday but said sales undershot due to a ban on gold and copper exports by Tanzania. The government halted the export of unprocessed ore on March 3, following President John Magufuli''s call for the construction of more gold smelters in the country, Africa''s fourth-largest gold producer. Gold output for the quarter was 219,670 ounces but sales were lower by 34,926 ounces due to the ban, Acacia said in a statement. However, Tanzania''s biggest gold producer stuck to its full-year production targets, as its mines continue to operate normally while negotiations continue with the government. The export ban reduced cashflow by about $33 million (£25.84 million) for the quarter and affects sales from two of its three mines, the company said. Acacia said in February it expects production this year to be between 850,000-900,000 ounces, up from about 830,000 ounces last year. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-acaciamining-production-idUKKBN17M0KU'|'2017-04-20T14:33:00.000+03:00' 'd3ac518bdeb4963d7cd9c5fcd711952d3aebe911'|'Trading firm Virtu Financial to buy KCG for about $1.4 billion'|'Virtu Financial Inc ( VIRT.O ) said it would buy rival KCG Holdings Inc ( KCG.N ) in a $1.4 billion deal that brings together two major players in the U.S. electronic trading space.The deal comes at a difficult time for high-frequency trading as low volatility squeezes the profits it can make from rapid-fire trades.Virtu''s offer of $20 per share represents a 12.7 percent premium to KCG''s Wednesday close.Shares of KCG hit a record high of $19.73 in early trading on Thursday, while shares of Virtu were up about 8 percent."KCG fits perfectly with Virtu''s strategic priorities to apply our market making and technological expertise to customer wholesale order flow and expand Virtu''s growing agency execution business," Virtu Chief Executive Douglas Cifu said in a statement.KCG was formed in December 2012 from the merger of New Jersey-based Knight Capital Group -- a pioneer of electronic market making -- and Chicago-based Getco LLC.Virtu makes markets in 36 countries and 12,000 financial instruments, continuously quoting buy and sell prices for others to trade against, profiting off the bid-offer spread, using high-frequency trading (HFT) strategies.HFTs use sophisticated technology and algorithms to trade stocks and other assets at near-light speed and are responsible for around half of the volume in U.S. equities and Treasuries, and nearly that in spot foreign exchange.Virtu said it expects to migrate trading of the combined company onto a single platform.The deal will be financed through stock sale worth $750 million to private equity firm North Island and Temasek and borrowings of $1.65 billion from JPMorgan Securities LLC.The combined company will be led by Cifu. Robert Greifeld and Glenn Hutchins, principals at North Island, will join the board after the deal.KCG also reported an 88 percent fall in first-quarter profit, hurt by low market volatility.The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter after approval from KCG shareholders and regulators.JPMorgan Securities was the lead financial adviser to Virtu, while KCG was advised by Goldman Sachs.(This story corrects paragraph 10 to clarify that borrowings from JPMorgan will be $1.65 bln not $125 mln, and stock worth $750 mln not $625 mln will be sold to North Island and Temasek.)(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Sweta Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-kcg-hldgs-m-a-virtu-fincl-idINKBN17M1EK'|'2017-04-20T10:34:00.000+03:00' '7585ba46a8e2bbe8b8858d4c1947baea0b4f2686'|'BOJ governor Kuroda warns against policies unwinding free trade'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 11:59pm BST BOJ governor Kuroda warns against policies unwinding free trade FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during an upper house financial committee meeting of the Parliament in Tokyo, Japan February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Leika Kihara - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda warned world policymakers against undoing the free trade and globalisation that he said have brought prosperity to many economies, particularly emerging nations. Kuroda also said that while Japan''s economic prospects were brightening, inflation was lacking momentum and justified maintaining the BOJ''s massive monetary stimulus for some time. "The global economy made great strides by consistently promoting free trade since the end of World War Two," Kuroda said upon arrival in Washington for the Group of 20 finance leaders'' gathering and the International Monetary Fund meetings. "My belief is that a multilateral framework promoting free trade will continue. There won''t be huge changes to that," he told reporters on Thursday. His comments came as world financial leaders gathered in Washington with pledges to work with U.S. President Donald Trump to fix lingering trade problems while vowing to keep their commitments to free trade and global integration. Kuroda, formerly head of the Asian Development Bank, said that while policymakers must deal with poverty and income disparities widening in some countries, that did not mean they should abandon global free trade. "Unwinding the more than 70-year postwar history of free trade and globalism isn''t the appropriate approach," he said. DOWNBEAT ON PRICES Trump''s protectionist approach to trade and European political risks have overshadowed brightening prospects for the global economy, driven by a rebound in manufacturing activity. Japan has benefitted from global tailwinds that boosted exports and factory output, Kuroda said, describing its economy as "expanding steadily as a trend" - a more upbeat view than last month. But he offered a bleaker view on Japan''s inflation, saying it lacked momentum with no clear sign yet it was shifting up. "That''s why the BOJ will continue its ultra-easy monetary policy to achieve its 2 percent inflation target at the earliest date possible," he said. Japan''s economy has shown signs of life as exports and output rebounded thanks to a pick-up in global demand. But core consumer prices for February rose just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, far from the BOJ''s 2 percent target, as weak household spending discourages companies from raising prices and wages. After three years of heavy money printing failed to drive up inflation, the BOJ reverted its policy framework last September to one better suited for a long-term war against deflation. (Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-boj-idUKKBN17M2Z5'|'2017-04-21T06:59:00.000+03:00' 'ed33bcac46d27b5bf0580baa0b675740fd5bdb13'|'Brazil may boost corruption fine against Odebrecht - newspaper'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 5:19pm BST Brazil may boost corruption fine against Odebrecht - newspaper BRASILIA The Brazilian government may increase the corruption fine that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht agreed to pay in a multi-billion dollar leniency deal signed last year, newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported on Sunday. Odebrecht, once Latin America''s biggest builder, struck a deal with Brazil, the United States and Switzerland in December designed to allow the company to continue its operations so that it can pay off a record $3.5 billion fine. However, the country''s attorney general''s office, known as AGU, said it is evaluating the deal and may raise the $2.4 billion fine owed to Brazil, Folha de S.Paulo reported citing a statement from the office. An email to the attorney general''s office seeking comment was not immediately answered. Calls to an Odebrecht spokesman in São Paulo seeking comment on the report were not immediately answered. Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] is at the centre of the country''s biggest ever corruption case that has triggered investigations into dozens of senior lawmakers and a third of President Michel Temer''s cabinet. (Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-corruption-odebrecht-idUKKBN17P0MB'|'2017-04-24T00:19:00.000+03:00' 'd19ee45da852f7e8e63da27a5c24078120ef515f'|'TREASURIES-Yields rise on technical resistance, improving risk sentiment'|'* Bonds weaken to key technical yield levels * Rising stocks reduce demand for bonds * Boston Fed''s Rosengren to speak later on Wednesday * Fed to release Beige Book on economic conditions By Karen Brettell NEW YORK, April 19 U.S. Treasury yields rose on Wednesday as 10-year notes reached key technical resistance after a rally on Tuesday sent yields to five-month lows, and as rising stocks indicated improving risk sentiment. Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields rose back above the 2.20 percent level, where there is technical resistance. “We’re consolidating and looking for the next big trade, whether it is a reversal of the rally or an extension of it,” said Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York. Lyngen noted that the 2.20 percent to 2.25 percent yield levels on the 10-year note are significant from a technical perspective because “there is a bit of a volume bulge there.” The 10-year notes were last down 6/32 in price to yield 2.20 percent. The 10-year yield fell as low as 2.165 percent on Tuesday and has tumbled from a recent high of 2.63 percent hit on March 14. U.S. stocks also rose on Wednesday, reducing the safe-haven bid for bonds. With no major economic releases due this week investors were focused on the French elections, U.S. tensions with North Korea and any new indications on when the Trump administration is likely to undertake tax and fiscal reforms. Centrist Emmanuel Macron held on to his lead as favorite to win France''s presidential election, a closely watched poll showed, although it indicated that the first round of voting at the weekend remained too close to call. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that Washington would work with its allies and China to put economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea but added that the United States would defeat any attack with an "overwhelming response." Bonds prices have been boosted in recent weeks by reduced expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates two more times this year following disappointing economic data releases. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is also seen as less likely to pass fiscal or tax reforms in the near term. Futures traders were pricing in a 49 percent chance the U.S. central bank will raise rates at its June meeting, down from 71 percent on April 6, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren was due to speak later on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank will also release its Beige Book compendium of economic conditions. (Editing by Meredith Mazzilli) )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-bonds-idINL1N1HR0HC'|'2017-04-19T11:17:00.000+03:00' '647521de92ad281dc5886da3657da73566017f43'|'Russia says it will not place Eurobond this month'|'MOSCOW, April 19 Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday that Russia would not place a Eurobond this month, but said when it did it would use Russian banks to organise the placement.When asked if Sberbank could be involved in organising the placement, he said: "Without doubt." (Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Jack Stubbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/russia-eurobond-idINR4N1HL00N'|'2017-04-19T11:04:00.000+03:00' '8220ebdb6a62128e69211f386866a5cf1765e677'|'U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year: trade publication'|'Business News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 2:42pm EDT U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year: trade publication Regular and mini cans of Coke and Pepsi are pictured in this photo illustration in New York August 5, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Sales of soda drinks decreased about 1.2 percent in the United States in 2016, falling for the 12th year in a row, a report by trade publication Beverage Digest showed, as demand was hit by consumer choosing healthier options and a slew of sugar taxes aimed at stemming obesity and diabetes. The per capita consumption of soda drinks, including energy drinks, fell to about 642 8-ounce servings last year, the lowest level since 1985, when the Beverage Digest began tracking consumption trends, the publication said on Wednesday. However, total sales dollars increased 2 percent to $80.6 billion as soft drink makers aggressively pushed smaller packs at higher prices per ounce, while lowering emphasis on large discounts packs, the Beverage Digest said. Soda makers such as Coca-Cola Co ( KO.N ) and PepsiCo Inc ( PEP.N ) have been relying on smaller pack sizes and premium packaging to drive margins in developed markets. They are also making more non-carbonated drinks as well as reformulating drinks to lower sugar levels and launch sugar-free versions. These measures come amid a wave of sugar tax approvals in the United States and Europe. The consumption of added sugar in foods and beverages has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association have all recommended reducing consumption of soda as a way to cut down on added sugars. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-soda-sales-study-idUSKBN17L2HN'|'2017-04-20T02:42:00.000+03:00' 'c840208114175ecaead5c122efc453da10e3aa17'|'ConocoPhillips, partners weigh expansion of Darwin LNG'|'DARWIN ConocoPhillips and its partners are considering expanding their Darwin liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia, with backing from other companies with undeveloped gas resources that could feed the plant.ConocoPhillips has previously talked only about developing a new gas field for around $10 billion to fill the plant''s single production unit, or train, when supply from its current gas source, the Bayu-Undan field, runs out around 2022.The U.S. oil major has also previously said an expansion in the current market would be challenging due to low oil and LNG prices, and costs that have risen steeply since Darwin LNG was built more than a decade ago.A $650,000 feasibility study on building a second train is due to be completed this year, the Northern Territory government said on Wednesday, announcing that it would contribute $250,000 toward the study."The Territory Labor Government is supporting the feasibility study because this is a significant investment toward the business case for potential expansion at Darwin LNG, potentially creating thousands of jobs during construction and operation," Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said in a statement.Five joint ventures with undeveloped gas resources off the coast of the Northern Territory are backing the study, with stakeholders including Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia''s Petronas [PETR.UL], Italy''s ENI SpA, and Australia''s Santos and Origin Energy."With Darwin LNG, five upstream joint ventures and the Northern Territory Government involved, it is a pioneering example of all of industry and government collaborating on solutions to unlock major investments," ConocoPhillips Australia West vice president Kayleen Ewin said in a statement.Darwin LNG is co-owned by ConocoPhillips, Santos, Japan''s Inpex, ENI, Tokyo Electric Power Co and Tokyo Gas Co.(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Writing by Sonali Paul; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-lng-conocophillips-idUSKBN17L0VA'|'2017-04-19T16:16:00.000+03:00' '43e9f3343f9c0b0741a9f46fcf797d51c595913b'|'BRIEF-UMC''s unit orders machinery equipment worth T$617.7 mln'|'Market News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 5:35am EDT BRIEF-UMC''s unit orders machinery equipment worth T$617.7 mln April 19 United Microelectronics Corp * Says unit United Semiconductor (Xiamen) Co Ltd orders machinery equipment worth T$617.7 million ($20.31 million) from Applied Materials South East Asia Pte Ltd Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-umcs-unit-orders-machinery-equipme-idUSH9N1HM02M'|'2017-04-19T17:35:00.000+03:00' 'bdcbd9719319d856acf336156181af6ab6ad5797'|'Bass Pro lowers price for Cabela''s under new merger terms'|'Business News 6:00pm EDT Bass Pro lowers price for Cabela''s under new merger terms The outdoor sign seen at the Cabela''s store in Denver February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking Cabela''s Inc ( CAB.N ) said it agreed to be bought by fellow outdoor goods retailer Bass Pro Shops for a lower price than agreed, and that it would sell its bank unit in a two-step deal as it seeks regulatory clearance for the transactions. Synovus Financial Corp ( SNV.N ) will buy certain assets of Cabela''s financial division and then resell the credit card portfolio within the unit to Capital One Financial Corp ( COF.N ), Cabela''s said in a statement on Monday. The unit, called World''s Foremost Bank, was supposed to be bought by Capital One last year, but the deal wasn''t able to get timely regulatory approval. The new merger terms come amid regulatory scrutiny of the deal, although Cabela''s did not offer a reason for the revised price. The company was not immediately available to comment on the lowered merger price. Bass Pro Shops will now buy Cabela''s for about $5 billion, $500 million lower than the price agreed upon last year. The deal, originally announced in October, will combine Cabela''s 85 stores, which have a stronger U.S. Northwest presence, with Bass Pro''s roughly 100 locations that are concentrated in the U.S. Southeast. The companies have an overlap across Texas, Missouri and Kansas. Cabela''s had warned of a delay in closing the deal, because of delays in regulatory approval. The Federal Trade Commission, which regulates and enforces antitrust laws, had sought more information from the companies about the deal. Cabela''s said on Monday it now expects the deal to close in the third quarter this year. Bass Pro will acquire Cabela''s for $61.50 per share, lower than the originally agreed upon $65.50-per-share price, Cabela''s said. Shares of Cabela''s were up 6.6 percent at $56.91 in after-market trade. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cabela-s-m-a-basspro-idUSKBN17J1QT'|'2017-04-18T05:52:00.000+03:00' '7a84d5ea550a5e71bed71b4e5dbb48f9cd2669b1'|'Allergan, Argentum settle patent dispute over eye drug Restasis'|'Health News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 4:54pm EDT Allergan, Argentum settle patent dispute over eye drug Restasis The Allergan logo is seen in this photo illustration November 23, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration/File Photo U.S. generic drug company Argentum Pharmaceuticals LLC said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Allergan Plc that settles a patent dispute over the generic version of Allergan''s eye drug, Restasis. The agreement gives Argentum the right to sell the copycat version of Restasis before the patents covering the drug expire, Argentum said. It did not disclose when it would launch the generic product. Restasis, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2002, is used to treat dry eye. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-allergan-settlement-argentum-idUSKBN17K2HG'|'2017-04-19T04:51:00.000+03:00' 'b96e6145c60121495b38d91e946c5dfefce139ae'|'China EV makers to take on Tesla''s Model 3 through price, local manufacture'|'Technology News 9:34am BST China EV makers to take on Tesla''s Model 3 through price, local manufacture FILE PHOTO: A prototype of the Tesla Model 3 is on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo By Norihiko Shirouzu - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI It''s not due to arrive in China until next year, but already Chinese-funded, smart, connected plug-in car start-ups are scrambling to launch cars to go head-to-head against Tesla Inc''s "mass market" Model 3 sedan. For leading Chinese electric vehicle (EV) start-ups such as Future Mobility, WM Motor and Singulato Motors, the key is that they will produce their cars locally, making them better able to match the Model 3''s price. Tesla, which has largely enjoyed a monopoly in the premium electric car market, is expected to price its Model 3 from $35,000 in the United States. Buyers in China would expect to add 25 percent to that in import tariffs. The founders and CEOs of Future Mobility, WM Motor and Singulato acknowledge the Model 3 is the car to beat. The first vehicles they aim to launch in the next couple of years will be priced around 300,000 yuan (roughly $43,500) or below, they told Reuters ahead of the Shanghai auto show, which opens to the public on Friday. "Between 200,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan," said Singulato''s co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin. The Chinese-funded firms'' strategy is to beat the Model 3 in China by making their cars more premium and yet cheaper than Tesla''s mass-market all-electric battery car. The three start-ups see California-based Tesla''s weakness in its inability to produce cars in China, the world''s leading market for plug-in cars. Tesla has denied recent talk in China that it was considering manufacturing its cars locally. "Tesla is deeply committed to the Chinese market, however these rumors are not true," the company said. To be sure, Tesla will be no pushover. It this month overtook Ford Motor Co in market value as investors embrace CEO Elon Musk''s strategy of offering stylish, high performance cars that are continually upgraded with features that rival automakers are still only testing. Tesla has to date competed only in premium price classes at relatively low volumes. The Model 3 will need to appeal to more price-sensitive consumers to reach its projected annual sales of 500,000 vehicles. "COMPETITIVE" PRICING Daniel Kirchert, president and co-founder of Future Mobility, says his company plans to launch three models. The first, a premium midsize crossover sport-utility vehicle (SUV), will arrive "before 2020", followed within three years by a sedan and a 7-seater multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). All will be based on the same vehicle underpinning architecture and share major components, "to achieve this very attractive entry price of about 300,000 yuan," Kirchert told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It''s a bit more than $40,000, a very competitive price positioning ... because Tesla customers buying the Model 3 in China would have to shoulder the cost of a 25 percent import tariff on the car", unless it''s produced in China, he said. "We will be competitive because we produce the car locally," he added. As well as making its car in China, at a planned assembly plant in Nanjing, Kirchert said Future Mobility plans to make the SUV bigger than the Model 3 and more luxurious. "In the end, it''s really about how premium you are. That''s the real challenge." Singulato Motors unveiled its first "mass-production" car, also a crossover SUV, in Beijing last week, and says it will be priced below 300,000 yuan. It has started taking pre-orders for a limited period from customers willing to put down a deposit of 2,017 yuan. WM Motor plans to launch its first car, an electric plug-in crossover SUV, in the second half of 2018, again priced to compete with the Model 3, co-founder Freeman Shen told Reuters. The car will be the first of three electric vehicles the Shanghai-based firm plans to launch by 2020, by which time Shen says WM Motor should be selling around 100,000 cars a year. WM Motor showed a concept car to reporters on Tuesday in Shanghai, which Shen said hinted at the mass market model. The company aims to get the car to showrooms by September 2018. (Reporting by Norihiko Shirouzu in SHANGHAI, with additional reporting/editing by Joe White in SHANGHAI; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-startups-tesla-idUKKBN17L0UO'|'2017-04-19T16:28:00.000+03:00' '71373f28304e8bf6cee4264db0c7848182203094'|'California rains muddy farm fields, higher vegetable prices soak shoppers'|'Commodities - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 7:08pm EDT California rains muddy farm fields, higher vegetable prices soak shoppers left right Farm fields in Salinas Valley are seen near Salinas California, U.S. on April 19, 2017. Picture taken on April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Lisa Baertlein 1/2 left right A tractor works in a field in Salinas Valley, near Salinas California, U.S. on April 19, 2017. Picture taken on April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Lisa Baertlein 2/2 By Lisa Baertlein - SALINAS, Calif. SALINAS, Calif. Record rains are a double-edged sword for California''s Salinas Valley: While the recent deluge virtually ended the state''s historic drought, it also created muddy, unworkable fields - sending prices for everything from kale to cauliflower soaring. The famed agricultural region just south of Silicon Valley is usually a springtime sea of green vegetables. But this year, there are patches of brown unplanted dirt in "America''s salad bowl," which supplies more than 60 percent of the country''s leaf lettuce and almost half of its broccoli. "Most fields under normal conditions would be planted at this point," Jerrett Stoffel, vice president of operations at Taylor Farms, said in an interview at the privately held company''s sprawling outpost in Salinas, California. Taylor Farms is a major provider of produce to customers such as grocer Kroger Co and burrito seller Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. "No matter whether you live here or you live in Boston, you''re going to see the impact" on supply and prices, Stoffel said. Salinas has been struck by a series supply-squeezing events, said Roland Fumasi, a Rabobank analyst who covers the fresh fruit, vegetable and flower sectors. Unusually hot weather in desert growing areas such as Yuma, Arizona, and California''s Imperial Valley during December and January resulted in early harvests. California''s 90-mile long Salinas Valley, which runs from Salinas to King City, couldn''t fill the supply gap because heavy rains in January and February delayed or prevented some planting. And, more recent rains have lowered yields and delayed harvests for some crops that are in the ground. Since Oct. 1, Salinas has received 16.4 inches of rain, significantly more than normal rainfall of almost 12 inches annually, said Eric Boldt, a National Weather Service meteorologist. California''s rainy season usually wraps up at the end of April, and the 14-day weather outlook suggests that is holding, Boldt said. "By the middle of next month, we might be pretty close to normal supply-side conditions," said Fumasi. "If we were to get heavy rains, then all bets are off." The supply crimp sent up wholesale prices, which are usually passed on to shoppers. Prices for boxes of California spinach and kale were up 20 percent and 87 percent, respectively, for the first two weeks of April versus the same period in 2016, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The moves have been more dramatic for broccoli and cauliflower. Broccoli more than tripled to $30.21 per box from $9.08; cauliflower is at $37.52 versus $13.74, USDA data as of April 15 shows. Doug Classen, vice president of sales at the Nunes Co, which grows and ships Foxy brand produce, said there are few options for filling the supply gap since there is not much product coming from Mexico and other parts of the United States. When asked about the area''s supply prospects, Classen uttered words unthinkable just a year ago: "Let''s put it this way, I don''t want to see any more rain." (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-produce-supply-idUSKBN17N2LX'|'2017-04-22T07:00:00.000+03:00' '854b236b1a8d7d5e1fd987f899934405fddeeb91'|'LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria controversy - FT'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 12:41pm BST LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria controversy - FT Chief Executive Eric Olsen of LafargeHolcim, the world''s largest cement maker addresses a news conference to present the company''s 2016 results in Zurich March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH LafargeHolcim ( LHN.S ) is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the company. LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the FT report. The cement maker in March said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the country. The disclosure followed an internal investigation and highlighted the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones. The sources said Olsen''s departure terms were still under discussion on Sunday. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lafargeholcim-syria-idUKKBN17P0BE'|'2017-04-23T19:41:00.000+03:00' '5aeda039cadb55d257ee2475a426e5e8769525ea'|'IBM posts first revenue miss in five quarters, shares drop'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:01pm BST IBM posts first revenue miss in five quarters, shares drop left right A woman passes by the IBM offices in New York City, U.S., October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - 1/2 left right The sign at the IBM facility near Boulder, Colorado September 8, 2009. International Business Machines Corp. repeated that it expects to earn ''at least'' $9.70 a share this year. REUTERS/Rick Wilking 2/2 International Business Machines Corp ( IBM.N ) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in revenue for the first time in five quarters due to weak demand in its technology services business, its biggest. Shares of IBM, whose revenue has now fallen for 20 quarters in a row, tumbled 4 percent to $163.15 in trading after the bell on Tuesday. The company said revenue declined 2.8 percent to $18.16 billion in the quarter ended March 31. Analysts on average were expecting $18.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue at IBM''s technology services and cloud platforms business, which provides IT infrastructure and cloud services, dropped 2.5 percent to $8.2 billion, or about 45 percent of total revenue. The decline in infrastructure services revenue "reflects productivity delivered to clients and contract dynamics," IBM said in a presentation. With demand for IBM''s legacy hardware and software businesses stagnating, Chief Executive Ginni Rometty has been shifting the company towards "strategic imperatives" such as cloud-based services, security software and data analytics. The growth in these "strategic imperatives", which are spread across the company''s five reporting units, continued, with revenue increasing 12 percent in the first quarter. Revenue growth was 11 percent in the fourth quarter. Revenue from "strategic imperatives" was $7.8 billion in the latest quarter, accounting for 42 percent of total revenue, compared with 37 percent last year. IBM said gross profit margins fell in all five of its reporting units in the latest quarter, with total company-wide margins dropping to 42.8 percent from 46.5 percent. The company''s net income dropped to $1.75 billion, or $1.85 per share, from $2.01 billion, or $2.09 per share. Excluding items, IBM earned $2.38 per share, beating analysts'' average estimate of $2.35. The company also said it expects adjusted earnings of at least $13.80 per share for fiscal 2017, reiterating a forecast it gave on Jan. 19. Since then, the average analyst estimate for earnings per share has risen from $13.74 to $13.78. Up to Tuesday''s close, IBM''s shares had risen about 2.5 percent in 2017, less than the roughly 4 percent rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI . (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ibm-results-idUKKBN17K2FB'|'2017-04-19T05:01:00.000+03:00' '1836da3f5be625ddebea6207117c1a9fc642ec64'|'Uber loses yet another top executive 18,'|'Uber loses yet another top executive by Alanna Petroff @AlannaPetroff April 18, 2017: 10:50 AM ET Our ride in a self-driving Uber Uber has lost another top executive. Sherif Marakby, who worked in the company''s self-driving car division, is leaving after just a year on the job. Uber confirmed the departure of the former Ford ( F ) executive, and released a statement on his behalf: "Self-driving is one of the most interesting challenges I''ve worked on in my career, and I''m grateful to have contributed," said Marakby. Marakby, who joined Uber last April, is the latest in a string of high-profile execs to leave the scandal-plagued firm. Rachel Whetstone , one of the company''s longest-serving senior female executives, left earlier this month. She led its policy and communications teams. Jeff Jones , the second in command to CEO Travis Kalanick, quit his job in March because of concerns over the firm''s management culture. Other major departures include the head of Uber''s maps business, the head of growth and product and the firm''s top engineer. Related: Uber lost $2.8 billion last year Uber has been hit with a series of scandals in the past few months. The company has launched an "urgent" investigation in response to a former employee who made public allegations of sexism and harassment. In February, Kalanick admitted that he had to "grow up" after a video surfaced showing him arguing with his Uber driver. He admitted to treating the driver "disrespectfully." Kalanick had already taken heat from customers for his decision to serve on President Trump''s business advisory council. He later dropped out. The division that Marakby worked on has also run into trouble: Google''s ( GOOGL , Tech30 ) self-driving car project Waymo recently slapped Uber with a lawsuit and accused it of stealing trade secrets and intellectual property. Marakby helped manage Uber''s relationships with automakers including Volvo. Uber noted his contribution in a statement: "Sherif''s deep experience and knowledge of the automotive industry have helped us tremendously in working to make self-driving cars a reality," it said. CNNMoney (London) First published April 18, 2017: 10:50 AM ET '|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/technology/uber-executive-sherif-marakby/index.html'|'2017-04-18T18:50:00.000+03:00' 'e7b9b204d68bf0a1c4532ac0a1561f5f54f0318a'|'ECB''s Coeure castigates isolationism in New York visit'|'Business 27pm BST ECB''s Coeure castigates isolationism in New York visit FILE PHOTO: Benoit Coeure, executive board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), speaks during a conference in Brussels, Belgium March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo FRANKFURT Isolationism could leave the most vulnerable members of society even more exposed that they already are, European Central Bank board member Benoit Coeure said on Wednesday, defending globalisation and urging more international cooperation. Speaking in New York, Coeure said openness, collaboration and tolerance have been key for economic growth while protectionism and unilateral deregulation would only yield short-term benefits at the cost of financial stability. With the U.S. administration advocating "America First" protectionist policies, Britain leaving the European Union and several top French presidential candidates calling for an isolationist shift, the status quo is facing its biggest challenge in decades. "As the benefits and legitimacy of international cooperation are being called into question, it’s essential to defend the values that underlie global economic governance," Coeure, a top lieutenant to ECB President Mario Draghi said. "In Europe, for example, younger generations have grown up in the belief that the free movement of people, goods, services and capital is an unqualified right," Coeure added. Coeure said that financial deregulation, advocated by the new U.S. administration, could ultimately backfire, with global repercussions. "While unilateral financial deregulation may yield quick benefits, its potentially harmful implications for financial stability and, ultimately, economic growth are not likely to be felt until later," Coeure said. "And then, those implications would be felt worldwide. Ultimately, this would leave the most vulnerable members of society very exposed," he added. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-ecb-idUKKBN17L1MM'|'2017-04-19T21:10:00.000+03:00' '247868033f24e30f2d7c957ac75b05ae931fbe56'|'PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 19'|'Bankruptcy News - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 5:55am IST PRESS DIGEST- British Business - April 19 April 19 The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. The Times Flybe Group Plc''s finance chief Philip de Klerk resigned from the struggling British airline dealing it a fresh blow as it prepares to nosedive into the red. De Klerk will become the next chief financial officer at the performance materials manufacturer Low & Bonar Plc. bit.ly/2oJFWFF Goldminer Asa Resource Group Plc has said that millions of dollars seem to have been transferred from its bank accounts without explanation, prompting the removal of its chief executive and finance director and halving the value of the shares. bit.ly/2peUqz4 The Guardian Next Plc boss Lord Wolfson has missed out on his annual bonus for the first time in 18 years amid tough times on the British high street. Wolfson''s total pay package dived by 58 percent to 1.8 million pounds ($2.31 million) in the year to 28 January, according to the fashion and homewares retailer’s annual report published on Tuesday. bit.ly/2oTaXaK Philip Hammond has signalled that the government is facing a multibillion pound loss from selling off its 73 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland. The chancellor told MPs that "we have to live in the real world", as he indicated that the remaining shares could be sold below the 502 pence average price that was paid for them during 2008 and 2009 when 45 billion pounds of taxpayers'' money was pumped into the Edinburgh-based bank. bit.ly/2oJKwSF The Telegraph The boss of German energy giant RWE has fuelled expectations that the company will target the UK energy market for future acquisitions. Rolf Martin Schmitz disclosed that the group is interested in owning power plants in countries where capacity margins are thin and the Government is willing to award contracts to secure power supplies. bit.ly/2pxQJ72 Volkswagen has significantly beaten expectations by reporting a first-quarter operating profit of 4.4 billion euros, as cost controls and the success of new models kicked in. bit.ly/2oJF4AM Sky News The world''s most famous department store is to throw the towel in on efforts to build a sizeable presence in the UK banking market by hoisting a ''for sale'' sign over the loss-making division. Harrods Group has been interviewing prospective advisers about handling a disposal of its banking unit. bit.ly/2olgEek Anthony Browne is to quit as Britain''s top bank lobbyist later this year as a new industry body begins to chart a course through the outcome of a snap General Election and the UK''s exit from the European Union. bit.ly/2oJwNNw Independent The former owner of Jaeger, Harold Tillman, has accused bankers and private equity bosses of running the 133-year-old fashion chain into the ground. ind.pn/2pPYstE ($1 = 0.7786 pounds) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) '|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-business-idINL3N1HR01E'|'2017-04-18T22:25:00.000+03:00' 'ff595d4eb39383ff3f009bac70a8d5484fc4223a'|'Australian economy set to prosper as commodities recover, says IMF - Business'|'The global economy is gaining momentum which should be good news for Australia’s commodities-based economy.But the International Monetary Fund has again raised concerns about a growing shift towards trade protectionism and a breakdown of international economic collaboration which took root after the second world war.America owes China $1tn. That’s a problem for Beijing, and Trump knows it Read moreIn its latest world economic outlook released In Washington overnight, the IMF has raised its global growth forecast for 2017 to 3.5% after expanding by 3.1% last year.Australian growth is predicted to rise to 3.1% this year after 2.5% in 2016, which should see the unemployment rate shrink to 5.2% from 5.9% now.The IMF says commodity-exporting economies such as Australia are set to recover, especially given the average 20% increase in coal prices.“The acceleration in activity will be supported by accommodative monetary policies, supportive fiscal policies or infrastructure investment, improving sentiment following the upturn in commodity prices, and less drag from declining investment in the commodity sector,” it says in the report.But IMF economic counsellor Maurice Obstfeld said while there is a chance economic growth will exceed expectations, significant downside risks continue to cloud the medium-term outlook.“One salient threat is a turn toward protectionism, leading to trade warfare,” he says.“The global economy seems to be gaining momentum – we could be at a turning point – but even as things look up, the postwar system of international economic relations is under severe strain despite the aggregate benefits it has delivered.”Topics International Monetary Fund (IMF) Australian economy Commodities Economics news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/19/australian-economy-set-to-prosper-as-commodities-recover-says-imf'|'2017-04-19T05:29:00.000+03:00' '89e40ca7056df59a85a2628f2ec16685cc08b88d'|'UPDATE 1-KKR-backed consortium makes $4.7 bln cash offer for Australia''s Tatts'|'(Adds context, company responses)SYDNEY, April 19 A consortium backed by U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co offered A$6.15 billion ($4.65 billion) cash for Australian lottery operator Tatts Group Ltd, threatening an agreed merger with Tabcorp Holdings Ltd, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.The sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, told Reuters a letter offering A$4.21 a share had been sent to the Tatts board on Tuesday evening.Representatives of Tatts, Tabcorp and the KKR-backed Pacific Consortium declined immediate comment.Tatts in October agreed to accept a cash-and-scrip proposal from betting group Tabcorp to form an Australian gambling powerhouse.Tatts shares closed at A$4.35 a share on Tuesday. The Tabcorp offer, which has yet to receive competition approvals, values Tatts shares at A$4.21 based on Tabcorp''s closing price on Tuesday.The Pacific Consortium, which in December made a takeover offer rejected by the Tatts board, also includes Macquarie Group, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and First State Superannuation Scheme.Tabcorp in November purchased a 9.9 percent stake in Tatts to make it harder for an interloper to block their agreed merger.($1 = 1.3226 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Andrew Hay and Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tatts-group-ma-kkr-idINL3N1HQ5WN'|'2017-04-18T20:51:00.000+03:00' '6f88b6bdbfcf68c29456e095dd0c1e7e9b107fcd'|'ECB can provide emergency cash to French banks if needed - Nowotny'|' 3:26pm BST ECB can provide emergency cash to French banks if needed - Nowotny European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny listens during a news conference in Vienna, Austria, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader WASHINGTON The European Central Bank could provide emergency cash to French banks if needed after the first round of France''s presidential election on Sunday, but it doesn''t expect such a move will be necessary, ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny said on Saturday. "If there should be problems for specific French banks liquidity-wise, then the ECB has the ... ELA, Emergency Liquidity Assistance, but we don''t expect of course any special movements," Nowotny, who is Austria''s central bank governor, told reporters at the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. Investors fear that a potential run-off between eurosceptic candidates Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon would raise questions about France''s future in the European Union, roiling financial markets and undermining depositor confidence. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-france-idUKKBN17O0F8'|'2017-04-22T22:26:00.000+03:00' '541a89add4451576fae49d408e3870e1aed7b51e'|'''Almost everybody'' at G20 agrees on open markets - Weidmann'|'Business 6:25pm BST ''Almost everybody'' at G20 agrees on open markets - Weidmann German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann gives a speech at the German Banking Congress in Berlin, Germany, April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch WASHINGTON Financial leaders from the world''s top 20 economies meeting in Washington agreed on the importance of open markets, the head of Germany''s central bank said on Friday, in a sign that tensions with the Trump administration may be subsiding. "Almost everybody underscored the importance of open markets and free market access," Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said during a news conference. "That was the consensus in the meeting." German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble added that he was "optimistic" about how talks were going. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-trade-weidmann-idUKKBN17N28B'|'2017-04-22T01:25:00.000+03:00' '97ba1f003b362a746b6e2c18a85df96cf9a20366'|'Salzgitter won''t suffer much from new U.S. tolls - CEO in WiWo'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 11:27am BST Salzgitter won''t suffer much from new U.S. tolls - CEO in WiWo Steel rolls are pictured at the plant of German steel company Salzgitter AG in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, Germany March 3, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo FRANKFURT Any new U.S. tariffs on steel imports will not leave a "trail of blood" in the financial results of German steelmaker Salzgitter ( SZGG.DE ), its chief executive told German business weekly WirtschaftsWoche in comments published on Thursday. U.S. President Donald Trump is expected later to sign a directive asking for a speedy probe into whether imports of foreign-made steel are hurting U.S. national security. Salzgitter CEO Heinz Joerg Fuhrmann said the U.S. market for large pipes was in any case not very fruitful. "We will not supply a single tonne to the USA that will be subject to this toll," he said. Shares in Salzgitter pared losses to trade 1.9 percent down at 29.98 euros by 1012 GMT. Fellow German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp ( TKAG.DE ) was down 1.6 percent against a slightly firmer German blue-chip DAX .GDAXI . (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Harro ten Wolde)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-steel-salzgitter-idUKKBN17M14B'|'2017-04-20T18:27:00.000+03:00' '019fb3fc2df37793073ac3fd2b78ca27ee881102'|'Blackstone''s first-quarter earnings more than double'|'April 20 Blackstone Group LP, the world''s largest manager of assets such as private equity and real estate, reported a 165 percent rise in first-quarter earnings on Thursday, as the value of its holdings soared and it cashed out on some of them.Blackstone said economic net income (ENI) per share, a metric of its profitability which takes into account the mark-to-market valuation of its portfolio, came in at 82 cents versus 31 cents in the first quarter of 2016.This surpassed the expectations of most research analysts, whose forecasts in a Thomson Reuters poll averaged 68 cents per share.Distributable earnings, which show actual cash that is available to pay dividends, rose in the first quarter by 212 percent to $1.23 billion.Total assets under management were $368.2 billion as of the end of March, up 7 percent year-on-year. Fee-earning assets under management rose 15 percent to $280.2 billion.Blackstone declared a quarterly distribution of 87 cents per common unit. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackstone-results-idINL1N1HS0ES'|'2017-04-20T09:29:00.000+03:00' 'efa60183d83e990224aa1864d0c1b5efa275cd80'|'Acute care provider Kindred Healthcare explores sale: sources'|'By Carl O''Donnell Kindred Healthcare Inc ( KND.N ) is exploring a sale, according to people familiar with the matter, as the largest home health, hospice and community care provider in the United States faces pressure to reduce its exposure to Medicare patients.Kindred''s shares have dropped by more than a third in the last 12 months, as investors fret over its reliance on the Medicare federal health insurance program for revenue, as well as changes to how post-acute care services will be reimbursed in any reform of the healthcare system under U.S. President Donald Trump.Kindred is working with investment banks on the sale process, which is still in the early stages, the people said on Thursday. The company could attract interest from major health insurers such as Humana Inc ( HUM.N ) as well as private equity firms such as Apollo Global Management ( APO.N ) and Blackstone Group LP ( BX.N ), the people added.The sources cautioned, however, there was no certainty of a deal and asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential.Kindred, Humana and Blackstone all declined to comment, while Apollo did not respond to a request for comment.Shares of Kindred ended Thursday trading up 8.5 percent at $8.95, after Dealreporter reported the company has seen interest from suitors looking to acquire it and that talks have not materialized.Kindred, which has a market capitalization of $766 million and long-term debt of $3.2 billion, announced in November it would explore a sale of its skilled nursing facility business, seeking to focus on the home care and hospital-based rehabilitation markets. That process is ongoing.Earlier this year, Kindred announced plans to coordinate skilled nursing operations with Genesis HealthCare Inc ( GEN.N ), one of the largest operators of skilled nursing facilities in the United States.In 2015, Kindred acquired Gentiva Health Services Inc for $1.8 billion, turning it into the biggest provider of home health and hospice care in the United States, but also saddling it with debt.Meanwhile, health insurance companies are exploring new ways to diversify their revenues with acquisitions in acute care, after federal regulators blocked two major mergers in the sector, and insurance exchanges set up under the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, came under pressure from Republicans.Humana has already been investing significantly in its home health capabilities, Humana At Home, which the insurer touts as a compliment to its Medicare Advantage franchise.Humana earlier this year said it plans to intensify its focus on its Medicare Advantage business and add to its healthcare services platform.(Reporting by Carl O''Donnell, additional reporting by Lauren Hirsch, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-kindred-hthcare-m-a-idINKBN17N009'|'2017-04-20T22:34:00.000+03:00' 'd006f4a37092bc4229335b045545da8800114ef7'|'Beware data overload: don''t let analysis paralysis stunt your business - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School Friday 21 April 2017 07.00 BST Last modified on Friday 21 April 2017 07.02 BST There is often a sense of mutual envy, or at least mutual appreciation, between startups and big firms. I conducted a study last year looking at their different approaches and the startups I spoke to often aspire to the financial security, brand strength and access to resources the big guys have, while the established firms envy the dynamism, responsiveness and dramatically lower cost structure of startups. You’ll learn more by launching a minimum viable product than repeatedly revising a clever business plan But trying to be like the other guy isn’t always the right solution. I was talking recently to an entrepreneur working in renewable energy. To establish his firm’s credentials, he and his co-founder “consciously tried to behave like a large company” – projecting a conservative brand image, building proper processes and partnering with leading technology providers and banks. These tactics helped the firm achieve a modicum of success, but the business didn’t grow anything like as quickly as it had hoped. My guess is success would have come from taking a more maverick approach. As a startup or SME, competing successfully against big firms is a form of asymmetric warfare. Small businesses know their best way forward is not a full-frontal assault on an established competitor; it is about finding unprotected niches, focusing on markets the big guys don’t want or cannot address in a cost-competitive way and trying out new ideas that established firms might find too risky. But equally important is focusing on the way you work and adopting tactics that big companies cannot match. What is the achilles heel of large companies today? It is a way of working – let’s call it meritocracy – that values deep expertise, careful analysis and systematic decision-making. Big firms are run by accountants and engineers. They like to get to the bottom of things. They have been seduced by big data and business analytics. They have compliance, safety, regulatory and audit functions that monitor their every move. There’s nothing wrong with meritocracy, but it has a dark side. It can lead to analysis paralysis – an urge to keep collecting data, to make sure all risks are resolved, at the expense of moving forward. It also breeds sterile decision-making – a reluctance to take any information into account that cannot be quantified. As a small business, you have two key advantages. One is the capacity for decisive action. Your ability to focus and act quickly will always be greater than that of your larger competitors. Kelly Hoppen: ‘Take risks and trust your intuition’ Read more The other is your capacity to act on emotional conviction – on your intuition or belief. Remember during the EU referendum, when Michael Gove said the country had had enough of experts? Well, fortunately for you, big companies are still in thrall to experts. You have more freedom and can tap into intuition or emotion-based arguments in ways that big firms cannot. In practice, this means you should: Keep any analysis simple and focused. Search costs are so low these days that you can gather basic market and pricing data, and generate simple competitor intelligence in a couple of days. That is enough to get you moving forward. Use reputable source material where you can. Try to cut through the blogs and comment pieces to get to the underlying data. Reflect on past decisions to guide you. Think about what has worked previously. In a world with too much information, it is helpful to develop simple rules to cut through the complexity. Recognise some decisions can be entirely fact-based (such as A/B testing on website design), but others need human judgment. The best are made with a combination of both. Hold separate discussions about data collection. Many meetings are a waste of time because the purpose isn’t clear – some people think they are making sense of an unfolding situation, others think they are trying to make choices. Schedule a decision-making session for a later date. Use rapid prototyping and market testing. Always look for ways of trying out your ideas on users in a low-risk way. You’ll learn more by launching a minimum viable product than repeatedly revising a clever business plan. In today’s fast-changing world, the twin drivers of business success are decisive action and emotional conviction. A few large firms, such as Amazon and Facebook, are good at this; most established firms are hopeless at it. But as a small company, these attributes are part of your genetic makeup. Don’t lose them. Julian Birkinshaw is professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School and co-author of Fast/Forward – Make Your Company Fit for the Future Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/21/big-data-overload-analysis-paralysis-stunt-business-growth'|'2017-04-21T15:00:00.000+03:00' '4d373c607ff87ac0214f5c64a60d0b34b69071e2'|'JGBs erase earlier losses, response to BOJ bond-buying muted'|'TOKYO, April 21 Japanese government bond prices were little changed on Friday, having erased earlier losses when the Bank of Japan''s buying in long-dated bonds attracted limited selling.The yield on the 10-year cash JGBs stood flat at 0.010 percent, not far from five-month low of zero percent touched earlier this week.The price of 10-year JGB futures was up 0.02 point at 151.13 after a fall to 151.02 in earlier trade, which had taken its cue from a fall in U.S. Treasuries.The BOJ''s buying of 10-25 year and 25-40 year JGBs attracted selling of less than three times the BOJ''s buying. So far this month, the BOJ''s buying in those maturities has mostly drawn offers of more than three times amount sought by the BOJ.Following the operation, the 20-year yield fell 0.5 basis point to 0.540 percent, its lowest since early December.The 30-year yield dropped 0.5 basis point to 0.740 percent .The market has been supported since a U.S. missile attack on a Syrian government airfield earlier this month raised worries about further escalation in tensions in the Middle East, compounded by heightened tensions around North Korea. (Reporting by Tokyo Markets Team)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/japan-bonds-idINL3N1HT27D'|'2017-04-21T03:39:00.000+03:00' '0430626eac3c1c6383a1dfdf0c96ef74f733806b'|'Liberty House to buy ArcelorMittal''s U.S. Georgetown steel plant'|'LONDON Metals group Liberty House Group has agreed to buy the Georgetown Steelworks plant from Arcelor Mittal in its first major U.S. acquisition, the companies said on Friday.London-based Liberty will buy the plant based in South Carolina, including its 540,000 tonne a year electric arc furnace and 680,000 tonne a year rod mill, the joint statement said. It did not disclose the cost of deal.The Georgetown plant was closed in August 2015 and directly employed more than 320 workers."Acquiring the plant at Georgetown, with its ability to recycle scrap steel in an arc furnace, gives us a strong platform from which to launch our strategy in the USA," said Liberty House executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta.The provisional deal marks the "first significant step in Liberty''s plan to make major investments in the U.S. steel industry", the statement said.Liberty House was in talks with the United Steelworks union on recruiting a workforce to re-open the plant.ArcelorMittal said in February that it expected apparent steel consumption in the United States and in Brazil to rise 4 percent this year.(Reporting by Zandi Shabalala, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-libertyhouse-m-a-arcelormitta-idINKBN17N1E9'|'2017-04-21T09:50:00.000+03:00' '5dacb4d7d5d01b84efa15980c6fcfd60969df205'|'Sainsbury''s targets ''Athleisure'' market with Russell Athletic tie-up'|'Business 06pm BST Sainsbury''s targets ''Athleisure'' market with Russell Athletic tie-up A sign is displayed outside a Sainsbury''s store in London, Britain December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo LONDON Sainsbury''s ( SBRY.L ), Britain''s second largest supermarket group, is aiming to for a slice of the growing "Athleisure" casual sports clothing market through a partnership with U.S. brand Russell Athletic, it said on Wednesday. Sainsbury''s already sells clothing under the Tu own brand, but has stepped up diversification away from its traditional base in food retailing. Last year, it purchased Argos- and Habitat-owner Home Retail for 1.1 billion pounds, securing another avenue of non-food growth while also enhancing its online logistics operations. The deal with Russell Athletic, part of Berkshire Hathaway''s BRKA.N Fruit of the Loom Inc, will put the U.S. company''s men''s and women''s clothing, as well as men''s bags, on Sainsbury''s Tu clothing website. It marks the first time Sainsbury''s female customers are able to buy branded clothing alongside the supermarket''s Tu range. For men, it follows the group''s first branded partnership with leisurewear company Admiral in stores and online in 2015. Sales of "Athleisure" - sports and gym wear - have grown 42 percent over the past seven years and the UK market is worth 7 billion pounds, according to research by Morgan Stanley. Sainsbury''s has expanded Tu aggressively with its sales growing 15 percent over the last two years. Sainsbury''s is currently Britain''s sixth biggest clothing retailer by volume and its tenth biggest by value. Sainsbury''s main rivals - market leader Tesco ( TSCO.L ), Asda ( WMT.N ) and Morrisons ( MRW.L ) also sell various clothing ranges. (Reporting by James Davey. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sainsbury-s-russell-athletic-idUKKBN17L1M1'|'2017-04-19T21:06:00.000+03:00' 'd865c45f6f0019e043ffeef417ee76e45b0030e1'|'Coalition announces dramatic public service decentralisation plan - Business'|'The Coalition plans to decentralise as many government departments as possible, moving the positions of city-based public servants to Australia’s regions in a dramatic reshaping of the bureaucracy.It says all government departments will be asked to justify why they think they are unsuitable for decentralisation if they do not want to relocate.It has called on corporate Australia to join the decentralisation drive, flagging it as a “long-term project”.Barnaby Joyce defends 457 visa program as vital for regional Australia Read more Fiona Nash , the minister for regional development, announced the plan on Wednesday at the National Press Club.“By midyear I will, in consultation with others, create a criteria for government ministers to assess which departments, functions and entities in their portfolio are suited to decentralisation,” Nash said.“All portfolio ministers will be required to report back to cabinet by August on which of their departments, functions or entities are suitable. “Departments will need to actively justify if they don’t want to move, why all or part of their operations are unsuitable for decentralisation. “The minister for finance will, in consultation with others, develop a template for business cases for decentralisation to ensure a consistent approach across government. “Relevant ministers will be required to report to cabinet with those robust business cases for decentralisation by December.”Nash said some departments and functions would unsuitable to move away from Sydney, Melbourne or Canberra – but did not specify which ones. She said her desire for decentralisation was driven by “fairness.”She said rural, regional and remote Australians deserved the careers and flow-on benefits offered by departments as much as capital city Australians did.She congratulated Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce for “leading the debate” and fighting for decentralisation in recent years.Joyce has been heavily criticised for forcing the relocation of the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to Armidale in northern New South Wales .The forced relocation prompted 20 of 100 regulatory scientists to leave the agency, despite APVMA employees being offered significant incentives to stay.Joyce defended the move last month after reports relocated public servants had been working out of McDonalds in Armidale because of a lack of suitable office facilities.Moving pesticide agency to Barnaby Joyce''s electorate could cost $193m a year Read more He said the Nationals were committed to decentralisation to spread “the largesse of government in a more abundant way across the nation, not have it in little pockets, or one pocket, called Canberra”.Nash said on Wednesday there were numerous examples of successful decentralisation efforts, including the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries in Orange, the Grains Research and Development Corporation in Dubbo, and the Centrelink and Asic call centres in Traralgon, Victoria.She said the government would not be pursuing decentralisation at all costs.“It’s about determining the appropriate departments, parts of departments, agencies that can move to the regions,” she said.Topics Australian economy Australian politics National party Fiona Nash Barnaby Joyce Rural Australia news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/19/coalition-announces-dramatic-public-service-decentralisation-plan'|'2017-04-19T15:06:00.000+03:00' '52b05faa739abecde1bc06a88a2ba90ab3b840fd'|'Subway says it shut hundreds of U.S. restaurants last year'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 3:22pm EDT Subway says it shut hundreds of U.S. restaurants last year A Subway sandwich shop logo is pictured in Vienna, Austria, December 27, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger U.S. sandwich chain Subway Restaurants said on Thursday it shut 359 restaurants in the United States last year, amid stiff competition in a highly fragmented fast-food industry. Subway, owned by Doctor''s Associates Inc, is the world''s largest fast-food chain by number of restaurants. It had 26,744 locations operating in the United States at the end of 2016. "We will continue to relocate some shops to better locations and look for new sites — both traditional and non-traditional," the company said in an e-mailed statement. Subway said its U.S. sales fell 1.7 percent to $11.3 billion last year, while international sales climbed 3.7 percent to $5.8 billion, reflecting a focus on overseas growth. Subway rival McDonald''s has also reduced the number of its U.S. locations in recent years, as it seeks to cut costs by franchising out more restaurants. Milford, Connecticut-based Subway is 100 percent franchised. Subway on Wednesday named former McDonald''s Corp ( MCD.N ) executive Karlin Linhardt senior vice president of marketing in the U.S. and Canada. U.S. restaurants have faced lackluster demand in recent months as more people choose to cook at home amid lower grocery prices. Minimum wage increases have also hit restaurant chains, forcing them to hike menu prices in response. (Reporting by Karina Dsouza in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-subway-restaurants-idUSKBN17M2FN'|'2017-04-21T03:22:00.000+03:00' '3382d838b885726cbf39684f8a3d424163948a31'|'Aker owner Roekke says Aker Solutions, Kvaerner may do M&A in 2017'|'Deals - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 4:50am EDT Aker owner Roekke says Aker Solutions, Kvaerner may do M&A in 2017 OSLO Norwegian billionaire investor Kjell Inge Roekke aims to change the ownership of one of more of his companies in the oil services industry this year, he wrote in his annual letter to shareholders on Friday. Through his Aker ASA ( AKER.OL ) holding company, Roekke is the top owner of several major suppliers to the oil industry, including Aker Solutions ( AKSOL.OL ) and Kvaerner ( KVAER.OL ). Shares of Aker Solutions rose sharply last month following media reports the firm could soon be sold to U.S. competitor Halliburton ( HAL.N ). "We''re open to building larger, stronger companies together with others, or to partly or fully divest," Roekke wrote on Friday, adding it was still too early to conclude what would be best. "It''s through transactions that Aker created the greatest shareholder value ... Therefore I hope and believe that during 2017 there will be changes to the ownership structure in one or more of Aker''s partly-owned oil industry suppliers," he added. The oil-to-fisheries investor, one of Norway''s richest with a net wealth of $2 billion according to business magazine Kapital, last year made headlines when his oil firm bought BP''s Norwegian unit, forming Aker BP ( AKERBP.OL ) in a $1.3 billion cash and shares deal. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-aker-solutions-m-a-idUSKBN17N0W2'|'2017-04-21T12:50:00.000+03:00' '0aaa737bf475687d336d7270c40661d134b08e27'|'Teva''s new asthma inhaler poses first competition for GSK''s Advair'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 12:47am BST Teva''s new asthma inhaler poses first competition for GSK''s Advair By Divya Grover Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd ( TEVA.TA ) ( TEVA.N ) on Thursday launched an asthma inhaler that will be the first direct competition to GlaxoSmithKline''s ( GSK.L ) best-selling Advair. Teva, which won U.S. approval in January to make an inhaler similar to Advair, also launched a generic version of its own inhaler, AirDuo RespiClick. AirDuo is not a true generic of Advair, but contains the same two active ingredients, fluticasone propionate and salmeterol. However, it delivers a lower dose of salmeterol and uses Teva''s RespiClick inhaler rather than copying GSK''s device. "We imagine that there should be sufficient time window for AirDuo to be the sole competing product to Advair," Raymond James analyst Elliot Wilbur said in a client note. Advair, which brought in 1.83 billion pounds ($2.35 billion) in 2016 sales, is also widely used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, while AirDuo is only approved for asthma and is not directly substitutable. "Neither branded AirDuo, nor its authorized generic are therapeutically equivalent or substitutable for Advair," GSK''s spokeswoman Sarah Alspach told Reuters. Still, Teva''s product is likely to grab some share of the asthma market. AirDuo could capture 25 percent of the market by 2018, Wilbur said. However, the bigger threat to GSK will likely come from fully substitutable generic copies of Advair that are still awaiting approval. Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc ( HIK.L ) and Vectura Group Plc ( VEC.L ) are expecting approval for their generic versions by May 10. Mylan NV''s ( MYL.O ) generic was rejected in March. GSK has been preparing for the loss of Advair''s exclusivity for the past two years. But the potential launch of generics will still be a blow since the medicine is highly profitable and has sold more than $1 billion annually since 2001. Teva''s AirDuo will cost wholesalers or direct purchasers $285, while the generic version will cost $90, Michelle Larkin, a spokeswoman for the Israeli drugmaker, told Reuters. The pricing of the branded drug was in line with that of its peers, Bernstein analyst Erica Kazlow said. "Teva''s willingness to use generic strategy for the product is encouraging as it relates to the company''s willingness to look at a tough reality and take appropriate action," Kazlow said. ($1 = 0.7798 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-teva-pharm-ind-asthma-idUKKBN17M31O'|'2017-04-21T07:47:00.000+03:00' 'db05bf06141e6c79d76ab2e3f74320c2d2ccc099'|'BUZZ-Reckitt Benckiser: Q1 sales disappoint'|'** British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser fell as much as 2.2 pct, lowest since February 22, and among the biggest losers on the FTSE 100** Reckitt reports flat like-for-like Q1 sales that missed analysts'' estimates** Sales hurt by ongoing fallout from weak markets in Europe and North America, a South Korean safety scandal, a failed new Scholl product and demonetization in India** Indian demonetization could have a lingering impact on trading in country - Reckitt CEO** Stock up about 6 pct this year as of Thursday''s close (Reuters messaging:; justin.varghese.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/buzz-reckitt-benckiser-q1-sales-disappoi-idINL8N1HT1GL'|'2017-04-21T06:10:00.000+03:00' '70db6795917b1b927652c62f0af77e4e88911240'|'UPDATE 1-Reckitt''s flat sales disappoint as problems persist'|'(Adds details, background, analyst comment)By Martinne GellerLONDON, April 21 British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser reported flat like-for-like sales for the first quarter that missed analysts'' estimates, hurt by the ongoing fallout from weak markets in Europe and North America, a South Korean safety scandal and a failed new Scholl product.Still, the maker of Durex condoms, Lysol spray and Nurofen tablets said sales should improve over the course of the year, and stood by its target for full-year sales growth of 3 percent.Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals, Reckitt said first-quarter sales were flat, as increases in developing markets and in the hygiene business were not enough to offset declines in Europe and in the home products business.Analysts on average were expecting growth of 1 percent, according to a consensus compiled by the company.Of the seven large consumer packaged goods makers that reported results this week, including Nestle and Unilever, this is the first to miss expectations, said RBC Capital Markets analyst James Edwardes Jones."Not a disastrous miss ... but nonetheless things don''t seem to be getting much easier for RB," Jones said in a note.On a reported basis, sales rose 15 percent to 2.64 billion pounds ($3.38 billion).Reckitt Benckiser''s business in South Korea has collapsed over its handling of a safety scandal in which it is said that 92 people were believed to have died from lung injuries related to humidifier sterilizers it once sold there.Last year, sales were boosted by the launch of the "Wet & Dry Express pedi" footcare product that subsequently flopped.In recent years, Reckitt has pursued deals that have taken it deeper into the market for consumer health products, which are getting a worldwide boost from aging populations, urbanisation and growing interest in health and wellbeing.The $16.6 billion acquisition of baby formula maker Mead Johnson, announced in February, is progressing well, the company said, and should be completed by the end of the third quarter.It said it would explore a range of options for its food business, which centres around French''s mustard and Frank''s RedHot sauce in North America, before reaching any decision and would update the market when appropriate.The company confirmed earlier this month that it was reviewing strategic options for the business it called "non-core" as it looks to pay down debt from the Mead Johnson deal. ($1 = 0.7806 pounds) (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Mark Potter and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/reckitt-results-idINL8N1HT0SW'|'2017-04-21T04:57:00.000+03:00' 'a02618dbc5fb228ea87d6931b513d13dc2d5f5f6'|'UK government extends period for regulators to report on Sky/Fox merger'|'LONDON The British government on Friday extended the period within which competition regulators must report on Rupert Murdoch''s $14.5 billion bid to take over pay-TV group Sky ( SKYB.L ) by one month due to the country''s national election on June 8.Last month Karen Bradley, Britain''s culture, media and sport secretary, intervened in the the proposed acquisition of Sky by Murdoch''s Twenty First Century Fox ( FOXA.O ) on the media public interest grounds of media plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards.At the time she asked Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to assess the deal and report to her by May 16.That deadline has now been extended to June 20.The deal was cleared by the European Commission earlier this month, leaving the British investigation the only remaining hurdle.(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sky-plc-m-a-fox-idINKBN17N1AY'|'2017-04-21T09:23:00.000+03:00' '63b47535c0023dfd3a2bf4df87e43bd928ec69ee'|'Calpers says will oppose nine directors at Wells Fargo'|'Business News - Sat Apr 22, 2017 - 12:39am BST Calpers says will oppose nine directors at Wells Fargo A Wells Fargo logo is seen in New York City, U.S. January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith By Ross Kerber - BOSTON BOSTON Officials of the California Public Employees'' Retirement System said Friday they are voting against nine of 15 Wells Fargo & Co directors up for election at the bank''s annual meeting next week, citing the bank''s phony-account scandal. Leaders of the largest U.S. state pension system, known as Calpers, said in an email it is voting about 13.9 million shares against the bank nominees, including its chairman, Stephen Sanger, ahead of the bank''s April 25 meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. "We believe these directors failed in their oversight responsibilities during the retail banking controversy at the company," Calpers said in a statement posted on its website. In addition, Calpers noted some Wells Fargo ( WFC.N ) director nominees have tenures of 12 years or more, "which we believe could compromise director independence." The comments underscore the challenge facing the country''s third-largest bank, which has struggled to move past revelations that thousands of employees created as many as 2 million accounts in customers'' names without permission in order to hit lofty sales targets. Wells Fargo''s board and management have said steps already taken to fix problems and punish employees responsible for sales abuses show there is now strong oversight and that directors nominated deserve to be elected. While the board has gained support from its largest investor, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, it also faces a recommendation to vote against 12 directors by leading proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services. Among its other votes, Calpers said it is voting "against" the ratification of bank auditor KPMG. Calpers said it has "concerns over a potential lapse of internal controls during the extended period of abusive sales tactics at the company." Calpers also said the company should explore auditor rotation to ensure a fresh perspective. (Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wellsfargo-accounts-calpers-idUKKBN17N2MU'|'2017-04-22T07:39:00.000+03:00' '9a474408f4daf156c567f596ed32be750a4de0bb'|'KKR-backed consortium makes $4.7 billion cash offer for Australia''s Tatts'|'SYDNEY A consortium backed by U.S. private equity giant KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) offered A$6.15 billion ($4.65 billion) cash for Australian lottery operator Tatts Group Ltd ( TTS.AX ), threatening an agreed merger with Tabcorp Holdings Ltd ( TAH.AX ), two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.The sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly, told Reuters a letter offering A$4.21 a share had been sent to the Tatts board on Tuesday evening.Tatts in October agreed to accept a cash-and-scrip proposal from betting group Tabcorp to form an Australian gambling powerhouse.Tatts shares closed at A$4.35 a share on Tuesday.(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-tatts-group-m-a-kkr-idINKBN17K2NS'|'2017-04-18T20:42:00.000+03:00' '2603d7c1b873f5d8fd81d88d3faefce0dea7bcfd'|'EURO DEBT SUPPLY- Five euro zone countries to issue bonds next week'|'LONDON, April 21 Five euro zone countries are scheduled to hold bond auctions in the week ahead.* On Monday, Italy is scheduled to sell up to 1.25 billion euros in inflation linked bonds maturing in 2022 and 2032.* Belgium is also scheduled to hold a bond sale on Monday. Analysts expect it to auction five and 10-year bonds.* The Netherlands on Tuesday will auction 2 to 3 billion euros of 10-year government bonds.* On Tuesday, Germany is scheduled to auction 4 billion euros of two-year paper.* Finland on Wednesday will auction up to 1.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in 2022 and 2047.* On Thursday, Italy is slated to hold a sale of medium to long term bonds. Details are yet to be released.(Reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe, Editing by Abhinav Ramnarayan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-bonds-outlook-idINL8N1HT20N'|'2017-04-21T10:36:00.000+03:00' '660e1e3dc494a51c60d7009ec762aaa102cfc403'|'U.S.-based non-domestic stock funds attract $1.5 bln in week -Lipper'|'Funds News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 5:57pm EDT U.S.-based non-domestic stock funds attract $1.5 bln in week -Lipper NEW YORK, April 20 Investors poured $1.5 billion into U.S.-based funds that invest in non-domestic stocks during the latest week, Lipper data showed on Thursday, marking the fifth straight week of inflows. The data, which covers the seven days through April 19, comes days ahead of a presidential election in France that is being closely watched by markets. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mutualfunds-lipper-idUSN9N18002O'|'2017-04-21T05:57:00.000+03:00' 'da5d4acb2997b3d03165cd0e9046ad72a9762cbb'|'Schumpeter: Why the decline in the number of listed American firms matters'|'LAST month Schumpeter attended an event at the New York Stock Exchange held in honour of Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, a room-sharing website that private investors value at $31bn. Glittering tables were laid out not far from where George Washington was inaugurated in 1789. The well-heeled members of the Economic Club of New York watched as Thomas Farley, the NYSE’s president, hailed Airbnb as an exemplar of American enterprise. Mr Chesky recounted his journey from sleeping on couches in San Francisco to being a billionaire. His mum, a former social worker, looked on. Only one thing was missing. When Mr Chesky was asked if he would list Airbnb on the NYSE, he hesitated. He said there was no pressing need.Airbnb is not alone. A big trend in American business is the collapse in the number of listed companies. There were 7,322 in 1996; today there are 3,671. It is important not to confuse this with a shrinking of the stockmarket: the value of listed firms has risen from 105% of GDP in 1996 to 136% now. But a smaller number of older, bigger firms dominate bourses. The average listed firm has a lifespan of 18 years, up from 12 years two decades ago, and is worth four times more. The number of companies doing initial public offerings (IPOs), meanwhile, has fallen from 300 a year on average in the two decades to 2000 to about 100 a year since. Many highly-valued startups, including Lyft, a ride-sharing firm, and Pinterest, a photo-sharing site, stay private for longer. A new paper by Michael Mauboussin, who works for Credit Suisse, a bank, and teaches at Columbia Business School in New York, explains why this matters. Consider the first reason behind the slump in the number of listed firms: the IPO drought. Although the total population of companies in America has been steady, their propensity to list their shares has roughly halved. Fear of red tape is one reason (although the decline predates the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which tightened disclosure rules and which bosses hate). Many founders also believe that private markets are better at allowing them a long-term perspective.As for companies’ hunger for capital, many need less to spend on assets such as plant and equipment as the economy becomes more technology-intensive. Private markets, meanwhile, have become more sophisticated at supplying the funds they do require. Many big, mainstream fund managers, such as Fidelity and T. Rowe Price, are investing in unicorns, meaning private firms that are worth over $1bn, of which there are now roughly 100.Airbnb exemplifies the trend. It is almost a decade old but unlisted. Amazon was three years old in 1997 when it floated. Airbnb has raised billions from private markets and has 26 external investors. It will make gross operating profits of $450m this year, according to a new book, “The Airbnb Story” by Leigh Gallagher, so doesn’t need piles of new cash. At its fund-raising round last autumn, employees were able to sell around $200m of shares, which does away with another reason for firms to do an IPO.Exits from the stockmarket by established firms—the second factor behind listed firms’ shrinking ranks—are growing in number. About a third of departures are involuntary, as companies get too small to qualify for public markets or go bust. The rest are due to takeovers. Some firms get bought by private-equity funds but most get taken over by other corporations, usually listed ones. Decades of lax antitrust enforcement mean that most industries have grown more concentrated. Bosses and consultants often argue that takeovers are evidence that capitalism has become more competitive. In fact it is evidence of the opposite: that more of the economy is controlled by large firms.Perhaps the number of listed firms will stop falling. This year several trendy companies have floated, including Snap, a social-media firm, and Canada Goose, a maker of expensive winter coats beloved of Manhattanites. If the euphoria over tech firms fades somewhat it may become harder for unicorns to raise money privately. Continued decline in the number of listed firms would be bad news. It would be a symptom of the oligopolisation of the economy, which will harm growth in the long run.Fewer listed firms also undermines the notion of shareholder democracy. Mr Mauboussin notes that 40 years ago a pension fund could get full exposure to the economy by owning the S&P 500 index and betting on a venture-capital fund to capture returns from startups. Now a fund needs to make lots of investments in private firms and in opaque vehicles that generate fees for bankers and advisers. Ordinary Americans without connections are meanwhile unable directly to own shares in new companies that are active in the fastest-growing parts of the economy.Unicorns don’t have to meet public-company standards on accounting and disclosure, so it is expensive to monitor them properly. Some money managers don’t bother. There has already been one blow-up among the unicorns, Theranos, a blood-testing company whose products didn’t work. And without the close scrutiny that comes with being public, other firms appear trapped in a permanent adolescence of erratic management. Uber, a transport firm that is losing money and whose boss, Travis Kalanick, is scandal-prone, is a case in point.Time to grow upThe fact that fewer companies control the economy is a question for antitrust regulators. Whether young firms list their shares is entirely up to their owners. Some tech tycoons including Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla, an electric-car company and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have mastered the art of running public firms on long-term horizons. Mr Chesky says that Mr Bezos has pointed out to him that a company must be “robust” to survive once it is public. Achieving that might be seen as a chore. But it can also be an incentive to improve performance and corporate culture. The hope is that Mr Chesky is up to the task, and that the next time he visits the NYSE, he’ll be there to ring the bell. "Life in the public eye"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721153-company-founders-are-reluctant-go-public-and-takeovers-are-soaring-why-decline?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-22T08:00:00.000+03:00' '38a51677f2953a54f371ae4516cfff711789a4f0'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 19)'|'BRUSSELS, April 19 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (approved April 19)-- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (approved April 19)NEW LISTINGS-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGESNoneFIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEAPRIL 24-- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24)APRIL 26-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline April 26)-- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26)MAY 2-- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (notified March 22/deadline May 2/simplified)MAY 4-- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified)MAY 5-- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5)-- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified)MAY 8-- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified)MAY 10-- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified)MAY 12-- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified)-- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17)MAY 15-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)MAY 16-- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)-- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)MAY 18-- French insurer Axa and French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire two commerical lots in a shopping centre (notified April 6/deadline May 18/simplified)MAY 19-- Italian cinema operator The Space Cinema, which is controlled by Vue International Holdco Ltd, and Italian peer UCI Italian S.p.A. which is part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- German industrial gas producer Linde and Russian power generation equipment maker PJSC Power Machines to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- U.S. packaging company WestRock to acquire U.S. peer Multi Packaging Solutions (notified April 7/deadline May 19)-- Asset manager Ares Management L.P. and investment firm The Baupost Group to jointly acquire German shopping mall operator Prejan Enerprises Ltd (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)MAY 22-- Investment firms Cinven Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of Travel Holdings Parent Corporation (notified April 10/deadline May 22)May 23-- KKR & Co. and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec to acquire Onex Corp.''s USI Insurance Services (notified April 11/deadline May 23)MAY 24-- French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Company and Brazilian soy processor-exporter Amaggi to sell a 33 percent stake in their joint venture in Brazil to Japan-based Zen-Noh (notified April 12/deadline May 24/simplified)-- American healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to acquire Swiss biotech company Actelion (notified April 12/deadline May 24)-- Investment company Nordic Capital to acquire credit management services company Intrum Justitia (notified April 12/deadline May 24)MAY 29-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idUSL8N1HR44G'|'2017-04-19T22:09:00.000+03:00' '95a031c79766a12fa39470990b74d64c72c8ad4b'|'U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year - trade publication'|' 42pm BST U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year: trade publication Regular and mini cans of Coke and Pepsi are pictured in this photo illustration in New York August 5, 2014. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Sales of soda drinks decreased about 1.2 percent in the United States in 2016, falling for the 12th year in a row, a report by trade publication Beverage Digest showed, as demand was hit by consumer choosing healthier options and a slew of sugar taxes aimed at stemming obesity and diabetes. The per capita consumption of soda drinks, including energy drinks, fell to about 642 8-ounce servings last year, the lowest level since 1985, when the Beverage Digest began tracking consumption trends, the publication said on Wednesday. However, total sales dollars increased 2 percent to $80.6 billion as soft drink makers aggressively pushed smaller packs at higher prices per ounce, while lowering emphasis on large discounts packs, the Beverage Digest said. Soda makers such as Coca-Cola Co ( KO.N ) and PepsiCo Inc ( PEP.N ) have been relying on smaller pack sizes and premium packaging to drive margins in developed markets. They are also making more non-carbonated drinks as well as reformulating drinks to lower sugar levels and launch sugar-free versions. These measures come amid a wave of sugar tax approvals in the United States and Europe. The consumption of added sugar in foods and beverages has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association have all recommended reducing consumption of soda as a way to cut down on added sugars. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-soda-sales-study-idUKKBN17L2HN'|'2017-04-20T02:36:00.000+03:00' '69a93622b974d9ac42d6be7d9542b1ad9b38c010'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 19'|'April 19 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.Headlines* Theresa May calls snap election in bid to strengthen hand in Brexit talks. on.ft.com/2peRr9P* IMF upgrades UK 2017 growth forecast to 2 percent. on.ft.com/2peEHja* Weetabix to be sold to U.S. group Post Holdings for $1.76 bln. on.ft.com/2pvc52iOverview* British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by bolstering support for her Brexit plan.* The International Monetary Fund revised Britain''s growth forecast to 2 percent for 2017, up a half percentage point from January. The Fund said negative effects from the UK vote to leave the European Union are taking longer to materialize.* Post Holdings is buying leading British breakfast cereal brand Weetabix from China''s Bright Food Group Co Ltd for 1.4 billion pounds ($1.80 billion), giving the U.S. focused company a European base on which to build.($1 = 0.7787 pounds) (Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idINL1N1HQ282'|'2017-04-18T21:16:00.000+03:00' 'd65644a6ced363a063926416df368b951485834b'|'France''s SocGen reshapes organization ahead of wider revamp'|'Business News 6:57pm BST France''s SocGen reshapes organization ahead of wider revamp A view shows the logo on the headquarters''s of French bank Societe Generale at the financial and business district of La Defense, west of Paris, France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS France''s Societe Generale ( SOGN.PA ) revealed a new organizational structure on Wednesday ahead of a wider strategic plan to be released later this year. "Our new organizational structure will be more horizontal, increasingly customer-focused and have a greater emphasis on regions," SocGen said in a statement. It said the structure would be made up of 17 business and 10 service units and its aim was to speed up the implementation of its new strategy when this is announced. The bank said it had reassigned management across regions and business lines, which report directly to CEO Frederic Oudea and three deputy CEOs. In international banking and financial services, co-head Jean-Luc Parer will take on a role as adviser to the general management by the end of 2017, while another co-head of the business line, Didier Hauguel, would be responsible for Russia. Hauguel will continue to hold key roles in the governance of the financial services and insurance businesses, the bank said. (Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-socgen-management-idUKKBN17L2EY'|'2017-04-20T01:57:00.000+03:00' 'b98819c659293f972170e621d24b27d2bcbf208f'|'Home and away: renovation projects – in pictures - Money'|'Renovation projects – in picturesFancy converting a charming mill or sailmakers’ house into a modern home? Here’s your chanceAnna TimsWednesday 19 April 2017 07.00 BST Last modified on Wednesday 19 April 2017 09.36 BSTHome: Quay Walls, Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandOnce home to sailmakers, this four-bedroom house perches on the Elizabethan town walls with frontline views over the river Tweed. The period elegance of the rooms is misleading; the place requires serious work, including a complete refit and structural intervention. The downside of its lofty location is that there’s no outdoor space and your car has to take its chances in a nearby street. It should be worth double the £100,000 asking price when fully restored. Rettie , 01289 305158Home: Cellan, near Lampeter, CeredigionDon’t be fooled by the sturdy stone walls. Inside, this former mill is a wreck. A claw-foot tub stranded in a room with floorboards missing is closet thing to a bathroom. You’ll need to fit a kitchen in one of the two downstairs rooms. It’s got original fireplaces in most rooms and two attic rooms above the three potential bedrooms. Once you’ve plastered, wired, plumbed and refloored you’ll have an estate of 5.8 acres of pastureland bounded by a stream. Auction on 17 May. Guide price: £250,000-£300,000. West Wales Properties , 01239 615915Home: Padworth, near Reading, BerkshireThis 18th-century mill is unlisted. It straddles the mill race beside the Kennet river and lies down an unmade track with only two neighbours. It’s been lived in by Evelyn Waugh’s nephew, but needs a total refit and the bore hole – the only water supply – requires a new pump. The ingredients are beguiling: oak floors, huge ceiling beams and a view of the old mill wheel through a viewing hatch in the floor. There are three bedrooms, three receptions and you can fish a few yards from your garden. Guide price: £350,000. Singleton & Daughter , 0118 984 2662Away: St Goazec, Brittany, FranceFor an asking price of £4,238 you expect to forgo a few luxuries. In this case a complete roof and anywhere to cook or wash. What you get is a beamed room with a fireplace and a beaten-earth floor, plus an outbuilding, which is the roofless bit, and views to the Montagnes Noires. The good news is that there is water and electricity on site, but whatever you do to it it’s always going to be petite. Leggett , 0033 553 608488Away: Ostra Vetere, Marche, ItalyTwenty miles from Ancona airport is this 1,937 sq ft house in over six acres. It’s a handsome skeleton inside with high beamed ceilings, a dominant fireplace and sweeping views to the Apennines. Water and electricity supplies are in place, but it’s pretty much a wreck. When you’ve got it habitable you could supplement your living from the vineyard and 120 olive trees. Guide price: £176,500. Gate-away.com , 0039 3491 678676 Property Home and away Homes'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2017/apr/19/home-and-away-renovation-projects-in-pictures'|'2017-04-19T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'e880b022559e621746d6c54819e9f5aa746d504f'|'Canada oil sands beefing up defences as wildfire season looms'|'Environment 7:01pm BST Canada oil sands beefing up defenses as wildfire season looms A wildfire burns as evacuees who were stranded north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada head south of Fort McMurray on Highway 63, May 6, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Wattie/File Photo By Nia Williams - CALGARY, Alberta CALGARY, Alberta Northern Alberta''s oil sands producers and communities are stepping up preparations for wildfire season to avoid a repeat of last year''s devastating blaze that shut in more than a quarter of Canadian crude output and left thousands homeless. The May 2016 fire ripped through the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, destroying 10 percent of homes in the remote city of 88,000 people and shutting in more than a million barrels of crude production. The region saw another mild winter, similar to the previous one, but has had a wetter fall and spring which should reduce the wildfire risk. Still, Fort McMurray has added eight new firefighters and begun fire-prevention measures like preemptively burning off vegetation that could fuel fires. "Burning light fuels like dry grass started a month earlier than normal (this year)," said fire captain Damian Asher, who lost his home in the 2016 blaze. Companies operating around Fort McMurray including Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd and Royal Dutch Shell cut production for weeks because of the fire threat last year, dealing a heavy blow to revenues. With crude prices hovering around $50 a barrel, the high-cost oil sands sector, which has seen an exodus of international investment in recent months, can ill afford more lengthy shut-ins. Nearly all the projects are surrounded by dense boreal forest that provided ample fuel for last year''s blaze. Canadian Natural and Husky Energy said they have enhanced firebreaks at their respective 34,000 barrel per day Horizon and 172,000 bpd Sunrise sites by cutting back surrounding vegetation. Cenovus Energy, in the process of acquiring total ownership of its 200,000 bpd Christina Lake and 160,000 bpd Foster Creek projects from ConocoPhillips, said it has always kept a clear perimeter of 10 to 30 meters around its operations. This year, its emergency response plan includes getting firefighters on scene faster by increasing the number of people on-call in its corporate center Calgary and in the oil sands. Cenovus has also given staff extra training on evacuations and put new operating procedures in place to improve communication during wildfires, spokesman Reg Curren said. At Syncrude Canada, the 350,000 bpd mining and upgrading project majority-owned by Suncor, spokesman Will Gibson said the focus was on monitoring mental health and stress levels in employees who had to flee Fort McMurray last year. Much of the vegetation to the south of the Syncrude site burned last year, but air pollution from large wildfires is a major problem for operators and can also trigger project shutdowns and evacuations. "We can get smoked out pretty easily," said Gibson. "The flames didn''t reach us last year but the smoke was pretty intense." (Editing by Alistair Bell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-canada-oilsands-fires-idUKKBN17L2EE'|'2017-04-20T01:59:00.000+03:00' '1745524686b69e54a0f7b74e9d8689479f8bbe06'|'United chief met Chinese officials over dragged passenger'|'By Alana Wise - NEW YORK NEW YORK The head of United Airlines met with the Chinese consulate in Chicago over the possible impact to bookings from a customer being dragged off a plane but it was too early to tell if business in China had been hit by the event, the company said.In the carrier''s first quarter earnings call, United again apologized repeatedly for the incident in which Dr. David Dao was dragged from his seat on a United flight to make room for crew members.Dao accused officials of discriminating against him for being Chinese before he was hauled off the plane, according to a fellow passenger. Social media users across the United States, Vietnam and China called for a boycott of the airline over the incident.United has about 20 percent of total U.S.-China traffic and a partnership with Air China( 601111.SS )( 0753.HK ), the country''s third-largest airline, according to analysts."It''s really too early for us to tell anything about bookings, and in particular last week because it''s the week before Easter. That''s normally a very low booking period," United President Scott Kirby said on the call.Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc ( UAL.N ) were down 4.12 percent in afternoon trading, despite earnings that outperformed analyst expectations on several key metrics.On the call, Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz said he would have "further conversations with customers and related governmental officials" in an upcoming trip to China that had been planned prior to the incident. United did not say when Munoz met with the Chinese consulate officials.United Flight 3411 was the subject of intense global scrutiny last week when Dao, a paying customer, was selected to be involuntarily bumped from his seat.Dao''s attorney said it was likely he would sue over the incident, in which Dao lost two front teeth, broke his nose and suffered a concussion. Dao emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. A spokeswoman for his attorney could not confirm Dao''s ethnicity.(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-ual-passenger-idINKBN17K28F'|'2017-04-19T02:28:00.000+03:00' '266b8f1a37d3442a2ff3685e643ec014bcfb8a8d'|'Irish house prices post fastest growth since 2015'|'Business 11:20am BST Irish house prices post fastest growth since 2015 FILE PHOTO: A crane is seen behind a row of residential properties in the Capital Dock area of Dublin, Ireland, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo DUBLIN Irish residential property prices posted their fastest annual growth in almost two years in February, lifted by sharp increases outside the capital Dublin, the state statistics agency said on Wednesday. House price growth has begun to accelerate again in recent months amid a sharp lack of supply following a recovery from a property crash. An easing of central bank lending rules and a new government subsidy has seen mortgage approvals surge. Residential property prices nationally were 10.7 percent higher in February than a year ago, the fastest growth rate since May 2015. Prices in Dublin were up 8.3 percent compared to an increase of 13.2 percent in the rest of the country. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ireland-economy-houseprices-idUKKBN17L163'|'2017-04-19T18:20:00.000+03:00' 'df5fc4fd203ec5f02a8a407607a64ad036da00a9'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 20)'|'BRUSSELS, April 20 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (approved April 19)-- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (approved April 19)-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (approved April 19)NEW LISTINGSNoneEXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline extended to May 12 from April 26 after commitments submitted)FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEAPRIL 24-- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24)APRIL 26-- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26)MAY 4-- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified)MAY 5-- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5)-- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified)MAY 8-- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified)MAY 10-- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified)MAY 12-- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified)-- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17)-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline extended to May 12 from April 26)MAY 15-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)MAY 16-- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)-- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)MAY 18-- French insurer Axa and French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire two commerical lots in a shopping centre (notified April 6/deadline May 18/simplified)MAY 19-- Italian cinema operator The Space Cinema, which is controlled by Vue International Holdco Ltd, and Italian peer UCI Italian S.p.A. which is part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- German industrial gas producer Linde and Russian power generation equipment maker PJSC Power Machines to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- U.S. packaging company WestRock to acquire U.S. peer Multi Packaging Solutions (notified April 7/deadline May 19)-- Asset manager Ares Management L.P. and investment firm The Baupost Group to jointly acquire German shopping mall operator Prejan Enerprises Ltd (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)MAY 22-- Investment firms Cinven Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of Travel Holdings Parent Corporation (notified April 10/deadline May 22)May 23-- KKR & Co. and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec to acquire Onex Corp.''s USI Insurance Services (notified April 11/deadline May 23)MAY 24-- French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Company and Brazilian soy processor-exporter Amaggi to sell a 33 percent stake in their joint venture in Brazil to Japan-based Zen-Noh (notified April 12/deadline May 24/simplified)-- American healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to acquire Swiss biotech company Actelion (notified April 12/deadline May 24)-- Investment company Nordic Capital to acquire credit management services company Intrum Justitia (notified April 12/deadline May 24)MAY 29-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idINL8N1HS2QE'|'2017-04-20T14:00:00.000+03:00' '0ae06fc1a812eab43973bd5f10332af250d0b000'|'Central Grocers considering bankruptcy: sources'|'FRB - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 1:29pm EDT Central Grocers considering bankruptcy: sources By Jessica DiNapoli Central Grocers Inc, a supplier to independent grocery stores in the Midwestern United States, is considering a bankruptcy filing as one possible option as it struggles with its debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Central Grocers is working with law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, investment bank Peter J. Solomon Co, and consultants from Conway MacKenzie Inc on reviewing strategic alternatives, including a debt restructuring, three people said this week. The sources asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Central Grocers declined to comment on any bankruptcy plans. Conway MacKenzie and Peter J. Solomon declined to comment. Weil did not immediately return a request for comment. The preparations for a potential bankruptcy indicate that Central Grocers, which distributes its own Centrella brand food products to grocery stores, is making contingencies in case an asset sale plan it announced earlier this week is not successful. The Joliet, Illinois-based company said on Tuesday it was working with its advisors to sell as a going concern a majority of the Strack & Van Til grocery stores it operates, and that it also plans to close nine supermarkets operating under the Ultra Foods banner. The company, which has about $2 billion in sales annually, is also exploring selling its warehouse, according to the sources. Earlier this year, Central Grocers, a cooperative owned by independent member grocery stores, told members in a letter that it had received indications of interest in its business from "multiple parties" hoping to expand in its marketplace in the Midwest. Already operating with razor-thin margins, supermarkets have been under more pressure due to falling food prices and growing competition from big box stores including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and online options such as Amazon.com Inc. Last year, the parent company of Fairway Markets, a New York-area chain of supermarkets, filed for bankruptcy. In addition to operating Strack & Van Til and Ultra, Central Grocers supplies Midwestern supermarkets Tony''s Finer Foods and Sunset Foods. The company says it is the seventh-largest grocery store cooperative in the United States, serving 500 supermarkets. (Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by David Gregorio) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-centralgrocers-bankruptcy-idUSKBN17M28K'|'2017-04-20T21:29:00.000+03:00' '1034bc5751334096d5fbf02d2dd5dfddc1b0a775'|'Japan steelmakers scramble for coking coal to make up Debbie losses'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 11:46am BST Japan steelmakers scramble for coking coal to make up Debbie losses left right FILE PHOTO : Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp.''s Kimitsu steel plant is seen in Kimitsu, east of Tokyo February 20, 2013. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Coal ships are seen anchored off the Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminals that receive coal along the Goonyella rail system, that services coal mines in the Bowen Basin, located south of the Queensland town of Mackay in Australia, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Daryl Wright/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Coal sits at the Hay Point and Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminals that receive coal along the Goonyella rail system, that services coal mines in the Bowen Basin, located south of the Queensland town of Mackay in Australia, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Daryl Wright/File Photo 3/3 By Yuka Obayashi and Aaron Sheldrick - TOKYO TOKYO Japanese steelmakers have bought coking coal from the United States, Canada and China to replace supply lost after a cyclone closed rail links in Australia, their biggest supplier, industry and trader sources said. Still, the Japanese buyers are paying nearly double the $150 a tonnes price that they were discussing with sellers for second-quarter supply before the supply disruption. The supply talks are now on hold and prices will likely stay high until full volumes start flowing again. In 2016, Japan bought about 71 percent of the 59.9 million tonnes of coking coal it consumed from Australia. "We''ve tapped supplies by bringing forward shipping schedules of cargos from Canada and the United States, and buying some extra coal from China," an official at a major Japanese steelmaker who deals with raw material procurement told Reuters. The emergency supplies were purchased at about $300 a tonne, said the official and a second source a major producer. Premium coking coal prices from the east coast of Australia were quoted at $289.50 a tonne on Thursday, down from $314 a week earlier, but still more than 90 percent above levels four weeks ago, according to Platts TSI. About 300,000 tonnes of coking coal from the U.S. is steaming for Japanese ports on bulk carriers, while dozens of empty ships sit offshore ports in Queensland awaiting loading, according to Reuters Eikon Data. Buyers have also tapped supplies from Russia, according to a source at a major Japanese trading house. Australian rail operator Aurizon Holdings Ltd ( AZJ.AX ) temporarily closed four of its coal lines the Bowen Basin in the state of Queensland, which produces about 50 percent of global coking coal, after Cyclone Debbie made landfall on March 28. Three of the rail lines hit by floodwaters and landslides have reopened already and Goonyella, largest in terms of export tonnage, is expected to open on April 26 - about 10 days ahead of schedule. Still, Aurizon said on Tuesday that the Goonyella line will be operating at a reduced level with trains moving at lower speeds for an undetermined amount of time. "The Goonyella situation is going to keep the spot price up. The coal coming off that line is pretty much the basis for the spot price," said Peter O''Connor, an analyst at Australian investment firm Shaw and Partners. "It''ll be important to keep an eye on when Aurizon finally gets the line back to full operating levels. No one knows that yet," he said, a sentiment echoed by the producer source. BHP Billiton ( BLT.L ) ( BHP.AX ), the world''s biggest coking coal shipper, was among five miners in the region to declare force majeure, a clause typically invoked after natural disasters when companies cannot meet supply commitments. Japan''s steelmakers were already running down inventories of coking coal prior to the current supply disruptions. "You did see Japanese steelmakers ... actually run down their stocks quite considerably," said Paul Flynn, the chief executive officer for Australia''s Whitehaven Coal Ltd on an earnings call last week, adding there would be a "lingering impact on ... coal sales for some time." The price talks for the second-quarter coking coal term contracts may restart next month, said the source from Japanese steelmaker source. For graphic on cyclone-hit coal rail line click on tmsnrt.rs/2osg5Dr For graphic on Japan''s coking coal imports click on tmsnrt.rs/2p2quVR (Additional reporting by Jim Regan and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-steel-shortage-idUKKBN17N16J'|'2017-04-21T18:46:00.000+03:00' 'a89b2de8937dd40086d007f204b510fefffd93ed'|'Global steel demand to grow 0.9 percent in 2018 - Worldsteel'|' 30am BST Global steel demand to grow 0.9 percent in 2018 - Worldsteel FILE PHOTO: Rolls of steel are stacked inside the China Steel Corporation factory, in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo LONDON Global steel demand is expected to grow by 0.9 percent year on year to reach 1.549 billion tonnes in 2018, the World Steel Association said on Friday. This year, global steel demand is on course to grow by 1.3 percent to 1.535 billion tonnes, it added. Steel use in top consumer China is expected to be flat this year at 681 million tonnes and to fall by 2 percent in 2018 to 667.4 million tonnes, the group said. (Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-steel-demand-idUKKBN17N15J'|'2017-04-21T18:30:00.000+03:00' 'a90d5cececf6733a0920cccbec9d044c154a6051'|'Exxon seeks waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia - WSJ'|'Business News 7:24pm BST Exxon seeks waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia: WSJ Logos of ExxonMobil are seen in its booth at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) has applied to the Treasury Department for a waiver from U.S. sanctions on Russia as the oil major looks to resume its joint venture with Rosneft ( ROSN.MM ), the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Exxon has been seeking permission from the United States to drill with the Russian state-owned Rosneft in certain banned areas and applied in recent months for a waiver to proceed in the Black Sea, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. ( on.wsj.com/2osAxzB ) The company wound down drilling in Russia''s Arctic in 2014 in the face of U.S. sanctions targeting cooperation between Western companies and Moscow''s oil sector. Exxon and Rosneft in 2012 unveiled an offshore exploration partnership that could invest upward of $500 billion in developing Russia''s vast energy reserves in the Arctic and Black Sea. Economic sanctions were imposed on Russia following its annexation of the Crimea region in 2014 and its alleged role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Relations between Russia and the U.S. President Donald Trump have dimmed in recent times. There has also been pressure from Trump''s fellow Republicans in Congress and European allies anxious over any sign that the president might prematurely ease sanctions imposed on Russia. Rex Tillerson, Exxon''s former chief executive, was named as U.S. Secretary of State in February, despite concerns about his ties to Russia. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-sanctions-russia-idUKKBN17L2G2'|'2017-04-20T02:12:00.000+03:00' '51164e533be0f7131ddd7d6ff56c47d3dd269351'|'Philippines wind farm generates power, jobs and curious tourists'|'PILILLA, Philippines Wind turbines are helping the Philippines diversify its energy sources beyond fossil fuels and generating not only power, but jobs, revenue and interest among thousands of curious tourists.On the hills of Rizal province east of the capital Manila, 340,000 visitors have hit the viewing deck of Pililla town''s wind farm since it opened to the public last year, photographing and marvelling at its 27 white wind turbines that stand 125 metres (410 feet) high on a 4,500-hectare site.Wind power is slowly taking off in the Philippines, which faces a huge challenge to find cheaper, cleaner and more efficient ways to power what is one of the world''s fastest growing economies and a swelling population of over 100 million people.It''s proving a draw for this province and supporting livelihoods too, with 300 people working at the farm and a further 45 making wooden souvenirs of mini turbines the size of hand-held fans."A lot of people can see the beauty of the Philippines," said tourist Christian Lagaja. "Here, the air is fresh and people are benefiting from the electricity it generates."Wind energy is a work in progress and farms like this produce only a fraction of the country''s installed capacity of 20,055 megawatts, which the energy minister recently said needs to double by 2030 to meet demand.Power in the Philippines at present is generated 34 percent by coal, 34 percent by oil and gas and 32 percent from renewable sources, among them wind, biomass, hydropower and solar.(Reporting by Ronn Bautista; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/earth-day-philippines-windpower-idINKBN17M0IH'|'2017-04-20T14:13:00.000+03:00' '69181d832a240e4a730a33de4ba1c7ccd3cca87f'|'London bar mixes whisky cocktail with a virtual twist'|'Lifestyle - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 1:38pm EDT London bar mixes whisky cocktail with a virtual twist By Matthew Larotonda - LONDON LONDON A London bar has devised a cocktail with an unusual twist, it allows the drinker to escape the city for the Scottish hills. The whisky-based "Origin" cocktail comes with a virtual reality headset that transports you to the distillery where the spirit is from. At 18 pounds ($23) a shot, the drink is made with 12-year-old Dalmore whisky, while the accompanying virtual reality experience aims to show guests at the bar in the One Aldwych hotel the origin of its ingredients. Drinkers get a tour of sweeping Scottish fields and babbling brooks where the cereal and water used in the whisky is sourced. "We get a lot of people saying ''oh I have goose bumps'' because it is happening in front of you," bar manager Pedro Paulo, who came up with the idea, told Reuters. "When you take (the headset) off and the drink is actually right in front of you it gives people that sense of uniqueness, they feel unique," he added. ($1 = 0.7824 pounds) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-whisky-virtual-reality-idUSKBN17N20H'|'2017-04-21T23:45:00.000+03:00' '288be09cfd8f135e3b15e71dc2b4efb210ac5916'|'BRIEF-SunEdison Shareholder Group opposes proposed yieldco sale to Brookfield Asset Management'|'Company News 50am EDT BRIEF-SunEdison Shareholder Group opposes proposed yieldco sale to Brookfield Asset Management April 21 SunEdison Shareholder Group: * SunEdison Shareholder Group: SunEdison equity shareholders needed to help stop fire sale of assets and total loss of investments * Over 1,000 SunEdison shareholders joined to oppose company''s proposed sale of interest in Yieldco''s to Brookfield Asset Management Source text for Eikon: April 21 Regional U.S. railroad Kansas City Southern beat expectations for first-quarter earnings, reporting a 36 percent jump in quarterly profit driven by an increase in overall carload volumes, including a significant rise in energy revenue. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-sunedison-shareholder-group-oppose-idUSASA09JN8'|'2017-04-21T23:50:00.000+03:00' 'b4225404a78f526340d8a5c85b58a03e497118e7'|'Activist Sarissa says Innoviva backed out of proxy settlement deal'|'Deals - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 10:29pm EDT Activist Sarissa says Innoviva backed out of proxy settlement deal By Greg Roumeliotis and Michael Flaherty Activist hedge fund Sarissa Capital Management LP said on Wednesday that U.S. respiratory drug company Innoviva Inc ( INVA.O ) reneged on a proxy settlement deal that was struck earlier in the day. Sarissa, run by former Carl Icahn protege Alex Denner, said in a statement that Innoviva had accepted an offer to settle the proxy contest ahead of the shareholder vote scheduled for Thursday by adding two Sarissa-nominated directors to the board. After Sarissa signed and sent back the settlement contract Wednesday afternoon, Innoviva continued to lobby shareholders to vote for its own nominees without disclosing its settlement with the activist, the hedge fund said. Then Innoviva said it would no longer agree to a deal. Innoviva declined to comment. Based on shareholder votes that had come in as of late Wednesday, Innoviva believed it had enough support to defeat Sarissa''s director nominees, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. Innoviva and Sarissa declined to comment on the current votes. Sarissa, which owns a 2.72 percent stake in Innoviva, had accused the company of spending too much money on executive pay and board compensation, given that its only function is to manage the drug royalties it receives from GlaxoSmithKline Plc ( GSK.L ). Earlier this month, Innoviva announced plans to undertake a review of cost and executive compensation structures that it said could result in "meaningful savings in our core operating costs that will benefit our financial performance." Innoviva, which had 14 employees as of Dec. 31, according to its annual report, has a market capitalization of $1.5 billion. GlaxoSmithKline, which has a 29.3 percent stake in Innoviva, had opposed Sarissa''s board nominees. Innoviva and GlaxoSmithKline submitted an application in November to market their new three-in-one inhaled lung drug for U.S. approval. Innoviva and GlaxoSmithKline have other respiratory medicines in the market. Sarissa has a track record of shaking up boards in the pharmaceutical industry. Its past targets have included Biogen Inc ( BIIB.O ) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc, a manufacturer of cancer drugs which agreed to sell itself to Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd ( 4502.T ) in January for $5.2 billion. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis and Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-innoviva-sarissa-idUSKBN17M08C'|'2017-04-20T10:09:00.000+03:00' '2ab60fe862ea7a824d1b057cf3b5c0fda964950c'|'U.S. judge sentences Volkswagen to three-years'' probation, oversight'|'Business 3:39am BST U.S. judge sentences Volkswagen to three years probation, oversight An American flag flies next to a Volkswagen car dealership in San Diego, California September 23, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo 1/2 The logo of Volkswagen company is seen on a car on an assembly line at the Volkswagen car factory in Palmela, Portugal, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo 2/2 By Nick Carey - DETROIT DETROIT A federal judge in Detroit on Friday sentenced Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) to three years'' probation and independent oversight for the German automaker''s diesel emissions scandal as part of a $4.3 billion settlement announced in January. The plea agreement called for "organization probation" in which the company would be overseen by an independent monitor. The sentencing was one of the last major hurdles to VW moving past a scandal that led to the ouster of its chief executive and tarnished the company''s reputation worldwide. "This is a case of deliberate and massive fraud," U.S. District Judge Sean Cox said in approving the settlement that required the automaker to make significant reforms. He also formally approved a $2.8 billion criminal fine as part of the sentence. As well as accepting the agreement reached between VW and the U.S. government, Cox rejected separate calls from lawyers representing individual VW customers for restitution. The German automaker pleaded guilty in March to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements after admitting to installing secret software in 580,000 U.S. vehicles. Since the September 2015 disclosure that VW intentionally cheated on emissions tests for at least six years, the company has agreed to spend up to $25 billion in the United States to address claims from owners, environmental regulators, states and dealers and to make buy-back offers. Speaking on behalf of Volkswagen, general counsel Manfred Doess said the company "deeply regrets the behavior that gave rise to this case. Plain and simple, it was wrong," he said. The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday it had selected former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson to serve as the company''s independent monitor. In a statement New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, who oversees investments in Volkswagen on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, said VW''s "scheme was deceitful." "Today’s massive fine underscores the extent of the fraud and the need for change at the company." The U.S. Justice Department has charged seven current and former VW executives with crimes related to the scandal. One executive is in custody and awaiting trial and another pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate. U.S. prosecutors said in January that five of the seven are believed to be in Germany. They have not been arraigned. German prosecutors also are conducting a criminal probe of VW''s excess diesel emissions. "We have worked tirelessly to address the misconduct that took place within our company and make things right for our affected customers," the company said in a statement on Friday. "Volkswagen today is not the same company it was 19 months ago." (Reporting by Nick Carey in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Dan Grebler and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-idUKKBN17N1SD'|'2017-04-22T10:38:00.000+03:00' 'aef8fe5fd18dfd01e5d3e9854ef57b2cd4457b34'|'EU clears Rolls-Royce''s acquisition of Spain''s ITP subject to conditions'|'BRUSSELS European Union antitrust regulators said on Wednesday they had cleared the acquisition of aircraft engine components maker ITP by Rolls-Royce ( RR.L ) subject to its elimination of a conflict of interest in an engine consortium.The engine consortium EPI, made up of Rolls-Royce, ITP, Germany''s MTU and France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ), designs and manufactures the engine powering the Airbus A400M, which competes with the Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ) C-130J aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce engine.The European Commission said in a statement that it initially had concerns the merger would have allowed Rolls-Royce to gain additional influence on the decision-making process of the EPI consortium, on matters that affected its competitiveness against the Lockheed Martin C-130J.To allay those concerns Rolls-Royce offered commitments to eliminate the conflict of interest and ensure EPI remains competitive, the Commission said.(Reporting by Julia Fioretti; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-itp-m-a-rolls-royce-eu-idINKBN17L1XX'|'2017-04-19T13:01:00.000+03:00' 'f2815b8eb5f4c57d8de0a6119d68542e48b2a854'|'Inflation eats into British household budgets in April - Markit'|'Money 9:40am BST Inflation eats into British household budgets in April - Markit left right A row of piggy banks adorned with the colours of Britain''s Union Jack flag are displayed in a souvenir shop in London March 24, 2010. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi 1/2 left right A shopping trolley is pushed around a supermarket in London, Britain May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo 2/2 LONDON Inflation ate further into the budgets of British households last month, according to a survey of consumers, adding to signs that households will be feeling under pressure in the run-up to the June snap election planned by Prime Minister Theresa May. Financial data company IHS Markit said on Wednesday that its Household Finance Index fell to 42.5 in April from 43.1 in March, one of its lowest readings since mid-2014. While households became a little less pessimistic about the outlook for their finances, they reported the biggest reduction in cash available to spend since August 2014, citing rising living costs and subdued pay growth. May pitched her surprise announcement of a June 8 national election as a chance to strengthen her hand in talks on separating from the European Union, but the economic outlook will figure strongly in the political debate during the weeks ahead. The Markit survey suggested that households were reacting to rising prices by cutting savings rather than spending. "Evidence that consumers are opting to maintain spending rather than belt-tighten provides a positive signal for UK economic growth in the short-term," said Tim Moore, senior economist at IHS Markit. Some economists think May''s decision to opt for an early election may have been influenced in part by a desire to capitalise on Britain''s apparent economic strength since the Brexit vote, before it dissipates. Wednesday''s Markit survey added to a string of indicators suggesting that consumers - the main driver of economic growth - are starting to feel the pain of rising prices, fuelled by rising energy costs and the pound''s plunge after the vote to leave the EU. Adjusted for inflation, there was almost no growth in pay of British workers during the three months to February, official data showed last week. "Households are ... more worried about their financial outlook than at almost any other time in past three years," Moore said. The survey was conducted between April 12 and April 13. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-households-idUKKBN17L0UG'|'2017-04-19T16:40:00.000+03:00' 'b19ae873562a61810647258177ea7ce941d432e6'|'Reflation trades fizzle, sterling holds above $1.28'|'Business News 9:15am BST Reflation trades fizzle, sterling holds above $1.28 A bank employee counts pound notes at Kasikornbank in Bangkok, Thailand October 12, 2010. REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang/File Photo By Jamie McGeever - LONDON LONDON Stocks flatlined and gold fell on Wednesday as investors continued to question the ''reflation'' trades that had lifted markets since the election of U.S. president Donald Trump in November, while sterling basked in the glow of a six-month high following Tuesday''s surprise news of a snap UK election. Safe-haven bonds dipped slightly but largely held onto most of their recent gains before presidential elections in France and on escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea. European stocks were flat in early trade .FTEU3 , following the 0.6 percent fall in Asian equities outside Japan to a one-month low, .MIAPJ0000PUS while E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 were all but flat too. Sterling was just off a six-month peak against the dollar above $1.28 having surged when British Prime Minister Theresa May called an early general election for June 8, seeking to strengthen her party''s majority ahead of Brexit negotiations. "Sterling rallied across the board yesterday on the back of Prime Minister May’s announcement of snap UK elections. The market interpreted the move as an effort to strengthen the prime minister''s majority and reinforce a more unified stance for the upcoming negotiations with the EU," Unicredit analysts said in a note on Wednesday. "Geopolitical tensions are providing strong support to U.S. Treasuries ... (and) in the euro zone Bunds are receiving support from the general decline in risk appetite and uncertainty related to the French presidential election," they added. Germany''s DAX was unchanged at around the 12,000-point mark .GDAXI , and Britain''s FTSE 100 fell a further 0.2 percent following Tuesday''s 2.5 percent slide, its biggest fall since June last year. British stocks are vulnerable to a rising pound because more than two thirds of FTSE 100 company earnings are derived from operations overseas. The FTSE has now erased all its gains for the year. The pound was lording it at $1.2824 GBP= on Wednesday having shattered a month-old trading range with a jump of 2.2 percent overnight. It also cleared the 200-day moving average for the first time since June, putting the squeeze on a raft of speculative short positions. WALL ST LOSES STEAM Earlier in Asia Japan''s Nikkei .N225 closed a smidgen higher at 18,432 points, but Shanghai .SSEC extended its recent retreat with a drop of 0.8 percent. The Chinese market has fallen for four straight sessions on concerns over tighter regulations. The dollar managed to recoup its broader losses in the Asian session, and was flat against a basket of currencies .DXY in early European trading. The euro stood at a three-week high of $1.0736 EUR= . Against the yen, the dollar was up 0.4 percent at 108.80 JPY= having been as low as 108.39 earlier. The dollar was undermined in part by an eroding interest rate advantage as U.S. bond yields dived to five-month lows. Yields on 10-year Treasury paper sank to 2.17 percent US10YT=RR, a world away from the 2.629 peak seen in March. They were last up slightly on the day at 2.19 percent. A run of disappointing U.S. economic data and doubts that the Trump administration will progress with tax cuts have quelled expectations of faster inflation and boosted fixed-income debt. That, in turn, has taken the steam out of Wall Street. The Dow .DJI fell 0.55 percent on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.29 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC 0.12 percent. Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) lost 4.7 percent in the largest daily drop since June after its earnings missed expectations as trading revenue dropped. In commodity markets, profit taking nudged gold down 0.4 percent to XAU= $1,287.10 an ounce, and away from Monday''s peak of $1,295.42. Oil prices slipped as U.S. crude stockpiles fell by less than expected and a U.S. government report said shale oil output in May was likely to post the biggest monthly increase in more than two years. Brent crude LCOc1 was last little changed at $54.93 a barrel, while U.S. crude CLc1 was also steady at $52.42. [O/R] (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17L01W'|'2017-04-19T16:10:00.000+03:00' '2bf07bc7079c88688b4ad8ba3dbc6f474c07bcd6'|'U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year - trade publication'|'Company News 26pm EDT U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year - trade publication April 19 Sales of soda drinks decreased about 1.2 percent in the United States in 2016, falling for the 12th year in a row, a report by trade publication Beverage Digest showed, as demand was hit by consumer choosing healthier options and a slew of sugar taxes aimed at stemming obesity and diabetes. The per capita consumption of soda drinks, including energy drinks, fell to about 642 8-ounce servings last year, the lowest level since 1985, when the Beverage Digest began tracking consumption trends, the publication said on Wednesday. However, total sales dollars increased 2 percent to $80.6 billion as soft drink makers aggressively pushed smaller packs at higher prices per ounce, while lowering emphasis on large discounts packs, the Beverage Digest said. Soda makers such as Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc have been relying on smaller pack sizes and premium packaging to drive margins in developed markets. They are also making more non-carbonated drinks as well as reformulating drinks to lower sugar levels and launch sugar-free versions. These measures come amid a wave of sugar tax approvals in the United States and Europe. The consumption of added sugar in foods and beverages has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association have all recommended reducing consumption of soda as a way to cut down on added sugars. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/soda-sales-study-idUSL3N1HR4NJ'|'2017-04-20T02:26:00.000+03:00' '3a980ee2e6391dda3a00a5e22204eba692ec138d'|'IMF chief says all members believe in free, fair trade'|' 33pm BST IMF chief says all members believe in free, fair trade International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde moderates a forum on Innovation, Technology, and Jobs at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday that the 70-year-old multilateral institution will keep evolving to meet the needs of its members, but added that none are opposed to free and fair trade. "The institution is changing and we will continue to do that in order to adjust to the needs of the membership," Lagarde said at a forum at the start of IMF and World Bank spring meetings. "And we will be listening to all members as they themselves change over the course of time. But everything I have seen leads me to believe that all members believe in the virtue and the value of free, fair and global trade." (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-lagarde-idUKKBN17L2KK'|'2017-04-20T03:33:00.000+03:00' 'a02d88e7631e951bd34ba632ff8b993b549e4418'|'Australia Post hits back at Amazon and eBay and says Coalition''s GST model is best - Business - The Guardian'|'Australia Post has hit back at the internet giants Amazon and eBay, saying the Turnbull government’s plan to impose the GST on all online purchases is a good one.It says the government’s proposed GST collection method – called a “vendor model”, which would require websites such as Amazon and eBay to collect GST for the commonwealth from goods bought online from overseas – is the most efficient way to impose the tax.It has warned Australia Post shouldn’t collect the tax, despite the pleas of Amazon and eBay , because it would render its parcels business “unviable”.Amazon attacks Coalition''s plan to impose GST on all online purchases Read more It says it supports the Turnbull government’s proposed GST plan but hopes it will be imposed a year later than stipulated. The Senate standing committee on economics will hold a public hearing on the bill on Friday.The treasurer, Scott Morrison, is pushing ahead with plans to abolish the GST concession for low-value goods bought online from overseas.At the moment, imports of goods worth less than $1,000 are GST-free – including clothing, books, electronic devices and sports equipment.The government wants to scrap the concession to “level the playing field” for local bricks-and-mortar stores but it wants online giants such as Amazon and eBay to collect GST for the commonwealth using a vendor model.A vendor model would require that, where Australian consumers have bought products online from offshore suppliers, the responsibility for collecting GST would lie with the seller, the electronic distribution platform or the re-deliverer, depending on the nature of the transaction.Amazon has attacked the government’s plan, saying it is so poorly designed it will create an “inherent disincentive” to comply.It said the government should instead use a so-called “logistics model” to collect GST on online purchases, requiring Australia Post (and express carriers and freight forwarders) to collect GST instead.“Logistics providers already have infrastructure in place to collect information on goods coming into Australia and have well-established processes for GST collection for goods valued at more than $1,000,” it says in a submission .Plan for GST on all overseas purchases ''fails to understand online markets'' Read more It also wondered why the government had provided no rationale for ignoring a recommendation from a previous government taskforce to use a logistics model to collect GST.Australia Post has warned that, if the government adopted Amazon’s suggestion, it would be “adversely impacted” by the extra administrative complexity caused by the imposition of additional revenue collection.“Any proposal involving collection of GST under a model that requires collection at the border is likely to render Australia Post mail and parcels business unviable in the current market of continuing and significant decline in mail volumes that have put severe strain on the financial position of the corporation,” its submission says.It argues any changes to the border process must expedite clearance, rather than hinder it, given 59m items are now being cleared through international mail each year.It says if Australia Post was forced to collect GST on items arriving from overseas, it would cost the federal government roughly $900m a year – vastly exceeding the $300m revenue the GST could be expected to raise.“However, the ‘vendor’ model as proposed in Treasury Laws Amendment (GST Low Value Goods) Bill 2017 places relatively less burden on the Australia Post infrastructure, processing times and its costs of doing business,” its submission says.Gary Elphick, the chief executive of Sydney-based company Disrupt Sports, has said the government’s proposed model shows a “fundamental” lack of understanding about how online markets work.Topics Australia Post Tax Australian politics Business (Australia) Amazon eBay news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/19/australia-post-hits-back-at-amazon-and-ebay-and-says-coalitions-gst-model-is-best'|'2017-04-19T13:02:00.000+03:00' '0413db091d4a62f22411afabe20ac28f5a399ab9'|'Yahoo''s first-quarter revenue jumps 22 percent'|'Yahoo Inc ( YHOO.O ) reported a 22.1 percent increase in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, ahead of the sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ).Yahoo said revenue from Mavens - the mobile, video, native and social advertising units that it has touted as key emerging businesses - rose 35.6 percent to $529 million ended March 31.Net income attributable to Yahoo was $99.4 million, or 10 cents per share in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $99.2 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.Revenue rose to $1.33 billion from $1.09 billion.Verizon in February agreed to buy Yahoo''s core business —which includes its internet search and email assets — for $4.48 billion, lowering its original offer by $350 million, in the wake of two massive cyber attacks at the internet company.Yahoo said on Tuesday it expects the deal to close in June.(Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-yahoo-results-idINKBN17K2EE'|'2017-04-19T04:19:00.000+03:00' 'bb8db836d17ef131bbba4b1869224419bbb76c7d'|'Brazil''s Renova sells wind farm to AES unit for $193 mln'|'SAO PAULO, April 18 Renova Energia SA sold a wind farm project to a unit of AES Corp for 600 million reais ($193 million) on Tuesday, enabling the Brazilian renewable power company to replenish cash amid a severe cash crunch.In a securities filing, AES Tietê Energia SA said it plans to assume 1.150 billion reais worth of debt owed by the Alto Sertao II project. The deal''s value could increase by 100 million reais within five years, depending on whether the project outperforms some unspecified operational metrics.Reuters reported on Jan. 2 that Renova and AES Tietê, a unit of AES Brasil, had reached an accord over Alto Sertao II for a price between 600 million reais and 700 million reais. ($1 = 3.1071 reais) (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Luciano Costa; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/renova-energia-ma-aes-corp-idINL1N1HQ20N'|'2017-04-18T19:34:00.000+03:00' '0f940233ecfb35d8f1a73c410fc12f323e72caef'|'Murky oil inventory picture leaves market grappling for clarity'|'By Henning Gloystein and Libby George - SINGAPORE/LONDON SINGAPORE/LONDON The jury is still out over whether an OPEC-led production cut aimed at tightening oil markets is working, or if the producer club has simply enabled higher prices without making much of a dent in the global fuel supply overhang.Analysts say there are early indications that at least some inventories, key in gauging the health of the market, are starting to draw down.However, inventory levels are hard to judge outside of the United States, as many countries do not release specific figures. Oil shipments show an ongoing excess, while price activity in oil futures suggests sagging optimism the imbalance is being corrected.Over two years into a 50 percent price slump, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some other producers, including Russia, pledged to cut production by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year.But more oil than ever is currently traversing the world''s oceans. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows global crude shipments, which monitor tanker movements but exclude pipeline flows, hit a record 47.8 million bpd in April, up 5.8 percent since December, before cuts were implemented.This is in part due to a jump in production and exports from producers who did not agree to cuts, especially the United States."OPEC seems more like a magician who is keeping the audience''s attention fixed firmly on his hands (its production policy) while the actual trick takes place elsewhere (non-OPEC supply)," said Carsten Fritsch, oil analyst with Commerzbank.U.S. production is soaring, jumping by almost 10 percent since mid-2016 to 9.25 million bpd. This brings its output close to the world''s top two producers, Saudi Arabia and Russia.Futures prices suggest skepticism the market is rebalancing. Early this year the forward curve for Brent crude futures moved from contango, in which future prices are more expensive than those for immediate delivery, to flat or even briefly into backwardation, suggesting a balancing in prompt markets. This has since reversed sharply.“If they''re (OPEC) so busy complying, how come we''re taking so much extra inventory? Why is the whole curve in free-fall when supplies are supposedly tightening?” said Robert Yawger, energy futures strategist at Mizuho Americas.COUNTING BARRELSTo fully determine the state of oversupply, looking at storage levels is key, but it is not easy. U.S. inventories remain bloated, but outside the United States, it is notoriously difficult to reliably count stored barrels.There are some signs these harder-to-track inventories are easing. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said crude in less-visible places, such as barrels outside the developed world and those in floating storage, decreased in the first quarter.But IEA data on the 35 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries paints a more bearish picture. OECD stocks fell by 17.2 million barrels in March, but since the OPEC-led cut started at the beginning of the year, inventories are up by 38.5 million barrels."If stocks are still rising strongly, you''ve still got an oversupplied situation," said Jamie Webster, a fellow at Columbia University''s Center on Global Energy Policy."It doesn’t make sense for OPEC to pat itself on the back for strong compliance. That’s what they agreed to, not what the impact is."Some of the oil sloshing around the world could also have been taken out of OPEC''s own storage to meet customer demand despite cuts. Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday in an interview with the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper that supplies remained elevated in part because traders were selling oil out of tanker storage.Russia has also been boosting oil exports, despite cuts under the deal.Millions of barrels of Nigerian oil stored in South Africa''s Saldanha Bay have been sold in recent weeks, and more are scheduled to leave in May.In Asia, the world''s fastest growing consumption region, many countries, especially China, treat inventory data as strategically sensitive. But trade flows around Singapore, a key way station for virtually all tankers from Europe and the Middle East to Southeast Asia, are a bellwether.There has been a noticeable drop in crude storage around Singapore this year, although some cautioned these barrels will be quickly replaced by incoming cargoes from the United States and Latin America.(Reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore, Gary McWilliams and Ernest Scheyder in Houston, Libby George in London and Olga Yagova in Moscow; Writing by Henning Gloystein; Editing by David Gaffen and Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oil-supplies-opec-idINKBN17N0DX'|'2017-04-21T13:08:00.000+03:00' 'f5dd57292c8756f9c1e704d4f75bbee3a6aeee24'|'UK retail sales post biggest quarterly fall since 2010 as inflation hits consumers'|'Money 10pm BST UK retail sales post biggest quarterly fall since 2010 By Andy Bruce and Alistair Smout - LONDON LONDON British retail sales posted their biggest quarterly fall in seven years in the first three months of 2017, as rising prices since last year''s Brexit vote put more pressure on consumers, official data showed on Friday. The volume of goods sold in shops and online contracted by 1.4 percent in the three months to the end of March, after rising 0.8 percent in the last three months of 2016, the Office for National Statistics said. This was the biggest quarterly decline since early 2010, and reinforced most economists'' view that household spending, the main driver of the economy, is now slowing sharply. Sterling fell after the data to its lowest level since Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early election on Tuesday, and finance minister Philip Hammond went on the defensive, insisting that strong job growth would bolster consumer morale. But with wage growth proving sluggish - and one Bank of England policymaker saying on Friday that inflation could hit 3 percent later this year - many households are likely to find their incomes are falling in real terms. "Families are facing the fastest rise in living costs for over three years and they are reining in their spending rapidly," Richard Lim, chief executive of the Retail Economics consultancy, said. "We''re concerned for the outlook for the retail industry given the toxic mix of rising operating and sourcing costs against a backdrop of weaker consumer demand and heightened political and economic uncertainty." Retail sales data are not a precise guide to household consumption, but analysts said Friday''s figures were an unpromising signal for the economy, corroborating other surveys that show inflation taking a toll on household finances. The ONS said falling retail sales were likely to shave around 0.1 percentage points off first quarter economic growth data due next week - the first negative contribution from the sector since late 2010. Retail sales volumes during March alone were worse than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists. They shrank by 1.8 percent, after a 1.7 percent increase in February. RISING INFLATION The ONS said the recent poor run of retail sales figures appeared to be linked to rising inflation. Its measure of retail prices rose 3.3 percent in March compared with a year ago, the biggest such increase in five years. The broader official measure of consumer prices is also rising strongly, led by rising energy costs and exacerbated by the pound''s fall following last June''s vote for Brexit. The outlook for consumer spending is key for policymakers gauging the outlook for Britain''s economy as it gears up to leave the EU. Hammond told reporters in Washington that the retail data was volatile on a monthly basis, and the BoE sees only a limited correlation between retail sales and longer-term trends. Michael Saunders, a member of the BoE''s Monetary Policy Committee, said economic growth this year and next might slightly beat the BoE''s February forecasts - though he expected this to be driven by exports and investment, not by consumers. Reports from retailers themselves have been mixed. Associated British Foods'' ( ABF.L ) discount fashion arm, Primark, traded well through Britain''s Easter holiday period, the group''s boss said on Wednesday. The ONS said there was no evidence to suggest the timing of the Easter holidays distorted retail sales figures for March, though some analysts said they thought it might have been a drag - suggesting scope for an April rebound. "But even bearing this in mind, it is difficult to put a positive spin on today''s figures," Victoria Clarke, economist at Investec, said. Year-on-year, retail sales growth slowed to 1.7 percent in March from 3.7 percent in February, compared with forecasts of 3.4 percent growth. (Additional reporting by David Lawder in WASHINGTON; Editing by Larry King and Hugh Lawson) A shopper reaches for a box of tea in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-retail-idUKKBN17N0V3'|'2017-04-21T16:41:00.000+03:00' 'c4d8f202946b6b1ea0f7a576aa98bff8c7f283bd'|'Results, banking sector bounce help European shares recover'|'* STOXX 600 up 0.3 pct* Banks snap six-day losing streak* Burberry falls after results* Edenred a top gainer on higher revenue growth (ADVISORY - Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets)By Helen ReidLONDON, April 19 European shares recovered on Wednesday from their biggest one-day loss in five months, as a rebound in banking stocks and some positive first-quarter results outweighed weakness in oil and gas stocks.The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent by 0900 GMT, after hitting a three-week low on Tuesday.Britain''s FTSE extended the previous session''s losses, dropping 0.1 percent as sterling strength weighed on its constituents, most of which are major exporters.Banking stocks snapped a six-day losing streak - their longest run of daily losses for 11 months - to rise 1.4 percent, making them the top sectoral gainers.Banco Popular and Unicredit led the sectoral gainers, adding 6 percent and 4.4 percent respectively.Sentiment was helped by Jefferies initiating coverage on Dutch bank ING Group with a "buy", saying ING shares had 18.7 percent upside potential. ING rose 2.7 percent.Societe Generale and Credit Agricole topped the CAC 40, each up 2.9 percent.Basic resources also bounced back, gaining 1 percent, while oil and gas stocks fell 0.5 percent as crude prices dipped on bloated U.S. supplies.Earnings, which began in earnest from European companies, were mixed.Meal voucher group Edenred was a top gainer, up 6.4 percent after it posted higher first-quarter revenue growth and maintained its targets, boosted by growth in Latin America."Overall, we are encouraged by the strong start to the year and believe it means full year forecasts are well underpinned," Barclays analysts said.Oil storage and services company Vopak was also a top gainer after its first quarter results. The shares rose 5.5 percent.British luxury group Burberry was the top European loser, down 5.8 percent after it reported a slowdown in its fourth-quarter comparable sales growth rate, saying tough conditions in the U.S. outweighed an "exceptional" performance in its home market."Burberry has published a strong H2 trading update but this is driven by FX rather than any substantial underlying improvement in earnings," Liberum analysts said.German retailer Zalando fell 4.5 percent after it said it was happy with its first-quarter despite margin pressure due to post-Christmas sales discounting.French media group Vivendi was a top CAC-40 faller, down 1 percent after Italy''s watchdog ordered the firm to cut its stake in Telecom Italia or Mediaset.The Italian broadcaster was among the session''s top fallers, down 3.1 percent, while Telecom Italia fell 1.3 percent."Vivendi is very unlikely to sell down its 23.9 percent TI stake, in our view," Jefferies analysts said.Shares in British engineering group Cobham fell 10 percent after 683 million new shares were added to trading in its rights issue, raising 512.4 million pounds. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HR1UQ'|'2017-04-19T17:38:00.000+03:00' '0f94a2b8e813cf10105c9957b1af5e8f8ca684fa'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil''s CSN iron ore terminal not operating after accident -sources'|'Company News 37pm EDT UPDATE 1-Brazil''s CSN iron ore terminal not operating after accident -sources (Adds details on iron ore volumes, information on ships waiting to load) By Alberto Alerigi and Gustavo Bonato SAO PAULO, April 19 The loading of iron ore at Brazil''s Itaguaí terminal operated by mining and steel firm Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional has been halted since Saturday due to an accident, sources and the Itaguaí Port Authority told Reuters on Wednesday. Four to five Capesize bulk carriers that were waiting to load iron ore at the terminal are being put back into the charter market, said a German shipping source, due to the impossibility to load the product in Brazil. CSN confirmed the accident but had no immediate information regarding Itaguaí operations. CSN, through its subsidiary CSN Mineração, is Brazil''s second largest iron ore exporter after Vale SA and it produced 27.9 million tonnes of ore in 2015. The numbers for 2016 have not been released. CSN did not give details of the accident or how it shut down loading operations but a company spokesman said two workers were hurt, although not seriously. He was not able to say when the terminal would resume operations. The Itaguaí terminal, located near Rio de Janeiro, has a capacity to ship up to 42 million tonnes of iron ore per year. Data from Thomson Reuters shows there is a ship from Tata Steel waiting to finish loading in the terminal with a destination of the United Kingdom. Another ship from JFE Steel is waiting since Thursday to berth in the terminal and load ore destined for Japan. (Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg; Writing by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brazil-iron-csn-idUSL1N1HR1EZ'|'2017-04-20T03:37:00.000+03:00' 'c50c037d63ff6a260130f237115dc52e509c7666'|'BRIEF-Brandywine Realty Trust Q1 FFO per share $0.32'|' 20pm EDT BRIEF-Brandywine Realty Trust Q1 FFO per share $0.32 April 19 Brandywine Realty Trust: * Brandywine Realty Trust announces first quarter 2017 results and adjusts 2017 guidance * Q1 FFO per share $0.32 * Q1 earnings per share $0.11 * Brandywine Realty Trust- current 2017 ffo guidance range of $1.35 to $1.42 is now adjusted to $1.33 to $1.40 * Brandywine Realty Trust- guidance for 2017 earnings per diluted share allocated to common shareholders $0.20 to $0.27 * Brandywine Realty Trust - 2017 speculative revenue reduced $1.0 million from $28.7 million to $27.7 million '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-brandywine-realty-trust-q1-ffo-per-idUSASA09JA7'|'2017-04-20T04:20:00.000+03:00' '04cc6dfae952f189eceb38164c020f12101aed83'|'IMF says Trump corporate tax cuts could lead to financial risk-taking'|'Business 1:36pm BST IMF says Trump corporate tax cuts could lead to financial risk-taking The International Monetary Fund logo is seen inside its headquarters at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump''s proposed tax cuts and roll-back of financial regulations could spark a new round of financial risk-taking of the type that preceded the last crisis in 2008. The IMF said in its semi-annual Global Financial Stability Report that risks to stability have generally diminished in the last six months amid stronger global economic growth and higher interest rates that have improved bank earnings. But it said that already highly leveraged U.S. companies may not be in a position to translate a cash-flow boost from U.S. Republican tax reform proposals into productive capital investments that can aid sustainable growth. Instead, the Fund said the slug of cash, which is likely to include repatriation of profits held overseas by multinational corporations, could be channeled into risks such as purchases of financial assets, mergers and dividend payouts. Such temptations would be highest in the information technology and health care sectors, according to the report. "Cash flow from tax reforms may accrue mainly to sectors that have engaged in substantial financial risk taking," the IMF said. "Such risk taking is associated with intermittent large destabilizing swings in the financial system over the past few decades." The report noted that past major tax changes typically were followed by increases in financial risk-taking, including the tax reforms in 1986 and a corporate tax repatriation "holiday" in 2004. In both cases, these led to leverage buildups that were followed by recessions, in 1990 and 2008. If the U.S. labor market turns out to have little slack left to absorb the stimulus from Trump''s proposed tax cuts and spending plans, inflation and interest rates could rise more sharply than expected. This could increase market volatility and raise debt service costs for already-stretched corporate balance sheets, the IMF said.It added that a shift toward protectionism in the United States and other advanced countries also could reduce trade and capital flows, reducing growth and dampening market sentiment. "Tighter financial conditions could lead to distress" for weaker firms, the IMF said, noting that resulting losses would be borne by banks, life insurers, mutual funds, pension funds, and overseas institutions. The report urged U.S. policy makers to be "vigilant" about the increased leverage and declining credit quality in the corporate sector. It said tax measures now under discussion that reduce incentives for debt financing, including the elimination of corporate tax deductibility of interest costs, could help reduce leverage risks. The IMF said there was room to "fine-tune" U.S. financial regulations, but it warned against a "wholesale dilution" of the stronger U.S. bank capital requirements enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. Regarding emerging markets, the IMF report said that financial stability risks remain elevated. It said those economies face the double threat of rising protectionism that could reduce demand for their exports, and U.S. inflation and faster interest rate hikes that could spark capital outflows and make it harder for them to service external debt. It also voiced concerns about the rapid credit growth in China, risks that were also highlighted in the IMF''s World Economic Outlook on Tuesday. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g20-stability-idUKKBN17L1JD'|'2017-04-19T20:34:00.000+03:00' '08a92abc93eb5a9290da943404d6c626b165e7e0'|'KKR-backed consortium makes $4.7 billion cash offer for Australia''s Tatts'|'SYDNEY A group backed by private equity firm KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) on Wednesday said it had made a revised A$6.15 billion ($4.65 billion) offer for Australia''s biggest lottery operator Tatts Group Ltd ( TTS.AX ), upping the ante in a bidding war against Tabcorp Holdings Ltd ( TAH.AX ).Both proposals are valued at less than Tatts'' trading price and shareholders are divided over whether the board should favor the KKR-led all-cash bid over Tabcorp''s cash-and-scrip offer and allow the U.S. firm to do due diligence.KKR-backed Pacific Consortium''s bid of A$4.21 a share compares with the A$4.209 offered by Tabcorp based on its closing price on Tuesday. Tatts shares were trading A$0.03 higher at A$4.38 on Wednesday."We would like to see Tatts grant due diligence," Gabriel Radzyminski, managing director of activist investor Sandon Capital said. "Not because we like the Pacific Consortium offer at the moment but because we want to see if they can increase it."Tatts is a prized asset given the lucrative and reliable earnings from its lotteries business, which benefits from monopoly licenses. It also owns a smaller wagering business that competes against Tabcorp, the nation''s largest betting operator.Australia offers the likes of KKR a rare opportunity to own this type of business, as in most countries lotteries remain in government hands.Charlie Green, a director at Hunter Green Institutional Broking, which owns Tatts shares, said the board had enough grounds to reject the consortium bid as inferior to the Tabcorp offer. Tatts rejected an earlier offer from the group in December."It is all cash, so there is no capital gains tax roll-over relief," he said of the Pacific Consortium offer."There are no synergies available for Tatts shareholders. The great advantage of the Tabcorp bid is that Tatts shareholders get to share in the upside."PROS AND CONSBrisbane-based Tatts said it was assessing whether Pacific Consortium''s bid was superior to the Tabcorp deal agreed in October, which Tatts and Tabcorp touted as having A$130 million a year in synergies.A Tatts-Tabcorp merger would form a gambling powerhouse that would help both companies fend off a challenge from overseas online rivals such as Britain''s William Hill PLC ( WMH.L ) and Ireland''s Paddy Power Betfair PLC ( PPB.I ) that have made huge strides into Australian wagering in recent years.Pacific Consortium also includes Macquarie Group Ltd ( MQG.AX ), Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and First State Superannuation Scheme.The group said it had obtained indicative equity commitments of A$4.6 billion and conditional debt financing for the remainder. The proposal is subject to the unanimous recommendation of the Tatts board.Pacific Consortium Chairwoman Kerry Schott said the all-cash proposal provided greater certainty for investors and was free of competition issues. The Tatts-Tabcorp merger has yet to be approved by the Australian Competition Tribunal.A Tabcorp spokesman declined to comment.(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tatts-group-m-a-kkr-idUSKBN17K2NS'|'2017-04-19T06:42:00.000+03:00' 'f9d971a28ba8be4d51deceb414c5273ceacaf69f'|'World Bank Group, China-led AIIB agree to deepen cooperation'|'Global Energy News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 10:05pm BST World Bank Group, China-led AIIB agree to deepen cooperation The logo of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen at its headquarter building in Beijing January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Sunday they agreed to deepen their cooperation with a framework for knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination. The memorandum of understanding signed at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington comes a year after the two multilateral lenders established mechanisms for cost-sharing and co-financing of investment projects. Since then, the AIIB and the World Bank have co-financed five projects, supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and projects in Indonesia to rebuild slums, improve dam safety and develop regional infrastructure. They said in a joint statement that they are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018. "Signing this memorandum of understanding fits into our vision of a new kind of internationalism," AIIB President Jin Liqun said in a statement. "It deepens our relationship with the World Bank Group and sets up the mechanisms through which we can more easily collaborate and share information." A World Bank spokeswoman said the knowledge-sharing memorandum was similar to one that was in place during the AIIB''s early development stages, but which ended when the Beijing-based institution was formally launched in January 2016. She said the new agreement does not specify financing amounts or targets, adding that those will be determined through meetings and consultations to discuss the banks'' respective portfolios. The AIIB has been viewed as a rival to the Western-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The United States initially opposed its creation and is not a member, but many U.S. allies, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia and South Korea have joined. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told Reuters on Thursday that he wants to push the Washington-based lender''s business model towards harnessing more private capital for development finance. In a statement on Sunday, Kim said: "Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, crowd-in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve." (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Peter Cooney and David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-aiib-idUKKBN17P0WF'|'2017-04-24T05:05:00.000+03:00' 'ee10cd16ca8af69c225d91a94c289544b1b17684'|'GE Power division nears $3 billion services deal in Algeria: source'|'NEW YORK GE Power, a division of General Electric Co ( GE.N ), is close to signing a services deal with a subsidiary of Algerian utility Sonelgaz SpA valued at more than $3 billion, likely the largest such agreement ever for GE, according to a person familiar with the matter.Under the agreement with Sonelgaz SPE, which could be announced as early as Monday, GE would provide long-term maintenance services for 10 Sonelgaz power plants in Algeria, install 68 gas technology upgrades and deploy industrial internet software applications using GE''s Predix operating system.GE signed a $2.7 billion deal with Sonelgaz SPE in 2013 to supply large gas turbines and related technology to nine power plants in the country. In 2014, GE signed a $400 million agreement to build an industrial complex to produce gas and steam turbines under a joint venture with Sonelgaz called General Electric Algeria Turbines.(Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-ge-deal-algeria-idINKBN17Q0LQ'|'2017-04-24T05:46:00.000+03:00' '8c3b64927a4ac43af751e6ad0fdf14abf14744cd'|'Euro jumps, shares firm on French election relief'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 7:07am BST Euro jumps, shares firm on French election relief FILE PHOTO: Detail of a European map is seen on the face of a euro coin in London, Britain, January 31, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By Wayne Cole - SYDNEY SYDNEY The euro briefly vaulted to five-month peaks on Monday after the market''s favored candidate won through the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of a Brexit-like shock and sparking a mass unwinding of safe-haven trades. Spreadbetters pointed to opening gains across European bourses with the French market alone seen up around 2 percent. E-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 climbed 0.9 percent in early trade, while yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR rose almost 8 basis points to 2.31 percent. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 jumped 1.5 percent as the yen retreated, while MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS edged up 0.3 percent. Shanghai shares .SSEC , however, fell 1.7 percent after state media signaled Beijing would tolerate more market volatility as regulators clamp down on riskier financing. In France, Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step toward the presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The outcome lessens the risk of an anti-establishment shock on the scale of Britain''s vote to quit the European Union with Macron widely tipped to win the final vote and keep France in the union. Opinion polls put Macron ahead by over 20 points, a lead so large that a repeat of the Brexit surprise that spread turmoil in financial markets seemed highly unlikely. Investors had feared for the single currency''s future if one of the far-left candidates had gotten through to fight Le Pen. The euro jumped in relief, and was last up 1.3 percent at $1.0866 EUR= , having been as far as $1.0940, the highest since early November. The safe-haven yen slipped across the board with the euro surging 2.4 percent to 119.77 yen EURJPY= while the U.S. dollar gained 1 percent to 110.20 yen JPY= . Likewise, gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,273.40 an ounce XAU=. "The rise of the euro and risk appetite rebounding is understandable and this should also see yields in Europe fall, spreads to Bunds tighten and stocks rally," said Tim Riddell, an analyst at Westpac. "However, such gains are likely to be contained when markets reflect upon the marked shift away from the "establishment" and just how effective the new president may be," he added. SKEPTICAL ON TAX Wall Street on Friday had only a modest lift from news President Donald Trump would announce the broad outline of his proposed tax package on Wednesday. "Markets are skeptical that the real details will be forthcoming," said analysts at ANZ in a note. "There is also plenty of conjecture about whether any tax cuts will be able to be revenue neutral, and that could affect their ease of passage through Congress." The Dow .DJI ended Friday down a minor 0.15 percent, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.30 percent and the Nasdaq .IXIC fell 0.11 percent. Investors were also keeping a wary eye on tensions in the Korean peninsula. North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension as Trump called the leaders of China and Japan to discuss the situation. South Korea responded by asking Washington about holding joint drills with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group as it approaches waters off the Korean peninsula. Oil prices recouped just a little of last week''s hefty losses, still weighed by signs U.S. production and inventory growth were offsetting OPEC''s attempts to reduce the global crude glut. Brent futures LCOc1 were up 29 cents at $52.25 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 added 24 cents to $49.86. (Editing by Shri Navaratnam) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17P10G'|'2017-04-24T14:01:00.000+03:00' 'cfba9174006244f02221f8a58b4f7cdeb78e7a94'|'F8: Mark Zuckerberg briefly mentions Facebook murder video 18,'|'Mark Zuckerberg addresses Cleveland murder Mark Zuckerberg used his biggest press event of the year to briefly address an uproar over a murder video posted to Facebook. "We have a lot of work, and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening," Zuckerberg said on stage at F8, Facebook''s annual developers conference. "Our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr.," Zuckerberg added. He opened his keynote with jokes about the Fast and the Furious. He spoke briefly about building community before addressing the Cleveland murder. On Sunday, a Cleveland man posted a video to Facebook ( FB , Tech30 ) of him shooting and killing Godwin., a 74-year-old grandfather who was on his way home from an Easter meal with family. Just an hour before the conference kicked off, news broke that the murder suspect had been found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The murder video stayed up for more than two hours on Sunday before it was removed by Facebook, according to a timeline later shared by the company. The delay reignited criticism over Facebook''s handling of offensive content. "We know we need to do better," Justin Osofsky, VP of global operations at Facebook, wrote in a post Monday. Related: Facebook on murder video: ''We know we need to do better'' It''s just the latest in a growing list of disturbing videos of murder, suicide , torture and beheading published on Facebook, however briefly, either through live broadcasts or video uploads. A source close to Facebook says it has "thousands" of people reviewing content around the world. Once a piece of content is reported by users as inappropriate, it is typically reviewed "within 24 hours." But some have criticized Facebook for making users its first line of defense. "It''s actually the users who are exposed to something that they find disturbing, and then they start that process of review," says Sarah T. Roberts, an assistant professor at UCLA who studies online content moderation. In the case of the most recent murder video, nearly two hours passed before users reported it on Facebook, according to the company. Facebook disabled the account behind the video 23 minutes after that. In a lengthy manifesto about the future of Facebook published in February, Zuckerberg acknowledged "terribly tragic events -- like suicides, some live streamed -- that perhaps could have been prevented if someone had realized what was happening and reported them sooner." Zuckerberg said Facebook is developing artificial intelligence to better flag content on the site. This system "already generates about one-third of all reports to the team that reviews content," according to Zuckerberg''s post. CNNMoney (New York) 18, 2017: 1:19 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/technology/zuckerberg-facebook-murder/index.html'|'2017-04-18T21:19:00.000+03:00' '012845e4a0faba9c27306852d5dbfa7912e0d8af'|'CORRECTED-BMO bundles uninsured Canada mortgages into securities -Moody''s (April 17)'|'(In April 17 story, corrects to "Aaa" from "Aaaa" in paragraph 3 and analyst''s name to "Hunt" from "Hunter" in paragraph 7)April 18 Bank of Montreal is bundling nearly C$2 billion ($1.50 billion) of prime Canadian mortgages into securities, said Moody''s in a pre-sale report on Monday.The bond is backed by C$1.96 billion of uninsured prime residential mortgages, more than half of which are in Ontario and Quebec, added Moody’s. BMO did not respond to requests for comment.About 95 percent of the securities will be rated "Aaa".BMO will offer to renew or refinance the mortgage loans at the end of their term if the borrower is in compliance with BMO''s underwriting criteria at that time.Upon renewal or refinance of the mortgage loan, BMO will purchase the mortgage loan from the trust, Moody''s said."Canada''s one of the few jurisdictions that doesn''t have a developed RMBS market, this could be the first step to getting that going on," Richard Hunt, an analyst at Moody''s Investors Service who rated the deal, told Reuters."This could be a template for future deals" Hunt added.Canada''s housing market has been robust in the years since the global financial crisis, supported by low interest rates that have seen consumers take on more debt.But last year''s changes by the federal government to tighten mortgage lending rules are expected to mitigate some of the run-up in housing seen recently in areas like Toronto and Vancouver. ($1 = 1.3321 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bmo-residentialmortgages-idUSL3N1HQ5O4'|'2017-04-19T05:21:00.000+03:00' '5fb543fe67423bcd99bbe6add69f5f8de92ae751'|'Akzo Nobel unveils plan to separate chemicals arm, pay special dividend'|'By Toby Sterling - AMSTERDAM AMSTERDAM Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ), the Dutch paint maker trying to fend off a 24.6 billion euro ($26 billion) takeover by U.S. rival PPG Industries Inc ( PPG.N ), on Wednesday fleshed out its alternative plan to separate its chemicals business and pay shareholders 1.6 billion euros in extra dividends this year.Setting out its strategy to investors in London, Akzo said it would sell or list the business, which accounts for about a third of sales and profits, within 12 months. Analysts have valued the division at roughly worth 8 billion euros, based on its 2016 operating profit of 629 million euros."This strategy will create substantial value for shareholders with significantly less risks and uncertainties compared to alternatives," said Akzo Chief Executive Ton Buechner.Buechner said that the company, whose brands include Dulux paint, may use proceeds of the spin-off to fund acquisitions, but the "vast majority" would be returned directly to shareholders.Akzo has twice rejected takeover proposals from Pittsburgh-based PPG, despite strong encouragement from many of its shareholders to engage in merger talks.Investors and analysts have largely been skeptical of whether Akzo''s alternative plan can rival PPG''s proposed offer of 90 euros per share in terms of value. Akzo shares gained 1 percent to 79.08 euros by 1050 GMT.COST CUTSWhile PPG has said it sees merger synergies of at least $750 million, Akzo said on Wednesday it would cut costs by 200 million euros in 2017, of which 50 million would result from the separation of chemicals.The company, which employs around 46,000 people, declined comment on possible job losses resulting from its plans.Buechner set a new target for Akzo''s operating margin to improve to 15 percent by 2020 from 12 percent at present.Buechner said the company''s paints and coatings divisions will each grow at 4 percent annually on the strength of its global brands such as Dulux, one percentage point better than the market.At the chemicals division to be disposed, the company said it would increase operating profit, as measured by earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), and before incidental costs, by 250 million euros by 2020 and another 200 million euros by 2022.Earlier on Wednesday, Akzo reported better than expected first quarter earnings and forecast a 100 million euro increase in operating profit for the full year.Akzo has argued that PPG''s bid does not adequately address concerns of other stakeholders, including employees.Buechner said the company has not yet decided whether it will agree to a request by a significant number of shareholders to hold an extraordinary general meeting to debate and vote on the dismissal of Chairman Antony Burgmans.Under Dutch law, shareholders representing 10 percent of a public company''s shareholder base have the right to summon such a meeting, though they may need to petition a judge if the company refuses.(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Susan Fenton/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-idINKBN17L0JK'|'2017-04-19T04:34:00.000+03:00' '9720d51df35710a5f7df377c6b8313d503711661'|'Germany defends trade surplus before IMF, World Bank meetings'|' 22am BST Germany defends trade surplus before IMF, World Bank meetings Containerships at loading terminals are seen in the port of Hamburg, Germany, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer BERLIN Germany on Thursday pushed back against U.S. criticism of its trade surplus, saying ahead of global finance talks in Washington that nobody could blame Berlin for the competitiveness of ''Made in Germany'' products. Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said the government had only limited influence on trade flows, and the surplus - which data shows hit a record 252 billion euros (£211.34 billion) in 2016 - was linked to factors beyond its control such as the oil price and euro exchange rate. "Our companies produce high-quality machines and equipment that customers abroad like to buy. We do not have to apologise for this," she told mass-selling Bild newspaper. She pointed to political efforts, such as the introduction of a national minimum wage, tax cuts and increased investment activity to boost domestic demand and imports, as ways of reducing the trade gap. In a U.S. Treasury currency report on Friday, the Trump administration backed away from naming any major trading partner as a currency manipulator, but kept Germany and five others under scrutiny over their foreign exchange and economic policies. Germany''s wider current account surplus, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments, swelled to an all-time high of 261.4 billion euros last year, Bundesbank data shows. In terms of overall economic output, however, it shrank to 8.3 percent in 2016 from 8.6 percent in 2015, and the government expects a further drop to around 7 percent next year. In a position paper drawn up ahead of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank talks in Washington, Berlin argues that the current account surplus is a consequence of market-based corporate decisions. World finance leaders gathering on Trump''s home turf on Thursday are expected to try to nudge his still-evolving policies away from protectionism and to show broad support for open trade and global integration. The IMF in particular has sounded warnings against Trump''s plans to shrink U.S. trade deficits with potential measures to restrict imports, arguing in its latest economic forecasts that protectionist policies would crimp global growth that is starting to gain traction. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-germany-surplus-idUKKBN17M0UH'|'2017-04-20T16:22:00.000+03:00' '06a84c58f6530e305e226b730fdb80cd6e00a15e'|'Tesla settles lawsuit with former head of its Autopilot system'|'By Alexandria Sage - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) and the former head of its Autopilot programme have settled a lawsuit brought by the electric vehicle maker in January, the parties said on Wednesday, in a deal that prevents the former executive from recruiting Tesla employees for a year.Neither side admitted to any wrongdoing under the terms of the agreement, which was seen by Reuters.Tesla''s lawsuit against Sterling Anderson, the non-technical programme manager of Tesla''s Autopilot semi-autonomous driving system, accused Anderson of trying to recruit Tesla engineers for his new venture, Aurora Innovation, before leaving the company.It also claimed he downloaded some of Tesla''s "competitively sensitive" information to his laptop.Aurora and Chris Urmson, a co-founder of Aurora and the former head of Alphabet Inc''s ( GOOGL.O ) self-driving project, were co-defendants in the lawsuit. Claims against Aurora and Urmson were also dropped.The lawsuit underscored the fierce competition for talent in Silicon Valley''s self-driving car sector. Anderson was the public face of Tesla''s Autopilot system that allows for partial self-driving, which Tesla eventually plans to develop into full autonomy.Tesla said in a statement that the settlement "establishes a process to allow Tesla to recover all of the proprietary information that was taken from the company" and that Aurora''s computers would be subject to audits to monitor for any use of Tesla''s property.The defendants will pay $100,000 to Tesla.Tesla''s complaint had called for a one-year injunction on soliciting Tesla employees to come work at Aurora.In a statement, Aurora said no material Tesla confidential information exists on its computer systems and "there is no evidence that anyone at Aurora has used or has access to Tesla confidential information."It said it agreed to the $100,000 payment "to demonstrate the integrity of Aurora''s intellectual property."Disputes over intellectual property in self-driving vehicle technology gained attention in February, when Alphabet''s self-driving unit, Waymo, sued Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL]. .Waymo alleged that its former engineer Anthony Levandowski downloaded more than 14,000 confidential files, including trade secrets, before leaving to set up a rival company later acquired by Uber. Uber - which Waymo claimed had profited from the stolen files - has said none of the files can be found on its servers..A federal judge is set to rule as early as next month on whether to grant Waymo''s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent Uber from using the disputed documents.(Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tesla-lawsuit-idINKBN17L2XH'|'2017-04-19T20:24:00.000+03:00' '49ce9237cc2cae1d1453e6c7d0fbae3c642d2007'|'Forget about early-2018 ECB rate hike, investors now say'|'Stocks & Shares News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:52pm BST Forget about early-2018 ECB rate hike, investors now say left right FILE PHOTO: The European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo 1/2 left right The logo of the European Central Bank (ECB) is pictured outside its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski 2/2 By Dhara Ranasinghe - LONDON LONDON Investors are no longer expecting a rate rise from the European Central Bank by March 2018, money market pricing suggests, marking a sharp reversal in expectations for higher interest rates from just a month ago. ECB policymakers'' comments playing down the scope for near-term changes to monetary policy, along with falling inflation expectations, explain the reassessment. Money market rates tell the tale. Forward Eonia bank-to-bank rates -- the best gauge -- dated for the ECB meeting on March 8 next year stand at around minus 0.34 percent, two basis points above the Eonia spot rate of minus 0.36 percent ECBWATCH. Such a gap indicates markets are pricing in just a 20 percent chance of a 10 basis point hike in the ECB''s minus 0.40 percent deposit rate by next March. That''s a sharp contrast to last month, when investors ratcheted up rate-hike expectations after the ECB at its March 9 meeting signalled a diminishing urgency for more policy action. Soon after, some policymakers even raised the prospect of raising rates before quantitative easing ends. As a result, markets moved swiftly in March to fully price in a rate hike in the first quarter of 2018 and as much as an 80 percent chance of a rate rise in December, when the ECB''s asset-purchased scheme is scheduled to end. Now, markets have also unwound expectations for a rate rise by year-end with Eonia forward rates dated for the December 14 meeting indicating a less than 20 percent chance of a move. "The market has pretty much priced out everything," said Peter Schaffrik, head of European rates strategy at RBC Capital Markets. "It is a combination of the rhetoric, which has played a crucial role, but also falling inflation expectations." Prospects for the euro zone economy have improved but the time to withdraw support has not yet come, three ECB rate setters said on Wednesday, days before a tense French presidential election and the ECB''s own policy meeting. INFLATION BLIP Data meanwhile has shown inflation in the euro zone has slowed from four-year highs of 2 percent hit in February. A long-term gauge of euro zone inflation expectations tracked by the ECB, the five-year, five-year breakeven forward, has fallen in recent weeks to stand at around 1.60 percent EUIL5YF5Y=R -- below the ECB''s near-2 percent target. Disappointing U.S. economic data and signs that the Trump administration will struggle to push through tax cuts have also quelled expectations of faster inflation in the United States. That has had a dampening impact on rate-hike expectations in the euro zone as well, analysts said. The money market curve has flattened and two-year Eonia money market swap rates EUREON2Y=, also viewed as an indicator of ECB monetary policy, have fallen. In the United States, the Federal Reserve hiked rates on March 15 after a string of hawkish comments from officials triggered a rapid turnaround in market expectations for a move then. The fact that in recent weeks rate expectations in Europe and the United States have swung around rapidly highlights market sensitivity as central banks move towards normalising ultra-easy monetary policies put in place after the financial crisis as economic growth improves. "Markets are quite sensitive now that we are running towards the end of (asset-purchasing)," said ING rates strategist Benjamin Schroeder. (Graphic by Nigel Stephenson Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-moneymarket-idUKKBN17M16Z'|'2017-04-20T19:03:00.000+03:00' '851a326b7b631e9d01aa7bd44da850c8303d0c96'|'India''s BigBasket in talks for possible merger with Grofers India: report'|'India''s online grocery delivery service BigBasket and smaller rival Grofers India Pvt. Ltd. have begun talks on a possible merger, Indian newspaper Mint reported on Wednesday, citing sources.If the merger goes through, SoftBank Group ( 9984.T ), which is an existing investor in Grofers'', will participate in a $60 million to $100 million funding round in the merged company, the report added. ( bit.ly/2o1FBzz )The talks, which are in early stages, may value BigBasket at about $700 million to $800 million, while Grofers could be valued at $150 million to $200 million, Mint added.Online grocery sales are a fast growing segment in India''s e-commerce industry as more consumers log in to internet for their purchases.(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-grofers-m-a-bigbasket-idUSKBN17L0AZ'|'2017-04-19T08:08:00.000+03:00' '376cefc942b106c99cdacea121f65b762cbc6f02'|'Mexico''s Bimbo plans expansion in China, Asia, Middle East - executive'|'Deals - Wed Apr 19, 2017 - 9:26pm EDT Mexico''s Bimbo plans expansion in China, Asia, Middle East Advertising of Mexican bread maker Grupo Bimbo is seen in a store in Mexico City, September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido By Sheky Espejo - MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo ( BIMBOA.MX ) plans to grow in China in the short term with acquisitions, while also expanding in the rest of Asia and entering Middle Eastern markets, the company''s food business chief said on Wednesday. Bimbo, which entered China in 2006 after buying the local assets of Spanish competitor Panrico, plans to expand in China through purchases of local companies, Bernardo Zermeno, the food business chief, told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Mexico City. "Bimbo will look for a consolidation that will allow for expansion," he said. Bimbo shares were up 0.60 percent in late afternoon trading at 45.44 pesos ($2.41). (Reporting by Sheky Espejo; Editing by Leslie Adler) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bimbo-china-idUSKBN17L2LW'|'2017-04-20T03:31:00.000+03:00' '85749334479289f2a52419ad9b48c4e7c89fff9c'|'Exclusive: U.S. regulator knocks its own handling of Wells Fargo sales scandal'|'WASHINGTON Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) and its U.S. bank regulator discussed complaints of high-pressure sales tactics as early as 2010 but officials took no action for years, according to the regulator''s review of the scandal.Bank examiners "failed to follow-up on significant complaint management and sales practices issues," according to an internal review from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency which oversees many national banks.The report released on Wednesday ended a seven-month evaluation of how the OCC failed to halt a scandal in which thousands of Wells Fargo employees created as many as 2 million customer accounts without their consent.The Wells Fargo board of directors was alerted in 2005 that bank tellers were being fired because they created phantom accounts, according to the report.Five years later, Wells Fargo and bank examiners met to discuss what was motivating bank tellers to continue to create accounts without customer authorization.There were 700 cases of whistleblower complaints from Wells Fargo employees at that time, the report said.In that January 2010 meeting, Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of community banking, credited Wells Fargo''s internal controls for catching the fraud."The primary reason for the high number of complaints is that the culture encourages valid complaints which are then investigated and appropriately addressed," the report said of Tolstedt''s explanation.Wells Fargo has laid much blame for the scandal at Tolstedt''s feet.A company-sponsored report released early this month said Tolstedt stood by while abusive sales practices multiplied.A lawyer for Tolstedt has said the former executive was being used as a scapegoat for broader problems at the bank. The lawyer, Enu Mainigi of Williams & Connelly LLP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.The OCC review recommended nine changes to internal processes to better detect and address such scandals. Whistleblowers will have a more direct line to senior officials under one change, the document said.Earlier this year, the OCC fired its most senior Wells Fargo examiner.U.S. state insurance regulators on Wednesday pointed to the Wells Fargo scandal to bolster their view that the U.S. government should not take on a broader role in overseeing the insurance industry.“States know best what is happening within our own unique borders,” said Maria Vullo, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, at an event in Washington.(Reporting By Patrick Rucker and Pete Schroeder in Washington; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra, Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wellsfargo-accounts-regulator-idUSKBN17L25X'|'2017-04-20T00:57:00.000+03:00' '832d9d62468167d48d0e7b6c32f8fa679e9a7365'|'Kuwait oil minister says expects extension of OPEC, non-OPEC deal'|'By Rania El Gamal , Roslan Khasawneh and Richard Mably - ABU DHABI ABU DHABI Leading Gulf oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Kuwait gave a clear signal on Thursday that OPEC plans to extend into the second half of the year a deal with non-member producers to curb supplies of crude.Consensus is growing among oil producers that a supply restraint pact that started in January should be prolonged after its initial six-month term, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said."There is consensus building but it''s not done yet," Falih told reporters at a conference in the United Arab Emirates.Kuwait''s oil minister Essam al-Marzouq said he expected the agreement to be extended."Russia is on board preliminarily ... Compliance from Russia is very good," Marzouq said.OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo, noting that Marzouq chairs a committee that measures compliance with the cuts, said: "It is significant that the Kuwaiti minister has come out in public and said this."OPEC is keen that non-member producers play their promised part in supporting the group''s efforts to lift prices, which have recovered to $53 a barrel from lows last year below $30.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC meet on May 25 to discuss extending the curbs that total 1.8 million barrels daily, two-thirds of that from OPEC.OPEC sources said an internal assessment was that if they failed to extend the agreement, oil could slide back to $30-$40 a barrel.INVENTORIES STILL HIGHFalih said his main concern was to reduce global oil inventories, calling that "the main indicator for the success of the initiative".While inventories held at sea and in producer countries have dropped, they remain stubbornly high in consumer regions, particularly in Asia and the United States.The International Energy Agency said last week that inventories in industrialised countries were still 10 percent above the five-year average, a key gauge for OPEC.OPEC seems to be encouraged by the contribution of non-OPEC producers to the output cuts.Marzouq said there was a "noticeable increase in compliance from non-OPEC". Joint compliance among OPEC and non-OPEC in March was above 90 percent, he said.Russia has not yet publicly committed to prolonging its curbs, although Energy Minister Alexander Novak said this month that Moscow would start consultations with producing companies about the possibility of doing so.Marzouq said another African nation, which he did not identify, had expressed interest in joining the 24-country effort.One hold-out for an extended deal may be Iraq. Baghdad might seek to be exempt and ask to boost its own output, the leader of the nation''s Shi''ite ruling coalition, Ammar al-Hakim, told Reuters.Speaking in Cairo, Hakim cautioned that Baghdad could ask to be exempted from taking part in the supply curbs as the OPEC member country needed its oil income to fight Islamic State."Given these sensitive circumstances, it is the right of Iraq to hope for an exemption by the other OPEC member states and have an opportunity to increase its production," Hakim, an influential cleric, said in an interview late on Wednesday."But we are with the principle of reducing the overall OPEC supply to lift prices."Iran does not look likely to become an obstacle. The current deal granted Tehran permission to lift output, hit by Western sanctions that ended just over a year ago."Iran is not an issue. We know they can''t raise their production much more," an OPEC source said.(Additional reporting by Stanley Carvalho in Abu Dhabi and Mahmoud Mourad in Cairo; Editing by Dale Hudson and Richard Mably)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oil-opec-idINKBN17M0N4'|'2017-04-20T14:51:00.000+03:00' 'b35c9cd008c2b070077f7c2ffe058ac73bea1a33'|'Bank of England''s Carney says financial rules must be ''dynamic'''|'Business News 7:56pm BST Bank of England''s Carney says financial rules must be ''dynamic'' left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney leaves after speaking at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 1/5 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 2/5 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 3/5 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 4/5 left right Bank of England Governor Mark Carney leaves after speaking at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 5/5 By Francesco Canepa - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told bankers on Thursday that financial regulations devised after the 2008-09 crisis cannot be set in stone, and must be flexible enough to deal with unintended consequences and unexpected gaps. Speaking in Washington, where U.S. President Donald Trump plans to pare back banking rules he says hamper growth, Carney championed a "dynamic" approach to regulation that was flexible but ensured the global financial system remained resilient. "Implementation must not only be effective, it must also be dynamic," he told a conference hosted by the Institute of International Finance, a gathering dominated by major banks. "Authorities must learn by doing and make adjustments, as necessary, to optimise our efforts, without compromising on the level of resilience the reforms are intended to achieve," he said. Drawing on language first used in a speech at the London office of Thomson Reuters earlier this month, Carney said global regulation was coming to a fork in the road, with a risk of a return to mutual suspicion between regulators and inconsistent sets of national rules. Britain''s departure from the European Union would be a litmus test for cooperation between regulators, he stressed. Carney said that the Financial Stability Board - a grouping of 20 leading central banks which he chairs - was working on a review of regulation since the financial crisis. "Specifically, it will assess whether G20 reforms are achieving their intended outcomes, identify any regulatory gaps or emerging risks, and flag any potential material unintended consequences," he said. Britain''s central bank chief was more guarded about national attempts to review rules, though he did not mention any by name. "These are to be welcomed, provided the overall level of resilience is maintained," he added. An international consensus on regulation - such as that led by the FSB - was essential to avoid financial institutions playing one country off against the other, Carney said. But he stressed that the FSB did not have the power to force countries to act. "Decisions are ultimately matters for national authorities who - acting out of enlightened self-interest and in recognition of the benefits of a resilient and open global financial system - guide and discipline the reform process," he said. The U.S. Federal Reserve''s participation in the FSB is opposed by some U.S. Republicans. On Jan. 31 Representative Patrick McHenry wrote to Fed Chair Janet Yellen urging her to stop working with the FSB, as he believed the FSB''s views effectively proved binding on U.S. banks. Yellen rejected the lawmaker from North Carolina''s argument, saying the Fed did not view FSB recommendations as binding, and sometimes adopted different standards to those discussed globally. (Additional reporting by Huw Jones; Writing by David Milliken; Editing by Andy Bruce and Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-imf-g20-carney-idUKKBN17M1XA'|'2017-04-21T00:39:00.000+03:00' 'c03884b6fa61734e468129e3b2409acfe7695fea'|'Anthem denies report of talks with Justice Dept regarding merger'|'WASHINGTON Health insurer Anthem Inc ( ANTM.N ) denied a report on Thursday that it was in negotiations with the Justice Department in an effort to save its merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp ( CI.N ).Cigna shares jumped as much as 2.4 percent early in the session on a spike in trading volume to hit their highest level since July 2015. Anthem was last up 1.3 percent to $168.95. Cigna was up 2.3 percent at $155.50.The companies are awaiting a decision from a federal appeals court, which had been asked to rule on whether the Justice Department could stop the $54 billion merger on antitrust grounds. The lawsuit was originally brought by the Obama administration and a federal judge agreed that the deal should be stopped.Asked about a report from CTFN, a service specializing in merger news, that Anthem was in talks with the Justice Department, spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs said in an email: "Not accurate."The Justice Department declined to comment.An Anthem purchase of Cigna would create the largest U.S. health insurer. Rivals Aetna Inc ( AET.N ) and Humana Inc ( HUM.N ) had also sought to merge, but that deal collapsed amid opposition from the federal government and states.Adding to obstacles facing a deal, Anthem and Cigna, which have had difficult relations for months, are suing each other.(Reporting by Diane Bartz and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cigna-m-a-anthem-idINKBN17M269'|'2017-04-20T15:06:00.000+03:00' 'a072735cd2bcea46b036121e571a6c914f61504c'|'Pence to talk trade, security and koalas during Australian visit'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 2:02pm BST Pence to talk trade, security and koalas during Australian visit left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waves as he exits his plane with wife Karen after arriving at Sydney International Airport in Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed 1/6 left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence walks out of his plane with wife Karen after arriving at Sydney International Airport in Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed 2/6 left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence walks with his wife Karen after arriving at Sydney International Airport in Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed 3/6 left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with Australia''s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce after arriving at Sydney International Airport in Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed 4/6 left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and wife Karen greet Australia''s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce after arriving at Sydney International Airport in Australia, April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed 5/6 left right U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waves at his his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla as he leaves after their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Achmad Ibrahim/Pool 6/6 By Jane Wardell and Roberta Rampton - SYDNEY SYDNEY U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to discuss trade and regional security when he meets Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday, Australian and U.S. officials said. Pence landed in Australia late on Friday, his fourth stop on a 10-day tour of U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region that has included a series of roundtables with business executives in South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia. His trip to Australia is the first by a senior official in President Donald Trump''s administration as the United States looks to strengthen economic ties and security cooperation amid disputes in the South China Sea and tension on the Korean peninsula. Pence will emphasize the long-term partnership between the two countries on defense and the economy, even as Australia eyes the merits of developing a closer relationship with China, a White House foreign policy adviser said. "We''re the number two in the economy in this sense," the adviser told reporters traveling with Pence. "Obviously they lead with China. They are in the region, proximity matters to them." An official in Turnbull''s office noted Pence has already met and spoken by phone with several ministers about the Trump administration''s commitment to the bilateral relationship. "The prime minister will enjoy the chance to talk about opportunities for building on that partnership," said the official, who asked not to be identified. Australia''s relationship with the new administration in Washington got off to a rocky start when Trump lambasted Turnbull over a refugee resettlement arrangement that Trump labeled a "dumb" deal. Details of an acrimonious phone call between the pair soon after Trump took office made headlines around the world. ''ANCIENT HISTORY'' It is unclear whether that deal, agreed with former President Barack Obama, will be discussed on Saturday. "I really do think it''s ancient history," the White House foreign policy adviser told reporters, noting Pence had discussed the deal with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop earlier this year. Under the deal, the United States agreed to resettle up to 1,250 asylum seekers held in offshore processing camps on South Pacific islands in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. In return, Australia would resettle refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The deal has taken on added importance for Australia, which is under political and legal pressure to shut the camps, particularly one on Papua New Guinea''s Manus Island where violence between residents and inmates has flared. Pence will also meet Australian business executives in Sydney on Saturday, following similar meetings in Seoul, Tokyo, and Jakarta that have been thick with executives from Fortune 100 companies. His message at each of those stops was to reassure political and business leaders that Trump''s "America First" policy meant that the United States was open to foreign investment, and that his administration wanted to work with business leaders to knock down barriers for U.S. products. He has also confirmed that Trump will attend this year''s gathering of the Association of South East Asian Nations, scheduled for the Philippines in November. While in Australia, Pence and his family will also meet some local wildlife at Sydney''s zoo, take a harbor cruise and tour the world-famous Sydney Opera House. (Reporting By Jane Wardell and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-pence-asia-australia-idUKKBN17N0QP'|'2017-04-21T15:56:00.000+03:00' '0d0f0c284b1ace52585a609f53c73b638be3341c'|'China''s numerous green-car startups to dwindle to 2-3 in five years - Nio chairman'|' 51am BST China''s numerous green-car startups to dwindle to 2-3 in five years - Nio chairman ES8 SUV of the Chinese electric vehicle start-up Nio is unveiled at the Shanghai autoshow, in Shanghai, China April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song By Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu - SHANGHAI SHANGHAI Of dozens of startup electric car makers in China, only two or three will be around in five years'' time, the chief of Nio told Reuters on Thursday, after the automaker unveiled its first production car aimed at taking on Tesla Inc''s Model X. China''s government has been promoting electric vehicles in its battle with urban smog, with startups flooding the market after it opened up the sector to investment from technology firms and non-automotive backers. "A car business is the world''s toughest business to start," Chairman William Li said in Chinese on the sidelines of the Shanghai auto show. "If you look in five years, there won''t be more than two or three companies reaching the minimum level of sales needed." Nio, formerly NextEV, has lined its coffers with big-name investors, recently closing a second round of funding led by tech firms Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc, Li said. He declined to state the size of investment or the automaker''s valuation. The company now has nearly 40 investors, expanding its backers from five or six early founding investors, he said. Nio unveiled its first mass production car on Wednesday at the Shanghai show - the ES8 pure-electric, seven-seat sport-utility vehicle. The model is set to go on sale next year with more features than the Tesla Model X at a lower price, Li said. He said there is an opportunity for Nio to succeed by focusing only on electric cars and offering better service and digital functionality, areas where traditional car makers have difficulty. "Traditional car companies aren''t seriously doing this," Li said. "Their focus is still on hybrids and traditional cars." (Reporting by Jake Spring and Norihiko Shirouzu; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autoshow-shanghai-nio-idUKKBN17M0HA'|'2017-04-20T13:51:00.000+03:00' 'b6ac508eecfb44054442e88be501dacf1c250422'|'Pernod Ricard third quarter sales growth slows, India weighs'|' 46am BST Pernod Ricard third quarter sales growth slows, India weighs FILE PHOTO - A bottle of Ricard, aniseed-flavoured beverage, is pictured during a news conference to present the company''s 2015-2016 half-year results in Paris, France, February 11, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen PARIS French spirits maker Pernod Ricard ( PERP.PA ) said on Thursday that sales growth slowed slightly in the third quarter, reflecting weakness in India and the earlier timing of the Chinese New year. Pernod, the world''s second-biggest spirits group after Britain''s Diageo ( DGE.L ), kept its profit outlook unchanged and achieved some robust quarterly growth in the United States and in Europe. Pernod Ricard posted sales of 1.987 billion euros (£1.67 billion) in the three months to March 31, up 3 percent on a like-for-like basis, compared with 4 percent growth in the second quarter. This was, however, above the average of analysts'' estimates for 1 percent growth in a company-compiled consensus. The owner of Mumm champagne, Absolut vodka and Martell cognac kept its forecast for underlying operating profit growth of between 2 percent and 4 percent in the full year to June 30. In India, which accounts for about 10 percent of Pernod Ricard group revenue, a government ban on high-value bank notes held back local consumption. There has also been a ban on alcohol sales near highways in India since April 1. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pernod-ricard-salesfigures-idUKKBN17M0GU'|'2017-04-20T13:46:00.000+03:00' 'd76e416f390c91e13f1ccbfd53812b4a6f4498d6'|'UK risks 22 percent tariff on EU food imports if no Brexit deal - retailers'|'Money - 20am BST UK risks 22 percent tariff on EU food imports if no Brexit deal - retailers FILE PHOTO: A shopper pushes a trolley in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall By David Milliken - LONDON LONDON British shoppers could face an average tariff of 22 percent on food from the European Union if Prime Minister Theresa May fails to reach a trade deal with Brussels before Britain leaves in two years time, retailers said on Thursday. Nearly 80 percent of British food imports come from EU member states and if no trade agreement is struck Britain and the EU would have to treat each other as WTO members. "Such a scenario would put upward pressure on consumer food prices," said the British Retail Consortium, which represents big supermarkets and other stores. Food prices are already rising at their fastest rate in about three years, as sterling''s fall since June''s Brexit vote pushes up import costs. Weaker consumer demand in the face of higher inflation is the major reason why most economists expect Britain''s economy to slow this year. As an EU member, Britain pays no tariffs on the 20 billion pounds a year of food it imports from elsewhere in the bloc, but after it leaves the default option would be to levy standard tariffs set by the World Trade Organization. These tariffs rise as high as 46 percent for Italian mozzarella cheese, and around 40 percent for supermarket staples such as Irish beef and cheddar cheese. Dutch tomatoes would face a 21 percent levy - though Britons could turn to drink instead, and pay just 4 percent extra for French wine. Given the balance of food imports, the BRC estimates the average increase on tariffs would be 22 percent. May has said she aims to reach a comprehensive free trade deal with the EU over the next two years - and called a snap election on Tuesday, which she said would strengthen her negotiating mandate. However, she has not ruled out quitting without a deal if the EU fails to offer Britain good terms. A Reuters poll of economists published on Wednesday pointed to a roughly one-in-three chance that Britain will default to WTO rules. Comprehensive trade deals typically take many years to negotiate, and a transitional arrangement - which would largely preserve Britain''s access to EU markets, and leave it subject to many EU rules - was a fall-back option recommended by the BRC. Brexit supporters argue that Britain will in future be able to get a better deal by striking trade agreements with countries such as the United States and China, with which the EU has struggled to reach an agreement. Others have said Britain should unilaterally scrap all import tariffs. But the BRC said Britain should prioritise retaining EU ties, and follow that by renegotiating existing EU trade deals with developing countries such as India. "Only then should the government look to realise the opportunities presented by new trading relationships with the rest of the world," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said. (Editing by Richard Lough)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-tariffs-idUKKBN17M1LM'|'2017-04-20T21:16:00.000+03:00' '27ccbbde866b1aaef673f629df076aae18d11901'|'Germany not worried by U.S. corporate tax reform plans: Schaeuble'|'BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is not worried by the prospect of cuts to corporate tax rates in the United States he told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington.U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday promised a big announcement about tax reform shortly and ordered a review of Obama-era tax rules written to discourage U.S. companies from relocating overseas to cut their tax bills."U.S. corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world," the magazine quoted Schaeuble as saying. "If the United States lowers its corporate taxes to European or international levels that won''t bother me a bit. Just the opposite."At the same time, Schaeuble said he opposed plans for a systemic change to taxation of companies based on their country of origin and a protectionist border tax favored by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the magazine reported.The Trump administration has criticized Germany for its large trade surpluses with the United States, while Germany has said its companies make quality products that customers want to buy.During the 2016 election campaign, Trump initially issued a plan that included proposals for cuts in tax rates for individuals and corporations, a repeal of the estate tax, an offshore profits repatriation tax holiday for multinationals and a cap on the deductibility of business interest.(Reporting by Andrea Shalal. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-usa-schaeuble-idUSKBN17P05C'|'2017-04-23T16:13:00.000+03:00' 'c78c0b8b1567411b3d793c513ecdd5a0c3213c46'|'UPDATE 1-UK''s Sports Direct strikes deal to enter U.S. market'|'Bonds News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 5:47am EDT UPDATE 2-UK''s Sports Direct deal to enter U.S. market irks analysts * Sports Direct buys 50 U.S. stores for $101 million * UK firm says deal provides U.S. foothold * Analysts say deal unwelcome distraction from core market (Adds analyst comment, updates shares) By James Davey LONDON, April 21 British retailer Sports Direct has entered the U.S. market by buying two loss-making chains for $101 million, it said on Friday, drawing criticism from analysts who said the firm should keep its focus at home where it has struggled. Sports Direct, controlled by Chief Executive Mike Ashley, has faced several challenges in the past two years. British lawmakers condemned what they called its poor working conditions and investors have criticised its corporate governance. The firm issued a profit warning in December after a slide in sterling''s value made it more costly for the firm to source its branded goods from Asia. Last month, it said the devaluation of the euro against the dollar would hit its gross margin. Its shares, which have fallen 22 percent in the past year, were down 1 percent at 312 pence at 0931 GMT, valuing the business at 1.74 billion pounds ($2.22 billion). Sports Direct said it had received approval from Delaware Bankruptcy Court to buy 50 stores trading as Bob''s Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports through the bankruptcy process of Eastern Outfitters, the chains'' parent company. The acquired stores sell predominantly sports and casual wear, as well as outdoor and camping equipment and clothing. "The acquisition is expected to complete in the first half of May 2017 and will provide Sports Direct with a footprint in U.S. bricks-and-mortar retail and a platform from which to grow U.S. online sales," Sports Direct said. Analysts criticised the move that they said would distract the company from efforts to lift its performance in Britain. "We find the timing extraordinary," analysts at Peel Hunt wrote in a research note, changing their investment stance to "add" from "buy". "What is not required, in our view, is a major, and not inexpensive, distraction, 3,000 miles away." Analysts at Jefferies, who have a "hold" stance, also questioned the timing. "The incremental challenge of breaking into the U.S. coincides with the need for a drastic UK repositioning and for European stabilisation. This may be a step too far," they said in a note. The $101 million acquisition cost comprises loans advanced by Sports Direct to Eastern Outfitters before and during the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, and the purchase of the firm''s debt. In the financial period to Jan. 28, 2017, the acquired businesses made a pretax net operating loss of $26 million. The U.S. sporting goods sector is being tested by the expansion of Internet shopping and discount chains. Several retailers filed for bankruptcy in 2016, including Sports Authority, speciality golf retailer Golfsmith International Holdings and sports goods manufacturer Performance Sports Group. ($1 = 0.7806 pounds) (Editing by David Evans and Edmund Blair) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bobs-stores-ma-sports-direct-idUSL8N1HT0T8'|'2017-04-21T15:27:00.000+03:00' '26ed953086e6b585087c32f59feab506753e98ad'|'Brexit makes campsites cool again as Britons tighten belts'|'Lifestyle - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 5:36am EDT Brexit makes campsites cool again as Britons tighten belts left right A union jack flutters as locals play by the harbour in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 1/13 left right The sun shines on the interior of a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 2/13 left right The sun shines on a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 3/13 left right Scott McCready looks out from one of his holiday cabins at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 4/13 left right Scott McCready looks out from one of his holiday cabins at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 5/13 A man walks through Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 6/13 left right The interior of a mobile home is seen inside a cabin at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 7/13 left right A boat floats on a creek flowing into the English Channel seen from Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 8/13 left right An EU flag flutters outside a house in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 9/13 left right The sun shines on a mobile holiday cabin at Briar Hill in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 10/13 left right A worker extends a decking to a mobile home at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury, Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 11/13 left right A resident relaxes in a swimming pool at The Thatchers Holiday Village in Modbury Devon, Britain April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 12/13 left right A sign hangs outside The Dolphin pub in Newton Ferrers, Devon, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez 13/13 By Kate Holton and William Schomberg - NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON NEWTON FERRERS, England/LONDON Before last year''s Brexit vote, Scott McCready was struggling to fill his holiday cabins on the coast of southwest England. Now the site is fully booked with British tourists avoiding more expensive foreign trips following a plunge in the pound. This turnaround in the 10 months since Britons decided to leave the European Union reflects a jump in demand for "staycations", with British consumers seeking ways to make their money go further as rising inflation squeezes their incomes. McCready, who gave up a job in IT to build his site between ancient woodlands and a creek in the county of Devon, recalled the hectic days after last June''s referendum. "My phone just took off," he told Reuters. "It was like someone flicked a switch. We were booked out for the rest of the summer and now this year we''re having to turn people away." The reason why Britons and some Europeans have flocked to his 24 wooden lodges in Newton Ferrers, once a quiet fishing village 370 km (230 miles) from London, is straightforward. The referendum result caught financial markets off guard, sending the pound down about 20 percent against the dollar and 16 percent against the euro at one point. That rapidly pushed up the cost of holidays to the United States and continental Europe, both popular destinations for Britons. Since then, sterling has recovered some of its losses but remains down about 14 percent against the dollar and 8 percent against the euro. So about 15 km away, Chris Duff is enjoying a similar jump in demand at his 90-lodge Thatches park, where he is investing to upgrade facilities which include a swimming pool and a fitness suite. "If we could, we would like to expand," he said. Britain''s $2.6 trillion economy surprised almost all forecasters by withstanding the initial shock of the Brexit vote, a point made by Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday when she called a snap June 8 election. "Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations," she said. But the picture for the years ahead looks weaker as sterling''s fall raises import costs. With annual inflation pushing up toward 3 percent, outstripping sluggish wage growth, Britons are becoming cautious in their spending - and not just on holidays. Retail sales rose at the slowest pace in nearly a decade in the first three months of 2017, according to the British Retail Consortium, and surveys have shown that households are increasingly worried about the outlook for the economy. German supermarket groups Aldi and Lidl, which attracted new British shoppers during the global financial crisis due to their deeply discounted prices, have seen accelerating sales in 2017. "Customers are voting with their feet," Matthew Barnes, Aldi''s CEO for Britain and Ireland, told Reuters in February. The squeeze facing many people in Britain is unlikely to be as sharp as in the years following the 2007-09 financial crisis when inflation hit 5 percent and annual wage growth was even weaker than it is now. Nonetheless, the Bank of England expects almost no growth in the spending power of households over the next three years. Many private economists say even this forecast may be too optimistic. The extent of the hit to consumer spending is the most important factor behind the central bank''s view that the economy cannot be weaned off its record low interest rates. "The big story in terms of the strength of the UK economy is ... the strength of consumer demand, and there are some signs of (that) coming off slowly," Governor Mark Carney said. STAYING IN UK Last month, the Bank pointed to rising demand for staycations as a sign of how consumers are adapting. According to tourism agency Visit England, 63 percent of British adults expect to take a holiday or break in England in 2017, up from 57 percent in 2016. More will flock to traditional destinations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Bookings website Pitchup.com, which specializes in outdoor holidays, says it has seen a 41 percent jump in UK reservations from domestic tourists since the referendum, a much stronger growth rate than in previous years. Bookings for lodges are nearly tripling and cabins doubling and to Pitchup.com founder Dan Yates, this suggests that many holidaymakers want to avoid expense but without resorting to a tent in Britain''s unreliable climate. "People who are moving from a hotel to a cabin are going to be paying significantly less. But they still want their dishwashers, cable TV and iPod docks," he said. Britons have not suddenly given up foreign travel. Official figures show an 8 percent increase in the number of UK residents taking a holiday abroad in the three months to January. But that pales in comparison with a 22 percent surge in the number of foreign tourists coming to Britain in the same period. This data also suggests British holidaymakers are spending more cautiously while abroad while foreign visitors to Britain are taking advantage of the weak pound to spend more. Luxury brand Burberry ( BRBY.L ) said it had seen a 90 percent rise in the number of Americans buying in Britain in the six months to the end of March. With the outlook for British tourism spending unclear, Europe''s biggest budget airline Ryanair is shifting its future capacity growth away from the country. The Irish-based carrier is worried about the impact of Brexit and, like some of its rivals, is cutting fares to win over customers. One of the potential winners from the Brexit effect is Merlin ( MERL.L ), the world''s second-biggest visitor attractions group. It expects more tourists to visit its British sites such as the Madame Tussauds waxworks museum and the London Eye observation wheel this year. Merlin CEO Nick Varney sees little likelihood of any change to the fundamental drivers of the change. He thinks a pound-to-euro exchange rate of 1.40 is the tipping point for holidaymakers in Britain and Europe when deciding where to book. The pound is currently trading at about 1.19 euros, keeping the economic advantage firmly in favor of Britain. One man hoping to benefit is Adrian Coppin, who owns the Mill Park campsite in southwest England where tents can be pitched for 10 pounds ($13) a night. Having seen a sharp rise in British bookings he expects an increase in continental European visitors too. He now just needs the sun to shine. "If we can now secure six to eight weeks of glorious weather then this could set the scene for years to come," he said. For a graphic on Brexit belt tightening, click here (editing by Guy Faulconbridge and David Stamp) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-consumers-analysis-idUSKBN17N0HJ'|'2017-04-21T14:18:00.000+03:00' 'b4ee2f303463654766de5ac4e240f12662d5f192'|'Wells Fargo sweetens customer settlement to $142 million over fake accounts 21,'|'Wells Fargo CEO: We should have addressed concerns in 2004 Good news for Wells Fargo customers caught up in the fake account scandal: The bank has agreed to sweeten its class action settlement. Wells Fargo ( WFC ) said on Friday the revised preliminary agreement to compensate customers is now worth $142 million, up from $110 million, from the original deal announced in late March. The embattled bank has also expanded the scope of the settlement. Now, customers who had unauthorized accounts opened in their name as early as May 2002 will be included. The previous agreement only went back to 2009. The new timeline reflects the reality that the scandal took place earlier than previously thought. Wells Fargo''s own board of directors put out a 110-page report on April 10 that found evidence of "mass terminations" of employees for opening unauthorized accounts and other misconduct going back to "at least 2002." "We made a number of mistakes, there''s no question about it. We''re focused on fixing what was broken, making sure that we''re making things right by our customers," Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan told CNN''s Poppy Harlow in an exclusive interview this week. Wells Fargo said the revised settlement, which is subject to court approval, will cover "all customers" claiming that without their consent the bank opened an account in their name, enrolled them in a product or service or submitted credit card or other applications. Related: Wells Fargo CEO: We''re America''s ''best corporate citizen'' Once preliminary approval is received for the settlement, Wells Fargo said a notice will be sent to customers explaining the process to make claims. It''s not clear how much each customer will receive because it''s too early to know how many people will be included in the settlement. After subtracting attorneys'' fees and costs of administration, Wells Fargo said the $142 million will go towards reimbursing customers for fees and damage to their credit scores. The remainder of the pool will be for "additional compensation," the bank said. Lawyers representing the plaintiffs said in a separate statement that the additional compensation will be "based on the number of unauthorized accounts, products or services opened in their names." The class action payouts would be on top of the $3.2 million in refunds that Wells Fargo paid to customers to cover 130,000 potentially-unauthorized accounts Those refunds work out to about $25 per account. Related: Feds knew of 700 Wells Fargo whistleblower complaints Wells Fargo was at the center of a national firestorm last September when regulators slapped the bank with $185 million in fines for creating some two million unauthorized accounts. The bank said it fired 5,300 workers since 2011 for improper sales tactics. Wells Fargo has since taken numerous steps aimed at fixing its culture, including eliminating unrealistic sales goals , changing its leadership and clawing back $180 million in pay from senior executives. The settlement with regulators was based on a review of accounts going back to 2011. Under pressure from the public, Wells Fargo agreed to expand the account review to include 2009 and 2010. However, Wells Fargo does not plan to review accounts back to 2002, despite the findings of the independent board report finding evidence of "mass terminations" of employees for opening unauthorized accounts and other misconduct. Sloan told CNN that''s because there are "challenges" with the "quality of the data" from that long ago. He urged customers who have concerns to reach out to Wells Fargo. "We''ve done everything we can to turn over every stone," Sloan said. CNNMoney (New York) 11:55 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_companies.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/21/investing/wells-fargo-expands-customer-settlement/index.html'|'2017-04-21T20:19:00.000+03:00' 'a3121ab96bc1752957c157aec457044b5f40125d'|'Oil recovers some lost ground, but market under pressure'|'Global Energy 03am BST Oil recovers lost ground, but market remains under pressure A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices recovered lost ground on Monday following big losses last week, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in U.S. drilling capped gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 added 32 cents, or 0.64 percent, by 0649 GMT, but were still just below the $50 mark pierced on Friday at $49.84 a barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 35 cents, or 0.67 percent, to $52.31 per barrel. Oil prices fell steeply last week on the back of stubbornly high crude supplies, despite a pledge by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some other producers to cut production by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market. U.S. drillers added oil rigs for a 14th week in a row, to 688 rigs, extending an 11-month recovery that is expected to boost U.S. shale production in May by the biggest monthly increase in more than two years. "Since its trough on May 27, 2016, producers have added 372 oil rigs (+118 percent) in the U.S.," Goldman Sachs said in a note following the release of the data. U.S. crude production is at 9.25 million barrels per day (bpd) C-OUT-T-EIA, up almost 10 percent since mid-2016 and approaching that of OPEC''s top exporter Saudi Arabia. "WTI oil slipped back below the $50 per barrel level, amid concerns that the lack of inventory drawdown since the OPEC production cuts is a sign that the cuts are not enough to rebalance supply and demand and put a floor under prices," said William O''Loughlin, investment analyst at Rivkin Securities in a note on Monday. Both the Brent and WTI oil benchmarks are down more than 7.5 percent since the end of last year. Keen to halt a further decline in prices, a panel made up by OPEC and other allied producers has recommended an extension of output cuts by another six months from June, a source said. This, and an expected fall in Iranian production lent markets some support on Monday, traders said. Iran''s crude oil exports are set to hit a 14-month low in May, suggesting the country is struggling to raise exports after clearing out stocks stored on tankers. Iranian oil exports, especially to its core markets in Asia, had soared since the ending of most sanctions against it in January 2016. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin and Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17Q025'|'2017-04-24T08:59:00.000+03:00' 'c8c1dc94e197b7b7575cabd8137d571785e100f7'|'Pfeiffer Vacuum recommends not to accept Busch takeover offer'|'FRANKFURT German pump maker Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) said on Monday its management and supervisory board advised shareholders not to accept an improved takeover offer by rival Busch Group.Busch in late March announced a 110 euro per share offer for Pfeiffer, valuing the group at around 1.1 billion euros ($1.20 billion), after a previous approach failed.Pfeiffer has criticized Busch for still not offering a premium over the current share price, which stood at 116.90 euros at Friday''s close, valuing Pfeiffer at around 1.15 billion euros.(Reporting by Maria Sheahan, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-pfeiffer-vacuum-m-a-busch-idINKBN17Q0FN'|'2017-04-24T04:19:00.000+03:00' '8176fa9e7448df33f43848396bdf11eddcea11d5'|'Wal-Mart e-commerce investment arm names new retail startup CEO'|'April 24 Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world''s no.1 retailer, said its recently launched startup investment arm, Store No 8, has hired Jenny Fleiss as the chief executive of its first portfolio company.Fleiss will run code eight, a startup that will develop personalized, one-to-one shopping experiences. Fleiss is the co-founder and former head of business development of Rent the Runway, a designer fashion rental company. ( bit.ly/2pcJ3Xd )Silicon Valley-based Store No 8, launched in March to expand Wal-Mart''s e-commerce business, plans to work with startups that specialize in areas such as robotics, virtual and augmented reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence. (Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/walmart-ecommerce-idINL4N1HW463'|'2017-04-24T10:39:00.000+03:00' 'fbcd6d6cbdb8536ef5e39d0f9e3933a7cff46d17'|'Honda says U.S. driver seriously injured in Takata inflator rupture'|' 6:07pm BST Honda says U.S. driver seriously injured in Takata inflator rupture The logo of Takata Corp is seen on its display at a showroom for vehicles in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, Honda Motor Co Ltd ( 7267.T ) said on Wednesday a driver of a 2002 Accord was seriously injured after a faulty Takata air bag inflator ruptured during a March 3 crash in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Japanese automaker said the inflator had not been installed by a dealer but likely was a salvaged part from a junk yard. Honda said it has purchased more than 60,000 salvaged Takata Corp ( 7312.T ) air bag modules in an effort to prevent similar incidents. The inflators, which can explode with excessive force and unleash metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks, are blamed for at least 16 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide. The safety defect has prompted an international recall of about 100 million inflators by more than a dozen major automakers. Honda has said at least 10 deaths and more than 150 injuries in the United States are linked to the inflators in its vehicles. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Detroit said he plans to name former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller to oversee nearly $1 billion in Takata restitution funds as part of a U.S. Justice Department settlement. In January, Takata agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing and to pay $1 billion to resolve a federal investigation into its air bag inflators. As part of the settlement, Takata agreed to establish two independently administered restitution funds: one for $850 million to compensate automakers for recalls, and a $125 million fund for individuals physically injured by Takata''s airbags who have not already reached a settlement. With the criminal settlement and penalties set in the United States, where the majority of air bag-related fatalities and injuries have occurred, Takata is continuing its search for a buyer or financial backer, a process that has dragged on for a year. Automakers have recalled 46 million Takata air bag inflators in 29 million U.S. vehicles. By 2019, automakers will recall 64 to 69 million U.S. inflators in 42 million vehicles, U.S regulators said in December. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editinng by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-honda-takata-idUKKBN17L26V'|'2017-04-20T01:07:00.000+03:00' '1fb0bd8a154e3919b1bbd9b0d9985b5a7ed96b74'|'UPDATE 4-Booming ETFs help BlackRock weather investors'' cost-cutting'|'(Adds analyst Quote: , updates stock price)By Trevor HunnicuttNEW YORK, April 19 BlackRock Inc, the world''s biggest asset manager, on Wednesday reported double-digit profit gains as investors plowed money into lower-cost index funds, but the company saw its share price trimmed as revenue disappointed analysts'' expectations.Revenues of $2.8 billion came in 2 percent below analysts'' estimates as advisory and distribution fees declined. Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said the miss was not attributable to the fees it charges for managing funds.Nonetheless, while BlackRock''s assets grew 22 percent from a year ago to $5.4 trillion, fees for managing those assets and lending out the securities grew by a smaller 12 percent."There is a greater belief that long-term returns are structurally lower than they were 10 and 20 years ago," Fink told analysts on a conference call. "Fees take up a lot of that return. And as long as we believe the world is going to be in a low-return environment, our clients are under a lot of pressure.BlackRock shares were down about 1.5 percent."They have a history of exceeding expectations," said Macrae Sykes, an analyst at Gabelli & Co, which owns BlackRock shares. "This quarter they didn''t."Investors poured $82.2 billion into its index funds and iShares exchange-traded funds during the first quarter, while its pricier active funds posted $1.8 billion in withdrawals.Financial markets traded vibrantly last quarter as a new U.S. president and congress took office, and investors tried to size up whether they would pass tax and other reforms that could give new life to an aging bull market in U.S. stocks.Investors increasingly are choosing to make those bets - whether optimistic or pessimistic - using ETFs that track indexes at a relatively low cost.Very few companies in the industry have been able to build a successful index fund franchise like iShares, and the flight of customers to lower-cost products has consequently squeezed margins.BlackRock''s net income rose to $862 million, or $5.23 per share as its tax rate declined in the first quarter ended March 31, from $657 million, or $3.92 per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, it earned $5.25 per share, beating the $4.89 estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.PASSIVELast quarter, iShares and index funds brought in all of the net money that went into the BlackRock''s "long-term" products, a grouping that excludes funds where investors park cash.BlackRock has been pushing investors to use ETFs more often and in new ways. ETFs were initially seen as devices used to track stock indexes. But BlackRock has aggressively marketed fixed-income ETFs to institutions that normally use bonds.That approach paid off. U.S.-based bond ETFs attracted record cash last quarter, according to researcher Morningstar Inc, and iShares took in $4 in $10 of that money.BlackRock also created a low-cost lineup of 25 "Core" ETFs for everyday investors to use to build a basic portfolio. The funds compete on price with BlackRock''s most aggressive price-slashing rivals, Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Corp .Those 25 Core ETFs accounted for 54 percent of iShares inflows last quarter.Yet success in that category has come at the cost of lowering fees, which BlackRock last did for Core in October.In a sign of how high the bar is for growing in the ETF business, iShares'' share of U.S. assets in that business has actually decreased to 39 percent, from a peak under BlackRock ownership of 47 percent. BlackRock bought iShares from Barclays PLC in 2009.ACTIVELast month, BlackRock said it would cut jobs and fees while relying more on computers to assemble its investment portfolios, a flurry of changes meant to jumpstart its lagging stockpicking franchise. The changes affect 11 percent of its $275 billion active stock fund business.By BlackRock''s own figures, 51 percent of assets in its traditionalist "Fundamental" active stock funds are lagging their benchmark over five years. That compares to 90 percent for BlackRock''s data-driven "Scientific" funds and 88 percent for its taxable-bond funds.It remains to be seen what effect the new changes will have. All else equal, cutting fees boosts performance.But transferring management of some traditionalist funds to Scientific teams comes with its own risks, including scaring away existing investors, and creating a new reliance on computer models that may not deliver in increasingly competitive markets."They can''t do anything about the environment for active management," said Tom Brakke, who consults asset managers.(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru, Simon Jessop and Maiya Keidan in London; Editing by Jennifer Ablan, Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackrock-results-idINL3N1HR3JS'|'2017-04-19T14:47:00.000+03:00' '4f5a397468fd02a659e044d4eded0ef335f275f6'|'Chipmaker Qualcomm''s revenue falls 9.6 percent'|'Qualcomm Inc ( QCOM.O ), the largest maker of chips used in smartphones, reported quarterly revenue and profit that beat analysts'' estimates, helping ease concerns surrounding the company''s dispute with Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ).Investors pushed the company shares - the worst performer year-to-date on the Philadelphia semiconductor index .SOX - up 2.4 percent to $53.85 in after-market trading on Wednesday.The iPhone maker sued Qualcomm in January, accusing the chipmaker of overcharging for its chips and refusing to pay some $1 billion in promised rebates.Qualcomm said on Wednesday that Apple''s contract manufacturers underpaid royalties in the second quarter, but revenue was not affected as the amount was similar to what Apple claimed Qualcomm owed it.San Diego-based Qualcomm also warned that it was unclear whether Apple''s contract manufacturers would underpay royalties owed in the third quarter, leading to the wider-than-usual profit forecast for the period.However, Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf said on a post-earnings call that the company expected to continue to be an "important supplier to Apple now and into the future".Qualcomm forecast current-quarter adjusted profit of 90 cents-$1.15 per share and revenue of $5.3 billion-$6.1 billion.Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $1.09 per share and revenue of $5.94 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.The royalties issue also weighed on Qualcomm''s second-quarter results.The quarter included a $974 million reduction to revenue, or 48 cents per share, related to an arbitration over a royalties dispute with BlackBerry Ltd ( BB.TO ).Revenue fell 9.6 pct to $5.02 billion in the three months ended March 26. ( bit.ly/2ot17st )On an adjusted basis, Qualcomm reported revenue of $5.99 billion, beating analysts'' average estimate of $5.89 billion.Despite the litigation worries, revenue in the Qualcomm Technology Licensing business rose about 5 percent to $2.25 billion, ahead of the analysts'' estimate of $2.24 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.The licensing unit contributed about 85 percent of the company''s earnings before taxes in 2016.Charter Equity analyst Edward Snyder attributed the results in part to catch-up payments by customers who had earlier disputed them."It''s kind of a confusing mess right now on who''s coming and who''s going, that''s one of the reasons that you''re not seeing the stock perform better," Snyder said.The company also said there was increased demand for its Snapdragon mobile chips, particularly in China, boosting revenue by 10 percent in its chip-making unit.Qualcomm''s market share in China is expected to increase to 65 percent this year from 50 percent in 2016, with share gains in OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi and Meizu, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang wrote in a note.Excluding items, Qualcomm earned $1.34 per share, above analysts'' average estimate of $1.19.(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-qualcomm-results-idUSKBN17L2PB'|'2017-04-20T04:30:00.000+03:00' '8038b69fd2bae9a709bf42d48ea4df25c6890173'|'Oil prices dip on bloated U.S. market, mixed Saudi signals'|'LONDON Oil edged higher on Wednesday as OPEC said it was committed to eroding a global surplus of crude, but increasing shale production in the United States and still-high global stocks threatened to pull prices lower.Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 19 cents at $55.08 a barrel at 1331 GMT, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 15 cents at $52.56.Crude fell in the previous two sessions, but it received a boost from comments on Wednesday by the secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that the group was committed to cutting inventories to the five-year average.Analysts warned that prices could quickly turn negative."It seems that the optimism in the oil market we have seen since the last few days of March is running out of steam," wrote Tamas Varga, PVM Oil Associates analyst, noting concerns about the "ever-increasing rise" in U.S. shale output.OPEC and other producers such as Russia agreed to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to drain a supply overhang that has persisted for nearly three years.The cuts, and talk of a possible extension, enabled a rally in major oil contracts of some 10 percent between March 22 and April 12, Varga said.Geopolitical concerns have also helped underpin oil.This week, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the United States'' national interests. A lifting of certain sanctions against Iran in late 2015 under a nuclear deal allowed Tehran to more than double its crude exports over 2016.But U.S. stockpiles - and shale production - have cast doubt on whether the production cuts were enough. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed on Tuesday that although crude inventories fell by 840,000 barrels in the week to April 14, they remained near record highs.Gasoline stocks also posted a counter-seasonal build of 1.4 million barrels. Gasoline margins have since come under downward pressure, which analysts warned could undermine crude prices as well. nZXN04ZW00]Official U.S. oil data is due to be published on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)."Unless the (EIA) data shows something drastically different, this report should cause a severe dent in the bullish case (for oil prices)," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta.(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore and Alex Lawler in London; editing by; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUSKBN17L03T'|'2017-04-19T09:16:00.000+03:00' 'beb739b12af9ed461fb5dc5e54aecc887a117be6'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 19'|'April 19 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 26 points lower on Wednesday, according to financial spreadbetters. * British companies plan to increase their spending on advertising this year as they expect the UK economy to remain resilient despite the Brexit vote, a survey showed on Wednesday, reversing a previous forecast for a decline in ad budgets. * Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as bloated U.S. supplies weighed on markets while a fall in Saudi crude exports was offset by rising production in the country. Brent crude futures were at $54.77 per barrel at 0354 GMT. * London copper held close to its weakest since January on Wednesday, on concerns China''s base metals demand could temper in the coming quarter as Beijing acts on runaway property prices, and following a wobble in steel. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange CMCU3 rebounded by 1.4 percent to $5649 a tonne by 0220 GMT. * Gold slipped on Wednesday as the dollar recovered a bit from a three-week low hit in the previous session, but geopolitical concerns about North Korea and nervousness ahead of the French presidential election lent support to the safe-haven asset. Spot gold was down 0.2 percent to $1,286.40 per ounce as of 0314 GMT. * The FTSE 100 dropped 2.5 percent on Tuesday to its lowest in nearly 10 weeks as sterling inched higher, further weighing on the index''s stocks. British shares suffered their worst day''s drop since the aftermath of last June''s Brexit referendum, after Prime Minister Theresa May said she would call an early election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Associated British Foods Plc Half Year Earnings Bunzl Plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement Rentokil Initial Plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement SEGRO Plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement Fenner Plc Half Year Earnings Release Burberry Group Plc Full Year Trading Statement Henderson Group Plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement Relx Plc Q1 2017 Trading Statement Rio Tinto Plc Q1 2017 Operations Review TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HR221'|'2017-04-19T13:38:00.000+03:00' 'a361598912d786d6d685db3c884d822c5ef3a575'|'Qatar Airways close to deal to buy stake in Italy''s Meridiana- CEO'|'Company News 5:39am EDT Qatar Airways close to deal to buy stake in Italy''s Meridiana- CEO DUBAI, April 24 Qatar Airways will sign a deal to buy a stake in Italian carrier Meridiana in the "next couple of days", Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said on Monday. Al Baker also said the airline will not reduce flight frequency to the United States. Fellow Gulf carrier Emirates said last week it was cutting flights on five U.S. routes after restrictions imposed by President Donald Trump''s administration weakened demand from the Middle East. (Reporting by Alex Cornwell; Writing by Tom Arnold; Editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/qatar-airways-growth-idUSD5N1FF01A'|'2017-04-24T17:39:00.000+03:00' '802c894199d38e6e010c0ae3105fb0f7b4662944'|'Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 8:58pm BST Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal DAY 57 / MARCH 17: The first face-to-face meeting between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel started awkwardly and ended even more oddly, with a quip by Trump about wiretapping that left the German leader visibly bewildered. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst HANNOVER, Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel fueled expectations of a future EU-U.S trade deal on Sunday, saying she was "very encouraged" talks were being looked at after her recent trip to Washington. Merkel, speaking at the opening of the 70th annual Hannover Messe trade fair, said Germany was opposed to protectionism and trade barriers, and would continue to work for trade agreements like the one signed between the European Union and Canada. "I also feel very encouraged by my visit to the United States that negotiations between the EU and the United States on a free trade agreement ... are also being looked at," she said. Merkel''s comments came after the London Times reported on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump had warmed to a deal with the bloc after meeting Merkel in March. A source close to the White House was quoted as saying that there had been a "realization" in the Trump administration that a trade deal with the EU - allowing the tariff-free exchange of goods and services - was more important to U.S. interests than a post-Brexit deal with Britain. The newspaper quoted a senior German politician as saying that Trump had repeatedly asked Merkel about signing a bilateral trade deal, but was told such an accord could only be negotiated by the EU. Merkel did not mention the exchange, saying only that she was very encouraged following her U.S. visit and adding that the EU''s first priority was to complete work on a deal with Japan. One of Trump''s first acts as president was to cancel U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal among 11 Pacific Rim countries. The EU and the United States had begun negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership under then-President Barack Obama, but the work was not completed. Dieter Kempf, president of the BDI industry group, warned Washington against pursuing protectionist policies. "Those who have trouble understanding how trade surpluses and globalization effects are created are invited to come here and take a look," he said. He also warned the EU against watering down the four basic freedoms of its single market during negotiations with Britain about its exit from the bloc. "We cannot let the four basic freedoms of the EU be diluted by special arrangements or cherry-picking," he said. Merkel said the EU would insist on maintaining them, saying: "We want to continue good relations with Britain, while maintaining the advantages of the single market for ourselves". (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Reuters TV and Andreas Rinke; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-europe-usa-trade-idUKKBN17P0UO'|'2017-04-24T03:58:00.000+03:00' '5ad29094106f8ffb985b826f3f1056d3c358f411'|'RLJ to buy fellow lodging trust FelCor'|'By Ankit Ajmera RLJ Lodging Trust ( RLJ.N ) said on Monday it would buy peer FelCor Lodging Trust Inc ( FCH.N ), making it one of the biggest U.S. lodging real estate investment trusts.The combination, which will have a pro-forma market value of $4.2 billion and an enterprise value of $7 billion, will own 160 hotels in 26 states and the District of Columbia, across brands including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Wyndham.Under the deal, each FelCor share will be converted into 0.362 shares of newly issued shares of RLJ common stock in a taxable merger.Based on the RLJ''s Friday closing, the offer values FelCor at $1.18 billion, or $8.54 per share, representing a premium of 16.7 percent.RLJ''s shareholders are expected to own about 71 percent of the combined company, while FelCor''s shareholders are expected to own the rest, the companies said.The deal comes two months after lodging REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc ( AHT.N ) offered to buy FelCor for about $1.27 billion in stock and launched a proxy battle for the control of the company''s board.That proposal was opposed by shareholder and activist hedge fund Land and Buildings Investment Management LLC, which called it "woefully inadequate".The deal FelCor will help RLJ the become the third-largest standalone lodging REIT by enterprise value, the companies said, behind Host Hotels & Resorts Inc ( HST.N ) and Park Hotels and Resorts Inc ( PK.N ). ( bit.ly/2p8XMR6 )Ashford Hospitality Trust had an enterprise value of $4.9 billion as of Friday, according to RLJ.The RLJ-FelCor deal will create annual cost savings of about $22 million from the elimination of duplicate corporate general and administrative expenses.RLJ Chief Executive Ross Bierkan will lead the combined company after the close of the deal, expected by end of 2017, the companies said.FelCor will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of RLJ.Barclays was the financial adviser for RLJ, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised FelCor.(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-felcor-m-a-rlj-lodg-trst-idINKBN17Q0XE'|'2017-04-24T08:57:00.000+03:00' 'ca528242e1134fcc5494805ae839e751353985b9'|'Sony lifts annual profit estimate on lower amortisation costs'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 7:45am BST Sony lifts annual profit estimate on lower amortization costs Sony Corp''s logo is seen on its Crystal LED Integrated Structure (CLEDIS) display at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon TOKYO Japan''s Sony Corp ( 6758.T ) raised its operating profit estimate for the year ended March 31 thanks to lower amortization costs for its financial services segment. The electronics company said it expected profit of around 285 billion yen ($2.6 billion), up from 240 billion yen estimated in February, it said. It also cited lower costs for its the image sensor business and other segments. It reports its full-year results on April 28. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-sony-results-idUKKBN17N0JD'|'2017-04-21T14:39:00.000+03:00' 'dc8c68070a44d39a2a3853ad7c693a7fa1242784'|'Economists see Brazil as too optimistic about pension reform changes'|' 8:19pm BST Economists see Brazil as too optimistic about pension reform changes Striking police officers set fire to coffins during a protest by Police officers from several Brazilian states against pension reforms proposed by Brazil''s president Michel Temer, in Brasilia, Brazil April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Adriano Machado By Silvio Cascione - BRASILIA BRASILIA The latest draft bill for Brazil''s landmark pension reform is substantially weaker than the original proposal and will probably force the government to take additional austerity measures, economists said on Thursday. Changes made on Tuesday by the bill''s sponsor after talks with party leaders and government officials are likely to reduce savings from the bill by about 40 percent over the next decade, according to preliminary estimates by private economists. The pension reform was expected to lower government spending by 750 billion reais to 800 billion reais ($238 billion to $254 billion) over the next 10 years, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said earlier this month. Economists said the reform remains crucial for Brazil to keep its public finances under control, even if it is diluted by the lower minimum retirement age for women and a more gradual transition period due to the latest compromises. Yet those changes may allow social security spending to keep growing at a rate that could make a recently implemented 20-year public spending cap unfeasible by 2021, Itaú Unibanco economists led by former central bank director Mário Mesquita wrote. "Complying with the ceiling would need compensatory measures such as the end of various subsidies," they wrote, adding that the latest draft provides an estimated 57 percent of savings from the original proposal. Meirelles was more sanguine in comments to journalists in Washington on Wednesday, estimating that the bill would still bring about 75 percent of the savings originally forecast. He also warned that the government was reaching a limit in the negotiations with lawmakers, but on Thursday he reiterated that he was "positive" about the process. The Finance Ministry will soon publish a technical note to explain the official forecasts, a spokesman said. "Meirelles'' estimate seems too optimistic," said Fabio Klein, an economist with Sao Paulo-based consultancy firm Tendências, who forecast about 60 percent of the bill''s original savings. Without reform, Brazil''s aging population is expected to lift social security spending to 17.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2060, from 8.1 percent last year, Meirelles said in a presentation earlier this month. With the original proposal, he said social security spending would probably stabilise around 8 percent of GDP, he said. "The government may have to propose another reform in ten years, or even before that," said Bruno Lavieri, an economist with consulting firm 4E in São Paulo. ($1 = 3.15 reais)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brazil-economy-pensions-idUKKBN17M2FX'|'2017-04-21T03:19:00.000+03:00' '83aad7c5ef29c6fcd72c4941efc1e5d414196cf9'|'Italy regulator gives Vivendi a year to cut stake in either Telecom Italia or Mediaset'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:17pm BST Italy regulator gives Vivendi a year to cut stake in either Telecom Italia or Mediaset MILAN Italy''s communications authority (AGCOM) said on Tuesday France''s Vivendi ( VIV.PA ) had one year to cut its stake in either Telecom Italia ( TLIT.MI ) or broadcaster Mediaset MS.IT to comply with Italian antitrust regulations. It added that the French media group needed to present the watchdog with a "specific plan of action" within 60 days. AGCOM opened an investigation into the French media company on December 21, after Mediaset filed a complaint over Vivendi''s rapid accumulation of a 28.8 percent stake. The regulator has looked into Vivendi''s shareholdings, which also include a 24 percent share in former phone monopolist Telecom Italia. Italian regulations prevent companies from having an excessive share in both the domestic telecommunications and media markets. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti and Stephen Jewkes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mediaset-vivendi-regulator-idUKKBN17K2IO'|'2017-04-19T05:17:00.000+03:00' '4e9a93d905257ced7b5672779a412c1d2b9653d5'|'China''s Shandong Tyan says talks over on bid for Barrick''s Kalgoorlie'|'TORONTO, April 19 Shanghai-listed Shandong Tyan Home said on Wednesday its negotiations with Barrick Gold Corp to buy a 50-percent stake of the Canadian operator''s Kalgoorlie mine have ended without a deal, citing new capital and acquisition rules in China.Reuters reported in November that Toronto-based Barrick was reviewing the financial backing behind an approximate $1.3 billion bid for its stake in Kalgoorlie mine by Minjar Gold, a unit of Shandong.Barrick, the world''s largest gold producer, was not immediately available for comment.Shandong said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange on Wednesday that it had been in contact with Barrick about buying a stake in the mine, but did not reach any formal investment agreement. Due to the recent capital outflow curbs and tightened review of overseas acquisitions "we did not continue the negotiation," it said.Shandong had trumped offers by Australian, Chinese and Canadian companies for the asset, sources had told Reuters.Newmont Mining, Barrick''s joint venture partner at Kalgoorlie and mine operator, has said it was interested in buying the remaining stake, but price has been a sticking a point. (Reporting by Susan Taylor in Toronto and Hong Kong newsroom; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/barrick-gold-ma-australia-idINL1N1HR0ME'|'2017-04-19T12:38:00.000+03:00' '5a6805a5d99b55ef5a7ae03f36b05f1a1278d851'|'Volkswagen recalls 2,340 Audi Q5 SUVs in Russia over sunroof water problems - standards agency'|'Business News 9:52am BST Volkswagen recalls 2,340 Audi Q5 SUVs in Russia over sunroof water problems - standards agency FILE PHOTO - A 2016 Audi Q5 2.0 is pictured during the opening of a new plant in San Jose Chiapa, in Puebla state, Mexico, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Imelda Medina MOSCOW The Russian unit of Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) is recalling 2,340 Audi Q5 sports utility vehicles in Russia because of problems with water leaking through their sunroofs, Russia''s standards agency said in a statement on Wednesday. It said the recall affected vehicles made between 2010 and 2017. "The reason for the recall ... is a problem with water in the area of the panoramic sunroof not draining away properly," the agency said. "As a result water can get into the ceiling upholstery, and if there''s a large amount of moisture, this can soak into the polymer material which is next to the gas generator for the upper airbag. This can corrode the gas generator." (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Andrey Ostroukh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-audi-recall-idUKKBN17L0WQ'|'2017-04-19T16:52:00.000+03:00' '93160a078366c16b8a52ff6703d62bda5a64b198'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 19)'|'BRUSSELS, April 19 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALSNEW LISTINGS-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGESNoneFIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEAPRIL 19-- Private equity firm Advent International to acquire biometrics and security business Morpho from French aerospace group Safran (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions)-- Britain''s Rolls-Royce to acquire the remaining 53.1 percent stake in Spanish aircraft engine and components maker Industria de Turbo Propulsores (ITP) (notified Feb. 24/deadline extended to April 19 from March 31 after the companies offered concessions)APRIL 24-- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (notified March 15/deadline April 24)APRIL 26-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline April 26)-- Swiss pharmaceutical supplier Lonza Group to acquire U.S. capsule maker Capsugel from private equity firm KKE & Co LP (notified March 17/deadline April 26)MAY 2-- Italian energy company Duferco Energia to acquire a business unit from Italian electricity company Energhe S.p.A. (notified March 22/deadline May 2/simplified)MAY 4-- Private investment firm KKR & Co. to acquire travel company Travelopia Holdings Ltd and Travelopia USA Inc. (notified March 24/ deadline May 4/simplified)MAY 5-- Japan''s Panasonic Corporation to acquire Spanish auto parts maker Ficosa International (notified march 27/deadline May 5)-- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified)MAY 8-- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified)MAY 10-- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified)MAY 12-- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified)-- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17)MAY 15-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)MAY 16-- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)-- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)MAY 18-- French insurer Axa and French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire two commerical lots in a shopping centre (notified April 6/deadline May 18/simplified)MAY 19-- Italian cinema operator The Space Cinema, which is controlled by Vue International Holdco Ltd, and Italian peer UCI Italian S.p.A. which is part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- German industrial gas producer Linde and Russian power generation equipment maker PJSC Power Machines to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- U.S. packaging company WestRock to acquire U.S. peer Multi Packaging Solutions (notified April 7/deadline May 19)-- Asset manager Ares Management L.P. and investment firm The Baupost Group to jointly acquire German shopping mall operator Prejan Enerprises Ltd (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)MAY 22-- Investment firms Cinven Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of Travel Holdings Parent Corporation (notified April 10/deadline May 22)May 23-- KKR & Co. and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec to acquire Onex Corp.''s USI Insurance Services (notified April 11/deadline May 23)MAY 24-- French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Company and Brazilian soy processor-exporter Amaggi to sell a 33 percent stake in their joint venture in Brazil to Japan-based Zen-Noh (notified April 12/deadline May 24/simplified)-- American healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to acquire Swiss biotech company Actelion (notified April 12/deadline May 24)-- Investment company Nordic Capital to acquire credit management services company Intrum Justitia (notified April 12/deadline May 24)MAY 29-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idINL8N1HR44G'|'2017-04-19T12:09:00.000+03:00' 'd42c1b03e84606e70c3611957ad555af4ca9e8bf'|'India''s Paytm in talks with SoftBank to raise $1.2 to $1.5 bln - report'|'April 19 Electronics payments provider Paytm is in talks with Japan''s SoftBank Group to raise $1.2 to $1.5 billion in cash, making the latter one of the largest shareholders in the fintech start-up, Mint newspaper reported on Wednesday citing sources.The deal, which could increase Paytm''s valuation to $7 to $9 billion, will see SoftBank buying some shares from existing Paytm investor SAIF Partners and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma beside investing money in the company, the report said. ( bit.ly/2oK3j27 )Local media had reported recently that SoftBank is keen to sell its stake in India''s e-commerce firm Snapdeal in exchange for a stake in market leader Flipkart ( IPO-FLPK.N ).Paytm may also buy Snapdeal-owned payments rival Freecharge, as part of the deal, the report said.Digital payments have assumed great significance in India after the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government ban on old high-valued bank notes in November led to a severe cash crunch across the country.(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/paytm-softbank-group-fundraising-idINL3N1HR1Q2'|'2017-04-19T01:48:00.000+03:00' '2db8e546a43edd6d036966840f3af15391c24e66'|'Daimler says in talks with Didi, others for potential cooperation'|'SHANGHAI Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ) is in talks with local Chinese ride-hailing firms including Didi Chuxing to discuss potential cooperation deals, board member Hubertus Troska said on Wednesday."We are talking to the leading players including Didi about how we may develop something," Troska, Daimler''s board member with responsibility for Greater China, told journalists gathered at the Shanghai Motor Show.Separately, Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said he sees further potential for expanding production in China by continuing to work with joint-venture partner BAIC Motor Corp Ltd ( 1958.HK )."We see no limiting factors regarding continued expansion with this partner," Zetsche said in response to a question about whether Daimler was exploring further partnerships like rival Audi.(Reporting by Edward Taylor)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-autoshow-shanghai-daimler-idUSKBN17L0B9'|'2017-04-19T08:11:00.000+03:00' 'aa759c472f37750abc727558b87e4b17ec743c4d'|'ABB, Schneider Electric bid for General Electric unit - sources'|'By Greg Roumeliotis European engineering groups ABB Ltd and Schneider Electric SE are competing for General Electric Co''s industrial solutions division, which could fetch as much as $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.The divestiture would represent a key step by GE to focus on its core businesses and improve its operational performance, amid pressure from Nelson Peltz''s activist hedge fund Trian Fund Management.ABB and Schneider Electric are through to the second round of bidding for GE''s industrial solutions business, a provider of primarily electrical equipment, the sources said this week. Schneider Electric is looking for a partner to break up the business should its bid prevail, in order to address any antitrust concerns, the sources added.Private equity firms, including KKR & Co LP, Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC, Warburg Pincus LLC and Onex Corp, are also in the running, according to the sources.The sources asked not to be identified because details of the sale process are confidential. Schneider Electric declined to comment, while GE, ABB, KKR, Clayton Dubilier & Rice, Warburg Pincus and Onex did not immediately respond to requests for comment.GE reported quarterly sales and adjusted earnings results on Friday that beat analysts estimates, but its shares fell on concerns about some of its industrial businesses.The maker of jet engines, power plants and other industrial equipment also reported a negative $1.6 billion in cash flow from industrial operating activities compared with a negative $600 million it expected for the quarter due to a $1.3 billion increase in working capital and the timing of bills to customers.Last month, GE agreed to sell its industrial water treatment business to French waste and water group Suez SA and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec for 3.2 billion euros ($3.4 billion).(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ge-m-a-industrialsolutions-idINKBN17N285'|'2017-04-21T15:24:00.000+03:00' '90587fd50d63dd50d4aa6b14065868d4a0befe5d'|'UPDATE 1-Reckitt''s flat sales disappoint as problems persist'|'Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 6:17am EDT Reckitt emerges as laggard in consumer goods sector Products produced by Reckitt Benckiser; Vanish, Finish, Dettol and Harpic, are seen in London, Britain February 12, 2008. REUTERS/Stephen Hird/File Photo By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON British consumer goods maker Reckitt Benckiser ( RB.L ) failed to grow its underlying sales in the first three months of the year, blaming fallout from a South Korean safety scandal and a flop with a new Scholl product after figures fell short of estimates. The like-for-like sales were the weakest in 15 years and shares of the maker of Durex condoms and Nurofen tablets fell 1.6 percent in London, while the FTSE 100 .FTSE was flat. Analysts had expected the first quarter to be weak across the consumer goods sector, due to economic uncertainties and the timing of Easter. But of the seven large companies to report this week -- including Nestle ( NESN.S ), Unilever ( ULVR.L ) and Pernod Ricard ( PERP.PA ) -- Reckitt is the first to miss expectations, said RBC Capital Markets analyst James Edwardes Jones. "Not a disastrous miss ... but nonetheless things don''t seem to be getting much easier for RB," Jones said in a note. Reckitt however said sales would improve as the year goes on and stood by its target for annual growth of 3 percent. The disappointing sales will however increase the focus on dealmaking which has seen Reckitt concentrate more on consumer health and flag a possible sale of its small food business. The $16.6 billion purchase of baby formula maker Mead Johnson ( MJN.N ), announced in February, is progressing well, Reckitt said, and should be finalised by the end of September. Reckitt said it would explore options for its food business before reaching any decision. It had said this month that it was reviewing a business it called "non-core" as it looks to pay down debt from Mead Johnson. "TALE OF TWO HALVES" Excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, acquisitions and disposals, Reckitt said first-quarter sales were flat, as increases in developing markets and in the hygiene business were not enough to offset declines in Europe and in the home products business. Sales in Germany and Italy, for example, were lower than the year-ago period, when it launched the new Scholl "Wet & Dry Express pedi" foot file for hard skin, which failed to catch on. Analysts on average were expecting growth of 1 percent, according to a consensus compiled by the company. Aside from the failed foot file, which Chief Executive Rakesh Kapoor said was too expensive and too innovative, its business has suffered a collapse in South Korea. Retailers have boycotted its products due to how it handled a safety scandal in which the government said 92 people were believed to have died from lung injuries related to humidifier sterilizers. CEO Kapoor sought to convince analysts that there was nothing structural in the market or in the company''s health business that should cause future weakness. Kapoor repeated what he said in February, that this year 2017 would be "a tale of two halves" as the impacts of issues such as South Korea and India''s demonetisation ease. "We just have to go through this, knowing our underlying business is performing well," he said. Reckitt also said it was in "active discussions" with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding litigation and investigations into the pharmaceutical business it spun off into Indivior ( INDV.L ) in 2014. It said it could not comment on any potential outcome or related costs. ($1 = 0.7806 pounds) (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Keith Weir) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-reckitt-results-idUSKBN17N0KZ'|'2017-04-21T14:57:00.000+03:00' 'e722b75776757cc6a08d89dd57230d7cfaa8f00a'|'Bill sets out plan to tackle ''extortionate'' UK overdraft fees - Money - The Guardian'|'Bank customers ripped off by “extortionate” overdraft fees will get support next week from a parliamentary bill that promises to protect the most financially vulnerable from escalating charges.Rachel Reeves, a Labour MP who sits on the Treasury select committee, will outline plans on Tuesday for regulators at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cap the maximum amount that banks can charge customers for unauthorised overdrafts , similar to the limit imposed on charges on payday loans of £24 a month. She argued: “Banks are sending many people deeper into debt with extortionate charges on unauthorised overdrafts. They should have a responsibility to help people out of debt, rather than adding to their problems with rip-off charges.”The FCA, the City watchdog, has included overdraft fees in a review into high interest loans , alongside payday loans and doorstep lending. It launched the review after the Competition and Markets Authority stepped back from imposing a cap on overdraft fees following its two-year investigation into high street banks. The CMA said instead banks should publish their monthly maximum charge for going over the limit.Two years ago, the FCA capped maximum charges on payday loans at 0.8% a day of the amount borrowed. Reeves is pushing for similar restrictions to be placed on banks, which make £1.2bn a year from unauthorised-overdraft fees.According to consumer group Which?, the cost of borrowing £100 through an unauthorised overdraft for 28 days from some high street banks is as high as £90. This is up to four times higher than the allowed maximum charges on a payday loan.Reeves, MP for Leeds West, has long campaigned on the issue and wants to introduce her unauthorised overdrafts (cost of credit) bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday. She noted that households were saving less and less, with the savings ratio falling since 2010 to a record low of 3.3% , while unsecured debt went up by 10% last year. The household debt to income ratio has grown by 6% in the past year and is now at 145%, which she said “poses a serious risk to our economy”.With the election looming, the bill will not make it into law in this parliament, but if she is re-elected, Reeves wants to reintroduce it either as a private members’ bill or through amending a Treasury or Department for Business, Energy & Industry strategy bill in parliament. She will also call on all parties to include this in their election manifestos.She said: “Payday lenders are already subject to limits on the fees they can charge. I want to see a similar cap introduced for our high street banks and an end to these unfair and unjust fees.”Topics Bank charges Banks and building societies Payday loans Borrowing & debt Financial Conduct Authority Regulators news Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/23/commons-bill-rachel-reeves-banks-overdraft-fees'|'2017-04-23T03:00:00.000+03:00' '92f1621024a07aac768181e7d624df7bd55c94a2'|'UPDATE 1-LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria investigation - source'|'Company News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 8:51am EDT UPDATE 1-LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria investigation - source ZURICH, April 23 LafargeHolcim is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The source said there would be a change in leadership at the cement company following reports in the Financial Times and French newspaper Le Figaro that Olsen would be stepping down, citing sources. LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the matter. The cement maker in March said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the country. The disclosure followed an internal investigation and highlighted the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones. LafargeHolcim is expected to announce the findings of its internal investigation shortly. Olsen was formerly an executive at French industrial group Lafarge, which completed its merger with Swiss group Holcim in 2015. LafargeHolcim has said the deteriorating political situation in Syria had posed "very difficult challenges for the security and operations of the plant and its employees." The site was an important source of employment in the region and played a vital role in supplying Syria with essential building materials, the company said. Sources told the Financial Times Olsen''s departure terms were still under discussion on Sunday. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Oliver Hirt and John Revill. Editing by Jane Merriman and Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lafargeholcim-syria-idUSL8N1HV0CX'|'2017-04-23T20:51:00.000+03:00' 'efae98f842e8eb80940d15590637858ffa291850'|'UPDATE 3-American Airlines apologizes for onboard clash over stroller - Reuters'|'(Adds comment from flight attendants union)By Barbara GoldbergNEW YORK, April 22 American Airlines on Saturday apologized to a female passenger and suspended an employee after a video showing an onboard clash over a baby stroller went viral, in the latest embarrassment for a U.S. carrier over how it treated a customer.The clip, posted on Facebook on Friday by a bystander aboard the flight, shows a woman in tears with a young child in her arms, and a man emerging from his seat to confront a male flight attendant who apparently wrested the stroller from the woman.Facebook user Surain Adyanthaya, who posted the video, wrote that the flight attendant had forcefully taken the stroller, hitting the woman with it and just missing her child. That sequence of events did not appear on the clip.What it shows is the unidentified man standing up and yelling at the flight attendant: "You do that to me and I''ll knock you flat."The crew member then points his finger angrily and challenges the passenger to hit him. The video shows the man eventually returning to his seat.American Airlines said in a statement it was investigating the incident, which took place before the plane took off on a flight from San Francisco to Dallas."We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident," the airline said in a statement released early on Saturday.The woman elected to take another flight and was upgraded to first class, said American.The treatment of passengers by the airline industry returned as a national issue after a video appeared online two weeks ago showing a 69-year-old passenger being dragged off a United Airlines flight to make room for a crew member. The fracas sparked international outrage and policy changes by the airline.A passenger who posted a description of the latest incident on the website Reddit wrote that the flight attendant early on called for security to intervene in his dispute with the woman.Bob Ross, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants union, which represents American Airlines workers, said in a statement that tight schedules, overcrowded planes, shrinking seats and limited overhead bin space have made it difficult for flight attendants to board passengers."All of these factors are related to corporate decisions beyond the control of passengers and flight attendants," Ross said. (Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Ruthy Munoz in Houston)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/american-airline-passenger-idINL1N1HU0JU'|'2017-04-22T20:41:00.000+03:00' '6f883dea3c6a638447b7a5f9e79c029431f3684f'|'Virgin Trains refused to refund £293 after I forgot my railcard - Money'|'In January my wife and I and three daughters travelled to Euston from Chester for a weekend in London. We bought tickets in December by phone from the Llandrindod Wells ticket office, which were posted to us. On the day of travel we realised we had left our family railcard at home and had to pay £293.65 for new tickets to the helpful train manager. It was explained that we would need to contact Virgin and demonstrate we had a valid card to get a refund. As we live some distance from the nearest Virgin ticket office, we decided to email scans of all our tickets, the receipt for the new tickets and our railcard to three separate Virgin email addresses in early February. We received an automated reply saying we should expect a response within 24 hours. I eventually received an email telling me to contact the station that I had bought the tickets from (they had been bought on the train) or to speak to the customer relations team. I was asked again to email scans of the tickets. In early March I was contacted by customer services, apologising for the delay and saying claims had to be made within 28 days at a Virgin-managed station. However, it said it would consider processing this for me and asked for copies of the additional tickets we had purchased. These had been retained by the barrier on our return at Chester, and I had assumed that the scanned receipt would have been sufficient. When I sent the scan of the receipt I received the following response: “Unfortunately, I am unable to accept a receipt as we need the physical tickets back in our possession before we can refund any money back to you. As we are an audited company we are required to process these claims in this way.” Please help – nearly £300 is a lot of money to pay for tickets on top of the ones we had already purchased. TJ, Ruthin, North Wales Changes to national ticketing policy to give more flexibility in the cases of passengers who have made a mistake in forgetting their railcard were announced by the Department for Transport last year and came into force in March. Virgin Trains also changed its policy on its West Coast line and will automatically refund the cost of the new ticket if the person finds their railcard after the journey and takes it to their local ticket office (but only once, and on a discretionary basis after that).The complication, in your case, was that you had not kept hold of the new tickets to allow Virgin to process the refund. Virgin said you received correct information from its team – it doesn’t usually accept receipts because it has to protect itself from fraudulent claims.“However, occasionally, when it’s clear that there is a genuine error in forgetting to keep the ticket, we do refund the new one. The team has decided that this is one of those times, so we’re happy to refund.”It’s worth clarifying Virgin’s policy of advising customers to hang on to their original and newly bought tickets if they are seeking a refund. Gates do gobble up tickets but if you show them to staff, rather than put them in the machine, you can keep them. You should receive your £293 soon.We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number Topics Rail fares Consumer champions Consumer rights Virgin Trains Consumer affairs features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/24/virgin-trains-refuses-refund-ticket-forgot-railcard'|'2017-04-24T14:59:00.000+03:00' '2dc64b93e59c984ab4b068321c69748cccd7cc27'|'HSBC confident can maintain dividend, exceed cost targets - CEO'|' 25am BST HSBC confident can maintain dividend, exceed cost targets: CEO left right HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver, attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich 1/2 left right The moon rises over the HSBC building in the Canary Wharf financial district of London, a day before the ''supermoon'' spectacle, in London, Britain November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Hannah McKay 2/2 HONG KONG HSBC Holdings Plc ( HSBA.L ) is confident it can maintain dividend payouts in the foreseeable future and expects to exceed risk-weighted asset and cost-saving targets, the bank''s chief executive Stuart Gulliver said on Monday. Despite earnings pressure, HSBC has retained its dividend payout ratio at a higher level in the last few years, at a time when some of its peers including Standard Chartered ( STAN.L ) withheld dividend payment for 2016. The bank may have to move "some thousand roles" from Britain to Paris depending on how the country''s Brexit negotiations with the European Union unfold, chairman Douglas Flint added. The bank had previously said it expected to move around 1,000 roles. Both executives were speaking during a meeting of shareholders in Hong Kong. (Reporting by Michelle Price; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-agm-idUKKBN17Q0SH'|'2017-04-24T17:26:00.000+03:00' '3bfe60e94a802239ec6c639c6b6eaa1d58dd37a8'|'Japan''s Nikkei gains as French vote relief weakens yen'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 2:07am EDT Japan''s Nikkei gains as French vote relief weakens yen TOKYO, April 24 Japan''s Nikkei share average touched a near three-week high on Monday with broader investor risk sentiment improving after centrist Emmanuel Macron took a step towards the French presidency after the weekend''s voting. The Nikkei ended Monday 1.4 percent higher at 18,875.88 after rising earlier to 18,910.33, its highest since April 5. Shares of exporters advanced as the safe-haven yen fell sharply against the dollar on the results of the French presidential election''s first round. Firms related to the defence industry also rose on lingering North Korea tensions. The broader Topix advanced 1 percent to 1,503.19 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 added 0.95 percent to 13,447.69. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Sam Holmes) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL4N1HW2DP'|'2017-04-24T14:07:00.000+03:00' '8d2c505623f1f439c59914b8eb47f5780938a3ae'|'Dubai Aerospace to buy aircraft leasing firm AWAS'|'DUBAI/SINGAPORE Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd (DAE) announced a takeover of Dublin-based aircraft lessor AWAS on Monday, adding more than 200 planes to its fleet.Dubai Aerospace said the combined company will have an owned, managed and committed aircraft fleet of 394 aircraft with a total value of more than $14 billion.Details of the purchase from Terra Firma Capital Partners and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board were not disclosed."This acquisition of AWAS is strategically compelling and propels DAE into a top 10 aircraft leasing platform," DAE Managing Director Khalifa H. AlDaboos said in a statement from the company.AWAS owns and manages 231 aircraft placed with more than 90 customers in 47 countries.Reuters reported in December that AWAS had been put up for sale in an auction that could value the lessor at $7 billion, including debt.(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Anshuman Daga; writing by Saeed Azhar; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-awas-m-a-dubaiaerospace-idINKBN17Q0QI'|'2017-04-24T06:52:00.000+03:00' '4190a1c103c0eb7f7d36ca3246f722f829cd5915'|'Moody''s sees lower rates in Brazil taking a while to revive credit'|'SAO PAULO, April 19 Declining borrowing costs in Brazil will help local companies cut their debt and speed up refinancing efforts with creditors, even if they fail to jump-start economic growth in the short run, Moody''s Investors Service said in a report on Wednesday.The central bank''s rate-reduction cycle should have the immediate effect of alleviating the burden of companies struggling with large chunks of real-denominated debt, the report said. Brazilian companies pay the highest borrowing costs among the world''s major economies.Policymakers lowered the benchmark Selic rate this month by 100 basis points to 11.25 percent, the biggest reduction since June 2009. They had made cuts totaling 3 percentage points at the last four meetings.Still, a robust credit revival hinges on how demand reacts after almost three years of recession, analysts led by Barbara Mattos said in the report. Banks will remain wary of giving out new credit without "tangible indications of economic growth and policy continuity," the report added."We see only small short-term effects on credit supply and demand, both for investment and consumption, gaining momentum only gradually," the report said.The report underscores the reigning view among analysts that a recovery of credit in Brazil, which is in its deepest recession in more than a century, requires that individuals and companies first cut their debt burden further over the next year or so.Banks are scheduled to unveil first-quarter results next week, with analysts expecting them to keep a lid on consumer delinquencies and raise loan-loss provisions at a slower pace than in prior quarters. Last year, Brazilian banks reported lower profits for the first time in at least 15 years.According to the analysts, companies will use any excess cash to pay down debt, while banks will curb loan disbursements until at least year-end 2018.In a second wave, credit supply and demand will rise once deleveraging is complete and the economy returns to growth amid low inflation and cheap borrowing costs, the report said. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-banks-moodys-idINL1N1HR1D8'|'2017-04-19T16:44:00.000+03:00' 'd60c6fee22257bf4f446aa299cc20f2e366d7dff'|'UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 25'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:00am EDT UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 25 (Adds company news, futures) April 25 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 18 points on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures up 0.2 percent ahead of the cash market open. * WHITBREAD: Britain''s Whitbread Plc, which runs the Costa Coffee chain and Premier Inn hotels, said it expected the consumer environment to deteriorate next year. * VIRGIN MONEY: British bank Virgin Money Holdings Plc reaffirmed its 2017 guidance as it posted lower gross mortgage lending for the first three months of the year, noting strong competition in parts of the mortgage market. * AMEC: British oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler Plc, which is being bought by John Wood Group Plc, reported a bigger-than-expected full-year pretax loss as the oil market rout forced companies to delay or cancel contracts. * Carpetright: Britain''s biggest floor coverings retailer Carpetright forecast full-year profit at the lower end of market expectations as sales growth slowed in its fourth quarter, adding to evidence that UK consumer confidence is deteriorating. * ST. JAMES''S: British wealth manager St. James''s Place plc said on Tuesday that it had taken in 2 billion pounds ($2.56 billion)in net new money during the first quarter, boosted by demand for its pension and savings products. * BRITAIN/EU: The snap general election called by British Prime Minister Theresa May will reduce the already limited time available to negotiate a Brexit deal, an influential EU lawmaker said on Monday. * International Consolidated: Spanish airline Iberia could open a new early retirement program for 1,000 workers by June, depending on the outcome of prior talks with unions, Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said. * GOLD: Gold held steady on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion. * COPPER: Copper eased in Asia on Tuesday, coming under pressure from investors looking to book gains after a surprise overnight lift in the London contract following a market-friendly French presidential vote. * OIL: Oil prices inched up on Tuesday but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of declines as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. * The UK blue chip index closed 2.1 percent higher at 7,246.68 points on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron came out on top in the first round of France''s presidential election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL4N1HX2JX'|'2017-04-25T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'c43bc04ae72a1e52777579fd31728df921cdb6fd'|'Government costs could rise $2.3 bln without Obamacare payments -study'|'Politics - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:08am EDT Government costs could rise $2.3 billion without Obamacare payments: study left right FILE PHOTO - The federal government forms for applying for health coverage are seen at a rally held by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, widely referred to as ''Obamacare'', outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. on October 4, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File Photo 1/2 left right U.S. President Donald Trump talks to journalists at the Oval Office of the White House after the AHCA health care bill was pulled before a vote in Washington, U.S. March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 2/2 WASHINGTON The U.S. government''s costs could increase by $2.3 billion in 2018 if Congress and President Donald Trump decide not to fund Obamacare-related payments to health insurers, according to a study released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The payments amount to about $7 billion in fiscal year 2017 and help cover out-of-pocket medical costs for low-income Americans who purchase insurance on the individual insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare. Trump has threatened to withhold the payments to force Democrats to the negotiating table on a healthcare bill to replace Obamacare. He has also said he will fund the subsidies if Democrats agree to funding for his proposed border wall with Mexico as part of efforts to pass a government funding bill this week and avert a shutdown. Democrats have rejected the conditional offer. If no deal is made, parts of the federal government will shut down at 12:01 am on Saturday. The payments are the subject of a pending Republican lawsuit that was appealed by the Obama administration and put on hold when Trump took office. The government could save $10 billion by revoking the payments, Kaiser said. But insurers that remain in the market would have to hike premiums nearly 20 percent to cover their losses, Kaiser found, so the government would have to spend $12.3 billion on tax credits to help pay for Americans'' premium costs - a net increase of 23 percent on federal spending on marketplace subsidies. The projection assumes that insurers remain in the marketplace next year. Health policy experts have said without the payments, many insurers could not afford to stay in the market and will likely exit, which would leave some U.S. counties without an insurer. Aetna ( AET.N ), UnitedHealth Group Inc ( UNH.N ) and Humana ( HUM.N ) have already exited most state exchanges for 2017 and said they will do so next year as well. (Reporting By Yasmeen Abutaleb; Edited by Caroline Humer and Mary Milliken) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-payments-idUSKBN17R0M3'|'2017-04-25T15:00:00.000+03:00' '3a3481fe0bf62308ef44f98baa42c1b979a75552'|'I’m all shook up by my Miele washing machine’s vibrations - Money'|'I bought a high-end Míele washing machine last August with a 1600rpm spin cycle through AO.com, which cost £920. I had researched all aspects around cycle times, installation requirements, functions and style of drum, and decided on this product with an additional 10-year warranty.The kitchen in my terraced house has wooden floorboards with wide tiles on top. But the machine causes such excessive vibrations the whole house shakes – pictures have fallen down, the letterbox rattles and items have fallen over in the fridge.I contacted Míele and it advised that it was because I didn’t have it on a concrete floor – information apparently included in its manual and online. I insisted someone come and check my machine, which they did, but said there was nothing they could do about my floor. I have tried numerous interventions to fix the problem and have spent an extra £120 on NASA-style anti-vibration pads and plywood with no improvement.My main gripe is that the information is not available on the website nor made clear at the point of sale. I have been in touch with Míele on this matter but am getting nowhere.Míele will not refund or replace the machine (which is not what I asked) and insists the advice in the manual is sufficient. It Quote: s the Sale of Goods Act whereby I had 14 days to send the machine back or 30 days if it was faulty. But it is not faulty.I am now at a loss as to what to do. It is stressful to use the machine and my neighbours have had enough of the significant noise and vibrations from my house. HF, Brighton, East SussexYou have been given the runaround for more than six months and had poor advice over the installation of an expensive machine. After our intervention Míele contacted you and agreed to replace the machine for a lighter one. You opted for a more standard Bosch, with no vibration.In a statement the company said: “Míele has ... worked with HF to reach an acceptable solution. Offering a premium service to customers is of paramount importance and is something that it strives to provide. Míele has apologised to HF that, on this occasion, this matter has taken longer than expected to resolve.”The company said this had been a “particularly complicated” case. “There were no mechanical or technical faults with the washing machine purchased and the vibration issues that were being experienced were due to external factors outside of Míele’s control. Míele advises on the best type of installation for all its appliances in its operating manuals, which are available on its website. This includes advice concerning installation surfaces for its washing machines and recommends that a concrete floor is most suitable, as this prevents the vibrations during the spin cycle.”Míele said its managing director’s office had taken on board your complaints about the “visibility” (or lack of it) of the installation information.We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone numberTopics Money Consumer champions Consumer affairs '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/23/miele-washing-machine-vibration-spin-cycle-shakes-house'|'2017-04-23T14:59:00.000+03:00' 'd4cca2437d80d7fa2facd87ae858fba9af1c365a'|'Canada''s oil sands acquisition pool dwindles as global firms flee'|'By Nia Williams and John Tilak - CALGARY, Alberta/TORONTO CALGARY, Alberta/TORONTO As international energy companies retreat from the Canadian oil sands sector because of depressed oil prices, a fast-shrinking universe of potential buyers may leave some stranded in the high-cost, capital-intensive sector.Global producers are bailing on their oil sands investments due to higher development costs, limited export pipeline capacity to get crude to market and concerns about high carbon emissions in the sector.International companies once drawn by the long-life assets that can produce for up to 50 years during the oil sector boom are discovering the economics do not work as well in a low-price environment.But to get out, they have to overcome a simple equation: there are more sellers than buyers for the oil sands.The three biggest domestic producers - Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd and Cenovus Energy - are digesting multi-billion dollar deals, and have little room for more acquisitions, industry participants say. Global companies like ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Corp prefer to pile into cheaper U.S. shale plays such as the Permian basin instead."The market is pretty thin for oil sands buyers," said Janan Paskaran, an M&A lawyer at Torys LLP who advises domestic and international energy companies."There are three or four buyers out there that have said they are interested in increasing exposure to oil sands, but they''ve already done their shopping," he added. "I don''t see any new entrants."BP Plc has joined Chevron Corp in weighing the sale of its oil sands stakes, Reuters has reported. This follows decisions by Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and Marathon to dump about $22.5 billion worth of largely oil sands assets this year.BIG LOSSESCompanies that planned further divestitures from oil sands will either have to patiently sit on their assets or, as in the case of Statoil ASA and Marathon, accept a loss on their investments."There''s not enough financial wherewithal in Canada to snap up all of the foreign investment that might be exiting right now," said Rafi Tahmazian, portfolio manager at Canoe Financial, referring to the domestic Canadian energy industry."You end up having to decide as a foreign company, am I willing to get rid of this cheap or do I hang on to it?"Statoil booked an impairment charge of $500-$550 million, when it sold its oil sands assets to Athabasca Oil Corp. Similarly, Marathon sold its stake in the Athasbasca Oil Sands Project for $2.5 billion, having paid $6.2 billion to get into the region in 2007. While some Canadian companies have stepped forward to take their place, their resources are limited. Cenovus'' share price tumbled after it loaded up on debt to buy ConocoPhillips assets. Suncor and Canadian Natural are in better shape financially but may have limited appetite for further deals after major acquisitions in the last 15 months. Sources said Husky Energy, BP''s joint venture partner in the Sunrise project, is not keen to increase its exposure to the oil sands but may consider buying BP''s stake if the price is attractive."The prices will adjust to the supply of buyers and likely move downward," said John Stephenson, president of Stephenson & Co Capital Management, which owns shares in Cenovus and Canadian Natural.(Reporting by Nia Williams and John Tilak; Editing by Denny Thomas and Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-canada-oilsands-exit-idINKBN17N2CT'|'2017-04-21T17:04:00.000+03:00' '363e745aa0152edeeb00103932b316460af6585f'|'There is a toy glut and Barbies aren''t selling. Mattel is in trouble - Apr. 21, 2017'|'by Paul R. La Monica @lamonicabuzz April 21, 2017: 12:48 PM ET ''The Barbie Dreamhouse is my worst nightmare'' Mattel may have a new CEO that used to work for Google. But the floundering toymaker still has a huge problem. Fewer kids want to play with the company''s Barbie and American Girl dolls, Fisher-Price toys and Mega Bloks. Mattel ( MAT ) stock plunged 11% Friday -- to their lowest level since October 2015. The company announced Thursday that its latest results missed forecasts. Sales plunged 15% in the quarter and Mattel reported a bigger than expected loss. The stock was the worst performer in the S&P 500 on Friday. CEO Margo Georgiadis, who left her job as president of Google''s Americas division in January to take over at Mattel, said in the earnings release that the results were worse than expected due to "the retail inventory overhang" after the holidays. In other words, parents didn''t buy their kids more new toys after splurging on them in December. But Mattel has been struggling for some time now. That''s one of the reasons that Georgiadis succeeded Christopher Sinclair as CEO, in the first place. (Sinclair is now executive chairman.) Related: It was a Blue Christmas for Mattel Simply put, Mattel doesn''t have the toys that kids want. Barbie sales plunged 13%. American Girl sales were down 12%. And the company''s Construction and Arts & Crafts unit, which includes Lego competitor Mega Bloks, plummeted 38%. And it''s not just a matter of children abandoning traditional dolls, action figures and board games in favor of smartphones, tablets, video games and other technology. Mattel rival Hasbro ( HAS ) , which has licenses tied to Disney''s ( DIS ) Star Wars franchise, and also recently took over the Disney Princess line of toys from Mattel, has been on fire lately. Shares of Hasbro are up nearly 25% so far in 2017 and more than 75% over the past three years. Mattel''s stock has plunged nearly 20% already in 2017 and is down more than 40% since early 2014. Hasbro''s stock even rose slightly Friday, a sign Wall Street believes Mattel''s problems are company specific and not a broader indicator of weak consumer spending overall. Related: Let it go? No way! Hasbro soars thanks to Frozen Hasbro will report its latest results before the market opens Monday. Wall Street is expecting that sales and earnings were flat in the first quarter, which is typically not a big one for toy companies. So will Georgiadis, who in addition to Google has also worked for Groupon ( GRPN ) , credit card company Discover ( DFS ) and consulting company McKinsey & Company, be able to turn Mattel around? She is a veteran exec, but lacks toy industry experience. She noted in the earnings release that sales in China and other parts of Asia were strong. She also expressed hope that toys tied to another upcoming Disney movie -- Pixar''s Cars 3 -- will help boost sales in the coming quarters for its Hot Wheels brand. But the pressure is on Georgiadis to quickly prove to kids, parents and investors that Mattel will be able to revitalize some of its classic brands like Barbie and Fisher-Price and also launch new hit toys as well. Otherwise, the stock will continue to languish in Wall Street''s equivalent of the Island of Misfit Toys. CNNMoney (New York) First published April 21, 2017: 12:48 PM ET '|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_companies.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/21/investing/mattel-earnings-sales-toys/index.html'|'2017-04-21T20:48:00.000+03:00' '8e1539e1972b13fb9d09ef0688ee5f872c562fcc'|'Narayana Hrudayalaya to buy NewRise Healthcare'|'Healthcare services provider Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd ( NARY.NS ) said it would buy NewRise Healthcare Private Ltd from Panacea Biotec Ltd ( PNCA.NS ) for an enterprise value of 1.80 billion rupees ($27.87 million).The acquisition will help expand its footprint in Gurugram in northern India, Narayana Hrudayalaya said on Friday. bit.ly/2oayd4RNewRise Healthcare, the 230-bed multi-speciality hospital, is in final stages of completion, and is likely to be commissioned in the next nine months, Bengaluru-based Narayana Hrudayalaya added.On a separate note, Panacea Biotec said its associate company PanEra Biotec Private Ltd would sell all of its preference shares in NewRise Healthcare to Narayana Hrudayalaya.Shares of New Delhi-based Panacea Biotec jumped as much as 9.8 percent, to their highest since March 2, while Narayana Hrudayalaya''s stocks were little changed.($1 = 64.5850 Indian rupees)(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/newrisehealthcare-m-a-narayana-idINKBN17N0RC'|'2017-04-21T06:07:00.000+03:00' 'c507b288e7c1a272d7c4f69d33f8d5c8c043ab3f'|'Exclusive - Vomitoxin makes nasty appearance for U.S. farm sector'|'Environment - Sat Apr 22, 2017 - 12:16am BST Exclusive: Vomitoxin makes nasty appearance for U.S. farm sector left right FILE PHOTO -- Cobs of corn are held at a corn field in in La Paloma city, Canindeyu, about 348km (216 miles) northeast of Asuncion August 7, 2012. Corn export is second only to soybean export in Paraguay. REUTERS/Jorge Adorno/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO -- Corn is seen in a field in Indiana, U.S. September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO -- Corn is seen in a field in Indiana, U.S. September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO -- A corn field is seen in DeWitt, Iowa July 12, 2012. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo 4/4 CHICAGO A fungus that causes “vomitoxin” has been found in some U.S. corn harvested last year, forcing poultry and pork farmers to test their grain, and giving headaches to grain growers already wrestling with massive supplies and low prices. The plant toxin sickens livestock and can also make humans and pets fall ill. The appearance of vomitoxin and other toxins produced by fungi is affecting ethanol markets and prompting grain processors to seek alternative sources of feed supplies. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture first isolated the toxin in 1973 after an unusually wet winter in the Midwest. The compound was given what researchers described as the “trivial name” vomitoxin because pigs were refusing to eat the infected corn or vomiting after consuming it. The U.S. Corn Belt had earlier outbreaks of infection from the toxin in 1966 and 1928. A vessel carrying a shipment of corn from Paraguay is due next month at a North Carolina port used by Smithfield Foods Inc [SFII.UL], the world''s largest pork producer. The spread of vomitoxin is concentrated in Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, and parts of Iowa and Michigan, and its full impact is not yet known, according to state officials and data gathered by food testing firm Neogen Corp. In Indiana, 40 of 92 counties had at least one load of corn harvested last fall that has tested positive for vomitoxin, according to the Office of Indiana State Chemist''s county survey. In 2015 and 2014, no more than four counties saw grain affected by the fungus. And in a "considerable" share of corn crops tested in Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana since last fall''s harvest, the vomitoxin levels have tested high enough to be considered too toxic for humans, pets, hogs, chickens and dairy cattle, according to public and private data compiled by Neogen. The company did not state what percent of each state''s corn crop was tested. Smithfield would not confirm it had ordered the corn from Paraguay, but two independent grain trading sources said Smithfield was the likely buyer. A company source said corn Smithfield has brought in from Indiana and Ohio, to feed pigs in North Carolina, has been "horrible quality” due to the presence of mycotoxins. TOXIN LEVELS The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows vomitoxin levels of up to 1 part per million (ppm) in human and pet foods and recommends levels under 5 ppm in grain for hogs, 10 ppm for chickens and dairy cattle. Beef cattle can withstand toxin levels up to 30 ppm. Alltech Inc, a Kentucky-based feed supplement company, said 73 percent of feed samples it has tested this year have vomitoxin. The company analyzed samples sent by farmers whose animals have fallen ill. "We know there is lots of bad corn out there, because corn byproducts keep getting worse," said Max Hawkins, a nutritionist with Alltech. Neogen, which sells grain testing supplies, reported a 29 percent jump in global sales for toxin tests - with strong demand for vomitoxin tests - in their fiscal third quarter, ending Feb. 28. "We''re polling our customers and continually talking to them about the levels they''re seeing. Those levels are not going down," said Pat Frasco, director of sales for Neogen''s milling, grain and pet food business. The problem, stemming from heavy rain before and during the 2016 harvest, prompted farmers to store wet grain, said farmers, ethanol makers and grain inspectors. The issue was compounded by farmers and grain elevators storing corn on the ground and other improvised spaces, sometimes covering the grain piles with plastic tarps. Grain buyers say they will have a clearer picture of the problem later this spring, as more farm-stored grain is moved to market. Iowa State University grain quality expert Charles Hurburgh said the sheer size of the harvest in 2016 – the largest in U.S. history – complicates the job of managing toxins in grain, especially in the core Midwest. "Mycotoxins are very hard to handle in high volume," he said. "You can''t test every truckload, or if you do, you are only going to unload 20 trucks in a day.” By comparison, corn processors in Iowa unload 400 or more trucks a day. BIOFUEL IMPACTS Ethanol makers already are feeling the impact. Turning corn into ethanol creates a byproduct called distillers dried grains (DDGs), which is sold as animal feed. With fuel prices low, the DDGs can boost profitability. But the refining process triples the concentration of mycotoxins, making the feed byproduct less attractive. DDG prices in Indiana fell to $92.50 per ton in February, the lowest since 2009, and now are selling for $97.50 per ton, according to USDA. Many ethanol plants are testing nearly every load of corn they receive for the presence of vomitoxin, said Indiana grain inspector Doug Titus, whose company has labs at The Andersons Inc, a grain handler, and energy company Valero Energy sites. The Andersons in a February call with analysts said vomitoxin has hurt results at three of its refineries in the eastern U.S. "That will be with us for some time," Andersons'' chief executive Pat Bowe said. Missouri grain farmer Doug Roth, who put grain into storage after last year’s wet harvest, has seen a few loads of corn rejected by clients who make pet food after the grain tested positive for low levels of fumonisin, a type of mycotoxin. Roth said he paid to reroute the grain to livestock producers in Arkansas, who planned to blend it with unaffected grain in order to mitigate the effect of the toxins. "As long as this doesn’t become a widespread problem, we''re all fine," said Roth, who said toxins have shown up in less than 1 percent of the grain loads he has sold. U.S. farmers with clean corn are reaping a price bump. A Cardinal Ethanol plant in Union City, Indiana, is offering grain sellers a 10-cent per bushel premium for corn with less than one-part-per-million (ppm) or less of vomitoxin in it, according to the company''s website. (Additional reporting by Karl Plume and Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-corn-toxins-exclusive-idUKKBN17N2M5'|'2017-04-22T07:12:00.000+03:00' '19d98c45bb8658c0f61e92549806f80c4b570899'|'Brazil''s Renova sells wind farm to AES unit for $193 million'|'SAO PAULO Renova Energia SA sold a wind farm project to a unit of AES Corp for 600 million reais ($193 million) on Tuesday, enabling the Brazilian renewable power company to replenish cash amid a severe cash crunch.In a securities filing, AES Tietê Energia SA said it plans to assume 1.150 billion reais worth of debt owed by the Alto Sertao II project. The deal''s value could increase by 100 million reais within five years, depending on whether the project outperforms some unspecified operational metrics.Reuters reported on Jan. 2 that Renova and AES Tietê, a unit of AES Brasil, had reached an accord over Alto Sertao II for a price between 600 million reais and 700 million reais.($1 = 3.1071 reais)(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Luciano Costa; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-renova-energia-m-a-aes-corp-idINKBN17K2M9'|'2017-04-18T20:01:00.000+03:00' '61831df8b3dda8e2e509223b7496b1ab65fb2510'|'KKR-backed consortium makes $4.7 bln cash offer for Australia''s Tatts'|'SYDNEY, April 19 A consortium backed by U.S. private equity giant KKR & Co offered A$6.15 billion ($4.65 billion) cash for Australian lottery operator Tatts Group Ltd, threatening an agreed merger with Tabcorp Holdings Ltd, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.The sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly, told Reuters a letter offering A$4.21 a share had been sent to the Tatts board on Tuesday evening.Tatts in October agreed to accept a cash-and-scrip proposal from betting group Tabcorp to form an Australian gambling powerhouse.Tatts shares closed at A$4.35 a share on Tuesday. ($1 = 1.3226 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tatts-group-ma-kkr-idINS9N1GE02H'|'2017-04-18T20:34:00.000+03:00' '75631b944d2744a4c88aa2b9aa5a4bbc2079d50f'|'UPDATE 1-Parkland Fuel to buy Chevron Canada''s downstream fuel business'|'Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S.-based oil company, sold its Canadian gasoline stations and refinery in British Columbia to Parkland Fuel Corp, a marketer of petroleum products, for C$1.46 billion ($1.09 billion).Parkland Fuel said it would acquire Chevron''s refining and marketing operations in Canada and pay an additional $186 million toward working capital for the acquired business.The acquisition adds scale to Parkland and gives the company "significant supply infrastructure and logistics capability to support Parkland''s existing operations," Parkland CEO Bob Espey said in the statement.The assets include 129 gasoline stations, three terminals and the Burnaby oil refinery, located east of Vancouver. The refinery can process 52,000 barrels of oil a day. It does not process bitumen, the heavy, tar-like substance extracted from Canada''s oil sands.Reuters previously reported that Chevron had retained Goldman Sachs to sell the plant.Chevron is also exploring the sale of its 20 percent stake in Canada''s Athabasca Oil Sands project, which could fetch about $2.5 billion, Reuters reported last week.Last year, Chevron posted its first annual loss since 1987. The company is working on a two-year plan to sell $5 billion to $10 billion in assets in 2016 and 2017.The company, aiming to achieve neutral cash flow this year, is also boosting spending on its low-cost Permian shale operations.(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Savio D''Souza and David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-m-a-parkland-fuel-idUSKBN17K2JQ'|'2017-04-19T05:17:00.000+03:00' 'c6d7e66f2b2f78a10e9bf51ed82cead8936a17fd'|'UPDATE 1-Schroders agrees to buy Swiss private equity firm Adveq'|'* Adveq manages $7 bln across private equity strategies* Will become part of Schroders'' 14 bln stg real assets unit* Deal expected to close in second half of 2017 (Adds detail from statement, CEO Quote: , background, bullet points)By Simon JessopLONDON, April 20 British asset manager Schroders said on Thursday it had agreed to buy Swiss-based private equity firm Adveq Holding for an undisclosed sum.Traditional asset managers are increasingly expanding into alternative investment markets such as private equity to meet growing demand from investors such as pension funds seeking diversification in order to generate the returns needed to meet their liabilities.The deal for Adveq, which manages more than $7 billion, is expected to close in the second half of 2017, Schroders said in a statement. Schroders'' private assets arm currently manages 14 billion pounds ($17.91 billion) in assets.Schroders, Britain''s largest listed standalone asset manager with around 400 billion pounds in assets, said there would be no changes to Adveq''s investment team, process or strategies as a result of the deal."Adveq''s impressive investment proposition, proven track record and strong position within key markets makes this partnership a complementary combination," said Schroders Chief Executive Peter Harrison in a statement.Founded by Bruno Raschle in 1997, Adveq invests across a range of private equity strategies including venture capital, buyouts, co-investments and secondaries, and has exapnded from its Swiss-German home markets to Asia and the United States.($1 = 0.7816 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/schroders-ma-adveq-idINL8N1HS4BS'|'2017-04-20T11:37:00.000+03:00' '4a1ad2fe6b353f052ca3cb84e602b9c528005155'|'China''s Shandong Tyan says talks over on bid for Barrick''s Kalgoorlie'|'By Susan Taylor - TORONTO TORONTO Shanghai-listed Shandong Tyan Home ( 600807.SS ) said on Wednesday its negotiations with Barrick Gold Corp ( ABX.TO ) to buy the Canadian operator''s 50-percent stake in Kalgoorlie mine have ended without a deal, citing new capital and acquisition rules in China.Toronto-based Barrick had been reviewing the financial backing behind an approximate $1.3 billion bid for its stake in Kalgoorlie mine by Minjar Gold, a unit of Shandong Tyan, Reuters reported in November.Barrick, the world''s largest gold producer, declined to comment on the matter. It reports first-quarter financial results on April 24.In February, Barrick President Kelvin Dushnisky said "advanced negotiations with a proposed buyer," were under way and Barrick would be "happy sellers" at the right price. "We''re also very happy to continue to own that asset," he said.Shandong Tyan said it had been in contact with Barrick about buying a stake in the mine, but did not reach any formal investment agreement. "We did not continue the negotiation," it said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Wednesday, due to China''s capital outflow curbs and greater scrutiny of overseas acquisitions.Shandong had trumped offers by Australian, Chinese and Canadian companies for the asset, sources had told Reuters.Newmont Mining ( NEM.N ), Barrick''s joint venture partner at Kalgoorlie and mine operator, has said it was interested in buying the remaining stake, but price has been a sticking a point."We would be open to discussing a possible transaction with Barrick on (Kalgoorlie) if they are interested in doing so," said Newmont spokesman Omar Jabara.Shandong Tyan is a publicly-listed arm of Shandong Tianye Group, a private company with operations including property development, mining, finance and venture investment.It is unrelated to Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd ( 600547.SS ), a Shandong province state-owned enterprise, which recently struck a $960 million deal to buy a 50-percent stake of Barrick''s Veladero gold mine in Argentina.Under that deal, which was announced on April 6 and which confirmed an earlier Reuters report, the two miners will also look at jointly developing Barrick''s nearby undeveloped Pascua-Lama gold and silver project and additional investment opportunities in the El Indio Gold Belt.(Reporting by Susan Taylor in Toronto, Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, and Meg Shen in Hong Kong; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-m-a-australia-idINKBN17L23Y'|'2017-04-19T14:00:00.000+03:00' 'e88e26fc34b75e4761c1cb0848160395f176a677'|'British companies to increase ad budgets this year despite Brexit uncertainty: survey'|'British companies plan to increase their spending on advertising this year as they expect the UK economy to remain resilient despite the Brexit vote, a survey showed on Wednesday, reversing a previous forecast for a decline in ad budgets.The IPA Bellwether report forecast corporate ad spending would rise 0.6 percent in the current financial year, revising a previous forecast, made in October and reiterated in January, for a 0.7 percent decline.The survey, conducted by IHS Markit on behalf of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, said on balance a net 26.1 percent of UK companies indicated they would increase their advertising budgets in the 2017/18 financial year.Growth in ad spending would stagnate in 2018 before trending upwards again in 2019 and 2020, the report said."The ... survey paints a picture of a solidly growing UK economy, with companies continuing to show a willingness to commit increased resources to marketing and capitalize on current positive sales trends," said IHS Markit''s senior economist Paul Smith.The report showed a net balance of 11.8 percent of companies increased their budgets in the first quarter, led by a jump in internet ad spending, which touched its highest level in just under four years.The increase comes even as Google''s YouTube ( GOOGL.O ) and Facebook ( FB.O ), which dominate global online ad spending, face rising criticism for not sufficiently policing offensive posts and content. That has prompted some top client brands to pull ads in recent months."Despite the current, turbulent digital ecosphere, it is clear that marketers are attracted to the cost-effectiveness of digital advertising and its ability to reach and accurately target their consumers," said IPA''s director general Paul Bainsfair.The survey interviewed around 300 UK marketing professionals primarily from Britain''s top 1,000 companies and across all key business sectors.(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-advertising-idUSKBN17K2P4'|'2017-04-19T07:18:00.000+03:00' '1f91ed0ee17ce7c2f6c3f36d21bd795928df1581'|'Indian techies, IT firms fret as Trump orders US visa review'|'Company News 46am EDT Indian techies, IT firms fret as Trump orders US visa review * Indians awaiting U.S. work visas ponder next move * Trump policies raise fears about future complications * Some Indian IT companies reducing visa applications * Immigration lawyers see spike in inquiries By Sankalp Phartiyal and Rahul Bhatia MUMBAI, April 21 For Grishma, an Indian software designer, President Donald Trump''s review of the visa programme for bringing highly skilled workers into the United States comes at a bad time. Fresh from gaining a master''s degree in Europe, and with an offer of employment from a well-known U.S. design firm, she was well on her way to fulfilling the ambition of many young Indian IT workers - a dream job in America. But as she waits in the H-1B visa queue for the green light, she is caught in a bind. "It''s a weird time to be applying, with all the scrutiny," said Grishma, who gave only her first name for fear of jeopardising her chances of getting a visa. The United States has already suspended the "expedited processing option" for applicants, under which she may have received a visa in weeks. More broadly, uncertainty over the review announced this week has unsettled Grishma and many others like her. She will have to wait until at least around August to learn her fate, but having accepted the U.S. job offer she is not in a position to apply for positions elsewhere, including in Europe. "It''s pretty debilitating," Grishma told Reuters. "I''d like to start work to mitigate the financial damage." Trump''s decision was not a huge surprise, given his election campaign pledge to put American jobs first. But the executive order he signed, though vague in many areas, has prompted thousands of foreign workers already in the United States or applying for visas to work there to re-think their plans. Companies who send them also face huge uncertainty. The concerns are particularly acute in India, where IT firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Ltd and Wipro Ltd are top beneficiaries of the H-1B visa programme, using it to send computer engineers to service clients in the United States, their largest overseas market. COMPANIES AND STAFF REALIGN Experts say Trump''s order to review visa processes is aimed at firms like TCS, Infosys and Wipro, which from 2005-14 snagged around 86,000 H-1B visas, roughly equivalent to the number of H-1B visas the United States issues in total each year. Two industry sources said Infosys, India''s No. 2 information technology (IT) services company, is applying for just under 1,000 H-1B visas this year, which one of the sources said was down from 6,500 applications in 2016 and some 9,000 in 2015. It was not clear whether the sharp reduction in 2017 was in direct response to Trump''s presidency, although the company has said for some time it wanted to cut dependence on "fly-in" staff. TCS, Infosys and Wipro said they would not share data on the number of H-1B visas they had applied for this year. With fewer visas going to Infosys, more might become available for smaller IT companies and big U.S. tech companies, like Facebook and Microsoft Corp, that typically send in fewer H-1B applications each year. U.S.-based immigration lawyer Murali Bashyam, managing partner of Bashyam Spiro LLP which advises and works with small to mid-sized Indian IT firms, said clients had been in contact seeking clarity, while the number of visa applicants had fallen. "I think the reason for that is they get the sense that it''s going to get so much tougher to comply with all of the changes ... that it might not be worth their money," he said. "There is a fear that radical immigration changes are coming, and if those radical immigration changes come then it could completely change the way IT staffing companies do business." Bashyam said the number of people on H-1B visas already working in the United States who were considering returning to their home country had risen. An engineer working at Cisco, who has been in the United States since 2011, said that three months ago he would not have considered returning to India. But the review of the visa system, and any rule change that revoked the right for his wife to work in the United States on a dependent visa, could force him to change his mind. "If that happens, then I would definitely be interested in going back to India. Even though I''m secure, I don''t want to be in a situation where my wife cannot work," said the engineer, who declined to be named. "Those who have heavily invested here, who''ve bought houses, property and are still on visas, are afraid." "I''M LOOKING EASTWARD" According to Bashyam, some Indians on H-1B visas were cancelling plans to return home to visit their families in case they had problems getting back into the United States. "With everything that''s going on, travelling outside the U.S. is the biggest fear for a lot of the H-1B workers working in the IT staffing industry," he said. And the uncertainty is not limited to IT. Trump''s campaign rhetoric around tighter visa rules has led some Indian students considering studying abroad to look beyond the United States, which typically draws in over 100,000 Indian students annually. One Canadian official said the number of student visa applications for certain courses in Canada had spiked over 250 percent since Trump''s election win in November. Akshay Baliga, a management consultant with a H-1B visa that is valid until 2018, said he was not considering returning to the United States for work any time soon. "As a professional I''m looking eastward," said Baliga, now based in India but who earlier studied and lived for years in America. (Additional reporting by Sunil Nair in BENGALURU and Euan Rocha in MUMBAI; Editing by Mike Collett-White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-india-immigration-idUSL1N1HS1D2'|'2017-04-21T22:46:00.000+03:00' '5088d18eda555e899eb7fda63f493b198b8a89d3'|'Japan Inc braces for labour reform, plans to boost productivity - Reuters poll'|'Business News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 1:01am BST Japan Inc braces for labour reform, plans to boost productivity - Reuters poll left right FILE PHOTO: Office workers are reflected in a glass railing as they cross a street during lunch hour in Tokyo June 1, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A worker is pictured next to heavy machinery at a construction site in Tokyo''s business district, Japan, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo 2/2 By Tetsushi Kajimoto - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s plans to implement more employee-friendly laws are set to prove painful for many companies, with half saying labour costs will rise and two-thirds considering ways to lift productivity to offset the impact of the reforms, a Reuters poll showed. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe''s government last month endorsed an action plan for sweeping reforms of employment practices, including caps on overtime and better pay for part-time and contract workers. The proposals, which may come into effect from 2019, will only add to strains already being felt as firms grapple with a deepening labour shortage due to a rapidly aging population. That said, more pressure to boost productivity is seen as long overdue and could boost growth in the long-term. "Coming on top of labour shortages, Abe''s plan will cause declines in sales and profits. We have done what we can in terms of streamlining," wrote a manager at a machinery maker, one of the nine percent of firms which saw a considerable jump in labour costs. The Reuters Corporate survey, conducted April 4-17, showed 41 percent saw costs rising somewhat, while 38 percent expect no change and 11 percent forecast that labour costs will decrease. The impact of Japan''s labour shortage is already pressuring earnings at some firms, and at others, management has found it no longer has the bargaining power it used to have as failure to reward employees sufficiently can result in less staff. Convenience store chain Lawson Inc ( 2651.T ) last week forecast its first decline in annual profit in 15 years, due in part to investments in new technology that will help it cope with fewer workers. And this week, delivery service firm Yamato Holdings Co ( 9064.T ) slashed its profit estimates for the financial year just ended by almost half, saying it needed to pay unpaid overtime for the past two years. Service sector firms - which include labour intensive industries such as retailing and construction - are the most vulnerable. Nearly 60 percent of non-manufacturers polled in the survey said costs will increase. The survey, conducted monthly for Reuters by Nikkei Research, polled 529 big and mid-sized businesses. Around 240 firms, which reply on condition of anonymity, answered the questions on labour. SHRINKING WORKFORCE Japan''s working-age population shrank to 77.2 million in 2015 from a peak of 87.2 million in 1995 and is forecast to fall further to 45.2 million by 2065. At the same time, Japan - the world''s third-largest economy - ranks higher than many other advanced economies in terms of annual total working hours per worker, while its per-capita GDP undershoots most of them, government data shows. "The government wants companies to seize this opportunity to raise productivity to cope with labour shortages, and many firms appear to share the objective," said Hidenobu Tokuda, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute, who reviewed the survey results. Public outrage over long working hours has also motivated Abe to make labour reform a key policy plank. The suicide of a young worker at advertising agency Dentsu Inc ( 4324.T ) in 2015, later ruled by the government as ''karoshi'' or death by overwork has only fuelled momentum for reform. In addition to legal caps on excessive overtime that would carry penalties for infringements, Abe''s action plan calls for better pay for part-time and contract workers, with the government noting that around 40 percent of Japanese workers are ''non-regular'' workers and are paid far less compared to other advanced countries. Investing in technology - from new computer systems to artificial intelligence, robots and the internet of things - was the most cited method of boosting productivity in the survey. But implementing this could be easier said than done. "One problem is that Japanese firms are short of talented workers in the fields of IT and AI," said Tokuda. Firms also said they would introduce flexible work schedules, cut down on internal meetings and train employees to multitask more. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Additional reporting by Izumi Nakagawa and Ritsuko Shimizu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-companies-labour-idUKKBN17M32K'|'2017-04-21T08:01:00.000+03:00' '379a6bd573958ed51483ab04f5e5580b13db341a'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 21'|'Market News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 1:52am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 21 April 21 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 7 points on Friday, according to financial bookmakers. * DIAGEO: Alcoholic drinks giant Diageo plans to cut roughly 100 jobs in Scotland, at a time when Britain''s workforce is facing uncertainty over the nation''s impending exit from the European Union. * SHELL: Canada''s federal government wants to delay the implementation of its new methane regulations by up to three years to 2020 and expects to fully implement it by 2023, CBC News reported on Thursday. * BP PLC: BP Plc is considering the sale of its stakes in three Canadian oil sands projects, people familiar with the matter told Reuters this week, as part of the British oil company''s strategy of retreating from non-core businesses. * RESTAURANT GROUP: Restaurant Group Plc finance chief, Barry Nightingale, is set to leave the company after less than a year in the role, Sky News reported. * GSK: GlaxoSmithKline must pay $3 million to a woman who sued the drug company over the death of her husband, a lawyer who committed suicide after taking a generic version of the antidepressant Paxil, a U.S. jury said on Thursday. * BANK OF ENGLAND: Bank of England Governor Mark Carney told bankers on Thursday that financial regulations devised after the 2008-09 crisis cannot be set in stone, and must be flexible enough to deal with unintended consequences and unexpected gaps. * IMMIGRATION: British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to stick to her pledge to reduce annual net migration to below 100,000 a year, she said on Thursday, as her governing Conservatives put together their manifesto for a snap election in June. * OIL: Oil traded steady on Friday, though it was set for its biggest weekly drop in about a month over doubts that an OPEC-led production cut will restore balance to a market that has been dogged by oversupply for more than two years. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $52.99 per barrel at 0323 GMT. * The UK blue chip index closed 0.1 percent up, despite coming under pressure this week after British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election, a move that sent sterling to a more than 6-month high. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Sigma Capital Group PLC Full Year 2016 Sigma Capital Group PLC Earnings Release CityFibre Infrastructure Full Year 2016 CityFibre Holdings PLC Infrastructure Holdings PLC Earnings Release Hurricane Energy PLC Full Year 2016 Hurricane Energy PLC Earnings Release People''s Operator PLC Full Year 2016 People''s Operator PLC Earnings Release Invesco Perpetual UK Smaller Full Year 2017 Invesco Companies Investment Trust Perpetual UK Smaller PLC Companies Investment Trust PLC Earnings Release Image Scan Holdings PLC Half Year 2017 Image Scan Holdings PLC Earnings Release Northbridge Industrial Full Year 2016 Northbridge Services PLC Industrial Services PLC Earnings Release Connect Group PLC Half Year 2017 Connect Group PLC Earnings Release Blackrock Greater Europe Half Year 2017 Blackrock Investment Trust PLC Greater Europe Investment Trust PLC Earnings Release Punch Taverns PLC Half Year 2017 Punch Taverns PLC Earnings Release Chapel Down Group PLC Group PLC Earnings Release Georgian Mining Corp Full Year 2016 Noricum Gold Ltd Earnings Release Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC Q1 2017 Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC Interim Management Statement Release TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL3N1HT2AI'|'2017-04-21T13:52:00.000+03:00' 'd4cd9f98aecb19f5903935f173f0bfa28dd18ed5'|'Miners, earnings support European shares; French stocks under pressure ahead of election'|'Market News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 3:31am EDT Miners, earnings support European shares; French stocks under pressure ahead of election LONDON, April 21 European shares advanced in early deals on Friday, though France''s benchmark CAC 40 declined slightly ahead of the first round of voting in the French presidential election. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent, on track to mark its third session of straight gains, while France''s CAC fell 0.4 percent. French food group Danone was the biggest faller on the CAC 40, down 2.4 percent after reporting first-quarter sales figures, which rose 0.7 percent, a sharp slowdown from 2.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2016. French banks extended the previous session''s gains, with Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole trading 0.2 percent to 1.2 percent higher. A rally in basic resources stocks underpinned broader gains, as the sector rose 1.9 percent on the back of supportive metals prices. Earnings and deal-making drove the action at the single-stock level, with Germany''s Software AG climbing 4.6 percent to the top of the STOXX 600 after reporting first-quarter results. The software business maker''s quarterly core profit declined less than expected. Engineering firm WS Atkins gained 4 percent after Canada''s SNC-Lavalin Group said it would buy the firm for C$3.6 billion ($2.67 billion), firming up an indicative offer it made earlier this month. Domino''s Pizza rose more than 3 percent after Peel Hunt raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from hold". (Reporting by Kit Rees, editing by Helen Reid) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HT172'|'2017-04-21T15:31:00.000+03:00' '2a01280724f341243c30f829cbe2f46c602de6e8'|'BRIEF-SSH Communications Security: patent US 8544079 found invalid by USPTO'|'WASHINGTON, April 21 The International Monetary Fund on Friday praised Greece''s fiscal over-performance in 2016, but said it still needed clarification from euro zone governments on what debt relief Athens could expect before joining the latest Greek bailout. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL8N1HT0E6'|'2017-04-21T13:08:00.000+03:00' '139986d36ff51de6c245cc8242fe23e7f4687a08'|'GE beefs up additive manufacturing, scouts for acquisitions'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 12:10pm BST GE beefs up additive manufacturing, scouts for acquisitions A pedestrian walks past a General Electric (GE) facility in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder HANOVER, Germany General Electric ( GE.N ) is beefing up its additive manufacturing business with an investment of more than 100 million euros (83.6 million pounds) in Germany and continues to be alert for acquisition opportunities, the head of the business said. The maker of jet engines, power plants and other industrial equipment, General Electric last year bought a majority in Swedish 3D printer maker Arcam ( ARCM.ST ) and privately held German 3D printing firm Concept Laser at a total cost of about $1.3 billion. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, saves money on material costs and time from design to manufacturing by printing objects in layers directly from a computer design instead of cutting them out of blocks of material. With last year''s acquisitions, GE owns two of the five principal 3D printing technologies - powder and electron-beam. "Our goal is to get into all of the these," GE Additive chief Mohammad Ehteshami told reporters on Monday. Asked whether this could be achieved through organic growth alone, he said: "We are always studying organic and inorganic possibilities... Strategically, there are inorganic plays we would not be smart not to do." GE already 3D prints several aircraft parts and aims to turn the additive manufacturing business, currently still a part of GE aviation, into a $1 billion external sales business by 2020. "I have a belief that you''ll be able to print the whole jet engine," Ehteshami told reporters at the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair. He said the group had invested around $1.5 billion in 3D printing technology over the past decade, not including last year''s acquisitions. GE announced an investment of 100 million euros into the newly acquired Concept Laser site in Lichtenfels, Bavaria, where the number of employees should rise to 300 by the end of this year from 200. It also said it would open a new additive manufacturing customer training and support centre in Munich, planned to be the first of several worldwide aimed at gaining greater exposure for the technology, at a cost of 15 million euros. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by Pritha Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ge-additive-idUKKBN17Q110'|'2017-04-24T19:10:00.000+03:00' '4aa21517b2367a9b1c5f86af016c64442274f7e0'|'Retailer Marks & Spencer says plans to close 6 British stores'|'Business 11:08am BST Retailer Marks & Spencer says plans to close six British stores FILE PHOTO - Pedestrians walk past a branch of Marks & Spencer in northwest London, Britain July 8, 2014. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo LONDON British retailer Marks & Spencer ( MKS.L ) said on Thursday it planned to close six stores as part of a review of its UK estate that was first detailed last year. It said if the six stores were closed all 380 employees affected would be guaranteed redeployment at a nearby store. M&S said in November it planned to close about 30 UK stores selling clothing, homewares and food and downsize or convert another 45 into food stores over five years. That will mean a reduction of 10 percent in floorspace devoted to racks of skirts, jumpers, trousers and towels. After taking account of store openings in under-served areas a net 60 fewer UK stores will be selling the full M&S range by 2021, it said. M&S also said on Thursday it will open 34 new food stores and two clothing, home and food stores over the next six months, creating 1,400 jobs. The retailer currently has 959 UK stores – 304 full line stores, 615 food-only stores and 40 outlets. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-marks-spencer-stores-idUKKBN17M0XO'|'2017-04-20T17:05:00.000+03:00' '22d7213fa9d3cf2b3950ecd5a278e8f71e22a805'|'J&J target Actelion could exit Swiss benchmark SMI index this month'|'By Rupert Pretterklieber - ZURICH ZURICH The composition of the top Swiss stock index is due to change as early as this month, with Actelion ( ATLN.S ) poised to fall out of the Swiss Market Index (SMI) ahead of the completion of the biotechnology company''s takeover by Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ).Friday is the next deadline for Actelion shareholders to take J&J''s $30 billion, $280 per share offer.If more than 80 percent of shares are tendered, then Actelion''s free float would slip below the 20 percent threshold required for inclusion in not only the benchmark SMI but also the broader Swiss Performance Index, Stephan Meier, a spokesman for the SIX Swiss Exchange, said on Thursday.The chances of J&J''s stake topping 80 percent are good, since it held 77 percent of Actelion shares at the end of March when it declared the takeover a success.Should that happen, the SIX Swiss Exchange could make an announcement as early as Friday about future steps leading to another company filling Actelion''s place in the SMI.Candidates include drug ingredients maker Lonza ( LONN.S ), adhesives maker Sika ( SIK.S ) and asset manager Partners Group ( PGHN.S ), as well as hearing aid maker Sonova ( SOON.S ).There will almost certainly be further SMI changes later this year, after ChemChina''s CNNCC.UL takeover of Swiss chemicals maker Syngenta ( SYNN.S ) is completed.(Reporting by Rupert Pretterkleber; Writing by John Miller; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-actelion-m-a-j-j-idINKBN17M1DG'|'2017-04-20T09:55:00.000+03:00' '3e84d1028977d628732b48d9dcc52369e2ab8ea6'|'As mood across European stocks brightens, clouds gather over the UK'|'Business News 1:56pm BST As mood across European stocks brightens, clouds gather over the UK By Vikram Subhedar and Kit Rees - LONDON LONDON UK and euro zone stock markets, which have so far enjoyed a rebound from last summer''s lows in nearly equal measure, could soon part ways on the back of diverging investor sentiment as a protracted tussle on the terms of Brexit begins. On Monday, French bluechips surged as much as 5 percent and Germany''s DAX hit a record high while measures of euro zone market volatility slumped as investors cheered hopes of abating political risks following a market-friendly result in the first round of France''s presidential election. Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards leading his country, with polls now putting him comfortably ahead of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 run-off. The election result further stoked the growing optimism for European shares with major brokers pushing the case for investors to pile further into the region''s relatively cheaper valued stock markets, particularly its banks. UK stock markets rose too with the FTSE 100 .FTSE of global bluechips up 1.8 percent on Monday. However, the underperformance on the day of more domestic focussed midcaps .FTMC hinted at a turn in investors'' appetite as Britain''s economy sends mixed signals about its readiness for Brexit. “In a way, Brexit has helped concentrate minds in Europe on the uncertainties over Brexit and the speed bumps which (Britain was) likely to have to go over the next couple of years can only add to the uncertainty,” said Nick Peters, multi asset portfolio manager at Fidelity International. While overall economic growth has confounded forecasts of a painful hit after last year''s Brexit vote, rising worries over consumer spending, a lynchpin of the UK economy, as inflation bites into wages has become a key concern. British retail sales posted their biggest quarterly fall in seven years in the first three months of 2017, reinforcing the view that household spending was slowing sharply. Recent surveys of purchasing managers paint contrasting pictures of the outlook for manufacturing industries in the euro zone and in the UK, with the former on firmer footing as this graphic shows: reut.rs/2pWJLJe Similarly, analyst expectations of corporate earnings are turning south in the UK and have continued to improve for rest of the continent, according to Thomson Reuters data. reut.rs/2p957Qt "With inflation expectations increasing, negative real wage growth could have a knock-on effect on GDP growth and consumer confidence," said Mark Martin, head of UK Equities at Neptune Investment Management in London. Martin also expects sterling''s GBP= strengthening to halt at current levels dimming his appetite for smaller and mid-sized local firms more geared to the UK economy. For graphics on UK vs euro zone PMIs click on reut.rs/2pWJLJe For graphics on UK vs euro zone analyst revisions click on reut.rs/2p957Qt For graphics on UK stocks vs peers click on reut.rs/2pvx4EX (Reporting by Vikram Subhedar and Kit Rees; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-uk-idUKKBN17Q1A0'|'2017-04-24T20:56:00.000+03:00' '8331b573c5fc434983e39e9f152c66b46818ae4d'|'Canada''s Precision Drilling posts bigger loss as costs rise'|'Company News 18am EDT Canada''s Precision Drilling posts bigger loss as costs rise April 24 Canadian rig contractor Precision Drilling Corp posted a bigger quarterly loss due to higher costs of moving some rigs to meet a jump in demand from U.S. shale producers. The company''s net loss widened to C$22.6 million ($16.9 million), or 8 Canadian cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from C$19.9 million, or 7 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. However, revenue rose 14.6 percent to C$345.8 million, the company said on Monday. ($1 = 1.34 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/precision-drill-results-idUSL4N1HW3K4'|'2017-04-24T18:18:00.000+03:00' 'e1998ceda85994b7625d96554d5a89bc9a446e6c'|'Grant Thornton fined 2.3 million pounds over AssetCo audits'|'Business News 33am BST Grant Thornton fined 2.3 million pounds over AssetCo audits By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Britain''s accounting watchdog has fined Grant Thornton 2.3 million pounds for failing to challenge "fictitious revenues" at listed fire and rescue services firm AssetCo ( ASTO.L ). The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said the accounting firm and one of its now retired partners, Robert Napper, have admitted misconduct and agreed to fines and other sanctions. "The respondents have admitted that their failings arose as a result of the significant and widespread lack of professional competence and due care in the performance of the audits," the FRC said in a statement. It follows an investigation by the FRC into audits of AssetCo''s financial statements for the financial years that ended in March 2009 and March 2010. The investigation uncovered "flawed judgments", the FRC said. "The respondents have further accepted that the root cause of many of the defects in their audit work was a significant failing in the application of professional scepticism, which should be at the core of the work of statutory auditors," the watchdog said. Since the 2007-09 financial crisis, Britain and the European Union have introduced tougher rules to avoid overly familiar relations building up between companies and their auditors. Companies are now required to switch accounts on a regular basis, ending a practice where some firms have used the same accountancy firm for decades. Grant Thornton''s fine was reduced from 3.5 million pounds after a discount. The accountancy firm was also issued with a severe reprimand. Napper was banned from practising accountancy for three years and fined 130,000 pounds. Grant Thornton also agreed to pay 200,000 pounds towards the FRC''s legal costs. The watchdog said that AssetCo''s six pounds per share price in 2009 reflected an "inflated balance sheet and included some significant revenue which was fictitious". Such revenue would not have been reported had it not been for the misconduct identified, and the share price fell to a pound by March 2011. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-assetco-accounts-fine-idUKKBN17Q0L5'|'2017-04-24T15:33:00.000+03:00' '5b84871903b67422eed86893fde9a353e2ec3f4a'|'Asking prices for homes rise to record average of £313,655 - Money'|'The housing market continues to defy fears of a post-referendum slump after sellers’ asking prices hit a new record high of more than £313,000 on average in April.Across England and Wales, the average price tag on a property being put on the market increased by £3,547 – or 1.1% month-on-month – to reach £313,655.Estate agents struggling to find homes to sell, says report Read moreThe figures were released by property website Rightmove, whose records go back to 2002. It said the average asking price in April surpassed a previous high of £310,471 reached in June 2016.Some economists have forecast static prices this year of 2% at most in response to a squeeze on disposable incomes from rising inflation and slowing wages growth. But others have argued the failure to increase the housing stock will keep prices increasing at nearer 5%.Rightmove said strong numbers of house sales being agreed – at levels not seen since before the credit crunch – have helped to keep pushing asking prices upwards.Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said there were signs of a “strong spring market”, which should help to offset any jitters in the market before the general election on 8 June.The first-time buyer sector was driving the price increases , Rightmove said, after changes to previously generous tax rules deterred buy-to-let investors from competing for similar homes.Asking prices in this market are up by 6.5% year-on-year, with the typical price tag on a first-time property – one with up to two bedrooms – now at a record high of £194,881.Across all sectors, asking prices are up by 2.2% year-on-year across England and Wales. Rightmove said the annual pace of asking price growth had generally slowed and was now at its lowest since April 2013.The Guardian view on house prices: the government lacks the political will to fix the broken market - Editorial Read moreLondon and the north-east were the only regions in the study where average asking prices were lower than a year ago. In the capital they were downl 1.5% annually, at £636,777 on average, while in the north-east they were down 0.7%, at an average of £150,350.Eastern England has seen the strongest growth over the last year, with a 5.3% uplift taking the average property price there to £349,269.The West Midlands reported the next strongest, with a 5% increase pushing average prices to £215,784. In Wales, they were up by 4% year-on-year to reach £186,172 on average.Shipside said the number of sales being agreed was the highest for this time of year since 2007.Last year, the chancellor gave a year’s notice of phased reductions in tax benefits for buy-let-investors . First-time buyers appear to have been the main beneficiary, though a higher rate of stamp duty on second homes, which came into effect this month, also had the effect of spurring sales to people from purchasing an additional property.Shipside said: “Strong buyer activity this month has led to 10% higher numbers of sales agreed than in the same period in 2016. This large year-on-year disparity should be viewed cautiously as the comparable timespan in 2016 saw a drop in buy-to-let activity with the additional second home stamp duty.”But he said the figures for agreed sales were also up by 3.8% when compared with two years ago. “With the growth in household numbers and new-build supply struggling to keep pace, demand is strong and has led to the highest sales agreed numbers at this time of year since the heady pre-credit crunch levels,” he said.Topics House prices Property Construction industry Economics Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/24/asking-prices-for-homes-rise-to-record-average-of-313655'|'2017-04-24T15:00:00.000+03:00' '0aec9d25b325351a8c1da5c0a1e3a6fcacb81d10'|'Dubai Aerospace to buy aircraft leasing firm AWAS'|'Government-controlled Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd (DAE) is acquiring Dublin-based AWAS, the world''s tenth biggest aircraft lessor, in a deal that will add over 200 planes to its fleet and more than double the size of its current business.AWAS is the latest asset to be sold in the rapidly consolidating global aircraft leasing industry whose top 50 lessors had a fleet value of $256 billion last year, according to consultancy Flightglobal. The sector is seeing increased investment from players in emerging markets such as China, which were also in the running for AWAS, sources said.Reuters had reported in December citing sources that AWAS had been put up for sale in an auction that could value the lessor at $7 billion, including debt.DAE, controlled by the government of Dubai, signed a definitive agreement to buy AWAS from British financier Guy Hands'' private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners and Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the companies said on Monday. They did not disclose financial terms of the deal.DAE, which calls itself the largest aircraft lessor in the Middle East with a portfolio of 112 planes, said the combined company will have an owned, managed and committed fleet of 394 planes with a total value of over $14 billion. It will have more than 110 airline customers spread across 55 countries."This acquisition of AWAS is strategically compelling and propels DAE into a top 10 aircraft leasing platform," DAE Managing Director Khalifa H. AlDaboos said in a statement."Our leasing business has been growing at a rapid clip and this acquisition will more than double the current size of our business..." he said.Paid for in U.S. dollars, aircraft are comparatively easy to re-lease to various airline operators across the world.AWAS has a fleet of 263 owned, managed and committed narrow and wide-body aircraft, including a pipeline of 23 new aircraft on order to be delivered before the end of 2018.DAE said its transaction will be financed by the group''s internal resources and committed debt financing. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.The latest sale marks the exit of Terra Firma and CPPIB from AWAS, in which they first put in money in 2006. In 2015, Macquarie Group ( MQG.AX ) bought about 90 planes from AWAS for $4 billion.DAE was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. DAE was also advised by KPMG and Latham and Watkins LLP. Goldman Sachs is acting as financial adviser and Milbank as legal adviser to the seller.(Reporting by Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE; Additional reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Saeed Azhar in DUBAI; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-awas-m-a-dubaiaerospace-idUSKBN17Q0QI'|'2017-04-24T16:46:00.000+03:00' '8de34e5aca3f16751710bfba9ff590e748538699'|'Fitch: European Mutual Fund Board Independence Lags Behind US'|'(The following statement was released by the rating agency) Link to Fitch Ratings'' Report: European Mutual Fund Governance here LONDON, April 24 (Fitch) European mutual fund boards have significantly fewer independent directors than their US counterparts, according to Fitch Ratings'' analysis. Regulatory reforms mean boards are becoming increasingly involved in funds'' decision making, but a lack of independence may make European fund boards less likely to challenge management. Looking at a sample of 854 European fund directors from 145 sub-funds across all major asset classes, we found 33% were independent, meaning they had no direct, current link to the fund''s sponsor, custodian or administrator. Our analysis, which mainly focussed on Ireland- and Luxembourg-domiciled UCITS funds also found that almost a quarter of the funds had no independent directors at all. The rules for designating a director as independent vary between European countries. But overall the requirements are weaker than in the US, where a minimum of 40% of directors must be independent and in practice, around 75% actually are independent. The proportion of independent directors on European fund boards is also well below the 61% on FTSE 250 boards and the 84% on S&P500 boards. Fund boards are required to put the interests of investors above those of the asset manager. Their limited independence may therefore become more of a risk as the role of European fund boards grows. For example, under recently-agreed European money market fund reforms, boards will play a key role in determining whether liquidity fees or redemptions gates should be applied. Fund boards were also required to approve the decision by several UK commercial real estate funds to prevent or limit redemptions in the wake of the Brexit vote. Our research also shows that gender diversity on European fund boards is low, with women accounting for just 11% of board positions. Board diversity is broadly recognised as promoting robust decision-making and the representation of women on fund boards is lower than for the broader financial sector, and for members of the MSCI World Index. For more information on our analysis of fund board structures, see the report "European Mutual Fund Governance" published today and available from www.fitchratings.com or by clicking the link above. Contact: Li Huang Associate Director Fund and Asset Managers +86 21 5097 3018 Fitch Ratings (Beijing) Limited 3401, 34/F, Shanghai Tower No.479, Lujiazuihuan Road 200120 Shanghai China Alastair Sewell Senior Director Fund and Asset Managers +44 20 3530 1147 Simon Kennedy Senior Analyst Fitch Wire +44 20 3530 1387 The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings. Media Relations: Peter Fitzpatrick, London, Tel: +44 20 3530 1103, Email: peter.fitzpatrick@fitchratings.com. Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here . IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY''S PUBLIC WEB SITE AT WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM. 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Due to the relative efficiency of electronic publishing and distribution, Fitch research may be available to electronic subscribers up to three days earlier than to print subscribers. For Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea only: Fitch Australia Pty Ltd holds an Australian financial services license (AFS license no. 337123) which authorizes it to provide credit ratings to wholesale clients only. Credit ratings information published by Fitch is not intended to be used by persons who are retail clients within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/fitch-european-mutual-fund-board-indepen-idINFit993760'|'2017-04-24T06:45:00.000+03:00' '884e897115607e94e4f1ac4197ba5fe125922ae9'|'Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo puts itself up for sale'|'Money 08pm IST Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo puts itself up for sale A store of shoe designer Jimmy Choo is seen in the mountain resort of St. Moritz, Switzerland March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/Files LONDON Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo is seeking offers for the company as part of a review of its strategic options to maximise shareholder value, it said on Monday. The firm said it has discussed the strategic review process with its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury which has confirmed it is supportive of the process. It said Britain''s Takeover Panel has agreed that any talks with third parties may be conducted within the context of a “formal sale process” to enable conversations with parties interested in making a proposal to take place on a confidential basis. Jimmy Choo said it is currently not in receipt of any approaches. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/jimmy-choo-m-a-idINKBN17Q0H9'|'2017-04-24T04:38:00.000+03:00' '102c13aeb1d8caf23713585b99099dafebf69b47'|'MOVES-Tikehau Capital names Peter Cirenza as London head'|'Company News 30am EDT MOVES-Tikehau Capital names Peter Cirenza as London head April 24 Alternative asset management and investment firm Tikehau Capital Partners SAS appointed Peter Cirenza as head of its London operations. Cirenza, who has been in the advisory board of the company since 2005, has more than 30 years of financial industry experience including 20 years at Goldman Sachs. Cirenza, whose appointment will be effective on Monday, will run the London operations alongside Chairman Lord Peter Levene. (Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/tikehau-capital-partners-moves-peter-cir-idUSL4N1HW3H2'|'2017-04-24T18:30:00.000+03:00' 'c306371608b8f236b1bb27a45bbbf82e33fda167'|'Global steel output rose in March'|'Money News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 4:27pm IST Global steel output rose in March FILE PHOTO: Rolls of steel are stacked inside the China Steel Corporation factory, in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo LONDON Global crude steel production rose 4.6 percent to 145 million tonnes in March from the same month a year ago, figures from the World Steel Association showed on Monday. Crude steel output from China, the world''s top producer and consumer of the alloy, rose to 72.0 million tonnes, up 1.8 percent from March 2016.'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/steel-output-global-idINKBN17Q105'|'2017-04-24T08:57:00.000+03:00' 'cf6949e9b3c54cc27db5730a9e1d5f01294f2398'|'BRIEF-Biohaven Pharmaceutical sees IPO of 8.33 mln shares of co''s common stock'|'April 24 Biohaven Pharmaceutical:* Biohaven Pharmaceutical holding co ltd sees ipo of 8.33 million shares of co''s common stock - sec filing* Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co Ltd - anticipate initial public offering price of co''s common shares will be between $14.00 and $16.00 per share* Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding - intends to use about $73.1 million of IPO proceeds to fund continued research and development of rimegepant* Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding - intends to use about $24.2 million of IPO proceeds to fund continued research and development of bhv-3500* Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding - intends to use about $10.3 million of IPO proceeds to fund continued research and development of bhv-5000* Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding - intends to use about $5.6 million of IPO proceeds to repay aggregate indebtedness under credit agreement* Biohaven Pharmaceutical holding-to use about $4.1 million of IPO proceeds to satisfy remaining obligation to purchase shares of capital stock of Kleo Pharma Source text ( bit.ly/2pVxkdH )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-biohaven-pharmaceutical-sees-ipo-o-idINFWN1HW0BM'|'2017-04-24T09:10:00.000+03:00' '6f079050ab9e28d3c9fa0731364ebdf14c1ad55f'|'Saudi king restores civil service and military allowances - TV'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 1:49am BST Saudi Arabia restores civil service and military allowances Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, attends a banquet hosted by Shinzo Abe, Japan''s Prime Minister, at the prime minister''s official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Tomohiro Ohsumi/Pool RIYADH Saudi Arabia''s King Salman issued a royal decree on Saturday restoring financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel that had been cut under austerity measures. "The royal order returns all allowances, financial benefits, and bonuses to civil servants and military staff," said the decree, broadcast on state-run Ekhbariya TV. In September Saudi Arabia cut ministers'' salaries by 20 percent and scaled back financial perks for public sector employees in one of the energy-rich kingdom''s most drastic measures to save money at a time of low oil prices. The measures were the first pay cuts for government employees, who make up about two-thirds of working Saudis. The decree canceled those orders, saying they had come as a response to the sharp drop in the price of oil, the main source of state revenues. Oil prices sank to a low of around $28 last January amid a two-year price slump. Since late 2016, however, prices have partially rebounded, with Brent crude LCOc1 now trading around $52 a barrel compared to last year''s average of $45. Minister Of State Mohammed Alsheikh said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as chairman of the Council for Economic and Development affairs, recommended the reinstatement of allowances after an official review and better-than-expected budgetary performance in the first quarter of 2017. "The government has conducted a review of the measures initiated in the fall in relation to the public-sector employees'' allowances. A number of fiscal adjustment measures were taken over the last two years which led to a strong improvement in the government''s fiscal position," said Alsheikh. He joined other key officials in highlighting figures pointing to economic recovery. The central bank governor said the trade deficit was expected to drop in 2017, possibly moving into a surplus, while the deputy economy minister said the kingdom had reduced its deficit in the first quarter of the year by more than half, in part because of prudent management of government spending. "We believe this move will boost positive sentiment as domestic demand recovers on the back of enhanced government employees'' disposable income," said Alsheikh. PERSONNEL CHANGES Other decrees issued at the same time appointed one of Salman''s sons, Prince Khaled bin Salman, ambassador in Washington and another, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, state minister for energy affairs. Prince Khaled is an F-15 pilot who has trained in the United States and carried out air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Syria. Prince Abdulaziz is a long-time energy policy official who was appointed deputy oil minister in 2015. Further decrees replaced the kingdom''s information and civil service ministers and set up a committee to investigate allegations of abuse of the civil service office. A national security center was established under the royal court and Ibrahim al-Omar was named governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, an agency managing foreign investment in the kingdom known as SAGIA. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty, Sami Aboudi and Katie Paul; Writing by Tom Finn; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-economy-idUKKBN17O0NL'|'2017-04-23T06:18:00.000+03:00' '4d72b108fdfa4a8f5405294ea66f47a64844d5b8'|'Credit Suisse to make capital hike decision after AGM - report'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 3:26pm BST Credit Suisse to make capital hike decision after AGM - report The logo of Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in front of a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) will not decide on how it wants to raise fresh capital until after this week''s annual general meeting, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. The Swiss bank is considering a quick-fire share sale or listing 20 to 30 percent of its Swiss business in order to raise between 3 and 6 billion Swiss francs (2.34-4.68 billion pounds) in new capital, the Swiss newspaper said, citing sources close to Chairman Urs Rohner. The newspaper also reported that Rohner expects all the banks'' proposals to be accepted by shareholders at its annual general meeting on Friday. Rohner told Weltwoche magazine in March the bank had time to decide whether to go ahead with a planned listing of its domestic banking unit, originally envisioned for the second half of 2017. Reuters had previously reported that Switzerland''s second-biggest bank was likely to make a decision in April on how to proceed on raising new capital. Credit Suisse, which declined to comment, earlier this month offered to cut bonuses for top management by 40 percent and freeze pay for its board of directors in an attempt to quash a shareholder revolt over payouts to senior managers. Its pay plans included bonuses of 78 million Swiss francs ($78 million) to top executives and higher pay for the board, despite the bank posting a 2.7 billion-franc net loss last year. Credit Suisse is reassessing its compensation policies, sources told SonntagsZeitung, specifically by expanding options to claw back executive and employee bonuses if their actions have caused costly legal suits and large losses for the bank. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-agm-idUKKBN17P0HP'|'2017-04-23T22:26:00.000+03:00' '68dd92bd16655743393295afb15506eb70975657'|'Burberry sales growth slows as U.S. weighs on group'|'Business News 7:53am BST Burberry sales growth slows as U.S. weighs on group left right A detail of a handbag is seen at a Burberry store in central London, Britain, July 15, 2015. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo 1/2 left right A kitchen staff member stands outside a boutique of the Burberry luxury goods company in Beijing, China, December 1, 2016. Picture taken December 1, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 2/2 LONDON British luxury brand Burberry ( BRBY.L ) reported a slight slowdown in its fourth-quarter comparable sales growth rate, as tough conditions in the United States weighed on an "exceptional" performance in its home market. Known for its classic trench coats, Burberry has benefited from tourists taking advantage of a drop in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote in June to buy luxury goods in the British capital rather than other European cities. Burberry said the British market remained strong and it reiterated its full-year profit target, helped by the boost from the weak pound. But comparable sales growth rose just 2 percent in the fourth quarter, below an analyst forecast of 3-4 percent growth, and below a third-quarter rise of 3 percent. "In an uncertain environment, we continue to take action to strengthen the brand and reposition Burberry for growth," Christopher Bailey, chief creative and executive officer, said. "While we have more to do, as we build on our progress so far, we remain confident about Burberry''s prospects in the longer term." Comparable sales in the second half of the year rose 3 percent, with strength in mainland China driving growth in Asia Pacific and an "exceptional" performance in the UK boosting its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa division. Sales in the Americas fell by a "mid single-digit" percentage, where the market has turned highly promotional, while important markets including Hong Kong and Korea also declined. It said it was on track to deliver planned cost savings of 20 million pounds in full-year 2017, which would increase to at least 100 million pounds a year in full-year 2019. (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by James Davey and Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-burberry-outlook-idUKKBN17L0I7'|'2017-04-19T14:53:00.000+03:00' 'd52a2a24399348f1f06d2b1106f8c7feed54a7ca'|'Oil prices dip on bloated U.S. market, mixed Saudi signals'|'Business News 8:51am BST Oil stable as OPEC says it is committed to rebalance markets Stacked rigs are seen along with other idled oil drilling equipment at a depot in Dickinson, North Dakota June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Andrew Cullen By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices were stable on Wednesday as OPEC said it was committed to draw down a global supply overhang that has dogged markets since 2014, although bloated U.S. output and inventories still weighed on crude. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were at $54.92 per barrel at 0741 GMT (3:41 a.m. ET), close to its last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were also almost unchanged at $52.43 a barrel. Traders said prices were supported by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary general, who said the group was committed to restoring market stability by bringing global inventories down to the industry''s five-year average. OPEC, together with other producers like Russia, has agreed to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year to rein in a global fuel supply overhang that has dragged on markets since mid-2014. A fall in shipments from top exporter Saudi Arabia also lent the market some support. Saudi crude exports fell to 6.96 million bpd in February, from 7.7 million bpd in January, according to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (Jodi). Its production, however, rose to 10 million bpd in February, up from 9.75 million bpd in January, as domestic refiners processed more oil. In politics, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran under a 2015 nuclear deal was in the United States'' national security interests. Many U.S. sanctions against Iran were lifted in late 2015, allowing Tehran to more than double its crude oil exports over 2016, adding to the existing global glut. Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday showed that U.S. markets remained bloated. Although crude inventories fell by 840,000 barrels in the week to April 14 to 531.6 million barrels, they still held near record highs, while gasoline stocks rose by 1.4 million barrels as refinery runs increased by 334,000 bpd, the API said. The API reported surprisingly that gasoline inventories increased, while crude oil stocks fell by less than expected, said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta. "Unless the (EIA) data shows something drastically different, this report should cause a severe dent in the bullish case (for oil prices)," Vijayakar said. Official U.S. oil data is expected to be published later on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17L03T'|'2017-04-19T09:15:00.000+03:00' 'ac8d770772ef21cd4bcd03dc817212ff51f9ad4e'|'American Airlines'' employee suspended after row with passengers'|'U.S. - Sat Apr 22, 2017 - 2:56am EDT American Airlines'' employee suspended after row with passengers By Timothy Mclaughlin American Airlines has suspended an employee after a video showed an altercation on one of its planes involving crew, several passengers and a crying woman carrying a young child. An American Airlines employee violently took a stroller from the woman, hitting her with it and just missing her child, Facebook user Surain Adyanthaya said in a post accompanying the video he put on the site on Friday. Less than two weeks ago, a 69-year-old doctor, David Dao, was hospitalised after Chicago aviation police dragged him from a United Airlines plane sparking international outrage and a public relations nightmare for the carrier. American Airlines was investigating Friday''s incident, which happened on Flight 591 from San Francisco to Dallas before the plane took off, Leslie Scott, an airline spokeswoman said. The incident started over a dispute as to whether the woman could bring her stroller on the flight, Scott said. Adyanthaya did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In his video, the woman with the child can be heard asking flight attendants for the stroller. A male passenger then walks towards the front of the plane and demands from the airline crew the name of the employee who took the stroller before he returns to his seat. Moments later, another American employee, who Scott said was a flight attendant, enters the plane and the male passenger confronts him. "You do that to me and I''ll knock you flat," the passenger can be heard saying to the flight attendant. The two then confront each other in the aisle of the plane and the employee can be heard challenging the passenger to hit him. The passenger eventually returns to his seat and the flight attendant leaves the plane. "We are deeply sorry for the pain we have caused this passenger and her family and to any other customers affected by the incident," the airline said in a statement late on Friday. The woman and her family were being upgraded to first class for the remainder of their international trip, it said. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-american-airline-passenger-idUSKBN17O04Y'|'2017-04-22T14:47:00.000+03:00' '253cc91423d27ea85d3f78e15bf2a5bf1d2dcfaf'|'U.S. to impose 20 percent duties on Canadian softwood lumber: Ross'|'By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The United States will impose preliminary anti-subsidy duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday, escalating a long-running trade dispute between the two neighbors.The move, which affects some $5.66 billion worth of imports of the construction material, sets a tense tone as the two countries and Mexico prepare to renegotiate the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.Canada denounced the U.S. action and vowed to protect its lumber interests through litigation.News of the tariffs sent the U.S. dollar sharply up against the Canadian dollar in Asian trading to hit an almost four-month high. The Canadian currency sank to C$1.3559 to the greenback, or 73.75 U.S. cents, down from its North American close of C$1.3516, or 73.99 U.S. cents.Ross told Reuters in a telephone interview that Canada was "already retaliating" against the United States well ahead of the lumber duties by restricting imports of U.S. highly filtered milk protein products used by cheesemakers.President Donald Trump last week called Canada''s dairy protections "unfair."Ross said some Wisconsin dairy producers were now "losing their farms" because of the restrictions. "Apparently Canadians now are coming down and saying: ''Since you can''t do it anymore, I''ll buy your equipment for 5 cents on the dollar,''" he said.U.S. lumber producers asked the Commerce Department last November under President Barack Obama to investigate what they viewed as unfair subsidies to Canadian competitors who procure their timber from government lands at cheaper rates. U.S. lumber producers generally cut timber grown on private land.Canadian Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a joint statement that Commerce''s accusations "are baseless and unfounded" and would raise U.S. home construction and renovation costs.Ross said the duties collected would total about $1 billion a year. In a statement, he said the need for the lumber duties and Canada''s dairy restriction were "not our idea of a properly functioning free trade agreement."NAFTA never addressed the softwood lumber issue or Canada''s largely closed dairy market. The Trump administration has vowed to renegotiate NAFTA on terms that would reduce U.S. goods trade deficits of $63 billion with Mexico and $11 billion with Canada last year.NAFTA TALKS EXPECTED THIS SUMMERRoss said NAFTA''s dispute resolution system needed to be changed because it had worked against the United States in the lumber dispute.NAFTA talks are expected to begin later this summer after a 90-day legal consultation period.The Commerce Department said West Fraser Mills ( WFT.TO ) would pay the highest duty rate at 24.12 percent, followed by Canfor Corp ( CFP.TO ) at 20.26 percent.Resolute FP Canada Ltd ( RFP.N ) will pay a 12.82 percent duty, while Tolko Marketing and Sales and Tolko Industries will pay a 19.50 percent duty and J.D. Irving Ltd will pay 3.02 percent.All other Canadian producers face a 19.88 percent duty, according to the document.The preliminary determination directs U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits on all softwood products imports starting 90 days ago.To remain in effect, the duties need to be finalized by Commerce and then confirmed by the U.S. International Trade Commission after an investigation that includes testimony from both sides.(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-canada-trade-lumber-idINKBN17Q2G9'|'2017-04-24T21:19:00.000+03:00' 'e562fd8187c36dfa0d1706415c1fd89437f5b871'|'EU bankers say ''no'' to more new bank rules ahead of Brexit'|'Business 2:22pm BST EU bankers say ''no'' to more new bank rules ahead of Brexit By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON The European Union should hit the pause button on new bank rules ahead of Britain''s departure from the bloc, senior bank executives said on Tuesday. The EU is fine-tuning a mass of rules introduced to make banks safer after the financial crisis that began nearly a decade ago. But Brexit will remove London, the Europe''s biggest financial center, from the bloc, creating uncertainty over the status of regulations and future trading terms. And in the United States, President Donald Trump wants some of the existing banking rules dropped, saying they hinder economic growth. "We cannot ignore the growing fragmentation of the international regulatory landscape in light of recent political changes notably in the U.S. The perspective of the Brexit adds ... to that trend," Frederic Oudea, chair of the European Banking Federation, and chief executive of SocGen, said. Oudea, speaking on a panel of bank industry officials and experts, also said the EU should avoid adopting rules that have not been agreed at the global level. "This topic is particularly important at a time where we need to think strategically about the direction we want to take for capital market activities in Europe in light of Brexit consequences," Oudea told the European Parliament''s Economic Affairs Committee. He urged policymakers to postpone capital rules for bank trading books until their global implementation is clearer. "We need a regulatory pause," said Karl-Peter Schackmann-Fallis, a German Savings Banks Association board member. The Economic Affairs Committee has oversight of financial rulemaking in the European Parliament, which has joint say with member states on approving the EU''s laws. Andreas Treichl, chief executive of Austria''s Erste Group, said he was spending most of his time with politicians and 10 regulators, rather than with customers. "It''s great what you do, just finish it. I don''t care any more how you finish it. I will accept whatever you decide, but get it done and don''t change it for the next 10 years please," Treichl told the committee. "Please reflect on what you have done. It''s very, very difficult for us to be helpful to create prosperity, and part of the reason is ourselves, and part of the reason is you, the politicians, and part of the reason is the regulators." But Miguel Viegas, a member of the European Parliament and a committee member, said the financial crisis was caused by speculative behavior that cost taxpayers billions of euros. "It''s a bit worrying to hear that we are the guilty parties," Viegas said, referring to Treichl''s comments. Christian Stiefmueller, a senior policy analyst at Finance Watch, a Brussels think tank, said bank capital had still not been restored to consistently safe levels. "Bank regulation is not slowing down the economy," Stiefmueller said. Brexit will also mean the region''s biggest capital markets will not be inside the EU, potentially complicating companies attempts to raise money. Treichl said the European economy depended on debt, but only two countries had a capital market, Switzerland and Britain, the former is already outside the bloc and the latter is due to leave. "Who do you think will finance start-ups? The capital market is not there, the private investors are not there, and banks increasingly face difficulties in doing it," Treichl said. (Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eu-banks-regulations-idUKKBN17R1P9'|'2017-04-25T21:15:00.000+03:00' '9398c66d9fef305a1ed4b6934fe899c3cd2cb749'|'Investors cheer France vote as far-right vs far-left clash averted'|'By Jemima Kelly - LONDON, April 23 LONDON, April 23 The euro surged in early trading in Asia on Sunday, while French bond yields were expected to fall and French stocks to rally on Monday morning, on relief that France had not been left with a choice between two radical, anti-EU presidential candidates.Multiple projections showed centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen set to face each other in a May 7 runoff for the French presidency, after coming first and second in Sunday''s first round of voting.Investors'' greatest worry had been that the far-left, eurosceptic Jean-Luc Melenchon, who had surged in the polls in recent weeks, could jump ahead of Macron and make it into the final run-off against Le Pen, giving voters the choice between two radical candidates who would threaten the future of the EU.That this worse-case scenario looked likely to have been averted, therefore, was seen as positive for risk sentiment. While Sunday''s results looked broadly in line with polls, failures to predict the outcome of the Brexit referendum and U.S. elections had shaken investors'' trust in them.And while the anti-EU Le Pen looked likely to have made it through to the second round, polls have consistently shown Macron will beat her in the runoff."The assumption now is that centrist voters will rally around Macron, denying Le Pen the presidency and hence this will effectively be a pro-establishment, pro-European result which will be positive for risk appetite on Monday morning," said Rabobank''s head of rates strategy in London, Richard McGuire."We are likely to see a notable tightening of European sovereign spreads and this would also be positive for the euro and stocks," he said, although he added that the exit polls must be viewed with a degree of caution.The spread between French 10-year government bond yields and their German equivalents has been a key gauge of investor sentiment around the French election in recent months.That gap was widely expected to narrow on Monday as investors buy back into French debt, and as safe-haven German Bunds are sold off on higher risk appetite.FREXIT FEARS FADEThe euro jumped as much as 2 percent to $1.09395, its highest level since Nov. 10, the day after the results of the U.S. presidential election, as some markets opened in Asia.Against the yen, which investors tend to flock to when they perceive high levels of risk, the euro jumped as much as 3 percent to trade at a five-week high of 120.905 yen ."I think people will be fairly confident that Macron will win in the second round, and the market will be relieved by that," said Insight fund manager and head of currency investment in London, Paul Lambert."The euro will benefit from the perceived decline in the break-up risk in the euro area," he added, though he said the single currency''s moves would be limited by the fact that this outcome had been expected.French and European equities were expected to rally when they begin trading on Monday morning, while peripheral bond yields were expected to fall as investors regained their risk appetite.The projected result will mean a face-off between politicians with radically contrasting economic visions. Macron favours deregulation measures that will be welcomed by financial markets, while Le Pen wants to ditch the euro currency and possibly pull out of the EU - markets'' biggest fear.Even if Le Pen springs a surprise on May 7, her "Frexit" ambitions will require constitutional change which experts say will be difficult, especially as her National Front party only has a handful of federal lawmakers and is seen as highly unlikely to win anything like a majority in June''s parliamentary elections.June''s legislative elections also pose a challenge for Macron, who wants to win a parliamentary majority with his brand-new party "En Marche!" ("Forward!")"We can now conclude that (Frexit) is off the table, assuming that most people will now regard Mr. Macron as the likely winner of round two," said Marie Owens Thomsen, head of economic research at Indosuez Wealth Management in London."But, the open question is still the June parliamentary election, what the future president''s government will look like and whether or not he will have a majority." (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Additional reporting by Maya Nikolaeva in Paris, Dhara Ranasinghe, Helen Reid and Nigel Stephenson in London, and Jonathan Spicer in Washington, DC; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/france-election-markets-idINL8N1HV0OS'|'2017-04-23T18:53:00.000+03:00' '1b7424f4c28293ac6ac48c17af3daf46446a9cef'|'U.S. Supreme Court may limit where companies can be sued'|'By Andrew Chung - WASHINGTON, April 25 WASHINGTON, April 25 U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled a willingness to place limits on where corporations can be sued in a dispute involving drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, a potential setback to plaintiffs'' lawyers who try to bring suits in friendly courts.The justices heard arguments in Bristol-Myers'' appeal of a California Supreme Court ruling allowing that state''s courts to hear claims related to its blood-thinning medication Plavix even though most plaintiffs do not live in the state and the company is not based there.The justices on Monday also were set to hear a similar appeal by Texas-based BNSF Railway Co of a 2015 Montana Supreme Court ruling allowing out-of-state residents to sue there over injuries that happened anywhere in BNSF''s nationwide network.Companies and plaintiffs are engaged in a fight over where lawsuits seeking compensation for injuries should be filed. Companies typically can be sued in a state where they are headquartered or incorporated, as well as where they have significant ties.The nine-member court''s conservative majority appeared to side with the companies'' view while its liberals wondered how it would be unfair to add out-of-state claims to a case that would go ahead anyway.Conservative Justice Anthony Kennedy expressed skepticism over California handling matters for residents of all other states. "That''s a very patronizing view of federalism," Kennedy told the plaintiffs'' lawyer, Thomas Goldstein.Liberal Justice Elena Kagan suggested Bristol-Myers did not want to face multiple trials in California specifically because of plaintiff-friendly juries or the possibility of punitive damages."All of the above," the company''s lawyer Neal Katyal said, adding that it is harder to get cases thrown out of court before trial in California.The underlying lawsuits filed in 2012 against Bristol-Myers and California-based drug distributor McKesson Corp involved 86 California residents and 575 non-residents, alleging Plavix increased their risk of stroke, heart attack and internal bleeding.The California Supreme Court ruled in August 2016 that it could preside over the Plavix case because Bristol-Myers Squibb conducted a national marketing campaign and sold nearly $1 billion of the drug in the state.Bristol-Myers and other industry groups have argued that the ruling allows plaintiffs to bring lawsuits in states with more favorable laws and it hamstrings their ability to mount a full and fair defense.Bristol-Myers is incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in New York.(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-court-bristol-myers-idINL1N1HW1TF'|'2017-04-25T14:14:00.000+03:00' '634e8ca931ea81232e924bb5edefeec709dbcdd9'|'Singapore March all-items CPI rises 0.7 percent, matching forecasts'|'SINGAPORE Singapore''s headline consumer price index in March rose 0.7 percent from a year earlier, in line with economist expectations, data showed on Monday.The median forecast in a Reuters poll was for all-items CPI to rise 0.7 percent from a year earlier. In February the all-items CPI had also risen by 0.7, the fastest pace since September 2014.Singapore''s core inflation gauge rose 1.2 percent in March from a year earlier. The median forecast was a rise of 1.3 percent.(Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/singapore-economy-inflation-idINKBN17Q0DY'|'2017-04-24T13:15:00.000+03:00' 'a1158cf22f73df79dd0fdb29e3481721370d9290'|'St. Louis wins U.S. approval to explore airport privatization'|'U.S. - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 6:02am EDT St. Louis wins U.S. approval to explore airport privatization By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Transportation Department said on Monday it has granted preliminary approval to St. Louis to explore putting its city-owned airport under private management. The announcement could help gauge private sector interest in the Trump administration''s calls for investors to boost infrastructure. The Missouri airport would become the second major U.S. airport after San Juan, Puerto Rico to operate under private management. The Transportation Department told Reuters it approved the preliminary application of St. Louis Lambert International Airport, owned and operated by the city of St. Louis, under a 1996 law that allows the Federal Aviation Administration to approve up to 10 pilot airport privatization projects. U.S. President Donald Trump''s administration plans to unveil an infrastructure plan worth at least $1 trillion over 10 years through a mix of public and private spending but has not disclosed how much federal money it will seek. Preliminary approval "demonstrates the administration’s commitment to leveraging innovative financing strategies to revitalize our nation’s aviation infrastructure," Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a statement. The next steps for the city include selecting a private operator to manage the airport and negotiating an operations agreement. A final agreement would also need the support of airlines and city boards. St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson said in a statement released by the Transportation Department the announcement "is a great opportunity to explore a public private partnership." At an April 4 White House forum, National Economic Council director Gary Cohn said privatizing air traffic control, which the administration proposed in its budget outline in March, "is probably the single most exciting thing we can do." Cohn said if cities "sell off" or privatize infrastructure assets, the administration could provide financial support. A 2014 government audit report said higher financing costs for privatized airports "and the possible lack of state and local property tax exemptions" may account for lack of interest. The most prominent attempt was in 2006, when Chicago received approval to lease city-owned Midway Airport to private investors. In 2008, the city agreed to a $2.52 billion, 99-year lease but investors could not secure financing. Lambert airport struggled after American Airlines acquired TWA in 2001 and then closed its hub there. But the airport has rebounded and traffic rose nearly 10 percent last year to 13.9 million passengers. Southwest Airlines Co is the largest carrier at Lambert by passengers boarded, followed by American, Delta Air Lines Inc and United Airlines. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-missouri-airport-privatization-idUSKBN17Q0VA'|'2017-04-24T18:00:00.000+03:00' 'cbf1b28062a89c682e18c57537cd14cb41c759db'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 24'|'ZURICH, April 24 The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening 1.1 percent higher at 8,647 points on Monday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer .The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks.LAFARGEHOLCIMLafargeHolcim Chief Executive Eric Olsen will leave the company in July, the world''s largest cement maker said on Monday, in the wake of an investigation into allegations the company paid armed groups in Syria to keep a plant operating.SYNGENTAThe pesticides and seeds group that is being acquired by ChemChina said first quarter sales slipped 1 percent to $3.74 billion as growth in Asian corn seed markets was offset by lower demand for fungicides and herbicides in Latin America.CREDIT SUISSECredit Suisse will not decide on how it wants to raise fresh capital until after this week''s annual general meeting, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. The Swiss bank is considering a quick-fire share sale or listing 20 to 30 percent of its Swiss business in order to raise between 3 and 6 billion Swiss francs ($3 - 6 billion) in new capital, the Swiss newspaper said, citing sources close to Chairman Urs Rohner.SWISS NATIONAL BANKThe Swiss National Bank (SNB) is ready to use its available policy tools to stem any upward pressure on the Swiss franc that might result from France''s presidential elections, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.COMPANY STATEMENTS* Glarner Kantonalbank raised first-quarter net profit by 27 percent to 4.9 million Swiss francs.* lastminute.com will propose a new share buyback program of up to 10 percent of current share capital, or 18 million euros, at its annual general meeting on Friday. Subject to approval, the buyback will begin May 3.ECONOMY($1 = 0.9968 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idINL8N1HW0I3'|'2017-04-24T04:10:00.000+03:00' 'c24d62c0aed419d55dd7f3c9c8f87337fb87220f'|'Facebook finally makes a virtual reality world 18,'|'Facebook Spaces: Never see your friends IRL again Facebook just built a virtual reality version of ... Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg kicked off Facebook''s annual F8 developer conference on Tuesday. The two-day event, now in its tenth year, drew roughly 4,000 attendees to the San Jose Convention Center in California. This year, the company announced new augmented reality features for your smartphone camera, a cute VR version of the social network for Oculus and even more ways to talk to companies on Messenger. Zuckerberg tests out his standup routine The conference is a chance for Zuckerberg and his executives to wax poetic about all they ways they''re changing the world, while also getting brands excited to sell things on Facebook. Newish dad Zuckerberg tried out something different on stage: dad jokes. He made cracks about the other F8 trending this week, "The Fate of the Furious," and joked about his overly long community posts. "I wrote like six more of these, but I understand that some of you are here to see a tech keynote," said Zuckerberg. He reinforced Facebook''s commitment to building community, before speaking briefly about the Cleveland murder video that was uploaded to Facebook. Related: Mark Zuckerberg makes cursory mention of Facebook murder video at F8 Augmented reality is already on your phone He quickly pivoted to the main thrust of his keynote: augmented reality, but without the dorky glasses. Facebook is using its new camera tools to launch its own augmented reality platform. Instead of putting on goggles, you will hold up your smartphone and watch as it overlays graphics on the world in front of you in real time. You can add sharks swimming around your morning coffee, or a virtual mug to your table to feel less alone. Add effects to a room, like dripping paintings or rain clouds, and pop-up informational boxes for products or locations. It uses precise location detection, 3D effects and object recognition to make the moving effects work. The platform is available in a closed beta starting Tuesday. Facebook''s new camera update already uses some of this "augmented reality," like animated mustaches and glitter beards. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company was late adding the camera effects to its apps, but said, "I''m confident that now we''re going to push this augment reality platform forward." Snapchat released similar features Tuesday morning -- the latest shot in the war between the two companies. Related: Facebook is still trying to make bots happen Facebook Spaces means you never have to leave your home again Last year, Facebook did a silly demo on stage of people hanging out in virtual reality, taking selfies. It was a rough draft for Facebook Spaces, a new virtual reality version of Facebook the company announced today. Facebook Spaces is an app for the Facebook-owned Oculus VR goggles. Facebook described it as "a magical canvas for shared experiences." When you can''t just chill on the couch with your bestie IRL, you can put on some goggles and do it as animated people in a virtual version of your living room. Or in a virtual park, Paris, maybe even outer space if you''re into that. Rachel Rubin Franklin, the former head of the Sims video game franchise, said it lets you spend time with people and gives "the essence that you''re really there together." The app ports in your Facebook profile, so it already knows who your friends are. If you don''t have Oculus (most people don''t), you can see a VR version of yourself talking to your friends'' VR versions. You can build a custom avatar based on your Facebook profile shot, like a 3D bitmoji. This is the future, folks. VR social networks and communities already exist, and they''re experiencing the same etiquette questions as social networks. For instance, one woman was sexually assaulted while playing a video game in VR. Facebook Spaces launches in beta for Oculus Rift Tuesday. Forgot your password? Facebook''s got your back Facebook is expanding its efforts to eliminate passwords. In January, the company began testing Delegated Account Recovery, a tool that lets you use your Facebook account to log in to another app if you forgot your password. Instead of answering security questions or receiving password reset emails, people can use Facebook to confirm their identity. The security tool is now rolling out to more apps as a closed beta test. New communities just for developers Facebook also announced a number of new tools just for developers. Since coding can be a lonely undertaking, Facebook is launching Developer Circles. They''re like Facebook Groups for developers, helping connect people living in the same area and offering educational options like special classes from Udacity. There are new analytics tools and more location information to draw from. Developers can now build simplified pages and apps for people who have slow internet connections. Year one of a 10-year plan A lot has changed since F8''s first installment. Over the past decade, Facebook ( FB , Tech30 ) has gone from a single website where people play Farmville to a public company that also owns Instagram, Oculus and What''sApp. At last year''s F8, Zuckerberg took a subtle swipe at then-candidate Trump, saying, "Instead of building walls, we can help build bridges." In the first few months of Trump''s presidency, Zuckerberg has expressed concern about Trump''s executive orders on immigration. COO Sheryl Sandberg has also criticized Trump on his abortion policies . On the heels of the campaign, Zuckerberg made it his New Year''s resolution to visit people from every state by the end of 2017 -- though he did not specifically mention Trump as a factor. The U.S. election also put fake news and its impact on real-life decisionmaking in the spotlight. Zuckerberg initially said it was "crazy" that Facebook could have impacted the election, though later backtracked on his comments. CNNMoney (San Jose) 18, 2017: 12:50 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/18/technology/facebook-f8/index.html'|'2017-04-18T23:41:00.000+03:00' '57437a1be5f588f185f3ac79830e1a2b7dd84e06'|'Fitch cuts Italy''s debt rating; cites weak growth, political risk'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 21, 2017 - 11:38pm BST Fitch cuts Italy''s debt rating; cites weak growth, political risk An Italian flag waves in front of the Montecitorio palace before the start of a finances vote in downtown Rome November 8, 2011. REUTERS/Tony Gentile By Gavin Jones - ROME ROME Ratings agency Fitch downgraded Italy''s sovereign debt on Friday, citing the country''s sluggish economic growth, fiscal slippage, weak government, banking problems and political risk ahead of elections due in 2018. Fitch cut Italy''s sovereign credit rating to ''BBB'' from ''BBB+'', a move that could put further pressure on its borrowing costs which have already been rising in recent months. The outlook for the rating is now stable, it said. The agency had put the euro zone''s third largest economy on watch in October with a negative outlook ahead of a referendum on constitutional reforms intended to streamline lawmaking which was lost by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Renzi then resigned to make way for what Fitch described as "a weakened interim government," led by his former foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni. "Italy''s persistent track record of fiscal slippage, backloading of consolidation, weak economic growth and resulting failure to bring down the very high level of general government debt has left it more exposed to potential adverse shocks," Fitch said. "This is compounded by an increase in political risk and ongoing weakness in the banking sector, which has required planned public intervention in three banks since December," it added. Italy''s public debt hit a record last year at almost 133 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) - the highest ratio in the 19-nation euro zone after Greece. Italy, which has the most sluggish growth in the euro zone and an unstable political outlook, has repeatedly backslid on promised deficit cuts. The result is that markets have become increasingly leery of its government bonds. The spread between Italian benchmark bond yields and their safer German equivalent has widened to more than two percentage points from one percentage point a year ago, and that rise would have been far steeper without the support of the European Central Bank. Fitch noted that Italy''s debt last year totalled 11.2 percent of GDP higher than the target Rome had set in 2013. BANK WOES The ratings agency forecast Italy''s economy will grow by 0.9 percent in 2017, the same pace as last year, and by 1.0 percent in 2018, which would still leave inflation-adjusted GDP more than 5 percent below the 2007 level. In January, Canadian ratings agency DBRS cut Italy''s sovereign rating, citing the same problems highlighted by Fitch. Moody''s Investors Service also has the country on a negative outlook, meaning a downgrade could be in the pipeline. Fitch said its outlook for Italy''s banking sector was negative, reflecting the high level of non-performing loans and weak profitability. Three banks - Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca - are seeking public intervention to keep them in business. The Italian banking sector as a whole is weighed down by some 203 billion euros ($217.68 billion, £169.84 billion) of bad loans. The agency said that ahead of next year''s election, the "risks of weak or unstable government have increased, as has the possibility of populist and eurosceptic parties influencing policy." Recent opinion polls have given a clear and growing lead to the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which wants to hold a referendum on Italy''s continued membership of the euro zone. (Editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-italy-rating-fitch-idUKKBN17N2LF'|'2017-04-22T06:38:00.000+03:00' '0cd5e17fe82d74863d2ef91ed85b7456c8ff97ca'|'Danone raises 2017 EPS guidance after WhiteWave acquisition'|' 5:16pm BST Danone raises 2017 EPS guidance after WhiteWave acquisition FILE PHOTO: Yoghurt by French foods group Danone are seen in this photo illustration shot in Strasbourg, April 15, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler/File Photo PARIS French food group Danone ( DANO.PA ) on Thursday raised its guidance for recurring earnings per share (EPS) growth for 2017, having now closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave foods Co. Danone said it was targeting double-digit recurring EPS at constant exchange rates for 2017. In February, Danone said it was targeting earnings per share growth of above 5 percent in 2017, excluding WhiteWave, having achieved growth of 9.3 percent in 2016. Danone announced in July 2016 plans to buy WhiteWave - maker of Silk almond milk and Earthbound Farm Organic salad - in its largest acquisition since 2007, a move it said would double the size of its U.S. business. The deal closed April 12. The world''s largest yoghurt maker, with brands including Actimel and Activia, also reported a 0.7 percent rise in first-quarter underlying sales to 5.46 billion euros (4.56 billion pounds). The quarterly performance was in line with the company-compiled average of 18 analyst estimates of 0.6 percent like-for-like growth in group sales. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by GV De Clercq)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-danone-results-idUKKBN17M20S'|'2017-04-21T00:16:00.000+03:00' 'a07ddf2d4d77315d582131e10b7fd9ff57d82c1b'|'France is the weakest of Europe''s big 3 economies 19,'|'France is the weakest of Europe''s big 3 economies by Ivana Kottasová @CNNMoney April 21, 2017: 3:22 AM ET Marine Le Pen runs for French president France is stuck in a major rut. Europe''s third biggest economyhas suffered years of anemic growth, high unemployment and budget deficits, while neighbors such as Germany and the U.K. have enjoyed a stronger recovery from the global financial crisis. The country''s economic malaise is a major issue in presidential elections scheduled for Sunday. The contest has become a four-way race between candidates from across the political spectrum. Two of the front runners -- far right politician Marine Le Pen and socialist Jean-Luc Melenchon -- have radical ideas on how to improve the economy. Both candidates oppose free trade agreements and are highly critical of the euro. "The lackluster growth and high unemployment of recent years are fertile ground for the populist and eurosceptic Marine Le Pen," said Jessica Hinds, European economist at Capital Economics. Related: Why many Europeans want to kill the euro The two candidates with the biggest share of Sunday''s vote will advance to a runoff scheduled for May 7. But will they have the right prescription to cure France? After years of slow growth, the country''s GDP figures are finally turning higher. But they remain at very low levels. The French economy expanded by 1.2% in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund. The two larger economies in Europe -- Germany and the U.K. -- posted growth of 1.8% over the same period. The IMF predicts growth of just 1.4% for France in 2017, one of the weakest rates in the EU. Europe''s lost generation: Young, educated and unemployed France is also struggling to bring down its unemployment rate, which stands at roughly 10%. That''s higher than the eurozone average and more than double the level of joblessness in Germany and Britain. The unemployment problem is even worse for young people: 24% of those between the ages of 15 and 24 don''t have a job. Government debt, meanwhile, has ballooned to almost 90% of GDP, up from just 58% a decade ago. There are a few bright spots, however. France has relatively low income inequality and fewer of its citizens are at risk of poverty than in Germany or the U.K. The percentage of GDP that the government spends on social programs and welfare is much higher in France than other major economies. The generous welfare system has led to higher budget deficits, however, and the French healthcare system is in desperate need of more cash. The IMF has called for economic reforms to bring public spending under control. CNNMoney (London) First published April 19, 2017: 8:59 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/19/news/economy/france-election-economy/index.html'|'2017-04-19T16:59:00.000+03:00' '923e2cff66279860ccdd201ce9748a7cec2dee19'|'Britons still subdued over housing market outlook - Halifax'|' 32am BST Britons still subdued over housing market outlook: Halifax Apartment buildings are backdropped by skyscrapers of banks at Canary Wharf in London, Britain October 30, 2015. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause/File Photo LONDON Britons'' expectations for house prices for the coming year remain subdued following last year''s Brexit vote, a survey from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Friday. Some 58 percent of Britons expect house prices to rise over the next 12 months, but most of these expect an increase of less than 5 percent. Around 23 percent expect prices to be unchanged, while 14 percent expect a fall. The size of the majority expecting a rise was slightly bigger than in October, but still some way below its average level in the three years leading up to last year''s June''s vote to leave the European Union, Halifax said. Other surveys of consumer sentiment suggest Britons are cautious about the economic outlook ahead of Brexit, despite remaining fairly upbeat about conditions currently. "House price optimism is little changed since the October 2016 measure, which is significant because it was the first post-Brexit survey and recorded the steepest fall since the tracker began," said Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist. "The latest results suggest that consumer confidence in the housing market is potentially settling into a new lower ''normal''." Halifax''s measure of annual house price growth has more than halved over the past 12 months and stood at just under 4 percent in the first quarter of 2016. Friday''s survey showed Britons were most pessimistic about the outlook for house prices in London and most optimistic in Wales. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-housing-idUKKBN17M30Q'|'2017-04-21T07:04:00.000+03:00' '1232d0598071b9e5200f0952533d836330aeeacf'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown tests earlier cap level, French vote a risk on CEE fx'|'* Crown weakens near earlier cap level at 27 vs the euro * French elections, global inflation retreat are risks to CEE fx * No sign of central bank hawkishness despite surge in wages By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 20 The Czech crown extended its losses against the euro on Thursday as investors sitting on a huge pile of long positions struggle to take profits, with risks from Sunday''s French elections weighing on sentiment. The worry over France is that the far-right or far-left candidate - both anti-EU and anti-euro - might make the decisive second round. The crown is vulnerable after investors bought tens of billions of euros worth of the currency in the past months, speculating on a surge. The Czech central bank removed its cap, which had kept the crown weaker than 27 against the euro since 2013, two weeks ago, and most of the crown long positions are still in the market, with investors waiting for stronger levels to take profit. The crown, after an initial surge following the cap exit, has retreated. On Thursday it almost touched the earlier cap level, falling 0.3 percent to 26.957 by 0731 GMT. Other Central European currencies were mixed. "It is a combination of the huge positioning (in the crown) and external factors," one Prague-based dealer said, adding that a plunge was unlikely for now, but a breach of 27.05 could lead to an even bigger fall. Investors scrambled a week ago to buy Czech Treasury bills to shorten the maturity of their Czech debt portfolio and cut risk. The government will again auction bills on Thursday. Commerzbank analysts said in a note that increased volatility was no surprise, given that some market participants had projected a slump even to 29, and the Czech central bank (CNB) has also said that it will take at least tow months for the excessive crown long positions to clear out. It is also a risk that inflation is retreating again globally, and if that triggers speculation for a reintroduction of a cap, a crown sell-off could follow. "Admittedly, we do not see enough evidence that such a turn of events is actually occurring globally...(but) the latest behaviour of US and Euro zone bond yields appears to reflect some sort of anti-inflationary caution," Commerzbank said. Central banks in the region have not showed signs of worry over inflation or intentions to move towards less loose policies despite a surge in wages which in theory could lift prices. Poland reported 5.2 percent annual rise in wages for March on Wednesday and Hungary a 10.7 percent jump on Thursday. Romania, where the net average wage was up 14.7 percent in February, plans further wage increases. CEE SNAPS AT 0931 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.95 26.87 -0.30 0.19% 70 65 % Hungary 312.9 313.6 +0.2 -1.32 forint 500 400 2% % Polish 4.256 4.251 -0.11 3.48% zloty 0 4 % Romanian 4.539 4.538 -0.03 -0.10 leu 5 4 % % Croatian 7.446 7.447 +0.0 1.47% kuna 0 5 2% Serbian 123.4 123.5 +0.0 -0.10 dinar 700 750 9% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 969.6 967.5 +0.2 +5.2 2 4 1% 1% Budapest 32777 32688 +0.2 +2.4 .69 .09 7% 2% Warsaw 2271. 2274. -0.13 +16. 71 69 % 62% Bucharest 8180. 8196. -0.19 +15. 78 11 % 47% Ljubljana 774.3 779.3 -0.64 +7.9 1 3 % 0% Zagreb 1948. 1962. -0.67 -2.30 96 10 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 0.00 727.4 +0.0 -100. > 4 0% 00% Sofia 656.7 658.6 -0.29 +11. 1 1 % 98% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 7 bps s 5-year bps s 10-year 4 bps Poland 2-year 4 bps 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.31 0.33 0.39 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.22 0.295 0.37 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.748 1.763 1.799 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HS1R7'|'2017-04-20T06:20:00.000+03:00' '274c90e68ffaaf6ec6e840b9a0627d6abe186bb3'|'Global stocks struggle as French elections loom'|' 7:41pm BST Euro, stocks rise ahead of French election; bonds dip left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Members of the French National Front (FN) political party paste a poster on a free billboard for the French National Front political party leader Marine Le Pen in Antibes, France, April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo 2/3 left right A logo of Japan Exchange Group Inc. is seen next to a woman at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan, January 4, 2016. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo 3/3 By Rodrigo Campos - NEW YORK NEW YORK The euro and stocks on major markets recovered on Thursday as a market-friendly presidential candidate held the lead ahead of Sunday''s first-round election in France, while the yen and U.S. Treasury debt prices weakened. Former French finance minister, Emmanuel Macron, remained atop the polls for Sunday''s French vote, but the election is still a four-way battle in the first round on April 23. Should Macron rank first or second in Sunday''s poll, he is seen easily winning the runoff vote on May 7 after remaining candidates are eliminated. However, after surprises in last year''s U.S. election and the UK Brexit referendum, voter indecision and low turnout could catch markets wrong-footed yet again. France''s CAC stock index .FCHI jumped 1.5 percent, its strongest daily performance since March 1. On Wall Street, stocks rose as traders continued to bet on a strong earnings reporting season. Profit expectations have risen in the last two weeks and S&P 500 company earnings now are expected to have gained 11.1 percent in the first quarter. "They really are just focusing now on the micro, which they should be, on the earnings and what the earnings are saying," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O’Neil Securities in New York. "Investors are putting the geopolitical stuff to the back of the bus at the moment and they are really focusing on what they should be." The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 198.03 points, or 0.97 percent, to 20,602.52, the S&P 500 .SPX had gained 20.45 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,358.62 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC had added 58.02 points, or 0.99 percent, to 5,921.06. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 ended up 0.2 percent and MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS gained 0.62 percent. Emerging market stocks rose 0.55 percent. EURO JUMPS Currency traders said short-term players were closing out positions taken in anticipation of euro weakness before the French election, emboldened by the steady stream of polls confirming that centrist Macron would lead returns on Sunday. "Short euro is still one of the larger positions out there. No risk on the table means take some of that off," said BMO strategist Stephen Gallo. "(But) there is still no fundamental reason for the euro to be rising here." The U.S. dollar index .DXY rose 0.04 percent, with the euro EUR= up 0.1 percent to $1.072. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 109.31 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2809, up 0.25 percent on the day. Oil prices fell further after Wednesday''s steep losses, with rising U.S. production weighing against comments from leading Gulf oil producers that an extension to OPEC-led supply cuts was likely. U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 0.22 percent to $50.74 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $53.02, up 0.17 percent on the day. U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors waited on the results from the French election, after the 10-year yield earlier failed to break below key technical resistance at 2.19 percent. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 10/32 in price to yield 2.2356 percent, from 2.202 percent late on Wednesday. Spot gold XAU= added 0.1 percent to $1,280.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.05 percent to $1,282.70 an ounce. Copper CMCU3 rose 1.43 percent to $5,635.50 a tonne. For graphic on French presidential election, click: tmsnrt.rs/2lPduBG For graphic on global foreign exchange rates in 2017, click: tmsnrt.rs/2kIQHol For graphic on global assets in 2017, click: reut.rs/2kD4BGA For graphic on global bond dashboard, click: tmsnrt.rs/2lmwqHC For graphic on global market cap, click: reut.rs/2pHTxif (Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch, Chuck Mikolajczak and Karen Brettell in New York, Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru, Libby George and Patrick Graham in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17M02M'|'2017-04-20T19:58:00.000+03:00' '1e2f59115b041e54ef659335938e22eee90ed21c'|'IMF may fund Greek bailout with small amount, for one year - government spox'|'Business News - Thu Apr 20, 2017 - 12:12pm BST IMF may fund Greek bailout with small amount, for one year - government spox International Monetary Fund logo is seen inside the headquarters at the end of the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas ATHENS The International Monetary Fund may finance Greece''s current bailout programme with a small amount for one year, the country''s government spokesman said on Thursday, adding the issue was under discussion between Athens and its creditors. Greece''s bailout ends in 2018. The second review of its progress on reforms has dragged on for months, mainly due to a rift between the EU and the IMF over its fiscal targets. "What is under discussion is a small IMF funding programme, which will last for one year and end at the same time with the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) programme, in August 2018," Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told reporters. EU and IMF mission chiefs will return to Athens on April 25 to finalise a set of reforms Greece agreed to adopt to convince the IMF to participate with funds in its current bailout. But it is unlikely that the bailout review will be wrapped up before May 22, when euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the Greek issue, the spokesman said. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Angeliki Koutantou)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-imf-idUKKBN17M18A'|'2017-04-20T19:12:00.000+03:00' '38da46605366454e3627c6733eaf5f1f524f0ae5'|'Colas, cigarettes: North Korea airline diversifies as threats mount of sanctions'|'By Sue-Lin Wong and James Pearson - PYONGYANG/SEOUL PYONGYANG/SEOUL Even after disembarking from North Korea''s Air Koryo plane at Pyongyang airport, it''s difficult to miss the airline''s brand. The Air Koryo conglomerate makes cigarettes and fizzy drinks, besides owning a taxi fleet and petrol stations - and all have the same flying crane logo as the carrier.The military-controlled airline expanded into consumer products in earnest in recent months, visitors to the isolated country say. It was not clear if the diversification into the domestic market was related to the loss of many international routes when the United Nations slapped economic sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.Washington is now considering tougher measures, including a global ban on Air Koryo itself, to punish North Korea for continuing weapons tests, U.S. officials have said.But any U.S. action on Air Koryo would not be binding on other nations and would have little effect unless joined by China and Russia - both of which have sought to introduce exceptions to United Nations sanctions on North Korea in the past."China may indeed agree to this kind of ban on Air Koryo since it seems like China and the U.S. have reached an agreement that North Korea needs to be dealt with in some way. But the question is whether Russia will agree to sanctions against Air Koryo," said Sun Xingjie, an associate professor at China''s Jilin University.North Korean officials are rarely accessible to reporters, and it was not possible to get comment from Air Koryo or from the Pyongyang government.Air Koryo now flies only to Beijing and three other cities in China, and to Vladivostok in Russia. Flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Kuwait were dropped last year but just last month, Air Koryo added a route from Pyongyang to the Chinese city of Dandong, the main transit point for trade between the two countries..Air Koryo has 15 active planes on its fleet, either Russian or Ukrainian-made, and uses refuelling, maintenance and repair facilities in China and Russia, according to aviation databases and U.N. documents.The airline has a number of domestic flights connecting the capital Pyongyang to Orang, Sondok and Samjiyon towns, according to a schedule available last year.Businesses in secretive North Korea do not publicly share information about revenues or costs, so it was not possible to determine what effect any existing sanctions have had or may have in future.But visitors to North Korea say the Air Koryo conglomerate, owned by the country''s air force, is clearly expanding.CABS, GAS STATIONSIn 2015, the conglomerate launched its own brand of sky-blue taxis which now parade the streets of Pyongyang alongside cabs from at least eight other state-owned companies.Air Koryo colas and cigarettes are available in shops across Pyongyang.Air Koryo started branching into soft drinks late last year, said Simon Cockerell of Beijing-based Koryo Tours, which organises travel to North Korea.It got into retail sales of petrol in January. "They have at least one petrol station in Pyongyang, perhaps two," Cockerell said."I wouldn''t be surprised to see more Air Koryo products make it to market before too long".A United Nations panel which investigates North Korean sanctions infringements said in a report in February there was an "absence of boundaries" between Air Koryo and the air force."The airline''s assets are actively utilised for military purposes," the report said."Outwardly, this seems like a commercial airline, but in effect, this is run by the government," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in South Korea.The United Nations has not sanctioned Air Koryo, although it has accused it of being involved in the smuggling of banned goods. Civilian aircraft are exempt from the U.N. ban on jet fuel exports to North Korea when refuelling overseas. Member states are required to inspect any cargo originating from North Korea, including on Air Koryo flights.In December, the United States designated Air Koryo, 16 of its aircraft and 10 of its offices as "sanctioned entities", meaning that U.S. citizens are generally prevented from engaging in transactions with them. It was not clear if the ban extended to Americans flying on the airline for tourism.Officials at Pyongyang''s airport said they were unconcerned about any attempts by the global community to strengthen sanctions that could target Air Koryo directly."We are not afraid, we have our own counter actions prepared," said a customs official, without elaborating, standing at the Air Koryo check-in counter.Kim, the South Korean professor, said any sanctions on Air Koryo would have mostly a symbolic effect."It will not cause huge damage to the North Korean economy," he said in the Korean language. "Air Koryo is not a ''dollar box''(which makes a lot of foreign money)".(Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/northkorea-usa-airkoryo-idINKBN17N01Y'|'2017-04-20T22:36:00.000+03:00' 'fbe16bbede5f2eb37b7bdc4effa55985fc3d7466'|'Tesla’s big Model 3 bet rides on risky assembly line strategy'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 8:51am BST Tesla’s big Model 3 bet rides on risky assembly line strategy left right FILE PHOTO - A prototype of the Tesla Model 3 is on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - A wheel of a prototype of the Tesla Model 3 on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory, which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo 2/2 Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk took many risks with the technology in his company''s cars on the way to surpassing Ford Motor Co''s market value. Now Musk is pushing boundaries in the factory that makes them. READ: Apple self-driving car testing plan gives clues to tech programme Most automakers test a new model''s production line by building vehicles with relatively cheap, prototype tools designed to be scrapped once they deliver doors that fit, body panels with the right shape and dashboards that don''t have gaps or seams. Tesla, however, is skipping that preliminary step and ordering permanent, more expensive equipment as it races to launch its Model 3 sedan by a self-imposed volume production deadline of September, Musk told investors last month. Musk’s decision underscores his high-risk tolerance and willingness to forego long-held industry norms that has helped Tesla upend the traditional auto industry. While Tesla is not the first automaker to try to accelerate production on the factory floor, no other rival is putting this much faith in the production strategy succeeding. WATCH: Chinese car brand ''Trumpchi'' weighs a name change Musk expects the Model 3 rollout to help Tesla deliver five times its current annual sales volume, a key target in the automaker''s efforts to stop burning cash. "He''s pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process," said Ron Harbour, a manufacturing consultant at Oliver Wyman. Investors are already counting on Tesla’s factory floor success, with shares soaring 39 percent since January as it makes the leap from niche producer to mass producer in far less time than rivals. There are caution signs, however. The production equipment designed to produce millions of cars is expensive to fix or replace if it doesn''t work, industry experts say. Tesla has encountered quality problems on its existing low-volume cars, and the Model 3 is designed to sell in numbers as high as 500,000 vehicles a year, raising the potential cost of recalls or warranty repairs. "It''s an experiment, certainly," said Consumer Reports'' Jake Fisher, who has done extensive testing of Tesla''s previous Models S and X. Tesla could possibly fix errors quicker, speeding up the process, "or it could be they have unsuspected problems they''ll have a hard time dealing with." Musk discussed the decision to skip what he referred to as "beta" production testing during a call last month with an invited group of investors. Details were published on Reddit by an investor on the call. He also said that “advanced analytical techniques”– code word for computer simulations - would help Tesla in advancing straight to production tooling. Tesla declined to confirm details of the call or comment on its production strategy. The auto industry''s incumbents have not been standing still. Volkswagen AG''s Audi division launched production of a new plant in Mexico using computer simulations of production tools – and indeed the entire assembly line and factory - that Audi said it believed to be an industry first. That process allowed the plant to launch production 30 percent faster than usual, Audi said. An Audi executive involved in the Mexican plant launch, Peter Hochholdinger, is now Tesla''s vice president of production. MAKING TOOLS FASTER Typically, automakers test their design with limited production using lower grade equipment that can be modified slightly to address problems. When most of the kinks are worked out, they order the final equipment. Tesla’s decision to move directly to the final tools is in part because lower grade, disposable equipment known as “soft tooling” ended up complicating the debut of the problem-plagued Model X SUV in 2015, according to a person familiar with the decision and Tesla’s assembly line planning. Working on a tight deadline, Tesla had no time to incorporate lessons learned from soft tooling before having to order the permanent production tooling, making the former''s value negligible, the source said. "Soft tooling did very little for the program and arguably hurt things," said the person. In addition, Tesla has learned to better modify final production tools, and its 2015 purchase of a Michigan tooling company means it can make major equipment 30 percent faster than before, and more cheaply as well, the source said. Financial pressure is partly driving Tesla’s haste. The quicker Tesla can deliver the Model 3 with its estimated $35,000 (£27,369) base price to the 373,000 customers who have put down a $1000 deposit, the closer it can log $13 billion. Tesla has laboured under financial pressure since it was founded in 2003. The company has yet to turn an annual profit, and earlier this year Musk said the company was "close to the edge" as it look toward capital spending of $2-2.5 billion in the first half of 2017. Tesla has since gotten more breathing room by raising $1.2 billion in fresh capital in March and selling a five per cent stake to Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd . Musk has spoken to investors about his vision of an "alien dreadnought" factory that uses artificial intelligence and robots to build cars at speeds faster than human assembly workers could manage. But there are limits to what technology can do in the heavily regulated car business. For example, Tesla will still have to use real cars in crash tests required by the U.S. government, because federal rules do not allow simulated crash results to substitute for data from a real car. '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-assemblyline-idUKKBN17Q0CZ'|'2017-04-24T13:15:00.000+03:00' 'f7575a99dc0d60778bb3597ddbe32cf7bc88d674'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 24'|'Bonds News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 1:35am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 24 April 24 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Becton Dickinson and Co said Sunday that it would acquire C R Bard Inc for $24 billion, the latest merger of medical-supplies manufacturers. on.wsj.com/2pVpNyl - State investment funds in Abu Dhabi and Malaysia struck an agreement to avoid potentially embarrassing arbitration proceedings related to billions of dollars that were allegedly misappropriated by a conspiracy of former executives and advisers to both funds, according to people with direct knowledge of the deal. on.wsj.com/2pVIBNT - North Korea has arrested a U.S. citizen in Pyongyang, people familiar with the matter said, adding another potential flashpoint with the U.S. at a time of increasingly heated rhetoric. on.wsj.com/2pVGIki - The battle over Wells Fargo & Co board is going down to the last possible moment, with uncertainty hanging over the re-election prospects of several directors at Tuesday''s annual shareholder meeting, according to people familiar with the matter. on.wsj.com/2pVAVLG (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL4N1HW280'|'2017-04-24T09:35:00.000+03:00' '823d05a06042edb674a34d97451bab5ab93a0fab'|'Yorkshire Building Society launches record low UK mortgage rate - Money - The Guardian'|'Britain’s lowest-ever mortgage rate has been launched, priced at 0.89% for two years.There were predictions a few months ago that the era of record-low mortgages may be coming to an end , but the new move by the Yorkshire Building Society suggests that, if anything, competition in the home loans market may be intensifying. The previous lowest rate was 0.98%.The Yorkshire’s claim to be offering an “all-time low” rate was verified by the financial data provider Moneyfacts , but is not fixed. It is pegged to the society’s standard variable rate (SVR), offering a discount for two years, so it is not for homebuyers looking for the certainty of fixed monthly payments.The deal is also restricted to people needing to borrow no more than 65% of the value of their property and who are happy to pay a fee of £1,495.There are new entrants in the mortgage lending market, with Sainsbury’s Bank returning this month after a 13-year absence. A deal from the challenger bank Atom described by some as the UK’s best-ever home loan – a five-year fixed-rate mortgage priced at 1.29% – attracted huge interest but was pulled on Wednesday evening after being available for just a week.A spokesman for the Yorkshire, which announced in January that it was shutting 48 branches , said: “We are very pleased to offer borrowers the lowest mortgage rate ever available. The cost of funding has fallen in recent weeks and, as a financially strong building society with no external shareholders to satisfy, we have the ability to pass this on to borrowers.”The discount is 3.85% throughout the two-year period, but the SVR, which is currently 4.74%, is variable and can be altered at the lender’s discretion.The launch coincided with new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showing that gross mortgage lending totalled £21.4bn in March, up 19% on February’s total of £17.9bn but lower than the figure for March 2016.Mohammad Jamei, the CML’s senior economist, said there had been a shift in lending towards first-time buyer and remortgage customers in recent months, and away from home movers and buy-to-let landlords.He added that the general election in June was not expected to have a marked effect on the mortgage market.Topics Mortgage rates Mortgage lending figures Mortgages Real estate Property Housing market news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/business/uk-edition/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/21/yorkshire-building-society-launches-record-low-uk-mortgage-rate'|'2017-04-21T03:00:00.000+03:00' '8421d6252395c942adbf7978ec0238b0a03cd6db'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 21'|'April 21 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- White House officials said they are developing a sweeping plan to overhaul both corporate and individual taxes, dismissing concerns that a more modest proposal might be more viable in today''s political climate. on.wsj.com/2oWLhIe- Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk confirmed plans for his newest company, called Neuralink Corp, revealing he will be the chief executive of a startup that aims to merge computers with brains so humans could one day engage in "consensual telepathy". on.wsj.com/2oWR4NP- President Donald Trump will sign three documents on Friday to advance his administration''s push to reduce tax and regulatory burdens, including a measure that could roll back Obama administration efforts to prevent U.S. companies from shifting operations overseas to avoid taxes, administration officials said late Thursday. on.wsj.com/2oX1KMv- Verizon Communications Inc is having to slash prices and offer more data to stem an unprecedented wave of customer losses, a maneuver that benefits consumers but hurts its bottom line. on.wsj.com/2oWY6SI- France''s unpredictable presidential election was plunged into still greater turmoil Thursday as candidates scrambled to respond to a suspected terror attack that left at least one police officer dead. on.wsj.com/2oWWY1H- Deutsche Bank AG has agreed to pay $157 million in penalties to the Federal Reserve over alleged rule violations. on.wsj.com/2oWTc8y (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idINL3N1HT22J'|'2017-04-21T02:47:00.000+03:00' 'cce4556d853d90b100c88d0d7cab3a2f17e45d37'|'CEE MARKETS-Crown tests former cap level, Czech bills draw strong demand'|'* Crown weakens near former cap level at 27 vs the euro * French elections, global inflation retreat are risks to CEE fx * Czech Treasury bill auction strongly oversubscribed * No sign of central bank hawkishness despite surge in wages (Adds Czech Treasury bill auction) By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 20 The Czech crown extended its losses against the euro on Thursday as investors sitting on a huge pile of long positions struggle to take profits, with risks from Sunday''s first round of the French presidential election weighing on sentiment. Investors are concerned that either or both of the far-right and far-left French candidates, both of whom are Eurosceptic and anti-euro, might make the decisive second round. The crown is vulnerable after investors bought tens of billions of euros worth of the currency in the past months, speculating on a surge. The Czech central bank removed its cap, which had kept the crown weaker than 27 against the euro since 2013, two weeks ago, and most of the crown long positions are still in the market, with investors waiting for stronger levels to take profits. After an initial surge following the cap exit, the crown has retreated. On Thursday it almost touched the former cap level, before rebounding to 26.92 by 1100 GMT, still down by 0.2 percent. "It is a combination of the huge positioning (in the crown) and external factors," one Prague-based dealer said, adding that a plunge was unlikely for now, but a breach of 27.05 could lead to an even bigger fall. The country''s second Treasury bill auction since the removal of the cap draw robust interest, with demand for the 5 billion crowns worth of 17-week papers reaching 28.4 billion crowns. The government sold 20.4 billion crowns worth of bills. The average yield rose though, to -0.35 percent from -1.25 percent at an auction two weeks ago. With cheap crown financing through swaps still available, investors can still earn even when yields on short-term debt remain below zero. "Anyone who has euros and swaps to crowns and buys T-bills has a nice carry between 1.5 and 2 percent," a dealer said. Commerzbank analysts said in a note that increased crown volatility, until the crown long positions are reduced, was no surprise. It is also a risk that inflation is retreating again globally, and if that triggers speculation for a reintroduction of a cap, a crown sell-off could follow, they said, adding though that this scenario was unlikely. Regional central banks have not showed intentions to move towards less loose policies despite a surge in wages which in theory could lift prices. Poland reported 5.2 percent annual rise in wages for March on Wednesday and Hungary a 10.7 percent jump on Thursday. Romania, where the net average wage was up 14.7 percent in February, plans further wage increases. CEE SNAPS AT 1300 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.92 26.87 -0.16 0.32% 00 65 % Hungary 313.4 313.6 +0.0 -1.48 forint 500 400 6% % Polish 4.267 4.251 -0.37 3.20% zloty 4 4 % Romanian 4.541 4.538 -0.06 -0.13 leu 0 4 % % Croatian 7.454 7.447 -0.09 1.36% kuna 0 5 % Serbian 123.5 123.5 +0.0 -0.16 dinar 500 750 2% % Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 973.4 967.5 +0.6 +5.6 7 4 1% 3% Budapest 32860 32688 +0.5 +2.6 .99 .09 3% 8% Warsaw 2285. 2274. +0.4 +17. 62 69 8% 34% Bucharest 8203. 8196. +0.0 +15. 13 11 9% 78% Ljubljana 771.7 779.3 -0.97 +7.5 9 3 % 5% Zagreb 1953. 1962. -0.44 -2.08 44 10 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 734.1 727.4 +0.9 +2.3 > 4 4 2% 4% Sofia 653.0 658.6 -0.84 +11. 9 1 % 37% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year 5 bps 5-year bps s 10-year bps Poland 2-year 1 bps 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.33 0.35 0.42 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.23 0.31 0.39 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.747 1.79 1.83 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HS2ZT'|'2017-04-20T09:26:00.000+03:00' '874709cde2d1bb61f544f211a3f9f24a9afc10a9'|'White House''s Cohn says ''fair trade'' means reciprocal tariffs'|'WASHINGTON The Trump administration wants to tax imports from countries that put tariffs on the United States, said Gary Cohn, director of President Donald Trump''s National Economic Council."Fair means we treat our trading partners the way they treat us," Cohn told a conference on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank''s spring meetings in Washington on Thursday. "If you want to insist on having a tariff on a product, which we prefer you not, the president believes that we should treat you in a reciprocal fashion and that we should tax your product coming into the United States."(Reporting by Jason Lange and Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g20-cohn-idINKBN17M2K6'|'2017-04-20T18:02:00.000+03:00' 'badc6391f21366948312bc51db99340482c07ecb'|'French election: Macron vs. Le Pen on the economy - Apr. 23, 2017'|'Forgotten in France: The banlieues outside Paris Far-right firebrand Marine Le Pen and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron, set to face off in a May 7 French election with major implications for the future of Europe, have very different views on the economy. Macron, a former banker who served as economy minister, is socially liberal. He has argued that France''s economy can become more competitive if it embraces globalization and doubles down on free trade. Macron is a keen supporter of the euro and the EU. Le Pen, meanwhile, represents a radical departure from the status quo in France. She advocates a strident brand of economic nationalism that would mean new trade barriers and the country''s exit from the eurozone. Marine Le Pen Le Pen has proposed dropping the euro and switching to a "nouveau franc" of a lower value to help make French exports more competitive. Existing national debt would be converted to the new currency -- a move likely to be considered a default. She also wants to hold a referendum on France''s membership in the EU. Related: They want to kill the euro Le Pen is staunchly anti-globalization and has pledged to pursue policies she describes as "intelligent protectionism." That means no new free trade agreements and giving French companies priority on public contracts. It also means a new tax on companies that hire foreign workers, and additional taxes on imports. Le Pen wants to cut the income tax rate for the poorest. She would lower the retirement age and keep the 35-hour working week. She has opposed the privatization of big French state companies including postal service company La Poste. Emmanuel Macron Macron has promised to cut corporate tax rates gradually to 25% from the current 33%. He also wants to slash local housing taxes for the majority of French people. He has pledged to cut public spending by €60 billion ($64 billion) a year, partly by making the government more efficient. He said he would cut up to 120,000 government employees by not filling positions as workers retire. Macron is a free trade supporter and he campaigned in favor of CETA, the EU''s new free trade agreement with Canada. Related: Who is Emmanuel Macron? He said he would consider changes to how France''s 35-hour work week statute is applied. He wants to spend €50 billion over five years on training, energy and the environment, transportation, health and agriculture. CNNMoney (London) 5:43 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/23/news/economy/french-election-macron-le-pen-eu-nationalist/index.html'|'2017-04-24T01:43:00.000+03:00' '745529a15942901b7e739dd71dfb92149dffd813'|'MOVES-JP Morgan hires Mallgrave as part of cash equities push'|'Company News 5:33am EDT MOVES-JP Morgan hires Mallgrave as part of cash equities push By Steve Slater LONDON, April 24 (IFR) - JP Morgan has hired Matt Mallgrave from Credit Suisse to head its cash equities trading in the Americas and made several other senior staff changes as part of a push to strengthen in cash equities. JP Morgan has said it wants to expand in cash equities, which is the only major area of investment banking it is not in the top three positions, according to analysis firm Coalition. Coalition ranks it between four and six in the business. JP Morgan said on Monday Mallgrave will join in June from Credit Suisse, where he was head of Americas equity flow trading since April 2016. He was previously at Goldman Sachs for 17 years, where he had senior roles in cash equities in the US and Asia. The bank said Dennis Fitzgerald, previously global co-head of cash equities trading, will become sole head of the business. His previous co-head, Luiz de Salvo, will relocate to London and become head of EMEA cash equity sales and trading. Tim Johnston will continue as head of EMEA Cash Equity Trading, reporting to de Salvo locally and to Fitzgerald globally. Mallgrave will report to Fitzgerald. JP Morgan had to adjust its senior equities team in September after Tim Throsby, its head of equities, left to run Barclays'' corporate and business bank. The US bank named Jason Sippel and Mark Leung as co-heads of equities, and made a series of other appointments, including making Fitzgerald and de Salvo co-heads of cash equities trading. Throsby built up JP Morgan''s equities business, including cash equities, where it was late to invest in its electronic trading platform. The bank is in the top three for equities, helped by leading positions in derivatives, but said it needs to continue its push in cash equities to break into the top three - - currently Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The bank announced other changes. Michael Bossidy, previously head of equities sales for the Americas, will expand his role to become head of cash equity sales globally. Ryan Holsheimer, previously head of cash equity sales for Asia-Pacific, will become head of cash equity sales and trading for the region. On the derivatives side, Bregje de Best and Sreenivas Jayaraman will expand their roles to become co-heads of APAC equity derivatives sales and marketing. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/moves-jp-morgan-hires-mallgrave-as-part-idUSL8N1HW1ZM'|'2017-04-24T17:33:00.000+03:00' '9ff6374ee0bf61c6d6f18a3921229a6e4158523b'|'Tesla’s big Model 3 bet rides on risky assembly line strategy'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 12:21pm BST Tesla’s big Model 3 bet rides on risky assembly line strategy left right FILE PHOTO - A prototype of the Tesla Model 3 is on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo 1/6 left right FILE PHOTO -- Robotic arms assemble Tesla''s Model S sedans at the company''s factory in Fremont, California, June 22, 2012. REUTERS/Noah Berger/File Photo 2/6 left right FILE PHOTO - A wheel of a prototype of the Tesla Model 3 on display in front of the factory during a media tour of the Tesla Gigafactory, which will produce batteries for the electric carmaker in Sparks, Nevada, U.S. July 26, 2016. REUTERS/James Glover II/File Photo 3/6 left right FILE PHOTO -- Tesla vehicles are being assembled by robots at Tesla Motors Inc factory in Fremont, California, U.S. on July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Joseph White/File Photo ` 4/6 left right FILE PHOTO -- The body of a Tesla Model S is lifted by an automated crane at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California October 1, 2011. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo 5/6 left right Tesla Motors'' mass-market Model 3 electric cars are seen in this handout picture from Tesla Motors on March 31, 2016. Tesla Motors/Handout via Reuters/File Photo 6/6 By Alexandria Sage Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) Chief Executive Elon Musk took many risks with the technology in his company''s cars on the way to surpassing Ford Motor Co''s market value. Now Musk is pushing boundaries in the factory that makes them. Most automakers test a new model''s production line by building vehicles with relatively cheap, prototype tools designed to be scrapped once they deliver doors that fit, body panels with the right shape and dashboards that don''t have gaps or seams. Tesla, however, is skipping that preliminary step and ordering permanent, more expensive equipment as it races to launch its Model 3 sedan by a self-imposed volume production deadline of September, Musk told investors last month. Musk’s decision underscores his high-risk tolerance and willingness to forego long-held industry norms that has helped Tesla upend the traditional auto industry. While Tesla is not the first automaker to try to accelerate production on the factory floor, no other rival is putting this much faith in the production strategy succeeding. Musk expects the Model 3 rollout to help Tesla deliver five times its current annual sales volume, a key target in the automaker''s efforts to stop burning cash. "He''s pushing the envelope to see how much time and cost he can take out of the process," said Ron Harbour, a manufacturing consultant at Oliver Wyman. Investors are already counting on Tesla’s factory floor success, with shares soaring 39 percent since January as it makes the leap from niche producer to mass producer in far less time than rivals. There are caution signs, however. The production equipment designed to produce millions of cars is expensive to fix or replace if it doesn''t work, industry experts say. Tesla has encountered quality problems on its existing low-volume cars, and the Model 3 is designed to sell in numbers as high as 500,000 vehicles a year, raising the potential cost of recalls or warranty repairs. "It''s an experiment, certainly," said Consumer Reports'' Jake Fisher, who has done extensive testing of Tesla''s previous Models S and X. Tesla could possibly fix errors quicker, speeding up the process, "or it could be they have unsuspected problems they''ll have a hard time dealing with." Musk discussed the decision to skip what he referred to as "beta" production testing during a call last month with an invited group of investors. Details were published on Reddit by an investor on the call. ( here ). He also said that “advanced analytical techniques” – code word for computer simulations - would help Tesla in advancing straight to production tooling. Tesla declined to confirm details of the call or comment on its production strategy. The auto industry''s incumbents have not been standing still. Volkswagen AG''s Audi division launched production of a new plant in Mexico using computer simulations of production tools – and indeed the entire assembly line and factory - that Audi said it believed to be an industry first. That process allowed the plant to launch production 30 percent faster than usual, Audi said. An Audi executive involved in the Mexican plant launch, Peter Hochholdinger, is now Tesla''s vice president of production. MAKING TOOLS FASTER Typically, automakers test their design with limited production using lower grade equipment that can be modified slightly to address problems. When most of the kinks are worked out, they order the final equipment. Tesla’s decision to move directly to the final tools is in part because lower grade, disposable equipment known as “soft tooling” ended up complicating the debut of the problem-plagued Model X SUV in 2015, according to a person familiar with the decision and Tesla’s assembly line planning. Working on a tight deadline, Tesla had no time to incorporate lessons learned from soft tooling before having to order the permanent production tooling, making the former''s value negligible, the source said. "Soft tooling did very little for the program and arguably hurt things," said the person. In addition, Tesla has learned to better modify final production tools, and its 2015 purchase of a Michigan tooling company means it can make major equipment 30 percent faster than before, and more cheaply as well, the source said. Financial pressure is partly driving Tesla’s haste. The quicker Tesla can deliver the Model 3 with its estimated $35,000 base price to the 373,000 customers who have put down a $1000 deposit, the closer it can log $13 billion. Tesla has labored under financial pressure since it was founded in 2003. The company has yet to turn an annual profit, and earlier this year Musk said the company was "close to the edge" as it look toward capital spending of $2-2.5 billion in the first half of 2017. Tesla has since gotten more breathing room by raising $1.2 billion in fresh capital in March and selling a five per cent stake to Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd ( 0700.HK ) . Musk has spoken to investors about his vision of an "alien dreadnought" factory that uses artificial intelligence and robots to build cars at speeds faster than human assembly workers could manage. But there are limits to what technology can do in the heavily regulated car business. For example, Tesla will still have to use real cars in crash tests required by the U.S. government, because federal rules do not allow simulated crash results to substitute for data from a real car. (Editing by Peter Henderson and Edward Tobin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-assemblyline-idUKKBN17Q0DE'|'2017-04-24T19:21:00.000+03:00' '5946027ca5e1a9795114ba61c1a0709dfb5f6fb9'|'LafargeHolcim CEO to depart in wake of Syria controversy'|'ZURICH LafargeHolcim ( LHN.S ) Chief Executive Eric Olsen will leave the company in July after the world''s largest cement maker admitted on Monday it had paid armed groups to keep a factory operating in war-ravaged Syria.An independent internal inquiry found protection payments made to intermediaries to keep open the Jalabiya plant in northern Syria were not in line with its policies."Significant errors of judgment were made that contravened the applicable code of conduct," the company said, while adding that Olsen was not responsible for any wrongdoing identified in the review.Olsen, who has headed the company since it was created by a merger two years ago, said he was resigning with effect from July 15."While I was absolutely not involved in, nor even aware of, any wrongdoing I believe my departure will contribute to bringing back serenity to a company that has been exposed for months on this case," Olsen, who has dual French and American nationality, said in a statement.French prosecutors are also investigating the group''s activities in Syria. Two human rights group have filed a legal complaint in Paris against Lafarge, saying some of its work in Syria may have made it complicit in financing Islamic State and in war crimes.Olsen''s resignation highlights the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones.The report noted the chaos in Syria between 2013 and the evacuation of the plant in September 2014. It added that local managers believed they were acting in the best interests of the company and its staff by trying to keep the plant open."Very simply, chaos reigned and it was the task of local management to ensure that the intermediaries did whatever was necessary to secure its supply chain and the free movement of its employees," the report said.The plant cost $680 million to build and had started production only in May 2010.MANAGEMENT CHANGESFormed by a $44 billion merger, LafargeHolcim said it would tighten its corporate governance to focus more on country-specific risks and sanctions policies.LafargeHolcim shares dipped after news of Olsen''s departure was confirmed, one of the few losers in a Paris market buoyed by the outcome of the first round of the presidential election. In Switzerland, the dual-listed stock recovered ground lost in early moves to trade flat by 1030 GMT.Once Olsen goes, Chairman Beat Hess will take over as interim CEO. Hess is Swiss and had served as a director of Holcim since 2010.Last month LafargeHolcim said Bruno Lafont, the former Lafarge CEO, would also step down as co-chairman.Olsen himself was a former head of human resources at Lafarge before being named executive vice-president operations in September 2013. He was paid nearly 9 million Swiss francs ($9 million) last year.Jacob Waerness, a risk manager for Lafarge in Syria from 2011 to 2013, said the plant should have closed down in the summer of 2013 when the company became aware of radical Islamist groups in the region."Quite early, in 2011 we discussed if an armed group occupies the area around the cement plant, we have to leave," Waerness said earlier this month at an event in Zurich to promote a book he wrote about his experiences. The Norwegian security consultant no longer works for the company.However, he said that a Kurdish militia and the Syrian government had both wanted the plant to remain open, prompting local officials to try to keep it going."We were not breaching any sanctions. We were a Syrian company - we had a responsibility to operate," he said.(Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lafargeholcim-syria-olsen-idUSKBN17Q0E4'|'2017-04-24T13:20:00.000+03:00' 'dcc6e242801e60dd7fe2135d06f49146cc977e0e'|'Barclays boss’s spy act is a funny old business - Business'|'Say what you like about Barclays’ American boss Jes Staley (please, knock yourself out) but don’t assume he’s a stereotypical Wall Streeter with an underdeveloped sense of irony.Staley has, of course, landed himself in the soup over his attempts to unmask an internal whistleblower , who was supposedly saying mean things about a close pal and colleague. That resulted in an official warning for Staley earlier this month – but a more charitable interpretation might be that the bungling spymaster act was merely a satirical homage to the old Barclaycard ads featuring Rowan Atkinson’s incompetent MI7 spook, Latham.You remember the sort of thing: an earnest Latham tries to show off his espionage skills, only to accidentally shoot himself in the scrotum with a tranquilliser pen. Or the one where our hero tries to buy a carpet by haggling with a trader in local dialect: “You sound fluent, sir.” “We are both fluent, Bough; sadly in different languages”.So, by that reading, Staley’s efforts were not the shameful trampling over whistleblower protocols they originally appeared to be. Instead, they were a cruelly misunderstood and affectionate comic tribute to a vintage period of the bank’s advertising. Please remember that when he faces the City for the first time since being publicly disgraced, at Barclays’s quarterly results this week.HSBC duo face final curtainApart from those numbers from Barclays , we have a slew of other banking events this week – among them an annual general meeting at HSBC, where the bank’s board is about to undergo significant change, partly because it’s time, and partly due to a row with those pesky proxy groups.Firstly, this will be chairman Douglas Flint’s final AGM – although that is hardly a shock as he announced his departure a year ago.Secondly, it is farewell to non-executive director Paul Walsh, who has been pressured by proxy voting groups including ISS and Glass Lewis into stepping down because of “over-boarding” allegations.Before you ask, that’s not a euphemism for something that happens to whistleblowers at black sites in Panama. Instead it’s all about Walsh enjoying too many other directorships to concentrate on HSBC .The world’s local bank had argued that this point did not apply to Walsh, as he did not hold a position of enough influence at HSBC – which inevitably lead to a paraphrasing of a classic Brian Clough question: if you’re not influential, what are you doing on the effin’ board? Answer: he won’t be.Tough medicine for AstraZeneca boss They say that there is nothing new under the sun – a point made by both Ecclesiastes and the City, and routinely reinforced by this column.So it will prove again this week when the drugs group AstraZeneca holds its annual general meeting, where tradition (and possibly the company’s constitution) dictates that there will be a tasty little scrap over executive pay.You’ll recall how in the so-called shareholder spring of 2012, then Astra boss David Brennan was ousted after a row over his £9m package, which he’d combined with a touch of underperformance – but the pay narrative has remained pretty constant since, no matter who’s been the boss.This year should prove to be another re-run, with Pirc opposing both the group’s remuneration report and policy – describing the latter as a method to “promote excessive payouts”.Pirc continues: “The ratio of CEO to average employee pay has been estimated and is found unacceptable at 152:1. The balance of CEO realised pay with financial performance is not considered acceptable as the change in CEO total pay over five years is not commensurate with the change in TSR [total shareholder return] over the same period.”A developing story, then (which we might hear again and again).Topics Barclays Observer business agenda Banking HSBC AstraZeneca Advertising comment '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/23/barclays-boss-whistleblowing-debacle'|'2017-04-23T15:00:00.000+03:00' '1186ddd9426cc01f5de9778952597ba06d689f69'|'Do former transport ministers dream of electric buses? - Environment'|'V ince Cable and Ed Davey, the former business and energy secretaries respectively, are among the Liberal Democrats who lost their seats in 2015 plotting their way back to Parliament in this general election.But an erstwhile colleague has rejected the opportunity to regain his seat in Lewes in East Sussex. Norman Baker, the former transport minister who later quit the Home Office in 2014 after finding working with Theresa May a “constant battle”, sighs: “I don’t need to do the same thing over and over again, that’s the definition of madness.“I ended up being a minister and if I won the seat I probably wouldn’t be in government again. I’d be a backbencher and I did that from 1997 to 2010.”So, rather than knocking on doors, Baker will be taking delivery of Britain’s first electric-powered bus on Monday. Last month, he became managing director at the Big Lemon, a 10-year-old, eco-friendly bus operator in Brighton , where its single-deckers run on cooking oil – 112 tonnes of fat was used to fuel 16 buses and coaches for nearly 220,000 miles last year.Partly through crowdfunding and two-year bonds of £100 each to the local community, the Big Lemon last year raised £250,000 to convert two 25-seater buses to run on electricity deriving from solar power. More than 120 panels have been installed on the depot in Brighton, where the buses will be charged at night.In summer, excess electricity will be pumped into the grid. In winter, the buses will draw some electricity from the grid, but it is expected that through the year the solar panels will generate slightly more electricity than the buses need.The conversions have been made by Optare, a Leeds-based bus manufacturer. The second bus will be delivered later this week and they will be unveiled to the public on Friday. After a short period of testing, they will be used on the number 52 route, which runs past Brighton Marina and the Royal Sussex county hospital at a cost of £2.50 a ticket.“We’re a very popular outfit in Brighton, we’re seen as environmentally friendly,” says Baker, who spotted an advertisement for the role while in his previous job as chairman at passenger pressure group Bus Users UK. “You spend about half your life at work, so you better do something you believe in and I believe in the Big Lemon.” Even in a party that talks up its commitment to the environment, Baker spoke unusually often about ecology. At the Department for Transport , he helped oversee the Green Bus Fund and increased electrification of the railways.Baker says the Big Lemon, which also hires coaches for wedding and runs festival services to Glastonbury, is in talks with the DfT for investment to help the group convert a further three buses to solar power. The Big Lemon narrowly missed out on government funding recently, but its founder, Tom Druitt, is hopeful of securing state backing this tim.“Tom wants to expand the Big Lemon model,” says Baker. “Hopefully he will set up Big Lemons elsewhere in the country.” Baker’s task is to help the business in Brighton, where he hopes to win more routes. His major competitors are the Go-Ahead Group’s Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company and Compass Travel.Brighton runs a multi-operator ticketing system system that allows passengers to switch bus companies. As minister, Baker pushed for such a system to be rolled out across the country. “I was keen we no longer had situations where you found you had the wrong ticket when a different company’s bus reached the stop,” explains Baker. “We all want more people to use more buses.”As well as promoting his buses, Baker hosts local radio shows on Sundays and Mondays that play music from the past 100 years and obscure B-sides from the 1960s. Music rather than politics is Baker’s first love. He was once a regional director for Our Price and has been lead singer – “on and off” – of the Reform Club for 23 years. Indeed, when Cable and Davey are hitting the doorsteps on Saturday, Baker will be singing outside the Pump House pub near Brighton pier. There will be a cover of the Beatles’ You Can’t Do That and he will belt out the Reform Club’s own Piccadilly Circus, first released when Baker was at the DfT.“I left the House of Commons with a clear conscience,” says Baker. Unlike his still politically ambitious peers, Baker has happily left Parliament behind.Topics Solar power Energy industry Brighton Transport policy Liberal Democrats Transport features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/23/do-former-transport-ministers-dream-of-electric-buses'|'2017-04-24T00:53:00.000+03:00' 'c0159e0e9fe4f987c2577e4f4329076e35259e31'|'Microsoft''s quarterly profit rises 27.8 percent'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 4:20pm EDT Microsoft''s quarterly profit rises 27.8 percent FILE PHOTO: An advertisement is played on a set of large screens at the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Microsoft Corp ( MSFT.O ) reported a 27.8 percent increase in quarterly profit on Thursday, lifted by robust demand for its cloud computing services. The company''s net income rose to $4.80 billion, or 61 cents per share, in the third quarter ended March 31, from $3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue on an adjusted basis climbed 6 percent to $23.56 billion. ( bit.ly/2oQAzSJ ) Under Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014, Microsoft has sharpened its focus on the fast-growing cloud computing unit to counter a prolonged slowdown in the PC market, which has weighed on demand for its Windows software. The company''s flagship cloud computing platform, Azure, competes with Amazon.com Inc''s ( AMZN.O ) Amazon Web Services, the market leader in cloud infrastructure. (Reporting by Pushkala A and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-results-idUSKBN17T317'|'2017-04-28T04:20:00.000+03:00' 'ebfb351f2c0c89e36e6a7a998f96540d8afe13db'|'CEE MARKETS-Stocks, FX gain in relief rally after French vote'|'* Warsaw leads stock rebound on French vote, up 1.3 pct * Zloty, forint, crown up 0.2 to 0.4 pct vs euro * Leu misses rally before; public wage bill expected * Regional government bonds are mixed By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 24 Central European stocks and currencies rose on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France''s presidential elections, taking a big step towards becoming president. Fears of a strong performance of the anti-EU far-right and radical left candidates had weighed on equities and currencies in the European Union''s emerging markets. Warsaw led a rebound of stocks, with its blue-chip index rising 1.3 percent by 0740 GMT. The zloty gained 0.4 percent, the Czech crown 0.3 percent and the forint 0.2 percent. Volatility gauges for the region fell sharply. The Polish and Hungarian currencies bounced back from multi-week lows. One Budapest-based dealer said there was unusually brisk trade in the forint''s dollar cross after a jump by the euro to a five-month high against the dollar. "The French election outcome, with all the earlier fears, matched expectations. One risk is removed now," one dealer said. The leu missed the rally, trading flat at 4.5355 to the euro. The government is expected to submit a bill to parliament on Monday setting out further increases in public sector wages. The Romanian net average wage jumped 14.7 percent in annual terms in February. Romania auctions two-year government bonds on Monday. The Czech crown reversed an earlier slide on Monday. It failed to make the gains many investors had bet on before the central bank removed a cap on the crown''s value at 27 to the euro on April 6. The currency crown could remain volatile for months, Czech central bank Governor Jiri Rusnok said on Friday. The bank will let the market find a rate for the crown it considers proper, he said. In Hungary, anti-government protests have caused jitters in markets in the past three weeks, after the government passed legislation targeting a university founded by billionaire George Soros The Hungarian central bank is expected to retain its loose monetary policy at its meeting on Tuesday. Hungarian government bond yields dropped 2 to 3 basis points in early trade, in contrast with a slight rise in yields in Poland tracking German Bunds. "The yield drop may have been triggered by the forint''s gains," one Budapest-based trader said. CEE SNAPS AT 0940 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.82 26.90 +0.3 0.67% 70 90 1% Hungary 312.3 313.0 +0.2 -1.12 forint 100 100 2% % Polish 4.246 4.264 +0.4 3.71% zloty 5 3 2% Romanian 4.535 4.536 +0.0 -0.01 leu 5 2 2% % Croatian 7.457 7.455 -0.02 1.32% kuna 0 5 % Serbian 123.2 123.3 +0.0 0.05% dinar 900 500 5% Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 986.4 977.8 +0.8 +7.0 8 7 8% 4% Budapest 33133 32969 +0.5 +3.5 .45 .44 0% 3% Warsaw 2294. 2264. +1.3 +17. 26 07 3% 78% Bucharest 8281. 8232. +0.5 +16. 53 84 9% 89% Ljubljana 774.9 773.4 +0.1 +7.9 2 4 9% 9% Zagreb 1948. 1949. -0.03 -2.32 60 21 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 0.00 733.9 +0.0 -100. > 6 0% 00% Sofia 659.2 657.9 +0.1 +12. 1 7 9% 41% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year bps s 5-year bps 10-year bps Poland 2-year bps 5-year bps s 10-year bps FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.31 0.35 0.43 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.24 0.335 0.43 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.77 1.8 1.85 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HW1LE'|'2017-04-24T06:33:00.000+03:00' '4376eec8a0fef4bedb8f34d354f33c1b448ca8f0'|'Anglo American reports 9 percent output rise, but copper down'|'Business 7:34am BST Anglo American reports 9 percent output rise, but copper down FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of Anglo American''s Los Bronces copper mine at Los Andes Mountain range, near Santiago city, Chile, November 17, 2014. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo LONDON Anglo American ( AAL.L ) on Monday reported a 9 percent rise in overall production for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016, but copper output fell 3 percent due to poorer grades and a temporary suspension at the El Soldado mine in Chile. Chief Executive Mark Cutifani said the ramp up of new production had delivered "a strong operational performance". Copper fell by 3 percent as a good performance at the Collahuasi mine was offset by expected lower grades and increased ore hardness at Los Bronces, and the halting of mining operations at El Soldado. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis and Sanjeeban Sarkar, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-angloamerican-production-idUKKBN17Q0GD'|'2017-04-24T14:34:00.000+03:00' '8b8a584e30e3eb38907197f4b93eee7635bfccd2'|'HSBC confident can maintain dividend, exceed cost targets: CEO'|'HONG KONG HSBC Holdings Plc ( HSBA.L ) has been formally mandated as an adviser on the initial public offering of Saudi Arabia''s national oil giant Aramco IPO-ARMO.SE, expected to be the world''s largest ever IPO, HSBC''s chief executive said on Monday.Europe''s biggest bank joins peers including JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) and Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) on the deal, which is expected to raise some $100 billion and is the centerpiece of the Saudi government''s ambitious strategy to diversify away from oil.HSBC''s Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver announced the bank''s appointment on the deal at a shareholders'' meeting in Hong Kong, confirming a Reuters report in February that the bank was close to being mandated on the hottest investment banking ticket in the world.Gulliver also said HSBC is confident it can maintain dividend payouts in the foreseeable future and expects to exceed risk-weighted asset and cost-saving targets.Despite earnings pressure, HSBC has retained its dividend payout ratio at a higher level in the last few years, at a time when some of its peers, including Standard Chartered ( STAN.L ), withheld dividend payments for 2016.The bank may have to move "some thousand roles" from Britain to Paris depending on how the country''s Brexit negotiations with the European Union unfold, chairman Douglas Flint added, reiterating the bank''s previous estimates of staff moves.HSBC last month named AIA Group ( 1299.HK ) boss Mark Tucker as the new chairman of its board, replacing veteran Flint, whose departure will end one of the longest-serving management partnerships at a major global bank. CEO Gulliver is also due to leave in 2018, and one of the main tasks facing Tucker immediately after taking over the new role in October will be selecting a new chief executive for Europe''s biggest bank.(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Donny Kwok, Additional reporting by Michelle Price,; Writing by Lawrence White; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-agm-idUSKBN17Q0SH'|'2017-04-24T17:25:00.000+03:00' '6dfc723411d6fae92354d75c32144877a6ee9433'|'Nestle to cut some 300 UK jobs as work shifts to Poland'|' 3:20pm BST Nestle to cut almost 300 UK jobs, move some production to Poland The Nestle logo is pictured on the company headquarters building in Vevey, Switzerland February 18, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy By Martinne Geller - LONDON LONDON Nestle ( NESN.S ) plans to cut almost 300 jobs in Britain as it simplifies its operations and moves production of Blue Riband biscuits to Poland, becoming the latest food and drink maker to reduce its UK operations as the country prepares to leave the European Union. Swiss-based Nestle said on Tuesday that the 298 proposed cuts were being made at four sites in northern England and Scotland, where it wants to standardise its shift patterns. The Fawdon site in northeast England will also be hit by the transfer of production of its Blue Riband biscuits to Poland. It said the cuts, which represent less than 4 percent of its UK workforce, were aimed at ensuring its operations "operate more efficiently and remain competitive in a rapidly changing external environment". The company did not mention Brexit. The majority of the cuts will take place in 2017 and 2018 at Fawdon and York and will be achieved through voluntary redundancies, said Nestle, which currently employs more than 8,000 people across Britain. "This is yet another kick in the teeth for the northeast economy," said Valerie Scott of the GMB union''s northern region. The news from the maker of Gerber baby food and Nespresso coffee comes a week after Scotch maker Diageo ( DGE.L ) said it was cutting about 100 jobs in Scotland. PepsiCo ( PEP.N ) said in March it was closing a Walkers crisps factory in northern England, putting nearly 400 jobs at risk. Like Nestle''s KitKat, Blue Riband is made from chocolate-covered wafers. The product was launched in 1936. (Additional reporting by John Revill in Zurich; editing by Louise Heavens and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nestle-jobs-idUKKBN17R1JA'|'2017-04-25T20:59:00.000+03:00' 'cf53f8ab262ef79a50a2efa0afe130dc77a00fd2'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 25'|'April 25 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 18 points on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers. * BRITAIN/EU: The snap general election called by British Prime Minister Theresa May will reduce the already limited time available to negotiate a Brexit deal, an influential EU lawmaker said on Monday. * International Consolidated: Spanish airline Iberia could open a new early retirement program for 1,000 workers by June, depending on the outcome of prior talks with unions, Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said. * GOLD: Gold held steady on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion. * COPPER: Copper eased in Asia on Tuesday, coming under pressure from investors looking to book gains after a surprise overnight lift in the London contract following a market-friendly French presidential vote. * OIL: Oil prices inched up on Tuesday but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of declines as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. * The UK blue chip index closed 2.1 percent higher at 7,246.68 points on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron came out on top in the first round of France''s presidential election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Whitbread Plc WTB.L FY 2016 Whitbread Plc Earnings Amec Foster Wheeler Plc AMFW.L FY 2016 Amec Foster Wheeler Earnings Redstoneconnect Plc REDS.L FY 2017 Redstoneconnect Earnings Circassia FY 2016 Circassia Pharmaceuticals Earnings Pharmaceuticals Elementis Plc ELM.L Elementis Plc Trading Update TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idINL4N1HX289'|'2017-04-25T03:45:00.000+03:00' 'a2cb51f603fe33874655c40a0a7817d6c61c82b4'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'Company News 3:59pm EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions (Adds Mobileye, Alawwal Bank, Hyland Software, Hypermarcas, Cenovus Energy, Safran, AdvancePierre, Verizon, Liberty House and Arconic; updates Christian Dior and Tyson Foods) April 25 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Tyson Foods Inc, the No. 1 U.S. meat processor, said it would buy packaged sandwich supplier AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc for about $3.2 billion in cash, to expand its fast-growing portfolio of prepared food brands. ** Straight Path Communications Inc said it received a $104.64 per-share all-stock buyout offer from a "multi-national telecommunications company", topping AT&T Inc''s offer of $95.63 per share. ** Nord Anglia Education Inc, a Hong Kong-based operator of international schools, said it would be taken private by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Baring Private Equity Asia in a deal that values the company at $4.3 billion, including debt. ** Sibanye Gold''s shareholders approved the South African miner''s $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining, moving it a step closer to significantly boosting its platinum portfolio. ** Israel Chemicals said it is in talks to sell its 50 percent stake in water desalination firm IDE Technologies in a deal which Israeli media reported could fetch about $180 million. ** German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA has stepped up its deal-making, agreeing to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros) and the biosimilars arm of Germany''s Merck KGaA. ** The chairman of Dutch paint-maker Akzo Nobel, Antony Burgmans, told shareholders at their annual meeting that the company is not yet ready to respond to a 26.9 billion takeover proposal by U.S. peer PPG Industries ** Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp repeated his opposition to a takeover of paint maker Akzo Nobel, saying he did not care that U.S. rival PPG Industries had raised its offer. ** Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberoesterreich, one of the Austrian regional banks that together own most of Raiffeisen Bank International, has no interest in merging with RBI or selling its stake in it, its chief has said. ** A full merger of Japanese car makers Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Nissan Motor Co Ltd is not on the table, Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both firms, said. ** French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the Christian Dior fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods empire as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests - a restructuring long demanded by other investors. ** French media giant Vivendi will accelerate acquisitions in video games and advertising this year to allay investor concerns about its strategy, mixed results and poor share performance, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. ** ABB has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the Swiss engineering company said, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the internet of things. ** Japan''s Toshiba Corp will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported. ** HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd will buy out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil''s second-busiest international airport in order to help solve an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights, a Brazilian Cabinet minister said on Monday. ** T-Mobile US Inc is open to merger talks after a federal ban expires this week, the No.3 U.S. wireless carrier said on Monday, as it reported stronger-than-expected subscriber growth in the first quarter. ** Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd have expressed interest in a buyout of the controlling stake that two families have in Brazilian drugmaker Hypermarcas SA, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. ** U.S. activist investor Elliott Capital Advisors disclosed on Monday it has taken a 6.8 percent stake in WS Atkins after the British engineering and construction consultancy firm agreed to be bought in a C$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) deal. ** Israeli autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye said it forged an agreement with Nissan Motor Corp to create next generation maps to enable safe self-driving cars. ** Saudi lenders Alawwal Bank and Saudi British Bank have agreed to start talks about a merger that could create the kingdom''s third biggest bank with assets of nearly $80 billion. ** Hyland Software Inc, a U.S. business software company owned by buyout firm Thoma Bravo LLC, is nearing a deal to acquire the software division of printer maker Lexmark International Inc for nearly $1.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. ** Hypermarcas SA, the largest Brazilian listed drugmaker, denied that it is engaged in talks for a merger or an acquisition, as speculation that major shareholders are exploring a sale of the company mounted in recent days. ** Zambia, Africa''s second-largest copper producer, is talking to an Israeli company that wants to buy a stake in state mining investment arm Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings, a source told Reuters. ** A Cenovus Energy Inc shareholder has asked a Canadian regulator to halt the company''s recent C$17 billion ($12.6 billion) purchase of some ConocoPhillips assets, saying the new stock issued to help fund the deal has diluted the value of Cenovus shares. ** Engine maker Safran reported higher first-quarter revenue, helped by aerospace services, and said it would close the sale of its security and identity businesses before the end of June. ** Verizon Communications Inc has made an offer for Straight Path Communications Inc, topping an earlier bid from AT&T Inc, in a move that starts a bidding war for a company holding spectrum used in 5G technology, according to a source familiar with the matter. ** British metals group Liberty House is bidding to buy U.S.-based Mesabi Metallics Co LLC and ESML Holding Inc, as it seeks to boost its presence in North America. ** Tensions between Elliott Management and specialty metals maker Arconic Inc escalated, as the hedge fund spurned a truce offered by the company and urged shareholders to elect all four of its director nominees. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias and Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL4N1HX3GZ'|'2017-04-25T14:30:00.000+03:00' '427937f0c9129ccc57d6e7acdb8910c6e6dfb368'|'U.S. charges investment bank vice president with insider trading'|'NEW YORK An investment banking vice president and risk management specialist was criminally charged on Monday with insider trading in Neustar Inc ( NSR.N ) before the advertising technology company agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm.Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy, an Indian citizen living in West New York, New Jersey, made about $48,000 trading Neustar stock and options in a brokerage account held by him and his wife, after learning that Golden Gate Capital was in talks to buy the company, court papers show.Shares of Neustar rose 21 percent last Dec. 14 after Golden Gate''s takeover of the Sterling, Virginia-based company for about $2.9 billion including debt.Krishnamoorthy''s employer was not identified in court papers, but according to LinkedIn a person sharing his name works as a market risk manager for Nomura Holdings Inc ( 8604.T ).In a related civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the employer had been registered with the commission as a broker-dealer since 1969 and as an investment adviser since April 2012.That description matches data for Nomura from the SEC website.Krishnamoorthy, 41, faces one criminal count of securities fraud, and a maximum 20 years in prison if convicted.A federal public defender who appeared with Krishnamoorthy at a hearing in Manhattan declined to comment. The office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan also declined to comment, as did a Nomura spokeswoman.The criminal insider trading case is the first announced by Kim since his predecessor Preet Bharara, who brought many such cases, was fired by U.S. on March 11.The cases are U.S. v. Krishnamoorthy, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-mag-03002; and SEC v. Krishnamoorthy in the same court, No. 17-02953.(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-insidertrading-neustar-idINKBN17Q2CM'|'2017-04-24T20:14:00.000+03:00' '5bc545c32c4e7663b96521acce9fbcb6db035e94'|'Adidas CEO says fat China margins to stabilize as thin U.S. margins grow'|'SHANGHAI German sports apparel brand adidas AG ( ADSGn.DE ) expects its huge operating margin in China to shrink slightly in the long term, while its small U.S. margin grows markedly in the near term, its new chief executive officer said on Thursday.Kasper Rorsted, on his first visit to China since taking the helm in September, said adidas'' margin in Greater China of 35 percent last year would "stabilize and slightly decline". Meanwhile North America, with a margin of 6.3 percent last year from 2.5 percent in 2015, was playing "catch-up"."We expect a dramatic improvement in margins in the United States, but we expect over time also a slowdown in the margin development in China," he said, without detailing specifics.The firm''s Greater China sales, about half those of North America in 2013, reached 16 percent of its global total last year, just shy of North America''s 18 percent.The sports apparel market, buoyed by supportive government policies and health-conscious consumers, has been a bright spot in China amid tougher conditions for firms from snack makers to cinema operators in the world''s second-largest economy.Rorsted said adidas would "invest heavily" in China, where he saw huge long-term potential. The firm is on track to add 2,000 stores in China and hit 12,000 by 2020.The company forecasts "double digit" China growth this year, though Rorsted said this would be slower than in 2016 when adidas had sales of 3 billion euros ($3.21 billion) in the market, up 28 percent on 2015 before currency fluctuations.China''s wider retail market, however, remained tough, he said, despite an uptick in official data in the first quarter."What we are seeing, if you take the total industry, is a slowdown in retail," he said."Brick-and-mortar traditional and fast-moving consumer goods has dramatically slowed down. Traffic in large malls has slowed down. That is one trend and right now that''s not being offset by anything," he said, without elaborating.Rorsted added firms in apparel and footwear, which manufacture mostly in Asia, were not going to be relocating plants to Europe or the United States any time soon - something that has been on the agenda of new U.S. President Donald Trump."The size is these plants is humongous... They are highly automated today and the entire supplier base is based out of Asia," he said. "Just financially it''s illogical and so it''s highly unlikely that this will happen."($1 = 0.9332 euros)(Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-adidas-china-idUSKBN17M141'|'2017-04-20T18:23:00.000+03:00' '16d57fc76131a0d42afc08c6ab796f11a3e1c55b'|'GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks struggle as French elections loom, North Korea worries'|'* French election graphic tmsnrt.rs/2jLwO20By Vikram SubhedarLONDON, April 20 World stocks eked out small gains on Thursday as investors resisted risky bets ahead of the first round of the French presidential election over the weekend.Oil prices, which fell sharply on Wednesday on supply news, regained some of their losses.In general, markets cautiously stuck to well-worn trading ranges buffeted by concern over political risks and continued tensions over North Korea.Europe''s STOXX 600 rose 0.1 percent bolstered by strong sales reported by consumer sector bellwether Unilever . The FTSE 100, which has slid into negative territory for the year, was little changed.In Asian hours, Japanese stocks failed to hold on to slim gains and closed flat on the day.MSCI''s world stock index was up 0.13 percent."Given the binary risk of the French presidential elections and geopolitical concerns over North Korea, investors are staying on the sidelines," said Fan Cheuk Wan, head of investment strategy and advisory, Asia, at HSBC Private Banking.A run of disappointing U.S. economic data and questions about whether the Trump administration can push through tax cuts have dented some of the enthusiasm for risky assets in recent weeks.A sharp dip to three-week lows in oil prices overnight was the latest sign of an unwind in the global reflation trade. Crude oil clawed back some of the loss but concerns about a supply glut capped the rebound."Rising U.S. oil inventory data is now starting to impact the market''s aggressive long position in crude," said analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note to clients.Brent crude futures were up 0.5 percent to $53.22 a barrel after sliding more than 3 percent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.4 percent.In currency markets, the euro rose 0.4 percent to a three-week high of $1.0748 against the dollar. The greenback was 0.2 percent weaker against a basket of major currencies.Centrist Emmanuel Macron held on to his lead as favourite to emerge as the eventual victor in the French presidential election, a closely watched poll showed, although it indicated that the outcome of the first round of voting on Sunday was too close to call.Millions of French voters remain undecided, making this the least predictable vote in France in decades, and raising fears of a potential surprise result that could spread turmoil in markets.France''s borrowing costs nudged down on Thursday before a bond auction that is likely to be watched more closely than usual, coming just ahead of Sunday''s presidential election.French bonds have come under heavy selling pressure this year as an unpredictable election race unfolded, with strong support for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and the far-left''s Jean-Luc Melenchon, both anti-euro, alarming investors.Most other euro zone bond yields were little changed on the day.(Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in HONG KONG Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-markets-idUSL3N1HS33I'|'2017-04-20T16:24:00.000+03:00' '469682e2b7915d064133d7474c84c51ab5c7213e'|'UPDATE 1-Blackstone''s first-quarter earnings more than double'|'(Adds earnings details)By Greg RoumeliotisApril 20 Blackstone Group LP, the largest manager of assets such as private equity and real estate, reported a 165 percent first-quarter earnings rise on Thursday, as the value of its holdings soared and it generated record proceeds selling some of them.Blackstone''s strong earnings illustrate how the stock market rally, which was fueled by hopes of policy reform under the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, benefited buyout firms by allowing the sale of assets at very high valuations.Blackstone, whose co-founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman is an economic adviser to Trump and chairs his strategic and policy forum, said the sale of assets for top dollar allowed it to pay its second highest quarterly dividend ever, equivalent to 87 cents per common unit."In total, we will have distributed nearly $14 per common unit of value since the IPO (of Blackstone in 2007), including $2.50 per year on average over the past three years, making Blackstone consistently one of the highest yielding large capitalization companies in the world," Schwarzman said in a statement.Blackstone said economic net income (ENI) per share, a metric of its profitability which takes into account the mark-to-market valuation of its portfolio, came in at 82 cents versus 31 cents in the first quarter of 2016.This surpassed the expectations of most research analysts, whose forecasts in a Thomson Reuters poll averaged 68 cents per share.Distributable earnings, which show actual cash that is available to pay dividends, rose in the first quarter by 212 percent to $1.23 billion.Blackstone''s private equity business reported a 291 percent rise in ENI, with its buyout funds appreciating 6.9 percent in the quarter. Its real estate business posted an 86 percent rise in ENI, and its opportunistic real estate funds appreciated by 5.7 percent.Blackstone''s credit and hedge-fund-of-funds businesses reported ENI increases of 263 percent and 217 percent, respectively.During the quarter, Blackstone divested its 25 percent stake in hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc and completed the $1.8 billion initial public offering of Invitation Homes Inc, the second largest IPO ever of a real estate investment trust.Total assets under management were $368.2 billion as of the end of March, up 7 percent year-on-year. Fee-earning assets under management rose 15 percent to $280.2 billion. (Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alden Bentley)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/blackstone-results-idINL1N1HS0FB'|'2017-04-20T10:13:00.000+03:00' '40cff12ecf72639ceac32eacf62204e1141294bd'|'BoE''s Carney says UK financial firms ''well prepared'' for elections'|'WASHINGTON UK financial firms are well prepared to face risks associated with the general election unexpectedly called by the British government this week, the governor of the Bank of England said on Thursday, contrasting this year''s vote with last June''s Brexit referendum."I would make a distinction between last year''s referendum, which was a binary decision for which markets and institutions were potentially not prepared... and the normal political process, which is what we''re seeing happening in the UK and for which institutions are well prepared," Mark Carney said at an event of the International Monetary Fund in Washington.(Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-election-boe-idINKBN17M2BL'|'2017-04-20T16:13:00.000+03:00' '1a97e05ce86a8689bca9c6befdb1755298aeb08f'|'Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal'|'Business 7:26pm BST Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke HANNOVER, Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she was encouraged that Washington would take a look at a future trade agreement with the European Union. Merkel, speaking at the opening of the Hannover Messe industry fair, said Germany remained opposed to protectionism and trade barriers, and would continue to work for multilateral trade agreements like the EU''s free trade deal with Canada. "I also feel very encouraged by my visit to the United States that negotiations between the EU and the United States on a free trade agreement ... are also being looked at," Merkel said. She said the EU would insist on maintaining the four basic freedoms of its single market during negotiations with Britain about the UK''s exit from the bloc. "We want to continue good relations with Britain, while maintaining the advantages of the single market for ourselves," she said. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-usa-trade-idUKKBN17P0PT'|'2017-04-24T02:26:00.000+03:00' '9fa4df012a8998dc29a5c06f1620f9deebdddbb2'|'Congress returns as Trump pressures Democrats ahead of funding deadline'|'WASHINGTON With a deadline looming this week to avert a U.S. government shutdown, Congress returns to work on Monday as President Donald Trump leans on Democrats to include funding for his promised border wall with Mexico in spending legislation.The Republican president took to Twitter on Sunday to warn Democrats that the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, could soon lose essential funding without Democratic support for a congressional spending plan to keep the government running.Should talks fail, the government would shut down on Saturday, Trump''s 100th day in office. Trump, whose national approval rating hovered around 43 percent in the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling, is seeking his first big legislative victory."Obamacare is in serious trouble. The Dems need big money to keep it going - otherwise it dies far sooner than anyone would have thought," Trump said in a Twitter post.The healthcare law was former Democratic President Barack Obama''s signature domestic policy achievement, which Republicans are trying to repeal and replace.The White House says it has offered to include $7 billion in Obamacare subsidies that allow low-income people to pay for health insurance in exchange for Democratic backing for $1.5 billion in funding to start construction of the barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border.Trump made the wall a major element of his presidential campaign, touting its ability to help curb the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States.The federal government''s funding is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. A spending resolution would need 60 votes to clear the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats.Asked if Trump would sign a spending bill that does not include money for the wall, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told Fox News on Sunday: "We don''t know yet."Internal estimates from the Department of Homeland Security have placed the total cost of a border barrier at about $21.6 billion.Trump has said Mexico will repay the United States for the wall if Congress funds it first. But he has not laid out his plan to compel the Mexicans to pay, which Mexico''s government has insisted it will not do.''FLY IN THE OINTMENT''A Republican congressional aide said Democrats may agree to some aspects of the border wall, including new surveillance equipment and access roads, estimated to cost around $380 million."But Democrats want the narrative that they dealt him a loss on the wall," the aide said, adding it would be difficult to bring any Democrats on board with new construction on the southwest border.Democrats showed no sign of softening their opposition to wall funding on Sunday and sought to place responsibility for any shutdown squarely on Trump and Republicans who control the House of Representatives and the Senate.Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer warned Trump to stay out of the way if he wanted lawmakers to reach a deal before the deadline.Schumer told a news conference on Sunday that aid negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate were going well."The only fly in the ointment is that the president is being a little heavy handed, and mixing in and asking for things such as the wall," Schumer said.(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Steve Holland and David Morgan; Editing by Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-idUSKBN17Q0VG'|'2017-04-24T18:08:00.000+03:00' '66331d116d52593a7ac115622331ce94ab764957'|'Wall Street looks set to rally as French vote worries ease'|'By Yashaswini Swamynathan The Nasdaq was poised to open at a record high on Monday, with other indexes likely to rally, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election.Polls showed pro-EU Macron is expected to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote on May 7, quelling some fears of a breakup of the Eurozone after Britain''s shock exit vote last year.While European stocks headed for their best day in two years, gold prices tumbled amid an unwinding of safe-haven trades."The markets are in a strong rebound as the expectations of the first round of the French elections results were pleasing," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial wrote in a note.Dow e-minis were up 218 points, or 1.06 percent, at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT) with 42,017 contracts changing hands.S&P 500 e-minis were up 27.25 points, or 1.16 percent, with 291,485 contracts traded.Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 62.25 points, or 1.14 percent, on volume of 45,052 contracts.U.S. investors are also gearing up for the busiest earnings week in at least a decade, with over 190 S&P 500 members, including heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft due to report results.Even as tensions in North Korea, the French election and a flagging "Trump trade" have weighed on sentiment in recent weeks investors have held on, encouraged by a strong showing in the first-quarter earnings season.Upbeat earnings at company that have reported so far have increased profit growth expectations. Overall profit for S&P 500 companies is now estimated to have risen 11.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with the 10.1 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.About 76 percent of the S&P companies that had reported results until Friday beat earnings expectations.Wall Street closed lower, but well off session-lows on Friday after President Donald Trump said he would have a "big announcement" on tax reforms on Wednesday.Shares of big U.S. banks, including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan rose over 2 percent in premarket trading on Monday. The S&P 500 financial sector had been the broader index''s biggest underperformer last week as investors favored safe-haven assets amid geopolitical risks.Hasbro surged 5.7 percent after the toymaker reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. Shares of rival Mattel were up about 1 percent.Device maker C R Bard jumped more than 19 percent to $302 after U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson said it would buy Bard for $24 billion.(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17Q1C1'|'2017-04-24T11:11:00.000+03:00' 'c3f0b68d7a06ee40446ce32462dbe81354455867'|'China''s strong first quarter growth highlights positive signs - finance minister'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 5:05am BST China policymakers bullish on economy, cite strong first-quarter GDP, stable yuan left right A businessman takes pictures of recently erected office and residential buildings in Beijing, China April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 1/2 left right Chinese Finance Minister Xiao Jie speaks to the media after his news conference during the ongoing National People''s Congress (NPC), China''s parliament, in Beijing China March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 2/2 SHANGHAI Policymakers in China are pushing a bullish message on the world''s second-biggest economy after a solid first quarter, pointing to a slow down in capital outflows and a stable yuan after a selloff last year stoked fears of instability. Speaking at a G20 summit meeting of the world''s top economies in Washington last week, finance minister Xiao Jie said an increasing number of positive signs were seen in the Chinese economy in the first quarter gross domestic product report. China is confident of reaching the government''s 6.5 percent GDP growth target this year, Xiao said in a notice published on the Ministry of Finance''s website on Saturday. Separately, People''s Bank of China (PBOC) adviser Sheng Songcheng said the improving economy has been matched by a stable yuan, with signs that capital is starting to return to China. "After breaking and even reversing expectations for yuan depreciation, there are signs of a trend of capital returning to China," Sheng wrote in Monday''s editorial in Financial News, a newspaper owned by the PBOC. Sheng reiterated that interest rates are on an uptrend, underscoring Beijing''s shift to a tighter policy stance to temper rampant credit growth and put the economy on an even keel. The comments from Sheng and Xiao follow last week''s data which showed China''s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property boom. Capital outflows from China eased sharply in the first quarter and cross border flows were more balanced as expectations for further yuan depreciation have weakened significantly, the spokeswoman for the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday. Sources told Reuters last week that China has relaxed some curbs on capital flows as officials indicate increasing confidence that pressure on the yuan and the country''s foreign exchange reserves has diminished, thanks largely to a pullback in the surging U.S. dollar. But some economists say it is too early to say China has won the war against capital outflows and it is unlikely Beijing will start a broad roll-back of capital control measures in the near future. "We expect the CNY (or yuan) to come under pressure again at some point, notably at times of another global strengthening of the US$," Oxford Economics economist Louis Kuijs said in a note Friday. "We still do not rule out further tightening if the pressures on the FX market were to rise substantially again." A massive build-up of debt over the past several years has been highlighted by policymakers, economists and the International Monetary Fund as a risk to financial stability in China. In his Washington speech, Xiao said that China is making progress on supply-side structural reforms, which Beijing has been promoting as a way of reducing excess industrial capacity and cutting its reliance on debt-driven growth policies. (Reporting by Engen Tham; additional reporting by Elias Glenn in Beijing; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-idUKKBN17Q03Z'|'2017-04-24T10:02:00.000+03:00' 'b0c71ea68c544865c83e91bb274cea2d5c62b07f'|'BoE''s Hogg to leave bank this week - Telegraph'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 1:13pm BST BoE''s Hogg to leave bank this week - Telegraph LONDON Charlotte Hogg, who offered her resignation as the Bank of England''s deputy governor last month, will leave the bank at the end of this week, earlier than expected, The Telegraph newspaper has reported. The Telegraph reported that Hogg had been expected to stay on for three months after writing a letter of resignation in March over her failure to declare a potential conflict of interest about her brother''s role at Barclays Bank. The Bank of England declined to make any official comment. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boe-hogg-idUKKBN17P0D1'|'2017-04-23T20:13:00.000+03:00' 'ff79885582089f8d51a1daac811cc9d4bdc936fc'|'World Bank Group, China-led AIIB agree to deepen cooperation'|'By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Sunday they agreed to deepen their cooperation with a framework for knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination.The memorandum of understanding signed at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington comes a year after the two multilateral lenders established mechanisms for cost-sharing and co-financing of investment projects.Since then, the AIIB and the World Bank have co-financed five projects, supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and projects in Indonesia to rebuild slums, improve dam safety and develop regional infrastructure.They said in a joint statement that they are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018."Signing this memorandum of understanding fits into our vision of a new kind of internationalism," AIIB President Jin Liqun said in a statement. "It deepens our relationship with the World Bank Group and sets up the mechanisms through which we can more easily collaborate and share information."A World Bank spokeswoman said the knowledge-sharing memorandum was similar to one that was in place during the AIIB''s early development stages, but which ended when the Beijing-based institution was formally launched in January 2016.She said the new agreement does not specify financing amounts or targets, adding that those will be determined through meetings and consultations to discuss the banks'' respective portfolios.The AIIB has been viewed as a rival to the Western-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The United States initially opposed its creation and is not a member, but many U.S. allies, including Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia and South Korea have joined.World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told Reuters on Thursday that he wants to push the Washington-based lender''s business model towards harnessing more private capital for development finance.In a statement on Sunday, Kim said: "Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, crowd-in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve."(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Peter Cooney and David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-aiib-idINKBN17Q089'|'2017-04-24T11:31:00.000+03:00' '70181aca254c092b45e3207b6a1b2e3f3d3e64f7'|'France''s CAC 40 set to lead European shares higher'|'LONDON, April 24 European shares were set to rise on Monday, led by a 2 percent bounce on France''s bluechip CAC 40 according to financial spreadbetters, after centrist Emmanuel Macron led presidential election.France''s CAC 40 index was set to open around 103 points higher, and Germany''s DAX was expected to open 186 points higher. Britain''s FTSE 100 was seen up around 41 points, according to spreadbetters.Final voting figures from France''s Interior Ministry put Macron on 23.75 percent of votes and Le Pen on 21.53 percent.The result was seen as the most market-friendly of outcomes and new opinion polls on Sunday now have Macro easily winning the final May 7 runoff. (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Vikram Subhedar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idINL8N1HW0IU'|'2017-04-24T03:44:00.000+03:00' '768eae98bdba95131edecdc668a3a15a5bdf7396'|'RPT-China Mobile, others approached for buying into Singapore telco M1 -sources'|'(Repeats story originally published late on Friday, with no change to text)By Anshuman DagaSINGAPORE, April 21 Top shareholders in Singapore telecoms company M1 Ltd have approached potential buyers China Mobile and global private equity firms, among others, to sell their combined majority stake in the firm, sources familiar with the matter said.The three main shareholders of Singapore''s smallest listed telecoms player, who own a combined 61 percent, flagged a strategic review of their investments last month, and jointly appointed Morgan Stanley as their financial adviser.They did not give a reason behind the review of their stake in the S$1.9 billion ($1.36 billion) company.The sources said the three shareholders - Malaysia''s Axiata Group, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation - had also reached out to other telecoms firms, cash-rich business groups in China and Japanese tech firms to gauge their interest.First-round bids for M1, long seen as a target due to its small size and diverse shareholding, are expected in a few weeks, the sources said. They added that talks between the parties were still at an early stage and there was no certainty the process would succeed.They did not provide details on how China Mobile or the other prospective bidders have responded to the approach.When contacted for comments, Keppel, SPH and Axiata referred Reuters to their joint statement issued last month. M1 referred the query to its shareholders. China Mobile declined to comment.The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.The sale process comes as competition heats up in Singapore, with Australia''s TPG Telecom set to launch its services next year after winning a licence to become the city-state''s fourth telecom operator. Analysts expect M1 to be the most vulnerable to new competition.M1''s shares have nearly halved over the past two years due to its weak business performance amid increased competition.But Singapore''s well-regulated telecoms market offers stable cash flows. Some telecoms firms could also use the city-state as a launch pad into a region that is still developing, industry executives and analysts said."It''s actually a decent business for current owners or any new ones if you factor in the upsides," said Rameez Ansar, co-founder of Singapore firm Circles.Life, which leases towers from M1, referring to weakness in M1''s share performance and Singapore''s position as a tier-one market and high user revenues.M1 could also fit in a portfolio of other telecoms ventures."M1 could become part of a portfolio of investments in telecom-related assets. Someone looking for financial returns could be interested, if other portfolio companies could help to enhance M1''s overall value," said Gregory Yap, analyst at Maybank Kim Eng Securities.Under Singapore''s rules, an acquirer of a 30 percent or more stake in a listed company is required to make an offer to buy out the rest of the shareholders.Some of the sources said M1''s main shareholders would require a substantial control premium for the sale to get done.State-run China Mobile, as well as local peers China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd, the country''s big telecoms firms, are pursuing expansion plans beyond their home market.If China Mobile acquires M1, it would mark its biggest overseas foray. The world''s largest mobile operator bought an 18 percent stake in Thailand''s True Corp in 2014 after buying Pakistan telecoms firm Paktel in 2007. ($1 = 1.3961 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff, Aradhana Aravindan and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/m1-ma-idUSL4N1HW0Y5'|'2017-04-24T05:12:00.000+03:00' '9dda93f258c5505558f81efaa86a9bf7d9c81307'|'Drugmaker Biogen''s revenue rises 3 percent'|'Health 8:44am EDT Biogen revenue, profit beat Street on strong Spinraza launch A sign marks a Biogen facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder Biogen Inc reported quarterly revenue and profit that beat analysts'' estimates, boosted by strong sales of recently launched spinal muscular atrophy drug Spinraza. Shares of the company, which spun off its hemophilia business in February, were up 4.8 percent at $290.20 in pre-market trading on Tuesday. Spinraza, a first-of-its-kind medicine for spinal muscular atrophy, the leading genetic cause of death in infants, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December. The expensive drug generated sales of $47 million, handily beating the consensus estimate by $30 million. "We saw continued stability in our MS business, executed a strong launch of Spinraza, grew market share for our biosimilars business across Europe, and reinforced the intellectual property for Tecfidera," Chief Executive Officer Michel Vounatsos said in a statement. Spinraza is the first major drug launch under Vounatsos, who succeeded George Scangos in January. Sales of Biogen''s multiple sclerosis (MS) drug Tysabri came in at $545 million, also well ahead of the consensus estimate of $484 million. Sales in the latest quarter were boosted by $45 million from an agreement with the Italian health regulator related to prior Tysabri sales. However, Biogen''s MS bestseller, Tecfidera, brought in sales of $958 million, below consensus estimate of $989 million. Total revenue rose about 3 percent to $2.81 billion, ahead of analysts'' average estimate of $2.73 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. However, net income attributable fell to $747.6 million, or $3.46 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $970.9 million, or $4.43 per share, a year earlier. The company said net income was impacted by $263 million in costs related to a deal with Danish company Forward Pharma A/S. Excluding items, Biogen earned $5.20 per share, eclipsing the average estimate of $4.97. (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-biogen-results-idUSKBN17R19Z'|'2017-04-25T19:10:00.000+03:00' '0b8c734bbed961bfb6c6168c5fc13d180aa062ef'|'European equity funds poised for $100 billion inflow bonanza'|'Company News 9:54am EDT European equity funds poised for $100 billion inflow bonanza LONDON, April 25 The stampede out of euro zone equity funds last year is reversing, with up to $100 billion of inflows potentially in the pipeline as investors buy into the improving economy and take heart from the more favourable political landscape. The first round vote of the French presidential election on Sunday, which put centrist Emmanuel Macron on course for a convincing victory in the second round on May 7, has cemented the positive view of many banks and brokers on the euro zone. Figures on Tuesday from Thomson Reuters Lipper show that net flows into European mutual funds in Europe in March totaled 65.1 billion euros, the third consecutive monthly inflow and bringing the year-to-date total up to 210.5 billion. That covers the whole gamut of asset classes, including bond, money market, commodity and equity funds. Estimates vary, but the growing consensus is that flows into the region''s equity markets in the coming months are poised to accelerate. Recent figures suggest the euro zone economy is growing at its fastest rate in years, much faster than the U.S. economy. Wages are rising, unemployment is falling and credit conditions are easing as well. Equity strategists at Barclays expect European corporate earnings growth of around 15 percent this year compared to 10 percent for the S&P 500. They note that the outflow from European equity funds last year of around $100 billion, equivalent to around 10 percent of assets under management, should return. "We expect these outflows to quickly reverse," Barclays equity strategists wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday titled ''Inflows Ahoy!''. "We envisage the coming months to resemble previous periods of heavy inflows into European equities relative to other regions." Euro zone stocks have risen around 9 percent so far this year, outperforming Wall Street''s 6 percent rise. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch say the solid economic backdrop points to strong earnings growth this year, perhaps higher than its current estimate of 11 percent. "European equity fund flows have significant room to recover," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note, referring to the cumulative $103 billion outflow last year. Analysts at JP Morgan note that euro zone equities have attracted chunky inflows in recent weeks of around 1-3 percent of assets under management. Given the scale of outflow last year, there''s room for that to increase more, further widening the earnings growth gap over the United States. "Flows are turning, and there could be much more to go," they said. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever; editing by Mark Heinrich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-markets-stocks-idUSL8N1HX55T'|'2017-04-25T21:54:00.000+03:00' 'ee83f3bb58f92f213a251e31d5d31a77c6fd2320'|'Nord Anglia Education be bought by CPPIB, Baring'|'April 25 Nord Anglia Education Inc, a Hong Kong-based operator of international schools, said it would be acquired by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia in a $4.3 billion deal including debt.The cash offer of $32.50 per share represents a premium of 17.7 percent to Nord Anglia''s Monday closing on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nord-anglia-ma-cppib-idINL4N1HX465'|'2017-04-25T09:30:00.000+03:00' '6451cd8f5ca0fb725c510a514a9c8f925600a9c1'|'Credit Suisse to make capital hike decision after AGM - report - Reuters'|'ZURICH, April 23 Credit Suisse will not decide on how it wants to raise fresh capital until after this week''s annual general meeting, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday.The Swiss bank is considering a quick-fire share sale or listing 20 to 30 percent of its Swiss business in order to raise between 3 and 6 billion Swiss francs ($3-$6 billion) in new capital, the Swiss newspaper said, citing sources close to Chairman Urs Rohner.The newspaper also reported that Rohner expects all the banks'' proposals to be accepted by shareholders at its annual general meeting on Friday.Rohner told Weltwoche magazine in March the bank had time to decide whether to go ahead with a planned listing of its domestic banking unit, originally envisioned for the second half of 2017.Reuters had previously reported that Switzerland''s second-biggest bank was likely to make a decision in April on how to proceed on raising new capital.Credit Suisse, which declined to comment, earlier this month offered to cut bonuses for top management by 40 percent and freeze pay for its board of directors in an attempt to quash a shareholder revolt over payouts to senior managers.Its pay plans included bonuses of 78 million Swiss francs ($78 million) to top executives and higher pay for the board, despite the bank posting a 2.7 billion-franc net loss last year.Credit Suisse is reassessing its compensation policies, sources told SonntagsZeitung, specifically by expanding options to claw back executive and employee bonuses if their actions have caused costly legal suits and large losses for the bank. ($1 = 0.9958 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/credit-suisse-gp-agm-idINL8N1HV0FP'|'2017-04-23T12:08:00.000+03:00' '3dd2c93767265a2def8ad1bdc788a287c6b62d9f'|'Banco Santander posts 14 percent profit rise in first quarter on Brazilian strength'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:27am BST Banco Santander posts 14 percent profit rise in first quarter on Brazilian strength A woman walks past a Banco Santander branch in downtown Rio de Janeiro August 19, 2014. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD PACKAGE - SEARCH ''BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD 24 OCT'' FOR ALL IMAGES - RTX2Q58N By Jesús Aguado and Angus Berwick - MADRID MADRID Strong growth in Brazil drove Banco Santander''s ( SAN.MC ) profit up 14 percent in the first quarter, continuing a trend in which the Spanish bank''s largest market has offset profit weakness in Britain. Santander, the euro zone''s biggest bank by market value, reported net profit of 1.87 billion euros (£1.59 billion) in the first three months of the year, well ahead of analysts'' forecasts for 1.77 billion euros in a Reuters poll. In Brazil, whose share of the bank''s profits has jumped from 21 percent to 26 percent since the end of 2016, net profit rose for the fifth quarter in a row, up by almost 80 percent on underlying growth and the appreciation of the real. Net interest income, a measure of earnings on loans minus deposit costs and a key driver of the bank''s returns, improved for the fourth consecutive quarter in Brazil after earnings there tumbled in 2015 due to a deep recession. Strength in Brazil has helped it through a squeeze on lending margins in Europe that is pressuring its peers, and a slip in profit in its second-largest market Britain due to the depreciation of the sterling since the Brexit vote. Santander boss Ana Botin on Wednesday struck an optimistic note and said the bank expected growth in all of its principal markets this year. "The environment keeps offering challenges for the financial sector, but the perspectives for Santander are positive," Botin said in a statement. Overall, Santander''s NII improved for the third quarter in a row after rising 10 percent to 8.4 billion euros on still lower funding costs, Santander said on Wednesday as it opened Spain''s bank reporting season. Analysts had expected NII of 8.17 billion euros for the quarter. Santander shares have outperformed Europe''s STOXX banking index .SX7P over the past year with a 40 percent rise. In Britain, Santander''s profit fell 8 percent over the quarter but the bank said it would have risen by 3 percent without taking into account the currency swing. Profit from its banking activity in Spain, its third largest market, rose 18 percent thanks to greater fees from its high-yielding flagship 1-2-3 current account. Santander reaffirmed its 2018 targets such as boosting its fully-loaded core capital ratio, a closely watched measure of a bank''s strength, to just above 11 percent, after it ended the quarter with a ratio of 10.66 percent. Santander said in a presentation it would give a group strategy update on Oct. 10 in New York. (Reporting by Jesus Aguado and Angus Berwick; Editing by Stephen Coates) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-banco-santander-results-idUKKBN17S0EQ'|'2017-04-26T13:20:00.000+03:00' '873c440e80a58c71c67cfb1be5bd27b4346bc5dc'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 26'|'April 26 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- Eleven current and former Fox News employees filed a class-action lawsuit in New York against the network, accusing it of "abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination". nyti.ms/2q5o49U- Despite the turmoil that has engulfed Wells Fargo & Co in the past year, shareholders voted to re-elect all of the bank''s 15 directors during a raucous annual meeting on Tuesday. But some of the board members edged in just barely, signaling that many shareholders want further changes to the bank''s leadership. nyti.ms/2q5vIBc- Newly released police documents claim that David Dao, the passenger who was shown being dragged off a United Airlines flight on April 9 in widely shared videos, behaved violently toward the officers removing him, but his lawyer dismissed this account as "utter nonsense". nyti.ms/2q5ob55- Chobani LLC, the yogurt company, has filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones, the high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a popular right-wing radio show, for posting what it called false news reports about the company and its owner. nyti.ms/2q5gxrv- A group including Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and presidential candidate, has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Miami Marlins, according to two people briefed on the situation who requested anonymity because the deal is not official. nyti.ms/2q53iqY(Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL4N1HY23G'|'2017-04-26T02:48:00.000+03:00' '2bda307dfe5884150403ce52773049060e7f7715'|'BHP cuts output targets for iron ore, coking coal, copper'|' 5:45am BST BHP cuts key output targets, sees some petroleum divestment left right FILE PHOTO: Workers of BHP Billiton''s Escondida, the world''s biggest copper mine, are seen in front of the open pit, in Antofagasta, northern Chile March 31, 2008. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in central Sydney August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 2/3 Andrew Mackenzie, CEO of BHP Billiton in Mexico City, Mexico March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso 3/3 By James Regan - SYDNEY SYDNEY BHP Billiton cut its full-year production guidance for coking coal and copper on Wednesday due to bad weather at mines in Australia and industrial action in Chile over the last quarter. BHP also said it was progressing the sale of onshore U.S. petroleum interests at two key fields at a time when management is under pressure from activist shareholder Elliott Management to decouple the division from the company. "Divestment of non-core onshore U.S. acreage is progressing, with the sales process well advanced for up to 50,000 acres of the southern Hawkville," BHP said in its fiscal third quarter operations report. Additionally, BHP said its Fayetteville field is under review and that it was "considering all options including divestment." The miner cut its guidance for full-year copper output by 17 percent to a range of 1.33 million to 1.36 million tonnes after a six-week strike at the Escondida mine, the world''s biggest copper mine, that ended in late March. Coking coal guidance was reduced by 9 percent to 39 million to 41 million tonnes, while BHP narrowed its iron ore output guidance to 268 million to 272 million tonnes. The miner said shipments of Australian coking coal to Asian steel mills will be affected in the current quarter after a cyclone swept across eastern Australia in late March, cutting off rail lines to Pacific Ocean ports. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-output-idUKKBN17R2ZX'|'2017-04-26T06:58:00.000+03:00' 'ec1552d896722e83ee55bbfb00f79d747490d3b3'|'EU in rush to fill Trump trade void with Pacific partners'|' 2:13pm BST EU in rush to fill Trump trade void with Pacific partners By Philip Blenkinsop - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS Europe''s claim to be the global champion of open trade and a counterweight to the threatened protectionism of U.S. President Donald Trump risks ringing hollow if it cannot sign a new Pacific free trade deal by the end of 2017. As part of the process, the European Union needs to persuade an EU public wary of globalisation that it will profit from more trade. This has led it to demand more from would-be partners, increasing the risk of failure or delay. For the past three years, the EU''s trade agenda has been dominated by Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks with the United States. Following the U.S. election, they are "frozen". EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said in a March speech, however, that TTIP was not the only game in town. "As other doors are closing, we should be clear to them (trade partners) that ours will remain open," she said. With the twin shock of Trump''s election and Britain''s vote to leave the European Union, Malmstrom has said there has never been a more important time to defend openness. Yet it is unclear if the EU''s vow to "shape" the economic order with open trade deals will convince sceptical Europeans and limit the appeal of politicians such as French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen who decries "rampant globalisation". For the EU as a whole, this year could prove a crucial one after early, albeit difficult, success of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Sorin Moisa, a centre-left member of the European Parliament who helped steer CETA through and is now the parliament''s point person for a potential EU-Mexico deal, said the EU should move beyond CETA. "We should have at least another major achievement and we also need to take a major step in terms of our response to globalisation against the double backdrop of Trump and Brexit," he said. END OF YEAR TARGETS Since the freezing of TTIP, many of the 200 or so officials focussed on it have since been rechannelled to the EU''s three major new targets -- Japan, Mexico and the Mercosur bloc of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. For both Japan and Mexico, the goal is to conclude trade talks by the end of 2017. The promise is growth and jobs. In the case of Japan, an ambitious deal could boost EU GDP by between 100 and 319 billion euros. With a Mercosur deal, the EU would have privileged access compared with competitors outside Latin America, such as to public tenders worth up to 150 billion euros in Brazil alone. Japan, smarting from Trump''s decision to withdraw the United States from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, may be the brightest prospect. However, some EU officials wonder whether the talks, which has already seen 2015 and 2016 deadlines come and go, will ever conclude if they cannot this year. The Trump trade void may also not last forever. "Japan will start the (bilateral) negotiations as early as this summer with the U.S. -– and given its strategic importance, the U.S. negotiations will be prioritised," said Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of trade think tank ECIPE. An EU-Mexico trade deal this year could also prove a stretch. One EU official described the target as possible but "challenging". SCEPTICAL PUBLIC The European Union also has internal issues. Brexit negotiations, set to begin in the coming weeks, could prove a distraction and exhaust resources and political capital, with EU-UK trade talks possible from 2018. Brexit also deprives the EU of one of its most outspoken free trade advocates. Above all, the EU itself needs to sell free trade to a sceptical public after battles over TTIP and CETA, which critics across the continent argued were stacked in favour of multinationals and risked letting in "Frankenstein food". Neither Japan nor Mexico nor Mercosur have ignited similar passions, although France and farming groups have expressed concern about the surge of beef imports that the Mercosur foursome could bring. The lesson from the TTIP and CETA battles is that the EU needs to go beyond plain economic arguments and stress fair as much as free trade, with EU values on environmental and labour standards also included, including commitments to sustainability or to International Labour Organization standards. Another item, the EU will have to include will be its answer to the contentious issue of investment protection, with independent courts rather than arbitration panels to settle disputes between foreign investors and countries. Canada and Vietnam have signed up to the idea, but other would-be partners have their doubts. "This is a major question mark," said Paul Kerneis, managing director of the European Services Forum that represents the trade interests of the EU''s services sector. "For the future of EU trade agreements, investor protection is going to be the key." For graphic on EU trade click on tmsnrt.rs/2q71iyk (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt. Graphic by Jessica Wang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-trade-idUKKBN17S1QD'|'2017-04-26T21:09:00.000+03:00' 'a30ca840501ed2e75e42b76ec3586db2621b1767'|'AstraZeneca sales fall further as generic competition bites deep'|'Business News 7:59am BST AstraZeneca sales fall further as generic competition bites deep The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on a medication package in a pharmacy in London, Britain, April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo LONDON AstraZeneca, struggling with loss of patents on blockbusters like cholesterol pill Crestor, reported another quarter of falling drug sales on Thursday as it awaits pivotal clinical trial data that may revive its fortunes. Despite income from disposals and external deals, first-quarter revenue fell 12 percent to $5.4 billion (£4.20 billion), although core earnings per share (EPS) rose 4 percent in dollar terms to 99 cents. Industry analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of $5.4 billion and earnings of 82 cents, according to Thomson Reuters data. So-called "externalisation" revenue, which some analysts argue unduly flatters AstraZeneca''s results, contributed $562 million, as product sales fell 13 percent. AstraZeneca reiterated its expectation that full-year revenue would fall at a low to mid single-digit percentage rate, with core EPS dropping by a low to mid-teens percentage. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot believes 2017 will mark the trough for the British group, as it starts to put generic losses behind it and builds up sales of newer medicines, particularly in cancer. "The total revenue performance reflected the transitional impact of recent patent expiries, which is expected to recede in the second half of the year," he said. For investors, owning AstraZeneca shares represents a major bet on the company''s oncology portfolio. It is already doing well with new cancer pills Tagrisso and Lynparza, but the really big opportunity lies in cancer immunotherapy. Results from its closely watched MYSTIC immunotherapy trial in previously untreated lung cancer patients are expected mid-year. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-astrazeneca-results-idUKKBN17T0PQ'|'2017-04-27T14:30:00.000+03:00' '4757d9f0d6fae960c07af23e5b51b809fc14ad6e'|'BRIEF-UOP LLC WON CONTRACT FROM DANGOTE OIL REFINERY'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:54am EDT BRIEF-UOP LLC WON CONTRACT FROM DANGOTE OIL REFINERY April 27 UOP LLC - * WON CONTRACT FROM DANGOTE OIL REFINERY CO FOR CRITICAL EQUIPMENT, TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, DESIGN SERVICES FOR A REFINERY & PETROCHEMICAL PLANT Source text for Eikon: * UNIVERSAL LOGISTICS HOLDINGS, INC. REPORTS FIRST QUARTER 2017 FINANCIAL RESULTS MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-uop-llc-won-contract-from-dangote-idUSFWN1HZ14N'|'2017-04-27T22:54:00.000+03:00' 'fd25b515364c740b94b475755c14799d0da6bb91'|'ECB says Brussels wants "too tight" limit to its power over banks'|' 12am BST ECB says Brussels wants "too tight" limit to its power over banks European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, July 29, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT A European Commission proposal to limit the European Central Bank''s power to supervise banks is "much too tight" and risks hampering ECB efforts to make the sector safer, Frankfurt''s top supervisor said on Tuesday. Speaking at the European Parliament, Daniele Nouy questioned part of the Commission''s package setting out rules for deciding how much Pillar 2 capital banks must hold to absorb losses -- effectively the ECB''s most powerful tool as a supervisor. This was likely to rekindle a simmering conflict between the ECB''s Single Supervisory Mechanism, which has been trying to establish itself as a tough watchdog since 2014, and other policymakers in Frankfurt and Brussels, who worry about the risk of choking off bank lending and growth. "The proposed legislation on Pillar 2, while rightly seeking to further supervisory convergence, seeks to put a frame around supervisory actions that is much too tight in essential aspects," said Nouy, who chairs the ECB''s supervisory board. Nouy argued supervisors should be allowed to demand that banks meet their Pillar 2 requirements using the most restrictive definition of capital, known as Core Equity Tier 1. She also said Additional Tier 1 instruments -- a form of convertible bonds that banks have extensively used since the crisis to raise funds -- posed "significantly supervisory issues" and are mainly useful when a firm is already bust. Nouy added the Commision did not go far enough in certain areas, such as non-performing loans, and that she was not in favour of a proposed reduction of the frequency of regulatory reporting by small banks. She did however welcome other aspects of the proposal, such as closer prudential supervision of financial holding companies and of significant foreign banking groups located in the European Union. (Reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-banks-regulations-idUKKBN17R0X1'|'2017-04-25T17:12:00.000+03:00' 'bc3181de814bb6bb91d9dc107b886e197f900273'|'Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr - Kyodo'|'TOKYO, April 25 Japan''s Toshiba Corp will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.Hitachi Ltd and other Japanese firms are seen as possible bidders for the unit, Kyodo said, without citing sources.Reuters last month reported that Toshiba had hired UBS to explore a sale or an initial public offering of the business, potentially valued at over $2 billion.Toshiba is targeting buyout groups such as Carlyle, Cinven, Advent, Blackstone, Bain, Onex , Triton, CD&R and even former owner KKR, a person close to the matter said.A Toshiba spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the report. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-restructuring-landisgyr-idINT9N1GU01N'|'2017-04-25T02:14:00.000+03:00' '0a1d781608109525d080bb612a0d01aff29cb0c1'|'Even Trump''s Twitter binges aren''t enough to make it worth $11bn - Business'|'A s Jack Dorsey, the Twitter chief executive, said he was “proud to report” a 14% increase in daily usage of the social media service, the shares moved higher. It’s hard to understand why . Quarterly revenues fell by 8% to $548m (£427m), the first time they have dropped since Twitter became a public company in 2013. Meanwhile, profits are nowhere to be seen. In the first quarter, the company lost $62m, an $18m improvement on a year ago, thanks to cost cutting, but hardly justification for a stock market value of $11bn – less than it was, yet still substantial.“While we continue to face revenue headwinds, we believe that executing on our plan and growing our audience should result in positive revenue growth over the long term,” Dorsey said. The plan is probably the only one worth backing: get the audience up and hope revenues follow. But the current breakdown in the relationship between audience and revenues suggests Twitter’s clout with advertisers is fading fast.Maybe it is being outgunned by Facebook and Google, with their vastly greater audiences and budgets. Or perhaps Twitter, despite Dorsey’s many modifications, is simply less suited to commercial messages. If so, even Donald Trump’s tweeting flurries , which boost the audience statistics, won’t bring salvation – or a reason to value an 11-year-old company making a loss so highly.GSK’s new chief takes on the ‘perennial question’ Emma Walmsley’s first big call as chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline was easy to make and correct: she ruled out a breakup and committed herself to a corporate structure that houses complex pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer products such as toothpaste and Horlicks under one roof.In truth, nobody expected any other decision. Walmsley was an internal appointment , blessed by her predecessor Sir Andrew Witty. He spent ages deflecting calls for GSK to do the splits and she used to run the consumer division. Still, there’s no harm in Walmsley addressing the “perennial question”, as she called it, in her first month in charge.Like Witty, she argued that reliable cashflows from vaccines and consumer products are a natural counterweight to the higher risk and more volatile business of developing pharmaceutical drugs. And she agreed that there are benefits from being able to switch prescription medicines to the consumer category when patents expire. Neither argument is 100% convincing in itself, but both are more persuasive than a disruptive separation in which the only guaranteed winners would be investment bankers and lawyers.There were no major fireworks, then, which may explain why the shares were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100, down 2%, despite first-quarter figures that showed revenue and profits marginally ahead of City forecasts. But Walmsley was clearly signalling a shakeup of some sort in pharmaceuticals with her pointed criticism that GSK has sometimes pursued “interesting” drugs that lack sufficient commercial potential. Some programmes may be dropped or shoved into partnerships.Until full details are published in July, it’s hard to tell whether the plan represents a tweak or a serious reform. But the market’s yawn seems odd. A new CEO who talks about “disciplined choices” to make the labs more commercial usually gets applause from investors.The Lloyds investigation is welcome, but a mess It is understandable that Lloyds Banking Group feels the need to answer definitively the charge that its board and executives were complacent about fraud at the Reading branch of HBOS.The bank has appointed Dame Linda Dobbs , a retired high court judge, to examine whether Lloyds handled the matter properly and met its reporting obligations after buying HBOS in 2009. The fraud, for which six people were jailed in February, ran from 2003 to 2007, but victims have long argued that Lloyds wouldn’t listen to their complaints after the takeover. That allegation is serious, and an investigation is overdue.Everybody happy then? Not really. The natural investigator is the Financial Conduct Authority , which is supposedly on the job. The regulator’s inquiry into HBOS Reading, which was suspended in 2013 when Thames Valley police leapt into action, reopened last month. The primary focus may be on what HBOS did under its own steam, but Lloyds’ actions after it bought the ailing lender will also be under the microscope.Indeed, Lloyds will not be allowed to publish the Dobbs report or any of its findings until the FCA says so. Put another way, Lloyds has launched an “independent” inquiry into itself that won’t be regarded as independent or credible until the regulator allows. It’s good that this affair is getting the attention it deserves, but the process is a mess.Topics Business Nils Pratley on finance GlaxoSmithKline Lloyds Banking Group HBOS Pharmaceuticals industry Banking comment '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2017/apr/26/twitter-quarterly-revenues-profits-jack-dorsey-donald-trump-gsk-lloyds'|'2017-04-27T03:37:00.000+03:00' 'f5d3dd8e7f7bf4afa41888ea25919a77a63cd915'|'Officer says he used ''minimal but necessary force'' on United passenger - Business'|'Officer says he used ''minimal but necessary force'' on United passenger David Dao, 69, was forcibly removed from flight, sparking outrage at airline Chicago releases testimony of aviation police involved in 9 April incident United Airlines incurred a public relations disaster after it forcibly ejected a passenger from a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, leaving him bloodied and missing his front teeth. Photograph: Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images Officer says he used ''minimal but necessary force'' on United passenger David Dao, 69, was forcibly removed from flight, sparking outrage at airline Chicago releases testimony of aviation police involved in 9 April incident View more sharing options 14.17 BST Last modified on 14.56 BST One of the police officers who forcibly removed a passenger from a United Airlines flight said “minimal but necessary force” was used in the incident that became a public relations disaster for the carrier, according to a report released by the city of Chicago. Video recorded by other passengers showed David Dao, a 69-year-old doctor, being dragged down the aisle with blood on his face after refusing to give up his seat on a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky, on 9 April. United Airlines changes crew flight policy after forcible removal fiasco Read more Dao suffered a concussion and a broken nose, lost two front teeth and is likely to sue the airline, according to his lawyer, Thomas Demetrio. Initially, United did not apologize to Dao and described him as “disruptive and belligerent”. Some social media users in the United States, Vietnam and China called for a boycott. The carrier has since apologized several times. Demetrio called the aviation police’s version of events outlined in the report as “utter nonsense – consider the source”, said the lawyer’s spokeswoman, Helen Lucaitis. In the first published version of events from the three officers involved, aviation police officer Mauricio Rodriguez said Dao became combative after he and two other officers tried to persuade the doctor to leave the plane. Rodriguez was the first officer to arrive on the scene. Dao told the officers: “I’m not leaving this flight that I paid money for. I don’t care if I get arrested,” according to the report, released by the city on Monday, Officer James Long described how he arrived later and tried to pull Dao from his seat after further negotiations failed. At that point, Dao “started swinging his arms up and down with a closed fist”. Long said he lost control of Dao as he swung, causing Dao to fall and hit his mouth on an armrest. Long then “assisted the subject by using minimal but necessary force” to get him off the aircraft, Rodriguez said. Dao later ran back on the plane and held on to a pole, stating: “Just kill me. I want to go home,” Rodriguez said. Dao was then persuaded to leave so his injuries could be treated, Rodriguez said. Thanks to United Airlines, is flying while Asian something to fear? - Steven W Thrasher Read more Officer Steven Smith, the third officer involved, gave a similar description of the incident in the report. All three officers remain on paid leave while the incident is investigated. Aviation department policy calls for its officers to not board planes to handle customer service issues, according to officials. “Only force reasonably necessary to defend a human life, effect an arrest or control a person shall be used by Aviation Security personnel,” according to the aviation department’s use of force policy. United said on Friday it had asked a US Senate panel for an extra week to answer questions about the incident. United’s chief executive officer, Oscar Munoz, has said he was “personally committed to putting proof behind our promise” in the carrier’s commitment to reforms. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/26/united-airlines-aviation-police-david-dao'|'2017-04-26T22:17:00.000+03:00' 'a54fff6dbd8894ec8c4489d343d95b40321acf49'|'MIDEAST STOCKS - Factors to watch - April 26'|'DUBAI, April 26 Here are some factors that may affect Middle East stock markets on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified the press reports and does not vouch for their accuracy.INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks hover near 2-year highs on U.S. optimism, euro steady* MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai, Qatar resilient despite some weak Q1 results, Saudi slips* Oil falls on bulging U.S. crude inventories, record global supplies* PRECIOUS-Gold slips to 2-wk lows as rallying equities boost risk appetite* Middle East Crude-Dubai slumps despite Total, Shell purchases* Erdogan says Turkey won''t wait at Europe''s door forever* Tunisia to raise key interest rate after dinar slide - central bank governor* Iran''s Khamenei says next president should be less engaged with West* Iraq says Kuwait approves $100 million grant, first since 1990* U.N. raises $1.1 billion for Yemen, half of needs for 2017* Turkey''s Ziraat Bank to issue $600 mln bond with 5.25 pct yield - lead* Pope to Egypt to mend ties with Islam but conservatives wary* Iraq begins final expansion phase at Halfaya oil field aiming to double output* EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks near two-year high after French vote* Azeri, Saudi energy ministers to discuss extension of oil output cutsEGYPT* New archaeological finds helping Egypt''s image, tourism sector - ministerSAUDI ARABIA* TABLE-Saudi Arabia Q1 earnings estimates* Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and HSBC-backed SABB in merger talks* Citi gets capital markets licence to operate in Saudi Arabia* Saudi exchange may be ready for equity futures, options in 24 months* HSBC wins mandate on $100 bln Saudi Aramco IPO - CEOUNITED ARAB EMIRATES* TABLE-Abu Dhabi Q1 earnings estimates* TABLE-Dubai Q1 earnings estimates* Emirates signals U.S. expansion plans on hold after travel curbs* Passenger traffic at Dubai International up 7.4 pct in Q1* Dubai tourism numbers surge on Indian, Chinese and Russian visitors-The National* Dubai Mall briefly plunges into darkness by power outage* UAE telco Du Q1 net profit falls 24 pctQATAR* TABLE-Qatar Q1 earnings estimates* Qatar energy min says satisfied with level of compliance with oil output cutKUWAIT* TABLE-Kuwait Q1 earnings estimates* Freed Kuwaiti opposition politician calls for reforms* Kuwait Finance House Q1 profit up 13.2 pct as investment income surgesBAHRAIN* TABLE-Bahrain Q1 earnings estimates* Investcorp Bank says chairman inaugurates office in Singapore (Reporting By Dubai Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mideast-factors-idINL8N1HY03W'|'2017-04-26T01:31:00.000+03:00' '609e3c2bcd19bf9808a9b117c24ad4ea50907bfe'|'HSBC confident can maintain dividend, exceed cost targets - CEO'|'HONG KONG HSBC Holdings Plc ( HSBA.L ) is confident it can maintain dividend payouts in the foreseeable future and expects to exceed risk-weighted asset and cost-saving targets, the bank''s chief executive Stuart Gulliver said on Monday.Despite earnings pressure, HSBC has retained its dividend payout ratio at a higher level in the last few years, at a time when some of its peers including Standard Chartered ( STAN.L ) withheld dividend payment for 2016.The bank may have to move "some thousand roles" from Britain to Paris depending on how the country''s Brexit negotiations with the European Union unfold, chairman Douglas Flint added. The bank had previously said it expected to move around 1,000 roles.Both executives were speaking during a meeting of shareholders in Hong Kong.(Reporting by Michelle Price; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/hsbc-agm-idINKBN17Q0SN'|'2017-04-24T17:34:00.000+03:00' 'b050086402c149af48c9b6055e6c6a226516208a'|'Inflation puts the brakes on Britain''s economic activity - Business'|'Britain’s economy cooled considerably in the first three months of the year as higher inflation put a squeeze on disposable incomes, official figures are expected to show this week.The economy shrugged off the shock of the Brexit vote last June and has been surprisingly resilient, with growth rates of 0.5% in the third quarter of 2016 and 0.7% in the final quarter. Whatever the IMF thinks, we are a long way from the boom time of 2007 - Larry Elliott Read more But in a turn of fortunes, City economists are forecasting a tough year ahead, with a sharp slowdown in growth to 0.4% between January and March. This would be the weakest performance since the first quarter of 2016, when the economy grew by 0.2%. The Office for National Statistics is due to publish its initial estimate for first quarter GDP on Friday.Brexit and the health of the economy will form a central part of the general election campaign waged in the run-up to the snap poll on 8 June. The work and pensions minister, Damian Green, said on Sunday that the Conservative party’s election manifesto would focus on the Brexit negotiations and domestic concerns such as strengthening the economy.The negative effects of sterling’s slide since the EU referendum appear to be outweighing the positive effects – a boost to exports . The weaker pound has raised the cost of imported materials and pushed inflation to a three-year high of 2.3% . This meant that real wages – adjusted for inflation – fell in February for the first time in two and a half years, even though unemployment continues to drop and vacancies are at record levels.UK GDP growth Howard Archer, the chief European and UK economist at consultancy IHS Markit, said: “Following the likely marked first quarter slowdown, we suspect that 2017 will become even more challenging for the UK economy – and particularly for consumers as their purchasing power is squeezed harder still.”He expects GDP growth to be limited to 1.6% this year, with inflation rising to 3% by the end of the year. Economists do not expect the general election to change the economic outlook for this year – assuming the Conservatives are re-elected with an increased majority.Consumer spending has been strong and the main driver of UK economic growth, but economic surveys and the latest retail sales figures suggest spending started cooling markedly at the beginning of this year as shoppers felt the pinch from rising prices. Retail sales, which account for about a third of household spending, dropped 1.4% between January and March , the biggest quarterly fall in seven years.Confidence among consumers weakened in the first quarter, according to the latest Deloitte consumer tracker, which polled 3,000 people in mid-March. It dipped to -7% from -6% in the fourth quarter. Four of the six measures that make up the confidence index recorded negative movements, with inflation rising and discretionary spending falling. People’s confidence in their own disposable income remaining at current levels fell by three percentage points to -17% in the quarter, its lowest level in more than two years. Spending on essential items remained strong at 12%, but spending on discretionary items returned to negative territory, falling by four percentage points to -4%.IMF ratchets up UK economic growth forecast to 2% Read more Ben Perkins, the head of consumer research at Deloitte, said: “With less disposable income, consumers will have to consider whether to trade down, buy less or borrow more. Consumers are already showing signs of moving away from making major purchases and this is a trend that is likely to continue.”Chris Hare, UK economist at Investec, said: “While the weaker pound is probably beginning to provide some boost to net exports, the negative impact on household spending power via higher imported inflation is beginning to bite discernibly. Indeed, the inflation squeeze is material: as an average over the quarter, CPI inflation climbed to 2.1% year-on-year in the first quarter versus 1.2% in the fourth quarter.”Other countries will also release preliminary estimates for GDP at the start of the year on Friday. The US, the world’s largest economy, is likely to have slowed sharply to an annualised growth rate of about 1% in the first quarter. France is forecast to have grown at a 0.4% quarterly rate, similar to the UK, while Spain is expected to have maintained stronger growth, of 0.6%.The International Monetary Fund last week revised up its UK growth forecast to 2% for 2017 , which would make it the second fastest-growing advanced economy after the US. The Washington-based institution said it would take longer than expected for the negative effects of the Brexit vote to materialise. It expects growth to slow to 1.5% next year, a touch slower than previously forecast.Topics Economics Economic policy General election 2017 Economic growth (GDP) Office for National Statistics UK unemployment and employment statistics news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/24/inflation-britain-economic-activity-brexit'|'2017-04-24T15:00:00.000+03:00' '8a4eeba88696d4e847aa54b521f07a082251c0ac'|'Centrica shares slide on UK Conservative energy price cap pledge'|'Money - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 10:41am BST Conservatives pledge energy price cap, hitting utility shares FILE PHOTO - Fog begins to clear from electricity pylons near LLanddowror, Wales, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Naden By Kate Holton and Alistair Smout - LONDON LONDON Britain''s ruling Conservative Party said it would cap domestic energy prices if it retained power in an election in June, targeting an industry it accuses of not working properly and sending shares in the leading providers down sharply. Shares in British energy suppliers Centrica ( CNA.L ) and SSE ( SSE.L ) fell by 4-5 percent after ministers said the Conservative''s election manifesto would include pledges on controlling energy prices. Energy bills have doubled in Britain over the past decade to about 1,200 pounds a year, angering consumers who face rising inflation, and drawing the ire of politicians ahead of a June 8 national election. Energy companies say higher prices reflect increased wholesale costs and environmental levies. Prime Minister Theresa May''s government has previously said the energy market does not work properly and called for more competition in a sector dominated by the big six providers of Centrica, SSE, Scottish Power ( IBE.MC ), Npower ( IGY.DE ), E.ON ( EONGn.DE ) and EDF ( EDF.PA ). The market regulator had already intervened to force the "big six" to cap prices for customers on prepayment meters and May''s party said it would go further if re-elected. "There''s not been enough ability for people to switch, we haven''t seen the competition we were hoping to emerge amongst the energy companies," Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told BBC radio. "Therefore, it''s right to look at the way they are regulated and it''s right where we can to protect people against large and arbitrary increases in their bills." The policy echoes a 2015 election pledge by the opposition Labour party. Their plans for a cap on price hikes were lambasted at the time by Conservatives including Fallon, a former energy minister. Another minister, Damian Green, had said on Sunday the Conservative manifesto would include measures on energy prices. He said that the energy regulator would set a cap that could reflect market conditions. According to the Sunday Times newspaper, the plans could cut gas and electricity costs by 100 pounds a year for 17 million families. Analysts at Jefferies said British Gas owner Centrica was most exposed to a cap on prices, with "this policy potentially derailing their current downstream focused strategy." However, the analysts said that British Gas would not feel the full 100 pound-a-customer impact, as its tariff was competitive versus its peers. The utility firms underperformed a 1.6 percent for the broad FTSE 100 index .FTSE . (This version of the story corrects to read British Gas, not Severn Trent, paragraph 12) (Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-energy-idUKKBN17Q0LR'|'2017-04-24T15:38:00.000+03:00' '67b6dc958db73d7c4d01eb4ed3bb15cb093a65cd'|'Alitalia prepares for special administration after rescue plan rejected'|' 19pm BST Alitalia prepares for special administration after rescue plan rejected An Alitalia airplane takes off at the Fiumicino International airport in Rome, Italy February 12, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile By Agnieszka Flak and Tim Hepher - MILAN MILAN Alitalia is preparing for special administration proceedings after workers rejected its latest rescue plan, making it impossible for the loss-making Italian airline to secure funds to keep its aircraft flying. Workers on Monday rejected a plan to cut jobs and salaries, betting the government will be asked to call in an administrator to draft an alternative rescue plan. Alitalia has been bailed out by Italy and private investors repeatedly over the years but Italy''s industry minister on Tuesday ruled out nationalisation and public funds for the carrier. The airline, 49 percent-owned by Abu Dhabi''s Etihad Airways, has made a profit only a few times in its 70-year history and, with around 12,500 employees, is losing at least 500,000 euros (£426,340) a day. The airline said it would "start preparing the procedures provided by law" and a person close to the company said the board would seek shareholder approval to request the appointment of a special administrator. They would assess whether Alitalia can be overhauled or should be wound up, before preparing industrial and financial plans for a rapid revamp, either as a standalone company or through a partial or total sale, or else trigger liquidation. A shareholder meeting to decide on the next steps, initially announced by the company for Thursday, will be held on May 2, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. STILL FLYING Alitalia''s flight operations remain unchanged for now, the company said in a statement. The airline has sufficient funds to keep flying for "a matter of weeks, two to three weeks," partly by calling in forms of credit such as unpaid invoices, the person close to the company said. Vice Chairman James Hogan said that the outcome of the ballot meant "all parties would lose: Alitalia employees, its customers and its shareholders, and ultimately also Italy." Alitalia was seeking worker backing to unlock fresh funds from shareholders and launch an ambitious restructuring plan, centred around a revamp of its business for short- and medium-haul flights and additional long-haul routes. "An approval ... would have unblocked a 2 billion-euro capital increase, including 900 million euros of fresh funds, that would have been used to relaunch the company," it said. But workers had repeatedly said they were unwilling to accept any further sacrifices given Alitalia''s labour costs were already among the lowest in Europe for a so-called legacy airline. They were also sceptical over its plans to return to profit by 2019 given a string of past failed restructurings. (Editing by Alexander Smith and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alitalia-restructuring-idUKKBN17R1IU'|'2017-04-26T02:19:00.000+03:00' '113a29e54976091a34548c0f9e25d3533144e1cd'|'Airbus confirms CEO under investigation over Austria arms deal'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 4:31pm BST Airbus confirms CEO under investigation over Austria arms deal The logo of Airbus Group is seen on the company''s headquarters building in Toulouse, Southwestern France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau PARIS Europe''s Airbus ( AIR.PA ) confirmed on Wednesday its chief executive, Tom Enders, had been placed under investigation by Vienna prosecutors in connection with a fighter purchase in 2003 and called the accusations "completely unsubstantiated". Reuters reported earlier that a spokeswoman for the prosecutor''s office had confirmed that correspondence seen by the news agency, which listed Enders as one of those accused in a recently opened fraud investigation, was correct. "Upon our inquiry after initial media reports, the Vienna Prosecutor this afternoon informed us for the first time that all individuals which have been listed in a register by the Austrian Finanzprokuratur (Austria''s legal adviser) are under investigation," an Airbus spokesman said by email. "This list of individuals includes Tom Enders. As we have repeatedly stated, we consider the accusations as completely unsubstantiated." (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-group-austria-inquiry-confirma-idUKKBN17S265'|'2017-04-27T00:07:00.000+03:00' '6a21371fd5856a04374f8a634f8a0400a02fa143'|'BRIEF-Pacific Consortium updates on proposal Tatts'|'April 24 Pacific Consortium* to permit further dividend payments to tatts shareholders in addition to its all-cash $4.21 per share proposal in the event transaction completion delayed beyond second half of 2017* $4.21 per share proposal superior in value to tabcorp proposal on 44 days of 57 trading days since Tabcorp’s last results announcement"* believes Tatts independent chairman and board should consider this proposal seriously and allow the consortium to conduct due diligence'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-pacific-consortium-updates-on-prop-idINFWN1HT0NZ'|'2017-04-23T21:30:00.000+03:00' '759ad08c4757b6977908fca522508bb960815fe0'|'HUDCO sets price range for up to $191 mln IPO'|'Housing and Urban Development Corp Ltd (HUDCO) on Thursday set the price range for its initial public offering, the first by a state-run company in five years, to raise up to 12.2 billion rupees ($191 million).The Indian government, which fully owns the housing and urban infrastructure projects lender, plans to sell about 204.1 million shares, or just over a tenth of its stake, in a range of 56 to 60 rupees a share, the company said in a statement.The company will not get any proceeds from the offering, which opens on May 8 and closes on May 11.The IPO marks the first by a state-run company since NBCC (India) Ltd''s listing in 2012, and comes at a time when India''s finance ministry aims to raise a total 725 billion rupees in the year to March 2018 through sale of government stakes in state-run and private sector companies to help lower its deficit.The HUDCO sale includes 200.2 million shares in offer to public, while about 3.9 million shares will reserved for employees of the company. Retail investors and employees will be given shares at a discount of 2 rupees to the offer price.($1 = 64.1325 Tanvi Mehta Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/hudco-ipo-idINKBN17T1A8'|'2017-04-27T17:47:00.000+03:00' 'd4ca0583f1e7af0dd54531f4b87d0fe3e9fff932'|'Protecting UK financial services post-Brexit a priority for FCA - Business'|'The City regulator has pledged to ensure that financial firms remain strong in the face of Brexit in its annual list of priorities, which also includes protecting vulnerable customers from overly expensive loans.Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority , said the regulator’s lawyers were scrutinising EU financial sector rules as part of the government’s “great repeal bill”, which will transfer thousands of EU regulations into UK legislation after Brexit.“The UK’s decision to leave the European Union creates uncertainty for both the UK’s financial industry and the FCA,” said Bailey, who was setting out his first annual priorities since taking the helm last year. “Both we and the government are keen to ensure that the financial services industry remains resilient and can make the most of opportunities in a post-Brexit world.“The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union will have important implications for the FCA over the coming years. We are liaising closely with the Treasury and the Bank of England to ensure a smooth transfer of EU rules and legislation into the domestic framework.”Bailey, a former Bank of England deputy governor, said the FCA intended to maintain its good relationship with other EU regulators after Brexit and would be alert to firms that may try to create complex business models in an effort to gain access to the 27 remaining countries in the EU.Last month, the Bank of England revealed it had asked financial institutions to draw up comprehensive plans for how they would deal with Brexit . “Firms will need to assess the impact that a changed relationship with Europe and any changes to the regulatory regime will have on their business models,” the FCA said.Facebook Twitter Pinterest Andrew Bailey, FCA chief executive, was setting out his first annual priorities. Photograph: Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesAs well as supporting the government’s withdrawal from the EU, the FCA listed a number of other priorities for the coming year including alerting customers to the August 2019 deadline to lodge claims for payment protection insurance (PPI), protecting vulnerable customers, continuing to scrutinise high cost credit and looking at the way people save for pensions.The FCA pointed to customers locked in to mortgage deals they signed before the financial crisis, which they would not be offered now under a new regime requiring lenders to assess the affordability of the loan. Some 1.8 million customers have interest-only mortgages and many do not have strategies to repay them, including some that must be repaid by 2020.Its risk outlook warns of “intergenerational wealth inequality”, which will force younger people to work longer than their elders if they want to retire on similar terms. It also listed cybercrime and money laundering as potential risks. “Increasing terrorist activity across the globe presents new types of threats to market integrity,” it said.Bailey said the FCA intended to work with firms to see how technology might help them tackle money laundering. Last month the Guardian revealed how at least $20bn (£15.6bn) was moved out of Russia during a four-year period from 2010 .Bailey was also asked about the importance of the whistleblowing regime, a focus since last week’s revelations that Jes Staley, chief executive of Barclays, was being investigated for trying to identify a whistleblower . “[Whistleblowing] is very important,” said Bailey. “We take it very seriously.”The wide-ranging work of the FCA, which oversees 56,000 firms, will also involve looking at the business models of retail banks and “free banking” for current account customers who do not use unauthorised overdrafts following on from the Competition and Markets Authority investigation last year.Topics Financial sector Financial Conduct Authority Regulators EU referendum and Brexit Payment protection insurance Insurance news '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/18/protecting-uk-financial-services-post-brexit-priority-for-fca'|'2017-04-19T02:32:00.000+03:00' 'b82cc62bbceb57b574bca9d24b06aaad0333ec52'|'Italy orders Vivendi to cut stake in either Telecom Italia or Mediaset'|'By Giulia Segreti - MILAN MILAN An Italian regulator ordered French media group Vivendi ( VIV.PA ) on Tuesday to cut its stake in either Telecom Italia ( TLIT.MI ) or broadcaster Mediaset MS.IT within a year, ruling it was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of power.Vivendi, which aims to build a media empire in southern Europe, is the biggest single shareholder in Italy''s main telecoms firm, with 24 percent, and recently acquired 28.8 percent of Mediaset, the country''s biggest private broadcaster.In its ruling, communications authority AGCOM found Vivendi exercised significant influence over both firms and was therefore in breach of the anti-trust rules. It threatened to fine Vivendi an amount equal to between 2 and 5 percent of its revenues unless it complied with the divestment.The authority did not say how much Vivendi would need to divest in either company but ordered the French group to present it with a "specific plan of action" within 60 days.AGCOM said the links between Vivendi, Telecom Italia and Mediaset risked producing a negative effect "on the existing level of competition in the markets involved and on the degree of pluralism in the media system".Vivendi said it was surprised by the decision and reserved the right to take "any appropriate legal action", including an appeal and a formal complaint to the European Commission for breach of EU law. It did not elaborate.Italy''s media laws grew partly out of parliamentary concerns in the 1990s over the combined political and business power of then prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, who remains the largest shareholder of Mediaset.Now, the laws appear to be working in Berlusconi''s favor.Vivendi drew regulatory scrutiny after building an unwelcome stake in Mediaset, becoming its second-largest investor. That angered Berlusconi and raised concerns in Rome about Vivendi chairman Vincent Bollore''s influence over corporate Italy.Bollore is also a key shareholder in influential Italian investment bank Mediobanca ( MDBI.MI ), which controls insurer Generali ( GASI.MI ).Mediaset said it was satisfied with the regulator''s decision, which came late on Tuesday, and was waiting to read the full ruling before deciding on any future action.In relation to Mediaset, AGCOM said Vivendi''s influence could be expressed through its voting rights, its potential to nominate its own representatives to the board and block any decisions of an extraordinary nature.AGCOM opened the investigation into Vivendi on Dec. 21 after Mediaset filed a complaint.Mediaset and Vivendi are battling each other in court over the decision by the French group to pull out of an 800 million euros ($860 million) contract to buy the Italian group''s pay-TV unit Premium.(Additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain in PARIS and Stephen Jewkes in MILAN; Editing by Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mediaset-vivendi-regulator-idINKBN17K2HS'|'2017-04-18T20:26:00.000+03:00' '8d2c192b92743af07fc1636525ab752683f2865a'|'Verizon, Corning agree to $1.05 billion fibre deal'|' 12:04am BST Verizon, Corning agree to $1.05 billion fibre deal The Verizon logo is seen on the side of a truck in New York City, U.S., October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Anjali Athavaley - NEW YORK NEW YORK Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) has agreed to buy optical fiber from Corning Inc ( GLW.N ) for at least $1.05 billion (817.38 million pounds) over the next three years as the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier aims to improve its network infrastructure, the companies said on Tuesday. Corning will sell up to 12.4 million miles of optical fiber to Verizon each year from 2018 through 2020, with a minimum purchase commitment of $1.05 billion, according to the agreement. Shares of both companies closed up roughly 1 percent. In a statement, Verizon said the deal would help it meet its rollout schedule for a fiber-optic network in Boston. The company also views fiber as critical for a next generation, or 5G network. Verizon is testing a 5G fixed wireless service with equipment maker Ericsson in 11 U.S. markets and expects a commercial launch as early as 2018. U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that he supported the deal and that the agency would "continue to focus on creating a regulatory climate that favors greater investment and competition." Both Verizon and competitor AT&T Inc ( T.N ) have been buying assets in preparation for 5G. On Friday, sources told Reuters that Verizon is considering making a buyout offer for wireless spectrum license holder Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ) that would top AT&T Inc''s (T.N) $1.25 billion bid. [nL3N1HL5QZ] Verizon has said it would evaluate opportunities to build out or buy fiber on a market-by-market basis. In February, Verizon said it had closed on its acquisition of XO Communications'' fiber-optic network business for about $1.8 billion. Verizon has also hinted at an interest in buying cable provider Charter Communications Inc ( CHTR.O ), which would give it access to a fiber and cable network across 49 million homes.[nL1N1HK29X] Verizon Chief Executive Lowell McAdam told investors in December that a deal with Charter would make "industrial sense," igniting takeover speculation. But in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, McAdam said the company had not found the right "architectural fit" that would justify doing a big deal. (Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by Dan Grebler and Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-corning-verizon-idUKKBN17K2G4'|'2017-04-19T04:34:00.000+03:00' '7cb2be194283edd321c799727f5ac97f57e2e2fb'|'U.S. top court questions SEC''s powers to recover ill-gotten profits'|'Global Energy News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 8:27pm BST U.S. top court questions SEC''s powers to recover ill-gotten profits FILE PHOTO - The seal of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hangs on the wall at SEC headquarters in Washington, DC, U.S. on June 24, 2011. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo By Sarah N. Lynch - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court, in a case with wide consequences for the policing of Wall Street, indicated on Tuesday it may diminish the Securities and Exchange Commission''s ability to get back ill-gotten profits reaped through defendants'' misconduct. In a case involving New Mexico-based investment adviser Charles Kokesh, the justices raised concerns about whether the SEC should be able to order defendants to fork over illegal profits that date back more than five years, as the agency argued it should be able to do. The court''s conservative wing peppered the government during a one-hour argument with questions about the SEC''s recovery remedy known as "disgorgement," how it is applied and whether it is actually a type of punishment that should be time-barred. Some of the liberal justices also questioned whether the SEC has the legal authority to force disgorgement of profits dating back more than five years. U.S. law applies a five-year statute of limitations to penalties, forfeitures and other punitive remedies sought in civil enforcement matters, a time bar that the Supreme Court upheld unanimously in its 2013 ruling in a case called Gabelli v. SEC. But the SEC argued that the statute of limitations did not apply to disgorgement. "We kind of have a special obligation to be concerned about how far back the government can go when it''s something that Congress did not address because it did not specify the remedy," Chief Justice John Roberts said. Fellow conservative Neil Gorsuch, hearing arguments for a second day after being sworn in as a justice last week, was even more blunt, complaining there was no actual statute governing disgorgement and whether or not the money is paid out to victims or kept by the government. "We''re just making it up," Gorsuch said. "There are almost 50 years of precedents on how this should work," U.S. Justice Department lawyer Elaine Goldenberg, arguing the SEC''s case, started to reply. "Not in this court," Gorsuch interrupted. ''MISAPPROPRIATING INVESTORS'' MONEY'' Kokesh was sued by the SEC in 2009 for misappropriating investors'' money. He was later ordered to pay $2.4 million in penalties plus $34.9 million in disgorgement of ill-gotten profits. The penalties covered conduct within the five-year statute of limitations, but the disgorgement covered conduct that largely occurred outside that time frame. Kokesh appealed to the Supreme Court after losing at the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Kokesh''s attorney argued that a disgorgement in the case constituted a punitive "forfeiture" that is time-barred. The Justice Department argued that disgorgement is equitable relief that is not considered a punishment, but merely restores the defendant to the same position he was in prior to when the misconduct occurred. A loss for the SEC could impact negotiations in its current pipeline of investigations. Defendants that already disgorged profits dating back more than five years could potentially seek to have their cases re-opened. Liberal justices did pose some tough questions to Adam Unikowsky, the lawyer representing Kokesh. "The SEC has been asking for this kind of relief now for, what, over 30 years?" Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said. But the liberal justices also seemed to struggle at times with how the court should define disgorgement, and they questioned just how much of it goes to victims, as opposed to the government''s coffers. "The way the SEC has used it, is that it''s trying to do a lot of things. It''s trying to compensate. It''s trying to deter. It''s trying, to some extent, to punish misconduct," Justice Elena Kagan said. "If you accept Mr. Unikowsky''s standard, that suggests that he has the better of the arguments," Kagan added. Attorneys who practice before the SEC who reviewed a transcript of Tuesday''s arguments said they believe the court is likely to rule against the agency. "The court’s questions indicate that it is not persuaded by the SEC’s position," said Michael Dell, who filed a friend-of-the-court brief in favour of a statute of limitations on behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the Wall Street trade group. Stephen Crimmins, a former SEC attorney who is not involved in the case, agreed. "This would represent a substantial change from the way the lower courts have viewed disgorgement claims for many years," he said. A ruling is due by the end of June. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Will Dunham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-court-sec-idUKKBN17K2C7'|'2017-04-19T03:27:00.000+03:00' 'fae5f248ba9b0e34b10bf4d2d9461f23253e1bea'|'Yahoo''s first-quarter revenue jumps 22 percent'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 9:33pm BST Yahoo''s first-quarter revenue jumps 22 percent A man walks past a Yahoo logo during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Albert Gea/File Photo Yahoo Inc ( YHOO.O ) reported a 22.1 percent increase in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, ahead of the sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ). Yahoo said revenue from Mavens - the mobile, video, native and social advertising units that it has touted as key emerging businesses - rose 35.6 percent to $529 million in the first quarter ended March 31. Net income attributable to Yahoo was $99.4 million, or 10 cents per share in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $99.2 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.33 billion from $1.09 billion. Verizon in February agreed to buy Yahoo''s core business —which includes its internet search and email assets — for $4.48 billion, lowering its original offer by $350 million, in the wake of two massive cyber attacks at the internet company. Yahoo said on Tuesday it expects the deal to close in June. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-yahoo-results-idUKKBN17K2EE'|'2017-04-19T04:26:00.000+03:00' 'f8cd879ef5724dfdd9f2a9d0884b8e23e76eb917'|'Apax, shareholders to list Brazil''s Tivit as IPO list grows'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Brad Haynes - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO British buyout firm Apax Partners LLP and a number of Brazilian investors plan to list information technology services provider Tivit Terceirização de Processos, Serviços e Tecnologia SA on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, adding to the longest list of domestic initial public offerings in four years.In a Tuesday filing with securities industry watchdog CVM, Apax and investors led by Tivit Chief Executive Officer Luiz Roberto Mattar asked for regulatory permission to sell an unspecified number of shares in the IPO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.The move comes only a few months after Tivit spun off a division dealing with automated client services to accelerate a strategic shift towards more profitable information technology, cloud and digital business solutions. Proceeds from the so-called secondary offering will go to the coffers of Apax, Mattar and another nine shareholders, the filing said.The announcement took a tally of potential Brazilian IPOs this year to eight, the strongest since 2013''s 10 listings, Thomson Reuters data showed. Expected transactions include the IPOs of Carrefour SA''s local unit ( CARR.PA ), brokerage XP Investimentos SA and renewable power firm Omega Energia SA, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.Extending Brazil''s existing IPO window will hinge on President Michel Temer''s ability to push ahead with pension and labor code reforms that help lower the country''s risk perception, bankers said.First listed in September 2009, Tivit remained public only until mid-2010, when Apax led a buyout of then-controlling shareholders Votorantim Novos Negocios and Pátria Investimentos Ltda. A management team led by Mattar, who had a significant stake in the business at the time, was retained as part of Apax''s $600 million buyout of Tivit.Tivit, which operates in Brazil and six more Latin American countries, hired the investment banking unit of Credit Suisse Group AG to lead the transaction, with Itaú BBA SA, Banco Bradesco BBI, JPMorgan Chase & CO, Grupo BTG Pactual SA and Banco Santander Brasil SA acting as underwriters.(Additional reporting by Aluísio Alves in São Paulo; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-tivit-ipo-idINKBN17R2V4'|'2017-04-25T19:20:00.000+03:00' '502bfdef9e9abe6a314b27db1cfafffd22b2d53a'|'Airbus reaches 35 A320neo deliveries for 2017 - sources'|'Business News 4:12pm BST Airbus reaches 35 A320neo deliveries for 2017 - sources The logo of Airbus Group is seen on the company''s headquarters building in Toulouse, Southwestern France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau PARIS Airbus ( AIR.PA ) has delivered 35 A320neo aircraft so far this year, industry sources said on Tuesday, bringing to 103 the number of upgraded medium-haul jets placed in service since deliveries began in January last year. The widely watched deliveries, which as of Monday totalled 9 so far in April, include the first aircraft for Icelandic budget carrier WOW air, which said on Tuesday it had taken the jet, powered by new LEAP engines from CFM International, under a leasing deal with Air Lease Corp ( AL.N ). Airbus aims to deliver some 200 of the A320neo jets, the latest version of Airbus''s best-selling jet programme, this year. It is equipped with new fuel-saving engines from either CFM, jointly owned by General Electric ( GE.N ) and France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ), or U.S. rival Pratt & Whitney. But deliveries have been hampered partly by problems with Pratt & Whitney''s new Geared Turbofan engines. Since A320neo deliveries began in 2016, Airbus has delivered 53 aircraft with Pratt & Whitney engines and 50 powered by CFM. Pratt & Whitney parent United Technologies ( UTX.N ) on Tuesday reaffirmed plans to deliver 350 to 400 Geared Turbofan engines to planemakers this year. CFM''s shareholders have said they are trimming forecasts for LEAP engine deliveries to Airbus and other planemakers in 2017 to 450-500 units from 500. Airbus is expected to give an update on its own deliveries to airlines with quarterly earnings on Thursday. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-deliveries-idUKKBN17S247'|'2017-04-26T23:12:00.000+03:00' 'a100e67c9e731cf2c1506b153cfb48b9e4650f1a'|'German economy minister to attend China''s New Silk Road summit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 10:00am BST German economy minister to attend China''s New Silk Road summit German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries holds a Calliope mini computer as she addresses a news conference during G20 digital ministers in Duesseldorf, Germany April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay BERLIN German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries will attend a summit next month in Beijing on China''s ambitious New Silk Road plan aimed at linking Asia, Africa and Europe, adding some weight from Europe to the summit championed by President Xi Jinping. The conference is widely seen as the biggest diplomatic event of the year for China as it pushes its initiative to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects from railways and ports to power grids. Representing Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of Europe''s biggest economy, Zypries will speak at the "One Belt, One Road" summit, said a ministry spokeswoman. Most Asian leaders are due to attend as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, but so far the only Group of Seven industrialised country due to send a leader is Italy. China, which has sent signals that it is interested in boosting cooperation with the EU to guard against protectionist steps from the United States under President Donald Trump, has also been hoping for some senior Western leaders to attend. Germany has close economic ties to China and Merkel has paid regular visits there in her nearly 12 years in office. Last year China overtook the United States to become Germany''s biggest trading partner for the first time. Zypries will travel to China from May 12-15 to deliver her speech to the summit and hold some other meetings, said the spokeswoman. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-silkroad-summit-germany-idUKKBN17S0VW'|'2017-04-26T17:00:00.000+03:00' '14e0f3ac685d14b4cedf92b116f21f12488444f0'|'Trump''s tax cut proposal shines light on MLPs'|' 14pm EDT Trump''s tax cut proposal shines light on MLPs By Rodrigo Campos and Liz Hampton - NEW YORK/HOUSTON, April 26 NEW YORK/HOUSTON, April 26 The Trump administration''s proposal to slash tax rates on so-called pass-through businesses would deliver a windfall to investors in master limited partnerships and could offer a much-needed lift to this niche segment of the energy market. The tax plan outline released on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump would sharply slash business taxes and discount the rate on overseas corporate profits brought back into the United States. The proposed changes include a cut to the top tax rate on pass-through businesses to 15 percent from the current rate of up to 36.9 percent. Pass-throughs get that name because taxes are not paid by the business itself but pass through to their owners'' individual taxes, at that rate. The change would largely benefit owners of private businesses, but U.S. stock market investors holding shares of master limited partnerships, or MLPs, would receive the same treatment. MLPs build the pipelines and storage tanks and are a common corporate structure in the oil and gas infrastructure sector. "If the average rate (for MLP investors) is in the 30s, reducing it to 15 percent would be tremendously attractive," Robert Willens, president of tax and accounting advisory firm Robert Willens LLC, said on Wednesday. He said if the cuts come through they would make MLPs "the most attractive investment from a tax point of view." Mike Bresson, a tax partner with the law firm Baker Botts in Houston said Trump''s proposed change would enhance an already-superior tax structure enjoyed by MLPs. "They''re talking about giving MLPs the same 15 percent tax rate that corporations get, so that would actually expand the benefits of MLPs over corporations," Bresson said. "The devil is in the details and we haven’t seen them." MLPs have broadly underperformed the wider stock market over the past several years, largely due to the weakness in oil prices. The energy sector was pummeled as crude prices tumbled from above $100 per barrel in mid 2014 to below $30 early last year. They only recently stabilized at around $50 for U.S. oil . "There has been a gradual improvement in MLPs now that energy prices have stabilized. It''s still a decent place to invest even without the tax cut," said Bryant Evans, portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management in Champaign, Illinois. "There should be an almost immediate bounce (in price) once the proposal is solid. It should create more demand for MLP stock in general. But beyond an immediate bounce, it all goes back to how their businesses are doing.” Even with their above-average dividend yields, MLPs have lagged the S&P 500''s total return in the last year by around 240 basis points. MLP stocks - more specifically, units - are up as a group so far this year, with the Alerian MLP ETF up 1 percent, though they have fallen 2.1 percent since Trump took office - even as his administration has been more friendly to sector projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. The ETF rose 0.8 percent Tuesday as details of the tax proposal were reported first by the Wall Street Journal. It was the largest gain for the fund in six weeks. Among the best performers in the sector this year are Shell Midstream Partners and Tallgrass Energy Partners , both up by more than 11 percent in 2017, while Plains All American Pipeline and Genesis Energy are down 5 percent and 9 percent year to date, respectively. (Editing by Dan Burns and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-tax-mlps-idUSL1N1HY15G'|'2017-04-27T02:14:00.000+03:00' 'a13253a95b20625ca4f79080b52333970a108f76'|'KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 bln'|' 18am EDT KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 bln TOKYO, April 26 U.S. buyout firm KKR said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd''s electronic equipment unit for 257 billion yen ($2.3 billion) with investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc (JIP). KKR and JIP will pay 2,503 yen for each Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc share, a 6.4 percent discount from Wednesday''s close, according to a joint statement from KKR and Japan Industrial Partners. Hitachi Ltd, the largest shareholder in Hitachi Kokusai, said in a separate statement it would reduce its ownership to 20 percent after the deal is completed. ($1 = 111.1700 yen) (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/kkr-hitachi-kokusai-idUSL4N1HY2WR'|'2017-04-26T17:18:00.000+03:00' '969740ffba7312874d725d2aadb2889ddf5e1da7'|'Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps'|'Commodities - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 2:18am EDT Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps left right FILE PHOTO: BHP Chairman Jac Nasser sits before the company''s Australian annual general meeting in Sydney, Australia November 29, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO: A miner holds a lump of iron ore at a mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia December 2, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: The AngloAmerican logo is seen in Rusternburg, South Africa, October 5, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO: A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in Sydney, Australia, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 4/4 By Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina - LONDON LONDON Three of the world''s biggest miners are hunting for new leaders for their boards at a time when the industry faces questions from investors about its conventional diversified business operations and strategies for growth. BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ), Rio Tinto ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L ), whose chairmen have all announced their intention to step down, are also generating healthy cash flows, putting them under pressure to give more money back to shareholders. The task to find the right candidates is particularly urgent for BHP Billiton and Anglo American due to the growing influence of major investors at both companies who have raised doubts over their future direction. U.S. activist investor Elliott - which holds a stake of about 4 percent in BHP''s London-listed shares - has taken advantage of the planned departure of incumbent Jac Nasser to launch a campaign to shake up the world''s biggest miner. Elliott''s proposals include getting rid of BHP''s dual company structure, spinning off its oil and gas assets and returning more cash to investors. BHP has so far dismissed them and many other investors have also been skeptical, but say the attack highlights the need for a strong new chair to back up the CEO and unite a disparate shareholder base. Anglo American''s new board leader will also have to deal with a new share register. Shortly after incumbent chairman John Parker announced in February that he would step down, Indian miner Vedanta''s ( VED.L ) chairman Anil Agarwal used an exchangeable bond to acquire a sizeable chunk of Anglo American shares and buy influence. WIDE POOL The favorite to lead Rio Tinto''s board is Sam Laidlaw, former CEO of Britain''s largest energy supplier Centrica ( CNA.L ), whom Rio made a non-executive director in February this year, four industry sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. BHP has said it is aiming for 50 percent women in its work force within a decade, but the sources said finding a woman chair with the availability and experience could for now be tough. All four sources said Gail Kelly, former chief executive of Australian bank Westpac, who was an early favorite to replace Nasser, was no longer being considered but declined to give a reason. Other names that two of the sources said have been considered were outgoing Dow Chemical''s ( DOW.N ) boss Andrew Liveris and an existing BHP director, Malcolm Broomhead. One candidate mooted to be Anglo''s new chairman, two of the industry sources say, is Guy Elliott, a former chief financial officer of Rio Tinto. None of those mentioned as a potential candidate was immediately available for comment. Anglo''s chairman Parker''s plan to step down follows a turbulent eight-year tenure, which included the miner''s 2007 costly investment in Brazil''s Minas-Rio iron ore operation, which analysts say will struggle to justify the capital outlay. Headhunters said that although three big companies were all looking for new heads of boards at the same time, the pool of potential candidates was wide for such a global business. Kit Bingham, a partner at top executive recruiter Odgers Berndtson, said there should be no shortage of people keen to fill the roles, which present challenges, not just from shareholders but from wider transitions, such as rolling out new technology. That calls for all a chairman''s diplomatic skills in negotiating with governments concerned about possible job losses. "Candidates will know there''s a change agenda to deliver. It''s a pretty exciting time when the future needs to be different from the past," Bingham said. GENERATIONAL SHIFT The new board leaders will mark a generational shift for mining companies that have spent the time since commodities prices slumped in 2015 and early 2016 cutting costs, selling off assets and restructuring their businesses to boost cash flow. Their predecessors had overseen multi-billion dollar acquisitions at the high point of the commodity cycle, saddling their balance sheets with massive debts. Now the search is on for new ways to grow without making the same mistakes as before. Bruce Duguid, a director of Hermes EOS, which advises on more than 260 billion pounds ($332 billion) in client assets, says any global mining chairman needs a range of skills "to manage the many pressures on its business model". "These include the need to reduce costs and maintain strict capital discipline in the face of unpredictable commodities demand, management of increasing sustainability challenges as ore grades decline and overseeing a material improvement in (gender) diversity at all levels of the organization," he said. Hanre Rossouw, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, which owns shares in Anglo American and BHP, said the mining companies needed people able to help management deal with the breakup of assets and strategic de-mergers. "You do need a chair that can think more creatively in terms of value creation with unbundlings and break-ups always options to consider," he said, referring to Elliott''s proposal to spin off BHP''s oil and gas assets and Anglo''s plan last year to sell or spin out its South African iron ore unit. Rio Tinto, which is losing chairman Jan du Plessis to telecoms group BT ( BT.L ) where he will take up the same role, needs a replacement who will be able to keep a tight grip on governance. The world''s second-biggest miner after BHP is embroiled in a corruption scandal that has led to two senior dismissals last year and a legal challenge from one of those sacked. Both Rio and BHP scrapped their progressive dividends in response to the commodity price crash of 2015 and early 2016. Elliott wants to introduce a formula for delivering more money to shareholders, which BHP has said it cannot do because of the cyclical nature of mining. Anglo suspended its dividend at the end of 2015 and has said it will bring it back around the end of the year. Investors will also be keeping watch on the pay packages of the new recruits. Anglo was hit last year by a shareholder revolt over CEO Mark Cutifani''s pay and has since proposed a cap, agreed by shareholders this week, on how much executives can earn from share awards. (Editing by Lina Saigol and Philippa Fletcher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-miners-boards-idUSKBN17S0HY'|'2017-04-26T14:18:00.000+03:00' 'bff4dfdad651a3ada42ed80b154728643d0467e5'|'Burger King owner Restaurant Brands revenue rises 8.9 percent'|' 19pm BST Burger King owner Restaurant Brands revenue rises 8.9 percent FILE PHOTO: The logo of U.S. fast food group Burger King is seen at a restaurant in Bruettisellen, Switzerland October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Restaurant Brands International Inc ( QSR.TO ) ( QSR.N ), the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported an 8.9 percent rise in quarterly revenue as it opened more restaurants. The company''s net profit attributable to shareholders was $50.2 million in the first quarter ended March 31, largely unchanged from $50 million a year earlier. Earnings per share was unchanged at 21 cents. Oakville, Ontario-based Restaurant Brand''s total revenue rose to $1 billion (780.36 million pounds) from $918.5 million. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rstrnt-brnd-results-idUKKBN17S1E9'|'2017-04-26T19:19:00.000+03:00' '5865212f97f35d32a48aad054e6aac9eb67e8875'|'Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 3:58pm EDT Germany''s Merkel encouraged U.S. will consider EU free trade deal DAY 57 / MARCH 17: The first face-to-face meeting between President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel started awkwardly and ended even more oddly, with a quip by Trump about wiretapping that left the German leader visibly bewildered. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst HANNOVER, Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel fueled expectations of a future EU-U.S trade deal on Sunday, saying she was "very encouraged" talks were being looked at after her recent trip to Washington. Merkel, speaking at the opening of the 70th annual Hannover Messe trade fair, said Germany was opposed to protectionism and trade barriers, and would continue to work for trade agreements like the one signed between the European Union and Canada. "I also feel very encouraged by my visit to the United States that negotiations between the EU and the United States on a free trade agreement ... are also being looked at," she said. Merkel''s comments came after the London Times reported on Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump had warmed to a deal with the bloc after meeting Merkel in March. A source close to the White House was quoted as saying that there had been a "realization" in the Trump administration that a trade deal with the EU - allowing the tariff-free exchange of goods and services - was more important to U.S. interests than a post-Brexit deal with Britain. The newspaper quoted a senior German politician as saying that Trump had repeatedly asked Merkel about signing a bilateral trade deal, but was told such an accord could only be negotiated by the EU. Merkel did not mention the exchange, saying only that she was very encouraged following her U.S. visit and adding that the EU''s first priority was to complete work on a deal with Japan. One of Trump''s first acts as president was to cancel U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade deal among 11 Pacific Rim countries. The EU and the United States had begun negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership under then-President Barack Obama, but the work was not completed. Dieter Kempf, president of the BDI industry group, warned Washington against pursuing protectionist policies. "Those who have trouble understanding how trade surpluses and globalization effects are created are invited to come here and take a look," he said. He also warned the EU against watering down the four basic freedoms of its single market during negotiations with Britain about its exit from the bloc. "We cannot let the four basic freedoms of the EU be diluted by special arrangements or cherry-picking," he said. Merkel said the EU would insist on maintaining them, saying: "We want to continue good relations with Britain, while maintaining the advantages of the single market for ourselves". (Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Reuters TV and Andreas Rinke; editing by Alexander Smith) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-usa-trade-idUSKBN17P0UO'|'2017-04-24T03:58:00.000+03:00' 'fb486b6cd830a9d84277719808b7876de1d5c753'|'LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria controversy - FT - Reuters'|'ZURICH, April 23 LafargeHolcim is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the company.LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the FT report.The cement maker in March said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the country.The disclosure followed an internal investigation and highlighted the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones.The sources said Olsen''s departure terms were still under discussion on Sunday. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lafargeholcim-syria-idINL8N1HV0AA'|'2017-04-23T09:38:00.000+03:00' 'f40a17e590d3b698161f017c84b6a886d517fc9f'|'How disabled travellers still face discrimination by airlines - Money'|'The Observer How disabled travellers still face discrimination by airlines When an airline damaged her mobility scooter, Jenny Gumbrell, who has MS, fought in vain for a replacement. And, as we discovered, she’s not alone in losing her ‘lifeline’ when flying Athena Stevens had to initiate legal action against British Airways before she got compensation for her motorised wheelchair that was irreparably damaged on a flight. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi for the Guardian The Observer How disabled travellers still face discrimination by airlines When an airline damaged her mobility scooter, Jenny Gumbrell, who has MS, fought in vain for a replacement. And, as we discovered, she’s not alone in losing her ‘lifeline’ when flying View more sharing options Anna Tims Monday 24 April 2017 07.00 BST J enny Gumbrell has been housebound and unable to work since returning from a trip to New Zealand in mid-February. When her flight arrived at Gatwick she discovered that her portable mobility scooter was in pieces, having been apparently dropped from a height. It was declared beyond economic repair and, since then, the multiple sclerosis sufferer from Winchester has fought in vain to persuade Emirates Airlines to pay for a replacement. “I can’t leave the house unless I pay for a taxi,” says Gumbrell, who had to be pushed by airport staff in a borrowed wheelchair to her taxi. “The scooter gives me a sense of independence, despite the difficulties caused by my condition.” Gumbrell’s plight highlights the inadequacy of aviation law when it concerns travellers with disabilities. Airlines are only obliged to pay passengers a maximum of around £1,200 when their luggage is lost or damaged. The threshold was set in 1999 by the Montreal Convention which harmonises compensation rules for international flights. Campaigners claim that it discriminates against some passengers because it fails to distinguish between the loss of a suitcase of clothes and a wheelchair that is someone’s lifeline. In Gumbrell’s case, the £1,094 eventually offered by Emirates covered less than half the £2,200 cost of a new scooter and it included £105 she was obliged to pay to courier the damaged vehicle to the manufacturer when Emirates insisted it be professionally assessed. Moreover, it required four weeks of chasing before the airline made the offer. Emirates finally agreed to fund the full cost of a new scooter after Gumbrell contacted The Observer . “We apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of this,” says a spokesperson. “The comfort and wellbeing of all of our customers is of paramount importance, in particular customers with reduced mobility.” Actor and entrepreneur Athena Stevens waited a year for compensation after her £25,000 motorised wheelchair was irreparably damaged during a British Airways flight from London City airport to Glasgow in 2015. The airline only paid up last November, six months after she began legal proceedings. As a disabled traveller you’re really made to feel you’re an inconvenience She estimates the saga cost her £70,000 in taxi fares, wheelchair hire, extra carers and business lost through her immobility, but the payout only covered the cost of the chair and legal expenses. “It completely closed my life down,” says 32-year-old Stevens who has cerebral palsy. BA told The Guardian that over the 12 months it had continued to seek a solution with Stevens and her lawyers “more than 426,000 people with reduced mobility travelled with us and we take their needs extremely seriously”. In 2006 the European Commission introduced regulations which require airports to provide temporary alternatives if mobility aids are lost or damaged. However, passengers still complain of discrimination. Daniel Scott (not his real name) says he was left to fend for himself after he found the brakes of his wheelchair damaged following a Ryanair flight from Slovakia to London Stansted. “No one was in the slightest bit bothered with just how serious this was, and all I was given was a damage form to fill out at lost luggage,” says the 47-year-old who is unable to walk after a spinal cord injury. He was housebound for a week while he awaited spare parts to arrive from the manufacturer. He says the repair cost him £200, but the chair, badly twisted in transit, would no longer run reliably and he was obliged to replace it at a cost of £4,800 six months later. An eight-month battle won him £100 in “goodwill” from Stansted. “I’ve lost my trust in flying,” he says. “As a disabled traveller you’re really made to feel you’re an inconvenience.” Ryanair says that while it “regrets any inconvenience, wheelchair services at London Stansted in 2012 were operated by ISS on behalf of the airport authority – at great expense to the airlines – and London Stansted was responsible for this service and any problems with it.” Campaigner Roberto Castiglioni set up the advice website Reduced Mobility Rights after attempting to fly with his severely disabled son. “Access to air travel is not something people with special needs can take for granted because of the obstacles they meet getting onto a plane,” he says. He advises travellers with mobility equipment worth over £1,200 to make a “special declaration of interest” when they book their flight. This is akin to an insurance policy covering the transport of goods worth more than the cap set by the Montreal Convention. It is illegal for airlines to deny this, but most airlines charge a fee, and it is only available on request and on a case-by-case basis. In the US, anti-discrimination laws oblige airlines to pay the full cost of mobility equipment damaged on domestic flights. The European Commission is considering introducing similar rules, but currently it merely “encourages” airlines to voluntarily pay more than they are legally obliged to. Only two airlines, Lufthansa and Air Canada, have, so far, pledged to do so. A 47-year-old who is unable to walk after a spinal cord injury was left to fend for himself after he found the brakes of his wheelchair damaged following a Ryanair flight from Slovakia to London Stansted. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA Paralympian Chris Holmes, former disability commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, urges UK airlines to follow suit. “This unfair policy is trapping disabled people in a cycle of disadvantage,” he says. “British air carriers have the moral responsibility to stop applying it to mobility equipment, as it’s clearly unfit for purpose.” “The likelihood of a mobility aid being damaged is very low,” says the UK aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority. “However, the CAA recognises that the compensation available under the Montreal Convention will not always be enough to cover the cost of repair or replacement of mobility aids entirely. “Given this, we are gathering information on the frequency with which mobility aids are damaged and the contingencies airlines and airports have to look after disabled passengers when incidents occur. We then intend to examine the potential options available to wheelchair users to receive better protection.” It is not just the wheelchair that is damaged when mishandled in transit. Gumbrell had to be signed off work with stress as she struggled to adapt to life without her lifeline. However, the Montreal Convention makes no provision for psychological damage in its compensation requirements – only for physical harm. This is a “grave injustice”, according to a supreme court judge who was prevented from awarding a person with cerebral palsy compensation for degrading treatment on board a Thomas Cook flight. The passenger had asked to be seated beside his wife so she could attend to his special needs. But they were allocated seats a row apart so that she had to crouch in the aisle to deal with his catheter and help with food. The supreme court ruled that there had been a breach of EC disability regulations but the passenger could not be compensated for his humiliation because of the constraints of the Montreal Convention. The more airlines try to cut corners the more likely they are to regard passengers with a disability as a costly burden, and campaigners say that attitudes, as well as laws, need to change. WHAT THE RULES SAY Under EU law airports and airlines are jointly responsible for assisting disabled passengers to and from the aircraft and during a flight, provided they give 48 hours’ notice of their requirements. This includes providing an alternative wheelchair if the passenger’s chair is lost or damaged in transit. Bizarrely, although airlines have to pay airports for that assistance, they are legally obliged to step in if the airport fails to provide the service. EC Regulation EC1107/2006, which enshrines the rights of disabled travellers, applies to all EU flights and aircraft. In 2014 the Civil Aviation (Access to Air Travel for Disabled Persons and Persons with Reduced Mobility) Regulations 2014 gave the UK regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, legal powers to ensure airlines or airports comply with European regulations. However, disabled passengers still complain of discrimination. In October a terminally ill woman was left stranded in the hydraulic lift that was to winch her onto a Ryanair flight which took off without her, and in 2011 a person with multiple sclerosis successfully sued the same airline after the lift failed to arrive and she had to be hauled up the aircraft steps over her husband’s shoulder. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/24/disabled-traveller-airlines-flying-discrimination-damaged-property'|'2017-04-24T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'b8ae31b9de2af567b59ba9a66935f0bac001af9f'|'RPT-German industry warns against underinvestment in fibre telecom links'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 2:00am EDT RPT-German industry warns against underinvestment in fibre telecom links (Repeats Friday item) * VDMA says vectoring discourages investments in fibre * Berlin has promised 50 Mbps for all households by 2018 * Mittelstand in the countryside struggles with Industrie 4.0 By Georgina Prodhan and Harro Ten Wolde FRANKFURT, April 21 Germany''s powerful engineering industry fears the country will miss out on becoming a global power in digital manufacturing due to complacency about investing in a high-speed, fibre-based telecoms network. Taking aim at the government, the industry''s VDMA lobby says Germany risks heading into an industrial dead-end with the strategy for data connections in remoter areas, where many of its often small but world-class engineering firms are based. In a position paper seen by Reuters, the association questions how former state monopoly Deutsche Telekom is being allowed to overhaul its old copper wire network. This, it believes, discourages competition and the rolling out of faster, but more expensive, fibre connections. Deutsche Telekom is relying heavily on vectoring, a technique which improves transmission speeds on the "last mile" of copper wire linking fibre connections at the street cabinet to homes and businesses. The VDMA, which represents thousands of firms with combined annual revenue of over $200 billion, regards this as a stop-gap and says fibre connections right to the destination building are the only way to meet the medium-term demands of German industry. "The risk is that a bridging technology like vectoring, when it is implemented in a monopolistic way, will lead Germany as an industrial location into a cul-de-sac in a few years," it said in the position paper this month. It is not happy that for technical reasons only Deutsche Telekom can provide the upgraded copper links. "In the worst case, the monopoly supplier would rest on its laurels with vectoring technology and neglect further investments." The document is for internal circulation but, with Germany lagging many competitors in Europe and Asia in providing fibre connections, the paper''s author Johannes Gernandt says the government in Berlin should take note. "They have to think further ahead now," he told Reuters. REASONABLE TIMEFRAME Deutsche Telekom, in which the government holds 32 percent, says vectoring allows it to do much more, much faster. "Many homes and companies would be stuck with slow internet for many more years," a spokesman said. "This way, we can guarantee that households now will have fast internet within a reasonable timeframe." At stake is Berlin''s Industrie 4.0 strategy to promote digital manufacturing. This promises to enable leaps in the speed of developing products, as well as technology that detects faults and fixes machines before they break down or that allows parts to tell assembly lines how they need to be put together. All this needs real-time or close to real-time data connections, but estimates for the cost of connecting every German building with fibre range from 60-100 billion euros. Germany has a particular problem. Many of its famed "Mittelstand" manufacturers - firms that are small or medium-sized but globally competitive - are spread out in country towns across the country and therefore costly to connect. Germany is expected to be one of Europe''s last nations - along with Italy and Britain, which are also pursuing vectoring - to reach "fibre maturity". The FTTH Council Europe, which lobbies for access to high-speed networks, defines this as 20 percent of households having a fibre connection. The German level is now about 2 percent and FTTH expects it to reach 20 percent only after 2022. Japan and South Korea achieved this in 2007. The government has promised every household a download speed of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2018 - ample for an average home but not for smart factories in which every machine part will be connected. Germany has achieved 75 percent coverage so far, but in the countryside it is just 34 percent. That is where many Mittelstand firms like family-owned Harting operate. Harting supplies customers worldwide with advanced connectors and network technology, employing 4,000 people in Espelkamp, a town of 25,000 in North Rhine-Westphalia. Harting has high-speed broadband at its headquarters but it''s different story in the surrounding countryside where many of its staff live. Here access is as slow as 10 Mbps. This means software developers often cannot work remotely from home. "People at different sites need to work together. That''s a very important part of digital transformation," said head of public relations Detlef Sieverdingbeck. Harting is also having trouble attracting top staff when they and their families expect big city-standard connections. "You need to get talent from the hotspots, from the universities," he said. "You can''t have them coming here and then wonder why they are appalled by the lack of broadband and disappointed to find they''re living in a backward region." GIGABIT SOCIETY The government launched an initiative last month to attract 100 billion euros of public and private investment to turn Germany into a "gigabit society" by 2025 - 20 times the 50 Mbps it is promising by next year. Berlin is offering extra subsidies to supplement the 8 billion euros it expects the industry to invest annually, about half from Deutsche Telekom. The federal and local governments have already put up around 4 billion since 2015 to subsidise provision of fast broadband in hard-to-reach rural areas. Take-up, however, has been only about a quarter. "The model isn''t working," said Gernandt. Critics say it is too complicated to secure the necessary funding from federal and state agencies. The transport and infrastructure ministry declined to comment beyond what minister Alexander Dobrindt said last month. "We have determined that with our aid programme we have achieved a very high response from the underserviced regions," he said. Stuart Mitchell, founder of UK-based boutique fund SW Mitchell Capital, is not worried that the government will push Deutsche Telekom into making costly major investments in fibre. "I''m not so sure of the necessity to go to fibre in the end," he told Reuters. Mitchell says he has made 35 percent on his Deutsche Telekom investment in the past three to four years. The principal competition in Germany for fast internet connections comes from cable providers Vodafone, Liberty Global and smaller Tele Columbus. Other companies including United Internet and some energy utilities have their own fibre networks. Some competitors have tried but so far failed in legal actions to loosen Deutsche Telekom''s grip. They say they need a level playing field to make large investments. "The investors are ready but they need a long-term, predictable framework," said Rene Obermann, an ex-Deutsche Telekom chief executive and now a partner at private equity firm Warburg Pincus, the majority owner of German fibre network builder Inexio. Recently, Berlin has emphasised the role that fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks - unlikely to be deployed in Germany until the middle of next decade - will play in enabling technological trends such as self-driving cars. The radio frequencies for 5G may be auctioned next year and telecom providers will need a fibre backbone connecting the cell sites to begin building the mobile networks around 2020. In Britain, incumbent BT is also rolling out vectoring and few new fibre connections are being built by BT or rivals for the last mile. France''s Orange began rolling out vectoring in 2013. Italy is trying to promote competition by developing multi-operator vectoring that would allow equal access for all participants. Critics, including the European Commission, say this risks delaying network upgrades. Britain ranks 16th in the world with an average broadband download speed of 16.3 Mbps, France 52nd at 10.0 Mbps and Italy 58th at 8.7 Mbps, according to U.S. web traffic delivery leader Akamai. Germany ranks 25th in the world with an average speed of 14.6 Mbps. ($1 = 0.9298 euros) (Writing by Georgina Prodhan; Additional reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by David Stamp) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/germany-industry-telecoms-idUSL8N1HT4GO'|'2017-04-24T14:00:00.000+03:00' 'cf220b9b47ece924734e3b72593b39cc177ded0a'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 24'|'April 24 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HeadlinesLafargeHolcim chief set to step down over Syria controversyon.ft.com/2pUDSMoFast-growing medical tech industry sees $24 bln dealon.ft.com/2oC7ee0Credit Suisse braced for shareholder revolt over executive payon.ft.com/2pUERMKOverviewLafargeHolcim Ltd Chief Executive Eric Olsen is set to step down on Monday following an internal investigation into activities at a plant the cement maker operated in Syria until September 2014.Becton Dickinson and Co would acquire C R Bard Inc in a $24 billion cash-and-stock deal that would give Bard shareholders about 15 percent of the combined entity, the two U.S. medical technology companies said on Sunday.Credit Suisse Group AG is braced for executive pay revolt from a shareholder this week, despite the board agreeing to a voluntary bonus cut by 40 percent.(Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL4N1HW02X'|'2017-04-24T08:20:00.000+03:00' '77ea9b1821d1e5729d43c4474d01b714da124b92'|'U.S. President Trump resorting to unilateralism with steel probe -China Daily'|' 5:34am BST U.S. President Trump resorting to unilateralism with steel probe -China Daily FILE PHOTO - A Chinese woman adjusts a Chinese national flag next to U.S. national flags before a Strategic Dialogue expanded meeting, part of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool BEIJING Washington''s move to probe steel imports could trigger a trade dispute between the United States and its major trading partners, who are likely to take retaliatory steps, the official China Daily said in an editorial on Monday. The article was the strongest official response yet to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launching an investigation of China and other steel producers for dumping cheap steel products into the United States. "By proposing an unjustified investigation into steel imports in the guise of safeguarding national security, the U.S. seems to be resorting to unilateralism to solve bilateral and multilateral problems," the China Daily said. The probe could result in efforts by the United States to curb imports that will affect the interests of a number of its major trade partners, including China, it said. "If the U.S. does take protectionist measures, then other countries are likely to take justifiable retaliatory actions against U.S. companies that have an advantage ... in fields such as finance and high-tech, leading to a tit-for-tat trade war that benefits no one," it said. The article called on the United States, the world''s top economy, to use the settlement mechanism under the World Trade Organization to resolve the dispute over steel. Reducing imports will not alter the weak competitiveness of U.S. steelmakers, help restore U.S. manufacturing or bring back jobs, as President Trump hopes, it said. It was a marked shift from official comments on Friday. China''s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a briefing the country needed to ascertain the direction of any U.S. investigation before it could make a judgment. (Reporting by Josephine Mason; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-steel-china-idUKKBN17Q0AW'|'2017-04-24T12:34:00.000+03:00' 'c5d57e941a6698a9bfb0a43a1c41e57ba7936437'|'UPDATE 1-ING Life Insurance Korea raises $974 mln after pricing IPO near lower end of range'|'* ING Life prices IPO at 33,000 won/share* Indicative range was 31,500 won to 40,000 won/share* IPO is S.Korea''s second-largest so far this year (Adds milestone, background)SEOUL, April 24 ING Life Insurance Korea, South Korea''s fifth-largest life insurer, on Monday priced its initial public offering (IPO) near the lower end of an indicative range, raising its Asia-based private equity owner MBK Partners 1.1 trillion won ($974 million).ING Life''s listing will be South Korea''s second-largest so far this year after smartphone games maker Netmarble Games Corp priced its IPO at the top of its range, raising $2.3 billion won.The insurer, which last week said its dividend payout history was an investor draw, said it can continue paying hefty dividends as it has a good capital-adequacy ratio and because it depends on higher-margin captive agents for growth, rather than independent insurance agents.It priced its IPO at 33,000 won per share, compared with an indicative range of 31,500 won to 40,000 won each, ING Life said in a filing.The pricing gives the whole company a pre-listing valuation of 2.71 trillion won.MBK, which bought ING Life from ING Groep NV for about 1.8 trillion won in 2013, will retain about 59.1 percent of the insurer after the listing, an ING Life spokeswoman said. ($1 = 1,129.9000 won) (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southkorea-ing-life-insurance-ipo-idINL4N1HW2K7'|'2017-04-24T04:58:00.000+03:00' 'b772cbeea9a4b09ceb41b54e0f73a6fcdaee4097'|'UAE''s Etihad Airways appoints new boss in charge of airline stakes'|'Company News 20am EDT UAE''s Etihad Airways appoints new boss in charge of airline stakes DUBAI, April 24 Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways on Monday said it had appointed Robin Kamark as chief executive officer, Airline Equity Partners. Kamark will replace Bruno Matheu who has held the position since May 2016 and is leaving for personal reasons, the company said in a statement. Kamark will be responsible for leading and developing the Group’s minority equity investment strategy, which includes stakes in airberlin, Alitalia, Jet Airways , Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Etihad Regional and Virgin Australia. (Reporting by Stanley Carvalho; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/etihad-appointment-idUSD5N1FF01B'|'2017-04-24T18:20:00.000+03:00' 'ddbc17bb3c16db54a0ad071d086124b9480cc3f5'|'High in the sky: Small flying “cars” come a bit closer to reality'|'“YOU may smile, but it will come,” said Henry Ford in 1940, predicting the arrival of a machine that was part-automobile and part-aeroplane. For decades flying cars have obsessed technologists but eluded their mastery. Finally there is reason to believe. Several firms have offered hope that flying people in small pods for short trips might become a reality in the next decade. These are not cars, as most are not fit to drive on land, but rather small vehicles, which can rise and land vertically, like quiet helicopters.A prototype of a small electric plane capable of flying up to 300 kilometres per hour, made by Lilium, a German startup, completed a successful test over Bavaria on April 20th. Lilium is starting work on a five-seat vehicle and hopes to offer a ride-hailing service. Another German firm, e-volo, has been testing a flying vehicle for several years. It recently showed off the second version of its electric Volocopter (pictured), which could be certified for flight as soon as next year. There are at least a dozen firms experimenting with making small flying vehicles in different guises, including Airbus, an aerospace giant, in partnership with Italdesign Giugiaro, a division of Volkswagen, a carmaker. Many plan to have a certified pilot in command at the beginning and then move on to an autonomous set-up when regulations allow. Motorcycle-type vehicles, which you sit astride, are also in the works.No matter which manufacturer is quickest to gain velocity, Uber, a ride-hailing firm, aims to be at the centre of things. On April 25th it held an event in Dallas to announce its plan to offer a service where people can hail an electric “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicle and ride it quickly to destinations that would otherwise take hours in heavy traffic. Uber does not want to build these aircraft or landing pads itself, just as it does not own its own cars. Instead, it plans to collaborate with other companies. But Jeff Holden, Uber’s chief product officer, does not exclude the possibility that the firm may at the outset own some aircraft, which he estimates will cost around $1m each.The firm plans to have a prototype of its service ready by 2020. It will launch it first in Dallas and in Dubai, both cities where the authorities have deep aviation expertise and where people commute long distances. The firm rather optimistically promises that the cost per aerial mile for passengers will be roughly that of its low-cost car service, UberX.There is plenty for manufacturers and services like Uber to overcome beyond gravity. For battery-powered models, range is limited and the charging rate remains slow. Manufacturers will need to ensure that vehicles can take off and land quietly, if this new form of transport is to stand a chance in cities. How to oversee and license the new aircraft, which are subject to much tougher rules than cars, will be a subject of intense debate among rule-makers, who tend to move slowly and are just getting to grips with drones. Drivers of flying vehicles are also likely to require a pilot’s licence, albeit perhaps a simplified “sports” licence. The journey ahead will be a long one.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business-and-finance/21721339-german-firm-completes-test-and-uber-promises-prototype-2020-small-flying-cars-come?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-26T08:00:00.000+03:00' '4982c5c46d270520c5825d9ecca695a0861cbd1e'|'U.S. President Trump resorting to unilateralism with steel probe - China Daily'|'BEIJING Washington''s move to probe steel imports could trigger a trade dispute between the United States and its major trading partners, who are likely to take retaliatory steps, the official China Daily said in an editorial on Monday.The article was the strongest official response yet to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday launching an investigation of China and other steel producers for dumping cheap steel products into the United States."By proposing an unjustified investigation into steel imports in the guise of safeguarding national security, the U.S. seems to be resorting to unilateralism to solve bilateral and multilateral problems," the China Daily said.The probe could result in efforts by the United States to curb imports that will affect the interests of a number of its major trade partners, including China, it said."If the U.S. does take protectionist measures, then other countries are likely to take justifiable retaliatory actions against U.S. companies that have an advantage ... in fields such as finance and high-tech, leading to a tit-for-tat trade war that benefits no one," it said.The article called on the United States, the world''s top economy, to use the settlement mechanism under the World Trade Organization to resolve the dispute over steel.Reducing imports will not alter the weak competitiveness of U.S. steelmakers, help restore U.S. manufacturing or bring back jobs, as President Trump hopes, it said.It was a marked shift from official comments on Friday. China''s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a briefing the country needed to ascertain the direction of any U.S. investigation before it could make a judgment.(Reporting by Josephine Mason; Editing by Tom Hogue)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-steel-china-idINKBN17Q0AY'|'2017-04-24T12:47:00.000+03:00' '3f0c0d9ebe941e46136c9f9b85091646f9f022c6'|'Morning News Call - India, April 24'|'To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 3:45 pm: Farm Minister Radha Mohan Singh at an event in New Delhi. LIVECHAT-COMMODITIES From copper to oil and everything in between, the Gold & Silver Club''s Nik Kalsi and Phil Carr will have you covered on the commodities markets at 2:30 pm. The Gold & Silver Club is an international commodities trading, research and advisory group specialising in the precious metals, energies and agricultural markets. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • Indian techies, IT firms fret as Trump orders US visa review For Grishma, an Indian software designer, President Donald Trump''s review of the visa programme for bringing highly skilled workers into the United States comes at a bad time. • HDFC Bank profit rise drives shares to record Shares in HDFC Bank, India''s second-biggest lender by assets, hit a record high thanks to higher than expected quarterly profit and a stable bad loans portfolio. • Diamond miners have India in sight with Real is Rare slogan The world''s top diamond producers will try to spur demand in India with the launch of their "Real is Rare" slogan in September, after the withdrawal of high-value bank notes dented the world''s third biggest diamond market. • Narayana Hrudayalaya to buy NewRise Healthcare Indian healthcare services provider Narayana Hrudayalaya Ltd said it would buy NewRise Healthcare Private Ltd from Panacea Biotec Ltd for an enterprise value of 1.80 billion rupees. • ACC Q1 profit beats estimates on higher cement sales volume India''s ACC Ltd, a unit of the world''s largest cement maker, Lafargeholcim Ltd, reported a 9 percent fall in its first-quarter net profit, but beat analysts'' expectations, helped by stronger cement sales volume. • L&T signs deal with South Korea''s Hanwha for artillery guns Indian engineering firm Larsen & Toubro signed a deal with South Korea''s Hanwha Techwin to supply artillery guns to the Indian army in a deal estimated to be 4.5 billion rupees, the two firms said. • India plans home delivery of petroleum products India is considering a plan for home delivery of petroleum products to consumers if they make a pre-booking to cut long queues at fuel stations, the oil ministry tweeted. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • France''s Macron appears set for Elysee in runoff with Le Pen Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. • North Korea says it is ready to strike U.S. aircraft carrier North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to call the leaders of China and Japan. • Afghan Taliban''s brazen attack eclipses Trump''s "mother of all bombs" Eight days after the U.S. military dropped its largest ever conventional bomb on suspected Islamic State fighters in eastern Afghanistan, Taliban militants breached an army base in the north of the country and killed scores of local soldiers. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The SGX Nifty Futures were at 9,143.50, up 0.2 pct from its previous close. • The Indian rupee will likely open higher against the dollar, tracking its Asian peers, as risk appetite improved after independent centrist Emmanuel Macron took the lead in the first round of French presidential elections. • Indian government bonds will likely edge lower tracking gains in U.S. Treasury yields, after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential election, qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.90 pct - 6.95 pct band today. GLOBAL MARKETS • U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Sunday on relief that centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election, reducing the prospect of an anti-establishment market shock. • Japan''s Nikkei share average rose to a near three-week high with broader investor risk sentiment improving after centrist Emmanuel Macron took a step towards the French presidency after the weekend''s voting. • The euro scaled five-month highs against the dollar in early Asian trading after the centrist candidate swept to victory in the first round of the French presidential election, reducing the risk of an anti-establishment shock in the final round. • U.S. Treasury debt futures prices fell on Sunday after centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election. • Oil prices recovered some ground following last week''s big losses, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in U.S. drilling capped gains. • Gold fell nearly 1 percent to its weakest in two weeks after centrist Macron led the first round of voting in the French presidential election, boosting stocks and triggering a sell-off of safe-haven bullion. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.59/64.62 April 21 -$16.90 mln $38.54 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.16 Month-to-date -$367 mln $3.89 bln Year-to-date $6.42 bln $9.36 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.61 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Sai Sharanya Khosla in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL4N1HW1G0'|'2017-04-24T11:19:00.000+03:00' '7d21a86c9b2c0a1fdc7c899bb772b88ef1480a64'|'Fresenius snaps up Akorn, Merck KGaA''s biosimilars in separate deals'|' 17am BST Fresenius picks up M&A pace with Akorn, Merck KGaA deals A Fresenius SE logo is pictured in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, Germany February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski - RTSZRR4 By Ludwig Burger - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA ( FREG.DE ) has stepped up its dealmaking, agreeing to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc ( AKRX.O ) for $4.75 billion (£3.72 billion) and the biosimilars arm of Germany''s Merck KGaA. Takeovers were part of Fresenius''s growth strategy under previous boss Ulf Mark Schneider, now leading Nestle ( NESN.S ). But his successor, former finance chief Stephan Sturm, is lifting the pace, having already bought a Spanish hospital chain for 5.8 billion euros (£4.92 billion) since taking over in June. The latest deals are in keeping with Fresenius''s focus on drugs that have lost patent protection, but also mark a foray into new dosage forms, therapeutic areas and biotech drugs for its Kabi unit, a maker of generic infusion drugs as well as tube feeding and blood transfusion equipment. Akorn will add products such as medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, oral liquids, ear drops, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign compared with standard pills and tablets. "We are putting Fresenius Kabi on track for an even more broadly based and strong sustainable growth beyond the current decade," said Sturm. The separate deal with Merck KGaA MRKG.DE marks an entry into "biosimilar" copies of complex biologic drugs made from living cells, which Fresenius has previously shunned. "We''ve always said the regulatory environment would have to clear up before we invest in biosimilars. A lot has been done in that area in the recent past," Sturm added. Reuters earlier on Monday reported Fresenius was close to acquiring Akorn. In a deal that has the backing of Akorn''s management and its largest shareholder, Fresenius will pay $34 per share and take on Akorn''s net debt of about $450 million for a total price tag of $4.75 billion, Fresenius said late on Monday. It will be financed by a broad mix of euro- and dollar-denominated debt instruments. Berenberg analyst Tom Jones said the price tag of 12.4 times Akorn''s core earnings (adjusted EBITDA) estimate for 2017 should not "give anyone any great cause for concern". He flagged some risks related to Akorn''s older drugs that might draw scrutiny from U.S. healthcare regulators but was reassured by the buyer''s "long history of doing M&A, and doing it relatively well". Fresenius shares were up 0.9 percent at 0750 GMT, broadly in line with the European healthcare index .SXDP. For the Merck deal, Fresenius will pay an initial 170 million euros and up to 500 million in milestone payments tied to the achievement of drug development targets as none of Merck''s biosimilar drugs have been launched yet. Merck also stands to receive single-digit percentage royalties on sales. Fresenius said it expected first revenues towards the end of 2019. It also said it was prepared to spend and invest up to 1.4 billion euros to build up the new business through 2022, including the upfront and milestone payments to Merck. Fresenius, with a market capitalisation of more than 40 billion euros, runs businesses ranging from kidney dialysis and drug manufacturing to hospital management. Group net debt as a multiple of core earnings will temporarily increase to about 3.3 after both transactions but is expected to return to about 3 at the end of 2018. Fresenius has for years enjoyed low borrowing costs because of its diversified businesses in an industry largely immune to swings in the business cycle. The buyer''s main advisers on the Akorn deal were investment banks Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) and Moelis ( MC.N ), as well as law firm Allen & Overy. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Grant McCool and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akorn-m-a-fresenius-idUKKBN17Q2A4'|'2017-04-25T05:33:00.000+03:00' 'bf24a21b016ead6668ce76b1679bd30ffae0f743'|'EU-Mercosur free trade accord draft may be ready this year - EU diplomat'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 11:40pm BST EU-Mercosur free trade accord draft may be ready this year - EU diplomat SAO PAULO Terms of a free trade accord between the European Union and the Mercosur trade bloc could be ready before the end of this year and take effect in 2019, a senior diplomat said on Monday. The accord, which has been negotiated for years, could be ratified in 2018, João Cravinho, the EU''s ambassador to Brazil, said at an event in São Paulo. (Reporting by Aluísio Alves; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-mercosur-idUKKBN17Q2E5'|'2017-04-25T06:40:00.000+03:00' 'add42f1f7dae82858d3bc47eebb0df3dc24b91c0'|'Philips winds down Philips Lighting stake via share offer'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:11pm BST Philips winds down Philips Lighting stake via share offer FILE PHOTO: The logo of Philips is seen at the company''s entrance in Brussels September 11, 2012. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo Dutch medical devices and healthcare products maker Philips ( PHG.AS ) said on Tuesday it plans to sell nearly a quarter of its stake in Philips Lighting ( LIGHT.AS ). Philips said it had launched an accelerated bookbuild offering to institutional investors of approximately 22.25 million shares, representing around 14.8 percent of Philips Lighting''s issued share capital. Philips Lighting has committed to repurchase 3.5 million shares in the offering, Philips said. After completion of the sale, Philips'' stake in the world''s biggest lighting maker will be around 41 percent. The transaction is expected to settle on April 28. (Reporting by Wout Vergauwen; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-philips-philips-lighting-stake-idUKKBN17R245'|'2017-04-26T00:11:00.000+03:00' '1819d43efe28d42050109cc0dbdd5c2643dd8fc3'|'METALS-Copper eases as French euphoria fades'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 10:06pm EDT METALS-Copper eases as French euphoria fades SYDNEY, April 25 Copper eased in Asia on Tuesday, coming under pressure from investors looking to book gains after a surprise overnight lift in the London contract following a market-friedly French presidential vote. "Copper gained some steam on the back of the French election, but that hasn''t held up in Asia," said a Perth-based commodities trader. Copper rose on Monday as centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron''s strong performance in the first round of the French presidential election boosted appetite for cyclical assets, sending stock markets sharply higher. FUNDAMENTALS * COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange edged down 0.1 percent to $5,650.5 a tonne by 0158 GMT. * SHANGHAI: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange slipped 0.04 percent to 45,740 yuan ($6,644.)a tonne. * ANGLO AMERICAN: Mining company Anglo American reported a 9 percent rise in overall production for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016, but copper output fell 3 percent because of poorer grades and a temporary suspension at the El Soldado mine in Chile. * PERU STRIKE: Workers at mining company Southern Copper Corp in Peru have reached a deal with management to end a two-week strike, a union official and a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday. * OTHER ShFE METALS: Tin was steady at 137,700 yuan, while lead was little changed at 15,905 yuan. ShFE zinc slipped 0.6 percent to 21,395 yuan. ShFE aluminium dropped 0.2 percent to 14,290 yuan a tonne. * LME DELAY: The launch of the London Metal Exchange''s new precious metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a month later than previously announced, it said on Monday. * MARKETS: Asian equities were steady on Tuesday and the euro retained gains as markets'' euphoria over a centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election subsided, though near-term investor sentiment remains positive * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or DATA/EVENTS 0645 France Business climate Apr 1300 U.S. Monthly home price index Feb 1300 U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller housing index Feb 1400 U.S. Consumer confidence Apr 1400 U.S. New home sales Mar 1400 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index Apr PRICES '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL4N1HX17T'|'2017-04-25T10:06:00.000+03:00' 'fe317bd4e269c71c5fc009b520af9eb7d0d7cca7'|'BRIEF-AVANGRID NAMES LAURA BEANE AS INCOMING CEO FOR AVANGRID RENEWABLES'|'Company News 45am EDT BRIEF-AVANGRID NAMES LAURA BEANE AS INCOMING CEO FOR AVANGRID RENEWABLES April 25 Avangrid Inc NEW YORK, April 25 Wells Fargo & Co''s management ejected an unruly shareholder from the bank''s contentious annual meeting on Tuesday after an extended period of argument and what the chairman characterized as a "physical approach" to a director. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-avangrid-names-laura-beane-as-inco-idUSFWN1HX0R6'|'2017-04-25T22:45:00.000+03:00' 'fc295774cc6be5a7ddff390812d455fa5c17f332'|'Oil edges up after six days of straight losses'|'By Julia Simon - NEW YORK NEW YORK Oil prices edged up in choppy trade on Tuesday as U.S. crude inventory data that was forecast to show a drawdown faced doubts about OPEC''s ability to reduce a global glut.Brent crude was up 23 cents at $51.83 a barrel by 1:17 p.m. EST (1717 GMT), while U.S. crude futures rose 12 cents to $49.35 a barrel.Analysts polled ahead of inventory reports from the industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) and the U.S. Department of Energy''s Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated, on average, that U.S. crude stocks fell 1.6 million barrels last week, the third consecutive weekly draw.The API data is due at 4:30 p.m. EDT.Brent is down about 5 percent since early December, when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of the year.With oil supplies still around record highs, Stephen Schork of the Schork report said on Tuesday that "OPEC has failed miserably in its endeavour to balance the oil market."Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData in Louisville, Kentucky said global crude loadings are at record levels."We still see that continue to tick higher," Smith said. "Until we see the loadings drop, until we see the oil on the water falling, we are unlikely to see the market materially moving toward rebalancing."Russia said on Monday its oil output could climb to the highest rate in 30 years if OPEC and non-OPEC producers do not extend their supply reduction deal beyond June 30.And on Tuesday, the Interfax news agency Quote: d Russia''s Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvokovich as saying Russia may increase oil production if it feels prices are unlikely to fall as a result.To reduce the supply overhang, JPMorgan said OPEC "will be forced to renew, and possibly deepen the agreement if they wish to keep prices much above $50 per barrel."But ClipperData''s Smith said there was a lot of posturing ahead of the May 25 meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers."We have a month before the meeting in Vienna," he said, "Between now and then we’re going to get a lot of contrasting rhetoric."SEB commodities strategist Bjarne Schieldrop said the current climate will be uncertain until the May 25 meeting. "It doesn''t make sense to sell down to $45 ahead of that," he said.(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-oil-idINKBN17R04R'|'2017-04-25T09:31:00.000+03:00' 'a07ee20af1ba651c84148804ddbc80af7c9b8420'|'Nifty hits record high; rupee strengthens'|'The NSE Nifty ended above the 9,300 level for the first time on Tuesday, helped by a string of strong quarterly results including from Reliance Industries Ltd ( RELI.NS ) and positive global cues.The broader Nifty closed up 0.96 percent at 9,306.60. The index earlier hit a record high of 9,309.20, surpassing its previous milestone set on April 5.The benchmark BSE Sensex ended 0.97 percent higher at 29,943.24, its highest close since April 5.(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-sensex-nifty-stock-markets-idINKBN17R0GM'|'2017-04-25T14:13:00.000+03:00' '78574f0b2b18d3c3d54cd70cb61c24c4baf5a3d0'|'Exclusive: Boeing near decision to launch 737-10 jet - sources'|'By Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS Boeing is nearing a decision to launch a larger version of its 737 workhorse jet within two months to counter strong sales of the Airbus A321neo, after a breakthrough on the design for one of its parts, industry sources said.The 737 MAX 10 would narrow the gap between the 178-220 seat 737-9, which first flew this month, and the 185-240 seat A321neo, which dominates the top end of a market for narrowbody jets worth $2 trillion over 20 years.Boeing has been studying how to solve a tricky problem with the design of the plane''s landing gear, without adding cost or delaying a 2020 target for first deliveries.The sources said a two-part technical solution is being tested and that Boeing is negotiating with airlines with the aim of launching the 737-10 at the Paris Airshow in June. Boeing is said to anticipate a total market of 1,000 of the planes."Boeing is actively engaged in discussions with customers about the 737 MAX 10X," a spokesman said."No decision has been made on the airplane and any discussion on timing of a possible launch would be speculative."Reuters reported last year that the 737-10 marks a tactical response to the A321neo, while Boeing works on strategic plans for a 220-260-seat twin-aisle, mid-market jet.But it has produced a puzzle so tricky that Boeing has asked for help from its combat jet experts to design a space-saving gear for the 737-10.A solution is needed because the 737-10 will be longer than the 737-9 to make room for about 12 extra seats. The landing gear must become taller too or the tail could scrape the runway.Anxious to avoid costly changes to the rest of the plane and stay on schedule, Boeing aims to make the gear longer only when needed, but small enough to fit in the 737''s existing wheel bay.It has not made final decisions but is testing an advanced proposal to allow the 737 to effectively sit back on its heels as it leaves the runway.This is what aerospace engineers call a "semi-levered" design and is a nod to two bigger jets: the 777 and 787-10.In a further twist, the gear would lengthen telescopically for the 737-10 to charge down the runway. Afterwards, it would shrink again to retract into the same space.COMPETITION IMPACTDrawing-board decisions like these feed directly into the battle for jet sales.A longer gear allows pilots to use the same take-off angle rather than easing off to avoid striking the runway with the tail of the longer jet. Shallower take-offs need more runway, limiting the number of airports served and restricting sales.Airbus, which declined comment, is likely to try to persuade potential 737-10 buyers that it is little different from the slow-selling 737-9. Sources say it is meanwhile working on its own improvements to the A320 family codenamed A320neo-plus.Experts say more capacity could put costs per seat of the 737-10 in the same ballpark as the A321neo, leaving jetmakers to slug it out over range and performance.Boeing decided against using a bigger engine to boost those two features. It is gambling that some airlines will prefer extra seats and fly the 737-10 mainly on short routes.Although reports have focused on the clash between the A321neo and 737-9/10, industry sources say it''s not just the top end of the narrowbody market that drives the new design.Because most carriers stick to one jet family, they say Boeing seems worried the A321neo''s success could prompt fleet decisions that weaken the smaller 737 MAX 8, its main cash cow."It''s a defensive move. Boeing wants to prevent the A321neo being a Trojan Horse in its own fleet," one strategist said.(Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/boeing-idINKBN17R10S'|'2017-04-25T17:46:00.000+03:00' '41100184e8ca240e1bff9c5a1e026a75c14b2393'|'BRIEF-Canadian energy minister says Trudeau is scheduled to speak to Trump very shortly'|'Company News 37pm EDT BRIEF-Canadian energy minister says Trudeau is scheduled to speak to Trump very shortly April 25 (Reuters) - * Canadian energy minister tells CBC that PM Trudeau is scheduled to speak to President Trump "within the next couple of hours" (Reporting by David Ljunggren) * UMB Financial Corporation announces $0.255 quarterly cash dividend and common stock repurchase authorization MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-canadian-energy-minister-says-trud-idUSL1N1HX292'|'2017-04-26T05:37:00.000+03:00' 'b0cb0b01bd72eb5f688f5743e5a07ebed7d7db88'|'Lloyds says ex-judge Linda Dobbs to review its handling of fraud case'|' 8:19am BST Lloyds says ex-judge Linda Dobbs to review its handling of fraud case A man enters a Lloyds Bank branch in central London, Britain February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett LONDON Lloyds Banking Group ( LLOY.L ) on Wednesday said it had appointed retired high court judge Linda Dobbs to review its own handling of a fraud at the Reading branch of its HBOS unit for which six people were jailed earlier this year. Dobbs will be tasked with assessing whether the bank properly investigated the fraud and reported it to authorities, following the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds in January 2009 through to the conclusion of the criminal trial this year. Lloyds also announced the timetable for a 100 million pound scheme to compensate victims of the fraud, in which bankers siphoned off cash from companies that were HBOS clients. Lloyds said will begin making compensation offers from late May onwards, and anticipates that all affected will have such an offer by the end of June at the latest. (Reporting By Lawrence White; editing by Simon Jessop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lloyds-compensation-idUKKBN17S0MB'|'2017-04-26T15:19:00.000+03:00' '1e0c2613424bde4043df0f8e02cd6af247873edd'|'Community Bank System gets Fed OK to buy Merchants Bancshares'|'WASHINGTON, April 26 The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it had approved Merchants Bancshares Inc to be acquired by Community Bank System after deciding the tie-up would not harm competition.Merchants Bancshares operates Merchants Bank of South Burlington, Vermont, and the deal will allow Community Bank System, of upstate New York, to better compete with national lenders, the central bank said in its decision.The deal does not threaten the stability of the financial system, the Fed said in its order.The deal will create the 122nd largest insured bank in the United States with assets of roughly $10.7 billion, less than 1 percent of the total in the system. (Reporting By Patrick Rucker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/merchants-bancsh-ma-community-bk-sys-idINL1N1HY18F'|'2017-04-26T14:15:00.000+03:00' 'ebada38a1196dc6d42e12bbbfc3911af08b737a5'|'Major beef supplier Cargill to exit U.S. cattle-feeding business'|'Commodities 2:07pm EDT Major beef supplier Cargill to exit U.S. cattle-feeding business A Cargill logo is pictured on the Provimi Kliba and Protector animal nutrition factory in Lucens, Switzerland, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse By Tom Polansek and Theopolis Waters - CHICAGO CHICAGO Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] said on Wednesday it will exit the business of feeding cattle to direct capital toward other investments, the latest transformation for the global commodity trader. Minnesota-based Cargill struck a deal to sell its last two feed yards to ethanol producer Green Plains Inc ( GPRE.O ) for $36.7 million, after selling other feedyards to Friona Industries last year, according to the companies. Cargill''s withdrawal from the feeding business highlights a change in priorities at the company, which says it is the world''s largest supplier of ground beef. Cargill wants to expand its North America-based protein business by exploring plant-based protein, fish and insects, along with other opportunities linked to livestock and poultry, spokesman Mike Martin said. The sales of feed yards to Green Plains and Friona frees up hundreds of millions of dollars annually in working capital used to purchase cattle, he said. Cargill in recent years has refocused its operations by exiting some lower-margin businesses and expanding into higher-margin endeavors such as food ingredients and aquaculture. It sold a U.S. agriculture-retail business to Agrium Inc ( AGU.TO ) last year and its U.S. pork assets to Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA ( JBSS3.SA ) in 2015. Other agricultural companies, including U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ), have also shifted toward higher margin products to increase profits and distance themselves from gyrations in commodity prices. "The driver from a Cargill perspective is how they can best deploy capital and they’ve decided not in cattle feeding but in further processing," said Jim Robb, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center. Last year, Cargill bought a ground beef processing plant in South Carolina to target sales to retail and food service customers on the east coat. Green Plains will supply cattle to Cargill for processing through a multi-year agreement, according to the companies. The two yards it is buying have a capacity of about 155,000 cattle. The deal will make Green Plains Cattle Company, a subsidiary of the ethanol producer, the fourth largest U.S. cattle-feeding operation, with capacity of more than 255,000 head, according to the company. By buying the feedyards, Green Plains gains markets for its distiller''s dried grains, an ethanol byproduct used to feed livestock. "The ability to effectively control our feed supply cost provides our cattle business with a strategic operating advantage," Chief Executive Todd Becker said in a statement. The companies said the deal is expected to close by the end of May. (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cargill-inc-cattle-idUSKBN17S2JA'|'2017-04-27T01:49:00.000+03:00' '02b039bb92802de48653e04951b78b01a14e94a5'|'Cyber extortion demands surge as victims keep paying -Symantec'|'Cyber Risk - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 9:53am EDT Cyber extortion demands surge as victims keep paying: Symantec A man walks past a display of hexadecimal code in a file photo. REUTERS/Nigel Treblin By Alastair Sharp - TORONTO TORONTO Hackers are demanding increasingly hefty ransoms to free computers paralyzed with viruses, as cyber criminals seek to maximize profits from large numbers of victims willing to pay up, according to cyber security firm Symantec Corp. The average demand embedded in such malicious software, which is known as ransomware, more than tripled last year to $1,077 from $294, and the pricing has continued to rise in 2017, according to Symantec. "The bad guys haven''t found the top end of what people will pay," Symantec Director of Security Response Kevin Haley said in a telephone interview. Symantec said 69 percent of ransomware infections in 2016 hit consumer computers, with the remainder targeting businesses and other organizations. More than a third of consumer ransomware victims around the globe pay cyber criminals to regain access to their data, according to Symantec. In the United States, where such attacks are most prevalent, 64 percent pay. "If six out of ten people will pay your ransom when it''s three hundred bucks, you''re thinking ''What if I raise it to four hundred? What if I raise to five hundred?''" Haley said. The surge in cyber extortion has been fueled partly by the sale of ransomware kits, which sell for $10 to $1,800 on underground markets and make it easy for wannabe cyber crooks to get in the business, according to Symantec. One kit, known as Shark, lets users name their demand, which its creators collect from victims and pass on to attackers, minus a 20 percent commission. Ransomware attacks have increased sharply over the past year, with criminals targeting hospitals, police departments and other providers of critical services in the United States and Europe. In some cases, the attacks have interrupted critical public services. U.S. and European hospitals have been forced to divert patients to other facilities when ransomware paralyzed computer systems. Local police have been forced to manually dispatch calls, and San Francisco''s public transit system was unable to collect fares for a weekend during the busy Christmas shopping season. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Steve Orlofsky; Editing by Jim Finkle and Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-ransom-idUSKBN17S1U6'|'2017-04-26T21:31:00.000+03:00' 'be3762224c3e49792bb3b4a6fb11a9df7e240ad1'|'Mnuchin says business tax rate at 15 percent in Trump tax plan'|'Politics - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 10:00am EDT Mnuchin says business tax rate at 15 percent in Trump tax plan left right U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin departs from a meeting on tax reform with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (not pictured) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (not pictured) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 1/2 left right U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin arrives for a meeting on tax reform with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (not pictured) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) (not pictured) on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 2/2 WASHINGTON U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the plan for "the biggest tax cut" in U.S. history due to be released later on Wednesday by the White House would cut the business tax rate to 15 percent, including for small businesses. "This is going to be the biggest tax cut and the largest tax reform in the history of our country," Mnuchin said at a news forum in Washington. He said there was fundamental agreement between President Donald Trump''s administration and the Congress on the goals of the tax reform, and the details would be worked out. Separately, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said he had seen a "sneak preview" of the plan. "We like it a lot, it puts us on the same page, we’re in agreement on 80 percent and on the 20 percent we’re in the same ballpark," Ryan said. (Reporting by Amanda Becker and Ginger Gibson; Writing by Washington Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-mnuchin-idUSKBN17S1R1'|'2017-04-26T21:26:00.000+03:00' '40134c13f93fdd67ea2a7872294a092b98be6d0c'|'Kloeckner CEO says could profit from U.S. anti-dumping tariffs'|'FRANKFURT, April 26 German steel distributor Kloeckner & Co would more likely profit than lose from any new steel anti-dumping measures that the United States may impose, its chief executive said on Wednesday."We are more likely to be positively affected by U.S. tariffs than negatively," Gisbert Ruehl told reporters on a conference call after Kloeckner reported first-quarter results and said it expected a noticeable improvement in core profit this year.Ruehl said Kloeckner mainly sources and sells locally in the United States, importing only 7 percent, and would benefit from higher prices. The United States accounts for about 40 percent of Kloeckner''s business.Ruehl said it was hard to predict the exact effect on Kloeckner if cheap steel imports flowed to Europe instead of the United States. He said: "If that happened we would be balanced." (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kloeck-co-results-usa-idINL8N1HY2D1'|'2017-04-26T06:50:00.000+03:00' '95a5897fac4566f11a29622332605f0d219b796f'|'Vimto maker Nichols says UK soft drinks market "to remain challenging"'|' 8:12am BST Vimto maker Nichols says UK soft drinks market "to remain challenging" Nichols Plc ( NICL.L ), the London-listed maker of Vimto soft drinks, warned on Wednesday that its home UK market would remain challenging this year, "with the addition of currency-related input cost inflation to an already price-competitive environment". However, the company said in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting of shareholders that first-quarter trading had been in line with management expectations, with UK sales up by 3.4 percent, and it still expected full-year earnings "to be in line with market expectations." The company sells drinks in the still and carbonated categories worth over 100 million pounds a year in over 85 countries. (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-nichols-outlook-idUKKBN17S0LU'|'2017-04-26T15:12:00.000+03:00' '84c9a5621c7ad34ff96fcf0e04cbd398b7c96089'|'Wall Street gears up for busiest earnings week in years'|'By Caroline Valetkevitch - NEW YORK NEW YORK Forget about French elections or the flagging Trump trade.Corporate America is set to unleash its biggest profit-reporting fest in at least a decade next week, with more than 190 members of the S&P 500 index .SPX delivering quarterly scorecards, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices data.The lineup accounts for around 40 percent of the benchmark index''s value, or more than $7.7 trillion, and includes big names like Google''s parent Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ), Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ), Microsoft Corp ( MSFT.O ) and Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ).The onslaught could keep U.S. stock investors'' focus largely on earnings next week even as the world''s attention is likely to be drawn elsewhere."That would be our hope," said Joe Zidle, portfolio strategist at Richard Bernstein Advisors in New York."A lot of people looked at this market and said it was the result of the Trump bump or the Hillary relief rally," while earnings have been rebounding, he said. "The faster earnings growth is underappreciated by investors."Many strategists have attributed the 10 percent rally in the S&P 500 .INX since Donald Trump''s victory over Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election to optimism Trump would boost the domestic economy through tax cuts and an infrastructure spending binge.The gains drove market valuations recently to their highest since 2004, even with little progress in Washington on the fiscal policy front. Meanwhile, other anxiety-provoking events have grabbed headlines, including unsettling relations with North Korea and this weekend''s election in France, which has a bearing on the country''s membership in the European Union and its currency, the euro.Upbeat earnings from Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and other banks so far this reporting period cushioned those geopolitical worries, helping push the S&P 500 .SPX up 0.9 percent this week, its best such performance in two months. Shares of smaller companies did even better, with S&P''s benchmark indexes for small .SPCY and mid-cap .IDX stocks notching their best weeks of 2017, with gains of between 2 percent and 3 percent.Expectations for the quarter''s profit growth have risen as well, and the first three months of the year now appear set to mark the strongest quarterly earnings growth in more than five years. In the last week alone, expected S&P 500 first-quarter earnings per share growth rose to 11.2 percent from 10.4 percent, a more than 7 percent jump, according to Thomson Reuters data."This week definitely has proven that the Street likes earnings - it''s controllable, it''s U.S.," said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.The reason for the slew of reports next week is anyone''s guess, Silverblatt said, although recent holidays possibly played a role. Passover, Good Friday and Easter all fell in the previous weeks, which may have prompted some companies that typically report earlier to delay a week.Just 76 companies reported this week compared with 134 in the comparable week a year ago, Silverblatt said.Next week''s rush will represent a 15 percent increase from the 166 S&P constituents that reported in the comparable week last year.Thursday will be the busiest day with nearly 70 reports due, including updates after the closing bell from Alphabet, Amazon, Intel Corp ( INTC.O ), Microsoft and Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ).That could make for a bang in the market on Friday, Silverblatt said, which is also the final trading day of April.(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Dan Burns and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-results-idINKBN17N2HM'|'2017-04-22T13:30:00.000+03:00' 'a22b88a9545d6850032f03e6bedde7b59aa83913'|'U.S. top court debates making copycat biologics available sooner'|'Company News 23pm EDT U.S. top court debates making copycat biologics available sooner By Andrew Chung - WASHINGTON, April 26 WASHINGTON, April 26 U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday struggled over whether to speed up the time it takes to bring to the market copycat versions of biologic drugs, expensive medicines that can generate billions of dollars in sales for drug makers. The nine justices heard arguments in an appeal by Novartis AG of a lower court decision that prevented the Swiss pharmaceutical company from selling its biosimilar version of California-based Amgen Inc''s $1-billion-a-year Neupogen until six months after the Food and Drug Administration approved it. The ruling in the case, due by the end of June, could determine how quickly patients have access to near-copies of biologic drugs called biosimilars at potentially cheaper prices. The case involved a section of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, that created an expedited path for regulatory approval of biosimilar drugs. The justices tried to make sense of the complex law and how Congress intended to balance the patent rights of brand-name manufacturers and the ability of biosimilar drug makers to bring copycat products to the market. Justice Stephen Breyer expressed frustration, wondering why federal regulators did not give the industry more guidance, calling the law''s technical provisions ambiguous. Rising drug prices are a matter of concern for patients and policymakers. President Donald Trump has said he is developing a plan to encourage competition in the pharmaceutical industry and bring down drug prices. Unlike traditional drugs, biologics are made inside living cells and cannot be copied exactly to make generic versions. Insurers expect biosimilars to be cheaper than original brands, like generics. Novartis unit Sandoz in September 2015 began selling Zarxio, the first biosimilar to win regulatory approval in the United States. Amgen''s Neupogen and Zarxio boost white blood cell counts in cancer patients to help fight infections. After launch, Zarxio cost 15 percent less than Neupogen at list prices, according to Novartis. Amgen sued Sandoz in 2014 in San Francisco federal court alleging patent infringement and violations of the Affordable Care Act provision governing biosimilars. The companies disagreed on how to apply that law''s requirement that a biosimilar drug maker give the brand-name manufacturer 180 days notice before launching its copycat version. In July 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled that the 180-day notice must be given after FDA approval. Novartis appealed to the Supreme Court, saying the Federal Circuit improperly gave the brand-name manufacturer an extra six months of exclusivity on top of the 12 years already provided for under the law, driving up healthcare costs. In opposing Novartis'' appeal, Amgen told the Supreme Court that the statute was meant to foster innovation and clearly states that the 180-day period cannot begin until the biosimilar is approved. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-court-biologics-idUSL1N1HX2AQ'|'2017-04-27T00:23:00.000+03:00' '44b210534ede9255628c583eb54659b60b024a82'|'Celebrity tie-ups help online fashion retailer Boohoo double its profit - Business'|'Retail industry Celebrity tie-ups help online fashion retailer Boohoo double its profit Pre-tax profits rise 97% to £31m thanks in part to paying Instagram icons to promote the brand’s clothes to 16 to 24-year-old fans Bloggers such as Emma Hill, pictured in a Boohoo coat, help promote its clothes to millennials. Photograph: Kirstin Sinclair/Getty Images Retail industry Celebrity tie-ups help online fashion retailer Boohoo double its profit Pre-tax profits rise 97% to £31m thanks in part to paying Instagram icons to promote the brand’s clothes to 16 to 24-year-old fans View more sharing options Wednesday 26 April 2017 18.31 BST Last modified on Wednesday 26 April 2017 21.54 BST Boohoo, the online fashion retailer with an army of 16 to 24-year-old fans, has nearly doubled its profits, helped by paying celebrities and other “influencers” to promote its products on Instagram. The Manchester-based company, which has turned its founders into multimillionaires, reported on Wednesday that sales had risen by 51% to £295m in the year to the end of February. This pushed the retailer’s pre-tax profit up by 97% to £31m. Mahmud Kamani, who founded Boohoo alongside the designer and self-described “proper northern lass” Carol Kane in 2006, said 2016 had been a “momentous year” for the company and his family. Its shares, which floated on the Aim market in 2014, have risen by more than 270%, from 50p to 186p, over the past 12 months. The retailer has a stock market value of £2.1bn, more than Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct at £1.7bn. The Kamani family owns 38% of the shares, worth more than £800m, while Kane owns 4.5%, worth almost £100m. Earlier this year, Boohoo expanded by buying fashion website PrettyLittleThing , which was set up by Kamani’s sons Umar, Adam and Samir. The company also boosted its US presence by buying Nasty Gal , founded by the former eBay star seller Sophia Amoruso, for $20m (£15.6m). Boohoo’s rise has mirrored that of Asos , shares in which have increased from £36 to £56 over the past 12 months, as investors back large online brands. Asos is now valued at £4.7bn, equal to 80% of Marks & Spencer. Neil Catto, Boohoo’s chief financial officer, said the company’s success with mostly millennial customers had been driven by its focus on encouraging celebrities and bloggers to post about the retailer’s clothes on Instagram. “We work with a whole spectrum of influencers, celebrities and wannabe bloggers – all people with a presence online – and we work with them so they can spread the word about Boohoo. It goes likes wildfire on Instagram,” he said. Catto said it was hard to single out any Instagram user as delivering the most sales, but the launch of a plus-size range with the model Jordyn Woods had proved very popular. “It got a lot of buzz as she is friends with the the Kardashians,” he said. He declined to say how much influential people are paid to promote the company’s clothes on social media, but added that some can be encouraged to help out in return for free samples and pizza. “You can pay people to wear your clothes, or give them free clothes, [but] some are just interested in our fashion and will come along and have a pizza in our offices and put the range on Instagram,” Catto said. Catto said the company’s target age group was 16 to 24-year-olds, but added that 50% are older than 24, while 10% are under 16. The retailer plans further expansion in the US, where sales grew by 140% compared with 33% in the UK. Analysts at stockbroker Peel Hunt, who have a buy rating on Boohoo’s shares, upgraded their 2017-18 pre-tax profit forecast to £40m. “With strong trading momentum from autumn/winter likely to have provided a good start to the new season, trading updates are unlikely to disappoint and the medium-term outlook remains encouraging,” they said. Kamani has vowed to focus on growing the business rather than enjoying his millions. When he cashed in more than £200m of shares in the company’s flotation, his phone rang non-stop, he said. “Someone rang to ask if I wanted to buy a jet. Someone even asked if I wanted to buy a football club. I said to him: ‘Are you on drugs?’,” he said at the time . Kamani inherited his love of fashion from his father, Abdullah, who sold handbags on market stalls in north-west England after leaving Kenya in the 1960s. Kamani went on to found a successful family textile business, supplying high street names such as New Look and Primark, before focusing on Boohoo. Asked why the business started in Manchester , he joked: “That’s where the plane landed. London was probably an extra £60.” Topics '|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/26/boohoo-profits-nearly-double-celebrities-instagram-online-fashion-retail'|'2017-04-27T02:31:00.000+03:00' '43e811b737b7dc3777ad1a4b79fdf36edd310382'|'Asian stocks extend gains on bullish Wall Street, euro steady'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:57am BST Asian stocks extend gains on bullish Wall Street, euro steady A man walks in front of an electronic board showing Japan''s Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai HONG KONG Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth straight day on Wednesday as Wall Street hit new peaks while the euro consolidated recent gains as immediate concerns of political uncertainty in the euro zone receded. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.1 percent, hovering near their highest since June 2015. Early Asian stock markets such as New Zealand .NZ50 and South Korea .KS11 were key gainers. A strong finish to U.S. markets was the main driver. The Nasdaq Composite hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of corporate America. [.N] Fanning the market''s rally were reports that President Donald Trump''s tax reform proposals, due to be announced on Wednesday, would include a slashing of the corporate tax rate and lower taxes on offshore earnings stockpiled by U.S. companies overseas. In currency markets, the euro built on strong gains posted this week after business-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French vote on Sunday and opinion polls indicated less support for the eurosceptic Marine Le Pen. While that is not expected to sway the European Central Bank into further action at Thursday''s meeting, policymakers see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus, according to sources, another factor underpinning the single currency. "In our view, downside risks to growth have actually decreased with the outcome of the first round of the French election...the underlying tone of the press conference should still be positive," Holger Sandte, a strategist at Nordea markets wrote in a note. The euro EUR=EBS was steady at $1.09285, retaining most of Monday''s 1.3 percent gain. On Monday, it posted its strongest one-day performance in 10-1/2 months, which lifted the common currency to a 5-1/2-month high. Growing appetite for risk meant safe-haven assets fell out of favor, with U.S. 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR firming to 2.34 percent from 2.23 percent on Friday. U.S. crude futures slipped after a volatile overnight session following an industry report showed a surprise build-up in inventories. U.S. crude futures CLc1 were down 0.7 percent at $49.24 a barrel. (Editing by Jacqueline Wong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17S035'|'2017-04-26T08:50:00.000+03:00' 'e42e0fae56694553eb9de0edc1dde743aca7dde8'|'Giant rabbit dies on United Airlines flight to United States'|'World News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 3:38pm IST Giant rabbit dies on United Airlines flight to United States LONDON A 3-foot giant rabbit has died on a United Airlines flight from London, prompting a review at the Chicago-based airline which faced a global backlash this month over its treatment of a passenger who was dragged from his seat. The 10-month old rabbit named Simon, who was tipped to become one of the world''s largest rabbits, was travelling to O''Hare in Chicago from Britain after a celebrity owner purchased him. He was healthy before the flight, according to the rabbit''s breeder. "Simon had a vet’s check-up three hours before the flight and was fit as a fiddle," breeder Annette Edwards told The Sun newspaper. "Something very strange has happened and I want to know what." The Continental Giant breed rabbit died in the cargo section of a Boeing 767 after leaving Heathrow, she said. "I’ve sent rabbits all around the world and nothing like this has happened before," Edwards, a former Playboy model, was quoted as saying. "The client who bought Simon is very famous. He’s upset." United said it was saddened by the news of Simon''s death. "We were saddened to hear this news," said United spokesman Kevin Johnston in an emailed response. "We have been in contact with our customer and have offered assistance. We are reviewing this matter." "The safety and wellbeing of all the animals that travel with us is of the utmost importance to United Airlines and our PetSafe team," the United spokesman said. Earlier this month, a United passenger, Dr. David Dao, was dragged from his seat off a parked plane at O''Hare International Airport bound for Louisville, Kentucky, to make room for crew members. Video recorded by other passengers showed Dao, a 69-year-old doctor, being dragged down the aisle with blood on his face after refusing to give up his seat on a flight from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky on April 9. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton, Editing by Angus MacSwan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ual-rabbit-idINKBN17S148'|'2017-04-26T08:08:00.000+03:00' 'ea5b8f05c317c73d5fef80e90f5b40e4aaa79bb0'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips as Home Capital slumps; energy stocks gain'|'Market News 10:58am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips as Home Capital slumps; energy stocks gain (Adds details on specific stocks, updates prices) * TSX down 9.51 points, or 0.06 percent, at 15,735.68 * Six of the TSX''s 10 main groups move higher TORONTO, April 26 Canada''s main stock index slipped on Wednesday, weighed by a plunge in shares of Home Capital Group Inc after the mortgage lender agreed to a major credit line, while energy stocks moved higher as oil prices reversed losses. Home Capital fell 58.7 percent to C$7.06 after the alternative lender said it would secure a C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) credit line to shore up its shrinking balance sheet. Other influential decliners included Burger King and Tim Horton parent Restaurant Brands International, which fell 4.5 percent to C$75.82 despite reporting profit and revenue that beat expectations. The energy group climbed 0.6 percent, as U.S. oil prices pushed higher following a bigger-than-expected drawn on the country''s crude inventories. At 10:45 a.m. ET (1445 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 9.51 points, or 0.06 percent, at 15,735.68. Six of its 10 main groups were in positive territory. Teck Resources Ltd advanced 3 percent to C$29.71 after it said it will double its dividend payout. Industrials rose 0.2 percent, led by the country''s two main railway companies after recent solid results. Canadian National Railway Co added 0.8 percent to C$99.90 while rival Canadian Pacific railway Ltd added 1.0 percent to C$212.08. Canadian retail sales fell more than expected in February, dragged down by lower vehicle purchases and cheaper prices for gasoline at the pump, but the decline did not alter expectations for strong economic growth in the first quarter. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-idUSL1N1HY118'|'2017-04-26T22:58:00.000+03:00' 'da2f4b250a579b4ebb3766b274a2f7fce938285a'|'LME favours new pricing mechanism to boost monthly trading'|' 05am BST LME favours new pricing mechanism to boost monthly trading Men walk past the London Metal Exchange (LME) in London, July 22, 2011. REUTERS/Paul Hackett/File Photo By Peter Hobson - LONDON LONDON The London Metal Exchange wants to attract funds and reverse falling volumes by boosting liquidity on monthly settled contracts using prices from trading on other dates, Matt Chamberlain, the LME''s new chief executive, told Reuters. The LME is under pressure to build volumes after they fell 7.7 percent last year and 4.3 percent in 2015. The exchange is proposing a process called implied pricing that would extrapolate prices for contracts that mature on the third Wednesday of each month from trading activity on its most liquid three month date. The mechanism would generate an artificial price from bids on a three-month date and carry trades that connect them to a third Wednesday. It could also extrapolate prices for three-month contracts from activity on third Wednesdays, allowing liquidity on each date to be mutually reinforcing. Chamberlain, who was appointed on April 21, said the idea had the support of members and traders. "Implied pricing is the easiest way to go," he said on Tuesday. "That is likely to be the most sensitive way of moving the market to where we think it needs to be." The implied pricing idea is one of four proposals in a discussion paper published on Monday to boost trading of contracts which settle on the third Wednesday of each month. Chamberlain is hoping the "third Wednesday" contracts, which are closer to the standardised monthly futures of other exchanges, will attract fund investors. But traditional members fear liquidity on three-month contracts could fall, undermining the exchange''s position as global benchmark setter. The other proposals in the discussion paper are incentives to trade on third Wednesdays, to introduce a separate monthly futures contract and for members who trade over-the-counter (OTC) with clients to publish their volumes and prices for third Wednesday dates on the LME. All four options are on the table until the deadline for feedback on the discussion paper ends on June 30. But Chamberlain said promoting a futures contract would risk splitting liquidity and that implied pricing would make the reintroduction of incentives unnecessary. He said the OTC option would create a parallel market on the LME''s system, which the exchange would prefer to avoid. Funds also want the LME to allow investors to settle trades as soon as they are closed, enabling them to immediately realise profits and losses. They can do this on other exchanges such as the CME ( CME.O ), but not with the LME''s monthly contracts. Chamberlain is aiming to make the change but only after putting in place measures to protect industrial users who benefit from financing from their brokers under current rules. Those measures could take a year to put in place, he said. "To do it straight away might impact some of our core physical market stakeholders." (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Pratima Desai and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lme-reform-idUKKBN17R305'|'2017-04-26T07:05:00.000+03:00' '5b2d4f0f833e2010a7f7e94f62f6c93980bba60d'|'European shares edge up, Kering charges to record highs'|' 10:56am BST European shares edge up, Kering charges to record highs Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, June 24, 2016 . REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Helen Reid - LONDON LONDON French luxury group Kering ( PRTP.PA ) hit a record high on Wednesday after reporting strong sales and European shares hovered near a 20-month peak, supported by a wave of earnings results that largely outperformed market expectations. The pan-European benchmark gained 0.1 percent in early trading as luxury stocks and financials underpinned gains, though some heavy fallers including French stationary maker Bic ( BICP.PA ) and fertilizer producer Yara YARA.OL checked further increases. France''s CAC 40 .FCHI was little changed, just off the nine-year highs hit earlier this week after the investor-friendly centrist Emmanuel Macron progressed to the second round of the French presidential election. "We have had 25 percent of companies reporting, and a majority of those have beaten estimates," said Emmanuel Cau, global equity strategist at JP Morgan. "Pretty much every single Eurozone data point out has surprised to the upside, and this is driving upgrades." Kering ( PRTP.PA ) was the top gainer, up 10 percent after surprisingly strong first quarter sales at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent helped the company beat market forecasts. "We expect the Gucci turnaround to continue for at least another quarter as the brand momentum continues," said Bernstein luxury analyst Mario Ortelli. Other luxury names across Europe rose on Kering''s momentum, with Moncler and Salvatore Ferragamo top of Italy''s blue-chips, and LVMH notching up another record high, up 1.7 percent. Logitech ( LOGN.S ) also soared 7.9 percent, hitting a near nine-year high, after posting a 52 percent increase in profit and 15 percent rise in sales for its fourth quarter, surpassing forecasts. Fallers were led by Bic, which plunged 10 percent to a more than two-year low, after its first-quarter net income and sales fell on weak U.S. demand. Fertilizer producer Yara YARA.OL fell 5.5 percent in healthy volumes, after it missed first-quarter forecasts as margins were squeezed by rising natural gas prices. French software solutions company Dassault Systemes ( DAST.PA ) fell 5.5 percent, set for its worst day in six months, after it announced single-digit growth in new licenses in its first quarter. Analysts at Baader Helvea said this disappointed after double-digit growth in new licenses drove the shares higher at the end of 2016. Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ), which kicked off much-anticipated results for European banks with a beat and plans for a $4 billion cash call, rose 2.3 percent, outperforming the regional banking index .SX7P. Regional banks supported European gains after Standard Chartered also posted robust results with profit doubling in Q1. Overall, first-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies were expected to rise 5.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. Revenues are expected to increase 5.7 percent. That compares to the 11.4 percent earnings growth expected for top U.S. companies. (Reporting by Helen Reid, Editing by Vikram Subhedar and Richard Lough)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-idUKKBN17S12R'|'2017-04-26T17:56:00.000+03:00' '513e51eadd82490ba14601fb2e99266253577bc5'|'LPC-Element’s Exova buy backed by US$1.5bn financing'|'By Claire Ruckin and Alasdair Reilly - LONDON, April 26 LONDON, April 26 UK-based Element Materials Technology’s acquisition of listed British laboratory-based testing firm Exova Group will be backed with a US$1.5bn-equivalent financing underwritten by four banks, according to documents.Exova announced on April 19 that Bridgepoint-owned Element would buy it in a deal valued at £620.3m, partly financed through equity and shareholder debt, underwritten by Bridgepoint’s pan-European fund BEV, as well as the debt financing.The financing comprises a US$1.285bn-equivalent first-lien loan and a US$230m, eight-year second-lien loan. There is also US$50m of follow-on-funding in the form of unsecured notes.The first lien-loan comprises a US$720m seven-year term loan B; £160m seven-year TLB; €204.2m seven-year TLB; US$100m six-year revolving credit facility; and a US$50m seven-year capital expenditure facility.The dollar and euro term loans are guided to pay 350bp over Libor/Euribor if leverage is greater than 4.5 times; stepping down to 325bp over Libor/Euribor for leverage between 4.5 times-4.0 times and 300bp over Libor/Euribor when leverage falls below 4.0 times.The sterling TLB is offered at 450bp over Libor if leverage is greater than 4.5 times; stepping down to 425bp between 4.5 times-4.0 times and 400bp over Libor, if leverage is less than 4.0 times.The revolving credit pays 325bp over base rate and the capex 350bp over base rate. Both step down by 25bp based on the same leveraged gradient as the first-lien. The second-lien is set to pay 750bp over Libor. The unsecured notes pay 12%.HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ING and Barclays have arranged and fully underwritten the facility.The facility will be syndicated to investors shortly, banking sources said.Element last tapped the loan market in October 2016 when it repriced its US$225m dollar-denominated TLB and US$210m-equivalent euro-denominated TLB. Both tranches priced at 475bp over Libor/Euribor, with a 0% floor and a lender fee of 12.5bp.It also raised a further US$95m for capital expenditure, in addition to its existing US$70m capex facility.Element said it would pay Exova shareholders 240 pence per share in cash, representing a 10.7% premium to the stock''s closing price on March 24 before Exova entered talks with potential buyers.Element specialises in materials and product testing for the aerospace, oil and gas and transportation sectors.(Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/element-loans-idINL8N1HY6LH'|'2017-04-26T13:08:00.000+03:00' '50f55faee520029121cb0a1bdf9179a78c1c549e'|'Maruti Suzuki''s fourth quarter profit up 16 percent on higher sales of premium models'|'NEW DELHI Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country''s top-selling car maker, posted a 16 higher sales of premium models such as the Brezza SUV and Baleno hatchback, but the profit was slightly below expectations.Net profit for the three months ended March 31 rose to 17.09 billion rupees ($266.64 million) from 14.76 billion rupees in the year-ago quarter, the company said in a statement on Thursday.Analysts had expected the company to post a profit of 17.56 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.The company said it had restated profit figures for the year ago quarter to adjust for new accounting standards.Maruti, which sells one of every two cars in India, dominates the small car market and has been expanding its net by launching more premium vehicles to compete better with newer and planned entrants such as Kia Motors and SAIC Motor Corp who are finalising their India entry plans.Total income from operations of Maruti, which is majority owned by Japan''s Suzuki Motor Corp, rose 20.4 percent to 207.51 billion rupees. The company sold a total of 414,439 passenger vehicles during the quarter, up about 15 percent from the year ago period.Suzuki, which owns 56.2 percent of Maruti, gets the bulk of its revenues from Maruti which is valued by the market at about $30 billion, higher than the Japanese company''s about $20.5 billion. Aditi Shah; Writing by Swati Bhat; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/maruti-suzuki-india-results-idINKBN17T12L'|'2017-04-27T06:30:00.000+03:00' '9e521964e1770d4b71fdf5d0a497d0dceb146870'|'Samsung Electronics sees stronger earnings from chips, phones after first-quarter profit jump'|' 14am BST Samsung Electronics flags stronger second quarter; Elliott welcomes share cancellation left right Samsung Electronic''s Galaxy S8 and S8+ are displayed at its store in Seoul, South Korea, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 1/9 left right Children look at a mobile phone in front of an advertisement of Samsung Electronic at its store in Seoul, South Korea, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 2/9 left right FILE PHOTO: A woman takes a picture of the Samsung Galaxy S8+ smartphone with a Galaxy S7 during the Samsung Unpacked event in New York City, U.S. March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo 3/9 left right A man takes photographs of a Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphone at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 4/9 left right A man tries out a Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphone at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 5/9 left right A man using his mobile phone walks past an advertisement promoting a Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphone at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 6/9 left right Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphones are displayed at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 7/9 left right Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphones are displayed at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 8/9 left right A visitor looks at a Samsung Electronics'' Galaxy S8 smartphone at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 6, 2017. Picture taken on April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji 9/9 By Hyunjoo Jin and Se Young Lee - SEOUL SEOUL Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday flagged stronger earnings and announced a cancellation of treasury shares after posting a solid first-quarter profit boosted by the memory chip business, sending its shares to a new high. Samsung rejected a call from U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott to split itself in two but accepted part of the fund''s proposals on Thursday, revealing plans to cancel its existing treasury shares worth over $35 billion (£27.22 billion) by 2018. While the first quarter was a torrid time for Samsung as chief Jay Y. Lee was swept up in a political corruption scandal, the world''s top maker of memory chips, smartphones and televisions still managed to book a profit that supports expectations for record earnings in 2017. First-quarter operating profit for Asia''s most valuable company by market capitalisation was 9.9 trillion won (£6.81 billion), matching Samsung''s earlier guidance. Revenue rose 2 percent to 50.5 trillion won. Elliott welcomed the share cancellation and said it saw "room for even more progress". The fund had called for Samsung to adopt a holding company structure by splitting itself in two, and to pay out a 30 trillion won a special dividend. "We are encouraged that Samsung Electronics has agreed to take the bold step of optimising its balance sheet ... even as the company has faced obstacles," Elliot said in a statement. Samsung Electronics shares were up 2.6 percent at a record high in a flat wider market. In rejecting Elliott''s call for a holding company structure, Samsung cited issues including regulatory and legal risks, and said it would not boost investor returns. "Samsung concluded the risks and the challenging environment surrounding a change in the corporate structure would not be beneficial for enhancing shareholder value and sustaining long-term business growth," it said in a statement. CHIPS SIZZLE A memory chip super-cycle and the revival of the mobile business - damaged by the costly failure and fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 last year - look set to underpin Samsung''s profitability after the best quarterly result since 2013. "Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects to achieve growth on the back of continued robust memory performance together with improved earnings from the mobile business" following the global rollout of the new Galaxy S8 smartphone, Samsung said in a statement. Samsung''s chip business remained the top earner with a record 6.3 trillion won operating profit, buoyed by price gains for both DRAM and NAND memory chips as supply growth constraints and demand for more firepower on devices such as smartphones and servers boosted margins. The Apple Inc competitor''s mobile division reported January-March operating profit of 2.07 trillion won, down from 3.89 trillion won a year earlier. Samsung had no new premium product generate meaningful sales in the January-March period. Pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 launched in April were better than many analysts had expected, raising hopes the new flagship handset will make up for the failure of Note 7s. Recent complaints about red-tinted screens and spotty Wi-fi connection on the S8 would not have a major impact on the bottom line, analysts said. (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Se Young Lee; additional reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-samsung-elec-results-idUKKBN17T00V'|'2017-04-27T08:19:00.000+03:00' 'ea8807a12c8aea6abb9e240e628ed0b1394d294b'|'Chinese banks, brokers eye robo advice for edge on competition'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 3:38am BST Chinese banks, brokers eye robo advice for edge on competition left right FILE PHOTO: A Chinese stone lion sits beside a branch of China Merchants Bank in Shanghai January 20, 2010. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A woman sits in the reception area of PINTEC Group in Beijing, China, August 11, 2016. Picture taken August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A logo of Ant Financial is displayed at an event of the company in Hong Kong, China November 1, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo 3/3 By Elzio Barreto - HONG KONG HONG KONG China''s wealth management industry is preparing for a boom in automated investment advice and trading programs, or "robo-advisors", as brokerages, banks and insurers look for a cheaper way to increase revenue from retail clients. Robo advice services barely existed in China before 2015, but they are expected to manage $27.1 billion (£21.08 billion) of assets at the end of 2017, though that remains small relative to the $182 billion figure for the United States, where services launched several years earlier, according to market research firm Statista. But the market in China is forecast to more than double every year from 2017 to 2021, compared with U.S. growth of 29 percent a year, which will rapidly narrow the gap, Statista figures show. (For a graphic on robo advisory AUM and users in China vs U.S. click here %20MANAGEMENT-ROBOADVISORS/010040QR1LM/ROBO-ADVISORS.jpg) The number of Chinese investors using robo services is forecast to soar to 79.4 million over that period from fewer than 2 million last year. "Everyone talks about the billionaires, but actually we''re talking about hundreds of millions of customers in that income band who are basically starting to have investable assets that they want to reposition and redeploy," said Matthew Phillips, financial services leader for PwC China and Hong Kong. "The only way to service those customers is to automate those processes." Competition from large financial technology (Fintech) companies, including Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial, Ping An-backed Lufax, and startups such as WaCai is pushing traditional financial companies to embrace the trend. Some traditional players without the technical expertise to develop their own robo advisors are turning to technology firms such as Pintec Group''s Xuanji and MiCai. Others, like China Merchants Bank (CMB), the country''s largest non-state-backed lender, have managed to create their own. After a months-long nationwide advertising campaign, CMB launched in December its "Machine Gene Investment", or Mojie robo advisory service, which pre-selects a range of assets and trades them automatically, cutting the costs of investment advice for users of its internet banking app. The bank said users had invested an average 36,900 yuan (£4,157) each so far in the new service, and a person familiar with the bank''s business said the service had racked up 3 billion yuan in assets under management in just a couple of months. MUST HAVE After months in development, Ant Financial, the world''s largest fintech firm, will be launching automated advice to its millions of clients this year, people familiar with the plans told Reuters. The company itself said it wouldn''t be offering them "in the short-term". The sources also said Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) is about to introduce a similar tool. ICBC, the world''s largest bank by assets, declined to comment. Moves by the two behemoths could tempt others off the fence about robo services. "When you have a main-street bank that did a huge marketing campaign in that particular field ... that solution becomes a must-have for the industry, and the bigger state-owned banks follow them," said Gregory Van den Bergh, chief executive of MiCai, China''s oldest robo advisor. "It''s had a very good effect on the industry." Xuanji signed early in 2017 to have its technology run Minsheng Securities'' robo advisor and expects to soon close other deals with an insurer and a bank in China, CEO Zheng Yudong said. MiCai is getting many inquiries from banks in mainland China, though the company can''t disclose the names of clients, Van den Bergh added. An EY survey of wealth management clients and industry executives showed Chinese respondents, who are already used to handling most of their finances on mobile phones, were the most likely in Asia Pacific to open robo advisory accounts. As many as 76 percent said they would consider it, compared with just 25 percent in Australia. Given low-interest rates in China and expensive real estate, Chinese investors are seeking alternative ways to generate returns, while avoiding the volatility that followed a major slump in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets in 2015. Many hope that a robo-tailored portfolio can deliver. "Robo advisory is not for gamblers. It''s not a sexy product. It''s supposed to prevent volatility; it focuses on stability, so lower returns, but no spikes up and down," Xuanji''s Zheng said. (Reporting by Elzio Barreto; Additional reporting by Shu Zhang in Beijing; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-wealth-management-roboadvisors-idUKKBN17T08R'|'2017-04-27T10:38:00.000+03:00' 'd202a37b4d1c17207d92cf14c8069cc37f5d89df'|'BlackRock to pay $1.5 mln to settle SEC charges over Russian ETF'|'Funds News 32pm EDT BlackRock to pay $1.5 mln to settle SEC charges over Russian ETF By Sarah N. Lynch - WASHINGTON, April 26 WASHINGTON, April 26 A unit of asset manager BlackRock Inc will pay $1.5 million to settle a complaint that it launched a Russian exchange-traded fund without proper regulatory approval, according to U.S. regulators. The April 25 settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and BlackRock Fund Advisors comes after the SEC said that from December 2010 through January 2015, the company operated iShares MSCI Russia Capped ETF in violation of SEC rules. Exchange-traded funds are an investment vehicle that own an array of stocks and bonds and trade in real time on public exchanges. Legal requirements governing mutual funds require that they seek a special exemption from the SEC before launching new ETFs. In this case, however, the SEC complaint said BlackRock Fund Advisors did not seek an exemption because it erroneously believed that the Russian fund was covered by a prior SEC agreement covering its iShares Inc and iShares Trust. BlackRock spokeswoman Tara McDonnell said the company did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. "The firm corrected and disclosed the issue in 2015 and no clients suffered any harm as a result of this issue," she said. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sec-blackrock-idUSL1N1HY27F'|'2017-04-27T01:32:00.000+03:00' '17ca43cc677f4ab68d41583aac196b874b60293f'|'Newcrest expects to hit low end of gold target after damage to flagship mine'|' 01am BST Newcrest expects to hit low end of gold target after damage to flagship mine SYDNEY Australia''s Newcrest Mining Ltd ( NCM.AX ) said its fiscal 2017 gold production tally would come in at the low end of guidance of between 2.35 million and 2.60 million ounces due to a seismic event earlier this month that rocked its flagship Cadia mine in Australia. "FY17 group gold production is expected to be around the bottom end of the guidance range," Newcrest said. Gold production of 168,579 ounces from the Cadia mine in the March quarter was slightly lower compared with the previous quarter, according to the company. However, Newcrest maintained production guidance for the Cadia mine of between 730,000 and 820,000 ounces of gold as well as about 65,000 tonnes of copper this financial year. (Reporting by James Regan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-newcrest-output-idUKKBN17S34Z'|'2017-04-27T07:01:00.000+03:00' '6411f3df7f4b397355d4e1fe17a4d42ee849ba59'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as big banks weigh, Home Capital up after hiring bankers'|'TORONTO, April 27 Canada''s main stock index opened lower on Thursday, weighed down by losses among its heavyweight banks, while alternative lender Home Capital Group Inc recovered some of the previous session''s sharp losses after hiring bankers to consider its strategic options.The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 88.30 points, or 0.56 percent, at 15,561.24 shortly after the open. The financial sector, which accounts for more than a third of the index''s weight, was down 1.1 percent. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idINL1N1HZ10W'|'2017-04-27T11:43:00.000+03:00' 'f64b19cf919616e8f5bc91fd9c54f03d2474bd90'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 20'|'April 20 Britain''s blue chip FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 0.16 percent at 7103 points on Thursday, according to financial spreadbetters. * IHG: Global hotel chain InterContinental Hotels Group Plc said 1,200 of its franchised hotels in the United States, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, were victims of a three-month cyber attack that sought to steal customer payment card data. * RIO TINTO: Global miner Rio Tinto, on Thursday said first-quarter iron production from Australia fell 3 percent from the same period a year ago due to wet weather at its mines, but kept its full-year guidance intact despite weakening ore prices. * OIL: Oil prices regained some ground on Thursday after steep losses the previous day, with a slight drop in U.S. crude inventories stoking hopes that a push to rein in global oversupply could be gathering at least some momentum. * GOLD: Gold held firm on Thursday, after falling as much as 1 percent the previous day, as tensions surrounding North Korea and the upcoming French presidential election offered support to the safe-haven asset amid a firmer dollar. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,280 per ounce as of 0107 GMT. * Copper: London copper rose on Thursday but was mired near its lowest for the year after China''s refined production surged in March, underlining ample stocks in the world''s biggest metals consumer. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose by 0.7 percent to $5593 a tonne by 0126 GMT. * EMA: The European Medicines Agency (EMA), Europe''s equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is preparing to leave its London headquarters in the wake of Brexit and its executive director is hoping for a quick decision on its new location. France offered the northern city of Lille as a candidate to host the European Union''s drug regulator to replace London after Britain leaves the bloc, the government said on Wednesday. * EX-DIVS: BAE Systems, Barratt Developments, Intu Properties, Mondi and Smurfit Kappa Group will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 3.1 points off the FTSE 100, according to Reuters calculations. * Britain''s top share index closed down 0.5 percent at 7,114.36 points as it came under pressure once again on Wednesday, giving up the gains it had made in 2017 as sterling held close to a six-and-a-half-month high after Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap general election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Moneysupermarket.Com Group Q1 2017 Moneysupermarket.Com Plc Group PLC Trading Statement Release Man Group Plc Q1 2017 Man Group PLC Trading Statement Release Senior Plc Q1 2017 Senior PLC Trading Statement Release Go-Ahead Group Plc Q3 2016 Go-Ahead Group PLC Trading Statement Release Essentra Plc Essentra PLC Trading Statement Release Unilever Plc Q1 2017 Unilever PLC Trading Statement Release Sky Plc Q3 2017 Sky PLC Earnings Release Debenhams Plc Half Year 2017 Debenhams PLC Earnings Release Acacia Mining Plc Q1 2017 Acacia Mining PLC Earnings Release Hvivo Plc Full Year 2016 Hvivo PLC Earnings Release TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idINL3N1HS2DU'|'2017-04-20T03:57:00.000+03:00' '16fc6f6dd496e62ec49ec8a36d03a5f0275b07fe'|'BP sells stake in China petrochemical venture to Sinopec for $1.7 billion'|'Business 1:26pm BST BP sells stake in China petrochemical venture to Sinopec for $1.7 billion BP logo is seen at a fuel station of British oil company BP in St. Petersburg, October 18, 2012. REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk/Files LONDON BP ( BP.L ) has agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in the Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Company to a subsidiary of its joint venture partner Sinopec ( 0386.HK )( 600028.SS ) for $1.68 billion (1.31 billion pounds), the British oil major said. The sale represents BP''s first major divestment of a year in which it expects to sell assets worth between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion this year. It said it decided to sell out of the business because it wants to focus on areas where BP has proprietary technologies that give them a competitive advantage. However, the company said it remains open to potential chemicals deals in China. "China is a key region for our chemicals business and BP will continue to look for opportunities to build on our position in the country," said Rita Griffin, chief operating officer of BP''s global petrochemicals division. The oil major said it intends to use the funds raised from the SECCO sale for general corporate purposes. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bp-china-petrochemicals-divestment-idUKKBN17T1UN'|'2017-04-27T20:26:00.000+03:00' 'ac55cd7f362af3ed38d2c0993768013699bd15f0'|'Zodiac faces growing investor uncertainty over Safran offer'|' 18am BST Zodiac faces growing investor uncertainty over Safran offer The logo of French aircraft seats and equipment manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace is seen during the company''s first half of the 2015/2016 fiscal year presentation in Paris, France, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier PARIS Uncertainty is growing over a $9 billion (7.02 billion pounds) offer for aircraft seats maker Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) by French aerospace firm Safran ( SAF.PA ) as the embattled target company puts finishing touches to delayed first-half earnings now due on Friday. Shares in Zodiac fell sharply on Thursday after French radio station BFM Business reported that Zodiac could change its mind about accepting a merger offer from Safran ( SAF.PA ), following previous falls in its share price. BFM Business said, without identifying its sources, that Zodiac''s family shareholders, who hold about 29 percent of the company''s share capital, were considering a "Plan B" to ensure Zodiac remained independent. Zodiac, which delayed its first-half earnings by a week to April 28, could not be reached for comment. Safran declined to comment on the report. Zodiac shares were down 4.4 percent, the worst-performing stock on France''s SBF-120 .SBF120 equity index. Safran shares were up 0.1 percent. Safran has come under fire from UK hedge fund TCI over the deal, which includes an unusual two-tier structure involving a cash bid followed by a merger designed to woo controlling family shareholders without exposing them to hefty tax charges. "Confidence in this deal happening is trickling away due to the unexplained delay in publishing first-half results and sustained pressure from TCI on Safran," said a European analyst, asking not to be named. The JDD weekly said Safran could walk away from the deal, without identifying its sources. Safran said on April 25 that it was continuing with its exclusive talks to buy Zodiac. However, a series of profit warnings from Zodiac - including one in March - have led some Safran shareholders to criticise the deal, with TCI calling for it to be scrapped or at the very least reviewed. Reuters first reported on April 14 that Safran was exploring plans to lower or restructure its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace, and that two sources refused to rule out Safran walking away for the second time in seven years. Credit Suisse analysts said on Thursday that a revised Safran offer appeared the "most probable outcome". (Reporting by Manon Jacon, Cyril Altmeyer and Tim Hepher; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-zodiac-aero-m-a-safran-idUKKBN17T1DC'|'2017-04-27T18:18:00.000+03:00' '63810df97bd077c0becca04981db451ae3266e8a'|'Bayer CFO Dietsch to leave company in May 2018'|'Company News 09am EDT Bayer CFO Dietsch to leave company in May 2018 FRANKFURT, April 27 Bayer''s 55-year-old Chief Financial Officer Johannes Dietsch will leave the company at his own request in May 2018 after helping the German drugs and pesticides maker conclude its planned acquisition of U.S. seeds giant Monsanto. "Over the past 35 years, Johannes Dietsch has contributed to the success of Bayer in a number of different functions. We are very grateful to him for this service and would like to wish him all the best for when he leaves," Bayer''s Chairman Werner Wenning said in a statement on Thursday. Dietsch''s successor will be announced at a later date, Bayer said. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bayer-results-cfo-idUSFWN1HY1DQ'|'2017-04-27T14:09:00.000+03:00' 'f12ec3126a8d54ed4ae1aef7c2a6c45ad48abd26'|'WPP first quarter net sales held back by weaker North America'|' 42am BST WPP sales held back by weak U.S., sees improving momentum LONDON WPP ( WPP.L ), the world''s largest advertising group, reported a 0.8 percent rise in first-quarter like-for-like net sales growth, slightly shy of expectations at about 1 percent, citing a weak performance in North America. New business momentum, however, produced $2.1 billion (£1.63 billion) of net new work in the first in the first three months of the year, compared with $1.8 billion in the same quarter last year. The British company, led by founder and CEO Martin Sorrell, rattled investors in March when it cut its 2017 sales forecast, citing an ultra competitive environment in which rivals were having to scrap for every dollar of advertising spend. From 3.1 percent net sales growth in 2016, WPP cut its key 2017 target to a "conservative" 2 percent because of "tepid" economic growth and weaker net new business trends. It reiterated that 2 percent target on Thursday and said it expects a stronger second half of the year. WPP, which has outperformed rivals for several years, lost contracts from the likes of VW ( VOWG_p.DE ) and AT&T ( T.N ) in 2016 and could suffer this year after consumer goods giant Unilever( ULVR.L ), its third-biggest customer, said it planned to cut advertising spending. (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wpp-outlook-idUKKBN17T0OK'|'2017-04-27T14:21:00.000+03:00' '0b30e07da6006a8500b296d9632ed18f5cd7b723'|'Tanker firm Frontline files legal complaint against DHT'|'(Adds detail)OSLO, April 27 Tanker operator Frontline is heading to court again as part of its efforts to gain full control of rival DHT Holdings, days after it made a fifth offer for the company.Frontline, controlled by billionaire investor John Fredriksen and owner of a 14.5 percent stake in DHT, has over the past year tried to acquire all of DHT''s shares.On Tuesday it made another all-share offer - 0.8 of a Frontline share for each DHT share - and set a 24-hour deadline for DHT to respond.DHT has not accepted Frontline''s latest offer and so Frontline said on Thursday it had filed a complaint in the Marshall Islands, where DHT is incorporated."Frontline has today filed a complaint ... to immediately enjoin portions of the unfair transaction documents into which DHT has entered" with BW Group, Frontline said in a statement, referring to DHT''s top shareholder which owns a 34.28 percent stake."We continue to urge the Board of DHT to negotiate in good faith with Frontline over its proposed offer, and not to contravene their duties to DHT''s shareholders," it said.After Frontline''s March offer, DHT struck a deal with privately owned BW Group, led by shipping tycoon Andreas Sohmen Pao.The surprise move had been expected to end Frontline''s ambitions, despite an attempt by Frontline to stop the deal in court in the United States. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/dht-holdings-ma-frontline-idINL8N1HZ10I'|'2017-04-27T04:33:00.000+03:00' '435608065b510ddcc8b3deef8b0eb1a2136f0054'|'Japan finance minister to meet Japan Post CEO over Toll writedown: source'|'TOKYO Japan''s finance minister will meet the chief executive of Japan Post Holdings Co ( 6178.T ) in the coming days over the state-controlled company''s shock $3.6 billion writedown on its Australian logistics arm, Toll Holdings Ltd, a source said.The source, who has direct knowledge of the meeting, said Taro Aso and Japan Post''s Masatsugu Nagato would focus on the company''s response to the impairment charge, booked just two years after the acquisition of Toll.The 2015 cash deal was widely criticized at the time. Analysts and bankers questioned the rich premium as Japan Post rushed to seal its first overseas transaction just months ahead of its initial public offering.Japan Post announced the 400 billion yen writedown on Toll earlier this week. The hit pushed it to an annual loss of 40 billion yen for the year ended in March.News of the writedown comes at a sensitive time for Tokyo, which is planning the sale of additional government shares in the Japan Post. Japan, which still controls 80 percent of the company, aims to raise around 4 trillion yen ($35.96 billion) through that sale.The divestment is partly aimed at funding the rebuilding of areas hit by Japan''s 2011 earthquake and tsunami. No date has been set, but Tokyo has named six investment banks to serve as underwriters.The government sold about $12 billion worth of shares in Japan Post and its two financial units in the initial public offering.Japan Post declined to comment. A finance ministry spokesman said he was not aware of any meeting.(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-post-toll-idUSKBN17T0E0'|'2017-04-27T07:59:00.000+03:00' '69deff2fd8481b74c8c90a066fdf1fff66865caf'|'Royal London to vote against Persimmon on pay, board members'|' 14am BST Royal London to vote against Persimmon on pay, board members Builders construct modular Space4 homes on a Persimmon development in Coventry, February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Darren Staples British investor Royal London Asset Management said on Thursday it would vote against housebuilder Persimmon ( PSN.L ) on several pay-related issues at its annual general meeting. RLAM, which has a 0.46 percent stake in Persimmon worth 32 million pounds, said it would oppose planned resolutions to approve the remuneration report, the re-election of the chair of the remuneration committee and committee member Nigel Mills. The AGM is due to be held later on Thursday. Ashley Hamilton Claxton, corporate governance manager at Royal London Asset Management, said she had long-standing concerns about pay at the company despite its "impressive" performance. Calling the firm''s long-term incentive plan excessive, she said it could mean a payout equivalent to 10 percent of the value of the company, which could see the chief executive pocket more than 100 million pounds. "The house building sector is one where companies can experience a significant uplift from factors outside of their control, such as interest rates and government policy. As such we question the value of pay plans that provide high windfall payouts to executives," she said. However, she did back the firm''s new remuneration policy, which governs payouts over the next three years, as it would limit performance share awards to just twice the directors'' annual salaries. Last June, RLAM called on Persimmon to scale back an executive pay plan that could see its management share in windfalls of almost 600 million pounds in six years. Rival Crest Nicholson ( CRST.L ) also saw its directors'' pay report voted down earlier this year, as investors grow increasingly discontent with housebuilder''s large LTIP plans. (Reporting by Rachel Armstrong, Simon Jessop and Esha Vaish; editing by Carolyn Cohn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-persimmon-agm-investor-idUKKBN17T16Y'|'2017-04-27T17:14:00.000+03:00' 'fbff49cd7ef0839cac931da0a4efb69aa6a71dd1'|'MOVES-Former BlackRock executive Chris Leavy joins cannabis firm'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:49am EDT MOVES-Former BlackRock executive Chris Leavy joins cannabis firm April 27 Cannabis company MedMen said on Thursday Chris Leavy, former BlackRock Inc executive, joined the Los Angeles-based firm as co-chairman and a partner. Leavy was the managing director and chief investment officer of the U.S. fundamental equity division of BlackRock. Prior to his stint at the asset manager, Leavy held senior roles at Morgan Stanley and OppenheimerFunds. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/medmen-moves-chris-leavy-idUSL4N1HZ5WR'|'2017-04-27T22:49:00.000+03:00' 'bd2b25fc6db0f0c6c5ab691be92d22b717421791'|'Saudi Aramco CEO says oil market rebalancing after OPEC-led cuts'|'By Alex Lawler - PARIS PARIS The oil market is moving towards a balance between supply and demand with the help of an agreement reached between OPEC and other producers to cut production, the chief executive of Saudi Aramco said on Thursday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first half of 2017, although persistent high global inventories have depressed oil prices.OPEC meets again on May 25 and is expected to extend the pact until the end of 2017 in a bid to end the supply glut."The market is moving toward rebalancing," Aramco''s CEO Amin Nasser told a conference in Paris. "I see the oil market pointing upward and expect it to continue improving.""This returning confidence is being driven by improving fundamentals, and accelerated by the production agreement reached last year," he said referring to the OPEC-led cuts.Despite short-term volatility in oil prices, he said there had been "a rapid drawdown of floating storage during the first quarter of this year."Oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed down by concerns about globally bloated markets, but traders said prices seemed to have found support around current levels. [O/R]Brent futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 50 cents at $51.32 per barrel at 1025 GMT on Thursday, but remain above the $46 price level where they traded in late November just before OPEC announced plans to cut supply.Nasser said the oil industry needed to continue investing in long-term project despite short-term price volatility."An estimated 30 million barrels per day of oil production capacity needs to be developed over just the next five years ... and incremental, short-term, and lower capital investment projects are just not going to cut it," he said."So while the short-term market points to an oil surplus, the supplies required for the years ahead are falling behind substantially because the vast, long-term investments in proven and reliable energy sources are not being made," he said.He said a lack of investment threatened world energy security.More than $1 trillion worth of oil projects have been cancelled or delayed since mid-2014, when oil prices plunged from above $100 a barrel.Nasser said oil would play a key role in meeting future global energy demand, saying the concepts of oil demand peaking and leaving stranded resources in the ground were "misleading"."The conclusion is clear: oil demand will continue to grow ... in absolute terms, at fairly healthy levels, for the foreseeable future," he said.(Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/aramco-oil-idINKBN17T1FS'|'2017-04-27T18:41:00.000+03:00' '75be49891366009039ce00e8c165461920cb58e3'|'Insurer AIA Group''s first quarter new business rises 55 percent'|'Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 11:32pm BST Insurer AIA Group''s first quarter new business rises 55 percent The logo of AIA is seen at a news conference announcing the annual results in Hong Kong, China February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Bobby Yip AIA Group Ltd ( 1299.HK ), the world''s third-largest life insurer by market value, posted a 55 percent rise in its new business in the first quarter, helped by a surge in sales in its key markets of China and Hong Kong. The insurer''s value of new business, which measures expected profits from new premiums and is a key gauge for growth, rose to $884 million during the quarter from $578 million a year earlier, a company statement said. China and Hong Kong together account for about half of new business growth globally at AIA, which was originally founded in Shanghai nearly 100 years ago and was the first foreign insurer to be granted a license in China. (Reporting by Ambar Warrick and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-aia-group-results-idUKKBN17S33L'|'2017-04-27T06:27:00.000+03:00' 'f1e14dd35f5390e2c7e3e97300f1b610fbebf0ae'|'ChemChina target Syngenta sees first quarter sales drop 1 percent'|' 19am BST ChemChina target Syngenta sees first quarter sales drop 1 percent The logo of Swiss agrochemicals maker Syngenta is seen at its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland July 22, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo FRANKFURT Syngenta ( SYNN.S ), the Swiss pesticides and seeds group that is being acquired by ChemChina CNCC.UL, said first quarter sales slipped 1 percent to $3.74 billion (£2.92 billion) as growth in Asian corn seed markets were offset by lower demand for fungicides and herbicides in Latin America. "While conditions for growers at the start of 2017 remain difficult, our business is steady and currencies are no longer a drag on our performance," said Chief Executive Officer Erik Fyrwald. The group reiterated its 2017 target for low single digit growth in sales, an improvement in the EBITDA margin and strong free cash flow generation. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by John Revill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-syngenta-results-idUKKBN17Q0E2'|'2017-04-24T13:19:00.000+03:00' 'a36166896d7c7d496df57f9d83219db747a0e902'|'Poland to receive its first U.S. LNG supplies - PM'|'Company News 16am EDT Poland to receive its first U.S. LNG supplies - PM WARSAW, April 27 Poland has signed an agreement to receive its first liquefied natural gas supplies (LNG) from the U.S., Poland''s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday. "Yes, this is a very important agreement, favourable in financial terms," Szydlo told public broadcaster TVP Info, adding that the deal will help Poland further reduce reliance on gas supplies from Russia. Cheniere Energy will make the first spot delivery in mid June, Maciej Wozniak, deputy head of state-run PGNiG was quoted as saying by news agency PAP. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/poland-gas-lng-idUSW8N0QR02A'|'2017-04-27T14:16:00.000+03:00' '0e866fada7bcc55085347b4a95d07161f8866bbb'|'WPP Q1 net sales held back by weaker North America'|'Company News 2:08am EDT WPP Q1 net sales held back by weaker North America LONDON, April 27 WPP, the world''s largest advertising group, reported a 0.8 percent rise in first-quarter like-for-like net sales growth, slightly shy of expectations at around 1 percent, due to a weak performance in North America. WPP said however that it had seen a resumption of net new business momentum in the first three months of the year, winning $2.1 billion of net new work in the first quarter, compared with $1.8 billion at the same time last year. It reiterated its outlook for the year, targeting net sales growth of around 2 percent and said it expected to have a stronger second half of the year. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/wpp-outlook-idUSL9N1FK02O'|'2017-04-27T14:08:00.000+03:00' 'c09aec1dd5a1617f5bfa7d3d50ed280a875e55a1'|'Brexit: UK carmakers ''sitting on their hands'' rather than investing - Business'|'Britain’s carmakers have warned that they do not believe a trade deal with the EU will be struck within the next two years and are “sitting on their hands” rather than investing in the UK.The flourishing industry is now seeking the earliest possible notice that there will be a transitional deal post-2019 that “keeps as much as possible” of the status quo for as long as possible.The imposition of either World Trade Organisation tariffs of 10% on passenger cars and up to 22% on commercial vehicles, or non-tariff barriers such as customs controls, would be devastating for a sector that relies heavily on the swift, free movement of parts and finished cars. Any change could lead to prices rising for consumers, Michael Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, claimed.More than half of all the cars and 90% of commercial vehicles built in the UK last year were bought by customers in Europe. The EU accounts for more than 80% of the UK’s motor vehicle imports. In 2016, 35.7m autoparts and components moved between the UK and the rest of the EU, in what is one of the most highly integrated sectors.The UK car industry believes it needs an agreement between the EU and the UK that ensures its unrestricted access to the talents of nationals from the continent. About 10% of the workforce in the UK are from the rest of the EU, but this is thought to rise to over 50% in some companies, at a time when there are 5,000 vacancies in the growing industry .At an event in Brussels to launch the EU car industry’s position on Brexit, Hawes said an early indication of a cushion for the car industry in 2019 was vital to allow companies to make investment decisions.He said: “Our experience of trade deals is that they take many, many years. We have the advantage that our regulations are in the same place but all the sounds from Brussels have been to say that it will be the divorce first and the rest later . It is no surprise that this reality is now taking hold in the UK. I think Boris Johnson has accepted as much.”Angela Merkel attacks British ''illusion'' of keeping benefits of EU Read more Hawes added: “The industry has been a tremendous success in the last five or six years. In terms of investment, it has been running at an average of £2.5bn per annum.“Last year it was down to £1.6bn, it has dropped off. Anecdotally you will find that companies are sitting on their hands to a certain extent until there is more clarity on the situation.“We need a transition arrangement, or an implementation period as the government would put it, that retains as much as possible. I don’t know how far that is possible.”Erik Jonnaert, the secretary general of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association , told reporters that the sector employed more than 12 million people across the EU, produced a quarter of the world’s vehicles every year, and represented more than 6% of the bloc’s GDP. “The reason why we are gathering today is that we want to get the message across to the negotiators that our industry is key to Europe, and I mean all 28 member states,” he said.Jonnaert added that it had become clear in recent weeks that there would not be a sectoral deal that would protect the car industry. “Whatever we are going to do following Brexit will cause some pain, so the question is how can we do it in the best possible way,” he said.Responding to the claims of the former Tory cabinet minister John Redwood , that consumers could avoid the costs of Brexit by buying British-made cars, Hawes said: “We don’t always see eye to eye with the hardline Brexiteers. There are around 400 models of cars on the market and it is a very small minority, albeit an important one, made [solely] in the UK.”Topics Automotive industry EU referendum and Brexit Trade policy European Union news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/uk/business'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/brexit-uk-carmakers-sitting-on-their-hands-rather-than-investing'|'2017-04-28T00:37:00.000+03:00' '94774729864c9505df811972d9d52b6acec36dfe'|'Restored Saudi state perks may avert recession, help economic reforms'|' 2:42pm BST Restored Saudi state perks may avert recession, help economic reforms left right FILE PHOTO: Saudi King Salman salutes as he attends a graduation ceremony and air show marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of King Faisal Air College in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser/File Photo 1/2 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stands during a reception ceremony for British Prime Minister Theresa May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 5, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 2/2 By Andrew Torchia - DUBAI DUBAI The decision by Saudi Arabia''s King Salman to restore cuts to financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel is being seen as helping the kingdom avoid recession this year while smoothing the path toward economic reforms. Last September, the government sharply reduced financial perks for employees in the public sector, where most Saudis work, in one of its most drastic steps yet to curb a huge budget deficit caused by low oil prices. On Saturday, Riyadh cancelled that step -- the first time it has reversed a major austerity policy since its budget crisis erupted two years ago. This followed widespread grumbling about stagnant living standards among ordinary Saudis. Such perks include housing, vacation, and sickness allowances plus monthly bonuses for some state and military workers. Analysts say the decision does not necessarily signal change in Riyadh''s determination to eliminate its deficit. Instead, it may be a tactical move designed to help authorities implement a controversial economic reform programme announced last year by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. That programme includes steps such as new taxes, domestic fuel price hikes, the transfer of much of the burden of development projects to the private sector from the government, and the sale of a stake in national oil giant Saudi Aramco. By showing it is sensitive to the public welfare and is looking for ways to share the financial benefits of reforms with society, the government may now be able to push ahead with its programme. "The government was forced to take extreme measures last year. Now they are more at ease with the fiscal situation so they are able to give something back to society," said John Sfakianakis, director of the Gulf Research Centre in Riyadh. "They aim to continue the reforms, and they want to do it with society''s support." CONSUMERS'' POCKETS Analysts have estimated that restoring the financial perks would put around 50 billion to 80 billion riyals ($13.3 billion to $21.3 billion) annually in consumers'' pockets. Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan told Al Arabiya television that payments would start by the end of May, just before the holy month of Ramadan, when Saudis traditionally splurge on holiday items and travel. Deputy Economy Minister Mohammed al-Tuwaijri said restoring the allowances was possible because Riyadh had made faster-than-expected progress in cutting its deficit. The gap was 26 billion riyals in the first quarter of 2017, well below the government''s projection of 54 billion riyals, he said. Riyadh has forecast a deficit of 198 billion riyals in 2017 and aims to eliminate the gap by 2020. However, the boost to consumer spending from the restored public will eventually be offset by new austerity measures. A tax on tobacco and sugary drinks will be introduced in coming weeks, raising up to 10 billion riyals annually. Officials also aim to hike domestic fuel and water prices in coming months, raising an additional 29 billion riyals. And a 5 percent value-added tax on most products is to be imposed at the start of 2018. Nevertheless, Sfakianakis estimated restoring the public perks would add half a percentage point to the non-oil economy this year, bringing its growth to around 1 percent. That could be enough for Saudi Arabia to avoid recession -- an important achievement for the economic reformers. A Reuters poll of analysts this month found them forecasting median Saudi gross domestic product growth of just 0.5 percent in 2017. A 1.4 percent rise in the Saudi stock index on Sunday, led by retailing companies, showed investors expect a boost to consumer spending. Authorities also signalled on Saturday that they intended to move ahead with a part of the reform programme that is popular among many ordinary Saudis: reducing corruption and making the government more transparent. A royal decree dismissed the kingdom''s information and civil service ministers and set up a committee to investigate allegations of abuse of the civil service office. The decree did not describe any specific allegations of wrongdoing. (Additional reporting by Marwa Rashad Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-economy-idUKKBN17P0FV'|'2017-04-23T21:42:00.000+03:00' '768a36d2e6827d5570201ccfb672aadf03ec1931'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks, FX jump as French vote whets risk appetite'|'Bonds News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 5:27am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks, FX jump as French vote whets risk appetite By Karin Strohecker - LONDON, April 24 LONDON, April 24 Emerging assets shifted up a gear on Monday as markets cheered the French election results, pushing developing stocks to a near-three week high and sending most emerging currencies surging against the dollar and euro. Sunday''s election saw centrist and market favourite Emmanuel Macron take a big stride towards the French presidency, winning the first round and lining up a showdown against far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote. Victory for the pro-European Union ex-banker in the opening round soothed nerves over the future of the bloc and its single currency, and whetted investors'' appetite for riskier assets. MSCI''s emerging market index extended gains into a third day and rose 0.5 percent as bourses across Asia , Europe and Africa chalked up solid gains. Currencies also firmed as the dollar suffered its biggest one-day loss in more than a month, weakening around 1 percent. South Africa''s rand proved the star performer, jumping nearly 2 percent to its strongest level in three weeks. "The big conclusion here is that the ''risk-on'' theory may get better support this week," said Luis Costa, the head of CEEMEA debt and FX strategy at Citi. "This is good for carry currencies in general...The markets may remain in a reasonably sweet spot whereby EM growth shows signs of some improvement." Turkey''s lira and Mexico''s peso both gained more than one percent with Russia''s rouble strengthened 0.9 percent, reflecting a similar rise in oil prices. Across central and emerging Europe, currencies and stocks also basked in the glow of the French results, with the threat of a second round between the anti-globalisation candidates Le Pen and the hard-left''s Jean-Luc Melenchon averted. Jakob Christensen, head of EM research at Danske Bank, said the risk of a wider EU crisis under a far-right president now looked much slimmer. A Le Pen presidency "would have raised doubts about the EU structural fund transfers to Eastern Europe," Christensen said. He noted Poland was the biggest net receiver of EU funds and Hungary the biggest in per capita terms. Stocks in Warsaw rose 1.4 percent while those in Prague added 1.2 percent. The zloty and the crown strengthened around 0.5 percent against the euro. Chinese assets were the exception however, with stocks tumbling more than 1 percent for their worst day this year on signs Beijing is willing to tolerate market volatility amid a regulatory clampdown on shadow banking and speculative trading. The yuan weakened 0.2 percent. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 968.99 +7.21 +0.75 +12.38 Czech Rep 989.27 +11.40 +1.17 +7.34 Poland 2295.49 +31.42 +1.39 +17.84 Hungary 33222.61 +253.17 +0.77 +3.81 Romania 8289.58 +56.74 +0.69 +17.00 Greece 681.13 +9.56 +1.42 +5.82 Russia 1107.10 +22.93 +2.11 -3.93 South Africa 45738.60 +237.62 +0.52 +4.18 Turkey 93146.14 +722.21 +0.78 +19.21 China 3129.78 -43.38 -1.37 +0.84 India 29649.50 +284.20 +0.97 +11.35 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HW1T5'|'2017-04-24T17:27:00.000+03:00' '2074ab18a4d5385e0a0238ef84ea8b984672d304'|'UPDATE 2-ValueAct unveils interest in KKR as firm shows earnings beat'|'(Adds news that activist shareholder ValueAct has taken stake in KKR)By Koh Gui Qing and Michael FlahertyNEW YORK, April 27 Activist shareholder ValueAct Capital said on Thursday it had invested in private equity firm KKR & Co LP after the buyout firm posted stronger-than-expected earnings on a stock market rally that boosted investment returns.ValueAct President Mason Morfit said the $16 billion activist investment firm has economic exposure of less than 5 percent in KKR and that the firm has done an excellent job investing in new products and businesses.KKR said separately that it welcomed ValueAct''s investment. The stock rose 7.2 percent to $19.05 on Thursday.A buoyant U.S. stock market, which hit a record high last quarter, has helped to bolster the performance of buyout firms that rely on strong returns to generate fees. Earlier this month, KKR''s larger peer Blackstone Group LP reported earnings that more than doubled.New York-based KKR said it had earned economic net income of $549.9 million after taxes in the first quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $553 million.On a per-share basis, that came to 65 cents, while analysts on average were expecting 50 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Economic net income, a key metric for U.S. private equity firms, accounts for unrealized gains or losses in investments.KKR said its investment income, comprising net realized and unrealized investment gains, stood at $298.7 million in the quarter, reversing a loss of $529.6 million a year earlier, when sliding oil prices dragged on returns.As a result, the company reported $348.5 million in performance income, made up of realized and unrealized gains in fees tied to investment returns, compared with a year-earlier loss of $124.9 million.KKR said its transaction fees more than doubled to $243 million from $96.1 million.An improved performance led to higher employee payouts. KKR said total compensation and benefits jumped more than five times to $284.7 million.In line with KKR''s promise this year to increase its quarterly dividend to shareholders by 1 cent, the company said it was distributing 17 cents per share.Although buyout firms pride themselves on generating market-defying returns, the broader market is still a significant influence on their performance.For instance, sources told Reuters earlier this year that KKR was preparing an initial public offering of Gardner Denver Inc.The IPO could value Gardner at between $6 billion and $7 billion, well above the $3.9 billion that KKR paid to take it private in 2013, as higher energy prices have increased the U.S. industrial machinery maker''s value. (Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kkr-results-idINL1N1HZ0IG'|'2017-04-27T13:27:00.000+03:00' 'debe7be9583913b3b0fc0b7b94d3232f0e780903'|'Companies cheer Trump tax cuts, but jobs are less certain to follow'|'U.S. businesses would reap a windfall if President Donald Trump''s plan to cut corporate tax rates and slash taxes on cash parked overseas becomes law, but it was unclear whether they would stimulate a surge in investment and job creation in return.Under Trump''s proposals, American companies would move from being the most highly taxed among the Group of 20 countries to among the lowest. Tax rates would fall below those of neighboring Mexico and Canada, which Trump has accused of shortchanging the United States in trade deals.Corporate leaders and business lobbying groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday cheered the administration''s tax proposals, while allowing that the initial one-page plan left out crucial details.The tax plan, which includes a cut in taxes on public companies to 15 percent from 35 percent, does not detail cuts in spending that would help keep the budget deficit under control.AT&T Corp ( T.N ) Chief Executive Randall Stephenson welcomed the tax plan but cautioned "the practical reality of getting to 15 percent is you have to get yourself reconciled to some level of deficits for a period of time as you get the economic stimulation."Big U.S. companies have nearly $1.8 trillion in cash stockpiled overseas, according to Moody''s Investors Service. Technology powerhouse Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) has more than $200 billion of that total.Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said the company was looking to bring back offshore cash if tax rates for doing so were lower."What we would do with it, let''s wait and see exactly what it is, but as I''ve said before we are always looking at acquisitions," Cook told investors on the company''s first-quarter earnings call in January in response to an analyst''s question about the company''s thinking on acquisitions.Cook''s comment points to a big unknown for the White House and congressional Republicans, who have said business tax cuts would result in more and better jobs.Studies of the results of past tax holidays found that most of the offshore cash brought home by U.S. companies was used to buy back shares or make acquisitions, not to fund investments in production capacity or jobs.Under pressure from shareholders, listed companies have set high targets for return on invested capital. General Motors Co ( GM.N ), for example, has told investors it is aiming for 20 percent returns on its capital investments.Many U.S. companies have been tightfisted about investing in new plants and equipment following the last recession, which left them wary of becoming overextended. Since 2014, investment in new equipment has flatlined, according to government data.A MIXED BAGThe financial impact of the White House tax plan will vary widely by company and business sector. A proposal to cut inheritance taxes, for example, is of high interest to auto dealers, which are often family-controlled enterprises.Many companies already pay less than the headline 35 percent tax rate. Companies in the S&P 500 index paid an average tax rate of 29.06 percent for 2016, Standard and Poors said.A change of a few percentage points in tax rates can make a big difference. Aircraft maker Boeing Co ( BA.N ) on Wednesday reported a 19 percent increase in first quarter profits, partly because of a 4 percentage-point drop in its tax rate."At the highest level we''re a big supporter of tax reform," Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told analysts and journalists on a call Wednesday. "It''s going to drive jobs, it''s going to drive the U.S. economy broadly speaking and it''s going to allow us to compete."Boeing has been cutting jobs in the United States, warning employees last week that it planned another round of cuts that would eliminate hundreds of engineering jobs.While the tax cuts may produce a short-term boost to the economy and add fuel to a stock market rally, it falls short of the comprehensive tax reform that Trump had pledged earlier.Regarding other parts of his agenda, his administration has been stymied in its attempts to limit immigration by the courts, while an attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed in Congress.“A cynic would say this is a rushed attempt to have something big to show for President Trump’s first 100 days in office," said Luke Bartholomew, investment strategist at Aberdeen Asset Management in London.(Reporting by Ginger Gibson, David Shepardson, Diane Bartz, Steve Nellis and Tim Aeppel; Writing by Joseph White; Editing by David Chance and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-business-idUSKBN17S2WF'|'2017-04-27T05:03:00.000+03:00' '5804608c30a0381c07da93497a74a5323fec1844'|'COLUMN-Drilling costs rise as U.S. oil, gas activity picks up: Kemp'|'* Chart 4: tmsnrt.rs/2p3GEOl By John Kemp LONDON, April 26 U.S. oil and gas drilling costs have started to rise in response to a surge in activity and are set to increase further as the slack in the rig market declines. Drilling costs increased by 7 percent between November 2016 and March 2017, according to preliminary data on producer prices from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase has offset only a small part of the 34 percent slump between March 2014 and November 2016 ( tmsnrt.rs/2q6RNzc ). But it is the first sustained gain in three years for drilling prices, which are now rising year-on-year for the first time since November 2014. Drilling prices are classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 213111 for “establishments primarily engaged in drilling oil and gas wells for others on a contract or fee basis”. Drilling prices do not include the cost of hydraulic fracturing, which is classified separately under NAICS code 213112, and where the previous decline in prices and subsequent recovery have been more muted. Drilling costs have a strong cyclical component and track changes in drilling activity with an average lag of two to three months ( tmsnrt.rs/2oL30Sg ). The number of rigs drilling for oil and gas hit a cyclical low at the end of May 2016 but has more than doubled since then ( tmsnrt.rs/2oLo37c ). The rebound is the fastest for at least a quarter of a century, according to rig counts published by oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active rigs has risen from a low of 404 at the end of May 2016 to 857 on April 21 and is still gaining by an average of 10-20 per week ( tmsnrt.rs/2p3GEOl ). Drilling prices will likely keep rising in the next few months as the lagged effect of past increases in the rig count filters through and rigs continue to be added. Cost inflation for drilling as well as other inputs into the exploration and production process will likely put upward pressure on breakeven prices for U.S. shale firms. Many shale producers report breakeven costs significantly below $50 per barrel but those costs are likely to rise as service companies push through price increases. Service companies have repeatedly warned that the severe cost compression that occurred between 2014 and 2016 was unsustainable, and drilling costs would need to rise during any sustained recovery. So far, the rise in drilling prices has been limited because of the large overhang of rigs stacked and crews idled during the downturn, which have limited the pricing power of drilling companies. But as more of the drilling fleet is reactivated, drilling companies are likely to regain some power to push through price increases onto their customers. “While the onshore rig count increase in North America has been more robust than many had expected, the industry is still working to absorb excess service capacity,” Baker Hughes told investors on Tuesday. “As this capacity is being consumed, we have seen labour and materials cost inflation in select product lines and basins,” the company wrote in its first-quarter earnings release. “With the demand growth we experienced this quarter, we believe we are on the cusp of a broader pricing recovery.” (“Baker Hughes announces first-quarter results,” Baker Hughes, April 25.) (Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-oildrilling-kemp-idUSL8N1HY57H'|'2017-04-26T20:47:00.000+03:00' 'e72ae5d8dc3cef3d453f85e0514663f12cade73e'|'European shares fall as ECB stands pat, banks drop'|'Market News 12:13pm EDT European shares fall as ECB stands pat, banks drop * Pan-European benchmark index down 0.2 pct * Deutsche Bank leads banks lower after sales drop * Well-received earnings help SKF, Nokia, Subsea 7 * Zodiac drops on doubts over Safran takeover (Adds closing prices, details) By Danilo Masoni and Helen Reid MILAN, April 27 European shares fell from 20-month highs on Thursday as weaker banks weighed, with the broader market little moved by a widely expected European Central Bank decision to stand pat on policy. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.2 percent, after hitting a 20-month high in the previous session. France''s CAC fell 0.3 percent, off Wednesday''s nine-year high. The ECB kept its ultra-easy policy stance in place as inflation continues to undershoot its target but explicitly acknowledged the vigour of the euro zone economy, now on its best run since the global financial crisis. The news conference by Mario Draghi saw equity indexes see-sawing but remarks from the central bank governor failed to provide a clear direction for markets. "This was a pretty confusing and conflicting performance from Mr Draghi. He''s had to acknowledge that the growth outlook has improved and the risks to the outlook are more balanced without following that through into the inflation outlook," said Aberdeen Asset Management investment manager James Athey. "At this stage, it''s better to just look beyond today. There''s enough from today to suggest that we might see a material change in policy in June," he added in a note. Besides the ECB, earnings were a key focus for equity traders in Europe. First-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies are expected to rise 5.5 percent and revenues are seen up 5.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. Deutsche Bank shares fell 3.7 percent as a fall in first-quarter revenues disappointed, even though net profit more than doubled due to a rebound in bond trading. "We are positive on costs and capital but the key uncertainty remains revenues," said UBS analysts. Deutsche Bank''s share price has nearly doubled from its September 2016 lows. A 6 percent drop in Spain''s Banco Popular added to underperformance in euro zone banks, down 1.8 percent. Intesa Sanpaolo also weighed, down 2.3 percent, after Generali said it saw a short term opportunity to sell its stake in the Italian lender. However, results from Lloyds boosted the British bank by 2.3 percent after its first-quarter profit bucked expectations of a post-Brexit dip. First-quarter earnings hit by weak margins in its renewable and retail business dampened appetite for shares in Finnish energy company Neste which fell 4.2 percent, dragging on the broader European energy index. Shares in debt-laden aeronautical firm Zodiac Aerospace fell 6.5 percent after a French media report raised doubts on a planned takeover by Safran. "Zodiac being acquired by Safran would actually be the best thing to happen for Zodiac shareholders," said Alphavalue analysts in a note, adding that its "dangerously" high level of debt would require a capital increase of 0.7 billion euros. Among risers, Mediclinic jumped 17.5 percent after Abu Dhabi cancelled a requirement for citizens to make a 20 percent co-payment for treatment at private facilities, in a boon to private healthcare providers. Elsewhere, upbeat results from the likes of SKF , Nokia and Subsea 7 were cheered as more investors piled into the European economic recovery story. Of the 20 percent of STOXX companies having reported so far, 70 percent had beaten estimates while 19 percent had missed, Thomson Reuters data showed. (Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HZ93P'|'2017-04-28T00:13:00.000+03:00' 'aa93b12631d64b46a796fa9bc2a4ce725624284e'|'Malaysia''s 1MDB reaches settlement deal with Abu Dhabi''s IPIC'|'KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia''s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said on Monday it had reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi state fund IPIC on the settlement of arbitration proceedings at the London Court of International Arbitration.The statement followed an announcement by International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) on the London Stock Exchange confirming a debt deal had been reached.Under the settlement, 1MDB will make certain payments to IPIC and will assume responsibility for all future interest and principal payments for two bonds issued by 1MDB Group companies due in 2022, the Malaysian fund said in the statement.1MDB said obligations will be met primarily via monetization of 1MDB-owned investment fund units. It said a first tranche monetization of about $50 million had been received, in cash.Last year IPIC had asked a London court to arbitrate in a dispute with 1MDB, in which IPIC claimed about $6.5 billion.(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-scandal-debt-idUSKBN17Q0TI'|'2017-04-24T17:36:00.000+03:00' 'c65885eececcc2257de7bd4c39040f825bee1b72'|'U.S. business borrowing for equipment rises 10 pct in March -ELFA'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:11pm EDT U.S. business borrowing for equipment rises 10 percent in March: ELFA Borrowing by U.S. companies to spend on capital investment rose last month, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Tuesday. Companies signed up for $8.9 billion in new loans, leases and lines of credit in March, up 10 percent from a year earlier. Their borrowing rose 51 percent from February. "The central bank''s recent rate hike may, in part, be responsible for the spike in equipment demand as businesses seek to lock in fixed rate financing ahead of steadily increasing interest costs," ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta said in a statement. Washington-based ELFA, a trade association that reports economic activity for the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 74.5 percent in March, down slightly from 74.8 percent in February. ELFA''s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. It is designed to complement the U.S. Commerce Department''s durable goods orders report, which it typically precedes by a few days. ELFA''s index is based on a survey of 25 members that include Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ), BB&T Corp ( BBT.N ), CIT Group Inc ( CIT.N ) and the financing affiliates or subsidiaries of Caterpillar Inc ( CAT.N ), Deere & Co ( DE.N ), Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ), Siemens AG ( SIEGn.DE ), Canon Inc ( 7751.T ) and Volvo AB ( VOLVb.ST ). The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, ELFA''s non-profit affiliate, said its confidence index fell to 65.8 in April from 71.1 in March. A reading of above 50 indicates a positive outlook. (Reporting by Radhika Rukmangadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-elfa-idUSKBN17R2LM'|'2017-04-26T03:00:00.000+03:00' '79e174b89e4a729825de7519d9c25ed04f32902b'|'EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm currencies weaken as Trump tax pledges spark inflation bets'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 12:24pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm currencies weaken as Trump tax pledges spark inflation bets By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 25 Latin American currencies weakened on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump''s promise to announce "big tax reform and tax reduction" invited bets that U.S. interest rates could rise faster than expected. Higher U.S. rates could dampen the allure of high-yielding, emerging market assets. The Colombian and Mexican pesos , as well as the Brazilian real, all weakened more than 1 percent. Still, hopes that lower taxes could lift corporate earnings helped boost world stocks for a second straight session, with most Latin American bourses tracking along. Ever since Trump''s 2016 election campaign, the Republican has promised to cut taxes and invest heavily in infrastructure, fueling expectations of inflationary pressure. Trump has directed aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said. An announcement is expected on Wednesday. Mexico''s IPC stock index rose 0.6 percent, in line with advances in Wall Street. Shares of Alpek were the biggest gainers after first-quarter operating profits fell less than expected from the year before. Shares of Brazilian college operator Kroton Educacional SA ranked among the biggest gainers on Brazil''s benchmark Bovespa stock index following strong student intake figures. However, concerns that President Michel Temer''s administration could face difficulties ensuring the approval of sweeping structural reforms helped to limit gains in Brazilian markets. Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1550 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 980.86 0.98 12.65 MSCI LatAm 2611.17 -1.01 12.7 Brazil Bovespa 64468.00 0.12 7.04 Mexico IPC 49693.94 0.57 8.88 Chile IPSA 4849.43 0.01 16.81 Chile IGPA 24342.11 -0.02 17.40 Argentina MerVal 21188.77 0.08 25.24 Colombia IGBC 10155.11 0.18 0.27 Venezuela IBC 51445.90 2.99 62.26 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1652 -1.25 2.65 Mexico peso 18.9250 -1.08 9.61 Chile peso 661.2 -0.94 1.44 Colombia peso 2902.45 -1.12 3.41 Peru sol 3.246 -0.09 5.18 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.4100 -0.06 3.02 Argentina peso (parallel) 16.04 0.50 4.86 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; editing by Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/latam-emergingmarkets-idUSL1N1HX12V'|'2017-04-26T00:24:00.000+03:00' '18f3996cd701e43ae2e24605153ce89853375c34'|'Indian farmers should pay tax, adviser says, challenging government'|'Money News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:52pm IST Indian farmers should pay tax, adviser says, challenging government Farmers sprinkle fertilizers on a paddy field on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo By Douglas Busvine and Manoj Kumar - NEW DELHI NEW DELHI A senior adviser to the Indian government proposed on Tuesday that farmers pay tax, in remarks that challenged government policy in a country of 1.3 billion people where there are only 37 million income tax payers. Economist Bibek Debroy, a member of the Policy Commission that serves as the government''s own think-tank, told a news conference that farmers should pay income tax in line with urban dwellers. They should be liable to tax on their incomes at the same thresholds, he also said, taking into account typical fluctuations in incomes experienced by farmers over a three-year period. India''s public finances are notoriously precarious, with the International Monetary Fund estimating that tax revenues are equivalent to just 17.7 percent of gross domestic product - low by comparison with other emerging markets. Still, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has ruled out taxing farmers, telling parliament last month: "Income from agriculture will not be taxed." Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, meanwhile, promised to double farmers'' incomes by 2022. The finance ministry declined to comment. Debroy''s remarks overshadowed a news conference held by the Policy Commission to mark the end of India''s 12th, and last, five-year plan - a legacy of the Soviet-style command economy set up by independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru. The Policy Commission, set up by Modi to replace Nehru''s Planning Commission, is now circulating a draft three-year "Action Agenda", to be followed by a seven-year "Strategy" and a 15-year "Vision" for India''s development. Debroy''s boss, Policy Commission Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya, parried further questions on whether to tax India''s 220 million rural households. Although most farmers are poor, the tax loophole they enjoy has been exploited by rich politicians and even Bollywood movie stars to generate "black" cash from illicit sources. "We support the proposal ... to tax agricultural income provided the government takes steps to improve the income level of the majority of farmers," said Dharmendra Malik, spokesman of a farmers'' union that is allied to Modi''s ruling party. Income tax in India starts at 5 percent when earnings exceed 250,000 rupees ($3,900), climbing to a top rate of 30 percent on incomes upward of 1 million rupees. The government plans to launch a nationwide goods and services tax (GST) in July that would broaden the tax base. But, critics say, by focusing on indirect taxation India risks burdening the poor who spend a greater share of their income on daily needs than the better off. ($1 = 64.2600 rupees)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/india-tax-farmer-idINKBN17R1HN'|'2017-04-25T20:22:00.000+03:00' '773070bc858228107800e9bf7cd504a649cb014e'|'Panera to add 10,000 new delivery jobs by year end'|'Company News 30am EDT Panera to add 10,000 new delivery jobs by year end LOS ANGELES, April 24 Panera Bread Co on Monday said it would add more than 10,000 new delivery jobs by the end of the year, as it expands the service to as much as 40 percent of its restaurants. The bakery-cafe chain, which has agreed to be purchased by JAB Holdings in a deal valued at about $7.5 billion including debt, at the end of 2016 offered delivery at 15 percent of its 2,036 restaurants. The expansion comes as U.S. restaurant chains fight to woo more customers amid a tough traffic slump and intense competition. Delivery adds about $5,000 to weekly sales at each cafe, a boost of around 10 percent, Panera President Blaine Hurst told Reuters. "We''re selling more food," said Hurst, who added that about 80 percent those new sales are from new customers or existing customers who are increasing the frequency of their purchases. While McDonald''s USA, Jack in the Box Inc, P.F. Chang''s China Bistro Inc and other chains depend on partners like UberEats, DoorDash Inc, Seamless and GrubHub Inc to provide delivery, Panera is running the business in house. Hurst said 75 percent of the new jobs will go to drivers, who use their own cars. The remaining positions will be in food preparation, he said. Delivery companies, many of which own the data they collect about consumers who order food through their sites, make money by charging restaurant partners a commission of 10 percent to 30 percent. Some also add separate delivery fees for diners. Panera introduced delivery in early 2015. Delivery is integrated with the company''s digital and mobile services and linked to its MyPanera loyalty program, which allows its 25 million members to save their favorite menu items, earn and track rewards, and receive personalized offers. Panera said cafes will generally deliver between the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., often for a $3 delivery fee. Panera also is introducing a new order tracking system from Bringg that sends users a picture of their driver, provides delivery status updates and notifications when orders have arrived. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/panera-bread-jobs-idUSL1N1HT1PR'|'2017-04-24T18:30:00.000+03:00' '465ed6d975dab82cb0f35c652e07f0b9bec8b8c6'|'China policymakers bullish on economy, cite strong first-quarter GDP, stable yuan'|'Business News 12:05am EDT China policymakers bullish on economy, cite strong first-quarter GDP, stable yuan left right A businessman takes pictures of recently erected office and residential buildings in Beijing, China April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 1/2 left right Chinese Finance Minister Xiao Jie speaks to the media after his news conference during the ongoing National People''s Congress (NPC), China''s parliament, in Beijing China March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee 2/2 SHANGHAI Policymakers in China are pushing a bullish message on the world''s second-biggest economy after a solid first quarter, pointing to a slow down in capital outflows and a stable yuan after a selloff last year stoked fears of instability. Speaking at a G20 summit meeting of the world''s top economies in Washington last week, finance minister Xiao Jie said an increasing number of positive signs were seen in the Chinese economy in the first quarter gross domestic product report. China is confident of reaching the government''s 6.5 percent GDP growth target this year, Xiao said in a notice published on the Ministry of Finance''s website on Saturday. Separately, People''s Bank of China (PBOC) adviser Sheng Songcheng said the improving economy has been matched by a stable yuan, with signs that capital is starting to return to China. "After breaking and even reversing expectations for yuan depreciation, there are signs of a trend of capital returning to China," Sheng wrote in Monday''s editorial in Financial News, a newspaper owned by the PBOC. Sheng reiterated that interest rates are on an uptrend, underscoring Beijing''s shift to a tighter policy stance to temper rampant credit growth and put the economy on an even keel. The comments from Sheng and Xiao follow last week''s data which showed China''s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and a gravity-defying property boom. Capital outflows from China eased sharply in the first quarter and cross border flows were more balanced as expectations for further yuan depreciation have weakened significantly, the spokeswoman for the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday. Sources told Reuters last week that China has relaxed some curbs on capital flows as officials indicate increasing confidence that pressure on the yuan and the country''s foreign exchange reserves has diminished, thanks largely to a pullback in the surging U.S. dollar. But some economists say it is too early to say China has won the war against capital outflows and it is unlikely Beijing will start a broad roll-back of capital control measures in the near future. "We expect the CNY (or yuan) to come under pressure again at some point, notably at times of another global strengthening of the US$," Oxford Economics economist Louis Kuijs said in a note Friday. "We still do not rule out further tightening if the pressures on the FX market were to rise substantially again." A massive build-up of debt over the past several years has been highlighted by policymakers, economists and the International Monetary Fund as a risk to financial stability in China. In his Washington speech, Xiao said that China is making progress on supply-side structural reforms, which Beijing has been promoting as a way of reducing excess industrial capacity and cutting its reliance on debt-driven growth policies. (Reporting by Engen Tham; additional reporting by Elias Glenn in Beijing; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-idUSKBN17Q03Z'|'2017-04-24T12:05:00.000+03:00' '6e24c6aabfef8a070843dcae209ac40b5c85f3dd'|'Saudi Aramco names company veteran to oversee IPO preparations - sources'|'Business News 12:22pm BST Saudi Aramco names company veteran to oversee IPO preparations - sources FILE PHOTO: Logo of Saudi Aramco is seen at the 20th Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference (MOES 2017) in Manama, Bahrain, March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia State oil giant Saudi Aramco [SDABO.UL] has appointed company veteran Motassim al-Maashouq to officially oversee preparations for its initial public offering (IPO), industry sources told Reuters. Maashouq, who most recently worked as vice president of corporate planning and is viewed by industry insiders as well connected with the financial community, has taken up the position of vice president of IPO development, the sources said. Saudi Aramco said it did not comment on rumour or speculation. The Saudi government plans to list up to 5 percent of Aramco on the Saudi stock exchange in Riyadh, the Tadawul, and on one or more international markets. Analysts think this could raise $100 billion, based on Aramco being valued at $2 trillion. The IPO is the centrepiece of the government''s plan, known as Vision 2030, to diversify the economy away from oil. Yasser Mufti, executive director of new business development, has been named acting vice president of corporate planning, replacing Maashouq for an interim period, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the changes are not public. Maashouq joined Aramco in 1984 and has worked as treasurer, as well as president and chief executive officer of Aramco''s previous affiliate in the Philippines, Petron Corp, among other positions. He is chairman of Saudi Aramco Luberef. (Reporting by Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aramco-appointment-idUKKBN17Q126'|'2017-04-24T19:22:00.000+03:00' 'ea6626a813ad478f9fc9c35e1f14ec70c538d54a'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 24'|'April 24 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 39 points at 7,153 on Monday, according to financial bookmakers. * RIO TINTO: Freeport McMoRan Inc collected a permit to resume copper exports from Indonesia on Friday after a hiatus of more than three months, hours after a state visit by U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who discussed the copper miner''s dispute with Jakarta. * IPIC/1MDB: The Malaysian government on Saturday reached an agreement to pay Abu Dhabi $2.5 billion as partial debt settlement for embattled government fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd according to a report by Bloomberg. ( bloom.bg/2pnLNC6 ) * BT: British Telecom has filed a criminal complaint with Italian prosecutors over an accounting scandal at its Italian unit and has handed them computer records and also dispatched its head of compliance to Milan to give evidence. * RR: Aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce has expressed interest in manufacturing small aircraft engines along with Indian companies as part of Prime Minister Modi''s Make in India project, the Economic Times reported Monday. * BRITISH ELECTIONS: British Prime Minister Theresa May refused on Saturday to rule out an increase in personal taxes if she wins a June election, riling supporters at the start of a campaign designed to strengthen her hand ahead of Brexit talks. * EMA: Europe''s drugmakers pushed for a decision as early as June on the new location for the headquarters of the bloc''s medicines watchdog, which will relocate from London after Britain''s decision to leave the EU. * BOE: Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders on Friday opened the possibility that he will soon join a minority calling for higher interest rates, predicting that both growth and inflation could well exceed the BoE''s earlier forecasts. * GOLD: Gold hits its lowest in nearly two weeks on Monday after centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential election, boosting stocks and sparking a sell-off in the safe-haven bullion. Spot gold was down 0.7 percent at $1,275.46 per ounce by 0342 GMT. * OIL: Oil prices recovered ground on Monday following last week''s big losses, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend a pledge to cut output to cover all of 2017, although a relentless rise in U.S. drilling capped gains. Brent crude futures rose 30 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $52.26 per barrel. * British shares inched lower on Friday, scoring their worst weekly losses since early November after Tuesday''s surprise call for an national election caused equities to fall. The FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent, ending the week with a fall of 2.9 percent. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Nasstar Plc Full Year 2016 Earnings Anglo American Plc Q1 production TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL4N1HW293'|'2017-04-24T09:39:00.000+03:00' 'c9d5cf42259f89131cdf00d0b6022670f0c6368b'|'UPDATE 2-Health insurer Centene''s quarterly profit, revenue beat Street'|' 31am EDT UPDATE 2-Health insurer Centene''s quarterly profit, revenue beat Street * Health Net buy, Obamacare business help beat * FY17 adj. EPS guidance raised to $4.50-$4.90 * 12.15 mln members as of March. 31, up 5 pct from yr ago (Adds details, analyst comment) April 25 Health insurer Centene Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit, helped by its Health Net acquisition and growth in its Obamacare individual business. Centene''s results come at a time when the health insurance industry faces a turbulent period with President Donald Trump and Republicans vowing to repeal Obamacare, formally known as the Affordable Care Act, but having been unable to agree on a law to do that. The St. Louis, Missouri-based company, which bought rival Health Net for $6.30 billion last year, said it had 12.15 million members as of March. 31, an increase of 5 percent from a year earlier. Centene, which primarily focuses on government-backed health insurance plans, reported a net profit of $139 million, or 79 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared with a loss of $16 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, Centene earned $1.12 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.05, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company''s health benefits ratio, or the amount it spends on medical claims compared with its income from premiums, reduced to 87.6 percent in the quarter, from 88.7 percent, mostly due to the acquisition of Health Net. Health Net operates at a lower HBR due to a greater mix of commercial business and growth in its Obamacare business in 2017. Centene''s results suggest the shortfalls associated with last year''s Health Net premium are on track to be resolved as management has indicated, Evercore ISI analysts said in a note. The company also raised its full-year 2017 adjusted profit guidance to $4.50-$4.90 per share, from $4.40-$4.85. Centene''s revenue jumped 69 percent to $11.72 billion, above analysts'' estimate of $11.42 billion. Shares of the company were up 1.4 percent at $73.00 in light premarket trading on Tuesday. Up to Monday''s close, the stock had risen 27.4 percent this year. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/centene-results-idUSL4N1HX408'|'2017-04-25T19:31:00.000+03:00' 'de92bc2a26d6c98ee85fece169153620416ef6f0'|'Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr - Kyodo'|'Technology 6:29am BST Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr: Kyodo The logo of Swiss-based meter maker Landis+Gyr is seen at an office building in the Swiss town of Zug May 19, 2011. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann TOKYO Japan''s Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday. Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ) and other Japanese firms are seen as possible bidders for the unit, Kyodo said, without citing sources. Reuters last month reported that Toshiba had hired UBS to explore a sale or an initial public offering of the business, potentially valued at over $2 billion. Toshiba is targeting buyout groups such as Carlyle ( CG.O ), Cinven [CINV.UL], Advent, Blackstone ( BX.N ), Bain, Onex ( ONEX.TO ), Triton, CD&R and even former owner KKR ( KKR.N ), a person close to the matter said. A Toshiba spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the report. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-restructuring-landisgyr-idUKKBN17R0E8'|'2017-04-25T12:23:00.000+03:00' '59f6432cbcdf9ec11d8bfd68e1504e8288b04ccc'|'ChemChina target Syngenta sees first quarter sales drop 1 percent'|'Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 6:41am BST ChemChina target Syngenta sees first-quarter sales drop 1 percent The logo of Swiss agrochemicals maker Syngenta is seen at its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland July 22, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo FRANKFURT Syngenta ( SYNN.S ), the Swiss pesticides and seeds group that is being acquired by ChemChina CNCC.UL, said first quarter sales slipped 1 percent to $3.74 billion as growth in Asian corn seed markets were offset by lower demand for fungicides and herbicides in Latin America. "While conditions for growers at the start of 2017 remain difficult, our business is steady and currencies are no longer a drag on our performance," said Chief Executive Officer Erik Fyrwald. The group reiterated its 2017 target for low single digit growth in sales, an improvement in the EBITDA margin and strong free cash flow generation. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by John Revill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-syngenta-results-idUKKBN17Q0EM'|'2017-04-24T13:19:00.000+03:00' '3ecb40f39b71155114900edbf55044a1b0be908f'|'CEE MARKETS-Bonds ease, Hungarian central bank seen holding fire'|'* Forint slips with central bank expected to keep policy loose * Modest issuance likely to support Czech bonds * Polish bond auction seen drawing healthy demand * Croatian budget surplus seen supporting bonds-analyst By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 25 Central European currencies mostly gained on Tuesday and government bonds tracked Bunds lower as relief over France''s presidential election turned investors towards risky assets. Hungary''s forint was an exception, slipping 0.1 percent to 311.75 by 0756 GMT. The Hungarian central bank is expected to reaffirm its looser monetary policy when it meets later on Tuesday. Tuesday''s gains were smaller than Monday''s, when markets rallied after the first round of the French vote on Sunday. That round left centrist Emmanuel Macron poised to win the run-off on May 7 over the anti-euro, anti-globalisation Marine Le Pen. Regional stock markets were mostly unable to extend gains after the advance on Monday, but in Warsaw the blue-chip stock index rose 0.6 percent. "A quite big risk has been priced out after the French vote," one Budapest-based trader said. "... The (Hungarian central bank) meeting is unlikely to cause excitement." Hungarian bond yields were higher by about 1 basis point from Monday. Yields on Czech two-year debt were was bid at zero, up 9 basis points, but government plans for modest debt issuance in May, published on Monday, should support Czech bonds, CSOB analysts said in a note. Polish bond yields rose 2 to 3 basis points, with 10-year debt trading at 3.42 percent, before an auction. The offered amount, worth 6 billion to 9 billion zlotys ($2.31 billion) is quite high, but the expected good demand makes it hard to predict auction yields, market participants said. The latest inflation figures released in the region have been lower than expected, underpinning the Polish central bank policy not to lift interest rates from record lows, and that supports government bond prices. Out of the bonds on offer at the auction, the fixed coupon 2022 and 2027 papers are expected to draw the strongest demand, Raiffeisen analyst Imre Stephan said in a note. Raiffeisen also said that Croatian debt could get support from Monday''s 2016 budget data, which showed a surplus of 0.8 percent of economic output, after a 3.4 percent deficit in 2015. The kuna outperformed regional currencies, firming 0.7 percent to 7.4495 versus the euro. CEE SNAPS AT 0956 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.80 26.83 +0.1 0.75% 50 70 2% Hungary 311.7 311.4 -0.09 -0.94 forint 500 750 % % Polish 4.237 4.241 +0.0 3.93% zloty 3 3 9% Romanian 4.526 4.529 +0.0 0.19% leu 5 7 7% Croatian 7.449 7.461 +0.1 1.42% kuna 5 8 7% Serbian 123.3 123.3 +0.0 0.04% dinar 000 450 4% Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 992.7 992.5 +0.0 +7.7 6 2 2% 2% Budapest 33181 33226 -0.14 +3.6 .12 .46 % 8% Warsaw 2309. 2296. +0.5 +18. 58 90 5% 57% Bucharest 8270. 8296. -0.31 +16. 92 75 % 74% Ljubljana 779.8 778.9 +0.1 +8.6 1 3 1% 7% Zagreb 1947. 1945. +0.1 -2.39 23 25 0% % Belgrade <.BELEX15 730.4 734.4 -0.54 +1.8 > 7 0 % 3% Sofia 655.3 657.9 -0.40 +11. 3 3 % 75% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year bps 5-year bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.32 0.36 0.44 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.22 0.3 0.39 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.751 1.778 1.828 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HX1YT'|'2017-04-25T07:08:00.000+03:00' '3c12b93a996e688b7e55d42ef1cbd598df3d40af'|'Investors take another look at opinion polls after French vote'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:03am EDT Investors take another look at opinion polls after French vote Company stock price information is displayed on screens as they hang above the Paris stock exchange, operated by Euronext NV, in La Defense business district in Paris, France, December 14, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier By Jamie McGeever - LONDON LONDON Pollsters picked the two candidates to make it into next month''s French presidential election run-off, going some way to restoring their reputation in financial markets before other important votes across Europe. Centrist Emmanuel Macron won Sunday''s first round vote with 23.91 percent. Far-right nationalist and anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen came in second with 21.42 percent, almost exactly as polls predicted. Markets lost faith in polls after they failed to predict that Britain would vote to leave the European Union and that Donald Trump would become U.S. president. But the French vote, which followed accurate polling of the Dutch election in March, will go some way to restoring faith in them before the second round of the French vote and other major elections in Britain, Germany and Italy. "Investors who lost confidence in pollsters after they failed to predict the outcomes of the U.S. elections and Brexit vote are viewing them as credible sources of information again," said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM. Guided by the polls, the two biggest political events in the Western world last year wrongfooted investors. With that in mind, they took no chances ahead of the French vote, where the top four candidates were all within about 5 percentage points of each other going into polling day. The cost of buying protection against large swings in the euro''s exchange rate via the options market rose sharply last week, with one-week implied volatility posting its biggest weekly rise on record EURSWO=. But the polls were spot on so few investors now question leads of over 20 percentage points for Macron over Le Pen in the French runoff. They also have more faith in forecasts showing UK prime minister Theresa May''s ruling Conservative Party will command a substantial lead over the opposition Labour Party ahead of the snap June 8 election there. Italy must also hold a general election before May next year and the populist Five Star movement is neck and neck in polls with the ruling Democratic Party. "Markets won''t forget what happened with Brexit and Trump. They are still casting a shadow and will stick in peoples'' minds," said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior macro strategist at Rabobank. "It''s a case by case situation and very dependent on how polls are performed and how accepted populist parties are. But markets see less tail risk." NO NUMERICAL SHOCK Any investors who followed the polls and put money on the market''s favorite candidate Macron making it to the second round against Le Pen would have benefited from a post-vote surge in stocks, bonds and the euro. French stocks surged more than 4 percent on Monday .FCHI , the share price of big European banks like BNP Paribas BNP.PA and Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) added 8 percent, and the euro rose above $1.09, its best day in almost a year EUR= . The spread between French and German 10-year bond yields shrank more than 20 basis points FR10YT=RR EU10YT=RR, its biggest fall in years. The measure of euro volatility against the dollar over the coming month, which captures the May 7 runoff vote in France, fell to around 8 percent from nearly 13 percent on Friday. That marked the biggest fall in a single day since the euro''s inception over 17 years ago. EUR1MO= Other polls have also recently been accurate. The Dutch election last month, in which Prime Minister Mark Rutte saw off a challenge from far-right rival Geert Wilders to win re-election, was also forecast as the vote drew closer. And polling for the second round of the French vote should be more straightforward to predict as it is more "clean cut" than the first round, according to Oxford Economics. This is because there are only two candidates and clear differences between them. "It would take a numerical shock perhaps 5-10 times larger than Brexit or Trump for Le Pen to win," said Deutsche Bank market strategist Jim Reid. "The pre-first round polls have been relatively accurate, so Macron should rightly be red hot favorite now." Similarly, Theresa May''s nationwide lead over her opponents in Britain point to a thumping victory on June 8. Her Conservative Party hit 50 percent in one recent poll, and is projected to win a majority of 100 parliamentary seats or more. This means there is unlikely to be a significant selloff in UK stocks, bonds or sterling as the election draws closer, analysts say, and the cost of hedging should remain relatively well contained. Germany also holds its general election in September, when chancellor Angela Merkel could lose her 11-year grip on power. Investors'' fears over this shift have been tempered, however, by the fact that her main rival Martin Schulz is a staunch pro-European and the populist AfD party has registered the biggest drop in support of all the main parties this year. "The political agenda continues to dominate the headlines, but investors should not allow it to cloud their thinking on markets," Citi analysts wrote in a note on Monday. "Political uncertainty can create short-term spikes in risk premia, but it does not structurally re-price assets." (Editing by Anna Willard) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-markets-idUSKBN17R14T'|'2017-04-25T19:03:00.000+03:00' '36d53cdeaf6c02add4ab82fcc2eccd411f1d487f'|'Truck maker Volvo first-quarter profit beats forecast'|'Business 6:32am BST Truck maker Volvo first-quarter profit beats forecast Visitors surround a Volvo FH16 truck at the booth of Swedish truck maker Volvo at the IAA truck show in Hanover, September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer STOCKHOLM Sweden''s Volvo ( VOLVb.ST ) posted a much bigger than expected rise in first-quarter core earnings on Tuesday as robust demand and years of cost trimming bolstered turnover and profitability at the truck maker. Volvo also raised its forecast for long-depressed demand for construction equipment in China but left unchanged its outlook for truck markets on both sides of the North Atlantic. Adjusted operating profit at Volvo rose to 7.03 billion Swedish crowns (£619.63 million) from a year-ago 4.46 billion, beating the mean forecast of 5.32 billion in a poll of analysts. (Reporting by Niklas Pollard and Johannes Hellstrom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volvo-results-idUKKBN17R0EA'|'2017-04-25T13:32:00.000+03:00' '5779b0e386307de4e55a61b3fe2c2543e8532403'|'Air travel to U.S. drops in Q1, Canada, Mexico gain - ForwardKeys'|'U.S. - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 2:10am EDT Air travel to U.S. drops in first quarter, Canada, Mexico gain: ForwardKeys Passengers arrive at O''Hare airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski BERLIN Air passenger arrivals in the United States fell in the first quarter of the year, while arrivals in Canada and Mexico rose, according to data from travel analysis company ForwardKeys. Travelers from the Middle East and Europe were possibly deterred by uncertainty over President Donald Trump''s travel ban on citizens of six Muslim-majority nations, as well as the strong dollar, it said on Wednesday. Long-haul arrivals in the U.S. dropped by 4.3 percent in the first quarter, ForwardKeys, which analyses 16 million flight booking transactions a day from major global reservation systems, said. On Tuesday, Emirates airline signaled that its U.S. expansion plans were on hold until demand recovers from a slowdown that the airline has blamed on Trump''s travel restrictions. Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico both saw arrivals increase 6.1 percent in the first quarter and bookings for arrival in the second quarter are up 15.7 and 19.8 percent, driven by bookings from the Netherlands, China, Britain and Germany. Forward bookings to the United States for travel in the second quarter of the year are 3.7 percent ahead of last year, due to the later Easter holiday period this year, the travel analysis company said. Visitors from Asia and the Americas are returning to Europe, after a dip following a string of attacks in France, Belgium and Germany, starting with Paris in November 2015, ForwardKeys said. Compared with two years ago, arrivals in the first quarter rose 5.2 percent and forward bookings are up 11.2 percent for the second quarter. European carriers such as Lufthansa and Air France-KLM had felt the effects of the downturn in demand from Asia and the U.S last year. Both are due to report first-quarter results over the next couple of weeks. "This overview reveals the resilience of the travel industry globally. People are finding alternative new destinations, and they are returning to others, previously blighted by dreadful events," ForwardKeys Chief Executive Olivier Jager said in a statement. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by Susan Thomas) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-immigration-travel-idUSKBN17S0H8'|'2017-04-26T14:00:00.000+03:00' '0640d7e6caf2726bc2d3cc5efcde1663f672dbe8'|'ICE calls for pause in new EU rules during Brexit talks'|' 11:09am BST ICE calls for pause in new EU rules during Brexit talks Jeff Sprecher, chief executive officer of IntercontinentalExchange speaks during the Sandler O''Neill global exchange and brokerage conference in New York June 10, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson LONDON New European Union securities rules due to be implemented next year should be postponed while Britain and the bloc work out new trading terms in financial services, InterContinental Exchange Chief Executive Jeff Sprecher said on Wednesday. Sprecher said the EU''s "MiFID II" rules were "daft" and the worst piece of legislation he had ever seen. "It seems like in both parties interests to pause," Sprecher told a conference in London. He also said Britain has a strong hand in financial services in Brexit negotiations with the EU. (Reporting by Huw Jones, editing by Kylie MacLellan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-markets-idUKKBN17S142'|'2017-04-26T18:09:00.000+03:00' '6f878cb717f9adcd1fa7ed551641d8e4918ab05c'|'BRIEF-Ovid Therapeutics sees IPO of 5 mln shares of common stock - SEC filing'|'April 25 Ovid Therapeutics Inc* Ovid Therapeutics Inc sees IPO of 5.0 million shares of common stock - SEC filing* Ovid Therapeutics Inc currently expect the initial public offering price to be between $15.00 and $17.00 per share of common stock* Ovid Therapeutics says intends to use about $35 million of IPO proceeds to conduct and complete Phase 2 stars trial of OV101 in adults with angelman syndrome* Ovid Therapeutics says intends to use about $17 million of IPO proceeds to conduct and complete Phase 1B/2A trial of OV935* Ovid Therapeutics says intends to use about $7 million of IPO proceeds for other ongoing research and development activities related to additional drug candidates Source text: ( bit.ly/2q04Gbz )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-ovid-therapeutics-sees-ipo-of-5-ml-idINFWN1HX0EB'|'2017-04-25T09:35:00.000+03:00' 'bf700bdf28be3e1fe21ebcdf61b395ed3149cf90'|'METALS-Copper hits week high on risk appetite following French vote'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:17am EDT METALS-Copper hits week high on risk appetite following French vote * Global equities hit record highs, safe haven assets retreat * China''s refined copper imports fell 36.2 percent in March * LME/SHFe arb: tmsnrt.rs/2oQ5nm2 (Updates with official midday prices) By Maytaal Angel LONDON, April 25 Copper hit a week high on Tuesday as risk appetite continued to strengthen following centrist Emmanuel Macron''s victory in the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, though gains were capped by worries over demand in China. With opinion polls showing Macron as strong favourite to beat far-right, anti-European Union candidate Marine Le Pen in the final run-off, investors have pretty much priced out the risk of a Brexit-like political shock. Global equities hit record highs on Tuesday, while safe-havens gold and the Japanese yen retreated. Also helping copper, the dollar languished near five-month lows versus the euro, making dollar-priced copper cheaper for non-U.S. investors. "Positive sentiment is impacting copper this morning, but we are still bearish, we don''t buy into the shortage story. Also, the Chinese economy looks like its reached a cyclical peak ... look at the imports data published by customs," said Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. * COPPER PRICES: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was last bid up 0.5 percent in official midday rings to $5,686 a tonne, having earlier hit its highest in a week at $5,707.50 a tonne. * COPPER IMPORTS: China''s refined copper imports fell 36.2 percent in March versus a year ago, customs data showed. China consumes about 40 percent of the world''s copper. * TECHNICALS: LME copper is biased to fall to $5,592 per tonne, after its failure to break a resistance at $5,689. * COPPER SUPPLY: Workers at mining company Southern Copper Corp in Peru have reached a deal with management to end a two-week strike, a union official and a company spokesman said on Monday. * ALUMINIUM DEMAND: Aluminium producer Alcoa Corp raised its forecast for aluminium demand growth in 2017 to 4.5-5 percent, up from 4 percent projected in January. It also sees a ''modest'' market surplus of 300,000-700,000 tonnes. * ALUMINIUM TECHNICALS: LME aluminium may break a resistance at $1,931 per tonne to gain a bit further to the next resistance at $1,964, to complete a bounce from the April 18 low of $1,892. * ALUMINIUM PRICES: Aluminium was last bid up 0.4 percent in rings at $1,953.50 a tonne. * OTHER METALS: Tin traded down 0.3 percent in rings at $19,600, lead was last bid up 0.1 percent at $2,165, zinc was last bid down 0.1 percent at $2,601 while nickel traded up 0.1 percent at $9,270, having earlier hit its lowest since last June at $9,230. PRICES '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL8N1HX2I7'|'2017-04-25T20:17:00.000+03:00' '1eaa5fc98260bca166ac5a08950f3cc141daf3b9'|'Trump tax plan may produce some short-term budget issues: Mnuchin'|'WASHINGTON U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that the Trump administration''s tax reform plan would produce some "short term issues" when viewed under traditional "static" budget analysis rules.His comments during an interview by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde suggested that the plan would not be revenue-neutral and would increase deficits in the short term.Mnuchin said that the tax plan would pay for itself when viewed through a "dynamic scoring" analysis, which accounts for the increased tax revenues that would be produced by higher growth prompted by the tax changes."We''re looking for reforms that will pay for themselves with growth," Mnuchin said. "Under dynamic scoring, this will pay for itself, under static scoring, there''ll be short term issues."Mnuchin also said the tax plan would be aimed at helping the middle class to "get more money in their pockets" and would be much simpler."The tax code is way, way, way too complicated. We want to create a system where the average American can file a tax code on a big postcard," Mnuchin said.(Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g20-usa-treasury-idUSKBN17O0OJ'|'2017-04-23T05:31:00.000+03:00' 'e1e8ef0c683fdcce4f537c7d99b060c6c0d89469'|'Trump tax plan may produce some short-term budget issues - Mnuchin'|'Money News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 9:30am IST Trump tax plan may produce some short-term budget issues - Mnuchin U.S. President Donald Trump (L) signs a financial services executive order as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (R) looks on at the Treasury Department in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files WASHINGTON U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday that the Trump administration''s tax reform plan would produce some "short term issues" when viewed under traditional "static" budget analysis rules. His comments during an interview by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde suggested that the plan would not be revenue-neutral and would increase deficits in the short term. Mnuchin said that the tax plan would pay for itself when viewed through a "dynamic scoring" analysis, which accounts for the increased tax revenues that would be produced by higher growth prompted by the tax changes. "We''re looking for reforms that will pay for themselves with growth," Mnuchin said. "Under dynamic scoring, this will pay for itself, under static scoring, there''ll be short term issues." Mnuchin also said the tax plan would be aimed at helping the middle class to "get more money in their pockets" and would be much simpler. "The tax code is way, way, way too complicated. We want to create a system where the average American can file a tax code on a big postcard," Mnuchin said. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-usa-treasury-idINKBN17P01W'|'2017-04-23T12:00:00.000+03:00' 'a5812d2b2da68a8320d5b80ea7d778be99d80bdf'|'UPDATE 1-LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria investigation - source - Reuters'|'ZURICH, April 23 LafargeHolcim is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.The source said there would be a change in leadership at the cement company following reports in the Financial Times and French newspaper Le Figaro that Olsen would be stepping down, citing sources.LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the matter.The cement maker in March said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the country.The disclosure followed an internal investigation and highlighted the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones. LafargeHolcim is expected to announce the findings of its internal investigation shortly.Olsen was formerly an executive at French industrial group Lafarge, which completed its merger with Swiss group Holcim in 2015.LafargeHolcim has said the deteriorating political situation in Syria had posed "very difficult challenges for the security and operations of the plant and its employees."The site was an important source of employment in the region and played a vital role in supplying Syria with essential building materials, the company said.Sources told the Financial Times Olsen''s departure terms were still under discussion on Sunday. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Oliver Hirt and John Revill. Editing by Jane Merriman and Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lafargeholcim-syria-idINL8N1HV0CX'|'2017-04-23T10:51:00.000+03:00' '8d4ae727922664fd3981a692e387dc6f7fbdb228'|'French jobless total rises to 10-month high in March'|' 09pm BST French jobless total rises to 10-month high in March PARIS France''s jobless total rose in March to a 10-month high, reversing a series of recent declines in an increase that could drag unemployment into the focus of the country''s presidential election, Labour Ministry data showed on Wednesday, The number of people registered as out of work in mainland France rose by 43,700 from February to 3,508,100, up 1.3 percent over one month but down 0.9 percent over one year. President Francois Hollande has been haunted by high unemployment throughout his five-year term mandate ending next month. Recent decreases in the jobless total have come to too little, too late for him to be able to claim that he had lived up to promises to get unemployment on a convincingly downward trend, dashing his hopes of running for second term. The new surge could refocus public attention on unemployment as centrist Emmanuel Macron, once Hollande''s top economic advisor, faces far right leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 runoff vote for the presidency. Nonetheless, a monthly consumer confidence survey published earlier on Wednesday showed households concerns about unemployment had fallen in April to the lowest point since June 2008. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by John Irish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-france-economy-unemployment-idUKKBN17S28H'|'2017-04-27T00:09:00.000+03:00' '2675f76fbcd7e67341a8a0f0782ec72acfb68947'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil real weakens on fiscal jitters, Trump tax plan eyed'|'By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 26 The Brazilian real weakened on Wednesday after lawmakers voted to water down the austerity demands in a states debt relief bill, fueling concerns over the government''s fiscal agenda. The lower house of Congress approved late on Tuesday scrapping a requirement that states increase charges on public employees to fund their pensions in exchange for suspending debt payments for three years. The move invited worries that President Michel Temer''s administration might find it harder than expected to gather support for a revamp of the country''s bloated pension system, at the center of its reform agenda. Cutting public spending and curbing growth of public debt is seen as key to lifting Brazil out of its deepest recession on record. The Brazilian real weakened 1.5 percent, among the biggest decliners in Latin American currency markets, which slipped for a second day on bets U.S. President Donald Trump''s tax-cutting plans could force U.S. interest rates to rise faster. Trump will release a tax plan on Wednesday that proposes to sharply slash rates on businesses and overseas corporate profits returned to the United States, officials said. The proposals are expected to be unveiled at the White House at 1:30 ET (1730 GMT) on Wednesday by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn. The Mexican peso, which has been especially vulnerable to political developments in the United States, fell 1.5 percent. The country expects to start renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump has pledged to scrap, in late August and talks should be completed within six months, Mexico''s economy minister said on Wednesday. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1600 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % Latest change change MSCI Emerging Markets 980.24 -0.25 13.96 MSCI LatAm 2595.85 -1.45 12.54 Brazil Bovespa 65205.77 0.09 8.27 Mexico IPC 49231.52 -1.16 7.86 Chile IPSA 4840.29 -0.57 16.59 Chile IGPA 24309.17 -0.51 17.24 Argentina MerVal 21176.32 -0.1 25.17 Colombia IGBC 10195.34 0.22 0.66 Venezuela IBC 59058.46 7.53 86.27 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1969 -1.50 1.64 Mexico peso 19.1470 -1.50 8.34 Chile peso 665.2 -0.51 0.83 Colombia peso 2928.01 -0.99 2.51 Peru sol 3.25 -0.15 5.05 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.4350 -0.10 2.85 Argentina peso (parallel) 16.02 0.50 4.99 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Editing by Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/latam-emergingmarkets-idINL1N1HY19N'|'2017-04-26T14:17:00.000+03:00' 'd693752dcdd8c6647cdf66a149063b4f9d94553b'|'Fiat Chrysler first quarter beats expectations, shares rise 3 percent'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:11pm BST Fiat Chrysler first quarter beats expectations, shares rise 3 percent A specialist trader works at the post where Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid MILAN Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) ( FCHA.MI ) reported a better-than-expected 11 percent rise in first-quarter adjusted operating profit, helped by improvements in all regions but Latin America, pushing shares up more than 3 percent. The world''s seventh-largest carmaker ( FCAU.N ), said adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the January-March period rose to 1.54 billion euros (1.28 billion pounds), above a 1.4 billion euros consensus in a Thomson Reuters poll. Revenues were up 4 percent to 27.72 billion euros, slightly above forecasts. Net industrial debt increased slightly due to seasonal factors to 5.1 billion euros by the end of March from 4.6 billion at the end of last year, but was still below analysts consensus forecast of 5.9 billion. The group confirmed its full-year guidance. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fiatchrysler-results-idUKKBN17S1K6'|'2017-04-26T20:11:00.000+03:00' '42f1687cc1fdba095f19debede3e9afb1804a1f8'|'BRIEF-ESPN to implement changes in talent lineup this week'|'Company News 03am EDT BRIEF-ESPN to implement changes in talent lineup this week April 26 ESPN President John Skipper: * ESPN President John Skipper in a memo to employees says "we will implement changes in our talent lineup this week" * Says "limited number of other positions will also be affected and a handful of new jobs will be posted to fill various needs" - memo Source text - ( es.pn/2oLHDjs )'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-espn-to-implement-changes-in-talen-idUSFWN1HY0VZ'|'2017-04-26T22:03:00.000+03:00' '2e7b7149c1f71e46cb47ef69da2edcaac4db08a1'|'Cashless society getting closer, survey finds'|'Money 3:01pm BST Cashless society getting closer, survey finds left right FILE PHOTO: A customer pays with a contactless credit card at a store in Paris, France, April 11, 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: An illustration picture shows euro and US dollar banknotes and coins, April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Samsung''s new Samsung Pay mobile wallet system is demonstrated at its Australian launch in Sydney, June 15, 2016. REUTERS/Matt Siegel/File Photo 3/3 By Jeremy Gaunt - LONDON LONDON More than a third of Europeans and Americans would be happy to go without cash and rely on electronic forms of payment if they could, and at least 20 percent already pretty much do so, a study showed on Wednesday. The study, which was conducted in 13 European countries, the United States and Australia, also found that in many places where cash is most used, people are among the keenest to ditch it. Overall, 34 percent of respondents in Europe and 38 percent in the United States said they would be willing to go cash-free, according to the survey conducted by Ipsos for the ING bank website eZonomics. Twenty-one percent and 34 percent in Europe and the United States, respectively, said they already rarely use cash. The trend was also clear. More than half of the European respondents said they had used less cash in the past 12 months than previously and 78 percent said they expected to use it even less over the coming 12 months. Ian Bright, managing director of group research for ING wholesale banking, said he did not believe people would quit cash entirely, but the direction was obvious. "More and more people will end up with a situation where they can quite comfortably get by for two days, three days, four days, even a week, without ever using cash," he told Reuters Television. Payment systems such as contactless cards and mobile-phone digital wallets have become so prevalent the issue has become political in some countries. Cash-loving Germans, for example, have been concerned that a move by the European Central Bank to phase out the 500 euro note by the end of next year is the start of a slippery slope. Germany is one of the countries that uses cash the most. The ING survey showed only 10 percent of Germans saying they rarely use cash, compared, for example, with 33 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in neighbours Poland and France. The survey also showed that, in general, countries where cash is much in use were most likely to want to go cashless. Only 19 percent of Italians said they rarely used cash but 41 percent said they would be willing to go cash. There was a similar trend in Turkey, Romania, the Czech Republic, Spain and even Germany. (Editing by Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-cash-idUKKBN17S005'|'2017-04-26T08:14:00.000+03:00' 'd1040983e9b1de7507907337e37b3dca68b08e40'|'ESPN to layoff 100 on-air talent - source'|'Walt Disney Co ''s ESPN television unit is laying off about 10 percent of its 1,000 on-air staff, according to a source familiar with the situation.In a memo to employees on Wednesday, ESPN President John Skipper announced changes to ensure the company is quicker to respond to the changing viewing patterns of sports fans.“Our content strategy - primarily illustrated in recent months by melding distinct, personality-driven SportsCenter TV editions and digital-only efforts with our biggest sub-brand - still needs to go further, faster," Skipper wrote in the memo, reviewed by Reuters.On top of the cuts to on-air talent, "a limited number of other positions will also be affected and a handful of new jobs will be posted to fill various needs," according to the memo.(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/espn-layoffs-idINKBN17S27L'|'2017-04-26T13:47:00.000+03:00' 'c524c393971881467091f592036df558f49496e9'|'ECB seen firmly on hold but may set stage for June shift'|'By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT The European Central Bank is set to keep its ultra-easy policy stance firmly in place on Thursday but may acknowledge better growth prospects, setting the stage for a small signal as early as June about an eventual reduction of stimulus.ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to point to still-weak inflation, muted wage growth and an uncertain outlook to argue that easing off the accelerator now could unravel years of work that have consumed much of the ECB''s firepower, a poll of analysts showed.But Draghi may acknowledge the euro zone''s solid growth momentum, surging consumer and business confidence, and receding political risk after the first round of France''s presidential vote put a pro-euro centrist in pole position.The mild optimism would come after years of extraordinary but untested stimulus measures.Having missed its 2 percent inflation target for four consecutive years, the ECB is buying 60 billion euros worth of bonds per month at least until the end of the year and plans to keep rates deep in negative territory until much later.But growth is on its best run since the global financial crisis, inflation is comfortably above 1 percent and the ECB''s policy arsenal is nearly depleted, all fuelling calls by conservative policymakers to start plotting the way to the exit.In a departure from the bank''s long-held, more pessimistic stance, ECB board member Benoit Coeure, a key ally of Draghi, recently argued that the balance of risk for the economy is now largely balanced.Coeure''s view may not signal an imminent policy shift but suggests growing confidence in the outlook and a willingness to entertain the once-taboo subject of scaling back stimulus.The ECB announces its rate decision at 1145 GMT and Draghi will hold a news conference at 1230 GMT.JUNEThe next step, possibly in June, could mean dropping a bias for even more policy easing and changing the wording of Draghi''s regular opening statement to reflect improved prospects for the economy.Last month, the ECB removed one phrase from the statement -- a pledge to act "using all the instruments available within its mandate" if needed -- to signal a diminishing urgency for more policy action.Some or all the references to prevailing downside risks to the outlook, to the possibility of further rate cuts or to larger asset purchases may be taken out, sources with direct knowledge of the bank''s deliberations told Reuters earlier.Policymakers are likely to remain cautious, however, particularly those from the periphery of the bloc."Before getting too enthusiastic, not all is well in the euro zone," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said."Despite the cyclical upswing, unemployment rates in many countries remain far too high to reduce social inequality, government debt ratios have hardly come down in most countries, and further and necessary works on the structure of the monetary union have been put on hold."Conservative policymakers meanwhile argue that too much stimulus may already be fuelling asset price bubbles, risking financial stability and eroding bank earnings so much that the measures could actually hold back lending and thwart growth.The ECB may also need to preserve whatever firepower it still has left in case of renewed turmoil."We see only a short window for starting to withdraw the non-standard policy measures, with the next potential tail risk event approaching fast: Italian elections," Societe General economist Anatoli Annenkov said."We thus see a need for the governors to reach a compromise on an exit strategy over the summer."Such a timeline would suggest cautious optimism from Draghi on Thursday, with the ECB readying for a more ambitious shift in June."We think that Thursday''s meeting will be used by the ECB as a ''bridge'' to the June rendezvous, which promises to be important," UniCredit economist Marco Valli said."If, as it now seems very likely, the French will elect a mainstream president, on June 8 the ECB will probably scale back some of its prudence and the new staff projections will finally show a broadly balanced risk assessment."(Editing by Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ecb-policy-idINKBN17S31J'|'2017-04-26T20:02:00.000+03:00' '8982d4692a281617f7b291ac326714fc25bfdf29'|'MOVES-JPMorgan hires Goldman execs to beef up Australia operations'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 11:53am EDT MOVES-JPMorgan hires Goldman execs to beef up Australia operations April 27 JPMorgan Chase & Co hired three Goldman Sachs executives to strengthen its operations in Australia and New Zealand, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. JPMorgan named Andrew Tanner and Steve Maartensz as co-heads of equity distribution and Dyson Bowditch as head of syndicate for Australia and New Zealand. All the three new hires will be joining the bank at the end of July. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/jpmorgan-moves-idUSL4N1HZ651'|'2017-04-27T23:53:00.000+03:00' 'cd8d019db69194afcb71aa6c1e14b3228ea6b485'|'South Korea raises 2017 export outlook, April shipments seen surging'|' 3:05am BST South Korea raises 2017 export outlook, April shipments seen surging FILE PHOTO - A crane carries a container (top R) from a ship at the PNC container terminal at the Busan New Port in Busan, about 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Seoul, August 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won SEOUL South Korea on Thursday raised its export outlook for 2017, citing a pick-up in shipments of semiconductors, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display panels and cosmetics. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy now sees exports growing between 6 percent and 7 percent this year, far stronger than an earlier estimate of 2.9 percent. The ministry said in a statement it expects April exports to surge around 20 percent from a year earlier, which would mark a sixth-straight month of gains. (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-economy-exports-idUKKBN17T07N'|'2017-04-27T10:05:00.000+03:00' '1f9c2f6b3845be00462307f03649e4d74283cd0b'|'China''s Didi to raise $5 billion for overseas expansion'|'By Julie Zhu and Cate Cadell - HONG KONG/BEIJING HONG KONG/BEIJING Didi Chuxing, China''s top ride-hailing firm, is set to become the country''s second-most valuable privately owned company, with a valuation of more than $50 billion, through a fund raising round of up to $6 billion, sources said on Thursday.The valuation represents a jump from Didi''s $34 billion price tag in August, when it agreed to acquire Uber Technology Inc''s China business, and also puts it closer to the U.S. firm''s $68 billion.It also propels Didi well above Xiaomi Inc, which held the title of China''s most valuable startup after a 2014 funding round valued the smartphone maker at $46 billion.Ant Financial, China''s most valuable private internet finance firm and an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ), is valued upwards of $60 billion.The funding round has drawn investors including Japan''s Softbank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, China Merchants Bank ( 600036.SS ) and Bank of Communications ( 601328.SS ), two people familiar with the matter said.They declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Didi Chuxing and Softbank declined to comment, while Silver Lake, China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The people said that part of the latest capital investment in Didi would be used for international expansion. Didi has sealed several overseas partnerships, focusing on intelligent driving, such as making use of artificial intelligence, as well as similar ride-hailing services.The firm is ramping up overseas activity as regulatory changes are set to take a toll on their local service. Draft rules released in October would slash the number of eligible drivers and double fares for users in major cities, the company has said.Since Uber exited the Chinese market last year following a drawn-out rivalry with Didi, the Chinese firm has sought to expand in Latin America, leading a $100 million investment in Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 in January.Last month it officially opened a lab researching artificial intelligence-related driving technologies in Silicon Valley in the United States. The company has previously entered a range of strategic agreements with U.S. tech firms including Lyft, TripAdvisor Inc ( TRIP.O ) and Udacity.(Reporting by Julie Zhu and Cate Cadell; writing by Kim Miyoung; editing by Stephen Coates and Neil Fullick)The logo of Didi Chuxing is seen at its headquarters in Beijing, China, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-didi-fundraising-idINKBN17T0I3'|'2017-04-27T03:12:00.000+03:00' '51d964b287624e909e75e87a9cb9d53321b0882b'|'UPDATE 1-Poland to receive its first U.S. LNG supplies in June'|'(Adds details, background)WARSAW, April 27 Poland will receive its first liquefied natural gas supplies (LNG) from the United States in mid-June as a result of a deal Polish gas firm PGNiG signed with Cheniere Energy, state-run PGNiG said on Thursday.Cheniere Energy will make the spot delivery at the Swinoujscie terminal on the Baltic Sea.Poland, which consumes around 15-16 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually, built its first LNG terminal in Swinoujscie as part of a bigger plan to reduce reliance on gas it imports from Russia''s Gazprom.The terminal, which started commercial operations in 2016, has a capacity of 5 bcm per year.Since then it has been receiving LNG from Qatargas, which in March agreed to double deliveries to 2 million tonnes (3 bcm) per year. It also took one delivery on the spot market from Norway."This is a historical moment for PGNiG. We have won a new partner in the LNG trade," PGNiG Chief Executive Officer Piotr Wozniak said in a statement.The ambition of Poland''s conservative Law and Justice government is to replace the Russian deliveries with other supplies after 2022, when the long-term deal with Gazprom expires."This is a very important agreement, favourable in financial terms," Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told public broadcaster TVP Info.Poland also plans to build a gas pipeline to the Norwegian shelf via the Baltic Sea.Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told daily Rzeczpospolita in an interview published on Thursday that the U.S. could also participate in this project.(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/poland-gas-lng-idINL8N1HZ1UV'|'2017-04-27T05:21:00.000+03:00' '9eb5d3acf4a043a661dc8799ed517c74b108def3'|'UPS wins $2.35 billion U.S. defense contract: Pentagon'|'WASHINGTON United Parcel Service Co ( UPS.N ) was awarded a five-year $2.35 billion contract, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price next generation delivery service contract provides express small package delivery services for international shipments and express and ground small package delivery services for domestic shipments, the Pentagon said in a statement.(Reporting by Eric Beech)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-united-parcel-pentagon-idUSKBN17S2YM'|'2017-04-27T01:26:00.000+03:00' 'fd4909989fc60a76f228e5195a38652c4462003a'|'UPDATE 1-Compliance firm Exiger buys Canadian regtech startup OutsideIQ'|'Deals 12:55pm EDT Compliance firm Exiger buys Canadian regtech startup OutsideIQ By Solarina Ho - TORONTO TORONTO Exiger, a firm that helps businesses monitor compliances such as money laundering regulations, has agreed to buy OutsideIQ, a Canadian startup that specializes in technology that helps businesses assess and manage risk. The deal, reported earlier by Reuters, is for C$30 million ($22.2 million), according to a person familiar with the agreement, and is one of the top 10 largest disclosed acquisitions of a venture-backed Canadian tech firm since 2014, according to Thomson Reuters data. New York-based Exiger, which has used OutsideIQ''s cloud-based software since 2014, sells technology and services to help businesses comply with complex global regulations in areas such as money laundering and financial crimes. The deal is the largest to date by privately held Exiger. The company was formed to lead the court-appointed oversight of HSBC ( HSBA.L ), which in 2012 admitted to allowing drug cartels to launder hundreds of millions of dollars. Toronto-based OutsideIQ, with 40 employees, uses cognitive computing processes to automate and analyze a significant portion of time-consuming, error-prone data research typically done by workers. The process of combing through millions of pieces of data is whittled down from days to minutes, the company says. Part of a growing crop of startups focused on regulatory technology, or "regtech," OutsideIQ''s software is used by investment banks, insurance companies, SAP Ariba ( SAPG.DE ) and others. (This story corrects 2nd paragraph to read "acquisitions of a venture-backed firm", not "by a venture-backed firm".) (Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Jim Finkle, Richard Chang and Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-outsideiq-m-a-exiger-idUSKBN17T1SM'|'2017-04-28T00:33:00.000+03:00' '327459196420ff11f8870b69e1ab0b74acb5adce'|'Dip in bad loans reveals green shoots in StanChart revival'|'By Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON A sharp dip in bad loans shows that Standard Chartered is turning a corner, its Chief Financial Officer told Reuters a day after reporting the bank''s first quarter profit had doubled.StanChart set aside just $200 million in provisions against bad loans for the first quarter, 58 percent lower than a year ago, lifting its shares 5 percent on Wednesday.Losses from bad debts have plagued the bank in recent years, with its struggles to recoup a $1 billion loan to Indonesian mining tycoon Samin Tan emblematic of its over-ambitious lending during the boom years up to 2015.The bank has since tightened limits on who can make decisions about such big loans and decreased internal limits for exposure to a single client, Andy Halford said on Thursday."Today we''d not be lending in such large amounts to some of those clients," Halford, adding that the bank remains cautious and that bad loans could still rise if market conditions worsen.However the strong first quarter gave confidence the total impairment losses for 2017 could come in at under $2 billion against $2.4 billion in 2016, he said.GREEN SHOOTSThe signs of green shoots come just over a year on from a low point for Halford, when he and Chief Executive Bill Winters had to present the StanChart''s first annual loss in 26 years.The $1.5 billion loss stemmed from restructuring costs, including redundancies and bad loan impairments, a legacy of years of unfettered growth after the 2008 crisis when profits soared as StanChart lent freely in Asia and the Middle East.Now it is betting on initiatives including growing its private banking business and a push into developed markets such as the United States to boost revenues, which have remained stubbornly low during the turnaround."We''re not trying to conquer the U.S. market, but for companies who have business in the emerging markets who have never heard of us, we should be more visible," he said.Asked whether the bank could resume payouts as soon as this year, as some analysts have suggested following the improved results, Halford said: "I am not ruling anything in or out".Analysts remain cautious on StanChart''s outlook because its cost-cutting has also slashed revenues, with income in its financial markets division down 10 percent in the first quarter, as U.S. investment banks'' own trading divisions are booming."The returns are not yet up to the level of covering the cost of the business, and until we''re at that point we can''t declare victory," Halford said.(Editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/stanchart-cfo-idINKBN17T2PN'|'2017-04-27T15:42:00.000+03:00' 'b0e1bc1d8098b1a885f98f2ff8025b58b184039e'|'Australia''s Wesfarmers says Q3 supermarket sales up 1.2 pct'|'SYDNEY, April 27 Australia''s Wesfarmers Ltd , owner of the country''s No. 2 grocery chain, said third quarter food and liquor sales rose 1.2 percent as a strategy of cutting shelf prices to win customers was offset by higher wholesale prices.Food and liquor sales for Coles supermarkets came in at A$7.6 billion ($5.7 billion) for the three months to March 26, the mining-to-retail conglomerate said in a statement on Thursday.No analyst forecasts were available for the quarterly result.($1 = 1.3373 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/wesfarmers-results-idUSL4N1HY6VN'|'2017-04-27T07:22:00.000+03:00' '5e1b040bf4e4a54755878547a03867aaa70a40d5'|'JPMorgan Chase & Co leaves blockchain consortium R3'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 8:08pm BST JPMorgan Chase & Co leaves blockchain consortium R3 People walk by the JP Morgan & Chase Co. building in New York in an October 24, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/Files By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co has left the mammoth bank blockchain consortium led by New York-based startup R3 CEV, as financial institutions refine their strategies around the nascent technology, R3 confirmed on Thursday. R3, which counts about 80 financial institutions as members, wants to raise $150 million from its members and strategic investors, for a 60 percent stake. "We''re grateful to JPMorgan for their input to R3," R3 said in a statement after Reuters reported the bank''s departure. "We''ve got over 80 members across the world and have secured significant commitment from them in terms of both capital and resources." JPMorgan did not immediately have a statement. JPMorgan''s move follows the departure of other large banks from the R3 consortium. Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ), Banco Santander SA ( SAN.MC ), Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and National Australian Bank left the group in quick succession in late 2016, as R3 proceeded with its fundraising plans. Like the other banks that have left the group, JPMorgan is involved in other blockchain initiatives. The bank is a member of the newly formed blockchain consortium Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and is an investor in blockchain startups Axoni and Digital Asset Holdings. It also participates in the Hyperledger Project, a cross-industry group led by the Linux Foundation. R3, which began operating in September 2015, seeks to help the financial sector develop shared blockchain technology to run some of their most cumbersome and expensive processes. Blockchain is a distributed ledger of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet rather than a centralized authority. It first emerged as the system underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin, but banks are hoping it can help them reduce the complexity and costs of activities like international payments and trading settlement. Skeptics have warned that the technology is still in its early days and it might take many years before the financial industry can reap any benefits. Since it began operating, R3 has rapidly gained the support from the world''s largest banks, with members including UBS Group AG ( UBSG.S ) and Deutsche Bank AG ( DBKGn.DE ). So far they have paid membership fees to participate in the company''s activities. Thomson Reuters Corp TRI.T is also a member of R3. (Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jpmorgan-r-idUKKBN17T2VT'|'2017-04-28T03:08:00.000+03:00' 'aede48efb6ea2a103c154328a82249c8149dce4d'|'Utilities say Westinghouse loan puts their reactor construction at risk'|'By Tom Hals - WILMINGTON, Del, April 27 WILMINGTON, Del, April 27 The owners of one of the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in decades said the half-finished reactors might not be completed without changes to a proposed $800 million loan to the bankrupt builder, Westinghouse Electric Co LLC.A unit of Toshiba Corp, Westinghouse has asked a U.S. bankruptcy judge in Manhattan to allow it to borrow up to $800 million from affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC to stay afloat. Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy in March, blaming billions of dollars of cost overruns at two nuclear power plants it is constructing in Georgia and South Carolina.Utilities led by Southern Corp''s Georgia Power said in court papers filed on Wednesday that Westinghouse''s debtor-in-possession, or DIP, loan should not grant liens on the designs, patents and other intellectual property."The possibility would exist that the DIP lenders would later foreclose on the intellectual property, which could seriously disrupt or even potentially halt construction of the project," said the utilities behind the Georgia project.A Westinghouse spokeswoman declined to comment.Judge Michael Wiles will consider final approval of the loan on May 10. He allowed Westinghouse to borrow an initial $350 million last month.The owners asked that if Westinghouse defaults on the DIP loan, the lenders should first foreclose on other collateral or be granted a lien on the proceeds from the sale of the intellectual property, not the intellectual property itself.Westinghouse has said in court papers it cannot afford to complete the plants or pay the billions of dollars in penalties it would face for walking away.The utilities that own the Georgia and South Carolina projects took over the cost of construction during the bankruptcy under agreements that expire on Friday, although those deals can be extended. The companies have said they are evaluating how to complete the projects, or whether they should be modified or abandoned.Westinghouse marketed its new AP1000 reactors as cheaper to build and safer than older designs. The expansion of Plant Vogtle in Georgia and V.C. Summer in South Carolina were the first new nuclear facilities since the partial meltdown in 1979 at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania.The South Carolina project is majority owned by Scana Corp unit SCE&G. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-westinghouse-bankrupt-idINL1N1HZ1G0'|'2017-04-27T14:26:00.000+03:00' '089fc99549ae073c1306cb3b3fe39007842686d6'|'Airbus first quarter core profit down 52 percent, reaffirms targets'|'Business News 6:47am BST Airbus first quarter profit slides on weak pricing, higher costs The logo of Airbus group is pictured in Colomiers near Toulouse, France, January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau By Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer - PARIS PARIS Europe''s Airbus ( AIR.PA ) on Thursday posted a steeper than expected 52 percent drop in first-quarter profit, weighed by weaker prices as it changes to new models and higher production costs, but reaffirmed targets for higher profits for the year. The world''s second-largest planemaker after Boeing ( BA.N ) said adjusted operating profit fell to 240 million euros (£203.38 million) as revenues rose 7 percent to 12.988 billion. Analysts were on average expecting adjusted operating income of 344 million euros, down 31 percent, and 5.5 percent higher revenues of 12.857 billion, according to a Reuters poll. Airbus said it was still worried about problems with temperamental engines for its new A320neo passenger plane from Pratt & Whitney ( UTX.N ), and commercial exposure on the troubled A400M military aircraft programme. It expects deliveries of the A320neo once again to fall predominantly in the latter part of the year, but has said it hopes to avoid the last-minute rush seen in December last year. The engine issues "need to be resolved," Airbus said in a statement. The Airbus planemaking business saw 31 percent lower profit despite a 13 percent rise in revenues. The Toulouse-based firm said this reflected a different mix of aircraft, with more of the new A350s delivered in the first quarter, "transition pricing" and higher production ramp-up costs. New aircraft tend to be sold at heavier discounts to spur further orders. The Airbus Helicopters unit slipped into loss as the world''s largest commercial helicopter maker continues to suffer from the grounding of aircraft in UK and Norway, following a crash that killed North Sea oil workers. For 2017, Airbus expects to deliver over 720 aircraft and to report mid-single-digit percentage growth in operating income. Airbus'' results came a day after Boeing reported a 19 percent rise in first-quarter profit, with its U.S rival also lifting its full-year forecast. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-results-idUKKBN17T0JM'|'2017-04-27T13:35:00.000+03:00' '51404cdb03faaa7d917d00e405d45f58bc8050be'|'Deutsche Bank Q1 profit surges on debt trading'|'FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank more than doubled its first-quarter net profit to 575 million euros ($627 million), benefiting from lower legal costs for past misdeeds and a rebound in debt trading.Germany''s flagship lender beat expectations of analysts who had expected the bank to post a first-quarter net profit of 522 million euros."Client engagement is strong, asset flows are returning across the bank and activity is picking up. Our cost-cutting efforts are starting to pay off, while we have reduced complexity significantly," Chief Executive John Cryan said in a statement on Thursday.The bank''s litigation reserves decreased to 3.2 billion euros in the quarter, after it had booked record fourth-quarter sums for settlements such as over the sale of toxic mortgages and sham Russian trades.Provisions for possible future legal action were flat at 2.4 billion euros.Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Reserve fined Deutsche Bank $157 million for violating foreign exchange rules and running afoul of the so-called Volcker Rule on speculative investments, leaving a probe into sanctions violations as the only large remaining litigation issue.Revenues at Deutsche Bank''s cash-cow bond-trading division were up 11 percent in the quarter as it benefited from a surge in trading across interest rate products, commodities and foreign exchange (FICC), while sales were down 10 percent in equity trading.Total revenues were down 9 percent at 7.3 billion euros in the quarter.The bank''s core tier 1 equity ratio rose to 14.1 percent from 10.7 percent a year earlier, strengthened by an $8.5 billion cash call earlier this month.($1 = 0.9169 euros)(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deutsche-bank-results-idINKBN17T0KK'|'2017-04-27T13:35:00.000+03:00' '530665ccd4be66a018abf32c28bac1824da1589f'|'BASF still out for agchem deals after missing out in auction'|'FRANKFURT, April 27 German chemicals giant BASF said it would continue to push for acquisitions to shore up its crop protection business, after the antitrust-related sale of assets from the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont left it empty-handed."We are generally interested in strengthening our business further, acquisitions are part of that, that is very much part of our thinking. But it takes two to tango," Chief Executive Officer Kurt Bock told journalists on a call after the release of quarterly results on Thursday.He added deals were even more difficult when a third party in the form of an antitrust regulator posed additional hurdles.With rivals including Monsanto and Bayer joining forces all around, BASF has been eyeing a surprise foray into generic pesticides and cast an eye on U.S. pesticides peer FMC Corp , sources told Reuters on March 22.FMC in late March snatched up crop protection businesses put up for sale by DuPont to win European Union approval for its merger with Dow Chemical. These assets had been regarded by analysts as a good fit for BASF. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/basf-results-cropprotection-idINL8N1HZ2JB'|'2017-04-27T06:24:00.000+03:00' 'd8f5e57651633332a666a7477c29ae3da27dfd0b'|'Japan finance minister to meet Japan Post CEO over Toll writedown: source'|'By Yoshifumi Takemoto - TOKYO TOKYO Japan''s finance minister will meet the chief executive of Japan Post Holdings Co ( 6178.T ) in the coming days over the state-controlled company''s shock $3.6 billion writedown on its Australian logistics arm, Toll Holdings Ltd, a source said.The source, who has direct knowledge of the meeting, said Taro Aso and Japan Post''s Masatsugu Nagato would focus on the company''s response to the impairment charge, booked just two years after the acquisition of Toll.The 2015 cash deal was widely criticized at the time. Analysts and bankers questioned the rich premium as Japan Post rushed to seal its first overseas transaction just months ahead of its initial public offering.Japan Post announced the 400 billion yen writedown on Toll earlier this week. The hit pushed it to an annual loss of 40 billion yen for the year ended in March.News of the writedown comes at a sensitive time for Tokyo, which is planning the sale of additional government shares in the Japan Post. Japan, which still controls 80 percent of the company, aims to raise around 4 trillion yen ($35.96 billion) through that sale.The divestment is partly aimed at funding the rebuilding of areas hit by Japan''s 2011 earthquake and tsunami. No date has been set, but Tokyo has named six investment banks to serve as underwriters.The government sold about $12 billion worth of shares in Japan Post and its two financial units in the initial public offering.Japan Post declined to comment. A finance ministry spokesman said he was not aware of any meeting.(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by Thomas Wilson; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-post-toll-idINKBN17T0E0'|'2017-04-27T01:59:00.000+03:00' 'dc73d84d2b608324aabbf97f3b961b0ad1f6736e'|'UPDATE 2-Potash Corp raises outlook, notches higher profit as sales climb'|' 33am EDT UPDATE 2-Potash Corp raises outlook, notches higher profit as sales climb (Updates with share activity, analyst''s comment) By Swetha Gopinath and Rod Nickel April 27 Canada''s Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Thursday and raised its full-year outlook, citing lower costs and increased sales volumes. Shares of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based fertilizer producer rose 1.6 percent in early New York trading, touching a three-week high. Revenue was lower in the first quarter due to weaker prices year over year, but it still exceeded Wall Street''s expectations. Potash prices have rebounded modestly since last year but remain low due to bloated global capacity and weakening farm incomes. Even so, Potash Corp forecast global potash demand of 61 million to 64 million tonnes this year, exceeding last year''s 60 million tonnes. Potash said it expected full-year earnings of 45 cents to 65 cents per share, up from its prior forecast of 35 cents to 55 cents. The company raised the lower end of its estimate for 2017 potash sales to 8.9 million tonnes from 8.7 million tonnes, keeping the upper end at 9.4 million tonnes. "We expect improved consumption trends and nutrient affordability in key markets to support potash demand and our results through the remainder of 2017," Chief Executive Officer Jochen Tilk said in a statement. Bernstein analyst Jonas Oxgaard said earnings benefited from a lower tax rate as well as stronger sales in China, India and North America. "(It) suggests the potash price recovery is in strong force," he said in a note. But Citi analyst P.J. Juvekar said it was too early to envision a major recovery as rivals bring on new potash mines through next year. Potash has nearly finished expanding its low-cost Rocanville, Saskatchewan, mine, which it says will help it weather weak crop nutrient prices. In September, Potash and rival Agrium Inc announced plans to merge. The deal would combine Potash''s fertilizer capacity, the world''s largest, and Agrium''s farm retail network, North America''s biggest. Tilk said the companies were working through the regulatory process and still expect the deal to close in mid-2017. Net earnings nearly doubled to $149 million, or 18 cents per share, in the quarter, beating the analysts'' average estimate of 11 cents. Revenue fell 8 percent to $1.11 billion, despite a 13 percent rise in potash sales volumes. Analysts on average had expected $1.06 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/potashcorp-results-idUSL4N1HZ4A7'|'2017-04-27T17:33:00.000+03:00' '80a263bd7c79dd858109ebd4dd63dcafcf7d3f4b'|'Iran says potential deal for early jet delivery falls through'|'ANKARA IranAir has abandoned plans to take early delivery of a Boeing ( BA.N ) 777-300ER jetliner because the passenger plane is no longer available, the head of the Islamic Republic''s national flag carrier was Quote: d as saying by Iranian media.Iran had been expected to receive the first of 80 aircraft ordered from the U.S. planemaker in April or May 2018, but Iranian media and industry sources said this month it might get the first Boeing jet a year earlier than expected under a proposal to swap deliveries with Turkish Airlines ( THYAO.IS )."Boeing had proposed to hand over a 777-300ER by summer after Turkish Airlines withdrew its order for it. We welcomed it ... However, when we were almost certain that we wanted the plane, it was no longer available," Chairman Farhad Parvaresh was Quote: d by Iran''s English language Press TV as saying.Industry sources had said Boeing was in negotiations to release at least one 777-300ER originally built for Turkish Airlines, which is deferring deliveries due to weaker traffic following last year''s failed coup attempt in Turkey."We have currently stopped our negotiations in absence of the plane," Parvaresh was Quote: d as saying.Boeing said it does not comment on specific deliveries."Boeing and Iran Air continue to work on implementing the sales contract for commercial passenger airplanes signed in December 2016, at which time we announced first deliveries are scheduled to start in 2018," a spokesman said."We continue to follow the lead of the U.S. government on all our dealings with approved Iranian airlines."Since last year, when most sanctions imposed on Iran were lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers, Tehran has joined a long waiting list for new airplanes and the swap would have allowed it to speed up its fleet renewal.IranAir has also ordered 100 aircraft from Europe''s Airbus ( AIR.PA ) under a deal to lift most sanctions in return for curbs on Iran''s nuclear programme, and has taken three deliveries.Iran''s return to the aviation market after decades of sanctions is a boon to planemakers trying to dispose of some new planes discarded by airlines facing economic difficulties.But Western banks continue to shy away from financing deals between IranAir and Western companies, fearing U.S. banking sanctions that remain in force or a new chill in relations between Tehran and the West under U.S. President Donald Trump.(Writing by Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Tim Hepher and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/iran-boeing-delivery-idINKBN17T2Y3'|'2017-04-27T17:40:00.000+03:00' '79f817d194a2bdc3421a303d840c3604e9bec6fd'|'STMicro posts Q1 revenue jump for first time in six years'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 1:34am EDT STMicro posts Q1 revenue jump for first time in six years FRANKFURT/PARIS, April 27 STMicroelectronics , Europe''s third largest semiconductor maker, on Thursday posted solid double-digit revenue growth fuelled by phone, automotive and industrial demand that marks a turnaround from six years of sales declines. The Franco-Italian-controlled diversified semiconductor forecast 5 percent growth in revenue for the current second quarter compared to the first quarter and around 12.3 percent year-to-year, and said it was on track to meet 2017 objectives. "The positive momentum we have had over the last quarters has continued entering 2017," said CEO Carlo Bozotti, who will remain in his position for one year after a long-running search for a chief executive replacement failed to yield a replacement. STMicro reported first-quarter net revenue of $1.821 billion (1.67 billion euros), a rise of 12.9 percent from the first period of 2015. The results were in line with the average forecast of $1.822 billion analysts expected, according to a Thomson Reuters poll. (1 euro = $1.0906) (Reporting By Eric Auchard; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/stmicroelectronics-results-idUSL8N1HZ0Y5'|'2017-04-27T13:34:00.000+03:00' 'fc7cbdeab5b6d2f401bc2e943a927532d0eb7869'|'Sanctions short-circuit Russia''s electricity plans for annexed Crimea'|'* Authorities struggling to source turbines due to sanctions* Electricity project completion dates slipping as a result* Russian officials play down damage from sanctionsBy Anastasia Lyrchikova and Anton ZverevMOSCOW/SEVASTOPOL, Crimea, April 27Russia''s $1.3 billion plan to build two new power plants in Crimea aimed to show that Moscow could complete high-tech projects on the annexed peninsula despite Western technology sanctions.But two years after its approval, the plan, which would supply Crimea''s residents with power they once got from Ukraine, has been knocked off course by an obstacle thrown up by the same sanctions, four sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.The plants were designed to house gas turbines made by a unit of Siemens. But the German engineering firm risks violating sanctions if it delivers them. With no turbines, the project faces delays, the sources said. Siemens officials have always said there were no plans to supply the turbines.Russia explored buying turbines from Iran, changing the design to accommodate Russian-made turbines and using Western-designed turbines already in Russia. Each alternative had problems, the sources said, leaving officials and managers unable to agree on how to move forward.The saga shows that the sanctions are having a real impact on Russia, despite official protestations. It also shines a light on decision-making under President Vladimir Putin and the tendency, according to people close to the Kremlin, to make grand political promises that are near-impossible to implement."The power stations were designed for Siemens turbines," said Alexei Chaliy, a Crimea lawmaker who in 2014 was one of the two most senior local officials under Moscow''s de facto rule."In 2014 I warned there would be problems. Over the past 20 years, Russia has lost the ability to produce turbines of that capacity. And so it ended badly.""They have started to build the power stations ... but there are no turbines."A Reuters reporter visiting the site of one of the two new power stations, near the city of Sevastopol, in February and March, saw the metal frames of several structures already erected, and cranes and dozens of workers building the main hall for the turbines.TIMETABLE SLIPPINGThe Kremlin said it wanted the power stations partially operational by September and fully operational by March 2018. That is the anniversary of the Crimean annexation and the month when Russia votes in a presidential election. Putin is expected to run for a new term."The timetable is going to slip, that''s totally certain," the person said.Russia''s energy ministry did not respond to a written request for comment.European Union sanctions forbid the supply to Crimea of technology used in the energy sector. Policing EU sanctions is the responsibility of the bloc''s member states. The German government has said in the past that German firms flouting the sanctions face unspecified penalties.The firm selected to build the power stations, Technopromexport, is controlled by Rostec, a state-owned conglomerate subject to U.S. sanctions.The foundations of the two power plants were designed to accommodate 160-187 megawatts turbines which can deliver the 940 megawatts in extra electricity that Russia promised Crimea to end frequent power cuts.The only Russian producer of such turbines is a Siemens joint venture in St Petersburg. Three sources said that Russian officials and people involved in the power plant project had concluded that, because of the sanctions, it was not possible to buy the Siemens turbines."Siemens’ business policy is very clear: Siemens complies with all export control restrictions," a Siemens spokesman said.A Technopromexport spokesman said the timetable for completion was likely to slip, but that the delay was not caused by a problem with sourcing the turbines.He said the delay was due to a decision to change some technical aspects of the project to make it more effective and environmentally-friendly."All the technical decisions have already been taken," the spokesman said in an emailed statement.ALTERNATIVESTwo of the sources familiar with the project said that the energy ministry was exploring whether it could install 25-megawatt turbines made by ODK, part of the Rostec group.The sources said there was no consensus on doing this and any decision would need to be swift."There is an option to re-do the design," said one of the sources. "But it needs to be decided now," before work on the sites gets too advanced.Russian officials have said they are exploring buying large turbines from a country that does not support the sanctions. Rostec head Sergei Chemezov, an old friend of Putin''s, has said negotiations were underway with Iran.However, two sources in the Russian engineering sector said that any large capacity turbines in Iran would either have been manufactured under license from a big global engineering firm, or bought from one of these big firms. Those firms might resist because of the sanctions risk.A third option, voiced this month by Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, is to use Western-made turbines already in Russia which are lying idle.A source in Russia''s power sector said it could be hard to find enough compatible turbines from a single manufacturer. Even if a full set was found the manufacturer would need to get them working -- potentially falling foul of sanctions."A person needs to come from the manufacturer with a thumb drive and a laptop to start it up," said the source."I cannot imagine how you can hide that." (Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov, Darya Korsunskaya in Moscow and Georgina Prodhan in Frankfurt; Writing by Anastasia Lyrchikova and Christian Lowe; Editing by Anna Willard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ukraine-crisis-crimea-power-idINL8N1HM0KA'|'2017-04-27T04:00:00.000+03:00' '356200b3cfdfebfcffb038cea944bb49d20ea2da'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX slips on U.S. trade worries; Home Capital slumps'|'TORONTO, April 26 Canada''s main stock index fell on Wednesday, pressured by a plunge in the shares of mortgage lender Home Capital Group Inc and investor worries about Canada''s trade relationship with the United States.The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 95.65 points, or 0.61 percent, at 15,649.54. Five of the index''s 10 main groups ended lower. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-close-idINL1N1HY21B'|'2017-04-26T18:08:00.000+03:00' '414e3b450880416fd6da680b116e86b402444da3'|'LG Display books record quarterly profit on demand for large TV panels'|'Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:45am BST LG Display books record quarterly profit on demand for large TV panels FILE PHOTO: An LG Electronics'' logo is pictured on a TV displayed at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo SEOUL South Korea''s LG Display Co Ltd ( 034220.KS ) on Wednesday posted record quarterly profit of 1.03 trillion won ($915.08 million) in the January-March period, beating market expectations on demand for large television panels. The world''s largest liquid crystal display (LCD) maker said the result was boosted by rising prices of large-size panels, tight supply and a product mix that focused on products such as panels for ultra high-definition TVs. But the firm, which counts Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) and controlling shareholder LG Electronics Inc ( 066570.KS ) among its top clients, said panel prices were expected to remain flat in the second quarter. "Panel shipments by area in the second quarter of 2017 are expected to reach a similar level as the first quarter," LG Display CFO Don Kim said. Revenue jumped 17.9 percent from a year earlier to 7.1 trillion won. The profit beat an average forecast of 845 billion won from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 24 analysts, and compared with earnings of 39.5 billion won a year earlier. Prices for key display panel categories held steady in March, according to data from researcher IHS, partly due to steady demand for larger-sized panels for high-end televisions as well as limited capacity growth among panelmakers, as some convert existing LCD production lines for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens. LG in January had forecast panel prices to continue rising despite weaker demand following the peak holiday season in the fourth quarter. But some analysts are skeptical about LG''s prospects in the coming quarters, partly on concerns that some TV makers will cut panel orders as high prices erode margins. Reports that Apple will use OLED screens for its new iPhones also have raised concerns that LG will lose out on orders to rival Samsung Display, a unit of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd ( 005930.KS ) that controls more than 90 percent of the OLED screen market for mid-to-small sized devices such as smartphones and tablets. LG is moving to boost its own production of OLED screens for smartphones but has so far focused on making more profitable television displays with the next-generation technology. ($1 = 1,126.0900 won)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lg-display-results-idUKKBN17S009'|'2017-04-26T08:44:00.000+03:00' '60c8b2dcc4bf7a3c0aab7faa144e8f919cb9375a'|'Strong pharma unit drives Bayer earnings beat'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:06am BST Stroke drug Xarelto, plastics lift Bayer earnings The logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the Bayer Healthcare subgroup production plant in Wuppertal, Germany February 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender/File Photo By Ludwig Burger - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Bayer ( BAYGn.DE ) raised its annual core earnings forecast on Thursday after beating expectations with a 15 percent quarterly advance helped by plastics unit Covestro and sales of stroke-prevention pill Xarelto in Europe and Japan. Analysts had expected a worse result for Xarelto, a key drug for Bayer, after partner Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ.N ), which owns the U.S. rights, reported a near 10 percent drop in sales for the drug hit by discounting. Bayer''s quarterly sales of Xarelto, prescribed to prevent potentially deadly blood clotting, climbed by about 20 percent to 751 million euros (£636.42 million), Bayer said. "Our key growth products were once again especially successful," Bayer said in a statement, also citing contraceptive Mirena, eye medicine Eylea and cancer drugs Xofigo and Stivarga. Bayer shares rose 3 percent to an 11-month high, topping the German blue-chip DAX .GDAXI , which was flat. On top of rivalry from competing blood thinners, J&J''s U.S. sales were dragged down by discounts granted to patients to offset reimbursement gaps in the U.S. government''s Medicare programme. J&J pays up to 30 percent in royalties to Bayer. Xarelto competes mainly with Eliquis from Pfizer ( PFE.N ) and Bristol-Myers Squibb ( BMY.N ) as well as with Pradaxa from Boehringer Ingelheim. "Xarelto was better than many had expected following weak U.S. number from J&J last week," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note, reiterating their "outperform" rating on the stock. "Bayer beat expectations for all divisions." Adjusted group earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 15 percent to 3.9 billion euros (£3.30 billion), topping the 3.6 billion forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll. Bayer said it now expected group EBITDA before special items to improve by a "low-teens percentage", up from a medium single-digit percentage gain seen previously. It pointed to a brighter outlook for its plastics and chemicals subsidiary Covestro, which reported earnings on Tuesday. Bayer also announced that its Chief Financial Officer Johannes Dietsch will leave the company at his own request in May 2018, after helping the German drugs and pesticides maker conclude its planned $66 billion acquisition of U.S. seeds giant Monsanto ( MON.N ) by the end of this year. (Editing by Georgina Prodhan and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bayer-results-idUKKBN17T0O5'|'2017-04-27T14:12:00.000+03:00' 'aa18f73fa35bf7d03656f7f0a49eb1c452164329'|'Steven Cohen, SAC must again face Fairfax short-selling lawsuit'|'By Jonathan Stempel - April 27 April 27 The billionaire Steven A. Cohen must again face a lawsuit accusing him and his former firm SAC Capital Advisors LP of conspiring with other hedge funds to spread false rumors about Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd to drive down its stock price.A three-judge panel of a New Jersey state appeals court on Thursday revived conspiracy, disparagement and other claims that had been dismissed in 2011 and 2012 against several defendants in the Toronto-based insurer''s $8 billion lawsuit.But it upheld the dismissal of claims against two prominent hedge fund firms, Jim Chanos'' Kynikos Associates PC and Daniel Loeb''s Third Point LLC, and racketeering claims against all defendants, including Cohen and SAC.Fairfax claimed it was a victim of a four-year "bear raid" in which the hedge funds campaigned to manufacture bogus accounting claims and biased analyst research, and persuaded reporters to write negative stories.It said this was designed to generate profits from short sales, and ultimately "crush" or "kill" the company.In a 156-page decision likening the 11-year-old case and its millions of pages of documents to a "fearsome" lion, Judge Clarkson Fisher said the trial judge was too quick to find no evidence of wrongful intent by SAC, whose trading "gave it financial goals aligned with the alleged conspiracy."He also said SAC''s alleged trading strategy was "further illuminated" by the firm''s 2013 guilty plea to criminal insider trading and payment of $1.8 billion in related settlements.Fairfax was also allowed to pursue some claims against hedge fund Exis Capital Management Inc and Morgan Keegan, a brokerage that issued research about the company and its New Jersey-based Crum & Forster commercial insurance unit.But the New Jersey court said the racketeering claims must be dismissed because they would not be permitted in New York, where most of the alleged misconduct took place.It also said it lacked personal jurisdiction over Kynikos, Chanos, Third Point and Loeb, which are all from New York.After SAC pleaded guilty, Cohen converted the firm into a family office, Point72 Asset Management LP.Fairfax and its law firm said they were reviewing the decision. Spokespeople for Cohen and Loeb and a lawyer for Exis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Raymond James Financial Inc, which bought Morgan Keegan from Regions Financial Corp In 2012, declined to comment.Stewart Aaron, a lawyer for Kynikos and Chanos, said they were "gratified by the court''s well-reasoned decision."The case is Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd et al v. SAC Capital Management LLC et al, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, No. A-0963-12T1. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/fairfax-fin-hedgefunds-idINL1N1HZ1F2'|'2017-04-27T15:17:00.000+03:00' '9379a17205e8f8ff3dc833fe11b9ceccba216f51'|'Micron names SanDisk co-founder Sanjay Mehrotra CEO'|'Chipmaker Micron Technology Inc named SanDisk co-founder Sanjay Mehrotra its chief executive, replacing Mark Durcan who announced his retirement in February.Mehrotra''s appointment will be effective May 8.Durcan, a 30-year Micron veteran, took the top job in 2012.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/micron-moves-ceo-idINKBN17T1UH'|'2017-04-27T10:24:00.000+03:00' '51b949dc7657081e46495409765ff370ffda5786'|'German inflation picked up in April, state data suggest'|' 11:42am BST German inflation picked up in April, state data suggest People walk on a shopping street in the southern German town of Konstanz January 17, 2015. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann BERLIN German consumer inflation bounced back in April and came close to the European Central Bank''s price stability target of just under 2 percent, regional data suggested on Thursday. The figures from several German states hinted that price pressures in Europe''s biggest economy - partly due to a rise in transportation costs - are slowly building up as an economic upswing continues and the labour market booms. The German data followed Spanish price figures that showed consumer inflation prices rose more than expected to 2.6 percent on the year in April. In Germany''s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, annual inflation picked up to 2.1 percent from 1.7 percent in March. It also rose to 2.1 percent in Hesse and Saxony. In the eastern state of Brandenburg, it reached 1.8 percent while it accelerated to 1.9 percent in Bavaria and to 2.0 percent in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The state readings, which are not harmonised to compare with other euro zone countries, will feed into nationwide inflation data due at 1200 GMT. A Reuters poll conducted before the release of the regional data suggested overall consumer price inflation rose to 1.9 percent in April from 1.5 percent in March. The inflation rate for the entire euro zone, due on Friday, is expected to have risen to 1.8 percent in April from 1.5 percent in March, economists polled by Reuters said. The ECB has slashed interest rates and adopted a bond-buying programme worth 2.3 trillion euros (1.92 trillion pounds)to pump money into the region''s economy. The central bank is set to keep its ultra-easy policy stance firmly in place after a meeting on Thursday but may acknowledge better growth prospects, setting the stage for a small signal as early as June about an eventual reduction of stimulus. ECB President Mario Draghi is likely to point to still-weak inflation, muted wage growth and an uncertain outlook to argue that easing off the accelerator now could unravel years of work that have consumed much of the ECB''s firepower, a poll of analysts showed (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Tom Heneghan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-inflation-idUKKBN17T1FD'|'2017-04-27T18:42:00.000+03:00' '65513d468c985dbaa0c2af4c19fcffd7dccf9992'|'Vopak and Exmar call off FSRU deal'|'Dutch oil and chemical storage company Vopak ( VOPA.AS ) and tanker operator Exmar ( EXMR.BR ) said on Wednesday that they had decided not to pursue the acquisition by Vopak of Exmar''s participation in Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) assets.The companies said in a statement that the deal depended on the consent of multiple stakeholders, and that they had concluded that this requirement would not be met.Shares in Exmar had risen more than 6 percent when the two companies signed an agreement in December. Talks were first announced in September.(Reporting by Alan Charlish. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-exmar-m-a-vopak-idUSKBN17S2ED'|'2017-04-26T21:05:00.000+03:00' '676d02759783d9cc18f2671bb868af1cf08a3d77'|'Netflix clinches licensing deal with China''s iQiyi.com'|'BEIJING Netflix is to introduce original content in China in a licensing deal with local video streaming service iQiyi.com, the U.S. company said on Tuesday.Netflix has struggled to break into the Chinese market, where streaming services are subject to strict data storage regulations and foreign films and television are routinely censored.Content air times will parallel other regions, a spokeswoman said, who declined to say comment further on the tie-up.Netflix has played down the possibility of its entry into China in the past year despite its otherwise rapid global expansion.In October co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings said that prospects for a direct streaming service in the country were slim, and the firm had made no progress in obtaining government approvals.iQiyi.com is one of China''s largest streaming services and is backed by search giant Baidu Inc. In February it raised 1.53 billion to take on local rivals in a hotly contested market.This month Netflix forecast a global increase of 3.2 million subscribers in the second quarter, far outpacing analysts'' estimates of nearly 2.4 million.(Reporting by Cate Cadell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-netflix-china-idINKBN17R1A1'|'2017-04-25T09:14:00.000+03:00' 'f3d5fcdcb9418a501e40db7f5c39b7d426a42f55'|'BRIEF-Prescient closes $40 mln in Series D capital raise'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 6:10am EDT BRIEF-Prescient closes $40 mln in Series D capital raise April 25 Prescient Ltd: ZURICH, April 25 A Dutch appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Swatch Group deserved compensation in a $400 million row with U.S. luxury goods maker Tiffany over a failed watch venture. MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-prescient-closes-40-mln-in-series-idUSASA09K00'|'2017-04-25T18:10:00.000+03:00' '1cbaa6e481da5e592594eec144064cc37a821775'|'Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and HSBC-backed SABB in merger talks'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:45pm BST Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and HSBC-backed SABB in merger talks By Tom Arnold and Saeed Azhar - DUBAI DUBAI Saudi lenders Alawwal Bank 1040.SE and Saudi British Bank 1060.SE have agreed to start talks about a merger that could create the kingdom''s third biggest bank with assets of nearly $80 billion. The announcement by the lenders on Tuesday is the latest example of consolidation in the Gulf''s banking sector, where profit margins are being squeezed by lower government and consumer spending because of weak oil prices. "The consolidation points to the fact that you need stronger banks to sustain in this challenging macro environment. You need large, efficient banks to serve," said Murad Ansari, an analyst at EFG-Hermes in Saudi Arabia. British banks are the biggest shareholders in both lenders. Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) acquired a 40 percent stake in Alawwal Bank when it bought ABN AMRO in 2007. RBS has been trying sell the holding for a number of years as it retreats from international operations. HSBC Holdings ( HSBA.L ) owns 40 percent of Saudi British Bank (SABB), which is the kingdom''s sixth largest bank by assets. A combination of Alawwal and SABB would rank third in Saudia Arabia with assets of $77.6, behind National Commercial Bank 1180.SE and Al Rajhi Bank 1120.SE, according to Thomson Reuters data. Reuters reported in November that RBS had hired Credit Suisse to sell its stake in Saudi Hollandi Bank, which was renamed Alawwal Bank in November. Banking sources said at the time they expected the holding to go to a local rival, partly because of restrictions on a foreign buyer taking the stake. The banks said on Tuesday that any merger agreement would be subject to a number of conditions, including the approval of the kingdom''s regulatory authorities, and said Saudi''s central bank had been consulted about merger requirements beforehand. The two lenders have several common shareholders. Saudi''s Olayan family holds 21.76 percent of Alawwal Bank and 16.98 percent in SABB while the Saudi government owns 10.50 percent of Alawwal Bank and 9.74 percent of SABB, according to Thomson Reuters data. The two banks said the proposed merger, if completed, would not result in any forced layoffs. The announcement came the same day Citigroup ( C.N ) obtained a licence to conduct capital markets business in Saudi Arabia, which will allow the U.S. bank to offer banking services after an absence from the kingdom of almost 13 years. A total of 12 commercial lenders operate in the kingdom''s banking sector, sharing total assets of more than 2 trillion riyals (417.5 billion pounds). Banking consolidation is also underway elsewhere in the region. Abu Dhabi lenders First Gulf Bank (FGB) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi NBAD.AD (NBAD) merged on April 1 to create one of the largest banks in the Middle East and Africa. In Qatar, Masraf Al Rayan MARK.QA is moving ahead with a three-way merger with Barwa Bank IPO-BABK.QA and International Bank of Qatar. (Editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alawwal-bank-sabb-m-a-idUKKBN17R1WV'|'2017-04-26T00:45:00.000+03:00' '2414c1f72d4ab4a9b2ca9192b85abffb328f35e1'|'White House readies order to quit NAFTA - administration official'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:46pm BST White House readies order to quit NAFTA - administration official left right FILE PHOTO: Trucks wait at the international border bridge Zaragoza to cross over to El Paso, USA, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, December 20, 2016. Picture taken December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Trucks wait in a long queue for border customs control to cross into the U.S. at the Otay border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: Commercial trucks line up on the Ambassador bridge crossing over to Detroit, Michigan from Windsor, Ontario September 12, 2013. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO: A commercial automotive supplier truck passes under a sign leading to the Ambassador bridge crossing over to Detroit, Michigan from Windsor, Ontario September 28, 2013. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo 4/4 By Steve Holland - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The White House is considering a draft executive order to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday. It was unclear whether the order would be enacted by President Donald Trump, who has vowed to pull out from NAFTA - a U.S., Mexico and Canada trade pact - if he cannot win better terms for America. But the action under consideration could signal heightened prospects that one of the world''s biggest trading blocs could unravel in an economically damaging dispute. The possible executive order, first reported by Politico, sent stocks and currencies falling in Mexico and Canada. Investors were rethinking their assumptions that Trump would back away from some of the drastic actions on trade that he had promised during the presidential campaign. "It is a clear indication that they (in the White House) are wanting changes but we will have to see what emerges," said Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada. Trump has long accused Mexico of destroying U.S. jobs and recently ramped up his criticism of Canada, saying last week that Ottawa''s protection of its dairy industry was "unfair." Trump this week ordered 20 percent tariffs on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, setting a tense tone as the three countries prepared to renegotiate the 23-year-old trade pact. The U.S. president has faced a series of setbacks since he took office in January, with courts blocking parts of his orders to limit immigration and the Republican-controlled Congress pulling legislation he backed to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system. As president, Trump has broad authority on trade policy, including the power to withdraw from NAFTA without votes by Congress, according to many legal analysts. It was under an executive order signed by Trump on Jan. 23 that the United States pulled out of the sweeping Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Mexico had expected to start NAFTA renegotiations in August but the possible executive order could add urgency to the timeline. Trump criticized Mexico extensively during his presidential campaign. The United States went from running a small trade surplus with Mexico in the early 1990s to a $63 billion deficit in 2016. Canada said it was ready to come to talks on renewing NAFTA at any time. "At this moment NAFTA negotiations have not started. Canada is ready to come to the table at any time," said Alex Lawrence, a spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Jason Lange; Editing by Tom Brown) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trade-nafta-idUKKBN17S2LO'|'2017-04-27T02:46:00.000+03:00' '9e5179a8290de637bcdf3abf19d92f101443273f'|'Major beef supplier Cargill to exit U.S. cattle-feeding business'|'By Tom Polansek and Theopolis Waters - CHICAGO CHICAGO Cargill Inc [CARG.UL] said on Wednesday it will exit the business of feeding cattle to direct capital toward other investments, the latest transformation for the global commodity trader.Minnesota-based Cargill struck a deal to sell its last two feed yards to ethanol producer Green Plains Inc ( GPRE.O ) for $36.7 million, after selling other feedyards to Friona Industries last year, according to the companies.Cargill''s withdrawal from the feeding business highlights a change in priorities at the company, which says it is the world''s largest supplier of ground beef.Cargill wants to expand its North America-based protein business by exploring plant-based protein, fish and insects, along with other opportunities linked to livestock and poultry, spokesman Mike Martin said.The sales of feed yards to Green Plains and Friona frees up hundreds of millions of dollars annually in working capital used to purchase cattle, he said.Cargill in recent years has refocused its operations by exiting some lower-margin businesses and expanding into higher-margin endeavors such as food ingredients and aquaculture. It sold a U.S. agriculture-retail business to Agrium Inc ( AGU.TO ) last year and its U.S. pork assets to Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA ( JBSS3.SA ) in 2015.Other agricultural companies, including U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ), have also shifted toward higher margin products to increase profits and distance themselves from gyrations in commodity prices."The driver from a Cargill perspective is how they can best deploy capital and they’ve decided not in cattle feeding but in further processing," said Jim Robb, director of the Livestock Marketing Information Center.Last year, Cargill bought a ground beef processing plant in South Carolina to target sales to retail and food service customers on the east coat.Green Plains will supply cattle to Cargill for processing through a multi-year agreement, according to the companies. The two yards it is buying have a capacity of about 155,000 cattle.The deal will make Green Plains Cattle Company, a subsidiary of the ethanol producer, the fourth largest U.S. cattle-feeding operation, with capacity of more than 255,000 head, according to the company.By buying the feedyards, Green Plains gains markets for its distiller''s dried grains, an ethanol byproduct used to feed livestock."The ability to effectively control our feed supply cost provides our cattle business with a strategic operating advantage," Chief Executive Todd Becker said in a statement.The companies said the deal is expected to close by the end of May.(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cargill-inc-cattle-idINKBN17S2JA'|'2017-04-26T16:07:00.000+03:00' 'e0774d3e656c0de1046abfc7d1ac850e4244c4a7'|'Exclusive - French relief sets up ECB for change of tack in June: sources'|' 3:55pm BST Exclusive - French relief sets up ECB for change of tack in June: sources FILE PHOTO: The logo of the European Central Bank (ECB) is pictured outside its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo By Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT European Central Bank policymakers are breathing a sigh of relief after the first round of France''s presidential vote put a pro-euro centrist in pole position, but they are not likely to change their policy stance until June. Three sources on and close to the bank''s Governing Council told Reuters that with the threat of a run-off between two eurosceptic candidates in France averted, and with the economy on its best run in years, many ratesetters see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus. There is, however, little appetite to change at this Thursday''s meeting the pledge to buy bonds at least until the end of the year and to keep rates at rock bottom until well after that. A move in June, however, might mean changing the wording of the ECB''s opening statement to reflect improved prospects for the economy. Some or all the references to prevailing downside risks to the outlook, to the possibility of further rate cuts or to larger asset purchases may be taken out, the sources said. "The discussion will be on removing some of the easing biases," one of the sources said. "I can''t say how quickly it will happen because that depends on the data." The ECB declined to comment. The euro EUR= extended gains against the dollar and yields on euro zone government bonds rose broadly on the sources'' comments "(The article) reaffirmed the relationship between the reduction of geopolitical risk versus what the ECB may do going forward," Sireen Harajli, a foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho in New York. "It’s ... adding more confidence in the euro." Emmanuel Macron, a pro-European centrist, is widely expected to beat eurosceptic candidate Marine Le Pen to become France''s next president on May 7 after winning the first round of voting on Sunday. More importantly for the ECB, his victory has allayed the threat of a run-off between Le Pen and anti-euro far-left, eurosceptic candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, allowing the ECB to focus more on the improving economic outlook and less on political risks outside of its control. But the general mood on the ECB''s Governing Council, which includes its six Executive Board members and the governors of the bloc''s 19 central banks, remains one of caution after years of crisis and stubbornly low inflation. The ECB is on course to buy 2.3 trillion euros (1.92 trillion pounds) worth of bonds and is charging banks for parking excess cash with it overnight in a bid to stimulate lending and, with it inflation and growth, in the euro zone. French central bank governor Francois Villeroy De Galhau said last week it was too early yet to make any policy change and chief economist Peter Praet warned earlier this month that even the notion of a rate hike could undo some of the ECB''s stimulus. For this reason, any move will depend on whether data shows the recent rebound in inflation, which the ECB aims to keep just below 2 percent, is taking hold. GROWTH Price growth in the euro zone was 1.5 percent last month and is not expected to rise back to 2 percent for years to come. "We need to use a lot of caution before making any change," another source said. Time is on their side. The ECB''s bond-buying programme is effectively on auto-pilot until December. This means that any announcement about the pace and duration of the scheme in 2018 can wait until September or, if needed, October. However, the side effects and technical constraints of the ECB''s purchases are becoming more visible by the day. The central banks of Portugal and Ireland are running out of government bonds to buy while the Bundesbank''s massive purchases of German debt is exacerbating scarcity of that paper, an essential form of collateral for financial firms. The ECB has already made clear that changing the terms of the programme to alleviate such issues carries political and legal risk. This adds weight to the calls for a gradual winding down next year if the recovery in euro zone inflation persists. "We''re constrained in what we can do about the programme," one of the sources said. (Additional reporting by Sam Forgione in New York; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-exclusive-idUKKBN17R1T1'|'2017-04-25T22:55:00.000+03:00' '1bcf0745de75d014e4c301f95068368a15a60f54'|'Coca-Cola''s profit misses as refranchising costs weigh'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 12:25pm BST Coca-Cola''s profit misses as refranchising costs weigh left right Bottles of Coca-Cola are pictured in a cooler during a news conference in Paris, France, April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A vendor walks at his Coca-Cola store in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring/File Photo 2/2 Coca-Cola Co ( KO.N ) reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit due to higher costs related to refranchising its North America bottling operations. The company is offloading much of its low-margin bottling business to cut costs amid falling demand for carbonated beverages in North America. Coca-Cola had warned in February that the refranchising was turning out to be costlier than previously anticipated. Global soda sales fell 1 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, the company said on Tuesday. Net income attributable to the company''s shareholders fell to $1.18 billion, or 27 cents per share, from $1.48 billion, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 43 cents per share. Revenue fell 11.3 percent to $9.12 billion, declining for the eighth straight quarter. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 44 cents per share and revenue of $8.87 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-coca-cola-results-idUKKBN17R18T'|'2017-04-25T19:25:00.000+03:00' '266361c85234dba8ca4bad45b83a2ddf589b0a5e'|'Costa Coffee-owner Whitbread says expects consumer confidence to dip'|'Business 10:53am BST Britain''s Costa Coffee-owner Whitbread sees tougher times ahead A Cappuccino stands on a table at a branch of Costa coffee in Manchester northern England, March 18, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble Whitbread Plc ( WTB.L ), which runs British brands such as Costa Coffee and Premier Inn hotels, warned on Tuesday of the impact of a tougher consumer environment, sending its shares seven percent lower. Rising inflation and muted wage growth following Britain''s vote to leave the European Union last June is forcing many consumers to rein in their spending. "Indications suggest that there is going to be some constraint on (the) pound in the average consumer pocket with inflation and higher petrol prices and a relatively static wage position," Chief Executive Alison Brittain told reporters. Brittain said some changes to spending patterns had already started to feed through, although adding that the company was confident of meeting overall expectations in the current financial year. Whitbread shares traded 7.25 percent lower at 39.95 pounds by 0930 GMT. Like for like sales at Premier Inn, a budget hotel brand, rose 2.3 percent in the year to March 2, while Costa sales rose 2 percent on the same basis. "The company is growing sales but at a slower pace than in the past as it struggles to fight off consumer trends at its two key businesses – hotels and coffee," said Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital said. Whitbread is facing increasing competition from Airbnb and the growing popularity of smaller independent coffee outlets. "The market and competitive landscape continue to evolve with more food-led operators now offering coffee and... customers are becoming more demanding in the way their priorities are met," the company said in a statement. Whitbread said full-year underlying pretax profit rose 6.2 percent to 565 million pounds, broadly in line with expectations. (Reporting by Rahul B and Tenzin Pema in Bengaluru; editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-whitbread-results-idUKKBN17R0KZ'|'2017-04-25T14:53:00.000+03:00' '9f6bd526a9c9c9305b18b4d121d723ac878012ef'|'LVMH''s Arnault to take full control of Christian Dior'|'By Dominique Vidalon and Gilles Guillaume - PARIS PARIS French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the Christian Dior fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods empire as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests - a restructuring long demanded by other investors.Under a series of complex transactions, LVMH ( LVMH.PA ), the world''s largest luxury group, will buy the Christian Dior Couture brand from the Christian Dior ( DIOR.PA ) holding company for 6.5 billion euros, including debt.The deal will unite the 70 year old fashion label worn by film stars from Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman with the Christian Dior perfume and beauty business already owned by LVMH.The Arnault family, which holds a 47 percent stake in LVMH, will also offer to buy the 25.9 percent of the Christian Dior holding company it does not already own for about 260 euros per share, a premium of 15 percent over Monday''s closing price.The transactions "will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH''s Fashion and Leather Goods division," the 68-year-old Arnault said in a statement.LVMH shares rose almost 5 percent to a record high of 225 euros as investors welcomed the deals, which they expect to boost LVMH earnings. Dior shares also jumped 13 percent to a new high of 256 euros."This is a good acquisition for LVMH in our view given the strong brand of Christian Dior, good use of its balance sheet and it reunites the Christian Dior brand with the very profitable perfume operation that LVMH operates," Barclays analysts wrote in a research note.LAST BIG DEAL?LVMH said it would use a loan to pay for Christian Dior Couture, which has 198 stores in over 60 countries, and whose sales have doubled over the past five years.Exane BNP Paribas analyst Luca Solca welcomed "the long awaited LVMH and Dior merger", which he said was made at a reasonable valuation. Including debt, LVMH is paying 15.6 times Dior''s 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).Solca added the deal also reduced the risk of LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton and Hennessy cognac, buying pricey, "trophy assets".Finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony declined to comment on LVMH''s future mergers and acquisitions (M&A) policy. But Arnault told the Financial Times that LVMH was not hunting for acquisitions as "fewer and fewer assets are looking attractive to us. And the best assets are not for sale."The Dior holding company owns 41 percent of the LVMH group and 100 percent of Christian Dior Couture, the home of the Lady Dior handbag.Arnault''s family company will offer 172 euros per share and 0.192 Hermes ( HRMS.PA ) shares for each Dior holding company share. There are potential all-cash and all-share alternatives.Arnault has a stake of about 8 percent in luxury group Hermes ( HRMS.PA ), and Hermes'' shares fell from earlier record highs on the prospect of more of the stock coming to the market.LVMH said the overall deal would boost earnings per share by some 3 percent within the first year of its completion, with the transactions expected to close during the second half of 2017.(Additional reporting by Blandine Henault; Editing by Andrew Callus and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-lvmh-dior-idINKBN17R0I1'|'2017-04-25T17:50:00.000+03:00' 'd172ff90d1e2dbd47247af8987697f95dfeda86d'|'Boeing near decision to launch 737-10 jet - sources'|' 09am BST Boeing near decision to launch 737-10 jet - sources The Boeing Company logo is projected on a wall at the ''''What''s Next?'''' conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young PARIS Boeing ( BA.N ) is nearing a decision to launch a larger version of its 737 passenger jet to counter strong sales of the Airbus ( AIR.PA ) A321neo, after a breakthrough on the design for one of its parts, industry sources said. The 737-10 would narrow the gap between the 178-220 seat 737-9, which first flew this month, and the 185-240 seat A321neo, which dominates the top end of the market for narrowbody jets. Boeing has been studying how to solve a tricky problem with the design of the plane''s landing gear, without adding cost or delaying a 2020 target for first deliveries. The sources said a two-part technical solution is being tested and that Boeing is separately talking to airlines with the aim of launching the 737-10 at the Paris Airshow in June. In all, it is said to anticipate a market of 1,000 of the planes. "Boeing is actively engaged in discussions with customers about the 737 MAX 10X," a spokesman said. "No decision has been made on the airplane and any discussion on timing of a possible launch would be speculative." (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-idUKKBN17R0WG'|'2017-04-25T17:09:00.000+03:00' 'f34b1d02d267c892e3f5e428c36ef000c18e8fd3'|'China banks miss out on U.S. investment banking bonanza'|'By Koh Gui Qing - NEW YORK NEW YORK As scores of investment bankers profit from the fee bonanza offered by Chinese companies hunting for deals in the United States, one group is conspicuously absent - Chinese banks.Despite their deep ties with Chinese firms, the country''s largest state-owned banks are missing out on the hundreds of millions of dollars that Wall Street banks and their European rivals earn advising Chinese companies on acquisitions and share and debt sales.What is holding the banks back is the way Beijing controls the top lenders to manage the supply of credit to the Chinese economy.Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank all have China''s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), as the main shareholder.U.S. rules require the controlling shareholder - or CIC in this instance - to seek Federal Reserve clearance for investment banking operations. This poses a big hurdle to Chinese banks as they would need to coordinate their applications despite having separate managements and strategies, said a banker with a Chinese lender in New York. He declined to be named due to sensitivity of the matter.The setup means the four banks are only as strong as their weakest link and two of them come with significant baggage, having drawn Fed scrutiny over enforcement of anti-money laundering laws.The Federal Reserve declined to comment and the CIC and the "big four" banks were not immediately available for comment."We''ve hit a bottleneck," said another banker at a Chinese lender in New York. "As a commercial bank, we''ve done all we are meant to do. Why don''t we become an investment bank ourselves?"Without changes that would allow Chinese banks to act independently, or an agreement with the Fed to make an exception for them, those keen to expand in the United States will be in a limbo, that banker said.Lending titans at home, the "big four" have invested in boosting their profile in New York. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, for example, has an office in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, while Bank of China occupies a new mid-town Manhattan office tower it bought in 2014. They take deposits from savers and businesses and provide trade financing and foreign exchange trading services. Between December 2010 and September 2016, their assets in the United States soared over seven times to $126.5 billion, Fed data showed.Beijing so far has given no indication it is ready to relax its grip for the sake of overseas growth, even though some say state divestiture is the ultimate solution."The leadership of China faces a choice. They control those institutions for their domestic purposes and I think that limits their ability to go international," said David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution."If those big banks really want to go international, I think China has to privatize them," he said.The stakes are high.Last year, Chinese companies raised over $22 billion in U.S. debt and stock markets, up 28 percent from 2010 and 12 percent higher than in 2015. The value of mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese firms soared to almost $27 billion last year from a previous high of $3.6 billion reached in 2013. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2oyhl3r )To get a slice of that investment banking business, any foreign institution needs the Fed''s recognition as a "financial holding company" that is "well capitalized" and "well managed," according to the Fed''s website."ALARMING" TRANSACTIONSThat poses a challenge for all four because the Fed took enforcement action against China Construction Bank in 2015 and Agricultural Bank of China last year for not doing enough to fight money laundering, according to the Fed''s website.The central bank did not detail the banks'' problems. But when New York''s financial regulator in November fined Agricultural Bank of China $215 million for violating anti-money laundering rules, it cited "alarming" transactions including "unusually" large payments from Yemen to the southern Chinese province of Zhejiang.Public records showed the Fed has not raised similar concerns about the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China so far.A person familiar with the Fed''s thinking said the regulators believed Chinese banks should focus on tightening their procedures before expanding their U.S. businesses.The person, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the Fed would never grant the "financial holding company" status to any bank with unresolved regulatory issues.Chinese banks have argued, without success, against being treated as one entity, the banker and the source familiar with the Fed''s thinking said.Now, bankers in New York plan to analyze the costs and risks of expanding into investment banking and present the findings to their respective boards in China, the banker said.If the banks'' headquarters in Beijing find the business worth pursuing they will conduct their own due diligence and start consulting various Chinese regulators on ways to overcome the regulatory hurdles, the banker said. Despite the challenges, the "big four" clearly has investment banking ambitions. All four have investment banking arms in Hong Kong or mainland China that target Asian deals. U.S. expansion would be the logical next step given that Chinese companies will continue investing overseas in search of growth opportunities and new technology, the banker said."Should Chinese banks continue to miss out on this opportunity? That''s the question we should ask," said the banker.(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing in New York; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran in New York and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-china-banks-wallstreet-idINKBN17S0DL'|'2017-04-26T03:08:00.000+03:00' 'e8db9a95b7c4822c1ee0270bb0aa7030cdac5994'|'WPP to cut Martin Sorrell''s pay in bid to calm investors - Business'|'Sir Martin Sorrell, Britain’s best-paid chief executive, is to take a pay cut in an effort to avert a clash with investors over the scale of his remuneration. WPP will confirm on Friday that Sorrell was awarded almost £50m last year, taking the total payout to the founder of the world’s largest advertising company to more than £200m over the past five years.The latest payout will be the last from WPP’s controversial Leap scheme, which has sparked investor revolts at the company’s annual meetings, and is to be replaced with a less generous deal that is expected to pay out under £20m annually.However, WPP – which saw a third of shareholders oppose Sorrell’s £70m payout for 2015 at last year’s AGM , one of the biggest pay deals in UK corporate history – is set to announce that it will cut Sorrell’s maximum pay package to closer to £15m.The company has moved to stem further potential run-ins with investors at a time of renewed scrutiny of corporate Britain since the vote for Brexit and the warning by Theresa May that she would curb boardroom excess. This year’s annual meeting, to be held in June, will include a binding vote on WPP’s pay policy over the next three years.Can anyone be worth £70m a year, Martin Sorrell? Read more In December, the chair of WPP’s pay committee told MPs that Sorrell was not on a “superstar” salary but that he has been “rewarded very highly” for driving the WPP business.Sorrell’s pay has been a flashpoint in the past. In 2012, during what became known as the shareholder spring, nearly 60% of investors rejected his annual package for the previous year.Last year, Sorrell defended his pay package, arguing that he had put three decades of his life into building WPP from a maker of wire baskets into a £22bn global marketing business.“I’m not a johnny-come-lately who picked a company up and turned it round [for a big payday],” he said. “If it was one five-year plan and we buggered off, fine [to criticise my pay]. Over those 31 years … I have taken a significant degree of risk. [WPP] is where my wealth is. It is long effort over a long period of time.”Topics WPP Executive pay and bonuses Advertising news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/wpp-to-cut-martin-sorrells-pay-in-bid-to-calm-investors'|'2017-04-28T05:05:00.000+03:00' 'e02d5087f37d3e090592af5553c914e152ad4d44'|'UPDATE 1-Sweden''s SCA to split in June with hygiene business listing'|'* Prepares split into two listed companies* Hygiene ops Q1 adj EBIT 2.90 bln SEK vs consensus 2.85 bln* Forest prods Q1 EBIT 498 mln SEK vs consensus 566 mln (Adds detail, background, analyst comment, shares)By Anna Ringstrom and Helena SoderpalmSTOCKHOLM, April 27 SCA will list its hygiene operations in June, the Swedish company said on Thursday, as it pursues a plan to split the business from forest products.Europe''s largest private forest owner has grown the hygiene business, which produces tissues and nappies as well as incontinence and feminine care products, to around 85 percent of group turnover through restructuring and takeovers.Shareholders this month approved plans to split SCA into two companies by spinning off and listing the hygiene business, which competes with Kimberly-Clark and Procter & Gamble , under the name Essity."The intention is that the first day of separate trading in the two companies will be in June 2017," it said on Thursday.A Swedish newspaper reported this month an offer was made for the business in March, sending SCA''s shares to record highs. The paper later said SCA had rejected the bid.On Thursday, SCA shares were up 2.5 pct at 0847 GMT, taking a year-to-date increase to 16 percent.SCA said new targets for Essity were for annual organic growth of above 3 percent and adjusted return on capital employed of more than 15 percent.UBS analyst David Hallden said the new growth target was somewhat modest in comparison with SCA''s former targets of 2-4 percent for the former Tissue division and 5-7 percent for the former Personal Care business.He said the plan to list Essity in June matched his expectations.Essity, whose brands include Tena, Tork and Libero, had a first-quarter operating profit before restructuring and other one-off costs of 2.9 billion crowns ($331 million), up from a year-ago 2.71 billion as higher volumes, better profitability and cost cuts outweighed higher raw material and energy costs.The mean forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts had been for a 2.85 billion crown profit.Essity generates the bulk of its turnover in Europe, but has a plan to grow its share of sales in emerging markets. In the quarter, organic sales grew 5 percent in emerging markets but shrank 1 percent in mature markets.The market leader on incontinence care products and no. 2 on tissue said the global market for hygiene products was somewhat challenging in the quarter.At SCA''s forestry products business, which will make up the new SCA, operating profit shrank to 498 million crowns from 533 million, against an expected increase to 566 million. ($1 = 8.7680 Swedish crowns) (Editing by Niklas Pollard and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sca-results-idINL8N1HZ279'|'2017-04-27T07:38:00.000+03:00' 'f3b344f6d7a0529c778550b12157d53d8566b979'|'Companies cheer Trump tax cuts, but jobs are less certain to follow'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 2:15am BST Companies cheer Trump tax cuts, but jobs are less certain to follow left right A reporter shoots a picture of a White House press release on its tax reform plan during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 1/2 left right A tax sign is on pictured on the window of a tax preparation office in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake 2/2 By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz U.S. businesses would reap a windfall if President Donald Trump''s plan to cut corporate tax rates and slash taxes on cash parked overseas becomes law, but it was unclear whether they would stimulate a surge in investment and job creation in return. Under Trump''s proposals, American companies would move from being the most highly taxed among the Group of 20 countries to among the lowest. Tax rates would fall below those of neighbouring Mexico and Canada, which Trump has accused of shortchanging the United States in trade deals. Corporate leaders and business lobbying groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday cheered the administration''s tax proposals, while allowing that the initial one-page plan left out crucial details. The tax plan, which includes a cut in taxes on public companies to 15 percent from 35 percent, does not detail cuts in spending that would help keep the budget deficit under control. AT&T Corp ( T.N ) Chief Executive Randall Stephenson welcomed the tax plan but cautioned "the practical reality of getting to 15 percent is you have to get yourself reconciled to some level of deficits for a period of time as you get the economic stimulation." Big U.S. companies have nearly $1.8 trillion in cash stockpiled overseas, according to Moody''s Investors Service. Technology powerhouse Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) has more than $200 billion of that total. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said the company was looking to bring back offshore cash if tax rates for doing so were lower. "What we would do with it, let''s wait and see exactly what it is, but as I''ve said before we are always looking at acquisitions," Cook told investors on the company''s first-quarter earnings call in January in response to an analyst''s question about the company''s thinking on acquisitions. Cook''s comment points to a big unknown for the White House and congressional Republicans, who have said business tax cuts would result in more and better jobs. Studies of the results of past tax holidays found that most of the offshore cash brought home by U.S. companies was used to buy back shares or make acquisitions, not to fund investments in production capacity or jobs. Under pressure from shareholders, listed companies have set high targets for return on invested capital. General Motors Co ( GM.N ), for example, has told investors it is aiming for 20 percent returns on its capital investments. Many U.S. companies have been tightfisted about investing in new plants and equipment following the last recession, which left them wary of becoming overextended. Since 2014, investment in new equipment has flatlined, according to government data. A MIXED BAG The financial impact of the White House tax plan will vary widely by company and business sector. A proposal to cut inheritance taxes, for example, is of high interest to auto dealers, which are often family-controlled enterprises. Many companies already pay less than the headline 35 percent tax rate. Companies in the S&P 500 index paid an average tax rate of 29.06 percent for 2016, Standard and Poors said. A change of a few percentage points in tax rates can make a big difference. Aircraft maker Boeing Co ( BA.N ) on Wednesday reported a 19 percent increase in first quarter profits, partly because of a 4 percentage-point drop in its tax rate. "At the highest level we''re a big supporter of tax reform," Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told analysts and journalists on a call Wednesday. "It''s going to drive jobs, it''s going to drive the U.S. economy broadly speaking and it''s going to allow us to compete." Boeing has been cutting jobs in the United States, warning employees last week that it planned another round of cuts that would eliminate hundreds of engineering jobs. While the tax cuts may produce a short-term boost to the economy and add fuel to a stock market rally, it falls short of the comprehensive tax reform that Trump had pledged earlier. Regarding other parts of his agenda, his administration has been stymied in its attempts to limit immigration by the courts, while an attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed in Congress. “A cynic would say this is a rushed attempt to have something big to show for President Trump’s first 100 days in office," said Luke Bartholomew, investment strategist at Aberdeen Asset Management in London. (Reporting by Ginger Gibson, David Shepardson, Diane Bartz, Steve Nellis and Tim Aeppel; Writing by Joseph White; Editing by David Chance and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-tax-business-idUKKBN17T04W'|'2017-04-27T09:15:00.000+03:00' '9405b4f3e85c36343f00efc1a36bb44163cd3939'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 25'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 2:05am EDT Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 25 ZURICH, April 25 The Swiss blue-chip SMI was seen opening little changed at 8,710 points on Tuesday, according to premarket indications by bank Julius Baer . Here are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks: NOVARTIS First-quarter core net income fell 4 percent as the Swiss drugmaker''s spending to kick start sales at its eyecare unit Alcon and for its heart failure drug Entresto weighed again on earnings For more news, click LONZA The drug ingredients maker will replace biotech company Actelion in Switzerland''s blue-chip SMI stock index as of May 3, the Swiss stock exchange said. It upgraded its 2017 outlook after a strong first quarter For more news, click ABB The engineering group has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the internet of things. For more news, click CREDIT SUISSE Chairman Urs Rohner faces his toughest shareholder meeting this week following an investor revolt over bonuses and losses totalling 5.65 billion Swiss francs ($5.7 billion) since 2015. SWISS LIFE The insurer holds its annual general meeting. For more news, click * Novartis said it had expanded commercial collaboration with Amgen for erenumab in treating migraine. [NOVN.S} * Biotelemetry Inc said it issued a prospectus for public tender offer to acquire Switzerland''s Lifewatch. * Schindler said first-quarter net profit slipped slightly to 179 million Swiss francs, down from 182 million francs. Orders rose 5.7 percent, as the company said it continues to expect full-year revenues to rise 3-5 percent in local currencies. * Kudelski said signed a patent license agreement with Advance Magazine Publishers Inc including Condé Nast. Financial terms were not disclosed. * ams posted a net result for Q1 of -16.2 million euros compared to 13.6 million euros in same period last year and said its mid-term revenue growth target is currently under upward revision. * Feintool International Holding AG said Q1 sales were 145 million Swiss francs ($145.61 million) * Phoenix Mecano AG says Q1 gross sales increased by 9.8% year-on-year to 161.2 million euros * Dufry AG renews its duty-free contract at Liverpool John Lennon Airport for additional 8 years * Ascom Holding AG announces the introduction of Ascom Telligence into Europe, Asia and growth markets ECONOMY '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idUSL8N1HW46T'|'2017-04-25T12:38:00.000+03:00' '9e31a231d4c7a2b650745f6caa40d0f5dc0649f8'|'UK public inflation expectations stable in April - Citi-YouGov'|'Money 1:16pm BST UK public inflation expectations stable in April - Citi-YouGov FILE PHOTO: A shopper pushes a trolley in a supermarket in London, Britain April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Neil Hall LONDON The British public''s expectations for inflation over the coming year remained steady in April, despite previous sharp rises in the country''s most closely watched measures of price growth, a monthly survey by bank Citi and polling firm YouGov showed. Expectations for inflation in a year''s time held at 2.5 percent in April, unchanged from March. Britain''s consumer price inflation - targeted by the Bank of England - held at 2.3 percent in the year to March, unchanged from February but still at levels last seen in 2013, while retail price inflation, used in many commercial contracts, dipped to 3.1 percent. Inflation expectations for five to 10 years'' time fell back to 2.9 percent from 3.0 percent in March. Citi said moves like this could simply be fluctuations in its inflation tracker, but it added that further sustained falls could strengthen the argument of those Bank of England policymakers who want to keep interest rates unchanged. The Citi survey was based on a YouGov poll of 2,057 adults conducted on April 20 and April 21. (Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-inflation-citi-idUKKBN17R11J'|'2017-04-25T17:48:00.000+03:00' '2b285fcabb1e98e110f43769f4763a597791b332'|'Brazil''s Kroton says on-site enrollment levels up 10 pct in Q1'|'SAO PAULO, April 25 Brazil''s largest for-profit education firm Kroton Educacional SA said in a securities filing Tuesday that its on-site graduation enrollment levels rose 10 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago.Kroton said the number of students enrolled in such programs totaled 112,223 in the first three months of 2017. The company added its total on-site graduation student base fell 1 percent to 433,612 in the period. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kroton-outlook-idINE6N1FM026'|'2017-04-25T09:44:00.000+03:00' '0a142cb5de187bad4f2ab207ab9bf68ae0359b5c'|'Asian stocks extend gains on bullish Wall Street, euro steady'|'Business News 17am EDT World stocks advance on earnings, tax hopes People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File photo By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK Equities in major markets touched a record for a third straight session on Wednesday as U.S. shares rose on strong earnings and the prospect of tax cuts, while the euro pulled back after two days of strong gains. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who is leading U.S. President Donald Trump''s effort to craft a tax package that can pass Congress, described the plan as the "the biggest tax cut" in U.S. history and said he hoped it would attract broad support. "We have a pretty good idea that he (Trump) is targeting lower corporate taxes, lower individual taxes and a simplification of the process, but all that is in an ideal world," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey. Thermo Fisher Electron ( TMO.N ), up 4.4 percent, and Edwards Lifesciences ( EW.N ), up 9.5 percent, were the biggest boosts to the benchmark S&P 500 index after results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 33.93 points, or 0.16 percent, to 21,030.05, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.04 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,393.65 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 5.39 points, or 0.09 percent, to 6,030.88. European shares are at 20-month highs during a three-day rally sparked by centrist Emmanuel Macron''s win in the first round of French presidential elections, which considerably reduced the risk of a French exit from the single currency. Higher-than-expected earnings also helped European stocks reverse early falls and move higher. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.46 percent, to touch its highest level since August 2015. MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS gained 0.17 percent after hitting a high of 456.97, to set a record for a third straight session. Overall, first-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies were expected to rise 5.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. In comparison, S&P 500 companies in the U.S. are expected to show 11.4-percent earnings growth expected for quarter. The euro EUR= was down 0.46 percent to $1.0875 after strengthening by more than 2 percent in the prior two sessions in the wake of the first round of French elections. The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend also receded after Trump backed away from demanding that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. U.S. Treasury prices were little changed ahead of the tax announcement after paring steep losses sustained in the last few sessions. Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 2/32 in price to yield 2.3215 percent, from 2.329 percent late on Tuesday. Oil prices LCOc1 reversed course and turned higher after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed a bigger-than-expected draw in crude inventories. U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 0.69 percent to $49.90 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $52.14, up 0.08 percent on the day. Investors were also looking ahead to Thursday''s policy meeting of the European Central Bank. While no changes are expected, policymakers see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus, according to sources, another factor underpinning the single currency. (Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17S035'|'2017-04-26T08:57:00.000+03:00' '2bbc5ad1cede4737b5eef7c6674e9faee7566ad3'|'Fresnillo says first quarter silver output up 12.5 percent, on track to meet FY targets'|' 59am BST Fresnillo says first quarter silver output up 12.5 percent, on track to meet FY targets Precious metals miner Fresnillo Plc ( FRES.L ) said its silver production rose 12.5 percent in the first quarter due to higher ore grades at its Fresnillo and Cienega mines in Mexico. The company, which mines silver and gold at six mines in Mexico, said silver production hit 12.4 million ounces for the quarter ended March 31. Gold production for the quarter, however, fell 3.3 percent to 222,290 ounces due to lower grades at the company''s Herradura mine and a one-off reduction of inventory levels. The company said it was on track to meet its 2017 production guidance of 58 million-61 million ounces of silver and 870,000-900,000 ounces of gold. Demand for gold, a safe-haven metal, has been robust amid mounting geopolitical uncertainty across the world, including Britain''s move to leave the European Union. Meanwhile, the slide in the peso has been pushing costs lower for Fresnillo, while silver XAG= prices are ramping up on strong industrial demand and the metal''s attraction as a haven from risk. Spot gold prices XAU= have risen 8.4 percent in the first quarter and silver XAG= has gained 14.4 percent, while the Mexican Peso MXN= has weakened 9.6 percent. (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fresnillo-results-idUKKBN17S0L7'|'2017-04-26T14:59:00.000+03:00' '30ee942a85ec0c6a1310592df8b93db4cd51d810'|'Some oil companies in Venezuela pull expats as unrest escalates -sources'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 9:31pm BST Some oil companies in Venezuela pull expats as unrest escalates -sources left right The corporate logo of Repsol is seen in their office in Caracas, Venezuela April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins 1/2 left right The corporate logo of Repsol is seen in their office in Caracas, Venezuela April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins 2/2 By Marianna Parraga and Alexandra Ulmer - HOUSTON/CARACAS HOUSTON/CARACAS As political turmoil in Venezuela mounts, oil firms including Norwegian major Statoil ASA ( STL.OL ) and Spain''s Repsol SA ( REP.MC ) have further reduced their already-dwindling ranks of expatriate employees in the country, sources familiar with the situation said. Statoil, Repsol and Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ) are among the foreign oil companies that hold minority stakes in more than 40 joint ventures with state-run Petroleos de Venezuela [PDVSA.UL] (PDVSA), providing cash-strapped Venezuela with crucial crude production and income amid a debilitating economic crisis. Venezuela, South America''s largest oil exporter, has been pummeled by a brutal economic crisis that has millions skipping meals, unable to afford soaring prices for basic goods and facing long lines for scarce products. More than a dozen people have been killed during near daily clashes this month between security forces and protesters calling for elections, the release of jailed activists, and autonomy for the opposition-led congress. At least 10 people have also died during night-time looting. Leftist President Nicolas Maduro has accused the protesters of plotting a coup against him. There are no reports of the unrest affecting operations in Venezuela''s often isolated oil fields, but some firms have been spooked by frequent barricades blocking streets and National Guard forces firing tear gas in capital Caracas, where foreign oil companies are usually based. Statoil, which has a joint venture in the country''s Orinoco Belt extra-heavy crude region, has withdrawn its five to six expatriate staff that remained in the country, two sources said. Statoil''s website says it has 30 employees in Venezuela including local staff, although it was not clear how many were native Venezuelans. Some expatriate staff with family at Repsol, which has a 40 percent stake in the Petroquiriquire joint venture with PDVSA and also participates in the Orinoco, have recently left the country, although others remain, two separate sources said. Repsol has about 10 non-Venezuelan employees. The sources all spoke within the past few days and requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Statoil said it has been following the situation to guarantee the safety of its staff, including local employees and expatriates. Its operations are proceeding as normal, it added. Repsol did not respond to requests for information. Chevron declined to comment on security and personnel issues. Russia''s Rosneft ( ROSN.MM ) told Reuters on Tuesday that "the inner political situation in Venezuela does not affect the operation of the joint venture. The works are carried out as scheduled." HIGH-RISK OPERATION The turmoil underlines the difficulty oil companies encounter maintaining operations in high-risk countries from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East. Such markets typically compel the firms to pay premium salaries for expats and employ specialized security staff to protect their families. Chevron last year advised expats living in Venezuela with their families to transfer to other locations, company sources said, part of a gradual winnowing down of expat staff as life grew more difficult there. Venezuela''s crime epidemic has long plagued foreign staffs. Worsening shortages of goods are also making the country increasingly inhospitable. Top Chinese oil executives nearly all relocated to neighbouring Colombia about a year ago because they were frequently targeted by kidnappers, a source said. Foreign oil executives who remain in Caracas are typically restricted to living in certain areas, sometimes banned from travelling after dark, and compelled to move around in armoured vehicles. The recent moves by foreign oil companies recall an exit of foreign staff from oil majors in Venezuela amid heightened protests in 2014. Those demonstrations ultimately wilted due to protester fatigue, a tough government response, and because unrest largely failed to spread to poorer areas. At Chevron, which participates in two oil projects in the Orinoco Belt, expats are staying put for now but the company has been monitoring looting to decide whether to change their status, another source said. The U.S. embassy in Caracas last week recommended its citizens living in Venezuela avoid areas where demonstrations may erupt spontaneously as protests may result in violence. (Writing by Christian Plumb; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-venezuela-politics-energy-idUKKBN17R2QX'|'2017-04-26T04:31:00.000+03:00' '503820daf4efbfe8c46d169ea5e40ea1b7e39657'|'U.S. 5-year note sold at lowest yield since November'|'NEW YORK, April 26 The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sold $34 billion in five-year government debt to soft investor demand for a yield of 1.875 percent, the lowest at a five-year note auction since November, Treasury data showed.The Treasury awarded investment funds, foreign central banks and other indirect bidders 57.29 percent of the latest five-year note offering, which was their smallest award since last July. (Reporting by Richard Leong, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-auction-5year-idINL1N1HY1FK'|'2017-04-26T15:13:00.000+03:00' '6ebe9e889950f2c794d8526330fde08dd53958c8'|'Odebrecht lenders to forgo early debt repayment after M&A deal'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Creditors of Odebrecht SA have agreed to not tap proceeds from the sale of a water and sanitation utility for early repayment of loans, giving the embattled Brazilian engineering conglomerate more time to restructure 76 billion reais ($24 billion) of obligations.In a Tuesday statement, Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] said lenders allowed it to keep the 2.5 billion reais in proceeds from the sale of a 70 percent stake in Odebrecht Ambiental SA to replenish cash. That amount is enough to cover Odebrecht''s cash needs for about two years, the statement said.The accord signals the willingness of Odebrecht''s lenders to give it more time to reorganize amid fallout from a massive bribery probe. In recent months, some analysts and newspaper reports have speculated that the extent of the probe could force the group to seek an in-court reorganization.The sale of Odebrecht Ambiental to an investor group led by Brookfield Asset Management Inc ( BAMa.TO ) took longer than expected to close due to protracted due diligence and fears that Odebrecht''s involvement in the scandal could hurt the utility''s business, people familiar with the matter said.The scandal known as "Operation Car Wash" has almost shut Odebrecht''s access to credit and new construction contracts in Brazil and a dozen countries. Odebrecht and banks are currently renegotiating about 30 billion reais in loans.Prosecutors in Brazil allege Odebrecht and rivals colluded to overcharge state firms for contracts, then used part of the extra proceeds to bribe politicians in Brazil and abroad.Odebrecht is negotiating graft-related fines with several Latin American countries to prevent upcoming elections across the region from putting the brakes on planned asset sales. Some asset sales that may soon be announced include Odebrecht''s exit from a consortium running Rio de Janeiro''s international airport.(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-odebrecht-restructuring-deals-idINKBN17R2XI'|'2017-04-25T20:02:00.000+03:00' 'eb679aed3d75a87d303178aadad2d49e6259b223'|'Mexico''s Bimbo plans expansion in China, Asia, Middle East - executive'|' 35pm BST Mexico''s Bimbo plans expansion in China, Asia, Middle East - executive Advertising of Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo is seen in Mexico City March 24, 2015. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido MEXICO CITY Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo ( BIMBOA.MX ) plans to grow in China in the short term with acquisitions, while also expanding its presence in the rest of Asia and entering Middle Eastern markets, the company''s food business chief said on Wednesday. (Reporting by Sheky Espejo)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bimbo-china-idUKKBN17L2KZ'|'2017-04-20T03:35:00.000+03:00' 'de95d629c068d7d6c25d4db2690b2f07e97eda44'|'U.S. economy shows only modest signs of inflation pressures - Fed'|'Business News 7:15pm BST U.S. economy shows only modest signs of inflation pressures: Fed The U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo By Lindsay Dunsmuir - WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, The U.S. economy expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace between mid-February and the end of March, but inflation pressures remained in check despite more difficulties in attracting and retaining workers, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. "On balance, prices rose modestly," the U.S. central bank said in its periodic gauge of the health of the economy derived from surveying business contacts nationwide. Firms mostly expected price growth to be mild to moderate over the coming months, the Fed added. It raised its benchmark interest rate in March for the second time in three months and many policymakers appear bullish on the prospects of more tightening this year with the nation near full employment and inflation slowly rising. That said, there is still debate within the Fed about just how rapid and sustained the pickup in inflation will be given that it has struggled to reach the central bank''s 2 percent target over several years. Elsewhere in the report, most Fed districts said businesses had experienced more difficulty filling low-skilled positions and a larger number of firms said they faced more problems retaining workers. Employers surveyed by the Fed in recent months have often reported rising wage pressures for specific sectors such as construction and highly-skilled jobs. Modest wage pressures broadened during the most recent survey period, the Fed said, and a larger number of firms mentioned higher turnover rates. Firms in the Fed''s Atlanta district said they continued to "struggle to find, hire and hold onto quality workers, particularly in skilled technical jobs, but also in sales, finance, information technology, and compliance positions," according to the report. Despite a slowdown in jobs growth last month, the U.S. unemployment rate fell to near a 10-year low of 4.5 percent and the number of jobs created continued to outstrip growth in the working-age population. The Beige Book was compiled by the Richmond Fed with information collected on or before April 10. (Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-beigebook-idUKKBN17L2FH'|'2017-04-20T02:10:00.000+03:00' 'fce5b29b4553a3d512005d5641947cce4a4bb98e'|'UPDATE 1-Gates backs Big Pharma push to wipe out tropical diseases'|'Company News 51am EDT UPDATE 1-Gates backs Big Pharma push to wipe out tropical diseases * Bill Gates, UK, Belgium commit funds to tackle tropical diseases * Diseases of the poor disfigure, disable and sometimes kill * World Bank''s Jim Kim calls them "diseases of neglected people" * Jimmy Carter says "we are close to wiping out" Guinea worm (Recasts with Gates, Carter quotes, pledges from WHO meeting) By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, April 19 The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Western countries and drug companies pledged fresh support on Wednesday to wipe out diseases that blind, disable and disfigure millions of poor in tropical areas each year and urged new donors to join the fight. Some 1.5 billion people, mainly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, are infected with one of 18 neglected tropical diseases known as NTDs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. One billion of them are receiving treatment, half of them children. "The best thing with these diseases is not to debate whether they are neglected or not, but to proceed to make them history," Bill Gates told a global partners'' meeting held at WHO. "We need a broader, deeper bench of investors... so that by 2030 we can achieve the goal of reaching 90 percent of the people who need treatment. I know this is achievable." Gates, who has supported the initiative for over a decade with $1 billion, pledged $335 million over the next 4 years, including $42 million to continue efforts to wipe out Guinea-worm disease. The crippling disease, transmitted by contaminated water, can lead to a 100 cm long (40-inch) worm growing in the body. "Guinea worm is one of our great success stories, even though we''re not absolutely at zero, we are down to very small numbers. Thirty years ago over 3 million people in over 20 countries were afflicted," Gates said. Only 25 cases of Guinea-worm disease were reported in six countries last year, "putting eradication within reach", the WHO says. The Carter Center, set up by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, has worked for more than 20 years to wipe it out. "We are close to finishing off this debilitating disease," Carter said, speaking by video from Atlanta, Georgia. "We cannot be complacent, we must be creative and persistent. The Carter Center will not give up until the last Guinea worm is gone." Dengue, onchocerciasis (river blindness), and sleeping sickness are among those carried by mosquitoes or flies that are spreading from rural areas to urban slums, the WHO warned. "NTDs are really the diseases of neglected people, they are diseases of poverty and inequality that affect the most vulnerable among us," World Bank President Jim Kim said by video. "Now we have the largest drug donation programme in history with 1.5 billion treatments in 2015 alone," he said. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi are among major donors, WHO says. Merck said on Tuesday it was developing a children''s formula of its drug to treat schistosomiasis, a parasitic worm disease which kills 280,000 a year in Africa. Britain''s Minister of State for International Development, Lord Bates, said the UK government was committing an additional 250 million pounds ($321.35 million) to NTD programmes. Belgium''s deputy prime minister Alexander de Croo pledged 25 million euros ($26.81 million) through 2025 to eradicate African sleeping sickness. "Today the stars are aligned to eradicate it completely," de Croo told the talks. "The pay-off is huge". ($1 = 0.7780 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/health-tropical-who-idUSL8N1HR2LL'|'2017-04-19T20:51:00.000+03:00' 'fbe55ed4be898f2495c7d386d8010eb4cdf3f86b'|'RPT-Amazon rolls out chatbot tools in race to dominate voice-powered tech'|'(Repeats to add story tag for photos. No change to story text)By Jeffrey DastinSAN FRANCISCO, April 19 Amazon.com Inc''s chief technology officer is working toward a day when people can control almost any piece of software with their voice.The company on Wednesday rolled out the technology powering Alexa, its voice assistant that competes with Apple Inc''s Siri, to developers so they can build chat features into their own apps, CTO Werner Vogels said in an interview. The service, Amazon Lex, was in a preview phase since late 2016.The move underscores how Amazon is racing to be the top player in voice-controlled computing, after losing out in mobile to Apple and Alphabet Inc''s Google.Vogels said that Amazon''s headway in processing how humans write and speak would make conversational assistants or "chatbots" more helpful than the clunky tools they''ve been in the past."There''s massive acceleration happening here," he said before speaking at Amazon''s cloud-computing summit in San Francisco. "The cool thing about having this running as a service in the cloud instead of in your own data center or on your own desktop is that we can make Lex better continuously by the millions of customers that are using it."Processing vast quantities of data is key to artificial intelligence, which lets voice assistants decode speech. Amazon will take the text and recordings people send to apps to train Lex - as well as Alexa - to understand more queries.That could help Amazon catch up in data collection. As popular as Amazon''s Alexa-powered devices are, such as Echo speakers, the company has sold an estimated 10 million or more. Apple has sold hundreds of millions of iPhones and other devices with Siri.Vogels said people use Alexa for many tasks, from helping them cook to playing music, while they talk to assistants on their phones in fewer scenarios like when driving a car.As with other cloud-based services, Amazon will charge developers based on how many text or voice requests Lex processes.Still, the biggest payoff may come from e-commerce, which has already attracted many to build chatbots. Amazon has begun offering Alexa-only shopping deals to encourage purchases by voice, and Facebook Inc this week said its virtual assistant, called M, can help users order food from delivery.com."Voice is a big part of the computer interface of the future," said Gene Munster, a veteran equity analyst and now head of research at Loup Ventures. "Whoever owns voice will be the gateway of commerce." (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin; Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/amazoncom-cloud-idINL1N1HR19U'|'2017-04-19T15:54:00.000+03:00' 'f2002e8d0c831d3837cc0ca6a54dfcfbedbdc15e'|'Saudi''s Alawwal Bank in merger talks with HSBC-backed SABB'|'DUBAI Alawwal Bank 1040.SE, Saudi Arabia''s oldest lender and partly owned by Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ), said on Tuesday it has agreed to start initial merger talks with Saudi British Bank 1060.SE (SABB), an affiliate of HSBC Holdings ( HSBA.L ).Entering into the talks did not necessarily mean the merger would happen, it added.RBS hired Credit Suisse to sell its 40 percent stake in Alawwal Bank, previously called Saudi Hollandi Bank, sources told Reuters in November.(Reporting By Tom Arnold; editing by Saeed Azhar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-alawwal-bank-sabb-m-a-idINKBN17R1WD'|'2017-04-25T12:39:00.000+03:00' '29771f98d27e32554870f9a093680b9bf0758708'|'Copa America set to increase to 16-team tournament'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 11:29pm BST Copa America set to increase to 16-team tournament SANTIAGO The Copa America is likely to be expanded to 16 teams when it next takes place in Brazil in 2019, South American soccer''s governing body said on Wednesday. "The board has agreed that it will take place in Brazil and the ideal number of teams will be 16," said Alejandro Dominguez, the head of CONMEBOL, at the organisation''s annual conference in Chile. A centenary edition was played in the United States last year with 16 teams. Traditionally the tournament is played with CONMEBOL''s 10 teams plus two invited teams from North or Central America. Talk was also "maturing" with European body UEFA about meshing their calendars to allow the winner of the Copa America to play a match against the winner of the European Championships, said Dominguez. Soccer''s world governing body FIFA announced in January that it would increase the World Cup tournament from 32 teams to 48. The ballooning international calendar has been criticised by some European clubs, who dislike releasing their best players. (Reporting by Rosalba O''Brien; Editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-conmebol-copa-idUKKBN17S33G'|'2017-04-27T06:29:00.000+03:00' '26a7f0a94d94f0ab53fbec1a242b521f9a7a76c2'|'Shares in Takata suspended after reported bankruptcy filing plan'|'Deals - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 1:06am EDT Shares in Japan''s Takata suspended after report on bankruptcy plan FILE PHOTO - A logo of Takata Corp is seen with its display as people are reflected in a window at a showroom for vehicles in Tokyo, November 6, 2015. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo By Naomi Tajitsu and Chang-Ran Kim - TOKYO TOKYO Trading in Takata Corp shares was suspended on Thursday after a report that the Japanese airbag maker at the heart of the car industry''s biggest-ever recall is considering a bankruptcy plan that will create a new company and ringfence its liabilities. The Nikkei business daily reported Chinese-owned car parts maker Key Safety Systems (KSS), the company''s preferred bidder, would sponsor the turnaround plan by injecting 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) and helping create a new operating company. That money would be transferred to Takata to help settle claims linked to faulty air bags that have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide. Agreement on a restructuring deal, eight years after the first death, would enable Takata to draw a line under the crisis and help it continue supplying replacement air bag inflators, as well as selling seat belts and other vehicle components. In a statement, Takata acknowledged that its steering committee had endorsed KSS as a sponsor candidate, but said it had not reached any decision on its restructuring. Reuters reported earlier this month that a group including KSS, a U.S. unit of China''s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp, and Bain Capital LLC was Takata''s preferred bidder, and would offer around 200 billion yen. Takata has long insisted it prefers a privately arranged restructuring, but people with knowledge of the situation have told Reuters that the company has come under increasing pressure from potential bidders and automaker clients to agree to a court-ordered process, which would provide more transparency. Automakers including Honda Motor Co Ltd, which have been paying for recalls for almost a decade, have insisted on the court route - even if that would wipe out shareholder value, hitting the founding Takada family, with a 60 percent stake. Takata''s steering committee and potential bidders have been negotiating for months, with talks dragging due to differences over issues including price and how to handle risks for suppliers, two sources with knowledge of the issue have told Reuters. A spokeswoman for KSS declined to comment, while Hong Kong-based representatives for Bain could not immediately be reached. Discussions that involve the automaker''s clients, suitors and bankers are likely to run on until at least the end of May before a decision is reached, sources have said. In January, Takata agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing in the United States and to pay $1 billion to resolve a U.S. federal investigation into its inflators. A federal judge in Detroit this month said he plans to name former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller to oversee nearly $1 billion in Takata restitution funds, as part of a U.S. Justice Department settlement. Takata shares are indicated to fall about 8.5 percent from Wednesday''s close. (Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Naomi Tajitsu, Tim Kelly and Junko Fujita; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-takata-restructuring-idUSKBN17S37E'|'2017-04-27T07:56:00.000+03:00' '0695f4822161b4505d8d4253c720141e32ab9326'|'Cenovus faces investor displeasure after ConocoPhillips deal'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 12:58am BST Cenovus faces investor displeasure after ConocoPhillips deal By Ethan Lou - CALGARY, Alberta CALGARY, Alberta Cenovus Energy Inc ( CVE.TO )( CVE.N ) won about 87 percent of shareholders'' votes for its board of director slate on Wednesday, below previous near-unanimous approvals, as some voters protested the company''s C$17 billion ($12.6 billion) purchase of ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) assets. The deal, announced in March, effectively doubled the size of the Canadian oil company, but wiped out about a fifth of its market value, with some investors complaining that the price was too high. Even as Cenovus posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, questions about the deal and Cenovus'' ability to execute it dogged a conference call about the results and the shareholders meeting later that day. A shareholder who wanted to be known only as Bernie told management: "If you guys are so confident on the deal, why don''t shareholders have the opportunity to vote?" Investors had been "left out in the cold," he said. "I very much resent that." Chairman Michael Grandin responded that the "once-in-a-lifetime" deal required confidentiality for negotiations that a shareholder vote would deny. Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said the Deep Basin natural gas asset bought from ConocoPhillips, which some investors said was incompatible with Cenovus'' oil business, was "absolutely core" to the company and could be its "crown jewel." Cenovus could reduce spending on Deep Basin to focus on oil sands, and also sell part of that natural gas asset, he added. Ferguson told media after the meeting that the roughly 87 percent vote tally reflected confidence in the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter. Cenovus plans to fund the deal partly through divestitures, mainly of its Suffield and Pelican Lake conventional oil and gas assets. The company will provide more details on those in the third quarter, Ferguson said earlier on Wednesday. Cenovus reported a C$211 million ($155.54 million) profit in the quarter ended March 31, helped by lower operating costs and higher production. Net profit was 25 Canadian cents per share, compared with a loss of C$118 million, or 14 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Operating loss was 5 Canadian cents per share, compared with analysts'' average estimate of a loss of 8 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Cenovus said operating costs for its oil sands fell 6 percent to C$8.97 per barrel, while total oil production rose about 19 percent to 234,914 barrels per day. (Reporting by Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta and Muvija M in Bengaluru; editing by Anil D''Silva and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cenovus-energy-results-idUKKBN17S37C'|'2017-04-27T07:58:00.000+03:00' '7a31d6fa730118466b5b34a758f6bc2083fac536'|'China, Europe pledge closer aviation ties ahead of landmark jet launch'|'SHANGHAI Chinese and European aviation regulators said on Thursday they will forge closer ties over aircraft manufacturing and certification as the global industry turns its eyes to China ahead of the maiden flight of the Chinese-built C919 jet.The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are holding a landmark meeting on aviation in Shanghai as China''s government pushes for a bigger role in the global aviation market.The first flight in May of the C919 jet, built by Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), will mark a major step for Beijing. The government hopes the jet will compete with Boeing Co and Airbus SE for a slice of global jet sales worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years.A big hurdle, though, is that Europe and the United States have yet to certify a domestically built Chinese passenger plane and do not currently recognize Chinese certification procedures, limiting the countries to which China can sell its planes."The ever closer ties between the Chinese and European aviation industries have created good conditions and a solid foundation to deepen cooperation on aircraft manufacturing and certification," CAAC administrator Feng Zhenglin said.Another CAAC official said closer ties would "increase the global influence and competitiveness of Chinese aviation".The meeting between CAAC and EASA is the first since the two signed an agreement in 2015 to cooperate more closely on aviation issues in a five-year project.The ties have already yielded some results. EASA said on Wednesday it had started the process of certification for the C919, though no decision had yet been made.China''s first domestically made plane, the regional ARJ21 jet, has yet to receive U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or EASA certification, which had raised questions over whether the larger C919 jet would be approved in the West.The Shanghai meeting will see a raft of global aviation firms including COMAC, Airbus, Safran SA, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC and British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA.(Reporting by Jackie Cai and Brenda Goh; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-aviation-china-safety-idUSKBN17T0IO'|'2017-04-27T13:18:00.000+03:00' '05aaf0fd1dad3134c0b67a548ba83bd9356dccbd'|'Healthcare battle may delay Title III bankruptcy for Puerto Rico'|'By Nick Brown - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON An adviser to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Wednesday the distressed U.S. territory would not necessarily file for bankruptcy if it failed to reach a debt restructuring deal with creditors before Monday''s negotiating deadline."It depends on legal actions, if (creditors) go after our officials,” Elias Sanchez, Rossello’s liaison to Puerto Rico’s federal financial oversight board, told Reuters at an event in Washington where Rossello spoke. “Maybe, but maybe not, too.”Sanchez’s comments were the latest indication Puerto Rico''s leadership does not view bankruptcy as the immediate certainty that many experts and people involved in the talks expect.Under the federal Puerto Rico rescue law, PROMESA, Puerto Rico has until Monday to negotiate with stakeholders on a plan to reduce its crushing $70 billion debt load, or else open itself to lawsuits from creditors.There may be key political reasons for Rossello to delay bankruptcy until the end of the fiscal year on June 30 — even if forbearance efforts fail, and the island must defend a swarm of lawsuits in the short term.Bankruptcy could sabotage Rossello’s top-priority efforts to secure federal funding for the island’s near-insolvent Medicaid system, the federal health insurance system for the poor.Sanchez previously voiced wariness about the unpredictability of a court process, and Reuters reported last week the island was urging creditors to sign a deal to extend the Monday deadline.To be sure, the island could seek to enter a Title III bankruptcy at any time. It is the federal oversight board, not the governor, that makes the final call on doing so.“The cost-benefit analysis (of delaying) makes sense,” said David Tawil, whose fund, Maglan Capital, traded out of its positions in Puerto Rican debt. “It’s only two months.”With talks going nowhere as the deadline nears, filing a so-called Title III proceeding under PROMESA - an in-court debt workout, akin to U.S. bankruptcy - is seen as a way for Puerto Rico to protect itself from lawsuits, and arm itself with legal sway to impose harsh repayment cuts.But Republican lawmakers in Washington, already inclined to view healthcare funding as a bailout, would be even harder pressed to agree to Medicaid assistance for an island already slashing its debt in court, said a creditor source familiar with lobbying efforts.That could change if Puerto Rico secures funding before Monday. U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that Democrats were angling for a Puerto Rico healthcare provision in a massive spending bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30.On Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump expressed his disapproval for the plan in a tweet, stating: “Democrats are trying to bail out insurance companies from disastrous #ObamaCare, and Puerto Rico with your tax dollars. Sad!”Another rationale for delaying bankruptcy: an island-wide plebiscite on June 11 asking Puerto Ricans to choose between U.S. statehood and independence.Although the referendum is not expected to resonate with federal lawmakers, Rossello, a statehood proponent, nonetheless may be loath to hurt his side’s chances by being associated with a bankruptcy.(Reporting by Nick Brown; Additional reporting by Robin Respaut in San Francisco; Editing by Daniel Bases and Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-puertorico-debt-bankruptcy-idINKBN17T064'|'2017-04-26T23:31:00.000+03:00' '2ebffd99ba9b746bc45484b26b030a872774c95d'|'Airport duty-free prices not always cheapest, says Which? - Money'|'Bargain airport prices for favourites such as gin and Toblerone are now likely to be cheaper at the supermarket, Which? has found.A 360g bar of Toblerone cost £4 at Bristol World Duty Free but £3 at Asda, while a 70cl bottle of Tanqueray gin cost £18 at Heathrow Terminal 2 and £15 at Morrisons, the consumer group found.Despite a common assumption that airport shopping will cut out VAT, shoppers could save £21 by buying a 100ml bottle of Eternity for Men eau de toilette on Amazon for £25 rather than at Birmingham World Duty Free for £46.The Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon was £20 cheaper at Toys R Us online than at Gatwick South World Duty Free.Which? said it was “stunned” to find the SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB camera memory card selling for £73 more at Glasgow International’s Dixons Travel than at Currys online.The organisation checked all the prices between 10 and 13 March. They are rounded to the nearest £1 and include the cost of delivery for online orders.The watchdog also said consumers could find savings at airport shops, noting that it found the iPad mini 2 and Fitbit Flex 2 both for £10 less at Dixons Travel at Glasgow International airport than online at John Lewis.It urged shoppers to “always do your research before you head to the airport to make sure the ‘deal’ is not actually dearer than you find on the high street or online”.Topics Consumer affairs Supermarkets Retail industry news Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/26/airport-duty-free-prices-not-always-cheapest-says-which'|'2017-04-26T15:00:00.000+03:00' '6eae7640f21cab1065578f9f379279d6c290b37a'|'Alibaba may provide Brazil credit services, paper reports'|'Technology News 21am EDT Alibaba may provide Brazil credit services, paper reports FILE PHOTO: Two men chat beside a logo of Alibaba (China) Technology Co. Ltd at its headquarters on the outskirts of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province May 17, 2010. REUTERS/Steven Shi/File Photo SAO PAULO Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA.N ) has plans to provide credit services in Brazil, Jack Ma, the company''s executive chairman, was quoted as saying in Wednesday''s edition of O Estado de S. Paulo. In China, the e-commerce firm developed a credit line to finance purchases on its website. "We want to invest in e-commerce, logistics and inclusive financing," the newspaper quoted Ma as saying. The executive did not give details on what type of credit operations Alibaba would consider launching in Brazil, O Estado said. "Alibaba has business-to-business and business-to-consumer operations in Brazil," Ma said, according to O Estado. Alibaba started operations in Brazil in 2014 but has faced hurdles over logistics and the monitoring of product authenticity on its website, O Estado reported. "We did very well in the last few years. But now we have some issues and our team is working on them," Ma said, according to O Estado. Representatives for Alibaba were not immediately available to comment on Ma''s remarks, which were made at the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday. Ma, who advises UNCTAD, the U.N.''s trade and development agency, on small business and young entrepreneurs, spoke at a conference on e-commerce development. (Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alibaba-brazil-idUSKBN17S1SL'|'2017-04-26T21:18:00.000+03:00' 'a2c0c8a6cdfda3b23a88ffd273a105cc4ceca47b'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 26'|'ZURICH, April 26 The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks on Wednesday.CREDIT SUISSEThe Zurich-based bank plans to retain full ownership of its Swiss bank and aims to raise about 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.03 billion) via a fully underwritten rights offering. Credit Suisse said net income attributable to shareholders was 596 million francs. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected net profit of 423 million francs.For more clickCOMPANY STATEMENTS* Roche said new data it is presenting at a conference reinforce clinical benefit of its Ocrevus medicinefor relapsing and primary progressive multiple sclerosis.* Dufry said HNA Group has announced it exceeded the threshold of 15 percent due to an agreement with third parties to purchase 16.79 percent of the shares of Dufry AG.* Logitech said full-year operating income grew 53 percent to $197 million.* Lonza said it expects to raise 2.25 billion Swiss francs by issuing up to 22 million new shares in a capital increase.* ChemChina reconfirmed the timeline for public offers for Syngenta shares and said all regulatory approvals and conditions required for closing of offers have been obtained.* Spice Private Equity said it will launch a sharebuyback of up to 386,000 shares in a scheme that will launch on April 26.* Aevis Victoria said it had updated its offer to purchase LifeWatch after Biotelemetry made a competing offer earlier this month.ECONOMYThe Swiss Investor Sentiment Index is due to be published at 0800 GMT.($1 = 0.9921 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Zurich newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idINL8N1HX6HU'|'2017-04-26T03:07:00.000+03:00' '73b5509c0a7846ae7e6db4288861eb8e07eeb50c'|'Exclusive - Volkswagen eyes options for motorbike brand Ducati: sources'|'Deals 4:06pm BST Exclusive: Volkswagen eyes options for motorbike brand Ducati - sources The logo of Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati is seen in Dietlikon, Switzerland October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann FRANKFURT Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) is considering options for its motorcycle brand Ducati as it seeks to streamline its portfolio, two people familiar with the matter said. Europe''s largest carmaker has tasked investment banking boutique Evercore ( EVR.N ) with evaluating possible options including a sale of the thoroughbred brand, which VW unit Audi acquired in 2012, they added. While Volkswagen has started reaching out to potential buyers to sound out their interest, no decision has been taken on whether the firm will be divested, they added. Audi and Evercore declined to comment. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-ducati-sale-exclusive-idUKKBN17S23J'|'2017-04-26T23:05:00.000+03:00' '12cf18bca85ab51a9acc31f1673330df4fdc6794'|'Exclusive - Schonfeld in talks to open UK office: sources'|'Business News 2:08pm BST Exclusive - Schonfeld in talks to open UK office: sources By Maiya Keidan and Lawrence Delevingne - LONDON/NEW YORK LONDON/NEW YORK Multibillion-dollar U.S. hedge fund investor Schonfeld Strategic Advisors is in preliminary talks to open an office in Britain to invest in more European money managers, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Representatives from Schonfeld, which mostly manages New York-area trading magnate Steven Schonfeld''s personal fortune, have been holding meetings in London over setting up a physical presence instead of just investing in local traders, two sources who had met with the company told Reuters. Schonfeld currently invests in stock-picking, or ''equity'', hedge funds as well as computer-driven, or ''quantitative'', strategies in London, using a so-called multi-manager strategy in which it selects and allocates cash to portfolio managers. “London is an important market for us as evident by the six quantitative and three ... equity teams we back, and our interest in bringing on more teams," said Ryan Tolkin, Chief Investment Officer of Schonfeld. "We have not, however, made any decisions about Schonfeld''s presence in London, but continue to strategically evaluate our options.” Schonfeld manages assets in excess of $13 billion, with leverage, as of Dec, 16, 2016, an increase of approximately 55 percent since Jan. 4, 2016. A spokesman declined to disclose the firm''s precise assets without leverage. If the firm decides to proceed with an office in Britain, it will join 71 other U.S. hedge fund investors, including 67 based in London, according to data from industry tracker Preqin. Schonfeld recently made offers to at least two portfolio managers with computer-driven strategies, said one of the sources, in line with some of its past investments. The multibillion-dollar hedge fund investor last year backed new quant fund Masa Capital with $100 million. It backed other hedge funds in 2016, including Lucha Capital Management and Folger Hill Asset Management''s Asia business. Last year, Schonfeld added seven equity and six computer-driven teams, bringing its total number of hedge fund managers to over fifty, according to its website. The firm founded by Schonfeld - famed for earning $400,000 in 1988 and growing his portfolio exponentially over the past 29 years - started taking cash from outsiders from the start of 2016. (Reporting by Maiya Keidan; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hedgefunds-schonfeld-exclusive-idUKKBN17S1KK'|'2017-04-26T21:08:00.000+03:00' 'bd9fbc5e38ca08c9a2a76a95a512e61c5ae2e768'|'Twitter posts strongest growth in monthly users in a year'|' 30pm BST Twitter posts strongest growth in monthly users in a year FILE PHOTO: An illustration picture shows the Twitter logo reflected in the eye of a woman in Berlin, November 7, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Twitter Inc reported its strongest growth in monthly active users in more than a year and a much better-than-expected quarterly profit, despite stiff competition from Facebook and Snapchat, sending its shares up 11 percent. The microblogging service said average monthly active users increased 6 percent to 328 million in the first quarter from a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected 321.3 million monthly active users, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Revenue fell 7.8 percent to $548.3 million (427.62 million pounds), its first drop since its initial public offering. Net loss narrowed to $61.6 million, or 9 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $79.7 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2phNNZH ) Twitter''s user growth has stalled in the past few quarters and the company has been trying to convince advertisers that it will strengthen its user base. As part of its efforts, the company has updated its product offerings including live video broadcasts from its app and launched new features to attract users. Twitter''s weak performance has raised questions about CEO Jack Dorsey''s leadership and whether the company would be bought by a bigger media firm. Financial markets speculated about a sale of Twitter last year, but no concrete bids were forthcoming. Excluding items, the company earned 11 cents per share, beating the estimate of 1 cent per share. Twitter''s advertising revenue fell 11 percent to $474 million in the quarter, above the average analyst estimate of $442.7 million, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-twitter-results-idUKKBN17S1FC'|'2017-04-26T19:30:00.000+03:00' 'e452e3c5512e66dea17008c46ade7c3fd7aa1d16'|'Russian tycoon Deripaska''s En+ wants to raise $2 billion in listing: sources'|'By Dasha Afanasieva and Olga Popova - LONDON/MOSCOW LONDON/MOSCOW En+ Group, which manages Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska''s aluminum and hydro power businesses, plans to raise $2 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) in London and Moscow, sources familiar with the deal said.A flotation of 20 to 25 pct of En+ split between the two capitals would value the company at up to $10 billion, a valuation some industry sources have said is too ambitious."You have a tough valuation in market conditions which could still be tricky and a shareholder who does not have a capital markets track record," one of the sources said. "If you compare it to other conglomerates like Sistema ( AFKS.MM ) who have a mishmash of assets, it''s a high valuation."En+ declined to comment.En+ owns assets in metals, energy and coal, including a 48 percent stake in Rusal ( 0486.HK ), a Hong Kong-listed Russian aluminum producer, which is a big consumer of hydroelectricity produced by En+''s power companies.Sistema''s businesses include stakes in mobile telecoms network operator MTS ( MBT.N ), a toy retailer and agriculture assets.Another source said some investors wanted En+ to apply a discount to the sum of its assets, which is common in valuating a holding company. However, En+ does not see itself as a holding company, the source said.It reported 2016 adjusted core earnings of $2.3 billion this month, in its first public disclosure of financial results in two years.A source who attended meetings between En+ management and analysts from the organizers of the listing told Reuters the listing, aimed at reducing the company''s debt, was expected to take place in late June, depending on market conditions.But it could be delayed until after the summer, or postponed indefinitely if market valuations miss expectations, the source said. The company hopes to attract anchor investors, with a focus on long-term investors, for half of the placement.U.S. banks Citi and JP Morgan along with Russia''s Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital are among arrangers of the IPO, sources told Reuters in February.En+''s debut on the London Stock Exchange could mark the return of Russian listings in the capital, after a slump in commodity prices and Western sanctions brought most deal-making to a standstill.The country''s biggest gold producer Polyus ( PLZL.MM ) is also considering a secondary share offering in London.But the LSE faces stiff competition from Moscow''s main exchange, which claims to have access to the world''s biggest investors.Russia''s biggest IPO so far this year, children''s retail chain Detsky Mir ( DSKY.MM ), shunned the London market and opted for a Moscow IPO, attracting a significant proportion of international investors including Columbia Threadneedle Investments and Deutsche Asset Management Investment.(Reporting by Dasha Afanasieva, Olga Popova and Polina Devitt; Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-en-ipo-idINKBN17S28N'|'2017-04-26T14:06:00.000+03:00' 'aa67f6f78ea66bd94bd2387cc7463ad2065d64c3'|'Brazil''s Fibria misses profit estimates as output, revenue fall'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:41pm EDT Brazil''s Fibria misses profit estimates as output, revenue fall SAO PAULO Fibria SA, the world''s largest eucalyptus pulp producer, missed first-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday, reflecting declining output and revenues in the wake of higher unit costs. Net income at São Paulo-based Fibria ( FIBR3.SA ) totaled 329 million reais ($105 million) last quarter, reversing a loss of 92 million reais in the fourth quarter. Analysts projected an average profit of 399 million reais for the January-through-March period, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operating profit known as EBITDA, came in at 644 million reais in the first quarter, down 20 percent from the prior three months. The consensus estimate for the indicator was an average 963.45 million reais. ($1 = 3.1470 reais)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fibria-results-idUSKBN17S023'|'2017-04-26T08:39:00.000+03:00' 'dc23716114149fcf2af87d9acc9378ebc8f226c6'|'Former Jefferies trader to be sentenced for fraud in bond sales'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 8:50pm BST Former Jefferies trader to be sentenced for fraud in bond sales FILE PHOTO -- Jesse Litvak, a former managing director at Jefferies Group Inc, walks to the U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut, March 4, 2014. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin/File Photo A federal judge in Connecticut on Wednesday is set to sentence a former Jefferies Group bond trader after he was found guilty earlier this year of defrauding customers on bond prices. A jury in January found Jesse Litvak guilty of one of 10 criminal charges he had faced, a muted victory as prosecutors try to crack down on nefarious sales practices on Wall Street. The verdict became the second time that Litvak was found guilty of fraud. He was first tried and convicted in 2014 and sentenced to two years in prison, but that verdict and sentence were overturned on appeal. Federal prosecutors are now asking Chief Judge Janet Hall to sentence Litvak to nine to 11 years in prison, while his defence attorneys are seeking eight months of house arrest at his home in Boca Raton, Florida. Litvak had worked in the Stamford, Connecticut, office of Jefferies, a unit of Leucadia National Corp ( LUK.N ). Prosecutors argued that a stiff sentence, even tougher than the one handed down for the previous conviction on all 10 counts, was needed as a deterrent to illegal tactics in the financial services industry. "A prison sentence for such conduct can serve as a powerful deterrent against the commission of financial fraud, in particular, by other broker-dealers like Litvak," prosecutors said in court papers ahead of Wednesday''s hearing. "As this case shows, there can be a huge personal financial incentive for broker-dealers to commit fraud on their customers." Litvak''s attorneys argued that prosecutors were overreaching in seeking such a long sentence. "The government is attempting to compensate for its mostly unsuccessful prosecution of Mr. Litvak by urging sharp sentencing enhancements based on acquitted and uncharged conduct," they wrote. Litvak, who had been a managing director at Jefferies, was accused of generating $2.25 million of illegal profit by misleading customers including AllianceBernstein and Soros Fund Management about bond prices from 2009 to 2011. Prosecutors said Litvak was motivated by greed, and that his "lies" caused customers to overpay for bonds they bought and accept lower prices for bonds they sold. But defence lawyers said Litvak''s customers were sophisticated, with a deep well of talent and resources, and would be sceptical if prices that Litvak quoted looked wrong. (Writing by Scott Malone; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jefferies-group-litvak-idUKKBN17S2Q3'|'2017-04-27T03:50:00.000+03:00' 'db83c4919acd3a67b7c0baa9d1c80826158626da'|'Kazakh uranium firm says won''t be affected by Westinghouse bankruptcy'|'ALMATY, April 26 The bankruptcy of Toshiba Corp''s U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric Co will have no negative impact on the finances of its minority shareholder Kazatomprom, the Kazakh uranium miner said on Wednesday.Kazatomprom said in a statement that it held a put option that would allow the firm to sell its entire 10 percent stake in Westinghouse back to Toshiba at the price of the original purchase.Kazatomprom, which paid $540 million for the stake in 2007, did not explicitly say whether it would execute the option.Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy last month after being hit by billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/toshiba-accounting-kazakhstan-idINL8N1HY0JK'|'2017-04-26T03:33:00.000+03:00' '9a5233235c506c2404a5fd417aa38a564181b005'|'Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit'|'Business News 9:02am EDT Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit FILE PHOTO: A woman cycles behind a London bus as they pass by a Deutsche Bank building in the City of London March 30, 2016. REUTERS/Russell Boyce/File Photo - FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank is considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff from London to Frankfurt following Britain''s decision to leave the European Union, one of its top executives said. After Britain triggered Article 50 last month and has begun divorce talks with the EU, financial firms have stepped up planning on how to deal with any disruption that might ensue, such as losing access to the bloc''s single market. "For front office people if you want to deal with EU clients you need to be based in the EU, in continental Europe. Does that mean that I have to move all the front office people to Germany or not?" said Deutsche Bank''s Chief Regulatory Officer Sylvie Matherat. "And we are speaking of 2,000 people – that''s not a small number," she told a conference hosted by Frankfurt Main Finance, a group that promotes the German financial capital. Matherat said that any such move would require the bank to build up its information technology in Frankfurt and would also depend on local regulators'' stance on how trillions of euros in future deals should be cleared or processed. "What are you going to do: Do you have the technical capacity to move it? Do you have the willingness of the local regulators to supervise something that looks like hundreds of trillions in terms of exposure," Matherat said. She said that some local supervisors also are asking for risk management to be done locally, a demand that would require more jobs to be moved. "It means another 2000 people. Everybody needs clarity - and the sooner the better." She said the bank had 9,000 staff in Britain. Despite Deutsche considering such moves, it is likely to retain a large presence in the UK and recently chose a new office for its London headquarters. (Reporting by Andreas Kröner; Writing by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-deutsche-bank-idUSKBN17S1PR'|'2017-04-26T21:02:00.000+03:00' 'f438f9660fd67f8a6ef619d8873dd04f8ff8b4b6'|'BRIEF-Taiwan''s TSMC orders machinery equipment from Hermes-Epitek'|'Company News 3:53am EDT BRIEF-Taiwan''s TSMC orders machinery equipment from Hermes-Epitek April 26 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd * Says orders machinery equipment worth T$523 million ($17.42 million) Source text for Eikon: * Board chairs must help oversee change, era of easy growth over MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-taiwans-tsmc-orders-machinery-equi-idUSS7N1H100E'|'2017-04-26T15:53:00.000+03:00' '89f3bcc75fe50af2a718e4f80cd2ded1fdf48c20'|'Oil falls on bulging U.S. crude inventories, record global supplies'|' 08am BST Oil price slips on bulging U.S. crude stocks, ample global supplies A general view of a crude oil importing port in Qingdao, Shandong province, November 9, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo By Sabina Zawadzki - LONDON LONDON Oil prices weakened further on Wednesday as data showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories and record supplies in the rest of the world cast doubt over OPEC''s ability to cut output and tighten the market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 was trading down 4 cents at $49.52 per barrel at 0845 GMT, after gaining 0.7 percent in the previous session. The WTI price has fallen for seven of the past eight sessions. North Sea Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, eased 3 cents to $52.07 per barrel. Brent is around 8.5 percent below its April peak. Market players pointed to the American Petroleum Institute''s (API) U.S. inventory data, issued late on Tuesday, as weighing on prices. Not only did the report show crude oil stocks rose 897,000 barrels in the week to April 21, defying expectations of a 1.7 million barrel draw, but it also showed a large build in gasoline stocks, unusual for this time of the year. "Should these figures be mirrored by the EIA, widespread concerns over stubbornly high OECD oil stocks will have been justified in what would be a setback to the global oil rebalancing process," analysts at PVM said. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue its inventory data at 1430 GMT on Wednesday. Both Brent and WTI prices pared losses and came close to flat after Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said his country was interested in further talks between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers to stabilise oil prices. OPEC and a group of other producing countries, including Russia but excluding the United States, have pledged to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year in order to rein in years of oversupply and prop up prices. Yet prices have largely slumped this year as U.S. inventories remained brimming and global fuel supplies set new records, despite the pledges to cut output. The average value of the Brent crude forward curve <0#LCO:> has fallen by over $5 per barrel since the start of the year, when an OPEC-led supply cut started. The slump in Brent is a result of record crude oil volumes in circulation on ships around the world, despite the cuts. Thomson Reuters Eikon shipping data showed 50 million bpd have been booked for shipment on tankers this month, up 10 percent since last December, contributing to rising stocks not just in the United States but in key markets like Japan. (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17S041'|'2017-04-26T09:18:00.000+03:00' '5ebef1f030d6442da419d4f05c341626858beebc'|'StanChart first quarter profit doubles to $1 billion as bad loans fall'|'Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 9:57am BST StanChart first quarter profit doubles to $1 billion as bad loans fall FILE PHOTO: A Standard Chartered bank branch in Singapore October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo By Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON Standard Chartered on Wednesday reported its first quarter profit nearly doubled from a year ago, sending its shares up more than 4 percent as the emerging markets-focused bank brought losses from loans under control. StanChart said it made a pre-tax profit of $1 billion, up from $589 million in the same period a year ago. The bank booked a $198 million pound loan impairment charge, much less than the roughly $500 million expected by analysts. "This is an encouraging first quarter but we are not getting carried away," chief financial officer Andy Halford told reporters on a conference call. StanChart''s shares rose 4 percent in London by 0843 GMT on Wednesday following the results announcement, the best performing stock in the European STOXX index of major bank shares. The bank''s shares have risen 13 percent in the year to date, with analysts saying it is among the best positioned of its peers to benefit from rising U.S. interest rates and stronger trade flows in Asia, where the bank has most of its business. The bank is attempting to show investors it can return to growth, after a sweeping restructuring under Chief Executive Bill Winters succeeded in cutting costs but also slashed revenues. StanChart in recent years has worked to reduce some of its riskier exposures in countries like India, where in the years before Winters'' appointment it had fueled its growth with such lending. The bank''s core capital ratio rose to 13.8 percent, making StanChart one of the best-capitalized major Europe-based banks and increasing the prospects of a return to dividend paying after it cut payouts for 2016 due to restructuring costs. (Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Anjuli Davies and Rachel Armstrong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-stanchart-results-idUKKBN17S0U3'|'2017-04-26T16:41:00.000+03:00' 'f89c70fa6895cff212131e1e1df95d3029b2512c'|'Fibria CEO sees room for new price hikes, cash costs falling'|'Company News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 10:57am EDT Fibria CEO sees room for new price hikes, cash costs falling SAO PAULO, April 26 Brazilian wood pulp producer Fibria SA may continue hiking prices in coming months due to surprisingly strong second-quarter demand, executives told journalists on a conference call on Wednesday. Chief Executive Marcelo Castelli said cash costs rose due to one-time effects in the first quarter and should be lower for the rest of the year. Management also said they expect to boost earnings by selling excess energy in coming quarters. (Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/fibria-outlook-idUSE6N1FG02M'|'2017-04-26T22:57:00.000+03:00' 'fdb2ca18f3d9ce118e0af21d0434af00d7cc655a'|'Trading startup Robinhood raises $110 million in new funding round'|'By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK Commission-free trading startup Robinhood has raised $110 million in a round led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner''s investment group DST Global, valuing the company at $1.3 billion.Greenoaks Capital and Thrive Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Josh Kushner, also invested, the company said on Wednesday. Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law to U.S. President Donald Trump.Existing investors Index Ventures, NEA and Ribbit Capital participated in the round, which brings the total raised by the startup to $176 million.Palo Alto-based Robinhood allows retail investors to buy U.S. stocks and ETFs commission-free, through a user friendly app. It competes with established brokerages such as TD Ameritrade and E* Trade Financial Corp, which charge clients for commissions.It is part of a growing group of financial services companies that take advantage of digital technologies to lower their operational costs and target a younger generation of investors.While the company does not charge trading commissions, in September it launched a premium paid account called Robinhood Gold. The $10 per month account gives users added features, such as the ability to borrow more money for margin trading and trade before and after market close.The company, which was founded in 2013, also makes money from collecting interest from clients'' deposits and from benefits it receives for directing its order flow to certain trading venues.Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood''s co-CEO and co-founder said that the company had reached 2 million users and was launching a new referral program to further boost its growth."The company is continuing to do well and the opportunity to refinance the company was there so we took it," Bhatt said.Robinhood plans to expand internationally, but had to slow down some of its plans because of increased geopolitical uncertainty, Bhatt said. He pointed in particular to the UK''s decision to leave the European Union.Robinhood''s funding round comes as traditional brokerages face fierce competition to lower their fees. In February Fidelity Investments Inc, Charles Schwab Corp and TD Ameritrade made moves to slash their trading commissions.(This story corrects date of Robinhood Gold launch to September 2016, not earlier this month, in 6th paragraph.)(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-robinhood-investment-idINKBN17S1WV'|'2017-04-26T12:01:00.000+03:00' '078b62f9d573cc368833fc1cb97d79222c38c668'|'Anthem says it hasn''t ruled out any PBM, including Express Scripts'|'Company 27am EDT Anthem says it hasn''t ruled out any PBM, including Express Scripts NEW YORK, April 26 Two days after Express Scripts Holding Co said it had lost its contract to do pharmacy benefit management for Anthem Inc, Anthem''s top executive said the company had not made a decision on or ruled out any vendor. While declining to comment specifically on the Express Scripts situation, which is being litigated in federal court, Anthem Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish said during a call with investors that "we''ve not ruled anyone in or out." (Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/anthem-results-express-scripts-idUSL1N1HY0MH'|'2017-04-26T21:27:00.000+03:00' 'f6177e6ae10044620e2b81229fe2b14f170188a8'|'Brexit leaves industrial firms staring into regulatory void'|' 24pm IST Brexit leaves industrial firms staring into regulatory void The British Union flag and the European Union flag are seen flying behind a clock in the City of London, Britain, January 16 , 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files By Ben Hirschler and Kate Holton - LONDON LONDON Summit Therapeutics is about to start pivotal tests of a novel antibiotic discovered by UK scientists to treat a sometimes deadly bowel infection, but Britons could be the last patients to get it after Britain leaves the EU. The biotech company headquartered outside Oxford is one of thousands of manufacturers, from aerospace engineers to makers of plastic mouldings, facing an uncertain future as Britain''s departure from the European Union leaves a potential regulatory vacuum in its wake. While London plans a mammoth cut-and-paste job to convert EU law into domestic legislation, dubbed the Great Repeal Bill, this will not answer the question of what happens to the work of EU agencies that have legal powers to regulate industry. Some manufacturers are already seeking to write into supplier contracts a clause asserting who should shoulder the burden of additional costs if Britain creates its own regulators, duplicating the work required to trade in the UK and Europe. "We will do clinical trials in the UK, but the question is what will be the process for getting UK approval?" Summit''s Chief Executive Glyn Edwards told Reuters. "The big issue is really for UK patients. If there isn''t some kind of mutual recognition and participation in the EU system for drugs, then the focus will be on getting first approval in Europe because the market there is so large." Officials say relations between regulatory bodies after Britain leaves the EU is a matter for Brexit negotiations in the run-up to the divorce scheduled for March 2019. The minister in charge of Prime Minister Theresa May''s "Brexit department", David Davis, told parliament at the end of March the government would build relationships with its European partners that enable it to maintain common standards. He refused to go into details about how this would work, however. May has called a snap election for June 8, hoping to strengthen her hand with a bigger parliamentary majority so she can secure what she calls the best deal for Britain in the Brexit talks. One option might be to agree special relationships with certain EU regulatory systems, either on a transitional or long-term basis. Currently, for example, drugmakers in the European Economic Area, or single market, can tap the entire market of 500 million potential patients with a single EU marketing approval. The single market includes Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as the EU. May has ruled out Britain being a part of the single market, however, and the rest of the EU may in any case baulk at allowing London to use its regulatory machinery after it leaves. Further, EU agencies are beholden to the European Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction Britain is determined to escape. "The issue of how quickly these things can be clarified is really important," said Andrew Bonfield, finance director of National Grid and chairman of the 100 Group, representing finance heads of FTSE 100 companies and some big private firms. "People need to know how they are going to operate," he told Reuters. "I cannot see a solution which would enable the UK to be under EU regulation if we are talking about a proper exit from the EU." Opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Leslie believes it would be difficult for Britain to be a "rule taker" from EU agencies in the long term, since regulation could be used as a tool to gain an edge over rivals. "Different groups will press for variance to get a short-term competitive advantage over European competitors," he said. Escaping the "yoke" of EU regulation, or "taking back control", was one of the reasons campaigners gave to vote in favour of Brexit in the June 2016 referendum. TINY MARKET In the case of drugs, leaving the nearly 900-person European Medicines Agency, which is set to move from its current base in London, would mean Britain would need a stand-alone UK regulator to decide if drugs are fit for use. [nL5N1HD32O] Since companies must pay fees to have new drugs assessed and separate filings involve extra work, the cost of accessing a British market that accounts for only 2-3 percent of global sales would likely delay the introduction of new medicines into the UK. Industry figures who have met the government to discuss the issue say they do not expect UK rules to diverge enormously from EU ones after Brexit, but they are concerned about the lack of clarity about what they will look like. It is a particular worry for small, resource-limited businesses like Summit, which was founded in 2003 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford and has a staff of 45. Ultimately, Summit might even relocate. The company already has a U.S. office and it will almost certainly set up an organisation in continental Europe to be within the EU zone. "Brexit tilts the balance less in favour of remaining based corporately in the UK," Edwards said. Other industries have similar questions. The chemicals and plastics industry has invested heavily to meet strict EU rules on safety and environmental standards, known as REACH, and could now face new UK regulations. Tim Thomas, a policy director at manufacturing and engineering trade body the EEF, said companies were concerned. "Businesses are, understandably, asking questions about future regulation and regulators, as future changes will need to be built into commercial arrangements," he said. "Different regimes are likely to bring with them new costs and burdens." Aerospace firms fear losing oversight from the European Aviation Safety Agency, which endorses product quality, while airlines warn of disruption if Britain is cut out of Europe''s single aviation market. The need to create a British regulatory system will require legislation, piling up an already daunting workload for lawmakers now further delayed by the June election. "It will take a phenomenal amount of parliamentary time and this new parliament (after the election) will be much, much more busy than anything we''ve seen in the last two years," said Leslie. "There are a whole array of areas that lots of people haven''t quite got their heads around yet." (Additional reporting by William James; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Sonya Hepinstall)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-regulations-idINKBN17S1OG'|'2017-04-26T20:54:00.000+03:00' 'ab5f12e041f7f119dfe8645d002f96418df1da04'|'Shares in Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and SABB surge after merger talks'|'DUBAI Shares in Saudi Arabia''s Alawwal Bank 1040.SE rose 9 percent in early trading on Wednesday after it agreed to start talks with Saudi British Bank 1060.SE (SABB) about a merger that could create the kingdom''s third biggest bank with assets of nearly $80 billion.Shares in SABB increased 6.8 percent in early trading after the two lenders announced the merger plans late on Tuesday.Most other Saudi bank stocks also rose.Muhammad Faisal Potrik, head of research at Riyad Capital, said the merger could be a precursor to the start of an M&A trend in the banking and other sectors such as petrochemicals, insurance and retail."We would view completion of this merger as a very positive development," he said.(Reporting By Tom Arnold and Celine Aswad; additional reporting by Katie Paul)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-alawwal-bank-m-a-sabb-idINKBN17S0MN'|'2017-04-26T05:23:00.000+03:00' '6aea3c43ddfeb95bd19712402e7babdb085496c8'|'Henderson shareholders approve merger with Janus Capital'|'LONDON Shareholders of British asset manager Henderson Global Investors ( HGGH.L ) backed its $6 billion merger with U.S. fund firm Janus Capital ( JNS.N ) on Wednesday, after Janus shareholders approved the deal earlier this week.Henderson last year agreed to buy Janus in an all-share deal, as active fund managers pool resources to fend off growing competition from index-tracking funds.A total of 98.87 percent of votes cast at Henderson''s extraordinary general meeting were in favor of the deal, the company said in a statement.Janus shareholders voted for the deal late on Tuesday, with about 86.2 percent of shares cast in favor.Each Janus share will be exchanged for 0.4719 newly issued shares in Henderson, following a 1 for 10 consolidation of existing Henderson shares prior to completion of the merger, Henderson said.Henderson and Janus chief executives Andrew Formica and Dick Weil will be co-chief executives of the merged group Janus Henderson, which will list in New York and Sydney.The deal is expected to complete by May 30, Henderson chairman Richard Gillingwater said in the statement.(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Justin George Varghese. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-henderson-m-a-janus-idINKBN17S2BJ'|'2017-04-26T14:28:00.000+03:00' 'b8a8749edeb51fe10b41de6c7509e43dd9bd62ef'|'U.S. commerce secretary eyes more trade moves -WSJ'|'Commodities - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 9:44pm EDT U.S. commerce secretary eyes more trade moves: WSJ U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross speaks next to Press Secretary Sean Spicer about new tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber from the White House in Washington, U.S. April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas WASHINGTON The Trump administration may undertake trade actions to protect the U.S. semiconductor, shipbuilding and aluminum industries, citing national security concerns, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the Wall Street Journal in an interview on Tuesday. He said those industries could qualify for protection under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which lets the president impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security and was used to launch a probe of steel imports, the Journal reported. Last week, President Donald Trump launched a trade probe against China and other exporters of cheap steel into the U.S. market, raising the possibility of new tariffs. Ross said the Trump administration might intercede to aid Toshiba Corp''s U.S. unit Westinghouse Electric Co, which filed for bankruptcy last month. The company filed for bankruptcy protection after it incurred billions of dollars of cost overruns at four nuclear reactors under construction in the U.S. Southeast. The bankruptcy cast doubt on the future of the first new U.S. nuclear power plants in three decades. Ross said renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement should be completed by the end of 2017, the Journal reported. Ross told the newspaper that if the talks with Mexico and Canada go much beyond December, it would be difficult to get the pact ratified by Mexico. Mexico is due to hold its presidential election in July 2018. Ross said the Trump administration was considering restarting talks on bilateral trade deals with the European Union and China that the Obama administration had begun but never finished, the Journal reported, adding that he said the United States might reopen a bilateral deal with South Korea. Earlier this month, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told business leaders in Seoul that the Trump administration would review and reform the five-year-old free trade agreement between the two countries. Pence said the U.S. trade deficit had more than doubled in the five years since the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement began and there were too many barriers for U.S. businesses in the country. (Writing by Eric Beech) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-idUSKBN17S05D'|'2017-04-26T09:36:00.000+03:00' '11284b78b9ef0093d36f51054927886365ada39e'|'Anthem says it hasn''t ruled out any PBM, including Express Scripts'|'NEW YORK, April 26 Two days after Express Scripts Holding Co said it had lost its contract to do pharmacy benefit management for Anthem Inc, Anthem''s top executive said the company had not made a decision on or ruled out any vendor.While declining to comment specifically on the Express Scripts situation, which is being litigated in federal court, Anthem Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish said during a call with investors that "we''ve not ruled anyone in or out." (Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/anthem-results-express-scripts-idINL1N1HY0MH'|'2017-04-26T11:27:00.000+03:00' '2e92854c398b23095ebe8a9ed782a28eb31b61c5'|'Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 2:06pm BST Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank logo is pictured at a branch in Frankfurt, Germany, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) is considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff from London to Frankfurt following Britain''s decision to leave the European Union, one of its top executives said. After Britain triggered Article 50 last month and has begun divorce talks with the EU, financial firms have stepped up planning on how to deal with any disruption that might ensue, such as losing access to the bloc''s single market. "For front office people if you want to deal with EU clients you need to be based in the EU, in continental Europe. Does that mean that I have to move all the front office people to Germany or not?" said Deutsche Bank''s Chief Regulatory Officer Sylvie Matherat. "And we are speaking of 2,000 people – that''s not a small number," she told a conference hosted by Frankfurt Main Finance, a group that promotes the German financial capital. Matherat said that any such move would require the bank to build up its information technology in Frankfurt and would also depend on local regulators'' stance on how trillions of euros in future deals should be cleared or processed. "What are you going to do: Do you have the technical capacity to move it? Do you have the willingness of the local regulators to supervise something that looks like hundreds of trillions in terms of exposure," Matherat said. She said that some local supervisors also are asking for risk management to be done locally, a demand that would require more jobs to be moved. "It means another 2000 people. Everybody needs clarity - and the sooner the better." She said the bank had 9,000 staff in Britain. Despite Deutsche considering such moves, it is likely to retain a large presence in the UK and recently chose a new office for its London headquarters. (Reporting by Andreas Kröner; Writing by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Keith Weir) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-deutsche-bank-idUKKBN17S1Q0'|'2017-04-26T21:06:00.000+03:00' '7f0a974486abbf9a68a5bd4d3d1172a3a8dd91dd'|'EU tightens Brexit demands on residence, banks - document'|'Business 3:33am IST EU tightens Brexit demands on residence, banks: document FILE PHOTO: European Parliament President Antonio Tajani holds a news conference following the official triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in Brussels, Belgium, March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo By Alastair Macdonald - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union leaders will insist Britain grant permanent residence to EU citizens who arrive before Brexit in 2019 and stay five more years, according to a draft negotiating plan they will endorse this weekend. In the latest sign of the bloc cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to guarantee full rights after Britain''s departure for the 3 million EU nationals living there, new draft guidelines include wording that diplomats said aims to head off any British move to cut immigrant numbers by forcing people out. The nine-page document, seen by Reuters on Tuesday and which officials do not expect to be significantly changed before May''s 27 EU peers sign off on it over lunch in Brussels on Saturday, was also revised on Monday to make clear there is no guarantee that a future EU-UK free trade deal will give Britain''s big financial services industry access to the bloc. Leaders will also demand that Britain cover its share of new payouts from the EU budget for two years after it has left. The guidelines were first drafted by EU summit chair Donald Tusk in response to May''s formal launch of the two-year negotiating period before Britain leaves the EU -- deal or no deal -- at midnight at the end of Friday, March 29, 2019. The final draft tightens wording on Brussels'' promise to ensure European expats who have made their home in Britain do not lose out. It makes clear that even those not there yet but who arrive to live in Britain even on the day before Brexit must retain the same EU rights as those already in the country. Diplomats said some states, like Poland which has more than 800,000 nationals in Britain, feared May would argue guarantees only apply to those resident before she triggered withdrawal last month -- or even before last June''s Brexit referendum. "FIVE YEARS" Responding to complaints that British red tape was making it hard to exercise rights to permanent residency, the EU now insists London offer "smooth and simple" processes. And the final draft also spells out that any EU national living in Britain on Brexit Day should have a right to claim permanent residency after "five years" there. Other EU documents show Brussels wants Britain to guarantee those people can also bring in relatives for the rest of their lives and, even after Brexit, make new claims to benefits such as social housing. The leaders'' guidelines will bind the EU executive''s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who will next week offer more detail on his plans, before full talks begin after a British election set for June 8. Barnier''s priorities are protecting expats, securing payment from London for outstanding bills to the EU and, only later, talking about a future trade deal. In response to calls from France and others, the final draft also underlines that a trade agreement, if it includes financial services at all, will insist British banks, insurers and others submit to EU regulation and oversight, diplomats said. "Any future framework should safeguard financial stability in the Union and respect its regulatory and supervisory regime and standards and their application," the guidelines state. Leaders will also demand that Britain not only pay tens of billions of euros to cover a share of EU commitments made before Brexit, but also for spending through to the end of 2020 under a 7-year EU budget plan, or MFF, which Britain agreed from 2014. "A single financial settlement - including issues resulting from the MFF ... - should ensure that the Union and the United Kingdom both respect the obligations resulting from the whole period of the UK membership in the Union," the document says. (Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Gareth Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-negotiations-idINKBN17R1XJ'|'2017-04-25T22:48:00.000+03:00' '165d70cddedb357c54a9df6a8fbea361d2f8ab39'|'Traders drop improper identification cases against UK watchdog'|'Market News 8:50am EDT Traders drop improper identification cases against UK watchdog By Kirstin Ridley - LONDON, April 26 LONDON, April 26 A group of senior traders have dropped lawsuits in which they alleged they had been improperly identified in public statements following investigations by the UK''s financial regulator. Their move comes after the Supreme Court, the UK''s highest court, ruled last month that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had not identified former JPMorgan executive Achilles Macris when it fined the U.S. bank over the "London Whale" trading scandal in 2013. Former Deutsche Bank trader Christian Bittar, ex Barclays trader Philippe Moryoussef and traders Richard Usher, formerly at JPMorgan, Rohan Ramchandani, once at Citigroup, and Chris Ashton, also once at Barclays, are among those to withdraw their cases, a London court clerk said. Lawyers for the men declined to comment or did not immediately respond, while the FCA also declined to comment on Wednesday. Last month''s landmark ruling overturned a previous Court of Appeal decision that Macris had been identifiable and denied his "third party rights" to contest regulatory findings before they are published and see evidence on which they are based. FCA penalty notices against banks it has investigated often refer to individuals as "Trader A" or "Manager B" to illustrate alleged misconduct, while protecting their anonymity. But the traders had argued that although they had not been named, details and statements made by the FCA in the penalty notices made them identifiable, prejudicing their rights. Defence lawyers have said that a regulatory policy of publicly criticising unnamed individuals in speedy corporate settlements means people who later face investigation can feel they have been tainted by an unfair or unbalanced process. ($1 = 0.7802 pounds) (Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/traders-fca-identification-idUSL8N1HY55V'|'2017-04-26T20:50:00.000+03:00' '6620fecce950c288d607c25910d2935dfb28db02'|'UPDATE 1-Apax, shareholders to list Brazil''s Tivit as IPO list grows'|'SAO PAULO British buyout firm Apax Partners LLP and a number of Brazilian investors plan to list information technology services provider Tivit Terceirização de Processos, Serviços e Tecnologia SA on the São Paulo Stock Exchange, adding to the longest list of domestic initial public offerings in four years.In a Tuesday filing with securities industry watchdog CVM, Apax and investors led by Tivit Chief Executive Officer Luiz Roberto Mattar asked for regulatory permission to sell an unspecified number of shares in the IPO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.The move comes only a few months after Tivit spun off a division dealing with automated client services to accelerate a strategic shift towards more profitable information technology, cloud and digital business solutions. Proceeds from the so-called secondary offering will go to the coffers of Apax, Mattar and another nine shareholders, the filing said.The announcement took a tally of potential Brazilian IPOs this year to eight, the strongest since 2013''s 10 listings, Thomson Reuters data showed. Expected transactions include the IPOs of Carrefour SA''s local unit ( CARR.PA ), brokerage XP Investimentos SA and renewable power firm Omega Energia SA, people familiar with the plans told Reuters.Extending Brazil''s existing IPO window will hinge on President Michel Temer''s ability to push ahead with pension and labor code reforms that help lower the country''s risk perception, bankers said.First listed in September 2009, Tivit remained public only until mid-2010, when Apax led a buyout of then-controlling shareholders Votorantim Novos Negocios and Pátria Investimentos Ltda. A management team led by Mattar, who had a significant stake in the business at the time, was retained as part of Apax''s $600 million buyout of Tivit.Tivit, which operates in Brazil and six more Latin American countries, hired the investment banking unit of Credit Suisse Group AG to lead the transaction, with Itaú BBA SA, Banco Bradesco BBI, JPMorgan Chase & CO, Grupo BTG Pactual SA and Banco Santander Brasil SA acting as underwriters.(Additional reporting by Aluísio Alves in São Paulo; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tivit-ipo-idUSKBN17R2V4'|'2017-04-26T05:15:00.000+03:00' 'f4a994b069533b84dbba1310dd710bb13bc73ed6'|'UPDATE 1-LSE reports higher income, says exploring investments'|'(Adds details, background)April 26 London Stock Exchange Group reported higher quarterly income as its clearing and FTSE Russell index compiling businesses grew strongly, adding it was exploring investments to drive growth after the collapse of its proposed Deutsche Boerse merger.Helped by weak sterling, LSE reported a 19 percent rise in total income from continuing operations to 458.7 million pounds ($588.8 million) for the quarter ended March 31, while comparable revenue was up 18 percent at 420.6 million pounds.Analysts on an average had expected income of 448.5 million pounds and revenue of 411.6 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus.The results come just under a month after EU regulators blocked LSE''s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse, citing concerns over a potential monopoly in the processing of bond trades.The failure of LSE''s third attempt to combine with Deutsche Boerse has reignited speculation that an overseas exchange may make a fresh bid for the British firm, with NYSE-owner ICE having briefly expressed interest last year.The industry has been trying to consolidate for years amid weaker trading volumes and shrinking margins, but regulatory concerns, along with nationalist wrangling, have hindered many cross-border deals."The group has made a strong start to the year... We continue to be actively engaged in exploring selective ongoing organic and inorganic investments in order to drive further growth," LSE Chief Executive Xavier Rolet said on Wednesday.The company, which owns Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange, said it was well placed to benefit from the introduction of MiFID II, new rules that are aimed to make European securities markets more transparent.LSE shares were up 0.76 percent at 3332 pence at 0713 GMT, outperforming the FSTE 100 index, which was negative. The stock was the third top bluechip gainer. ($1 = 0.7791 pounds) (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; editing by Louise Heavens and Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lse-results-idINL8N1HY1NX'|'2017-04-26T05:16:00.000+03:00' 'a55fb1dd37d14ea8ae99623b061236d6e0a4fa04'|'Brexit leaves industrial firms staring into regulatory void'|' 31am BST Brexit leaves industrial firms staring into regulatory void left right The British Union flag and the European Union flag are seen flying behind a clock in the City of London, Britain, January 16 , 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/Files 1/2 left right Britain''s Secretary of State for leaving the EU David Davis speaks at the Prosperity UK 2017 conference in London, April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay 2/2 By Ben Hirschler and Kate Holton - LONDON LONDON Summit Therapeutics ( SUMM.L ) is about to start pivotal tests of a novel antibiotic discovered by UK scientists to treat a sometimes deadly bowel infection, but Britons could be the last patients to get it . The biotech company headquartered outside Oxford is one of thousands of manufacturers, from aerospace engineers to makers of plastic mouldings, facing an uncertain future as Britain''s departure from the European Union leaves a potential regulatory vacuum in its wake. While London plans a mammoth cut-and-paste job to convert EU law into domestic legislation, dubbed the Great Repeal Bill, this will not answer the question of what happens to the work of EU agencies that have legal powers to regulate industry. Some manufacturers are already seeking to write into supplier contracts a clause asserting who should shoulder the burden of additional costs if Britain creates its own regulators, duplicating the work required to trade in the UK and Europe. "We will do clinical trials in the UK, but the question is what will be the process for getting UK approval?" Summit''s Chief Executive Glyn Edwards told Reuters. "The big issue is really for UK patients. If there isn''t some kind of mutual recognition and participation in the EU system for drugs, then the focus will be on getting first approval in Europe because the market there is so large." Officials say relations between regulatory bodies is a matter for Brexit negotiations in the run-up to the divorce scheduled for March 2019. The minister in charge of Prime Minister Theresa May''s "Brexit department", David Davis, told parliament at the end of March the government would build relationships with its European partners that enable it to maintain common standards. He refused to go into details about how this would work, however. May has called a snap election for June 8, hoping to strengthen her hand with a bigger parliamentary majority so she can secure what she calls the best deal for Britain in the Brexit talks. One option might be to agree special relationships with certain EU regulatory systems, either on a transitional or long-term basis. Currently, for example, drugmakers in the European Economic Area, or single market, can tap the entire market of 500 million potential patients with a single EU marketing approval. The single market includes Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway as well as the EU. May has ruled out Britain being a part of the single market, however, and the rest of the EU may in any case baulk at allowing London to use its regulatory machinery after it leaves. Further, EU agencies are beholden to the European Court of Justice, whose jurisdiction Britain is determined to escape. "The issue of how quickly these things can be clarified is really important," said Andrew Bonfield, finance director of National Grid ( NG.L ) and chairman of the 100 Group, representing finance heads of FTSE 100 companies and some big private firms. "People need to know how they are going to operate," he told Reuters. "I cannot see a solution which would enable the UK to be under EU regulation if we are talking about a proper exit from the EU." Opposition Labour lawmaker Chris Leslie believes it would be difficult for Britain to be a "rule taker" from EU agencies in the long term, since regulation could be used as a tool to gain an edge over rivals. "Different groups will press for variance to get a short-term competitive advantage over European competitors," he said. Escaping the "yoke" of EU regulation, or "taking back control", was one of the reasons campaigners gave to vote in favour of Brexit in the June 2016 referendum. TINY MARKET In the case of drugs, leaving the nearly 900-person European Medicines Agency, which is set to move from its current base in London, would mean Britain would need a stand-alone UK regulator to decide if drugs are fit for use. [nL5N1HD32O] Since companies must pay fees to have new drugs assessed and separate filings involve extra work, the cost of accessing a British market that accounts for only 2-3 percent of global sales would likely delay the introduction of new medicines into the UK. Industry figures who have met the government to discuss the issue say they do not expect UK rules to diverge enormously from EU ones after Brexit, but they are concerned about the lack of clarity about what they will look like. It is a particular worry for small, resource-limited businesses like Summit, which was founded in 2003 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford and has a staff of 45. Ultimately, Summit might even relocate. The company already has a U.S. office and it will almost certainly set up an organisation in continental Europe to be within the EU zone. "Brexit tilts the balance less in favour of remaining based corporately in the UK," Edwards said. Other industries have similar questions. The chemicals and plastics industry has invested heavily to meet strict EU rules on safety and environmental standards, known as REACH, and could now face new UK regulations. Tim Thomas, a policy director at manufacturing and engineering trade body the EEF, said companies were concerned. "Businesses are, understandably, asking questions about future regulation and regulators, as future changes will need to be built into commercial arrangements," he said. "Different regimes are likely to bring with them new costs and burdens." Aerospace firms fear losing oversight from the European Aviation Safety Agency, which endorses product quality, while airlines warn of disruption if Britain is cut out of Europe''s single aviation market. The need to create a British regulatory system will require legislation, piling up an already daunting workload for lawmakers now further delayed by the June election. "It will take a phenomenal amount of parliamentary time and this new parliament (after the election) will be much, much more busy than anything we''ve seen in the last two years," said Leslie. "There are a whole array of areas that lots of people haven''t quite got their heads around yet." (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Sonya Hepinstall)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-regulations-analysis-idUKKBN17S0YY'|'2017-04-26T17:31:00.000+03:00' '2edd1a92417e3d666a54623c230f0545fd4b26cf'|'KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 billion'|'TOKYO U.S. buyout firm KKR said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd''s electronic equipment unit for 257 billion yen ($2.3 billion) with investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc (JIP).KKR and JIP will pay 2,503 yen for each Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc share, a 6.4 percent discount from Wednesday''s close, according to a joint statement from KKR and Japan Industrial Partners.Hitachi Ltd, the largest shareholder in Hitachi Kokusai, said in a separate statement it would reduce its ownership to 20 percent after the deal is completed.($1 = 111.1700 yen)(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kkr-hitachi-kokusai-idINKBN17S0ZW'|'2017-04-26T07:31:00.000+03:00' 'c3bc2c6ebcda0bb738c7f85a83f15bdc369eca8f'|'P&G''s third-quarter profit declines 8.3 percent'|' 50pm BST P&G profit falls due to market slowdown, strong dollar The logo of Dow Jones Industrial Average stock market index listed company Procter & Gamble (PG) is seen on a tube of toothpaste in Los Angeles, California, United States, April 25, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson Procter & Gamble Co ( PG.N ), maker of Ariel detergent and Gillette razors, reported an 8.3 percent fall in third-quarter profit, citing a slowdown in market growth, geopolitical uncertainty and a stronger dollar. Net income attributable to the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company declined to $2.52 billion (1.97 billion pounds), or 93 cents per share, in the three months ended March 31, from $2.75 billion, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, P&G earned 96 cents, beating the average analyst estimate of 94 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The consumer goods giant, whose iconic brands include Tide, Pampers, Head-and-Shoulders and Vicks, said net sales fell about 1 percent to $15.61 billion - the thirteenth straight quarter of declines. Analysts had been looking for $15.73 billion. P&G''s quarterly sales have fallen for more than three years due to the company cutting its brand portfolio. The company has been selling off unprofitable brands and focusing on core brands such as Tide and Pampers to revive sluggish sales. It sold 41 of its brands, including Clairol and Wella, to Coty Inc ( COTY.N ) in a $12.5 billion deal in October. P&G, which traces its roots to a family-run candle and soap business in 1837, maintained expectations of a mid-single digit rise in full-year adjusted earnings per share growth, and a 2-3 percent increase in organic sales growth. The company''s stock, which has jumped 10.6 percent in the past year, was down 0.7 percent in premarket trading. P&G has said it plans to save as much as $10 billion in costs over the next five years, and use a chunk of these savings to improve packaging, research and development, and sales coverage. (Reporting by Richa Naidu in Bengaluru; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-procter-gamble-results-idUKKBN17S1FG'|'2017-04-26T19:31:00.000+03:00' '179086c6e1b41f7d7e2e4babff20c2c8b68eb3ef'|'Asia investors boost use of unorthodox data sources in battle to beat benchmarks'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:00pm EDT Asia investors boost use of unorthodox data sources in battle to beat benchmarks An investor checks stock information on a mobile phone at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Sometime in the third quarter of 2016, Blackrock’s ( BLK.N ) scientific active equity team, which manages $80 billion globally, began picking up increased signs of construction activity on the ground in China by using satellite imagery. Using that as a starting point and adding freight traffic and other data to the picture, the U.S.-based analysts determined that the world’s second-biggest economy was on the verge of a cyclical rebound. Their expectations were borne out when China reported last week that its economy grew a quicker than expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, the fastest in six quarters. Blackrock’s quantitative equities portfolios increased their exposure to China based on the data. The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC gained about 11 percent between the end of September and early April, though it has lost some of those gains in recent days as regulators clamped down on speculative activity. “We were picking up signals by simply looking at more metal on the ground and such unconventional data sources are very essential in an economy as large and diverse as China where data may not be very timely,” said San-Francisco-based Jeff Shen, co-head of the scientific active equity team. The use of unconventional data sources to gather price-sensitive information about a company, or even an entire economy, before it is made public isn’t a new phenomenon, especially among the hedge fund community in developed markets. But that behavior has now spread across the world, and to many more mainstream mutual funds. Faced with fierce rivalry from low-priced exchange traded funds and desperate to show that they can outperform market benchmarks, the mutual funds are now increasingly seeking alternative kinds of information in Asia. In the first two months of the year, actively managed equity mutual funds domiciled in Asia saw a net outflow of $1 billion compared to net inflows of $9.3 billion in all of 2016 and $40.3 billion in 2015. In contrast, exchange traded funds saw net inflows of $15.16 billion in the first two months of this year compared to $39.1 billion in all of 2016 and $21.7 billion in 2015, according to Morningstar data. That pressure is forcing fund managers to increasingly look at alternative sources of information about listed companies ranging from shipping logistics trends, and social media chatter, to payments data for unlisted private companies that supply parts to bigger listed companies. Robert Ciemniak, founder of Real Estate Foresight, a China-focused real estate data analytics firm, routinely analyses headlines from a variety of publicly available blogs, local news feeds and government bulletins in local cities and provinces to understand the ground-level shifts in the Chinese property sector before it garners attention from mainstream media. “Last year, online searches related to buying property in Nanjing spiked a few months before prices in the city jumped,” Ciemniak said referring to a property price surge of almost 40 percent in 2016 in the eastern Chinese city, with the authorities rolling out tightening curbs since August last year. "In a funny way, China is quite transparent as long as you employ reliable filters and know where to look,” he said. THE SIGNAL AND THE NOISE Only the top asset managers in the world can afford to hire top notch data scientists to mine mountains of data to hunt for investment ideas. While a 40-member strong investment team at San-Francisco based Matthews Asia, which manages $26 billion in global assets, takes the conventional approach by conducting an average of 2,000 meetings on an annual basis in Asia, its investment strategists are looking at other data sources to supplement investment decisions. “We look at various sources such as financial information released by multinationals with a big presence in China, tourist spending and visitor patterns by Chinese visitors abroad to get a grip on discretionary spending,,” said Sherwood Zhang, who manages the Matthews China Dividend Fund. Some others rely on companies which aggregate data from a variety of unusual sources such as Toronto-based Quandl, though most of such companies are based in U.S and Europe for now. Still, getting such information fully integrated into daily workflow of investors is not easy. “The quality, capture rate, the representativeness of the data and accuracy of prediction are only some of the problems,” said Seth Fischer, founder of Hong Kong-based hedge fund Oasis Capital. Some investors say that the increasing push for an edge from unconventional sources is inevitable. “Thirty years ago, the ability to rank 2,000 stocks on a price-to-earnings or a price-to-book ratio was considered pretty scientific but today the amount of information we process is larger than the U.S. Congress Library,” said Blackrock’s Shen. “The challenge increasingly nowadays is to separate the signal from the noise.” For graphic on ''Fund Flows'' click : reut.rs/2oPVrMd (Edited by Martin Howell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-investment-asia-data-analysis-idUSKBN17R32L'|'2017-04-26T08:00:00.000+03:00' '1ce0232086d02f8345d154b83c6558117155d42b'|'Philippines bans open-pit mining as minister toughens crackdown'|' 8:47am BST Philippines bans open-pit mining as minister toughens crackdown A view of nickel ore stockpiles at a port in Sta Cruz Zambales in northern Philippines February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez attends a meeting at the presidential palace in Manila, Philippines February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro/File Photo 2/2 By Enrico Dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr - MANILA MANILA Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez said on Thursday she will ban open-pit mining in the country, toughening a months-long crackdown on the sector she blames for extensive environmental damage. The ban comes just days before the outspoken environmentalist-turned-regulator faces a confirmation hearing in Congress that could lead to her removal as minister after a storm of complaints from pro-mining groups. Lopez, who has already ordered the closure of more than half the country''s operating mines and has previously described open pit mines as "madness", said it was within her prerogative to ban the practice, which is allowed under Philippines mining law. "Each open pit is a financial liability for government for life," she told a media briefing. "It kills the economic potential of the place." The ban will take effect immediately but will not cover existing mines, she said. Mining is a contentious issue in the largely underexplored Southeast Asian country after past examples of environmental mismanagement. Lopez in February ordered the permanent closure of 22 of 41 operating mines in the world''s top nickel ore supplier and later cancelled dozens of contracts for undeveloped mines to protect water resources. Miners have argued her actions are illegal and no mine has yet been closed as companies pursue an appeals process that can only be settled by President Rodrigo Duterte. The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines described her latest move as "absurd." "With this open-pit ban, she is essentially banning the mining of shallow ore deposits that can only be extracted using open-pit mining," said Chamber spokesman Ronald Recidoro. WANTS DUTERTE AS SUCCESSOR The ban would halt the $5.9 billion (£4.59 billion) Tampakan copper-gold project in South Cotabato province in Mindanao island, the nation''s biggest stalled mining venture. Tampakan failed to take off after the province where it is located banned open-pit mining in 2010, prompting commodities giant Glencore Plc ( GLEN.L ) to quit the project in 2015. Lopez has said the project would cover an area the size of 700 football fields in what otherwise would be agricultural land. There are currently 14 open pits in the country, 10 of them abandoned, said Lopez, who flew to several mining sites in recent weeks to inspect them. Lawmakers will resume hearings on Lopez''s appointment on May 2 after sessions in March when pro-mining groups assailed her capacity as minister. Lopez said she was imposing the ban now because she was unsure of the outcome of the hearings. If lawmakers reject her appointment, Lopez said she wants Duterte to succeed her. "That''s the kind of person you really need at DENR," she said, referring to her agency. "Brave, cannot be bought, everyone will be scared." (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz and Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-philippines-mining-idUKKBN17T0X7'|'2017-04-27T15:47:00.000+03:00' 'aeb863486b167a9569ca2623fa0011f89781731a'|'Insurer AIA Group shares open up 5.4 percent after strong first quarter'|'HONG KONG AIA Group Ltd ( 1299.HK ) shares opened up 5.4 percent on Thursday after the world''s third-largest life insurer by market value posted a 55 percent rise in its new business in the first quarter.The insurer''s value of new business, which measures expected profits from new premiums and is a key gauge for growth, rose to$884 million during the quarter, up from $578 million in the same period a year ago, the company earlier said.(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/aia-group-results-stocks-idINKBN17T05U'|'2017-04-26T23:29:00.000+03:00' '29e43124fbe949d7505a9341c15c8fac9f1642b2'|'For Wells Fargo directors, narrow wins may not be enough'|' 5:19am BST For Wells Fargo directors, narrow wins may not be enough A Wells Fargo Bank is shown in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Ross Kerber and Dan Freed A shareholder vote scheduled for Tuesday could throw Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) leadership into question if many directors, criticized for their slow response to the bank''s phony-account scandal, fail to win solid majorities. A dozen of the 15 directors on the ballot face negative recommendations from influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which argued the group, including Chairman Stephen Sanger, failed in their oversight duties. Technically Wells Fargo''s guidelines require that directors offer to resign if they fail to receive a majority of votes cast. But in practice, directors who win with less than 80 percent support should consider exiting the board, said Charles Elson, a University of Delaware expert on corporate governance. "If they''re below 80 (percent) I''d say they have a lot of soul-searching to do," he said. Spokesmen for the bank and Wells Fargo''s board said on Monday that they would not comment ahead of the meeting. But the country''s third-largest bank has struggled for months to move past revelations that thousands of employees created as many as 2.1 million accounts in customers'' names without their permission to hit lofty sales targets. The bank''s board and management have said steps taken to fix problems and punish employees responsible for abuses show there is now strong oversight, and that directors nominated deserve to be elected. But the public firestorm that hammered its shares and led to the resignation of then-Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf last year is not forgotten. At most S&P 500 companies, director support averages around 95 percent of votes cast, according to pay consulting firm Semler Brossy. Typically a recommendation from ISS that investors vote "against" a director will reduce the support they receive by an average of 17 to 18 percentage points. Not all of Wells Fargo''s critics are in lockstep, meaning some directors may do better than others. California''s two largest public pension funds, for instance, have said they oppose only nine Wells Fargo directors. "We do want a core of directors left able to reconstitute the board," said Anne Simpson, Calpers'' investment director of sustainability. "Simply declaring ''off with their heads'' is not reasonable." Should Wells Fargo directors win narrow majorities - between 50 to 80 percent of votes cast - the board would have to decide whether to accept any individual director''s resignation. University of Pennsylvania law professor Jill Fisch said a likely outcome, in the event of a close vote, would be for the board to bring in fresh faces over a period of months or longer. "From a business perspective that may be the best response you could make," she said. "You don''t want the whole leadership to be in flux." Banks can be sensitive to narrow wins. Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ), for instance, revamped its pay structure this year after 33 percent of votes cast went against executive compensation packages in 2016. Wells Fargo''s top investor Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ) has already voted in favor of the bank''s board. Representatives for other top shareholders declined to comment. If the whole Well Fargo board receives a narrow majority, Vining Sparks analyst Marty Mosby expects few changes, saying it would be impractical to get rid of a nearly full slate of directors. But low vote totals concentrated on certain directors would likely force them to step down soon, he said. The board would have sent a stronger reform signal by naming former banking regulator Elizabeth Duke as chair when it split the chairman and CEO roles in October, Mosby said. "The only thing they haven''t really changed substantially is the board," he said. "That last step would have completed the whole process and made this vote much easier on them." (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-accounts-meeting-idUKKBN17R0AM'|'2017-04-25T12:09:00.000+03:00' '45740a96439206c125fdfca41c7e6fd1ee93974f'|'Q&A: Hedge fund executive Simon Lorne talks Trump, Brexit and ''Billions'''|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:03pm BST Q&A: Hedge fund executive Simon Lorne talks Trump, Brexit and ''Billions'' left right Simon Lorne, vice chairman of Millennium Management and chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) poses for a portrait in New York City, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/4 left right Simon Lorne, vice chairman of Millennium Management and chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) speaks during an interview in New York City, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/4 left right Simon Lorne, vice chairman of Millennium Management and chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) speaks during an interview in New York City, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 3/4 left right Simon Lorne, vice chairman of Millennium Management and chairman of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) speaks during an interview in New York City, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 4/4 By Lawrence Delevingne - NEW YORK NEW YORK Hedge fund critics are becoming increasingly vocal about the $3 trillion industry, arguing that it produces mediocre returns for clients while enriching managers with exorbitant fees. Some large investors have withdrawn tens of billions of dollars, prompting a string of high-profile firms to restructure or close. But despite some image problems the industry is actually healthy, according to Simon Lorne, vice chairman and chief legal officer of Millennium Management LLC and chairman since September of global hedge fund lobbying group Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA). The following are lightly edited excerpts from Lorne''s comments on Monday in an interview with Reuters at Millennium''s Fifth Avenue headquarters. Reuters: Do hedge funds have a PR problem? Lorne: Yes. Hedge funds are not the favored children of the investment community. Some number of hedge fund managers are quite successful. If the fund is successful, the compensation structure is such that the individual manager can be quite successful, and so you can get the headline incomes. That makes people resentful in ways they aren’t resentful about star athletes or Bill Gates at Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) or Facebook ( FB.O ) or whatever. What would you say to the firefighter who sits on his retirement system’s board and is frustrated with hedge fund performance? Lorne: I’d say look at 10 years, not five years. What hedge funds are about is performing well relative to the risk undertaken. Go back to the meaning of hedge funds – if you are taking risk out of the equation, you should expect to do a little less well on the upside, but do less poorly on the downside. Dan Loeb said a year ago that "we are in the first innings of a washout in hedge funds." Is that true? Lorne: We haven’t seen the evidence of it yet. We have seen some number of closures, certainly - that happens all the time. The industry is in fact growing. The numbers bear it out from every possible perspective. We continue to have more funds. We continue to have more of the smart, well informed investors putting money in hedge funds. The institutional investors are increasing their allocation to hedge funds, we see it constantly. Have there been some healthy changes with fee structures? Lorne: I think people are paying more attention to fee structures and to alignment of interests. If you can align incentives better with returns to investors, the industry is better off and the investors are better off. What does President Donald Trump means for hedge funds? Lorne: Except macro funds, we tend not to be riding the big economic waves. We tend to be more arbitraging inefficiencies in the system, taking risk out of the investment process, and I think we do that wherever the administration is. There’s been a popular view that the Trump administration is going to be pro business and therefore hedge funds will do better, and Jay Clayton as the SEC chairman will be less interested in protecting investors. I think that’s silly. All indications are that Jay Clayton will be a strong chairman who will care about the public interest and who will regulate sensibly. AIMA has always supported sensible regulation for the industry. At a high level, I don’t think the Trump administration particularly means well or ill for the industry. Should parts of Dodd-Frank be tweaked? Lorne: Some of the clearing requirements and the potential limitations on global transactions that lead to potentially inconsistent regulation between the United States and Europe and Asia, in what is in fact a global industry, are potentially troublesome and will impact the global economy and local economies in untoward ways. The regulators can handle that appropriately, but they need to be talking to each other. I worry that as the United States perhaps moves toward measures that would be called protectionist - and who knows what’s going to come out of the French elections, and Brexit and Europe? - but there is some element of balkanization of regulatory structures, where we need to look at more uniform, global structures. What are some Brexit pitfalls for hedge funds? Lorne: A lot of people employed by the industry in London are people who came from other countries and they are worried about whether they are going to be able to stay in London and under what circumstances. On the larger scale, the ability to trade across borders I think won’t change very much but it’s important to us. I think London will remain one of the two or three major financial capitals of the world, but there are questions around that. What''s your take on hedge funds in popular culture such as the hit TV series "Billions," the fictionalized tale of a New York hedge-fund billionaire, played by actor Damian Lewis, and the U.S. attorney portrayed by Paul Giamatti who is determined to bring him down? Lorne: I fear people watch "Billions" and think in their minds ‘that’s what hedge funds are all about.’ It’s not. It’s not what we do or would want to do. We don’t behave that way. We don’t go through life that way. Some hedge fund managers do dress quite casually, I will go that far. (Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne, Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Tom Brown)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-lorne-idUKKBN17R2D0'|'2017-04-26T02:01:00.000+03:00' '43f369fbb085a2807f1feb965740471452973cfd'|'UPDATE 1-Aero services lift Safran Q1 sales, talks with Zodiac continue'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:04pm EDT Aero services lift Safran first quarter sales, talks with Zodiac continue The logo of Safran Group is seen on the company''s headquarters building in Toulouse, Southwestern France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau By Cyril Altmeyer and Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS French engine maker Safran ( SAF.PA ) reported higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue on Tuesday, buoyed by aerospace services, and told investors it was pushing ahead with plans to increase production of its LEAP civil jet engine. Safran confirmed its 2017 outlook and said its adjusted revenue rose 5.5 percent to 3.982 billion euros ($4.36 billion). It also said it continued to hold merger talks with French seats maker Zodiac Aerospace, after outlining an agreed offer in January, but declined to discuss how they were going or how it might go ahead with the two-pronged bid and merger plan. Zodiac said on April 14 it would delay publication of its half-year results by a week from April 20, saying it had too much on its plate due to the talks. Reuters reported this month that Safran is exploring plans to lower its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) and may simplify its structure amid continued turmoil at the seats maker and pressure from its own shareholders. British hedge fund TCI renewed criticism of the deal on Tuesday, saying Safran should suspend the talks pending an audit. Safran Chief Executive Philippe Petitcolin said the company was "not distracted by this or that investor which chooses to express itself publicly". Despite doubts raised by some investors over its plans to buy Zodiac, Safran shares have risen since the talks began. Jefferies analyst Sandy Morris said this may be explained by a relatively trouble-free launch so far of the LEAP engine, co-produced with General Electric in the CFM International venture, as well as mishaps affecting rival engine maker Pratt & Whitney. CFM still faces a major hurdle in executing plans for LEAP engine deliveries this year but there have been few problems so far and the first Boeing 737 MAX is on time, he wrote in a note. Deliveries of Pratt & Whitney''s engines, which compete with LEAP on the Airbus A320neo, have been slowed by various snags. One expert said as many as 72 Pratt engines have been taken off wing for inspection or repairs since entering service. As of mid-April, industry sources say Airbus had delivered a total of 100 A320neo aircraft since the fuel-efficient plane entered service in January 2016, including 53 fitted with Pratt & Whitney engines and the rest with CFM''s LEAP engines. CFM''s shareholders have said they could deliver 450 to 500 LEAP engines this year instead of 500 stated earlier. Petitcolin reaffirmed that CFM would be interested in a possible new twin-aisle, mid-market plane being studied by Boeing. (Reporting by Matthias Blamont, Editing by Tim Hepher and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-safran-results-idUSKBN17R2LG'|'2017-04-26T02:58:00.000+03:00' 'f6ec788768919818ca9a83b80171c54eb5f43aa2'|'Compliance firm Exiger to buy OutsideIQ for $22 million: source'|'By Solarina Ho - TORONTO TORONTO Exiger, a firm that helps businesses monitor compliances such as money laundering regulations, has agreed to buy OutsideIQ, a Canadian startup that specializes in technology that helps businesses assess and manage risk.The deal, reported earlier by Reuters, is for C$30 million ($22.2 million), according to a person familiar with the agreement, and is one of the top 10 largest disclosed acquisitions of a venture-backed Canadian tech firm since 2014, according to Thomson Reuters data.New York-based Exiger, which has used OutsideIQ''s cloud-based software since 2014, sells technology and services to help businesses comply with complex global regulations in areas such as money laundering and financial crimes.The deal is the largest to date by privately held Exiger. The company was formed to lead the court-appointed oversight of HSBC ( HSBA.L ), which in 2012 admitted to allowing drug cartels to launder hundreds of millions of dollars.Toronto-based OutsideIQ, with 40 employees, uses cognitive computing processes to automate and analyze a significant portion of time-consuming, error-prone data research typically done by workers. The process of combing through millions of pieces of data is whittled down from days to minutes, the company says.Part of a growing crop of startups focused on regulatory technology, or "regtech," OutsideIQ''s software is used by investment banks, insurance companies, SAP Ariba ( SAPG.DE ) and others.(This story corrects 2nd paragraph to read "acquisitions of a venture-backed firm", not "by a venture-backed firm".)(Reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Jim Finkle, Richard Chang and Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-outsideiq-m-a-exiger-idINKBN17T1SM'|'2017-04-27T10:12:00.000+03:00' '4dc77d7b895e94c70ebb2f58e84c6d25516cd5f1'|'ECB seen firmly on hold but may set stage for June shift'|'Business News 02pm BST ECB keeps money taps open, nods to euro zone recovery FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are illuminated with a giant euro sign at the start of the ''''Luminale, light and building'''' event in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT The European Central Bank left its ultra-easy policy stance in place on Thursday as inflation continues to undershoot its target but explicitly acknowledged the vigour of the euro zone economy, now on its best run since the global financial crisis. The ECB maintained its bias for further policy easing, leaving the door open to further rates cuts or an increase in asset buys. This is in line with market expectations but at odds with calls from Germany, the euro zone''s economic powerhouse, for a gradual reduction of stimulus. "Incoming data since our meeting in March confirm that the cyclical recovery of the euro area economy is becoming increasingly solid and that downside risks have further diminished," ECB President Mario Draghi told a news conference. "At the same time, underlying inflation pressures continue to remain subdued and have yet to show a convincing upwards trend," he added, justifying the continued stimulus measures. However, in response to a reporter''s question, Draghi noted there had been a debate among ECB council members over the euro zone growth outlook, with some "more sanguine" than others. That, he added, had resulted in a line being added to his introductory statement which noted that downside risks to the growth outlook "relate predominantly to global factors". The euro weakened slightly against the dollar following the rates decision after trading near six-month highs, aided by expectations that Macron would win the French presidential vote on May 7. The subtle tweak in language will be seen by some observers as foreshadowing a more bold change at the next meeting in June, possibly including a removal of a phrase signalling a bias for more policy easing. Euro zone economic sentiment hit a 10-year high this month and political risk is receding after pro-euro centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France''s presidential vote. Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan, also operating deep in unconventional territory, offered its most optimistic assessment of the economy in nine years on Thursday but signalled that it would maintain its massive stimulus effort. Sweden''s Riksbank also extended its own asset buys by 15 billion crowns (1.32 billion pounds) on Thursday, predicting the first rate hike in the middle of 2018, later than earlier projected. Having missed its 2 percent inflation target for years and even flirting with deflation, the ECB is buying 60 billion euros worth of bonds per month at least until the end of the year and plans to keep interest rates in negative territory until later. But economic growth is steadily picking up pace, inflation is comfortably above 1 percent and the ECB''s policy arsenal is nearly depleted, all fuelling calls by conservative policymakers to start mapping out the way to the exit. Draghi said, however, that inflation was still not firmly in place. "We have not seen sufficient evidence to alter our assessment of the inflation outlook, and we are not sufficiently confident that inflation will converge to levels consistent with our inflation aim in a durable and self-sustaining manner," said. Draghi did say, however, that the risk of deflation had virtually disappeared CHANGE COMING SOON? In a departure from the bank''s long-held, more pessimistic stance, ECB board member Benoit Coeure, a key ally of Draghi, last week argued that the balance of risk for the economy is now largely balanced. Coeure''s view may not signal an imminent policy shift but suggests growing confidence in the outlook and a willingness to entertain the once-taboo subject of scaling back stimulus. Last month, the ECB removed one phrase from the statement -- a pledge to act "using all the instruments available within its mandate" if needed, signalling a diminishing urgency for more policy action. Some or all the references to prevailing downside risks to the outlook, to the possibility of further rate cuts or to larger asset purchases may be taken out, sources with direct knowledge of the bank''s deliberations have told Reuters. Policymakers are likely to remain cautious, however, particularly those from the periphery of the bloc, where unemployment is high and wages are not rising. "Before getting too enthusiastic, not all is well in the euro zone," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said before the decision. (Writing by Mark John; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-policy-idUKKBN17S324'|'2017-04-27T06:13:00.000+03:00' 'ee82713bdf5992e9b849d938ee6836ff8811dcfa'|'BRIEF-Northstar Asset Management says Facebook share structure not in best interest of shareholders'|'April 27 Northstar Asset Management Inc:* says Facebook’s multi-class share structure "are not in the best interest of the company or shareholders" - SEC filing* Says feel that current dual-class structure "eliminates shareholder checks and balances over management decisions" Source text - ( bit.ly/2p7Bxg4 )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-northstar-asset-management-says-fa-idINFWN1HZ159'|'2017-04-27T12:22:00.000+03:00' '30a784055745dd06718c5d6eb5586aa29f66253b'|'AstraZeneca sales fall further as generic competition bites deep'|'Company News 14am EDT AstraZeneca sales fall further as generic competition bites deep LONDON, April 27 AstraZeneca, struggling with loss of patents on blockbusters like cholesterol pill Crestor, reported another quarter of falling drug sales on Thursday as it awaits pivotal clinical trial data that may revive its fortunes. Despite income from disposals and external deals, first-quarter revenue fell 12 percent to $5.4 billion, although core earnings per share (EPS) rose 4 percent in dollar terms to 99 cents. Industry analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of $5.4 billion and earnings of 82 cents, according to Thomson Reuters data. So-called "externalisation" revenue, which some analysts argue unduly flatters AstraZeneca''s results, contributed $562 million, as product sales fell 13 percent. AstraZeneca reiterated its expectation that full-year revenue would fall at a low to mid single-digit percentage rate, with core EPS dropping by a low to mid-teens percentage. Chief Executive Pascal Soriot believes 2017 will mark the trough for the British group, as it starts to put generic losses behind it and builds up sales of newer medicines, particularly in cancer. "The total revenue performance reflected the transitional impact of recent patent expiries, which is expected to recede in the second half of the year," he said. For investors, owning AstraZeneca shares represents a major bet on the company''s oncology portfolio. It is already doing well with new cancer pills Tagrisso and Lynparza, but the really big opportunity lies in cancer immunotherapy. Results from its closely watched MYSTIC immunotherapy trial in previously untreated lung cancer patients are expected mid-year. (Reporting by Ben Hirschler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/astrazeneca-results-idUSFWN1HZ08H'|'2017-04-27T14:14:00.000+03:00' '84e8e06b57c095e6e268101ed8ba5e2abfd9fbd8'|'Boro beat Sunderland for first victory of 2017'|'Business 12:35am BST Boro beat Sunderland for first victory of 2017 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Jermain Defoe in action Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith 1/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Adnan Januzaj in action with Middlesbrough''s Adam Forshaw (L) and Adam Clayton (R) Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 2/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Jermain Defoe looks dejected Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 3/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Jermain Defoe in action Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 4/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Billy Jones in action with Middlesbrough''s Adam Clayton as referee Mike Dean falls over Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 5/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Lee Cattermole in action with Middlesbrough''s Fabio Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 6/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s Ben Gibson in action with Sunderland''s Victor Anichebe Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 7/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s Brad Guzan in action with Sunderland''s Victor Anichebe Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 8/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s George Friend and Sunderland''s Billy Jones challenge for a ball in the air Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 9/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Didier Ndong in action with Middlesbrough''s Adam Clayton Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 10/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland manager David Moyes catches the ball Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 11/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s Ben Gibson in action with Sunderland''s Wahbi Khazri Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 12/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Sunderland''s Victor Anichebe and Middlesbrough''s Calum Chambers challenge for the ball in the air Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 13/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s George Friend in action with Sunderland''s Wahbi Khazri Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 14/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s Marten de Roon celebrates scoring their first goal with Adam Clayton and team mates Reuters / Phil Noble Livepic 15/16 left right Britain Soccer Football - Middlesbrough v Sunderland - Premier League - The Riverside Stadium - 26/4/17 Middlesbrough''s Marten de Roon scores their first goal as Sunderland''s Jordan Pickford collides into him Action Images via Reuters / Lee Smith Livepic 16/16 April 26 - MIDDLESBROUGH 1 SUNDERLAND 0 Middlesbrough gave themselves a lifeline and virtually condemned north-east rivals Sunderland to relegation with Marten de Roon''s early goal earning a 1-0 win. The Riverside Stadium basement battle was a torrid affair and De Roon settled it after eight minutes when he stabbed a shot through the legs of Sunderland keeper Jordan Pickford. Second-bottom Boro hung on for their first league victory of 2017 to move to within six points of 17th placed Hull City. Sunderland are 12 points adrift of Hull with only five games remaining and their cause looking hopeless. Their 10-year stay in the top flight will come to an end at the weekend if they lose at home to Bournemouth and Hull pick up a point at Southampton. They would also drop down if they lose to Bournemouth and 18th-placed Swansea beat Manchester United on Sunday. "While there''s a chance, we''ll keep going. Good performances lead to results, that''s the way it goes. I think we''ve had a couple of pretty good performances in the last few games," Sunderland manager David Moyes said. "We know our position, we''re not daft, we know exactly where we are. We have to try and pick up every win." (Reporting by Martyn Herman,; Editing by Neville Dalton and Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-mid-sun-idUKKBN17S2VM'|'2017-04-27T04:54:00.000+03:00' '182df1ee02e74f6c06852d56f5859f477e8ee5df'|'United to offer passengers up to $10,000 to surrender seats'|'Money 10:37am IST United to offer passengers up to $10,000 to surrender seats FILE PHOTO - A United Airlines Boeing 787 taxis as a United Airlines Boeing 767 lands at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, U.S. on February 7, 2015. REUTERS/Louis Nastro/File Photo By Alana Wise - NEW YORK NEW YORK United Airlines said on Thursday it would offer passengers who volunteer to forfeit their seats on overbooked flights up to $10,000 as part of the carrier''s efforts to repair the damage from the rough removal of a passenger. The offer came after rival Delta outlined plans to offer up to $9,950 in such cases. United also said it would take actions to reduce overbooking flights and improve customer satisfaction. "Our goal is to reduce incidents of involuntary denial of boarding to as close to zero as possible and become a more customer-focused airline," the carrier said in the statement. United had spent the last two weeks embroiled in controversy after videos recorded by fellow passengers, which went viral, showed David Dao, 69, yanked from his seat aboard a Louisville, Kentucky-bound United flight before takeoff from Chicago''s O''Hare International Airport to make room for crew members. Dao lost two front teeth in the scuffle, incurred a concussion and broke his nose, according to his lawyer, and will likely sue the airline. United typically oversells flights by less than zero to 3 percent of the plane''s seat capacity to account for no-shows. United said it would no longer call law enforcement to deny passengers boarding, nor would passengers who are already seated be required to give up their seats on overbooked flights. United will adopt a "no questions asked" policy on permanently lost baggage, paying customers $1,500 for the value of the bag and its contents, beginning in June. "This is a turning point for all of us at United," Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said in a statement. Munoz, who took the helm at United in 2015 as part of an effort to improve customer relations, has faced calls to step down after referring to Dao as "disruptive and belligerent" in a statement following the incident. It sparked a national conversation on U.S. carriers'' treatment of customers in an industry comprising just a handful of competitors following years of mergers and consolidations. United announced last week that Munoz, in a move he himself initiated, would not become company chairman in 2018 as stated in his employment agreement. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ual-passenger-idINKBN17T0HK'|'2017-04-27T03:07:00.000+03:00' '2f6d23cef712d0484a71d6ef6d7d966f83dbae9f'|'British housebuilders deliver upbeat trading statements'|'Property 18am BST British housebuilders deliver upbeat trading statements left right A construction worker casts a shadow as he works on a Taylor Wimpey housing estate in Aylesbury, Britain, February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - A sign is displayed at a Persimmon construction site in Dartford, southern Britain August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Neil Hall/Files/File Photo 2/2 Two of Britain''s biggest housebuilders on Thursday expressed confidence for 2017, saying that strong demand from first-time buyers and good mortgage availability had propped up sales growth. Taylor Wimpey ( TW.L ) said it is optimistic that the British general election will not disrupt positive market sentiment, provided that no major policy changes are announced. The company said its total order book value stood at about 2.21 billion pounds in the first four months of 2017, up about 2 percent year on year. It also said it would record an exceptional gross provision of about 130 million pounds against its 2017 accounts after changes to how it charges customers for leased property. Persimmon ( PSN.L ), meanwhile, said that total forward sales revenue including completions was up by about 11 percent year on year at 2.56 billion pounds. Its weekly private sales rate per site since the start of the year was 4 percent higher despite tougher comparatives. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-housebuilders-outlook-idUKKBN17T0T7'|'2017-04-27T15:18:00.000+03:00' '59e0cac1f34ae13cd8c218add550e93e29c7f574'|'Iraq says will go with consensus at next OPEC meeting'|' 30am BST Iraq says will go with consensus at next OPEC meeting A flag with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) logo is seen before a news conference at OPEC''s headquarters in Vienna, Austria December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader PARIS Iraq will go with the consensus reached by OPEC when the exporting group meets in Vienna next month to discuss an extension of the group''s deal on production cuts, the country''s oil minister said on Thursday. "Now we’re going on the 25th of May to OPEC and we’re definitely going to be in line with OPEC’s final decision and collective decisions," Jabar al-Luaibi told a conference in Paris. Iraq, OPEC''s second-largest producer, was in full compliance with the OPEC-led supply pact reached last year and has achieved about 97 percent of its output reduction target, Luaibi said. OPEC, Russia and other producers originally agreed to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market. It is expected that the producers will extend the pact for a further six months when they meet in May. (Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-opec-idUKKBN17T18S'|'2017-04-27T17:30:00.000+03:00' 'f71a42e9542630e274b7df1b9753fd77c12f9da5'|'Exclusive - Austrian prosecutors investigate Airbus CEO over suspected fraud'|'Business 6:12pm BST Exclusive - Austria investigates Airbus CEO over suspected fraud left right FILE PHOTO: Thomas Enders, Chief Executive Officer of EADS (now Airbus Group) speaks at a ground breaking ceremony for Airbus for its first U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lyle Ratliff /File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: French President Francois Hollande, left, awards German businessman Thomas Enders, chief executive of Airbus Group, with the medal of Commander of the Legion of Honor, during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Tuesday April 14, 2015. REUTERS/Remy de la Mauviniere/Pool/File Photo 2/2 By Kirsti Knolle - VIENNA VIENNA Airbus ( AIR.PA ) was plunged deeper into legal wrangling over past business dealings on Wednesday when Vienna prosecutors announced a fraud investigation into its chief executive in connection with a $2 billion (1.56 billion pounds) fighter order over a decade ago. Airbus called the accusations against CEO Tom Enders "completely unsubstantiated" after Reuters exclusively revealed the investigation, which came to light in correspondence seen by the news agency and confirmed by Vienna prosecutors. For the second time in two months, Airbus seemed taken aback by the latest developments in a longstanding row over the Eurofighter deal, which has spawned numerous investigations that now coincide with separate probes in other countries of its passenger jet sales. In February, Vienna prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium after the defence ministry said it believed they had misled Austria about the price, deliverability and equipment of the 2003 deal. That investigation now involves 16 individuals including Enders, according to a list seen by Reuters. "Upon our inquiry after initial media reports, the Vienna prosecutor this afternoon informed us for the first time that all individuals, who have been mentioned by the Republic of Austria in its statement of alleged facts, ... are under investigation," an Airbus spokesman said by email. "This list of individuals includes, among others, Tom Enders. As we have repeatedly stated, we consider the accusations as completely unsubstantiated." Enders and Airbus, which was called European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company (EADS) at the time the fighter jet order was agreed, have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Enders, a 58-year-old German, was head of EADS''s defence division when the contract was signed. He took responsibility for combat aircraft a few months later. The Eurofighter consortium, which comprises BAE Systems ( BAES.L ), Italy''s Leonardo ( LDOF.MI ) and Airbus, has also denied any wrongdoing. Airbus shares fell as much as 1.1 percent after Reuters reported the probe into Enders, before closing unchanged. COMPLIANCE DRIVE Airbus has warned of financial implications as it carries out a clean-up of its files under a compliance drive ordered by Enders, which last year exposed discrepancies over jetliner sales that Airbus reported to UK and French authorities. Prosecutors in both countries are carrying out investigations into suspected fraud, bribery and corruption. Enders has pledged to push ahead with the compliance effort. While it recognises problems with past applications for export aid in its passenger jet business, Airbus has pushed back strongly against allegations of wrongdoing in Austria, which it believes are wrapped up in domestic political manoeuvres. Austrian and German prosecutors have separately been investigating for years whether officials received bribes aimed at ensuring they chose Eurofighter jets over rival offers from Saab ( SAABb.ST ) and Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ). Allegations surfaced almost immediately after the purchase was agreed that money was pocketed by politicians, civil servants and others via brokers for so-called offset deals accompanying the transaction. These deals, common in large arms purchases, are designed to provide work for local businesses in countries placing orders. Austria''s defence ministry has alleged Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium illegally charged nearly 10 percent of the purchase price of 1.96 billion euros for these side deals. (Additional reporting by Victoria Bryan and Tim Hepher; Editing by Francois Murphy, Keith Weir and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-group-austria-inquiry-exclusiv-idUKKBN17S1MX'|'2017-04-26T20:38:00.000+03:00' '53f51808290aa6a692d291ffff13fd486d758d80'|'UK''s Exova to be bought by Element Materials in 620-million-pound deal'|'Business News 10:23am BST UK''s Exova to be bought by Element Materials in 620-million-pound deal British materials testing company Exova Group ( EXO.L ) said on Wednesday UK-based Element Materials Technology would buy it in a deal valued at 620.3 million pounds. Element said it would pay Exova shareholders 240 pence per share in cash, representing a 10.7 percent premium to the stock''s closing price on March 24 before Exova entered talks with potential buyers. The offer was in line with Exova''s closing price on Tuesday, and based on that the deal was worth 607.1 million pounds, according to Reuters calculations. Exova shareholders will also receive a final dividend of 2.35 pence per share for 2016, Element said. "The combined UK headquartered group will benefit from deep pools of technical talent, very significant testing capacity and a strong network of facilities to support our customers'' global supply chains," Element CEO Charles Noall said in a statement. Exova, whose laboratories test the safety and performance of products used in industries ranging from aerospace to pharmaceuticals, revealed in March that it had received proposals for a possible cash offer from Element Materials Technology. The Edinburgh-based company also said private equity fund PAI Partners, and Jacobs Holding AG, a Swiss investment firm, had also made similar proposals. Goldman Sachs and Investec advised Exova on the acquisition. Exova shares were down 0.8 percent at 238 pence in early trading on Wednesday. (This version of the story corrects headline and paragraph 1 to say Element Materials is a UK-based firm, not Dutch) (Reporting By Justin George Varghese; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-exova-group-m-a-idUKKBN17L0QV'|'2017-04-19T17:23:00.000+03:00' '666d0334d78dc95b325a9d878535cde1fcfb58a0'|'UPDATE 1-Fund firm Henderson''s assets cushioned by market gains in Q1'|'* Q1 assets under management 103.1 billion pounds* Retail net outflows total 1.4 billion pounds* Says Janus deal on track, to pay extra dividend (Adds details from statement, CEO comment)By Simon JessopLONDON, April 19 Fund manager Henderson Group said its assets under management rose 2.1 percent in the first quarter as market and currency gains more than offset net outflows from both retail and institutional clients.That marked a continuation of last year''s trend for Henderson, which is in the middle of a $6 billion takeover of U.S. peer Janus Capital. However, the company said it saw signs of improvement towards the end of the first quarter.Total assets at the end of March were 103.1 billion pounds ($132 billion), up from 101 billion pounds in the prior quarter, after market gains of nearly 4 billion pounds, the company said on Wednesday.They helped soften the impact of net outflows from retail clients of 1.4 billion pounds and 400 million pounds from institutional clients, and Chief Executive Andrew Formica flagged a brighter outlook."While retail client outflows continued, we saw an improvement in client sentiment and flows as we moved towards the end of the quarter," Formica said in a statement.The institutional outflows followed a merger-related restructuring of the firm''s global equities team, he said, but the company had seen "a healthy number of mandates funding since quarter end".Henderson said it had made "substantial progress" towards its takeover of Janus. After Janus paid out a first-quarter dividend to its shareholders, Henderson had said it would follow suit and on Wednesday confirmed it would pay an extraordinary dividend of 1.85 pence per share.($1 = 0.7805 pounds) (Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Susan Fenton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/henderson-trading-idINL8N1HR0XE'|'2017-04-19T04:52:00.000+03:00' '1f71630af570786b77ee2c83b0fa8e835811937c'|'UK parliament votes in favour of early national election'|'LONDON, April 19 Britain''s parliament voted by 522 to 13 on Wednesday in favour of Prime Minister Theresa May''s plan to hold an early national election.Britain had not been due to hold a national election until 2020 but May said on Tuesday she wanted to bring that forward to June 8 this year in order to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations with the European Union.She needed to win the backing of more than two thirds of parliament''s 650 members in order to hold an early election. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan, editing by Elizabeth Piper)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-election-vote-idINS8N1H5030'|'2017-04-19T11:48:00.000+03:00' '55d0b09dc941fc9fae89c06f6ecf8b0aebf45d8c'|'U.S. soda sales drops for 12th straight year: trade publication'|'Sales of soda drinks decreased about 1.2 percent in the United States in 2016, falling for the 12th year in a row, a report by trade publication Beverage Digest showed, as demand was hit by consumer choosing healthier options and a slew of sugar taxes aimed at stemming obesity and diabetes.The per capita consumption of soda drinks, including energy drinks, fell to about 642 8-ounce servings last year, the lowest level since 1985, when the Beverage Digest began tracking consumption trends, the publication said on Wednesday.However, total sales dollars increased 2 percent to $80.6 billion as soft drink makers aggressively pushed smaller packs at higher prices per ounce, while lowering emphasis on large discounts packs, the Beverage Digest said.Soda makers such as Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc have been relying on smaller pack sizes and premium packaging to drive margins in developed markets. They are also making more non-carbonated drinks as well as reformulating drinks to lower sugar levels and launch sugar-free versions.These measures come amid a wave of sugar tax approvals in the United States and Europe.The consumption of added sugar in foods and beverages has been linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Heart Association have all recommended reducing consumption of soda as a way to cut down on added sugars.(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-soda-sales-study-idINKBN17L2HN'|'2017-04-19T16:41:00.000+03:00' 'b95c1617d10c0a6ee0dcfe6cd5ae882bb03f35e7'|'Mexico says TPP might still be implemented without U.S.'|'Business News - Tue Apr 18, 2017 - 10:51pm BST Mexico says TPP might still be implemented without U.S Mexico''s Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal is seen at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C., U.S. March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer By Sharay Angulo - MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY The sweeping trade deal for the Pacific region known as the TPP might still be implemented by making adjustments to its text even though the United States has withdrawn, Mexico''s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Tuesday. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, which had been promoted by former U.S. President Barack Obama and Japan as a way to counter China''s influence in a fast-growing region, was written in a way to prevent implementation without the United States. But if Japan leads the way, that clause could be stripped out without "any problem," and Mexico and other members could evaluate the pros and cons of pushing forward with the TPP without the United States, Guajardo said at an event. "A TPP 11 instead of 12," he said in reference to the remaining signatories to the deal since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States after taking office in January. "But we''d have to see if nations such as Vietnam would put the same things on the table without the United States," he added. Following the United States'' departure, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are still signed up to TPP, though most must have put off ratifying it. TPP signatories are expected to delve deeper into trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that Vietnam is hosting this year. Ministers start meetings in May and heads of state will gather in November. Several alternatives to TPP have been floated since Trump was elected in November, from inviting China to join the pact to doubling down on efforts to forge bilateral trade deals. Mexico is looking to diversify its trading options to counter the threat of Trump ditching the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which underpins the vast bulk of its commerce and binds it with the United States and Canada. Guajardo said that Trump''s recently signed "Buy American and Hire American" executive order that aims to boost purchases of American products in federal contracts might violate NAFTA by giving U.S. industries a new advantage, but he said it was still not clear how it would play out. Trump said Tuesday that he plans to make some "very big changes" to NAFTA or else get rid of it. Guajardo also said that the exchange rate was moving toward a more sustainable level after what he described as an overreaction by the market. (Reporting By Sharay Angulo, Writing By Mitra Taj; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-tpp-idUKKBN17K2KR'|'2017-04-19T05:44:00.000+03:00' '9f42bf7b0b18e15de25dd91e031eaace94fabba5'|'OPEC, non-OPEC to meet on same day as group''s May gathering: sources'|'LONDON OPEC plans to meet with non-OPEC oil producers on the same day as its scheduled May 25 conference, sources familiar with the arrangements said, as they decide whether to extend supply cuts into the second half of the year.Ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will convene at their Vienna headquarters. Joint talks with non-OPEC oil ministers will also take place that day, two sources said.A number of key OPEC members including top exporter Saudi Arabia support extending their supply-cut agreement into the second half of 2017 if all producers, including non-OPEC, also agree, OPEC sources have told Reuters.The plan for same-day meetings suggests the issue will be settled more quickly than last year, when the deal was agreed. OPEC met on Nov. 30 to decide its own output cuts, and a gathering with non-OPEC took place more than a week later.The schedule for May 25 is not final and could be changed nearer the time, the sources said.Under the deal, OPEC is curbing its output by about 1.2 million barrels per day from Jan. 1 for six months in an attempt to eradicate a supply glut. Russia and 10 other non-OPEC producers agreed to cut half as much.The accord has lifted oil prices, which are near $55 a barrel. However, still-large inventories and higher output from some producers such as the United States - which is not participating in the supply accord - have limited the rally.(Reporting by Alex Lawler; Editing by Dale Hudson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-opec-meeting-idUSKBN17L1P9'|'2017-04-19T21:31:00.000+03:00' '6bda386e2725c2110c55c8053b05123fd0f20ddd'|'BUZZ-India''s TCS comes off early lows but concerns remain about outlook'|'** Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gain up to 1.73 pct, coming off an early fall of 2.43 pct** India''s biggest software services exporter on Tuesday reported slightly smaller-than-expected rise in Q4 profit** Revenue rises 4.2 pct to 296.42 bln rupees ($4.59 bln)** Concerns remain about outlook given stronger rupee and potential U.S. visa changes, Morgan Stanley warns** Morgan Stanley downgrades stock to "underweight" from "equal-weight", cuts price target to 2,100 rupees from 2,300 rupees** Fifteen of 51 brokerages covering the stock rate it "buy" or higher, 25 "hold" and 11 "sell" or lower; their median PT is 2,470 rupees - Thomson Reuters Eikon data** Stock had fallen 2.4 pct this year as of Tuesday''s close ($1 = 64.5500 Indian rupees)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/buzz-indias-tcs-comes-off-early-lows-but-idINL3N1HR1MM'|'2017-04-19T02:20:00.000+03:00' '60d1c787be26d62d57b872cf43664e8ecfe4e39d'|'Glass Lewis urges vote against Deutsche Boerse board actions'|' 8:42pm BST Glass Lewis urges vote against Deutsche Boerse board actions The plaque of the Deutsche Boerse AG is pictured at the entrance of the Frankfurt stock exchange February 1, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Domanski/File Photo FRANKFURT Influential proxy adviser Glass Lewis has recommended shareholders in Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) vote against ratifying the actions of the management and supervisory board at the exchange''s 2017 annual general meeting. German companies typically ask their shareholders to approve the actions of their boards over the previous years at the annual shareholder meetings. Glass Lewis said in a recommendation that shareholders may have concerns over the failed merger with the London Stock Exchange Group ( LSE.L ) and due to a pending investigation into CEO Carsten Kengeter over possible insider trading. Kengeter denies the allegations, and has said that he and the company are cooperating fully with the public prosecutor. Glass Lewis said shareholders may question management''s performance in light of failing to make contingency plans for Britain''s vote to leave the European Union in the merger documents. On the investigation into Kengeter, it said it believed shareholders should be given the chance to vote on individual management board members rather than the board as whole. "We are unaware of any specific evidence that Mr. Kengeter contravened insider trading regulations, but considering the ongoing nature and potential consequences of a negative outcome of investigations, we do not believe that shareholders can confidently determine whether approval of this proposal is in their best interests at this time," it wrote. The recommendation was first reported by German daily Handelsblatt. Deutsche Boerse declined to comment. The AGM takes place on May 17. (Reporting by Andreas Kroner and John O''Donnell; Writing by Victoria Bryan; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-boerse-agm-idUKKBN17R2MN'|'2017-04-26T03:42:00.000+03:00' 'c9670a73f52aab53b04518f36a3bfb5f275db6be'|'Goldman Sachs shareholders approve executive pay plan'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 9:31am EDT Goldman Sachs shareholders approve executive pay plan A Goldman Sachs sign is displayed inside the company''s post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Olivia Oran Goldman Sachs Group Inc''s ( GS.N ) compensation plan received the approval of 93 percent of shareholders at the bank''s annual meeting on Friday after the pay structure for Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein was simplified. The vote was a turnaround from last year, when Goldman''s "say on pay" resolution received only 66 percent support. Among Russell 3000 companies, approval for executive pay averaged 91 percent in 2016, according to consulting firm Semler Brossy. Goldman''s annual meeting in the bank''s Jersey City, New Jersey, office was a quiet affair, with no shareholder proposals up for a vote. nL2N1GZ1CL That was not the case for some other large banks. Wells Fargo & Co''s ( WFC.N ) annual meeting this week was interrupted repeatedly by angry shareholders, while environmental protesters concerned about damage from the Dakota pipeline briefly disrupted Citigroup Inc''s ( C.N ) meeting. nL1N1HX125 Goldman awarded Blankfein $22 million in 2016, a 4 percent decline from the prior year to reflect lower revenue in the first half of the year.. The bank revamped Blankfein''s compensation structure by tying all of his equity awards to performance. It also eliminated a long-term incentive award. The changes came after some shareholders raised concerns that the pay structure was too complex. Proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc endorsed Goldman''s pay plan for 2016 after urging shareholders to vote against last year''s proposal. Goldman shareholders also backed the reelection of the board of directors. (Reporting by Olivia Oran; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-meeting-idUSKBN17U1XO'|'2017-04-28T21:03:00.000+03:00' '5e277ffbfae37df4642034969467d1b63e98a0d1'|'UPDATE 1-Bulgaria''s Fibank considers attracting new investors'|'(Adds FIbank''s shares surge upon announcement)SOFIA, April 28 First Investment Bank (Fibank) , Bulgaria''s third largest lender, said on Friday it had hired Citigroup to advise on its strategic options that could involve attracting new core investors.The announcement pushed Fibank''s shares up 9 percent in midday trading on the Bulgarian bourse, with traders saying the move showed the bank was serious about propping up its capital buffers following a central bank recommendation last year."The bank is reviewing strategic opportunities which may include: entering into strategic partnerships and/or consolidations; attracting new core investors; raising new capital to fund the future growth of the bank," it said.Fibank said this month it had met central bank recommendations to raise about 206 million levs ($115 million) in additional capital by reporting pre-tax, pre-provision profit of 266 million levs for 2016.The central bank told Fibank to raise further capital after an asset quality review slashed its CET 1 capital ratio to 5.2 percent, and when tested under a theoretical severe economic crisis this fell to -6.9 percent.The bank has said it has been working to diversify its loan portfolio and reduce credit risk in cooperation with international consultant Bain & Co.Fibank''s financial results showed its CET 1 capital ratio stood at 12 percent in 2016, while overall capital adequacy was at 15 percent. Total assets stood at 8.85 billion levs.Fibank is controlled by Bulgarian businessmen Tzeko Minev and Ivaylo Mutafchiev, each with 42.5 percent stakes.($1 = 1.7953 leva) (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Alexander Smith and Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/bulgaria-fibank-idINL8N1I03XQ'|'2017-04-28T09:17:00.000+03:00' '81c60001b8ec18ec3e3a40b8d1bdfc23fc96639f'|'BRIEF-Government of Canada says it "objects" to allegations made by Boeing'|'Market News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 7:25pm EDT BRIEF-Government of Canada says it "objects" to allegations made by Boeing April 27 (Reuters) - * Statement on petition by Boeing aerospace corporation * Government of Canada says it "objects" to allegations made by Boeing * Government of Canada says it will "mount a vigorous defence" against allegations made by Boeing Source text for Eikon: '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-government-of-canada-says-it-objec-idUSFWN1HZ1ML'|'2017-04-28T07:25:00.000+03:00' 'bc0ad591cb003929e47464ae597bdef02c08f1f7'|'Exclusive: ADM names new global trade desk chief as part of wider shakeup - memo'|'Commodities 2:58pm EDT Exclusive: ADM names new global trade desk chief as part of wider shakeup - memo The corn mill of global grain company Archer Daniels Midland is pictured in Decatur, Illinois March 16, 2015. REUTERS/Karl Plume By Hugh Bronstein - BUENOS AIRES BUENOS AIRES Archer Daniels Midland Co has replaced the leader of its global trading desk, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday, as the company sheds traders around the world while grappling with huge grain supplies that have weakened margins. Gary McGuigan, most recently managing director of global trade at ADM will succeed Gary Towne as president of the global trade desk, according to the memo. The move is in keeping with a time frame set when Towne, who is retiring from the company, took the job last year, it said. In a global shakeup in trading operations, the U.S. agribusiness group has let go key personnel in recent months and exited energy trading. It said in early April that it planned to close its South African trading desk and it shrank its operations in Argentina at a time of increasing food production. Global heads of grains and oilseed trade will report to McGuigan, the memo said. The new vice president of global trade is Andy Kenny, who will continue to serve as global trade finance director, it said. ADM''s public affairs office in the United States did not have an immediate comment. In February, ADM reported a 41 percent drop in fourth-quarter net earnings to $424 million. Gains in its agricultural services segment were blunted by more losses by its global trading desk in the quarter, the unit''s second quarterly loss of 2016. Record global stocks of key commodities including corn, soybeans and wheat thinned margins and limited trading opportunities for ADM. The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results next Tuesday. As part of the shake-up of its international trading operations, ADM cut jobs in Argentina last month when it shuttered its Toepfer grains trading unit. The revamps hit at a time of increased competition from Chinese trading house COFCO Group, which has begun an aggressive expansion into international grains trading. (Additional reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-archer-daniels-moves-exclusive-idUSKBN17S2MY'|'2017-04-27T02:58:00.000+03:00' 'e11f1897a87f009d3b326087846cbdf95783b1fa'|'JPMorgan beats Madoff customers'' appeal'|'NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ) is not liable to a group of former customers of Bernard Madoff who blamed the bank for being actively involved in his Ponzi scheme and ignoring red flags of fraud, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the customers failed to show that JPMorgan had enough "control" over Madoff''s fraud to justify liability under federal securities laws.JPMorgan had been sued by roughly 2,500 so-called "net winners" who withdrew more money from their accounts at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC than they invested.Lance Gotthoffer, a lawyer for the customers, said his clients will review their legal options.Wednesday''s decision upheld a May 2016 ruling by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan. [nL2N18F1GG]Koeltel said the allegations suggested that JPMorgan was at most negligent in dealing with Madoff, once a major client.Many net winners believe their claims were undervalued in the liquidation of Madoff''s firm, and sued other individuals and companies that dealt with the swindler.Madoff has served roughly eight years of a 150-year prison term. He turns 79 on Saturday.JPMorgan agreed in 2014 to pay $2.6 billion to settle other Madoff litigation, and in a settlement with the U.S. government acknowledged responsibility for failing to stop Madoff.The case is Friedman et al v. JPMorgan Chase & Co et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-1913. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-madoff-idUSKBN17S22Z'|'2017-04-26T22:56:00.000+03:00' '7028ced1ef554624717edf9f6d8e9121aed9b83d'|'Wall Street opens flat as tax plan awaited'|' 04pm IST Wall Street opens flat as tax plan awaited The Wall Street bull is seen in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files U.S. stocks opened little changed on Wednesday, following two days of strong gains, as investors remained on the sidelines ahead of a highly anticipated tax plan from the Trump administration. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 19.19 points, or 0.09 percent, at 21,015.31, the S&P 500 was up 0.03 points, or 0.001256 percent, at 2,388.64 and the Nasdaq composite was up 2.81 points, or 0.05 percent, at 6,028.31. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17S1TP'|'2017-04-26T21:34:00.000+03:00' 'a2417b27b8cf5da126907db786208e64d8da7802'|'CEE MARKETS-Budapest leads stocks retreat in CEE on bank margin worries'|'* Prospect of low interest rates, margins weigh on OTP Bank shares * Rise of stocks, currencies after French election loses steam * Polish BZW BK stocks fall, refiner Lotos shares surge on results * Leu underperforms, Romanian budget figures do not end concerns By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 26 Budapest stocks led a retreat of Central European equities on Wednesday, driven lower by OTP shares, after the Hungarian central bank signalled that it intends to keep interest rates low, eroding banks'' interest income. Regional equities and currencies had firmed after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France''s presidential elections on Sunday, curbing the risk of a shift to the far right. However, currencies steadied or eased from multi-week highs on Wednesday. Hungary''s main equities index fell 0.7 percent by 0855 GMT, driven by a 1.4 percent decline by OTP, the region''s biggest independent bank. "Some investors are worried that the central bank may take measures to reduce bank margins," said Monika Kiss, analyst of the Budapest-based brokerage Equilor. The National Bank of Hungary has said repeatedly that it wants stronger competition among banks in lending and that banks'' mortgage spreads were too high. "Yesterday''s central bank (rate) statement was as expected, but it underpinned that loose monetary policy will remain and that is not favourable to banks," Kiss said. While fresh central bank signals that it may take measures to tighten banks'' margins and the rate statement affected OTP, Kiss added that the stock "remains a good paper". Central European bank profits are set to rise faster than at Western rivals, analysts have said. Banking stocks were key drivers in a rise in Warsaw equities on Tuesday, with Bank Millennium stock jumping due to a rise in first-quarter profits. Warsaw stocks were mixed on Wednesday. The blue-chip index eased due to a more than 4 percent fall in BZW BK after Poland''s third biggest bank reported a 19 percent annual fall in first-quarter profit. Refiner Lotos surged 10 percent, after reporting a 288 percent annual rise in first-quarter earnings. The leu underperformed regional currencies, shedding 0.2 percent to 4.537 against the euro, after late Tuesday''s government figures showing a slight budget surplus in the first quarter did not expel fears of a full-year deficit overshoot in 2017. The government plans further public sector wage hikes even though it would need to curb spending to keep the deficit below the EU''s ceiling, which is 3 percent of economic output. "However, the current space for manoeuvre will surely be more limited by the recent (politically irreversible) wage and pension hikes, plus new ones to come into force in July 2017," Erste analysts said in a note. Government bonds eased slightly or moved sideways in the region ahead of an auction of Czech bonds. After recent disappointing auction results, demand could be helped by the prospect of low Czech debt issuance in May, Komercni banka said in a note. "(The) combined amount of 11 bln CZ (Czech crowns) might still prove to be on the upper side for the market," it said. CEE SNAPS AT 1055 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.88 26.88 +0.0 0.45% 50 40 0% Hungary 311.6 311.8 +0.0 -0.91 forint 500 750 7% % Polish 4.225 4.222 -0.06 4.22% zloty 5 8 % Romanian 4.537 4.527 -0.22 -0.04 leu 0 0 % % Croatian 7.464 7.466 +0.0 1.21% kuna 5 5 3% Serbian 123.2 123.3 +0.1 0.11% dinar 200 750 3% Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 992.5 992.9 -0.04 +7.7 9 8 % 0% Budapest 33297 33519 -0.66 +4.0 .17 .07 % 4% Warsaw 2350. 2353. -0.12 +20. 46 17 % 67% Bucharest 8218. 8260. -0.50 +16. 99 33 % 00% Ljubljana 783.8 777.2 +0.8 +9.2 1 9 4% 3% Zagreb 1936. 1937. -0.04 -2.91 70 55 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 731.6 732.4 -0.10 +2.0 > 9 1 % 0% Sofia 651.5 653.7 -0.35 +11. 0 6 % 10% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps s Poland 2-year bps s 5-year 7 bps 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.31 0.36 0.44 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.24 0.33 0.43 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.751 1.782 1.833 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for Quote: s ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idINL8N1HY300'|'2017-04-26T08:31:00.000+03:00' 'cfb803b4a49483ab0d1c768cc8ca7a2fe9f5312a'|'JPMorgan Chase & Co leaves blockchain consortium R3 - sources'|'By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co has left the mammoth bank blockchain consortium led by New York-based startup R3 CEV, as financial institutions refine their strategies around the nascent technology, according to sources familiar with the plans.The Wall Street bank has decided not to invest in R3''s ongoing fundraising round and will also no longer be a member of its consortium, the sources said on Thursday.(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/jpmorgan-r-idINKBN17T2TF'|'2017-04-27T16:28:00.000+03:00' '3ef8bc6fa12db1bf38b13405fbe5730c98fb955f'|'U.S. launches national security probe into aluminum imports'|' 40am IST U.S. launches national security probe into aluminum imports FILE PHOTO: A worker walks through an aluminium ingots depot in Wuxi, Jiangsu province September 26, 2012. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Commerce Department launched an investigation on Wednesday to determine whether a flood of aluminum imports from China and elsewhere was compromising U.S. national security, a step that could lead to broad import restrictions on the metal. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the investigation was similar to one announced last week for steel imports into the United States, invoking Section 232 of a national security law passed in 1962 at the height of the Cold War. Ross told reporters the probe was prompted by the extreme competitive pressures that unfairly traded imports were putting on the U.S. aluminum industry, causing several domestic smelters to close or halt production in recent years. China, the world''s top producer and consumer of the metal, is seriously concerned by the probe and hopes to resolve the dispute through negotiations, a Commerce Ministry spokesman said at a regular briefing on Thursday. The U.S. move is the latest of several potential U.S. actions aimed at stemming a rising tide of aluminum imports. The Commerce Department is investigating allegations that Chinese companies are dumping aluminum foil into the U.S. market below cost and benefiting from unfair subsidies. Ross said part of the justification for the investigation was that U.S. combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter and the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet require high-purity aluminum that is now produced by only one smelter, Century Aluminum Co. He said that company could probably meet U.S. peacetime needs, but not if the United States needed to ramp up defense production for a conflict. The same high-purity aluminum goes into armor plating for military vehicles and naval vessels, he said. "At the very same time that our military is needing more and more of the very high-quality aluminum, we''re producing less and less of everything, and only have the one producer of aerospace- quality aluminum," Ross told a White House briefing. The investigation will determine if there is sufficient domestic aluminum capacity to meet U.S. defense needs and will also assess the effects of lost jobs, skills and investments on national security, Ross said. Although he said China was a major contributor to the global excess capacity in aluminum production, he said imports from other countries, including Russia, were also causing problems. "This is not a China-phobic program, this has to do with a global problem," Ross said. Last November, a dozen U.S. senators requested that a U.S. national security review panel reject the $2.3 billion acqusition of Cleveland-based aluminum products maker Aleris Corp by China''s Zhongwang International Group Ltd. Aleris spokesman Jason Saragian said the aluminum probe announced by the Commerce Department was unrelated to the ongoing review of the merger by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). "The pending acquisition is not affected by this broad inquiry, because the transaction does not involve any imports from China," Saragian said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by David Lawder; Josephine Mason in BEIJING; Editing by Peter Cooney and Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-aluminum-idINKBN17T0O3'|'2017-04-27T04:10:00.000+03:00' '37b81fa3c07bb8d500cd641eb616960b1d78c950'|'Investors eye Elliott''s Plan B as BHP shake-up push falters'|'By Simon Jessop and Jamie Freed - LONDON/SYDNEY LONDON/SYDNEY Two weeks after Elliott Management''s surprise assault on BHP Billiton, the fund manager''s three-point demand for change is gaining little traction with investors, prompting expectations a second strike is imminent.While Elliott is struggling to push through a $46 billion overhaul of the Anglo-Australian miner, investors said it could point to BHP''s plans for further sales of marginal assets and increasing shareholder returns as, potentially, some incremental victories."I think the case for agitating for management to do what a shareholder wants is always there," said Neil Boyd-Clark, portfolio manager at Arnhem Investment Management, a long-time holder of BHP''s Australian shares."In a way, this might be presented as being this great scary exercise, but there is a win-win-win for everyone involved."Over the past year, Elliott has built up a minority stake in BHP and earlier this month told the company it had failed to deliver "optimal" value.It demanded BHP spin off U.S. oil assets, ditch a corporate structure built on dual listings in London and Sydney and hand back more money to shareholders.In a swift rebuff, BHP said the costs of the changes would outweigh the benefits.BEEN THERE, DONE THATInvestors have been skeptical. Since the announcement, BHP''s London shares have fallen nearly 6 percent against a 0.8 percent drop on the FTSE 100. At Wednesday''s close, BHP''s Australian shares had dropped 2 percent against a 0.9 percent rise in the broader market."The fact that the share price did nothing indicates to me that the probability the market puts on them succeeding is essentially zero," said a top-10 investor in the London shares.Mining companies have come under intense pressure from shareholders since the end of the commodity boom in 2012, which left many investors nursing the painful after-effects of rash spending and costly acquisitions.The downturn means many of Elliott''s ideas had already been tested within BHP, said major investors questioned by Reuters, none of whom said they had been contacted by Elliott.BHP''s reliance on commodities also limits how much value could be unlocked from the sort of financial engineering proposed by Elliott, they said.But a BHP statement on Wednesday showed room for movement, investors and analysts said.In a break from a usually dry production statement, BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said the miner had already been "fundamentally restructured" to increase returns with the demerger of South32 in 2015, the removal of layers of management and change in its approach to capital management.The group also announced it would put its Fayetteville shale gas assets in the United States back on the market.BHP has said there is no connection between these measures and Elliott''s demands.Mackenzie is due to provide an update on strategy at a mining industry conference in Barcelona next month.NEXT STEPSInvestors said one target for a second strike by Elliott could be BHP''s next major executive appointment - a new chairman. Incumbent Jac Nasser has said he will not seek re-election at this year''s annual general meeting."Who is going to take over replacing Jac Nasser is obviously going to be the key thing for investors this year," said Andy Forster, portfolio manager at Argo Investments, a shareholder in BHP''s Australian arm.Still, a source familiar with the situation said Elliott had not offered views on the board or management team in eight months of private talks with BHP before it went public.Since its April 12 demands, Elliott has not made any statements about BHP although it promised further details in due course. An Elliott spokesman declined to comment.On April 10, Elliott said it held about 4 percent of the London-listed shares, short of the 5 percent needed to call a shareholders'' meeting.(Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis and Maiya Keidan in London, and Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Neil Fullick)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-elliott-idINKBN17T11X'|'2017-04-27T06:24:00.000+03:00' '870d0f1c96ae95c8a473de97e689b5b879be491a'|'Empty Pearl River Delta branches a check on HSBC''s China plan'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:06am BST Empty Pearl River Delta branches a check on HSBC''s China plan left right FILE PHOTO: HSBC headquarters building is seen in Pudong financial district in Shanghai December 8, 2010. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A man walks past the HSBC logo at the bank''s new China headquarters in the Pudong district of Shanghai September 29, 2010. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo 2/2 By James Pomfret , Lawrence White and Sumeet Chatterjee - DONGGUAN, China/LONDON/HONG KONG DONGGUAN, China/LONDON/HONG KONG In the digital age, footfall in bricks-and-mortar outlets is an incomplete measure of business activity, but HSBC''s empty branches in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) suggest it''s not all plain sailing for the bank''s expansion in mainland China. HSBC, the world''s sixth-largest bank by assets, announced in 2015 that it would hire 4,000 new staff and invest billions to make the Pearl River Delta (PRD) its gateway to China, a retail and corporate banking push that bet on a tech boom, infrastructure spending and a growing middle class. (For a graphic on HSBC''s footprint in China click here ) It is, as Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver reminded shareholders in Hong Kong on Monday, a key plank of the bank''s global strategy to improve profits by focusing on markets with stronger economic growth. PRD already generates more than 10 percent of China''s GDP and over a quarter of its exports. On the ground, HSBC still has a mountain to climb. In a rundown mall in Houjie, a factory town in the urban sprawl of Dongguan, the HSBC branch stands out with its bright posters and smiling receptionist, but only a handful of customers an hour crossed the threshold during a Reuters visit last week. At the nearby Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) branch in Changan, dozens rolled up in a similar period. Large local rivals in the PRD, most state-backed, each have more than 1,000 branches to HSBC''s 114 including Guangdong, and they don''t have the headache of the tough compliance rules that HSBC has to follow to safeguard its international business. It''s a headache the bank has to pass on to prospective customers. A factory owner who gave his surname as Luo said he opened an HSBC account last year to facilitate his business making wooden floorboards and panels for clients in Hong Kong, where HSBC was founded in 1865. Luo, who spoke to Reuters as he was leaving the Houjie branch, represents the kind of affluent Chinese customer with business in Hong Kong that the bank is keen to snag. But opening a bank account was "quite a lot of trouble", he said, and took nearly two weeks. HSBC''s customer-checking procedures have got tighter in recent years after it was hit with billions of dollars in fines in the U.S. for lapses in anti-money laundering controls. A HSBC staff member at the branch, who declined to be named, confirmed that customer background checks can take longer than at local banks that have no or negligible U.S. business at risk and are not subject to global regulatory scrutiny. MAKING PROGRESS HSBC says it is pleased with its progress in China. At the start of April it had 150,000 credit cards in circulation, having begun to issue them in December, mostly after digital applications. It has also launched online trading and banking over social media platform WeChat. "We do not intend to compete on a traditional basis in PRD. Absolute branch numbers and footfall will not be our measure," said Kevin Martin, HSBC''s Asia Pacific head of retail banking and wealth management. But that''s a game its big rivals are also playing; ICBC, for example, has offered WeChat banking since 2013. Since HSBC announced its strategy in June 2015, China''s slowing growth and a stock market crash have prompted a rethink on the pace of expansion. CEO Gulliver said last year it would take on the 4,000 new regional hires over five years, not three, as initially planned. "Quite rightly, management felt at that time they didn''t want to achieve the strategy by taking on more risk," Sam Laidlaw, an independent board member at HSBC, told Reuters. Investors remain broadly positive. "It''s not an overnight thing, and of course everyone wants it to be faster. The (China) strategy should be pursued – but it is only one of many strategies for HSBC," said Hugh Young, Singapore-based fund manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, HSBC''s 6th-largest shareholder. And what figures the bank has disclosed for 2016 are encouraging, albeit from a low base; it said in its annual report that its number of retail banking and wealth management clients and its mortgage loan book in the area had both increased by 51 percent during the year. But it also has some battles with red tape to win. The lender is still waiting for approval for its securities business venture with a state-owned fund in the PRD, more than a year after it announced the partnership. And some say the bank remains something of an outsider. At the Ling Jia Property Agency, a few metres from HSBC''s Houjie branch, realtor Yi Linfeng said most of his customers use ICBC for mortgages. None, he says, have ever used HSBC. "I think they mostly have foreign customers from Taiwan and Hong Kong." (Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hsbc-china-idUKKBN17T0Y1'|'2017-04-27T16:04:00.000+03:00' 'f6aa1f34969d375fb2b03629d6c263eddd19cf1d'|'Book publisher S. Chand''s $114 million IPO fully subscribed'|'MUMBAI Indian book publisher S. Chand & Co Ltd''s initial public offering of shares to raise 7.3 billion rupees ($114 million) was fully subscribed on the second day of the sale on Thursday, stock exchange data showed.The IPO had been subscribed 1.48 times as of 1:00 p.m. (0730 GMT), according to data from the National Stock Exchange.S.Chand is selling new shares worth 3.25 billion rupees in a price range of 660 to 670 rupees apiece, while its existing shareholders are also selling about six million shares in the IPO. The sale closes on Friday.JM Financial, Axis Capital and Credit Suisse are the bookrunners for the IPO.($1 = 64.1075 rupees)(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/s-chand-ipo-idINKBN17T0YM'|'2017-04-27T16:00:00.000+03:00' 'e8e14f54aad5e3e20e2f487669b0ea476f01f804'|'Dole Food''s 94-year-old CEO plans to re-list company'|'Vegetable and fruit producer Dole Food Co Inc, led by 94-year old David Murdock, plans to go public again.Dole, which filed on Tuesday for an initial public offering, was taken private by Murdock in November 2013 in a deal valued at $1.2 billion.Since then, the company has undertaken significant cost savings measures, divested non-core assets and improved its supply chain.Dole said in its IPO filing it posted net revenue of $4.5 billion for 2016. The company, however, is not yet profitable.Dole filed for an IPO of up to $100 million of its common stock. The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.Net proceeds from the offering will be used to pay down debt and for general corporate expenses, Dole said.Morgan Stanley, BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank securities are among underwriters for the offering.(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-dolefoods-ipo-idINKBN17R1U3'|'2017-04-25T12:16:00.000+03:00' '36e3ff35a45c48928bcf24cff7e61c250662c880'|'Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:09am BST Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay left right FILE PHOTO: Credit Suisse''s chairman Urs Rohner attends the 2016 Institute of International Finance (IIF) Spring Membership meeting in Madrid, Spain, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Susana Vera 1/2 left right Swiss bank Credit Suisse''s Chairman Urs Rohner wears a uniform of the Zunft zur Meisen guild before the traditional Sechselaeuten parade in Zurich, Switzerland April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 2/2 By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) Chairman Urs Rohner faces his toughest shareholder meeting to date this week following an investor revolt over bonuses and losses totalling 5.65 billion Swiss francs (4.43 billion pounds) since 2015. Rohner, 57, is facing calls to stand down after six years as chairman, during which time the share price of Switzerland''s second-biggest bank has more than halved to around 15 francs. "Trust in the bank actually is at rock bottom if we look at the share price since Urs Rohner took office in 2011," said Vincent Kaufmann, whose Swiss shareholder advisory group Ethos opposes Rohner''s re-election at Friday''s annual general meeting. Ethos members represent an estimated 3-4 percent of shares in Credit Suisse, where the controversy over bonuses for top managers comes after raids at three of its offices in a Dutch-led tax investigation and uncertainty over plans to sell part of its domestic banking business. Its decision to pay 78 million francs in bonuses to top executives and raise board compensation, amid a costly restructuring under Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam and billions of dollars in U.S. legal penalties, sparked an investor revolt. Switzerland''s economy minister said the pay packets were a sign of recklessness and senior managers eventually offered to cut their bonuses by 40 percent, with the board also freezing its pay. The investor discontent took Rohner by surprise. "It was more than I expected, and particularly among UK and professional or institutional investors and proxy advisers," he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. Despite the criticism, which has rumbled on even after the concessions, a source familiar with Rohner''s thinking said he is confident of winning all agenda item votes at the AGM, including a binding vote on bonuses and board pay, and his re-election. Rohner''s supporters say he offers stability as Thiam shifts Credit Suisse''s focus towards wealth management, while cutting back the investment bank, with the loss of thousands of jobs. "There''s been a lot of chopping and changing," said Macquarie Research analyst Piers Brown, who rates Credit Suisse''s stock "underperform". "I think at the minute probably stability is better than having another u-turn." Investors will get an update on the restructure when Credit Suisse reports first-quarter results on Wednesday. HURDLE RUNNER Others believe Rohner, who did not enter banking until 2004, is the wrong man alongside Thiam, a former insurance executive who is even newer to banking. "He (Rohner) is not a banker," said Hans Geiger, a retired Zurich University banking professor and a former Credit Suisse senior executive. "That could be OK, but then he shouldn''t appoint a non-banker as CEO." Rohner''s path to the top at Credit Suisse was an unusual one. A former Swiss 110-metre hurdles champion, he ran in the 1982 European Athletics Championships while studying law. After graduating from the University of Zurich in 1983 he became a partner at one of the city''s most renowned securities law firms, Lenz & Staehelin. Rohner, an avid film buff, took the job of CEO and chairman at German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 ( PSMGn.DE ) in 2000 and joined Credit Suisse in 2004 as chief lawyer. His big move as chairman was appointing Thiam in 2015 to replace Brady Dougan, a low-profile U.S.-born investment banker. But investors are still waiting for this to pay off. "I don''t feel," said Ethos''s Kaufmann, "that Swiss pension funds are really happy with what''s happening at Credit Suisse with the share price performance, controversies around the bank, (the) high levels of compensation." (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-agm-chairman-idUKKBN17R0G0'|'2017-04-25T14:03:00.000+03:00' '7482bd3b54eab801ad84a7a98317650b66eba4f1'|'China plans maiden flight of C919 jetliner around May 5 - sources'|'Business News 9:24pm BST China plans maiden flight of C919 jetliner around May 5: sources FILE PHOTO: The first C919 passenger jet made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) is pulled out during a news conference at the company''s factory in Shanghai, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer PARIS/SHANGHAI China plans to stage the maiden flight of its C919 passenger jet on or around May 5, two people familiar with the project said. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has completed ground-testing and is preparing the aircraft for its much-delayed debut flight, which could provide an historic boost to China''s efforts to compete with global aircraft makers. The C919''s maiden flight has been delayed at least twice since 2014 due to production issues. China first gave the world a glimpse of the 158-seat plane in November 2015 at a roll-out ceremony in Shanghai. The aircraft is a symbol of China''s ambitions to break into a duopoly enjoyed by Western giants Airbus ( AIR.PA ) and Boeing ( BA.N ). Russia is developing a similar jet. China Eastern Airlines is the launch customer for the plane, which is powered by engines from French-U.S. supplier CFM International, jointly owned by General Electric and Safran. In another sign of China''s growing presence in aviation, its safety certification authority will host foreign regulators and suppliers at a conference organized jointly with European safety authorities in Shanghai this week. A third source said that COMAC had initially aimed to fly the C919 to coincide with the first such Chinese-European safety event but that the date had slipped into the first week of May. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Brenda Goh; Editing by David Clarke and Hugh Lawson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-aviation-comac-flight-idUKKBN17Q242'|'2017-04-25T04:15:00.000+03:00' 'e351e0bad3347c1d1fde8dc8698ca7ef16decf0a'|'LPC-Bankers line up €570m of debt for Faerch as sale heats up'|'By Claire Ruckin and Johannes Hellstrom - LONDON, April 26 LONDON, April 26 Bankers are lining up to around €570m of debt financing to back a potential sale of Danish packaging group Faerch Plast as the auction process progresses to the final round, banking sources said on Wednesday.Swedish buyout firm EQT, which bought Faerch in 2014, hired Credit Suisse and investment banking boutique FIH Partners to organise a sale process earlier this year.Around seven potential buyers have made it through the second round of bidding on May 31 that could see Faerch fetch up to €800m, the sources said.Bidders include private equity firms Advent International, Nordic Capital, PAI Partners, Partners Group and Carlyle through its paper and plastic packaging company Novolex that it acquired in November, as well as strategic bidders RPC Group and Sonoco, the sources said.EQT, Carlyle and RPC were not immediately available to comment, the rest of the bidders declined to comment.Bankers are working on debt packages to back the bids by buyout firms. Some €570m of debt financing equates to 6.5 times Faerch’s approximate €70m-€80m Ebitda, including undrawn debt, the sources said.Debt is expected to be in the form of euro-denominated leveraged loans, the sources said.Under EQT’s ownership, Faerch has grown with the 2015 acquisitions of Anson Packaging and Sealed Air''s European tray business.The company has production sites in Denmark, the UK, the Czech Republic and Spain and employs 1,100 staff. It makes rigid plastic trays primarily for food producers and retailers.(Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/faerch-loans-idINL8N1HY61T'|'2017-04-26T11:44:00.000+03:00' '237fc4862d489d90fe4ef207c0ee8cfa7651d13a'|'1MDB-IPIC deal does little to alleviate uncertainties in Malaysia, Moody''s say'|'KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian state fund 1MDB''s agreement to resolve a debt dispute with Abu Dhabi''s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) may lift market sentiment, but uncertainty on how it will settle bond payments poses a lingering risk, Moody''s said on Wednesday.1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and IPIC struck a conditional deal on Monday, under which 1MDB agreed to pay $1.2 billion.IPIC had guaranteed bonds issued by 1MDB. Now the fund and Malaysia''s Ministry of Finance Incorporated agreed with IPIC to assume responsibility for all future interest and principal payments for two bonds worth $3.5 billion in total."It doesn''t really change our picture - it''s neither credit positive nor credit negative," Christian de Guzman, a Singapore-based senior credit officer at Moody''s Investors Service told reporters at a Moody''s event in Kuala Lumpur."I don''t think it''s a material development in terms of resolving the entire issue. The bonds continue to be outstanding so as long as the bonds are outstanding there will be contingent risks to the Malaysian government," he added.A Malaysian government spokesman said: "1MDB will meet all of its debt obligations on the $3.5 billion bonds."De Guzman said there was still a lack of clarity on where 1MDB would source the funds to foot the bond payments, and there continued to be sums that could be due to the government."There are questions regarding whether these funds are due from Ministry of Finance Incorporated or will it come from the government. But as we understand, it may be very difficult for budgetary resources to be used for 1MDB," de Guzman added.However, he noted that there had been developments related to 1MDB''s debt consolidation plan, and so the risks had receded over time.Financial transactions by the Malaysian state fund are the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six countries, including Switzerland and Singapore.Prime Minister Najib Razak was chairman of the fund''s advisory board.1MDB has denied any wrongdoing.The fund defaulted on its bonds a year ago, sparking the dispute, with IPIC asking a London court to arbitrate over a claim totaling some $6.5 billion.Opposition leaders have criticized the settlement.(Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Robert Birsel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-1mdb-moody-s-idINKBN17S1G0'|'2017-04-26T09:36:00.000+03:00' '8c2026b2835d8a59c830cd019541a33270355c71'|'Morning News Call - India, April 26'|'To access the newsletter, click on the link: here If you would like to receive this newsletter via email, please register at: here FACTORS TO WATCH 10:00 am: Junior Shipping Minister M.L. Mandaviya at an event in New Delhi. 10:00 am: MNRE Secretary Rajeev Kapoor and REC MD PV Ramesh at Wind energy conference in New Delhi. 2:00 pm: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu at an event in New Delhi. 5:15 pm: Axis Bank post earnings conference call in Mumbai. LIVECHAT - FX FOCUS with Mark Farrington, Potfolio Manager and Head of Macro Currency Group Global currency pairs continue to brace for severe volatility on a host of upcoming political events. Consensus trades of a strong USD and short EM currencies at the beginning of 2017 haven''t exactly followed textbook patterns. We speak to Mark Farrington who is Portfolio Manager at Macro Currency Group, at 12:30 pm. MCG won the currency manager of the year at the European Pensions Awards for 2016 and is nominated in three categories for the Pension Age Awards 2017. To join the conversation, click on the link: here INDIA TOP NEWS • Wipro growth forecast hit by healthcare, weak retail Wipro Ltd, India''s third-biggest software services exporter, said cancellations of healthcare projects and weak retail spending in its key U.S. market would hit revenue growth. • Indian farmers should pay tax, adviser says, challenging government A senior adviser to the Indian government proposed on Tuesday that farmers pay tax, in remarks that challenged government policy in a country of 1.3 billion people where there are only 37 million income tax payers. • India''s IRB InvIT Fund seeks up to $724 million in IPO India''s IRB InvIT Fund is seeking to raise as much as 46.5 billion rupees ($723.6 million) in an initial public offering next week, kicking off the first-ever listing of an infrastructure investment trust in the country. • IDFC Bank Q4 net profit rises on higher interest income India''s IDFC Bank Ltd reported a 7 percent rise in fourth-quarter net profit on Tuesday, helped by an increase in interest income and a drop in provisions for bad loans. • Falling demand to curb Indian sugar imports -ISMA Declining sugar sales in India, the world''s biggest consumer, has left the country with enough stocks until the next crop, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said on Tuesday, ruling out the need for more imports later in the year. • Japan''s Otsuka aims to apply for TB drug approval in India in 90 days Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Pharmaceutical aims to apply for approval of its tuberculosis (TB) drug delamanid in India within three months, a senior company official said, as calls grow for expanded access to the life-saving medicine. • Shapoor Mistry resigns from Indian Hotels board Shapoor Mistry, the elder brother of former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry, has resigned as a director of the board of Indian Hotels Co, the company said on Tuesday. GLOBAL TOP NEWS • U.S. moves THAAD to S.Korean site as N.Korea boasts fire power The U.S. military started moving parts of the controversial THAAD anti-missile defence system to a deployment site in South Korea amid high tensions over North Korea''s missile and nuclear programmes. • U.S. judge blocks Trump order to restrict funding for ''sanctuary cities'' A U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump''s executive order that sought to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities, dealing another legal blow to the administration''s efforts to toughen immigration enforcement. • Trump to meet Australian PM, relations strained over asylum seekers U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on May 4 in New York City as the two nations seek to repair a relationship strained by a row over an asylum seeker resettlement deal. LOCAL MARKETS OUTLOOK (As reported by NewsRise) • The Indian rupee is likely to open slightly lower against the dollar, in-line with most Asian currencies, as upbeat new U.S. home sales data and expectations that President Donald Trump will announce tax reforms later today boosted demand for the greenback. • Indian government bonds will likely trade largely unchanged in early session amid a lack of fresh cues on interest rates, even as investors await developments on the Korean peninsula and the upcoming presidential polls in France. The yield on the benchmark 6.97 pct bond maturing in 2026 is likely to trade in a 6.90 pct - 6.96 pct band today. GLOBAL MARKETS • The Nasdaq Composite hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of corporate America. • Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth straight day as Wall Street hit new peaks while the euro consolidated recent gains as immediate concerns of political uncertainty in the euro zone receded. • The yen edged lower, remaining under pressure as risk sentiment improved and safe haven demand eased, on relief over the first round of the French presidential election. • U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday in line with gains in stocks as investors awaited President Donald Trump''s announcement on tax reform on Wednesday and remained optimistic that the government would avert a shutdown. • Oil prices resumed their downward trend as data showed a rise in U.S. crude inventories and record supplies in the rest of the world cast doubt on OPEC''s ability to cut supplies and tighten the market. • Gold dipped to a two-week low after a near 1 percent decline in the previous session as increased investor appetite for risk boosted equities and dulled demand for safe-haven assets. CLOSE FII INVESTMENTS EQUITIES DEBT PNDF spot 64.26/64.29 April 25 $27.83 mln $2.96 mln 10-yr bond yield 7.16 Month-to-date -$208.49 mln $3.99 bln Year-to-date $6.57 bln $9.46 bln For additional data: India govt bond market volumes Stock market reports Non-deliverable forwards data Corporate debt stories [IN CORPD] Local market closing/intraday levels [IN SNAPSHOT] Monthly inflows [INFLOWS RTRS TABLE IN] ($1 = 64.26 Indian rupees) (Compiled by Sai Sharanya Khosla in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/india-morningcall-idUSL4N1HY1ME'|'2017-04-26T11:15:00.000+03:00' '3fee146b6e8c0e4202e1a047a6a843bc0b619ff7'|'Millennials at risk for loan defaults in next 12 months - UBS'|'NEW YORK Millennials face the greatest risk among all U.S. age groups on defaulting on their loans, especially on what they borrow for schools and cars in the next 12 months, UBS analysts said on Wednesday.Millennials, people who are 21 to 34 years old, hold $1.1 trillion of $3.6 trillion in U.S. consumer debt outstanding. They account for 45 percent student loans outstanding and a third of all auto leases, according to UBS strategists Stephen Caprio and Matthew Mish."By number of individuals, 21-34-year-olds were the greatest source of expected spending on big-ticket purchase items over the next 12 months. However, this is where default risks were highest," they wrote in a research note published on Wednesday.Furthermore, millennials'' indebtedness in these two areas make it harder for them to buy a home especially in expensive real estate markets without persistent wage gains and continued low interest rates, they said.A deterioration in credit qualities among millennials alone should not have broad negative impact on diversified U.S. banks and bonds issued by speciality auto and credit card lenders, Caprio and Mish said."The worsening US consumer theme is not a systemic issue for U.S. credit," they wrote.(Reporting by Richard Leong; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-millennials-defaults-idINKBN17S2KD'|'2017-04-26T17:37:00.000+03:00' 'e1b37be02b0c2f3c484ca1205bffa3d3934c1b2d'|'Striking workers give France''s Macron rough reception in factory visit'|'Company News 12am EDT Striking workers give France''s Macron rough reception in factory visit AMIENS, France, April 26 French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron came in for a rough reception on Wednesday from striking workers during a visit to a Whirlpool factory in northern France. Workers whistled and jostled with Macron''s security guards while a burning tyre threw a cloud of black smoke across the site when the former economy minister visited the tumble-drier factory in his hometown of Amiens. A Reuters photographer at the scene reported that some supporters of far right leader Marine Le Pen, who Macron will face in a May 7 runoff vote for the presidency, were mingled with the crowd. Earlier, Le Pen, who is campaigning on an anti-globalisation platform, sought to upstage Macron with a surprise visit to the same factory. (Reporting by Pascal Rossingnol; Writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Richard Balmforth)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/france-election-whirlpool-macron-idUSL8N1HY68U'|'2017-04-26T22:12:00.000+03:00' 'ed0875f0da239d46de05e4eb73012cfdfd6ecb86'|'Santander Brasil''s recurring profit hits record as revenue soars'|' 12:03pm BST Santander Brasil profit hits record as interest income soars By Guillermo Parra-Bernal - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Banco Santander Brasil SA ( SANB11.SA ) posted record first-quarter profit that beat analysts'' estimates, reflecting a jump in interest income and the biggest drop in loan-loss provisions in almost five years. In a Wednesday presentation, Santander Brasil said recurring net income, or profit excluding one-time items, totalled 2.28 billion reais (565.76 million pounds) last quarter, up 15 percent from the prior three months. The number beat a consensus estimate of 1.63 billion reais compiled by Thomson Reuters. Interest income surged 13 percent from the prior quarter as disbursements rose 8 percent and loan repricing continued. Provisions dipped 16 percent as delinquencies fell below 3 percent of Santander Brasil''s outstanding loan book for the first time in at least seven years. The results show how Chief Executive Officer Sérgio Rial''s strategy of cutting fundraising costs and improving customer experience have bore fruit. Since taking the helm of Brazil''s No. 4 listed bank in September 2015, Rial set as a top priority cutting Santander Brasil''s profitability gap with rivals Itaú Unibanco Holding SA ( ITUB4.SA ) and Banco Bradesco SA ( BBDC4.SA ). Recurring return on equity, a widely followed gauge of bank profitability, hit a six-year high of 15.9 percent last quarter. The number beat a consensus estimate of 12.5 percent and topped a 2018 year-end target of 15.6 percent for the first time. Management at the São Paulo-based lender plans to discuss Santander Brasil''s results later in the day. Rial and his team kept other targets unchanged, including a December 2018 goal of bringing default ratios in line with those of peers and increasing the base of longstanding clients to 4.6 million customers. The latest improvement in the performance of Santander Brasil, for years a laggard among Brazil''s largest banks, also propelled the results of parent Banco Santander SA ( SAN.MC ). Earlier in the day, the Spanish banking behemoth reported a 14 percent jump in first-quarter profit. Results at Santander Brasil represented 26 percent of Santander''s profit last quarter, sharply up from 21 percent in the quarter before. (Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bco-santander-brasil-results-idUKKBN17S16O'|'2017-04-26T18:26:00.000+03:00' '90cd0860b77cee8545db9be333fa0a3501c9c3c0'|'China banks miss out on U.S. investment banking bonanza'|' 6:14am BST China banks miss out on U.S. investment banking bonanza FILE PHOTO - A clerk counts Chinese yuan and U.S. dollar banknotes at a branch of Bank of China in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, January 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jon Woo By Koh Gui Qing - NEW YORK NEW YORK As scores of investment bankers profit from the fee bonanza offered by Chinese companies hunting for deals in the United States, one group is conspicuously absent - Chinese banks. Despite their deep ties with Chinese firms, the country''s largest state-owned banks are missing out on the hundreds of millions of dollars that Wall Street banks and their European rivals earn advising Chinese companies on acquisitions and share and debt sales.What is holding the banks back is the way Beijing controls the top lenders to manage the supply of credit to the Chinese economy. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ( 601398.SS ) ( 1398.HK ), Bank of China ( 601988.SS ) ( 3988.HK ), Agricultural Bank of China ( 601288.SS ) ( 1288.HK ), and China Construction Bank ( 601939.SS ) ( 0939.HK ) all have China''s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC) [CIC.UL], as the main shareholder. U.S. rules require the controlling shareholder - or CIC in this instance - to seek Federal Reserve clearance for investment banking operations. This poses a big hurdle to Chinese banks as they would need to coordinate their applications despite having separate managements and strategies, said a banker with a Chinese lender in New York. He declined to be named due to sensitivity of the matter. The setup means the four banks are only as strong as their weakest link and two of them come with significant baggage, having drawn Fed scrutiny over enforcement of anti-money laundering laws. The Federal Reserve declined to comment and the CIC and the "big four" banks were not immediately available for comment. "We''ve hit a bottleneck," said another banker at a Chinese lender in New York. "As a commercial bank, we''ve done all we are meant to do. Why don''t we become an investment bank ourselves?" Without changes that would allow Chinese banks to act independently, or an agreement with the Fed to make an exception for them, those keen to expand in the United States will be in a limbo, that banker said. Lending titans at home, the "big four" have invested in boosting their profile in New York. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, for example, has an office in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, while Bank of China occupies a new mid-town Manhattan office tower it bought in 2014. They take deposits from savers and businesses and provide trade financing and foreign exchange trading services. Between December 2010 and September 2016, their assets in the United States soared over seven times to $126.5 billion (£98.54 billion), Fed data showed. Beijing so far has given no indication it is ready to relax its grip for the sake of overseas growth, even though some say state divestiture is the ultimate solution. "The leadership of China faces a choice. They control those institutions for their domestic purposes and I think that limits their ability to go international," said David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. "If those big banks really want to go international, I think China has to privatise them," he said. The stakes are high. Last year, Chinese companies raised over $22 billion in U.S. debt and stock markets, up 28 percent from 2010 and 12 percent higher than in 2015. The value of mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese firms soared to almost $27 billion last year from a previous high of $3.6 billion reached in 2013. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2oyhl3r ) To get a slice of that investment banking business, any foreign institution needs the Fed''s recognition as a "financial holding company" that is "well capitalised" and "well managed," according to the Fed''s website. "ALARMING" TRANSACTIONS That poses a challenge for all four because the Fed took enforcement action against China Construction Bank in 2015 and Agricultural Bank of China last year for not doing enough to fight money laundering, according to the Fed''s website. The central bank did not detail the banks'' problems. But when New York''s financial regulator in November fined Agricultural Bank of China $215 million for violating anti-money laundering rules, it cited "alarming" transactions including "unusually" large payments from Yemen to the southern Chinese province of Zhejiang. Public records showed the Fed has not raised similar concerns about the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China so far. A person familiar with the Fed''s thinking said the regulators believed Chinese banks should focus on tightening their procedures before expanding their U.S. businesses. The person, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the Fed would never grant the "financial holding company" status to any bank with unresolved regulatory issues. Chinese banks have argued, without success, against being treated as one entity, the banker and the source familiar with the Fed''s thinking said. Now, bankers in New York plan to analyse the costs and risks of expanding into investment banking and present the findings to their respective boards in China, the banker said. If the banks'' headquarters in Beijing find the business worth pursuing they will conduct their own due diligence and start consulting various Chinese regulators on ways to overcome the regulatory hurdles, the banker said. Despite the challenges, the "big four" clearly has investment banking ambitions. All four have investment banking arms in Hong Kong or mainland China that target Asian deals. U.S. expansion would be the logical next step given that Chinese companies will continue investing overseas in search of growth opportunities and new technology, the banker said. "Should Chinese banks continue to miss out on this opportunity? That''s the question we should ask," said the banker. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing in New York; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran in New York and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-banks-wallstreet-idUKKBN17S0DU'|'2017-04-26T13:14:00.000+03:00' '5c534a8da4b8f23262b3ff666152740bc68773b2'|'Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps'|' 40am BST Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps left right FILE PHOTO: A miner holds a lump of iron ore at a mine located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia December 2, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 1/4 left right FILE PHOTO: BHP Chairman Jac Nasser sits before the company''s Australian annual general meeting in Sydney, Australia November 29, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/File Photo 2/4 left right FILE PHOTO: The AngloAmerican logo is seen in Rusternburg, South Africa, October 5, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo 3/4 left right FILE PHOTO: A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in Sydney, Australia, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo 4/4 By Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina - LONDON LONDON Three of the world''s biggest miners are hunting for new leaders for their boards at a time when the industry faces questions from investors about its conventional diversified business operations and strategies for growth. BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ), Rio Tinto ( RIO.AX ) ( RIO.L ) and Anglo American ( AAL.L ), whose chairmen have all announced their intention to step down, are also generating healthy cash flows, putting them under pressure to give more money back to shareholders. The task to find the right candidates is particularly urgent for BHP Billiton and Anglo American due to the growing influence of major investors at both companies who have raised doubts over their future direction. U.S. activist investor Elliott - which holds a stake of about 4 percent in BHP''s London-listed shares - has taken advantage of the planned departure of incumbent Jac Nasser to launch a campaign to shake up the world''s biggest miner. Elliott''s proposals include getting rid of BHP''s dual company structure, spinning off its oil and gas assets and returning more cash to investors. BHP has so far dismissed them and many other investors have also been sceptical, but say the attack highlights the need for a strong new chair to back up the CEO and unite a disparate shareholder base. Anglo American''s new board leader will also have to deal with a new share register. Shortly after incumbent chairman John Parker announced in February that he would step down, Indian miner Vedanta''s ( VED.L ) chairman Anil Agarwal used an exchangeable bond to acquire a sizeable chunk of Anglo American shares and buy influence. WIDE POOL The favourite to lead Rio Tinto''s board is Sam Laidlaw, former CEO of Britain''s largest energy supplier Centrica ( CNA.L ), whom Rio made a non-executive director in February this year, four industry sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. BHP has said it is aiming for 50 percent women in its work force within a decade, but the sources said finding a woman chair with the availability and experience could for now be tough. All four sources said Gail Kelly, former chief executive of Australian bank Westpac, who was an early favourite to replace Nasser, was no longer being considered but declined to give a reason. Other names that two of the sources said have been considered were outgoing Dow Chemical''s ( DOW.N ) boss Andrew Liveris and an existing BHP director, Malcolm Broomhead. One candidate mooted to be Anglo''s new chairman, two of the industry sources say, is Guy Elliott, a former chief financial officer of Rio Tinto. None of those mentioned as a potential candidate was immediately available for comment. Anglo''s chairman Parker''s plan to step down follows a turbulent eight-year tenure, which included the miner''s 2007 costly investment in Brazil''s Minas-Rio iron ore operation, which analysts say will struggle to justify the capital outlay. Headhunters said that although three big companies were all looking for new heads of boards at the same time, the pool of potential candidates was wide for such a global business. Kit Bingham, a partner at top executive recruiter Odgers Berndtson, said there should be no shortage of people keen to fill the roles, which present challenges, not just from shareholders but from wider transitions, such as rolling out new technology. That calls for all a chairman''s diplomatic skills in negotiating with governments concerned about possible job losses. "Candidates will know there''s a change agenda to deliver. It''s a pretty exciting time when the future needs to be different from the past," Bingham said. GENERATIONAL SHIFT The new board leaders will mark a generational shift for mining companies that have spent the time since commodities prices slumped in 2015 and early 2016 cutting costs, selling off assets and restructuring their businesses to boost cash flow. Their predecessors had overseen multi-billion dollar acquisitions at the high point of the commodity cycle, saddling their balance sheets with massive debts. Now the search is on for new ways to grow without making the same mistakes as before. Bruce Duguid, a director of Hermes EOS, which advises on more than 260 billion pounds in client assets, says any global mining chairman needs a range of skills "to manage the many pressures on its business model". "These include the need to reduce costs and maintain strict capital discipline in the face of unpredictable commodities demand, management of increasing sustainability challenges as ore grades decline and overseeing a material improvement in (gender) diversity at all levels of the organisation," he said. Hanre Rossouw, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, which owns shares in Anglo American and BHP, said the mining companies needed people able to help management deal with the breakup of assets and strategic de-mergers. "You do need a chair that can think more creatively in terms of value creation with unbundlings and break-ups always options to consider," he said, referring to Elliott''s proposal to spin off BHP''s oil and gas assets and Anglo''s plan last year to sell or spin out its South African iron ore unit. Rio Tinto, which is losing chairman Jan du Plessis to telecoms group BT ( BT.L ) where he will take up the same role, needs a replacement who will be able to keep a tight grip on governance. The world''s second-biggest miner after BHP is embroiled in a corruption scandal that has led to two senior dismissals last year and a legal challenge from one of those sacked. Both Rio and BHP scrapped their progressive dividends in response to the commodity price crash of 2015 and early 2016. Elliott wants to introduce a formula for delivering more money to shareholders, which BHP has said it cannot do because of the cyclical nature of mining. Anglo suspended its dividend at the end of 2015 and has said it will bring it back around the end of the year. Investors will also be keeping watch on the pay packages of the new recruits. Anglo was hit last year by a shareholder revolt over CEO Mark Cutifani''s pay and has since proposed a cap, agreed by shareholders this week, on how much executives can earn from share awards. (Editing by Lina Saigol and Philippa Fletcher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-miners-boards-idUKKBN17S0JX'|'2017-04-26T14:40:00.000+03:00' 'fb6070d41bc2f80e3d79ba6f991a216b76e3c53e'|'UPDATE 2-Cenovus 1st-qtr profit overshadowed by ConocoPhillips concerns'|'(Recasts, adds details from company conference call)By Ethan LouApril 26 Cenovus Energy Inc will provide more details in the third quarter on its divestiture plan to fund the C$17 billion ($12.6 billion) purchase of ConocoPhillips assets, it said on Wednesday as it posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings.Cenovus in March agreed to buy most of ConocoPhillips'' Canadian oil and gas assets in the deal that effectively doubled the size of the Canadian oil company, but wiped out about a fifth of its market value, angering shareholders whose approval was not required.The acquisition was funded in part by issuing new shares.More details on Cenovus'' plan to sell its Suffield and Pelican Lake oil and gas assets will be available in the third quarter, Chief Executive Brian Ferguson said in a conference call after reporting first-quarter earnings.Details on other asset sales will be available in June.Asked whether shareholders should have had a say in the acquisition, Ferguson said they would vote at 2 p.m. on Wednesday in Calgary to elect the company''s board.Shareholders are expected to grill Cenovus at the meeting and may express opposition to the deal by voting against company nominations for the board.A shareholder has asked a Canadian regulator to halt the deal, saying the new stock issued to help fund the purchase has diluted the value of Cenovus shares.Ferguson said he was "absolutely not worried" about that, saying the deal fully complied with all securities regulations.He reiterated that Cenovus would sell some of the newly acquired assets after the deal closes in the second quarter.The company has started discussions on shipping gas from the new acquisition Deep Basin natural gas assets, a company official said in the call.Cenovus reported a C$211 million ($155.54 million) profit in the quarter ended March 31, helped by lower operating costs and higher production. Net profit was 25 Canadian cents per share, compared with a loss of C$118 million, or 14 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.Operating loss was 5 Canadian cents per share, compared with analysts'' average estimate of a loss of 8 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Cenovus said operating costs for its oil sands fell 6 percent to C$8.97 per barrel in the first quarter and the operating margin was C$450 million, a three-fold increase from last year.Total oil production rose about 19 percent to 234,914 barrels per day. ($1 = 1.3566 Canadian dollars)(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta and Muvija M in Bengaluru; editing by Anil D''Silva and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/cenovus-energy-results-idINL4N1HY3VY'|'2017-04-26T16:38:00.000+03:00' 'cbf0d401703446e19b9fc072fa27741f8dce0bfe'|'Liberty House bids to buy iron ore assets in Minnesota'|' 07pm BST Liberty House bids to buy iron ore assets in Minnesota Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of Liberty House Group, poses for a photo at the companyÕs Dubai office, UAE June 19, 2016. REUTERS/David French British metals group Liberty House is bidding to buy U.S.-based Mesabi Metallics Co LLC and ESML Holding Inc, as it seeks to boost its presence in North America. The bid is being made by GFG Alliance, a group that includes Liberty House and resources and energy firm SIMEC Group, GFG Alliance said on Tuesday. The assets being bid for include a 7 million tonnes-a-year iron ore pellet plant in Nashwauk, Minnesota that has the potential to produce up to 14 million tonnes a year, GFG Alliance said. London-based Liberty said last week it agreed to buy the Georgetown Steelworks plant from Arcelor Mittal ( ISPA.AS ) in its first major U.S. acquisition. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libertyhouse-m-a-usa-idUKKBN17R2EH'|'2017-04-26T02:07:00.000+03:00' 'eb767c2704558785599d274473da680c020de30e'|'Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr - Kyodo'|' 5:23am BST Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr - Kyodo left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind a traffic signal at its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - The logo of Swiss-based meter maker Landis+Gyr is seen at an office building in the Swiss town of Zug May 19, 2011. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 2/2 TOKYO Japan''s Toshiba Corp will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday. Hitachi Ltd and other Japanese firms are seen as possible bidders for the unit, Kyodo said, without citing sources. Reuters last month reported that Toshiba had hired UBS to explore a sale or an initial public offering of the business, potentially valued at over $2 billion (£1.57 billion). Toshiba is targeting buyout groups such as Carlyle, Cinven [CINV.UL], Advent, Blackstone, Bain, Onex, Triton, CD&R and even former owner KKR, a person close to the matter said. A Toshiba spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the report. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-toshiba-restructuring-landisgyr-idUKKBN17R0AQ'|'2017-04-25T12:23:00.000+03:00' '3ae1e7e01416b45f02552d9f416773ce16178bba'|'Mexico talks tough on Trump with NAFTA talks looming'|'By Frank Jack Daniel - MEXICO CITY MEXICO CITY Mexico''s government on Tuesday said it would fight any measures in a U.S. tax overhaul that broke international trade rules, and threatened to review cross-border cooperation on migration and security if upcoming negotiations founder.Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said Mexico was watching to see if plans by U.S. President Donald Trump''s administration to shake up taxation included a levy on remittances sent home by Mexican workers or the imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods."If they are put forward, we''ll have to act with absolute firmness, using all the political, diplomatic and obviously legal means at our disposal," he told a session of the foreign relations committee of the lower house of Congress.Trump has vowed to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that underpins the bulk of Mexican exports if he cannot rework it in his homeland''s favour, and talks between the signatories - Mexico, the United States and Canada - on modernizing the accord are expected to start later this summer.Mexico has said it wants to put "all the issues" on the table, including security, migration and trade in negotiations with the United States, a point Videgaray underlined."What we''re not prepared to do is increase or create new systems of coordination, and if negotiation on other issues - migrants, border, trade - is not to Mexico''s satisfaction, we''ll have to review our current cooperation," he said.Lawmakers questioned Videgaray extensively about his policy towards the administration of Trump, who has caused deep anger in Mexico with his plans to build a southern border wall to keep out illegal immigrants and his threats to restrict trade.Videgaray said his government considered the building of the wall a "hostile" act and repeated it would contribute nothing towards it. Trump says Mexico will ultimately pay for the wall.The foreign minister said Mexico regarded remittances, which Trump had threatened to go after to pay for the wall, as non-negotiable, saying they could prove a "breaking point" issue in any dialogue that encompassed other matters.Videgaray said any tax on Mexican-made imports by Trump was a "bad idea" that would only end up hurting U.S. consumers."However, these types of measures would obviously be against not just the North American accords but particularly the rules of the World Trade Organization, and so we would have the legal means to act against them," he said.(Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Adriana Barrera; Editing by Dave Graham and Phil Berlowitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/mexico-politics-idINKBN17R2OU'|'2017-04-25T17:55:00.000+03:00' 'e3a747c9ac170f02eda7d82b62a5216de0c5a4fe'|'BRIEF-Basilea shareholders approve resolutions proposed by the board at the general meeting of shareholders'|'Company News 43pm EDT BRIEF-Basilea shareholders approve resolutions proposed by the board at the general meeting of shareholders April 27 Basilea Pharmaceutica Ag * Basilea shareholders approve all resolutions proposed by the board of directors at the ordinary general meeting of shareholders * Shareholders also approved increase of authorized share capital. * Basilea says shareholders elected Dr. Nicole Onetto as new member of board and re-elected Domenico Scala as chairman Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-basilea-shareholders-approve-resol-idUSASM000AYN'|'2017-04-28T00:43:00.000+03:00' 'b491d3d156ca5e68dc3859eb8acae5f245777d0e'|'S.Korea raises 2017 export outlook as economy speeds up'|'By Cynthia Kim and Christine Kim - SEOUL SEOUL South Korea raised its export outlook for the year after first quarter economic growth accelerated at a sharper pace, with policymakers saying there was no need for extra stimulus even as the economy faces a host of political and economic challenges.The firm start to the year on strong exports and capital investment is a relief for policymakers after months of political crisis and as the country prepares to elect a new president in May amid rising tensions with neighbours North Korea and China.With overall growth rebounding, drawing up a supplementary budget to boost the economy won''t be necessary for now, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho told reporters, although the final decision may be up to the nation''s next leader.Growth in the second quarter won''t slow sharply, Yoo added, but uncertainties will continue to persist.Gross domestic product grew a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent in the first quarter, the Bank of Korea said earlier on Thursday, accelerating from a 0.5 percent quarterly expansion in the final three months of last year.It was the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2016 when the economy grew 0.9 percent. The median forecast in a Reuters survey was for a 0.7 percent expansion.From a year earlier, GDP rose 2.7 percent in the first quarter.INVESTMENTS, EXPORTSFacility investment led overall growth with a 4.3 percent gain on quarter, while exports gained 1.9 percent after declining 0.1 percent a quarter earlier. Private consumption grew 0.4 percent, accelerating from 0.2 percent previously.Construction investment growth leapt 5.3 percent from three months earlier, as "apartment projects that boomed from a year earlier are still supporting economic growth," a finance ministry official said.Still, South Korea''s service sector barely averted decline and rose at the slowest pace in 32 quarters, 0.1 percent, from three months earlier."Chinese tourist numbers fell due to China''s restrictions on travel to South Korea, while consumer sentiment was sluggish. Some also delayed buying their mobile phones waiting for new smartphone releases," Chung Kyu-il, a director general at the BOK said.China has ordered a halt to tours to South Korea in retaliation against Seoul''s decision to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence radar system.Asia''s fourth-largest economy will hold a presidential election on May 9 following the impeachment of ex-leader Park Geun-hye.Leading democratic candidate Moon Jae-in has already promised an extra budget of at least 10 trillion won ($8.90 billion), although many analysts including Stephen Lee, chief economist at Meritz Securities, said current economic conditions don''t warrant one for now."Drawing up an extra budget wouldn''t make sense anymore," Lee said. "We have to see who''ll become president, but I think it would be better to focus on spending on next year''s budget in order to improve the fundamentals of the economy."The trade ministry upgraded its 2017 export outlook to 6-7 percent, exceeding the earlier 2.9 percent estimate, citing stronger shipments of semiconductors, display panels and cosmetics.The BOK kept interest rates unchanged at a record low of 1.25 percent in April and most economists expect it to hold fire until next year."We think the BOK''s next move is up and, in line with consensus, we forecast it happening in the second half of 2018," ING said in report ahead of the GDP data.($1 = 1,124.1500 won)(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southkorea-economy-gdp-idINKBN17T0QS'|'2017-04-27T14:45:00.000+03:00' 'a5bde5c4e254055353ec469c74e8752f26bd66bd'|'German government lifts 2017 growth forecasts to 1.5 percent - sources'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 10:39am BST German government lifts 2017 growth forecasts to 1.5 percent: sources A general view shows the old city skyline at Unter den Linden street with the construction site of the Berliner Schloss (Berlin City Palace) - Humboldtforum (C) in Berlin, August 28, 2014. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch BERLIN The German government has slightly raised its growth forecasts for Europe''s biggest economy for this year and next due to increased optimism about rising global demand, two senior government officials told Reuters on Tuesday. The government now expects gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 1.5 percent in 2017 and by 1.7 percent in 2018, both up 0.1 percentage points from the previous forecasts in January, the officials said. The labor market is expected to add roughly 1 million new jobs this year and next which is likely to support domestic demand and boost tax revenues, they said. Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries will present the government''s updated forecasts on Wednesday. It will be the basis for the latest tax revenue estimates due in mid-May. (Reporting by Rene Wagner, Matthias Sobolewski, Michael Nienaber; Editing by Madeline Chambers)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-germany-economy-growth-forecast-idUKKBN17R10O'|'2017-04-25T17:36:00.000+03:00' '5a3ff7ebda0bf203a9dbcd8df2b4a74aa4f42df1'|'Germany opposes EU emissions testing overhaul - Sueddeutsche'|'Business News 10:08pm BST Germany opposes EU emissions testing overhaul - Sueddeutsche A giant logo of Volkswagen is pictured on the wall of its production facility in Wolfsburg, Germany, April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo FRANKFURT Germany is against European Commission plans to overhaul a vehicle emissions testing scheme, Sueddeutsche Zeitung said, citing European Council documents submitted by Germany. The newspaper reported Germany has rejected an EU Commission proposal to change the way the vehicle testing authorities are funded and managed, citing consultation documents sent by Germany to Brussels. Proposals to move away from a regime based on tests funded by car companies, in favour of a new system funded with fees and state-backing, are also being opposed, the paper said. Germany is also stalling on a proposal to ban polluting cars altogether, Sueddeutsche Zeitung said. Volkswagen, the world''s biggest carmaker by vehicle sales, was found in September 2015 to have cheated on emissions tests, prompting regulators worldwide to review the way carmakers and emissions are policed. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-germany-emissions-idUKKBN17Q28J'|'2017-04-25T05:08:00.000+03:00' 'dfeb09c3e9cba2125fe767182315b7f7a7dfe569'|'MetLife asks court to halt ''too big to fail'' case during Trump review'|'WASHINGTON MetLife Inc ( MET.N ) is asking a U.S. court to put on pause a case over how the government deems certain companies "too big to fail," one of the most significant reforms to come out of the financial crisis, while President Donald Trump''s administration finishes reviewing the current regulatory approach.In March 2016 U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer struck down the government''s designation of MetLife as "systemically important," saying it was "arbitrary and capricious" in assessing the risks to the financial system of a possible failure by the largest U.S. life insurer.The government, under former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, immediately appealed and the two sides squared off in court last October, with a decision expected next month.Some companies are wary of the "too big to fail" designation because it forces them to hold on to capital and creates extra oversight they say is burdensome.Last week, Trump ordered a review of the Financial Stability Oversight Council made up of the country''s top financial regulators and how it makes the designations.MetLife said in its filing the review could prompt the Trump administration to reconsider the case and whether "it is appropriate for the government to continue pressing this appeal.""At a minimum, the findings of the forthcoming report may substantially illuminate this court’s consideration of the issues on appeal," the company wrote.Two of the three judges on the panel considering the case were appointed by Obama, who signed the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that created designations with the intent of preventing a repeat of the 2007-2009 financial crisis, when the government injected billions of dollars into failing banks and other companies in order to keep the financial system afloat.The court appeared more sympathetic to FSOC''s arguments than Collyer, who said it should have analyzed costs and benefits to MetLife, the likelihood MetLife would fail and possible counterparty losses. Whoever loses the appeal had been expected to take the case to the Supreme Court. However, Trump''s review and MetLife''s Monday motion now cast doubt on that possibility.The U.S. Treasury did not respond to a request for comment. Its secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is overseeing the review as chair of the FSOC.The only nonbanks carrying the "too big to fail" label are American International Group ( AIG.N ), which received a $182 billion bailout during the crisis, and Prudential Insurance ( PRU.N ). MetLife is not considered designated during the appeal.(Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-metlife-trump-idUSKBN17Q27M'|'2017-04-25T04:54:00.000+03:00' '34044df2a26b7578994762c267f848ed7063d07c'|'Money Talks: Podcast: How will France''s election affect business?'|'As the presidential race narrows to two strongly contrasting candidates, we explore what a victory for each would mean for businesses. The digital revolution is making measuring GDP a bit trickier. Also, how a website that crowdsources algorithms for quantitative finance could disrupt the industry Latest updates The problems of family planning in Nigeria Middle East and Africa 12 minutes ago Alitalia is bankrupt again. This time perhaps it’s terminal Gulliver 15 minutes ago Small flying “cars” come a bit closer to reality Business and finance 2 hours ago “The 3 hours ago Podcast: 6 10 '|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2017/04/money-talks-2?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-26T01:05:00.000+03:00' '2fb290c79104b8326b97996ed0a2deb81e1d3009'|'''We''ve become good friends'': carpooling eases drudgery of commuting - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'Louise Stephen used to be one of the millions of commuters in the UK spending hours every day bored and alone in the car. For the past few years the biologist has driven daily from Edinburgh to the outskirts of Glasgow, where she works at a cancer research institute.“I was stuck in traffic on the motorway one day, looking at all the other drivers sitting without passengers,” says the 31-year-old. “And I thought, ‘This is ridiculous – there must be a better way of doing this’.“I was thinking about the environmental impact of so many empty cars, but I was also thinking how mind-numbingly bored I was. So I thought it would be good to start sharing the journey with someone else.”Driverless cars will make our roads safer, says Oxbotica co-founder Read moreStephen contacted Cara Jardine, a fellow Edinburgh-to-Glasgow commuter, using Liftshare , the UK’s largest carpooling network, which runs a website and app connecting drivers and passengers. The pair now share petrol costs and spend the hour-long journey in Stephen’s car talking about politics, favourite podcasts and tips for running half-marathons.“We’ve become good friends,” says Jardine, 33. She reckons she saves at least £2,500 a year by carpooling, compared with her main alternative – the train. “The train is just so busy and expensive, so this is a better option for me. It’s pleasant and fun.”As well as helping commuters save money, carpooling advocates argue it could play a big role in alleviating some of the country’s transport pressures and easing air pollution from roads.“The potential for this is huge,” says Ali Clabburn, founder and CEO of Liftshare. “Trains are full, buses are full – the transport system is struggling to cope with the numbers. But there are millions of nearly empty cars that could accommodate more people.”A puzzling British reluctance Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that 15.3 million people in England and Wales drive themselves to work each day in cars and vans, while only 1.4 million go to work as passengers in those vehicles. That works out at an occupancy rate of around 1.1 person per vehicle.So what’s stopping more commuters from sharing a ride? Is the renowned British reserve, a fear of small talk with strangers, holding people back from arranging a carpool?BlaBlaCar , the largest online carpooling network in Europe, boasts 40 million members around the world, with 4 million people using the service each month. But last year its CEO, Nicolas Brusson, said the Paris-based company had “defocused” efforts in the UK, blaming a “puzzling” British reluctance to share a car journey with a stranger.Clabburn dismisses the idea that Brits are too shy or socially awkward to carpool as “nonsense”. He launched his own service back in 1998 after arranging a lift from Bristol to Norwich on a student union noticeboard. “I became good mates with the guy who gave me a lift and I’m still good mates with him,” he says.He concedes that carpooling is barely scratching the surface in the UK, but sees it as an issue of education. “We need to make more people aware of the option and let them know it’s easy to find people they have something in common with,” he says.“For some people sitting together in silence is totally fine, or playing the radio is fine, or letting other people have a snooze is fine,” adds Clabburn. “But many people who give lift sharing a go find it’s interesting to have a chat and get to know people.”What if Uber kills off public transport rather than cars? Read more Someone to whinge withAlthough it is starting from a low baseline, enthusiasm for ride-sharing is growing, says Clabburn, citing Peter Kay’s sitcom Car Share and James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke as factors driving interest. Liftshare, which is run as a not-for-profit social enterprise, now has more than 500,000 active members in the UK and facilitates over one million shared journeys each month.Uber, which offers discounted shared journeys for users in London through UberPool , is also upbeat about the approach. Although some people have complained that picking up multiple passengers is too much hassle , Uber says around 400,000 people have used the service at least once in the past three months and that it plans to expand it to other British cities.“Car sharing is not only great for people’s wallets, it’s also good for tackling congestion and emissions,” says Jo Bertram, regional general manager for Uber in the UK. “We want to get more people into fewer cars and persuade more people to ditch their own vehicle.”Yet some experts think that if we’re serious about ditching cars, more than persuasion will be needed: transport policy will have to stop privileging motorists.“Carpooling won’t make a significant difference to reducing car use on its own,” says Steve Melia, senior lecturer in transport and planning at UWE Bristol. “It’s possible to reduce car use, but sticks rather than carrots make the biggest difference - measures on fuel tax, the amount of road building, planning decisions about parking.“If you’re prepared to make it more difficult to travel by car, people have a right to expect good alternatives, whether through better public transport, or easier ways to walk or cycle.”Regardless of the transport method they use, almost a quarter of British commuters find travelling to work stressful, according to a recent survey. One of the best arguments for carpooling may be that it gives people the chance to share some of the strain, rather than suffering in silence.“We do tend to whinge about the government and stuff going on in the news quite a lot,” says Edinburgh carpool driver Stephen. “But it’s nice to have someone to have a whinge with.”Sign up to be a Guardian Sustainable Business member and get more stories like this direct to your inbox every week. You can also f ollow us on Twitter .Topics Guardian sustainable business Transport Automotive industry Uber Sharing economy Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/26/carpooling-commuting-car-share-liftshare-uber'|'2017-04-26T14:30:00.000+03:00' '4d476695ff3b42ebf6089091863577db00ccf7fe'|'UPDATE 1-Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software -sources'|'Company News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 2:02pm EDT UPDATE 1-Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software -sources (Adds background) By Mike Stone April 26 Lockheed Martin Corp will announce on Wednesday that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have approved installation of the newest version of the F-35 fighter jet''s computer-based logistics system incorporating engine data for the first time, people familiar with the program said. Lockheed''s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) enables daily operations of the F-35 fleet, ranging from mission planning and flight scheduling to repairs and scheduled maintenance, as well as the tracking and ordering of parts. Software version 2.0.2 is five months late, but the approval paves the way for the system''s deployment across the F-35 Lightning II training and testing program, the two people said on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon representative declined comment on the software''s approval. This update marks the first time ALIS will take in data from the jet''s propulsion system allowing maintenance crews insight into the wear and tear on the engine. After this milestone, Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed is pursuing further updates to the ALIS system. The long-term goal is to cut maintenance time and facilitate spare parts distribution giving greater efficiency to the F-35 fleet. Future versions of the software will be faster and more fully into the flight bases the warehouses around the world supporting the stealthy jet. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington DC; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/lockheed-defense-software-idUSL1N1HY1HT'|'2017-04-27T02:02:00.000+03:00' 'a638077c6d3262f4ba49df5aa90012cc5a1e54fd'|'MIDEAST STOCKS - Factors to watch - April 26'|'DUBAI, April 26 Here are some factors that may affect Middle East stock markets on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified the press reports and does not vouch for their accuracy.INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL* GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks hover near 2-year highs on U.S. optimism, euro steady* MIDEAST STOCKS-Dubai, Qatar resilient despite some weak Q1 results, Saudi slips* Oil falls on bulging U.S. crude inventories, record global supplies* PRECIOUS-Gold slips to 2-wk lows as rallying equities boost risk appetite* Middle East Crude-Dubai slumps despite Total, Shell purchases* Erdogan says Turkey won''t wait at Europe''s door forever* Tunisia to raise key interest rate after dinar slide - central bank governor* Iran''s Khamenei says next president should be less engaged with West* Iraq says Kuwait approves $100 million grant, first since 1990* U.N. raises $1.1 billion for Yemen, half of needs for 2017* Turkey''s Ziraat Bank to issue $600 mln bond with 5.25 pct yield - lead* Pope to Egypt to mend ties with Islam but conservatives wary* Iraq begins final expansion phase at Halfaya oil field aiming to double output* EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks near two-year high after French vote* Azeri, Saudi energy ministers to discuss extension of oil output cutsEGYPT* New archaeological finds helping Egypt''s image, tourism sector - ministerSAUDI ARABIA* TABLE-Saudi Arabia Q1 earnings estimates* Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and HSBC-backed SABB in merger talks* Citi gets capital markets licence to operate in Saudi Arabia* Saudi exchange may be ready for equity futures, options in 24 months* HSBC wins mandate on $100 bln Saudi Aramco IPO - CEOUNITED ARAB EMIRATES* TABLE-Abu Dhabi Q1 earnings estimates* TABLE-Dubai Q1 earnings estimates* Emirates signals U.S. expansion plans on hold after travel curbs* Passenger traffic at Dubai International up 7.4 pct in Q1* Dubai tourism numbers surge on Indian, Chinese and Russian visitors-The National* Dubai Mall briefly plunges into darkness by power outage* UAE telco Du Q1 net profit falls 24 pctQATAR* TABLE-Qatar Q1 earnings estimates* Qatar energy min says satisfied with level of compliance with oil output cutKUWAIT* TABLE-Kuwait Q1 earnings estimates* Freed Kuwaiti opposition politician calls for reforms* Kuwait Finance House Q1 profit up 13.2 pct as investment income surgesBAHRAIN* TABLE-Bahrain Q1 earnings estimates* Investcorp Bank says chairman inaugurates office in Singapore (Reporting By Dubai Newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mideast-factors-idUSL8N1HY03W'|'2017-04-26T11:31:00.000+03:00' '9857df96ffd847a9aa916f78af82ead0b8886b7f'|'Henderson shareholders approve merger with Janus Capital'|' 30pm BST Henderson shareholders approve merger with Janus Capital LONDON Shareholders of British asset manager Henderson Global Investors ( HGGH.L ) backed its $6 billion (4.68 billion pounds) merger with U.S. fund firm Janus Capital ( JNS.N ) on Wednesday, after Janus shareholders approved the deal earlier this week. Henderson last year agreed to buy Janus in an all-share deal, as active fund managers pool resources to fend off growing competition from index-tracking funds. A total of 98.87 percent of votes cast at Henderson''s extraordinary general meeting were in favour of the deal, the company said in a statement. Janus shareholders voted for the deal late on Tuesday, with about 86.2 percent of shares cast in favour. Each Janus share will be exchanged for 0.4719 newly issued shares in Henderson, following a 1 for 10 consolidation of existing Henderson shares prior to completion of the merger, Henderson said. Henderson and Janus chief executives Andrew Formica and Dick Weil will be co-chief executives of the merged group Janus Henderson, which will list in New York and Sydney. The deal is expected to complete by May 30, Henderson chairman Richard Gillingwater said in the statement. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn and Justin George Varghese. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-henderson-m-a-janus-idUKKBN17S2BP'|'2017-04-27T00:30:00.000+03:00' '81908db3267e0a793dc54a7a58d783b983ec045f'|'METALS-London copper trades little changed as dollar drops'|'(Adds comment, detail, updates prices) By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE, April 26 London copper held near its highest in a week on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro in the wake of the French election, making commodities more affordable for buyers paying with other currencies. Metal prices in general, however, are facing their weakest month since May 2016 as investors scale back bullish bets, Standard Chartered said in a report. "We expect stagnant price trends to continue in Q2 as weaker physical market, monetary tightening onshore and Trump failings all weigh," it said. LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper traded little changed at $5,699.50 a tonne by 0737 GMT, adding to a 0.9 percent gain from the previous session. LME copper prices on Wednesday hit a one-week top at $5,731 a tonne, recovering from near three-month lows hit on April 19. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper climbed 0.8 percent to 46,230 yuan ($6,711) a tonne. * China''s steel futures climbed to their highest in 2-1/2 weeks on Wednesday amid unconfirmed market talk of production curbs in cities surrounding Beijing ahead of the New Silk Road summit in May. * That helped to push up LME zinc, by 0.6 percent, to $2,619.75 a tonne. * The euro edged up after hitting a 5-1/2 month high on Tuesday as traders digested centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron''s victory in the first round of France''s presidential election on Sunday. * U.S. ECONOMY: U.S. consumer confidence fell from a more than 16-year high in April, but a surge in new home sales to an eight-month high last month suggested underlying strength in the economy despite an apparent sharp slowdown in growth in the first quarter. * BHP RESULTS: BHP Billiton, cut its full-year production guidance for coking coal and copper on Wednesday due to bad weather at mines in Australia and industrial action in Chile. Copper guidance was cut by 17 percent to a range of 1.33 million to 1.36 million tonnes. * LME: The LME wants to attract funds and reverse falling volumes by boosting liquidity on monthly settled contracts using prices from trading on other dates, Matt Chamberlain, the LME''s new chief executive, told Reuters. * Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth consecutive day on Wednesday, as renewed optimism about the world''s biggest economy brightened the outlook for risky assets while the euro held on to previous gains as political concerns in France ebbed. BASE METALS PRICES Three month LME copper 5703 Most active ShFE copper 46220 Three month LME aluminium 1958.5 Most active ShFE aluminium 14370 Three month LME zinc 2619.75 Most active ShFE zinc 21645 Three month LME lead 2164.5 Most active ShFE lead 16105 Three month LME nickel 9295 Most active ShFE nickel 77990 Three month LME tin 19624 Most active ShFE tin 137600 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 392.23 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1306.5 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 190.65 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1812.94 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1866.29 ($1 = 6.8884 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri and Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL4N1HY31Z'|'2017-04-26T15:59:00.000+03:00' '3e05f6eaefe676a204495adbfa7f712e7408c6d9'|'Failed pay-TV sale to Vivendi hit Mediaset FY results by 341 million euros'|' 5:21pm BST Failed pay-TV sale to Vivendi hit Mediaset FY results by 341 million euros FILE PHOTO: The Mediaset tower in Cologno Monzese, near Milan, Italy, April 8, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo MILAN Italian private broadcaster Mediaset ( MS.MI ) said on Wednesday the failed sale of its pay-TV unit Premium to France''s Vivendi ( VIV.PA ) hit the group''s 2016 accounts by 341.3 million euros ($365 million). In July 2016 Vivendi pulled out of a 800-million euro contract that would give it full control of Premium, claiming the unit''s business plan was unrealistic. Milan-based Mediaset said the U-turn by the French media group resulted in "a series of extraordinary one-off charges" amounting to 269.3 million euros at the operating profit level, bogged down further by an additional loss of 72 million euros. It did not elaborate further. Despite posting a 2016 operating loss of 189.2 million euros, the broadcaster, whose top shareholder is the family of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said it expected to return to profit in 2017. ($1 = 0.9341 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mediaset-results-idUKKBN17L265'|'2017-04-20T00:21:00.000+03:00' 'e6323754a351f180b076ae74c41da24b3088c8e1'|'Euro zone March inflation confirmed at 1.5 percent, core rate revised up'|'Business News 10:17am BST Euro zone March inflation confirmed at 1.5 percent, core rate revised up A customer pushes a shopping trolley on an escalator at the Bercy shopping centre in Charenton Le Pont, near Paris, August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo BRUSSELS Euro zone core inflation was higher than initially forecast, the European Union''s statistics office said on Wednesday, while confirming its estimate for the headline figure. Eurostat confirmed inflation in March in the 19 countries sharing the euro slowed down to 1.5 percent year-on-year from a four-year high of 2.0 percent recorded in February. But core inflation, which excludes volatile prices of energy and unprocessed food and which the European Central Bank monitors closely, was revised up to 0.8 percent year-on-year in March from an earlier estimate of 0.7 percent. The core figure remained, however, lower than the 0.9 percent recorded in February. On a monthly basis, headline inflation was 0.8 percent in March, in line with market expectations, while core inflation was 1.2 percent higher, below the average forecast in a Reuters poll of 1.3 percent. The revised core data may slightly strengthen the hand of those who support winding down the ECB monetary stimulus, although inflation remains below the central bank''s target of inflation close but below 2 percent over the medium term. The ECB has slashed interest rates into negative territory and adopted a bond-buying program worth 2.3 trillion euros ($2.46 trillion) to counter the threat of deflation and revive growth in the 19-member currency bloc. Overall inflation was lower primarily because energy prices rose by only 7.4 percent year-on-year from 9.3 percent in February. In its earlier estimates, Eurostat said energy prices went up 7.3 percent in March. The statistics office confirmed prices for food, alcohol and tobacco went up by 1.8 percent in March, from a 2.5 percent increase recorded the previous month. In the services sector, the largest in the euro zone economy, prices rose by 1.0 percent in March, from 1.3 percent in February. For further details double click on: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-economy-inflation-idUKKBN17L0ZG'|'2017-04-19T17:11:00.000+03:00' '770c039552e3aa3df187cf52ba869cee74efe0a6'|'Trump ''Buy American'' edict may have little impact on U.S. steel - Reuters'|'By Nick Carey and Luciana Lopez - DETROIT/NEW YORK DETROIT/NEW YORK U.S. President Donald Trump''s "Buy American, Hire American" executive order on Tuesday left questions about how the government would enforce the order and whether it would make a real difference in output and employment, according to steel executives and analysts."Buy American" provisions already exist in U.S. law but policing them has been difficult because of waivers granted to foreign companies that undercut their U.S. counterparts on pricing. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump ordered a review of government procurement rules favouring American companies to see if they are actually benefiting, especially the U.S. steel industry.Trump''s executive order promises to properly police those provisions, but avoided detail about how that will happen.Bill Hickey, president of Chicago-based Lapham-Hickey Steel, which has seven steel mills in the Midwest and Northeast, said he has heard talk of "Buy American" for decades, but American or foreign contractors frequently find loopholes to use imported steel."Politicians all talk the same, but at the end of the day it just doesn''t work," Hickey said, citing waivers to existing provisions.Charles Bradford of Bradford Research said focussing on "Buy American" for U.S. steel does not take into account that some steel products - including tin plate and semi-finished products - are not made in the United States. So if enforced improperly, it could cause supply problems in a U.S. market in which up to 25 percent of steel was imported"The people who have pushed for this don''t have a clue and they don''t know math," said Bradford.Cutting off the supply of goods not made in the United States would create fresh problems for U.S. companies, he said.In the construction industry, there also are concerns over "too strict a definition of what constitutes U.S.-made steel products," said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America.Simonson cited concerns with steel that might have been melted down from scrap metal that could have come from outside the United States, for example, and tracing its origins before that point.Trump''s White House track record so far also helps fuel scepticism inside the industry.Instead of bold action promised last year by then-candidate Trump on the North American Free Trade Agreement, on China, and free trade agreements, the new administration has "not shown much evidence of doing so," said KeyBanc Capital Markets steel analyst Philip Gibbs."I''m a lot less optimistic than I was three-and-a-half months ago because so far what I''ve seen coming out of the Trump administration is the same as the prior administration," he added.As a result, Gibbs said investors should dial back expectations that Trump will do anything meaningful on trade, or on infrastructure which is where such an order could make a difference.Investors seemed to shrug off Tuesday''s executive order. Nucor Corp ( NUE.N ) shares closed up 0.2 percent at $57.33, AK Steel Holding Corp ( AKS.N ) gained a penny to end at $6.32 and United States Steel Corp ( X.N ) closed down 0.5 percent at $28.73.AK Steel did not respond to requests for comment. Nucor and U.S. Steel both welcomed the president''s executive order.The move was welcomed by labour unions. The United Steelworkers said that under current practice, "contractors often try to avoid the law through loopholes to buy cheap and often substandard foreign products like many from China."Thomas Gibson, chief executive of lobby group the American Iron and Steel Institute, said in a statement that "Buy American" provisions "are vital to the health of the domestic steel industry, and have helped create manufacturing jobs and build American infrastructure."Veteran steel industry analyst Michelle Applebaum said while it remains to be seen how thoroughly the Trump administration will police the steel industry, the executive order sends a clear message to steel importers."Trump has just created more risk for anyone who wants to import steel," she said. "If he puts money behind enforcement that will force people to play by the rules and that will be a good thing."(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-steel-idINKBN17K2OC'|'2017-04-18T22:21:00.000+03:00' '147711a693b0397c615121b5c7f17e996ea19c6d'|'Trump aims to expand U.S. offshore drilling, despite low industry demand'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:10pm BST Trump aims to expand U.S. offshore drilling, despite low industry demand U.S. President Donald Trump displays an Executive Order on ''''Offshore Energy Strategy'''' at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque By Valerie Volcovici - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to extend offshore oil and gas drilling to areas that have been off limits, in a move to boost domestic production just as industry demand for the acreage nears the lowest in years. The order could lead to a reversal of bans on drilling across swathes of the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico that former President Barack Obama had sought to protect from development in the wake of the huge BP ( BP.L ) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. "We''re opening it up ... Today we''re unleashing American energy and clearing the way for thousands and thousands of high-paying American energy jobs," Trump said as he signed the order. Trump had campaigned on a promise to do away with Obama-era environmental protections he said were hobbling energy development without providing tangible benefits, pleasing industry and enraging environmental advocates. The order, called the America-First Offshore Energy Strategy, directs the U.S. Department of Interior to review and replace the Obama administration''s most recent five-year oil and gas development plan for the outer continental shelf, which includes federal waters off all U.S. coasts. But the executive order comes as low oil prices and soaring onshore production have pushed industry demand for offshore leases near its lowest since 2012, raising questions over its impact. "The Trump administration’s hasty move today towards expanding offshore oil drilling ... defies market realities and is as reckless as it is unnecessary," said David Jenkins, president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, a non-profit conservation group. "Why on earth would someone choose to push drilling in the riskiest and most expensive places on the planet when the current oil glut will make such ventures unprofitable for the foreseeable future?" he said. The amount of money that oil companies spent in the central Gulf of Mexico''s annual lease sale dropped more than 75 percent between 2012 and 2017, according to government data. Dollars bid per acre and the percentage of acreage receiving bids both declined more than 50 percent. The figures were similar in the western Gulf of Mexico, the only other zone that got offers for leases during that period, according to the figures from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. An official at trade group American Petroleum Institute did not respond to a request for comment about offshore lease demand. But API President Jack Gerard welcomed the executive order. "We are pleased to see this administration prioritising responsible U.S. energy development and recognising the benefits it will bring to American consumers and businesses," he said. Weeks before leaving office, Obama banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, protecting 115 million acres (46.5 million hectares) of waters off Alaska and 3.8 million acres in the Atlantic from New England to the Chesapeake Bay. LEGAL BATTLE LOOMS In addition to requiring a new five-year drilling plan, the order reverses Obama''s decision to place parts of the Arctic permanently off limits to drilling. It also requires Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to review previous presidents'' designations of marine national monuments and sanctuaries. Jill McLeod, a partner at international law firm Dorsey & Whitney, said Trump''s order was a positive signal to the oil industry but was unlikely to trigger a surge in exploration in the near term given the costs. "The lifting of the ban does not necessarily make drilling in the Arctic a compelling proposition," she said. Environmental groups, including Oceana and the Center for Biological Diversity, criticized the order and promised to fight it in court. Democratic senators also opposed the order, saying it could threaten the fishing and tourism industries. Friday''s order came on the heels of a separate decree by Trump this week triggering a review of federally managed land to determine if they were improperly designated as national monuments by former presidents. The move is intended to expand federal areas available for development. (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Jeffrey Benkoe)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-drilling-idUKKBN17U2I5'|'2017-04-29T01:10:00.000+03:00' 'c664b2d0468666945ec4e680e29dd4d47d7c80ac'|'Apple asks California to change its proposed self-driving car testing policies'|'Company 01pm EDT Apple asks California to change its proposed self-driving car testing policies April 28 Apple Inc asked the state of California to make changes in its proposed self-driving car policies, the latest sign the company is pursuing driverless car technology. In a letter made public Friday, Apple made a series of suggested changes to the policy that is under development and said it looks forward to working with California and others "so that rapid technology development may be realized while ensuring the safety of the traveling public." Alphabet Inc''s self-driving car unit Waymo, Ford Motor Co, Uber Technologies Inc, Toyota Motor Corp, Tesla Motors Inc and others also filed comments suggesting changes. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/apple-autos-idUSL1N1I01NM'|'2017-04-29T02:01:00.000+03:00' '76ac82ebaa581cc5000b2729453cce3e4da5a4ac'|'Odebrecht lenders to forgo early debt repayment after M&A deal'|'By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO Creditors of Odebrecht SA have agreed to not tap proceeds from the sale of a water and sanitation utility for early repayment of loans, giving the embattled Brazilian engineering conglomerate more time to restructure 76 billion reais ($24 billion) of obligations.In a Tuesday statement, Odebrecht [ODBES.UL] said lenders allowed it to keep the 2.5 billion reais in proceeds from the sale of a 70 percent stake in Odebrecht Ambiental SA to replenish cash. That amount is enough to cover Odebrecht''s cash needs for about two years, the statement said.The accord signals the willingness of Odebrecht''s lenders to give it more time to reorganize amid fallout from a massive bribery probe. In recent months, some analysts and newspaper reports have speculated that the extent of the probe could force the group to seek an in-court reorganization.The sale of Odebrecht Ambiental to an investor group led by Brookfield Asset Management Inc ( BAMa.TO ) took longer than expected to close due to protracted due diligence and fears that Odebrecht''s involvement in the scandal could hurt the utility''s business, people familiar with the matter said.The scandal known as "Operation Car Wash" has almost shut Odebrecht''s access to credit and new construction contracts in Brazil and a dozen countries. Odebrecht and banks are currently renegotiating about 30 billion reais in loans.Prosecutors in Brazil allege Odebrecht and rivals colluded to overcharge state firms for contracts, then used part of the extra proceeds to bribe politicians in Brazil and abroad.Odebrecht is negotiating graft-related fines with several Latin American countries to prevent upcoming elections across the region from putting the brakes on planned asset sales. Some asset sales that may soon be announced include Odebrecht''s exit from a consortium running Rio de Janeiro''s international airport.(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/odebrecht-restructuring-deals-idINKBN17S04Y'|'2017-04-25T23:28:00.000+03:00' '9d3c36c86fc1f33731ef0cdff81607192f845eed'|'Cenovus shareholder seeks to halt purchase of ConocoPhillips assets'|'TORONTO A Cenovus Energy Inc ( CVE.TO ) shareholder has asked a Canadian regulator to halt the company''s recent C$17 billion ($12.6 billion) purchase of some ConocoPhillips ( COP.N ) assets, saying the new stock issued to help fund the deal has diluted the value of Cenovus shares.Toronto-based Coerente Capital Management has filed a letter with the Ontario Securities Commission, Len Racioppo, Coerente''s managing director, said in an email to Reuters on Tuesday."It is pretty outrageous that they would do a deal that would dilute shareholders by 47 percent and not bring it to a vote," Racioppo said, confirming a comment he made earlier to the Financial Post. "If you''re going to transform a company without asking shareholders — I don''t care if it''s legal — it''s not right," he added.Racioppo told the Financial Post he had asked the regulator to halt the deal pending a shareholder vote. Coerente owns or controls 524,000 Cenovus shares for its clients, according to the Financial Post.Cenovus last month agreed to buy most of ConocoPhillips'' Canadian oil and gas assets in a deal that effectively doubled the size of the Canadian oil company, but dented its pristine balance sheet and pushed it into the largely unknown territory of natural gas.The acquisition was funded in part through the selling of new shares, but the deal is structured in a way that it does not require shareholder approval. Cenovus reports earnings and holds its shareholder meeting on Wednesday..Asked about the company''s response to the letter, Cenovus spokesman Brett Harris said the transaction would create "significant" shareholder value while maintaining financial resiliency."The board of directors then structured the overall transaction as it believed was in the best interests of the company, and did so within its authority," he said.Cenovus shares were flat on Tuesday, having lost about a fifth of their value since the deal was announced. The commission declined to comment.(Reporting by Denny Thomas in Toronto and Ethan Lou in Calgary, Alberta; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cenovus-energy-conocophillips-complai-idUSKBN17R23V'|'2017-04-25T20:24:00.000+03:00' '04b4c763ca156ca1b2731305e42e4ea1bec3b1bc'|'Deutsche Boerse to buy back 200 million euros in shares'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 8:04pm BST Deutsche Boerse to buy back 200 million euros in shares The plaque of the Deutsche Boerse AG is pictured at the entrance of the Frankfurt stock exchange February 1, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Domanski/File Photo FRANKFURT Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) said on Wednesday that it planned to buy back shares totalling around 200 million euros ($218 million) in the second half of this year. The exchange operator said that it will fund the buyback with proceeds generated from its 2016 sale of International Securities Exchange to Nasdaq ( NDAQ.O ) for about 1 billion euros. "Besides the planned share buybacks, the company intends to use these funds primarily for organic as well as value accretive external growth," the company said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9174 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-boerse-buyback-idUKKBN17S2NR'|'2017-04-27T03:04:00.000+03:00' '65c3aaa90400362b73aa696b5095bfe542438867'|'EU trade chief sees a good case to resume EU-U.S. free trade talks'|'COPENHAGEN The European Union sees a good case for reviving frozen free trade talks with the United States, its trade commissioner said on Thursday."There is still a very good case to take negotiations on TTIP between EU and the US forward but I think we need to wait a little bit more for them to assess where we were, where we stopped, where they want to go," Cecilia Malmstrom told a conference in Copenhagen.(Reporting by Julie Astrid Thomsen, writing by Stine Jacobsen; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-trade-usa-idUSKBN17T1EV'|'2017-04-27T18:31:00.000+03:00' '6535773d4ee7754258d3f714a393b9a421f114ea'|'UPDATE 2-American Airlines shares nosedive on proposed employee pay increases'|'Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:42am EDT American Airlines shares nosedive on proposed employee pay increases FILE PHOTO -- American Airlines aircraft are parked at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, U.S., August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo By Alana Wise - NEW YORK NEW YORK Shares of American Airlines Group Inc ( AAL.O ) dropped more than 8 percent on Thursday after the company said it had offered a mid-contract pay increase for pilots and flight attendants. American said that the move, which overshadowed the carrier''s solid quarterly earnings, will increase its salary and benefits expense by approximately $230 million for 2017 and $350 million for 2018 and 2019. Flight attendants and pilots at American ratified new five-year agreements in late 2014 and early 2015. Under the new proposal, announced on Wednesday, they will now receive on average 5 percent to 8 percent increases in hourly pay, respectively, in an adjustment to match rival carriers. In the years since American contract negotiations, labor groups at rival airlines United ( UAL.N ) and Delta ( DAL.N ) have negotiated compensation agreements, placing American at the low end of the pay spectrum. "As our industry has rapidly evolved and pay increases at other airlines have accelerated, some of our colleagues have fallen behind their peers at other airlines in base pay rates. And, unless their current contracts are modified, they’ll remain far behind for more than two years," Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker said in a statement on Wednesday. Analysts worried about the possible effects of the pay increase on American and the implications it could have for the broader industry. "We are troubled by AAL’s wealth transfer of nearly $1 billion to its labor groups. In addition to raising fixed costs, American’s agreement with its labor stakeholders establishes a worrying precedent, in our view, both for American and the industry," JPMorgan analysts wrote in a research note. American posted earnings of 61 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 on Thursday, versus analysts'' consensus forecast of 57 cents per share, excluding special items, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The Fort Worth, Texas-based airline reported first-quarter revenue of $9.6 billion, matching analyst predictions, and a net profit of $308 million. Passenger unit revenue, which measures sales relative to flight capacity, rose 2.4 percent year over year. The company also said on Thursday it had deferred the delivery of several wide-body Boeing and Airbus jets, in the latest sign of oversupply in the market for long-distance airliners. That decision came two weeks after Delta Air Lines Inc ( DAL.N ) said it was reviewing pending wide-body jet orders to address excess capacity, noting that reductions were likely over the next several years. American said in its earnings filing that it was pushing back the first delivery of its Airbus ( AIR.PA ) A350 XWBs from 2018 to 2020 and deferring the delivery of two Boeing ( BA.N ) 787-9 aircraft to the first quarter of 2019 from the second quarter of 2018 to "provide widebody capacity flexibility" in its fleet. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-american-airlines-results-idUSKBN17T1S6'|'2017-04-27T22:41:00.000+03:00' 'f72c426b5aaeeaad18497a34d1521ea8cf4c6eaf'|'PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - April 27'|'April 27 The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HeadlinesCredit Suisse launches $4 bln share sale to ease capital fearson.ft.com/2ovRHkPDeutsche Boerse plans 200 mln euros share buyback after failed LSE mergeron.ft.com/2oKF7sUDeutsche Bank executive warns thousands of UK roles at Brexit riskon.ft.com/2pnaVbmOverviewCredit Suisse has ditched plans to raise money by listing part of its Swiss business and will instead sell new shares worth about 4 billion Swiss francs ($4.03 billion) to get its financial strength back on a par with rivals.Deutsche Boerse said it planned to buy back shares totaling around 200 million euros ($218.14 million) in the second half of this year.Deutsche Bank is considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff from London to Frankfurt following Britain''s decision to leave the European Union, one of its top executives said. ($1 = 0.9931 Swiss francs) ($1 = 0.9168 euros) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-press-ft-idUSL4N1HY704'|'2017-04-27T07:56:00.000+03:00' 'a3adc8d7cbbab56bd0d38d1dad1c45b34426b843'|'Bristol-Myers beats Wall St estimates, helped by Cancer drug Opdivo'|' 39pm EDT Bristol-Myers'' cancer drug Opdivo fuels Wall Street beat FILE PHOTO: Bottles of Plavix shown on display at a pharmacy in North Aurora, Illinois July 24, 2008. Bristol-Myers REUTERS/Jeff Haynes/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD SEARCH GLOBAL BUSINESS 24 APR FOR ALL IMAGES By Michael Erman - NEW YORK NEW YORK Strong growth from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co''s Opdivo and Yervoy cancer immunotherapies drove the company''s first-quarter results past analysts'' expectations and relieved some anxiety about increasing competition for the drugs. Bristol-Myers, which is facing pressure from activist investors after losing ground to rival Merck & Co''s cancer treatment Keytruda, mostly reversed an earlier cut to its 2017 profit outlook. Its shares rose nearly 4 percent. "Sales for Opdivo were strong despite a more competitive landscape," Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Caforio said on a conference call with analysts. "In the U.S., while we have seen some share loss in lung cancer, our share has shown signs of stabilization." Sales of Opdivo and Yervoy, which boost the cancer-fighting abilities of a patient''s immune system, jumped 60 percent and 25 percent, respectively, in the quarter. Sales of blood thinner Eliquis, another important Bristol-Myers drug, gained 50 percent. "We have a favorable view of Bristol''s solid position in the immuno-oncology market," said Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans. Opdivo sales beat expectations by 14 percent and should be "a key growth driver for the company," Evans added. OPDIVO VS. KEYTRUDA Bristol-Myers warned in January that the potential for earlier-than-expected lung cancer competition from Keytruda could sap Opdivo''s earnings potential this year. Merck filed for speedy U.S. approval of Keytruda as an initial lung cancer treatment in combination with chemotherapy. Around the same time, Bristol-Myers said it would not seek accelerated approval for a combination of Opdivo and Yervoy in first-line lung cancer and has not fully explained why. Still, Opdivo outperformed scaled-back sales expectations for the quarter, and the company now sees "the potential" for U.S. sales of the drug to grow in 2017. Activist investor Jana Partners began building a position in the company last year. While Jana has been quiet about its intentions, Bristol-Myers added three independent directors to its board after consulting with the investor. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has also taken a stake in the company, hoping it will be sold, according to the Wall Street Journal. Excluding one-time items, Bristol-Myers'' earnings of 84 cents a share exceeded the analysts'' average estimate of 74 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue also exceeded Wall Street expectations. Bristol-Myers increased its 2017 earnings forecast to a range of $2.85 to $3 a share. (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Rigby and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bristol-myers-results-idUSKBN17T1IX'|'2017-04-27T18:59:00.000+03:00' '8bf8028f7aa5534c4db57a0377b61c5c590df1fa'|'Greece to return to bond markets after bailout review conclusion - PM'|' 6:54pm BST Greece to return to bond markets after bailout review conclusion - PM Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Rome, Italy March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile ATHENS Greece aims to return to bond markets immediately after concluding a crucial bailout review, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday. "Our aim is to conclude the bailout review and immediately after that to return to markets," Tsipras told ANT1 TV. He said he wanted the country''s return to bond markets to be ''sustainable'' and not a ''one off''. Greece and its foreign creditors resumed talks on reforms demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in Athens on Tuesday, aiming for a deal by May 22 when euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels. (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Renee Maltezou)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-bailout-markets-idUKKBN17R2DK'|'2017-04-26T01:54:00.000+03:00' 'b07675733cb1b9d01f277a6d15f961cd10b40d7e'|'Uber looks to soar with flying taxis by 2020'|'Technology Photos - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 12:47am IST Uber looks to soar with flying taxis by 2020 A future Uber Elevate networks facility is pictured in this handout illustration provided April 25, 2017. Uber/Handout via REUTERS After upending the taxi market with its ride-hailing service, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] is now aiming for the skies with its flying taxis. The company expects to deploy its flying taxis in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Dubai by 2020, Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden said at the Uber Elevate Summit in Dallas on Tuesday. Uber''s flying taxis will be small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically, or VTOLs, with zero emissions and quiet enough to operate in cities. Flying taxis would cut down travel time between San Francisco''s Marina to downtown San Jose to 15 minutes, compared with the more than two hours it takes by road, Uber estimates. In an early scale operation, the company can get to $1.32 per passenger mile, a little higher than taking an UberX for a similar distance, Holden said. In the longer term, Uber expects the cost of taking flying taxis to fall below car ownership. The company is working with Hillwood Properties to make four vertiports - VTOL hubs with multiple takeoff and landing pads, and charging infrastructure - in Dallas starting next year, Holden said. Uber, valued at $68 billion, has also teamed up with companies such as Bell Helicopter, Aurora, Pipistrel, Mooney and Embraer ( EMBR3.SA ) to make the flying taxis. The company has also partnered with U.S. electric vehicle charging station maker ChargePoint Inc. Uber is working on developing an exclusive charger for its network. Uber, which has partnered with the Dubai government, expects to conduct passenger flights as part of the World Expo 2020 in Dubai. The ride-hailing service has recently been rocked by a number of setbacks, including detailed accusations of sexual harassment from a former female employee and a video showing Chief Executive Travis Kalanick harshly berating an Uber driver. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-uber-flyingcars-idINKBN17R28J'|'2017-04-25T15:48:00.000+03:00' 'a44b63f3c47004d354443379ab3bbfd56979b6d5'|'Great-West Lifeco to cut 1,500 jobs in Canada'|'April 25 Canadian insurance company Great-West Lifeco Inc said on Tuesday it will cut 1,500 jobs in Canada over the next two years.The job cuts represent about 13 percent of the company''s Canadian workforce. Great-West Lifeco plans to cut the jobs through reducing temporary positions, a voluntary retirement program and eliminating positions through a severance program.The company said it will record a restructuring charge of about $215 million in the second quarter, related to the job cuts."To ensure we remain competitive and drive future growth, we are reducing costs and becoming more efficient," Chief Executive Paul Mahon said.The company also said it plans cost reductions through real estate consolidation, process improvements and updates to information systems. (Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/great-west-life-redundancies-idINL4N1HX4Y1'|'2017-04-25T12:01:00.000+03:00' '1349dd9edc4e45f84f71dd41b69b95ab398118b1'|'Bank of Japan''s Iwata says conducting simulation on exit strategy from stimulus'|' 6:02am BST Bank of Japan''s Iwata says conducting simulation on exit strategy from stimulus FILE PHOTO - Bank of Japan''s (BOJ) Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata speaks during an interview with Reuters at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo June 24, 2013. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Tetsushi Kajimoto - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said on Tuesday the central bank was conducting a study of how it could end its massive monetary stimulus in the future, but acknowledged it was still far from achieving its inflation target. Iwata, speaking in parliament, said the BOJ did not want to publicise the exit-strategy simulation because doing so would cause market confusion given that its 2 percent price goal remains distant. "The BOJ is carrying out a simulation based on several assumptions of an exit strategy," Iwata told a financial committee in Japan''s upper house. He added the BOJ would refrain from making the details of the simulation public as that would cause market confusion at a time when the central bank is some way off achieving its 2 percent inflation target. Market showed little reaction to Iwata''s remarks. Last week, BOJ Deputy Governor Hiroshi Nakaso said the central bank has been internally debating what tools it can use when it eventually ends its unconventional monetary stimulus programme. When the BOJ introduced its quantitative easing policy in 2013, its holdings of Japanese government bonds rose at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen. Since then, the BOJ has loosened its commitment to this target and focused on controlling short- and long-term yields instead. There are major concerns among some economists about the difficulties the BOJ may face in reducing its extremely large holdings of government debt and about how it will manage money market operations to control liquidity. The challenges associated with unwinding the massive monetary policy stimulus global central banks have unleashed in recent years have drawn renewed attention. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-iwata-idUKKBN17R0C0'|'2017-04-25T13:02:00.000+03:00' '5bae35b52d64cae6eeacb9b5acd42a21d20c9140'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'April 25 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Sibanye Gold''s shareholders approved the South African miner''s $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining < SWC.N>, moving it a step closer to significantly boosting its platinum portfolio. ** Israel Chemicals has agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in water desalination firm IDE Technologies for about $180 million, a leading Israeli financial news website reported. ** German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA has stepped up its dealmaking, agreeing to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros) and the biosimilars arm of Germany''s Merck KGaA. ** Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp repeated his opposition to a takeover of paint maker Akzo Nobel, saying he did not care that U.S. rival PPG Industries PPG.N had raised its offer. ** Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberoesterreich, one of the Austrian regional banks that together own most of Raiffeisen Bank International, has no interest in merging with RBI or selling its stake in it, its chief has said. ** A full merger of Japanese car makers Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) and Nissan Motor Co Ltd is not on the table, Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both firms, said. ** French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the Christian Dior fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods group as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests, a restructuring long demanded by other investors. ** French media giant Vivendi will accelerate acquisitions in video games and advertising this year to allay investor concerns about its strategy, mixed results and poor share performance, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. ** ABB has sealed a collaboration agreement with International Business Machines Corp, the Swiss engineering company said, the latest step in its efforts to ramp up its presence in digital technology and the internet of things. ** Japan''s Toshiba Corp will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported. ** HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd will buy out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil''s second-busiest international airport in order to help solve an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights, a Brazilian Cabinet minister said on Monday. ** T-Mobile US Inc is open to merger talks after a federal ban expires this week, the No.3 U.S. wireless carrier said on Monday, as it reported stronger-than-expected subscriber growth in the first quarter. ** Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd have expressed interest in a buyout of the controlling stake that two families have in Brazilian drugmaker Hypermarcas SA, two people with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. ** U.S. activist investor Elliott Capital Advisors disclosed on Monday it has taken a 6.8 percent stake in WS Atkins after the British engineering and construction consultancy firm agreed to be bought in a C$3.6 billion ($2.7 billion) deal. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL4N1HX3GZ'|'2017-04-25T08:30:00.000+03:00' '0fa3a3b83f83b950e0b9c6ac1f84b527eb69071f'|'Gazprom CEO sees share of EU gas market rising despite LNG rivals'|'By Dmitry Zhdannikov - LONDON LONDON A new pipeline from Russia''s Arctic fields to Germany will boost Moscow''s share of the European gas market despite competition from Qatar and the United States, and will also mean much less fuel goes via Ukraine, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said.Chief Executive Alexei Miller told Reuters supplies via Ukraine would fall after 2020, but not stop entirely as Moscow has previously threatened, when the world''s largest gas firm opens a pipeline under the Baltic Sea.Gazprom''s Western partners agreed on Monday to provide half the financing for the 9.5 billion euro ($10.32 billion) Nord Stream 2 pipeline, removing a big hurdle for a Russian plan to pump more gas to Europe from 2019.Gazprom now supplies a third of Europe''s gas needs, with its share rising from a quarter in the past two decades. It believes it could ship more despite the EU''s fears that the bloc is becoming too reliant on Russian energy."Today, in 2017, we are beating our 2016 record highs by around 10 percent. So we can expect new records this year and Gazprom''s European market share is poised to rise," said Miller, one of the closest and longest serving allies of President Vladimir Putin, speaking in a telephone interview.Gazprom sold a record 179 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to Europe in 2016, helped by a collapse in oil prices on which gas is priced and cold weather on the continent.Customers are requesting more gas this year and Gazprom believes in the next 15 years it can provide the bulk of an additional 100 bcm a year for Europe, which the continent needs by 2035 as domestic output falls."A decrease in the North Sea gas production, as well as in other EU countries, is becoming a very important factor ... Given that, Russia''s market share will be rising," Miller said.The European Union has sought to reduce reliance on Russia after a decade of gas disputes between Moscow and Ukraine over pricing, which led to several supply disruptions during harsh winters.Moscow''s annexation of Ukraine''s Crimea and its incursion in east Ukraine have made Europe more reluctant to rely on Russia for energy, which critics say the Kremlin uses for intimidation or blackmail. Moscow has dismissed the accusations."I don''t think it is fair to talk about dependence," said Miller. "Our dependence is mutual: when we invest in developing fields and building pipelines, Gazprom relies on future demand and de facto depends on the European market as much as Europe depends on Russian gas."Europe "could get its gas from anywhere" given its investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, but pipeline gas remained cheaper, he said. "Pipeline gas is winning against LNG and is set to continue doing so in the future."BIG UKRAINIAN CUTGazprom supplies Europe via three main routes: the Ukrainian pipelines, the Yamal-Europe route via Belarus and Poland, and the new Nord Stream link under the Baltic Sea to the German town of Greifswald.Gazprom wants to double capacity of Nord Stream. On Monday, it signed a deal to co-fund the link with European companies Uniper, Wintershall, Shell, OMV and Engie .Eastern European and Baltic countries say the new pipeline carrying Russian gas across the Baltic will make the EU a hostage to Moscow. Other north European states, especially the main beneficiary Germany, back it for its economic benefits.Gazprom has previously threatened to cut all supplies to Europe via Ukraine once Nord Stream 2 is built and when the transit agreement with Ukraine expires in 2020.But Miller said some volumes could still pass through Ukraine. "We are ready for talks ... However, we can only talk about much smaller volumes, possibly around 15 bcm a year for countries which border Ukraine," he said.Ukraine has capacity to handle the transit of up to 120 bcm of Russian gas a year and was the main route for supplies to the West since the Soviet era. But volumes have fallen to between 50-80 bcm in recent years as Gazprom built new pipelines. A fall to 15 bcm would leave it at a fraction of past levels.Russian threats to cut supplies via Ukraine prompted some EU politicians to say the Nord Stream 2 project was designed to punish Kiev, a charge Moscow has denied.Miller said there were other reasons for the drop in Ukrainian transit, including the shift of Gazprom''s gas production increasingly to the Arctic Yamal peninsula."If you look from space, you can draw a direct line via the Baltic between new centres of production and Germany''s Greifswald," he said. "This route is 2,000 km (1,250 miles) shorter than the route via Ukraine."(Editing by Edmund Blair)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/russia-gas-europe-idINKBN17R129'|'2017-04-25T17:59:00.000+03:00' '192331e29116472149c1f782ccf2ef308518d0e0'|'Tyson Foods eyes higher wages as U.S. labor market tightens'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:16am EDT Tyson Foods eyes higher wages as U.S. labor market tightens left right Tyson food meat products are shown in this photo illustration in Encinitas, California May 29, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Blake 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - Fog shrouds the Tyson slaughterhouse in Burbank, Washington December 26, 2013. REUTERS/Ross Courtney/File Photo 2/2 By Tom Polansek - CHICAGO CHICAGO Tyson Foods Inc ( TSN.N ), the biggest U.S. chicken company, said on Wednesday it may raise wages again for workers at all of its poultry plants, a sign of an intensifying battle for employees in a tightening labor market. The increases would come after Arkansas-based Tyson boosted base wages for poultry workers by between 3 and 3.5 percent in November, said Hector Gonzalez, vice president for human resources operations. The base rate is a pay level workers can reach after finishing a probationary period. Under a pilot program, Tyson gave workers at one poultry plant a bigger increase in November and further raised pay at another facility in January, Gonzalez said. The company will evaluate how those increases help attract and retain workers and affect their performance, he said. "The pool of available labor is shrinking," Gonzalez said. Employers are competing for workers as the number of Americans on unemployment rolls has dropped to a 17-year low. Last year, companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ), a Tyson customer, raised wages for hourly workers under pressure from the competitive job market and labor groups calling for higher wages at retail chains. Tyson rivals Sanderson Farms Inc ( SAFM.O ) and Pilgrim''s Pride Corp ( PPC.O ) did not respond to requests for comment about wages. Asked whether Tyson would pass on the cost for higher wages to customers, Gonzalez said the increases were an investment that executives "hope to get back in a lot of ways, particularly through operational efficiencies." At some facilities, Tyson is "looking for a dramatic improvement in the numbers of quality applicants to help staff our plants and avoid creating a scenario where we can''t meet the demand of our customers," he said. Tyson said it did not have an estimate for the cost of the wage increases. In January, the company raised the starting wage at one union-represented poultry plant to $12 per hour from $10 and the base rate to $14 from $11.70. In November, employees at a separate plant saw the starting wage rise to $13 from $10 and the base rate rise to $15 from $11.65, Tyson said. That increase was made in lieu of the 3 to 3.5 percent increases at other plants. Tyson declined to give the locations of the two plants. The company has also shortened the time for workers at the plants to reach the base rate to six months from a year, Gonzalez said. (Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tyson-foods-wages-idUSKBN17S0E4'|'2017-04-26T13:11:00.000+03:00' '3f0c630308c22ef49983376b2397347bdfbc553f'|'China''s President Xi calls for increased efforts to maintain financial security - Xinhua'|' 13pm BST China''s President Xi calls for increased efforts to maintain financial security - Xinhua China''s President Xi Jinping attends the signing ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland April 5, 2017. Lehtikuva/Vesa Moilanen/via REUTERS BEIJING Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Tuesday for increased efforts to ward off systemic risks to help maintain financial security, the official Xinhua news agency said. The country''s leaders have pledged to shift the emphasis to addressing financial risks and asset bubbles which analysts say pose a threat to the world''s second-largest economy if not handed well. "Financial security is an important part of national security and an important basis for the steady and healthy development of the economy," Xi was quoted by Xinhua as saying. Xi''s remarks were made during a group study session for members of the politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party. They follow a series of measures to more closely regulate the banking and insurance sectors amid concerns of rising risks in the shadow banking industry. "China''s financial development is facing many risks and challenges due to the influence of international and domestic economic factors," Xi said, adding that the country''s financial risks are still under control. The spill-over effect from monetary and fiscal policy adjustments in other countries could have an impact on China''s financial security, Xi said, without elaborating. China must ward off systemic financial risks, and regulators must strengthen financial supervision and increase coordinated oversight of major financial institutions, he said. Authorities will crack down on debt evasion and control financial-sector leverage, he added. At the session, central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan and top officials of the country''s banking, securities and insurance regulators pledged to take steps to maintain financial security, according to Xinhua. No further details were given. China''s credit growth has been "very fast" by global standards, and without a comprehensive strategy to tackle the overhang, there is a growing risk it will have a banking crisis or sharply slower growth or both, the International Monetary Fund warned late last year. In particular, analysts have been worried about a overheating property market and the risk of a price crash as local governments roll out ever tougher cooling measures. While the central bank has gingerly raised short-term rates recently to contain financial risks and encourage companies to deleverage, economists expect authorities will move cautiously to avoid hurting economic growth. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-xi-idUKKBN17S1DD'|'2017-04-26T19:13:00.000+03:00' '43c6d217d01946b8c5479763b858ac407d55ca2e'|'Online fashion retailer Boohoo sees profits double'|' 34am BST Online fashion retailer Boohoo sees profits double LONDON British online fashion retailer Boohoo on Wednesday reported a doubling in annual profit, driven by robust demand in its home market and overseas, particularly in the United States. The firm said trading in the first few weeks of its 2017-18 financial year had made "a promising start" and it forecast revenue growth for the year of about 50 percent. Boohoo, which sells own-brand clothing, shoes and accessories online to a core market of 16-24 year-olds, has been one of the stars of the UK stock market over the last year with its shares rising 280 percent. It made a pre-tax profit of 30.9 million pounds in the year to Feb. 28. That compared to analysts'' average forecast of 28.7 million pounds, according to Reuters data, and 15.7 million pounds in 2015-16. Revenue rose 51 percent to 294.6 million pounds. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boohoo-results-idUKKBN17S0JN'|'2017-04-26T14:34:00.000+03:00' 'a9da4917cf2ce60f5295a2eaae6b67f412952e58'|'Nord Anglia Education to be taken private by CPPIB, Baring'|'Nord Anglia Education Inc ( NORD.N ), a Hong Kong-based operator of international schools, said it would be taken private by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Baring Private Equity Asia in a deal that values the company at $4.3 billion, including debt.The cash offer of $32.50 per share represents a premium of 17.7 percent to Nord Anglia''s Monday closing on the New York Stock Exchange.Baring has a 67 percent stake in Nord Anglia, which operates 43 schools in 15 countries.The deal includes a so-called go-shop period, during which Nord Anglia can evaluate proposals from other buyers for 30 days.In March, CPPIB, along with Singapore wealth fund GIC and property owner Scion Group LLC, said their joint venture had bought three U.S. student housing portfolios for about $1.6 billion.(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera and Ahmed Farhatha in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-nord-anglia-m-a-cppib-idINKBN17R1IC'|'2017-04-25T10:29:00.000+03:00' '3fcc4f53f5eb27ad728eefe8bfd6db8455a727e6'|'Norway''s wealth fund hits NOK 8 trillion milestone'|' 3:48pm BST Norway''s wealth fund hits NOK 8 trillion milestone OSLO The value of Norway''s sovereign wealth fund, the world''s largest, rose to a record 8 trillion Norwegian crowns (729.64 billion pounds) on Tuesday, data from its manager showed, increasing the money available for public spending. The fund, run by a unit of the central bank, invests proceeds from Norway''s oil and gas industry in foreign stocks, bonds and real estate, and is now worth more than 2.5 times the country''s annual gross domestic product. A five-percent weakening of the crown since February has helped boost the value of the fund, whose holdings are denominated in foreign currencies, more than the government projected, increasing the money that can be used for public spending under parliament''s budget framework. Last October, the right-wing minority coalition predicted that the fund would be worth 7.67 trillion at the end of 2017. Under a recently revised fiscal rule, governments can spend 3 percent of the fund''s value per year, corresponding to 240 billion crowns of the current size, while the 2017 budget earmarks only 226 billion, or 2.8 percent of the 8 trillion value. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Camilla Knudsen and Robin Pomeroy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-norway-swf-idUKKBN17R1XL'|'2017-04-25T22:48:00.000+03:00' '6e762ea8989b4131de703d693900935100a0c7d5'|'EU tightens Brexit demands on residence, banks - document'|'By Alastair Macdonald - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS European Union leaders will insist Britain grant permanent residence to EU citizens who arrive before Brexit in 2019 and stay five more years, according to a draft negotiating plan they will endorse this weekend.In the latest sign of the bloc cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to guarantee full rights after Britain''s departure for the 3 million EU nationals living there, new draft guidelines include wording that diplomats said aims to head off any British move to cut immigrant numbers by forcing people out.The nine-page document, seen by Reuters on Tuesday and which officials do not expect to be significantly changed before May''s 27 EU peers sign off on it over lunch in Brussels on Saturday, was also revised on Monday to make clear there is no guarantee that a future EU-UK free trade deal will give Britain''s big financial services industry access to the bloc.Leaders will also demand that Britain cover its share of new payouts from the EU budget for two years after it has left.The guidelines were first drafted by EU summit chair Donald Tusk in response to May''s formal launch of the two-year negotiating period before Britain leaves the EU -- deal or no deal -- at midnight at the end of Friday, March 29, 2019.The final draft tightens wording on Brussels'' promise to ensure European expats who have made their home in Britain do not lose out. It makes clear that even those not there yet but who arrive to live in Britain even on the day before Brexit must retain the same EU rights as those already in the country.Diplomats said some states, like Poland which has more than 800,000 nationals in Britain, feared May would argue guarantees only apply to those resident before she triggered withdrawal last month -- or even before last June''s Brexit referendum."FIVE YEARS"Responding to complaints that British red tape was making it hard to exercise rights to permanent residency, the EU now insists London offer "smooth and simple" processes.And the final draft also spells out that any EU national living in Britain on Brexit Day should have a right to claim permanent residency after "five years" there. Other EU documents show Brussels wants Britain to guarantee those people can also bring in relatives for the rest of their lives and, even after Brexit, make new claims to benefits such as social housing.The leaders'' guidelines will bind the EU executive''s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who will next week offer more detail on his plans, before full talks begin after a British election set for June 8. Barnier''s priorities are protecting expats, securing payment from London for outstanding bills to the EU and, only later, talking about a future trade deal.In response to calls from France and others, the final draft also underlines that a trade agreement, if it includes financial services at all, will insist British banks, insurers and others submit to EU regulation and oversight, diplomats said."Any future framework should safeguard financial stability in the Union and respect its regulatory and supervisory regime and standards and their application," the guidelines state.Leaders will also demand that Britain not only pay tens of billions of euros to cover a share of EU commitments made before Brexit, but also for spending through to the end of 2020 under a 7-year EU budget plan, or MFF, which Britain agreed from 2014."A single financial settlement - including issues resulting from the MFF ... - should ensure that the Union and the United Kingdom both respect the obligations resulting from the whole period of the UK membership in the Union," the document says.(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Gareth Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-negotiations-idINKBN17R1XC'|'2017-04-25T22:48:00.000+03:00' '481cfa17b5d5933dbf43855d9611bff3f11baaac'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Dollar, US yields check some emerging market exuberance'|'Company News 14am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Dollar, US yields check some emerging market exuberance By Sujata Rao - LONDON, April 26 LONDON, April 26 A rise in U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar checked some of emerging markets'' exuberance on Wednesday, with many currencies retreating from multi-week highs and equities stalling after four days of strong gains. Strong U.S. data and company earnings and a positive outcome in the first French election round have boosted emerging assets since the start of the week, along with robust data within the developing world. Brazil, for instance, posted data on Tuesday showing its strongest current account surplus since 2015. All that has sent MSCI''s emerging equity index to near two-year highs but the benchmark was flat as U.S. bond yields rose to two-week highs and the dollar rose before U.S. President Donald Trump tax reform announcement. Asian markets surged in response to Tuesday''s strong Wall Street close. The Taiwanese dollar was at 2-1/2-year highs, Indonesian stocks rose to a record and Korean shares shrugged off geopolitics to hit six-year peaks . However, the rouble, rand and lira slipped 0.2-0.6 per dollar, coming off multi-month highs . "Emerging markets have performed better than anyone could possibly have imagined but given that May is always a challenging month, possibly just for psychological reasons, we will see some caution going into next week," said Simon Quijano-Evans, investment strategist at L&G Investments. He added that Monday''s May 1 holiday across Europe would also see liquidity decrease. Focus was on Turkey''s central bank, which is likely to leave interest rates unchanged at its meeting later in the day after the central bank governor said policy would remain tight to combat inflation at 8-1/2-year highs. The lira has rallied alongside most emerging currencies in recent weeks while 10-year bond yields stand just off 4-1/2-month lows . Quijano-Evans said there was little reason for the central bank to move policy for now. "The main thing in Turkey is politics should stay out of monetary policy. Political comments on policy have been backstage recently, that''s one reason why lira has rallied from lows and if this continues to be the case the central bank can continue to deal with inflation," Quijano-Evans added. Nigeria meanwhile weakened the naira by 18 percent for investors and will allow them to trade the currency at market-determined rates. But analysts saw the move as creating more confusion and were pessimistic it would tempt back investors. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 983.28 +0.63 +0.06 +14.03 Czech Rep 992.02 -0.96 -0.10 +7.64 Poland 2346.70 -6.47 -0.27 +20.47 Hungary 33299.03 -220.04 -0.66 +4.05 Romania 8217.52 -42.81 -0.52 +15.98 Greece 699.71 +2.39 +0.34 +8.71 Russia 1115.15 -5.74 -0.51 -3.23 South Africa 46657.28 +132.52 +0.28 +6.28 Turkey 94628.00 -6.91 -0.01 +21.10 China 3140.85 +6.28 +0.20 +1.20 India 30148.93 +205.69 +0.69 +13.23 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HY2ND'|'2017-04-26T17:14:00.000+03:00' '2b5ec2a54656c007fd1f4036e374d727c082efcb'|'Jupiter says first quarter assets up 7.4 percent on investment gains, inflows'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:36am BST Jupiter sees first quarter asset boost from investment gains, inflows By Simon Jessop - LONDON LONDON Jupiter Fund Management ( JUP.L ) said market gains and net inflows of new money from clients across its range of funds helped the British asset manager raise its total assets by 7.4 percent in the first quarter. Net mutual fund inflows were 1.4 billion pounds in the three months to March 31, with overall net inflows of 1.3 billion, it said in a statement. Combined with a 1.7 billion pound boost from market and currency movements, that helped raise total assets under management to 43.5 billion pounds from 40.5 billion at the end of December. "The continued strategy to diversify our business by product, client type and geography and delivery of strong investment performance after fees across a broad range of strategies has resulted in good inflows both internationally and within the UK," Chief Executive Maarten Slendebroek said. Jupiter said it had seen significant flows into its Fixed Income, Absolute Return, Multi Asset and Global Emerging Market strategies. Demand from clients in Asia and continental Europe had been particularly strong, it said. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Lawrence White and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-jupiter-trading-idUKKBN17S0IB'|'2017-04-26T14:20:00.000+03:00' 'f3eae9595afbc39271221d4c5f8bfd7661e1b209'|'UPDATE 1-Canadian pension fund CPPIB targets new investment avenues in India'|'Bonds News 9:19am EDT UPDATE 1-Canadian pension fund CPPIB targets new investment avenues in India (Adds further detail from interview, background) By Devidutta Tripathy and Euan Rocha MUMBAI, April 26 Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country''s largest pension fund manager, is exploring opportunities in India''s financial services, telecoms and logistics sectors to expand its bets in the South Asian economy, CPPIB''s Asia Pacific head Suyi Kim said on Wednesday. CPPIB, which has poured more than C$4 billion ($3 billion) into real estate and other investments in the country, will expand its eight-member team in India in a measured manner as it looks boost the share of investment in emerging markets in its overall portfolio, Kim told Reuters. The roughly C$300 billion fund has about 10 percent of its portfolio invested in emerging markets and aims to boost that to about 15 percent over the next three to five years, she said. "All our teams -- infrastructure, real estate, private equity and natural resources -- are looking for opportunities," Kim said, adding that India''s fast-growing financial services sector is among the bright spots. Last month CPPIB raised its stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank to about 6.3 percent by buying additional shares in the fourth-biggest Indian private sector lender by assets. Kim said that CPPIB is interested in traditional banks and would look at any further opportunity to increase its stake in Kotak, though current Indian regulations would cap its holdings at 10 percent. "Globally we''ve invested in a number of insurance companies and we will, over time, hopefully look at that in the Indian market," she said, adding that CPPIB is also attracted to other parts of India''s non-banking financial arena. Kim declined to comment on whether CPPIB was in the running for a 25 percent stake that Canada''s Fairfax Financial Holdings is looking to sell in India''s largest private general insurer ICICI Lombard. She said that CPPIB could also consider private equity lending in India through a joint venture. In 2015 CPPIB bought GE Capital''s private equity lending portfolio for $12 billion, vastly expanding its lending business. ( reut.rs/2pl6y0y ) TELECOMS AND RENEWABLES CPPIB and private equity giant KKR & Co agreed last month to buy a 10.3 percent interest in mobile towers operator Bharti Infratel for 61.9 billion rupees. "Mobile data consumption is growing. As a long-term investor we see this as an attractive opportunity," Kim said. Asked if CPPIB would consider acquiring a stake in the Indus Towers joint venture in which Vodafone and Idea Cellular are planning to sell their stakes, Kim said: "We''re interested in not only that, but other telecoms opportunities." Vodafone and Idea plan to divest stakes in the business as part of a deal to combine their Indian mobile operations, with media reports having cited CPPIB as a potential suitor. Renewables would be another focus area for the fund. "India and China are making a huge push in renewables and we think that there could be opportunities for us here," Kim said. (Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cppib-india-investment-idUSL4N1HY3PI'|'2017-04-26T21:19:00.000+03:00' '6b6a2697e2ca726c81584246d4c3e04095829076'|'BHP Billiton puts U.S. shale gas assets on the block again'|'SYDNEY BHP Billiton has put its Fayetteville shale gas assets in the United States back on the block, the world''s largest miner said on Wednesday, as it seeks to focus on more lucrative opportunities in oil.BHP first tried to sell the Fayetteville assets more than two years ago, having made the shale gas investment in 2011 before writing it down by $2.8 billion a year later after gas prices dropped.But it shelved the idea of a sale in February 2015, saying at the time it planned to "maximize value" of the assets. BHP valued the business at $919 million at the end of 2016, according to its annual accounts.In a corporate operations review published on Wednesday, BHP said the gas-rich Fayetteville field in Arkansas was under review and that it was now "considering all options, including divestment".Macquarie Bank analysts in a note said divestment of Fayetteville was the most likely course of action.Analysts have linked the revived sale to activist investor Elliott Management''s call earlier this month for BHP to spin off its petroleum division, much as BHP did with the aluminum and other non-core operations when it created South 32 in 2015. BHP has rejected the call by Elliott, which claims to hold a 4.1 percent interest in BHP''s U.K-listed shares.BHP on Wednesday denied any link between Elliott''s move and prospects for Fayetteville including divestment, and said the move was instead part of an ongoing review.Within the petroleum business, BHP has long made it clear it intends to focus on liquid products in the United States, a more lucrative business than dry gas.In February, it agreed to spend $2.2 billion to fund its share of investment for the second phase of the Mad Dog oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico.(Reporting by James Regan; Additional reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-output-shale-idUSKBN17S0CV'|'2017-04-26T12:39:00.000+03:00' '4f9d166f9469b12c86e1224e7d7ba514f6ce81d8'|'London Stock Exchange''s quarterly profit rises'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 8:24am BST LSE reports higher income, says exploring investments A woman walks past the London Stock Exchange building in the City of London, Britain, January 16 , 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville London Stock Exchange Group ( LSE.L ) reported higher quarterly income as its clearing and FTSE Russell index compiling businesses grew strongly, adding it was exploring investments to drive growth after the collapse of its proposed Deutsche Boerse merger. Helped by weak sterling, LSE reported a 19 percent rise in total income from continuing operations to 458.7 million pounds for the quarter ended March 31, while comparable revenue was up 18 percent at 420.6 million pounds. Analysts on an average had expected income of 448.5 million pounds and revenue of 411.6 million pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus. The results come just under a month after EU regulators blocked LSE''s planned merger with Deutsche Boerse DBIGn.DE, citing concerns over a potential monopoly in the processing of bond trades. The failure of LSE''s third attempt to combine with Deutsche Boerse has reignited speculation that an overseas exchange may make a fresh bid for the British firm, with NYSE-owner ICE ( ICE.N ) having briefly expressed interest last year. The industry has been trying to consolidate for years amid weaker trading volumes and shrinking margins, but regulatory concerns, along with nationalist wrangling, have hindered many cross-border deals. "The group has made a strong start to the year... We continue to be actively engaged in exploring selective ongoing organic and inorganic investments in order to drive further growth," LSE Chief Executive Xavier Rolet said on Wednesday. The company, which owns Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange, said it was well placed to benefit from the introduction of MiFID II, new rules that are aimed to make European securities markets more transparent. LSE shares were up 0.76 percent at 3332 pence at 0713 GMT, outperforming the FSTE 100 index .FTSE , which was negative. The stock was the third top bluechip gainer. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; editing by Louise Heavens and Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lse-results-idUKKBN17S0KD'|'2017-04-26T14:46:00.000+03:00' 'f48fdb8853b073862908ec28cab271aeb2df58b5'|'Venture capital enthusiasm for fintech startups shifts to Europe'|'By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 Venture capital investments in financial services startups are showing a geographical split, with funding for so-called "fintech" companies in the United States cooling but soaring in Europe, according to a new report out Wednesday.Years of hype that led to high valuations, concerns over high loan losses among online lenders and industry scandals such as Lending Club Corp falsifying loan documentation , has resulted in a slowdown for the U.S. fintech market, say investors. Meanwhile, younger markets with a less complex regulatory regime and fewer failed startups to deter investors are attracting more dollars."Europe didn''t experience the euphoric run-up and also didn''t get the whiplash when things turned tough," said Charles Moldow, a fintech investor and general partner at Foundation Capital.Fintech is a diverse industry that includes startups using new technology to facilitate online lending, payments, money transfers, insurance and stock trading. In recent years, it has attracted investor attention for its potential to upend traditional financial systems.In the first quarter this year, venture-backed fintech companies in the U.S. raised $1.1 billion, an 8 percent drop from the previous quarter and down 39 percent from the same period a year ago, according to a new report from venture capital database CB Insights.U.S. fintech startups closed a total of 90 financing deals, down 9 percent from the previous quarter, and the median deal size in dollars also fell.Meanwhile, investments during the first quarter in European venture-backed fintech companies jumped to $667 million, a 250 percent increase over the previous quarter and 133 percent climb from a year ago.The number of fintech deals in Europe spiked 74 percent from the previous quarter to 73, and the average deal size ticked up.A confluence of trends - including the rise of digital banks, regulations that encourage startups to experiment with new financial products and the popularity of online payments - has positioned Europe for a fintech boom, said Matthew Wong, senior analyst for CB Insights.The fintech pullback in the United States is also part of a broader startup investment slowdown, as venture capitalists rein in spending following a frenzy in 2014 and 2015 that drove up valuations.Still, for the hottest U.S. companies, there was no problem raising cash. SoFi, which offers various loan and refinancing plans, raised $500 million at a $4.5 billion valuation."Outside of that, we didn''t see as much enthusiasm for larger-scale financing in the U.S.," Wong said.(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/fintech-funding-idINL1N1HX2I9'|'2017-04-26T10:00:00.000+03:00' 'b61dab333ddd1868ed8a42580392de6e653b29c9'|'Traders drop improper identification cases against UK watchdog'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:54pm BST Traders drop improper identification cases against UK watchdog The logo of the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is seen at the agency''s headquarters in the Canary Wharf business district of London April 1, 2013. REUTERS/Chris Helgren By Kirstin Ridley - LONDON LONDON A group of senior traders have dropped lawsuits in which they alleged they had been improperly identified in public statements following investigations by the UK''s financial regulator. Their move comes after the Supreme Court, the UK''s highest court, ruled last month that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had not identified former JPMorgan executive Achilles Macris when it fined the U.S. bank over the "London Whale" trading scandal in 2013. Former Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) trader Christian Bittar, ex Barclays ( BARC.L ) trader Philippe Moryoussef and traders Richard Usher, formerly at JPMorgan ( JPM.N ), Rohan Ramchandani, once at Citigroup ( C.N ), and Chris Ashton, also once at Barclays, are among those to withdraw their cases, a London court clerk said. Lawyers for the men declined to comment or did not immediately respond, while the FCA also declined to comment on Wednesday. Last month''s landmark ruling overturned a previous Court of Appeal decision that Macris had been identifiable and denied his "third party rights" to contest regulatory findings before they are published and see evidence on which they are based. FCA penalty notices against banks it has investigated often refer to individuals as "Trader A" or "Manager B" to illustrate alleged misconduct, while protecting their anonymity. But the traders had argued that although they had not been named, details and statements made by the FCA in the penalty notices made them identifiable, prejudicing their rights. Defence lawyers have said that a regulatory policy of publicly criticising unnamed individuals in speedy corporate settlements means people who later face investigation can feel they have been tainted by an unfair or unbalanced process. (Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-traders-fca-identification-idUKKBN17S1OQ'|'2017-04-26T20:54:00.000+03:00' '1925753f837282f0d81246cd0844f2da7a854983'|'Kinder Morgan Canada files for IPO to raise Trans Mountain funds'|'By Nia Williams - CALGARY, Alberta CALGARY, Alberta U.S. pipeline company Kinder Morgan Inc ( KMI.N ) said on Monday its Canadian unit filed a prospectus for an initial public offering of restricted voting shares, to help finance its C$7.4 billion ($5.48 billion) Trans Mountain expansion project.Reuters reported in February that the company had begun talks with institutional investors to raise capital for the Trans Mountain project and was looking at either an IPO or joint venture."The preliminary filing represents an important step in securing the best opportunity for obtaining acceptable financing terms for the project," Kinder Morgan said in its submission to U.S. regulators. The company did not disclose the IPO size or timeline in the submission.The company continued to pursue the parallel paths of an IPO or joint venture and the project remained on schedule to start construction later this year, a company spokesman said.The Trans Mountain expansion will nearly triple the size of Kinder Morgan''s existing pipeline and ship 890,000 barrels a day of crude from Edmonton, Alberta, to Barnaby, British Columbia. It was approved by the Canadian government last year despite opposition from environmental and aboriginal groups.Kinder Morgan Canada''s business consists of the Trans Mountain pipeline, the Purge Sound system, the Jet Fuel pipeline system, the Canadian portion of the Cochin pipeline system, the Vancouver Wharves terminal and the North 40 terminal.It also includes Kinder Morgan''s share of the Edmonton Rail Terminal, the Alberta Crude Terminal and the Base Line Terminal.Sources, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said in February that Kinder Morgan had hired Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD.TO ) as an adviser.($1 = 1.3505 Canadian dollars)(Additinal reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar and Peter Cooney)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-kinder-morgan-de-ipo-canada-idINKBN17Q28L'|'2017-04-24T20:17:00.000+03:00' 'fd407cc7ae75e78dd2e1884641e6198634e7e696'|'Chevron to sell Bangladesh gas fields to Chinese co'|'Chevron Corp is selling its three Bangladesh gas fields, worth an estimated $2 billion, to a Chinese consortium as the U.S. oil and gas group looks to shed non-core assets this year.The deal, if completed, would mark China''s first major energy investment in the South Asian country, where Beijing is pumping in billions of dollars in a race with New Delhi and Tokyo for influence.The gas fields, which account for more than half of the total gas output in Bangladesh, are being sold to Himalaya Energy, Chevron said. Himalaya is owned by a consortium comprising state-owned China ZhenHua Oil and investment firm CNIC Corp.CNIC, set up in Hong Kong in 2012, is a government investment platform that focuses on supporting Chinese companies'' overseas investment.Reuters reported in February that ZhenHua Oil had signed a preliminary deal with Chevron to buy the Bangladesh natural gas fields."The agreement is for the sale of Chevron''s Bangladesh companies, which hold our interests in Bangladesh," a company spokesman told Reuters by email on Monday. "The value of the transaction is not being disclosed and we are not at liberty to share the details of the agreement."A ZhenHua spokesperson confirmed the agreement, adding that the closing of the deal would depend on approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce.Chevron sells its entire output from the Bangladesh fields -- 16 million tonnes a year of oil equivalent -- to state oil company Petrobangla under a production-sharing contract.The Bangladesh government has the right of first refusal in any asset sale.Bangladesh''s junior minister for power and energy, Nasrul Hamid, said that energy consultant Wood Mackenzie is still evaluating whether it would be profitable for the country to make a bid."We can''t take any decision hastily until we get the consultancy report," Hamid told Reuters. "We believe that Chevron would honor our request."The Chevron spokesman said that the Bangladesh government is "critical to the ongoing success of the business, including the transition to the new owner", and that it would maintain continuous communication with Dhaka as the process progresses.The gas fields -- Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulavi Bazar -- had average net daily output of 720 million cubic feet of gas and 3,000 barrels of condensate, or liquid hydrocarbon produced with gas.Chevron said in October 2015 that it planned to sell assets worth about $10 billion by 2017, including the Bangladesh gas fields and geothermal projects in Indonesia and the Philippines, amid a prolonged slump in energy prices.(Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-bangladesh-chevron-idUSKBN17Q0WS'|'2017-04-24T18:18:00.000+03:00' 'ad6ce0a2fb9f29a2c806a155c781db0fed9ec9f7'|'Exclusive - Boeing near decision to launch 737-10 jet: sources'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:04pm BST Exclusive: Boeing near decision to launch 737-10 jet - sources FILE PHOTO: Boeing''s new 737 MAX-9 is pictured under construction at their production facility in Renton, Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. Picture taken February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Redmond/File Photo By Tim Hepher - PARIS PARIS Boeing ( BA.N ) is nearing a decision to launch a larger version of its 737 workhorse jet within two months to counter strong sales of the Airbus ( AIR.PA ) A321neo, after a breakthrough on the design for one of its parts, industry sources said. The 737 MAX 10 would narrow the gap between the 178-220 seat 737-9, which first flew this month, and the 185-240 seat A321neo, which dominates the top end of a market for narrowbody jets worth $2 trillion over 20 years. Boeing has been studying how to solve a tricky problem with the design of the plane''s landing gear, without adding cost or delaying a 2020 target for first deliveries. The sources said a solution had been found and that Boeing was talking more deliberately to airlines about launching the 737-10 at the Paris Airshow in June. Boeing is said to anticipate a total market of 1,000 of the planes. "Boeing is actively engaged in discussions with customers about the 737 MAX 10X," a spokesman said. "No decision has been made on the airplane and any discussion on timing of a possible launch would be speculative." Boeing shares were up slightly in early trading. Reuters reported last year that the 737-10 marks a tactical response to the A321neo, while Boeing works on strategic plans for a 220-260-seat twin-aisle, mid-market jet. But it has produced a puzzle so tricky that Boeing has asked for help from its combat jet experts to design a space-saving gear for the 737-10. A solution is needed because the 737-10 will be longer than the 737-9 to make room for about 12 extra seats. The landing gear must become taller too or the tail could scrape the runway. Anxious to avoid costly changes to the rest of the plane and stay on schedule, Boeing aims to make the gear longer only when needed, but small enough to fit in the 737''s existing wheel bay. It has not made final decisions but is testing an advanced proposal to allow the 737 to effectively sit back on its heels as it leaves the runway. This is what aerospace engineers call a "semi-levered" design and is a nod to two bigger jets: the 777 and 787-10. In a further twist, the gear would lengthen telescopically for the 737-10 to charge down the runway. Afterwards, it would shrink again to retract into the same space. COMPETITION IMPACT Drawing-board decisions like these feed directly into the battle for jet sales. A longer gear allows pilots to use the same take-off angle rather than easing off to avoid striking the runway with the tail of the longer jet. Shallower take-offs need more runway, limiting the number of airports served and restricting sales. Airbus, which declined comment, will try to persuade potential 737-10 buyers that it is little different from the slow-selling 737-9. It is meanwhile said to be working on its own improvements to the A320 family codenamed A320neo-plus. Market sources say Boeing is offering 5 percent lower costs per seat than the A321neo for the 737-10. Some experts are more cautious on operating costs, leaving jetmakers to slug it out over two other important drivers: range and performance. Boeing decided against using a bigger engine to boost those features and is gambling that some airlines will prefer extra seats and fly the 737-10 mainly on short routes. Although reports have focused on the clash between the A321neo and 737-9/10, industry sources say it''s not just the top end of the narrowbody market that drives the new design. Because most carriers stick to one jet family, they say Boeing seems worried the A321neo''s success could prompt fleet decisions that weaken the smaller 737 MAX 8. The 737-10 would thus be an extra rampart to defend Boeing''s biggest cash cow. "It''s a defensive move. Boeing wants to prevent the A321neo being a Trojan Horse in its own fleet," one strategist said. (Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jason Neely; editing by Susan Thomas) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-idUKKBN17R0WI'|'2017-04-25T17:41:00.000+03:00' 'ab6a3e044c66b6e681e093030f50bae0b4b7a0ed'|'Trump proposes 15 percent business tax rate - White House summary'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:05pm BST Trump proposes 15 percent business tax rate - White House summary left right U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) speaks at a news conference on U.S. President Trump''s administration''s first 100 days and healthcare, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 1/3 left right U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin discusses the Trump administration''s tax reform proposal in the White House briefing room in Washington, U.S, April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 2/3 left right U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin discusses the Trump administration''s tax reform proposal in the White House briefing room in Washington, U.S, April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 3/3 WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed slashing the U.S. tax rate on corporate and pass-through business profits to 15 percent from 35 percent or more, while also offering tax cuts to average Americans in a rough outline of his tax policy goals. A one-page summary of his proposals, released at a White House briefing, said Trump also wants to reduce the number of tax brackets to three from seven, double the standard deduction that Americans can claim on their tax returns and repeal the estate tax and alternative minimum tax. Under U.S. law, only Congress can make major tax law changes. Lawmakers initially greeted Trump''s plan as a starting point for further discussion on overhauling the tax code. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-tax-trump-summary-idUKKBN17S2J8'|'2017-04-27T02:05:00.000+03:00' '5a0cd816b8f62c7c4c590ee303102c5cc13ca1ec'|'LG Display says first-quarter operating profit rose to 1 trillion won'|' 17am BST LG Display says first-quarter operating profit rose to 1 trillion won An LG Electronics'' logo is pictured on a TV displayed at a shop in Seoul, South Korea, April 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo SEOUL South Korea''s LG Display Co Ltd ( 034220.KS ) said on Wednesday its first-quarter operating profit rose to 1.03 trillion won (£713 million) from 39.5 billion won a year earlier, beating market expectations, as healthy demand for large-sized television panels boosted margins. LG Display''s January-March profit of 1.03 trillion won compared with 845 billion won average forecast from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 24 analysts. Revenue for the quarter rose 17.9 percent from a year earlier to 7.1 trillion won. (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by Michael Perry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lg-display-results-idUKKBN17S00F'|'2017-04-26T08:17:00.000+03:00' '5bba2708685aa4d9a1fc85f06b00879736f613df'|'Canada''s CPPIB eyes new investment avenues in India'|'By Devidutta Tripathy and Euan Rocha - MUMBAI, April 26 MUMBAI, April 26 Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country''s largest pension fund manager, is exploring opportunities in the financial services, telecoms and logistics space in India as it looks to expand its bets in the South Asian economy, CPPIB Asia Pacific head Suyi Kim said on Wednesday.CPPIB, which has already poured over C$4 billion ($3 billion) into real estate and other investments in the country, will expand its eight-member team in India in a measured manner, as it looks boost the share of emerging markets in its overall portfolio, Kim told Reuters.The roughly C$300 billion ($221 billion) fund currently has about 10 percent of its portfolio invested in emerging markets and is looking to boost that to about 15 percent over the next three to five years, she said."Globally, we''ve invested in a number of insurance companies and we''ll over time hopefully look at that in India market too," said Kim, adding that CPPIB was also scouting for opportunities in the country''s non-banking financial arena that is fast expanding.Last month, CPPIB raised its stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank , India''s No. 4 private sector lender by assets, by acquiring another 1.5 percent along with peer Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) for 22.55 billion rupees ($352 million). As of end-March, it owned 6.3 percent of the lender."We''ll continue to look at further opportunities," said Kim, responding to a query about whether CPPIB would look to boost its stake in the bank further, although she noted that Indian regulations would currently cap them at a 10 percent level.CPPIB and private equity giant KKR & Co also agreed last month to buy a 10.3 percent stake in mobile masts operator Bharti Infratel for 61.9 billion rupees.Kim said CPPIB would look at more such investments in the country''s telecoms sector. (Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy and Euan Rocha; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/cppib-india-investment-idINL1N1HY07V'|'2017-04-26T07:38:00.000+03:00' 'e350c3460317100d610b3247b5fc0a4ad43465a3'|'JPMorgan zooming in on Warsaw for new global back office center'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 8:58am EDT JPMorgan zooming in on Warsaw for new global back office center FILE PHOTO -People walk by the JP Morgan & Chase Co. building in New York, U.S. on October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/File Photo By Marcin Goclowski and Anjuli Davies - WARSAW/LONDON WARSAW/LONDON U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase ( JPM.N ) is zooming in on Warsaw as a destination for its new back office operations center which could eventually employ several thousand people supporting the bank''s European and Asian business, sources said. As Britain prepares to leave the European Union, and banks and other financial firms look to shift jobs from London''s financial center, Poland has set its sights on mid-tier work where salaries may not be astronomical but jobs are numerous. A delegation from JPMorgan visited Warsaw last month, the sources said, to look for real estate that could house the new center, which could become of the largest of its kind in Poland. "The focus is definitely Warsaw," said one source familiar with the matter, speaking anonymously as discussions are not public. JPMorgan has also visited Poland''s western city of Wroclaw and Hungary''s capital Budapest as possible contenders, the source added. "There were serious talks last month. It looks like they are close to picking Poland but never say never until deal is signed," another source said. Plans to create the center were not connected to Britain decision to exit the EU, the first source said. JPMorgan declined to comment on its plans. Poland, the EU''s largest eastern economy, has already established itself as a major offshoring site for banks. The country has a population of 38 million and a relatively high-skilled and inexpensive workforce - average wages are roughly three times lower than in neighboring Germany. Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ) already has 300 people working in the Polish capital and is seeking 200 people more, while Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) employs several thousand people in Warsaw and Wroclaw. UBS ( UBSG.S ) has also based large IT and back office administrative operations in the country. The estimates of financial services jobs moved from all Western countries to Poland range from 35,000 to 45,000, with Britain''s decision to exit the EU seen accelerating the process. A third source familiar with the matter said Warsaw was likely to emerge as the winner. "JP Morgan wants to hire 2,500 people and only Warsaw has a job market which is deep enough to bear with such an investment," the source said. Another Warsaw-based real estate source that although there was not enough prime real estate to accommodate several thousand employees right now, it could become available over the next year or so. JPMorgan would likely start with a few dozen people on the ground in the Polish capital by the end of year if plans are finalised, the first source said. (Reporting by Anjuli Davis, Marcin Goclowski, and Marcin Goettig; Writing by Marcin Goettig; Editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-poland-idUSKBN17S1PD'|'2017-04-26T20:58:00.000+03:00' '2eab055db9fff252867cf809556ef3bf79f4f56e'|'Peugeot first quarter revenue rose 4.9 percent as new models offset forex impact'|'Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:12am BST Peugeot first quarter revenue rose 4.9 percent as new models offset forex impact FILE PHOTO: The logo of Peugeot is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo PARIS French carmaker PSA Group''s first-quarter revenue rose 4.9 percent, the maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS models said on Wednesday, as new models helped offset the effect of weak sales growth and a negative exchange-rate impact. Revenue rose to 13.63 billion euros ($14.92 billion) from 13 billion a year earlier, the Paris-based company said. Revenue at the core automotive division rose 2.5 percent to 9.02 billion euros. PSA also lifted its full-year market outlook to a 1 percent expansion in Europe and 2 percent in Latin America, having previously forecast flat demand in both regions. (Reporting by Laurence Frost, Editing by Dominique Vidalon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-peugeot-results-idUKKBN17S0HK'|'2017-04-26T14:04:00.000+03:00' '7ff95c045a6dfca6765f77cb29994aba523084c8'|'Trump likely to propose 15% tax rate for all businesses, not just corporations 25,'|'Mnuchin: Biggest tax cut in US history As it is shaping up, President Trump''s new tax plan sounds a lot like his old one. A Trump administration official told CNN on Tuesday that Trump may propose a major tax cut for so-called "pass-through businesses" from 39.6% to 15%. That comes on the heels of news that Trump is also considering a big reduction in the top rate for corporations from 35% to 15%. The Trump administration is planning to announce a tax plan on Wednesday, though it is expected to be more of an outline and not rich in detail. The vast majority of businesses in the United States are set up as pass-throughs . They run the gamut from mom-and-pop shops to law firms and hedge funds. A pass-through isn''t taxed under the corporate code. Instead it passes its profits through to its owners, shareholders and partners, who then report those profits on their individual tax returns. A 15% top rate for corporations and pass throughs would be drastically lower than today''s rates and lower than the top rate for ordinary wage income called for under the House Republicans'' tax reform proposal, as well as the plan Trump proposed last year. It remains unclear what Trump will propose on Wednesday about individual tax rates. But a big disparity between business and wage rates worries policy experts. Why? Owners of pass-throughs who also work at those firms will be tempted to recharacterize their paychecks as "business" income to get the lower tax rate. Related: A fatal flaw in Trump''s tax cut: Senate rules Such a dramatic rate cut would also likely set up a clash with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. While they are eager to cut business taxes, for various reasons they don''t want to add to the country''s debt. And a 15% business tax rate could drive up deficits by a lot. For example, the Tax Policy Center estimated in November that Trump''s 15% proposal for corporations and pass-throughs, coupled with a repeal of the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, could reduce revenue by nearly $4 trillion in the first decade. To put that in context, that''s close to $400 billion a year -- which is more than the $304 billion the government spent last year on income security programs such as food stamps, unemployment benefits and child nutrition, according to numbers from the Congressional Budget Office. Related: Trump relies on magic wand of growth to pay for tax cuts The price tag could be somewhat less if Trump chose not to repeal the corporate AMT. But if he didn''t, that would greatly undercut the value of the rate reduction to 15% for many corporations because they would have a higher tax bill under the AMT, said Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center. The TPC was working off a plan from the Trump campaign that was thin on details. So absent those, it''s hard to do a more tailored cost estimate. But it''s very fair to assume the cost of reducing the top business tax rate will be high. Administration officials cautioned that nothing is final. And sources told CNN that Wednesday''s announcement is not likely to offer much explanation for how tax reductions would be paid for. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said, however, that Trump''s tax plan would be paid for through economic growth . Experts throw cold water on that idea, since there is no evidence that tax cuts pay for themselves. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Trump wants to include a 15% corporate and pass-through rate in Wednesday''s announcement. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch on Monday said that a 15% corporate tax rate would be problematic because it would increase the deficit and run into parliamentary problems if Republicans try to pass their tax bill under a procedure that lets them avoid a filibuster. "I''d love to do that. [But] I''m not sure we can get them down that low," Hatch said when asked about the proposed rate. Trump won''t back controversial House border tax The White House also told CNN that the Trump plan will probably not include a controversial provision known as the border adjustment tax that was proposed by House Republicans. Under such a provision, companies could no longer deduct the cost of their imported goods, and the sales of their exports would no longer be subject to U.S. tax. A border adjustment tax could raise more than $1 trillion over a decade. House Republicans were counting on that to help offset the cost of their proposed rate cuts. Administration officials also said the president, as he did during the campaign, will call for a one-time low tax on U.S. multinationals'' trillions of dollars in foreign profits that have never been brought back to the United States. -- CNN''s Jeff Zeleny, Jim Acosta and Manu Raju contributed to this report. 25, 2017: 6:13 PM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_news_economy.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/25/news/economy/trump-tax-rate-cut-businesses/index.html'|'2017-04-26T02:13:00.000+03:00' '362f08841b6988b3a8046dd7487c3aedb2d361cf'|'KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 billion'|'By Junko Fujita - TOKYO TOKYO U.S. buyout firm KKR said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd''s ( 6501.T ) chip-making equipment and video solution unit in a deal valuing the company at 257 billion yen ($2.3 billion), its second purchase of a Hitachi unit.After completing the acquisition of Hitachi Kokusai Electric ( 6756.T ), KKR will spin off the chip-making equipment unit, retaining 100 percent ownership of that business.It will sell a 40 percent stake in the video solutions business to Hitachi and a Japanese investment fund, Japan Industrial Partners Inc (JIP).This is KKR''s second acquisition of a business owned by Hitachi, following its purchase of power-tool unit Hitachi Koki Co for about 150 billion yen ($1.35 billion) in January. Hitachi is reorganizing its business structure.KKR has been taking advantage of Japanese conglomerates'' need to streamline their businesses. KKR last year also bought an auto parts maker backed by Nissan Motor Co ( 7201.T ) for about 500 billion yen ($4.5 billion) as Nissan is shifting its focus to new technologies.In the latest deal with Hitachi, KKR initially plans to buy a 48.33 percent stake of Hitachi Kokusai at 2,503 yen per share for 124 billion yen ($1.1 billion) through a tender offer.Separately Hitachi Kokusai will buy a 51.67 percent stake of its own shares held by Hitachi at 1,710 yen a share from Hitachi to cancel the shares.(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-kkr-hitachi-kokusai-idINKBN17S0ZI'|'2017-04-26T07:31:00.000+03:00' '18b31c00c398dc61c012e5890940fe37e2818984'|'Irish central bank fines AIB 2.3 million euros for regulatory failures'|' 03am BST Irish central bank fines AIB 2.3 million euros for regulatory failures A gardener mows the grass outside the headquarters of AIB on the day the bank announced it''s results, in Dublin April 12, 2011. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton DUBLIN Ireland''s Central Bank said on Wednesday it had fined Allied Irish Banks ( ALBK.I ) 2.275 million euros (£2 million) for "significant failures" in money laundering and terrorist financing controls. AIB was found to have failed to immediately report suspicious transactions to police and tax authorities and to carry out due diligence on some customers, the central bank said. AIB said in a statement that all the breaches took place before July 8, 2014 and a comprehensive risk mitigation programme had since been put in place. Rival Ulster Bank, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ), was fined 3.3 million euros by the central bank last year for similar breaches. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aib-fine-idUKKBN17R307'|'2017-04-26T07:03:00.000+03:00' 'c05cbace633c96a4fdd8de23af0df061fde8e6df'|'Fiat Chrysler may add more self-driving supplier partners - CEO'|' 41pm BST Fiat Chrysler may add more self-driving supplier partners - CEO A sign marks Clark Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership in Methuen, Massachusetts, U.S. January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By Agnieszka Flak and Paul Lienert - MILAN/DETROIT MILAN/DETROIT Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCAU.N ) ( FCHA.MI ) may seek more supplier partners to help it develop and build self-driving vehicles, Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne said on Wednesday. The Jeep and Ram brands are strong enough to exist as standalone entities outside FCA, Marchionne also said on a conference call with analysts after the company reported record first-quarter results. But he did not elaborate on whether there were any plans for a spin-off of either, like with Ferrari. The automaker reported an 11 percent jump in first-quarter operating profit, boosted by strong sales in North America, its most profitable market. Shares jumped about 10 percent on the news. FCA currently has a partnership with Alphabet Inc''s ( GOOGL.O ) Waymo self-driving unit. Marchionne said Waymo has an "unbeatable solution" to help build self-driving vehicles, including versions of the Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivan, but that FCA is looking at additional partners. "Between now and the next three years, we need to provide viable solutions to take people around," Marchionne said, citing Waymo''s new test program in Phoenix offering ride sharing in self-driving Pacificas. But FCA is considering more partners "because banking all of our solutions on one possible outcome is going to be disastrous," Marchionne said. FCA continues to work with Waymo "in a very intense way," he said, but "we need to look at optionality in more than one dimension" to build self-driving cars. FCA is retooling several U.S. plants to produce redesigned versions of the popular Jeep Wrangler and Ram 1500 pickup later this year and early next. Marchionne said the company would continue to produce several versions of the current models for several months in 2018 after the new versions begin production. New models from premium brands Maserati and Alfa Romeo should help boost FCA''s gross margins. Marchionne said Alfa, long a cash drain on the company, could be profitable in the fourth quarter, while Maserati has returned double-digit margins over the past three quarters. Both brands have launched new luxury utility vehicles in the United States. Marchionne said FCA hopes to resolve emissions certification issues "in a few weeks" with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board. In the meantime, he said FCA will try to meet future emissions regulations without relying so heavily on diesel engines, but with a combination of gasoline engines and electric motors. (Reporting by Agnieszka Flak in Milan and Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-fiat-chrysler-ceo-idUKKBN17S2LW'|'2017-04-27T02:41:00.000+03:00' 'c060609534e71043d0a73e99b3be586d525b3456'|'UPDATE 2-Novartis sets sights on return to growth in 2018'|' 11:40am EDT Novartis sets sights on return to growth in 2018 A sign marks a building on Novartis'' campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., February 28, 2017. Picture taken February 28, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By John Miller - ZURICH ZURICH Novartis reported better-than-expected first-quarter profits on Tuesday with Chief Executive Joe Jimenez saying he remained confident the Swiss drugmaker would return to growth in 2018 as spending to promote new drugs pays off. First-quarter core net income fell 4 percent to $2.69 billion, ahead of the average forecast of $2.67 billion by analysts in a Reuters poll. In constant currencies the drop was 1 percent as earnings got a boost from the stakes it owns in rival Roche and a joint venture with GlaxoSmithKline. Jimenez is now counting on psoriasis treatment Cosentyx, chronic heart failure drug Entresto and newly approved breast cancer drug Kisqali to help counteract generics eating into sales of its once top-selling blood cancer drug Gleevec. "We''re investing heavily in the growth drivers," Jimenez said on a call with reporters. "Particularly in the fourth quarter, we start to lap the heavy investment we were making in Entresto and Cosentyx, so the comparables become a bit easier." Novartis took a $200 million hit in the first quarter to discontinue development of its one-time blockbuster hopeful serelaxin following a trial failure in patients suffering from acute heart failure. Entresto sales quadrupled to $84 million, while Cosentyx''s revenue more than doubled to $410 million, despite increasing competition from Eli Lilly''s Taltz. Meanwhile, Gleevec''s sales fell by a third to $544 million, largely in line with expectations. "This was a solid start to the year," Berenberg analyst Alistair Campbell said in a note. "We''re encouraged by the performance of Entresto." Novartis''s shares closed 2.16 percent higher at 75.70 Swiss francs in Zurich. First-quarter sales fell 1 percent to $11.54 billion, just short of the average of analysts'' forecasts of $11.6 billion. Novartis reaffirmed its full-year forecast for flat sales, with core operating income in line with or slightly down from last year. While Novartis is still keeping an eye out for bolt-on targets worth $2-5 billion, Jimenez said rising prices for takeovers have prompted him to also seek smaller deals such as its agreement to buy Ziarco Group in late 2016. ALCON RECOVERY Investments by Novartis in its struggling Alcon eye care business also appeared to be bearing fruit, with first-quarter sales in constant currencies rising 1 percent to $1.4 billion. While surgical equipment sales have yet to resume growth, products including Alcon''s contact lenses and solutions made up the difference. "The Alcon growth plan is on track," wrote David Evans, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux. "That should reassure the markets." Jimenez said a strategic review of Alcon, begun in January with a possible spin-off in prospect, was on track with an update scheduled for late 2017. In one pipeline change, Novartis advanced its planned date for seeking regulatory approval for its investigational BAF312 medicine for relapsing multiple sclerosis to 2018 from 2019. (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-novartis-results-idUSKBN17R0D4'|'2017-04-25T17:20:00.000+03:00' '11887da1d9f31ff614caebbe35e7ed5c5475733c'|'T-Mobile quarterly profit up, new subscribers top estimates'|'By Anjali Athavaley T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ) is open to merger talks after a federal ban expires this week, the No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier said on Monday, as it reported stronger-than-expected subscriber growth in the first quarter.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission barred merger talks among telecommunications companies for over a year as it conducted a $19.8 billion auction of airwaves from broadcasters for wireless use. Companies taking part in the auction have been restrained by a quiet period that will end on April 27, when down-payments are due from winners.T-Mobile, the largest winner with an $8 billion bid, is widely expected to be one of the first to have such discussions."The inorganic and organic possibilities for the company are tremendous," Chief Executive John Legere said on the company''s post-earnings conference call. "We are interested in looking at some of the possibilities."Reuters reported in February that Sprint''s controlling shareholder, SoftBank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), was positioning itself for deal talks with T-Mobile''s top shareholder, Deutsche Telekom AG ( DTEGn.DE ), once the airwaves auction ended.Investors and analysts have said T-Mobile has other options, including staying independent or combining with companies such as Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ) or Comcast Corp ( CMCSA.O ), as it tries to improve its network. T-Mobile said earlier this month that its airwave purchase would enable it "to compete in every single corner of the country."On the call, Legere said that satellite TV provider Dish had access to content and spectrum and that Sprint has "an awful lot of scale and a good customer base."T-Mobile has been gaining share from larger competitors AT&T Inc ( T.N ) and Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) in a saturated U.S. wireless market through network improvements and lower prices.T-Mobile said it added 914,000 subscribers who pay bills monthly, on a net basis, in the quarter ended March 31, down from 1.04 billion in the year-earlier period. Analysts on average had expected net additions of 847,000, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount.Churn, or customer defections, was 1.18 percent, compared with analysts'' estimate of 1.27 percent.Net income rose to $698 million, or 80 cents per share, from $479 million, or 56 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding items, earnings per share was 48 cents while adjusted revenue was $9.61 billion.Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $9.67 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.T-Mobile shares were down 1 percent at $65.32 after closing up 1.9 percent on Nasdaq.(Additional reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/t-mobile-us-results-idINKBN17Q256'|'2017-04-24T18:32:00.000+03:00' '2e6938dfdbbb579b37b0fe90a7dcbcb20ae25487'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks near two-year high after French vote'|'Bonds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:07am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging stocks near two-year high after French vote By Claire Milhench - LONDON, April 25 LONDON, April 25 Emerging market equities rose towards their highest in nearly two years on Tuesday, as relief over the results of Sunday''s election in France boosted appetite for riskier assets and U.S. President Donald Trump''s tax reform promises leant support. MSCI''s benchmark emerging equities index has rallied hard since market favourite Emmanuel Macron went safely through the first round of voting in France to face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off for the presidency. Emerging market stocks rose almost 1 percent, extending similar gains from the previous session to touch their highest level since June 2015. "We have at least a week of upside to look forward to because we have just seen an easing of European political risk," said Koon Chow, emerging markets macro and FX strategist at UBP. "Europe is important for EM because it is a place where it sells its goods to and also where it gets a lot of investment from." Asian manufacturing markets set the trend with index heavyweights such as Hong Kong and Taiwan up 1.2 percent. Korean stocks gained over 1 percent to touch a near six-year high, and the Korean won rose 0.7 percent. Trump has called for new UN sanctions against North Korea , which has conducted a big live-fire exercise to mark the foundation of its military. Parts of emerging Europe also continued to perform well as the risk of an anti-European Union French president receded. Poland, one of the biggest net receivers of EU funds, rose 0.5 percent to the highest since July 2015. The Polish zloty gained 0.2 percent against the euro after touching two-week highs on Monday. Trump''s promise to offer a "big tax reform and tax reduction" plan on Wednesday also lifted investor sentiment. So did his indication that he is willing to delay pushing for funds to build a border wall with Mexico . Chow said that the risk of U.S. protectionism and other forces of political friction had eased, helping some emerging market currencies appreciate against the dollar. The yield premium paid by emerging market sovereign bonds over U.S. Treasuries on the JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified narrowed 1 basis point to 306 basis points (bps), the lowest level since April 7. It has narrowed 14 bps since April 18. Currencies retreated a touch after pushing to multi-week highs on Monday. The South African rand slipped 0.5 percent against the dollar, after rising to a three-week high in the previous session. The central bank''s leading business cycle indicator was up 1.1 percent month-on-month in February. The Turkish lira also slipped 0.5 percent from a two-month high on Monday. Turkey''s central bank governor said it would maintain its tight monetary policy stance, before its rate-setting meeting on Wednesday. The Hungarian forint weakened 0.2 percent against the euro . Hungary''s central bank meets later on Tuesday, and is expected to keep rates on hold and maintain a loose monetary policy. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see For TURKISH market report, see For RUSSIAN market report, see) Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 979.86 +8.50 +0.88 +13.64 Czech Rep 993.65 +1.13 +0.11 +7.82 Poland 2310.62 +13.72 +0.60 +18.62 Hungary 33113.11 -113.35 -0.34 +3.47 Romania 8273.99 -22.76 -0.27 +16.78 Greece 687.26 +3.96 +0.58 +6.78 Russia 1114.33 -2.25 -0.20 -3.30 South Africa 46346.58 +158.65 +0.34 +5.57 Turkey 93715.39 -87.42 -0.09 +19.93 China 3135.40 +5.87 +0.19 +1.02 India 29845.35 +189.51 +0.64 +12.09 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1HX1IC'|'2017-04-25T17:07:00.000+03:00' 'f5b1717b1435234b6541a3b9f6c751516f0fcec3'|'Express Scripts seeks cost cuts, M&A as it preps for Anthem loss'|'NEW YORK Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co ( ESRX.O ) said on Tuesday that it plans to cut costs and is on the lookout for strategic deals as it readies itself for the potential loss of its largest customer, Anthem Inc ( ANTM.N ).Express Scripts said on Monday that health insurer Anthem, which has sued the company over claims of being overcharged, was unlikely to renew its contract after it ends in 2019. Anthem was responsible for just under a third of Express Scripts operating earnings in 2016.Express Scripts shares were down 11.2 percent at $59.72 in morning trading."A strong core is built not just on creating and making the most of external opportunities but also by managing internal cost and investments to ensure a highly efficient lean approach," Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said on a conference call with investors following the announcement. "We have proven over the years that we can do this."Chief Financial Officer Eric Slusser said that the company has already launched programs with an eye toward reducing selling, general and administrative expenses should the Anthem contract end.The company also said it was looking for strategic acquisitions both for its core business as well as to provide additional services."Pick your favorite three investment bankers, they would tell you that we read everything," Wentworth said on a conference call with investors, when asked about possible deals. "We''re engaging very meaningfully."(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-expressscripts-anthem-idINKBN17R20O'|'2017-04-25T13:19:00.000+03:00' '462451a10c07adc303e988bc9cd32607bb19af3a'|'Twitter posts strong user growth, shares soar'|'Technology News 1:41pm EDT Twitter posts strong user growth, shares soar The Twitter logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 28, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo By Angela Moon and Rishika Sadam Shares of Twitter Inc jumped on Wednesday after the microblogging service reported better-than-expected user growth in the first quarter, although its revenue fell for the first time. The surprising acceleration, which Twitter attributed to new features and heightened user interest in political news, followed several quarters of stalled user growth that raised questions about Chief Executive Jack Dorsey''s leadership and speculation the platform may be bought by a bigger company. Twitter reported yearly growth of 6 percent in monthly active users, a key performance indicator for social networking services typically calculated by taking the number of users who have logged in and logged out during the 30-day period, to 328 million. On a quarterly basis, Twitter added 9 million monthly users. While Dorsey cited technical changes to Twitter''s timeline which now lists content by themes instead of in a chronological order as part of the reason behind the user growth, Chief Operating Officer Anthony Noto said user interest in news and politics also played a role. There is "some evidence that we benefited from our new and resurrected users following more news and political accounts in Q1, particularly in the U.S. That''s a really positive thing," Noto said during a conference call with analysts. U.S. President Donald Trump, one of the most active politicians on Twitter, has tweeted about five times a day on average since his inauguration in January, according to social media analytics company Zoomph. Livestreaming, one of Twitter''s biggest pushes since last year to attract new users, also jumped in the first quarter, with more than 800 hours of live video across more than 450 events. Twitter said the content reached 45 million unique users, up 31 percent from the fourth quarter which was the first full quarter of live content to be streamed on the social media platform. Of those hours, 51 percent were sports, 35 percent were news and politics, and 14 percent were entertainment, Twitter said. "Twitter is becoming more relevant to consumers. They are making their products easier to use. And there is a global thirst for news and information that they are benefiting from," said BTIG Analysts Richard Greenfield. But some analysts were cautious about the future path of user growth. "I think that Trump drives a lot of awareness about Twitter among people who otherwise wouldn''t be paying attention," said Michael Pachter, managing director at Wedbush Securities. "But again, one quarter isn’t a trend, so let’s see if it’s sustainable." Despite the user growth, Twitter''s revenue for the first quarter fell 7.8 percent to $548.3 million, its first drop since its initial public offering. Twitter''s advertising revenue plunged 11 percent to $474 million in the quarter, but came in above the average analyst estimate of $442.7 million, according to market research firm FactSet StreetAccount. Just in the United States, the decline was steeper at 17 percent. Net loss narrowed to $61.6 million, or 9 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $79.7 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier. ( bit.ly/2phNNZH ) Excluding items, the company earned 11 cents per share, beating the estimate of 1 cent per share. "While we face revenue headwinds, we made progress focusing revenue products on our strengths," Dorsey said, adding that user growth will contribute to revenue and profit going forward. The shares were up 9.9 percent at $16.10 by midday. (Reporting by Angela Moon in New York and Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-twitter-results-idUSKBN17S1E7'|'2017-04-27T01:41:00.000+03:00' '78cd03780db91d9be9f629a3256f49a3d8c4f532'|'Arrivederci Alitalia?: Alitalia is bankrupt again. This time perhaps it’s terminal'|'WHEN employees of Alitalia were offered the chance on April 25th to vote for pay cuts and redundancies to save the troubled airline, they spurned the opportunity. In some ways it is difficult to blame them. After all, in the past they have been able to rely on the Italian government to come to the rescue of the country''s flag carrier. That may not happen this time. Alitalia has lost billions of euros over the past decade. (Indeed, over its 70-year history its accountants have barely had need for a black pen.) The firm had pinned its hopes on a €2bn ($2.2bn) capatilisation plan. But that had been dependent on workers accepting cuts that were negotiated by the government and recommended by trade unions. With the workers’ no vote, that cash is now off the table.Latest updates The problems an hour an hour 2 4 6 hours ago What makes telecoms networks inefficient? The Economist explains 11 Alitalia has been here many times before. In 2008 it was placed into bankruptcy after plans for a sell-off were blocked. In 2014, with the airline on the verge of failing yet again, the government helped broker a deal with Etihad, a Middle Eastern superconnector, which took a 49% stake. A plan to make Alitalia profitable by 2017 , however, proved wildly optimistic. Bloomberg reports that the carrier’s share of the Italian market fell to just 18% in 2015, down from 23% in 2008; passenger numbers have fallen from 30m to 22m in a decade. With its high costs, it has struggled to compete with budget carriers on short-haul routes. Ryanair, an Irish airline, now has the largest market share in the country. On Alitalia’s few remaining long-haul services—particularly to America—it must now compete with Emirates, which picks up passengers in Milan on its way from Dubai to New York, and Alitalia''s partners in the SkyTeam alliance, Air France/KLM and Delta.The chances of a reprieve this time around look slim. The Italian government says it will not countenance nationalising the firm, making bankruptcy likely. That does not necessarily mean that the airline will disappear. But if the firm avoids liquidation, an administrator will be given the power to sell many of its assets. A much smaller carrier will emerge. Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo, the firm’s chairman, says it is to begin the process of naming an administrator shortly.The loss of the airline would be a blow to national pride. The carrier first flew in 1947. It the papal airline of choice; Benedict XVI, offered prayers for it when it went bankrupt in 2008. The fate of up to 12,000 jobs also hang in the balance. For that reason a taxpayer-funded bail-out should not be discounted entirely; the government might yet blink first, as it has done so often before. It has already agreed a bridging loan of €300m-€400m, to keep Alitalia aloft in case a buyer can be found (although why any firm would want it is anyone''s guess). But, having already spent around €7bn since the 1970s trying to keep the firm from crashing, it seems patience has run out. The time may have come to park Alitalia in the hangar for good.'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2017/04/arrivederci-alitalia?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-27T00:02:00.000+03:00' '369292d671d3fbf1fd2d17938433730cdf9fdee3'|'U.S.-based stock funds attract most cash in five weeks -ICI'|' 53pm EDT U.S.-based stock funds attract most cash in five weeks -ICI By Sam Forgione NEW YORK, April 26 Investors in U.S.-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds poured $4.7 billion into stock funds in the week ended April 19, marking the biggest inflows in five weeks as investors returned to U.S.-focused share funds, data from the Investment Company Institute showed on Wednesday. Investors committed $1.3 billion to U.S.-focused stock funds, marking their first inflows in three weeks and their biggest in five as concerns over France''s presidential elections grew. Funds that specialize in international shares attracted $3.5 billion. While those inflows more than doubled those into their U.S.-focused counterparts and extended a streak of inflows that began in early December, they marked the weakest demand for international-focused stock funds in three weeks. Bond funds attracted $3.2 billion, marking their lowest inflows in five weeks but continuing a run of inflows that began in late December. Investors likely returned to funds that hold U.S. shares on worries over French politics, said Alan Gayle, director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta. Centrist Emmanuel Macron''s victory against anti-euro nationalist Marine Le Pen in the first round of France''s presidential elections on April 23 sent stocks on both sides of the Atlantic rallying, but worries had mounted ahead of the vote about a potential victory for anti-EU candidates Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon. "(The United States'') relative issues are smaller than those basic questions facing France, so I think there is a bias toward moving back toward a relative safe-haven, and that has always been the United States," Gayle of RidgeWorth said about the inflows into U.S.-focused share funds. Despite the political risk, European stock valuations were still relatively attractive compared to those in the United States, hence the steady inflows into international-focused share funds, he said. The following table shows estimated ICI flows, including mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (all figures in millions of dollars): 4/19 4/12 4/5 3/29 3/22 Equity 4,730 3,101 -6,074 1,603 -1,782 Domestic 1,258 -2,666 -12,724 303 -6,872 World 3,472 5,767 6,650 1,300 5,090 Hybrid -596 -665 -1,467 -1,077 -779 Bond 3,229 4,275 11,142 7,594 13,190 Taxable 2,743 2,963 10,589 6,950 12,511 Municipal 487 1,312 553 644 679 Commodity 740 111 -125 100 -151 Total 8,104 6,822 3,477 8,221 10,478 (Reporting by Sam Forgione; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-mutualfunds-ici-idUSL1N1HY1IJ'|'2017-04-27T02:53:00.000+03:00' '573fcca2ecb8c94dea8e1729978b1dcffaa11603'|'UPDATE 1-Striking workers give France''s Macron rough reception in factory visit'|'Company 54pm EDT UPDATE 1-Striking workers give France''s Macron rough reception in factory visit * Macron wrong-footed by Le Pen * Favourite for president has been accused of complacency * He meets Le Pen in runoff for Elysee on May 7 (Adds Macron at Whirlpool factory) By Pascal Rossignol AMIENS, France, April 26 Striking workers jeered France''s front-running presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday when he showed up at a northern French factory after being publicly trumped by far-right rival Marine Le Pen. Setting a public relations trap for centrist Macron in a region that staunchly supports her National Front, Le Pen unexpectedly showed up at the tumble-drier Whirlpool factory in Amiens while he was meeting union representatives on the other side of town. Le Pen whipped up passions among workers who have been striking against plans to close the U.S. factory in favour of increased production in Poland, saying they were victims of globalisation. She accused Macron of showing "contempt" towards them by not coming to see them. She portrayed him as cuddling up to bosses rather than workers. "Emmanuel Macron is with the oligarchs, with the Medef (the employers'' association) ... I am with the French workers," Le Pen said in comments broadcast by French news channels. When he finally made it there later in the day, Macron was met by angry heckling and jostling from crowds of workers, a rare scene for a French presidential candidate, which was broadcast live on news channels and drew much comment on social media. A Reuters photographer at the scene reported that some National Front activists mingled in the crowd. Tyres were set ablaze in protest. Macron stood his ground for more than an hour putting his case to the workers and things gradually calmed during an encounter that was broadcast live. He shook hands cordially with several of them when he left. ACCUSATIONS OF COMPLACENCY The 39-year-old Macron, who is widely expected to beat Le Pen by a comfortable margin in the May 7 vote, had over the past days been accused by potential allies and some media of complacency and acting as if victory was in the bag since he came first in an initial round of voting on April 23. Le Pen, arriving at Whirlpool''s strike site, said: "When I heard that Emmanuel Macron was coming here and did not plan to meet the workers, did not plan to come to the picket line but would shelter himself who knows where in the chamber of commerce ... I considered it was such a sign of contempt for the Whirlpool workers that I decided to ... come here and see you." Macron hit back, accusing Le Pen of making empty, populist promises. "Madame Le Pen is using the situation for political ends, stirring up crowds on a parking lot," he said after television footage showed him talking with workers'' union delegates in a grey meeting room at the chamber of commerce while Le Pen posed for selfies on the site of the strike itself. "If she''s elected, this company will close," he said, adding that he had first been to talk with union representatives to be able to discuss the issue in depth. "Madame Le Pen does not understand how this country works," he added. Later at the site he said: "When Madame Le Pen says we''ll exit globalisation, she''s lying to you," he told the workers. "If we shut down borders, thousands and thousands of jobs will be lost," he said. The Whirlpool factory in Amiens, which is Macron''s home town, is set to shut down in June 2018 while the group beefs up its production in Poland. Macron said that if elected president, the firm''s redundancy plan would not be accepted if it wasn''t good enough. Le Pen said she would not let the factory shut down at all and the state would, if she was elected, buy a stake in it if necessary. This took place on a day when both unveiled new campaign posters and slogans -- "Choose France" for Le Pen and "Together, France!" for Macron -- to take them into the runoff. (Additional reporting by Myriam Rivet and Michel Rose; Writing by Ingrid Melander Editing by Jeremy Gaunt; Editing by Richard Balmforth)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/france-election-whirlpool-idUSL8N1HY5YG'|'2017-04-27T00:54:00.000+03:00' '1a5cdf1084b5c03bcef57ce84ee311ce0bfd0139'|'Bank of Japan Kuroda - G20, IMF accept BOJ''s monetary policy'|' 34am BST Japan central bank governor says G20, IMF accept BOJ''s monetary policy Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Stanley White - TOKYO TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday that Group of 20 and International Monetary Fund officials accept the view that the central bank''s quantitative easing policy is to achieve its inflation target. Kuroda, speaking in the lower house fiscal and monetary policy committee, also said a statement released after the IMF''s spring meeting showed agreement that monetary policy should support economic growth. He said currencies were not debated at the meeting. Kuroda was questioned about the IMF and the G20 amid growing concern that Japan''s exports and monetary policy could come under criticism after IMF members dropped a previous pledge to fight protectionism amid a split over trade policy. "The IMF released a statement that re-affirms previous agreements that central banks should pursue their mandate to support economic activity and attain price stability," Kuroda said. "At the meetings I was able to earn the understanding that we are conducting policy to meet our inflation target." A communique from the IMF''s steering committee on Saturday dropped an anti-protectionism pledge, adopting language from the Group of 20 nations that the U.S. government sought last month in Germany as it develops a strategy to slash U.S. trade deficits. Instead, the International Monetary and Financial Committee statement pledged that members would "work together" to reduce global trade and current account imbalances "through appropriate policies." Some policymakers in Japan are worried that the U.S. government will focus more on currency levels as a way to reduce its trade deficit, which could open the BOJ to criticism because its quantitative easing has weakened the yen versus the dollar. Since 2013, when Kuroda launched quantitative easing by buying massive amounts of government debt, the BOJ has insisted that its monetary policy is to meet its 2 percent inflation and any impact on currencies is incidental. However, the yen has fallen around 15 percent versus the dollar since the start of quantitative easing, which tends to increase Japanese exporters'' earnings because it makes their products cheaper overseas. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-kuroda-idUKKBN17R0QS'|'2017-04-25T15:59:00.000+03:00' 'a6c69730f8c94e8660c694d48bc1e1899c188917'|'Exclusive: Austrian prosecutors investigate Airbus CEO over suspected fraud'|'Aerospace & Defense 1:01pm EDT Exclusive: Austria investigates Airbus CEO over suspected fraud Thomas Enders, Chief Executive Officer of EADS speaks at a ground breaking ceremony for Airbus for its first U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama April 8, 2013. REUTERS/Lyle Ratliff By Kirsti Knolle - VIENNA VIENNA Airbus was plunged deeper into legal wrangling over past business dealings on Wednesday when Vienna prosecutors announced a fraud investigation into its chief executive in connection with a $2 billion fighter order over a decade ago. Airbus called the accusations against CEO Tom Enders "completely unsubstantiated" after Reuters exclusively revealed the investigation, which came to light in correspondence seen by the news agency and confirmed by Vienna prosecutors. For the second time in two months, Airbus seemed taken aback by the latest developments in a longstanding row over the Eurofighter deal, which has spawned numerous investigations that now coincide with separate probes in other countries of its passenger jet sales. In February, Vienna prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium after the defense ministry said it believed they had misled Austria about the price, deliverability and equipment of the 2003 deal. That investigation now involves 16 individuals including Enders, according to a list seen by Reuters. "Upon our inquiry after initial media reports, the Vienna prosecutor this afternoon informed us for the first time that all individuals, who have been mentioned by the Republic of Austria in its statement of alleged facts, ... are under investigation," an Airbus spokesman said by email. "This list of individuals includes, among others, Tom Enders. As we have repeatedly stated, we consider the accusations as completely unsubstantiated." Enders and Airbus, which was called European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Company (EADS) at the time the fighter jet order was agreed, have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. Enders, a 58-year-old German, was head of EADS''s defense division when the contract was signed. He took responsibility for combat aircraft a few months later. The Eurofighter consortium, which comprises BAE Systems, Italy''s Leonardo and Airbus, has also denied any wrongdoing. Airbus shares fell as much as 1.1 percent after Reuters reported the probe into Enders, before closing unchanged. COMPLIANCE DRIVE Airbus has warned of financial implications as it carries out a clean-up of its files under a compliance drive ordered by Enders, which last year exposed discrepancies over jetliner sales that Airbus reported to UK and French authorities. Prosecutors in both countries are carrying out investigations into suspected fraud, bribery and corruption. Enders has pledged to push ahead with the compliance effort. While it recognizes problems with past applications for export aid in its passenger jet business, Airbus has pushed back strongly against allegations of wrongdoing in Austria, which it believes are wrapped up in domestic political maneuvers. Austrian and German prosecutors have separately been investigating for years whether officials received bribes aimed at ensuring they chose Eurofighter jets over rival offers from Saab and Lockheed Martin. Allegations surfaced almost immediately after the purchase was agreed that money was pocketed by politicians, civil servants and others via brokers for so-called offset deals accompanying the transaction. These deals, common in large arms purchases, are designed to provide work for local businesses in countries placing orders. Austria''s defense ministry has alleged Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium illegally charged nearly 10 percent of the purchase price of 1.96 billion euros for these side deals. Victoria Bryan and Tim Hepher; Editing by Francois Murphy, Keith Weir and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-group-austria-inquiry-exclusiv-idUSKBN17S1MO'|'2017-04-26T20:33:00.000+03:00' '17551d9cf9089a5c58635c752f3f24f03beb9232'|'UPDATE 1-Daimler lifts forecasts as Mercedes'' sales gain traction'|'* Daimler hikes 2017 sales outlook for Mercedes* Daimler raises outlook for Group EBIT* Daimler shares indicated 1.7 pct higher (Adds pre-market shares, Q1 details,)FRANKFURT, April 26 Daimler AG raised it forecasts on Wednesday, predicting a significant rise in operating profits this year after a surge in sales of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars and sports utility vehicles.Daimler said it now expects significant growth in volume sales, revenue and group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) this year after its first-quarter net profit doubled to 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion)."We are very confident for the remainder of the year to achieve our financial as well as our strategic goals," Daimler''s Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said in a statement.Daimler''s share price was set to rise 1.7 percent, according to pre-market indications provided by Lang & Schwartz ahead of the 0700 GMT market opening.In February Daimler had said it expected only slight growth in group EBIT, but record sales of Mercedes passenger cars in the first quarter helped the Stuttgart-based carmaker produce forecast-beating results.In March alone sales of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a volume model for the carmaker, rose by 65 percent and Daimler said on Wednesday it now expected a significant rise in sales of Mercedes-Benz Cars for the full year.Daimler''s group EBIT jumped 87 percent to 4.01 billion euros ($4.25 billion) in the quarter, thanks in part to 690 million euros in one-off gains.EBIT at Mercedes-Benz Cars rose 60 percent to 2.23 billion euros, delivering a return on sales of 9.8 percent after the division reported a 15 percent rise in first-quarter sales.Daimler published key first-quarter earning figures earlier this month, revealing that profits were lifted by the revaluation of a stake in mapping company HERE, as well as by the sale of some real estate and the reversal of an impairment charge on its stake in Chinese carmaker BAIC .A stricter interpretation of EU financial reporting guidelines has forced Daimler to start giving forecasts based on unadjusted numbers, increasing the scope for one-off gains and losses to distort consensus. ($1 = 0.9137 euros) (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/daimler-results-idINL8N1HY0XR'|'2017-04-26T04:18:00.000+03:00' 'a143935e5c9ed8117836c83cf77f5a02a331c42e'|'Google parent Alphabet''s profit soars on strong ad sales'|' 25pm BST Google parent Alphabet''s profit soars on strong ad sales A Google search page is seen through a magnifying glass in this photo illustration taken in Berlin, August 11, 2015. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/File Photo Google parent Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ) posted a 29 percent rise in quarterly profit, driven by a surge in advertising on mobiles and its popular YouTube video service. Alphabet''s net income rose to $5.43 billion, or $7.73 per Class A and B share and Class C capital stock, in the first quarter ended March 31 from $4.21 billion, or $6.02 [ bit.ly/2qbMJGY ] Shares of the company rose 2.8 percent to $916.8 after the bell on Thursday. Google''s ad revenue, which accounts for a lion''s share of its business, rose 18.8 percent to $21.41 billion in the first quarter. The company is locked in a battle with social media giant Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) in the fast-growing mobile advertising market. Google is expected to command a 61.6 percent share of the search ad market worldwide in 2017, up from 60.6 percent in 2016, according to research firm eMarketer. Paid clicks, where an advertiser pays only if a user clicks on ads, rose 44 percent. Analysts on average had expected a rise of 29.7 percent, according to FactSet StreetAccount. With the traditional business of search advertising maturing, the company is looking to YouTube as its next driver of growth. The strong results also allayed concerns about a recent controversy surrounding the video service and its impact on Google''s ad revenue. YouTube had come under fire for ads appearing alongside videos carrying homophobic or anti-Semitic messages, prompting a number of companies to suspend their digital ads on the video service. Alphabet is also reaping the benefits of investing heavily in areas such as hardware and cloud. Revenue from its Google Other unit, which includes Pixel smartphone, Play Store and cloud business, rose 49.4 percent to $3.10 billion. The company''s consolidated revenue rose 22.2 percent to $24.75 billion from $20.26 billion. Analysts on an average had expected a first-quarter profit of $7.34 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alphabet-results-idUKKBN17T326'|'2017-04-28T04:25:00.000+03:00' '1de39b5e920a568086e7ae4d3de826ff7c05c24a'|'Atlanta Fed cuts first-quarter GDP growth view to 0.2 percent'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:26am EDT U.S. economy likely barely grew in first quarter: Atlanta Fed Crews load and unload consumer products at the Port of New Orleans along the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana June 23, 2010. Picture taken June 23, 2010. REUTERS/Sean Gardner NEW YORK The U.S. economy likely expanded at just a 0.2 percent annualized pace in the first quarter, following weaker-than-forecast data on durable goods orders and advance data for the goods trade balance in March, the Atlanta Federal Reserve''s GDP Now forecast model showed on Thursday. The latest first-quarter gross domestic product growth estimate was slower than the 0.5 percent rate calculated on April 18 and an initial expectation of 2.3 percent on Jan. 30, the Atlanta Fed said. The regional central bank''s latest first-quarter GDP forecast was well below the median forecast of 1.2 percent growth of analysts polled by Reuters. The government will release its first reading on first-quarter GDP at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) on Friday. The U.S. economy grew 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Earlier on Thursday, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders increased 0.7 percent last month, falling short of the 1.2 percent forecast of analysts polled by Reuters. The department also said its first reading on the goods trade deficit in March was $64.81 billion, larger than the deficit of $63.90 billion in February. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy-atlantafed-idUSKBN17T24C'|'2017-04-27T22:07:00.000+03:00' '085342ff90e3b07fe65c058fa56e165415831cc0'|'LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria investigation - source'|'Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 2:26pm BST LafargeHolcim CEO to step down over Syria investigation: source Chief Executive Officer Eric Olsen of LafargeHolcim, the world''s largest cement maker, addresses a news conference to present the company''s 2016 results in Zurich, Switzerland March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH LafargeHolcim ( LHN.S ) is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The source said there would be a change in leadership at the cement company following reports in the Financial Times and French newspaper Le Figaro that Olsen would be stepping down, citing sources. LafargeHolcim declined to comment on the matter. The cement maker in March said one of its cement plants probably paid protection money to armed groups in Syria to keep the factory running in the country. The disclosure followed an internal investigation and highlighted the dilemmas companies face when working in conflict zones. LafargeHolcim is expected to announce the findings of its internal investigation shortly. Olsen was formerly an executive at French industrial group Lafarge, which completed its merger with Swiss group Holcim in 2015. LafargeHolcim has said the deteriorating political situation in Syria had posed "very difficult challenges for the security and operations of the plant and its employees." The site was an important source of employment in the region and played a vital role in supplying Syria with essential building materials, the company said. Sources told the Financial Times Olsen''s departure terms were still under discussion on Sunday. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi, Oliver Hirt and John Revill. Editing by Jane Merriman and Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lafargeholcim-syria-idUKKBN17P0BC'|'2017-04-23T21:12:00.000+03:00' '7ae87affebbacc751f949465c19b4fcf15440300'|'Low rates, tight margins: the mortgage market looks worryingly familiar - Business'|'O ne way to help homebuyers overcome the affordability gap is to cut the cost of borrowing. At a time when the mortgage loan-to-income ratio is back at 2007 levels, homebuyers need all the help they can get. And that is just what the Yorkshire building society has done .Admittedly the borrower must have a 35% deposit and pay a £1,495 fee upfront, but still, someone with a £200,000 mortgage will repay just £744 a month on a 25-year term, compared with £1,123 on the building society’s standard variable rate of 4.6%.First-time buyers are snapping up these offers, probably in many cases with financial support from their parents, to gain their first foothold on the property ladder.A hole in the market has also been carved out for them: new rules imposed on buy-to-let landlords have removed many of the tax benefits they previously enjoyed, pushing them out of the market. And in the latest mortgage figures, it is clear that it is first-timers and remortgagers who are snapping up ultra-low deals while home movers and buy-to-let landlords sit on their hands.From inside 10 Downing Street, this appears to show how the government and interest-rate setters at the Bank of England can work together to produce a change for the better. The young may suffer, on average, the worst disparity between their feeble earnings and soaring house prices in history, but at least a smart piece of policymaking has transformed their prospects.Hang on, though. It is clear that – just as with the Treasury and Bank of England’s Help to Buy scheme, which subsided deposits for first-time buyers – keeping the housing market afloat takes a constant layering of policies, one upon another, to keep even middle-income groups in the game while prices climb year on year.The danger is that the endgame is something similar to the 2008 crash, which followed a similar series of rule changes to make sure ever larger numbers of mortgaged buyers were sucked into the property merry-go-round.The Bank of England, which took over the regulation of banks after the crash, has said it is getting uncomfortable with the growing volume of cheap credit rolled out by the financial sector.So far it has excluded mortgages from its list of potential problem areas, preferring to focus on credit cards and car loans.Yet the Yorkshire building society example - and there are reports Santander will soon follow suit – must be a signal that trouble lies ahead. If nothing else, ultra-low mortgage rates put a squeeze on bank profits and make them more vulnerable to shocks when they come. This was the situation Northern Rock found itself in when panic started to flow across the Atlantic from the US sub-prime mortgage market.In 2006, Northern Rock’s rates, and hence its margins, were so thin it became the UK’s fastest-growing lender, while the more conservative Nationwide, spooked by the low margins, pulled out of the market for several months.Now the Yorkshire is calculating it can operate on a 0.64-percentage-point margin over the BoE’s 0.25% base rate when most banks need a two-percentage-point margin to turn a profit.At the moment, lenders probably have enough customers paying higher interest rates to make the whole of its mortgage operation profitable. The trouble is that the direction of travel is similar to the early 00s. Soon customer deposits will be just 5%, not 35%, and the information needed from borrowers on how they intend to pay will be sketchier.The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority, which monitors how mortgages are sold, like to assure critics that they are not the “light-touch” regulators of old. They say they will metaphorically kick down doors and act tough when they see a problem.Nevertheless, parliament should be wary of these promises. Banks are powerful lobbying machines and are not to be trusted. Regulators have yet to prove their worth. The last thing the country needs is for complacency or short-termist policymaking to feed another lending binge.Trump’s chief protectionist has a score to settle Donald Trump’s commerce secretary, the billionaire dealmaker Wilbur Ross, is beginning to put the president’s America First campaign mission into practice.Trump may have fronted the announcement of an investigation into whether foreign imports of steel compromise US national security , but for Ross the ruinous impact of cheap imports is a wound that he has struggled to close for almost two decades.It was in the early 2000s that the former bankruptcy specialist made his most notable coup, bringing together LTV Steel, Acme Steel and Bethlehem Steel under the name International Steel Group. Ever since he has championed the US steel industry and as commerce secretary has seized his chance to block foreign imports.He admitted that tightening anti-dumping rules earlier this year had done little to deter foreign imports, which now account for around a quarter of all steel used in the US, and so he was falling back on obscure national security legislation. It may seem like a desperate measure, but with Ross in charge, it could result in a more difficult market for Japanese and Chinese competitors.Tadaaki Yamaguchi, the chairman of the Japan Steel Information Centre, which lobbies for the Japanese steel industry in the US, spoke for all free-trade supporters when he said there were far more American jobs at stake in firms that consumed steel than there were in domestic steel production, and that those jobs would be at risk because prices would rise. He added: “Anti-competitive action and protectionism is not the American way. All this is doing is rigging the system and corrupting the marketplace.”But what this view underestimates is how many people have changed their outlook since the 2008 crash. They no longer consider themselves just consumers, prepared to accept whatever punishment the free market doles out to workers in the pursuit of ever-cheaper stuff. They recognise work as important and want a decent wage. The free marketeers have a point, but not many are listening at the moment.Staley should do the decent thing on bonusOne thing Jes Staley, boss of Barclays , should do when the bank announces quarterly results on Friday is to make it clear that he will refuse a bonus for 2017.It might be one way to begin to repair the considerable damage the American has done to the bank’s reputation through his clumsy efforts to unmask a whistleblower . Anyone who has received a formal written reprimand from their employer must surely be ready to waive any bonus that might have been due.So far, Barclays has only promised “a very significant compensation adjustment”, the precise value of which will be decided once the regulators have finished their investigations.Their reports are unlikely to make easy reading. Staley – who has already faced calls to resign – could at least pre-empt them by refusing any top-ups to his £2.3m fixed pay.Topics Housing market Business leader Property Real estate Mortgages House prices Bank of England comment Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/23/mortgage-market-lower-rates-tight-margins-worryingly-familiar'|'2017-04-23T15:00:00.000+03:00' '2aca0651c974fafb351f53d477b91244a54e126d'|'Shipping container architecture – in pictures - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'Shipping container architecture – in pictures Supported by About this content View more sharing options Close Designers and architects are exploring the potential of repurposed shipping containers, but critics say they are not necessarily sustainable or cost-effectiveTess Riley @tess_riley Sunday 23 April 2017 09.09 BST Boxpark, London Together, Boxpark Shoreditch and Boxpark Croydon are built from more than 130 former shipping containers. Boxpark founder and CEO Roger Wade believes it’s fitting such containers are used in his pop-up malls given their role in enabling global trade. Oliver Wainwright, the Guardian’s architecture and design critic, however, wrote in 2011: “Boxpark represents the latest step in the appropriation of the aesthetic of informal, provisional economies by big business.” Photograph: David Levene for the GuardianFacebook Twitter Pinterest Library of Things, London Located in two shipping containers in south London’s West Norwood, the Library of Things enables users to borrow everything from a drill to a gazebo on a pay-as-you-borrow basis. “We started looking at shipping containers because of the extortionate property prices in London,” says operations director Rebecca Trevalyan. “Now we’d choose a shipping container anyway because they’re fun, can be easily adapted, fit neatly in underused carparks or building sites – and we can pick them up and transport them elsewhere if we want to.” Photograph: Sebastian WoodFacebook Twitter Pinterest Downtown Container Park, Las Vegas This shopping venue uses 78 containers repurposed by the International Port Management Enterprise, whose other projects include a shipping container high school and a portable art gallery . Repurposing containers can put some of those which go out of service to use. However, architect Mark Hogan challenges the assumption that their incorporation in architecture is good for the environment, not least because of the resources required to upcycle them. He adds that used containers need to be thoroughly cleaned in case they have transported anything toxic. Photograph: Andy J Scott for the GuardianFacebook Twitter Pinterest Container Stack Pavilion, Dongshan, China The 12 shipping containers that make up this office have been piled up and sliced to create a light-filled structure with double height ceilings in the centre and a spacious roof terrace. The People’s Architecture Office, designers of the Pavilion, says the structure can be disassembled and relocated, although architect and professor Lloyd Alter questions how easily: “There is some serious steel hidden in these boxes to let them do this - the kind of steel that […] makes me dubious this could be taken apart without some serious torching and cutting.” Photograph: People''s Architecture OfficeFacebook Twitter Pinterest Drukta and Formail offices, Kortrijk, Belgium When printing office Drukta and mailing company Formail were moving to new premises – a former textile warehouse – they tasked architect-design firm Five AM with creating a low-cost, modern, open space that encouraged interaction between the offices and the work floor. The result incorporates used shipping containers inside the existing building, with the option of adding more in the future. Not all container architecture necessarily helps cuts costs though, particularly once you factor in line items such as renting a crane and welding, says Hogan. Photograph: Thomas De Bruyne/Five AMFacebook Twitter Pinterest Market707, Toronto This Canadian street food and retail market is part of Scadding Court Community Centre’s ‘ Business out of the Box ’ initiative to support low-income entrepreneurs by providing them with refurbished shipping containers that are brightly painted and retrofitted to the vendors’ needs. Photograph: Vince Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty ImagesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Guardian sustainable business Redesigning Cities Design Recycling'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/gallery/2017/apr/23/shipping-container-architecture-in-pictures'|'2017-04-23T17:09:00.000+03:00' '94a5d5f5e76a9b6e3105968e74e24a1eee4781fe'|'Puerto Rico oversight board approves GDB liquidation plan'|'By Nick Brown - NEW YORK NEW YORK Puerto Rico''s financial oversight board on Friday approved a fiscal plan for the struggling U.S. territory''s Government Development Bank, which would wind down the bank''s operations over 10 years.The oversight board, appointed under the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, also approved turnaround plans for the island''s highway and water authorities, as well as power utility PREPA, though those approvals were contingent on changes the agencies must make in the next several weeks.The GDB, which had served as the island''s primary fiscal agent, has been a shell entity since April 2016, when Puerto Rico''s former governor declared a state of emergency at the bank. The bank defaulted on $422 million of debt the following month.Board member David Skeel said it was "with sadness" that the GDB be wound down, "but I think it’s the most effective way to disentangle GDB from the rest of the economy."PREPA, which last month reached a deal with its own creditors to restructure $8.9 billion in debt, was told by the board to tweak its plan to ensure it can lower customer rates to 21 cents per kilowatt hour by 2023.Water authority PRASA, whose plan will seek to reduce a 10-year funding gap of $3.5 billion, was ordered to raise rates, while highway authority HTA must alter its blueprint to address its fiscal sustainability asset by asset.HTA must also come up with better solutions for losses at its mass transit system, the board said.Puerto Rico is trying to escape a crisis marked by $70 billion in debt, a 45 percent poverty rate and unemployment more than twice the U.S. average. It faces a deadline on Monday to either reach debt restructuring deals with creditors or open itself up to lawsuits from those creditors.It could also file a so-called Title III proceeding, an in-court restructuring process akin to U.S. bankruptcy, which would protect it from lawsuits.At Friday''s meeting, the board adopted a mechanism to file a Title III proceeding for the island or its public agencies without holding a public meeting.(Reporting by Nick Brown; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-puertorico-debt-oversightboard-idINKBN17U1ZG'|'2017-04-28T11:43:00.000+03:00' 'd1d2d81ab8d9193f0be40eed8d795362390a4716'|'Possible $440 million sale to Israel of naval guns approved -Pentagon'|'WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale to Israel of 76mm naval guns and technical support worth an estimated $440 million, a Pentagon agency said on Friday.The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement it had notified Congress of the State Department decision to allow the possible sale of the 13 naval guns by DRS North America, a subsidiary of Italy''s Leonardo SpA ( LDOF.MI ).(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-pentagon-leonardo-idINKBN17U2RF'|'2017-04-28T16:55:00.000+03:00' '5d47b9a1cc4a4ee4859a94344811002dddac95ac'|'A spring in ir step: French businesses relish the prospect of President Macron'|'THE likely election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s president, in a run-off vote on May 7th, has corporate leaders in a state of high anticipation. French politicians with business experience rarely prosper. It is nearly half a century since Georges Pompidou won office in 1969 on the back of a private-sector career partly at Rothschild, an investment bank. The sitting president, François Hollande, roused voters in 2012 by declaring that his “true enemy” was the world of finance. Mr Macron’s own stint at Rothschild, advising on mergers from 2008 to 2012, included handling a $12bn acquisition of a unit of Pfizer, a pharma firm, by Nestlé, a consumer-goods giant.Markets rose and bond yields fell after Mr Macron won the first round on April 23rd. His second-round opponent, Marine Le Pen of the far right, dismays business—one investor admits re-registering his firm as European rather than French, the better to shift headquarters were she to win. But Mr Macron is favourite.Latest updates A What people want at the end of life Graphic detail 16 hours ago See all updates A chief of a big firm headquartered in Paris speaks of new optimism for France’s economy if Mr Macron wins. Business indicators are improving; measures of corporate confidence in particular have been ticking up for a while (see chart). A survey by IHS Markit, on April 21st, showed the tenth consecutive monthly increase in private firms’ activity. French purchasing managers clock in as markedly more bullish than German ones. The economy has been showing modest vim: GDP figures for the first quarter, out on April 28th, are expected to register year-on-year growth of 1.3%, up from 1.1% in the previous quarter.Mr Macron would cut corporation tax and public spending (though less than one rival, François Fillon, promised) and simplify a messy, expensive pensions system. Just as important for business, he promises to build on his previous efforts during a stint as economy minister to ease rigid labour markets that keep unemployment high. Caps on severance pay to fired employees and limits to legal processes that can reverse lay-offs are a priority for firms. Though Mr Macron has said he would not touch France’s 35-hour working week, brought in by the Socialists in 2000-02, he wants a German-style approach to labour relations, letting individual companies negotiate directly with unions, rather than accept national bargains. That would lessen the influence of national, often militant, unions on more moderate local ones.Beyond that, his plans to cut France’s high tax burden (the state spends 57% of GDP, more than any other big rich country) also cheers businesspeople and investors. Changes could be designed to send capital to smaller firms, such as the tech startups Mr Macron has championed in the past. Though he would not scrap France’s wealth tax, he would exclude financial assets from it. By also capping taxes on capital gains, he would make it more attractive to invest in local firms, reckons Ross McInnes, chairman of Safran, a big aeronautical and defence firm. “Family-owned and startup businesses can really benefit.”A worry for business as well as for Mr Macron’s supporters is that as a political outsider he may find it hard to get things done in office. His movement, En Marche! (“On the Move!”), may not secure a majority at the parliamentary elections to be held in June. Yet he is a vastly happier prospect than Ms Le Pen. Her populist wishlist includes talk of getting France out of the euro and imposing import taxes to discourage trade. The greatest service that Mr Macron can provide to corporate France, in other words, would be keeping her out. "A spring in their step"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721436-his-greatest-service-french-companies-would-be-keeping-out-marine-le-pen-french-businesses?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'd3c26d20a5655ceded619d14254266ed9198041c'|'Shares in Saudi''s Alawwal Bank and SABB surge after merger talks'|'DUBAI Shares in Saudi Arabia''s Alawwal Bank 1040.SE rose 9 percent in early trading on Wednesday after it agreed to start talks with Saudi British Bank 1060.SE (SABB) about a merger that could create the kingdom''s third biggest bank with assets of nearly $80 billion.Shares in SABB increased 6.8 percent in early trading after the two lenders announced the merger plans late on Tuesday.Most other Saudi bank stocks also rose.Muhammad Faisal Potrik, head of research at Riyad Capital, said the merger could be a precursor to the start of an M&A trend in the banking and other sectors such as petrochemicals, insurance and retail."We would view completion of this merger as a very positive development," he said.(Reporting By Tom Arnold and Celine Aswad; additional reporting by Katie Paul)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alawwal-bank-m-a-sabb-idUSKBN17S0MN'|'2017-04-26T11:23:00.000+03:00' '1ec4ae5a90795a1853ca6deb71cb1c75b9872b5c'|'MOVES-Deutsche Bank names Weir head of US par loan trading, hires Rowan'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 6:17pm EDT MOVES-Deutsche Bank names Weir head of US par loan trading, hires Rowan By Kristen Haunss - NEW YORK, April 25 NEW YORK, April 25 Deutsche Bank has named Mike Weir head of US par loan trading, according to sources. Weir, who is based in New York, joined the bank in 2014, according to FINRA BrokerCheck and a news release from that time. He replaces Michael Eilert who left earlier this year to join Credit Suisse as head of US par loan trading, replacing Brad Capadona who left to join Jefferies. Deutsche Bank has hired Garret Rowan for loan trading. Rowan was previously a trader at US Bank, according to BrokerCheck. To round out the group, the bank is moving Liz Bodisch, a loan salesperson, to the trading desk, sources said. A Deutsche Bank spokesperson declined to comment. Loan trading has been on a tear with US$174.5bn of volume in the first quarter, just shy of the US$175.5bn traded in the fourth quarter of 2014, the most volume in six years, according to IHS Markit data. (Reporting by Kristen Haunss; Editing By Jon Methven)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deutsche-weir-moves-idUSL1N1HX2AR'|'2017-04-26T06:17:00.000+03:00' '6d2a8fd60edd998b845fbd82ff6fc037576e0164'|'BHP Billiton puts U.S. shale gas assets on the block again'|'By James Regan - SYDNEY SYDNEY BHP Billiton has put its Fayetteville shale gas assets in the United States back on the block, the world''s largest miner said on Wednesday, as it seeks to focus on more lucrative opportunities in oil.BHP first tried to sell the Fayetteville assets more than two years ago, having made the shale gas investment in 2011 before writing it down by $2.8 billion a year later after gas prices dropped.But it shelved the idea of a sale in February 2015, saying at the time it planned to "maximize value" of the assets. BHP valued the business at $919 million at the end of 2016, according to its annual accounts.In a corporate operations review published on Wednesday, BHP said the gas-rich Fayetteville field in Arkansas was under review and that it was now "considering all options, including divestment".Macquarie Bank analysts in a note said divestment of Fayetteville was the most likely course of action.Analysts have linked the revived sale to activist investor Elliott Management''s call earlier this month for BHP to spin off its petroleum division, much as BHP did with the aluminum and other non-core operations when it created South 32 in 2015. BHP has rejected the call by Elliott, which claims to hold a 4.1 percent interest in BHP''s U.K-listed shares.BHP on Wednesday denied any link between Elliott''s move and prospects for Fayetteville including divestment, and said the move was instead part of an ongoing review.Within the petroleum business, BHP has long made it clear it intends to focus on liquid products in the United States, a more lucrative business than dry gas.In February, it agreed to spend $2.2 billion to fund its share of investment for the second phase of the Mad Dog oilfield in the Gulf of Mexico.(Reporting by James Regan; Additional reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Clara Ferreira Marques and Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-output-shale-idINKBN17S0CV'|'2017-04-26T02:41:00.000+03:00' '68c2b6caa498bb3b8439e74aab8aa1f4ba9a9a40'|'European ride service Gett buys U.S. rival Juno for $200 million'|'By Heather Somerville - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO European ride service Gett has bought U.S. rival Juno for $200 million in a deal that further consolidated the ride-hailing industry and that some said short-changed Juno drivers.Gett, an on-demand ride service that is a partner of automaker Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ), said on Wednesday it had bought New York-based startup Juno. The transaction grows Gett''s driver roster and geographical footprint, and better positions it to compete with bigger companies such as Lyft and Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL].Gett will acquire all of Juno''s existing business, including drivers and employees. Juno operates only in New York, while Gett is in more than 100 cities, mainly in the United Kingdom, Russia and Israel. Gett drivers and Juno drivers will in the short term drive on separate platforms, each company keeping its own brand, but eventually they will be combined into a single platform, said Gett spokeswoman Jacqui Wimberly.Juno had positioned itself as a more driver-friendly alternative to Uber, offering its operators stock options in the company when they signed on. But with the acquisition, those restricted stock units, or RSUs, will become nearly worthless.Ryan Price, executive director of the Independent Drivers Guild, which advocates for Juno operators, said in an email that the company was "leaving the drivers who helped build the company with next to nothing."A spokeswoman for Juno did not immediately respond to a request for comment."Juno sold its ''employees'' (drivers) on equity which ultimately won''t be worth jack," Anand Sanwal, chief executive of venture capital research firm CB Insights, tweeted on Wednesday.(Reporting by Heather Somerville; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-rideshare-gett-idINKBN17S2PS'|'2017-04-26T17:47:00.000+03:00' 'c64d5dc99f4015532a56f55ce06d6d7181c39469'|'Chongqing Steel warns of bankruptcy after creditor goes to court'|'SHANGHAI, April 25 China''s debt-stricken Chongqing Iron and Steel Company warned of the risk of bankruptcy on Tuesday, after one of its creditors submitted an application to a local court to reorganise its assets.Chongqing Steel said in a notice posted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the creditor, identified as Chongqing Laiquyuan Trading, told a court on Monday that the southwest China-based steelmaker''s assets were not sufficient to pay off all its debts."If the court formally accepts the application for reorganisation...(Chongqing Steel) will be exposed to the risk of declaration of bankruptcy," it said.The firm, which has blamed its predicament on China''s economic downturn, industrial overcapacity, soaring labour costs and low steel prices, has tried to expand into more profitable sectors and ditch its steelmaking assets, which operate at a loss.But it said last week that there was "great uncertainty" whether its restructuring plans could proceed, with the firm struggling to reach an agreement with its main creditors.Chongqing Steel''s audited net profits and assets were negative for both 2015 and 2016, and if they remain the same this year, the Shanghai Stock Exchange will suspend trading in the company''s shares, it said.The firm''s former deputy general manager, Dong Ronghua, was put under investigation by China''s graft-busting agency late last year for unspecified "serious disciplinary violations".(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-chongqing-steel-idINL4N1HX1PG'|'2017-04-25T01:39:00.000+03:00' 'b0779af7ca2a0b92dea2b766067f73446b76206a'|'EU lawmakers vote to make YouTube fight online hate speech'|'Company 17am EDT EU lawmakers vote to make YouTube fight online hate speech * Vote to make video-sharing platforms fight hate speech * Netflix, Amazon to face 30 pct quota for European works * Member states could ask them to help finance EU films By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS, April 25 Video-sharing platforms such as Google''s YouTube and Vimeo will have to take measures to protect citizens from content containing hate speech and incitement to violence under measures voted by EU lawmakers on Tuesday. The proliferation of hate speech and fake news on social media has led to companies coming under increased pressure to take it down quickly, while internet campaigners have warned an excessive crackdown could endanger freedom of speech. Members of the culture committee in the European Parliament voted on a legislative proposal that covers everything from 30 percent quotas for European works on video streaming websites such as Netflix to advertising times on TV to combating hate speech. The lawmakers approved an amendment that would define video-sharing platforms as services or a "dissociable section of a wider service" that "play a significant role in providing programmes and user-generated videos to the general public, in order to inform, entertain or educate," which could include social media networks including Facebook and Twitter that also carry videos. "Social media should not be regulated through the back door. Tackling hate speech on social media is important, but the CULT (culture) committee should not jump the gun by adopting a far-reaching definition of video sharing platforms without any proper impact assessment," said Marietje Schaake, a member of the Liberals group of the parliament. While the proposal voted by the parliament will need to be discussed and eventually agreed with EU member states in the Council of the EU, the latter has also extended the scope of the law to cover social media companies. Video-sharing platforms will have to take "appropriate, proportionate and efficient measures" to protect all citizens from content containing incitement to undermine human dignity or incitement to violence or hatred. NETFLIX QUOTAS The lawmakers also voted to increase the quotas for European films and TV shows on video streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to 30 percent from 20 percent, as originally proposed by the European Commission. "Many video on demand platforms already fulfil a quota of over 20 percent, but this percentage should be increased," said Sabine Verheyen, the lawmaker steering the plans through the Brussels legislature. Member states will also be able to require video on demand platforms to contribute financially to the production of European works in the country where they are established and also where they target audiences. In the latter case, the financial contributions will be based only on the revenues services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video earn in the targeted state. (Reporting by Julia Fioretti; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-hatespeech-idUSL8N1HX40C'|'2017-04-25T20:17:00.000+03:00' '99d5bb08687768b0c74b043e730eaf48490c3100'|'Gucci revival, YSL drive surge in Kering first-quarter sales'|'By Dominique Vidalon - PARIS PARIS French luxury group Kering delivered a record 28.6 percent increase in first-quarter comparable sales on Tuesday, beating market expectations, as a revival in its biggest brand Gucci accelerated and Yves Saint Laurent outperformed.Kering''s strong sales provided further evidence of a recovery in the wider luxury market, partly in response to a rebound in China''s appetite for luxury fashions after a slowdown.Rival LVMH earlier this month reported like-for-like quarterly sales growth of 13 percent.First-quarter comparable sales at Gucci, which makes over 60 percent of Kering''s profit, rose 48.3 percent, with all products and regions contributing to the rise. They beat analysts'' expectations of 21.4 percent growth.Gucci, under the leadership of designer Alessandro Michele and Chief Executive Marco Bizzarri since early 2015, has revamped its stores and adopted a new luxury aesthetic that has proved popular with customers.Its new vintage styles include rich floral prints reminiscent of the 1970s as well as eccentric contemporary style such as kangaroo fur loafers or a rhinestone-covered bodysuit recently worn by Rihanna at the Coachella music festival in the United States."We are seeing a very strong appetite from the public for Michele''s collections," Finance Chief Jean-Marc Duplaix told a conference call, also highlighting the Dionysus bag as a popular product.Gucci also benefited from favourable comparisons with the year-ago quarter and Duplaix said growth would "normalise" in coming quarters though the brand would continue to outperform the luxury market.Yves Saint Laurent, which accounts for over 10 percent of Kering''s luxury sales, posted comparable sales growth of 33.4 percent, with new designer Anthony Vaccarello at the helm since April 2016, also beating expectations of 19 percent growth.Duplaix said there were waiting lists for some products at Yves Saint Laurent.Sales at Bottega Veneta rose 2.3 percent, the first increase since the fourth quarter of 2015, amid improving tourism spending in Europe and also stronger demand in Asia.Analysts polled by Inquiry Financial for Reuters had looked for group comparable sales growth of 13.6 percent in the first quarter 2017 against 10.4 percent growth in the fourth quarter 2016.(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by John Irish and Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/kering-results-idINKBN17S0SR'|'2017-04-26T16:31:00.000+03:00' '2882712e1f226324c23ac0badeca9170e5a8d87a'|'Insurance broker Swinton to cut 900 jobs'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 5:45pm BST Insurance broker Swinton to cut 900 jobs LONDON British insurance broker Swinton Group may cut 900 jobs and close 85 branches, the firm said on Wednesday, in response to the fact that 90 percent of its customers now buy insurance online or by phone. Swinton has begun a review of 84 branches and a further centre in Norwich, in the east of England, it said in a statement. "The review is likely to result in a reduction of around 900 roles by the end of the year," the firm said, adding that it would begin a formal consultation with staff over the plans. "Where possible, affected staff will be deployed into other parts of the business." High street banks in Britain have also been cutting branches and jobs, as customers switch to online banking. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-jobs-swinton-idUKKBN17S2CQ'|'2017-04-27T00:45:00.000+03:00' '679539541a3c45bf526228147a7997b77297aa8e'|'Pfeiffer Vacuum recommends not to accept Busch takeover offer'|'Deals - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 2:19am EDT Pfeiffer Vacuum recommends not to accept Busch takeover offer FRANKFURT German pump maker Pfeiffer Vacuum ( PV.DE ) said on Monday its management and supervisory board advised shareholders not to accept an improved takeover offer by rival Busch Group. Busch in late March announced a 110 euro per share offer for Pfeiffer, valuing the group at around 1.1 billion euros ($1.20 billion), after a previous approach failed. Pfeiffer has criticized Busch for still not offering a premium over the current share price, which stood at 116.90 euros at Friday''s close, valuing Pfeiffer at around 1.15 billion euros. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan, editing by Louise Heavens) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pfeiffer-vacuum-m-a-busch-idUSKBN17Q0FN'|'2017-04-24T14:17:00.000+03:00' 'afdb0a265f7c461ce517c5a751f836ce79eafff0'|'UPDATE 1-Amec Foster''s full-year pretax loss doubles to 542 mln stg'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:52am EDT UPDATE 1-Amec Foster''s full-year pretax loss doubles to 542 mln stg (Adds details) April 25 British oil and gas services company Amec Foster Wheeler Plc, which is being bought by John Wood Group Plc, said its full-year losses more than doubled as oil companies continued to delay or cancel service contracts. "We continue to expect another year of decline in oil and gas activity in 2017 and for solar activity to reduce significantly from the record levels seen in 2016," CEO John Lewis said in a statement. Oil and gas producers have been cutting costs and delaying projects and contracts, translating to lower demand for oilfield services, with drilling activity yet to pick up after crude prices tumbled from a peak of over $100 a barrel in 2014. However, a recent uptick above $50 a barrel has spurred output, especially in the United States, and Amec Foster has been looking to capitalise on the rise in demand for U.S. offshore and shale oil rigs. The company''s loss before tax widened to 542 million pounds ($693.8 million), compared with a pretax loss of 235 million pounds a year earlier. Amec Foster reported a 15 percent fall in its full-year adjusted trading profit at 318 million pounds for the year ended Dec. 31. Revenue of 5.44 billion pounds was in line with the trading update provided by the company on March 13. Shares in the company were down about 1 percent at 0833 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. ($1 = 0.7813 pounds) (Reporting by Sanjeeban Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/amec-foster-wheeler-results-idUSL4N1HX2N9'|'2017-04-25T15:52:00.000+03:00' 'd1dfd417d0d9211a8236999188bd744008920bc3'|'JetBlue operating revenue just misses estimates'|'NEW YORK, April 25 JetBlue Airways Corp on Tuesday reported first-quarter operating revenue of $1.60 billion, versus a consensus analyst expectation of $1.62 billion.Operating revenue per available seat mile decreased 4.8 percent to 11.81 cents from a year earlier. "We took quick actions in the first quarter to address RASM trends that were below our expectations," JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes said in a statement.(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/jetblueairways-results-idINASA09K24'|'2017-04-25T09:55:00.000+03:00' '48ace0f28739750e25e20b7e896cdddbb7dcbb6e'|'Citigroup gets Saudi Arabia capital markets licence'|'Company News 49am EDT Citigroup gets Saudi Arabia capital markets licence By Steve Slater LONDON, April 25 (IFR) - Saudi Arabia has awarded a licence to Citigroup to allow it to provide a full range of investment banking and capital markets services, the US bank said on Tuesday. It will see Citigroup return to Saudi Arabia after an absence of nearly 13 years and comes at a crucial time: investment opportunities are opening as the kingdom diversifies its economy away from oil under its National Transformation Plan. The government is preparing to list up to 5% of oil giant Saudi Aramco in an initial public share offering that could raise as much as US$100bn. Citigroup said the Saudi Arabian Capital Market Authority (CMA) granted a licence to Citigroup Saudi Arabia, which will provide a full range of investment banking, debt and equity capital markets, markets, and securities research capabilities to its local and international institutional clients. "Saudi Arabia is a regional economic leader and a strategically important market for Citi,” said Jim Cowles, Citigroup’s CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Citigroup has been present in the Arab world since 1955 and offers full scale corporate and investment banking services. But it pulled out of Saudi Arabia in 2004 when it sold its 20% stake in Samba Financial Group, saying then it was reallocating capital to core investments. (Reporting by Steve Slater)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/citigroup-gets-saudi-arabia-capital-mark-idUSL8N1HX5MO'|'2017-04-25T22:49:00.000+03:00' '0991c02a48a321c526c1c12b2db93c6ac94bef24'|'EU mergers and takeovers (April 25)'|'BRUSSELS, April 25 The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS-- French media company Bollore to acquire control of French company Vivendi (approved April 24)NEW LISTINGS-- Investment companies TPG and Oaktree to take joint control over Britain''s Iona Energy Co, which owns 75 percent of two undeveloped oil fields in the North Sea and that will be active in crude oil production and sale (notified April 20/deadline May 31/simplified)-- Aircraft engine and aerospace equipment company Safran and China Eastern Airlines Co. Ltd. to form joint venture to provide aircraft maintenance in China (notified April 21/deadline June 1/simplified)-- Energy company Electricite de France, French state-owned bank Caisse des depots et consignations and Japan''s Mitsubishi Corporation to create new joint venture NGM to finance electric mobility projects mainly in France (notified April 21/deadline June 1/simplified)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGESNoneFIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEMAY 5-- Banking services platform Pillarstone to acquire holding company Famar which has activities in the pharmaceutical industry (notified March 27/deadline May 5/simplified)MAY 8-- Swiss car importer Emil Frey France to acquire French car parts distributor PGA Group SAS from German carmaker Volkswagen Group (notified March 28/deadline May 8/simplified)MAY 10-- Toyota Industries Europe to acquire Vive, the parent company of Dutch industrial company Vanderlande Industries Holding B.V (notified March 29/deadline May 10/simplified)MAY 12-- Taiwan''s Ennoconn, which is part of electronics maker Foxconn, to increase its stake in Austrian IT group S&T (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- French media group Vivendi to acquire de facto sole control of Italy''s Telecom Italia (notified March 31/deadline May 12)-- German car makers BMW, Daimler and Porsche AG and U.S. peer Ford Motor Co to acquire control of a joint venture (notified March 31/deadline May 12/simplified)-- U.S. chemicals group Riechhold and Black Diamond Capital to acquire Italian polymers maker Polynt which is owned by Italian private equity group Investindustrial (notified March 17/deadline May 12/commitments offered March 17)-- Singapore-based tech communications company Broadcom AVGO.O to acquire U.S. networking switches and software maker Brocade (notified March 17/ deadline extended to May 12 from April 26)MAY 15-- Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Canada''s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSPIB) to jointly acquire a portfolio of office and retail properties in New Zealand which is now solely controlled by PSPIB (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm Bain Capital to acquire UK company MKM Building Supplies Ltd (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- Private equity firm KKR and Spanish telecoms provider Telefonica tp acquire joint control of Spanish telecoms infrastructure provider Telxius (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)-- German conglomerate Peter Cremer Holding to acquire 50 percent of Koenig Transportgesellschaft from German logistics company HaGe Logistik GmbH (notified April 3/deadline May 15/simplified)MAY 16-- Volkswagen Financial Services to acquire 50.98 percent of German tank and service cards provide Logpay Transport Services from Logpay Financial Services (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)-- Finnish pension fund ELO Mutual Pension Insurance Company and Swedish peer Forsta AP-fonden to jointly acquire several Finnish property portfolio (notified April 4/deadline May 16/simplified)MAY 18-- French insurer Axa and French state-owned bank Caisse des Depots et Consignations to jointly acquire two commerical lots in a shopping centre (notified April 6/deadline May 18/simplified)MAY 19-- Italian cinema operator The Space Cinema, which is controlled by Vue International Holdco Ltd, and Italian peer UCI Italian S.p.A. which is part of Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- German industrial gas producer Linde and Russian power generation equipment maker PJSC Power Machines to set up a joint venture (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)-- U.S. packaging company WestRock to acquire U.S. peer Multi Packaging Solutions (notified April 7/deadline May 19)-- Asset manager Ares Management L.P. and investment firm The Baupost Group to jointly acquire German shopping mall operator Prejan Enerprises Ltd (notified April 7/deadline May 19/simplified)MAY 22-- Investment firms Cinven Capital Management and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire joint control of Travel Holdings Parent Corporation (notified April 10/deadline May 22)May 23-- KKR & Co. and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec to acquire Onex Corp.''s USI Insurance Services (notified April 11/deadline May 23)MAY 24-- French commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Company and Brazilian soy processor-exporter Amaggi to sell a 33 percent stake in their joint venture in Brazil to Japan-based Zen-Noh (notified April 12/deadline May 24/simplified)-- American healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to acquire Swiss biotech company Actelion (notified April 12/deadline May 24)-- Investment company Nordic Capital to acquire credit management services company Intrum Justitia (notified April 12/deadline May 24)MAY 29-- French EDF to acquire equipment and fuel manufacturing company Areva (notified April 18/deadline May 29)MAY 31-- Manufacturing and technology company General Electric''s Oil & Gas to acquire oilfield services company Baker Hughes (notified April 20/deadline May 31)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working days to 35 working days, to consider either a company''s proposed remedies or an EU member state''s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90 additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as non-simplified - that is, ordinary first-stage reviews - until they are approved. (Reporting by Waverly Colville)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eu-ma-idINL8N1HX2V4'|'2017-04-25T13:06:00.000+03:00' '58785e2acabe476d4f1e2fb28fb7607d38cc84ea'|'Democracy campaigner: governments are scared of the participation revolution - Global Development Professionals Network'|' 09.00 BST Last modified on 11.42 BST D anny Sriskandarajah is charged with the job of looking out for countries where governments are cracking down on NGOs or on grassroots groups. Two years ago his organisation Civicus launched a monitor which tracks threats or infringements of the right to freedom of association, freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, both for grassroots, voluntary organisations, and for the larger professionalised NGOs. “In the last four years things have changed so dramatically,” he says. “In 2013 we would be issuing press statements or alerts about Russia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, countries where you’d expect to see this sort of thing. But over the last few years we’ve been issuing alarms about the UK, US, Hungary and Poland. What’s begun to emerge is that we really think there is a global emergency around civil space, that for a variety of reasons governments and sometimes non-state actors are going out of their way to shut down the ability of citizens to collectively organise and mobilise.” There is a global emergency around civil space Red flags have been flying for a couple of years now. Doug Rutzen, head of the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law says: “Since January 2012, more than 140 laws have been proposed or enacted by governments in 65 countries around the world aimed at restricting the registration, operation, and funding of NGOs.” Alarm bells began to seriously ring for Sriskandarajah when India moved to tighten up restrictions on foreign funding for NGOs. In 2014 a leaked report by India’s Intelligence Bureau had accused NGOs of reducing India’s GDP; over the next year under prime minister Narendra Modi, the government cracked down on foreign funding for organisations like Greenpeace and the Ford Foundation. “This was a real wake up call,” he says. “Firstly this was the world’s largest democracy, and a country still in need financially of foreign aid. But the political arguments the government was making around demonising civil society were being won easily. Indian civil society just wasn’t responding at the political level to challenge what the government was saying and doing.” In the last couple of years, he observes, the same pattern has been playing out in the west. In the UK for example a number of moves by the government – “the lobbying act [which limits the amount that charities can spend on political campaigning], gagging clauses on NGOs, undercover surveillance by police officers, the well-documented extra restrictions on muslim charities …” have come at the same time as a sustained campaign against aid by the right-wing press , and aid organisations have been oddly unable to make the case for themselves. Journalist Ian Birrell, who has been a steadfast critic of the aid sector in the UK, is not convinced that there is a global emergency. “I always think we need to be careful not to be over-pessimistic when the world is advancing at such pace.” But he does agree that several countries are going backwards, “imposing rigid restrictions on NGOs to weaken human rights and pro-democracy groups that seek to challenge authoritarian regimes. We have seen this from Russia through to India. Perhaps the most alarming one I have observed with people I have worked with is in Egypt, where Donald Trump’s new friend Sisi has proved significantly more repressive than Mubarak and severely limited the space for civic society on pretext of stability. This has ended up with amazing human rights activists, including people I have worked with, ending up in jail or forced to dampen essential activities.” He cautions that “we should be very careful bracketing the UK with such places, given the freedoms that we enjoy. This feels pretty insulting to those risking their lives in other countries who are fighting for things we take for granted.” Trump’s election has bolstered some countries, which seem to think ''we can do what we like now'' Deborah Doane, Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society But for most it is clear that this problem is coming west. Deborah Doane, a director at Funders’ Initiative for Civil Society , says the threat to civic space in the west is growing stronger by the day. She says “Trump’s election has bolstered countries, with many now effectively saying we can do what we like now... Hungary’s most recent clampdown on academic freedom through effectively closing Central Eastern European University is a case in point. They’re also bringing in another NGO restrictive law, expected to pass in a couple of weeks.” And in the US, says James Savage, programme officer at the Fund for Global Human Rights , Trump is a huge issue. “Everyone is still trying to work out what this will mean for democracy and human rights support by the US.” Within the States, Savage points out, there are “approximately 12 bills legislating on assembly and expression currently being proposed in Indiana, Minnesota, Washington, and other states”. And the media criticism of aid organisations, seen in the UK and India, is now happening in the US. The rightwing press are focusing on the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundation, accusing them of funding protests , while the president is extremely receptive to stories from that end of the media. So why is this happening? Professionalised NGOs have played their own role, concede Doane and Sriskandarajah. “Human rights has always been a battle,” says Doane. “As we professionalised civil society, we lost sight of what we’re fighting for. We treated development as charity and about mere provision of services, and the recognition of rights was put by the wayside by many.” But Sriskandarajah points out a more important theme: the internet: “At a time when established political institutions are losing trust the world over, they’re organising in very different ways with the digital tools at their disposal. That poses a fundamental threat the world over to established power. “It may well be that we are at the beginning of a kind of participation revolution. People have this unmet thirst for being able take part, beyond elections every few years and beyond nominating their party candidate.” He gives the example of the recent petition to stop Trump coming to the UK . “We may be at the beginning of a much more chaotic, distributed daily politics. So you could argue that what we’re seeing is the pushback on the ability of citizens to mobilise because knowingly or unknowingly the people in power recognise how potentially destabilising it is.” Sriskandarajah points out that when he meets politicians or officials, at heart their complaint is that “we – civil society organisations – lack legitimacy. That’s their charge. They believe they have the monopoly. But the fact is that you can’t put the participation genie back into the bottle. We have to come up with new ways of coming to terms of how people are organising.” Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow @GuardianGDP on Twitter. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/25/democracy-campaigner-governments-are-scared-of-the-participation-revolution'|'2017-04-25T17:00:00.000+03:00' '411d01bd45985d83e181311bf36fc0f8df070278'|'AstraZeneca moving costs rise as new headquarter nears completion'|' 2:06pm BST AstraZeneca moving costs rise as new HQ nears completion FILE PHOTO: The logo of AstraZeneca is seen on medication packages in a pharmacy in London April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth/File Photo By Ben Hirschler - LONDON LONDON AstraZeneca''s move to the English university city of Cambridge will cost more and take longer than initially expected, following increased expenditure on new technology and equipment. Investment in Cambridge, where AstraZeneca is building a strategic R&D center and global corporate headquarters, is now expected to be more than 500 million pounds ($640 million), the drugmaker said on Tuesday. Staff are set to start moving into the new building from 2018, with the site fully operational in 2019. Back in 2013, when the scheme was first unveiled, the cost was put at 330 million pounds and the aim was to establish the center by 2016. For Chief Executive Pascal Soriot, the new site on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus symbolizes his desire to create a science-led company with uniquely close ties to academia. The University of Cambridge has a global reputation for life sciences and the town is a hub for biotech start-ups. More than 2,000 AstraZeneca staff are already located in the Cambridge area. Speaking at a "topping out" ceremony to mark completion of the new building''s concrete frame, Soriot said the site "embodies AstraZeneca''s innovation-led transformation". The premises will feature open laboratories with transparent glass walls and will also house a joint research center with the state-backed Medical Research Council, where partnering scientists will work side-by-side with AstraZeneca researchers. The center will be AstraZeneca''s largest site globally for oncology research, as well as housing scientists focused on respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. The shift to Cambridge coincides with an overhaul of the group''s drug pipeline, where investor attention is focused on forthcoming data from a pivotal lung cancer trial. Initial results from the so-called MYSTIC immunotherapy study are expected mid-year. Three years after spurning a takeover bid from Pfizer, AstraZeneca is going through the biggest "cliff" of patent expiries the drug industry has ever seen, wiping off more than half of its sales - or $17 billion - in 2011-2017. Soriot is mapping a new route to profits by focusing on specialty drugs such as cancer treatments. ($1 = 0.7806 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-astrazeneca-cambridge-idUKKBN17R1MR'|'2017-04-25T21:04:00.000+03:00' 'e52fd90f1c6693d8418422c73a7ddc9261f1f42d'|'Vopak and Exmar call off FSRU deal'|'Dutch oil and chemical storage company Vopak ( VOPA.AS ) and tanker operator Exmar ( EXMR.BR ) said on Wednesday that they had decided not to pursue the acquisition by Vopak of Exmar''s participation in Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) assets.The companies said in a statement that the deal depended on the consent of multiple stakeholders, and that they had concluded that this requirement would not be met.Shares in Exmar had risen more than 6 percent when the two companies signed an agreement in December. Talks were first announced in September.(Reporting by Alan Charlish. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-exmar-m-a-vopak-idINKBN17S2ED'|'2017-04-26T15:05:00.000+03:00' 'f765eb0df1783122999f4b3b4a1d1b1f7d4c9f47'|'PRECIOUS-Gold slips to 2-wk lows as rallying equities boost risk appetite'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 9:15pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold slips to 2-wk lows as rallying equities boost risk appetite April 26 Gold dipped on Wednesday to a two-week low after a near 1 percent decline in the previous session as increased investor appetite for risk boosted equities and dulled demand for safe-haven assets. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,261.36 per ounce by 0055 GMT. Prices touched a low of 1,260.90 earlier in the session, the lowest since April 11. * Bullion fell 0.9 percent on Tuesday, the biggest one-day decline since early March. * U.S. gold futures were down 0.3 percent at $1,262.90 an ounce. * Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth straight day on Wednesday as Wall Street hit new peaks. * The Nasdaq Composite hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of corporate America. * The U.S. military started moving parts of the controversial THAAD anti-missile defence system to a deployment site in South Korea on Wednesday amid high tensions over North Korea''s missile and nuclear programmes. * U.S. consumer confidence fell from a more than 16-year high in April, but a surge in new home sales to an eight-month high last month suggested underlying strength in the economy. * The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend appeared to recede on Tuesday after President Donald Trump backed away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. * Goldman Sachs, in a note on Monday, said it continues to expect gold to come under pressure in the near term on a potential rally in real interest rates following the expected unveiling of President Trump''s tax policies on Wednesday or later. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.69 percent to 854.25 tonnes on Tuesday. * China''s net-gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong more than doubled month-on-month in March, data showed on Tuesday. * Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co Ltd said its unit Gold One Group Ltd plans to invest up to $200 million to South Africa''s Sibanye Gold Ltd , while Sibanye''s shareholders a $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining . * Barrick Gold gave details on Tuesday of $500 million worth of improvements and expansions it is planning at its Veladero mine in Argentina over the next five years. * The price of silver will likely climb in 2017 and over the next several years, following through on 2016''s gains on renewed investor interest in precious metals, CPM Group said on Tuesday. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0645 France Consumer confidence April (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL4N1HY0S5'|'2017-04-26T09:15:00.000+03:00' '49618d4c10c8e175b0c9449735b6ac77a88d2be1'|'METALS-London copper buoyed as dollar drops'|'Company News 10:00pm EDT METALS-London copper buoyed as dollar drops SYDNEY, April 26 London copper held near its highest in a week on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar lost ground against the euro in the wake of the French election, making commodities more affordable for buyers paying with other currencies. FUNDAMENTALS * LME COPPER: London Metal Exchange copper edged up by 0.2 percent to $5,717 a tonne by 0128 GMT, adding to a 0.9 percent gain from the previous session. LME copper prices on Tuesday hit a one week top at $5,722 a tonne, recovering from near three-month lows hit on April 19. * SHFE COPPER: Shanghai Futures Exchange copper climbed 1 percent to 46,350 yuan ($6,735) a tonne. * The euro edged up after hitting a 5-1/2 month high on Tuesday as traders digested centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron''s victory in the first round of France''s presidential election on Sunday. * U.S. ECONOMY: U.S. consumer confidence fell from a more than 16-year high in April, but a surge in new home sales to an eight-month high last month suggested underlying strength in the economy despite an apparent sharp slowdown in growth in the first quarter. * BHP RESULTS: BHP Billiton, cut its full-year production guidance for coking coal and copper on Wednesday due to bad weather at mines in Australia and industrial action in Chile. Copper guidance was cut by 17 percent to a range of 1.33 million to 1.36 million tonnes. * BAUXITE: Riots have paralysed a major bauxite mining hub in Guinea, Africa''s top producer, as residents erected barricades and burned tyres to protest against high pollution levels and power cuts. * LME: The LME launched on Monday a discussion paper which includes standardising contracts to boost their appeal to financial market participants without undermining its core physical market business. * LME: The LME wants to attract funds and reverse falling volumes by boosting liquidity on monthly settled contracts using prices from trading on other dates, Matt Chamberlain, the LME''s new chief executive, told Reuters. * Asian stocks extended gains for a fifth straight day on Wednesday as Wall Street hit new peaks while the euro consolidated recent gains as immediate concerns of political uncertainty in the euro zone receded. * For the top stories in metals and other news, click or DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0645 France Consumer confidence for Apr BASE METALS PRICES Three month LME copper 5710.5 Most active ShFE copper 46310 Three month LME aluminium 1966 Most active ShFE aluminium 14470 Three month LME zinc 2612 Most active ShFE zinc 21610 Three month LME lead 2180 Most active ShFE lead 16140 Three month LME nickel 9320 Most active ShFE nickel 78220 Three month LME tin 19590 Most active ShFE tin 137540 BASE METALS ARBITRAGE LME/SHFE COPPER LMESHFCUc3 357.96 LME/SHFE ALUMINIUM LMESHFALc3 -1282.5 LME/SHFE ZINC LMESHFZNc3 176.75 LME/SHFE LEAD LMESHFPBc3 -1907.31 LME/SHFE NICKEL LMESHFNIc3 1548.56 ($1 = 6.8824 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL4N1HY1CV'|'2017-04-26T10:00:00.000+03:00' '61642bc0a07d16215a6cf4d4395713bda77fda04'|'Antofagasta posts higher first quarter output, 2017 guidance unchanged'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:30am BST Antofagasta posts higher first quarter output, 2017 guidance unchanged LONDON Chilean copper producer Antofagasta ( ANTO.L ) said on Wednesday copper production for the first quarter rose 9 percent on an improved performance at two of its mines and it kept its output target for the year unchanged. Copper production for the miner reached 171,900 tonnes, a 9.4 percent increase to a year ago but fell 16.4 percent compared to the previous quarter due to lower grades. Antofagasta stuck to its 2017 output target at 685,000-720,000 tonnes. (Reporting by Zandi Shabalala, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-antofagasta-results-idUKKBN17S0JH'|'2017-04-26T14:30:00.000+03:00' '092ed76139eb069826cbf75e087f658464364a34'|'NatWest closed my child’s savings account without telling me - Money'|'I recently noticed that my daughter’s Young Savers account, which was attached to my NatWest accounts, had disappeared from my online banking page. On calling the bank, I was told the account didn’t exist. Luckily, I managed to dig out an old statement, at which point NatWest agreed that it had existed but had been closed due to inactivity.The £3,161.66 that was in it had been withheld by the bank. I received no notification of this and the bank was unable to provide even basic information as to why the account was closed, or why the funds were not repaid. If I’d not been on the ball, I suspect the lost funds would have simply gone unnoticed! Is the Royal Bank of Scotland so desperate that it needs to take money from a seven-year-old? PL, Hounslow, MiddlesexNatWest, along with many other banks, deems an account dormant if it has been inactive for five years or more. The logic is that the account may be vulnerable to fraud if the owner is not keeping a close eye on it. If the account remains dormant for 15 years, the funds pass to the government’s Unclaimed Assets Scheme and are distributed to charitable causes, though they can be reclaimed at any time by the account holder. The extraordinary thing is that NatWest alerts holders of inactive accounts just once, by letter, warning them that their account is being suspended. If they don’t hear back within nine months the funds are removed.Once an account is dormant, it disappears from the central database accessed by call centre staff so they can’t see it. The bank says it is “looking at ways to improve how customers are contacted” and exploring revolutionary ideas, such as text or email. It has now repaid your daughter’s savings.If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.Topics Savings Your problems with Anna Tims Royal Bank of Scotland Saving money Consumer rights Consumer affairs Banks and building societies features Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/26/natwest-young-savers-account-closed-without-warning'|'2017-04-26T15:00:00.000+03:00' '57926e2dea82dc2bb57dad3b00190a744a114a89'|'Bend it like Baba: India''s Patanjali takes on Western consumer-goods firms'|'EXECUTIVES at firms selling consumer staples like to think of themselves as “marketing gurus”. But how many could actually contort themselves into the lotus position, let alone attempt a headstand? Such feats are nothing for the top brass at Patanjali, an Indian purveyor of toothpaste, cooking oil, herbal concoctions and much else. Fronted by a bona fide guru, the firm’s marketing strategy—play up the benefits of natural products, then paint foreign multinationals as latter-day imperialists—delivers over $1bn in annual sales, up tenfold in four years. Having dismissed the firm as a fad, the likes of Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever are emulating it.Baba Ramdev (pictured), an ascetic yogi who is the public face of the brand, makes for an unconventional capitalist symbol. But with Acharya Balkrishna, a devotee of his who serves as the firm’s boss and majority-owner, he has built a consumer-goods powerhouse that is vying with the business-school graduates at the multinationals. Starting out two decades ago as an apothecary of traditional Ayurvedic potions, Patanjali has expanded into personal care, home products, packaged food and more. Mr Ramdev’s beard and saffron robes are among India’s most widely seen corporate emblems.Latest updates A What people want at the end of life Graphic detail 16 hours ago See all updates Marketing textbooks suggest the firm should have stumbled a while back. Whereas multinationals such as Procter & Gamble spend heavily to advertise dozens of sub-brands, Patanjali grew by word of mouth and sells everything from detergent to cornflakes and hair oil under its own name. Established players outsource their manufacturing and sell through shops owned by third parties; Patanjali has its own plants and has built a network of thousands of exclusive, franchised stores across India. Its head office in Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is not in a place consultants would recommend.Nor would they have predicted the success of its formula—good quality and value plus indignant nationalism. Newspaper ads beseech customers to shake off the yoke of multinational firms in the way their forebears resisted Britain’s East India Company. A dash of cow urine in a handful of products, including soap and floor cleaner, burnishes its Hindu credentials.Patanjali’s rise coincides with the arrival in office of Narendra Modi, India’s yoga-loving prime minister, in 2014 (Mr Ramdev appeared at his political rallies). Its rhetoric is the business counterpart to the Modi government’s Hindu-first chauvinism. Opposition politicians have complained that Patanjali has enjoyed low prices for land in deals with state governments that are run by politicians allied to Mr Modi.The company is able to offer customers good value partly because it spends only 2-3% of revenues on advertising (consumer firms typically spend 12-18%). For many of its products, its modern plants use much the same machinery and inputs as its rivals, but cheaper staff. Lower costs mean operating margins of over 20% in its last published accounts (the firm is unlisted, and says it plans to stay that way), beating global firms.Soul trader Multinational and local rivals at first behaved as if Patanjali did not exist. But after its herbal toothpaste won a dedicated following, in 2015 Colgate launched an offering aimed at Patanjali, the first time in its nearly eight decades in India that it had marketed an explicitly local product. Unilever has a range of Ayurvedic shampoos. Nestlé added 25 products across food categories to ward off the beaming guru, but Patanjali is still coming close to matching its sales (see chart).Patanjali’s latest push is into food staples such as cooking oil and flour. There it will take market share from unbranded small-scale rivals rather than multinationals, which steer clear of such low-margin business. More products look likely to get the bearded yogi’s seal of approval. A line of purposely frumpy jeans for women is in the works; restaurants may be, too.Sceptics think the company is as big as it can get without becoming more like the multinationals it decries. It is starting to use some of their methods. Patanjali is distributing more of its products outside its own shop network. It is reportedly outsourcing more of its manufacturing, too. It is increasing its spending on advertising. Mr Balkrishna has considered expanding abroad.The firm may also face fiercer domestic competition in future. Other spiritual leaders have noted Patanjali’s success. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a guru with a big following among the urban middle classes who rivals Mr Ramdev for Mr Modi’s affections, is branching out from Ayurveda into food and personal care. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a self-proclaimed saint who packs out huge stadiums singing his techno hit “Love Charger”, is now in business too, selling more than 400 products. Others will follow. It does not take a marketing guru to figure out how easily followers can be turned into shoppers. "Bend it like Baba"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721440-baba-ramdev-has-spearheaded-billion-dollar-juggernaut-indias-patanjali-takes-western?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' '6882e3a135b14c9d78c7e7924359b56cf0e61b69'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 25'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 12:49am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 25 April 25 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request from General Motors Co to limit the fallout from its ignition-switch defect. The court denied the auto maker''s request to review a lower-court ruling that gave some victims'' families the power to sue over defective ignition switches. on.wsj.com/2q0rtqi - Express Scripts Holding Co said Monday it doesn''t expect Anthem Inc its biggest customer, to extend a pharmacy-benefits management agreement slated to expire at the end of 2019. on.wsj.com/2q0dC3z - Paint giant PPG Industries Inc on Monday raised its offer for Dutch rival Akzo Nobel NV to $26.4 billion, the U.S. firm''s third takeover attempt in a two-month-long, unsolicited courtship. on.wsj.com/2q05Ru5 - Aerospace parts maker Arconic Inc on Monday delayed its much-anticipated annual meeting and tried to defuse a long-running spat with activist investor Elliott Management Corp that last week forced the company''s chief executive to step down. on.wsj.com/2q00jjy - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it would roll out two software updates for its new Galaxy S8 smartphone this week after users complained of red-tinted screens and patchy Wi-Fi connections. on.wsj.com/2q0lwty (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL4N1HX20C'|'2017-04-25T12:49:00.000+03:00' '6f573f2789509dad4af926e8f843a975296c086a'|'DuPont reports lower quarterly profit on Dow deal charges'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 6:07am EDT DuPont reports lower quarterly profit on Dow deal charges April 25 Chemicals and seeds producer DuPont , which is merging with Dow Chemical Co, reported a slightly lower quarterly profit, hurt partly by one-time charges associated with their $130-billion merger. Net income attributable to DuPont fell to $1.11 billion, or $1.27 per share, in the first quarter, from $1.23 billion, or $1.39 per share, a year earlier. Net sales rose 4.6 percent to $7.74 billion. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/dupont-results-idUSL4N1HW4VN'|'2017-04-25T18:07:00.000+03:00' '296e3b6336017e76eb0247c3ad9cf001dd5a8862'|'Asian stocks near two-year high on U.S. optimism, euro steady'|' 6:52pm BST Global stocks advance on earnings; Canada dollar, Mexico peso weaken on NAFTA news left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/3 left right Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote 2/3 left right People are seen behind an electronic board showing stock prices at the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) in Tokyo, Japan, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 3/3 By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK Equities in major markets climbed on Wednesday as U.S. shares rose on strong earnings and potential tax cuts, while the dollar strengthened against the Mexican peso on the possibility of a U.S. withdrawal from the North American Free Trade Agreement. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who is leading U.S. President Donald Trump''s effort to craft a tax package that can pass Congress, described the plan as the "the biggest tax cut" in U.S. history and said he hoped it would attract broad support. "Expectations kind of sagged back to pre-election levels and now this tax rhetoric is rekindling investor optimism," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago. "Whether or not these plans come to pass is difficult to say. It is certainly not going to happen quickly." Thermo Fisher Electron, up 5.1 percent, and Edwards Lifesciences, up 9.8 percent, were among the biggest boosts to the benchmark S&P 500 index after results. The U.S. dollar strengthened against both the Mexican peso and Canadian dollar after a draft executive order to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement is under consideration, a senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday, confirming an earlier report from Politico. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45.82 points, or 0.22 percent, to 21,041.94, the S&P 500 gained 5.75 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,394.36 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.52 points, or 0.16 percent, to 6,035.01. The U.S. dollar gained 1.87 percent versus the Mexican peso at 19.20 per dollar. The greenback rose 0.25 percent versus the Canadian dollar at 1.36. The main Mexican and Canadian share indexes were both lower. European shares are at 20-month highs after a three-day rally sparked by centrist Emmanuel Macron''s win in the first round of French presidential elections, which considerably lessened the risk of a French exit from the single currency. Higher-than-expected earnings have also supported gains. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.4 percent, after touching its highest level since August 2015. MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.12 percent after hitting a high of 457.45, to set a record for a third straight session. Overall, first-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies were expected to rise 5.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. In comparison, S&P 500 companies in the U.S. are expected to show 11.4-percent earnings growth expected for the quarter. The euro euro was down 0.45 percent to $1.0876 after strengthening by more than 2 percent in the prior two sessions in the wake of the first round of French elections. The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend also receded after Trump backed away from demanding that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. U.S. Treasury prices were little changed ahead of the tax announcement after paring steep losses sustained in the last few sessions. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 1/32 in price to yield 2.3269 percent, from 2.329 percent late on Tuesday. Investors were also looking ahead to Thursday''s policy meeting of the European Central Bank. While no changes are expected, policymakers see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus, according to sources, another factor underpinning the single currency. (Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17S02J'|'2017-04-26T14:05:00.000+03:00' '1293a775499b2e0664062efe4be5457c593242a3'|'Lakeside homes – in pictures - Money'|'Share on Messenger Close Take a dip, fish, explore the woods or simply soak in the views – from Wales to France and Italy 07.00 BST Home: Tal-y-Llyn, Gwynedd Once a rectory, it lies at the foot of one mountain overlooking another across a Snowdonian lake. With permission from a nearby hotel which manages the water you can fish for brown trout, and walks round the perimeter start from the garden gate. Three of the four bedrooms are en suite and it’s earned its living over the past 12 years as a five-star bed and breakfast. There’s a self-contained studio in an adjoining annexe and, in the gardens, a sauna, shower and hot tub overlooking the watery vista. Guide price: £650,000. On the Market , 01341 297980 Home: Forthay, North Nibley, Gloucestershire This was built as a mill in a hidden valley, so water is the running theme culminating in a small lake with an island in the seven-acre grounds. The layout of the house is singular because it was three properties bought to house a family and semi-dependent relatives, but the use of studding means it should be easy to reconfigure. While you’re at it you could modernise the fittings. Currently there are seven bedrooms strung through the main house and a two-bedroom cottage adjoining. Price: £1.25m. Perry Bishop , 01285 655355 Home: Layer-de-la-Haye, Colchester, Essex An aquatic idyll, this, with a stream gushing through the 13.75 acres, a lake large enough for boating and a third of a mile of river frontage before the private bluebell wood starts. And then there’s the heated swimming pool on the terrace outside the living room. Inside beams and inglenooks and old English oak disguise the fact that it was built in the middle of the last century. You have to share the driveway with the neighbours. Asking price: £1.35m. Fenn Wright , 01206 763 388. Away: Menaggio, Italy The heated swimming pool shared by residents is poised above Lake Como and the surrounding mountain peaks, and you can absorb the vistas from your private balcony. It is, frankly, a poky place inside with two bedrooms, an open-plan living area and a tiny eaves room squeezed into 969 sq ft, but no sane soul would want to linger indoors with such celestial landscapes outside. Airport and ski slopes are both 50 km away. Price: £242,000. Comolake Immobiliare , 00 39 344 389573 Away: Le Bourdeix, Dordogne Behind and beside this 18th-century house is a lake, its lawns running down to the water’s edge, but you’ll probably confine most aquatic adventuring to the swimming pool on the terrace. French doors open the two receptions and the kitchens on to the grounds, and the rooms are elegantly garnished with exposed beams and stonework, tiled and wood floors and dramatic fireplaces. The third bedroom has a sunken bath in its en suite and there is room to create more sleeping quarters in the attic. Guide price: £338,863. Leggett , 08700 115151 Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2017/apr/26/lakeside-homes-in-pictures'|'2017-04-26T15:00:00.000+03:00' '61c8e5b2925e1e7e6f07896aea58092541bde69f'|'Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software - sources'|'Technology News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:20pm BST Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software: sources By Mike Stone Lockheed Martin Corp will announce on Wednesday that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have approved installation of the newest version of the F-35 fighter jet''s computer-based logistics system incorporating engine data for the first time, people familiar with the program said. Lockheed''s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) enables daily operations of the F-35 fleet, ranging from mission planning and flight scheduling to repairs and scheduled maintenance, as well as the tracking and ordering of parts. Software version 2.0.2 is five months late, but the approval paves the way for the system''s deployment across the F-35 Lightning II training and testing program, the two people said on condition of anonymity. A Pentagon representative declined comment on the software''s approval. This update marks the first time ALIS will take in data from the jet''s propulsion system allowing maintenance crews insight into the wear and tear on the engine. After this milestone, Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed is pursuing further updates to the ALIS system. The long-term goal is to cut maintenance time and facilitate spare parts distribution giving greater efficiency to the F-35 fleet. Future versions of the software will be faster and more fully into the flight bases the warehouses around the world supporting the stealthy jet. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington DC; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-defense-software-idUKKBN17S2EX'|'2017-04-27T02:14:00.000+03:00' '0f364b96a108ac56fe58b552f3a07be0a4843683'|'Automakers want California to revise Volkswagen charging station plan'|'U.S. 1:43pm EDT Automakers want California to revise Volkswagen charging station plan A U.S. flag flutters in the wind above a Volkswagen dealership in California, U.S. May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Major automakers and other groups are raising objections to the way Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ) wants to spend $2 billion on electric vehicle infrastructure and projects, as part of the German automaker''s atonement for diesel emissions cheating. Volkswagen plans to install hundreds of EV charging stations nationwide as part of the 10-year plan. About $800 million of the total will be spent in California as part of a settlement with the government after the German automaker admitted to secretly installing cheating software in 580,000 diesel vehicles allowing them to emit excess pollution. The California Air Resources Board is considering whether to approve the $200 million spending plan for the first 30 months and is reviewing the 120 comments submitted, said spokesman Dave Clegern. Automakers object to the proposed locations of some charging stations in areas that already have many electric vehicles and have concerns about competitive advantages VW could get from the program. An environmental group said more of the stations should be built in low-income areas. Also, Toyota Motor Corp, Honda Motor Co and Hyundai Motor Co wrote a joint letter urging California to require Volkswagen to spend a "significant portion" of the money on hydrogen fuel cell fueling stations, saying the current commitment by California to get 100 such stations in place by 2020 is "not on track." In its initial California spending plan, Volkswagen wants to allocate $120 million to build more than 400 highway and community EV charging stations by 2019 in high-traffic areas. Several automakers said in their comments that they would prefer that the new charging stations be installed instead in areas that have little electric vehicle traffic. Ford Motor Co said it "has reservations about having a key electrification driver dependent on and ultimately controlled by one automotive competitor." Ford added VW should target areas where "demonstrated market interest does not already exist." BMW AG said Volkswagen "should not be afforded an implicit comparative advantage through its ability to control day-to-day operations of consumer charging events" such as waiting times, pricing and billing. Under the agreement with California and the Justice Department, funds spent on education and outreach must be brand-neutral and cannot feature Volkswagen vehicles. Charging stations must be accessible to all vehicles. The three automakers who want Volkswagen to spend more on building hydrogen fueling stations are trying to sell fuel cell vehicles. Volkswagen declined to comment on the automaker letters, but said its goal is to "make it easy for as many (zero emission vehicle) drivers as possible to enjoy the collective charging networks available." The Sierra Club in a letter to California urged VW to "rethink its infrastructure proposal to include more investments in community-based charging in disadvantaged communities." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this month approved VW''s initial $300 million spending plan for EV projects outside California through 2019, including having 450 charging stations in place by then. VW will also launch a $44 million "Green City" initiative to pilot future concepts. It expects the city to be Sacramento. In December, Volkswagen agreed to add three additional electric vehicle models in California by 2020 and must sell an average of 5,000 electric vehicles annually through 2025 in the state. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-automakers-idUSKBN17S2HL'|'2017-04-27T01:37:00.000+03:00' '255968f123285f66f9df1c3bb25352540581b7a9'|'Tullow Oil reduced debt in first quarter after rights issue'|' 43am BST Tullow Oil reduced debt in first quarter after rights issue LONDON Africa-focused oil company Tullow Oil ( TLW.L ) cut its debt in the first quarter by $200 million (£155.79 million), the company said on Wednesday, after announcing a surprise rights issue last month. Net debt fell to $4.6 billion by the end of March, Tullow Oil said, down from $4.8 billion at the end of last year. It announced a $750 million rights issue on March 17 with the aim of raising money to pay down debt. Tullow also said in its trading update on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Hague and London Oil ( HNL.L ) to sell its Dutch portfolio for an undisclosed sum. Production from the Dutch assets was forecast to be around 3,500 barrels per day (bpd) this year, Tullow said. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tullow-results-idUKKBN17S0JV'|'2017-04-26T14:43:00.000+03:00' '267ecb8a6c20f106df78b3a5918584137201ad0d'|'Cerberus launches up to $446 mln selldown in Japan''s Seibu: IFR'|'HONG KONG U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP launched a selldown of up to $446 million in railway firm Seibu Holdings ( 9024.T ), IFR reported on Wednesday, citing a term sheet of the transaction.Cerberus is offering 25 million shares of Seibu at a discount of between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent to their Wednesday closing price of 1,999 yen each, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication.A Tokyo-based official at Cerberus declined to comment, while a spokesman for Seibu said the company had no comment on the selldown.The New York-based firm led a bailout of Seibu in 2006, but clashed with the board over IPO timing that did not take place until 2014. The fund unsuccessfully tried to take control of the company''s board and has since been reducing its stake in Seibu.(Reporting by Robert Hartley of IFR; Additional reporting by Junko Fujita in Tokyo; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cerberus-capital-seibu-holdings-idINKBN17S0UY'|'2017-04-26T06:46:00.000+03:00' 'e9f808caeebb14db79927af33ef6615759d40ddf'|'Botswana grants tax holiday for 450 MW coal power project'|' 24pm EDT Botswana grants tax holiday for 450 MW coal power project GABORONE, April 26 Botswana''s government on Wednesday granted First Quantum Minerals Ltd and African Energy a tax holiday to build the 450 megawatt (MW) Sese coal power plant in a bid to encourage private sector investment in the sector. Despite being endowed with an estimated 212 billion tonnes of coal resource, Botswana''s coal-to-power industry remains largely untapped. Australian-listed coal and energy junior, African Energy, said Botswana''s government had granted the joint venture firms a five-year tax break from its first year of commercial operation and a preferential 15 percent company tax rate thereafter. Botswana''s normal corporate tax rate stands at 22 percent. The tax break requires the approval of the Parliament. The Sese project, which includes a coal mine as well as the 450 MW power plant in eastern Botswana, will supply power to neighbouring countries such as Zambia. The project is managed by majority shareholder in the joint venture, Canada''s First Quantum, which holds the majority stake. Under the terms of the joint venture, First Quantum will supply about half of the power from the project to its Zambia copper mine operations with the rest supplied to other users. First Quantum owns 80 percent of the operator of Kansanshi, Africa''s largest copper mine in northwestern Zambia. (Writing by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/botswana-power-idUSL8N1HY6ZE'|'2017-04-27T01:24:00.000+03:00' '09bb84e00c9b28fb98329cb7ad8399816266a719'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Vopak, CEZ, Volkswagen, Henderson Global, Merchants Bancshares, EDP, Abertis; Updates CPPIB)April 26 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Wednesday: ** Czech utility CEZ has received several offers for its assets in Bulgaria and some are interesting, a spokesman said. ** Frontline has made a fifth offer for tanker operator DHT Holdings and given its rival 24 hours to reconsider a deal which billionaire John Fredriksen hopes will forge the world''s largest tanker company. ** Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the country''s largest pension fund manager, is exploring opportunities in India''s financial services, telecoms and logistics sectors to expand its bets in the South Asian economy, CPPIB''s Asia Pacific head Suyi Kim said. ** Penta Investments, the biggest shareholder in Czech betting company Fortuna Entertainment Group, does not plan to change the price of 98.69 crowns ($4.00) a share it has offered minority shareholders in a buyout. ** U.S. buyout firm KKR said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd''s chip-making equipment and video solution unit in a deal valuing the company at 257 billion yen ($2.3 billion), its second purchase of a Hitachi unit. ** EDF Energies Nouvelles is looking to "repower" old wind parks and get into the German market through its planned 320 million euro ($350 million) acquisition of French wind developer Futuren,, EDF EN chief Antoine Cahuzac said on Tuesday. ** Nordic telecom operator Telia Company has agreed to sell its Tajik operations to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, taking a step closer to withdrawing from its troubled Central Asian business. ** U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP launched a sell down of up to $446 million in railway firm Seibu Holdings, IFR reported on Wednesday, citing a term sheet of the transaction. ** Finnish utility Fortum will almost double its tally of retail electricity customers in the Nordics as part of a 240 million euro ($262 million) investment involving Norwegian power group Hafslund. ** Shares in Saudi Arabia''s Alawwal Bank rose 9 percent in early trading after it agreed to start talks with Saudi British Bank 1060.SE (SABB) about a merger that could create the kingdom''s third biggest bank with assets of nearly $80 billion. ** Logitech is looking at acquisitions to accelerate growth and help expand into new product categories, Chief Executive Bracken Darrell said, after the computer peripherals maker''s fourth-quarter results beat forecasts. ** Deckers Outdoor Corp said on Tuesday it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company, a month after an activist investor urged the apparel and accessories maker to sell itself. ** Bankers are lining up to around 570 million euros ($620.79 million) of debt financing to back a potential sale of Danish packaging group Faerch Plast as the auction process progresses to the final round, banking sources said on Wednesday. ** Volkswagen is considering a possible sale of Italian motorcycle maker Ducati as Europe''s largest carmaker streamlines operations to help fund a strategic overhaul following its emissions scandal, two people familiar with the matter said. ** Spanish infrastructure group Abertis reported rising earnings and said it had received no concrete offer from Italian rival Atlantia after the companies held preliminary talks on a possible takeover. ** The board of directors of Portugal''s wind energy producer EDP Renovaveis said it considers an offer by its parent company EDP to buy out minority shareholders at 6.8 euros a share as adequate, despite complaints by some stockholders. ** The Federal Reserve said it had approved Merchants Bancshares Inc to be acquired by Community Bank System after deciding the tie-up would not harm competition. ** Shareholders of British asset manager Henderson Global Investors backed its $6 billion merger with U.S. fund firm Janus Capital, after Janus shareholders approved the deal earlier this week. ** European ride service Gett has bought U.S. rival Juno for $200 million in a deal that further consolidated the ride-hailing industry and that some said short-changed Juno drivers. ** Czech energy group Czech Coal has told rival electricity producer CEZ it will walk away from a deal to buy the 1,000 megawatt Pocerady power plant unless CEZ approves the transaction by the end of this month, a Czech Coal unit said in a letter to CEZ seen by Reuters. ** Dutch oil and chemical storage company Vopak and tanker operator Exmar said that they had decided not to pursue the acquisition by Vopak of Exmar''s participation in Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) assets. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias and Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL4N1HY4V3'|'2017-04-26T18:03:00.000+03:00' 'a361dfaedfacd685ebca9b8ef026eb22c9b0f682'|'Thai baby''s murder on Facebook puts online controls under scrutiny'|'By Patpicha Tanakasempipat - PHUKET, Thailand PHUKET, Thailand A relative of the Thai baby whose murder was shown on Facebook Live earlier this week said he was too distraught and intent on getting police to the crime scene to worry about getting the horrific videos taken down.The gruesome incident this week highlights how those most affected by offensive content are usually too distracted to report it to the authorities. It also exposes the challenges that live streaming content poses to both governments monitoring for offensive material on the internet and the companies that host online content.On Monday, in an abandoned building in the Thai seaside resort of Phuket, 20-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay turned on Facebook Live from his mobile phone. Then he picked up his 11-month-old daughter in her pink dress, tied a rope around her neck and hanged her. A second short video briefly shows her lifeless body. After that, he turned off the camera and killed himself.For the family of little Natalie Triratana, removing the videos was the last thing on their minds when they first popped up on Wuttisan''s Facebook feed at around 4.50 p.m. on Monday.Her mother''s cousin, Suksan Buachanit, said he called Thailand''s 191 police hotline to ask for help locating the building. By the time police and relatives found it, it was too late."A local reporter told me to report it (to Facebook) but we were all occupied at the scene," Suksan told Reuters in Phuket.It took more than a day - and 370,000 views - before Facebook removed those few minutes of video.CLEVELAND SHOOTINGOthers that Reuters spoke to in Phuket who had seen the videos, including friends and relatives of the dead girl''s parents, said they were too preoccupied by the tragedy to report the incident to Facebook.For the social media company, with nearly 2 billion users, it was yet another case that exposed the challenges of quickly spotting and removing offensive content. The killing of the baby in Thailand followed the live broadcast shooting of an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio.In that incident, it took two hours to remove the video, bringing intense criticism on the social media giant and prompting it to promise "ways that new technologies can help us make sure Facebook is a safe environment". [L4N1HZ3EO]It was unclear how many viewers alerted Facebook to the killing of the baby. Facebook did not respond to questions.But by the morning the baby''s murder had been reported in local media and was one of the most talked about stories in Thailand. Several local and international journalists told Reuters they had reported the videos to Facebook and asked the company for comment.The head of Thailand''s police''s Technology Crime Suppression Division, Supachet Chokchai, said he was alerted to the baby murder videos by police in Phuket but he declined to say when that was. The division monitors online content ranging from anti-monarchy content to fraudulent websites.It also has a hotline for the public to call in tip-offs about offensive content.Nor would Supachet say when police then asked the digital ministry to get in touch with Facebook. The ministry said by the time police reported the videos on Tuesday afternoon it had already heard about them from an anonymous tip-off and had told Facebook.The ministry contacted Facebook through a "direct channel" at noon on Tuesday, according to Somsak Khaosuwan, the ministry''s deputy permanent secretary. He did not elaborate on what the direct channel was or say whom the ministry contacted at Facebook.It was only just after 5.00 p.m. - about five hours later and more than a full day after the videos were first streamed - that Facebook took them down.ILLEGAL AND HARMFUL CONTENTA Facebook statement called the incident "appalling" and said there was "absolutely no place for content of this kind" on the network. It did not respond to Reuters questions as to why it took so long to remove the videos.Thai police said they would review ways to take down online content after the killing.Police blamed the delay partly on the time difference between the United States, where Facebook is headquartered, and Thailand. They did not explain at exactly which stage the time difference had proved problematic, however.A spokesman for the police also said the force was tight on staffing.Thailand, along with other authoritarian governments in Asia, is more geared up to monitor politically sensitive content online.Censorship has been ramped up since a 2014 coup and hundreds of websites have been blocked or shut down for content deemed inappropriate or offensive.Thailand is further tightening controls on internet users.This week, Thailand''s national telecoms regulator ordered all internet service providers to block web content deemed illegal by the courts within a week or face having their licenses revoked.Thailand is also working on a cyber security bill that would allow the state to conduct large-scale surveillance in the name of national security by wiretapping telephones and computers without the need for court approval.(Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat in BANGKOK; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Matthew Tostevin and Bill Tarrant)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/facebook-thailand-idINKBN17U116'|'2017-04-28T06:20:00.000+03:00' 'b2221fe6b338f52de442562cc54e497b9cd1b20e'|'U.S. retailer Party City explores sale -sources'|'By Lauren Hirsch Party City Holdco Inc ( PRTY.N ), a U.S. retailer of party supplies such as balloons and costumes, is exploring a sale after being approached by a private equity firm about a leveraged buyout, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.A sale would come two years after buyout firm Thomas H. Lee Partners LP took the company public. Since then, Party City''s sales have proven resilient despite the increasing popularity of internet shopping. Thomas H. Lee owns 55 percent of Party City, while Advent International LP, another buyout firm, owns 19 percent.Party City shares were up 9.5 percent at $16.15 on Thursday afternoon, boosting the company''s market capitalization to nearly $2 billion. Party City had $1.7 billion in debt as of the end of December.Party City is working with investment bankers on a sale process, which is still in an early stage, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the sale process is confidential.Party City did not respond to a request for comment. News service Dealreporter first reported on the sale process on Wednesday evening, citing anonymous sources.The Rockaway, New Jersey-based retailer has more than 900 stores, roughly 20 percent of which are franchised. It has recently been buying back its franchise stores, including 18 in the Carolinas for $31 million.Like office supplies retailer Staples Inc ( SPLS.O ), which is also exploring a sale amid sliding shares, Party City is the largest retailer in its niche. That may entice buyers who believe the retail chain is unfairly valued by public market investors.Party City''s retail net sales in 2016 were $1.6 billion, up 1.2 percent year-on-year. Excluding the impact of e-commerce, same-store sales decreased by 1.3 percent.Thomas H. Lee acquired a majority stake in Party City in 2012 from private equity peers Advent International, Berkshire Partners LLC and Weston Presidio in a $2.7 billion deal.(Reporting by Lauren Hirsch in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-party-cty-holdco-m-a-idINKBN17T2PD'|'2017-04-27T15:38:00.000+03:00' '959963707a9ec131efcbfe30174182c1cf584b46'|'Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall'|'Money 2:02am IST Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall A employees poses with a cup of water at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed By Lisa Baertlein - LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ) reported quarterly profit that matched Wall Street''s estimate on Thursday, but shares fell 3.4 percent in extended trading after spending growth by customers in its core U.S. market cooled. The world''s biggest coffee chain said the average amount spent per order was up 4 percent in the United States during the fiscal second quarter, versus 5 percent in the prior quarter. Sales at U.S. cafes open at least 13 months were up 3 percent for the quarter ended April 2, unchanged from the prior quarter. Traffic, referred to as transactions, fell 2 percent for the second quarter in a row amid a stubborn industry-wide slump. Net income attributed to Starbucks was $652.8 million, or 45 cents per share, for the second quarter, up from $575.1 million, or 39 cents per share, a year earlier. Results from the latest quarter matched the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Shares of Starbucks fell $2.10 to $59.20 in after-hours trade. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/starbucks-results-idINKBN17T311'|'2017-04-28T04:17:00.000+03:00' 'c75947eb038005e18e90a625f3509636918c7ccf'|'Fresenius picks up M&A pace with Akorn, Merck KGaA deals'|'By Ludwig Burger - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA has stepped up its dealmaking, agreeing to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros) and the biosimilars arm of Germany''s Merck KGaA.Takeovers were part of Fresenius''s growth strategy under previous boss Ulf Mark Schneider, now leading Nestle. But his successor, former finance chief Stephan Sturm, is lifting the pace, having already bought a Spanish hospital chain for 5.8 billion euros since taking over in June.The latest deals are in keeping with Fresenius''s focus on drugs that have lost patent protection, but also mark a foray into new dosage forms, therapeutic areas and biotech drugs for its Kabi unit, a maker of generic infusion drugs as well as tube feeding and blood transfusion equipment.Akorn will add products such as medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, oral liquids, ear drops, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign compared with standard pills and tablets."We are putting Fresenius Kabi on track for an even more broadly based and strong sustainable growth beyond the current decade," said Sturm.The separate deal with Merck KGaA marks an entry into "biosimilar" copies of complex biologic drugs made from living cells, which Fresenius has previously shunned."We''ve always said the regulatory environment would have to clear up before we invest in biosimilars. A lot has been done in that area in the recent past," Sturm added.Reuters earlier on Monday reported Fresenius was close to acquiring Akorn.In a deal that has the backing of Akorn''s management and its largest shareholder, Fresenius will pay $34 per share and take on Akorn''s net debt of about $450 million for a total price tag of $4.75 billion, Fresenius said late on Monday.It will be financed by a broad mix of euro- and dollar-denominated debt instruments.Berenberg analyst Tom Jones said the price tag of 12.4 times Akorn''s core earnings (adjusted EBITDA) estimate for 2017 should not "give anyone any great cause for concern".He flagged some risks related to Akorn''s older drugs that might draw scrutiny from U.S. healthcare regulators but was reassured by the buyer''s "long history of doing M&A, and doing it relatively well".Fresenius shares were up 0.9 percent at 0750 GMT, broadly in line with the European healthcare index.For the Merck deal, Fresenius will pay an initial 170 million euros and up to 500 million in milestone payments tied to the achievement of drug development targets as none of Merck''s biosimilar drugs have been launched yet.Merck also stands to receive single-digit percentage royalties on sales.Fresenius said it expected first revenues towards the end of 2019. It also said it was prepared to spend and invest up to 1.4 billion euros to build up the new business through 2022, including the upfront and milestone payments to Merck.Fresenius, with a market capitalisation of more than 40 billion euros, runs businesses ranging from kidney dialysis and drug manufacturing to hospital management.Group net debt as a multiple of core earnings will temporarily increase to about 3.3 after both transactions but is expected to return to about 3 at the end of 2018.Fresenius has for years enjoyed low borrowing costs because of its diversified businesses in an industry largely immune to swings in the business cycle.The buyer''s main advisers on the Akorn deal were investment banks Credit Suisse and Moelis, as well as law firm Allen & Overy.($1 = 0.9206 euros)(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Grant McCool and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/akorn-m-a-fresenius-idINKBN17R0SU'|'2017-04-25T16:17:00.000+03:00' 'f895cc5684ecabf7cdab5f92322405531009806a'|'Post-it maker 3M''s quarterly profit rises 3.8 percent'|' 10:51am EDT 3M raises 2017 profit forecast; first-quarter results top estimates FILE PHOTO: The 3M logo is pictured on products at an Orchard Supply Hardware store in Pasadena, California U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo 3M Co ( MMM.N ), which makes Scotch tape and Post-it notes, raised its 2017 profit forecast and reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by growth across its major businesses. 3M boosted its 2017 earnings forecast range to $8.70-$9.05 per share, from $8.45-$8.80. Analysts on average were expecting earnings of $8.63, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Saint-Paul, Minnesota-based 3M also said it now expects organic local-currency sales growth in the range of 2-5 percent, compared with its prior outlook of 1-3 percent. Net income attributable to the company rose 3.8 percent to $1.32 billion, or $2.16 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31 from a year earlier. 3M, which gets more than 60 percent of its revenue from outside the United States, is reaping the benefits of restructuring its business through divestures and layoffs over the past year. Net sales rose 3.7 percent to $7.69 billion. Analysts on average had expected adjusted earnings of $2.06 per share and sales of $7.47 billion for the quarter. Shares of the company were marginally up at $194.76 in early trading on Tuesday. Up to Monday''s close, the stock had risen 15.2 percent in the past 12 months, compared with a 13.5 percent rise in the S&P 500 index .SPX . (Reporting by Arunima Banerjee and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva and Maju Samuel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-3m-results-idUSKBN17R1CS'|'2017-04-25T19:40:00.000+03:00' '7cbc5aae6c3781bdd2ccc7d9a5357e089587f25d'|'UPDATE 2-Norfolk Southern reports higher first-quarter profit'|'Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 9:39am EDT Norfolk Southern reports higher first-quarter profit Norfolk Southern Corp ( NSC.N ), the No. 4 U.S. railroad, reported a higher first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, as income from railway operations rose and as it recorded a lower effective income tax rate. The railroad saw an operating ratio, a measure of operating expenses as a percentage of revenues, of 70.0, which it called a record for the quarter. The year-ago ratio was 70.1. "We expect to see year-over-year improvement in our operating ratio in each of the remaining quarters of this year, as compared to 2016," said Chief Financial Officer Marta Stewart on a conference call with analysts. Chief Executive Officer Jim Squires said on the call that the railroad is targeting an operating ratio below 65 by 2020. The lower an operating ratio, the more efficient the railroad. Norfolk Southern has promised to deliver $650 million in productivity savings by 2020, including a cut of $100 million in costs in 2017. Coal freight revenue jumped 20 percent to $420 million from $349 million. The major U.S. railroads have struggled with a slide in coal volumes as utilities have switched to burning cheaper natural gas. Separately, the company said Stewart plans to retire, effective Aug. 1, and has started a search to find her replacement. The Norfolk, Virginia-based company reported first-quarter net income of $433 million, or $1.48 per share, up 12 percent from $387 million, or $1.29, a year earlier. Analysts looked for $1.33, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Income from railway operations rose 7 percent to $773 million from $723 million in the year-ago period. The company said its effective tax rate fell to 33.9 percent in the quarter from 35.5 percent a year ago. Shares dipped 0.6 percent to $116.10 in early trading. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-norfolk-southern-results-idUSKBN17S1L3'|'2017-04-26T21:34:00.000+03:00' '7e25ef8cd444d21ff28d12fe611529b134515970'|'Finance chief quits drugmaker Teva, leaving another gap at top'|'Health News 14am EDT Finance chief quits drugmaker Teva, leaving another gap at top FILE PHOTO: A building belonging to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world''s biggest generic drugmaker and Israel''s largest company, is seen in Jerusalem February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo JERUSALEM Teva Pharmaceutical Industries'' finance chief Eyal Desheh will step down in the next few months after nearly a decade in the job, the second top official to resign from the Israel-based company this year. "Yesterday, I celebrated my 65th birthday and I''m transitioning into the next phase of my career," Desheh said on Wednesday, without elaborating. Israeli media reported on Tuesday that Desheh is likely to be appointed as chairman of Isracard, the credit card unit of Bank Hapoalim, the country''s largest bank, which said there were a number of candidates. Teva said it would immediately start a search for a new CFO, but that Desheh will take part in the company''s first-quarter earnings call on May 11. Teva was left without a permanent chief executive in February after Erez Vigodman stepped down, leaving new management to restore confidence in the world''s biggest generic drugmaker after a series of missteps. A string of costly acquisitions, along with delayed drug launches, have sent Teva shares plummeting and led to calls for management and structural changes, including a possible split into separate generic and branded medicine units. That forced former Vigodman to step down, with Chairman Yitzhak Peterburg replacing him on a temporary basis and Sol Barer taking the reins as chairman. "My highest priority is to identify and appoint Teva''s next chief executive officer," Barer said. "We expect the company’s new CEO to have a significant role in identifying Eyal’s successor." Desheh served as deputy CFO from 1989 to 1996 before becoming CFO of Scitex and then Check Point Software Technologies. He returned as Teva''s CFO in 2008 and was acting CEO from October 2013 to February 2014. Investors say Teva, which faces pricing pressure in its core generics business and faces competition on its key branded drug Copaxone for multiple sclerosis, must choose a new CEO with extensive pharmaceutical experience. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-teva-pharm-ind-cfo-idUSKBN17S1Y7'|'2017-04-26T22:12:00.000+03:00' '4189438eedce2f8d2f789c491bb3c85a438599fd'|'Tanker firm Frontline makes yet another offer for rival DHT'|'OSLO, April 26 Frontline has made a fifth offer for tanker operator DHT Holdings and given its rival 24 hours to reconsider a deal which billionaire John Fredriksen hopes will forge the world''s largest tanker company.Over the past year Fredriksen''s Frontline, which owns 14.5 percent of DHT, has tried on several occasions to acquire all of DHT''s shares. Its fourth attempt on March 14 was rebuffed and DHT bolstered its defences a week later.After Frontline''s March offer, DHT struck a deal with privately-owned BW Group, which is led by shipping tycoon Andreas Sohmen Pao, making it the biggest shareholder in DHT with a 34.28 percent stake. The surprise move had been expected to end Frontline''s ambitions.But Frontline said late on Tuesday it was proposing the same all-share offer it made in February - 0.8 of a Frontline share for each DHT share. While the ratio is the same, the deal with BW Group included the issuance of new DHT shares worth about $265 million, which Frontline''s new proposal takes into account."We are convinced that the proposed new combination of Frontline and DHT will maximise value for both sets of shareholders," Frontline CEO Robert Hvide Macleod said in a statement.Frontline said in the statement it hoped DHT''s board would now enter talks and halt its efforts to fend off Frontline with measures that had given BW an unassailable advantage over any other bidder.DHT said on Wednesday it would "carefully and thoroughly" review the approach but said the new offer was not an improvement on previous ones and the 24 hour deadline was "an unreasonably accelerated timeframe"."We will respond in due course," said DHT.DHT now has a fleet of 30 VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers), including four new vessels due to be delivered in 2018, and two smaller Aframax oil tankers.Frontline has a fleet of 21 VLCCs, 17 Suezmaxes, 14 long-range product tankers, three Aframaxes and one medium-range oil tanker. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/dht-holdings-ma-frontline-idINL8N1HY2DG'|'2017-04-26T07:49:00.000+03:00' '9dffc1a30e446ca0abe3eb8462d4331c2bc5c795'|'EU''s Juncker calls on euro zone to outline Greek debt relief measures in May - report'|'Business News - 38am BST EU''s Juncker calls on euro zone to outline Greek debt relief measures in May: report European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker speaks at Financing for Peace: Innovations to Tackle Fragility session during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas ATHENS European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged euro zone countries to draw up more debt relief measures for Greece next month, saying Athens needed help after making "huge progress" in its economic reforms. Euro zone finance ministers will meet in Brussels on May 22 to discuss progress made in talks to conclude Greece''s crucial bailout review which has been delayed for months. "The debt relief measures, reasonable ones I mean, are heavily needed," Juncker said in an interview with Greek news website euro2day published on Wednesday. "In May they (the ministers) have ... to give a design of future possible debt relief measures." The comments will be welcomed in Athens where the government argues debt relief is badly needed after seven years of austerity measures imposed by creditors. Talks with lenders to date have been held up by differences over the roll-out of those measures, including reforms in the energy and labor market and pension cuts and income tax increases. Juncker suggested it was time to give Greece some slack rather than enforce more cuts. "We have to acknowledge that Greece is making a huge progress and insisting on further major cuts in the pension area would be bad advice," Juncker said in the interview. Greece attained a 4.2 percent of GDP primary budget surplus last year - excluding debt servicing costs - significantly above the target set in its bailout. But the IMF has not yet decided whether to finance the bailout, the country''s third since 2010, and wants assurances from euro zone governments that Greek debt be made sustainable before it joins the program. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Andrew Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-juncker-idUKKBN17S0TZ'|'2017-04-26T16:33:00.000+03:00' '0ebaaaa19ccf46fe27e17395be5117503f621fca'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil''s Renner misses profit estimates as expenses jump'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:41pm EDT Brazil''s Renner misses profit estimates as expenses jump SAO PAULO Lojas Renner SA, Brazil''s No. 1 apparel retailer, missed first-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday, as surging expenses linked to store openings offset the impact of higher sales volumes. In a statement, Porto Alegre, Brazil-based Renner ( LREN3.SA ) said net income totaled 67 million reais ($21 million) last quarter, compared with 65.5 million reais a year earlier. Analysts projected profit of 70.3 million reais in the period, according to consensus estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters. Sales at stores opened for at least a year, or same-store sales, rose for the first quarter in three as customers welcomed an early launch to Renner''s winter collection. Still, margins narrowed despite a tweaked sales strategy, better logistics and affordable prices for the new collection. The pace of same-stores sales has remained roughly stable in the first weeks of April, Chief Financial Officer Laurence Gomes said in an interview after quarterly results were released. Sales could get a boost from Mothers Day in May and the Brazilian equivalent of St Valentine''s Day the following month. "It''s too early to gauge trends for this quarter because of those dates and the behavior of weather, too," Gomes said. The numbers underscored the challenges facing Chief Executive Officer José Galló as Brazil endeavors to emerge from a severe recession. Galló has relied on cost-cutting and operational efficiency to weather declining demand for the apparel and kitchenware that Renner sells nationwide. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of operational profit known as EBITDA, came in at 190.4 million reais, well above consensus estimates of 119.8 million reais. Net revenue rose 14.7 percent, more than expected, although the profitability of Renner''s retailing operations slipped to 54.4 percent of revenue in the quarter. A year earlier, the so-called gross retailing margin had totaled 55.6 percent. Management will discuss results at a conference call with investors early on Wednesday. (Reporting by Paula Arend Laier and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lojas-renner-results-idUSKBN17R2X3'|'2017-04-26T08:39:00.000+03:00' '105a0e4d40eda42689931d8ae80f1d6b807fe1a4'|'Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps'|' 11:46am IST Mining giants race to fill board leadership gaps A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in Sydney, Australia, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/Files By Barbara Lewis and Clara Denina - LONDON LONDON Three of the world''s biggest miners are hunting for new leaders for their boards at a time when the industry faces questions from investors about its conventional diversified business operations and strategies for growth. BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American, whose chairmen have all announced their intention to step down, are also generating healthy cash flows, putting them under pressure to give more money back to shareholders. The task to find the right candidates is particularly urgent for BHP Billiton and Anglo American due to the growing influence of major investors at both companies who have raised doubts over their future direction. U.S. activist investor Elliott - which holds a stake of about 4 percent in BHP''s London-listed shares - has taken advantage of the planned departure of incumbent Jac Nasser to launch a campaign to shake up the world''s biggest miner. Elliott''s proposals include getting rid of BHP''s dual company structure, spinning off its oil and gas assets and returning more cash to investors. BHP has so far dismissed them and many other investors have also been sceptical, but say the attack highlights the need for a strong new chair to back up the CEO and unite a disparate shareholder base. Anglo American''s new board leader will also have to deal with a new share register. Shortly after incumbent chairman John Parker announced in February that he would step down, Indian miner Vedanta''s chairman Anil Agarwal used an exchangeable bond to acquire a sizeable chunk of Anglo American shares and buy influence. WIDE POOL The favourite to lead Rio Tinto''s board is Sam Laidlaw, former CEO of Britain''s largest energy supplier Centrica, whom Rio made a non-executive director in February this year, four industry sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. BHP has said it is aiming for 50 percent women in its work force within a decade, but the sources said finding a woman chair with the availability and experience could for now be tough. All four sources said Gail Kelly, former chief executive of Australian bank Westpac, who was an early favourite to replace Nasser, was no longer being considered but declined to give a reason. Other names that two of the sources said have been considered were outgoing Dow Chemical''s boss Andrew Liveris and an existing BHP director, Malcolm Broomhead. One candidate mooted to be Anglo''s new chairman, two of the industry sources say, is Guy Elliott, a former chief financial officer of Rio Tinto. None of those mentioned as a potential candidate was immediately available for comment. Anglo''s chairman Parker''s plan to step down follows a turbulent eight-year tenure, which included the miner''s 2007 costly investment in Brazil''s Minas-Rio iron ore operation, which analysts say will struggle to justify the capital outlay. Headhunters said that although three big companies were all looking for new heads of boards at the same time, the pool of potential candidates was wide for such a global business. Kit Bingham, a partner at top executive recruiter Odgers Berndtson, said there should be no shortage of people keen to fill the roles, which present challenges, not just from shareholders but from wider transitions, such as rolling out new technology. That calls for all a chairman''s diplomatic skills in negotiating with governments concerned about possible job losses. "Candidates will know there''s a change agenda to deliver. It''s a pretty exciting time when the future needs to be different from the past," Bingham said. GENERATIONAL SHIFT The new board leaders will mark a generational shift for mining companies that have spent the time since commodities prices slumped in 2015 and early 2016 cutting costs, selling off assets and restructuring their businesses to boost cash flow. Their predecessors had overseen multi-billion dollar acquisitions at the high point of the commodity cycle, saddling their balance sheets with massive debts. Now the search is on for new ways to grow without making the same mistakes as before. Bruce Duguid, a director of Hermes EOS, which advises on more than 260 billion pounds ($332 billion) in client assets, says any global mining chairman needs a range of skills "to manage the many pressures on its business model". "These include the need to reduce costs and maintain strict capital discipline in the face of unpredictable commodities demand, management of increasing sustainability challenges as ore grades decline and overseeing a material improvement in (gender) diversity at all levels of the organisation," he said. Hanre Rossouw, portfolio manager at Investec Asset Management, which owns shares in Anglo American and BHP, said the mining companies needed people able to help management deal with the breakup of assets and strategic de-mergers. "You do need a chair that can think more creatively in terms of value creation with unbundlings and break-ups always options to consider," he said, referring to Elliott''s proposal to spin off BHP''s oil and gas assets and Anglo''s plan last year to sell or spin out its South African iron ore unit. Rio Tinto, which is losing chairman Jan du Plessis to telecoms group BT where he will take up the same role, needs a replacement who will be able to keep a tight grip on governance. The world''s second-biggest miner after BHP is embroiled in a corruption scandal that has led to two senior dismissals last year and a legal challenge from one of those sacked. Both Rio and BHP scrapped their progressive dividends in response to the commodity price crash of 2015 and early 2016. Elliott wants to introduce a formula for delivering more money to shareholders, which BHP has said it cannot do because of the cyclical nature of mining. Anglo suspended its dividend at the end of 2015 and has said it will bring it back around the end of the year. Investors will also be keeping watch on the pay packages of the new recruits. Anglo was hit last year by a shareholder revolt over CEO Mark Cutifani''s pay and has since proposed a cap, agreed by shareholders this week, on how much executives can earn from share awards. ($1 = 0.7825 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/miners-boards-idINKBN17S0HW'|'2017-04-26T04:16:00.000+03:00' 'a6df268c18638835cadec732b2af190fee1e21d8'|'Daimler lifts guidance as Mercedes sales gain traction'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 6:58am BST Daimler lifts guidance as Mercedes sales gain traction The logo of Mercedes-Benz is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha FRANKFURT Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ) hiked its guidance on Wednesday and said it now expects a significant rise in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) this year, lifted by surging sales of Mercedes-Benz luxury cars and sports utility vehicles. "We are very confident for the remainder of the year to achieve our financial as well as our strategic goals," Daimler''s Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said in a statement. In February, Daimler had said it expected only slight growth in group EBIT, but record sales of Mercedes passenger cars in the first quarter helped the Stuttgart-based carmaker to achieve forecast-beating results. In March alone, sales of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, a volume model for the carmaker, surged by 65 percent. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ludwig Burger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-daimler-results-idUKKBN17S0GB'|'2017-04-26T13:58:00.000+03:00' '0de02c54635428d8f26f8f23bf0b9269dbb879b6'|'Major U.S. airports say current rules prevent incidents like United'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 12:00pm EDT Major U.S. airports say current rules prevent incidents like United By Chris Kenning - CHICAGO, April 27 CHICAGO, April 27 At least 10 major U.S. airports say their rules prevent security officers from physically removing passengers from airplanes unless a crime is committed, meaning they would normally avoid incidents such as the one involving the passenger dragged off a United Airlines flight in Chicago. The April 9 incident sparked global outrage when images of a Vietnamese-American doctor being dragged through the aisle with blood on his face flooded social media and threw United into a public relations crisis. Officials at 10 of the busiest U.S. airports - in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York, Denver, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami - said airport police would not physically remove a passenger from a plane over a seat dispute. “In a case like this, if it’s not a criminal matter, we don''t involve ourselves,” said Michael Rodriguez, a spokesman with the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, which is responsible for security at McCarran International Airport. The passenger, David Dao, flying home to Louisville, refused to surrender his seat to make room for United crew members and was forcibly removed by aviation police at O''Hare International Airport. His attorney said he ended up with a concussion, missing teeth and broken nose. United Airlines initially blamed Dao but later apologized for its handling of the incident. United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said the company would no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights. United on Thursday said after reviewing the incident that using law enforcement when there was no safety or security issue was a failure and called the incident a "defining moment." Security officials at other major airports said they had reviewed their rules and found them sufficient, with no need to amend them to avoid similar situations. Others said they had sent reminders to officers to avoid getting involved in such cases. New York’s Port Authority Police, which patrol LaGuardia, JFK International and Newark Liberty International airports, reminded officers that in cases of overbooking they "will not assist in the physical removal of the passenger from the flight to accommodate the airline’s request,” said Joe Pentangelo, Port Authority police spokesman. Atlanta airport officers also would not have boarded the plane as O''Hare''s police did, said Lane Hagan, airport precinct commander with the Atlanta Police Department, which oversees security at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, America''s busiest airport. The view was echoed by all airports contacted by Reuters, although most would not comment on the United incident. "It couldn’t just be, ‘Oh, we have an overbooked flight,’” said Doug Yakel, spokesman at San Francisco International Airport. Chicago Department of Aviation officials have said the incident is under investigation and declined to comment. They have not discussed the incident in detail, citing pending litigation. According to a report released on Monday by the city, which is in charge of airport security, the three officers involved said Dao became combative after they unsuccessfully tried to persuade him to leave. However, at a Chicago City Council committee meeting this month, Deputy Commissioner of Security Jeff Redding said department policy calls for its officers not to board planes to handle customer service issues. Ordering a passenger who is not causing trouble to leave the plane so another person can take their seat would not constitute a lawful order, said John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University who has followed the United case closely. A carrier''s need for seats is not among more than a dozen reasons that allows the airline to remove an already-seated passenger, he said. “Law enforcement should not become involved unless it appears there is a danger to the safety or health of passengers, crew or the airplane,” Banzhaf said. (Additional reporting by Laila Kearney and Gina Cherelus in New York, Editing by Ben Klayman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ual-passenger-airports-idUSL1N1HY1O4'|'2017-04-28T00:00:00.000+03:00' '541483ca4abd9a37bc1817c01737348ab53b3117'|'Shares in Home Capital bounce as it considers ''strategic options'''|'TORONTO Shares in Canadian alternative lender Home Capital Group Inc ( HCG.TO ) rebounded on Thursday after the company said it had secured a credit line and hired bankers to look at its strategic options.The stock gained 19.4 percent to C$7.15 in early trade after falling more than 60 percent in the prior session.(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-home-cap-grp-stocks-idINKBN17T22H'|'2017-04-27T11:39:00.000+03:00' '4e23d190d7a77c681f5d3074e9bcbb3857629490'|'Mediclinic, British banks a bright spot on weak FTSE'|' 00pm BST Mediclinic, banks a bright spot on weak FTSE A worker shelters from the rain under a Union Flag umbrella as he passes the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, October 1, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By Kit Rees - LONDON LONDON Britain''s top shares index fell on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak as miners and ex-dividends weighed. Banks provided support as did a jump in Mediclinic''s shares, however. Britain''s blue chip FTSE 100 index ended down 0.7 percent at 7,237.17 points, underperforming a slight fall in the broader European market. First quarter results for British lenders were the main focus as Lloyds reported profit figures beating analysts'' expectations, sending its shares 2.3 percent higher, close to pre-Brexit levels. "I think all the consensus numbers we were looking at looked to be beaten to the upside," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said. "Falling conduct costs, the UK economy holding up, the housing market doing ok - they''re all a decent recipe, I think, for Lloyds." Royal Bank of Scotland also rose 0.3 percent. Mediclinic was the biggest gainer, soaring 17.5 percent after the Abu Dhabi government scrapped a 20 percent co-payment requirement for treatment at private facilities. The measure was introduced last July, just after Mediclinic had bought Abu Dhabi private hospital group Al Noor for about $1.7 billion. "Although we expect little near-term benefit, it adds support to the (long term) investment case so we expect a near-term positive share price reaction on sentiment ahead of more details being disclosed," James Vane-Tempest, equity analyst at Jefferies, said in a note. Earnings were also a focus for UK housebuilders, another sector which was hit after Britain voted to leave the European Union back in June 2016 due to the sector''s dependence on the domestic economy. Shares in Persimmon advanced 2.4 percent after the housebuilder said that total forward sales revenue including completions was up by about 11 percent year on year, while Taylor Wimpey gained 1.6 percent after a positive update and optimistic outlook for 2017. The FTSE 100 was pulled lower by firms trading ex-dividend, such as Legal & General, which fell 5.4 percent, and Informa, down 1.8 percent. Miners also weighed, with Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton all down between 2.6 percent to 4.7 percent, tracking a weaker copper price. [MET/L] WPP, the world''s largest advertising group, fell 2.4 percent after first-quarter earnings. Its sales growth came in just below expectations with a weak performance in North American weighing. (Reporting by Kit Rees; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Angus MacSwan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN17T19S'|'2017-04-27T17:37:00.000+03:00' '75d88957aee228350f8f73bbf04e57254c6053c3'|'UPDATE 1-U.S. 30-year mortgage rates rise from 5-month lows -Freddie Mac'|'Business 14am EDT U.S. 30-year mortgage rates rise from 5-month lows: Freddie Mac NEW YORK U.S. 30-year mortgage rates rose in the latest week, rebounding from five-month lows in step with a rise in bond yields, following the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday, according to mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac ( FMCC.PK ) on Thursday. The borrowing cost on 30-year mortgages, the most widely held type of U.S. home loan, averaged 4.03 percent in the week ended April 27, up from the prior week''s 3.97 percent, it said. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR had risen earlier this week as investors scaled back their safe-haven bond holdings on expectations centrist Emmanuel Macron would beat anti-EU Marine Le Pen in the French presidential run-off on May 7. In early Thursday trading, the 10-year Treasury yield was down over 1 basis point at 2.296 percent after hitting a two-week peak at 2.350 percent on Wednesday, Reuters data showed. "Despite recent swings in mortgage rates, the housing market continues to show signs of strength," Freddie Mac''s chief economist Sean Becketti said in a statement. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mortgages-freddie-mac-idUSKBN17T28V'|'2017-04-27T23:13:00.000+03:00' 'fdbdd250e1a56de0c97c672ee83393065ab49757'|'Iraq begins final expansion phase at Halfaya oil field aiming to double output'|'BASRA, Iraq, April 25 Iraq has launched the third and final phase of work to expand its southern Halfaya oil field, aiming to double its output capacity in 2018 to 400,000 barrels per day, a state-run oil company said.Additional facilities to separate crude oil from associated natural gas will be set up as part of Halfaya''s expansion, Adnan Noshi, head of Maysan Oil Co which oversees oilfields in Maysan province, told Reuters on Tuesday.Halfaya, operated by PetroChina, is Maysan Oil''s largest field, producing 200,000 of the company''s total output of 380,000 bpd, Noshi said.Expansion at Halfaya should raise Maysan''s overall output to nearly 600,000 bpd in 2018, he said. Iraq plans to increase its oil output capacity to 5 million bpd before the end of the year.Output stood at more than 4.7 million bpd, Oil Minister Jabar al-Luaibi said on April 2. OPEC''s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, Iraq produced at a rate of 4.464 million bpd in March, down by more than 300,000 bpd from late last year. Iraq has reduced its output alongside other oil exporters this year as part of an agreement aimed at boosting crude prices.(Reporting by Aref Mohammed; writing by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/iraq-oil-halfaya-idINL8N1HX2A2'|'2017-04-25T07:26:00.000+03:00' 'fa1ddd3c665d97ef2080d525cffed6512bc7ced8'|'Exclusive: Vivendi to accelerate expansion in video games and advertising - sources'|' 49pm IST Exclusive: Vivendi to accelerate expansion in video games and advertising - sources FILE PHOTO: A woman walks walk past the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate Vivendi''s headquarters in Paris, France, April 8, 2015. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic - PARIS PARIS French media giant Vivendi will accelerate acquisitions in video games and advertising this year to allay investor concerns about its strategy, mixed results and poor share performance, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. Advertising group Havas and video games maker Ubisoft are expected to be the first targets as Vivendi moves into the next phase of its expansion, the sources said. In three years, Chairman Vincent Bollore has spent nearly 15 billion euros ($16 billion) of Vivendi''s cash on shareholders and acquisitions, including taking large stakes in Telecom Italia and Italian broadcaster Mediaset. Yet Vivendi''s shares have fallen by about 3 percent over the period and analysts are still awaiting more details from the company about how exactly its strategy will pan out. Bollore is expected to defend his record at an annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday in Paris, a rare occasion for the billionaire to flesh out his plan to turn Vivendi into an integrated European media powerhouse. On paper, merging Havas with Vivendi would be the easiest deal as the ad company is 60 percent owned by Bollore and run by his son Yannick, who joined Vivendi''s board last year. Bollore is also Vivendi''s biggest shareholder with 20.65 percent. In the case of Ubisoft, which is 25 percent owned by Vivendi, resistance from its founding Guillemot family could potentially lead to a costly, unsolicited full takeover bid. "Vivendi is moving to the second phase, everything will take place this year," one of the sources said, referring to Havas and Ubisoft. "The logical thing would be to buy Ubisoft," the second source said, adding that Bollore would not buy the video games maker at any price and could consider other targets in China. ITALIAN SETBACKS Bollore, a 65-year-old businessman who made his fortune by building a family-run conglomerate with activities from logistics to electric batteries to advertising, is known for his capacity to turn businesses around and make shrewd investments. But he has suffered a series of setbacks lately in Italy, a country he knows well through his investment bank in Mediobanca, raising questions about his capacity to deliver a rapid return on investments there and his long-term strategy. "The lack of visibility over Vivendi''s intentions regarding its existing stakes (Telecom Italia, Mediaset) and a potential acquisition of Havas could remain an overhang on Vivendi''s share price in the near term," Lisa Yang, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, said in a note to clients this month. Other analysts said Vivendi needed to lay out its strategy with greater clarity to attract new investors. "Any increased transparency on investment policy, strategic view on ownership of telecom companies, and the vague Southern European strategy and vision for gaming stakes would be very welcome to existing and potential new shareholders," Deutsche Bank said in a note. An Italian regulator ordered Vivendi last week to cut its stake in either Telecom Italia or Mediaset within a year, ruling that the French company was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of corporate power. FRENCH WOES In France, competition for TV sports rights, including those for Formula One and the Champions League, is expected to be cut-throat and analysts worry that Vivendi''s pay-TV subsidiary Canal Plus could lose them to rivals such as SFR Group. Any such loss would just add to the difficulties at Canal Plus in France. Losses at the pay-TV''s channels in that country alone cut 399 million euros ($434 million) off the group''s core operating profit for 2016. However, Vivendi expects Canal Plus'' turnaround efforts to bear fruit in 2017 and it is targeting a 25 percent rebound in group core operating profit. It also expects group revenues to rise by more than 5 percent. Questions are also being raised about Vivendi''s governance. Proxy adviser ISS is recommending that shareholders oppose the re-election of Bollore and the appointment of his son Yannick as board members. ISS has cited concerns about the lack of independence of the company''s board and opposed 15 out of 25 resolutions that have been proposed ahead of Tuesday''s The last time Vivendi was challenged by a minority shareholder was in 2015. U.S. hedge fund P. Schoenfeld Asset Management (PSAM) campaigned over Vivendi''s perceived lack of transparency, unclear strategy and poor governance, but shelved those concerns after wringing more money from the company. Vivendi agreed to increase payouts to investors by more than 1 billion euros following the investor''s campaign. ($1 = 0.9203 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/vivendi-agm-strategy-idINKBN17R0Y0'|'2017-04-25T07:19:00.000+03:00' '642ead290817e40707b1c461f36f96472b0402c2'|'Australian inflation above 2% but experts say interest rate rise unlikely'|'The annual rate of inflation has crept above 2% for the first time in two years but economists say the Reserve Bank won’t be looking to raise interest rates anytime soon with questions remaining over the strength of the labour market.New figures showed the consumer price index rising 0.5% in the March quarter, a slightly smaller increase than most economists had been expecting.The most significant price rises in the quarter were for petrol (up 5.7%) and electricity (up 2.5%) but this was partly offset by a 6.7% drop in fruit prices.Is there a housing bubble or isn''t there? - Greg Jericho Read more It lifted the annual CPI rate to 2.1% and just inside the Reserve Bank’s 2% to 3% target band .Underlying measures of inflation, which smooth out volatile price swings and are key to interest rate decisions, averaged just over 0.4% growth in the quarter for an annual rate of 1.8%.The central bank will hold its next monthly board meeting on Tuesday but is expected to leave the cash rate at a record low 1.5%.In the minutes of the April board meeting, it emphasised the labour and housing markets “warranted careful monitoring over coming months”.Hopes that March’s strong rise in employment was a turning point for the economy may be premature as new figures show demand for new workers wilting.Job advertisements on the internet declined 0.6% in March after a revised 0.3% fall in February in trend terms, employment department data released on Wednesday shows.This left annual growth at just 0.9%. Six of the eight occupational groups monitored by the department fell in the month while declining in three states and the ACT.Topics Australian economy Reserve Bank of Australia Business (Australia) news '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/26/australian-inflation-above-2-but-experts-say-interest-rate-rise-unlikely'|'2017-04-26T12:37:00.000+03:00' 'fdf45df878dc327fb5dbf7213e0e3e49fab2a365'|'UPDATE 1-Cargill in consortium that may build Brazil railway -report'|'(Adds Cargill''s emailed statement)SAO PAULO, April 26 Cargill Inc is part of a group of grain trading companies analyzing whether to build Brazil''s Ferrogrão railway, which could require investments of up to 15 billion reais ($4.8 billion), O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Wednesday.Luiz Pretti, Cargill''s chief executive officer in Brazil, told Estado in an interview that members of the consortium that could participate in the Ferrogrão project are in touch with the government to discuss its feasibility.Ferrogrão railway would allow Brazilian grains to be shipped out of ports in the north of the country, Estado said. Pretti reiterated Cargill''s plans to invest up to $127 million in the country this year to grow operations amid a bumper soybean and corn crop.Running about 1,100 kilometers, Ferrogrão will link grain producing regions of the Center-West to the Port of Miritituba, in Pará state, curtailing the need to travel along a troublesome road that still has long unpaved section that makes passage nearly impossible during rains.Cargill press representatives confirmed Pretti''s remarks to the newspaper in an emailed statement.The Brazilian unit of U.S.-based Cargill invested 3.8 billion reais in the country over the past six years, Estado wrote, adding Latin America''s largest economy is Cargill''s second most important market behind the U.S for investments.Cargill''s consolidated net income jumped 61 percent to 670 million reais last year as Brazil''s agribusiness segment "continued to expand and has been, for the most part, resilient to economic challenges," according to its financial statement published earlier in Estado.Cargill originated, processed and traded 24 million tonnes of agricultural products in 2016, a 14.3 percent drop from the prior year.The company told Reuters crop failure impacting corn and soybeans, two of the main commodities it trades, led to 2016''s volume drop.Cargill directed 75 percent of the volumes produced in Brazil to export markets."The fall in the volumes traded ... was compensated by higher product mix efficiency and assertive financial positions," Cargill told Reuters.Net revenues were virtually stable at 32.3 billion reais last year.Earlier in April, Brazil''s agricultural statistics agency Conab raised the estimate for the country''s 2016/2017 soybean crop for a fourth time. The agency also rose corn output forecasts in the season.($1 = 3.1476 reais) (Reporting by Ana Mano and Gustavo Bonato; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/cargill-inc-brazil-idINL1N1HY1HV'|'2017-04-26T16:36:00.000+03:00' '2b83ba356a45b522f26a1baf4c62c9f6173aac92'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso tumbles on report U.S. mulling NAFTA exit'|' 44pm EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso tumbles on report U.S. mulling NAFTA exit (Recasts with peso losses, updates prices) MEXICO CITY, April 26 Mexico''s peso sank to a more than one-month low on Wednesday on news the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was considering pulling out of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday a draft executive order that would withdraw the United States from NAFTA, that also includes Mexico and Canada, was under consideration, confirming an earlier report from Politico. It is unclear whether the order would be enacted by Trump, who has said NAFTA undermines U.S. jobs. Mexico-based factories have flourished under NAFTA and Mexico sends nearly 80 percent of its exports to the United States. The peso shed more than 2 percent before paring losses slightly to trade down about 1.6 percent at 19.17 per dollar. Concerns that Trump would pull out of NAFTA drove the peso to a record low in January. But the currency had rallied back as Mexican and U.S. officials took a more constructive tone on trade since then. The Brazilian real weakened more than 0.7 percent after lawmakers voted to water down austerity demands in a debt relief bill for states, fueling concerns over the government''s fiscal agenda. The lower house of Congress approved late on Tuesday scrapping a requirement that states increase charges on public employees to fund their pensions in exchange for suspending debt payments for three years. The move invited worries President Michel Temer might find it harder than expected to gather support for a revamp of the country''s bloated pension system, an overhaul at the center of his reform agenda. Cutting public spending and curbing growth of public debt is seen as key to lifting Brazil out of its deepest recession on record. Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1800 GMT: Stock indexes Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change MSCI Emerging Markets 980.16 -0.25 13.96 MSCI LatAm 2,598.55 -1.35 12.54 Brazil Bovespa 64,986.22 -0.25 7.90 Mexico IPC 49,407.17 -0.8 8.25 Chile IPSA 4,836.24 -0.65 16.50 Chile IGPA 24,288.99 -0.59 17.14 Argentina MerVal 21,084.22 -0.54 24.63 Colombia IGBC 10,153.44 -0.2 0.25 Venezuela IBC 61,296.16 11.6 93.33 Currencies Latest Daily YTD pct pct change change Brazil real 3.1490 -0.74 3.18 Mexico peso 19.1700 -1.62 8.21 Chile peso 665 -0.48 0.86 Colombia peso 2,928.17 -0.99 2.50 Peru sol 3.249 -0.12 5.08 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.4900 -0.45 2.49 Argentina peso (parallel) 16.01 0.56 5.06 (Reporting by Michael O''Boyle in Mexico City and Bruno Federowski in Sao Paulo; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-latam-idUSL1N1HY1OP'|'2017-04-27T02:44:00.000+03:00' 'fe4aca65060abbbf2a28fb0bb1b495215a7f3b42'|'Deutsche Bank investors urged against ratifying actions of bosses'|'Business 26pm BST Deutsche Bank investors urged against ratifying actions of bosses FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of Germany''s Deutsche Bank are seen early evening in Frankfurt, Germany, January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo BERLIN Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) shareholders should not ratify the actions of its top executives and supervisory board members for last year because of the legal uncertainties surrounding the bank, shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis said on Friday. Votes to ratify the decisions of company bosses are customary in Germany as a way for shareholders to express their confidence in their leadership, although they do not release individuals from liability for their actions. While transparency at Germany''s biggest bank has improved under CEO John Cryan, the scale and scope of investigations and proceedings in which it has been - and continues to be - involved "may be indicative of widespread governance failures in the company and cast doubt on the performance of the management and supervisory boards," Glass Lewis said in a report. Many investment funds from the United States and Britain follow the recommendation of advisory firms such as Glass Lewis at shareholder meetings. Deutsche Bank''s annual shareholder meeting is on May 18. Glass Lewis criticised plans by Deutsche Bank for shareholders to vote on the actions of the executive and supervisory board collectively, rather than permitting ballots on individual members. "We strongly feel that shareholders are likely to have mixed views on which management board members they can confidently ratify for the past fiscal year," it said. Glass Lewis'' recommendations were first reported by German business newspaper Handelsblatt. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-bank-investors-idUKKBN17U2K2'|'2017-04-29T01:26:00.000+03:00' 'db37119cd171d8ff1a0cc252087337fab9fe5afd'|'UK house prices fall again in April as buyers feel Brexit squeeze - Money'|'UK house prices fell for a second month in a row in April in a sign that the squeeze on family incomes is starting to weigh on the property market.The average price of a home fell by 0.4% over the month to £207,699, following a 0.3% drop in March, according to Nationwide . It was the first time that prices fell in two consecutive months in nearly five years and drove down the annual rate of house price growth to 2.6%, the weakest since June 2013.Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said the slowdown could reflect the broader backdrop for consumer finances, which are coming under increasing pressure from a combination of rising inflation and weak wage growth .London rents fall sharply as monthly bill drops across UK Read more“While monthly figures can be volatile, the recent softening in price growth may be a further indication that households are starting to react to the emerging squeeze on real incomes or to affordability pressures in key parts of the country,” Gardner said.UK house price growth He said the outlook for the property market over the coming months was particularly difficult to predict because of the upcoming general election and uncertainty surrounding the outcome of Brexit negotiations.“The economic outlook is unusually uncertain, and housing market trends will depend crucially on developments in the wider economy,” he said.Nationwide said housing affordability was a key issue for potential homebuyers, with a typical house price currently at 6.1 times average earnings, well above the long run average of 4.3 times earnings. The lender expects house price growth to more than halve in 2017 to about 2%, from 4.5% in 2016.Consumers have been the main driver of UK economic growth since the financial crisis but there are mounting signs that the appetite for spending is beginning to wane.Retail sales are falling, and households have been dipping into their savings to maintain spending in the face of rising prices in the shops. Inflation is currently at 2.3% and expected to rise to 3% in the coming months as the weak pound since the Brexit vote feeds through to the cost of living.UK GDP chart Howard Archer, the chief UK economist at IHS Markit, said that against this backdrop house prices were likely to come under increasing pressure.“We suspect markedly weakening consumer fundamentals, likely mounting caution over making major spending decisions, and elevated house price to earnings ratios will weigh down further on housing market activity and house prices over the coming months,” he said.However, he said that a housing crash is unlikely because the shortage of homes coming on to the market will limit the extent to which prices fall.The weakening consumer backdrop was reflected in the latest high street lending figures from the British Bankers’ Association, which showed growth in consumer lending slowed to 6.1% in March from 6.5% in February.The fall was due to slower growth in personal loans, credit card borrowing, and overdrafts.“In March, annual growth in consumer borrowing from the main high street banks slowed, perhaps mirroring the dip seen in retail sales volumes as price rises appear to have started biting into consumers’ spending,” said Eric Leenders, the BBA’s managing director for retail banking.Mortgage approvals for house purchase were 2.8% lower in March than in February, at 41,061.Hansen Lu, property economist at Capital Economics, said the BBA data and the latest Nationwide house prices index made sense together.“Mortgage approvals for house purchase fell in March and that subdued demand was, in turn, reflected by a modest dip in house prices in April. The main reason for this slowdown is high house prices, suggesting that prices are unlikely to accelerate again this year.”Topics House prices Property Nationwide Banks and building societies news Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/apr/28/uk-house-prices-april-brexit-inflation-wages-nationwide'|'2017-04-28T16:15:00.000+03:00' 'bead03046466c858054e980698ff2e2b52a3311e'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 25'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 1:00am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 25 April 25 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - President Trump has instructed his advisers to make cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 percent a centerpiece of his tax-cut blueprint to be unveiled this week, according to people with knowledge of his plans, even if that means a significant reduction in revenue that could jettison his campaign promise to curb deficits. nyti.ms/2q0iyW0 - Yahoo Inc shareholders will vote on June 8 on whether to sell the company''s internet businesses to Verizon Communications Inc for $4.48 billion. A yes vote, which is widely expected, would end Marissa Mayer''s largely unsuccessful five-year effort to restore the internet pioneer to greatness. nyti.ms/2q0d0ux - The scandal at Wells Fargo & Co over the creation of millions of fake bank accounts cost more than 5,300 people their jobs, many of them tellers and other low-level employees. The next group of employees who could lose their jobs are Wells Fargo''s board of directors, who face re-election on Tuesday at the bank''s annual shareholder meeting. nyti.ms/2q0nI44 - NBC News said that Megyn Kelly would start her new job next month, with a Sunday evening showcase set to start in June. Her new morning show, which is expected to replace an hour of "Today", is scheduled for the fall. nyti.ms/2q08tZ8 - After 20 years as the king of cable news, O''Reilly''s return to broadcasting came not on camera, but in a 19-minute recorded podcast on his personal website. nyti.ms/2q01iAg (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL4N1HX22E'|'2017-04-25T13:00:00.000+03:00' 'e030fb65d093435616942c8a53890c5d304eb5c0'|'U.S. insurer FM Global picks Luxembourg as EU hub amid Brexit concerns'|'Business 1:55pm BST U.S. insurer FM Global picks Luxembourg as EU hub amid Brexit concerns By Suzanne Barlyn and Carolyn Cohn - PHILADELPHIA/LONDON PHILADELPHIA/LONDON U.S. commercial property insurer FM Global is planning a European hub in Luxembourg following Britain''s decision to leave the bloc, the head of its European division told Reuters. The mutual insurer, which earned $5.5 billion in gross premium last year, plans to continue many business operations in Windsor, west of London, but has also set up a Luxembourg-based subsidiary, FM Insurance Europe, S.A., to issue policies in the EU and other countries, said Chris Johnson, an executive vice president in charge of FM Global''s European business. The move follows that of U.S. insurer American International Group Inc ( AIG.N ), which last month said it would keep its main European headquarters in London and open a subsidiary in Luxembourg to cope with Brexit. The Lloyd''s of London insurance market, meanwhile, chose Brussels for its subsidiary. They are among a number of insurers that had set up regulated subsidiaries only in Britain, through which they have been able to sell insurance policies across the European Union from one EU country, using so-called passporting rights. But insurers and other financial services firms no longer expect to be able to retain those rights after Brexit, and have started planning EU subsidiaries, so they can continue to sell into Europe. Luxembourg and Brussels, along with Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin are touting themselves as an alternative base for firms wishing to retain access to the EU after Brexit. Johnston, Rhode Island-based FM Global, which insures one in three of the Fortune 1000 list of largest U.S. companies, chose Luxembourg for regulatory expertise, understanding of global business, and talent base, Johnson said in an interview at a risk management conference in Philadelphia. "We wanted a country that was used to a multinational environment," Johnson said. "If you can’t hire accountants, insurance professionals and lawyers, you’re in a world of hurt." Other considerations included being allowed to hold board meetings in English and have board members who are also policyholders, Johnson said. FM Global employs roughly 200 people in the UK, Johnson said. The plan, if finalised, will require duplicating roles to continue serving UK clients while also issuing coverage throughout Europe. Clients whose coverage extended throughout the EU will now also need separate UK coverage, he said. The Luxembourg subsidiary would require adding new staff, including its board, managing director, and other key positions, but would not be a large-scale move from Britain, Johnson added. Regulators require firms to employ staff needed to run a business, such as IT, compliance and finance, in any subsidiary, consultants say. FM Global''s plan is subject to regulatory approval. In December, Luxembourg regulators issued preliminary approval for FM Global to set up the unit, but not to conduct business, Johnson said. A timeframe for final approval is unclear. (Editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-insurance-fmglobal-idUKKBN17R1LB'|'2017-04-25T20:55:00.000+03:00' '0e18d2a8e6c5f6e8281e8af1917cfa6732579df6'|'Deutsche Boerse to buy back 200 million euros in shares'|' 44pm EDT Deutsche Boerse to buy back 200 million euros in shares FRANKFURT, April 26 Deutsche Boerse said on Wednesday that it planned to buy back shares totaling around 200 million euros ($218 million) in the second half of this year. The exchange operator said that it will fund the buyback with proceeds generated from its 2016 sale of International Securities Exchange to Nasdaq for about 1 billion euros. "Besides the planned share buybacks, the company intends to use these funds primarily for organic as well as value accretive external growth," the company said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9174 euros) (Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Arno Schuetze)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deutsche-boerse-buyback-idUSASM000AWA'|'2017-04-27T02:44:00.000+03:00' '6f70d99b810b8fbba8febcf76787240da20b71ea'|'China targets 35 million vehicle sales by 2025, NEVs to make up one-fifth'|' 5:26am BST China targets 35 million vehicle sales by 2025, NEVs to make up one-fifth FILE PHOTO - An employee checks newly-assembled electric cars to be exported to South America at an electric vehicle factory in Zouping county, Shandong province September 24, 2013. REUTERS/China Daily BEIJING/SHANGHAI China is targeting 35 million vehicle sales by 2025 and wants new energy vehicles (NEVs) to make up at least one-fifth of that total, the industry ministry said on Tuesday. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a market "road map" that China''s urbanization drive and the overseas expansion of its automakers would help drive annual vehicle sales up around 25 percent from last year''s total. Automakers in China, the world''s largest automobile market with sales of 28 million vehicles in 2016, are increasingly pushing into electric and hybrid vehicles to meet stringent new government quotas. Sales of new energy vehicles should reach 2 million by 2020 and account for more than 20 percent of total vehicle production and sales by 2025, the ministry said. That implied annual NEV sales of over 7 million within the next decade. Green energy car sales have risen dramatically on the back of government policies, but still represented less than 2 percent of China''s overall auto market last year. The government body also said it would push to create local champions in the industry who would be increasingly competitive with overseas rivals in China as well as in overseas markets. "The quality of Chinese brand vehicles has clearly risen, while brand recognition, reputation and global influence are much stronger," the MIIT said. "By 2025, we should have some Chinese vehicle brands that are in the global Top 10 by sales." China''s domestic automakers, including SAIC and Geely Automobile Holdings Co ( 0175.HK ), are already challenging better-known global rivals with new models and marketing strategies. The ministry added that Chinese carmakers would also look to increase exports to developed nations over the next decade, and improve battery technology for electric vehicles. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk and Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; Editing by Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-autos-electric-idUKKBN17R07A'|'2017-04-25T12:26:00.000+03:00' '37e4df89a630f1ccb3c6e1abf91bbc4ebb5346d8'|'UPDATE 1-Baker Hughes revenue falls 15 pct on lower offshore spending'|' 36am EDT UPDATE 1-Baker Hughes revenue falls 15 pct on lower offshore spending (Adds details) April 25 Baker Hughes Inc posted a 15 percent slide in revenue, in contrast to rivals Schlumberger and Halliburton Co, as sluggish activity offshore U.S. Gulf Coast dampened gains from increased drilling on the U.S. shale patch. The oilfield services provider on Tuesday reported a bigger-than-expected loss and said growth in its well construction business onshore North America was more than offset by increased competition for pressure pumping services and reduced customer spending in the Gulf of Mexico. Spending on capital-intensive and time-consuming offshore projects has remained sluggish at a time when shale producers have ramped up investments to take advantage of oil prices stabilizing at over $50 per barrel. The company, which is being acquired by General Electric Co, said quarterly revenue fell to $2.26 billion in the first quarter ended March 31 from $2.67 billion. Analysts'' on average had expected revenue of $2.27 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Net loss attributable to Baker Hughes narrowed to $129 million, or 30 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $981 million, or $2.22 per share, a year earlier. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, the company lost 24 cents per share, on an adjusted basis. Analysts'' on average had estimated a loss of 21 cents. GE said last week the merger of its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes remained on track to close in mid-2017. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/baker-hughes-results-idUSL4N1HX401'|'2017-04-25T19:36:00.000+03:00' '1d6639fed0e9ca7208617e18611915f257e7afa5'|'Gucci revival, YSL drive Kering first quarter sales beat'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 4:56pm BST Gucci revival, YSL drive Kering Q1 sales beat FILE PHOTO: The logo of Kering is seen during the company''s 2015 annual results presentation in Paris, France, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo PARIS French luxury group Kering ( PRTP.PA ) delivered a forecast-beating 28.6 percent jump in first-quarter comparable sales on Tuesday, as a revival at its biggest brand, Italy''s Gucci, accelerated and fashion house Yves Saint Laurent outperformed. Kering, whose strong results provided further evidence of a recovery in the wider luxury sector, said its quarterly performance put it in a particularly good position for the rest of the year despite political and economic uncertainties. First quarter comparable sales at Gucci, which makes over 60 percent of Kering''s profit and whose products are favored by celebrities such as singer Rihanna, rose 48.3 percent, beating analysts'' expectations of 21.4 percent growth. Kering''s Yves Saint Laurent posted comparable sales growth of 33.4 percent, also beating expectations of 19 percent growth, while sales at Bottega Veneta rose 2.3 percent amid improving tourism spending in Europe and stronger demand in Asia. Analysts polled by Financial Inquiry for Reuters eyed group comparable sales growth of 13.6 percent in the first quarter 2017 against 10.4 percent growth in the fourth quarter 2016. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by John Irish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-kering-reults-idUKKBN17R23C'|'2017-04-25T23:49:00.000+03:00' 'e2abff53cdd11283150baa13331c4a55bf14ca0b'|'Majority owner of Germany''s CTS to cut stake via placement'|'BERLIN German ticketing company CTS Eventim said the foundation of founder and CEO Klaus-Peter Schulenberg, KPS Stiftung, plans to sell up to a 5 percent stake via an accelerated bookbuild.A source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday the price guidance for the share placing was 36 euros, which would mean KPS receives proceeds of almost 173 million euros ($189 million) for the placement of up to 4.8 million shares.KPS Stiftung, which currently owns 50.2 percent of CTS, informed CTS Eventim that it does not intend to further dilute its position as a main shareholder of the company.It said it wanted to increase the trading volume of CTS shares and use the proceeds to fund investments and operations of its investment vehicle.CTS shares fell 4.4 percent in late Frankfurt trading after the announcement ( EVDG.F ). The shares had closed at 37.24 euros.(Reporting by Victoria Bryan and Alexander Huebner; Editing by Kathrin Jones and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cts-eventim-placement-idINKBN17R2EB'|'2017-04-25T16:01:00.000+03:00' '0b0cb6a27db2c2e709e913d70a41979fa579796d'|'Soaring tech stocks send Nasdaq to record high - Business'|'A slew of large tech companies including Google parent Alphabet and Amazon have reported better than expected bumper profits, promising to boost the Nasdaq index to fresh highs.The tech-heavy index already pushed to a new record on Thursday of 6,048.94, a rise of 0.39%, thanks to strong results from PayPal and Comcast. But after-the-bell figures from the industry’s giants looked set to take it even higher when trading resumes on Friday.With shares already buoyant on the hopes of huge corporate tax cuts by the Trump administration , the impressive earnings helped Wall Street brush aside any concerns about a possible US government shutdown amid continued congressional wrangling.Facebook admits: governments exploited us to spread propaganda Read more“Most folks were expecting a build in earnings acceleration and that’s what we’ve got,” said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. “Despite all the economic and geopolitical noise, ultimately the market has been responding to improving earnings.”The record-breaking run is likely to continue next week when the market will hear from Apple and Facebook.Hasan Emkani (@hasanemkani) Big market day tomorrow: Nasdaq futures surge after hours on Amazon, Alphabet earnings: Nasdaq 100… https://t.co/0sJ1g9u5B3 #business #news pic.twitter.com/m3rlD8wcrDApril 28, 2017 Alphabet’s profit beat Wall Street estimates and rose 29% to $5.43bn, a performance that analysts called exceptional for a company so large.“For a company of Google’s size to post the growth that it has is just a testament to the quality and usefulness of the products they make,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC Partners. “They are the dominant force in digital advertising.”Shares of the company rose 2.8% to $916.80 after the bell on Thursday.Like its arch-rival Facebook, Google has aggressively shifted the focus of its business to mobile advertising. The two companies accounted for 99% of the industry growth in digital advertising in 2016, Pivotal Research said in a report this week, demonstrating market power that some advertisers complain amounts to a duopoly.Amazon , the world’s largest online retailer, saw its shares rise to their highest ever level after it said net income rose 41% in the first quarter of the year.Retail and cloud-computing sales led the way, boosted by fees from its Prime shopping club and media streaming services, along with growing advertising revenue.The race to build the world’s first sex robot Read moreShares rose 3.9% to $954 in after-hours trading, adding nearly $3bn to the personal fortune of founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos .His wealth is now estimated at $79bn, making him the world’s third richest person ahead of Warren Buffett on $74bn, according to Bloomberg. Bezos is $8.3bn behind Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder who is in top spot with a fortune put at $87.3bn.PayPal jumped $2.74, or 6.2 percent, to $47.15 after reporting stronger revenue and earnings than Wall Street had forecast while Comcast was boosted by stronger revenue at theme parks it acquired as part of its NBCUniversal purchase.Microsoft profits disappointed investors as sales of its Surface tablets and laptops slumped and earnings came in lower than expected. But income was still a healthy 28% up in the first three months of the year.Intel, the chipmaker, saw profits rise by 45% to $2.9bn.Topics Nasdaq Stock markets Google Amazon Jeff Bezos Alphabet news Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/28/soaring-tech-stocks-send-nasdaq-to-record-high'|'2017-04-28T12:03:00.000+03:00' '5a6ee38c2b8b41e813679ee3e7e5022cfd8b1835'|'Japan central bank seen upbeat on growth, gloomy on prices; policy on hold'|'Business 7:57am BST Japan central bank seen upbeat on growth, gloomy on prices; policy on hold A security officer is seen through a chain link as he stands guard outside the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, March 31, 2016. REUTERS/Yuya Shino/File Photo By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO Brightening global growth prospects will allow Japan''s central bank to keep monetary policy steady this week and invest time solving the puzzle of why inflation remains stubbornly low despite a tightening job market and robust economic recovery. At the two-day rate review ending on Thursday, the Bank of Japan is set to offer a more upbeat assessment of the economy than it did last month as a pick-up in overseas demand bolsters exports and factory output, sources have told Reuters. But central bank policymakers still have little to cheer about with consumer inflation barely above zero percent, as soft household spending discourages companies from raising prices. And looming geopolitical risks, such as escalating tensions over North Korea, overshadow otherwise upbeat prospects for the global and Japanese economies. "Japan''s economy is recovering and expanding steadily as a trend," BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said last week, offering a brighter view than the central bank''s current assessment that a moderate recovery trend was in place. "But price momentum, while sustained, lacks steam," he added, signalling anew that the BOJ will maintain its massive monetary stimulus for the time being. With the economy in good shape, the BOJ is widely expected to leave unchanged its commitment to guide short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 percent and the 10-year government bond yield around zero percent through aggressive asset purchases. Analysts also expect the BOJ to maintain a loose pledge to keep increasing its government bond holdings by 80 trillion yen per year. Japan''s economy has shown signs of life, as exports rose the most in over two years in March and manufacturers'' confidence climbed to the highest since the global financial crisis a decade ago. But core consumer prices for February rose just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, keeping markets doubtful of the BOJ''s forecast inflation will hit its 2 percent target by March 2019. At a quarterly review of its long-term projections to be released on Thursday, the BOJ may slightly cut this fiscal year''s inflation forecast but project price growth accelerating steadily toward its target in subsequent years, say sources familiar with its thinking. "The BOJ''s price forecasts are too optimistic, so there''s a very high chance they will be revised down. This may happen at its quarterly forecast review in April," said Kazuo Momma, a former top BOJ economist. In the current forecast made in January, the BOJ expects core consumer inflation to hit 1.5 percent in the year ending in March 2018, followed by 1.7 percent in fiscal 2018. The BOJ may also offer an analysis on why inflation remains subdued despite a strengthening recovery, either in the quarterly report or at Kuroda''s post-meeting briefing. The International Monetary Fund called for labour market reforms to solve the conundrum. "Despite a tightening labor market, wage demands are not stronger than in the past few years and thus are unlikely to kindle much-needed positive wage-price dynamics," the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook report last week. "To attain a durable increase in inflation and growth, a comprehensive policy approach that enhances monetary accommodation with a supportive fiscal stance and reforms to labor market policies is needed," it said. After three years of heavy money printing failed to drive up inflation, the BOJ revamped its policy framework last September to one better suited for a long-term war against deflation. But critics say the central bank cannot sustain the current framework if its price target remains elusive for too long, as its heavy bond buying is already drying up market liquidity. (Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17Q0HR'|'2017-04-24T14:57:00.000+03:00' '5721bc3fe7a4be27c1ebd3636ebd3ce208931949'|'Germany not worried by U.S. corporate tax reform plans - Schaeuble'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 9:17am BST Germany not worried by U.S. corporate tax reform plans - Schaeuble German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is not worried by the prospect of cuts to corporate tax rates in the United States he told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday promised a big announcement about tax reform shortly and ordered a review of Obama-era tax rules written to discourage U.S. companies from relocating overseas to cut their tax bills. "U.S. corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world," the magazine quoted Schaeuble as saying. "If the United States lowers its corporate taxes to European or international levels that won''t bother me a bit. Just the opposite." At the same time, Schaeuble said he opposed plans for a systemic change to taxation of companies based on their country of origin and a protectionist border tax favoured by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the magazine reported. The Trump administration has criticised Germany for its large trade surpluses with the United States, while Germany has said its companies make quality products that customers want to buy. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump initially issued a plan that included proposals for cuts in tax rates for individuals and corporations, a repeal of the estate tax, an offshore profits repatriation tax holiday for multinationals and a cap on the deductibility of business interest. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-usa-schaeuble-idUKKBN17P05A'|'2017-04-23T16:17:00.000+03:00' 'ba43d3fe6f75943217f9e9d1a0327c736ce95662'|'Malaysia''s 1MDB reaches settlement deal with Abu Dhabi''s IPIC'|'Business News - 41am BST Malaysia''s 1MDB reaches settlement deal with Abu Dhabi''s IPIC FILE PHOTO - A construction worker talks on the phone in front of a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) billboard at the Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Olivia Harris/File Photo KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia''s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) said on Monday it had reached an agreement with Abu Dhabi state fund IPIC on the settlement of arbitration proceedings at the London Court of International Arbitration. The statement followed an announcement by International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) on the London Stock Exchange confirming a debt deal had been reached. Under the settlement, 1MDB will make certain payments to IPIC and will assume responsibility for all future interest and principal payments for two bonds issued by 1MDB Group companies due in 2022, the Malaysian fund said in the statement. 1MDB said obligations will be met primarily via monetisation of 1MDB-owned investment fund units. It said a first tranche monetisation of about $50 million had been received, in cash. Last year IPIC had asked a London court to arbitrate in a dispute with 1MDB, in which IPIC claimed about $6.5 billion (£5.1 billion). (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-malaysia-scandal-ipic-gmtn-idUKKBN17Q0TJ'|'2017-04-24T17:41:00.000+03:00' 'b004ae8f20a6894cae0f2990fbe1f137907e0c10'|'RPT-South Africa''s Sibanye declares war on illegal gold miners'|'Economic News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 1:00am EDT RPT-South Africa''s Sibanye declares war on illegal gold miners (Repeating April 21 story with no changes to text) * Sibanye aims to clear out illegal miners by January 2018 * Thousands of "zama zamas" mine gold illegally in South Africa * Biometric access part of security roll out * Costs to industry, state coffers estimated at $1.5 bln annually By Ed Stoddard WESTONARIA, South Africa, April 21 Illegal gold mining has plagued South Africa''s mining companies for decades, robbing the industry and state coffers of billions of rand through smalltime pilfering as well as networks run by organised crime. Now, with unmined output dwindling and proving more diff cult to extract, one firm has had enough: diversified precious metals producer Sibanye Gold says that it will clear all illegal miners from its shafts by the end of January next year. "We will have them out then," Sibanye''s Chief Executive Neal Froneman told Reuters. His campaign slogan is "Zero Zama", after the Zulu for illegal miners, "zama zamas" or "taking a chance". A Gold Fields spin-off formed in 2013, Sibanye is the first company to set itself a deadline to stop the practice and has laid out 200 million rand ($15 million) to make it happen. The challenge is immense, however. Sibanye may win most of the battles but it will lose the war in a country beset by joblessness, poverty, crime and porous borders, experts say. Most zamas are undocumented immigrants from neighbouring countries that have long provided migrant labour for South Africa''s mines who are now being laid off. The syndicates who support them and traffic the illegal metals are well-funded, well-established and highly dangerous, security experts say. "Sibanye can get it down by 90 percent, but they will never eradicate it completely," Louis Nel, a security consultant who works on the fertile mining West Rand area near Johannesburg, told Reuters. "You must never underestimate the ability of an illegal miner." The stakes are high. Illegal gold mining costs South Africa''s government and industry more than 20 billion rand ($1.5 billion) a year in lost sales, taxes and royalties, the Chamber of Mines estimated in an unpublished document submitted to parliament in March. Areas around both abandoned shafts and working mines are also made unsafe by the theft of copper, power cables and other infrastructure, it said in the document, which was provided to Reuters. The operational security budget in Sibanye''s gold division alone is 400 million rand in 2017, equal to almost 20 percent of its headline earnings last year. "If they are able to resolve the issue, it will be a positive," said Hanre Rossouw, a portfolio manager with Investec, which holds shares in Sibanye. MULTI-PRONGED STRATEGY Sibanye''s strategy for eradicating the problem is multi-pronged: a tip-off and reward system to encourage employees to report suspicious activity, tactical security units that can go underground to make arrests, and access checks such as biometrics, also used by rivals such as Harmony, to ensure only authorised personnel gain entry. The tip-off system is aimed at employees who may be on the take, providing the zamas access to working shafts, the biometrics prevent zamas from gaining access and the tactical units are there to arrest the illegals if they do get through. A decade ago, virtually none of these systems existed. One front in Sibanye''s war is the Masimthembe mine 70 km (40 miles) west of Johannesburg, its most profitable gold operation, helping it offer a dividend of 4.856 percent compared to an local industry average of 2.1 percent, much to the envy of its peers. Masimthembe used to be the gateway to other shafts at nearby operations through a network of linked tunnels. Now it has been effectively cleared of zamas, Sibanye says. To gain access to elevator cages going down to the mine, visitors must negotiate a series of high-tech turnstiles which require a biometric reading of your index fingers and can trap you if you are not authorised to pass. This last is an upgrade from older models, which allowed illegal miners to "piggyback" behind employees. Underground, Sibanye miners and security workers showed a Reuters reporting team the kind of spot favoured by illegal miners, an area where ore blasted in legal mining operations has been scraped away from the rockface. There, zamas wash rocks that have been left behind over a metal plate wrapped in carpet. The gold-bearing material gets caught in the carpet, which is then washed out in a bucket of water. After mercury is added, presto: a nugget that may be 50 percent gold. The work is dangerous and hazards include rock falls. The chamber submission to parliament said the bodies of 76 zamas were recovered underground in 2016, compared to 73 fatalities in the country''s legal mining industry. The zamas can spend weeks underground, supported by criminal networks who provide tools, food and water. These syndicates plug into a murky network of buyers who, according to the Chamber of Mines and a U.N. report last year, pass the illicit gold to local and international distributors. Dubai and India are believed to be key end markets. Sometimes rivalries break out into violence. In March, 14 bodies of illegal miners shot or bludgeoned to death were uncovered in Benoni, a suburb east of Johannesburg, which is home to scores of abandoned shafts. "We believe this was part of a turf war over illegal mining," police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe told Reuters. GUN BATTLES Nel, formerly in the South African military, has had hair-raising experiences. On one recent job for liquidators to clear a derelict mine, he and his teams regularly had gun battles with zama zamas on the surface. "In a five-month period, I was narrowly missed by bullets seven times," he said. He said they cleared the vast majority of the illegal miners from the area but when his contract ended, they returned en masse. Nash Lutchman, Sibanye''s head of security, said the problem of illegal mining only became a priority with the mass lay-offs. Industry data shows employment in South Africa''s gold sector has fallen to 116,000 in 2016 from a peak of over 540,000 in 1987. "Employees were stealing for themselves and are probably still stealing for themselves. Security was on the take, shift bosses were looking the other way, the mine overseer did not really worry," Lutchman told Reuters. "When people started losing their jobs, then it started becoming (known as) ''illegal mining''," he said. Returning to the surface at Masimthembe, visitors are frisked by security guards who do a thorough pat-down and check the inside of the big rubber boots worn underground, something that was not regular practice in the past. During a recent visit to one Sibanye mine, two foreign investors who innocently plucked rocks as keepsakes were startled when mine security tried to detain them, according to a company source who asked not to be named. Managers defused the situation. But it showed the upgraded security - to some extent - was working. (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/safrica-mining-illegal-idUSL8N1HT4I0'|'2017-04-24T13:00:00.000+03:00' 'ec871bf4d627e58179b86d0d012431830530e473'|'Barrick earmarks $500 mln for Argentina mine after spill'|'Commodities 40pm EDT Barrick earmarks $500 million for Argentina mine after spill FILE PHOTO: An overall view of the Barrick Gold annual general meeting for shareholders is seen as the CEO Jamie Sokalsky speaks in Toronto, April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Justin Chin Barrick Gold Corp has earmarked $500 million over five years for upgrades and expansions to its Veladero mine in Argentina, chief operating officer Richard Williams said on Tuesday, four weeks after a third cyanide solution spill at the mine. Barrick, the world''s biggest gold miner, said improvements to the mine''s processing facility, where the spills occurred, would include adding containment barriers, reinforcing and moving pipes, and installing new high-definition cameras to monitor the site. (Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-barrick-gold-mine-argentina-idUSKBN17R2WD'|'2017-04-26T05:37:00.000+03:00' '5015bc066e42eb971efb9f31fd07255feff11497'|'Credit Suisse to raise $4 billion in rights issue, ditches Swiss unit IPO'|'Deals 7:52am EDT Credit Suisse seeks capital security with $4 billion cash call A logo is pictured on a branch of the Credit Suisse bank in Bern, Switzerland April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) has ditched plans to raise money by listing part of its Swiss business and will instead sell new shares worth about 4 billion Swiss francs ($4 billion) to get its financial strength back on a par with rivals. Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, which is recovering from back-to-back annual losses as it restructures under Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, said the decision should remove any lingering concerns about its capital strength. "It''s the right move, even if I would have preferred it not to be necessary," said Thomas Braun, fund manager at Classic Fund Management, a top 30 Credit Suisse shareholder. The 4 billion franc rights issue follows a 6 billion franc cash call in late 2015 and asset sales that raised about 1 billion francs in capital. It will be the last leg of Credit Suisse''s plans to raise the 9-11 billion francs Thiam said it needed when he announced his revamp in October 2015. "Is there something on top of that? The short answer is ''no''," Thiam, who became CEO in July 2015, told reporters. The cash call follows similar capital increases by German rival Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) and Italy''s UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ) this year and should benefit from a rally in bank stocks after polls showed French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would lose a presidential run-off on May 7. Reuters reported last month that Credit Suisse was considering a share sale rather than an initial public offering (IPO) of its Swiss banking division and was set to make a decision in April. Scrapping the IPO means Credit Suisse will not have to sacrifice some of the profits from one of its most lucrative divisions and will avoid the operational complexities of having a separate listed entity within a global bank. "I''m glad they''re not selling the Swiss bank as that would have weakened the overall business and raising equity is simpler and cleaner," said David Hussey, fund manager at top 60 Credit Suisse investor Manulife Asset Management. RELIEF RALLY Credit Suisse has lost 5.65 billion francs since 2015 as Thiam focuses on expanding its wealth management business while shrinking its investment bank, a shift the Swiss bank expects will lead to more than 10,000 job losses. The bank''s management is also fighting an investor protest over high executive pay that is set to come to a head at its annual meeting on Friday while the Netherlands is leading an investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering involving the bank. Still, clarity on its plans for raising capital, as well as better than expected first-quarter numbers, pushed shares in Credit Suisse up as much as 3.7 percent to their highest since March 3. The shares were trading 1.9 percent higher at 1135 GMT. "This set of numbers and, much more importantly, the removal of capital uncertainty make the shares ready for a relief rally," wrote Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Peter Casanova, who rates Credit Suisse''s stock "buy". The bank reported net profit of 596 million francs for the first three months of 2017, its highest quarterly profit since Thiam launched his sweeping restructuring and ahead of even the highest estimate in a Reuters poll of analysts. "Wealth management as well as investment banking trends give us reason to be optimistic," said Andreas Brun, banking analyst at Mirabaud Securities LLP. However, Credit Suisse cautioned that the outcome for the second quarter "will be dependent on political developments that are hard to predict at this stage". LAST CAPITAL INCREASE? Credit Suisse expects to have a common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a closely watched measure of balance sheet strength, of approximately 13.4 percent and a tier 1 leverage ratio of about 5.1 percent following the 4 billion franc capital increase. By comparison, Deutsche Bank expects to achieve a CET1 ratio of 14 percent through its cash call and Swiss rival UBS ( UBSG.S ) is just shy of 14 percent. While some analysts reckoned the debate about the bank''s capital position had finally been put to rest others remained concerned it might not be the last cash call. "How can a bank as big as CS be so volatile in terms of its earnings and unpredictable as to how much capital it needs? They are being forced to adjust quarter by quarter," said Chirantan Barua, an analyst with Bernstein. "This may not be the last capital raise." The bank will hold an extraordinary general meeting on May 18 for shareholders to vote on the capital increase. Thiam said the full benefits of his restructuring would feed through to investors after next year. "Nobody is more eager than me to get to 2018 because then we start seeing in 2019 what this bank can deliver." (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt and Angelika Gruber in Zurich and Danilo Masoni in Milan; writing by John O''Donnell and Joshua Franklin; editing by Keith Weir and David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-results-idUSKBN17S0F4'|'2017-04-26T13:26:00.000+03:00' '2f787f0a7ee56c69f1320512ba5f36c5bfb55453'|'Trump tax plan will sharply slash corporate tax rates'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 3:38am BST Trump tax plan will sharply slash corporate tax rates left right U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin takes a question during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts 1/3 left right National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 2/3 left right U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum''s ''Days of Remembrance'' ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, U.S, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 3/3 By Amanda Becker and Steve Holland - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump is proposing to slash the corporate income tax rate and offer multinational businesses a steep tax break on overseas profits brought into the United States, officials said late on Tuesday. With financial markets eagerly anticipating a White House tax plan, Trump will also call for a sharp cut in the top rate on pass-through businesses, including many small business partnerships and sole proprietorships, to 15 percent from 39.6 percent, an administration official said. He will propose cutting the income tax rate paid by public corporations to 15 percent from 35 percent, and allowing multinationals to bring in overseas profits at a tax rate of 10 percent versus 35 percent now, the official said. Trump''s proposal will not include a controversial "border-adjustment" tax on imports that was in earlier proposals floated by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives as a way to offset revenue losses resulting from tax cuts. Trump''s tax blueprint will fall short of the kind of comprehensive tax reform that Republicans have long discussed, and serve chiefly as a guidepost for lawmakers in the House and Senate. "We''re driving this a little bit more," a senior White House official told a group of reporters late on Tuesday. The plan is not expected by analysts to include any proposals for raising new revenue to offset that lost by the tax cuts, and so, if enacted, it would potentially add billions of dollars to the federal deficit. Trump sent Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to brief lawmakers on the plan to be unveiled on Wednesday afternoon, likely by Mnuchin. Mnuchin has been leading the administration’s effort to craft a tax package that can win support in Congress, although the proposals would have a long way to go before becoming law, even with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate. Mnuchin has said the cuts will pay for themselves by generating more economic growth but fiscal hawks, potentially some in Trump’s own Republican Party, along with Democrats, are certain to question these claims. Trump also may cap the individual top tax rate at 33 percent, repeal the estate and alternative minimum taxes and cut taxes for the middle class, analysts said. Whether Trump will include provisions that could attract Democratic votes, such as a proposal to fund infrastructure spending or a child-care tax credit as proposed by his daughter Ivanka, is still the subject of speculation. CAPITOL HILL MEETING Mnuchin and Cohn, both veterans of investment bank Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ), went to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s office on Tuesday evening, where they all met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, and the chairmen of the House and Senate tax committees, Orrin Hatch and Kevin Brady, respectively. Hatch called it a "preliminary" 30-minute meeting and participants described it as positive and productive. As Mnuchin left the Capitol he told reporters there is "no question" the Trump administration and Republicans in the Senate and House agree on the "fundamental principles of tax reform." The senior White House official said Trump would like to see Congress pass tax reform by the middle of autumn. Trump has struggled to advance his domestic agenda, including taxes. With his 100th day as president approaching on Saturday, he has yet to offer formal legislation to Congress or win passage of a major bill he favours. Some Washington policy analysts said the White House plan could clash in some ways with a broader tax plan shaped months ago by House Republicans, and complicate the consensus-building needed for full tax reform, a political feat not accomplished since 1986 when President Ronald Reagan pulled it off. The House Republican plan, championed by Ryan and Brady, proposed a 20 percent corporate tax rate. Many U.S. corporations, especially large multinationals, already pay well below the statutory 35 percent tax rate but have been campaigning for a formal rate cut for many years. The Ryan-Brady plan did include "pay-fors," including a proposed "border adjustment" tax that would favour exports and discourage imports. When asked after Tuesday’s briefing if Republicans had ruled out including a border adjustment tax in a tax overhaul, Hatch said: "I wouldn''t say that. The House hasn''t given up on that but they''ve acknowledged it needs some work." Separately cutting the top tax rate for pass-through businesses, which account for most U.S. companies, could benefit Trump himself, said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, a Democratic activist group. "In trying to slash taxes for pass-through business entities, Trump is seeking to dramatically reduce his own tax bill," he said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Richard Cowan and Ginger Gibson; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-tax-idUKKBN17R2KI'|'2017-04-26T10:31:00.000+03:00' '9b466f494cefc1e13124bcb5b6f663b6b2315048'|'British American says 2017 trading in line with expectations'|' 40pm BST British American says 2017 trading in line with expectations People walk past the British American Tobacco offices in London, Britain October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth LONDON British American Tobacco ( BATS.L ) said on Wednesday that trading so far this year was in line with expectations for challenging conditions in a number of key markets. The company, in the process of buying out Reynolds American ( RAI.N ) and on course to become the world''s biggest listed tobacco company, said this year''s profit growth will be weighted towards the second half of the year, as it was in 2016. "I am confident of another good year of constant currency earnings growth," Chairman Richard Burrows said at the company''s annual general meeting, according to a statement. BAT, home to the Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarette brands, wants to double the number of countries where it sells e-cigarettes and other vaping products this year to around 20 markets, and to double it again in 2018, as it races against Philip Morris ( PM.N ), which expects to have its iQOS heated tobacco device in as many as 30 markets by the end of this year. Regarding its new e-cigarette line, Vype Pebble, launched in Britain and Italy in December, BAT said "early signs are very encouraging". It said its heated tobacco product, Glo, which launched in the Japanese city of Sendai in December and earlier this month in Switzerland, was exceeding expectations. It said the product gained 6.5 percent of the market by volume at a leading Sendai convenience store chain after only 18 weeks. (Reporting by Martinne Geller; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-brit-am-tobacco-agm-idUKKBN17S1GJ'|'2017-04-26T19:40:00.000+03:00' 'feb0bf56d4b4648d52156ff0def32f658d746c0d'|'China Southern to buy 20 Airbus jets for close to $6 billion'|' 12:00pm BST China Southern to buy 20 Airbus jets for close to $6 billion FILE PHOTO: A China Southern Airlines aircraft flies over a slum before landing at Manila''s International airport May 16, 2012. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco/File Photo SHANGHAI China Southern Airlines ( 600029.SS ) has signed a deal worth nearly $6 billion (4.68 billion pounds) to buy 20 aircraft from European planemaker Airbus SE ( AIR.PA ), the Chinese carrier said on Wednesday. China''s largest airline by passenger numbers has agreed to buy 20 A350-900 jets, each with a price tag of $298.9 million, it said in a stock exchange filing. The planes will be delivered between 2019 and 2022 and will be funded through China Southern''s own funds and loans from commercial banks, the company said. China is gearing up for a major joint China-Europe aviation safety conference in Shanghai on Thursday as Beijing looks to raise its profile in the global aviation market. Chinese planemaker COMAC is expected to stage the maiden flight of its C919 jet in the coming weeks as the company looks to compete with Boeing ( BA.N ) and Airbus for a slice of global jet sales worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years. (Reporting by Adam Jourdan; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-southern-airbus-group-idUKKBN17S1BD'|'2017-04-26T19:00:00.000+03:00' '9a4fc6e30a6484f5b18dac7c635c7f6f6f0cb3bf'|'Ready for take-off? China''s answer to Boeing now just needs to sell'|'Business 4:09am BST Ready for take-off? China''s answer to Boeing now just needs to sell left right FILE PHOTO: The first C919 passenger jet made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) is pulled out during a news conference at the company''s factory in Shanghai, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo 1/5 left right FILE PHOTO: The first C919 passenger jet made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) is pulled out during a news conference at the company''s factory in Shanghai, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo 2/5 left right FILE PHOTO: Models of the ARJ21 regional jet from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) are displayed at the Aviation Expo China 2015 in Beijing, China, September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo 3/5 left right FILE PHOTO: A model of the ARJ21 regional jet from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) is displayed at the Aviation Expo China 2015 in Beijing, China, September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo 4/5 left right FILE PHOTO: People take pictures and videos as the first C919 passenger jet made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) is pulled out from behind a curtain during a news conference at the company''s factory in Shanghai, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily/File Photo 5/5 By Brenda Goh and Tim Hepher - SHANGHAI/PARIS SHANGHAI/PARIS When China unveiled an historic order for its first large commercial jetliner at a national air show in 2010, Western journalists were kept away, and only local media were allowed to witness a major turning point in China''s aviation ambitions. The COMAC C919 jet is expected to stage its maiden flight in the coming weeks, and foreign media and potential buyers will be invited in force - illustrating how Beijing is adjusting to competition for a slice of global jet sales worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years. But after three years of delays and almost a decade in development, China''s answer to the Boeing 737 and its state-owned designers face a daunting phase: selling the jet abroad in a market dominated by Boeing ( BA.N ) and Airbus ( AIR.PA ). "They will be trying to compete on price against people who are building aircraft at a much faster pace and with more experience, so there''s a risk of getting bled dry," said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst at Virginia-based Teal Group. Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has some cards to play: its plane has Western engines and avionics coupled with a new design; it''s rolling out a pilot training program, expanding international staff and has strong, behind-the-scenes backing from Beijing, industry executives say. And though still unproven, COMAC could be the single biggest threat over the coming decades to the dominance of Boeing and Airbus, both in China''s own huge aviation market and, longer-term, overseas. The C919 is the first step to this. Beijing''s backing for the single-aisle plane gives COMAC a springboard in the world''s fastest-growing domestic market, even though the company acknowledges much bigger hurdles abroad. "You can''t compare us to Boeing or Airbus, they''re in a different strategic stage... We took half a century to solve the first strategic issue (of plane development), it will also take many years to solve the second (market) problem," said Jeff Cheng, a spokesman for COMAC. "After the first flight, we have to focus and research on how to improve the plane''s and COMAC''s market competitiveness." Eric Chen, president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft China, welcomed the competition from COMAC, and a China-based spokesman for Boeing congratulated the company on developing the C919. GLOBAL SUPPORT NETWORK The C919 has chalked up 570 firm orders and commitments from 23 customers, mainly Chinese state-backed airlines and leasing companies, but says it is not able to give a breakdown. In comparison, the latest version of the Boeing 737 had more than 3,000 firm orders before it flew last January. Those types of numbers from the two big global planemakers come after decades of trimming costs and honing marketing pitches. The two have global support networks able to respond whenever a jet breaks down just about anywhere, and the number of jets flying makes it easier for airlines to raise loans to buy them. While Chinese financiers have muscled into the global aviation arena, COMAC has a relatively low-key presence at international air shows and has said the C919 will initially be aimed at the domestic market. But there are signs it''s adopting a more outward-facing approach. While operating manuals for COMAC''s smaller ARJ21 regional jet, which took its first flight in 2007, were written in Mandarin, the C919''s will be in English to support sales. COMAC''s sales and support networks - it has at least 50 people in its sales and marketing departments, says Cheng - are, however, a fraction of those at Boeing and Airbus. Still, COMAC''s home advantage is significant as Chinese airlines are likely to drive airplane demand over the next two decades, buying nearly 7,000 planes - mostly from Boeing and Airbus. "Their sales person is the government," said a Chinese airline executive, who didn''t want to be named for risk of damaging business relationships. "As long as the government tells the state airlines to purchase planes, that will happen." Airline executives say the first flight is when COMAC can realistically start discussing deposits and firming up customers, even if the plane still faces years of testing. "We haven''t placed a deposit; at the moment it''s intentions," said Che Shanglun, chairman of Xiamen Airlines, a subsidiary of China Southern Airlines ( 600029.SS )( 1055.HK ), which has committed to buying up to 50 of the 158-seat C919s. "We signed for 50, but we actually want to buy 30. We have to see if they''re able to produce it... They (COMAC) are very enthusiastic, they meet us every month and send us updates." HOW SAFE IS IT? Executives at two Chinese airlines which have not placed orders for the aircraft said they wanted to see the C919''s safety record, as well as the creation of a global support team. The safety certification of the new plane - which state media says will have a catalog price tag of around $50 million, less than half that of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 - could be among the biggest issues for the C919 internationally. Having a plane certified to fly commercially is tough enough even for Western jetmakers as aircraft become more complex and supply chains expand. There is still uncertainty over approvals needed for the C919 to secure a foothold beyond China, with the United States and European Union having the most influence. Although the EU has agreed to recognize some of the checks carried out by China, it is expected to insist on some of its own tests before issuing a safety certificate and is trying to understand where discrepancies between the two systems lie. "We are just at the start of the process," said Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Without Western approvals, China would only be able to sell to countries that accept its certification standards. Zimbabwe, Bolivia and Tajikistan have previously bought Chinese planes. Without Western certification, "sales of the aircraft in developed economies and many developing economies will be difficult to impossible," said Bradley Perrett, a veteran China watcher at Aviation Week. The C919''s only real foreign buyer so far is leasing firm GE Capital Aviation Services, whose parent General Electric ( GE.N ) co-built the plane''s engine with France''s Safran ( SAF.PA ). "Only once our plane enters the market and is tested can we see what gaps it has," Cheng said. -For graphic on ''Comparison of passenger jets'' click: tmsnrt.rs/1kwEmC4 (Reporting by Brenda Goh and Tim Hepher, with additional reporting by Alistair Smout in LONDON, Conor Humphries in DUBLIN and SHANGHAI Newsroom; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-aviation-comac-analysis-idUKKBN17Q2F8'|'2017-04-25T07:12:00.000+03:00' '8660857c92fc937e143ca44827fa615353014d26'|'Nikkei slips as relief rally sputters, posts hefty weekly gains'|'TOKYO, April 28 Japan''s Nikkei share average ticked down on Friday as a relief rally driven by fading political worries in Europe fizzled, but the benchmark managed to score its largest weekly gain since early December.The Nikkei fell 0.3 percent to 19,196.74 , off five-week highs of 19,289.43 touched on Wednesday. But it was up 3.1 percent on the week.The broader Topix fell 0.3 percent to 1,531.80, with turnover of the main board hitting 2.546 trillion yen, its highest in three weeks and about 15 percent above the long-term average.Nintendo, the most heavily traded shares on Friday, rose 2.1 percent after its earnings suggested strong sales of its new Switch console. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-stocks-close-idUSL4N1I030M'|'2017-04-28T14:37:00.000+03:00' 'cfa6feb2120af8ef72ddb1ea74446a0c4cfca4e8'|'U.S. refiners bet on strong exports to balance market'|'NEW YORK U.S. refiners have come out of maintenance season betting that big exports to Mexico and South America will help alleviate high product inventories and boost margins as the critical summer driving season nears.The first wave of earnings results from several large independent U.S. refiners showed that they are not chasing U.S. gasoline profits, due to already high inventories and steady-but-not-spectacular demand. Instead, they are taking advantage of demand from places like Mexico and South America, where sputtering local refineries cannot meet customer needs. Marathon Petroleum Corp ( MPC.N ), which just completed its largest-ever quarter of turnaround projects at its three Gulf Coast refineries, expects to process more crude than ever in the second quarter, the company said in its earnings release on Thursday. "The export book continues to be strong," Marathon CEO Gary Heminger said Thursday, noting that he expects company exports to grow from about 200,000 bpd earlier this year to 300,000 bpd in the second quarter. It is expected to process about 1.82 million bpd in the second quarter.Valero Energy Corp ( VLO.N ), the largest U.S. independent refiner by capacity, said it expected its 15 refineries to run up to 96 percent of their combined capacity of 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter.There is concern, however, that high run rates might exceed the ability of refiners to export products. U.S. gasoline inventories, which had been drawing down, have rebounded to uncommonly high levels for the season, sapping refining margins.Jack Lipinski, CEO of CVR Energy Inc ( CVI.N ), said he fears a repeat of last year, when high inventories crushed margins. The company''s two refineries are landlocked and have no direct access to export markets."Even though we are seeing exports increasing, the increase in production is offsetting that," Lipinski said on an earnings call Thursday. Refinery crude runs USOICR=ECI hit a record 17.3 million bpd last week and capacity utilization rates hit their highest level since November 2015. [EIA/S]"Right now, we are running at summer peak levels. If we stay at this level for several months, rising inventories will overwhelm exports," said Mark Broadbent, a refinery analyst at Wood Mackenzie. "If we stay at lower levels, then exports can help balance inventories."The four-week average for exports of finished motor gasoline jumped to 643,000 bpd from 395,000 bpd a year ago while exports of distillate fuel oil climbed to 1.11 million bpd versus 1.01 million bpd a year earlier, EIA data showed. However, March''s middle distillate export loadings were at an 11-month low, while gasoline export loadings to Latin America have been anchored in the 600,000-bpd range for the past couple of months, said Matt Smith, who tracks cargoes for New York-based Clipperdata.U.S. refiners, particularly in the Gulf Coast, have cashed in on soaring demand for refined products from Mexico, even as margins CL321-1=R have languished at the lowest levels in about seven years seasonally. The silver lining has been diesel markets. East Coast refiners are stepping up exports of diesel despite a regional deficit of the fuel as strong overseas demand, particularly in Europe, is proving more profitable."It''s a distillate world out there," said Scott Shelton, energy futures broker with ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. He said ultimately the narrowing in gasoline''s premium to diesel RBc1-HOc1 should prompt more diesel refining, tightening gasoline supplies. That spread hit a four-year seasonal low on Thursday.(Reporting by Devika Krishna Kumar and Jarrett Renshaw in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-refiners-demand-idUSKBN17U0IA'|'2017-04-28T13:10:00.000+03:00' '6f80aa98a760592fb4c7f0e331f1b58d92ef6035'|'Anglo to restart El Soldado mine in Chile after permit approval'|'Company 8:55am EDT Anglo to restart El Soldado mine in Chile after permit approval SANTIAGO, April 28 Anglo American plans to restart production shortly at its El Soldado copper mine in Chile as regulators have approved a new permit plan for the deposit, the company said late Thursday. Anglo stopped operations at El Soldado on Feb. 17 after regulators rejected an initial redesign of the mine, saying there was a potential for collapse where the project crossed former underground operations. The miner has said it believed its original plans were safe but submitted a revised version of the redesign, which Anglo said on Thursday the government had approved. "As a result of this decision, Anglo American will immediately adopt the necessary measures to operate the mine as soon as possible," the company said in a statement. Anglo American, the majority-owner of El Soldado, had said that if it did not receive the necessary permits it might walk away from the deposit altogether. The mine has lost money in recent years, and management has been following an aggressive savings plan against the backdrop of depressed copper prices. El Soldado produced 47,000 tonnes of copper in 2016, making it relatively small by Chilean standards. The mine is part of the Anglo American Sur complex, in which Chile''s state-run Codelco and Japan''s Mitsubishi and Mitsui also hold stakes. (Reporting by Antonio de la Jara and Gram Slattery; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/anglo-american-soldado-idUSL1N1I00OD'|'2017-04-28T20:55:00.000+03:00' '180b7ba8dcd167fed4b96bfba76613471a144da9'|'Singapore''s automation incentives draw tech firms, boost economy'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:42am BST Singapore''s automation incentives draw tech firms, boost economy left right A Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 1/5 left right A Universal Robots robotic arm works on a circuit board during a demonstration in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 2/5 left right A Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 3/5 left right A Universal Robots employee demonstrates how a model of their industrial robot arms works in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 4/5 left right A Universal Robots robotic arm is displayed in their office in Singapore March 3, 2017. Picture taken March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su 5/5 By Masayuki Kitano and Aradhana Aravindan Foreign precision engineering firms are investing more in Singapore, drawn by strong semiconductor demand and government incentives aimed at re-tooling an economy short of skilled labour. The city-state is running programs worth billions of dollars to support productivity, automation and research, attracting global chipmakers including U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc ( MU.O ) and Germany''s Infineon Technologies ( IFXGn.DE ). This investment rush into electronics helped the technology sector log 57 percent output growth on average in October-February from a year ago, and kept Singapore from recession late last year. "I''ve lived in Europe, I''ve lived in Japan, I''ve spent a lot of time in Taiwan and other countries. From a proactive standpoint, Singapore is about as good as it gets," said Wayne Allan, vice president of global manufacturing at Micron, adding the Singapore government''s long-term vision was key to Micron expanding its investment. Taking advantage of government grants, Micron is investing $4 billion to make more flash-memory chips in Singapore. It increased output by a third in the second half of last year and expects similar growth in the first half of this year. Linear Technology Corp, a maker of analog integrated circuits, has opened a third chip testing facility in Singapore, and will produce 90 percent of its global test equipment in the city-state. All this has created something of a virtuous circle in the semiconductor supply chain, with chip testing equipment supplier Applied Materials ( AMAT.O ) reporting record shipments to Singapore last year, said its regional chief, Russell Tham. It''s unclear how much of this revival in Singapore''s $40 billion chip industry is due to a so-called ultra-super-cycle in the global memory chip sector, and Singapore remains a smaller player than South Korea and Taiwan. "It is vulnerable to a pull-back," said Nomura economist Brian Tan. "If there''s a turnaround in the semiconductor industry ... it becomes a lot more apparent that the underlying growth momentum is not great." -For graphic on ''global memory chip market forecast'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2k8LOqk -For graphic on ''Singapore''s semiconductor industry performance'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2oLaZOi MOVING UP However, there are real signs that the targeted government incentives are helping firms move up the value chain. One of the larger programs is the Productivity and Innovation Credit, where Singapore has budgeted S$3.6 billion ($2.6 billion) for 2016-18. Another S$400 million automation support package is aimed at small firms, and a S$500 million Future of Manufacturing plan encourages testing new technologies. The Ministry of Trade and Industry says it encourages manufacturers to "embrace disruptive technologies" such as robotics. "These measures will help ensure the manufacturing sector in Singapore remains globally competitive," it said, attributing the strong semiconductors performance partly to demand from China''s smartphone market and improved global semiconductor demand. For Feinmetall Singapore, whose products are used for testing semiconductor wafers, grants covered about two thirds of the $100,000 cost of a needle-bending machine it needed to help overcome an island-wide labour shortage. "If we use the same methods as before ... I don''t think we can expect any growth," said Sam Chee Wah, the company''s general manager, noting Feinmetall Singapore struggled to retain some workers for much longer than a year, even after nine months of training. GlobalFoundries Singapore, a wafer maker, has spent $50 million on 77 robots, each able to perform the tasks of 3-4 workers. This has helped the company move up the value chain into parts for self-driving cars and security-related chips for credit cards and mobile payments, says general manager KC Ang. Singapore now has about 400 robots per 10,000 workers, the world''s second-highest density after South Korea. Most robots are used in electronics, according to the International Federation of Robots. And further developments are in the pipeline. AUTOS, IOT At its Singapore manufacturing hub, Infineon is developing productivity tools such as robotics and automated guided vehicles which it hopes to deploy to other production sites. Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors ( NXPI.O ) is also developing vehicle-to-everything technology, enabling vehicles to communicate with each other and roadside infrastructure. Instead of trying to compete with high-volume producers such as China or Malaysia, Singapore has shifted to higher-end products, said Jagadish C.V., head of Systems on Silicon Manufacturing, another firm making semiconductor wafers. "So you do the products which others can''t do so easily," he said, adding his firm had shifted most of its output to specialized products, such as chips used in smartphones. CK Tan, President of the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association, noted the global chip industry is automating faster than other sectors because of cost pressure, a need to eliminate or reduce error, and have a consistent process control. "In Singapore, it''s even more important for us to ... look at how to speed up or increase the level of automation because of the lack of skilled resources," he said. "The industry has recognized it has to move upscale. The government incentives play a part to allow the manufacturing side to be relevant, to be at least cost competitive." The Ministry of Trade and Industry said first-quarter growth in manufacturing - up 6.6 percent year-on-year, while overall GDP was up 2.5 percent - was due mainly to output expansion in electronics and precision engineering. Integrated circuits were Singapore''s biggest export product among non-oil domestic exports in January-March, topping S$6 billion ($4.29 billion), according to trade agency IE Singapore. ($1 = 1.3972 Singapore dollars) (Additional reporting by Christine Kim in SEOUL, Jessica Yu in HONG KONG and Orathai Sriring in BANGKOK; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-singapore-semiconductors-analysis-idUKKBN17T3FU'|'2017-04-28T07:42:00.000+03:00' '2e8ac5e94c66d945a8809585c3738e840f502b7b'|'Surging Chevron, Exxon profits signal oil industry turnaround'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:47pm EDT Surging Chevron, Exxon profits signal oil industry turnaround left right The logo of Chevron Corp is seen in its booth at Gastech, the world''s biggest expo for the gas industry, in Chiba, Japan April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai 1/2 left right An Exxon sign is seen at a gas station in the Chicago suburb of Norridge, Illinois, U.S., October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young 2/2 By Ernest Scheyder - HOUSTON HOUSTON Rising crude prices helped Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ) and Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ) easily beat analysts'' quarterly profit expectations on Friday, setting an upbeat tone as the two companies press ahead with shale oil expansions. While cost cuts and asset sales provided a boost to both companies, the results highlighted the slowly improving dynamics for the energy industry as oil prices CLc1 LCOc1 have climbed more than 50 percent since early 2016. First-quarter results were especially robust at Exxon, with quarterly profit more than doubling to $4.01 billion, even as production fell 4 percent. Chevron swung to a $2.68 billion quarterly profit and turned cash flow positive, earning more than it spent, a milestone Wall Street analysts had long sought. Cash flow should continue to rise further, Chief Financial Officer Pat Yarrington told investors on a Friday conference call. Chevron''s results were helped by $2.1 billion in asset sales. The company has sold more than $5 billion in assets since last year and is seeking buyers for its Canadian oil sands business, sources have told Reuters. If Chevron sells the business, "we''d want to make sure we got full value for it," Yarrington said. Shares of both Exxon and Chevron rose less than 1 percent in afternoon trading as U.S. oil prices traded flat near $49 per barrel. Their energy peers, BP Plc ( BP.L ) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc ( RDSa.L ), are set to report quarterly results next week. Looming over the large international oil companies, though, is uncertainty over whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend a production cut past June when it meets next month in Vienna. Should the cut not be continued, oil prices would likely drop, pushing the sector back into recession. ''NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS'' Jeff Woodbury, Exxon''s head of investor relations, said while the company believes underlying global oil demand remains strong, high inventories and new supplies coming into the market "indicates a need to be cautious." Chevron and Exxon expanded production in their American shale portfolios during the quarter, with both deciding the low-cost fields offered an easy opportunity to boost profit. They have laid out plans to increase drilling in those fields this year. Chevron, the second largest leaseholder in the Permian Basin, which is the largest American oilfield, has devoted much of its 2017 capital budget to shale projects. Chief Executive Officer John Watson told Reuters earlier this month the Permian was vital to Chevron''s growth. Exxon doubled its acreage holdings in the Permian Basin of West Texas earlier this year in a deal worth up to $6.6 billion. It was the U.S. oil industry''s largest deal in the first quarter, and Exxon said it plans to drill its first well on the acreage soon. "We see unique value that we''re going to bring to that Permian acreage," Woodbury said on a conference call with investors on Friday. In Asia, both companies expanded liquefied natural gas operations. Chevron brought a third processing facility online at its Gorgon LNG project in Australia, and Exxon bought InterOil in a $2.5 billion deal to expand in Papua New Guinea. Chevron still expects the Wheatstone LNG project in Australia to come online by the middle of the year, executives said. Exxon also bought a 25 percent stake in a Mozambique gas field last month in a deal worth up to $2.8 billion. (Editing by Gary McWilliams, Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oil-results-idUSKBN17U20W'|'2017-04-28T21:52:00.000+03:00' '7bcf52dfc90623b81c7b47441915df9ed38be0e7'|'UPDATE 1-Frontline says Marshall Islands court sets date for DHT hearing'|'Company 00pm EDT UPDATE 1-Frontline says Marshall Islands court sets date for DHT hearing (Adds quotes, details) OSLO, April 28 Oil tanker firm Frontline said on Friday the high court in the Marshall Islands has agreed to hear on May 17 its complaint against takeover target DHT Holdings, which is incorporated in the remote Pacific republic, over a rival deal with BW Offshore. Frontline, controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen and owner of a 14.5 percent stake in DHT, has been trying for the past year to take over its New York-listed rival and is opposing what it called "unfair transaction documents" in a defensive deal struck by DHT to allow oil and gas shipping group BW Group to increase its stake in DHT to up to 45 percent. "We continue to urge the board of DHT to negotiate in good faith with Frontline over its proposed offer, for the benefit of all DHT shareholders and consistent with the board''s fiduciary duties," the company said in a statement. On Tuesday Frontline repeated its offer of 0.8 Frontline shares for every DHT share and set a 24-hour deadline for DHT to respond to the $500 million offer. After Frontline''s initial offer DHT struck a tankers for shares deal with BW Group which made the latter DHT''s biggest shareholder, with a 34.28 percent stake. Frontline then sought to stop the BW deal proceeding in the U.S. courts but the New York County Supreme Court said on April 19 it had no jurisdiction over DHT. However, DHT has said that its deal with BW Group was not designed to block Frontline''s takeover bid but was an fleet acquisition aimed at strengthening its market positions. DHT said on Wednesday its board would carefully review Frontline''s latest offer, taking into account changes to the company''s fleet and market developments over the past two months, and would reply in due course. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/frontline-dht-holdings-idUSL8N1I077P'|'2017-04-29T01:00:00.000+03:00' 'd2d049a7a1ea0f39c90a65155a3a208a94652bb5'|'Exclusive - Apollo Global in advanced talks to buy West Corp: sources'|'Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC ( APO.N ) is in advanced negotiations to acquire U.S. conference call specialist and telecommunications provider West Corp ( WSTC.O ), people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.Apollo has prevailed in an auction for West Corp, although negotiations will continue for days and they could still end without a deal having been agreed, the sources said.The price Apollo was offering could not be learned, although the sources said West Corp''s indebtedness of more than $3 billion weighed on the deal negotiations.The sources asked not to be named because the matter is confidential. Representatives for Apollo and West Corp declined to comment.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/westcorp-m-a-apolloglobal-exclusive-idINKBN17T2YI'|'2017-04-27T17:42:00.000+03:00' 'e4ae8ed53f6fb30ae8b866aaf5f5be4a2af4df27'|'UPDATE 1-Puma racing to keep up with demand for popular shoes'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:13am EDT Puma racing to keep up with demand for popular shoes The logo of German sports goods firm Puma is seen on a shoe after the company''s annual news conference in Herzogenaurach February 20, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo BERLIN German sportswear firm Puma ( PUMG.DE ) has seen such strong demand for products promoted by celebrities like model Cara Delevingne and Canadian rapper The Weeknd that its supply chain is racing to keep up, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Appointed in 2013 by majority-owner French luxury goods company Kering ( PRTP.PA ), Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden has invested heavily in celebrity marketing to revive a brand that still lags market leaders Nike ( NKE.N ) and Adidas ( ADSGn.DE ). "Retailers ordered more because they needed more which has not been the case for a long time at Puma," Gulden told a conference call with journalists. Gulden said Puma had been out of stock on many lines, prompting it to pull forward orders booked for the second quarter, with its suppliers working hard to meet demand. "We need to make sure we don''t oversell certain lines. We need to control growth in partnership with retailers," he said, highlighting demand for retro basketball shoes worn by Delevigne and "Limitless" sneakers launched by The Weeknd in February. Gulden''s comments come after Puma reported that first-quarter sales jumped a currency-adjusted 15.4 percent to 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion), while net profit almost doubled to 49.6 million. Puma shares, which jumped earlier this month when the firm lifted its profit and sales guidance for 2017, were up 2.4 percent by 0824 GMT (4:24 a.m. ET) at a new record high, making them one of the main gainers on the German small-cap index .SDAXI. The Puma share price has been supported by speculation that Kering might consider a sale. Gulden said on Tuesday he has not heard anything about a possible sale. Like German rival Adidas, which reports results on May 4, Puma has been enjoying a revival in the U.S. market, helped by a shift toward retro styles and away from basketball shoes which has hurt Under Armour ( UAA.N ) and dented Nike''s ( NKE.N ) success. Puma said sales rose a currency-adjusted 17 percent in the Americas and 15.9 percent in Europe, Middle East and Africa, with footwear sales up almost a quarter, outpacing its apparel and accessories business. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Louise Heavens) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-puma-de-results-idUSKBN17R0K3'|'2017-04-25T17:11:00.000+03:00' '0c4192911c493bdad96c817eae93d2afebe9c8cd'|'Nord Anglia Education be bought by CPPIB, Baring'|'Funds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:30am EDT Nord Anglia Education be bought by CPPIB, Baring April 25 Nord Anglia Education Inc, a Hong Kong-based operator of international schools, said it would be acquired by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia in a $4.3 billion deal including debt. The cash offer of $32.50 per share represents a premium of 17.7 percent to Nord Anglia''s Monday closing on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 25 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1000 GMT on Tuesday: ** Sibanye Gold''s shareholders approved the South African miner''s $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining < SWC.N>, moving it a step closer to significantly boosting its platinum portfolio. ** Israel Chemicals has agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in water desalination firm IDE Technologies for about $180 million, a leading Israeli financial news website reported MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nord-anglia-ma-cppib-idUSL4N1HX465'|'2017-04-25T19:30:00.000+03:00' 'ceb3444bdbcc0446e4b138b6a0ba8b3aa8716360'|'BRIEF-Elliott Management issues new letter to Arconic shareholders'|'April 25 Elliott Management Corporation:* Elliott issues new letter to Arconic shareholders* "Urges" election of all four shareholder nominees to Arconic''s board* Says it has not nominated any of its employees or affiliates to Arconic board; shareholder nominees will have no ties with Elliott Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-elliott-management-issues-new-lett-idINFWN1HX0RI'|'2017-04-25T13:39:00.000+03:00' 'e2e0d0e0bbb52c422a5be68582e303e008f64f8a'|'Shaw Communications explores selling ViaWest: sources'|'Deals - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:05pm EDT Shaw Communications explores selling ViaWest: sources A television cameraman is reflected on a television screen displaying the Shaw logo during the Shaw AGM in Calgary, Alberta, January 14, 2014. REUTERS/Todd Korol By Liana B. Baker and John Tilak Shaw Communications ( SJRb.TO ) is looking for a buyer for ViaWest, the U.S. data center company it bought three years ago, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Canadian cable company continues to shed assets it considers non-core. The sale of ViaWest would be Shaw''s latest step to streamline its operations. Last year it sold its media assets to sister company Corus Entertainment Inc ( CJRb.TO ) for C$2.65 billion, and used some of the proceeds for its C$1.6 billion purchase of Wind Mobile. Shaw is working with Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD.TO ) on an auction for ViaWest, the people said on Friday, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. There is no guarantee a sale will occur, the sources added. Shaw is hoping to fetch for ViaWest well over the $1.2 billion it paid to acquire it in 2014 from private equity firms Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners, according to the sources. Shaw declined to comment, while TD Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Analysts had been calling on Shaw to sell its data centers after U.S. telecommunications firms Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) and CenturyLink Inc ( CTL.N ) reaped several billions of dollars in sales after agreeing to sell their portfolios last year. "ViaWest is an asset that has potentially material value but currently relatively low cash flow," Macquarie Research analyst Greg MacDonald said. However, data center divestitures can also be challenging, because they involve separating assets that are deeply integrated into a telecommunications network. AT&T Inc ( T.N ), for example, scrapped an earlier plan to sell its data centers. Shaw has been investing in its wireless business and rebranded Wind last year as Freedom Mobile, Canada''s fourth largest wireless company, although it is much smaller than the wireless units of BCE Inc ( BCE.TO ), Rogers Communications Inc ( RCIb.TO ) and Telus Corp ( T.TO ), Shaw''s main rivals in Canada''s western provinces. Shaw''s business infrastructure services division, which consists of primarily ViaWest, last year generated C$123 million in operating income before restructuring costs and amortization, according to its annual report. Private equity firms or companies that specialize in data centers, such as Equinix Inc ( EQIX.O ) and Digital Realty Trust Inc ( DLR.N ), have been active buyers of assets. ViaWest owns about 30 data centers in several U.S. states including Colorado, Nevada, and Minnesota, according to its website. Under Shaw, ViaWest has made small acquisitions to bulk up the unit in recent years, including a deal to buy information technology provider INetU Inc for $162.5 million last year. (Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and John Tilak in Toronto; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Jonathan Oatis) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-shaw-comms-m-a-viawest-idUSKBN17U313'|'2017-04-29T06:05:00.000+03:00' 'e610168aea973da01eb17f2f57015c73d5bf917c'|'Puerto Rico bondholders shun island''s debt-cutting offer - Reuters'|'By Nick Brown - NEW YORK, April 29 NEW YORK, April 29 Puerto Rico''s government presented a debt restructuring offer late on Friday that could repay as much as 77 percent of general obligation (GO) bonds and 58 percent of tax-backed bonds, but both bondholder groups quickly rejected it early on Saturday.The plan comes ahead of a Monday deadline to reach a debt-cutting agreement before creditors can sue Puerto Rico over defaults. The U.S. territory, shouldering $70 billion in debt it cannot pay, could also file an in-court debt workout akin to U.S. bankruptcy.The island''s largest and highest-priority debt classes, accounting for more than half the total, are GO debt guaranteed by Puerto Rico''s constitution, and so-called COFINA debt, backed by sales tax revenue.Both groups believe their legal protections to be sacrosanct, and are litigating against each other for top priority.Puerto Rico''s proposal would appear to treat GO debt more favorably, threatening COFINA holders with much smaller recoveries if they reject the plan.Under its proposal, Puerto Rico would issue $16.75 billion of new senior bonds and $10 billion in "cash flow bonds," essentially a growth bond, payable only if the island exceeds fiscal targets.GO holders would get $9.8 billion of the senior bonds, recouping them a guaranteed 52 cents on the dollar, as well as $4.7 billion of the conditional cash flow bond, which could up their recoveries to 77 cents.COFINA holders, meanwhile, would get $6.9 billion of the senior bond and $3.3 billion of the cash flow bond - a recovery of up to 58 percent - but only if they accept the deal. Otherwise, Puerto Rico would repay senior COFINA holders with $450 million in short-term notes, while junior COFINA holders would get nothing.Matt Rodrigue, a financial adviser to senior COFINA holders, called the plan "absurd," saying in an interview it disregards the priority of senior COFINA holders over junior ones, and could threaten the wellbeing of average Puerto Ricans because COFINA debt is widely held by locals."This is a misfire" by Puerto Rico''s government and its advisers, Rodrigue said.Andrew Rosenberg, a lawyer for a key GO bondholder group, said in a statement the plan was "not a credible starting point for negotiations."Debt from Puerto Rican public agencies, like its highway and infrastructure authorities, would recover less than 30 cents on the dollar under the plan, and only in the form of conditional cash flow bonds. (Reporting by Nick Brown, Editing by Franklin Paul)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/puertorico-debt-idINL1N1I109O'|'2017-04-29T13:26:00.000+03:00' '1b94072eeb45fbaefabb8f67a0b1477f516dfb5b'|'Futures flat as Trump tax plan awaited'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 4:10pm EDT Wall Street dips as tax uncertainty offsets strong earnings Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid NEW YORK U.S. stocks ticked lower on Wednesday following two sessions of strong gains as upbeat corporate earnings were offset by uncertainty over the feasibility of a proposed business tax cut. The proposal from the Trump administration would slash tax rates for businesses and on overseas corporate profits returned to the country. It offered no specifics on how it would be paid for without increasing the deficit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 21.03 points, or 0.1 percent, to 20,975.09, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.16 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,387.45 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.27 points, or 0 percent, to 6,025.23. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17S1FK'|'2017-04-26T19:32:00.000+03:00' '5c30a2adb052c243f6d0acf6190fc83336b169dd'|'Hyundai Motor first quarter profit down 21 percent as China political row hurts'|'SEOUL South Korea''s Hyundai Motor posted a 21 percent fall in quarterly net profit, dragged down by a U.S. recall and sales declines in China stemming from political tensions.Hyundai''s 13th consecutive year-on-year fall in quarterly net profit underscores the fresh challenges the former industry outperformer faces. It is struggling to win consumers over with a sedan-heavy line-up in a world where sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are the hot sellers.The world''s fifth-biggest automaker together with affiliate Kia Motors reported on Wednesday a first-quarter net profit of 1.33 trillion won ($1.18 billion). Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S had on average expected a 1.25 trillion won net profit.Hyundai posted an operating profit of 1.25 trillion won and sales of 23.37 trillion in the January to March quarter.The higher-than-expected earnings sent Hyundai shares rising as much as 4.2 percent after the earnings announcement.Hyundai saw its China retail sales slump 14 percent in the first quarter, dented by anti-Korea sentiment in the wake of Seoul''s decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile system which has angered China.With its heavy reliance on sedans and a poor brand image in China, Hyundai had already been struggling to compete with China local brands armed with affordable SUVs. Hyundai sharply cut production at China factories in March to reduce inventories, sources previously told Reuters.Hyundai said its recent recall incurred costs of some 200 billion won, which were reflected in the first-quarter earnings. Hyundai and Kia previously announced plans to recall nearly 1.5 million vehicles over defective engines in North America and South Korea.The company expects "a gradual recovery in earnings" going forward, with a new small SUV and Genesis brand models expected to help the company regain sales.(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hyundai-motor-results-idUSKBN17S0EU'|'2017-04-26T13:21:00.000+03:00' 'ad0abbea40f99f9782a9e78c1b1921d461c88900'|'Asia investors boost use of unorthodox data sources in battle to beat benchmarks'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 3:19am BST Asia investors boost use of unorthodox data sources in battle to beat benchmarks An investor checks stock information on a mobile phone at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China November 9, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song By Saikat Chatterjee - HONG KONG HONG KONG Sometime in the third quarter of 2016, Blackrock’s scientific active equity team, which manages $80 billion (£62 billion) globally, began picking up increased signs of construction activity on the ground in China by using satellite imagery. Using that as a starting point and adding freight traffic and other data to the picture, the U.S.-based analysts determined that the world’s second-biggest economy was on the verge of a cyclical rebound. Their expectations were borne out when China reported last week that its economy grew a quicker than expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, the fastest in six quarters. Blackrock’s quantitative equities portfolios increased their exposure to China based on the data. The Shanghai Composite Index gained about 11 percent between the end of September and early April, though it has lost some of those gains in recent days as regulators clamped down on speculative activity. “We were picking up signals by simply looking at more metal on the ground and such unconventional data sources are very essential in an economy as large and diverse as China where data may not be very timely,” said San-Francisco-based Jeff Shen, co-head of the scientific active equity team. The use of unconventional data sources to gather price-sensitive information about a company, or even an entire economy, before it is made public isn’t a new phenomenon, especially among the hedge fund community in developed markets. But that behaviour has now spread across the world, and to many more mainstream mutual funds. Faced with fierce rivalry from low-priced exchange traded funds and desperate to show that they can outperform market benchmarks, the mutual funds are now increasingly seeking alternative kinds of information in Asia. In the first two months of the year, actively managed equity mutual funds domiciled in Asia saw a net outflow of $1 billion compared to net inflows of $9.3 billion in all of 2016 and $40.3 billion in 2015. In contrast, exchange traded funds saw net inflows of $15.16 billion in the first two months of this year compared to $39.1 billion in all of 2016 and $21.7 billion in 2015, according to Morningstar data. That pressure is forcing fund managers to increasingly look at alternative sources of information about listed companies ranging from shipping logistics trends, and social media chatter, to payments data for unlisted private companies that supply parts to bigger listed companies. Robert Ciemniak, founder of Real Estate Foresight, a China-focused real estate data analytics firm, routinely analyses headlines from a variety of publicly available blogs, local news feeds and government bulletins in local cities and provinces to understand the ground-level shifts in the Chinese property sector before it garners attention from mainstream media. “Last year, online searches related to buying property in Nanjing spiked a few months before prices in the city jumped,” Ciemniak said referring to a property price surge of almost 40 percent in 2016 in the eastern Chinese city, with the authorities rolling out tightening curbs since August last year. "In a funny way, China is quite transparent as long as you employ reliable filters and know where to look,” he said. THE SIGNAL AND THE NOISE Only the top asset managers in the world can afford to hire top notch data scientists to mine mountains of data to hunt for investment ideas. While a 40-member strong investment team at San-Francisco based Matthews Asia, which manages $26 billion in global assets, takes the conventional approach by conducting an average of 2,000 meetings on an annual basis in Asia, its investment strategists are looking at other data sources to supplement investment decisions. “We look at various sources such as financial information released by multinationals with a big presence in China, tourist spending and visitor patterns by Chinese visitors abroad to get a grip on discretionary spending,,” said Sherwood Zhang, who manages the Matthews China Dividend Fund. Some others rely on companies which aggregate data from a variety of unusual sources such as Toronto-based Quandl, though most of such companies are based in U.S and Europe for now. Still, getting such information fully integrated into daily workflow of investors is not easy. “The quality, capture rate, the representativeness of the data and accuracy of prediction are only some of the problems,” said Seth Fischer, founder of Hong Kong-based hedge fund Oasis Capital. Some investors say that the increasing push for an edge from unconventional sources is inevitable. “Thirty years ago, the ability to rank 2,000 stocks on a price-to-earnings or a price-to-book ratio was considered pretty scientific but today the amount of information we process is larger than the U.S. Congress Library,” said Blackrock’s Shen. “The challenge increasingly nowadays is to separate the signal from the noise.” (Edited by Martin Howell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-investment-asia-data-analysis-idUKKBN17R32J'|'2017-04-26T07:49:00.000+03:00' '890d1bc9254027859d5381db2db55af9e16a519b'|'China will encourage coal miners to merge, restructure - state planner'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 3:13am BST China will encourage coal miners to merge, restructure - state planner FILE PHOTO - Workers unload coal at a storage site along a railway station in Hefei, Anhui province October 27, 2009. REUTERS/Jianan Yu/File Photo BEIJING Beijing will encourage coal companies to merge and restructure to increase efficiency in the industry and take measures to return thermal coal prices to a "reasonable" range, China''s economic planning agency said in a statement on Wednesday. The comment by the state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), came after a meeting with coal mining firms on Tuesday as thermal coal prices continue to rally while utilities that consume the fuel lose money. The NDRC issued a similar release on Tuesday following a gathering late last week with utilities. (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-coal-idUKKBN17S069'|'2017-04-26T10:13:00.000+03:00' '3d8b2269d5fb1833d1ede1c98385974e23285135'|'LPC-Element’s Exova buy backed by $1.5 billion financing'|' 4:24pm BST LPC-Element’s Exova buy backed by $1.5 billion financing By Claire Ruckin and Alasdair Reilly - LONDON LONDON UK-based Element Materials Technology’s acquisition of listed British laboratory-based testing firm Exova Group ( EXO.L ) will be backed with a US$1.5 billion (1.17 billion pounds)-equivalent financing underwritten by four banks, according to documents. Exova announced on April 19 that Bridgepoint-owned Element would buy it in a deal valued at £620.3m, partly financed through equity and shareholder debt, underwritten by Bridgepoint’s pan-European fund BEV, as well as the debt financing. The financing comprises a US$1.285bn-equivalent first-lien loan and a US$230m, eight-year second-lien loan. There is also US$50m of follow-on-funding in the form of unsecured notes. The first lien-loan comprises a US$720m seven-year term loan B; £160m seven-year TLB; €204.2m seven-year TLB; US$100m six-year revolving credit facility; and a US$50m seven-year capital expenditure facility. The dollar and euro term loans are guided to pay 350bp over Libor/Euribor if leverage is greater than 4.5 times; stepping down to 325bp over Libor/Euribor for leverage between 4.5 times-4.0 times and 300bp over Libor/Euribor when leverage falls below 4.0 times. The sterling TLB is offered at 450bp over Libor if leverage is greater than 4.5 times; stepping down to 425bp between 4.5 times-4.0 times and 400bp over Libor, if leverage is less than 4.0 times. The revolving credit pays 325bp over base rate and the capex 350bp over base rate. Both step down by 25bp based on the same leveraged gradient as the first-lien. The second-lien is set to pay 750bp over Libor. The unsecured notes pay 12%. HSBC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, ING and Barclays have arranged and fully underwritten the facility. The facility will be syndicated to investors shortly, banking sources said. Element last tapped the loan market in October 2016 when it repriced its US$225m dollar-denominated TLB and US$210m-equivalent euro-denominated TLB. Both tranches priced at 475bp over Libor/Euribor, with a 0% floor and a lender fee of 12.5bp. It also raised a further US$95m for capital expenditure, in addition to its existing US$70m capex facility. Element said it would pay Exova shareholders 240 pence per share in cash, representing a 10.7% premium to the stock''s closing price on March 24 before Exova entered talks with potential buyers. Element specialises in materials and product testing for the aerospace, oil and gas and transportation sectors. (Editing by Christopher Mangham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-element-loans-idUKKBN17S24Z'|'2017-04-26T23:24:00.000+03:00' '486fefec22693f53eb56affddf8afa2e0436b961'|'Crisis management for entrepreneurs: how to deal with PR disasters - Guardian Small Business Network'|'@Emmalousheppard Tuesday 25 April 2017 07.00 BST April has been quite the month for PR disasters – United Airlines , Pepsi , Nivea and even Tesco have all been caught in the negative freefall of bad publicity. Big businesses often have large PR teams to call on when a crisis hits – seasoned professionals who can advise them what to do and when to do it. But entrepreneurs rarely have the budget to invest in this kind of on-call support. We asked a number of PR pros what their top tips are: Too many businesses see acknowledgement and apology as an admission of guilt Peter Ibbetson Understand what the crisis is The critical thing is to quickly ascertain all the facts to fully understand exactly what the crisis is and what its potential impact might be. Identify the key people who might be affected and what the longer-term ramifications will be. Without this information, it is impossible to determine the best solution. Once you’ve analysed the situation, you need to agree on the core message you want to convey. Is it an apology, a response or a clarification? Avoid arguing and appearing defensive. Do not lie, manipulate the facts or say nothing at all. The latter carries the biggest risk – keeping quiet can imply there is more to hide. My mantra is simple: solutions not problems. For every problem, issue or crisis there is a solution to be found. But we need to be 100% honest and consider all of the different angles to find the best solution. Stu Campbell-Carran, managing partner, Mash Public Relations Face up to the challenge Acknowledge the failure and apologise. Too many businesses see acknowledgement and apology as an admission of guilt and something that should be avoided for legal reasons. But from an external perspective, saying “sorry” and “we’ll put things right” is seen as a strength. It positions the business as human and accountable. There are a range of crises that can befall a small business, whether it’s a material failure of a product, the failure of a competitor’s product that threatens the reputation of whole sector, or dealing with a negative review or comment online. Whatever the issue, taking action as quickly as possible is critical. If the press call, prepare and practise the message you’ll be giving in advance. Journalists will, very understandably, often try to sensationalise their stories by including ill-considered quotes. It’s important to share sufficient information with a journalist to give their copy gravitas, but not enough to enable them to add fuel to the crisis. Peter Ibbetson, co-founder and director of Journolink Manage expectations From my experience, the most common crises for small businesses involve social media. Public shaming of companies – big or small – has become common when a product or service hasn’t lived up to a consumer’s expectation. Big businesses can take this hit, but SME’s, who often depend on social media for leads and traffic, rely on people speaking favourably about them. Why your reputation is key to your brand Read more When a crisis hits, tell your customers what you are doing to fix it and to prevent it from happening again. Use smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-specific) internally to lay out a crisis plan and share those in communications with spectators and customers. This proves you are serious about rectifying the situation and proves you have things under control. If it’s going to take some time for you to bounce back, say so. If your supply chain has been disrupted, for example, customers need to know their product won’t arrive in time. If you’ve lost staff, you may struggle to meet deadlines. It depends on the situation, but keeping all involved in the loop really is imperative, even if it’s not easy. Claudia Barnet, digital PR and outreach executive, Worktheworld Improve organic search and SEO The crisis has passed and your business appears to be out of the media spotlight. But in reality it isn’t. You may not be on your local newspaper’s homepage any more but when prospective employees, customers and investors Google your brand’s name, it will be on the first page of the search results. One of the most efficient ways to rectify this is to create engaging content. This might be infographics, research or reactive industry comment pieces from a company spokesperson. Share these insights with the media and targeted influencers, and encourage them to cover it. This will push old news – otherwise known as your crisis – down Google search results and improve your search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s low cost and has the added benefit of boosting your brand awareness and website traffic. Shannon McGuirk, head of PR and content, Aira.net Write a crisis plan A crisis communications plan is vital for businesses of all sizes. You don’t want to be trying to work out what to say, who to say it to and how to say it at a critical point. The headings should be: potential crises (think of all possible scenarios); audiences (staff, customers, stakeholders, media); how you communicate ( social media, staff briefings, letters); what you say (you can prepare a holding statement and key messages in advance); who does what ( who is media spokesperson, who takes responsibility for social media or talking to clients?); how you do it ( where and when do you have a press briefing) and, of course, who has authority to activate the plan. The most important bit is the appendix, listing everyone’s contact details, log-ons for social media, website links, etc. Make sure the plan is a practical document and not some theoretical tomb. I have seen so many where the first 25 pages are a justification of why the plan exists in the first place. Just get straight to the point. Kate Betts, crisis communications expert, Capital B Media Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/25/crisis-management-entrepreneurs-pr-disasters-united-airlines-pepsi'|'2017-04-25T15:00:00.000+03:00' '99f4b1a08c5efc1265f17815bc2732ed1e60e554'|'Valero Energy''s quarterly profit slumps 38.4 percent'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:09am EDT Valero''s results beat on strong demand for refined products A Valero gas station sign is shown in Encinitas, California, U.S., May 2, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake Valero Energy Corp ( VLO.N ) reported better-than-expected results as sales in its refining business shot up 40 percent, helped by robust gasoline demand and declining refined product inventories in the United States. Operating revenue in the refining business soared to $20.89 billion in the three months ended March 31, from $14.92 billion. "Demand for gasoline and distillate remains strong both domestically and internationally," Chief Executive Joe Gorder said in a statement. "Combined with expectations for continued sweet crude oil production growth and relatively low prices for crude and refined products, consumer demand should be robust this year." The largest U.S. oil refiner said net income attributable to its shareholders fell 38.4 percent to $305 million, or 68 cents per share in the first quarter. Excluding items, the company earned 68 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 60 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Operating revenue rose 38.6 percent to $21.77 billion, beating analysts'' estimates of $18.59 billion. (Reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-valero-energy-results-idUSKBN17R17Q'|'2017-04-25T18:58:00.000+03:00' '3675ee837b580bc08fceca050fd1d9c82b7c53fa'|'Citigroup shareholder meeting briefly interrupted by protesters'|'NEW YORK, April 25 The Citigroup Inc annual shareholder meeting was briefing interrupted by protesters beating a drum and calling for divestitures from resource extraction businesses.Citigroup Chairman Mike O''Neill and Chief Executive Mike Corbat waited quietly and the protesters left the meeting room peacefully within 10 minutes. (Reporting by David Henry in New York)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/citigroup-shareholder-meeting-idINL1N1HX0RU'|'2017-04-25T13:13:00.000+03:00' 'f0e3207336e0656eb4ae139f54ee5373eb0998ef'|'Gold falls as stocks gain after French election result'|'By Maytaal Angel - LONDON LONDON Gold fell more than 1 percent on Monday, marking its biggest tumble in more than a month, after the market''s favoured candidate won the first round of the French election, easing worries over a political shock in the second round.Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting, with the latest opinion polls showing him as strong favourite to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the final vote.The news represented a huge defeat for anti-European Union forces on the right and left of French politics. It also sent European shares vaulting higher, boosted the euro by as much as 2 percent at one point and sparked a sell-off in safe-haven bullion.Spot gold was down 1 percent at $1,271 an ounce by 1008 GMT, having touched its lowest in nearly two weeks at $1,265.81. U.S. gold futures were down 1.3 percent at $1,272.40."For the moment some of the tail risk in the form of a shock win by any of the other candidates has been averted. We see more downside in the very short term, leading up to the (French election) run-off in two weeks," said Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar.He added, however, that a weaker dollar and simmering geopolitical tensions in North Korea and the Middle East were probably enough to keep gold underpinned at about $1,250.The dollar recovered somewhat from its steep overnight falls but was still down 1.3 percent against the euro and 1 percent against a basket of currencies, supporting dollar-priced gold by making it cheaper for non-U.S. investors.In the wider markets, the pan-European STOXX 50 index rose 3 percent and France''s CAC40 jumped almost 4 percent. The market''s so-called fear gauge, the VIX volatility index, plunged by its most since November.Weeks of escalating geopolitical tensions had prompted speculators to increase their net long, or buy, positions in COMEX gold to a five month high in the week to April 18, official data showed on Friday."Those speculative financial investors who had previously still been betting heavily on rising gold prices are likely to have covered many of their positions in response to the (French) election result," Commerzbank said in a note.Spot silver was down 0.6 percent at $17.78 an ounce after touching a one-month low of $17.65.Platinum fell 0.4 percent to $966.50, while palladium was up 1.1 percent at $800.50.(Additional reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idINKBN17Q08S'|'2017-04-24T11:48:00.000+03:00' 'fad9d64e2b137c14f3a066f4d6a66cb2cf3091b6'|'RPT-China Mobile, others approached for buying into Singapore telco M1 -sources'|'(Repeats story originally published late on Friday, with no change to text)By Anshuman DagaSINGAPORE, April 21 Top shareholders in Singapore telecoms company M1 Ltd have approached potential buyers China Mobile and global private equity firms, among others, to sell their combined majority stake in the firm, sources familiar with the matter said.The three main shareholders of Singapore''s smallest listed telecoms player, who own a combined 61 percent, flagged a strategic review of their investments last month, and jointly appointed Morgan Stanley as their financial adviser.They did not give a reason behind the review of their stake in the S$1.9 billion ($1.36 billion) company.The sources said the three shareholders - Malaysia''s Axiata Group, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation - had also reached out to other telecoms firms, cash-rich business groups in China and Japanese tech firms to gauge their interest.First-round bids for M1, long seen as a target due to its small size and diverse shareholding, are expected in a few weeks, the sources said. They added that talks between the parties were still at an early stage and there was no certainty the process would succeed.They did not provide details on how China Mobile or the other prospective bidders have responded to the approach.When contacted for comments, Keppel, SPH and Axiata referred Reuters to their joint statement issued last month. M1 referred the query to its shareholders. China Mobile declined to comment.The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.The sale process comes as competition heats up in Singapore, with Australia''s TPG Telecom set to launch its services next year after winning a licence to become the city-state''s fourth telecom operator. Analysts expect M1 to be the most vulnerable to new competition.M1''s shares have nearly halved over the past two years due to its weak business performance amid increased competition.But Singapore''s well-regulated telecoms market offers stable cash flows. Some telecoms firms could also use the city-state as a launch pad into a region that is still developing, industry executives and analysts said."It''s actually a decent business for current owners or any new ones if you factor in the upsides," said Rameez Ansar, co-founder of Singapore firm Circles.Life, which leases towers from M1, referring to weakness in M1''s share performance and Singapore''s position as a tier-one market and high user revenues.M1 could also fit in a portfolio of other telecoms ventures."M1 could become part of a portfolio of investments in telecom-related assets. Someone looking for financial returns could be interested, if other portfolio companies could help to enhance M1''s overall value," said Gregory Yap, analyst at Maybank Kim Eng Securities.Under Singapore''s rules, an acquirer of a 30 percent or more stake in a listed company is required to make an offer to buy out the rest of the shareholders.Some of the sources said M1''s main shareholders would require a substantial control premium for the sale to get done.State-run China Mobile, as well as local peers China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd and China Telecom Corp Ltd, the country''s big telecoms firms, are pursuing expansion plans beyond their home market.If China Mobile acquires M1, it would mark its biggest overseas foray. The world''s largest mobile operator bought an 18 percent stake in Thailand''s True Corp in 2014 after buying Pakistan telecoms firm Paktel in 2007. ($1 = 1.3961 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Additional reporting by Jeremy Wagstaff, Aradhana Aravindan and Sumeet Chatterjee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/m1-ma-idINL4N1HW0Y5'|'2017-04-23T23:12:00.000+03:00' 'a8fc131017a73d92d79e2deeccadf52c1cfdf4c0'|'Daimler says diesel probes could result in penalties, recalls'|' 32am BST Daimler says diesel probes could result in penalties, recalls The Mercedes-Benz logo is seen before the company''s annual news conference in Stuttgart, Germany, February 4, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo FRANKFURT Daimler ( DAIGn.DE ) said recent steps by United States authorities to investigate diesel emissions pollution and so-called auxiliary emission control devices, could lead to significant penalties and vehicle recalls. "In light of the ongoing governmental information requests, inquiries and investigations, and our own internal investigation, it cannot be ruled out that the authorities might reach the conclusion that Mercedes-Benz diesel vehicles have similar functionalities," Daimler said in its quarterly report. The inquiries and investigations are still ongoing, Daimler said, adding that the outcome of these probes could not be predicted. "If these or other inquiries, investigations, legal actions and/or proceedings result in unfavorable findings, an unfavorable outcome or otherwise develop unfavorably, Daimler could be subject to significant monetary penalties, remediation requirements, vehicle recalls, process improvements and mitigation measures," Daimler said. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Ludwig Burger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-daimler-emissions-diesel-idUKKBN17S0JJ'|'2017-04-26T14:32:00.000+03:00' '03057278776ec3acdea94b72920eb23249c8ba7d'|'INSIGHT-Next battleground: An aging Great Lakes pipeline stirs new protest'|'Politics Special Reports 6:33am EDT Next battleground: An aging Great Lakes pipeline stirs new protest FILE PHOTO: Swans paddle near the Mackinac Bridge, spanning the Straits of Mackinac which connect two of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, in Mackinaw, Michigan, U.S. in June 2006. Tim Burke/Michigan Department of Transportation/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo By Nia Williams - CALGARY, Alberta CALGARY, Alberta The growing protest movement against U.S. oil and gas pipelines has so far focused on stopping or delaying new construction, with some high-profile successes. Now, in Michigan, a broad coalition of opponents is entering a new frontier: Pushing to rip out and reroute an existing pipeline - Enbridge Inc.''s ( ENB.TO ) aging Line 5, which crosses the Straits of Mackinac. They fear the pipeline will leak into the Great Lakes, which contain about a fifth of the world’s fresh water and sustain the state’s second- and third-largest industries, agriculture and tourism. Those concerns - which are shared by two likely candidates for governor - also have far-reaching implications for energy firms and consumers. Spanning 645 miles, Line 5 carries 540,000 barrels per day of light Canadian crude and refined products between Wisconsin and Ontario, making it a key link in Enbridge''s network transporting western Canadian oil to eastern refineries. It also delivers about half the propane used to heat Michigan homes. Moving the pipeline, built in 1953, would cost Enbridge $4.2 million per mile - or about $2.7 billion total, according to an estimate from IHS Markit analyst Phil Hopkins. Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy said that the line is structurally sound and constantly monitored, tested and inspected to prevent leaks. The firm plans to add 18 additional supports in the Straits this summer, he said. The unprecedented demands to move an existing pipeline present steep political and regulatory challenges, said Dirk Lever, an analyst with AltaCorp Capital in Calgary. "Move it? The question is where," he said. "And good luck with building a new pipeline." The Michigan controversy is only the latest pipeline fight. Last year, protests by North Dakota''s Standing Rock Sioux, a Native American tribe, garnered national attention and delayed the opening of Energy Transfer Partners’ ( ETP.N ) Dakota Access Pipeline, which finally won approval in February. Another ETP pipeline proposed in Louisiana has drawn protests from flood protection advocates and commercial fishermen. The Keystone XL pipeline, planned by TransCanada Corp ( TRP.TO ), now faces a political showdown over route approval in Nebraska amid protests from farmers and ranchers. CAMPAIGN ISSUE In Michigan, pipeline opponents include regional businesses and churches, as well as local and national environmental groups. State officials have ordered two independent reports, expected in June - one on the pipeline''s reliability and another on potential alternatives if the state moves to revoke easements that allow Line 5 to operate. The reports could fuel a debate that is expected to intensify in the 2018 governor''s race. Many opponents argue the 64-year-old Enbridge pipeline has already outlived its predicted life span. They cite a 2015 interview with an engineer on the original project, Bruce Trudgen, who said that, at the time of construction, the pipeline was expected to last 50 years. "Common sense dictates that a pipeline which is already 28 percent past its viable life will eventually be decommissioned," said Gretchen Whitmer, a former Michigan senator now campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor. "Government would be wise to plan for that proactively - before disaster strikes." Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, widely expected to run for governor as a Republican, has also expressed concerns about pipeline. Enbridge, which operates more than 17,000 miles (28,000 kilometres) of oil and gas pipeline across North America, disputes the assertion that Line 5 has any specific life expectancy. Regardless of initial predications, Duffy said, new technology developed since the 1950s can now keep pipelines in better condition for longer. A 1950s ENGINEERING FEAT Michigan''s debate over whether Line 5''s age equates to a safety hazard could resonate across a nation crisscrossed with decades-old pipelines. More than half of U.S. pipelines were built in the 1950s or 1960s, according the U.S. Department of Transportation. When the Enbridge line reaches the Straits of Mackinac, which connect lakes Huron and Michigan, it splits into twin 20-inch diameter steel pipes, hailed as a feat of modern engineering when they were installed in 1953. Now, opponents here view them as the product of an era in which the damage from oil spills was not well-understood. Enbridge is still working to overcome public concern over the 2010 failure of its Line 6B pipeline, which leaked 20,000 barrels of crude into Michigan''s Kalamazoo River in one of the largest inland spills in U.S. history. The Straits - five miles wide and 120 feet deep - swirl with strong currents that would disperse contaminants from an oil spill faster than anywhere else in the Great Lakes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The line has never spilled under the Straits, but has leaked at least eight times at other points between 1980 and October 2015, according to the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). None of the leaks were larger than 100 barrels. The leak that raised the most concern was a February 2012 incident in central Michigan that environmentalists contend exposed a flaw in the original construction. The leak of about 20 barrels was traced to a tear in the pipeline that was estimated to have originated at about the time the line was constructed, according to a PHMSA report on the spill. The tear later spread into a larger crack, causing the leak. "The nature of the problem is a defect in the pipeline traced to the entire construction period in 1953, so that raised a lot of doubts," said David Holtz, a member of environmental group Sierra Club. Enbridge declined to comment on the leaks. The pipeline’s age is only one factor in considering whether it poses an environmental hazard, said Jim Feather, a former president of the National Association of Corrosion Experts and a retired ExxonMobil Corp engineering advisor. Line 5 has done well in its regular in-line inspections, he said, and has ample protections in place. "Just because something is old does not mean it''s at much greater risk of failure," Feather said. (Editing by David Gaffen and Brian Thevenot)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-enbridge-pipeline-michigan-idUSKBN17U0IU'|'2017-04-28T13:00:00.000+03:00' '6615d50a83376b39d43cc96c51cbebae12272b2b'|'French growth slows in first quarter, but shrugs off election uncertainty'|'Business News 9:52am BST French growth slows in first quarter, but shrugs off election uncertainty FILE PHOTO - Construction cranes are seen in front of Paris landmark, the Eiffel Tower, May 25, 2015. Picture taken May 25, 2015. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier By Leigh Thomas - PARIS PARIS French growth slowed in the first three months of the year as more households spent less money on heating bills through a period of unusually warm winter weather and with little obvious impact from the run-up to an election, official data showed on Friday. Consumer sentiment has held steady at near a 10-year high while business confidence has been running at close to six-year records despite one of closest and most unpredictable presidential elections in decades which will be decided in a run-off vote on May 7. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the election, the euro zone''s second-biggest economy grew 0.3 percent, the INSEE national statistics agency said in its first estimate for the quarter. The result marked a slowdown from the final three months of last year when the economy grew 0.5 percent, and it was marginally below economists'' average forecast for 0.4 percent. Though consumer spending growth slowed nearly to a standstill, it was in large part due to lower heating bills and weaker spending on clothes amid unseasonably warm weather. Business investment grew at the fastest pace in a year as companies rushed to take advantage of a tax writedown on outlays for new equipment before its expiration in mid April. "It looks as if political risk didn''t affect the French economy that much," Morgan Stanley economist Daniele Antonucci said in a research note. "Our base case is that the second round too delivers a market-friendly outcome, such that Emmanuel Macron wins the presidency," he added. Macron, a centrist former economy minister who wants gradual reform, is tipped by polls to win the runoff vote against far right leader Marine Le Pen who wants France to abandon the euro after the two qualified in a first round of voting last Sunday. The GDP report showed that household investment, which is primarily made up of real estate purchases, remained firm. That is helping fuel a recovery in the construction sector, with housing starts at a nearly 4-1/2 year high. Overall internal demand contributed 0.4 percent to growth in the quarter, INSEE said. Meanwhile, companies rebuilding depleted inventories added a further 0.6 percent, but that was wiped out by foreign trade, which knocked 0.7 percentage points off growth due to weak exports, especially of Airbus aircraft. For a graphic of GDP by contributions: reut.rs/2oQ8Pxu (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Andrew Callus)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-economy-france-idUKKBN17U13Y'|'2017-04-28T16:52:00.000+03:00' '2eb4b06e5087842f95c627def4fb8ad88b80af6e'|'Third Point says Honeywell should spin off aerospace division'|'Aerospace & Defense - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 5:48pm EDT Third Point wants Honeywell to spin off aerospace FILE PHOTO: A Honeywell logo is pictured on the company booth during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Cointrin airport in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse By Michael Flaherty and Svea Herbst-Bayliss - NEW YORK NEW YORK Third Point LLC said Honeywell International Inc. ( HON.N ) should separate its aerospace division, a move that would create more than $20 billion in shareholder value, according to the hedge fund. Third Point, which disclosed its view on the industrial conglomerate in the hedge fund''s first-quarter letter, owned 1.4 million shares of the company as of Dec. 31, 2016, according to the firm''s quarterly filing. The $16 billion hedge fund also told investors that it sees more opportunities in Europe and is positioned to absorb a modest sell-off in U.S. stocks. Third Point took a position in Italian bank Unicredit Spa ( CRDI.MI ) and German utility E.ON ( EONGn.DE ), the firm said in its letter. During the first three months of the year, Third Point earned a 5.9 percent return, it said. (Reporting by Michael Flaherty; editing by Sandra Maler; Editing by Dan Grebler) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-honeywell-intl-thirdpoint-idUSKBN17T37L'|'2017-04-28T05:38:00.000+03:00' 'a41c72dde224b360d48151115adc44f517758847'|'Bank of England''s Libor alternative SONIA backed as benchmark by dealers'|' 8:31am BST Bank of England''s Libor alternative SONIA backed as benchmark by dealers A man stands outside the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay LONDON Major dealers have backed the broader use of a Bank of England interest rate benchmark as an alternative to Libor, a rate that was tarnished by a rigging scandal. Support for SONIA, the sterling overnight index average, as its preferred "near risk-free" interest rate benchmark in sterling derivatives and other financial contracts, will improve the resilience of the financial system, the BoE said on Friday. After banks were fined for rigging Libor, an interest rate the industry compiled itself at the time, central banks sought alternatives that were harder to manipulate. The BoE took over responsibility for SONIA in 2016. It reflects bank and building societies'' overnight funding rates in the sterling unsecured market. "Work must now begin on planning for the widespread adoption of SONIA, in consultation with a broader set of market participants," said Chris Salmon, the BoE''s executive director for markets. "This will lead to more effective interest rate hedging markets for end-users, while minimising opportunities for misconduct." A working group of major dealers voted this month to recommend the use of SONIA over two other "near risk-free" alternatives, the BoE said. The recommendation will be put to a market consultation in the middle of this year. Libor has already been reformed, with much stricter criteria for scrutinising rate submissions from banks, and the actual rate now compiled by an independent administrator. (Reporting by Huw Jones; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boe-rates-regulations-idUKKBN17U0VE'|'2017-04-28T15:31:00.000+03:00' '6e01127230d33e5436ac789d34127516a52a4625'|'A spring in their step: French businesses relish the prospect of President Macron'|'THE likely election of Emmanuel Macron as France’s president, in a run-off vote on May 7th, has corporate leaders in a state of high anticipation. French politicians with business experience rarely prosper. It is nearly half a century since Georges Pompidou won office in 1969 on the back of a private-sector career partly at Rothschild, an investment bank. The sitting president, François Hollande, roused voters in 2012 by declaring that his “true enemy” was the world of finance. Mr Macron’s own stint at Rothschild, advising on mergers from 2008 to 2012, included handling a $12bn acquisition of a unit of Pfizer, a pharma firm, by Nestlé, a consumer-goods giant.Markets rose and bond yields fell after Mr Macron won the first round on April 23rd. His second-round opponent, Marine Le Pen of the far right, dismays business—one investor admits re-registering his firm as European rather than French, the better to shift headquarters were she to win. But Mr Macron is favourite.Latest updates A 17 hours ago Have What people want at the end of life Graphic detail 18 hours ago See all updates A chief of a big firm headquartered in Paris speaks of new optimism for France’s economy if Mr Macron wins. Business indicators are improving; measures of corporate confidence in particular have been ticking up for a while (see chart). A survey by IHS Markit, on April 21st, showed the tenth consecutive monthly increase in private firms’ activity. French purchasing managers clock in as markedly more bullish than German ones. The economy has been showing modest vim: GDP figures for the first quarter, out on April 28th, are expected to register year-on-year growth of 1.3%, up from 1.1% in the previous quarter.Mr Macron would cut corporation tax and public spending (though less than one rival, François Fillon, promised) and simplify a messy, expensive pensions system. Just as important for business, he promises to build on his previous efforts during a stint as economy minister to ease rigid labour markets that keep unemployment high. Caps on severance pay to fired employees and limits to legal processes that can reverse lay-offs are a priority for firms. Though Mr Macron has said he would not touch France’s 35-hour working week, brought in by the Socialists in 2000-02, he wants a German-style approach to labour relations, letting individual companies negotiate directly with unions, rather than accept national bargains. That would lessen the influence of national, often militant, unions on more moderate local ones.Beyond that, his plans to cut France’s high tax burden (the state spends 57% of GDP, more than any other big rich country) also cheers businesspeople and investors. Changes could be designed to send capital to smaller firms, such as the tech startups Mr Macron has championed in the past. Though he would not scrap France’s wealth tax, he would exclude financial assets from it. By also capping taxes on capital gains, he would make it more attractive to invest in local firms, reckons Ross McInnes, chairman of Safran, a big aeronautical and defence firm. “Family-owned and startup businesses can really benefit.”A worry for business as well as for Mr Macron’s supporters is that as a political outsider he may find it hard to get things done in office. His movement, En Marche! (“On the Move!”), may not secure a majority at the parliamentary elections to be held in June. Yet he is a vastly happier prospect than Ms Le Pen. Her populist wishlist includes talk of getting France out of the euro and imposing import taxes to discourage trade. The greatest service that Mr Macron can provide to corporate France, in other words, would be keeping her out.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "A spring in their step"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721436-his-greatest-service-french-companies-would-be-keeping-out-marine-le-pen-french-businesses?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' '83ef6cc7218f69fe6e730983d9d6043ffe584f36'|'Greece, lenders seek deal as bailout talks resume in Athens'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:35am BST Greece, lenders seek deal as bailout talks resume in Athens left right FILE PHOTO: A Greek presidential guard performs a ceremonial march at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the parliament building in Athens, Greece, September 15, 2015. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A view of the Caryatids, the sculpted female figures supporting the porch of the ancient Erectheion temple, atop the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece, October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo 2/2 By Renee Maltezou - ATHENS ATHENS Greece and its foreign creditors resume talks on Tuesday on reforms prescribed under the international bailout and further debt relief, aiming to reach a comprehensive deal before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on May 22. Talks over reforms in the energy and labour market and on pension cuts and income tax have dragged on for months mainly due to differences between EU lenders and the International Monetary Fund over fiscal targets. The leftist-led government and the lenders reached a deal this month in Malta on key elements of reforms worth 2 percent of gross domestic product which the country has agreed to legislate now but implement in 2019 and 2020. Greece will implement more austerity after the bailout expires in 2018, to convince the IMF to participate in an 86-billion euro bailout package, the third rescue plan since the debt crisis broke out in 2010. The talks, at a central Athens hotel, will focus on Tuesday on energy reforms and a privatisation fund. Greece attained a 4.2 percent of GDP primary surplus last year, significantly above the target set in its bailout. But the IMF says the country cannot maintain high fiscal surpluses and wants assurances from euro zone governments that Greek debt will be made sustainable, before the Fund will join the bailout. The IMF participation issue has overshadowed the reform progress. It is key for Germany which faces elections in September and wants to add credibility to the bailout but it is also crucial for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who seeks further debt relief. Athens and its lenders are also discussing a set of measures offsetting the impact of the austerity in 2019 and 2020, on condition that Athens outperforms its targets. These measures include reducing taxes. Concluding the review of Greece''s progress will unlock funds which Athens needs to repay loans maturing in July. It will also allow the country to be included in the European Central Bank''s quantitative easing programme and help it return to bond markets before the bailout ends. Tsipras, who is sagging in opinion polls, faces national elections in 2019. (Editing by Robin Pomeroy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-bailout-idUKKBN17R157'|'2017-04-25T18:35:00.000+03:00' 'b3e27bda89c8670b1bec6ccbc809de98257475ae'|'Kaspersky tones down threat of antitrust complaint against Microsoft'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:41am EDT Kaspersky tones down threat of antitrust complaint against Microsoft By Georgina Prodhan - HANOVER, Germany, April 25 HANOVER, Germany, April 25 Russia''s Kaspersky Lab has temporarily backed off filing a competition complaint that Microsoft is abusing its market dominance to crowd out anti-virus software makers such as itself, founder and Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky said. Instead, Kaspersky - who threatened in November to complain to the European Commission - said he would keep talking to Microsoft about changes he wants the U.S. software giant to make before deciding whether to press his case in a few months. "They are listening to us and they made a few changes. It''s an ongoing process," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair. "Of course if Microsoft agrees to all our requests we will not file it." Microsoft had no immediate comment, while the European Commission declined to comment. Kaspersky says Microsoft is foisting its own Defender anti-virus software on Windows 10 users at the expense of rivals, and creating obstacles for independent security software developers to enter the market. He did not elaborate on his exact requests or what changes Microsoft had made. But in a November blog post entitled: "That''s it. I''ve had enough!" he complained that Microsoft did not give independent developers enough time to adapt to new Windows versions, did not warn users that their anti-virus software could be replaced when upgrading Windows, and did not always ask users for explicit approval to install Defender. "Microsoft''s actions aren''t only making things worse for users and killing off the whole ecosystem of independent developers," he wrote at the time. ( bit.ly/2eP27pe ) "They''re also undermining users'' trust in Microsoft: creating an illusion of security while destroying the main competitive advantage of its platform – openness and democracy." Russia''s anti-monopoly commission is investigating Microsoft for allegedly abusing its dominance in the antivirus software market in response to a complaint filed by Kaspersky. Kaspersky said that case was proceeding and he did not know what the result would be. (Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/kaspersky-microsoft-idUSL8N1HX58F'|'2017-04-25T23:41:00.000+03:00' '5738f49c1bf23ee8030c36f2bf2e08fadbd5590f'|'Centrica boss says some in UK PM May''s government lack faith in free markets'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:15am EDT Centrica boss says some in UK PM May''s government lack faith in free markets * Centrica CEO cautions May''s government over energy cap * PM May''s Conservatives plan energy price cap for households * Centrica shares fell after pledge announced * May has said she supports free markets By Kate Holton LONDON, April 25 A plan by Prime Minister Theresa May''s Conservative Party to cap energy prices suggests some in her government do not believe in free markets at a time when it is pinning its post-Brexit hopes on free trade, the head of the country''s leading provider said. Shares in Centrica, the owner of British Gas, and SSE, fell sharply on Monday after May''s party set out plans to hold down the prices households pay for gas and electricity which have doubled in the last decade. Iain Conn, the chief executive of market leader Centrica, said the proposal would damage competition and wipe out any money it made from consumers, forcing it to cut costs and reduce its service. "I''m the first to admit that the UK market is not perfect," Conn told BBC Radio. "I just don''t think that capping prices is the right way to help the market and it probably will have unintended consequences." "I think there are some at the heart of government who just don''t believe in free markets and I find that concerning at a time when this market is highly competitive and the UK is seeking to forge a new future relying upon free trade with the rest of the world." May last year praised free markets and free trade in a speech to party activists but also said that she would be prepared to intervene where markets were dysfunctional or where companies were exploiting the failures of the market. Shares in Centrica fell as much as 5 percent at one point on Monday after the Sunday Times said the plans could cut gas and electricity costs by 100 pounds ($128) a year for 17 million families. The Conservative party has confirmed it will set out plans to intervene in the energy market in its manifesto for the June 8 election, but has not yet gone into details. The proposal echoes a 2015 election pledge made by the opposition Labour party which was criticised at the time by the Conservatives as being a gimmick that showed the then party leader wanted to live in a "Marxist universe". Energy bills have doubled in Britain over the past decade to about 1,200 pounds ($1,640) a year, angering consumers who face rising inflation, and drawing the ire of politicians. Energy companies say higher prices reflect increased wholesale costs and environmental levies. The sector is dominated by the big six providers of Centrica, SSE, Scottish Power, Npower, E.ON and EDF. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-election-energy-idUSL8N1HX22R'|'2017-04-25T17:15:00.000+03:00' '21d26cabf7de577c1375bfc9c86fcf8ebe9a47aa'|'LVMH, Arnault to simplify Christian Dior business structure'|'Deals 11:32am BST LVMH''s Arnault to take full control of Christian Dior left right Chairman and CEO of Luxury goods group LVMH Bernard Arnault attends a news conference, to announce a deal to simplify Christian Dior business structure, in Paris, France, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe 1/3 left right Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Files 2/3 left right A woman walks past a Dior shop in downtown Brussels, Belgium March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman 3/3 By Dominique Vidalon and Gilles Guillaume - PARIS PARIS French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the Christian Dior fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods group as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests, a restructuring long demanded by other investors. Under a series of complex transactions, LVMH ( LVMH.PA ) will buy the Christian Dior Couture brand from the Christian Dior ( DIOR.PA ) holding company for 6.5 billion euros, including debt. That will unite the 70 year old fashion label worn by film stars from Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman with the Christian Dior perfume and beauty business already owned by LVMH. The Arnault family, which holds a 47 percent stake in LVMH, will also offer to buy the 25.9 percent of the Christian Dior holding company it does not already own for about 260 euros per share, a premium of 15 percent over Monday''s closing price. LVMH shares rose 3 percent to a record high of 223 euros as investors and analysts welcomed the deals, which Arnault said would boost earnings at its fashion and leather goods division. Dior shares jumped 13 percent to a new high of 256 euros. "This is a good acquisition for LVMH in our view given the strong brand of Christian Dior, good use of its balance sheet and it reunites the Christian Dior brand with the very profitable perfume operation that LVMH operates," Barclays analysts wrote in a research note. The Dior holding company owns 41 percent of the LVMH group and 100 percent of Christian Dior Couture, the home of the Lady Dior handbag. Arnault''s family company will offer 172 euros per share and 0.192 Hermes ( HRMS.PA ) shares for each Dior holding company share. It will also offer all-cash and all-share alternatives. Arnault has a stake of about 8 percent in luxury group Hermes, and its shares fell about 5 percent on the prospect of more of the stock coming to the market. The transactions "will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH''s Fashion and Leather Goods division," Arnault said in a statement. LVMH said the overall deal would boost earnings per share within the first year of its completion, with the transactions expected to close during the second half of 2017. For graphic on European luxury brands, click: tmsnrt.rs/2oEKxKF Blandine Henault; Editing by Andrew Callus and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-lvmh-dior-idUKKBN17R0I1'|'2017-04-25T14:17:00.000+03:00' '23d65d210924b013588a7a045b9aa7c90e689222'|'UPDATE 1-Israel Chemicals in talks to sell stake in desalination firm IDE'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:13am EDT UPDATE 1-Israel Chemicals in talks to sell stake in desalination firm IDE (Recasts with company statement) JERUSALEM, April 25 Israel Chemicals said on Tuesday it is in talks to sell its 50 percent stake in water desalination firm IDE Technologies in a deal which Israeli media reported could fetch about $180 million. Israel Chemicals (ICL), a top global supplier of potash, said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it was "holding negotiations" for the sale of its IDE shares, but emphasized there was no assurance it would lead to a deal. IDE, which has built desalination plants in the United States, Israel, India and China, is jointly owned by ICL and Israeli conglomerate Delek Group. ICL''s statement came after financial news website Calcalist reported that ICL had agreed to sell its holding to a group of 3-4 buyers, including Israel''s Clal Insurance, which will take over 20 percent of IDE. The deal, Calcalist said, values IDE at $360 million. Officials at Clal Insurance had no immediate comment. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Jason Neely) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/icl-ide-idUSL8N1HX31S'|'2017-04-25T19:13:00.000+03:00' '9fc77c376887416f66f10d4efd2eba5698752ea0'|'BRIEF-Elliott Management issues new letter to Arconic shareholders'|'Funds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:39am EDT BRIEF-Elliott Management issues new letter to Arconic shareholders April 25 Elliott Management Corporation: * Elliott issues new letter to Arconic shareholders * "Urges" election of all four shareholder nominees to Arconic''s board * Says it has not nominated any of its employees or affiliates to Arconic board; shareholder nominees will have no ties with Elliott Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-elliott-management-issues-new-lett-idUSFWN1HX0RI'|'2017-04-25T23:39:00.000+03:00' '8e3ac851f7844a005ba02ea050df3d9686638010'|'BRIEF-Appian Corp files for IPO of up to $86.3 million'|'April 27 (Reuters) -* appian corp files for IPO of up to $86.3 million - sec filing* Appian Corp files to issue its class a common stock in the ipo* Appian Corp - Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Barclays among underwriters to IPO* Appian Corp says it has applied to list its class a common stock on the nasdaq under the symbol "APPN" Source text: ( bit.ly/2oQM0tD )'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-appian-corp-files-for-ipo-of-up-to-idINFWN1HZ1IW'|'2017-04-27T19:21:00.000+03:00' '31b3dc2ec578670fcd85a6af2a336b49cf9d0ba7'|'Vale sees robust ore prices this year, market ''well balanced'''|' 37am EDT Vale sees robust ore prices this year, market ''well balanced'' SAO PAULO, April 27 The market for iron ore remains well balanced at this point, as less supply is expected and as prices tend to find support above last year''s levels, executives at Vale SA said on Thursday. Vale, the world''s No. 1 producer of iron ore, plans to take advantage of growing cash generation to keep reducing net debt to $15 billion to $17 billion this year, from about $25 billion at the end of last year, outgoing Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira told investors during a call to discuss the company''s first-quarter results. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Marta Nogueira; Additional reporting by Roberto Samora in São Paulo; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/vale-sa-results-outlook-idUSE6N1D2015'|'2017-04-27T17:37:00.000+03:00' '24086989a070ea2f20d54bb86e2547b4117a06a2'|'Fedex wins $2.35 billion U.S. defense contract: Pentagon'|'WASHINGTON Federal Express Corp ( FDX.N ) was awarded a five-year $2.35 billion contract, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price next generation delivery service contract provides express small package delivery services for international shipments and express and ground small package delivery services for domestic shipments, the Pentagon said in a statement.(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Eric Beech)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-fedex-pentagon-idUSKBN17S2XR'|'2017-04-27T05:20:00.000+03:00' '3cc8999f609ee2ce563aa9a9ef27cd373724ed27'|'RPT-Hackers exploited Word flaw for months while Microsoft investigated'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 7:00am EDT RPT-Hackers exploited Word flaw for months while Microsoft investigated (Repeats with no changes to headline or text) By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO, April 26 To understand why it is so difficult to defend computers from even moderately capable hackers, consider the case of the security flaw officially known as CVE-2017-0199. The bug was unusually dangerous but of a common genre: it was in Microsoft software, could allow a hacker to seize control of a personal computer with little trace, and was fixed April 11 in Microsoft''s regular monthly security update. But it had traveled a rocky, nine-month journey from discovery to resolution, which cyber security experts say is an unusually long time. Google''s security researchers, for example, give vendors just 90 days'' warning before publishing flaws they find. Microsoft Corp declined to say how long it usually takes to patch a flaw. While Microsoft investigated, hackers found the flaw and manipulated the software to spy on unknown Russian speakers, possibly in Ukraine. And a group of thieves used it to bolster their efforts to steal from millions of online bank accounts in Australia and other countries. Those conclusions and other details emerged from interviews with researchers at cyber security firms who studied the events and analyzed versions of the attack code. Microsoft confirmed the sequence of events. The tale began last July, when Ryan Hanson, a 2010 Idaho State University graduate and consultant at boutique security firm Optiv Inc in Boise, found a weakness in the way that Microsoft Word processes documents from another format. That allowed him to insert a link to a malicious program that would take control of a computer. COMBINING FLAWS Hanson spent some months combining his find with other flaws to make it more deadly, he said on Twitter. Then in October he told Microsoft. The company often pays a modest bounty of a few thousands dollars for the identification of security risks. Soon after that point six months ago, Microsoft could have fixed the problem, the company acknowledged. But it was not that simple. A quick change in the settings on Word by customers would do the trick, but if Microsoft notified customers about the bug and the recommended changes, it would also be telling hackers about how to break in. Alternatively, Microsoft could have created a patch that would be distributed as part of its monthly software updates. But the company did not patch immediately and instead dug deeper. It was not aware that anyone was using Hanson''s method, and it wanted to be sure it had a comprehensive solution. "We performed an investigation to identify other potentially similar methods and ensure that our fix addresses more than just the issue reported," Microsoft said through a spokesman, who answered emailed questions on the condition of anonymity. "This was a complex investigation." Hanson declined interview requests. The saga shows that Microsoft''s progress on security issues, as well as that of the software industry as a whole, remains uneven in an era when the stakes are growing dramatically. The United States has accused Russia of hacking political party emails to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, a charge Russia denies, while shadowy hacker groups opposed to the U.S. government have been publishing hacking tools used by the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. ATTACKS BEGIN It is unclear how the unknown hackers initially found Hanson''s bug. It could have been through simultaneous discovery, a leak in the patching process, or even hacking against Optiv or Microsoft. In January, as Microsoft worked on a solution, the attacks began. The first known victims were sent emails enticing them to click on a link to documents in Russian about military issues in Russia and areas held by Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, researchers said. Their computers were then infected with eavesdropping software made by Gamma Group, a private company that sells to agencies of many governments. The best guess of cyber security experts is that one of Gamma''s customers was trying to get inside the computers of soldiers or political figures in Ukraine or Russia; either of those countries, or any of their neighbors or allies, could have been responsible. Such government espionage is routine. The initial attacks were carefully aimed at a small number of targets and so stayed below the radar. But in March, security researchers at FireEye Inc noticed that a notorious piece of financial hacking software known as Latenbot was being distributed using the same Microsoft bug. FireEye probed further, found the earlier Russian-language attacks, and warned Microsoft. The company, which confirmed it was first warned of active attacks in March, got on track for an April 11 patch. Then, what counts as disaster in the world of bug-fixers struck. Another security firm, McAfee, saw some attacks using the Microsoft Word flaw on April 6. After what it described as "quick but in-depth research," it established that the flaw had not been patched, contacted Microsoft, and then blogged about its discovery on April 7. The blog post contained enough detail that other hackers could mimic the attacks. Other software security professionals were aghast that McAfee did not wait, as Optiv and FireEye were doing, until the patch came out. McAfee Vice President Vincent Weafer blamed "a glitch in our communications with our partner Microsoft" for the timing. He did not elaborate. By April 9, a program to exploit the flaw was on sale on underground markets for criminal hackers, said FireEye researcher John Hultquist. The next day, attacks were mainstream. Someone used it to send documents booby-trapped with Dridex banking-fraud software to millions of computers in Australia. Finally, on the Tuesday, about six months after hearing from Hanson, Microsoft made the patch available. As always, some computer owners are lagging behind and have not installed it. Ben-Gurion University employees in Israel were hacked, after the patch, by attackers linked to Iran who took over their email accounts and sent infected documents to their contacts at technology companies and medical professionals, said Michael Gorelik, vice president of cyber security firm Morphisec. When Microsoft patched, it thanked Hanson, a FireEye researcher and its own staff. A six-month delay is bad but not unheard of, said Marten Mickos, chief executive of HackerOne, which coordinates patching efforts between researchers and vendors. "Normal fixing times are a matter of weeks," Mickos said. Privately-held Optiv said through a spokeswoman that it usually gives vendors 45 days to make fixes before publishing research when appropriate, and that it "materially followed" that practice in this case. Optiv is now comparing the details of what Hanson told Microsoft with what the spies and criminals used in the wild, trying to find out if the researcher''s work was partly responsible for the worldwide hacking spree, the spokeswoman said. The spree included one or more people who created a hacking tool for what FireEye''s Hultquist said is probably a national government - and then appearing to double-dip by also selling it to a criminal group. If the patching took time, others who learned of the flaw moved quickly. On the final weekend before the patch, the criminals could have sold it along to the Dridex hackers, or the original makers could have cashed in a third time, Hultquist said, effectively staging a last clearance sale before it lost peak effectiveness. It is unclear how many people were ultimately infected or how much money was stolen. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/microsoft-cyber-idUSL1N1HY2I4'|'2017-04-27T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'd04b955f4ed52beace18401399b4df3bdd333fce'|'Comcast profit tops estimates on video subscribers, film success'|'Technology News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 11:03am EDT Comcast profit tops views on subscriber growth, movie hits A technician''s vehicle sits in the parking lot at a Comcast facility in Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S. January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By Anjali Athavaley - NEW YORK NEW YORK Comcast Corp''s ( CMCSA.O ) quarterly profit topped estimates on strong growth in cable and internet subscribers and hits such as "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Get Out" boosted movie revenue, the No. 1 U.S. cable operator said on Thursday. Shares rose as much as 4 percent to a record high in early trading and were last at $39.91, up 3 percent from Wednesday''s close. Comcast''s cable television business is under pressure as younger viewers shun cable bundles in favor of cheaper streaming options such as Netflix Inc ( NFLX.O ). The company has been investing in customer service and is offering the X1 set-top platform for a variety of content. Last year, Comcast made Netflix available through X1 and announced a similar deal with Alphabet Inc''s ( GOOGL.O ) YouTube in February. Revenue in Comcast''s cable business rose 5.8 percent as the company added 42,000 video subscribers and 429,000 broadband subscribers in the quarter, which industry analysts considered to be strong growth. The company also plans to offer a wireless service later this year in hope of increasing customer loyalty. The service, called Xfinity Mobile, will launch on Verizon Communications Inc''s ( VZ.N ) airwaves as part of a 2011 agreement between the companies. "We believe wireless represents the next massive opportunity for cable and this has yet to be embraced by investors," wrote Jonathan Chaplin, an analyst at New Street Research. Industry analysts have speculated that Comcast''s entry into the wireless market could mean it wants to buy a U.S. wireless carrier such as T-Mobile US Inc ( TMUS.O ) or Verizon. Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam said in an interview with Bloomberg last week that he is open to deal talks with companies ranging from Comcast to Walt Disney Co ( DIS.N ). “We are very content with the company we’ve got,” Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told CNBC on Thursday when asked about McAdam’s comments. Sales in its NBCUniversal unit were up 14.7 percent, helped by a 43.2 percent increase in filmed entertainment revenue. Net income attributable to the company rose 20.2 percent to $2.57 billion, or 53 cents a share, in the first quarter. Revenue jumped 8.9 percent to $20.46 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 44 cents per share on revenue of $20.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Additional reporting by Anna Driver in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-comcast-results-idUSKBN17T1IK'|'2017-04-27T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'c369aadc3810a135574a8a4ef24043bb82ee02bc'|'Bank of Japan keeps policy steady, sounds more upbeat on economy'|' 42am BST Bank of Japan keeps policy steady, sounds more upbeat on economy A Japanese flag flutters on the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged on Thursday and offered a more upbeat view of the economy than last month, signalling its confidence that a pick-up in overseas demand will help sustain an export-driven recovery. But the central bank slightly cut its inflation forecast for this fiscal year in a quarterly review of its projections, suggesting that it will maintain its massive monetary stimulus for the time being to achieve its ambitious 2 percent target. At a post-meeting news conference due 0630 GMT, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is likely to remind markets the Japanese central bank is nowhere near an exit from its massive stimulus, analysts say. "Japan''s economy has been turning toward a moderate expansion," the BOJ said a quarterly review of its long-term economic and price projections. That was a more upbeat assessment than last month and in the previous quarterly report in January, which said the economy was "improving moderately as a trend." In a widely expected move, the BOJ maintained the 0.1 percent interest it charges on a portion of excess reserves that financial institutions park at the central bank. At the two-day policy meeting that ended on Thursday, it also kept its yield target for 10-year Japanese government bonds around zero percent. In the quarterly review, the BOJ cut its core consumer inflation forecast for the year ending in March 2018 to 1.4 percent from 1.5 percent. It projects inflation to accelerate to 1.7 percent the following year and hit 1.9 percent in fiscal 2019. The BOJ maintained its projection that inflation will reach 2 percent around fiscal 2018. Japan''s economy has shown signs of life, as exports rose the most in over two years in March and manufacturers'' confidence hit the highest since the global financial crisis a decade ago. But core consumer prices for February rose just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, as weak private consumption has discouraged companies from raising prices. While a pioneer in deploying unorthodox stimulus, the BOJ is likely to lag behind its peers in withdrawing monetary support. The U.S. Federal Reserve is already embarking on interest rate hikes, while the European Central Bank may send a small signal in June towards reducing stimulus. Most analysts polled by Reuters expect the BOJ''s next move to be a tightening of monetary policy, though many do not expect it to happen until next year at the earliest. After more than three years of huge asset purchases failed to accelerate inflation, the BOJ revamped its policy framework last September to one aimed at capping long-term interest rates. (Additional reporting by Stanley White, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17T0CK'|'2017-04-27T11:42:00.000+03:00' 'eca42dd560012083c142573866165aedfbe39cbb'|'Airbus Q1 core profit down 52 pct, reaffirms targets'|' 51am EDT Airbus first-quarter profit slides on engine delays, price squeeze FILE PHOTO: The logo of an Airbus A350-1000 is pictured on a scale model during its maiden flight event in Colomiers near Toulouse, Southwestern France, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo By Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer - PARIS PARIS Core profit at Airbus ( AIR.PA ) more than halved in the first quarter as it cut prices of old models and delays at an engine maker hampered deliveries of its profitable new A320neo jet. The European firm said it was confident of plans to increase jet output despite wobbling demand, but voiced caution about the speed at which it can lower costs on its new A350 and warned of "significant" exposure on its troubled A400M army plane. Airbus'' results came a day after rival Boeing reported a 19 percent rise in first-quarter profit, with the world''s largest planemaker also lifting its full-year forecast. Airbus Finance Director Harald Wilhelm took aim at U.S. supplier Pratt & Whitney over engine delays that forced it to deliver fewer A320neos than planned last quarter, despite fresh assurances from the engine maker that it will meet targets. "The demonstrated performance so far is not satisfactory, but let''s see whether their fixes are coming through (and) are finally confirmed. ... We still need to see the proof coming through," he told reporters. "We don''t miss any opportunity to remind Pratt of the commitments they made for 2017 and 2018," he added. He also said Airbus was trying to secure a return this year to European government export funding, which was suspended last year amid a probe into suspected corruption in jetliner sales. Wrangling over past business dealings deepened on Wednesday when Austria disclosed a separate fraud probe into Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders over a 2003 fighter deal. Airbus called the accusations "completely unsubstantiated". Airbus shares fell as much as two percent, before steadying down 0.8 percent. Its quarterly adjusted operating profit fell 52 percent to 240 million euros ($261.7 million) as revenues rose 7 percent to 12.988 billion. Analysts were on average expecting core profit of 344 million euros, down 31 percent. A350 CHALLENGE The Airbus planemaking business saw 31 percent lower profit despite a 13 percent rise in revenues. It blamed a less favorable mix of deliveries in the quarter, which included more of the new but still sharply discounted A350s and higher production ramp-up costs. Getting costs on the A350 to fall in line with targets as volume increases is a "top challenge" for 2017, Wilhelm said. However it had reduced the amount of unscheduled factory work. Airbus is in the midst of two major product changes designed to revitalize its portfolio through the 2020s, but which also spell the end of its two existing cash lifelines. They include the A320 medium-haul jet, upgraded with new engines to become the A320neo, and the long-haul A330, giving way to the all-new A350 and to an upgrade of the A330 itself. The switchover between models is a tricky time for planemakers as they discount the old while mastering the new. Agency Partners analyst Sash Tusa said the results were hit by "severe pricing weakness" as Airbus preserves customers for the current version of its A330 wide-body jet. Wilhelm and some analysts said the trends were as expected. Airbus Helicopters slipped narrowly into loss as the world''s largest commercial helicopter maker continues to suffer from damage to its image from the grounding of aircraft in UK and Norway, following a crash that killed North Sea oil workers. A report on last year''s crash is due on Friday. For 2017, Airbus officially expects to deliver over 700 jets and to report mid-single-digit percentage growth in operating income. Wilhelm said the actual delivery target is around 720. (Reporting by Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbus-results-idUSKBN17T0JE'|'2017-04-27T13:19:00.000+03:00' '7e9532250c46436c3d1e45650c05118039e629c5'|'Renault sales rise on new models, Lada consolidation'|' 5:03pm BST Renault sales rise on new models, Lada consolidation FILE PHOTO: The logo of Renault is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo PARIS Renault ( RENA.PA ) said on Thursday its first-quarter revenue rose more than a quarter as the French carmaker launched new models and production deals, and began consolidating Lada sales by Russian affiliate Avtovaz. Revenue increased to 13.13 billion euros (10.98 billion pounds) in January-March from 10.49 billion a year earlier, the company said in a statement. The French manufacturer reiterated 2017 goals including an increase to operating profit and revenue at constant exchange rates. It also lifted its global auto-market growth forecast for the year to 1.5-2.5 percent, from 1.5-2 percent previously. (Reporting by Laurence Frost; Editing by Tim Hepher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-renault-results-idUKKBN17T2HD'|'2017-04-28T00:03:00.000+03:00' 'b841c6817ccab67555bf580044a47fefbe91df1d'|'RBS settles with more investors over 2008 cash call lawsuit'|' 18pm BST RBS settles with more investors over 2008 cash call lawsuit FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: People walk past a Royal Bank of Scotland office in London, Britain, February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo By Kirstin Ridley and Anjuli Davies - LONDON LONDON Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) has reached an out-of-court settlement with another batch of shareholders who alleged they were misled during a 12 billion-pound cash call in 2008, the state-owned bank said on Thursday. The latest settlement, which follows a similar deal struck with four other investor groups last year, leaves a rump party of investors claiming damages of around 520 million pounds, excluding interest and costs, weeks before a trial is scheduled, one source familiar with talks said. The deal has splintered the vast RBoS Shareholder Action Group, with 40 percent of the value of the original claimants now settled. "We are pleased that some members of our group have been able to come to an agreement with the bank," said the shareholder group, which still represents around 27,000 retail investors and around 20 institutions. "However, we remain resolute in our fight for justice for retail shareholders and the numerous institutions that remain in this litigation," said the group, which represents thousands of current and former RBS shareholders. Shareholders lost around 80 percent of their investment after buying into RBS''s rights issue as the credit crisis raged in 2008, shortly before the bank almost collapsed and received a 45 billion-pound government bailout. Edinburgh-based RBS said it had now reached a full and final settlement with shareholders representing 87 percent of the original claims by value in the litigation - without any admission of liability. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement," Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS said in a statement. "We will continue to explore the possibility of settlement with the remaining claimants but if we cannot settle on agreeable terms we will defend the claims at trial." RBS last year set aside 800 million pounds to settle investor claims totalling around 4 billion pounds from five investor groups in an unprecedented lawsuit over alleged omissions and misrepresentations about its financial strength when it launched the rights issue during the credit crisis. After four groups settled the bank nudged up a 41.5 pence per share offer to 43.5 pence per share in March in the hope of avoiding a trial that will rake over the facts of its near collapse and state bailout and call former CEO Fred Goodwin to court. One source said the RBoS Action Group members who settled their case on Thursday had accepted the 43.5p per share offer. (Additional reporting by Lawrence White, Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rbs-lawsuit-settlement-idUKKBN17T2I6'|'2017-04-28T00:18:00.000+03:00' '972d6a1fd0271b5efae0f73ae6dd035b5be65c50'|'Major 7.1 quake strikes off Chile''s coast, rocks capital'|'By Rosalba O''Brien - SANTIAGO SANTIAGO A major earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck off the west coast of Chile on Monday, rocking the capital Santiago and briefly causing alarm along the Pacific Coast but not producing any serious damage.The quake was centered 22 miles (35 km) west of the coastal city of Valparaiso at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles (10 km) below the sea, and about 85 miles (137 km) from Santiago, the U.S. Geological Survey said."It was short but very powerful," said Paloma Salamo, a 26-year-old nurse, who was in a clinic in Viña del Mar, just north of Valparaiso, when the quake struck.People ran out of the facility carrying children and some headed for the hills when the tsunami alarm sounded, she said, but calm was soon restored.Officials canceled a tsunami warning that had been issued in Valparaiso after the Chilean Navy and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was not expected to produce a dangerous seismic sea wave. The center reported small tsunami waves of half a foot (15 cm).There were no reports of structural damage in Valparaiso, but cellphone networks were down in some places, a spokesman with the local government in Valparaiso said."We have no reports of victims or significant damage. There have been some landslides in some places, without major complications," said Interior Minister Mario Fernandez."In general the situation is pretty normal bearing in mind the quake''s intensity."Chile''s state-run Codelco, one of the largest copper mining companies in the world, said its operations were unaffected.Anglo American, which has copper operations in central Chile, also said operations were normal.A magnitude 7.1 quake is considered major and is capable of causing widespread and heavy damage, but the effects of this one would have been tempered because it was offshore.Several aftershocks including two of magnitudes 5.0 and 5.4 were recorded in the same spot and could be felt in Santiago, part of a cluster of tremors from that area in recent days.Chile, located on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," has a long history of deadly quakes, including a 8.8 magnitude quake in 2010 off the south-central coast, which also triggered a tsunami that devastated coastal towns. More than 500 people died.That was the sixth-largest earthquake ever recorded, according to the USGS. The largest recorded temblor in history was also in Chile, a 9.5-magnitude quake in 1960.A major 7.6 magnitude earthquake jolted southern Chile on Christmas Day 2016, prompting thousands to evacuate coastal areas, but no fatalities or major damage were reported in the tourism and salmon farming region.The long, slender country runs along the border of two tectonic plates, with the Nazca Plate beneath the South Pacific Ocean pushing into the South America Plate, a phenomenon that also formed the Andes Mountains.(Reporting by Rosalba O''Brien, Fabian Cambero, Gram Slattery, Felipe Iturrieta and Jorge Otaola; additional reporting by Sandra Maler in Washington; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by G Crosse and Mary Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-quake-chile-idINKBN17Q2BE'|'2017-04-24T21:27:00.000+03:00' '1fad59a7252577eb53fcb30bd7a816251449cace'|'Dutch Economic Affairs minister says still opposed to Akzo Nobel takeover'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 10:25am BST Dutch Economic Affairs minister says still opposed to Akzo Nobel takeover FILE PHOTO: AkzoNobel''s logo is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands, February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Robin van Lonkhuijsen/United Photos/File Photo AMSTERDAM Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp repeated his opposition to a takeover of paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) on Tuesday, saying he did not care that U.S. rival PPG Industries ( PPG.N ) had raised its offer. "Whether the offer is low or high, that doesn''t change my opinion," Kamp said in an interview with BNR radio. "For the Dutch (economy), it''s good that the leadership of Akzo Nobel, both the management board and the supervisory board, is planning to remain independent, and I support that." Akzo has said that it is studying PPG''s latest proposal, which values the company at around 26.9 billion euros (£22.83 billion). (Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-minister-idUKKBN17R0YS'|'2017-04-25T17:25:00.000+03:00' '36d2c6df3556c35caf40b14bebf8c019ef553031'|'KKR-backed group halts work on Tatts takeover offer'|'SYDNEY A group backed by KKR & Co said on Friday it would not undertake further work on a takeover offer for Australia''s Tatts Group after its A$6.15 billion ($4.60 billion) cash bid was rejected by the lottery operator''s board.Tatts shares fell 4.8 percent.Tatts earlier on Friday said a rival offer from betting group Tabcorp Holdings Ltd was superior.The KKR-backed group also includes Macquarie Group Ltd, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and First State Superannuation Scheme.(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Edmund Klamann)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-tatts-group-m-a-kkr-bid-idINKBN17U0FF'|'2017-04-28T02:25:00.000+03:00' '06a0076c47532dc354bbdab9169c10ac1ae8bffe'|'Brexit economy: living standards are falling as the snap election looms - Business'|'The pound’s sharp fall since the Brexit vote and a mood of uncertainty among employers has hit household budgets, creating a tough economic backdrop for Theresa May’s snap election, a Guardian analysis shows.The prime minister will be hoping the resilience seen in the UK economy will hold over the coming months now that she has called an election for this June . But the Guardian’s monthly tracker of economic news shows living standards are already falling as rising prices outpace meagre pay growth. That bodes ill for an economy reliant on household spending and the latest indicators from Britain’s retail and leisure industries suggest they are feeling the effects of a tightening consumer squeeze. The export sector has failed to offset that domestic drag and GDP figures due this week are expected to show the economy slowed markedly at the start of this year .Still, lending support to those who say May was right to call a vote sooner rather than later, unemployment remains low, the housing market is steady, stock markets are near record highs and business activity continues to rise – albeit at a slower pace.How has the Brexit vote affected the UK economy? April verdict Read more The economy appears to have lost momentum but has comfortably avoided the recession some had predicted in the wake of the Brexit vote. Last week, the International Monetary Fund was forced to admit yet again that it had been too gloomy on the consequences of the Brexit vote as it revised up its UK growth forecast for the second time in three months .Writing in the Guardian , Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said support for the UK from a strong global economy was being offset by domestic pressures.“There are two big themes which stand out from this month’s data, and they show the UK being pulled in opposite directions by the global economy and consumer spending,” said Sentance, a senior economic adviser at the consultancy PwC.“We should expect the consumer slowdown to dominate the growth picture over the course of this year ... GDP growth figures for the first quarter released at the end of this week are likely to confirm that the UK economy is already slowing.”To gauge the impact of the Brexit vote on a monthly basis, the Guardian has chosen eight economic indicators, along with the value of the pound and the performance of the FTSE.The dashboard for April shows retail sales have dropped , inflation is at its highest for more than three years , wages are falling in real terms and Britain’s trade performance has deteriorated . But unemployment remains low, house prices continue to edge up and businesses are expanding . The deficit of the public finances fell over the last year and the government hit its borrowing target. But the public finances were worse than market expectations for the latest month.Compared with economists’ forecasts, there was a worse-than-expected performance in three of the eight categories. Two were better than expected, with three as forecast.Stock markets remain near record highs and the pound has been given a fillip by news of the election , with investors predicting the result will strengthen May’s position in Brexit negotiations with her EU counterparts. CPI graph But, compared with the day of last June’s referendum, the pound is still down 14% against the US dollar and 10% against the euro. That weakness is now making itself felt in the real economy as imports become more expensive and shoppers are paying higher prices for a whole range of goods and services, from food to fuel.The pound effect has combined with higher global oil prices to lift inflation to a rate of 2.3% in February and March, above the Bank of England’s 2% target. But while inflation is expected to climb higher, wage growth looks set to slow. Employers are grappling with higher costs that give them less leeway for pay rises and the government continues to implement a public sector pay freeze. The latest official figures show workers were already worse off in real terms in February as pay rose 1.9% on the year but inflation stood at 2.3%. That pay weakness was despite Britain’s unemployment rate remaining at 4.7% – its joint lowest since 1975 – and continued reports of skills shortages.Reflecting tighter household budgets, retail sales volumes suffered their biggest drop in seven years over the opening months of 2017, dragging on the overall economy rather than acting as a driver of growth as they usually do. In other signs of the strains on consumers, there has been an increase in borrowing on credit cards while a key measure of what households have available to save has hit a record low .David Blanchflower, another former Bank of England policymaker, said consumer spending was being supported by people borrowing more and running down their savings but that could not last.“Support for Brexit is likely to be driven by how the economy performs and whether living standards hold up and they aren’t,” said Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College in the US.“I am hoping for some good economic news next month. I didn’t see much of any this month.”There have been upsides from a weaker pound, including an influx of foreign tourists splashing out in British shops, restaurants and hotels to take advantage of the relative strength in their own currencies. Exporters also report that the pound’s drop has made their goods and services more competitive in overseas markets but the latest official trade figures were weaker than expected.That overseas boost was clear in a set of business surveys that are closely watched by investors and policymakers for early clues to GDP growth. But while activity has continued to expand according to those Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs), their compilers say there has been a change of pace since last year and that GDP growth likely slowed to 0.4% in the first quarter of 2017 from 0.7% in the final three months of 2016. The first official snapshot of GDP growth in the opening months in the year is due on Friday and economists polled by Reuters also expect growth to slow to 0.4%.Topics EU referendum and Brexit Guardian Brexit watch Economics Inflation Consumer spending Interest rates UK unemployment and employment statistics Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/25/brexit-economy-living-standards-are-falling-as-the-snap-election-looms'|'2017-04-25T19:38:00.000+03:00' '2f9ae0a2b827ebdfc69bb44fe00f836bd5711f5f'|'UK government borrowing at lowest level since 2008 financial crisis - Business'|'Government borrowing fell to the lowest level since the financial crisis in the year to the end of March as the economy proved more resilient than expected in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.Borrowing fell by £20bn to £52bn in the 2016-17 financial year after economic growth helped drive tax receipts higher, narrowing the gap between what the government spends and earns. It was the lowest level of annual borrowing since 2007-08, according to the Office for National Statistics, before the full impact of the financial crisis was reflected in the public finances. The lower deficit meant the chancellor, Philip Hammond , essentially met his £51.7bn target for borrowing in 2016-17, as outlined by the Treasury’s independent forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility, at the time of the budget in March.Howard Archer, the chief UK economist at IHS Markit, said the lower deficit would be welcome news for Hammond.“This is helpful for the chancellor’s and government’s credibility, which is all the more welcome given the looming snap general election ,” he said. “Philip Hammond is clearly keen to keep fiscal ammunition up his sleeve – due to the major uncertainties and downside risks that the economy faces as it navigates its way out of the EU.”Government borrowing 2006-17 However, borrowing for the final month of the financial year was almost £2bn more than expected at £5.1bn. It was the highest borrowing in the month of March since 2015.The deficit has been falling since 2012-13, having peaked at almost £152bn during the financial crisis in 2009-10. However, the OBR expects borrowing to rise again this year, to £55.2bn, partly due to one-off factors but also because of slowing growth as consumers rein in spending in response to rising shop prices .Hammond conceded last November that Brexit would weigh on the public finances , abandoning plans to run a surplus by the end of the decade.John Hawksworth, the chief economist at PwC, said the government would have to make difficult decisions on tax and spending.“It is good news that the deficit is coming down, but it is too soon to be complacent about the state of the public finances. In the longer term an ageing population and rising healthcare costs will also put pressure on the public finances,” he said.“So while the deficit is now approaching a more sustainable level, there will still be some tough choices ahead on tax and spending for the next government.”Responding to the latest figures, the OBR cautioned that 2016-17 borrowing was likely to be revised over the coming months, because some of the data at this stage – such as cash VAT receipts – was based on forecasts and estimates. “The figures typically take some months to settle down and revisions can be significant. In the six years since 2010-11, initial estimates of net borrowing have been revised down by an average of £2.8bn over the subsequent 12 months,” it said.In a separate report, the ONS said the richest fifth of UK households had an average income before tax and benefits of £84,700 in the financial year ending 2016, compared with £7,200 for the poorest. That was a ratio of 12 to one, down from 14 to one a year earlier following an increase in pay the poorest fifth.The ratio between the average income of the top and bottom fifth of households –£63,300 and £17,200 respectively – is reduced to less than four to one after accounting for benefits and taxes.However, the Equality Trust, which campaigns to reduce economic inequality, said its own analysis of the figures showed the richest 10% of households pay a smaller proportion of their income in tax than the poorest 10% of households.“When the super-rich are paying less in taxes than their cleaners, you know something has gone disastrously wrong with our broken, regressive tax system,” said Wanda Wyporska, the executive director of the Equality Trust.“Time after time we see sensible reforms attacked and rejected in favour of tax cuts for billionaires. These do nothing for ordinary people struggling to keep a roof over their head.”Topics Government borrowing Bonds Economics Economic policy Economic recovery Philip Hammond news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/25/uk-government-borrowing-lowest-level-financial-crisis'|'2017-04-25T19:39:00.000+03:00' '48cc029dccab68e234dd2bf1cbd62287b5b566b2'|'From coffee to carpets, British consumers count the pennies'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 2:32pm BST From coffee to carpets, British consumers count the pennies FILE PHOTO - Shoppers cross Oxford Street in central London August 15, 2013. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo By James Davey - LONDON LONDON Britons are cutting back on their daily coffee fix and hesitating before splashing out on bigger items such as new carpets, retailers said on Tuesday, further signs that consumer spending is slowing sharply ahead of a national election in June. Britons are starting to feel the strain of rising prices after last year''s vote to leave the European Union sent the pound plunging, recent data and industry surveys have indicated. Official data last week showed British retail sales recorded their biggest quarterly fall in seven years at the start of 2017, while on Monday a survey from Deloitte said consumer confidence softened last month. Now individual companies are spelling out the impact of a deteriorating consumer market as rising inflation and muted wage growth dents disposable income, hitting their shares. "Domestic consumer-facing businesses are likely to face a challenging year as discretionary spending becomes squeezed whilst High Street operators are having to absorb cost increases such as business rates and the National Living Wage," said Guy Ellison, head of UK equities at Investec Wealth & Investment. Shares in Whitbread ( WTB.L ), owner of the Costa Coffee chain, Premier Inn hotels, Beefeater restaurants and Brewers Fayre pubs fell as much as 8.2 percent after it gave a downbeat forecast and reported declines of 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively in fourth quarter to March 2 like-for-like sales at Costa and restaurants respectively. "Indications suggest that there is going to be some constraint on (the) pound in the average consumer pocket with inflation and higher petrol prices and a relatively static wage position," Chief Executive Alison Brittain told reporters. "TOUGHER TRADING" Politicians will be looking particularly closely at the health of the economy after Prime Minister Theresa May last week called a surprise snap election for June 8 to try to strengthen her hand in Brexit negotiations. Carpetright, Britain''s biggest floor coverings retailer, also highlighted tougher conditions as it reported a slowdown in sales growth in its fourth quarter, sending its shares down by up to 15 percent. Carpetright''s fortunes are closely tied to the strength of the British housing market and the firm is regarded as a useful economic indicator as it traditionally has been "first in, first out" of a recession. Sales at UK stores open over a year rose 1.4 percent in the 12 weeks to April 22, having been up 6.8 percent in the four weeks to Jan. 28. "In common with other retailers in the home improvement sector in the UK we have experienced tougher trading conditions over the last three months," said Chief Executive Wilf Walsh. Last month clothing retailer Next ( NXT.L ) said it was "extremely cautious" about prospects in 2017, while Wickes owner Travis Perkins ( TPK.L ) said expectations for growth in the home improvement market had weakened. Travis cautioned that a reduction in consumer confidence could have a pronounced impact on big-ticket purchases such as kitchens and bathrooms. Bright spots do, however, remain. Associated British Foods'' ( ABF.L ) discount fashion arm, Primark, traded well through Britain''s Easter holiday period, the group''s boss last week, highlighting the positive impact of a good spell of weather. (Additional reporting by Rahul B; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-retail-idUKKBN17R1PL'|'2017-04-25T21:22:00.000+03:00' '852eca32a240978cea072a1a6e7b43178f6e9ed5'|'AXA''s fund management arm to cut investment in coal companies'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 2:34pm BST AXA''s fund management arm to cut investment in coal companies Logo of France''s biggest insurer Axa is seen in Paris, France, August 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen PARIS The asset management arm of the French insurer AXA ( AXAF.PA ) plans to cut the amount it invests for clients in the coal industry worth 177 million euros (148 million pounds). The decision of AXA IM, which manages 714 billion euros of assets, comes on top of the group''s announcement in 2015 that it would cut its exposure to the coal industry to the tune of 500 million euros. AXA IM plans to pull out of companies that derive more than half of their revenue from coal-related activities. "The decision means AXA IM will be divesting approximately 165 million euros of fixed income portfolios and 12 million euros of equities portfolios," AXA IM said, adding that clients may choose to opt out of this policy should they wish so. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz, writing by Maya Nikolaeva,; editing by Louise Heavens)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-axa-coal-idUKKBN17R1Q5'|'2017-04-25T21:34:00.000+03:00' '733e0b7e96158ba40dd4e61bfceebd0f674f5f44'|'Coca-Cola to cut 1,200 jobs, boosts savings target'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:30pm BST Coca-Cola to cut 1,200 jobs, boosts savings target FILE PHOTO: A vendor walks at his Coca-Cola store in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, December 5, 2016. REUTERS/Samrang Pring/File Photo Coca-Cola Co ( KO.N ) said on Tuesday it would cut about 1,200 jobs as the beverage maker expands its savings target amid falling demand for fizzy drinks globally. Shares of the Dow component were up marginally at $43.39. Coca-Cola and rival PepsiCo Inc''s ( PEP.N ) soda sales have taken a hit as consumers in North America and Europe increasingly shun sugary drinks. Global soda sales fell 1 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, Coca-Cola said on Tuesday. The Atlanta-based company said it was increasing its cost-cutting target by $800 million in annualised savings and now expects to save $3.8 billion by 2019. The majority of the additional savings would come from the corporate job reductions, incoming Chief Executive James Quincey said on a post-earnings conference call. The company, which also reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit, said it expects to reinvest at least half of the $800 million saved to mainly boost growth in its non-carbonated drink business. "We are not too worried about this quarter''s miss," RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi wrote in a note. "The important thing is that KO is raising its cost-saving estimates and we believe there is more to go." The job cuts would start in the second half of 2017 and carry into 2018, Coca-Cola said. The company also forecast a smaller decline in 2017 adjusted profit than it had previously expected. Coca-Cola said on Tuesday it expects full-year adjusted profit to fall 1-3 percent, compared with the 1-4 percent decline it forecast in February. The company is offloading much of its low-margin bottling business to reduce expenses, but costs associated with the refranchising have been higher than expected, weighing on profit. Coca-Cola said it recorded a charge of $84 million related to the refranchising in North America in the latest quarter. Net income attributable to the company''s shareholders fell 20.3 percent to $1.18 billion, or 27 cents per share, from a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned 43 cents per share, missing analysts estimates by a cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Revenue fell 11.3 percent to $9.12 billion, declining for the eighth straight quarter. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-coca-cola-results-idUKKBN17R190'|'2017-04-25T22:30:00.000+03:00' 'f5da4cb0efa3cc086e0c49fb18cdcd86a6de9b71'|'Virgin Money say to keep growing credit card business'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:03am BST Virgin Money say to keep growing credit card business Signs are displayed on a Virgin Money store in London, Britain April 30, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall By Esha Vaish Britain''s Virgin Money ( VM.L ) stuck by plans to grow its credit card balances to 3 billion pounds this year, saying tighter lending criteria and an affluent customer base would help it avoid concerns about rising consumer debt. The credit card market in Britain, where 3.3 million people are in persistent debt, has come under scrutiny as the Bank of England has warned about a surge in risky lending and the country''s financial regulator had launched a review. Virgin Money did not expect to be materially impacted by the review, Chief Executive Jayne-Anne Gadhia told Reuters on Tuesday, as the bank had tightened lending criteria for the credit card business in the last 12-18 months to reduce the proportion of the riskier categories of credit cards it issued. The bank''s credit card balances rose 8 percent to 2.65 billion pounds in the quarter ended March 31 from the end of 2016, helped by lower unemployment. Gadhia said an affluent client base, made up of individuals with average monthly excess income of about 750 pounds after repayment of debt, gave her confidence that customers would continue to pay debts even if interest rates rose. "With elevated concerns over unsecured lending, Virgin Money have delivered a reassuring message that credit had not turned yet in first quarter," Jefferies analysts wrote, sticking by their "buy" rating and target price of 430 pence. The company also reaffirmed the rest of its 2017 targets, which include maintaining a 3.0-3.5 percent market share of gross mortgage lending. The Newcastle-based lender said it might also revive its plans to start lending to small and medium sized businesses, if Royal Bank of Scotland''s ( RBS.L ) to set up a 750 million pound fund for small banks is approved by the European Union. RBS has asked to establish the fund as an alternative to having to sell off around 300 retail branches in order to settle antitrust requirements following its 2008 government bailout. Virgin Money had mothballed its plans for SME lending after the Brexit vote. The bank has also expressed interest in Co-operative Bank ( 42RQ.L ), which is up for sale, but Gadhia declined to say whether it is in talks with the struggling lender. "We always look at everything but we''re never committed to anything that''s going to (raise) any concerns around risk... Strategically, the product we''d like to grow in is retail current accounts," she said. (Reporting by Esha Vaish and Tenzin Pema in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-virgin-money-outlook-idUKKBN17R12D'|'2017-04-25T18:03:00.000+03:00' 'ef27081d414a719ce75c1342ac03f93da37fe53b'|'Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 2:32am EDT Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay Credit Suisse''s chairman Urs Rohner attends the 2016 Institute of International Finance (IIF) Spring Membership meeting in Madrid, Spain, May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Susana Vera By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) Chairman Urs Rohner faces his toughest shareholder meeting to date this week following an investor revolt over bonuses and losses totaling 5.65 billion Swiss francs ($5.7 billion) since 2015. Rohner, 57, is facing calls to stand down after six years as chairman, during which time the share price of Switzerland''s second-biggest bank has more than halved to around 15 francs. "Trust in the bank actually is at rock bottom if we look at the share price since Urs Rohner took office in 2011," said Vincent Kaufmann, whose Swiss shareholder advisory group Ethos opposes Rohner''s re-election at Friday''s annual general meeting. Ethos members represent an estimated 3-4 percent of shares in Credit Suisse, where the controversy over bonuses for top managers comes after raids at three of its offices in a Dutch-led tax investigation and uncertainty over plans to sell part of its domestic banking business. Its decision to pay 78 million francs in bonuses to top executives and raise board compensation, amid a costly restructuring under Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam and billions of dollars in U.S. legal penalties, sparked an investor revolt. Switzerland''s economy minister said the pay packets were a sign of recklessness and senior managers eventually offered to cut their bonuses by 40 percent, with the board also freezing its pay. The investor discontent took Rohner by surprise. "It was more than I expected, and particularly among UK and professional or institutional investors and proxy advisers," he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. Despite the criticism, which has rumbled on even after the concessions, a source familiar with Rohner''s thinking said he is confident of winning all agenda item votes at the AGM, including a binding vote on bonuses and board pay, and his re-election. Rohner''s supporters say he offers stability as Thiam shifts Credit Suisse''s focus toward wealth management, while cutting back the investment bank, with the loss of thousands of jobs. "There''s been a lot of chopping and changing," said Macquarie Research analyst Piers Brown, who rates Credit Suisse''s stock "underperform". "I think at the minute probably stability is better than having another u-turn." Investors will get an update on the restructure when Credit Suisse reports first-quarter results on Wednesday. HURDLE RUNNER Others believe Rohner, who did not enter banking until 2004, is the wrong man alongside Thiam, a former insurance executive who is even newer to banking. "He (Rohner) is not a banker," said Hans Geiger, a retired Zurich University banking professor and a former Credit Suisse senior executive. "That could be OK, but then he shouldn''t appoint a non-banker as CEO." Rohner''s path to the top at Credit Suisse was an unusual one. A former Swiss 110-metre hurdles champion, he ran in the 1982 European Athletics Championships while studying law. After graduating from the University of Zurich in 1983 he became a partner at one of the city''s most renowned securities law firms, Lenz & Staehelin. Rohner, an avid film buff, took the job of CEO and chairman at German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 ( PSMGn.DE ) in 2000 and joined Credit Suisse in 2004 as chief lawyer. His big move as chairman was appointing Thiam in 2015 to replace Brady Dougan, a low-profile U.S.-born investment banker. But investors are still waiting for this to pay off. "I don''t feel," said Ethos''s Kaufmann, "that Swiss pension funds are really happy with what''s happening at Credit Suisse with the share price performance, controversies around the bank, (the) high levels of compensation." For a graphic on Credit Suisse share price performance under Chairman Urs Rohner vs. UBS, click here (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; editing by Alexander Smith) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-agm-chairman-idUSKBN17R0IU'|'2017-04-25T14:32:00.000+03:00' '6d0adac63ef00689aa9fea51c5398b4ac8d69f7f'|'Dutch Economic Affairs minister says still opposed to Akzo Nobel takeover'|'Deals - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:22am EDT Dutch Economic Affairs minister says still opposed to Akzo Nobel takeover Cans of Dulux paint, an Akzo Nobel brand, are seen on the shelves of a hardware store near Manchester, Britain, April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Phil Noble AMSTERDAM Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp repeated his opposition to a takeover of paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) on Tuesday, saying he did not care that U.S. rival PPG Industries ( PPG.N ) had raised its offer. "Whether the offer is low or high, that doesn''t change my opinion," Kamp said in an interview with BNR radio. "For the Dutch (economy), it''s good that the leadership of Akzo Nobel, both the management board and the supervisory board, is planning to remain independent, and I support that." Akzo has said that it is studying PPG''s latest proposal, which values the company at around 26.9 billion euros ($28.8 billion). (Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-minister-idUSKBN17R0YH'|'2017-04-25T17:22:00.000+03:00' 'aba1e129eaf4207453eeb4ce62cb5d3ae29db2ca'|'Exclusive - French relief sets up ECB for change of tack in June: sources'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:08pm BST Exclusive: French relief sets up ECB for change of tack in June - sources The European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters is pictured in Frankfurt, Germany, December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT European Central Bank policymakers are breathing a sigh of relief after the first round of France''s presidential vote put a pro-euro centrist in pole position, but they are not likely to change their policy stance until June. Three sources on and close to the bank''s Governing Council told Reuters that with the threat of a run-off between two eurosceptic candidates in France averted, and with the economy on its best run in years, many ratesetters see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus. There is, however, little appetite to change at this Thursday''s meeting the pledge to buy bonds at least until the end of the year and to keep rates at rock bottom until well after that. A move in June, however, might mean changing the wording of the ECB''s opening statement to reflect improved prospects for the economy. Some or all the references to prevailing downside risks to the outlook, to the possibility of further rate cuts or to larger asset purchases may be taken out, the sources said. "The discussion will be on removing some of the easing biases," one of the sources said. "I can''t say how quickly it will happen because that depends on the data." The ECB declined to comment. Emmanuel Macron, a pro-European centrist, is widely expected to beat eurosceptic candidate Marine Le Pen to become France''s next president on May 7 after winning the first round of voting on Sunday. More importantly for the ECB, his victory has allayed the threat of a run-off between Le Pen and anti-euro far-left, eurosceptic candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, allowing the ECB to focus more on the improving economic outlook and less on political risks outside of its control. But the general mood on the ECB''s Governing Council, which includes its six Executive Board members and the governors of the bloc''s 19 central banks, remains one of caution after years of crisis and stubbornly low inflation. The ECB is on course to buy 2.3 trillion euros ($2.50 trillion) worth of bonds and is charging banks for parking excess cash with it overnight in a bid to stimulate lending and, with it inflation and growth, in the euro zone. French central bank governor Francois Villeroy De Galhau said last week it was too early yet to make any policy change and chief economist Peter Praet warned earlier this month that even the notion of a rate hike could undo some of the ECB''s stimulus. For this reason, any move will depend on whether data shows the recent rebound in inflation, which the ECB aims to keep just below 2 percent, is taking hold. GROWTH Price growth in the euro zone was 1.5 percent last month and is not expected to rise back to 2 percent for years to come. "We need to use a lot of caution before making any change," another source said. Time is on their side. The ECB''s bond-buying program is effectively on auto-pilot until December. This means that any announcement about the pace and duration of the scheme in 2018 can wait until September or, if needed, October. However, the side effects and technical constraints of the ECB''s purchases are becoming more visible by the day. The central banks of Portugal and Ireland are running out of government bonds to buy while the Bundesbank''s massive purchases of German debt is exacerbating scarcity of that paper, an essential form of collateral for financial firms. The ECB has already made clear that changing the terms of the program to alleviate such issues carries political and legal risk. This adds weight to the calls for a gradual winding down next year if the recovery in euro zone inflation persists. "We''re constrained in what we can do about the program," one of the sources said. ($1 = 0.9188 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-policy-exclusive-idUKKBN17R1TF'|'2017-04-25T22:07:00.000+03:00' 'd5ae8ca6b8238b9094e96e87208d8a2dceac0e93'|'S.Africa''s Sibanye shareholders approve $2.2 bln Stillwater takeover'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 5:51am EDT S.Africa''s Sibanye shareholders approve $2.2 bln Stillwater takeover JOHANNESBURG, April 25 Sibanye Gold''s shareholders on Tuesday approved the South African miner''s $2.2 billion buyout of U.S.-based Stillwater Mining < SWC.N>, moving it a step closer to significantly boosting its platinum portfolio. About 82 percent of Sibanye shareholders voted in favour of the deal which will cement South Africa''s grip on global supply of platinum and advance Chief Executive Neal Froneman''s push to diversify away from gold and South Africa. "We thank our shareholders for their support for this transaction which represents a unique and transformative opportunity to acquire world class, low-cost international PGM assets," Chief Executive Neal Froneman said. Sibanye, which was spun off from Gold Fields in 2013, last year bought Aquarius Platinum and Anglo American Platinum''s mines in Rustenburg. The Stillwater deal is its first venture beyond South Africa. Stillwater, which operates in Montana, is the only U.S. miner of platinum group metals (PGM) and the largest primary producer of PGMs outside South Africa and Russia. Stillwater''s shareholders are due to meet on Tuesday to vote on the transaction. Sibanye said it would fund the deal with a combination of debt and new equity. It expects the tranches of capital to be raised by the end of June. ($1 = 13.0376 rand) (Reporting by Olwethu Boso; editing by Jason Neely) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/stillwater-minng-ma-sibanye-gold-idUSL8N1HX27E'|'2017-04-25T17:51:00.000+03:00' '844304ede140a1aa6e4f67fa125f446807af162d'|'Waymo testing self-driving car ride service in Arizona'|'Company 01am EDT Waymo testing self-driving car ride service in Arizona SAN FRANCISCO, April 25 Alphabet Inc''s Waymo autonomous vehicle group will begin testing a self-driving car program for hundreds of families in Phoenix, Arizona and is buying 500 Chrysler minivans to do so, the companies said on Tuesday. Waymo, which along with Google is owned by Alphabet Inc, recently has been quietly testing the service for a handful of families, learning what potential customers would want from a ride service, the company said in a blog post. It urged people to apply to take part in an expanded test, which is the first public trial of Waymo''s self-driving cars. The vehicles include human operators from Waymo behind the wheel, in case intervention is required and to take feedback. Silicon Valley is racing to master self-driving technology, betting that it will transform the auto industry and be a gold mine for leading companies. Waymo has one of the best technology track records, and it has an alliance with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Many companies expect that customers will use autonomous vehicles as a service, rather than owning them outright. Ride service Uber in particular expects to use autonomous cars. The new Waymo test in Arizona is meant to help the company understand what people want out of self-driving cars and see how they use and integrate the service. Testers will get access every day at any time. Waymo already has with 100 Chrysler Pacifica minivans and is acquiring five times more, partly to be able to support the service. (Reporting by Peter Henderson; Editing by Mary Milliken)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/alphabet-fiat-chrysler-autonomous-idUSL1N1HX00V'|'2017-04-25T15:01:00.000+03:00' '3c9936effc8442394d3355e76f9d351d2bb3a882'|'ECB''s Nowotny says uncertainty of U.S. measures is worrying - Der Standard'|' 6:44am BST ECB''s Nowotny says uncertainty of U.S. measures is worrying: Der Standard European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny addresses a news conference in Vienna, Austria, March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader VIENNA European Central Bank (ECB) governing council member Ewald Nowotny said uncertainties remain about future U.S. measures such as trade deals and tax reform which are "worrying", according to an interview published on Tuesday. Nowotny, who is Austria''s central bank governor, has just returned from IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. "One of our interlocutors in Washington told us that Trump and his team did not expect to win. They have election programs but are not prepared for how to move on... which means the world''s biggest economy could lurch around without orientation for a while," he said according to Der Standard. (Reporting By Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-usa-idUKKBN17R0EG'|'2017-04-25T13:34:00.000+03:00' 'faf47f65ca20cc01e0d5f662b1208f7c8c4eb708'|'ESPN to layoff 100 on-air talent: source'|'Walt Disney Co ''s ESPN television unit is laying off about 10 percent of its 1,000 on-air staff, according to a source familiar with the situation.In a memo to employees on Wednesday, ESPN President John Skipper announced changes to ensure the company is quicker to respond to the changing viewing patterns of sports fans.“Our content strategy - primarily illustrated in recent months by melding distinct, personality-driven SportsCenter TV editions and digital-only efforts with our biggest sub-brand - still needs to go further, faster," Skipper wrote in the memo, reviewed by Reuters. On top of the cuts to on-air talent, "a limited number of other positions will also be affected and a handful of new jobs will be posted to fill various needs," according to the memo.(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-espn-layoffs-idUSKBN17S22F'|'2017-04-26T22:56:00.000+03:00' '43ffdd79d7e985d019d931db711b4929fd889179'|'Nasdaq''s quarterly profit jumps 28 percent'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 7:03am EDT Acquisitions help Nasdaq beat profit estimates A view of the exterior of the Nasdaq market site in Times Square after the Nasdaq breached the 6,000 mark for the first time ever on Tuesday, in New York City, NY, U.S. April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton Nasdaq Inc ( NDAQ.O ) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit as the transatlantic exchange operator benefited from its acquisitions. Nasdaq''s net income increased 28 percent to $169 million, or 99 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31. Excluding one-time items, Nasdaq earned $1.10 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.06, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Nasdaq completed several acquisitions last year, including that of options exchange operator International Securities Exchange. New York-based Nasdaq also bought Canadian stock trading venue CXC and news distribution company Marketwired last year. "We are making significant progress executing against our acquisition integration plans, and we remain on pace to hit our synergy target of $60 million by the end of 2017," Nasdaq Chief Financial Officer Michael Ptasznik said in a statement. The exchange industry is in the midst of a wave of consolidation as companies seek to move more trading onto fewer technology platforms to boost profit margins. Revenue from market services, the company''s biggest business, rose 8.5 percent to $218 million, while corporate services brought in $160 million, up nearly 12 percent. Total revenue rose 9.2 percent to $583 million, boosted in part by a $50 million positive impact from acquisitions. Operating expenses rose to $335 million from $315 million. The company lowered the top end of its 2017 adjusted operating expense guidance to $1.30 billion from 1.31 billion. The low end remained unchanged at $1.26 billion. Nasdaq is among the largest stock markets in the United States and handles more initial public offerings than all its peers. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nasdaq-results-idUSKBN17S183'|'2017-04-26T18:38:00.000+03:00' 'b0b908b42ff66f8102101f7388c2c9503d81aae6'|'UPDATE 2-New GlaxoSmithKline CEO wants fewer, bigger new drug launches'|'Company News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 10:55am EDT UPDATE 2-New GlaxoSmithKline CEO wants fewer, bigger new drug launches * Walmsley says pharma pipeline is top priority * GSK faces challenges from generic Advair, Gilead HIV drug * Q1 adjusted EPS 25.0 pence vs consensus 24.5p (Adds analyst comment, latest shares) By Ben Hirschler LONDON, April 26 GlaxoSmithKline''s new chief executive aims to improve returns in drug development, and wants fewer but bigger new medicine launches. In her first comments since taking over on April 1, Emma Walmsley, 47, said on Wednesday that her priority was the pharmaceuticals unit, where she wants commercial considerations to be given greater weight in early investment decisions. "We''d like to have probably fewer and more focused priorities, to have bigger launches," she told reporters, after announcing first-quarter results, adding this would involve tough choices and the closure of some research programmes. Her approach represents a shift for GSK, which has recently had a large number of new drug launches but has not come up with the kind of multibillion-dollar blockbusters produced by Big Pharma rivals. Walmsley, who previously headed GSK''s consumer division after 17 years at L''Oreal, said she would set out her detailed vision for the company alongside half-year results in July. Under previous CEO Andrew Witty, GSK has built up a diversified business, with its core pharmaceuticals operation buttressed by large consumer health and vaccine units - a structure Walmsley said had "both logic and benefit". Still, the company has struggled to deliver decent returns to investors for around five years, due to sluggish drug sales, although in recent quarters it has returned to steady growth. Since last June, it has been buoyed by a drop in sterling in the wake of the Brexit vote, which has flattered results since the vast majority of its sales are made overseas. First-quarter results were slightly better than expected, keeping Britain''s biggest drugmaker on track to hit financial targets in 2017 as it braces for generic competition to blockbuster lung drug Advair. Sales and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose 19 and 31 percent respectively to 7.38 billion pounds ($9.46 billion) and 25.0 pence. Analysts, on average, had forecast sales of 7.26 billion pounds and EPS of 24.5p, according to Thomson Reuters data. "This is a positive start for the year with sales growth in all three of our businesses and an improvement in the group''s operating margin," Walmsley said. However, Deutsche Bank analyst Richard Parkes said sales were boosted in large part by a strong vaccines performance, thanks to several big orders falling in the quarter, and GSK shares slipped around 1.5 percent. GENERIC ADVAIR Walmsley is the first woman to lead a top global drugmaker and stands out among Big Pharma bosses as a consumer brands guru rather than a prescription medicines expert. She is set to continue funding GSK''s dividend, a major lure for investors, at an unchanged level this year. That still leaves her scope for deals, which she said would most likely involve buying in early-stage experimental drugs. "We will be continuing to look externally, if that is the right way for us to make sure we have a really strong pipeline to deliver returns," she said. GSK last month won a short-term reprieve from the threat of generic Advair when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration delayed approval of Mylan''s copy of the inhaler for asthma and chronic lung disease. But with another substitutable Advair generic from Hikma potentially winning a green light by May 10, GSK reiterated that generic Advair could still dent full-year profits. It predicts that EPS, in constant currencies, will be flat to slightly lower in 2017, if substitutable Advair generics arrive in the United States by mid-year. If they don''t launch in 2017, EPS should rise between 5 and 7 percent. With Advair generics looming, GSK needs to prove it can maintain its lead in the respiratory medicine field, where an experimental three-in-one drug inhaler will be critical to future success. It also faces competition in HIV treatment, where Gilead''s new drug bictegravir is shaping up as a potent rival to GSK''s best-selling dolutegravir. Significantly, Walmsley''s first senior appointment as CEO-designate was to poach Luke Miels from AstraZeneca as head of pharma, making him a key lieutenant as the company prepares for the next big wave of new drug launches in the 2020s. GSK is discussing his start date with AstraZeneca. ($1 = 0.7798 pounds) (Editing by Martinne Geller)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/gsk-results-idUSL8N1HY4RL'|'2017-04-26T22:55:00.000+03:00' 'aa8f98c26c8303d137912a81e7ddd08aaf325cd8'|'China banks miss out on U.S. investment banking bonanza'|'NEW YORK As scores of investment bankers profit from the fee bonanza offered by Chinese companies hunting for deals in the United States, one group is conspicuously absent - Chinese banks.Despite their deep ties with Chinese firms, the country''s largest state-owned banks are missing out on the hundreds of millions of dollars that Wall Street banks and their European rivals earn advising Chinese companies on acquisitions and share and debt sales.What is holding the banks back is the way Beijing controls the top lenders to manage the supply of credit to the Chinese economy.Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Construction Bank all have China''s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp (CIC), as the main shareholder.U.S. rules require the controlling shareholder - or CIC in this instance - to seek Federal Reserve clearance for investment banking operations. This poses a big hurdle to Chinese banks as they would need to coordinate their applications despite having separate managements and strategies, said a banker with a Chinese lender in New York. He declined to be named due to sensitivity of the matter.The setup means the four banks are only as strong as their weakest link and two of them come with significant baggage, having drawn Fed scrutiny over enforcement of anti-money laundering laws.The Federal Reserve declined to comment and the CIC and the "big four" banks were not immediately available for comment."We''ve hit a bottleneck," said another banker at a Chinese lender in New York. "As a commercial bank, we''ve done all we are meant to do. Why don''t we become an investment bank ourselves?"Without changes that would allow Chinese banks to act independently, or an agreement with the Fed to make an exception for them, those keen to expand in the United States will be in a limbo, that banker said.Lending titans at home, the "big four" have invested in boosting their profile in New York. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, for example, has an office in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, while Bank of China occupies a new mid-town Manhattan office tower it bought in 2014. They take deposits from savers and businesses and provide trade financing and foreign exchange trading services. Between December 2010 and September 2016, their assets in the United States soared over seven times to $126.5 billion, Fed data showed.Beijing so far has given no indication it is ready to relax its grip for the sake of overseas growth, even though some say state divestiture is the ultimate solution."The leadership of China faces a choice. They control those institutions for their domestic purposes and I think that limits their ability to go international," said David Dollar, a senior fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution."If those big banks really want to go international, I think China has to privatize them," he said.The stakes are high.Last year, Chinese companies raised over $22 billion in U.S. debt and stock markets, up 28 percent from 2010 and 12 percent higher than in 2015. The value of mergers and acquisitions involving Chinese firms soared to almost $27 billion last year from a previous high of $3.6 billion reached in 2013. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2oyhl3r )To get a slice of that investment banking business, any foreign institution needs the Fed''s recognition as a "financial holding company" that is "well capitalized" and "well managed," according to the Fed''s website."ALARMING" TRANSACTIONSThat poses a challenge for all four because the Fed took enforcement action against China Construction Bank in 2015 and Agricultural Bank of China last year for not doing enough to fight money laundering, according to the Fed''s website.The central bank did not detail the banks'' problems. But when New York''s financial regulator in November fined Agricultural Bank of China $215 million for violating anti-money laundering rules, it cited "alarming" transactions including "unusually" large payments from Yemen to the southern Chinese province of Zhejiang.Public records showed the Fed has not raised similar concerns about the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China so far.A person familiar with the Fed''s thinking said the regulators believed Chinese banks should focus on tightening their procedures before expanding their U.S. businesses.The person, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said the Fed would never grant the "financial holding company" status to any bank with unresolved regulatory issues.Chinese banks have argued, without success, against being treated as one entity, the banker and the source familiar with the Fed''s thinking said.Now, bankers in New York plan to analyze the costs and risks of expanding into investment banking and present the findings to their respective boards in China, the banker said.If the banks'' headquarters in Beijing find the business worth pursuing they will conduct their own due diligence and start consulting various Chinese regulators on ways to overcome the regulatory hurdles, the banker said. Despite the challenges, the "big four" clearly has investment banking ambitions. All four have investment banking arms in Hong Kong or mainland China that target Asian deals. U.S. expansion would be the logical next step given that Chinese companies will continue investing overseas in search of growth opportunities and new technology, the banker said."Should Chinese banks continue to miss out on this opportunity? That''s the question we should ask," said the banker.(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing in New York; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran in New York and Ryan Woo in Beijing; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Tomasz Janowski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-banks-wallstreet-idUSKBN17S0DL'|'2017-04-26T13:08:00.000+03:00' 'e02a876d31110a93275565adde7806fb370c8da9'|'Fibria CEO sees room for new price hikes, cash costs falling'|'SAO PAULO, April 26 Brazilian wood pulp producer Fibria SA may continue hiking prices in coming months due to surprisingly strong second-quarter demand, executives told journalists on a conference call on Wednesday.Chief Executive Marcelo Castelli said cash costs rose due to one-time effects in the first quarter and should be lower for the rest of the year. Management also said they expect to boost earnings by selling excess energy in coming quarters. (Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/fibria-outlook-idINE6N1FG02M'|'2017-04-26T12:57:00.000+03:00' '399dd116afe0d2b9baaa54df51568ffab7b32df7'|'Italy''s Atlantia taps pool of banks to finance Abertis'' bid: sources'|'By Pamela Barbaglia - LONDON LONDON Italian toll-road operator Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) has tapped banks to finance an upcoming cash-and-share bid for Spanish rival Abertis ( ABE.MC ), sources told Reuters, as it seeks to create an industry giant with a market value of more than 35 billion euros ($38 billion).Atlantia said last week it was interested in reaching an agreement to acquire Abertis, but the Spanish infrastructure group''s Chief Financial Officer Jose Aljaro said on Wednesday that it had not yet received any concrete bids.Atlantia''s advisers Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) and Mediobanca ( MDBI.MI ) and Abertis'' adviser Citi ( C.N ) have committed to provide financing for the transaction with a formal bid expected to be announced as soon as next week, the sources said.The pool of financing banks will also include Italian lenders UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ) and Intesa Sanpaolo ( ISP )MI> and France''s BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), the sources said.The overall financing package is estimated to be worth more than 10 billion euros, two of the sources said, with one adding it could involve a consortium of about ten banks.Spain''s Santander ( SAN.MC ) and France''s Credit Agricole ( CAGR.PA ) are also expected to take part in the financing, the sources said.Atlantia, which operates Rome''s two airports and around 5,000 kms of toll motorways, is set to hold a board meeting on Thursday and may give the green light to a formal bid for Abertis, another source said, cautioning no deal was certain.Spokesmen at Abertis, Mediobanca, UniCredit, Intesa, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Santander declined to comment while Atlantia, Citi and Credit Agricole were not immediately available.EUROPEAN CHAMPIONA tie-up between Abertis and Atlantia, which is 30-percent controlled by the Benetton family, would create one of the biggest infrastructure groups in Europe, generating around 60 percent of its core profits outside Italy.Atlantia has long been trying to lure its Spanish rival to the negotiating table, the sources said, in a bid to diversify away from Italy.But Barcelona-based Abertis, a crown jewel of Catalonia, has only recently started contemplating the possibility of a sale to enable the business to cope with domestic challenges including a series of concessions that will soon expire, the sources said.By 2021 Abertis will lose up to 1,000 kilometers of its toll roads in Spain, which run along the Mediterranean coast and around Seville, representing around 10 percent of the group''s business.The Spanish government has promised that these highways will be toll free when the concessions end between 2019 and 2021.As a consequence, Abertis has increased its portfolio of foreign concessions over the past 12 months and reduced the weight of the Spanish business to around 20 per cent of its revenues and core earnings.Atlantia''s boss Giovanni Castellucci recently told a shareholder meeting in Rome that the deal would unlock "substantial growth" for the two companies, adding he was only interested in a friendly deal.Rome-based Atlantia will also use the proceeds from a planned 15 percent stake sale in its Italian motorway business Autostrade per l''Italia (ASPI) [AUTSA.UL] to finance the Abertis deal, the sources said.Analysts said it could pocket around 2 billion euros from the ASPI stake sale.(Additional reporting by Francesca Landini in Milan, Stefano Bernabei in Rome and Robert Hetz and Andres Gonzalez in Madrid; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Elaine Hardcastle)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-abertis-m-a-atlantia-idINKBN17T1MT'|'2017-04-27T09:32:00.000+03:00' '3cd48a011099c8160ba368df989259a0e27ab862'|'U.S. economic growth slower than France, ''terrible''- BlackRock''s Fink'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 7:36pm BST U.S. economic growth slower than France, ''terrible''- BlackRock''s Fink Larry Fink, Chief Executive Officer of BlackRock, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson - RTX305I0 By Trevor Hunnicutt - CHICAGO CHICAGO BlackRock Inc ( BLK.N ) Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink on Friday sounded another warning on the U.S. economy after the government reported anemic growth in the first quarter. "We''re actually decelerating," Fink, whose firm is the world''s biggest asset manager, said during a talk at the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago. The U.S. economy is growing "slower than France - that''s really terrible," said Fink. "There is something going on." The U.S. economy in the first quarter grew at a 0.7 percent annual rate, its weakest pace in three years, as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less to build up inventories. Fink said it remains to be seen whether the GDP figure is an anomaly or reflects a true decline in momentum. Fink, whose firm has $5.4 trillion in assets under management, has sounded a dour note on U.S. economic prospects this year despite strength in the stock market as U.S. President Donald Trump has taken office and promised a growth agenda. In February, for instance, Fink said he saw "dark shadows" in the economy given uncertainty over trade policy and the restructuring of U.S. tax policy. Trump unveiled a tax overhaul proposal on Wednesday that would slash the corporate tax rate and cut the top personal income tax rate. Critics say the proposal would cause the federal deficit to balloon, something that Trump denies. "If this proposal is increasing deficits more, then I think we have a severe issue for our future," particularly if economic growth does not move higher, Fink said. Fink is among several business executives whose advice Trump has sought since taking office. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-blackrock-ceo-idUKKBN17U2PU'|'2017-04-29T02:36:00.000+03:00' '0fe5463b0ea6db66afa67ffd1bf02cef9da1dba7'|'Oil edges up after six days of straight losses'|' 30am BST Oil edges up after six days of straight losses A pump jack and pipes are seen on an oil field near Bakersfield on a foggy day, California January 18, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson By Henning Gloystein Oil prices inched up on Monday but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of losses as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 added 21 cents, or 0.4 percent, by 0123 GMT, but remained below the $50 mark pierced late last week, at $49.44 a barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 23 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $51.83 per barrel. Traders said the slight gains were a counter-reaction to consecutive price drops in the previous six sessions. Despite Tuesdays small price rises, overall market sentiment has turned bearish, with Brent down nearly 10 percent since the end of December despite an effort led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017 in order to tighten the market. "It is evident that ... crude markets are still struggling to clear (oversupply)," U.S. bank JPMorgan said in its latest weekly oil market update to clients. The bank said that it was closing its "August Brent long position at a loss," and that it "will review macro balances in the coming weeks before initiating further trades." Indicating that the bank''s view on markets had turned bearish, JP Morgan said that "crude markets are close to floating storage economics and (this) is a bearish sign for output price developments." Floating storage is seen as a clear indicator of oversupplied markets. It is pursued when oil for immediate delivery is so much cheaper than that for future delivery that it becomes profitable for traders to charter tankers to store crude for sale at a later date. "There is further short-term downside to prices," JPMorgan said, adding that in order to reduce the ongoing supply overhang, OPEC "will be forced to renew, and possibly deepen the agreement if they wish to keep prices much above $50 per barrel." Russia said on Monday that its oil output could climb to the highest rate in 30 years if OPEC and non-OPEC producers do not extend a supply reduction deal beyond June 30. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows that Russian oil shipments, which exclude its pipeline exports, have already reached record highs of 5 million bpd in April, up 17 percent since December, before the cuts were officially implemented. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17R04W'|'2017-04-25T09:28:00.000+03:00' '7361a551b276b507e75a60ab537dc833e04f94d8'|'Puma reports strong sales in Americas and Europe'|'Business News 28am BST Puma reports strong sales in Americas and Europe left right A handbag with the logo of German sports goods firm Puma is pictured in a shop after the company''s annual news conference in Herzogenaurach February 20, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle 1/2 left right The logo of German sports goods firm Puma is seen on a shoe after the company''s annual news conference in Herzogenaurach February 20, 2014. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo 2/2 BERLIN German sportswear firm Puma ( PUMG.DE ) reported strong first quarter sales growth in the Americas and Europe on Tuesday, driven by demand for sneakers like suede shoes designed by singer Rihanna. Puma, which had already released preliminary figures earlier this month as it lifted its profit and sales guidance for 2017, said sales rose a currency-adjusted 17 percent in the Americas and 15.9 percent in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Like German rival Adidas ( ADSGn.DE ), Puma has been enjoying a revival in the U.S. market, helped by a shift towards retro styles and away from basketball shoes which has hurt Under Armour ( UAA.N ) and dampened Nike''s ( NKE.N ) success. (Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Christoph Steitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-puma-de-results-idUKKBN17R0IC'|'2017-04-25T14:28:00.000+03:00' 'e1476edc56266efdd291e3989fac888dfcb6e5db'|'We need to stop sexism in start-up investment - Guardian Small Business Network'|'In the progressive, fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, you may be under the assumption that all things are equal when it comes to securing investment. Sadly, that couldn’t be further from the truth. A report last month from the Entrepreneurs Network found that only 9% of funding into startups in the UK went to women-run businesses. Men are 86% more likely to be venture-capital funded and 56% more likely to secure angel investment.This is a pretty bewildering state of affairs. The facts about women on boards improving the performance of companies are widely documented, and obviously these apply to female entrepreneurs. Dame Stephanie Shirley: ''we were part of a crusade to get women into business'' Read more Female founders deliver better returns for investors when it comes to running startups. Women-led technology companies achieve a 35% higher return on investment, according to research from the Kauffman Foundation in the US. In addition, a recent study from the BI Norwegian Business School showed that women are better suited to leadership then men.So, with growing evidence that demonstrates the outstanding results that women can deliver, why aren’t female-founders getting a fair chance when it comes to investment?Throughout my career, I have only ever had the opportunity to pitch my businesses to male investorsThere are many factors at play here but, broadly speaking, there needs to be a major cultural shift in venture-capital and entrepreneurial communities.Throughout my career as a serial entrepreneur I have only ever had the opportunity to pitch my businesses to male investors. For there to be a fundamental change and for the UK to back more outstanding female founders, we need women in all areas, including investors, founders and employees, with deep sector expertise to come to the fore.The most common challenge that female founders face is access to capital and the right type of senior support and expertise needed to scale a business.Businesses founded by women often look different to male-owned equivalents. This is because they tend to be in lower-growth industries, such as retail or service-based sectors, which means that these companies often reflect business models that venture capitalists have not invested in before. Female founders also don’t always have the same type of networks as men, which can make it harder to attract and nurture the talent needed in finance, marketing or other core business disciplines required to scale a business.While the picture to date is pretty grim, it does feel like the tide is starting to turn. Women now represent one in seven angel investors in the UK, double the rate in 2008. There is also a large number of female founders demonstrating what success looks like for those that follow.The women-led startups smashing the glass ceiling Read more A 2016 report from Founders4Schools , an education charity, shows there are 762 female-led companies in the UK with revenues of between £1m and £250m growing on average 28% a year, with over a third growing more than 50%. Together their revenues rose by nearly £2bn in 2015 from the previous year.Since late 2016 when we launched AllBright, a fund dedicated to female founders, we have been contacted by thousands of investors and entrepreneurs, both men and women, saying they want to help make Britain the best place in the world to be a female founder. The way to capitalise on this and bring about serious change is to have women leading the charge. Only then will we level the playing field between male and female-led businesses, address the funding gap, and enable the economy to reap the returns of Britain’s outstanding female business talent.Debbie Wosskow is the founder of Love Home Swap and co-founder of AllBright Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics Guardian Small Business Network Entrepreneurs Women in the boardroom Women '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/24/we-need-to-stop-sexism-in-start-up-investment'|'2017-04-24T15:00:00.000+03:00' '94e3df6fc951f048691dc37fe5c546e6ec5e3048'|'Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo puts itself up for sale'|'Deals 8:57am BST Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo puts itself up for sale left right A Jimmy Choo shoe is seen in a shop in downtown Rome, Italy March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Max Rossi 1/2 left right A store of shoe designer Jimmy Choo is seen in the mountain resort of St. Moritz, Switzerland March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann 2/2 LONDON British luxury retailer Jimmy Choo ( CHOO.L ) is seeking offers for the company as part of a review of its strategic options to maximize shareholder value, it said on Monday. The firm, which specializes in shoes and accessories, said it had discussed the strategic review process with its majority shareholder, JAB Luxury, which has confirmed it is supportive of the process. READ MORE: UK consumer morale softens in first quarter on price worries - Deloitte JAB Luxury holds 67.7 percent of Jimmy Choo, which trades from over 150 stores globally. Shares in Jimmy Choo, which floated on the London Stock Exchange at 140 pence in 2014, have increased 35 percent over the last year. They closed Friday at 168.5 pence, valuing the business at 657 million pounds ($840 million). Jimmy Choo said Britain''s Takeover Panel has agreed that any talks with third parties may be conducted within the context of a “formal sale process” to enable conversations with parties interested in making a proposal to take place on a confidential basis. Jimmy Choo said it is currently not in receipt of any approaches. It is being advised by BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. Last month Jimmy Choo reported a 15.7 percent rise in core earnings to 59 million pounds.'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-jimmy-choo-m-a-idUKKBN17Q0FW'|'2017-04-24T14:21:00.000+03:00' '44472ef01ea1e9349ffc382e6dd6c95ae716445d'|'Exclusive: Brazil agriculture minister sends request for ethanol import tariff to trade body'|'BRASILIA/SAO PAULO Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi has asked Brazil''s foreign trade council to impose tariffs on ethanol imports following a surge in shipments from the United States, an official said on Thursday, a move that could stir trade tensions with the Trump administration.Brazil is the main market for U.S. exports of corn ethanol which have swelled in recent months to fill a gap left by falling domestic output, as cane farmers in the South American country diverted more of their crop to making sugar because of high prices.Ethanol imports from the United States increased fivefold to a record 720 million liters in the first quarter - worth some $363 million, according to official trade data.Most of that went to ports in northeastern Brazil, where ethanol producers are leading calls for the imposition of a 20 percent tariff.The Agriculture Ministry''s secretary for international relations, Odilson Ribeiro, told Reuters the minister sent the request on Wednesday to the foreign trade chamber, known as Camex, that decides on import and export rules.The seven-minister council is due to meet on Wednesday when the sugar and ethanol industry lobby UNICA hopes the tariff will be approved, though the body has no deadline to decide.Imposing a tariff on ethanol imports, which come almost entirely from the United States, would put Brazil on a collision course with the more aggressive U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump.Brazil scrapped the levy in 2010 as it lobbied for liberalizing the ethanol trade, pressuring the United States to remove its own import tariffs.At a meeting on Wednesday, Brazil''s sugar cane lobby UNICA pressed Maggi, a billionaire soy producer who has not always supported the industry, for a 16 percent tariff.Ministry officials declined to say whether Maggi had recommended a tariff level, but an aide said the wider trade implications of the decision were being analyzed."We are evaluating the impact this could have on Brazil''s overall trade relations, especially with the United States," the Maggi aide said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.NOT FAIR TRADEU.S. ethanol producers have redirected exports to Brazil after China reintroduced a 30 percent ethanol tariff this year.Edward Hubbard, general counsel for the Renewable Fuels Association that represents U.S. biofuels producers, said the RFA, Growth Energy and the U.S. Grains Council wrote this month to the U.S. Trade Representative about the matter, copying the White House, USDA, and the Department of Commerce."Trade is not free and fair if the U.S. opens its door to Brazilian imports but Brazil chooses to erect trade barriers to protect its industry from competition," he told Reuters, adding that U.S. officials had spoken to counterparts in Brazil about the matter.The Brazilian Energy Ministry''s biofuels director, Miguel de Oliveira, warned this week the U.S. government would retaliate if Brazil resorted to ethanol tariffs.Traders expect the surge in imports to continue even if a tariff is imposed, as big players in Brazil are heavily buying U.S. ethanol, among them Copersucar, which controls biofuel marketer Eco-Energy LLC.Biosev SA, a unit of trader Louis Dreyfus Co, and Raizen - a joint venture between Brazil''s largest sugar producer Cosan and Royal Dutch Shell - are also active buyers, traders said."Maybe (it will) reduce the flow a little bit but we still expect them to maximize sugar and still need ethanol," said one U.S. trader, on condition he was not named. He saw no more than a 50-50 chance of tariffs because of the prospect of U.S. retaliation.UNICA said in a statement to Reuters the levy was needed for environmental reasons because Brazilian sugar cane ethanol produces less greenhouse gas emissions than U.S. corn ethanol, helping Brazil to meet its targets under the Paris climate change agreement.A spokeswoman for the lobby said UNICA hoped the matter would be settled next week.Joel Velasco, who led UNICA''s efforts to expand biofuel markets in the last decade, said a return to tariffs was the wrong policy at the wrong time."Protectionist moves are short-sighted in any climate but especially now when the current U.S. administration would likely retaliate disproportionately," said Velasco, Latin America expert at Albright Stonebridge Group.(Reporting by Anthony Boadle and Marcelo Teixeira; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-ethanol-usa-exclusive-idUSKBN17T3AZ'|'2017-04-28T06:24:00.000+03:00' '62c412a149ae48ca81096c42bd1d31427d154abd'|'Bombardier shares slide after Boeing seeks U.S. anti-dumping probe'|'TORONTO Bombardier ( BBDb.TO ) shares fell as much as 5.45 percent on Friday after Boeing Co ( BA.N ) sought an anti-dumping probe against the company, adding to growing trade tensions between the United States and Canada.Boeing on Thursday asked the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate alleged subsidies and unfair pricing for Canadian planemaker Bombardier''s new CSeries airplane. The petition comes days after the Commerce Department imposed duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.Bombardier''s shares were last down 3.2 percent at C$2.13.(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-bombardier-idUSKBN17U21I'|'2017-04-28T21:53:00.000+03:00' 'af5bccd09eba8c06b671f00e1dc33e3246a11085'|'Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall'|' 17pm EDT Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall A employees poses with a cup of water at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed LOS ANGELES Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ) reported quarterly profit that matched Wall Street''s estimate on Thursday, sending shares of the chain that often tops expectations down 2.9 percent to $59.50 in after-hours trade. Net income attributed to Starbucks was $652.8 million, or 45 cents per share, for the second quarter ended April 2, up from $575.1 million, or 39 Results from the latest quarter matched the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-starbucks-results-idUSKBN17T30Z'|'2017-04-28T04:17:00.000+03:00' 'caac0fd08b8539b20b093d49a26a7dc0c84a508c'|'Airbus CEO lashes out at Austria over fraud probe - Reuters'|'By Tim Hepher and Kirsti Knolle - PARIS/VIENNA PARIS/VIENNA A heated row broke out between Austria and Europe''s largest aerospace company on Thursday as Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders accused Vienna of playing politics with a fraud investigation and the government told him to calm down.The exchange came 24 hours after Reuters first reported that Vienna prosecutors had opened a fraud investigation into German-born Enders, based on earlier complaints from the defence ministry over a $2 billion fighter deal in 2003. [nL8N1HY6RT]In an emailed statement, Enders called the handling of allegations a "politically-motivated abuse of the legal system" and accused Austria''s centrist coalition of using Airbus as an electoral "punching bag".Vienna prosecutors launched the probe into Enders and other individuals as part of an investigation into whether Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium misled Austria about the price, deliverability and equipment of the 2003 deal. [nL8N1G10LW]The Eurofighter consortium comprises Airbus, Britain''s BAE Systems and Italy''s Leonardo, and all the companies have denied wrongdoing."I want to clearly reiterate: from our point of view these allegations are unfounded and unsubstantiated," Enders said."The legal authorities will also come to this conclusion, but certainly only after the elections. Until then, this posturing will go on, because that is what it is all about: distracting the public until election day."The centrist coalition government''s term runs until autumn 2018 and Chancellor Christian Kern, a Social Democrat, has said he expects it to continue its work until then. But speculation persists that a snap election may be called beforehand.LESS EMOTIONThe defence ministry said Airbus should react less emotionally."The legal steps taken by the Austrian ministry of defence against Airbus are serious and have been substantiated by facts. Now it is solely for the independent judiciary to decide," a spokesman said."Airbus would be well advised not to fall back into past mistakes and to contribute to the clearing of the allegations with more seriousness and less emotion," he added.Asked what mistakes he was referring to, he said the government had not received the impression that current Airbus management was interested in addressing the corruption claims.Enders has launched a company-wide compliance drive that led to British and French bribery probes into its passenger jet sales and has pledged to continue the campaign.The Eurofighter deal has been a sensitive subject in Austria for years.A coalition of Austria''s conservative People''s Party and the far-right Freedom Party picked the jet over rival offers from Saab and Lockheed Martin, stressing the value of industrial deals for Austrian firms.The Social Democrats, who had always criticised the deal, took control of the government in 2007 and started a parliamentary inquiry to determine whether bribes were paid to win the contract, while cutting it to 15 jets from 18.Enders, 58, has clashed with European governments, notably Germany, over defence issues in the past, but the latest row marks an unusually blunt confrontation with a government client."We remain fully available and co-operative towards the prosecutor. But we will also speak plainly. And the plain fact is that this case is nothing but cheap election rhetoric," Enders said. "We will not let part of the Austrian government use us as a punching bag that it can beat on to score cheap political points". Francois Murphy; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/airbus-group-austria-inquiry-idINKBN17T27B'|'2017-04-27T12:30:00.000+03:00' '25946f4b63d41393d1a17170e298c29301aa3125'|'RPT-DEALTALK-Anthem contract loss could put Express Scripts in M&A crosshairs'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 7:00am EDT RPT-DEALTALK-Anthem contract loss could put Express Scripts in M&A crosshairs (Repeats story first published on Wednesday) By Carl O''Donnell and Michael Erman NEW YORK, April 26 The loss of a multi-billion dollar contract with Anthem Inc comes with a silver lining for some shareholders of Express Scripts Holding Co : a higher likelihood that the pharmaceutical benefits manager (PBM) gets scooped up in a deal. Express Scripts'' shares fell 11 percent on Tuesday, the day after the company said its contract to negotiate drug prices for Anthem - worth around a third of its annual adjusted earnings - would not be renewed once it expired in 2019. As a result, Express Scripts'' market value has sunk to $37 billion from its highs around $53 billion at the end of last year, putting it in the crosshairs of potential buyers. "Post the bludgeoning, we think management will have to take a hard look at the company''s prospects through the roll-off and decide the path forward... that is likely to maximize value creation," said Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken in a research note. He said that another PBM, Medco Health Solutions, opted to sell itself to Express Scripts in 2011 when Medco lost a number of its largest customers. Tim Wentworth, the CEO of Express Scripts, was an executive at Medco at the time. After the loss of Anthem''s business, Wentworth touted the benefits of remaining independent for its customers and its bottom line. But that could change if buyer interest emerged. His company has long been a potential target for health insurers or pharmacies looking to expand into drug benefits, but the uncertainty surrounding its contract dispute with Anthem has kept deal talks on the shelf, several investment bankers said, asking not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak with the press. LIKELY BUYERS Among the most logical buyers are health insurers like Aetna Inc and Humana Inc, which are beginning to scout for new deals, several bankers and analysts said. Express Scripts and Aetna declined comment. Humana was not immediately available for comment. Insurers can leverage their large patient populations to help PBMs boost bargaining power with drugmakers. That could become more important as scrutiny of PBMs'' pricing practices puts pressure on their margins. "We’re seeing managed care look to own more of the capability in-house," particularly as pricey new drugs in areas like oncology increase the benefits of coordinating insurance coverage with drug benefits, said Michael Baker, an analyst at Raymond James. Some insurers have already adopted the model. UnitedHealth Group Inc pioneered the strategy with its OptumRx drug benefits unit, which it doubled down on in 2015 with a $12.8 billion acquisition of Catamaran Corp. A consortium of 14 BlueCross BlueShield plans together own Prime Therapeutics, which has about 20 million members, and Humana also has a smaller drug benefits manager called Humana Pharmacy Solutions. Potential interest could also come from a large pharmacy like Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc or even, at the right price, a private equity firm, analysts and bankers said. "They generate a lot of cash and they don’t have a lot of debt on their balance sheet," said Brian Tanquilut, an analyst at Jefferies. "At a certain price it could be an asset that would be very attractive to private equity." Walgreens declined to comment. Anthem said on Wednesday that it has not yet made a final decision on the contract and hopes to reach an amicable resolution on a federal lawsuit it filed against Express Scripts for $15 billion, alleging that it was being overcharged for prescriptions by $3 billion a year. (Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/expressscripts-anthem-deals-idUSL1N1HY2GW'|'2017-04-27T19:00:00.000+03:00' '8e91df000d6ea525e460dc5c147582c87e281445'|'UK car production rises to 17-year high in first quarter - SMMT'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 12:11am BST UK car production rises to 17-year high in first quarter - SMMT FILE PHOTO: Cars are inspected at the end of the production line at the Toyota factory in Derby, central England, March 7, 2011. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo LONDON British car production rose to a 17-year high in the first three months of 2017, as rising overseas demand offset weaker appetite from domestic car buyers, the country''s automotive industry said on Thursday. Car production has been one of the strongest areas of British manufacturing in recent years, bolstered by heavy foreign investment and a recovery in global markets, but the industry fears a hit when Britain leaves the European Union. More than three quarters of cars produced in Britain are exported, and overseas demand grew 7.6 percent in the first three months of 2017 versus a 4.3 percent fall in domestic demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. In March alone British car makers produced 170,691 vehicles, 7.3 percent more than a year earlier and the highest number for any month since March 2000. This took first quarter output to its highest since 2000 as well, with 471,695 cars manufactured. Sterling has fallen sharply since June 2016''s vote to leave the EU, giving British exporters a temporary cost advantage - though in the automotive sector much of that is mitigated by heavy use of imported components. "UK car manufacturing is accelerating thanks to billions of pounds of investment committed over the past few years," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. The SMMT expects British annual car production to beat its all-time peak of more than 2 million in 2020, if Britain retains easy access to European markets after Brexit. "Much of our output goes to Europe and it''s vital we maintain free trade between the UK and EU or we risk destroying this success story," Hawes said. He added that he was also concerned about possible measures to penalise diesel cars, which made up almost half of production. Separately, the Confederation of British Industry said the government needed to focus on reaching a trade deal with the EU in the two years that remain before Britain leaves, rather than arguing over an exit bill that is likely to cost tens of billions of euros. "For both sides, leaving the negotiating table without a deal shouldn''t be ''Plan B'' but ''Plan Z''. Whether it''s tariffs or regulation, a no deal scenario would have chilling effects on both sides of the Channel," CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said. Prime Minister Theresa May, who is seeking a strengthened negotiating mandate in a national election on June 8, has not ruled out walking away from an inadequate deal with the EU. (Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-autos-idUKKBN17S35T'|'2017-04-27T07:11:00.000+03:00' '745e949a2a7e7bd63a4f6d5298f02a48805df6f9'|'Schroders says first quarter assets up 5 percent to 416.3 billion pounds'|' 09am BST Schroders first quarter assets up 5 percent, led by retail, wealth management By Simon Jessop - LONDON LONDON British fund manager Schroders ( SDR.L ) said on Thursday that total assets under management and administration rose 5 percent in the three months to end-March, led by an increase in assets in its retail funds and wealth management. Funds managed within its asset management unit rose 4.5 percent to 361.9 billion pounds, it said in a newly shortened first-quarter trading update, led by a 6.1 percent increase in assets in funds sold through financial intermediaries. Assets managed on behalf of institutional investors such as pension schemes and insurance companies rose 3.6 percent over the same period, while wealth management assets were up 9.1 percent. The latter was driven by the completed acquisition of the wealth management business of C. Hoare & Co, which added around 1,800 clients and 2.5 billion pounds of assets under management. In December, Schroders said it would no longer issue full results in its first and third quarters, and so it is not clear how much of the rise in assets was down to returns on its market investments and how much was net new money in its funds. Over the same period, the FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 2.5 percent while the pound rose 2 percent against the dollar. (Reporting by Simon Jessop, editing by Huw Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-schroders-trading-idUKKBN17T0OZ'|'2017-04-27T14:23:00.000+03:00' 'ebd8d88b16c2b722b07ea2295ff17b5d8c5e6a4e'|'UK factories upbeat on exports, but worried about inflation - CBI'|'Business News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 11:29am BST UK factories upbeat on exports, but worried about inflation - CBI Shipping containers are seen stacked at Peel Ports container terminal in Liverpool northern England, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Phil Noble LONDON British factories are seeing their strongest export orders in more than six years, helped by the fall in the value of sterling after last year''s Brexit vote, but they are also scaling back on investment plans, a survey showed on Monday. The Confederation of British Industry''s quarterly measure of manufacturing showed the biggest increase on record in the competitiveness of UK producers in non-European Union markets. However, the weak pound was pushing up prices and unit costs rose at their strongest rate in six years. The CBI also said companies reported their weakest plans for investment in plant and machinery since mid-2011, when Britain''s economy was still struggling with the hangover from the global financial crisis. The world''s fifth-biggest economy looks set to slow this year as high inflation eats into the spending power of consumers. Furthermore, companies are expected to hold back on investment while the country''s future relationship with the EU is negotiated over the next two years. But some of the hit is likely to be softened by stronger exports which are being helped by the weaker pound and a pick-up in the global economy. The CBI said domestic orders were buoyant too, rising at their fastest pace in nearly three years in the three months to April. "UK manufacturers are enjoying strong growth in demand from customers in the UK and overseas, and continue to ramp up production," Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI''s chief economist, said. "Exports have surged and firms are at their most optimistic about selling overseas in over four decades. Even so, the combination of the weak pound and recovering commodity prices means that cost pressures continue to build, and manufacturers report no sign of them abating over the near-term." The CBI''s monthly balance of manufacturing output eased back to +4 in April from +8 in March and expectations for the next three months also slipped to +16 from +36. The CBI said its quarterly survey was conducted before British Prime Minister Theresa May announced her plan for a national election on June 8. (Writing by William Schomberg, editing by Andy Bruce)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-industrialoutput-cbi-idUKKBN17Q0XQ'|'2017-04-24T18:29:00.000+03:00' 'b81532a088bc57eb4934379a29ca9eb625e62c29'|'TABLE-German utilities'' plans for new capacity'|'FRANKFURT, April 24 The table below details the building plans of Germany''s power plant operators based on information gathered by industry association BDEW and presented at the annual Hanover industrial fair on Monday. BDEW, which mainly represents power-generating utilities, said 55 units representing around 25,332 megawatts (MW) of capacity could be built in theory. But at the moment, BDEW members have cast doubts on plans for many units due to the largely unprofitable market for conventional plants fired with gas or those using water for pumped storage hydro electricity, BDEW said in related statements. For simplicity, this table shows only projects above 200 MW. A handful of smaller offshore wind and two small gas-to-power plants at Kiel and Mainz are not listed, although they count towards the total number. PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION, APPROVED OR SEEKING APPROVAL OPERATOR LOCATION FUEL SOURCE CAPACITY (MW) EXPECTED START DATE/STATUS Trianel/EWE Borkum West offshore wind 200 2020** Uniper Datteln 4 hard coal 1,052 no date* Vattenfall Lichterfelde A Berlin gas 300 2018* Iberdrola Wikinger offshore wind 350 2017* OMV Power Intnl Burghausen gas 850 no date** EnBW Karlsruhe RDK 6S gas 465 no date** WPD Kaikas offshore wind max. 664 no date** Vattenfall Klingenberg/Berlin gas 230 no date** Vattenfall Marzahn/Berlin gas 260 2020* E.ON Clim & Ren Arkona offshore wind 385 2019** E.ON Clim / Ren Delta Nordsee 1 offshore wind 288 no date** WV Energie et al Arcadis Ost 1 offshore wind 348 no date** Dong Energy OWP West offshore wind 240 2024** Northland Power Inc./ RWE Innogy Nordsee One offshore wind 332 2017* Northland Power Inc. RWE Innogy Nordsee Two offshore wind ca. 300 no date** Northland Power Inc./ RWE Innogy Nordsee Three offshore wind ca. 360 no date** Partners Group et al Merkur Offshore offshore wind 396 2019** Dong Energy Borkum Riffgrund West1offshore wind ca. 270 no date** Dong Energy Borkum Riffgrund 2 offshore wind 450 2019** Dong Energy Borkum Riffgrund West2offshore wind 240 2024*** WindMW/Blackstone Noerdlicher Grund offshore wind 320 no date** Dong Energy Gode Wind 04 offshore wind ca. 300 no date** Northland Power Inc. Deutsche Bucht offshore wind 252 2019** EnBW He dreiht offshore wind ca. 900 no date** EnBW Hohe See offshore wind 497 2019* STEAG Leverkusen gas 570 no date*** Donaukraftwerk Jochenstein Jochenstein/Riedl pumped storage 300 2019*** Mainz utility Heimbach pumped storage 300 no date*** Trianel Krefeld/Uerdingen gas max. 1,200 no date*** Trier utility Schweich/PSKW-Rio pumped storage ca. 2021*** Trianel Nethe/Hoexter pumped storage 390 2022*** RWE BoAplus NiederaussemL brown coal 1,100 2022 earliest*** Dow Chemicals Stade hard coal/biomass/ hydrogen 1,000 no date*** RWE Power Gersteinwerk Werne-Stockum gas max. 1,300 no date*** EDF Deutschland Premnitz gas 400 no date*** Schluchseewerke Atdorf pumped storage 1,400 no date*** PROJECTS PURELY AT PLANNING STAGE Ulm utility Leipheim airport gas max. 600 no date Trianel Karlsruhe/Oberrhein gas max. 1,200 no date Trianel Gotha/Schmalwasser pumped st ca. 1,000 no date Energieallianz Bayern Jochberg/Walchensee pumped storage 700 no date EnBW Forbach (extension) pumped st 270 no date PQ Energy Griesheim gas ca. 500 no date PQ Energy Gundelfingen gas max. 1,280 no date RWE Power/KGG Gundremmingen gas no entry no date * under construction ** approval obtained *** approval being sought (Reporting by Vera Eckert; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/germany-industry-powerdata-idINL5N1H85ES'|'2017-04-24T07:14:00.000+03:00' '80c3f511e3381f54235e05095fba7a9c3e34f0e5'|'Futures rally after centrist takes first round in French election'|'NEW YORK U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Sunday on relief that centrist Emmanuel Macron took the first round of voting in the French presidential election, reducing the prospect of an anti-establishment market shock.Macron will face far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a May 7 runoff and opinion polls on Sunday had him easily winning the final clash."While markets had deemed a Le Pen-Macron (run-off) as the most likely outcome, there was an element of uncertainty," said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz. "Now that this has been lifted, there will be a relief rally, bolstered by how quickly the mainstream candidates... have endorsed Macron, the market’s favorite."Defeated Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and defeated right-wing candidate Francois Fillon all urged voters to rally behind Macron in the second round. Markets had also been nervous of the possibility that far-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon might make the run-off."On the face of it, this looks like a rebuke to populism, and a solid vote in favor of a more solidly integrated Europe," said Karl Schamotta, director of global product and market strategy at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto.Sunday''s sharp moves point to an unwinding of bets taken in the past few days as traders turned defensive ahead of the vote.Prices for protection against wild swings in stocks, bonds and the euro surged last week ahead of the election as polls tightened and investors fretted that another unforseen election outcome could upend a solid start to the year for risk assets.(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, Jennifer Ablan, Saqib Iqbal Ahmed and Megan Davies)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17P104'|'2017-04-24T06:24:00.000+03:00' '540f8cfde30d3683fd9e0c87145ba3a40a3b0a63'|'Swiss stocks - Factors to watch on April 24'|'ZURICH, April 24 The following are some of the main factors expected to affect Swiss stocks on Monday.LAFARGEHOLCIMLafargeHolcim is close to announcing that its chief executive Eric Olsen is to step down following an internal investigation into activities at a former Lafarge cement plant in Syria, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.CREDIT SUISSECredit Suisse will not decide on how it wants to raise fresh capital until after this week''s annual general meeting, SonntagsZeitung reported on Sunday. The Swiss bank is considering a quick-fire share sale or listing 20 to 30 percent of its Swiss business in order to raise between 3 and 6 billion Swiss francs ($3-$6 billion) in new capital, the Swiss newspaper said, citing sources close to Chairman Urs Rohner.SWISS NATIONAL BANKThe Swiss National Bank (SNB) is ready to use its available policy tools to stem any upward pressure on the Swiss franc that might result from France''s presidential elections, SNB Chairman Thomas Jordan said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.COMPANY STATEMENTSECONOMY(Reporting by Zurich newsroom)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/markets-swiss-stocks-idINL8N1HT3Z2'|'2017-04-24T02:57:00.000+03:00' '6084e62033ad6b9664f0ec3a7d4947c77763ff43'|'CORRECTED-Hyundai mobile app exposed cars to high-tech thieves -researchers'|'Company News 23pm EDT CORRECTED-Hyundai mobile app exposed cars to high-tech thieves -researchers (Corrects in first paragraph to show company is Hyundai Motor Co, not Hyundai Corp) By Alastair Sharp TORONTO, April 25 Software vulnerabilities in a Hyundai Motor Co app that lets a car be started remotely made the company''s vehicles susceptible to theft from high-tech thieves for three months before the company fixed the bug in March, a cyber security firm said on Tuesday. Hyundai introduced a flaw in a Dec. 8 update to the mobile app for its Blue Link connected car software that made it possible for car thieves to locate vulnerable vehicles, unlock and start them, said Tod Beardsley, research director with cyber security firm Rapid7 Inc. Hyundai confirmed the bug''s existence and said it moved quickly to fix the problem. Both the company and Beardsley said they knew of no cases of car thieves exploiting the vulnerability before Hyundai pushed out a fix to Android and iPhone users in early March. "The issue did not have a direct impact on vehicle safety," said Jim Trainor, a spokesman for Hyundai Motor America. "Hyundai is not aware of any customers being impacted by this potential vulnerability." The bug surfaced as the auto industry bolsters efforts to secure vehicles from cyber attacks, following a high-profile recall of Fiat Chrysler vehicles in 2015 and government warnings about the potential for car hacks. Risks have multiplied in recent years as cars have grown more complex, adding features like mobile apps that can locate, unlock and start them. "What''s changed is not just the presence of all that hackable software, but the volume and variety of remote attack surfaces added to more recent vehicles," said Josh Corman, director of the Atlantic Council''s Cyber Statecraft Initiative. Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million U.S. vehicles after two security researchers demonstrated that they could gain remote control of a Jeep traveling at high speeds. The Blue Link bug is not as frightening as the ones uncovered in the Fiat Chrysler vehicles. Moving vehicles are not vulnerable to attacks using the Blue Link app, and a hacker would have to be near the target vehicle of an owner using the mobile app via an insecure WiFi connection, Beardsley said. General Motors Co''s patched a similar bug in its OnStar vehicle communication system in 2015 that had the potential to let hackers break into cars. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Jim Finkle and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/autos-cyber-hyundai-idUSL1N1HW13N'|'2017-04-26T03:23:00.000+03:00' 'b58b4da0c43acd891fac0018dc89d9f798ce1a07'|'An Amazon tribe thought to be dying out is thriving against the odds – in pictures - Global Development Professionals Network'|'An Amazon tribe thought to be dying out is thriving against the odds – in pictures View more sharing options Share Close Once thought to be on the brink of extinction, photographer Katherine Needles finds Peru’s Amahuaca people flourishing on ancestral lands, united by community and kinshipKatherine NeedlesFriday 28 April 2017 11.07 BST The city of Atalaya sits where the Urubamba and Tambo rivers meet, in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. It is the closest jungle city to the Amahuaca’s remote village of San Juan, a two-day upriver journey by pekepeke (motorised canoe). The Amahuaca, once thought to be at the brink of extinction, still live on ancestral lands in relative isolation. Although their culture is threatened by various forms of western development, a resilience of community and kinship unites the Amahuaca. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest San Juan is the second largest Amahuaca village on the banks of the Inuya river. No more than 40 people live in the village at any one time. Margarita (around 65 years old) is one of the only elders left with knowledge of the old ways. After greeting us on arrival with a meal of boiled yucca and fish in broth, she listens to questions from anthropologist Christopher Hewlett about the Amahuaca’s myths of origin and creation. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest A school lesson in the largest Amahuaca village on the Inuya, San Martin, is a five-hour journey downriver from San Juan. A young boy is distracted while others stand to recite the Peruvian national anthem before starting their lesson. The influence of Peruvian national policy and education is prevalent even in these remote places, where there is no running water or electricity. Most children must wear a uniform and sing the national anthem before starting each day. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest The bow and arrow was the traditional method of fishing off the water’s edge but today, the Amahuaca use nets or large spears and fish from their canoes. The bow and arrow is now seen more as a toy for young boys, though there is evidence the method is making a comeback. Although fishing is the main source of protein for the Amahuaca, they do still hunt. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest On a fishing trip upriver, Percy (42), a Yaminahua man who married an Amahuaca woman, catches more than 20 kawara , a large prehistoric-looking fish. This is in preparation for the Fiesta de San Juan, a national holiday that takes place each year on 24 June. It is celebrated throughout the country in honour of the solstice. The Amahuaca host a football tournament between local villages along the river. They grill the kawara and serve it with rice wrapped in a banana leaf. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Other Amahuaca families live even more remotely than those in San Juan, close to the border with Brazil. This man is called Ayahuasceiro to account for his suspected use of the hallucinogenic plant Ayahuasca, known to be used in Amahuaca communities in the past. He insisted on being photographed in a uniform used by petroleros , men who work for the oil and gas companies in the region, an example of how wearing Western clothing is a way of demonstrating one is civilisado . Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Preparing for the Fiesta de San Juan, women and children gather around baskets of yucca that have been collected from their family chakras (plantations) to peel and boil to make masato (fermented yucca beer). Masato is only made and served by women. It takes at least four days to ferment and is drunk throughout the festival into the night and the following morning. Enough is made to serve at least 100 people over the two days of the festival. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest To support the fermentation process of masato , woman chew on a purple yam grown in the region and spit it into the large pots of yucca being mashed down. The purple yam is said to be what makes ‘real’ or ‘good’ masato , and how well a woman can spit into the pot is said to be indicative of her womanhood in Amahuaca culture. Girls are taught how to stand over the pots and spit in a way that sprays the purple mash evenly. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Margarita poses outside her home covered in ouito, a fruit-based dye that is painted on using various sizes of carved twigs to create distinctive patterns. It is painted on clear and transforms into a deep black ink within hours, remaining on the skin for at least three weeks. Margarita is one of the last elders of her community who uses ouito , believed to help ward off evil spirits and used decoratively during traditional celebrations or ceremonies. Each design represents a sacred animal from the jungle. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Hanka, a young Amahuaca boy adopted by Margarita, sits in a rusted wheelbarrow in the middle of a sea of magenta stamens from a rose apple tree. Unlike other children, Hanka is often painted head to toe in ouito to help protect him against a health condition related to his bladder. Photograph: Katherine NeedlesFacebook Twitter Pinterest Topics Global development professionals network Global focus Peru Amazon rainforest Americas'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2017/apr/28/an-amazon-tribe-thought-to-be-dying-out-is-thriving-against-the-odds-in-pictures'|'2017-04-28T19:07:00.000+03:00' '32ec025f53dbea17634808417d150f7d3a65872a'|'Croatia picks AlixPartners to advise on Agrokor restructuring'|'Bonds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:16am EDT Croatia picks AlixPartners to advise on Agrokor restructuring ZAGREB, April 25 Croatia has selected New York-based AlixPartners as an adviser to its restructuring of food group Agrokor, the man appointed to manage the process said on Tuesday. Food producer and retailer Agrokor is Croatia''s largest private firm and the biggest employer in the Balkans. "In competition with five other respectable international firms I believe we have chosen the best offer, which includes both quality and price," state-appointed Agrokor crisis manager Ante Ramljak told reporters. Agrokor owner Ivica Todoric handed control of the debt-laden company to the state under an emergency law this month. Ramljak said AlixPartners would provide advice on securing short-term liquidity, cash flow management and improving operations and profitability of the companies owned by Agrokor. "As a next step, we will also, with AlixPartners, prepare a restructuring plan and submit it for approval to creditors," Ramljak said. Agrokor''s debts totalled around 45 billion kuna ($6.57 billion), or six times its equity, according to data from last September. Ramljak said the real debt situation would be known towards the end of June as all creditors, including banks and suppliers, are invited to submit their claims by June 10. "Very soon, probably by the end of the week, we will also know what amount of money we need to borrow and thus create a positive cashflow this year. Thus, we will be able to enter talks with potential creditors for a fresh liquidity boost," Ramljak said. Two weeks ago Agrokor secured an initial liquidity injection from five local banks of 80 million euros ($87.02 million). Agrokor will need some 450 million euros this year to operate normally. ($1 = 6.8516 kuna) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/croatia-agrokor-idUSL8N1HX3RM'|'2017-04-25T20:16:00.000+03:00' 'dd4236055cc548bd546d4e7cde9af732556d0df0'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 25'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 1:45am EDT UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 25 April 25 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening up 18 points on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers. * BRITAIN/EU: The snap general election called by British Prime Minister Theresa May will reduce the already limited time available to negotiate a Brexit deal, an influential EU lawmaker said on Monday. * International Consolidated: Spanish airline Iberia could open a new early retirement program for 1,000 workers by June, depending on the outcome of prior talks with unions, Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said. * GOLD: Gold held steady on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion. * COPPER: Copper eased in Asia on Tuesday, coming under pressure from investors looking to book gains after a surprise overnight lift in the London contract following a market-friendly French presidential vote. * OIL: Oil prices inched up on Tuesday but markets remain under pressure following six consecutive sessions of declines as traders lose confidence that pledged output cuts by major producers will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. * The UK blue chip index closed 2.1 percent higher at 7,246.68 points on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron came out on top in the first round of France''s presidential election. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Whitbread Plc WTB.L FY 2016 Whitbread Plc Earnings Amec Foster Wheeler Plc AMFW.L FY 2016 Amec Foster Wheeler Earnings Redstoneconnect Plc REDS.L FY 2017 Redstoneconnect Earnings Circassia FY 2016 Circassia Pharmaceuticals Earnings Pharmaceuticals Elementis Plc ELM.L Elementis Plc Trading Update TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL4N1HX289'|'2017-04-25T13:45:00.000+03:00' '1988d69c57428a12421df56bcd483e3e3b0637a2'|'LVMH, Arnault to simplify Christian Dior business structure'|'Deals - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 8:57am EDT LVMH''s Arnault swoops to take full control of Christian Dior left right Chairman and CEO of Luxury goods group LVMH Bernard Arnault attends a news conference, to announce a deal to simplify Christian Dior business structure, in Paris, France, April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe 1/3 left right Logo of Dior brand is seen outside a Dior store in Paris, France, March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/Files 2/3 left right A woman walks past a Dior shop in downtown Brussels, Belgium March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman 3/3 By Dominique Vidalon and Gilles Guillaume - PARIS PARIS French billionaire Bernard Arnault will combine the Christian Dior fashion brand with his LVMH luxury goods empire as part of a 12 billion euro ($13 billion) move to simplify his business interests - a restructuring long demanded by other investors. Under a series of complex transactions, LVMH ( LVMH.PA ), the world''s largest luxury group, will buy the Christian Dior Couture brand from the Christian Dior ( DIOR.PA ) holding company for 6.5 billion euros, including debt. The deal will unite the 70 year old fashion label worn by film stars from Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Lawrence and Natalie Portman with the Christian Dior perfume and beauty business already owned by LVMH. The Arnault family, which holds a 47 percent stake in LVMH, will also offer to buy the 25.9 percent of the Christian Dior holding company it does not already own for about 260 euros per share, a premium of 15 percent over Monday''s closing price. The transactions "will allow the simplification of the structures, long requested by the market, and the strengthening of LVMH''s Fashion and Leather Goods division," the 68-year-old Arnault said in a statement. LVMH shares rose almost 5 percent to a record high of 225 euros as investors welcomed the deals, which they expect to boost LVMH earnings. Dior shares also jumped 13 percent to a new high of 256 euros. "This is a good acquisition for LVMH in our view given the strong brand of Christian Dior, good use of its balance sheet and it reunites the Christian Dior brand with the very profitable perfume operation that LVMH operates," Barclays analysts wrote in a research note. LAST BIG DEAL? LVMH said it would use a loan to pay for Christian Dior Couture, which has 198 stores in over 60 countries, and whose sales have doubled over the past five years. Exane BNP Paribas analyst Luca Solca welcomed "the long awaited LVMH and Dior merger", which he said was made at a reasonable valuation. Including debt, LVMH is paying 15.6 times Dior''s 2017 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). Solca added the deal also reduced the risk of LVMH, whose brands include Louis Vuitton and Hennessy cognac, buying pricey, "trophy assets". Finance chief Jean-Jacques Guiony declined to comment on LVMH''s future mergers and acquisitions (M&A) policy. But Arnault told the Financial Times that LVMH was not hunting for acquisitions as "fewer and fewer assets are looking attractive to us. And the best assets are not for sale." The Dior holding company owns 41 percent of the LVMH group and 100 percent of Christian Dior Couture, the home of the Lady Dior handbag. Arnault''s family company will offer 172 euros per share and 0.192 Hermes ( HRMS.PA ) shares for each Dior holding company share. There are potential all-cash and all-share alternatives. Arnault has a stake of about 8 percent in luxury group Hermes ( HRMS.PA ), and Hermes'' shares fell from earlier record highs on the prospect of more of the stock coming to the market. LVMH said the overall deal would boost earnings per share by some 3 percent within the first year of its completion, with the transactions expected to close during the second half of 2017. (Additional reporting by Blandine Henault; Editing by Andrew Callus and Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lvmh-dior-idUSKBN17R0I1'|'2017-04-25T14:26:00.000+03:00' '191c9975f6bf38e49b872f8d6eaafe86dac68a51'|'Shapoor Mistry resigns from Indian Hotels board'|'Money 9:18pm IST Shapoor Mistry resigns from Indian Hotels board Tourists use binoculars in front of the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai May 30, 2013. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash/File Photo NEW DELHI Shapoor Mistry, the elder brother of former Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry, has resigned as a director of the board of Indian Hotels Co, the company said on Tuesday. Indian Hotels runs the Tata group''s luxury hotels and resorts business. The Shapoorji Pallonji family own a roughly 18 percent stake in Tata Sons, with Tata Trusts - a group of public charities - owning a controlling 66 percent stake in the holding company. Cyrus Mistry was forced out from the chairmanship of Tata Sons last October, and has since been embroiled in a public spat with the group. For the notification, please see: bit.ly/2q1iWRo (Reporting by Neha Dasgupta and Nidhi Verma; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/indian-hotel-tata-idINKBN17R22K'|'2017-04-25T23:48:00.000+03:00' 'c1f2264f99397891ec11de42071b57db93549767'|'Mitsubishi and Nissan full merger is not an option: chairman'|'By Eveline Danubrata - BEKASI, Indonesia BEKASI, Indonesia A full merger of Japanese car makers Mitsubishi Motors Corp (MMC) ( 7211.T ) and Nissan Motor Co Ltd ( 7201.T ) is not on the table, Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both firms, said on Tuesday."Full merger is not on the table. We want Mitsubishi to reform itself," said Ghosn, who was attending the opening ceremony of a new Mitsubishi factory on the outskirts of Jakarta.He also said it was likely for Mitsubishi and Nissan to cross-manufacture in areas where it makes sense.Last year, Nissan bought a controlling stake in Mitsubishi for $2.3 billion after the smaller automaker admitted to cheating on mileage tests.Mitsubishi and Nissan were studying joint production of pickup trucks in Southeast Asia as they looked for savings within the broader Renault-Nissan alliance, Mitsubishi''s chief operating officer told Reuters in March.Ghosn is also chairman of Renault.Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Chief Executive Officer Osamu Masuko said he estimated Mitsubishi would have a 10 percent share of Indonesia''s car market in three years, from 6 percent at present.This year, he said he expected a nearly 40 percent sales increase in Indonesia, helped by sales of multi-purpose vehicles.Indonesia overtook Thailand as Southeast Asia''s largest car market in recent years and is also growing as a regional production base.Nearly 1.1 million vehicles were sold in the country of 250 million people last year, according to the Association of Indonesia Automotive Industries (Gaikindo).Japan''s Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) has long dominated the Indonesian market, partly due to its extensive distribution network. Toyota has a long-standing partnership with the country''s largest distributor, PT Astra International Tbk ( ASII.JK ).(Reporting by Eveline Danubrata; Writing by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mitsubishimotors-indonesia-idINKBN17R0JT'|'2017-04-25T04:41:00.000+03:00' '30219695bc9fcf9edb177b976ffb451f08f6670e'|'Fresenius snaps up Akorn, Merck KGaA''s biosimilars in separate deals'|'Deals - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 4:17am EDT Fresenius picks up M&A pace with Akorn, Merck KGaA deals FILE PHOTO: The Fresenius SE headquarters are pictured in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, Germany February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Ludwig Burger - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT German healthcare group Fresenius SE & Co KGaA ( FREG.DE ) has stepped up its dealmaking, agreeing to buy U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc ( AKRX.O ) for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros) and the biosimilars arm of Germany''s Merck KGaA. Takeovers were part of Fresenius''s growth strategy under previous boss Ulf Mark Schneider, now leading Nestle ( NESN.S ). But his successor, former finance chief Stephan Sturm, is lifting the pace, having already bought a Spanish hospital chain for 5.8 billion euros since taking over in June. The latest deals are in keeping with Fresenius''s focus on drugs that have lost patent protection, but also mark a foray into new dosage forms, therapeutic areas and biotech drugs for its Kabi unit, a maker of generic infusion drugs as well as tube feeding and blood transfusion equipment. Akorn will add products such as medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, oral liquids, ear drops, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign compared with standard pills and tablets. "We are putting Fresenius Kabi on track for an even more broadly based and strong sustainable growth beyond the current decade," said Sturm. The separate deal with Merck KGaA MRKG.DE marks an entry into "biosimilar" copies of complex biologic drugs made from living cells, which Fresenius has previously shunned. "We''ve always said the regulatory environment would have to clear up before we invest in biosimilars. A lot has been done in that area in the recent past," Sturm added. Reuters earlier on Monday reported Fresenius was close to acquiring Akorn. In a deal that has the backing of Akorn''s management and its largest shareholder, Fresenius will pay $34 per share and take on Akorn''s net debt of about $450 million for a total price tag of $4.75 billion, Fresenius said late on Monday. It will be financed by a broad mix of euro- and dollar-denominated debt instruments. Berenberg analyst Tom Jones said the price tag of 12.4 times Akorn''s core earnings (adjusted EBITDA) estimate for 2017 should not "give anyone any great cause for concern". He flagged some risks related to Akorn''s older drugs that might draw scrutiny from U.S. healthcare regulators but was reassured by the buyer''s "long history of doing M&A, and doing it relatively well". Fresenius shares were up 0.9 percent at 0750 GMT (3.50 am ET), broadly in line with the European healthcare index .SXDP. For the Merck deal, Fresenius will pay an initial 170 million euros and up to 500 million in milestone payments tied to the achievement of drug development targets as none of Merck''s biosimilar drugs have been launched yet. Merck also stands to receive single-digit percentage royalties on sales. Fresenius said it expected first revenues toward the end of 2019. It also said it was prepared to spend and invest up to 1.4 billion euros to build up the new business through 2022, including the upfront and milestone payments to Merck. Fresenius, with a market capitalization of more than 40 billion euros, runs businesses ranging from kidney dialysis and drug manufacturing to hospital management. Group net debt as a multiple of core earnings will temporarily increase to about 3.3 after both transactions but is expected to return to about 3 at the end of 2018. Fresenius has for years enjoyed low borrowing costs because of its diversified businesses in an industry largely immune to swings in the business cycle. The buyer''s main advisers on the Akorn deal were investment banks Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) and Moelis ( MC.N ), as well as law firm Allen & Overy. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Grant McCool and Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-akorn-m-a-fresenius-idUSKBN17Q29Q'|'2017-04-25T05:22:00.000+03:00' 'c3a1e44e5975b48a01e500856326971eaf625cdb'|'Seventeen years after 5,000, Nasdaq tops 6,000'|'By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK, April 25 NEW YORK, April 25 The Nasdaq Composite index crossed the 6,000 threshold on Tuesday, aided by gains in a handful of large-cap tech names, more than seventeen years after it last marked a 1,000 point milestone.The Nasdaq index first breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom. It had taken the index only slightly more than three months to climb from the 4,000 level to the 5,000 mark.The top five U.S. companies by market capitalization, Apple , Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, are Nasdaq components. Among them, they have increased in market cap by more than $400 billion since the start of the year. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-nasdaq-idINL1N1HX0KO'|'2017-04-25T11:43:00.000+03:00' '29427bf3d3e2a78eab1f0e715a9fa042062a67dd'|'Poland to receive its first U.S. LNG supplies - PM'|'WARSAW, April 27 Poland has signed an agreement to receive its first liquefied natural gas supplies (LNG) from the U.S., Poland''s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said on Thursday."Yes, this is a very important agreement, favourable in financial terms," Szydlo told public broadcaster TVP Info, adding that the deal will help Poland further reduce reliance on gas supplies from Russia.Cheniere Energy will make the first spot delivery in mid June, Maciej Wozniak, deputy head of state-run PGNiG was Quote: d as saying by news agency PAP. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/poland-gas-lng-idINW8N0QR02A'|'2017-04-27T04:16:00.000+03:00' '287947d9118a6b884236a4de6b521de128898fe9'|'PRESS DIGEST- Wall Street Journal - April 27'|'Company News 2:06am EDT PRESS DIGEST- Wall Street Journal - April 27 April 27 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - A new report by United Continental Holdings Inc has concluded that a litany of failures in customer service, training and technology contributed to the forcible removal of a paying passenger earlier this month. on.wsj.com/2qabENW - The Trump administration said it was no longer considering pulling out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, following a day of intense lobbying from business leaders and lawmakers who rallied to quash internal White House discussion of the prospect. on.wsj.com/2q9ZHYC - Barnes & Noble Inc named Demos Parneros as its new chief executive, making him the fifth leader in four years to be tasked with turning around the bookseller''s fortunes. on.wsj.com/2qalPC2 - House Republicans are moving closer to agreement on a healthcare overhaul but now face the task of persuading centrists in the party to agree to provisions that could raise costs for many people with pre-existing conditions. on.wsj.com/2qa5Owd - United Airlines chief executive Oscar Munoz told four members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in a letter it released late Wednesday how it historically handled overbooked flights. The committee is probing the incident and sent questions to United and Chicago''s Aviation Department. on.wsj.com/2qadsXi (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL4N1HZ2N2'|'2017-04-27T14:06:00.000+03:00' 'dd1b75cdf7e8d939d9c82e7140b1d6cf853c4a2c'|'Nokia beats market expectations in first quarter'|'Company News - 17am EDT Nokia beats market expectations in first quarter HELSINKI, April 27 Finnish network equipment maker Nokia reported on Thursday a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by cost-cuts, and repeated its forecast for falling network sales in 2017. First-quarter group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell 1 percent from a year ago to 341 million euros ($372 million) due to drop in spending by telecom operators, but beat analysts'' average forecast of 334 million euros in a Reuters poll. Nokia said it expected sales at its networks unit to decline this year in line with the market, but added that the business momentum was improving. "We slowed the rate of topline decline and generated healthy orders in what is typically a seasonally weak quarter for us... We saw encouraging stabilization in Mobile Networks topline," Chief Executive Rajeev Suri said in a statement. ($1 = 0.9170 euros) (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl and Tuomas Forsell in Helsinki, additional reporting by Helena Soderpalm in Stockholm)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nokia-results-idUSFWN1HY1CP'|'2017-04-27T13:17:00.000+03:00' 'cf50b243ee1051a1a182149f6d95f1b43b7ab313'|'Lufthansa CFO says not interested in buying Alitalia'|'BERLIN Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) said it was not interested in buying Italian rival Alitalia, whose future is unclear after workers this week ruled out a rescue plan."I have no comment on Alitalia... But we are not there to buy Alitalia," Lufthansa Chief Financial Officer Ulrik Svensson said on a call with analysts and media after the carrier reported first-quarter results on Thursday.Italian media has repeatedly speculated that Lufthansa could take over Alitalia.Budget rival Norwegian Air Shuttle ( NWC.OL ) also said on Thursday it was not interested in buying any Alitalia assets.However, the CEO of Malaysia Airlines told Reuters on Wednesday he would be interested in leasing planes from Alitalia if it was wound up.(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-lufthansa-results-alitalia-idINKBN17T0ZZ'|'2017-04-27T06:12:00.000+03:00' '152b087df90da81853ed3566080f826496c17181'|'Zodiac faces growing investor uncertainty over Safran offer'|'PARIS Uncertainty is growing over a $9 billion offer for aircraft seats maker Zodiac Aerospace ( ZODC.PA ) by French aerospace firm Safran ( SAF.PA ) as the embattled target company puts finishing touches to delayed first-half earnings now due on Friday.Shares in Zodiac fell sharply on Thursday after French radio station BFM Business reported that Zodiac could change its mind about accepting a merger offer from Safran ( SAF.PA ), following previous falls in its share price.BFM Business said, without identifying its sources, that Zodiac''s family shareholders, who hold about 29 percent of the company''s share capital, were considering a "Plan B" to ensure Zodiac remained independent.Zodiac, which delayed its first-half earnings by a week to April 28, could not be reached for comment.Safran declined to comment on the report.Zodiac shares were down 4.4 percent, the worst-performing stock on France''s SBF-120 .SBF120 equity index. Safran shares were up 0.1 percent.Safran has come under fire from UK hedge fund TCI over the deal, which includes an unusual two-tier structure involving a cash bid followed by a merger designed to woo controlling family shareholders without exposing them to hefty tax charges."Confidence in this deal happening is trickling away due to the unexplained delay in publishing first-half results and sustained pressure from TCI on Safran," said a European analyst, asking not to be named.The JDD weekly said Safran could walk away from the deal, without identifying its sources.Safran said on April 25 that it was continuing with its exclusive talks to buy Zodiac.However, a series of profit warnings from Zodiac - including one in March - have led some Safran shareholders to criticize the deal, with TCI calling for it to be scrapped or at the very least reviewed.Reuters first reported on April 14 that Safran was exploring plans to lower or restructure its $9 billion bid for Zodiac Aerospace, and that two sources refused to rule out Safran walking away for the second time in seven years.Credit Suisse analysts said on Thursday that a revised Safran offer appeared the "most probable outcome".(Reporting by Manon Jacon, Cyril Altmeyer and Tim Hepher; editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-zodiac-aero-m-a-safran-idINKBN17T1D0'|'2017-04-27T08:11:00.000+03:00' '559137afcc57d03b3325540f4fcca317bcbc5244'|'Shares in Takata suspended after reported bankruptcy filing plan'|'TOKYO Trading in shares of Japan''s Takata Corp ( 7312.T ) newspaper report that the embattled auto parts maker was considering filing for bankruptcy protection, selling all operations to a newly created company.The Nikkei business daily said the plan would call for U.S.-based Key Safety Systems (KSS), a Corp ( 600699.SS ), to sponsor the turnaround plan, spending nearly 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) to create a company that would buy Takata''s operations.Takata itself would be left with heavy liabilities linked to the massive global recall of its air bag inflators, and is expected to be liquidated eventually, the Nikkei said.A Takata spokesman said the company planned to issue a statement shortly through the Tokyo Stock Exchange. car-parts maker KSS and Bain Capital LLC were the preferred bidder for Takata, whose faulty air bag components have been blamed for more than a dozen deaths worldwide. One source had told Reuters KSS and Bain plan to offer around 200 billion yen for Takata.Discussions that include the steering committee tapped by Takata to oversee the search for a financial sponsor, automaker now likely May, sources have told Reuters.Recent talks have focussed on issues such as an indemnity agreement to cover reimbursement costs for air bag recalls, estimated to be as high as $10 billion. ( 7267.T ), which have been footing the bill for recalls dating back to 2008, want Takata restructured through a transparent court-ordered process such as bankruptcy, which would wipe out the firm''s shareholder value, four automaker sources have told Reuters.But Takata, the world''s second-biggest air bag maker, is holding out for a "private restructuring" that would preserve some of the founding Takada family''s 60 percent stake.(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim; Editing by Richard Pullin and Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/takata-restructuring-idINKBN17S37I'|'2017-04-27T08:00:00.000+03:00' '8016b8f5d947a600946c8ba108f140a791fd5937'|'U.S. FTC approves Emerson Electric''s acquisition of Pentair with conditions'|'WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission gave its blessing to Emerson Electric Co''s ( EMR.N ) acquisition of industrial valve manufacturer Pentair PLC ( PNR.N ) on condition that it sells Pentair''s switchbox business to Crane Co ( CR.N ).The requirement was aimed at easing competitive concerns. The FTC said Emerson, a factory automation equipment maker, and Pentair together control 60 percent of the U.S. switchbox market.The agreement is subject to a 30-day comment period, after which the FTC said it would decided whether to make the proposed consent order final.(Reporting by Eric Walsh and Tim Ahmann)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-pentair-m-a-emerson-electric-idINKBN17U2PR'|'2017-04-28T16:37:00.000+03:00' '518f3b7bc4ca631d43b95c3220b1e7962db0bc3f'|'RBS posts first quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2015'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 7:20am BST RBS posts first quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2015 People walk past a Royal Bank of Scotland office in London, Britain, February 6, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo LONDON Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L ) swung to a better than expected first quarter profit of 259 million pounds, it reported on Friday, after making a loss of nearly a billion pounds in the same period a year ago. The result was more than the 50 million pounds forecast from the average of analysts'' estimates compiled by the bank, and was the lender''s first quarterly profit since September 2015. The bank has not made a full-year profit in nine years, as it battles restructuring costs and conduct fines resulting from its years of over-expansion leading into the 2008 financial crisis. RBS said its core capital ratio rose to 14.1 percent from 13.4 percent ayear ago. (Reporting By Lawrence White, editing by Huw Jones)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rbs-results-idUKKBN17U0MX'|'2017-04-28T14:20:00.000+03:00' 'd90e131560d37bcb6f26bbb1fa21d663966d6542'|'LPC: US loan market welcomes M&A surge'|'By Lynn Adler and Jonathan Schwarzberg - NEW YORK, April 28 NEW YORK, April 28 US companies have lined up at least US$42.5bn of loans to back a flurry of mergers in sectors ranging from healthcare to food and software in the second quarter as corporations try to grow by acquisition.Becton Dickinson’s US$24bn takeover of C R Bard in the investment grade medical device sector is the biggest of the year to date as the pipeline kicks back into life after a thin first quarter.Near record stock markets and strong investor demand for debt are fuelling transactions that had been on hold due to volatility created by the US presidential election late last year.“Company valuation multiples are elevated given the stock market, but rather than wait to realize growth, companies are willing to buy it through M&A," said Robert Smock, head of corporate advisory at MUFG.Both investment-grade and leveraged companies have been on the acquisition trail as a pro-business climate prevails and many are raising loans to back purchases.US meat processor Tyson Foods is buying packaged sandwich supplier AdvancePierre for an enterprise value of US$4.2bn including the target’s debt, US paint maker PPG Industries raised its bid for Dutch rival Akzo Nobel to US$29bn, Luxembourg-based JAB Holdings agreed to buy Panera Bread for US$7.2bn and German healthcare group Fresenius will acquire US generic drugmaker Akorn for US$4.75bn.“It feels as though this is a very good time to be selling assets,” said Jeff Cohen, co-head of global leveraged finance capital markets at Credit Suisse. “The credit markets are so constructive right now, and there is a large pool of private equity buyers along with strategic companies having large amounts of cash.”M&A volume is closely tied to stock market performance and CEO sentiment, Smock noted.“Given that the stock market is touching records and CEOs are generally constructive on business conditions, I expect continued support for M&A,” he said. “That said, we still must acknowledge the twin dark clouds of being far along into the business cycle, and geopolitical uncertainty.”Financings for the current batch of deals include a US$15.7bn bridge loan to support the Becton/Bard deal, with Citigroup as the sole lead arranger and bookrunner. Tyson Foods has also secured committed bridge financing from Morgan Stanley for the AdvancePierre deal.The JAB/Panera financing details are expected shortly, bankers said, and PPG said in a regulatory filing that Goldman Sachs was preparing a full financing package to facilitate its proposed tie-up with Akzo.RESURGENT M&ALending to highly-rated companies is dominating the current round of M&A, which was kick started in early April by US drug distributor Cardinal Health’s US$6.1bn deal to buy Medtronic’s medical supplies units. The bid materialized days after Abbott Laboratories agreed at a lowered US$5.3bn price to its long-awaited purchase of diagnostic testing company Alere.Becton Dickinson then piled in with the April 24 news of its acquisition of C R Bard, backed by the US$15.7bn bridge loan.More deals are in the works. This week Cerberus was reported to be considering a bid via grocery store chain Albertsons for Whole Foods Market, which has a market cap of just under US$12bn.The current pace of M&A is already topping an anemic first three months. Investment-grade companies raised only US$11bn of new money for acquisitions in the first quarter, which is the lowest quarterly volume since the fourth quarter of 2012, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, but this is set to rise in the second quarter.“Investment-grade lending tends to follow M&A volumes, and large-scale M&A has taken a relative pause since the elections,” said Jeff Nassof, a director at Freeman Consulting Services. “M&A market fundamentals are still solid though, so it''s possible the Becton Dickinson/Bard deal triggers another wave of deals, and another wave of bridge financings.”Leveraged M&A has been slow and steady but has lacked the blockbuster deals that investors have been calling for. The US$51.3bn of new money extended for leveraged M&A in the first quarter was the lowest quarterly tally since US$35.6bn in the same quarter four years ago, LPC data shows.Investors are snapping up the few multi-billion-dollar loans. This week, UK financial software provider Misys, which is buying Canadian fintech company DH Corp, increased a loan package to about US$6.2bn from US$5.7bn after raising the dollar tranche of the dual-currency deal.Blackstone in April financed its buyout of Aon Hewitt’s technology-enabled benefits and human resources platform Tempo with an increased US$2.7bn loan, after reducing a bond and cutting loan pricing during syndication to 300bp over Libor from a spread of 325bp.If sponsors can find a way of beating strategic corporate buyers flush with cash, even bigger buyout deals could be done, bankers said.“I believe in today’s market environment that a US$20bn LBO is very achievable,” Cohen said.“Around US$10bn-US$15bn of debt financing for a deal in the non investment-grade market would be very well received,” he said. “And after seeing that deal get done, I’m sure investors would ask how quickly is the next one going to come out?” (Reporting by Lynn Adler and Jonathan Schwarzberg; Editing By Tessa Walsh and Jon Methven)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/loans-ma-idINL1N1HZ27K'|'2017-04-28T11:52:00.000+03:00' '0bd2925513f51415b5aafe9a44ca2107007d0fcb'|'Old Mutual to sell India insurance JV stake to Kotak for $202 million'|'Business 3:46am BST Old Mutual to sell India insurance JV stake to Kotak for $202 million Workers clean windows outside the Cape Town headquarters of Anglo-South African financial services company Old Mutual, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings Britain''s Old Mutual Plc ( OML.L ) said it would sell its 26 percent stake in Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd to Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd ( KTKM.NS ) for about 12.93 billion rupees ($201.7 million)(£156.28 million). The sale will end Old Mutual''s joint venture with Kotak Mahindra Bank, the company said late Thursday. The net consideration after tax is 11.7 billion rupees, Old Mutual said. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the second half of the year. Old Mutual is in the midst of breaking up its business in four parts by the end of next year. The firm aims to list or sell its emerging markets business and is sharpening focus on its sub-Saharan Africa business. (Reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-kotak-mah-bk-old-mutual-stake-idUKKBN17U0AE'|'2017-04-28T10:46:00.000+03:00' '927cfb6d522e7b4d760d4c97fea042cb75c5cc4b'|'PRECIOUS-Gold steady after French election, N. Korea worries support'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 9:43pm EDT PRECIOUS-Gold steady after French election, N. Korea worries support April 25 Gold held steady on Tuesday after a sharp fall in the previous session on a market-friendly French presidential vote, although tensions over North Korea offered support for safe-haven bullion. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was unchanged at $1,275 per ounce by 0115 GMT. Bullion prices fell about 0.7 percent in the previous session after touching $1,265.90, the lowest since April 11. * U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 percent at $1,276.60 an ounce. * Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step towards the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. * The news represented a defeat for anti-European Union forces on the right and left of French politics, sent European shares and the euro vaulting higher and sparked a sell-off in safe-haven bullion. * U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.N. Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on North Korea as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear bomb as early as Tuesday. * The launch of the London Metal Exchange''s new precious metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a month later than previously announced, it said on Monday. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world''s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.17 percent to 860.17 tonnes on Monday. * Russia and Kazakhstan raised gold holdings in March, the International Monetary Fund said. * UBS cuts three-month target for gold prices to $1,200 per ounce from previous estimate at $1,300. * Barrick Gold reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings on Monday and also slashed its forecast for output and hiked costs at its gold mine in Argentina, where cyanide solution spilled recently for the third time in 18 months. * Newmont Mining Corp reported higher-than-expected adjusted earnings on Monday helped by higher production and gold prices as the gold miner also raised its longer-term forecast for output and lowered costs due to expansions at a Ghanaian mine. * Polyus Gold , Russia''s largest gold producer, reported a 19 percent rise in first-quarter sales to $600 million on Monday due to higher production. * Randgold Resources Ltd confirmed multiple opportunities for extending life of Tongon gold mine beyond current four-year horizon. DATA AHEAD (GMT) 0645 France Business climate April 1300 U.S. Monthly home price index February 1300 U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller housing index February 1400 U.S. Consumer confidence April 1400 U.S. New home sales March 1400 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index April (Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Pullin) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-precious-idUSL4N1HX151'|'2017-04-25T09:43:00.000+03:00' '452b6102136030b8ed5d42229586dfa334ec8573'|'Oil edges up after six straight sessions of losses'|'Global Energy 7:54am BST Oil edges up losses Crude oil storage tanks are seen from above at the Cushing oil hub, in Cushing, Oklahoma, March 24, 2016. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo By Henning Gloystein Oil prices recovered some ground on Tuesday, halting six consecutive sessions of slide, but markets remain under pressure as traders lose confidence will rein in oversupply in a world awash with fuel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 had added 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, by 0640 GMT, but remained below the $50 mark pierced late last week, at $49.37 a barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 14 cents, or 0.27 percent, to $51.74 per barrel. Traders said the gains were a counter-reaction to consecutive price drops in the previous six sessions. Despite Tuesdays increases, market sentiment has turned bearish, with Brent down 10 percent since late 2016 despite efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017 in order to tighten the market. Given that oil supplies remain at record highs despite the cuts, Stephen Schork of the Schork report said on Tuesday that "OPEC has failed miserably in its endeavour to balance the oil market". JPMorgan said in its latest weekly market note to clients that "it is evident that... crude markets are still struggling to clear (oversupply)." The bank said that it was closing its "August Brent long position at a loss." Indicating its cautious outlook, JPMorgan said that "crude markets are close to floating storage economics and (this) is a bearish sign for output price developments." Floating storage is a clear indicator of oversupplied markets. It is pursued when oil for immediate delivery is so much cheaper than that for future dispatch that it becomes profitable for traders to charter tankers to store it for later. JPMorgan said that in order to reduce the ongoing supply overhang, OPEC "will be forced to renew, and possibly deepen the agreement if they wish to keep prices much above $50 per barrel." Russia said on Monday that its oil output could climb to the highest rate in 30 years if OPEC and non-OPEC producers do not extend a supply reduction deal beyond June 30. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows that Russian oil shipments, which exclude its pipeline exports, have already reached record highs of 5 million bpd in April, up 17 percent since December, before the cuts were officially implemented. While producers may hurt under the renewed slack in crude markets, consumers like refiners benefit as their production margins making fuels such as gasoline improve DUB-SIN-REF GL92-SIN-CRK. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin and Subhranshu Sahu)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17R04Q'|'2017-04-25T14:54:00.000+03:00' 'de6c2148043a9bf6839e7c71144a02c2c4b60d77'|'Venezuelan crude sales to the U.S. declined again in March'|'Commodities 47am EDT Venezuelan crude sales to the U.S. declined again in March HOUSTON Venezuelan crude oil sales to the United States declined in March for the third month in a row this year to 651,710 barrels per day due to falling exports of main grade Merey, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. Venezuela''s crude output fell in 2016 to its lowest level in 23 years. Analysts expect another decline in 2017 due to lack of investment and to cash flow problems affecting state-run oil firm PDVSA [PDVSA.UL], which controls more than 40 joint ventures for exploration and production. The volume of Venezuelan crude that PDVSA and its joint ventures exported in March was down by 2.3 percent from February and by 18 percent from a year earlier. Exports of Merey blend crude to the United States, which started decreasing in February, averaged 165,320 bpd last month, their lowest since August, according to the data. Merey is made with extra-heavy oil from Venezuela''s main producing region, the Orinoco Belt, and lighter crudes. But as output from the member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries becomes heavier, production and reserves of medium and light grades decline fast. PDVSA''s refining unit in the United States, Citgo Petroleum, was the largest receiver of Venezuelan crude in March, with 10 cargoes, followed by Valero Energy Corp and Chevron Corp. This year Phillips 66 has received five or six monthly cargoes of 500,000 barrels each of Venezuelan Merey crude. PDVSA announced a tender earlier this week to buy up to four 500,000-barrel cargoes of U.S. light crude, mainly to feed its 335,000-barrel-per-day Isla refinery in Curacao, which recently resumed operations after planned maintenance work. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Ernest Scheyder and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-oil-idUSKBN17R1XO'|'2017-04-25T22:38:00.000+03:00' '27e5330cb117b397ad7757333e6374d93f97bdc6'|'St. James''s Place says first quarter net inflows at 2 billion pounds'|'Funds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 9:26am BST St. James''s Place says first quarter net inflows 2 billion pounds By Simon Jessop - LONDON LONDON St. James''s Place ( SJP.L ) took in 2 billion pounds in net new money in the first quarter, the British wealth manager said on Tuesday, boosted by demand for pension and savings products. St James''s, which focuses on providing face-to-face financial planning for wealthier clients, said positive investment returns also helped support a rise in assets, sending its shares higher. Group funds under management rose to 79.8 billion pounds at the end of March from 62 billion a year earlier. They were underpinned by strong retention of clients funds at 95 percent, it said in a statement. "Looking ahead, whilst political and macro uncertainties persist, the more immediate concern for many people relates to personal financial matters," outgoing Chief Executive David Bellamy said. At 0706 GMT, shares in St James''s Place were up 0.5 percent in a flat FTSE 100 .FTSE . Shore Capital analyst Eamonn Flanagan said the results were "terrific", with flows and total assets ahead of both his and consensus expectations. In a note to clients he reiterated a ''buy'' recommendation and 1,115 pence price target. "The SJP model... is flourishing and is likely to continue to do so, in our view. Political uncertainty, regulatory changes and persistent tweaking of the tax and pension regimes in the UK delivers the conditions for SJP to thrive." Gross inflows were up 32 percent to 3.2 billion pounds, while investment returns added a further 2.8 billion, it said. Demand to access tax-free savings into the end of the tax year helped support gross flows, with 1.2 billion pounds invested into its unit trusts and individual savings accounts, up 46 percent on the year. JPMorgan Cazenove analyst Ashik Musaddi said St James''s was well positioned to grow new business sales by 15-20 percent a year, in a note to clients reiterating an ''overweight'' rating on the stock. At the end of March, 23 percent of the firm''s investments were in UK equities, with a similar amount in U.S. stocks, 17 percent in fixed interest and 12 percent in European equities, it said. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Rachel Armstrong and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-st-james-s-place-trading-idUKKBN17R0HS'|'2017-04-25T14:23:00.000+03:00' 'ba6d2af57ffb0ceeebf754de73898048a15afd5c'|'Teva Pharmaceutical CFO to step down: media'|' 2:06pm EDT Teva Pharmaceutical CFO to step down: media FILE PHOTO: A building belonging to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world''s biggest generic drugmaker and Israel''s largest company, is seen in Jerusalem February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TEL AVIV The chief financial officer of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ( TEVA.TA ), Eyal Desheh, is stepping down and will likely be appointed chairman of Isracard, Bank Hapoalim''s ( POLI.TA ) credit card company, Israeli news websites reported on Tuesday. Desheh joined Teva as CFO in 2008 and briefly served as acting CEO from October 2013 to February 2014. Teva was left without a permanent chief executive in February after Erez Vigodman stepped down, leaving new management to restore confidence in the world''s biggest generic drugmaker after a series of missteps. A string of costly acquisitions, along with delayed drug launches, have sent Teva shares plummeting and led to calls for management and structural changes, including a possible split into separate generic and branded medicine units. Officials at Teva declined to comment on the reports. "Hapoalim is now considering the selection of a new chairman for Isracard," Israel''s biggest bank said in a statement, noting there were a number of candidates. "The selection of a chairman will be subject to the recommendation of Bank Hapoalim''s board of directors and the decision of Isracard''s board." The appointment would also need approval from the Bank of Israel. "When a decision is made, we will announce it to the public," Hapoalim said. (Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-teva-pharm-ind-cfo-idUSKBN17R2EW'|'2017-04-26T02:06:00.000+03:00' '56df0b78ed0ee086e15808b12683ef09f3bb57b0'|'Straight Path receives ''superior'' offer to AT&T''s buyout bid'|'By Liana B. Baker Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) has made an offer for Straight Path Communications Inc ( STRP.A ), topping an earlier bid from AT&T Inc ( T.N ), in a move that starts a bidding war for a company holding spectrum used in 5G technology, according to a source familiar with the matter.Straight Path said on Tuesday it received a $104.64 per-share all-stock buyout offer from a "multi-national telecommunications company". AT&T and Straight Path had agreed on a deal at $95.63 per share earlier this month.The source did not want to be named because the matter is confidential. Verizon and Straight Path declined to comment.A Verizon bid for Straight Path would be the latest salvo in the battle between Verizon and AT&T to gain an edge in the race to develop a fifth-generation network (5G) that would offer faster downloads and boost internet-reliant products such as self-driving cars."Clearly ultra-high band spectrum is a critical part of both AT&T and Verizon''s 5G Plans" Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said in a research note. "We believe it fair to assume (Verizon) would like to add to this part of its spectrum portfolio with the Straight Path assets."Straight Path, which holds a large trove of 28 GHz and 39 GHz millimeter wave spectrum used in mobile communications, would give a new owner an advantage in 5G development.Straight Path said on Tuesday that the higher offer was considered a "superior proposal" and it has notified AT&T that the telecom company has five days to match or exceed the new bid."We will evaluate the situation and make a decision in that time frame," AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said in an email.Straight Path''s shares were up 12.5 percent at $124.79, much above the offer price, indicating that investors are expecting an even higher bid to come in.The new bidder has agreed to cover the termination fee of $38 million that Straight Path would be required to pay AT&T if it goes with another buyer, Straight Path added.AT&T had agreed to buy Straight Path, which holds licenses to wireless spectrum, for $1.25 billion in an all-stock deal on April 10.Reuters had earlier reported that Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) was considering outbidding AT&T.(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Anjali Athavaley in New York and Supantha Mukherjee and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Paul Simao)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-straight-path-m-a-at-t-idINKBN17R19L'|'2017-04-25T09:51:00.000+03:00' '1629c70a58d348e4212077aae335fd5204c34402'|'UK funds raise stocks to pre-Brexit levels as snap election called - Reuters poll'|'Saving And Loans News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:19pm BST UK funds raise stocks to pre-Brexit levels as snap election called - Reuters poll By Claire Milhench - LONDON LONDON British fund managers raised their equity holdings to pre-Brexit levels in April, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, with some investors betting that a Conservative win in the June 8 snap election may lead to a better deal with the European Union. The survey of 15 UK-based wealth managers and chief investment officers was conducted between April 18 and 26, just after Prime Minister Theresa May called the election. May wants a bigger majority that she says will give her a stronger hand when negotiating the terms of the UK''s Brexit deal. UK fund managers raised their overall equity holdings to 48.9 percent, the highest level since May 2016 -- just a month before Britain narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum. They also raised UK stock holdings to 24.4 percent of their global equity portfolios, up 2.3 percentage points from March. "With the polls and the bookies having the Conservatives hot favourites to win this election in a landslide victory, there is a sense the prime minister will then be in a stronger position to negotiate a better Brexit deal," said Peter Lowman, chief investment officer of wealth manager Investment Quorum. One argument is that May would be able to compromise more because radical Brexiteers in her party would not hold as much sway. Opponents say, however, that it would give the Conservatives a free hand to pursue a hard Brexit without single market access. The bullish fund manager mood was reflected in a 1.8 percentage point cut in cash levels to 6.4 percent of global balanced portfolios. The bond allocation was trimmed 1.5 percentage points to 27.9 percent. FRENCH ELECTION Global stock markets surged to record highs in April .MIWD PUS, boosted by expectations of U.S. corporate tax cuts, and relief after the French presidential election''s first round. Some Reuters poll participants waited until the results of the vote were known before completing this month''s survey. With the pro-EU candidate, centrist Emmanuel Macron, going through as favourite to beat far right leader Marine Le Pen, worries about an anti-EU candidate winning have receded. This may account for the fact that about 80 percent of poll participants who answered a special question on the euro/dollar exchange rate thought it wouldn''t trade below parity in 2017. "A lot of good news is already baked into the dollar and a lot of bad news baked into the euro," said Rob Pemberton, investment director at HFM Columbus. Several managers also pointed out that if the political risk of the French election subsides and Macron wins, then the focus will shift to the European Central Bank, which is likely to adopt less of an easing bias towards the end of 2017. Emerging markets remained in favour, with emerging stocks accounting for 20.2 percent of investors'' global equity portfolios, effectively unchanged from last month''s 20.8 percent. Emerging debt accounted for 19.2 percent of global bond portfolios in April, up from 17 percent in March. All those who answered a question on the outlook for emerging market flows thought there were more to come. Mouhammed Choukeir, chief investment officer at Kleinwort Hambros, noted that flows had hit the highest monthly level in two years in March. "It helped that EM equity valuations are comparatively low, an oasis in an increasingly expensive equity desert. This should continue to make EM attractive," he said. MSCI''s benchmark emerging markets stocks index gained over 11 percent in the first quarter .MSCIEF and is set to end the month up another 2 percent, after surging towards a near-two year high after the French vote. "The world economy is strong and this year is a leadership transition year for China so their policymakers will want to keep growth going," said Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal London Asset Management (RLAM). (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-funds-poll-uk-idUKKBN17U1L3'|'2017-04-28T20:19:00.000+03:00' 'b3f0949b788ad166eace972a4cae6ba5eabe1760'|'U.S. gasoline demand falls for second straight month: EIA'|'Commodities - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:02pm EDT U.S. gasoline demand falls for second straight month: EIA left right FILE PHOTO: A Shell gas station is shown in Encinitas, California January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A natural gas flare on an oil well pad burns as the sun sets outside Watford City, North Dakota January 21, 2016 REUTERS/Andrew Cullen 2/2 By Jarrett Renshaw - NEW YORK NEW YORK U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the second straight monthly decline, according to data released on Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that suggested the market may have trouble repeating last year''s record volumes. Gasoline demand fell 218,000 barrels per day to 8.988 million bpd in February, according to the EIA''s petroleum supply monthly report. January demand for gasoline fell 1.9 percent from last year, EIA data showed. U.S. refiners have said weather issues cut demand early this year. They still expect gasoline demand will rise modestly from last year''s record levels, executives said in an earnings calls this week. U.S. total oil demand in February fell 2.5 percent, or 492,000 bpd from a year ago, to 19.18 million bpd, EIA data showed. The growth in total oil demand was also hurt by weaker February distillate demand, which fell by 1.4 percent, or 54,000 bpd, to 3.905 million bpd compared with last year, the data showed. (Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gasoline-demand-idUSKBN17U2MC'|'2017-04-29T02:02:00.000+03:00' '38d1bc72a585158f829289a7e492231e666bd62e'|'Italian police say Amazon has evaded 130 million euros of taxes'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 7:00pm BST Italian police say Amazon has evaded 130 million euros of taxes The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol MILAN Milan tax police have told Amazon they believes the world''s largest online retailer has evaded around 130 million euros ($142 million) of taxes in Italy, a source close to the matter said on Friday. The allegedly unpaid taxes refer to the period between 2011 and 2015, when Amazon made revenues of around 2.5 billion euros in Italy, the source said. The tax police''s findings have been handed to Milan prosecutors, the source added. Amazon issued a statement denying it had evaded any taxes, and said its profits in Italy, on which taxes are paid, had been low due to its considerable investments in the country. (Reporting by Sara Rossi; Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-amazon-italy-tax-idUKKBN17U2MF'|'2017-04-29T02:00:00.000+03:00' '6f32b0233919238a6e2f3caefad83f9d2f81bd9f'|'Lufthansa swings to first Q1 profit since 2008'|' 6:38am BST Lufthansa swings to first Q1 profit since 2008 The tail of a Lufthansa airplane is seen outside a Lufthansa Technik maintenance hangar at Malta International Airport outside Valletta, Malta, November 23, 2016. REUTERS/Darrin Zammit Lupi BERLIN Germany''s Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ) swung to a profit in the first quarter, driven by improved demand at its air freight division and maintenance unit, and said on Thursday it was seeing improved price trends at its airlines. The group reported adjusted earnings before interest and tax of 25 million euros ($27 million), against a loss of 53 million a year ago and against expectations for a loss of 26.6 million in a Reuters poll. It was the first time Lufthansa has made a profit in the first quarter of the year, typically a weak quarter for airlines, since 2008. Despite the strong start to the year, it confirmed a forecast for underlying earnings to fall only slightly this year from last year''s 1.75 billion euros. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lufthansa-results-idUKKBN17T0KQ'|'2017-04-27T13:38:00.000+03:00' 'ffe2214ec8f4d0b0e2b8aebbfe92da878bb550d6'|'Greece will need debt relief - Eurogroup head Dijsselbloem'|' 04am BST Greece will need debt relief - Eurogroup head Dijsselbloem Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem attends a European Union finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal BRUSSELS Greece will need debt relief for its public finances and economic future to become sustainable, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Thursday, promising a deal between Athens and its lenders in May. His remarks are a departure from the line taken by euro zone finance ministers until now, that debt relief would be discussed, but only once the latest bailout ends and only if it turns out to be necessary. Speaking in the European Parliament, Dijsselbloem said the package of reforms now under negotiation between Greece, the euro zone governments and the International Monetary Fund was not about more austerity, but about boosting economic growth. "The parliament has my personal strong commitment that we will achieve that deal for Greece in May. It needs to be done in May," Dijsselbloem said. "Yes, we will discuss debt and debt relief will be needed to find that solution, that is my opinion and I believe that is shared in the Eurogroup," he said. "Already last year we gave that commitment to come back to the issue of sustainability of debt for Greece, because that is the only way they will come back on a sustainable path and a sustainable economic future," Dijsselbloem said. (Reporting By Jan Strupczewski; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-greece-debt-idUKKBN17T1BY'|'2017-04-27T18:04:00.000+03:00' 'aeae99624024d5039b174283f3b8c6d416441abc'|'Danone shareholders grant WhiteWave boss a board seat'|'PARIS, April 27 Danone shareholders on Thursday voted to grant a board seat to Gregg Engles, the chairman and CEO of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave Foods Co, which the French food group recently bought.His appointment was approved by over 96 percent of votes cast at Danone''s annual shareholder meeting.Danone''s Chief Executive Emmanuel Faber told shareholders that with WhiteWave''s acquisition, North America would become the group''s top market, accounting for around 25 percent of its sales against 13 percent before.Last week Danone, the world''s largest yoghurt maker, raised its forecast for earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2017, having closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of WhiteWave on April 12.(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Sarah White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/danone-agm-board-idINL8N1HZ6SE'|'2017-04-27T13:10:00.000+03:00' '407352058df279970306b820f278d62ef01ea06f'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso rebounds as Trump agrees to keep NAFTA for now'|'Company News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 11:59am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Mexico peso rebounds as Trump agrees to keep NAFTA for now By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 27 The Mexican peso rebounded on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to keep the North American Free Trade Agreement alive for now and renegotiate its terms. The peso had slumped on Wednesday after a senior Trump administration official said a draft executive order was under consideration that could withdraw the United States from NAFTA. But Trump said on Thursday that he received calls from the leaders of NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada asking him renegotiate the agreement instead of terminating it. Trump expressed optimism that the three countries could successfully renegotiate an accord he deems unfair to American interests. The peso strengthened 0.5 percent after slumping nearly 2 percent the day before. It had touched a record low in January on concerns that Trump would pull out of NAFTA but rallied back as officials took a more constructive tone on trade. Other Latin American currencies seesawed, with the Brazilian real slightly lower ahead of a national strike and demonstrations called by labor unions and leftist parties to protest conservative President Michel Temer''s reform program. The lower house of Congress approved on Wednesday the main text of a bill to relax Brazil''s labor laws, a main plank of Temer''s efforts to increase investment and pull the economy out of its worst recession. Brazil''s benchmark Bovespa stock index fell 0.5 percent, weighed down by shares of Vale SA after the world''s largest iron ore producer missed first-quarter profit estimates. Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1545 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 978.46 -0.41 13.95 MSCI LatAm 2589.52 -0.69 11.4 Brazil Bovespa 64521.25 -0.53 7.13 Mexico IPC 49429.02 -0.27 8.30 Chile IPSA 4809.68 -0.87 15.86 Chile IGPA 24155.41 -0.83 16.50 Argentina MerVal 20662.81 -1.73 22.14 Colombia IGBC 10146.24 -0.66 0.18 Venezuela IBC 56324.03 -8.11 77.65 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.1840 -0.39 2.05 Mexico peso 19.0895 0.49 8.67 Chile peso 664.3 0.11 0.96 Colombia peso 2944.57 -0.53 1.93 Peru sol 3.248 0.03 5.11 Argentina peso (interbank) 15.4500 0.26 2.75 Argentina peso (parallel) 15.91 0.94 5.72 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; editing by Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/latam-emergingmarkets-idUSL1N1HZ1I5'|'2017-04-27T23:59:00.000+03:00' '6faf480c668168e4e13e6c85b962de263dc4ecab'|'Colombia''s Ecopetrol halts Cano Limon pipeline after attack'|'Company 20am EDT Colombia''s Ecopetrol halts Cano Limon pipeline after attack BOGOTA, April 27 A bomb attack early Thursday morning has caused an oil spill and halted the flow of crude along Colombia''s second largest oil pipeline, the Cano-Limon Covenas, state oil company Ecopetrol said. The attack on the 485-mile (780-km) pipeline which can carry up to 210,000 barrels per day of crude, has so far not affected production at the Cano Limon field, operated by U.S.-based Occidental Petroleum Corp, or exports. Ecopetrol said in a statement that the bomb attack took place at 1:30 a.m. in El Carmen municipality in eastern Norte de Santander province. Spillage was affecting a water source that serves 3,500 area residents, the company added. Staff are working to clean up the spill, Ecopetrol said. The pipeline has suffered 31 attacks this year so far and was halted for 46 days in March and April because of bombings. Since 1986 the pipeline has been out of service 3,800 days, or 10.4 years, 30 percent of its life. Some 66 million gallons of crude have been spilled since 2000, Ecopetrol says. The company did not specifically name those responsible for the attacks but the government''s chief negotiator at peace talks with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels tweeted that the attack was "outrageous and foolish." "With terrorist attacks like this that affect civilian, non-combatant populations, the ELN complicates Quito negotiations," Juan Camilo Restrepo said on Twitter. Attacks by the ELN - considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union - on oil infrastructure have been frequent during the group''s five-decade war with the government. The attacks, which numbered 43 last year, cause oil spills and environmental damage. The ELN has about 2,000 combatants and opposes the presence of multinational companies in the mining and oil sector, claiming that they seize natural resources without leaving benefits to the country''s population or economy. President Juan Manuel Santos and the ELN in February launched formal peace negotiations in Ecuador, but the group has stepped up its attacks since. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Helen Murphy and Marguerita Choy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/colombia-oil-idUSL2N1H00UB'|'2017-04-27T23:20:00.000+03:00' 'c366efe4287d972013dad974b845ff0eb43cae61'|'EU will ''for sure'' reach post-Brexit free trade deal with Britain'|' 12:03pm BST EU will ''for sure'' reach post-Brexit free trade deal with Britain left right FILE PHOTO: EU and Union flags fly above Parliament Square in London, Britain March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo 1/2 left right European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom delivers a speech during an event hosted by Canada 2020 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Wattie 2/2 COPENHAGEN The European Union will reach a free trade deal with Britain after the country leaves, the bloc''s trade commissioner said on Thursday. "It''s uncharted territory but I''m sure we will solve it. We will have a free trade agreement, that is for sure," Cecilia Malmstrom told a conference in Copenhagen. When asked again whether she was certain, Malmstrom said: "Of course". (Reporting by Julie Astrid Thomsen, writing by Stine Jacobsen; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-trade-britain-idUKKBN17T1HN'|'2017-04-27T19:03:00.000+03:00' '2f819c095c61cc6096d7e99431fcbd0911f0ec10'|'EU trade chief sees a good case to resume EU-U.S. free trade talks'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 11:31am BST EU trade chief sees a good case to resume EU-U.S. free trade talks European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom delivers a speech during an event hosted by Canada 2020 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Wattie COPENHAGEN The European Union sees a good case for reviving frozen free trade talks with the United States, its trade commissioner said on Thursday. "There is still a very good case to take negotiations on TTIP between EU and the US forward but I think we need to wait a little bit more for them to assess where we were, where we stopped, where they want to go," Cecilia Malmstrom told a conference in Copenhagen. (Reporting by Julie Astrid Thomsen, writing by Stine Jacobsen; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-trade-usa-idUKKBN17T1F0'|'2017-04-27T18:31:00.000+03:00' '5979e303b54600c49cdd92e3e96b8e8e41d6b2ae'|'Atlantia sells 10 percent of Italy motorway unit, option to sell further 2.5 percent'|'MILAN Italian toll-road group Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) said on Thursday it had sold a 10 percent stake in its Italian motorway unit to a series of investors including Allianz ( ALVG.DE ).Atlantia, which runs more than 5,000 kms in toll motorways, said the total equity value for the whole of its Autostrade per l''Italia (ASPI) unit was 14.8 billion euros ($16 billion).In a statement, the Italian infrastructure group said it had agreed to sell a 5 percent stake to a consortium 74 percent-led by Allianz Capital Partners and also including EDF Invest and DIF Infrastructure IV.A further 5 percent was sold to the Silk Road Fund.Atlantia said the Allianz-led consortium also had a call option to buy a further 2.5 percent of ASPI, on the same terms and conditions, before the end of October.In a separate statement Atlantia confirmed its preliminary interest in a tie up with Spanish peer Abertis ( ABE.MC ), providing the deal was done on a friendly basis.(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-abertis-m-a-atlantia-allianz-idINKBN17T2RI'|'2017-04-27T16:07:00.000+03:00' 'eb2edfd47fc0831b0f90285676d75f6e11f03555'|'Goldman hopes high rates will lure consumers to online bank'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 7:58pm BST Goldman hopes high rates will lure consumers to online bank FILE PHOTO -- A sign is displayed in the reception of the Sydney offices of Goldman Sachs in Australia, May 18, 2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo By Olivia Oran Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ) plans to promote its high-interest bearing deposit products in a marketing push to consumers later this year as it looks to grow its online bank, Chief Strategy Officer Stephen Scherr said in an interview on Thursday. Historically known as an adviser to the world''s richest people and corporations, Goldman Sachs has been trying to do more business with ordinary consumers to diversify its business and have a more stable source of funding. A little over a year ago, the Wall Street bank acquired $16 billion worth of online deposits from General Electric Co ( GE.N ), about half of which came from individuals. Goldman has since increased those deposits by 50 percent and wants to grow more, Scherr said. "It carries ... great strategic potential," he said. "The ambition we have is for the retail deposit platform to grow so that it becomes a real, sizable channel." By acquiring GE''s deposits, Goldman began a process that may help it better weather future disasters. Deposits are less likely to disappear during times of stress than other funding sources because they are federally insured. Regulators have been pushing big Wall Street banks to rely more on deposits since the 2008 financial crisis. Goldman''s online deposits from individuals now total $12 billion. Although they have grown quickly, they are still a small fraction of the $124 billion in overall deposits on Goldman''s balance sheet and an even tinier fraction of deposits at banks with sprawling branch networks. JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM.N ), for instance, holds $1.4 trillion in deposits. Goldman has been offering a competitive interest rate of 1.05 percent for digital savings accounts to attract new customers. The average national rate for savings accounts is currently 0.06 percent, according to the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The bank offers even higher rates for depositors who agree to lock their money up for a set period of time, through products like certificates of deposit. Deposits will help Goldman boost profits if it can find ways to lend them profitably. Last year, the bank launched Marcus, its first major foray into consumer lending and also acquired Honest Dollar, an online retirement savings platform for small businesses and startups. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-goldman-sachs-bank-idUKKBN17T2UC'|'2017-04-28T02:52:00.000+03:00' 'ce600c4bd0a0a980f873b7de23d4f9167609aec6'|'Charter, AMC team up to produce original programming'|'Company News 26pm EDT Charter, AMC team up to produce original programming By Anjali Athavaley - NEW YORK, April 26 NEW YORK, April 26 Charter Communications Inc will develop and produce original programming with AMC Networks Inc, which is known for the show "The Walking Dead," to differentiate its content offerings, the cable company said on Wednesday. The programming will be available exclusively to Charter''s Spectrum subscribers initially, and AMC will get subsequent rights, the companies said. They are discussing the kind of content they will produce, and they expect it to air on the Spectrum platform beginning in 2018. The announcement shows how pay-TV providers are seeing value in partnering with or buying content companies, which are having an increasingly difficult time as standalone entities. AT&T Inc, which became the largest U.S. pay-TV operator after buying DirecTV in 2015, is acquiring Time Warner Inc in an $85.4 billion deal that would give it control of cable channels like HBO and CNN and help the wireless carrier diversify its business. It has said the deal will close by the end of the year. In November, John Malone, whose Liberty Broadband Corp is Charter''s largest stakeholder, said at an investor meeting: "I think Charter should, at the back of its mind, be thinking about what kind of content, content investment, content involvement would enhance their business but also would enhance the value of the content." Tom Montemagno, Charter''s head of programming acquisition, said in a statement on Wednesday that the AMC partnership would help "further differentiate our customer experience and the value we provide in a competitive marketplace." The content partnership is separate from a free online video streaming service that Reuters reported AMC was planning to launch for millennial cable subscribers. Charter and AMC shares were up roughly 1 percent in midday trading on Wednesday. (Reporting by Anjali Athavaley; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/charter-commns-amc-networks-idUSL1N1HY170'|'2017-04-27T00:26:00.000+03:00' 'e96ed2cf8ea1a4eb3ae7c2372ab91d13d4b9abee'|'VW''s ride service partner Gett buys Juno for $250 million: Capital'|'BERLIN On-demand ride service company Gett, a partner of Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ), has agreed to buy U.S. rival Juno for $250 million, German magazine Capital reported, without citing the source of the information.Volkswagen (VW) last year announced it would invest $300 million in Gett to underpin its new mobility services as Europe''s largest carmaker makes a strategic shift to overcome a diesel emissions scandal.The deal has support from VW and is aimed at improving Gett''s expansion prospects in the United States, Capital magazine said.Gett had no immediate comment and VW did not respond to requests seeking comment.VW said last June its cooperation with Gett may lead to business models involving car sharing, limousine rides and taxi services in the fast-growing ride-hailing market, which in Europe alone may yield 10 billion euros ($10.87 billion) of sales by 2025 and could grow more than 30 percent annually.Carmakers have been investing in mobility companies including Uber UBER.UL and Lyft, Uber''s main U.S. rival, responding to changing consumer trends as people increasingly choose to forego vehicle ownership and buy transportation by the mile or the minute.(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-strategy-idINKBN17S2DI'|'2017-04-26T14:56:00.000+03:00' '9311ab3fd7d7266a9d85df0b50e25ba993a83e60'|'South Sudanese banks run out of cash as conflict rages'|'NAIROBI Banks in war-ravaged South Sudan have run out of cash and the crunch is exacerbating hunger and widespread famine, the deputy finance minister said on Wednesday."If you go to the commercial banks, you do not find South Sudan pounds and dollars. They are all in the black market," said Deputy Minister Mou Ambrose Thiik.He said a parallel economy had emerged and people were hoarding cash. Black market rates have reached 150 South Sudanese pounds to the dollar, up from 105 in mid-February.South Sudan has a steady stream of hard currency from its oil, but production has been slashed and most of the cash is eaten up by operating costs."We have very minimum foreign reserves. I cannot tell you at the moment how much it is," he told Reuters in an interview.The world''s youngest nation plunged into civil war in 2013, just two years after independence from neighbouring Sudan, after President Salva Kiir fired his deputy Riek Machar.The conflict has split the nation along largely ethnic lines and the United Nations has warned of a possible genocide. More than 3 million people have fled their homes out of a population of 12 million.The U.N. has declared a famine in some parts of the country and nearly half its population face food shortages.Thiik said money shortages had worsened the crisis. He also accused U.N. agencies and foreign businesses of "bad practices" for not depositing dollars in South Sudanese banks."The dollars that are brought to help the country do not arrive in the country but they are banked somewhere else," he said. "It is something we need to address with the U.N. agencies, which are the main suppliers of the dollar."The U.N. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Last month, a confidential U.N. report noted the government still spent millions of dollars on security forces despite the famine.The report said 97 percent of South Sudan''s known revenue comes from oil sales. At least half the budget - "likely substantially more" - is devoted to security, the report said.South Sudan''s government rejected the report.(Editing by Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/southsudan-economy-idINKBN17S26F'|'2017-04-26T13:33:00.000+03:00' '840fa2bf7af4dfbc90f3120c2a3cabd6c21513e2'|'EU aviation body says in process of certifying China C919 jet'|'Money 5:09pm IST EU aviation body says in process of certifying China C919 jet People take pictures and videos as the first C919 passenger jet made by the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (Comac) is pulled out from behind a curtain during a news conference at the company''s factory in Shanghai, November 2, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily/File Photo SHANGHAI Europe''s aviation safety regulator said on Wednesday it had started the certification process of China''s domestically-developed single-aisle C919 jet, which is set for its maiden flight early next month, a sign of closer ties between the two aviation markets. European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director Patrick Ky said that no decision had yet been made and that it was part of ongoing negotiations around a Bilateral Air Safety Agreements (BASA) between the two regions. (Reporting by Jackie Cai and Adam Jourdan; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/aviation-china-comac-idINKBN17S1G8'|'2017-04-26T09:39:00.000+03:00' 'ea226b905a480f512b2d6e977e4649b80d5d6fb7'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 26'|'Company News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 12:48am EDT PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 26 April 26 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Eleven current and former Fox News employees filed a class-action lawsuit in New York against the network, accusing it of "abhorrent, intolerable, unlawful and hostile racial discrimination". nyti.ms/2q5o49U - Despite the turmoil that has engulfed Wells Fargo & Co in the past year, shareholders voted to re-elect all of the bank''s 15 directors during a raucous annual meeting on Tuesday. But some of the board members edged in just barely, signaling that many shareholders want further changes to the bank''s leadership. nyti.ms/2q5vIBc - Newly released police documents claim that David Dao, the passenger who was shown being dragged off a United Airlines flight on April 9 in widely shared videos, behaved violently toward the officers removing him, but his lawyer dismissed this account as "utter nonsense". nyti.ms/2q5ob55 - Chobani LLC, the yogurt company, has filed a lawsuit against Alex Jones, the high-profile conspiracy theorist and the host of a popular right-wing radio show, for posting what it called false news reports about the company and its owner. nyti.ms/2q5gxrv - A group including Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and presidential candidate, has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Miami Marlins, according to two people briefed on the situation who requested anonymity because the deal is not official. nyti.ms/2q53iqY (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idUSL4N1HY23G'|'2017-04-26T12:48:00.000+03:00' '807a28b8d8bc1cd5147e18c9e15b5bc9174dc41d'|'KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 billion'|' KKR to buy Hitachi Kokusai Electric for $2.3 billion TOKYO U.S. buyout firm KKR said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy Hitachi Ltd''s ( 6501.T ) electronic equipment unit for 257 billion yen (£1.80 billion) with investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc (JIP). KKR and JIP will pay 2,503 yen for each Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc ( 6756.T ) share, a 6.4 percent discount from Wednesday''s close, according to a joint statement from KKR and Japan Industrial Partners. Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ), the largest shareholder in Hitachi Kokusai, said in a separate statement it would reduce its ownership to 20 percent after the deal is completed. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-kkr-hitachi-kokusai-idUKKBN17S0ZM'|'2017-04-26T17:31:00.000+03:00' '430f468588b5538bad719ff0ddd8a25583eb5999'|'Cybersecurity: is the office coffee machine watching you? - Guardian Sustainable Business'|'T roubled by something deeply unethical going on at work? Or maybe you’re plotting to leak sensitive information on the company that just sacked you? Either way, you best think twice before making your next move because an all-seeing artificial intelligence might just be analysing every email you send, every file you upload, every room you scan into – even your coffee routine.The latest wave of cyber-defence technology employs machine learning to monitor use of the ever-expanding number of smart household objects connected to the Internet of Things – shutting down hackers before they’ve broken into corporate databases or whistleblowers before they’ve forwarded on information to the media.One of the leading proponents is cyber-defence company Darktrace , founded in 2013 by former British intelligence officers in Cambridge and today featuring 370 employees in 23 offices globally. The company is targeting growth in the Asia-Pacific, where regional head Sanjay Aurora is promoting Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System at the CeBIT Australia conference in Sydney on 23 May.Seventeen jobs, five careers: learning in the age of automation Read moreIn an interview ahead of the conference, Aurora tells the Guardian that the Internet of Things, the interconnected everyday devices such as the smart fridge, offers more vulnerabilities to be hacked than ever before – but also more ways to scan for threats.“In newspapers there is not a single day where we don’t read about an organisation being breached,” he says.“At a time when even coffee machines have IP addresses, many people in security teams don’t so much as have visibility of the network.”Where cybersecurity normally functions as a barrier to keep out previously-identified threats, Aurora says Darktrace technology behaves more like a human immune system.“Once you understand the devices and people, once you notice subtle changes within the network, you establish a pattern of life, and whether it is lateral movement or unusual activity – maybe an employee using a device they don’t normally use, or a fingerprint scanner acting unusually – the immune system notices and takes action, detecting these things in network before they become a headline,” he says.Darktrace’s package includes a 3D topographical real-time “ threat visualizer ”, which monitors everyday network activity, and the responsive Antigena system, which can decide for itself to slow systems down to give security personnel time to stop a potential breach, cut off network access to particular individuals, or mark specific emails for further investigation.Adapt software to monitor e-communications of managers to see whether they''re planning reprisals against whistleblowersBrian Martin, Whistleblowers Australia“Let’s say an employee is made redundant and becomes a potential information threat, the machine will intelligently determine what is the problem, assess the mathematical threat and then decide what action is to be taken,” Aurora says.Darktrace claims its Enterprise Immune System has reported over 30,000 serious cyber incidents in over 2,000 deployments across the world, offering up examples such as an employee who was disgruntled about their company’s Brexit plans and was caught before they could leak the information. Another case was put forward by Darktrace co-founder Poppy Gustafsson at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in London last year. Gustafsson cited the case of attackers sending a truck into the warehouse of a luxury goods manufacturer after uploading their fingerprints to the company’s system in order to bypass the biometric scanners.“It’s one of the few attacks where a criminal has given their fingerprint ahead of time,” she said.Darktrace is well on the way to establishing itself in Australia ahead of the CeBIT business tech conference, already boasting clients such as national telecommunications provider Telstra.According to a Telstra spokesperson, the company “joined forces with Darktrace in 2016, adding it to a suite of complementary security technologies which are designed and utilised to protect customer and corporate information and the Telstra network. Darktrace, along with our other technologies, people and processes, strengthens Telstra’s internal security through its ability to detect anomalous activity and its ability to visualise all network activity, resulting in a reduced time to detect potential threats.”Lipstick on the robot: why is everyone suddenly happy about tech unemployment? - Tim Dunlop Read moreThe move has attracted concern from Communication Workers Union (CWU) national secretary Greg Rayner, who says the union was not consulted on the introduction of the technology.“That’s disappointing and arguably a breach of Telstra’s obligations under the current enterprise agreement,” he says.“They’re supposed to consult on changes that will have a significant effect on the workforce. Telstra employees have been subjected to increasingly intense electronic monitoring in recent years, including scrutiny and recording of their online activities at work. We are obviously concerned that this technology will allow further intrusions into employees’ day-to-day working lives.”Telstra has history in regard to unions and whistleblowers – in 2008 former employee Jim Ziogas was fired after being connected to a leak to the media of internal plans to de-unionise the workforce.Whistleblowers Australia vice-president, Brian Martin, doesn’t have a lot in common with Darktrace, but he does share a fondness for immune-system analogies. “Whistleblowers are antibodies for corruption in organisations,” he tells the Guardian. “If it were possible to prevent leaks (and that remains to be shown), this might only allow problems to fester until they become much worse. Think of what happened to Volkswagen , which lacked any whistleblowers or leakers and paid a much larger penalty than if its emissions fraud had been exposed years earlier.”He says invading the privacy of workers has the potential to create resentment and undermine loyalty, and that a lack of independent monitoring means there are serious questions regarding the effectiveness of Darktrace’s Enterprise Immune System, particularly in regard to false positives and false negatives.“The damage to morale done by falsely accusing an employee of planning to leak documents can be imagined,” he says.“How about this option? Adapt the software to monitor the e-communications of top managers to see whether they are planning reprisals against whistleblowers. How do you think they would like that?”Devised as it was by former MI5 and GCHQ agents, inspired by the challenges they were facing in counterintelligence, Darktrace technology is also an interesting proposition for governments, but the company is more coy about the countries that it counts as clients than the businesses it services.For its part, a spokesperson for the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) – the department of defence intelligence agency that bears the slogan “reveal their secrets, protect our own” – refused to confirm or deny use of Darktrace technology, telling the Guardian it does not “provide commentary on capability or use of commercial products”.There are certainly plenty of rivals to Darktrace technology also promoting their cybersecurity platform’s integration of the latest machine learning capabilities, including CrowdStrike , Symantec and Cylance.Then there are Darktrace’s true rivals – hackers themselves. Thomas LaRock, technical evangelist at IT company SolarWinds, warns that machine learning is a tool that can be used to attack just as easily as it can be used to defend.The robot debate is over: the jobs are gone and they aren''t coming back Read moreIf it is possible to use machine learning to build a model that helps them launch cyberattacks with greater efficiency, then that’s what you can expect to happen,” he says.“Think of this as a spy game, where you have agents that go from one side to another. There is bound to be a person somewhere right now working on machine learning models to deter crime. One day they could be found to be working for the criminals, using machine learning models to help commit crime.”Aurora defends the use of machine learning at Darktrace, arguing this is one game companies cannot afford to opt out of.“If you look at the way the threat landscape is moving, it is just simply humanly impossible using conventional methods – the only way to react to these threats is AI and machine learning,” he says.“We are proud to achieve on that front – pure, unsupervised machine learning, as employee behaviour changes. That is the secret sauce – continuously evolving and learning.”Topics Guardian sustainable business Fourth industrial revolution Cyberwar Internet Hacking Business (Australia) Work & careers features '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/apr/28/cybersecurity-is-your-office-coffee-machine-watching-you'|'2017-04-28T11:44:00.000+03:00' '76ad42a5fd705fe79aafd758fdda8032d00cb455'|'Libyan wealth fund trial against SocGen to start in UK court'|' 01pm BST Libyan wealth fund trial against SocGen to start in UK court FILE PHOTO: The logo of the French bank Societe Generale is seen in front of the bank''s headquarters building at La Defense business and financial district in Courbevoie near Paris, France, April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo By Claire Milhench - LONDON LONDON Libya''s $67 billion sovereign wealth fund will go head-to-head with Societe Generale in London''s High Court on Tuesday over claims the French investment bank paid $58.5 million (45.65 million pounds) in bribes to secure business from the fund. The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) is pursuing SocGen ( SOGN.PA ) in relation to five trades totalling $2.1 billion, executed between 2007 and 2009, before Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was ousted as Libyan leader. The LIA claims the trades were secured as part of a "fraudulent and corrupt scheme" involving the payment of $58.5 million by SocGen to a Panamanian-registered company called Lenaida, controlled at the time by Libyan businessman Walid Giahmi. Lenaida was dissolved in 2010. In its latest annual report SocGen said that it "firmly refutes such allegations and any claim calling into question the lawfulness of these investments". Giahmi, who is also named as a defendant in the suit, maintains that he is a legitimate businessman and there was never a fraudulent and corrupt scheme. According to the LIA, Giahmi was in a position to act as a middleman because of his connections with what the fund calls ''Gaddafi Associates'', in particular Saif Gaddafi, one of the leader''s sons. In a pre-trial hearing last May, the judge ruled in favour of the LIA''s requests for further disclosure by Giahmi of phone and banking records to shed light on the nature of the alleged relationship. Libya set up the LIA in 2006 with the aim of investing the large reserves accumulated from its oil revenues and integrating its economy into the international financial system after years of sanctions. It quickly became a magnet for foreign banks and fund managers. The leadership of the LIA remains contested, in a dispute that mirrors the fragmented nature of the country since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011. Last summer the fund lost a high-profile case against Goldman Sachs in which it tried to claw back $1.2 billion from the Wall Street firm in relation to nine equity derivatives investments carried out in 2008. In that trial, the LIA argued that Goldman exercised "undue influence" and "unconscionable bargaining" to get it to enter the trades, and that it was too unsophisticated to understand what it was buying. However, the judge ruled in favour of Goldman, saying key decision-makers at the fund had understood the trades and the risks. The LIA sought permission to appeal but is still waiting to hear the outcome of this. The case against SocGen and Giahmi is more complex and involves allegations by the LIA that the payments to Lenaida were made with the aim of directly or indirectly influencing the LIA to enter into the disputed trades. The trial is expected to run until July 31. Some witnesses appearing for SocGen will give evidence in private to avoid self-incrimination, as the French bank is also being investigated by U.S. authorities in connection with deals involving Libya. In April 2014 the U.S. Department of Justice served Societe Generale with a subpoena requesting documents relating to transactions with Libyan entities and individuals, including the LIA. In October 2016 the Securities and Exchange Commission served SocGen with a subpoena for the same purpose. Societe Generale said in its last annual report that it was cooperating with U.S. authorities. (Reporting by Claire Milhench; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-libya-swf-litigation-idUKKBN17U226'|'2017-04-28T22:01:00.000+03:00' '9c2020584408c99ff7bbe8f408e5dc0ba704f867'|'Pimco shutters RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund'|' 54pm BST Pimco shutters RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund The offices of Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO) are shown in Newport Beach, California August 4, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Jennifer Ablan - NEW YORK NEW YORK Pacific Investment Management Co on Friday liquidated its RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund, a global-neutral fund which had reached more than $4 billion in assets under management in 2014, according to the Newport Beach, Calif''s website. The portfolio''s strategy included long exposure to a portfolio of stocks through the "RAE Fundamental U.S. Large Model Portfolio" and short exposure to the S&P 500 Index, while overlaying this equity market neutral exposure with absolute return bond alpha strategy through "AR Bond Alpha Strategy". The RAE Fundamental U.S. Large Model Portfolio stocks are selected by Pimco''s long-time subadviser, Research Affiliates, LLC, which was founded and chaired by Rob Arnott, known on Wall Street as the "godfather of smart beta." "We constantly review our suite of strategies and may liquidate a fund from time to time if we feel it no longer serves our clients needs," Michael Reid, spokesman for Pimco, said in a statement to Reuters. "We are committed to RAE and will be expanding RA relationship in equities with (the) upcoming launch of RAFI Multi-Factor ETFs." Pimco, a unit of Munich-based insurer Allianz SE ( ALVG.DE ), had $1.51 trillion in assets, has collaborated with Arnott''s firm Research Affiliates for more than a decade. In 2015, Pimco expanded Pimco''s RAE Fundamental lineup, which uses Research Affiliates'' "smart beta," or "fundamental indexation," strategy of selecting, weighting and rebalancing holdings on the basis of characteristics other than market capitalisation. Two years ago, Pimco introduced a slate of six new equity funds in collaboration with Research Affiliates to cover U.S. large, U.S. small, international, global, global excluding U.S. and emerging markets. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-funds-pimco-idUKKBN17U2CK'|'2017-04-28T23:54:00.000+03:00' '646bc7d3bb74a5b14477709850a7c42e7cc59902'|'UK GDP growth slower than expected as inflation bites - Business'|'The UK economy suffered a sharp slowdown in the opening months of this year, as the post-referendum rise in living costs took its toll on British households and hit consumer spending.GDP growth fell more than expected to 0.3% in the first quarter from 0.7% in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.The official figures add to signs that the UK economy’s resilience in the wake of the Brexit vote is now waning and will come as a blow to Theresa May’s government as it banks on a solid victory in the snap election on 8 June . UK economic growth slows to 0.3% as inflation bites - business live Read more Many economists expect the slowdown to continue as higher inflation dents consumer spending, a key driver for the UK economy. But the deterioration is still far off the Brexit-related slump some commentators had predicted.“The first quarter’s slowdown was led by consumers, whose incomes are under pressure from slowing employment and wage growth as well as rising inflation,” said Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics.“One quarter of slow growth is not definitive proof that the economy is on the ropes. But the pressure on consumers’ incomes looks set to build this year as retailers pass on higher import prices.”The figures suggested consumer-facing sectors such as shops and hotels have been hurt in recent months by the squeeze on Britons’ spending power from the pound’s plunge since the Brexit vote. Sterling’s weakness makes imports to the UK such as food and fuel more expensive. That factor combined with higher crude oil prices has lifted inflation to its highest level for more than three years. Economists had predicted a more modest slowdown to 0.4% growth, according to a Reuters poll.UK GDP chart The 0.3% growth rate was the slowest for a year. There was also a sharp slowdown in GDP per head, which adjusts for the size of the population and is generally seen as a better guide to prosperity than mere GDP. It edged up just 0.1% in the first quarter after rising 0.5% in the previous quarter.Statisticians said the biggest drag on growth was the retail sector, echoing other signs shoppers are cutting back. Growth in the services sector, which makes up more than three quarters of the UK economy, slowed markedly to a two-year low of 0.3% from 0.8% in the final quarter of 2016.A leading thinktank underscored the pressures on household budgets as it noted the weakness in wage growth started long before the Brexit vote. After adjusting for inflation, employees’ average earnings were still substantially below pre-recession levels, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in a new analysis . On current forecasts, earnings would still not have fully recovered by the end of the next parliament.“A period of this length over which earnings have fallen is unprecedented in modern times. They had started to recover a little between 2014 and 2016, but rising inflation linked to the fall in the value of the pound since the EU referendum has put a stop to that modest recovery,” said IFS senior research economist Jonathan Cribb. The ONS figures showed industrial production and construction output also slowed in the first quarter. But economists noted that their fortunes could yet improve over coming months. There have been signs that the weak pound has already helped exporters by making their goods and services more competitive overseas. “The long-awaited slowdown is finally coming but I’d be wary of over-interpreting today’s numbers,” said Ian Stewart, the chief economist at Deloitte.“Quarterly GDP growth is choppy and prone to revision. Inflation will continue to squeeze the consumer but the outlook for manufacturing and exports has brightened. Growth is slowing, but this looks like a cooling, not collapse, in UK activity.” Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank, was also cautiously optimistic about the UK’s longer-term prospects.“The fears leading up to Brexit were that growth would stall due to a dive in confidence, hiring and investment. That hasn’t happened. What did happen is the pound dived, pushing inflation sharply higher and that is causing consumer spending and hence overall growth to slow,” he said.“The good news is that the surge in inflation is probably temporary and the squeeze on growth should pass. However, it is probably going to take another year before growth is back on an upwards trajectory.”But others are more downbeat about the potential consequences of leaving the EU. The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s reiterated its view on Fridaythat the decision to leave “continues to present a significant risk to the UK’s track record of strong economic performance, and to its large financial services sector in particular”. It added that the Brexit vote had also increased instability in the UK as “highlighted by the snap election called for June 2017”.Economists at Barclays said GDP growth had come in weaker than the Bank of England had expected and strengthened the case for keeping interest rates at their record low of 0.25% this year and next.Topics Economic growth (GDP) Economics news Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/28/uk-gdp-growth-inflation-economy-brexit-vote'|'2017-04-28T17:37:00.000+03:00' '3a71aa3f6a05dacfdeb2d12122e0345de67006f3'|'CORRECTED (OFFICIAL)-UPDATE 1-Pret A Manger seeks more British baristas to balance Brexit risk'|'(Changes number for UK workforce in third paragraph of APRIL 27 story after clarification from company)* 65 pct of UK staff are from other EU countries* Firm "reaching out" to sources of British labour* 2016 core earnings up 11 pct* Targets 500 stores by end of 2017By James DaveyLONDON, April 28 Coffee and sandwich chain Pret A Manger wants to increase the number of Britons working in its UK shops to cushion it from potential damage if European Union workers stay away after Brexit, its boss said on Thursday.The status of citizens from other EU countries living in Britain has been clouded by last June''s Brexit vote with the UK government yet to guarantee their rights, saying it first needs a reciprocal deal with the EU.Of Pret''s over 8,000 UK workforce, some 65 percent come from EU countries other than Britain."We’ve been reaching out to British labour pools in a way that we never had to before," Pret Chief Executive Clive Schlee told Reuters.He said Pret, majority owned by private equity firm Bridgepoint, was increasing its use of social media and links with UK job centres in its recruitment strategy.This summer the firm will launch its "Big Experience Week" offering 500 week-long paid work experience placements to British school students."We''re very encouraged by the response...So we feel that we will be able to maintain our diverse, our tolerant and our very competitive culture, but with a higher British percentage over time, said Schlee.The chief executive also welcomed industry debate on the idea of "barista visas" for EU nationals after Brexit - allowing them to work in Britain but not be eligible for benefits.Schlee was speaking after Pret, which is believed to be looking at a stock market listing, reported an 11 percent rise in 2016 core earnings.Pret made core earnings of 93.2 million pounds ($120.2 million) as total sales rose 15 percent to 776.2 million pounds. Sales at outlets open over a year increased 4.8 percent.The outcome was a twelfth straight year of revenue and core earnings growth. In the United States sales exceeded $200 million for the first time."So far 2017 has followed a very similar pattern to 2016, so we haven''t seen a slowdown yet," said Schlee.On Tuesday Whitbread said underlying sales at its Costa Coffee chain fell in its fourth quarter. The group also said it was cautious about the 2017-18 financial year, saying it expected a tougher consumer environment.Reuters reported last month that Pret''s private equity owners had chosen Solebury Capital to advise on a planned New York stock market listing..Pret opened 50 new shops in 2016, taking the total to 444, including 329 in the UK and it now also trades from France, Hong Kong, China and Dubai. It expects to have 500 shops by the end of 2017, including its first in Singapore. ($1 = 0.7754 pounds) (Editing by Kate Holton/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/pret-a-manger-results-idINL8N1I0715'|'2017-04-28T13:15:00.000+03:00' '13303ca53f746a5ced11407a64815005d879a786'|'Frugal U.S. consumers seen holding back first-quarter GDP'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 5:23am BST Frugal U.S. consumers seen holding back first-quarter GDP FILE PHOTO - A shopper walks down an aisle in a newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago in this September 21, 2011 file photo. REUTERS/Jim Young/Files By Lucia Mutikani - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. economy likely hit a soft patch in the first quarter as an unseasonably warm winter and rising inflation weighed on consumer spending, in a potential setback to President Donald Trump''s promise to boost growth. Reduced business investment in inventories and government spending cuts also crimped gross domestic product growth. A Reuters survey of economists conducted last week forecast GDP rising at a 1.2 percent annual rate, but many economists lowered their estimates after the government on Thursday released advance reports on the goods trade deficit and inventories in March. The Atlanta Federal Reserve is forecasting the economy growing at only a 0.2 percent rate in the first quarter, which would be the weakest performance in three years. The economy grew at a 2.1 percent pace in the fourth quarter. The government will publish its advance first-quarter GDP estimate on Friday at 8:30 a.m.(1230 GMT). The expected sluggish first-quarter growth pace, however, is not a true picture of the economy''s health. The labour market is near full employment and consumer confidence is near multi-year highs, suggesting that the mostly weather-induced slowdown in consumer spending is probably temporary. First-quarter GDP tends to underperform because of difficulties with the calculation of data that the government has acknowledged and is working to rectify. "The weakness is not a reflection of the underlying health of the economy, part of it is residual seasonality," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody''s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania. "It has become more understood over the past few years, that''s why people often discount first-quarter GDP." Even without the seasonal quirk and temporary restraints, economists say it would be difficult for Trump to fulfil his pledge to raise annual GDP growth to 4 percent, without increases in productivity. Trump is targeting infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation to achieve his goal of faster economic growth. On Wednesday, the Trump administration proposed a tax plan that includes cutting the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, but offered no details. ANAEMIC CONSUMER SPENDING Economists estimate that growth in consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, braked to below a 1.0 percent rate in the first quarter. That would be the slowest pace in nearly four years and follows the fourth quarter''s robust 3.5 percent growth rate. The expected weakness in consumer spending is blamed on a mild winter, which undermined demand for heating and utilities production. Higher inflation, which saw the consumer price index averaging 2.5 percent in the first quarter, also hurt spending. Government delays issuing income tax refunds to combat fraud also weighed on consumer spending. Economists said Federal Reserve officials were likely to view both the anaemic consumer spending and GDP growth as temporary when they meet next week. The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates. "The good news is that the Fed in recent years has distanced itself from the GDP numbers," said Lou Crandall, chief economist at Wrightson ICAP in Jersey City, New Jersey. "A weak first-quarter GDP print should not affect the policy debate." After contributing to GDP growth for two straight quarters, inventory investment was likely a drag in the first quarter. JPMorgan is forecasting inventories chopping off one percentage point from GDP growth. Trade was likely neutral after being a huge drag in the fourth quarter. But some good news is expected. Business investment likely rose further, with spending on equipment seen accelerating thanks to rising gas and oil well drilling as oil prices continue their recovery from multi-year lows. Investment in home building is also expected to have gained momentum in the first quarter. (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-economy-idUKKBN17U0ET'|'2017-04-28T12:23:00.000+03:00' '4ae39eb7db7dc46c6eaa1e5decd07413772e8a4a'|'Nigeria naira quoted 18 pct weaker at investors'' FX window'|'Bonds News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 6:04am EDT Nigeria naira quoted 18 pct weaker at investors'' FX window LAGOS, April 25 Nigeria naira was quoted 18.3 percent weaker for portfolio investors on Tuesday compared with the interbank rate, a day after the central bank said it would allow investors to trade the currency at market determined rates. The naira was quoted at 374.25 per dollar on the new foreign exchange trading window introduced by the central bank on Monday for investors, data on market regulator FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange showed. The naira was quoted at 305.95 to the dollar on the spot interbank market and 385 on the black market. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Alison Williams) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-currency-idUSL8N1HX2KI'|'2017-04-25T18:04:00.000+03:00' 'fb412ff7afbd3e8398f41876174331903e610a24'|'Futures rise on Trump tax talk; earnings in focus'|'Business News 4:08pm EDT Nasdaq breaches 6,000 as earnings power Wall Street higher Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid NEW YORK The Nasdaq Composite stock index hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of Corporate America. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 232.23 points, or 1.12 percent, to 20,996.12, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.46 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,388.61 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 41.67 points, or 0.7 percent, to 6,025.49. The Nasdaq closed above 6,000 for the first time, more than 17 years after first breaching 5,000. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN17R1D8'|'2017-04-25T19:44:00.000+03:00' '751b5d94c4fb15b74d8605994d58b7dcb906e5ab'|'UPDATE 1-Inter Pipeline says Alberta crude oil leak came from its line'|'Market News - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 5:05pm EDT UPDATE 1-Inter Pipeline says Alberta crude oil leak came from its line (Adds Cenovus says its production not affected) By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta, April 24 A crude oil leak in central Alberta''s Strathcona County on Friday afternoon came from Inter Pipeline Ltd''s Cold Lake regional pipeline system, the company said in a statement on Monday. Calgary-based Inter Pipeline has isolated a segment of the pipeline near its Strathcona Terminal in Edmonton for repairs, and said it is working with regulators to investigate the cause of the incident. There were no details on how much crude was released but the company said the spill was contained on Friday and clean up was under way. "Inter Pipeline will assume the role of lead responder for this incident today and will continue to ensure public safety and protection of the environment are the top priorities," the company said. A number of energy companies have pipelines in the area and when the leak was first reported around 12:30 p.m. on Friday its origin was not immediately clear. Four companies including Inter Pipeline shut in and de-pressurized pipelines, CBC News reported. Of those, Imperial Oil Ltd has received approval from the regulator to restart its lines and Gibson Energy Inc said it resumed shipping crude on Sunday afternoon. Pembina Pipeline Corp did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The 558,000 barrel-per-day Cold Lake pipeline system transports diluted oil sands bitumen from the Cold Lake region in northern Alberta to the Edmonton marketing hub for shippers including Imperial, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd and Cenovus Energy Inc, according to Inter Pipeline''s website. Imperial said there was no impact to operations outside the Strathcona County region when asked if the pipeline outage had affected oil sands production. Cenovus spokeswoman Sonja Franklin said production had not been affected and the company was monitoring the situation. Canadian Natural did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Additional reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Grant McCool) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/inter-us-pipeline-spill-idUSL1N1HW1IH'|'2017-04-25T05:05:00.000+03:00' 'a36f0e0440ec7f3940aa0cb5afc68acb24c7eea4'|'Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall'|' 19pm BST Starbucks profit meets Wall Street view, shares fall A employees poses with a cup of water at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed LOS ANGELES Starbucks Corp ( SBUX.O ) reported quarterly profit that matched Wall Street''s estimate on Thursday, sending shares of the chain that often tops expectations down 2.9 percent to $59.50 in after-hours trade. Net income attributed to Starbucks was $652.8 million, or 45 cents per share, for the second quarter ended April 2, up from $575.1 million, or 39 cents Results from the latest quarter matched the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-starbucks-results-idUKKBN17T31C'|'2017-04-28T04:19:00.000+03:00' '4394aed80909cf3a18f5da0f71a6c730d172a071'|'UPDATE 1-Mexico''s Cemex quarterly profit jumps ten-fold on asset sales'|' 35am EDT UPDATE 1-Mexico''s Cemex quarterly profit jumps ten-fold on asset sales MEXICO CITY, April 27 Mexican cement producer Cemex significantly beat analyst expectations on Thursday with a nearly ten-fold spike in first-quarter net profit, driven mostly by asset sales. Cemex earned $336 million in net profit in the quarter, compared to $35 million in the same period in 2016, and $95 million forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts. The company has followed a plan over several years to sell assets and boost investment. During the quarter, it gained $152 million on the sale of a concrete tube business in the United States and another $98 million in financial instruments from the sale of a portion of local unit GCC. "We have around $230 million in pending announced asset sales set to close," Cemex Chief Executive Fernando Gonzalez said in a statement. The company''s consolidated net sales grew 1 percent to $3.14 billion during the quarter, but grew 6 percent when adjusted for currency fluctuations and disinvestments. Cemex said its total debt fell 3.7 percent in the first quarter to $12.16 billion. (Reporting by Noe Torres; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/cemex-results-idUSFWN1HZ0NF'|'2017-04-27T17:35:00.000+03:00' '484a8e3c01d3e75bfd58e4de9dd9490802891a8d'|'Thyssenkrupp sees connected elevators lifting profit'|'Technology 59am BST Thyssenkrupp sees connected elevators lifting profit The logo of German steel-to-elevators group ThyssenKrupp AG is pictured during the company''s annual news conference in Essen, Germany, November 24, 2016. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay HANOVER, Germany Thyssenkrupp sees the connection of elevators to the internet potentially lifting its profits by a double-digit million-euro amount, the head of its elevator business told Reuters in an interview. The German steel-to-submarines group is preparing to roll out connected elevators to six more countries this year after piloting the system in the United States, Germany and Spain, and aims to hook up at least 100,000 units by mid-2017. Connecting elevators to the internet allows the companies that service them to see remotely when faults appear or are about to develop, enabling them to save money and time on repairs, which can be shared between suppliers and customers. Manufacturers of all kinds are racing to connect their products to the internet. Predictive maintenance is one area of early adoption whose business model is evident. "In January alone, we repaired 1,000 lifts in the United States before the customer told us they were broken," Andreas Schierenbeck told Reuters in an interview at the Hannover Messe, the world''s biggest industrial fair. (Reporting by Georgina Prodhan and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Christoph Steitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-thyssenkrupp-elevator-idUKKBN17R0LN'|'2017-04-25T14:48:00.000+03:00' 'f45284065097d7ff58f7e1b355520904b1ccee81'|'Fresenius snaps up Akorn, Merck KGaA''s biosimilars in separate deals'|'By Ludwig Burger - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT German healthcare conglomerate Fresenius SE & Co KGaA ( FREG.DE ) revved up the pace of its deals by acquiring U.S. generic drugmaker Akorn Inc ( AKRX.O ) for $4.75 billion (4.37 billion euros), and in a separate agreement, the biosimilars unit of German peer Merck KGaA MRKG.DE.While in keeping with its focus on drugs that have lost patent protection, the deals mark a foray into new dosage forms, new therapeutic areas and into biotech drugs for Fresenius''s Kabi unit, a maker of generic infusion drugs, tube feeding and blood transfusion equipment.Akorn will add products such as medical creams, ophthalmic drugs, oral liquids, ear drops, nasal sprays and respiratory drugs, where competition is relatively benign when compared with standard pills and tablets.The deal with Merck, in turn, marks the entry into biosimilar copies of complex biologic drugs made from living cells, which Fresenius has previously shunned."We''ve always said the regulatory environment would have to clear up before we invest in biosimilars. A lot has been done in that area in the recent past," Fresenius Chief Executive Stephan Sturm told Reuters.Reuters earlier on Monday reported that Fresenius was close to acquiring Akorn.In a deal that has the backing of Akorn''s management and its largest shareholder, Fresenius will pay $34 per share and take on Akorn''s net debt of about $450 million for a total price tag of $4.75 billion, Fresenius said in a statement late on Monday.It will be financed by a broad mix of euro- and dollar-denominated debt instruments, it added.In the separate agreement with Merck KGaA, Fresenius will pay an initial 170 million euros ($185 million) and up to 500 million euros in future milestone payments tied to achievements of drug development targets as none of Merck''s biosimilar drugs have been launched yet.Fresenius said it expects first revenues towards the end of 2019 and it is prepared to spend and invest an extra 1.4 billion euros to build up the business over the years through 2022.It will pay single digit percentage royalties to Merck based on sales.Fresenius, with a market capitalization of more than 40 billion euros, runs businesses in areas ranging from kidney dialysis and drug manufacturing to hospital management.Fresenius CEO Sturm, had signaled that acquisitions would be a hallmark of his leadership after he took over the top job in July last year.In September, the company made its biggest deal ever with the acquisition of Spain''s private hospital chain Quironsalud for 5.8 billion euros to expand the international presence of its hospital business Helios.Group net debt as a multiple of core earnings will temporarily increase to about 3.3 after closing of both transactions but the ratio is expected to return to about 3 at the end of 2018.Fresenius has for years enjoyed low borrowing costs because of its diversified businesses in an industry that is largely immune to swings in the business cycle.(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; editing by Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akorn-m-a-fresenius-idINKBN17Q29Q'|'2017-04-24T19:22:00.000+03:00' '6964a0386c4eca80d826f94bda9f82f231feb17b'|'Trump''s tax duo to brief senior U.S. Congress leaders on plan'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:59pm BST Trump''s tax duo to brief senior U.S. Congress leaders on plan left right U.S. President Donald Trump (L) greets Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during an event to sign financial services executive orders at the Treasury Department in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque 1/2 left right National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn speaks at 2017 Institute of International Finance (IIF) policy summit in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas 2/2 By Susan Cornwell and Ginger Gibson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump''s two tax policy chiefs were slated to go to Capitol Hill late on Tuesday to meet with top lawmakers as Washington dug for details on an impending Trump tax plan. Due out on Wednesday, the plan was expected to include only broad principles of tax changes, not formal legislation, and a proposal to slash the U.S. corporate income tax rate, with additional components still the subject of much speculation. Some analysts viewed the White House plan, likely to fall well short of a full-scale tax reform, as reducing prospects for a thorough tax code overhaul in 2017. Since it will clash in some ways with a broader tax plan shaped months ago by House of Representatives Republicans, the Trump document may complicate consensus-building, analysts said. Others said tax reform''s chances will not be greatly frustrated. One veteran tax lobbyist said Congress and the White House were still likely to strike a tax deal this year. Simply by releasing a plan Trump is demonstrating that he is “interested, engaged” and even if it does not match the House plan, it will spark further discussions, the lobbyist said. Lawmakers were waiting to see whether Trump will include items that could attract Democratic votes, such as a proposal to fund infrastructure spending or a child-care tax credit as proposed by his daughter Ivanka. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, both veterans of investment bank Goldman Sachs ( GS.N ), were scheduled to present the plan at the office of Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Meeting Mnuchin and Cohn along with McConnell will be House Speaker Paul Ryan and the chairmen of the Senate and House tax committees: Orrin Hatch and Kevin Brady, respectively. Trump has directed aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday. Analysts said the Trump plan could also cap the individual top tax rate at 33 percent, repeal the estate and alternative minimum taxes, and cut taxes for the middle class. Importantly, the Trump plan was not expected to include any specific proposals for raising new revenues to offset revenue losses that would result from tax cuts. Mnuchin has said Trump''s tax plan will "pay for itself" by stimulating economic growth. The House Republican plan, championed by Ryan and Brady, did include such "pay-fors," but they were controversial, divided the business community and undermined support for the plan. One of these "pay-fors" was a proposed "border adjustment" tax that would cut taxes on exports and raise them on imports. Analysts said this was not expected to be in Trump''s document. The Ryan-Brady plan proposed a 20-percent corporate tax rate. Many U.S. corporations, especially large multinationals, already pay well below the statutory 35-percent tax rate, but have been campaigning for a formal rate cut for many years. Trump''s plan may also include a proposal to let multinationals bring foreign profits being held abroad into the United States at a steeply discounted income tax rate, another long-standing goal of the corporate tax lobbying community. Any changes in the tax code must be approved by Congress, which has a Republican majority in both chambers. Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, a member of the Senate tax panel, was skeptical about the Trump plan. "If they are only talking about the corporate rate and not helping small business, I think that would certainly for me be a non-starter," she said. "I''ve seen no plan in the past that could get to that (15 percent) level without seriously adding to the deficit." (Additional reporting Richard Cowan; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-idUKKBN17R2KK'|'2017-04-26T02:58:00.000+03:00' 'a400a2093acc75db8e88471228ef32d00afb46c9'|'Dutch Economic Affairs minister says still opposed to Akzo Nobel takeover'|'AMSTERDAM Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Henk Kamp repeated his opposition to a takeover of paint maker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) on Tuesday, saying he did not care that U.S. rival PPG Industries ( PPG.N ) had raised its offer."Whether the offer is low or high, that doesn''t change my opinion," Kamp said in an interview with BNR radio."For the Dutch (economy), it''s good that the leadership of Akzo Nobel, both the management board and the supervisory board, is planning to remain independent, and I support that."Akzo has said that it is studying PPG''s latest proposal, which values the company at around 26.9 billion euros ($28.8 billion).(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-ppg-inds-minister-idINKBN17R0YH'|'2017-04-25T07:22:00.000+03:00' '9e62ed91038b87458a314316dc786905c4d1b799'|'Wells Fargo board gets black eye in shareholder vote'|' 26pm BST Wells Fargo board gets black eye in shareholder vote left right Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan (L) leaves the annual shareholder meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack 1/3 left right Wells Fargo Chairman Stephen Sanger (L) and CEO Tim Sloan (R) leave a meeting with reporters after the annual shareholder meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack 2/3 left right Wells Fargo Chairman Stephen Sanger (C) leaves a meeting with reporters after the annual shareholder meeting in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack 3/3 By Dan Freed and Ross Kerber - PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla./BOSTON PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla./BOSTON Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) shareholders showed displeasure with the scandal-hit bank''s board on Tuesday, offering scant support for several directors, including Chairman Stephen Sanger, in a vote capping a contentious annual meeting. Only three directors received more than 80 percent support from voting shareholders, a benchmark corporate governance experts cite as a vote of confidence. Sanger received just 56 percent approval. "Wells Fargo stockholders today have sent the entire Board a clear message of dissatisfaction," Sanger said in a statement. "Let me assure you that the Board has heard that message, and we recognise there is still a great deal of work to do to rebuild the trust of stockholders, customers and employees." Two directors, Federico Peña and Enrique Hernandez, received even less support than Sanger, at 54 percent and 53 percent, respectively. The two directors chair board committees related to risk, finance or corporate responsibility. The meeting, which ran nearly three hours, was repeatedly interrupted by angry shareholders seeking answers about the bank''s sales practices scandal. There was a brief recess after one shareholder made what Sanger called a "physical approach" toward a board member and was removed. "You''re saying we''re out of order. Wells Fargo has been out of order for years!" said Bruce Marks, chief executive of Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, before being ejected. Other shareholders were escorted out, as they demanded answers related to the bank having created as many as 2.1 million accounts in customers'' names without their permission. The dozen directors who received weak support had faced negative recommendations from influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which argued the group failed in their oversight duties. The three directors who received 99 percent approval from voting shareholders were recent additions: Sloan, who was named CEO in October after the scandal erupted, as well as Ronald Sargent and Karen Peetz, who were newly elected to the board this year. Wells Fargo''s guidelines require that directors offer to resign if they fail to receive a majority of votes cast. But in practice, directors who win with less than 80 percent support should consider exiting the board, said Charles Elson, a University of Delaware expert on corporate governance. "If they''re below 80 (percent) I''d say they have a lot of soul-searching to do," he said. Wells Fargo''s board and management said the steps taken to fix problems and punish employees responsible for abuses show there is now strong oversight, and that directors nominated deserved to be elected. But the public firestorm that hammered its shares last year and led to the resignation of then-Chairman and Chief Executive John Stumpf was not forgotten. They apologised to angry shareholders, customers and employees repeatedly at the meeting on Tuesday. "We are deeply sorry for letting you, our shareholders, down and letting down our customers, our team members and the communities that we do business in," said Sloan. "You expect and deserve much more from us." Sanger tried to show patience as he was repeatedly interrupted, though he struggled at times as speakers ignored his pleas to follow the usual order of proceedings. "When I say I''m sorry ... I think that speaks for all of the board," he said at one point. Management also faced questions and demands from activist investors on topics ranging from Wells Fargo''s funding of a controversial oil pipeline to whether it should break itself up. After investors had time to speak, Sloan and Sanger opened the floor to a general audience Q&A. Two borrowers gave emotional recountings of their ordeal with Wells Fargo''s mortgage operation, both breaking into tears. Management apologised and promised to personally look into their issues. The bank''s top investor, Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc ( BRKa.N ) had cast votes in favour of the board nominees, but some other major investors were less supportive. California''s two largest public pension funds, for instance, opposed nine directors. "We do want a core of directors left able to reconstitute the board," said Anne Simpson, Calpers'' investment director of sustainability. "Simply declaring ''off with their heads'' is not reasonable." At most S&P 500 companies, director support averages around 95 percent of votes cast, according to pay consulting firm Semler Brossy. Typically a recommendation from ISS that investors vote "against" a director will reduce support they receive by an average of 17 to 18 percentage points. Before the vote tally, analysts and corporate governance experts said they expect few immediate changes even if shareholders rejected the board. It would be impractical to get rid of a nearly full slate of directors, said Vining Sparks analyst Marty Mosby. But low vote totals concentrated on certain directors would likely force them to step down soon, he added. "The only thing they haven''t really changed substantially is the board," he said. "That last step would have completed the whole process and made this vote much easier on them." (Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston and Dan Freed; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Meredith Mazzilli)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-wells-fargo-accounts-meeting-idUKKBN17R0A9'|'2017-04-26T02:26:00.000+03:00' 'fe74680776ef870595e55da3bde40d9038b65548'|'CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as oil prices slide, Home Capital slumps'|'Company 45am EDT CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as oil prices slide, Home Capital slumps TORONTO, April 26 Canada''s main stock index fell on Wednesday, pulling back from a two-month high the day before as lower oil prices pressured energy stocks, while shares of Home Capital Group slumped after the company announced a credit line agreement. The Toronto Stock Exchange''s S&P/TSX composite index was down 29.27 points, or 0.19 percent, at 15,715.92, shortly after the open. Eight of the index''s 10 main groups were lower. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama) UPDATE 2-Santander Brasil sees return on equity up despite slow recovery SAO PAULO, April 26 Banco Santander Brasil SA''s profit will likely rise further in coming quarters as Brazil''s No. 4 listed bank sells more financial services, cuts loan-loss provisions, and crowds out rivals in key markets despite a slow economic recovery. CEE MARKETS-Polish stocks hit 22-month high, though France impact fades * Attention turns local, after lift from French election * PZU upgrade, Lotos earnings reverse fall of Warsaw stock index * Prospect of low interest rates, margins weigh on OTP Bank shares (Adds renewed rise of Polish stocks) By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 26 Polish equities climbed to their highest since mid-2015 on Wednesday as attention turned to local news in Central European markets and away from the risks related to France''s elections. Stocks and curre MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-stocks-open-idUSL1N1HY0RW'|'2017-04-26T21:45:00.000+03:00' 'c2d31da784233a5b32d177d34e820ad68b25f58a'|'Fannie, Freddie stocks open higher after Mnuchin''s remarks'|'Company 40am EDT Fannie, Freddie stocks open higher after Mnuchin''s remarks NEW YORK, April 26 Shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac opened higher on Wednesday, reaching their highest levels in more than a month after U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the Trump administration will take up reform of the two mortgage finance agencies in the latter half of 2017. Fannie Mae''s stock price was up over 3 percent at $2.94 a share, while Freddie Mac shares were 3 percent higher at $2.77. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-gses-mnuchin-idUSL1N1HY0PY'|'2017-04-26T21:40:00.000+03:00' '9abd7bfee1b6292e7dbbf92b395c01292dacee33'|'FTSE little changed as focus turns to earnings'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 5:37pm BST Earnings support FTSE, StanChart leads banks higher A woman walks past the London Stock Exchange building in the City of London, Britain, January 16 , 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Danilo Masoni and Kit Rees - LONDON LONDON British shares rose on Wednesday as gains for Standard Chartered and other companies reporting well-received results helped offset a pullback in healthcare stocks. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2 percent, broadly in line with other European bourses, and rising for the third straight session. Standard Chartered was the biggest gainer, rising 4 percent after its quarterly profit nearly doubled from a year ago as the bank brought loan losses under control. "Today''s results are likely to keep bulls interested, but we remain cautious on the revenue outlook," Jefferies analysts said. The emerging markets-focused bank is in the middle of an overhaul under Chief Executive Bill Winters. It has cut 15,000 jobs and closed its stock-trading arm. Fellow lenders Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group both rose about 0.8 percent, while Britain''s banking index gained 0.5 percent. Among those boosted by earnings statements was chemicals company Croda, which rose 3.8 percent to a record high, and building materials company CRH, whose London-listed shares were up 0.4 percent. LSE shares advanced by 1.2 percent to a record high after reporting a rise in quarterly income as its clearing and FTSE Russell index-compiling operations showed strong growth. The company said it was exploring investments to drive growth after the collapse of its proposed Deutsche Boerse merger. "UK earnings are coming in pretty strong. Today''s figures all point to rising sales and profits. Croda was good, CRH solid ... But we are seeing a worry around consumer spending falling away as we head into the second half of the year, and this may hit earnings," ETX Capital senior market analyst, Neil Wilson, said. Wilson said that, in contrast, consumer confidence in continental Europe appears to be growing, raising the prospect of "a big rotation into European equities" as political risks subside. Pharma stocks were the biggest drag on the FTSE, pulling back from the previous session''s gains on the back of dealmaking activity in Europe. Heavyweight drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline fell more than 2 percent after reporting first quarter figures, while Shire dropped 0.6 percent. A big faller among blue-chips was GKN, down 1.8 percent, after the engineering group warned that the encouraging growth rate achieved to date may not last. (Editing by Louise Ireland)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN17S158'|'2017-04-26T18:18:00.000+03:00' 'd3d732e40aec102da33f7097b6990332a4a237c8'|'Cerberus launches up to $446 mln selldown in Japan''s Seibu - IFR'|'Deals 4:46am EDT Cerberus launches up to $446 mln selldown in Japan''s Seibu: IFR A train of Seibu Railway Co., railway service unit of Seibu Holdings, arrives at a station in Tokyo June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Issei Kato HONG KONG U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP launched a selldown of up to $446 million in railway firm Seibu Holdings ( 9024.T ), IFR reported on Wednesday, citing a term sheet of the transaction. Cerberus is offering 25 million shares of Seibu at a discount of between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent to their Wednesday closing price of 1,999 yen each, added IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. A Tokyo-based official at Cerberus declined to comment, while a spokesman for Seibu said the company had no comment on the selldown. The New York-based firm led a bailout of Seibu in 2006, but clashed with the board over IPO timing that did not take place until 2014. The fund unsuccessfully tried to take control of the company''s board and has since been reducing its stake in Seibu. (Reporting by Robert Hartley of IFR; Additional reporting by Junko Fujita in Tokyo; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cerberus-capital-seibu-holdings-idUSKBN17S0UY'|'2017-04-26T16:43:00.000+03:00' '9c73a133a97cdd38b1a298bcb3ed34c4c55ad166'|'ADVISORY-Alerts on KSB Pumps Company Ltd March-qtr results withdrawn'|'April 26 The alerts on Pakistan''s KSB Pumps Company Ltd''s March-quarter results are wrong and are withdrawn. The alerts were inadvertently issued off a press release from India''s KSB Pumps Ltd.For alerts on India''s KSB Pumps Ltd''s quarterly results, clickSTORY_NUMBER: FWN1HY0D4STORY_DATE: 26/04/2017STORY_TIME: 0903 GMT'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/advisory-alerts-on-ksb-pumps-company-ltd-idINFWN1HY0D4'|'2017-04-26T07:34:00.000+03:00' 'd16e77ca49cd5998f78c0d9e38a5769ec0c49d06'|'Toshiba to replace auditor PwC over differences - Nikkei'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:23pm BST Toshiba to drop its auditor: Nikkei The logo of Toshiba Corp is seen behind a traffic light at the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan March 29, 2017. REUTERS/Issei Kato Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) has decided to drop its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata, which declined to approve the company''s full-year financial statement, the Nikkei financial daily reported. The Japanese tech company is in the middle of a conflict with PwC Aarata over recent results and governance issues at Westinghouse Electric, its American nuclear subsidiary. Massive cost overruns at four nuclear reactors being constructed by Westinghouse in the Southeastern United States have forced Toshiba to estimate a $9 billion annual net loss and take drastic measures. PwC Aarata''s refusal to sign-off on Toshiba''s results has given the Tokyo Stock Exchange potential grounds for delisting the company. The company is in talks with second-tier auditing firms with which it has no potential conflicts of interest, the Japanese newspaper reported. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-auditors-idUKKBN17R2H0'|'2017-04-26T09:11:00.000+03:00' 'c7dae0163f7af0eb108d879b296caae89ee2fecd'|'PepsiCo profit beats on demand for healthier snacks, drinks'|' 11:42am BST PepsiCo profit beats on demand for healthier snacks, drinks FILE PHOTO: Pepsi soda is shown on display in Compton, California, U.S., January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo PepsiCo Inc ( PEP.N ) reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit as the company benefited from demand for its healthier drinks and snacks and kept a tight leash on costs. PepsiCo and other processed-food makers are investing heavily to develop products to meet consumers'' increasing preference for healthier snacks such as unsweetened tea and baked chips. The company has said it now gets about 45 percent of its net revenue from "guilt-free" products - beverages that have fewer than 70 calories per 12 ounces and snacks that have lower amounts of salt and saturated fat. Revenue from its North America beverage business, the company''s biggest, rose 2.3 percent to $4.46 billion in the first quarter ended March 25. Net income attributable to PepsiCo rose to $1.32 billion (1.03 billion pounds), or 91 cents per share, in the quarter, from $931 million, or 64 cents per share, a year earlier. The year-earlier period included a $373 million charge related to its transaction with Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp. Excluding items, the company earned 94 cents per share. Revenue rose 1.6 percent to $12.05 billion, the second quarter of rising sales after eight quarters of decline. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 92 cents per share on revenue of $11.98 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Rival Coca-Cola ( KO.N ) on Tuesday reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on higher costs of franchising its bottling operations and announced job cuts to boost savings. (Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-pepsico-results-idUKKBN17S16Z'|'2017-04-26T18:42:00.000+03:00' 'e57c7f62db20c8bc5f5aa22c78016c8739f94f12'|'McDonald''s drops plan to sell shares in Japan unit'|'TOKYO McDonald''s Corp ( MCD.N ) has put on hold plans to sell shares in its Japan unit, which recently returned to profit for the first time in three years after a series of food scandals shook consumer confidence in the chain.The fast food giant has "made the decision to not proceed with the transaction at this time," Chief Finance Officer Kevin M. Ozan told investors on a conference call on Tuesday.The decision followed a review of its stake, Ozan said."We believe the market is poised to maintain its strong momentum," he added.McDonald''s Holdings Co Japan Ltd ( 2702.T ) expects operating profit in the current fiscal year to grow to 9 billion yen ($80.92 million), a 29.9 percent rise on the previous year.The Japan unit has had success in capturing the attention of local consumers with recent innovations including a burger-naming election, French fries topped with chocolate and a tie-up involving hit smartphone game Pokemon Go.(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-mcdonalds-mcdonalds-japan-idINKBN17S0A6'|'2017-04-26T01:43:00.000+03:00' '2c813a834aa48a2b4f32a1c37c8c24d544f1a7fc'|'Intel quarterly revenue misses estimates on data centre weakness'|' 20pm BST Intel''s quarterly profit rises 45 percent FILE PHOTO: Intel''s logo is pictured during preparations at the CeBit computer fair, which will open its doors to the public on March 20, at the fairground in Hanover, Germany, March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo Intel Corp ( INTC.O ), the world''s largest chipmaker, reported a near 45 percent rise in first-quarter profit, helped by strength in its data center business and a stabilizing personal computer market. The company''s net income rose to $2.96 billion, or 61 cents per share, in the quarter ended April 1 from $2.05 billion, or 42 cents ( bit.ly/2pr8dBB ) Revenue rose to $14.80 billion from $13.70 billion. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-intel-results-idUKKBN17T31H'|'2017-04-28T04:26:00.000+03:00' 'a321f1275e982e22b7383edb0de42fc75cb39b9d'|'Deutsche Boerse ups profit, to buy back shares after failed LSE deal'|' 9:18pm BST Deutsche Boerse ups profit, to buy back shares after failed LSE deal FILE PHOTO: A notebook with the logo of Deutsche Boerse Group (German stock exchange) is pictured before their New Year''s reception at the headquarters in Eschborn, outside Frankfurt, Germany, January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach By Tom Sims - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) delivered a sharp rise in net profit in the first quarter and said it would buy back shares as it sought to appease disgruntled investors following its failed merger attempt with London Stock Exchange Group ( LSE.L ). The German exchange operator, which was forced to ditch a planned merger with LSE last month, also reaffirmed its outlook of "double-digit earnings growth" for the full year, despite merger costs that totalled 76.2 million euros ($83 million). It said on Wednesday that net profit rose 39.5 percent to 286 million euros in the first quarter from a year earlier, lifted by the sale of a stake in BATS Global Markets. "Thanks to our diversified business model and effective cost management we were able to compensate low equity market volatility in the first quarter and report solid earnings growth," Chief Financial Officer Gregor Pottmeyer said. Pottmeyer said in a statement that Deutsche Boerse was "very well positioned" to benefit from improving cyclical conditions. The results come a month after European Union regulators blocked a planned merger with LSE due to concerns over a potential monopoly in the processing of bond trades. The industry has been trying to consolidate for years amid weaker trading volumes and shrinking margins, but regulatory concerns, along with nationalist wrangling, have hindered many cross-border deals. In the wake of the failed merger, Deutsche Boerse has been coming under increased pressure from shareholders, with influential proxy adviser Glass Lewis recommending they vote against ratifying the actions of the management and supervisory board at its 2017 annual general meeting. German companies typically ask their shareholders to approve the actions of their boards over the previous years at the annual shareholder meetings. Glass Lewis said that shareholders may have concerns over the failed merger with the LSE and a pending investigation into CEO Carsten Kengeter over possible insider trading. Kengeter has denied the allegations. Deutsche Boerse said it planned to buy back shares totalling around 200 million euros ($218 million) in the second half of this year which it would fund from the proceeds generated from its 2016 sale of International Securities Exchange to Nasdaq ( NDAQ.O ) for about 1 billion euros. Those funds were initially earmarked for the merger with LSE, which last month announced its own 200 million pound ($256.74 million) share buyback. Stripping out the one-off effect of the sale of a stake in BATS Global Markets to U.S. exchange CBOE ( CBOE.O ) for 68 million euros last month, Deutsche Boerse said adjusted net profit rose 5 percent to 232.2 million euros, from 221.3 million euros a year earlier. ($1 = 0.7790 pounds)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-boerse-results-idUKKBN17S2S2'|'2017-04-27T04:18:00.000+03:00' '2f90b466a05e8f21c05c8134b8ee6e68eb9ddc04'|'Russia may raise oil output if sees no risks of price fall - Ifx'|'MOSCOW Russia is ready to keep its oil production stable, but may increase output if it feels that prices are unlikely to fall as a result, the Interfax news agency Quote: d Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying on Tuesday.Dvorkovich said a fragile balance has been reached in the global oil market, which should not be disturbed by any "sharp moves", according to the agency.He also said that a decision on whether to extend a deal to curb oil output into the second half of the year would depend on how well the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers stick to their production cut pledges.OPEC, along with Russia and other non-OPEC producers, pledged to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017.The option of extending the cuts was set out in last year''s deal.(Reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Osborn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/russia-opec-oil-idINKBN17R1W1'|'2017-04-25T22:42:00.000+03:00' 'f2207881a7b246f82961d928fb16e8d78830c092'|'U.S. charges investment bank vice president with insider trading'|'U.S. - Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 6:14pm EDT U.S. charges investment bank vice president with insider trading NEW YORK An investment banking vice president and risk management specialist was criminally charged on Monday with insider trading in Neustar Inc before the advertising technology company agreed to be acquired by a private equity firm. Avaneesh Krishnamoorthy, an Indian citizen living in West New York, New Jersey, made about $48,000 trading Neustar stock and options in a brokerage account held by him and his wife, after learning that Golden Gate Capital was in talks to buy the company, court papers show. Shares of Neustar rose 21 percent last Dec. 14 after Golden Gate''s takeover of the Sterling, Virginia-based company for about $2.9 billion including debt. Krishnamoorthy''s employer was not identified in court papers, but according to LinkedIn a person sharing his name works as a market risk manager for Nomura Holdings Inc. In a related civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the employer had been registered with the commission as a broker-dealer since 1969 and as an investment adviser since April 2012. That description matches data for Nomura from the SEC website. Krishnamoorthy, 41, faces one criminal count of securities fraud, and a maximum 20 years in prison if convicted. A federal public defender who appeared with Krishnamoorthy at a hearing in Manhattan declined to comment. The office of Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan also declined to comment, as did a Nomura spokeswoman. The criminal insider trading case is the first announced by Kim since his predecessor Preet Bharara, who brought many such cases, was fired by U.S. President Donald Trump on March 11. The cases are U.S. v. Krishnamoorthy, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-mag-03002; and SEC v. Krishnamoorthy in the same court, No. 17-02953. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; editing by Grant McCool) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-insidertrading-neustar-idUSKBN17Q2CE'|'2017-04-25T06:10:00.000+03:00' 'fadf1d1c0e363694958e18caef3c8a8feea0d1fc'|'US STOCKS-Nasdaq hits 6,000, Dow surges as earnings impress'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:27am EDT US STOCKS-Nasdaq hits 6,000, Dow surges as earnings impress * Trump to make major tax announcement on Wednesday * Apple, Microsoft propel Nasdaq; McDonald''s lifts Dow * Biogen gains on profit beat * Indexes up: Dow 1.07 pct, S&P 0.54 pct, Nasdaq 0.5 pct (Adds details, comments, updates prices) By Yashaswini Swamynathan April 25 The Nasdaq hit 6,000 for the first time on Tuesday and the Dow surged more than 200 points as strong earnings underscored the health of Corporate America. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose as much as 0.65 percent to hit a record level of 6,022.65, powered by gains in index heavyweights Apple and Microsoft. The index had breached the 5,000 mark on March 7, 2000 and closed above that level two days later during the height of the tech boom. Tuesday''s gains build on a day-earlier rally, which was driven by the victory of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French presidential election. Polls show Macron is likely to beat his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote on May 7. "Political headlines in Europe don''t tend to stick, but create buying opportunities more than having long-term consequences," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments. Investors are keeping a close watch on the latest earnings season, hoping that companies will justify their lofty valuations, spurred in part by President Donald Trump''s pro-growth promises. Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11 percent in the first quarter - the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Trump, who had promised to make "a big tax reform" announcement on Wednesday, has directed his aides to move quickly on a plan to cut the corporate income tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, a Trump administration official said on Monday. At 10:54 a.m. ET (1454 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 222.74 points, or 1.07 percent, at 20,986.63, the S&P 500 was up 12.79 points, or 0.54 percent, at 2,386.94 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 29.65 points, or 0.5 percent, at 6,013.47. Better-than-expected profits at McDonald''s and Caterpillar helped the Dow outperform other major Wall Street indexes. Gains on the S&P were broad-based. Ten of its 11 major sectors were higher. DuPont''s 3 percent increase, following a profit beat, helped the materials sector notch the most gains. Biogen''s shares jumped more than 4 percent after the biotech company reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,990 to 791. On the Nasdaq, 1,939 issues rose and 724 fell. The S&P 500 index showed 77 52-week highs and three lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 164 highs and 26 lows. (Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idUSL4N1HX4ZE'|'2017-04-25T23:27:00.000+03:00' '264064bdeddf7f6f72cb9680581ad8a39efd49a7'|'Baker Hughes'' revenue falls 15.3 pct on lower offshore spending'|'Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 11:13am EDT Baker Hughes expects North America revenue to rise in 2nd quarter FILE PHOTO: A Baker Hughes sign is displayed outside the oil logistics company''s local office in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo Baker Hughes Inc ( BHI.N ) said on Tuesday it expects revenue from North America to rise in the current quarter from the first as oil producers drill more onshore wells, helping the oilfield service provider make up for a fall in demand in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil producers are spending more on lucrative shale fields to take advantage of oil prices stabilizing at over $50 per barrel, while clamping down on expensive and time-consuming offshore projects. "Activity growth in the U.S. onshore well construction product lines is forecast to more than offset the seasonal decline in Canada and ongoing activity reductions in the Gulf of Mexico," Chief Financial Officer Kimberly Ross said in a post-earnings call. Larger rival Halliburton Co ( HAL.N ) said on Monday oil producers were completing nearly as many wells as they were drilling, leading to revenue and margin growth in its completion and production unit. Market leader Schlumberger ( SLB.N ) said on Friday that it was redeploying service capacity and technical support resources from the Gulf of Mexico to other markets. Shares of Baker Hughes, which reported a bigger-than-expected loss on Tuesday, fell as much as 4.3 percent to $56.15, before paring losses to trade down marginally. The company, which is being acquired by General Electric Co ( GE.N ), said quarterly revenue fell 15.3 percent to $2.26 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. Analysts'' on average had expected revenue of $2.27 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In contrast, Schlumberger''s ( SLB.N ) first quarter revenue rose 5.7 percent and Halliburton''s 1.9 percent. Baker Hughes is much more exposed than Halliburton to international markets, where activity and pricing for oilfield services has remained persistently low. About 31 percent of Baker Hughes'' total revenue comes from North America, with operations in the Gulf of Mexico account for 15 percent of its revenue from the region. Net loss attributable to Baker Hughes narrowed to $129 million, or 30 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $981 million, or $2.22 per share, a year earlier. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, the company lost 24 cents per share, on an adjusted basis. Analysts'' on average had estimated a loss of 21 cents. GE said last week the merger of its oil and gas business with Baker Hughes remained on track to close in mid-2017. Up to Monday''s close, Baker Hughes shares had fallen 9.7 percent this year, compared to a 8.8 percent decline in globally-traded Brent crude prices LCOc1. (Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-baker-hughes-results-idUSKBN17R16E'|'2017-04-25T18:39:00.000+03:00' 'a0461f20f394a135f1fdf42be5ca4121fd4cf1aa'|'UPDATE 1-Express Scripts seeks cost cuts, M&A as it preps for Anthem loss'|'Deals 19am EDT Express Scripts seeks cost cuts, M&A as it preps for Anthem loss NEW YORK Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co ( ESRX.O ) said on Tuesday that it plans to cut costs and is on the lookout for strategic deals as it readies itself for the potential loss of its largest customer, Anthem Inc ( ANTM.N ). Express Scripts said on Monday that health insurer Anthem, which has sued the company over claims of being overcharged, was unlikely to renew its contract after it ends in 2019. Anthem was responsible for just under a third of Express Scripts operating earnings in 2016. Express Scripts shares were down 11.2 percent at $59.72 in morning trading. "A strong core is built not just on creating and making the most of external opportunities but also by managing internal cost and investments to ensure a highly efficient lean approach," Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said on a conference call with investors following the announcement. "We have proven over the years that we can do this." Chief Financial Officer Eric Slusser said that the company has already launched programs with an eye toward reducing selling, general and administrative expenses should the Anthem contract end. The company also said it was looking for strategic acquisitions both for its core business as well as to provide additional services. "Pick your favorite three investment bankers, they would tell you that we read everything," Wentworth said on a conference call with investors, when asked about possible deals. "We''re engaging very meaningfully." (Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-expressscripts-anthem-idUSKBN17R20O'|'2017-04-25T23:10:00.000+03:00' '703ce89d32a28fe170c86e2628104e6c535b24a4'|'Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon''s sales rise 3.4 percent'|' 6:59pm BST Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon''s sales rise 3.4 percent A sign marks the Raytheon offices in Woburn, Massachusetts. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By Mike Stone and Ankit Ajmera Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon Co ( RTN.N ) sees increased demand fuelling the company''s growth as a pro-defense Trump administration and U.S. allies grapple with geopolitical instability, it said on Thursday as it reported improved quarterly results. Raytheon shares hit an all-time high after the company reported a 3.4 percent rise in revenue, helped by sales in its divisions that make Tomahawk cruise missiles and electronic warfare systems. The stock rose to $158.86 in New York trading before giving up some of the gains. Thomas Kennedy, Raytheon''s chief executive officer, told Wall Street analysts during a conference call: "The tempo in Syria is pretty up right now." He added that Raytheon is seeing significant demand "to provide solutions and keep up with the replenishment requirements." The U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base earlier this month, and the U.S. military caries out daily missile strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq as the United States prefers not to put large numbers of soldiers directly in harm''s way. Raytheon, which also makes Patriot missile systems, said total sales rose to $6.00 billion from $5.80 billion a year earlier. Income from continuing operations rose to $1.73 per share, from $1.43 per share. Analysts on average had expected first-quarter sales of $5.83 billion, and earnings from continuing operations of $1.61 per share. Raytheon also raised its 2017 forecast for sales by about $100 million, to $24.9 billion-$25.4 billion, and earnings from continuing operations by 5 cents per share, to $7.25-$7.40. Analysts on average were expecting sales of $25.09 billion, and earnings of $7.40 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Toby O''Brien, Raytheon''s chief financial officer, told Reuters that even if the U.S. government struggles to pass a budget this fiscal year, the company''s projections would not be affected significantly. Raytheon grew its order backlog during the quarter to $36 billion, with 41 percent of that from international customers, O''Brien said. Revenue in Raytheon''s space and airborne systems business, its second-biggest unit by sales, rose 7.6 percent to $1.56 billion in the first quarter ended April 2, helped by higher sales of an electronic warfare systems program. Operating margins in the unit increased to 12.2 percent, from 11.6 percent. The business accounted for about 26 percent of Raytheon''s quarterly revenue. The unit makes electronic warfare systems for tactical aircraft, helicopters and ships, as well as tracking and navigation sensors used on airborne platforms, among other products. Sales in the company''s missile systems unit, which also makes Paveway smart bombs and advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, rose 1.9 percent to $1.76 billion. Operating margins in the business rose to 12.3 percent, from 11.1 percent. The missile systems unit, which is Raytheon''s biggest business, accounted for 29.3 percent of its quarterly revenue. Bookings fell 8.3 percent to $5.69 billion in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier. Bookings is a forward-looking metric that measures the value of firm orders won by Raytheon. Raytheon''s single biggest booking of the first quarter was an early warning radar system for Qatar, O''Brien said. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company repurchased 2.7 million shares of its common stock for $400 million in the quarter, and increased its annual dividend rate by 8.9 percent to $3.19 per share. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Clive McKeef and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-raytheon-results-idUKKBN17T2QU'|'2017-04-28T01:59:00.000+03:00' 'ef1ea5f7661ada50f4bbfc85d6a98b9505298fb4'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil''s Bradesco beats profit estimates after large provision cut'|'Company News 18pm EDT UPDATE 2-Bradesco sees Brazil recovery dictating default trends (Recasts to add comments, share performance) By Guillermo Parra-Bernal SAO PAULO, April 27 The pace and extent of Brazil''s economic recovery will dictate future trends for defaults and loan-loss provisions at Banco Bradesco SA, which saw corporate defaults climbing during the first quarter, Chief Financial Officer Alexandre Glüher said on Thursday. Defaults may decline little this year but sharply drop in 2018, he said in a conference call to discuss last quarter''s results. Rising demand for consumer loans may allow the country''s No. 3 listed bank to disburse more in some segments while keeping an eye on still-problematic corporate credit, he said. "If the recovery materializes, we should see large corporate borrowers get better refinancing terms and defaults declining," Glüher noted, adding that scaling down provisions is "a function" of how quickly Brazil emerges from its steepest recession on record. His remarks suggest that lingering loan quality woes for domestic banks are taking the backseat after a four-year credit market downturn. While it may take longer for activity and job market indicators to revive, analysts expect business confidence gauges and an ongoing interest-rate cutting cycle to accelerate a recovery. Earlier on Thursday, Bradesco reported first-quarter profit results that beat estimates after a bigger-than-expected cut in provisions helped offset impairments in the value of financial securities and an unexpected fall in fee income. Recurring net income, or profit excluding one-off items, totaled 4.648 billion reais ($1.47 billion) last quarter, up 6 percent from the prior three months. The consensus estimate was 4.391 billion reais. Preferred shares, Bradesco''s most widely traded class of stock, jumped the most in 10 days as investors backed Chief Executive Officer Luiz Carlos Trabuco''s strategy of cutting provisions even if defaults kept rising. The stock rose as much as 3.5 percent before trimming gains to trade 2.7 percent higher in early afternoon trading. Trabuco''s credit risk controls allowed Bradesco to cut provisions by 12 percent, more than twice what analysts forecast. A bad loan growth metric, known as non-performing loan creation, remained stable last quarter. Still, defaults rose for the ninth straight quarter, as Bradesco wrestled with eroding corporate loan book quality. The so-called default ratio hit 5.6 percent last quarter, above a 5.3 percent estimate. It might have stood unchanged at 5.5 percent had Bradesco not been forced to reclassify an unspecified corporate loan that turned riskier. Nonetheless, Bradesco''s coverage ratio, or how much capital it has to cover bad loans, rose to 215 percent last quarter. "Results show asset quality improved and the coverage ratio and non-performing loan buffer remained elevated, providing earnings protection," said Philip Finch, a strategist with UBS Securities. Fee income declined for the first time in a year while average interest rates charged on borrowers slipped for a second straight quarter. ($1 = 3.1722 reais) (Editing by Richard Lough and W Simon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/banco-bradesco-results-idUSL1N1HZ0D0'|'2017-04-27T19:21:00.000+03:00' '73fc6a6d81955915bea3299ca630fb65ff4ec429'|'UPDATE 1-STMicro posts solid qtrly growth for first time in 6 yrs'|'Company News 2:06am EDT UPDATE 1-STMicro posts solid qtrly growth for first time in 6 yrs (Adds business details; increases in margins, proposed dividend) By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT/PARIS, April 27 STMicroelectronics , Europe''s third largest semiconductor maker, on Thursday posted solid double-digit revenue growth on demand for its phone and industrial sensors that marks a turnaround from six years of sales declines. The Franco-Italian controlled diversified chipmaker forecast 5 percent growth in revenue for the current second quarter compared to the first quarter and around 12.3 percent year-to-year, and said it was on track to meet 2017 objectives. "The positive momentum we have had over the last quarters has continued entering 2017," said Chief Executive Carlo Bozotti, who will remain in his position for one year after a long-running search failed to yield a replacement. STMicro reported first-quarter net revenue of $1.821 billion (1.67 billion euros), a rise of 12.9 percent year over year. The results were in line with the average forecast of $1.822 billion analysts expected, according to a Thomson Reuters poll. The company said it enjoyed solid year-to-year growth in all of its product families, fuelled by a rise in its MEMS sensors business of 19.9 percent. Its long struggling imaging division more than doubled, driven by its Time-of-Flight products. Net income for the first quarter turned to a profit of $108 million from a year-ago loss of $41 million. Gross margins marked their sixth consecutive quarterly increase to 37.6 percent, beating the 37.2 percent that analysts on average had expected, according to Thomson Reuters data. Margins are expected to rise to nearly 40 percent in 2018. It forecast second-quarter margins around 38.1 percent, plus or minus 2 percentage points. The company said it would propose a cash dividend of $0.24, up from around $0.21 in the previous year, payable in quarterly instalments, to be voted on at ST''s annual shareholder meeting. The stock, which is trading near nine-year highs, closed at 14.51 euros on Wednesday, up 35 percent year-to-date. (1 euro = $1.0906) (Reporting By Eric Auchard; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Biju Dwarakanath)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/stmicroelectronics-results-idUSL8N1HZ17V'|'2017-04-27T14:06:00.000+03:00' 'e49f00bf50d0f7e37b627c48ee21ad950c12ff77'|'Ford profit beats estimates; maintains 2017 profit outlook'|'By Nick Carey - DETROIT DETROIT Ford Motor Co reported a lower quarterly net profit on Thursday but beat analyst expectations amid higher commodity, engineering and recall costs, and a drop in vehicle salesFord shares were down slightly at $11.54 in early trade.The No. 2 U.S. automaker, which reiterated its pretax profit forecast for 2017, warned investors in late March that higher costs and lower sales volumes would hurt quarterly earnings.Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told reporters at the company''s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, that additional costs made this the "toughest quarter" for 2017.Shanks said Ford''s results for the rest of the year would be "about flat to a little bit better" compared with 2016.The company''s results come at a time of uncertainty for the U.S. auto industry following disappointing sales in March.While sales of new vehicles have risen since the end of the Great Recession and hit 17.55 million units in 2016, analysts expect a slight sales decline in 2017. Ford said Thursday it expects industrywide sales to decrease a little this year and in 2018.Ratings agencies have warned of worsening credit and there are concerns millions of nearly new leased vehicles due to flood the market over the next couple of years will depress used-car values and hurt U.S. automakers'' sales.Shanks said Ford''s own used-car values at its finance arm were down 7 percent compared to the same quarter in 2016, but said customers'' credit scores remained high and we "feel really good about where credit is.""Clearly we''re moving to a different stage of the cycle, but we think based on what we know that we’ve got it covered,” he said.Ford''s costs during the first quarter were hurt by two recalls in North America, one to replace potentially faulty side door latches and the other for under-hood fire risks. The company said it expects to spend $295 million to fix those problems.Ford expects commodity costs to be around $1 billion higher this year. Shanks said around half of that will be due to higher steel prices.Ford maintained its expectation for a full-year 2017 pretax profit of around $9 billion, down from a record of $10.4 billion in 2016.The company reported a first-quarter net profit of $1.6 billion, or 40 cents a share, down 36 percent from $2.5 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had, on average, expected earnings per share for the quarter of 35 cents.Automotive revenue rose to $36.5 billion from $35.3 billion a year earlier. Analysts had expected $34.7 billion.(Editing by Bernadette Baum, Bernard Orr)The logo of Ford is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ford-results-idINKBN17T2BL'|'2017-04-27T23:10:00.000+03:00' 'e23bf1f8f4c3b6b32523cd7a554953c5eedc5a60'|'U.S. Congress takes steps to push budget deadline, avert shutdown'|'By Richard Cowan - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Congress began moving to extend Friday''s budget deadline until May 5 and is expected to pass legislation allowing more time to finalize a spending deal to fund the federal government through September and avoid a shutdown.House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen introduced a bill late on Wednesday night to fund government operations at current levels for one more week, giving leading Republicans and Democrats time to finish negotiations on a spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30.Without the congressional extension or a longer-term funding bill, federal agencies will run out of money by midnight Friday, likely triggering abrupt layoffs of hundreds of thousands of federal government workers until funding resumes.The last government shutdown, in 2013, lasted for 17 days, and many lawmakers are nervous at the prospect of another."I am optimistic that a final funding package will be completed soon," Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican, said in a statement.Negotiators spent Wednesday racing against the clock to resolve remaining disputes in the massive spending bill amid talks that have already handed Democrats at least two major victories despite Republican control of Congress.President Donald Trump, also a Republican, gave in to Democratic demands that the spending bill not include money to start building the wall he wants to erect on the U.S.-Mexico border. His administration also agreed to continue funding for a major component of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, despite vows to end the program.It remained unclear whether Republicans would prevail in their effort to significantly increase defense spending without similar increases to other domestic programs. Trump has proposed a $30 billion spending boost for the Pentagon for the rest of this fiscal year.Such funding disputes could resurface later in spending bills for the next fiscal year starting in October.Other disagreements must also still be ironed out in the current plan, including funding to make a healthcare program for coal miners permanent and to plug a gap in Puerto Rico''s Medicaid program, the government health insurance program for the poor.Additional "riders" on other issues could also be tucked into the legislation, which must pass both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.Although Republicans control both chambers of Congress, they hold just 52 seats in the Senate and will need support from some Democrats to win the 60 votes needed there to pass the bill. Susan Cornwell and Amanda Becker in Washington and Caroline Humer in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-budget-idINKBN17T23C'|'2017-04-27T21:49:00.000+03:00' '4df403fa44f1164a0d3573447537c43fbce534de'|'Deutsche Bank first quarter profit surges on debt trading'|'Business News 6:37am BST Deutsche Bank first quarter profit surges on debt trading A Deutsche Bank logo adorns a wall at the company''s headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany June 9, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) posted a 143 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to 575 million euros (£487.27 million), benefiting from lower legal costs for past misdeeds and a rebound in debt trading. Germany''s flagship lender beat expectations of analysts who had expected the bank to post a first-quarter net profit of 522 million euros. "Client engagement is strong, asset flows are returning across the bank and activity is picking up. Our cost-cutting efforts are starting to pay off, while we have reduced complexity significantly", Chief Executive John Cryan said in a statement on Thursday. Revenues at its cash cow bond trading division were up 11 percent in the quarter as it benefited from a surge in trading across interest rate products, commodities and foreign exchange (FICC), while sales were down 10 percent in equity trading. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-bank-results-idUKKBN17T0K6'|'2017-04-27T13:37:00.000+03:00' '5c7c35feb7c8788c919d8579c0af0bf6d291abe3'|'Exclusive: Apollo Global in advanced talks to buy West Corp - sources'|'Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC ( APO.N ) is in advanced negotiations to acquire U.S. conference call specialist and telecommunications provider West Corp ( WSTC.O ), people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.Apollo has prevailed in an auction for West Corp, although negotiations will continue for days and they could still end without a deal having been agreed, the sources said.The price Apollo was offering could not be learned, although the sources said West Corp''s indebtedness of more than $3 billion weighed on the deal negotiations.The sources asked not to be named because the matter is confidential. Representatives for Apollo and West Corp declined to comment.(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Frances Kerry)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-westcorp-m-a-apolloglobal-exclusive-idINKBN17T2YX'|'2017-04-27T17:49:00.000+03:00' 'bd8fa0eee26602082104862de962fd060851984b'|'Dip in bad loans reveals green shoots in StanChart revival'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 6:22pm BST Dip in bad loans reveals green shoots in StanChart revival A man walks past the head office of Standard Chartered bank in the City of London February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh By Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON A sharp dip in bad loans shows that Standard Chartered ( STAN.L ) is turning a corner, its Chief Financial Officer told Reuters a day after reporting the bank''s first quarter profit had doubled. StanChart set aside just $200 million (156.07 million pounds) in provisions against bad loans for the first quarter, 58 percent lower than a year ago, lifting its shares 5 percent on Wednesday. Losses from bad debts have plagued the bank in recent years, with its struggles to recoup a $1 billion loan to Indonesian mining tycoon Samin Tan emblematic of its over-ambitious lending during the boom years up to 2015. The bank has since tightened limits on who can make decisions about such big loans and decreased internal limits for exposure to a single client, Andy Halford said on Thursday. "Today we''d not be lending in such large amounts to some of those clients," Halford, adding that the bank remains cautious and that bad loans could still rise if market conditions worsen. However the strong first quarter gave confidence the total impairment losses for 2017 could come in at under $2 billion against $2.4 billion in 2016, he said. GREEN SHOOTS The signs of green shoots come just over a year on from a low point for Halford, when he and Chief Executive Bill Winters had to present the StanChart''s first annual loss in 26 years. The $1.5 billion loss stemmed from restructuring costs, including redundancies and bad loan impairments, a legacy of years of unfettered growth after the 2008 crisis when profits soared as StanChart lent freely in Asia and the Middle East. Now it is betting on initiatives including growing its private banking business and a push into developed markets such as the United States to boost revenues, which have remained stubbornly low during the turnaround. "We''re not trying to conquer the U.S. market, but for companies who have business in the emerging markets who have never heard of us, we should be more visible," he said. Asked whether the bank could resume payouts as soon as this year, as some analysts have suggested following the improved results, Halford said: "I am not ruling anything in or out". Analysts remain cautious on StanChart''s outlook because its cost-cutting has also slashed revenues, with income in its financial markets division down 10 percent in the first quarter, as U.S. investment banks'' own trading divisions are booming. "The returns are not yet up to the level of covering the cost of the business, and until we''re at that point we can''t declare victory," Halford said. (Editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-stanchart-cfo-idUKKBN17T2N5'|'2017-04-28T01:22:00.000+03:00' '2f28584bd493b8ad47acce29e3e16591b3d329d0'|'Euro, stock markets fall back on Draghi comments'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 2:34pm BST Euro, stock markets fall back on Draghi comments left right Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote 1/2 left right European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi addresses a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach 2/2 LONDON The euro sank to a day''s low and European stock markets and bond yields fell back on Thursday, undoing initial gains, after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi said policymakers did not discuss removing the bank''s easing bias on monetary policy. Markets had initially surged on language in the bank''s statement, read by Draghi, which said the recovery was increasingly solid and that downside risks to the euro zone''s recovery had diminished. But other parts of the statement and Draghi''s replies to questions stressed the barriers the ECB still faces before beginning to tighten both the bank''s stance and the ultra-loose financing conditions it has maintained for the past nine years. Euro zone government bond yields gave up earlier increases and headed lower after Draghi''s comments. Germany''s benchmark 10-year Bund yield fell more than 2 basis points to a two-day low at 0.325 percent DE10YT=TWEB, while money market rates fell as investors scaled back ECB rate-hike expectations ECBWATCH. The eurozone STOXX 50 .STOXX50E pared back earlier gains and Italy''s FTSE MIB .FTMIB hit a session low while Eurozone banks .SX7E hit a day''s low, last down 1.2 percent. The euro fell 0.3 percent on the day to a low of $1.0857 EUR= . "The Q&A revealed that ... some of the members hadn''t turned at all whereas I felt Draghi had shifted a little bit to be less dovish," said Neil Jones, head of FX sales at Mizuho. "I didn''t sense that was unanimous," he added, saying Draghi''s comment on the easing bias had added to pressure on the euro. (Writing by Patrick Graham)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-markets-ecb-draghi-idUKKBN17T21U'|'2017-04-27T21:34:00.000+03:00' '4d9ae5eebe979a29a320ce95f6d7c935150853e0'|'UPDATE 1-Australia''s Wesfarmers says Q3 supermarket sales up 1.2 pct'|'* Coles Q3 food and liquor sales up 1.2 pct to A$7.6 bln* Year to date sales up 1.9 pct* Q3 deflation 0.5 pct (Adds deflation figures, coal sales)SYDNEY, April 27 Australia''s Wesfarmers Ltd , owner of the country''s No. 2 grocery chain, said third-quarter food and liquor sales rose 1.2 percent as a strategy of cutting shelf prices to win customers was offset by higher wholesale prices.Food and liquor sales for Coles supermarkets came in at A$7.6 billion ($5.7 billion) for the three months to March 26, the mining-to-retail conglomerate said in a statement on Thursday.No analyst forecasts were available for the quarterly result.Coles and larger rival Woolworths Ltd have been slashing prices amid fierce competition from new bargain rivals like Germany''s ALDI Inc and U.S.-listed Costco Wholesale Corp.On Thursday, Wesfarmers, the country''s biggest company by sales, said it experienced shelf price deflation of 0.5 percent in the three-month period, less than in previous quarters, because of "supply-driven fresh produce inflation"."It is necessary that we continue to proactively invest in the customer offer throughout this period of lower growth and increased competition to ensure we maintain our market leading customer offer," Coles Managing Director John Durkan said in the statement.For the year to date, Coles food and liquor sales, which account for about 40 percent of Wesfarmers'' revenue, were up 1.9 percent. It offered no guidance for the full financial year.It did not publish profit for Coles in the quarterly update. In February, Wesfarmers said Coles earnings fell 6.8 percent for the first half of the year.Wesfarmers said coal sales from its Curragh mine in Queensland would hit the lower end of a guidance range between 8 and 8.5 million tonnes, owing to damage to rail lines caused by Cyclone Debbie.($1 = 1.3373 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Byron Kaye and Tom Westbrook; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/wesfarmers-results-idUSL4N1HY6WB'|'2017-04-27T07:45:00.000+03:00' 'e304fda609c78d1d2c26a5f04c471b3851388fcf'|'Dow Chemical reports five-fold jump in profit'|'Dow Chemical Co ( DOW.N ) reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly profit as the seeds and chemical maker benefited from its consumer-markets focus, and said it has had "substantive discussions" with regulators over its merger with DuPont ( DD.N ).Dow Chemical''s shares were up 1.4 percent in light premarket trading on Thursday.The $130-billion Dow-Dupont merger was approved by EU antitrust regulators last month on the condition the companies divest assets and research and development facilities to address competition concerns.The merger is still to be approved by regulators in the United States, Brazil, China, Australia and Canada."We''ve had lots of substantive discussions, expect to hear from China and the U.S. Department of Justice next, followed by Brazil," Howard Ungerleider, Dow''s chief financial officer, told Reuters."I won''t rule out additional remedy, there are likely to be some smaller remedies until we get final approval from authorities around the world," he said, referring to asset sales required to secure regulatory clearances.Dow said in February it would sell its ethylene acrylic acid business to South Korea''s SK Innovation ( 096770.KS ), subject to the Dow-DuPont deal closing.DuPont said on Tuesday it continued to expect the deal to close in August, after repeated delays.The combined Dow-DuPont company will eventually be spun-off into three independent publicly traded companies, the first being called "Material Science Co".AGRIBUSINESS LAGSThe company said on Thursday sales rose in four of its five businesses in the first quarter ended March 31, falling only in its agriculture unit.Sales in Dow''s agriculture business slipped 5 percent to $1.6 billion on lower sales of herbicides and insecticides in Asia Pacific and weak demand for corn seeds in North America.Dow''s agriculture business is far more reliant on crop protection products, which make up 75-80 percent of the unit''s sales.DuPont reported on Tuesday a better-than-expected quarterly profit on robust seed sales, but warned that weak demand for corn seeds would weigh on its current-quarter profit.A shift to the more-profitable soybean among U.S. farmers is hurting demand for corn seeds.Dow reported an operating profit of $1.04 per share in the quarter, topping the analysts'' average estimate of 99 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Dow has been concentrating on high-margin businesses after shedding its less-lucrative commodity units, including parts of its century-old chlorine business.The company''s packaging, consumer care, electronics and automotive businesses have seen robust demand due to improving economic growth worldwide.Net sales rose 23.6 percent to $13.23 billion, slightly above analysts'' estimate of $13.21 billion.(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath and Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-dow-chemical-results-idUSKBN17T1HT'|'2017-04-27T19:03:00.000+03:00' '05962f8b4e1a71605670f40c7f244cb7448241ca'|'Insurer Hastings posts higher first-quarter gross written premiums'|'Business 7:52am BST Insurer Hastings posts higher first-quarter gross written premiums British insurer Hastings Group Plc ( HSTG.L ) reported on Friday a 26 percent rise in first-quarter gross written premiums, boosted by a growth in the number of policies and higher premiums. The company said premiums had increased across the market after Britain cut the rate at which compensation payments are calculated in personal injury claims and that it expected its business to benefit from the change. "Our digitally focused business model will allow us to benefit from increased price comparison website usage as our agile, data driven pricing enables us to provide the most competitive deal to more customers searching online," Chief Executive Gary Hoffman said in a statement. The company said it was pleased with the strong trading performance over the first three months of the year, with gross written premiums rising to 214.7 million pounds, from 171 million pounds a year ago. Hastings said it was well positioned to continue its profitable growth and deliver against its set targets. (Reporting by Esha Vaish and Noor Zainab Hussian in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hastings-grp-outlook-idUKKBN17U0QN'|'2017-04-28T14:52:00.000+03:00' '07e6835fb5e416b6939fefba433b157ee0c454b1'|'Danone shareholders grant WhiteWave boss a board seat'|'Company 10am EDT Danone shareholders grant WhiteWave boss a board seat PARIS, April 27 Danone shareholders on Thursday voted to grant a board seat to Gregg Engles, the chairman and CEO of U.S. organic food producer WhiteWave Foods Co, which the French food group recently bought. His appointment was approved by over 96 percent of votes cast at Danone''s annual shareholder meeting. Danone''s Chief Executive Emmanuel Faber told shareholders that with WhiteWave''s acquisition, North America would become the group''s top market, accounting for around 25 percent of its sales against 13 percent before. Last week Danone, the world''s largest yoghurt maker, raised its forecast for earnings per share (EPS) growth in 2017, having closed its $12.5 billion acquisition of WhiteWave on April 12. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Editing by Sarah White)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/danone-agm-board-idUSL8N1HZ6SE'|'2017-04-27T23:10:00.000+03:00' '900a3b82de276c6bce31a1d73e453bac26f0a75c'|'Australia''s Ten Network warns future dependent on financing'|'SYDNEY, April 27 Australia''s third-largest television network, Ten Network Holdings, on Thursday said its future was dependent on financing arrangements after it reported a A$232 million ($173.44 million) half-year loss in a weak advertising market.The youth-oriented network has a A$200 million debt facility guaranteed by News Corp Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, businessman Bruce Gordon and Crown Resorts casino magnate James Packer due to expire in December."The group is currently seeking to secure an amended or new borrowing facility with extended maturity and expanded size," Ten said in its financial accounts."As a result of the matters disclosed, there is a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group’s ability to continue as a going concern."($1 = 1.3376 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by STephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ten-network-results-idUSL4N1HY70G'|'2017-04-27T07:54:00.000+03:00' 'e6a7a337f0347724872b1f652e18dc8e03e7ca3b'|'Investors eye Elliott''s Plan B as BHP shake-up push falters'|'Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 9:24am BST Investors eye Elliott''s Plan B as BHP shake-up push falters FILE PHOTO: A promotional sign adorns a stage at a BHP Billiton function in Sydney, Australia, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo By Simon Jessop and Jamie Freed - LONDON/SYDNEY LONDON/SYDNEY Two weeks after Elliott Management''s surprise assault on BHP Billiton, the fund manager''s three-point demand for change is gaining little traction with investors, prompting expectations a second strike is imminent. While Elliott is struggling to push through a $46 billion overhaul of the Anglo-Australian miner, investors said it could point to BHP''s plans for further sales of marginal assets and increasing shareholder returns as, potentially, some incremental victories. "I think the case for agitating for management to do what a shareholder wants is always there," said Neil Boyd-Clark, portfolio manager at Arnhem Investment Management, a long-time holder of BHP''s Australian shares. "In a way, this might be presented as being this great scary exercise, but there is a win-win-win for everyone involved." Over the past year, Elliott has built up a minority stake in BHP and earlier this month told the company it had failed to deliver "optimal" value. It demanded BHP spin off U.S. oil assets, ditch a corporate structure built on dual listings in London and Sydney and hand back more money to shareholders. In a swift rebuff, BHP said the costs of the changes would outweigh the benefits. BEEN THERE, DONE THAT Investors have been skeptical. Since the announcement, BHP''s London shares have fallen nearly 6 percent against a 0.8 percent drop on the FTSE 100. At Wednesday''s close, BHP''s Australian shares had dropped 2 percent against a 0.9 percent rise in the broader market. "The fact that the share price did nothing indicates to me that the probability the market puts on them succeeding is essentially zero," said a top-10 investor in the London shares. Mining companies have come under intense pressure from shareholders since the end of the commodity boom in 2012, which left many investors nursing the painful after-effects of rash spending and costly acquisitions. The downturn means many of Elliott''s ideas had already been tested within BHP, said major investors questioned by Reuters, none of whom said they had been contacted by Elliott. BHP''s reliance on commodities also limits how much value could be unlocked from the sort of financial engineering proposed by Elliott, they said. But a BHP statement on Wednesday showed room for movement, investors and analysts said. In a break from a usually dry production statement, BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said the miner had already been "fundamentally restructured" to increase returns with the demerger of South32 in 2015, the removal of layers of management and change in its approach to capital management. The group also announced it would put its Fayetteville shale gas assets in the United States back on the market. BHP has said there is no connection between these measures and Elliott''s demands. Mackenzie is due to provide an update on strategy at a mining industry conference in Barcelona next month. NEXT STEPS Investors said one target for a second strike by Elliott could be BHP''s next major executive appointment - a new chairman. Incumbent Jac Nasser has said he will not seek re-election at this year''s annual general meeting. "Who is going to take over replacing Jac Nasser is obviously going to be the key thing for investors this year," said Andy Forster, portfolio manager at Argo Investments, a shareholder in BHP''s Australian arm. Still, a source familiar with the situation said Elliott had not offered views on the board or management team in eight months of private talks with BHP before it went public. Since its April 12 demands, Elliott has not made any statements about BHP although it promised further details in due course. An Elliott spokesman declined to comment. On April 10, Elliott said it held about 4 percent of the London-listed shares, short of the 5 percent needed to call a shareholders'' meeting. (Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis and Maiya Keidan in London, and Michael Flaherty in New York; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Neil Fullick)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bhp-billiton-elliott-idUKKBN17T11X'|'2017-04-27T16:21:00.000+03:00' 'e247bb5511514f75522b4cf8e83c06f0c9f40a24'|'U.S. says it will take two years for Venezuela to leave OAS'|'WASHINGTON The United States on Thursday expressed concern over a plan by Venezuela to pull out of the Organization of American States but said the withdrawal is a two-year process by which time President Nicolas Maduro''s current term would have expired."The foreign minister''s statement has no real practical or immediate effect because withdrawing from the OAS requires up to two years in terms of process, and in this case it would conclude after President Maduro''s term had expired," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.He added: "We''d like to see them remain in the OAS but only if they comply (with) OAS standards."(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Marguerita Choy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/venezuela-oas-usa-idINKBN17T2W1'|'2017-04-27T17:15:00.000+03:00' '665ced263969c84acddc40454191bc7e068149a7'|'High in the sky: Small flying “cars” come a bit closer to reality'|'“YOU may smile, but it will come,” said Henry Ford in 1940, predicting the arrival of a machine that was part-automobile and part-aeroplane. For decades flying cars have obsessed technologists but eluded their mastery. Finally there is reason to believe. Several firms have offered hope that flying people in small pods for short trips might become a reality in the next decade. These are not cars, as most are not fit to drive on land, but rather small vehicles, which can rise and land vertically, like quiet helicopters.A prototype of a small electric plane that is capable of flying up to 300 kilometres per hour, made by Lilium, a German startup, completed a successful test over Bavaria on April 20th. Lilium is starting work on a five-seat vehicle and hopes to offer a ride-hailing service. Another German company, e-volo, has been testing a flying vehicle for several years. It recently showed off the second version of its electric Volocopter (pictured), which could be certified for flight as soon as next year.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 3 hours ago A 17 hours ago Have See all updates There are at least a dozen firms experimenting with making small flying vehicles in different guises, including Airbus, an aerospace giant, in partnership with Italdesign Giugiaro, a division of Volkswagen, a carmaker. Many plan to have a certified pilot in command at the beginning and then move on to an autonomous set-up when regulations allow. Motorcycle-type vehicles, which you sit astride, are also in the works.No matter which manufacturer is quickest to gain velocity, Uber, a ride-hailing firm, aims to be at the centre of things. On April 25th it held an event in Dallas to announce its plan to offer a service where people can hail an electric “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicle and ride it quickly to destinations that would otherwise take hours in heavy traffic. Uber does not want to build these aircraft or landing pads itself, just as it does not own its own cars. Instead, it plans to collaborate with other companies. But Jeff Holden, Uber’s chief product officer, does not exclude the possibility that the firm may at the outset own some aircraft, which he estimates will cost around $1m each.The firm plans to have a prototype of its service ready by 2020. It will launch it first in Dallas and in Dubai, both cities where the authorities have deep aviation expertise and where people commute long distances. The firm rather optimistically promises that the cost per aerial mile for passengers will be roughly that of its low-cost car service, UberX.There is plenty for manufacturers and services like Uber to overcome beyond gravity. For battery-powered models, range is limited and the charging rate remains slow. Manufacturers will need to ensure that vehicles can take off and land quietly, if this new form of transport is to stand a chance in cities. How to oversee and license the new aircraft, which are subject to much tougher rules than cars, will be a subject of intense debate among rule-makers, who tend to move slowly and are just getting to grips with drones. Drivers of flying vehicles are also likely to require a pilot’s licence, albeit perhaps a simplified “sports” licence. The journey ahead will be a long one.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "High in the sky"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721339-german-firm-completes-test-and-uber-promises-prototype-2020-small-flying-cars-come?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' '39ce9dc4a79145e311c9f1facf2d3ea2434b12f5'|'BP''s Whiting, Indiana refinery CDUs seen back to normal Saturday: sources'|' 33pm BST BP''s Whiting, Indiana refinery CDUs seen back to normal Saturday: sources FILE PHOTO: A British Petroleum petrol station logo is seen at Heathrow in London, Britain February 2, 2010. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo HOUSTON Two crude distillation units are expected back to normal production levels by Saturday at BP Plc''s ( BP.L ) 413,500 barrel per day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery, sources familiar with plant operations on Friday. The CDUs, Pipestills 11A and 11C, each able to process 75,000 bpd in crude oil, were near normal production levels early on Friday, the sources said. Production on Pipestills 11A and 11C was cut back for work on Thursday to an electrical substation. The refinery''s production dipped below 90 percent of capacity on Thursday because of the work. CDUs do the initial refining of crude oil coming into a refinery and provide feed to all other units. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Chizu Nomiyama, G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-refinery-operations-bp-whiting-idUKKBN17U2PC'|'2017-04-29T02:33:00.000+03:00' '7c5f2596f709ff6dfa5a066226affb4110e4ad3e'|'Chevron profit beats expectations on cost cuts, asset sales'|' 8:41am EDT Chevron swings to first quarter profit on cost cuts, rising oil prices FILE PHOTO: The logo of Chevron (CVX) is seen in Los Angeles, California, United States, April 12, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo HOUSTON Oil producer Chevron Corp ( CVX.N ) said on Friday it swung to a first-quarter profit due to cost cuts and rising crude prices CLc1. The company posted net income of $2.68 billion, or $1.41 per share, compared to a loss of $725 million, or 39 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Production rose 0.4 percent to 2.67 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chevron-results-idUSKBN17U1VR'|'2017-04-28T21:02:00.000+03:00' 'a53373e51d2e0a2fc01df506ae1657b5fcb22d2b'|'Barclays first-quarter profit doubles to 1.7 billion pounds, takes one-off Africa hit'|'Business News 10:17am BST Barclays misses out on bond trading boom, shares slide A Barclays sign is seen outside a branch of the bank in London, Britain, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth By Anjuli Davies - LONDON LONDON Barclays shares fell sharply on Friday as investors focused on a poor performance at its markets business, a key part of its growth strategy, that missed out on a bond trading boom enjoyed by Wall Street rivals in the first three months of 2017. The British bank is seeking to press ahead with restructuring plans which have seen it shift towards a transatlantic U.S.-UK focus and an emphasis on investment banking under its American Chief Executive Jes Staley. In its trading division, income from its markets business fell 4 percent to 1.35 billion pounds, as macro income fell 14 percent due to a weaker performance by its U.S. rates business and the impact of exiting energy-related commodities. Equities trading income also fell 10 percent, driven by lower revenue from U.S. equity derivatives. By contrast, Barclays'' Wall Street rivals saw bond trading revenues rise by an average of 21 percent in the first quarter, with investors adjusting their portfolios in response to rising interest rates, and elections in Europe. Deutsche Bank reported on Thursday that its markets business also lagged its U.S. peers last quarter, but reported an increase nonetheless in revenues. Analysts were unimpressed by Barclays'' results. "After a strong set of fixed income results from U.S. and European peers, Barclays Q1 results are disappointing," Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note. Barclays shares traded 4 percent lower at 0850 GMT, their worst day since the aftermath of the Brexit vote last June. Staley attributed the poor performance to weakness in the bank''s U.S. rates business and a tough comparison with the previous year and said that it would be wrong to start questioning the business based on one quarter''s performance. "You can''t make a judgement on the investment bank based on one quarter," he said on a conference call with reporters. WHISTLEBLOWING CASE Staley''s attempts to revitalise the investment banking business have been clouded by probes in the U.S. and Britain and criticism from investors following his attempts to unmask a whistleblower, which Barclays insiders fear could unseat Staley if the investigations'' findings are damning. Former JPMorgan banker Staley told reporters he had not offered his resignation to the board over the affair and that he was fully cooperating with the regulators. Barclays said its profit before tax was 1.7 billion pounds, up from 793 million pounds a year ago and better than the 1.46 billion pounds average estimate of analysts'' forecasts compiled by the bank. But part of that increase was driven by proceeds of sales of a credit card portfolio and a gain in the value of the bank''s preference shares in Visa Inc, with underlying earnings growth more muted. Barclays still faces a series of regulatory obstacles, with an ongoing probe by Britain''s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over its 2008 cash call at the height of the financial crisis and accusations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) over mortgage mis-selling. Barclays also faces a further headache from political upheaval in South Africa, which is hindering the bank''s efforts to sell its business there - a key element in its strategy to boost capital levels to meet regulators'' demands. Barclays said it would take a one-off goodwill impairment charge of 884 million pounds on its stake in Barclays Africa Group, which it has given itself 2-3 years to sell down. Its core capital ratio, a key measure of financial strength, rose to 12.5 percent from 12.4 percent last quarter, making it the most thinly capitalised of the major UK banks. "The bank continues to ride a capital tightrope," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note. "UK macro and South African politics will dictate whether Barclays escapes another capital raise," they added. The bank said it would create 1,000 new roles in the UK in operations and technology, with a further 1,000 to come over the next three years. (Reporting by Anjuli Davies; Editing by Rachel Armstrong/Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-barclays-results-idUKKBN17U0N6'|'2017-04-28T14:22:00.000+03:00' '9a9bbf217e02878c4d725851a1f620cb849b8a8e'|'RBS posts first quarterly profit since Q3 2015'|'By Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON Royal Bank of Scotland swung to a far better than expected first-quarter profit of 259 million pounds ($334.24 million), sending its shares up as much as 4 percent as the lender showed signs of progress in a decade-long turnaround.RBS''s first quarterly profit since September 2015 had been expected, but the amount exceeded the 50 million pounds forecast average of analysts'' estimates compiled by the bank.Chief Executive Ross McEwan has said 2017 will probably be the final year RBS makes a loss, as it moves nearer to closing the darkest chapter in its 290-year history.The bank has racked up more than 58 billion pounds in losses since its 45.5 billion pound bailout, the biggest for a European bank, at the height of the 2008-2009 financial crisis.RBS shares lost some of their early gains on Friday and were up 2.3 percent by 0800 GMT, the second best performer in the STOXX European Banks index, which dipped 0.3 percent.The goal of making a profit in 2018 depends on resolving RBS''s two biggest remaining headaches: its talks with the U.S. Justice Department on mortgage mis-selling, and with the European Union on the bank''s state aid requirements.RBS stands accused like many peers of mis-selling mortgage securities in the build-up to the 2008 financial crisis, and is expected to settle with U.S. authorities rather than fight the case like rival Barclays."We have nothing more to say on any engagement with the Department of Justice," McEwan told reporters on the call.In January RBS set aside a further 3.1 billion pound provision as it prepares to settle the claims, which some analysts have said could end up costing it as much as 9 billion pounds in total.Another big headache is an obligation RBS had under European state aid demands, whereby in recompense for receiving its bailout the bank would have to sell its Williams & Glyn unit.RBS said in February it had found a potential escape from that seven-year process, which had been fraught with rising costs and complexity. Instead the government is applying to the European Commission to approve a new plan whereby RBS will instead put in place measures to boost the competitiveness of smaller British bank peers.The European Commission is investigating the proposals.This month British finance minister Philip Hammond said explicitly for the first time that the government is prepared to sell its remaining more than 70 percent stake in RBS at a loss.Britain paid 45 billion pounds ($57 billion) to buy the RBS stake during the financial crisis, but unlike its similarly bailed-out peer Lloyds Banking Group, RBS has been unable to return to profit.Britain''s government budget watchdog said in March that the government was sitting on a 29 billion pound paper loss from RBS, in contrast to modest profits on bail-outs of Lloyds and other financial institutions.($1 = 0.7749 pounds)(Reporting By Lawrence White, editing by Huw Jones and Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/rbs-results-idINKBN17U0YZ'|'2017-04-28T16:00:00.000+03:00' '2601addb3f9a4afd55ebe3a01b73b76a25fd5868'|'Fed moving appropriately; ECB too hesitant: El-Erian'|'The U.S. Federal Reserve is moving appropriately on the path to unwind asset purchases and normalize rates, while the European Central Bank (ECB) may be too hesitant, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at the Allianz Group.The Fed, ECB and Bank of Japan (BOJ) need policymakers to step up to take action on structural reforms to be more effective, El-Erian told the Reuters Global Markets Forum in an interview on Friday.Following are edited excerpts from the conversation:Q: Are central banks taking the right route to unwind their asset purchases and normalize rates?A: When it comes to taking the foot off the unconventional stimulus pedal, the Fed appears to be moving appropriately. The ECB may be showing a little too much hesitancy. Importantly, the two of them – as well as the Bank of Japan – need other policymakers, with tools better suited for the task at hand, to step up to the plate more forcefully – especially when it comes to pro-growth structural reforms, more balanced demand management, better cross-border policy coordination and, in some isolated cases, targeted debt reduction (e.g., Greece).Otherwise, it will be challenging for the central banks to deliver a "beautiful normalization," adopting a phrase from Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio. As you know, I have worried that the central banks have been "the only game in town" for too long already.Q: Your thoughts on Fed''s balance sheet trimming? Certain sections of the market, for instance, believe balance sheet reduction should only start once the Fed funds rate is near 2 percent.A: Yes, I agree. My own inclination would be to go some significant way in normalizing rates before initiating an active reduction in the Fed''s balance sheet. Remember, this is unchartered territory. There are several uncertainties, so it is extra important to sequence carefully and implement in a measured fashion.Q: How many U.S. rate-hikes are you expecting in 2017?A: I expect that, absent a major negative shock, there will be a total of three rate hikes in 2017 -- so two more in the remainder of the year.Q: What are your thoughts on the relationship between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which is proving to be much friendlier than expected given Trump''s campaign rhetoric, and what does that mean for markets or investments? [nL1N1I0067]A: Yes, it looks like the two leaders had a good meeting in Washington, establishing a working relationship that appears to be deepening. This is very important as you are talking about the most important bilateral economic relationship in the world – between the largest economies.As such, it has a notable influence on markets/investment. The economic and financial relationships between the U.S. and China are considerable and multifaceted. Indeed, given the current scale and scope of inter-connectedness, the most likely long-term outcomes are either win-win or lose-lose. And the dynamics involved could well be those of multiple equilibria. As such, the stakes are high for the global economy and markets.Q: Do you think the deleveraging efforts in China are working?A: The deleveraging process is proving to be a very gradual process. Fortunately, China has time and the pockets of excessive leverage are containable. But there will be the periodic stress, and it’s one that requires timely policy responses.Q: What is your view on the dollar? Could it get a further boost from U.S. President Donald Trump''s policies?A: A lot depends on policies. Specifically, the dollar would get a boost from the implementation of pro-growth measures that would also allow the Federal Reserve to normalize both interest rates and its balance sheet. As such, foreign exchange traders should keep a close eye on progress on tax reform, de-regulation and infrastructure in particular.Q: Do you think inflation, which many thought would see a spike in 2017, has already reversed?A: No. I think the recent U.S. reversal will prove temporary. I suspect that there is some more inflation in the pipeline in 2017 here, though I would not call it a spike – rather a slow move up.Q: Would you be a buyer or seller of USD/JPY if the tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalate? How does that reconcile with BOJ’s stance?A: An escalation of the geo-political tensions you postulate in your question would most probably lead to an appreciation of the dollar versus the Japanese yen – related to economic, financial and technical reasons. I suspect that, in such a scenario, and it is one of many, the Bank of Japan would allow the currency to depreciate rather than take measures to meaningfully counter the move.Q: Would you be a buyer of gold in this period of heightened geopolitical tensions? Or do you see it underperforming in a rising interest rate environment?A: Much depends on what else I have in my portfolio. Some allocation to gold makes sense here.Q: Would you say the populist wave highlighted by the Brexit vote and the U.S. election is already waning given the French election left centrist Emmanuel Macron in the lead? And what is your view on the euro as a whole?A: No, I think the anti-establishment phenomenon is still with us. Remember, Emmanuel Macron campaigned against the mainstream parties. In fact, he does not have a party – just a "movement." What we are witnessing is the cumulative effect of too many years of low and insufficiently inclusive growth. (Editing by Neil Fullick)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-erian-idUSKBN17U12S'|'2017-04-28T16:39:00.000+03:00' 'afdb4e1c3683a3dbdad886712608285f88e04735'|'Intel quarterly revenue misses estimates on data center weakness'|'By Narottam Medhora Intel Corp reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue due to an unexpected slowdown in growth at its data center business, on which the world''s largest chipmaker is banking to reduce its reliance on the personal computer market.The company''s shares fell nearly 4 percent to $35.97 in trading after the bell on Thursday.Revenue from Intel''s higher-margin data center business rose 6 percent to $4.2 billion in the first quarter. That was less than the 9 percent jump a year-ago and the 8 percent increase in the fourth quarter."I think the Street was looking for slightly better than that," Stifel analyst Kevin Cassidy said.Analysts were expecting revenue to increase 10 percent to about $4.4 billion, according to FactSet StreetAccount.The slowdown in revenue growth comes after Intel warned in February that business''s margins could be hit by higher costs.However, Intel still expects the business to grow in the high single-digit percentage rate this year, Chief Executive Brian Krzanich said on a call.FORECAST RAISEDIntel marginally raised its full-year revenue forecast, which Krzanich said was due to average selling prices across its businesses trending ahead of expectations.The Santa Clara-based company expects 2017 revenue of about $60 billion. It had earlier forecast revenue would be flat compared with 2016 revenue of $59.4 billion.Intel increased its share buyback program by $10 billion to about $15 billion and also raised its 2017 adjusted profit forecast by 5 cents to $2.85 per share, plus or minus 5 percent.The company has previously said it expects its deal to buy autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye NV, announced last month, to boost adjusted profit.The acquisition thrusts Intel into the forefront of the market to develop driverless systems. The deal, along with a focus on cloud computing, will also help Intel reduce its dependence on the PC market.Intel gets most of its revenue from selling chips used in PCs. Its PC business returned to growth in 2016 as demand stabilized in the second half of the year.Demand also unexpectedly edged up in the first quarter, according to research firm IDC. That helped revenue from the client computing group, as Intel calls the business, increase 6 percent to $8 billion, matching estimates.Intel''s total revenue rose 8 percent to $14.80 billion, falling short of analysts'' estimate of $14.81 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Net income jumped 45 percent to $2.96 billion. Excluding items, Intel earned 66 cents per share, one cent above analysts'' estimate. ( bit.ly/2pr8dBB )(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-intel-results-idINKBN17T2ZU'|'2017-04-27T18:33:00.000+03:00' '9a73675b859b4b996914ff033a02893777393e43'|'U.S. health insurer Humana raises 2017 profit forecast'|'Mon Apr 24, 2017 - 5:15pm EDT U.S. health insurer Humana raises 2017 profit forecast U.S. health insurer Humana Inc ( HUM.N ) on Monday reported first-quarterly profit that topped its own expectations and the company raised its full-year profit forecast, mainly helped by a strong performance in its retail business. The company said the results in its retail business were largely attributable to "prior period development" in its direct-to-customer Medicare Advantage unit, which sells plans to the elderly and people with disabilities. Humana''s shares rose 2.5 percent to $219 in trading after the bell on Monday. The company had said it would issue preliminary results ahead of its investor day scheduled for Tuesday. Humana said its earnings per share rose to $7.49 in the first quarter from $1.68 a year earlier, while revenue dipped slightly to $13.76 million from $13.80 million. Excluding the individual commercial medical business, which Humana will no longer offer from 2018, first-quarter revenue rose to $13.5 million from $12.9 million. The company said it now expects full-year earnings of at least $16.91 per share, compared with its prior forecast of $16.65 to $16.85 per share. The insurer expects full-year earnings of at least $11.10 per share, excluding one-time items, compared with its previous guidance of $10.80 to $11.00 per share. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-humana-outlook-idUSKBN17Q270'|'2017-04-25T04:42:00.000+03:00' '66a0878a05f8920611dbb6f81c6fd0edd2cbbc4d'|'Hedge fund TCI urges Safran to walk away from Zodiac after new warning'|'PARIS, April 28 UK hedge fund TCI Fund Management renewed pressure on France''s Safran to drop plans to buy Zodiac Aerospace after the aircraft seats maker issued the second profit warning in as many months and posted a first-half operating loss."These are disastrous results from Zodiac yet again... Zodiac’s business continues to implode with no sign of recovery," TCI founder Christopher Hohn said."Zodiac is in serious financial difficulty and we think it needs an emergency rights issue, which would cause the Zodiac share price to fall substantially," he said in an emailed statement, adding that the appointment of a new special board adviser was a distraction from the company''s problems.TCI has waged a public campaign to persuade Safran to cancel its proposed $9 billion offer for Zodiac, which it says would significantly overpay for the company. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Andrew Callus)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/zodiac-aero-ma-results-tci-idINL8N1I01LU'|'2017-04-28T04:50:00.000+03:00' '5cb8174801caaf51e91076ad63247695564e033a'|'Asian stocks tick up, euro subdued as ECB maintains easing bias'|'Business 7:17am BST Profit-taking trips up Asian stocks, Korean won slips on Trump trade threat left right Investors look at an electronic board showing stock information on the first trading day after the New Year holiday at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China, January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Aly Song 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A woman wears a home-made dress featuring imitation 100 and 500 euro notes as she walks in Bordeaux, southwestern France, November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo 2/3 left right People walk past an electronic board displaying various Asian countries'' stock price index and world major index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo 3/3 By Nichola Saminather - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stocks slipped on Friday as investors took profits after a strong week, while the Korean won weakened after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would renegotiate or terminate a trade deal with South Korea. Britain''s FTSE 100, Germany''s DAX and France''s CAC 40 are all poised for a flat start, according to spreadbetter CMC Markets, after closing lower on Thursday. The dollar was 0.4 percent stronger at 1,135.13 won following Trump''s comments in an interview with Reuters, in which he called the five-year-old trade pact with South Korea "unacceptable." "(The won reaction) suggests that trade tensions between the U.S. and Asia could remain, which means some of that uncertainty should start to get priced into Asian currencies," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in Singapore. Trump also told Reuters that a major conflict with North Korea over its nuclear programme was possible but that he would prefer a diplomatic solution, and that he wanted South Korea to pay for the $1 billion (£774.83 million) THAAD anti-missile defence system. South Korea is waiting to see if any policy steps eventuate, a finance ministry official told Reuters. South Korea''s KOSPI index, which opened higher, reversed its gains and fell 0.2 percent. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.15 percent but is on track to end the week up 1.7 percent, which would be its best week in six. "While we are seeing some buying (in safe-haven assets) it''s fairly muted ... suggesting Trump''s comments around North and South Korea have probably had a relatively muted impact," said James Woods, global investment analyst at Rivkin Securities in Sydney. "We''re just seeing some fairly healthy profit-taking ahead of key GDP and inflation data tonight." First-quarter gross domestic product data out of Britain, France and the United States, and euro-zone April inflation figures, are due later in the session. The safe-haven yen was about 0.1 percent stronger at 111.155 yen to the dollar despite weaker-than-expected Japanese industrial output, household spending and consumer inflation for March. Japan''s Nikkei slid 0.2 percent, but remains poised for a 3.2 percent weekly gain, its strongest since November. Taiwan stocks gave up gains, clocked on solid first-quarter economic growth, to trade flat, and the Taiwan dollar weakened about 0.15 percent to 30.193 per U.S. dollar after Trump brushed aside the idea of a phone call with Taiwan''s President, who had said she would not rule one out. Chinese stocks fell 0.6 percent and were set to end the week down by the same percentage on fears that regulators would step up their latest crackdown on riskier types of financing and speculation. Hong Kong''s Hang Seng dropped 0.2 percent, shrinking the week''s gain to 2.3 percent. The euro slipped 0.1 percent to $1.086 after the European Central Bank maintained its ultra-easy policy stance on Thursday. The common currency is poised for a weekly gain of 1.3 percent, its best week in 5 1/2 months, buoyed by the first-round French election win of centrist and market favourite Emmanuel Macron. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of global peers, gained 0.1 percent to 99.21 but is headed for a 0.8 percent weekly loss. Preliminary data is expected to show U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in January-March to a 1.2 percent annualised rate from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. The slower growth rate reflects "the negative effects of some one-off factors. The second quarter will likely be a lot better," Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at the Allianz Group, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Friday. "What is particularly interesting is that the hard data is yet to respond to what has been a notable improvement in both corporate and household confidence. Keep an eye on this divergence." A series of positive earnings reports from Comcast, PayPal, Intuit and others propelled the Nasdaq to an all-time high overnight. Google parent Alphabet and Amazon reported profits after the bell that beat expectations. Oil recovered, lifted by the possibility of an extension of an OPEC production cut, after touching its lowest level this month overnight on oversupply concerns. U.S. crude rose about 1.1 percent to $49.53 a barrel, narrowing its weekly loss to 0.2 percent. Global benchmark Brent was about 1.2 percent higher at $52.05, set for a drop of 0.2 percent for the week. Gold was about 0.1 percent higher at $1,264.61 an ounce, narrowing the week''s loss to 1.5 percent. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Editing by Kim Coghill and Edmund Klamann)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17U04M'|'2017-04-28T10:52:00.000+03:00' '23599481538f557c7ae057d3b792303cb89fbbda'|'Zodiac aims to complete Safran deal, CEO offers resignation'|'Deals 6:59am BST Zodiac aims to complete Safran deal, CEO offers resignation left right FILE PHOTO: The logo of French aircraft seats and equipment manufacturer Zodiac Aerospace is seen during the company''s first half of the 2015/2016 fiscal year presentation in Paris, France, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo 1/2 left right The logo of Safran Group is seen on the company''s headquarters building in Toulouse, Southwestern France, April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau 2/2 By Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer - PARIS PARIS France’s Zodiac Aerospace on Friday reaffirmed its preference for a tie-up with engine maker Safran and said chief executive Olivier Zarrouati had agreed to stay on "for a while" after offering his resignation to the board. The aircraft seats maker announced the CEO''s decision as it posted a fiscal first-half current operating loss of 12 million euros, hit by its troubled aircraft interiors business. It said its board had asked Zarrouati to remain in his post "for a while, focusing his action on the finalization and execution of the deal with Safran, if Safran and Zodiac come to a renewed agreement, which is what we want." Speaking to reporters in a conference call, Zarrouati described the tie-up with Safran to create the world''s third-largest aerospace supplier as "our priority scenario". But he said an alternative scenario was necessary due to the headwinds faced by the $9 billion merger proposal, which has come under fire from some Safran shareholders. Talks with Safran are proceeding well, and Zodiac is waiting for Safran''s conclusions on a supplementary due-diligence exercise which has now been completed, he said. Zodiac plans to accelerate its restructuring in order to prepare one of the two scenarios, he said. Zodiac forecast a 200-220 million euro current operating profit for the year to end August 2017 as a whole, implying a decline of up to 26 percent from the previous year''s 269.6 million euros, compared with its most recent forecast of a 10-20 percent decline. It has added "an extra layer of caution" to its evaluation of current operating income for 2016/17, said Zarrouati. Zodiac has issued a series of profit warnings during a two-year industrial crisis at the company''s seat factories. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Cyril Altmeyer, Editing by Andrew Callus)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-zodiac-aero-m-a-idUKKBN17U0IY'|'2017-04-28T13:56:00.000+03:00' '22310addadc6c000bc6a3e4ecc1fc7aa61e351b7'|'Microsoft''s quarterly revenue falls short of estimates'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 9:46pm BST Microsoft''s quarterly revenue falls short of estimates FILE PHOTO: An advertisement is played on a set of large screens at the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Microsoft Corp on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that slightly missed analysts'' estimates, as robust demand for its cloud computing services failed to offset weak growth in its personal computing division. The company''s shares fell 1.9 percent to $67 in trading after the bell. Under Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014, Microsoft has sharpened its focus on the fast-growing cloud computing unit to counter a prolonged slowdown in the PC market, which has weighed on demand for its Windows software. Revenue from Microsoft''s personal computing unit, its largest by revenue, fell 7.4 percent to $8.84 billion. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $9.22 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. The business includes Windows software, Xbox gaming consoles, online search advertising and Surface personal computers. Surface revenue dipped 26 percent in the quarter. The lower-than-expected revenue in the personal computing division came amid an uptick in the PC market. Worldwide PC shipments rose 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, seeing growth for the first time in five years, market research firm IDC said earlier this month. Revenue from Microsoft''s "Intelligent Cloud" business, which houses server products and the company''s flagship cloud computing platform, Azure, jumped about 11 percent to $6.76 billion in the third quarter ended March 31. Azure revenue soared 93 percent in the quarter. Azure competes with Amazon.com Inc''s Amazon Web Services, the market leader in cloud infrastructure, as well as offerings from Alphabet Inc''s Google, IBM and Oracle Corp. The company''s net income rose to $4.80 billion, or 61 cents per share, in the third quarter ended March 31, from $3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned 73 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 70 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S ( bit.ly/2oQAzSJ ) Revenue on an adjusted basis climbed 6 percent to $23.56 billion, missing analysts'' average estimate of $23.62 billion. Microsoft said LinkedIn, which it bought for about $26 billion, contributed $975 million in revenue in the quarter. Microsoft''s shares had risen 9.9 percent this year through Thursday, eclipsing the 7 percent gain in the broader S&P 500. (Reporting by Pushkala A and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-results-idUKKBN17T33L'|'2017-04-28T04:45:00.000+03:00' 'ab82fa1bbb2db72862a7eeadcac9027f2049803a'|'Royal Mail considers ways to replace pension plan after union backlash'|'Business News 2:27pm BST Royal Mail considers ways to replace pension plan after union backlash A Royal Mail postal van is parked outside homes in Maybury near Woking in southern England March 25, 2014. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor Britain''s Royal Mail is looking at ways to replace the final salary pension scheme it plans to scrap at the end of March 2018, after a backlash from unions including the threat of possible strike action. Royal Mail, the postal service privatised in 2013, said on Friday it was one of only a few major companies to still have staff in a defined benefit scheme, a type of pension that pays out according to workers'' final salary and length of service. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) opposes Royal Mail''s move to close the scheme and says it would result in employees in the plan losing on average up to a third of their future pensions. Around 90,000 Royal Mail workers are in the scheme, whose closure to new members in 2008 resulted in about 40,000 workers joining a less generous defined contribution plan. Royal Mail said among the options for those leaving the older scheme, it was considering a defined benefit cash balance scheme, where employees would receive a fixed sum at retirement plus payments based on the performance of a pension fund. Royal Mail said this built on a proposal put forward by the CWU. "We believe that the defined benefit cash balance scheme would be a fair proposal that compares favourably with the retirement benefits offered in our industry and by other large UK employers," the company said in a statement. British companies are facing increasing costs to fund pensions as people live longer and investment returns on bonds have fallen and are expected to remain low. At 1310 GMT, Royal Mail shares were down 3.7 percent at 403.6 pence. The new scheme would be set up in a new section of the company''s overall pension plan, with employees also having the option to join the defined contribution scheme, it said. Royal Mail said the cost of the new plan would be much lower than that required to maintain the current arrangement, which would have meant it more than doubling its annual contributions to over 1 billion pounds. The company currently pays around 400 million pounds a year into the defined benefit scheme, and a spokesman said the cost of the new proposed scheme would be similar. The company is continuing to hold talks with the CWU as well as unions Unite/CMA over its pension plan, it added. Unite said talks with Royal Mail over plans to close the defined benefit scheme were "complex and difficult." "...if we don''t achieve a satisfactory outcome, we can''t rule out an industrial action ballot," Brian Scott, the union''s officer for the Royal Mail said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Esha Vaish and Rahul B in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-royal-mail-pensions-idUKKBN17U1FP'|'2017-04-28T21:27:00.000+03:00' 'eff7f0bf7aec85aec5a517478242601f4cc5a5fa'|'ECB ups supervision levy on banks to pay for risk review'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:38pm BST ECB ups supervision levy on banks to pay for risk review FILE PHOTO: European Union (EU) flags fly in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 3, 2015. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski/File Photo FRANKFURT The European Central Bank has raised by 10 percent the annual fee it levies on euro zone lenders for supervising them, so that it can hire more staff and pay for a review of the models that large banks use to gauge risk, it said on Friday. Some lenders, particularly in Germany, have complained of excessive requests for information and higher costs since the ECB took over as the euro zone''s top banking watchdog in late 2014, tasked with cleaning up the sector. Euro zone banks will be charged a total 425 million euros (355.49 million pounds) for this year, up by just over 10 percent compared to what the ECB spent on banking supervision in 2016. Banks that are directly on the ECB''s watch will foot 92 percent of the bill, with smaller firms supervised by national authorities paying for the balance. "Predominantly, the increase relates to work associated with the targeted review of internal models (TRIM)," the ECB said. Ratings agency Moody''s said last month TRIM could result in the ECB demanding that banks hold more capital against the risk they take. The ECB spent 382.2 billion euros on supervising banks last year, 41.1 million euros less than it had expected. (Reporting By Francesco Canepa; Editing by Catherine Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-banks-costs-idUKKBN17U20C'|'2017-04-28T21:38:00.000+03:00' '2b60d0e92342bc904398f96e3a6b8152b99a72ad'|'German consumer morale rebounds more than expected heading into May'|'BERLIN The mood among German consumers rebounded more than expected heading into May to reach a three-month high, a survey showed on Thursday, citing confidence that Europe''s largest economy is heading in the right direction and a dip in inflation.The consumer sentiment indicator, published by the Nuremberg-based GfK institute and based on a survey of around 2,000 Germans, rose to 10.2 going into May.A Reuters poll had expected the headline figure to rise to 9.9 from 9.8 in the previous month.GfK said overall economic expectations, propensity to buy and personal income expectations all picked up.The government has said political uncertainties linked to Britain''s vote to leave the European Union and protectionist policies in the United States are clouding the outlook, but the economy appears to be shrugging off those threats at present.Proposals presented by U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin this week to revamp the tax system did not include a controversial "border-adjustment" tax on imports, a relief for German exporters. [nL1N1HX1RL]"Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future economic and political direction of the new U.S. president and the Brexit negotiations which are just beginning, German consumers believe that their own economy is nonetheless headed in the right direction," GfK researcher Rolf Buerkl said in a statement.This optimism has also lifted income prospects among Germans, who feel job security is high.Income prospects have been given an additional nudge by low inflation, which in March slowed down for the first time in nearly a year. [nB4N1E0023]Buerkl, who linked the drop in consumer prices to the price of crude oil, which came under pressure in March despite an agreement among producers to cut production in light of the resumption of fracking in the United States.A steady upswing of the economy, robust labour market, low interest rates and tamed inflation are increasing a tendency among German consumers to make bigger purchases."Employees, who consider that they enjoy good job security because of the excellent employment situation, will be more likely to take a larger risk when making purchases," Buerkl said."If their jobs are not at risk in the foreseeable future, the willingness of consumers to make larger purchases, which may require a loan, increases," he added.The European Central Bank''s expansive policy has particularly helped boost private consumption in Germany, which is one of three main growth drivers alongside construction and state spending.The ECB meets later on Thursday and is expected to keep policy unchanged. Sources told Reuters this week, however, that many ECB ratesetters see scope for sending a small signal in June toward reducing monetary stimulus.NOTE - The consumer climate indicator forecasts the development of real private consumption in the following month.An indicator reading above zero signals year-on-year growth in private consumption. A value below zero indicates a drop in comparison with the same period a year ago.According to GfK, a one-point change in the indicator corresponds to a year-on-year change of 0.1 percent in private consumption.The "willingness to buy" indicator represents the balance between positive and negative responses to the question: "Do you think now is a good time to buy major items?"The income expectations sub-index reflects expectations about the development of household finances in the coming 12 months.The additional business cycle expectations index reflects the assessment of those questioned of the general economic situation in the next 12 months.(Reporting by Joseph Nasr Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/germany-economy-gfk-idINKBN17T0V6'|'2017-04-27T05:30:00.000+03:00' 'c57be89820879d58cd824048e63312a22e4226fd'|'Cobham reassures on trading after tough 2016'|' 59am BST Cobham reassures on trading after tough 2016 LONDON British aerospace and defence electronics company Cobham ( COB.L ) said first-quarter trading was in line with expectations on Thursday, seeking to reassure investors that it could recover from a string of profit warnings. A sharp downturn in Cobham''s performance over the past year and a half has forced the group to turn to shareholders to raise cash in a rights issue. Cobham also said last month it was being investigated by the UK''s Financial Conduct Authority in connection with its handling of inside information ahead of a trading update and announcement of an earlier rights issue in April last year. On Thursday it reaffirmed its outlook for 2017, and said that trading in the first quarter had met the board''s expectations. It added it would provide an update on a review of the "breadth and shape of its portfolio" in its interim results in August. Chief Executive David Lockwood, who started in December, has attributed the company''s struggles in recent years to weak management, commercial failures and more challenging market conditions. "The rights issue should do the heavy lifting on the financial position, but the new management team has some way to go to restore the credentials of the company, which at its core retains high quality engineering assets," Andy Chambers, analyst at Edison Investment Research, said in a note. Cobham said in March that it would raise 500 million pounds in a rights issue to put the company on a stronger footing after a "deeply disappointing" performance in 2016. The company said it would announce the results of the rights issue on May 5. Shares in Cobham fell 1.1 percent, while engineering firm Meggitt ( MGGT.L ) dipped 1.3 percent after it also said trading was in line with expectations. On Wednesday, shares in engineering group GKN ( GKN.L ) dropped after it said the growth rate it has achieved to date may not be sustained as the year progresses. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Additional reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Toby Davis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cobham-outlook-idUKKBN17T1BE'|'2017-04-27T17:59:00.000+03:00' '4191061da1a9dc02945514a3e09acaea0ce3e404'|'Toshiba to start taking bids in June for its Swiss unit Landis+Gyr: Kyodo'|'TOKYO Japan''s Toshiba Corp ( 6502.T ) will start taking bids for Landis+Gyr, its Swiss smart meter unit, as early as June, Kyodo news agency reported on Tuesday.Hitachi Ltd ( 6501.T ) and other Japanese firms are seen as possible bidders for the unit, Kyodo said, without citing sources.Reuters last month reported that Toshiba had hired UBS to explore a sale or an initial public offering of the business, potentially valued at over $2 billion.Toshiba is targeting buyout groups such as Carlyle ( CG.O ), Cinven [CINV.UL], Advent, Blackstone ( BX.N ), Bain, Onex ( ONEX.TO ), Triton, CD&R and even former owner KKR ( KKR.N ), a person close to the matter said.A Toshiba spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the report.(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-toshiba-restructuring-landisgyr-idINKBN17R0E8'|'2017-04-25T03:29:00.000+03:00' '8eb23e06a44b35cce920a99ad1a89162dae821c7'|'European shares firm as earnings, M&A back in play'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:43am EDT European shares firm as earnings, M&A back in play LONDON, April 25 Deal-making and earnings underpinned European stock markets on Tuesday as focus shifted back to fundamentals and away from politics, for now. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent, on track for its fifth session of straight gains. France''s CAC 40, which rallied more than 4 percent on Monday after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election, was flat. Earnings were firmly in focus, with shares in AMS surging 16.3 percent to a record high after the chipmaker reported first quarter revenues above its own forecast and added that it may raise its mid-term revenue growth target. Well-received earnings also boosted shares in auto stock Volvo, which rose 6 percent after beating first quarter forecasts. M&A action also fueled shares, with luxury goods firm Christian Dior rocketing 12 percent to hit a fresh all-time high after a buyout deal. LVMH and billionaire businessman Bernard Arnault announced a deal to simplify their relationship with Christian Dior by buying out its minority shareholders, aimed at boosting LVMH''s earnings. LVMH''s shares hit a record level and traded 3.3 percent higher, while peer Hermes fell 4.3 percent. Shares in Whitbread were the biggest fallers, down 6.6 percent after the Costa Coffee owner reported results and said that it expected consumer confidence to dip next year. (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Vikram Subhedar) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/europe-stocks-idUSL8N1HX1AW'|'2017-04-25T15:43:00.000+03:00' 'a11251582b111747a11ae4d9173f823a74a6d611'|'China to boost non-fossil fuel use to 20 percent by 2030 - state planner'|'Money News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 2:14pm IST China to boost non-fossil fuel use to 20 percent by 2030 - state planner FILE PHOTO: A driver gets off a loading vehicle at local businessman Sun Meng''s small coal depot near a coal mine of the state-owned Longmay Group on the outskirts of Jixi, in Heilongjiang province, China, October 23, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo BEIJING China aims for non-fossil fuels to account for about 20 percent of total energy consumption by 2030, increasing to more than half of demand by 2050, its state planner said on Tuesday, as Beijing continues its years-long shift away from coal power. In a policy document, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will peak by 2030 and total energy demand will be capped at 6 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent by 2030, up from 4.4 billion tonnes targeted for this year. The NDRC said it wants to increase oil and underground natural gas storage facilities, but it did not give any further details. The statement largely reiterated previous pledges contained in five-year plans and other policy documents and aimed at boosting wind and solar power usage. (Reporting by Josephine Mason and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/china-energy-idINKBN17R0U9'|'2017-04-25T16:44:00.000+03:00' 'efc371254ceee7207f5578f0210aa478b1530fc0'|'Centrica boss says some in May''s government lack faith in free markets'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 10:19am BST Centrica boss says some in May''s government lack faith in free markets By Kate Holton - LONDON LONDON A plan by Prime Minister Theresa May''s Conservative Party to cap energy prices suggests some in her government do not believe in free markets at a time when it is pinning its post-Brexit hopes on free trade, the head of the country''s leading provider said. Shares in Centrica, the owner of British Gas, and SSE, fell sharply on Monday after May''s party set out plans to hold down the prices households pay for gas and electricity which have doubled in the last decade. Iain Conn, the chief executive of market leader Centrica, said the proposal would damage competition and wipe out any money it made from consumers, forcing it to cut costs and reduce its service. "I''m the first to admit that the UK market is not perfect," Conn told BBC Radio. "I just don''t think that capping prices is the right way to help the market and it probably will have unintended consequences." "I think there are some at the heart of government who just don''t believe in free markets and I find that concerning at a time when this market is highly competitive and the UK is seeking to forge a new future relying upon free trade with the rest of the world." May last year praised free markets and free trade in a speech to party activists but also said that she would be prepared to intervene where markets were dysfunctional or where companies were exploiting the failures of the market. Shares in Centrica fell as much as 5 percent at one point on Monday after the Sunday Times said the plans could cut gas and electricity costs by 100 pounds ($128) a year for 17 million families. The Conservative party has confirmed it will set out plans to intervene in the energy market in its manifesto for the June 8 election, but has not yet gone into details. The proposal echoes a 2015 election pledge made by the opposition Labour party which was criticised at the time by the Conservatives as being a gimmick that showed the then party leader wanted to live in a "Marxist universe". Energy bills have doubled in Britain over the past decade to about 1,200 pounds ($1,640) a year, angering consumers who face rising inflation, and drawing the ire of politicians. Energy companies say higher prices reflect increased wholesale costs and environmental levies. The sector is dominated by the big six providers of Centrica, SSE, Scottish Power, Npower, E.ON and EDF. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-election-energy-idUKKBN17R0Y6'|'2017-04-25T17:19:00.000+03:00' '3498908d57f254f35ae795905e60ba03d5494cc1'|'China''s richest man deepens sports foray with global marathons deal'|' 9:44am EDT China''s richest man deepens sports foray with global marathons deal left right Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin (background 3rd L) attends a signing ceremony between his company and the Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) together with Tokyo Marathon race director Tad Hayano, Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Thomas Grilk, London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher and WMM general manager Tim Hadzima in Beijing China April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 1/3 left right Tokyo Marathon race director Tad Hayano, Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin, Boston Athletic Association Executive Director Thomas Grilk and London Marathon race director Hugh Brasher attend a signing ceremony between Wanda Group and Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) in Beijing, China April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 2/3 left right Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin speaks before a signing ceremony between his company and the Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM) in Beijing, China April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas Peter 3/3 BEIJING China''s Dalian Wanda Group, controlled by the country''s richest man Wang Jianlin, has signed a deal to sponsor races with the world''s top organizer, Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM), the latest move by Wanda to expand its global sports business. Wanda''s sports division and WMM on Wednesday signed a deal that will see Wanda hold three WMM races in the Asia-Pacific region in the next ten years, including a race in China. The Abbott World Marathon Majors presently consist of six of the world''s most well-known marathon races, including the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon. A WMM China race may be inaugurated within three years, Wang told a singing ceremony in Beijing. "This is the right moment for a world marathon to come to China," Wang said. Hugh Brasher, London Marathon race director, told reporters at the announcement that it may take several years before a Chinese city meets operational criteria to host a marathon event. Pollution is an element that needs to be addressed to hold a race, Brasher said, but other criteria, including financial and political support, are required. Wanda has helped lead China''s push into organized sports and sports marketing, as the government advances its goal of turning the sector into a 5 trillion yuan ($725.63 billion) business by 2025. Over the last two years, Wanda has sealed a series of high-profile sports investments, including buying WTC, the U.S. owner of the popular Ironman Triathlon franchise, and taking a 20 percent stake in Spanish soccer club Atletico Madrid. Wanda last year also became a top sponsor of soccer''s global governing body FIFA and said it will organize the first China Cup from 2017, and inked a partnership with international basketball''s governing body FIBA. The group has said that it plans to create at least 10 major international sports events in China before 2020. In September, Wanda also signed an eight-year exclusive partnership with Badminton World Federation (BWF), the world badminton governing body. ($1 = 6.8906 Chinese yuan renminbi) (The story is corrected to remove reference to Marathon Singapore after clarification from company) (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Matthew Miller; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-wanda-sports-idUSKBN17S1BG'|'2017-04-26T19:01:00.000+03:00' 'bb91ca7e82ec674d513e7073e109d0f46040eed4'|'Barclays says banks will move operations to continent reasonably soon'|' 3:02pm BST Banks will move some operations to Continent soon - Barclays A river ferry passes in front of the Canary Wharf business district at dusk in London, Britain December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Toby Melville By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON Banks in Britain will start shifting some operations to Continental Europe reasonably soon to avoid disrupting links with customers after Brexit, Barclays ( BARC.L ) Chief Executive Jes Staley said on Wednesday. Britain has opened formal divorce talks with the European Union though it is far from clear what levels of access businesses will have to EU markets following the country''s departure, which is due in March 2019. Staley said it would be hard to get full clarity on Britain''s new trading terms in the time banks need to guarantee links to continental customers after Britain leaves. "You will start to see movement in a reasonably short period of time," Staley told a conference, saying that obtaining a licence to trade on the continent and changing financial contracts to another jurisdiction takes a year to 18 months. Quickly securing the residency status of European Union nationals in Britain was also critical, he said. Barclays has 3,000 EU nationals working in the country. "Intellectual capital is perhaps the most important asset that London as a financial centre has," Staley said. He was speaking after Britain''s Brexit minister, David Davis, told the conference in London that the country''s place in the world was being reshaped. "Securing an agreement with the EU within the two-year period about our withdrawal and the shape of our future relationship will be challenging," Davis said. HSBC ( HSBA.L ) Chairman Douglas Flint told the conference that banks were looking for clarity on whether there would be an implementation phase between Brexit and the start of new trading terms - and how long any such phase would be. "It would be better to get a good deal in a reasonably short period of time, rather than a really excellent deal so far into the future that people will have triggered all their contingency plans," Flint said. In Frankfurt, a Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) executive said the bank was considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff to Frankfurt from London due to Brexit. "GET SOME SWAGGER" Brexit has sparked jostling among continental financial centres for a slice of London''s financial business. The InterContinental Exchange ( ICE.N ) has been asked by several EU members, including France, the Netherlands and Germany, whether it would move its clearing operations to mainland Europe, Chief Executive Jeff Sprecher said. Several EU policymakers want clearing of euro denominated transactions, which is now dominated by London, to be based within the euro zone after Britain leaves the bloc. French Finance Minister Michel Sapin told the BBC that it was an issue of sovereignty and security, saying the majority of clearing houses could not remain in London following Brexit. Sprecher said Britain, by far the biggest financial centre in the region, had a "strong hand" for negotiating new financial services trading terms with Brussels. "The UK should have a bit of swagger and not worry so much about the details," he said. Michael Spencer, CEO of trading platforms company NEX, said most customers had chosen to clear in London and forcing them to shift to mainland Europe would be "deeply bad" protectionism that both fragments markets and forces continental customers to trade in a smaller, less efficient market. "The Europeans will effectively be penalising themselves. Europe will be worse off. London will be worse off," he said. (Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-banks-idUKKBN17S0XG'|'2017-04-26T17:17:00.000+03:00' '18310792ffe81ddee606abfa2f0d82ba13af52d9'|'Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit'|' 41pm IST Deutsche Bank weighs moving thousands of jobs from London after Brexit The Deutsche Bank logo is pictured at a branch in Frankfurt, Germany, September 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo FRANKFURT Deutsche Bank is considering whether it needs to move thousands of staff from London to Frankfurt following Britain''s decision to leave the European Union, one of its top executives said. After Britain triggered Article 50 last month and has begun divorce talks with the EU, financial firms have stepped up planning on how to deal with any disruption that might ensue, such as losing access to the bloc''s single market. "For front office people if you want to deal with EU clients you need to be based in the EU, in continental Europe. Does that mean that I have to move all the front office people to Germany or not?" said Deutsche Bank''s Chief Regulatory Officer Sylvie Matherat. "And we are speaking of 2,000 people – that''s not a small number," she told a conference hosted by Frankfurt Main Finance, a group that promotes the German financial capital. Matherat said that any such move would require the bank to build up its information technology in Frankfurt and would also depend on local regulators'' stance on how trillions of euros in future deals should be cleared or processed. "What are you going to do: Do you have the technical capacity to move it? Do you have the willingness of the local regulators to supervise something that looks like hundreds of trillions in terms of exposure," Matherat said. She said that some local supervisors also are asking for risk management to be done locally, a demand that would require more jobs to be moved. "It means another 2000 people. Everybody needs clarity - and the sooner the better." She said the bank had 9,000 staff in Britain. Despite Deutsche considering such moves, it is likely to retain a large presence in the UK and recently chose a new office for its London headquarters. (Reporting by Andreas Kröner; Writing by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Keith Weir)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-deutsche-bank-idINKBN17S1R8'|'2017-04-26T21:11:00.000+03:00' 'af9330ee355bf994d2bfeedeb72545799bc2119e'|'Credit Suisse to raise $4 billion in rights issue, ditches Swiss unit IPO'|'By Joshua Franklin - ZURICH ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) has ditched plans to raise money by listing part of its Swiss business and will instead sell new shares worth about 4 billion Swiss francs ($4 billion) to get its financial strength back on a par with rivals.Switzerland''s second-biggest bank, which is recovering from back-to-back annual losses as it restructures under Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam, said the decision should remove any lingering concerns about its capital strength."It''s the right move, even if I would have preferred it not to be necessary," said Thomas Braun, fund manager at Classic Fund Management, a top 30 Credit Suisse shareholder.The 4 billion franc rights issue follows a 6 billion franc cash call in late 2015 and asset sales that raised about 1 billion francs in capital. It will be the last leg of Credit Suisse''s plans to raise the 9-11 billion francs Thiam said it needed when he announced his revamp in October 2015."Is there something on top of that? The short answer is ''no''," Thiam, who became CEO in July 2015, told reporters.The cash call follows similar capital increases by German rival Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) and Italy''s UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ) this year and should benefit from a rally in bank stocks after polls showed French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would lose a presidential run-off on May 7.Reuters reported last month that Credit Suisse was considering a share sale rather than an initial public offering (IPO) of its Swiss banking division and was set to make a decision in April.Scrapping the IPO means Credit Suisse will not have to sacrifice some of the profits from one of its most lucrative divisions and will avoid the operational complexities of having a separate listed entity within a global bank."I''m glad they''re not selling the Swiss bank as that would have weakened the overall business and raising equity is simpler and cleaner," said David Hussey, fund manager at top 60 Credit Suisse investor Manulife Asset Management.RELIEF RALLYCredit Suisse has lost 5.65 billion francs since 2015 as Thiam focuses on expanding its wealth management business while shrinking its investment bank, a shift the Swiss bank expects will lead to more than 10,000 job losses.The bank''s management is also fighting an investor protest over high executive pay that is set to come to a head at its annual meeting on Friday while the Netherlands is leading an investigation into alleged tax evasion and money laundering involving the bank.Still, clarity on its plans for raising capital, as well as better than expected first-quarter numbers, pushed shares in Credit Suisse up as much as 3.7 percent to their highest since March 3. The shares were trading 1.9 percent higher at 1135 GMT."This set of numbers and, much more importantly, the removal of capital uncertainty make the shares ready for a relief rally," wrote Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Peter Casanova, who rates Credit Suisse''s stock "buy".The bank reported net profit of 596 million francs for the first three months of 2017, its highest quarterly profit since Thiam launched his sweeping restructuring and ahead of even the highest estimate in a Reuters poll of analysts."Wealth management as well as investment banking trends give us reason to be optimistic," said Andreas Brun, banking analyst at Mirabaud Securities LLP.However, Credit Suisse cautioned that the outcome for the second quarter "will be dependent on political developments that are hard to predict at this stage".LAST CAPITAL INCREASE?Credit Suisse expects to have a common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a closely watched measure of balance sheet strength, of approximately 13.4 percent and a tier 1 leverage ratio of about 5.1 percent following the 4 billion franc capital increase.By comparison, Deutsche Bank expects to achieve a CET1 ratio of 14 percent through its cash call and Swiss rival UBS ( UBSG.S ) is just shy of 14 percent.While some analysts reckoned the debate about the bank''s capital position had finally been put to rest others remained concerned it might not be the last cash call."How can a bank as big as CS be so volatile in terms of its earnings and unpredictable as to how much capital it needs? They are being forced to adjust quarter by quarter," said Chirantan Barua, an analyst with Bernstein. "This may not be the last capital raise."The bank will hold an extraordinary general meeting on May 18 for shareholders to vote on the capital increase.Thiam said the full benefits of his restructuring would feed through to investors after next year."Nobody is more eager than me to get to 2018 because then we start seeing in 2019 what this bank can deliver."(Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt and Angelika Gruber in Zurich and Danilo Masoni in Milan; writing by John O''Donnell and Joshua Franklin; editing by Keith Weir and David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-results-idINKBN17S0F4'|'2017-04-26T03:26:00.000+03:00' '1685d4fb1c6f1bf4fcf792c9b5a219281ca38fcd'|'Boeing profit rises 19 percent'|' 12:58pm BST Boeing profit rises 19 percent Boeing''s logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Boeing Co ( BA.N ) reported a 19 percent rise in quarterly profit and reaffirmed its full-year forecast for commercial airplane deliveries. The world''s biggest maker of jetliners said it continues to expect to deliver 760-765 commercial aircraft in 2017. Boeing earned $1.45 billion (1.13 billion pounds), or $2.34 per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $1.22 billion, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier. The company''s core earnings, which exclude some pension and other costs, rose to $2.01 per share from $1.74 a year earlier. Revenue fell 7.3 percent to $20.98 billion. Commercial aircraft deliveries fell to 169 from 176. (Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-results-idUKKBN17S1IB'|'2017-04-26T19:58:00.000+03:00' '280b290be4019a2b4c299c953531ddb6fcf5e88c'|'AdvancePierre deal a delicious treat for timely options buyers'|'NEW YORK Traders took a big bite out of AdvancePierre Foods Holdings'' ( APFH.N ) near-term bullish options just days ahead of Tuesday''s announcement by Tyson Foods ( TSN.N ) that it would buy the packaged sandwich supplier for $3.2 billion.AdvancePierre''s shares jumped 10 percent to a record high of $40.29 on Tuesday after Tyson Foods said it offered $40.25 per share for the company.Traders in the options market appear to have been prepared for some such move. Starting April 18, AdvancePierre''s options, which usually attract little activity, drew an unusual rush of bullish trading, market watchers said.AdvancePierre''s shares too perked up. In the five trading days prior to Tyson''s offer on Tuesday, the company''s shares rose 13 percent."The deal was well telegraphed by the options market and I have little doubt it leaked at least a week in advance of the official release," said Joe Kunkle, founder of options-market data service OptionsHawk.com in Philadelphia.Through Monday, AdvancePierre''s five-day average daily options trading volume hit about 2,400 contracts. Its average daily trading volume, prior to last week, was about 25 contracts, according to New York-based options analytics firm Trade Alert.Call options betting on shares rising above $35 and $40 by May 19 were in high demand and about 9,200 of these contracts changed hands over the last five days.Calls convey the right to buy shares at a fixed price in the future and are usually used to place bets on shares rising.Tuesday''s big jump in AdvancePierre''s shares made for sizeable gains for the timely options buyers. As option volume on the company increased over the last week, the May $35 call options traded at an average price of $2.60. That alone was a huge gain from the $0.25 the contracts traded at before the surge in volume. They then nearly doubled in value to trade for an average price of $5.17 on Tuesday after the deal was announced.On Tuesday, traders appeared to be closing the recently opened position in these contracts at a profit, said Fred Ruffy, options analyst at Trade Alert.Options activity has been known to spike before the public announcement of deals, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has in the past announced enforcement action for alleged insider trading violations involving options.The SEC declined to comment on AdvancePierre''s share and option activity.(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, additional reporting by Lance Tupper; Editing by Daniel Bases and Chris Reese)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-advancepierre-m-a-tyson-foods-options-idUSKBN17R2C2'|'2017-04-25T21:34:00.000+03:00' 'df2670c1e74d8705cc6bb62ffb560e823b900430'|'World Bank Group, China-led AIIB agree to deepen cooperation'|'Business News - Sun Apr 23, 2017 - 4:41pm EDT World Bank Group, China-led AIIB agree to deepen cooperation The logo of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen at its headquarter building in Beijing January 17, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The World Bank Group and the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Sunday they agreed to deepen their cooperation with a framework for knowledge sharing, staff exchanges, analytical work, development financing and country-level coordination. The memorandum of understanding signed at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington comes a year after the two multilateral lenders established mechanisms for cost-sharing and co-financing of investment projects. Since then, the AIIB and the World Bank have co-financed five projects, supporting power generation in Pakistan, a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan, and projects in Indonesia to rebuild slums, improve dam safety and develop regional infrastructure. They said in a joint statement that they are discussing more projects to be co-financed in 2017 and 2018. "Signing this memorandum of understanding fits into our vision of a new kind of internationalism," AIIB President Jin Liqun said in a statement. "It deepens our relationship with the World Bank Group and sets up the mechanisms through which we can more easily collaborate and share information." A World Bank spokeswoman said the knowledge-sharing memorandum was similar to one that was in place during the AIIB''s early development stages, but which ended when the Beijing-based institution was formally launched in January 2016. She said the new agreement does not specify financing amounts or targets, adding that those will be determined through meetings and consultations to discuss the banks'' respective portfolios. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told Reuters on Thursday that he wants to push the Washington-based lender''s business model towards harnessing more private capital for development finance. In a statement on Sunday, Kim said: "Collaboration between development institutions is essential to make the best use of scarce resources, crowd-in the private sector, and meet the rising aspirations of the people we serve." (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-imf-g20-aiib-idUSKBN17P0WB'|'2017-04-24T04:41:00.000+03:00' 'f823cb296115d773aa9098bc60bdf76650eb3833'|'FTSE set for biggest one-month fall since November 2016'|'Business 5:27pm BST FTSE in biggest one-month fall since November A man walks through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett By Kit Rees and Helen Reid - LONDON LONDON Britain''s top share index dipped on Friday as disappointing results weighed on banking heavyweight Barclays ( BARC.L ), with UK blue chips sealing their biggest one-month fall since November 2016. The FTSE 100 .FTSE index closed 0.5 percent lower at 7,203.94 points, underperforming broader European markets, and posted a 1.6 percent fall for the month. The large-caps struggled in April after British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election which has boosted sterling to a seven-month high. Coupled with uncertainty around Brexit negotiations, a stronger currency has weighed on the index''s dollar-earning firms, which enjoyed an accounting boost after sterling''s 11 percent plunge in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. However, Bank of America Merrill Lynch strategists said they saw the pound playing less of a role for UK equities in the next twelve months. "Relying on FX is likely a red herring," they said, adding any rallies in the pound may not be sustained long-term as the currency adapts to softer economic fundamentals. The UK''s GDP reading for the first quarter came in weaker than expected earlier on Friday, as a rise in inflation hit consumer-facing businesses, with the economy slowing sharply. On the day, bank earnings were in focus. Barclays ( BARC.L ) fell 5.2 percent, its biggest one-day loss since the aftermath of Britain''s referendum vote to leave the European Union last June. While Barclays'' first quarter profit more than doubled, a weak performance at its investment banking arm disappointed as the bank missed out on a bond trading boom which boosted revenues at its U.S. peers. "Taking a bit of a longer-term view, Barclays is still in a state of recovery and is moving towards its goal of being a UK retail bank and a transatlantic corporate bank, but this particular quarter I think the results were a bit disappointing compared to what analysts were expecting," Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said. Barclays results contrasted with well-received updates from peers Lloyds ( LLOY.L ) and RBS ( RBS.L ). The Scottish bank gained 4.7 percent after it swung to its first quarterly profit since September 2015, beating average forecasts in a sign of progress in its turbulent turnaround. "While the group continues to make progress at an underlying level, there remain a number of significant legacy issues that continue to overhang the investment case," said Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood. Shares in Mediclinic ( MDCM.L ) dropped 4.4 percent, pulling back after a 17.5 percent jump in the previous session after Abu Dhabi cancelled a 20 percent co-payment requirement for treatment at private healthcare facilities. Miners were among the top gainers, with Antofagasta ( ANTO.L ), Anglo American ( AAL.L ) and Randgold Resources ( RRS.L ) all up between 1.6 percent and 2.4 percent as the price of copper edged higher. [MET/L] (Reporting by Kit Rees, Helen Reid; Editing by Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks-idUKKBN17U1AK'|'2017-04-28T17:51:00.000+03:00' '468dcb77a7ce68732f91903ba1b01186a56f5167'|'Possible $440 mln sale to Israel of naval guns approved -Pentagon'|'U.S. - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:36pm EDT Possible $440 million sale to Israel of naval guns approved: Pentagon WASHINGTON The U.S. State Department has approved a possible sale to Israel of 76mm naval guns and technical support worth an estimated $440 million, a Pentagon agency said on Friday. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement it had notified Congress of the State Department decision to allow the possible sale of the 13 naval guns by DRS North America, a subsidiary of Italy''s Leonardo SpA. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-leonardo-idUSKBN17U2PP'|'2017-04-29T02:25:00.000+03:00' '3628912ebcbac06e2a99c9b8021b7f380a6f2e1d'|'Apax, shareholders prepare IPO of Brazil''s Tivit'|' 9:13pm BST Apax, shareholders prepare IPO of Brazil''s Tivit A woman enters the offices of private equity firm APAX in London May 18, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Helgren SAO PAULO British buyout firm Apax Partners LLP and a number of Brazilian investors have filed for regulatory permission to list information technology services provider Tivit Terceirização de Processos, Serviços e Tecnologia SA on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. According to the website of Brazilian securities industry watchdog CVM, Apax as well as a number of investors led by Tivit Chief Executive Officer Luiz Roberto Mattar, will sell an unspecified number of shares in an initial public offering. Proceeds from the so-called secondary offering will go to Apax and the other shareholders, and not for the company''s coffers, according to documents in the CVM website. (Reporting by Aluísio Alves, Brad Haynes and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tivit-ipo-idUKKBN17R2PS'|'2017-04-26T04:13:00.000+03:00' 'a14c415ca0dd70630a94b27606a9526a1bf5d1f3'|'Carpetright nudges profit forecast down as market deteriorates'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 7:35am BST Carpetright nudges profit forecast down as market deteriorates LONDON Britain''s biggest floor coverings retailer Carpetright ( CPRC.L ) forecast full-year profit at the lower end of market expectations as sales growth slowed in its fourth quarter, adding to evidence that UK consumer confidence is deteriorating. Carpetright, whose fortunes are closely tied to the strength of the housing market, said on Tuesday sales at UK stores open over a year rose 1.4 percent in the 12 weeks to April 22. That compares to third quarter growth of 1.9 percent. "In common with other retailers in the home improvement sector in the UK we have experienced tougher trading conditions over the last three months," said Chief Executive Wilf Walsh. "Whilst we remain confident in our turnaround plan, the level of sales growth in our final quarter leads us to expect that full-year profits will be towards the lower end of the current range." Prior to Tuesday''s update analysts'' average forecast for the year to April 29 was for an underlying profit before tax of 15.2 million pounds, down from 17.3 million pounds in the previous year. Like-for-like sales in Carpetright''s Rest of Europe division (the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland) rose 1.4 percent. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-carpetright-outlook-idUKKBN17R0J9'|'2017-04-25T14:35:00.000+03:00' '684d854e7233980c0d213ad009ff999753ac22a8'|'Euro zone banks sharply cut bad loan pile'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 1:06pm BST Euro zone banks sharply cut bad loan pile FRANKFURT Banks across the euro zone sharply cut their stock of bad loans in the fourth quarter, with Italy and Ireland producing the biggest reductions, European Central Bank data showed on Tuesday. The ECB has made tackling the region''s pile of bad loans a top priority, releasing fresh guidelines last year and telling banks to come up with concrete action plans. The banks, responding to the ECB push, reduced their so-called non-performing exposures to 931 billion euros by the end of last year from 972 billion three months earlier. Italy alone accounted for half of that drop but, despite this steep fall, about one in every ten Italian loans was considered "bad" and the country accounted for more than a quarter of the euro zone''s soured debts. Across the euro zone, a pile of nearly 1 trillion euros (836.45 billion pounds) of bad debt, a legacy of the euro zone''s debt crisis, has weighed on lending, holding back growth and prolonging the bloc''s economic malaise, a big worry for the ECB as its own economic stimulus has mostly run its course. A big obstacle to cutting the bad debt backlog is that the private market for such loans is small and illiquid, resulting in excessively low prices. This discourages banks from offloading the loans at significant losses and leaving their balance sheet with a difficult-to-fill capital shortfall. UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ) has led the way in cutting bad debt, raising capital and setting aside 17.7 billion euros worth of loans for sale by the end of 2017. But Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( BMPS.MI ), crumbling under a massive bad debt pile, has had little visible success so far, as its planned state rescue has dragged on longer than anticipated. And data from the Bank of Italy shows that other Italian banks have also failed to make significant progress, leaving UniCredit as the biggest contributor to the reduction. Irish banks reduced their non-performing loans to 33.5 billion euros from 38.5 billion but banks in Spain, which sit on the third biggest pile of bad loans after Italy and France, made virtually no progress, the ECB data showed. Anticipating some losses, banks have set aside reserves equal to 44.6 percent of all their bad debt, a slight increase in the ''coverage ratio'' from three months earlier. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-banks-ecb-idUKKBN17R1FE'|'2017-04-25T20:06:00.000+03:00' '87090c23f4cd5a03698a43ae5cfdd36cab633284'|'METALS-Copper turns higher as Asian equities soar on French vote'|'Market News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 3:25am EDT METALS-Copper turns higher as Asian equities soar on French vote (Updates prices, adds quotes) By James Regan SYDNEY, April 25 Copper reversed early losses in Asia on Tuesday to trade higher on the back of strong regional equities markets that broadened investor appeal for cyclical assets such as industrial commodities. "All regional equity markets are higher as is oil and the base metals complex as yesterday''s broader ''risk on'' theme is maintained," commodities broker Marex Spectron said in a note. Asian equities coasted to a near two-year high, buoyed by a jump in risk appetite following the centrist victory in the first round of the French presidential election. "Asian markets appear to be still lingering in the glow of relief after the French election," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore. "The jubilance in markets overnight has also added to the optimism." * COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained percent to $5,680 a tonne by 0715 GMT. * SHANGHAI: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange settled 0.04 percent higher at 46,030 yuan ($6,687)a tonne. * ANGLO AMERICAN: Mining company Anglo American reported a 9 percent rise in overall production for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016, but copper output fell 3 percent because of poorer grades and a temporary suspension at the El Soldado mine in Chile. * PERU STRIKE: Workers at mining company Southern Copper Corp in Peru have reached a deal with management to end a two-week strike, a union official and a company spokesman told Reuters on Monday. * OTHER ShFE METALS: Tin ended 0.14 percent lower at 137,610 yuan, while lead finished 0.22 percent higher at 15,945 yuan. ShFE zinc gained 0.19 percent to 21,55 yuan. ShFE aluminium ended 0.77 percent up at 14,375 yuan a tonne. * LME DELAY: The launch of the London Metal Exchange''s new precious metals contracts will be delayed until July 10, more than a month later than previously announced, it said on Monday. PRICES '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL4N1HX2PJ'|'2017-04-25T15:25:00.000+03:00' 'ba11b002a6823ac238e039d0d69064e2843cc7b2'|'Lower corporate tax rate would be very very positive - UPS CEO'|' 34am EDT Lower corporate tax rate would be "very very positive" - UPS CEO NEW YORK, April 27 UPS chief executive David Abney on Thursday said the 15 percent corporate tax rate proposed by President Donald Trump would be "very very positive" for the company. "We heard this yesterday and so we''re not prepared to quantify what the advantage for us will be, but I can tell you it would be very, very positive," Abney said on a conference call with analysts. “Were very encouraged by what we’re hearing," he added. President Donald Trump unveiled a one-page plan on Wednesday proposing deep U.S. tax cuts, including cutting to 15 percent both the income tax rate paid by public corporations and that paid by "pass-through" businesses, including partnerships, S corporations and sole proprietorships. (Reporting by Luciana Lopez; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ups-taxreform-idUSL1N1HZ0Y8'|'2017-04-27T17:34:00.000+03:00' '444eac6172dbce159276b8cda8a3072565e88663'|'Canada miner Goldcorp earnings beat market as costs fall'|'Canadian gold miner Goldcorp Inc ( G.TO ) reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings on Wednesday as a $250 million-a-year cost-cutting plan started to take effect.The world''s fourth-largest gold producer by market value maintained its 2017 forecast for production of around 2.5 million ounces of gold at all-in sustaining costs of approximately $850 an ounce.Vancouver-based Goldcorp reported net earnings of $170 million, or 20 cents a share, in the three months through the end of March. That compared with earnings of $80 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier.Adjusted for various non-cash items, earnings were 10 cents a share, ahead of analysts'' average forecast of 8 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.The miner, which has operations in North and South America, said its all-in sustaining costs to produce an ounce of gold declined to $800 in the first quarter from $836 in the same period a year ago. First-quarter gold output fell to 655,000 ounces compared with 784,000 ounces a year ago.Goldcorp in January laid out an ambitious growth plan that included increasing production as well as yet-to-be-mined reserves by 20 percent over the next five years and cutting costs by the same amount.(Reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Editing by Toni Reinhold)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-goldcorp-results-idUSKBN17S2ZH'|'2017-04-27T01:43:00.000+03:00' '719d54f480155813b28450ab2841edc6d3102884'|'DEALTALK-Anthem contract loss could put Express Scripts in M&A crosshairs'|'(For more Reuters DEALTALKS, click on)By Carl O''Donnell and Michael ErmanNEW YORK, April 26 The loss of a multi-billion dollar contract with Anthem Inc comes with a silver lining for some shareholders of Express Scripts Holding Co : a higher likelihood that the pharmaceutical benefits manager (PBM) gets scooped up in a deal.Express Scripts'' shares fell 11 percent on Tuesday, the day after the company said its contract to negotiate drug prices for Anthem - worth around a third of its annual adjusted earnings - would not be renewed once it expired in 2019.As a result, Express Scripts'' market value has sunk to $37 billion from its highs around $53 billion at the end of last year, putting it in the crosshairs of potential buyers."Post the bludgeoning, we think management will have to take a hard look at the company''s prospects through the roll-off and decide the path forward... that is likely to maximize value creation," said Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken in a research note.He said that another PBM, Medco Health Solutions, opted to sell itself to Express Scripts in 2011 when Medco lost a number of its largest customers.Tim Wentworth, the CEO of Express Scripts, was an executive at Medco at the time.After the loss of Anthem''s business, Wentworth touted the benefits of remaining independent for its customers and its bottom line. But that could change if buyer interest emerged.His company has long been a potential target for health insurers or pharmacies looking to expand into drug benefits, but the uncertainty surrounding its contract dispute with Anthem has kept deal talks on the shelf, several investment bankers said, asking not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak with the press.LIKELY BUYERSAmong the most logical buyers are health insurers like Aetna Inc and Humana Inc, which are beginning to scout for new deals, several bankers and analysts said. Express Scripts and Aetna declined comment. Humana was not immediately available for comment.Insurers can leverage their large patient populations to help PBMs boost bargaining power with drugmakers. That could become more important as scrutiny of PBMs'' pricing practices puts pressure on their margins."We’re seeing managed care look to own more of the capability in-house," particularly as pricey new drugs in areas like oncology increase the benefits of coordinating insurance coverage with drug benefits, said Michael Baker, an analyst at Raymond James.Some insurers have already adopted the model. UnitedHealth Group Inc pioneered the strategy with its OptumRx drug benefits unit, which it doubled down on in 2015 with a $12.8 billion acquisition of Catamaran Corp.A consortium of 14 BlueCross BlueShield plans together own Prime Therapeutics, which has about 20 million members, and Humana also has a smaller drug benefits manager called Humana Pharmacy Solutions.Potential interest could also come from a large pharmacy like Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc or even, at the right price, a private equity firm, analysts and bankers said."They generate a lot of cash and they don’t have a lot of debt on their balance sheet," said Brian Tanquilut, an analyst at Jefferies. "At a certain price it could be an asset that would be very attractive to private equity."Walgreens declined to comment.Anthem said on Wednesday that it has not yet made a final decision on the contract and hopes to reach an amicable resolution on a federal lawsuit it filed against Express Scripts for $15 billion, alleging that it was being overcharged for prescriptions by $3 billion a year. (Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/expressscripts-anthem-deals-idINL1N1HY1JV'|'2017-04-26T20:09:00.000+03:00' '10abdf8f20262f8b7eeec5db71730a845bf3b4d4'|'Pirelli accelerates IPO plan to fourth quarter this year'|'MILAN Pirelli has accelerated its plans to relist on a stock exchange, pushing for an initial public offering from the fourth quarter of this year, the Italian tiremaker said on Friday.The company had planned to list by the first half of next year."The decision was taken in light of the positive results achieved by the company, the implemented focus on the consumer business – which makes Pirelli the sole ''pure consumer tyre player'' in the segment – and the present favorable market dynamics," it said in a statement.The company was delisted from the Milan bourse in 2015, where its shares had traded since 1922, following a mandatory offer launched by an investment vehicle controlled by China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina).Pirelli is expected to be re-listed in Milan or on a leading international stock exchanges, the company said.(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak; Editing Mark Bendeich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-pirelli-ipo-idINKBN17U0WU'|'2017-04-28T05:40:00.000+03:00' '6ae2967d793232f5b9c76730d6b039d0b33584fe'|'Companies cheer Trump tax cuts, but jobs are less certain to follow'|'By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz U.S. businesses would reap a windfall if President Donald Trump''s plan to cut corporate tax rates and slash taxes on cash parked overseas becomes law, but it was unclear whether they would stimulate a surge in investment and job creation in return.Under Trump''s proposals, American companies would move from being the most highly taxed among the Group of 20 countries to among the lowest. Tax rates would fall below those of neighboring Mexico and Canada, which Trump has accused of shortchanging the United States in trade deals.Corporate leaders and business lobbying groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday cheered the administration''s tax proposals, while allowing that the initial one-page plan left out crucial details.The tax plan, which includes a cut in taxes on public companies to 15 percent from 35 percent, does not detail cuts in spending that would help keep the budget deficit under control.AT&T Corp ( T.N ) Chief Executive Randall Stephenson welcomed the tax plan but cautioned "the practical reality of getting to 15 percent is you have to get yourself reconciled to some level of deficits for a period of time as you get the economic stimulation."Big U.S. companies have nearly $1.8 trillion in cash stockpiled overseas, according to Moody''s Investors Service. Technology powerhouse Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) has more than $200 billion of that total.Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has said the company was looking to bring back offshore cash if tax rates for doing so were lower."What we would do with it, let''s wait and see exactly what it is, but as I''ve said before we are always looking at acquisitions," Cook told investors on the company''s first-quarter earnings call in January.Cook''s comment points to a big unknown for the White House and congressional Republicans, who have said business tax cuts would result in more and better jobs.Studies of the results of past tax holidays found that most of the offshore cash brought home by U.S. companies was used to buy back shares or make acquisitions, not to fund investments in production capacity or jobs.Under pressure from shareholders, listed companies have set high targets for return on invested capital. General Motors Co ( GM.N ), for example, has told investors it is aiming for 20 percent returns on its capital investments.Many U.S. companies have been tightfisted about investing in new plants and equipment following the last recession, which left them wary of becoming overextended. Since 2014, investment in new equipment has flatlined, according to government data.A MIXED BAGThe financial impact of the White House tax plan will vary widely by company and business sector. A proposal to cut inheritance taxes, for example, is of high interest to auto dealers, which are often family-controlled enterprises.Many companies already pay less than the headline 35 percent tax rate. Companies in the S&P 500 index paid an average tax rate of 29.06 percent for 2016, Standard and Poors said.A change of a few percentage points in tax rates can make a big difference. Aircraft maker Boeing Co ( BA.N ) on Wednesday reported a 19 percent increase in first quarter profits, partly because of a 4 percentage-point drop in its tax rate."At the highest level we''re a big supporter of tax reform," Boeing Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told analysts and journalists on a call Wednesday. "It''s going to drive jobs, it''s going to drive the U.S. economy broadly speaking and it''s going to allow us to compete."Boeing has been cutting jobs in the United States, warning employees last week that it planned another round of cuts that would eliminate hundreds of engineering jobs.While the tax cuts may produce a short-term boost to the economy and add fuel to a stock market rally, it falls short of the comprehensive tax reform that Trump had pledged earlier.Regarding other parts of his agenda, his administration has been stymied in its attempts to limit immigration by the courts, while an attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare failed in Congress.“A cynic would say this is a rushed attempt to have something big to show for President Trump’s first 100 days in office," said Luke Bartholomew, investment strategist at Aberdeen Asset Management in London.(Reporting by Ginger Gibson, David Shepardson, Diane Bartz, Steve Nellis and Tim Aeppel; writing by Joseph White; editing by David Chance and Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-business-idINKBN17S2WF'|'2017-04-26T19:03:00.000+03:00' 'e18c632ec7ffec5d9a7f34a7caa01de21e749eae'|'BRIEF-Allergan completes Zeltiq acquisition'|'Company 8:54am EDT BRIEF-Allergan completes Zeltiq acquisition * Civista bancshares, inc. Announces first quarter 2017 earnings MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories Reuters News Agency - Brand Attribution Guidelines - Careers Reuters is the news and media division of Thomson Reuters . Thomson Reuters is the world''s largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products:'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/brief-allergan-completes-zeltiq-acquisit-idUSFWN1I00WE'|'2017-04-28T20:54:00.000+03:00' '77292c72a6105a76c20a0570380da3f89ba5d94b'|'EU regulators drop antitrust probe into Faurecia, others'|'Company News 48am EDT EU regulators drop antitrust probe into Faurecia, others By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS, April 28 BRUSSELS, April 28 EU antitrust regulators scrapped on Friday an investigation into Faurecia, Germany''s Eberspaecher Group and TenneCo of the United States, three years after raiding the auto suppliers and others on suspicion of anti-competitive practices. The auto industry has been hit with multi-million euro fines by regulators worldwide in recent years for fixing prices of products including thermal systems, seatbelts, radiators, windscreen wipers, ball bearings and car air conditioning. The European Commission said at the time of the raids in March 2014 they were concerned the companies may have operated a cartel and abused their dominance in the market for exhaust systems. It did not name the companies. However French auto parts maker Faurecia, which is 46.6 percent owned by French carmaker PSA Group, TenneCo and Eberspaecher all confirmed they had been raided. The EU competition enforcer said the case had been administratively closed without providing details. It can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global turnover for breaching the bloc''s rules. TenneCo said it a separate statement it had been notified by the European Commission that the inquiry was closed. Other investigations are ongoing into auto supplies markets including airbags, steering wheels and capacitors. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/eu-autos-antitrust-idUSL8N1I074W'|'2017-04-28T23:48:00.000+03:00' '961b0ee7982f7a1c6b14569e480d68d381513c9a'|'Mexico''s Bimbo enters Africa market with Morocco acquisition'|'Market News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 6:31pm EDT Mexico''s Bimbo enters Africa market with Morocco acquisition MEXICO CITY, April 27 Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo said on Thursday it has entered the African market with the purchase of Adghal, a Morocco-based producer of baked goods. Financial details were not provided. Adghal reported sales of some $11 million, three plants and specialized in pastries and cupcakes, Bimbo said in a statement. Bimbo is one of the world''s biggest breadmakers, with operations in the United States, Canada, Latin America and China as well as the Iberian peninsula and Britain. Bimbo''s food business chief said last week it planned to grow in China through acquisitions, expand in the rest of Asia, and enter Middle Eastern markets. (Reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; Editing by Richard Chang) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/grupo-bimbo-morocco-idUSL1N1HZ2OS'|'2017-04-28T06:31:00.000+03:00' 'a232e1a522a5a31d8359f570fd37cf8d7256d436'|'PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 28'|'Market News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:15am EDT PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - April 28 April 28 The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. - Starbucks Corp missed sales expectations again in its home market and globally in its fiscal second quarter, with sales up 3 percent in both regions. on.wsj.com/2oRzt9s - Google parent Alphabet Inc on Thursday posted a sharp increase in first-quarter revenue, continuing a trend of rapid growth seemingly unscathed by boycotts from some of its major advertisers. on.wsj.com/2oRjTL6 - Activist investor Third Point LLC is pressuring Honeywell International Inc to spin off its aerospace division, seeking to break off the conglomerate''s biggest business just a few weeks after Honeywell switched leaders. on.wsj.com/2oRMyiR - United Airlines has reached a settlement with David Dao, the Kentucky physician forcibly pulled off an April 9 flight from Chicago''s O''Hare International Airport, in the latest step by the carrier to put the crisis behind it. on.wsj.com/2oCGDlH - Amazon.com Inc posted a 41 percent rise in first-quarter profit, even as the company is spending heavily on everything from international expansion to video content. on.wsj.com/2oCM2JF (Compiled by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/press-digest-wsj-idUSL4N1I02I2'|'2017-04-28T13:15:00.000+03:00' 'bfc44048bb95cab9fd3daecb57e8da06b53f1ea1'|'Boeing seeks U.S. anti-dumping probe against CSeries jet'|'WASHINGTON/NEW YORK Boeing Co on Thursday asked the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate alleged subsidies and unfair pricing for Canadian planemaker Bombardier''s new CSeries airplane, adding to growing trade tensions between the United States and Canada.The petition against Canada''s new competitor to the Boeing 737 aircraft came just days after the Commerce Department imposed duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, saying that the product''s origin from public land amounted to an unfair government subsidy.On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump told Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto that he intended to begin renegotiating the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, after White House officials said Trump had been considering an order to withdraw from the pact.Boeing said in its petition that Bombardier, determined to win a key order from Delta Air Lines Inc after losing a competition at United Airlines, had offered its planes to the airline at an "absurdly low" $19.6 million each, well below what it described as the aircraft’s production cost of $33.2 million."Propelled by massive, supply creating and illegal government subsidies, Bombardier Inc has embarked on an aggressive campaign to dump its CSeries aircraft in the United States," Boeing said in its petition.Boeing''s similarly sized 737-700 model has a list price of $83.4 million, with the new 737-MAX 7 priced at $92.2 million. Sales discounts from list prices are typically 40 percent to 50 percent in the industry.In April 2016, Bombardier won the Delta order, its biggest yet, for 75 CS100 jets, worth an estimated $5.6 billion based on the list price of about $71.8 million.In its complaint against Bombardier, Boeing argued that the CSeries program would not exist without hundreds of millions of dollars in launch aid from the governments of Canada, Quebec and Britain, or a $2.5 billion equity infusion from Quebec and its largest pension fund in 2015.Quebec Economy Minister Dominique Anglade said in a statement that her government would defend "the commercial partnership concluded with Bombardier" for a $1 billion injection in the CSeries.Boeing also took a shot at European rival Airbus SE, which it accuses of benefiting from similar "unfair" government subsidies in a long-running dispute before the World Trade Organization.Bombardier is “taking a page out of the Airbus strategy book” by trying to muscle into the U.S. market with cut-rate pricing, Boeing charged.A Commerce Department spokesman said the petition would be given "a thorough review" and further comment was premature.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has taken action in recent weeks to protect the U.S. steel and aluminum industries from foreign competition, launching national security investigations that could lead to import restrictions.An investigation could lead to duties on the Bombardier aircraft to offset any below-cost pricing or any subsidies deemed unfair.In a statement, Canada''s government objected to Boeing''s allegations and noted that the CSeries has many U.S. suppliers, including for engines, and supports thousands of U.S. jobs."The Government of Canada will mount a vigorous defense against these allegations and stand up for aerospace jobs on both sides of the border," it said in the statement.Bombardier’s chief executive conceded the company had been “aggressive” on pricing in order to win, and sources familiar with the deal pegged the discount closer to two-thirds off the nominal list price.Bombardier said in a statement that it was reviewing the petition and said it structures its dealings to ensure compliance with all relevant laws.The request for anti-dumping measures was also addressed to the U.S. International Trade Commission, an independent U.S. trade body that will review any decisions by the Commerce Department.(Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Writing by David Lawder; Editing by Bill Rigby and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-bombardier-idUSKBN17T387'|'2017-04-28T05:41:00.000+03:00' '10c11222800788bd83bb1b9d67b225c75c2ec5eb'|'Political risk biggest concern for insurers globally - survey'|' 12:57am BST Political risk biggest concern for insurers globally - survey left right British Prime Minister Theresa May in the cabinet office signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk invoking Article 50 and the United Kingdom''s intention to leave the EU on March 28, 2017 in London, England. REUTERS/Christopher Furlong 1/5 left right U.S. President Donald Trump reacts after signing an executive order on education during an event with Governors at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. April 26, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria 2/5 left right Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, celebrates after early results in the first round of 2017 French presidential election, in Henin-Beaumont, France, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau 3/5 left right President-elect Donald Trump arrives for the inauguration ceremonies swearing him in as the 45th president of the United States on the West front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson 4/5 left right A workers counts ballots after polling stations closed in the Referendum on the European Union in Islington, London, Britain, June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall 5/5 LONDON Political risk is the biggest concern this year for insurers globally, following several shock outcomes in 2016, a survey of insurers managing $10 trillion (£8 trillion) in assets showed on Thursday. Political events have overtaken issues such as worries about an economic slowdown in the United States or China to become the top macro-economic risk for 2017, according to the survey by Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) of more than 300 insurers, which together manage about 40 percent of global insurance assets. "Political risk has risen to the top of the concerns of all insurers," Etienne Comon, GSAM''s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) head of insurance asset management, told a media briefing. "That''s true globally and even more true in Europe." Britain''s vote to leave the European Union and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President were both unexpected political events last year which have increased worries about protectionism and the reliability of trade deals. Insurers this year are particularly fretting over European elections such as France''s presidential vote, where favourite Emmanuel Macron is facing a run-off with anti-globalisation candidate Marine Le Pen next month. Elections later this year in Germany and a possible early Italian vote are also a concern, Comon said. Increasing volatility in some European government bond markets last year as a result of political upsets and uncertainty encouraged insurers to shift allocations towards safe-haven bonds in Northern Europe, he added. Insurers expect the biggest returns in 2017 to come from private equity, the fourth straight year they have called this asset class the highest-yielding bet. U.S. equities and emerging market equities are also expected to produce strong returns, the survey showed. However, concern over the capital costs of investing in some riskier asset classes mean those return expectations may not turn into more investment, Comon said. Insurers said they were most likely to increase asset allocation to corporate loans to mid-market firms, followed by infrastructure debt, and then private equity. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-insurance-report-goldman-idUKKBN17S36R'|'2017-04-27T07:41:00.000+03:00' 'db12e167d5e3927ed683bd543b82190decf158a9'|'ValueAct says owns under 5 percent of KKR & Co'|'NEW YORK ValueAct Capital, the $16 billion activist shareholder, said it has invested in asset management company KKR & Co. ( KKR.N ), and owns less than 5 percent.KKR generates strong management fees and does an excellent job of seeding new products and businesses, ValueAct President Mason Morfit said on Thursday at the Active-Passive Investor Summit here.ValueAct''s stake in KKR was not previously disclosed by the San Francisco based firm.(Reporting by Michael Flaherty and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-valueact-target-idINKBN17T23V'|'2017-04-27T11:55:00.000+03:00' 'e442e041c48fec82077f21a7f72130890901aa59'|'Cost controls help offset lower Amgen first-quarter drug sales'|' 10:18pm BST Cost controls help offset lower Amgen first-quarter drug sales An Amgen sign is seen at the company''s office in South San Francisco, California October 21, 2013. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith/File Photo By Bill Berkrot Amgen Inc ( AMGN.O ) on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profit as cost controls helped offset a sharp drop in sales of Enbrel, its blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis drug. But an earnings beat based on lower expenses rather than sales growth did not please investors and Amgen shares fell more than 3 percent to $159.00 in after-hours trading. Sales of Enbrel, faced with increased competition and slowing growth in the rheumatology and dermatology sectors, dropped 15 percent to $1.18 billion, below Wall Street estimates of about $1.38 billion. Enbrel has traditionally been a growth driver for Amgen, although the company had cautioned that pricing pressure would likely hit the franchise this year. "The biggest weakness on the top line was definitely Enbrel. It''s in decline," said Cowen and Co analyst Eric Schmidt, adding that inventory stocking in the prior quarter likely contributed to the sales drop. Total sales fell 1 percent to $5.5 billion, shy of analysts'' consensus estimates of $5.6 billion. Excluding items, Amgen had adjusted earnings of $3.15 per share, topping analysts'' average expectations by 15 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Amgen maintained its full-year revenue forecast of $22.3 billion to $23.1 billion. It raised the low end of its adjusted 2017 earnings forecast by 20 cents to $12.00 per share, but kept the top end of the range at $12.60. Total operating expenses fell 8 percent to $2.87 billion, helped by a 12 percent drop in research and development spending. The company''s potent new cholesterol drug Repatha, faced with reimbursement barriers from insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, had sales of just $49 million. Data showing that it does indeed cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes, expected to greatly improve payer and physician acceptance of the expensive medicine, did not come out until late in the quarter and so was not reflected in the sales for the period. Still, Schmidt said, "it''s not good when your growth franchise is weak, even if it''s early days." The world''s largest biotechnology company said net profit rose to $2.07 billion, or $2.79 per share, from $1.9 billion, or $2.50 per share, a year ago. Other key medicines performed better, with sales of osteoporosis drug Prolia rising 21 percent to $425 million, ahead of Wall Street estimates of about $415 million. Sales of infection fighter Neulasta rose 2 percent to $1.21 billion, above analyst expectations of $1.13 billion. (Reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-amgen-results-idUKKBN17S2XZ'|'2017-04-27T05:18:00.000+03:00' 'f4e53cd2184cf09ed97515d1f2774017233f2572'|'Oil prices fall on lingering oversupply concerns'|'Business 3:33am BST Oil prices fall on lingering oversupply concerns FILE PHOTO: An Esso service station displays the price of petrol and diesel at Heathrow airport, London January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett/File Photo By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed down by a general sentiment of globally bloated markets, though traders said that prices seemed to have found support around current levels. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were trading at $49.34 per barrel at 0137 GMT, down 28 cents, or 0.56 percent from their last close. WTI has lost around 8.5 percent in value from its April peak. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $51.58 per barrel, down 24 cents, or 0.46 percent, from their last close. Brent is almost 9 percent below its April peak. Traders said that the falls in recent weeks were a result of a realization that global oil markets remained oversupplied, despite efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year in order to tighten the market and prop up prices. "It is clear that the world has plenty of oil in stock, making OPEC''s life that much harder ahead of its June production cut rollover date," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. While the United States reported a drop in its commercial crude oil stocks on Wednesday, albeit from near-record highs, its gasoline inventories surged as refiners produced more fuel than the market could consume. Still, with an expectation that OPEC would lobby for an extension of the production cuts to cover all of 2017, analysts said there was support for prices around current levels. Reuters technical commodities analyst Wang Tao said that "Brent oil looks neutral in a range of $51.30-$52.32 per barrel." (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17T06V'|'2017-04-27T09:49:00.000+03:00' '6d3dbd4c4d2241a5864a72cdc8a2856f36784a09'|'OPEC output cuts whet Asia''s appetite for North Sea oil'|'Global Energy News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 1:54pm BST OPEC output cuts whet Asia''s appetite for North Sea oil FILE PHOTO: A section of the BP Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) oil platform is seen in the North Sea, around 100 miles east of Aberdeen in Scotland, Britain, February 24, 2014. REUTERS/Andy Buchanan/Pool/File Photo By Amanda Cooper and Florence Tan - LONDON/SINGAPORE LONDON/SINGAPORE OPEC production cuts have created record Asian demand for European oil and made China the second biggest consumer of North Sea crude as flows from its usual Middle East suppliers dip. Rising Asian appetite for North Sea crude has largely been fuelled by the falling premium charged for North Sea crude over rival Middle East oil and this demand could last beyond OPEC''s supply cuts if that favourable pricing persists. Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows China imported almost 38 million barrels of North Sea crude from the start of the year until late April, compared with about 8 million barrels by the same point in 2016. China now lies second to Britain, the biggest consumer of North Sea crude, which had bought 49.7 million barrels by late April this year. In January to April 2016, China ranked seventh. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other non-OPEC producers agreed to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017 to lift prices and reduce global inventories. With stockpiles still bulging, Gulf producers and other producers say cuts could be extended to December, adding a further incentive for Asian buyers to look beyond their usual suppliers. "East of Suez, crude balances look like they will get progressively tighter year-on-year all the way through to the end of 2017," FGE analyst James Davis said. "We suspect there will be, from a supply perspective, a need for crude to move across to Asia from the North Sea," he said. Reluctant to relinquish market share to U.S. oil shale producers, OPEC states have kept their official selling prices low and used their crude stockpiles to keep clients supplied. But they have tended to cut output of medium, more sulphurous crudes that are cheaper, and maintained flows of lighter, less sulphur-rich oil, which usually sell for more. With less of those medium crudes on the market prices for that oil have climbed, sending the premium that is usually paid for North Sea oil to its lowest since 2010 DUB-EFS-1M. CRUDE DIET The premium for North Sea Brent, the peg for many of world''s lighter crudes, over the Dubai benchmark, which underpins medium and heavier grades common in the Middle East, has fallen below 50 cents a barrel from $2.50 in late November, when OPEC announced its cuts. "North Sea crude keeps coming to Asia and now there should be more given the price structure," a trader at a North Asian refinery said. China customs data shows the cost of importing North Sea oil was even more favourable in March, showing importing a barrel of British crude cost $56.70, compared with $57.80 for a barrel from the United Arab Emirates, even when the UAE lies 8,000 miles closer to China than Scotland''s North Sea coast. "North Sea oil suits the Korean diet and the Chinese can still take it if the price is right,” a Singapore-based trader said. Other factors are also encouraging Asian consumers to seek out new suppliers. Chinese domestic oil production has been eroded because of weak oil prices, while refineries in the world''s biggest car market have been expanding. Overall, Asian refining capacity will expand by a net 450,000 bpd in 2017, a rise of 1.5 percent over Asia''s total installed capacity now of nearly 29 million bpd, Thomson Reuters Eikon data shows. "We expect imports to continue registering year-on-year gains as a narrow Brent-Dubai spread ... encourages the purchasing of Atlantic Basin crudes in Asia," Energy Aspects said in a note, even though it said China had "clearly overbought" crude in the first quarter of the year. For a graphic on North Sea crude oil flows to Asia, click - reut.rs/2q6pDo4 For a graphic on Biggest buyers of North Sea crude oil, click - reut.rs/2q6pDo4 For a graphic on North Sea crude flows to China vs Brent/Dubai premium, click - reut.rs/2q7g3B2 (Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Blair) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-oil-opec-north-sea-analysis-idUKKBN17T1HR'|'2017-04-27T20:54:00.000+03:00' '83002c66d70a14c38575ae7a51958ad69fb8653e'|'UPDATE 3-Lazard profit beats estimates as deal-making picks up'|'* First-qtr adj. profit 83 cents/shr vs est 79 cents/shr* Financial advisory revenue up 26.2 pct* Asset management revenue up 16.2 pct* Shares rise 2.3 pct (Adds CEO comment)By Nikhil SubbaApril 27 Lazard Ltd reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit, mainly driven by growth in its financial advisory business as cross-border M&As got off to the strongest start in a decade.Lazard was involved in several big cross-border deals in 2017, including Johnson & Johnson''s $30 billion acquisition of Swiss biotechnology company Actelion and Harman''s $8.7 billion buyout by Samsung.Optimism over U.S. President Donald Trump''s economic agenda buoyed the stock market and the dollar, making foreign acquisitions cheaper than some U.S. targets.Cross-border M&As totaled $323.1 billion as of March end this year, the highest level since 2007, accounting for 45 percent of total M&A activity, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters data."We''ve increased our market share in M&A globally, with especially high levels of activity in Europe," Chief Executive Kenneth Jacobs said on a post-earnings call with analysts.The first half of 2017 continues to look strong relative to last year, he said.Lazard, often seen as a bellwether for the M&A advisory industry, said earnings from its financial advisory business surged 26.2 percent to $335.8 million in the first quarter ended March 31.The company''s shares were up 2.3 percent at $45.31 in morning trade.Lazard also benefited from a strong performance in its asset management business, which the company has been building up to diversify its revenue stream.Revenue from the asset management business rose 16.2 percent to $278.4 million, accounting for about 40 percent of the total revenue.Major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, also reported a jump in investment banking fees for the most recent quarter.Global investment banking fees reached a 10-year high in the first quarter of 2017 with more than half of the $24 billion in total takings coming from North America, according to Thomson Reuters data.Net income attributable to Lazard rose to $107.6 million, or 81 cents per share, in the quarter, from $66.8 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.On an adjusted basis, the company earned 83 cents per share, beating the average analyst estimate of 79 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Total revenue rose nearly 25 percent to $637.4 million. (Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/lazard-results-idINL4N1HZ4M9'|'2017-04-27T11:59:00.000+03:00' '68b8e29b81955e88b38fc38972ca0bec52d854c4'|'German economy booms as protectionist threat goes pop'|' 04pm BST German economy booms as protectionist threat goes pop An employee works on a track of a MACK Rides rollercoaster at the production plant in Waldkirch near Freiburg, Germany April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski By Michael Nienaber - HAMBURG, Germany HAMBURG, Germany When port manager Axel Mattern looks out onto the Elbe River from his office in Hamburg''s historic warehouse district, he can literally count the rising number of container ships leaving Germany''s biggest harbour. There is an export boom underway, the ships tell him. China, in particular, is "buzzing", Mattern says. The sharp increase in demand for "Made in Germany" goods from around the world is pushing Europe''s largest economy into overdrive -- and, not coincidently, helping dispel worries about rising protectionism under U.S. President Donald Trump. Some German companies are even considering expanding into the United States, while others reckon the world is big enough for them to thrive even if American trade borders do get tricky. In the first two months of 2017, overall German exports rose 7 percent on the year to 201.2 billion euros (168.29 billion pounds), driven by a broad-based uptick in demand for top quality German products such as cars and machines. The trade boost comes on top of Germany''s vibrant domestic economy which is already supported by a robust labour market, a growing population and record-low borrowing costs, enabled by the European Central Bank''s loose monetary policy. Soaring private consumption, increased state spending on refugees and higher construction drove an expansion of 1.9 percent last year, the strongest rate in half a decade and the fastest among the Group of Seven industrialised countries. The economy is still doing well. But it is the jump in trade that most bodes well for 2017. A breakdown of trade data from the Federal Statistics Office compiled for Reuters shows exports to the United States -- Germany''s most important single export destination after the bloc of European Union countries -- jumped 9 percent in the first two months of the year to 17.9 billion. Those to China leapt 14 percent to 12.6 billion euros. SELF-CONFIDENCE The U.S. increase comes despite some of the new president''s "America First" campaigning. Trump''s protectionist rhetoric and the dispute about the benefits of free trade are likely to rank high on the agenda of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Hamburg in July. Concerns among managers in Europe''s economic powerhouse, however, have already eased. "We''re very relaxed about this whole debate about Trump and protectionism," Mattern said. "If Mr Trump doesn''t want to buy German goods anymore because he thinks he can produce everything at home, we''ll just find other buyers." Corporate Germany''s self-confidence is backed by data. A survey of some 43,000 consumers in 52 countries conducted by Dalia Research and Statista showed "Made in Germany" is viewed as the most appealing seal of quality in the world. Senior German government officials also sound less alarmed about U.S. policy after meetings with U.S. counterparts in recent weeks -- a notion echoed by ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday. Chancellor Angela Merkel has even fuelled expectations of a future EU-U.S trade deal, saying she was "very encouraged" talks were being looked at after her recent trip to Washington. German business leaders such as Anton Boerner from the BGA trade association point out that Trump''s protectionist threats, including broad-based introduction of punitive tariffs on imports through a border adjustment tax, have failed to translate into policy so far. "There are no concrete measures and this means ''business as usual'' for companies -- at least for now," Boerner told Reuters. While uncertainty remains high and is limiting overall private sector investment, at least some companies seem to be viewing political risks as the new normal -- and they are pushing ahead with investment. A survey by the Ifo institute shows German industrial companies plan to increase investment by 5 percent this year, up from 3 percent in 2016. NEW SITES Among them are Mittelstand companies, the largely family-owned firms that form the backbone of German industry and make up roughly 98 percent of German export companies. "We plan to open at least one, probably two new production sites in the U.S.," said Josef Minster, CEO of Schlemmer Group, an automotive supplier specialising in cable protection systems. The Bavarian-based firm wants to increase its market share in North America and benefit from an expected upturn in the automobile sector there. Schlemmer is also preparing a takeover of a small U.S. firm which is not yet selling its high-quality niche products abroad. "Together with our expertise and global sales network, we expect to benefit quickly from scaling effects," Minster said, adding that the takeover would be one of the biggest in the history of the company, founded in 1954. Schlemmer traditionally aims to produce near its customers'' factories to keep the production chain short. Roller-coaster manufacturer Mack Rides, in contrast, builds every ride in the tiny southern town of Waldkirch in the Black Forest region before shipping them to amusement parks around the world. Mack Rides plans to invest in its German production site, located near its own theme park called Europa-Park close to the French border, to meet rising global demand. "We''re currently experiencing a sharp upturn in demand from Asia and the Emirates, but also from Europe and the United States," said CEO Christian von Elverfeldt. The 237-year-old family-run firm has an export rate of 95 percent, meaning rising protectionism and import tariffs surely would be bad for business, the manager admits. But Elverfeldt said customers value his company''s quality and innovation -- such as the recent development of a roller coaster ride with virtual reality glasses. "Even if the U.S. should increase import tariffs, which hopefully will never happen, we''ll be able to easily offset this decline in sales through the fast growing economies in Asia," he said. To view graphic on German exports rise click on tmsnrt.rs/2lKmMzA (Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-analysis-idUKKBN17U22U'|'2017-04-28T22:04:00.000+03:00' 'd5bf16e0a6a0ac83db38a52f1f5220d0865add39'|'Oil prices face second weekly loss as oversupply lingers'|'Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:54am BST Oil prices face second weekly loss as oversupply lingers A pump jack stands idle in Dewitt County, Texas January 13, 2016. REUTERS/Anna Driver By Henning Gloystein Oil prices stabilized on Friday but were on track for a second straight weekly loss on concerns that an OPEC-led production cut has failed to significantly tighten an oversupplied market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures CLc1 were trading at $49.21 per barrel at 0036 GMT, up 24 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. However, WTI is still set for a small weekly loss and is down more than 8 percent from its April peak. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $51.59 per barrel, up 15 cents, or 0.3 percent. Brent is almost 9 percent below its April peak and is also on track for a second week of declines. Traders said that Friday''s slight rises came on the back of statements by OPEC that it was keen to find a deal that would ensure a drawdown of excess global fuel supplies, which have weighed on markets for over two years. Such a deal would likely mean an extension of a pledge by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year. Despite this, ANZ bank said on Friday that "traders remained worried about increasing supply." This is largely due to a persistent rise in U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has risen by 10 percent since mid-2016 to 9.27 million bpd, to levels last seen during the height of the oil glut between late 2014 and early 2016. And analysts expect U.S. production to keep rising this year. Consultancy Rystad Energy expects U.S. shale oil output to grow by 100,000 bpd each month for the rest of this year and into 2018, well above estimates by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for monthly gains of about 29,000 bpd in 2017 and 57,000 bpd in 2018. "We see a risk for a weaker oil price towards the end of the year... because shale is delivering so much oil and OPEC might fight back," Jarand Rystad told Reuters earlier this week. Outside the United States, rising output in Libya, an OPEC-member exempt from the cuts, was adding to plentiful supplies. (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-idUKKBN17U03W'|'2017-04-28T08:53:00.000+03:00' '2e2d6c45ed9ccb73eca3c762d45966fa1d5a7284'|'Investors, South Korean tech suppliers brush off N.Korea threat'|'NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Growing tensions with North Korea should worry global electronics firms such as Apple Inc as they source key parts from South Korea, but investors are brushing off such concerns and snapping up shares in key exporters, heartened by robust earnings and big investment plans.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday in an interview with Reuters that a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, though he would prefer a diplomatic resolution.South Korea, a U.S. ally and home to major electronics parts makers such as Samsung Electronics, LG Display and SK Hynix, would be particularly vulnerable to any military attack from its northern neighbor.Any interruptions to operations could significantly disrupt global manufacturing of smartphones, televisions, computers and tablets. South Korea supplies more than half of components such as memory chips and flat screens.Despite escalating tensions, investors are pouring money into South Korea''s financial market, and companies are flocking to the stock market to raise billions of dollars."This is mainly just chest-thumping behavior on the part of North Korea and President Trump, but I don''t think it will be anything more than that," said Geoff Pazzanese, a senior portfolio manager at Federated Investors in New York.Pazzanese, who owns large positions in Samsung and chipmaker Hynix, said he would be a buyer if the market sold off as a result of a North Korean nuclear test, partly because the Trump administration has reaffirmed its military support for South Korea.For a graphic on South Korean firms'' key domestic manufacturing sites, click here Seoul''s stock market has climbed 9 percent so far this year to near record highs, helped by strong earnings by major exporters including Samsung Electronics, which rose 3 percent to a life-time high on Friday after reporting its highest profit in more than three years.Earlier this week, Hynix and LG Display, both Apple suppliers, reported record quarterly profits and sounded upbeat for the remainder of the year."The tension might mean some sentimental risk more than fundamental risk," said John Teng, an equity analyst at Janus Capital Group in Singapore."It might potentially push their customers to restocking earlier, in terms of component inventory. Memory suppliers, they are very disciplined in terms of capacity expansion."Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic advisor at the Allianz Group, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum on Friday that investors should take a more critical look at their exposure, but had been conditioned to set aside such risks."And they have been rewarded well by markets for doing so." he added.South Koreans have grown used to the threat of conflict with the North after decades of bellicose rhetoric from Pyongyang, and the companies remained unruffled on Friday."We think talk of conflict is speculative, and we do not have any plans to react to the current situation," LG Electronics said in a statement.Hyundai Motor, the country''s top automaker, said it had detailed contingency plans to ensure business carried on under various situations but couldn''t disclose them.RATIONINGAny military conflict on the Korean peninsula could have a dramatic effect on the memory chip market in particular, as Samsung''s and Hynix''s main operations are clustered in South Korea.The pair control nearly 50 percent of the flash memory market, and almost two thirds of DRAM chips, widely used in computers, making it almost impossible for customers to find alternative supplies quickly.As supply of those chips are already tight, any interruptions to their manufacturing operations might cause large customers such as Apple and Lenovo to trigger a contractual term known as an "allocation" to get more of their suppliers'' limited supply, according to industry executives.Those fights often get ugly, with corporate giants throwing their weight around with suppliers, said Trevor Schick, a former supply chain executive at H-P Enterprise and Motorola Mobility."In the memory world, the minute things go into allocation, everyone is in a fight for who gets into the allocation. Scale plays a big role in that," Schick said."Most contracts have a formula for how the allocation happens. But when it does, everyone from the big companies gets on planes to Asia to get in front of those CEOs and lay out their case as to why they should get the memory."Samsung, Hynix and LG Display declined to comment.Apple declined to comment.The ultimate beneficiaries of supply interruptions in South Korea would likely be Japan''s Toshiba Corp, and U.S. firms Micron Technology Inc and Western Digital Corp.Toshiba’s production is mostly in Japan, while Micron’s is clustered in the United States and Singapore.But the geopolitical wild card could be China, Schick said."If something did happen in Korea, the massive impact would be in China. Most of that memory goes from Korea into China to be made into tablets, phones and computers,” Schick said.The vast majority of Apple''s iPhones, for example, are manufactured in China by its partner Foxconn.(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan, David Randall in NEW YORK, Stephen Nellis in SAN FRANCISCO, Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL; Writing by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Will Waterman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-norhthkorea-southkorea-supplychain-idUSKBN17U0EN'|'2017-04-28T12:04:00.000+03:00' 'ba2d132cef9ac7b32d97f46980e87cfd5bdc8fe3'|'Google gets Australian tax office demand to pay more, says to fight it'|'Company News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 2:40am EDT Google gets Australian tax office demand to pay more, says to fight it By Harry Pearl - SYDNEY, April 29 SYDNEY, April 29 Alphabet Inc''s Google said it will challenge amended tax assessments issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which is trying to claw back billions of dollars from multinational corporations citing unpaid taxes. The ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multinationals operating in Australia pay. In December, it said it was pursuing seven global businesses over A$2 billion ($1.50 billion) in unpaid tax. While the ATO has not named the businesses it is pursuing, Google''s Australia unit said in accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that it will “lodge an objection” to the tax demand from the ATO. “The company will continue to uphold its positions against any and all such claims,” Google said in the financial statement released on Friday. The search giant did not disclose how much the ATO has demanded it pay in taxes. Google and the ATO declined to comment on how much the company''s amended tax bill was. Treasurer Scott Morrison said in April the country expected to claw back A$2.9 billion from companies under the legislation. Australia enacted the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law in December 2015 and the ATO has introduced new guidelines for foreign trading hubs. Google Australia restructured its operations effective January 1 of last year to comply with the legislation and its financial statement reveals an increase in revenue and tax for the 2016 calendar year as a result. Revenue surged to A$1.14 billion in 2016 from A$498 million in 2015, while total income tax rose to A$16 million from A$2.8 million in 2015, the accounts show. ($1 = 1.3362 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/google-australia-tax-idUSL4N1I1031'|'2017-04-29T14:40:00.000+03:00' 'bcbd6ee47649d203bf01f2cc528ff27959d22663'|'CEE MARKETS-Polish stocks hit 22-month high, though France impact fades'|'Company 50am EDT CEE MARKETS-Polish stocks hit 22-month high, though France impact fades * Attention turns local, after lift from French election * PZU upgrade, Lotos earnings reverse fall of Warsaw stock index * Prospect of low interest rates, margins weigh on OTP Bank shares (Adds renewed rise of Polish stocks) By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, April 26 Polish equities climbed to their highest since mid-2015 on Wednesday as attention turned to local news in Central European markets and away from the risks related to France''s elections. Stocks and currencies in the region jumped earlier this week after centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of French presidential elections on Sunday, lessening the risk of a shift to the far right. That rally lost steam by Wednesday. But Warsaw''s main equities index reversed an early decline and rose 1.4 percent by 1257 GMT. The index was pushed up by insurer PZU, which surged 5.2 percent after JP Morgan raised its recommendation for the share to "overweight" from "neutral". Polish refiner Lotos jumped 9.3 percent, after reporting 288 percent annual rise in first-quarter earnings . BZW BK stocks, on the other hand, plunged almost 4 percent after Poland''s third-biggest bank reported a 19 percent annual fall in first-quarter profit. Budapest''s main index shed 0.7 percent. The decline was led by a 1.7 percent drop for OTP, the region''s biggest independent bank, after Hungary''s central bank signalled that it intended to keep interest rates low, eroding banks'' interest income. "Some investors are worried that the central bank may take measures to reduce bank margins," said Monika Kiss, an analyst at the Budapest-based brokerage Equilor. The National Bank of Hungary has said repeatedly that it wants stronger competition among banks in lending and that bank mortgage spreads were too high. "Yesterday''s central bank (rate) statement was as expected, but it underpinned that loose monetary policy will remain and that is not favourable to banks," Kiss said. While fresh central bank signals that it may take measures to tighten banks'' margins and the rate statement affected OTP, Kiss added that the stock "remains a good paper". The forint and the Czech crown eased by a quarter of percent against the euro. The crown has so far not surged in value since the central cap lifted its cap on its value, 27 to the euro. "The market is shallow," said a dealer in Prague. "All those who bought it at 27 are waiting for 26-26.5 to cash out. They are waiting for the crown to move (higher) with good numbers from economy, rather than just market swings which last only couple of hours." The leu weakened by 0.1 percent. Government figures late on Tuesday showed a small budget surplus in the first quarter but did not expel fears of a full-year deficit overshoot in 2017. The government plans further public-sector wage increases, even though it would need to curb spending to keep the deficit below the European Union''s ceiling, 3 percent of gross domestic product. "However, the current space for manoeuvre will surely be more limited by the recent (politically irreversible) wage and pension hikes, plus new ones to come into force in July 2017," Erste analysts said in a note. CEE SNAPS AT 1457 MARKETS HOT CET CURRENCIES Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e bid close chang in e 2017 Czech crown 26.95 26.88 -0.25 0.21% 10 40 % Hungary 312.7 311.8 -0.28 -1.26 forint 500 750 % % Polish 4.224 4.222 -0.04 4.25% zloty 5 8 % Romanian 4.531 4.527 -0.09 0.09% leu 0 0 % Croatian 7.471 7.466 -0.06 1.13% kuna 0 5 % Serbian 123.2 123.3 +0.1 0.12% dinar 000 750 4% Note: daily calculate previ close 1800 change d from ous at CET STOCK S Lates Previ Daily Chang t ous e close chang in e 2017 Prague 998.2 992.9 +0.5 +8.3 2 8 3% 1% Budapest 33290 33519 -0.68 +4.0 .35 .07 % 2% Warsaw 2385. 2353. +1.3 +22. 27 17 6% 45% Bucharest 8218. 8260. -0.50 +16. 94 33 % 00% Ljubljana 788.2 777.2 +1.4 +9.8 5 9 1% 5% Zagreb 1932. 1937. -0.29 -3.15 02 55 % % Belgrade <.BELEX15 731.5 732.4 -0.12 +1.9 > 6 1 % 8% Sofia 651.3 653.7 -0.37 +11. 6 6 % 07% BONDS Yield Yield Sprea Daily d (bid) chang vs chang e Bund e in Czech sprea Republic d 2-year bps s 5-year bps s 10-year bps Poland 2-year bps s 5-year 8 bps s 10-year bps s FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inter bank Czech Rep < 0.31 0.37 0.46 0 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.23 0.33 0.42 0.16 BUBOR=> Poland < 1.753 1.785 1.838 1.73 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for quotes ask prices'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/easteurope-markets-idUSL8N1HY5GM'|'2017-04-26T21:50:00.000+03:00' '70ae1f786c8a492bb2b32a04a9649bead8984a37'|'Higher exports to lift German growth, investments - economy ministry'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 10:34am BST Higher exports to lift German growth, investments - economy ministry Containerships at loading terminals are seen in the port of Hamburg, Germany, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer BERLIN The German economy is on a solid growth path despite global uncertainties, the economy minister said on Wednesday, adding that it expects companies to gradually start investing more as exports gradually grow. The government raised its growth forecast for this year to 1.5 percent from a previous estimate of 1.4 percent. It maintained its forecast for 2018 growth at 1.6 percent. The economy ministry said the booming construction sector, helped by low interest rates and increased government investments in infrastructure, was providing a strong impulse for the economy. It added that Germany''s high current account surplus, which has been criticized by the United States, the International Monetary Fund and European Commission, would fall from 8.3 percent of output in 2016 to 7.3 percent next year. "The current account surplus should fall...not least because of solid domestic consumption and higher crude oil prices," the ministry said in a statement. (Reporting by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Madeline Chambers)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-growth-forecast-idUKKBN17S10A'|'2017-04-26T17:34:00.000+03:00' '7d9f9c879987601b63a6e272d207d7e077218a35'|'Prices stable but visitors see some gas stations shut in North Korea'|'Business News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 12:20pm BST Prices stable but visitors see some gas stations shut in North Korea left right FILE PHOTO: North Koreans take a truck through a path amongst the fields, along the Yalu River, in Sakchu county, North Phyongan Province, North Korea, June 20, 2015. REUTERS/Jacky Chen/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Military trucks carry soldiers through central Pyongyang, North Korea April 13, 2017. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A car drives past residential buildings in Pyongyang April 11, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo 3/3 By James Pearson and Ju-min Park - SEOUL SEOUL Some of North Korea''s state-run petrol stations are restricting sales or appear to have closed, visitors said on Wednesday, ahead of a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss tougher sanctions on the isolated state that could include curbs on oil imports. Nevertheless, diesel and petrol prices quoted by private traders are stable, with supply continuing uninterrupted, according to data compiled by Reuters and interviews with North Korean defectors. "I''ve noticed a few (state-owned) gas stations around town that are closed," said Rowan Beard of Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based company that takes Western tourists to North Korea. "Cars now have a limit of 15 kg (about 20 litres) of fuel. It''s been like this for 15 days. Vehicles which are used for work purposes have special exceptions," Beard told Reuters in a message from North Korea. Another source travelling in the remote northeast area of Rason, who asked not to be named, said that official gasoline prices there had surged or that fuel was being rationed. But a Reuters analysis of data collected by Daily NK, a website run by defectors who collect prices via phone calls with North Korean fuel traders, said the price of gasoline sold by private dealers in Pyongyang and the northern border cities of Sinuiju and Hyesan had remained relatively stable since late last year at around $1 per kg (about $1.34 per litre). The price of diesel has averaged at 58 U.S. cents per kg (about 68 cents per litre) as of April 21, compared to 68 cents at the beginning of the year, according to the data. Fuel is sold by weight in North Korea. The North Korean government is likely the country''s largest consumer of fuel products, but most gasoline and diesel bought by ordinary North Koreans is supplied by private dealers and smugglers, experts say. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a ministerial meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday to discuss tougher sanctions on North Korea to deter it from pursuing nuclear and ballistic missiles programmes. U.S. officials have said this could include an oil embargo. North Korea consumes relatively little oil, but curbing or cutting off its supplies in retaliation for further nuclear or long-range missile tests would be painful and potentially destabilising to the regime of Kim Jong Un. North Korean domestic fuel prices have surged in the past over fears that sanctions could affect supply. In March 2016, even private fuel prices rose by over 45 percent just before U.N. sanctions were imposed following Pyongyang''s fourth nuclear test. OTHER FACTORS But there could be other factors at play for the current short supply at government-owned pumps. Fuel in North Korea is often prioritised for government or military vehicles, especially ahead of national holidays, of which there have been two recently: April 15 to commemorate the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il Sung, and April 25, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its military. Prices also tend to rise ahead of the rice planting season, traditionally the first week of May, defectors speaking to sources inside North Korean markets said. China supplies most of North Korea''s fuel needs, with some coming from Russia. Sources familiar with China''s fuel exports to North Korea said there are no signs of China cutting back gasoline shipments, and any petrol rationing could be caused by a shortfall of foreign currency in North Korea as a result of China''s coal embargo. China stopped buying coal from North Korea in February as part of its efforts to implement U.N. sanctions. "The coal ban is fatal as it should be its top revenue earner, which means they''re running short of foreign exchange to buy gasoline," said one source. China supplies crude oil and diesel under aid programmes to North Korea, but Chinese suppliers normally receive advance hard cash before deliveries of gasoline, said the source. The stability of market prices, despite the lack of state supply, could also be because North Korea is quietly encouraging fuel smuggling in the fear that an official embargo may be in the works, said Kang Mi-jin, a defector who speaks regularly to market sources inside North Korea and reports commodity prices for Daily NK. "When there''s concern about supplies of fuel or other products, North Korea naturally opens the door to smuggling," said Kang, who spoke to a fuel smuggler by phone on the North Korean-Chinese border on Wednesday. Kang said none of her sources inside North Korea had reported a significant rise in fuel prices. For graphic on prices of North Korea''s diesel and petrol click on tmsnrt.rs/2p3ns3f (Additional reporting by Chen Aizhu and Josephine Mason in Beijing; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Raju Gopalakrishnan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-usa-oil-idUKKBN17S11Z'|'2017-04-26T19:20:00.000+03:00' '6166f40265297bd2df1ad77b48736f34e297831b'|'London finance firm seeks to block Portugal Novo Banco sale'|' 3:58pm BST London finance firm seeks to block Portugal Novo Banco sale People pass by a Novo Banco branch in Lisbon, Portugal March 31, 2017. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes By Sergio Goncalves - LISBON LISBON A failed bidder for Portugal''s third-largest lender Novo Banco has asked its lawyers to block the 1 billion euro (836.70 billion pounds) sale to U.S. fund Lone Star and told the central bank it should relaunch the bidding. London-based financial firm Aethel Partners complained to the Bank of Portugal this week in a document viewed by Reuters. It said the central bank had not properly considered its 3.8 billion euro bid when it awarded Novo Banco to Lone Star last month. European Union rules require Portugal to sell the bank by August or it may have to be liquidated. The move by Aethel threatens to further complicate a transaction that is already snagged on a separate legal dispute involving some of Novo Banco''s creditors. The sale is one of the Socialist government''s biggest headaches and could impose costs on a country that made huge efforts to cut its budget deficit since the eurozone debt crisis when it had to be bailed out. "Aethel has already instructed its lawyers in Portugal to rapidly find a way to suspend the (sales) process and block the decision to sell Novo Banco to Lone Star," a spokeswoman for Aethel told Reuters. "The execution of these judicial proceedings (seeking information and documents) may lead to an injunction and then to an action to challenge the decision." The bondholders'' legal challenge also says the tender process did not follow correct procedures by banning them from taking part in the sale because they were in a legal battle with the country. The Aethel spokeswoman said it would request information and documents from the central bank on the sales process. A Bank of Portugal spokesman declined to comment on potential legal action by Aethel. A spokeswoman for Lone Star declined to comment on the challenge to the deal. Novo Banco was carved out of Banco Espirito Santo, which collapsed under a pile of debt in 2014 and had to be rescued in a 4.9-billion-euro operation by the previous government. Novo Banco was left with the healthy operations of BES. The current government has said it will not spend any taxpayers money on Novo Banco. The European Union deadline was set under new rules designed to ensure governments did not end up owning rescued banks. The rules say that if the bank is not sold, it must be liquidated. A first attempt to sell it in 2015 failed as bids were too low. The sale of Novo Banco already faces an injunction in a case filed by bondholders led by U.S. fund BlackRock that want to recover 1.5 billion euros of losses on Novo Banco bonds. The bondholders asked a Lisbon court this month to stop the sale to put pressure on Portugal to pay them their losses. The court has yet to rule on the injunction request and has not publicly stated when it will hand down a decision. If the sales process were to be relaunched, other firms could potentially enter the bidding, including Aethel. Aethel had offered to pay 2.8 billion euros into the country''s bank resolution fund, the entity which formally owns Novo Banco, and make a 1 billion euro capital injection into the bank itself. In return, it wanted 91 percent of Novo Banco. Instead, the central bank agreed to sell 75 percent of Novo Banco to Lone Star in return for a 1 billion euro capital injection into the bank. Aethel Partners was established in 2014. It was founded by Ricardo Santos Silva, former deputy president of hedge fund Lyxor Asset Management, and Aba Rosa Schubert, who was previously a partner at Eton Park Capital Management, a hedge fund. Since the rescue in 2014, Novo Banco has posted only one quarterly profit and remains lumbered by bad loans, debt and restructuring costs. (Reporting By Sergio Goncalves, writing by Axel Bugge, editing by Mark Bendeich and Anna Willard)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-portugal-novobanco-idUKKBN17M1U6'|'2017-04-20T22:58:00.000+03:00' '226f478d004a8a7fdd9e05a0f69a15f0cfd7fe7b'|'Shirin Ebadi: ''Outside of Iran I knew I’d be more useful. I could speak'' - Global Development Professionals Network'|' 11.32 BST Last modified on 15.34 BST O f all the places one might encounter Shirin Ebadi, Tallahassee should not be one. I was to meet her in the state capital of what is officially known as America’s sunshine state, but is more widely regarded as America’s weirdest state. Ebadi was in Florida for PeaceJam , which connects Nobel peace prize laureates with youth. But I found it hard to imagine the greatest Iranian human rights icon spending Persian New Year week at a teen camp on the Florida panhandle. “I go everywhere, I live on planes,” she tells me on the phone and indeed days later I’m scheduled to meet her closer to my home in New York City. On the phone I hold my breath every time we speak – her informal, easy Persian contrasts with mine, layered with too much cloying etiquette, the kind you prepare for some relative of your dreams. Persian is my first language – I use it to speak to my family and Iranian friends, but recently I feel anxious. I consider the prospect of translating Persian for those trapped in legalese at airports during the “Muslim ban ”, and I don’t trust my tongue. Ebadi dismisses my apologies and sticks to our logistics. I foolishly suggest a Persian restaurant in midtown Manhattan frequented by my circle of Iranian journalists and she, with a swift correction reminds me of her security concerns. Would I instead mind coming over to New Jersey where she is staying with family? Hoboken, have I heard of it? It’s she who tells me how close it is to Manhattan. I’ve lived in New York City for over 20 years, but rarely spent much time in New Jersey. And she asks about my texting abilities, and I numbly consider my phone which confuses me more often than not. I am months shy of 40, I try to explain to someone months shy of 70. “It’ll be easy,” she insists. It’s not the first time she tells me that in our conversations. Porochista Khakpour and Shirin Ebadi Photograph: Porochista Khakpour If Tallahassee was an unlikely place to meet, Hoboken is the only slightly less unlikely rival. It’s as all-American as its many drinking establishments: the “mile-square” small town on the Hudson River known for birthing baseball and Frank Sinatra. Just as I’m worrying about how to find her, she speedwalks my way: a beaming older woman in red lipstick, neatly cut mahogany hair, a plush black jacket with silk and velvet embossing, over sensible black slacks. What makes all the American elements more bizarre is that we are meeting on Sizdah Be-dar, the final day of Persian New Year. It’s the first thing I can think to say with my fussy formalities and she smiles it off, eyeing me up and down – I have a cane because of a relapse of Lyme Disease. She doesn’t look the least bit out of place, but she’s perhaps not convinced of me. “Okay, can you walk a few blocks? Let’s get to work!” We end up in a Starbucks of all places, which Ebadi says works well for meetings – anonymous, casual, yet quiet enough for our purposes. But it’s wildly crowded on this Sunday morning and most of our conversation has to happen over Elton John and Buffalo Springfield as baristas bellow the debased Italian of the American coffee lexicon. At one point, I express to Ebadi my worry about our speaking loudly in Farsi – the overheated Islamophobia recently, I try to warn. But her shrug says it all. Ebadi is someone who has done considerable time in all sorts of dangers. The first time Ebadi came deep into my consciousness was autumn 2003, just over half a year after the US went to war in Iraq, not even two years since president George W Bush declared Iran part of the “ Axis of Evil ”. Amid all this, Ebadi won the Nobel peace prize. I was in graduate school at Johns Hopkins and the last thing on mind was any sort of Iranian pride, but I’ll never forget that phone call from my father: “Best news! Shirin Ebadi won the Nobel!” We celebrated as if she were a cousin. And she might be, my family would always try to insist, as Ebadi comes from Hamadan where my mother was from. A year after Ebadi’s birth there in 1947, her family moved to Tehran. They encouraged her to get her law degree and by 1970 she was one of the first female judges in Iran . All the freedoms my brother had, I had. There was no difference between us Shirin Ebadi “The luck I had was that I was born into a very good family. We were three daughters and one brother. All the freedoms my brother had, I had. There was no difference between us. My father loved my mother very much. He was a real feminist – I learned feminist principles from my father really. They were Muslim and they practiced very modern Islam. And we went to Zoroastrian school. Why did we? Because it was a good school near us and my father said there is no reason to go far to go to another good school. He said all religions are one. And I learned from my family to respect all religions.” Not even 30, she became the youngest and first female chief magistrate of 26th divisional court in Tehran in 1975. By the 1979 Revolution, she was married but she was about to lose her career as female judges were dismissed by the regime. She was demoted to the role of magistrate’s clerk in the court over which she once presided, so she requested an early retirement. During this period she wrote articles and worked on books, and tended to her two young daughters. Finally, in 1992, she was able to get a license for a private practice. Indira Jaising: ''In India, you can’t even dream of equal justice. Not at all'' Read more She soon became the defence lawyer for the most important human rights cases in Iran, including Zahra Kazemi , Parvaneh and Dariush Foroohar , Ezat Ebrahim Nejad , and Zahra Bani Yaghoob . She also defended leaders of the Baha’i faith, the most persecuted religious minority in Iran. And she did this all without making a living from it. “Not only did I not make money, 20 lawyers who worked with us did not make money. We had 6,000 political cases we defended without charge. We decided to take no money. I did consulting in my office, my husband had a job as an engineer, our office was our own so no rent – so with political prisoners I took no pay.” Ebadi falls into a wistful smile when recalling the mother of Kazemi insisting on paying her in limes from Shiraz. Trouble came soon enough: in 1999 she was charged with “disturbing public opinion”, for which she spent 25 days in solitary confinement in Evin Prison, where she had visited her clients many times. More convictions quickly followed and she was threatened with more imprisonment and a bar on practicing law for five years but due to international pressure her sentence was reduced to a fine. When the Nobel came in 2003, Ebadi was shocked. “I had no idea I was a candidate. When I found out, I was very surprised. The [prize] money helped me so I could get a good apartment, get some computers in there, and our work really progressed.” She set up an office for what would become a major human rights organisation, the Center for Defenders of Human Rights (CDHR) which supported the families of political prisoners. Shirin Ebadi in her office in Tehran in 2005. Photograph: Scott Peterson/Getty Images Trouble came again in 2009. While Ebadi was in Spain for a three-day conference, the Islamic Republic of Iran held its now notorious tenth presidential elections which ended in protests , giving birth to Iran’s opposition Green movement. In spite of protests with hundreds of thousands of Iranians in Tehran – and many communities around the world – it ended inhouse arrest for the movement favourite Mir Hossein Mousavi and all sorts of renewed crackdowns on the Iranian people. The government filed a case against Ebadi in the revolutionary court and confiscated her properties, including the office of the CDHR. Only when Ebadi talks about this can you hear pain in her voice. There is a soft strain in her voice when she details how this led to her current exile in London. “The reason I did not return is not because I am afraid of jail,” she says. “Outside of Iran I knew I’d be more useful. I could speak, I could hear the voices of people.” Do you miss Iran? “Naturally.” Will you go back one day? “Definitely.” This is where Ebadi achieves saint-like status for some – to look back on Iran with love would be a feat for many, given what she details in her most recent book Until We Are Free: My Fight For Human Rights in Iran . The book, with startling candour, reveals the story of how the government eventually succeeded in hurting her where it hurt the most: her family. After years of the authorities targeting her daughters and sister, all while harassing Ebadi herself, they resorted to one of their more sinister schemes. Green movement protests in Iran in 2009. Photograph: AP Just a couple months after the election, her husband of 35 years disappeared only to finally call her with this story: he had cheated on her and was in Evin . It went deeper than that: he had been set up in a sting operation involving video cameras, a mistress, and alcohol. The presence of alcohol plus the fact that in Islamic law sex outside of marriage is forbidden, gave authorities free reign to take him to prison where he was lashed, convicted of adultery and sentenced to death. He narrowly escaped execution by making a deal with authorities – publicly denouncing Ebadi in return for freedom: “Shirin Ebadi did not deserve to receive the Nobel Prize. She was awarded the prize so that she could help topple the Islamic Republic. She is a supporter of the west, particularly America. Her work is not in the service of Iranians, but serves the interests of foreign imperialists who seek to weaken Iran.” Ebadi stayed abroad in London and their marriage dissolved, though amicably – her entire family understood that they had been framed. The reason I told the story so openly was that I wanted to show what the government in Iran is capable of Shirin Ebadi I’m tempted to dance around the details – even as a journalist, it’s daunting to ask an Iranian elder such intimate specifics – but Ebadi insists on telling her story. “The reason I told the story so openly was that I wanted to show what the government in Iran is capable of. They have done what they did to my husband to many others. But more so, the talk of this in Iran is taboo, and I wanted to break the taboo. A government who can whip me on streets if strands of hair are revealed, and hires a sex worker for politics in the name of Islam?” The hint of distress in her throat immediately burns into triumph. “So, yes, I have my priorities when it comes to taboo.” Ebadi has detailed all her paths and the many obstacles in several books and counting, the most famous being Iran Awakening: One Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country , co-authored with journalist Azadeh Moaveni. “I admire her ferocious integrity and her enduring grip on what matters most to Iranian women,” says Moaveni. “She doesn’t always say the most fashionable things, or shift her beliefs to suit the funding currents in Washington, because she is so above that, always has been. The price of that has been a smaller share of the limelight than she really deserves. She doesn’t cut deals with justice and it is because of that I find her so precious.” The first woman in space: ''People shouldn’t waste money on wars'' Read more It’s no wonder then that by the end of our several hours together, I find myself asking her for advice. How, I wonder, can an activist survive this world? “Back in Tehran, always before bed, I would always read literature,” she says. “Unfortunately abroad I don’t have the same access to [translated] books, so I watch films. And comic films only. Before sleeping I have to for a half hour loudly laugh and this helps me so much. It frees my mind.” I mentally bookmark this under essential self-care, but, as the Starbucks soundtrack goes from the Bruce Springsteen of my youth to the Lauryn Hill of my early adult years, I find myself inconsolably touching down to anxieties about Islamophobia in America. “There is a system here, but in Iran there is no system,” she says, while acknowledging some situations are analogous. “The state and the citizen are very different. The government can be bad but the people are not like that. And this is why there are tensions in society. Because the culture of the people is higher than the culture of the government.” And this could be the entire Middle East and now America with its own fledgling dictatorship. There is a system here [in the US], but in Iran there is no system Shirin Ebadi “Almost a fourth of the people on this earth are Muslim,” she continues. “And there are so many countries of the world where the majority are Muslim. Are they like each other? Of course not. But some of the countries only show the dark Islam. In this America, we have some great professors of Islamic studies, but no one knows them. But Bin Laden everyone knows!” And what of all the debates around feminism and Islam in this country? “Women must be free,” Ebadi says, without pause. “For example, why don’t we bother with men’s beards but we do with the woman’s hijab? Because their beards, that’s Islam too. The hijab should be a choice.” I wander further into advice and ask her what we should tell young people, thinking about the students I teach who are extremely depressed. “It’s very important to make young people interested in issues of social justice and politics. Tell them, this is your destiny, this is your life, don’t be let it go by. It’s not enough just to vote – after that you must see if those you voted for went through with your decisions. If they did not, then you must protest! I give an example: democracy is like a flower. You must give it water and sun daily. You can’t pour enough water for a month at once. Democracy needs daily maintenance.” It’s anecdote she’s told many times, one I won’t soon forget. Diane Nash: ''Non-violent protest was the most important invention of the 20th century'' Read more At the end of our time together, I come to feel like she is my family. She is helping me download Telegram so she can send me films about recent prisoners in Iran (“you must go to the app store!” she snaps, as I fumble with my phone), all while she shows me pictures of her five-year-old grandson. We leave the American anthems of the Starbucks behind and walk toward the waterfront, talking work and love. “I love what I do,” she tells me. “The more I progressed, my interest in my work only grew. I must do it all. I hope while I’m still alive I can do all this.” We talk also of duty, my mind again with my students and hers at PeaceJam – how we must make the world better for the youth, how perhaps we are beyond rescue but at least we can hope for the future. She pauses at the hint of my resignation. “No, the world has to be good for them but also good for us!” I get her most spirited smile. “Why not? It’s our right too. I never give up my rights!” This is the fourth in a series of interviews with women who changed our world.'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/apr/25/shirin-ebadi-outside-of-iran-i-knew-id-be-more-useful-i-could-speak'|'2017-04-25T19:32:00.000+03:00' '9f064171676ba3ad68c9707a9a3049ba5fd36f59'|'Bank of Japan Kuroda - G20, IMF accept BOJ''s monetary policy'|' 01am BST BOJ''s Kuroda: G20, IMF accept BOJ''s monetary policy Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday that Group of 20 and International Monetary Fund officials accept the view that the central bank is conducting quantitative easing to achieve its inflation target. Kuroda, speaking in the lower house fiscal and monetary policy committee, also said a statement released after the IMF''s spring meeting showed agreement that monetary policy should support economic growth. He said currencies were not debated at the meeting. IMF members on Saturday dropped a previous pledge to fight protectionism amid a split over trade policy. (Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-kuroda-idUKKBN17R0R6'|'2017-04-25T15:59:00.000+03:00' 'f859320b962576dd82df61ebb0e710a2400716b4'|'Australia''s Tatts says KKR-backed takeover offer inferior to Tabcorp bid'|'Deals - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:00am BST Australia''s Tatts says KKR-backed takeover offer inferior to Tabcorp bid SYDNEY Australian lottery operator Tatts Group ( TTS.AX ) on Friday said a A$6.15 billion cash takeover offer from a consortium backed by U.S. private equity giant KKR & Co ( KKR.N ) was not superior to a cash-and-scrip bid from Tabcorp Holdings ( TAH.AX ). "In these circumstances, Tatts is unable to provide due diligence or engage with the Pacific Consortium," the company said in a statement. The Tabcorp bid valued Tatts at A$4.249 at the close of trade on Thursday, compared with the A$4.21 price of the offer from Pacific Consortium. Pacific Consortium also includes Macquarie Group Ltd ( MQG.AX ), Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and First State Superannuation Scheme. Tatts in December rejected an initial proposal from the group. Tatts and Tabcorp in October said their agreed merger would offer A$130 million a year in synergies. Under the terms of that deal, Tatts is restricted from engaging in discussions with a rival suitor or providing due diligence access unless it determines the competing proposal would be reasonably expected to result in a superior offer to the Tabcorp bid. Tatts is a prized asset given the lucrative and reliable earnings from its lotteries business, which benefits from monopoly licenses. It also owns a smaller wagering business that competes against Tabcorp, the nation''s largest betting operator. (Reporting by Jamie Freed; editing by Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tatts-group-m-a-kkr-idUKKBN17T3D3'|'2017-04-28T06:55:00.000+03:00' '573a36739508162a06a81e8ecefe9e37454bc2c0'|'Japan will not make concessions in two-way trade talks with U.S. - Nikkei'|' 3:29am BST Japan will not make concessions in two-way trade talks with U.S. - Nikkei National flags of Japan and the U.S. are seen in front of a monitor showing U.S. President Donald Trump at a foreign exchange trading company in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Japan will not make concessions on issues such as farm tariffs in two-way trade talks with the United States as it did for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso told the Nikkei business daily in an interview. The two started an economic dialogue this month and Vice President Mike Pence put Tokyo on notice that Washington wanted results "in the near future", adding that the talks could lead to negotiations on a two-way trade deal. "If we do bilateral negotiations with the United States, we can''t make any concessions," Aso said in Thursday''s interview. "It''d be good if the U.S. joined the TPP later on, once it understands that a free trade agreement would have tougher terms." In January, President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 12-nation TPP, and stressed that Washington would pursue bilateral trade talks. Washington probably would want to give an answer by its mid-term elections in 2018, Aso said, the Nikkei added. Aso, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said that the TPP without the U.S. could be ratified "quickly", adding there is no chance for renegotiation, the report said. "Since we went to the trouble of spending three years," in negotiating the trade pact, "it should be ratified," the Nikkei quoted Aso as saying. "There will be no renegotiation of terms." Following the United States'' departure, Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam are still signed up to TPP, though most have put off ratifying it. The TPP requires ratification by at least six countries accounting for 85 percent of the combined gross domestic product of the member nations. That criteria can not be met without the U.S., so remaining 11 nations would need to change the wording if they want to ratify the TPP pact. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-japan-economy-trade-idUKKBN17U07Q'|'2017-04-28T10:29:00.000+03:00' '3385b5196f7206c0bb4164bf760b9eae0dcbfffa'|'Exxon Mobil profit beats Street as oil prices move higher'|'Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:40pm BST Exxon Mobil profit beats Street as oil prices move higher FILE PHOTO: An airplane comes in for a landing above an Exxon sign at a gas station in the Chicago suburb of Norridge, Illinois, U.S., October 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo By Ernest Scheyder - HOUSTON HOUSTON Exxon Mobil Corp ( XOM.N ), the world''s largest publicly traded oil producer, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, helped by rising crude prices CLc1 and cost cuts. The results reflected the slowly improving dynamics for the company as well as the global energy industry, with oil prices up more than 50 percent since early 2015. Still, pockets of weakness remained. Exxon''s U.S. oil and gas division posted a loss. Plant repair costs pushed earnings down in the company''s chemical division, which had kept Exxon profitable during the two-year oil price downturn. Net income jumped to $4.01 billion, or 95 cents per share, from $1.81 billion, or 43 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expected earnings of 85 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Production fell 4 percent to 4.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company gobbled up acreage and reserves across the globe during the quarter, with deals in Texas and Mozambique, part of a plan to expand Exxon''s growth potential. Exxon raised its quarterly dividend this week by 3 percent. Shares of Texas-based Exxon rose 1.6 percent to $82.60 in premarket trading. (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-mobil-results-idUKKBN17U1S5'|'2017-04-28T20:36:00.000+03:00' '959cbff2ed77a5f5545f636473a9bee83060dd20'|'Oil prices rise on potential OPEC cut extension, but face second weekly loss'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 8:04am BST Oil rises on potential OPEC cut extension, but still faces second weekly loss FILE PHOTO: Pump jacks are silhouetted against the rising sun at an oilfield in Baku, Azerbaijan, January 24, 2013. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili/File Photo By Henning Gloystein - SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Oil prices rose on Friday but were still on track for a second straight weekly loss on concerns that an OPEC-led production cut has failed to significantly tighten an oversupplied market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $49.43 per barrel at 0649 GMT, up 46 cents, or 0.94 percent, from their last close. However, WTI is still set for a small weekly loss and is around 8 percent below its April peak. Brent crude LCOc1 was at $51.91 per barrel, up 47 cents, or 0.91 percent. Brent is almost around 8.5 percent down from its April peak and is also on track for a second, albeit small, week of declines. Traders said that Friday''s rises came on the back of OPEC saying it was keen to find a deal that would ensure a drawdown of excess fuel supplies. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers including Russia originally pledged to cut output by almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) only during the first half of the year. But OPEC has come under pressure to extend the cuts to cover all of 2017 in order to counter bulging supplies elsewhere. "OPEC...effectively said the production cut will be extended, meeting the reality of the restart of a big Libyan oil field and the continued expansion of U.S. shale oil," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at futures brokerage AxiTrader. The ongoing supply overhang is in part due to surging U.S. production C-OUT-T-EIA, which has risen by 10 percent since mid-2016 to 9.27 million bpd. Consultancy Rystad Energy expects U.S. shale oil output to grow by 100,000 bpd each month for the rest of this year and into 2018, well above estimates by the U.S. Energy Information Administration for monthly gains of about 29,000 bpd in 2017 and 57,000 bpd in 2018. Outside the United States, rising output in Libya, an OPEC-member exempt from the cuts, was adding to plentiful supplies. ANZ bank said that OPEC was under pressure to extend the cuts. "Even though inventories have started to fall, they remain at elevated levels...Stocks have settled into the 62-65 days consumption or approximately 2.98 billion barrels," ANZ bank said in a note on Friday. This compares with the five-year average of 55 days'' worth of consumption that Saudi Arabia wants to achieve. In order to achieve this, ANZ said it expected OPEC to extend its cuts beyond the first half of 2017, although it added that "there is some risk that non-OPEC producers (such as Russia) may baulk at the suggestion". (Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin and Sherry Jacob-Phillips) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-oil-idUKKBN17U03U'|'2017-04-28T10:36:00.000+03:00' '5e0adf0e9385a237e3361158474b6e37160202fd'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'Company News 6:14am EDT Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions April 24 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 10.00 GMT on Monday: ** Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Ltd (DAE) announced a takeover of Dublin-based aircraft lessor AWAS on Monday, adding more than 200 planes to its fleet. ** Goals Soccer Centres Plc, the five-a-side football pitch operator, confirmed that it was in early discussions with privately-owned Powerleague Group to explore possibilities of a merger. ** British luxury retailer Jimmy Choo is seeking offers for the company as part of a review of its strategic options to maximise shareholder value, it said. ** Canada''s Cenovus Energy Inc has said it may sell parts of the Deep Basin natural gas assets it recently bought from Houston-based ConocoPhillips, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) analysts wrote in a research note on Sunday. ** German pump maker Pfeiffer Vacuum said its management and supervisory board advised shareholders not to accept an improved takeover offer by rival Busch Group. ** Janssen Holding GmbH, a Swiss subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, published the provisional notice of the end result of its all-cash public tender offer in Switzerland to acquire all publicly-held shares of Actelion Ltd. ** Top shareholders in Singapore telecoms company M1 Ltd have approached potential buyers China Mobile and global private equity firms, among others, to sell their combined majority stake in the firm, sources familiar with the matter said. ** U.S. medical equipment supplier Becton Dickinson and Co will acquire C R Bard Inc, in a $24 billion cash-and-stock deal, adding Bard''s devices to its portfolio in the high-growth sectors of oncology and surgery, both companies said on Sunday. ** Air China Ltd has received the green light from Beijing to push ahead with mixed-ownership reform of its air freight logistics business, the firm said late on Friday, signalling a potential shake-up of China''s cargo carrier market. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idUSL4N1HW3KO'|'2017-04-24T18:14:00.000+03:00' '859d7c203fabaf9ebd230652c6d895c281fc4dee'|'Costa Coffee owner welcomes plan for ''barista visas'' after Brexit - Business'|'The boss of Costa Coffee owner Whitbread has welcomed the proposals being discussed to avoid labour shortages in cafes and restaurants following Brexit, such as the idea of “barista visas”.Home secretary Amber Rudd is reportedly considering introducing “barista visas” to ensure coffee shops, restaurants and bars are fully staffed after Brexit. The proposal was made by Lord Green, chairman of thinktank Migration Watch UK, who suggested two-year visas for young EU citizens allowing them to come to Britain to work, although they will not be able to claim benefits. It is based on the current Youth Mobility Scheme for travellers from Australia, New Zealand and Canada.Whitbread’s chief executive Alison Brittain, a former Lloyds banker, said: “What is really encouraging is that people are starting to talk about solutions and options.”Pret a Manger: just one in 50 job applicants are British, says HR boss Read more But she added that it would take many months for formal proposals to emerge. She noted the importance of the hospitality industry to the UK economy – it is the fourth largest industry, accounts for 10% of GDP and employs 5 million people.Brittain said 80% of the company’s 50,000 staff were British nationals and the remainder EU citizens; Costa alone employs 14,500 people. Whitbread, which also owns budget hotel chain Premier Inn as well as Brewers Fayre and Beefeater restaurants, hires about 3,000 people every year.The British Hospitality Association has warned that some hotels and restaurants would go bust without the steady stream of migrants, and that it would take businesses a decade to replace EU staff. The warning came after the human resources director of the sandwich chain Pret a Manger said just one in 50 applicants for jobs at the company were British .Costa opened 184 new stores in the UK last year, taking the total to 2,218, and installed more than 1,500 Costa Express machines worldwide.Brittain also warned of a “tougher consumer environment” this year, with household budgets squeezed by the weak pound causing price rises, static wages and higher petrol prices. “We are starting to see some changes in consumer spending patterns,” she said. She said recent sales data had shown a slowdown in consumer spending. “There is going to be some constraint on the pound in the average consumer pocket.”The warning rattled investors, and Whitbread shares fell by 8% to £39.62.Sales have slowed at Costa and Premier Inn, which are also under pressure from rivals such as Airbnb, other large coffee shop chains and the growing popularity of artisan cafes. Canada’s Tim Hortons is to open its first UK coffee shop in Glasgow in May . Brittain described this as an “interesting arrival in the UK”, but did not think the chain would expand rapidly here.Whitbread’s full-year results showed Costa sales rose by 2% on a like-for-like basis in the year to 2 March, compared with 2.9% the previous year. At Premier Inn, sales growth slowed to 2.3% from 4.2%. Underlying group profits increased by 6% to £565m.Whitbread has invested heavily in Costa, installing MerryChef ovens and microwaves. It has introduced a deal for a £1 bacon roll if it is bought with a coffee at breakfast time, with new salads to be added to the menu in the summer and hot food in the autumn.The company has also negotiated new supplier deals, as the slide in sterling has pushed up the cost of imported materials since the EU referendum, as part of a £150m cost efficiency programme.Topics Whitbread Food & drink industry EU referendum and Brexit European Union news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/25/costa-coffee-barista-visas-brexit-labour-shortages'|'2017-04-25T21:11:00.000+03:00' '634388168cce336ecdb3b87c6db3b4c6d55a061c'|'UPDATE 1-Nigeria naira quoted 18 pct weaker at investors'' FX window'|'(Adds detail, background)LAGOS, April 25 The Nigerian naira was Quote: d 18.3 percent weaker for portfolio investors on Tuesday compared with the interbank rate, a day after the central bank said it would allow investors to trade the currency at market determined rates.The naira was Quote: d at 374.25 to the dollar on the central bank''s new currency window, data on market regulator FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange showed. The naira was Quote: d at 305.95 on the interbank market and 385 on the black market.The bank on Monday said it would allow investors to trade the naira at rates determined by the market, a move the regulator hopes will increase the amount of dollars available .The stock market, which has languished as foreign investors fled, welcomed the new central bank window, gaining 0.2 percent in early trade on Tuesday after rising more than 2 percent at its previous session.With the move, Nigeria now has at least six exchange rates: the new rate, the official rate, the black market, a rate for Muslim pilgrims going to Saudi Arabia, a retail rate set by licensed exchange bureaus and a rate for foreign travel and school fees.Analysts say the policy has masked pressures on the naira as the central bank tries to avoid devaluing its official rate for the currency.The central bank last year removed a temporary peg on the currency, but to protect its precariously low foreign reserves it introduced a convoluted exchange rate system that sees different buyers paying various rates for dollars.It has been using the forward market to meet demand for dollars, making only tiny volumes available on the spot market and using those sales to influence the naira''s official value. (Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Additional reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Larry King)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nigeria-currency-idINL8N1HX2QU'|'2017-04-25T08:33:00.000+03:00' '53a7cd1c601ee059b0e0ffc34102b323210e4462'|'Indirect bidders buy record share of U.S. 7-year notes'|'NEW YORK, April 27 Investment funds, foreign central banks and other indirect bidders on Thursday purchased a record high 81.69 percent share of a U.S. seven-year government note issue at an auction, Treasury data showed.Overall demand at the $28 billion seven-year note offering was robust, with the bid-to-cover ratio reaching 2.73, the strongest since November 2012. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-auction-7year-idINL1N1HZ1PK'|'2017-04-27T15:15:00.000+03:00' '453cd322c2818055366f51c017751409e550ffe1'|'Global venture capital firm bets big on Romanian tech company'|'Market News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 7:00am EDT Global venture capital firm bets big on Romanian tech company PRAGUE/FRANKFURT, April 27 Romanian robotic form-scanning software company UiPath has raised $30 million in venture funding, marking one of the largest early-stage tech investments to date in Central Europe Global venture capital firm Accel led the so-called Series A round, which included participation from previous investors Earlybird Venture Capital, Credo Ventures and Seedcamp. Earlybird and Credo have funds focused on Central Europe. UiPath, which makes software that digitises mundane office processes such as insurance claims handling and lost credit card cancellations, increased revenue by six times during 2016, it said on Thursday without providing figures. After just two years in the market, the company has signed up 200 customers, three-quarters of which have revenues over $10 billion and are some of the world''s biggest companies in financial services and other sectors, it said in a statement. Its customers include German airline Lufthansa, Italian insurer Generali and Norwegian telecoms company Telenor . "The market is interesting and the customer interest is there," Accel partner Luciana Lixandru said in a telephone interview. "This is a nascent market many people think is set for rapid growth." UiPath is expanding globally in a market that could be worth an estimated $9 billion over the next seven years, Accel said. The investment also marks a significant early stage commitment in central and southeastern Europe where a tech-savvy workforce has helped spark a start-up scene that is starting to pique more interest from Western venture capital. In UiPath''s case, its founder and CEO, Daniel Dines, spent five years working at Microsoft Corp headquarters in Redmond, Washington, before returning to Romania to develop the product and build his own company, Lixandru said. The company, founded in 2012, now has 150 employees. (Reporting by Michael Kahn and Eric Auchard; editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/tech-romania-funding-idUSL8N1HY7FX'|'2017-04-27T19:00:00.000+03:00' 'fb429d7aaceee39e0cc7a548d0b25d05d3a727b7'|'Vale sees robust ore prices this year, market ''well balanced'''|'SAO PAULO, April 27 The market for iron ore remains well balanced at this point, as less supply is expected and as prices tend to find support above last year''s levels, executives at Vale SA said on Thursday.Vale, the world''s No. 1 producer of iron ore, plans to take advantage of growing cash generation to keep reducing net debt to $15 billion to $17 billion this year, from about $25 billion at the end of last year, outgoing Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira told investors during a call to discuss the company''s first-quarter results. (Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Marta Nogueira; Additional reporting by Roberto Samora in São Paulo; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/vale-sa-results-outlook-idINE6N1D2015'|'2017-04-27T11:37:00.000+03:00' 'b047828f5ff508f077274dece0b240b66f5aa872'|'Apple in talks to launch money-transfer service: Recode'|'Technology 17am EDT Apple in talks to launch money-transfer service: Recode FILE PHOTO: An Apple logo is seen in a store in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 24, 2017. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo Apple Inc has held talks with payments industry partners about launching a money-transfer service, technology news website Recode reported on Thursday. The service will allow iPhone owners to transfer money digitally to other iPhone users, Recode reported, citing sources familiar with the talks. ( bit.ly/2plLxAB ) Apple will announce the new service later this year, one source told Recode, while another told the website an announcement and launch date may not yet be set. The service, if launched, would compete with digital money transfer services such as PayPal''s Venmo offering, Square Inc''s Square Cash, as well as services from big banks. Apple was also in talks with payments network operator Visa Inc to create its own pre-paid cards to run on the Visa debit network, and tied to the new peer-to-peer service, the Recode report said. Apple is looking for ways to boost usage of Apple Pay, its mobile payments service, and the debit card could be one way to do that, Recode reported. Apple Pay usage has been lighter-than-expected since its launch two and a half years ago, the website reported, citing sources from big U.S. banks. Apple declined to comment on the report, while Visa could not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-moneytransfer-idUSKBN17T2CD'|'2017-04-27T23:17:00.000+03:00' '522d629276ec8bd649f7f40ffa72c6ff4abd66f6'|'Automakers to meet with U.S. transportation, EPA chiefs'|'By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Major automakers are set to meet Thursday with the head of the U.S. Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency as the agencies begin a review of federal fuel efficiency rules that are a major piece of the climate change policy enacted by the Obama administration.U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will meet with board members Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing General Motors Co ( GM.N ), Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ), Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ), Ford Motor Co ( F.N ), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ( FCHA.MI ), Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ) and others, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday.An alliance spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday, while the EPA and the Transportation Department did not immediately comment.In March, President Donald Trump ordered a review of U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards from 2022-2025 put in place by the Obama administration, effectively reopening a process the Obama administration had ended ahead of an April 2018 deadline.In 2011, Obama said the rules would save motorists $1.7 trillion in fuel costs over the life of the vehicles, but cost the auto industry about $200 billion over 13 years. Automakers have said that cost estimate is low.California regulators, who had worked with the Obama administration on the current national fuel efficiency standards, have opposed weakening the rules.California has threatened to pursue tougher standards unilaterally and could mount a legal challenge. New York has also threatened a fight if the Trump administration rolls back the Obama standards. Earlier this month, Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said automakers hope to reach a deal with California and the Trump administration over vehicle fuel efficiency standards.Automakers want "rational, predictable, stable policy," not a rollback of the existing standards, Bainwol said.The White House plans to hold negotiations with car companies and California over the fuel rules, but none have been scheduled since Trump met with automakers in Michigan on March 15 in a session that included Chao and Pruitt.Automakers need years of lead time to engineer future models and want uniform rules across all 50 states to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance.Without a deal, automakers could be forced to meet one set of standards in California and about a dozen states that have adopted its rules and other rules in the rest of the country.The Obama administration''s rules, negotiated with automakers in 2011, were aimed at doubling average fleet-wide fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Under the 2011 deal, the 2022-2025 model year rules must be finalized by April 2018.(Reporting by David Shepardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-autos-emissions-usa-idINKBN17S2Y9'|'2017-04-27T05:24:00.000+03:00' '22cea186bfbeb2562e2bb81e4d40bf83a6602dc5'|'Royal London to oppose election of Tullow Oil chair at AGM'|' 3:40pm BST Royal London to oppose election of Tullow Oil chair at AGM LONDON Investor Royal London Asset Management said on Tuesday it would oppose the election of Tullow Oil ( TLW.L ) founder and Chief Executive Aidan Heavey as chairman at the firm''s annual general meeting on Wednesday. RLAM Corporate Governance Manager Ashley Hamilton Claxton said the move was "a clear violation of an important corporate governance principle designed to protect shareholders and ensure effective independent oversight of the company''s management". The asset manager also opposed plans to keep paying Heavey his CEO pay and perks package for the first six months of his role as a non-executive chairman. RLAM also opposed Tullow''s remuneration report, remuneration policy and the election of the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee at Tullow, given ongoing concerns that pay is too focussed on the short term, it said in a statement. RLAM said it holds 8.66 million shares in Tullow Oil, 0.95 percent of the company. (Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Carolyn Cohn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tullow-agm-rlam-idUKKBN17R1W9'|'2017-04-25T22:40:00.000+03:00' 'd29a4302f5eeab1dc4502b36dbc21ce8d89986e3'|'Akzo Nobel investor USS backs call for PPG talks over revised bid'|'LONDON One of Britain''s biggest pension scheme investors has called on Dutch paintmaker Akzo Nobel ( AKZO.AS ) to engage with U.S. suitor PPG Industries ( PPG.N ) over a revised bid and criticized the board''s handling of the issue.The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which manages about 57 billion pounds ($73.66 billion) on behalf of 375,000 savers, said that a revised $29 billion bid for Akzo from PPG was enough for "meaningful and constructive" dialogue to begin "in earnest".After rejecting two previous bids, Akzo has yet to respond to the third.Separately, at the company''s annual meeting on Tuesday, the company refused a request from a group of shareholders to hold an extraordinary general meeting to discuss the future of Akzo Chairman Antony Burgmans.Daniel Summerfield, Co-Head of Responsible Investment at USS, said the decision to refuse the EGM request "not only undermines the credibility of the board but portrays Dutch governance in a very negative light".USS said in a statement that it had been a shareholder in Akzo Nobel since 2010 and currently held a 1.28 percent stake in Akzo, making it a top-10 investor according to Thomson Reuters data.(This story corrects fourth paragraph to make clear the request for EGM was to discuss Akzo Chairman, not the PPG bid.)(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Carolyn Cohn and David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-akzo-nobel-m-a-uss-idINKBN17U1A5'|'2017-04-28T08:51:00.000+03:00' '8d3499eef4009c48e543a9c0c04745354faf5542'|'U.S. labor costs accelerate in first quarter'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 8:36am EDT U.S. labor costs accelerate in first quarter Construction is seen on a new housing development along the riverfront in Detroit, Michigan, December 9, 2015. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook WASHINGTON U.S. labor costs recorded their biggest gain since 2007 in the first quarter, suggesting wage growth was picking up as the labor market nears full employment. The Employment Cost Index, the broadest measure of labor costs, increased 0.8 percent, the largest increase since the fourth quarter of 2007, after rising 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter, the Labor Department said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the ECI rising 0.6 percent in the last quarter. In the 12 months through March, labor costs increased 2.4 percent after rising 2.2 percent in the year to December. (Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-economy-costs-idUSKBN17U1UY'|'2017-04-28T20:36:00.000+03:00' '6b504962fc24894cfa8854f63ac9adb04f63dcf9'|'EU regulators drop antitrust probe into Faurecia, others'|' 56pm BST EU regulators drop antitrust probe into Faurecia, others French car parts supplier Faurecia''s logo is seen during the company''s investor day in Paris, France, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau By Foo Yun Chee - BRUSSELS BRUSSELS EU antitrust regulators scrapped on Friday an investigation into Faurecia ( EPED.PA ), Germany''s Eberspaecher Group and TenneCo ( TEN.N ) of the United States, three years after raiding the auto suppliers and others on suspicion of anti-competitive practices. The auto industry has been hit with multi-million euro fines by regulators worldwide in recent years for fixing prices of products including thermal systems, seatbelts, radiators, windscreen wipers, ball bearings and car air conditioning. The European Commission said at the time of the raids in March 2014 they were concerned the companies may have operated a cartel and abused their dominance in the market for exhaust systems. It did not name the companies. However French auto parts maker Faurecia, which is 46.6 percent owned by French carmaker PSA Group ( PEUP.PA ), TenneCo and Eberspaecher all confirmed they had been raided. The EU competition enforcer said the case had been administratively closed without providing details. It can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global turnover for breaching the bloc''s rules. TenneCo said it a separate statement it had been notified by the European Commission that the inquiry was closed. Other investigations are ongoing into auto supplies markets including airbags, steering wheels and capacitors. (Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-autos-antitrust-idUKKBN17U2CT'|'2017-04-28T23:56:00.000+03:00' 'addf8e4196b40d53a2bee771d6776369f0b73ffd'|'MTU Aero Engines beats forecasts thanks to maintenance division'|'Market News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:13am EDT MTU Aero Engines beats forecasts thanks to maintenance division BERLIN, April 28 German aircraft engine maker MTU Aero Engines reported a better than expected 19.6 percent rise in first quarter profit, driven by its business maintaining commercial jet engines. The company, whose customers include planemakers Boeing , Airbus and Bombardier, reported adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 157 million euros ($170.6 million), against average analyst expectations for 140 million euros. Its commercial maintenance business saw revenues rise 37 percent thanks to demand for services for the V2500 engines that power A320 jets, helping to lift the EBIT margin to 12.4 percent from 12 percent a year ago. It confirmed it expects revenues of 5.1 to 5.2 billion for 2017 and an operating margin stable at around last year''s level of 10.6 percent. French rival Safran earlier this week reported higher then expected first quarter sales, also helped by aerospace services. ($1 = 0.9204 euros) (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/mtu-aero-engines-results-idUSFWN1HZ1OM'|'2017-04-28T14:13:00.000+03:00' 'c4c99cc62e4ff8f049420851e24b1075eb6edd60'|'Icahn''s oil refiner reports plunge in biofuels bill in 1st quarter'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 10:50pm BST Icahn''s oil refiner reports plunge in biofuels bill in 1st quarter By Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice - NEW YORK NEW YORK Biofuels compliance expenses for CVR Energy''s refining unit ( CVRR.N ) ( CVI.N ) fell to the lowest level in almost five years during the first quarter, the company said on Thursday, as the U.S. government weighs an overhaul of its renewable fuels policy. The cost of compliance credits required by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) have fallen sharply in recent months, driven in part by a proposal to alter the regulation by shifting the blending burden away from refiners to fuel terminals. The proposal was made in February by Carl Icahn, the majority owner of CVR Energy and an informal adviser to President Donald Trump on regulation. The White House is considering it. CVR said it spent $6.4 million on the compliance credits in the quarter. That was down 85 percent from last year, the company said on a conference call with investors to discuss quarterly earnings. CVR attributed the decline in part to lower prices. Renewable fuel credit prices averaged about 53 cents in the first three months of 2017, about one-third lower than the prior-year, Oil Price Information Service data show. CVR declined to explain in greater detail the full reasons for the sharp reduction. "We don''t discuss our market activity," Chief Executive Officer Jack Lipinski said, when asked by an analyst on the call about how to square the low first-quarter expenses with CVR''s projections of a full-year cost of $170 million. The first-quarter tab was CVR''s lowest since the second quarter of 2012, a review of Securities and Exchange filings showed. CVR positioned itself to slash regulatory costs by deferring the purchase of some $186 million worth of credits it needed to satisfy its biofuels requirements at the end of 2016, the company said in filings in February. Lipinski and Icahn have argued that the U.S. renewable fuels program unfairly punishes independent refiners by pushing them into a highly speculative credit market. Democratic lawmakers have accused Icahn of self-dealing in his proposal to alter the 12-year-old RFS regulation. Icahn has said his proposal is not self-interested because it would help CVR as well as many of CVR''s competitors. The credit market was created under the RFS, which makes refining companies responsible for blending increasing volumes of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into gasoline and diesel each year. Companies without facilities to blend the fuels, like CVR, must purchase credits from those who do.The law aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil, while giving a boost to farmers who grow corn for ethanol production. (Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cvr-energy-biofuels-idUKKBN17T38V'|'2017-04-28T05:50:00.000+03:00' '5d390e46060bb6a4e213a17945f680db91dbfc3e'|'RPT-London banks set to decide within weeks on Brexit moves'|'(Repeats Thursday item)* Banks seek foothold in EU as Britain prepares to leave* German regulator Hufeld says move decisions weeks away* ECB, Irish authorities to meet banks in MayBy John O''Donnell and Anjuli DaviesFRANKFURT/LONDON, April 27 As Britain prepares to negotiate its EU departure, a number of banks are likely to decide within two months where to set up new continental bases to make sure they can keep serving clients in the bloc after Brexit.The European Central Bank said it will host a meeting of banks on May 4 at its offices in Frankfurt. It will spell out in detail what those moving some of their operations out of London must do to apply successfully for a licence.Talks with financial authorities have been underway for several months but the banks are expected to make up their minds imminently on where to move staff and operations."We are in the hot phase. In the next six to eight weeks there will be a series of decisions," Felix Hufeld, head of Germany''s Bafin financial regulator, told Reuters.Ireland''s central bank will hold a similar gathering next month to advise groups considering a move to Dublin, which along with Frankfurt, Paris and other centres is competing to offer the banks a second base that remains in the European Union.A spokeswoman for the Irish central bank added that it had regular contact with the industry concerning "the potential consequences of Brexit".Authorities expect potentially dozens of international banking groups, currently operating their euro zone business out of London, to move some operations and staff to the 19-member euro zone.They are likely to shift several thousand staff out of London, as banks based in Europe''s biggest financial centre will lose automatic "passporting" rights to sell services across the EU when Britain is no longer a member state.Hufeld predicted Frankfurt would play an "important role" in this process, although he said other cities would also gain.Bankers also say Frankfurt is set to win the most business following a discreet but concerted German campaign to promote the financial centre of Europe''s biggest economy.German politicians have been reluctant to lobby publicly for big global banks to move to the country. Federal elections will be held in September and some voters remain suspicious of the financial industry after several German banks were forced to seek taxpayer-funded bailouts during the global crisis.However, they have held a series of meetings with bank executives. Finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and politicians from the state of Hesse, home to Frankfurt, have met Wall Street powerbrokers in the United States and Germany in recent months, according to several sources familiar with the matter.As far back as October, Schaeuble met Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein in Berlin and discussed its post-Brexit plans, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Goldman Sachs is considering moving some operations to Frankfurt.James Gorman, the chief executive of one of the world''s biggest banks, Morgan Stanley, recently visited Frankfurt where he met local regulators, one person familiar with the matter said.Morgan Stanley intends to move jobs from London to cities such as Frankfurt, people involved in the process have said.A spokesman for Schaeuble declined to comment, as did both banks.France is still pushing for banks to move to Paris and HSBC has a big presence in the city. But many of its peers are reluctant to move to the city, where rents are high and they would face a special tax on wages in the financial sector.GERMAN DRIVEHufeld''s comments and the regulators'' meetings show how banks are rapidly advancing towards a move.Last month Prime Minister Theresa May formally declared Britain''s intention to leave the EU, opening a two-year period for both side to negotiate the divorce. Talks are expected to begin in June, although May''s surprise calling of an election for June 8 has added to the uncertainty.Given the tight Brexit timetable, bankers are keen to get cracking. "March 2019 is not far away and we are running out of time," said Lutz Raettig, president of Frankfurt Main Finance, a group that promotes the city."The time for making decisions is soon. People want to know for sure what direction they are taking by the summer," said Raettig, who is also chairman of Morgan Stanley''s supervisory board in Germany. "They can wait a little longer but not much more."The ECB, which takes the final decision on granting a bank licence, has said they should allow at least six months to get one.However, Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley said on Wednesday that obtaining a licence to trade on the continent and changing financial contracts to another jurisdiction takes a year to 18 months.Initially, banks had hoped that the immediate impact of Brexit would be softened by a so-called transition arrangement to delay the full effect.But Hufeld, who also sits on the ECB''s supervisory board, said this offered little consolation. "Even if there were to be transition arrangements, they would come at such short notice," he said. "If they come four weeks ahead of time, then that does nothing for you."Despite the high prize in terms of jobs and tax revenue, many country regulators are treading carefully for fear of getting lumbered with high risks. This is particularly the case in Ireland, which had to seek an international bailout in 2010 due to the huge cost of bailing out its banks.The ECB is likely to caution banks against relying on ''shell companies'', with operations effectively run by people still in London but the responsibility for handling any mishaps lying with continental authorities."If it''s high-risk and low value-added, then you don''t want it," said one person familiar with the thinking among the Irish authorities. "Let Frankfurt have it." (editing by David Stamp)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-eu-germany-banks-idINL8N1HZ95V'|'2017-04-28T03:00:00.000+03:00' '6469ff59a31e8db7ed93f8368920e0bfb3c9a418'|'PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - April 28'|'April 28 The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.- President Trump warned of the possibility of a "major, major conflict" with North Korea in an interview in which he said he was seeking a diplomatic solution to concerns that Pyongyang was preparing to conduct another nuclear test. nyti.ms/2oRKFCP- Swirling tensions at Fox News burst into public view on Thursday as one of its stars, Sean Hannity, spoke out in defense of an embattled executive at the center of an expanding culture clash inside the network. nyti.ms/2oRsFbS- Anthony Levandowski, the Uber Technologies Inc executive accused of stealing trade secrets from Google, is stepping aside from leading some of the company''s work on self-driving vehicles, amid a bare-knuckled legal fight between the two technology giants. nyti.ms/2oRNTX7- David Dao, the doctor who was seen being dragged off a United Airlines jet this month in videos that sparked widespread outrage, has reached a settlement with the airline for an undisclosed amount, his lawyers said on Thursday. nyti.ms/2oRNDHq- New Balance has won a rare legal victory in China in an intellectual property dispute: a court has ordered five shoe manufacturers and sellers to pay the state $250,000 for using the American shoemaker''s signature slanting "N" logo. nyti.ms/2oRKasw (Compiled by Shalini Nagarajan in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/press-digest-nyt-idINL4N1I02BO'|'2017-04-28T02:29:00.000+03:00' '856217274824f2f6ee970b7a3f21ac432030252d'|'Global med-tech firms, India locked in tussle after stent price sting'|'Health News 9:03am EDT Global med-tech firms, India locked in tussle after stent price sting left A woman walks past a chemist shop in Mumbai, India April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: A worker waters plants next to an advertisement billboard of Abbott in Mumbai, India, November 12, 2015. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui/File photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: An Abbott company logo is pictured at the reception of its office in Mumbai, India, September 8, 2015. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade/File photo 3/3 By Aditya Kalra and Zeba Siddiqui - NEW DELHI/MUMBAI NEW DELHI/MUMBAI A group of global medical-technology companies plans to tell Indian officials next month that any further price control measures would risk future investments and make them less likely to introduce new products in the country, according to an industry source familiar with the matter. The lobbying effort by Abbott Laboratories, Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson and others comes after the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February set a price cap for stents - small wire-mesh structures used to treat blocked arteries - slashing prices that patients pay for some devices by about 75 percent. That has sparked a growing showdown between the companies and Modi''s government in India, where the "med-tech" sector is worth $5 billion. Abbott and Medtronic filed for withdrawal of some of their stents from India, but the government on Wednesday rejected their request, saying it contravened the nation''s drug laws. Modi has in recent years taken a more aggressive stance against multinational healthcare companies, announcing price curbs on drugs used to treat critical ailments such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. At a public event this month, the prime minister said patient interests were more important than "unhappy" companies. The firms, meanwhile, worry price controls could extend to other devices such as implants or valves, making it economically unviable for them to sell next-generation products in India, industry sources said. Executives from Abbott, Medtronic and Boston Scientific - which all sell coronary stents in India - along with Johnson & Johnson and others, plan to approach India''s health and trade ministries in May to convey that "price control is not the way forward", according to an India executive at a multinational med-tech company aware of the plans. "There is a lot of nervousness," the executive said. Johnson & Johnson, for example, is worried about potential price curbs on its imported knee, joint or hip implants, another industry source said, adding the company was working with trade groups to write letters to the government. Boston Scientific said it was engaging with the government and would abide by regulations. Medtronic said it intended to again file a plea for withdrawing one of its stents. Abbott said it was speaking with the government to file for withdrawing two stents and would look at reintroducing them if they became "commercially viable". Johnson & Johnson declined to comment. Another industry source aware of companies'' strategies said the withdrawal pleas were aimed at sending a "strong signal" to the government by disrupting access. None of the companies commented on planned government meetings or broader industry worries. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) Chairman Bhupendra Singh on Thursday sought to calm industry concerns, saying the authority was in the process of collecting price information for 23 devices but "as of now there is no proposal to cap the prices". Singh, whose agency is the government''s drug pricing regulator, declined to comment on industry jitters or lobbying efforts. COSTS VS ACCESS The domestic medical device market in India is expected to grow by 15 percent annually between 2014 and 2020 to $8.6 billion, according to a joint report by consultants Deloitte and Healthcare Federation of India, NATHEALTH. Rana Mehta, leader of healthcare at consultants PwC India, said many firms had started re-evaluating their India strategy. "This uncertainty might be detrimental to the growth of the industry," said Mehta, who advises several multinational med-tech companies. Abbott and the Medical Technology Association of India, which counts Boston Scientific among its members, have in the past fallen short with their lobbying efforts in New Delhi, according to documents seen by Reuters. In letters written to the government departments of health and pharmaceuticals during August and September, they appealed to Indian officials to have a more liberal approach on stent pricing and not treat all stent devices as the same, submitting dozens of pages of research papers and clinical studies in support. Abbott wrote this would "encourage" medical device innovation. But the pricing regulator NPPA ruled against their requests. In February, it termed stents as "essential" devices, noting cases of heart disease were rising and the stent pricing was "restrictive and exorbitant". It did not differentiate among types of drug-releasing stents as the industry desired. The price cap was set at 7,260 rupees ($113) for the older generation metal variants and 29,600 rupees ($461) for drug-releasing variants. Abbott said it was "disappointed" with the decision. An executive at the Medical Technology Association said different types of drug-releasing stents should be treated differently. Activists have lauded the government''s action on stent pricing, saying reduced prices would benefit the masses. "The government intervention is expected to end exploitation of patients," health activist K.M.Gopakumar said. But some in the healthcare industry disagree. "Considering affordability is important but not at the cost of putting brakes on the evolving technology that is so essential to ensure patients'' well-being," said Shirish Hiremath, president of the Cardiologist Society of India. (Editing by Tom Lasseter and Alex Richardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-medtech-idUSKBN17U1X4'|'2017-04-28T20:51:00.000+03:00' 'bb3df9631ed6e703f7259754426af5be83d76032'|'JPMorgan Chase & Co leaves blockchain consortium R3'|'By Anna Irrera - NEW YORK NEW YORK JPMorgan Chase & Co has left the mammoth bank blockchain consortium led by New York-based startup R3 CEV, the latest member to depart over the course of the company''s fundraising process, R3 confirmed on Thursday.R3, which counts about 80 financial institutions as members, wants to raise $150 million from its members and strategic investors and give them a 60 percent stake in R3."JPMorgan parted ways with R3 to pursue a very distinct technology path which is at odds with the one chosen by the global financial services industry, represented by our 80-plus members," said Charley Cooper, a managing director at R3.JPMorgan declined to comment.JPMorgan''s move follows the departure of other large banks from the R3 consortium.Goldman Sachs Group Inc ( GS.N ), Banco Santander SA ( SAN.MC ), Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and National Australian Bank left the group in quick succession in late 2016, as R3 proceeded with its fundraising plans.Like the other banks that have left the group, JPMorgan is involved in other blockchain initiatives.The bank is a member of the newly formed blockchain consortium Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and is an investor in blockchain startups Axoni and Digital Asset Holdings. It also participates in the Hyperledger Project, a cross-industry group led by the Linux Foundation.R3, which began operating in September 2015, seeks to help the financial sector develop shared blockchain technology to run some of their most cumbersome and expensive processes.Blockchain is a distributed ledger of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet rather than a centralized authority. It first emerged as the system underpinning cryptocurrency bitcoin, but banks are hoping it can help them reduce the complexity and costs of activities like international payments and trading settlement.Skeptics have warned that the technology is still in its early days and it might take many years before the financial industry can reap any benefits.Since it began operating, R3 has rapidly gained the support from the world''s largest banks, with members including UBS Group AG ( UBSG.S ), Deutsche Bank AG ( DBKGn.DE ), Barclays Plc ( BARC.L ), Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ).So far they have paid membership fees to participate in the company''s activities.R3 had initially planned to raise $200 million from members and give them a 90 percent stake in a new company. In November, it lowered the target and said members would get a 60 percent stake in R3.Thomson Reuters Corp ( TRI.TO ) is also a member of R3.(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-jpmorgan-r-idINKBN17T2T4'|'2017-04-27T18:34:00.000+03:00' '716bca29712637b21de931979ec3e839fc81581c'|'Australia''s Tatts says KKR-backed takeover offer inferior to Tabcorp bid'|'By Jamie Freed - SYDNEY SYDNEY A group backed by KKR & Co said on Friday it would not undertake further work on a takeover offer for Australia''s Tatts Group Ltd after its A$6.15 billion ($4.60 billion) cash bid was rejected by the lottery operator''s board.Tatts shares fell as much as 4.8 percent to A$4.23 after Pacific Consortium said it would halt work on its bid, lowering the prospects of a higher offer emerging to compete with an agreed deal between Tatts and Tabcorp Holdings Ltd.Tatts is a prized asset due to its lucrative and reliable lotteries income and its monopoly licenses. It also owns a smaller wagering business that competes against Tabcorp, the nation''s largest betting operator."Given the current approach of the Tatts board the consortium does not intend to undertake further work on its proposal," Pacific Consortium Chairwoman Kerry Schott said in a statement.The Tabcorp bid valued Tatts at A$4.249 at the close of trade on Thursday, compared with the A$4.21 price of the Pacific Consortium bid.Tatts on Friday said it had determined the Pacific Consortium bid was not superior to the Tabcorp offer and therefore it could not offer due diligence access.Australia''s competition watchdog is due to rule on the Tabcorp offer in mid-June, unless the timetable is extended. A negative decision could trigger a new approach from Pacific Consortium, said a source familiar with the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter."I think everyone keeps their powder dry now until the Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) decision," said Charlie Green, a director at Hunter Green Institutional Broking which owns Tatts shares.The ACT will consider public interest benefits as well as the impact on competition in its decision on the Tabcorp deal."What happens if Tabcorp don’t get the approval and they have to pull out? Pacific sits back and says we don’t need to pay near what we did before,” said Gabriel Radzyminski, managing director of activist investor Sandon Capital."That is part of the risk for Tatts," he said, adding that he was disappointed Tatts did not offer due diligence access to the Pacific Consortium.Pacific Consortium includes Macquarie Group Ltd, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and First State Superannuation Scheme. Tatts in December rejected an initial proposal from the group.Tatts and Tabcorp in October said their agreed merger would offer A$130 million a year in synergies.A Tabcorp spokesman declined to comment.(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-tatts-group-m-a-kkr-idINKBN17T3D3'|'2017-04-27T20:50:00.000+03:00' '4f83cd1055f61ff3fd84127a5087aec874ccc17f'|'S&P sees ''heightened risk'' in UK funding needs after Brexit'|'Business 12pm BST S&P sees ''heightened risk'' in UK funding needs after Brexit FILE PHOTO: EU and Union flags fly above Parliament Square in London, Britain March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo LONDON Ratings agency Standard & Poor''s said on Friday that Britain''s decision to leave the European Union had created "a heightened risk" around the country''s large borrowing needs and could put strains on the historic make-up of the United Kingdom too. S&P, in a statement affirming the possibility of a further downgrade Britain''s sovereign debt rating which it cut after the Brexit vote, said the U.K.''s gross external financing needs were the highest among all 131 sovereigns rated by the agency. "Despite our forecast for a slight narrowing of the current account deficit, we still view the U.K.''s high external deficits as a vulnerability, and we view an EU departure as a risk to financing sources," the ratings agency said. "We further think Brexit will continue to create challenging political and constitutional issues around the unity of the United Kingdom, especially if it results in a second referendum on Scottish independence or increases tensions around Northern Ireland," it said. S&P cut Britain''s top-notch AAA credit rating by two places to AA shortly after last June''s vote to leave the EU, saying the country''s capacity for effective and stable policymaking had diminished. (Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-s-p-idUKKBN17U2IR'|'2017-04-29T01:12:00.000+03:00' '65ef0c257a4536594cf95735287d0a4f031f0075'|'U.S. appeals court blocks Anthem bid to merge with rival Cigna'|'By Diane Bartz - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A U.S. appeals court on Friday blocked health insurer Anthem Inc''s ( ANTM.N ) bid to merge with Cigna ( CI.N ), upholding a lower court''s decision that the $54 billion deal should not be allowed because it would lead to higher prices for healthcare.The ruling will probably kill the proposed merger that was opposed by the U.S. Justice Department, 11 states and a district court judge after consumers, medical professionals and others objected to it. In the end, Cigna itself tried to back out.The companies have the option of trying to save the deal by asking the appeals court to re-consider the case or appealing straight to the U.S. Supreme Court.Two hours after the decision, Cigna traded at $155.65 and Anthem was at $177.45. Both were down less than half a percent.Anthem''s purchase of Cigna would create the largest U.S. health insurer. Rivals Aetna Inc ( AET.N ) and Humana Inc ( HUM.N ) had also sought to merge but that deal collapsed this year amid opposition from the federal government and states.Insurers made the deals as they adjusted to new pressures from the insurance overhaul of Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act. Now they face the potential for another remaking of the industry, though the exact changes are unclear because of Republican disagreements over how to repeal and replace Obamacare.In a split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit disagreed with Anthem''s contention that the Justice Department and lower court improperly rejected its assertions that the deal would lead to billions of dollars in medical savings."Anthem has not explained why these projected savings would even exist," Judge Judith Rogers wrote in the opinion. "The record is clear that Anthem, unlike Cigna, has already achieved whatever economies of scale are available."Bill Baer, former head of the Justice Department, said in an email the decision "is a ringing endorsement of the importance of competition in health insurance markets."Baer made the decision to challenge both insurance mergers.New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he was "pleased" with the ruling and contended the deal would likely lead to higher premiums and lower quality.In a dissent, Judge Brett Kavanaugh argued that the merger would benefit the biggest customers, mainly large companies with employees in many states. Kavanaugh argued that a combined Anthem/Cigna would require higher payments to manage the accounts but that would be offset by better negotiated rates paid to providers.Anthem, a member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is the second biggest seller of medical insurance to big U.S. companies. Cigna is in third place."This is a red letter day for consumers," said David Balto, who organized opposition to the deal.In another obstacle to the deal, Anthem and Cigna are suing each other. Cigna has sought to abandon the merger and force Anthem to pay a $1.85 billion breakup fee while Anthem filed a lawsuit to force its smaller rival to go through with the combination.Anthem and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the appeals court decision.(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Gregorio)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cigna-m-a-anthem-idINKBN17U25A'|'2017-04-28T12:35:00.000+03:00' '91ff9ddd76c6e57e3989e2ae84cf174d2968bde9'|'Italian police say Amazon has evaded 130 million euros of taxes'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:56pm EDT Italian police say Amazon has evaded 130 million euros of taxes The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol MILAN Milan tax police have told Amazon they believes the world''s largest online retailer has evaded around 130 million euros ($142 million) of taxes in Italy, a source close to the matter said on Friday. The allegedly unpaid taxes refer to the period between 2011 and 2015, when Amazon ( AMZN.O ) made revenues of around 2.5 billion euros in Italy, the source said. The tax police''s findings have been handed to Milan prosecutors, the source added. Amazon issued a statement denying it had evaded any taxes, and said its profits in Italy, on which taxes are paid, had been low due to its considerable investments in the country. (Reporting by Sara Rossi; Writing by Gavin Jones; Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Mark Potter) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-italy-tax-idUSKBN17U2M0'|'2017-04-29T01:56:00.000+03:00' '3849507f46e697e64041bfbf1f7daccf44d628f4'|'U.S. launches national security probe into aluminium imports'|'WASHINGTON The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday launched an investigation to determine whether a flood of aluminium imports from China and elsewhere are compromising U.S. national security, a step that could lead to broad import restrictions on the metal.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the investigation is similar to one announced last week for steel imports into the United States, invoking Section 232 of a national security law passed in 1962 at the height of the Cold War.Ross told reporters that the probe was prompted by the extreme competitive pressures that unfairly traded imports are putting on the U.S. aluminium industry, causing several domestic smelters to close or halt production in recent years.The move is the latest of several potential U.S. actions aimed at stemming a rising tide of aluminium imports. The Commerce Department is investigating allegations that Chinese companies are dumping aluminium foil into the U.S. market below cost and are benefiting from unfair subsidies.Ross said part of the justification for the investigation is that U.S. combat aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin ( LMT.N ) F-35 joint strike fighter and the Boeing ( BA.N ) F/A-18 Super Hornet require high-purity aluminium that is now produced by only one smelter, Century Aluminum Co ( CENX.O ).(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-trade-aluminum-idINKBN17T04J'|'2017-04-26T23:10:00.000+03:00' '1bd05b7cb18b2a561e263df818ff741069913d1a'|'UPDATE 1-Sri Lanka appoints lead managers for up to $1.5 bln sovereign bond - sources'|'Company 03am EDT UPDATE 1-Sri Lanka appoints lead managers for up to $1.5 bln sovereign bond - sources (Adds details) COLOMBO, April 27 Sri Lanka has appointed seven lead managers for a sovereign bond worth up to $1.5 billion and could tap the capital market as soon as next month, a source close to the deal said on Thursday. Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the government was looking to issue a bond with a term of more than 15 years. The banks are Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Morgan Stanley and two Chinese institutions, the source, who has direct knowledge of the deal, told Reuters. A government source who also has knowledge of the deal confirmed the seven banks. Karunanayake also said inflows from the bond, another $1 billion from two syndicated loans, and $500 million from Sri Lanka Development Bonds would be used to boost foreign reserves. "We expect see a double-digit (billion dollar) reserves this year with the flows from asset leasing and some divestment from state assets," Karunanayake told reporters. Sri Lanka''s foreign exchange reserves were at $5.6 billion by end-March compared to $6 billion at the end of last year. Sri Lanka missed the reserves target set under the terms of a $1.5 billion International Monetary Fund loan. The IMF last month urged Sri Lanka''s central bank to rebuild foreign reserves while maintaining exchange rate flexibility. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-sovereign-bonds-idUSL4N1HZ5TS'|'2017-04-27T23:03:00.000+03:00' '8ff411a6942ec35eca86ccd4675460a6ad9f7cf8'|'Buyout firm KKR says welcomes investment from activist ValueAct'|'Company 03am EDT Buyout firm KKR says welcomes investment from activist ValueAct NEW YORK, April 27 Buyout firm KKR & Co said on Thursday it welcomed the investment from activist shareholder ValueAct Capital, which currently owns less than five percent of KKR. "We welcome ValueAct''s ownership," Scott Nuttall, head of global capital and asset management group at KKR, told analysts on an earnings call. KKR had posted better-than-expected first-quarter results earlier on Thursday. "We''ve had discussions, and I think they understand and share the vision we have for the business of the firm," Nuttall said. ValueAct said for the first time earlier on Thursday that it had taken a stake in KKR. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/valueact-target-kkr-idUSN9N14B02U'|'2017-04-27T23:03:00.000+03:00' '46e49f53098003efce57e77d2d60a684b6a276e5'|'BOJ to offer upbeat economic view at policy meeting, talk down early stimulus exit'|'By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO The Bank of Japan is set to keep monetary policy steady on Thursday and signal its conviction the country''s economic recovery is gaining momentum, taking heart from renewed optimism over the global economy as political concerns in France ebb.But BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is likely to remind markets that the Japanese central bank is nowhere near an exit from its massive monetary stimulus, with inflation hovering well below the bank''s ambitious 2 percent target.Several BOJ policymakers, including deputy governor Kikuo Iwata, have said the bank is conducting internal studies on how it could eventually withdraw stimulus, though they add an actual exit would be some time away."The key message the BOJ wants to send out now is that there is no near-term plan of an exit, and that the focus is on keeping its stimulus intact," said a source familiar with its thinking, a view echoed by two more sources.At the two-day rate review that ends on Thursday, the BOJ is likely to offer a more upbeat assessment of the economy than it did last month as a pick-up in overseas demand bolsters exports and factory output.But the central bank may slightly cut its rosy inflation forecast for this fiscal year at a quarterly review of its projections and highlight factors weighing on prices, such as slow wage growth and soft household spending, analysts say."Global economic prospects have brightened but the BOJ would be cautious of giving out any signs it may withdraw its stimulus as doing so could trigger an unwelcome yen rise," said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at SMBC Friend Securities."It''s also hard to justify talking about an exit when inflation is nowhere near even 1 percent," she said.SLOW TO EXITAt Thursday''s meeting, the BOJ is widely expected to leave unchanged its commitment to guide short-term interest rates at minus 0.1 percent and the 10-year government bond yield around zero percent through aggressive asset purchases.Analysts also expect the central bank to maintain a loose pledge to keep increasing its government bond holdings by 80 trillion yen ($719 billion) per year.Japan''s economy has shown signs of life, as exports rose the most in over two years in March and manufacturers'' confidence hit the highest since the global financial crisis a decade ago.But core consumer prices for February rose just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, keeping markets doubtful of the BOJ''s forecast inflation will hit its 2 percent target by March 2019.While a pioneer in deploying unorthodox stimulus, the BOJ is likely to lag behind its peers in withdrawing monetary support.The U.S. Federal Reserve is already embarking on interest rate hikes, while the European Central Bank may send a small signal in June toward reducing stimulus.Most analysts polled by Reuters expect the BOJ''s next move to be a tightening of monetary policy, though many do not expect it to happen until next year at the earliest.After three years of heavy money printing failed to drive up inflation, the BOJ revamped its policy framework last September to one better suited for a long-term war against deflation.(Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idINKBN17S2WR'|'2017-04-26T19:06:00.000+03:00' 'd80b781deebd1d7e38a6d74073a9f30a0f0561da'|'Suncor evaluates potential oil-sand deals as global majors exit'|'Commodities 41pm EDT Suncor evaluates potential oil-sand deals as global majors exit By Nia Williams - CALGARY, Alberta CALGARY, Alberta Suncor Energy, Canada''s largest energy producer, is still evaluating opportunities for oil sands acquisitions in northern Alberta as foreign oil majors exit the high-cost region, Chief Executive Steve Williams said on Thursday. However, the company has a high bar in terms of return on investments and did not feel any pressure to agree on another oil sands deal, Williams said. Calgary-based Suncor bought Canadian Oil Sands and Murphy Oil''s stake in the Syncrude project last year, making it the majority owner of the 350,000-barrel-per-day project. This year, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Corp have dumped about $22.5 billion worth of oil sands assets. In addition, Reuters has reported that BP Plc and Chevron Corp are weighing selling their stakes in the sector. "The exodus from oil sands by a lot of the big international companies I don''t think is quite finished yet so there may well be some incredible opportunities," Williams said, speaking on Suncor''s first-quarter earnings call. "I don''t think there are many companies out there now with the balance sheet capable of purchase," he added, referring to potential buyers. Some Canadian energy industry players also say they see a limited pool of oil sands buyers and prices could move lower in response. International players are pulling out of the oil sands because of factors such as weak global oil prices, the higher cost of operations compared with U.S. shale plays, and limited export pipeline capacity out of western Canada. The sector is increasingly becoming concentrated in the hands of a few domestic companies, such as Suncor, Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Oil sands bitumen is extracted through mining or underground reservoir steaming projects that last for decades but require high upfront capital investment. Williams said the sector required focused operators with deep expertise to develop technology and ensure global competitiveness, and consolidation would give producers more opportunities to leverage infrastructure, reduce costs and improve productivity. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-suncor-energy-oil-sands-idUSKBN17T2KG'|'2017-04-28T00:40:00.000+03:00' 'f0caf011c849e0474f526252d95b4cf4df24b0f4'|'UPDATE 1-UPS air maintenance workers threaten strike ahead of shareholders meeting - Reuters'|'(Adds UPS statement)By Luciana LopezApril 30 A union representing 1,200 U.S. air maintenance workers at United Parcel Service Inc turned up pressure on the company on Sunday to settle a three-year contract dispute, saying it would seek clearance to strike.The union is taking its grievances directly to UPS shareholders, running as an advertisement an open letter to David Abney, the company’s chief executive, ahead of a Thursday shareholders meeting.The letter, which has been delivered to board members, was signed by nearly 78 percent of members of Local 2727 of the Teamsters union, asking the company to maintain air mechanics’ current health plan and not demand other concessions.“We’re not willing to back off of this and we will strike over it,” said Tim Boyle, the local president.The company said that it continues to negotiate in good faith with the union."Talks continue under the control of the National Mediation Board, which has scheduled sessions several months out," said Mike Mangeot, a spokesman for UPS Airlines, in a statement."The union’s talk about a job action is simply posturing and a common union tactic designed to pressure talks. Our mechanics are good people who do a good job of keeping our aircraft flying safely and reliably, and UPS continues to negotiate in good faith for an agreement that’s good for them, the company and our stakeholders."Union members will also protest at the UPS shareholders’ meeting on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, with protests outside the meeting and, for union members who are also shareholders, questions to company officials inside.The local plans additional protests on Tuesday in Atlanta, where the company is headquartered.The union already voted in November to strike, but saw that request denied by federal authorities. The air maintenance workers are governed by the U.S. Railway Labor Act, which only allows strikes after it finds negotiations and mediation have failed.But if the company does not agree to keep members’ health plans intact at the next bargaining session, on May 11 and May 12, Boyle said the union would ask again for permission to strike.Even if the board grants permission, though, a strike would take at least another 30 days because of other procedural hurdles.A strike could ground the package delivery company’s airplanes and disrupt packages sent by air, even as UPS and its rivals grapple with higher costs for surging e-commerce business.(Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/united-parcel-strike-idINL1N1I209J'|'2017-04-30T13:35:00.000+03:00' '93849099539782bb07197a883bab1c3d4e5b66bb'|'BRIEF-Avenue Therapeutics files for IPO of up to $50 mln'|'April 28 (Reuters) -* Avenue Therapeutics Inc files for ipo of up to $50 million - sec filing* Avenue Therapeutics Inc says has applied to list common stock on the NASDAQ capital market under the symbol “ATXI"* Avenue Therapeutics Inc says Raymond James and National Securities Corporation are underwriters to IPO* Avenue Therapeutics says IPO price is estimated solely for the purpose of computing the amount of the registration fee Source text for Eikon:'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brief-avenue-therapeutics-files-for-ipo-idINFWN1I01H8'|'2017-04-28T19:22:00.000+03:00' '3579e799063d97ef767cc8b8e769eae262239dbc'|'Trump''s faulty trade math may not make America greater, or richer'|'Business News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 3:09am BST Trump''s faulty trade math may not make America greater, or richer U.S. President Donald Trump arrives aboard Air Force One at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst By Howard Schneider - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON By U.S. President Donald Trump’s math, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and other deals will largely pay for the massive tax cuts his cabinet laid out earlier in the week. He is likely off by a factor of close to 10 - or more - according to trade and tax economists who say it does not make sense to think of the world in the two-dimensional, money-in-my-pocket or money-in-yours way that Trump did in a Thursday interview with Reuters. The president, for example, said that given the current $61 billion annual trade deficit with Mexico, the United States would be better off if the two countries did not trade at all, saying "You''ll save yourself a hell of a lot of money." The former real estate developer''s economic assessment appeared to overlook the ways in which a total halt to trade between the two neighbours would ripple through both nations - changing prices, currency values, jobs and wages, arguably helping some industries but damaging others. The net impact of Trump''s calculations, which run counter to most widely accepted views of the benefits of trade, are hard to predict, said Claude Barfield, a trade expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "These views about the trade deficit and its alleged negative impact...are nonsense, and are views he has held since the 1980s," said Barfield. "It could happen," he said of a hypothetical severing of ties between the United States and Mexico, "but the things you would do to make it happen would be hugely disruptive. You''d have to think what are the first- and second-order effects," as industries reorganize and consumers adapt. In the case of Mexico, the American companies that exported a quarter of a trillion dollars of goods and services to that country last year would be out a customer, and likely cut jobs. Those American companies that tried to replace the $323 billion in Mexican imports would likely do so at a higher cost -- assuming they are in the United States to begin with. NO MORE GUACAMOLE AND A SHRINKING SUPPLY CHAIN There is no guarantee that if Trump were to seal the border with Mexico that it would "save" the United States any money, said Marcus Noland, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. It may simply reduce consumption through higher prices charged by domestic suppliers, or lead to increased imports from a different country. "Americans seem to really like guacamole," Noland said, "but the idea that we are going to have giant greenhouses and lots of avocados and limes - the fact that we are purchasing them from the Mexicans rather than producing them at home tells you producing them at home is more expensive. We can stop trading with the Mexicans, and have $60 billion less in consumption." Since consumption accounts for a large part of the U.S. economy, that is not an outcome Trump would want, though it would be one way, economists note, to achieve the trade balance the president and his advisers regard as important. Trump told Reuters: "There is no such thing as a trade war when you have a deficit." Most economists disagree with the notion that the trade deficit matters much to a country as large and self-sufficient as the United States. Trade at that scale in particular is shaped by global savings and investment patterns that in recent years have favoured the United States. By the statistics most widely accepted among economists, the U.S. position with the rest of the world has been steadily improving as investment flows into the country from abroad and supports millions of jobs. The current account deficit – which includes trade flows, investment, and other financial transfers across borders – has been shrinking for more than a decade and is now less than 2 percent of gross domestic product. As far as the impact of trade on the federal deficit - a separate concept reflecting how much the government spends and how much it collects from businesses and households - Trump said that he was not worried that his plan to cut taxes will result in a sea of red ink "because we will do trade deals that are going to make up for a tremendous amount of the deficits." Economists, however, say any connection is circuitous, felt through channels like an increase in tax payments from new job holders or stronger corporate profits -- but hard to estimate and likely small. Even if Trump achieved his wildest success, and eliminated the United States'' $500 billion trade deficit solely through increased exports that boosted gross domestic product on a dollar-for-dollar basis, it would do little to dent the estimated $7 trillion in government deficits his tax plan is projected to generate over the next decade. Alan Cole, an economist at the Tax Foundation, said that every dollar of gross domestic product generates about 17.6 cents in federal government revenue, meaning the $500 billion trade shortfall would translate into just $88 billion in new taxes. Even that, he said, is wildly generous. "You have to say where is the new production coming from, which people, which places?" Cole said. "Will it be new factories being built, and if so why haven''t they been built already?" (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by David Chance and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-trade-analysis-idUKKBN17U2T1'|'2017-04-29T10:09:00.000+03:00' 'e3c8191eb2e68ecd167ce514ac914179e6d4d2f4'|'Pimco shutters RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund'|'By Jennifer Ablan - NEW YORK, April 28 NEW YORK, April 28 Pacific Investment Management Co on Friday liquidated its RAE Worldwide Fundamental Advantage PLUS Fund, a global-neutral fund which had reached more than $4 billion in assets under management in 2014, according to the Newport Beach, Calif''s website.The portfolio''s strategy included long exposure to a portfolio of stocks through the "RAE Fundamental U.S. Large Model Portfolio" and short exposure to the S&P 500 Index, while overlaying this equity market neutral exposure with absolute return bond alpha strategy through "AR Bond Alpha Strategy".The RAE Fundamental U.S. Large Model Portfolio stocks are selected by Pimco''s long-time subadviser, Research Affiliates, LLC, which was founded and chaired by Rob Arnott, known on Wall Street as the "godfather of smart beta.""We constantly review our suite of strategies and may liquidate a fund from time to time if we feel it no longer serves our clients needs," Michael Reid, spokesman for Pimco, said in a statement to Reuters. "We are committed to RAE and will be expanding RA relationship in equities with (the) upcoming launch of RAFI Multi-Factor ETFs."Pimco, a unit of Munich-based insurer Allianz SE, had $1.51 trillion in assets, has collaborated with Arnott''s firm Research Affiliates for more than a decade.In 2015, Pimco expanded Pimco''s RAE Fundamental lineup, which uses Research Affiliates'' "smart beta," or "fundamental indexation," strategy of selecting, weighting and rebalancing holdings on the basis of characteristics other than market capitalization.Two years ago, Pimco introduced a slate of six new equity funds in collaboration with Research Affiliates to cover U.S. large, U.S. small, international, global, global excluding U.S. and emerging markets. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/funds-pimco-idINL1N1I01B2'|'2017-04-28T13:47:00.000+03:00' '085fbe2616ff07ba166399e48632c4febd272884'|'Sheryl Sandberg kicks off her next movement: resilience - Apr. 25, 2017'|'Sheryl Sandberg talks about husband''s death Ten days after Sheryl Sandberg''s husband died unexpectedly , she returned to work at Facebook ( FB , Tech30 ) . During her first meeting that day, all she could think was, "What is everyone talking about and why on earth does this even matter?" In her third meeting, she fell asleep for a few minutes. In "Option B," a new book out this week, Sandberg writes candidly about coping with her grief and fragility while working in the C-Suite of one of the world''s most valuable businesses. "Walking around the Facebook campus, I started to feel like a ghost, somehow frightening and invisible at the same time," she writes. "In the moments when I couldn''t take it, I sought refuge with Mark [Zuckerberg] in his conference room." The book, coauthored with Wharton professor Adam Grant, is intended to kickstart a conversation around resilience. Along with the book, Sandberg has launched a new nonprofit called OptionB.org to encourage visitors to share personal stories of facing adversity and finding the right groups to help them work through it. The new movement is similar in execution to Lean In, a nonprofit launched with her previous book of the same name. It focused on helping women advance in the workplace. "Whether you or someone you love is going through a painful experience, we''ve collected videos, articles, recommendations from experts, and other resources that can help," according to the "Option B" website . If the rallying cry of the first movement was "lean in," the rallying cry of this new movement may be the memorable words of the rabbi who led her late husband''s funeral: "lean in to the suck." Related: Sheryl Sandberg: Women work more hours than men Sandberg found her husband, SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg, collapsed on the floor by the elliptical machine while on vacation in Mexico in 2015. All of the sudden, she was a widow in her 40s with two young children. The name Option B is based on the idea that "life is never perfect." As one person close to her puts it in the book, "Option A is not available. So let''s just kick the s*** out of Option B." The book is peppered with psychology studies, the occasional Semisonic lyric and heart-wrenching anecdotes from men and women who have lost children, been raped and battled cancer. But it''s anchored by Sandberg''s route to reengaging with her own life. During those first difficult weeks, Sandberg said she leaned on her immediate family and Zuckerberg, who helped plan Goldberg''s funeral. She is the first to admit her advantage in having an understanding boss as well as more financial resources than most. In time, she began jotting down three happy moments each day in her journal, however small. Sandberg and her kids drafted "family rules," including "don''t blame yourself" and "it''s OK to be happy." And she started dating a man who calls himself, "The King of Distraction." Along the way, she was forced to confront a key mistaken assumption she made with Lean In. In that book, she wrote about the importance of couples splitting up their personal duties "50/50" to ensure women can succeed professionally. "Now I see how insensitive and unhelpful this was to so many single moms who live with 100/0," she writes in "Option B." "My understanding and expectation of what a family looks like has shifted closer to reality." CNNMoney (New York) 25, 2017: 6:13 AM ET'|'cnn.com'|'http://rss.cnn.com/rss/money_technology.rss'|'http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/25/technology/sheryl-sandberg-option-b/index.html'|'2017-04-25T14:13:00.000+03:00' 'a8ba9ba215611c83d833e9cf2642a51a02de1aa9'|'Big brokers bang the drum on European equities'|' 3:38pm BST Big brokers bang the drum on European equities Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Staff/Remote By Kit Rees and Helen Reid - LONDON LONDON Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley joined a chorus of optimism on European equities on Friday, pointing to the strong recovery in corporate profits that is spurring fund inflows into the region. Both brokers predict double-digit growth for European earnings as the regional economy springs back to life after years of sluggish activity. Global sentiment on equities has wavered in recent weeks as economic data from the United States shows signs of softening, though brokers say earnings are a more important factor for stock investors. "The hard data for equities is earnings - and they are powering ahead. Q1 earnings season is very strong and revisions trends are positive and broad based," said analysts at BAML in a note to clients. U.S. economic growth in the first quarter was the slowest since 2014, data on Friday showed, though stocks shrugged off the numbers. BAML expects European earnings to grow 15 percent in 2017, up from its previous prediction of 11 percent. It now forecasts the STOXX 600 index to rise to 420, more than 8 percent above current levels. In the past week, $2.4 billion (1.87 billion pounds) was pumped into European equity funds, the highest since December 2015, BAML said, as more money that left the region last year returned. Fading political risks after the first round of the French presidential election and the return of investor inflows are likely to underpin valuations that are still running about 10 percent below the peaks seen two years ago, BAML said. Overall, European earnings are forecast to grow more than 12 percent over the next year, according to Thomson Reuters data. "If earnings surprise to the upside relative to consensus, it would go a long way towards addressing some concerns around ''hard'' data," Morgan Stanley strategists said. The two brokers added to a string of bullish calls on equities in Europe, a region which has seen earnings disappointment and political risk dampen appetite for its stocks. Strategists at Deutsche Bank, who also see earnings in Europe rising 10 percent this year, struck a more cautious note. European equities are already priced for a ''goldilocks'' scenario of strong growth, low interest rates and diminishing uncertainty, leaving little scope for disappointments, Deutsche strategists said. The recent pullback in commodity prices, particularly metals, suggests the resources sector .SXPP, which has contributed significantly to the rebound in earnings forecasts, could come under pressure, Deutsche said. That puts the European broker at odds with BAML who upgraded their stance on resources shares to "overweight" on the view that the global reflation trade has more room to run and recent weakness was, in fact, an opportunity for investors. Morgan Stanley includes banks and energy stocks among its most favoured sectors in Europe. (Reporting by Kit Rees, Editing by Vikram Subhedar and Toby Chopra)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-europe-stocks-brokers-idUKKBN17U25D'|'2017-04-28T22:38:00.000+03:00' 'ea0f5422cc896d13af23ccc3bd5b9f8d22d1be29'|'UBS chief says Britain must do more to retain banks after Brexit'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:47pm BST UBS chief says Britain must do more to retain banks after Brexit CEO Sergio Ermotti of Swiss bank UBS smiles before an annual news conference in Zurich, Switzerland February 2, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo By Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi - ZURICH ZURICH The head of UBS ( UBSG.S ), one of Europe''s leading financial groups, has criticised the British government for failing to encourage banks to stay in London after Brexit, predicting that many would soon trigger plans to shift operations elsewhere. "The UK is not really helping this process by trying to help the industry to stay in London or to do things in London," UBS Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti told journalists on Friday. "I do see the danger of people being forced to trigger contingency plans," added the CEO of Switzerland''s largest bank. Ermotti''s remarks underline the potential impact of Britain''s departure from the European Union on one of the mainstays of its economy. Brexit could prevent groups based in London from selling financial services freely across the bloc and trigger an exodus. An executive at Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ) said this week that it was considering whether to move thousands of its staff from London. Ermotti, whose bank employs around 5,000 staff in London, said UBS would decide whether and where to relocate staff in the coming months. "Our timeframe for making decisions (on Brexit) is still ... probably going to be towards the end of the summer, beginning of fall, so that we can start to take concrete steps to prepare ourselves," he said. Ermotti said he was looking at alternative locations around Europe, including Frankfurt and Spain, where the bank already had a base. UBS has its headquarters in Zurich, outside of the European Union. UBS has recently moved its London base to new offices in the main financial district. As well as managing the wealth of the rich, the group, with 2.2 trillion Swiss francs (1.71 trillion pounds) in assets, has an investment bank. In January, UBS Chairman Axel Weber said around 1,000 of the bank''s London employees could be hit by Britain''s exit from the European Union, while Ermotti had previously placed the figure higher - at 20 percent to 30 percent of total jobs there. Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May formally declared Britain''s intention to leave the EU, opening a two-year period for both side to negotiate the divorce. Talks were expected to begin in earnest in June, although May''s surprise decision to call a snap election on June 8 has added to the uncertainty. "Our goal would be to (keep) as many people in the UK as possible and only selectively have people in the continent, but it''s up to the UK government to come up with pragmatic ways to do that," said Ermotti. (Writing By John O''Donnell; Editing by Keith Weir) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-ubs-idUKKBN17U1PJ'|'2017-04-28T19:47:00.000+03:00' '55c430f7aa61b7bff779c483c1bf87f6df6f467b'|'Number of U.S. bank branches to shrink 20 percent in five years - real estate report'|'Business News 10:16pm BST Number of U.S. bank branches to shrink 20 percent in five years - real estate report A taxicab enters the financial district security zone in New York City, U.S., March 23, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Olivia Oran The number of bank branches in the United States will shrink by as much as 20 percent in five years, according to a report from commercial real estate firm JLL. This reduction comes as banks are looking for ways to cut costs and to encourage their customers to embrace mobile banking technology rather than completing basic transactions within a physical branch. The U.S. banking industry could save as much as $8.3 billion (£6 billion) annually if it trimmed the number of branches and downsized the average bank branch from 5,000 to 3,000 square feet, JLL found. U.S. banks have reduced their footprint by around 8 percent since the financial crisis, from 97,000 branches to roughly 90,000. (Reporting by Olivia Oran in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bank-branches-idUKKBN17Q299'|'2017-04-25T05:16:00.000+03:00' '4b5cea46118bb93f1f4f5faa3358b86bf346527f'|'MetLife to invest $1 billion in tech to reach cost-savings goals'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 2:03pm EDT MetLife to invest $1 billion in tech to reach cost-savings goals FILE PHOTO: A MetLife Inc building is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake By Suzanne Barlyn - NEW YORK NEW YORK MetLife Inc ( MET.N ) plans to invest $1 billion in an efficiency program through 2019 that will eventually reduce annual operating costs by around $800 million, the insurer said on Thursday. The investments will go toward technology improvements, Chief Executive Steven Kandarian wrote in his annual letter to shareholders, but did not provide more details. MetLife first unveiled its cost-cutting plan last summer, saying it would save a gross $1 billion a year, partly through job cuts. In Kandarian''s letter and a separate proxy filing, the insurer said pretax annual savings would be $800 million when netting out "stranded" overhead costs related to a business it is divesting. In February, MetLife''s board conducted a "deep dive examination" of the insurer''s strategy and goals to boost shareholder returns, Kandarian said. A key part of that strategy is the planned spinoff of Brighthouse Financial, its retail life insurance business, which is awaiting regulatory approval. The company continues to look for ways to reduce the capital it needs to hold and increase its free cash flow, Kandarian said. In his letter, the CEO touched on everything from U.S. tax reform and expectations of an easing regulatory environment to the company''s plan to return nearly $4.5 billion of capital to shareholders this year. "The U.S. federal regulatory outlook is now more positive than it has been in nearly a decade," Kandarian said, adding that the "prospect for pro-growth tax reform has also brightened." The remarks come days after the White House unveiled a proposal to significantly cut corporate taxes, and MetLife asked an appeals court to pause a case regarding whether it deserved a "too big to fail" designation while the Trump administration finishes reviewing the current regulatory approach. [L1N1HW1CV] (Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; Editing by Lauren Tara LaCapra and Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-metlife-investment-technology-idUSKBN17T2R6'|'2017-04-28T02:03:00.000+03:00' '874d655faf6fe7fa5d92af64922cb438baf36a13'|'Amazon''s first-quarter profit, revenue beats estimates'|' 06pm BST Amazon''s first quarter profit rises 41 percent Amazon.com''s logo is seen at Amazon Japan''s office building in Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo Amazon.com Inc ( AMZN.O ) posted a 41.1 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Thursday, driven by sustained growth in online retail sales and its profitable cloud business. The world''s biggest online retailer said net income rose to $724 million, or $1.48 per share, from $513 million, or $1.07 This marks the eighth straight quarter Amazon has posted a net profit. The company''s net sales rose 22.6 percent to $35.71 billion in the quarter ended March 31 from $29.13 billion. [nBwb6Lb79a] (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-results-idUKKBN17T2ZK'|'2017-04-28T04:22:00.000+03:00' 'cf1ef5202071d4942bd58d0a8159042721d88bea'|'Automakers to meet with U.S. transportation, EPA chiefs'|' 10:58pm BST Automakers to meet with U.S. transportation, EPA chiefs The logos of German carmaker Volkswagen is seen at a VW dealership in the Queens borough of New York, September 21, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo By David Shepardson - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON Major automakers are set to meet Thursday with the head of the U.S. Transportation Department and Environmental Protection Agency as the agencies begin a review of federal fuel efficiency rules that are a major piece of the climate change policy enacted by the Obama administration. U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt will meet with board members Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing General Motors Co ( GM.N ), Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ), Volkswagen AG ( VOWG_p.DE ), Ford Motor Co ( F.N ), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ( FCHA.MI ), Daimler AG ( DAIGn.DE ) and others, three people briefed on the matter said Wednesday. An alliance spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday, while the EPA and the Transportation Department did not immediately comment. In March, President Donald Trump ordered a review of U.S. vehicle fuel-efficiency standards from 2022-2025 put in place by the Obama administration, effectively reopening a process the Obama administration had ended ahead of an April 2018 deadline. In 2011, Obama said the rules would save motorists $1.7 trillion in fuel costs over the life of the vehicles, but cost the auto industry about $200 billion (£156 billion) over 13 years. Automakers have said that cost estimate is low. California regulators, who had worked with the Obama administration on the current national fuel efficiency standards, have opposed weakening the rules. California has threatened to pursue tougher standards unilaterally and could mount a legal challenge. New York has also threatened a fight if the Trump administration rolls back the Obama standards. Earlier this month, Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said automakers hope to reach a deal with California and the Trump administration over vehicle fuel efficiency standards. Automakers want "rational, predictable, stable policy," not a rollback of the existing standards, Bainwol said. The White House plans to hold negotiations with car companies and California over the fuel rules, but none have been scheduled since Trump met with automakers in Michigan on March 15 in a session that included Chao and Pruitt. Automakers need years of lead time to engineer future models and want uniform rules across all 50 states to reduce the cost and complexity of compliance. Without a deal, automakers could be forced to meet one set of standards in California and about a dozen states that have adopted its rules and other rules in the rest of the country. The Obama administration''s rules, negotiated with automakers in 2011, were aimed at doubling average fleet-wide fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. Under the 2011 deal, the 2022-2025 model year rules must be finalised by April 2018. (Reporting by David Shepardson)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-autos-emissions-usa-idUKKBN17S30R'|'2017-04-27T05:58:00.000+03:00' 'b59034ed7210530ee083c80c3c6cc1ea3bc963a4'|'Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon''s sales rise 3.4 percent'|'Aerospace & Defense 52pm EDT Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon''s sales rise 3.4 percent A sign marks the Raytheon offices in Woburn, Massachusetts. REUTERS/Brian Snyder By Mike Stone and Ankit Ajmera Tomahawk missile maker Raytheon Co ( RTN.N ) sees increased demand fueling the company''s growth as a pro-defense Trump administration and U.S. allies grapple with geopolitical instability, it said on Thursday as it reported improved quarterly results. Raytheon shares hit an all-time high after the company reported a 3.4 percent rise in revenue, helped by sales in its divisions that make Tomahawk cruise missiles and electronic warfare systems. The stock rose to $158.86 in New York trading before giving up some of the gains. Thomas Kennedy, Raytheon''s chief executive officer, told Wall Street analysts during a conference call: "The tempo in Syria is pretty up right now." He added that Raytheon is seeing significant demand "to provide solutions and keep up with the replenishment requirements." The U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base earlier this month, and the U.S. military caries out daily missile strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq as the United States prefers not to put large numbers of soldiers directly in harm''s way. Raytheon, which also makes Patriot missile systems, said total sales rose to $6.00 billion from $5.80 billion a year earlier. Income from continuing operations rose to $1.73 per share, from $1.43 per share. Analysts on average had expected first-quarter sales of $5.83 billion, and earnings from continuing operations of $1.61 per share. Raytheon also raised its 2017 forecast for sales by about $100 million, to $24.9 billion-$25.4 billion, and earnings from continuing operations by 5 cents per share, to $7.25-$7.40. Analysts on average were expecting sales of $25.09 billion, and earnings of $7.40 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Toby O''Brien, Raytheon''s chief financial officer, told Reuters that even if the U.S. government struggles to pass a budget this fiscal year, the company''s projections would not be affected significantly. Raytheon grew its order backlog during the quarter to $36 billion, with 41 percent of that from international customers, O''Brien said. Revenue in Raytheon''s space and airborne systems business, its second-biggest unit by sales, rose 7.6 percent to $1.56 billion in the first quarter ended April 2, helped by higher sales of an electronic warfare systems program. Operating margins in the unit increased to 12.2 percent, from 11.6 percent. The business accounted for about 26 percent of Raytheon''s quarterly revenue. The unit makes electronic warfare systems for tactical aircraft, helicopters and ships, as well as tracking and navigation sensors used on airborne platforms, among other products. Sales in the company''s missile systems unit, which also makes Paveway smart bombs and advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, rose 1.9 percent to $1.76 billion. Operating margins in the business rose to 12.3 percent, from 11.1 percent. The missile systems unit, which is Raytheon''s biggest business, accounted for 29.3 percent of its quarterly revenue. Bookings fell 8.3 percent to $5.69 billion in the first quarter, compared with a year earlier. Bookings is a forward-looking metric that measures the value of firm orders won by Raytheon. Raytheon''s single biggest booking of the first quarter was an early warning radar system for Qatar, O''Brien said. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company repurchased 2.7 million shares of its common stock for $400 million in the quarter, and increased its annual dividend rate by 8.9 percent to $3.19 per share. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Clive McKeef and Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-raytheon-results-idUSKBN17T1II'|'2017-04-27T19:05:00.000+03:00' 'a02817b25149ca35c694f6f2315990fe8d8f17b1'|'Ford profit drops on higher costs, lower vehicle sales'|' 12:19pm BST Ford profit drops on higher costs, lower vehicle sales FILE PHOTO: The logo of Ford is seen during the 87th International Motor Show at Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland March 8, 2017. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo DETROIT Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) on Thursday reported a lower quarterly net profit due to higher costs and investments, plus a slight decline in vehicle sales. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company reported a first-quarter net profit of $1.6 billion (1.25 billion pounds), or 40 cents per share, down 36 percent from $2.5 billion, or 61 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts had, on average, expected earnings per share for the quarter of 35 cents. (Reporting By Nick Carey; Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ford-results-idUKKBN17T1KQ'|'2017-04-27T19:19:00.000+03:00' '80abd2efc1186b4a38d983d45083211d3a83aa33'|'Saudis eye $200 billion in revenue as privatization drive starts up'|'By Andrew Torchia and Marwa Rashad - RIYADH RIYADH The Saudi Arabian government believes it can raise around $200 billion in the next several years by selling stakes in state enterprises ranging from hospitals to airports and grain silos.Vice Minister for Economy and Planning Mohammed al-Tuwaijri said on Thursday that number was based on detailed studies of valuations and market demand since authorities announced plans for a privatization drive one year ago.Administrative preparations are now in place and the government intends to begin offering assets this year in four sectors: sports, electricity generation, water provision and grain silos, Tuwaijri told Reuters."This year we have a crystal clear idea on market demand size, valuation, financial advisers ... the market appetite locally and globally, cash flow certainty, government offtakes, structure," he said. "That’s all done."If achieved, $200 billion of privatizations would transform the Saudi economy by putting large parts in private hands, while helping to repair state finances that have been severely hurt by low oil prices. The government posted a deficit of $79 billion last year and aims to eliminate the gap by 2020.Tuwaijri, a former Saudi air force pilot and former chief executive of HSBC''s Middle East operations, said the $200 billion figure did not include tens of billions of dollars which the government expects to raise next year when it offers up to 5 percent of national oil firm Saudi Aramco.Enterprises in 16 sectors are expected to be fully or partly privatized by 2020. Tuwaijri conceded some deals would be difficult and complex, but said Riyadh would be flexible in choosing structures that buyers wanted, including public offers, private placements of shares and private equity deals.Among the first assets to be offered will be one of Saudi Arabia''s top hospitals, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, he said."We are in a very advanced stage - appetite has been secured, the model is being made by relevant government authorities, and the rest is literally market-, funding- and finance-driven," Tuwaijri said of the hospital deal.The government views healthcare as the sector with the best potential for privatization and is studying whether to sell off all public hospitals and 200,000 pharmacies, he added.GROWTHGrowth of Saudi Arabia''s non-oil economy almost halted last year as the oil price slump forced the government to slash spending. It is still struggling to cut its deficit, so it aims to revive growth by persuading private companies to invest more.At the core of this strategy is public-private partnerships, in which private firms and the state share investment costs, risks and profits of projects. These could be used in industries which Riyadh hopes to develop, such as auto manufacturing. (For a graphic on Saudi Arabia GDP growth by story, click tmsnrt.rs/2qcwITY )Tuwaijri said municipal services and transportation might be the first sectors to see PPPs, though he did not give a time frame. Authorities aim to develop different legal frameworks for PPPs tailored to each sector, he said.To encourage investment, an "industrial sector stimulus package" will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, focusing on areas where Saudi Arabia thinks it has a competitive advantage, such as mining-related businesses.Meanwhile the Saudi Industrial Development Fund, which makes soft loans to industry, and the Public Investment Fund, which takes stakes in projects, are accelerating activities, Tuwaijri said. This month the PIF said it would be the main investor in a huge new recreational area to be built south of Riyadh.Deputy economics minister Abdulaziz Alrasheed said the funds'' operations would help to keep the non-oil economy growing about 0.5 percent this year, but added that the rates above 5 percent which the government hopes to achieve lay in the future."It is not going to be a V-curve recovery - it is probably more of a U-curve recovery," Tuwaijri said of the slow pace at which Saudi growth would revive.(Additional reporting by Katie Paul and William Maclean; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-economy-idINKBN17T2TB'|'2017-04-27T17:19:00.000+03:00' 'a70df3af4d367d4a3f71f0619e9085633703259b'|'EU readies united Brexit front, bets on Macron'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:25pm BST EU readies united Brexit front, bets on Macron By Padraic Halpin - DUBLIN DUBLIN European Union leaders may have feared the worst for 2017 but in the coming days they can demonstrate a united front on Brexit, watch the bloc''s economic recovery strengthen further and likely avoid an electoral earthquake in France. In a year laden with potential risks, Europe has so far cleared an electoral hurdle in the Netherlands, produced a string of mainly positive economic news and put pressure on the European Central Bank to end its massive monetary stimulus. Leaders of the 27 remaining EU member states will cap off four months that have proven more stable than they could have imagined by formally adopting negotiating guidelines for their break-up talks with Britain at a summit on Saturday. Ministers in charge of the Brexit talks made no changes to draft guidelines on Thursday, indicating few major differences had emerged, at least for now, one month after Britain triggered the two-year divorce procedure. The united EU front hinges on France''s presidential election. Most member states have made no secret of their hope that Emmanuel Macron, a pro-EU centrist, will beat eurosceptic far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Macron is the overwhelming favourite in the May 7 run-off and holds a wide lead in polls that proved accurate in the first round, although two surveys since have suggested Le Pen made a more impressive start to the last lap. "As a pro-European, he would maintain the Franco-German alliance and bring some renewed optimism to the European project, which has seemed unstable over the past year," said Lars Lundqvist, an economist at Roubini Global Economics. "Our base case is that Macron will win." Between the two main political events, a busy week of data will provide a flash estimate for first quarter euro zone economic growth, unemployment figures for March and Purchasing Managers'' Indices for April. The latter more timely surveys for the manufacturing and services sectors come as economic sentiment across the 19-member euro zone climbed to a near 10-year high in April. Economic growth is expected to be steady at 0.4 percent on Wednesday and remain at that level through the third quarter of next year, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Data on Friday appeared to broadly back that up with weaker-than-expected gross domestic product expansion of 0.3 percent in France offset by booming 0.8 percent growth in Spain. FED ON HOLD In the United States, the main event arguably comes at the end of the week with April payrolls that may tell more about the Federal Reserve''s next move than a meeting of the board itself on Wednesday where no change in policy is expected. After raising its benchmark interest rate once this year, by a quarter percentage point at its last policy meeting in March, the median Fed policymaker forecast is for two more rate increases by year-end. "Ahead of the March rate hike, the Fed left it relatively late before it gave a very explicit steer that it was on course to tighten policy at that meeting," Victoria Clarke, economist at Investec, said. "If the Fed works of this basis again, it may be that the Fed statement next week leaves its options open on the June meeting without giving an explicit steer." With no news conference due this time, speeches two days later by Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and San Francisco Fed chief John Williams will be watched for clues on any move in June. Recent weaker-than-expected readings on domestic growth, inflation and retail sales have reinforced the view that the U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter, although economists at Commerzbank said they expect Fed officials will probably dismiss these as statistical outliers. "The U.S. central bank remains on course for monetary policy normalisation," Commerzbank Bernd Weidensteiner said, anticipating two more rate hikes this year. Other rate decisions of note in the coming week will be made in Norway, the Czech Republic and Australia, while Chinese PMIs will also provide a health check of the world''s second-largest economy at the start of the second quarter. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-weekahead-idUKKBN17U1N3'|'2017-04-28T19:25:00.000+03:00' '6269b706e27e21c5a6a5775f73e5bc1c8e40056d'|'Used-car retailer Carvana''s shares skid in debut'|'Shares of Carvana Co ( CVNA.N ), which uses vending machine-like towers to sell used cars, plunged as much as 17 percent in their debut on Friday.The company''s shares, which were priced at $15, opened at $13.50, giving the company a market value of about $2 billion.Carvana sells cars through its website and allows customers to pick them up from automated "vending machine" towers located in U.S. cities such as Austin and Dallas in Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee.The company''s IPO comes amid mounting evidence that the six-year recovery in the U.S. auto industry may be losing steam.Industry officials and Wall Street analysts have raised concerns that values for used sedans were dropping as more vehicles were turned in when leases ended.Founded in 2013, Carvana is one of a handful of companies trying to disrupt how cars are traditionally bought in dealerships and to take on Carmax Inc ( KMX.N ), the largest used-car retailer in the United States.However, Carvana stands to benefit from consumers'' increasing comfort to buy vehicles online.TrueCar Inc ( TRUE.O ), an online service that matches car buyers with dealers, has seen its shares nearly double since their debut in May 2014.Carvana''s sales surged nine-fold in 2014, more than tripled in 2015, and nearly tripled in 2016 to $365.1 million.However, the company''s net loss widened to $93.1 million in 2016 from $36.8 million in 2015 as it invests heavily in growth.The company sold all the 15 million shares in the offering, raising about $2 billion.Carvana is backed by DriveTime Automotive Group, a network of used-car dealerships and car refurbishment centers.Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Securities are the underwriters for the offering.Carvana''s shares fell as much as 16.7 percent to $12.50, before recovering to be down $12.87 in morning trade.(Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-carvana-ipo-idINKBN17U26G'|'2017-04-28T12:46:00.000+03:00' '8c4522ce784462f7dbe8520631f888b100928455'|'Exclusive: Brazil eyes OECD membership to woo investors after recession - sources'|'By Alonso Soto - BRASILIA BRASILIA Brazil could decide to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as soon as next month, officials told Reuters, as President Michel Temer seeks its seal of approval for reforms to Latin America''s largest economy.Temer''s intention to join the Paris-based think tank is his latest effort to strengthen ties with Western developed nations after previous Brazilian governments prioritized relations with developing peers.The OECD advises its 35 members of mostly rich countries and is considered a key influencer in the world''s economic architecture.The final decision, however, hinges on a review of the entry requirements that could mean legislative changes to comply with OECD tax and transparency rules, said one official who asked for anonymity because the matter is not public.An initial result of the review is expected for May 15.The official and three other sources said Temer hopes the OECD''s imprimatur will attract foreign investment to an economy struggling to pull out of its worst recession ever."Membership will guarantee investors that Brazil is seeking market-friendly policies," said another official, adding that the final decision will also depend on the OECD willingness to speed up membership approval.If approved by the OECD Council, Brazil would become the biggest emerging market member of the group and the third from Latin America after Mexico and Chile.Neighboring Colombia has been in membership talks with the OECD since 2013.Although the membership process usually takes years, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria has signaled the group could fast-track the accession of key partners, including Brazil, China, South Africa, India and Indonesia.A OECD spokesperson said decisions about the approval time frame are made by the OECD Council after a formal request is submitted.Temer''s press office did not respond to emails seeking comments. The finance ministry declined to comment.Temer, in office for just over a year following the impeachment of leftist President Dilma Rousseff, is pursuing unpopular austerity reforms to coax back investors."This is a step that seeks to have Brazil gain a seal of approval largely meant to make the country more attractive to foreign investors," Oliver Stuenkel, professor of international relations at Sao Paulo-based think tank FGV.Still, the road for approval may not be an easy one for Brazil.In a closed economy used to government intervention, bureaucrats have for years resisted changing tax rules as well as transparency policies to comply with OECD standards."Joining the OECD is not simple or easy," said Welber Barral, Brazil''s international trade secretary from 2007 to 2011. "Changes to tax regulation and governance would face tough resistance from Brazil''s powerful bureaucracy."(Reporting by Alonso Soto; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Marguerita Choy)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-oecd-membership-exclusive-idINKBN17S2U4'|'2017-04-26T18:42:00.000+03:00' '06e3a1b0500fe8518301c3b0c53ac3e7dad3400d'|'High in sky: Small flying “cars” come a bit closer to reality'|'“YOU may smile, but it will come,” said Henry Ford in 1940, predicting the arrival of a machine that was part-automobile and part-aeroplane. For decades flying cars have obsessed technologists but eluded their mastery. Finally there is reason to believe. Several firms have offered hope that flying people in small pods for short trips might become a reality in the next decade. These are not cars, as most are not fit to drive on land, but rather small vehicles, which can rise and land vertically, like quiet helicopters.A prototype of a small electric plane that is capable of flying up to 300 kilometres per hour, made by Lilium, a German startup, completed a successful test over Bavaria on April 20th. Lilium is starting work on a five-seat vehicle and hopes to offer a ride-hailing service. Another German company, e-volo, has been testing a flying vehicle for several years. It recently showed off the second version of its electric Volocopter (pictured), which could be certified for flight as soon as next year.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 2 hours ago A new spin on why the travel ban is unconstitutional Democracy in America 13 hours ago Donald Trump’s corporate tax plan doesn’t add up Graphic detail 14 hours ago “Casting JonBenét” offers a fresh take on true crime Prospero 15 hours ago United Airlines changes its policy on bumping passengers Gulliver 15 hours ago Have you thought about your final wishes? Graphic detail 16 hours ago See all updates There are at least a dozen firms experimenting with making small flying vehicles in different guises, including Airbus, an aerospace giant, in partnership with Italdesign Giugiaro, a division of Volkswagen, a carmaker. Many plan to have a certified pilot in command at the beginning and then move on to an autonomous set-up when regulations allow. Motorcycle-type vehicles, which you sit astride, are also in the works.No matter which manufacturer is quickest to gain velocity, Uber, a ride-hailing firm, aims to be at the centre of things. On April 25th it held an event in Dallas to announce its plan to offer a service where people can hail an electric “vertical takeoff and landing” vehicle and ride it quickly to destinations that would otherwise take hours in heavy traffic. Uber does not want to build these aircraft or landing pads itself, just as it does not own its own cars. Instead, it plans to collaborate with other companies. But Jeff Holden, Uber’s chief product officer, does not exclude the possibility that the firm may at the outset own some aircraft, which he estimates will cost around $1m each.The firm plans to have a prototype of its service ready by 2020. It will launch it first in Dallas and in Dubai, both cities where the authorities have deep aviation expertise and where people commute long distances. The firm rather optimistically promises that the cost per aerial mile for passengers will be roughly that of its low-cost car service, UberX.There is plenty for manufacturers and services like Uber to overcome beyond gravity. For battery-powered models, range is limited and the charging rate remains slow. Manufacturers will need to ensure that vehicles can take off and land quietly, if this new form of transport is to stand a chance in cities. How to oversee and license the new aircraft, which are subject to much tougher rules than cars, will be a subject of intense debate among rule-makers, who tend to move slowly and are just getting to grips with drones. Drivers of flying vehicles are also likely to require a pilot’s licence, albeit perhaps a simplified “sports” licence. The journey ahead will be a long one. "High in the sky"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721339-german-firm-completes-test-and-uber-promises-prototype-2020-small-flying-cars-come?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'f319b5e54b7b601518d2605a3a75e49ed84e47f9'|'April U.S. auto sales seen down nearly 2 percent: JD Power and LMC'|'DETROIT U.S. auto sales in April likely fell almost 2 percent from a year earlier, with consumer discounts remaining at levels high enough to threaten the industry''s long-term health, industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Tuesday.The consultancies also lowered their full-year 2017 forecast for new vehicle sales to 17.5 million units, from a previous forecast of 17.6 million.April U.S. new vehicle sales will be about 1.48 million units, a drop of nearly 2 percent from 1.51 million units a year earlier, the consultancies said.The forecast was based on the first 13 selling days of the month. Automakers are expected to report April U.S. sales results on May 2.The seasonally adjusted annualized rate for the month will be 17.5 million vehicles, flat versus the same month in 2016.Retail sales to consumers, which do not include multiple fleet sales to rental agencies, businesses and government, were set to decline more than 0.2 percent in April.U.S. sales of new cars and trucks hit a record high of 17.55 million units in 2016. But as the market has begun to saturate, automakers have been hiking incentives to entice consumers to buy.Fears that the U.S. auto industry has peaked were stoked earlier this month when automakers released sales figures for March that came in at an annualized rate of around 16.6 million, below market expectations of 17.2 million units."While industry retail sales pace remains high, it is being powered by elevated levels of incentive spending which pose a serious threat to the long-term health of the industry," said Deirdre Borrego, senior vice president of automotive data and analytics at J.D. Power.Excessive discounts can help sell new vehicles, but undermine resale prices.The consultancies said consumer discounts averaged $3,499 per new vehicle sold, the highest ever for the month of April. The previous record was set in April 2009, during the height of the Great Recession. But the average vehicle price also hit a new record for the month of $31,380.Inventory levels at major automakers have also become a concern as sales have apparently hit a peak.The average number of days a new vehicle sits on a dealer''s lot before being sold hit 70 in the first 13 days of April, the highest level for any month since July 2009.(Editing by Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-idUSKBN17R1MP'|'2017-04-25T21:05:00.000+03:00' 'c43c26d86b589b8db9e63fcb45753dad36628488'|'WTO largely upholds Canadian complaint over China pulp trade'|'Company News 37am EDT WTO largely upholds Canadian complaint over China pulp trade GENEVA, April 25 A World Trade Organization dispute panel largely upheld Canada''s complaint against Chinese restrictions on trade in cellulose pulp on Tuesday, a product used for making rayon fabric, paper, packaging and banknotes. China had imposed anti-dumping duties on the imports from Canada in 2013, prompting Canada to complain to the WTO in October 2014. The WTO ruling, which can be appealed by either side, said China had failed to show that pulp from Canada had damaged China''s industry. (Reporting by Tom Miles, editing by Stephanie Nebehay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/canada-china-pulp-idUSL8N1HX5IQ'|'2017-04-25T22:37:00.000+03:00' 'a1561cca675e93af80d14a25fc716a5a4b9a0b19'|'EU bankers say ''no'' to more new bank rules ahead of Brexit'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 9:22am EDT EU bankers say ''no'' to more new bank rules ahead of Brexit By Huw Jones - LONDON LONDON The European Union should hit the pause button on new bank rules ahead of Britain''s departure from the bloc, senior bank executives said on Tuesday. The EU is fine-tuning a mass of rules introduced to make banks safer after the financial crisis that began nearly a decade ago. But Brexit will remove London, the Europe''s biggest financial center, from the bloc, creating uncertainty over the status of regulations and future trading terms. And in the United States, President Donald Trump wants some of the existing banking rules dropped, saying they hinder economic growth. "We cannot ignore the growing fragmentation of the international regulatory landscape in light of recent political changes notably in the U.S. The perspective of the Brexit adds ... to that trend," Frederic Oudea, chair of the European Banking Federation, and chief executive of SocGen, said. Oudea, speaking on a panel of bank industry officials and experts, also said the EU should avoid adopting rules that have not been agreed at the global level. "This topic is particularly important at a time where we need to think strategically about the direction we want to take for capital market activities in Europe in light of Brexit consequences," Oudea told the European Parliament''s Economic Affairs Committee. He urged policymakers to postpone capital rules for bank trading books until their global implementation is clearer. "We need a regulatory pause," said Karl-Peter Schackmann-Fallis, a German Savings Banks Association board member. The Economic Affairs Committee has oversight of financial rulemaking in the European Parliament, which has joint say with member states on approving the EU''s laws. Andreas Treichl, chief executive of Austria''s Erste Group, said he was spending most of his time with politicians and 10 regulators, rather than with customers. "It''s great what you do, just finish it. I don''t care any more how you finish it. I will accept whatever you decide, but get it done and don''t change it for the next 10 years please," Treichl told the committee. "Please reflect on what you have done. It''s very, very difficult for us to be helpful to create prosperity, and part of the reason is ourselves, and part of the reason is you, the politicians, and part of the reason is the regulators." But Miguel Viegas, a member of the European Parliament and a committee member, said the financial crisis was caused by speculative behavior that cost taxpayers billions of euros. "It''s a bit worrying to hear that we are the guilty parties," Viegas said, referring to Treichl''s comments. Christian Stiefmueller, a senior policy analyst at Finance Watch, a Brussels think tank, said bank capital had still not been restored to consistently safe levels. "Bank regulation is not slowing down the economy," Stiefmueller said. Brexit will also mean the region''s biggest capital markets will not be inside the EU, potentially complicating companies attempts to raise money. Treichl said the European economy depended on debt, but only two countries had a capital market, Switzerland and Britain, the former is already outside the bloc and the latter is due to leave. "Who do you think will finance start-ups? The capital market is not there, the private investors are not there, and banks increasingly face difficulties in doing it," Treichl said. (Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-banks-regulations-idUSKBN17R1P9'|'2017-04-25T21:10:00.000+03:00' '30f6ffb3fddf8ae983ad1bedc068a10da6779a21'|'Sweden''s Ericsson faces painful overhaul as it plunges into loss'|'Business News 1:27pm BST Sweden''s Ericsson faces painful overhaul as it plunges into loss A general view of an office of Swedish telecom giant Ericsson is seen in Lund, Sweden, September 18, 2014. REUTERS/Stig-Ake Jonsson/TT News Agency/File Photo By Sophie Sassard and Helena Soderpalm - LONDON/STOCKHOLM LONDON/STOCKHOLM Mobile telecom equipment maker Ericsson ( ERICb.ST ) faces a long and painful overhaul after shrinking markets, tough competition and restructuring costs pushed it to a quarterly operating loss on Tuesday. The Swedish company, which is seeking to reposition the business for growth under new chief executive Borje Ekholm, reported an operating loss of 12.3 billion Swedish crowns (1.09 billion pounds) as previously announced provisions, writedowns and restructuring costs pushed it deep into the red. That compared with a 3.5 billion crown profit in the same period last year and a mean forecast for a 12.0 billion crown loss in a Reuters poll of analysts. Ekholm wants to focus the business on lucrative core networks while restoring profitability in its IT & Cloud unit. It is also exploring partnerships or a sale of all or part of its media unit. Sales came in at 46.4 billion crowns, below the consensus forecast of 47.3 billion, while the gross margin was 13.9 percent versus the 17.9 percent seen by analysts. The company reiterated its guidance to at least double 2016 margins beyond 2018 through more aggressive cost-cutting. "What we see now is a need ... to intensify our efforts further on the cost side," Ekholm said on a call with analysts, adding that this would include streamlining its portfolio. Ericsson cut its total workforce by almost 5,000 last year to around 111,000 as part of a drive to improve profitability. Ekholm said he expected the steps he is taking to lead to significant profitability improvements as early as 2018. Critics question whether Ekholm, a veteran Ericsson board member, is best placed to turn the business around. They say a more varied, international management team at rival Nokia was key to its revival. Ericsson backers say the company has changed the guard, albeit internally, and is doing a good job of promoting a new generation of managers. INVESTOR SCEPTICISM Shares were down 3.2 percent at 1204 GMT, reflecting investor scepticism. UBS analysts expect 2017 EBIT to fall by more than 3 percent and the stock to decline by the same amount. "The only positive factor is networks'' underlying margin of 12 percent," said Inge Heydorn, a fund manager at Sentat Asset Management, referring to the company''s main business. "The rest is basically just more of the same, mainly a weak market," Heydorn said. Sentat does not have a position in Ericsson shares. Ericsson, backed by prominent Wallenberg family-backed Investor AB ( INVEb.ST ) and Industrivarden ( INDUa.ST ), is under pressure to take greater advantage of the global surge in data traffic, enterprise networking and cloud computing. It has been hit by a drop in spending by telecoms firms, with demand for next-generation 5G technology still years away, and weak emerging markets. It also faces mounting competition from China''s Huawei and Finland''s Nokia. The company stunned investors in March by announcing $1.7 billion in provisions, writedowns and restructuring costs. The bulk of the provisions were related to "transformation projects" - operators needing to upgrade old systems - in Ericsson''s IT & Cloud business, the company said. A second tech investor, with no stake in Ericsson, said weak performance at the other units, IT & Cloud and Media, showed the need to exit unprofitable businesses. Sector bankers scouting the market for possible partners or buyers for the media assets said they are having a hard time as the unit is small and not growing. A banker who worked for Ericsson in the past said the company overpaid for media acquisitions in 2012-13 and will hardly recoup its investment. Bankers said Media solutions - which provide consulting, systems integration and managed TV services - could appeal to large IT players such as France''s Atos ( ATOS.PA ), while broadcast services could be sold to "bottom-fishing" private equity funds which have lower expectations of returns and tend to keep assets longer than traditional funds. Bankers ruled out any imminent takeover of Ericsson but said some rivals could take a look once the business stabilises. Speculation of a possible Ericsson-Cisco ( CSCO.O ) tie-up has been doing the rounds since the companies struck a strategic partnership two years ago. Ericsson said industry trends from 2016 were expected to continue in 2017. It has forecast the mobile infrastructure market to decline by 2-6 percent this year and stabilise after that. Olof Swahnberg; Editing by Mark Potter and Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ericsson-results-idUKKBN17R1I4'|'2017-04-25T20:27:00.000+03:00' '4ef2cdfe10928169e1af74cd459e73b7c0e4e2bf'|'Paytm parent One97 set to raise over $1.8 billion from SoftBank: report'|'One97 Communications, owner of electronics payments provider Paytm, is set to raise more than 120 billion rupees ($1.87 billion) from Japan''s SoftBank Group ( 9984.T ), the Economic Times reported on Friday citing sources.The deal will value Noida-based One97 at about $9 billion and provide a 20 percent stake to SoftBank, the report said. ( bit.ly/2pnWH8l )Moreover, One97 plans to earmark nearly $1 billion to expand its payments business into high growth areas like lending and insurance, the report added.SoftBank declined to comment. Paytm was not immediately reachable for comment.Digital payments have assumed great significance in India after the decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s government ban on old high-valued bank notes in November led to a severe cash crunch across the country.(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Euan Rocha)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-one97-softbank-group-fundraising-idINKBN17U0J0'|'2017-04-28T03:25:00.000+03:00' '983ac7a1239de8772b26fdfe1821f3edfb8a339a'|'U.S. FCC to launch ''comprehensive review'' of media regulations'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 12:24pm EDT U.S. FCC to launch ''comprehensive review'' of media regulations WASHINGTON, April 25 Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai on Tuesday said the top U.S. telecommunications regulator will launch a "comprehensive review" of media regulations. At a speech to broadcasters in Las Vegas, the FCC chief said the commission will vote May 18 to start a comprehensive review of the FCC’s media regulations to determine what rules are necessary and which should be relaxed or repealed. (Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Franklin Paul) UPDATE 1-Citigroup shareholder meeting briefly interrupted by protesters NEW YORK, April 25 A brief, noisy protest by drum-beating young adults at Citigroup''s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday evolved into an orderly interchange between an older tribal woman and the bank''s two top executives, who conceded it had approved investments in a North Dakota pipeline too quickly. EMERGING MARKETS-LatAm currencies weaken as Trump tax pledges spark inflation bets By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, April 25 Latin American currencies weakened on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump''s promise to announce "big tax reform and tax reduction" invited bets that U.S. interest rates could rise faster than expected. Higher U.S. rates could dampen the allure of high-yielding, emerging market assets. The Colombian and Mexican pesos , as well as the Brazilian real, all weakened more than 1 percent. Still, hopes that lower taxes could lift cor MORE FROM REUTERS From Around the Web Promoted by Revcontent Trending Stories'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fcc-media-idUSL1N1HX14E'|'2017-04-26T00:24:00.000+03:00' '91330936e764cc566676e0505f874eda87b23f2f'|'Straight Path receives superior offer to AT&T''s buyout bid'|'Straight Path Communications Inc said on Tuesday it received a $104.64 per-share all-stock buyout offer from a "multi-national telecommunications company", topping AT&T Inc''s offer of $95.63 per share.Straight Path''s shares were up 6.4 percent at $118 in pre-market trading, much above the offer price, indicating that investors are expecting a bidding war.Telecom companies are conducting trials for 5G, the fifth generation of wireless technology that is expected to be significantly faster than current networks.Millimeter wave spectrum — between 30 GHz and 300 GHz — is expected to play a large role in 5G networks. Straight Path is one of the largest holders of 28 GHz and 39 GHz millimeter wave spectrum used in mobile communications.Reuters had earlier reported that Verizon Communications Inc was considering outbidding AT&T.AT&T had agreed to buy Straight Path, a holder of licenses to wireless spectrum, for $1.25 billion in an all-stock deal on April 10.The new offer represents a deal value of about $1.31 billion.Verizon declined to comment.Straight Path said on Tuesday it has notified AT&T of the offer and the telecom company has five days to match or exceed the new bid."We will evaluate the situation and make a decision in that time frame," AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said in an e-mail.(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee and Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/straight-path-m-a-at-t-idINKBN17R1S4'|'2017-04-25T11:57:00.000+03:00' 'f4f713085b435570645474c6fb42ca0ba1b99e46'|'UK car industry has its best month in 17 years'|'British car manufacturing enjoyed its best month in 17 years in March fuelled by demand for vehicles from abroad.The number of cars to roll off UK production lines rose by 7.3% last month compared with a year earlier, to 170,691 - the highest number since March 2000. Of these, 130,838 were exported, up 10.6% compared with the previous month. Demand fell at home, however, with the number of cars built for the UK market down 2.2% at 39,853, according to the figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).Hard Brexit ''could increase cost of making a car in UK by £2,400'' Read more A strong March also helped to drive a 17-year quarterly high for UK production in the first three months of 2017, with 471,695 cars built, up 7.6%“UK car manufacturing is accelerating thanks to billions of pounds of investment committed over the past few years,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT’s chief executive.He warned, however, that the current momentum could be undermined should the government fail to negotiate a free trade deal between Britain and the EU during Brexit talks.“Much of our output goes to Europe and it’s vital we maintain free trade between the UK and EU or we risk destroying this success story,” he said.A total of 1.7m cars were produced in Britain in 2016, and the SMMT believes the number could surpass 2m by 2020, breaking the previous record of 1.92m set in 1972.The biggest manufacturers in the UK include Japan’s Nissan in Sunderland, Indian-owned Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands and north-west, and German-owned Mini in Oxford.Hawes said a large part of the work being undertaken in the UK was on developing the latest low emission diesels vehicles.“It is essential for future growth and employment that we encourage these newer, cleaner diesels onto UK roads and avoid penalising consumers who choose diesel for its fuel efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.”Topics Automotive industry Manufacturing sector Nissan Jaguar Land Rover BMW Renault news Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/uk-car-industry-has-its-best-month-in-17-years'|'2017-04-27T14:01:00.000+03:00' '6473b518cfc5a5d9eb92de8a59487b74740e7f21'|'Asian shares retreat from highs after Trump tax plan'|' 57am BST Asian shares retreat from highs after Trump tax plan People walk past an electronic board displaying various Asian countries'' stock price index and world major index outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Issei Kato/File Photo By Hideyuki Sano - TOKYO TOKYO Asian shares ticked down from near two-year high on Thursday after a long-awaited U.S. tax plan failed to inspire investors, though sentiment remains supported by global growth prospects and receding worries about political risks in Europe. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell 0.1 percent after hitting its highest level since June 2015 on Wednesday. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 dipped 0.3 percent. U.S. President Donald Trump proposed slashing tax rates for businesses to 15 percent from the current 35 percent for public corporations and 39.6 percent for small businesses, and on overseas corporate profits returned to the country. But the one-page plan offered no specifics on how it would be paid for without increasing the deficit, which many analysts think would be difficult to achieve. "There were no specifics in terms of funding for the tax cuts. The announcement appeared many thins are still in flux," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX ended down 0.05 percent, failing to cling to earlier gains made on optimistic views on corporate earnings. Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 11.8 percent in the first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The world''s share markets have been bolstered by relief over the first round of the French presidential election and also by signs of solid global economic growth in recent months. The disappointment on the tax plan prompted fall in U.S. bond yields and the U.S. dollar. The 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR slipped to 2.304 percent from two-week high of 2.350 percent touched earlier on Wednesday. The euro traded at $1.0908 EUR= , having bounced back from Wednesday''s low of $1.0856 and near its 4 1/2-month high of $1.09515 touched on Wednesday. The ECB is scheduled to hold a policy meeting on Thursday, with the focus on the potential for a scaling back of monetary stimulus in the months ahead. While no changes are expected, policymakers see scope for sending a small signal in June towards reducing monetary stimulus, according to sources, another factor underpinning the single currency. The dollar slipped to 111.18 yen JPY= from near one-month high of 111.78 yen scored earlier on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan is also expected to keep its policy on hold on Thursday though there is speculation it could drop its commitment to increase its bond holdings by 80 trillion yen per year, a promise it has not stuck to in recent months. The Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso remained under pressure as the United States was readying withdraw Agreement (NAFTA). The Canadian dollar stood at C$1.3616 per U.S dollar CAD=D4 , just above Tuesday''s C$1.3626, its lowest level in 14 months. The Mexican peso MXN=D2 , which earlier this month had recovered all its losses after the U.S. elections, slipped back to six-week low of 19.299 peso per dollar on Wednesday. Oil prices steadied for now after U.S. government data showed a larger-than-expected falloff in crude inventories, which encouraged buying after several days of selling on worries that a global crude glut was persisting despite output cuts by producing countries. [O/R] Brent futures LCOc1 dropped 0.4 percent to $51.63 per barrel in early Asian trade. (Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17T02N'|'2017-04-27T08:38:00.000+03:00' 'd24c1fe0888c9b6b08de2950a74ad09bc316a125'|'Shareholder proxy Glass Lewis recommends vote against Barclays board member'|'Business 1:35pm BST Shareholder proxy Glass Lewis recommends vote against Barclays board member A Barclays sign is seen outside a branch of the bank in London, Britain, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth LONDON Shareholder advisory firm Glass Lewis on Thursday recommended investors vote against the reelection of Ian Cheshire to the board of Barclays ( BARC.L ), saying he has too many commitments to fulfil all his duties. Cheshire is chairman-designate of Barclays''s UK retail bank, which will be separated from the investment bank in 2019 under rules designed to protect savers'' deposits. He also sits on the board of four other companies, including Debenhams Plc ( DEB.L ) and Whitbread Plc( WTB.L ), meaning he may not have sufficient time to discharge his responsibilities effectively, Glass Lewis said. Barclays shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on Cheshire and the bank''s other board members at the bank''s annual general meeting in London on May 10. Barclays declined to comment. The issue of so-called ''over-boarding'' whereby board members of British companies spread themselves too thinly has gained increased attention in recent years. HSBC ( HSBA.L ) last week said Paul Walsh, the former chief executive of drinks maker Diageo ( DGE.L ), is to step down from its board with immediate effect in order to focus on his other commitments. ISS, another shareholder proxy firm, meanwhile advised shareholders abstain from voting to reelect Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley. Staley faces regulatory probes in the U.S. and Britain and criticism from investors following his attempts to unmask a whistleblower at the bank. (Reporting By Simon Jessop and Lawrence White, Editing by Anjuli Davies)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-barclays-board-idUKKBN17T1W9'|'2017-04-27T20:35:00.000+03:00' '9b5d7478574fb49607d4fa0185063a69ae41e665'|'In first 100 days, a reversal of fortune for Trump favourites on Wall Street'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:31pm BST In first 100 days, a reversal of fortune for Trump favourites on Wall Street left right A trader looks at a screen that charts the S&P 500 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/2 left right A screen that charts the S&P 500 is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/2 By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO A funny thing happened on Wall Street in Donald Trump''s first 100 days in the White House: Shares of companies that got closest to the president lagged the market''s march higher. Meanwhile, stocks from sectors that have had less access, and have faced occasional bluster from Trump, such as media and technology, have hopped into the driver seat. Banks, industrials and other companies expected to win from Trump''s policies surged following his unexpected election victory in November. Valuations for many grew stretched. But Wall Street''s change in focus in recent months also reflects concerns among investors that Trump may struggle to enact deep tax cuts and stimulate economic growth as quickly as previously expected. Indeed, the economy grew just 0.7 percent on an annualised basis in the first quarter, the first of Trump''s presidency, as consumer spending stalled. Many of the industries Trump singled out for special attention, like coalminers, steelmakers and oil companies, face major market trends and commodity price fluctuations that he can do little to change. Since Trump''s inauguration on Jan. 20, representatives from nearly 100 publicly-listed companies have visited the White House, with carmakers, healthcare companies, banks and industrials getting more face time than technology companies, retailers and media firms. Shares of companies that have visited the White House since the inauguration have enjoyed a median increase of 3.7 percent, trailing the benchmark Standard & Poor''s 500 Index''s gain of 5.5 percent. But Trump''s recent failure to push a healthcare overhaul through Congress, as well as other miscues, now have investors a little less sure he will be able to make good on his promises. The S&P 500 is near record highs after the administration unveiled a long-awaited proposal Wednesday to steeply cut corporate tax rates. But the plan may be unpalatable to Republican fiscal hawks since it lacks proposals for raising new revenue and would potentially add billions of dollars to the federal deficit. "The stability of the market and its ability to rise is still based on the feeling that the administration may be getting its act together," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. "But at some point investors will ask if any of this stuff is going to happen or if it''s all talk." EARLY WINNERS FADE Since the election, the financial sector .SPSY has risen 19 percent, more than any other. But its gain since the inauguration has been among the weakest, at 3 percent. An investor buying a basket of banks and selling utilities immediately after Trump''s election would have made as much as 29 percent by mid-February. But that gain has since shrunk to 17 percent, according to Vincent Deluard, Vice President, Global Macro Strategy at INTL FCStone Financial Inc. Other "Trump trades" have lost momentum. Investors bet big on steel right out of the gate after Election Day, with the industry seen as a poster child for Trump''s focus on "unfair" trade deals that hurt U.S. producers. The S&P 1500 steel industry group index .SPCOMSTEEL had gained 36 percent by the first week of December. The group is down by more than 13 percent since then, however, and even last week''s executive order to investigate whether U.S. steel companies need additional trade protections under the auspices of national security delivered only a short-lived rebound. Poor earnings from sector heavyweight United States Steel Corp ( X.N ) ruined the party. Trump this month signed an executive order sweeping away Obama-era climate change regulations, saying it would end America''s "war on coal." But reflecting an abundance of cheap natural gas and falling costs of wind and solar power, coal miners CONSOL Energy ( CNX.N ) and Cloud Peak Energy ( CLD.N ) have dropped 16 percent and 32 percent, respectively, in Trump''s first 100 days. Meanwhile, tech stocks that were left out of the early Trump rally have surged recently as investors shift out of low-valuation stocks favoured immediately after the election and back into high-growth stocks like Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ) and Facebook ( FB.O ) that delivered much of the market''s momentum in recent years. In the absence of concrete results from Trump, corporate earnings have taken centre stage, with first-quarter profits of S&P 500 companies expected to surge 13.6 percent, helped by strong international growth. "Earnings are through-the-roof good. Companies are very profitable, and potentially are going to be more profitable with tax-cut legislation," said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. Other stocks seen as out of favour under Trump have also outperformed during his first 100 days. Tesla ( TSLA.O ), which some investors feared could be hurt by the removal of tax incentives for the purchase of its electric vehicles, has surged 27 percent to record highs. And perhaps most telling of all, the media sector - regularly lambasted by Trump for its coverage of him - is up 7 percent since he took office. Even New York Times Co ( NYT.N ), publisher of what Trump has repeatedly disparaged as "the failed New York Times" newspaper, hit a three-year high after the inauguration and is up 10 percent since he moved into the White House. (Reporting by Noel Randewich,; Editing by Dan Burns and Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-stocks-idUKKBN17U2K8'|'2017-04-29T01:31:00.000+03:00' '8853aae1b42e0968c27e971ec5faeea047349f2c'|'Sofas and surveillance: Technology firms and the office of the future'|'FROM the 62nd floor of Salesforce Tower, 920 feet above the ground, San Francisco’s monuments look piddling. The Bay Bridge, Coit Tower and Palace of Fine Arts are dwarfed by the steel-and-glass headquarters that will house the software company when it is completed later this year. Subtle it is not. Salesforce plans to put on a light show every night; its new building will be visible from up to 30 miles away.It is not the only technology company erecting a shrine to itself. Apple’s employees have just begun moving into their new headquarters in Cupertino, some 70 kilometres away, which was conceived by the firm’s late founder, Steve Jobs. The four-storey, circular building looks like the dial of an iPod (or a doughnut) and is the same size as the Pentagon. At a price tag of around $5bn, it will be the most expensive corporate headquarters ever constructed. Apple applied all its product perfectionism to it: the guidelines for the wood used inside it reportedly ran to 30 pages.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 3 hours ago A 16 hours ago Have See all updates Throughout San Francisco and Silicon Valley, cash-rich technology firms have built or are erecting bold, futuristic headquarters that convey their brands to employees and customers. Another example is Uber, a ride-hailing company, which is hoping to recast its reputation for secrecy and rugged competitiveness by designing an entirely see-through head office. It is expected to have some interior areas, as well as a park, that will be open to the public.The exteriors of the new buildings will attract most attention, but it is their interiors that should be watched more closely. The very newest buildings, such as Apple’s, are mostly still under wraps, but they are expected to be highly innovative in their internal layout. Some of that is because of fierce competition within the tech industry for the best engineering and other talent: firms are particularly keen to come up with attractive, productive environments. But these new office spaces will also signal how work is likely to evolve. Technology companies have already changed the way people behave in offices beyond their own industry, as a result of e-mail, online search and collaboration tools such as Slack. They are doing the same for physical spaces.The big idea championed by the industry is the concept of working in various spaces around an office rather than at a fixed workstation. Other industries have experimented with “activity-based working”, but tech is ahead. Employees may still have an assigned desk but they are not expected to be there, and they routinely go to different places to do various tasks. There are “libraries” where they can work quietly, as well as coffee shops, cafés and outdoor spaces for meetings and phone calls. The top two floors of Salesforce Tower, for example, will be used not as corner offices for executives but as an airy lounge for employees, where they can work communally and gaze out at the views over a latté.A fluid working environment is meant to allow for more chance encounters, which could spur new ideas and spark unexpected collaborations. Facebook’s central building is the world’s largest open-plan office, designed to encourage employees to bump into one another in its common spaces and in a nine-acre rooftop garden. Communal areas are meant to be casual and alluring. John Schoettler, head of real estate at Amazon, says he aims to make them into “living-room-like spaces”. For offices to feel like home, it helps to hire a designer with expertise in residential real-estate, says Elizabeth Pinkham of Salesforce. In common areas at the firm’s offices, there are TVs, couches and bookshelves. Framed photos of a few employees add to the effect.The new “working at home”For those who scoff at the creative benefits of being surrounded by pictures of Colin from accounts, there are more tangible payoffs. The lack of fixed workstations shrinks the amount of expensive real estate given to employees without leaving them feeling too squeezed. Tech firms devote around 14 square metres to each employee, around a quarter less than other industries, according to Randy Howder at Gensler, a design firm. Young workers are thought to be more productive in these varied environments, which are reminiscent of the way people study and live at university. One drawback, however, is that finding colleagues can be difficult. Employees need to locate each other through text messages and messaging apps.Collaborative spaces can also expose generational tensions, says Louise Mozingo, an architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Tech firms’ elderly employees (otherwise known as the over-40s) can struggle to adjust to moving around during the day and to the frequent disruptions that come from large, open-plan offices. Many of Facebook’s employees do not like their office because it is noisy, and some Apple employees are hesitant to move into their new building for the same reason. Plenty also balk at the massive distances they will need to walk.That may not be the only thing to cause employees concern. Tech firms are increasingly keen to use their own products in their headquarters. Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, a chipmaking firm whose graphics processing units are widely used in artificial-intelligence programmes, says his firm plans to introduce facial recognition for entry into its new headquarters, due to open later this year.Nvidia will also install cameras to recognise what food people are taking from the cafeteria and charge them accordingly, eliminating the need for a queue and cashier. A self-driving shuttle will eventually zip between its various buildings. And Nvidia’s own AI will monitor when employees arrive and leave, with the ostensible aim of adjusting the building’s heating and cooling systems.The data that firms can collect on their employees’ whereabouts and activities are bound to become ever more detailed. Another way of keeping tabs on people is through company-issued mobile phones. “Every employee has their own tracking device,” observes Mr Howder at Gensler. “Technology firms will sooner or later take advantage of that.”Few of them are willing to share details of their future plans because of concerns about employees’ privacy. However, some of their contractors signal what sort of innovations may be in the pipeline. Office-furniture makers, for example, are experimenting with putting sensors in desks and chairs, so that firms will be better able to monitor when workers are there.Such data could be anonymised to allay privacy concerns. They could also save electricity or help people find an empty room to hold a meeting. But it is not hard to imagine how such data could create a culture of surveillance, where employees feel constantly monitored. “Technology firms could be an indicator of what will happen with privacy in offices more generally,” says David Benjamin of Autodesk, a company that sells software to architects, among other clients.Silent discos and Bedouin tentsA less controversial trend is for unusual office interiors. These can distinguish companies in the minds of their employees, act as a recruiting tool and also give staff a reason to come into the office rather than work from home. For companies that do not ship a physical product, such offices can serve as important daily reminders of culture and purpose.Last year LinkedIn, a professional social network, for example, opened a new building in San Francisco that is full of space set aside for networking, and that includes a “silent disco”, where people can dance to music with headphones on. Instead of offering generic meeting rooms with portentous names, Airbnb, a tech firm that lets people rent out their homes, has designed each of its meeting spaces after one of its rental listings, such as a Bedouin tent from Morocco. It also has a meeting room (pictured above) that is an exact replica of the rental apartment where the founders lived when they came up with the idea for Airbnb. Every detail, including the statue of Jesus in red velvet on top of the fireplace, is accurate, says Joe Gebbia, one of the company’s founders.Nvidia is obsessed with triangles, the basic element of computer graphics used to create lifelike scenes in video games and movies. Its new headquarters, which cost $370m, is shaped like one (see picture), and its interior is full of them. Everything, from the skylights to the benches in the lobby, is triangular. “At this point I’m kind of over the triangle shape, because we took that theme and beat it to death,” admits John O’Brien, the company’s head of real estate, who pointedly vetoed a colleague’s recent suggestion to offer triangle-shaped water bottles in the cafeteria.Three sides to every storey Such workspaces remind staff that they are choosing not just an employer but a way of life. In the tech bubble of the late 1990s companies disrupted the workplace by offering foosball tables, nap pods, blow-up castles and free lunches. Now the emphasis is on amenities that help employees save time. Larger firms, including Facebook, Alphabet and LinkedIn, offer their staff something akin to the services used by the extremely wealthy, helping employees to find places to live, adopt pets and the like. Some large tech groups offer on-site health care.The effect of all this is that the typical office at a technology firm is becoming a prosperous, self-contained village. Employees have fewer reasons than ever to leave. With the spare cash they can throw at their employees, tech giants have vastly raised the bar for other kinds of company, which also want to recruit clever engineers and techies for their projects.Other industries would be wise to take time to watch how tech firms are structuring their work environments. There is certainly a chance of a backlash against those that use their products to watch employees too closely. Workers may like free lunches and other perks associated with the tech business, but probably not enough to surrender their privacy entirely.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Sofas and surveillance"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721423-their-eccentric-buildings-offer-clues-about-how-people-will-work-technology-firms-and-office?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'ad4fd48c995ccc2dac6428751e323be3132792a0'|'U.S. airlines overhaul overbooking after United fiasco'|'Aerospace & Defense - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 4:14pm EDT U.S. airlines overhaul overbooking after United fiasco A United Airline Airbus A320 aircraft lands at O''Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski By Alana Wise and Grant Smith - NEW YORK NEW YORK The backlash against the rough removal of a United Airlines ( UAL.N ) passenger to make room on a crowded flight has opened a divide in the U.S. industry over how to manage flight overbooking, with some renouncing the practice and others offering richer incentives to give up seats. Overbooking is likely to be on the agenda when members of Congress hold hearings on industry behavior in coming weeks. The House Transportation Committee has summoned United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz to testify at the hearing aimed at determining "what can be done to improve the flying experience." United on Thursday increased its maximum incentive to $10,000 for volunteers on overbooked flights. The Chicago-based carrier also said it aimed to reduce overbooking and decrease instances of involuntary denied boarding to "as close to zero as possible." United on Thursday agreed to a settlement, with undisclosed terms, with Dr. David Dao, 69, who was dragged down the aisle of a plane in Chicago on April 9. Southwest Airlines said on Thursday it would no longer overbook flights. The company had the highest forced bumping rate among large U.S. carriers in 2016, according to Transportation Department data. Prior to the United incident, just one of the major U.S. carriers, JetBlue ( JBLU.O ), had a policy explicitly stating it would not overbook flights. Some lawmakers have called for new airline regulations. By taking voluntary steps, carriers could deflect harsher scrutiny, as automakers have done in the past when confronted with safety scandals. Overall, U.S. airlines are relying less on bumping passengers from overbooked flights, even as they increase the share of occupied seats. According to a Reuters analysis of Department of Transportation data, the largest U.S. airlines have increased their domestic and international load factor, which measures how many seats are actually occupied by passengers, to 84 percent in 2016 from 80.8 percent in 2010. In the same period, carriers also decreased the rate of passengers denied boarding on overbooked flights by more than 42 percent from 2010 to 2016. Other airlines, including Delta Air Lines ( DAL.N ), did not renounce overbooking. But Delta increased its maximum passenger incentive to $9,950. American Airlines ( AAL.O ), the world''s largest carrier, updated its conditions of carriage to state that it would not "remove a revenue passenger who has already boarded in order to give a seat to another passenger." The company has not announced other changes to its sales practices. In a post-earnings call after the United incident, Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian defended the company''s policy on overselling flights, arguing that implementation, not the practice itself, was the problem. "Overbooking is a valid business process," Bastian said. "It''s not a question, in my opinion, as to whether you overbook; it''s how you manage an overbook situation." (Reporting by Alana Wise and Grant Smith; Editing by Richard Chang) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-airlines-overbook-idUSKBN17U2TU'|'2017-04-29T00:01:00.000+03:00' 'b646f762f54505d4ac0825ce54f279e8e3005aa9'|'Bank of Japan most upbeat on economy in nine years, but warns stimulus exit distant'|' 11am BST BOJ most upbeat on economy in nine years, but warns stimulus exit distant left right A man riding a bicycle rides past the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 1/2 left right Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda attends a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo, Japan April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 2/2 By Leika Kihara - TOKYO TOKYO The Bank of Japan offered its most optimistic assessment of the economy in nine years at its policy meeting on Thursday and described recent weakness in inflation as temporary, signaling confidence a sustained recovery will help achieve its ambitious price target. The BOJ kept its policy unchanged, as expected, but Governor Haruhiko Kuroda conceded that public perceptions of future price rises remained subdued, suggesting the central bank will significantly lag its U.S. and European peers in exiting its massive stimulus program. The optimism about the economy and caution over the inflation outlook show the BOJ prefers to maintain the status quo on monetary policy for the time being, analysts say. "The inflation and growth projections, as well as the upgrade of its economic assessment, were all in line with market forecasts, so there was no surprise at this meeting," said Yasunari Ueno, chief market economist at Mizuho Securities. "As long as the economy maintains its momentum, the BOJ will likely stand pat at least until next spring, when Kuroda serves out his term." The BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target at minus 0.1 percent and a pledge to guide 10-year government bond yields around zero percent. It also kept intact a loose pledge to buy government bonds so its holdings increase at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($719 billion), defying market speculation the guidance could be removed to pave the way for an eventual withdrawal of stimulus. "Japan''s economy has been turning toward a moderate expansion," the BOJ said a quarterly review of its long-term economic and price projections, compared with the previous month''s view that it was "improving moderately as a trend." It was the first time since March 2008 the BOJ used the word "expansion" to describe the state of the economy, signaling its conviction that the recovery was gaining momentum and that it saw no need for additional stimulus. Despite the rosy economic view, Kuroda reminded markets the central bank is nowhere near an exit from its massive stimulus. "We expect inflation to accelerate toward 2 percent but currently, inflation is around zero percent," Kuroda told reporters after the policy meeting. "Talking about a specific exit strategy now would cause undue confusion in markets," he said. "The prerequisite for such debate to happen is for inflation to achieve 2 percent." Kuroda added that the BOJ had no automatic trigger for starting debate on exiting its ultra-loose monetary policy. DOUBTS ABOUT INFLATION In the quarterly review, the BOJ cut its core consumer inflation forecast for the year ending in March 2018, blaming weak services prices and cellphone bill discounts by carriers facing fierce price competition. But it maintained its projection that inflation will reach 2 percent during the fiscal year ending in March 2019 on the view that a tightening job market would gradually push up wages. Many analysts doubt inflation will accelerate as quickly as the BOJ projects, with slow wage growth keeping households from boosting spending. "The BOJ upgraded its economic assessment, but this is due more to overseas demand. Japan''s labor market is tight, but retailers still want to cut prices," said Shuji Tonouchi, senior market economist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. Kuroda voiced confidence that continued improvements in the economy will eventually boost wages and inflation, but conceded that progress has been slow. "Overall, inflation expectations haven''t shown clear signs of a pick-up. They have bottomed out but haven''t rebounded yet, so we need to look at developments carefully," he said. Japan''s economy has shown signs of life, as exports rose the most in over two years in March and manufacturers'' confidence hit the highest since the global financial crisis a decade ago. But core consumer prices for February rose just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, as weak private consumption has discouraged companies from raising prices. While a pioneer in deploying unorthodox stimulus, the BOJ is likely to lag behind its peers in withdrawing monetary support. The U.S. Federal Reserve is already embarking on interest rate hikes, while the European Central Bank may send a small signal in June towards reducing stimulus. Most analysts polled by Reuters expect the BOJ''s next move to be a tightening of monetary policy, though many do not expect it to happen until next year at the earliest. After more than three years of huge asset purchases failed to accelerate inflation, the BOJ revamped its policy framework last September to one aimed at capping long-term interest rates. (Additional reporting by Stanley White, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Minami Funakoshi; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-japan-economy-boj-idUKKBN17T0CE'|'2017-04-27T17:09:00.000+03:00' '9ad6d0bf57a8a7c91067485cf6cac96079952d11'|'British government cuts stake in Lloyds bank to below 1 percent'|' 41am BST British government cuts stake in Lloyds bank to below 1 percent A man enters a Lloyds Bank branch in central London, Britain February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Paul Hackett LONDON The British government has reduced its holding in Lloyds Banking Group PLC ( LLOY.L ) to less than 1 percent, putting the lender on track to be in full private ownership within weeks. UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI), which manages the government''s stake, resumed share sales in October, having halted them for almost a year due to market turbulence. It said on Friday that its stake stands at 0.89 percent. The government spent more than 136.6 billion pounds rescuing some of Britain''s biggest high street lenders at the height of the financial crisis, including Royal Bank of Scotland ( RBS.L )and Lloyds, but has so far only managed to recoup half of that money. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-lloyds-stake-idUKKBN17U0PH'|'2017-04-28T14:41:00.000+03:00' '69754ce8c93421cabd16a5eaac6a3c87d074d24c'|'UPDATE 1-Japanese PM Abe asks UK PM May for ''smooth Brexit'' for business'|'World News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:19pm EDT Japanese PM Abe asks UK PM May for ''smooth Brexit'' for business left right Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May greets Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan during a visit to Chequers, near Wendover, Britain April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool 1/4 left right Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan (UNSEEN) hold a joint news conference at Chequers, near Wendover, Britain April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool 2/4 left right Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan arrive for a joint news conference at Chequers, near Wendover, Britain April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool 3/4 left right Britain''s Prime Minister Theresa May and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan hold a joint news conference at Chequers, near Wendover, Britain April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool 4/4 By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton - LONDON LONDON Japanese leader Shinzo Abe asked Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday to ensure a smooth Brexit to allow Japanese companies to continue to operate as the United Kingdom exits the European Union. The leader of the world''s third largest economy praised PM May for what he said were attempts to secure Brexit transparency and a transitional period to ease the United Kingdom''s exit from the EU that is scheduled for March 2019. Since the shock June 23 Brexit vote, Japan has expressed unusually strong public concerns about the impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom, the second most important destination for Japanese investment after the United States. "The United Kingdom finds itself in the midst of major changes as it moves towards exiting the EU," Abe said through a translator after lunch with May at Chequers, the country house of the British prime minister. "I requested the prime minister for her continued consideration to ensure the smooth operations of businesses including Japanese companies," Abe said. May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote and now has promised to make a success of the EU divorce, said she updated Abe on the preparations for Brexit. The outcome of the Brexit negotiations will shape the future of Britain''s $2.6 trillion economy, the world''s fifth biggest, and determine whether London can keep its place as one of the top two global financial centers. "I continue to have confidence in the economy of the UK after Brexit," Abe said, adding that Japan and the United Kingdom were the closest of allies on security matters in Asia. BREXIT? May said she wanted to ensure "the UK remains the best place in Europe to run and grow a business, whether it''s one operating at home or abroad." Japanese companies including carmaker Nissan and conglomerate Hitachi have invested more than 40 billion pounds ($52 billion) in the United Kingdom. They employ a total of 140,000 people in the country. "It is important for the global economy that Brexit takes place smoothly and successfully," Abe said. "I evaluate highly the fact that the UK is focusing on securing transparency, predictability and introducing a transitional period." May mentioned SoftBank''s purchase of Britain''s most valuable technology company ARM, Nissan''s commitment to build the new Qashqai model at their plant in Sunderland and Toyota''s 240 million pound investment in Derby as evidence that Japanese business was confident about Brexit. May has said she wants a Brexit deal which will enable Nissan and other automakers to flourish in Britain, and last year the Japanese company said it had received assurances allowing it to increase production at its plant in Sunderland, northeast England. In October, Nissan said it would go ahead with plans to build the next X-Trail and Qashqai SUVs at its Sunderland plant, but gave no details on the type of assurances it had received that the site''s export competitiveness would not be harmed. "In a situation where protectionist trends are becoming pronounced in the world, Japan and Europe and the United States must keep the flag of free trade hoisted high," Abe said. "Japan and the UK see themselves as the standard bearers of free trade." ($1 = 0.7730 pounds) (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Michael Holden and Ralph Boulton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-japan-brexit-idUSKBN17U28K'|'2017-04-29T00:01:00.000+03:00' '81a17fe726a191065db341ef5394ba6ec1f25b9d'|'China''s CGN says Brexit to pose challenges in nuclear cooperation'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 8:20am BST China''s CGN says Brexit to pose challenges in UK operations BEIJING Great Britain''s decision to withdraw from the European Union will bring uncertainties to nuclear cooperation among Britain, China and France, an executive at China''s CGN Power Co Ltd ( 1816.HK ) said on Friday. CGN is awaiting regulatory approval to build two of its own nuclear reactors in Britain and has provided a third of the financing for the construction of two European Pressurised Reactors (EPRs) at Hinkley Point in order to secure future projects in the country. Britain, which is currently negotiating its divorce from the European Union, has stressed that it will be business as usual for the Hinkley Point reactors, although some industry officials say a potentially weaker pound following the country''s EU exit could raise construction costs. Britain will also leave the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), which some exports have said could raise costs, delay new nuclear power projects and complicate research and international cooperation agreements. "Brexit will create some uncertainties," CGN Senior Vice President Zheng Dongshan said at an industry event. "The UK government announced also that it would leave Euratom. How this project will go ahead smoothly, how we will have as good a relationship as we have now - this is the first challenge," he said. He also noted that the UK regulatory environment was very different from China, and even from France. "It is very stringent on nuclear safety. It is a challenge for EDF and for the Chinese team in this environment, not only to fulfil our project targets, but also on nuclear safety and quality and to deliver the project successfully." "Certainly, the project itself will face some risks in costs, in terms of planning," Zheng said. (Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Richard Pullin)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-nuclear-cgn-power-idUKKBN17U0FR'|'2017-04-28T12:29:00.000+03:00' 'c105a197aa8d06ba7c75e806abeab9963d5da112'|'Safran confirms talks to buy Zodiac Aerospace continue'|'PARIS, April 28 Safran said on Friday its talks to buy Zodiac Aerospace were continuing after the French company issued a new profit warning."We confirm that the discussions continue," a spokeswoman for Safran said.Reporting a first-half loss and lower full-year forecasts earlier on Friday, Zodiac Aerospace said it hoped to conclude the $9 billion merger deal with Safran but that it was also studying an alternative. (Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer, Tim Hepher, Editing by Dominique Vidalon)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/zodiac-aero-ma-safran-talks-idINL8N1I028E'|'2017-04-28T05:59:00.000+03:00' '33496dd70649c6d2b336603729c9860671ec9e9c'|'UK mortgage approvals and consumer lending slow in March - BBA'|'Money 10:13am BST UK mortgage approvals and consumer lending slow in March - BBA FILE PHOTO - A sign advertises payday loans in the window of a money lending shop in northeast London October 3, 2013. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett LONDON British banks approved the fewest mortgages in four months in March and consumer credit growth slowed, industry figures showed on Friday, adding to signs of a weakening in economic growth in early 2017. Banks approved 41,061 mortgages for house purchase last month, down from 42,247 in February, the British Bankers'' Association said. Annual consumer lending growth slowed to 6.1 percent from 6.5 percent in February, easing further from October''s 10-year high of 7.2 percent. (Writing by William Schomberg)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-lending-bba-idUKKBN17U14C'|'2017-04-28T17:03:00.000+03:00' '9d4051aa24cdb3a0cd26329f01f3db9697c05711'|'Euro zone inflation may rise quicker than thought in 2017: ECB survey'|'FRANKFURT Euro zone inflation could accelerate more quickly than earlier thought but underlying price growth, a key measure watched by policymakers, will only rise slowly, the European Central Bank''s Survey of Professional Forecasters showed on Friday.The ECB kept its abundant stimulus measures in place on Thursday, arguing that inflation excluding energy and food products has yet to show a convincing upward trend.This suggests that even if growth accelerates, any removal of stimulus will be gradual, lasting years.Headline inflation in the 19 member currency bloc could hit 1.6 percent this year, above a previous forecast for 1.4 percent, then rise to 1.7 percent by 2019, above the 1.6 percent projection from three months ago, the survey based on 56 responses showed.Expectations for inflation in 2021 are meanwhile holding steady at 1.8 percent, just at the ECB''s inflation objective.But underlying inflation expectations remained steady at 1.1 percent for this year and 1.3 percent next year, indicating that the rise in inflation is fuelled by volatile food and fuel prices with little effect on core trends.Growth is meanwhile expected to accelerate more than earlier thought with 2017 growth now seen at 1.7 percent, above an earlier forecasts for 1.5 percent.But growth will then slow steadily in the coming years, first to 1.6 percent next year, then 1.5 percent in 2019, the survey indicated.(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Francesco Canepa)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ecb-policy-survey-idINKBN17U105'|'2017-04-28T06:11:00.000+03:00' '9195fbb1ef978b54b6b92d93bd53faab05a6632b'|'Trump''s faulty trade math may not make America greater, or richer'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 8:45pm BST Trump''s faulty trade math may not make America greater, or richer U.S. President Donald Trump arrives aboard Air Force One at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst By Howard Schneider - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON By U.S. President Donald Trump’s math, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement and other deals will largely pay for the massive tax cuts his cabinet laid out earlier in the week. He is likely off by a factor of close to 10 - or more - according to trade and tax economists who say it does not make sense to think of the world in the two-dimensional, money-in-my-pocket or money-in-yours way that Trump did in a Thursday interview with Reuters. The president, for example, said that given the current $61 billion annual trade deficit with Mexico, the United States would be better off if the two countries did not trade at all, saying "You''ll save yourself a hell of a lot of money." The former real estate developer''s economic assessment appeared to overlook the ways in which a total halt to trade between the two neighbors would ripple through both nations - changing prices, currency values, jobs and wages, arguably helping some industries but damaging others. The net impact of Trump''s calculations, which run counter to most widely accepted views of the benefits of trade, are hard to predict, said Claude Barfield, a trade expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "These views about the trade deficit and its alleged negative impact...are nonsense, and are views he has held since the 1980s," said Barfield. "It could happen," he said of a hypothetical severing of ties between the United States and Mexico, "but the things you would do to make it happen would be hugely disruptive. You''d have to think what are the first- and second-order effects," as industries reorganize and consumers adapt. In the case of Mexico, the American companies that exported a quarter of a trillion dollars of goods and services to that country last year would be out a customer, and likely cut jobs. Those American companies that tried to replace the $323 billion in Mexican imports would likely do so at a higher cost -- assuming they are in the United States to begin with. NO MORE GUACAMOLE AND A SHRINKING SUPPLY CHAIN There is no guarantee that if Trump were to seal the border with Mexico that it would "save" the United States any money, said Marcus Noland, a trade economist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. It may simply reduce consumption through higher prices charged by domestic suppliers, or lead to increased imports from a different country. "Americans seem to really like guacamole," Noland said, "but the idea that we are going to have giant greenhouses and lots of avocados and limes - the fact that we are purchasing them from the Mexicans rather than producing them at home tells you producing them at home is more expensive. We can stop trading with the Mexicans, and have $60 billion less in consumption." Since consumption accounts for a large part of the U.S. economy, that is not an outcome Trump would want, though it would be one way, economists note, to achieve the trade balance the president and his advisers regard as important. Trump told Reuters: "There is no such thing as a trade war when you have a deficit." Most economists disagree with the notion that the trade deficit matters much to a country as large and self-sufficient as the United States. Trade at that scale in particular is shaped by global savings and investment patterns that in recent years have favored the United States. By the statistics most widely accepted among economists, the U.S. position with the rest of the world has been steadily improving as investment flows into the country from abroad and supports millions of jobs. The current account deficit – which includes trade flows, investment, and other financial transfers across borders – has been shrinking for more than a decade and is now less than 2 percent of gross domestic product. As far as the impact of trade on the federal deficit - a separate concept reflecting how much the government spends and how much it collects from businesses and households - Trump said that he was not worried that his plan to cut taxes will result in a sea of red ink "because we will do trade deals that are going to make up for a tremendous amount of the deficits." Economists, however, say any connection is circuitous, felt through channels like an increase in tax payments from new job holders or stronger corporate profits -- but hard to estimate and likely small. Even if Trump achieved his wildest success, and eliminated the United States'' $500 billion trade deficit solely through increased exports that boosted gross domestic product on a dollar-for-dollar basis, it would do little to dent the estimated $7 trillion in government deficits his tax plan is projected to generate over the next decade. Alan Cole, an economist at the Tax Foundation, said that every dollar of gross domestic product generates about 17.6 cents in federal government revenue, meaning the $500 billion trade shortfall would translate into just $88 billion in new taxes. Even that, he said, is wildly generous. "You have to say where is the new production coming from, which people, which places?" Cole said. "Will it be new factories being built, and if so why haven''t they been built already?" (Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by David Chance and Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-analysis-idUKKBN17U2SL'|'2017-04-29T03:41:00.000+03:00' 'b708b4d5b7a9ec2a32f69bab92749cbdaff9c538'|'In first 100 days, a reversal of fortune for Trump favorites on Wall Street'|'Global Energy News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 3:02pm EDT In first 100 days, a reversal of fortune for Trump favorites on Wall Street left right A trader looks at a screen that charts the S&P 500 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/8 left right A trader looks at a screen that charts the S&P 500 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 2/8 left right A screen that charts the S&P 500 is seen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 3/8 left right A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the opening bell in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 4/8 left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the opening bell in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 5/8 left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the opening bell in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 6/8 left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the opening bell in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 7/8 left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly before the opening bell in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 8/8 By Noel Randewich - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO A funny thing happened on Wall Street in Donald Trump''s first 100 days in the White House: Shares of companies that got closest to the president lagged the market''s march higher. Meanwhile, stocks from sectors that have had less access, and have faced occasional bluster from Trump, such as media and technology, have hopped into the driver seat. Banks, industrials and other companies expected to win from Trump''s policies surged following his unexpected election victory in November. Valuations for many grew stretched. But Wall Street''s change in focus in recent months also reflects concerns among investors that Trump may struggle to enact deep tax cuts and stimulate economic growth as quickly as previously expected. Indeed, the economy grew just 0.7 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter, the first of Trump''s presidency, as consumer spending stalled. Many of the industries Trump singled out for special attention, like coalminers, steelmakers and oil companies, face major market trends and commodity price fluctuations that he can do little to change. Since Trump''s inauguration on Jan. 20, representatives from nearly 100 publicly-listed companies have visited the White House, with carmakers, healthcare companies, banks and industrials getting more face time than technology companies, retailers and media firms. Shares of companies that have visited the White House since the inauguration have enjoyed a median increase of 3.7 percent, trailing the benchmark Standard & Poor''s 500 Index''s gain of 5.5 percent. But Trump''s recent failure to push a healthcare overhaul through Congress, as well as other miscues, now have investors a little less sure he will be able to make good on his promises. The S&P 500 is near record highs after the administration unveiled a long-awaited proposal Wednesday to steeply cut corporate tax rates. But the plan may be unpalatable to Republican fiscal hawks since it lacks proposals for raising new revenue and would potentially add billions of dollars to the federal deficit. "The stability of the market and its ability to rise is still based on the feeling that the administration may be getting its act together," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. "But at some point investors will ask if any of this stuff is going to happen or if it''s all talk." - For graphics on ''S&P performance by sector'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2oT1zRO - For graphics on ''Presidential markets'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2ptQvgZ - For graphics on ''Currency and bonds: hope vs reality'' click: tmsnrt.rs/2oTbh6I - For graphics on ''Who has Trump''s ear '' click: tmsnrt.rs/2qbI3DF EARLY WINNERS FADE Since the election, the financial sector .SPSY has risen 19 percent, more than any other. But its gain since the inauguration has been among the weakest, at 3 percent. An investor buying a basket of banks and selling utilities immediately after Trump''s election would have made as much as 29 percent by mid-February. But that gain has since shrunk to 17 percent, according to Vincent Deluard, Vice President, Global Macro Strategy at INTL FCStone Financial Inc. Other "Trump trades" have lost momentum. Investors bet big on steel right out of the gate after Election Day, with the industry seen as a poster child for Trump''s focus on "unfair" trade deals that hurt U.S. producers. The S&P 1500 steel industry group index .SPCOMSTEEL had gained 36 percent by the first week of December. The group is down by more than 13 percent since then, however, and even last week''s executive order to investigate whether U.S. steel companies need additional trade protections under the auspices of national security delivered only a short-lived rebound. Poor earnings from sector heavyweight United States Steel Corp ( X.N ) ruined the party. Trump this month signed an executive order sweeping away Obama-era climate change regulations, saying it would end America''s "war on coal." But reflecting an abundance of cheap natural gas and falling costs of wind and solar power, coal miners CONSOL Energy ( CNX.N ) and Cloud Peak Energy ( CLD.N ) have dropped 16 percent and 32 percent, respectively, in Trump''s first 100 days. Meanwhile, tech stocks that were left out of the early Trump rally have surged recently as investors shift out of low-valuation stocks favored immediately after the election and back into high-growth stocks like Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ) and Facebook ( FB.O ) that delivered much of the market''s momentum in recent years. In the absence of concrete results from Trump, corporate earnings have taken center stage, with first-quarter profits of S&P 500 companies expected to surge 13.6 percent, helped by strong international growth. "Earnings are through-the-roof good. Companies are very profitable, and potentially are going to be more profitable with tax-cut legislation," said Stephen Massocca, Senior Vice President at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. Other stocks seen as out of favor under Trump have also outperformed during his first 100 days. Tesla ( TSLA.O ), which some investors feared could be hurt by the removal of tax incentives for the purchase of its electric vehicles, has surged 27 percent to record highs. And perhaps most telling of all, the media sector - regularly lambasted by Trump for its coverage of him - is up 7 percent since he took office. Even New York Times Co ( NYT.N ), publisher of what Trump has repeatedly disparaged as "the failed New York Times" newspaper, hit a three-year high after the inauguration and is up 10 percent since he moved into the White House. (Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Dan Burns and Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-stocks-idUSKBN17U2JN'|'2017-04-29T01:24:00.000+03:00' 'f457b74d1c2e98bdcbb94a44e07b489e4d68f10b'|'German retail sales stronger than expected in March'|' 36am BST German retail sales stronger than expected in March FILE PHOTO - Placards displaying 50% price reductions, are pictured in a shop window in the western German city of Marl September 11, 2012. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender BERLIN German retail sales unexpectedly rose on the month in March and also jumped more strongly than predicted on the year, data showed on Friday, suggesting consumers contributed to a solid performance by Europe''s biggest economy in the first quarter. The volatile indicator, which is often subject to revision, showed retail sales edged up by 0.1 percent on the month in real terms, the Federal Statistics Office said. That surpassed expectations for a 0.3 percent dip and followed a downwardly revised increase of 1.1 percent in February. On the year, shops sold 2.3 percent more in March, beating forecasts for a 2.0 percent increase in sales. Consumption has become a key growth driver for the German economy, which was traditionally propelled by exports, as Germans revel in record-high employment, increased job security, rising real wages and ultra-low borrowing costs. The data came after a GfK survey showed German consumer sentiment rebounded more than expected heading into May, citing confidence that Europe''s largest economy is heading in the right direction. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber; Editing by Paul Carrel)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-germany-economy-retail-idUKKBN17U0P6'|'2017-04-28T14:36:00.000+03:00' '7a842c9a958dcc433a921105bf5cd9521f31c2b9'|'Japan''s Sharp posts narrower loss for the year, cost cuts paying off'|'TOKYO Sharp Corp on Friday reported a narrower annual loss for the year ended in March, as a cost-cutting drive by Taiwanese owner Foxconn started to show results.The liquid crystal display manufacturer booked an annual net loss of 24.9 billion yen ($224.04 million), much less than the 255.97 billion loss the previous year.The results beat expectations for a 28.4 billion yen loss forecast by an average of nine analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.In the fourth quarter, net profit was 16.2 billion yen, marking the second consecutive profitable quarter after two years of losses.Sharp said it will give its outlook for the current fiscal year on May 26, with Executive Vice-President Katsuaki Nomura saying that it was "natural" that the company would be profitable in the current fiscal year.The company is considering investing in the chip unit of beleaguered Japanese conglomerate Toshiba, although nothing had yet been decided, Nomura said. Following its successful acquisition of Sharp last year, Foxconn is bidding for the unit, which is the world''s second-largest NAND chip maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.Sharp has been deepening co-operation with its parent Foxconn, the world''s largest contract electronics manufacturer, while cutting costs and consolidating production lines.Under the leadership of Foxconn Vice-Chairman Tai Jeng-wu, Sharp, a major supplier of LCD panels to Apple Inc, is plotting its return to the Tokyo Stock Exchange''s first section.As part of its growth strategy the company is on target to begin commercial production of OLED displays in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, it confirmed.(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Randy Fabi and Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-sharp-results-idINKBN17U0RQ'|'2017-04-28T05:03:00.000+03:00' '3111036921cb4bcda9fc00b2f1e183fefcb8f656'|'Icahn''s oil refiner reports plunge in biofuels bill in 1st qtr'|'NEW YORK Biofuels compliance expenses for CVR Energy''s refining unit fell to the lowest level in almost five years during the first quarter, the company said on Thursday, as the U.S. government weighs an overhaul of its renewable fuels policy.The cost of compliance credits required by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) have fallen sharply in recent months, driven in part by a proposal to alter the regulation by shifting the blending burden away from refiners to fuel terminals.The proposal was made in February by Carl Icahn, the majority owner of CVR Energy and an informal adviser to President Donald Trump on regulation. The White House is considering it. CVR said it spent $6.4 million on the compliance credits in the quarter. That was down 85 percent from last year, the company said on a conference call with investors to discuss quarterly earnings. CVR attributed the decline in part to lower prices.Renewable fuel credit prices averaged about 53 cents in the first three months of 2017, about one-third lower than the prior-year, Oil Price Information Service data show. CVR declined to explain in greater detail the full reasons for the sharp reduction. "We don''t discuss our market activity," Chief Executive Officer Jack Lipinski said, when asked by an analyst on the call about how to square the low first-quarter expenses with CVR''s projections of a full-year cost of $170 million. The first-quarter tab was CVR''s lowest since the second quarter of 2012, a review of Securities and Exchange filings showed. CVR positioned itself to slash regulatory costs by deferring the purchase of some $186 million worth of credits it needed to satisfy its biofuels requirements at the end of 2016, the company said in filings in February. Lipinski and Icahn have argued that the U.S. renewable fuels program unfairly punishes independent refiners by pushing them into a highly speculative credit market.Democratic lawmakers have accused Icahn of self-dealing in his proposal to alter the 12-year-old RFS regulation. Icahn has said his proposal is not self-interested because it would help CVR as well as many of CVR''s competitors. The credit market was created under the RFS, which makes refining companies responsible for blending increasing volumes of biofuels like corn-based ethanol into gasoline and diesel each year. Companies without facilities to blend the fuels, like CVR, must purchase credits from those who do.The law aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependence on foreign oil, while giving a boost to farmers who grow corn for ethanol production.(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Chris Prentice; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cvr-energy-biofuels-idUSKBN17T39X'|'2017-04-28T05:47:00.000+03:00' 'b05af45765b4afad7364f6bca12e856eb1f11c08'|'UPDATE 1-Nordic Capital''s Munters to return to listed life with Stockholm IPO'|'* Munters pegs valuation at SEK 10.1 bln* Nordic Capital to sell less than half its stake* Cornerstone investors include Wallenberg-controlled FAM (Adds Nordic Capital comment, background, detail)By Niklas PollardSTOCKHOLM, April 27 Swedish air treatment group Munters, owned by private equity firm Nordic Capital, will return to the Stockholm stock market through an initial public offering (IPO) almost seven years after being taken private, it said on Thursday.Munters said the IPO is expected to value the company''s total equity at 10.1 billion Swedish crowns ($1.15 billion) and that five cornerstone investors had agreed to buy a stake totalling 26 percent of the company.Among these investors, holding company Foundation Asset Management (FAM), controlled by Sweden''s Wallenberg business family, will take a 10 percent stake.Nordic Capital said its Fund VII would also retain significant ownership in Munters."We intend to sell less than half of our ownership stake and keep significant exposure -- really as much as possible -- but we need to create the opportunity for trade in the stock as well," Nordic Capital Partner Joakim Karlsson told Reuters.Reuters reported in March that Munters was likely to publish its intention to float in late April or early May.A successful IPO of Munters, one of the world''s largest makers of climate-control systems, would mark the biggest listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange this year and comes as amid a flurry of record highs in major equity markets."Conditions for listings are good. All the classic criteria, such as very low volatility, overall strong equity markets and a good macro conditions ... are there," Karlsson said.Munters'' IPO estimate pegs the company''s valuation at 17.5 times 2016 operating earnings.The company last week reported first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of 147 million Swedish crowns, up from 119 million crowns a year earlier.Nordic Capital took Munters private in 2010, paying 5.7 billion crowns for its shares after a bidding war with Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval.Since then, Munters has sold a non-core asset to private equity firm Triton and bought several companies, including Rotem and Reventa, two manufacturers of control systems for farms.Carnegie Investment Bank and Goldman Sachs International are joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners for the listing. ($1 = 8.7665 Swedish crowns) (Additional reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/munters-ipo-idINL8N1HZ1R3'|'2017-04-27T05:23:00.000+03:00' '492ac3199f323d2a02164b58f44de4272a29ea6f'|'OMV buys stake in electric car charging company Smatrics'|'VIENNA Austrian energy and petrol station group OMV ( OMVV.VI ) is to buy a 40-percent stake in Smatrics, a company that provides charging points for electric cars, owned by hydropower firm Verbund ( VERB.VI ) and Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ), the Austrian companies said on Thursday.Smatrics manages around 400 charging points in Austria, which Verbund supplies with green power. It also handles the construction and management of charging points at petrol stations, for private households and companies such as retailers Ikea and Rewe, hotels and transport companies."Verbund has green power. OMV has a lot of infrastructure. It basically is a logical combination to try to contribute a little to the reduction of CO2," OMV''s downstream chief Manfred Leitner told reporters.Smatrics'' priority is to expand in Austria and Germany while considering a push into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary at a later date, the companies said.The aim is to increase the number and quality of so-called swift charging stations so that electric cars would be able to drive 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour after five minutes of charging, Verbund chief Wolfgang Anzengruber said.The companies did not disclose the purchase price for the 40-percent stake, which OMV will pay for in cash. Ultimately, OMV and Verbund will each hold 40-percent of Smatrics and Siemens the rest.There were 13,000 electronic vehicles in use in Austria at the end of 2016, Leitner said. In terms of newly registered private cars, Anzengruber said there was a 74-percent rise between the first quarter of last year and this year.In the commercial sector, the numbers more than doubled since 2015, he said."Admittedly this is coming from a low level, but there is something developing here," Anzengruber said."Austria expects its market to include 175,000 electric cars by 2020 and the European Union has defined a 30-percent stake of new registrations for electric mobility by 2030."Smatrics revenues were in the small million-euro-range at present, Anzengruber said. He said investments financed by the company along with European and Austrian subsidies would reach two-digit million euro amounts over the coming years.Siemens and Verbund, together with Austrian steel maker Voestalpine ( VOES.VI ), are also planning to build a plant in Austria to make green hydrogen more suitable for industrial use. OMV and Verbund are also evaluating cooperation in hydrogen projects.(Reporting By Shadia Nasralla. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-omv-verbund-smatrics-idINKBN17T1VC'|'2017-04-27T10:29:00.000+03:00' 'becb8e30551d70e547d75c3700fbd6dc5953b1c5'|'UK Stocks-Factors to watch on April 27'|'April 27 Britain''s FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 0.42 percent on Thursday, according to financial bookmakers. * HENDERSON: Shareholders of British asset manager Henderson Global Investors backed its $6 billion merger with U.S. fund firm Janus Capital on Wednesday, after Janus shareholders approved the deal earlier this week. * TULLOW: Paul McDade, the incoming chief executive of Tullow Oil, said on Wednesday the Africa-focused oil firm''s appointment of its outgoing CEO as chairman may not be best practice but it was in the company''s interest. * GO-AHEAD: British rail operator Go-Ahead Group got green light as ministers will not strip loss-making and deeply troubled Thameslink-Southern rail franchise as they fear it would cause even more chaos for millions of commuters, The Times reported on Thursday. bit.ly/2oNGlof * LLOYDS: British bank Lloyds Banking Group said it has appointed a retired high court judge to investigate its handling of fraud at its HBOS branch in Reading, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. bit.ly/2oNJoNc * OIL: Oil prices dipped on Thursday, weighed down by a general sentiment of globally bloated markets, though traders said that prices seemed to have found support around current levels. * EX-DIVS: Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Informa, ITV , Legal & General, Relx will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday, trimming 5.65 points off the FTSE 100 according to Reuters calculations. * The UK blue chip index closed up 0.2 percent on Wednesday, as gains for Standard Chartered and other companies reporting well-received results helped offset a pullback in healthcare stocks. * For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets * UK CORPORATE DIARY: Allied Minds PLC Full Year 2016 Earnings Release C4X Discovery Holdings Plc Half Year 2017 Earnings Release TODAY''S UK PAPERS > Financial Times > Other business headlines Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * For Top News : topnews.reuters.com (Reporting by Harish Bhaskar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/britain-stocks-factors-idUSL4N1HZ2M3'|'2017-04-27T13:57:00.000+03:00' '22d78ae952bf56d1c58ff58ad7150eba89fe9885'|'Lockheed Martin wins $423 million U.S. defense contract: Pentagon'|'WASHINGTON Lockheed Martin Corp ( LMT.N ) is being awarded a $423 million U.S. defense contract for cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded low-rate initial production Lot 10 F-35 Lightning II aircraft, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-pentagon-idUSKBN17S2XN'|'2017-04-27T05:18:00.000+03:00' '00851b85d9742dbbf58e52fba3b39852dd986396'|'Shares in Japan''s Takata suspended after report on bankruptcy plan'|'By Naomi Tajitsu and Chang-Ran Kim - TOKYO TOKYO Trading in Takata Corp shares report that the Japanese airbag maker at the heart of the car industry''s biggest-ever recall is considering a bankruptcy plan that will create a new company and ringfence its liabilities.The Nikkei business daily reported Chinese-owned car parts maker Key Safety Systems (KSS), the company''s preferred bidder, would sponsor the turnaround plan by injecting 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) and helping create a new operating company.That money would be transferred to Takata to help settle claims linked to faulty air bags that have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide.Agreement on a restructuring deal, eight years after the first death, would enable Takata to draw a line under the crisis and help it continue supplying replacement air bag inflators, as well as selling seat belts and other vehicle components.In a statement, Takata acknowledged that its steering committee had endorsed KSS as a sponsor candidate, but said it had not reached any decision on its restructuring. a group including KSS, a U.S. Corp, and Bain Capital LLC was Takata''s preferred bidder, and would offer around 200 billion yen.Takata has long insisted it prefers a privately arranged restructuring, but people with knowledge of the situation have told Reuters that the company has come under increasing pressure from potential bidders and automaker clients to agree to a court-ordered process, which would provide more transparency. Ltd, which have been paying for recalls for almost a decade, have insisted on the court route - even if that would wipe out shareholder value, hitting the founding Takada family, with a 60 percent stake.Takata''s steering committee and potential bidders have been negotiating for months, with talks dragging due to differences over issues including price and how to handle risks for suppliers, two sources with knowledge of the issue have told Reuters.A spokeswoman for KSS declined to comment, while Hong Kong-based representatives for Bain could not immediately be reached.Discussions that involve the automaker''s likely May before a decision is reached, sources have said.In January, Takata agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing in the United States and to pay $1 billion to resolve a U.S. federal investigation into its inflators.A federal judge in Detroit this month said he plans to name former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller to oversee nearly $1 billion in Takata restitution funds, as part of a U.S. Justice Department settlement.Takata shares are indicated to fall about 8.5 percent from Wednesday''s close.($1 = 111.2200 yen)(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Naomi Tajitsu, Tim Kelly and Junko Fujita; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/takata-restructuring-idINKBN17T0LS'|'2017-04-27T13:46:00.000+03:00' '959c33cc1a92e4f388c952765dddd51fefccdc9e'|'Asian stocks tick up, euro subdued as ECB maintains easing bias'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:02am BST Asian stocks tick up, euro subdued as ECB maintains easing bias A man walks in front of an electronic board showing Japan''s Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, November 10, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Nichola Saminather Asian stocks inched higher on Friday and looked set to close a strong week on a positive note, while the euro slipped after the European Central Bank showed no signs of paring its stimulus program. MSCI''s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.1 percent, putting it on pace to end the week up 1.9 percent, which would be its best week in six. Earlier in the week, it hit an almost two-year high. Japan''s Nikkei .N225 fell 0.1 percent as March industrial output and household spending fell more than expected and consumer inflation remained tepid. But the index was poised for a 3.3 percent weekly gain, its strongest since November. The yen JPY= was steady at 111.23 yen to the dollar, but looked set to end the week weaker, with the dollar posting a 2 percent gain. The dollar index .DXY, which tracks the greenback against a basket of global peers, gained 0.1 percent to 99.198, but is headed for a 0.8 percent weekly loss, thanks to a surge in the euro. On Wall Street, a slew of strong earnings reports from companies including Comcast, PayPal and Intuit propelled the Nasdaq .IXIC to an all-time high. Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ) and Amazon ( AMZN.O ), reporting after the bell, reported profits that beat expectations after the bell, while Microsoft ( MSFT.O ) disappointed. "Most folks were expecting a build in earnings acceleration and that’s what we’ve got. Despite all the economic and geopolitical noise, ultimately the market has been responding to improving earnings," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The S&P 500 .SPX and Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI were flat. Markets are awaiting further direction in the form of first-quarter U.S. gross domestic product data and consumer confidence for April due later in the session. Preliminary data is expected to show U.S. economic growth slowed sharply in January-March to a 1.2 percent annualized rate from 2.1 percent in the previous quarter. Weaker consumer and construction spending likely dragged on activity. Investors are also looking to first-quarter GDP data out of the U.K. and France, and euro-zone inflation figures for April. The euro EUR=EBS , which is on track for its best week in 5 1/2 months, inched down early on Friday after the ECB maintained its ultra-easy policy stance on Thursday as inflation remained tepid, although acknowledging the strength of the euro zone economy. The common currency slipped about 0.1 percent to $1.0861, but remained poised for a weekly gain of 1.3 percent. Oil recovered slightly after touching its lowest level this month overnight on concerns over the restart of two key Libyan oilfields and muted gasoline demand. U.S. crude CLc1 rose about 0.5 percent to $49.23 a barrel, but is headed for a weekly loss of 0.8 percent. (Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUKKBN17U050'|'2017-04-28T09:01:00.000+03:00' 'e021ebf29c0122f85e0c0491aa250ab61100984f'|'Third Point likes opportunities in Europe: letter'|'NEW YORK Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb told investors on Thursday that his $16 billion hedge fund Third Point saw more opportunities in Europe and was positioned to absorb a modest sell-off in U.S. stocks.Third Point took a position in Italian bank Unicredit Spa and German utility E.ON, the firm said in its first quarter letter. During the first three months of the year, Third Point earned a 5.9 percent return.(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-hedgefunds-thirdpoint-europe-idUSKBN17T38B'|'2017-04-28T05:43:00.000+03:00' '86f4b8c6da6288778b787317e177ace9aff5ea17'|'METALS-Copper jumps as French election result boosts metals'|'Company News 17am EDT METALS-Copper jumps as French election result boosts metals * Macron, Le Pen win first round of French vote * European shares surge 2 pct, euro up 1.3 pct * LME/SHFe arb: tmsnrt.rs/2oQ5nm2 (Updates throughout, adds LONDON dateline) By Jan Harvey LONDON, April 24 Copper rose on Monday in line with most other base metals, responding to centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron''s victory in the first round of the French elections which boosted appetite for cyclical assets across financial markets. Sunday''s vote, which could pave the way for pro-EU Macron to beat right-wing rival Marine Le Pen in a deciding vote next month, delivered the outcome broadly favoured by investors. The euro also leapt. "There''s a bit of a risk-on mood after the outcome of the first round of the presidential election in France, which has lent some buoyancy to the prices," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. Nonetheless, copper remains vulnerable to a further correction, he said, after an unwinding of the post-U.S. election reflation trade pulled it back from its first-quarter peaks. "Prices went too high, and there was and still is correction potential," he said. "To me, this is nothing more than a short plateau in the downtrend. I''m convinced that we''ll see copper below $5,500 in a relatively short period of time." * PRICES: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was up 0.5 percent at $5,653 a tonne by 0955 GMT. * FINANCIAL MARKETS: The euro hit five-month highs and European shares rallied 2 pct after centrist Macron won through in the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of a Brexit-like shock. * ANGLO AMERICAN: Anglo American reported a 9 percent rise in overall production for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016, but copper output fell 3 percent due to poorer grades and a temporary suspension at the El Soldado mine in Chile. * KOREA: North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, in the latest sign of rising tension as U.S. President Donald Trump prepared to call the leaders of China and Japan. * MARKET SURPLUS: The global refined copper market had a 51,000 tonne surplus in January, up from a 44,000 tonne surplus in January last year, the International Copper Study Group (ICSG) said. * TECHNICALS: LME copper may fall to $5,592 a tonne following its failure to break resistance at $5,689, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. LME aluminium may test support at $1,931 per tonne, he said. * ALUMINIUM STOCKS: Aluminium stocks in LME-registered warehouses MAL-STOCKS fell another 9,625 tonnes on Friday, exchange data showed, taking them to their lowest since Nov. 2008. * OTHER METALS: LME aluminium was up 0.3 percent at $1,938.50 a tonne. Zinc was up 1.1 percent at $2,611.50 a tonne, while lead was 0.2 percent higher at $2,146. Tin was down 0.2 percent at $19,720 a tonne, and nickel was up 0.2 percent at $9,360. (Additional reporting by James Regan in Sydney. Editing by Jane Merriman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/global-metals-idUSL4N1HW31D'|'2017-04-24T18:17:00.000+03:00' '54c6f9a6872676adb721a57a41594c8ebc74b05f'|'Baidu reports 6.8 percent rise in quarterly revenue'|'Chinese internet company Baidu Inc ( BIDU.O ) forecast current-quarter revenue largely below estimates, sending its U.S.-listed shares down about 6 percent in extended trading on Thursday.The company said it expects second-quarter revenue of 20.47 billion yuan to 20.98 billion yuan ($2.97 billion-$3.04 billion), while analysts were expecting revenue of 20.84 billion yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Baidu also said Jennifer Li would step down as chief financial officer to become chief executive at its investment firm Baidu Capital.The company has shuffled management, rolled out new products and invested heavily in local and foreign firms in a wide-scale restructuring effort after its lucrative healthcare advertising business was curbed by the Chinese government.Baidu''s revenue in the first quarter rose to 16.9 billion yuan ($2.45 billion) from 15.82 billion yuan a year earlier. That growth is above a Thomson Reuters'' survey of 13 analysts, which estimated a 6.4 percent rise in revenue.The company in February forecast first-quarter revenue of 16.48 billion-17.03 billion yuan.Net income attributable to Baidu fell to 1.78 billion yuan in the quarter ended March 31, from 1.99 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said.Baidu''s U.S.-listed shares fell 6.1 percent to $176.43 after the bell on Thursday.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru and Cate Cadell in Beijing; Editing by Martina D''Couto)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/baidu-results-idINKBN17T33E'|'2017-04-27T18:44:00.000+03:00' 'cf355d4747296af1a7d74e328d4b1182e4bd29a3'|'EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging assets shine in April, rouble to snap 4 months of gains'|' 35am EDT EMERGING MARKETS-Emerging assets shine in April, rouble to snap 4 months of gains (There will be no emerging markets report from London on Monday, May 1 due to a UK public holiday) By Karin Strohecker LONDON, April 28 Emerging equities slipped on Friday but were set for a fourth straight month of gains and currencies too have mostly strengthened in April, with the exception of the rouble which snapped a four-month winning streak. A weaker dollar after U.S. President Donald Trump failed to push ahead on key election pledges in his first 100 days in office, some easing of geopolitical concerns and healthy data has whetted investors'' appetite for riskier assets this month. "April has been good for emerging markets, as well as the first quarter, and historically that is the case," Unicredit strategist Kiran Kowshik said, adding that May could prove more challenging. "What could be the catalyst? Markets had priced out protectionism but there will be many curve balls," he said, referring to Trump''s surprise announcement in a Reuters interview that he would fix or scrap his country''s "horrible" trade deal with Asian export giant South Korea. His comments weighed on South Korean and Chinese markets on the day, dragging MSCI''s emerging markets benchmark 0.2 percent lower in their third day of losses. Yet thanks to previous stellar gains, the index is poised for a 1.6 percent weekly gain and 2 percent monthly rise. The dollar nudging higher for a third straight session kept emerging currencies in check though many were on track for monthly gains. Turkey''s lira looked to strengthen nearly 2 percent against the dollar in April, extending a two-month winning streak. Central Bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya said in his quarterly inflation presentation that he expected inflation to start falling in the coming months and policymakers would tighten monetary policy further if needed. His comments contrasted with those from an aide to President Tayyip Erdogan saying that the president wanted to see a more "relaxed and generous central bank" and calling Wednesday''s move to raise the late liquidity window unnecessary. Meanwhile, latest data showed a 17 percent decline in tourism revenues in the first quarter, underscoring challenges to Turkey''s economy. South Africa''s rand has gained nearly 1 percent in April despite a roller coaster ride following the acrimonious departure of its respected finance minister late-March. In Russia, the rouble traded flat ahead of a central bank decision which is expected to see interest rates cut by 25 basis points amid easing inflation. Over the month, however, the rouble looks to fall for the first month in five, having eased around 1.3 percent. Rabobank analysts predicted a 50 bps cut to 9.25 percent. "Such a move would not only reflect rising confidence amongst policy makers that they will achieve their goal to bring inflation in line with the official 4 percent target, but we would also interpret a large cut as an attempt to dent demand for the rouble amongst carry trade market players," they wrote. For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2e7eoml For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance 2017, see tmsnrt.rs/2dZbdP5 Emerging Markets Prices from Reuters Equities Latest Net Chg % Chg % Chg on year Morgan Stanley Emrg Mkt Indx 978.73 -0.93 -0.09 +13.51 Czech Rep 1003.61 +1.49 +0.15 +8.90 Poland 2391.00 +8.22 +0.34 +22.75 Hungary 32932.73 -26.89 -0.08 +2.90 Romania 8199.38 +14.61 +0.18 +15.73 Greece 706.99 +0.48 +0.07 +9.84 Russia 1116.40 +9.48 +0.86 -3.12 South Africa 47108.24 +123.79 +0.26 +7.30 Turkey 94223.02 -59.46 -0.06 +20.58 China 3154.57 +2.38 +0.08 +1.64 India 29957.36 -72.38 -0.24 +12.51 Currencies Latest Prev Local Local close currency currency'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/emerging-markets-idUSL8N1I02VM'|'2017-04-28T17:35:00.000+03:00' '9910f96bcf8a0d082fa220d2157635e5a296b5a3'|'OMV buys stake in electric car charging company Smatrics'|'Deals - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 8:29am EDT OMV buys stake in electric car charging company Smatrics VIENNA Austrian energy and petrol station group OMV ( OMVV.VI ) is to buy a 40-percent stake in Smatrics, a company that provides charging points for electric cars, owned by hydropower firm Verbund ( VERB.VI ) and Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ), the Austrian companies said on Thursday. Smatrics manages around 400 charging points in Austria, which Verbund supplies with green power. It also handles the construction and management of charging points at petrol stations, for private households and companies such as retailers Ikea and Rewe, hotels and transport companies. "Verbund has green power. OMV has a lot of infrastructure. It basically is a logical combination to try to contribute a little to the reduction of CO2," OMV''s downstream chief Manfred Leitner told reporters. Smatrics'' priority is to expand in Austria and Germany while considering a push into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary at a later date, the companies said. The aim is to increase the number and quality of so-called swift charging stations so that electric cars would be able to drive 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour after five minutes of charging, Verbund chief Wolfgang Anzengruber said. The companies did not disclose the purchase price for the 40-percent stake, which OMV will pay for in cash. Ultimately, OMV and Verbund will each hold 40-percent of Smatrics and Siemens the rest. There were 13,000 electronic vehicles in use in Austria at the end of 2016, Leitner said. In terms of newly registered private cars, Anzengruber said there was a 74-percent rise between the first quarter of last year and this year. In the commercial sector, the numbers more than doubled since 2015, he said. "Admittedly this is coming from a low level, but there is something developing here," Anzengruber said. "Austria expects its market to include 175,000 electric cars by 2020 and the European Union has defined a 30-percent stake of new registrations for electric mobility by 2030." Smatrics revenues were in the small million-euro-range at present, Anzengruber said. He said investments financed by the company along with European and Austrian subsidies would reach two-digit million euro amounts over the coming years. Siemens and Verbund, together with Austrian steel maker Voestalpine ( VOES.VI ), are also planning to build a plant in Austria to make green hydrogen more suitable for industrial use. OMV and Verbund are also evaluating cooperation in hydrogen projects. (Reporting By Shadia Nasralla. Editing by Jane Merriman) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-omv-verbund-smatrics-idUSKBN17T1VC'|'2017-04-27T16:29:00.000+03:00' '6194b6ed38d43f91258eb8a7bb6faadbc193f612'|'Coca-Cola''s profit plunges 20 pct on bottling refranchising costs'|'By Sruthi Ramakrishnan Coca-Cola Co said on Tuesday it would cut about 1,200 jobs as the beverage maker expands its savings target amid falling demand for fizzy drinks globally.Shares of the Dow component were up marginally at $43.39.Coca-Cola and rival PepsiCo Inc''s soda sales have taken a hit as consumers in North America and Europe increasingly shun sugary drinks.Global soda sales fell 1 percent in the first quarter ended March 31, Coca-Cola said on Tuesday.The Atlanta-based company said it was increasing its cost-cutting target by $800 million in annualized savings and now expects to save $3.8 billion by 2019.The majority of the additional savings would come from the corporate job reductions, incoming Chief Executive James Quincey said on a post-earnings conference call.The company, which also reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit, said it expects to reinvest at least half of the $800 million saved to mainly boost growth in its non-carbonated drink business."We are not too worried about this quarter''s miss," RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi wrote in a note."The important thing is that KO is raising its cost-saving estimates and we believe there is more to go."The job cuts would start in the second half of 2017 and carry into 2018, Coca-Cola said.The company also forecast a smaller decline in 2017 adjusted profit than it had previously expected.Coca-Cola said on Tuesday it expects full-year adjusted profit to fall 1-3 percent, compared with the 1-4 percent decline it forecast in February.The company is offloading much of its low-margin bottling business to reduce expenses, but costs associated with the refranchising have been higher than expected, weighing on profit.Coca-Cola said it recorded a charge of $84 million related to the refranchising in North America in the latest quarter.Net income attributable to the company''s shareholders fell 20.3 percent to $1.18 billion, or 27 cents per share, from a year earlier.Excluding items, the company earned 43 cents per share, missing analysts estimates by a cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Revenue fell 11.3 percent to $9.12 billion, declining for the eighth straight quarter.(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/coca-cola-results-idINKBN17R18Q'|'2017-04-25T19:05:00.000+03:00' 'f95270acbaba7918a8ec70359a53021a07713a5b'|'SAP first-quarter core profit up 8 percent on accelerating cloud sales'|'Business 00am BST SAP first-quarter core profit up 8 percent on accelerating cloud sales FILE PHOTO: The logo of German software group SAP is pictured in Vienna, Austria, July 25, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo FRANKFURT SAP ( SAPG.DE ), Europe''s largest software company, reported slightly lower-than-expected first-quarter core profit as it sold more of its cloud products, which are less profitable. First-quarter operating profit, excluding special items, for the German software maker rose 8 percent to 1.198 billion euros (£1.02 billion), the company said in a statement on Tuesday. That was slightly below the average of 1.229 billion euros in a Reuters poll of 13 analysts, with individual estimates ranging from 1.183 billion to 1.298 billion. Revenues rose 12 percent to 5.285 billion euros, which was above average expectations of 5.179 billion. SAP''s customer base moved further to newer cloud-based and less profitable Internet platforms from classic high-margin packaged software products it has sold for decades. New cloud bookings jumped 49 percent to 215 million euros during the first quarter. "We continued our rapid expansion in cloud," SAP''s finance chief Luka Mucic said in a statement. "We''re off to a good start to reach our full-year targets and we are confident that we will grow our profitability in 2018 and beyond." SAP said it still expects revenue for 2017 of 23.2 to 23.6 billion euros, while operating profit is seen at 6.8-7.0 billion euros, both at constant currencies. SAP shares were indicated to open 1.1 percent lower at the bottom of the German blue chip index .GDAXI which is indicated to open 0.5 percent higher, according to pre-market data of German brokerage Lang & Schwarz. SAP shares reached an all-time high of 92.99 euros on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of more than 112 billion euros. SAP is Europe''s most valuable technology company. (Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-sap-results-idUKKBN17R0FO'|'2017-04-25T14:00:00.000+03:00' '8fe935d308db29be4088dbd900735cc5340717f1'|'EU dismisses Russian ''bullying'' allegation'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:48pm BST EU dismisses Russian ''bullying'' allegation BRUSSELS An international law firm failed to produce evidence to back up an unusual accusation that EU officials investigating trade dumping had "bullied" managers at big Russian steelmakers, the EU executive said on Friday. The European Commission said its Disciplinary Office (IDOC) had decided not to open an inquiry into two staff cited in a complaint made by Dentons last May on behalf of two big Russian steel firms, NLMK ( NLMK.MM ) and Severstal ( CHMF.MM ), both of which have since been hit by punitive tariffs from Brussels. "No elements of proof were found by IDOC, even to justify the opening of an inquiry," the Commission said in a statement, adding it held staff to the "highest ethical standards". "There was no element of proof ... put forward by the law firm." A partner at Dentons'' Brussels office, contacted by email, said the firm would not comment before next week. (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eu-russia-trade-idUKKBN17U2LO'|'2017-04-29T01:48:00.000+03:00' 'c252b2d52c3832f9006b88f5db776c1af98827ab'|'In a fix: A giant cement firm may have unwittingly funded Islamic State'|'KEEPING cool in the heat of war is not easy. That might help explain why LafargeHolcim, a French-Swiss cement-maker, blundered so badly while running operations in Syria as fighting raged. On April 24th the firm said that its chief executive, Eric Olsen, will go, a casualty of a growing scandal over its activities in the country.The board of the world’s biggest cement producer stated only last month that Mr Olsen was not responsible for, nor aware of, wrongdoing by the firm in Syria. But public pressure has been increasing, notably after Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a left-wing candidate in France’s presidential election, attacked the firm and its “damned cement” in a television debate on April 4th. François Fillon, a pro-business rival, agreed the firm should be punished if allegations against it proved to be true.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 2 hours ago A See all updates At issue is the activity of Lafarge before the firm’s merger with its Swiss rival, Holcim, in 2015. In 2010 Lafarge had built a cement factory of 240 workers for $680m near Kobane, a north Syrian town. Operations there continued until 2014, long after the violence began in 2011. The firm evacuated foreigners in 2012; local workers fled in September 2014 as Islamic State (IS) fighters seized the plant.It looks extraordinary that managers hung on for so long after other foreign firms fled Syria—most did so soon after violence flared. Lafarge is accused of paying, via third parties, local armed groups, including some designated as terrorists, to keep the plant open and its staff secure. A report last year in Le Monde , a French paper, said the firm might unwittingly have funded IS.LafargeHolcim said then that it “completely rejects the concept of financing of designated terrorist groups”. But in March this year, after an internal independent inquiry into possible dealings with armed groups, its board said the investigation had found that measures taken by staff had been “unacceptable” and described “significant errors of judgment” which contravened the firm’s code of conduct. Senior managers, not only local staff, knew “violations of Lafarge’s established standards” were likely. In March the firm said that Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge before the merger and now co-chairman of the merged firm, will not seek re-election.Evidence of exactly what happened in Syria is piling up. A Norwegian security officer at the plant for two years to 2013 has given details in a book of how he visited local militants to exchange information, “creating alliances” to cope with a power vacuum. France’s economy ministry filed a complaint with prosecutors in September 2016 and legal proceedings are ongoing.LafargeHolcim’s troubles do not end there. The company has also attracted criticism from Emmanuel Macron, one of the two candidates in the second round of the election (see article ), and from other French politicians for saying it was ready to supply cement for Donald Trump’s planned wall along America’s border with Mexico. The giant firm’s market value is stuck at 15% below its level in July 2015, when it began trading, as it struggles to cut costs and generate earnings. The company doubtless hopes that Mr Olsen’s resignation will help to put at least one of its headaches behind it. "In a fix"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721437-boss-lafargeholcim-resigns-over-scandal-syria-giant-cement-firm-may-have?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' '857b3bef76636738b6c428c206e521670198fe10'|'UPDATE 1-Mexico''s Televisa sees 1st-qtr profit surge on forex gains'|'(Adds details on results, background, share price)MEXICO CITY, April 26 Mexican broadcaster Grupo Televisa''s first-quarter profit jumped on Wednesday, rising 125 percent compared with the same quarter last year, largely thanks to currency fluctuations.Televisa, a media giant known for its "telenovela" soap operas, reported a first-quarter profit of 1.35 billion pesos ($72.1 million), up from 600.43 million pesos in the first quarter of 2016.In the January-March period, the company''s sales rose 2 percent to 22.18 billion pesos.The peso had been weakening against the dollar in 2016, and reached a series of historic lows after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to rewrite trade regulations between the two countries.Since the start of the year, as Trump''s trade rhetoric has appeared to soften, the peso has outperformed peers.Televisa said its financing expenses decreased, mainly due to a favorable change in foreign exchange income fueled by the peso''s appreciation against the dollar.Televisa, the world''s largest maker of Spanish-language content, has been subject to tougher regulations since 2014 as part of a sweeping sector reform aimed at making the market more competitive.Televisa has chafed against the new measures, which it argues come as the sector already faces greater competition, both from new technologies and competitors.Shares in the company closed down 0.62 percent at 97.56 pesos before earnings were reported.($1 = 18.7275 Mexican pesos end-March) (Reporting by Mexico City newsroom; editing by Sandra Maler, G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/televisa-results-idUSL1N1HY2L5'|'2017-04-27T08:02:00.000+03:00' '15e745e647c667abdbfee9b9ca55083a8b318ead'|'YOUR MONEY-Older couples ponder financial impact of divorce'|'By Beth Pinsker - NEW YORK, April 26 NEW YORK, April 26 What makes couples want to split after decades of marriage?The future."They look at their spouses and say: ''I have between 20 and 30 years left, and I don''t want to spend it with you,'' " says John Slowiaczek, a divorce lawyer in Omaha, Nebraska, who is president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.But the older you are and the longer the marriage, the more complicated the divorce typically is financially. Sometimes it is so daunting that couples end up living apart for years without filing for a formal divorce. Nevertheless, the number of so-called "gray divorces" of those over 50 has doubled in the last 25 years, according to the Pew Research Center.Divorce lawyers and financial professionals put a somewhat higher age on the gray divorces, with people in their 60s splitting up after long-term marriages or second marriages, with grown children. Slowiaczek''s oldest client is 90.Since these tend to be unhappy stories, emotional baggage can cloud financial negotiations. For example, Slowiaczek explained that his 90-year-old client sought a divorce as part of an inheritance battle between his sons from his first marriage and his current wife''s children.To avoid costly legal fees in a heated battle, sometimes a long separation helps."There''s a cooling off period," said Sara Stanich, a certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA) based in New York. Later on, couples can file official paperwork, often with less to fight about.One woman in her 60s talked to financial planner Cynthia Turkington, of North Oaks, Minnesota, for 45 minutes about her financial situation before mentioning in an off-hand way that she was still married and had no formal separation agreement with her husband, even though they had been living apart for more than three years.Turkington, also a CDFA, offered this advice. "Clarify that situation before you can look at assets."LEGAL SEPARATIONA legal separation is crucial for several reasons. If you do not formalize the split, you may be liable for debts your spouse incurs during the time period you are apart, even if you know nothing about them. Your estranged spouse also can make medical and financial decisions if you are incapacitated and will likely inherit your estate automatically upon your death.In addition, retirement accounts cannot be split without a divorce decree. So, if you are the spouse due a share of a pension or 401(k), you will have no claim to those funds unless your spouse dies and you inherit a death benefit.Lili Vasileff, a CFDA in Woodbridge, Connecticut, said some couples are now putting together "post-nuptial" agreements when they physically separate, just so there are rules for financial arrangements to cover things like disposable income and debts.One reason many couples extend their financial entanglements is to stretch health insurance coverage for one spouse until Medicare kicks in at 65. The Affordable Care Act made some of these machinations unnecessary, and corporate policies have started to restrict coverage of separated spouses. But even if there is no coverage issue involved, there can still be heavy costs - both financial and emotional - that keep people tethered.Andrea Vacca, a collaborative divorce attorney and mediator in New York, had a client who put off a divorce when one spouse got Parkinson''s. They had plenty of assets, but were concerned about who would take the lead in caring for the sick spouse.SPLITTING ASSETSFor older couples, the marital home seems less of a concern. Many are ready to downsize anyway, and they simply sell and split the proceeds. But Slowiaczek still sees a precarious situation where one spouse will be emotionally connected to the house.This spouse will buy out the other spouse, using his or her share of the other''s retirement account. But taxes complicate the process. A house''s equity is valued in post-tax dollars while a pension or IRA is pre-tax, so there is a differential that often works against the spouse with less money.The bottom line: getting divorced close to retirement basically cuts your retirement readiness in half, said Slowiaczek."Your cost of living is less, but not necessarily half, and you can''t live to the same standard," Slowiaczek said. (Editing by Lauren Young and Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/money-retirement-divorce-idINL1N1HX0XR'|'2017-04-26T15:53:00.000+03:00' 'fd6e6050913f9f4a0c1e5ba53a41e3984600a915'|'Big-data analytics company Cloudera surges in market debut'|'Shares of Cloudera Inc ( CLDR.N ) surged as much as 24 percent in their stock market debut on Friday, the latest in a string of technology initial public offerings this year, giving the big-data analytics company a market value of about $2.3 billion.Cloudera''s offering of 15 million shares was priced at $15 per share, above its expected range of $12-$14, and raised $225 million.Shares opened at $17.80 on the New York Stock Exchange and hit a high of $18.64 in early trading.Cloudera helps businesses store, process and analyze data through Hadoop, an open-source software system that can sort and handle massive amounts of information.The company has more than 1,000 customers, including Dish Network Corp ( DISH.O ), Citigroup ( C.N ), MasterCard ( MA.N ) and Cisco Systems ( CSCO.O ).Its closest rival, Hortonworks Inc ( HDP.O ), whose offerings are also tied to Hadoop, went public in February last year. Hortonworks'' shares had climbed about 11 percent since then.Palo Alto, California-based Cloudera''s valuation is a steep fall from the $4.1 billion it was once valued at in the private market.Investors including chipmaker Intel Corp ( INTC.O ) piled into Cloudera several years ago when a flood of money into private technology companies pushed valuations skyward.This year has been a hotbed for technology IPOs after a dull 2016, which marked the slowest year for such IPOs since 2008, when just 20 technology companies went public.The number of U.S. IPOs has more than tripled so far in 2017, compared to year-ago levels, with the technology sector leading the issuance market, according to Thomson Reuters data.Snap Inc ( SNAP.N ), the owner of the popular image-sharing app Snapchat, grabbed eyeballs when it went public last month in the biggest technology IPO in three years.Cloudera, founded in 2008, is backed by Fidelity Investments as well as high-profile investors including T. Rowe Price and Google Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc ( GOOGL.O ).Intel will hold a 19.4 percent stake in the company after its IPO.Cloudera''s revenue for the year ended Jan. 31 was $261 million, increasing 57 percent from a year ago. It reported a net loss of $185.3 million and is yet to post a profit.Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Allen & Co LLC were among the top underwriters to the IPO, which was widely anticipated by investors for over a year.(Reporting by Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-cloudera-ipo-idINKBN17U27D'|'2017-04-28T12:53:00.000+03:00' '89ba719ab9c72410aa853033f978abf17cff4777'|'Boeing seeks U.S. anti-dumping probe against CSeries jet'|' 10:31pm BST Boeing seeks U.S. anti-dumping probe against CSeries jet FILE PHOTO: The Boeing Company logo is projected on a wall at the ''''What''s Next?'''' conference in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo PARIS/NEW YORK Boeing Co ( BA.N ) said on Thursday it had asked the U.S. Commerce Department for an investigation into alleged subsidies and unfair pricing for Canadian planemaker Bombardier''s ( BBDb.TO ) CSeries airplane. The request for anti-dumping measures was also addressed to the U.S. International Trade Commission, a federal trade agency, the U.S. planemaker said in a statement. "Bombardier has embarked on an aggressive campaign to sell CSeries aircraft into the U.S. market at absurdly low prices – less than $20 million for airplanes that cost $33 million to produce, based on publicly available information," Boeing said in an emailed statement. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-boeing-bombardier-idUKKBN17T37J'|'2017-04-28T05:31:00.000+03:00' '425489ed34b5d66710dccd394a9bf2ed0e4d12cc'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'(Adds Time Inc, Siemens, CVC; Updates Belle International, Zodiac)April 28 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1300 GMT on Friday:** Time Inc said its board had evaluated a number of expressions of interest but decided to pursue its own strategic plan, sending its shares down 19 percent in premarket trading.** Germany''s Siemens has moved into journey planning with the purchase of privately-owned Hannover-based firm HaCon to complement its transportation business, which it has been talking about merging with Bombardier''s.** CVC Capital Partners has agreed to take control of Swiss watchmaker Breitling in a deal that sees another iconic Swiss brand lose independence.** One of Britain''s biggest pension scheme investors has called on Dutch paintmaker Akzo Nobel to engage with U.S. suitor PPG Industries over a revised bid and criticized the board''s handling of the issue.** A consortium led by private equity firms Hillhouse Capital Group and CDH Investments offered to buy Belle International Holdings Ltd in a deal valuing the entire Hong Kong-listed shoe retailer at about $6.8 billion.** The Delhi High Court has approved a settlement of the $1.18 billion dispute between Tata Sons and NTT DoCoMo, allowing the Indian firm to buy out the Japanese firm''s stake in the telecoms joint venture, TV news channels reported.** Anglo-South African financial services group Old Mutual is selling its 26 percent stake in an Indian insurance joint venture Kotak Mahindra Bank for 156 million pounds ($201.75 million), as part of the group''s planned break-up into four parts.** Bayer''s chief executive acknowledged that he will face an uphill battle to improve Monsanto''s reputation once Bayer completes the takeover of the U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company.** A leading advisor to pension schemes and other investors called for a review of Germany''s rules around takeovers, in light of a planned takeover of U.S. agrochemicals company Monsanto by Bayer .** Zodiac Aerospace''s chief executive has offered his resignation after another profit warning from the French company, which is continuing talks with Safran to seal a merger and end a crisis in its aircraft seat factories.** Hedge fund TCI Fund Management renewed pressure on France''s Safran to suspend its bid to buy Zodiac Aerospace after the aircraft seats maker issued a second profit warning in as many months.** The world''s biggest container shipping company, Maersk Line, will pay 3.7 billion euros ($4.02 billion) for its acquisition of smaller German rival Hamburg Sud, it said.** A group backed by KKR & Co said it would not undertake further work on a takeover offer for Australia''s Tatts Group Ltd after its A$6.15 billion ($4.60 billion) cash bid was rejected by the lottery operator''s board.** Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced negotiations to acquire U.S. telephone conferencing services provider West Corp, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.** China Shengmu Organic Milk Ltd said that a deal to sell a controlling stake to Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co Ltd was scrapped after it failed to get regulatory approval from Chinese authorities before a deadline last week.** Mexican breadmaker Grupo Bimbo said on Thursday it has entered the African market with the purchase of Adghal, a Morocco-based producer of baked goods.** The Federal Trade Commission gave a private equity firm approval on Thursday to sell to Dollar General Corp 323 stores that Sycamore purchased as part of a divestiture package two years ago, the agency said on Thursday.** Suncor Energy Inc, Canada''s largest energy producer, is still evaluating opportunities for oil sands acquisitions in northern Alberta as foreign oil majors exit the high-cost region, Chief Executive Steve Williams said on Thursday.** Italy''s Atlantia has agreed to sell 10 percent of its domestic motorway unit to a series of investors including Allianz for 1.48 billion euros ($1.6 billion) as it presses ahead with plans to bid for Spanish rival Abertis. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL4N1I04K3'|'2017-04-28T11:10:00.000+03:00' '3d226f85f066fe3ec857f3f3bb9347aad29c64aa'|'Singapore''s United Overseas Bank first-quarter net up 5.4 percent, asset quality stable - Reuters'|'SINGAPORE Singapore''s United Overseas Bank ( UOBH.SI ) posted a 5.4 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Friday, driven by higher net interest income and trading income.The smallest of Singapore''s three listed lenders is the first to report results for the sector, which has been hobbled by debt payment woes in the city state''s oil services industry.It said its asset quality remained sound and its non-performing loans ratio was stable at 1.5 percent.Net profit rose to S$807 million ($578 million) in January-March from S$766 million a year earlier, while specific allowance on loans declined. Total income grew 7.8 percent to S$2.12 billion."We started the year on a bright note with a steady growth trajectory from our core businesses. Against an unpredictable and volatile macro backdrop, we have maintained a resilient portfolio and strong balance sheet," CEO Wee Ee Cheong(Reporting by Anshuman Daga; Editing by Stephen Coates)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/uob-results-idINKBN17U006'|'2017-04-27T22:02:00.000+03:00' '95f2d6c5809b4f282534732983603664d974427e'|'Delhi High Court approves $1.18 billion settlement of Tata-DoCoMo dispute - TV'|'NEW DELHI The Delhi High Court has approved a settlement of the $1.18 billion dispute between Tata Sons and NTT DoCoMo ( 9437.T ), allowing the Indian firm to buy out the Japanese firm''s stake in the telecoms joint venture, TV news channels reported on Friday.India''s central bank had blocked Tata''s offer, saying a rule change in 2016 prevented foreign investors from selling stakes in Indian firms at a pre-determined price.DoCoMo entered India in 2009 with an investment of nearly $2.2 billion in Tata group''s telecoms arm Tata Teleservices for a 26.5 percent stake in the venture. Competition and a low subscriber base forced DoCoMo to rethink its strategy and it decided to get out of India in 2014.Under the terms of the deal, in the event of an exit, DoCoMo was guaranteed the higher of either half its original investment, or its fair value.Tata was unable to find a buyer for the Japanese firm''s stake and offered to buy the stake itself for half of DoCoMo''s investment.(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Douglas Busvine)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/tata-sons-ntt-docomo-idINKBN17U169'|'2017-04-28T17:17:00.000+03:00' '5a8157a393a38f450ebe896296582f51b5f819ac'|'Bayer CEO says Monsanto''s reputation is a ''major challenge'''|'BONN Bayer''s chief executive acknowledged on Friday that he will face an uphill battle to improve Monsanto''s reputation once Bayer completes the takeover of the U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company."Monsanto’s image does of course represent a major challenge for us, and it’s not an aspect I wish to play down," Werner Baumann told shareholders at Bayer''s annual general meeting."Yet we are facing this challenge with all those qualities that have made us what we are today: openness, expertise and responsibility," he added.Bayer and Monsanto plan to wrap up the $66 billion transaction by the end of 2017. As part of this, Bayer aims to file for European antitrust approval during the second quarter.(Reporting by Patricia Weiss; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Ludwig Burger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-bayer-agm-idINKBN17U127'|'2017-04-28T07:25:00.000+03:00' '9a01bebb542b54201be6d8cca6b223dad65cac5a'|'China''s Didi confirms $5.5 billion funding for global expansion'|'BEIJING China''s top ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing, said on Friday it has raised more than $5.5 billion to expand its business overseas and develop artificial intelligence technology.The company will invest in big-data, driving technologies and smart transport architecture, it said in a statement.Reuters reported on Thursday that Didi was set to raise between $5 billion and $6 billion. Sources familiar with the deal valued Didi at more than $50 billion.Investors include Japan''s Softbank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), private equity firm Silver Lake, China Merchants Bank ( 600036.SS ) and Bank of Communications ( 601328.SS ), the people said.A spokeswoman for Didi on Friday declined to comment on which investors participated or on the valuation.Didi is also exploring investment in core technology, it said. The firm led a $100 million investment in Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 in January and opened an artificial intelligence-related research lab in Silicon Valley in the United States last month.(Reporting by Cate Cadell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-didi-fundraising-idINKBN17U1HA'|'2017-04-28T08:50:00.000+03:00' '2890d25c125f81f72c1c5f2e5cb8a84104b10b45'|'UPDATE 1-Green car sales hit by China subsidy cut, denting Buffett-backed BYD'|'Bonds News 8:58am EDT UPDATE 1-Green car sales hit by China subsidy cut, denting Buffett-backed BYD (adds context throughout) BEIJING, April 28 Chinese automaker BYD Co Ltd , backed by Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, expects a fall of up to 31.4 percent in first-half net profit as Beijing''s cut to subsidies slows green car sales slow in China. Shenzhen-based BYD, which specializes in green energy cars, forecast a 20.3 percent to 31.4 percent fall in net profit for the first half to 1.55 billion to 1.8 billion yuan ($261.10 million), in what would be the biggest drop in first half profits since 2012, according to Reuters data. "The scale back of subsidies on new energy vehicles put pressure on profit, while competition will still be intense in traditional vehicle sectors in the second quarter," BYD said in a stock exchange statement released on Friday. BYD''s weakening net profits are a marked shift from massive profit growth over the last two years, annual net income increased more than 10-fold from 2014 to 2016, as demand for green cars boomed thanks to aggressive government support. But demand has wavered this year as the central government has cut its massive subsidy payouts for green cars by 20 percent, raised barriers to entry for new electric car models and debated easing proposed quotas for plug-in cars. For the first quarter, BYD reported 605.8 million yuan in profit, a 28.8 percent decrease year-on-year, in line its forecast last month of a 24-35 percent fall. Sales of plug-in hybrid and battery electric cars fell nearly 5 percent in January to March compared with the same period a year ago, China''s Association of Automobile Manufacturers said. ($1 = 6.8938 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Jake Spring; editing by Susan Thomas and Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL4N1I058Q'|'2017-04-28T20:58:00.000+03:00' '3f3cb82b517e9363337eab4a1c8e2add719bc73e'|'FTC allows Sycamore to sell Family Dollar stores to Dollar General'|'By Diane Bartz - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The Federal Trade Commission gave a private equity firm approval on Thursday to sell to Dollar General Corp ( DG.N ) 323 stores that Sycamore purchased as part of a divestiture package two years ago, the agency said on Thursday.Sycamore Partners II, LP bought the stores in 2015 when Dollar Tree ( DLTR.O ) was forced to sell shops in 35 states to win antitrust approval to buy the Family Dollar chain in what was then a $9.2 billion deal.Sycamore, which had created Dollar Express LLC to run the business, asked the FTC to approve the stores'' transfer to competitor Dollar General ( DG.N ) in March and said in a document filed with the FTC that the chain could "no longer viably operate as a standalone business."Sycamore blamed the economic woes on an overall decline in dollar store business, tough competition from Dollar Tree, wage inflation and other costs, according to the document.Dollar Tree had announced the deal to buy Family Dollar in July 2014, saying it would help it fend off growing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ) and No.1 U.S. discounter Dollar General."It''s a lesson for the FTC about the kinds of divestiture buyers that are going to be effective," said Andrea Murino, an antitrust expert with the law firm Goodwin Procter LLP. "I''m sure the FTC would have preferred a very different outcome."A spokesman for Sycamore declined comment. Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Marguerita Choy and James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-familydollar-ftc-sycamore-idINKBN17T35Z'|'2017-04-27T19:06:00.000+03:00' 'b7debdfc1a74d438e31d9d4835beaa63a7ab7927'|'German economy booms as protectionist threat goes pop'|' 7:33pm IST German economy booms as protectionist threat goes pop FILE PHOTO: A container ship is loaded at a terminal in the harbour of Hamburg, Germany September 23, 2012. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo By Michael Nienaber - HAMBURG, Germany HAMBURG, Germany When port manager Axel Mattern looks out onto the Elbe River from his office in Hamburg''s historic warehouse district, he can literally count the rising number of container ships leaving Germany''s biggest harbour. There is an export boom underway, the ships tell him. China, in particular, is "buzzing", Mattern says. The sharp increase in demand for "Made in Germany" goods from around the world is pushing Europe''s largest economy into overdrive -- and, not coincidently, helping dispel worries about rising protectionism under U.S. President Donald Trump. Some German companies are even considering expanding into the United States, while others reckon the world is big enough for them to thrive even if American trade borders do get tricky. In the first two months of 2017, overall German exports rose 7 percent on the year to 201.2 billion euros ($219.57 billion), driven by a broad-based uptick in demand for top quality German products such as cars and machines. The trade boost comes on top of Germany''s vibrant domestic economy which is already supported by a robust labour market, a growing population and record-low borrowing costs, enabled by the European Central Bank''s loose monetary policy. Soaring private consumption, increased state spending on refugees and higher construction drove an expansion of 1.9 percent last year, the strongest rate in half a decade and the fastest among the Group of Seven industrialised countries. The economy is still doing well. But it is the jump in trade that most bodes well for 2017. A breakdown of trade data from the Federal Statistics Office compiled for Reuters shows exports to the United States -- Germany''s most important single export destination after the bloc of European Union countries -- jumped 9 percent in the first two months of the year to 17.9 billion. Those to China leapt 14 percent to 12.6 billion euros. SELF-CONFIDENCE The U.S. increase comes despite some of the new president''s "America First" campaigning. Trump''s protectionist rhetoric and the dispute about the benefits of free trade are likely to rank high on the agenda of the Group of 20 summit to be held in Hamburg in July. Concerns among managers in Europe''s economic powerhouse, however, have already eased. "We''re very relaxed about this whole debate about Trump and protectionism," Mattern said. "If Mr Trump doesn''t want to buy German goods anymore because he thinks he can produce everything at home, we''ll just find other buyers." Corporate Germany''s self-confidence is backed by data. A survey of some 43,000 consumers in 52 countries conducted by Dalia Research and Statista showed "Made in Germany" is viewed as the most appealing seal of quality in the world. Senior German government officials also sound less alarmed about U.S. policy after meetings with U.S. counterparts in recent weeks -- a notion echoed by ECB President Mario Draghi on Thursday. Chancellor Angela Merkel has even fuelled expectations of a future EU-U.S trade deal, saying she was "very encouraged" talks were being looked at after her recent trip to Washington. German business leaders such as Anton Boerner from the BGA trade association point out that Trump''s protectionist threats, including broad-based introduction of punitive tariffs on imports through a border adjustment tax, have failed to translate into policy so far. "There are no concrete measures and this means ''business as usual'' for companies -- at least for now," Boerner told Reuters. While uncertainty remains high and is limiting overall private sector investment, at least some companies seem to be viewing political risks as the new normal -- and they are pushing ahead with investment. A survey by the Ifo institute shows German industrial companies plan to increase investment by 5 percent this year, up from 3 percent in 2016. NEW SITES Among them are Mittelstand companies, the largely family-owned firms that form the backbone of German industry and make up roughly 98 percent of German export companies. "We plan to open at least one, probably two new production sites in the U.S.," said Josef Minster, CEO of Schlemmer Group, an automotive supplier specialising in cable protection systems. The Bavarian-based firm wants to increase its market share in North America and benefit from an expected upturn in the automobile sector there. Schlemmer is also preparing a takeover of a small U.S. firm which is not yet selling its high-quality niche products abroad. "Together with our expertise and global sales network, we expect to benefit quickly from scaling effects," Minster said, adding that the takeover would be one of the biggest in the history of the company, founded in 1954. Schlemmer traditionally aims to produce near its customers'' factories to keep the production chain short. Roller-coaster manufacturer Mack Rides, in contrast, builds every ride in the tiny southern town of Waldkirch in the Black Forest region before shipping them to amusement parks around the world. Mack Rides plans to invest in its German production site, located near its own theme park called Europa-Park close to the French border, to meet rising global demand. "We''re currently experiencing a sharp upturn in demand from Asia and the Emirates, but also from Europe and the United States," said CEO Christian von Elverfeldt. The 237-year-old family-run firm has an export rate of 95 percent, meaning rising protectionism and import tariffs surely would be bad for business, the manager admits. But Elverfeldt said customers value his company''s quality and innovation -- such as the recent development of a roller coaster ride with virtual reality glasses. "Even if the U.S. should increase import tariffs, which hopefully will never happen, we''ll be able to easily offset this decline in sales through the fast growing economies in Asia," he said. ($1 = 0.9163 euros)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/germany-economy-idINKBN17U22G'|'2017-04-28T12:03:00.000+03:00' 'b74dd12202a91a9aea7874d2d48b72ec6f5b82f7'|'UPDATE 2-Airbus CEO lashes out at Austria over fraud probe'|'Company News 42pm EDT UPDATE 2-Airbus CEO lashes out at Austria over fraud probe * Airbus CEO says Austria fraud probe politically motivated * Denies accusations, ties probe to future Austria elections * Vienna says Airbus should react with less emotion (Adds more political context) By Tim Hepher and Kirsti Knolle PARIS/VIENNA, April 27 A heated row broke out between Austria and Europe''s largest aerospace company on Thursday as Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders accused Vienna of playing politics with a fraud investigation and the government told him to calm down. The exchange came 24 hours after Reuters first reported that Vienna prosecutors had opened a fraud investigation into German-born Enders, based on earlier complaints from the defence ministry over a $2 billion fighter deal in 2003. In an emailed statement, Enders called the handling of allegations a "politically-motivated abuse of the legal system" and accused Austria''s centrist coalition of using Airbus as an electoral "punching bag". Vienna prosecutors launched the probe into Enders and other individuals as part of an investigation into whether Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium misled Austria about the price, deliverability and equipment of the 2003 deal. The Eurofighter consortium comprises Airbus, Britain''s BAE Systems and Italy''s Leonardo, and all the companies have denied wrongdoing. "I want to clearly reiterate: from our point of view these allegations are unfounded and unsubstantiated," Enders said. "The legal authorities will also come to this conclusion, but certainly only after the elections. Until then, this posturing will go on, because that is what it is all about: distracting the public until election day." The centrist coalition government''s term runs until autumn 2018 and Chancellor Christian Kern, a Social Democrat, has said he expects it to continue its work until then. But speculation persists that a snap election may be called beforehand. LESS EMOTION The defence ministry said Airbus should react less emotionally. "The legal steps taken by the Austrian ministry of defence against Airbus are serious and have been substantiated by facts. Now it is solely for the independent judiciary to decide," a spokesman said. "Airbus would be well advised not to fall back into past mistakes and to contribute to the clearing of the allegations with more seriousness and less emotion," he added. Asked what mistakes he was referring to, he said the government had not received the impression that current Airbus management was interested in addressing the corruption claims. Enders has launched a company-wide compliance drive that led to British and French bribery probes into its passenger jet sales and has pledged to continue the campaign. Even after a decade, the fighter deal remains a politically sensitive subject in Austria, a neutral country with limited arms budget, and has drawn in all the main political parties. A coalition of Austria''s conservative People''s Party and the far-right Freedom Party picked Eurofighter in 2003 over rival offers from Saab and Lockheed Martin, stressing the value of industrial deals for Austrian firms. The Social Democrats, who had always criticised the deal, took control of the government in 2007 and a parliamentary inquiry was set up to determine whether bribes were paid to win the contract, while cutting it to 15 jets from 18. Enders, 58, has clashed with European governments, notably Germany, over defence issues in the past, but the latest row marks an unusually direct confrontation with a state customer. Calling the claims "cheap election rhetoric," he said: "We will not let part of the Austrian government use us as a punching bag that it can beat to score cheap political points". The remarks appeared aimed at Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil, who made headlines in 2015 when as Burgenland police chief he handled the first big wave of Middle East refugees, and is now tipped by some to become the province''s governor. Defence industry officials accuse him of making capital out of the Airbus case to promote his political career. But Austrian officials insist the full story on the deal has yet to come out and are planning a second parliamentary probe within weeks. (Additional reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Richard Balmforth and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/airbus-group-austria-inquiry-idUSL8N1HZ56O'|'2017-04-28T00:42:00.000+03:00' '5a13243d958617e78f18932762774f36d4d99c0a'|'Exclusive - Tesla''s Klaus Grohmann ousted after clash with CEO Musk: sources'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 5:30pm BST Exclusive - Tesla''s Klaus Grohmann ousted after clash with CEO Musk: sources FILE PHOTO: Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk attends a forum on startups in Hong Kong, China January 26, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo By Edward Taylor - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT Tesla executive Klaus Grohmann was ousted last month after a clash with Chief Executive Elon Musk over the strategy of Grohmann''s firm, which Tesla had acquired in November, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The Silicon Valley luxury electric carmaker is counting on Grohmann Engineering''s automation and engineering expertise to help it ramp up production to 500,000 cars per year by 2018. At the time of the purchase, it described Klaus Grohmann and the company he founded as a "world leader in highly automated manufacturing". Tesla planned to keep Grohmann on, and Grohmann wanted to stay, but the clash with Musk over how to treat existing clients resulted in his departure, the source said. Grohmann disagreed with Musk''s demands to focus management attention on Tesla projects to the detriment of Grohmann Engineering''s legacy clients, which included Tesla''s direct German-based rivals Daimler and BMW, two sources familiar with the matter said. Reached by phone, Klaus Grohmann declined to comment on the circumstances of his leaving, citing confidentiality clauses. "I definitely did not depart because I had lost interest in working," Grohmann said, without elaborating. A Tesla spokesman, asked about Grohmann''s departure, praised him for building an "incredible company" and said: "Part of Mr Grohmann''s decision to work with Tesla was to prepare for his retirement and leave the company in capable hands for the future. Given the change in focus to Tesla projects, we mutually decided that it was the right time for the next generation of management to lead." Two sources familiar with the matter said Tesla''s plans to ramp up production with the help of the company now renamed Tesla Grohmann Automation remain on track. The management layer below Klaus Grohmann is continuing his work, they told Reuters. But they said parts of the workforce felt insecure about becoming so dependent on one client after the founder''s departure. Last year, Tesla had said: "Under the continued leadership of Mr Grohmann, several critical elements of Tesla''s automated manufacturing systems will be designed and produced in Pruem, to help make our factories the most advanced in the world." "Our factories are so important that we believe they will ultimately deserve an order of magnitude more attention in engineering than what they produce. At very high production volumes, the factory becomes more of a product than the product itself," Tesla said at the time. Tesla started out as a client of Grohmann Engineering, a small unlisted company based in Pruem, near the Luxembourg border, that helped companies design highly automated factories, a source familiar with the company told Reuters. As pressure grew to increase production volumes at Tesla, Musk decided to buy Grohmann Engineering and make Pruem a base for Tesla Advanced Automation. As well as BMW and Daimler, Grohmann counted the auto parts maker Bosch [ROBG.UL], chip maker Intel, and pharmaceutical firms Abbott Laboratories and Roche among its clients. Negotiations have started with some of the clients about how to compensate them for lack of resources devoted to their projects, one of the sources said. The German labour union IG Metall has demanded that Tesla''s management formalise multi-year job guarantees and increase salaries as a way to provide assurance amid management turmoil. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Kevin Liffey)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-germany-exclusive-idUKKBN17T2IW'|'2017-04-28T00:30:00.000+03:00' 'f309b94f80f40155c2cbe0cc5f797f09f9daf1ac'|'Bend it like Baba: India''s Patanjali takes on Western consumer-goods firms'|'EXECUTIVES at firms selling consumer staples like to think of themselves as “marketing gurus”. But how many could actually contort themselves into the lotus position, let alone attempt a headstand? Such feats are nothing for the top brass at Patanjali, an Indian purveyor of toothpaste, cooking oil, herbal concoctions and much else. Fronted by a bona fide guru, the firm’s marketing strategy—play up the benefits of natural products, then paint foreign multinationals as latter-day imperialists—delivers over $1bn in annual sales, up tenfold in four years. Having dismissed the firm as a fad, the likes of Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever are emulating it.Baba Ramdev (pictured), an ascetic yogi who is the public face of the brand, makes for an unconventional capitalist symbol. But with Acharya Balkrishna, a devotee of his who serves as the firm’s boss and majority-owner, he has built a consumer-goods powerhouse that is vying with the business-school graduates at the multinationals. Starting out two decades ago as an apothecary of traditional Ayurvedic potions, Patanjali has expanded into personal care, home products, packaged food and more. Mr Ramdev’s beard and saffron robes are among India’s most widely seen corporate emblems.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 3 hours ago A 17 hours ago Have See all updates Marketing textbooks suggest the firm should have stumbled a while back. Whereas multinationals such as Procter & Gamble spend heavily to advertise dozens of sub-brands, Patanjali grew by word of mouth and sells everything from detergent to cornflakes and hair oil under its own name. Established players outsource their manufacturing and sell through shops owned by third parties; Patanjali has its own plants and has built a network of thousands of exclusive, franchised stores across India. Its head office in Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is not in a place consultants would recommend.Nor would they have predicted the success of its formula—good quality and value plus indignant nationalism. Newspaper ads beseech customers to shake off the yoke of multinational firms in the way their forebears resisted Britain’s East India Company. A dash of cow urine in a handful of products, including soap and floor cleaner, burnishes its Hindu credentials.Patanjali’s rise coincides with the arrival in office of Narendra Modi, India’s yoga-loving prime minister, in 2014 (Mr Ramdev appeared at his political rallies). Its rhetoric is the business counterpart to the Modi government’s Hindu-first chauvinism. Opposition politicians have complained that Patanjali has enjoyed low prices for land in deals with state governments that are run by politicians allied to Mr Modi.The company is able to offer customers good value partly because it spends only 2-3% of revenues on advertising (consumer firms typically spend 12-18%). For many of its products, its modern plants use much the same machinery and inputs as its rivals, but cheaper staff. Lower costs mean operating margins of over 20% in its last published accounts (the firm is unlisted, and says it plans to stay that way), beating global firms.Soul trader Multinational and local rivals at first behaved as if Patanjali did not exist. But after its herbal toothpaste won a dedicated following, in 2015 Colgate launched an offering aimed at Patanjali, the first time in its nearly eight decades in India that it had marketed an explicitly local product. Unilever has a range of Ayurvedic shampoos. Nestlé added 25 products across food categories to ward off the beaming guru, but Patanjali is still coming close to matching its sales (see chart).Patanjali’s latest push is into food staples such as cooking oil and flour. There it will take market share from unbranded small-scale rivals rather than multinationals, which steer clear of such low-margin business. More products look likely to get the bearded yogi’s seal of approval. A line of purposely frumpy jeans for women is in the works; restaurants may be, too.Sceptics think the company is as big as it can get without becoming more like the multinationals it decries. It is starting to use some of their methods. Patanjali is distributing more of its products outside its own shop network. It is reportedly outsourcing more of its manufacturing, too. It is increasing its spending on advertising. Mr Balkrishna has considered expanding abroad.The firm may also face fiercer domestic competition in future. Other spiritual leaders have noted Patanjali’s success. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a guru with a big following among the urban middle classes who rivals Mr Ramdev for Mr Modi’s affections, is branching out from Ayurveda into food and personal care. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a self-proclaimed saint who packs out huge stadiums singing his techno hit “Love Charger”, is now in business too, selling more than 400 products. Others will follow. It does not take a marketing guru to figure out how easily followers can be turned into shoppers.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Bend it like Baba"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721440-baba-ramdev-has-spearheaded-billion-dollar-juggernaut-indias-patanjali-takes-western?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'c9208ae55169f8745b224a46f1cf9fe38aa43856'|'Top Foxconn executives visit White House, but mum on details'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:01am BST Top Foxconn executives visit White House, but mum on details The logo of Foxconn, the trading name of Hon Hai Precision Industry, is seen on top of the company''s headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan March 29, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo TAIPEI Top executives of Foxconn, including founder and chairman Terry Gou, visited the White House on Thursday, Taiwanese TV footage showed, as the Apple Inc ( AAPL.O ) supplier ponders a $7 billion (£5.42 billion)-plus U.S. investment in a display-making plant. Footage aired by TVBS television on Friday showed Gou entering and leaving one of the entry gates of the White House with senior company executives including Tai Jeng-wu, Foxconn vice chairman and chief of Japan''s Sharp Corp ( 6753.T ), in which Foxconn holds a two-thirds stake. When asked by reporters on his way out of the White House if he had met U.S. President Donald Trump, Gou responded: "My memory is not good. Maybe I already forget." TVBS reported Gou was in the White House for around three hours. Foxconn, the world''s largest contract electronics maker that is formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co ( 2317.TW ), declined to comment on the TV footage. Gou had said in January that Foxconn was mulling setting up a display-making plant in the United States with an investment that would exceed $7 billion. Gou provided the details at the time after Foxconn''s business partner Masayoshi Son, head of Japan''s SoftBank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), pledged a $50 billion investment in the United States when meeting Trump in December, while accidentally showing materials that had Foxconn''s logo. The possible expansion into the United States by several global corporates comes amid Trump''s "America First" efforts to expand U.S. jobs. While Foxconn has not disclosed a timeline for a decision on going ahead with the plant, it would depend on many factors, such as investment conditions, that would have to be negotiated at the U.S. state and federal levels, Gou has said. A source told Reuters in February Sharp may start building the plant in the first half of 2017. Foxconn is also one of the suitors looking to acquire Toshiba Corp''s ( 6502.T ) chip business, but people familiar with the matter have told Reuters that it is considered a national security risk due to its ties with China, where it has vast manufacturing facilities and employs about a million people. The chip bidding has also been complicated by Toshiba''s U.S. partner Western Digital Corp ( WDC.O ), which has said it should be given exclusive negotiating rights. (Reporting by J.R. Wu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-taiwan-foxconn-whitehouse-idUKKBN17U0HC'|'2017-04-28T13:01:00.000+03:00' '66e4565bf7bf8b29cfcf6a9d19713ff8a3d43b22'|'Asia stocks, euro steady as markets pause for breath after French election'|'By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK Equity markets continued their advance on Tuesday and a gauge of world stocks notched a record for a second straight session, spurred by speculation about U.S. tax reform and relief at French election results.Wall Street built on gains in the prior session, with the Nasdaq Composite index breaching the 6,000 mark for the first time.Recent opinion polls have centrist Emmanuel Macron, who won the first round of the French presidential election, with a comfortable lead over far-right, anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote.Safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen retreated, while the yield gap between French and German short-term government bonds, a closely watched measure of political risk in the euro zone, hit its lowest in almost three months. DE2FR2=RR.Bets on clarity regarding the tax code helped boost U.S. stocks, according to Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh."(Treasury Secretary Steven) Mnuchin has to have a better-articulated answer to what the tax code changes are in a meaningful way," she said, adding that markets were still in relief-mode after Sunday’s French election results. "The EU is going to hang together most likely."With concern over French elections on the wane, investors turned their focus to corporate earnings and U.S. President Donald Trump''s promise to announce "a big tax reform and tax reduction" on Wednesday.The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 241.14 points, or 1.16 percent, to 21,005.03, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 14.57 points, or 0.61 percent, to 2,388.72 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 37.92 points, or 0.63 percent, to 6,021.73.The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.27 percent and MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS gained 0.62 percent after touching a high of 456.34.French shares .FCHI were up 0.2 percent, after a 4.1 percent surge on Monday, their biggest daily gain since August 2012.The euro EUR= added to Monday''s gains against the dollar, up 0.6 percent to $1.0932.The Canadian dollar CAD= fell 0.8 percent to C$1.3611 per U.S. dollar after the United States announced new duties averaging 20 percent on Canadian softwood lumber imports.The Japanese yen weakened 1.08 percent versus the greenback at 110.98 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2838, up 0.35 percent on the day.Gold, also seen as a safe-haven asset, fell. Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.6 percent to $1,267.18 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.65 percent to $1,269.20 an ounce.Oil prices continued to slump as doubts about OPEC''s ability to reduce global crude inventories put the price on track for its six fall in seven days.U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 0.26 percent to $49.10 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $51.57, down 0.06 percent on the day.(Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idINKBN17R03Y'|'2017-04-25T09:13:00.000+03:00' 'aa79ca0fb01061913a2aefdffac182794243e600'|'Germany''s Grammer says can issue shares to partner after injunction lifted'|'Business News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 4:54pm BST Germany''s Grammer says can issue shares to partner after injunction lifted BERLIN Germany''s Grammer ( GMMG.DE ) won a victory in its efforts to dilute the influence of an activist shareholder after a regional court lifted a temporary injunction on the exercise of a convertible bond, the automotive interiors maker said on Tuesday. Grammer management planned to bring China''s Ningbo Jifeng ( 603997.SS ) on board as a "white knight" against Bosnia''s Hastor, which owns a stake of at least 20 percent in Grammer and has criticised Grammer''s management. In February Ningbo subscribed to a 60 million euro (50.18 million pounds) mandatory convertible bond representing approximately 9.2 percent of Grammer''s share capital, but the Hastor Group was granted an injunction to block Ningbo Jifeng from exercising the convertible bond. A regional court in Nuremberg lifted that injunction on Tuesday, Grammer said. "This means that there are now no longer any obstacles to the issue of new shares to the strategic partner upon the conversion rights being exercised," Grammer said in a statement. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by Susan Thomas)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-grammer-hastor-ningbo-idUKKBN17R237'|'2017-04-25T23:54:00.000+03:00' '2e931d86427de88c2d7d924be42a2fe28995d87a'|'HNA to replace Odebrecht in airport group, Brazil minister says'|'BRASILIA HNA Airport Holding Group Co Ltd will buy out the stake that engineering conglomerate Odebrecht SA has in Brazil''s second-busiest international airport in order to help solve an impasse with a government agency over licensing rights, a Brazilian Cabinet minister said on Monday.The Chinese company, which is part of HNA Group Co Ltd, has already bought the stake that an Odebrecht subsidiary had in the Rio de Janeiro international airport, or RIOGaleão, Wellington Moreira Franco, secretary-general for President Michel Temer''s office, told reporters in Brasilia.Representatives for HNA could not be immediately contacted for comment. Reuters reported on April 17 that HNA was in advanced talks to buy out Odebrecht from RIOGaleão.RIOGaleão was 51 percent-owned by the Odebrecht subsidiary and Singapore''s Changi Airport Group Pte Ltd. The government''s civil aviation infrastructure watchdog owns the remaining stake.Brazil''s government wanted Odebrecht''s exit from the consortium to settle the airport''s licensing problems and stem it from the impact of Odebrecht''s involvement in the country''s worst corruption scandal ever, people familiar with the deal told Reuters earlier this month.The scandal has almost fully shut Odebrecht''s access to credit and new contracts in Brazil and almost a dozen countries.Last week, the consortium running RIOGaleão won permission from Brazil''s government to restructure 4.5 billion reais ($1.43 billion) worth of licensing payments over the next three years, paving the way for the entry of a new partner.(Reporting by Leonardo Goy; Writing by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-odebrecht-transport-divestiture-idINKBN17R00L'|'2017-04-24T22:12:00.000+03:00' 'a406ccb8610ab58507098a542e559f2f4d85f489'|'MOVES-Colliers names new senior managing director'|'Company News - Tue Apr 25, 2017 - 12:31pm EDT MOVES-Colliers names new senior managing director April 25 Capital Markets & Investment Services, a unit of real estate services firm Colliers International Group Inc, appointed Ameet Amin as a senior managing director in New York. Amin previously served as head of acquisitions at commercial real estate management firm JOSS Realty Partners. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/colliers-intl-gr-moves-ameet-amin-idUSL4N1HX5C6'|'2017-04-26T00:31:00.000+03:00' '9c4d3e5fd2838ed2995edf064f5ae9223ef6c1de'|'Earnings boost equities with U.S. tax announcement eyed'|' 8:28pm BST Earnings boost equities with U.S. tax announcement eyed left right Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 24, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 1/3 left right The German stock market index DAX is reflected in a logo at the Frankfurt stock exchange in Frankfurt Germany, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach 2/3 left right A woman walks past electronic board showing stock prices outside a brokerage at a business district in Tokyo, Japan, January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon 3/3 By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK Global stock markets rallied for a second consecutive day on Tuesday on solid U.S. earnings, aided by speculation about U.S. tax reform and reduced chances of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend. Wall Street gained as concerns about France''s election waned and investors cheered earnings from companies such as McDonald''s Corp ( MCD.N ), up 5.4 percent, and Caterpillar Inc ( CAT.N ), up 7.6 percent. The Nasdaq Composite index breached the 6,000 mark for the first time. "They are leading the train today," said Ken Polcari, director of the NYSE floor division at O''Neil Securities in New York. "Part of it is just that momentum, you are caught in it but you can''t get in front of a moving train, so the momentum is such that you have to let it run." Markets also maintained the boost from the French election results, with recent opinion polls have centrist Emmanuel Macron, who won with a comfortable lead over far-right, anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote. Safe-haven assets such as gold and the Japanese yen retreated, while the yield gap between French and German short-term government bonds, a closely watched measure of political risk in the euro zone, hit its lowest in almost three months. DE2FR2=RR. Investor focus shifted to corporate earnings and U.S. President Donald Trump''s promise to announce "a big tax reform and tax reduction" on Wednesday. The threat of a U.S. government shutdown this weekend appeared to recede on Tuesday after Trump backed away from a demand that Congress include funding for his planned border wall with Mexico in a spending bill. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 254.13 points, or 1.22 percent, to 21,018.02, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 15.88 points, or 0.67 percent, to 2,390.03 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 45.95 points, or 0.77 percent, to 6,029.77. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.21 percent and MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS gained 0.65 percent after touching a high of 456.42. French shares .FCHI closed up 0.2 percent, after a 4.1 percent surge on Monday, their biggest daily gain since August 2012. The euro EUR= added to Monday''s gains against the dollar, up 0.63 percent to $1.0935. The Canadian dollar CAD= fell 0.6 percent to C$1.3583 per U.S. dollar after the United States announced new duties averaging 20 percent on Canadian softwood lumber imports. The Japanese yen weakened 1.26 percent versus the greenback at 111.14 per dollar, while Sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.2826, up 0.26 percent on the day. Gold, also seen as a safe-haven asset, fell. Spot gold XAU= dropped 0.9 percent to $1,263.26 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 fell 0.98 percent to $1,265.00 an ounce. Oil prices edged up in choppy trade on Tuesday as U.S. crude inventory data that was forecast to show a drawdown faced doubts about OPEC''s ability to reduce a global glut. U.S. crude CLcv1 rose 0.39 percent to $49.42 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $51.93, up 0.64 percent on the day. (Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKBN17R03U'|'2017-04-26T03:28:00.000+03:00' '812428b254773773675a083bd085fe8f41a34f0a'|'Greece calls for debt relief as bailout talks resume in Athens'|' 8:39pm BST Greece calls for debt relief as bailout talks resume in Athens left right FILE PHOTO: A Greek presidential guard performs a ceremonial march at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the parliament building in Athens, Greece, September 15, 2015. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO: A view of the Caryatids, the sculpted female figures supporting the porch of the ancient Erectheion temple, atop the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece, October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo 2/2 By Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas - ATHENS ATHENS Greece''s prime minister held out for a commitment from lenders to debt relief on Tuesday, and said he was confident new talks in Athens over a long-stalled bailout review would reach a deal by a May 22 target. Talks over reforms in the energy and labor market and pension cuts and income tax increases have dragged on for months, mainly due to differences between EU lenders and the International Monetary Fund over fiscal targets. Athens and the lenders reached a preliminary deal this month in Malta on key elements of reforms to produce savings worth 2 percent of gross domestic product. Tsipras, who faces national elections in 2019 and whose popularity is sagging, said the country would legislate the additional measures sought by its lenders but implementing them was contingent on securing further debt relief. "We will obviously legislate (the measures) in order to secure a deal on debt relief," Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told ANT1 television. "They won''t be implemented ... unless we get a solution on debt." He added that a sovereign government had the right to back out of a deal if its interlocutors did not respect it. Greece wants to conclude the bailout review as soon as possible to qualify for inclusion in the European Central Bank''s quantitative easing program and return to bond markets. "Our aim is to conclude the bailout review and immediately after that to return to markets," Tsipras said. He was speaking two days after the seventh anniversary of Greece''s call for international aid to avert bankrupcty. Tsipras said the return to markets should be "sustainable" and not a "one-off", to help it emerge from crisis by 2018, when its third bailout expires. He added the country aimed to reach a deal by May 22, when euro zone finance ministers are expected to discuss the Greek issue. "On May 22, which I want to believe is a realistic target, we''ll also have a comprehensive deal, including debt," he said. IMF ROLE The date to conclude a deal on a so-called review of Greece''s bailout progress has been a moving target. It was supposed to have been wrapped up late last year. The talks, at a central Athens hotel, focused on energy reforms and a privatization fund on Tuesday. Concluding the review of Greece''s progress will also unlock funds which Athens needs to repay loans maturing in July. Greece has agreed to implement more austerity after the bailout expires in 2018, to persuade the IMF to participate in an 86 billion-euro bailout package, the third rescue plan since the debt crisis began. Greece attained a 4.2 percent of GDP primary surplus last year, significantly above the target set in its bailout. But the IMF says the country cannot maintain high fiscal surpluses and wants assurances from euro zone governments that Greek debt will be made sustainable, before it will join the bailout. Germany, which faces elections in September, wants the IMF on board to add credibility to the bailout, but it is also crucial for Tsipras who argues debt relief is needed for a nation which has suffered from years of austerity. Athens and its lenders are discussing a set of measures offsetting the impact of austerity in 2019 and 2020, on condition that Athens outperforms its targets. These measures include reducing taxes. (Editing by Andrew Roche)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-eurozone-greece-bailout-idUKKBN17R146'|'2017-04-26T03:37:00.000+03:00' '7b1546e3bb73c43239702989ae59abca9720ee2c'|'Exclusive - Vivendi to accelerate expansion in video games and advertising: sources'|'Technology 29am BST Exclusive: Vivendi to accelerate expansion in video games and advertising - sources The Vivendi logo is pictured at the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate headquarters in Paris, March 10, 2016. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File Photo By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic - PARIS PARIS French media giant Vivendi will accelerate acquisitions in video games and advertising this year to allay investor concerns about its strategy, mixed results and poor share performance, two sources close to the matter told Reuters. Advertising group Havas and video games maker Ubisoft are expected to be the first targets as Vivendi moves into the next phase of its expansion, the sources said. In three years, Chairman Vincent Bollore has spent nearly 15 billion euros ($16 billion) of Vivendi''s cash on shareholders and acquisitions, including taking large stakes in Telecom Italia and Italian broadcaster Mediaset. Yet Vivendi''s shares have fallen by about 3 percent over the period and analysts are still awaiting more details from the company about how exactly its strategy will pan out. Bollore is expected to defend his record at an annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday in Paris, a rare occasion for the billionaire to flesh out his plan to turn Vivendi into an integrated European media powerhouse. On paper, merging Havas with Vivendi would be the easiest deal as the ad company is 60 percent owned by Bollore and run by his son Yannick, who joined Vivendi''s board last year. Bollore is also Vivendi''s biggest shareholder with 20.65 percent. In the case of Ubisoft, which is 25 percent owned by Vivendi, resistance from its founding Guillemot family could potentially lead to a costly, unsolicited full takeover bid. "Vivendi is moving to the second phase, everything will take place this year," one of the sources said, referring to Havas and Ubisoft. "The logical thing would be to buy Ubisoft," the second source said, adding that Bollore would not buy the video games maker at any price and could consider other targets in China. ITALIAN SETBACKS Bollore, a 65-year-old businessman who made his fortune by building a family-run conglomerate with activities from logistics to electric batteries to advertising, is known for his capacity to turn businesses around and make shrewd investments. But he has suffered a series of setbacks lately in Italy, a country he knows well through his investment bank in Mediobanca, raising questions about his capacity to deliver a rapid return on investments there and his long-term strategy. "The lack of visibility over Vivendi''s intentions regarding its existing stakes (Telecom Italia, Mediaset) and a potential acquisition of Havas could remain an overhang on Vivendi''s share price in the near term," Lisa Yang, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, said in a note to clients this month. Other analysts said Vivendi needed to lay out its strategy with greater clarity to attract new investors. "Any increased transparency on investment policy, strategic view on ownership of telecom companies, and the vague Southern European strategy and vision for gaming stakes would be very welcome to existing and potential new shareholders," Deutsche Bank said in a note. An Italian regulator ordered Vivendi last week to cut its stake in either Telecom Italia or Mediaset within a year, ruling that the French company was in breach of rules designed to prevent a concentration of corporate power. FRENCH WOES In France, competition for TV sports rights, including those for Formula One and the Champions League, is expected to be cut-throat and analysts worry that Vivendi''s pay-TV subsidiary Canal Plus could lose them to rivals such as SFR Group. Any such loss would just add to the difficulties at Canal Plus in France. Losses at the pay-TV''s channels in that country alone cut 399 million euros ($434 million) off the group''s core operating profit for 2016. However, Vivendi expects Canal Plus'' turnaround efforts to bear fruit in 2017 and it is targeting a 25 percent rebound in group core operating profit. It also expects group revenues to rise by more than 5 percent. Questions are also being raised about Vivendi''s governance. Proxy adviser ISS is recommending that shareholders oppose the re-election of Bollore and the appointment of his son Yannick as board members. ISS has cited concerns about the lack of independence of the company''s board and opposed 15 out of 25 resolutions that have been proposed ahead of Tuesday''s The last time Vivendi was challenged by a minority shareholder was in 2015. U.S. hedge fund P. Schoenfeld Asset Management (PSAM) campaigned over Vivendi''s perceived lack of transparency, unclear strategy and poor governance, but shelved those concerns after wringing more money from the company. Vivendi agreed to increase payouts to investors by more than 1 billion euros following the investor''s campaign. (Editing by David Clarke)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-vivendi-agm-strategy-idUKKBN17R0IO'|'2017-04-25T14:11:00.000+03:00' '8a3a2ed61ea2396b3423922b8856ac4a742fcfe4'|'Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay'|' 2:00am EDT Credit Suisse investors prepare to grill chairman Rohner over pay * Credit Suisse AGM takes place on Friday * Chairman Rohner has faced calls to leave Credit Suisse * Bank confronting shareholder criticism over bonuses * Rohner confident investors support board proposals -source By Joshua Franklin ZURICH, April 25 Credit Suisse Chairman Urs Rohner faces his toughest shareholder meeting to date this week following an investor revolt over bonuses and losses totalling 5.65 billion Swiss francs ($5.7 billion) since 2015. Rohner, 57, is facing calls to stand down after six years as chairman, during which time the share price of Switzerland''s second-biggest bank has more than halved to around 15 francs. "Trust in the bank actually is at rock bottom if we look at the share price since Urs Rohner took office in 2011," said Vincent Kaufmann, whose Swiss shareholder advisory group Ethos opposes Rohner''s re-election at Friday''s annual general meeting. Ethos members represent an estimated 3-4 percent of shares in Credit Suisse, where the controversy over bonuses for top managers comes after raids at three of its offices in a Dutch-led tax investigation and uncertainty over plans to sell part of its domestic banking business. Its decision to pay 78 million francs in bonuses to top executives and raise board compensation, amid a costly restructuring under Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam and billions of dollars in U.S. legal penalties, sparked an investor revolt. Switzerland''s economy minister said the pay packets were a sign of recklessness and senior managers eventually offered to cut their bonuses by 40 percent, with the board also freezing its pay. The investor discontent took Rohner by surprise. "It was more than I expected, and particularly among UK and professional or institutional investors and proxy advisers," he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. Despite the criticism, which has rumbled on even after the concessions, a source familiar with Rohner''s thinking said he is confident of winning all agenda item votes at the AGM, including a binding vote on bonuses and board pay, and his re-election. Rohner''s supporters say he offers stability as Thiam shifts Credit Suisse''s focus towards wealth management, while cutting back the investment bank, with the loss of thousands of jobs. "There''s been a lot of chopping and changing," said Macquarie Research analyst Piers Brown, who rates Credit Suisse''s stock "underperform". "I think at the minute probably stability is better than having another u-turn." Investors will get an update on the restructure when Credit Suisse reports first-quarter results on Wednesday. HURDLE RUNNER Others believe Rohner, who did not enter banking until 2004, is the wrong man alongside Thiam, a former insurance executive who is even newer to banking. "He (Rohner) is not a banker," said Hans Geiger, a retired Zurich University banking professor and a former Credit Suisse senior executive. "That could be OK, but then he shouldn''t appoint a non-banker as CEO." Rohner''s path to the top at Credit Suisse was an unusual one. A former Swiss 110-metre hurdles champion, he ran in the 1982 European Athletics Championships while studying law. After graduating from the University of Zurich in 1983 he became a partner at one of the city''s most renowned securities law firms, Lenz & Staehelin. Rohner, an avid film buff, took the job of CEO and chairman at German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 in 2000 and joined Credit Suisse in 2004 as chief lawyer. His big move as chairman was appointing Thiam in 2015 to replace Brady Dougan, a low-profile U.S.-born investment banker. But investors are still waiting for this to pay off. "I don''t feel," said Ethos''s Kaufmann, "that Swiss pension funds are really happy with what''s happening at Credit Suisse with the share price performance, controversies around the bank, (the) high levels of compensation." ($1 = 0.9960 Swiss francs) (Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt; editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/credit-suisse-gp-agm-chairman-idUSL8N1HT3OU'|'2017-04-25T14:00:00.000+03:00' '37304dfdf1fc921607125f8d8fe8e42f86decaee'|'BHP gets approval to raise iron ore exports from Australian port'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 9:17am BST BHP gets approval to raise iron ore exports from Australian port FILE PHOTO: A BHP Billiton sign is visible behind a pile of iron ore at the company''s loading facility in Port Hedland, Australia, May 30, 2008. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/File Photo SYDNEY Australia''s Town of Port Hedland on Friday approved plans by BHP Billiton ( BHP.AX ) ( BLT.L ) to ship an additional 5 million tonnes of iron ore annually through the port, the first stage of a plan to lift shipments to 290 million tonnes by 2019. The increase, approved in a vote by the Port Hedland Council, is a quarter of the size BHP originally requested before being rejected in September by the town over concerns of dust pollution caused by iron ore stockpiles. BHP is next expected to seek approval to ship 275 million tonnes of iron ore annually, before boosting shipments to 290 million tonnes by mid-2019. BHP Billiton derives more than half its profits from selling iron ore, mostly to steel mills in China. Since the previous application to increase exports by 20 million tonnes was opposed in September 2016, there have been discussions with key stakeholders and BHP to determine the impacts of dust on health, Port Hedland Mayor Camilo Blanco said in a statement on Friday. BHP was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bhp-billiton-iron-idUKKBN17U10Q'|'2017-04-28T16:17:00.000+03:00' 'd8f31f662521510023fa9379831b0f97a4d11753'|'Genzyme, CHC lift Sanofi''s first-quarter figures, upbeat on Dupixent'|'PARIS, April 28 French drugmaker Sanofi reported higher-than-expected first-quarter profits on Friday, buoyed by its specialty care division Genzyme, by vaccines, and by consumer products acquired from Germany''s Boehringer Ingelheim.The drugmaker, which confirmed its full-year outlook, said it was confident Dupixent, a drug for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis that was approved in the United States at end March, would sell well.Wall Street analysts forecast annual sales exceeding $4 billion by 2022 for the biotech drug known chemically as dupilumab, according to Thomson Reuters data."We feel very encouraged with the early coverage (...) we had worked with payers in anticipation of the launch," Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt told journalists.Sanofi said first-quarter business net income rose 1 percent at constant exchange rates to 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion). Total sales rose 8.6 percent to 8.65 billion.Analysts polled by Reuters in partnership with Inquiry Financial had on average been expecting business net profit of 1.6 billion euros and net sales of 8.38 billion. ($1 = 0.9203 euros) (Reporting by Matthias Blamont; Editing by Andrew Calus)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/sanofi-results-idINP6N1BR00R'|'2017-04-28T03:37:00.000+03:00' '860f3b7ce716894e48e617718c5e6aa68691204f'|'UPDATE 1-Hedge fund TCI scathing on Zodiac results, wants Safran deal suspended'|'(Adds Quote: from partner Amouyal)By Tim Hepher and Maiya KeidanPARIS, April 28 Hedge fund TCI Fund Management renewed pressure on France''s Safran to suspend its bid to buy Zodiac Aerospace after the aircraft seats maker issued a second profit warning in as many months.TCI has waged a public campaign to persuade Safran to cancel its proposed $9 billion offer for Zodiac, saying it was overpaying for a struggling company, a view underpinned by Zodiac''s posting of a first-half operating loss."These are disastrous results from Zodiac yet again... Zodiac''s business continues to implode with no sign of recovery," TCI founder Christopher Hohn said in an emailed statement."Zodiac is in serious financial difficulty and we think it needs an emergency rights issue, which would cause the Zodiac share price to fall substantially," he said, adding the appointment of a new special board adviser was a distraction from the company''s problems.TCI partner Jonathan Amouyal told Reuters by phone that despite this, the fund was not ruling out a deal completely."They are paying a top price when the sea of uncertainty could not be any higher... our advice is don''t rush it.""Do more work, let the dust settle, come back in six months'' time, in one year or two years once you have further conviction in your capability to turn it around and then buy it but don''t pay a top price today on top of uncertainty," he said.For its part, Safran on Friday said it would continue talks with Zodiac despite the latter''s profit warning. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Andrew Callus and Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/zodiac-aero-ma-results-tci-idINL8N1I02WL'|'2017-04-28T07:37:00.000+03:00' 'ea4276702d892646673c2f938b6c394479869005'|'Bayer CEO says Monsanto''s reputation is a "major challenge"'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 9:33am BST Bayer CEO says Monsanto''s reputation is a "major challenge" left right Activists protest against the merger of Germany''s pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer with U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto before Bayer''s annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 1/3 left right Activists protest against the merger of Germany''s pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer with U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto before Bayer''s annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 2/3 left right Activists protest against the merger of Germany''s pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer with U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto before Bayer''s annual general shareholders meeting in Bonn, Germany, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay 3/3 BONN Bayer''s ( BAYGn.DE ) chief executive acknowledged on Friday that he will face an uphill battle to improve Monsanto''s ( MON.N ) reputation once Bayer completes the takeover of the U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company. "Monsanto’s image does of course represent a major challenge for us, and it’s not an aspect I wish to play down," Werner Baumann told shareholders at Bayer''s annual general meeting. "Yet we are facing this challenge with all those qualities that have made us what we are today: openness, expertise and responsibility," he added. Bayer and Monsanto plan to wrap up the $66 billion (51.14 billion pounds) transaction by the end of 2017. As part of this, Bayer aims to file for European antitrust approval during the second quarter. (Reporting by Patricia Weiss; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Ludwig Burger)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bayer-agm-idUKKBN17U12C'|'2017-04-28T16:33:00.000+03:00' 'cdca26541bf7e3075699b197dd075ab8fc8aac8a'|'Thai baby''s murder on Facebook puts online controls under scrutiny'|'Company 4:14am EDT Thai baby''s murder on Facebook puts online controls under scrutiny By Patpicha Tanakasempipat - PHUKET, Thailand, April 28 PHUKET, Thailand, April 28 A relative of the Thai baby whose murder was shown on Facebook Live earlier this week said he was too distraught and intent on getting police to the crime scene to worry about getting the horrific videos taken down. The gruesome incident this week highlights how those most affected by offensive content are usually too distracted to report it to the authorities. It also exposes the challenges that live streaming content poses to both governments monitoring for offensive material on the internet and the companies that host online content. On Monday, in an abandoned building in the Thai seaside resort of Phuket, 20-year-old Wuttisan Wongtalay turned on Facebook Live from his mobile phone. Then he picked up his 11-month-old daughter in her pink dress, tied a rope around her neck and hanged her. A second short video briefly shows her lifeless body. After that, he turned off the camera and killed himself. For the family of little Natalie Triratana, removing the videos was the last thing on their minds when they first popped up on Wuttisan''s Facebook feed at around 4.50 p.m. on Monday. Her mother''s cousin, Suksan Buachanit, said he called Thailand''s 191 police hotline to ask for help locating the building. By the time police and relatives found it, it was too late. "A local reporter told me to report it (to Facebook) but we were all occupied at the scene," Suksan told Reuters in Phuket. It took more than a day - and 370,000 views - before Facebook removed those few minutes of video. CLEVELAND SHOOTING Others that Reuters spoke to in Phuket who had seen the videos, including friends and relatives of the dead girl''s parents, said they were too preoccupied by the tragedy to report the incident to Facebook. For the social media company, with nearly 2 billion users, it was yet another case that exposed the challenges of quickly spotting and removing offensive content. The killing of the baby in Thailand followed the live broadcast shooting of an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio. In that incident, it took two hours to remove the video, bringing intense criticism on the social media giant and prompting it to promise "ways that new technologies can help us make sure Facebook is a safe environment". It was unclear how many viewers alerted Facebook to the killing of the baby. Facebook did not respond to questions. But by the morning the baby''s murder had been reported in local media and was one of the most talked about stories in Thailand. Several local and international journalists told Reuters they had reported the videos to Facebook and asked the company for comment. The head of Thailand''s police''s Technology Crime Suppression Division, Supachet Chokchai, said he was alerted to the baby murder videos by police in Phuket but he declined to say when that was. The division monitors online content ranging from anti-monarchy content to fraudulent websites. It also has a hotline for the public to call in tip-offs about offensive content. Nor would Supachet say when police then asked the digital ministry to get in touch with Facebook. The ministry said by the time police reported the videos on Tuesday afternoon it had already heard about them from an anonymous tip-off and had told Facebook. The ministry contacted Facebook through a "direct channel" at noon on Tuesday, according to Somsak Khaosuwan, the ministry''s deputy permanent secretary. He did not elaborate on what the direct channel was or say whom the ministry contacted at Facebook. It was only just after 5.00 p.m. - about five hours later and more than a full day after the videos were first streamed - that Facebook took them down. ILLEGAL AND HARMFUL CONTENT A Facebook statement called the incident "appalling" and said there was "absolutely no place for content of this kind" on the network. It did not respond to Reuters questions as to why it took so long to remove the videos. Thai police said they would review ways to take down online content after the killing. Police blamed the delay partly on the time difference between the United States, where Facebook is headquartered, and Thailand. They did not explain at exactly which stage the time difference had proved problematic, however. A spokesman for the police also said the force was tight on staffing. Thailand, along with other authoritarian governments in Asia, is more geared up to monitor politically sensitive content online. Censorship has been ramped up since a 2014 coup and hundreds of websites have been blocked or shut down for content deemed inappropriate or offensive. Thailand is further tightening controls on internet users. This week, Thailand''s national telecoms regulator ordered all internet service providers to block web content deemed illegal by the courts within a week or face having their licenses revoked. Thailand is also working on a cyber security bill that would allow the state to conduct large-scale surveillance in the name of national security by wiretapping telephones and computers without the need for court approval. (Additional reporting by Amy Sawitta Lefevre and Panarat Thepgumpanat in BANGKOK; Editing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre, Matthew Tostevin and Bill Tarrant)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/facebook-thailand-idUSL4N1HZ4M5'|'2017-04-28T16:14:00.000+03:00' 'cc4dab0eb24b4327d3893508917bbe5b6bda3eb2'|'Honda forecasts lower operating profit in 2017/18'|' 51am BST Honda forecasts lower operating profit in 2017/18 The logo of Honda is pictured at the 38th Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok, Thailand March 28, 2017. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha TOKYO Honda Motor Co ( 7267.T ) forecast on Friday a 16.1 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker expects a stronger yen, changes to its pension plan and research and development costs will weigh on earnings even as auto sales rise. Japan''s No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705 billion yen (£4.92 billion) in the year to March, lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen according to 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and lower than the 840.7 billion yen posted for the year just ended. Honda''s projection is based on expectations that the yen will trade at 105 yen to the U.S. dollar in the year to March, compared with 108 yen in the year just ended. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-honda-results-idUKKBN17U0Q5'|'2017-04-28T14:51:00.000+03:00' 'f0da4a4c611ea82d7a8e4cbb419f9bf77c66b761'|'More small housebuilders needed to fix UK''s ''broken'' market - report'|'Business 12:27am BST More small housebuilders needed to fix UK''s ''broken'' market - report Construction work is seen amongst residential and commercial buildings in east London, Britain, February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville LONDON Britain will not fix its "broken" housing market unless it ends the dominance of the biggest housebuilders by supporting smaller providers to ramp up the rate of construction, a parliamentary committee warned on Saturday. Housing is a huge political issue in Britain where demand outstrips supply, pushing up prices and leaving large numbers of first-time buyers locked out of the market. A cross-party report by parliament''s Communities and Local Government Committee said more than half of all new homes were built by the eight largest firms, meaning the country is overly reliant on a small number of commercial providers. The report said there was little incentive for so-called volume builders to accelerate their rate of building and said changes needed to be made to help the small and medium-sized builders, who have been declining in number and output. "The housing market is broken, we are simply not building enough homes," said Clive Betts, the chair of the committee. "Smaller builders are in decline and the sector is over reliant on an alarmingly small number of high volume developers, driven by commercial self-interest and with little incentive to build any quicker." The report said that in order to increase competition, land should be made available in smaller portions to allow the smaller builders to secure space, and the government should look at making finance available to smaller groups which are seen as more risky. The report said around 190,000 net additional homes were built in Britain in 2015-16 but charities and industry consultants believe that figure is too low to meet demand. According to the committee, a quarter of all new homes in 2015 were built by the three largest companies - Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt. Other listed housebuilders include Berkeley Group, Bellway Redrow, Crest Nicholson and Bovis Homes. The Home Builders Federation said it welcomed the report and supported the drive to support smaller providers. But it noted that demands around the planning process were also an issue. "The vast majority of the big increases in housing supply in recent years have come from the larger, mainstream builders - but we need more builders of all sizes and specialisms if we are to tackle our acute housing shortage," it said. (Reporting by Kate Holton, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-housebuilding-idUKKBN17U343'|'2017-04-29T07:13:00.000+03:00' '869a1d6d94c65acfca9ea24781e9fef74c7028eb'|'BP restores production at two Whiting crude units - sources'|' 9:07pm BST BP restores production at two Whiting crude units - sources FILE PHOTO: A British Petroleum petrol station logo is seen at Heathrow in London, Britain February 2, 2010. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo HOUSTON BP Plc ( BP.L ) was restoring production on Thursday afternoon at two crude distillation units at its 413,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery after performing work on an electrical power substation, said sources familiar with plant operations. Production was cut on Pipestills 11A and 11C, each of which can process 75,000 bpd in crude oil, on Thursday morning so the work could be performed, the sources said. Trade source said they had heard the two units were shut, but had only heard rumors about the cause. BP was offering products for sale throughout the day, the dealers in the Chicago market said. On Thursday afternoon, gasoline was down a half-cent a barrel in that market. The sources said production dipped below 90 percent of capacity for a few hours on Thursday, but was expected to be at planned rates on Friday. (Reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Devika Krishna Kumar, Jarrett Renshaw and Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sandra Maler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-refinery-operations-bp-whiting-idUKKBN17T2ZG'|'2017-04-28T04:07:00.000+03:00' '7e8bceb36f13b93bbcc0f84ac50711a3becf587d'|'Confident Wenning ready for rough ride at helm of Munich Re'|'Funds News 11:13am EDT Confident Wenning ready for rough ride at helm of Munich Re * Wenning faces pressure to make Ergo profitable * Low interest rates, stiff competition erode profit * Wenning inherits a wide gender gap within reinsurer By Tom Sims MUNICH, April 27 Joachim Wenning admitted he would not be to everyone''s liking long before taking the helm of Germany''s Munich Re. That hard-nosed approach could prove valuable as the 52-year-old tackles falling profits, disgruntled investors and headwinds beyond his control at the German reinsurance titan. Wenning, who has spent his entire career at Munich Re, took over as CEO on Thursday, more than a year after he was tapped to succeed Nikolaus von Bomhard, who retired after 13 years. While shareholders praised von Bomhard for navigating the global financial crisis, low interest rates and declining reinsurance prices have eroded profit in recent years. Investors are also impatient about other issues, including Munich Re''s unprofitable primary insurance unit Ergo, which they argue distracts from its reinsurance business, and numerous digital initiatives which they say have yet to pay off. "I''m glad that Mr Wenning has already agreed to take this on and cannot go back anymore," von Bomhard told shareholders in Munich on Wednesday at the company''s annual general meeting. Munich Re, which dominates the reinsurance industry, is facing fierce competition and falling prices along with its major rivals such as Swiss Re, Hannover Re and Warren Buffett''s Berkshire Hathaway. CONFIDENT ON ERGO Munich Re employees arrived at work on Thursday to find a video message from Wenning, under the headline "I am confident as I take on this role", in which he addressed concerns about Ergo, reiterating a promise that it will contribute 600 million euros ($653 million) in profit from 2021. But despite a deep restructuring announced in June, the cutting of 13 percent of its German workforce and plans to launch a digital insurer and a revamped product line, investor concerns persist about Ergo. "I am slowly but surely losing patience with Ergo," Daniela Bergdolt, vice president of private investor association DSW, told the annual meeting. "We''ve been tinkering with it for about 18 years. When will we see a sustainable success with Ergo? When is the turnaround? Should we not have pulled the plug earlier?" A focus for Wenning will be digital. Ergo is due to launch an insurer called "nexible" that can only be found online and has no call centre or branches. The company is also cautiously moving into the business of insuring against cyber risks. Yet despite numerous initiatives, investors complain innovation is not yet paying off, with group profit likely to decline in 2017 for a fifth consecutive year. Wenning, a German born in Jerusalem in 1965, has most recently been the board member with responsibility for life reinsurance and human resources and admitted on Wednesday that gender imbalance was still a problem. Monika Zumstein, an official with the German Women Lawyers Association, pointed out at the AGM that only 4 percent of roles below board level are held by women. But such criticisms seem unlikely to throw Wenning. In an interview on Munich Re''s website last year, Wenning said: "For me, it is important to hear unpleasant realities, even if in the first moment they are hard to accept." "I am not everybody''s darling," he said. ($1 = 0.9184 euros) (Editing by Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/munich-re-ceo-idUSL8N1HZ628'|'2017-04-27T23:13:00.000+03:00' 'cdd9f8b75e4a676434dc10ff7da787c8432c0510'|'MOVES-Former BlackRock executive Chris Leavy joins cannabis firm'|'April 27 Cannabis company MedMen said on Thursday Chris Leavy, former BlackRock Inc executive, joined the Los Angeles-based firm as co-chairman and a partner.Leavy was the managing director and chief investment officer of the U.S. fundamental equity division of BlackRock.Prior to his stint at the asset manager, Leavy held senior roles at Morgan Stanley and OppenheimerFunds. (Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/medmen-moves-chris-leavy-idINL4N1HZ5WR'|'2017-04-27T12:49:00.000+03:00' 'ef0f2e91192fa616ef2925130ad8a328495316bd'|'Asian shares retreat from highs after Trump tax plan'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 11:58am EDT Equity markets dip on U.S. tax plan; euro weakens on Draghi People walk through the lobby of the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain August 25, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File photo By Chuck Mikolajczak - NEW YORK NEW YORK Key world stock markets dipped on Thursday after a three-day rally in the wake of a largely expected U.S. tax cut plan, while the euro weakened after comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. On Wall Street, stocks edged lower after a lukewarm reception for U.S. President Donald Trump''s tax plan unveiled on Wednesday, some of the details of which were largely expected by investors. The plan proposes deep U.S. tax cuts, many for businesses, that would make the federal deficit balloon if enacted. The market now is waiting to see if the proposal will become law. "It is getting to the point, this may be the last sort of hurrah for the hope trade – the announcement of the tax cut," said Tom Siomades, head of the Investment Consulting Group of Hartford Funds, in an interview with Reuters, referring to the stock market rally in the wake of Trump''s election. However, losses on Wall Street Thursday were curbed as corporate earnings continue to show strong results for the quarter. Comcast ( CMCSA.O ) was the top boost to the benchmark S&P 500 index after its results. "You still have this upward press of real solid earnings and good economic data, but if this deteriorates at all you are going to have a blow down," said Siomades. U.S. economic data showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital goods rose less than expected in March, but a second straight monthly increase in shipments suggested business investment accelerated in the first quarter. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 11.39 points, or 0.05 percent, to 20,963.7, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 1.11 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,386.34 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 16.81 points, or 0.28 percent, to 6,042.04. Europe''s main bourses .FTEU3 fell as much as 0.5 percent as traders pulled back after a six-session winning streak on relief at the outcome of the first round of France''s presidential election and encouraging earnings. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 lost 0.21 percent and MSCI''s gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD PUS shed 0.15 percent to retreat from a record. As widely expected, the ECB made no changes to its record low interest rates or stimulus program, but euro zone government bond yields and the euro fell after Draghi said policymakers did not discuss removing the bank''s easing bias on monetary policy at this month''s meeting. The benchmark 10-year Bund yield DE10YT=TWEB was last down almost 5 basis points at 0.302 percent. The euro EUR= was down 0.34 percent to $1.0866 against the dollar. The Canadian dollar CAD= and Mexican peso MXN= went in opposite directions after the U.S. said it would not scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Mexican peso strengthened 0.53 percent versus the U.S. dollar at 19.08. The Canadian dollar weakened 0.32 percent versus the greenback at 1.37 per dollar. Microsoft ( MSFT.O ), Amazon.com ( AMZN.O ) and Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ) are scheduled to report results after the closing bell on Wall Street. First quarter earnings are expected to show growth of 12.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data, those most since 2011. Oil prices retreated after news that two key oilfields in Libya had restarted, pumping crude for export into an already bloated market. U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 2.5 percent to $48.38 per barrel and Brent LCOcv1 was last at $51.12, down 2.46 percent on the day. (Editing by Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKBN17T02N'|'2017-04-27T08:39:00.000+03:00' 'd07539795b1940407d88c057c5a0c9a632ee2768'|'UK tourism set for boost from weak pound and "staycationers" - survey'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 4:53am BST UK tourism set for boost from weak pound and ''staycationers'' - survey A sightseeing bus drives past Parliament Square in London, Britain September 18, 2016. Photograph taken on September 18, 2016. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth LONDON The British hotel and leisure industry is set for a bumper year as a weak pound boosts demand from foreign tourists and deters Britons from travelling abroad, a survey by Barclays showed on Thursday. Nearly two-thirds of international holidaymakers surveyed by the bank said they were more interested in holidaying in the UK compared with this time last year. The top driver of this was the weaker pound, cited by 31 percent, while greater spending power was cited by 30 percent. "2017 looks set to be a strong year for the British hospitality sector with both domestic and international visitors increasingly intent on spending more time here," Mike Saul, head of hospitality and leisure at Barclays, said. "The impact of a weak sterling, at least temporarily, has boosted the UK''s international appeal." The weaker pound means that Britons conversely get less bang for their buck abroad, and rising inflation is also fuelling demand from domestic holidaymakers. Nearly a third of UK holidaymakers expected to spend more of their holiday time in Britain this year, and 38 percent of those who cited cost as a factor said that the weaker pound had made holidays in the UK preferable to going abroad. The pound is down around 15 percent since Britain voted to leave the European Union. Out of international holidaymakers, 31 percent said they were more likely to visit Britain than before the referendum last June, although about a half of those asked said the vote had no impact on their likelihood of making a trip. The Barclays report surveyed almost 10,000 guests from the UK, continental Europe, the US, Middle East, Asia and Australia. (Reporting by Alistair Smout)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-travel-idUKKBN17S35P'|'2017-04-27T07:08:00.000+03:00' '6dabba6a056d463de4d7be2d4e6f680a02f4c805'|'Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software -sources'|'Technology News - Wed Apr 26, 2017 - 1:15pm EDT Lockheed Martin to upgrade F-35 logistics and maintenance software: sources By Mike Stone Lockheed Martin Corp will announce the U.S. Air Force and Navy have approved installation of the newest version of the F-35 fighter jet''s computer-based logistics system incorporating engine data for the first time, people familiar with the program said. Lockheed''s Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) enables daily operations of the F-35 fleet, ranging from mission planning and flight scheduling to repairs and scheduled maintenance, as well as the tracking and ordering of parts. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington DC; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-defense-software-idUSKBN17S2EX'|'2017-04-27T01:13:00.000+03:00' 'fe4cbf3ad5f5dbb99793255e441d8a9eb7775905'|'U.S. Congress passes short-term bill to avert government shutdown'|'Economic News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 11:14pm IST U.S. Congress passes short-term bill to avert government shutdown By Richard Cowan - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON The U.S. Congress on Friday passed stopgap legislation to avert a government shutdown at midnight and give lawmakers another week to reach a deal on federal spending through the end of the fiscal year, with contentious issues remaining to be resolved. The Senate passed the measure by voice vote without opposition after the House earlier approved it by a tally of 382-30. The measure now goes to President Donald Trump to sign into law. The bill in the Republican-led Congress provides federal funding until May 5, allowing lawmakers to hammer out legislation over the next few days to keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Congress has been tied in knots over $1 trillion in spending priorities for months. Lawmakers were supposed to have taken care of the current fiscal year appropriations bills by last Oct. 1. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the stopgap bill "will carry us through next week so that a bipartisan agreement can be reached." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said there were still significant differences with Republicans over elements of the looming longer-term spending bill. In the bigger spending bill to be negotiated in the coming days, it remained unclear whether Republicans would prevail in their effort to sharply boost defense spending without similar increases for other domestic programs. Trump has proposed a $30 billion spending hike for the Pentagon for the rest of this fiscal year. House and Senate negotiators also have been struggling over funding to make a healthcare program for coal miners permanent and whether to plug a gap in Puerto Rico''s Medicaid program, the government health insurance program for the poor. ''IMPORTANT BUSINESS'' During debate in the House, lawmakers expressed frustration at the inability of Congress to take care of the basic functions of government in a timely manner. "Let''s make sure these basics are done for the American people and then let''s get about the important business of changing their tax code and making sure they have the best healthcare in the world," said Republican Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma. "We are seven months into the fiscal year," added Representative Nita Lowey of New York, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. "Federal departments and agencies have been operating on outdated funding levels and policies for more than half of the year. This is unacceptable and it cannot continue." Lowey noted the legislation, known as a continuing resolution, was the third stopgap spending measure during the current fiscal year. In addition to opposition from Democrats, there are deep divisions among Republicans over exactly how to change the tax code and overhaul the U.S. healthcare system. The action on the spending bill came a day after House Republican leaders again put on hold a possible vote on major healthcare legislation sought by Trump to dismantle the 2010 Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, after moderates in the party balked at provisions added to entice hard-line conservatives. The government was last forced to close in October 2013, when Republican Senator Ted Cruz and some of the most conservative House Republicans engineered a 17-day shutdown in an unsuccessful quest to kill former Democratic President Barack Obama''s healthcare law. Trump, a Republican, bowed to Democratic demands that the spending bill not include money to start building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border he said is needed to fight illegal immigration and stop drug smugglers. The Trump administration also agreed to continue funding for a major component of Obamacare despite Republican vows to end the program. Without the extension or a longer-term funding bill, federal agencies would have run out of money by midnight Friday, likely triggering abrupt layoffs of hundreds of thousands of federal government workers until funding resumes. (Additional reporting by Amanda Becker and Susan Cornwell; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Jonathan Oatis) U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (R) speaks next to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a news conference on President Trump''s first 100 days on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-budget-idINKBN17U2LC'|'2017-04-29T01:44:00.000+03:00' '0d6fb8d1dd7cc95d330cdad764f6d71028c5582a'|'U.S. FTC approves Emerson Electric''s acquisition of Pentair with conditions'|'WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Trade Commission gave its blessing to Emerson Electric Co''s ( EMR.N ) acquisition of industrial valve manufacturer Pentair PLC ( PNR.N ) on condition that it sells Pentair''s switchbox business to Crane Co ( CR.N ).The requirement was aimed at easing competitive concerns. The FTC said Emerson, a factory automation equipment maker, and Pentair together control 60 percent of the U.S. switchbox market.The agreement is subject to a 30-day comment period, after which the FTC said it would decided whether to make the proposed consent order final.(Reporting by Eric Walsh and Tim Ahmann)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pentair-m-a-emerson-electric-idUSKBN17U2PR'|'2017-04-28T22:37:00.000+03:00' '0d81ea8ce31d5f7e95b6528562ae7e46c96a2fcd'|'Sofas and surveillance: Technology firms and office of the future'|'FROM the 62nd floor of Salesforce Tower, 920 feet above the ground, San Francisco’s monuments look piddling. The Bay Bridge, Coit Tower and Palace of Fine Arts are dwarfed by the steel-and-glass headquarters that will house the software company when it is completed later this year. Subtle it is not. Salesforce plans to put on a light show every night; its new building will be visible from up to 30 miles away.It is not the only technology company erecting a shrine to itself. Apple’s employees have just begun moving into their new headquarters in Cupertino, some 70 kilometres away, which was conceived by the firm’s late founder, Steve Jobs. The four-storey, circular building looks like the dial of an iPod (or a doughnut) and is the same size as the Pentagon. At a price tag of around $5bn, it will be the most expensive corporate headquarters ever constructed. Apple applied all its product perfectionism to it: the guidelines for the wood used inside it reportedly ran to 30 pages.Latest updates How liquor shops are getting around India’s latest booze ban The Economist explains 2 hours ago A See all updates Throughout San Francisco and Silicon Valley, cash-rich technology firms have built or are erecting bold, futuristic headquarters that convey their brands to employees and customers. Another example is Uber, a ride-hailing company, which is hoping to recast its reputation for secrecy and rugged competitiveness by designing an entirely see-through head office. It is expected to have some interior areas, as well as a park, that will be open to the public.The exteriors of the new buildings will attract most attention, but it is their interiors that should be watched more closely. The very newest buildings, such as Apple’s, are mostly still under wraps, but they are expected to be highly innovative in their internal layout. Some of that is because of fierce competition within the tech industry for the best engineering and other talent: firms are particularly keen to come up with attractive, productive environments. But these new office spaces will also signal how work is likely to evolve. Technology companies have already changed the way people behave in offices beyond their own industry, as a result of e-mail, online search and collaboration tools such as Slack. They are doing the same for physical spaces.The big idea championed by the industry is the concept of working in various spaces around an office rather than at a fixed workstation. Other industries have experimented with “activity-based working”, but tech is ahead. Employees may still have an assigned desk but they are not expected to be there, and they routinely go to different places to do various tasks. There are “libraries” where they can work quietly, as well as coffee shops, cafés and outdoor spaces for meetings and phone calls. The top two floors of Salesforce Tower, for example, will be used not as corner offices for executives but as an airy lounge for employees, where they can work communally and gaze out at the views over a latté.A fluid working environment is meant to allow for more chance encounters, which could spur new ideas and spark unexpected collaborations. Facebook’s central building is the world’s largest open-plan office, designed to encourage employees to bump into one another in its common spaces and in a nine-acre rooftop garden. Communal areas are meant to be casual and alluring. John Schoettler, head of real estate at Amazon, says he aims to make them into “living-room-like spaces”. For offices to feel like home, it helps to hire a designer with expertise in residential real-estate, says Elizabeth Pinkham of Salesforce. In common areas at the firm’s offices, there are TVs, couches and bookshelves. Framed photos of a few employees add to the effect.The new “working at home”For those who scoff at the creative benefits of being surrounded by pictures of Colin from accounts, there are more tangible payoffs. The lack of fixed workstations shrinks the amount of expensive real estate given to employees without leaving them feeling too squeezed. Tech firms devote around 14 square metres to each employee, around a quarter less than other industries, according to Randy Howder at Gensler, a design firm. Young workers are thought to be more productive in these varied environments, which are reminiscent of the way people study and live at university. One drawback, however, is that finding colleagues can be difficult. Employees need to locate each other through text messages and messaging apps.Collaborative spaces can also expose generational tensions, says Louise Mozingo, an architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Tech firms’ elderly employees (otherwise known as the over-40s) can struggle to adjust to moving around during the day and to the frequent disruptions that come from large, open-plan offices. Many of Facebook’s employees do not like their office because it is noisy, and some Apple employees are hesitant to move into their new building for the same reason. Plenty also balk at the massive distances they will need to walk.That may not be the only thing to cause employees concern. Tech firms are increasingly keen to use their own products in their headquarters. Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, a chipmaking firm whose graphics processing units are widely used in artificial-intelligence programmes, says his firm plans to introduce facial recognition for entry into its new headquarters, due to open later this year.Nvidia will also install cameras to recognise what food people are taking from the cafeteria and charge them accordingly, eliminating the need for a queue and cashier. A self-driving shuttle will eventually zip between its various buildings. And Nvidia’s own AI will monitor when employees arrive and leave, with the ostensible aim of adjusting the building’s heating and cooling systems.The data that firms can collect on their employees’ whereabouts and activities are bound to become ever more detailed. Another way of keeping tabs on people is through company-issued mobile phones. “Every employee has their own tracking device,” observes Mr Howder at Gensler. “Technology firms will sooner or later take advantage of that.”Few of them are willing to share details of their future plans because of concerns about employees’ privacy. However, some of their contractors signal what sort of innovations may be in the pipeline. Office-furniture makers, for example, are experimenting with putting sensors in desks and chairs, so that firms will be better able to monitor when workers are there.Such data could be anonymised to allay privacy concerns. They could also save electricity or help people find an empty room to hold a meeting. But it is not hard to imagine how such data could create a culture of surveillance, where employees feel constantly monitored. “Technology firms could be an indicator of what will happen with privacy in offices more generally,” says David Benjamin of Autodesk, a company that sells software to architects, among other clients.Silent discos and Bedouin tentsA less controversial trend is for unusual office interiors. These can distinguish companies in the minds of their employees, act as a recruiting tool and also give staff a reason to come into the office rather than work from home. For companies that do not ship a physical product, such offices can serve as important daily reminders of culture and purpose.Last year LinkedIn, a professional social network, for example, opened a new building in San Francisco that is full of space set aside for networking, and that includes a “silent disco”, where people can dance to music with headphones on. Instead of offering generic meeting rooms with portentous names, Airbnb, a tech firm that lets people rent out their homes, has designed each of its meeting spaces after one of its rental listings, such as a Bedouin tent from Morocco. It also has a meeting room (pictured above) that is an exact replica of the rental apartment where the founders lived when they came up with the idea for Airbnb. Every detail, including the statue of Jesus in red velvet on top of the fireplace, is accurate, says Joe Gebbia, one of the company’s founders.Nvidia is obsessed with triangles, the basic element of computer graphics used to create lifelike scenes in video games and movies. Its new headquarters, which cost $370m, is shaped like one (see picture), and its interior is full of them. Everything, from the skylights to the benches in the lobby, is triangular. “At this point I’m kind of over the triangle shape, because we took that theme and beat it to death,” admits John O’Brien, the company’s head of real estate, who pointedly vetoed a colleague’s recent suggestion to offer triangle-shaped water bottles in the cafeteria.Three sides to every storey Such workspaces remind staff that they are choosing not just an employer but a way of life. In the tech bubble of the late 1990s companies disrupted the workplace by offering foosball tables, nap pods, blow-up castles and free lunches. Now the emphasis is on amenities that help employees save time. Larger firms, including Facebook, Alphabet and LinkedIn, offer their staff something akin to the services used by the extremely wealthy, helping employees to find places to live, adopt pets and the like. Some large tech groups offer on-site health care.The effect of all this is that the typical office at a technology firm is becoming a prosperous, self-contained village. Employees have fewer reasons than ever to leave. With the spare cash they can throw at their employees, tech giants have vastly raised the bar for other kinds of company, which also want to recruit clever engineers and techies for their projects.Other industries would be wise to take time to watch how tech firms are structuring their work environments. There is certainly a chance of a backlash against those that use their products to watch employees too closely. Workers may like free lunches and other perks associated with the tech business, but probably not enough to surrender their privacy entirely. "Sofas and surveillance"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/rss/business_rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721423-their-eccentric-buildings-offer-clues-about-how-people-will-work-technology-firms-and-office?fsrc=rss%7Cbus'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'd34401daab236e34cfc76a2324f6544912d498e2'|'UK house prices fall again in April as buyers face Brexit pinch'|'Money 10:12am BST UK house prices fall again in April as buyers face Brexit pinch A row of houses are seen in London, Britain June 3, 2015. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett LONDON British house prices fell for a second month in a row in April, suggesting households are feeling the pinch from rising inflation since last year''s Brexit vote and low wage growth, data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Friday. Nationwide said house prices declined by a monthly 0.4 percent following a fall of 0.3 percent in March which had been the first drop since mid-2015. In annual terms, prices were 2.6 percent higher, the weakest increase in almost four years. Economists polled by Reuters had expected house prices to rise by 0.1 percent in April from March and by 3.3 percent in annual terms. Britain''s households are facing a loss of spending power due to rising inflation - aggravated by the fall in the pound since last year''s referendum decision to leave the European Union - which is starting to outpace wage growth. A survey published earlier on Friday showed British consumers were their most gloomy in four months in April as they weighed up the outlook for the economy and their finances ahead of Brexit and June''s general election. The last time Nationwide reported two consecutive months of house price falls in monthly terms was in mid-2012. "While monthly figures can be volatile, the recent softening in price growth may be a further indication that households are starting to react to the emerging squeeze on real incomes or to affordability pressures in key parts of the country," Nationwide economist Robert Gardner said. The slowdown in the housing market might also reflect the strong pace of price increases with a typical home now costing 6.1 times average earnings, close to an all-time high of 6.4 times in 2007, before the financial crisis, Gardner said. However, low levels of building and a shortage of properties on the market would provide some support for prices. "We continue to believe that a small increase in house prices of around 2 percent is likely over the course of 2017 as a whole," Gardner said. (Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Richard Lough)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-houseprices-nationwide-idUKKBN17U0OP'|'2017-04-28T14:32:00.000+03:00' '9e77bfc465656858475dc77fcc806c88c73aa3eb'|'ASML files patent countersuit against Japan''s Nikon'|'Technology 8:34pm BST ASML files patent countersuit against Japan''s Nikon People are silhouetted against a display of the Nikon brand logo at the CP+ camera and photo trade fair in Yokohama, Japan, February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter ASML, the world''s third largest semiconductor equipment maker, said on Friday it had counter-sued rival Nikon, after the Japanese company launched a wide-ranging patent battle against the Dutch company this week. ASML''s lawsuits involve semiconductor manufacturing equipment, flat panel display manufacturing equipment and digital cameras. They were brought in Japan by ASML on its own and jointly with its partner Carl Zeiss [CZTOP.UL], a German maker of optical systems and medical devices, ASML said in a statement. ASML dominates the market for lithography machines used by the world''s biggest chipmakers to make circuits ever smaller, faster and more powerful. It generates around 80 percent of revenues in that market, ahead of No.2 player Nikon and No.3 Canon Inc, according to ratings agency Fitch. The round of lawsuits and countersuits follows efforts to renegotiate a patent deal between ASML and Nikon that expired in 2014 and threatens to revive patent battles that stretch back to the turn of the century. Patent wars are infrequent in the technology industry, which depends on thousands of patents that companies frequently cross license to rivals, while reserving their most strategic intellectual property to create proprietary products. Intense competition sometimes spills over into costly legal battles as seen in a string of patent wars among smartphone makers in recent years. ASML, Nikon and Zeiss settled litigation in 2004 after the International Trade Commission found ASML had not infringed Nikon patents. ASML, which denies infringing any of Nikon''s patents, said it was left with no choice but to file counter-suits. Nikon, the world''s eighth-largest chip equipment maker, said on Monday it had filed a patent case against ASML and Zeiss, accusing them of using its lithography technology without permission ( reut.rs/2pplglg ). The Tokyo-based company filed a string of suits in the Netherlands, Germany and Japan. "Now that Nikon has decided to take this dispute to court, we also have to enforce our patent portfolio, and we will do this as broadly as possible," ASML Chief Executive Peter Wennink said in a statement, adding it had tried for years to reach a cross-licensing agreement with Nikon. Nikon said it had not yet received the complaints. "ASML and Zeiss’s retaliatory lawsuits are a predictable litigation tactic," Nikon said in a statement, adding its own lawsuits targeted products that account for 76.3 percent of ASML sales last year, worth about 3.5 billion euros. Additional suits will be brought in the United States, ASML said. (Reporting by Wout Vergauwen in Gdynia; Additional reporting by Sam Nussey in Tokyo and Eric Auchard in London; Editing by Adrian Croft and Mark Potter)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-nikon-asml-idUKKBN17U161'|'2017-04-29T03:33:00.000+03:00' 'eb189fe845f60b315fd07743b89a26ca309844fa'|'Microsoft''s quarterly revenue falls short of estimates'|' 9:45pm BST Microsoft''s quarterly revenue falls short of estimates FILE PHOTO: An advertisement is played on a set of large screens at the Microsoft office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on January 25, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Microsoft Corp ( MSFT.O ) on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that slightly missed analysts'' estimates, as robust demand for its cloud computing services failed to offset weak growth in its personal computing division. The company''s shares fell 1.9 percent to $67 in trading after the bell. Under Chief Executive Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014, Microsoft has sharpened its focus on the fast-growing cloud computing unit to counter a prolonged slowdown in the PC market, which has weighed on demand for its Windows software. Revenue from Microsoft''s personal computing unit, its largest by revenue, fell 7.4 percent to $8.84 billion. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $9.22 billion, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount. The business includes Windows software, Xbox gaming consoles, online search advertising and Surface personal computers. Surface revenue dipped 26 percent in the quarter. The lower-than-expected revenue in the personal computing division came amid an uptick in the PC market. Worldwide PC shipments rose 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017, seeing growth for the first time in five years, market research firm IDC said earlier this month. Revenue from Microsoft''s "Intelligent Cloud" business, which houses server products and the company''s flagship cloud computing platform, Azure, jumped about 11 percent to $6.76 billion in the third quarter ended March 31. Azure revenue soared 93 percent in the quarter. Azure competes with Amazon.com Inc''s ( AMZN.O ) Amazon Web Services, the market leader in cloud infrastructure, as well as offerings from Alphabet Inc''s ( GOOGL.O ) Google, IBM ( IBM.N ) and Oracle Corp ( ORCL.N ). The company''s net income rose to $4.80 billion, or 61 cents per share, in the third quarter ended March 31, from $3.76 billion, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Microsoft earned 73 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 70 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S ( bit.ly/2oQAzSJ ) Revenue on an adjusted basis climbed 6 percent to $23.56 billion, missing analysts'' average estimate of $23.62 billion. Microsoft said LinkedIn, which it bought for about $26 billion, contributed $975 million in revenue in the quarter. Microsoft''s shares had risen 9.9 percent this year through Thursday, eclipsing the 7 percent gain in the broader S&P 500 .SPX . (Reporting by Pushkala A and Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-microsoft-results-idUKKBN17T33O'|'2017-04-28T04:45:00.000+03:00' '5d3fc00f5d2e65dd8484130ea727f4c80422524e'|'Old Mutual Wealth''s client inflows rise as parent works on break-up'|' 23am BST Old Mutual Wealth''s client inflows rise as parent works on break-up The Cape Town headquarters of Anglo-South African financial services company Old Mutual are shown in this picture taken March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings Financial services group Old Mutual Plc''s ( OML.L ) UK asset management business reported its higher ever quarter for client inflows and funds under management for the first three months of the year, citing increased demand for its services and platform. Old Mutual Wealth forecast that markets would remain volatile and challenging in the medium term, especially until the outcome of Britain''s June general election and more detail of the terms of the country''s exit from the EU were known. The business''s net client cash flows, excluding Old Mutual Italy and the South African branches, rose 59 percent to 2.7 billion pounds in the quarter ended March 31. Its comparable funds under management jumped 6 percent to 122.3 billion pounds, Anglo-South African parent Old Mutual said in a statement on Friday. "We have the right solutions for these uncertain times, particularly our multi-asset, absolute return and high alpha product ranges... We are hopeful that this momentum will continue throughout 2017," the unit''s CEO Paul Feeney said. In March, Old Mutual said it was on track to complete its break-up into four parts by the end of 2018, although improvements to IT systems at Old Mutual Wealth could take longer and cost more than expected. (Reporting by Esha Vaish in Bengaluru; Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-old-mutual-outlook-idUKKBN17U0UE'|'2017-04-28T15:23:00.000+03:00' 'bb250b4c50afda0e8799f4c302575af225194b26'|'Bombardier rejects Boeing trade claim, shares slide'|'By Allison Lampert and Alwyn Scott - MONTREAL/NEW YORK MONTREAL/NEW YORK Canada''s Bombardier Inc hit back on Friday at rival U.S. planemaker Boeing Co''s claim that it sold jets well below cost to win market share in the United States, the latest sign of increasing trade tensions between the two countries.The risk of the United States imposing a tariff, which would likely depress sales of Bombardier''s newest jet, and concern over how big that tariff might be, unsettled investors, sending the Canadian company''s shares down just over 4 percent.Boeing wants the U.S. government to investigate what it describes as rock-bottom prices for Bombardier''s new CSeries aircraft, including an "absurdly low" sum of $19.6 million it says Delta Air Lines Inc paid for a jet costing $33 million to build."The allegation is absurd," Bombardier spokesman Bryan Tucker said, in response to numbers contained in a petition sent to the U.S. Commerce Department by Boeing on Thursday.The spat comes days after Washington imposed duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, prompting claims in Canada that Boeing was taking advantage of the Trump administration''s tougher stance on trade.Boeing spokesman Dan Curran said the filing against Bombardier was "an initiative we chose to take ourselves".He declined to say whether Boeing also planned to ask the United States to pursue Canada through the World Trade Organization, as it has against European rival Airbus.Domestic cases, where companies can petition for duties on specific products, typically take around a year. That is much quicker than a 13-year-old transatlantic battle on jetliner subsidies at the WTO, an international forum open only to nations.Planemakers "often sell below costs to break into a new market or with a new product, particularly if it involves a significant launch customer," said U.S.-based trade policy expert Joel Johnson.Such tactics cause long-term harm by creating momentum that rivals find hard to reverse, Boeing''s petition said, although industry analysts say Boeing and Airbus both regularly offer discounts of 50 percent or more.Boeing has said it competed for last year''s Delta order against the CSeries CS100 with used 717s, which it no longer makes, and used jets from Brazil''s Embraer, since Delta was only ready to pay a low price and wanted smaller jets than its more modern 737.But it said Bombardier''s actions could upset the wider market and erode future sales of its best-selling 737.Still, its complaint puzzled some analysts and trade lawyers, since Canada is in talks to sign a deal later this year or in early 2018 to acquire 18 Boeing fighter jets."It''s certainly the right political climate for a trade complaint. But I''m not sure this is the best idea," said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia.Canada has rejected Boeing''s accusations and says the CSeries uses many U.S. parts and generates thousands of U.S. jobs. Around half of the 110 to 130 seat CSeries is made in the United States, including the engine, cockpit control panels and avionics.Trade experts say an investigation could result in Delta and other buyers having to pay extra duties on future deliveries, effectively raising the price but not benefiting Bombardier.Canadian trade lawyer Mark Warner said Canada could challenge final decisions at the WTO or through NAFTA.Delta did not respond to requests for comment.(Additional reporting by Fergal Smith in Toronto, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Brad Haynes in Sao Paulo and Tim Hepher in Paris.; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Tom Brown and Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/boeing-bombardier-trade-claim-idINKBN17V03I'|'2017-04-29T11:20:00.000+03:00' '43de5c95629efac566efceacda05866bef027045'|'India govt think-tank backs local GM crop policy -document'|'Environment 9:25am EDT India government think-tank backs local GM crop policy: document NEW DELHI India could prevent foreign firms monopolizing the market for genetically modified (GM) seeds by allowing the sale of only locally developed varieties, a government think-tank has said, in a boost for transgenic mustard produced by a Delhi group. The Policy Commision said in recommendations this week to the government, and seen by Reuters, that adopting new technology is one of the most important drivers of farm productivity. Cotton is the only GM crop currently allowed to be sold in the world''s second most populous country where arable land is shrinking. U.S. company Monsanto Co dominates the cotton seed market in India, and often faces resistance from local companies over its dominant position. "There is some concern that GM seeds can be monopolized by multinationals, which may then exploit farmers," the commission said in its report to the government. "But this concern is readily addressed by limiting GM seeds to those varieties discovered by our own institution and companies." A panel of government and independent experts gave its technical clearance in August last year for GM mustard, which is in the same plant family as rapeseed, and developed by a group of Delhi scientists following multiple reviews of crop trial data generated over almost a decade. The national government has been sitting on the fence since August largely because of stiff opposition from social and environmental activists who see GM food as harmful for humans and animals alike. India''s biggest rapeseed-producing state, Rajasthan, has decided not to allow the commercial use of GM mustard even if New Delhi approves the lab-altered variety, its farm minister Prabhulal Saini told Reuters. The government has said it will take a call on GM mustard after taking all views on board, though experts say allowing its cultivation is critical to Prime Minister Narendra Modi''s goal of attaining self-sufficiency in vegetable oils. India spends around $10 billion annually on vegetable oil imports. GM mustard - with yields up to 30 percent higher than normal varieties - could give Modi a chance to slash this bill. (Reporting by Nidhi Verma, Krishna N. Das and Rajendra Jadhav, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-gmo-idUSKBN17S1SW'|'2017-04-26T21:23:00.000+03:00' 'e63449e33cecae157aa5bcabe58d71190094fb58'|'Maersk Line to pay $4 billion for Hamburg Sud'|'COPENHAGEN The world''s biggest container shipping company Maersk Line will pay 3.7 billion euros ($4.02 billion) for its acquisition of smaller German rival Hamburg Sud, it said on Friday.Combined, the two companies will be able to realize annual operational savings of about $350 million to $400 million, Maersk Line said in a statement fleshing out detail on the deal announced in December."By keeping Hamburg Sud as a separate and well-run company, we will limit the transaction and integration risks and costs while still extracting the operational synergies," said Soren Skou, CEO of both Maersk Line and its parent A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.The boards of Maersk Line and the Oetker Group, owner of Hamburg Sud, on Friday approved the proposed deal, which has been given the green light by the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice."Maersk paid a significant amount for Hamburg Sud, but considering the wave of consolidation in the industry ... you do not get anything cheaply," Sydbank analyst Morten Imsgard said, adding that the final price was just within his highest estimate.The proposed acquisition will still need approval from regulatory authorities in countries such as Brazil, China and South Korea, a Maersk spokesman told Reuters, adding that the company expects to secure hese by December or early 2018."Integration does not start until we have all approvals," he said.The proposed merger will strengthen the Danish company''s presence in global trade, particularly in Latin America, where Hamburg Sud has been long established."The job is now to realize those synergy effects, and integrating shipping companies is not without obstacles," Imsgaard said, referring to past acquisitions that have resulted in a loss of market share in some areas.Maersk is also in the process of spinning off its energy division, either by seeking alliances or a listing, to focus more sharply on its transport division.Maersk Line expects the Hamburg Sud transaction to close by the end of the year.($1 = 0.9200 euros)(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by David Goodman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-hamburgsud-m-a-maersk-idINKBN17U0VM'|'2017-04-28T05:35:00.000+03:00' 'ec8d1ba588a7c3c7d14af99d7149ec3276f61ff3'|'With Obamacare in doubt, California asks insurers to double up on rate filings'|'NEW YORK Health insurers seeking regulatory approval for 2018 individual insurance plans can file two sets of premium rates as a way to deal with market uncertainty created by Republicans'' promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, a California state insurance regulator said on Friday.California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones told insurers in a letter made public on Friday that they can file a set of lower rates based on the continued enforcement of the Affordable Care Act, Democratic former President Barack Obama''s signature legislation, and the continuation of government subsidies next year.Insurers can also file rates that reflect uncertainty over the continuation of Obama-era policies, he said, by specifying the costs associated with losing the government funding for cost-sharing subsidies that members use to reduce out-of-pocket expenses and the requirement that all Americans have insurance.Jones said that the move would enable insurers to file lower rates as well as the higher rates he expects them to submit.The California Department of Insurance said rates are due on May 1 for individual insurance. The state is one of about a dozen that run its own online exchange where residents can buy these subsidized plans. Other states use the federal HealthCare.gov system and rates are due in June.Insurers have warned that they need more certainty to file 2018 rates this spring. Anthem Inc Chief Executive Joseph Swedish said on Wednesday that he was telling states that he may raise rates by more than 20 percent or pull out of markets for 2018 if he does not have more information by June.Molina Healthcare Inc CEO Mario Molina said in a letter to Congress on Thursday that he was ready to pull out of the market altogether and drop up to 700,000 customers as soon as this year.(Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Bill Rigby)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-rates-idUSKBN17U2SV'|'2017-04-28T23:44:00.000+03:00' '2eb2a3397fb89777f73ca60445d97a4bdc0af463'|'Time Inc says evaluated offers but to pursue strategic plan'|'Time Inc ( TIME.N ) said on Friday it had evaluated potential offers but decided to pursue its own strategic plan, sending its shares tumbling more than 20 percent.The publisher of Sports Illustrated and People magazines said the strategic plan included revamping its cost structure and focusing on its digital business.Time Inc said it had not initiated a sale process, but the board evaluated expressions of interest with the help of external advisers.The Wall Street Journal reported in December that the publisher had tapped Morgan Stanley ( MS.N ) and Bank of America Corp ( BAC.N ) to help field takeover or partnership interest.Time Inc has been the subject of buyout rumors amid a relentless decline in print media as advertisers shift to digital platforms.Reuters reported earlier this month that U.S. media group Meredith Corp ( MDP.N ) made a preliminary offer that fell short of Time Inc''s price expectation.While Time Inc was seeking more than $20 per share, Meredith had made a preliminary offer with a price range that valued it below that level, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.Time Inc''s shares were trading at $15.00, down 18 percent.The company is scheduled to report first-quarter results on May 10.(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-time-m-a-idINKBN17U1VC'|'2017-04-28T11:27:00.000+03:00' '6284cad3b95f1f6764da706c9c68d28485f0d48e'|'Euro zone inflation returns to ECB target, core at three-year high'|'Business News 10:11am BST Euro zone inflation returns to ECB target, core at three-year high A sign displaying the Euro symbol is seen on a shop window in Dublin city centre October 22, 2014. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton BRUSSELS Euro zone inflation rose by more than expected to the European Central Bank''s target and core inflation increased to its highest level in more than three years, according to the first estimates from the EU''s statistics agency. Inflation in the 19 countries sharing the euro was 1.9 percent year-on-year, Eurostat estimated, up from 1.5 percent in March and just short of the four-year high of 2.0 percent recorded in February. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast April annualised inflation at 1.8 percent, but estimates released on Thursday showing sharper-than-expected price hikes in Germany had prepared markets for a potential stronger figure for the bloc. The ECB has a medium-term target for inflation at close to but just below 2 percent. Core inflation, which excludes volatile prices of energy and unprocessed food and which the European Central Bank monitors closely, also rose to 1.2 percent year-on-year in April from 0.8 percent in March, above market expectations of 1.0 percent. The core level was at its highest level since September 2013. The estimated figures for April could increase pressure on the ECB to wind down its monetary stimulus. The central bank has slashed interest rates into negative territory and adopted a bond-buying programme worth 2.3 trillion euros ($2.5 trillion) to counter the threat of deflation and revive growth in the 19-member currency bloc. The ECB on Thursday stuck to its ultra-easy policy stance, but explicitly acknowledged the vigour of the euro zone economy, now on its best run since the global financial crisis. Overall inflation was higher primarily because of a 7.5 percent rise in energy prices and of 2.2 percent for unprocessed food. Prices for food, alcohol and tobacco went up by 1.5 percent in April, actually lower than the 1.8 percent figure for March. In the services sector, the largest in the euro zone economy, prices rose by 1.8 percent in April, compared with 1.0 percent in March. Eurostat''s flash estimate for the month does not include a monthly calculation. (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-economy-inflation-idUKKBN17U15N'|'2017-04-28T17:11:00.000+03:00' 'aa72daad0b4ca746785f3befd488512d46581fde'|'Honda forecasts lower operating profit in 2017/18'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 2:33am EDT Honda forecasts lower operating profit in 2017/18 A man walks past Honda Motor cars outside the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai TOKYO Honda Motor Co forecast on Friday a 16.1 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker expects a stronger yen, changes to its pension plan and research and development costs will weigh on earnings even as auto sales rise. Japan''s No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705.0 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the year to March, lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen according to 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and lower than the 840.7 billion yen posted for the year just ended. Honda''s projection is based on expectations that the yen will trade at 105 yen to the U.S. dollar in the year to March, compared with 108 yen in the year just ended. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-honda-results-idUSKBN17U0OY'|'2017-04-28T14:33:00.000+03:00' '4a59b239ed8f873ad9b05cf631b69a4b4ba613e7'|'Saudi minister: Important to try to agree on oil cuts deal extension'|'Money News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 1:13pm IST Saudi minister: Important to try to agree on oil cuts deal extension Saudi Arabia''s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih adjusts his glasses during a news conference after a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, December 10, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader/File Photo ASTANA Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Friday that it was important to try and agree on an extension of a global oil cuts deal into the second half of the year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with Russia and other non-OPEC producers, pledged to cut output by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017. That deal expires at the end of June. Falih, who was speaking in Astana, said that it was important to agree on an extension with both OPEC and non-OPEC members. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Kevin O''Flynn; Editing by Andrew Osborn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/oil-opec-saudi-deal-idINKBN17U0W4'|'2017-04-28T15:43:00.000+03:00' 'ac259927c911fc16cab6108aa077ab65c31db7a7'|'Volkswagen to spend billions through 2022 to beef up engines portfolio - CEO'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 4:07pm BST Volkswagen to spend billions through 2022 to beef up engines portfolio - CEO FILE PHOTO: The logo of Volkswagen company is seen on a car on an assembly line at the Volkswagen car factory in Palmela, Portugal, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante/File Photo BERLIN Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ) said it plans to invest billions of euros through 2022 to beef up its portfolio of combustion and electric drives as it braces for a further tightening of emissions rules in key markets. Europe''s biggest carmaker last year announced a multi-billion-euro shift to embrace electric cars and new mobility services as it battles to overcome its diesel emissions scandal, and the German group is cutting costs in all areas of operations to fund this transformation. Volkswagen (VW) will spend about 10 billion euros (8.36 billion pounds) over the next five years to raise the fuel efficiency of combustion engines by 10 to 15 percent in anticipation of stricter emissions standards in Europe, the United States and China, Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said on Friday. VW will also triple its investment in electric drives to about 9 billion euros over the same period, including a new generation of full hybrids for the U.S., where its emissions scandal broke in 2015. It has spent 3 billion euros on zero-emissions technology in the past five years. "Even though modern combustion engines will be relevant for at least another 20 years, it is clear that the future will be ruled by electric drives," Mueller said, citing a need to respond to "epochal changes" in industry. "What''s at stake is to develop a future-proof drives portfolio as a basis for transforming the core autos business," Mueller told an auto industry conference in Vienna. VW''s emissions scandal has cast a shadow over the entire market for diesel cars and has ramped up pressure on automakers to improve combustion engines while rushing into electric cars and hybrids, stretching development budgets. To rein in costs, Mueller said VW will reduce the variety of engine types for mass-market models by as much as 40 percent through 2020, without giving details. (Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-emissions-engines-idUKKBN17U295'|'2017-04-28T23:07:00.000+03:00' '854c9c582fd65cf695f0ea549b905dd34bb305f1'|'Analysis - Global pension funds warm to India''s solar power ambitions'|'Global Energy News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 11:05am IST Global pension funds warm to India''s solar power ambitions left right FILE PHOTO: Workers install photovoltaic solar panels at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village in Patan district of the western Indian state of Gujarat, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Workers carry a damaged photovoltaic solar panel at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village in Patan district of the western Indian state of Gujarat, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo 2/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Workers carry photovoltaic solar panels for installation at the Gujarat solar park under construction in Charanka village in Patan district of the western Indian state of Gujarat, April 14, 2012. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo 3/3 By Devidutta Tripathy and Sudarshan Varadhan - MUMBAI/NEW DELHI MUMBAI/NEW DELHI Some of the world''s biggest pension funds, seeking long-term returns on green investments, are scouting for deals in India''s solar power sector, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is targeting $100 billion in investment in the next five years. Power demand in Asia''s third-largest economy is set to surge as the economy grows and more people move into the cities. India estimates peak electricity demand will more than quadruple in the next two decades to 690 gigawatt (GW), which would require rapid growth in generation and transmission capacity. That potential, helped by cheaper solar material costs and government efforts to curb pollution, is drawing global investors, including Canada''s top pension fund managers - Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and Ontario Teacher''s Pension Plan (OTPP). Investors'' focus is primarily on solar power generation, funding large-scale solar parks. CDPQ, which has C$270.7 billion ($199 billion) in net assets, says it plans to invest in India''s solar sector with Azure Power, a New York-listed firm with about 1 GW of solar capacity under various stages of development. "We plan to do more with them. Our approach is really to pick the right partner and then build a platform that can be sustained over several years," said Anita George, CDPQ''s South Asia head, adding she wouldn''t rule out investing in other solar ventures in future. Other international investors have already entered India''s renewable energy sector, such as Dutch fund manager APG, Canada''s Brookfield Asset Management, the private equity arms of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, and European utilities EDF, Engie and Enel. APG Asset Management, which last year agreed to jointly invest $132 million with India''s Piramal Enterprises into solar power, is looking for more deals. "We expect to be able to announce another investment in the Indian renewable energy sector in the coming months," said Hans-Martin Aerts, APG''s infrastructure head for Asia Pacific. Alok Verma, an executive director at Kotak Investment Banking, which has advised companies on renewable deals, said he expects at least 5 GW of solar power to be added from next year, most of it supported by overseas funds. AIMING HIGH Solar power generation capacity in India has more than tripled in less than three years to over 12 GW, helped by lower module prices and borrowing costs, and a government drive - but that is still only around 4 percent of total power capacity of about 315 GW. China, the world''s biggest solar producer, more than doubled its capacity last year, to 77.42 GW. Suyi Kim, Asia Pacific head at CPPIB, Canada''s largest pension manager, said solar appears more attractive in India than wind power. "In India, my impression is that solar seems to be more attractive. But it''s case by case," she said. India typically logs more than 300 days of sunshine a year. Kim declined to comment on any specific investment plans, but two people with knowledge of developments said CPPIB was scouting for deals. Funding and M&A in India''s solar sector amounted to around $1.6 billion in January-March, says research firm Mercom. While deal sizes have been relatively small, some companies such as Japan''s SoftBank, along with partners, have pledged to invest $20 billion in Indian solar power generation projects. SoftBank said the timeline for investments would depend on state and central governments. "We remain committed to building a GW-scale portfolio of solar projects in India," said Raman Nanda, CEO of SB Energy, a joint venture of SoftBank, Foxconn Technology Group and Bharti Enterprises. "We will do this through strategic partnerships." NOT ALL SUNSHINE None of this comes without risk, of course. Investors could face payment delays from India''s heavily-indebted power distribution firms, and some experts note that the bidding for projects in government auctions is too aggressive, with per unit prices slumping more than 70 percent since 2010. "Getting returns on investments ... and getting paid by distribution companies are the major risks being assessed by foreign investors," said Sumant Sinha, CEO at ReNew Power, a renewable energy firm backed by Goldman. Intermittency - power is only produced under bright sunlight - is another issue, as there are additional costs for using inverters or diesel generators to use solar power at night. "Based on current market conditions and policies, I see a path to 65-70 GW (solar capacity) by 2022, but not more," said Mercom CEO Raj Prabhu. That''s still some way short of the government pledge for 100 GW by 2022. "To reach 100 GW by 2022, distribution company finances need to improve drastically, power demand has to increase quickly, and transmission infrastructure needs to keep up," Prabhu said. (Additional reporting by Promit Mukherjee and Euan Rocha in Mumbai; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Ian Geoghegan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-india-solar-analysis-idINKBN17W051'|'2017-04-30T12:47:00.000+03:00' '1b681675f4b62b0b006d5eb8c3294fee1f522ead'|'U.S. regulator shuts First NBC Bank; Whitney Bank to reopen branches'|'A top U.S. financial regulator said on Friday that it closed the banking unit of First NBC Bank Holding Co ( FNBC.O ), three days after the lender reported accounting issues dating back to at least 2015.The New Orleans-based lender has faced series of problems, including regulatory scrutiny on its financial condition, activist investors urging for management changes, a possible sale and accounting issues.First NBC was closed by the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as the receiver. ( bit.ly/2oRorAi )The regulator said Gulfport, Mississippi-based Whitney Bank would assume all of First NBC''s transactional deposits and branches. Whitney Bank will reopen 24 branches of First NBC in Louisiana and five branches as Hancock Bank in Florida."No depositor is losing money as a result of this transaction," the FDIC said in a statement.Whitney Bank also agreed to buy about $1 billion of First NBC''s assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.First NBC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.First NBC, in February, had appointed Carl Chaney as CEO. Chaney was formerly with Whitney Bank''s parent Hancock Holding Co ( HBHC.O ). First NBC sold nine Louisiana branches and about $1.3 billion in loans to Whitney Bank in January.First NBC Bank had about $4.74 billion in assets and $3.54 billion in deposits, as of Dec. 31.Shares of the lender, which closed at $2.65, were trading at 20 cents in after-market hours on Friday.(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-first-nbc-bank-closure-idINKBN17V028'|'2017-04-28T23:10:00.000+03:00' 'c8641571f69bfaefd9c4da829cfc79e35d4d6edc'|'Shareholders of Saudi gym chain Bodymasters consider Nomu listing-sources'|'Private Equity - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 4:35am EDT Shareholders of Saudi gym chain Bodymasters consider Nomu listing-sources By Hadeel Al Sayegh - DUBAI, April 30 DUBAI, April 30 Shareholders of Saudi Arabia''s Bodymasters are talking to banks and weighing a listing of the fitness chain on Saudi Arabia’s new parallel market, Nomu, sources told Reuters. The gym brand is currently owned through a 60/40 percent split by two funds run separately by Saudi-based private equity firms Amwal Al Khaleej and MEFIC Capital. Shareholders have been speaking to investment banks for the past few weeks, according to two sources familiar with the transaction, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is not public. The process is in its early stages, the sources said, and shareholders have not decided on a specific action. A process to invite banks to pitch for arranging the sale was launched at the end of last year, one of the sources said. The sources gave no details of valuation or what percentage of shares could be floated. The Nomu market requires companies to offer at least 20 percent to the public, according to rules on its website. Amwal Al Khaleej declined to comment and MEFIC Capital was not immediately available for comment on Sunday. Bodymasters has 35 gyms, mostly in Riyadh but also in Qassim, Dammam and Khamees Mushait, according to its website. The shareholders were in informal talks with four potential buyers in January last year to sell the company in a private sale, but the sources did not comment on how the talks concluded. The transaction was said to be worth 500 million riyal ($133 million). ( reut.rs/1RLWnZC ) (Editing by Adrian Croft) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/bodymasters-ipo-idUSL8N1I201U'|'2017-04-30T12:35:00.000+03:00' '752a87258be40990ffbc13a013b3fed48b6c9e56'|'In a fix: A giant cement firm may have unwittingly funded Islamic State'|'KEEPING cool in the heat of war is not easy. That might help explain why LafargeHolcim, a French-Swiss cement-maker, blundered so badly while running operations in Syria as fighting raged. On April 24th the firm said that its chief executive, Eric Olsen, will go, a casualty of a growing scandal over its activities in the country.The board of the world’s biggest cement producer stated only last month that Mr Olsen was not responsible for, nor aware of, wrongdoing by the firm in Syria. But public pressure has been increasing, notably after Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a left-wing candidate in France’s presidential election, attacked the firm and its “damned cement” in a television debate on April 4th. François Fillon, a pro-business rival, agreed the firm should be punished if allegations against it proved to be true.Latest updates A 17 hours ago Have What people want at the end of life Graphic detail 18 hours ago See all updates At issue is the activity of Lafarge before the firm’s merger with its Swiss rival, Holcim, in 2015. In 2010 Lafarge had built a cement factory of 240 workers for $680m near Kobane, a north Syrian town. Operations there continued until 2014, long after the violence began in 2011. The firm evacuated foreigners in 2012; local workers fled in September 2014 as Islamic State (IS) fighters seized the plant.It looks extraordinary that managers hung on for so long after other foreign firms fled Syria—most did so soon after violence flared. Lafarge is accused of paying, via third parties, local armed groups, including some designated as terrorists, to keep the plant open and its staff secure. A report last year in Le Monde , a French paper, said the firm might unwittingly have funded IS.LafargeHolcim said then that it “completely rejects the concept of financing of designated terrorist groups”. But in March this year, after an internal independent inquiry into possible dealings with armed groups, its board said the investigation had found that measures taken by staff had been “unacceptable” and described “significant errors of judgment” which contravened the firm’s code of conduct. Senior managers, not only local staff, knew “violations of Lafarge’s established standards” were likely. In March the firm said that Bruno Lafont, CEO of Lafarge before the merger and now co-chairman of the merged firm, will not seek re-election.Evidence of exactly what happened in Syria is piling up. A Norwegian security officer at the plant for two years to 2013 has given details in a book of how he visited local militants to exchange information, “creating alliances” to cope with a power vacuum. France’s economy ministry filed a complaint with prosecutors in September 2016 and legal proceedings are ongoing.LafargeHolcim’s troubles do not end there. The company has also attracted criticism from Emmanuel Macron, one of the two candidates in the second round of the election (see article ), and from other French politicians for saying it was ready to supply cement for Donald Trump’s planned wall along America’s border with Mexico. The giant firm’s market value is stuck at 15% below its level in July 2015, when it began trading, as it struggles to cut costs and generate earnings. The company doubtless hopes that Mr Olsen’s resignation will help to put at least one of its headaches behind it.This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "In a fix"'|'economist.com'|'http://www.economist.com/sections/business-finance/rss.xml'|'http://www.economist.com/news/business/21721437-boss-lafargeholcim-resigns-over-scandal-syria-giant-cement-firm-may-have?fsrc=rss'|'2017-04-29T08:00:00.000+03:00' 'b2448a7ffe238bfa4d3daa1d7ac4123888b14beb'|'''After Brexit people will fall in love with English apples again'' - Guardian Small Business Network'|'S uzannah Starkey is pleased the “European experiment” is over. Her family owns the only commercial orchard of the original Bramley apple tree and she has found the single market disastrous for the domestic apple sector.“With the European friendship, the bottom of the market for English apples fell out,” she says. “There’s just been too much competition coming from Europe [mainly France and Italy]. Fruit farmers in England have had a tough time. But we believe that people will fall in love with English apples again.”There is something quintessentially British about the Bramley apple. It’s a staple for crumbles and pies all over the country, and an estimated 83,000 tonnes of them are grown in the UK each year. But the Starkeys’ crop is quite special, and three generations of the family have been growing the apples since 1910.So many apple farmers are taking their trees out in this country ... hopefully we can start to turn the tanker aroundSuzannah Starkey“Bramleys grow all over the world now, but they’ve mutated,” Suzannah says. “When you go to the supermarket and buy a Bramley, it’s big, it’s sour, it’s green. That’s not how the original tree produces fruit. They’re smaller and sweeter, with a red hue.”The original Bramley apple tree dates back to 1809, when a pip was planted by Mary Anne Brailsford in Southwall, Nottinghamshire. This in itself, Suzannah adds, makes it a freak of nature – “edible fruit does not usually grow from a tree that comes from a pip”. Today, the tree has been recognised as one of 50 Great British Trees by the Tree Council.In the early 1990s, Bramley tree contracted honey fungus and looked certain to die. But Suzannah’s father, Sir John Starkey, has been instrumental in saving the legacy of the Bramley apple. In 1994, he encouraged Professor Ted Cocking, a bioscientist from the University of Nottingham who cloned the Major Oak, to do the same with the Bramley tree. Professor Cocking spent 15 years in the laboratory creating nine clones. Starkey was given two of them and now has 2,000 trees.Despite the impressive size of the orchards, it’s not been easy to turn them into money. As well as competition from Europe, Suzannah says many of the British supermarkets don’t want her father’s Bramley apples. “They’re too red, they’re too small,” she adds. “They’re not the big sour ones that everyone thinks Bramleys should be.”The data also shows there isn’t a thriving export market for British fruit. According to the Produce Marketing Association , Britain imports more than 476,000 tonnes of apples, but only export 14,800 tonnes (3%) of our own. Over the past two decades, the UK has become increasingly reliant on imports, with a self-sufficiency rate of just 11% in fruit.Suzannah Starkey says getting out and meeting your customers is vital.Suzannah recently came on board to help run the family business, after working as a private chef. They now turn the unsold fruit into pressed apple juice and compote, which they’re perfect for – she adds – because they’re sweet enough not to need added sugar. The farm sells its juice to local schools, a number of farm shops and Co-op stores around Lincolnshire. Plus they also have a thriving trade in soft fruits – strawberries, blackberries and raspberries.Farming can be a volatile business at the best of times, but diversification has been essential to ensure Norwood Park’s survival since 1910 when the first orchard was planted. “Expand, expand, expand [is our contingency plan],” Suzannah says. “You should never rely on one area of the business. Dad would say, ‘Learn to live on a tight belt’. And we get out there to meet our customers.”But she adds, like any small business, you need to find a balance between all of the competing priorities. “I could be out there selling every day, but someone’s got to be on the frontline growing the business, making the product, putting the caps on the bottles, cleaning up the production room. It’s a lot of work.”It’s a small family team but they do rely on eastern European workers who come to handpick the fruit every year. For all of her excitement about leaving the EU, and the knock-on effect that may have on customers buying domestic produce, is she concerned about potential changes to the legislation surrounding free movement of people?''It was like the tap turned off on job applications'': SMEs post Brexit vote Read more“I think the seasonal pickers will still want to come. Whichever way you cut it, they’re going to be paid more in England than in their own country. Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] will, I presume, realise we can’t get enough English workers to do the work – we won’t have any farming [in this country] if we don’t have our extra help.”Leaving the EU certainly does pose challenges for the farming community. Defra estimates that a quarter of the 1,200 EU’s laws relate to the sector, and £3bn of EU money is distributed each year in subsidies to farmers and land managers. Pig farmers have echoed Suzannah’s concerns that access to seasonal EU labour is essential , but there is evidence there’s already been a drop in interest from workers because of the declining value of the pound.Without a real shift in buying behaviour, Suzannah says there is a risk that the UK’s apple industry will die out completely. There has already been a 36% decline in the number of orchards between 1985-86 and 2014-15. For the Starkey family, they are committed to being patient.“So many apple farmers are taking their trees out in this country [because they’re not commercially viable],” Suzannah says. “[But] once you’ve taken an orchard out, it’s very hard to get it back in again. It takes a long time to get an apple tree back into fruition. We’ve made the choice to stay in [the sector] and expand [into other areas]. We’re thinking long term. Hopefully we can start to turn the tanker around.”Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.Topics Guardian Small Business Network Entrepreneurs Farming Fruit features Share '|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/28/after-brexit-english-apples-bramley-starkey'|'2017-04-28T15:00:00.000+03:00' 'fbc71ed587bfd9445583d02d1562a5d545573466'|'Bailout or bust? Alitalia divides a nation, paralyses Rome'|'Business 3:04pm BST Bailout or bust? Alitalia divides a nation, paralyses Rome left right FILE PHOTO: An airplane of Alitalia is seen at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo 1/3 left right FILE PHOTO: Alitalia advertising banner is seen on building downtown Milan, Italy, May 20, 2016. The banner reads, ''Alitalia Live, Love, Flight''. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo 2/3 left right Alitalia''s flight attendant is seen at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile 3/3 By Giselda Vagnoni and Agnieszka Flak - ROME/MILAN ROME/MILAN Italians are watching their flag carrier Alitalia go into yet another financial tailspin, and a growing number of them believe it would be better for the country if it crashed. Outraged at repeated state bailouts that have cost taxpayers more than 7 billion euros (5.88 billion pounds) over a decade, many Italians are taking to social media to urge the government to resist the political temptation to rush to its rescue again. "In electoral terms, Alitalia is worth nothing. It''s a dead weight," Angelino Ghinelli tweeted into a social media storm that has not gone unnoticed in Rome, where ministers have so far shown a strong reluctance to make any guarantees. "Enough with saving Alitalia," wrote Cinzia Briguglio, one of around 1,000 signatories to an online petition that sprang up this week, calling for the government not to get involved. Consumer groups have also chimed in, including one, Codacons, which has threatened to ask Italy''s Corte dei Conti, a judicial auditor, to examine any state bailout. The court can fine officials, including ministers, for wasting public funds. An opinion poll published on Friday, four days after Alitalia workers voted to reject a union-backed rescue plan proposed by management, shows that 77 percent of Italians believed the airline should be left to fail. "It''s clear Italians are opposed to governments systematically running up deficits to deal with companies in crisis," Natascia Turato, director of Index Research, said in a comment the firm posted online, along with its poll results. Without state support, Alitalia appears headed for collapse. Rival airlines show little interest in buying it, and creditors refuse to lend more money after workers last Monday voted down a rescue plan that would have cut 1,700 jobs and trimmed salaries. Rome has thrown Alitalia a short-term lifeline, a bridging loan of up to 400 million euros to see it through a bankruptcy process, under which an administrator will decide if it can be sold as a going concern or should be liquidated. However, the government has ruled out renationalising the former state-owned business, once a symbol of Italy''s post-war economic boom but now struggling to compete at home against low-cost carriers Ryanair and EasyJet. Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan has gone a step further, saying the government is unwilling, directly or indirectly, to invest any capital in it. But with a general election due by May 2018, few Italians believe the ruling Democratic Party will really stand by and watch Alitalia crash and its 12,500 workers lose their jobs. READING THE MOOD Former prime minister Matteo Renzi, who is charting his way back to power, has said he will come up with a plan to rescue the airline by mid-May, assuming he emerges from this weekend''s Democratic Party primaries as its newly re-elected leader. The hardening of public opinion against Alitalia, though, makes the political calculations difficult -- and neither Renzi nor his party''s main political rival, the 5 Star Movement, has advanced any concrete proposals for Alitalia. Five Star''s leaders have refused to be drawn on whether they would be willing to see public money put into the company. "This time around the public is very divided on the issue which makes things difficult," said Andrea Giuricin, transport expert at Milan''s Bicocca university and author of "The endless privatisation of Alitalia". "This is why political parties like Five Star or politicians like Renzi don''t yet have a clear position on the issue, are not yet certain what stand to take." Opinions on the street are sharply divided. "I haven''t flown Alitalia in years. Do we need a domestic flag carrier? I don''t think that''s necessary these days," said Giulio Alesi, a Milan-based management student. In Rome, where most of Alitalia''s employees live, it is easy to find people who want the government to mount another rescue. "I am absolutely for Alitalia being nationalised so that workers can keep their jobs under decent contractual terms," said Raffaele Di Giacomo, a salesman in a hardware store. However, some trade unionists sense there is a strong current of public opinion against a state-funded bailout. "I know people are against the state to jump in," said Antonio Piras, leader of Fit-Cisl, one of the trade unions that backed the management rescue plan. "But an electoral campaign is already on and this is a moment when anything can happen." (Editing by Mark Bendeich and Ros Russell)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-alitalia-opinion-idUKKBN17V0C8'|'2017-04-29T19:13:00.000+03:00' '2f82be9be2dba47ff597883e5041c06fb8e5e853'|'Wall Street set to open little changed on weak GDP data'|'Money 7:30pm IST Amazon, Alphabet drive Nasdaq to record high Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Tanya Agrawal Gains in Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet propelled the Nasdaq Composite to a record high, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed as weak economic data weighed. Amazon rose 3.1 percent to $945.50, while Alphabet gained 4.2 percent to $928.50 after their quarterly results beat estimates. The two stocks also boosted the S&P 500 index. Data showed gross domestic product increased at a 0.7 percent annual rate, below the 1.2 percent rise estimated by economists, as consumer spending barely increased and businesses invested less on inventories. The economy grew at a pace of 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The major indexes are on track to end the month in positive territory, with the Nasdaq on track to post gains for the sixth straight month as the corporate earnings season continues to impress. Overall profits of S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 12.4 percent in the first quarter, the most since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. While strong earnings have kept the market at or near record levels, persistent geopolitical tensions in North Korea and Syria have weighed on investors'' minds. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "While we had some strong tech earnings last night, the market is taking a cautious attitude towards Trump''s comments on North Korea and other geopolitical concerns," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York. At 9:39 a.m. ET (1339 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 16.76 points, or 0.08 percent, at 20,964.57 and the S&P 500 was down 0.08 points, or 0.00 percent, at 2,388.69. The Nasdaq Composite was up 13.18 points, or 0.22 percent, at 6,062.12. Five of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were higher, with the energy index''s 0.46 percent rise leading the gainers. Oil majors Exxon and Chevron were up about 1.1 percent after the two companies reported quarterly profits above expectations. Qualcomm fell 3.6 percent to $51.25 after it said Apple decided to withhold royalty payments to its contract manufacturers that are owed to the chipmaker until a legal dispute between the companies is resolved. Apple was up marginally at $143.73. Starbucks fell 2.9 percent to $59.58 after the world''s biggest coffee chain cut its full-year profit target. Intel was down 3.2 percent at $36.20 after the company reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue. Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,464 to 1,034. On the Nasdaq, 1,308 issues fell and 873 advanced. The S&P 500 index showed 26 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 54 new highs and 16 new lows. (Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Anil D''Silva)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-idINKBN17U1XX'|'2017-04-28T11:06:00.000+03:00' '3c1788d52844ea1c827f0d9b39507019c8f3f60a'|'Wall Sreet Weekahead - Hot earnings to keep fire under growth-stock rally'|'By Sinead Carew - NEW YORK NEW YORK Don''t look for the outperformance of growth stocks to fade any time soon, as long as corporate earnings continue to improve and hopes remain for stronger economic growth.The Russell 1000 Growth index, which tracks such shares, is up 10.9 percent so far this year, outpacing the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index''s 6.6 percent rise and the 2.8 percent advance of the Russell 1000 Value index.And it''s not just a U.S. phenomenon. Growth stocks - whose profits are expected to grow at a faster pace than the broader market - are also outperforming their value counterparts in Asia and Europe. Still, the appeal of riskier stocks perceived as better positioned to ride an accelerating global earnings tailwind, as opposed to those with a greater cushion of safety, is nowhere as far ahead as it is on Wall Street.In the United States, an improving outlook for corporate earnings should help keep growth names in vogue, according to John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC in Newark, New Jersey.The average estimate of analysts for earnings per share growth this year of S&P 500 companies has risen to 11.3 percent from 10.9 percent at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters data, a trend that should continue to blunt concerns about lofty growth valuations."When you have an earnings recovery, growth stocks will outperform. When you don''t have good earnings, that''s when people are looking for value," said Praveen.Hopes for pro-business U.S. policy changes under the administration of President Donald Trump will likely also keep expectations for economic growth elevated, helping to maintain the case for growth stocks."The value stocks have done okay but growth has done so much better in the anticipation we''ll see a pickup in economic growth," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. "Companies that are going to be more levered to economic growth tend to be growth stocks.""Right now I don''t see a long term condition for value stocks to outperform growth," said Nolte.To be sure, some strategists are less convinced that growth stock outperformance will continue indefinitely.While value stocks, which are cheaper relative to their earnings potential, have tended to do better in slower growth environments historically, JP Morgan Asset Management''s global market strategist David Lebovitz says that trend has been changing."It’s not going to be smooth sailing for one or the other. We think there''ll be times people are more optimistic about the economy and in those cases, value can rally. Then you''ll see periods where people are less optimistic about the economy, as we''ve seen over the course of the first quarter," he said.If economic trends look better in the second quarter, value stocks will do better, Lebovitz said.In Asia, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan growth index, is up 18.5 percent so far this year, compared with a 12.6 percent gain for the comparable MSCI value index.Investment in India, traditionally a growth-driven market, has adjusted in recent years as value stocks have narrowed the gap with growth, which still lead, said Jayesh Shroff, co-founder of investment advisory Cask Capital in Mumbai."That is because people were paying a premium for growth and somehow the growth did not materialize. That''s why value came back and growth has taken a slight back seat," said Shroff. Still, he said as soon as growth returns, he expects investors to switch their focus back from value.In China, between 2009 and the 2015 stock market crash, small-cap growth stocks were the market’s darlings, but "a new rotation into value blue-chip investments started in 2016,” according to Zhou Liang, fund manager at Shanghai Minority Asset Management Co.“In 2017, money will flow into blue-chips, as small-caps weaken and lose their luster,” said Zhou.In Europe, the best outlook for corporate profits in seven years has ignited investor appetite for growth stocks, which are now up twice as much as their value counterparts so far this year, a reversal of the trend seen last year.As a result the MSCI International Europe growth Index has jumped 8.9 percent this year so far, compared with a 4.5 percent gain for the MSCI International Europe Value index.With such a big gap between U.S. growth and value stocks, some investors are eying overseas investments."The entire U.S. market is very expensive. Value investors definitely don''t like to chase expensive valuations," said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "I wouldn''t expect to see a rotation until you saw a correction where both stock types are lower."(Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in Mumbai, Samuel Shen in Shanghai, Helen Reid in London; Editing by Dan Burns and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-weekahead-idINKBN17V03U'|'2017-04-29T11:30:00.000+03:00' '94f3dc12f64dad2d9126bd6ca5de86bc149c42eb'|'UPDATE 1-Frontline says Marshall Islands court sets date for DHT hearing'|'(Adds Quote: s, details)OSLO, April 28 Oil tanker firm Frontline said on Friday the high court in the Marshall Islands has agreed to hear on May 17 its complaint against takeover target DHT Holdings, which is incorporated in the remote Pacific republic, over a rival deal with BW Offshore.Frontline, controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen and owner of a 14.5 percent stake in DHT, has been trying for the past year to take over its New York-listed rival and is opposing what it called "unfair transaction documents" in a defensive deal struck by DHT to allow oil and gas shipping group BW Group to increase its stake in DHT to up to 45 percent."We continue to urge the board of DHT to negotiate in good faith with Frontline over its proposed offer, for the benefit of all DHT shareholders and consistent with the board''s fiduciary duties," the company said in a statement.On Tuesday Frontline repeated its offer of 0.8 Frontline shares for every DHT share and set a 24-hour deadline for DHT to respond to the $500 million offer.After Frontline''s initial offer DHT struck a tankers for shares deal with BW Group which made the latter DHT''s biggest shareholder, with a 34.28 percent stake.Frontline then sought to stop the BW deal proceeding in the U.S. courts but the New York County Supreme Court said on April 19 it had no jurisdiction over DHT.However, DHT has said that its deal with BW Group was not designed to block Frontline''s takeover bid but was an fleet acquisition aimed at strengthening its market positions.DHT said on Wednesday its board would carefully review Frontline''s latest offer, taking into account changes to the company''s fleet and market developments over the past two months, and would reply in due course. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/frontline-dht-holdings-idINL8N1I077P'|'2017-04-28T15:00:00.000+03:00' '6cab148900b60b1e48e97ed1dbdbdc1e5b8eb450'|'Singapore first-quarter private home prices dip 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter'|'SINGAPORE Singapore''s Urban Redevelopment Authority released detailed estimates for the change in private home prices in the first quarter of 2017:Quarter-on-quarter, percentage price change:Quarter Q1/2017 Q4/2016Singapore -0.4 -0.5privatehome pricesCONTEXT:Rentals of private residential properties fell 0.9 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 1.0 percent decline in the previous quarter.(Reporting by Singapore bureau; Editing by Kim Coghill)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/economy'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/singapore-property-idINKBN17U03C'|'2017-04-27T22:42:00.000+03:00' 'aa7cfd6ebad038c9c2351168d9f787086b05343f'|'Atlantia will not discuss Abertis deal on Thursday: sources'|'Deals - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 9:22am EDT Atlantia will not discuss Abertis deal on Thursday: sources ROME A board meeting of Italian infrastructure group Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) on Thursday will not discuss a possible takeover bid for Spanish rival Abertis ( ABE.MC ), sources close to the matter said. The board will instead review the sale of a minority stake in Atlantia''s motorway unit Autostrade per l''Italia, the sources said. The infrastructure investment arm of insurer Allianz ( ALVG.DE ) and three other suitors are vying for a 15 percent stake in Autostrade per l''Italia, sources have said. Atlantia could fetch more than 2 billion euros from the sale. (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei; writing by Francesca Landini) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-abertis-m-a-atlantia-board-idUSKBN17T20I'|'2017-04-27T17:22:00.000+03:00' 'f8c971e9afc7891cf92239afc846c3c3feca0c56'|'NRG director wins strong shareholder support despite NYC opposition'|'Money - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 8:34pm EDT NRG director wins strong shareholder support despite NYC opposition By Ross Kerber - BOSTON BOSTON A director at NRG Energy Inc was elected to its board with a strong margin of votes cast, a securities filing showed on Friday, overcoming concerns about his comments on climate change and the intentions of the activist investors who backed him at the New Jersey power company. The result from NRG''s annual meeting, which was held Thursday morning at a hotel in Princeton, New Jersey but not disclosed at the time, showed a lack of support among investors for a campaign led by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer against the director, Barry Smitherman. In an April 6 letter Stringer, who oversees New York City pension funds, urged investors to oppose Smitherman''s election, citing what he called the activists'' "short-term orientation" that did not consider the views of most other shareholders. Stringer also said Smitherman''s views on climate change should disqualify him to be a director of the company involved in renewable power like solar and wind energy. Despite Stringer''s efforts at NRG, however, Smitherman won support from 93 percent of votes cast, the filing showed. All but one other director nominee won higher vote shares. A representative for NRG''s board said Smitherman and others would not comment on Stringer''s concerns. An NRG spokeswoman declined to comment on the results on Friday evening. Smitherman, a former Texas energy regulator, was named to NRG''s board in February under an agreement it reached with Elliott Management, the hedge fund run by Paul Singer, and private equity firm Bluescape Energy Partners, which together had about 9 percent of NRG. Stringer had cited Smitherman''s past comments such as when, as a Texas political candidate, he said he had "been battling this global warming hoax for 6 years now." The Princeton, New Jersey company also agreed to form a board committee to review its operations and strategy. In an e-mailed statement Stringer said the outcome was still a "shot across the bow against short-term activists." He also said, "It''s clear our campaign elevated the issues, mobilized investors, and put the board on notice." In other cases Stringer has proven effective at mobilizing investors behind corporate governance causes such as "proxy access," making it easier for groups of shareholders to run their own director candidates. By his offices'' count more than 300 companies have instituted the change after Stringer made it a focus, including General Electric and Citigroup Inc. (Reporting by Ross Kerber; editing by Diane Craft) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nrg-director-idUSKBN17V00X'|'2017-04-29T08:30:00.000+03:00' 'f8c14447b79f0348f2c5eec3db5dabc98bc68c8c'|'UPDATE 1-Brazil plans law to intervene in troubled telecoms -regulator'|'(Adds details of legislation and decree)By Leonardo GoyBRASILIA, April 27 The Brazilian government will introduce legislation granting it the power to intervene when telecom operators under bankruptcy protection, the head of telecoms regulator Anatel said on Thursday.Juarez Quadros said the decision was meant to avoid any judicial questioning of future interventions, but did not say when the government planned to submit the legislation.Since March, the government has promised to enact a decree to allow authorities to intervene in debt-laden OI SA . The phone carrier sought court protection from creditors last June on about 65 billion reais ($21 billion) in Brazil''s biggest-ever bankruptcy filing.The legislation would allow for government intervention in telecoms for over a year that could be extended for another year, Quadros said.The government is also preparing a decree to facilitate the recovery of state credit granted to financially weak operators, Quadros said. The decree would allow carriers to substitute fines for new investment and pay fines in installments. (Reporting by Leonardo Goy, writing by Alonso Soto; editing by Richard Chang and Grant McCool)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-telecoms-legislation-idINL1N1HZ2UY'|'2017-04-27T21:07:00.000+03:00' '722851e753461dbdadb49d90d7a751c07639c04d'|'Pakistani regulator stepping up stockbroker investigations'|'Money News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 9:23pm IST Pakistani regulator stepping up stockbroker investigations A man uses his cell phone as he stands in front of display board showing stock prices during a trading session in the halls of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) Karachi, Pakistan April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro By Drazen Jorgic - ISLAMABAD ISLAMABAD Pakistan''s financial regulator is escalating investigations against stockbrokers in a campaign to curb insider trading and illegal leveraging in the stock market, its executive director said in an interview. Pakistan''s benchmark stocks index was one of the world''s best performing last year and has returned more than 900 percent since early 2009. But the bourse''s last crash in 2008 was severe and made worse by brokers holding secretly leveraged positions. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has filed criminal complaints of market abuses against seven stockbrokers this year, including for insider trading and stocks manipulation. A judge will decide whether the complaints warrant formal charges - the usual outcome in such cases. Two complaints have also been filed about employees in banks who engaged in "front-running", which involves trading on advance information not available to clients. SECP executive director Bilal Rasul told Reuters in an interview that the agency has taken a more assertive role this year in the wake of new legislation to reform financial markets. "In terms of investigations, legal proceedings, regulations passed, I think the broker community and the market have reconciled with the fact that they need to ensure full compliance in order to stay in business," Rasul, also the SECP''s spokesman, said at its headquarters in Islamabad. In recent years the main Pakistan bourses were demutualised to weaken the influence of stockbrokers and deepen the investor base, which remains low by regional standards. Pakistan''s bourse was boosted last year when the stock market was reclassified to be included in the MSCI''s emerging market index category, thanks partly to reforms aimed at increasing transparency. Rasul said the MSCI reclassification, which is set to take effect in May and expected to boost liquidity, is a key incentive to continue cleaning up the market and attracting more local and foreign investors. The latter see Pakistan as an especially risky market due to political instability, including Islamist militancy, in the nuclear-armed South Asian country. SECP investigators have been raiding stockbrokers'' offices using new surveillance technology to nab those manipulating the market through "spoofing" or other fraudulent schemes. "We have onsite investigators, people who are chartered accountants, CFAs, ACCAs, who go in and they will do on-site inspections in the back office of brokerage houses, which was pretty much unheard of a few years ago," Rasul said. Due to the small market capitalisation of Pakistan''s bourse, at about $90 billion, those opposed to tougher regulation have argued that any heavy-handed approach by SECP could hinder the growth of the market. Rasul said the actions taken in recent months had reduced systemic risk in the market. "We have gone after so many people and the market has sustained itself, and it''s still buoyant." (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; editing by Mark Heinrich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/markets/companyOutlooksNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/pakistan-regulation-stocks-idINKBN17T2GT'|'2017-04-27T13:53:00.000+03:00' 'd4e5b7563801698f680863c2a69b7f5a3885fa17'|'Euro zone economic sentiment rises to near 10-year high'|'BRUSSELS Euro zone economic sentiment climbed to a near 10-year high in April against expectations of almost no change as confidence in all sectors improved and inflation expectations dampened, EU data showed on Thursday.The European Commission''s monthly survey produced an overall index for the 19-country currency bloc of 109.6 from 108.0 in March, the highest level since August 2007.Economists polled by Reuters had expected a modest increase to 108.1 points.A separate business confidence indicator, which indicates the phase of the business cycle, rose to 1.09 in April from 0.83 points in March, and above market expectations for no change.ING chief economist Peter Vanden Houte said the data meant a euro zone growth rate of 2 percent was feasible, making it increasingly difficult for the European Central Bank to defend its expansionary monetary policy."Today’s figures, in combination with the French election results, will give further ammunition to the hawks in the ECB’s Governing Council. However, the political hurdles have not disappeared entirely," he said, pointing to the second round of France''s presidential election and the prospect of Italian elections in the coming year.The increase in sentiment was broad-based. It was up in every country except for a flat reading in Slovakia and declines in Cyprus and Slovenia. There was no data for Ireland.The increase in overall economic sentiment was mainly caused by multi-year highs of optimism in industry, the services sector, among consumers and builders.In Britain, which has now triggered its planned exit from the European Union, overall sentiment slightly improved. However, consumer confidence dipped during the month. Respondents were more downbeat about economic prospects, unemployment and savings.Inflation expectations declined among consumers and manufacturers, reflecting a slide in oil prices and the sharp fall of inflation in March.A flash estimate for April is due to be released on Friday. It is seen rising, albeit principally because of the late Easter this year, which pushed up prices of travel and hotels.Rising inflation and solid growth would put pressure on the European Central Bank to end its monetary stimulus.For European Commission data click on:here(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Pritha Sarkar)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/eurozone-economy-sentiment-idINKBN17T1L8'|'2017-04-27T09:17:00.000+03:00' 'ce7ce8ca3d5512edf1a8cfb4348ab6deb52eb579'|'China, Europe pledge closer aviation ties ahead of landmark jet launch'|' 38am BST China, Europe pledge closer aviation ties ahead of landmark jet launch SHANGHAI Chinese and European aviation regulators said on Thursday they will forge closer ties over aircraft manufacturing and certification as the global industry turns its eyes to China ahead of the maiden flight of the Chinese-built C919 jet. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) are holding a landmark meeting on aviation in Shanghai as China''s government pushes for a bigger role in the global aviation market. The first flight in May of the C919 jet, built by Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC), will mark a major step for Beijing. The government hopes the jet will compete with Boeing Co and Airbus SE for a slice of global jet sales worth $2 trillion (£1.56 trillion) over the next 20 years. A big hurdle, though, is that Europe and the United States have yet to certify a domestically built Chinese passenger plane and do not currently recognise Chinese certification procedures, limiting the countries to which China can sell its planes. "The ever closer ties between the Chinese and European aviation industries have created good conditions and a solid foundation to deepen cooperation on aircraft manufacturing and certification," CAAC administrator Feng Zhenglin said. Another CAAC official said closer ties would "increase the global influence and competitiveness of Chinese aviation". The meeting between CAAC and EASA is the first since the two signed an agreement in 2015 to cooperate more closely on aviation issues in a five-year project. The ties have already yielded some results. EASA said on Wednesday it had started the process of certification for the C919, though no decision had yet been made. China''s first domestically made plane, the regional ARJ21 jet, has yet to receive U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or EASA certification, which had raised questions over whether the larger C919 jet would be approved in the West. The Shanghai meeting will see a raft of global aviation firms including COMAC, Airbus, Safran SA, Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC and British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. (Reporting by Jackie Cai and Brenda Goh; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Christopher Cushing)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-aviation-china-safety-idUKKBN17T0D0'|'2017-04-27T11:38:00.000+03:00' 'bf4eb51c2f9847318e9640a5dee6b6f0f47f9c71'|'Travis Perkins says revenue growth driven by price rises'|'Business 20am BST Travis Perkins says revenue growth driven by price rises FILE PHOTO - A worker stacks bricks at the Vauxhall depot of building material supplier Travis Perkins in London, Britain, October 25, 2013. REUTERS/Neil Hall/File Photo LONDON Travis Perkins ( TPK.L ), Britain''s biggest supplier of building materials, said on Thursday its customers had managed to withstand a raft of price rises brought in to offset higher costs sparked by the plunge in the pound after Brexit. The group, which trades from over 20 businesses including Travis Perkins, Wickes, BSS, Toolstation and Tile Giant, said its total sales rose 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, with sales at outlets open over a year up 2.7 percent. Sales volumes across the group were broadly flat, while price inflation was 2.6 percent. British shoppers have started to rein in their spending in recent months after the vote to leave the European Union hammered the pound, pushing up inflation at a time of muted wage growth and leaving shoppers with less discretionary spending. Travis said its performance was in line with management''s expectations and it was on track to meet full year expectations. "Revenue growth reflected careful pricing activity to recover input cost inflation assisted by the new pricing tools implemented over the last 12 months," said Chief Executive John Carter. He said recent market indicators such as mortgage approvals, housing transactions, house prices and consumer sentiment have given an inconsistent picture of the strength of the repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) market for the balance of 2017. Last month Travis Perkins ( TPK.L ) had warned of rising costs and pressure on discretionary spending as it delivered a 67 percent slump in 2016 profit. The group''s customers include local authorities, bigbuilding firms, traders such as plumbers and kitchen fitters andregular consumers, with its fortunes closely tied to housingtransactions and consumer confidence. Shares in Travis Perkins, down 14 percent over the last year, were down 0.4 percent in early trading, valuing the business at 4 billion pounds. Separately on Thursday kitchen seller Howden Joinery ( HWDN.L ) said UK revenue increased 3.9 percent over the 16 weeks to April 15 and were up 2.4 percent at outlets open over a year - in line with its expectations. "We believe that current market conditions are stable, albeit we remain watchful," it said. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Kate Holton)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-travis-perkins-outlook-idUKKBN17T0U7'|'2017-04-27T15:20:00.000+03:00' '0f334719baaa15e5f7c36f3a74ed6db16a765115'|'Shareholders should ratify Deutsche Boerse board actions at AGM - ISS'|' 53am BST Shareholders should ratify Deutsche Boerse board actions at AGM - ISS The plaque of the Deutsche Boerse AG is pictured at the entrance of the Frankfurt stock exchange February 1, 2012. REUTERS/Alex Domanski/File Photo FRANKFURT Shareholders of Deutsche Boerse ( DB1Gn.DE ) should ratify the actions of its management and supervisory boards at its annual general meeting next month, influential adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has said. German companies typically ask their shareholders to approve the actions of their boards over the previous year at the annual shareholder meeting. The issue at Deutsche Boerse emerged when it became public earlier this week that Glass Lewis, another shareholder adviser, recommended that shareholders not ratify the boards'' actions. The recommendation came amid concerns over a failed merger with the London Stock Exchange Group ( LSE.L ) and due to a pending investigation into chief executive Carsten Kengeter over possible insider trading. But ISS, in a report to investors dated Wednesday, said such a move would be rash. "In our view it would be premature for shareholders to consider what would be a hugely significant symbolic gesture by voting against discharge given the lack of clarity at this time, particularly in light of the fact that the discharge resolution is essentially a highly symbolic vote of confidence in Germany," ISS said. "Nevertheless, it should be acknowledged that the situation is evolving, and ISS may recommend against discharge in future if the German authorities bring charges against the CEO or in case of other significant concerns." Kengeter denies the allegations, and has said that he and the company are cooperating fully with the public prosecutor. (Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Maria Sheahan)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-deutsche-boerse-agm-idUKKBN17T1AR'|'2017-04-27T17:53:00.000+03:00' '24feead0a1088f492474fefd5934d7ca49236315'|'UPDATE 1-Australia''s Ten Network warns future dependent on financing'|'* New debt facility needed to continue as going concern - Ten* Debt guarantors may be reluctant to re-sign - analyst* Shares fall 21 pct to record low (Recasts throughout; adds analysts'' comments)By Jamie Freed and Jonathan BarrettSYDNEY, April 27 Ten Network Holdings'' survival depends on three billionaire debt guarantors, including News Corp Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch, after Australia''s third-largest TV network reported a A$232 million ($173 million) half-year loss in a weak advertising market.Ten said on Thursday it needs to secure an amended or new borrowing facility to ensure it could continue operating after a long period of upheaval that couldn''t restore the fortunes of the once hugely popular youth-oriented network.All three of Australia''s free-to-air television networks are under pressure as consumers increasingly view content online through streaming services like Netflix and Amazon.com Inc''s Amazon Prime. But with a small market share and modest advertising revenue, Ten is in the weakest position."As a result of the matters disclosed, there is a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the group''s ability to continue as a going concern," Ten said in its financial accounts.The network has a A$200 million debt facility guaranteed by Murdoch, businessman Bruce Gordon and Crown Resorts casino magnate James Packer, due to expire in December. "There may be some reluctance for the guarantors to re-sign," said Steve Allen, the managing director of media strategy firm Fusion Strategy. "The free to air television market is under extreme pressure right now."Ten shares fell as much as 21.4 percent to a record low during trading.Representatives for Murdoch, Packer and Gordon did not respond immediately to requests for comment.The trio of businessmen, along with Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, have held prominent stakes, board seats and roles in the company for the past several years with a plan to fix the network.This has included bids to recapture its dominance over younger viewers once enticed by the reality television trend of the 1990s and early 2000s."There''s no easy way out," said media analyst Peter Cox."It simply lost its identity."Allen of Fusion Strategy said Ten were going back to their two principal overseas program partners, FOX and CBS, to renegotiate those contracts and make some savings. A Ten spokesman did not respond immediately to a request for comment about any contract renegotiations with the two.The bulk of Ten''s half-year loss was attributable to a A$214.5 million non-cash impairment on the value of its television licence.Ten said it expected to report an underlying loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of A$25 million to A$30 million for the financial year ended Sept. 30, absent any relief in television licence fees.Ten Chief Executive Paul Anderson in February called on the government to reduce licence fees and reform media laws. ($1 = 1.3376 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jamie Freed and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Editing by Richard Pullin and Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/ten-network-results-idUSL4N1HY70O'|'2017-04-27T08:10:00.000+03:00' 'e146c5fec1313db06c8b8fd871d55ef82255ca89'|'Trump to order a study on abuses of U.S. trade agreements'|' 2:07am BST Trump to order a study on abuses of U.S. trade agreements left right FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pictured in Geneva, Switzerland, April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo 1/2 left right U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the National Rifle Association (NRA) Leadership Forum at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst 2/2 By Ayesha Rascoe - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Saturday seeking to identify any problems caused by the nation''s existing trade agreements, including an examination of U.S. involvement in the World Trade Organization, a top trade official said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said his department would work to issue a report in 180 days outlining challenges with these trade deals and possible solutions. Ross singled out the World Trade Organization as an entity that may need to make some changes, although he cautioned that the administration had not made any decisions yet. "There''s always the potential for amending organization''s charters like the WTO, particularly when you''re in the position we are," he said. "We''re the number one importer in the whole world." Ross raised concerns that the WTO is too bureaucratic and does not hold meetings often enough. He also argued that the WTO has an "institutional bias" in favor of exporters and against countries that are being "beleaguered by inappropriate imports." Remaking U.S. trade relations has been a top priority for Trump, who has argued that the United States has been treated unfairly in international trade. Trump said on Thursday that he had been prepared to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico, but backed off after calls from the leaders of those two countries. The effects of NAFTA on the U.S. economy will also be examined in the new study. Last month, Trump also issued an order calling for a major review of the causes of all U.S. trade deficits. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-trade-order-idUKKBN17V01Z'|'2017-04-29T09:06:00.000+03:00' '707a33880c3a35d137c8cc46c0abbf548d76cd59'|'Siemens takes new direction by buying trip-planning firm'|'Deals - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:17am EDT Siemens takes new direction by buying trip-planning firm FILE PHOTO: Siemens logo is pictured at Siemens Healthineers headquarters in Erlangen near Nuremberg, Germany, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Michaela Rehle/File Photo FRANKFURT Germany''s Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) has moved into journey planning with the purchase of privately-owned Hannover-based firm HaCon to complement its transportation business, which it has been talking about merging with Bombardier''s ( BBDb.TO ). HaCon, with 290 staff, offers trip-planning, mobile-ticketing and fleet-management products, including via apps, for public and private transport in 25 countries and says it supplies more than 100 million route calculations per day. Siemens'' transportation unit, a business with 7.8 billion euros ($8.5 billion) in annual sales, offers rolling stock, signaling, and automation and power systems for rail and road. "The acquisition of HaCon will enable us to enter a completely new business area that complements our current portfolio, expanding it to include timetable scheduling as well as trip planning by passengers," Siemens Mobility division Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt said in a statement on Friday. Siemens said the parties had agreed not to disclose the price for the purchase, which is expected to close in the first half of this year if approved by anti-trust authorities. It said HaCon would be managed as a separate legal entity and wholly owned subsidiary of its Mobility division. ($1 = 0.9143 euros) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-siemens-transportation-hacon-idUSKBN17U1DY'|'2017-04-28T14:17:00.000+03:00' 'e803d8bb90852d791c6568d7113faa42dc90cd87'|'Shaw Communications explores selling ViaWest: sources'|'By Liana B. Baker and John Tilak Shaw Communications ( SJRb.TO ) is looking for a buyer for ViaWest, the U.S. data center company it bought three years ago, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Canadian cable company continues to shed assets it considers non-core.The sale of ViaWest would be Shaw''s latest step to streamline its operations. Last year it sold its media assets to sister company Corus Entertainment Inc ( CJRb.TO ) for C$2.65 billion, and used some of the proceeds for its C$1.6 billion purchase of Wind Mobile.Shaw is working with Toronto-Dominion Bank ( TD.TO ) on an auction for ViaWest, the people said on Friday, asking not to be identified because the matter is confidential. There is no guarantee a sale will occur, the sources added.Shaw is hoping to fetch for ViaWest well over the $1.2 billion it paid to acquire it in 2014 from private equity firms Oak Hill Capital Partners and GI Partners, according to the sources.Shaw declined to comment, while TD Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Analysts had been calling on Shaw to sell its data centers after U.S. telecommunications firms Verizon Communications Inc ( VZ.N ) and CenturyLink Inc ( CTL.N ) reaped several billions of dollars in sales after agreeing to sell their portfolios last year."ViaWest is an asset that has potentially material value but currently relatively low cash flow," Macquarie Research analyst Greg MacDonald said.However, data center divestitures can also be challenging, because they involve separating assets that are deeply integrated into a telecommunications network. AT&T Inc ( T.N ), for example, scrapped an earlier plan to sell its data centers.Shaw has been investing in its wireless business and rebranded Wind last year as Freedom Mobile, Canada''s fourth largest wireless company, although it is much smaller than the wireless units of BCE Inc ( BCE.TO ), Rogers Communications Inc ( RCIb.TO ) and Telus Corp ( T.TO ), Shaw''s main rivals in Canada''s western provinces.Shaw''s business infrastructure services division, which consists of primarily ViaWest, last year generated C$123 million in operating income before restructuring costs and amortization, according to its annual report.Private equity firms or companies that specialize in data centers, such as Equinix Inc ( EQIX.O ) and Digital Realty Trust Inc ( DLR.N ), have been active buyers of assets.ViaWest owns about 30 data centers in several U.S. states including Colorado, Nevada, and Minnesota, according to its website. Under Shaw, ViaWest has made small acquisitions to bulk up the unit in recent years, including a deal to buy information technology provider INetU Inc for $162.5 million last year.(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in San Francisco and John Tilak in Toronto; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-shaw-comms-m-a-viawest-idINKBN17U313'|'2017-04-28T20:05:00.000+03:00' '91993a25476dfb61e0369ef702aa836122bb366f'|'Massachusetts sues Ocwen over mortgage servicing practices'|'By Nate Raymond - BOSTON, April 28 BOSTON, April 28 The Massachusetts attorney general sued a unit of Ocwen Financial Corp on Friday, accusing the mortgage servicing company of engaging in abusive practices that harmed thousands of homeowners in the state.The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk County Superior Court, came a week after the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Florida attorney general and more than 20 state banking regulators took action against Ocwen.Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC charged homeowners for unnecessary forced-place insurance policies, hit delinquent borrowers with excessive fees and failed to process escrow and insurance payments."It is alarming that one of the nation''s largest mortgage loan servicers has proven itself to be incapable of properly handling homeowners'' mortgages in Massachusetts," Healey said in a statement.Ocwen, one of the United States'' largest nonbank mortgage servicers, in a statement said that it was reviewing the matter and intended to vigorously defend itself.The lawsuit followed a similar case brought by the CFPB on April 20, accusing Ocwen of widespread misconduct in how it serviced borrowers'' loans, from foreclosure abuses to a basic failure to send accurate monthly statements.CFPB officials said Ocwen and its subsidiaries have failed to clean up their act, even after reaching a settlement with the agency and states in 2013 to provide $2.1 billion in relief to harmed borrowers because of similar violations.The CFPB''s lawsuit was filed as more than 20 state banking regulators, including the Massachusetts Division of Banks, issued orders or charges to subsidiaries of Ocwen to address violations of state and federal laws.Ocwen on Wednesday filed a legal challenge to the CFPB that argued the agency was not legal under the U.S. constitution. Ocwen has also filed lawsuits to block the actions by the Massachusetts and Illinois banking regulators. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/ocwen-financial-lawsuit-idINL1N1I02EW'|'2017-04-28T21:14:00.000+03:00' 'bc41295a574266ed6646cb36ce4c4ac7efd6fb9c'|'NRG director wins strong shareholder support despite NYC opposition'|'By Ross Kerber - BOSTON, April 28 BOSTON, April 28 A director at NRG Energy Inc was elected to its board with a strong margin of votes cast, a securities filing showed on Friday, overcoming concerns about his comments on climate change and the intentions of the activist investors who backed him at the New Jersey power company.The result from NRG''s annual meeting, which was held Thursday morning at a hotel in Princeton, New Jersey but not disclosed at the time, showed a lack of support among investors for a campaign led by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer against the director, Barry Smitherman.In an April 6 letter Stringer, who oversees New York City pension funds, urged investors to oppose Smitherman''s election, citing what he called the activists'' "short-term orientation" that did not consider the views of most other shareholders.Stringer also said Smitherman''s views on climate change should disqualify him to be a director of the company involved in renewable power like solar and wind energy.Despite Stringer''s efforts at NRG, however, Smitherman won support from 93 percent of votes cast, the filing showed. All but one other director nominee won higher vote shares.A representative for NRG''s board said Smitherman and others would not comment on Stringer''s concerns. An NRG spokeswoman declined to comment on the results on Friday evening.Smitherman, a former Texas energy regulator, was named to NRG''s board in February under an agreement it reached with Elliott Management, the hedge fund run by Paul Singer, and private equity firm Bluescape Energy Partners, which together had about 9 percent of NRG.Stringer had cited Smitherman''s past comments such as when, as a Texas political candidate, he said he had "been battling this global warming hoax for 6 years now."The Princeton, New Jersey company also agreed to form a board committee to review its operations and strategy.In an e-mailed statement Stringer said the outcome was still a "shot across the bow against short-term activists." He also said, "It''s clear our campaign elevated the issues, mobilized investors, and put the board on notice."In other cases Stringer has proven effective at mobilizing investors behind corporate governance causes such as "proxy access," making it easier for groups of shareholders to run their own director candidates.By his offices'' count more than 300 companies have instituted the change after Stringer made it a focus, including General Electric and Citigroup Inc.(Reporting by Ross Kerber; editing by Diane Craft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nrg-director-idINL1N1HZ2PE'|'2017-04-28T22:30:00.000+03:00' 'bf28e795510b335368ac19e925a1df74df05ba82'|'Tesla recruiting engineers in Mexico for California plant'|'Technology Photos - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 2:55am IST Tesla recruiting engineers in Mexico for California plant A Tesla Model S charges at a Tesla Supercharger station in Cabazon, California, U.S. May 18, 2016. REUTERS/Sam Mircovich/File Photo By Alexandria Sage - SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) is recruiting engineers from Mexico to work on robotics and other automated equipment at its California factory, according to LinkedIn postings viewed by Reuters, part of a hiring push to ready the plant for mass production of the upcoming Model 3. The electric vehicle maker, which prides itself on its "Made in America" credentials, aims to build 500,000 cars a year by 2018 at its plant in Fremont, California, south of San Francisco. That would be a six-fold increase from 2016. A recruiting poster published on LinkedIn by Tesla''s senior technical recruiter, David Johnson, listed 15 types of engineers the company would be seeking at a May 5-8 recruiting event in Monterrey, Mexico. ( here :li:activity:6261290896936042496/) Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its Mexico hiring plans. The Silicon Valley carmaker is under the gun to accelerate production and save money as it readies for volume production of the Model 3 in September. The company''s future profitability hinges on its success, and high hopes for the mass-market vehicle have helped push Tesla shares up 47 percent since January. Mexico boasts a substantial pool of educated manufacturing engineers, with 19 automotive plants owned by global automakers including General Motors Co ( GM.N ), Ford Motor Co ( F.N ), Fiat Chrysler Automobiles ( FCHA.MI ) and Volkswagen ( VOWG_p.DE ). Tesla''s Johnson wrote in a post that he hoped to interview manufacturing and mechanical engineers with experience in "Body in White" (BIW) manufacturing. That is the stage of assembly in which sheet metal components are welded together to make up the outer frame of the car. "Check this out if you are interested to work with the most complex and automated equipment in our Fremont plant! We are looking for controls, robotic and weld engineers!" posted another Tesla employee, Dominik Knapp, on his LinkedIn page. Tesla has been actively hiring in the past few months for assembly-line jobs at the Fremont plant. But finding manufacturing engineers, who are in even shorter supply than software engineers in Silicon Valley, is a tougher challenge. Doug Patton, president of SAE International, a professional association of automotive engineers headquartered in Pennsylvania, said Tesla''s search for engineers in Mexico underscored a dearth of talent in the industry. "There are many more jobs than engineers, this is an engineering problem across the board," he said. U.S. automakers and suppliers will sometimes bring employees from Mexican plants to the United States for short-term assignments, but Patton said he had not heard of any company recruiting on a "wholesale basis" as Tesla appeared to be doing. Tesla''s vice president of production, Peter Hochholdinger, has experience in Mexico, having been involved in the launch of Audi''s high-tech plant in Puebla. (Editing by Jonathan Weber and Matthew Lewis)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-mexico-idINKBN17U2X5'|'2017-04-28T19:14:00.000+03:00' 'bc6f4ceac9980f086c71dafb0346dfd1a98061af'|'Trump Delays a Fight on Presidential Power'|'Just before leaving office, President Barack Obama issued an executive order bestowing national monument status on 1.35 million acres of remote, rugged desert in southeast Utah called Bears Ears. The federal government already controlled the land, but by making it a national monument, Obama shielded it from future commercial development or mining.That didn’t go over so well among Utah Republicans. Immediately, the state’s GOP congressional delegation began arguing that the Bears Ears designation was made against local wishes and without local input. Even before Donald Trump took office, Representatives Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz began lobbying him to reverse the order.The question is whether he has the power to do so. The answer depends on your view of a 1906 law known as the Antiquities Act. Signed by Theodore Roosevelt, the law explicitly gives presidents the power to bestow national monument status on historic landmarks, structures, and other objects of scientific interest. What’s not clear is whether it also gives them the power to revoke that status.“No president has ever rescinded, so there’s never been a case to take to court,” says John Leshy, who worked as the U.S. Department of the Interior’s top lawyer under President Bill Clinton. Absent any court guidance, the most instructive opinion dates from 1938, when President Franklin Roosevelt weighed whether to remove the monument status of a neglected Civil War fort in South Carolina. He decided not to after Attorney General Homer Cummings told him he lacked authority.Rather than launching a frontal assault on the law with an executive order revoking the status of certain monuments, President Trump signed an order on April 26 directing the Interior Department to review some 30 monument designations larger than 100,000 acres made since 1996. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will have 45 days to suggest which, if any, designations should be removed. Trump could also shrink a monument’s area protected from mining or drilling. That’s relevant to Bears Ears, which contains uranium, oil, and gas deposits. “It’s undisputed the president has the authority to modify a monument,” Zinke said.Though not a win for environmentalists, Trump’s order is at least a tacit acknowledgment of the legal and political challenges in revoking national monument status. It also delays the court fight desired by some of the loudest critics of the Bears Ears designation, including Bishop and Chaffetz. To bolster their case, they had teamed up with Todd Gaziano, executive director of the Pacific Legal Foundation, and John Yoo, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley who wrote the so-called torture memos authorizing the George W. Bush administration’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” In a March report published by the American Enterprise Institute, Yoo and Gaziano gave legal ammunition to Trump, writing that “No president can bind future presidents in the use of their constitutional authorities.” They called the 1938 Cummings opinion “poorly reasoned” and “erroneous.” Says Gaziano, “We think the ground is very strong for a president to revoke.” Though Trump’s order stops short of revoking Bears Ears’ monument status, Gaziano says the White House is simply taking its time and that the directive to the Interior Department “should be seen as an affirmation of the authority John Yoo and I argue they possess.”Not everyone agrees. Advocates working to protect Bears Ears, including indigenous tribes, conservationists, and a coalition of outdoor recreation companies, have circulated a memo from the Washington law firm Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer that reaffirms that 1938 opinion.The bottom line: President Trump stopped short of revoking the national monument status President Obama bestowed on 1.35 million acres in Utah.'|'bloomberg.com'|'https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek'|'http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-27/trump-delays-a-fight-on-presidential-power'|'2017-04-28T02:49:00.000+03:00' '9b33aac5e4b3d411421a647c5382095342a35574'|'Camping World-led group wins bankruptcy auction for Gander Mountain'|'By Jessica DiNapoli The largest U.S. recreational vehicle dealer, Camping World Holdings Inc ( CWH.N ), and a group of liquidators won a bankruptcy auction for sporting goods retailer Gander Mountain Co [GDMIN.UL] on Friday, according to a bankruptcy court filing.The value of the winning bid was about $390 million, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the details of the auction results. The Camping World-led group bested a going-concern bid for Gander Mountain from rival Sportsman''s Warehouse Holdings Inc ( SPWH.O ), the sources said.Camping World, which is run by Marcus Lemonis, a star on CNBC TV''s reality show "The Profit," plans to operate at least 17 Gander Mountain stores as a going concern, the sources said. An auction for Gander Mountain''s remaining more than 100 leases will be held later, the sources said.The consortium also won all of Gander Mountain''s intellectual property and its Overton''s boating business, the sources said. Gander Mountain, which is based in St. Paul, Minnesota, bills itself as "America''s Firearm Superstore."Gander Mountain declined to comment and Lincolnshire, Illinois-based Camping World did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The auction results will require final approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court judge.Gander Mountain filed for bankruptcy in March with a plan to quickly sell itself after struggling with excess inventory and seeing its approximately 160 stores underperform. It listed assets and liabilities each worth up to $1 billion.Within the retail sector, sporting goods is going through a period of consolidation and distress. Gander Mountain competitors including Sports Authority Inc and Eastern Mountain Sports also have filed for bankruptcy.Financially healthy rivals Bass Pro Shops and Cabela''s Inc ( CAB.N ) plan to merge this year in an approximately $5 billion deal.Camping World, which has 120 R.V. SuperCenters across the U.S., raised $251 million last fall in an initial public offering.Camping World sees synergies between its business, Gander Mountain and Overton''s, one of the people said.(Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-gandermountain-bankruptcy-campingworl-idINKBN17U2VT'|'2017-04-28T18:49:00.000+03:00' 'aedf88b6ae6e5dca5ad57c30962a54043cdb8b02'|'Wells Fargo overhauls lawmaking and policy arm'|'Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC.N ) is making several changes to its government relations and public policy unit in what its new leader said was a response to its steady growth since the financial crisis.The bank has had a difficult seven months since a sales scandal that severely damaged its reputation and led to the departure of then-Chairman and CEO John Stumpf in October. Stumpf''s sudden retirement came after he was slammed by U.S. lawmakers.Still, David Moskowitz, the newly-promoted head of the lobbying and policy unit, said the overhaul was not a response to the scandal, nor to the bank''s failure of a "living will" test administered by federal regulators that led to the bank''s decision to temporarily halt the growth of its balance sheet."This is not a reaction to all the events of the last year," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.Instead, he said the bank''s decision was about having a more coordinated public policy approach, rather than each business unit operating somewhat independently. While that siloed structure was one of the criticisms mentioned in an investigative report released by the Board of Directors, Moskowitz said the new structure was not a response to the report."I don''t think there had been duplication of effort," he said. "I need to integrate these things better into the business priorities of the company, to the needs of its customers, to help us rebuild trust and build the better bank that we''re going to work for."The new unit will bring together several responsibilities that had been in different areas of the bank, including federal, regulatory, state and local government relations, political programs, external relations and public policy. Moskowitz said he would hire more people for the unit, though he would not yet say how many.When Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia at the start of 2009, it more than doubled its size and became the fourth largest U.S. bank. It eventually passed Citigroup and became the third largest. Following the Wachovia acquisition, its government relations team had two people. That number has since grown to six.Moskowitz, executive vice president and general counsel, most recently led the consumer lending and corporate regulatory division of the Wells Fargo law department. He will report to Hope Hardison, the bank''s chief administrative officer.The outgoing head of government and community relations, Jon Campbell, will stay at the bank in a modified role.(Reporting by Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-wells-fargo-lobbying-idUSKBN17T3CX'|'2017-04-28T06:45:00.000+03:00' '1a91f8b8d43b657ed55956e54754d905a44e89c7'|'Atlantia sells 10 percent of Italy motorway unit, option to sell further 2.5 percent'|'MILAN Italian toll-road group Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) said on Thursday it had sold a 10 percent stake in its Italian motorway unit to a series of investors including Allianz ( ALVG.DE ).Atlantia, which runs more than 5,000 kms in toll motorways, said the total equity value for the whole of its Autostrade per l''Italia (ASPI) unit was 14.8 billion euros ($16 billion).In a statement, the Italian infrastructure group said it had agreed to sell a 5 percent stake to a consortium 74 percent-led by Allianz Capital Partners and also including EDF Invest and DIF Infrastructure IV.A further 5 percent was sold to the Silk Road Fund.Atlantia said the Allianz-led consortium also had a call option to buy a further 2.5 percent of ASPI, on the same terms and conditions, before the end of October.In a separate statement Atlantia confirmed its preliminary interest in a tie up with Spanish peer Abertis ( ABE.MC ), providing the deal was done on a friendly basis.(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-abertis-m-a-atlantia-allianz-idUSKBN17T2RI'|'2017-04-27T22:07:00.000+03:00' '7612cc813964dfe3bc782a904d7387430a40f24f'|'Zodiac Aerospace to pursue Safran tie-up, CEO offers resignation'|'By Tim Hepher and Cyril Altmeyer - PARIS PARIS Zodiac Aerospace''s ( ZODC.PA ) chief executive has offered his resignation after another profit warning from the French company, which is continuing talks with Safran ( SAF.PA ) to seal a merger and end a crisis in its aircraft seat factories.Zodiac said on Friday it had asked Olivier Zarrouati to stay on "for a while" to try to forge the world''s third-largest aerospace supplier, but added it was working on an alternative standalone plan in case the Safran merger fell through.The firms announced a deal for Safran to take control in January, but it ran into criticism over its complex structure, crafted to preserve tax breaks for a group of family shareholders, and new problems at Zodiac''s UK plants.Zodiac has hired a new special board adviser and asked Zarrouati to stay on to finalize and execute the deal "if Safran and Zodiac come to a renewed agreement, which is what we want."Shares in Zodiac were up 3 percent at 21.48 euros after falling sharply ahead of the results, which were delayed by a week amid speculation that either side could pull out of talks over the merger, which Zarrouati called "our priority scenario".One analyst said the rally reflected relief among ordinary Zodiac shareholders that the merger plan had not been abandoned and that there would be changes at the top of the company.Others said another critical factor would be Zodiac''s revised medium-term forecasts, whose status remained uncertain.Zodiac shares remain well below the 29.47 cash offer embedded in the deal, and a bid that initially valued Zodiac at $9 billion is certain to fall if it eventually goes ahead.A financial source said on April 14 Safran was weighing plans to reduce and possibly restructure the offer.Zodiac on Friday posted a fiscal first-half operating loss of 12 million euros, blamed on its aircraft interiors business, and forecast a 200-220 million euro operating profit for the year to end-August, implying a 26 percent fall from the previous year, whereas in March it had forecast a 10-20 percent decline.TCI UNHAPPYZarrouati, who has given 10 warnings since Zodiac''s rapid expansion went wrong but who had been supported by Zodiac''s chairman, appears to have realized his position was untenable as new problems arose in recent weeks and voluntarily stood aside.He said Zodiac had added "an extra layer of caution" to its forecasts and would be able to meet its financial covenants.But the strongest critic of the deal, UK hedge fund TCI Fund Management, was not convinced."These are disastrous results from Zodiac yet again... Zodiac''s business continues to implode with no sign of recovery," TCI founder Christopher Hohn said in a statement."We think it needs an emergency rights issue, which would cause the Zodiac share price to fall substantially," he added.Zodiac said it had appointed as its adviser Yann Delabriere, the outgoing president of Faurecia ( EPED.PA ) who analysts say has helped the French auto seats maker survive the financial crisis and refocus on its core businesses.TCI, which wants Safran to cancel its proposed offer for Zodiac, called the appointment a "distraction", although some analysts said Delabriere would bring in more industrial clout.Zodiac is now waiting for Safran''s conclusions on a due-diligence exercise, Zarrouati said.(Additional reporting by Gilles Guillaume, Maiya Keidan; Editing by Andrew Callus/Keith Weir/Alexander Smith)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-zodiac-aero-m-a-idINKBN17U0IY'|'2017-04-28T03:22:00.000+03:00' '5101edbc2c16c1577fd2349849ed7e9ec24dc987'|'Saudi Arabia awards Jeddah airport contract to Singapore''s Changi'|'DUBAI Sinapore''s Changi Airport Group [CHAP.UL] has been awarded the contract to operate the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for up to 20 years, the kingdom''s aviation authority said on Sunday.A statement from the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announcing the award did not provide any further details apart from saying the selection was made after a thorough evaluation of bids.(Reporting by Marwa Rashad in Riyadh; Writing by Alexander Cornwell, Reem Shamseddine; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-airport-jeddah-idINKBN17W0PL'|'2017-04-30T16:35:00.000+03:00' '6c2bd39f2f0dd15286ffb058f129332b78d0f9ce'|'Improvements to South Korea-U.S. trade deal may not shrink America''s deficit'|' 32pm BST Improvements to South Korea-U.S. trade deal may not shrink America''s deficit An employee walks on a crane at a container terminal at Incheon port in Incheon, South Korea, May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo By David Lawder - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A five-year-old U.S.-South Korean trade deal could be improved to increase access for American vehicles and deter currency manipulation, but changes will not necessarily shrink the U.S. trade deficit with the Asian export powerhouse. The U.S.-Korean Free Trade Agreement, whose anniversary falls next week, had promised to boost U.S. exports by $10 billion a year but in fact delivered an overall decline of $3 billion by the end of 2016, in part due to a slowdown in global trade. But the record of the accord, once dubbed the "highest standard deal" for America, is now in President Donald Trump''s firing line. He told Reuters on Thursday the deal was "horrible" and he would renegotiate or terminate it. KORUS, as the deal is known, has been a boon for South Korea and its U.S. goods trade surplus has surged to $28 billion. "The standards in KORUS are good. The problem is that the South Korean economy is very weak," said Derek Scissors, resident scholar and Asian trade expert at the American Enterprise Institute. "Even if we renegotiate it, we''re not going to get a surge in exports because they''re just not growing that fast." Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is strengthening, supporting consumer demand for imported goods, including cars and electronics from South Korea. One sector for which the trade deal has not gone horribly is U.S. beef, where exports have risen steadily to overtake Australia as the top foreign supplier to South Korea in February. American beef had been shunned by South Korean consumers after a 2003 incident of "mad cow" disease and was often sold cheaper than Australian beef in Korean hypermarkets like Costco. Trade experts, including a KORUS negotiator, said potential demands from the Trump administration for renegotiation are likely to include provisions to knock down remaining non-tariff barriers to Korean imports of U.S. autos, an area where KORUS benefits have fallen far short of expectations. Even though the South Korean car market is among the world''s top 10, the United States only exported about 60,000 vehicles to Korea last year, compared to nearly 1 million vehicles shipped the other way. "Their market remains essentially closed. There needs to be a plan to open it up," said Representative Sander Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. Barriers, from South Korea''s failure to recognise U.S. vehicle identification number standards to a penalty fee for high-emission vehicles including sport-utility vehicles and "muscle" cars, have raised costs for U.S. vehicles in the market. Wendy Cutler, a former deputy U.S. Trade Representative who was the chief negotiator on KORUS during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, said the Trump administration''s recent draft notification letter to Congress for North American Free Trade Agreement talks sets out some guideposts for a KORUS negotiation. The letter seeks to equalize tax treatment of exports, safeguard "Buy American" public procurement rules, tighten rules of origin to keep more Chinese parts and products from entering the United States tariff-free and include "snap-back" provisions that allow tariffs to be reimposed to guard against a surge of damaging imports. Cutler also said that while KORUS is the highest-standard trade deal that the United States currently has in force, it could still be upgraded to the now defunct Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal''s higher standards on environment, labour, intellectual property rights and digital trade. South Korea was not a party to the TPP, but it "might be able to go further on digital data flows because they''re a very wired society," said Cutler, now with the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington. CURRENCY QUESTION A provision to deter currency manipulation, enforceable with punitive tariffs, has long been a goal for labour unions and Democrats for U.S. trade deals and also could become part of the talks. The U.S. Treasury keeps South Korea on a currency manipulation "monitoring list" because of its trade surplus with the United States and its high global current account surplus of 7 percent of gross domestic product. It also criticized Seoul''s lack of transparency in its currency market interventions. Ford Motor Co ( F.N ) spokeswoman Christin Baker said the automaker has "consistently supported" currency manipulation rules in U.S. trade agreements. "We have expressed concern about the implementation of KORUS for some time, including its lack of currency provisions," Baker said in an emailed statement. Jeffrey Schott, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that KORUS provisions could be crafted for foreign exchange transparency and interventions that could help enforce South Korea''s G20 and International Monetary Fund pledges to avoid competitive currency devaluations. "If the administration wanted to establish a precedent for new rules against currency manipulation, this might be an appropriate venue to do that," Schott said. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by David Chance and James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-trump-southkorea-idUKKBN17U327'|'2017-04-29T06:32:00.000+03:00' '8521a4ead2f52eb1fb63a8561b6150e4959a1cc6'|'Siemens, SAP sign cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia: officials'|'Technology News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 11:15am EDT Siemens, SAP sign cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia: officials left right Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 1/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 2/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 3/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 4/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (back) attend a deal signing ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 5/5 JEDDAH Saudi Arabia wants German companies Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) and SAP ( SAPG.DE ) to play an important role in furthering the kingdom''s "digital transformation", company officials said on Sunday during German Chancellor Angela Merkel''s visit to the country. Top executives at the engineering conglomerate and the business software company who were traveling with Merkel signed declarations of intent to work with the Saudi authorities, the officials said. Saudi Arabia is pushing a long-term economic transformation dubbed "Vision 2030" to reduce the country''s reliance on oil, attract investment and improve the lives of its citizens. Siemens signed a framework agreement with the Saudi National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) which the German group said could lead to equipping infrastructure projects worth at least a billion euros. The company also wants to provide vocational training in Saudi Arabia, while SAP has agreed with the Saudi Ministry of Planning to cooperate on the country''s digitization efforts, officials said. The German business delegation traveling with Merkel on her Gulf visit also includes the chief executives of Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ), national railway operator Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL] and industrial services group Bilfinger ( GBFG.DE ). (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Greg Mahlich) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews?format=xml'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-germany-merkel-business-idUSKBN17W0KL'|'2017-04-30T23:15:00.000+03:00' '7b01c07205a5a6e8bed392738c5f64e36734b716'|'RPT-Wall St Weekahead-Hot earnings to keep fire under growth-stock rally'|' 2:58pm EDT RPT-Wall St Weekahead-Hot earnings to keep fire under growth-stock rally (Repeats story first published Friday with no changes to text) By Sinead Carew NEW YORK, April 28 Don''t look for the outperformance of growth stocks to fade any time soon, as long as corporate earnings continue to improve and hopes remain for stronger economic growth. The Russell 1000 Growth index, which tracks such shares, is up 10.9 percent so far this year, outpacing the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index''s 6.6 percent rise and the 2.8 percent advance of the Russell 1000 Value index. And it''s not just a U.S. phenomenon. Growth stocks - whose profits are expected to grow at a faster pace than the broader market - are also outperforming their value counterparts in Asia and Europe. Still, the appeal of riskier stocks perceived as better positioned to ride an accelerating global earnings tailwind, as opposed to those with a greater cushion of safety, is nowhere as far ahead as it is on Wall Street. In the United States, an improving outlook for corporate earnings should help keep growth names in vogue, according to John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC in Newark, New Jersey. The average estimate of analysts for earnings per share growth this year of S&P 500 companies has risen to 11.3 percent from 10.9 percent at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters data, a trend that should continue to blunt concerns about lofty growth valuations. "When you have an earnings recovery, growth stocks will outperform. When you don''t have good earnings, that''s when people are looking for value," said Praveen. Hopes for pro-business U.S. policy changes under the administration of President Donald Trump will likely also keep expectations for economic growth elevated, helping to maintain the case for growth stocks. "The value stocks have done okay but growth has done so much better in the anticipation we''ll see a pickup in economic growth," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. "Companies that are going to be more levered to economic growth tend to be growth stocks." "Right now I don''t see a long term condition for value stocks to outperform growth," said Nolte. To be sure, some strategists are less convinced that growth stock outperformance will continue indefinitely. While value stocks, which are cheaper relative to their earnings potential, have tended to do better in slower growth environments historically, JP Morgan Asset Management''s global market strategist David Lebovitz says that trend has been changing. "It’s not going to be smooth sailing for one or the other. We think there''ll be times people are more optimistic about the economy and in those cases, value can rally. Then you''ll see periods where people are less optimistic about the economy, as we''ve seen over the course of the first quarter," he said. If economic trends look better in the second quarter, value stocks will do better, Lebovitz said. In Asia, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan growth index , is up 18.5 percent so far this year, compared with a 12.6 percent gain for the comparable MSCI value index . Investment in India, traditionally a growth-driven market, has adjusted in recent years as value stocks have narrowed the gap with growth, which still lead, said Jayesh Shroff, co-founder of investment advisory Cask Capital in Mumbai. "That is because people were paying a premium for growth and somehow the growth did not materialize. That''s why value came back and growth has taken a slight back seat," said Shroff. Still, he said as soon as growth returns, he expects investors to switch their focus back from value. In China, between 2009 and the 2015 stock market crash, small-cap growth stocks were the market’s darlings, but "a new rotation into value blue-chip investments started in 2016,” according to Zhou Liang, fund manager at Shanghai Minority Asset Management Co. “In 2017, money will flow into blue-chips, as small-caps weaken and lose their luster,” said Zhou. In Europe, the best outlook for corporate profits in seven years has ignited investor appetite for growth stocks, which are now up twice as much as their value counterparts so far this year, a reversal of the trend seen last year. As a result the MSCI International Europe growth Index has jumped 8.9 percent this year so far, compared with a 4.5 percent gain for the MSCI International Europe Value index. With such a big gap between U.S. growth and value stocks, some investors are eying overseas investments. "The entire U.S. market is very expensive. Value investors definitely don''t like to chase expensive valuations," said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "I wouldn''t expect to see a rotation until you saw a correction where both stock types are lower." (Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in Mumbai, Samuel Shen in Shanghai, Helen Reid in London; Editing by Dan Burns and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-weekahead-idUSL1N1I20DH'|'2017-05-01T02:58:00.000+03:00' '2f0314a802a3eba98e7f41db306cdc8cdc785698'|'Iran receives positive signals from OPEC, NON-OPEC countries for output cuts'|'Business News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 4:10pm BST Iran receives positive signals from OPEC, NON-OPEC countries for output cuts left right The OPEC flag and the OPEC logo are seen before a news conference in Vienna, Austria, October 24, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger 1/2 left right Iran''s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh arrives for a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, Austria, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader 2/2 TEHRAN Iran''s Oil Minister said on Saturday OPEC and non-OPEC countries had given positive signals for an extension of output cuts, which Tehran would also back. "During these last days we received a positive signal from OPEC members and non-OPEC contributors in this agreement for cutting the production for extending this agreement for the second half of 2017," Bijan Zanganeh told reporters. Zanganeh blamed the United States for lack of foreign investment in Iran''s energy sector, citing political pressure on international oil companies. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by John Stonestreet)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iran-opec-cuts-idUKKBN17V0J0'|'2017-04-29T23:10:00.000+03:00' '7491648d9c092485fc4a1bd439efd4fe1acb2338'|'UBS first-quarter profit rises 79 percent on brighter outlook'|'Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 5:55am BST UBS first quarter profit rises 79 percent on brighter outlook FILE PHOTO: The offices of Swiss bank UBS are seen in the financial district of the City of London, Britain October 31, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo ZURICH Swiss bank UBS kicked off 2017 with a 79 percent jump in net profit as a brighter outlook boosted its investment bank and client trading in its core wealth management business. Switzerland''s biggest bank and the world''s largest wealth manager said on Friday net profit for the first three months of 2017 was 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.31 billion). This overshot the average estimate of 919 francs in a Reuters poll of seven analysts, beating even the highest forecast. "While the global recovery is likely to continue, macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and divisive politics pose risks that may affect client sentiment and transaction volumes," UBS said in a statement. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi and Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ubs-group-ag-results-idUKKBN17U0GY'|'2017-04-28T12:54:00.000+03:00' '7e605383bf2869a8d144c24c493fefff6f259b5b'|'U.S. SEC charges ex-executives over accounting at government contractor L3'|'By Sarah N. Lynch - WASHINGTON, April 28 WASHINGTON, April 28 U.S. regulators on Friday filed civil charges against two former executives at government contractor L3 Technologies over accounting violations that led the company to improperly recognize $17.9 million in revenue from a contract with the U.S. Army.The Securities and Exchange Commission said that David Pruitt, former vice president of finance in the Army Sustainment Division at L3, plans to fight the charges, while L3''s former Army Sustainment Division president Mark Wentlent has agreed to settle related charges.The company previously settled with the SEC and paid a $1.6 million penalty. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Editing by Franklin Paul)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-sec-l-idINEMN4NK6YM'|'2017-04-28T12:55:00.000+03:00' '9f0893eb0160304c7d6dc57294722230b19e33a1'|'Honda forecasts lower operating profit in 2017/18'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 3:17am EDT Honda sees auto sales edging up, profit sliding in 2017/18 A man walks past Honda Motor cars outside the company''s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Toru Hanai By Naomi Tajitsu - TOKYO TOKYO Honda Motor Co forecast a 16 percent fall in operating profit for the current financial year as the Japanese automaker sees higher auto sales being offset by a stronger yen, changes to its pension plan and research and development costs. Japan''s No. 3 automaker said it expects an operating profit of 705.0 billion yen ($6.34 billion) in the year to March, lower than an average estimate of 850.8 billion yen according to 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and lower than the 840.7 billion yen posted for the year just ended. It sees a 14 percent slide in net profit to 530.0 billion yen this year. Honda expects its global vehicle sales to edge up 1 percent to 5.08 million in the current year, boosted by ongoing sales growth in Asia, particularly in China on the back of demand for its CR-V and XR-V crossover SUVs and Civic and Accord sedans. Overall sales in Asia are seen at 2.06 million units, beating out North America to become Honda''s top market. The company expects to sell 1.92 million vehicles in North America, 2.5 percent less than the year just ended. Honda has been ramping up production of SUVs to keep up with strong demand for larger models in the United States, although overall vehicle sales show signs of slowing following a boom cycle seen following the global financial crisis. Industry experts are increasingly concerned about rising inventory levels and consumer discounts as automakers push harder to sell their products. A pricing war in the market could undermine automakers'' profits. Honda''s projection is based on expectations that the yen will trade at 105 yen to the U.S. dollar in the year to March, strengthening from its 108 yen rate in the year just ended. Japanese automakers are vulnerable to currency fluctuations as they export many of their vehicles to overseas markets from domestic plants. A stronger currency makes their cars more expensive to export, while eating away at the value of repatriated proceeds. (Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-honda-results-idUSKBN17U0OY'|'2017-04-28T14:50:00.000+03:00' '8ec460c30e305f7201e54a9119f3c58e8549ed30'|'FTC allows Sycamore to sell Family Dollar stores to Dollar General'|'WASHINGTON The Federal Trade Commission gave a private equity firm approval on Thursday to sell to Dollar General Corp ( DG.N ) 323 stores that Sycamore purchased as part of a divestiture package two years ago, the agency said on Thursday.Sycamore Partners II, LP bought the stores in 2015 when Dollar Tree ( DLTR.O ) was forced to sell shops in 35 states to win antitrust approval to buy the Family Dollar chain in what was then a $9.2 billion deal.Sycamore, which had created Dollar Express LLC to run the business, asked the FTC to approve the stores'' transfer to competitor Dollar General ( DG.N ) in March and said in a document filed with the FTC that the chain could "no longer viably operate as a standalone business."Sycamore blamed the economic woes on an overall decline in dollar store business, tough competition from Dollar Tree, wage inflation and other costs, according to the document.Dollar Tree had announced the deal to buy Family Dollar in July 2014, saying it would help it fend off growing competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc ( WMT.N ) and No.1 U.S. discounter Dollar General."It''s a lesson for the FTC about the kinds of divestiture buyers that are going to be effective," said Andrea Murino, an antitrust expert with the law firm Goodwin Procter LLP. "I''m sure the FTC would have preferred a very different outcome."A spokesman for Sycamore declined comment. Dollar General did not immediately respond to a request for comment.(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Marguerita Choy and James Dalgleish)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-familydollar-ftc-sycamore-idUSKBN17T35Z'|'2017-04-28T01:06:00.000+03:00' '4a4691b70a9e113b5ae967b91d796d43b6d1e891'|'Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions'|'April 27 The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1300 GMT on Thursday:** Italian toll-road operator Atlantia has tapped banks to finance an upcoming cash-and-share bid for Spanish rival Abertis, sources told Reuters, as it seeks to create an industry giant with a market value of more than 35 billion euros ($38 billion). ** Bankers are working on debt financings of around 1.1 billion euros to back a potential sale of French nursing home company DomusVi, banking sources said. ** Austrian energy and petrol station group OMV is to buy a 40-percent stake in Smatrics, a company that provides charging points for electric cars, owned by hydropower firm Verbund and Germany''s Siemens, the Austrian companies said.** John Fredriksen''s Frontline is switching its legal battle for control of tanker operator DHT Holdings from New York to the tiny Marshall Islands after making a fifth offer for the company this week. ** Exiger, a firm that helps businesses monitor compliances such as money laundering regulations, has agreed to buy Canadian startup OutsideIQ for C$30 million ($22.17 million), according to a person familiar with the agreement. ** RWE is not planning to sell additional shares in its Innogy IGY.DE unit at the moment, its chief executive said, dashing expectations for a large deal that were fuelled by a media report last month.** Hungarian businessman Tamas Szemerey plans to boost his stake in MKB Bank and is looking at more acquisitions in the sector after taking a 20.2 percent indirect stake in MKB, he told newspaper Magyar Idok.** Assicurazioni Generali does not consider as strategic a 3 percent holding in Intesa Sanpaolo it bought to fend off a potential stake-building by the Italian bank, its chief executive said.** The loss of a multi-billion dollar contract with Anthem Inc comes with a silver lining for some shareholders of Express Scripts Holding Co: a higher likelihood that the pharmaceutical benefits manager (PBM) gets scooped up in a deal.** German chemicals giant BASF said it would continue to push for acquisitions to shore up its crop protection business, after the antitrust-related sale of assets from the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont left it empty-handed.** Italian railways group Ferrovie dello Stato has not been contacted about taking a stake in loss-making airline Alitalia and at the moment has no interest in riding to its rescue, a spokesman for the state-owned company said.** Lufthansa said it was not interested in buying Italian rival Alitalia, whose future is unclear after workers this week ruled out a rescue plan.** Intesa Sanpaolo does not have a plan B for loss-making Italian carrier Alitalia and it is not the lender''s business to manage airlines, its chief executive Carlo Messina said.** Acquisition talks between Beijing Xinwei Technology Group and Israeli satellite operator Space Communications remain frozen, a senior Spacecom official was Quote: d as saying.** Israeli real estate developer Gazit-Globe said its wholly owned subsidiary Gazit Brasil bought the remaining 30 percent stake it didn''t own in the Extra Itaim property in Sao Paulo for 94 million reais ($30 million).** Swedish investment firm Kinnevik said it had bought an 18.5 percent stake in Swedish cable-tv firm Com Hem as it presented its first-quarter report.** Cenovus Energy Inc won about 87 percent of shareholders'' votes for its board of director slate on Wednesday, below previous near-unanimous approvals, as some voters protested the company''s C$17 billion ($12.6 billion) purchase of ConocoPhillips assets.** Mexican telecoms company America Movil has submitted its proposal for separating a part of its fixed-line unit Telmex from the rest of the company, and expects approval in coming months, a company executive said Wednesday.** Clariant AG is still scanning for small- or mid-sized acquisitions but is not dependent on takeovers to meet its mid-term targets for boosting profitability and return on capital, Chief Financial Officer Patrick Jany said. (Compiled by Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/deals-day-idINL4N1HZ5V6'|'2017-04-27T12:06:00.000+03:00' '9bb044d7f305fcb80058c9e62cb9d3877adafd7c'|'Shares in Takata suspended after reported bankruptcy filing plan'|'By Naomi Tajitsu and Chang-Ran Kim - TOKYO TOKYO Trading in Takata Corp shares was suspended on Thursday after a report that the Japanese airbag maker at the heart of the car industry''s biggest-ever recall is considering a bankruptcy plan that will create a new company and ringfence its liabilities.The Nikkei business daily reported Chinese-owned car parts maker Key Safety Systems (KSS), the company''s preferred bidder, would sponsor the turnaround plan by injecting 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) and helping create a new operating company.That money would be transferred to Takata to help settle claims linked to faulty air bags that have been blamed for at least 16 deaths worldwide.Agreement on a restructuring deal, eight years after the first death, would enable Takata to draw a line under the crisis and help it continue supplying replacement air bag inflators, as well as selling seat belts and other vehicle components.In a statement, Takata acknowledged that its steering committee had endorsed KSS as a sponsor candidate, but said it had not reached any decision on its restructuring.Reuters reported earlier this month that a group including KSS, a U.S. unit of China''s Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp, and Bain Capital LLC was Takata''s preferred bidder, and would offer around 200 billion yen.Takata has long insisted it prefers a privately arranged restructuring, but people with knowledge of the situation have told Reuters that the company has come under increasing pressure from potential bidders and automaker clients to agree to a court-ordered process, which would provide more transparency.Automakers including Honda Motor Co Ltd, which have been paying for recalls for almost a decade, have insisted on the court route - even if that would wipe out shareholder value, hitting the founding Takada family, with a 60 percent stake.Takata''s steering committee and potential bidders have been negotiating for months, with talks dragging due to differences over issues including price and how to handle risks for suppliers, two sources with knowledge of the issue have told Reuters.A spokeswoman for KSS declined to comment, while Hong Kong-based representatives for Bain could not immediately be reached.Discussions that involve the automaker''s clients, suitors and bankers are likely to run on until at least the end of May before a decision is reached, sources have said.In January, Takata agreed to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing in the United States and to pay $1 billion to resolve a U.S. federal investigation into its inflators.A federal judge in Detroit this month said he plans to name former Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller to oversee nearly $1 billion in Takata restitution funds, as part of a U.S. Justice Department settlement.Takata shares are indicated to fall about 8.5 percent from Wednesday''s close.(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim, Naomi Tajitsu, Tim Kelly and Junko Fujita; Editing by Clara Ferreira-Marques and Randy Fabi)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-takata-restructuring-idINKBN17S37E'|'2017-04-26T21:59:00.000+03:00' '52ca80ebc9479d195315ecc2ab65a2fc124bc334'|'China set to become world''s second-biggest wine market - IWSR'|'Business News - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 6:57pm BST China set to become world''s second-biggest wine market - IWSR A staff member checks bottles of wine at a mart in Shanghai, China, June 2, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo PARIS China is set to overtake Britain and France to become the world''s second-largest wine consumer by value behind the United States by 2020 as consumers turn to more middle-range wines, the International Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR) organization said on Thursday. In a study for wine fair Vinexpo it forecast Chinese wine consumption by value would rise by 40 percent between 2016 and 2020 to nearly $22 billion, still far below the United States where demand is set to grow by 12 pct over the period to $39 billion. In volume, however, China would remain the fifth largest consumer of wine, both sparkling and still, behind the United States, which took the top position from France in 2013, Germany and Italy, the study showed. With the market for business gifts evaporating under the crackdown on corruption, the Chinese market is now driven by real consumption, which extends to a rapidly expanding middle class, Vinexpo Director Guillaume Deglise told Reuters. The market is becoming more democratic, especially with the surge of online sales in medium-sized cities, and benefits mostly middle-range wines, he added. The wine trade also enjoys increasing interest from younger generations and women who have no appetite for the strong distilled drinks such as baiju which have made China by far the world''s top consumer of spirits, ahead of India. To meet the growing demand, still wine imports into China are expected to jump by nearly 80 percent to 94.5 million nine-litre cases by the end of the decade, IWSR said. (Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Pascale Denis; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-wine-idUKKBN17T2QL'|'2017-04-28T01:57:00.000+03:00' '93c07847af7e482d5c0d06b30650bcd75b109e58'|'Italy''s Atlantia taps pool of banks to finance Abertis'' bid - sources'|'Deals - Thu Apr 27, 2017 - 4:12pm EDT Atlantia presses ahead with Abertis tie-up plans after motorway stake sale The logo Spanish infrastructure company Abertis is seen outside his main office in Madrid, Spain, June 1, 2016. REUTERS/Sergio Perez By Pamela Barbaglia and Stephen Jewkes - LONDON/MILAN LONDON/MILAN Italy''s Atlantia ( ATL.MI ) has agreed to sell 10 percent of its domestic motorway unit to a series of investors including Allianz ( ALVG.DE ) for 1.48 billion euros ($1.6 billion) as it presses ahead with plans to bid for Spanish rival Abertis. A tie-up between Abertis ( ABE.MC ) and Atlantia would create one of the biggest infrastructure groups in Europe, generating around 60 percent of its core profit outside Italy. Rome-based Atlantia, which is 30 percent controlled by the Benetton family, has for some time been looking for ways to beef up its foreign business and diversify away from Italy. In a statement on Thursday Atlantia confirmed its interest in its Spanish rival and said it would consider a bid on condition the deal was friendly and created shareholder value. Earlier on Thursday, sources said Atlantia had tapped banks to finance an upcoming cash-and-share bid for Abertis. Atlantia''s advisers Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) and Mediobanca ( MDBI.MI ) and Abertis'' adviser Citi ( C.N ) have committed to provide financing for the transaction with a formal bid expected to be announced as soon as next week, the sources said. The pool of financing banks will also include Italian lenders UniCredit ( CRDI.MI ) and Intesa Sanpaolo ( ISP.MI ) and France''s BNP Paribas ( BNPP.PA ), the sources said. The overall financing package is estimated to be worth more than 10 billion euros, two of the sources said, with one adding it could involve a consortium of about 10 banks. Spain''s Santander ( SAN.MC ) and France''s Credit Agricole ( CAGR.PA ) are also expected to take part in the financing, the sources said. Spokesmen at Abertis, Mediobanca, UniCredit, Intesa, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse and Santander declined to comment while Atlantia, Citi and Credit Agricole were not immediately available. EUROPEAN CHAMPION Atlantia, which operates Rome''s two airports and around 5,000 km of toll motorways, has long been trying to lure its Spanish rival to the negotiating table, sources said. But Barcelona-based Abertis, a crown jewel of Catalonia, has only recently started contemplating the possibility of a sale to enable the business to cope with domestic challenges including a series of concessions that will soon expire, the sources said. By 2021 Abertis will lose up to 1,000 km of toll roads in Spain, which run along the Mediterranean coast and around Seville, representing around 10 percent of the group''s business. Earlier this month Atlantia CEO Giovanni Castellucci said he did not see a need to sell any of Abertis''s assets to fund a tie-up between the two. But sources said the Italian toll-road operator would use the proceeds from the sale of the stake in its Autostrade per l''Italia (ASPI) unit to finance the deal. Atlantia said on Thursday it had agreed to sell 5 percent of ASPI to a consortium 74 percent-led by Allianz Capital Partners and also including EDF Invest and DIF Infrastructure IV. The consortium has an option to buy a further 2.5 percent by end October, it said. A further 5 percent of ASPI was sold to China''s Silk Road Fund. Atlantia, which said the sale generated a gain of 736 million euros, was advised by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, while legal advice was provided by Bonelli Erede. Allianz, EDF and DIF were advised by Rothschild and Cleary Gottlieb. (Additional reporting by Francesca Landini in Milan, Stefano Bernabei in Rome and Robert Hetz and Andres Gonzalez in Madrid; Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Elaine Hardcastle and David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-abertis-m-a-atlantia-idUSKBN17T1MT'|'2017-04-27T19:23:00.000+03:00' '875fc745f85570a442edcefa1447a826bc39777b'|'Lloyds bucks expectations of post-Brexit dip as first quarter profit holds up'|'Business 8:40am BST Lloyds bucks expectations of post-Brexit dip as first-quarter profit holds up People walk past a branch of Lloyds Bank on Oxford Street in London, Britain July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo By Lawrence White - LONDON LONDON Lloyds Banking Group on Thursday reported its first quarter profit remained steady, defying analysts'' expectations of a dip in performance at Britain''s biggest mortgage lender following the vote last June to leave the European Union. Lloyds said underlying profit before tax was a better-than-expected 2.1 billion pounds, in what will likely be the lender''s last earnings update before a return to full private ownership following its state bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. "These results continue to demonstrate the strength of our customer focused, simple and low risk business model," Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said in a statement. The bank''s shares were up 3.5 percent by 0721 GMT on Thursday, the best performer in the STOXX European Bank Index. Rival Royal Bank of Scotland was up 1.8 percent ahead of its own results announcement on Friday. Lloyds reported its net interest margin rose to 2.8 percent from 2.74 percent a year ago and said it expected the measure to hold at the new level this year, again defying expectations the key measure of profitability would dip on economic uncertainty. The bank said it had not seen signs of rising defaults among consumers using credit cards and other unsecured borrowing methods, an area the Bank of England said in January it was watching closely. "Within unsecured we are not seeing signs of credit deterioration, consumer behaviour is holding up," Chief Financial Officer George Culmer told reporters on a conference call. The bank''s common equity tier 1 ratio, a closely watched measure of balance sheet strength, now stands at 14.3 percent, making it one of the best capitalised lenders among its major European peers. Taxpayers have recouped all of the 20.3 billion pounds invested in the bailout of Lloyds during the 2008 financial crisis, British finance minister Philip Hammond said last week. Britain''s government, which has been selling off chunks of its shares every three or four weeks this year, plans to sell its small remaining stake in Lloyds "in the coming months". The return to private ownership nine years on from the crisis would mark a sharp contrast in fortunes with rival Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which is still more than 70 percent taxpayer owned and has not made an annual profit since its own bailout. PROVISIONS While Lloyds''s booming profits in recent years signal its diverging fortunes from RBS since the 2008 crisis, it is still plagued by some of the costs from its behaviour in that era. Lloyds booked a 100 million pound charge on Thursday to pay for a compensation scheme for victims of a fraud by its HBOS unit for which six people were jailed this year. Britain''s financial watchdog earlier this month said it has reopened its probe into the scam at the Reading branch of HBOS, in which two bankers siphoned off cash from struggling business clients. Chief Executive Horta-Osorio has apologised for the ''criminal behaviour'' of its former employees. The bank also took a further 100 million pound charge to cover other misconduct issues. Lloyds set aside a previously-announced 350 million pounds to compensate customers mis-sold loan insurance, following an order by Britain''s financial watchdog in March that lenders should contact some customers whose claims had previously been rejected. The bank has so far set aside more than 17 billion pounds to pay customers back the cost of payment protection insurance, more than any other bank, in Britain''s costliest consumer scandal. (Reporting by Lawrence White; editing by Rachel Armstrong and Jason Neely)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lloyds-results-idUKKBN17T0PF'|'2017-04-27T14:32:00.000+03:00' 'da621a33549522ada25f7d6814a908967a054c1b'|'Credit Suisse enlarges syndicate underwriting its 4 billion Swiss franc rights offering'|' 38pm BST Credit Suisse enlarges syndicate underwriting its 4 billion Swiss franc rights offering The Credit Suisse logo is seen at the headquarters in downtown Milan, Italy, March 9, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini ZURICH Credit Suisse Group ( CSGN.S ) said on Thursday it had finalised the banking syndicate underwriting its 4 billion Swiss franc ($4 billion) rights offering, adding more banks to the list of participants. The banking syndicate has committed, subject to customary conditions, to firmly underwrite the new registered shares to be issued as part of the capital raising announced by the Zurich-based bank on Wednesday. The capital hike was announced after it ditched plans to raise money by listing part of its Swiss business and is aimed at getting its financial strength back on a par with rivals. Credit Suisse is acting as global coordinator for the rights offering, with Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley acting as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners. Banca IMI, Banco Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, ING, JPMorgan, Natixis, RBC Capital Markets, Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking and UniCredit Bank AG are acting as joint bookrunners. ABN AMRO, Bank Vontobel, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole CIB, KBC Securities, Mediobanca, Mizuho International plc, Rabobank, SMBC Nikko and Zuercher Kantonalbank are acting as co-lead managers, Credit Suisse said in a statement. (Reporting by John Revill, editing by David Evans)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-credit-suisse-gp-syndicate-idUKKBN17T2U4'|'2017-04-28T02:38:00.000+03:00' '556cc51717f7830c0dc89b8bc8adee411874f4e9'|'ECB nods to euro zone recovery but keeps money taps wide open'|'Business News 6:27pm BST ECB nods to euro zone recovery but keeps money taps wide open By Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT The European Central Bank stuck to its ultra-easy policy stance on Thursday as inflation continues to undershoot its target but explicitly acknowledged the vigor of the euro zone economy, now on its best run since the global financial crisis. Despite calls from Germany, the euro zone''s economic powerhouse, for a gradual reduction of stimulus, the ECB even left the door open to further rates cuts or an increase in asset buys. But ECB President Mario Draghi noted that the euro zone''s economy had further improved and the risk of a new downturn had receded, a signal seen by many as foreshadowing a bolder change at the next meeting in June. "Incoming data since our meeting in March confirm that the cyclical recovery of the euro area economy is becoming increasingly solid and that downside risks have further diminished," Draghi told a news conference. "At the same time, underlying inflation pressures continue to remain subdued and have yet to show a convincing upwards trend," he added, justifying the continued stimulus measures. Traders argued that Draghi''s comments were more cautious than they had expected and the euro EUR= fell against the dollar while yields on euro zone government bonds, which tend to move in tandem with central bank rates, dipped. Euro zone economic growth is steadily picking up pace and the risks to the survival of the single currency are receding after pro-euro centrist Emmanuel Macron won the first round of France''s presidential vote. In this context, sources on and close to the ECB Governing Council told Reuters before the meeting they were seeing scope for taking out some of the easing biases, such as the reference to "downside risks", at their June meeting. Indeed, Draghi said some ECB rate setters had become more sanguine about the economy. "There’s enough from today to suggest that we might see a material change in policy in June," James Athey, an investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, said. "But no one should get ahead of themselves. There’s clearly not enough consensus on the Governing Council." SNAIL PACE Having missed its 2 percent inflation target for years and even flirted with deflation, the ECB confirmed it would buy 60 billion euros worth of bonds per month at least until the end of the year and keep interest rates in negative territory until later. With its policy arsenal nearly depleted and inflation now comfortably above 1 percent, policymakers from Germany and other northern euro zone countries are calling for mapping out the way to the exit. However, Draghi said that inflation was still not firmly in place despite better economic growth. "We have not seen sufficient evidence to alter our assessment of the inflation outlook, and we are not sufficiently confident that inflation will converge to levels consistent with our inflation aim in a durable and self-sustaining manner," said. ECB policymakers will have a chance to reassess the situation in June, when the bank publishes new growth and inflation forecasts. "The ECB is edging closer to the exit at a snail’s pace," economists at Berenberg said in a note to clients. Just over half of the economists polled by Reuters earlier this month expect the ECB''s next move to be an extension of its program. [ECILT/EU] Draghi''s caution was mirrored on Thursday by the central banks of Japan and Sweden, which stuck to their own bond-buying programs despite better economic growth. (Writing by Mark John; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt) FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) are illuminated with a giant euro sign at the start of the ''''Luminale, light and building'''' event in Frankfurt, Germany, March 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-ecb-policy-idUKKBN17S31B'|'2017-04-28T01:01:00.000+03:00' 'b1d490a387f470fd6fa0a6fc53124d2c7117bf45'|'Google gets Australian tax office demand to pay more, says to fight it'|'Technology 7:48am BST Google gets Australian tax office demand to pay more, says to fight it FILE PHOTO: A Google search page is seen through a magnifying glass in this photo illustration taken in Berlin on August 11, 2015. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski/File Photo By Harry Pearl - SYDNEY SYDNEY Alphabet Inc''s ( GOOGL.O ) Google said it will challenge amended tax assessments issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which is trying to claw back billions of dollars from multinational corporations citing unpaid taxes. The ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multinationals operating in Australia pay. In December, it said it was pursuing seven global businesses over A$2 billion ($1.50 billion) in unpaid tax. While the ATO has not named the businesses it is pursuing, Google''s Australia unit said in accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that it will “lodge an objection” to the tax demand from the ATO. “The company will continue to uphold its positions against any and all such claims,” Google said in the financial statement released on Friday. The search giant did not disclose how much the ATO has demanded it pay in taxes. Google and the ATO declined to comment on how much the company''s amended tax bill was. Treasurer Scott Morrison said in April the country expected to claw back A$2.9 billion from companies under the legislation. Australia enacted the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law in December 2015 and the ATO has introduced new guidelines for foreign trading hubs. Google Australia restructured its operations effective January 1 of last year to comply with the legislation and its financial statement reveals an increase in revenue and tax for the 2016 calendar year as a result. Revenue surged to A$1.14 billion in 2016 from A$498 million in 2015, while total income tax rose to A$16 million from A$2.8 million in 2015, the accounts show. (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-google-australia-tax-idUKKBN17V05G'|'2017-04-29T14:46:00.000+03:00' 'a3d82622f30cb6345af34ffea110d48454d56eac'|'Google gets Australian tax office demand to pay more, says to fight it - Reuters'|'By Harry Pearl - SYDNEY, April 29 SYDNEY, April 29 Alphabet Inc''s Google said it will challenge amended tax assessments issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which is trying to claw back billions of dollars from multinational corporations citing unpaid taxes.The ATO has increased scrutiny over how much tax multinationals operating in Australia pay. In December, it said it was pursuing seven global businesses over A$2 billion ($1.50 billion) in unpaid tax.While the ATO has not named the businesses it is pursuing, Google''s Australia unit said in accounts filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that it will “lodge an objection” to the tax demand from the ATO.“The company will continue to uphold its positions against any and all such claims,” Google said in the financial statement released on Friday. The search giant did not disclose how much the ATO has demanded it pay in taxes.Google and the ATO declined to comment on how much the company''s amended tax bill was.Treasurer Scott Morrison said in April the country expected to claw back A$2.9 billion from companies under the legislation.Australia enacted the Multinational Anti-Avoidance Law in December 2015 and the ATO has introduced new guidelines for foreign trading hubs.Google Australia restructured its operations effective January 1 of last year to comply with the legislation and its financial statement reveals an increase in revenue and tax for the 2016 calendar year as a result.Revenue surged to A$1.14 billion in 2016 from A$498 million in 2015, while total income tax rose to A$16 million from A$2.8 million in 2015, the accounts show. ($1 = 1.3362 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/google-australia-tax-idINL4N1I1031'|'2017-04-29T04:40:00.000+03:00' '74d6be2329b98c1b8ed734cad523812041d02db7'|'Lockheed wins $1.38 billion F-35 jet contract - Pentagon'|'Business News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 1:22am BST Lockheed wins $1.38 billion F-35 jet contract - Pentagon Lockheed Martin''s logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon WASHINGTON Lockheed Martin Corp ( LMT.N ) is being awarded a $1.38 billion (1.07 billion pounds) defence contract for 130 F-35 Lightning II aircraft, the Pentagon said on Friday. The advance acquisition contract covers long-lead time materials, parts, components and work for low-rate initial production of the fighter jets for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-U.S. Department of Defence participants and foreign military sales customers, the Pentagon said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by David Alexander)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-lockheed-pentagon-idUKKBN17V00M'|'2017-04-29T08:22:00.000+03:00' 'e21f77b4f797510233746dab997a9b87e078e433'|'Letter to my younger self: be proud of what you have achieved - Guardian Small Business Network'|'Saturday 29 April 2017 09.00 BST Last modified on Saturday 29 April 2017 09.02 BST Dear Sammy, You have just moved back home with your parents and feel like you’ve entered the twilight zone. Nothing has changed. Everyone is sitting in the same pubs and cafes, having the same conversations. At 22, you feel more lost than ever. It’s depressing. You didn’t get the grades you wanted from university and this career thing everyone is talking about does not appeal to you. You don’t have a clue what you want to be – you’re just following the crowd. That’s why you went to university in the first place, eyes closed, picking a course at random. You want to do more than sit behind a desk, refreshing a social media feed You’re working at the local theatre, wondering if this is it when you get a phone call that will change your life. It’s an offer of an interview at a games company. You tell the recruiter they have called the wrong person, but they insist: “Go for the interview.” Somehow, you get the job. You will learn about design, coding, audio and get your first taste of virtual reality. This sparks something in you. You’ll attend events and chat to developers about the struggles of getting their content to the people – this was at a time before headsets were publicly available. You want to solve this dilemma. You want to do more than sit behind a desk, refreshing a social media feed. You don’t have much experience but you decide to go for it. Nine months after you started, you leave the games company to start your own business in the VR industry. It’s a big leap and there’s no parachute attached. You’re more scared than you’ve ever been. But it’s a sector that’s young, exhilarating and ready to grow globally. Just like you are. Looking back, I can see how naive you were. The excitement of starting on your own will blind you to the responsibilities and frustrations that come with running a company. You spend your last £50 getting into London, only for all your meetings to be cancelled. You will be taken for a ride by larger companies when you’re starting out. You will work for free because you’re doing someone a favour. Your friends and family won’t understand what you do, and at times won’t support you. That’s going to hurt. You will also experience prejudice because of your age. The first time you muster the courage to speak at an event, a member of the audience approaches you afterwards to say, “Nothing against you but I would never work with someone in your age category”. You’re embarrassed. Ashamed. You want to run away and hide. Those words follow you around for a long time, and to this day some people still don’t take you seriously. Letter to my younger self: it''s been ugly at times but I wouldn''t change a thing Read more You will make mistakes. You will doubt yourself. But turn that fear into confidence. Embrace being the only woman in the room at technology events – it is an opportunity. You love talking to people, so be brave. Seek out people who inspire you to do better. Ask for help. Reaching for it does not make you a failure. Take pride in hiring people who are smarter than you. Life balance is something you are not good at. You’re 26 now and still trying to figure it out. You will go to every VR event, make sure you are seen everywhere, lend a helping hand to everyone you can. You’re exhausted but you think getting the last train home to Southampton from London every night is worth it. Even if that means surviving on two hours’ sleep. Hang on in there. It will be at some of your most stressful points that success starts to happen for you. People recommend you because they know you will get the job done efficiently and with a smile on your face. Eventually the fear of finding work will disappear. You don’t have to say yes to everything any more. You can – and must – take time out to look after your brain and body. You are your own worst enemy sometimes. Be present in this moment. Stop and allow yourself to feel proud of what you have achieved. Those emails can wait. Samantha Samantha Kingston is the co-founder of Virtual Umbrella Are you an entrepreneur who would like to write a letter to your younger self? Email us at to take part in this series. Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/all'|'https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/apr/29/letter-to-my-younger-self-stop-and-be-proud-achieved-virtual-umbrella-reality'|'2017-04-29T17:00:00.000+03:00' '9328776f7f68776983bfb80e1fed9361056ffeec'|'Four workers injured in incident at BP''s Whiting, Indiana refinery: company'|' 38pm BST Four workers injured in incident at BP''s Whiting, Indiana refinery: company HOUSTON Four workers were injured on Friday in a power distribution centre at BP Plc''s ( BP.L ) Whiting, Indiana, refinery, the company said in a statement. The four workers were taken to local hospitals as a result of the incident, the company said. No information was immediately available as to how they were injured or about their condition. (Reporting by Erwin Seba, editing by G Crosse)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-refinery-operations-bp-whiting-idUKKBN17U32W'|'2017-04-29T06:38:00.000+03:00' 'b73a9cf72db8d2a0fbf27c18aa3315e57f6d3490'|'Siemens, SAP sign cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia - officials'|'Technology News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 4:15pm BST Siemens, SAP sign cooperation deals with Saudi Arabia: officials left right Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 1/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 2/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud stands next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 3/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 4/5 left right Saudi Arabia''s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (back) attend a deal signing ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia April 30, 2017. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS 5/5 JEDDAH Saudi Arabia wants German companies Siemens ( SIEGn.DE ) and SAP ( SAPG.DE ) to play an important role in furthering the kingdom''s "digital transformation", company officials said on Sunday during German Chancellor Angela Merkel''s visit to the country. Top executives at the engineering conglomerate and the business software company who were traveling with Merkel signed declarations of intent to work with the Saudi authorities, the officials said. Saudi Arabia is pushing a long-term economic transformation dubbed "Vision 2030" to reduce the country''s reliance on oil, attract investment and improve the lives of its citizens. Siemens signed a framework agreement with the Saudi National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) which the German group said could lead to equipping infrastructure projects worth at least a billion euros. The company also wants to provide vocational training in Saudi Arabia, while SAP has agreed with the Saudi Ministry of Planning to cooperate on the country''s digitization efforts, officials said. The German business delegation traveling with Merkel on her Gulf visit also includes the chief executives of Lufthansa ( LHAG.DE ), national railway operator Deutsche Bahn [DBN.UL] and industrial services group Bilfinger ( GBFG.DE ). (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-germany-merkel-business-idUKKBN17W0KL'|'2017-04-30T23:09:00.000+03:00' 'a1d1bb3db560f75c3ebf5520a150abc7a2179534'|'Chinese economy cools as key sectors dip - Business'|'Chinese economy cools as key sectors continue to slow Manufacturing and services fall as Beijing tries to rein in property and credit boom A builder passes a hoarding advertising homes for sale in the Xintiandi area of Shanghai. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian Chinese economy cools as key sectors continue to slow Manufacturing and services fall as Beijing tries to rein in property and credit boom View more sharing options 15.42 BST Last modified on 16.46 BST China’s economy has shown more signs of cooling with key barometers from its manufacturing and services sectors dipping in April. The latest data comes as Beijing attempts to rein in a booming property market and rapid credit growth . Two surveys on Sunday suggested activity in the world’s second largest economy eased back in April. Manufacturing slowed more than expected as demand was hit by government moves to curb risks associated with a run of high borrowing in China . The National Bureau of Statistics’ official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of factory activity fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from a multi-year high of 51.8 in March. That was above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction but missed forecasts for a reading of 51.6 in a poll of economists by Reuters. China''s property frenzy and surging debt raises red flag for economy Read more China’s official PMI report on its services sector also signalled a slowdown in April. That index slipped to 54.0 from 55.1 in March, showing the sector was still expanding at a solid pace as rising living standards continue to buoy consumer spending. The Chinese economy has defied expectations over the first three months of 2017, with GDP growing 6.9%, but economists expect the pace of expansion to ease during the rest of the year as the government continues its efforts to shift from an economic model based on debt-fuelled investment and exports towards a consumer-driven one. Economists are hopeful that the news on growth will remain positive enough so that Chinese authorities are not tempted to ease back on the pace of reform or reach for once-favoured ways of propping up the economy, such as spending on big infrastructure projects and relying on the booming property market. “A steady flow of solid economic data will only reinforce expectations the Chinese authorities can afford to focus their efforts on reducing financial imbalances in the economy rather than supporting the growth rate of the economy itself,” Victoria Clarke, an economist at the bank Investec, said in a research note ahead of the PMI reports. Topics'|'theguardian.com'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/30/chinese-economy-cools-as-key-sectors-dip-in-april'|'2017-04-30T23:42:00.000+03:00' '89d803da9c922b7356fd42f3cee7bf92f3b4128d'|'Fortress explores sale of bond fund manager Logan Circle-sources'|'By Mike Stone and David French - April 28 April 28 Fortress Investment Group LLC, the U.S. alternative asset manager to be acquired by Japan''s SoftBank Group for $3.3 billion, is exploring divesting bond fund manager Logan Circle Partners, according to people familiar with the matter.While Logan Circle accounts for close to half of Fortress'' $69.6 billion in assets under management, it generated a tiny fraction of its $362 million in pre-tax distributable earnings in 2016, making it a non-core asset in the eyes of SoftBank.Fortress is working with Bank of America Corp on an auction for Logan Circle, but the process is still in early stages, the sources said this week.Logan Circle may be valued at around $250 million in a sale, the sources added, asking not to be identified because the sale process is confidential.Fortress and Bank of America declined to comment.Founded by Chief Executive Jude Driscoll in 2007 as a joint venture between management and Guggenheim Partners LLC, Logan Circle was bought by Fortress in 2010 for an initial $21 million.Asset manager Fortress'' investments span real estate, hedge funds and private equity. The all-cash sale to SoftBank, expected to close in the second half of 2017, is the Japanese group''s first major investment in an asset manager after previously focusing on telecoms and technology firms. (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and David French in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/logan-circle-core-plus-ma-idINL1N1HX2D1'|'2017-04-28T15:15:00.000+03:00' '0f6c9a47a25084043abcd4e7ba395bf10ceacdf7'|'U.S. appeals court blocks Anthem bid to merge with rival Cigna'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 11:08pm BST U.S. appeals court blocks Anthem bid to merge with rival Cigna The office building of health insurer Anthem is seen in Los Angeles, California February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Gus Ruelas By Diane Bartz - WASHINGTON WASHINGTON A U.S. appeals court on Friday blocked health insurer Anthem Inc''s ( ANTM.N ) bid to merge with Cigna ( CI.N ), upholding a lower court''s decision that the $54 billion deal should not be allowed because it would lead to higher prices for healthcare. The ruling will probably kill the proposed merger, which was opposed by the U.S. Justice Department, 11 states and a District Court judge after consumers, medical professionals and others objected to it. In the end, Cigna itself tried to back out. Still, Anthem and Cigna have the option of trying to save the deal by asking the appeals court to re-consider the case or appealing straight to the U.S. Supreme Court. Shares of Cigna closed Friday at $156.37, up 0.1 percent, while Anthem shares ended at $177.89, down 0.2 percent. Anthem''s purchase of Cigna would create the largest U.S. health insurer. Rivals Aetna Inc ( AET.N ) and Humana Inc ( HUM.N ) had also sought to merge but that deal collapsed this year amid opposition from the federal government and states. Insurers made the deals as they adjusted to new pressures from the insurance overhaul of Obamacare, officially known as the Affordable Care Act. They now face the potential for another remaking of the industry, though the exact changes are unclear because of Republican disagreements over how to repeal and replace Obamacare. Anthem, said in a statement late Friday that it was disappointed by the appeals court''s decision. "We are committed to completing the transaction and are currently reviewing the opinion and will carefully evaluate our options," the company said in a statement. In a split decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit disagreed with Anthem''s contention that the Justice Department and lower court improperly rejected its assertions that the deal would lead to billions of dollars in medical savings. "Anthem has not explained why these projected savings would even exist," Judge Judith Rogers wrote in the opinion. "The record is clear that Anthem, unlike Cigna, has already achieved whatever economies of scale are available." In a dissent, Judge Brett Kavanaugh argued that the merger would benefit the biggest customers, mainly large companies with employees in many states. Kavanaugh argued that a combined Anthem/Cigna would require higher payments to manage the accounts but that would be offset by better negotiated rates paid to providers. Kavanaugh, however, noted that the deal could be stopped based on monopsony arguments that the new company would have too much heft in negotiating with doctors and hospitals. Anthem, a member of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, is the second biggest seller of medical insurance to big U.S. companies. Cigna is in third place. Bill Baer, the former head of the Justice Department''s Antitrust Division who had made the decision to challenge both insurance mergers, said in an email that the ruling on the Anthem/Cigna deal "is a ringing endorsement of the importance of competition in health insurance markets." The Justice Department, now under President Donald Trump, also said that it was pleased by the decision. Eric Schneiderman, attorney general of New York, which was among the states that had opposed the deal, also said he was pleased with the ruling. "This is a red letter day for consumers," said David Balto, an antitrust lawyer who opposed the deal. In another obstacle, Anthem and Cigna have been at loggerheads for months and are suing each other. Cigna has sought to abandon the merger and force Anthem to pay a $1.85 billion breakup fee while Anthem filed a lawsuit to force its smaller rival to go through with the combination. (Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Gregorio and Leslie Adler)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cigna-m-a-anthem-idUKKBN17U31G'|'2017-04-29T06:08:00.000+03:00' '04646ad0e230f5aff734cd17d1121fa1a777f677'|'Shareholders of Saudi gym chain Bodymasters consider Nomu listing-sources - Reuters'|'By Hadeel Al Sayegh - DUBAI, April 30 DUBAI, April 30 Shareholders of Saudi Arabia''s Bodymasters are talking to banks and weighing a listing of the fitness chain on Saudi Arabia’s new parallel market, Nomu, sources told Reuters.The gym brand is currently owned through a 60/40 percent split by two funds run separately by Saudi-based private equity firms Amwal Al Khaleej and MEFIC Capital.Shareholders have been speaking to investment banks for the past few weeks, according to two sources familiar with the transaction, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is not public.The process is in its early stages, the sources said, and shareholders have not decided on a specific action.A process to invite banks to pitch for arranging the sale was launched at the end of last year, one of the sources said.The sources gave no details of valuation or what percentage of shares could be floated.The Nomu market requires companies to offer at least 20 percent to the public, according to rules on its website.Amwal Al Khaleej declined to comment and MEFIC Capital was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.Bodymasters has 35 gyms, mostly in Riyadh but also in Qassim, Dammam and Khamees Mushait, according to its website.The shareholders were in informal talks with four potential buyers in January last year to sell the company in a private sale, but the sources did not comment on how the talks concluded. The transaction was said to be worth 500 million riyal ($133 million). ( reut.rs/1RLWnZC ) (Editing by Adrian Croft)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/bodymasters-ipo-idINL8N1I201U'|'2017-04-30T06:35:00.000+03:00' 'c64524fd980218172a2ac0bc8b6c514aa3837367'|'Apple’s addiction to iPhone shows no sign of waning - Business'|'A vision of the near future: you’re in your driverless Apple vehicle, heading for the new-look Apple Store whose Genius Groves provide space for business meetings, while watching Apple’s exclusive Carpool Karaoke video series on your Apple TV.The present is a bit more prosaic. On Tuesday, Apple’s current dependency on the iPhone is likely to be reinforced when it reports second-quarter results, hence its desire to expand its services businesses. The company is expected to report only a slight year-on-year rise in revenues to about $52bn after a couple of weak quarters, not to mention the first annual decline in iPhone sales last year. And analysts believe Apple’s guidance for the third quarter could be cautious, with JP Morgan forecasting sales of $44.2bn for the three months to June.The problem is that consumers could be keeping their cash in their pockets until the next iPhone arrives (it’s expected in September). Although some reports suggest the new model could be on display at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June , there have also been suggestions the September launch may be delayed because of supposed problems with a new edge-to-edge screen.But despite chief executive Tim Cook being unhappy at some of Donald Trump’s actions, notably the recent travel ban, Apple is set to benefit from the president’s tax policies. Trump plans to give incentives to companies who repatriate their large overseas cash holdings, although no details were given at last week’s tax announcement.A £2.6bn loss? Here, have a £343,000 bonus Pearson has come a long way since it began selling off its crown jewels, including Madame Tussauds, investment bank Lazard and more recently the Financial Times and the Economist , with its stake in book publisher Penguin Random House the next on the block.Unfortunately it has been in the wrong direction, with the company’s concentration on educational publishing proving problematic, particularly in the key US market. It reported the biggest loss in its history last year – some £2.6bn. Still, that didn’t stop Pearson awarding chief executive John Fallon – who has presided over five profit warnings since taking over from Marjorie Scardino in 2013 – a 20% increase in his total pay to £1.5m. To the surprise of many, this included a bonus of £343,000.When the award was announced last month, Sarah Wilson, chief executive of investor advisory service Manifest, said: “Many shareholders are automatically voting against any increased awards and so this will just ratchet up tension.”Something for Pearson investors to consider as they make their way to the company’s annual meeting on Friday.Rolls promises to create more bread Another company which recently recorded the biggest loss in its corporate history, and which is also holding an annual meeting this week, is Rolls-Royce .The aero-engine maker agreed a £671m settlement in January relating to bribery and corruption charges and this, along with a £4.4bn writedown due to the plunge in sterling, helped push it into a £4.6bn loss for the year . Chief executive Warren East said the write-off was “just an accounting measure” and did not reflect the underlying health of the business.The company has a target of increasing free cash flow from the current £100m to £1bn by 2020, which some analysts are unconvinced will happen. Deutsche Bank said: “Although we believe much better cash generation lies ahead … achieving the magic £1bn targeted by management looks to be a stretch too far. The key challenge for management is materially improving the cash generation within large civil engines.”Investors will have the chance to quiz executives on this and other topics at Thursday’s meeting, which takes place at Pride Park, home of Derby County football club. They must hope that, unlike Derby this time around, Rolls will soon be considered a Premier League performer again.Topics Technology sector Observer business agenda Apple iPhone Pearson Rolls-Royce comment Share Reuse this content'|'theguardian.com'|'http://www.theguardian.com/business/rss'|'https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/30/apple-addiction-iphone'|'2017-04-30T15:00:00.000+03:00' '188193e6e20312fe676ecbd09ec899ee913574e6'|'Tesla must complete brake fix to regain top safety rating - Consumer Reports'|' 32am BST Tesla must complete brake fix to regain top safety rating - Consumer Reports A Tesla car showroom is seen in west London, Britain, March 21, By Nick Carey - DETROIT DETROIT Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O ) needs to complete fixing its Model S sedan emergency braking system to regain Consumer Reports'' top safety rating, the magazine said on Friday, noting that a recent update by the luxury electric car maker was not enough. The magazine, which provides an annual rating of vehicles sold in the United States, said on Wednesday the sedan had lost its top ranking in the ultra-luxury car category for failing to install the feature that it had promised to owners as standard equipment. The Model S fell to third place in Consumer Reports'' ratings behind the Lexus LS made by Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) and the BMW 7 Series ( BMWG.DE ). Consumer Reports said both Tesla models previously came with standard automatic emergency braking (AEB), a feature that helps reduce accidents. The software issue affects more recent vehicles built since late October 2016. The magazine said Friday that the Model S sedan it owns had received an automatic emergency braking software update Thursday, but the new version only operates up to 28 miles per hour (45 km). That is far less than the current 90 mile per hour limit for the prior Tesla AEB system included on vehicles built before late October. The magazine cited a statement from Tesla that "over the next several weeks" the car maker would increase the speed limit "until it is the most capable of any vehicle in the world." The California automaker last week recalled 53,000 Model S and Model X vehicles to fix an unrelated parking brake issue. Earlier this month, Tesla briefly edged out General Motors Co ( GM.N ) to become the most valuable U.S. car maker. (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Richard Chang)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-tesla-ratings-consumerreports-idUKKBN17U34T'|'2017-04-29T07:32:00.000+03:00' 'dbaa687eac538afd45cbb1cf453561dd2550da72'|'Indian demand seen higher ahead of key festival'|'By Rajendra Jadhav and Swati Verma - MUMBAI/BENGALURU MUMBAI/BENGALURU Demand for gold in India was seen higher ahead of an auspicious day for gold purchases on Friday compared to last year, with lower prices also acting as a catalyst."Sentiment is very good in the market. Jewellers are reporting higher footfalls," Somasundaram PR, head of the India unit of the World Gold Council, told Reuters, adding he expected sales to show double-digit growth over the same day last year.Gold prices were up to 3.7 percent lower on Akshaya Tritiya, the second-biggest gold-buying occasion in India after Dhanteras, which falls in October-November."Sales could be 20-25 percent higher than last year. Bullion dealers and retailers were well stocked in advance and we are looking for very good sales in jewellery as well as coins," said Chirag Thakkar, a director at gold wholesaler Amrapali Group in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad.Bouyant demand from the world''s second-biggest consumer could support global prices, which are up about 10 percent so far this year.Dealers in India were charging a premium of up to $1.50 an ounce this week over official domestic prices, compared with a premium of $1.00 last week. Domestic prices of gold include a 10 percent import tax.Two-thirds of gold demand in India comes from villages, where investment in jewellery is seen as a hedge in times of distress."Demand has improved from rural areas due to good monsoon rains (last year)," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bank.In top consumer China, premiums rose to around $8-$10 an ounce over the international benchmark, from $3-$4 an ounce last week."The demand in China continues to be stable. We saw huge gold imports as banks wanted to cash in on the premiums," a Shanghai-based banker said.China''s net-gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong more than doubled month-on-month in March, data showed on Tuesday.In Singapore, gold premiums were at 50-80 cents, while in Japan prices continued to remain at a discount of 50 cents.(Writing by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/asia-gold-demand-idINKBN17U1IS'|'2017-04-28T09:01:00.000+03:00' '576bff6a12fb097663d94c4d234ec84472500bff'|'British PM May sets out plans to protect pensions during takeovers'|'LONDON British Prime Minister Theresa May pledged to protect workers against irresponsible practices over pensions on Sunday, promising new regulations on how schemes are handled during corporate takeovers.May''s Conservative party will give regulators power to examine takeover proposals that threaten the solvency of a company pension scheme, and the regulator could be empowered to block takeovers if it is not satisfied with the arrangements.May set out the policy ahead of an election June 8. So far her pitch to voters has been based around trusting her to deliver Brexit, with parties yet to publish detailed policy plans."Today I am setting out our plans, if elected, to ensure the pensions of ordinary working people are protected against the actions of unscrupulous company bosses," May said in a statement. "Safeguarding pensions to ensure dignity in retirement is about security for families."The pledge comes after high profile cases such as that of BHS, a retailer which was sold by billionaire Philip Green for one pound to a man who had been bankrupt before with no retail experience.Green plugged a pension hole in the now-collapsed group with $451 million earlier this year, following severe criticism over his conduct and calls for his knighthood to be removed.The Conservative''s plans could also see regulators block unsustainable dividend payments that threaten a pension scheme''s solvency, and directors who are found to have wilfully left a scheme under-funded could be fined or even suspended for a period of time.(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Bernard Orr)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/britain-election-may-pensions-idINKBN17W02Z'|'2017-04-30T01:17:00.000+03:00' 'acccf109e5ccf20a08f53168bea398e2cd68fb58'|'China April manufacturing growth slows faster than expected'|'Business News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 4:25am BST China April manufacturing growth slows faster than expected An employee works on an assembly line producing automobiles at a factory in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, March 1, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo By Sue-Lin Wong and Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING Growth in China''s manufacturing sector slowed faster than expected in April, an official survey showed on Sunday, as producer price inflation cooled and policymakers'' efforts to reduce financial risks in the economy weighed on demand. The National Bureau of Statistics'' official Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from March''s near five-year high of 51.8. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a reading of 51.6, the ninth straight month above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Demand weakened across the board with the biggest decline in the input price sub-index, which fell to 51.8, its slowest expansion since June last year, from 59.3 in March. Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank in Singapore, said recent sharp declines in iron ore and onshore steel prices point to some of the pressures the country''s manufacturers are facing. "We believe that this on one hand reflects that there is little improvement in underlying demand," Zhou wrote in a note. "On the other hand, the de-leveraging effort by the Chinese authorities, has started to work." Chinese steel and iron ore futures tumbled to multi-month lows earlier this month as market sentiment turned bearish on demand outlook and worries mounted about a glut of steel later this year. The employment sub-index slipped to 49.2 from 50.0 in March while the raw materials inventories sub-index was unchanged at 48.3. Growth in China''s services sector slowed slightly to 54.0 in April, compared with the previous month''s reading of 55.1, which was the highest since May 2014. China''s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and the nation''s gravity-defying property boom. But growth is expected to slow as authorities step up a battle to cool the property sector and as the central bank and banking regulator take steps to contain financial risks. The People''s Bank of China is expected to guide short-term interest rates higher, and step up its oversight of the financial sector, amid a crackdown on banks'' shadow banking businesses. Chinese leaders have pledged to shift the emphasis to addressing financial risks and asset bubbles, which analysts say pose a threat to the world''s second-largest economy if not managed properly. President Xi Jinping last week called for increased efforts to ward off systemic risks to help maintain financial security, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Some analysts believe China''s economic growth may have peaked in the first quarter but that it''s on track to hit a target of around 6.5 percent this year. China''s producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, while property sales growth slowed in the first quarter despite robust property investment. The private sector Caixin/Markit PMI manufacturing survey, which focuses more on small and mid-sized firms, will be published on May 2. The Caixin/Markit PMI is expected to come in at 51.0 for April, according to a Reuters poll of economists, down from 51.2 in March. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-china-economy-pmi-factory-official-idUKKBN17W00H'|'2017-04-30T11:25:00.000+03:00' '5ea80ebe5a8c633c16f6e0d945d4b2f45cbeec1a'|'Sudden collapse of Alitalia would be a shock to Italy''s economy-minister'|'Aerospace & Defense 11:01am EDT Sudden collapse of Alitalia would be a shock to Italy''s economy-minister Alitalia''s flight attendant is seen at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile ROME A sudden collapse of loss-making national airline Alitalia [CAITLA.UL] would be a great shock for Italy''s economy, Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said on Sunday. Rome has thrown the crisis-hit airline a short-term lifeline, a bridging loan of up to 400 million euros ($436 million) to see it through a process whereby an administrator will decide if it can be sold as a going concern or should be liquidated. "It (sudden closure) would be a shock for GDP (economic output) much greater than the scenario that we are looking at: a brief period of six months covered by a bridging loan from the government so as to find a buyer who could provide services that Italians need as travelers," he said in an interview with Sky TG24 television. Rival airlines have shown little interest in buying Alitalia and creditors have refused to lend more money after workers last Monday rejected a rescue plan that would have reduced pay and cut 1,700 jobs. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Greg Mahlich)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-alitalia-minister-idUSKBN17W0I7'|'2017-04-30T21:31:00.000+03:00' '59c1b47427c74bdac180dcebc75e8e8e15fdccc1'|'NextEra shares could return 20 percent over next 12 months -Barron''s'|' 2:36pm EDT NextEra shares could return 20 percent over next 12 months -Barron''s April 30 Shares of Florida utility NextEra Energy Inc could return 20 percent over the next year, including a 2.9 percent dividend, Barron''s wrote over the weekend. The business and investing publication said NextEra had a balanced portfolio of stable and growing businesses, a strong balance sheet and better potential than many peers to increase revenue, earnings and dividends. Texas regulators recently nixed NextEra''s proposed $18 billion purchase of Energy Future Holdings Corp. However, Barron''s said NextEra would be well-positioned even if it cannot get the ruling reversed. NextEra shares closed at $133.56 on Friday. (Reporting by Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/companyNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/nextera-barrons-idUSL1N1I20D3'|'2017-05-01T02:36:00.000+03:00' '6c6012b1b29d407dbfe81f45c50347e215bb7421'|'China''s Didi confirms $5.5 billion funding for global expansion'|'Deals - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:50am EDT China''s Didi confirms $5.5 billion funding for global expansion BEIJING China''s top ride-hailing service, Didi Chuxing, said on Friday it has raised more than $5.5 billion to expand its business overseas and develop artificial intelligence technology. The company will invest in big-data, driving technologies and smart transport architecture, it said in a statement. Reuters reported on Thursday that Didi was set to raise between $5 billion and $6 billion. Sources familiar with the deal valued Didi at more than $50 billion. Investors include Japan''s Softbank Group Corp ( 9984.T ), private equity firm Silver Lake, China Merchants Bank ( 600036.SS ) and Bank of Communications ( 601328.SS ), the people said. A spokeswoman for Didi on Friday declined to comment on which investors participated or on the valuation. Didi is also exploring investment in core technology, it said. The firm led a $100 million investment in Brazilian ride-hailing service 99 in January and opened an artificial intelligence-related research lab in Silicon Valley in the United States last month. (Reporting by Cate Cadell) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-didi-fundraising-idUSKBN17U1HA'|'2017-04-28T14:50:00.000+03:00' 'eb5492a70d06ff8beb8fb098ac8f3f4ebe25f8ac'|'Tesla must complete brake fix to regain top safety rating: Consumer Reports'|'Technology News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 7:23pm EDT Tesla must complete brake fix to regain top safety rating: Consumer Reports FILE PHOTO: Signage is displayed outside of Tesla Motors before the Tesla Energy Powerwall Home Battery event in Hawthorne, California April 30, 2015. By Nick Carey - DETROIT DETROIT Tesla Inc needs to complete fixing its Model S sedan emergency braking system to regain Consumer Reports'' top safety rating, the magazine said on Friday, noting that a recent update by the luxury electric car maker was not enough. The magazine, which provides an annual rating of vehicles sold in the United States, said on Wednesday the sedan had lost its top ranking in the ultra-luxury car category for failing to install the feature that it had promised to owners as standard equipment. The Model S fell to third place in Consumer Reports'' ratings behind the Lexus LS made by Toyota Motor Corp and the BMW 7 Series. Consumer Reports said both Tesla models previously came with standard automatic emergency braking (AEB), a feature that helps reduce accidents. The software issue affects more recent vehicles built since late October 2016. The magazine said Friday that the Model S sedan it owns had received an automatic emergency braking software update Thursday, but the new version only operates up to 28 miles per hour (45 km). That is far less than the current 90 mile per hour limit for the prior Tesla AEB system included on vehicles built before late October. The magazine cited a statement from Tesla that "over the next several weeks" the car maker would increase the speed limit "until it is the most capable of any vehicle in the world." The California automaker last week recalled 53,000 Model S and Model X vehicles to fix an unrelated parking brake issue. Earlier this month, Tesla briefly edged out General Motors Co to become the most valuable U.S. car maker. (Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Richard Chang) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-ratings-consumerreports-idUSKBN17U34P'|'2017-04-29T07:23:00.000+03:00' 'd89fb9be67004193280424f34e86af38cedc7bd3'|'FDA approves Radius Health''s osteoporosis drug Tymlos'|'April 28 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Radius Health Inc''s drug to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk of fracture or those who have failed other therapies.The drug, Tymlos, is given by injection and was shown in clinical trials to reduce the absolute risk of spine fractures by 3.6 percent compared with a placebo and to reduce the risk of non-spinal fractures by 2 percent.The drug, which was approved earlier than expected, will compete with Eli Lilly & Co''s Forteo and Amgen Inc''s Prolia.The company did not disclose a price of the drug but is expected to do so on a conference call with investors on Monday."This approval transforms Radius into a commercial-stage company," said Jessica Fye, an analyst with J.P. Morgan in a research note. "We believe that with healthy projected gross margins, they have room to price in line or even at a discount to Forteo."Tymlos carries a boxed warning of the risk of bone cancer similar to one for Forteo.Some analysts cautioned that Tymlos may face significant competitive challenges."While FDA approval is positive, we continue to see significant commercial hurdles as likely given competition," Jefferies analyst Eun Yang said in a research note.He estimated the drug will generate peak annual sales of $450 million by 2028.Radius''s shares closed up roughly 1 percent at $39.07. (Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/health-osteoporosis-radius-idUSL1N1I02AW'|'2017-04-29T01:42:00.000+03:00' 'cf14c21da4bbea1b2c98a31feb90342547a891eb'|'Credit Suisse CEO expects 2017 to be "positive" year for bank'|'Business News 10:04am BST Credit Suisse CEO expects 2017 to be "positive" year for bank FILE PHOTO - CEO Tidjane Thiam (R) of Swiss bank Credit Suisse awaits a news conference to present the bank''s halfyear results in Zurich, Switzerland July 28, 2016. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann ZURICH Credit Suisse ( CSGN.S ) Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam expects 2017 to be a better year for the Swiss bank which has lost 5.65 billion Swiss francs (£4.40 billion) since 2015 amid a major restructuring. "We believe that 2017 will be a positive year for Credit Suisse," Thiam said in remarks prepared for the Zurich-based bank''s annual general meeting. "At the same time, significant geopolitical uncertainties remain. The French elections are now less uncertain but we still have the UK and German elections on the horizon. These factors have an impact on markets and on our clients." (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; Editing by Michael Shields)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-credit-suisse-gp-agm-ceo-idUKKBN17U14Z'|'2017-04-28T17:04:00.000+03:00' '75b173321bdced854f6848fae8b3dccd7fd83a09'|'Exclusive - ECB faces ''favouritism'' appeal over hiring of Draghi adviser'|'Business News - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 12:22pm BST Exclusive - ECB faces ''favouritism'' appeal over hiring of Draghi adviser European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi addresses a news conference at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach By Francesco Canepa - FRANKFURT FRANKFURT European Central Bank staff representatives are appealing against the appointment of a new policy adviser for President Mario Draghi, alleging that the ECB''s board broke its own rules by handpicking Roland Straub for his new role. The appeal alleges that the "perception of favouritism" at the powerful institution, which is in charge of supervising banks and controlling monetary policy in the euro zone, risked demoralising staff and fuelling euro-scepticism among the public. Successful appeals lodged in recent months have led to five ECB appointments being annulled, including that of the bank official in charge of relations with other European institutions in Brussels. "This appeal is triggered by the desire to stand against the malfunctioning affecting ECB''s appointment process, resulting into widespread perception of favouritism and complaints of lack of transparency and unsound rules," appellant Carlos Bowles said in his appeal, filed in March and seen by Reuters. The issue concerns the method of employment. Straub''s qualifications are not in question. An ECB spokesperson said: "The direct appointment of the counsellor to the president of the ECB was made in compliance with the ECB rules on selection and appointment and is consistent with previous appointments to this position." Straub did not immediately reply to Reuters'' requests for comment. The ECB has two months to reply to the appeal, after which the appellants can bring the case to the European Court of Justice. Straub was appointed as Draghi''s counsellor and coordinator of the Counsel to the Executive Board in February. The position is scheduled to end with Draghi''s mandate in late 2019. In his role he advises Draghi and coordinates the work of the counsels of the five other members of ECB''s board, which runs the organisation and makes policy proposals. The position was not advertised and Straub was chosen via direct appointment by the Executive Board, rather than after a recruitment process open to other candidates and held by a hiring committee. Advisers to top European officials are often chosen this way. However, appellant Carlos Bowles said in his appeal ECB rules did not allow for Straub to be directly appointed to the role of coordinator of the counsel. Bowles added that the vacancy should have been advertised and the staff committee, which he chairs, should have been informed that the role had been moved to a lower ''salary band'' coinciding with Straub''s appointment. He argued any apparent breach of the principle that ECB jobs are purely awarded on merit risked undermining the ECB''s legitimacy in the eyes of the general public. "These risks should not be taken lightly, in a context where the European project is endangered by the rise of populism, nurtured by widespread perceptions of European citizens that their governing bodies are working towards the interests of a class of happy few," he said. In his new role, Straub receives a basic salary of between 122,268 euros and 175,428 per year, a higher range than in his previous role as counsellor to board member Benoit Coeure. In a note sent to staff on Thursday, trade union IPSO, which filed a separate but broadly equivalent appeal against the appointment, said the move was not intended as a personal attack on Straub. "We stress that the appeal is in no way meant to challenge the professional competence of our colleague," it said. "We do not challenge the person chosen we challenge the process of selection." The ECB was put in charge of supervising euro zone banks three years ago with the aim of avoiding a repeat of the 2008 banking crisis. It is also spending trillions of euros in a bid to boost euro zone inflation. An ECB staff survey conducted in 2015 showed 65 percent of respondents chose "knowing the ''right people''" as a way of getting ahead at the bank, a higher proportion than chose any other factor. Staff representatives complained last year to the European Parliament, which oversees the ECB, that dissent was discouraged at the bank, potentially hobbling its ability to spot the next financial crisis. (.Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-ecb-workers-draghi-exclusive-idUKKBN17U1MJ'|'2017-04-28T19:22:00.000+03:00' 'a447d6bb9642c75e77f6be9f9dc74125556ca885'|'Wary of Trump, EU courts Iran to bolster moderates ahead of polls'|'By Alissa de Carbonnel - TEHRAN TEHRAN Wary of U.S. President Donald Trump''s tough talk on Iran, the European Union is courting Tehran to show Iranians preparing to vote in a May 19 presidential poll that it is committed to a nuclear deal and they stand to benefit, EU diplomats say.Europe''s energy commissioner is leading more than 50 European firms in a business forum in Tehran over the weekend - the latest bid to foster new ties in the 16 months since Iran curbed its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.Of the six major powers who engineered the deal - the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - EU nations bore the brunt of the oil embargo on Iran and stand to gain the most from a thaw they view as a victory for European diplomacy.Meeting with Iran''s atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi, Commissioner Miguel Arias-Canete echoed the EU''s mantra that it is "fully committed" to the 2015 deal and expects the same from all other parties.But the bloc''s leverage remains limited - particularly if it is not able to shield European firms from the risk of remaining U.S. sanctions and encourage big banks to reverse over a decade of Iran''s exclusion from the international financial system.The latter was a theme of another big conference in Tehran on Saturday attended by Germany and Iran''s central banks.Some Western companies have returned - planemakers Airbus and Boeing and carmakers Peugeot–Citroen and Renault - but many more have hung back, fearing Trump will tighten the screws on an already complex set of rules for engaging with Iran.The pace and scale of Western investment is at the heart of a challenge by hardline rivals of pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani, who is seeking re-election in May.Iran''s ultimate authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his loyalists have criticized Rouhani''s policy of rapprochement with the West, arguing the 2015 nuclear accord had not yielded the benefits he promised."He needs more time... He has to be given a chance," Iran''s vice president, Masoumeh Ebtekar, told Reuters in an interview."There is a lot of enthusiasm about working with Iran now and ... I hope that the American administration wakes up to these realities," she added.The Trump administration said on April 18 it was launching an inter-agency review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the United States'' national security interests, while acknowledging that Tehran was complying with the deal to rein in its nuclear programme. [nL3N1HR1L6]CONFRONTATION RISKEU diplomats voiced concern that a more confrontational stance by the Trump administration could empower Iran''s hardliners ahead of the elections - although there is no sign the United States intends to walk away from the deal.EU diplomats say they share U.S. concerns over Iran''s human rights record, its ballistic missiles tests, its funding of blacklisted militant groups and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."We disagree that we have to address these issues by ditching the (nuclear) deal," one EU diplomat told Reuters. "This will only empower those (in Iran) with a more confrontational stance - bring out the worst in the system."For now, Iranian leaders have kept their cool, with Salehi saying Iran will only take "reciprocal action" if the U.S. is found in breach of the deal - leaving EU diplomats caught in a balancing act between the two long-time rivals.In recent months, European leaders have been frequent visitors to Tehran with businessmen in tow - in an effort to keep alive the 2015 accord, which also has the support of Russia and China, rivals for influence in the Islamic Republic.The bloc''s trade with Iran has partially recovered - much of that due to oil exports from Iran in what one EU official called "a direct incentive to stick to the deal".The International Monetary Fund this year applauded Iran''s "impressive recovery", with growth expected over 6 percent for the last 12 months and low inflation - a record that Rouhani has been keen to defend.But the hoped-for a boom since the EU and United Nations sanctions over Iran''s nuclear program were lifted a year ago has been hampered by separate U.S. measures in place over Iran''s missile program."The Europeans want to at least create the optical impression they are politically invested in this deal working," said Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Foreign Relations. "Even if from a commercial perspective, companies are essentially on hold."The risk of falling afoul of U.S. measures has been enough to persuade major Western banks to stay away from Iran, and Tehran accuses Washington of undermining the nuclear deal by scaring investors away from Iran. [nL8N1I10GF]While acknowledging domestic criticism, Salehi told reporters Tehran will remain committed to the deal regardless of the outcome of next month''s vote.There are also signs that the EU''s firm stance has given U.S. officials pause, with senators saying they delayed a bill to slap new sanctions on Iran due to worries over how the bloc would react and the Iranian presidential elections.(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/INbusinessNews'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/iran-eu-usa-trade-idINKBN17W02R'|'2017-04-30T11:14:00.000+03:00' '9b7770f11d803d3aece2e710123a9ad2c2190dc8'|'South Korea already working on reducing trade surplus with U.S. - finance minister'|'Business News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 2:12am BST South Korea already working on reducing trade surplus with U.S. - finance minister South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho speaks during an interview in Manhattan, New York, U.S., January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton SEOUL South Korea''s finance minister said on Sunday the government was already working on downsizing its trade surplus with the United States, a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump''s comments Thursday that Washington will renegotiate or scrap the free trade pact the two countries have. Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho added in televised comments he did not expect the free trade agreement will be terminated. It has been in effect since 2012. "If one party requests for the trade deal to be terminated, it can be ended six months following the request. But we don''t feel that will happen yet," said Yoo. "We feel that there will be talks in any form to renegotiate the terms and we are preparing for them." Yoo reiterated his previous comments that Seoul has not yet received formal requests for talks to renegotiate the free trade deal from Washington yet. Trump''s threat to terminate the trade pact in a Reuters interview sent South Korea''s currency KRW= and shares .KS11 down on Friday. (Reporting by Christine Kim and Se Young Lee; Editing by) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-southkorea-economy-finmin-idUKKBN17W00K'|'2017-04-30T09:12:00.000+03:00' 'c6da49646b86f337695a0f0b4d011aab944d66cb'|'Twitter CEO Dorsey snaps up shares worth about $9.5 million'|'Internet 10:31pm BST Twitter CEO Dorsey snaps up shares worth about $9.5 million File Photo: Jack Dorsey, CEO of Square and CEO of Twitter, speaks during an interview November 19, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files Twitter Inc Chief Executive Jack Dorsey snapped up more than half a million of the company''s shares for about $9.5 million, a regulatory filing on Friday showed. Dorsey bought 574,002 Twitter shares in multiple transactions at prices ranging between $16.47 and $16.74 per share, according to the filing. bit.ly/2oUhQFO That adds to the roughly $7 million worth of Twitter stock Dorsey bought earlier this year, bringing the total number of shares he has purchased this year to 1 million, the CEO said in a tweet. According to the filing, Dorsey now owns about 16 million Twitter shares, which equates to a stake of about 2.2 percent in the company he co-founded. Dorsey''s disclosure comes a day after Twitter reported better-than-expected user growth for its first quarter, following several quarters of stalled growth. Twitter''s shares rose 1 percent to $16.65 after the bell on Friday. The stock closed up nearly 5 percent in regular trading on Friday, adding to a gain of roughly 8 percent on Thursday when the company reported its results. (Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D''Souza)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?format=xml'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-stake-dorsey-idUKKBN17U2Z7'|'2017-04-29T05:29:00.000+03:00' '796adbcbbc20010d84c10f1fd924ab5e08f4911b'|'U.S. ag cooperative CHS hit by Brazil firm''s bankruptcy filing: sources'|'Commodities - Fri Apr 28, 2017 - 6:13pm EDT U.S. ag cooperative CHS hit by Brazil firm''s bankruptcy filing: sources By Marcelo Teixeira and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO SAO PAULO CHS Inc, the biggest U.S. agricultural cooperative, is among the largest creditors of Brazilian commodities trader Seara Ind e Com de Produtos Agropecuários Ltda, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday. CHS confirmed it was a creditor of Seara Ind e Com but declined to give specifics. The two sources, who asked for anonymity since the exact numbers are not public, estimated CHS credits with Seara - not to be mistaken with Brazilian meatpacker JBS''s processed foods unit Seara SA - to be around $200 million. Seara Ind e Com filed for bankruptcy protection last week asking to restructure 2.1 billion reais ($662 million) in debt. Seara manages farms, provides rail and road transportation for grains and trades soybeans and corn produced by farmers or delivered by cooperatives in four Brazilian states. The company is headquartered in Sertanópolis, a small town close to Londrina, the second-largest city in Brazil''s agricultural powerhouse state of Parana. CHS, which has headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, said in a statement to Reuters that it "maintained a grain origination relationship with Seara for several years" but was surprised by the company''s decision to seek court protection against creditors. "CHS Brazil and CHS Inc. leadership are actively managing the situation to understand and respond to any potential impact to our business and our employees," it said. CHS said it expects "shipments of products to arrive as scheduled and that would remain in contact with customers regarding product orders and shipments," it said. International commodities traders in Brazil usually maintain business relationships with regional commodities companies aiming to source grains volumes destined for export markets. In a statement last week, when it filed for bankruptcy protection in the regional court in Londrina, Seara said Brazil''s economic crisis, particularly tight credit markets, had sharply undermined its ability to maintain operations. ($1 = 3.1718 reais) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-grains-chs-idUSKBN17U31K'|'2017-04-29T02:13:00.000+03:00' '89e0ba8959e88f983ad0625d7197d10c7fa28a12'|'U.S. ag cooperative CHS hit by Brazil firm''s bankruptcy filing -sources'|'By Marcelo Teixeira and Tatiana Bautzer - SAO PAULO, April 28 SAO PAULO, April 28 CHS Inc, the biggest U.S. agricultural cooperative, is among the largest creditors of Brazilian commodities trader Seara Ind e Com de Produtos Agropecuários Ltda, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Friday.CHS confirmed it was a creditor of Seara Ind e Com but declined to give specifics.The two sources, who asked for anonymity since the exact numbers are not public, estimated CHS credits with Seara - not to be mistaken with Brazilian meatpacker JBS''s processed foods unit Seara SA - to be around $200 million.Seara Ind e Com filed for bankruptcy protection last week asking to restructure 2.1 billion reais ($662 million) in debt.Seara manages farms, provides rail and road transportation for grains and trades soybeans and corn produced by farmers or delivered by cooperatives in four Brazilian states.The company is headquartered in Sertanópolis, a small town close to Londrina, the second-largest city in Brazil''s agricultural powerhouse state of Parana.CHS, which has headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, said in a statement to Reuters that it "maintained a grain origination relationship with Seara for several years" but was surprised by the company''s decision to seek court protection against creditors."CHS Brazil and CHS Inc. leadership are actively managing the situation to understand and respond to any potential impact to our business and our employees," it said.CHS said it expects "shipments of products to arrive as scheduled and that would remain in contact with customers regarding product orders and shipments," it said.International commodities traders in Brazil usually maintain business relationships with regional commodities companies aiming to source grains volumes destined for export markets.In a statement last week, when it filed for bankruptcy protection in the regional court in Londrina, Seara said Brazil''s economic crisis, particularly tight credit markets, had sharply undermined its ability to maintain operations. ($1 = 3.1718 reais) (Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Bill Trott)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/brazil-grains-chs-idINL8N1I08QZ'|'2017-04-28T20:12:00.000+03:00' 'f38e1fc81c48776e95f01dd3ea8513850e6149f4'|'NextEra shares could return 20 percent over next 12 months -Barron''s'|'April 30 Shares of Florida utility NextEra Energy Inc could return 20 percent over the next year, including a 2.9 percent dividend, Barron''s wrote over the weekend.The business and investing publication said NextEra had a balanced portfolio of stable and growing businesses, a strong balance sheet and better potential than many peers to increase revenue, earnings and dividends.Texas regulators recently nixed NextEra''s proposed $18 billion purchase of Energy Future Holdings Corp. However, Barron''s said NextEra would be well-positioned even if it cannot get the ruling reversed.NextEra shares closed at $133.56 on Friday. (Reporting by Dan Freed in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/nextera-barrons-idINL1N1I20D3'|'2017-04-30T16:36:00.000+03:00' '6647a36c7f834c12a1c51b711759b3a35bde6e3f'|'Sudden collapse of Alitalia would be a shock to Italy''s economy - minister'|'Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 4:01pm BST Sudden collapse of Alitalia would be a shock to Italy''s economy-minister Alitalia''s flight attendant is seen at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile ROME A sudden collapse of loss-making national airline Alitalia [CAITLA.UL] would be a great shock for Italy''s economy, Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said on Sunday. Rome has thrown the crisis-hit airline a short-term lifeline, a bridging loan of up to 400 million euros ($436 million) to see it through a process whereby an administrator will decide if it can be sold as a going concern or should be liquidated. "It (sudden closure) would be a shock for GDP (economic output) much greater than the scenario that we are looking at: a brief period of six months covered by a bridging loan from the government so as to find a buyer who could provide services that Italians need as travelers," he said in an interview with Sky TG24 television. Rival airlines have shown little interest in buying Alitalia and creditors have refused to lend more money after workers last Monday rejected a rescue plan that would have reduced pay and cut 1,700 jobs. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Greg Mahlich) '|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-alitalia-minister-idUKKBN17W0I7'|'2017-04-30T21:30:00.000+03:00' 'a5102661e015a112f37b813b50fe57dd0efd7bea'|'RPT-Wall St Weekahead-Hot earnings to keep fire under growth-stock rally'|'(Repeats story first published Friday with no changes to text)By Sinead CarewNEW YORK, April 28 Don''t look for the outperformance of growth stocks to fade any time soon, as long as corporate earnings continue to improve and hopes remain for stronger economic growth.The Russell 1000 Growth index, which tracks such shares, is up 10.9 percent so far this year, outpacing the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index''s 6.6 percent rise and the 2.8 percent advance of the Russell 1000 Value index.And it''s not just a U.S. phenomenon. Growth stocks - whose profits are expected to grow at a faster pace than the broader market - are also outperforming their value counterparts in Asia and Europe. Still, the appeal of riskier stocks perceived as better positioned to ride an accelerating global earnings tailwind, as opposed to those with a greater cushion of safety, is nowhere as far ahead as it is on Wall Street.In the United States, an improving outlook for corporate earnings should help keep growth names in vogue, according to John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC in Newark, New Jersey.The average estimate of analysts for earnings per share growth this year of S&P 500 companies has risen to 11.3 percent from 10.9 percent at the start of the month, according to Thomson Reuters data, a trend that should continue to blunt concerns about lofty growth valuations."When you have an earnings recovery, growth stocks will outperform. When you don''t have good earnings, that''s when people are looking for value," said Praveen.Hopes for pro-business U.S. policy changes under the administration of President Donald Trump will likely also keep expectations for economic growth elevated, helping to maintain the case for growth stocks."The value stocks have done okay but growth has done so much better in the anticipation we''ll see a pickup in economic growth," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago. "Companies that are going to be more levered to economic growth tend to be growth stocks.""Right now I don''t see a long term condition for value stocks to outperform growth," said Nolte.To be sure, some strategists are less convinced that growth stock outperformance will continue indefinitely.While value stocks, which are cheaper relative to their earnings potential, have tended to do better in slower growth environments historically, JP Morgan Asset Management''s global market strategist David Lebovitz says that trend has been changing."It’s not going to be smooth sailing for one or the other. We think there''ll be times people are more optimistic about the economy and in those cases, value can rally. Then you''ll see periods where people are less optimistic about the economy, as we''ve seen over the course of the first quarter," he said.If economic trends look better in the second quarter, value stocks will do better, Lebovitz said.In Asia, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan growth index , is up 18.5 percent so far this year, compared with a 12.6 percent gain for the comparable MSCI value index .Investment in India, traditionally a growth-driven market, has adjusted in recent years as value stocks have narrowed the gap with growth, which still lead, said Jayesh Shroff, co-founder of investment advisory Cask Capital in Mumbai."That is because people were paying a premium for growth and somehow the growth did not materialize. That''s why value came back and growth has taken a slight back seat," said Shroff. Still, he said as soon as growth returns, he expects investors to switch their focus back from value.In China, between 2009 and the 2015 stock market crash, small-cap growth stocks were the market’s darlings, but "a new rotation into value blue-chip investments started in 2016,” according to Zhou Liang, fund manager at Shanghai Minority Asset Management Co.“In 2017, money will flow into blue-chips, as small-caps weaken and lose their luster,” said Zhou.In Europe, the best outlook for corporate profits in seven years has ignited investor appetite for growth stocks, which are now up twice as much as their value counterparts so far this year, a reversal of the trend seen last year.As a result the MSCI International Europe growth Index has jumped 8.9 percent this year so far, compared with a 4.5 percent gain for the MSCI International Europe Value index.With such a big gap between U.S. growth and value stocks, some investors are eying overseas investments."The entire U.S. market is very expensive. Value investors definitely don''t like to chase expensive valuations," said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut. "I wouldn''t expect to see a rotation until you saw a correction where both stock types are lower."(Additional reporting by Abhirup Roy in Mumbai, Samuel Shen in Shanghai, Helen Reid in London; Editing by Dan Burns and Bernadette Baum)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks-weekahead-idINL1N1I20DH'|'2017-04-30T16:58:00.000+03:00' '47e605fe8be6b430ca412c27d8e17f03e57ca5f3'|'China Oceanwide seeks more time for U.S. approval of Genworth deal'|'By David French China Oceanwide Holdings Group Co said on Friday it had refiled its application for U.S. approval of its $2.7 billion acquisition of life insurance company Genworth Financial Inc ( GNW.N ), in a bid to add more time to the regulatory review.The two companies said they withdrew and relaunched their submission to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a secretive U.S. government panel that scrutinizes acquisitions for national security concerns.Closing of the transaction still is targeted for the middle of 2017, the companies said in statement.Genworth''s and China Oceanwide''s refiled CFIUS application triggers a new 30-day review period by the government body, with the possibility of a further 45-day investigation period, the statement added.China Oceanwide, a Beijing-based investment firm founded by low-profile but well-connected billionaire Lu Zhiqiang, agreed in October to pay $2.7 billion in cash for all Genworth shares, plus a further $1.12 billion to cover debt belonging to the U.S. insurer which was spun out of General Electric in 2004.It was a further example of Chinese investment into the U.S. financial sector, stemming from a desire among Chinese firms to diversify away from their home market. But not all such deals have been successful.Earlier this month, Fidelity & Guaranty Life ( FGL.N ), a U.S. annuities and life insurer, said it has terminated its agreement to be acquired by China''s Anbang Insurance group. While it secured assent from CFIUS, the deal failed to garner approval from two U.S. states.(Reporting by David French in New York)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/us-genworth-fincl-m-a-china-oceanwide-idINKBN17U32K'|'2017-04-28T20:36:00.000+03:00' '83ab63afaa37b3418d2d1702d04b945ff58f932a'|'Germany''s Schaeuble says Greece has made good reforms progress'|'Business News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 6:52am BST Germany''s Schaeuble says Greece has made good reforms progress left right German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble before the weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin, Germany, April 5, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch 1/2 left right FILE PHOTO - A tourist makes her way past a Greek national flag (L) and a European Union flag on the islet of Saint George, part of the municipality of Kastellorizo, Greece''s easternmost island July 30, 2015. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo 2/2 BERLIN German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted in a newspaper interview on Sunday saying that Greece has made strong progress towards introducing reforms that could lead to the imminent release of further financial support. "If the Greek government upholds all the agreements, European finance ministers could complete the review on May 22 and then soon after that release the next tranche," Schaeuble told the Funke media group newspapers. Greece and its international creditors reached a preliminary agreement at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in April to set up the next transfer of some 7 billion euros in aid. But the finance ministers will not release the tranche until the audit is completed. "The longer it takes, the more uncertainty will be in the financial markets and economy," Schaeuble added. He said the Greek government had promised to make further adjustments in pensions as well as improve tax collection. Asked why he was optimistic the aid could soon be released, Schaeuble said, "Because we negotiated in a very determined fashion and the Greek government said it would adjust the pensions more strongly to the economic situation. "That''s not easy - I know that. And it wants to improve the tax collection system so that tax revenues will rise again from 2020." (Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-eurozone-crisis-greece-schaeueble-idUKKBN17W063'|'2017-04-30T13:52:00.000+03:00' 'c959b64a6bde310dcc27699136c93c65e3934a30'|'China April manufacturing activity expands in April, official PMI falls from previous month'|' 18am BST China April manufacturing activity expands in April, official PMI falls from previous month FILE PHOTO: A worker installs rubber onto the windows of the doors along a production line at a truck factory of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd (JAC Motors) in Hefei, Anhui province May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo BEIJING Growth in China''s manufacturing sector slowed in April, an official survey showed on Sunday, as producer price rises lost steam and authorities moved to tackle risks in the property market and credit growth. The official Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) stood at 51.2 in April, compared with the previous month''s reading of 51.8 and above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a reading of 51.6. (Reporting by Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-pmi-factory-official-idUKKBN17W00F'|'2017-04-30T09:14:00.000+03:00' 'db23746ac2022d4641736b41137d4ecadcab47a6'|'Trump could target ''carried interest'' tax loophole - official'|'Business News - Sun Apr 30, 2017 - 7:28pm BST Trump could target ''carried interest'' tax loophole: official U.S. President Donald Trump appears on stage at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S. April 29, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri WASHINGTON The Trump administration''s push to overhaul tax laws might soon target a loophole used by some financial managers to lower their tax rates, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday. President Donald Trump campaigned before the Nov. 8 election to eliminate the so-called "carried interest" loophole, which is used by many financial managers to lower tax obligations. But a rough outline for a major tax overhaul released last week failed to mention the loophole. Priebus, however, hinted that carried-interest could be on the chopping block and warned against analysts taking the view that financial managers would keep on benefiting from it. "That balloon is going to get popped pretty quick," Priebus told ABC''s "This Week." "Carried interest is on the table," he said. "The president wants to get rid of carried interest so that balloon is not going to stay inflated very long, I assure you of that." The carried interest rule allows financial managers at private equity, hedge fund and other firms to pay a capital gains tax rate on their income instead of the higher income tax rate. Trump''s tax overhaul plan would slash rates for businesses. Vice President Mike Pence told NBC "Meet the Press" on Sunday the plan might widen budget deficits "in the short term," but faster economic growth would eventually lead to higher revenue. (Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrew Hay)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/UKBusinessNews/'|'http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-idUKKBN17W0ON'|'2017-05-01T02:09:00.000+03:00' '8996230800861faaaa16e4b1718853710dfca515'|'China April manufacturing activity expands in April, official PMI falls from previous month'|'Business News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 11:21pm EDT China April manufacturing growth slows faster than expected FILE PHOTO: A worker installs rubber onto the windows of the doors along a production line at a truck factory of Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd (JAC Motors) in Hefei, Anhui province May 5, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo By Sue-Lin Wong and Kevin Yao - BEIJING BEIJING Growth in China''s manufacturing sector slowed faster than expected in April, an official survey showed on Sunday, as producer price inflation cooled and policymakers'' efforts to reduce financial risks in the economy weighed on demand. The National Bureau of Statistics'' official Purchasing Managers'' Index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from March''s near five-year high of 51.8. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a reading of 51.6, the ninth straight month above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis. Demand weakened across the board with the biggest decline in the input price sub-index, which fell to 51.8, its slowest expansion since June last year, from 59.3 in March. Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank in Singapore, said recent sharp declines in iron ore and onshore steel prices point to some of the pressures the country''s manufacturers are facing. "We believe that this on one hand reflects that there is little improvement in underlying demand," Zhou wrote in a note. "On the other hand, the de-leveraging effort by the Chinese authorities, has started to work." Chinese steel and iron ore futures tumbled to multi-month lows earlier this month as market sentiment turned bearish on demand outlook and worries mounted about a glut of steel later this year. The employment sub-index slipped to 49.2 from 50.0 in March while the raw materials inventories sub-index was unchanged at 48.3. Growth in China''s services sector slowed slightly to 54.0 in April, compared with the previous month''s reading of 55.1, which was the highest since May 2014. China''s economy grew a faster-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, boosted by higher government infrastructure spending and the nation''s gravity-defying property boom. But growth is expected to slow as authorities step up a battle to cool the property sector and as the central bank and banking regulator take steps to contain financial risks. The People''s Bank of China is expected to guide short-term interest rates higher, and step up its oversight of the financial sector, amid a crackdown on banks'' shadow banking businesses. Chinese leaders have pledged to shift the emphasis to addressing financial risks and asset bubbles, which analysts say pose a threat to the world''s second-largest economy if not managed properly. President Xi Jinping last week called for increased efforts to ward off systemic risks to help maintain financial security, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Some analysts believe China''s economic growth may have peaked in the first quarter but that it''s on track to hit a target of around 6.5 percent this year. China''s producer price inflation cooled for the first time in seven months in March as iron ore and coal prices tumbled, while property sales growth slowed in the first quarter despite robust property investment. The private sector Caixin/Markit PMI manufacturing survey, which focuses more on small and mid-sized firms, will be published on May 2. The Caixin/Markit PMI is expected to come in at 51.0 for April, according to a Reuters poll of economists, down from 51.2 in March. (Reporting by Kevin Yao and Sue-Lin Wong; Editing by Sam Holmes)'|'reuters.com'|'http://feeds.reuters.com/reuters/businessNews'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-pmi-factory-official-idUSKBN17W00F'|'2017-04-30T09:18:00.000+03:00' 'ebe9a0d7ffc92fde4b1e68de0b5af9238df47e0f'|'Puerto Rico bondholders shun island''s debt-cutting offer'|'Bonds News - Sat Apr 29, 2017 - 11:26am EDT Puerto Rico bondholders shun island''s debt-cutting offer By Nick Brown - NEW YORK, April 29 NEW YORK, April 29 Puerto Rico''s government presented a debt restructuring offer late on Friday that could repay as much as 77 percent of general obligation (GO) bonds and 58 percent of tax-backed bonds, but both bondholder groups quickly rejected it early on Saturday. The plan comes ahead of a Monday deadline to reach a debt-cutting agreement before creditors can sue Puerto Rico over defaults. The U.S. territory, shouldering $70 billion in debt it cannot pay, could also file an in-court debt workout akin to U.S. bankruptcy. The island''s largest and highest-priority debt classes, accounting for more than half the total, are GO debt guaranteed by Puerto Rico''s constitution, and so-called COFINA debt, backed by sales tax revenue. Both groups believe their legal protections to be sacrosanct, and are litigating against each other for top priority. Puerto Rico''s proposal would appear to treat GO debt more favorably, threatening COFINA holders with much smaller recoveries if they reject the plan. Under its proposal, Puerto Rico would issue $16.75 billion of new senior bonds and $10 billion in "cash flow bonds," essentially a growth bond, payable only if the island exceeds fiscal targets. GO holders would get $9.8 billion of the senior bonds, recouping them a guaranteed 52 cents on the dollar, as well as $4.7 billion of the conditional cash flow bond, which could up their recoveries to 77 cents. COFINA holders, meanwhile, would get $6.9 billion of the senior bond and $3.3 billion of the cash flow bond - a recovery of up to 58 percent - but only if they accept the deal. Otherwise, Puerto Rico would repay senior COFINA holders with $450 million in short-term notes, while junior COFINA holders would get nothing. Matt Rodrigue, a financial adviser to senior COFINA holders, called the plan "absurd," saying in an interview it disregards the priority of senior COFINA holders over junior ones, and could threaten the wellbeing of average Puerto Ricans because COFINA debt is widely held by locals. "This is a misfire" by Puerto Rico''s government and its advisers, Rodrigue said. Andrew Rosenberg, a lawyer for a key GO bondholder group, said in a statement the plan was "not a credible starting point for negotiations." Debt from Puerto Rican public agencies, like its highway and infrastructure authorities, would recover less than 30 cents on the dollar under the plan, and only in the form of conditional cash flow bonds. (Reporting by Nick Brown, Editing by Franklin Paul) '|'reuters.com'|'http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://www.reuters.com/article/puertorico-debt-idUSL1N1I109O'|'2017-04-29T19:26:00.000+03:00' '3c1caf99de857c297a5118d8e51301f14c04367b'|'UPS air maintenance workers threaten strike ahead of shareholders meeting'|'By Luciana Lopez - April 30 April 30 A union representing 1,200 U.S. air maintenance workers at United Parcel Service Inc turned up pressure on the company on Sunday to settle a three-year contract dispute, saying it would seek clearance to strike.The union is taking its grievances directly to UPS shareholders, running as an advertisement an open letter to David Abney, the company’s chief executive officer, ahead of a Thursday shareholders meeting.The letter, which has been delivered to board members, was signed by nearly 78 percent of members of Local 2727 of the Teamsters union, asking the company to maintain air mechanics’ current health plan and not demand other concessions.“We’re not willing to back off of this and we will strike over it,” said Tim Boyle, the local president.Union members will also protest at the UPS shareholders’ meeting on Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware. That will include both protests outside the meeting and, for union members who are also shareholders, questions to company officials inside.The local plans additional protests on Tuesday in Atlanta, where the company is headquartered.The union already voted in November to strike, but saw that request denied by federal authorities. The air maintenance workers are governed by the U.S. Railway Labor Act, which only allows strikes after it finds negotiations and mediation have failed.But if the company does not agree to keep members’ health plans intact at the next bargaining session, on May 11 and May 12, Boyle said the union would ask again for permission to strike.“If the company doesn’t back off we’ll submit another request to the mediator to be released” to strike, Boyle said.Even if the board grants permission, though, a strike would take at least another 30 days because of other procedural hurdles.A strike could ground the package delivery company’s airplanes and disrupt packages sent by air, even as UPS and its rivals grapple with higher costs for surging e-commerce business.(Reporting by Luciana Lopez in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)'|'reuters.com'|'http://in.reuters.com/finance/deals'|'http://in.reuters.com/article/united-parcel-strike-idINL1N1I101E'|'2017-04-30T09:00:00.000+03:00'